Things I Liked Last Week 053010

01: LOST: "The End" [S6EP17]: Pop culture is mostly irrelevant. Television is a mere distraction. LOST was/is a red herring in this thing we call life. Indeed, when all is said and done, Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, the producers of LOST, gave us a series finale that ought to be a hard slap in the face to all the hardcore fanboys who were demanding, are still demanding, answers to so many of the the mysteries of the island, the characters, the show itself. Cuse and Lindelhof were all but literally telling those fanboys that all those mysteries, those puzzles, were red herrings when it came to "the meaning of LOST". There would be no reason for all that Hanso Foundation stuff. Walt's superpowers will have to remain unexplored and unexplained. The numbers were apparently random and held no great powers. So much time wasted on Eko. The books Sawyer read had no deep meaning, really...Or did they? Widmore's motives would remain unknown. Etc. Etc. Etc. In the end, LOST was steeped in death, or rather, the intermediate state between life and death, called "bardo" in Buddhism. It is here, in the "sideways universe" of season six, that Jack Shephard's soul must connect with the souls of all those from Oceanic flight 815 so that they can move on. In season one, Jack Shephard gave us the first big catchphrase of the show, which ultimately came to define the entire series. Simply put, "live together or die alone", and here at the end of the show, they needed to live together through the plane crash and all the weirdness of The Island, so that they could forge strong enough bonds to find each other after death, in Jack's bardo. And here we are, fanboys obsessed with the trivial minutae of LOST, and all six seasons of that stuff, the meaning of all that stuff, is irrelevant, and some of it makes sense, and plenty of it doesn't, and some of the questions got answered, but others never will, but none of that matters. What matters is that we watched the show, shared in that experience, and then we got together around the watercooler, or in discussion boards on the internet, to talk about all those red herrings, those distractions. So many puzzles, so many theories, so much discussion. And now even more discussion about this series finale. Love it or hate it, Cuse and Lindelof brought us all back together again, their show a spark to connect us in this waking dream we call life.

02: Commodore Pumpkin: You might suspect some photoshopping going on here, but I'm not so sure this picture isn't real.



03: SNL Digital Short: "Great Day" [NBC]: In general, I really like the Digital Shorts put together by Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer, and Jorma Taccone (The Lonely Island) for Saturday Night Live, and this one, from last week's season finale, is a trim and fantastic thrillride from start to finish. Just remember kids, drugs are fun until they're not.

04: Royal Crown Cola: I'm not much of a soda drinker. Aside from the can of Mountain Dew I pound down first thing every morning at work, I just don't drink all that much of the stuff these days. Having said that, I always have some Royal Crown Cola in the fridge. Compared to the big two (Coca-Cola and Pepsi Cola) RC isn't as sweet as Pepsi, and doesn't go flat as quick as Pepsi (seriously, Pepsi is shit), and RC is slightly sweeter than Coke, holds its carbonation almost as long, and in general, I find Royal Crown to be a creamier and tastier cola than the other two. Also, there is the Pair Of Kings cocktail to consider. I typically like my whiskey served neat, but if I'm going to drink a whiskey and coke, it seems only right that it be made with Crown Royal and Royal Crown. The Pair Of Kings! Thank goodness my boss gives me a bottle of Crown Royal every Christmas...
05: Wise Beard Man: If I'm not mistaken, beards in all their glorious variations, were the status quo in civilized (to say nothing of uncivilized) American society right up to World War I. It would seem head lice became a serious problem for our military men in the trenches of Europe, and shaving off all the hair on one's head was the first step in getting rid of the little buggers. And because society held soldiers and soldiering in much higher regard back then than we do now, soon it became fashionable for civilian men to go clean shaven. And here we are. Aside from some short-lived fads (moustaches in the '70's, goattees in the '90's) the clean-shaven look has remained the status quo, especially in the business world, since the 1920's. Take it from me, a dude who's worn a goattee every single day since the autumn of 1986, there are alot of uptight dicks in the corporate world who might appreciate an expensive blue suit, but will not take you seriously if you've got any sort of facial hair. You might be the smartest person in the room, but to these people, you'll always be a neanderthal. BTW - this post obviously doesn't have anything to do with Mark Bunker and Xenu TV, Scientology or 4Chan...Once in awhile I just gotta represent. I like beards.

