05 Wednesday Sep 2012
Posted in Escapes and Pleasures
Tags
Fall's Must See Movies, Films, Searching for Sugarman, The Bourne Legacy, The Intouchables, The Queen of Versailles
Here’s the latest from MillersTime on current and future movies.
03 Monday Sep 2012
Posted in Escapes and Pleasures
from the Washingtonian: “Scaling the Great Wall,” by Tyler Cowen
If you’ve lived in the DC metro area for any length of time, you’ve probably come across the name Tyler Cowen.
If not, I’ve got some good news for you.
Cowen’s an economics professor a George Mason U but is probably better known for his guide(s) to ethnic restaurants in the metro area, especially in Northern Virginia. He’s been ‘covering’ ethnic restaurants for more than two decades, and his articles and/or articles about him have appeared locally and nationally (Washingtonian, Washington Post, Atlantic Monthly, etc.).
As I understand it, Cowen is a one man eating machine who simply loves finding and reporting on local restaurants and grocery stores. I don’t think he earns any money from this love (his day job is at GMU where he’s the Director of the Mercatus Center for economic policy), but if you’re looking for the best, the most comprehensive guide to ethnic restaurants in this area, check him out:
Tyler Cowen’s Ethnic Dining Guide – August 2012, 29th edition
I’ve checked his views and ‘reviews’ against the ethnic restaurants I know, and I think he’s on target most of the time. He updates his Guide twice a year, tho I’ve found an occasional error in his information. So you might want to give a call to a restaurant before you go, especially if you’re living in MD or DC and following his recommendation for one of his Northern Virgina favorites.
Finally, I believe Cowen is open to feedback, suggestions, ideas, etc. You can get to him three ways:
Email: tcowen@gmu.edu
Personal web page: http://www.gmu.edu/centers/publicchoice/faculty%20pages/Tyler/
Twitter: @tylercowen
(Full Disclosure: I’ve never met Cowen, get no financial benefit from this post, but I do love ethnic food, and would gladly join him at a restaurant or two, if invited, as he continues his important work.)
03 Monday Sep 2012
Posted in Go Sox
From The New Yorker, Sept. 10th issue via long time friend and MillersTime reader LM:
31 Friday Aug 2012
Posted in The Outer Loop
(Updated 9/1)
A poll out this morning (8/31) from the Associated Press says “nearly a quarter (my emphasis) of all registered voters are either undecided about the presidential race or iffy in their support for a candidate.”
There is also a poll out yesterday from Rasmussen which puts the number of undecided at 5%.
So which is it?
I’m not sure, but I don’t think it really matters. The underlying message of the polls tell us is that there are enough undecided and ‘iffy’ voters that how they decide to vote will determine who our next president will be.
On the one side, there are those who voted for Obama, in part because they felt a change was needed from Pres. Bush, and Obama seemed to capture many of the voters who were “in the middle.” Now, there is disappointment by many of these folks with Obama, with the continued state of the economy, and with questions whether Obama can really lead the country out of the mess we’re in.
Not all of these folks, I think, are ready to give up on Obama, in part because he is likeable and in part because there is some recognition that he was handed a terrible situation which was then compounded by a Republican decision and campaign not to cooperate with him to solve our nation’s problems.
I also suspect that a portion of the undecided folks are not sure of former Gov. Romney, who seems to be a competent and a solid guy but who has four problems:
1) he is being heavily influenced by the very people who refused to tackle our financial problems over the past three and a half years, some of whom want to dismantle the major programs that have benefited large numbers of our society, and some of whom are far to the right of Romney.
2) he is supported by the very wealthy businessmen and corporate interests who have benefited from the policies of the last decade while large numbers of middle class folks (and a large number of the undecided?) have suffered, raising the question “who does Romney truly represent?
and closely allied
3) he is a very, very wealthy man who may not truly understand the problems of most Americans (refusing to publish his tax returns for 10 years plays into this) and adds to the question of whose interests does he/can he truly represent.
4) he has not made a case for how he would go about reversing and solving our problems, as people understand simply cutting more taxes and cutting programs has not worked, despite the Republican mantra that that is the answer.
So it seems to me, the election is still to be won or lost.
As readers of MillersTime hopefully know, I often look for articles, data, facts that are not always widely covered in the media. In that vein, here are four recent ones that I believe are worthy of your attention, especially if you are in the 5-25% who may still be making up your mind:
1. Economic Report Card on Pres. Obama’s First Term, The Economist, Sept. 1. This report seems to me to be devoid of rhetoric and the fairest analysis I’ve seen. Be sure you see the ‘report card’ at the end of the article even if you don’t read the entire column.
