you think i'm kidding, but i'm not -- my account of tonight's iron chef, which will be broadcast in 90 minutes, was entirely accurate. they've really gone downhill, from the voice they now have for chairman kaga, which sounds like bela lugosi, to the theme ingredients. gone are the days of large, live octopi, or (my personal favorite) the carp battle in which -- still not making it up -- one of the guys covered the scales in sugar and deep fried them to make carp scale cookies. now they're down to milk; a couple of weeks ago it was carrots (including both carrot ice cream and carrot pudding). maybe they're just softening us up for the american version, which has william shatner as chairman kaga. i'm not making that up, either. it's enough to make one throw himself to the moose and die a terrible death. one last bite of cheese and
adieu.
dep