06: FUCKING METAL: Is it possible that the infamous "duck face" craze popularized by plasticized celebutards and "real housewives" got its start in Fucking Metal?

Hotcha! Hank

Something 4 The Weekend # 168

Love Is All: Two Thousand And Ten Injuries: "Less Than Thrilled" [mp3]

Insomnia, blah blah blather...

As I write this, I am finishing off my second Polish Martini of the night and contemplating a third...Ahh, the Polish Martini, such a sweet, stinging refreshment on a warm spring night...

In a mixing glass filled with ice, combine 3 oz VODKA (preferably ZUBROWKA), 3 oz KRUPNIK HONEY VODKA, and 3 oz APPLE JUICE and stir. Pour into a cocktail glass and finish with a lemon twist.

Drink with a refined abandon. Pass out in the easy chair, Love Is All rearranging the air.

Hotcha! Hank

Sideways Highway

"Little Red Corvette" remains my favorite "car song" of all time. It was custom-made for a teen boy like me in 1983, all steamy and suggestive. Sex on wheels. Heady stuff.

"Highway Star" is no fucking slouch, though...Big, fat tires and everything...

As always, ladies - Ian Gillan wants to be inside of you.

Hotcha! Hank

Tuesday's Fortune: 25 May 2010

MEAL: 2 Roast Pork Egg Rolls + 2 Vegetable Spring Rolls + 1 small order (4) Chicken Wings = $8.10 + 90¢ tip

Hotcha! Hank

Things I Liked Last Week 052310

01: Dan Nelson: All Known Metal Bands: I don't even remember what I was searching for when I ran across this book at Amazon, but the minute I saw it, I knew I had to have it (used, of course) in my life. Quite simply, this is a list of 51,000 Heavy Metal bands, in alphabetical order, as of 2008. Yes, it is fucking awesome. Kudos to Dan Nelson and this singular, epic compulsion. Godwaffle. Satanic Sega Genesis.




02: Janelle Monae doing "Tightrope" on Letterman: This was the absolute shiz. The new Godmother of Sci-Fi Soul/R'n'B/HipHop/Funk, perhaps? Implied. I Coulda done without the Diddy, but he did bow down to Ms. Monae...So, um...Read that last part back to me and watch the vid...

03: Bananajesus: It's called Pareidolia, the phenomenon of seeing faces in ordinary, everyday objects, or my favorite, seeing the Virgin Mary in things. Longtime readers of Hot Poop might know that when I post pictures like this, I like to paraphrase the Dead Milkmen and write, "you'll pray to anything". Yeah, it's a jab at nutty Christians, but I must admit, as a "hopeful agnostic" (which makes me the wishy-washiests of people) there have been periods in my life when I was seeing the face of Jesus in the strangest places - an arrangement of gravel on my cousin Chico's driveway, in the leaves/branches of the silver maple in the front yard, two evil squirrels adding a depth to the beard. The more spiritual friends and well-wishers of mine would always say things like "It's God, showing you his truth." Ugh.

04: This moshpit pic: If one looks long enough, one might imagine God and Satan in this image. BTW - is this a photo, a painting, or a photoshopped monstrosity somewhere in between?

05: Fritz: [as always, click to enlarge] My sister assures me this kid's name if Fritz. I went to school with a kid named Fritz. Fritz lived on a farm. Now, I love my sis, but I'm pretty damn sure she's pulling my leg on this one, because I'm pretty damn sure she doesn't know any kids named Fritz. Fritz.


