Thursday, April 30, 2009
My Life And Flowers
Here I am on the eve of The Great Transition©®... The weather has shifted back to spring from summer, so I yanked my light jacket out of figurative mothballs...
To Kindle or Not to Kindle?.... the former, I think... Kindle 2.0 has built-in text-to-speech where the authors allow it...
Did you know that in most countries soap operas run 6-12 months and then actually end? Only under the UK/US tradition are soap operas designed to be open-ended. 'Guiding Light,' recently cancelled, debuted on radio in 1938.. 'As The World Turns' began in 1956, and the other six US soaps date from 1963, 1965, 1968, 1970, 1973, and 1987....
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Wednesday, April 29, 2009
The Food Journey: Cheap Chinese @ Sammy's
Say it with neon!
Our big, fat, vegetable-centric lunch:
'Chinese' and 'Curry' are not mutually exclusive! Those brown morsels are potatoes, not mushrooms!
At least one institution has all its ducks in a row!
Decor and more!
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Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Four Babies of the Apocalypse
...and other inspired photos... This one really stayed with me...
What can it mean?
JP bathed in spring sunlight...
School of Visual Arts theater, tree in flower, black cars....
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Monday, April 27, 2009
Supersonic Indie-Tronic...
..expialidocious... : - ) This week, a slice of danceable, textured blues from Canadian indie electronic pop duo Junior Boys, 'Hazel,' - imagine Boz Scaggs served chilled over laptop electronica, and you'll get a hint of the delicious flavor at hand...
Junior Boys - Jeremy Greenspan and Matt Didemus - started their long hard musical climb back in '99 with demos and remixes.. Catchy but spare songs, chilly production, sophisticated beats, and rarely a mis-step. Their live shows are quite memorable as well.. Here for your musical pleasure is their live performance (in Cleveland last month) of 'Hazel,' the lead off single from their remarkable new album 'Begone Dull Care,' their third. 'Begone Dull Care' is named for the 1949 animated short by Norman MacLaren. The guy sure can sing!
Down memory lane we go.. Here's the Boys' 2006 single 'In The Morning' mashed up to a scene from Jean-Luc Godard's 60s film, 'Bande a Part.' The Boys are clever - the album, 'So This Is Goodbye,' invited fans to write their 'goodbye' stories on the band's site, and, later, to enter a home-made video contest...
Here's a finalist in the 2006 home-made video contest mentioned above - it's 'Double Shadow...'
Here's Junior Boys very spare song and video, 'Last Exit,' from their debut album of the same name...
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Sunday, April 26, 2009
History Made Digestible For Today's Youth
(by Kanye West?...)
Winston Churchill protects Western Civilization!
Martin Luther King envisions Racial Equality!
And now Today's Headlines...
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Saturday, April 25, 2009
And then there's Bea... sniff :-( She's gone...
The Maude of my troubled teen years, the campy Golden Girl of my gay youth...
Beatrice Arthur 1922-2009. One of a kind...
Maude's historic, very controversial moment.... Dozens of TV stations refused to air this episode...
The theme song!
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The Food Journey: Desserts in Atlanta Spring Wonderland
A weeka ago Friday I had a spring 'flash-forward' when I day-tripped to Atlanta for work, for an outdoor luncheon at gourmet Canoe, nestled in a late Spring wonderland...
I kept my camera hidden until dessert, when I could just no longer restrain myself, photographically or gastronomically... I'm not a fan of peanut butter, so I stuck to the chocolate portions of this visual stunner: Chocolate Peanut Butter Bar with Bittersweet Chocolate Sorbet..
The 'Simply Vanilla Creme Brulée' was nothing short of.... flan-tastic! (sorry!)
The 'Valrhona Banana Custard Tart' featured butter rum ice cream and a topping of brittled banana and toasted almonds...
A table of well-dressed investment professionals savoring a superb meal in a lovely setting... Dig the fine dinnerware. I love the reflection of the greenery in the windows...
Yes, I was really there! 71F with a gentle breeze.. (It was pretty beautiful in NY that day too)
It lasted two and a half hours! Here we are at 3, headed back to the airport to catch the 5:40 flight home...
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Friday, April 24, 2009
Springtime and Sculpture
Walking down Park Avenue after my haircut Saturday, I saw one of James Surls' metallic sculptures, displayed between 50th and 57th through July 1....
Down by Bleecker Street is a sculpted family that's modern but not as abstract...
More James Surls:
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Thursday, April 23, 2009
My Life and Flowers
I hereby revive my 'musings and flowers' feature, suitably in season. This long week of commuting is 60% over - actually, 80% over since I've declared tomorrow a NYC day for my group. Last night I feasted on excessive portions of BBQ chicken at Moonstruck Diner with JP and some visiting Maine folk...
Tonight Bevan & Cheryl host their engagement party at a South African bar & restaurant, Xai Xai on 51st between 8th & 9th, in the heart of Hell's Kitchen. Bevan's family emigrated from South Africa (to Dallas!) when he was 2 - we Jews get around!
I salute all those who've made, or are about to make, a major life change... My compliments to those who've faced that fork in the road and cast their lot....
I thought 'the undiscovered country' was the future, but it's in Hamlet's monologue and probably means death, so I've dropped the expression. That's what I get for learning my Shakespeare from Star Trek VI. : - )
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Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Must-read: Maureen Dowd's hilarious interview with Twitter's founder-inventors..
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Aaron Before And After
I changed my hair style on Saturday from short & spike to longer, parted, and combed over... Now, I just have to buy a comb...
