hello houndstooth

Buon Natale!

2010-12-27T09:26:00.011-05:00

pizzelle-making, snow-falling, and malamute-playing

2010-12-19T14:17:00.007-05:00

last week, the bf and i decided to take an impromptu trip to virginia wine country. going into it, we both held tainted views of va wine as being overly sweet and, well, just not very good. would there be anything to change our minds?

disclaimer: no matter how much i throw around words like "finish" and "overtones," i am not a sommelier. (see: mcsweeny's "terms used by the sommelier that indicate you should order a salad") i am a wine-snob wannabe who has convinced herself that i can indeed tell the difference between a $10 and $50 bottle, though more realistically i can probably delineate between a box of franzia and, well, anything else. but the matter is, i like wine for more than just its alcohol content. and wine tasting is more than an excuse for free cheese, crackers, and booze.

1. horton vineyards

low key and with over 40 varieties, horton was a good place to refresh our memories on all the types of wines that are out there. though a lot of their efforts seem to be focused on fruit and dessert wines (not my personal faves), the dionysus portuguese red was great. they also claim to be the only authentic makers of port in the state. it seems that there is some debate on the issue of what can be labelled "port" (similar to the case of champagne); in the EU, only ports from portugual may be called such, but in the US this is not so. still, it seems that some winemakers in the US choose not to call their port-like products such and choose different terms out of respect for the real deal...i did try their signature XOCO chocolate dessert wine, after having gagged seeing the very same thing in the grocery store a few weeks ago. it tasted like, you guessed it, sweet wine with chocolate syrup in it. although, the scent alone was quite nice.

2. barboursville

one of the wine meccas of virginia, barboursville is known for its vineyards, italian vintner, and one of the best restaurants in the region. walking into the barboursville winery is how i imagine many of the napa and sonoma valley sights to be like. but it's not all for show; the wine was hand-down the best of the day. i prefer red, but their pinot grigio was nice and the signature "octagon" blend (named for the central feature of the barboursville ruins house achitecture) was my favorite. bf and i decided that dinner at palladio would have to wait for a major life event, seeing as you need reservations weeks out and about a hundred/person to lay down for 5 courses and wine pairings.

3. burnley vineyards

definitely a change of pace after barboursville, burnley is small and cozy. it has a mom and pop feel and is without the pomp of barboursville. though the wines weren't outstanding, we had a nice conversation with the owner and i bought a bottle nevertheless. only later would i regret this decision - i bought a different vintage of the wine i liked the best, but upon opening it, i found it vinegary and undrinkable. guess that's what i get for not buying what i tried.

my list isn't quite as extensive as the people behind virginia wine time, my vine spot, or virginia wine dogs, so if you're planning on making any vineyard visits, definitely take a look at their reviews.

virginia winemaking is different from what i expected to be. one can find a bottle that's certainly as good as many california wines and those from farther abroad, while contributing to local, more sustainable purchasing. not to mention that the state's dry dry summer was bad news to most farmers, but great news to viticulturalists. draught = smaller, more flavorful grapes, so many of the people we talked to said that 2010 will be a good year for virginia wine.

other va wine resources:

monticello wine trail

virginia wineries

washington post article on virginia wine

shackleton and cutting off your own arm

2010-12-16T13:57:00.006-05:00

it happens to most bloggers, the dreaded break. life happens and somehow writing and the blog get put on the back burner. i think mine ended up in the garbage disposal. here's the part where i apologize for my lack of posts and list various excuses as to why i've been too busy to write.

on to the post...

"ordinary people doing extraordinary things" is how tales of survival are often described, even though i'd beg to say that there is a divide in the genre; there are stories of people who found themselves accidentally in terrifying circumstances (see: shipwrecks and plane crashes) vs. those people who more or less invite the adventure upon themselves, though they may not know to what extent their adventure will take them (see: explorers, mountain climbers).

in any case, however, it seems that under dire circumstances, people are able to do things they thought were impossible. many of these stories shouldn't be called "survival" stories, as that was unfortunately not the outcome for all involved.

some of my favorites (true stories):

alive (piers paul morgan) - the uruguayan rugby team's plane crashes in the andes
into thin air (jon krakauer) -a tragic ascent of mt. everest
into the wild (jon krakauer) - chris mccandless goes off the grid and into the alaskan frontier (emile hirsch did a fantastic job in the film version)
grizzly man - less survival, more strange man vs. nature. timothy treadwell gets a little close to his passion - grizzly bears. the film is great, although some (me) may find that director werner herzog tried too hard to let you know that he is god's gift to the documentary film world

more recently:

127 hours - movie version of aron ralston's story of being trapped in a canyon in utah, where he amputated his own arm in order to escape. was a little underwhelmed by danny boyle's version (probably because i really like his other films), but the story itself is pretty epic.
the endurance (caroline alexander) - british explorer ernest shackleton plans to be the first to cross antarctica on foot; instead the team's ship becomes trapped in ice floes only to sink, leaving them stranded. the book has beautiful black and white photos of the entire saga. there is a made for tv movie version starring kenneth branagh that might be worth watching, haven't seen it yet.

future endeavors:

the long walk (slavomir rawicz) - story of soldiers' escape from a russian gulag in 1939 and their trek all the way to british india
skeletons on the zahara (dean king) - 1815 shipwreck and landfall on the edge of the sahara desert
adrift (steve callahan) - story of the only person to have survived over a month alone in a life raft
we die alone (david howarth) - espionage and escape above the arctic circle as a norweigan soldier attempts to escape nazi capture
rescue dawn - i'll give herzog another chance with his film remake of a previous documentary, little deiter needs to fly. a downed pilot's makes his way to safety across and laos and vietnam during the vietnam war.

in researching popular survival books and movies, i came across this man several times: alexander selkirk, who some say is the real-life inspiration for robinson crusoe. in 1704, selkirk was marooned on an island off the coast of chile for over four years. more selkirk details here and recent discoveries on his campsite here.

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and in case you wanted some of those excuses as to why i haven't written in the past few months...life updates:

have been all moved in to the new apt. for a few months now. no, it doesn't look like a swedish cottage, nor does it even look like an ikea catalog. no, i never had the housewarming party i hoped to hold. no, i still haven't found correctly-sized curtains for the bedroom. but it's home and it's cozy and the radiators are working quite well on this wintry afternoon.
grad school semester 1 is officially over. and yes, i still want to be a social worker.
have started training for the shamrock marathon in march. hello 12 miles at 8am.

dreaming in swedish

2010-08-22T09:23:00.004-04:00

it's that time of year again. actually, it's those times of year again. back to school, leaving a job,
moving. apparently, i've been following the dr. arnett guide to being a twenty-something as i have moved 8 times in the last 7 years (1 x per year each year in college, back home, to japan, back home, to richmond and the upcoming move will make #9) and had 5 jobs in the last 7 years (albiet i was a student for 4 of those 7).

anyhow, the next few posts will be about one of those transitions in particular - moving.

take:

one empty apartment in the fan
two 20 somethings
hand me down furniture from friends and family

shake vigorously for the month of september in which we will be packing up 2 places and converging on the one.

because i have not actually begun the moving process yet (i.e. i have two empty boxes in the back of my car and am terrified of taking my target desk apart for fear of never getting it back together again), for now the focus is on the anticipation.

the apt. is in an old single family home in the fan, one that has been split into 3 separate apartments. even though the reality of decorating possibilities is limited by what stuff people are willing to give us and by shallow grad school pockets, let's take a quick moment to fantasize about the possibilities:

apartment therapy has been offering volumes of images of perfectly coiffed decors, providing page after page of inspiration (and more often, crushed dreams, as one such as myself realizes that she'd have to forgo paying tuition to make rooms look remotely as good as the ones in these pictures)

still, there are many instances in which we borrow from that which inspires us and transform it into our own. take a simple concept from a runway design or from the pages of a cookbook and use what you have to imitate. the same will have to suffice for us, seeing as we're not quite up to par with this munich loft or this sotheby's rental in portugal.

even when considering what i would do given unlimited funds, given a bigger place, and given the time to plan, i am stumped. how to combine all of the styles that appeal to me without making more boiled over sloppy stew than tactfully crafted melting pot?

after researching a number of styles, the squared edges and cool look of scandinavian decor is probably the most appealing to me. the designs are simple and modern, but often have a rustic, natural sensibility.

design*sponge has a great collection of scandinavian interiors, not to mention it's an all-around interesting blog with design guides to tons of major cities worldwide.

the blog my scandinavian retreat has tons of beautiful photos of danish interiors.

etsy blog the storque offers how-tos on putting together different danish-inspired collections.

emma's deisgn blog offers the swedish perspective and lots of eye candy from a range of different swedish styles (some lovely, some too avant garde for me)

not that i'd want my place to end up looking like the inside of the latest ikea catalog either. it's important to mix in elements from other styles, especially if those things that don't necessarily "match" hold meaning to you and have stories behind them.

in any case, it's all just stuff. stuff that we'll be putting in boxes and taping up and moving across town and unpacking and placing and one day repeating the process all over again.

pet peeve of the latest lexicon

2010-07-30T18:51:00.004-04:00

disclaimer: the following post is sexy.

as of late, i've heard a particular word being used in a wider context than ever before. hooray for artistic freedom and bending grammatical and lexical rules for creativity's sake, but boo for creating a bandwagon that removes all meaning from a word because it simply becomes trendy to use it.

sexy.

the evidence:

jeff goodall's incredible and disturbing article about the gulf oil spill in the latest issue of rolling stone. from the poisoning: "...BP has favored the use of chemical dispersants in the Gulf: Skimmers are slow, dull and prone to breakdown. Dispersants, on the other hand, are fast, sexy and usually delivered by specially equipped planes..." i will refrain from making a lubrication joke. the whole article is here: the poisoning

a ny times article on advanced degrees in statistics quotes google's chief economist hal vairan as saying, "I keep saying that the sexy job in the next 10 years will be statisticians and I’m not kidding.” lucrative? yes. rapidly developing field? indeed. sexy? umm...

there's a nonprofit organization called sustainability is sexy. sexy people can have sustainable lifestyles. but can sexy people put their sexy corn husks into sexy compost heaps to create stinky, nutrient rich, sexy soil?

an alternative energy news source declaring that "...sooner or later all automobiles are going to be either hybrid, electric, or hydrogen-powered. The one drawback...is the overall appeal of the cars. Very few models that are being put out are really all that attractive...That is about to change in a big way. BMW has recently hit the board with their prototype that is just flat out sexy." sexy like you want to have sex with the car or sexy like it reminds you of someone you want to have sex with? or both?

what is sexy anyway? sexy lingerie? strike a sexy pose? sexy sadie? obviously the most common definition has to do with exuding sex appeal, being risque, or arousing. much to my dismay, however, the dictionary lists the final definition as "excitingly appealing; glamorous," making all of the cases in point above technically (albeit still questionably) correct.

the (over)use of sexy may be closely linked to the "(non-sexual topic) porn" phenomenon. basically it extends the use of porn to describe tantalizing pictures of things that are not intended to be sexual.

examples include (and these are definitely safe for work, though i don't advise trying to search for different kinds of non-porn porn online):

chart porn
food porn
gun porn (not advocating for this one)

i guess i can deal with a dose of non-sexual "sexiness" every now and then. amateur linguistics geeks can easily accept the fact that many words assume different meanings over time. for example, awful used to mean what it sounds like, "full of awe." the daily kos provides some theories behind how and why words change meanings over time along with a thorough list of changed words. sexy is being transformed right now, but will it lose some of its inherent allure as more and more nonsexual things are labeled as such?

wild wild west part VII

2010-07-17T07:21:00.005-04:00

lucky #VII - vegas to RVA

we headed into vegas on a saturday morning, making our way through traffic on the strip. the vegas mix cd made some of the traffic bearable as frank and dean steered us in the right direction. the strip loses much of its allure in the daytime and i was looking forward to dusk and the start of glittering neon vistas. i couldn't get the ocean's movies out of my head as we crawled our way past the bellagio and its famous fountains. we finally reached our hotel, the aria resort, which is part of "city center" - a new complex of hotels and an extremely high-end shopping mall, sandwiched between the bellagio and monte carlo.

the inside of the aria was stunning. in the end i much preferred our non-themed hotel/casino and its subtle yet plush interior to the over-the-top usual suspects. once we dropped off our luggage at the room, we stopped by todd english's faux-britpub to catch the second half of the US's final game against ghana in the world cup. too bad US.

we made a small loop on the strip on foot, checking out the inside of several casinos and tourist spots. neither of us are big gamblers, so we decided to wait and take our chances in the evening when the mood seemed more appropriate. excalibur was perhaps once grand in the heyday of gaudy-faux casinos, but it seemed stale and somehow a bit sleazier than the rest. new york new york and paris have true theme park feels with miniature versions of their namesakes inside. there was something about the MGM grand that i liked inside, it was dark and bold, though i didn't much care for the whole lions in a glass cage thing. dan and i both really liked the tropicana as well, as it's one of the oldest casinos on the new strip, complete with a beautiful art deco ceiling in the main area of the casino. finally, there was the obligatory stop to the bellagio to see the venetian glass ceiling sculptures.

las vegas practices what it preaches. their ad campaign of "what happens in vegas stays in vegas" comes to life every single day, as it has created a facade of reality for visitors, a disney-esque park whose themes are money and sex. it just is what it is. the facade is so blatant, however, that it's amazing how many people get so caught up in it. for all of the deconstruction of las vegas you can handle, las vegas: the social production of an all-american city is available in its entirety online.

the heat from the electricity and concrete and lack of greenery started taking its toll on me as we walked around, so we headed back to the room where i dosed up on cold meds and fever reducers. i wanted to at least be able to feel well enough to head to fremont street later that day.

after scouring our guidebooks for buffet reviews, we decided that the buffet at the main street station hotel/casino on the old strip would be the best bang for our buck. perhaps its wasn't the $35 selection of french regional cuisine available at paris, but for $15 i'd say dan and i both enjoyed ourselves making the rounds like kids in candy stores. we selected samples of mexican food next to steamed shrimp and oysters, antipasta next to spring rolls, and bread pudding next to coconut cake and soft serve ice cream. the goal was to not overdo it on any one item, as there were so many we both wanted to try, an exercise in self-control to reach an end goal of gluttony. since we've been home, there have been several times in which i've had sudden cravings for a vegas buffet. strange?

we wandered around the old strip where casinos like the gold nugget, golden gate, and four queens have withstood the test of time, and provide more character and depth than any places on the new strip. we ogled cheap souvenirs, saw people pose for photos next to showgirls, watched the light/sound show on the covered walkway of fremont street, and tried patiently to get clear photos of the old neon signs on display. i even had my palm read. we patiently watched blackjack tables, trying to work up the nerve to play, but our beginners' jitters got the best of us and we both ended up playing video poker instead. i did get lucky and won about $10, and after a few rounds, we came out $2 on top between the two of us. could've been worse.

here is a chapter from the anthropology text hosts and guests: the anthropology of tourism, which goes into great detail on gambling as a tourist attraction.

the next day we walked to caesar's palace where the plan was to watch the argentina vs. mexico game at the sportsbook, but by the time we got there, all of the seats were taken. so we settled in and watched at a cafe/bar instead.

