Funny but important video about makeup

This youtube video speaks for itself but I will say this...

There is no FDA regulation for makeup products which can contain lead, aluminum or other harmful heavy metals. If you or someone close to you regularly slathers on the rouge check this video out.

Finally Someone with a Brave Analogy

Jonathan Safran Foer's book, Eating Animals, is not refreshing, inspiring or even original. These adjectives might describe his fiction but in his first foray into non-fiction Foer attacks the issue of factory-farming and the sustainability of eating meat - and in doing so he opens your heart to the issue like no one has before.

The movement against the meat industry, as it is currently structured, began some time ago and is lead, at least as far as scholarly publishing is concerned, by a man named Michael Pollan. If you want a concise and even-minded understanding of the history and rise of the factory farm then Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma is a good book to pick up. What Jonathan Safran Foer lends to the movement is a humanistic perspective that appeals to the unenthused more than the unconvinced.

Whether Foer is discussing the way food connects his own family or how it impacts the lives of other real-life characters you come away with a more profound understanding of the responsibility we must all assume when we sit down for a meal.

If you still cling to the notion that you are a meaningless cog in the food industry this is a great book to pick up. But I warn you that you will be forced to consider your own morality with a frequency (three times a day) and difficulty (akin to the pangs of hunger) that is infrequently asked of a reader and Foer acknowledges the difficulty of the subject with multiple points of view.

Being a fan of powerful (if not always entirely accurate) analogies Foer's comparison of eating meat and committing rape rang true with me. To paraphrase, he compares the indulgence of your taste buds by eating animals that are raised inhumanely (99% of all animals according to Foer) with the indulgence of your sexual desires regardless of who suffers to sate your need. He calls this an easy argument to sweep under the table but a hard one to respond to. The point should be well-taken - we have reached an age where we can no longer claim ignorance as to the practices that bring protein to our plates and, armed with the knowledge of how this industry harms the environment, the animal and the human, we have to now accept responsibility and decide if we want to continue to indulge ourselves at the cost of much more widespread suffering.

Pick up the book and let me know what you think.

A single ill-conceived joke

Why bother with a dust buster...


























...when you can hire a busty duster?!

Carve It All Apart

A tiny , round pumpkin filled with seeds ready to burst forth. A stomach ripe with future. Insides so sticky and knotted by moist orange pulp. A knife begins to tear away the flesh; the art of mutilation. Create a face by pulling apart the perfection. Then fill the inside with all the spirit you can find - not love but candles. Round, supple life cannot be truly stolen. Jack O'Lantern comes alive again at night and frightens children. Without fail they carve it all apart.




There was once an Irishman named Jack who was so greedy and stingy that when he died even the devil would not grant him entrance into hell. So jack wandered the earth forevermore spreading his brand of evil whenever he could. He no longer needed to sleep so he travelled at night holding out his lantern made of... well, actually, squash. It's weird how these things end up being retold.





Happy Halloween!

Chubby Whole Wheat Waffles

Waffles. A diner classic. A college dining hall stand-by. A canvas for a mountainous glob of whipping cream and fresh berries. I like my waffles extra crispy with a pad of butter skating over the indentations leaving evidence of its trail in every nook it passes. Some maple syrup drizzled on top in fine strands that cling to the highest parts of the waffle like tightropes laid out across its surface.

What I don't like is super-dense, gooey cubes of batter hardened by lukewarm iron trays with little square indentations poked in at the end in a desperate attempt to create the facsimile of a waffle. Unfortunately, that is all I could do.

I bought a waffle iron one day on an impulse to further clutter my kitchen. More important in my purchasing decision was the price: Seven dollars!! How could I go wrong for Seven dollars? Let me count the ways. This grotesque abberation in cookware is almost certainly created with the play-doh crowd in mind. It is an Easy-Bake oven in drag and it caught me on the corner in a moment of weakness. So despite a fairly interesting. healthy whole wheat waffle recipe I am forced to suffer damp, browned-at-the-edges dough for years to come.

A word to the wise. In cookware there is often a reason for price discrepancies and hopefully this can serve as a cautionary tale to all those bargain hunters out there.

This is That Beach

You know that mystical aspiration of a beach that appears almost exclusively in daydreams as you splash through the slush of yet another chilly winter?

Milieu

Talk about Beautiful. This is my kind of milieu. I think of all the various terrains that I could live in, from desert to swamp to plains to valleys to forest to coasts and beaches I prefer a nice mountainous region.

a simple article

I found this article in my google perusing and thought it was very simply put. The facts are straight out of the United Nations study on world agriculture.

