Void of Compassion, Priest Denies Lesbian Communion

I just read an article posted on Advocate.com about a catholic priest at St. John Neumann Catholic Church  in Gaithersburg, Md. that denied a woman communion at her mother's funeral.  He said "I cannot give you communion because you live with a woman and that is a sin according to the church."

Read the article: Priest's Actions Against Lesbian Stir Uproar

Immediately upon reading this I became enraged. It's this priest's brand of self-righteous arrogance, his literal 'holier-than-thou' attitude that has made me an Atheist.  I mean really, who do these people think they are?  Do they really think they're better than other people?  Is that what their god teaches them, that they've been elevated above the rest of us?  What a crock of shit.  I hope this priest, Father Marcel Guarnizo, experiences the kind of rejection, humiliation and emotional pain he subjected this woman to during her mother's funeral.  He deserves nothing less.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

(2011) directed by Rupert Wyatt and starring James Franco, John Lithgow and Andy Serkis

Spoiler Alert! This review of Rise of the Planet of the Apes includes references to specific scenes and plot points.

This is a brilliant story idea with just enough "I almost believe that could happen" mixed in to make you really ponder the future and wonder about what's going on behind closed laboratory doors.

And before I go any further I have to say that Andy Serkis as Caesar the chimpanzee is absolutely amazing. Andy deserved an Oscar nomination for his work. When will the Oscars catch up with technology and modern film making techniques and recognize performances like Andy's, or maybe Ed Asner for perfectly voicing Carl Fredricksen in Up? Maybe there should be a category for "Best Performance During Which You Didn't Actually See The Actor"...

Second best performance in the film goes to John Lithgow for his portrayal of the father of lead character Will (James Franco), and suffers Alzheimer's disease, which is the reason for Will's research at Gen-Sys. So, in a way I guess we can blame the near-complete destruction of the human race on John Lithgow. I always suspected he'd be the one. James Franco is weak as the leading man, often seen with a bit of a scowl or in a huff when he thinks someone is messing with his research or Caesar. In fact, in many scenes a cardboard cutout of Franco would have sufficed.

There are several flawed plot points. Are we really to believe that a high tech lab with a professional primate handler wouldn't detect that a test chimp was pregnant when she entered the lab? And what about Jamie Harris's teeth? He plays a slightly slow handler at the primate sanctuary and his teeth are a blinding Hollywood white.

In a closing scene the cops are positioned at the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge armed to the teeth with automatic weapons prepared to fire south on the approaching apes. But behind the apes, fleeing in the opposite direction, are the people from the vehicles abandoned on the bridge. Are the cops going to open fire on the apes and risk shooting the humans behind them? Yes, they are. Speaking of the bridge scene, the gorilla leaping from the deck of the GGB into the helicopter that's hovering nearby was fabulously over the top.

The most terrifying part of the entire film is the closing credits and here's why - it makes clear just how vulnerable our technology has made us. One person infected with a fatal virus flies from San Francisco to Paris, along the way infecting other travelers bound for other parts of the world. It's frightening to see right in front of you how easily a virus could be spread creating a global pandemic that could decimate the human race.

Find the film on Wikipedia here and on IMDb here as well as its official website here.

Colombiana (2011)

Columbiana

(2011) directed by Olivier Megaton and starring Zoe Saldana, Cliff Curtis & Michael Vartan

"I want to be a killer," says the nine year old child sitting at the table eating breakfast, "can you help me?" "Sure," says her uncle. A few minutes later he's registered her for public school, she protests saying that the school can't teach her what she wants to know. In response her uncle pulls out a very shiny silver handgun and opens fire on a car coming down the street. As sirens are heard in the distance he tells her that it's not as simple as pulling a trigger, that she must first learn about life and then forces her to chose between the gun and her backpack. She chooses the backpack and they stroll away as police cars roar up on the accident behind them. Sure, that all makes perfect sense...

