Fixed my leaky faucet
Fixed my leaky faucet
Originally uploaded by browsermetrics.
Banoffee Pie
Celebrated CapitolSwell’s birthday yesterday at Againn Gastro Pub in DC. I had the Lanashire Hot Pot which was some tasty lamb and had a side of some delicious red cabbage. But for desert I had their Banoffee Pie. It was the greatest desert I ever had. It came in a jar wasn’t really a pie but a conglomeration of the ingredients of the pie. Graham cracker crust. Dulce de lece. Bananas! Ganoche. Damn. Yum.
Link of the Day [11.19.09]
Because my MacBook Pro (or pretty much all my computers and iPhones) are glorified web surfing machines, this litl computer looks cool. I’m hoping it catches on in a big way so that we have a diversity of devices to choose from. You won’t really need a computer when you’ve got these other devices that do everything that you need it for.
Morning, Mon Amour
Emmanuelle Riva as the Girl from Never in “Hiroshima, Mon Amour.” Thought she looked beautiful in these shots. Loved that she’s wearing a yukata. She’s just radiant in the morning.
Quote of the Day [11.17.09]
Cold coolin' at a bar, and I'm lookin' for some action
But like Mick Jagger said, I can't get no satisfactionTone-LOC, "Funky Cold Medina"
A Serious Man
One thing can be said about the Coen brothers latest film, A Serious Man (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1019452/), it sure is Jewish. What seems to be a reflection at being Jewish, A Serious Man, is, if anything, another of their head scratching efforts. Or at least, it will take you some time to figure out what it is the Coens are driving at in their movie. Again, the Coens make you leave the theatre quietly in reflection.A Serious Man opens with a Jewish parable. A man meets a neighbor on the lonely road home and invites him for some tea. Before the neighbor's arrival, the man's wife tells him that the neighbor isn't all that he is. He is a demon reincarnated after he died. Or he could just be a resilient man who survived. The wife takes it upon her to show her husband that she is right leaving the neighbor injured and dying. Or is he a demon and will survive? Are they blessed or cursed?The rest of the movie follows Larry Gopnik, a college professor, as he goes through trials and tribulations that Job would have found hard to get through. His wife wants a divorce to marry a divorcee friend. His children don't really care for him. His students are annoying. His brother is troublesome. And his neighbors are either racists or bored, free spirit housewives. Larry has to deal with all this even though he doesn't know why it is all happening to him.He tries to see a rabbi who will tell him what to do and what it all means. Yet, can you trust the advise of the religious? For example, the parking lot. Or for another example, Jefferson Airplane. It's all meaningless. So Larry is left to ponder how one is left to the fates. He is lurched from bad to good all the while helpless but persevering. When it all works, is he blessed or cursed?The Coens always make a film that you have to ponder about. This one makes me think of Barton Fink. I thought A Serious Man was penned by Barton Fink. Both films protagonists are afloat in the world that seems to have it against them, and they are powerless to effect change. It is fate, god, Hashim that animates their world, but why does He seem to be leveling pain and suffering. Perhaps, to the Coens their Jewish-ness is inherently un-understandable. What is it about their religion that motivates the Jews to be put upon? And should they stand for it?Finally, what is it with the Coens and Asians? Whenever an Asian is in their film prepare for a bizarre characterization. It'll make you cringe.3 of 5 stars.
Mt. Vernon Ghost Walk
Somethings are better written in the light of day. It is better writing about creepy, spooky, frightening things in bright sunshine than in the dark of night. The spooks and frights are less convincing when the shadows in the corner are gone.
Halloween was a few weeks ago, but we wanted to stretch out spook season for a few more days, so we went on the Mt. Vernon Ghost Walk Tour. It’s an offshoot of the Fells Point Ghost Walk, and it leads you around the haunted places of Mt. Vernon, Baltimore. It also gives you a nice history lesson of Baltimore for what are ghosts stories, but tales about a place — it’s history. But that isn’t so memorable, so let’s make it scary and you’ll remember the story.
That’s what’s was great about the ghost walk, the stories. Ghost stories are better in the first person whether that be P.O.V. or by spoken word. P.O.V. being me telling you my ghost experience. Spoken word is the ghost story being told out loud. And the story teller of our ghost walk was first rate. They really do a good job of telling the story.
Now, Baltimore is a great town for ghosts. It’s because of our second rate status. We are a small city trying to live big. We are south but never got a chance to secede. We are in between worlds just like ghosts. We have a chance to go between worlds.
There were great tales on the walk. It was a fun night. I liked it. I was spooked at times. I was surprised at times. I like ghost stories. You’ll have fun if you go.
0-for-5 all swinging strikeouts
I was wanting to hit some baseballs for the last few days, so I stopped by the batting cages at Grand Slam, my home park, after work. I bought the usual 6 tokens for $8 which is 96 balls. I stepped into the medium pitch cage. I was feeling it. Everything was pulled and sometimes I was hitting it off the end of the bat. But I was feeling it. Hitting line drives from both sides of the plate. Nice.So I saved a token for the fast pitch cage.Nothing but swinging strikes. I did have three foul tips, but I could barely lay a bat onto the ball. I saw the ball exit the pitching machine, watched it zoom towards the plate, but I was swinging at air. My timing was all wrong stuck on the medium pitch and barely fast enough to catch up to the fast. It wasn't as bad as when I moved from the slow cage to the medium. My first time in the medium I didn't even see the ball. I was just swinging blindly. This time, I was really late. Maybe if I'd had the lowered the pitches so that they were low strikes then I would've done better. Maybe. But it will be fun to try the fast pitch cage again. 80+ mph. Don't get scared of the ball.