Saturday, May 31, 2008
The Food Journey: Sakura in Park Slope
Welcome to Sakura, on 388 Fifth Avenue, near Sixth St, in lovely Park Slope, the jewel of Brooklyn (it's the neighborhood that's the jewel, though the restaurant was a delight..)
Warm squares of sumptuous tofu...
A trio of savory seaweeds...
Like snow to the Eskimos and chili peppers to the Mexicans, the Japanese must have several dozen words for pickle...
I love this sake decanter with thin primary color stripes...
Now this was VERY special. It's a spring roll of cooked pork, papaya, flavored veggies and sauce, wrapped in a paper-thin casing, to be dipped in the swwet orange-red sauce to the left, and the soy sea of sesame right below it...
I believe this desert, with textures of fruit and Jello, had an almond flavor. I liked it, and I'm no friend of Jello...
Our nearly all vegetarian bacchanalia included this unusual roll of pickled goodies with a touch of horseradish. Pesach roll? : - )
Cartoon du Jour:
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Friday, May 30, 2008
As promised Wednesday, the conclusion to the 'Mothers In Law' 'locked up in Los Angeles'
Nice Day For A... White Wedding...
Scenes from Jon and Oriyan's wedding.. the chupah, canopy of traditional Jewish weddings, literally glowed in the later afternoon sun...
It's the groom, my friend Jonathan, left, with our friend and former co-worker Pedro, whose eyes are actually blue, not red...
Here's the bride, Oriyan, with Jon and his niece, sitting on a loveseat as their friends and family folk-dance around them..
The wedding venue was the lovely Carlyle in Farmingdale, which is actually part of Bethpage State Park. It's owned by the same people as the Carltun in Eisenhower Park, where my sister and her husband married in 1988.
And here I am....
Cartoon du Jour:
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Thursday, May 29, 2008
This is lovely. Thank you, Spoon
The Taco Truck, The Colombia Bus
It only comes out in the evening, and it vanishes with the morning light. It's the Taco Truck, God bless it, parked on W 14th St just east of 8th Avenue, providing excellent, natural, spicy and nutritious snacks for the young, the restless, the club-addled, and the work-stressed...
As you can see these taste treats are yours for just $2 each - two of them is an ample meal on the run. Very much like their Mexico City counterparts, these tacos are served in soft tortillas. The available fillings that define each taco range from chicken to sausage to tongue, lamb, and skirt steak. What are you waiting for, New York? It's the Taco Truck!
I'm no stranger to the Taco Trunk, but the Colombia Bus remains a mystery to me...
I spotted it in Park Slope on Friday, and was intrigued by its neon-decoration and festive goings-on. But where it comes from, I do not know. I did not ask...
My only clue: Toury Chivas of Colombia Inc, 718-267-7764. I'll perhaps investigate this over the weekend when I have more energy.. Unless my loyal readership resolves to clarify the conundrum before then...
Feel its festive Colombian colors, the red, yellow, and blue of its flag....
And away it goes...... a float in search of a parade?
Cartoon du Jour:
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Wednesday, May 28, 2008
This is classic and hilarious.... Conclusion on Friday...
Flower Power
I've made no secret of my fondness for flowers. Lately I've been treating myself to fresh flowers weekly...
I'm not even sure what these are called, I just love looking at them and enjoying their pleasant aroma.... Again, I used the interesting technique of photographing them in pitch blackness using a flash, for effect....
My holiday weekend was mostly great - splendid weather, nice balance of activities/company and rest/solitude. The wedding Sunday evening was intense - I felt vicarious joy in the couple's happiness and their adoring families, fascination identification with Hebrew language and lore....
The food at the reception was lovely and tasteful, but I think that a rich chocolate-raspberry concotion disagreed with me, and this disagreement carried over well into the following day... So Monday I was 'illin - I thought I'd be sick yesterday, too, but woke up in fine form...
Cartoon du Jour:
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Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Northern Exposure Part 2: In The Other Heights
In late April I spent a blustery spring day with Fernando wandering around North of 125ths St 'In The Heights..' Not the Washington Heights, subject of a current Broadway musical, since W.H. extends from 155th St all the way up to Inwood and the Bronx. But rather Hamilton Heights, which runs from 135th to 155th. Hamilton Heights includes the elegant Sugar Hill rectangle in its northern section, which during the Harlem Renaissance was home to Duke Ellington and Thurgood Marshall...
'Sugar Hill,' for many fortysomethings, evokes their first exposure to a rap song back in 1979, the Sugar Hill Gang's Rappers' Delight...
