Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Geek Salad
Wanna see my Greek Salad? It's just a salad, sure, but it was way yummy!
C'mon, you know you want some...
They say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, but women have hearts, too, and I've yet to know a woman who didn't love a man who could cook. I think love of food is reflective of a love of life, itself -- it's a natural pairing.
C'mon, you know you want some...
They say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, but women have hearts, too, and I've yet to know a woman who didn't love a man who could cook. I think love of food is reflective of a love of life, itself -- it's a natural pairing.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Soundtrack
I sometimes craft soundtracks for writing pieces I'm working on. Gets my mind geared up for the piece. Here's the master soundtrack I made for a horror screenplay I'm doing (where I compiled my favorite tunes from two discs I already did for it). Now you can sing along!
- Sheena is a Parasite | The Horrors
- Party Time | Legion of Parasites
- Parasites | The Subhumans (UK)
- Andy Warhol | Treepeople
- You Can Have What You Want | Papercuts
- Love Will Tear Us Apart | Nouvelle Vague
- Truth Is | The Sky Drops
- Beyond Yes | Coin Under Tongue
- Pajama Party in a Haunted Hive | Beat Happening
- When I'm Small | Phantogram
- Parasites | The Soft Pack
- 2000 Light Years From Bolan | Go Home Productions
- Harmonix | Surfer Blood
- Mirror's Image | The Horrors
- No Mongo | Wizzard Sleeve
- M4 (Part II -- The Paronomasiac Remix) | Faunts
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Dicin'
I was doing prepwork for Greek Salad at the kitchen table, with B2 watching -- he's fascinated by me cooking, so I try to include him, let him see how it's done. I peeled and chopped some cucumbers (which he sampled), some red onion, some feta cheese (cubed that), some green peppers. And each time, I'd have him put those in saver containers for later, and put'em in the fridge. I love his interest in that.
He's already a natural actor (hahah, like me!), so it's nice to see him interested in cooking -- maybe it'll give him something to fall back on if/when he became an actor someday. I'll teach him what I know, confident that he'll do even better. He loves to smell absolutely everything with cooking -- he'll ask to smell it, already has a wide range of scent palates that way, just loves it. I'd like to think that it'll prepare his broader palate down the road.
I think I'm going to make spaghetti with turkey meatballs and the Greek Salad. Damn, I need to get some wine. Should've done that earlier. Gotta have the wine, right? Mmm hmm!
He's already a natural actor (hahah, like me!), so it's nice to see him interested in cooking -- maybe it'll give him something to fall back on if/when he became an actor someday. I'll teach him what I know, confident that he'll do even better. He loves to smell absolutely everything with cooking -- he'll ask to smell it, already has a wide range of scent palates that way, just loves it. I'd like to think that it'll prepare his broader palate down the road.
I think I'm going to make spaghetti with turkey meatballs and the Greek Salad. Damn, I need to get some wine. Should've done that earlier. Gotta have the wine, right? Mmm hmm!
Windows into the soulless
I already wrote elsewhere about the political violence of the GOP's attack dogs, the Tea Baggers, but they're really annoying. I saw that in Cincinnati (among other places with a lot of reactionary wing-dings) they smashed a Democratic Party headquarters' windows. I'm sure that got downplayed by the Enquirer, which has a very real agenda in their coverage, but people around the country (and the world) noticed the ugliness there and elsewhere.
It's curious how that gets downplayed when contrasted with, say, the breaking of windows at the WTO protests in Seattle in 1999 -- the handful of windows broken there by rioters was shrilly trotted out by the media as the coming of the apocalypse. But the very tightly targeted political violence against Democrats -- spitting on representatives, ethnic and other slurs, death threats (against at least 20 of them), attacks on their homes and Democratic Party headquarters -- that gets downplayed to the detriment of the rest of us.
You can be sure that if left-wing violence of similar character had been carried out, the trumpets would be sounding and there'd be people trotted off to prisons straightaway (and these days, we actually do have official secret prisons, for fuck's sake, thanks to GW Bush and Dick Cheney). And this is borne out if you actually look at the history of political violence -- some forms of political violence are tolerated (when perpetrated by the Right) when contrasted with others (invariably when carried out by the Left).
So, if you want to get away with, say, terrorism, you're far better off lighting up a cross on somebody's lawn or spraying ethnic slurs on their business (and breaking their windows) than if you lob a brick through a window at an anti-globalization protest or if you spraypaint a radical environmentalist message on an SUV. Just remember that, because that is truly how the law operates in practice around these issues.
