the rich girls are weeping take notes

Meant to post this on Wednesday, which seems half a lifetime ago...

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 15:38:00 -0500

Meant to post this on Wednesday, which seems half a lifetime ago at this point — not even sure how I ran across it to begin with, even. Anyway, this is Antony Gormley’s massive and gorgeous Angel of the North statue in Gateshead, UK. It’s been in place for over 10 years now, and it may be one of the loveliest pieces of public art I’ve ever seen.

xx c. hotpoint

Karen Carpenter Drum Solo - 1976 First Television Special Via...

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 16:15:00 -0500

Karen Carpenter Drum Solo - 1976 First Television Special

Via the ever-wonderful Paula, one should never forget that Karen Carpenter was a pretty darn good drummer.

(Bonus: The adorable skit with John Denver!)

xo c. hotpoint

Reason #161989846516516514 to go to Brooklyn. Bill...

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 17:42:00 -0500

Reason #161989846516516514 to go to Brooklyn. Bill Brand’s Masstransiscope has been restored. From the fabulous NYC Abandoned Stations site:

The closed Myrtle Ave platform was home for many years to an artwork called Masstransiscope by Bill Brand, installed in 1980. It was an animated cartoon, but the train moved, not the 228 hand-painted images. According to Bill, writing in 1999,

The piece works like a giant zoetrope. It is installed on an unused (now sealed) subway station. It consists of a 300 foot long box with half inch slits placed about 15 inches apart. The box is illuminated from the inside and the images are painted on retro-reflective panels mounted on the inside back wall of the box.

The piece was done as an art project sponsored by Creative Time, a NYC non-profit organization dedicated to art in public places. Masstransiscope was supported by grants from NEA, NYSCA as well as in-kind support from companies that donated materials. It’s never had any commercial life, although I’ve been approached many times by people wanting to make it a commercial venture but no one has ever followed through.

The piece still exists but the last time I checked, the lights were not turned on. It has also been covered by grafitti over the years and though it is protected by a grafitti proof layer, there is no one to keep it cleaned off. I’ve heard rumors that it was recently cleaned, but I couldn’t tell when I checked because the lights were off.

To view Masstransiscope, take the B or Q into Manhattan from De Kalb and look out the windows on the right side.

Masstransiscope Blog

Bill Brand

<3 pvb, trainspotter

"Q: Okay Mark. What’s a popular food writer like you doing in a kitchen like that? A: I got a..."

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 12:47:00 -0500

“

Q: Okay Mark. What’s a popular food writer like you doing in a kitchen like that?

A: I got a bunch of e-mails that say, “Can you believe all this stuff about your crummy kitchen?” But the whole idea is that you don’t need a fancy kitchen. You don’t need fancy equipment, and you don’t need fancy recipes. When I show people my kitchen, they believe it. But I hate my kitchen also. I bump my shins on the dishwasher. There is not enough room to put stuff. It’s a terrible stove. It’s a terrible dishwasher. I don’t have room for the pots I’d like to have. I’ve cooked in much worse, though. I’m used to it. Someday I’ll grow up and get a real kitchen.

”

- Mark Bittman’s Bad Kitchen - Well Blog - NYTimes.com

Newsflash! Bittman lives in NYC. He has a galley kitchen too. (What were you expecting? A Long Island or Staten Island McMansion with a great room and tile-covered island that are a monument to architectural bastardry?) Bittman is 100% correct — you don’t need a fancy kitchen to make awesome food. And if it doesn’t fit in the kitchen you have, you probably don’t need it.

Our galley kitchen is on the 4th floor at the front of the house, adjacent to the common room where most of the knitting supplies live. It’s about 6’ x 12’ and contains an awkward pantry (the door needs to be taken off its hinges and toted to the basement), a midget fridge, a gas range and dishwasher we’re both pretty happy with, and two miniscule scraps of butcher block counter space. Additionally, we have a microwave, espresso maker and toaster which, at best, see infrequent use. Hervé, Cindy’s Cuisinart, lives on top of the fridge with my 1960s workhorse Sunbeam mixer. (Can someone get me a replacement dough hook and pastry paddle?) Calling this kitchen “hot” during the summer is an understatment. It’s a sauna. And in the winter, it’s cold, even with the radiator. But all things considered, our kitchen is awesome. Of course I’d love to have the early 50s turquoise Hardwick range I had in the house I owned with my ex, and Cindy would probably sell an organ to get the storage space she had in the fabulous red corner kitchen in her last apartment, but what we have is pretty damned OK. And it’s well used on a daily basis.

Last night, in this tiny space between the hours of 6 and 9pm, the kitchen saw a lot of culinary action. I made dolmas (with onion, currant, and pine nuts) from scratch for an early Thanksgiving potluck. While I rolled up all the grape leaves, I started some chicken and frozen artifact sausage in my stockpot for some braised greens and tomatoes with cannelini beans. While both of these operations were taking up the stovetop and the majority of the counterspace, Cindy made bread and set it to rise. This may not sound like a feat, but we assure you it was considering the limited space. And no special equipment was employed.