Before we get to my Hamilton Heights photos, here's some highlights from the aforementioned musical about those other heights...
Inlaid statue at City College.. He/she seems to be carrying dynamite and a spice container.. What could it all mean?
City College is the intersection of Ivy League splendor and the workaday grey grid of Manhattan... I love the arched, gated entrance way... across a street....
< In a neighborhood of elegant brownstones and timeless brick, these boarded-up dwellings are a rarity...
Mishkin's pharmacy is 108 years old, a time capsule on a corner....
Cartoon du Jour:
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Monday, May 26, 2008
Simcha
Jon & Oriyan were married yesterday before hundreds of loving eyes in a shining sea of good karma. The ceremony & reception were both joyously traditional and uniquely personal. Here the happy couple's first dance to the silky strains of 'I Second That Emotion...'
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Quit Your Day Job!
What a glorious valentine to 60s pop - imagine Dusty Springfield in Motown produced by Phil Spector. I'm in love with the surprise treat that is 'Volume One,' the luminous, shimmering debut from She & Him, who provide today's SOTW, 'Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?. David gave me this album a month ago and it's slowly won me over, song by song.
This masterpiece serves some of its gems in a wall of sound, and others with near-acoustic intimacy, a cheerful musical phone call that you know is long distance but sounds like it's in the same room as you....
Anybody who sings, performs, and writes music this well probably shouldn't waste much time acting, in my humble opinion. She & Him are actress Zooey Deschanel and M. (Matt) Ward, her pal from their native Portland OR - Zooey sings and plays piano and banjo while Matt provides guitar and production.
Two album tracks are lovely unplugged honky-tonk remakes of 60s classics, the Beatles' 'I Should Have Known Better' and Smokey Robinson's 'You Really Got A Hold On Me.'
Of course, I haven't seen any major screen work of Zooey Deschanel, the 'She' in 'She & Him,' and don't remember her celebrated bit parts in either 'Mumford' or 'Almost Famous.' But below, after the video clips, are some excerpts of her screen work...
No video clips from this group yet... but here's a fan clip of irresistible single 'Sweet Darlin'... this song feels like 4-year-old Aaron riding in the back of his parents' car... It was co-written by fellow actor/musician Jason Schwartzman
But here are She & Him performing 'Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?' live backed by the legendary Yo La Tengo..
Here's Zooey acting in 'Winter Passing.' She's not bad...
Here's Zooey in 'Live Free Or Die:'
Cartoon du Jour:
Engrish du Jour: Menu - Incomprehensible
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Sunday, May 25, 2008
Spring cleaning, the gym, some audiobook-reading, and now off to Jon's wedding...
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Happy Birthday, Pat!
It's always a pleasure to birthday-salute a great friend - I just wish I were a better portrait photographer. I've known Pat Stumpp since the first day of my 26-year career, which means that of all my friends only my family's known me longer...
I've always admired Pat greatly for many reasons - she's been a role model for me of sorts, for both her consummate professionalism and her intense loyalty to her family, through thick and thin. We both grew up in Nassau County, grandchildren of immigrants, in the great post-war suburban splendor... So many memories...
Fiery Volcano Lava
Add a little glamour, and that's how I would describe the Long Blondes' vocalist, Kate Jackson, whose vocal timber and cutting intensity recall a young Chrissie Hynde... But before we get to last week's Long Blondes concert, here's a REAL volcano eruption from Southern Chile - the Llaima (Yahy-ma) erupted on back on New Year's Day.. Here it is in glorious living color, from LiveLeak.com...
Yes, Long Blondes modernize the Pretenders' taut and lean tough-girl new wave, but they're gloriously inventive in doing so.. Here's the lovely rock lament of 'Weekend Without Makeup'
This decent-sized clip of 'You Could Have Both' cuts right through, with energy, grit, and bared truth to spare...
My photos are farm from perfect, but they do prove that I was there : - )
Cartoon du Jour:
Engrish du Jour: We Have To Get At The Root Causes of Horniness...
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Saturday, May 24, 2008
My arms aching from three intense hours of kayaking on Hackensack River with Sundance mid-day, I'm off to see a summer blockbuster, 'Iron Man,' across the street...
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The Food Journey: My Fantastic Four
One food journey I've made frequently of late leads to the juicy goodness of fresh vegetable and fruit drinks from Pita City on 180 Seventh Avenue, between 20th and 21st streets..
They offer four awesome set recipes, but will also mix and match as you desire. I frequently order all four juices, to be home delivered and savored over a few days. Here are the four combinations...