it took over an hour to get back and get our car back from the valet at aria and we headed to another guidebook suggestion for lunch - the cafe heidelberg. believe it or not, there are plenty of choices in german food for the non-meat eater (even though i've yet to see a veg version of weinerschnitzel...richmond, i'm looking at you. though i did find a recipe). cucumber salad, spätzle (sans gravy), rye bread, among other things. unfortunately, i still wasn't feeling up to drinking, and had yet to imbibe since we left the grand canyon, so no german beer for me.

by the time we got back to the hotel, i was exhausted and hoped to feel better after a nap. not so. the rest of the day was a wash as i just didn't have it in me to go out. fortunately i had a caring travel companion who went out in search of meds and food. the flight out was early the next morning (we had to be at the airport around 5:30) and i knew i wouldn't make it past 10:00.

before we knew it, we were back in richmond by 6pm the next day, smacked in the face by the humidity upon exiting the airport. welcome to virginia!

wild wild west part VI

2010-07-12T18:19:00.008-04:00

part IV - tusayan, az to las vegas, nv

though we hadn't decided where we'd be staying the night we left the grand canyon, we planned on making as many strange stops along the way as possible. the first was the flinstones' bedrock city, a sort of life-sized reconstruction of bedrock. though we didn't pay the admission price to get in to the actual attraction, the giant fred flinstone sign outside and flinstone-mobile was enough to sate the immediate need for roadside kitsch.

en route towards las vegas we decided to take old route 66 for as much of the trip as possible. it only passes through a handful of small towns now, but these towns thrive on the fact that passersthrough are trying to recapture the nostalgia of the old route. many of these places reached near death when the interstate bypassed them, but many are holding strong to their ability to offer a piece of almost-gone roadside americana.

the most fascinating story comes out of seligman, arizona. though we were both pretty unfamiliar with the town's history, the tale slowly unfolded through the places we visited and the people with whom we talked. perhaps you've seen a little pixar/disney film cars? we discovered that seligman was an inspiration for the story. but i'm getting ahead of myself...

many of the places in seligman and similar towns have the same outward appearance - an abundance of 50s signage, vintage gas pumps, and elvis and marilyn memorabilia. we ate at a little crazy diner called "delgadillo's sno cap," a take-out burger joint. though the vegetarian fare was sparse, and dan said the burger was just okay, the entertainment factor and the role that this place and its owners have had in the community made the visit worthwhile. the staff heartily plays jokes on customers. for example, dan asked for a straw and received a piece of hay, one employee asked if i wanted mustard and squirted a fake mustard bottle of yellow string onto my shirt, and another patron asked for a small coke and received a thimblefull of soda. the chocolate malt was delish and we would soon find out how the ower's family, the delgadillos, were perhaps known as the saviors of seligman.

we made our way down the tiny strip of souvenir shops and went into one that had a small annexed room with a solitary barber's chair inside. dan had mentioned getting a haircut and shave and after we inquired at the shop counter, a quick phone call was made and we were told to wait for a few minutes. soon enough, an older man arrived and asked around for who wanted the haircut. just before dan made his way into the room, two older japanese tourists asked to have their photograph taken with the barber. strange, we both though.

angel delgadillo's shop walls are plastered with business cards of people who have visited his shop and newspaper articles about him and seligman from all over the world. who was this witty old man who was trimming dan's scruff into a james dean-like coif? we asked him questions and he readily answered, describing his father's role in the town's commerce, following in his father's footsteps and becoming a barber, his brother juan's opening of the sno cap, and sitting down to talk with producer john lassiter about seligman's history and how it could be translated in the movie cars. the gift shop website has a great history of the family written up here and this site has a lot of good photos of the town.
after leaving seligman, we made our way west, reading burma shave signs aloud as we savored the last miles on 66 before we would turn northwest towards vegas. unfortunately that afternoon, i started feeling a little ill, so we skipped making an extra loop to check out a few ghost towns and kept going towards the hoover dam. we didn't stop to do a tour, though i did keep thinking about the griswald vegas vacation, "welcome everyone. i am your dam guide, arnie. now i'm about to take you through a fully funtional power plant, so please, no one wander off the dam tour and please take all the dam pictures you want. now are there any dam questions?"
i got my first taste of stale casino air when we stopped just inside the nevada border for a bathroom break. welcome to nevada. we decided to stay in boulder city, nevada, about 45 mins. outside of vegas for the night and found a great hotel, the boulder dam hotel. though we thought boulder city might be a bust, it turned out to have a nice little downtown. but the next day we didn't spend any time there, as it was time to make our way to the mecca of facades...

wild wild west part V

2010-07-09T20:27:00.002-04:00

part V - the grand canyon and surrounds

i'll unfortunately have to do the last couple of posts sans personal photographs, as i haven't been able to upload pics from dan's camera yet.

from durango, colorado, it took almost all day to reach our hotel just outside of grand canyon national park. one of the major stops along the way - the four corners monument - was closed. it was a major disappointment as i had fantasized about sprawling atop the marker, legs and arms in an X, as if being drawn and quartered into four different states. instead, there are pictures of dan and i making sad faces in front of the sign stating that the monument is temporarily closed.

the landscape in northeastern arizona was quite alien, complete with mesas and jagged rocks jutting suddenly out of the red earth. we passed through several tiny towns including kayenta, where the only radio station for miles was playing reggae, and tuba city, where we visited the "explore navajo interactive museum." the museum didn't look like much so when we inquired about ticket prices and the guy at the desk said $10, we started to walk away. he said he would give us the native american ticket price, $5 each. now i can finally say that i've used that 1/32 cherokee for something...the museum was informative and included a strange, lo-fi graphics computer animated video of the navajo creation myth, which has to be one of the most strange i've ever heard, and an exhibit about the contributions of the navajo code talkers in world war II.

after leaving tuba city, it was more desert driving as we passed the painted desert to on its western side and entered grand canyon national park. fortunately, i remembered to put aaron copeland's grand canyon suite sunrise as the first song on one of the many roadtrip mix cds. though we were tired and hungry, i talked dan into pulling over to one of the first overlooks we came to and what i saw, as i'm sure many have said before me, was truly spectacular. it is true what they say - photographs simply don't do this natural wonder justice. we finally arrived at our "resort" hotel, which was in dire need of interior renovations from its early 80s decor. but hey, after long days, a clean bed is all you really need.

the next day, we got out early to do the 3 mile cedar ridge hike halfway down the south rim of the canyon. forewarned about the dangers of hiking in high temperatures, it took a while for us to gather all of the necessary hydration equipment (read: we only had 1 liter bottle of water and eventually collected another, a powerade, a gatorade, and some trail mix). the trail was hot, mostly in the sun, and is completely downhill, followed, of course, by a completely uphill second half. luckily, we both felt pretty good and were able to complete it in a couple of hours.

after listening to a very entertaining ranger talk on canyon history tales, we went back home for a rest and collected more supplies to head back into the park for a sunset picnic. our gourmet feast consisted of pb&banana sandwiches, chips and salsa, and beer, and we found a quiet overlook where we enjoyed our dinner. we almost missed the actual moment of sunset looking for a parking space at a busier overlook with better views. we parked illegally to quickly join a mass of international tourists (we were the only english speakers within earshot) to watch the orange sun cast its final shadows inside the canyon before melting into the horizon.

the next day we made our way from tuyasan, arizona westward towards las vegas without a plan for the night's stay in mind. along the way towards nowhere in particular, we found several places well worth the wandering.

not to mention...

in tuyasan, just outside of grand canyon national park, i saw my first elk. in spite of the yellow warning signs for mountain lions next 10 miles and all of dan's fingers being crossed for a mountain lion encounter, we never saw any of the big cats.
somewhere between durango and the grand canyon is a town called "mexican water." the founder must have had a clever sense of humor.
an interesting short history of the grand canyon here.

wild wild west part IV

2010-07-01T21:50:00.008-04:00

part IV - durango, co and mesa verde

as we headed out of santa fe and into southwestern colorado, the landscape again shifted from desert shrubs to alpine-like forests and mountains. we had packed a picnic but it was difficult to find a good place to stop for lunch. we ended up eating on table outside of a new mexico visitor's center and had a very windy picnic, sitting on napkins and slices of bread, cheese and tomatoes under our elbows.

between northern new mexico and southwestern colorado, the land there is ranch country, with both horse and cattle ranches (and occasional goat and sheep farms) dotting the fields along the way. chimney rock was conveniently located on our route and we stopped to take a few snapshots. it was there that i unfortunately noticed a large black blob appearing on my camera screen (as seen in the pic below). i tried cleaning the lens to no avail and thought it best to seek out the first camera store we could find.

we did find a camera store at our next stop, durango, colorado.
durango was founded in 1880 as a train depot for the mining district in which it is located. the town's railroad influenced history is still very much alive today with the famous durango-silverton narrow gauge railroad line (now a tourist train, and what many consider to be one of the most beautiful and/or terrifying rail rides in the country).

we stayed in one of the nicest hostels i've ever sojourned at, the durango hometown hostel. cheap ($24/person), clean, convenient, safe, comfortable - everything a hostel should be. our first night in durango was spent orienting ourselves, checking out the camera shop (where i reluctantly admitted that i'd have to use dan's camera for the remainder of the trip as my problem could only be fixed by sending the camera away for weeks), and eating dinner at a himalayan restaurant.

the next morning it took almost 2 hours to reach mesa verde (it normally takes 1 hour, but there was road construction inside the park that caused major delays). along the way we stopped at one of the countless "indian trading posts," this one complete with tepees and enormous arrows sticking out of the ground.

in case your middle school history is a little hazy...mesa verde is a massive community of cliff dwellings built by the anasazi people (ancestors to modern day pueblos and hopis) about 800 years ago. it takes a while to decide upon a plan of action once in the park because some of the sites are very spread out and the ranger-led tours that give you more access run on strict time/# of people limits.

we first headed to the museum, mailed some postcards, and saw one of the smaller sites, then went on a packed ranger guided tour of canyon palace, the largest and most famous dwelling in the entire park. though the national park service adamantly warns of some difficult hiking (3 ladders over 10 ft. high! narrow walkways! rocky paths!), the hike was about 1/4 mile long and not quite as treacherous as they had made it out to be. what we saw on the hike, however, was well worth it.

our ranger, wendy, did a great job of getting us lazy, advanced technology-addicted folks to imagine what life would have been like living inside the cusp of a cliff with nothing but our shared knowledge of how to use our immediate surroundings for survival. the place is considered to be sacred ground by some native peoples today and their left offerings of statues, foods, and goods served as a link between a shared past and the present.

by the time we got back to durango, the time to shower and eat had come and passed, but we pressed onward and filled ourselves at one of durango's brewpubs, steamworks brewery (where dan insists he's had one of the best hefeweizens this side of deutschland. tasted pretty good to me). the next day would be a lengthy drive from durango to the grand canyon, so it was an early night for us...

but wait, there's more...

the beer probably tasted just a little better at steamworks because i was trying to wash down the fact that i had discovered that afternoon, thanks to my roomie for informing me asap, that my car had been towed from outside of my house, for street cleaning.
towing, $95. daily rate for having the car sit, $35. hefe at steamworks brewery, $7. getting my parents to rescue the hyundai from the impound lot, priceless.
i need to get the pictures from the rest of the trip before the next update!

wild wild west part III

2010-06-30T21:41:00.005-04:00

part III - santa fe, new mexico

early the next morning in cimarron we bid our farewells to the bsa, and i forgot to look over my shoulder as we parted ways with philmont. philmont's mountain range includes an arrow shape in the rocks, from which philmont gets its trademark arrow badge. legend has it that if you look over your shoulder as you leave and you see the arrow, you will one day return to philmont; if you don't see the arrow, you won't return. like i said, i didn't look, so who knows what the future will hold.

we made it in to santa fe just in time for lunch and we unknowingly hit up a very popular place, thomasina's, as we had a 30 minute wait to be seated. the food wasn't spectacular, but did begin to sate my immediate need for some real new mexican cuisine. i had vegetarian enchiladas and when given the new mexican choice between "green or red," i went green. the question refers to which color of hatch chile (a local variety of chile pepper roasted/simmered to a sauce) you want piled on top. green is the local's choice, or so i heard.

we stopped by our lady of guadalupe church, the new mexico history museum and governor's palace, and strolled through countless stores selling "indian goods," and turquoise/silver jewlery, (or places like kowboyz). it felt like santa fe embodied the old west spirit more than any place we had visited thus far.

after parting ways with emily and we settled into our hotel, the sage inn (which was luckily only a few blocks from downtown).
the next day we headed to loretto chapel to see its famed staircase whose properties apparently defy the laws of architectural physics (above). the previous day i spotted an ad for a scooter rental and we decided to look into this alternate mode of transport. though i was technically more experienced with scooters than dan (i was a passenger in japan and vietnam), i supposed his motorcycle license gave him a slight advantage at two-wheeled driving. we took turns at the wheel (handlebars?) and checked out some of the nicer houses just outside of town, as well as the war veteran's cemetery.

after getting back on our feet, we stopped for lunch at the blue corn cafe where we had what i thought was one of the best meals of the entire trip. huevos rancheros with green chile sauce, pinto beans, and fried potatoes. messy, cheesy, and gooey, they were serious comfort food and one plato was more than enough for the two of us.

we made our way back to the hotel, stopping in several galleries along the way. taos and santa fe both have vast art communities, though most of the art seems to be based on western nature-motifs and/or native american motifs. the works are sometimes unfortunately unintentionally cheesy, like they should be airbrushed on t-shirts and mudflaps at the mall. look hard enough though and you can find some interesting stuff, including a huge chuck jones gallery with hundreds of looney tunes cels. apparently, jones spent a lot of time in santa fe, thus the connection. random, yes, but i had recently watched the one where the coyote shrinks to 1/100th the size of roadrunner and tries toslice into his foot with a teensy knife. there was the original cel for that scene right before my eyes. it was called "the one where coyote catches roadrunner."

we continued our coyote fueled evening by dining at the coyote cafe downtown, where i had a horrible glass of wine and delicious veggie tacos and dan had a delicious chile margarita and not-so-awe inspiring cuban sandwich. we ended the night in santa fe sampling our way down the line at second street brewing company, toasting to our sunburns.

etc:

we stopped by r.e.i. (outdoors sports megastore) where i found revenge on the overpriced patagonia stuff in boulder. got a patagonia longsleeve pullover (i had failed to pack any jackets, forgetting that it can get cold in the desert at night) on super sale.
the next morning in santa fe was spent figuring out that when the hotel shuttle says "anywhere within a 2 mile radius," they didn't actually mean a radius. they meant "anywhere within 2 miles towards downtown." alas they wouldn't take us to the rental car store (and we later found out that hertz would've picked us up for free) so we took a $12 cab ride about 1.5 miles down the road. the cab ride came back to us twofold as we were upgraded from our cheapo chevy aveo to a toyota corolla for free. so white corolla, dan, and i got the heck out of new mexico...

wild wild west part II

2010-06-29T20:20:00.008-04:00

part II - new mexico (cimarron, philmont, and taos)

kyle, dan and i made our way to cimarron, new mexico, home of one of the boy scouts of america's (bsa's) largest camps, philmont. kyle has worked many summers there and currently our friend emily is working there as well (yes, girls can work for the bsa!). the camp has both boy scout campers and adult training programs.
the landscape slowly started to change as we left colorado and entered new mexico, though cimarron and its surrounds were hardly the barren desert i expected. the northern part of new mexico is filled with grassy plains and dramatic mountains rising in the background. philmont's vista includes a profiles of peaks, each with their own myths, such as the tooth of time, said to guide travelers on the santa fe trail, informing them that they had reached the 2 weeks point until santa fe.

