CHUCKMAN'S MISCELLANEA OF WORDS

PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN

2012-01-22T07:20:00.000-08:00

REVIEW OF JOAN MELLEN'S FAREWELL TO JUSTICE

2012-01-22T07:15:00.000-08:00

The blurb inside this book tells us that Joan Mellen is a professor of English and creative writing at Temple University, and sadly that fact confirms my darkest fears about American education, because Ms. Mellen, as amply demonstrated by significant portions of this book, often cannot write a literate paragraph. It is appalling how many badly written pages are in this volume.

Why did I continue to read it? I am a great admirer of the late Jim Garrison, who incidentally was a pretty fine writer, and being aware of the hatchet-job books done on his efforts in the Kennedy assassination, I wanted to read something of a defense. Ms. Mellen's book is one of the few, so I persevered through her muddy paragraphs in hopes of reaching a bit of clear water and learning something.

Well, it does get somewhat better through the middle of the book, and there are some interesting points and details raised here.

I very much believe that Jim Garrison stumbled upon something big in New Orleans, something very big, part of the conspiracy to kill John Kennedy, a conspiracy carefully ignored by the Warren Commission and later by The House Select Committee.

Garrison was a very intelligent and able man, but no individual, no matter how bright and brave and dedicated, could have completely withstood the assaults of a Washington establishment determined to smear and mislead and destroy him. The imbalance of forces was terrifying, and the efforts likely shortened Garrison's life. This book does document some of that in its better-written portions.

I never shared Garrison's belief that the CIA as an organization killed Kennedy, although it just could not be clearer to people who've read enough on the subject that the CIA always worked to manipulate and distort evidence in this matter. Indeed, it continues to do so to this day.

For Jim Garrison, fighting all the dirt and abuse, it would naturally seem that they were covering their own responsibility. I believe rather that they have been covering what would have been explosive information in the 1960s: that their private army of Cuban terrorists killed the President, aided more than likely by the direct or indirect help of the CIA handlers responsible for arming, training, and paying that gang of cutthroats in their long efforts at mayhem and murder in Cuba and in Florida.

People today almost cannot imagine the fetid political atmosphere in the United States of the 1950s and 1960s. It was poisonous, so much so that in many other places people were deeply concerned that the United States would do some terrible things. That view was part of what informed spies the Britain's Cambridge Circle. The United States in that era seriously considered a pre-emptive nuclear attack on the Soviet Union and later on China and it thought nothing of invading a country like Cuba or of overthrowing even democratically-elected governments like those in Guatemala and Iran.

Discrediting the CIA in any way at that time, much as it was deserved, was regarded almost as treason, and that was why the CIA lied and cheated its way through every effort at genuine investigation. The CIA was up to its armpits in collusion with mobsters and thugs of every description to achieve the overthrow of Castro, and when its secret army of Cuban fanatics killed the President, with or without the assistance of their professional CIA handlers, it simply could not be revealed. Truth be known, I feel confident many of the CIA's career men were glad when he died, believing he did not possess the blind faith they embraced.

The FBI too was glad. Hoover hated the Kennedys beyond describing. And with CIA backing and other political backing, it felt safe to cover and even destroy evidence in its almost laughable race to find poor Oswald guilty, and it was very convenient to portray Oswald as a "Commie nut" since the lifelong passion of Hoover was to lynch as many Communists as he could, even while he was friends with American gangsters.

For some while after the assassination, the CIA tried - through articles and books by its assets in American publishing - to blame Castro for the assassination, but that pathetic story pretty much withered away, Castro being far too clever to have hired someone like Oswald or to have given America's establishment the excuse it wanted to cover an invasion.

It is well known in intelligence operations that you not only prepare a primary fall-back story - the Castro story - but a secondary one should that fail to gain traction, and that second one is blaming the mafia. The inept Robert Blakey, largely responsible for the feeble efforts of the House Select Committee investigation, put that idea forward. So too did others in a series of contrived books.

It is still around today, with new proponents surfacing periodically. What the story ignores is the virtual impossibility of getting the various mafia clans - the mafia not being a single organization but a group of loosely cooperating families - to agree on so extreme an act, putting all their billions in assets at risk and giving law enforcement the perfect excuse to shut them down completely.

Again, in Bertrand Russell's profound question, "If, as we are told, Oswald was the lone assassin, where is the issue of national security?" So we pretty much know ipso facto that Oswald cannot have been the lone killer, and that's apart from his lack of motive and talent and an almost complete lack of sound evidence.

So what is the CIA hiding? Its own embarrassment and incompetence and criminal behavior with terrorist groups like the Cuban refugees, as well as the extreme danger to a free society of having such a well-financed organization with almost no responsibility to anyone.

REVIEW OF JUDYTH VARY BAKER'S ME AND LEE

2011-11-25T06:34:00.001-08:00

I simply cannot believe some of the reviews I see for thisbook on Amazon.com praising it as genuine, authentic, and heartwarming stuffabout Lee Oswald, but I know that it has become a widespread abusive practicefor friends, colleagues, and business associates, early on, to lard up thereview section for any book with five-star praise, making it difficult forreaders to find genuine reviews.

If there were an award for the most incomprehensible,confusing book ever written about the Kennedy assassination, Ms. Baker's bookwould surely be a serious contender.

Here you will find a unique blend of how I spent my teenyears, the cheesy 1950s television series "I Led Three Lives," Laureland Hardy playing spies, and a bodice-ripper from Harlequin Romance books. Itis an indigestible mass out of which emerges absolutely zero insight into thepersonality of Oswald or into the background of the assassination.

The first hundred pages or so of this book have nothingwhatever to do with Lee Oswald or the assassination, covering as they do theearly life of Ms. Baker, especially her teenage years. Ms. Baker or whoever itis who wrote this material tries impressing the reader with her earlybrilliance, and it does seem she was a gifted young woman.

Her early school science projects and the recognition shegained for her work with mice and cancer cells are matters of which she isdeservingly proud, but about a hundred pages of it in a book on an entirelydifferent subject? A single slim chapter or introduction would have establishedher bone fides as a competent researcher.

One assumes that here the publisher was attempting toestablish her as a truly worthy witness, intelligent and scientific-minded. Theonly trouble with that is that once we are into the matter for which people arereading the book, all pretense of science and logic evaporates.

I note also a rather cheap publisher's trick used here. Ms.Baker's story of her remarkable youth is documented with dozens of cuttings anddocuments, making it unmistakable that she is telling us a true story. But whenwe get to New Orleans and Oswald, these insertions become mostly completelygeneric and lacking in any connection with her, things like backgrounders oncertain people or newspaper photos of places in New Orleans.

When Ms. Baker comes finally to New Orleans and Lee Oswald,I gasped at the idea that now she might offer some insights, but the truth isthat there is nothing about her words that convinces the reader that she andOswald were even acquainted, let alone intimate friends. I don't say they werenot, but the author's words lack substance and indeed descend into a kind oflogic-lacking fog differing considerably from the unnecessarily long but atleast fairly lucid first hundred pages.

The confusions are too many to go into, and when reviewing aghastly book one hesitates spending too much effort after the unpleasantrealization you have wasted time and energy reading it.

Ms. Baker in the course of endless back-and-forths onstreetcars, day and night, going to bizarre boarding houses, bizarre offices,and bizarre entertainments with Oswald manages, in a book supposedly telling uswhat Oswald really was like and written to support his supposed views, to plantevery unproved accusation about Oswald you can find in the various hack booksattacking him.

He was, according to her, a crack shot, demonstrating hisprowess to her with an air rifle at an amusement park. He loved guns andweapons, taking her to a small arsenal in the Bannister agency's building andselecting a pistol, and wanting to take her for fun shooting birds. He wasviolent towards his wife, confirming never-proved assertions of an unbalancedMarina Oswald. He ran errands for Marcello mob interests, including a ratherwell known scene where a witness in the assassination literature says he sawOswald taking a wad of money under the table from the man running the Town andCountry Motel (some researchers suggesting another individual, a criminal, whoslightly resembled Oswald as the person in the incident if it even happened).In Ms. Baker's version, she is there right next to Oswald, keeping her facedemurely down and seeing the money being passed under the table.

All of Ms. Baker's story about Oswald and New Orleans,except for the silly romantic assertions, could have been derived from thepopular literature. There is no unmistakable authenticity in any of it, so whenit is combined, as it is, with laughable lines and events, the result is anunpleasant and indigestible mush.

Oswald, as portrayed by Ms. Baker comes off as a bizarrelittle man full of delusional ideas, a reading which entirely works against thepicture I have of him through many books.

I should tell readers that I received an appreciative e-mailfrom Ms. Baker not long ago: she was thanking me for defending her in a delugeof comments on the Toronto Globe and Mail's website pertaining to an interviewin the promotion of her book. I had not read her book, nor was I familiar withher background, but I simply opposed attacks based on "Oh, not anotherconspiracy theory!" believing as I do that we have never received thetruth concerning the assassination and remaining open to the idea that thereare still people from whom we have not heard who know important things.

Well, now that I have read Ms. Baker, I remain convinced wehave never received the truth, and you can delete Ms. Baker's name from thepotential list of those who could come forward with new information.

REVIEW OF BARRY ERNEST'S THE GIRL ON THE STAIRS

2011-11-21T11:56:00.001-08:00

This is a modest book both in its aims and in its physical size, but it is a book which makes a genuine contribution to understanding the Kennedy assassination, and it is the best thing I have read on the subject in some years.

The central finding of the Warren Commission was that Oswald was Kennedy’s assassin. So while Mr. Ernest’s aims seem modest, calling into question Oswald’s movements in the wake of the shooting, they work powerfully against that central finding.

Here is a self-published book written by a man who originally had not even planned to write a book, and it contains genuinely new and significant evidence.

You will find here no unproved theories against the officially accepted explanation, nor will you find phony efforts to protect the official story. Books of both those types have been published in abundance for decades, indeed to the point where I long ago sickened of reading them.

Mr. Ernest documents his long-term, off-and-on again efforts to satisfy his own curiosity concerning the assassination and, particularly, to locate a significant witness the Warren Commission went out of its way to minimize, slight, and ignore, Ms. Victoria Adams. Ms. Adams worked in an office on the fourth-floor of the Texas Book Depository in November, 1963. From a remarkable vantage point, she and some fellow workers watched Kennedy’s motorcade enter the Plaza and approach the fatal area. Then they heard noises like fireworks and saw the president’s car begin to rush away.

As a side note here, just the fact that a group of people, only about 40 or 50 feet above the motorcade, could gather and open a window to look down on it tells us a great deal about the terribly poor security arrangements made that day by all police and protective agencies.

Ms. Adams and a co-worker suspected something was wrong and quickly sought the stairs to the ground floor – the same stairs Oswald is supposed to have taken immediately after the shots, indeed the only full-height set of stairs in a building whose elevator at the time did not operate. Her seemingly insignificant act proved to have many serious implications.

Ms. Adams saw no one on the stairs. She heard no one, even though the creaky and echoing nature of the stairs and stair well meant that you always heard other steps on them, no matter how many floors away. She was accompanied by one of her co-workers, Sandra Styles, who could thus certainly corroborate or contradict any of Victoria Adams’ testimony, yet Ms. Styles was never interviewed by any of the agencies investigating. The FBI made no attempt to re-stage and time the path of these women, as they did for a number of other people.

The author, after finally finding Ms. Adams, gaining her trust (often a requirement with significant Kennedy-assassination witnesses who have been badgered and even intimidated in the past) and having her tell her brief story in fine detail, succeeded also in finding her former co-worker, Ms. Styles, who, indeed, corroborates Ms. Adams perfectly. She also provides a detail of just what was happening in the Plaza when they decided to go down, providing an amazingly accurate time marker for their descent’s start.

Ms. Adam’s own words – recorded e-mail exchanges - tell any perceptive reader that she was (she died a few years ago) an intelligent and perceptive observer, the very kind of witness any attorney or prosecutor likes to put on the stand.

The author also discovers a transmittal letter at the National Archives that has Dorothy Garner, office manager of the same text-book publishing company for which the two women worked, seeing Roy Truly and Officer Marion Baker arrive on the fourth floor after Victoria Adams and Sandra Styles left, an important fact because these two had previously stopped on the second floor where Officer Baker had a brief confrontation with a relaxed Lee Oswald in the cafeteria as they raced up from the ground floor to inspect the building.

Ms. Adams not only saw no one on the stairs, but when she and her friend briefly went outside, she did see Jack Ruby, a man she did not know until she saw the television pictures later of him shooting Oswald.

Many of the more unhelpful and even crazed books on this subject I sometimes think likely come under the auspices of the very agencies who have worked so hard to promote the official story: lunatic books help discredit all critics of the official story. When I say lunatic books I mean books along the lines of The Man Who Knew Too Much or JFK and the Unspeakable.

Worthless books which seem to serve the opposite side include Gerald Posner’s Case Closed, which offers the pretence of tough-minded analysis, or Reclaiming History by Vincent Bugliosi, which is just a giant prosecutor’s brief supporting another prosecutor’s brief, or Edward Jay Epstein’s Legend and Counterplot, both efforts to confirm the main conclusions of the Warren Commission after the author’s having gained some credibility with his Inquest, a book which supports limited and late criticism of the Commission.

For people coming to the assassination for the first time, Mr. Ernest provides a few nice little summaries of fact, the most important being J. Edgar Hoover’s virtually immediate acceptance of Oswald’s guilt, his then having prepared within weeks a report setting out the flimsy case. Lyndon Johnson’s appointment of the Warren Commission made the publication of his report inappropriate, but that report provided the structure on which the commission report was built, the commission itself never doing any genuine investigation of its own. Indeed, since the entire Warren Report was created in a few months, there is a prima facie argument for its complete inadequacy to so demanding a task.

Readers who wish to know more after reading Mr. Ernest’s book cannot do better than the books of Joachim Joesten, the finest and certainly the sharpest of all early critics, and Anthony Summers’ Conspiracy, which although dated remains the best single book ever written on the subject. Interestingly, both these authors came from Europe. The Warren Commission Report itself offers a valuable comparison for these and any other books on the subject.
My only serious criticism of Barry Ernest’s book is that he failed to provide an index, an important omission. However, except for that fault, I recommend this book virtually without qualification to all people curious about the greatest unsolved crime of its time.

I take this opportunity to remind readers of Bertrand Russell’s penetrating question, still never answered: “If, as we are told, Oswald was the lone assassin, where is the issue of national security?”

Further, I remind them that if a matter so important as the assassination of an American president in the mid- 20th century could be handled in so careless and dishonest a way by government agencies, why would anyone expect something more with other sensitive issues and what are the limits of government’s lying? That is why the assassination of 48 years ago remains a timely matter.

REVIEW OF SHLOMO SANDS' THE INVENTION OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE

2011-10-27T11:04:00.001-07:00

This is oneof the most important non-fiction books (outside of science) published inyears, dealing as it does with a topic which has caused immense pain anddifficulty to so many, particularly in the last century.

A greatmany non-fiction books today are little more than essays or magazine articlespadded into the size of books. Many are true disappointments to read, let alonefailing to be genuine contributions to thought.

Here,though, is a book in which every chapter says something challenging andinteresting.

And do notskip the introduction – something of which I am often guilty, being anxious toget to the heart of the matter – for in this case the introduction isfascinating, and Mr. Sand could not have provided a subtler or better way tointroduce the nature and complexity of his topic.

The bookwas written in Hebrew – I know it caused quite a sensation in Israel a coupleof years ago – and only now has been translated into English. Just one of thethings which surprised me was the clarity and flow of the language, somethingfor which social scientists are not noted, Mr. Sand being a historian. I don’tknow whether Mr. Sand is that unusual thing, a social scientist who is a trulyexcellent writer or whether he has found a gifted translator. Perhaps it isboth.

Mr. Sandhas not done original research into the topic, but he has done a massive andperceptive review of the literature, the kind of effort which in medicine oftenproves extremely valuable in bringing together the results of scores ofscattered original studies, and, as the reader will discover, the author is animpressive scholar.

I knew justone of the topics which caused such upset in Israel was the idea that today’sPalestinians are at least in part the actual descendents of the children ofIsrael, it being a well-known fact that Rome in her conquests never disturbedthe original people of a place unless they refused to acknowledge Rome’sauthority. While Roman Palestine did have a couple of revolts, they were byzealots and not the population as a whole, and there is absolutely nohistorical record of the resident Hebrews having been expelled.

But theauthor covers much more of interest than that one topic and weaves a cohesivestory of the history of the Jewish people which is both challenging andfascinating. He covers the Khazars, the people of a ninth and tenth Jewishkingdom in what is today the Crimea and part of Ukraine. There is no evidence oftheir having any ancient Hebrew ancestry, and, on the contrary, there is goodevidence that the kingdom was the product of Jewish evangelism.

Jewishevangelism sounds mighty odd to a modern ear, but the evidence is there. Afterall, Christianity started as merely a sect of Judaism and has evangelized muchof its history. Christianity’s first great evangelist was Paul, a convertedJew. And we know there were even different early sects of Christians, such asthe authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls, documents which show considerabledifferences with the content of the accepted Gospels.

There isalso the fascinating possibility that Khazar migrants settling in Poland and Germanyand other places in Europe are the actualsource for the European Jews we call the Ashkenazi. The author cites many clueswhich suggest this, including clues in the Yiddish language, and in the dressand customs of Eastern European Jews. And it is an idea of which somedetermined Zionists were aware but chose to ignore or excuse away.

The book isdotted with interesting anecdotes such as quotes from early documents whichshow Jewish warriors fighting for the Moors in Spain, being perhaps part of thesubstantial Jewish population from North Africa – again a people with noancestry to ancient Israel - as well as providing the foundation of what wouldcome to be the Sephardic Jews, later deported from Spain by Ferdinand andIsabella.

This is abook which will stimulate discussion and additional research for a long time,and what is a more important criterion for a truly important book?

Mr Sand hasa few pretty hair-raising quotes from some Zionists which in almost no materialway differ in attitude and outlook to the early gutter literature of the Nazis– stuff about blood and destiny. It is one of the author’s major themes that acombination of Zionists and modern Israeli history professors, conspiring tojustify the foundations and practices of modern Israel, have worked assiduouslyto promote the old idea – he calls it a myth - that the Jews were thrown out oftheir ancient land and have wandered for centuries without a home.

Small wonderthe book stirred a controversy in Israel. I can only say that wereMr. Sand any less a scholar and writer, he would have been crushed, but herehis research and ideas spring to life for readers everywhere to consider.

The book ishighly recommended to all those with an interest in the affairs of the MiddleEast, the history of Europe, the history ofreligion, the history of ideas, the nature of political movements, theeccentricities of human nature, human psychology, or those who just enjoy astimulating read.

REVIEW OF MARK NORTH'S BETRAYAL IN DALLAS

2011-10-20T13:06:00.001-07:00

There are so many bad books on the Kennedy assassination - and that statement spans the whole breadth of views - when a new one comes along, I need a special reason for reading it.

Years ago, I read Mark North's Act of Treason, and, while it does not stand out as a major contribution to understanding the assassination, it did cover some new ground and it documented its central theme that J.Edgar Hoover almost certainly knew in advance of a planned attempt on Kennedy and did nothing to prevent it.

Of course, that does not mean Hoover directly had anything to do with the assassination. We already knew that Hoover hated the Kennedy brothers, and that the Kennedy brothers hated him. Animosities do get in the way of duty for many people with great power, and how easy it might be for Hoover when his agency isn't the one charged with presidential protection.

The new book is a very thin one physically, and, as far as this reviewer goes, it is even thinner in terms of genuine information, making no contribution to the case.

Basically, the author sets out one somewhat plausible set of events and participants and pats himself on the back for solving the case. There is no proof here of the author's overall thesis that the local Dallas Mafia, aided by the New Orleans' Mafia and some French drug contacts, carried out the assassination. The author further believes, again without proof, that they did this in some unspecified manner in secret collusion with Lyndon Johnson.

Many have come to the conclusion that the assassination was a mob hit, although I still regard the idea as only one of three candidates and not the strongest, but few have thrown Lyndon Johnson into the mix, although there was a now-forgotten play written a few years after Kennedy's death called MacBird!. The title says everything you need to know.

Johnson was a hateful and crooked politician, and the Kennedy brothers had the same kind of relationship with him that they had with Hooover, and Johnson was facing possibly career-ending revelations from aggressive investigations into the Texas way of doing business and politics. That said, it is a very long way to go to asserting that Johnson entered into a plan to kill the president. Five days left blank and unaccounted for in Johnson's diary which the author discovered prove nothing in a court of law.

I have no hesitation in saying Johnson's ethics would allow him to do such a thing - he was an unholy piece of work - but I have always regarded Johnson as quite a coward for many reasons, and cowards do not act so boldly.

The author has several annoying habits apart from reaching the most extreme conclusions with little or no direct evidence. He keeps writing about all the powerful individuals who "betrayed America" in Dallas. I find that kind of whining quite unpleasant, and I have no idea what it even means to "betray America" in this context.

One of the reasons I have against the "mafia theory" is simply that there are many indications that Jack Kennedy was on good terms with the mob. We know he received a briefcase with a million dollars in cash from them during his campaign for president, a gift reportedly in recognition of his father's past long association. We know that Jack Kennedy enjoyed friendships with the likes of Peter Lawford, a member of the "rat pack" often associated with mob-run casinos. Lawford is also said to have acted as a major procurer of women for Kennedy.

We also know that Kennedy had an intimate relationship with a woman named Judith Exner who just happened also to be the girlfriend of Chicago's mob boss, Sam Giancana. There was also the relationship with Marilyn Monroe, a messy one involving both Kennedy brothers, and Marilyn was a woman who also knew Sam Giancana.

So the total relationship between the Kennedy brothers and the mob remains murky and complex. Yes, Carlos Marcello, New Orleans boss, definitely had it out for brother Robert who embarrassed and hounded him. But mobsters do not take on gigantic earth-shattering tasks like assassinating a president without overwhelming general approval from their major associates. The act would put all their assets at risk.

The book lacks even an index, an important part of any book purporting to deal with history.

Recommended only to be avoided.

CHUCKMAN'S BAKED ACORN SQUASH STUFFED WITH FRUIT

2011-10-20T08:29:00.000-07:00

CHUCKMAN’SSPECIAL BAKED ACORN SQUASH

A truly beautiful and tasty dish.

INGREDIENTS

1 largeAcorn Squash – cut in half and remove seeds

Butter orMargarine – enough to generously coat insides of Squash with a bit to spare

Salt - totaste

Cinnamon – atleast 2 Tablespoons

Apples –Granny Smith - 1 or 2 depending on size of Squash and Apples
cut into eighthsand cored – you are going to stuff the Squash with
them and you want a generouspile to start since they cook down

Cranberries– frozen or fresh whole – about a small handful

Raisins –Golden – about a small handful

Jam – anyred fruit jam or use Swedish Loganberry Preserve – at least 4 Tablespoons

METHOD

Butter allinside surface of Squash. Reserve some Butter for last step. Lightly Salt andsprinkle with Cinnamon, reserving a little Cinnamon for use when Squash is allstuffed.

Cut Applesand core – peel if you prefer. Arrange them inside the Squash generously. Thenadd Cranberries, Raisons, and top with Jam. Sprinkle remaining Cinnamon overtop. Place little dabs of butter over fruit.

Bake in a350 degree oven in a baking dish uncovered. Bake until top is getting goldenwith touches of brown – usually about an hour.

VARIATIONS

Nuts –walnuts or pecans – are delicious additions. Add them – chopped – over top inlast ten minutes or so of cooking.

Currentsare a nice alternative to raisins.

You mayalso use Brown Sugar either instead of or in addition to Jam if you like moresweet.

CHUCKMAN'S FAVORITE MEAT LOAF

2011-10-20T08:26:00.000-07:00

CHUCKMAN’SFAVORITE MEAT LOAF

Again an adaptation,after many experiments, of one of my mother’s old recipes, a Sunday dinner wealways enjoyed as kids.

INGREDIENTS

Ground Beef– about a pound

Ground Pork– about a pound

3 mediumOnions

4Tablespoons Tomato Ketchup

PankoBreadcrumbs – about three handfuls – you may use ordinary
breadcrumbs, buttexture will suffer.

2 Eggs

Salt andPepper to taste

Oil forsautéing onions

Cup of BeefStock

ALTERNATIVEINGREDIENT

2 pounds ofGround Beef/Pork/Veal often sold today in supermarkets

In anycase, you must have Pork for a great meat loaf.

METHOD

Salt and sauteOnions until beginning to brown slightly. Add Beef Stock, bring to boil, thenreduce heat to medium. Allow Beef Stock to reduce away, leaving Onions toabsorb the intense flavour. Set aside to cool.

(The above,by the way, is an excellent method for other uses of cooked onions, especiallyas a hamburger topping.)

Mix Beef,Pork, Breadcrumbs, Eggs, Ketchup, Salt and Pepper in a bowl. When Onions arecool, add them.

Formmixture into a nice loaf about three inches high in a baking dish.

Bake at 350degrees about one hour.

Deliciouswith Baked Potatoes made in the same oven and a green salad.

Alsodelicious with my special Acorn Squash recipe found on this site.

CHUCKMAN'S FAVORITE ROAST PEAR SALAD

2011-10-19T10:57:00.000-07:00

CHUCKMAN'S FAVORITE ROAST PEARSALAD

I’ve developed many salads and salad dressingover the years, but I think this is my favorite, and everyone who has evertried it enjoys it.

INGREDIENTS– FOR TWO INDIVIDUAL SALADS

2 largeBosc Pears – sliced into thick slices – at least a ¼ inch

1 smallhead Leaf Lettuce – green or red – enough to cover two salad plates

1 handfulof Walnut pieces

FontinaCheese – grated – at least enough to lightly cover each salad, or more

METHOD

Place Pearslices on a cookie sheet – best to use parchment paper underneath – rub topswith a bit of oil. Roast in oven at 350 degrees until getting a bit golden,just browned edges – likely in the range of 40 – 50 minutes, depending onthickness of pears and accuracy of oven temperature.

Note: if you prefer, remove seedsfrom pear slices, but you do not need to do so as they will virtually disappearduring cooking.

In the last10 minutes or so of pears cooking put walnuts in oven on a little tray.

Rip Lettuceand spread on plates. Place roasted Pears on top, then sprinkle on Walnuts.Sprinkle Cheese. Drizzle with desired amount of Dressing.

Salad isnicest with Pears and Nuts warm, but it is still delicious when they are cool.

DRESSING

¾ Cup CanolaOil

¼ Cup BalsamicVinegar

1 Teaspoon Dijon Mustard

Light SoyaSauce – about 1 Teaspoon

I like touse an old glass bottle with a screw cap for mixing dressings, and I save niceones for the purpose. Just put all ingredients into the bottle, close cap, and shake vigorously.Or, if you prefer, wisk in a bowl.

VARIATIONS

A BlueCheese, instead of Fontina, is also good.

Realsautéed bacon bits, instead of Walnuts, are delicious, but I thinkover-the-top.

CHUCKMAN'S SAUERKRAUT SOUP - A VARIATION OF MY MOTHER'S RECIPE

2011-10-19T10:53:00.000-07:00

CHUCKMAN'S SAUERKRAUTSOUP

This is a slight variation of a childhoodfavourite which my mother made regularly. I’ve tried various experiments over theyears, and this is the version I like best.

INGREDIENTS

1 Large Canof Sauerkraut

1 MediumCan of Lima Beans.

1/3 Poundof Bacon or more – cut into bits

1 MediumOnion – diced

3- 4 Cupsof Chicken Broth

1Tablespoon or more Caraway Seed

3Tablespoons Flour

2Tablespoons Oil for frying – Canola is my everyday

METHOD

Saute Onion and set aside.

Fry Bacongently with oil until golden. Remove Bacon pieces from pan and retain Oil-Bacongrease mixture. Add Flour to mixture and make a roux that is nutty brown. Donot stop before you have a good browning or you will lose half the flavour.

Startadding Chicken Stock to roux and stirring until all incorporated. Add friedOnions, Bacon pieces, Sauerkraut, Lima Beans, and Caraway.

Simmer forat least half an hour with lid on pan. I tend to simmer all soups longer for full blending of flavor.

TASTIESTVARIATION FOR A COMPLETE DINNER

The way my wife and I usually have it.

You may eatthe soup as is above with anything you like, such as pork chops, or, beforestarting to simmer, add about 2 pounds of Pork Spareribs, cut intoreasonable-sized sections.

In thiscase you simmer the soup for at least an hour, or until meat is almost falling offthe bones.

Ideallyserved with rye bread and butter.

ANOTHERVARIATION FOR COMPLETE DINNER

Instead ofPork Ribs, add about 11/2 pounds of Polish Sausage before simmering. Simmer forabout an hour.

A fewchunks of potato boiled in the soup/stew are also good.

REVIEW OF ANTHONY SUMMERS' THE ELEVENTH DAY

2011-09-10T14:03:00.000-07:00

I have longbeen an admirer of the work of Anthony Summers, one of the world’s greatinvestigative journalists.

Hisbiographical notes on J. Edgar Hoover, Officialand Confidential: The Secret Life of J. Edgar Hoover are required readingfor an understanding of how the center of American power operated for a majorportion of the 20^th century.

His firstbook on the Kennedy assassination, Conspiracy,is the greatest book ever written on that event, and it has never beensurpassed for the depth of its analysis and gripping nature of its writing.Indeed, because so little new evidence of any importance has emerged since thattime, it remains the definitive study.

When I readthat he was publishing a book on 9/11 - an event around which swirl clouds ofdoubt and mystery as great as the ferocious storm of dust which swept throughlower Manhattan when the World Trade Center collapsed - I wasready to devour it.

And whilethere is a good deal to admire in the new book, my lasting impression is one ofdisappointment. It simply does not measure up to what I think of as thestandard of excellence set previously by Mr. Summers.

There areassumptions here I cannot accept without better evidence, much of the mainthread of detailed facts contained come ultimately from American torture ofcountless people in the CIA’s “rendition program,” a bureaucratic euphemism foran international torture gulag, and there are important facts not even touchedon.

I havenever accepted notions like insider plots and false flag operations pertainingto this event, but anyone who has followed matters over the last decade knowsthat a great deal remains obscured and unexplained, almost certainlydeliberately so by the American government.

Mr. Summersbelieves it is essentially for several reasons: one is to cover up the close toutter incompetence of the CIA and other agencies leading up to the event.Another is to cover up the almost criminal incompetence of the Bushadministration both before and after the event. And another is to guard thelong and deep and fairly secret intimate relationship America has with Saudi Arabia.

I acceptall of these, but none of them comes as news to critical observers over theyears and I do not believe they add up to an explanation of what happened on 9/11.

The CIA hasflopped countless times – failing to correctly read the Soviet Union’s economicand military power, failing even to predict its collapse, failing completely ineither preventing or investigating Kennedy’s assassination, and being the authorof countless lunatic plots like the Bay of Pigs Invasion. The agency hassquandered vast amounts of money in often counterproductive schemes since itscreation following World War II, so its failure with regard to 9/11 was for methe expected norm.

The sameBush administration, which gave us a world record limp and pathetic performancefor a government during Hurricane Katrina, could not be expected to operate inan entirely different mode around 9/11, and it most certainly did not.

Therelationship with Saudi Arabiais one of those not-much-discussed matters in America,but it is a necessity so long as America keeps building three-cargarages out into the desert of the Southwest.

New factsSummers presents us with are interesting and not contemptible, but they areinadequate to our curiosity. Some of those involved in 9/11 from Saudi Arabiamay well have been double or triple agents for Saudi intelligence. Osama binLaden was paid handsomely by Saudi princes to keep his various operations offSaudi soil, thus indirectly funding 9/11. After dumbly dawdling at aschool-reading photo-op, Bush was finally whisked away in Air Force One wherethe commander-in-chief was virtually out of the loop with remarkably faultycommunications. His Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, the number two manin a wartime chain of command, was for some time wondering around the Pentagonunavailable to military commanders needing his authority.

Summerspretty well accepts the official version of 9/11, with the important provisothat the official version, the commission report, includes such matters as thefact that there was little cooperation from Bush officials during theinvestigation, and the CIA certainly did not explain itself adequately.

Thecollapse of building 7, which was not hit by an airplane and which occurredafter the collapse of the North and SouthTowers of the World Trade Center, is attributed todebris falling from the other towers. I just don’t know, but it did bother methat Mr. Summers seemed to go out of his way to poke fun at some of thescientists or engineers who doubt that.

The largeeffort of Israeli spies around 9/11 is not even mentioned in the book, and Ifound that a disturbing omission.

There was agroup of five Israeli spies who were seen on the roof of their truck takingpictures of the explosions and then behaving in a raucous congratulatorymanner, yelling and high-fiving. The police were called and they were arrested,but we know nothing of their purpose or achievements. There was another largegroup of Mossad agents posing as art students who travelled around the countryapparently following some or all of the 9/11 plotters. They, too, were arrestedand later deported, but we know nothing of them.

Summersaccepts the “let’s roll” scenario for the fourth high-jacked plane whichcrashed in Pennsylvania,but I have always doubted it. First, the photos of the debris field certainlysuggest to a non-technical person that it may have been shot down. Second,after three deliberate crashes into buildings, it seems almost unbelievablethat the huge air defenses of the United States had not finally takenaction. Third, on at least one occasion, Donald Rumsfeld spoke to the pressinadvertently using the expression “shooting down” the plane over Pennsylvania indiscussing the high-jackings. Fourth, only naturally, the United States’government would not publicize the shooting-down of a civilian airliner becausethe resulting lawsuits would be colossal. I am willing to be convincedotherwise, but Mr. Summers does not succeed in doing it for me.

Another,important fact is not mentioned in the book. An American consular official atthe time was complaining in public about all the visas they were issuing in theMiddle East owing to pressure from the CIA. Itwas not a headline story, but it was an important clue to something unusualgoing on.

I havealways regarded it as a strong hypothesis that the high-jackers were part of asecret CIA operation which badly backfired, an operation which saw many questionablepeople receiving visas and being allowed to do some pilot training. Risky CIAoperations have a number of times backfired, and they even have nickname forthat happening, blowback.

Of course,we could see the entire matter also as blowback from the CIA’s secret waragainst the Soviets in Afghanistanin the 1980s. Fundamentalist Muslims in Afghanistan, Mujahideen, wererecruited, provided training and money and sophisticated weapons to fight theSoviets. Several billion dollars were poured in. Osama bin Laden was himselfpart of the business, but, as Mr. Summers agrees, he later did not see the United States as any different to the Sovietswhen they sent troops onto the sacred soil of Saudi Arabia.

Mr. Summersis trying to place a good deal of blame on the Saudis for their funding andsecret operations, and while I regard it as an interesting observation thatcertain members of the royal family paid him, I do not regard that as astunning fact. After all, Saudi Arabia’s countless billions come in good parteither directly or indirectly from the United States and Osama bin Laden’sfamily was a very successful wealthy contractor there, so you could say in thesame sense that the United States subsidized Osama’s operations. And it goesdeeper than that, for Saudi business connections in the United States,including connections directly with the Bush family, go back many years.

This readerfor one would like to see some hard proof of some things that Mr. Summers takesas fact. First, that bin Laden even was responsible for 9/11: the public hasnever been provided a shred of good evidence. Second, that bin Laden was not infact killed in the unbelievable bombardment at Tora Bora, his death being kepthidden to prevent martyrdom. Third, that the recent assassination in Pakistan wasgenuine, not the effort of a president down in the polls and feeling that afterten years he could afford to make the claim.

Fourth,that there ever was an organization called al Qaeda. I know that sounds odd topeople who assume everything they hear on television is true, but there aregood reasons for doubting it. While Mr. Summers gives one translation for theArabic word, people who speak Arabic have said it commonly means toilet, and surely no one running aterror organization would use such a name. Indeed, we have several veryprominent people quoted in the past, including former British Foreign MinisterRobin Cook, saying that al Qaeda was just a derogatory catch-all term used forvarious “bad guys” out there. That is a tremendously meaningful differencebetween the two things, but Mr. Summers does not touch the issue.