From left to right:
1. Carrot - Beet - Celery - Ginger
2. Apple - Pineapple - Orange - Ginger
3. Cucumber - Lemon - Celery - Ginger
4. Orange - Carrot - Beet - Ginger.
I really dig ginger. It's good for you, you know..
Cartoon du Jour:
Engrish du Jour: Get Up Off Your Excellency Seat...
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Friday, May 23, 2008
Palisades Then and Now
Last Saturday's hike to Palisades/Great Stairs (see Tuesday post) was quite a workout. More pictures today, and a video clip shot during our picnic lunch on the giant boulders on that sun-drenched day. But, first, my first memory of the name 'Palisades,', from an late-1960s TV commercial for the late, great amusement park.. 'Come... on... over...'
My video masterpiece on the Giant Stairs...
More highlights...
Here's one of many waterfalls we encountered..
Aaron experiments with cool photographic effects..
Funky shore plants...
It was a complex climb, with loose, slippery rocks and branches of varying reliability. I have the scrapes, scratches, and bruises to show for it
Boulders, up close and personal...
Cartoon du Jour:
Engrish du Jour: Worst Brand Name Of The Year
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Thursday, May 22, 2008
Keyless and Clueless
Last week I worked very long hours but refused to go to bed on time, preferring to watch Babylon 5 in German or news videos in seven other languages (ok, not feeling modest today, but read on...) I was running very late Thursday morning, it was almost 9am and I was still trying to get out the door.. I couldn't find my keys! I spent a few minutes looking, than, in disgust, I grabbed my spare copy, when outside, turned to lock the door, and saw....
Yes! Arrrrgggh! I'd left the keys in the door all frakking night! It's a good thing I live in a doorman building. Well, I couldn't resist the photo op. It's probably not great to advertise one's cluelessness, but, hey, I'm not running for public office... Much later that day, at 7pm, I finally got home and... oh, no! no, no, no!!!!
I'd AGAIN left the keys in the door!! Like that joke about the man who comes home to find his wife with bandages on both ears. She explains, embarrassed, that the phone rang and she picked up the iron.. But then the man says.. 'wait, wait, wait... why do you have bandages on BOTH ears?... sheepishly... 'well, I had to call the doctor, didn't I?'
Cartoon du Jour:
Engrish du Jour: What's Chinese for 'Not In My Backyard'
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Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Happy Birthday, Eduardo!
A big birthday salute to my friend Eduardo from São Paulo, who I met over 12 years ago in Paris when I was chosen as semi-finalist representing New York in a French Film trivia/essay contest. Eduardo was São Paulo's candidate... It's a small, small world, as years later I became friends with a paulistano named Emerson, who I met through Thomas, and learned that his then-boyfriend Milton is Eduardo's best friend. Here's Eduardo last November at Milton's apartment - Milton, who's an awesome chef, threw a dinner party/floor picnic to welcome me there. Unlike yours truly, Eduardo really is a film-maker.... He makes serious films of course, but his campy comedy clips are wicked fun...
This short film by Eduardo's is all about visuals and therefore translates very well. This campy, gay-friendly romp is called 'The Chick On The Bus' - 'A Mona da Lotação'... Eduardo's actors are mostly friends and amateurs - if you look closely you'll even see Milton here...
Here's another, even juicier Eduardo short - 'The Chick In The Bathroom' or 'A Mona do Banheirão...'
Finally, a comedic look behind closed doors in rural Brazil, in Eduardo's 'Francisco's Other Daughter' - A Outra Filha do Francisco'
All the news that fits, we print....The new New York Times building, up close, taken as I entered the Port Authority on route to Saturday's Giant Stairs hike (see yesterday's post)... 
Cartoon du Jour:
Engrish du Jour: Watch That Drunken Walking
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Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Sun On The Rocks
On Saturday, I co-led a 7-mile hike up the Hudson's right bank with Sundance, the LGBT outdoors club I frequent. Drenched in sunshine, I got many great pictures - I'll have more for you, plus a video clip, later in the week.....
We journeyed northwards, along the Palisades cliffs, first on a flat path and then over the formidable Giant Stairs..
Here I am with my friend Steve. By 1pm, I'd slipped and fallen several times, but wore a smile in the abundant sun notwithstanding my scrapes, scratches, and bruises...
The Palisades Cliffs run for several miles just south of the NJ-NY border along the river....
Here we begin our ascent up the tricky, jagged, sometimes slippery Giant Stairs. This is one hike that gets canceled by even a hint of rain. (Or called off in mid-hike, as happened to me there last year) Happily, the weather was pitch-perfect....
Those lovely purple flowers on the branch are Columbine, I believe.
