Une orange sur la table Ta robe sur le tapis Et toi dans mon lit Doux présent du présent Fraîcheur de la nuit Chaleur de ma vie An orange on the table Your dress on the carpet And you in my bed Sweet present from the present Freshness of the night Warmth of my life […]
Archive for April, 2006
Pondering the revolution
Three weeks ago I bought a Sony PlayStation 2. I made the purchase with misgivings. I left it in the closet while I wrestled between the desire for our family to have a cooler gaming system than Nintendo Gamecube and the shame of gross consumption with the potential of violent behavior. I had visions of […]
Naughty web sites
The recent talk on this blog about Googling people, in particular new romantic interests or old lost friends, has made me think about the other ways that the Internet has exposed our private lives — for good and bad. There are a few websites that I have come across recently that reveal all kinds of […]
My night out
I’ve been grading too many papers, deciphering and producing too many words. So, just a few more… Saturday night. Sushi with Nikki. Then, Silversun Pickups opening for The Elected at the El Rey. Then, Silversun Pickups blowing The Elected out of the water at the El Rey. (I might be a little biased.) Finally, drinking […]
Sunset cruise
One of the happiest outcomes of Bennett Miller’s extraordinary and deserved success with last year’s Capote is that his debut film, the 1998 documentary The Cruise, has finally been released on DVD. Long a cult favorite among NYC-o-philes, Miller’s first film followed the mundane — but poetic — antics of Timothy “Speed” Levitch, a New York […]
Love of country
This kind of thing seems to happen a lot these days and it drives me crazy: A fanatical member of some religion or other does something horrible: blows up a bus, bombs an abortion clinic, whatever. Then a more moderate adherent of that same religion gets interviewed by cable news. Their response to the horrible […]
Fred Karno and his mates
Tired of the words that come out of your mouth? Looking for some fresh and charming language with which to impress your friends and family? This week, we’re going to expand your vocabulary with English phrases that are sure to increase your popularity. Try out one or two each day and soon your coworkers and […]
Quickies: More very short reviews
The drill, familiar now like that post-sex muscle spasm: 100 words or fewer, words of 2 or fewer letters don’t count. The Life Pursuit, Belle & Sebastian (Matador, 2006) You know how all the heavy metal bands have one or two softer songs on each album, and how the softer songs often sounded (back in […]
“Think like a winner!” — Arsenio Hall
“Things don’t always turn out the way we want them to, how we imagined they could have been. Before events are committed to history, the possibilities are limitless in our minds. But when that cruel dividing line between the past and the present passes over events in our lives, there is nothing more that we […]
Cooking koan
First, take one and a half cups flour, one half teaspoon salt, two tablespoons sugar. Blend them together in the food processor. Add one and a quarter sticks of butter, cut up. Blend until it looks like cornmeal. Add two egg yolks and blend a bit more. Put it in a bowl. Sprinkle three tablespoons […]
