Rambles Along the EDGE

I had a wonderful meal this evening. One of the dishes was a Greek salad. It was layers of crisp lettuce, slices of cucumbers, roma tomatoes, and red onions, mixed with capers, kalamata and black olives and feta cheese. A thin coating of an herb vinaigrette coated everything. The construction was such that I got a fair mix of the items in each bite. It was fabulous.

Why is it so difficult for some restaurants to toss a salad prior to serving it? Even in some high end establishments, the salad seems to be an afterthought. A pile of greens (iceberg lettuce, ugh.) on a dish, perhaps a few cherry tomatoes or other items, then a big dollop of dressing on the top or the side. I’m in a restaurant. I’m seated at the table preparing to have my meal. I don’t have the facilities to toss a salad. That should be done in the kitchen. The dressing should evenly coat each piece of the salad. All the ingredients should be evenly mixed. I shouldn’t have one bite with far too much dressing dripping from it while the next bite has little or no dressing. I shouldn’t finish my greens and find half the other ingredients still on the dish. I shouldn’t, but I do. All too often.

A perfectly baked potato is a delight. It will have crisp golden skin and will be pure white and fluffy on the inside. Russet potatoes are best. I’d sure like to get one in a restaurant.  Instead, I get a potato brought to the table in aluminum foil. Wrapping the potato in aluminum foil will produce a soft skin (not crispy), but technically this is steaming rather than baking (as the moisture in the potato remains trapped) and the light, flaky texture will be missing. The texture of a steamed potato is entirely different from that of a perfect baked potato. It is not as good.

That aluminum foil does more than change a very good dish into something mundane or outright bad. The kitchen staff could easily remove it prior to bringing it to the table. It’s already served it’s purpose. That potato should be hot. I’m supposed to unwrap it at the table? With my fingers? What do I do with the trash? I’m supposed to clutter my table with the foil? The only reason to leave it for the diner to remove is to make sure that everyone knows that you have a potato. As if they couldn’t tell.

The kitchen staff is very busy. They have to ensure that many things happen to make your dining experience better. It shouldn’t be a matter of policy that relatively minor things routinely go undone. Please remove that aluminum foil prior to serving my potato. And toss the salad!

Zane Melder EDGE Books Kentwood, LA

“Got to Go! So many buffets, so little time!”

So ends a frequent commercial on a radio show I listen to regularly. It jabs my sensibilities each time I hear it. I love to eat. I equate the word buffet, however, to a short step above a hog trough. An amount of (usually) not so good food is put out on a serving line and people line up to ensure that they ‘get their money’s worth.’ A lot of buffet’s are served for as little as a few dollars. I’ve seen them for quite a bit higher, $40 and up in the better establishments. But, in the places most people I know eat, $20 would be an outrageously high price.

People! If they were served a plate of food for $4.95 that contained the same food as that on most buffets, they would complain. Somehow, the idea of ‘all you can eat’ makes it OK. A restaurant is not going to lose money on a buffet. The food is poorly prepared. It’s made from poor quality ingredients. It’s put out on a serving line and left to come to room temperature. What should be hot is lukewarm. What should be cold is lukewarm. If the food is not good, why would having more of it make it better? I just don’t understand.

I can understand that some individuals simply want to ease their hunger. Nutrition or taste has nothing to do with it. You have to eat something and you have to eat it now! I’ve been guilty of that. I travel frequently and subsequently spend a great many nights in hotels. A buffet breakfast is available and I eat. I am never happy with what I eat, but I’m not hungry anymore. And I don’t have to get out and try to find a better breakfast at a time of morning when I am usually rushed and anxious to get on with my day. I do try to order off the menu occasionally. Then I watch in frustration as the waitress walks over to the buffet table and dishes up my order instead of having the kitchen prepare it for me fresh and using better ingredients. And I’m supposed to pay the higher, a la carte, price for the same food as that on the trough . . . er, buffet? 

But on a normal basis, why go out of your way to eat something that’s not good for you? We are constantly bombarded with nutritionists telling us that the snack food and fast food that we eat is loaded with empty calories. I agree wholeheartedly! But can a buffet at a bargain price be any more healthy for us? I don’t think so.

I can understand a young mother with a car full of kids needing to get them through the day without blasting through her meager budget on a single meal. It’s something that has to be done. In the long run though, is it worth it? All she is doing is filling their stomachs. She isn’t providing them with the nutrition they need. In addition, like the individual in the commercial, she is promoting an unhealthy way of life to her children.

It’s not just buffets that are the culprits in this. A few of the New Orleans restaurants have quite a reputation. They are very popular with the locals. Do you hear anything about how good their food is? No! But they serve large portions!

Huh?

Zane Melder EDGE Books Kentwood, LA

Oh, I don’t mean the constellation. I mean Con*’Stellation!

Con*Stellation is an annual general-interest science fiction convention held in Huntsville, Alabama. It is hosted by the North Alabama Science Fiction Association. Each Con*Stellation has been subtitled with an astronomical constellation — usually one of the 88 official modern constellations. The convention often uses the constellation as a theme in its advertising and for events at the convention. This year the theme was the constellation Cassiopeia, a northern constellation which Greek mythology considered to represent the vain queen Cassiopeia who boasted about her unrivaled beauty.

I have been attending Con*Stellation as a dealer for several years. I’ve always enjoyed them, but it occurred to me this past weekend that one of the reasons that I like this one so much is that these people are serious about their convention.

I attend a great many conventions across the country. I meet many people who are serious about various aspects of the science fiction community. Some promote publishing. Some promote reading. Still others promote all the myriad other niches, such as art, gaming, video, interacting with the guests, costuming, etc. For those, the convention is a tool to promote their interests. The folks in Huntsville are very serious about their convention!

Con*Stellation has been around since the very early 1980’s. The current number of attendees isn’t viable to support the convention financially, but the fans persist in putting it on each year. They maintain a steady stream of great guests. Those guests include authors, editors, artists, publishers and scientists. The group works hard to present all the aspects of a much larger convention. I love the Masquerade on Saturday evening. The Con Suite is one of the best anywhere! The Art Show is small, but I find pieces I’m intersted in year after year. I don’t get involved in the gaming aspect, but their’s seems to be well attended.

What makes a great convention? It’s the people! Con*Stellation has some of the best people supporting any convention.

Check them out! You won’t be sorry. I’m serious.

The Con*Stellation website

Zane Melder EDGE Books Kentwood, LA

Isn’t that nice.

I frequently receive emails telling me that I’ve been added. My friends and business associates are using Plaxo Pulse to keep in touch with their contacts and they want to add me as a friend. Again, nice.

The good news is that since I am already a Plaxo member, I just need to sign in with my AIM Screen name to accept my connection.

It all sounds great! I like my friends. And I’m glad that they have found a tool they like. Their emails go into a special folder where I can see who sent it before I delete it.  I haven’t the heart to tell them that I think it’s foolish.

For those of you who don’t know, Plaxo is an information sharing service which helps keep people connected by solving the common and, adminitedly, frustrating problem of out-of-date contact information. Users and their contacts store their information on Plaxo’s servers. The idea is that when a user edits their own information, the changes appear in the address books of all those who listed the user in their own address books. Because contacts are stored in a central location, it’s possible to list connections between contacts and access the address book from anywhere.

It sounds like a wonderful idea. It really does. So much so that, several years ago, I signed up for the Plaxo service. It was going to be great! The problems, however, started immediately.

Can you say SPAM?! Plaxo wanted to take over my address book. It immediately wanted to send out emails to every single person in my address book inviting them to join Plaxo. Huh? I get enough unsolicited email. Why would I want to bombard my friends or my business associates? Plaxo harrassed me until I finally removed it from my computer. I tried to cancel my account with Plaxo. If it is posible to do so, I was unable to easily discover the secret. I still have my account apparantly.

Seems to me that a more sensible method would be to have my information on Plaxo’s server. My friends can also have their own information on Plaxo’s server. If we each have the other in our respective address book, we can choose to release any updates to the other.  No SPAM! Just a simple exchange of information between friends, but through an intermediary. High Technology as it’s meant to be. Nice!  

Then again, why would I want some company routinely pulling personal data from my computer? I go to great lengths to prevent that from happening. I have anti-virus software, firewalls, SPAM filters, etc. My life would be a lot simpler if I didn’t need them and didn’t have them using computer resources and generally slowing things down. I am not going to use a ’service’ which does the same thing that I’m trying to prevent.

I’m told that Plaxo has changed. That it is now possible to control who gets SPAMMED and who doesn’t. it’s easier to opt out. I suppose it’s possible. Am I going to let a child molester babysit my granddaughter because he’s changed?

I’m still getting the SPAM from my friends.

Zane Melder EDGE Books Kentwood, LA