The lovely green path, fresh air... very restorative after a few nights of not enough sleep.. You could hear the Hudson lapping against the shore....
Glimpses of the mighty river through the trees....
Cartoon du Jour:
Engrish du Jour: Really, I Can Handle This Myself....
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Monday, May 19, 2008
Everyone Knows That A Dog Dressed In Clothes
...is still a dog... sometimes one single lyric cystallizes and defines 'cool' for me, and I'm having such a moment with this lyrical snippet, from today's Song/Video of the Week, Shortwave Set's 'No Social...'I had this song in my head for weeks, and even put this lyric in my Bloomberg header at work, which people see when they send me a message on that network.. but everyone asked me what company I was referring to, so I removed it... : - )
Back to Shortwave Set, a London-based alternative pop trio. Andrew Pettit and David Farrell are Brits, Ulrika Bjorsne is from Sweden - Andrew and Ulrika sing and play guitar while David provides samples and decks. Their influences leave no decade behind: combine 60s pop melodicism, 70s earthiness and grooves, 80s new wave attitude, 90s lyrical smarts, and contemporary production.
For three years the Set gathered such critical acclaim and a cult following and attracted the attention of production genius Danger Mouse, also known as 1/2 of Gnarls Barkley.
The resulting album, 'Replica Sun Machine,' is an undiluted joy... Ten delightful songs, in just 39:14, that will no doubt feature prominently on my own personal soundtrack of Summer 2008
Here's the groovy clip for 'No Social:'
Here's a collage of Shortwave Set live footage set to 'Casual Use,' from their first album, 'Debt Collection'...
Cartoon du Jour:
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Sunday, May 18, 2008
You Never Miss The Water
Roger and Dave, RIP - I saw this boarded up Wednesday, and even though I've walked by it hundreds, maybe thousands of times, I couldn't remember what kind of store it was...
I learned that the twosome had been selling kitchy adult toys and gay novelty products and their two Chelsea stores in a business they entered 27 years ago.
They weren't priced out. They simply... retired.. Sorry I never walked in. I even missed the close-out sale...
The well has run dry (snif)...
Night falls on NYC, Monday night, to be specific. I shot this Hudson River twilight from the terrace of David's building, at least 20 stories up..
Cartoon du Jour:
Engrish du Jour: I feel that way sometimes, too...
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Saturday, May 17, 2008
What an intense week - at work, long hours, tight deadlines, fire drills - haven't slept 8 hours in a while.. I did something particularly clueless on Thursday, details later. Last night, went to the awesome Long Blondes concert at Bowery Ballroom with David and it went well past midnight. Today, up early to go hike the Giant Stairs on the Jersey side of the Hudson.. pictures of all this forthcoming..
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The Food Journey: Cuba Cafe
Emerson was in town from Singapore, jet-lagged and missing the food of his native Brazil. Since he considers Cuban food similar and there's a lively Cuban venue near here, it became a good choice for a 6:30pm dinner. It's at 200 8th Ave between 20th and 21st, highly recommended but gets crowded..
< The decor was lively, the music was Latin and loud - here's Emerson..
We knew we'd made the right decision when they served us complimentary cheese bread - similar to the Brazilians' beloved pao de queijo..
Emerson had 'ropa vieja', literally 'old clothes' - this is shredded beef braised with tomatoes, onions, peppers, and red wine, served with white rice and 'maduros,' soft sautéed bananas.
I went with the salmon, served here as a filet bronzed with honey, rum, mango and cracked pepper, served with sautéed spinach and maduros.
The artwork is lovely and full of life....
David's been attending many concerts of late - last week he saw the Ruby Suns warm up for the Foals last week. He said the Foals were more impressive live, but the Ruby Suns are AWESOME on record.. Here's a video, followed by David's picture..
Cartoon du Jour:
Engrish du Jour: Then what's the point?
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Friday, May 16, 2008
Happy Birthday, Christi!
A big warm happy birthday salute to Christi, one of my absolute all-time best pals! Christi has this 'Mary Tyler Moore' effect of brightening up everywhere she goes... Here she is, just luminous, at my kitchen party on Sunday... and congrats to Christi on her interesting new job at MBIA, up in Armonk. Here she is in March, watching me eat a gay ice cream sandwich...
Christi in the sky with lilacs....
and finally, a perky little instrumental song from Norway I'm always going to associate with Christi.. Here's the pretty video clip:
Flowers In The Black
I achieved a very cool photographic effect by turning the lights off and flash-photographing pink and white roses in my room against a very dark background..