Remember the gay guy dragged to death in Wyoming? Contrast the reaction of that with, say, Ashley Todd, the girl who faked the mutilation of herself (claiming falsely that it was done by pro-Obama supporters). One was an actual horrible crime of hate and terrorism done against a gay man, the other was a faked incident that was widely broadcast before it was discovered that she'd made the whole fucking thing up.
Double standard much? It just pisses me off -- if we're not equal before the law, then what are we? We're hosed. It's an issue because the Tea Baggers are going to do a whole helluva lot more in the run-up to the fall elections -- be ready for more ugliness, and watch the media downplay it, watch the authorities wring their hands helplessly as it gets uglier and uglier.
The broken windows in Cincinnati and elsewhere are just the beginning.
It's curious how that gets downplayed when contrasted with, say, the breaking of windows at the WTO protests in Seattle in 1999 -- the handful of windows broken there by rioters was shrilly trotted out by the media as the coming of the apocalypse. But the very tightly targeted political violence against Democrats -- spitting on representatives, ethnic and other slurs, death threats (against at least 20 of them), attacks on their homes and Democratic Party headquarters -- that gets downplayed to the detriment of the rest of us.
You can be sure that if left-wing violence of similar character had been carried out, the trumpets would be sounding and there'd be people trotted off to prisons straightaway (and these days, we actually do have official secret prisons, for fuck's sake, thanks to GW Bush and Dick Cheney). And this is borne out if you actually look at the history of political violence -- some forms of political violence are tolerated (when perpetrated by the Right) when contrasted with others (invariably when carried out by the Left).
So, if you want to get away with, say, terrorism, you're far better off lighting up a cross on somebody's lawn or spraying ethnic slurs on their business (and breaking their windows) than if you lob a brick through a window at an anti-globalization protest or if you spraypaint a radical environmentalist message on an SUV. Just remember that, because that is truly how the law operates in practice around these issues.
Remember the gay guy dragged to death in Wyoming? Contrast the reaction of that with, say, Ashley Todd, the girl who faked the mutilation of herself (claiming falsely that it was done by pro-Obama supporters). One was an actual horrible crime of hate and terrorism done against a gay man, the other was a faked incident that was widely broadcast before it was discovered that she'd made the whole fucking thing up.
Double standard much? It just pisses me off -- if we're not equal before the law, then what are we? We're hosed. It's an issue because the Tea Baggers are going to do a whole helluva lot more in the run-up to the fall elections -- be ready for more ugliness, and watch the media downplay it, watch the authorities wring their hands helplessly as it gets uglier and uglier.
The broken windows in Cincinnati and elsewhere are just the beginning.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Draconian
I took the boys to see "How To Train Your Dragon" (or whatever it's called). It was cute. The boys seemed to enjoy it. As ever, CGI graphics just get better and better -- rich details like the pebbled hides of the dragons just come to life. It was rated PG, and I think that was, perhaps, justified -- there's nothing scary in it or anything, but there are lots of explosions, fires, the dragons, and what-not. The protagonist ("Hiccup") strikes me as a very Gen X protagonist -- just something in his manner feels that way to me, which is kind of funny to see in a kids movie -- like they know that Gen Xers are parents, now, so they craft a kiddy protagonist that kind of plays to things we can relate to (sort of like how so many of the older kiddy movies had gratuitous Elvis references -- something for the Boomers to wink and nod to) -- but it's funny, because Hiccup is sarcastic and facetious, and so I think any Xer parent taking their kid to it'll be like "Yeah, I'd probably say the same thing."
The aerial scenes are lovely, quite breath-taking on the big screen -- the heavenly clouds, the lovely countrysides, the swooping dragons. All of that. Good stuff. You really felt the propulsive motion of those sequences.
I think the Vikings portrayed in it must be from the Orkney Islands, because they have Scots accents (I know, right? Vikings with Scottish accents? I consoled myself with thinking they were somewhere near the Orkneys). Unless, somehow, Scots accents are seen as inherently barbaric. Not sure, not sure.
But I think the movie had a nice balance of character development and certainly a curiously pacifistic message that jumps out at you in this time of our country fighting two wars abroad (remember them?) -- and one moment that particularly makes you think of today's new reality for survivors of wars.
I won't reveal any plot points or surprises. I'd not say the movie was up there with "Up" or "Wall-E" necessarily, but it was a good effort, and it certainly kept my attention.
The aerial scenes are lovely, quite breath-taking on the big screen -- the heavenly clouds, the lovely countrysides, the swooping dragons. All of that. Good stuff. You really felt the propulsive motion of those sequences.
I think the Vikings portrayed in it must be from the Orkney Islands, because they have Scots accents (I know, right? Vikings with Scottish accents? I consoled myself with thinking they were somewhere near the Orkneys). Unless, somehow, Scots accents are seen as inherently barbaric. Not sure, not sure.
