The Way to the Sea(food)

The Provincetown Seafood Cookbook – Howard Mitcham – (Introduction) Anthony Bourdain – (Seven Stories Press)

With so many online food outlets, cookbooks find themselves at a crossroads; they can’t just be a list of recipes and ingredients, those are over the web. Pretty pictures of delicious looking food aren’t going to make the difference either, for the same reason. I am sorry, but cookbooks by alleged super-models with chipmunk cheeks and butter faces just aren’t believable; I am not buying what you’re selling.

So maybe aspiring cookbook authors or chefs should take note of the newly re-release of the classic The Provincetown Seafood Cookbook by artist, storyteller and chef Howard Mitcham. A perfectly tasty mix of history, fisherman’s tales and seafood is served up with some original drawings courtesy of the author, with just a nip of salty sea air permeating this wonderful tome.

You can find original copies of this book for sale online for hundreds of dollars or settle in to this retro upgrade complete with a new introduction from late chef and raconteur Anthony Bourdain. Bourdain relishes his early days in the food industry when someone gifted him a copy of the original. I think the thing that separates the true culinary masters from the super-model pretenders is the fact that these folks immerse themselves in not only the food, but the stories that go into the recipes they create.

Mitcham was one such character; he not only gives you the tasty victuals, he also steeps you into the history and the details of how he acquired the recipe or the fish tale that goes with it. This one is as much fun to read as it is to cook from. It’s easy to understand why for Bourdain, and so many others this became the go to way finder when the goal was to achieve a delicious seafood feast.

Bias Re-Visited…with a Side of Fake News

Outrage, Inc.: How the Liberal Mob Ruined Science, Journalism and Hollywood – Derek Hunter (Broadside)

Back in 2001, former CBS News reporter Bernard Goldberg set the news media industrial complex on it’s ear with his bestselling expose of the network news business’ clearly left leaning tilt in the book Bias. Goldberg’s colleagues cried hysterically and denial in reaction to the examples of the liberal slanting of the news.

Now 17 years later, conservative columnist, blogger and contributing editor Derek Hunter has served up a kicked-up version, that not only details media bias, but how the media world has changed dramatically in the intervening time; where clueless comedians masquerade as newsman and are taken seriously, low IQ nitwits can air their grievances online and Twitter, Twitiots can take down CEOs with a concerted #hashtag campaign.

In Outrage, Inc.: How the Liberal Mob Ruined Science, Journalism and Hollywood, Hunter cites chapter and verse examples of how even the minimally aggrieved have run amok as mobbed up, often anonymous tyrants who aren’t satisfied until they utterly silence those they disagree with. It not enough to have public debate and discourse, if you dare to differ, you will be pummeled.

Liberals love to claim conservatives “hate science”, but who has done more damage to actual science than nitwits like children’s television host Bill Nye or Neil deGrasse Tyson, an astro-physicist who masquerades as a climate science “expert”. The clueless cabal can’t be bothered to ask what makes these two circus clown experts about what the preach when it comes to climate science. If you dare to question, be prepared to forever be labeled a “denier”.

Unlike the lefties he takes down brick by brick, Hunter actually backs up his theories with countless examples that get backed up with actual, reliable sources. Imagine that!

Fake News, Propaganda, and Plain Old Lies: How to Find Trustworthy Information in the Digital Age – Donald Barclay - (Rowman and Littlefield)

It used to be a cornerstone of primary education that students were taught critical thinking skills. It was what would form the basis for something (depending on your age) that your parents or grandparents would label common sense. In the mad rush in public education, to make sure Johnny feels good about himself, critical thinking skills were tossed off the education island so a couple of generations (at least) have gone lacking when it comes to common sense.

So much of the national machination over what has been popularly dubbed “fake news” it gets lost that if you bring even a bit of critical thinking skill to the table, much of this stuff falls apart under its own weight. Leave it to a librarian to serve up what I can only call a needed lesson in common sense and critical thinking in the form of Donald Barclay’s Fake News, Propaganda, and Plain Old Lies: How to Find Trustworthy Information in the Digital Age.

Barclay kicks it old school and offers great examples of not only the current state of propaganda, but also the historical use of the form. He also points out how we as news consumers can fine tune our bullshit detectors and raise good, thoughtful questions about what comes across our screens on a daily basis. In my humble opinion, question everything should be the starting point for, well, everything.

The Emperor Has No Clothes

Twilight of the Gods: A Journey to the End of Classic Rock – Steven Hyden – (Dey St.)

The concept: the mortal demise of classic rock due to the steady, inexorable drip, drip, drip of the of the passing of aging classic rock artists. That is the focus of Steven Hyden in his latest outing, Twilight of the Gods: A Journey to the End of Classic Rock.

Hyden writes with just the right amount of fanboy laced into his dynamic prose. The guy clearly has a love for classic rock and it shows. While the concept is certainly interesting and writing entertaining, I will posit that the bigger concern is not so much the death of classic rock, but maybe something even larger to consider; the death of rock…period.

Here’s the problem, everything that made classic rock great, the impact that it had on changing and inspiring folks lives is missing from most of today’s music. Music has moved from being utterly inspiring to become utterly disposable. Can anyone name even one band that in the future will live up to the moniker “classic rock!? Hyden talks lovingly about how fans flock to see these aging classic rock artists and pack huge arenas; could the real reason we as music fans, cling to these classic rock legends be because there is nothing viable to take their place?