06: 30 Rock: "I Do Do" [S4-EP22] : This excellent season 4 finale, which broadcast last Thursday night, features Matt Damon as Carroll, Liz Lemon's new love interest. Carroll, a dashing pilot who is seemingly and believably Liz's soulmate. True. Love is also in the air for Jack, who is torn between two lovers and feeling like a fool. Meanwhile, Jenna's new beau, a Jenna Maroney impersonator, also reveals himself to be a Cher impersonator as well. Another triangle. More decisions. Kenny gets fired, but really, this show is all about Liz, possibly finding happiness, and Matt Damon's fantastic cameo. Which I'm hoping is more than just a cameo. I'd like to see Damon come back next season in a semi-regular role. Let Liz be happy in love and spend season 5 making that funny as an antidote to four years of unlucky Liz. Anyways, what's most valuable here - Damon is a very good comic actor. The sort of actor who creates funny characters through subtle mannerisms and affectations, wigs & facial hair, a good wardrobe, who then delivers improbably funny lines with such earnestness, and sometimes with a well-played accent. Damon was Oscar-worthy in last year's The Informant! And as much as I love Terry Gilliam, The Brothers Grimm was a messy film that didn't quite work. But that wasn't Damon's fault. He and Heath Ledger gave their usually solid-to-great performances in a middling film that had it's fair share of humor throughout (from clever wordplay to nutty slapstick). In fact, I'd say there's a boyish wink lurking under most of Damon's characters. Like Clooney, just not as dashing. Blather. Tina Fey!!!!!

07: The Rusty Nail: Also known as a "Donald Sutherland", this sweet stinging cocktail is 5 parts scotch (make mine Dalmore) and 2 parts Drambuie, poured into an ice-filled highball glass. Stir slowly and gently until the glass gets nice and frosty. Finish it with a lemon twist. It's good medicine in warm weather.

Hotcha! Hank

Something 4 The Weekend # 167

Deep Purple: Who Do We Think We Are: "Smooth Dancer" [mp3]

The very definition of Cock Rock. Ian Gillan wants to be inside of you, ladies.

Hotcha! Hank

Maneuver The Elf Rainbow Sideways

Ronnie James Dio's blues-rock phase, circa 1973.

Elf, doing a song called "Rainbow" a few years before Ronnie Dio joined Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, which had an album called Rainbow Rising as well as a song called "Rainbow Eyes". All of that preceded the Dio (the band) song, "Rainbow In The Dark" in 1983.

Hmmm...

Consider that the B-Side of Ronnie & The Red Caps' 1958 debut single "Conquest" was a tune called "Lover". Their next two singles were called "Judy, I Love You" and "An Angel Is Missing".

Then consider this fun fact - if you look at Dio's logo (the band) rotated 180°, it reads "devil".

Ahh, marketing!

Ronnie James Dio - The lover, the devil, and me...

Anyways, this is a nice union of song and animation. A Cool video.

Hotcha! Hank

Man On The Sideways Mountain

One more Ronnie James Dio performance. Dio (the band) doing Rainbow's "Man On The Silver Mountain". Rest in peace.

Hotcha! Hank

Modest Sideways Dashboard Mouse Maneuver

Modest Mouse. Isaac Brock. Beards. Maps. Microphonehand. Radiohead.

Hotcha! Hank

Sir Isaac Isaacs

In case you missed the link in the previous post, this is Sir Isaac Isaacs, the Governor General of Australia in the 1930's. About nine times a week I call Isaac The Cat "Sir Isaac Isaacs", though as I said, he wasn't named after this man and his regal moustache.

Here he is without the wig and the moustache. The uniform is dynamite, but I think he needs a nice hat... And the 'stache.

Hotcha! Hank

A Cat At Rest Tends To Stay At Rest

This is Isaac The Cat in early 1996, when he was just under a year old and I still lived in the huge flat above the sandwich shop in Grafton with the Reverend Screamin' Ben Jenkins and Sweetpea. The dark cat behind him is Sweetpea's cat, Tasha. She was about 19 years old at the time, and we had to put her to sleep a month or two after this picture was taken. A brutal day.

