Today is another Chinese buffet visit with Alan and Denise, something I should be avoiding since I am trying to both get in better shape as well as lose a half-dozen pounds. But how can I avoid the lure of good, Chinese food?

Chinese buffets have become very popular in recent years, not surprisingly since they offer such a wide variety of good food, plus there is less overhead than menu restaurants for several reasons. I wonder why some Italian pizzerias have not converted into buffets as well. Just think of an endless aisle filled with pastas, pizzas, seafood and chicken dishes, half of it smothered in life’s finest delicacy: tomato sauce! I get hungry just dreaming about it.

The town in which I live is split down the middle by Route 46, whose length contains a dozen Italian and Chinese restaurants in a six mile stretch. How do so many competing restaurants possibly stay in business? Here’s one possible reason: the past two weeks have been perhaps the most volatile financially in this country since the Great Depression, while unemployment and prices continue rising out of sight, yet as Jean and I were driving home yesterday we saw the parking lots of several restaurants absolutely packed full. I guess economic hardship does not prevent people from eating out, so while retail businesses might be suffering, apparently restaurants are not.

Currently listening: The History of the Dave Clark 5, one of the underrated British invasion bands. At one time they were consider competition to the Beatles until it became obvious that nobody could compare to the Fab Four, but the Dave Clark 5 deserve to be remembered a lot more than they are.

Currently reading: DC Comics has published a series of 500+ page trade paperbacks under the collective title Showcase Presents, featuring titles from the 1960 and 1970s, the comic industry’s Silver Age. I always felt Hawkman was an underappreciated comic,largely because of Joe Kubert’s fabulous art, and I am pleased to be reading many of those stories which I never read in their original comic format.