La Pura Vida

Tomorrow I head down to Costa Rica for 2 weeks to explore one of the most varied geographical landscapes in the world. I hope to encounter plenty of cloud-covered mountains, fire-belching volcanoes and lush rainforest. I'd like to learn a thing or two about the eco-tourism that they are supporting so strongly now and I also hope to have a few good recipes when i get back.

hasta la vista

Get your own water, you bum!

been researching rain water harvesting... not very complicated stuff. You just let some barrels fill with rain water when it rains and then cover them when it stops so the water stays clean and doesnt attract insects. Use at your discretion. I'm starting to collect some water myself. I use it to water the vegetables I'm growing in my backyard. I also take things outside sometimes to clean them with that water. Ultimately I assume I will use it for bathing purposes. Well, not really, but it would be cool and environmental. Check out this website if you live in NYC. and want to know where to get some good local food. http://www.cenyc.org/greenmarket

If I was a rich man...

I am by no means a supporter of conspicuous consumption - a term coined in the "gilded age" of the 20's when people were spending money like it was going out of style - but it is clearly a large part of our culture. Walking down the street you can spot tons of signs of perceived quality: the fancy European cars, the carefully manicures lawns behind finely pointed edifices, and even the chic clothing people wear when they go out. Even though I don't really like the idea of people wasting money on items that only serve the purpose of proclaiming their status to the world, I have to admit there is a certain draw to having nice things, dropping wads of cash and living the fast life.

Without any money of my own to disseminate on fancy dinners and shiny things I prefer to live the good life vicariously through movies and online espionage. Namely some of the following websites which let me gawk dream and not spend a thing!

http://thelongestlistofthelongeststuffatthelongestdomainnameatlonglast.com/expensive.html

http://www.hammacher.com/?source=catalogs.com&cm_ven=Catalog&cm_cat=Catalog&cm_pla=Catalogs.com&cm_ite=Catalogs.com

And if you're after a movie that makes you realize just how impoverished (but sustainable) a life you are living then I suggest the two newest bond films: Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace. Bond knows how to treat himself well!

And if there is something out there that you spend a lot of your time on be it music, model airplanes, gardening or cooking then it might just pay to buy the best tools and enjoy them.

A cool game to rot your brain

Playing games online is great because a) it's free b) you don't feel obligated to "beat the game" and c) you feel less guilty procrastinating with your work when you keep your half-written paper in a tab at the bottom of your screen while playing.

Without further ado...

Dogfight 2

Legalized Weed and Animal Feed

FACT: Many people are in favor of the legalization of Marijuana.
OPINION: That makes sense.


Recently at President Obama's "public" Town Hall meeting it was touted by the press that the people could ask any questions they wanted and the most popular ones would be addressed by Obama himself. Now let's assume (and I actually don't) that the people who received all of these questions, "the gatekeepers", actually allowed all of the controversial questions through. One of the most supported questions was on whether the Prez is considering legalizing marijuana.

He laughed it off.

Why would Obama shrug off a question that had so much of the populace behind it? I don't think it's too far from the truth to say that half of American citizens would be in favor of, or at least not opposed to, the legalization of weed. It would make sense to build large amounts of revenue through taxes (the reason cigarettes are supported by the gov't). It would stem the flow of crime in Mexico - a problem that is quickly growing and should be the cause of a lot of concern.

Nope, I guess no administration is ever going to get it. But I know there are some downsides as well.

Sighmething for the twenty-somethings

Employment. Career. Job. Occupation. Profession. Livelihood. Vocation. Calling.

Those are the synonymous words I came up for when thinking about the idea of having steady work. I preceded to arrange them in order from the most chillingly analytic terms to the softest and most inspiring expressions.
Because that's the idea, right?
We're all trying to find our calling; to practice our vocation; to expound on our livelihood; to impress in our profession.

What we aren't looking forward to is being placed in an occupation; or getting up to go to a job; or deciphering the most prudent career path; and certainly not landing gracelessly in an unfortunate position of employment.

They have career services designed just for this purpose. There are career tests. Career psychiatrists that are licensed to give out slips of paper telling us what we are suited for (along with their usual slips of paper to tell us what drugs will make us less likely to complain about these new jobs.)