Isaac wasn't named after Sir Isaac Newton, though in hindsight that just makes Isaac that much cooler. Nor was he named after Asimov. Never cared for the little Asimov I've read. Nor was he named after Isaac Hayes, Isaac Bashevis Singer, or even Isaac Isaacs...

Isaac means "laughter" in Hebrew.

Sometimes I tell people he was named after Isaac the bartender on The Love Boat, but that's not true.

Isaac is 15 years old today. He doesn't have any of his fangs but still enjoys tuna in oil and play-fighting with his teeth more than his hind legs. He can still jump about 4 feet straight up in the air when properly motivated by dangling objects tied to the ends of strings. Hi favorite place in the house to sleep is the left arm of the blue chair (a different blue chair than the one in this picture), though lately he's been digging the floorspace next to the modem under my desk.

These things are true.

Hotcha! Hank

Must Of Got Sideways

The J. Geils Band, Mach III ??? Recorded last year at a House of Blues show in their hometown of Boston...It's good to see 'em back together, blowing faces off...Of course, this Peter Wolf intro thing seen and heard here in all it's manic glory has become a ritual for the faithful. Mick Jagger, where you at?

Hotcha! Hank

Tuesday's Fortune: 18 May 2010

MEAL: 1 Roast Pork Egg Roll + 1 order Fried Crispy Bean Curd with Hot Garlic Sauce = $5.05 +95¢ tip


Hotcha! Hank

R.I.P. Ronnie James Dio

Like many dudes my age, I grew up with a deep and abiding love for Black Sabbath. They were certainly my introduction to Heavy Metal, and their greatest hits album, We Sold Our Soul For Rock'n'Roll, was probably one of the first half-dozen records I ever bought with my own money, which wasn't from a job (I was too young), but rather from the $2/week allowance I got for taking the garbage out, washing dishes, and keeping my bedroom clean. Adjusting for inflation, it took me about 3 weeks to save enough money to buy that 2-record greatest hits set, and a pack of football cards, at Ben Franklin. (The store, not the long-dead statesmen.) Anyways, I must have been about ten years old at the time, and I seem to recall my mom not being too happy that I liked Sabbath, but still allowing me to listen to 'em. She was cool like that.

But you know what? For all my love for the original Sabbath, with Ozzy on vocals, I have to admit that my favorite album of theirs, to this day, is Heaven And Hell, with Ronnie James Dio on vocals. Simply put, it's one of the greatest Heavy Metal albums ever made, and as iconic and awesome as Ozzy was/is, Ronnie James Dio was always the better singer, and I think most fucking metal fans would agree with me on that count.

I had the great fortune to see Black Sabbath with Dio on vocals, and the even greater fortune of seeing Dio live on the Holy Diver tour. They played the Eagles Club in Milwaukee, a place that held maybe 1000 people, and at this general admission show, my friends and I were lucky enough to get right up to the front of the stage, a mere 10 feet away from the band. After hundreds, if not thousands of shows I've seen over the years, it remains one of the greatest shows I've ever seen.

I'd also note that to the best of my recollection, Ronnie James Dio was the first person I ever saw "throw the horns".

Rest in peace, Ronnie James, you were fucking awesome.

Hotcha! Hank

Things I Liked Last Week 051610

01: Kitty, The Hiking Cat: Two people hike from Miami to the southernmost tip of South America. Somewhere in Louisiana, this stray cat (simply named Kitty, as far as I can tell)starts travelling with them, making the entire 9000 mile trek. Cats rule.

