Another Tuesday, another installment of Aye Wonder Tuesday. Can you take it? We’re running out of Tuesdays in 2009 but there is no shortage of news to talk about. The health care reform bill is making me ill as is Joe Lieberman. I am still confused by the entire climate change issue. The Tiger Woods saga is becoming folkloric. When will this decade end? It’s the decade of bad decisions. That’s what I am calling it, it’s not catchy but it does sum up everything.
Joe Lieberman you’re up first.
☞Joe Lieberman has leaped from #3 to #2 on my 5 least favorite public officials list. (Nancy Pelosi is and always will be #1) Lieberman has once again held the Democrats hostage over a bill that he alone had the ability to stop. The short version of Lieberman’s discretion is this: he wants to remove the Medicare buy-in option for people aged 55-64 that was attached to the new health care bill. I am not saying it was a good idea or a bad one but Lieberman came out in favor of this 3 months ago. It is symptomatic of why things never get done in Washington. Blame the President but the real blame belongs in Congress. By the time a concept goes through the legislative process, it is tagged with more earmarks and appropriations rendering the bill infective at birth. Lieberman recognizes that his vote is vote 60 and as a result can get what ever he wants and played his trump card at the appropriate time. How much longer will the people of Connecticut continue to reelect this democrat/republican/independent pretender?
☞Music, we need music. Since we are at the end of the year, let me introduce you to my favorite song of 2009. Phoenix’ 1901 is what a rock song with a pop overcoat is all about these days, a little synth, a little jangle guitar and a hook that keeps on giving. It is bright and shiny and it’s from France. Have a listen to AWT’s song of the year.
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☞Speaking of music, are you enjoying the upbeat song a day posting? They are moral boosters. Be sure to listen.
☞As mistress #14 steps out of the shadows, Tiger Woods has a new problem. His Canadian doctor is now under FBI investigation for providing athletes with performance-enhancing drugs/treatments. According to the New York Times, the doctor made four visits to Woods’ Florida home after Tiger’s knee surgery. Guaranteed the punters are putting 2+2 together to equal 5.
☞More and more people are questioning the climate crisis issue’s validity after thousands of emails were found showing that scientists were fudging data to convince the public and the media. The claim now is that we should just “trust them” because the scientists perpetrated this hoax to get everyone motivated for the inevitable. Admittedly, I don’t know what to think. Will we stop recycling? No. Will we continue to be more observant about waste and our impact in a macro world? Yes. Will ever believe Al Gore again? I never said I did in the first place.
☞This is an age old complaint but there is NOTHING good to watch on television. Now that Californication, Mad Men, Curb Your Enthusiasm and Entourage have completed their season’s runs, there is nothing to watch. Do you have anything that you would recommend these days?
☞If you live in Boston, there’s a new restaurant you will want to try. Ken Oringer’s newest offering is a wonderful Italian enoteca on Shawmut Avenue in the South End called Coppa. Personally, I love eating like this, a little salumi, some antipasti, a little pasta, a little red wine. It reminds me of another favorite place, Mario Battali’s Lupa in NYC. Coppa is a charming hole-in-the-wall with amazing eats and the height of creativity on the drinks side. Take a look. Get ye to Coppa.
☞Speaking of food, one of the things that I have been doing much more often is cooking. I love to cook and bake. (Who’d a thunk it?) One of the things that got me cooking again is the “light bulb is on” recognition that cooking has a huge knowledge base. I always enjoy a task when I can study, then practice and the final scorecard is the end result. The end results have varied from great to not-so-great but fixing the not-so-greats is the best thing about cooking. We should be so lucky with other things.
☞The AWT quote of the week is from the elder statesman of good advice:
Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man.
~Benjamin Franklin
So goes another AWT. I hope that this one finds you in good spirit and good health as the holiday season envelops us all.
Aye Wonder. Yes. I do.
What about you?
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Israel Kamakawiwo’ole is not a household name but in Hawaii, he was their most popular entertainer until his death in 1997. He came into the national spotlight when several movies used his medley of Somewhere Over the Rainbow and What a Wonderful World. His rendition is beautifully and delicately played on the ukulele and Kamakawiwo’ole’s vocal belies his stature (He was 770 pounds at the time of his death at age 38). This is the one song in the series that has both an uplifting feel to it and sadness at the same time.
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