But I think the movie had a nice balance of character development and certainly a curiously pacifistic message that jumps out at you in this time of our country fighting two wars abroad (remember them?) -- and one moment that particularly makes you think of today's new reality for survivors of wars.
I won't reveal any plot points or surprises. I'd not say the movie was up there with "Up" or "Wall-E" necessarily, but it was a good effort, and it certainly kept my attention.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Weekend Windup
Let's see, I'm going to take the boys to see that "...Dragons" movie tomorrow, I think. They should enjoy that. I'd also like to research netbooks -- I think that might be just what I need to solve my current tech issues with my writing "in the field." (i.e., no fucking laptop) Not that I haven't enjoyed writing longhand -- I actually do like writing in notebooks, but in terms of output, I type so much faster than I write by hand, it's a matter of efficiency, here. I've been working steadily on the book, although I'm uncertain of the word count because it's handwritten -- I'll transcribe my week's work onto the computer at home, another weekend enterprise.
Sunday, Exene should be taking the boys to a Cub Scouts outing, so I may actually shop for the netbook I was looking for, and catch "The Hurt Locker" (FINALLY).
Of course, my usual routine of exercise, cooking some yummy food, and taking photographs of everything that catches my eye will be in play.
Sunday, Exene should be taking the boys to a Cub Scouts outing, so I may actually shop for the netbook I was looking for, and catch "The Hurt Locker" (FINALLY).
Of course, my usual routine of exercise, cooking some yummy food, and taking photographs of everything that catches my eye will be in play.
Busin'ess
I was amused on the busride home yesterday. Well, a few things. On the first leg of my ride, I was at a bus stop with a bunch of international students from U of C, including a few Austrians -- it was funny to hear the accents as they were talking about navigating the transit system downtown: "You mekh sure you get zee tranzfer on zee first part of zee ride. Zat iss how vee do it in Austria, anyvay."
That group got on another bus, while I caught mine a moment later. There wasn't anything particularly amusing on the first bus. When I got off, I saw my connecting bus, and I ran to catch it, but the bus took off right before I got there, didn't stop. Love when they do that.
Piqued at being thwarted in classic CTA fashion, I ran two blocks north up the street to get ahead of the bus that had ditched me and caught it at the next stop. I was very satisfied to have done that, rather than waiting X minutes in the blustery cold for the next bus (it was frickin' cold yesterday, I should add, and terribly windy).
On my second bus, I was treated to an amusing exchange by a couple of Lincoln Park Trixies (well, once Trixie and her friend, who lived in the Gold Coast). Both of them had the kind of atonal raspy voice of casual smokers (sounding something like, I dunno, Margot Kidder), and Trixie was seriously bottle-blonded, overtanned, and had incredibly white teeth, while Gold Coast had overplucked eyebrows and a face that reminded me of a female Corey Feldman. Both of them were average-looking, but well-dressed (not particularly stylishly, but they clearly had good jobs, if no real style to them). Their conversation went on and on and on. I'll try to capture what I remembered about it (again, delivered in that seal-like bray)...
LP Trixie: So, I tried to get X to take me out again, but he totally didn't.
Gold Coast: No?
LPT: I sent him a note, and he didn't reply.
GC: Maybe he was busy.
LPT: I dunno.
GC: Wait, was this a text?
LPT: E-mail. I tried to get him to take me somewhere, but he totally ignored it.
GC: How long's it been?
LPT: Well, like almost two weeks since we first, you know, got together.
GC: (laughing) And you've gone out how many times?
LPT: Once at [XYZ], once at [ABC], and we hung out at his place. He mentioned [DEF] but I was like "Dude, isn't that a bar?" (scoffs)
GC: I don't know. Depends on the time you go.
LPT: It's totally a bar. I wanted to go someplace sit-down, a nice place. You know, like what normal people do, like boyfriend-girlfriend stuff. And so I jokingly e-mailed him and he didn't reply.
GC: Maybe he doesn't have any money?
LPT: Oh, he does. He threw down $150 at the bar last time.
GC: Hmmm, yeah, you throw that much down, you can definitely afford a dinner.
LPT: I know, right?
GC: Unless he just blew it all at the bar.
LPT: Maybe he just doesn't like to DO stuff; maybe he's just a 'hanging out' kinda guy. Like he called the other day and was like "I'm watching the OSU game with the guys; you wanna come hang out?" and I was like "No, thanks." And now, like nothing.