There seem to be so few interesting job titles out there. I think that's the reason every other person you ask is studying to be a lawyer or a doctor or a business-person. Good luck with that, by the way. But no one ever says they want to be... oh, i don't know, a catcher in the rye!
Now that was a cool job. Hang out on a hill watch some kids playing baseball and occasional intervene to protect them from their own adorable yet untimely demise.

Just the other day I thought to myself how i would like to be a sneaker designer. Now as you all know from previous posts of my artwork I'm not exactly fully qualified to hold a paintbrush in my hand for a 9 to 5 kind of thing. And yet, there is something a lot more realistically exciting about a designer of graphic footwear then a dulcet accountant.

Keeping with the shoe theme: what if it was someone's job to write out tiny scrolls of information about exotic animals and then roll those tiny scrolls up and stick them in the hard tips of shoelaces (also known as Aglets).

I would like to be employed as the guy who brushes the teeth of all four presidents on mount rushmore. It would probably attract enough tourists to get me a salary and it would be a great conversation starter.

I could run an agency that hires the guys who run out onto sports fields naked and tattoo advertising onto their backs. That is an untapped industry.

Maybe President Obama should hire me to create jobs. My official title would be Head Stimulator. Well there you go - I made a funny.

y'know what's the worst?

interns unite!

It's getting closer to the summer and every diligent college student knows that means its time for internship searches. And there are a lot of them out there too! Every business seems to make room for a student to do busy work for no pay.

Hmm I wonder why...

Is it just me or is the use of unpaid internships turning into an abuse of uncertain college students?

Here are the facts. Internships have been around for a long time in certain fields like journalism and medicine. It makes sense to put someone onto the floor as a worker-in-practice if their job requires knowledge that can't be attained anywhere other than in the workplace. Before there were interns there were apprentices (a point that a friend reminded me of). In the days when a cobbler wasn't just a delicious pastry it also made sense to take someone under your wing and teach them a trade that couldn't be picked up through general schooling. I might also mention that apprentices usually got to live under the roof of their teacher. But I do grant that internships have their place in society.

Fast-forward to the 21st century. The majority of jobs require only a few things: computer skills; common sense; and the ability to read, write and think at a respectable level. Now i could swear that I had already picked up all of these skills in my 15 years of attending school. So why am I still being offered an internship to move numbers from one computer chart to another for no money?

The way I see it the employers have gotten savvy to the fact that college students are a bunch of insecure, uncertain over-achievers who are willing to do anything to add a couple of words to their resume. What I want to know is where will it stop? Will we eventually be asked to intern for a minimum of 3 years to get credit for it? or maybe you will have to attend a paid training seminar to be considered for an internship? Both of those things might sound crazy but I certainly know a few people who would do it.

This kind of backwards progress is what marked the early stages of capitalism with unfair wages and a complete lack of security on the part of the worker. That is, until the concept of a Union was conceived!

So I suggest we interns unite under a union that guarantees us what we so sorely deserve and so infrequently receive: real job training, a stipend large enough to at least cover transportation and a nice lunch on days we work and some assurance that if we do well we can move up the ranks of the company we devoted so much time to.

Until college students start to band together on issues of importance to us we will always be used. What are we working so hard for - memorizing mathematical theorems and painstakingly pouring over passages of literature - if the end result is being denigrated to office barista while the guys in the corner office laugh it up over our carefully brewed Caffe Americano.

JUST SOME THINGS

This is the poor attempt at comedy i scribbled out last night. This is why i don't do stand-up.

I was up watching the various late night shows last night and it struck me how strange TV can be when it gets to those wee hours of the night. All of the late night hosts sit behind big wooden desks and never give an explanation as to why. They make it so that when someone goes to promote their movie it's like they're at a very important job interview.

i realized recently that a guy can count his beards. Like when you grow it out and then shave it and keep going back and forth over whether it looks cool. really you can say "yea, this is my 16th mustache. I really think I'm going to keep this one"

And what's the deal with drinks at a party? Is the idea that everyone wants to make sure that everyone else is equally plastered? There are always guys going around like "Oh, can I freshen that up for you? Hey, buddy, you need another? Skip, you don't have a drink? you want a drink skip?" Or maybe the idea is just so everyone has something to do at an otherwise useless function. "O well it's been 6 minutes since i swirled my cup and took a sip so i better take another. Hey soon i can go to the bar and get something different!" The next time i go to a party I want to bring a bunch of juice oranges. Then I'll really have something to do. "Hey, you coming to dance?" "Nah, i still have 3 oranges left to squeeze I'll catch up to you after i strain it."

well - that was pretty sad.

cooking against the grain

I like to think that the double-entendre of my title will make more sense in a minute.

