dare to excel & two pennies

We got in a motor vehicle last night and drove over to M St. to meet for dinner with some friends of WonderTwin #2. Courtney and Sarah had been over to the commune towards the end of last year and we'd had a nice dinner, sans Corey (alledgedly sick and I only point this out because yours truly had to suddenly be two, not one, tall, short-haired, glasses wearing cooks). On that fateful night they brought along their two daughters who were promptly secured to furniture with a big purple snake by the gate-keepers. Whatever picture you have in your mind is all the description that's needed. Last night we selected a well recommended Malaysian joint located amidst the lobbyists offices and the gentlemen's clubs. With the new lobbying rules for Congress I wonder if gentlemen's clubs are on or off limits. The final determinant must fall to whether or not the food is served with flatware; I'll do some research. We found street parking right across the street, I paralleled like an expert, and we trotted down the stairs into Malaysia Kopitiam - "Restauranteur of Year 2002" (the Washingtonion), and still on the magazine's 100 best list. It was a wait for a table - A WAIT. It's a small place and the service/management isn't even spotty; think no spots. There was at least one group (or a girl representing a group she didn't know) waiting for their table for seven to ten people. We were next in line, in fact we were the only others for the next 10-15 minutes. Then things starting piling up, a small scrum of folks waiting for tables - and after our 30 minute wait we got the call from the leader and were seated at the table that had been open the entire time we were waiting. We had menus with words, menus with pictures, a small drinks placard, and many decisions to be made. Our orders involved lots of letters and numbers, I had the A26 and S5 which roughly translates to the spicy anchovy paste with cucumber and the spicy shrimp soup thing with flat noodles. I've not done Malaysian before but it's quite similar to Vietnamese and anything that looks or sounds like Pho is going in my face opening. Excellent food all around. But back to the service for a minute. The one ordered beer was late (asked for twice); the bottle of wine was opened with the cork half-smashed back in and placed on the table; the appetizers and mains all came together and were dumped all over the table; we never saw the wait staff again. (The water crew was good, as an aside.) We somehow managed to sort 9 of the 10 plates with the final dish unknown to anyone present. We tackled them for the bill after our conversations finished and headed out into the cold night. I wonder just how good the food must be in order for the service to be so horrible yet the restaurant still pulling in the raves - it was good, 4 (of 5) stars; the service about 1 star, and I'm feeling generous with that one. You can do the math.

The various topics de jeur were very high-minded (mind you, I'm the only non-lawyer at the table): Supreme Court decisions, legal citation procedure, travels around Europe, northern vs. southern California, Clarence Thomas' confirmation hearing, clerkships, literature, and socks with holes. We ended on the socks portion - girls cackling.

On a trip to Olsson's this morning I noticed the above cleaners across the street - Seven Star! That's the spirit of excellence! Five stars is so passe, nobody should be satisfied with five stars...ever. I can see the owners pondering the name "Maybe Five Star Cleaners...it sounds so capital!". "Five? I think we can come up with something better, six, Six Star Cleaners. NO! SEVEN STAR! Let's kick it up and see if anyone dares top seven - plus, that leaves six open to another operation that might be just better than five, but not much better." This brought to mind two other moments of hilarity: the scene in There's Something About Mary when the guy who picks up Ben Stiller on the road starts a rant about the '6 minute workout', which is much better (and quicker) than the '7 minute workout'. Stiller's character offers up the idea of a '5 minute workout', to which the driver says, "You can't get a good workout in five minutes!". The other is this article in the Onion - genius.

I haven't got the hang of the camera in hand yet so I missed out on a picture from the restaurant last night. What do you get instead? Me driving and Seven Star Cleaners...consider me caught up.

Peace.