Cindy and I have almost every dinner at home, usually together, because it’s easy and cost effective. Add to that that we can both cook, and it’s a pretty sweet deal. Those of you who know us personally know that neither of us mess around when we say we’re going to make something. I do things intuitively; Cindy makes recipes her bitch. Just like everywhere else, there is no shoddy workmanship in our kitchen.

Last night while I was scrubbing dolma filling residue out of my awesome copper-bottom skillet and while Cindy was wrestling with the bread, putting it to a second rise, she mentioned that she thinks it’s sad that people have gotten so far away from thinking of food as nutrition, or thinking about where it comes from. I’m inclined to agree. Meals have become yet another thing to do that’s on an activity list so there’s a huge amount of disconnection between people and why and what they eat. Not to get all Slow Food or Michael Pollan on everyone, but foodways are a necessary part of who we are and who we become. Sitting down to a good and nourishing meal is as essential as quality sleep. I know I’m not the same without it. As I’ve developed a better relationship with my body and my soul over the past couple of years, food has been an integral part of my progress. Cutting out pre-packaged items and high fructose corn syrup while adding a ton of greens and fish were the first, and easy steps. Moving on and deciding with Cindy that as long as we share a kitchen we might as well make our own baked goods and buy organic dairy products was a logical decision. And it’s been a good one. Next stop is making butter instead of buying it.

This city — god love it — is a blessing and a curse. It’s a blessing because there are so many options for awesome food, to purchase or to make yourself. And it’s a curse because the wealth of options and the sometimes constricting living space become an excuse for poor expenditures, poor meal planning and often poor eating habits, which leads to just not taking care of oneself. And I find that when I care about someone, the preparation of good food is the ultimate gesture for making that known — whether it’s sharing dinner with friends, cooking with my awesome roommate, or making something special for a singular person.

Someday I’ll grow up and get a real kitchen, but for now, the one I have is just fine.

<3 pvb

"A filmmaker doesn’t have to suffer to show suffering. You just have to understand it. You don’t have..."

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 11:28:00 -0500

“A filmmaker doesn’t have to suffer to show suffering. You just have to understand it. You don’t have to die to shoot a death scene.”

- Questions for David Lynch - The Visionary - Deborah Solomon - Interview - NYTimes.com

You GUYS! Why didn’t anyone tell me about David Lynch’s weather reports?

Pleased, c. hotpoint

"And while Mortier has severed his ties to the mess, he is scrambling to hold on to at least one of..."

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 18:04:49 -0500

“And while Mortier has severed his ties to the mess, he is scrambling to hold on to at least one of the commissions he made: Charles Wuorinen’s Brokeback Mountain opera. He has contacted Wuorinen repeatedly, promising that “this will happen somewhere, somehow,” according to Wuorinen. Except the contract for the production was “between Charles Wuorinen and New York City Opera, not Gerard Mortier,” Wuorinen’s manager, Howard Stokar says. “If you sign a contract with the Met Museum, it’s with the Met, not with Philippe de Montebello.” Meanwhile, other houses have expressed interest. “The only thing that’s for sure is my contract with City Opera,” Wuorinen says. Which, as of now, like most of City Opera’s plans, is dead in the water.”

- Is New York City Opera Headed for Bankruptcy? — Vulture — Entertainment & Culture Blog — New York Magazine

It’s been a slow, depressing day. Yup.

"In a completely sincere way I can say the best moments at Wierd for me are the moments when a song..."

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 17:29:37 -0500

“In a completely sincere way I can say the best moments at Wierd for me are the moments when a song comes on and the conversation I’m having comes to an abrupt halt because I have to find out what it is. Inevitably it’s some seven-inch from Holland, only a hundred ever made in the history of the world, and if you can even find it on eBay it costs $300. Of course the band will have some outlandishly ingenious name, like Ceramic Hello. The music is really the story.”

- Blacklist’s Josh Strawn, quoted in Vice Magazine: NEW YORK - HAPPY BIRTHDAY, WIERD

Oh, come on now — like you didn’t think we’d go to the Wierd Fifth Anniversary Party tomorrow night. (hell must be freezing over — I’m going to Northsix — I MEAN THE MUSICHALL OF LOSERBERG twice in one week!!) The aforementioned Blacklist headline, Xeno and Oaklander, Led Er Est and Opus Finis also play, and of course there will be djing from Pieter & Glenn.

Outside of being, as someone just msgd me, “THE PARTY OF THE YEAR!!”, it’s a lovely excuse to bust out my black seal fur coat, which is always a hit with the darque kidz when it’s freezing-ass cold out. (Hands off, bitches!)

i’m not goth, i’m latina! c. hotpoint

Breaking Glass trailer Over the Thanksgiving holiday the BAM is...