Cooking can get kind of boring when you make the same thing everyday. On the other hand it can get kind of disgusting when you try new things that wouldn't normally make it into your top five foods book. I remember the first time i tried to make extra creamy mashed potatoes, as do the unlucky few who shared that dinner with me. Suffice to say I had unlocked the secret to making a thick cheese sauce although considering it was supposed to be the main starch on the table no one was that excited. But i digress.

One great way to experiment with new foods without having to pack a suitcase and sail a thousand nautical knots from your comfortable cooking repertoire is to experiment with new grains. Delicious millet, appetizing montina and who can forget the household favorite, sorghum! Ahh, grains - the carbohydrate-laden comfort food of the masses. It is interesting to note that of the few grains we commonly consume today (rice, wheat, corn ) none were excessively popular a few centuries ago. If you were a crusader in Europe in the 15th century you probably carried a small pouch of barley and dainty little sack of lentils. I know what you're thinking... They had a Whole Foods back in the 15th century? Those Europeans really do have us beat! But, in fact, up until recently there was no such thing as a giant mono-crop of one kind of produce so diversity of fruits, vegetables and grains was much greater.

I think it's great to try each one. There are recipes for almost every kind of grain. For something like whole-grain buckwheat or pearled barley a savory breakfast treat can be made. These grains cook up fast just like oatmeal and with a drop of olive oil, salt and seasonings like scallions or garlic it can be a fast and healthy snack. You can throw some farro or job's tears into a soup as a nice substitute for alphabet pastas.

Tonight i think I'm going to work on a risotto (Hi NeNe!). Risotto is a dish made with arborio rice (an extremely short grain with a thick hull that absorbs more liquid than most grains and likewise more flavor.) Because risotto is usually an Italian dish i like to add both Parmesan cheese and small amounts of other complimenting cheeses like mozzarella and ricotta salotta. here is the basic risotto recipe

Ingredients:1 cup white arborio rice 1 tablespoon Olive oil 1 large onion, chopped 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated 5 cups vegetable stock
Directions:
Heat olive oil in a heavy non-stick 2-quart pot. Saute onion in oil until translucent. Add rice and stir rice until grains are coated with oil and let simmer until grains begin to brown Add 1 cup hot stock or water, stirring until liquid is absorbed. Continue cooking for about 20 minutes, adding the remaining liquid 1 cup at a time. This rice creates its own creamy sauce; add additional liquid if creamier texture is desired. Remove from heat, stir in cheeses and serve immediately. At this point you add fresh herbs and chopped vegetables as you see fit. I like mushrooms, peppers and broccoli. Anyway

The point is not to be afraid of some good, old-fashioned vegetarian cooking experiments!

Now I'm going to go pan-sear myself some brussel sprouts and button mushrooms!

Bon Appetit! or as the french like to say "joost say eet in eenglish you snooty Americaine"

So go and get a cell phone

How many friends have you gained from use of a cell phone? Every person's story is different. Some people claim they wouldn't have any social contact without their phone. I've even heard of men proposing to women via a text message. But if i ask how many people you lost touch with due to cell phone use I'm sure i wouldn't get a load of responses.

So maybe it's just me. But having a cell phone has only made my life harder. I'm woken up at least once a week by a call from someone i would typically avoid if i saw them on the street. There are countless times when my phone rings and I'm not around that people think I'm just snubbing them. I have actually lost friends with my poor cell phone etiquette and the strangest part of the cell phone social order is that it is perfectly acceptable to be a "crackberry addict" looking up only intermittently during real-life human conversations while simultaneously checking e-mails.

I want to know what magic goes on inside these little devices that makes a physical relationship pale in comparison.

Just today i was biking along when my phone rang. In a desperate attempt to answer the call I hit the brakes hard - screeching to a halt and digging through my suddenly fathomless trench of a pocket for my phone. Of course, i miss the call, prompting a whiny missed-call response that I've come to hate. By the time I can return the call though I'm greeted by a quick "hi, can i call you back I've got another line." ANOTHER LINE?! but that's the problem with the cell phone then: there is no real interaction. If i had seen this person face to face they would have recognized the overwhelming struggle I faced for that "hi". They would have excused themselves, for a moment, from the friend they were walking with who merely bumped into them and didn't have to avoid a parade of angry vehicles while squished onto the side of the road. I might have even gotten an appreciation hug instead of a quick dismissal.