2. The Deficit. While I don’t agree with many folks who seem to believe that the budget deficit is our major problem (I think the trade deficit is more of a long term problem), take a look at this one chart in this WaPo article if you truly want to understand what is driving our national debt.
3. The Bailout. Many folks, I believe are confused and/or do not understand this issue. There is a website that just focuses on the data. It is easy to understand, and you can learn for yourself how the bailout money has been spent (including in your own state).
4. The Shrinking Middle Class. For me, the decline of the middle class is one of the most worriesome short and long term issues that faces our country. In a recently released study, the reputable Pew Research Center confirms that “the middle class is poorer, earning less and shrinking.”
As always, I encourage MillersTime readers to comment, respectfully, on any or all of this post.
31 Friday Aug 2012
Posted in Escapes and Pleasures
If you are looking for some good reading that will probably keep you up later than you’d planned, here are three recent reads, all of which I’d give four stars (out of five).
I’m not sure if any of them will make it to my Best Reads of 2012 (you’re keeping your list to send me in Dec., right?), but all three are involving, well written, and have value beyond being ‘page turners.’
If you’re looking for non-fiction, let me repeat myself from earlier postings about two books that I would give five stars:
1. The Passage of Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson, Robert Caro’s latest tome on LBJ. If presidential politics, leadership, power and how Washington really works is an interest of yours, invest the time in this one.
2. A Real Emotional Girl: Memoirs of Love and Loss, Tanya Chernov. The more I reflect on this first book by a 30 year old, the more amazing I think it is and the more I am convinced that it is deserving of your time.
Coming out, tho not soon enough, are two books I am looking forward to reading
Finally, although I kiddingly referred to this above, I am planning again to ask for your Best Reads of the year. I will do so in early December and so hope you will respond with the names of the books you have most enjoyed this year.
30 Thursday Aug 2012
Posted in Family and Friends
For those of you who enjoy keeping up with grandson Eli and granddaughter Abby, here are 12 of Nonna’s (Ellen Miller’s) latest from the Outer Banks.
30 Thursday Aug 2012
Posted in Family and Friends
Tags
Elizabeth R. Miller, Heaven Hill Distilleries, Kate Shapira Latts, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
Within the last several weeks there have been two different articles in the media, interviews actually, one featuring daughter Elizabeth Miller and one highlighting her cousin Kate Shapira Latts (our niece). I’ve seen the two articles in the digital media, tho they may be in the print media too. Both interviews focus on the work of these two young professionals and, to a lesser degree, their personal lives.
With only a slight apology for touting them, I link to them below:
A Quick Word with… (Elizabeth Miller), The Communiciations Network, Aug. 29, 2012
Faces of Louisiville: Kate Latts, Style, Blueprint, Aug 19, 2012
29 Wednesday Aug 2012
Posted in Escapes and Pleasures, Family and Friends
Monday night I started Tanya Chernov’s A Real Emotional Girl, A Memoir of Love and Loss.
Tuesday I spent most of the day reading it through to the end.
It is the very personal and very honest recounting of Tanya’s ten-year attempt to come to terms with the loss of her wonderful father Richard Chernov and her painful attempts to find a place in the world without him.
Whether others will find this memoir as emotional wrenching, as insightful, and as wonderful as I did, I honestly don’t know.
I hope so. I think it’s outstanding.
Know that I know the characters in Tanya’s just published book.
Richard Chernov, her father, is one of the most wonderful persons I have ever known. He is a former lawyer who became a summer camp director and created Birch Trail Camp for Girls, where my daughters and many, many young girls have spent some of the most memorable and important summers of their lives. Tanya will tell you why he was so wonderful. She sees him clearly, and the man she describes is the man I knew.
Barbara Chernov, her mother, is Richard’s long time partner in everything he did. While she plays a smaller role in this memoir, the person Tanya describes is the person I also know.
Dylan and Gabe are her two older brothers. I don’t know either of them very well, but from what I do know of them and from what Tanya writes, Richard and Barbara did a terrific job parenting them.
Tanya herself is the youngest of the three Chernov children and the only girl. She is about 16 when Richard is first diagnosed with cancer and the book covers approximately the next 10+ years of her life (and that of her family too).
Many of the current and not so current memoirs written by women about loss have been about the loss of their fathers, mothers, or husbands. I have not read much where a child, an adolescent, a young woman has written about this kind of loss.
And for me, that is the wonderful thing about A Real Emotional Girl. Tanya has taken us (and I hope others who do not know the Chernovs or Birch Trail) on her painful and loving odyssey following the loss of her father and on the search for herself.
If you read it, do let me, others know what you think.