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 15:42:00 -0500

Breaking Glass trailer

Over the Thanksgiving holiday the BAM is running the charmingly-named Punk’n’Pie film series, which the Times rather rightly points out is more New Wave than punk, but who are we to quibble when given the chance to see Broken Glass, Depeche Mode 101 and Jubilee (along with a host of other great films) on the big screen?

Depeche Mode 101

Jubilee

And … we plan to start the festivities by taking in the always-wonderful WOMAN at Cake Shop on Wednesday the 26th. Sounds like a plan!

xox c. hotpoint

"“All this city wants is a millionaire’s paradise, and they don’t give a fuck about the artists that..."

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 12:57:00 -0500

“

“All this city wants is a millionaire’s paradise, and they don’t give a fuck about the artists that kept Downtown from decrepitude,” Bucket Bob says in a hoarse whisper. “Why is New York not like Philadelphia? Or Detroit?” he asks and then quickly adds: “The artists prevented white flight!”

If you believe Bucket Bob and every bartender and manager that I talked to at the Knit, the artists are dedicated aesthetes that serve to perpetuate new trends and only need to wake up and do something. The truth of clubs likes the Knit, CBGB and the Bottom Line—clubs that keep going past their prime—is a little darker. They exist so that superannuated mid-level rockers, regardless of stripe, can capitalize on their cred and experience, sell it to the next wave and never grow old.

”

- Knit Fit: NY Press

The utterly depressing last days of the Knitting Factory — the entire staff save two people have been laid off preceeding the club’s move to Brooklyn. I wager it’ll last about … 3 months in the space that Luna Lounge (unsuccessfully) attempted to fill.

Seriously, anyone trying to run a club in the “old way” in NYC or Brooklyn is doomed to failure. Articles like this would lead you to believe that downtown is dead — which is kind of far from the truth, really. The semi-surprising success of new-ish Manhattan venues like the Studio at Webster Hall, Le Poisson Rouge and Santos Party House prove that a few people out there understand the new paradigm of marketing live music in downtown Manhattan. (Yes, I know these three are all special cases that you could argue had an unfair leg up. But then again, doesn’t everything?)

tired of the whinging, c. hotpoint

The (Mostly) True Story of Helvetica and the New York City...

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 12:34:00 -0500

The (Mostly) True Story of Helvetica and the New York City Subway: AIGA Journal of Design

This is an incredibly thorough article about the history of signage in the NYC subway system; I have just learned that my favorite tile signs with the tiny serifs (like the ‘Washington’ from the Clinton-Washington stop, above) are actually done in what is known as a ‘spur serif’ typeface — once popular with sign painters and now terribly out of fashion.

dedicated c-train rider, c. hotpoint

Tennessee Williams, louche. In dressing gown. I was just...

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 17:13:35 -0500

Tennessee Williams, louche. In dressing gown.

I was just writing a brief for a meeting I went to yesterday in Washington and needed to see a visual reference to get to the heart of the matter concerning certain issues. “The Tennessee Williams of Public Diplomacy” is how I usually describe the federal official who I (with great affection and a whole lot of respect) nevertheless love to hate. This photo is pretty damned exemplary. It was a good trip, even though Northeast Regional made a mess out of a deer between Baltimore and Wilmington.

<3 pvb, international educator and program officer

"At its best, Wii Music draws you into the conventions of music while simultaneously allowing, even..."

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 16:36:00 -0500

“At its best, Wii Music draws you into the conventions of music while simultaneously allowing, even daring you to break them. Putting a cheerleader, a black-belt karate master, and a cat in the “instrument” section goes a long way toward helping you find music and melody in the commonplace and where it’s least expected. But the game doesn’t go far enough; despite exalting creativity, you still feel more like an audience member than a band member—on the sidelines, watching yourself on-screen, where it seems like you’re having more fun. The game shows you a fantastical sonic world but falls short of letting you invent your own. Instead, one’s enjoyment of Wii Music must exist in the mock creation, in the augmenting of your own imagination. Wii Music elevates the scope of music video games by moving beyond commentary on what music is—as Rock Band and Guitar Hero do—to suggesting what it could be. Yet I’m still left wondering: Couldn’t it be more?”

- Sleater-Kinney’s guitarist tries out Wii Music. - By Carrie Brownstein - Slate Magazine

A rather smart review of Wii Music — Brownstein walks us through the process of playing the game, pulling away the layers of bizzaro artifice to get to the heart of the matter — this game just sounds creepy and detached and ultimately, too controlling of an experience (playing music) that should, by its very nature, encourage spontaneity.

the crabby, c. hotpoint

Robert Mann Gallery - Holly Andres (via NYMag Vulture) Vulture...

