Uncouth Reflections

Food Jargon

Posted on April 10, 2013 by Paleo Retiree

Paleo Retiree writes:

Although I do love it when my food is “artisanal” and “locally-sourced,” I’m at my happiest when my charcuterie has been “curated”:

What’s your favorite contempo pretentious food term?

Posted in Food and health, Humor | Tagged artisanal, charcuterie, food, jargon, pretentiousness, slang | 12 Comments

Linkage

Posted on April 10, 2013 by Fabrizio del Wrongo

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes:

I’m not particularly interested in debating the pros and cons of climate science, but this piece by Ross McKitrick provides for an interesting poke around some of the stuff that appeares to go on behind the scenes in academia and at scientific journals. It also shows how new media (in this case, bloggers) have succeeded in undermining the illusion of we’ve-got-it-all-figured-out, our-way-is-the-best-way correctness being promoted by our elite class. Stephen McIntyre of climateaudit.org is hated by climate scientists, and with good reason, but it really looks like he’s doing a better job of turning over rocks and asking hard questions than anyone in the dinosaur media. But isn’t that the case in general these days?
Related. (H/T Glynn Marshes)
Kicks just keep getting harder to find. (H/T Advocatus Diaboli)
RIP Bigas Luna. I’ve admired a lot of things about the Luna-directed films I’ve seen. (Spanish filmmakers are often really cheeky, clever, and wild, aren’t they?) Luna’s 1987 “Anguish” is a really smart riff on the experience of watching movies, and it strikes me as a work that deserves to have a devoted cult following. It’s available on DVD.
“Good evening.”
Movie blogger Jeffrey Wells on his experience dating actresses.
I’ve been saying for years that Warner Brothers, which has the deepest and best film catalog around, should start a streaming service. Glad to see they’ve finally done it. The list of available titles is still sparse, but there are some good ones in there. Off the top of my head, I’ll recommend the beautifully shot women-in-prison drama “Caged,” Ford’s “Wagon Master,” and Sjostrom’s great “The Scarlet Letter.” The last stars Lillian Gish in one of her greatest roles, and I don’t think it’s ever been available on DVD.
I guess this isn’t surprising. But if you’re anything like me, you saw it and wondered how common this sort of thing is. Surely, a lot of politicos are doing similar things and simply not getting caught. Right? Right?
Go here in order to ~~embarrass yourself~~ make a big show of your support of women. I’m sure it will get you laid.
Science proves that chicks dig big wangs.
Foseti links to some heretical thoughts on democracy. Some good comments too, especially those by Handle.
Related.

Posted in Linkathons, Movies, Politics and Economics, Science | Tagged Bigas Luna, climate science, democracy, electric eels stuck up yer butt, Elsewhere, Foseti, global warming, Warner Archive Instant | 13 Comments

Does This Avatar Make Me Look Fat?

Posted on April 7, 2013 by Glynn Marshes

Glynn Marshes writes:

Riffing on comments I exchanged with Paleo Retiree after my last post, one of the cool things about fiction — and one of the reasons I don’t think the novel, as an art/entertainment form, is quite dead, yet — is that reading takes over our brains.

From a NY Times article published about a year ago:

[W]hen subjects in their laboratory read a metaphor involving texture, the sensory cortex, responsible for perceiving texture through touch, became active . . . Continue reading →

Posted in Books Publishing and Writing, Science | 7 Comments

Municipal Design

Posted on April 7, 2013 by Fenster

Fenster writes:

Even in buildings that have deteriorated to Kojak quality, you can find some nice reminders.

Posted in Architecture, Art | 3 Comments

Blog Milestone

Posted on April 7, 2013 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes:

Yesterday UR passed 100,000 unique views — not bad for a blog that’s been around for just over seven months and written by a bunch of lazy good-for-nothings. We’d like to extend a hearty thank you to all our readers and commenters for stopping by. Your ideas, thoughts, and insights are greatly appreciated by us and we hope you’ll continue to visit and tell us just how wrong, stupid, and puerile we are.

As a bonus, please watch this girl’s ass jiggle as she fires a rifle. Namaste.

