To blog or not to blog?

 As a someone who makes their living as a writer, I've had this debate with myself many times over the last few years. Each time it ends unresolved and I go back to posting somewhere hoping it will somehow help my… Read full post »

I honestly don't get it. Sarah Palin is getting more TV coverage than President-elect Barack Obama. Why is she still around? Have you ever seen the VP nominee from the losing party get this much post-election coverage? And if the GOP believe Sarah Palin to be the future of the party,… Read full post »

No Democratic presidential candidate since Lyndon Johnson in 1964 has won a majority of the white vote.The way Democratic candidates have won presidential elections since then is by taking at least 45 % of the white vote while racking up huge margins with African-American, Latino  and Asian-Amer… Read full post »

The world is a little brighter today. I was walking around a market in Zurich this morning and the joy was subdued but palpitable. There was a group of small children playing and they were the modern Switzerland, the new world -- of all races, children of mixed couples, German,… Read full post »

It's become pretty obvious now that the electorate, fed up with Republican rule and anxious about the financial crisis, is breaking hard in favor of Obama. Each new poll that comes out spells more doom for McCain and points to a big Obama victory, possibly a landslide. McCain already appears to… Read full post »

The central mystery of Mad Men is the question: Who is Don Draper? That is what drives the narrative of this show and it has become a very complex and compelling question. It is Don Draper's shape-shifting, ephemeral persona which makes him such a fascinating character and the show… Read full post »

I just watched the debate and what was most startling to me was how different McCain was when talking about foreign policy as opposed to the economy.

For the first hour, McCain kept sniping at Obama. He couldn't put two sentences together without taking a dig at him. He seemed… Read full post »

In Italy, food is like the language, it's divided into regional dialects. Each part of the country, often down to the local village, has its own variations on traditional dishes and its own original recipes. There are 20 political regions in the country all with their own multitudes of ways of… Read full post »

This is difficult to fathom. I honestly don't get it.

For almost 8 years now the Bush administration has been able to strong-arm whatever it wanted out of a very complacent Congress. For six of those years it was under Republican rule, which made things easy. 

But apparently, that was… Read full post »

I live in Switzerland. It is one of the most buttoned-down societies in the world and every once in a while someone goes nuts and decides to, say, turn themselves into a human jet plane. 

49 year-old Swiss pilot Yves Rossy flew across the English Channel serving as… Read full post »

Okay, let's get this straight. The plan agreed upon by the Democratic leadership in Congress and the White House/Treasury is being opposed by House Republicans. 

I get it, those House Republicans need something to run against in November and opposing an unpopular President and his cringe induci… Read full post »

In my last Mad Men post I posited a future in which Peggy Olson goes on to be responsible for some of the most successful TV commercials of the 1970s. I mentioned her hand in the Alpo dog food spots with Lorne Green, the “Time to make the… Read full post »

I shall refrain from making yet another snide remark about the irony of bailouts. But it seems the bailouts may not be over nor confined to the financial sector. I guess, when the feds start handing out cash to any business that gets itself into trouble and which operates in that… Read full post »

It has been 200 years since the industrial revolution began and this morning, in my kitchen, I reflected upon that. I thought about the immense changes and benefits that technological progress has brought to humanity over the last two centuries and the finest evidence of that was staring me right in… Read full post »

Now, I have come to cook with the toaster oven, not to praise it!

Oh, there are so many recipes I have in mind with which you can test your new little toaster oven, which of course you went out and bought immediately after my last post 1 hour and… Read full post »

About once a day I turn on CNN and watch for 3 seconds before I feel aboslutely compelled to change the channel. Campaign coverage is simply unwatchable. A parade of propaganda, spin, arrogant television pundits/performers, dumb questions from journalists and talking-points spewing politicians.

But… Read full post »

It was a Saturday evening in the summer of 1976 when my uncle Johnny declared that we should go to the movies and off we all went on a whim. It was an extended family affair and it took two or three cars to get us downtown to the theater. I… Read full post »

Tuesdays is pasta day in our household and has been since I was a kid. Growing up, my mom made pasta dinners Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. And it was different each time. That's the flexibility of Italian cooking. The olive oil and garlic pardigm can take you anywhere.… Read full post »

There are no mommy wars in France. But that doesn't mean they don't like to indulge in the private details of their political leaders.

The French Minister of Justice is pregnant and speculation is rampant about who the father is since Rachida Dati won't tell. "My private life is… Read full post »

Don and Betsy get divorced. Don becomes a tragic figure. He never knew who he really was and his only identity was in seeing and fulfilling the desire in others. A guy who's only talent was in capturing the zeitgeist in his ad work but in 1968 the changing world slips… Read full post »

I've been to Alaska several times over the last decade or so and with Wasilla in the news lately (I can't exactly recall why at the moment) I thought I would share my fond memories of the place with you.

If my free-associative recollection serves me right, the last time… Read full post »

Well, it's not that John McCain made the Sarah Palin VP selection impulsively. It's that he showed such poor judgment in allowing himself to be seen as an impulsive guy. That's a big no-no in politics, you see.

You can be an idiot, that's not the problem. It's that you… Read full post »

Red Potato Omelette

Serves 2 people

Take two medium to large sized red pototoes and dice into 1cm cubes.

Fry at a medium-to-high heat in a small frying pan with a tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil. Stirr often until browned.

Meanwhile, beat 3 eggs in a… Read full post »

I've been thinking today about how the Obama/Biden campaign can nail John McCain on his greatest strength -- his devotion to country/patriotism. And with no need to slither along the gutter either. 

I've been thinking about this instead of working. I believe I am over-caffeinated. 

I mea… Read full post »