P.S. Lest you think I think Something About Mary was good...it wasn't. Utter garbage, but the scene in the car was priceless.

call me 'tender'

There are nine Democrats declared and heading to the gate for the 2008 presidential nomination. From what I can tell there are six Republicans officially in the paddock getting settled. What to do? I’ve decided to spend two entries a month, one per party, updating each race – beginning in March. Prior to that I’m going to so some gathering, the unofficial-Google©-Wikipedia©-news media, blogosphere gathering, about each candidate’s political background and history in public life. I’ll include the gaffes along with the serious concerns and issues. No one is immune. In March I’ll have the starting positions aligned and we’ll get rolling. I’m shooting for four quick-hit profiles a week so we’ll be set to go by March – this’ll be fun. Here’s the opening day roster of candidates:

The 9 Dems

Senator Joe Biden (Del.)
Senator Hillary Clinton (N.Y.)
Senator Christopher Dodd (Conn.)
Former Senator John Edwards (N.C.)
Former Senator Mike Gravel (Alaska)
Representative Dennis Kucinich (Ohio)
Senator Barrack Obama (Ill.)
Governor Bill Richardson (N.M.)
Former Governor Tom Vilsack (Iowa)

The 6 Pubs

Senator Sam Brownback (Kan.)
John Cox of Illinois
Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani (N.Y.C.)
Representative Duncan Hunter (Ca.)
Senator John McCain (Ariz.)
Former Governor Mitt Romney (Mass.)

The first primary/caucus is scheduled for Iowa on January 14th, 2008 although the N'Hamps are up in arms about some state law on primary dates. My first bold predication is that of the 15 on this list only 8 will make it to Labor Day. Of course, some additional candidates will heave themselves into race, but only 8 of these will need to get out their dark shoes in September. Stand by for the quick profiles on Biden, Edwards, and Brownback.

Here are the selling points that these folks need to address if I’m going to walk out of the dealership with the fully-loaded Escalade©. Of course, by addressing these issues I mean actually stating a position – and I also want you to stop pointing with your goddamned thumbs!

1. International Affairs – restore America’s place as a leader, not THE leader, in world affairs. This means:

Establishing stability in Iraq and managing an acceptable solution to end our military involvement. I don’t believe there is a military solution at this juncture but I do believe that things like getting the power on, the water running, and the establishing of order are the most effective steps we can make.

Get off the bench, step forward, and show that any genocide, in any country, on any continent, will be stopped. No government should be shamed into action. If anyone needs background see Srebrenica and Rwanda, it is right there, and it’s awful. To read a statement that “until X number of people are killed in a ratio to the potential loss of one American life before we step in…” is grotesque.

Stop questioning global warming and the effects. We cannot continue to question the science…stop.

Instead of fighting the UN, make it better.

Pay our bills.

2. Domestic Affairs – restore any semblance of a government concerned with issues that really are issues.

Eliminate the tax cuts implemented for the wealthiest. Either cut them all or start at bottom and work your way up.

Someone owes us $1 trillion for the Iraq war. I’m not suggesting that somehow a check will arrive, but we have spent $1 trillion AND cut taxes. What kind of sacrifice (read: jackassery) is this?

Keep religion and public programs separate (I know that seems obvious). This includes: abortion, gay rights, and any other hot-button issue that can be driven by religious beliefs. Make a sound argument that doesn’t involve any quotes from any religious tome and I’ll be very happy to listen. We are NOT debating religion (you can keep yours), we are debating people’s lives in the here and now. Period.

Pay for education. That $1 trillion could have built and funded something like 40,000 schools and staff. Imagine that?

Be honest and fix health care. It can be done. It will be painful. If you’re honest and let us know that it’ll be difficult yet the end result will make our children’s lives better, we’ll do it.

Don’t think we’re so stupid.

Fire people. It’s life.

Other stuff? I was listening to George Karl (coach of the NBA’s Denver Nuggets) on ESPN’s PTI podcast the other morning and he kept referring to his two star players (Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson) as ‘Melo and AI. I know that those are noms de guerre for both stars but it sounds SO cheesy coming from a head coach in a position of authority. It reminded me of a Cedric the Entertainer bit when he said some kid told him, as he was walking away, to just call him ‘Delicious’. Cedric’s reply was; “I'm a grown-ass man, dawg. I ain't gonna call no other dude ‘Delicious’”. What if that [dude] way down the street or summin? 'DELICIOUS'!!! Ay, D, hol' up!". I think Coach Karl can just call them Allen and Carmelo. ‘Melo? That really is a stupid nickname. I don’t think I would even refer to Shaq as Shaq if I were his coach. Shaquille is much better coming from what dude-in-charge. I don’t have a nickname, if you must know, because any nickname for me would be stupid. I don’t even like the NBA.

I finished East of Eden and have moved onto The Shipping News by Annie Proulx. I’m looking to move up on the hierarchy of Proulx scholars. Eden review forthcoming.

Peace.