So not only does the cell phone strike me as a device that alienates me from other people, but, even worse, it makes other people appear in a worse light to me. So go and buy a cell phone and tell me if you can really build a genuine relationship or if you just get diverted by all the shiny colors and flashy ringtones that replace the subtler enjoyment of human interaction.

Weird Music... I Do Not Condone This Kind of Behavior

This is just a quick tribute to: one piece of music i think was amazing despite the fact that the composer was crazy; one piece of music that shouldn't be allowed in my humble opinion; and one piece that is pretty good but has a kind of shameful back story.

The first piece i'm referring to is by French, Romantic era composer Hector Berlioz and it is called Symphonie Fantastique. He wrote it while tripping (high off his butt) on opium and it was inspired by an actress he saw in one play that moved him so much he began to stalk her. In this fourth of five movements he is being brought to the gallows to get his head chopped off by the guillotine for his infatuation for her. The coolest part is how Berlioz used symphonic orchestra instruments to make real life noises that told a story. Look out for the ending of the movement when you hear the guillotine come down and then his head bounce a few times - this guy was ahead of his time! To complete his backstory, it turns out that when he presented this piece to the public the actress who he wrote it for was so moved she married Berlioz. But, in the end, they broke it off. surprise surprise.
Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique - March to The Scaffold

This John Cage piece kind of speaks for itself. Except that it doesn't - Literally! it's 4 minutes and 33 seconds of silence. I like giving artists some leeway in their creativity but even Rembrandt couldn't have sold a blank canvas. That's like a singer coming on stage and not singing! Or a restaurant that doesn't fill you up. Or a politician running for office with no knowledge of what to do! O wait... britney spears lip-synching, half the expensive restaurants in NYC and George W. Bush. 'Nuff said.

John Cage - 4'33"

Threnody for the victims of hiroshima. Threnody being a kind of memorial tune. Scary song. Acquired taste. Worked well in the movie "The Shining". But did you know that it was initially an untitled piece written with no intent to pay homage to Hiroshima victims? The producer just thought it would sell better with that title. Like most program music the title shapes your understanding of the song. Well i never!

Threnody for the victims of Hiroshima by Krzysztof Penderecki

Enjoy your listening selections

When good months go bad - an angry exposition on March

PFTT! i have to spit the dirty slush liquid out of my mouth again. When will I remember to attach that full-faced soldering mask to my helmet for my March bike rides?

As an eco-friendly business associate to mother earth I make it my business to bike to classes everyday I can. Since i did it almost every day of February i expected things to only get easier - little did i know March was about to rear it's ugly head.

A New York City Blizzard (i.e a foot of snow) hit on Monday. Thinking myself and my bike to be ineffably capable of evading a little snow I was back on my two-wheeled chariot by tuesday morning. As i rode down my first big hill, drops of muddied water exploding like fireworks across my face and neck, i understood the shame of city snow.

A vestige of its fluffy white foundation adorned either side of the road, quickly shrinking away into nothingness and all the while being tainted by the dark evils of city pollution. There is little pride in being a snowfall in the city. A sort of 15 minutes of fame effect where children race from their rooms, gloves snapped to jacket sleeves and scarves flying behind them wildly, trying to catch the rare puritanical whiteness that floats down from the sky. But as quickly as it comes it is gone - erased by an urban heating effect or else serving only to make people aware of the abject filth they co-exist with. The snow becomes that one person in the group photograph whose brilliantly white teeth put the rest of the bunch to shame. We all throw out that photograph or bury it in the pile.

By the time i arrived in my first class I had lost any of my own personal affection towards the white powder. I was filthy from the splatter of my wheels on the street. I looked like a mad chef who had thrown the swamp thing into a blender along with a can of used oil and forgot to put the lid on top. I was an outcast amongst my peers - stripped of my vanity for choosing to do the responsible thing.

By the time i had completed my return trip that night I understood why the snow never seems to stick around for that long. Whether the snow is a great deceiver, like Judas, running from its home with forty pieces of silver or maybe just a misunderstood Shylock fleeing for safety's sake I was left looking down at the vestiges of a slushy, fundament-tainted mound of winter's last laugh and saying: e tu, snowe`?

Got Milk?