GC: Maybe you shouldn't have shot down his suggestion you go to [DEF.] (laughs)
LPT: Yeah, maybe. I'm trying not to overthink it. I mean, he really likes me, I can tell, but it's just weird, like why he doesn't, you know, want to do stuff with me. (keeps checking her iPhone during all of this)
GC: Well, we can catch "Crazyheart" Friday, after we go shopping. How about that?
LPT: Alright; I asked him if he wanted to see it, and he's like "Yeah" but then nothing happened. Am I supposed to set everything up or what? I don't know what his deal is.
GC: Maybe he's just quiet.
LPT: Sure, but, you know, he doesn't seem to want to know, like, anything ABOUT me. Like he doesn't ask me about my day, or anything. He likes me, I can tell, but, like, doesn't, like, TALK to me about ME, you know?
GC: My stop's coming up; don't overthink it. I'm sure you guys'll work something out. Like you said, you've known him for, what, almost two weeks? (laughs)
LPT: Yeah (laughs) Seeya later!
And then LPT continued to text on her iPhone obsessively until she got off at her stop (and then kept going, like texting and walking).
That group got on another bus, while I caught mine a moment later. There wasn't anything particularly amusing on the first bus. When I got off, I saw my connecting bus, and I ran to catch it, but the bus took off right before I got there, didn't stop. Love when they do that.
Piqued at being thwarted in classic CTA fashion, I ran two blocks north up the street to get ahead of the bus that had ditched me and caught it at the next stop. I was very satisfied to have done that, rather than waiting X minutes in the blustery cold for the next bus (it was frickin' cold yesterday, I should add, and terribly windy).
On my second bus, I was treated to an amusing exchange by a couple of Lincoln Park Trixies (well, once Trixie and her friend, who lived in the Gold Coast). Both of them had the kind of atonal raspy voice of casual smokers (sounding something like, I dunno, Margot Kidder), and Trixie was seriously bottle-blonded, overtanned, and had incredibly white teeth, while Gold Coast had overplucked eyebrows and a face that reminded me of a female Corey Feldman. Both of them were average-looking, but well-dressed (not particularly stylishly, but they clearly had good jobs, if no real style to them). Their conversation went on and on and on. I'll try to capture what I remembered about it (again, delivered in that seal-like bray)...
LP Trixie: So, I tried to get X to take me out again, but he totally didn't.
Gold Coast: No?
LPT: I sent him a note, and he didn't reply.
GC: Maybe he was busy.
LPT: I dunno.
GC: Wait, was this a text?
LPT: E-mail. I tried to get him to take me somewhere, but he totally ignored it.
GC: How long's it been?
LPT: Well, like almost two weeks since we first, you know, got together.
GC: (laughing) And you've gone out how many times?
LPT: Once at [XYZ], once at [ABC], and we hung out at his place. He mentioned [DEF] but I was like "Dude, isn't that a bar?" (scoffs)
GC: I don't know. Depends on the time you go.
LPT: It's totally a bar. I wanted to go someplace sit-down, a nice place. You know, like what normal people do, like boyfriend-girlfriend stuff. And so I jokingly e-mailed him and he didn't reply.
GC: Maybe he doesn't have any money?
LPT: Oh, he does. He threw down $150 at the bar last time.
GC: Hmmm, yeah, you throw that much down, you can definitely afford a dinner.
LPT: I know, right?
GC: Unless he just blew it all at the bar.
LPT: Maybe he just doesn't like to DO stuff; maybe he's just a 'hanging out' kinda guy. Like he called the other day and was like "I'm watching the OSU game with the guys; you wanna come hang out?" and I was like "No, thanks." And now, like nothing.
GC: Maybe you shouldn't have shot down his suggestion you go to [DEF.] (laughs)
LPT: Yeah, maybe. I'm trying not to overthink it. I mean, he really likes me, I can tell, but it's just weird, like why he doesn't, you know, want to do stuff with me. (keeps checking her iPhone during all of this)
GC: Well, we can catch "Crazyheart" Friday, after we go shopping. How about that?
LPT: Alright; I asked him if he wanted to see it, and he's like "Yeah" but then nothing happened. Am I supposed to set everything up or what? I don't know what his deal is.
GC: Maybe he's just quiet.
LPT: Sure, but, you know, he doesn't seem to want to know, like, anything ABOUT me. Like he doesn't ask me about my day, or anything. He likes me, I can tell, but, like, doesn't, like, TALK to me about ME, you know?
GC: My stop's coming up; don't overthink it. I'm sure you guys'll work something out. Like you said, you've known him for, what, almost two weeks? (laughs)
LPT: Yeah (laughs) Seeya later!
And then LPT continued to text on her iPhone obsessively until she got off at her stop (and then kept going, like texting and walking).