The action sequences are really well choreographed - the opening chase scene through the streets of Bogota will make your heart race - but they're not good enough to make up for the horrible script, and I do mean horrible, as in pure crap. I can almost say that there's not one original bone in this film's body, but I've never seen a toothbrush used as a weapon. Other than that, it's just one ridiculous cliche after another. The direction is as bad as, if not worse than, the script. Put them together in a scene that's just dialogue and it's excruciating to watch.

Unfortunate for the film is that its highlight is the song playing over the closing credits - "Hurt" by Johnny Cash.  Unfortunate for the song is that it's associated with this film.

Thai Flavor in Syracuse, NY

Never ones to say 'no' to Thai food we decided to reap the benefits of a recent explosion of Thai restaurants in the Syracuse area and selected Thai Flavor, located at 2861 Erie Boulevard East between Thompson Road and Midler Avenue, for lunch.

The restaurant exceeded our expectations on every level.  The decor was classy yet comfortable and inviting, the service prompt and polite, and the food outstanding.  We started with Mock Duck Satay ($5), described as "aromatic gluten grilled on skewers with cucumber salad and peanut sauce", and Fried Bean Curd ($4), which is fried tofu and was served with a sweet chili sauce and ground peanuts.  The mock duck was savory and made sweet by the peanut sauce. The accompanying salad of diced cucumber and red onion in a sweet vinegar was refreshing.  Light airy triangles of fried tofu dipped into chili sauce that started sweet before heating up were just right.

For entrees I chose Pad Thai Shrimp ($13) and Lu had Thai Curry Noodle Seafood ($15), which is steamed egg noodles with shrimp, mussels, scallop, squid and vegetables in a spicy red curry sauce.  Both were generous portions bursting with flavor.  My shrimp were grilled to tender juicy perfection, and Lu's dish was loaded with mussels, shrimp, squid and scallops.

Our total bill was $40 including tax, which seemed like a steal considering that we were both in agreement that the experience was much better than places we've been that charged twice as much.  We will certainly return to try some of the other menu options.  I work nearby and was thinking this would be a great place for lunch, so you can imagine how happy I was to discover that they offer a $9 3-course prix fix lunch during the week!

Check out their website, Thai Flavor, and on Yelp; and then make plans to enjoy some amazing Thai food at Thai Flavor.

Sarah Dash's New Single: "I'm Still Here"

I'm embarrassed to say that before her appearance last Friday on The Morning Jolt with Larry Flick (SiriusXM OutQ108) I wasn't familiar with Sarah Dash.  Dash started singing in Philadelphia in the late 50's with The Ordettes, which became The Bluebelles before becoming Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles.  In 1971 the group changed its name one last time to LaBelle, and in 1978 Sarah released her first solo effort, a self titled album that included the top-ten disco hit "Sinner Man".  Check out Sarah's page on Wikipedia for more information.

After hearing Sarah's interview with Larry and a couple of tracks off her soon-to-be-released CD, The Seventh Child, I could only think that she may very well be the most overlooked diva in recent R&B history. Her brand of sassy, soulful wisdom was beautiful.  That's the best word to describe her as a person and an artist - beautiful.

I immediately jumped on iTunes and downloaded her new single, "I'm Still Here", which tells a tale of triumph and survival.  We've all gone through events in our life that we thought would surely destroy us, but from somewhere deep inside we found a strength we didn't know we had and rose from the ashes stronger and wiser for the experience.  It's the essence, the soul, of this experience that Ms. Dash has captured so beautifully.  This song moved me the very first time I heard it, and that doesn't happen easily or often.  I strongly encourage you to give it a listen.

On a side note, I adore Larry Flick and his show, The Morning Jolt, which he hosts weekdays at 7 am on SiriusXM OutQ108 with comedian Keith Price.  Larry has reminded me of so much music I'd forgotten about, but more important is that he's introduced me to new music from both established and new artists.  Thank you for doing what you do and being you who you are, Larry!

You can follow Sarah Dash on Twitter at @SarahDash, and Larry Flick at @LarryFlick.