The Emperor Has No Clothes

I’m sorry, but music critics who heap praise on rap music are mostly full of shit. This stuff is pure noise and will never fill the void left by the demise of rock music. Critics who walk this path are like the fable of the emperor with no clothes; they lack the testicular fortitude to say this stuff flat out sucks.

There is also something to be said about the fans who cling to classic rock being a case of nostalgia over reality, because if you’re being honest the aging incarnation of the Rolling Stones are a shitty live band. If you saw Mick mince about in his 30s do you really need to see him again in his 70s? The fifty percent remaining of the Who are a shadow of their former selves, while Townsend can still be fiery, Roger Daltrey flat out cannot sing anymore. Hyden writes lovingly of Black Sabbath, but let’s face it Ozzy is utterly incoherent and decades of head banging has probably given him a case of CTE.

While we will certainly continue to experience the loss of more and more of our musical favorites as time continues to pass, be safe in the knowledge that we can continue to enjoy their music via vinyl, CD, digital file or whatever comes next. With technological advances maybe even the hologram live shows will become a little less creepy. 

Failure is not an option...

Fail Until You Don’t: Fight. Grind. Repeat. – Bobby Bones – (Dey St)

“Failure is not an option” – often credited to Gene Kranz, NASA, Apollo 13 flight director; although in reality he never uttered that famous phrase.

While that phrase is and should be doctrine at places like NASA where mission critical actions can mean the difference between life and death; a lot has changed when it comes to the world view of failing. It has reached the point where failure has been elevated to being a pre-requisite for success. It has even reached a point where some business gurus are pushing folks to fail quickly and often.

I for one think this positive spin on failure is a bit of a stretch. Not that failure should be viewed as something terminal that you can never recover from, but because it is often a misnomer. While the recovering former radio host side of me finds a bit of humor in the fact that radio guy Bobby Bones is out with a self-help book, Fail Until You Don’t: Fight. Grind. Repeat, there is something to be said about the message he imparts.

While it may be packaged as a book that makes failure a bit more acceptable, what I think the real message is; is one of grit, determination and getting after it to do what it takes to be successful. I don’t see this as a book on failing, but more one of having the drive to overcome roadblocks, and being side-railed and having the drive to do whatever it takes to succeed.

Bones details more than a handful of setbacks and hardships that he has overcome in the course of his lifetime, right from his childhood and on through his pursuit of the profession of radio personality. The message here flies in the face of participation trophy generation. While failure is not an option isn’t necessarily about life or death, for Bones it’s about climbing the mountain and not letting anyone or anything stand in your way. That is a message that we certainly need to hear more of.

Road Trip!: Memories from the Road

Don’t Make Me Pull Over: An Informal History of the Family Road Trip – Richard Ratay – (Scribner)

My oldest cousin had just gotten married, and at 16 I had been an usher in her wedding party. Once the wedding festivities had wrapped up, I was going to be a participant in the ages old family tradition, at least in our family, of the mega-family road trip! Yep, not just Mom and Dad, it was the full on family rodeo; Aunts, Uncles, cousins, grandparents, the whole gang was piling into a caravan of big old, 1970s era land yachts and heading down the road to a far flung cabin in the woods for a glorious retreat to the wilds of Pennsylvania.

I remember it well, not because of the destination; a dilapidated old pile along a creek with stacks upon stacks of bunk beds to sardine the “kids” or the one redeeming feature, an ancient console stereo that we played the one album (Elton John’s live record Here and There) I managed to sneak into the luggage over and over again on the rainy days. No, what made it oddly memorable to this day, was folding my six foot plus sized frame into the back seat next to a couple of cousins who almost right on departure hunched straight forward over tattered pillows from some long disposed of, smelly sofa and were almost instantly asleep. At the time I suspected my straight-laced Aunt and Uncle of somehow slipping the pair some sort of mickey, that had put them out so they wouldn’t have to deal with the inevitable “are we there yet?” questions.

This slightly creepy memory was dredged up from my subconsciousness by Richard Ratay’s humorous and informative travelogue/memoir, Don’t Make Me Pull Over: An Informal History of the Family Road Trip. Right from the start Ratay hit a home run for me conjuring up not only that bizarre trip, but nightmarish memories of fighting who would get stuck riding on the “hump” the ubiquitous Quonset hut style covering of the rear wheel driveshaft and the too numerous to mention road side attractions that my Dad never could resist making a pit stop at. My teeth still hurt at the memory of numerous stops at the coal mine tour gift shop (!) to pick up a box of “coal lump” licorice candy, each box coming with a nifty little sledge hammer to break up the chunks of black candy.

Ratay offers up more than just a recounting of the now, sadly, long lost family road trip, he garnishes this tale with some great road side trivia and history and factoids about this once great mode of vacationing. While we all grumbled about the biannual, seven hour road trips to visit my grandparents and various aunts, uncles, and cousins, Don’t Make Me Pull Over, serves as a reminder of simpler times without smartphones and tablets, when traveling families would play car games and actually talk to each other. It brought back cool memories of wood paneled cars, driving by the iconic Bob’s Big Boy mascot figure outside the burger joint and the home of the Little League World Series.