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 16:28:00 -0500

Robert Mann Gallery - Holly Andres (via NYMag Vulture)

Vulture cites Nancy Drew and Lewis Carroll (and the gallery’s PR name checks Hitchcock, too), but to me, Holly Andres’ Sparrow Lane photos drip with a fantastic nostalgia for suburban Cold War terror. This photo, in particular (“The Red Purse”) marries the atomic paranoia of The Big Heat with the aesthetics of The Virgin Suicides. Love it.

xoxo c. hotpoint

Oh, love this delightfully creepy, trippy video for Secret...

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 16:12:00 -0500

Oh, love this delightfully creepy, trippy video for Secret Machines’ “Atomic Heels,” directed by Brantley Gutierrez

The show last night was really, really fantastic, btw, especially when the bouncers kept kicking people out of the venue for smoking out during the show. Classic!

lurve, c. hotpoint

While I was at lunch, the temperature dropped like 10 degrees,...

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:26:00 -0500

While I was at lunch, the temperature dropped like 10 degrees, and everyone in my office has that dazed barometric pressure drop look about them. All the more reason to trek out to the Williamshall of Musicburg tonight to see the Secret Machines (with the ALWAYS VERY LOUD Dragons of Zynth and charmers The Sugar Report, fronted by one of our our lovely K&T models, the sweet-voiced long drink of water Curtis Williams).

After the past few weeks that I’ve had, I’m in serious need of a Secret Machines-induced drone-coma tonight. I’ll be the girl surrounded by “hipster” frat boys who looks like she’s about to pass out because she’s actually teleporting to Texas via a portal carved out by the Machines’ big fat feedback and reverb. Yessssss!

the headachey, c. hotpoint

WFMU's Beware of the Blog: Longhorn Ballroom, Dallas, TX

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:15:04 -0500

WFMU's Beware of the Blog: Longhorn Ballroom, Dallas, TX: Tribute to the ever-loving Longhorn Ballroom from WFMU (via howrad)

"He attends meetings at a local Kingdom Hall, and, like his fellow-witnesses, he leaves his gated..."

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 17:19:00 -0500

“He attends meetings at a local Kingdom Hall, and, like his fellow-witnesses, he leaves his gated community from time to time to knock on doors and proselytize. “Sometimes people act surprised, but mostly they’re really cool about it,” he said.”

- Home Visit: Soup With Prince: The Talk of the Town: The New Yorker

Prince Rogers Nelson, just a guy who might stop by your door with the new issue of Watchtower. Somehow his new conservative viewpoints don’t bother me, even though I disagree with them.

<3 pvb

Well, that pretty much cements that I’m too freakin’ busy, or that the internet is too...

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 17:06:00 -0500

Well, that pretty much cements that I’m too freakin’ busy, or that the internet is too full of tiresome gunk for me to hear about anything that I’m actually interested in any more — this new Mike Jones track surfaced a few weeks ago; his new album is out tomorrow (!!??!!).

That being said, is this good? Is it terrible? Depends on how you feel about Mike Jones’ … “futuristic flow”, Lil’ Wayne’s shtick, and guitar riffs floating on top of extremely minimal beats, courtesy of Cory Mo.

“Everything you’re trying to do, I done did it before.”

Well, Mike Jones, I think I feel you there.

indeed, c. hotpoint

ps — his new phone number is (281) 206-4336

Knitting Through the Downturn - City Room Blog - NYTimes.com

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 16:54:00 -0500

Knitting Through the Downturn - City Room Blog - NYTimes.com:

The world’s most expensive hobby just got a little more affordable for NYC thanks to Lion Brand. Sure, Lion’s store will stock the requisite icky acrylics, but you’ll also be able to touch some of the notable new blends which include newer not-so-icky acrylics, wool blends, and some exotic fibers. (BTW, cashmere comes from goats.) Lion offers decent quality craft yarns and a few heirloom/garment quality yarns at wholesale-esque and craft store prices, and you just can’t get that here without venturing to Queens or Long Island…or Smiley’s, which is its own circle of hell (complete with crocheted cozy).

Our filthy garment-knitting secret remains JaggerSpun commercial yarn, but you can bet we’ll stop in at Lion, and not just because our friend Tracey works there.

Also, if you want to learn to knit (even something dorky), please feel free to contact us.

<3 pvb

Pat Graham Photography | best of | Marr’s Guitar Also:...

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 14:25:00 -0500

Pat Graham Photography | best of | Marr’s Guitar

Also: from +1 Magazine, tidbits from Graham’s photographs of more beloved instruments from the forthcoming book Instruments [pdf] (via Johnny Marr’s site) Extra: all of Mr. Marr’s guitars … he still regularly plays the Rickenbacker used throughtout his tenure with The Smiths.

jangle, jangle c. hotpoint