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Video: Pillar of Salt
I've had this song in my iTunes since August of 2006 (weird that it's been so long), and I always enjoyed the song. I didn't really like the other Thermals tunes, but this one was spot-on. Anyway, I'd never seen the video before, and just ran into it the other day...
Two things jumped out at me: 1) the frontman reminds me a bit of my teenaged self -- just a long-faced, lanky wackball, and 2) the bassist is CUTE. She's a little hottie. I never thought about what the band looked like, which just amuses me a little in retrospect. Now I kinda want to see their other videos, so I can gawk at their bassist some more. Kinda. The problem is that they use almost the exact same chords for a number of their songs, which is distracting and kinda odd.
Two things jumped out at me: 1) the frontman reminds me a bit of my teenaged self -- just a long-faced, lanky wackball, and 2) the bassist is CUTE. She's a little hottie. I never thought about what the band looked like, which just amuses me a little in retrospect. Now I kinda want to see their other videos, so I can gawk at their bassist some more. Kinda. The problem is that they use almost the exact same chords for a number of their songs, which is distracting and kinda odd.
Stirring the Pot
Okay, so this development calls to mind something I've talked about before (not here), where states' economic crises are going to supersede the "morality vote" (e.g., against drug legalization, gambling, and prostitution) -- and suddenly, the vice crimes are going to be increasingly seen as sources of revenue. The fundamentalists are all about keeping the futile Drug War going (newsflash: Prohibition STILL doesn't work), but states are cash-strapped, and are going to have to find some "magic" way of getting revenue, and that is going to decide the legalization issue -- and I think that's a good thing, to be honest. All that money that gets wasted fighting a losing war on drugs can be allocated elsewhere, and the money that comes from tax revenue on drugs will be usable for all sorts of things.
In 2001 (!), Portugal (I know, right? Source of great proverbs and apparently sane drug legalization policies) went with an across-the-board drug legalization policy and they've found (big fucking shock) clear drops in crime and improvements in public health -- treating drugs as a public health issue and taking it out of the police bailiwick, with incredible results.
I know American politics has a terrible case of the Stupids thanks to the reactionary wailers in our midst, but eventually, there will be a change down the road, if only because economic necessity drives states to be less censorious, and more open-minded.
In 2001 (!), Portugal (I know, right? Source of great proverbs and apparently sane drug legalization policies) went with an across-the-board drug legalization policy and they've found (big fucking shock) clear drops in crime and improvements in public health -- treating drugs as a public health issue and taking it out of the police bailiwick, with incredible results.
I know American politics has a terrible case of the Stupids thanks to the reactionary wailers in our midst, but eventually, there will be a change down the road, if only because economic necessity drives states to be less censorious, and more open-minded.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
St. Steve of McQueen
Seems fitting on what would've been his 80th birthday (today) to invoke another of my patron saints: Steve McQueen. In real life, he was a crazy motherfucker, drug-addled and astoundingly insecure, but his iconic cinematic naturalism was unparalleled in his day. Daniel Craig has masterfully mined McQueen for his own shot at superstardom, although he's just a pretender to the throne -- any time I watch Craig acting, I will point out wardrobe choices, looks, walks -- all sorts of things that he's taken from McQueen. Why not? McQueen's long dead, but his shadow hangs over everythign Daniel Craig tries to do.McQueen's crowning glory in movies was his "reactor" quality -- he was called the King of Cool and really still holds that title; there aren't really any actors out there who match his quiet ability to command a scene. The "reactor" nature he put forth was his responding to the acting of another -- so, Actor X would say something, and McQueen would react to it, very internal, very in himself, versus trying to act and drive a scene. It makes for many compelling performances.
He had the ability to take command of any scene he was a part of (and was terrible about upstaging his fellow actors -- watch him in his early movies, and you'll see him doing things, lots of "business" to draw the audience's eyes on him. "The Magnificent Seven" is full of moments like that, where he took a comparatively small part and made it big by doing that, clearly bugging Yul Brynner). McQueen's movies are very of their time, very 60s (most of them, during his apogee), but his performances endure above and beyond them. His all-American kind of antihero way about him, his straightforward, simple-yet-impeccable style, his feral naturalism, those were things I just took to.
I used to wear Baracuta jackets and Clark's Desert Boots in high school in private homage to McQueen, my own kind of lopsided Mod-Punk style (in my view, spot-welding the Jam to the Sex Pistols by way of McQueen -- trying to stand out by looking sharp in a very Classic Guy kind of way, not that anybody really noticed or appreciated it back then). My rule of thumb was that if it looked good on McQueen, it'd look good on me -- and that's held up over the years.
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