February 5, 2010

Yikes!
It's been a while since I last posted. Probably for lack of anything interesting to say. I will try to work on that.
I FINALLY went to the Tim Burton exhibit at the MoMA today. Awesome awesome awesome! I have always enjoyed his movies, but it was something else entirely to see the display of work he has created in a museum setting. Not only were there actual costumes from some of his films, including Edward Scissorhands and Batman, but there were also his sketches that were never transformed into films as well as his earliest work from when he was starting out in Burbank, CA. It was crazy to see how his style morphed into something reflective of his style over the course of his art career to date.
Some of the pieces from earlier on show a clear "art schoolness" in them. Though the subject matter is similar to what he is known for today (flying saucers, multi eyed creatures, dinosaurs...) it also has a feeling of being monitored by an instructor. The black outlines he commonly draws his characters with now, is gone and in it's place are blurred lines and soft shadows that in classically trained art circles are supposed to denote depth and dimensionality.
As the works are dated later, Tim Burton's style begins to change into what many people would recognize today. Body parts are disproportionate, colors are vibrant, and most characters are defined by a thin black ink outline. His work is not two dimensional though. The way he uses color and texture of his pen, he is able to create perspective and layering. At the entrance to the show all of the work is shown under black light and with the use of neon paint on black velvet, he is able to create an erie depth to all of his work.
I was also amazed to see all the characters I remember as they originally started: as quick sketches. On paper, the aliens from Mars Attacks look more kookie than angry. Edward Scissorhands looks like a scared boy in an odd costume. Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas, looks neon blue.
There was one character that I didn't see that surprised me. There were sketches of other characters from his movie as well as a life size model of his nemesis' head (the Sandworm). Who was this?
Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice!
I love Beetlejuice. Probably because I remember watching the cartoon as a kid. His suite and hair were as ridiculous as he was, but for some reason, I loved watching that show. Maybe it was because I secretly wish that is was me he was my friend.
For some reason or another though, I haven't seen the movie...luckily I just realized that I can watch it instantly through Netflix.
Thank you Internet.

January 28, 2010

So I'm sad to use my blog to report another death.
J.D. Salinger died today at the age of 91. He is known mostly for his book Catcher in the Rye, which has been the go to for the hipster set for as long as I have been able to read. However, it wasn't until I got to college that I realized that only the "hip" kids quoted the book frequently.
Honestly, I thought the book was good, but not as great as apparently everyone else thinks...In my opinion, Franny and Zooey was much better. You should check it out.
In any event, it is sad that a literary icon like Salinger is gone. His disdain of the spotlight has put him out of the spotlight for most of his professional life, so I'm not sure that he would appreciate being the subject of a major article in the NY Times. I leave you with a quote I read recently by Salinger (...yes I did knock people previously for quoting Catcher in the Rye, but this quote is decidedly appropriate for the situation).
“I hope to hell that when I do die somebody has the sense to just dump me in the river or something. Anything except sticking me in a goddam cemetary. People coming and putting a bunch of flowers on your stomach on Sunday, and all that crap. Who wants flowers when you're dead? Nobody.”

Picture courtesy of Melville House Publishing

January 24, 2010

Ok so I don't really have anything to say about this video but...holy crap.
You'll know what I mean when you check it out.

http://www.mefeedia.com/news/24041774

January 20, 2010

So sorry for the brief hiatus (or not so brief), but I was kickin' it in Mexico. Cancun to be more exact.
Though it wasn't my favorite vacation, but I'm glad we went. I have come back with a list of DOs, DON'Ts and MAYBE DO if you have extra time or money in Cancun.

DO
1. Leave the hotel as much as possible.
2. Take advantage of free drinks if you are staying at an all inclusive.
3. Rent a car to drive yourself some place. It's not hard to navigate.
4. Go to Tulum.
5. Snorkel.
6. Take the public buses. They are AWESOME and totally fast (and cheap).
7. Make friends with strangers you meet at your hotel (unless they are creepy or weird).
8. Take pictures to impress the people who didn't go.

DON'T
1. Listen to the people trying to sell you timeshares.
2. Forget to put sunscreen on...ever...that is how you get sun poisoning (I would know)
3. Take a tour to Tulum. Waaaay too much money for nothing you couldn't do yourself.
4. Tip everyone.
5. Drink the water (Montezuma's Revenge anyone?)
6. Make calls/texts back to the US...totally pricey and unnecessary. You are on vacation.

MAYBE DO
1. Coco Bongo. The show is cool, but it's a lot of money.
2. Sea Kayak. We didn't do it, but it looked cool...
3. Check out other hotel's beaches. They probably won't kick you off...


P.S. I did actually take this picture...are you jealous?