the afternoon quickly came to a close and i'm pretty sure it was around this time that dan and i realized neither of us had been drinking nearly enough water to make up for the high altitude and dryness we were experiencing. did i mention we went to a bar whose real name i have forgotten because the giant letters on the front and side of the building reading "cold beer" have renamed it such? right, water, not beer. on the way back to the camp from cold beer, i saw my first wild buffalo herd. they were just close enough to distinguish as buffalo, not rocks or shrubs, but there's something you don't see in virginia.

we also got to see emily's boyfriend eric's spectacular and weird adobe house. first, it must be one of the largest properties in the whole cimarron area, or at least it just seems to keep going on and on. the house/store is owned by an artist who is trying to sell it (it's what you'd call a real fixer-upper), but with the right touches, the place could be a museum. every room has beautiful old tile work on the walls and/or floors, two rooms have replica wood stoves, the storage space has an elevator to one of the basements (eric thinks there is another basement, but they haven't found it yet), and eric's made himself a lovely vegetable garden in the greenhouse.

not to mention, it's right next door to one of the area's most historic spots, the st. james hotel. had i known what a historical hot spot for gunfights it was, i might've stopped in and had a drink at the saloon (water, of course.)the next morning at philmont, we got to ride stallions into the back country to rescue stranded campers from a hoard of hungry grizzly bears with nothing but bowie knives! um, no.
but we did get to take a suburban ("philburban") with emily to pick up a kid who must've eaten some bad camp grub and had some tummy troubles. his group was checking out the 1920s log cabin kept as a historical artifact, complete with biscuits cooked on a wood stove, period costumes, and original game trophies mounted on the walls.

emily had to go back to work, so dan and i carjacked her subaru and headed to nearby clear creek trail to see some waterfalls. we even discussed what we would do in the (somewhat plausible) event of a bear encounter. all i kept thinking about was the scene in disney's version of white fang (you know, the one with ethan hawke?), where a grizzly chases him down and he hides under a pile of logs only to have the bear's claws dig through the wood pillars like butter.
"do we punch it in the face?" i asked. luckily, dan had it all planned out - stand on a log, make ourselves appear to be one large, scary entity and growl. didn't sound too hard, but luckily bears were nowhere to be seen.

the trail was halfway between cimarron and taos, so we moved along to the rio grande gorge bridge, a sort of appetite-whetter for the grand canyon. by the time we got back into downtown taos, parked the car, and oriented ourselves, we realized (again) that we were both well on our way to dehydration. we got lunch at the next place we saw and ordered the waiter to just keep bringing the pitchers of water. taos seemed a bit contrived to me, the downtown adobe section was clearly made up for tourists. but, we did get a chance to see some adobe truer to history at the martinez hacienda, a 200 year old home built by spanish settlers.

by the time we got back to cimarron, made dinner, and cleaned up, we were both pretty wiped out and the pull out couch was looking delightful. it would be an early morning the next day heading to santa fe with emily...that night i'm not sure if it was sunburn, a virus, or too much time spent with his girlfriend, but dan had a fever that made his skin feel like it was on fire. luckily with a new outlook on water consumption, heavy sunscreen applications, and nap time in the car en route to santa fe, he was better by the next afternoon.

miscellaneous thoughts:

i never knew about the new mexican accent. it sounds like blend between native american english, canadian english, and the standard midwestern american accent. interesting to hear, very hard to replicate. emily has picked it up a little bit with the expression "aye!" (pronounced less like a sailor saying "yes" and more like "aieee") used at times of pain, disbelief, or surprise.
the stars in new mexico were unbelievable. i've always loved stargazing and astronomy, though i can't remember much from one of my favorite college "filler" classes. i remember the first time i looked at saturn and mars and the moon through the telescope i got for my 8th birthday. they were completely different places from the ones i could see from my very nearsighted eyes. i've never lived in a place that was very conducive to getting lost in the night sky...newport news, fredericksburg, osaka, and richmond all have more than enough light pollution to block out all but the brightest orbs. it was nice to sit in the back of a pickup truck at eric's house counting the satellites passing by overhead and picking out constellations whose names we'll never know.
santa fe preview...

wild wild west part I

2010-06-29T16:01:00.007-04:00

part I - boulder, colorado

it's a different experience starting a trip somewhere you've already been before. you don't get that same sense of curiosity, but rather a welcomed familiarity mixed with wonder at what new things you'll discover that you may have missed the first time around. this is how things felt for me heading into boulder, colorado almost a year ago from my initial visit.

dan and i were both glad to be visiting friends neither of us had seen in a while. we stayed with kyle, a friend from college and now a chef at jax (might sound familiar to my fellow top chef fans - season 5 winner hosea was working there when he was scouted by bravo). his apartment is conveniently located near downtown boulder and on his days off with us, kyle was more than happy to give us a full on food and booze fueled tour of the city.

because dan only gets basic tv channels and i get none at all, we were both more than happy to realize that we'd have many more chances to catch some world cup games on our trip than we would at home. so, what better way to start off fresh in the morning that with a spectacular bloody mary bar at the west end tavern.we walked off the morning's ambivalence (portugal and cote d'ivoire tied 0:0) and vodka around downtown boulder gawking at bike shops, one of the nation's exclusive tesla dealerships (sellers of high-performance electric cars and the first to use lithium-ion batteries) and sweet outdoorsy clothing that none of us could afford (i'm looking at you patagonia store).

no worries though, we chased away our inability to have buyer's remorse by heading to avery brewery, home of such creations as my personal favorite, the belgian white rascal to the wicked 15.1% abv mephistopheles stout. colorado made a beer lover out of me.

the next day we worked off the booze with a hike to the royal arch at chautauqua park, which took about 2 hours round trip. followed by lunch and more world cup at what kyle described as the locals' favorite mexican joint, pupusa's, where we had delicious homemade salsa, and of course, pupusas!

we checked out the factory tour of celestial seasonings tea, where you can drink free samples of any flavor (go for the sweet coconut thai chai), enter the wonka-esque mint room which feels like someone planted a peppermint farm inside of your sinus cavities (refreshing though), and where dan was forced to wear a beard net over his 5:00 shadow (we all had to wear hair nets but this was particularly amusing).

onward to counteract the healthful benefits of hiking and herbal teas, we went to twisted pine brewery. though the beers weren't quite as on point as those at avery, they did offer a raspberry beer and more importantly, a chili beer, which were both quite good. lots of ogling at the fantastic downtown boulder farmer's market where they had fresh fruits, veggies, meats, cheeses, baked goods, and every other organic/granola substance one could imagine.

we had dinner at jax where i had a wonderful tuna tartare-like dish over sticky rice with a spicy peanut sauce. the thing i liked best about jax? really high quality food in a relaxed atmosphere. it was all about the food, none of the stuffiness or showy nature of a lot of upscale restaurants back east. unfortunately i didn't try a custom cocktail made with their own infused liquors. it only took three days in boulder and a dull background headache to make me recognize that water, not alcohol, was the remedy to a mild case of altitude sickness.

the next morning started off with a run around the university of colorado campus in the morning before hopping in the car to make our way south to our next stop: cimmaron, new mexico and the philmont boyscouts of america training camp.

last minute thoughts:

did i mention that boulder simply has to be named the nouveau-hippie capital of the nation? though i haven't visited portland or seattle, of the places i have been, i've always thought of san francisco as the old school hippie capital of the u.s.

these were the people who went to the original woodstock, who smoked weed when it was 100% illegal, and some of whom have survived on the streets preaching free love and flower power for decades.

boulder hippies are a different breed completely. teva sandals, all organic diets, and daily yoga sessions, i'm assuming that boulder is a highly educated city, even though it didn't rank in the top 20 most educated cities (based on on what percentage of the population has a bachelor's degree or higher). however, denver and colorado springs both placed, making me wonder how commuters to and from boulder might affect those findings...anyway, boulder hippies must make enough money to buy the prana yoga clothes and to pay 4.00/bag of mesculin mix.

oh! and to pay for the prescription marijuana! it was a bit strange and amusing to see dispensaries (being from the east, they are known only in fables of those crazy states out there that have - gasp! legalized pot).

it seems like a truly enjoyable, relaxed place to live. perfect weather, beautiful scenery, healthy lifestyle, great beer...cheers boulder!

more pics @ picasa

sweet sweaty summer

2010-06-06T21:31:00.003-04:00

somehow the month of may came and went quickly, taking with it any legitimate springtime weather and now those of us without central AC have our fans oscillating at full speed. it seems like just yesterday we were talking about cabin fever from being snowed inside the house, now i'm wiping sweat from my brow and glowing inside and out from high doses of vitamin d.

summer vacation is just around the corner and the bf and i will be heading out west next week to visit friends, see some classic americana sights, chow down on tex-mex cuisine, and take the ever coveted photo of straddling 4 state lines at once.

i also plan on fulfilling a particular road trip fantasy of staying at at least one kitschy roadside motel. (see: the wigwam hotel in arizona as a prime example).

it seems that a lot of the classic motels (think neon signs like richmond's very own westlake shopping center sign) were demolished years ago
however, in a quest to plan a few retro encounters, the following sites are proving invaluable:

roadside america: basically allows you to search any city/locale for weird and/or vintage sightseeing.

roadside peek: allows you to view pictures of notable places and search by location and theme. for example, i started looking at arizona roadside signage, arizona roadside neon, and arizona tinpan alleys.

it's all a bit overwhelming as we are covering a vast area, so it's going to take a while to narrow down the choices. between dinosaur tracks, ghost towns, about 60 separate oversided muffler men, and atomic test sites, i don't think we'll be able to fit everything in. not to mention that las vegas is a self-proclaimed mecca of oddities (sadly, the neon museum is closed this summer).

speaking of atomic test sites, atomic tourism is not a new idea, but one that got started literally as the bombs were being detonated, as is chronicled in pbs's american experience. the "bureau of atomic tourism" provides lists of museums and testing grounds, hopefully now radiation free.

may the chronicles of a western adventure begin...

all's fair

2010-04-30T19:07:00.006-04:00

when i think of the fair, i think of a carnivalesque erector-set of unsafe thrill rides, sketchy game-masters, every form of fried food imaginable, and occasionally beauty pageants for 9 year olds and booths of "kuntry krafts" where one can purchase such artifacts as life-sized stuffed children with their eyes hidden in a permanent game of hide and seek.

however, the world's fair, or world expo, was and is still a much different sight.

on april 30, 1939, the world exposition held it's grand opening in new york city. this was not the first world's fair (which was held in london's hyde park in 1851). it was, however, the largest world expo to date and i assume there are some artifacts in NY still marking its existence. UVA's american studies program has a pretty detailed description of the fair and its focus on the "world of tomorrow." also, this site comes from an image collector who has put together a book of images and postcards from the fair. the book looks a bit more detailed than the postcards on the site.

probably the most well-known fair-related piece of pop culture is 1944's meet me in st. louis. as of today, the blogger has not yet seen this film (for shame) and if i had a netflix cue,it would be somewhere near the top. in any case, the 1909 st. louis world expo sounds like the ideal place in which to hold a musical. there is the lesser known elvis extravaganza, it happened at the world's fair (1963), which just doesn't seem to have the same charm as vincente minnelli's and judy garland's take on the exposition.

the world's fair today doesn't get as much press or recognition as it did back in the day, perhaps because now it's so easy to trade ideas and cultures via rapid communication forms. it there a need to collect ideas in one physical place anymore? still, there is something about the magic of amassing visualizations of the future from around the world and seeing them play out in tangible forms. the closest thing i can imagine to visiting the fair would be disney's epcot center and i'm sure epcot's designers had the world expo in mind when they developed the park.

this year, the expo is being held in shanghai, and it's amazing that china was able to put it all together after the 2008 olympics in beijing (especially considering it will be the most expensive fair to date). the opening ceremony was held on april 30 and the video below shows some amazing view of the city...

wannabe

2010-04-19T17:50:00.004-04:00

there are few people who can honestly say that they haven't had some small secret fantasy to be famous. and as far as fame fantasies go, there's nothing more commonplace than to want to be a rock star. the aura of being a successful rock musician is one that grasps many of us at some age. for me, it was during the early years of high school that i was taken by the lure of wanting to be a musician (or at least to bear a slight resemblance to one, and hopefully it wouldn't be keith richards).

this was not the aspiration i told everyone about as i was fully aware of the low probability of going from playing guitar along to cds in my bedroom to getting spike jones to direct my next music video. (which, by the way, music video director was also one of my secret "pretty much impossible but would be awesome" career options)

in honor of never making it to behind the music, today's post is for all of the wannabes.

Couch-ella: gawker.com's tribute to fake TV bands...don't feel bad - even the bands in TVland didn't always make it to the top (see: Jesse and the Rippers)
Guitar Hero and Rock Band: these games have provided musically challenged people the forum to become rock stars in their living rooms (friend's parent's basements). these games must have some impact on the number of kids (and adults) who do or don't pick up real instruments because time is spent playing the electronic versions instead. time magazine even named game creators alex rigopulos and eran egozy two of the most influential people of 2008.
do not like his shirt. :'-(
in case you want to keep the dream alive, there are camps such as toronto's league of rock and the rock'n'roll fantasy camp (in london this year) where adults (and kids...day jams and rock farm camp) can somehow learn in a few weeks how to become professional musicians. groupies and drug addictions not included.
and finally, in case you can't even think of a name for your band that never quite got around to practicing together, there's the band name generator. my personal favorite results: molotov loser, panama association, and almost jessica and the interference.

making do

2010-04-05T15:45:00.006-04:00

travel is on the horizon. but sometimes to sate wanderlust, you have to make do.

without even leaving home:

steinbeck as a travel writer. i had no idea that john steinbeck wrote a travelogue, travels with charlie, chronicling his roadtrip across the u.s. in the early 1960s. less known because it was outshone by of mice and men and the grapes of wrath, travels with charley reveals the author's dilemma of finding "the real america" and offers insights like the following:

"A journey is a person in itself; no two are alike...We find after years of struggle that we do not take a trip; a trip takes us...In this a journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it."
"So much there is to see, but our morning eyes describe a different world than do our afternoon eyes, and surely our wearied evening eyes can report only a weary evening world."
"Perhaps we have overrated roots as a psychic need. Maybe the greater the urge, the deeper and more ancient is the need, the will, the hunger to be somewhere else."

above: rocinante, steinbeck's coach, aptly named after don quixote's beast of burden.

musical meanderings:

i noticed that i kept hitting "next" when i put the ipod on shuffle and decided it was time for some new tunes. presenting a mental map of how i went from one place to another in my quest for new tunes:

i started out knowing i really wanted the new black rebel motorcycle club single "beat the devil's tattoo"-->nico vega-->JET-->eagles of death metal-->the velvet underground-->the parlor mob-->the black keys-->wanda jackson-->etta james-->james brown
somewhere along the way, there were brief stops at the queens of the stone age, wolfmother, and the dead weather, got lost on the "trainspotting" soundtrack (took a turn at the velvet underground to the stooges-->iggy pop--> recalled how much i liked underworld's "born slippy" even though it has no place on this mix whatsoever.)