I've given extra special care to both sets of roses I was given at my Sunday kitchen party by David and Bart, respectively. I've made sure they had sufficient light, water, and flower food. But for some reason, the pink roses are more robust, whereas the white roses are like the proverbial ghosts that appear and fade away...
Cartoon du Jour:
Engrish du Jour: Hold the sauce, please...
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Thursday, May 15, 2008
Friends With Lilacs
More moments from my party Sunday. But first...a short video clip, with my friends Emerson, Karen, and David, all well-presented, natural, and charming..
I feel fortunate, not only to have such lovely friends, but to have friends with lilacs...
David with lilacs
Emerson with lilacs
Bevan with lilacs
Jason hiding behind lilacs, with his friend Baz...
Karen with a colorful, multi-flower bouquet, eating celery and holding really cute spring-like paper plates I purchased for the occasion...
Gene with roses... beautiful roses Bart & Ashley gave me... That's Steve on the right..
Cartoon du Jour:
Engrish du Jour: It's a friendly city...
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Wednesday, May 14, 2008
All about Monday's Tegan and Sara concert, with David and Emerson, below, but first a birthday salute...
Happy Birthday, Doug!
A big birthday hug and salute to my good friend Doug, across the waters in London town.. This isn't the best picture of Doug, but it is recent, from a very nice dinner at Rocking Horse Cafe when he was in town last month (see Food Journey April 12 for the menu).
In Doug's honor, here's the song he requested that I use as his ringtone:
Back Into Their Heads
On Monday I saw Tegan and Sara with David and Emerson. This isn't the cozy get-together it sounds like - Tegan and Sara are a musical duo, indie identical twins from Vancouver who are also both lesbians and complicated. We took in their concert at Terminal 5 with about a thousand other adoring fans. Here's the best picture I could get:
Here's a lovely excerpt of Tegan & Sara singing...
Here's some of Tegan's and Sara's tangental but interesting stage banter, captured live by yours truly...
Silhouette singers against a artsy and dramatic background painting:
David, left, bathed in blue light. Emerson, right, nearly whitewashed...
Cartoon du Jour:
Engrish du Jour: There's a place for everything...
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Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Scenes from a Kitchen Party
On Sunday I invited my friends to an afternoon gathering to celebrate spring, the completion of my kitchen renovation, and a gaggle of birthdays last and next week....So I served three Dean & DeLuca cakes (another three-cake party!) for Bevan (May 5 for all 3 triplets) Christi (May 16 & Mothers Day, the only mother at the party) and Donna (May 8). Pictures today and later in the week...
Aaron cuts the ribbon on his gleaming new kitchen!
Here I am with Kevin and then with Stephen, who made it down from Westchester - I look great in these pictures, although there is a spot of carrot juice on the left side of my smile...
My friends Steve and Gene...
Here come the happy grooms, Bart & Ashley...
Cartoon du Jour:
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Monday, May 12, 2008
SOTW: Cultural Poster Boy, Gay Musical Genius
Of course I refer to Rufus Wainwright, the critically acclaimed singer-songwriter, the pride and joy of gay music fans. This weeks's Song of the Week is 'Rules and Regulations' from last year's excellent 'Release the Stars.' Rufus has a uniquely erudite, operatic, languid diva persona that ensures that while he embraces his gayness, he's not exclusively defined by it.Rufus has five excellent albums to his credit that show steady musical growth, always expanding melodies and arrangements, his lyrics always looking inwards and outwards and finding new insights.
Here's the video clip for 'Rules and Regulations':
Rufus has a musical pedigree, since his (now divorced) parents are respected music veterans in their own right: his dad is early-70s folkster Loudon Wainwright III of New York, and his mom is Canadian twee-folk singer Kate McGarragle of Montreal. Poor Loudon is best-known, much to his chagrin, for a novelty song called 'Dead Skunk.' When Rufus was an infant, Loudon observed his mom breast-feeding him and was inspired to write a song called 'Rufus is a Tit Man,' obviously a premature conclusion!Rufus last year pulled off a momentous feat: he re-created and restaged the 1961 Carnegie Hall concert of gay icon Judy Garland, respecting Judy's imprint while adding his own. This was released on both CD and DVD, and below we offer you a sample of this splendid performance:
Cartoon du Jour:
Engrish du Jour: These signs get sullier and sullier...
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Sunday, May 11, 2008
Northern Exposure - Part 1
There's life, and untold wonders, above 125th St, and I have seen it!All thanks to Fernando and Sunil, who live on W 151st, and invited me up for the day two weeks back...
