Miscellenia

So is this chicken perfect, or what?

I was inspired by Jeffrey Steingarten’s rapturous description of rotisserie chicken in his book The Man Who Ate Everything, and so I got one for my new grille.

The chicken tasted as good as it looks, though the cleanup was a little messy.

Apropos roasting, it’s what I’ve been doing for the last few weeks. As of Tuesday, we’ve had 12 days where the temperature hit 100 degrees or more. Then we had a new front move through that cooled things down for a couple days, but now the temp’s climbing again. By the weekend, much of New Mexico should resemble the skin of that chicken, only crispier.

And speaking of overheated, check out Interior Desecrations, featuring home and office interiors from the 1970s. Chill to the lavish use of Harvest Gold and Avacado Green! Quail at the ankle-deep shag carpets! Cringe at the— at the— what the hell is that, anyway?

From the same folks who gave you the Gallery of Regrettable Food, featuring grilled potatoes in cream, melon balls floating in Squirt, and Many Things to Do with Velveeta.

Oh, and on Karen’s recommendation I checked out Hum Aapke Hain Koun, hours of endless Bollywood froth with a punch in the eye in the last 20 minutes. Elder Brother is in an arranged marriage with Low Forehead Girl, but it’s okay, since they love each other. In the meantime, teen idol Younger Brother meets spunky Younger Sister, and they fall in love instantly. Naturally, this being a Bollywood film, nothing actually happens for about three hours, except that Younger Brother and Younger Sister get a lot of screen time in which they sing, dance, flirt, and dress in increasingly outrageous outfits. Huh!, I thought. A movie totally without conflict! Never seen that before!

Despite these two committing musical comedy with one another for hours, no one else in either family notices that they’re in love. Which becomes important in Act VIII, when Low Forehead Girl trips on her sari, falls on the stairs, and actually dies!

Holy fcking Krishna! They killed off the second female lead in a musical comedy!

Which means that hey, Elder Brother has to remarry, because he’s a busy executive, and he and his father, cousins, in-laws, Younger Brother, and a houseful of servants can’t possibly raise the baby on their own. And who should he arrange a marriage with than Younger Sister, who is in love with Younger Brother but will sacrifice her happiness for the little baby’s sake!

What this family clearly needs is a seminar on communication.

Anyway, thanks to Krishna, things work out, and in the meantime everyone gets to wear more fabulous outfits. The end.