also,etta james was a badass. i'm hoping to get a copy of her autobiography, rage to survive soon.

real trip coming soon, rockies, deserts, and canyons oh my.

highbrow vs lowbrow

2010-03-22T11:44:00.010-04:00

highbrow vs. lowbrow - a review of entertaining things

in an attempt to gain some immediate cultural relevance, i decided it was time to see "avatar." and well, hell, if you're going to pay to see it in the theater, it might as well be in 3D. and it was everything i dreamt it would be - an over-hyped science fiction/action movie with bad writing, bad acting, and impressive technology. aside from the hype and wide success of the movie, it's articles such as this one that are most disturbing: audiences experience "avatar" blues. basically, some people are reporting feeling depression after watching the movie because they desire to live in a world like that of the navi's pandora.

if it is ironic to say, "avatar" is lowbrow entertainment at its pinnacle. neal gabler's discussion of how entertainment has become the most real, influential force in america (from his book life, the movie) is realized in the "avatar" phenomena.

however, credit should be given to the movie for providing a widely appealing forum for an anti-war, pro-environmental message.

highbrow 0, lowbrow, 1

people who regularly have intellectually stimulating conversations are more likely to be happy, according to this ny times article, talk deeply, be happy.

highbrow: 1, lowbrow: 1

vanity fair's proust questionnaire... john cusack, monty python, yogi berra....and you can take
the proust questionnaire yourself.

highbrow 2, lowbrow 1

angela bassett voicing for michelle obama on the simpsons. see it here. some may argue that the simpsons have crossed over into highbrow, and while there maybe some truth to this, i'm giving the point to lowbrow due to its mass appeal, widespread recognition, and level of intellectual prowess required to "get" the show.

highbrow 2, lowbrow 2

however, i think this is a win-win for everyone:

there used to be a show on tv (it aired on a high-up in the numbers cable network called MOJO) called three sheets, hosted by comedian zane lamprey.

he went to different countries to experience their drinking traditions and cultures.
you watched and said, "how do i get paid to travel around the world and get wasted?"

he has a book coming out now.
concept about highlighting cultural nuances and traditions - highbrow.
concept about having a stuffed monkey for a sidekick and shameless tales of drunkenness - lowbrow.

highbrow 3, lowbrow: 3

draw.

see also:
this adorably amusing chart of highbrow-lowbrow spectrums
lawrence levine's highbrow/lowbrow: the emergence of cultural hierarchy in america.

Tiny Epiphanies

2010-03-07T07:24:00.003-05:00

Little things that have been revealed to me over the last couple of weeks:

1. New Jersey ain't so bad. Headed to the Garden State last weekend for an engagement party to be treated with things like:

The best damn cannoli I have ever eaten (and probably ever will) and homemade limoncello
A personalized tour of Sandy Hook at Gateway National Park (including the oldest running lighthouse in the US, a slightly delapidated gun battery that resembles an insane asylum, and the most adorable 1940s officer's house completely decked out in period furniture, decor, and memorabilia)
Dancing. On a dance floor. At the Knights of Columbus. I needn't say more.

Part of this epiphany includes the fact that a roadtrip can and should be made out of any opportunity to cross state lines. Side trips included: Annapolis, MD, Washington, DC, and a brief session of worshiping Swedish design ingenuity at Ikea. Look at these pretty fabrics! Skol!

2. Random inspiration can be found in the strangest places...

Before-and-After Pictures: Underwater Church Reappears
Jim Jarmusch's travel advice
Only 3 months until the World Cup begins (I am determined to make World Cupcakes again, iced according to the final match's team's flags, duh).

3. "The Union Is Forever" by the White Stripes is about Citizen Kane. My brain had some trigger-like response every time I listened to the song anyway, ears perking up when they get to the "There is a man, a certain man" chant...now why does that sounds so familiar?! And it all came together one day in a glorious moment of realization that two of my most favorite things had slightly merged into one. Lovely analysis here.

4. You can't look for epiphanies, they just happen. Usually quite unexpectedly. Case in point: I watched New York, I Love You yesterday wondering if I'd be hit with some overwhelming urge to choose NYU over VCU for grad school. Didn't happen. The movie itself was just okay, not quite as good as its predecessor Paris, Je T'aime.

in time for Easter...

2010-02-22T14:41:00.004-05:00

The closest I've ever really been to Russia was flying a mile over the Sea of Okhotsk en route to and from Japan. Seeing Okhotsk's name finally show up on the digital map in the head rest in front of me was always a welcome sign heading to Japan because it signified that the bulk of the flight time was behind us, as passengers on transpacific flights know that "Are we there yet?" is a mantra we unconsciously chant as we drift in and out of achy sleep.

However, the closest I've ever felt to Russia were during occasional trips to Richmond as a child. My family often visited the Virginia Fine Arts Museum (thankfully reopening this May) and its Feberge exhibit was always my favorite part of the trip. Until now, I didn't realize that the VMFA Faberge exhibit happens to be the largest public collection of Faberge items outside of Russia. I would make several laps through the exhibit, repeatedly trying to choose my favorite, which one I would've liked to be my Easter egg. One Christmas, I even received a tiny replica egg charm which I worn adoringly on a gold necklace for several years.

Last September, after a new company acquired the rights to the Faberge name, the company has been relaunched and is now producing super-luxurious jewelry. When I first saw a few of the pieces, especially the flower-inspired rings, I was impressed, but the more I thought about it, the more I disdain the whole idea. This is definitely a case of taking a well-known name steeped in arts and crafts history and removing it from its traditions. When is it okay to continue to have an artist or designer's name posthumously attached to products and objects that may or may not coincide with their original visions?

Part of the allure of Faberge collections is not just the incredible quality of craftsmanship and perfect materials used to create these symbols of luxury, it is the history represented, the story behind each piece. Most were gifts to and from royal family members, primarily created during the reigns of Alexander III and Nicholas II. After the Bolshevik revolution, several of the large eggs were sold by Joseph Stalin for foreign currency and according to Wikipedia,"Of the 65 known large Fabergé eggs, only 57 have survived to the present day. Ten of the Imperial Easter Eggs are displayed at the Kremlin Armoury Museum, Moscow in Russia. Of the 50 known Imperial eggs, only 42 have survived."

Who knows, maybe someday someone will have a hell of a tale for Antiques Roadshow, "I found this thing in my great aunt's attic in a box labeled "comic books" in a trunk buried under suitcases of my grandfather's old pajamas. Think it's worth anything?" (cue bearded antiquities appraiser falling dead on the spot due to a heart-attack). Everyone likes a modern-day treasure story and finding a lost imperial Faberge egg would definitely take the cake.

This little foray into a small piece of Russian history coincides perfectly with a recent library acquisition - Siberian Dawn by Jeffrey Taylor. Taylor chronicles his trek across Russia in the early 1990s.

This site also has a wealth of information about the eggs and their place in Russian royal history. And a WSJ article discusses my new library checkout/amazon purchase, Faberge's Eggs.

wishes for windy winter wednesdays

2010-02-10T17:17:00.002-05:00

your toes aren't cold. the wind isn't blustery and biting at your nose. you don't hear the sound of trucks and plows and spinning tires. you don't see constant shades of white and gray.

nononono...
a warm late summer afternoon, outside wearing this

or this

and maybe these vintage diors
sitting and drinking this

...and in a few hours, it'll be this

reading this (full text found here on project gutenberg)

because you're here

get buck in here

2010-02-03T21:47:00.007-05:00

until reading this ny times article, i had never heard of the popular alcoholic beverage, buckfast, made and sold mostly in the u.k.. apparently the drink, a syrupy-sweet wine, has come under scrutiny lately as it's widespread consumption has been linked to alcohol-related violence in the u.k., specifically in scotland.

the humor in this bbc study lies in the fact that buckfast is linked to violence in two ways - that violent drunks have a high probability of having drunk buckfast before starting their altercations and that the bottle itself is more likely to be used as a weapon than perhaps other bottles.

"3 out of 4 scots prefer the quality skull-shattering glass of a buckie's bottle. when aiming at that boggin' arse in a back alley brawl, don't let cheap glass cost you the fight."

the times article also refers to recent fda discussions on the implications of caffeine-laden alcoholic beverages. while caffeinated cocktails sound good in theory (especially for chronic sleepy drinkers like myself, who have gained reputations for being the first to fall asleep at alcohol-heavy social events), apparently mixing the two could be bad for you. who wouldv'e guessed?!

some caffeine amounts for common drinks:
Coke - 34 mg (12 oz)
Red Bull - 80 mg (8.4 oz)
Sparks - 87 mg (16 oz)
Coffee - 130 (8 oz)

so in spite of my abhorrence of red bull and vodkas and usually those who drink them, i guess that as far as combining your uppers and downers, an irish coffee is a lot worse.

at least they're honest - "the name 'tonic wine' does not imply health giving or medicinal properties."

though buckfast may be hugely popular in parts of the u.k., it doesn't seem likely that a restriction on the beverage will lead to a decrease in alcohol-related crimes. there'll always be other bottles to take swigs and swings with anyway.

auto-fixation

2010-01-30T09:14:00.008-05:00

I can't change the oil in my car. Yet. This is why I paid a decent amount yesterday to have plugs checked, oil replaced, and wheels aligned at the shop.

My automotive maintenance abilities are limited to the following: pumping gas, checking tire pressure and filling as needed, checking the oil level, washing/waxing, jump-starting (in theory only), and the ever important opening the hood and staring at the engine, making "hmm" sounds confidently and inquisitively.

I've changed a couple of tires, once not extending the jack to its highest capacity, only to have the car fall off, bending the jack into a useless twisted shape and fortunately not limping away with any crushed limbs. For the most part, I'd say that I'm fairly savvy about cars, not quite a gearhead, but I do prefer manual to automatic and I figure that must count for something.

Automobiles hold a strange place in the American cultural landscape, with threats from drowning polar bears reminding us that they shouldn't be held in such high regard anymore. Though the age of the auto might be on the cusp of waning, I know that I get in my little blue Elantra 6 out of 7 days of the week and so I still find car-related news, even news extolling auto-culture to be relevant today.

First, there is a study out of Australia which reveals that women are much less likely to get in accidents than men. Basically, it comes down to women being more cautious drivers and men being more aggressive on the road. But I guess the question is, what is your definition of "better" driving? Being less likely to get in an accident or being able to do things with your car that should probably be limited to closed courses?

It goes deeper...there's a rift between what we'll call A Drivers and B Drivers. A Drivers see cars as tools and tools alone. As mom would say, "I just need something that gets me from point A to point B." B Drivers, however, see cars not only as utilities, but as any of the following: hobbies, sports, toys, accessories, activities. They can be speed demons or Sunday drivers, but they get pleasure out of the act of driving. So, perhaps the study should clarify a bit, women are "better" drivers on insurance claims reports, "better" at safely getting from one place to another. Perhaps more men just need to listen to Albert Einstein when he said that "any man who can drive safely while kissing a pretty girl is simply not giving the kiss the attention it deserves."

But as far as comparing B Drivers on a gender basis, it should be looked at as other activities are. Sure, most sports are divided on gender lines, but those sports are often based on absolute physical size and strength. Driving, however, is an awareness/dexterity/judgement-based activity, one in which women and men can and should be judged on equal grounds...we should use sailing, equestrian, archery/shooting, and billiards as further examples. I'm still not sure why some sports like surfing, skateboarding, and freestyle snowboarding aren't more co-ed, especially when they're judged on technical ability rather than speed/force. It's ridiculous to keep framing activities such as driving in a women vs. men mold, unless we're strictly talking about accident-based data.

With all of that said, and with my driver's ego stroked a bit (assuming I'm not too bad of an A or B Driver), it's time to gaze longingly at the slideshow from the Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale, AZ last week.

adjectively adjective

2010-01-24T17:36:00.004-05:00

the week's adjectives in review and subsequent ramblings:

1. the FUNNY - A woman came in to the salon a few days ago and told my manager and me that she was there for her colonic appointment. I think I stared at her blankly for a second (she later said my jaw dropped) and my manager kept scanning the computer screen, trying to find her name and appointment. He had no idea what she had just said and asked her again, "What kind of service were you here for again?" and before she could repeat it, I told her as politely as I could that we don't perform that service at our salon/spa. Apparently she had mixed up one spa's email with another and unfortunately found herself at the wrong place, ready to be, well, cleansed. My manager was still out of the loop, "What is that?" to which she replied, "If you don't already know what that is, I don't need to tell you." She decided not to leave to find the right appointment and instead booked a massage. Not exactly the same procedure, I'm not sure I'd be able to switch mental preparation gears that quickly from expecting to have my bowels flushed to having muscles kneaded. Of course after she left I explained to my manager what a colonic is and I still don't think he understands why someone would want to pay to have that done.

2. the DELICIOUS - Having a guest in town gives one full rights to imbibing at various establishments practically every night, spending way more on food and drink than a usual weekly eat-in routine. Highlights of a whirlwind tour of Richmond's culinary scene included:

Vegetarian paella at KubaKuba
Fruit&Veggie skewers, cheese grits, and the oh-so-sweet Ginger Snap cocktail at Balliceaux
Soysage festival breakfast at 821 Cafe
Hob Nob Pinot Noir at The Republic

3. the ENTERTAINING - Chuck Thompson's travelogue To Hellholes and Back -the author spends a year going to places he always thought would be shitty, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, India, Mexico City, and Walt Disney World.

4. the RIDICULOUS - February's Cosmo, in its ever-true form of spouting useless, stereotypical dating advice presents: "Are you turning your boyfriend into a girly-man?" as critiqued by the awesome people at Sociological Images

5. the ENDEARING - Charlie Brooker's article for the Guardian lamenting Kraft's takeover of Cadbury chocolate. Brooker on Hersheys:

"Considering how much imagination the Americans have, and how much they like food, it's surprising we're so much better at making chocolate than them. And we are better. I can still vividly recall trying Hershey's chocolate for the first time. The name held a certain glitzy allure: after all, I'd heard it mentioned in countless Hollywood movies. Like Oreo cookies and M&Ms, it was one of those brands you faintly revered even though – at the time – it wasn't available in British shops. So when I eventually got my hands on an authentic Hershey bar, it was quite an event. I stared at the iconic packaging for about five minutes, as though it were a prop from the set of Ghostbusters, before unwrapping it with care, breaking a bit off and preparing to savour what would surely be the most powerfully glamorous chocolate experience imaginable.

But the moment the product itself hit my tongue I was plunged mouthwards into an entire universe of yuk. In terms of flavour, it tasted precisely like I'd swallowed a matchbox full of caster sugar five minutes earlier, then somehow regurgitated it into my own mouth. And the texture was crumbly, dusty – slightly old even, as though this was a chocolate bar that had been found in the pocket of a civil war soldier and preserved specifically for my disenchantment. It was so horrible, I charitably assumed there was something wrong with it. I was eating it in England (someone had brought it back from the States), so perhaps it had gone off somehow in transit. But no. Subsequent encounters proved I'd got it right the first time. Hershey's tastes downright bad."

The man has a point.

of the feline or canine persuasion...

2010-01-14T10:25:00.006-05:00

Anyone who grew up watching Homeward Bound (1993), or perhaps more regrettably, Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco (1996) will recall the chant of miss-priss kitty Sassy, "cats rule and dogs drool." Well, to a seven year old raised in a house that always had cats, this was the unquestionable gospel truth.

