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Holiday Vacation Butler, 2002
By
Published: Dec 22, 2022
Category:
Holiday
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Sometimes I forget that even butlers go on holiday. (You’d think I’d remember — even the butler in The Remains of the Day takes time off.) But my lifeboat crew has scheduled events, and I have other writing that could stand my sustained attention, so off I go. As a holiday gift, I’m listing some 2022 favorites here. And, because I can’t resist, the best links of the week. (Miss me? Need me? I’m an email away: HeadButlerNYC@AOL.com) For now, every good wish to you and yours. See you on January 2.
MY 2022 AND ALL-TIME FAVORITES
BOOKS
The Queen’s Gambit
Small Things Like These
Siddhartha
The Tender Bar
Act One
Frank Costello: A Novel
Gilded Mountain
VIDEOS
Dave Grohl and Shane Hawkins
Bon Iver: Heavenly Father
Kara Lawson: “Handle Hard Better”
Nick Drake
Tallis Scholars
John O’Donohue (the first few minutes)
Beach Boys: “God Only Knows”
Mac Miller
MOVIES AND SERIES
(All stream on Amazon Prime)
She Said (the best American film I saw this year)
After the Wedding
Winter’s Bone
Local Hero
The Conformist
The Leopard
Borgen
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MOST ASTONISHING HEADLINE OF THE WEEK
From the Times:
Iowa Police Chief Sold Department’s Machine Guns for Profit, Officials Say
Justice Department officials said the police chief in Adair, Iowa, had requested 90 machine guns to either demonstrate or purchase for his small department but had profited from their sale instead.
ALMOST AS GOOD
from the Times:
Sam Bankman-Fried to Be Released on $250 Million Bond With Restrictive Terms
The disgraced cryptocurrency executive appeared in court in Manhattan after his extradition from the Bahamas last night. He was granted bail and will live with his parents in California.
HE WAS A LEGEND. SHE KNEW HOW TO KEEP HIM HUMAN
From Variety:, Shirley Watts, the wife of Rolling Stones Drummer Charlie Watts, died this week. She was 84. She met Charlie in 1961, when both were studying at the Royal College of Art, and married three years later. When their only child was born in 1968, the family moved to a rural home in Devon, where Shirley founded a world-class horse farm and became a renowned breeder and show person of Arabian horses.
A family friend recalls, “Shirley always kept Charlie in line. He was never allowed to get too big for his boots if she was around. She would very quickly call it. She didn’t flinch about saying something to pull the rug from under his feet. I remember she wrote me this brilliant letter in the early days when they were touring America, around Altamont time. She said, ‘Charlie came home at the weekend, full of conceit about being a member of the Rolling Stones. So I made him clean the oven.’”
SOME THINGS YOU PROBABLY DON’T KNOW ABOUT TESLA
Tesla stock is down 60% year to date. It could fall another 50% and it would still be worth more than DOUBLE the current value of Ford and GM COMBINED.
SOMETHING YOU SURELY DON’T KNOW ABOUT NEW YORK CITY DURING CHRISTMAS WEEK
71 migrants arriving at the Port Authority bus terminal were in such dire shape they had to be taken directly to emergency rooms.
CLASSIC TRACKS
Louis Armstrong: “La Vie en Rose”
THIS WON THE NIGHT ON THE INTERNET
Bess Kalb, on Twitter:
Whether he has failed to rescue people from a cave and then called the actual rescuer a pedophile, sent CPAP machines to hospitals instead of direly needed ventilators, or spent $44 billion to ruin his reputation and legacy, Elon Musk has always been on the forefront. He is so much more than the apartheid profiteer heir of an emerald mine owner who openly hates him, he is a man whose current only friend is Jared Kushner. I know that with his level of know-how and unimpeachable foresight, he will definitely go to Mars in his lifetime. Though he can only conceive children in a laboratory setting no matter how many women he impregnates and his facelifts are melting, he shows up year after year for the Met Gala, despite turning his nose up at “Media Elites” when they mock him. I am also finally able to disclose, Elon made over $68,000 from his flagship innovation Twitter Blue! We thank him for that smart and lucrative idea and wish him the best in his future projects. We know they will be great and only explode a handful of people.
HOLIDAY RECIPE
After the glut of any holiday meal that didn’t involve a Chinese or Japanese restaurant, you might like a chicken dish that’s a little-but-not-too-much exotic. And easy to make. This might do.
MOROCCAN CHICKEN
serves 4
3 TBS butter or vegetable oil
1 grated onion
1 crushed garlic glove
2 tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. ginger
3 pounds skinned, cut-up tomatoes
2 TBS honey
3 lb. chicken, cut-up
2 oz. blanched almonds
Salt & pepper
In a large pot, gently cook chicken, tomatoes, butter or oil, onion, garlic, spices, salt and pepper for an hour, stirring often, until chicken is tender. Remove chicken.
Reduce sauce until it begins to thicken.
Add honey and chicken, stir.
Heat chicken through.
Top with blanched almonds. Serve with raisins.
Suggestion: Couscous is better than rice.
