Bánh mì

I had the Best Freeking Sandwich on Sunday.

The BFS came from a little shop in Wallingford called Boulangerie. Read about it here or here or here. The sweet smiling man who owns it is ALWAYS behind the counter. His croissants and fruit tarts are, in my opinion, simply the best in Seattle. He is Vietnamese - I mention his nationality because the other day I went in to his shop to get one of the above-referenced fruit tarts and saw a small hand written sign announcing something called "Everyday BBQ Sandwich. Fresh! Hot! Tasty!" I ordered one not really knowing what I was ordering, but then when it arrived and it was the most beautiful Bánh mì I had ever seen I was struck with a big "duh" -- of course! The French baguette, the roasted pork, the Vietnamese hot sauce and cilantro and daikon radish. I should have known! Holy crap -- for $5.99 I was blown away. I unwrapped it on my way home and I couldn't even drive. I was so busy scarfing it down, I literally pulled over to finish.

Schadenfreude

I just saw a preview for "To Catch a Predator" the sensational crap show on NBC where men caught on camera trying to meet under-aged women for sex. This show is horrifically tragic - like watching a car wreck, but where we're supposed to cheer because a bad-guy gets caught. Never mind that these guys (even though they are caught in the act) should be assumed innocent until proven guilty. I picture the crew of these shows gathering around the make-shift bars where they guys usually sit and cry when they get caught with fiery torches in hand a la Frankenstein.

I've never seen the show, but they show segments on the Today Show every once in a while and I've seen enough to know I don't want to see more.

As if it could get any worse....I just saw an ad for this show where they hint that the guy they catch takes his own life -- or attempts to -- when confronted by the host. They have gone ahead and made a show out of it. Fucking disgusting. This is an atrocity. I don't care if he was going to meet a 14 year old girl for sex -- that he brought beer -- yes, there should be police catching these guys, but who is watching this crap? He doesn't deserve to be humiliated on camera, pushed to the brink (or over the edge) of suicide. This man has a family. This man is a human.

There are all sorts of complaints about this show. Entrapment (sometimes the "victims" bring up sex first), a public punishment without a trial that the media has no right to inflict on a person, and now a suicide used for ratings. I know I sound like Andy Rooney, but this has gone too far.