New "My Twitter Favorites..." List

I've added a gadget to the right hand side of this page to show an ever-changing list of who I follow and what I find interesting and entertaining on Twitter. I'll update it every couple of weeks, or as I find new an interesting people on Twitter.

If you're not on Twitter, what are you waiting for? Twitter has, quite literally, something for everyone. You'll find people tweeting about music, television, film, politics, current events, farming, travel, food, art, general nonsense, teen idols, sex, foreign affairs, things to do, places to go, free events and so much more. 'My Twitter Favorites..." is a list of suggested accounts to follow on Twitter. Some of it's fun stuff, like @BorowitzReport and @TheTweetOfGod, while some of it is informational, like @cnnbrk and @NewYorkology.

I've been on Twitter for a while (@poodiemuckle), have fewer than 100 followers (I so desperately wanna break 100!), follow 260 people and have posted almost 4,000 tweets. I prefer Twitter to Facebook, so much that I'm thinking of taking a hiatus from Facebook to focus on this blog and tweeting.

The 'War on Religion' is a Scam

Jon doesn't actually say that in this clip, but he doesn't have to.  Anyone with half a brain can see that the alleged 'War on Religion' is a ruse contrived by the right to motivate their ultra-religious base against Obama.  If you're paying attention you should be able to see through the fog that is the so-called debate on health care - most meaningful discussion is buried beneath a massive pile of political rhetoric, half-truths or outright lies - and recognize that this is about race, and I don't mean a political race.  I mean the race of our president.  When they conjure up imagery of the Nazis, and in their scenario the Democrats are the Nazi party which would make Obama Hitler, they're obviously trying to paint themselves as victims.  It's called role reversal.  Rick Santorum has been trying to use it lately, too, by attempting to sell himself as a victim of bigotry and intolerance form the Left.  It's all bullshit designed to distract us from what's really going on.  The Right is terrified that Obama will be elected to a second term, which would give him the time needed to manage the current upward trend in the economy and probably ensure the election of another Democratic president in 2016.  Anyway, here's Jon.  Enjoy!

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

Oh, and my favorite line from this is: "You've confused a 'War on Religion' with 'Not Always Getting What You Want'."  You're spot on, Jon.

Flank Steak & Mixed Greens Salad

Last night I fried a couple of flank steaks.  Nothing fancy, just seasoned with salt and pepper and fried with sliced green onion and served thinly sliced with a fresh lime drizzle.  Potatoes and a salad rounded things out.  What wasn't eaten was thinly sliced and tossed with lime juice and raw green onion and refrigerated.  Tonight it topped off a salad of mixed greens with julienned cucumber, Campari tomatoes and raspberry vinaigrette.  Mmmm...

Howard Stern Takes on the Anti-Gay Conservatives

Before you turn up your nose and huff "He's so disgusting!" you need to listen to this, but first I'll set the stage... In the final segment of each show Robin Quivers reads the news. On this particular day one of the articles she shared was about the anti-gay group One Million Moms demanding that JCPenney fire Ellen DeGeneres as their new spokesperson because she's openly gay, which set Howard off. He talks about why Rosie O'Donnell was upset with David Letterman's remarks about how she met her fiance, about One Million Moms and then why Rick Santorum and Michele Bachmann are "the worst people on the planet."

For the record, One Million Moms is an arm of the American Family Association. In 2010 the Southern Poverty Law Center listed the AFA as a hate group because of the "propagation of known falsehoods" and "demonizing propaganda" about homosexuality.

The clip is about twelve minutes long, but worth listening to. As a warning, the language is colorful, so this is not safe for work or around little ears.

The Howard Stern Show & Howard 100 on SiriusXM

I also recommend that you listen to Ellen's response to One Million Moms after they attacked her as not sharing their values. "Here are the values I stand for: I stand for honesty, equality, kindness, compassion, treating people the way you'd want to be treated and helping those in need," she said. "To me, those are traditional values. That's what I stand for."