Again, Icannot stress how important it is for all decent-minded people holding todemocratic values to accept neither the CIA’s international torture gulag northe results of its dark work. Yet the bulk of Mr. Summers’ idea of events isbased on evidence deriving ultimately from torture, the people being torturednever receiving the benefits of counsel, fair trial, or even opportunity torebut.

In summary,a book worth reading, if only to get mad at, but it hardly represents a definitiveeffort on its subject.

REVIEW OF AMIRA HASS'S DRINKING THE SEA AT GAZA

2011-09-09T10:43:00.000-07:00

The subtitle of this book, "Days and Nights in a Landunder Siege," accurately describes the subject. The period covered isroughly from the first intifada,1987, through the first election of Benjamin Netanyahu, 1996, and effectivelythe death of the Oslo Accords. It is not about the current situation in Gaza, but it providesvaluable background material.

Of course, the misery of the people of Gazadocumented here has grown only worse now that we are into the fourth year of Israel'sblockade.

Ms. Hass is an Israeli journalist, living in the West Bank,who spent a great deal of time in the Gaza Strip, a situation giving her aunique perspective.

Ms. Hass has a clear journalistic style and an eye for detail, and her story isfull of facts and observations you do not typically find in our pressconcerning Gaza and Israel. She definitely gives you apowerful sense of the frustration and pain of being a Palestinian in Gaza.

Here are just a few of her interesting facts. According to the organization,Physicians for Human Rights, during the five years of the intifada, a Palestinian child under the age of six was shot in thehead every two weeks. According to United Nations Relief records, nearly 1,100people treated at its clinics during the first four years had been shot in thehead, with about 15% of that number being women. During the four years, oversixty thousand Gazans were shot, severely beaten , or tear-gassed.

With Israel's tightening of work permits - one of the important themes of thebook - Palestinian per capita income fell by 7.14 % in 1992 and by 26.53 % in1993 - this in a poor and overcrowded place.

The truly frightening thing that emerges in the book is Israel's gradualcreation of a stultifying system of electrified fences, elaborate applicationrequirements for work permits, refusal to grant all but a small portion of theapplications, and frustrating line-ups for those with permits to use them,.Even the few with work permits had to show up at the exit check-point only atspecified hours, then they often waited for hours to have their permitschecked. The slightest thing out of order saw them ordered to return home. Thelogistics of getting back and forth to their work places often are horrific -once there were large numbers of taxis but even taxis are reduced to a smallnumber - and Palestinians are not allowed to stay over at their place of workeven if their employer desires it.

It is important to appreciate that with Israel's original driving ofPalestinians off their land and out of their villages - and Ms. Hass describessome of the Israeli army's tactics to drive Palestinians out - Gaza becameeffectively a crowded refugee camp, inadequate to sustain a modern economy, andfor many in Gaza, work in Israel is their only hope for a meager livelihood.With Israel'scontrol of borders and even the sea, it is by default the only accessiblemarket for the products and services of Palestinian businessmen.

Even before the current blockade, Israelliterally had created a stranglehold on the (now) one and half million peopleof Gaza. Theycould not visit family in the West Bank or East Jerusalemwithout difficult-to-obtain and restrictive permits. They could not go tohospitals without the permits, and even when the permits were received in atimely fashion, parents often were not allowed to accompany children or spousestheir mates, and for people on a course of treatment, as say chemotherapy, theymust obtain new permits each time. Young people also cannot attend universityor technical schools without permits.

When workers do obtain permits, they are not allowed to stay overnight inIsrael, even though their employers may be eager to have them do so, as whenworking on a rush job. After waiting since dawn at the check-point to exit Gaza, and that often forhours, they travel with difficulty to their jobs, work for wages lower than anIsraeli would receive, and must return home each night - an exhausting andcostly routine, yet one these impoverished people are only too glad to do ifallowed.

Israelalso issued permits only to certain classes of people, men under thirty notbeing eligible. Imagine a society in which all the young men to the age ofthirty cannot work, and we must remember that with high birth rates,Palestinian society is a young society with a relatively high proportion ofyoung people.

During the period of the Oslo Accord, Israelhad wanted to see businesses created in Gazato employ people, yet they set the conditions that ultimately made thisdifficult or impossible. Israelbegan strangling the opportunities for businessmen in Gaza- farmers and small manufacturers - to export to Israel through its great increasesin restrictive security measures. Although it was advertised in Israel as a part of the period of adjustment to Oslo, the entrepreneurs in Gaza found themselves starved of markets.

Israelgradually imposed immensely complicated rules for produce and goods beingtransferred from Gazan trucks to Israeli trucks. Given also the requirementsfor inspections and the often hit-or-miss nature of other arrangements,truckloads of produce not infrequently ended up wasted. The many smallbusinesses doing things like running sewing machine workshops for Israeliclothing firms found themselves shutting their doors, putting people out ofwork.

While Ms. Hass does not use the term apartheid,that is precisely what we see established here. Gazais a Bantustan in which large numbers ofpeople are kept penned up, separate, and with almost no hope ever of building aviable economy.

As you read these pages, you ask yourself, what possible future is there forpeople bottled-up in this way? And I cannot see an answer. Israel simplyhas created a situation which is not tenable over the long term, although fortoday or tomorrow the Palestinians manage to cope.

They have been artificially removed from their original homes' and all theirtraditional ties of work and farming have just about been severed. Ms. Hasstells us how the older Palestinians, as when traveling through Israeliterritory for work, know precisely the places now demolished and/or renamed asIsraeli places and just where their homes and farms were located. Severed, too,were the family connections with the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and the Palestinians are people for whom extendedfamily is quite important.

It is a bleak, go-nowhere situation, which since Israel's savage attack and blockadehas become only bleaker. The book offers no prescriptions or recommendations.Ms. Hass remains throughout that fairly rare being, a truly objectivejournalist.

REVIEW OF DIARMAID MACCULLOCH’S CHRISTIANITY THE FIRST THREE THOUSAND YEARS

2011-08-04T11:29:00.000-07:00

This is a book I wanted very much to like, but, while it is worth reading, it proved disappointing in a number of respects.

The title alone is interesting - reflecting as it does the many ideas and beliefs of Greeks and Hebrews which became woven into Christianity – because it puts Christianity, quite properly, into a longer term, pre-Christian history rather than the naïve notion that Christianity arose suddenly, “out of whole cloth,” as it were, almost like something not of this world.

I had heard an interview with the author on CBC Radio, and he said several intriguing things. I especially liked his explanation of Jesus’s calling his follower, Peter, a rock, a concept which taken literally is one of the great assumptions of Roman Catholicism and its being headquartered in Rome, the legendary site of Peter’s martyrdom. The author said it was intended as sarcasm, and that idea immediately humanizes Jesus with a sense of humor.

After all, we all know from Sunday school classes of years ago that Peter had denied knowing Jesus, not just once but three times. Hardly the character you’d describe as a rock providing a secure foundation.

Someone who could offer that kind of anecdote had to be worth reading.

And there is much in the book readers will enjoy or from which they will learn.

I do think the vast scope of the task of summarizing efficiently three thousand years of developments somewhat eluded the author. My instincts said he gave too many words to some things and too few to others.

There are a great many names of relatively unimportant figures in this book which seem tossed in almost out of some desire for completeness. At the same time there are figures or events or movements which are treated in a cursory manner.

While some portions of the book provide a good read, others seem to drag, as though the author were only covering some territory he felt he must while not being interested in it or perhaps not having studied it enough to summarize more elegantly.

There are also matters of fact and emphasis which bothered me. For example, the French philosophes are treated in what I regard as a truly unbalanced manner. After all, the eighteenth century philosophers offered the greatest challenge and opposition to Christianity since perhaps Rome at the height of its persecutions.

I also thought there were aspects of the author’s discussion of the ancient Hebrews not agreeing with works I’ve read on the origins of the Hebrew people.

Nevertheless, it is a book worth reading, if one that is not consistently satisfying.

REVIEW OF VERONICA BUCKLEY'S CHRISTINA QUEEN OF SWEDEN

2011-07-31T10:42:00.001-07:00

Here is an interesting book about a relatively little-known historical figure, Christina Queen of Sweden in the 17th century.

Christina was the daughter of a great Swedish King, Gustav Adolph the Great. She was intellectually gifted, spoke languages, conversed with great men of her day, and early on gained a reputation across Europe as a kind of enlightened ruler.

Her invitations to visit the Swedish Court were gladly accepted by Europe’s famous figures, but the results often proved not so happy as might have been expected. One of the century’s greatest intellects, Rene Descartes, made the trip, reluctantly at first but giving in finally to her blandishments, and died at her court. She kept the rooms cold and expected the great man to meet with her at dawn to discuss philosophy.

That event certainly was an early indicator of her rather bizarre personality. And so too, her behaviour after Descartes’ death: she was full of superficial grief and vowed to build an impressive monument, but it was all forgotten shortly, a pattern of behaviour she repeated many times.

Christina proved an inept ruler, indeed she abdicated because she had no interest in the genuine work of ruling. She proved a person of less than shining ethics, a generally confused person, likely suffering from mental illness.

Christiana decided to become a Catholic, and her abdication of the throne of stoutly Protestant Sweden is closely associated with that fact. After carefully arranging matters like the succession and the revenues she would receive for the rest of her life, Christina travelled to Rome to meet and be welcomed by the Pope, who, naturally in view of the times - the Thirty Years’ War from 1618 to 1648 - viewed her conversion as a victory for Catholicism.

The Pope and every other great person she met contributed to her extravagant and expensive lifestyle – Christina was never ashamed to take large handouts from the great and powerful, and indeed she actively solicited them.

Almost everyone who had close dealings with her came to regret it. Her appearance at times was outlandish and bizarre, her behaviour was quite offensive at times, and there seemed no consistency to her except the need to be deemed royal, treated as royals should be treated, and to do in most things pretty much as she pleased.

Her exploits included having a servant who displeased her killed on the spot, quite a scandalous episode in its day. After all her talk about Catholicism and taking the Pope’s hospitality, at times Christina talked as though she were no longer interested in being Catholic. After abdicating the throne of Sweden, she played many intrigues in Rome and in France to try landing herself another crown. When she thought she was being cheated by Sweden on her lifetime payments, she travelled all the way back in an effort to get what she felt entitled to.

Christina’s example perhaps best tells us how good it is that we are beyond the times of powerful rule by inheritance. The good of her people played virtually no role in her thinking, and her conviction that royal blood meant a lifetime of privileged treatment even when you weren’t assuming any of the responsibilities associated with the privileges is one that is utterly alien to us.

The writer does a sound and competent job on an interesting subject, but the writing is not elegant, and one definitely gets the feeling that the author avoids saying things directly, things which should be said. For example, Christina’s sexual life is left rather ambiguous. There are clear signs that she was homosexual, including a pronounced mannish appearance, but I think the author needed to examine this more carefully if she was going to deal with it at all.

So too her relationship with Cardinal Decio Azzolino, called the great love of her life, is left to me unsatisfactorily explained. One definitely questions whether Christina was capable of loving anyone.

REVIEW OF MURIEL BARBERY'S THE ELEGANCE OF THE HEDGEHOG

2011-05-13T09:51:00.001-07:00

What I find most touching about this book is the way it takes me back to a more naïve and thoughtful time, the late 1950s and early 1960s when people I knew would talk late into the night about matters like politics or philosophy.

For all the clichés about North American society being unimaginative and consumer-oriented at that time, it was actually an interesting time with rapid and important changes occurring. Women by the millions commuted daily to work in downtown offices, gathered with their friends for lunches in busy restaurants, and laid the economic foundations of feminism.

Cities streamed with high-school graduates who were the first in their families to attend university, often at less-than-glamorous postwar expansion facilities for fees that seem insignificant now. Paperback and cheap hardbound editions of classics and great books flooded the post-war market, again at prices which seem tiny today. It was a time, too, when films from abroad, seen in old revue cinemas, exposed young minds to wonderfully exotic perspectives and ideas and stimulated discussion.

Finding many such interesting and thoughtful people today in North America, even on university campuses, I think not likely. North American society has become only more immersed in consumerism, and there is hardly a flicker of idealism to be seen anywhere. Contemporary universities have become career factories. Even foreign films do not offer the same stimulating notions that they did. The cinemas themselves are largely gone, and many of the contemporary films have changed their tone.

The French are noted for café society and people who still like to discus philosophy and politics energetically and at length, although I fear it is a national quality that is declining along with the very numbers of cafes which serve as the necessary locations, a trend driven by the changes and demands of a more modern and, dare I say, North Americanized society.

But in this sweet little book, the two chief characters still retain these qualities. We have Renee – perhaps the French equivalent to the old philosophical New York cab driver – who reads serious authors and thinks serious thoughts although residents of the high-toned building in which she is employed would never guess from her deliberately-assumed protective manner as cranky old concierge. As someone who becomes her friend, we have a very bright girl, Paloma, who lives, in a rather rocky and uncomfortable relationship, with her successful and pretentious family in the building.

And we even have references to the great days of film with the magical Mr. Ozu, a deliberate reference to the great Japanese director who died in the 1960s.

This is not a complex or lengthy story, so I will not offer any of its details, but if the nature of the characters I have described appeals to you, you will enjoy the book.

I usually have a tough time with endings in fiction. They are far too often the weakest part of even some of the best books, and to some degree that holds for Ms Barbery’s book. I’m not sure that, in the end, the author knew what to do with her characters, so she has something unexpected and shocking occur. Of course, life can be like that, but fiction is not life.

It may take you a few hours to forgive Ms Barbery, but when you do, you will be left with a lovely lingering sense of having visited a nostalgic and interesting place.

RESTAURANT REVIEW: THE CANNERY IN YARMOUTH MAINE

2011-05-11T06:02:00.000-07:00

Review of an enjoyable restaurant written for The Maine Sunday Telegram when I served as restaurant reviewer there. Menu, prices, and possibly other information are now out of date.

The location of The Cannery, in a handsome set of buildings by the side of the Royal River, is a very appealing one. The fact that a large marina for pleasure boats is part of the property adds an interesting connection with the water beyond just location.

Inside, the restaurant has a large expanse of windows, many towards the river. Walls are white plaster relieved by sections of wood, including a wooden upstairs gallery. Hanging bowl fixtures give a pleasant, warm light. There are many framed prints of 19th century coastal life and industry and a fair number of plants which unavoidably remind one of a 1980's fern-bar.

Of thirty-five wine listings, about a third are available by the glass. All but a few bottles are priced at $30 or less. Our Houge Washington Cabernet Sauvignon ($5.50) proved a bit harsh. Round Hill California Merlot ($5.25) I thought rather on the insipid side.

The menu carries on the theme of coastal life in the 19th century with a cover picture of people working in a cannery. Well, with so many references to the sea, how better to start than bowls of clam chowder ($4.95) and crab bisque ($8.95)?

The crab bisque comes in a large shallow bowl and is thick and flecked with a good deal of crabmeat. The white sauce thickener in the soup base, however, dominated the flavor with its rather pasty taste, and this detracted from the delicate flavor of crab. It is a decent bowl of soup, but the word bisque connotes something a little more sophisticated and creamier than this.

The clam chowder also was thick and chunky with pieces of potato and bits of clam. But the same basic soup base was used and to the same effect - a decent bowl of diner chowder.

Spinach salad with a warm pancetta dressing and roasted duck breast ($10.95) sounded mouth-watering, but it seemed from our waitress's description, to be a very large salad. However, any salad at The Cannery is available in a half portion at half price, a nice practice. The spinach, glossy with dressing, came surrounded by slices of hard-boiled egg, mushroom, tomato, and pickled artichoke and had several small slices of golden duck breast on top. The duck was very nicely roasted, still succulent, a real treat. However, the duck also gave me the first taste of a salad dressing which was much too sweet. Most elements of the salad were good, but it was difficult to understand the use of a sweet dressing and the inclusion of artichokes.

Our tart of grilled scallops, fontina cheese, roast tomato, spinach, and shallots ($8.95) was more of a success, but still a mixed one. The scallops were sliced with grill marks, off to one side of a tart which resembled a slice of thin quiche. The tart was excellent, truly a savory mix of flavors, but the treatment of the scallops was unexciting - lightly sautéed and drizzled with a touch of vinaigrette or lemon butter would have done them more justice.

I didn't know quite what to expect from sesame-and-panko encrusted shrimp with "nori towers" ($17.95), but, loving both shrimp and Japanese food, I ordered and hoped for the best. The five truly jumbo Gulf shrimp with their rough-textured golden crust were remarkably attractive (the result of the panko coating which is a Japanese breadcrumb with a wonderfully light, almost snowflake-like texture).

If you've ever made sushi (the nori-maki type) at home, using a maki-su bamboo mat to roll the nori (laver), vinegared sticky rice, and fillings, you will appreciate the elegantly made "nori towers." These actually are vegetarian nori-maki that have not been cut into slices.

The shrimp and the nori rolls were delicious, but again, with the first bite of shrimp, came some of the plate's sauce, which was an awful, cloyingly sweet, clove-flavored stuff. The plate also had, quite incongruously, some more pickled artichoke hearts. Here truly was an example of fusion cuisine that simply did not work. I couldn't help thinking what an excellent dish this would become using only the shrimp and nori rolls plus a couple of traditional Japanese dipping sauces.

Our marinated pork tenderloin ($16.95) with its mahogany stained and grilled exterior was very appealing. Essentially, this was an old-fashioned plate of meat, mashed potatoes, and steamed, buttered vegetables (broccoli and red pepper) - dressed up a bit with ultra thin crispy fried leeks on top and a few other minor touches. The tenderloin was delicious. The mashed potatoes were genuine ones and fairly creamy. The vegetables were all tasty, but the crispy fried leeks stood out as being sensational.

The dessert menu consists of mostly heavy-duty items such as a toll house sundae, a Bourbon-candied nut pie, and chocolate-brownie chunk cheesecake plus some ice cream and yogurt.

Strawberry almond strudel sounded delightful (all desserts $4.75) and a bit on the lighter side than most listings. But before the plate was set down, I could see that the fruit layer was painfully thin in a very thick crust. Despite an attractive drizzle of thin frosting with almonds slices, the first push of the fork revealed a crust with the texture of pine bark - thick, hard stuff, nothing like the delicacy of proper strudel. The thin layer of filling was tasty, made from fresh strawberries and contained almond slivers. I peeled back the layers of bark and enjoyed about two teaspoons of filling.

Our other dessert was baklava. This was far more promising in appearance, and it tastes pretty good, but lovers of traditional baklava will be disappointed. There is honey sauce here, but the unique taste of honey-saturated phyllo is not here, and there is simply too much walnut filling. This sounds perverse - too much of one filling but too little of another - yet such are the standards for these classic desserts. A gifted pastry chef could always come up with innovative versions that are as good as the classics, but you won't find them at The Cannery.

A word on service: Our waitress just could not have been any more pleasant, but her actions clearly indicated staff are not trained well in their duties. We never did receive bread plates for the quite tasty whole wheat bread that was served. And our knives were whisked off at one point without new ones being brought to replace them. On the folding service stand not far from our table, a spray bottle of cleaning liquid and a rag hung from one side - not the kind of sight that brightens up a dining room.

Our bill came to $98.97.

The Cannery Restaurant
Lower Falls Landing
Yarmouth
846-1226

Food: 3
Atmosphere: 3 1/2
Service: 2 1/2
Dinner hours: 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Monday to Sunday
Lunch hours: 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday to Sunday
Credit cards: all major
Price range: entrees $10.95 to $17.95
Vegetarian dishes: yes
Reservations: yes
Bar: full
Wheelchair access: yes
The bottom line: very mixed quality cooking, pleasant location, service needs
improving

RESTAURANT REVIEW: CHINA BY THE SEA IN BOOTHBAY HARBOR MAINE

2011-05-11T06:00:00.000-07:00

Review of an enjoyable restaurant written for The Maine Sunday Telegram when I served as restaurant reviewer there. Menu, prices, and possibly other information are now out of date.

It would be hard to imagine a more evocative, romantic name than China By The Sea, rich as it is with suggestions of the silk trade and great canvas-topped ships plying the oceans. With the restaurant located in one of Maine's prettiest seaside towns, Boothbay Harbor, and considering my great love of Chinese food, a review was inevitable.

The dining room is pleasant, although rather smaller than the impression one gets from outside. There are hints of things oriental, such as rattan light fixtures, but this could be a nice little restaurant of any kind. The pale green walls have cozy booths, the balance of the room has handsome black chairs and tables, all with white tablecloths. Two bay windows display a magnificent wooden ship model and a handsome plant. Unfortunately, there are also some plastic flowers, tablecloths are covered with glass, and there are paper place mats. Despite these kitschy touches, the room remains comfortable and inviting.

China By The Sea features those exotic rum drinks and punches whose only connection with China is in the manufacture of the little paper umbrellas, but I remain quite fond of them, and my Mai Tai ($4.95) had to be the most generous I've ever been served, and it was quite delicious.

Looking over the appetizers while sipping the great mother of all Mai Tais, it was soon apparent that China By The Sea is an extremely Americanized Chinese restaurant, for the list included chicken fingers, Buffalo wings, and French fries. However, scallion pancake ($2.95) is an authentic Northern dish, and the generous pancake served, full of fresh bits of scallion and cut into wedges, was delicious. The dipping sauce was an Americanized version of a hot and sweet sauce (somewhat reminiscent of bottled gummy sauces), serviceable enough, but then the pancake was good enough to eat without it.

With the arrival of our soups, another characteristic of China By The Sea became apparent - that is, very substantial servings at reasonable prices. Our bowl of hot and sour soup ($2.75) was large and thick with vegetables, including bamboo shoots and water chestnuts. This was a tasty bowl of soup, although the flavoring added to the chicken stock was reminiscent of the pancake dipping sauce - not truly the flavoring of traditional hot and sour soup. Frozen peas and carrots featured in the vegetable mix.

Our bowl of egg drop soup ($2.45) also was large and thick with swirls of cooked egg. The broth had a good chicken flavor without too much salt, but frozen peas and carrots again featured.

Hamburgers, hot dogs, and steaks are available although most of the menu consists of Chinese-style dishes. I asked our friendly waitress about the lemon chicken, but when she advised that it is made with chicken fingers, I looked for something a little less innovative.

Chicken with Almonds ($9.25) is an old standard in North American Chinese restaurants, and this was a very good version. The chicken, which was plentiful, was properly velvetized (a Chinese cooking method in which pieces of meat are soaked in a mixture of egg white and corn starch - when quickly cooked, this gives flesh a pleasant velvety outer texture). The vegetables included pea pods, bok choy, carrot, bamboo shoot, water chestnuts, and (a bit too much) celery. There were lots of whole almonds. The properly light coating of sauce was essentially thickened chicken stock.

Szechuan beef ($9.95) had a generous quantity of beef plus mushrooms, celery, scallions, peas, carrots, and peanuts. Everything was cooked as it should be in a stir-fry dish, but the sauce here was really too much on the sweet, gummy side to call Szechuan, tasting again very much like the flavoring of the hot and sour soup. Still, all in all, here was a large and hearty plate of food with nothing overcooked and plenty of variety.

With no descriptions attached to many dishes, we also ordered what the menu calls "moo shi" vegetables ($7.75) to be sure of having enough greens. This consisted of a large plate of attractive-looking, cooked shredded cabbage, onions, and carrots with half a dozen mandarin pancakes and hoisin sauce. Cabbage is traditionally the main ingredient in mu chu vegetables, but after being marinated and briefly simmered, its texture softens and reaches a point somewhere between sauerkraut and cole slaw, generally closer to slaw. Indeed, mu chu vegetables could be described as a hot, savory slaw eaten rolled in thin pancakes. The cabbage in China By The Sea's version is quite fresh and crunchy, and those used to a more traditional preparation may find it somewhat unsatisfactory.

Our bill, with enough leftovers carried home for a big lunch, came to $46.06. China By The Sea is not a place to go for Chinese food that is at all close to authentic, but for good, solid, fresh food cooked in Chinese styles, at reasonable prices, this restaurant would be hard to beat. And don't forget about the Mai Tais.

China By The Sea
73 Commercial Street
Boothbay Harbor
633-4449

Food: 3
Atmosphere: 3 1/2
Service: 3 1/2
Dinner hours: 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Monday to Sunday
Dinner menu available all day
Credit cards: all major
Price range: entrees $7.95 to $16.95
Vegetarian dishes: yes
Reservations: yes
Bar: full
Wheelchair access: yes
The bottom line: Very Americanized but solid, fresh food at reasonable prices in a
family-restaurant environment

RESTAURANT REVIEW: SIAM CITY CAFE IN PORTLAND MAINE

2011-05-11T05:57:00.000-07:00

Review of an enjoyable restaurant written for The Maine Sunday Telegram when I served as restaurant reviewer there. Menu, prices, and possibly other information are now out of date.

The snow swirled up the length of Fore Street and into our faces, and Siam City's cheery little bubble of light was welcome indeed as Portland's large snowstorm began.

We were enthusiastically greeted. Of course, the staff was glad to see anyone in such a storm, but friendly, helpful service was maintained through the evening as a number of others braved the weather.

Siam City is a charming place with a small entrance counter displaying fresh flowers, raw brick walls, black wood tables and chairs, pink linen napkins, and little cobalt blue glass light shades suspended over each table.

A huge bay window offers one of the most spectacular views in the city, a remarkable row of buildings on the other side of Fore Street, running from early to late 19th century. The swirling snow turned them into a scene from "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg."

Only a few items such as framed pictures hint at the restaurant's theme of "Thai country cuisine." I couldn't help wondering whether little Thailand had more than one cuisine, but checking later, I learned that "little" Thailand has a population about the size of France or Italy with more than sixty million people. So the equivalent of a Provence or Tuscan regional cuisine is a good possibility, though one I'd never hit upon.

Siam City has a small wine list, and while I generally regard wine as not a good match for the alternating fieriness and sweetness of Thai food, on a cold, blowy night, wine was most suitable to start. Bulletin Place Australian Shiraz ($5) went down nicely while watching the gusts outside and studying the menu.

There is a fairly small list of five appetizers. Our special of mussels steamed in a sauce of garlic, butter, and sake ($8) was tasty and generous, although I'm not aware that Japan has had any influence on Thai food, country or otherwise, but fusion dishes are found everywhere these days and need not reflect any historical influence.

Hot and sour shrimp soup ($6) is listed on the menu as "classic," but this version was a little different than any I have had. The familiar elements were mostly there, including four very large shrimp, although it did not have the vegetables often found in this soup, but the small Thai bird chilies had been roasted until they resembled very well cooked bits of bacon. This produced a sensation of savory sweetness along with the fieriness for which they are well known. This combination plus the fresh mint leaves sprinkled on top, rather than the more commonly used cilantro, made an extraordinary taste. The first spoonful perked up every bud on my tongue. This is a wonderful bowl of soup and is highly recommended.

We also sampled Thailand's spring rolls ($6.50), the tiny fried ones rather than the large, uncooked ones. The dish consists of four crab-meat-and-vegetable rolls plus a somewhat sweet dipping sauce with cucumber slices in it. They were good, but I have to say that they were disappointing after the wonderful soup. They just didn't have the texture or magical flavor I associate with them, the outside being an ordinary, smooth, well-fried wonton skin and the inside lacking a truly distinctive flavor of marinated crab. I also missed my favorite Southeast Asian method of eating fried spring rolls - that is, with fresh lettuce and mint or cilantro to wrap around each crisp roll before dipping.

Our som tum salad ($7) had the interesting combination of shredded papaya, carrot, garlic, chilies, cherry tomatoes, lime juice, and dried shrimp. This a good salad, a Thai "slaw" combining both astringent and hot flavors. The chewiness of the tiny dried shrimp resembles somewhat that of soft nuts.

Entrée selections on Siam City's menu are divided into several categories of four or so choices, each choice defined by a differing mix of vegetables or fruit, sauce, and noodles or rice - many of them available with either pork, chicken, beef, shrimp, or tofu.

Our gai teriyaki ($12) was listed as one of the chef's specials, but this dish was a disappointment. It consisted of some grilled boneless chicken coated with a thick teriyaki-flavored sauce sprinkled with sesame seeds, some very nice steamed broccoli, a few blanched carrot sticks, and a bowl-mold of rice. This was pedestrian both in presentation and taste. Teriyaki traditionally refers to the soy-stained, sugar-glaze produced on grilled meats after having been soaked in marinade, not to a thick brown sauce. This dish made a sort of Eastern blue-plate special - decent but unexciting food.

Our other entrée was called pad cashew nuts (with beef, $9.50). This dish was a colorful stir-fry of red peppers, scallions, snow peas, onion, cashew nuts, and beef, and it was served with a bowl-mold of rice. Again, while obviously more colorful than our other entrée, this plate didn't shine for appearance. Part of the reason was its being excessively soaked in sauce, giving it a bit of a vegetables-swimming look.

Its appearance was an accurate harbinger of its taste - good but unexciting food. Truly great stir frying accounts for the optimum heat exposure of each ingredient and adds them in descending order of required cooking time. Sauce should always be just enough to coat each piece, almost like a salad dressing. This clever, and deceptively simple, cooking method not only can produce everything just right in one pot, but served originally to conserve precious fuel resources. The cashew nuts, for example, in this dish were too soft - they should be tossed in only at the very end.

There are no desserts on the menu, and our waiter advised that the dish of fried bananas in a coconut sauce generally offered was not available that night.

Our bill came to $68.21. I am always disappointed to have to say that a new little restaurant, and particularly one with the charming looks and location of Siam City, is less than excellent, but that is the case here. The soup was astoundingly good, and perhaps other items on the menu may match it, still the overall impression of what we sampled was decent but unexciting.

Siam City Café
339 Fore Street
Portland
773-8389

Food: 3
Atmosphere: 4
Service: 4
Dinner hours: 5:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Monday to Thursday
4:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Friday and Saturday
Lunch hours: 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday to Friday
Credit cards: all major
Price range: entrees $8.75 to $16.
Vegetarian dishes: yes
Reservations: accepted
Bar: wine and beer
Wheelchair access: 2 steps at front with assistance
The bottom line: good but unexciting cooking in a cozy place with a beautiful view

RESTAURANT REVIEW: THE BRADLEY INN IN NEW HARBOR MAINE

2011-05-11T05:55:00.000-07:00

Review of an enjoyable restaurant written for The Maine Sunday Telegram when I served as restaurant reviewer there. Menu, prices, and possibly other information are now out of date.

Almost like the characters of a 19th century gothic novel, we arrived at The Bradley Inn in windy darkness after an exhausting coastal tour undertaken for the benefit of our visitors.

We were early, and a note at the desk advised that the hostess would return shortly. The place was very inviting, so we ventured to explore. The lobby gives on to a short hall where an open door reveals a marvelous closet stairway to rooms upstairs - the very thing you might find in a Brontë novel, or at least a Nancy Drew mystery. The hall ends in a spacious living room, an eclectic collection of Victorian and rustic Maine with plush couches, a blazing fireplace, deep red walls, and an oriental-style carpet.

We sat with our guests, thinking a drink here would be pleasant indeed. A man from the bar down the next hall, apparently aware of our wanderings, suddenly appeared and asked the right question. But his manner of asking was that of the novel's mysterious servant who makes the hero a bit uneasy. Our guests remarked on a somewhat terse manner.

We did quickly receive drinks and enjoyed pleasant conversation until we noted it was past 6 o'clock. I was surprised no one came to ask about dinner, but finding the hostess back on duty, I advised her of our reservation. Our gothic tale ended with her smile and the lovely table to which we were shown.

The cheerful coziness of the dining room includes thick, floral-pattern carpet and windows and French doors trimmed in heavy toile de Jouy drapery, and each table's white linen and heavy silver glow under tall candles in hurricane glass.

The wine list is six pages with about 150 listings. There are a good many bottles for under $25 and about fifteen selections by the glass. We had glasses of Cooper Mountain Select Pinot Noir, Williamette Valley, Oregon, 1997 ($9), and I can't imagine anything in its price range providing a more pleasing start to a meal.

Fried green tomatoes as an appetizer at a fine country inn? Wayne Brown's Fried Green Tomatoes ($5), with a light golden batter and a tartar sauce with fresh chives on top, do look finer than their rustic cousins. But while I adore ripe tomatoes - whether fried, roasted, stewed, or fresh - I never have yearned for green ones, and even this treatment failed to convince me of their merit. My remarkable research assistant, who does enjoy green tomatoes, did not care for the batter, the very thing I found appealing.

Bradley Inn's "Fritto Misto" ($9) is a mixed fry of calimari and Maine peekytoe crab cakes (Traditional Fritto Misto is roughly the Italian equivalent of Japanese tempura - fried, battered fish or meat and vegetables). Crab is one of my favorite shellfish and peekytoe crab is considered something of a delicacy, but the two small drum-shaped crab cakes on this plate were not particularly interesting, with the exquisite flavor of the flesh having been lost in coating, filling, and spicing. The calimari were good. The flavor of the "mustard dressing" somewhat resembled a relishy thousand-island dressing.

When our cream of asparagus soup ($6) arrived, I first used my spoon to locate some asparagus, but there was only the pretty parmesan and herb crouton in a light, creamy soup base. The soup however had been thoroughly infused with the flavor of asparagus. It was very good, though I much prefer a treatment that includes generous bits of the tender blanched stalks.

The menu had six entrees, thoughtfully including fish, beef, venison, pork, and duck.

Grilled Atlantic swordfish and Tuscan stew ($25) sounded delicious from the menu's description, looked beautiful when served, and proved the outstanding dish of the evening. The stew included chard, wild mushrooms, leeks, and beans in a fish stock with roasted cherry tomatoes scattered on top - a strikingly attractive dish. The fish was nicely grilled, and the stew made a superb match for it.

Less successful was pan-seared Scottish salmon ($22). The salmon was served over what the menu called "sweet potato polenta with Julienne of winter vegetables." The salmon was clearly done beyond what I had described when asked by our waiter - that is, flesh that is still moist and pink inside. The very finely Julienned vegetables beneath the salmon were mostly carrots which made an odd combination with sweet potatoes. I did very much like the texture of the thin, barely steamed vegetables against the mashed sweet potato.

Chocolate pot de crème ($6) is a chocolate-flavored custard with cream on top. This version tasted intensely of cocoa, and it had the somewhat dry-in-the-mouth quality that is characteristic of raw cocoa. A whiff of cocoa can add depth to many chocolate desserts, but this went beyond what is pleasant.

Cranberry gritz ($6) is a kind of fruity pudding, rather like tapioca in texture and consistency. The sweetness of this one rendered it a little too close to jam, however the Grand Marnier-flavored creamy sauce on top would be a happy match for a less sweet version of the pudding.

Our bill came to $135.36.

The Bradley Inn is charming, located near some of Maine's most beautiful coastal places. There are points of excellence in the Inn's cooking, but excellence is not consistent. This lack of consistency does not derive from quality of ingredients, which are all fine. Several of our dishes were what I call culinary-institute cooking, cooking that has the techniques and formal knowledge down well but lacks the seasoned, food-loving judgment that puts magic into food. The overdone salmon was, of course, not in this category, but our desserts and part of one entree very much were.

The meals eaten by our guests were not considered in this review since fairness and consistent treatment require that judgments be based only on dishes ordered for two.

The Bradley Inn
3063 Bristol Road
New Harbor
677-2105
www.bradleyinn.com

Food: 3 1/2
Atmosphere: 4 1/2
Service: 3 1/2
Dinner hours: 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Thursday to Sunday
Monday to Sunday in season
Credit cards: all major
Price range: entrees $22 to $25
Vegetarian dishes: yes
Reservations: recommended
Bar: full
Wheelchair access: staff help on front stair
The bottom line: A charming place, wonderful location - stylish but inconsistent
cooking, some excellence

RESTAURANT REVIEW: INN BY THE SEA IN CAPE ELIZABETH MAINE

2011-05-11T05:53:00.000-07:00

Review of an enjoyable restaurant written for The Maine Sunday Telegram when I served as restaurant reviewer there. Menu, prices, and possibly other information are now out of date.