I've had several conversations with people recently about being a "cat person" versus a "dog person," and am surprised by people's belief in the absolute nature of this division. I have in fact talked with a rare breed of human who coexist between the two worlds, raising both kitties and puppies in one rainbow coalition of fluffy love. I'm not sure what is wrong with these people, because apparently the rest of us believe this issue is more than a slight preference, say for chocolate or vanilla; this is something against which people like to glean snippets of themselves, to reveal something about their personality.

Take, for example, a recent NY Times article chronicling the personality study done by the University of Texas, Austin. Researchers extend such personality traits as "extraversion, agreeableness and conscientiousness" or "neuroticism and openness" to animal owners. Now I'll leave it up to you to figure out which traits were supposed to go to which pet-lovers. C'mon? Neuroticism? Should be left to the people who want to have a slobbering, dependent, and often clueless mutt following their every move until some object is thrown far away for retrieval.

Don't get the wrong idea...I don't hate dogs. I don't even hate dog lovers. Some of this uncomfort with canines may have to do with the following:

1. I've always had cats, never a dog
2. My first memory of a dog was of my grandparents' sweet, but rambunctious chocolate lab twice my 4-year old size knocking me down and licking my face repeatedly, which I did not find amusing
3. Being chased by dogs that may (German shepherds) or may not (Jack russells) have the ability to eat me alive on runs and bike rides

I simply feel awkward around them, as I only know what cats enjoy in life and guess what? It's not what dogs like.

Still, the unfairness in being a self-proclaimed cat-lover lies in a pesky stereotype, perpetuated in The Simpsons, which even I admit to using. There is no equivalent of "crazy cat lady" in the dog-lovers' world. Loving dogs is normal, sane, even charming...loving cats can be creepy, antisocial, and smelly. Apparently the Crazy Cat Ladies Society (for real) has taken to combating the stereotype, hoping to reclaim their love for all things feline in a positive light. Or we can just go with the norm and purchase things like this crazy cat lady action (inaction?) figure and hope that the proceeds go to spay/neuter clinics (they don't.)

Tennessee Part II

2010-01-08T22:40:00.006-05:00

Franklin, TN, Mammoth Cave Natl Park, and Bowling Green, KY

I was dreading New Year’s Day basically because I was afraid that NOTHING would be open. A drive south out of Nashville took us to the cozy little town of Franklin and a restaurant called Dotson’s. It was the usual southern fare, but this place had a kind of down-home character that has (perhaps thankfully) been kept a secret from out-of-towners like ourselves. Waitresses that call you sweetie, mile-high meringue pies, menus autographed by country singers passing through and free servings of black-eyed-peas on New Year’s Day made this place one of the highlights of the entire trip.

Pecan and meringue pies at Dotson's

En route to visit some friends in Bowling Green, KY we stopped at Mammoth Cave National Park. We skipped sightseeing in Bowling Green simply because when asked what there is to do in their town, native Bowling Greenians may respond with the following: “Nothing,” “There’s the Corvette Museum,” or “There’s a shopping mall.” Even though we missed the last official tour, we were offered a quick and free taste of the cave – a park ranger leads you in, you check out the first main room, and turn back. But as sparse as that sounds, it was actually quite impressive, and our park ranger was very knowledgeable and passionate about the history of the cave. A few tidbits – it is the longest cave in the world, they used to keep oxen in it to mine saltpeter, and it was the site of the world’s first underground tuberculosis hospital. I can’t imagine what kind of stuff you learn on the full-length 2 hour (plus) tours. Definitely worth the extra 30 minutes drive north from Bowling Green.

Nashville Part II, Wineries

On our final day in Nashville, we headed to Belle Meade Plantation, a horse farm built in the early half of the nineteenth century. The plantation was decked out in Christmas décor, and in spite of having to wait outside in the cold for our tour guide, it was well worth the wait. The inside was beautifully decorated with a few curiosities such as the former owner’s bizarre foot fetish. Owner William Giles Harding had the hooves of his most prized horse removed (posthumously of course) and made into an inkwell, a rhinoceros foot cuff-link case (literally the whole bottom half of a rhino foot with a hinged top), and a boar’s foot mantelpiece. Belle Meade recently opened its own winery (the first nonprofit winery in the country), where we got the idea to taste our way back to Roanoke, VA.The Belle Meade Smokehouse: not vegan.

It reads: 1. Start with a hog. 2. Scald the hog. 3. Scrape the hog. 4. Butcher the hog. 5. Salt the hog. 6. Smoke the hog.

Before heading out of the city, my cohort indulged me in a wild-goose chase for Jack White's record label/store Third Man Records. I was pretty sure the place would be closed for the holidays, and was correct, but at least I got to peek through the yellow glass and wonder at what must go on in the studios there. Thankfully, we had The Dead Weather's Horehound (recorded at Third Man) on in the car to make up for being locked out. I could've sworn I saw White's cream-colored Thunderbird parked on a side street earlier that day...

who's that creepy girl looking in the window?

A Tennessee winery booklet guided us eastward, and we stopped at three wineries along the way home. Lesson learned? Tennesseans like their wine sweet. Cabernet? Merlot? Pinot? Sweet, sweet, sweet. And that's before the fruit wines – apple, blackberry, strawberry – which taste vaguely of Hawaiian punch. But at the last stop in Knoxville (Blue Slip Winery to be exact), we decided to kindly contribute to the Tennessee wine trade and bought a bottle of the driest red we’d had all day.

After a long unintended side trip to a Tennessee lake upon which we’d hoped to have lunch at the marina restaurant (closed for the season), a gas stop in what felt like negative temperatures, and a dinner stop at a little Chinese restaurant in Bristol, Virginia (it was on the VA side of Main St., not the TN side) we returned to a frosty Roanoke at around 1 am.

So, back in VA, and I won't say "it's good to be home" because dammit, the road was good.
Check out Picasa for more photos.

Tennessee Part I

2010-01-05T22:11:00.007-05:00

New Year’s…a new found hatred for Tennessee wine, a new found respect for country music, and an unchanged love for a change of scenery and some biscuits and apple butter.

Though I’m not usually prone to a lot of “this is the best dang country God ever created and don’t you forget it!”, if there’s one thing America can tout it’s having an incredibly diverse cultural and geographic landscape. And if there’s one thing that stokes the fires of admiration for this heterogeneousness it’s roadtripping.

This New Year’s Eve was spent in Nashville, Tennessee, with several side trips and the following highlights some of the winter holiday’s best (and worst) of this southern jaunt:

Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, TN

In front of the dramatic scenery of the Great Smoky mountains lies Pigeon Forge, best known for what could possibly be the world’s largest amusement park named after a woman. A woman with a heart of gold and breasts of silicone, of course I’m referring to Dolly Parton. The strip through Pigeon Forge, leading to Gatlinburg, the entrance to the Great Smoky Mountains Nat’l Park, looks like the incestuous bastard child of Las Vegas and Myrtle Beach, with a replica of the Titanic (which I think was also a casino?), a medieval-themed, castle-shaped family fun center, complete with pony rides in the front parking lot, and a wholesale, discount Christian bookstore. Gatlinburg itself was really no more attractive and I longed for the tamer 1950s versions of national park entrance-town charms like small motor lodges and log-cabin restaurants. But, sometimes you just have to put your nostalgia aside and embrace that which is the Americana of the 21^st century…which is why I found myself at Christus Gardens, a biblical-themed wax museum, complete with dioramas of Jesus’s life, a parking lot full of church buses from all over the country, and a final scene of Jesus actually ascending via hydraulic pumps above a cotton-cloud backdrop. The docent who instructed us to watch the film and be guided by the audio and visuals through the museums’ rooms explained, “When the Lord ascends into heaven, you’ll exit through the rear doors into the prayer garden.” I wondered if the Lord would mind me slipping quietly out the back door.

Nashville, TN

The Country Music Hall of Fame Museum is an elegantly modern building in the heart of downtown Nashville and provides a holistic view of the country music genre. I was admittedly afraid that I would be faced with a barrage of homages to Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood, but was happily surprised by the focus on the roots of country music and a vast collection of articles from rare musical instruments to Carl Perkins’s blue suede shoes, to Elvis’s gold Cadillac.

Though tickets to the Old Crow Medicine Show concert at the historic Ryman Auditorium (the Grand Ole Opry used to be there, Johnny and June were regulars, Hank Williams was banned, etc) were sold out, the best was made of a free concert/fireworks display in downtown. The New Year’s party was great, every bar offering live music and packed to the brim.

The night came to a close at Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge and when the cab driver dropped us off at the hotel, we asked about the fare,

“I’m taking whatever tonight.”

“All I have is a fifty and a one.”

“I’ll take the fifty.”

Yeah, I bet you will…lucky, he had change.

We’ll return to Nashville after a brief sidetrip…

life in beta

2009-12-21T08:46:00.003-05:00

orson welles's short but sweet encounter with betacam...new article by frank beacham, who worked with welles shortly before his death in 1985, pioneering the use of betacam recorders...

it's nice to be left with the idea of what orson welles would have done with film technology since then.

stuck

2009-12-20T12:33:00.003-05:00

the hyundai elantra was not meant to bear through an almost-foot of snow, especially on an incline. there was no street parking when i came home friday night, so i unsuspectingly parked in the church parking lot across the street. bad choice. faced with inclines at either end of the alley that connects to the lot, my poor car is just going to have to wait it out. and so am i.

so in honor of virginia's early snowfall and in the tradition of being a bit stuck...a word on cabin fever.

according to the online etymological dictionary, the term cabin fever was first recorded in 1918.
there's a medical journal article entitled cabin fever: a folk belief and the misdiagnosis of complaints (preview found here). basically, researcher russ christensen uses police data on domestic violence and suicides in anchorage, ak to compare folk beliefs on cabin fever with empirical data. according to the report, domestic violence and mental disturbances are common symptoms (or consequences) of cabin fever, but there doesn't seem to be any correlation between seasons and frequency of violence or suicide. unfortunately, you have to pay to read the full report.

jack london tells of a most extreme version of cabin fever in his short story "in a far country," which can be read in its entirety here. it's the story of two men who opt to wait out the alaskan winter in a cabin together, rather than push on the difficult trek to dawson with the rest of their gold-seeking party. the two quickly find themselves at odds with not only the perpetual dark, cold, slow passage of time, but with each other. as the "fear of the north," as london calls it, bears down upon them, the two men begin to deteriorate quickly, both physically and mentally.

"He dwelt upon the unseen and the unknown till the burden of eternity appeared to be crushing him. Everything in the Northland had that crushing effect--the absence of life and motion; the darkness; the infinite peace of the brooding land; the ghastly silence, which made the echo of each heartbeat a sacrilege; the solemn forest which seemed to guard an awful, inexpressible something, which neither word nor thought could compass."

brrr.

fortunately, a cup of tea, netflix watch instantly, and a stash of christmas cookies should keep myself and most others trapped sane until the thaw.

men don't make passes at girls who wear glasses

2009-12-13T22:59:00.005-05:00

that is the mantra of marilyn monroe's character pola in 1953's how to marry a millionaire (also starring lauren bacall and betty grable), in which three models rent a posh uptown ny apartment to lure rich men into marrying them.

beautiful ladies and costumes, it almost lives up to being "the most glamorous entertainment" of my lifetime for sure. and schatze's (yes, that's bacall's character's name and the name of my next teacup pomadoodle puppy coincidentally) advice could hold some weight with single girls today...

"look, the first rule of this proposition is that gentlemen callers have got to wear a necktie. i don't want to be snobbish about it, but if we begin with characters like that, we might as well just throw in the towel."

it might not always be country club standards, but we all have those dealbreaking criteria on which we make first judgements. must have front teeth. must not drive a minivan. must wear a necktie. whatever.

she goes a step too far when she rules out guys at the meat counter over guys shopping for mink stoles. being one in favor of animal rights, i guess i'd take the lesser of those two evils?

of course, this critique of poor schatze, loca, and pola assumes the suspension of one's disbelief in favor of a ridiculous movie premise in the first place. or so i thought...but apparently there is still a market today for self-help guides that entreat women to tips on how to get their own sugardaddies. titles include:

smart girls marry money: how women have been duped into the romantic dream - and how they're paying for it (2009)
read: smart girls avoid books with ridiculously long subtitles

the gold digger's guide: how to marry the man and the money (2004)
note: written by "ivana b. rich." really.

how to get a rich man: the princess formula (2007)
formula: money + marriage = happiness. like, duh.

even forbes magazine was in on the trend with this article from 2006. click on the link from there for 10 tips on how to meet "the rich."

pola (monroe) spends her time removing her glasses around prospective suitors because "you know what they say about girls who wear glasses." so she pulls out the slapstick and runs into walls, unsurprisingly looking innocent and sexy at the same time. that is until she meets her future husband who is even blinder than she, who tells her that her glasses suit her and even accentuate her beauty. see promotional poster above: "cinemascope: you see it without glasses!"
thank goodness!

scatterbrain'd

2009-12-07T22:04:00.003-05:00

the week in review.
Old postcards. Forget putting them in plastic sleeves of binders. Chop those suckers up and use in collages, card-making, and any other paper-related craft you can think of. Cheap and usually easy to find at antique malls, there's something fascinating about something that is postmarked 1915 with a sweet little message to Cousin Elanor from Gertie in Niagra Falls. This year's Christmas cards? Vintage cards attached to blank postcards (for a personalized message) tied together with red ribbons.
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I was talking to a friend about people who ask a lot of questions when the answers are irrelevant. A hypothetical conversation could go as follows:

A: So I was eating this restaurant the other day when this guy...
B: What restaurant?
A: Charlie's. Anyway, this guy came over to my table out of nowhere and...
B: Were you eating there by yourself?
A: No, I was with a few friends. So this really weird looking guy comes over to our table and asks me...
B: Who were you with?
A: Georgia and Marshall. He asks my name and insists that he knows me.
B: Who, Marshall?
A: No not Marshall, the creepy guy.
B: Is Charlie's any good? I've always wanted to go there...

You get the point. Datawhore...that's the term my friend (not Georgia, Marshall or creepy dude) gave to these kinds of people, which I thought was an awesome new phrase. New, or so I thought. Leave it to urbandictionary to crush the dreams of a future neologist. But, their definition varies in that it refers specifically to digital content, whereas we were talking about people who want all of the details, whether or not they are relevant to the story.
More neology? Head over to Word Spy, an endless source of entertainment on newly popular words and phrases.
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I'm not a fan of Regis or Kelly, but this recipe for Brussel Sprouts and Butternut Squash has been a big hit twice - at Thanksgiving and at a potluck. Easy and easily vegan...just put a little more olive oil instead. I also replaced the chesnuts with toasted pecans.
Speaking of Brussel Sprouts, who knew they grew on a big funky stalk? I didn't until I saw one at Trader Joe's a couple of weeks ago.
Next year's Christmas tree...
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adventures in cable tv

2009-12-01T13:53:00.006-05:00

i don't watch a lot of tv. a few essential shows here and there scavaged from the corners of download kingdoms online...but today at the gym, i indulged in the mid-morning fluff of nbc and discovered...

does that look appetizing?

