in case you were wondering... (sidney poitier, top chef)

borders books and more just emailed me to let me know that oprah has announced her newest book club selection: the measure of a man, a spritual autobiography of sidney poitier.

(just in case you were waiting to be told which book you should buy next.)

i have to admit i think reading sidney poitier's autobiography does interest me quite a bit, although i'm unsure how a "spiritual autobiography" would differ from other autobiographies i've read.


[by the way:
The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.
Martin Luther King Jr., Strength to Love, 1963]

another thing that interests me is that on the internet borders has "teamed up" with amazon.com to provide us with the invaluable service of letting us buy shit we don't need any time we feel the urge, from the comfort of our homes. but here's the thing: books are cheaper on amazon.com so why should i ever go to borders? i am having such a hard time right now with big business.

i have been doing some soul-searching about top chef, too, you guys. i don't know, i'm feeling pretty upset about it.

(gross...)

(on a side note, i found out that the co-host, padma lakshi,
is married to salman rushdie...)

in addition to heavy commercials for these products during breaks in the show, there are also immeasurable, almost ridiculously gratuitous product placements:

1) series sponsor: toyota (RAV-4)/gratuitous shots of the cars with toyota logos, they are always going places in it and saying "now get in your rav-4s and..." or "when we got out of the rav-4s we saw..."

2) series sponsor: sears-kenmore (PRO-kitchen)/giving it out as a prize, the furnished the kitchen where they have most of their challenges, "ok, guys, you have three hours in the kenmore kitchen..."


(bye, elia)
3) series sponsor: glad/furnishers of the cash prize, gratuitous shots of the would-be top chefs sealing food in gladware products, "you have three hours to prep in the kenmore kitchen, then put everything in your gladware and ..."

4) series sponsor(?): food and wine/one of their editors is a judge, the winner gets a write-up in the magazine and to come to the "food and wine classic in aspen"

5) series sponsor(?): calphalon cookware/"you have access to this calphalon cookware and anything else in the pantry"

5) kraft/"kraft snack quickfire challenge" in which the chefs have to use either kraft italian dressing, kraft mayonnaise, or kraft barbeque sauce

6) bailey's/"bailey's quickfire challenge" in which the chefs have to use bailey's original or new bailey's caramel or mint to make a drink

7) tgi-friday's/"tgi-friday's new twist on a childhood favorite elimination challenge"

etc. etc. etc.

plsu they don't have to pay the actors anything, and the judges get publicity for their books and restaurants. bravo probably made more money off that than nbc made off the last season of friends.

maybe i just won't watch it next week. i don't like being toyed with. (and also, since sam and elia got kicked off, who cares who wins...)

charity :)


bye, sammmmmmmm....