Conan O'Brien Can't Stop

I finally got a chance to watch Conan O'Brien Can't Stop. I thought it was a concert video, but it's actually a behind-the-scenes documentary. When NBC screwed Conan (and royally screwed themselves in the process), he was contractually prevented from appearing on TV, radio and the internet for six months. To fill that void he put together The Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour and hit the road visiting 30 cities across the US.

The documentary reveals the team's shenanigans to be the sort of nonsense one would expect to go on considering the subject matter. But it also shows Conan's sadness and frustration with being away from his family for days and weeks at a time, and occasionally that frustration turns into more-than-justified anger directed at NBC.

A little of the backstory... When Johnny Carson retired in 1992 The Tonight Show should have gone to David Letterman, but NBC went with Leno and Letterman went to CBS. When Leno finally stepped down making room for someone with genuine talent, the obvious choice was Conan. NBC gave Conan the job but set him up for failure, something that I suspect Leno may have had a hand in. I don't believe that Leno wanted to leave The Tonight Show. I believe that he was nudged out as part of one of NBC's poorly thought out decisions, but then orchestrated his return by putting on a crappy show at 10 pm. His show was so horrible that viewers fled NBC and never returned. NBC likes to think that it was Conan that the viewers didn't care for but it's well documented that NBC's affiliates were complaining that Leno's lead-in was killing the ratings for their 11 pm news broadcast. When NBC said they were moving Leno's horrendous show to the 11:35 slot and pushing Conan back to 12:05, Conan did the honorable thing – he defended the institution that is The Tonight Show and said that it never had, and wouldn't under his watch, start after midnight. Well, NBC is Leno's bitch and Leno wanted the 11:35 slot, so Conan lost the battle. Conan could have compromised his principals and taken the 12:05, but again he did the honorable thing and told NBC to get stuff. Good for him!

It's still a mystery to me what NBC was thinking when they decided to return Jay Leno to the Tonight Show. Don't believe the stories that Jay is a nice guy. He's a scumbag, plain and simple. He's a thief (he's stolen bits and staff from The Howard Stern Show), he's shallow and insincere, he's a manipulator, and he's just not funny. Letterman and Conan each have more talent and comedy genius in their little finger than Leno has ever dreamed of having. NBC mistreated their talent, the two biggest talents in late night TV, so now their only option to replace Leno is Jimmy Fallon. Jimmy is funny, way funnier than Leno, but I fear that NBC and Leno have mortally wounded the Tonight Show leaving Jimmy to inherit nothing but a long-dead carcass.

But I digress. The documentary is not about Leno, it's about Conan, and it's really well done. Get the DVD, watch the film and be sure to check out the extras where you'll find some fun deleted scenes and an interview with Conan.

Spicy Peanut Noodles with Cucumber and Scallion

Spicy Peanut Noodles

For the past week I've been craving cold peanut noodles with cucumber.  I first had this dish in Beijing in the summer of 2010.  My partner, Lu, is from China and while visiting his parents in Shanghai we traveled to Beijing.  It was at the National Zoo - I was determined that I would see a panda on my first trip to China but there wasn't time to visit Sichuan on this trip - that I noticed people with takeout containers of noodles with a creamy light brown sauce, fresh scallion and julienned cucumbers on top.  After Lu explained what it was I decided that would be my lunch.  I make it a point to try the local cuisine no matter where I travel, and if this was the Beijing equivalent to a hot dog from a Manhattan street vendor then I was going for it.  It was great!  Sweet, savory and a little spicy and the cucumber set it off.

Lu has made this once or twice and it's always tasty, but I've never given it a shot... until today!  The noodles and the cucumber are the easy parts - boil some angel hair pasta and julienne a seedless cucumber.  It's the sauce that's the key, and it's here that I decided to get creative.  The fundamental ingredients are peanut butter, light soy sauce and chicken stock (or water).  Other typical ingredients are scallion, chili oil, sesame oil, hot red pepper flakes and grated or minced ginger.

