Bowties Are Cool

Hamlet’s Father

Orson Scott Card has rewritten Hamlet. The back of this slim novella boasts that once we have read this “revelatory version of the Hamlet story, Shakespeare’s play will be much more fun to watch—because now you’ll know what’s really going on.” The author has previously updated other Shakespearean plays, rendering them more intelligible to modern audiences while supposedly retaining the “flavor” of the originals…

…The extent of the novella’s failure is surprising—and embarrassing, given that Card is a skilled veteran novelist and Subterranean a well-respected press. The most polite thing for us to do would be to walk away and quietly forget the whole painful exercise. But Card does not deserve our polite amnesia. His failures should be known and remembered, because the revelation in his “revelatory new version” turns out to be a nightmare of vitriolic homophobia. - from raintaxi.com’s review of the novella, http://www.raintaxi.com/online/2011summer/card.shtml

Google-

I realize that Google+ is a private service, and they can, ultimately, do what they like. However, their approach to identity is all but guaranteeing that it will not be the rich, encompassing service they’re trying to build. It is all well and good for a moderately well off white guy whose name is already public (and whose livelihood requires it to remain so) to insist that everyone should use their real name — there is very little risk for him that is not already inherent in his profession. For the abused, the stalked, the adopted, the ‘not white enough in name,’ the politically risky, and all other people who feel afraid that posting their real name might have drastic, real-world consequences - the risk is high, and the reward is little.

Google has a lot of ways to handle this, and as far as I can tell, has taken the extreme low road: Screw the little guy, we need their advertising data. Make sure we make exceptions for the super famous. God forbid anyone figure out what Lady Gaga or 50cent’s real names are (that’s what Wikipedia’s for, kids) It is no skin off of our nose if some girl gets repeatedly harassed by her abuser. (We’re not even going to make blocking work correctly, so she’ll have to keep seeing what they say in comments! It’s OK though, since we totes made him use his real name.)

Gazpacho, spicy style

I made a first attempt at authentic* gazpacho this weekend, and it was on the whole, very successful. It turned out a bit spicier than intended, but the level is very easy to adjust.

*authentic in the sense that it includes bread and oil, a nod to the origins of the soup

Ingredients

5 medium to large tomatoes, blanched then peeled, cut into 1” chunks
2 medium peaches, blanched then peeled, cut into 1” chunks
2 medium slicing cucumbers (or 3 smallish), peeled, seeded and diced
2 cups of good bread cubes, best if stale (I used salt-crusted rosemary bread)
2 cups chopped cilantro or basil
2 gloves of garlic, minced
1 large red onion, diced
1 jalapeno pepper, deveined, seeded and diced
1 tablespoon of hot sauce (your choice)*
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

1. Combine chopped fruit, herbs and vegetables together, toss with tbsp of salt, and place in a large sieve over a large bowl; let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.

2. Toss bread into juices, and let soak for another several minutes

3. Combine bread, vegetable mixture, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, olive oil, and hot sauce. Blend until the consistency you desire (I usually rough blend a small batch, and then smooth blend the rest). Depending on your mixer/blender/processor, you may be able to do this all at once, or in smaller batches.

*this is where, if you don’t like things super-spicy, you leave out the hot sauce or put in less

4. Place soup in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours to let the flavors combine.

5. Before serving, taste to see if more salt, pepper or vinegar is needed

I served the soup with additional chopped veggies, herbs, oil and fresh bread.