Uncouth Reflections

The Problem with Baked Beans

Posted on December 30, 2013 by Epaminondas

epiminondas writes:

Especially if you are an astronaut…

Posted in Humor | Leave a comment

Different From You and Me

Posted on December 30, 2013 by Fenster

Fenster writes:

Are the rich different from you and me. Maybe.

Are magicians? You bet.

Ricky Jay’s movie, Deceptive Practices is on Netflix Streaming.

He seemed a little dorky as a young performer. Seemed wild and hip in the seventies. Seemed menacing in film roles. Seems like a regular mensch today. Seems, seems, seems, seems . . .

Posted in Movies, Performers | Tagged Deceptive Practices, magic, Ricky Jay | 1 Comment

SNL Skit Premise

Posted on December 30, 2013 by Fenster

Fenster writes:

This might make a good SNL skit premise.

Maine public health officials have denied an Ellsworth man’s request to use marijuana legally to treat Tourette syndrome. The Maine Department of Health and Human Services this week denied a request by the man’s doctor, Dustin Sulak, to add Tourette syndrome to the list of medical conditions that qualify for treatment with marijuana. .

Posted in Humor | Tagged Tourette's | 1 Comment

Tough Lady Songs

Posted on December 29, 2013 by Fabrizio del Wrongo

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes:

Posted in Music, Performers | Tagged Fontella Bass, Loretta Lynn, Pam Grier | 4 Comments

Virtual Art Gallery Du Jour

Posted on December 28, 2013 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes:

Click on the images to enlarge.

A collection of female reclining nudes with (as you’ll quickly notice by the titles) a special emphasis on the odalisque.

Enjolras, Beauty Odalisque, c. 1890-1900

Related

Although not all academic paintings, I was inspired to put together this gallery after thumbing through my newly-arrived copy of The Art of the Salon: The Triumph of 19th-Century Painting.
Russia: Awesomest Calendars on Earth

Posted in Art, Sex | Tagged Academic art, French art, Orientalism, painting | 9 Comments

Notes on “Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me”

Posted on December 28, 2013 by Fabrizio del Wrongo

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes:

“Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me” is ostensibly a documentary about ’70s cult band Big Star, and it’s good at being that, but its stealth subjects are the state of rock ‘n’ roll in the ’70s and the cultural milieu of Memphis, Tennessee, and I think they’re what make it such a full experience. The movie feels grounded and lived in. Like David Chase’s fitful but touching “Not Fade Away,” it’s great at capturing the ragged, all-too-human experiences that, though they serve as the raw stuff of pop music, tend to become secondary as they’re outpaced by ambition, stardom, and mythology. (Lacking stardom and notably short on mythology, the Big Star story is almost all ragged experience.) Filmmakers Drew DeNicola and Olivia Mori manage to provide a compelling context for Alex Chilton, one of those music figures who is damnably hard to get a bead on. Here he comes across as a too-late-for-the-party rocker who ended up scraping his fingernails against the chalkboard of NYC art rock, perhaps because he couldn’t come up with a better way of making rock music feel alive. (Chilton was notoriously prickly: I saw him perform in 1993, and when someone in the crowd urged him to play a Big Star tune, he bit the guy’s head off.) Towards the end it becomes a heart-on-sleeve fan tribute, and the showboating reverence of the band’s famous acolytes weighs the movie down. But to fans that probably won’t make a difference. It’s on Netflix Instant.

Related

Sax on “Not Fade Away.”

Posted in Movies, Music, Performers | Tagged Alex Chilton, Big Star, Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me, documentaries, Drew DeNicola, Film, Memphis, movies, Olivia Mori, rock music | 2 Comments

Architecture Du Jour

Posted on December 28, 2013 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes:

Click on the image to enlarge.

The market square of Zamość, Poland. Photo taken from this excellent Flickr page.

Posted in Architecture | Tagged Poland, Zamość | 1 Comment

Linkage

Posted on December 28, 2013 by Fabrizio del Wrongo

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes:

Conan, what is best in life? Jack Donovan has some answers.
Milla Jovovich naked.
Jonathan Hastings on John Carpenter’s “Ghosts of Mars.”
Will S. has a new blog.
What in the world is Bon Iver thinking? (H/T Matt Forney)
R. Emmet Sweeney picks the best DVDs of the year, including a set containing two of my favorite Japanese films of the ’30s, Yamanaka’s “Humanity and Paper Balloons” and “The Pot Worth a Million Ryo.”
1970s and ’80s toy store photos.
Why are jaywalking tickets in LA so expensive?
In the 1979 “Superman: The Movie,” Supes foils a real estate scheme involving the destruction of California’s coastline. Granted, this entails causing the earth to spin backwards for a little while, but it was a fairly modest plot by contemporary standards. Now, if you ain’t saving the world, you ain’t nuthin’.
Why is Amazon discouraging bigfoot porn? (H/T Glynn Marshes)

Posted in Linkathons | Tagged Bon Iver, Jack Donovan, John Carpenter, Jonathan Hastings, Matt Forney, Milla Jovovich, Will. S. | 2 Comments

More Filipino Food

Posted on December 28, 2013 by Fenster

Fenster writes:

Fenster tries to be a trend setter of the likes of Paleo Retiree and The Question Lady but it’s always a day late and a dollar short. Since the two of them recently found an interesting Filipino restaurant in New York City, Fenster’s idea of cutting edge was to slavishly follow their example. Herewith a few snaps of Grill 21, an appealing little hole-in-the-wall on 21st Street near the corner of 1st.