The W 130s an 140s are also known as Hamilton Heights, after the guy on the tenback.
At left, the Princeton-esque splendor of City College's main campus, a classicist affair constructed from 1903-1907 by the legendary George Brown Post, who also designed the New York Stock Exchange and Brooklyn Historical Society.
Of course City College has its modernist buildings as well...
Red flowers lit up the gray day at St Nicholas Park...
That's a statue of Alexander Hamilton in front of St Luke's Church, and that yellow building under construction, believe it or not, is Hamilton's last home, Hamilton Grange. The National Park Service is trying to move the Grange to St Nicholas Park, and this has generated much argument...
I love this shot of yellow flowers brightening up a weathered façade..
Outside of Manhattan's square grid, I wasn't quite sure where we were wandering... Here's the map that would have satisfied that spontaneous curiosity. I'll bring it along next time...
I'll post more Uptown photos later in the week....
Cartoon du Jour:
Engrish du Jour: I'm trying to learn to eat slow...
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Saturday, May 10, 2008
A Whole New World...
My kitchen's finally finished. On Thursday my designer & contractor added finishing touches, technicians made my cable and flat screen TV work, and I cooked my first meal in ages... I feel like I have a lot of new space - I'm colonizing the living room. I'll make a video tour later, for now, a few pictures....
ta-dah...
so many drawers, so little time...
the dream team, Malorie Currier of Page1Design and contractor Dan Sokol, photograph their work to show off to potential future customers..
and how I waited for that damn signal... but now I've got it!
Cartoon du Jour:
Engrish du Jour: It Does Everything. Thoroughly modern Xian..
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Friday, May 09, 2008
Film: And Then We Found It...
I'm not much of a Helen Hunt fan and I was very underwhelmed by her work in the much-acclaimed 'As Good As It Gets.' Thus, my expectations for a movie she directed and starred in, 'Then She Found Me,' were fairly low.
She handily surpassed them in a film with many virtues, including humor, prominently featured Judasim, average looking people (either aging or de-glamorized on purpose?) and some measure of emotional truth.
Parameters, please!
1. Four Words That Summarize: "Midlife Loss and Rediscovery"2. Haikus (5/7/5):
'Nature's clock ticking,
Woman dumped, found, and romanced
What has she learned?'
'Hell in hunt for self
You bet strange lady impacts,
Call in forthright man'
3. Oblique Commentary: I was impressed at the willingness to have Hunt portray a modern, somewhat religious Jew. Prayers and ceremonies feel oddly new and raw on-screen. And yet Hunt's character's religion is not her defining feature - it's just one of her many ways of coping.
4. Insight: This film contains that rarest of sightings, an understated (but pitch-perfect) performance by Bette Midler. Midler works wonders as the semi-tacky but well-meaning local TV personality who seeks out Helen Hunt, the daughter she gave up at age 15, forty years later, and at the worst possible time for Hunt. Midler avoids every cliché, her performance is devoid of campiness. It would be easy to make her funnily tacky, but she rings true as tackily ordinary. Likewise, the screenwriter chose to make Michael Broderick's character (Hunt's boyfriend-cum-husband who dumps her) not an easily hateable creep but just a pathetic, confused, disappointment. I love movies that show life's mess and ambiguity. Even Colin Firth's Mr. Right lives with significant residual pain and anger...
5. Link: Metacritic review summary. Wow, average of 56, or grade C, from 24 reviewers - the reviews are skewed, with some strong raves, some fierce pans, and some faint praise. I'd be a 'weak rave' - grade of 70, B/B- from me.
And here's the trailer...
Cartoon du Jour:
Engrish du Jour: Sinister goings-on...
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Thursday, May 08, 2008
Happy Birthday, Donna!
A hearty birthday salute to my friend Donna (right), here with her partner (left) and their recent open house party in Sunset Park, their new neighborhood. It was a lovely afternoon, their friends are refreshingly smart, creative, and diverse...
Happy Birthday, Harry! - Harry 86
Harry, Brian's father, takes a licking but keeps on ticking. We should be grateful to him for 1) fighting and winning the Second World War; and 2) taking Brian to see both (erstwhile) pop superstars ABBA and seminal LA punk band X. May Harry's sunset be long and golden - I salute a kind, decent, and unpretentious man on living 86 years. When Harry was born, the Soviet Union was less than 5 years old. Calvin Coolidge had just assumed the presidency after scandal-plagued Warren Harding gave up the goast. Talk cinema was eight years away, and actual TV was 23 years away.
Here's a 'Harry-o-Rama' of photos. In the middle photo, he wears a silly hat for the holidays...