02: Chuck Klosterman: CK IV: A Decade Of Curious People And Dangerous Ideas: I love Chuck Klosterman. I also hate Chuck Klosterman a little bit because he makes me hate myself a little bit. You see, Chuck Klosterman essentially has the career I long dreamed for myself, but never had the confidence or skill to pursue in earnest, or actually attain if I had pursued it. Chuck Klosterman is also an unabashed Billy Joel fan. So am I. Chuck doesn't believe in the idea of guilty pleasures. Neither do I. Chuck likes hair metal. Me, not so much. Chuck is an engaging writer. Very likeable words. He asks as many questions as he answers, which is probably for the best as far as pop culture is concerned. Distractions worth talking about. In this collection of (mostly) magazine articles, Chuck writes about Britney Spears, his McNugget diet, Goth Day at Disneyland, the Fargo-Moorhead music scene circa 1994, among many other other things "of the moment" throughout his career. Anyways, love or hate, I like this Chuck Klosterman book, though not as much as Sex, Drugs & Cocoa Puffs...

03: Drop Dead Gorgeous: Well, it took me eleven years to finally watch this 1999 mockumentary-style comedy, and I'm sorry it took so long because it's a hilarious gem of a movie. The subject is teen beauty pageants, which is the biggest reason I resisted the film for so long. Another reason for my hesitation is that among it's rock-solid ensemble cast, Kirstie Alley and Denise Richards feature prominently, and I do not like either of these actresses on a personal level. The thing is, they play the mother-daughter villains of the film, and as villains, they're not only palatable to me, but are damn easy to root against. Now, as much as I dislike Kirstie Alley, she's a great comedic actress, and I only wish I could say the same about Ms. Richards, who is easily the weakest link here. Elsewhere, Kirstin Dunst takes the lead role, and does a great job, and once again I'm wondering why there are so many Dunst-haters on the internet - she's cute and talented, what more needs be said? Then there's Allison Janney and Ellen Barkin, playing two boozy, chain-smoking, trailer court MILFs, and are certainly two of the stronger characters of the film. Amy Adams and the late Brittany Murphy ably play two of the other pageant contestants, and Ms. Murphy in particular gives a fine performance that only makes her untimely death all the more tragic to me. And here's a sentence I never thought I'd write - this movie would have been even better with more Will Sasso. Ayup, the lumbering MadTV veteran here's plays a paint-huffing moron of epic, absurd proportions. Anyways, the film is set in Minnesota, I would have to say that the classic, nasally midwestern accent, as popularized in Fargo, is one of the few elements of this film I didn't necessarily love, if only because I always feel Hollywood is too quick to equate the accent with bumpkins and rubes, as if the midwest is nothing but simpletons as far as the eye can see, and exist only to be ridiculed. Finally, I'd like to note that Drop Dead Gorgeous was written by Lona Williams, who's showbiz career has been one of production assistant on The Simpsons, and story editor for The Drew Carey Show. And here she is, writing an absolutely hilarious, and sometimes charming film, one of the funniest films I've seen in quite awhile. Sadly, she's done almost nothing else in showbiz since, save three uncredited producer jobs. This woman needs to write more films that actually get made. In any event, Drop Dead Gorgeous is an excellent comedy that has somewhat flown under the radar since it's release, and really doesn't deserve it. A MUST!



04: Brian Posehn: "More Metal Than You" video: A friend of mine once said that I look like the indie rock brother of Brian Posehn. I'd maintain that the flannel I fly makes me more of a Grunge cousin, but whatever...I would also maintain that I'm more metal. Just kidding - I would never name my cat "Manowar" and I certainly wouldn't let Gene Simmons anywhere near my weeping Eisenhower. I would lick Lemmy's wart. Then again, I used to work with a guy named Sal, who once got punched in the gut by Henry Rollins at a house party in Green Bay. That's hardcore, and pretty fucking metal.