The lobby to the Inn by the Sea is not large, but it is very pleasant with its inviting plush couches and fireplace. After inquiring at the desk about our reservation, we were asked to sit while the restaurant was advised that guests had arrived. Very shortly, a waiter appeared and offered drinks. Well, what could be more delightful just in from the cold than a perfectly made Manhattan ($7), especially under the spell of an artfully frosted Christmas tree and quiet gas fireplace?

The waiter returned in a few minutes to show us to our table. What an elegant, intimate room, as softly shadowed and warmly highlighted as a Rembrandt interior with candles flickering under shades on tables of white linen and fresh flowers. There are windows on three sides, many looking towards the sea, although, without moonlight on the water, you would not be aware of this. Recorded music of the Johnny Mathis-Bing Crosby type may not be to all tastes, but it was played as softly as the candles flickered.

The wine list has about sixty selections with about half a dozen available by the glass. A modest number of bottles are priced under $35, but many are well above this. There are, pleasantly, half a dozen excellent half bottles. Only something a little special seemed right for the atmosphere - the complex, smooth, but slightly peppery taste of Mont Redon Chateauneuf Du Pape (1997 - half bottle $25) matched the glow of the room.

In such a room and with a menu printed on fine moiré-patterned paper, one naturally expects understatement in all things, so an announcement that the lobster bisque ($10.95) had been voted "Maine's best" naturally aroused my interest. While the soup was thoroughly enjoyable, I found it short of top marks. It was a little on the thin side, and while delicately flavored with sherry and basil, the broth in the soup base was less flavorful than others in my memory. Still, this was a fine, enjoyable bowl of soup, even if a little over-hyped on the menu.

The Audubon winter salad ($7.95) with mixed greens, chevre cheese, and dried cherries in a mild balsamic vinaigrette was good. But the salad also included what the menu called "caramelized walnuts," and these proved to be small chunks of a walnut brittle, just too candy-like for such a salad. Simple roasted walnuts would have been far more suitable.

Considering an appetizer list that included half-shell oysters, crab cakes, and mixed grill - all fine things but none of them appearing to offer the promise of fresh treatment - wild mushroom turnovers ($7.95) stood out. I began fantasizing about delicate slices of wild mushrooms, a savory mushroom-infused sauce, and a perfect pastry.

But my fantasy was brought up short by two little triangles of folded phyllo pastry, clearly, even in soft light, not cooked to ideal delicate crispness. The fantasy faded altogether with the first bite of a filling something closer to a chopped and rather pasty mushroom stuffing, no more distinguished than streams of canapés served at countless cocktail parties. The marinated tomato slices with fresh basil served along side were excellent.

The broth of our cultivated Maine mussels ($8.95), steamed in "local ale," onions, garlic, and herbs, was tasty with very little salt, and the mussels would have been excellent except that they contained enough sandy grit to make your next appointment for a cleaning at the dentist unnecessary. This marked the only time I have been served mussels in this condition. Clearly, the kitchen had not sampled before putting them on the evening's menu, always the appropriate procedure for foods prone to such uncorrectable faults.

My indispensable research assistant does not put complaints quite so bluntly, so our waiter was artfully advised that the mussels were gritty. He whisked them away and very smoothly offered the chef's apologies and said they would of course not be reflected in the bill - another mark for excellent service, but definitely one down for the kitchen's attention to detail.

The entrée menu was not large and struck me as a little dull, including as it does mostly standards such as steamed lobster, rib-eye steak, sautéed sea food, and rack of lamb. Again, there was little indication on the menu of anything new or exciting being done with them.

I actually was a bit stuck making a choice, being mindful of my journalistic obligation to highlight anything special about a restaurant's offerings. There was one item that in all my travels and decades of cooking I had somehow managed never to try, pheasant. Perhaps this lapse is because the name is so thoroughly associated with the strictly posh, a bit like the fine swans eaten on the best tables in Elizabethan times. Pheasant also has some reputation for being dry. But when our excellent waiter advised that these birds were fresh from a local farm and very flavorful, it did seem the right time to try it.

The pheasant ($26.95) made a handsome plate with a generous serving of golden-skinned, slices of breast, a small fruit compote, some mixed wild rice, and beautifully steamed slices of zucchini, carrot, and thin asparagus spears. One could see the flesh of the slices was moist and not overcooked even before tasting. It had a substantial, meaty texture, and a refined, rather than gamy, flavor (but, of course, its being farm-raised may account for this). The compote with its dried fruit ingredient was a less successful accompaniment than had it been based solely on juicy fruit. The steamed vegetables were perfect with a touch of butter, wine, salt and pepper. The rice was very good.

Our other choice was pan-seared tournedos of beef ($26.95). The tournedos (a French designation for a tenderloin cut of less-than-filet quality) plate was handsome, with three beautifully rare pieces of meat topped with some boursin cheese flavored with artichoke hearts. But it had exactly the same rice and the same vegetables as the pheasant. While these were excellent, I do like to see more variety on the plates of fine restaurants. No matter how well done, this repetition communicates some sense of assembly line, rather than each plate being an individual creation.

There were four choices for dessert, all of them in the cake category - carrot cake, a flavored cheese cake, a torte-style tiramisu, and a chocolate cake. The choice again struck me as rather unimaginative for a fine restaurant, all clearly qualifying, no matter how well made, under the category of "dessert war-horses." The choice also reflected poor menu planning. Some pleasantly light or fruity offerings were clearly called for in view of the substantial and meaty entrees.

The carrot cake ($6.95) was tall, thickly coated with cream cheese-based frosting, and had a batter rich with walnuts. The chocolate cake ($6.95) was layered, served with some fresh (very woody) strawberries and the plate was laced with chocolate and strawberry syrups. Both cakes were very good, but we had to have doggy bags for most of them.

Our bill came to $141.94. The Audubon Room is a beautiful place with some very fine service - indeed, on that night at that table, I have to call the service exceptional. While cooking is sometimes excellent, quality is surprisingly inconsistent, and the menu lacks innovative or exciting choices. Attention to detail seems at times absent from the kitchen, as with the gritty mussels and the poorly suited selection of desserts.

The Audubon Room
Inn by the Sea
40 Bowery Beach Road (Route 77)
Cape Elizabeth
767-0888
www.innbythesea.com

Food: 3 1/2
Atmosphere: 4 1/2
Service: 5
Dinner hours: 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Monday to Sunday
Lunch hours: 12:00 noon to 2:00 p.m. Monday to Sunday
Credit cards: all major
Price range: entrees $21.95 to $27.95 plus three "priced daily"
Vegetarian dishes: yes
Reservations: yes
Bar: full
Wheelchair access: full
The bottom line: Beautiful room, fine service - some excellence and
inconsistency with less-than-imaginative menu

RESTAURANT REVIEW: RICETTA'S IN FALMOUTH MAINE

2011-05-11T05:51:00.000-07:00

Review of an enjoyable restaurant written for The Maine Sunday Telegram when I served as restaurant reviewer there. Menu, prices, and possibly other information are now out of date.

How do you experience the entertaining, noisy hubbub characteristic of a large eatery in New York on an evening in sleepy, suburban Falmouth? Until a few months ago, this question might have seemed silly.

But Ricetta's new location brings to the quiet of Falmouth some of the atmosphere you find eating in places like the New York Oyster Bar. While this result does not appear to have been entirely intentional, I find the buzz and hubbub entertaining, and I hope efforts under consideration to dampen sound do not go so far as to entirely change things.

A tall, exposed wooden roof and trusses, resembling what you might expect in a ski chalet, appears to act like a big dish, gathering and reflecting sounds from all over the busy restaurant. You can hear orders called, the buzz from dozens of conversations, and the clatter of plates - all quite entertaining.

The restaurant appears to be a great success. They don't take reservations on Fridays and Saturdays, and we waited about twenty minutes after being listed. Conveniently, just behind the front desk, there is a handsome bar where you may wait with a drink.

Apart from the bar, which has some glitter, the general appearance of the restaurant is subdued, almost austere, with light oxblood walls, and this helps explain the appeal of its lively sound. But for the blond dividers creating areas of regular tables and upholstered banquettes, the room would be something of a large barn interior. There are shelves, oddly like homemade bookcases, suspended above dividers by bolts or cables between end posts, but these appear to have no use. Some of the cables hold hanging plants to soften the austerity.

A friendly hostess came to get us just about right on time. There was some awkwardness here for you cannot have your bar bill transferred to your table, so you must settle up twice. All the staff we encountered were well-trained and pleasant; our waitress was especially so.

The wine list has about a dozen listings, all but one under $25, and all available by the glass as well as bottle. Two house wines, red and white, are available by the glass, liter carafe, or half-carafe. We enjoyed glasses of Foppiano California Cabernet Sauvignon ($6.50) and Ecco Domani Italian Merlot ($5.75).

I was advised the menu is the same one used at Ricetta's original location in South Portland, a place where I have only enjoyed the popular buffet of various wood-fired pizzas. It is a substantial and serious menu and includes the pizza.

Despite the new restaurant's somewhat austere appearance, there is nothing of the kind in its food philosophy. Ricetta's is dedicated to the happy proposition that no hearty eater shall leave the restaurant unsatisfied.

We took the word Antipasti quite literally, for out of a dozen appetizers - most of which are traditional, mercifully including only one chicken-finger offering - we selected both classic antipasto and antipasto verdura (each $7.25). The antipasto plate had slices of fontina and provolone, thick-cut Genoa salami, a bit of prosciutto, pesto chicken salad, marinaded mushrooms and artichoke hearts, and pepperoncini. The verdura version had the same cheeses, a fusilli pasta salad, artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, Kalamata olives, pepperoncini, and slices of fried eggplant with a savory tomato sauce on top.

These were both attractive and tasty, and heaped with enough food to provide lunch for most people and two lunches for some. A complete (premium) antipasto combining elements of both plates might be an offering worth considering because there are parts of each appetizer that go well with those of the other, and we really ended up with more cheeese and pepperoncini than we wanted.

The menu has a choice of salads, but entrees come with a house offering of iceberg, romaine, green pepper, white mushrooms, broccoli florets, pepperoncini, red cabbage, and red onion. Few will be disappointed by its size, and the taste was good if not notable. The blue cheese dressing, however, was notable, nicely balanced and creamy, and I very much enjoyed the traditional service of oil and red-wine vinegar in flasks.

Linguini Bolognese ($9.25) with meatballs ($1.60) was a small pasta hill covered with a dense and textured layer of sauce. The sauce was good, but it did lack the piquancy and complexity that simmering green pepper and other vegetable bits bring to great Bolognese. It was exceptionally thick with clumps of ground meat, although these seemed to have the drier texture of meat previously cooked, contrasting noticeably with the meatballs which were plump and juicy. The pasta was cooked agreeably for all but extreme pasta fanciers, it being an almost impossible chore to deliver al dente pasta consistently in large, busy establishments.

Linguini with mussels marinara ($11.25) looked quite striking with the blue, black and silver of opened mussels, each releasing wisps of steam, scattered in red sauce. There was a generous helping of mussels in the marinara sauce - a simple tomato sauce flavored with oregano, sauteed onion and garlic - served over the same hill-sized helping of linguini. The mussels were delicious, nicely simmered in a sauce whose garlic flavor well suits them.

Our dolce were plain cannoli ($2.95) and tiramisu ($4.25). The cannoli were plain only in the sense of having no chocolate chips or fruit in the filling. The shell was delightfully crisp, the filling as creamy smooth as you could wish.

Tiramisu is one of those dishes whose appearance is almost unpredictable, sometimes resembling a many-layered Viennese torte and sometimes resembling scoops of pudding. Ricetta's is of the latter type, what sometimes is called the Italian version of English trifle. It is extremely rich and creamy, and if there were one thing we sampled I would strongly recommend, this would be it. But it should come safely labeled as utterly fatal to willpower and even the most scrupulously followed diet.

Our total bill was $68.

Ricetta's
240 U.S. Route 1
Falmouth
781-3100

Food: 3 1/2
Atmosphere: 3
Service: 4
Dinner hours: 11:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Sunday to Thursday
11:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Friday and Saturday
with the same menu for lunch and dinner
Credit cards: all major
Price range: entrees $8.25 to $11.95
Vegetarian dishes: yes
Reservations: not on Fridays and Saturdays
Bar: full
Wheelchair access: throughout
The bottom line: Hearty food with some excellence - lively sounds and subdued looks

RESTAURANT REVIEW: SHOGUN IN SCARBOROUGH MAINE

2011-05-11T05:49:00.000-07:00

Review of an enjoyable restaurant written for The Maine Sunday Telegram when I served as restaurant reviewer there. Menu, prices, and possibly other information are now out of date.

Dinner at Shogun was a slightly odd experience. The cooking style is what is generally covered by the Japanese word teppanyaki. In the late 1970s or early 1980s, teppanyaki became very stylish, and restaurants opened in cities all over North America, many of them owned and operated by Japanese firms. In my experience, these were always expensive, rather posh establishments aimed at executives on expense accounts.

But at Shogun, surroundings certainly aren't fancy and patrons dress as casually as they would at a small neighborhood bar. My first reaction at finding this style of cooking in such a modest place was a little like finding filet mignon served at a church supper.

There is a hint of authentic Japan in Shogun's interior with small sections of rice-paper screen on the upper part of area dividers. But overall, it is a pretty nondescript place with rough rec-room paneling, uninteresting wallpaper, and well-worn carpet - effectively a great long barn of a room, broken into areas by dividers, with an atmosphere resembling a small-town lodge hall. Dim lighting helps to soften and obscure details.

Shogun's combined eating-cooking areas have large overhead vent hoods with lights above the griddles and look a little like a series of pool tables under suspended lights in a dimly lit room. Chairs around the griddles are the black-vinyl, squared-tube standards found in the waiting rooms of innumerable government offices. The distance between chairs and walls is minimal, so, with each griddle area accommodating eight people, getting in or out can be awkward.

The menu is unusual for such a place. There are only the basic teppanyaki dinners of beef, chicken, seafood, and combinations of the same items. There are no kitchen alternatives such as tempura, and, other than a small order of shrimp done in the same style as shrimp on the dinner menu, there are no appetizers. There are also no desserts. All dinners come with the same small bowl of soup, salad, and brown rice.

The young woman taking orders gave the impression of wishing she were somewhere else, seeming uninterested in what she was doing. So it was neither service nor ambiance that drew people to Shogun. Although I must say that once our cook got going - the cook for each area only shows up after patrons have had drinks, soup, and salad - he proved very personable and entertaining.

We had beer ($2.95) - there is a very limited selection - and sake ($3.75). We had the sake warm as is traditional, although the menu also offers it cold. Warm sake is perfect for teppanyaki, and placing the little pottery flask (tokkuri) along the edge of the large griddle allows you to keep it warm.

Japanese soups are simple, and Shogun's was extremely so, being a clear stock with a few scallion slices, a couple of mushroom slices, and - something I've not seen before - a few bits of fried onion.

The salad, which was not Japanese, consisted of chunks of iceberg lettuce with some carrot slices. It looked, and probably sounds, dull. But here was a sparkling little dressing that gave new life to what otherwise would be a lodge-hall salad, a nicely balanced blend of soy sauce, sugar, ginger, and rice-wine vinegar.

When the chef appeared with his meats, vegetables, sauce bottles, and tools, I knew that if he was skilled at his business, the explanation for people coming to Shogun would soon be apparent, for teppanyaki is a very delicious, albeit simple, method of cooking.

Restaurant teppanyaki is a commercial scale-up of cooking traditionally done in Japanese homes with fry pans over extremely modest cooking facilities - small spirit burners or electric hot plates - right near the table. Many authentic Japanese dishes are cooked in small batches with people sharing and eating one batch as the next is prepared.

One of the special pleasures of teppanyaki is the warmth and juiciness of food right from the griddle. Being gathered around the griddle also generates, particularly after some sake and banter from the cook, a very friendly atmosphere.

The chef went to work, oiling his griddle, then starting his vegetables. His large knife is used to chop the vegetables, zucchini and big, sweet onions, into finger-sized pieces which are doused with flavorings, salt and pepper and a soy- and ginger-flavored sauce. Soon the vegetables were ready, and at the last minute bean sprouts were added. Quickly he scooped piles onto a long spatula and slid them steaming and savory onto the waiting plates of each person.

I thought the taste sensational, and my highly paid research assistant agreed.

Part of restaurant teppanyaki is theater. The chefs become extraordinarily adept with knives and flipping food around and using salt and pepper shakers like percussion instruments. At Shogun, the chef briefly turns on a strobe light during his culinary choreography for an amusing stop-motion effect.

The chef started the meats while we had our vegetables, our filet mignon ($18.95) coming first. The beautiful red chunk of beef was quickly chopped and seasoned and set steaming on the griddle. Fresh, sliced mushrooms were added. The chef skillfully flipped a piece of beef over to my plate so I could tell him whether it was at the point I asked for. The meat was perfect. Scoop, scoop, and he's on to the scallops ($17.95).

The cooking method works well for beef, shellfish, or chicken, but there is a natural affinity here for beef. It produces juicy, savory flesh that virtually melts in your mouth, and I simply do not know a tastier way to have a fine piece of beef.

Our bill was $58.24. Despite Shogun's worn and uninteresting appearance and less-than- enthusiastic service, the teppanyaki portion of our dinner was excellent, as good as I've had at a much more expensive place.

A note to avoid confusion: Shogun refers to its cooking as hibachi style rather than teppanyaki, but I think there is some Americanization at work here, for hibachis are small charcoal barbecue grills.

Shogun Japanese Steak House
238 Gorham Road (Route 114)
Scarborough
883-2151

Food: 4
Atmosphere: 2
Service: 2 1/2
Dinner hours: 4:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Sunday to Thursday
4:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Friday to Saturday
Credit cards: all major
Price range: entrees $13.75 to $27.95
Vegetarian dishes: no
Reservations: accepted
Bar: full
Wheelchair access: yes
The bottom line: Delicious teppanyaki in a no-frills environment

RESTAURANT REVIEW: SEASIDE PARK IN PORTLAND MAINE

2011-05-11T05:46:00.000-07:00

Review of an enjoyable restaurant written for The Maine Sunday Telegram when I served as restaurant reviewer there. Menu, prices, and possibly other information are now out of date.

Seaside Park is new restaurant on Portland's quaint and narrow Exchange Street, as fine a location as you could wish for an intimate, cozy place.

Inside, there are dark wooden tables and chairs, brick walls, soft blue-sponged plaster walls, some interesting pictures and sculptures, dried flower arrangements, an aquarium, and recorded soft classical music - in short, it is a relaxed place with a feeling somewhere between a slightly artsy coffee house and a pleasant neighborhood restaurant.

Arriving early, we were fortunate to be seated at one of the tall windows that provide nearly floor-to-ceiling views of the street. The windows are outlined with strings of Italian lights covered with twiggy material resembling small nests or baskets. At twilight, these provided a frame of warm, diffused light around a streetscape of autumn-yellowed trees and century-old façades - quite beautiful.

Service at Seaside Park is friendly, informed, and helpful.

There is a very small wine list with seven selections available by the glass and another four by the bottle. We enjoyed glasses of Melini Borghi Chianti ($4.50) and R. H. Phillips' California Chardonnay ($3.95).

The small list of appetizers includes several that are fairly standard pub-grub selections such as chicken strips and sauce, steamers, and quesadillas. But two stood out as seeming beyond the ordinary - a spicy shrimp, artichoke, and spinach dip ($7.99) and lobster corn cakes ($6.99).

The dip comes in a generous bowl surrounded by thick, warm slices of a foccacia-like bread. It is deliciously rich, and you can taste the shrimp, the artichoke, and the spinach plus loads of fresh garlic. They probably could get by with serving about half as much dip, but until they realize that, this is a garlic-lover's delight that could provide a small lunch.

The lobster cakes were coated with crumbled corn flakes - hence, the corn in the name - which have the appealingly rough texture of Japanese panko breadcrumbs when nicely sauteed, as these were. Although the flavor of lobster was apparent, they were not made entirely of lobster, but they were delicate and tasty with the texture of whole pieces of seafood. The sauce drizzled over them resembled the kind of Russian dressing used in Reuben sandwiches, and I felt this detracted from their excellence.

The soup of the day ($3.99) was cream of mushroom, and it was a fine bowl of soup. Lots of mushroom slices flavored a thick, creamy base, made fragrant with rosemary, an excellent herb to accompany mushrooms.

There is no choice of salad at Seaside Park. All entrees come with a house salad. This is a quality, home-style salad of tomato wedges, mesclun mix, zucchini slices, a few Kalamata olives, and a couple of pepperoncini, all tossed with a mild vinaigrette and served handsomely in a wooden bowl with salad spoon and fork.

The menu is not large, and seafood is featured, varying from deep-fried items and standards like lobster pie or stuffed haddock to a few more unusual items such as "pecan salmon." There is a selection of beef, pork, and chicken.

Our "porterhouse" pork chop ($13.95) was a remarkable piece of meat - quite massively thick, grilled and braised in apple jack (American apple brandy) and onions. It was served with a raisin-laced, bread-cube stuffing, making a tasty combination, and came with very creamy mashed potatoes. Actually, they were the "smashed" variety (with bits of skin) that are becoming increasingly and annoyingly common, but in this case they were so richly mashed with cream that they were just fine.

Seaside Park's plate of scallop and shrimp kabobs ($12.95) consists of two generous skewers of large shrimp and scallops interspersed with onion and green pepper chunks, grilled with a bourbon-flavored, tomato-based barbecue sauce and served over rice. These were very attractive in appearance, and I enjoyed them, though I thought them cooked a touch beyond the ideal of still-moist shellfish and still-crunchy green pepper, but this is always a risk with grilling such delicate items. Included on the plates of both entrees was a serving of a kind of Mexican corn which might just as well have been left off since it much resembled something from a can.

Our desserts were custard pie ($3.49) and strawberry shortcake ($4.99). The custard pie was good, with a decent crust, but the custard was too firmly jellied for my taste. However, my tireless research assistant thought it quite good. I should probably not have ordered strawberry shortcake out of season. What I received was an attractive home-made biscuit with strawberries and juice that had the texture and sweetness of frozen. Instead of whipped cream, there were several dollops of the same marshmallow-flavored topping that was on the pie.

Our bill came to $78.57. One senses a bit of culinary confusion at Seaside Park with its location, appearance, and some menu items giving an impression of some sophistication and innovation while much of the menu consists of fairly prosaic items. Cooking is good home-style, but quality is inconsistent as with a handsomely prepared piece of meat and the Mexican corn on the same plate or an excellent appetizer and a not-very-good strawberry shortcake.

Seaside Park Restaurant
82 Exchange
Portland
772-2737

Food: 3
Atmosphere: 3 1/2
Service: 4
Dinner hours: 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Monday to Thursday
4:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Friday to Sunday
Lunch hours: 11:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday to Sunday
Credit cards: all major
Price range: entrees $9.99 to $15.99 plus one at "market"
Vegetarian dishes: yes
Reservations: yes
Bar: full
Wheelchair access: step only with assistance
The bottom line: home-cooking with a touch of sophistication in a relaxed atmosphere

RESTAURANT REVIEW: GREAT IMPASTA IN BRUNSWICK MAINE

2011-05-11T05:42:00.000-07:00

Review of an enjoyable restaurant written for The Maine Sunday Telegram when I served as restaurant reviewer there. Menu, prices, and possibly other information are now out of date.

The Great Impasta is a pleasant little neighborhood restaurant located at one end of Brunswick's handsome Maine Street, near Route One. Its ambiance recalls the kind of cozy places once often found in the neighborhoods of our very large cities.

The restaurant has a row of appealing wooden booths along each wall and a single row of tables between. One wall is mirrored to increase the sense of space and the other features a mural on themes of Venice bearing some resemblance to the colorful, printed boxes used by some pizza places. The back of the restaurant, with painted bricks and a striped awning, has the kitchen partly visible through windows under the awning. It's the kind of place where you expect to find red-and-white checked tablecloths and Chianti bottles with candles, but I don't think anyone still does this. These tables are set with blue-and-white checked napkins, a small oil lamp, and some fresh flowers.

They do a very good business with a crowd that included a number of families with children and what appeared to be students from Bowdoin. And it is no wonder since generous portions are offered at reasonable prices. Although no reservations are accepted, if you call before you come, they will put you on the waiting list. Service is informal and adequate.

The Great Impasta has a small wine list, eight items, with every selection available by the glass. Four additional house wines are available by the glass, half carafe, or carafe. Most selections are less than $20 per bottle. Well, what could be more fitting than Chianti? A glass of the house Inglenook ($3.50) was pleasant enough and made a good accompaniment to our basket of warm, short rolls, dripping with garlic butter.

Pizza carciofi ($4.95) is an appetizer consisting of a fat chunk of focaccia covered with artichoke hearts, pesto, sun-dried tomatoes, and grated Fontinella cheese. It was very good, but after the deliciously oily bread and with the prospect of pasta ahead, I knew my carbohydrate intake would be off the scale, but thoughts like this seem inappropriate to the mood of such a place and are quickly banished by another bite of bread.

Our special appetizer of polenta ($5.95) had four sticks (fagottini) of polenta, each wrapped with prosciutto and drizzled with rosemary-garlic olive oil. The polenta was admirably smooth and moist. But, despite my love of rosemary, there was too much of it in the oil. We found ourselves picking off bits. Still, this was a tasty, substantial appetizer.

There is no selection of salads offered, but all entrees come with what the menu calls an "antipasto-style salad." This consisted of Romaine, tomato chunks, red onion, garbonzo beans, croutons, a few strips of salami and some black olive slices in a pleasant vinaigrette. It was a good salad, my only criticism being the olives. These were bland, ripe California-canned. How much more exciting and suitable would be the savory taste of Italian oil-cured or Sicilian green olives.

Entrees do indeed focus on pasta, ranging from dishes with cheese and vegetables to seafood, and there is a small selection of chicken and veal plus one risotto. There are a few classics like lasagna and spaghetti Bolognese, but many such as ravioli, cacciatore, or parmigiana dishes are not found. The overall "feel" of the menu is a mix between the traditions of small American-Italian restaurants and the more contemporary world of young-urban concepts of pasta, perhaps with the latter dominant. The menu, somewhat in the fashion of a fast-food operation, offers a choice of combining any of its pastas with any of its sauces.

Our gamberi e pollo ($10.95) had slices of chicken breast over a large plate of fettuccine flavored with black pepper and a sauce of sour cream, wine, walnuts, and small shrimp. This was a flavorful dish, and the serving was large enough to take some home for next day's lunch.

Being a lover of the very comforting pasta classics associated with checked tablecloths and Chianti bottles with candles, I couldn't resist spaghetti Bolognese ($8.95) with meat balls ($2.75). The plate was generous and appealing. The sauce is chunky, as it should be, made with diced tomatoes with a fair amount of ground meat in it, but it was somewhat flat-tasting, lacking the bits of vegetables such as green pepper that characterize a good Bolognese sauce, which, after all, is sometimes called a stew (ragu). The pasta, the thin spaghetti fedelini, was cooked a little beyond al dente. Still, this was a decent and substantial plate of meat-sauced spaghetti for a reasonable price.

The extra meat balls, however, were disappointing, having a very high content of bread and no interesting seasoning, not even the flavor of sauce since they are not simmered in any.

The dessert menu has five items on it, but we didn't need to look beyond the first two, tiramisu ($3.50) and cannoli ($2.95). And this is where The Great Impasta most excelled. Its house-made version of tiramisu is a rich, layered concoction of espresso-flavored lady fingers, chocolate cake, pound cake, mascarpone-custard, whipped cream and coffee brandy. It is moist - rich with the tastes of brandy, coffee, and chocolate - and delicious.

Great Impasta also makes its own cannoli. The fried, rolled pastry, somewhat resembling a good waffle cone, is stuffed with sweet Ricotta-cheese filling, flavored this particular day with pineapple bits and coconut. There was no skimping on the pineapple bits - the filling was loaded with them.

These two desserts, considering both their quality and their reasonable prices, must rank among the great restaurant values you'll find anywhere.

Our bill came to $57.25. And I almost felt like imitating a character in an old Vittorio De Sica movie who, during a huge family meal, unbuttons his pants under the table to ease his bulging stomach.

The Great Impasta
42 Maine Street
Brunswick
729-5858

Food: 3 1/2
Atmosphere: 3 1/2
Service: 3
Dinner hours: 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Monday to Thursday
4:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Friday and Saturday
Lunch hours: 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Monday to Saturday
Credit cards: all major
Price range: entrees $8.95 to $12.95
Vegetarian dishes: yes
Reservations: no
Bar: full
Wheelchair access: yes
The Bottom Line: A cozy, busy little place with some good values

RESTAURANT REVIEW: BAKEHOUSE CAFE IN PORTLAND MAINE

2011-05-11T05:39:00.000-07:00

Review of an enjoyable restaurant written for The Maine Sunday Telegram when I served as restaurant reviewer there. Menu, prices, and possibly other information are now out of date.

Located on Portland's waterfront Commercial Street, Bakehouse Café sits comfortably with the area's 19th-century, carriage-trade facades, despite its more contemporary structure and painted bricks. Shaped like a large slice of cake tucked into a back corner of the small, rectangular property, the building allows for a piazza containing a handsome tree, tables, chairs and umbrellas, separated from the sidewalk by a low wall. Tables, chairs, umbrellas, and planters behind another low wall on the roof's perimeter provide a second alfresco dining area visible from the sidewalk. One has the pleasant sensation of a small building spilling over top and bottom with diners enjoying the urban waterfront.

The building's interior dining room is actually quite small, with a good deal of space taken up by the bakery, kitchen, and sales counter (on weekday mornings, people stop to buy baked goods and coffee to take away or eat there). A short, curved stairway takes you to the roof. The view is splendid with the water, a well-known restaurant ship, and some handsome condominiums. But this is no mere waterfront view. You are perched right above Commercial Street with all its tourists and others bustling about in the evening. This is a great place for people-watching.

Bakehouse Café has a one-page wine list with the majority of selections at under $20, making it reasonable to spend an extended time sipping, talking, and observing. About half of them are available by the glass. We settled in with a Campo de Borja, Borsao, 1998 ($5.50) and a Sauvignon Blanc, Domaine Cherrier, 1999 ($5.50).

Our waitress was pleasant and helpful. Service is casual and seems a bit slow at times, but the unusual set-up requires staff to go up and down stairs very often, and, besides, this is more a café with an extended menu than a true restaurant. Service that does need improving is the attention paid those waiting downstairs to be seated. While we waited, a staff member was playfully talking in the kitchen area for several minutes, the same person who finally did seat us. This person also did not understand my mentioning our reservation so that she might check it off, making an initial impression of things being disorganized.

We had the soup of the day, a leek and mushroom soup (cup $3), and a seafood chowder (bowl $7). The special was a clear broth thick with bits of leek and slices of mushroom - a very tasty soup. The chowder had chunks of salmon, and large pieces of potato in a stock thickened a bit with white sauce and bits of leek - a nice variation of a classic.

There are several quite delicious-sounding salads on the menu - including lobster and asparagus with lemon vinaigrette or crab, avocado, and roasted corn with raspberry vinaigrette. The special of arugula, prosciutto, and fresh figs ($10) intrigued us enough to try it. Our other choice was fresh greens with olives and parmesan ($7).

The arugula was covered with thinly sliced red onions and dressed by a vinaigrette and cracked pepper and was served over a substantial layer of sliced prosciutto - all ringed by sections of fresh figs. This made an unexpected and interesting combination of flavors - perhaps, one I would not choose a second time, but well worth trying.

The greens consisted of standard mesclun mix, some small grape-tomatoes, a few olives, the same very thin red onions, and a balsamic vinaigrette - nothing out of the ordinary, but a very good salad.

The menu at Bakehouse Café is small and largely focused on seafood. The bouillabaisse ($18) caught my eye immediately. Our waitress assured me that while she couldn't judge, a lot of people returned for it. We also found citrus-glazed chicken with a cantaloupe- asparagus salsa ($12) appealing.

The bouillabaisse is a truly impressive plate - a large, shallow bowl with half a lobster, a number of mussels, and chunks of haddock beautifully arranged in a thick, traditional-looking orange broth . Two pieces of garlic bread, made from baguette and buttered thickly, rested on the lip of the plate. Now, this particular combination of seafood is not classic bouillabaisse, but who cares about classic when you have a combination like this? It was a delicious plate, although I have two reservations. The broth had more salt than it should have, and shellfish in broth is a bit tricky to eat at a plastic, outdoor table which doesn't have a lot of tolerance for jerky or forceful actions like tearing off claws. Another, minor point: The garlic bread was so hard that it was difficult to bite without soaking in the broth, which of course is a nice thing to do anyway.

The chicken breast was grilled and prettily covered with the colorful little chunks of cantaloupe, asparagus, and prosciutto plus shredded bits of basil. The chicken's glaze was a successful flavor match, but the flesh itself was grilled too long, quite drying out its juiciness - easy to do with skinless breast, lacking its protective layer of fat. It was accompanied by some excellent roasted red potato chunks and grilled green beans.

Our desserts were fruit tart and blueberry cheesecake. The cheesecake resembled the dry, cakey types from Eastern Europe with its browned exterior, rather than New York style. But I was pleasantly surprised to find under its brown skin a silky, moist cheesecake - truly excellent. The blueberries were baked in the batter rather than serving as sauce or accompaniment, and I would have favored being more generous with them.

The tart was quite a disappointment. Resembling fruit-covered European tarts, this one differed in two respects, both of which detracted from its flavor and texture. The fruit slices, strawberries and kiwi, were not glazed, and with strawberries at this time of year being on the woody side and less than naturally sweet and juicy, it very much needed the traditional apricot glaze. Under the fruit, Bakehouse's version had a layer of saturated, crushed nuts instead of pastry cream. This was not a successful substitution, adding unpleasant dryness to woody strawberries.

Our bill came to $83.46. As we left, evening had fully descended, and the various lights of the Bakehouse Café cast an enchanting urban spell over bricks, umbrellas, and tables of people.

Bakehouse Café
205 Commercial Street
Portland
773-2217

Food: 3 1/2
Atmosphere: 4
Service: 3 1/2

Dinner hours: 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Thursday to Saturday only
Lunch hours: 11:00 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday to Friday
Brunch: 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Saturday and Sunday
Credit cards: all major cards
Price range: entrees $10 to $18 plus two "priced daily"
Vegetarian dishes: yes
Reservations: accepted for dinner
Bar: full
Wheelchair access: ground floor
The bottom line: some imaginative food on the urban waterfront

RESTAURANT REVIEW: JONATHAN'S IN OGUNQUIT MAINE

2011-05-10T12:35:00.000-07:00

Review of an enjoyable restaurant written for The Maine Sunday Telegram when I served as restaurant reviewer there. Menu, prices, and possibly other information are now out of date.

Jonathan's is a large establishment, in some ways resembling a mansion with many different rooms. Each room is decorated individually, and each varies in size from one suitable for an intimate party to one suitable for a very large group. The restaurant specializes in banquets and catering, and the variety of rooms reflects this fact, although it appears to do a substantial business as a restaurant.

The room into which we were shown is handsome with forest-green walls, walnut and glass French doors, and a whole wall of windows looking out onto a wildflower garden. It somewhat resembles a long, closed-in porch area with the ceiling sloping down towards the windows, although with carpeting, white tablecloths, and a handsome set of framed prints of flowers displayed on the walls, it is nothing like an actual porch.

One window, covered with a lace curtain, looks into the next room, a smaller one whose walls are buttery yellow. In the passageway, just outside the door where we entered, is a beautifully mounted display of china on the wall. All in all, it is a very pleasant place.

Service is very informal and friendly.

Jonathan's has a wine list available by the bottle plus a small selection of wines by the glass, mainly from California. We had a Dunnewood white Zinfandel ($5.95) and a Rabbit Ridge Merlot ($7.95). The Zinfandel was very nice of its type - crisp, fruity, and slightly sweet. The Merlot was a disappointment, especially coming from the "Premium" list. It has a good deal of bite in the first part of the taste, although the after-taste has the characteristic berries-in-dusky-wine quality of good Merlot.