Short Street, Long Story - Part 2 and Conclusion
Brian unearthed this saga when he found the youngest Mills child on classmates.com. He was able to contact her older sister, Linda, who met with Brian and generously shared her childhood photo collection of the house in its pre-Hall-years. Here's that old wallpaper, revealed...
Here's the NEW wallpaper, meaning put up in the 1970s, not the 1950s... it shows! I know this kitchen well.. That's Brian's Dad (Harry the Birthday Boy), and Linda, now in her 50s, one of the daughters you saw in yesterday's black & white photos..
Linda by the backyard pool, in beautiful 2008 color...
Cartoon du Jour: It's Not You, Babe...
Engrish du Jour: One has to admire their bravery...
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Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Short Street, Long Story - Part 1
Armed with innate curiosity and over half a Library Sciences degree, Brian recently unearthed the odd history of 1210 Short St. This is the Arcadia, California house that Brian grew up in, and behind which he now lives, in a renovated rec room.
What’s most unusual here is that the house was not built at its currently location! It was originally built in the late 1940s in nearby Monrovia by mysterious original owners and purchased by the Mills family in the early 1950s. Brian knew the youngest of the three Mills children (pictured above, from left to right, Carleton, their sleeping Mom, Linda and Cathy) when he was in grade school and she was in her 20s. But Mrs. Mills' parents, the Sauners, lived on Short Street on a very large plot of land that included a vacant lot where Brian’s house now stands. This is Mrs Mills and a neighbor...
Cartoon du Jour:
Engrish du Jour: "Not Craw..... Craw!'
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Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Emerson's post on his recent India trip is beautiful and moving.
Emerson, btw, might visit NY this weekend!! just in time for my Sunday afternoon is my Spring/New Kitchen/Cinco de Mayo soirée...
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The Food Journey: Uptown at Acapulco
A week ago Sunday I had brunch way uptown, near Broadway and 143rd, at a modest Mexican spot immodestly named Acapulco. That's Sunil on the right, back from an amazing month in India, land of his ancestors, which he explored north, south, and center!
Among Sunil's many other fine qualities and rare talents, the guy really knows his goat! He ordered the Consommé de Chivo, a hearty, rich concoction that's the light years away from the watery clarity of consommé... Fernando wisely ordered the same..
I couldn't resist the hominy teeth, chicken strands, and sundry vegetables that are Pozole... My huge mistake was added a spoonful of hot green pepper (see top left corner of photo). Bad, bad move, the soup was plenty spicy enough - I had to eat around the pepper pieces...
Cartoon du Jour: But Seriously
Engrish du Jour: Throroughly Mangled At The Great Wall of China...
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Monday, May 05, 2008
They Will Possess Your Heart...
Today's Song/Video of the Week is a treat, 'I Will Possess Your Heart,' by indie pop-rock stalwarts Death Cab For Cutie. Don't let their name scare you! DCFC, who hail from Washington state, are mellow and melodic, with lyrics that are clever, imaginative, and incisive.
'Possess' looks like it's breaking out on radio, quite a feat for an indie band, and by no means necessary for success. I've given you the four-minute edit of this song and video. This is the taut version I prefer, though the full-length album rendition clocks over eight minutes of virtuosity.
Here's the wonderful clip for 'Possess..'
DCFC's last album had two wonderful singles, 'Soul Meets Body' and 'Crooked Teeth,' the latter imagery refers to a skyline... First, 'Soul'...
Now, 'Crooked...'
Cartoon du Jour:
Engrish du Jour: I Love This Sign
Engrish du Jour: I Love This Sign
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Sunday, May 04, 2008
Late O'Clock
I'm up at 2am for no good reason. Around 11:30pm I went to the East Village to wish the Rosenbloom triplets a Happy Birthday, but the venue they chose was mobbed. They did let Bevan come out and get his gift and the Tickle-Me-Elmo piñata I've been saving for just an occasion (filled to the rafters with gourmet m&ms).Then I went home and watched the latest episodes of Lost & Battlestar Gallactica, which truly could have waited until after a night of sleep. So I'll try to sleep at least 8 hours now - have my trainer at noon, then I'm hanging with David...
I'll post more later... but, first, a peak at my new kitchen and transformed (but still skeletal) living room...
Monday, er, tomorrow, the contractor will remove all the trash and I can move back the rugs and start to organize and decorate my newly re-engineered space..
Cartoon du Jour:
Engrish du Jour: A Well-Planned Accident...
Engrish du Jour: A Well-Planned Accident...
