Architecture Du Jour

Posted on June 13, 2014 by Paleo Retiree

Paleo Retiree writes:

ne_nyc_2014_06_arch_wash_square_north_and_one_fifth01A jumbled view from NYC’s Washington Square Park looking north — partly because we here at UR have a profound and principled objection to the tendency of so much of the architecture press to discuss buildings as though they’re isolated, freestanding works of individual genius … but mainly because the light and colors were so damn pretty the other evening.

In the foreground: what were originally houses, built in the Greek Revival style circa 1830. In the background: from 1929, the gloriously eclectic and glamorous Deco apartment building known as 1 Fifth (for its address at One Fifth Ave.), designed mainly by Harvey Wiley Corbett, an early proponent of skyscrapers who, despite being known as very progressive and despite being identified with something that was called “modernism” at the time, never foresaw glass shafts, let alone today’s wibbly-wobbly exercises in sleek neuroticism. Interesting note: Corbett worked with the architectural illustrator Hugh Ferriss, and through/with Ferriss eventually had an influence on the look of Gotham City. So if you feel like you’re picking up a little “Batman” from 1 Fifth, your instincts aren’t letting you down.

Related

  • The New York Times’ great Christopher Gray tells the story of 1 Fifth.
  • Henry James’ novel “Washington Square” — one of the few Henry James novels I really like, fwiw — is set mainly among the houses on the north side of the park.
Posted in Architecture | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Thursday Pop Selection: Talk Talk, I Believe in You

Posted on June 12, 2014 by Sir Barken Hyena

Sir Barken Hyena writes:

Wow, I’ve been so flooded with applicants for the New Lady Barken that I’ve barely had a moment to myself! Looks like we blew almost all the way through the week without a music feature, so by way of apology I offer this, possibly the most beautiful song I’ve ever heard. Talk Talk started out as a new wave band with some big hits in England that got them the chance to disappear into the studio to make their next big hit. Except they instead totally reinvented themselves. Reportedly their A&R man cried on hearing the new master tape.

Then again, it’s a song that can make you cry. Let’s listen:

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

On The Menu: Lobster Tail with a Side of Delightful Writing

Posted on June 12, 2014 by Glynn Marshes

Glynn Marshes writes:

Albert Burneko. Deadspin. How To Cook Lobster Tails: A Guide For People Who Don’t Have Butlers To Do All The Work.

A taste:

The truth about lobster is this: It is less flavorful, less sweet, more bland and chickenlike than virtually any of the other edible crustaceans. It is also a lot more expensive than most of them, and if you’re cooking it at home, it is furthermore easier to fuck up. The primary selling point of the lobster—and one hell of a selling point it must be, since it sells so many lobsters at such high prices—is that its meat comes in larger, more easily extracted hunks than can be found in, for example, Chesapeake blue crabs, which, factually, are the most delicious things the world has produced or will ever produce, but which are approximately as onerous to consume as a large box full of live ferrets.

A thoroughly enjoyable read, even if your weekend plans will rise no further than burgers and beer 🙂

Posted in Food and health, Humor | 1 Comment

Cocktails Du Jour

Posted on June 11, 2014 by Eddie Pensier

Eddie Pensier writes:

“Cinnamon Fix” (rye vodka, apricot brandy, apple juice, lemon juice, cinnamon syrup–essentially apple pie in liquid alcoholic form) and “Regent Martini” (vanilla infused vodka, passion fruit purée, agave syrup, apple juice–tart/sweet and alarmingly easy going down) at the topnotch Hippo Co. The atomiser in the background contains orange flower water, which was spritzed over the top of the martini by our estimable bartender Jack. Not pictured: “Old Smoke” (smoked rum, honey water, lime, and super-spicy in-house ginger soda). All three were works of gustatory art.

Posted in Food and health, The Good Life | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

“Sorcerer”

Posted on June 10, 2014 by Paleo Retiree

Paleo Retiree writes:

Sorcerer-poster

William Friedkin’s 1977 metaphysical action-adventure film had an almost ludicrously unhappy initial release. Although it was widely anticipated and was one of the biggest productions of its era, the critics were hard on the film, finding it overbearing and overlong, and the mass audience ignored it almost completely; the popular phenom of the year turned out to be “Star Wars” instead.

As the years passed, and to the extent that anyone gave it much thought at all — finding and watching a copy of “Sorcerer” wasn’t easy — the film was generally seen more as a symbol than a movie. It acquired a reputation as the moment Friedkin (one of the most successful directors of the ’70s) came a-cropper, as filmmakers often did in those days. It also acquired notoriety as an example of the way that the rampaging, adventurous “New Hollywood” gang self-immolated, thereby making way for the the corporate-blockbuster era we’ve been saddled with ever since.

Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 34 Comments

Linkage (Fermented Edition)

Posted on June 9, 2014 by Eddie Pensier

Eddie Pensier writes:

One of the things that I have begun to embrace about writing is the delicate balance between spontaneity and panic.

Story of my life, right there.

Vladimir Makovsky, Miracle At Cana (1887)

Vladimir Makovsky, Miracle At Cana (1887)

Posted in Food and health, Linkathons, The Good Life | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Swings

Posted on June 9, 2014 by Fabrizio del Wrongo

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes:

Fragonard_-_swing

renoir-the-swing

Posted in Art, Movies | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

We Love Your Comments

Posted on June 9, 2014 by Eddie Pensier

Eddie Pensier writes:

Uncouth Reflections has some of the wittiest and smartest commenters around. It’s great news then, that thanks to our very own Sir Barken Hyena (he’s single, ladies!), you can now “like” individual comments. Please do so, immediately and without reservation.

Posted in Technology | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

Get Happy

Posted on June 9, 2014 by Atypical Neurotic

Atypical Neurotic writes:

On the occasion of what would have been Judy Garland’s 92nd birthday, I offer a link to a high-definition clip of the “Get Happy” number, from Summer Stock, the last musical she made for MGM (in 1950), and, the last nail in the coffin for Dior’s ridiculous postwar “New Look”. Note how sexy Judy looks in her tailored jacket and sheer stockings, especially in contrast with the chorus boys in their Italian-style sack suits.

Brilliant costuming. But also a triumph for Coco Chanel. She won, and Dior lost. Coco gave women permission to wear clothes that were stylish, sexy and looked good on them, and still be taken seriously. Judy Garland never looked better, before or since.

One of the first nails, I think, was in Beyond the Forest from 1949, in which Bette Davis’s Rosa Moline sews her own New Look skirts and makes a point of sashaying along the streets of Loyalton, Wisconsin, in them. But when Moose Lawson’s estranged daughter shows up one day on the train from Chicago, what is she wearing? A pale, tailored suit, not unlike the one Jacqueline Kennedy wore on that fateful November day 14 years later. Or the gray suit that mesmerized Jimmy Stewart in Vertigo in 1958, the year I was born.

Not so stylish after all, eh, Rosa? What a frump!

Posted in Movies, Music | 5 Comments

Happy Birthday Cole Porter

Posted on June 9, 2014 by Eddie Pensier

Eddie Pensier writes:

Since I reached the charming age of puberty
And began to finger feminine curls,
Like a show that’s typically Shuberty
I have always had a multitude of girls,
But now that a married man, at last, am I,
How aware of my dear, departed past am I.

Where is the life that late I led?
Where is it now? Totally dead.
Where is the fun I used to find?
Where has it gone? Gone with the wind.
A married life may all be well,
But raising an heir
Could never compare
With raising a bit of hell,
So I repeat what first I said,
Where is the life that late I led?

In dear Milano, where are you, Momo,
Still selling those pictures of the Scriptures in the Duomo?
And, Carolina, where are you, Lina,
Still peddling your pizza in the streets o’ Taormina?
And in Firenze, where are you, Alice,
Still there in your pretty, itty-bitty Pitti Palace?
And sweet Lucretia, so young and gay-ee?
What scandalous doin’s in the ruins of Pompeii!

Where is the life that late I led?
Where is it now? Totally dead.
Where is the fun I used to find?
Where has it gone? Gone with the wind.
The marriage game is quite all right,
Yes, during the day
It’s easy to play
But, oh, what a bore at night,
So I repeat what first I said
Where is the life that late I?

Where is Rebecca, my Becki-weckio,
Again is she cruising that amusing Ponte Vecchio?
Where is Fedora, the wild virago?
It’s lucky I missed her gangster sister from Chicago.
Where is Venetia, who loved to chat so,
Could still she be drinkin’ in her stinkin’ pink palazzo?
And lovely Lisa, where are you, Lisa?
You gave a new meaning to the leaning tow’r of Pisa.

Where is the life that late I led?
Where is it now? Totally dead.
Where is the fun I used to find?
Where has it gone? Gone with the wind.
I’ve oft been told of nuptial bliss,
But what do you do,
A quarter to two,
With only a shrew to kiss?
So I repeat what first I said,
Where is the life that late I led?

Posted in History, Music, The Good Life | Tagged , | 3 Comments