05: This picture [as always, click to enlarge]: I'm one of those people that thinks we should all just shut our fucking mouths when it comes to Tiger Woods and any other celebrity who cheats on their spouse, because it's none of our business, and none of us are without sin, so we should stop casting stones. That isn't to say that I condone extra-marital affairs, but what I always say is these people really ought to "know themselves". In other words, Tiger Woods biggest "sin" was getting married in the first place. He KNEW he was a horndog long before he got married, so why would he? If Jesse James liked banging tattoo-covered party girls, why the fuck would he even think about settling down, especially with Sandra Bullock, widely considered one of the nicest women in Hollywood, the antithesis of Bombshell McGee? Whatever. My other point is that all this hand-wringing and moral outrage is a bunch of bullshit. A goodly percentage of us are duplicitous and hypocritical, and I always operate on the assumption that the more a person feigns outrage at somebody else's actions, the more likely they are to partake in those actions themselves. I mean, consider all those Christian Conservatives who are always getting caught in their own sex scandals. All those moral leaders who preach that homosexuality is an abomination while sodomizing rentboys behind closed doors. Let's all just shut the fuck up and let each other live our lives.

06: Djeep Lighters: They last longer than Bics, never break before they run out of butane, are shapely, are made in France, only cost $1.29, and do not burn your fingers during the power ballad portion of yr favorite hair metal band's concert. Yet I do not know a single smoker, whether it be cigarettes, weed, meth or crack, that uses Djeep lighters. Their loss, because these are easily the finest disposable lighter on the market today.

07: Madison Gas & Electric: Yesterday morning I was sitting in my easy chair, reading some Murakami (After Dark, if you must know), when an extremely loud explosion from somewhere in the neighborhood came through my open windows and caught my attention. A second later, all the power was out. It seems that a transformer box on one of the lightpoles up the street and around the corner had suddenly and inexplicably exploded and caught fire. After the firemen secured the scene, in came several MG&E trucks to replace the box and the pole, fix some of the powerlines in the neighborhood, and restore power. I just assumed we'd be without power for the better part of the day, considering the extent of the damage, but lo and behold, we had power again about 90 minutes later. Now, I'm more than willing to bitch about the amount I'm billed each month for gas and electric, but all things considered, MGE's repairmen were effective and efficient in this instance, and I liked that.

Hotcha! Hank

Something 4 The Weekend # 166

The J. Geils Band: Blow Your Face Out: "Detroit Breakdown" [mp3]

After 13 years as one of the greatest live acts in the music business (led by the manic ex-radio disc jockey Peter Wolf), The J. Geils Band finally hit the big time in 1980 with "Love Stinks", a great song that many wrote off as a novelty of sorts, which is too bad in a way, because it obscured the fact that they were such an awesome live band. And even though their studio albums throughout the 1970s never sold well, they always always always had great songs. Songs loaded with R'n'B goodness through and through.

I'm glad the band hit it big with "Love Stinks", and kept their chart-topping success going with "Centerfold" and "Freeze Frame" a couple years later, because a band this good, this entertaining, and this hard-working deserved some compensation, some reward, for all that goodness. Seriously, if you like this song, please buy this album, then buy their other live album from the 1970's, Full House, and then keep on buying whatever other J Geils Band albums you can find, because they simply don't make 'em like this anymore.

Plus, the harmonica/sax player calls himself Magic Dick, arguably one of the greatest stage names in Rock history.

Hotcha! Hank

Give Arizona Back!

Almost 20 years ago, the powers that be in Arizona took issue with Martin Luther King, Jr. day as a recognized national holiday. Nowadays, they've all got a collective bug up their collective asses about Hispanics. I think we're at the point now where the only solution is to simply give the whole fucking state back to Mexico. Short of that, a militant Navaho uprising might clear things up a bit.

Racial profiling...Teachers with accents banned...And now, Ethnic Studies classes banned in the Tucson school district...

http://azstarnet.com/news/local/education/precollegiate/article_10fb594b-cca6-5a3f-a65e-9689f1e963bb.html

Bravo, governor Jan Brewer, you racist piece of shit! Bravo!