Mizu is the upscale salon that my haircutter has hopped to, taking me along, for the moment, while I can afford superpremium haircuts....
Immaculate, designed, manicured, primped and pampered...
A whole lot of orange, and the scratchy, smudgy graduated lenses I am having replaced this week....
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Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Happy Birthday, Stephen!
A very happy birthday to my friend Stephen! I've known him and his partner Kevin for nearly 10 years, since we shared a beach house one summer at Fire Island. Below, the 1999 group photo I dug up. That's Stephen, far right, and Kevin, far left..
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Unhinged
Springtime in NYC, and more than a few hinges were slipping....
Repairs on the Scientology Building marquis, across 46th St from the X theater, where Christi and I saw 'In the Heights' on Saturday
What a loopy way to earn a living. Profession: Elmo impersonator....
Freedom of religion I guess, includes, freedom to be hoodwinked....
The store manager at Marc Jacobs' Village store got slightly unhinged when I popped my head in to take this picture, while talking to my Mom on my iPhone and strolling with JP.... The color pink unhinges something playful and girlish within my heart...
24 hours later it was still spring, and a village school had a loose 'L', running the risk of becoming a 'schoo'
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Monday, April 20, 2009
Peace South of The Border
Mexico may be having a rough year (and what country isn't?) but hasn't lost its postmodern funk rhythm, as today's sprightly midtempo Song/Video of the Week from that country's five-man funk combo Kinky demonstrates. It's been a while since I've spotlighted anything not in English... this song's title, 'Hasta Quemarnos,' roughly translates as 'until we burn ourselves out'... as in 'let's dance until...'
Let's start by watching the 'Hasta Quemarnos' clip! Kinky are from Monterrey, the richest, most industrial city in Mexico, just 90 minutes south of the tip of Texas.... They formed in 1998 and weave their rock-dance-ranchero-techno-funk melange mostly in Spanish, sometimes in English,
Here's the more Mexican-flavored 'Adonde Van Los Muertos' - 'where the dead go'... Kinky broke through in 2002 throughout Latin America, and toured in the US backing up all sorts of bands - rock (Cake), indie (Flaming Lips), and ethereal hip-hop jazz (De La Soul)...
Here's neon electric bilingual rock-funk of 'Presidente,' almost like the Madchester-shoegazing era of early 90s UK - whose title needs no translation... it asks the prescient question 'What color is our President? Green, white, black, red is the present..'
Here's the more Mexican-flavored 'Adonde Van Los Muertos' - 'where the dead go'... Kinky broke through in 2002 throughout Latin America, and toured in the US backing up all sorts of bands - rock (Cake), indie (Flaming Lips), and ethereal hip-hop jazz (De La Soul)...
Here's neon electric bilingual rock-funk of 'Presidente,' almost like the Madchester-shoegazing era of early 90s UK - whose title needs no translation... it asks the prescient question 'What color is our President? Green, white, black, red is the present..'
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Sunday, April 19, 2009
In The Heights!
What an awesome musical experience! I can only marvel at this musical's verve, musicality, vivid diversity, india rubber dancing, and seamless blend of salsa, hip hop, and broadway diva styles.... So we'll start with this montage that conveys it better... Thank you, Christi!
Here's a fantastic number, performed in Times Square the day the musical got 13 Tony nominations (of which it won Best Musical 2008)
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Saturday, April 18, 2009
The Food Journey: Gobo
You can almost walk right by it, so it really is a hidden jewel. I refer to 'Gobo - food for the five senses', that vegetarian den of tranquility and creativity nestled unassumingly at 401 6th Ave between 8th St & Waverly. I went for the 'tender sliced seitan in ginger marinade with asian kale, squash, and brown rice.' ample, tasty, and balanced
My boyfriend JP tried the 'green tea noodle with broccoli and smoked beijing-style seitan.' Also scrumptious. Seitan takes a whole different texture and taste when smoked... I'm very impressed with meat substitutes, and seitan deserves a special place along side tempeh and tofu...
JP and I finally get our just desserts! Gingerbread and vanilla ice cream topped with spiced berry compote! JP was surprised how great the gingerbread tasted, being a vegan product....
Dried decor... It was David who first told me of this jewel of a restaurant, a favorite of his veggie friend Chris. There's one uptown too...
The Gobo ambience... even the rest room was memorable and golen...
Liquid Life! A heady mix of wheat grass, carrot, beet, celery, and apple... Bottoms up!
Also dining that evening... Tattoo Man to the left of us, Purple Hair Lady to the right of us... IIIIIIIIIII love New Yoooooooooork!
Tattoo Man's visible body is wall-to-wall design. That's a Buddha on his forearm. He looked a lot sweeter when he covered the ink-laden skin with a modest light jacket....
I did a better job with the zoom lens on Purple Hair lady and her friends...
JP and I finally get our just desserts! Gingerbread and vanilla ice cream topped with spiced berry compote! JP was surprised how great the gingerbread tasted, being a vegan product....
Dried decor... It was David who first told me of this jewel of a restaurant, a favorite of his veggie friend Chris. There's one uptown too...
The Gobo ambience... even the rest room was memorable and golen...
Liquid Life! A heady mix of wheat grass, carrot, beet, celery, and apple... Bottoms up!
Also dining that evening... Tattoo Man to the left of us, Purple Hair Lady to the right of us... IIIIIIIIIII love New Yoooooooooork!
Tattoo Man's visible body is wall-to-wall design. That's a Buddha on his forearm. He looked a lot sweeter when he covered the ink-laden skin with a modest light jacket....
I did a better job with the zoom lens on Purple Hair lady and her friends...
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