Jonathan's serves two good breads, slices of a Tuscan and a dark grainy loaf, the latter being especially good (available from a local bakery according to our waitress).

To accompany the bread we had clam chowder ($4.75) and a special of "rustic" white bean soup ($5). The chowder was full of clams and bits of onion and potato in a creamy base, a little thinner than my preference, but very tasty. The white bean soup was thick and much darker in appearance than our notion of rustic led us to expect. The flavor of vinegar was distinct, as were the flavors of tomato and sugar - a little off-putting when what we expected was a more traditional soup base of stock flavored mainly by ham and thickened by beans.

Our spinach, endive, and blue cheese salad ($6.95) had a nice mound of only the tender, baby leaves, a substantial amount of crumbled blue cheese, a couple of pieces of endive, and was dressed with a balsamic vinaigrette - a very good salad, except that the endive pieces were a little tired. The mixed greens ($4.75) were fresh and crisp, dressed in a piquant Dijon vinaigrette.

The first thing we noted about our entrees - chicken "Francaise" ($17.50) and broiled Maine scallops ($19) - was that the plates each had the same setup. There was a scoop of ratatouille, a few whole green beans, a serving of mashed squash, and a serving of mashed potatoes. I glanced around the room and noticed the same thing at some other tables. Here clearly was the influence of banquets and catering - production-line plates with only the meat varying.

Still, as a devotee of good vegetables, I'll never complain about such variety on my plate. And these were mostly quite good - the squash especially. The mashed potatoes successfully used an old trick for enhancing flavor - some seasoned chicken broth stirred in (reduced works best). The ratatouille was okay but resembled more zucchini chunks in a tomato sauce thickened with other elements rather than the classic, balanced stew of zucchini, eggplant, tomato, and onion. The green beans were crisp.

Our chicken had a sauce of beurre blanc (white wine and shallot reduction with butter thickening). The sauce was quite good, but the chicken was cooked too long, suffering a loss of juiciness and texture. This may in part have been due to the fact that it was very hot when served, and residual heat continues cooking things, especially delicate things. Thin slices of chicken sauté very quickly and anything more is destructive. This may very well reflect the needs and habits of banquet fare where the kitchen must turn out several hundred meals at one time, all of them at least warm (perhaps the result of heat lamps?).

We received a nice serving of large scallops, but their presentation in a little metal tray with clear liquid on the bottom and heavily coated with bits of cilantro wilted in the broiling was pedestrian and unattractive. Again, in appearance one was reminded of banquet fare where large quantities served quickly leave little room for fine touches. Herbs like cilantro are best added either after cooking or at the last moment of cooking to hold their fresh color and full aromatic quality. Still, the scallops were not overcooked and retained their natural goodness, the other elements neither adding nor greatly subtracting from them.

There is an interesting range of desserts at Jonathan's from tiramisu and chocolate mousse to baked figs. We selected warm bread pudding ($5) - recommended by our waitress - and a Kahlua parfait ($7.50).

The bread pudding was very appealing - a large, moist square of dense pudding with warm caramel sauce dripped over it. The caramel sauce was an especially attractive idea, but proved not so happy in the eating. The sauce was solidifying as the plate sat there, and the caramel became the almost hard, glassy stuff made from sugar and water that hasn't been properly tempered. Bits turned brittle on the fork and in the teeth - not altogether pleasant.

The parfait was disappointing both in appearance and taste - a small glass of ice cream with a bit of the tasty liqueur poured over and melting the ice cream. A much nicer way to do these is to create several alternating layers of liqueur (the liqueur having been thoroughly chilled first) and ice cream. Such a parfait may be kept in the freezer well ahead of use with no difficulty (and so much for my recipe tip of the week, readers).

Our bill came to $103.59. We had a filling, nutritious meal, with some very good points, but there was no culinary excitement in the things we sampled.

Jonathan's
2 Bourne Lane, Ogunquit
646-4777
www.jonathansrestaurant.com

Food: 3
Atmosphere: 3 1/2
Service: 3

Dinner hours: 5:00 to 10:00 PM Monday through Sunday

Lunch hours: not served

All major credit cards
Vegetarian dishes: one
Price range: entrees $15.50 to $25 (one special at $37.50)
Reservations: accepted

Bar: full
Wheelchair access: throughout
Solid banquet-style food in a set of very attractive rooms

RESTAURANT REVIEW: UNION BLUFF HOTEL IN YORK BEACH MAINE

2011-05-10T12:33:00.000-07:00

Review of an enjoyable restaurant written for The Maine Sunday Telegram when I served as restaurant reviewer there. Menu, prices, and possibly other information are now out of date.

The Union Bluff Hotel sits on a rise across one end of York Beach, a beautiful, wide swath of ivory and silver sand that stretches to another distant bluff dotted with homes. There is a powerful image here of small village set against the ocean's vastness.

The hotel has the character of an earlier era, galleries of wooden porches facing the beach from a graceful, tall white clapboard building with touches of New England gingerbread. Nicely maintained while not overly gentrified, the building is authentically Maine.

And it is the same inside. The dining room is fairly small with a cozy, slightly home-spun look to it. There are tablecloths, little shaded candle fixtures on each table, some old framed prints here and there, carpeting, and a set of booths on one wall invitingly upholstered in tapestry-cloth. A large mural of the coast, opposite the booths, has the naïve charm of a painting by Grandma Moses. There are a few tables at the front with windows, but the shape of the old building means much of the dining room does not have an ocean view.

With the salt air still in our lungs and our eyes still adjusting from the glimmering brightness of the beach, what could have been more fitting than a waiter who is a former lobsterman? Our dinner included a couple of stories about catching the beasts plus a few pointers on eating them, and you just don't find service with a friendlier face.

Union Bluff has a full bar with a nice selection of draft beers from different places but a limited choice of wines. We had a glass of black, creamy-topped Guinness Stout - a very happy fit for Union Bluff's fare - and the house Merlot, a decent wine for those who consider a glass of red wine as the gastronomic prerequisite to almost any dinner.

The soup of the day was potato and ham ($3.50), recommended by our waiter with "smells awfully good out in the kitchen." And it was good, a hearty potage of potatoes, carrot, and onion, heavily larded with ham bits - a variation of thick pea soup. The peel-and-eat-shrimp ($7.95) had a generous serving of the critters. The sea-food sauce was standard ketchup-and-horseradish variety - light on horseradish and lemon for my taste.

Entrees at Union Bluff include a chief's salad, and a very decent, fresh salad it is. The blue cheese dressing was fairly ordinary stuff. The house crab-cream dressing, which struck me as a delightful-sounding concoction, was creamy but the flavor of crab was elusive.

Our entrees were haddock in a brown bag ($15.95), a house specialty and again recommended by our sea-faring waiter, and steamed lobster ($16.95 for a pound plus $4.00 per quarter pound additional). The haddock is baked, literally in a paper bag, with a few slices of red onion, green pepper, a dollop of lemon butter, and a splash of Chardonnay. They've got the timing for this dish down well. The haddock flesh almost resembles plump scallops. The flavorings suit it nicely. My only quibble here is the light sprinkling of breadcrumbs. With a steamed dish - which is what brown-bag baking effectively is - breadcrumbs simply do not work, only becoming soggy. The plate came with crisp French fries - skins still on - and a piece of corn on the cob.

The lobster came, gleaming red and cheerfully posed, with a generous container of drawn butter and the same French fries and piece of corn. Now, steamed lobster is not a demanding cooking chore, there being a formula set according to weight and closely followed by all restaurants because of the cost of wasting any of these extremely valuable crustaceans. I've yet to experience a poorly prepared lobster in Maine, and this proved no exception - delicious stuff, my only objection being there is never enough of it. When we thought the lobster was finished, our waiter, truly an expert on the arcane points of lobsters, explained the location of a few morsels we missed. And we promptly followed his advice.

Desserts at Union Bluff stick to the tried-and-true. We had a hot fudge sundae ($3.50) and a slice of cheese cake with strawberries ($4.75). The sundae had mounds of vanilla ice cream, two caps of whipped cream, but needed a more generous serving of fudge sauce, any real sundae-lover requiring every spoonful drizzled in sauce. The cheese cake is a fair version of New York style, less moist and creamy than the artery-clogging stuff I adore, with a nice dollop of sugared, fresh strawberries.

Our bill came to $74.87. Union Bluff has a pleasant tradition of preparing sea-side suppers ($9.95). These are served to take out from 5:00 to 6:00 PM . With one of the most beautiful beaches in Maine just outside, across Beach Street, this sounds like a delightful idea.

NUGGETS:

Union Bluff Hotel Dining Room
Beach Street, York Beach
363-1333 (and) www.unionbluff.com

Food: 3 Stars
Atmosphere: 3 Stars
Service: 3 Stars

Dinner Hours: Sunday through Thursday: 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Friday and Saturday: 5:00 PM to 9:30 PM
(Open all year)
Lunch Hours: None

All Major Credit Cards
Price Range: Entrees: $14.95 to $16.75 with several at "Market"
Vegetarian Dishes: None
Reservations: Only Accepted for Parties of 6 or More

Bar: Full
Wheelchair Access: Throughout
Traditional Seaside Dinners in a Comfortable and Casual Atmosphere

RESTAURANT REVIEW: STAGE NECK INN IN YORK HARBOR MAINE

2011-05-10T12:30:00.000-07:00

Review of an enjoyable restaurant written for The Maine Sunday Telegram when I served as restaurant reviewer there. Menu, prices, and possibly other information are now out of date.

Stage Neck Inn is on a rocky spit at the mouth of the York River. One side faces a small inlet and the most scenic section of Highway 1A, beautiful old homes nestled along a rocky coast. The other side faces the quiet York, the occasional lobster boat gliding by. Ahead is ocean, clear to the horizon. If you look carefully, it is flecked with tiny floats of lobster traps.

The dining room at the Stage Neck is called Harbor Porches, a suitable name for this handsome, comfortable room. Tables are set with smooth peach-colored linen, fresh flowers, and small, shaded candle stands. There are wicker chairs and dark oriental-style carpet. Creamy white beams and railings divide the space and suggest a charming gazebo. Floor-to-ceiling windows, arched on top with hatch-work, cover three sides of the room and provide its other primary color, the blue sweep of the ocean.

The effect is somewhere between a grand-hotel dining room - complete with piano music from the bar and grill - and the freshness of an ocean resort - an altogether pleasant place.

The staff at Harbor Porches is friendly and helpful. They dress a little more formally than what you generally find today, but service is informal and I noticed some patrons dressed as though they'd come from the golf course.

What better way to appreciate the view than a glass of wine? Harbor Porches has a respectable four-page wine list with a number of by-the-glass selections on the first page. We had two California reds, Rutherford Merlot ($5.50) and a David Bruce Pinot Noir ($6.75), both perfect for ocean-gazing.

The selection of appetizers is appealing, stretching as it does from spring rolls to blackened crab cakes. We had baked onion soup gratinee ($4.25) and smoked salmon with capers, pumpernickel toast points and horseradish cream ($7.95). The soup had beef stock, not a lot of salt, and plenty of sauteed onions, but it lacked the richness that simmering with traditional seasoning and wine bring to it.

The smoked salmon had that just-slightly-tired look of a plate kept refrigerated too long. There were nice slices of salmon, but the lettuce underneath was tired, and the toast points looked and tasted as though they had shared its accommodation.

Our tossed salad ($3.50) came wearing the same expression as the salmon plate, clearly stored too long. Its dill-yogurt-cucumber dressing was good, but the vegetables lacked sprightliness. The Caesar ($3.50) had that look too, although Romaine doesn't suffer as badly. The dressing needed more garlic, more lemon, and the flavor of anchovy was not apparent.

The lobster scampi ($27.95) came poorly presented - a pile of pasta with a few chunks of lobster on top and some peas and baby carrots to the side. The menu entices with, "Sauteed fresh lobster meat, with fresh vine-ripened tomatoes, green onions, garlic, white wine, and butter, served on fresh pasta." But the plate had a pretty small serving of lobster. The vine-ripened tomatoes were pinkish in color, and their skins were left curled back. The peas and carrots were fine, but vegetables don't come more lacking in imagination than this. The pasta sauce was good, but the dish overall was unsatisfying.

The glazed duck breast ($22.00) was to be "pan-seared with star anise, honey, and peppercorns, served with fresh raspberry vinaigrette, grilled asparagus, and four grain medley." This made my mouth water, but I could tell before it was set down that the duck flesh was lifeless. The raspberry vinaigrette, resembling loops of ketchup squirted in the nouvelle-cuisine style, only heightened the unappetizing impression. There was no asparagus, green beans and peas having been substituted without mention.

The duck tasted just as it looked, the slices clearly having been cooked another time (day?) and warmed up. The skin, which must be crisped because of the fat, was rubbery. The flesh, which should be fairly rare to preserve juiciness, had the appearance of yet another helping of grandma's leftover pot roast. There was a generous serving, but I couldn't help the impish thought the cook might be clearing the fridge.

Our desserts were flourless chocolate cake ($5.95) and strawberry shortcake ($4.50). The chocolate cake (from a local gourmet bakery) is served over crème Anglaise and is absolutely delicious. It is has some of the bitter taste of raw cocoa, with which it is dusted, and the texture of dense, rich fudge. The menu-advertised crystallized violets never made it to the plate.

Strawberry shortcake is one of those simple classics impossible to improve, but not so with Stage Neck's version. It comes, looking rather like a butterfly, with two large, dry slices of short biscuit spread over the sides of the bowl from a small squiggle of berries and whipped cream. Now, for lovers of strawberry (or peach) shortcake, the essence of the dessert is the shortcake drenched with the sweetened juice of the fruit. One wonders at a culinary imagination that sees anyone enjoying two dry slices of biscuit.

Our bill came to $110.85. During the course of the evening, the sky went from bright blue to dusky pastels with a nearly full moon rising and casting its reflection on the water - truly memorable. It is too bad our meal did not come near to matching that experience.

Needless to say, we required a return visit.

Our appetizers this time were a cup of clam chowder ($3.95) and the spring rolls ($8.95). The clam chowder was delicious, creamy with plenty of clams and some chunks of potato - entirely satisfying. Not so the spring rolls, which resembled in appearance and taste the ones found in a box at the supermarket freezer. Two skinny rolls were accompanied by a dab of coleslaw and a container of soy-sauce-based dipping sauce.

We again sampled the garden salad ($3.50), this time with a balsamic vinaigrette. It was a fresh salad and a good dressing.

Our approach to ordering entrees this time was to select solid basics that do not involve a lot of elaborate preparation or fancy sauces, thinking that maybe in such cooking was Stage Neck's strength. We had boiled lobster ($22.95) and a filet mignon ($27.95). The lobster came with a generous pot of drawn butter, some pretty spears of grilled fresh asparagus, and a baked potato. I am pleased to report it was all quite excellent. The asparagus was in that blissfully happy region of flecked with brown but retaining its beautiful green and some crunch. The baked potato was buttered and fluffy. The lobster was, well, what lobster is supposed to be, delicious.

The filet plate was handsome - a thick, bacon-wrapped filet, nicely seared and topped with a grilled tomato slice, the same beautiful, fresh asparagus spears, and a piped portion of mashed potatoes, the plate having been first glazed with a brown sauce. The steak came as ordered, medium rare, and was a truly fine piece of meat, lean and fine-textured. The asparagus was again perfect. The mashed potatoes were so-so, not as nicely done as the baked one.

A detracting note was the sauce-glaze with an under-taste resembling a preparation such as Swiss-Knorr. I still enjoyed the beautiful meat and vegetables.

I couldn't help reflecting with what a vastly different impression we would have left the first time had we selected these entrees. Except for the spring rolls, we had a very good and satisfying meal with touches of excellence.

NUGGETS:

Stage Neck Inn's Harbor Porches
York Harbor
363-3850 (or) 800-222-3238 (or) www.stageneck.com

Food: 3 Stars
Atmosphere: 4 Stars
Service: 3 Stars

Dinner Hours: Sunday through Thursday: 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Friday and Saturday: 6:00 PM - 10:00 PM
Lunch Hours: Sunday through Saturday: 12:00 NOON - 2:00 PM

All Major Credit Cards
Price Range: Entrees: $21.00 to $29.00
Vegetarian Dishes: No
Reservations: Accepted

Bar: Full
Wheelchair Access: Throughout (Elevator next to hotel's front stairs)
Casually Elegant Dining in a Beautiful Room with a View

RESTAURANT REVIEW: DIMITRI'S IN SCARBOROUGH MAINE

2011-05-10T12:29:00.000-07:00

Review of an enjoyable restaurant written for The Maine Sunday Telegram when I served as restaurant reviewer there. Menu, prices, and possibly other information are now out of date.

A lovely spring evening with crystal sunlight saturating everything under a blue, blue sky, and an almost Mediterranean mood takes hold, especially following the weeks of rain we've had. What better way to indulge this fantasy mood than a Greek dinner?

The approach to Dimitri's is not promising, located as it is in of one of those little strip plazas off a dead-end street in Scarborough. The parking-lot entrance is shared with a small take-out pizzeria so your first inside view is an order-counter, a drink-dispensing machine, a few tables and those ugly molded benches beloved by fast-food outlets.

But the restaurant has a separate door inside, and when you enter, there is a pleasant, light feeling to the place. More than that, there is the smell of a wood-burning oven and the lingering aromas of roasted meats and garlic. My Mediterranean mood is instantly revived.

Dimitri's immediately serves warm bread. This is bread with body - beefy, moist and crusty outside, baked each day in the restaurant. On the table is a dark bottle of seasoned olive oil, with saturated sprigs of rosemary and garlic cloves visible. Also on the table is a shaker of cracked sea salt, a very nice touch. Now, if you discover anything more delicious than fresh, crusty bread sopped in olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt, I'd be pleased to hear from you. What a fine start to a meal.

In keeping with the Mediterranean fantasy, we ordered a bottle of Retsina ($16.00), that crisp, refreshing traditional white wine of Greece that is flavored with an extract from pine trees. The wine list is not large, but there is something for most tastes including the essential Greek red and white, a sprinkling of Italy, France, and California, and even some sparkling wine and Champagne.

The bread, the wine, and the aroma of the oven put us in a fine mood to linger over the menu. Dimitri's has a nice, modest-sized menu. The items are Greek or cooked in Greek style.

The selection of appetizers is not large. I only mention this because appetizers in Greek cooking are among the great specialties. There are scores of them, and you can easily make a meal of appetizers. Choice is limited to five on Dimitri's menu, but when we received ours, I thought it might be Dimitri's philosophy to make a single-appetizer meal possible. The caramelized goat cheese with prosciutto, candied onions, and greens ($6.00) and the grilled Greek sausage (loukaniko) with olives ($4.00) were large servings, adequate for a light meal.

These each were a bit disappointing. The caramelized goat cheese was exquisite, but the "prosciutto" proved to be ordinary ham slices roasted a bit. The loukaniko was good, but not exceptional. The olives were the ordinary Greek variety rather than the wonderful Kalamata with their uniquely bitter, salty firmness. The quantity of sausage was more than any non-Olympian, expecting to eat a full meal, could consume.

It proved much the same with our soups. The servings are large bowls of substantial soups. We adhered to the practice of not going to a Greek restaurant without trying the Avgolemono, chicken rice soup whose broth is thickened with egg and flavored with lemon ($4.00). We also tried "today's soup" which was promisingly named Mediterranean vegetable ($4.00).

Dimitri's Avgolemono is full of good ingredients, but it lacks the traditional, extremely rich taste with egg meringue being substituted for yolks, and it is short on the bite of lemon. The "Mediterranean vegetable" turned out to be a fairly pedestrian lentil soup - chicken broth, carrots, bits of onion and celery with lots of green lentils. Both soups are solid, basic food but with no finish or special character.

While we waited for our entrees, we continued to enjoy our wine and observed the dining room more closely. It is a large rectangle with a series of picture windows filling most of two sides. The sense of sunlight-washed Greece is suggested although the view through one side is the plaza parking lot. The other view is a wood patio, fenced in from surroundings, with little white Italian lights against the trellis that tops the fence, providing a nice effect as evening descends.

As the sunlight dimmed, the room's indirect lighting through small white shell-fixtures near the ceiling, was more noticeable. This works nicely, but the effect is somewhat spoiled by a utilitarian white suspended ceiling. The walls are all finished in a trompe l'oeil warm pink marble, a bit sparse with a few prints hung here and there and a few inexpensive knock-off white Greek vases. The floor is hard tile as are the table tops. The cooks work at the brick oven behind a large counter area opposite the patio windows.

Service at Dimitri's is very informal, adding to the impression of a familyish restaurant despite some sophisticated touches in food and décor. I sensed a bit of aesthetic confusion in the particular mix. Service also was slow and lacking in the responsiveness that gives polish, but it was friendly.

The entrees proved remarkable, both for presentation and quality. Stifatho ($13.00) is beef or lamb chunks braised in red wine with onions and other flavorings. Dimitri's plate comes with a flaky puffed pastry, filled with savory-soaked pearls of orzo (rice-shaped pasta), covered with the fragrant, deeply colored stew, sprinkled with crumbled feta cheese, with a variety of other vegetables, including roast zucchini slices, scattered around. It tasted every bit as good as it looked.

Lamb shanks Mytilini ($17.00) again provided a beautiful plate. A generous cut of lamb, stained rich and dark with wine sauce, containing plump garlic cloves, on a bed of rice, with a variety of nice vegetables, including the zucchini and even a piece of roasted parsnip. The lamb was tender and succulent, with a nice crusting and the sweet, liquidy taste of garlic - simply excellent.

When our waitress asked about dessert, you might think only a hero capable of further indulgence. Well, readers, this is the kind of sacrifice your reviewer gladly undertakes in the interest of complete information: We ordered baklava ($5.00), Galaktobouriko ($5.00), and Greek coffee ($1.50 ). The pastries were both of high quality and nicely presented in plates drizzled with patterns of honey - a Greek version of the now popular nouvelle cuisine dessert presentation - and sprinkled with powdered sugar. The baklava - phyllo dough saturated with honey, walnuts, and other flavorings - suffered from too many cloves for my taste. The Galaktobouriko - phyllo crust saturated with custard and lemon and honey - was excellent.

There is no better way to end a meal than with Greek coffee. And Dimitri's pays due respect to this beautiful Greek custom with the demitasse served on a plate covered with a crisp, folded linen napkin, the entire effect being reminiscent of the extra fuss put into various oriental and Middle Eastern tea or coffee services. And the thick, rich brew is no letdown from its presentation. Our entire bill came to $69.28.

ALL MAJOR CREDIT CARDS (V, MC, AE, D)

WHEELCHAIR ACCESS

FOOD: 3 STARS

AMBIANCE/DÉCOR: 2 1/2 STARS

SERVICE: 2 1/2 STARS

LOCATION: VIP DRIVE (DEAD END) AT ROUTE 1, SCARBOROUGH (MINI-PLAZA, SOUTH SIDE OF VIP DRIVE)

RESTAURANT REVIEW: LE GARAGE IN WISCASSET MAINE

2011-05-10T12:25:00.000-07:00

Review of an enjoyable restaurant written for The Maine Sunday Telegram when I served as restaurant reviewer there. Menu, prices, and possibly other information are now out of date.

Wiscasset may or may not be "the prettiest village in Maine," but there can be little doubt it is a very pretty place. A drive along Route One to this tree-lined village of elegant, nineteenth-century homes in the mellow sun of a summer evening is a pleasant experience.

Le Garage is wonderfully located on a bank running down towards the Sheepscot River at the end of the charming shops of Water Street. The old building - indeed, the graceful façade of a garage from early this century, much altered and expanded upon - stands against the background of the glowing river with lobster boats and pleasure craft gently bobbing. There are few restaurant approaches in Maine as delightful as this one.

We were seated on "the porch," a verandah with windows wrapping around three sides that almost makes you feel part of the river. The windows open so the effect is enhanced by the flow of delicious evening air.

There are some odd contrasts at Le Garage. The restaurant's interior, as opposed to its charming frontage, is not particularly interesting, but the view through the verandah windows is perfectly idyllic.

The wine list is a sixteen-page portfolio with selections from most established regions of viniculture - the kind of document you'd expect in a very polished restaurant, perhaps in New York or Paris as the name Le Garage suggests. Yet you are seated at a plastic-top table with paper place mats - unless you are not on "the porch," in which case, tables are set with linen, presumably as compensation for a diminished view. The floors have tired-looking, indoor-outdoor carpet.

Service is very informal, having the character of a team of cheerful students working for the summer. The atmosphere is very much that of an old summer lodge, a bit frowsy and threadbare, but located on a beautiful site and still doing a good business.

Most of the large wine list is not available by the glass, although several selections are. I am happy to report that Le Garage offers carafes and half-carafes for those wishing more than a glass but less than a bottle. This is a practice it would be pleasant to see more widely adopted in Maine. We had a carafe of the house red ($13.95).The wine selected for this proved an undistinguished but quite decent Chilean red.

Le Garage's menu is large - covering culinary geography from Polish sausage and chicken pie to lobster Newburg and ratatouille. For some, wide choice is a welcome thing, but more generally it is a harbinger of unexciting cooking, coming at the cost of focus and depth. A very nice feature of the menu is a section of light suppers - again, a practice that might be more widely adopted.

Our appetizers were smoked Maine mussels ($4.95) and French onion soup gratinee ($4.95). The mussels are served with thin slices of hard-cooked egg on wheat crackers. Horseradish cream to spread and some ripe red grapes on the side make this a happy plate.

Classic soupe a l'oignon gratinee is one of my favorites - rich beef stock simmered with red wine, a touch of Cognac, sage, and lots of sautéed onions, then baked under croutes (toasted buttered bread rounds) and grated cheese. But that is not what we have here. While the other ingredients are adequate to the task, the soup-base is a bland mix of beef and chicken broths without the rich flavoring, and it is quite heavily salted.

Entrees are offered with the choice of a cup of soup or a small salad for an additional $2.85. We had the salad and fish chowder, a house standard. The chowder had generous chunks of white-fleshed fish, filling about half the cup, but its soup-base lacked distinctive flavoring, despite menu-billing as "a savory blend of herbs and spices." The small dinner salad had a satisfying variety of vegetables and a so-so blue-cheese dressing.

Our entrees were rib-eye steak, crusted with blue cheese ($16.95), a special that night, and Maine crabmeat casserole ($15.25) from the menu. The steak came perfectly cooked, medium rare, succulent inside and well crusted outside. The casserole was a layering of spinach, mushrooms and crabmeat in a wine and cheese sauce with bread-crumb topping. There was too much salt in this dish (perhaps using the same salty chicken broth that is in the onion soup?), detracting from the delicate crab meat, but otherwise it was a tasty combination, representing what I would call good home-cooking.

Both entrees came with baked potatoes that were nicely done to moist fluffiness inside. Vegetables included coleslaw and glazed carrots - both good but just a little too reminiscent of dowager-lodge fare.

Our desserts were blueberry pie with ice cream ($4.25) and Indian pudding ($3.50). Both were very good, although I can promise no expertise in the subtleties of Indian pudding. The blueberry pie was made with wild berries and a minimum of sugar with the thin crust that so well suits it. A touch too much pasty filler made it fall short of truly excellent.

Our bill was $74.37.

NUGGETS:

Le Garage Restaurant & Lounge
15 Water Street, Wiscasset
882-5409

Food: 3 Stars
Atmosphere: Restaurant: 2 1/2 Stars (View: 4 Stars)
Service: 2 1/2 Stars

Dinner Hours: Monday through Thursday: 5:00 PM - 8:30 PM
Friday and Saturday: 5:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Sunday: 11:00AM - 8:30 PM
Lunch Hours: Monday through Saturday: 11:30 AM - 2:30 PM
Sunday: 11:00 AM through 2:30 PM

(Note: Le Bar is open 2 hours past close of dining room;
Le Garage is closed for January.)

Credit Cards: Visa and Mastercard
Price Range: Entrees: $7.65 to $ 18.95 with several items at "market"
Vegetarian Dishes: Several
Reservations: Accepted

Bar: Full
Wheelchair Access: Throughout main floor
A varied menu in a casual atmosphere with a beautiful view

RESTAURANT REVIEW: RICHARD'S IN BRUNSWICK MAINE

2011-05-10T12:20:00.000-07:00

Review of an enjoyable restaurant written for The Maine Sunday Telegram when I served as restaurant reviewer there. Menu, prices, and possibly other information are now out of date.

The reader will not know the sense of anticipation with which this reviewer approaches a German restaurant. There are deep associations of gemutlichkeit and the piquant smells of German cooking infused in the very brain cells of this food-loving son of the Midwest.

And Richard's is attractive to approach, located in one of handsome buildings of Brunswick's Maine Street with carriage-trade lettering for the name. It was an especially pretty evening in early spring. The street looked beautiful.

Richard's is a friendly, informal restaurant. When we were seated, there was a congenial, large party of adults holding a birthday celebration a few tables away. This was just the kind of thing you might see in a small European town.

A restaurant of this nature just seems to call for beer, and Richard's is blessed with a selection of those magnificent German beers on draft. Our waitress brought us a couple of samples when we hesitated in our selection. Very nice touch. We had a Spaten Optimator and a Pilsner Urquell (Czech, but German in character).

The menu offers generous choice. Prices are reasonable, including dinners in the eight-dollar range. Top-of-the-line steak dinners go for under twenty dollars. Yes, Richard's has offerings other than German - a nice selection of steaks, some seafood and chicken - even a daily vegetarian dish - but going to a specialty restaurant for me means having the specialty.

We took our time, enjoying the delicious beer, and discussing the possibilities. For although Richard's is a fairly unpretentious, familyish restaurant, our waitress did not rush us with the phrases young waiters working in chains learn to politely push you through consuming, paying, and leaving.

Our leisurely selection was further supported by a basket of bread. A delicious pretzel (the fat, soft ones, near relatives to bagels) and some very tasty warm rolls. A pot of Richard's own mustard is provided, and what a find it is. A hot, sweet mustard loaded with cracked pepper, perfect for pretzels or sausages. The stuff is good enough to eat by the spoon.

After we had ordered, we looked around a bit. The décor is not nearly as impressive as the mustard. Touches of a pub with some heavy, dark, wood-clad pillars, a bit of an eighties fern-bar motif with a few hanging plants against a brick wall, and some rather frowsy bits of old, small-town restaurant or hotel, including a salad bar that resembles a basement workbench with cotton print draping the bottom. The ceiling is high, but it’s a black-painted suspended one. Basement rec room, circa 1969. Chairs are of the style often found in fern bars, polished tubular metal with cloth-covered back and seat cushions.

But food must always have first place in a restaurant. And when we tasted our soups, a pumpkin bisque and a seafood bisque, food did again command our attention. These were excellent, probably about as nice as you'd find across the state. The pumpkin was slightly peppery and rich with the taste and aroma of cooked pumpkin. Thick enough with its softening elements of cream and white sauce almost to scoop. And no pasty under-taste, common enough where a white-sauce base isn't simmered long enough. The fish bisque was loaded with chunks of seafood, its thick creamy base being appropriately salty.

There was a delay in our appetizer of strudel filled with ham, asparagus, and cheese. Our waitress explained that the strudel had been burnt, and, "You know German chiefs! That was him throwing a pan in the kitchen!" I liked her style, and, needless to say, we were glad the burnt strudel was not served. What was served was delicious with cheesy juices squeezing under the fork from a nice crust with beautiful bits of ham and fresh asparagus. This is the kind of appetizer I could make a meal of.

By now I almost didn't care about the décor. The expectation of such quality whetted the appetite. We ordered two glasses of Schlink Haus Kabinet, one of those delightful German wine concoctions with apple juice as part of the recipe. Richard's does not have an extensive wine selection, but it is nicely done with good wine-lover phrases to help with your selection.

Perhaps, I've just enjoyed too many great sauerbratens. This was the Rheinischer type which traditionally has raisins in the sauce. Sauerbraten is a pot roast that has been marinated for some days before cooking. It is very tender, and its complex flavor reflects red wine, red wine vinegar, leek, celery, onion, cloves, peppercorns, juniper berries, and butter or lard (and crushed ginger snaps in some versions). This is not food for light eaters or tepid tastes. But Richard's sauerbraten disappoints. The beef was tender, but the sauce, which at its best is one of the world's exquisite food creations, was disappointingly sweet and lacking in piquant highlights. Instead, a somewhat cloying and unsatisfying sweet and sour flavor dominated.

You shouldn't have Rheinischer sauerbraten without big potato dumplings, but here again Richard's disappoints. They have the dumplings, but they are what I would call decent utility-grade. German dumpling-making is almost a craft in its own right, and there are dozens of varieties, so the humble-sounding dumpling offers considerable scope for creativity.

The one outstanding item on the plate was the Rotkohl, a close relative of Rotkraut, a pickled red cabbage with many recipe variations. This was perfect, comparable to Richard's mustard.

Our other plate was more successful. Bratwurst and hot German potato salad. The Bratwurst is home-made (Richard used to sell it in a stand at the Portland Market), authentic, and tasty. The potato salad was very good with balance in its characteristic vinegar and bacon flavoring. A very nice touch here was a serving of fresh fiddleheads. This delicate vegetable (actually a kind of baby fern) was cooked simply and perfectly.

We finished the meal with a shared portion of Richard's own Sacher Torte. Our ever-informative waitress advised she had just cut into a fresh one. This is classic stuff, about as rich as human ingenuity can make it with chocolate cake, butter cream marzipan, raspberry glaze and chocolate glaze. You feel the weight gain with each silken bite.

Our bill came to forty-six dollars. Richard's has a very nice custom of leaving chocolate-glazed strawberries with the check. What an improvement over mints!

[3 Stars]

REVIEW OF PETER K. MASSIE'S PETER THE GREAT

2011-03-25T09:59:00.001-07:00

Tsar Peter was an extraordinary character, and Robert Massie does an excellent job of examining the complex chemistry of Peter’s character.

Peter was a tyrant while at the same time possessing qualities of openness, curiosity, and readiness to learn from others not common in such figures.

His humanistic qualities and considerable intelligence might have made him a candidate as a 17th century version of the enlightened despots – Frederick the Great of Prussia, Joseph II of Austria, and Catherine the Great of Russia - who featured in Europe’s 18th century.

But Peter’s tyrant temperament rules him out as a candidate. His treatment of the Streltsy – a large corps of traditional elite guards for the tsar – following an attempted revolt was extremely brutal, including an orgy of torture and horrible executions, closely attended by Peter himself.

So too Peter’s demands for his many wars, demands on his people for harsh taxation and much manpower, repeated again for his building from scratch, out of lands captured from Sweden’s empire, the city of St Petersburg.

The author does a good job of capturing Peter’s many eccentricities, his uncontrollable and grotesque movements at times, likely owing to a form of epilepsy, his alcoholism, his fondness for parodying the church in his private gatherings with friends, his deliberate choice of close companions who were not members of the old aristocracy and were themselves sometimes rather odd characters, his bizarre treatment of his first wife, and his explosive temper which many times ended with serious blows on the heads of good friends.

Peter is famous to students of European history for his “great embassy,” a long and unusual journey through parts of advanced Europe he undertook in disguise, investigating how things were done in institutions and industries everywhere he went and spending great periods of his time in studying the skill of ship-building, cheerfully taking up carpenter’s tools himself to work as an apprentice. His penchant for disguise, while having some justification on security grounds, clearly, in view of some of the details of how he proceeded, was another of Peter’s eccentricities.

Peter is rightly regarded as the father of the Russian navy. He studied the skills, established an industry, hired many experts from Europe, and conquered outlets in the south and in the north as outlets to the sea.

Peter’s embrace of foreigners created a good deal of suspicion and animosity amongst Russia’s traditionalists, suspicion of foreign ways and belief that Russia was close to God in its native customs being a prominent part of the culture at the time, and Peter worked regularly to end it, but it hardly made him popular. For example, he insisted on aristocrats not wearing traditional long robes and shaving and sometimes acted in highly abrupt and disturbing ways, as the time he decided to go around the table at a dinner and cut off the long sleeves of some of the nobles’ robes.

