Rock: It Doesn't Get Much Better than This

Where to start?

Robert Palmer was the classiest rocker of his generation. It's a shame he died young (d. 2003, age 54). His best-known song, Simply Irresistible, has to be one of the best rock songs ever written. And when he performed it in his trademark suit and tie (he was British, after all), it took it to another level. The music videos for his hits (in the Eighties) revolutionized the genre. The video for Simply Irresistible is amazing, as is the shorter, revised version of it that Pepsi used for a 30-second TV commercial. Like Palmer himself, their power lies in the realm of subtle suggestion rather than overt hammering. I don't have the nerve to post them here, but his best-known music videos are available on YouTube.

The opening chorus line in SImply Irresistible is a classic: "She's so fine, there's no telling where the money went!" Ha ha! What a great line! Who cares where the money went? She's simply irresistible!

Palmer's appearance on Letterman in 1988 is a joy to watch, not just for Palmer himself but for The World's Most Dangerous Band—what Letterman's house band was called when they were at NBC (now known as Paul Schaeffer and the CBS Orchestra). The core guys in this band have been playing together since the Eighties and represent the quintessential rock band: drums (Anton Figg), guitar (Sid McGinnis—no guitar player has as much fun playing as Sid McGinnis—watch him), bass (Will Lee—ditto, a close second. Watch him clapping time during the bridge. Nobody told him to do that; it's just pure joy in playing), and keys (Paul Schaeffer). While they've added horns and a rhythm guitar since then, back then they were as tight musically as four guys could be. They're all older now, with shorter hair, and probably better musically—but pure rock doesn't get much better than this from 1988. (No wonder they've been the house band for the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame for decades.)

Pure class, musically and vocally. Here's hoping you've got good speakers:

P.S. That big square thing Letterman is holding up is a 33 1/3 long play vinyl album. (Just kidding. Most people know what "vinyl" means, but it's amazing that there are young kids today who will probably say, "What's that thing Letterman is holding?" How times change. I recently tracked down a used copy of a vinyl LP that I used to listen to on cassette tape in the late Eighties. It was from a church called Church in the City in Houston (no longer in existence)—beautiful, Jesus People style original worship music. Like most people, I no longer have a turntable, but have an audio engineer friend who has agreed to pull the tracks off the vinyl and burn them to a CD for me.)

Only in America

Only in America: three Jawas and a Stormtrooper cross 42nd Street in NYC:

Harvard vs. USDA on Food Health

In June of this year, I posted examples of the USDA's efforts through the years to construct a graphic portrayal of a health diet—and how their efforts have been mostly weak. Their latest version was the best effort yet, mainly because they borrowed heavily from the graphic put out by the Physician's Committee for Responsible Medicine—a plant-based organization.

Now Harvard has one-upped the USDA. They have put their own spin on the USDA's graphic and made it much better. Though not totally plant-based, if you read the descriptions carefully you'll see that they're playing up the good stuff and playing down the bad rather than catering to the meat and dairy industry like the USDA is required to do.

Here's the USDA graphic:

And here's how the Harvard School of Public Health tweaked it:

This is even better in some ways than the PCRM graphic, since Harvard has made the veggie quadrant much larger than the fruit quadrant (less sugar is better). And note the addition of the word "Healthy" to the protein quadrant, and the replacement of "dairy" with "water." The Harvard plate would be even better if processed oils were excluded (upper left).

It's amazing how widespread the focus on healthy eating has become, which is a good thing.

Tempting the Reaper—Beautifully

New Food Documentary

Ingredients is a new (2011) documentary on America's changing (slowly, for the better) food culture: