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Happy Birthday, Zac! Yes, Zac turned 26 today. He's mere decades from Death's door.
You can see all of Zac's craziness (for now anyway, before he finally lets me create a website for him) in various places. Artwork (and it's mighty tasty) here (MySpace: Eggs) and here (MySpace: Eggbert Ross and The Dellaments), and hear his music here (SoundClick: Eggs) and here (Audio Street: Eggs) and here (SoundClick: The Worker).
Greta made him the fabulous cake by the way.
Cooler heads have prevailed. Proof one can be conservative, a person of faith, and yet not insist imposing this on everybody else (unAmerican) or insisting that science acknowledge your superstitions beliefs.
Judge Jones is a George W. Bush appointee who has ruled that the (former) school board of Dover, PA's decision to impose the religious gerrymandering known as Intelligent Design is unconstitutional, violating the separation of church and state, a fundamental American principle.
The EFF has an interesting post on just what Sony / BMG intends for its "customers". A rootkit installed on your computer isn't enough, it seems draconian EULAs are another part of their desire to demonstrate how completely out of touch they are:
www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/004145.php
Those dystopian novels where corporations own their consumer slaves? The bitter sarcasm of Pohl and Kornbluth in "Merchants of Venus"? The Corporate Owner's society seen in "Snow Crash"? Well, the attitude is certainly very, very real, even if the legal and political reality lags behind-- for now.
Continue reading "Sony Über Alles"
Those of us who lived in Lawrence, KS any length of time knew Tim Griffith's face at Liberty Hall. His sometimes gruff demeanor inevitably slipped away to show a caring man with a big heart and a passion for doing things right. Tim was a big part of what made Liberty Hall someplace special. He was a vital part of what made Lawrence Lawrence. For all its (many) faults, Lawrence is a special place, a bit of green in a Red State Sea. Tim Griffith was an essential element of that Fiddler's Green and he'll be missed.
His passing certainly deserved to be big news in the Lawrence Journal World and for once they didn't disappoint. They also ran Cremation Society of Kansas and Missouri. Links to charitable donations are there as well as condolences left by Tim's family, friends and many, many admirers:
Timothy Alan Griffith's Obituary.
The curtains have closed on a long-running, fantastic show at Liberty Hall.
I hope nonetheless goes on, for Tim's sake.
Setting: Me, a Former Roommate and a Friend, on our way to a party from the apartment. I suppose we're all roommates now, though in the Waking World my Friend would not move back from where he is and I would rather french a rat than have any business ties with the Former Roommate ever again (and not just because he smelled bad).
So... FR and F and me, going to a party. Walking down a Carroll Gardens-type street than incongruously is lined with mini versions of Midtown Fifth Ave buildings. While waiting for them to catch-up, I'm looking at a building across the street. I hit it with a Mighty Hammer (it's shiny and has "Mighty Hammer" on it).
I really wanted to like this movie. I love Burton's work, enough to pretend "Planet of the Apes" was never made. I love Elfman, despite what it may say about my tastes (but I like Glass too). I love Dahl. But these three great tastes didn't really come together in one candy bar.
The ingredients were great but the mix was flawed. Like homemade ice cream that hasn't set properly. The children were great, every one of them. Perhaps it was that only Mrs. Beauregarde (Missi Pyle) was a strong enough parental character, for the others seemed little more than segueways and background. Charlie's family was really marvelous without being syrupy, though it really bothered me that Freddie Highmore kept reminding me of Tony Blair. Well, he played Charlie Bucket well enough despite that personal set-back for me.
"Sometimes one must be cruel to be kind... and sometimes one must be cruel for purely recreational purposes."
One of my favorite lines from this revived work of genius featuring the music of the Tiger Lillies and created by them (Martyn Jacques, Adrian Huge and Adrian Stout) along with Julian Bleach, Anthony Cairns, Julian Crouch, Graeme Gilmour, Tamzin Griffin, Jo Pocock, Pehlim McDermott and Michael Morris. I saw the New York production with the New York cast (the Tiger Lillies & Co. had moved on to Prague). That took not one wit away. The cast was brilliant and through them shone the macabre wit of this blend of the Tiger Lillies and Dr. Hoffmann's "Struwwelpeter".
It's a stunning production that's like being trapped in a nightmare within mouldering Victorian musicbox replete with mechanical wonders and degenerate characters. A lampblack-besmirched, footlighted sideshow in the East End. Some have compared it with Gorey and Burton, but I believe it taps to the deeper core that spawned them both. Written long after Edward Gorey set pen to bristol board, it comes creaking and screaming out of the horrors that preceeded him. It taps into that primal dream of Victorian childhood terrors. (Nonetheless, it should be no surprise the Tiger Lillies produced a CD that's a tip of ermine topper to Gorey: The Gorey End ).
Continue reading "Shockheaded Peter"
Mostly Harmless.
There. That's it then. Not horrible. Not exactly Douglas Adams. Also not not entirely unlike Douglas Adams. It was funny if you forgot the funny line was out of context or incomplete (which was very common)-- just not uproariously so. Not replete with slapstick, but then again more American with its slapstick than, say, Python. Far less verbal a comedy than Python, let alone Douglas Adams's work.
Two and a half cups of nice, hot tea out of a possible five.
Wow. What a complete fuck-you Hollywood trip down psycho-noir lane! Beautiful, well paced, quirky and totally the accursed child of Frank Miller. Incredible work on a scale that had me on the edge of my seat despite knowing the comics well enough. Balletic, indulgent, and absborging, this is how movies should be made. It made me feel that most comic book films had become merely non-interactive games at best, and at their worst drivelly formulaic grab-bags of crap best left on the cutting floor. Come to think of it, most movies these days fall apart when tested against the cool, slick steel of Sin City. The technology and style could easily have begged you to forgive a weak plot, but Miller's impeccable writing sensibility shone through, too, putting to shame the bilge pumped out today. And I don't just mean genre films, either.
Five out of five delicious, dark, bitter cups of black coffee in bone-white china.
Four out of five delicious cups of coffee.
For however long it's up, there's a great clip of Corn Mo with They Might Be Giants on the Spine tour, playing "Particle Man" with John and John and the Band of Dans. Just like a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup, two of my faves in one great candy bar of accordiontastic nutty goodness.
Go, see it: www.delcambres.com/twitchingmonkey/CornMoTMBG.mov
(Kind of like life itself, it requires Quicktime.)
FYI:
TMBG: www.theymightbegiants.com
Corn Mo: www.corno.com
(His new DVD release is imminent.)
Gov. Pataki signed into law a bill which will allow New Yorkers to buy wine and have it shipped to them from states outside of New York. A smarmy, distributor-cozy law forbidding this pre-Internet Cretaceous attitude that had been squatting on the books since 1933 was poo-pooed by the Supreme Court in May. Gosh, now we can have a CHOICE of California wine (as well as other states' and imports) here in New York (and Connecticutt, too).
The Supreme Court handed down a victory of a sort on Tuesday. States can no longer discriminate between in-state and out-of-state shipments on wine. Booh-hoo for the big distributors but high-fives for all the small wineries. And hooray for New York (at least for now), but tough luck if you're in New Jersey or Michigan. They're going to try the approach of banning all wine shipments, no doubt purely out of concern for sales to minors and quality-- nothing to do with kissing the spotty bottoms of distributors who'd rather we all drink 1/2 gallons of Bob's Real Good Red Table Wine.
Marlow & Sons
81 Broadway (Broadway & Berry St.)
New York, NY 11211
(718) 384-1441
(Alas, no website as yet.)
J,M or Z to Marcy Ave. / L to Bedford Ave. / B61 to Broadway & Bedford
Map on Google
Get in here before it's discovered by the Dinero entourage (rumor has it he bought a floor of the Gretsch Building nearby). You'll be crying in your PG Tips otherwise.
Up front is a gourmet grocery to tempt the tongue. A well selected and sometimes quirky selection of organic goodies and fine gourmet treats. Jacque Torres chocolate, for instance, our residing regional god of confectionary magic. The aforementioned PG Tips (for half of what Zabar's is asking) is also on hand, along with many other choice treats from all over the world. Delectable pastries and coffee to go, too.
But don't skip the back: brunch and the evening raw bar here are gifts from heaven. Marlow and Sons presents foods from local and upstate farmers alongside artisanal cheeses and the best of both East and West coast oysters.
Continue reading "Marlow and Sons"
I seem to get a lot of requests for this, so here it is in all its glory. Don't forget to tell 'em Legba sent ya.
Baron Samedi's Mango Salsa
INGREDIENTS
8 very ripe Mangos (peeled and pulped from the pit, pureed)
1/2 fresh pineapple, mashed
3 large Spanish onions, finely diced
2 mashed bananas
3 roasted jalapeņos peppers, finely diced
3 roasted chili peppers, finely diced
1 roasted habeņeros pepper, finely diced
2 roasted red bell peppers, finely diced
1 roasted yellow bell pepper, finely diced
1 bunch fresh cilantro, finely minced
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/8th cup apple cider vinegar
1/8th cup dark, unspiced rum
Juice of 4 limes
1/4 cup Key Lime juice
2 15oz packages crushed, vacuum-packed tomatos
2 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
3 tablespoons Louisianna Hot Sauce
Make sure everythings finely mashed, pulped, minced, diced or ground. Mix it all up in a big bowl. Let set for an hour. Serve with respect and fear.
Note: if too hot, add another banana. If too mild, spike with 1/2 another roasted habeņeros pepper, finely diced, or with another tablespoon of Louisianna hot sauce (depends which taste you prefer).