January 12, 2010

So yesterday on the plane ride from Denver to La Guardia they played 500 days of Summer. While I did not watch that, I did watch the tv show after it about the more obscure islands in the Pacific. The narrator talked about how plants and animals had come to inhabit such islands like Fiji and the Solomons. He also came up with some random facts. One of which being about some kind of Tern that didn't have to land for up to 4 years! How crazy!
After hearing that I decided to look into other random bird facts. Here are some of my favorites curtosy of http://www.trails.com/arts/amazing-bird-records.aspx

rarest bird in the world: ivory-billed woodpecker, Jerdon's courser
highest price paid for a bird book: $3.96 million (U.S.) for a set of John James Audubon's The Birds of America in 1989
highest price paid for a mounted bird: 9,000 British pounds for an extinct great auk by the Natural History Museum of Iceland on 1971
country with the most introduced species: United States (Hawaii) with 68
longest-lived captive bird: sulfur-crested cockatoo at over 80 years
largest domesticated bird: ostrich
earliest domesticated bird: jungle fowl at 3200 BC
heaviest domestic turkey: 37 kg (81 lb)
foulest smelling nest: Eurasian hoopoe
longest fasting period: 134 days for incubating male emperor penguins

January 9, 2010 again

Here is some of the Gumby cast

January 9, 2010

Ok so I have been bad about the last two days...I'm in the mountains snowboarding. That's my excuse.
Anyway, I'm sad to say that today the creator of Gumby, Art Clokey, died today at 88.

I love Gumby.

I must confess though that I wasn't aware that there were so many characters in the Gumby cast! According to Wikipedia, "Gumby's principal sidekick is Pokey, a talking pony voiced by Art Clokey and Dallas McKennon at different times, and his nemeses are the Blockheads, a pair of humanoid, red-colored figures with block-shaped heads, who wreak mischief and havoc at all times. The Blockheads were inspired by the Katzenjammer Kids, who were always getting into scrapes and causing discomfort to others. Other characters are Gumby's dog Nopey (who responds to everything with a gloomy "nope"); Prickle, a yellow dinosaur or dragon, who often declares himself as a detective, sporting a pipe and a hat in the likeness of Sherlock Holmes; Goo, a flying blue mermaid who spits blue goo-balls and can change her physical shape at will; Gumby's mother Gumba; Gumby's father Gumbo; his sister Minga; Denali (a mastodon); Tilly (a hen); King Ott; and Professor Kapp."

Awesome.

January 6, 2010

I watched Gran Torino today.

All I kept thinking was, "When is Clint Eastwood going to clear his throat for christ sake?"

January 5, 2010

Today, while driving to do some errands, I was stuck behind an SUV brandishing the bumper sticker asking "got puli?"

"No" was my answer. What the hell is (a) puli?

I thought that maybe it was a liquid (going on the Milk reference) or some kind of drug.

Nope.

Puli is a type of dog...yes. According to the American Kennel Club it is, "Compact, vigorous and alert, the Puli is a tough-as-nails herding dog, able to perform its duties across any terrain." Indeed. I believe the most defining attribute of the Puli is it's obvious competencies as a mop. But that's just me.

Some people may recognize this dog from the cover of Beck's Odelay album. Regardless, it was a pretty ridiculous question for the back of a car.

January 4, 2010

Today I embraced lentils.
Feeling bad about basically just lounging around the house since I've been back in Colorado, I volunteered to cook dinner. I love to cook so this wasn't really a big deal. Anyway, I'm tired of meat dishes. Every time I turn around there is lamb or turkey or ham everywhere! I think that's in the nature of the season, but I'm ready for a break.
In the spirit of doing something meatless and trying for adventure, I turned to "How to Cooking Everything Vegetarian" by Mark Bittman. May I just say that if I had enough time and/or money I may pull a Julie and Julia type stunt with Bittman. That however, is not likely. Back to the lentils.
After deciding on a pasta dish I came upon one including lentils. I have never cooked with lentils nor did I ever necessarily plan to, but after happening upon this dish I thought "why not?".
It was a very successful dish, if I do say so myself (with the agreement of my family). Then, of course, I began to contemplate the lentil. What is a lentil exactly? Who even cares about these weird mini rocks masquerading as beans?
Well, I consulted the Internet and here is what it (they?) had to say...

According to Wikipedia (no I could not find a better lentil source than Wiki...), the lentil plant was one of the first domesticated crops of the Near East. "lentils have the third-highest level of protein, by weight, of any plant-based food after soybeans and hemp, and is an important part of the diet in many parts of the world, especially in the Indian subcontinent which has large vegetarian populations" (Wikipedia)
Lentils are one of the best vegetable source of iron too!

Who knew there were so many reasons to eat lentils?!