28 Tuesday Aug 2012
Posted in Go Sox
MillersTime reader JC emailed me today, asking what I thought the Nats’ should do concerning Steven Strasburg.
Here is my answer:
If I were Rizzo, I would proceed as follows:
1. I would meet with just Steve and his family and lay out, in as detailed a fashion as possible, what the various medical folks say about what is known concerning the year following Tommy John surgery and what they recommend, including conflicting recommendations.
2. Then I would tell Steve and his family to take a week to consider what they want to do and come back and let me know their decision.
3. And I would honor that decision.
Proceeding in this fashion is not to absolve Rizzo or the Nats’ of responsibility, but it is to give the Strasburgs the right to decide for themselves how to proceed.
Nor is it because it is likely they would choose to continue the season into the playoffs.
In fact, I would offer to keep this process confidential, and if the Strasburgs chose to shut it down now, or at any time before the end of 2012, I would offer to let their decision be presented as my choice, if they wished.
27 Monday Aug 2012
Posted in Go Sox
John Feinstein in today’s Washington Post*:
Pitching Strasburg in October is not a betrayal. It’s simply recognizing that circumstances have changed…Not pitching him is a betrayal: to the pitcher, to the team, to the fans and to the city.
If you haven’t read Tom Boswell’s piece on this issue, also in the Post, read it, and then let folks know what you think.
(*Hat Tip to JC for pointing out this article.)
Sox ‘Trade’ ?
PS – For those of you who are no doubt awaiting my great insights on the recent Sox trade (firesale?), I’ll spare you. I suspect we haven’t seen the end of the Sox moves to repair their (our) broken team. Plus, there’s enough already written about what they did last weekend. Basically, no one really knows or will know for some time whether it was brilliant, stupid, etc. Father time will so determine.
27 Monday Aug 2012
Posted in The Outer Loop
I’m generally not one to believe in conspiracies or fall for the first negative story about someone or something I don’t like anyway. But putting together a few stories from the last few weeks leads me to be quite worried about where we’re headed in this country.
1. As (if) you watch the Republican Convention this week in Tampa, keep in mind something Grover Norquist (one of the more important persons in the Republican world and one who most Americans don’t know), said at the CPAC convention earlier this year (Feb. 11):
“All we have to do is replace Obama…We’re not auditioning for someone to tell us what to do,” he declared. “We know what to do. We just need a president who can sign the legislation that the Republican House and Senate pass. … We don’t need someone to think. … We need someone who knows how to hold a pen.”
As you know, Romney will be chosen this week as the Republican presidential nominee. Whether or not Norquist is correct (that Romney will do as he is told), if the House and the Senate are in Republican hands and Romney wins, Congress will likely drive the agenda. Not Romney.
2. Another article which didn’t get much coverage, but which, if true, means the Executive Branch will be further indebted to a very few, very wealthy individuals, ones with a very specific agenda.
Roger Stone (go here to learn more about this long time Republican consultant, turned libertarian) a few days ago wrote in his The Stone Zone:
“I’ve waited a few days to lay out my analysis of the selection of Paul Ryan for the VP slot on the Romney ticket. Unlike politicos like Dick Morris who bad-mouths the selection privately and shills for it publicly, I’ll tell you what I really think. My sources tell me David Koch played a key role in Ryan’s selection and that Koch’s wife Julia had been quietly lobbying for Ryan. The selection was cemented at the July 22nd fundraiser Koch held for Romney at the former’s sumptuous Hamptons estate.”
According to Stone, “Koch pledged $100 million more to C-4 and Super PAC efforts for Romney for Ryan’s selection.” (For the entire article, go to The Stone Zone.)
3) And according to Joel Kotkin’s article, The Screwed Election: Wall Street Can’t Lose, and America Can’t Win, it doesn’t even matter if Obama wins the election. Wall Street wins whether Romney or Obama is president.
A very recent example of what Kotkin writes about, the power of business to affect policy, in this case, the Obama administration, can be seen in this NYTimes article: Ties to Obama Aided in Access for Big Utility. (Hat tip to RW for pointing out the article).
If any of the above, never mind all three, are true, it’s kind of discouraging.
23 Thursday Aug 2012
Posted in Escapes and Pleasures
Tags
It’s coming back.
Sept. 19 – Oct. 7.
At Washington, DC’s Shakespeare Theatre, Sidney Harman Hall.
It will no doubt sell out quickly, as it did last time it was here.
Check out my mini-review Jan. 30, 2011, or even better the NY Times & WaPo reviews, linked to below.
Then go get tickets.
As part of its international tour, The National Theatre of Scotland’s 2006 production of Black Watch is currently, but only briefly, playing at the Shakespeare Theatre’s Sidney Harman Hall.