Hotcha! Hank

Tuesday's Fortune: 11 May 2010

MEAL: 1 order (8) Steamed Dumplings + 1 small order Pork Lo Mein = $9.95 + $1.05 tip


Hotcha! Hank

Things I Liked Last Week 050910

01: Kanellos The Greek Protest Dog: The Greeks aren't afraid to protest, and even riot a bit, when their government fucks them over. As an armchair anarchist, it makes me sad that the American people have been, by and large, taken advantage of by our government and big business time and time again, but we're too fat and complacent to do much more than bitch about it with friends and coworkers. Nobody is taking it to the streets except the Tea Partiers, and I'm fairly convinced their entire movement is built on a solid foundation of racism, because the tax rates under our current black president is pretty much in line (and in many cases lower) with the tax rates under every other president over the past 50 years. In other words, where were these white, middle class people during the Bush, Clinton, Reagan, Carter and Nixon years? The top marginal tax rate during the Reagan years (their beloved political hero) hovered around 50%, while it sits at 38% under Obama? But now I'm getting wildly off-topic. Follow the link, and see 14 pictures of Kanellos, perhaps a more "involved" citizen than most of us.



02: Community: "Modern Warfare": S1-EP23: As the season has progressed, Community has grown into its own, and has grown on me. At first, I thought it was a fairly good comedy - good enough to kick off NBC's Thursday night comedy block, but not as strong as the three shows which follow. Well, sad to say, The Office has been quite underwhelming this year, and may be ready to head out to pasture, while 30 Rock is still great, but not as insane as it was last season. Parks & Recreation is currently the strongest of the four comedies, but I believe this "Modern Warfare" episode of Community is a welcome indication of just how good this show can be. Every week we can count on the writers to sneak a number of sly movie references into the show (via the character of Abed), but this particular episode is simply remarkable in that respect. Plus, it's just plain funny.

03: Screamo Kitty: I believe this picture speaks for itself.

04: Sherlock Holmes: I didn't love this movie, if only because I'm rather protective of the character and stories of the creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and this adaptation is not only a non-canonical story, but the illustrious detective, as played by Robert Downey Jr., is painted with rather broad strokes. As I mentioned two weeks ago, I'm partial to Jeremy Brett's portrayal in the Granada TV series of the 1980's, which showed Holmes in all his bitchy, egotistical glory, to say nothing of the homosexual undercurrent running throughout, which I believe to be one of the more important aspects of the original character. Is he gay, or merely asexual? Doyle leaves us guessing. Here, with the introduction of Irene Adler, as played by Rachel McAdams, there is no mystery, and that's a shame. Having said all this, I'm still a sucker for the characters of Holmes and Watson, a sucker for London circa 1890ish, and dammit if Guy Ritchie doesn't know how to make superb action films. This movie might not have been what I wanted, but it is damn entertaining nonetheless.

05: EVERYTHINGATHON! v101: Hats off to Dan Dierdorf, who tells a horrifying story of his trip to Burning Man several years ago, mixing a bunch of great heavy metal into the podcast for good measure. Check it out for the rest of this month.

06: Super Kohinoor Indian Food: I love Indian food, and thankfully there are a couple of very good Indian restaurants in Madison. However, I do not eat in restaurants very often because it's hard to justify the cost, and while I'm a pretty good cook, Indian cuisine is one of the more difficult to do well, I believe - I'm certainly not very adept. That's where the Super Kohinoor brand comes in. You might laugh when I tell you that this particular line of products (among many other Indian foods made by Kohinoor) is nothing more complicated than boil bags - boil the bag for 5 minutes, and then simply pour over rice. So simple, even a caveman (such as myself) can do it, but considering the nature of this product, it more than satisfies my Indian food cravings when they arise (I always keep a few of these Kohinoor products in my pantry). They make about 8 different "dishes" in this line, but I'd have to say Awahdi Aloo Mutter is my favorite of the bunch, which is really nothing more than peas and potatos in a vibrant curry. Available in most supermarkets, I'm sure.