1. hellman's mayonnaise should stick to the truth - use mayonnaise because it tastes good, not because it's good for you.

i'll admit, my opinion of mayonnaise has been set in stone for years - it is the most offensive condiment ever - and no tv ad will ever change my mind on that one.
basically the ad showed images of its "fresh" ingredients such as eggs and oil/vinegar, interspersed with happy people eating sandwiches and whatever other foods one pollutes with mayo. but what put me off more than the goopy white paste itself was that the ad was toting the healthy aspects of mayonnaise by focusing on the natural ingredients of mayo being high in omega 3s.
everyone knows mayonnaise is about as far as you can get from health food, so trying to jump on the health food bandwagon with this one seems just plain silly. just stick to what you know. mayonnaise makes food taste good (allegedly) because it's pretty darn bad for you. one tbsp. contains 90 calories, 10 grams of fat, and 5 grams of cholesterol.

medieval torture device?

2. l'oreal telescopic explosion mascara sounds and looks more painful that it actually is

first off, worst product name in a long time. as if putting a mascara brush within millimeters of your eyeball isn't scary enough, l'oreal has come out with a brush that looks like a mace. plus, i don't want anything with the words "telescopic" or "explosion" coming withing miles of my eyeballs. apparently givenchy put out the first spherical mascara wand recently, so l'oreal is the first drugstore brand to offer a widely available one. i stumbled upon clumps of mascara, a really cute beauty blog, with a review of the product from september.

3. on the rocks is how i felt after watching too much a.m. housewife television

tv is a reality-competition clustercuss. the today show featured the winner of a show called "on the rocks." it's an online series competition that seeks to find the best bartender in the country...riveting, i'm sure. anyway, in comparison to the mayonnaise and mascara, winner joe brooke was something nice to look at, all bow-tied and vested out for the holidays. his eggnog by the glass used raw egg, which then reminded me of mayonnaise again, but he redeemed himself with his winning bartender shake and by the fact that he didn't want to put spikes in my eyes (only in my drinks). he mixed up a pretty scrumptious looking concoction dubbed the "linus," as seen below.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

3 Things

2009-11-27T21:41:00.003-05:00

I've got it good. I asked for 3 simple things for my birthday this year, and even though the actual day has not come to pass quite yet, I was able to collect the following goodies:

1. The Raconteurs, Consolers of the Lonely
Given my penchant for anything Jack White (read: massive crush) it's a bit surprising even to me that it took me this long to get The Raconteurs' 2008 release. I enjoyed 2006's Broken Boy Soldiers and would like to blame living in Japan for my lack of knowledge about the wonder that is Consolers of the Lonely. Everyone appreciates an album in which flipping from track to track is not only needless, it's just plain stupid. This is one of those albums for me. I've listened to it straight through several times and can't even begin to choose favorites. Now if I can only wait for It Might Get Loud to come out on DVD next month and for a widespread release of Under Great White Northern Lights.

2. The Women (1939)
Please, if you for one second thought I was referring to the 2008 remake...ugh.
This is the real deal. Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Rosalind Russell, and Joan Fontaine, and Paulette Goddard prove that films don't need leading men to keep them afloat. Brilliant dialogue...
Mrs. Moorehead: Well, cheer up, Mary; living alone has its compensations. Heaven knows it's marvelous being able to spread out in bed like a swastika.

3. Jilbere Hot Rollers (available at Sally Beauty Supply)
In the hopes of creating curls in the manner of Rita Hayworth...

Coming soon...dirty martinis and Christmas card crafting!

2009-11-21T19:38:00.004-05:00

In the NY Times this week, Tony Perrottet writes of his gastornomic journey through Paris, following in the footsteps of Zagat-precursor and palate du jour Alexandre-Balthazar-Laurent Grimod de la Reynière. I may not be much of a Francophile, nor do I know the difference between a Sauce Bordelaise and a Sauce Bechamel (the chefs over at food lorists do a lovely job of explaining...), but Perrottet's article serves as a stark reminder of the fact that there are jobs (his) out there that beg the question "Why can't I get paid to eat in Paris?"

Though it was impossible for Perrottet to follow Grimod's 19th century guide to Parisenne cuisine to a tee (most of the places are no longer in existence, save Napoleon's official chocolatier), he was able to visit many establishments that have been around since the 18th century.

After reading the account, I wondered what similar historical paths of consumption could be taken through other cities. Though culinary writers akin to Grimod were few and far between over a century ago, I'm sure that as the restaurant developed into an important social and class marking establishment, those with the means could make a hobby out of becoming knowledgeable about dining out. There was a distinct difference made between being able to make food artfully and being able to consume it so. The foodie was born.

Obviously in the US, one can only go so far back. Business Week has a story on the longest-running restaurants in the US. Some have not been run as restaurants continuously, so the one that has, Union Oyster House in Boston (est. 1826), likes to claim the title as the oldest restaurant in the US.

Outside of the US, Restaurante Botin claims the Guiness World Record for the world's oldest restaurant, as it was founded in 1725. The War of Spanish Succession had just ended in 1714, Philip V, the first Bourbon ruler, had just been replaced by his son Loius I, the Enlightenment was proliferating, and people were hungry.

Surprisingly, good ol' New York Deli (est. 1929) in Carytown takes the title of oldest restaurant in Richmond, I guess as the longest continually running dining spot. It must be quite a feat to keep a restaurant going for a hundred years in Richmond, or anywhere for that matter.

back in black

2009-11-20T21:42:00.003-05:00

it's reality tv...someone always has to be the bad girl/guy.
season 6 of project runway ended last night with irina as the winner. in spite of her being portrayed as catty and spiteful, i thought her mostly-black collection deserved the win. her attention to detail and innovation in a season that was very lacking in ambition in comparison to previous seasons created a dark, tough look with a lot of pieces my closet is begging for.

i especially like the 11th look (third to last) and the felt hats.
however, i'd be happy if she and all other designers steer clear of ridiculously oversized knits and of course anything using real fur.

2009-11-18T07:49:00.004-05:00

optimism:

stripe strap dress and funnel neck herringbone coat from top shop

octopus locket from cosmicfirefly and genova locket (above) from japonica on etsy.

singin in the rain - just watched it for the first time ever and have concluded, yet again, that life should be a musical.

after watching a few friends play call of duty: modern warfare 2 for about 10 minutes i filled my video game quota for this year. but this artist's movement of video game designers is pretty promising.

pessimism:

competitive yoga - gross americanization?

they had to stop the north pole, alaska letters to santa program because it turns out one of the volunteers was a registered sex offender. sentiments below.

the 00's and billy collins

2009-11-16T08:15:00.004-05:00

i just linked this ny times article on facebook regarding how to name the soon closing decade. no one has seemed to come up with anything extraordinarily catchy or encompassing yet. as some thinkers in the article point out, it seems quite characteristic of us (meaning we of the developed world who have the power to establish rhetoric of historic consequence) to even want to try and create a retrospect on something that we are inherently still a part of.

vh1's "i love the 90s"came out in 2004. even vh1 offered a 4 year grace period before trying to encapsulate an entire 10 year period (that is very near and dear to me) in pop-culture snippets.

though it's really just a fluff piece, i appreciate the article for referencing 2001-2003 poet leaureate billy collins. i had never heard of billy before reading the opening stanza of "nostalgia," but here it is in its entirety:

Remember the 1340's? We were doing a dance called the Catapult.
You always wore brown, the color craze of the decade,
and I was draped in one of those capes that were popular,
the ones with unicorns and pomegranates in needlework.
Everyone would pause for beer and onions in the afternoon,
and at night we would play a game called "Find the Cow."
Everything was hand-lettered then, not like today.

Where has the summer of 1572 gone? Brocade and sonnet
marathons were the rage. We used to dress up in the flags
of rival baronies and conquer one another in cold rooms of stone.
Out on the dance floor we were all doing the Struggle
while your sister practiced the Daphne all alone in her room.
We borrowed the jargon of farriers for our slang.
These days language seems transparent a badly broken code.

The 1790's will never come again. Childhood was big.
People would take walks to the very tops of hills
and write down what they saw in their journals without speaking.
Our collars were high and our hats were extremely soft.
We would surprise each other with alphabets made of twigs.
It was a wonderful time to be alive, or even dead.

I am very fond of the period between 1815 and 1821.
Europe trembled while we sat still for our portraits.
And I would love to return to 1901 if only for a moment,
time enough to wind up a music box and do a few dance steps,
or shoot me back to 1922 or 1941, or at least let me
recapture the serenity of last month when we picked
berries and glided through afternoons in a canoe.

Even this morning would be an improvement over the present.
I was in the garden then, surrounded by the hum of bees
and the Latin names of flowers, watching the early light
flash off the slanted windows of the greenhouse
and silver the limbs on the rows of dark hemlocks.

As usual, I was thinking about the moments of the past,
letting my memory rush over them like water
rushing over the stones on the bottom of a stream.
I was even thinking a little about the future, that place
where people are doing a dance we cannot imagine,
a dance whose name we can only guess.

balloon boy

2009-11-10T09:04:00.002-05:00

the new york times revisits albert lamorisse's classic 1956 short about a real balloon boy.
see it here.

stacheattack.

2009-11-07T08:32:00.002-05:00

alan powdrill's photographic ode to the mustache... slideshow here.

keep the conspiracy alive

2009-11-06T07:18:00.003-05:00

now, i'm not one to go around talking a lot of crazy - roswell, the moon landing as a hoax, or mini mics and cameras in the new DTV boxes. while these ideas are fun to entertain and may or may not have some truth to them, conspiracy theorists don't really get the time of day.

however, after years of repeated viewings of oliver stone's JFK, combined with history channel documentaries and further readings, the kennedy assination will always hold a special place in my heart.

that's why holly ramer's article in the huffington post caused me to pause and reflect on my deep-seated belief that no, oswald was not and could not have been acting alone. ramer discusses the recent findings of hany farid, a photographic analysist, who has used software to determine that the famous photo of oswald in his backyard, packing a rifle in one hand and communist leaflets in the other, is in fact real. my co-conspirators will know that for years, everyone has been claiming that this photo was created as evidence against oswald, and that mis-matching shadows and light-sources were the dead giveaways of its contrived nature.

my explanation: assume the picture is real. no big deal. no one is saying oswald wasn't involved with communists and it seems likely that he would enjoy having his picture taken in this manner, as a kind of middle finger to the government. the photo was brought to light when it was found and chosen as a poster for oswald by the government and press, serving its purpose to portray oswald as a violent communist/lunatic.
conspiracy intact.

your english is good

2009-11-05T08:38:00.002-05:00

an email from one of my former students...she is a first year high school student, so about 15 years old, and has been studying English for 4 years. in her defense, she is a very smart, dedicated student who has just as much, if not more ability and motivation to learn English than other students might have.

"Hi! I am very enjoying high school. I decision to go England at March.For 3week.I am nervous now.So I study English hard.Please give me advice.And please tell me a sentence mistakes."

so, why do students start learning English at age 13? why do they focus on testing and limit the amount of practical, usable English learned? this article sums up a lot of what i think. it's from 2 years ago and still holds true. oh dear.

i needed this. i still do.

2009-11-05T08:33:00.003-05:00

although these suitcases would have been really handy en route and back to japan, i'll hopefully have more travels in the future when i need to stop for a rest.

they turn into a sofa, i mean c'mon!
after this, i want my backpack to have a built in back-massager and i'm going to ask for christmas gifts from skymall magazine exclusively.

the early bird

2009-10-28T21:22:00.002-04:00

i guess most people who have trouble sleeping usually face their problem on the front end of sleep; they can't fall asleep at night. sometimes i have the opposite problem, waking up earlier than i'd like to. but sometimes early morning is a secret and the light and quiet and chill is different than any other time of day.

haiku for the north trail

2009-10-28T21:13:00.002-04:00

yellow leaves contrast
the darkened earth and timber
moist from last night's rain

i wish...

2009-10-27T08:47:00.003-04:00

...i was in dublin that night. jack white waxed philosophical on music at trinity college last week. read the article at nme here. just imagine the bad acoustics if they used the library for a concert venue at night...

i am somebody

2009-10-27T08:33:00.000-04:00

god sesame street is amazing.

also, look how young jesse jackson is!

awful

2009-10-24T20:28:00.002-04:00

so we started the day off in the salon with a bit of drama. now usually, salon drama is relegated to sassiness between stylists, etc., but this was unfortunately a case of real-life honest-to-god drama.

this poor girl came in for a consultation. she went to a different salon yesterday where she had a truly horrifying experience. her hair was dyed a mid-brown shade upon entering the salon and she wanted to go completely blonde. now, i hate to say it, but most people know that it's nearly impossible to get a brunette to go completely blonde in a day. either you're going to end up with a light brown and/or greenish shade or your hair is going to fry. she experienced the latter.

the people (idiots?) at the other salon left bleach/chemicals on her hair for 6-7 hours (!!!). what she ended up with was fried hair that soon thereafter started falling out in clumps. she woke up that night with some itchiness on the back of her head only to find that they had missed rinsing out some of the bleach! that's when she made the appointment to come to our place, where she had been before. basically, she can do conditioning treatments to try to restore the hair in the meantime and in a couple of weeks they can try to recolor her back to a mid-brown (or whatever color they can get to stick). but there's no telling what will happen in the meantime.

i'm pretty sure she will be seeking legal action against the other salon, as their actions are definitely considered gross negligence. i can't imagine what she must be feeling as she documents the case for legal purposes, saving plastic bags of hair and taking photos of her head to be used later in court.

no one knows what salon she went to and i doubt i'll ever find out. craziness...

love love love

2009-10-24T20:21:00.002-04:00

nico vega

why didn't i know about this band sooner?
video for "burn burn" here.
playing at the red and black, washington dc, december 7 w/ inward eye and neon trees.

like the exorcist but more breakdancing

2009-10-22T08:13:00.003-04:00

no, i didn't come up with that title line myself, it's the name of murder by death's 2002 release. i caught them play last night at the national with the measure,the loved ones, and the gaslight anthem. lucky me, this was not my first mbd experience, as i saw the indiana act play at the black cat in dc in 2005 and in dublin, ireland in 2006 with against me!.

so, after three shows, i feel fully prepared to declare the following:

5 reasons why murder by death own:

1. concept albums
it's a dying art and one that has not been lost on this band. mbd have tied together spaghetti western, coal-mining town, and homeric themes across their discography, adding yet another layer to already complex and moving music.

2. cello
more specifically, sarah balliet. if you've ever seen the band perform, you know what I'm saying. she has a very enchanting, hypnotic presence and switches effortlessly between the cello and keyboard onstage. i do believe she could take yo yo ma in a knifefight.

3. instrumentals
don't get me wrong, i would let vocalist adam turla sing to me 24 hours a day if he was cool with that, but mbd isn't afraid to let the music speak without words as well, offering several 6+ minute instrumentals that showcase their songwriting ability. they also just completed an instrumental soundtrack to sci-fi author jeff vandemeer's newest book "finch."

4. cash seances
basically, adam turla's vocals may be the closest thing to johnny cash since, well, johnny cash. but don't be mistaken, turla has his own style that is cash-esque without turning into a tribute.

