Things That Matter To People Who Matter

Good Eats | Charles Bronson | The World Without Us | West River Drive

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Published: Nov 13, 2007

Good Eats

I love learning not only how to make onion soup, but why onions caramelize in the first place. That's why I love the Food Network's Good Eats, whose reruns are constantly filling my TiVo. Host Alton Brown is part Mr. Wizard, part Swedish Chef — except, you know, articulate. What makes what would otherwise be lengthy diatribes on the science of food interesting is Brown's use of humor. Corny humor, sure, but that seems at home in a kitchen, perhaps owing to the vegetable reference in the name. This show appeals to the hungry geek inside you: the one who still wants to learn, not the one telling you to eat your boogers. He's gross.

Charles Bronson

Charles Bronson kicks ass. Bronson did some movies in Hollywood, but had to go to Europe to be a box office hero — and of all the Bronson moves that Clint Eastwood ever copied, this was the most important. In fact, Sergio Leone wanted him for A Fist Full Of Dollars, but Bronson turned him down. Then Leone thought, maybe for A Few Dollars More? Bronson said no. Bronson even turned down the lead in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. He finally came around and starred in Leone's 1968 epic masterpiece Once Upon a Time in the West, after which Leone called him "the greatest actor I have ever worked with." Damn right, Sergio.

The World Without Us

I heard Alan Weisman interviewed on NPR, and I was fascinated by his speculation on what New York City would look like 500 years from now, if humans were to disappear tomorrow: It would be a thick forest, with ruins of buildings among tall trees. In his book The World Without Us, he postulates just how long it would take for all human creations to vanish in a post-human world, and which animals and plants would most likely survive. But he doesn't stop there. He also writes about the world that existed in pre-human times (there used to be sloths the size of elephants!), and in doing so, the main theme of the book emerges: the impact that humans have had on the planet.

West River Drive

If you don't like the hair-pulling traffic and speedster road-ragers of I-76, then you know the need to chill on the scenic route. West River Drive is not only faster and less congested than 76, but brings you right to the Ben Franklin Parkway, where you can easily become a world flags buff! It offers wildlife such as the elusive fox and the Canadian blue-horned deer, and as you drive, you can glance toward the tranquil Schuylkill River. Once you go West River, you never go back.

 

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