Every year after the Oscars I like to catch up on films that got a lot of acclaim that I might have missed. I'm a big film buff but sometimes it's easy to get swept into the avalanche of media and end up only catching the blockbusters and missing the little nuggets of gold. Last night i watched Milk, the story of the first San Francisco supervisor shot down in his prime. Considering the dramatic ending, which i won't give away, I'm surprised it took so long to make this film. The movie gives a pretty powerful insight into the gay community and their perspective on civil rights.

I've never considered myself homophobic but watching Milk made me realize that the simple act of not condemning a group of people doesn't necessarily align you with them. Like African-Americans, Jews, women or any other minority group the struggle for equality is very tedious and can only be furthered by regular people being proactive. Whether it is in the way you think, vote or act.

On a more critical note, Sean Penn, who has always been an impressive actor, delivers an awesome performance that will leave me convinced that he really is Harvey Milk for a long time to come ( I just got over the fact that he isn't actually retarded as he portrayed himself in "I Am Sam").

So far I have really been impressed with the movies that garnered acclaim this year. Slumdog Millionaire was also a great film, less for its individual performances and more for its composite of beautiful scenery and terrific music. The curious case of Benjamin Button also held my interest (which is no mean feat as it was almost three hours long), and told a very powerful tale about the futility of aging and the great journey that is life.

Is everyone still working on their joker impressions? Or maybe you're more of a batman baritone type. "I DON'T WEAR HOCKEY PADS!" I've even been known to take out my Jar-Jar Binks from time to time. When i've had one too many drinks I tend to bust out a Robert Downey Jr. in blackface but that can be a little politically incorrect. I can do a pretty good slumdog millionaire impression (JamalMalikChaiwallaWhatAPlayer!) and a fair harvey milk impression. I guess acting is another of my many often neglected interests. But it is defintely fun to get into and all it really requires is a mirror. Look (up) at Benjamin Button... you get the idea.

Meryl Streep does my blog (sort of)

A movie is being filmed a few blocks from my house and it looks like I beat imdb.com to the chase in figuring this one out. IMDB describes the film as "A romantic comedy in which two men vie for the affection of a woman." The information i hunted down tells me it's allegedly called "the bakery" and it is starring Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin. Right off the bat I was intrigued - I love baked goods and Meryl Streep is a great actress. So far I can't complain.

I went to report straight from the scene for exclusive interviews with cast and crew!

Unfortunately the only actual soundbite i got was from a grumpy looking catering guy named Greg who said "Yeah it's a movie but you can't go in." My follow-up consisted of a stealthy walk around the picnic house that the filming is being done in where i valiantly stared down a young woman with a walkie-talkie who repeatedly tried to shoo me away.

I did manage to create a vivid interview with the stars of this film in my head on the downtrodden walk home. This is how it went and, may i say, these celebrities couldn't be more gracious!

[I am ushered onto the set to sit at a cozy little wrought-iron cafe table with Meryl Streep, Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin. A young waiter serves us coffee and a large plate of assorted pastries. Graciously, Steve Martin pass me the plate first and i take a few cookies and pass it to Meryl. After we have all eaten our fill of pastry (Alec devoured all the pecan bars and ate the half of brownie that Meryl was done with) we got to talking.]

Me: So, The Bakery, it seems like a really innovative film in its setting. What is it like filming most of your scenes in and around this one store.
Steve: I couldn't be happier, yknow, because in my last pink panther film I got so bruised up doing some of my stunts that I was essentially wheeled in here and seated and I havent moved since. Mind you i wouldn't want to be the Key Grip who has to clean this area every night after shooting.
Me: Haha, Steve you're always such a character! Would you say this movie is an allegory for the overconsumption of baked goods in America?
Alec: No. This is a romantic comedy. If there is any moral in the movie it will have to do with relationships. [aside] who let this kid in?
Me: [nervously] so Meryl i recently saw you at the Oscars, you looked great [ a small nod]. Do you consider yourself past the point where you only want to be in good, compelling films that people might consider going to see for other reasons than to waste time on a date?
Meryl: [ Throwing her head back and laughing I am reminded of a Hepburn-like grace] I like to mix it up between good movies and what I like to to think of as fun movies. I think people will enjoy this film though.
Me: Ok, if you say so. Now i'd like to ask you all one more question. [The security has been made aware of my presence and is heading over to the table.] Meryl, Steve, Alec, what was your favorite movie of 2008?
Alec: Milk
Steve: Doubt
Meryl: Iron Man


And there you have it. It could have potentially been a much better interview but even my imagination couldn't secure an all-access pass. I look forward to seeing The Bakery, surely a fine film.

