Indiana

Is still up in the air. MSNBC has stopped their political covering for the night. It's all about one delegate, after all. Whatever the result, it's going to be close. The handwriting on the wall is starting to glow.

No longer up in the air...

Clinton squeaked by in Indiana (51%-49%). Obama won big in North Carolina (56%-42%).

I was watch MSNBC Internet TV last night, mostly because the CNN video driver won't load, and I rather liked their coverage. Chris Mathews reminisced at one point on Clinton's big mistake -- and for once, I agree with him -- that had she not voted for the Iraq War (for whatever political decisions she made to do so), she'd be a shoe-in.

Wine

The Pour
Wine’s Pleasures: Are They All in Your Head?
By ERIC ASIMOV

THE mind of the wine consumer is a woolly place, packed with odd and arcane information fascinating to few. Like the pants pocket of a 7-year-old boy, it’s full of bits of string, bottle caps and shiny rocks collected while making the daily rounds of wine shops, restaurants, periodicals and the wine-soaked back alleys of the Internet. It’s harmless stuff, really, except to those within earshot when a wine lover finds it necessary to elaborate on the nose, legs and body of a new infatuation.

Yet in recent months American wine drinkers have taken their turn as pop culture’s punching bags. In press accounts of two studies on wine psychology, consumers have been portrayed as dupes and twits, subject to the manipulations of marketers, critics and charlatan producers who have cloaked wine in mystique and sham sophistication in hopes of better separating the public from its money. More

Asparagus

An Improvised Asparagus Dish Is a Happy Accident
By MELISSA CLARK

WHEN it came to cooking asparagus, I thought my skill set was complete.

If I craved a browned, caramelized flavor, I applied high heat using a grill, broiler, cranked-up oven or near-smoking sauté pan. Coated in olive oil, the grassy stalks became singed and soft on the outside and just tender within. A simple garnish of whatever was handy — sea salt, fried eggs, Parmesan cheese or chopped herbs — was all that was required before serving and devouring.

If I was in the mood for a purer, lighter flavor, I’d blanch or steam the stalks until bright green and al dente, preserving their fresh, sweet taste, making a healthful foil for a liberal drizzle of melted or browned butter or a dollop of creamy hollandaise.

With all these options, it never occurred to me that there was something succulent lacking from my asparagus repertory, until one recent evening. More

Krugman: Talleyrand and the gas tax holiday

I’m on record as saying that Hillary Clinton’s advocacy of a gas-tax holiday, while it wasn’t good policy, didn’t rise to the level of a crime.

Judging from last night’s results, however, it was worse than a crime: it was a mistake. Link

Who...

Turned 35W into a parking lot this morning? Why didn't I get the memo?