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Saturday, May 03, 2008
Travels With Emerson
'Emerson's been most everywhere... From Zanzibar....to Barclay Square...'
My friend Emerson is the most accomplished traveler of my acquaintance. Last summer he was re-assigned to Singapore by his company, and he's been slowly making his way through all of Asia on weekends.
Today, we feature Emerson's awesome pictures of the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. These were the world's tallest buildings from their completion in 1998 until being surpassed by Taipei 101 in 2004...
I used to gaze up at the World Trade Center like this:
Close-ups of the tower surface, taken from the observation deck...
Skyscrapers are measured from their main entrance level to their structural top, without including antennae..
Cartoon du Jour: alternative questioning techniques...
Engrish du Jour: Cheese Fear (I've felt it...) What could they possibly have wanted to say? Cheese fair?
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Friday, May 02, 2008
Why and How
Since of you know the 'what, who, and where', Errol Morris focuses on the 'why and how' in his recently released Abu Ghraib documentary, 'Standard Operating Procedure.' I saw 'S.O.P.' with David at Angelika Film Saturday, and found it worthwhile. Morris actually interviews most of the perpetrators and by-standers so we see their faces, their infamous photos, and various artsy 'reenactments' such as the line of orange-clad prisoners at right.Front and center is Lynnie England, the 20-year-old short soldier girl who'll go down in history as the woman holding a leash as a prisoners seems to be dragged across the floor... It's interesting to watch faces of these erstwhile abusers, see how much they 'get it' and how it's affected them.
Parameters, please?1. Four Words That Encapsule: "Here's How It Was"
2. Haiku (5/7/5):
'Why did they do it?
What the hell were they thinking?
Did it cause they could'
'Untrained clueless kids
have power to inflict pain
what do you expect?'
3. Oblique Commentary: Some time I have to see the HBO documentary, 'Ghosts of Abu Ghraib'. I should see more documentaries, especially since I can rent them. It puts human flesh on thorny topics. It is journalism and an art form. Aaron to all documentary directors: 'Be subtle. Don't preach to the choir'
4. Insight: The film's detractors dislike the reenactments, and feel Morris should have been tougher in questioning the deed-doers. Many would have preferred resounding evidence that the entire Iraqi command knew about this and sanctioned it, presuming they did and it could be proven. While this film doesn't answer the question 'Who was ultimately responsible?' it does a great job showing us 'What were they thinking?' and 'What are they thinking now..' And it does document, well, the entire sordid incident, unfolding it before the viewer's eye..
5. Link: Metacritic Review Summary. 17 reviewers gave it a 67 average, like a B-. I'd give it a B.
Here's the trailer for 'Ghosts of Abu Ghraib,' directed by Rory Kennedy, RFK's daughter:
Cartoon du Jour:
Engrish du Jour: I Don't Think So...
de
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Thursday, May 01, 2008
This cracks me up! Ah, the early 60s..
The 35,000 Foot Critic:
Bertolucci's 20th Century Through Prisms of 'Isms'
On one of my four two-day trips to Latin America this year so far, I finally saw a bona fide foreign film classic, Bertolucci's '1900,' a gorgeous and riveting four-hour-plus epic that saunters and careens through the first five decades of the 20th century.What makes four hours fly is the superb acting - in very convincing Italian - of a very young Robert DeNiro and Gerard Depardieu, two of the greatest film talents of my nearly-five-decade life... They play a rich boy and a peasant boy both born on January 1, 1900 to the lord of the manor and his lackey. A friendship forms, as DeNiro grows up to be a rudderless bohemian while Depardieu slowly embraces communism, one of the century's defining 'isms.'
I barely recognized Donald Sutherland as the cruel overseer of the manor, a frustrated and pitiless social climber who chooses the 'ism' of the fascia with all that implies... Sutherland of course also acts in perfect Italian. No dubbing here! If DeNiro's father represents feudalism, DeNiro himself wavers from nihilism and altruism, propelled by a weak nature and fatal passion..
Bertolucci wisely prefers to observe the era's political and social passions rather than preach... The cinematography, soundtrack, production design and costumes are all breathtaking. It's 255 minutes very well-spent, if you ever have the time and the inclination.
No five parameters today, but I must at least provide an encapsulation and two haikus.
Four Words That Encapsule: 'Gone With The Vento'
Haikus: (5/7/5)
'Two boys, rich and poor
seeds of Europe's churning strife
grow in wrenching times'
'Mean lean DeNiro
Depardieu without a gut
Taut, tense and sexy'
Here's a three-minute excerpt from '1900:'
Don't let the Italian or the starkness scare you - it's a masterpiece
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