Oh Crepe, i thought it was Saturday already!

Aahh... It's Friday morning and you can already feel the mischievous pull of a lazy weekend tugging at your arm.  It can get you high on life thinking about it: the morning cartoons;  the Sunday paper being divided among your family; a rich, aromatic breakfast that doesn't involve a bowl, a spoon and less than five minutes.  Alas, for most of us Friday can't be a day for fluffy whole wheat pancakes, challah french toast and slow-cooked steel-cut oatmeal with fresh local fruit.  There is a saviour, however,  amidst the teems of sugary breakfast cereals and bone dry nutrition bars and that savior is the simple crepe!

The Crepe is a masterful combination of the pancake with its deliciously spongy consistency and the fried egg with its light fluffiness and, most importantly, quick cooking time.  So what's the deal with crepes?  They usually have only a few simple ingredients you can mix in minutes (and even do so the night before if you must) and they are delicious as a stand alone dish for any carb addicts or as the setting for a host of sweet and savory toppings.

The Recipe

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

2 (cage-free) eggs

1/2 cup (organic, grass fed) milk

1/2 cup tap water

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons of butter, margarine or oil in liquid form

As goes with most doughs (and you are making a form of dough) it is best to combine all the wet ingredients (eggs, milk, water, fat) in the bowl first and whisk together then slowly incorporate the flour to avoid clumping.  Now what i usually do is separate the batter into two bowls and add about 1/3 of a cup of sugar and a teaspoon of vanilla to one batch.  This sweet mixture will be for crepes that i eat with fillings like fruit, chocolate, cinnamon, or even some soft cheeses.  In the unsweetened batter i will usually put a hard cheese or some finely diced veggies sauteed in oil and garlic.

Heat up a skillet and spray it with non-stick cooking spray and ladle on some batter making sure to keep the size of your crepe small enough that you will be comfortable flipping it halfway through.  All that is left now is popping it into a plate and tossing a topping on and you have a delicious breakfast, lunch, dinner or dessert that didn't take too much time or effort.

The best part, though, is when you start experimenting with toppings.  My favorites so far are:

 melted dark chocolate - throw some chocolate chips (i like ghiradelli semi-sweet at least 60% cocoa) into a microwave-safe bowl and melt them.  it helps the consistency if you add just a spoon of canola oil and take it out of the microwave to mix it every 30 seconds or so.

Cinnamon goop - This one came about when I had leftover cinnamon crumb topping from a cake i made so i threw it onto the crepe while it was still in the pan and it melted into delicious cinnamon jam.  For this you need 1 cup sugar 1 cup cinnamon 1/2 cup flour and 3/4 cup butter then you combine the dry ingredients and throw in little pieces of butter at a time and smash it in with a fork til you have small crumbs of butter covered in the cinnamon mix.  YUM

Savory veggies and cheese crepes - use the savory crepe mix to make your crepes.  Then throw veggies like carrots broccoli snow peas string beans and anything else you like into a food processor for two seconds to get very fine pieces of your veggies.  Put that in a separate pan with a few spoons of oil and clove of diced garlic or garlic powder and saute.  Portion that mixture onto each crepe and sprinkle with finely shredded cheese (mozzarella, cheddar, monterey jack, they all work!) fold the crepe over like a half circle and serve.  It's a delicious meal!

Well i hope that i haven't made you late for work with the whole explanation.  I know when i first started cooking i preferred the long version because it taught me not only how to prepare this one dish but also how to reuse some techniques to make original dishes too.  If you already think you're past the novice stage though I have a suggestion for a website that always inspires me to try something new.  www.Tastespotting.com is great for recipe ideas but sometimes less so for explanations on how to make these things.  Also if you're into eating sustainably, as I am, a good resource is Mark Bittman at the NY Times.  He has a regular cooking video on NYTIMES.com if you want to check him out and he also just came out with a new book called "Food Matters" which is doing pretty well so I hope people are walking away from the table with a greater appreciation of the way the food we eat gets to our plates. Anyway, without further ado, some pictures to bedazzle the eye and excite the palate.

mmm... strawberry jam

 a lighter blueberry preserve variety

Breton-Style is flakier, and usually served savory.  In this case with cheese and tomatoes.