Posted in Personal reflections | Tagged blog news, classy, girls in yoga pants, respectable | 3 Comments

Literary v Mainstream

Posted on April 6, 2013 by Glynn Marshes

Glynn Marshes writes:

How much of the difference between the two comes down to whether any of the characters is “likeable”?

(Struck me after an offline friend remarked that she disliked “The Great Gatsby” because she didn’t like any of the characters.)

Posted in Books Publishing and Writing | Tagged books | 9 Comments

Bushy

Posted on April 5, 2013 by Paleo Retiree

Paleo Retiree writes:

Good god but there’s a lot of thick-to-downright-bushy eyebrows around these days. The in-style female crotch may be completely bald, but the in-style female brow is hairy enough to more than balance it.

Aside from “arresting our attention,” what are the designers behind these images intending? Any hunches about what it might all mean, culturally speaking? Where this particular trend goes, I’m stumped.

Posted in Commercial art, Photography, Women men and fashion | Tagged design, eyebrows, Fashion, style | 15 Comments

The Balcony is Closed

Posted on April 4, 2013 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes:

RIP Roger Ebert, 1942-2013

Posted in Movies | Tagged Roger Ebert | 10 Comments

Overlooked Oeuvres: Stacy Peralta and American Skateboarding

Posted on April 4, 2013 by Fabrizio del Wrongo

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes:

I’ve been catching up with the film work of Stacy Peralta. Are UR readers familiar with Peralta? He’s a notable figure in the world of surfing and skateboarding who has recently turned his attention to making documentaries. These films, largely focused on the sports in which he made his name, are stylish, informative, and filled with human interest, and they reveal Peralta as a natural cultural historian — a guy with a zeal (and a talent) for imparting and contextualizing information. Peralta seems to realize how fortunate he was to be in the right place at the right time; now he’s doing what he can to preserve the history of the communities he helped to create. There’s an evangelical aspect to his work as well: it reaches out of the realm of board riding and draws viewers in, where they can engage with the richness of the subculture and gain a sense of its general contours.

Continue reading →

Posted in Movies, Performers, Personal reflections, Sports, Women men and fashion | Tagged Bones Brigade, California, Craig Stecyk, David Carson, Dogtown and Z-Boys, grunge, Lance Mountain, Mike McGill, Overlooked Oeuvres, Powell Peralta, Punk, Ray Gun, Rodney Mullen, skateboarding, Stacy Peralta, Steve Caballero, surfing, The Search for Animal Chin, Tommy Guerrero, Tony Hawk, Venice Beach | 9 Comments

Linkage

Posted on April 2, 2013 by Fabrizio del Wrongo

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes:

A long, nicely put-together piece about Ain’t It Cool News proprietor Harry Knowles. I’ve always thought Knowles was a fun (and maybe even important) figure — a Forry Ackerman type who ended up influencing the culture in a bunch of interesting ways. Just one example: Ain’t It Cool News was about the first website to allow user comments on every article. That I can recall, at any rate.
Kirsten Mortensen’s new book, “Loose Dogs,” is out now and on sale. I’ve read it and I loved it. Here’s Paleo Retiree on one of her previous books. Here’s me on another.
RIP Lawrence Auster. Here’s a long tribute on V Dare (H/T Paleo Retiree).
Looking forward to checking out this ebook comprised of material drawn from Ferdinand Bardamu’s great/corrosive/inspiring blog In Mala Fide. Here’s a review by Spike Gomes.
This guy has a pretty bitchin’ collection of giallo movie posters.
Excellent piece by Jack Donovan that’s like a sprint through the often-baffling obstacle course of contemporary culture. Donovan’s been up to some interesting things of late. Here he is on a podcast discussing gay marriage.
RIP Jess Franco.
Happy to learn that Criterion will be restoring (and presumably releasing, in some format) 18 of Satyajit Ray’s films. You can currently stream Ray’s great “The Home and the World” on Hulu+.
Are “food deserts” really to blame for obesity? And what to make of the concept of “food justice”?
Terrific blog focusing on the golden age of illustration art.