Hotcha! Hank

Something 4 The Weekend # 165

Super Furry Animals: Dark Days/Light Years: "Moped Eyes" [mp3]

The very first S4TW, nearly four years ago, was "Something 4 The Weekend" by Super Furry Animals. It feels like the right time to take the Welsh wunderkinds for a spin again...

So here we are..."Moped Eyes" off the band's latest album, from last year, and they're aping Bowie's "Fame", or some sorta thin, white funk anyway...

Hotcha! Hank

Tuesday's Fortune: 04 May 2010

MEAL: 2 Vegetable Spring Rolls + 1 small order Hunan Triple in Hot Garlic Sauce = $6.75 + $1.25 tip


Hotcha! Hank

Things I Liked Last Week 050210

01: Owls. As much as I fear and loathe squirrels, I trust and adore owls. Owls let you know when bad shit is afoot in yr back yard in the middle of the night. Owls also hunt and eat varmints like mice and voles. Some of the bigger owls eat squirrels. I love those owls the most. Now that spring is here, I've been sleeping at night with the windows open, and it would seem there is an owl living in one of the back yards on my block. I like this.

02: Scorpions: "Robot Man" [mp3] There's a theory floating around out there called "option paralysis", the idea that as we are given more and more choices, the harder and harder it becomes for us to make a choice, and that when a person is ultimately faced with unlimited choices, s/he is unable to make a choice at all. Now, I have a very large music collection on my hard drives, and with every passing month or year, with every new album folder of mp3s ripped or downloaded, it becomes harder and harder for me to choose what to listen to. Sure, new releases and acquisitions get a fair hearing or three, but in general, I have a hard time deciding what to listen to on any given day, and so often I just hit RANDOM on my MediaMonkey Player, and resign myself to the software's choices, rather than deal with my own brand of option paralysis. Anyways, last Wednesday the Scorpions' In Trance crossed my path, the first time I've heard the album in years. As much as the Scorpions began to disappoint me in the 1980's, their early years, those first five or six albums fucking ruled, and this one might be the best of the bunch.

03: My Alfredo Sauce Recipe: In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, add 1/3 cup BUTTER, 5 cloves MINCED GARLIC, 5 MINCED SCALLIONS, 1/4 cup FLOUR, 1/3 cup MUSHROOMS. Sautee until scallions are translucent and soft and any flour lumps are melted away, adding 1/4 cup wine (optional) in the last minute or so. Then slowly whisk in 2 cups HEAVY CREAM and 1 cup WHOLE MILK, 1/2 tsp NUTMEG, 1/2 tsp BLACK PEPPER. Continue stirring until everything is warm and smooth, then begin stirring in 3/4 cup grated PARMESAN CHEESE, and 1/4 cup RAY ROMANO CHEESE. Keep stirring until it's 100% hot and luscious. Serve with FETTUCINI, or my preferred SPAGHETTI noodles. I also like using this sauce with pan-seared SCALLOPS, and lately I've been throwing the dish (pasta, sauce, scallops) under the broiler in the oven at the end to make it absolutely golden.

04: Modern Family: In it's first season, this ABC comedy has been hitting on all cylinders from the very start. It has a wonderful cast of great characters, but my favorite has to be Cam (played by Eric Stonestreet), the flamboyant half of the show's gay couple. In this clip, he's trying out for the rock band led by his partner's niece's boyfriend, and it illustrates some of the great, understated comedy that runs throughout the show.

05: This. Sometimes, when I'm trying to work on Kieth The Perpetual Teen™ and I get stuck, I like to take other people's comic strips and write my own dialogue or captions, like I did with this Far Side™ cartoon. It's juvenile, yes, but I think it works.


06: This Jim Jarmusch quote [click to enlarge]: I've long been in agreement with Shakespeare that there is "nothing new under the sun", a phrase he took directly from Ecclesiastes in the Bible. I'm also reminded of Pablo Picasso, who once said "good artists copy, great artists steal".

Hotcha! Hank