Van Gogh eat your heart out

Warning: If the childish nature of my artwork is offensive to anyone's refined ideas of art i apologize. I was only attempting to capture, however pedantically, some of the craziness going on in my head.

Like i said i'm about the furthest thing from an artist. I'm friends with a few though and as art is such an important part of our culture i try to maintain a little knowledge on the subject - i know a Monet from a Manet - and i also like to draw when i can. I still havent mastered the art of scanning so my sketchbook will remain a mystery but sometimes i like to go to Microsoft Paint and kill some time doodling. As you can probably see i'm a fan of landscapes and Comic Book Heroes. I'm a huge comic fan (mostly mainstream stuff like Dc and Marvel) and I have always wanted to write my own comic but the toughest part seems to me like the drawing and formatting. One of my friends promised to give it a try with me this summer so hopefully it will work out.

After doing a few of this drawings i sent them to some people and inspired some response drawings. Seriously, though, if I can create art anyone can and I encourage everyone to explore with different mediums. My father likes cray-pas and coal. My grandma is an awesome oil painter. My muse is a blank screen and a steady mouse. I don't know if it's possible to do this but if people want to (or are able to) respond by posting scanned or computer-generated art of their own that would be awesome! And remember: Paint on! Art is a conduit to the soul!

Find your gatekeeper (but be true to your style)

Now i'm no music expert and i was just making this point in my music class today. So far we've looked at everything from opera and concert to motown and broadway musicals. What i realized is that it is almost impossible to stay on top of all the awesome stuff that is out there. Someone brought up a good point about the artist M.I.A. who is now first hitting the popular American scene and yet, in England, she was an indie hit for years. When we read magazines like Rolling Stone or Blender (i've subscribed to both in the past) it does the best job it can on the comprehensive music circuit but the best job just doesn't cut it.

So is the blogosphere a better source for finding gold nuggets? well, after a little bit of research i decided the answer was decidely no. There is a lot of crappy music out there. Now i'm no critic and I know there is a market for everyone but my suggestion is to feel around for a music blog that offers some sample songs and if you like the guys/gals taste then you can make that blog your official "Gatekeeper". A gatekeeper is any review that consistently recommends music you can get behind.

Personally i'm a little backwards in my tastes. I love folk/protest music of the 60's but i don't just stay tuned to the Bob Dylan station. Pete Seeger, Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez, Janis Joplin and my personal Favorite - Phil Ochs! I recommend checking some of these guys out on youtube.com or pandora.com (two great resources for sampling music - the former to sample individual songs and the latter for getting a feel for a certain style).

My other suggestions is to listen to a great show on National Public Radio at noon every weekday called "Soundcheck" where they have an open and intelligible conversation about music for an hour. It can span from discussions with hip/hop executives to discussions with authentic Malaysian throat singers. It's perfect for all you self-proclaimed renaissance people out there who want to stay informed about music (one of the necessary knowledges to be considered a renaissance man/woman) without boring the socks off of you if you don't have much educational background on the topic.

And last but not least - my suggestion for anyone who wants to break out of the Billboard hits mold and try some good, original music out I have a great blog for you. http://runbpm.blogspot.com/

A backdoor entrance to the blogosphere

Hi - a brief introduction and explanation.  Long time blog reader, first time blog creator.  I wanted to have my own forum for discussion of things that are important to me and i didn't want to limit the topic to anything too specific like most blogs do.  See, i'm a college student in Brooklyn, NY so my life and experiences have yet to become an ad nauseum doldrum of repetitiveness.  I don't deny that if you want the most up to date info on any one subject this probably isn't the place to come but if you want to hear, see and converse about a little of everything then this is your kind of blog. 

 I am very concerned about the environment, human rights, animal rights and social justice issues (yeah just about every possible cause) and i also like to stay abreast of things like great places to travel and hike, delicious foods to cook (personally, i'm a vegetarian,) great movies, books, tv and comic books.  

The reason i titled my blog as I did is because, as a student, i have access to a vast array of knowledge and interests from professors and peers alike that give me interest in many topics.  On the other hand, being a city-bred adolescent I also have a tendency to spend more time watching television or chatting online with my girlfriend (who goes to college in Maine) than I will pursuing interests like playing the xylophone, snow-shoeing or creating my own comic books.  So hopefully this blog will serve to teach and inspire me as much as it does any visitors.  Right now i see knowledge as the only currency that can't be undervalued by an economic crisis - and that makes it invaluable to me!