I look at recipes as suggestions meant to inspire your creativity.  Now if you're baking, which is not my strong suit, it's a different story.  Today I coated the bottom of a small sauce pan with vegetable oil, heated it to a shimmer and added thinly sliced green onion (white and green sections) and some julienned ginger.  After a few minutes I added a dollop of peanut butter, a few splashes of soy, a splash of sesame oil, a splash of chili oil and enough warm water to make a smooth sauce.  When everything is well blended and the sauce is smooth I set it aside.  The noodles were drained and a handful go into a bowl, a few spoonfuls of sauce are added and lightly tossed and then the whole thing is topped off with julienned cucumber and fresh thinly sliced green onion.  It was exactly what I'd been craving, and I ate the whole thing.

Rick Santorum's Alternate Reality

Where do I begin? This man lives in his own alternate reality, and he's trying to suck the rest of us in with him. This little tirade of his is lunacy!

No one asked the right to change its religious views.  What has been asked is that they stop trying to impose their religious views upon the rest of us!  They can maintain “traditional marriage” in their churches; doing so is protected by the First Amendment.  It's from that same Amendment that the concept of separation of churchand state comes; and in the spirit of the First Amendment I must ask Mr. Santorum and his supporters to cease at once their selfish attempts to cram their god down my throat! I do not want the theocracy that Mr. Santorum seems to so fervently believe he was divinely chosen to bring to the White House.  This guy goes on like it's up to him to save the world, if we would only abandon our own belief systems and adopt his.  Theocracies are dangerous – take a look at the Middle East.  A government ruled by religion is one where the people are free to engage in a tyranny of the majority against the minority.

Santorum accuses the government of being secular, like that's a bad thing.  Is he serious? Again, First Amendment, please!  He also claims that questioning the pro-equality movement results in being “ostracized from the public square.”  If that were true he would have been run out of town years ago!

Here's the bottom line...  Denying me the right to marry my partner denies me equal protection under the law and effectively makes me a second-class citizen, and in doing so you cause me harm and denigrate me as a human being.  Granting me the right to marry my partner denies you nothing.  Nothing!  It doesn't change your life one bit.  Your rights remain as intact today as they were yesterday and will be tomorrow.  So, Mr. Santorum, let me be clear...  My intolerance of you is not because of your religion.  It is because you are an ignorant and frightened man that irresponsibly spews his hatred without thought or care for consequence and wraps his bigotry in the robes of his church, hiding behind his god while crying victim.  Please, just respect “the wall of separation between church and state” and stop trying to deny me my rights.

Oh, and everyone please Google "Santorum".

Here's a transcript of Rick Santorum's remarks regarding the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional as seen in the video above:

“The Ninth Circuit decision yesterday said that marriage, if you believe in traditional marriage between a man and a woman and exclusively that, you are in fact – the only reason you could possibly believe that is because you are a bigot. There is no rational basis for you to have marriage as an institution between man and woman. There's no, NO, rational basis. Your belief of marriage between a man and a woman is purely irrational based on hatred and bigotry. That's what they just wrote. Four thousand years of human history... Irrational hatred and bigotry toward a group of people is the only reason you could possibly be for marriage between a man and a woman. Now, where's the tolerance in that? Where's the tolerance of someone having a belief structure that is based in nature, is based in reason, that is based in faith, and to ignore all of that, based in history, based in common sense, but yet all of this is ignored and you are bigots and haters. You are not to be tolerated. And if you think it ends there well just look what happens, look what happens when the government says “Here's the right I'm gonna give you and if you don't play the way we want we're gonna force you to do things you don't wanna do whether your religion says that or not.” This is the intolerance of the left, the intolerance of this secular ideology. It is a religion unto itself. It is just not a biblical based religion. And it is the most intolerant, just like we saw from the days of the atheists in the Soviet Union. It is completely intolerant of descent because they fear descent why? Because the descent comes from folks who use reason, common sense and divine revelation and they want no part of any of those things. They want their world view to be imposed without question, and if you question them you're haters, you're bigots and you should be as a result of that ostracized from the public square.”

