Secrets of the City

agreed . . . especially when Ms. Kasper is talking — she could make tator tot hotdish sound sensual.

I always hated that dancing about architecture line.

not that i know anything about phone sex.

or dancing or architecture, for that matter. heh

Now we’re talkin’.

More cupcakes, less gay marriage!

Although contradictory, it really is catchy, Rex.

Is it illegal to marry a cupcake?

My perfect world would consist of engless gay marriages where they serve endless cupcakes. Preferably from the Franklin Street Bakery.

No, but now you’ve got me nervous that it’s illegal to make sweet love to one.

Then I had better stop what I’m doing right now.

I’m sick of people telling me I can’t have a cupcake with my beer.

Can a cupcake marry another cupcake?

I once had two cupcakes on my counter that were knocking boots. One day I came home and caught them in the act. They were so surprised that the one cupcake accidentally got its frosting all over. It was gross.

And delicious.

Forget about cupcakes…I’m gettin’ me some warm apple pie.

I got the chance to meet Lynn in studio as a “benefit of sponsorship”, and I was taken with her passion for her work and especially her “stories behind the stories”. She also had some interesting insight into the recent growth of the ethnic dining scene in the Cities. She’s reminded me of an older & slightly more feminine version of Andrew Zimmern.

Can a cupcake with sprinkles marry a cupcake with frosting?

Can two frosted cupcakes marry only if they have the same frosting?

What if a cupcake wants to marry a muffin?

Where do donuts fit in with all this?

I used to be a regular LRK listener, but then one Saturday some switch in my head flipped, and I started mocking that relentlessly throaty and enthusiastic voice. I concede that I am, at heart, a hater; but it’s not just that- there is something really annoying about LRK’s The Splendid Table, I just can’t quite put my finger on it…

there is something really annoying about LRK’s The Splendid Table, I just can’t quite put my finger on it…

Is it that she reminds you of an older & slightly more feminine version of Andrew Zimmern?

I think your finger already typed it sarah: people that are overly enthusiastic and passionate are often easy and fun to mock.

I often get enthusiastic about Rachel Ray…

I am not the least bit turned on by LRK’s voice.

I often want to be “overly enthusiastic” with Rachel Ray.

Is that wrong?

there are old laws in most states, still on the books, making it illegal for longjohns to get anywhere near doughnuts.

and those confetti-sprinkles are just wack.

i think the phenom sarah describes is applicable to almost every NPR and MPR show/host. i went through a long phase of thinking that if i heard one more of gary eichten’s shaggy-dog metaphors and dottering gee-whizness, i was going to go out to the garage and drink paint thinner. now i’m back to kinda liking the old duffer.

on the other hand, i liked Cathy Wurzer for a long time–mostly for not changing her heinous uncelebrity last name. now i can’t stand it when she conducts her “let me read you the next question now” interviews. i’m sure i’ll fall back in love with her, tho.

Cathy Eskola just doesn’t have the ring to it that Cathy Wurzer does.

and let me just say for the record that LRK is a genuinely passionate and enthusiastic person–it’s not just a radio persona. anyone aroudn town who has had the good fortune to share a meal with her can attest to that!

(so i hear; i don’t eat food. i just listen to people talking about it. oh wait, getting food and sex mixed up again.)

Saturdays on MPR are all about comfort-radio. It’s cheesy, lame, unfunny, shmaltzy, and fun to listen to alone. This American Life is great for real.

Not to be a hatah, The Splendid Table sounds contrived to me. This becomes more evident in the call-in segment in which someone asks about an obscure pastry from Madagascar or an arcane salt from Egypt — and LRK will know exactly what the caller is talking about, when you know damn well that the calls are pre-screened and she did research to answer them.

In person LRK is ebullient and I like her. So I suspect it’s actually a radio producer putting together the show who I don’t like.

BTW, they play This American Life on Friday nights out here in Washington. It makes the show completely different, I swear.

Yeah, things sound a bit different when you’re drunk.

I love it that Gary Eichten is so totally no-bullshit. I still crack up thinking about his interview with Jane Fonda last year when her memoir came out.

Jane: So, Gary, did you read my book?
Gary: Uh, yes, I did.
Jane: Did you think it was well written?
Gary: Well, some parts were okay. The rest of it was just regular.

