And flip-flopping is bad why??

As we are  half way through the current presidential race heading to the election in 2012, one thing strikes me as absurd, or at least frightening; the use of the term "flip-flop" as a derogatory epithet.  It means, I gather, at least in current attack ad parlance that some candidate has changed his/her mind about an issue they once either opposed or supported.  Sticking to one's guns in the face of attacks is a hard thing to do and is often borderline heroic.  But not always, not always.  Life is about constant learning, or should be.  We are bombarded constantly with new information.  As if that is not enough, this marvelous age of information allows us to seek out new data, facts, opinions, etc., about almost any imaginable topic.  If we continue to push the boundaries of our personal knowledge, to take in new discoveries, thoughts, ideas,ones that do not just reinforce our own currently held opinions, how can we not, at least from time to time, change our own opinion about a few topics?  To think that it is heinous to do so intimates that once someone forms an opinion it is set in stone, never to be revisited or modified.  How silly.  That would mean that no one ever evolves intellectually after the age of, say, twenty one.  It would mean the end of learning and adapting that learning to old tenets, keeping those  that are still deemed worthy and adjusting those that cannot hold up in the light of that new knowledge (think the Bush administration and global climate change).  That way of thinking would mean that good people of differing opinions could never talk, never negotiate, never arrive at a consensus.  It would mean a congress like the one by which  the American people are now encumbered.  Some of them signed a piece of paper years ago vowing never to raise taxes  Most of them did so at a time of spiraling wealth creation and growth and under tremendous pressure from money-rich PACs.  That growth has ground to a halt.  That wealth has been redistributed upwards.  Times have changed.  New solutions are called for.  But they cannot or will not change their opinions in the face of growing evidence that to not do so will be ruinous for most Americans.  On the other side of the coin, some members of congress are so tied to how the  programs of the past are structured that they cannot or will not change their blind defense and support of those programs in the face of a crushing debt load.   C'mon.  Continue to grow and learn. Let in new ideas and ways of looking at things.  Take a chance.  Flip Flop.  All of you.

death to foodie-ism

For the first time in many years I have some time on my hands.  That can be good or bad, for you or me.  This blog will offer opinions and insights or a variety of topics:  Food and Wine (areas where I have professional experience), Travel (which I have done much of),  Politics and Politicians (just too easy not to include) and other things that come to mind.  If you like it, thanks and please comment. If not, go in peace somewhere more suited to your temperament and needs.

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I hate the the idea of "Foodies".  Most of the professionals I know and have worked with, except those trying to sell the Foodies something, do also.  Don't get me wrong, I think it is enriching and fun to increase one's knowledge and enjoyment of unknown (to the novitiate) and diverse cuisines and dishes.  It is all part of being intellectually alive (some other blog will deal with why so many people think "intellectual" is a pejorative term, like "liberal") and I am all for adding new experiences to life.  However, the idea of blindly following each new trend or mini-trend from restaurant to restaurant, cookbook to cookbook, is, simply, silly.  The fabric of world cuisine is rich in color and texture.  The things that people see as new have, in fact, existed for decades if not centuries and their discovery is not a discovery at all, just a widening of some one's own horizons.  I have been around far too many people who chase each new fad, hoping to be in, chic, in front of the curve. etc.  Well, they may be each of any of those things among their own set of friends but everything that they follow breathlessly has existed and been enjoyed somewhere else, by someone else, for years.  I had a collegue once who would have raved about Tawainese monkey brain and testicle stew if any one of her friends told her about the dish or she had read about it in some obscure (like this one) blog.  She knew nothing about food or taste, only what was the next new thing.  Try not to try so damned hard to be first at everything, just chill out and enjoy the new taste and texture sensations.  Being first is not a badge of honor, unless you are Ferran Adria, who always claims he is not first, just evolving.  If he can do it without getting caught up in some perceived glam quotient, everyone else can, too. So, Foodies, take a step back, stop thinking that running after everything new or trendy (food trucks, street vendors, flavored popsicles, regional/seasonal, funky hot dogs) (I actually endorse all but one of these The popsicles not so much) and just enjoy the total food experience without seeking some medal for your brave embracing of each apparent newcomer.  Foodies of the World, disband.  Now.  Please.