5. humility
nothing turns me off more than a band who knows how awesome they are and act as if they are god's gift to rock and roll. mbd are far from this and I always got a (i hate to put it this way) good "vibe" from the parts of their personalities that shine through both onstage and off. just read the tour diary and a few interviews and you'll see what I mean.

post-wedding weekend weariness

2009-10-19T13:51:00.004-04:00

as much as i'd like to write a "what i learned from throwing a wedding" post, i fortunately cannot do that. i can, however, tell you about successfully surviving (and perhaps even flourishing) as a wedding guest. in case you didn't know, my roommates tess and dan got married this weekend. and in case you also didn't know, they're kind of a big deal. sadly, this doesn't make me a big deal by housing situation-friend default. it has given me the chance to meet a lot of great people and be in on a lot of what's going on in richmond. their wedding at the byrd theater in carytown this saturday was no exception.

now, i am not giving the following advice with any kind of authority. in fact, i haven't been to a wedding since i was about 7 years old. but, after attending a pretty rockin party, i'd like to present a few pointers for you future knot-tying witnesses...

1. wear a hat.
i am hat-obsessed and desperately wish that daily head-toppings would come back into vogue. but seeing as there aren't many "appropriate" forums for wearing formal hats these days, take full advantage of weddings to don your pillboxes and bowlers. come to think of it, that last wedding i attended, in 1992? wearing a hat.
baseball caps need not apply.
i like etsy's emerald diamond, but got my hat at bygone's in richmond.

2. don't feel obliged to bring a date.
i hesitated when writing the "1" by number of guests on the rsvp. "should i find someone to bring?" i thought. but once the dance party commenced, i was very happy to not feel obligated to dance with one person all night, or to worry about why he was hitting on the bride's grandma, etc...which leads to tip #3.

3. dance.
tess and dan were all about the new dj - "a friend and an ipod" which turned out beautifully for everyone involved. no electric slide. no bad requests. no clueless dude fumbling through a 300-CD case, trying to wipe scratches away on his t-shirt. just whatever get down tunes the bride and groom deem worthy. npr knows what's up.

4. don't have work the next morning.
though i partied like the alarm wasn't going to go off at 6:50, it did, ringing like a gong inside of my brain. 1 cafe americano, 2 cups of coffess, 3 glasses of water, and four hours later, when my shift was over, i found myself happiliy reviving my soul with brunch at ipanema. i'm beginning to think that brunch at ipanema could possibly save the world. it also makes a newbie truly feel like a richmonder.

everyone asked tess and dan why they didn't throw parties like that more often, and i happily concur.

love to hate you hollywood

2009-10-14T07:56:00.003-04:00

in the cycle of annual film releases, mid-october is the most joyful and sometimes agonizing time for studios and viewers alike as the holiday cycle gets underway. hollywood is full of rumors, usually related to who else has joined scientology or who got a new face last week, and movie blogs are abuzz with the latest on what is and isn't in the makes for the next year.
when i lived in japan, i had little interest in what movies were successes or failures and in what was coming soon because japan gets u.s. releases about 6-8 months after the fact. anything i paid $20 to see (yes, $20) was going to be old news anyway, so i might as well just wait to rent it online.

so, in rewarming an interest in the choices that hollywood makes, here is some of the news that brings about reactions such as jumping for joy, dry-heaving, or shaking a head in quiet disapproval:

1. A 2010 Poltergeist remake - Really?...I'll say that again. Really? Why? Give me one good reason. I mean the original was actually cursed for god's sake, how can it get any scarier than that?

2. Gus Van Sant and Bret Easton Ellis are working together. I expect nothing less than greatness.

3. There is a Three Stooges movie in the works. At first, the goofy trio was set to be Sean Penn, Jim Carrey, and Benecio del Toro. Now, it's rumored that Paul Giamatti is replacing Penn (I fully support this swap) and that Carrey may or may not be involved. This whole concept seems very weird.

4. Ghostbusters 3 is real. Still, if Ramis, Aykryod, Murray, and Hudson aren't in, neither am I. I will approach it with skepticism, however, as I did the newest Indiana Jones film, so as to not walk away with my dreams completely crushed.

5. In the near future, check out: The Wolfman, Nobody, The Maid, Leslie My Name Is Evil and
Youth In Revolt.
Finally, if you're in Richmond October 30, the Byrd Theater will be showing The Exorcist.

adieu unemployment

2009-10-13T14:13:00.004-04:00

well, for those of you who haven't been counting, it has been exactly 88 days since my last paid day of labor. 88 days of coffeeshops, cover letters, miniature quarter-life crises, and cats. (yes, cats. an old friend moved on and a new, psychotic one was made). alas, today is the last day and to celebrate, i figured i would properly spend the afternoon doing what i've been doing many a free weekday afternoon - drinking coffee.

starting tomorrow, i will rejoin the ranks of the work force, bravely scheduling hair appointments, dusting merchandise shelves, blending smoothies, and serving the beautification-seekers of richmond at the front desk of one of the city's salon/spas.

in june, the la times ran this article about "funemployment," the newly and often proudly carried title of college grads who have embraced their time off as a new beginning, a period of self discovery. yekits over at the funemployment blog recently also found work, bringing that site to an apparent close.
R.I.P. Buttons and spending hours sampling different roasts and writing "Dear Sir or Madam, I am writing in regards to the open position..." letters

the blue tattoo

2009-10-12T16:56:00.001-04:00

just finished reading "the blue tattoo." it's margot mifflin's account of the life of olive oatman, a pioneer woman who spent several years of her adolescence with the mohave indians after most of her family was murdered en route westward to california.

to be honest, i had never heard of the oatman family until randomly coming across this book. like many others intrigued by the story, it was olive's distinctive facial tattoos that caught my attention. mifflin goes into detail about the way in which the tattoos caught olive between two worlds after she returned to a life within white, anglo culture. read on history buffs, read on.

ahoy maties!

2009-10-12T16:33:00.007-04:00

do you like embarassing moments involving japanese people? if so, you may like pirates of the dotombori. some of my friends in osaka have been doing improv, flash mob, and stunts of the like in osaka for a while now. they've even appeared on asahi tv.

for anyone who has not lived in japan, the idea behind all of this is that it is often expected for foreigners to not follow social protocol, especially in public situations. play the "giajin" card, as they say. p.o.t.d. take this to the limit, using props and nerve to act out in public. let's enjoy funny together!

oh the horror

2009-10-11T08:27:00.005-04:00

there have been so many exhaustive lists of horror films - the great, the blah, the cheesy, the bloody, the stupid - and being only a semi-amateur in the realm of goredom, i won't embarrass myself by trying to compile yet another list of what should or shouldn't be on anyone's netflix this month. instead, i'd like to present a list chock-full of personal anticipation -

THE TOP 5 HORROR MOVIES I HAVEN'T SEEN (in no particular order, reasons provided)

1. Paranormal Activity (Oren Peli, 2007)
Why? Hype!
It's as simple as that. Post-Blair Witch Project, we can all agree that a combination of word of mouth, combined with teasing those of us who didn't live in a very small number of select opening cities and midnight-only showings can produce incredibly fertile viewing grounds. Luckily, I'll be satisfying my curiosity at Movieland tonight.

2. The People Under The Stairs (Wes Craven, 1991)
Why? Childhood curiosity.
My best childhood friend saw it when we were about 10 years old and wouldn't stop talking about it. Somehow I never had a chance to watch it but her descriptions stuck with me. Of course, everything is scarier to a 10 year old, so I'm sure that watching it for the first time as a 23 year old may make for a different viewing experience.

3. Night of the Living Dead (George A. Romero, 1968)/Day of the Dead (George A. Romero, 1985)
Why? Credibility.
Because anyone pretending to have any authority regarding horror movies should have seen these movies already. I feel like a sommelier who has never sipped a merlot. Be an expert on pinots, chardonnays, and savignons, but you'll seem foolish not knowing shit about merlot.

4. Dead Alive (Peter Jackson, 1992)
Why? Cover art.
I remember seeing the cover for this VHS at Blockbuster as a kid and it freaked me out. I don't like the idea of scary things in my mouth and a creepy little skull is no exception. The image stuck with me and now that I know how cultish and satirical this film actually is, I think I would stomach the over-the-top gore to check it out.

5. Audition (Takeshi Miike, 1999)
Why? Face your fears.
I've been avoiding this movie for a long time. Ive known about it, I've watched other Japanese horror films (Ringu, Ju-on, Jisatsu Sakuru, Battle Royale (horror?)), and I heard about how freaky this movie is. it sounded just freaky enough to make me say hesitantly, "Eh, maybe some other time." but I believe the time has come to face my fears. I mean c'mon, when IMDB trivia tells us, "When the film was screened at the Rotterdam Film Festival 2000 it had a record number of walkouts. At the Swiss premiere someone passed out and needed emergency room attention" that either makes you want to say YES! or OH DEAR! and up until now I've been an OH DEAR! so from now on - YES!

not scary enough? check out two of my favorite long-time horror flick blogs, HorrorsNotDead and The Vault of Horror (http://thevaultofhorror.blogspot.com/) for endless ideas for your own movie wish lists.

don't get all phily on me

2009-10-11T00:04:00.005-04:00

so would a hibernophite or a taphophite like this picture?
so, i recently wrote an email to a friend in which i used the word "historophile" without really knowing whether or not it is a real word. alas, i'm pretty sure i might have made up the synonym for "history buff." but a quick look at the suffix -phile and all of its splendor. here's a quick quiz...don't scroll down 'till you've guessed some answers!

1. oenophiliac
2. taphophiliac
3. turophiliac
4. hibernophiliac
A. someone who loves cheese
B. someone who loves Ireland/Irish culture
C. someone who loves wine
D. someone who loves graves/cemeteries

got it?
1. C, 2. D, 3. A, 4. B
so the answer to the first question is...both...it's a cemetary in galway, ireland.

also, FINALLY, i am slowly but surely uploading all pics to picasa (thank you google for getting the software right this time), so please 'em out HERE

richmond folk fest part 2 - art

2009-10-10T19:19:00.005-04:00

successfully supported my love for day of the dead art when i met arlington-based artist david amoroso. (he's on facebook too...) amoroso had a beautiful our lady shrine set up, surrounded by mural-style paintings explaining various religious rites.RVA magazine did a piece on amoroso last december when some of his works were featured during first fridays.

it's taken a while for me to put any pictures up from my newly decorated room, but keeping in the dia de los muertos theme, here are 2 of my favorite things - handpainted tiles i got in california. the skeleton i got about 5 years ago in san francisco. it's by a mexican artist named ramos lucano. more of his works can be bought here.the swallow is from the gift shop at the san juan capistrano mission, socal.

richmond folk fest part 1 - music

2009-10-10T17:56:00.005-04:00

headed to richmond's second annual folk festival, a free event featuring over 4 different stages of music, as well as virginia folklife and crafts booths. i was able to catch a wide-range of acts, from french-canadian and irish fiddlers, to indian slide guitarists, to tuvan throat band.
fiddler Martin Hayes and guitarist Dennis Cahill were among those performing...

on my way out, I happened upon Khogzhumchu, a Tuvan throat singing band. If you're like me, and I'm assuming most people in the audience, I wasn't even aware of the region (federal subject of Russia to be exact) of Tuva and (thank you Wikipedia.)The combination of stringed instruments, percussion, and incredible vocals created a haunting, though sometimes upbeat, sound. Khogzhumchu was captivating and I kept getting the feeling that I was witnessing something important just watching them play.
I couldn't find a website for Khogzhumchu, but I found a similar band, Huun Huur Tu with audio samples.
everything looks cooler in cyrillic.

nice 'fro

2009-10-09T22:54:00.000-04:00

i love documentaries. usually about anything. "good hair" will be no exception.

2009-10-06T22:06:00.003-04:00

i believe that i do have a pretty adventurous palate and yes, i grew up in an environment in which not at least trying something once was an abomination.

upon some bad advice i received a while back, i hadn't yet tried ethiopian food. the bad advice was that "the bread you eat it with is the consistency of stingray skin. cold, wet and slimy, it's gross." this had led the advice-giver and myself to repeatedly avoid ethiopian restaurants...indefinitely.

but today a new dining companion and i headed to Nile Ethiopian Restaurant near VCU and i was pleasantly surprised to have a great all-veg meal of various legumes and and veggies. and yes, we ate sans utensils, using the "stingray skin" (it is called injera) to pick up our food. yes, it was cold, but i wouldn't say slimy or wet. delish.

don't get the wrong idea

2009-09-25T16:36:00.003-04:00

everyone loves a wedding, right?

though there won't be bells ringing anytime soon in my future, i know a lot of people who have gotten married recently or are getting married soon. a lot of people talk about little girl fantasies of big white weddings, some people stick to them, others opt for nontraditional ceremonies and celebrations. for some reason, when i think about my wedding "fantasy," well, it just isn't. i don't really recall images of what my special day would or wouldn't look like, though i do remember holding a few ceremonies of my own for mr. and mrs. bear, witnessed by duck-duck, goose-goose, doggie, and horsey. location: my bedroom, date: around 1992, presided by: yours truly.

anyway, i've taken to checking out offbeat bride every now and then, happily revelling in the fact that there are a lot of women and men out there who are uncontent with social expectations put upon brides and grooms these days. it is definitely eye candy for those of us who lack our own bridal aspirations. see dita von teese mixing up color schemes above.

sadly still relevant

2009-09-23T08:43:00.004-04:00

Johann Hari wrote a great reaction to his assignment of covering this year's London Fashion Week in the Huffington Post.

Having read Naomi Wolf's The Beauty Myth (1991) this year, Hari points out correctly and sadly that a lot of what Wolf had to say about the control over women's images still rings true today. Sure, we've had challenges to certain stereotypes over the last eighteen years, but there are still narrow and sharply defined lines drawn around what a woman should and should not be.

I guess designer Mark Fast's choice (photo above) to use three "average" sized models at this year's show was a step in the right direction, albiet a tiny step in a field that seems to do much more to make women feel empty rather than celebrate women's strength, diversity, and intelligence. Unlike some other recent international fashion weeks (most notably Madrid), London does not require health checks for models.

Helter Skelter

2009-09-22T20:03:00.003-04:00

I had been meaning to read Helter Skelter for years now (or since my freshman year of high school, amid my serial killer/horror movie obsession phase...) but didn't get around to it until recently. I browsed through the 50 cent and 1 dollar books at the public library near Boulder, CO where my friend works and found nothing...my pal's bf Jon picked up a tattered copy of HS, "How about this?" I grabbed the book from him, borrowed 50 cents (how sad?) and dove into LA district attorney Vincent Bugliosi's account of the events of 1969.

This past August was the 40th anniversary of the Tate-LaBianca murders and as someone who did not live to see or hear the sensationalism surrounding the case, I was interested to learn the details behind that infamous image of Charlie with crazed eyes and an X carved into the center of his forehead.
After finishing the book, I started watching the History Channel's new docudrama "Manson," which combined interviews with several ex-Family members and Bugliosi with dramatized versions of the events unfolding. We've come a long way from "Unsolved Mysteries" kids. And not necessarily in a good way...I wanted to see a lot more of the interviews and a lot less of the acting. All I can say is don't skip the book for the TV version.
Learning about the Manson family murders brought about some reflection on the desensitization of my generation because in spite of Bugliosi's stresses on the grusome nature of the crimes, images from movies like Saw and Hostel flashed through my mind while flipped through the whilted-out images of bodies at the crime scenes. Would the Manson murders be as shocking to this generation as they were to the last? Of course I'm not diminishing the horror of the acts; the Family killed a lot of people in cold blood, without remorse, including a very pregnant Sharon Tate. But have our opinions of what is shocking shifted over time?
In addition to the 40th anniversary of the crimes, the Family have been in the news again recently when a dying Susan Atkins aka Sadie Mae Glutz was turned down for parole again. She was asking to be released out of mrecy because she is dying of a brain tumor.

