It's gettin' Hot in Here!

On Wednesday, August 2, 2006 Boston will be 100 degrees Fahrenheit with 100% humidity.

Were I a Judeo-Christian-Islamic sort of a person, I would reckon that Governor Romney upset the Almighty in some way.

The Phantom Gourmet

I have quite a few guilty pleasures. Soap operas are one. Those marginal musical movies from the 80s such as "Beat Street" is another.

A third would be the television show, "The Phantom Gourmet." The show is hosted by Dan Andelman and was created by his brother Dave Andelman. The shows consists largely of restaurant critiques made by a critic known only as "The Phantom Gourmet." The brothers insist that neither of them are the purple outfitted caped foodie in disguise. The hook for the show is that the Phantom dines in the establishments that he/she rates as a regular Joe or Jane Diner so that he/she can have the same honest, dining experience as you would.

In addition to restaurant reviews, there are also segments that feature recipes of items that you might find on the menu in many of the restaurants profiled. The recipes are supplied by Newbury College. They also have guests on the show-owners, chefs, bakers, pizzamakers-you name it.

Each show has a theme. Last week's was 'Fast Food.' My fourth guilty pleasure. I was surprised to know that the Phantom felt that Wendy's trumped McDonalds and Burger King. I was also surprised that the Phantom liked Popeye's Chicken and Biscuits. The Phantom stated that this chain needed to expand in Massachusetts.

The Phantom seemed to forget that at least, under its previous owners, Popeye's did have restaurants across the Northeast coast. There was a restaurant in Porter Square in Cambridge and one at Roxbury Crossing in the 1980s. In fact, my mother bought a chicken meal from Popeye's to celebrate the Chicago Bears in the Superbowl in 1986. Both closed and it seemed that the restaurant chain retreated closer to the Mason-Dixon line.

I second the call for another Greater Boston area Popeye's though I must admit that except for the biscuits, which were always popular, the other items on the Popeye's menu can leave a lot to be desired. Depending on the fancy and the skills of the staff and depending on the restaurant, the quality varies from place to place.

In any event, while I like food, I am completely not a foodie. However, I tune in to this show almost religiously because...it's a good show.

Women are not represented in large numbers in leadership roles in the corporate world.

Diversity Inc. published an article informing the nation that women are not represented in large numbers in leadership roles in the corporate world. They ascribe this disparity to the fact that women tend to be tracked over the course of their career into positions in departments that are largely administrative and human resource-oriented as opposed to sales, which has more of an impact on the bottom.

I almost filed this under the "bleedin' obvious." On second reflection, while this should come to no surprise to anyone who has paid attention to workplace trends, it still seems to be something that continues to happen. I recognized this when I worked in retail and noticed that those that were in charge were men and those who did the grunt work were women. While more women are taking on leadership roles in the corporate world, there are so many that get tracked into positions where they have very little influence and are usually the casualties of any cutbacks that happen. At one company that I worked at, which was women owned by the way, I was surprised at how when a male was hired in a leadership role, it was perceived as a move that will correct the company's plummeting fortunes-even though that male may have come from the outside whereas the women who were equally qualified were congratulated on maintaining morale than for their ability to generate revenue.

I am glad that Diversity Inc. is keeping an eye on this issue. I will be even more glad when they report that they do not need to mention this anymore because it is a non-issue.

Elfquest

I make no secret of the fact that I am a big fan of Elfquest. Ever since I picked up the hardcover graphic novel collection of the stories from the Forbidden Forest and the Blue Mountain period, I had been a fan. I was even coverted to the cause of wolves. When I recall the comics I collected over the years, after GI Joe, Elfquest was the only non-manga title I had.

The elves and I enjoyed a good 20 years together. I was with them when they found the Palace, lost some good people like Skot and One-Eye and even saw the littlest ones (Ember and Suntop-excuse me, Sunstream) grow up and come into their own (Ember becomes a chieftess of a band of elves in her own right and gets a soulmate while Sunstream not only becomes an avatar for the Palace, but gets his own soulmate and becomes a father).

Elfquest has really been going places lately. For a few years, DC comics have published new and older tales, which has gotten them exposure to more audiences. In addition to having a website, they have online forums and have set about digitizing their back issues of the 'Quest.' They also have moved on the whole 'Elfquest movie' thing, which I may or may not ever see. There are very few film/animated adaptations I will ever see, much less highly recommend. 'The Last Unicorn' is an example of the few that live in this category. I trust the Pinis and their decision making skills, even when I was not thrilled about DC comics partnership though I saw the big picture.

Besides cool, quality storytelling, Elfquest is notable because it is drawn by a woman, Wendy Pini, which in the US was something of a rarity when this title debuted. She also contributed to the story. Lest anyone think that this story much be so sugary that it is diabetic because it is drawn by a woman, I direct them to some of the scenes in the war for the Palace against the Trolls. Some of that stuff is still disturbing, though it was necessary to the plot.

Warp (Wendy and Richard Pini) Graphics also is working on other titles such as Wendy's cool futuristic, cyberpunkish take on Edgar Allan Poe's Masque of Red Death.

2008 marks thirty years of Elfquest. I can't wait to see where the next thrity years will bring us.

Real Random

I have the theme song to the "Greatest American Hero" running through my head for no reason at all...

Angela Cartwright

Angela Cartwright is an example of what happens when child actors do not implode. She has become a successful mom and artist who embraces her past in a healthy, non-Norma Desmond way. One of the pleasures of the blogosphere is in reading her blog, which is beautiful, personal, and funny. She includes photos of her artwork, which can also be found at her website-http://www.angela-cartwright.com/.

One of the more interesting entries has been her chronicling how she and her family fared during the blackouts that have recently happened in California.

Angela Cartwright's blog:
http://acartwrightstudio.blogspot.com/

Another Template Update

Every so often, I decide to update the template to a colour that is more seasonal or that I feel like wanting to look at for a long period of time.

Don't get me wrong-I liked the previous template but I felt that something green was in order. The formatting also saves me having to figure out how to reformat the various links that I have collected and updated.

I have spent time checking out all of the links I have here. In a few cases, I have deleted those that are no longer valid. Others are providing me with topics to blog about. Still others have led me to more resources that I have worked hard to include here.

As we are rolling into Lammas, it seemed to me as good a time as any to take stock of the blog and how it looks and how I want to develop it. I know that I definitely want to complete some of those entries that currently live in "draft" form!