Looking Around, Believing

Not much to the intro of this week's edition of The Sunday Review besides this poem by Gary Soto:

Looking Around, Believing

How strange that we can begin at any time.
With two feet we get down the street.
With a hand we undo the rose.
With an eye we lift up the peach tree
And hold it up to the wind — white blossoms
At our feet. Like today. I started
In the yard with my daughter,
With my wife poking at a potted geranium,
And now I am walking down the street,
Amazed that the sun is only so high,
Just over the roof, and a child
Is singing through a rolled newspaper
And a terrier is leaping like a flea
And at the bakery I pass, a palm,
Like a suctioning starfish, is pressed
To the window. We're keeping busy —
This way, that way, we're making shadows
Where sunlight was, making words
Where there was only noise in the trees.

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-via The Washington Post: Bill Simmons tweeted about this article this morning and as someone who is guilty (in some ways) of the blogging style that Ian Shapira rips on, I'm making an effort not only to cite everyone from here on out (which I'm pretty sure that I already do), but to start doing more to make sure that my readers are actually reading the articles I post about. So yeah, read them.

-via The New York Times: Really interesting Bits piece by Jenna Wortham about how the Jay-Z song "D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)" may have actually helped to increase sales of the program.

-via The New York Times: Another Bits piece also by Jenna Wortham regarding the Track Your Happiness app, designed by Matt Killingsworth, which will be used as part of an experiment to find out what people need to do/experience in order to consider themselves happy.

-via The New York Times: This is an Opinion piece by Maureen Dowd--a food-themed Q&A with Nora Ephron. And I'll admit, I've never read anything by Nora Ephron, but up until now, I've harbored an intense dislike of her for some reason. Luckily, her answers (to, at times, just plain stupid questions) finally gave me some concrete backup.

-via The New York Times: This is a write-up, by Andy Isaacson, of the sixth-annual Sahara International Film Festival. And I'm sure you're wondering: why is this important? Because the Sahara International Film Festival (claims to be) the world's only film festival held in a refugee camp.

-via The New York Times: This is the cover story of this week's Sunday Magazine, and it's a doozy by Michael Pollan. It's called "Out of the Kitchen, Onto the Couch," and it covers, in close detail, the transformation that food television has undergone since Julia Child first invaded American homes in 1963 via her show "The French Chef." And I'm aware that this piece was published today due to the campy-looking Julia Child movie, starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams, that's out right now, but I implore you to take the time to read this piece (possibly even as a replacement for the movie), and then promptly go into your kitchen and screw up some recipes.

-via Mac Rumors (and about 100 other spots): Amazon is now taking pre-orders for OS X 10.6, better known as Snow Leopard, in all it's various forms. There's no specific date given besides "September."

-via Off The Broiler: If you don't read Jason Perlow's blog, you're missing out. It's a great mix of food and technology, and even if you're not interested in stopping by for the technology side of things, his coverage of restaurants in the tri-state area is really well done. He's a good photographer of food and an every-man to boot, and his coverage of Frank Pepe Pizzeria in New Haven highlights both.

-via The New York Times: Oh, the plight of (Artifically) Big Papi. Just when I thought big-name players being outed as PED users had finally become common enough, so as not to raise our blood pressure too high, Red Sox Nation proves that as usual, it is behind the collective curve. And apologies to you New Englanders--just when you thought The Curse had been lifted, you find out that, due to the actions of Big Papoid and Manny Being Manny While Doing Steroids, the two titles you won are actually just as pimply and tainted as the players who won them. And don't give me that the Yankees had PED users on their Championship squads. Because while this may be the case, at no point did that group EVER include the combination of Ortiz and Manny, quite possibly the most feared 3-4 combination in the last 25 years of the sport (and now we know why). I'll be waiting for the first "You took steroids" chants in Fenway, but I know that since the confines are cramped with hypocrites, if they do come, they will only be leveled at the opposition. Remember--when you point a finger, you've got three pointing back at yourself, motherfuckers.

-via ESPN: Ashley Fiolek, an 18-year-old motocross racer, took first place in Women's Moto X Super X yesterday at the X Games. Why is this important? She's been deaf since birth.

-via Michael Ruhlman: I've blogged in the past about the documentary "Food Inc.," and now Michael Ruhlman has seen it and written a passionate blog post about it.

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That's all for this Sunday, folks. Melky just hit for the cycle (which is a somewhat vacant accomplishment when you take a step back), Danielle is asleep, and I've got work in the morning. Time to go enjoy the rest of this Sunday, since it seems to have finally stopped raining. Hope yours is as good as mine.


More soon.

JS