Prop 8, California's Same-Sex Marriage Ban, Declared Unconstitutional

The 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution reads:

"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

It's that last bit, "nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws", that's particularly important and makes clear that Prop 8 is/was unconstitutional.

The justices concluded that the law had no purpose other than to deny gay couples marriage, since California already grants them all the rights and benefits of marriage if they register as domestic partners.  The measure "serves no purpose, and has no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California, and to officially reclassify their relationships and families as inferior to those of opposite-sex couples," Judge Stephen Reinhardt, one of the court's most liberal judges, wrote in the 2-1 opinion.

It's still not clear to me why the Prop 8 proponents are so hellbent on denying marriage equality to gays and lesbians.  They say they must "protect traditional marriage", to which I respond "From what?".  Newt Gingrich and Kim Kardashian have done far more damage to traditional marriage than all of the married gays and lesbians in CT, IA, MA, NH, NY, VT and Washington DC combined!  Others try to object on religious grounds.  I don't quite understand that either, but then again I'm not one for organized religions.  As the saying goes, "I don't have religious views, I have views on religion", and in my experience a lot of people hide their fear, hatred, intolerance and bigotry inside the robes of religion.  I plan to explore the concept of objecting to equal rights for gays and lesbians on religious grounds, and as my knowledge base expands I'm sure you'll see more posts on the topic.  In the meantime, you're welcome to share your thoughts here...

Red Pesto Meatloaf

Meatloaf: homegrown
hormone-free beef

Meatloaf is a super-easy, incredibly customizable main course. I don't remember ever making two meatloaves using the exact same ingredients. Sure, they all start out as a basic mixture of ground beef, egg, ketchup and breadcrumbs, but then it becomes an “anything goes” concoction controlled by the cook's whims. Tonight I started with a pound of homegrown, hormone-free ground beef, an egg, some Italian breadcrumbs, a squirt of ketchup, one sweet Spanish onion diced and sauteed with chopped garlic and a special ingredient that I've never put in a meatloaf before today – two very generous dollops of red pesto sauce. I discovered red pesto a few years ago. It's basically green pesto with sun dried tomatoes added for flavor and color, and it's tasty!

Homemade meatloaf dinner

To accompany this masterpiece of ground meat there's only one sensible option - mashed potatoes!  And for me there's only one way to do mashed potatoes correctly and that's garlic dirty mashed.  Most of a potato's flavor lives in its skin, so leaving the skins on is a no-brainer.  And garlic! Who doesn't like garlic?  Four or five whole cloves of Baker's Acres of Plymouth garlic boiled and mashed with the final product adds a smooth sweetness.  The trick to my mashed potatoes is the final mashing process.  As soon a the water's drained I add real salted butter, at least 1/2 a stick cut into chunks and let that begin to melt.  Then a quick mash to break things down a bit before adding one raw egg.  Yes, a raw egg.  You must work fast at this point or you'll end up with mashed potatoes with a scrambled egg mixed in and no one wants that.  Mash and stir quickly to mix the egg throughout.  It adds a beautiful yellow tone to the potato as well as a bit of fluffiness.  To put a little more color on the plate I boiled baby carrots with the potatoes, removed them prior to mashing and drenched them in butter.

One plate of this was so filling that I skipped dessert, and that rarely happens, and the leftovers made three lunches for work.

Introducing "Obiter Dictum"

Family and friends often suggest that I write about two of my greatest passions – travel and food – so, I've created this blog to do just that, and a lot more.  Obiter dictum, which means “an incidental or passing remark, an opinion”, will include tales of my travels from the planning stages to the adventures themselves.  Plenty will be said about food, whether it's a cool little restaurant discovered while traveling or something created during one of my brief moments of domestic culinary genius (ha!). To keep the content interesting for both of us, I'll post television and film reviews and editorials addressing current events. I hope you'll join me on this new adventure...