Peter was a military leader of considerable talent, spending a huge portion of his reign on wars – the Great Northern War with Sweden lasted twenty years – and he defeated the redoubtable general-monarch, Charles XII of Sweden.

The author has a tremendous subject in Peter, and I think he does justice to him in a book which reads like a good novel.

I have just two small reservations about the author’s approach. There are places, especially in the early part of the book, where the author puts quotations into people’s mouths that we know perfectly well cannot be actual quotations, although of course they reflect genuine historical content. He does not do this extensively, and it is a stylistic tool used by other biographers, but I am not a fan of it.

Another approach some readers may not like involves the author’s way of introducing a significant new subject. Massie leaves the main street behind, as it were, and wanders down interesting side streets, offering background and historical discussions which might be described by some with the slightly pejorative teaching expression “chicken walk.” This does not bother me, and indeed I enjoyed his little side trips.

I recommend this book as a fine introduction to the beginnings of modern Russia. It is enjoyable reading, and its subject lived a life about equal to that of half a dozen lesser historical characters.

REVIEW OF ALICE HOGGE'S GOD'S SECRET AGENTS

2011-01-07T11:31:00.000-08:00

Here is a wonderful book – full of scholarship and well-written, often as gripping as a spy novel, and packed with information to help us appreciate the long and painful journey we have made to reach relatively free and tolerant societies in the advanced world.

The Elizabethan era has long been one of my favorites – a time of great change, a notable step towards the modern era, a time packed with high adventures and important achievements, a time of great writers and adventurers, and the time of one of Europe’s greatest princes (Elizabeth herself used the term prince), and I have read a good many books. So it was pleasantly surprising that Alice Hogge offered a number of details and anecdotes of which I had little or no knowledge.

Elizabeth’s special deputy, as it were, in hunting down Catholic priests in hiding and recusants (Catholics who refused to join the Church of England, despite fines and punishments) assisting them, Richard Topcliffe, was an extraordinarily hideous figure. I had read references to him before, but here are some facts and events of which I was unaware.

Elizabeth herself is known to have been tolerant in people’s dissenting religious beliefs, so long as they were kept private and a public show was made of keeping to the laws governing England’s new church arrangements. Everything religious in that time was unfortunately also charged with political meaning, and if ever there were a lesson for keeping church and state separate, this tale is it.

The Parliament of that day was increasingly under the influence of the Puritans, and Elizabeth had to make compromises with them despite not agreeing with their nasty excesses, a story both of the dawning of a new religious era and the decline in the power of the monarch as part of the long journey towards democratic government.

Still, the details offered of Topcliffe’s special relationship with Elizabeth are surprisingly unpleasant to learn.

But it was a terrible time - one we can barely fully appreciate - especially after Elizabeth’s excommunication in 1570 by Pius V giving Catholics the “right” to get rid of her, Philip II’s 1588 massive Armada and other efforts to overthrow her, assassinations and civil wars in Europe, various plots in England, and Elizabeth’s own great insecurity over her throne, considering all that came before her with her tyrant father and her terrifying half-sister Mary, and then that rather demented but charming contemporary claimant to the throne, Mary, Queen of Scots, always involved in plots.

The story of Nicholas Owen, craftsmen and builder of many ingeniously-conceived “priest hides” in English Catholic great homes, is a wonderful one. I was pleased that the author gave a substantial discussion of his admirable and heroic efforts.

The terrible irony of those times was that so many good people on both sides – Catholic and non-Catholic – were swept away in a great tide of terrible events brought on by a smaller number of fanatics and paranoids. Ms. Hogge gives us a very vivid sense of this. She also gives us a good sense of the terrible extremism – just as bad as the worst Catholic plotters – of the emerging extreme Protestants, the various Puritan groups who were as ugly and murderous as the bloodiest Popes.

The story continues after Elizabeth – she died in 1603 – with the first of the Stuart kings, James I , a king who started with much promise and delivered little in religious and other matters, and on to the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, whose dark corners and ambiguities Ms Hogge outlines. Ms. Hogge takes us to the end for some of the key characters of the era, but of course the end of her book was not the end of religious strife. It is a tale of executions, torture, and exile.

I loved the way Ms. Hogge gave us an afterward relating the hunt for Catholics in England then to the situation of Muslims today in Western countries.

This is altogether an admirable and excellent book, and I recommend it highly.

REVIEW OF ROY JENKINS' CHURCHILL

2010-12-19T07:34:00.000-08:00

This is a biography by a writer who admires Churchill, yet it notes many critical points in Churchill’s career. It is also a biography by a politician-scholar, a man who always has a deep grasp of his subject (he has written about twenty books, many of them notable biographies) and of the inside details of political life, something absent in some biographers, particularly William Manchester’s.

Both Jenkins and Manchester admire Churchill, and I always favour biographers who have a positive view of their subjects. Yet differences between these two substantial biographies are remarkable. In the real world, especially in a real world arena like politics, admiring someone does not exclude criticisms and disagreements, nor should it.

Roy Jenkins’ work may be viewed as almost a required antidote to William Manchester’s romantic epic. There is a realism and balance in the Roy Jenkins’ book missing from Manchester’s. Of course, one pays a price for this pull back to realism: also missing is the vibrant sense of adventure, the Boy’s Own galloping story pace, communicated by Manchester, especially in his first volume.

Here are just a few topics where Jenkins provides a counterbalancing view to Manchester. Jenkins spends little time on Churchill’s childhood, a topic which engrosses Manchester and which heavily colors what follows. Jenkins agrees that Churchill’s mother was a sexual adventuress, but does not accept her sleeping with the Prince of Wales and future king.

Churchill’s beloved wife, Clementine, is a more forceful figure in the Jenkins’ book, including her substantial and lengthy argument with her husband over his relationship with Prime Minister Asquith: she was for a far more accommodating face than Churchill was ready to show.

Lullenden, the forerunner to Chartwell as Churchill’s country estate, was hardly a “cottage” as Manchester calls it. Indeed, Churchill’s constant need for luxuries of every description is better covered by Jenkins, although Manchester does give us the silk under-shorts Churchill insisted on wearing.

Jenkins also provides a better assessment of Churchill’s manner towards Parliament and colleagues, his rather high-hat leaving so often after he had himself spoken, not staying to hear responses.

One of Churchill’s rather dark aspects, his insistent demand for India to retain her colonial status in the 1930s, hardly smacks of heroic democratic values. His views on India at the time also alienated many in his party.

Along a related line is Jenkins’ revelation of Churchill’s rather intense admiration of Stalin, even though he always opposed the Soviet system. Churchill always regarded himself as a superior man, and he responded to those who had similar, tested qualities.

Of course, Churchill was such an extraordinary character, he well deserves many quality biographies, and it has always been my view that you cannot begin to understand a major historical figure without reading several. The truth, as it were, cannot be captured by one observer, much as all the characteristics of an atomic particle cannot be stated by an observer. Truth about people and their motivations and decisions can never be fixed, only suggested or approximated, and we do that best by several attempts.

This book will be of interest to Churchill admirers, students of British and European history, students of politics, students of human psychology, and lovers of good biography.

REVIEW OF ADAM ZAMOYSKI'S MOSCOW 1812

2010-12-17T13:34:00.000-08:00

The first half of Zamoyski’s book is truly top-quality narrative history, it is written lucidly, and it is packed with interesting facts and observations. A coherent picture emerges of all the many forces at work in that vast and terrible enterprise, the invasion of Russia.

Zamoyski does an especially good job of explaining Napoleon’s reasons for invading Russia, and I think adds new clarity to them. The author also has wonderful passages in which we see Napoleon’s view and considerations at certain points and then those of various Russian commanders facing him. He does something similar with Tsar Alexander, an intelligent and ambitious man, but not a leader to assume command in battle. He does a deft job at giving the reader some appreciation of the massive, complex preparations necessary for the campaign, almost exhausting a reader’s imagination of how one man could put all of it into motion. His other great strength is the description of the battles for Smolensk and Borodino: these are remarkable passages.

The second half of the book declines from that high level, in my view, not in the quality of the writing but in the subject matter. There is an awful lot of graphic detail of individual deaths and perils on the ghastly march out of Russia. Some of this is of course necessary to give readers a full appreciation of a situation where climate and the weather played greater roles in Napoleon’s defeat than the Tsar’s armies, but I think there is too much, becoming effectively padding.

The trouble with those kinds of anecdotes is that they cloud the true sense of what is happening. First, they may or may not represent the experience of the army as a whole, and what we really want to know is more along the lines of statistical truths in a book of this nature, not peculiar anecdotes. Second, one actually loses some sense of what is happening with too much of this sort of thing. After reading of terrible events, men frozen like statues or hands freezing to muskets, when the author returns to a new battle or action, you just ask yourself, how was it even possible for them to fight?

Zamoyski treats Tolstoy’s hero, Kutuzov, as a buffoon, braggart, and a poor general, and I am inclined to agree with that view. Napoleon, despite his errors in the campaign and despite what has generally been characterized as his declining abilities – a disease the author appropriately speculates – remains capable of striking fear into the hearts of most opponents and of inspiring his soldiers to endure hardship.

Napoleon surely was one of the most extreme examples in history of Freud’s great discovery, the principle of human ambivalence. Was he a true son of revolution, ready to destroy encrusted old ways and privileges, the start of a new more enlightened age in which talent mattered more than birth? Or was he just one more in a line of gifted soldier-conquerors – Alexander, Caesar - ready to use others for his own gain and glory?

He was in fact both of these things, and he was both at one and the same time. In the end, I think we can only understand stories like his in those terms. Napoleon cannot be reduced to H.G. Wells’ view of him as a mere cock crowing on a dunghill. Napoleon was simply one of the most extraordinary people who ever lived, and he was that from several perspectives.

This book is excellent reading for all students of European history, lovers of biographical insight, military campaign buffs, students of human psychology, and those who just love a gripping story.

REVIEW OF SIMON MONTEFIORE’S STALIN THE COURT OF THE RED TSAR

2010-09-29T09:53:00.001-07:00

This book is not a complete biography of Stalin: rather its subject is just what its subtitle says it is, the court of the Red Tsar. Naturally, the period of Stalin’s having a court covers the most important part of his life.

The author spent years gathering documents and remembrances from survivors in Russia. As well, he had unprecedented access to the Stalin archives. His patient collection of new information shows in the book’s many fascinating anecdotes, ranging from bizarre to horrifying.

For those familiar with the career of Stalin, the book has no great shocking revelations. Rather it is in its anecdotes we gain grim new details of this almost unprecedented tyranny. The contrast in court life before the first great terror, 1937, and after; Stalin’s intense interference with the personal lives of his colleagues, whom the author nicely terms the magnates; Stalin’s endless lists of names carefully checked off; certain glimpses of Stalin’s wartime behaviour; and details of Stalin’s death – all these and more are new stories and add detail and nuance to our understanding of one of history’s greatest monsters.

Stalin, by the reckoning given here, was the second greatest mass-murderer in human history, surpassed only in the sheer volume of victims by Chairman Mao, but such counts are never accurate even with good archives because so many of the events in those horrifying regimes were disguised or unreported.

When Stalin wanted a prominent person killed, often the act was disguised as something like an automobile accident. Beria, one of his chief killers, sometimes employed poisons, reminding one of a prince in the court of the Borgias, and he may have done so in the end with the Vozhd himself as Stalin became obviously senile and busied himself with still new terrors in the early 1950s, ones aimed at doctors, Jews, and Mingrelian speakers from Georgia – the last including Beria himself. All of the magnates in the last days feared another great wave of murder and torture, as they also feared Stalin’s failing mind carelessly risking war with the West.

Stalin believed the government needed regular shaking up. In that he reminds me of Thomas Jefferson’s belief that the tree of liberty needed new blood every fifteen or twenty years. Stalin also, I believe, simply tired of some of the people with whom he worked for any time. He had such a severe set of standards of behaviour and performance – Stalin was a workaholic - that he grew tired of magnates who, with success, assumed manners that suggested being at odds with his deeply rooted concepts of Bolshevik standards. Above all, Stalin was paranoid about anyone who doubted him or anyone who might challenge him, and his extraordinary ability to read human beings made it close to impossible for anyone to hide their doubts. His relentless intelligence apparatus also fed his doubts or fears about people. Everyone of consequence was bugged, and it only took one casual suggestive remark at home to start Stalin’s thinking about the end of someone’s usefulness.

Stalin’s human-intelligence operation abroad might well have been the greatest ever assembled (it included Kim Philby and the other Cambridge spies in Britain, Richard Sorge in Japan, someone unknown high in the German government, and important people in America’s Manhattan Project) and it provided him with many important tips, but Stalin’s paranoia often caused him to reject the information in a bizarre twist on the Cassandra legend.

Stalin certainly suffered from some form of mental illness: his extreme paranoia alone attests to that. He was also a true psychopath, able to charm and disarm people even while planning to kill them. Stalin had a stare, with yellowy unblinking eyes, that he used often to question or discomfort or threaten people, sometimes terrifying those he was about to destroy. He enjoyed, like a cat with a captured mouse, toying with his victims. It was a significant sport for him during his campaigns against magnates or officials. His sense of humor was crude, and he enjoyed throwing bits of orange peel or wine corks at his dinner guests. He sometimes greeted officials or friends with questions like “haven’t they arrested you yet?” But, as Montefiore tells us, he was exceptionally intelligent and, like Hitler, he had a prodigious memory.

But of course, most of his killing was not competitors, their families, authors or artists who displeased him, but millions of ordinary people: the millions of kulaks (successful farmers, the beginnings of a Russian middle class) he arrested and tortured and killed, the millions of Ukrainians whom he deliberately consigned to starvation (on the order of 10 to 12 million), and various other national groups from Poles to Germans who were killed by the hundreds of thousands. Stalin had a godlike stance towards the suffering and deaths of millions of victims: what happened was simply necessary, like a gardener pulling weeds, in working towards the ideals of Bolshevism.

I believe the author has straightened out the conflicting tales of Stalin’s behaviour in the first days of Hitler’s invasion. There have been many conflicting stories in reputable books about whether Stalin crumpled into a useless drunken heap or kept his steely grip.
The author has given us more information about Stalin’s death, but the picture remains unclear in some details. Here again, reputable books have contained conflicting stories.

Rich with new information, the book is not without faults. Indeed, it has several significant ones.

The index, I realize in writing this review, is seriously inadequate to the size and complexity of the book’s subject matter. I recall specific events or descriptions, but when I try finding them in the index by several possible routes, there are no adequate references.

The book has an episodic nature in which years at a time on some subjects disappear. There is also the sometimes annoying practice of a very brief fact tacked on to a passage, almost a non sequitur, I assume just to employ material people had supplied the author.

The writing varies between quite good and not so good. For example, Riumin, one of his last killers, is described at the start of Chapter 56 as “…plump and balding, stupid and vicious….” Yet in the same paragraph, Riumin is said to have completed a good education (for that day) and qualified as an accountant, hardly the achievement of a stupid person, especially in those days of much more stringent school requirements. This kind of thing is fairly common through the book, and it is annoying, being the result I suggest of the author’s readiness to dash off colorful descriptions of new characters which later prove less than accurate as their tales are told.

Despite its shortcomings, the book is an indispensable source for students of the Soviet Union, Stalin, tyranny, modern European history, and psychology.

REVIEW OF DAVID CECIL’S MELBOURNE

2010-09-13T08:23:00.000-07:00

Here is that rare thing, a beautiful book, gracefully written and displaying genuine scholarship, Lord David Cecil’s biography of William Lamb, Lord Melbourne.

Melbourne was prime minister to the eighteen-year old Queen Victoria when she assumed the monarch’s role and had first to deal with the complex and perplexing demands of being head of state. It was a time when the monarchy no longer ruled but retained considerable importance in British society and political affairs. He became Victoria’s intimate advisor and friend, a role perhaps unlike that of any other prime minister in British history.

Cecil’s style perfectly suits his subject – graceful, learned, thoughtful - a rare harmony in biography. The author admires his subject, although well aware of Melbourne’s limitations, and I tend to favour biographers who are not hostile.

Melbourne was a controversial figure for a number of reasons, but especially owing to his role in the early years of Victoria’s reign. One can imagine the feelings of the opposition party over his special relationship with the Queen, and we read a fair amount about it here. Victoria had an unpleasant childhood with an intense and overwhelming mother, who worked to shape her daughter to her own purposes, and little contact with her father. Melbourne provided an advisor of matchless charm and understanding and sophistication, filling a place in her young life as something of a father figure, intimate friend, and truly expert political and protocol advisor.

Victoria filled an important place in Melbourne’s life too, for Melbourne was a man who loved the society of women. While as a young man he had many love affairs - behaviour typical of his Whig aristocracy class in the late 18th century and early 19th, a period called the Regency era and marking the transition from Georgian England to Victorian - he was not a Les Liaisons dangereuses type of character but a man who was perfectly capable of having happy and affectionate relationships with women. Indeed, he absolutely needed such relationships. When his government fell and he lost the Prime Minister’s access to Victoria, there was a haunting emptiness to his last years.

This is not a definitive biography, and it was certainly not intended to be one, but it tells us the main stories of Melbourne’s life, both personal and political. It is perhaps more than anything else a study in human character. Melbourne was an interesting man, highly polished and intelligent, and one of the last of the Regency era’s privileged Whig statesmen. To a considerable degree, he was already outdated by the time he was given great political power, although deep understanding of human nature is never outdated. There are wonderful glimpses here too of Queen Victoria as an uncertain 18-year old thrown into the role of official head of the world’s great empire.

Melbourne was something of a reluctant politician, being most comfortable with dinner parties, good company, and good books. The extent to which he was active in some reforms was not so much from his personal convictions in the matters but from his conviction that society changed and laws must accommodate the change. His greatest horror was civil unrest and the threat of a repeat of the French Revolution, and he believed in not creating any tensions or popular hopes which could not be fulfilled. Ironically, he lived through a time of tremendous unrest in England, the unrest that pushed a long series of reforms, from parliamentary representation to Catholic emancipation in Ireland and to the repeal of the Corn Laws, the last having been the very foundation of the Whig class’s privileged place in society.

Melbourne’s underlying strength of character is displayed in his relationship with his wife, a beautiful, frail woman who appears to have suffered from late-onset schizophrenia. Despite the many embarrassments she caused him, including a tempestuous and very public love affair with Lord Byron, he stood by her until the end. And just so with any friend or intimate companion, including the Queen, he stood by them, often taking blame for matters of which he was not the cause, rather than betray friendship.

Recommended for all students of British history, students of human psychology, those who love good biography, and those who simply love books.

REVIEW OF WILLIAM MANCHESTER’S THE LAST LION

2010-08-26T11:04:00.000-07:00

William Manchester died before finishing his massive three-volume biography of Winston Churchill, having completed Visions of Glory - Churchill’s childhood, military career, and early politics - and Alone, covering the period of relative political inactivity from 1932 to the start of World War II.

This is a biography which covers both Winston’s personal life and political career.

The first volume of the set is gripping, Manchester having a subject of almost unparalleled interest, a bright but very difficult child who finally finds his place as a soldier and uses his family connections – his father being a descendent of the Duke of Marlborough – to gain assignments in zones of danger from fighting on the frontiers of Afghanistan to fighting the Boers in South Africa. His adventures in faraway realms of the Empire are absolutely absorbing, sort of Boy’s Own stuff for adults. Churchill was almost fearless and often extremely lucky. He also later served as a brave officer on the front in the Great War.

Manchester’s style is clear and direct, but there are times he enters into subject areas I prefer he hadn’t, as speculations on Winston’s sexuality or rather lack of it, but Manchester had a remarkable memory and did extensive research so that all kinds of interesting little facts are scattered through the text. He also follows the custom of periodically giving little vignettes of the kind of events which were happening at the time.

Churchill’s childhood was not one anyone would envy, despite the wealth and privilege and great connections with history. His father, who died fairly early, was one of the most promising men in Parliament, having been marked out as a future Prime Minister. However, he simply did not like Winston, and theirs was a cold and often unpleasant relationship. His mother was a handsome East Coast American from a well-off family, a woman who was regularly unfaithful to her husband and reportedly even slept with the future king. She simply had no time or even interest in Winston, although there was some change when Winston’s father died.

Winston had a temperament as a boy reminding me of several historical figures who simply could not get on well in school and yet were immensely successful later, Einstein coming first to mind. Winston’s brilliance was evident to teachers but his application was slim to non-existent.

I do think Manchester goes out of his way at times trying to justify some of Winston’s schemes such as the disastrous Dardanelles campaign in World War I, an event over which others have roundly condemned Churchill. He is clearly in his subject’s corner, something I generally prefer to hostile biographers, but still it is worth pointing out that he is at times a bit excessive in this.

The second volume is less interesting, and there are two reasons for this. First, it is simply a much less engaging chapter in Winston’s life, but, second, I think Manchester plays too strongly on the word “appeasement,” even offering up a definition early on. The word and its variants, such as “appeasers,” are repeated over and over in the text, communicating to me the chilling tone of Right-wing American language.

After all, Americans barely were scratched in World War I while Europe experienced what was to that time the greatest, most pointless carnage in history. Efforts to stop a repeat of that vast horror only twenty years later remain to me not contemptible. In general, too, it was less the appeasers that eased Hitler’s path than it was a French government, in possession of the strongest army in Europe by far during the early thirties, which was unstable and uncertain and failed in the simplest, almost bloodless acts such as opposing the re-occupation of the Rhineland.

The second volume does have some nice tableaux of Winston, from his painting, which became a major hobby, to his trudging around the estate in overalls building brick walls for his gardens.

Churchill was extraordinary, and this biography captures a good deal of the flavour or tone of the man. It is recommended for students of history, leadership, world affairs, politics, psychology, and those who love a good biography.

Apparently, Manchester, before he died, selected a writer, Paul Reid, to finish the third volume. The last I read it was due in 2011.

REVIEW OF ALLAN BULLOCK’S HITLER A STUDY IN TYRANNY

2010-08-25T09:07:00.000-07:00

I first read this book the best part of fifty years ago.

It stands up remarkably well, even when read with a subsequent background of many books about World War II, several biographies of Hitler and other major war figures, plus smaller specialized studies.

This is not a full biography, Hitler’s early years receiving fairly brief treatment. It is precisely what its subtitle says of it, a study in tyranny, and I don’t believe another book offers quite the same intense exploration of the subject.

Allan Bullock writes as a genuine scholar, albeit an unusually articulate one. When Bullock is uncertain about the factors contributing to a certain event, he says so, along with giving readers a clear explanation of the alternatives. Bullock had studied the vast literature available in his time and little of substance escaped his analytical mind.

Hitler surely represents three extraordinary historical phenomena.

First, the outline of his rise is remarkable, almost unparalleled in history, rising from a tramp, would-be artist, a man with limited formal education, to become absolute leader of Europe’s most important nation and then achieving a series of dazzling successes until megalomania struck, sending Europe into a ghastly spiral of horrors and destruction.

One of the few comparable rises I can think of is that of a man who shared none of Hitler’s dark obsessions and hatreds: I refer to Lincoln, a man who rose from life in a dirt-floor cabin and a year and half of formal education to become a successful corporate lawyer, president of the United States, and leader of what remains America’s bloodiest war.

Second, Hitler is, in a number of ways, the most important historical figure of the 20th century – not the greatest, not the most gifted, and certainly neither admirable nor heroic, but the most important as measured by his impact upon great events both in his own time and after.

Hitler’s career contributed to the rise or success of some of the century’s most able and heroic figures – Roosevelt, Churchill, and De Gaulle. And the gigantic destructive events Hitler unleashed profoundly affected the world to this day – the establishment of the Soviet empire, decades of Cold War, and the agonizing events following the creation of Israel.

Third, few people in all of history wielded such immense, unquestioned power over others as he did – Stalin, Napoleon, Henry VIII, Cromwell, Augustus, Genghis Khan, Attila, and a few others come to mind. Understanding the mind and methods of such a person is beyond question an important study of the human condition.

This is an essential book for students of history, statesmanship, World War II, politics, human character, and psychology. It is well enough written to hold the attention of those who are not scholars but interested in any of these subjects.

One of the most interesting qualities of Bullock’s book is his avoidance of what has now become an almost de rigueur, politically correct minimizing of Hitler’s skills and talents, very much a flaw in Ian Kershaw’s biography, and preaching about his evil, something which is apparent just in telling the true history.

Bullock makes clear that in every relationship and project Hitler ever had, the need to be regarded as final authority was an intense, overwhelming psychological drive. He also clearly had developed something of a Messiah complex, something not unknown in our own day among politicians and religious leaders. His vision of Germany’s expansion in the East was filled with ghastly concepts, yet the basic idea of a larger national landscape for Europe’s most technically and perhaps culturally advanced nation, similar to the space claimed by the United States on its rise or by the British Empire, was rational if not ethical.

We know from well-regarded psychiatric studies that Hitler was not mentally ill, yet he did more damage than any mentally ill person I can think of. That fact alone makes understanding him immensely important and should serve as a continued warning concerning those who seek power in our societies. The all-too-common “Hitler the madman” is not helpful and shows no genuine learning from history.

True madmen have little chance of gaining serious power anywhere: they are eschewed by democracies where the least evidence of experience with mental problems is an absolute disqualifier and they are not supported in tyrannies because, as Bullock shows, a tyranny requires many insiders to make it work.

Indeed, one of the most important aspects of the Third Reich that Bullock so ably brings out was the endless creation of special fiefdoms to replace older fiefdoms and new offices for ambitious lieutenants to balance off against other ambitious lieutenants. It is for this reason that I believe all true tyrannies, at least in otherwise advanced states, are doomed not to last: they are actually far more unstable and inefficient than people generally realize.

If you are reading about the Third Reich, this is, quite simply, an indispensable book.

REVIEW OF JOHN HORGAN’S THE END OF SCIENCE

2010-08-25T07:59:00.000-07:00

It is difficult to know just how to treat this book. It has many serious faults.

It is well-written, was a best seller, but its very subject is to my mind a rather eccentric notion, and the author does some quite annoying things in writing about it.

By the term “end of science” the author does not mean a return to the Dark Ages but a time when all the large and exciting discoveries and theories all will have been established, leaving only relatively small subjects to science. It is the kind of notion that might pass through any thoughtful person’s mind, but I think it one that is quickly dismissed.

The interest in the book has to do with the eminent figures interviewed and not with the author’s speculations.

The author is not a scientist, but he is scientifically literate and does write pieces for magazines like Scientific American, and I am not automatically put off by the idea of inspired non-experts writing on any subject.

Perhaps the first serious fault is the way the author approaches the subject. What we have is a series of interviews with eminent figures, many of them scientists but many are social scientists or philosophers. A great deal is hidden in that word “interview.” These are relatively short interviews or conversations at conventions or discussions on the telephone.

With every live interview, no matter how brief, the author offers a concise description of the subject, some being amusing or interesting, but all highly colored and none strictly appropriate for a book on science or ideas. I regard this as padding, especially in light of how little of the subjects’ thoughts on the book’s theme the author captures. One also could fairly argue, in light of what we eventually learn of the author’s views, that these are used as devices to prejudice readers towards or away from interview subjects.

The subject is provocative, of course, thus perhaps giving the author entrée in some cases which he otherwise might not have been given, and, of course, it also helps sales

I do think, considering at least a half dozen of the world’s eminent intellects were interviewed, that the space allotted to each subject’s thought is sketchy at best. This perhaps stems from the author’s experience in writing relatively short articles but also likely reflects the effort to keep things zippy rather than genuinely thoughtful – what one might expect from most best sellers I’m afraid.

The author insists on using words that to my mind no longer are part of science, chief among these beings “laws” and “truth.”

Law is a genuinely outdated concept applied to science, although it is still somewhat carelessly used for theories of long standing. What we have in modern science are hypotheses or theories or conjectures which seem to describe our observations of phenomena but are subject to being endlessly tested against new observations and perhaps discarded.

Science is quite ruthless about ideas. When they cease working, they are set aside and replaced by others that work better. So long as a theory continues to fit new observations – and remember our scientific instruments are almost constantly improving in accuracy and scope of application and even in the measurement of things never before measured – it is viewed as useful and, in a strictly limited sense, valid.

But there are no laws in science truly today, even if phrases carrying over from the 19th century are sometimes used. Each time we rise to another perspective in looking at a phenomenon – as by the new acuteness of our instruments or building upon a new and very convincing theory or doing a kind of experiment never before done - we sometimes begin to see observations, including previous ones, in a new way. A new theory or conjecture replaces the established one, and the process continues so long as we are able to progress.

Einstein replaced Newton, but Newton still serves perfectly well under limited conditions to give the results he always did, and, as Einstein himself suggested, he will himself one day be displaced in the same way by an even more encompassing perspective.

None of these great men’s works is regarded as law: they are useful relationships which are valued and retained so long as they continue to be useful.

And none of these theories represents “truth” except in the highly limited sense that when under such-and-such conditions we may expect this-or-that.

Nothing in all of physics has any existence in reality – if we may posit such a thing as reality – neither quarks nor electrons nor electromagnetic spectra: these are our way of describing phenomena to ourselves in useful, consistent, and measurable ways, but they are not, as it were, snap shots of nature.

There is no reason known for this process ever to stop, unless we bump up against limits of perception or understanding, a possibility discussed briefly in the book but which is as utterly speculative and useless today as notions like the mind-body problem of philosophy.

I’ll leave it to readers to discover the intense experience of years ago that motivates the author: I would only suggest that someone dropped LSD into something he consumed.

CHUCKMAN’S MEXICAN LASAGNE

2010-05-27T09:17:00.000-07:00

Not an authentic dish, but very tasty

INGREDIENTS:

5 Large Tortillas (if you need to fit casserole pan, cut sides)

1 Large Onion - chopped

2 cans refried beans – Herdez from Mexico are my favorite

2 pounds ground beef and pork mixed

Frozen of fresh Corn kernels – several handfuls

Green Pepper – finely chopped – several handfuls

1 1/2 pounds Cheddar or Monterey Jack Cheese – grated

2 cans La Victoria Sauce (Hot) from Mexico – see bottom of recipe
for alternative with my Green Sauce

Red Spaghetti Sauce – leftover or bottled – about equal to half of
La Victoria Sauce

Green stuffed Olives – handful to decorate top

Soft Cream Cheese – Laughing Cow from Quebec is perfect – enough
to crumble over top with Olives

METHOD:

Saute ground Meat with chopped Onion.

Mix the two Sauces.

In the bottom of a large glass oven casserole pan, rub a little oil, then drizzle a little mixed Sauce. Place a Tortilla. Spread Re-fried Beans over tortilla like frosting. Sprinkle a good layer of sautéed ground meat mixture. Sprinkle some Corn and Green Pepper. Sprinkle with grated Cheese. Lightly coat with Sauce.

Repeat with more layers. Stop with a Tortilla on top.

Over the top Tortilla, spread remaining Sauce mix. Crumble soft Cream Cheese pieces in roughly even spacing. Spread a little remaining grated cheese. Sprinkle Olives with roughly even spacing.

Cover pan with foil top and bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes.

Great leftover and re-heated (cover).

NOTE ON ALTERNATIVE SAUCE VERSION:

My Green Pepper Sauce – used for Fish Enchiladas – is also perfect for this recipe. Skip adding Spaghetti Sauce in this case, although I can imagine a thin drizzle of Spaghetti Sauce followed by a thick drizzle of Green Pepper Sauce being very good too.

Saute two or three finely-diced cloves of garlic in oil. Use this garic-infused oil to make a smooth White Sauce, mixing flour into Milk and then into warm oil. Use about one-quarter Light Cream or Half-and-half with Milk. Add a Knorr Chicken bullion cube or, if you have it, some heavily-reduced Chicken Stock. Add a generous amount of a Green Hot Sauce based on Jalapeno peppers, amount depending on taste. I use Mama Africa’s Zulu Sauce (Jalapeno) from South Africa. Any such sauce will do.

CHUCKMAN’S FISH IN A MOROCCAN TAGINE STYLE

2010-04-22T07:13:00.000-07:00

Not authentic but a delicious and easy-to-make dish.

INGREDIENTS:

Haddock or another meaty white fish, in large chunks – 1 ½ pounds
Oil – enough for lightly sautéing fish
Garlic – at least two cloves
Onions – one large, finely chopped
Chicken stock – 4 cups – if you do not make rice (below) with Chicken Stock, you need only 2 Cups for Fish
Olives – large green with pits – at least a cup
Lemons – two sliced very thinly, keeping rinds on

Rice for serving on – 1 Cup dry to 2 Cups Chicken Stock (or water)

SPICE MIX:

Black Pepper - ¼ teaspoon
Powdered Ginger - ¼ teaspoon
Cumin - 1 teaspoon
Turmeric – 1 teaspoon
Coriander – 1 teaspoon
Saffron (I use the cheap stuff) – pinch or two

METHOD:

Rub Spice Mix on Fish pieces and let stand for an hour.

Heat oil and sauté Fish pieces. Note they need very little cooking. Remove fish from pan and set aside.

Sauté Onion and Garlic in pan drippings.

Add Chicken Stock, add Olives and Lemon Slices,
and leave on high heat to reduce by a third of its volume.

Place Fish on a bed of rice and pour over the reduced sauce.

REVIEW OF DOUGLAS HURD'S ROBERT PEEL

2010-01-14T09:11:00.000-08:00

Here is a fine biography of a politician written by another politician.

Robert Peel, while a figure of considerable importance to British history, led what many would regard as an unexciting life, and Peel was the kind of aristocratic figure many people today might find relatively unsympathetic. So it is a good measure of Hurd's success with the book that he makes it interesting, and it is very well written.

I use the adjective "aristocratic," because Peel was actually one of the "new men," a rich merchant's talented son, but his political alliances were necessarily frequently with the landed aristocrats who played a large role in the Conservative Party of that time, and his own views were not the stirring stuff of democratic principles and modern conceptions of human rights. Of course, he was given a title for his service, a practice which itself reflects the evolution of British government with the growth of the middle class.

What Douglas Hurd does exceptionally well is to show us the decent and sympathetic man Peel was. Peel was ready when his keen mind perceived that the world was changing in ways that warranted change by government to advocate the needed change, often finding himself opposed by the kind of conservatives who believes little should ever change. We get a nice feel for the stresses and difficulties involved in Peel's various efforts at reform, given his political world and party.

I admired Hurd's effort to give the modern reader some appreciation of the changing nature of Parliament and its rules, often giving comparisons with how things worked then to how they work now. The nineteenth century was a dynamic era of political change in Britain - driven by the forces of the industrial revolution and exploding world trade - as the country developed into a modern democratic state, and the book reflects that.

This is a fine book for students of British or European history or social change or the evolution of modern democratic government.

REVIEW OF FRANK MCLYNN'S NAPOLEON

2010-01-14T09:10:00.000-08:00

Another biography of Napoleon you might ask?

You could fill a small library with biographies of this remarkable and notorious man, quite a number of them significant works.

Yet Frank McLynn has managed the considerable task of adding something new and quite interesting to the literature.

Here is a gripping version of the life of one of history's great soldier-conquerors. It is well written, roars right along much as a good novel, is packed with interesting anecdotes, but it does come with some controversial interpretations of its subject. So you have every reason to read it.

McLynn spends some time on Napoleon's love life and especially on his immensely complicated and messy relationship with Josephine, surely one of history's stormiest and most perverse love stories. He also gives readers a terrific appreciation for Napoleon's genuinely grotesque family. This immensely talented man dragged his family through his career, almost like a great actor with a wagon full of noisy, grasping, bickering relatives always parked just outside the entrance to the theater. For me, at least, McLynn broke new ground on both of these subjects.

There is a good deal of analysis here of some of Napoleon's battles, but the book is never a mere military history. One of McLynn's controversial views is about the decline of Napoleon's once razor-sharp military abilities.