A Room of One's Own

2009-09-17T22:10:00.006-04:00

Ms. Woolf was on to something...finally finished getting all of my stuff up the narrow stairs in the 1907 Richmond house. Thanks Mom. It's looking pretty good so far...

I meant to put before/after pics of the dresser I refinished ($30 at a garage sale). I sanded, painted the edges black, painted everything something white with a name like French meringue and sanded the edges again to let the black how through.

Pictures have been hung and I redid the inside of great grandma's old trunk with this dia de los muertos fabric:

Anyway, pics to come once Dad returns my camera to me.

Last night, I went to the University of Richmond for a free film showing of El bano de Papa, or "The Pope's Toilet." The film hails from Uruguay and is about a poor town's preparations for the visit of Pope John Paul II. The director, Enrique Fernandez is from the town of Melo, where the story takes place, and he is able to capture the disheartening sentiment of Melo's residents beautifully.

Until a run and a bike ride yesterday, I had forgotten how much I really love Richmond. It's great to be in a place with a thriving local scene of music, art, food, and community. The history of the city is exuded on every street and after being home from Japan for over a month, it's definitely bringing out the Virginia pride in me...

Heading down to Williamsburg today for a birthday celebration for Mom. In the name of all things Anglophile, what better way to celebrate than with a proper tea service at Taste Tea Salon? Speaking of tea, check out Christine Misiak's beautiful Original Recycled tea sets. I'll take the turquiose one please.

neato

2009-09-09T23:01:00.003-04:00

http://www.shorpy.com

great site with user-contributed vintage photography.
what i can't get over is the incredible quality of all of the images. most, if not all, are high-definition. that's richmond above, circa 1905.
don't just sit there...shorpy!

thanksgiving in september

2009-09-03T23:40:00.004-04:00

today i'd like to give thanks to a few silly little things that have entered my life (in no particular order)...

1. oh sleeper's newly released album, "son of the night." former bandmembers of between the buried and me, as cities burn, and terminal have made a great sophomore album. i have never listened to their debut, "when i am god" (2007), but "son of the night" leaves little room for improvement.
oh sleeper on myspace at the norva october 1 with every time i die and bring me the horizon

2. military jackets and upcoming fall weather. looking forward to jackets, vests, tights, boots and of course, hoodies...the one below is from forever 21

3. nasoya's silken creations. vegan puddingy goodness. there are lots of ways to use these in dessert recipes, but i'm pretty much hooked on eating it straight out of the package. if it does reach a bowl, frozen bananas and granola make for a great parfait.

city of angels day 2

2009-08-27T20:17:00.004-04:00

i rented a bicycle and rode 15 miles north along the coast from hermosa beach to santa monica pier. in spite of the heat, it was a beautiful ride. i've never done such a long bike ride before, but luckily i opted for the road-mountain hybrid rather than the beach cruiser, saving my butt from a lot of regret later on that day. passing through manhattan beach, el segundo, beside lax, through marina del rey, venice beach, and muscle beach, the ride offered some great sights and a pretty much constant view of the pacific.
i had a wonderful lunch at seed kitchen, a vegan/macrobiotic cafe in venice. they need to start opening chains on the east coast!
below is some venice beach graffiti.
went to a fancy italian dinner at la sosta (review here) with friends and then on to a charity event for a friend's avon breast cancer walk team. seems like they were able to do a lot of fundraising and it took place at a great venue in hermosa beach, saint rocke.

city of angels day 1

2009-08-27T19:44:00.005-04:00

first full day in LA, figured i'd embrace my inner tourist and head to hollywood to see the stars (at least the ones on the sidewalk) and to beverly hills.

happened upon the hollywood bettie page clothing shop and on my way to 90210, i made a quick stop at high voltage tattoo, bascially because my chances of seeing anyone famous were growing slim as the day went on. bought the new t-shirt design, by american apparel.
also, hollywood officially has the best murals and vintage neon anywhere.

also headed to the los angeles county museum of art (LACMA) and saw their latest exhibition, "your bright future," featuring 12 artists from south korea. i was a little disapointed because i didn't see any lichtenstein (which i'm pretty sure they have in their collection), but i did get to see several great works by john baldessari.

top o' the world ma!

2009-08-23T19:13:00.005-04:00

went to mt. evans today, or as i like to call it, the lazy man's 14-er. it's the highest road in the continental u.s., and the road reaches 14,130 feet and you can walk to the summit at 14,264 feet.

on the way down from the summit, we happened to pass a few familiar faces. it was none other than the avett brothers band, who i saw in concert at the boulder theater on friday night. they were nice enough to stop for a picture...

speaking of the show, it was really great. considering that i don't usually listen to a lot of folky-indie, i was extremely impressed. they were much more rock at times than i expected and the mix of banjo, guitar, stand-up bass, drums (and foot drums!) and cello made for a really good show. the opening act was also really good, sally ford and the sound outside, from portland.

off to casa bonita tonight, made famous by the season 7 south park episode. i've heard it's disneyland meets bad mexican food.

boulder sights and sounds

2009-08-21T13:14:00.005-04:00

off to downtown boulder, CO this afternoon for some window-shopping, dinner, and the avett brothers concert.

i'm hoping to make a stop at the boulder arts & crafts cooperative, a group of galleries featuring artists from around the rocky mountains region.

love these earrings by katie hintz and vivian jean's pretty prints (below).

later tonight, we're off to the avett brothers concert, a indie-folk-country group hailing from concord, north carolina. i had never heard of the band until my friends informed me we were going tonight, but being a fan of old crow medicine show, i figured as long as there was some mean banjo, fiddle, or honky-tonk piano, it wouldn't be too country for me.

i'm also hoping to check out the boulder dushanbe teahouse. apparently a sister city of boulder in india sent this magnificent building over to the u.s. piece by piece between 1987-1990, where it was reassembled and opened as a tea house. tea time anyone?

COLA baby

2009-08-18T16:09:00.002-04:00

so i'm off tomorrow bright and early for what i am now calling my "last great american adventure (for now)." "last" because i'm hoping that after this i'll get myself all settled in richmond with a job and preparing for school next year...i've done so much traveling in the last couple of years, it might be a while before i spend money on travel. "great" because who doesn't want to visit Boulder, CO or Los Angeles. "american" because duh.

i'm visiting some close friends in Boulder, CO and in LA, and i haven't been to either city before. i can't wait to be out in wide open spaces in CO and to finally get up close and personal with the rockies. and i'm looking forward to shooting Diana pics of beach boardwalks and hollywood and doing lots of super-touristy stuff in LA. hello grauman's, LACMA, and venice beach.

i also realized i haven't bought a bathing suit in 5 years and could not show up on an LA beach with a bad case of droopy-butt. but this suit will surely save the day...

see you in the mountains or on the west coast!

ceremony: update!

2009-08-16T23:42:00.002-04:00

after doing a more thorough search, i found this blog post explaining that the members of ceremony used to be in a band called skywave. i guess some of the members of skywave formed 2 new groups - ceremony and a place to bury strangers, who are equally creepy-low-fi-new wavy as ceremony and skywave.

who knew fredericksburg was the breeding ground for semi-tributes to new wave/goth founders like new order, bauhaus, and depeche mode? not i.

ceremony

2009-08-16T23:36:00.002-04:00

can anyone tell me more about the shoegaze/noise/new wave band ceremony?

the reason i'm asking is because after recently discovering them on myspace, i felt a weird connection to this group, whose music is pretty awesome, because they are from my college stomping grounds, fredericksburg VA and they're currently on tour in my more recent stomping grounds, japan.

i couldn't find an official web page for them and want to know more about their history. any clues? fill me in.

and don't forget to have a listen...

hang ten

2009-08-14T16:37:00.003-04:00

i will unfortunately be out of town for one of hampton roads' best annual events, ECSC, the East Coast Surfing Championships. this year, the event runs from thursday august 27 through sunday, august 30 and brings some of the best surfers and extreme sports atheletes from around the world right here to virginia beach.

the music lineup for this year is a bit lacking, but it's always a good time to see the strange combination of frat boys, bodybuilders, military families, and teens who just walked out of a pacific sunwear catalog lined up on the boardwalk. the surfers have their work cut out for them, as virginia beach's surf can be a bit questionable. and by "questionable," i mean non-existant.

anyway, i wanted to bring up ECSC to highlight some local artists at The Artist's Gallery, an art coop in va beach. this year, they have a special exhibition entitled "rock 'n surf," corresponding with the ECSC dates. the exhibition is supporting two local charities - The Surfer's Healing Network and the Tidewater Autistic Society of America. The Surfer's Healing Network is particularly cool in that it promotes enriching the lives of autistic children through surfing.

kool-aid mustaches

2009-08-13T23:45:00.003-04:00

gus van sant + tom wolfe = much better than that 10 cent cup of colored sugar water you bought from the kid on the street corner

director gus van sant is adapting one of tom wolfe's best known works, "the electric kool-aid acid test" for the screen. i just watched van sant's "elephant" and was reminded of what a truly talented director he is. combine the rawness of van sant's signature style with the free-flowing tale of ken kesey and his gang of lsd-infused cross-country hijinx and the possibilities seem limitless.

until you hear about rumored casting choices. rolling stone did a piece on the film here: acid.
i have to say, if jack black ends up as kesey and scarlett johannson as caroline garcia, it's beyond van sant's power to do the story any justice.

Photos on Lomography

2009-08-12T23:05:00.002-04:00

Photos on Lomography

Posted using ShareThis

adventures in lomography

2009-08-12T22:55:00.008-04:00

first set was a near fail because i had some problems loading the camera (i.e. i'm an idiot and i overexposed a lot of the film). only got 2-3 good shots from that roll.

part 2 went down a lot more smoothly. i used b&w 120 and only had a little light leakage.

sorry for the loss of quality from the transfer to my computer...will figure out the best way to do that some other time!

anna bronwyn murphy

2009-08-12T22:24:00.003-04:00

anna bronwyn murphy
(art/accessories)
tuscon-based anna bronwyn murphy produces beautiful, strong feminine images.
rockabilly and pinup inspired.
freakin cute hair accessories made with real preserved flowers and great crystals.
shop.
look and learn.

10th grade English reading list

2009-08-05T14:27:00.007-04:00

Just finished watching the newest screen adaptation of Charlotte Bronte's Wuthering Heights. Brought to you this year by Masterpiece Theater. I have to say, this has to be the best adaptation to date. I remember watching the 1939 Lawrence Olivier/Merle Oberon version in high school and it doing absolutely nothing for me. Never did see the 1992 Ralph Fiennes/Juliette Binoche version but it's a bit too English Patient for me already.

Tom Hardy's Heathcliff towers above most recent Best Actor nominees and yet this performance has seemingly slipped under the radar. Good acting, beautiful scenery and a raw/edgy feel really bring the tale of an almost impossibly passionate love to a new generation.
Watch it.

goodies

2009-08-05T14:07:00.008-04:00

Not in Japan:
BUST, Revolver, Darkest Hour "The Eternal Return," Motorola phone, cheap shisha

Mom was going to toss out Grandpa's old aviators with the rest of the old glasses. Stopped.

Payless, $19.99. The only pair in the joint over $15 I think. Worth it.

100 yen, at your neighborhood Daiso (Japanese $1 store).

still japanese

2009-06-22T06:29:00.004-04:00

tomoko sawada
tomoko sawada
(photography)

sawada is funny.
upon first glance, her photography seems straightforward - studio portraits, class pictures, and photo booth prints make you wonder what sets sawada apart from regular commercial photography. but upon closer look, it's easy to see sawada's sense of humor.

i sent asked tomoko a few questions about her transition from being a japan-based to a nyc-based artist. tomoko admits that she had been interested in becoming an artist since junior high school, but it wasn't until university that she developed an interest in photography. she has done several exhibitions outside of japan, though most of her work was produced in within japan.
tomoko admits that though many people view her work as statment pieces about japan, her orignial intent was not to make a statement about japan or japanese culture. when i asked tomoko who the lady was in her most popular work, she answers, "i don't know which work is most popular." i can't tell if she doesn't want to tell me who the mystery lady with the round face and cute smile is, or if she didn't understand that i was much more interested in finding out the woman's identity than claiming which work was most popular...whoever she is, her face will be floating around my japanese dreams for a long time to come.

sawada in japan
sawada on artne t

first and foremost

2009-06-22T06:00:00.003-04:00

welcome to hello houndstooth.

hello houndstooth is about music.
hello houndstooth is about art.
hello houndstooth is about culture.

so many treats to be devoured, but where to begin? why, here of course.

(about the author)
near-mid-twenty something, soon moving back to the u.s. after two years of living in japan.
i'll be heading back to my native state of virginia, hoping to move to richmond soon.
i've been fortunate enough to do a lot of traveling in the last couple of years and i'd like to use this space to make a sort of cultural collage, linking alternative/vintage/contemporary sights and sounds from all over. i hope to sate my constant need for music, fashion, and art, while spreading the news about the many diamonds sprinkled throughout this rough that is the internet.
thanks!

new

2009-06-21T01:38:00.006-04:00

After 2 years in Osaka, I'm back in the US. The Japanese underground/indie music scene is a bit tricky to figure out, shows are often underadvertised, especially In English-language media. But, there's a whole treasure trove of quirky Japanese goodness just waiting to be discovered. Here's a start...
The Telephones (Rock/Funk/Pop) A little bit Bloc Party, a little bit Sparta, and a little funk...the Telephones offer a fresh new energy and sound to the usual Japanese rock scene. Plus, the artwork alone should get them noticed.

The Beaches (Pop/Rock) Surf music, reggae, and ska fuse to make a delightfully fun sound. Though The Beaches are from Tokyo, you can hear some Okinawan island influences in some songs like the background on "Hana hou."

Mad Masato (Psychobilly) I think the photo of this dude can pretty much sum it up…psycho(billy). I'm not sure what the following is for a genre-within a genre here in Japan, but with a song title like "Devour the Bleeding Bitch," I don't think Masato is too worried about alienating anyone.

My Proof (Screamo/Nu-metal)Definitely influenced by Chaimara, and some more recent screamo, but with a bit of J-Rock vocals in the mix. Fortunately they don't overdo it with the whiny J-rock singing and balance it well with the screaming. Check out: "In the Name of Justice"

Endzweck (Hardcore) Endzweck deserves praise in spite of their indecipherable name. Hardcore, pure and simple. Don't bother going to their webpage as it's very scant. The last time I checked, the player on their myspace page was freaking out, so head on over to http://www.purevolume.com/endzweck/ to give 'em a listen.

And for dessert… 80KIDZ (Electronic/Dance)

This Tokyo-based outfit released their latest album "Welcome to My Shit" in April 2009. Often remix-based, 80KIDZ offer electronic music that doesn't dominate the rock and pop foundations that they stir up. I.E. 80KIDZ produce an enjoyable sound that even us non-electronophiles can believe in. http://www.myspace.com/80kidz

日本の音楽がすき？！More… http://www.newmusicfromjapan.com/