Sunday, April 20, 2008

There was food, too. Really.


John originally uploaded by nicspir.

Actually lots of delicious food.

Apparently peepsNet hasn't been quite obsequious enough about Nicole, so we got the carrot-and-stick treatment. Sort of literally, come to think of it: a lovely vegan meal, and Polish absinthe which, to the best of anyone's knowledge, was 144 proof -- a fact we discovered way, way too late. Think the dental scene in Marathon Man: oil of cloves and drilling without anesthetic.

Then we didn't offer to do dishes. Sorry, Michael.

Wednesday, April 09, 2008

Nicole, Nicole, Nicole ...


PeepsNet isn't about ratting on the peeps. We aren't interested in the seamy underbelly of their lives. We'd rather not think there was a dark side. We don't want to hear about their weaknesses and foibles, or the gender confusion, addiction, gambling obsession, spiritual ambivalence, Oedipal complex, "daddy issues," and ritual cruelty to small animals.

And neither should you.

But there are limits to our restraint. We have just learned that Nicole has been unfaithful -- Nicole! Here is her unrepentant confession, on the Interwebs:

"A confession: I'm obsessed with cauliflower. And I'm not sorry."
Oh -- you're sorry all right.

We can't fathom what possessed npr.org to publish this metaphor-laden "Story of N." Of course, it is extremely well written, dammit.
"If a head of this funny-looking crucifer doesn't find its way into at least one meal a week, I'm either having a bad month or am out of town too much. A dinner without cauliflower feels off-balance, lackluster. A life without cauliflower is no life at all."
Nicole, please. Try to regain a modicum of dignity. No man is worth humiliating yourself like this. (Or likes to be called a "funny-looking crucifer." This may be your problem).

PeepsNet must find a hip urban dictionary to completely understand the disgusting acts Nicole describes below -- reprinted not for shock value but out of journalistic necessity:
"There are so many ways to adore you, cauliflower. I love you for your delicious, crumbly gratins baked for an hour in the oven on Friday evenings. I love your Monday night soups quickly whirled together and laced with mushrooms and herbes de Provence. I love your lazy Sunday afternoon curries served with coconut rice. But I think best of all I love you slow-roasted at 400 degrees for about a half hour."
I just don't know you anymore.

The entire, pathetic love letter is here. And, if you have a stomach for this, don't forget to listen to the podcast.

Tuesday, April 08, 2008

The World in a Grain of Rice


She taught us that quinoa could save the world and now Nicole is all about "The World in a Grain of Rice." Make up your mind? What's that? This just in: They are both grains.

Our woman in San Francisco is serving up some Chow (sorry) about what you can do with things called "polenta" and "millet" and "bulgur." Worst cocktails names ever.

But we like lists, and this is a top 10, which means we can just find #1 and go with that without a lot of reading. Cake is mentioned. That's promising.

The "about" part at the bottom is very cool, and peepsNet is going to use this boilerplate for Nicole stories from now on. Our only quibble is calling Cucina Nicolina a "cooking blog." It's about life, people.


Nicole Spiridakis contributes to the San Francisco Chronicle and NPR online, as well as other publications, and writes a cooking blog called Cucina Nicolina.

Friday, April 04, 2008

"Cool Photos" from Rich


A shout out from David Newman Music to Rich on some "cool photos."

The are cool. The boy's still got game, even though he is getting on in years.

Tuesday, April 01, 2008

Resurrecting the Resman

Let's start with the tie.

It was the sort of tie that kids get with their first suit -- a "club" style with irregular stripes of indeterminate and unmistakenly bland colors. The kind of neckwear they keep on hand at fancy restaurants, for uncouth guys who show up in shirtsleeves and baseball caps, because they are too ugly to steal.

Just the ticket for a company stooge who needs to wear a tie every day and wants you to know just how much he appreciates that.

Yes, the Res-man is management scum now, but only the "management" part is new.

He still favors a Bombay martini, dry and neat, but now with a twist of lemon. AP patrician influences, no doubt.

He carries an AP MasterCard, the easier to pay for interviews -- sorry, "travel expenses" for interviewees.

And he still has that ageless twinkle in his eye, even though age has caught up with the former 10/20 vision phenom, who now must occasionally wear reading glasses.

And his hearing is shot. Gotta repeat yourself a couple of times just to get his attention. Of course, we were in a loud bar. But I'm sure he is going deaf.