McLynn does an excellent job in giving readers an appreciation of how utterly ruthless and deceptive Napoleon could be, in personal relationships - his twists and turns with Désirée Clary - and in politics - his dealings with Barras - and in campaigning - his murder of prisoners in the Middle East and the abandonment of the army he brought needlessly to Egypt.

McLynn stresses what he calls Napoleon's "Oriental complex," reminding me of Mark Anthony, and I think he is right in that.

I think, too, in the matter of Napoleon's mysterious death on St Helena, McLynn gets the story right, pointing the finger at one of his retinue, Montholon, who likely acted as an agent for the Bourbons in administering periodic doses of arsenic.

All readers of good biography and history will enjoy this book, and each will likely find something new or interesting in it, and that's a pretty high recommendation.

REVIEW OF KATHY GANNON'S I IS FOR INFIDEL

2010-01-13T09:50:00.000-08:00

Ms Gannon writes at the beginning of her book’s Acknowledgments, “This book is the culmination of eighteen years covering Afghanistan and Pakistan as a reporter.”

Well, I’m sorry, but you would never know it just from reading the main part of the book.

Here is a book by a seasoned journalist, although I’ve never read Ms Gannon’s reportage, and it is poorly written, repetitive, but most importantly, it just fails to give the reader the much-desired understanding of a complex situation.

Even more, her credentials would lead us to expect some genuine enlightenment concerning the desperate matters in Afghanistan, a sparkling narrative history of events so incompletely understood. We do learn some things here, but the quantity, quality, and the consistency are meagre at best.

Moreover, I was quite troubled to read passages of the book, which seemed to me, could well have been written by a CIA operative: their tone and the direction in which they take the reader simply do not ring true for the observations of a genuinely independent journalist, at least not a first-rate one.

Some while back, I heard Ms Gannon on CBC Radio as part of a panel of people commenting on the conflict in Afghanistan. It was because I heard her say a few striking things that I so looked forward so much to this book, her first.

But what a disappointment it proved. Ms. Gannon’s writing is so poor, something one does not expect from a seasoned journalist. She repeats herself many times in so brief a book, and there is a fair amount of padding which seems ridiculous in a book of about 160 pages.

But what I found most disappointing was the incompleteness and anecdotal nature of the story she tells. As just one example, she introduces al Qaeda well into the book with no explanation of its origins. Or for a time she is writing about the Mujahedeen, then the Northern Alliance shows up. There is an explanation of the rise of the Taleban, but in bringing in the role of Pakistan’s intelligence service (ISI), there is confusion and statements made which are never expanded upon.

She attributes motives to Osama bin Laden for which she has no basis, at least she offers readers none. One should remember that to this day, we have never been given any genuine proof of bin Laden’s role in 9/11, and requests for his extradition by the Taleban government of day were rejected because the U. S. offered no evidence, a normal part of extradition requests by any country.

She brings Pakistan’s Musharraf onto the stage briefly and gives a highly slanted view of him.

No good newspaper editor would run with a story which contained the same kind of flaws this book does.

Because there are a few passages worth reading, I do not give the book the lowest possible rating, but neither can I possibly recommend it.

REVIEW OF ROBERT HUTCHINSON'S ELIZABETH'S SPY MASTER

2009-08-31T13:00:00.000-07:00

Much of this book reads with the pace of a well-written novel.

But it suffers from Hutchinson’s excessive use of quoted passages, a practice I regard as pernicious, one often used to pad the size of books.

Hutchinson’s book suffers, too, from his own motives in writing it.

“By right, he should rank with Horatio Nelson, the Duke of Wellington, and even Sir Winston Churchill as one of the great patriotic defenders, against all-comers, of this island state, its monarchs, governments, beliefs and creeds.”

I cannot agree. Here we have a man who said more than once that he could not be effective without torture, one who used the worst forms of torture extensively. He was also a man who plotted the downfall of great figures, including Mary Queen of Scots, with elaborate and devious schemes much in the style of what we would today term “entrapment.”

I am more in agreement when Hutchinson writes of “the numbing fear of that sudden Gestapo-like knock at the door from Walsingham’s questing pursuivants.”

Walsingham was an extraordinarily intelligent man and very talented at what he did. Those who are familiar with Elizabeth I know she did not suffer fools gladly and had a group of advisors and servants of extraordinary ability, so Walsingham’s skills are as we would expect.

But Walsingham was, like so many Puritans, a true fanatic, relentless in his pursuits, reminding the modern reader in many respects of dark figures in the Cold War or of the immortal and horrible, Inspector Javert.

Hutchinson’s greatest fault is overstating the importance of Walsingham’s contribution, crediting him, among other things, with England’s success against Spain’s Great Armada. This, it seems to me, is both a misreading of history and a dangerous error for people’s understanding of parallel situations in today’s world, the War on Terror having many similarities with the Elizabethan crusade against a re-establishment of Catholicism.

Elizabeth’s period has been a favourite of mine for years, and I believe strongly that it is a serious misreading of history to say that Walsingham’s intelligence was crucial to victory over the Great Armada. The Armada project was doomed from the start for the simple reason that Philip II of Spain did not have the resources to carry it off.

Philip was spending his treasure in every direction – fighting Turks in the Mediterranean, fighting a war in the Netherlands, running his inquisitions, and many other vast expenses - a treasure that was under constant attack by magnificent rascals like Sir Francis Drake, and he simply never had enough resources to succeed with the Armada. The Pope failed to deliver any significant resources, offering only talk and a fairly modest reward – modest in relation to the size of the project – payable upon the actual invasion of England.

The key to the invasion was landing the forces of the ferocious Duke of Alva from the Netherlands on the coast of England. Philip never had the beginning of enough ships for the secure passage of 30,000 heavily armed troops. The Armada’s main naval force, launched from Spain, was to meet up with Alva’s men on small boats launched from the coast of the Netherlands, an impossible task, especially given England’s naval forces, daring tactics, and superior naval technology, both in fast and manoeuvrable ships and in more accurate cannon.

Indeed, first class intelligence – intelligence of the purely information-gathering and analysis kind, as opposed to the intelligence of dark operations – would have concluded that.

It is creepily interesting to read of Walsingham’s career and exploits – interesting, that is, removed as we are by centuries of progress in human freedoms.

You will see here, in the events of more than four centuries ago, the kind of thinking and fear and paranoia we have experienced again in recent years under Bush’s War on Terror, although I think it safe to say that the intensity of fear and hatred was greater in Walsingham’s day.

Definitely worth reading, so long as readers are aware of its limits.

CHUCKMAN'S THAI CURRY SHRIMP & CHUCKMAN'S THAI-INFLUENCED SPINACH SALAD

2009-08-19T09:03:00.000-07:00

CHUCKMAN’S THAI CURRY SHRIMP

I love Thai food, but is there any Asian cuisine I don’t love? This dish is not authentic, but it will please lovers of Thai food, and it will please lovers of shrimp, especially those who love shrimp done with hot sauces – it is one of the tastiest shrimp dishes I know.
INGREDIENTS:

Shrimp – About 20 Large - never use pre-cooked which heat to rubberiness – use uncooked, fresh or frozen

Red Curry Paste – 1 Tablespoon - either store-bought or make your own – found in most Asian grocery stores and many supermarkets

Red Pepper Flakes – A generous sprinkling depending on how hot you want the dish

Pad Thai Concentrate – 1 Tablespoon - available at most Asian grocery stores

Thai Fish Sauce – 2 Teaspoons – available at most Asian grocery stores and many supermarkets

Lemon Juice – Juice of ½ a lemon – the equivalent in lime may also be used

Coarse Black Pepper – 2 Teaspoons

Coarse Sea Salt – 1 rounded Teaspoon

Oil – A few Tablespoons – enough to make a thick marinade - Canola is ideal

NOTE: Ingredient proportions are approximate because I cook this dish without measuring. Adjust to your taste.

METHOD:

Thaw Shrimp if frozen, leaving a short while in cold water, then peel.

Mix all other ingredients – except for Salt and half of Pepper – and stir into shrimp as a marinade. Let marinade at least an hour.

Oil sauté pan and heat to high, sprinkling with reserved Salt and Pepper. Quickly sauté shrimp, tossing as you cook. Remove from pan when shrimp are nice and pink.

These may be eaten over rice noodles or as is.
___________________________

The following Spinach Salad is excellent with the shrimp.

CHUCKMAN’S THAI-INFLUENCED SPINACH SALAD

INGREDIENTS:

Dressing:

Thai Hot Chilli Sauce – 3 Tablespoons - this is the sweet/hot bottled sauce Thai people use as a condiment

Rice Vinegar – 2 Tablesppons

Pepper Flakes – light sprinkling

Oil – Canola is excellent – enough to make a dressing

Fresh Ginger – about a thumb-end - finely chopped

Salad Greens:

Fresh Shredded Spinach or Baby Spinach - always wash spinach well

Sweet Red Pepper - sliced thinly or into matchsticks

Red Onion – sliced thinly

NOTE: some fresh bean sprouts would also be nice.

METHOD:

Shake dressing ingredients in a capped bottle. Toss greens together in a bowl. Dress when serving.

REVIEW OF JAMES DOUGLASS'S JFK AND THE UNSPEAKABLE

2009-07-26T09:39:00.000-07:00

Let me make my perspective clear in reviewing this book: I am a complete sceptic of the official story of Kennedy’s assassination . As well, I have been a fierce critic of the Warren Commission whose work was riddled with flaws and whose only investigation was wholly adopted from J. Edgar Hoover, a man who loathed the Kennedys and had several motives for hiding the truth, including Oswald’s (almost certain) embarrassing work as a paid FBI informant right up to the end.

It always amazes me when I confront the reality of a whole new generation of readers who appear, from their embrace of books like this, to be so completely unfamiliar with what has gone before. But of course that perspective is true in so many things: the Vietnam War, a pointless bloodbath which determined much of the course of my life and that of millions of others, is almost unknown to young people today if polls are to be believed.

That said, James Douglass’s book was a great disappointment. I had expected from some reviews, including one by Oliver Stone, as well as from the fact that Douglass is an experienced author, albeit of religious books, a significant contribution to the assassination literature.

But no critical mind familiar with the assassination literature could possibly regard this book as a contribution.

Every witness ignored by the Warren Commission or those whose testimony was twisted by Hoover’s FBI (and there were many) has been heard from in nearly forty-six years of books and articles. I accept the validity of a number of these witnesses, and, very importantly, I embrace Bertrand Russell’s profound question on the assassination: "If, as we are told, Oswald was the lone assassin, where is the issue of national security?"

Douglass, in his most successful passages in terms of suspense (undoubtedly, part of his appeal) presents once again a relatively small selection of these, letting readers assume they are getting these stories as new revelations. What is most regrettable is that Douglass includes and emphasizes a couple of the least credible witnesses, while leaving out other interesting, far more credible ones.

Douglass takes the idea of an Oswald double to new heights, quoting the more far-fetched witnesses, as seeing a man who was virtually his double. For those who’ve read the assassination literature, there is no doubt that there was at least one individual vaguely fitting Oswald’s description who was used by the conspirators as a means of spreading legends about Oswald’s activities, but we know from several pieces of evidence that he was no actual double.

Douglass offers nothing new on any of the most critical events around the assassination, including the remarkable activities of George de Mohrenschildt, former-FBI Agent Guy Banister’s operations in New Orleans, and Oswald’s supposed trip to Mexico City, absolute keys to understanding. He sorts out nothing new on these or other vital topics.

Why on earth does Douglass in the early part of his book spend time on an obscure a monk named Thomas Merton? It seems Merton inspired Douglass’s thoughts, but if you read between the lines of Douglass on Merton you find something close to ridiculous, a monk whose hobby was writing long letters to very famous public figures and who published a collection of these.

Douglass carefully avoids dealing with the fact of whether any of these people read Merton’s letters, or even opened them, or ever responded. The picture that emerges is one of a highly eccentric man one would not want to quote in the beginning of a book on a serious subject.

Again, of all the past books on the assassination, Douglass quotes some of the least interesting and credible, including the ponderous and, for me, seemingly delusional, The Man Who Knew Too Much, the supposed experiences of one Richard Case Nagell. Douglass never mentions the most important investigative book ever written on the topic, Anthony Summers’ Conspiracy, a work of immense credibility.

I have often written, when criticizing the many dishonest anti-conspiracy books which have appeared over the years (many of them undoubtedly financed or at least juiced-up by the CIA and its American media allies), that until we have new evidence, we are unable to make the kind of pat conclusions such books make.

We know only to a near certainty that Oswald did not shoot at Kennedy, that Oswald found himself (as an FBI informer) caught up in a series of elaborate plots with which he was not familiar, that no assassination of this nature takes place without considerable resources and planning, that Kennedy’s key wound was inflicted from the front, and that the official agencies, for whatever reason, have hidden what truth they know and certainly some key files.

This book is simply unsatisfying on many levels: read it only if you enjoy carnival side-shows.

Readers interested in my analysis of the assassination may find it in the published pieces, Forty Years of Lies and Lincoln Was Wrong. You’ll find both of them on any of several sites, including Chuckman’s Words On Wordpress.

CHUCKMAN'S SUKIYAKI

2009-06-15T12:23:00.000-07:00

CHUCKMAN’S SUKIYAKI
I love Japanese food in general, but this dish is one of my favourite meals from any cuisine. It offers a complete, delicious meal from one pot. It’s all preparation and little cooking.

INGREDIENTS:

1 ½ pounds of Beef – decent steak like top sirloin is good – sliced into very thin strips – Tip: slice steak when partially frozen to get best results, or use a good long scissor

Shirataki Mushrooms – about 6 to 8, depending on size – caps sliced thinly, stems not used - fresh or dried – if you use dry, soak in warm water for half an hour before cutting

Bok Choi – 1 large stalk or equivalent Baby Bok Choi – Greens sliced thinly, leave white bottom for a future recipe

1 pound soft Tofu – break up with fingers until little chunks like cottage cheese

Scallions – 4 large – sliced very thinly

Onion – 1 large – sliced very thinly

½ cup Soy Sauce – Kikkoman’s distinctive flavour is best for this

½ cup Sake

1 Tbsp sugar or sugar substitute

Togarashi – Japanese Red Pepper powder – available in any decent Asian grocery and even some supermarkets

Soba (Japanese buckwheat) Noodles – 3 or 4 of the little bundles as they typically come packaged

Oil sufficient for cooking a stir fry

METHOD:

Prepare sauce, combining Soy Sauce, Sake, and Sugar and set aside.

Place Noodles – remove little plastic ties first - into a medium pot of boiling water. Cook just a couple of minutes – they are very thin - and drain. Oil very lightly to keep from clumping and set aside.

Lightly oil large frying pan and cook Onion slices until translucent. Add Beef slices and Mushroom slices, cooking an additional minute or two stirring as you fry. Add Bok Choy and cook briefly until reduced by water loss. Add Tofu and Scallions and Sauce. Simmer briefly.

Add Noodles, stirring into mixture.

This ready to serve as soon as well mixed except for the Togarashi powder. I consider it essential, but some do not use it. By leaving it until last, you can customize plates.

NOTES:

Traditional Japanese people eat Sukiyaki with a raw egg on top.

Soba Noodles are not the noodles traditionally used, but I like them very much, and they are much easier to find than the more exotic noodles made from sweet potato which even many Asian grocers do not carry.

Togarashi is zesty but not hot.

Japanese Ginger (Sushi) Pickles, for me, go with Sukiyaki the way a big dill pickle goes with a corned-beef sandwich. Serve them cold on the side.

You may also make Sukiyaki with chicken.

CHUCKMAN’S FRESH CORN SALAD WITH MEXICAN FLAVORS

2009-05-20T11:21:00.000-07:00

CHUCKMAN’S FRESH CORN SALAD
A delicious way to use fresh corn

SALAD:
4 Cobs of fresh Corn
1 medium Zucchini quartered lengthwise and sliced thinly
1 small Red Sweet Pepper diced finely
1 medium Red Onion finely chopped
2 Stalks Celery finely sliced

DRESSING:
1 Lime – zest and juice – use two limes if you want a strong Lime flavor
2 Tbls Rice Vinegar
1 Tbls Chilli Powder
Tabasco sauce – several shakes or to taste
Fresh Cilantro – several sprigs finely chopped
Oil sufficient for a dressing - at least 2:1 to acids

Sea Salt coarse

METHOD:

Cut corn off cleaned cobs. Combine with other chopped vegetables and set aside.

Mix dressing but leave until ready to serve salad so that Lime does not dehydrate vegetables. Sprinkle coarse Salt when serving.

NOTE: I use old glass spice bottles with screw tops to mix dressings, putting in ingredients, closing top, and shaking vigorously. Works nicely, and you can store any leftover.

REVIEW OF PETER GREEN'S ALEXANDER TO ACTIUM

2009-05-06T14:41:00.000-07:00

Here indeed is a difficult book to review: it is so obviously a work of impressive scholarship, yet it has a number of notable shortcomings.

The comment has been made in other reviews that Green is an elegant writer, but I believe that only superficial readers or the author's friends and associates would say that. Green's writing has important and obvious flaws that prevent the book from being what it might have been.

While he sometimes offers elegant sentences, he too often offers convoluted sentences or sentences stuffed like long, fat sausages, sometimes even diverging from the subject in the course of setting down his words. He also maintains a rather superior gesturing in his prose. I know the effect Green likely hoped he was achieving - the majesty of Edward Gibbon or Thomas Macaulay - but he just does not succeed.

He is often an extremely pedantic writer, generously sprinkling his text with words and phrases not just from Greek and Latin but German and French, and always selecting obscure words or Latinisms where solid Anglo-Saxon words would serve better.

There are indeed times when a foreign expression captures the special sense of a concept that a translation may loose, and I have no objection to their use where that is true, but that is not the case here.

I very much object to the gratuitous use of foreign words and phrases to display an author's learning, something which makes the work less accessible to many while simply annoying others with a gimmick related to the use of "as the eminent, such-and-such prize-winner once said..." to bolster a quoted source's authority (something Green spares us). The effects are poisonous in a work of this nature.

Yet Green knows a great deal about his subject, and I certainly learned from him despite the faults. His interpretation of the Hellenistic world after Alexander as representing a decay and gradual departure from (reaching almost a bastardization of) Greece's true classical period is interesting, and he mounts some strong supporting evidence for the view.

The book is not properly understood as a history, because large portions of it are arguments of positions on historical or philosophical or esthetic or moral issues. There's nothing wrong with that, but potential readers should be aware of the fact.

There is such a huge cast of characters involved in the three great divisions of Alexander's conquests over a couple of centuries that one loses track of some of them in the narrative, many of course being minor or simply having left few records, but one might have hoped for a clearer, more sustained narrative of the truly important figures. There is a sense of fragmentation here which may be just the fault of a fragmentary record.

There is a considerable difference in Green's success in explaining some events. He sometimes leaves you mentally saying, "Yes, indeed," while other times he leaves you saying, "What?"

Despite the flaws, this is a significant book and one worth reading by anyone interested in the Hellenistic era and in the successors to the dead Alexander and in the rise of imperial Rome.

REVIEW OF ARNALDUR INDRIDASON'S ARCTIC CHILL

2009-05-05T08:41:00.000-07:00

I am not a traditionally a reader of mysteries, but since my wife introduced me to selected writers, there are a few to whose new books I quite look forward.

Scandinavian writers of this genre appeal a great deal. After all, part of what we get from any novel is being taken into a world we do not know, and the place and people names of Scandinavia are exotic and fascinating. Also, there is a great touch of humanity in the stories coming from Scandinavian writers, quite in distinction to some well-known, hard-boiled American writers whose fiction I find almost unreadable.

Norway's Karin Fossum is chief among the Scandinavians, being a writer and storyteller of top quality, but I enjoy Iceland's Arnaldur Indridason too. His first books were not in the same class with Fossum's, but with Arctic Chill, he rises to a new level of quality. This is fine and gripping book, an interesting tale with many twists and turns.

Indridason weaves several plots together here and manages them with great skill. The two criminal cases - a murder and a separate missing person - actually nicely reinforce each other and are used to introduce some interesting complexities.

Indridason is always a clear writer, but this book introduces a new level of sophistication in his storytelling. We still have his intelligent, very human, and sympathic detective, Erlendur, a man with whom we feel it might be nice to spend some time discussing the human condition. We still have the wonderfully forbidding weather and brooding landscape of Iceland as major characters.

This is a book you will not want to put down. Highly recommended.

CHUCKMAN'S ZESTIEST LENTIL SOUP

2009-05-04T12:32:00.000-07:00

MY ZESTIEST LENTL SOUP

1 Pound dry Red Lentils
2 Boxes Beef Stock
1 pound of Spanish Chorizo Sausage – Sweet – sliced thinly
1 large Onion - diced
1 large Green Pepper - diced
2 medium Carrots – sliced thinly
2 stalks of Celery – sliced thinly
Hungarian Sweet Paprika – at least two tablespoons, more if you like
Salt – to taste
Pepper – coarsely ground – at least 1 teaspoon

Bring a medium pot of water to boil and add Lentils. Boil for 5 minutes. Drain with a strainer and add to the Beef Stock in a large soup pan.

Saute Onions and Carrots until softened. Add Green Pepper and Celery to cook a briefer time. Add Paprika to vegetables and continue cooking a brief time to work in all the Paprika with oil and cook through.

Add Onions, Carrots, Green Pepper, Celery to pot of Beef Stock.

Add Chorizo slices to frying pan and briefly sauté. Then add to Stock. Add pepper.

Simmer for at least fifteen minutes, longer if you like something closer to a porridge consistency with much softened vegetables.

Great with yogourt.

REVIEW OF SEBASTIAN FAULKS' BIRDSONG

2009-04-16T14:38:00.000-07:00

This is a difficult book to review, the reason being is that it has so many contradictory qualities. It has some good writing combined with material that is sentimental and even purplish.

It has some strong images, and it has a series of preposterous incidents. It is packed with improbabilities.

The author starts with a mini-version of Flaubert's "Madame Bovary," oddly hybridized with Lawrence's "Lady Chatterley's Lover." While there is some nice writing here, it strikes me as self-consciously so, and the story lacks any freshness.

There are ridiculous improbabilities in this part of the book. Why would an English firm considering a business venture with a French firm send this young man, the protagonist, Stephen, to size up the opportunity? He isn't even educated in business. He is very young. And he proves emotionally unstable.

And why would the French proprietor - M. Azaire, husband of the beautiful woman, Isabelle, who becomes Stephen's lover - have Stephen spending time at lunches and other business of the floor workers in his plant? It's a genuinely silly idea.

The sentimentality begins shortly after Stephen and Isabelle become lovers, and, in cheap romantic fashion, Isabelle suddenly disappears with their young child, returning to her family.

When you get into the Great War, supposedly the real stuff of the book, you will wonder why you've had about ninety pages of rehashed Madame Bovary. You will find out towards the end, but it is a very unsatisfying idea of neatness and completeness that drives things.

Here and there in the war business, there are a few strong images and interesting stuff about the tunnel systems that were extensively used in the Great War.

But the author even manages to make the front sentimental and clichéd. Egad, there's even the proverbial friend who has never been with a woman and who is given the surprise present of a prostitute one night.

There's lots of hard drinking and calculatedly gruesome incidents - pure Hollywood. And the author has nothing fresh to say about the war we haven't all seen in movies or read in other books.

The end-of-war portion was clearly written with the hope of selling the book for movie rights. The idea of two men trapped in a huge tunnel far underground is gruesomely interesting, but the author draws it out to impossibly long time with an impossibly heroic series of efforts. People typically die after 3 or 4 days without water, but Stephen hangs in there for God knows how long.

Yes, he licks a bit of brackish water in a corner in his Herculean labors, but that just wouldn't do it.

His rescue would have been a good surprise - he is rescued by Germans digging in their own lines - had it been handled well. But we get an awkward effort by a couple of Germans, one of whom, we have explained at some length and repetition, happens to be Jewish. Why? Why is the author suddenly focusing on a man's religion? An intended irony about a good Jewish soldier in the German army? Whatever the intention, it simply does not work.

The ending is silly, the author bringing us what he regards as full circle.

I really do believe Faulks thought he was writing a racier, more action-filled "Gone with the Wind" for World War I in hope of a big movie contract.

I read this book wanting to like it, thinking from things I read that it might be another of those memorable books about people caught in the gears of war, but I found it impossibly flawed.

REVIEW OF DAVID HACKETT FISCHER'S CHAMPLAIN'S DREAM

2009-04-06T07:43:00.000-07:00

Not every historical character is so lucky in his biographer as Samuel de Champlain is in David Hackett Fischer. Fischer has tremendous good will and sympathy towards his subject, and that always makes a biography more pleasurable to read.

Champlain was an explorer, a mapmaker, an artist, a writer, a capable captain of people in difficult circumstances, an idealist, a seasoned soldier, and person of extraordinarily good temperament. In short, he was a French version of the fabled Elizabethan man, and with qualities of character superior to many Elizabethan men.

This is a very good book: it has a genuinely heroic subject in Champlain, and it tells a great story in vigorous language.

Fischer follows in part the example of Samuel Eliot Morison's "Admiral of the Ocean Sea," a venerable though somewhat dated biography of Columbus, by using his personal knowledge of sailing and the contemporary geography of Champlain’s New France to bring vivid life to his story and explain matters like the naming of certain places. Since I too know and have lived in some of these areas, I found this fascinating.

His treatment of the Indians of New France is refreshingly honest yet sympathetic, much in the spirit of Champlain himself, and by honest I’m including the very brutal aspects of aboriginal society sometimes overlooked today in sentimental history.

The book’s shortcomings are relatively small. Fischer is repetitive in small quantities at times, repeating some fact or observation offered not many pages before. This surely is the fault of a somewhat slack editor.

Another fault is in the somewhat poor reproduction of many illustrations, including a number of Champlain’s own drawings.

Fischer also does not tell us enough about certain matters such as Champlain’s marriage, a fascinating subject involving as it does a woman from a fairly distinguished French family who comes and spends time in New France. He briefly tells us how the marriage goes through ups and downs, but any reader will want a few more details filled in, if indeed such material exists in the records.

A significant book for Canadian history, the history of North American settlement and exploration, the history of North American aboriginal people, and all lovers of good biography and good yarns.

REVIEW OF RUSS BAKER'S FAMILY OF SECRETS

2009-03-11T09:01:00.000-07:00

This is one of those books which, while not being great, is nevertheless of some value.

Baker takes the point of view that it is impossible to write a book about George W. Bush without writing also about his father. I agree: George Junior would not ever have amounted to more than a small-time failure at business in Texas without his father's friends and influence.

The dual approach has certainly been taken before, a favorite father-and-son biography of mine being Anthony Cave Brown's Treason in the Blood about master-spy Kim Philby and his remarkable father, Harry St. John Philby.

But the parallels do not continue. George Junior is not a figure of personal achievement or significant talent; Kim Philby very much was, whatever you think of his treasonous work. Harry St. John was almost a character from Shakespeare; Bush pere is a fairly uninteresting, but intelligent, government-service lifer from a wealthy family. Brown's book is masterly; Baker's only interesting and competent.

I think Baker failed to investigate some of these matters adequately. For example, I, along with many others, do not believe Bush Junior either bright or hard-working enough to have earned a place in the prestigious universities he attended, much less graduate. He was certainly what is called a "legacy" student: someone who does not make the grade but is given a pass in the hope his wealthy family will contribute generously to the endowment fund. This is a common practice at "ivy league" universities, one of whose constant aims is their own perpetuation as institutions.

The main fact about Bush pere Baker attempts to establish is that he has a lifelong association with the Central Intelligence Agency. He does not prove this, but I think he offers strong circumstantial grounds for a reasonable assumption.

Bush pere's C.I.A. connection was not news for me: being in the past a serious student of the Kennedy assassination, I knew Bush pere's name came up in the long and costly secret war against Castro's Cuba. Also, the C.I.A.'s headquarters at Langley, Virginia, is named after Bush pere, and that kind of honor isn't granted for serving one quite short stint as Director.

I found the first half of the book a bit slow-moving. The pace picks up in the second half, and while Baker never achieves a consistent level of fascinating story-telling, some events are beautifully summed up. He does a handsome job, for example, with the story behind the story that cost Dan Rather his job at CBS News over documents purporting to prove Bush's shabby record with the National Guard in Texas.

There is a mistake or two here, but they are minor. Baker says Lewis "Scooter" Libby was pardoned, but, in fact, Bush only granted clemency on Libby's sentence. His conviction stands, despite the efforts behind the scenes of Dick Cheney, whose dirty work he did, to get him a pardon.

But then Bush never was one much for pardons, or compassion for that matter.

REVIEW OF NICHOLSON BAKER'S HUMAN SMOKE

2009-02-12T10:34:00.000-08:00

This is an odd book: its format is less like a book than a research folder or elaborate clipping file for the writing of a more conventional history. Its subject is undoubtedly controversial for some because it makes strong statements about the nature of modern war and it questions the clarity with which we traditionally define the heroes and villains in that vast human enterprise in destruction called World War II.

The book consists of a long series of quotes from all kinds of documents and publications and from famous people. The quotes go in time sequence leading up to and during World War II, and they are selected and orchestrated to make important points about modern war.

The points made here are so difficult for some to accept that I believe the author wanted to use a method that excluded his own voice, offering only the actual words of those who lived the history. In the end, the book has a powerful impact and its title nicely captures what it is about.

As a student of history, I did not find eyebrow-raising facts here, although particular quotes were startling, but I know many will not have been exposed to the disgusting facts of modern warfare. I have long believed, and I wrote an essay on the subject a few years ago, that the methods of modern warfare render the term terrorism meaningless. America or Israel today routinely kills far more civilians than soldiers. You simply cannot use horrible weapons and methods like napalm, white phosphorus, cluster bombs, or carpet-bombing without doing this.

The author makes the point strongly - and I do think it an important one - that it was not Hitler who started the indiscriminate bombing of civilians but the British. He shows Churchill's history of advocating gruesome destruction for enemies of the British Empire. This part of Churchill was less than valiant and less than honourable and had little to do with the values of democracy.

More generally, the conclusion emerges inexorably that there are no heroes in the gruesome business of turning war into something that targets civilians more than armies.

REVIEW OF ALEKSANDR FURSENKO'S AND TIMOTHY NAFTALI'S KHRUSCHEV'S COLD WAR

2009-02-12T08:52:00.000-08:00

This book is a gripping read, and it contains new insights into the Cold War, and the authors add some interesting brushstrokes to our historical portrait of Krushchev.

Khrushchev has always been a minor hero of mine. I call him a minor hero because one cannot talk about heroism in an unqualified way with a major figure of an absolute government. Beethoven angrily re-titled the dedication of the Eroica symphony, and I agree with his sentiments in doing it, yet it remains possible to admire some aspects of Napoleon's career.

All individuals must be judged with an appreciation for the constraints under which they operated, and Khrushchev did some very important things and maintained a kind of idealism, despite its rough peasant expression. Khrushchev did want his people to achieve a better life; he cared a great deal about improving agriculture; he was a sincere believer in the ultimate benefits of socialism; he did not want war; and he did want peaceful coexistence with the West before that phrase became commonplace. Above all, Khrushchev was and remains a very human figure, something that cannot be said of a great many absolute leaders.

Khrushchev's role in changing the operations of the Soviet government after decades of Stalin - perhaps the most terrifying dictator of the modern era - was heroic, something I believe he has never been adequately recognized for in the West.

But the same man was ready to crush revolt in Czechoslovakia and Hungary.

The title of the book is absolutely accurate: this is Khrushchev's Cold War. Other actors enter and leave the stage, but Khrushchev shapes the story. In that sense, it is necessarily incomplete as a history of the Cold War.

The new insights in the book come from Soviet archives not opened until well into the 21st century. They include who knew what when; the impact of certain events on the Soviet leadership; the real reasons for certain Soviet positions in international affairs; and some of the misunderstandings of American analysts and leaders at the time.

In a few cases, the authors indicate that materials are missing yet, so the book cannot be taken as definitive.

But the book is indispensable to understanding the Cold War, aspects of how the Soviet Union worked, and the Cuban Missile crisis. It is recommended to all with interest in these subjects and to anyone just wanting a good historical read.

CHUCKMAN: ADVERTISEMENTS FOR MYSELF

2009-01-10T12:51:00.001-08:00

CHUCKMAN'S SAVORY MIDDLE-EAST STYLE STUFFED PEPPERS

2009-01-10T12:36:00.000-08:00

CHUCKMAN’S SAVORY MIDDLE-EAST STYLE STUFFED PEPPERS

INGREDIENTS:

2 Cups Dry Couscous (Whole wheat or regular)

2 Cups Chicken Broth for Couscous (You will obtain this from the Chicken you cook)

1 Cup or more Chicken Stock for Sauce (You will obtain this from the Chicken you cook)

2 medium Onions

1 or 2 Carrots

4 Legs and Thighs of Chicken

Chatta – Pepper Paste from the Mideast (This is not hot, it is savory - available at any Middle East grocer)

4 Large Green (or Red) Sweet Peppers

Oil – for frying

1 Tablespoon Corn Starch (dissolved in a small quantity of water – for moderately thickening Sauce)

Tomato - a handful diced

METHOD:

Simmer Chicken pieces in a large saucepan of water until flesh easily pulled off.

Take out Chicken and let cool a bit. Set aside liquid (your Stock).

To prepare Couscous, boil 2 Cups of Stock (liquid from cooking Chicken), add dry Coucous, stir together, cover, and remove from burner. Couscous is ready in 5 minutes.

When cool enough to work with, shred Chicken meat, removing skin.

Finely slice or dice Onions and grate Carrot. Saute in a frying pan. Add several Tablespoons of Pepper Paste. When Onion is soft, add shredded Chicken and just warm through.

Stir together Chicken, Onion, and Carrot mix into prepared Couscous.

Halve and seed Green Peppers. Place on small baking sheet (covered with parchment paper, or oiled), or use Pyrex casserole dish, oiled. Pile up with Couscous mix. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for about an hour.

Prepare Sauce on stovetop. Use desired quantity of Chicken Stock, adding several Tablespoons of Chatta paste, a quantity of chopped Tomato, and a generous sprinkling of dry parsley. Add Corn Starch and water mix. Simmer covered for half an hour.

Pepper filling will be lightly browned. Serve as is with Sauce on the side.

NOTES:

Also serve Yogurt on the side, if desired (very nice).

The Coucous/Chicken filling mixture is delicious on its own – a kind of West Asian fried rice.

OTHER INTERESTING INGREDIENTS:

For the Couscous/chicken filling include: pieces of thinly sliced lemons that have been quickly sautéed, sliced (canned) artichoke hearts, olives, or pistachios.

REVIEW OF LAURA THOMPSON'S AGATHA CHRISTIE: AN ENGLISH MYSTERY

2009-01-05T09:33:00.000-08:00

I enjoyed an interview with Laura Thompson on CBC Radio, and I thought her biography of Agatha Christie might well be good reading, even though I am not a fan of its subject.

I enjoy any first-rate biography, and the times Ms. Christie lived through are loaded with interesting events and people. She was moreover a remarkable literary phenomenon, becoming a house-hold name, setting record runs for plays, and creating two unforgettable characters - Miss Marple and M. Poirot.

Reading the first few pages of this book, I was sure that I had been right: this was going to be a fine book. In these pages, Ms Thompson creates almost a prose-poem around the idyllic time in Ms. Christie's childhood.

But my illusion gradually faded: the book is a weak one, having a number of faults.

First, Ms. Thompson uses a huge number of quotes from Ms. Christie, to such an extent I regard them as padding. I don't object to using quotes in the fashion Ms. Thompson does, I just object to the sheer volume of them.

Second, Ms. Thompson, time and again, refers to this or that old photograph, making some special observations about them, but virtually none of these photographs is included in the book's selection of photos.

Third, Ms. Thompson appears to have done a weak job of research on some topics, as for example the crucial one around Ms. Christie's first husband leaving her. I think the questions readers have around that event, and there are many, are left not answered.