See it if you can…
It is a drama about the famous Scottish regiment, its history, its deployment in the war in Iraq, and the effect of the war on the soldiers both in Iraq and once they returned home.
The staging is a major part of the production, mixing music, dance, video, and much loud ‘bombardment’ of sounds of war. The language is initially a bit hard to understand, but as the play develops, the words seem less important than the visual representation of what is happening and has happened to the individuals and to the regiment as a result of its time in Iraq.
To read NY Time’s Ben Brantley’s review of the production in NY in 2007, Click Here.
To read the Post’s preview of the Shakespeare Theatre’s presentation, Click Here.
Today the Post reviewed the current performance and ‘waxed eloquently.’ Click Here.
In addition to its Washington performances, Black Watch will be performed in other cities in the US, including Chicago, Seattle, and San Francisco.
20 Monday Aug 2012
Posted in Go Sox
Thanx to long time friend Harry S., I’ve got a new sports writer to add to my favorites (Boswell & Posnanski lead that list at the moment).
Doug Glanville, a former baseball player (Cubs, Phillies, Rangers), is now writing occasional articles in the NY Times, (mostly) about baseball, the players, and how the game so often relates to real life. His articles are thought provoking and insightful, and he writes well.
Here are two that I think are worthy of your time:
This one starts off about the Chinese diver who was not told of her grandparents’ death nor her mother’s cancer until after she performed in London. He moves on to baseball, but the article’s really about what he believes is most important in life: relationships.
In Glanville’s most recent column, he wonders if baseball is immune from the slings and arrows thrown at it, largely from within.
For more Glanville articles, go to Articles by Doug Glanville.
Also, Glanville wrote The Game from Where I Stand: From Batting Practice to the Clubhouse to the Best Breakfast on the Road, an Inside View of a Ballplayer’s Life, published in 2010. I haven’t read it, but it’s now on my ‘to read’ list.
20 Monday Aug 2012
Posted in The Outer Loop
Folks who sometimes read MillersTime may know that I’m on a lengthy journey to understand how we know what we know and particularly how come good folks can differ so much on issues of politics and religion (See earlier posts here and here.)
Whether these differences come from nature or nurture, from a genetic source (some folks believe this), the ‘environment’ in which we live, the influences of class, wealth, education, etc., or are related to our life experiences, the one constant seems to be is that we all have our particular lenses through which we see the world.
But that doesn’t answer the basic question. It just peels back the onion a layer. We still have to understand our lenses and from whence they come.
In a recent article Benjamin Hale, a philosophy professor, writes about two doctrines of fairness, a universal view and a first person view: ‘The Veil of Ignorance’ and ‘The Veil of Opulence.’ For me, this article adds to my understanding of the lenses through which we look at the world.
16 Thursday Aug 2012
Posted in Escapes and Pleasures
I am not interested in birds, fish, or salt marshes.
Well actually, eating fish and other sea animals is of interest. And one of my daughters got me interested in dolphins a number of years ago. Plus I have enjoyed some occasional spying on colorful fish the few times I’ve gone snorkeling. But as species of general interest, I can go for long periods of time without thinking about what goes on in the underwater world of sea creatures.
As for birds, the expression “that’s for the birds” amply fits my view about those winged creatures. I’ve never understood the fascination with ‘birding’ even tho some folks I like very much (and otherwise seem normal) are enthralled.
And I’ve never thought about salt marshes at all.
Which brings me to a book I’ve just finished that I want to recommend: A Place Between the Tides by Harry Thurston.
It’s about all those things I mentioned above that didn’t interest me.
Yet I was fascinated by Thurston memoirs and memories of what he has learned, experienced, and continues to observe where the land meets the sea in Nova Scotia.
A naturalist, Thurston has written extensively and prize winningly about the Atlantic Coast, the Bay of Funday, the Nature of Shorebirds, etc. In addition to being a biologist and a wonderful observer of life around him, he’s a bit of a philosopher and a poet. He writes beautifully, and in spite of my prejudices about fish, birds, and salt marshes, his A Place Between the Tides was one of the most enjoyable (certainly one of the most informative) books I’ve read this summer.
The memoir was written in 2004 and details a year of life, his and his environment, on the banks of the Tidnish River in Nova Scotia. It is organized by months as he weaves what he sees, what he remembers seeing from when he was young (he’s always lived near the sea), and what he knows about the birds, the fish, the salt marshes, animal behavior, and the interrelationships of all those things. It is also both a personal reflection on his life as well as an introduction to one part of Nova Scotia.
I couldn’t put the book down.