Whipped Cream Difficulties

The NYT has an interesting article about Thomas Keller (of French Laundry fame) and how he’s changed after the death of his father.

This has been linked elsewhere, but I wanted to throw this up mostly for Andrew: local coverage of the SF Bay Bridge closure.

I’ve also been meaning to note the unfortunate incident on I-40, mostly because I’ve been somewhat baffled by it; however, the linked article helps make a little more sense of it. It looks like the slide is in an area that’s not easily accessible to the heavy equipment needed to remove the rocks; it also looks like NCDOT is going to want to spend some time stabilizing the slope, and then you’ve got to make sure the road bed is in good shape…

Tim Page has been popping up a lot recently as I make my rounds; first (by way of Jimbo) on Fresh Air with Terry Gross, then in an online chat at the WP. For those who are unfamiliar with Mr. Page, he’s a former classical music critic at the WP (and winner of the Pulitzer for criticism in 1997) who briefly became notorious for going off on Marion Barry’s aides after they kept spamming him. (“Must we hear about it every time this crack addict attempts to rehabilitate himself with some new and typically half-witted political grandstanding? “)

Page has a new book out, Parallel Play, about discovering fairly late in life (age 45) that he had Asperger’s Syndrome. The Gross interview is particuarly interesting, as it concentrates on Page’s relationship with the music of minimalist composers such as Reich, Riley, and Glass. I’m wondering if there’s something specific about minimalist music that connects with Aspergerians and, perhaps, with the autistic as well. (As we know, Bob, much of the spoken text of “Einstein on the Beach” was written by the autistic Christopher Knowles.) I am curious to see if Oliver Sacks has any thoughts on the subject; I’m also interested in reading Page’s book.

(Before anyone asks: I have Look Me in the Eye on my stack to read, and will probably get to it eventually. I’ve been a little put off by the fact that Robison’s brother is Augusten Burroughs, of Running with Scissors fame.)