Fourth, the sense and drama of history is largely missing from a book covering a remarkable era.

The book is a real disappointment.

BOOK REVIEW OF JAMES AND BEN LONG'S THE PLOT AGAINST PEPYS

2008-12-26T10:21:00.000-08:00

This book is very good narrative history; in parts, it is truly excellent.

The period of English history from the Restoration of the Stuarts in the person of Charles II, 1660, to the Glorious Revolution, the overthrow of James II, younger brother of Charles in 1688, is a fascinating one, and the events of this book take place during a portion of that period.

The immediate background to these events includes the English Civil War and the rise and fall of the Cromwells. It is a time marked by an extreme turmoil over religion, Protestant versus Catholic, in the affairs of state. Ironically, the period covered was also one of considerable and fairly open decadence in English society, showing once again how little religion has to do with morals.

This book has as chief characters Samuel Pepys and one of the lesser-known nasty pieces of work in modern history, John Scott. With a cast like that, you almost cannot miss.

Pepys, famous for a diary, which is a fact-filled look at part of the period's society and a somewhat salacious record of its morals, was an able and conscientious (at least after the Restoration) civil servant who rose to high rank. The important part of his career was associated with the Royal navy, going from Clerk of the Acts to the Navy to Secretary to the Admiralty Board and finally to Secretary for the Affairs of the Admiralty.

Scott was a lifelong fraudster, murderer, and opportunist who rose up and fell down several times in several countries. With "the gift of the gab," a talent for forgery, and great energy in his schemes, Scott was almost certainly a psychopathic personality. He crossed paths - and as it happens, swords - with Pepys virtually by accident. His unquenchable hatred of Pepys apparently was sparked by a random event in which Pepys, just doing his official duty, thwarted one of Scott's high-flown schemes for gaining fame and fortune. His intense hatred was then harnessed by those interested in the overthrow of Charles II, especially Lord Shaftsbury, himself a considerably larger-than-life and rather grotesque figure.

Pepys was charged with being a secret Catholic and being part of a plot to kill the King and see a Catholic Monarchy installed. The main accuser was the psychopathic John Scott. A modern reader might think that this seems such a simple matter to clear up - especially the part about being a Catholic, which Pepys was not - but there was an atmosphere thickly charged with paranoia and suspicion in England at the time, and it was being actively added to by people like Shaftsbury, himself interested in turning over the existing monarchy.

Because this period was also one of a rapidly changing balance of power between Parliament and the Crown, the King and his brother - the future James II - were not in a position to simply lift a loyal public servant from extreme danger. Pepys spent a long and exhausting period fighting charges that already had seen notable prisoners hung, cut down alive, castrated, disemboweled, and drawn-and-quartered - the contemporary penalty for treason, a penalty which itself tells us something of the frenzied paranoia of the time. He was in and out of prison, had many court dates, and spent a small fortune collecting evidence and trying to understand the precise nature of the plot against him, although he had understood immediately that it was part of some unknown larger effort to get at the Stuarts.

Ultimately he was victorious, but only because he was smart, had considerable resources to employ, and enjoyed a few lucky brakes with past associate or victims of Scott's coming forward from various countries, and, most importantly, the King finally felt comfortable enough reaching down with limited but indispensable help.

The first part of this book reads like a rip-roaring crime novel, but it may be enjoyed on several levels. The English paranoia of the time and the dark operations of the courts in matters of treason remind one very much of the insane swirl of events in America following 9/11. Pepys could almost be an American secret prisoner under the deliberately misnamed Patriot Act. The almost unbelievable career of John Scott reminds one of the way career killers and abusers are so rarely caught even today before they have done immense damage to others. The meek definitely do not inherit the earth still.

AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT - A CONTEMPORARY CHRISTMAS TALE

2008-12-24T06:03:00.001-08:00

AND TO ALL, A GOOD NIGHT
A Contemporary Christmas Tale

John Chuckman

It was only a matter of time before Santa Claus himself came under the Neanderthal-eyed scrutiny of American intelligence. After all, Santa’s citizenship is unknown, and he crosses borders with no passport or other form of identification. No one knows whether he even has a valid pilot’s license.

Although his image is well known, there is no official photograph on file with American border control, and he has never been fingerprinted or body-searched. Most disconcerting of all, he delivers parcels to children all over the world, including the children living in the Axis of Evil. His intentions with this activity are not understood beyond some fuzzy generalization about kindness and generosity to all. Clearly, here was the world’s largest unplugged pipeline to potential terrorists.

It was only after receiving no response to several urgent letters from the State Department requesting an immediate meeting in Washington that a decision was made to approach Santa’s North Pole solitude. As usual in such matters with the people now running America, a wing of America’s most lethal killing machines was employed for the purpose. You never know what you might encounter in such a forbidding place.

As the planes first zoomed over the icy silence of the North Pole workshop, one of the pilots decided to swoop down for a closer look. He was one of those daring fly-boys, and his tail struck the only wire for thousands of miles around, the North Pole Telegraph, sending his plane hurling into the workshop in a ball of flames with tons of ammunition and missiles exploding.

Santa and Mrs. Claus rushed out of their snow-blanketed gingerbread house to see what was happening, trying to calm the terrified reindeer running from their stable at one end of the house. The elves, too, scurried towards the stable, trying to stop the reindeer from running or flying off.

Above, in the dark vault of sky, the other pilots observed the explosion and saw missile trails smoking into the air. They also saw the frantic activity below and quickly concluded their comrade had come under anti-aircraft attack. So they swooped down in attack formation, rapid-fire canon tearing into everything ahead of them.

Most of the reindeer fell in the snow, spurting warm blood across the bluish-white surface. Most of the elves, too, fell gasping for life. Mrs. Claus received a wound in the head and instantly fell limp. Santa tried heroically to reach his wife but realized the situation was hopeless and turned, running into the darkness accompanied by Prancer, the only surviving reindeer.

The only witness to the massacre is one surviving elf now living somewhere in Canada under an assumed identity, fearful for his life. It is only from his testimony that we know anything about Santa’s fate.

Realizing the horrific mistake they had made, the pilots dropped white phosphorus bombs with the intention of incinerating all evidence. The entire North Pole lit up and Santa and Prancer could be seen in the distance on a huge block of ice drifting off into the dark sea, the ice everywhere cracked and weakened by the combined effects of white phosphorus and years of global warming.

Within in a few hours, the beating sound of a black helicopter approached Santa and Prancer. The elf, from his hiding place in a snowdrift, could only make out intermittent sounds across the howling coldness, but it seems armed men emerged from the helicopter, shot Prancer and shackled Santa, shoving him into the dark, beating machine. The elf heard a word that sounded like Guantanamo and Santa has not been heard from since. Reports of his fate reached the International Red Cross and organizations like Amnesty International, leading to inquiries, but these have been met only with silence from American authorities.

CHUCKMAN'S MEXICAN SHEPHERDS' PIE

2008-12-20T10:18:00.000-08:00

CHUCKMAN’S MEXICAN SHEPHERDS' PIE

2 pounds of Ground Beef

1 Large Sweet Red Pepper – diced

2 Cans Re-fried Beans – Herdez from Mexico is my favorite

A Couple of Handfuls of Frozen Corn

A Couple of Handfuls of Grated Cheddar Cheese

1 Can La Victoria Mexican Enchilada Sauce (Hot variety)

A Couple of Tablespoons of Chipotle Concentrate – available in many supermarkets

1 Package Knorr Au Jus – Prepared according to package

DIRECTIONS

Lightly sauté Beef along with Chipotle concentrate. Place in the bottom of a medium-sized, buttered casserole pan.

Pour half of La Victoria Sauce over, and pour all of prepared Knorr Au Jus over.

Let cool a bit. Spread Corn and Red Pepper over evenly. Salt lightly.

Using a table knife or spatula, spread Refried Beans evenly over top, just as you would mashed potatoes with traditional Sheppards' Pie.

Spread Grated Cheese evenly over top.

Dribble second half of La Victoria Sauce on top.

Bake about half an hour at 350º.

Serve with plain yogurt. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro if you like.

BOOK REVIEW OF CURT GENTRY'S J. EDGAR HOOVER

2008-11-18T08:30:00.000-08:00

This biography is a study in quiet, creepy state terror, terror as it took hold in a modern democratic state. No black shirts, no armbands, no drums, just quiet, behind-the-scenes abuse of power, blackmail, fraud, spying without warrants, illegal arrests and deportations.

Naive Americans are sometimes heard to ask how could people in other lands allow evil people to take power? Well, this book will show you how it is done and how it was done in their own country.

As someone else has said, it is a book every American should read. Little that the war criminal, George Bush, has inflicted on the American people wasn’t practiced much earlier under Mr. Hoover.

Gentry’s book reads like a good novel with a strong narrative, and it is loaded with interesting anecdotes.

There have been several interesting biographies of Hoover, but this one is the one I most strongly recommend. This focuses on his career and use of power, and it is there that the truly important story is to be found.

Gentry several times hints around Hoover's homosexuality but doesn't dwell on it. We know from Anthony Summers' book that Hoover had a rather bizarre private life as a flamboyant cross-dresser. This wouldn't be of any great significance except that Hoover had no tolerance for homosexuals in government, having been responsible for destroying the careers of a number of them.

Gentry also makes clear that the insane Joseph McCarthy was largely the creature of Hoover. Hooveer fed him tidbits or sometimes worked backward to supply some printed support after McCarthy had gone off half-cocked bragging about things in public he had not one shred of evidence to support. McCarthy was a drunk looking to spark a lackluster career. He was also thought to be a pedophile, but none of these things mattered to Hoover so long as he could use McCarthy to his purpose. Only when McCarthy stopped being useful did Hoover drop him.

Presidents like Johnson and Kennedy and even Roosevelt eagerly ate the political filth he fed them by hand, casting shame on their legacies. Hoover compromised many people who should have been his strongest critics, including, for example, the head of the American Civil Liberties Union.

For all his years of abuse and excess, it is not clear that he ever achieved anything in the way of making America a safer, more secure place from external and internal enemies.

An important chapter of Hoover’s time in power remains inadequately scrutinized: his full role in the investigation of Kennedy’s assassination. As Gentry documents and as others have documented, the FBI was well aware before the assassination of serious threats against Kennedy and yet seems to have taken inadequate action to thwart them.

Hoover’s role in “solving” the crime remains one of the great mysteries of 20th century American history. The Warren Commission had no independent investigative ability. All it did was take Hoover’s rushed, inadequate, and pre-judged investigation and re-package it. And we know now that the so-called Warren Report was riddled with errors and misjudgment and the selective use of facts. It was a piece of Soviet-era state rubbish posing as detailed investigation.

If, as many who have studied the assassination believe, it was the work of the American Mafia, we have an automatic explanation for Hoover’s shoddy work. Hoover claimed he never believed the Mafia existed until he was almost forced to accept it. He chased pathetic “reds” rather than the real criminals who were eating away at the substance of American society. Many have theorized that the Mafia held evidence, perhaps photographs, of Hoover’s homosexuality and cross-dressing, keeping him neutralized for decades in exactly the way Hoover neutralized so many politicians and potential critics.

I like very much the way Gentry briefly followers through the successors of Hoover at the FBI, summarizing their changes and contributions, and it is not an uplifting story.

The very fact that the FBI building in Washington still has Hoover’s name on it in big metal letters tells us a great deal about the nature of power in America.

CHUCKMAN’S VERSION OF ALEPPO SOUP (LENTIL SOUP FROM SYRIA)

2008-10-22T08:19:00.000-07:00

A simple and tasty soup.

1 Cup of Red Lentils

6 Cups of Chicken Stock (or Water may be used for vegetarian version)

1/4 Cup Chick-Pea Flour (aka, Gram Flour - available in any Indian or Mideast grocery store)

1/2 Cup Lemon Juice

3 or 4 Garlic Cloves, crushed

1 Teaspoon Cumin

1/4 Teaspoon Cayenne

1/2 Teaspoon Coriander

Salt to taste

Simmer Lentils in bulk of Stock for about 5 minutes, reserving a small portion of Stock.

Mix Chick Pea Flour in reserved Stock, making a thickening agent. Add to Lentils.

Add Lemon Juice, Cumin, Coriander, Cayenne, and Salt to Lentils.

Saute crushed Garlic briefly until golden. Add to Lentils.

Simmer for about 20 minutes.

This soup is delicious as made above, but it provides a base for many variations. Bits of roasted Lamb and/or fresh Cilantro are nice additions.

BOOK REVIEW OF SIMON WINCHESTER'S THE MAN WHO LOVED CHINA

2008-08-11T09:32:00.000-07:00

REVIEW OF SIMON WINCHESTER'S THE MAN WHO LOVED CHINA BY JOHN CHUCKMAN

This is a good read. Simon Winchester provides a tight and fairly vigorous story of the remarkable man, Joseph Needham.

Needham was a brilliant man, gifted in science and languages. He was also a genuine non-conformist, both in his personal life and in political affairs, and he had the fabled abilities of a great scholar to sit for all hours of the day, day after day, analyzing ancient texts and writing world-recognized works about what he discovered.

Needham had the good fortune of being appointed by the British government, as a scientist of world reputation, on a mission to unoccupied China during World War II. His task was to contact as many Chinese academics as possible and help them obtain the resources, provided by the British government, they needed to carry on their work. This was both war-time assistance and an investment in future relations.

As in any effort he undertook, Needham quickly went to work with great vigor. He made a couple of epic journeys across large stretches of China and a number of smaller ones. He contacted many people of note, helping scientists and scholars obtain equipment and supplies to keep their efforts going under the great privations of war.

But, at the same time, he also did something else very important. He collected, wherever he found them and could purchase them, ancient Chinese texts which went back to England with him. Very early the idea struck him of writing a scholarly work on the ancient contributions of China to technology and science.

Needham was such an impressive intellect and so clearly in love with China - he typically wore gowns styled after the gowns worn by Chinese scholars and spoke fluent Mandarin and was bursting with enthusiasm about the things he saw and discovered - that a number of Chinese who only met him briefly were motivated to collect, long after he went home to England, and send him great quantities more of truly precious historical materials.

Needham's great project, a virtual encyclopedia of the history of Chinese science and technology, was never finished by him, but the volumes he did write were immediately embraced by the academic world as important new contributions to knowledge, and the work remains a classic.

Needham discovered - then unknown outside China - that the Chinese had invented a remarkable number of things before they were discovered in Europe. Moveable type - first in the ninth century as wood, later as bronze - was perhaps the most remarkable of these, but there were literally hundreds of others including an early compass and some very early sophisticated mathematics.

Needham's volumes became an important East Asian collection in the libraries of Cambridge University.

An interesting anecdote in the book, unrelated to the subject, concerns Needham's tours to lecture on his discoveries. One was to Chicago, and author Winchester discovered that Theodore Kaczynski, the gifted mathematician who later sank into deep schizophrenia and became the infamous Unabomber living in the wilderness, attended a lecture.

Winchester speculates whether that lecture, including a discussion of gunpowder as it did, might have influenced Kaczynski later. I did think this speculation a bit naïve and a bit of research would have eliminated it. Kaczynski grew up in Chicago, as I did, and as a teenager he made the newspapers with the sophisticated rockets he was building. His rockets were made of metal and used fuel more sophisticated than gunpowder, becoming a subject of interest because they climbed over a mile in altitude, possibly threatening civilian aviation. It seems pretty clear he did not need Needham's lecture on gunpowder.

My only regret about this book is that it was too brief. Needham and his adventures and work are a large subject.

ON THE DEATH OF AN OLD GOOD FRIEND

2008-08-07T12:24:00.000-07:00

WRITTEN FOR A NEWSLETTER ADDRESSING THE OLD CHICAGO NEIGHBORHOOD RESIDENTS

My old good friend, Preston E. Uney (Bradwell 1959/ South Shore 1963), died on July 7, 2008. He was an aeronautical engineer living with his wife and children in Colorado.

Preston's dad ran a small toy store on Stony Island in the 1960s until the changing neighborhood destroyed his business. The family lived for many years in a small house on Kingston Ave. just south of 79th.

His older sister, Marie, taught us both to dance, however awkward the results. His father, an immigrant from Russia, used to tell electrifying stories of the Russian Front in WWII.

Preston was an interesting independent-minded kid who must have been the only student carrying a Socialist Workers Party sign around South Shore High in the 1960 Kennedy-Nixon presidential campaign. He will be missed.

A LIST OF MEMORABLE FILMS

2008-06-04T13:21:00.000-07:00

Here is a list of films I made recently for a younger friend unfamiliar with many classics. I could certainly add to it. Perhaps I will from time to time.

THESE ARE ALL INTERESTING FILMS, MANY ARE GREAT AND MANY ARE CLASSICS. NO EFFORT HAS BEEN MADE TO BE COMPREHENSIVE.

HITCHCOCK

FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT (1940)
LIFEBOAT (1944)
NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959)
REAR WINDOW (1954)
SHADOW OF A DOUBT (1943)
STRANGERS ON A TRAIN (1951)
SUSPICION (1941)

STANLEY KUBRICK

2001 SPACE ODYSSEY (1968)
DR STRANGELOVE (1964)
PATHS OF GLORY (1957)

FRANK CAPRA

ARSENIC AND OLD LACE (1944)
IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946)
MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON (1939)

JOHN HUSTON

AFRICAN QUEEN (1951)
MALTESE FALCON (1931)
TREASURE OF SIERRA MADRE (1948)

ELIA KAZAN

EAST OF EDEN (1955)
FACE IN THE CROWD (1957)
ON THE WATERFRONT (1954)

ALAIN RESNAIS

HIROSHIMA, MON AMOUR (FRENCH – 1959)
LA GUERRE EST FINIE (FRENCH – 1966)
PROVIDENCE (BRITISH-FRENCH – 1976)

HUMPHREY BOGART

AFRICAN QUEEN (1951)
CAINE MUTINY (1954)
CASABLANCA (1942)
MALTESE FALCON (1931)
PETRIFIED FOREST (1936)
TREASURE OF SIERRA MODRE (1948)

CARY GRANT

ARSENIC AND OLD LACE (1944)
BRINGING UP BABY (1938)
FATHER GOOSE (1964)
HIS GIRL FRIDAY (1940)
MONKEY BUSINESS (1952)
MR. BLANDINGS BUILDS HIS DREAM HOUSE (1948)
NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959)
PHILADELPHIA STORY (1940)
SUSPICION (1941)

SPENCER TRACY

BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK (1954)
DESK SET (1957)
THE MOUNTAIN (1956)

KIRK DOUGLAS

CHAMPION (1949)
DETECTIVE STORY (1951)
LETTER TO THREE WIVES (1949)
LONELY ARE THE BRAVE (1962)
PATHS OF GLORY (1957)

MARLON BRANDO

ON THE WATERFRONT (1954)
ONE-EYED JACKS (1961)

ALEC GUINNESS

KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS (BRITISH – 1949)
LADYKILLERS (BRITISH – 1955)
MAN IN THE WHITE SUIT (BRITISH – 1951)
TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SPY (BRITISH 1979 - MADE FOR TELEVISION)

JAMES MASON

BOYS FROM BRAZIL (1978)
FIVE FINGERS (1952)
NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959)
ODD MAN OUT (BRITISH 1947)

LAUREL AND HARDY

THE SHORTS MADE IN 1920S (SILENTS) AND 1930S (SOUND) CONTAIN MANY HILARIOUS SCENES – EXAMPLE: THE PIANO MOVERS. AVOID ALL THEIR FEATURE-LENGTH FILMS.

KATHRINE HEPBURN

ADAM’S RIB (1949)
AFRICAN QUEEN (1951)
BRINGING UP BABY (1938)
DESK SET (1957)
HOLIDAY (1938)
PHILADELPHIA STORY (1940)
SUMMERTIME (1955)

BETTE DAVIS

ALL ABOUT EVE (1950)
DARK VICTORY (1939)
JEZEBEL (1938)
LITTLE FOXES (1941)
PETRIFIED FOREST (1936)

OLIVIER DE HAVILLAND

GONE WITH THE WIND (1939)
THE HEIRESS (1949)

EVA MARIE SAINT

HATFUL OF RAIN (1957)
NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959)
ON THE WATERFRONT (1954)

INTERESTING ODDITIES

ADVISE AND CONSENT (1962)
AGUIRRE, THE WRATH OF GOD (GERMAN 1972)
ALPHAVILLE (FRENCH 1965)
AMADEUS (1984)
AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON (1981)
ATLANTIC CITY (FRENCH 1980)
BABETTE'S FEAST (DANISH 1987)
BLOWUP (BRITISH – 1966)
BURNT BY THE SUN (RUSSIAN 1994)
CHAMPAGNE FOR CAESAR (1950)
CINEMA PARADISO (ITALIAN 1988)
CYRANO DE BERGERAC (FRENCH 1990)
DAY FOR NIGHT (FRENCH 1974)
DOCTOR MABUSE (GERMAN 1922)
DR STRANGELOVE (1964)
FACE IN THE CROWD (1957)
FACES (1968)
FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS (1967)
HATFUL OF RAIN (1957)
INVESTIGATION OF A CITIZEN ABOVE SUSPICION (ITALIAN 1970)
JUNK MAIL (NORWEIGAN 1997)
KOYAANISQUATSI (1983)
LOCAL HERO (BRITISH 1983)
MARRIAGE OF EVA BRAUN (GERMAN 1979)
MILAGRO BEANFIELD WAR (1988)
MOTHER KUSTERS GOES TO HEAVEN (GERMAN 1976)
O LUCKY MAN! (BRITISH 1973)
OF MICE AND MEN (1940)
REPULSION (BRITISH-FRENCH 1965)
ROOM AT THE TOP (BRITISH 1958)
SEDUCTION OF MIMI (ITALIAN 1972)
SEVEN BEAUTIES (ITALIAN 1976)
SHAME (SWEDISH 1968)
SUNDAYS AND CYBELE (FRENCH 1962)
TATIE DANIELLE (FRENCH 1991)
THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES (1946)
THE CONFORMIST (FRENCH 1970)
THE DARLING (BRITISH 1965)
THE PRINCESS BRIDE (1987)
THE RED SHOES (BRITISH 1948)
THE REMAINS OF THE DAY (BRITISH 1993)
THE SERVANT (BRITISH 1963)
THE TENANT (FRENCH 1976)
TIME AFTER TIME (BRITISH 1979)
TOKYO STORY (JAPANESE 1953)
UGETSU (JAPANESE 1953)
WAGES OF FEAR (FRENCH 1952)
WOMAN IN THE DUNE (JAPANESE 1964)

SHAKESPEARE ADAPTATIONS

CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT (1966)
HENRY V (BRITISH 1944)
RICHARD III (BRITISH 1955)
ROMEO AND JULIET (ITALIAN-BRITISH 1968)

JUST FUN FILMS

A HARD DAYS NIGHT (BRITISH 1964 - THE BEATLES)
BREAKING AWAY (1979)
DIVORCE, AMERICAN STYLE (1967)
DUCK SOUP (1933)
FRIENDLY PERSAUSION (1956)
HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES (BRITISH 1939)
IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946)
JOHNNY STECCHINO (ITALIAN 1992)
MA VIE EN ROSE (FRENCH 1997)
MISTER DEEDS GOES TO TOWN (1936)
MORGAN! (BRITISH 1966)
MY LIFE AS A DOG (SWEDISH 1985)
NINOTCHKA (1939)
NO TIME FOR SARGEANTS (1958)
RED BALLOON (FRENCH 1956 - SHORT)
SINGING IN THE RAIN (1952)
STOLEN KISSES (FRENCH 1968)
THE COMMITMENTS (BRITISH 1991)
THE MAN WHO LOVED WOMEN (FRENCH 1977)
THE SLINGSHOT (DANISH 1993)
THE THIN MAN (1934)
TRAFIC (FRENCH 1971)
ZAZIE IN THE METRO (FRENCH 1960)
O.HENRY'S FULL HOUSE (1952)
ON THE TOWN (1949)

GREAT CRIME, COPS & GANGSTERS

BREATHLESS (FRENCH 1959)
CAPE FEAR (1961)
DAY OF THE JACKEL (BRITISH 1973)
DIABOLIQUE (FRENCH 1954)
DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944)
DRESSED TO KILL (1980)
FRENCH CONNECTION (1971)
M (GERMAN – 1931)
MADIGAN (1968)
MARATHON MAN (1976)
PIERROT LE FOU (FRENCH 1965)
POLICE (FRENCH 1985)
RUNAWAY TRAIN (1985)
THE THIRD MAN (BRITISH 1949)
WHILE THE CITY SLEEPS (1956)
WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION (1957)
POPE OF GREENWICH VILLAGE (1984)

GREAT SPY FILMS

IPCRESS FILE (1965)
SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD (1966)
TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SPY (BRITISH 1979 - MADE FOR TELEVISION)

GREAT WESTERNS

HIGH NOON (1952)
ONE-EYED JACKS (1961)
SHANE (1953)

GREAT WAR FILMS

ATTACK! (1956)
BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI (1957)
DAS BOOT (GERMAN 1982)
GRAND ILLUSION (FRENCH 1937)
KING AND COUNTRY (BRITISH 1964)
PATHS OF GLORY (1957)
PLATOON (1986)
WAR AND PEACE (RUSSIAN 1968)
ZULU (BRITISH 1964)
STEEL HELMET (1951)
THE BRIDGE (GERMAN 1960)

INTERESTING SCIENCE FICTION/ MILD HORROR

2001 SPACE ODYSSEY (1968)
ALIEN (1979 – NONE OF THE AWFUL SEQUELS)
AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON (1981)
BLADE RUNNER (1982)
COLOSSUS: THE FORBIN PROJECT (1970)
FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS (BRITISH 1967)
FRANKENSTEIN (1931)
INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (1956)
KING KONG (1933)
NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968)
NOSFERATU (GERMAN 1922)
QUEEN OF BLOOD (ITALIAN 1966)
ROSEMARY'S BABY (1968)
THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (1951)
THE THING (1951)

GREAT ROMANCE FILMS

AN AMERICAN IN PARIS (1951)
ROMEO AND JULIET (ITALIAN-BRITISH 1968)
SABRINA (1954)
THE QUIET MAN (1952)
UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG (FRENCH 1964)

OTHERS, UNCLASSIFIED

AMADEUS (1984)
HOOP DREAMS (1994)
INNER CIRCLE (RUSSIA 1991)
JEAN DE FLORETTE/ MANON DES SOURCES (FRENCH 1987 – TWO FILMS)
KEYS TO THE KINGDOM (1944)
LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (1962)
PELLE THE CONQUOER (DANISH 1988)
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (1962)
TUNES OF GLORY (BRITISH 1960)
TWELVE ANGRY MEN (1957)
UMBERTO D (ITALIAN 1952)
VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE (1962)

BOOK REVIEW: RICHARD DAWKINS' THE GOD DELUSION

2008-03-31T11:19:00.000-07:00

There has been a great deal of noise over this book. To my mind, it mostly amounts to the proverbial tempest in a teapot.

First, despite the right of religious liberty people in advanced countries supposedly enjoy, we are regularly immersed, willy-nilly, in religious muck. The last couple of decades in America, the nightly news has featured everything from endless demands for prayer in public institutions and the creation myth being taught in schools to attacks on doctors doing legal abortions and silly fights over displaying the ten commandments in public courts. What’s so terrible about the other side getting a little publicity for a change?

Richard Dawkins is a pleasant and clear writer. The first part of his book is genuinely funny, hilarious in places, as he pokes fun at the absurd stories and rules of the Bible. At his best, he reminds me of Mark Twain in Letters from the Earth.

I think he is much less successful in the middle part of the book in trying to establish a logical framework for thinking about religion. Religion simply is not logical, none of it, ever, and just as the scholastic fathers tried over and over to “prove” the existence of God – Dawkins entertainingly goes through some of this – this effort seems futile.

There is an aspect of religion that I believe Dawkins misses. It is the cultural dimension of much of religion. We know many Jews, as in Israel for example, are quite worldly and not believers, yet something binds them to the heritage of their religion. That something is what Dawkins misses.

Religion works very much like prejudice: there are simply attitudes and perspectives that groups of people share together as a cultural inheritance, and the attitudes are generally detrimental to, and disparaging of, others.

I share the belief that religion has been responsible for many of humanity’s miseries. The record of Christianity has likely been the bloodiest of any religion, despite all the blubbering today about Islam. Christianity has been at the root of crusades, inquisitions, religious wars, mass murders, civil wars, torture, destruction of aboriginal people, slavery, and countless other horrors and abuses.

But I do not believe for an instant that religion and its abuses will stop any time soon, and I certainly do not believe that any words I can say will change the views of the religiously-minded. But Dawkins does appear to believe this, which I think is a little naïve for a man of such exceptional talent.

I believe it quite likely that we inherit our tendency for religion, just as we likely do for our politics. If that is true, we will only see the superstition and prejudice of religion disappear as humans evolve.

Most people who do not take their religion too seriously will enjoy at least a good portion of this provocative book, but the seriously religious would best avoid it.

BOOK REVIEW: THOMAS DILORENZO'S THE REAL LINCOLN

2008-03-31T09:57:00.000-07:00

Let me say, right off, that this is not a biography of Lincoln. It is not even a character study because most of Lincoln’s character is never touched here. This is a study – I think it fair to call it an attack - of one aspect of Lincoln, his ideological purpose in fighting the Civil War. However, it is a determined, fact-filled attack, worth reading.

I have always believed, on the basis of my own studies, that the American Civil War was unnecessary, but this is a view that arouses hostile feelings in Americans as it runs against the public-school civics course beliefs around that conflict.

There is definitely an American Civic Religion with a set of tenets and sacred writings and a cast of mythically-endowed characters comparable to the chief figures of the Old and New Testaments. Many well-known American historians, some quite eminent, are conscious or unconscious proponents of the Civic Religion, not such a difficult thing as you might first imagine because history, just like good police detective work, involves interpretation, judgment, and instincts. The raw facts, when they are even known, are always susceptible of emphasis and interpretation.

So it was refreshing to find a serious writer who also believes that the war was unnecessary.

However, Dilorenzo’s reason for saying the war was unnecessary is different to my own. The author believes that Lincoln consciously used the war to impose the so-called American System of the Whig Party and Henry Clay, destroying the powers of the individual states and centralizing government in the United States. I believe rather that this was one of the unavoidable effects, wars always and everywhere being far more revolutionary events than people generally recognize.

There can be no doubt that Dilorrenzo marshals a strong case, but I believe that he largely fails to prove his main thesis. Lincoln, although not the sentimental figure of American text books and the Lincoln Memorial, was not America’s Joseph Stalin.

Most of his fact-marshalling is impressive, but when he goes off on a tangent to give a background on the basic political split between Jeffersonians and Hamiltonians, he actually gets it rather wrong. Jefferson was anything but the kind of figure he is in the eyes of libertarian devotees like Dilorenzo. He was hungry for power, hungry for empire, and ruthless to those who opposed him. He bent or broke laws many times and never was bothered about rights of others where they stood in the way of his vision. Jefferson was, in short, everything the author claims Lincoln was.

The tone of this book becomes almost oppressive as the author hammers away with citations and anecdotes tending to support his view – in other words, the author is guilty of overkill.

The sense of oppressiveness is increased by the fact the author writes from an ideological viewpoint, not many pages convincing the reader of the author’s pronounced libertarian attitude. In general, I do not like histories or biographies written with an ideological perspective, but here the fault is compounded by the author’s narrow focus.

I don’t think anyone with a fairly open mind can study Lincoln and come away with a view like Dilorenzo’s. Lincoln himself was a victim of believing in the American Civic Religion of his day. He genuinely believed in The Union as a semi-mystical concept. Lincoln was a genuine skeptic with regard to conventional religion and the existence of God, and the feelings that might have had an outlet there attached themselves to “The Union.” He was tough and hard-headed in many respects, but he would have been, in this writer’s judgment, temperamentally incapable of launching and continuing a vast war for the purpose of installing Whig policy.

For those interested, the reviewer believes the Civil War was unnecessary because most great wars are unnecessary and rarely solve anything. For example, World War I only created the foundation for World War II. The American Civil War, which was not fought over slavery, solved little about the ugly institution of slavery. The South went on for about a century afterward with a new set of arrangements for its black citizens hardly better than the previous institution.

The Civil War did establish the anti-democratic principle that no state can separate from the United States, hardly an admirable or advanced attitude. The Civil War is also the tipping point in America becoming a world power with fervent imperialistic views (demonstrated earlier in a more provincial theater of operation in many policies such as the Mexican War), again hardly an admirable outcome.

I believe too that the angry, long-unforgiving South actually dragged the United States backward in social progress over the next century. The United States might have become a better, more decent place without the South and its superstitious religion and traditions of personal honor, much resembling the blood-feud attitudes of backward places like Armenia. And slavery itself would have naturally died out even in the South in a few decades as it did in so many places like Brazil.

CHUCKMAN'S VERSION OF GENERAL TSO'S CHICKEN

2008-03-13T08:36:00.000-07:00

I love Chinese food. This recipe is my version of a classic.

CHUCKMAN’S VERSION OF GENERAL TSO’S CHICKEN

INGREDIENTS

Chicken – Use either traditional cut-up Chicken Breast (about a pound – cut into bite-size pieces) or Drumettes or Drumsticks – drumettes or legs are unconventional but delicious – you need a greater weight to compensate for bones.

Broccoli – One medium head

Canola or Peanut Oil for frying

Dried crushed Chilli Peppers

Garlic – 1 medium-to-large clove, finely chopped

Ginger – a good-sized chunk (about the size of an average thumb), finely chopped – fresh is valuable for this recipe for its aromatic quality, but in a pinch, use bottled

Chicken Broth – 3 Tablespoons

Rice Vinegar – 2 Tablespoons

Hoisin Sauce – 2 Tablespoons (available in any Asian market and many supermarkets)

Sesame Oil – 1 Teaspoon

Sugar or Sugar Substitute – 2 Teaspoons Sugar or equivalent Substitute - the Substitute works nicely in this recipe

Dark Soy Sauce – this is the thicker type that has molasses in it

Cornstarch – a few Tablespoons

Dry Sherry – a good splash

METHOD

Spread Chicken pieces on a plate or platter and sprinkle lightly with cornstarch, a generous splash of Sherry, and a smaller splash of Soy Sauce. Toss lightly together and let stand briefly.

Blanch broccoli in a Covered Saucepan with a small amount of water on bottom. Bring water to a rapid boil, continue a minute or two, remove from the heat, and cool with cold running water. Broccoli will be bright green and par-cooked. Chop into florets and thin stalk slices. Set aside.

The sauce consists of 2 Tablespoons of Rice Wine Vinegar, 2 teaspoons of sugar or equivalent of sugar-substitute, 2 Tablespoons of Hoisin Sauce, 1 Tablespoon Dark Soy Sauce, a large clove of Garlic finely chopped, a chunk of fresh Ginger finely chopped, 1 Teaspoon of Sesame Oil, 3 Tablespoons of Chicken Broth, and a generous sprinkle of crushed Chili Peppers. Set aside.

Mix about 1 Teaspoon more of Cornstarch and a splash of cold water. This will thicken sauce when cooking. Set aside.

GENERAL NOTE ON STIR-FRYING

This ingenious, fuel-saving method of cooking is done in a hierarchy of cooking times, the ingredient requiring the most time being first – when all ingredients are together, they are cooked with the sauce briefly.

In this case, start with the Chicken. Saute the Chicken pieces lightly (do not overcook or flesh looses its succulence).

If you are using drumettes or legs, you will need a more substantial cooking time, especially legs – they should become golden and no blood should run.

Add blanched Broccoli and stir briefly.

Add Sauce ingredients. Add thickener.

Let simmer together a few minutes.

OPTIONS

Make the flavour very hot with plenty of chili peppers or use a Teaspoon of genuine Chinese Hot Chili Oil (this is very hot stuff, available in any Asian market). Or add Whole Dried Chilis (a dozen or so) to stir-fry after Chicken – this is a traditional ingredient.

Sprinkle servings with finely-sliced green onions and/or crushed peanuts.

