Spitball Army

Three things that are, and hopefully will be, making my world a better place:

• Top Chef Masters (TV addiction)
  While I am not a fan of “reality TV” in general, I love Top Chef, the food and cooking competition on the Bravo network.  I can proudly say that I introduced three friends to the show during its fifth season, which wrapped up earlier this year, and by my observation they are each now as big a fan of the show as I.  While we’re waiting for Season 6 to start, Bravo is offering us Top Chef Masters, beginning tonight.  The show places 24 big-name chefs (including Hubert Keller, Wylie Dufresne, Roy Yamaguchi and Rick Bayless) in competition against one another.  I expect the melodrama to be dialed down a notch and the epicurean artistry to be dialed up high!  Details here.

• Researching my house (super-sleuthing)
  Last week I trekked to the Birmingham City Archives to research the history of my 1920s bungalow.  What compelled me to do this is that the Jefferson County Historical Commission offers a program that allows historic designation for houses over 50 years old.  The only catch is that the homeowner must do all of the research and pay a nominal ($125) fee for the creation of a plaque that can be displayed on the building.  During my afternoon in the library, I discovered that I am the eighth owner of this home, having the third-longest tenure of residence (so far).  I also found out that the 5100 block that I live on used to be the 5200 block and that, sometime pre-1925, the street was known as Willow Avenue (there is not a willow tree anywhere nearby that I have seen, excepting the one I planted in the alley behind my house about five years ago).  Once the fruits of my research are submitted, if they stand up favorably to the scrutiny of the Commission, my home will be given an official name.  My guess is that the title will reflect the first two owners’ names, and I can then claim ownership of and residence in the Sutton-Wade house.  Stay tuned for more on that!

• American Masters: The American Novel (more TV)
  This coming Sunday, the PBS television series American Masters debuts its newest installment, The American Novel.  Subtitled “Novel Reflections on the American Dream,” the program will explore “the characters, plots and themes of seven novels that deal with wealth, poverty, and the nature of success and failure in America.”  The featured novels include The Great Gatsby, The Grapes of Wrath and Edith Wharton’s The House of Mirth.  Watch the very brief and cryptic trailer here.