Actually, Lynn and producer Sally Swift readily admit to pre-recording and screening calls. They got the idea from Car Talk. They claim it’s because it makes better radio when their callers aren’t droning on about nothing. I’m sure if prodded they would also admit that it helps them come.

What’s with the male fascination over Rachel Ray. Giada DeLaurentiis puts her to shame….actually, I’d prefer an evening with Paula Deen over listening to Rachel squeal over everything she tastes.

Speaking of quality food shows, shouldn’t Jamie Oliver be the biggest TV star in the world, and not just in England? His casual hipster vibe and accessible food make for great TV. At the risk of sounding like Tony Bourdain, haven’t we suffered enough Emeril already?

Right, I know — I’m not questioning the practice; rather, I’m questioning the outcome. Car Talk, for instance, sounds fluid — the screening feels invisible. On The Splendid Table, however, it feels like a way to sound smarter about a topic than you really are. That’s bad production to me (though perhaps I’m the only one who ever thinks this, in which case it’s perfect production).

Giada DeLaurentiis. Yum.

I’m so angry that the Car Talk guys have been lying to me for all these years. Prerecorded question!

Click and Clack? More like Dick and … um … Jerkface!

I agree with hipmn…I’d sooner sit through Lou Reed’s “Metal Machine Music” on 8-track than suffer 2 hours of Car Talk.

Radio is edited all the time guys. All the ums, and uhs and blank air between words are taken out routinely. Leaves more time for commercials.

You’re not helping my blood pressure.

Thank God Car Talk’s only one hour. I know just enough about cars to be semi-dangerous. I love trying to figure out the answer before they do. And, MIT engineers are sexy, don’t you think?

Is Prairie Home Companion edited in post-production?

APHC is live live live. 5pm on Saturdays. Go to the Fitzgerald or tune it in on the radio.

Old school. I’m getting psyched for the movie. Riemenschneider actually raved about it from down at SXSW.

Ditto on all the folks upthread who are weirded out by LRK’s voice. It makes me want to go out, find fat people who are enjoying a good meal, and beat them mercilessly.

Giada’s a smokin’ hot babe. The lowcut tops and demi cup bras are real helpers, no doubt. I actually love to hate to love all the Food Network babes.

I don’t know if she’s still on TV, but Nigella Lawson, who had a food show on E! called Nigella Bites was voted the sexiest woman in Britain one year.

They loved the way she rendered fat. Drove the guys crazy.

Nigella, Giada: they put Zimmern to shame. We need a foxy, hot, female chef in the Twin Cities!

Oh, man, Nigella is super cool and sexy (and she can cook, too!). What’s not to like? Giada is not bad either and since I’m Italian-American, I would prefer her food, but still, Nigella is the bomb, baby.

Come on people — Giada worries me. How can anyone trust Italian recipes from someone who looks as if she has never eaten a massive bowl of pasta in her life?

Now, Chen Kenichi — there’s a chef I trust. Nigella Lawson too.

DeRusha: Maybe you should hold off on that request until you’ve seen Zimmern in a pair of lace-up, patent leather, platform heels. It’s surprising what they can do to a man’s appearance.

Nigella Lawson (her father was Nigel Lawson, former Chancellor of the Exchecquer) was analyzed in depth for her sex appeal in the NYT. Bascially, British laddies were looking for a more sensual version of their mother.

On Giada’s behalf, I just want to say that I have lived in Rome and saw very few fat Italians. They don’t eat at Buca you see. Portions are small. They eat fruit and salad with their pasta, and they walk every night after dinner instead of sitting around watching TV like an American. When I lived in Rome for a summer, I ate like a Roman, walked like a Roman and lost 15 pounds, which would be about 7 kilos to a Roman.

I think Alexis needs her own cooking show…Haven’t thought of a title, but the slogan could be, “Two bottles of wine in the recipe, one bottle of wine in the chef”

mmm wine and giada. dunno what else I would need.

Grote, you’re right about Giada, but I only need a 30 Minutes.

I find the All Things Considered show on MPR to be very boring..
I can live with Tom Crann most days.. This Greta Cunningham person who fills in is awfull.. I have to turn the show off when she is on..
I miss the days when a person could listen to the show without all the local breaks.. Thank goddness they don’t add there own local stuff to Fresh-Air.