Tag: TV

Buffalo Wings with Ranch? Why Not?

20 comments

Bigshots

Are we really so self-absorbed and insecure that we impose on others our local penchant to refer to a famous local delicacy as “wings” or “chicken wings”? Are we such faux snobs that we insist that people around the world refrain from calling deep-fried chicken appendages drenched in butter and Frank’s Hot Sauce as “Buffalo wings”? 

Do other cities do this? Not Chicago. Not New York. Not Boston.

I watched the CBS Sunday Morning Super Bowl piece about the Buffalo Wing – where it came from, what to call it, how to eat it – and thought it was nice that Buffalo was being recognized by big media in a positive way. We love this sort of thing, am I right? 

But holy crap, do we come off like a bunch of condescending prats. Don’t call them Buffalo wings, don’t eat them with ranch, don’t bake them. You’d think we were talking about a prissy French appellation or Italian D.O.P. As much of a pizza snob as I am, I recognize and acknowledge that pizza is a universally loved food that is prepared differently in different places and to varying tastes. And it’s ok – they can call it pizza. 

So, Buffalo, here is how we should talk about wings, if we’re really proud of our culinary creation. Call them Buffalo wings. We know they’re not made from flying Buffalos, but it acknowledges Buffalo’s role in their creation, and so long as the “Buffalo” is capitalized, run with it. It’s a way to remind people that it’s our thing, and that Buffalo exists.

Bake them? Make them however you like! Franks and butter? That’s how we eat them! Celery and carrots? Either? Neither? Who cares? Make them however you want! Do you despise bleu cheese dressing with the heat of a thousand suns? Here, try some ranch! We love wings this way, but we hope you love them whatever way you want! We’re happy you love them, too!

It’s a chicken extremity deep-fried in hot sauce. Let’s not pretend we’re talking about L’Escoffier here. 

Sherlock S3 Delay on WNED

6 comments

WTF

WNY and Torontonian fans of Sherlock, the BBC’s contemporary take on the famous detective starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, might want to give WNED a call. 

Sherlock’s third season is supposed to begin airing on January 19th on PBS stations in the US. However, WNED doesn’t even show the program on its website, and people on Twitter advise that it will be delayed until February 14th for viewers in western New York and Southern Ontario. 

WNED has been completely silent as to why the delay. If you’re eager to see the episodes now, download the Google Chrome browser and the Hola plugin.  Use Hola to VPN through a UK server, and you should be able to play BBC’s iPlayer. But hurry – they’ll be taken offline in 3 days. 

Tweet the station here, call to complain at (416) 363-3444 and (716) 845-7000. 

 

The Newsroom: Opening Scene

6 comments

A new Aaron Sorkin show called the “Newsroom” debuted on HBO Sunday night, and it stars Jeff Daniels as the brash, obnoxious news anchor who’s something of a conflicted diva genius.  The show overall was quite smart and well-written, but the opening scene, featuring Daniels’ character as part of a panel discussion at Northwestern University with generic liberal and generic conservative, was brilliant. 

At one point, a young girl asks the panel why they think America is the greatest country in the world. Daniels demurs, twice, before giving this answer: 

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YI7Oq8y-jXA&w=640&h=360]

Just in case you accidentally wander into a voting booth one day, there are some things you should know, and one of them is that there is absolutely no evidence to support the statement that we’re the greatest country in the world. We’re seventh in literacy, twenty-seventh in math, twenty-second in science, forty-ninth in life expectancy, 178th in infant mortality, third in median household income, number four in labor force, and number four in exports. We lead the world in only three categories: number of incarcerated citizens per capita, number of adults who believe angels are real, and defense spending, where we spend more than the next twenty-six countries combined, twenty-five of whom are allies. None of this is the fault of a 20-year-old college student, but you, nonetheless, are without a doubt, a member of the WORST-period-GENERATION-period-EVER-period, so when you ask what makes us the greatest country in the world, I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about?! Yosemite?!!!

We sure used to be. We stood up for what was right! We fought for moral reasons, we passed and struck down laws for moral reasons. We waged wars on poverty, not poor people. We sacrificed, we cared about our neighbors, we put our money where our mouths were, and we never beat our chest. We built great big things, made ungodly technological advances, explored the universe, cured diseases, and cultivated the world’s greatest artists and the world’s greatest economy. We reached for the stars, and we acted like men. We aspired to intelligence; we didn’t belittle it; it didn’t make us feel inferior. We didn’t identify ourselves by who we voted for in the last election, and we didn’t scare so easy. And we were able to be all these things and do all these things because we were informed. By great men, men who were revered. The first step in solving any problem is recognizing there is one—America is not the greatest country in the world anymore.