CHUCKMAN'S QUICK, THIN CHEESE/ BACON/ SPINACH PIZZAS

2008-02-05T13:28:00.000-08:00

An absolutely delicious snack or light meal or appetiser

CHUCKMAN’S QUICK, THIN CHEESE/BACON/SPINACH PIZZAS

INGREDIENTS:

Commercial Tortillas or Flat Breads – the very thin kind – whole wheat or white – 7 small ones for the amounts in this recipe

Oil – to lightly coat tortillas

Red Sauce – leftover or a good bottled – you need just enough to coat each tortilla

Cheese – grated – I suggest a mixture of mozzarella, parmesan, and provolone, but use your favourite - have enough to cover each tortilla generously

Spinach – I small box of frozen – thawed and excess water lightly squeezed out

Bacon – thick-sliced kind – cut – through the width - five or six strips, each about half an inch wide – this will yield enough small chunky pieces for 5 or 6 to a tortilla

METHOD:

Preheat oven to 400.

Saute Bacon chunks ahead, drain and let cool – do not over-crisp because it will cook additional time in the oven.

Use a cookie sheet for Tortillas, either lightly oiled or, as I prefer, covered with parchment paper (no clean-up with this wonderful stuff).

Lightly oil both surfaces of each Tortilla. Spread a very thin layer of the sauce on one side.

Sprinkle each Tortilla with Spinach.

Sprinkle each Tortilla with 5 or 6 chunks of Bacon, spread fairly evenly.

Sprinkle generously with Grated Cheese so it is almost spilling over.

Bake until all the cheese has melted and turned lightly golden – this should be on the order of 10 minutes, but go by appearance

Serve either whole as light meals or sliced (scissors work best) into wedges as an appetiser.

FURTHER SUGGESTION: Top cheese with thinly sliced brown mushrooms before baking.

CHUCKMAN TRANSLATION: A PAKISTANI LANGUAGE

2008-02-04T09:31:00.000-08:00

Segalanya Dengan Nama Jesus
Posted on Thursday, May 15 @ 01:03:09 EDT by admin

Assalamualaikum sdr.

Dalam keghairan kita mengharungi dunia hidup yang penuh dengan keindahan ciptaan Allah SWT kita perlu sentiasa berwaspada dengan persekitaraan kita yang penuh dengan ranjau dan onak. Dalam banyak hal orang Islam sentiasa Take for granted terhadap apa yang berlaku di sekeliling kita sehingga dah terantuk baru terngadah.

Oleh itu Paksu akan cuba mengupas beberapa isu yang sentiasa dekat dengan kita sebagai Muslim yang beramal (practicing Muslim) agar Paksu sendiri dan anak buah Paksu dapat sama-sama menghayati Islam sepenuhnya.

Kali ini Paksu tertarik untuk mengulas satu penomena yang serius yang menghentam Islam tetapi kita samada sedari atau tidak tak ambil pusing. Macam juga isu COCACOLA yang banyak dibincang di situs ini sebenarnya kita dilanyak dari kiri-kanan atas bawah luar dalam namun kita masih leka. Nama ancaman ini yang Paksu sebut sebagai Dengan Nama Jesus. Dengan Nama Jesuslah maka bumi kita dijajah, malah seluruh dunia. Orang Kristian akan membuat segala sesuatu untuk mematikan Islam. Kini mereka seolah-olah mempunyai justifikasi melalui peperangan melawan keganasan yang = Islam.

Sedarlah segala-galanya adalah Dengan Nama Jesus. Sebuah tabloid melaporkan melalui tulisan oleh John Chuckman bahawa Presiden AS mempunyai penasihat agamanya bernama Franklin Graham anak Billy Graham yang memainkan peranan yang sama kepada Nixon. Franklin Graham adalah di antara mubaligh Kristian gaya motivator yang menjadi kegilaan (craze) masyarakat AS. Orang seperti ini selalu berceramah di TV (yang sedihnya perkara seperti ini pun sudah menjadi perkara biasa di TV Indon….dan awas apa yang menghalang daripada ianya berlaku di negara Islam Malaysia…kan Injil terjemahan yang menggunakan Allah sebagai Tuhan Kristian pun sudah dihalalkan oleh negara Islam Malaysia) dan seminar besar-besaran (Macam forum Perdana). Billy Graham Organization adalah sebuah organisasi yang besar dan kaya yang berjaya “menyelamatkan” orang Kristian dan konvert. Apa yang menjadi isunya ialah Graham melalui organisasinya, Samaritan`s Purse mengajak pengikutnya kepada satu fahaman Kristian yang sempit yang orang Kristian arus perdana sendiri merasa jijik. Dinominasi(mazhab) Kristian yang dibawanya adalah The Southern Baptists yang terkenal dengan kepercayaan ekstrim yang pada awalnya menyingkir kaum Negro daripada gereja kemudian menetang usaha kemanusiaan yang dibawa oleh Dr King. Kini Franklin (yang gemar bermain dan mengumpul senjata otomatik) yang menjadi kawan rapat Rumah Putih dengan organisasi-organisasi licik mereka sedang memasuki Iraq dalam usaha untuk mempengaruhi orang Iraq melalui bantuan dan dakwah/dakyah mereka. Sebelum perang Iraq Franklin Graham telah memberi ceramah(surmons) hari good Friday di Pentagon (Kementerian Pertahanan AS). Di antara kata-katanya; “Kita bukan menyerang Islam tetapi Islam telah menyerang kita. Tuhan Islam bukanlah Tuhan yang sama. Dia bukan anak Tuhan kepercayaan Kristian dan Judeo-Kristian. Ia adalah Tuhan yang berbeza, dan saya yakin ia adalah ugama yang cukup jahat dan keji”

The Southern Baptists akan juga turut memberi bantuan kepada Iraq. Dan bayangkan apa yang mereka akan buat kerana bekas presiden Southern Baptists Mission Board, Jerry Vines pernah berkata bahawa Nabi Muhammad SAW adalah “seorang perogol kanak-kanak yang dirasuk syaitan”…astagfirullah ! ! (Teringat apa kata Farish Noor, seorang Melayu Islam terhadap Rasullallah… lebih teruk lagi daripada itu yang ditulis dalam surat kabar milik kerajaan tak lama dahulu dan dia masih bebas malah menjadi perantara forum di TV kerajaan). Jadi jangan hairan apabila Bush kata `kita akan perang salib(crusade)` apabila menara WTCnya runtuh. Ini selaras dengan pandangan sempit Kristian yang dianutinya iaitu Islam mesti diperangi dengan apa cara sekali pun.

Penulis John Chuckman merumuskan bahawa adalah jelas dan nyata tindakan Pentagon memerangi pengganas adalah pembunuhan professional diatas nama Jesus untuk negara.
Jadi Paksu berseru kepada semua termasuk pemegang kuasa memerintah dan diri Paksu sendiri supaya mengatur langkah dengan berhati-hati jangan tersangkut reba lalu rebah dan terpijak jerangkap samar lalu musnah.

WallAllahu`alam
PAKSU
Alorsetar 150503

CHUCKMAN TRANSLATION: IN GREEK

2008-02-04T09:19:00.000-08:00

Το πράγμα χωρίς τον εγκέφαλο

Από John Chuckman < chuckman@YellowTimes.org >
http://educate-yourself.org/cn/thingwithnobrain06may04.shtml
6 Μαϊ'ου, 2004

(YellowTimes.org) -- είχα μια δυσάρεστη στιγμή στο θάμνο ημέρας που αποφασίστηκε για να εξετάσει "τον αραβικό κόσμο." Είναι άτομο που μπορώ να σταθώ, έτσι όταν έρχεται η φωνή του στο ραδιόφωνο, το μεταστρέφω πάντα μακριά. Καλά, αυτή τη φορά επίσης μακριά μακριά και απαραιτήτως ακούστηκα μερικές προτάσεις, αυτές αρχίζοντας από "τους ανθρώπους στο Ιράκ πρέπει να καταλάβουν και πρέπει να καταλάβουν .."

Πρέπει; Η άλαλη υπεροψία των λέξεών του ζάλιζε. Πάνω από το κακώς-επιλεγμένο λεξιλόγιό του, το άτομο δεν ζήτησε συγγνώμη ποτέ όπως έμαθα αργότερα από το Διαδίκτυο. Εδώ ήταν ένας διοικητής που μιλά για την inexcusable βιαιότητα ενάντια στους ανίσχυρους φυλακισμένους που λένεων στα εκατομμύρια των ν ανθρώπων που πρέπει να καταλάβουν. Εδώ ήταν ένα παθητικά-ανεπαρκές άτομο που προσπεράστηκε έτσι από τα γεγονότα ότι αισθάνθηκε την ανάγκη να εξετάσει "τον αραβικό κόσμο," και τους έλεγε τι πρέπει να καταλάβουν.

Φυσικά, η απέραντη, ανεγκέφαλος υπεροψία του διαβιβάστηκε σε άλλους τρόπους. Εξέτασε το "αραβικό κόσμο" χωρίς τη χρησιμοποίηση των δικτύων ότι πολλοί ακούνε. Θέλησε μια ασφαλή έξοδο - χρηματοκιβώτιο, δηλαδή για τον και τη γνωστή ανικανότητά του να χειριστεί οποιαδήποτε ερώτηση πιό σύνθετη από "πώς Mom;" Απέφυγε σκόπιμα το Al Jazeerah, ένα δίκτυο που ρωτά τις σκληρές ερωτήσεις και στους του οποίου υπαλλήλους οι στρατιώτες του έχουν στοχεύσει σκόπιμα και έχουν σκοτώσει.

Αναρωτιέμαι πόσων ο νέος τρομοκρατών θάμνος έχει δημιουργήσει σε όλη τη Μέση Ανατολή; Φανταστείτε την οργή των νέων αραβικών ατόμων που βλέπουν τις εικόνες άλλων νέων αραβικών ατόμων με τα ύψη πίεσης τους στις τσάντες που χρησιμοποιούνται όπως το απόρριμμα μιας χυδαίας υπόγειας πορνογραφικής ταινίας; Μερικές από τις πιό φοβερές σκηνές δεν έχουν αναμφισβήτητα καμία φωτογραφία επειδή οι δράστες σχεδόν βεβαίως δολοφονήθηκαν. Ακόμα και οι χαμογελώντας κρετίνοι από τον bayous και backwoods της Αμερικής που φαίνεται στις δημοσιευμένες εικόνες ξέρουν καλύτερα από για να φωτογραφιστούν δεσμεύοντας τη δολοφονία.

Ως επί το πλείστον, οι ένοπλες δυνάμεις των Ηνωμένων Πολιτειών δεν μισθώνουν το είδος καθαρός-αποκοπής, Sir-rj'hnontas τα πρόσωπα αμετάβλητα χρησιμοποιώ ως εκπρόσωποι δημόσιος-σχέσεών τους. Χρειάζονται τους ανθρώπους που θα εκπαιδευθούν για να σκοτώσουν και να υπακούσουν τις κατατάξεις, και οι περισσότερες από τη δολοφονία πρόκειται να γίνουν στις φτωχές, απόμακρες θέσεις όπου οι φωνές των θυμάτων δεν ακούγονται ποτέ στην Αμερική.

Στρατιωτικοί recruiters γεμίζουν ένα καλό μέρος των ποσοστώσεών τους από τα πολλές μελαγχολικές τέλματα και τις τρώγλες της δημοκρατίας. Τους γεμίζουν με το είδος ανθρώπων που ειδάλλως να μην απασχοληθούν σε όλοι. Παίρνουν αναμφισβήτητα ένα δυσανάλογο μερίδιο των ανθρώπων που απολαμβάνουν και τον πόνο, το είδος ανθρώπων που βρίσκεται σε κάθε κοινωνία στη γη.

Δεν παίρνει μια μεγάλη προσπάθεια της φαντασίας να προσδοκηθεί τι θα συμβεί πότε δίνετε σε τέτοιους ανθρώπους μερικές εβδομάδες εκπαιδευτικός στα φονικά και λάμποντας παπούτσια και τις στέλνετε μακριά σε ένα απομακρυσμένο έδαφος όπως το Ιράκ, μια θέση τους της οποίας ανθρώπους μπορούν να καταλάβουν, και για τις οποίες ξέρουν μόνο τον ανενημέρωτο, προκαλώντας τα συνθήματα του Προέδρου τους.
Όταν ένα αξιοκαταφρόνητο ήθος poy όπως το θάμνο κάθεται άνετα στην καρέκλα δέρματός του και υπογράφει μια κατάταξη να εισβληθεί ένα απόμακρο έδαφος, είναι ακριβώς οι φρίκες της φυλακής Abu Ghraib αυτός απαραιτήτως εκδόσεις.

Θυμηθείτε τον υπολοχαγό Calley και τα αγόρια του που δολοφονούν ένα ολόκληρο χωριό στο Βιετνάμ; Εκείνο το καλό παλαιό αγόρι δεν δοκίμασε ποτέ τη σημαντική δικαιοσύνη μιας στιγμής. Υπήρξε πραγματικά μια βιαστική επιχείρηση για μια στιγμή στα αναμνηστικά Calley υπολοχαγών, ειδικά στο νότο.

Υπήρξαν διάφορες τέτοιες σφαγές που ανακαλύφθηκαν στο Βιετνάμ, και ένα μπορεί να αμφιβάλει ότι άλλες πήγαν άγνωστες. Ακόμα ήταν η σχισμή περίπου είκοσι-χιλίων λαιμών, συνήθως του χωριού ανώτεροι υπάλληλοι, από τα γενναία άτομα των ειδικών δυνάμεων. Αλλά ακόμη και τους ναζιστικός-όπως τη σφαγή δεν θα μπορούσε να συγκρίνει με την εργασία των ατόμων που πετούν τα αεριωθούμενα αεροπλάνα, αποκαλούμενοι πολεμικοί ήρωες ατόμων ακόμα στην Αμερική, άτομα που βομβάρδισαν συστηματικά και τις αμέτρητες πόλεις, χωριά, και αγροκτήματα, παράγοντας αρκετά θύματα για να θάψουν την πόλη της Ουάσιγκτον κάτω από ένα βουνό της μμένων σάρκας και του αδραχτιού, σχεδόν όλα τους πολίτες.

Κατά τη διάρκεια εκείνου του πολέμου, το ι μίλησε μιά φορά σε έναν αμερικανικό παλαίμαχο του παγκόσμιου πολέμου ΙΙ για τη φρίκη αυτό που πήγαινε επάνω. Μου είπε μια ιστορία. Ήταν σε ένα τραίνο με δύο άλλους Αμερικανούς και έναν γερμανικό αιχμάλωτο πολέμου. Ένας από τους Αμερικανούς έβαλε ξαφνικά το αυτόματο πιστόλι του στο ύψος πίεσης του Γερμανού και φύσηξε τους εγκεφάλους του έξω. Δεν είχε κανέναν λόγο και γέλασε ακριβώς μετά από να κάνει το.

Όπως έχω γράψει πριν, δεν μπορώ ποτέ να ξεχάσω κάποιο που ήξερα στο γυμνάσιο λέγοντας με για το πώς αυτός και οι φίλοι του θα συσσώρευαν σε ένα αυτοκίνητο και θα οδηγούσαν κάτω στο γκέτο μερικές νύχτες, δοκιμάζοντας τα "μειωμένα niggers" για την εύθυμη ψυχαγωγία της θέας τους που έτρεξαν για τις ζωές τους. Έχω συνδέσει πάντα εκείνη την επίπονη μνήμη με τα άτομα που βίασαν αργότερα και δολοφόνησαν τον τρόπο τους σε ολόκληρο το Βιετνάμ.

Δεν είναι ότι Αμερικανοί είναι χειρότεροι από άλλους ανθρώπους, είναι ότι είναι οι ίδιοι. Ακόμα ενθαρρύνονται συνεχώς για να σκεφτούν ότι είναι καλύτεροι - πιό προηγμένος, εκπαιδευμένος, περισσότερο αφιερωμένος στις δημοκρατικές και ανθρώπινες τιμές. Στις λέξεις του Προέδρου, "η Αμερική ξέρω τις προσοχές για κάθε ndividual." Καλά, εκτός από το γεγονός ότι εκείνες οι περιγραφές εγκαθιστούν στην καλύτερη περίπτωση μια μειονότητα Αμερικανών, που σκέφτονται ότι είστε καλύτεροι από οι λιγότερο τυχεροί άνθρωποι είναι μια εγγυημένη μέθοδος για την αδικία και τη φρίκη.
Σημειώνω ότι σε αυτήν την ημέρα ακόμη και οι περισσότερες φοβερές εικόνες των ιρακινών παιδιών που παραμορφώνονται και που σκοτώνονται με τον αμερικανικό βομβαρδισμό δεν δημοσιεύονται από το βασικό Τύπο του νομού. Πολλοί Αμερικανοί είναι συναισθηματικοί, και οι εικόνες των καταπληκτικών και παραμορφωμένων παιδιών να παραγάγουν τα αποτελέσματα που δεν επιδιώχτηκαν από εκείνους που τρέχουν τη χώρα, αλλά οι εικόνες φυλακών μπορούν να χαρακτηριστούν ως εξαίρεση, ως βλάβη μερικών κακών ανθρώπων που σπάζουν τους κανόνες.

Καλά, ποια κοινωνία δεν έχει τέτοιους κανόνες; Εκεί τίποτα ειδικό για την Αμερική επίσημα να αντιτάξει τα βασανιστήρια, την ταπείνωση, και τη δολοφονία. Ακόμα και οι δικτατορίες θέτουν δημόσια τέτοιους κανόνες, αλλά ποια κοινωνία όχι να παραβιάσουν τους κανόνες μόλις βυθίζει στη σαπρή επιχείρηση του πολέμου;
Ένας γαλλικός τηλεοπτικός σταθμός έχει λάβει μια τρεις-και-α-μισή μαγνητοταινία λεπτού από ένα αμερικανικό ελικόπτερο που λαμβάνεται τον περασμένο Δεκέμβριο. Υπάρχουν ένα πειραματικό και στρατιωτικό γκάγκστερ εν πλω, και συζητήσεις ανώτερων υπαλλήλων διαταγής τους σε τους σε ένα ραδιόφωνο. Ο αμερικανικός στρατιώτης πυροβολεί τρεις άοπλους Ιρακινούς, ένας-ένας, δεδομένου ότι ο διοικητής αποφλοιώνει τις κατευθύνσεις του σε τον. Το τρίτο άτομο προσπαθεί να κρύψει, και προσπαθεί έπειτα να σέρθεί μακριά, σαφώς πληγωμένος. Ο ανώτερος υπάλληλος τον διατάζει που σκοτώνεται, και είναι γρήγορα.

Θυμηθείτε τις συνομιλίες ραδιοφωνικής μετάδοσης των αμερικανικών πιλότων κατά τη διάρκεια της πρώτης σύγκρουσης κόλπων δεδομένου ότι και βομβάρδισαν τα μίλια των ιρακινών στρατιωτών που πιάστηκαν σε μια μαρμελάδα κυκλοφορίας ενώ υποχωρώντας από την πόλη του Κουβέιτ; Ακούσαμε τις λέξεις, σαφώς προφορικές με την ίδια αίσθηση της διασκέδασης που άκουσα δεδομένου ότι ένα νέο άτομο στο Σικάγο, "αυτό είναι όπως το shootin" ψάρια σε μια κάννη!" ραδιοφωνική μετάδοση στην τηλεόραση χωρίς οποιαδήποτε σχόλιο ή κριτική από τους εκφωνητές ή τους πολιτικούς.

Σε αυτήν την ημέρα, δεν υπάρχει καμία εξέταση στην εξαφάνιση περίπου τρεις χιλιάες φυλακισμένων στο Αφγανιστάν. Μια ευρωπαϊκή αποδεικτική ταινία προτείνει έντονα την αμερικανική συνενοχή στη μαζική δολοφονία τους έξω στο επιδόρπιο από μερικούς από τους πιό τραγελαφικούς πολεμάρχους με τους οποίους οι ΗΠΑ συνδέθηκαν. Οι φυλακισμένοι σύμφωνα με τις υπάρχουσες πληροφορίες οδηγήθηκαν, εργάζονται μετά από τη batch, που γεμίστηκε στα φορτηγά, μέσω μιας ήλιος-ψημένης αγριότητας, που ασφυκτιά στην θερμότητα ενώ αμερικανικά στρατεύματα που πρόσεξαν αδρανώς.
Μην ξεχάστε τις λέξεις του Donald Rumsfeld σχετικά με τους φυλακισμένους στο Αφγανιστάν. Είπε δημόσια ότι όλοι οι ξένοι μαχητές που συλλαμβάνονται πρέπει να σκοτωθούν ή να περιτοιχιστούν μόνιμα μακριά. Σκέφτεστε ότι το είδος ηγεσίας να επηρεάσει τις τοποθετήσεις σέρνεται οι διάδρομοι των στρατιωτικών φυλακών με τους ανθρώπους στο έλεός τους;
Οι πόλεμοι είναι μια εντελώς ακάθαρτη επιχείρηση, και, εκτός αν είστε διαφθαρμένοι, δεν τους αρχίζετε. Ο θάμνος είναι αρμόδιος για αυτό που έχει συμβεί στο Ιράκ και το Αφγανιστάν τόσο σίγουρα όσο και οι γερμανικοί ηγέτες ήταν αρμόδιοι για τις πράξεις των στρατιωτών τους κατά τη διάρκεια του παγκόσμιου πολέμου ΙΙ.

Θ*Ιοχν Chuckman

[ Θ*Ιοχν Chuckman είναι προηγούμενος κύριος οικονομολόγος για μια μεγάλη καναδική επιχείρηση πετρελαίου. Έχει πολλά ενδιαφέροντα και είναι ισόβιος σπουδαστής της ιστορίας. Γράφει με μια εμπαθή επιθυμία για την τιμιότητα, τον κανόνα του λόγου, και την ανησυχία για την ανθρώπινη ευπρέπεια. Είναι μέλος κανενός πολιτικού συμβαλλόμενου μέρους και παίρνει την εξαίρεση σε αυτό που έχει κληθεί πολιτισμό της Αμερικής το "της καταγγελίασ" με τη συνήθειά του μείωσης κάθε σημαντικού ζητήματος σε ένα μη παραγωγικό όρισμα μεταξύ δύο simplistically καθορισμένων ομάδων. Θ*Ιοχν άφησε τις Ηνωμένες Πολιτείες ως φτωχό νέο άτομο από τη νότια πλευρά του Σικάγου όταν επιβιβάστηκε η κυβέρνηση στη δολοφονία των εκατομμυρίων Βιετναμέζος στο έδαφός τους επειδή συνέβησαν να αγκαλιάσουν τις λανθασμένες οικονομικές πίστεις. Ζει στον Καναδά, ο οποίος είναι τρυφερός της κλήσης "του peaceable βασίλειου." ]

Θ*Ιοχν Chuckman ενθαρρύνει τα σχόλιά σας: chuckman@YellowTimes.org

Το YellowTimes.org είναι διεθνείς ειδήσεις και δημοσίευση άποψης. Το YellowTimes.org ενθαρρύνει το υλικό του για να αναπαραχθεί, ανατυπωμένος, ή η ραδιοφωνική μετάδοση υπό τον όρο ότι οποιαδήποτε τέτοιαδήποτε αναπαραγωγή προσδιορίζει την αρχική πηγή, συνδέσεις Ιστού http://www.YellowTimes.org. Διαδίκτυο σε http://www.YellowTimes.org εκτιμάται.

Θα συμπαθούσατε να λάβετε τα επίλεκτα άρθρα YellowTimes.org μέσω του ηλεκτρονικού ταχυδρομείου;
Σε αυτή την περίπτωση, θα λάβετε μια Δευτέρα, την Τετάρτη και την Παρασκευή ηλεκτρονικού ταχυδρομείου από YellowTimes.org. Αυτό το ηλεκτρονικό ταχυδρομείο περιέχει το ένα άρθρο χαρακτηριστικών γνωρισμάτων που περιλαμβάνεται στο σώμα του ηλεκτρονικού ταχυδρομείου. Θα σας παρασχεθούν έπειτα οι περιγραφές και οι συνδέσεις άλλων άρθρων που δημοσιεύονται σε YellowTimes.org από την τελευταία αναπροσαρμογή ειδήσεων.

Σημάδι επάνω κατωτέρω!

CHUCKMAN ORIGINAL RECIPE: PIZZA - CRUST AND SEVERAL SPECIAL TOPPING COMBINATIONS

2008-01-28T10:22:00.000-08:00

I have been a serious cook for decades, this being one of the reasons I was able to serve as restaurant reviewer for a metropolitan newspaper. When I say "a serious cook," I mean someone who goes beyond using the recipes of others and creates his or her own. From time to time I will post some of mine.

CHUCKMAN’S PIZZA MEDITERRANEAN

If you follow the directions, you will enjoy one of the best pizzas you've ever eaten.

Whole wheat or white crust – recipe below
Thin layer tomato sauce – recipe reference below
Oil-soaked sun-dried tomatoes, thinly sliced
Crumbled (pre-cooked) Italian sweet sausage
Thinly-sliced canned artichokes
Thinly-sliced onion, salted and soaked ahead
Thin-sliced red pepper, salted and soaked ahead
Fresh mushrooms, thinly-sliced
Kalamata olives
Mozzarella cheese - grated
Fontina cheese - grated
Olive oil

PIZZA CRUST – USE ALSO FOR A NICE FOCCACIO

Whole Wheat Flour and All Purpose Unbleached Flour mixed dry – up to 60% Whole Wheat - 3 Cups Total (Note: pour about 3 ½ cups – saving a bit for dusting later – also amount of Flour absorbed by water varies with climate and weather).

Note: If you do not want Whole Wheat crust, use only All Purpose White.

Lukewarm Water - 1 Cup
Regular dry yeast – 1 Teaspoon
Salt – about 1 Teaspoon
Oil – to use as required
Sugar – pinch or two (not required but helps yeast rise faster)

________________________________
NOTE: NEW APPROACH ON PIZZA CRUST

I've learned and tested an interesting new approach to this crust. It yields a crust that is nicely honeycombed with air pockets, resembling an artisan bread. Simply use more water, about 1 1/2 to 1 2/3 Cups, leaving everything else the same. You will get a very wet dough which you can almost pour onto baking sheet; it is easily spread with hands kept wet by rinsing in water.
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Place yeast (and sugar if using) into container with warm water. In about 5 minutes, providing room is warm, this is ready to mix with flour. Pour about half of flour mix into large bowl with yeasty water; stir until incorporated; add a splash or two of oil; add more flour and stir more; continue until you have desired consistency which is not too sticky.

Leave dough to rise – Suggestion: cover bowl with plastic wrap and then a tea towel –place bowl over sauce pan full of hot tap water – this will assure good rising even when room is not hot. Depending on conditions, rising will take 1 or 2 hours.

Dust risen dough for rolling out – Oil large cookie sheet and roll dough with rolling pin, or you can use hands pounding and stretching. Once sheet is covered, lightly oil top of dough. Cover rolled dough with plastic wrap loosely and place cookie sheet over pan of hot tap water for
second rising.

When dough has risen, remove plastic and bake briefly in preheated at 450 . About 3 to 4 minutes should do to par-cook crust – this gives better crust results than putting toppings on raw dough. Remove par-cooked dough from oven and allow to briefly cool.

Dress the Crust with desired toppings – recommended order: sauce, cheese, chunky toppings. Bake again in 450 oven for between 5 and 10 minutes. You must watch because different thicknesses of topping will need more or less time. You can check edge of crust after first 5 minutes.

Corn Meal Option:

Sprinkle bottom of oiled cookie sheet with golden corn meal before rolling out dough. Adds a pleasant crispness and taste.

Note for variations in crust:

If you use about 1/2 to 2/3 more water, you will get a very sticky dough which cannot be rolled and must be spread out by hand. Doing this will yield a chewier crust filled with the air pockets characteristic of gourmet breads.

Another variation is to use Pastry Flour instead of All-purpose Flour and to incorpoate an egg white in the dough. Some gourmet pizzerias use a crust like this produces. It is good, but not my favorite.

Note for Foccacio: Dough is baked only once – 5 to 8 minutes at 450. Watch it for perfect light gold color. It is first brushed with oil and lightly sprinkled with coarse sea salt.

You may also very lightly sprinkle with parmesan grated. Try light lightly sprinkling with Rosemary. If you want garlic twist, crush a few cloves with salt in a mortar and pestle, then add to oil.

GENERAL TOPPING NOTES

Use my general red sauce from Eggplant parmesan (below). You may leave out pepper flakes or increase them as per your taste. In a pinch, use a good bottled sauce.

Toppings like Italian sausage or bacon should be lightly pan-cooked before putting on pizza. Cooking time for crust is not adequate for such raw ingredients to fully cook unless they are used in tiny slices.

Classic cheese topping is Mozzarella, but Mozzarella and Parmesan (or Asiago) or Fontina and Provolone (my favorite for a cheese pizza) are excellent. Grating the cheese works best for even melting.

A CLASSIC COMBINATION

Chunks of Sweet Italian Sausage and Onions (treated as above). Serve with simple green salad with red vinegar and oil dressing.

MY NICOISE PIZZA

Use chunks of canned tuna; Kalamata or Nicoise olives; thin slices of Fennel; Small par-boiled chunks of potato; small slices of par-boiled greenbeans; a few capers; anchovies; crumbled hard-boiled egg; ultra-thin tomato slices on bottom.

CHUCKMAN ORIGINAL RECIPE: EGGPLANT PARMESAN

2007-12-17T06:28:00.000-08:00

CHUCKMAN'S EGGPLANT PARMESAN
A memorable dish

(Remember, this is a recipe not written down till recently. I use the pinch-and-peek-and-taste method when I cook like this.)

3 or 4 medium eggplants (or their large-sized equivalent) - peeled and cut in half lengthwise, then sliced into moderately thick slices.
You don't have to peel if you like the skin.

Parmesan cheese - grated - crucial that this be pretty decent stuff (no Kraft!).

Mozzarella cheese - grated as for pizza - again quality cheese is important - Tre Stella whole milk is very good. Lots of this.

Flour - sprinkled on plate for coating.

Breadcrumbs - sprinkled on plate for coating.

Eggs - beaten in a bowl for dipping to coat. Add a little milk to thin.

Salt - mixed in with flour - to taste. Be generous.

MY BASIC RED SAUCE:

Use crushed canned tomatoes (two large cans), a generous addition of dry white wine, a couple of anchovies or equivalent anchovy paste, a small can of tomato paste, a finely chopped onion, a sprinkling of Basil, a small sprinkling of red chilies (only enough to hint - sauce is not to be hot), and a couple of tablespoons of sugar. Bring to boil and simmer over low heat, covered, for maybe an hour.

Olive oil

Dip each slice of eggplant slice lightly in flour (salted), then in egg, then in breadcrumbs. The slices are then nicely fried till golden and put aside to cool (By the way, these themselves make a delicious snack or side dish).

Oil a large rectangular pyrex casserole-type oven pan.

Dribble a little sauce on bottom of pan. Place cool eggplant (fried) slices over bottom. Dribble sauce over. Sprinkle each type of cheese over (be generous), but suit your taste preferences on proportions. Do another layer, etc., until ingredients used up. Finish top with sauce and then cheese.

Bake in a not-very-high oven (250-300) with aluminum foil on top. Let this go awhile. Check in an hour. You want sauce to slowly thicken a bit and of course cheese to melt and bubble through. You have to judge. You'll need at least an hour of this slow cooking. Finish off in higher oven (say 350) with no cover (note if things got a little too dry, add a touch of sauce first.). Watch this carefully so it doesn't dry up too much.

The key to this cooking technique is to obtain a result of a thickened slush of sauce with savory cooked cheese baked in - this is my preference anyway.

Simpler: You could also just bake the whole thing, once assembled, in a regular fashion. Maybe about 350, uncovered, for not long, say 20 minutes. This will not be as nice. Again watch that it doesn't dry out.

VARIATIONS

Add Greek Kalamata olives to sauce.

Make a "putanesque" sauce by frying up some onion, garlic, and green pepper (all chopped finely). Add some capers, some Greek olives. This makes a very savory sauce for this or pasta - especially Penne Rigate.

CHUCKMAN ORIGINAL RECIPE: GOLDEN PUMPKIN RAISIN MUFFINS

2007-12-17T06:21:00.000-08:00

CHUCKMAN'S GOLDEN PUMPKIN RAISIN MUFFINS

2 Cups All-purpose flour

2 Tsp Baking powder

1 Tsp Baking soda

1 Tsp Cinnamon

1 Tsp Nutmeg

1/2 Tsp Salt

3/4 Cup Brown sugar - packed

1 Egg - large

1/3 Cup Canola oil

2/3 Cup Buttermilk

11/2 Cup Pumpkin - canned

3/4 Cup Raisins

Zest from one large orange (Optional but recommended)

Juice from one large orange (Optional but recommended)

In one large bowl, combine and mix all dry ingredients. In separate bowl, whisk egg and other liquid ingredients plus raisins.

Combine and spoon into twelve baking cups.

Bake in preheated oven at 400° F for 22 to 28 minutes.
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Also good with currents, a small batch of cranberries, and walnuts.

CHUCKMAN ORIGINAL RECIPE: MOROCCAN LENTIL SOUP

2007-09-24T06:35:00.000-07:00

BOOK REVIEW: RICHARD WATSON'S LIFE OF RENE DESCARTES

2007-09-24T06:20:00.000-07:00

RICHARD WATSON'S LIFE OF RENE DESCARTES BY JOHN CHUCKMAN, January 28, 2005

This is truly a dreadful book.

The author attempts to do something loosely along the lines of Samuel Eliot Morison's "Admiral of the Ocean Sea," a fascinating, though dated, book that combines Morison's knowledge of the sea and sailing with a biography of Columbus. The author of "Cogito Ergo Sum," however, fails entirely.

In Wilson's effort - a very thin volume for a book purporting to be a biography of a major intellectual figure - we read almost as much about Wilson and his wife touring locations in Europe as we do about Descartes. The result is something a little like a poorly written script for one of those old corny school film strips.

Wilson never comes to grips with what makes Descartes great, and the vocabulary he uses - when he isn't saying things like "Gee!" or "Awesome!" - is that tiresome, annoying one typical of American social science academics of the second or third order.

The book actually contains errors regarding the period that even an amateur can spot.

This book is recommended only to be avoided.

BOOK REVIEW: W. JACKSON BATE'S SAMUEL JOHNSON

2007-09-24T06:18:00.000-07:00

REVIEW OF W. JACKSON BATE'S SAMUEL JOHNSON BY JOHN CHUCKMAN, February 23, 2005

Samuel Johnson was a brilliant critic, perhaps the greatest English writer after Shakespeare, a fascinating eccentric, and a genuinely heroic man. The great merit of Mr. Bate's biography is that he succeeds in the magical illusion of bringing Johnson alive again, giving us a vivid sense of what it might have been like to know him.

The highest praise for this book is the regret you will feel when the pages end and Johnson's great figure bows out. The biography is that rare item, a genuinely inspiring book.

BOOK REVIEW: JANET WALLACH'S DESERT QUEEN

2007-09-24T06:16:00.000-07:00

REVIEW OF JANET WALLACH'S DESERT QUEEN BY JOHN CHUCKMAN, February 23, 2005

This book should be required reading for all students of affairs in the Middle East, as well as for students of the great pageant of the British Empire. Here is the story of the remarkable woman who helped create modern Iraq.

Gertrude Bell was brilliant, gifted in languages, and ferociously brave. Ms. Bell travelled across deserts, climbed mountains, made contributions to archeology, served as an important intelligence source and an unusual diplomat, smoked in public, and sat as an equal with many fierce desert chieftains.

Her understanding of the Arabic people was sounder in many ways than the mystical nonsense of Lawrence of Arabia, a much better known figure.

I cannot call this a great book, for Janet Wallach is less than a great writer, but this is a good book on an important and neglected subject. Wallach brings us many interesting details of Gertrude Bell's extraordinary life.