CLARK: Not ready for prime time?

Live from New York, it's Jeremy Renner.

Well, it will be, anyway, a week from Saturday. Modesto native and Oscar-nominated actor Renner will host "Saturday Night Live" on Nov. 17.

Uh, how cool is that?

Extremely cool, that's how.

Renner continues to do his native city proud. "SNL" is a massive platform. It's national, it's (still pretty much) hip and it's going to be all him at the helm on live TV.

Given Renner's penchant for playing intense characters, it might give some pause to consider him doing live comedy. But not if you've been paying attention. He's got a quick sense of humor, and anyone who's watched him on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" or sitting across from Jay Leno has seen it.

As has anyone who saw him in Motown when he stopped by in 2010 to kick off the Gallo Center's Hometown Heroes series.

Renner isn't some brooding actor. He's actually pretty darn well-rounded as an entertainer, especially if you factor in his talent and affinity for music.

Wonder if we'll see any of that on the "SNL" stage.

An Associated Press story on Page E-8 ponders whom the future director of the "Star Wars" franchise will be. It's a good story and has a list of interesting names. It makes excellent points for each.

But there's a surprising omission. In fact, I figured this guy was the single most obvious choice out there: Steven Spielberg.

I mean, really, isn't he the most obvious choice?

Let's just agree that Spielberg is among the best-ever American directors. He knows his way around a sci-fi film. He knows how to tell a compelling story. He also just happens to be best buddies with "Star Wars" creator and Modesto (natch) native George Lucas.

Who better to guide the force through the next set of story lines than a close, respected friend of Lucas?

A quick wander through the Internet supports that contention. Several Web reports suggest that Spielberg's the top choice, too. Some also point out that Spielberg wanted the job when Lucas went a-hunting for directors for 1983's "Return of the Jedi." Apparently, he also helped Lucas film some of the action scenes in the last film, 2005's "Revenge of the Sith."

It all suggests he might be at least interested in the job.

So, yes, Spielberg should top any list pondering the next "Star Wars" director. He probably won't be the next director, but he still should top the list.

Honestly, any one of several directors could be great in the post. But until the script is mapped out, it's hard to say who actually would be best. It depends on the tenor of the story line. After all, "Return of the Jedi" ended the story with happy rebels and dancing Ewoks. But "Revenge of the Sith" saw the tortured rise of Darth Vader. Two very different tenors.

It's like the difference between directors Joss Whedon and Guillermo del Toro — both on that AP list of dream directors for the next film. You would get two vastly different films from those guys.

It doesn't matter anyway. The Geico gecko could direct the next film and fans still will flock to see it. Of course, no matter who is selected, a chunk of those same fans will take to the Internet to bemoan the decision, crying on their keyboards over the injustice served to this or that director who wasn't picked. It's just Internet fanboy nature.

So, here's something completely different. Which is to say, this isn't about entertainment — but it is about another section in the paper. Specifically, the Taste section.

I re-created my mom's recipe for zucchini parmesan and it ran among a series of other recipes in Taste on Wednesday.

I got a call that morning from her letting me know — she was very sweet and gentle about it, by the way — that I'd gotten part of it wrong.

Yikes.

Except the way it ran in the paper is the way I've been making her zucchini parmesan. So it was right, but still wrong.

See?

Specifically, I dredge the zucchini in flour, then egg, then flour again.

But my mom does the opposite: egg, then flour, then egg again.

Ah ... That's why I've never been able to actually re-create the dish the way she makes it.

Still, it works either way, so which is really correct?

Hmmmmm.

Well, my mother's Italian, through and through; I'm only half. My mother's been cooking for more than 70 years.

Me? Uh, two.

But, most importantly, my mom's dish just tastes better. So let's just call my mom right and me wrong.

And I guess that makes this a mama mia mea culpa.

Reach Scene editor Pat Clark at pclark@modbee.com.