saw some tweet about a 51 yo french actress wondering aloud if maybe the relationship she had as a 15 yo with a 36 yo director maybe wasnt the best, and, of course, the headline ask if france is having a belated metoo moment considering their alleged less prudish relationship with sex. all that to say i looked at her imdb page to see if he directed her around that time and didnt see it but didnt bother to read the article either but what i did find is that she starred in a movie called the 15 year old girl in which her boyfriends father falls in love with her. cant get too much more on the nose than that. will keep you posted on the developments as i dont follow along closely to this personal and societal awakening. 

not having read the piece i dont know how this relates to the firing and retirings of prominent nfl and ncaa football coaches in the last two days but i have no doubt bill bellichick will weigh in eventually on how this affects his future employment and his unstated goal to become the winningest coach in nfl history.

its that time of year again. yes, you guessed it, im saying goodbye to my oldest still in use t-shirt. the oldest t-shirt in my collection is, of course, my 1977 giorgio chinaglia soccer camp t-shirt in a sky blue but this one is nearly as special as it is the last of the first batch of american apparel t-shirts i bought from an old jewish-owned t-shirt wholesaler storefront formerly on grand st just east of orchard. thats right. you know the one. schmedricks or something. think it was 2005 or so and they were about $7 bucks a pop versus $18 in the american apparel store a half mile away or so on houston. fuck you, perv guy! i won! you all know who i am talking about. but this is also an extra special occasion as it marks the first time i bought ordinary t-shirts in bulk (hanes undershirts notwithstanding) which i am surprised their has been no holiday to comemmorate. but the beastie boys just got that corner of ludlow & rivington named after them so i probably have another six years or so before my time arrives. the campaign begins forthwidth! i will have to admit it outlasted its other brethern by being my least favorite color option and sat for years unused on the shelf along with the violet j crew t-shirts and the itchy northface one. although years later we grew close, it might have even become my favorite of the bunch primarily because i have forgotten the rest. not true, navy & black & umber or especially you, kelly green. ill never forget you. never. so pour one at for ash brown, it might not actually be that color but im too lazy to get up and match it at the moment.... because i am so broken up at losing a friend, nay, my best friend.

everybodys favorite thread of the year, the moment i hear about a summer heat wave in phoenix.

Christopher Williams at moma 

twitter once again good for something. reminded me that the womens euro finals starts in 20 minutes on espn. i watched a whole game and a half of the tournament so i am well versed. england v. germany. england will take any high level soccer win at the moment i gather. even if they have to root for women. 

This is the 100th anniversary of my Mother's birth.

I didn't write a lot about her, but here is the eulogy I wrote for her. I don’t think I shared it at the time.

She died in 2007. She left her body to medical research, and didn’t give us any funerary directions. The next year my sister and I gathered with my Mother’s three sisters and our cousins for a remembrance. I opened and closed it with songs from records that I knew she liked because she bought them twice; first on vinyl, then CD. 

Here she is in 1944, with her sisters (by age) left to right: Mom (Elizabeth,) Margaret (Peggy,) Virginia, Isabel.

rip hank aaron, murderer of baseballs. he was a moment before my time but a class act by all accounts. prove me wrong! fellow hall of famer don sutton died earlier this week too but fuck that guy.

https://youtu.be/7q6Co-nd0lM
 

had some seriously laugh out loud moments watching Eurovision.

BTW: happy birthday LM (same day as AW)

https://www.phaidon.com/agenda/food/articles/2020/october/20/magnus-nilssons-momentous-moments-the-day-he-understood-faviken-couldn-t-have-survived-covid/

im maybe a musical liker at best but appreciate the effort here.

since I’m single in the quarantine I’ve decided to reenact moments from my favorite musicals so it feels like I’m in love — first is LES MISÉRABLES pic.twitter.com/Om11HKDZ30

— Mary Neely (@mneelzy) March 31, 2020

one thing i did not realize about john mcenroes famous "you cannot be serious" tirade at wimbledon is that he was absolutely right as the replay moments later showed. 

https://www.moma.org/collection/works/61054

RIP gallerist extraordinaire John Gibson. Died at age 85. I did well by him. Will look for a good bio. No Wikipedia entry. He did mention when doing a studio visit on east 2nd street (A-1st), that he knew the block as he had visited the C. Oldenburg pop store in ‘61.

I saw the Hilma af Klint show, and it is really something, though I’m not entirely sure what.

There are some stunning works, as well as moments when I felt like I was looking at a gifted student trying on a range of modernist modes and techniques, but then had to contend with the fact that she had come to these without precedent, years and even decades before they appeared in their now familiar forms.

Since the work was mystically channeled in relative isolation it presents all sorts of conundrums; does it force a reconsideration of modern art history, or does it even have much of anything to do with art as such?

The fact that the work is not on the market also complicates its status. The family-run foundation that controls it seems to be looking at possibilities, and increased exposure like the current show may become a factor. The ideal would be to actually build the “temple” she envisioned for the main body of work. I don’t think the foundation has that kind of money, but maybe they could do a crowdfunding type of thing. Perhaps her spirit guides would contribute.  

This Guardian article is one of the more interesting things on her first page of Google results. 

My close wine mates suggest this place for awesome food (and BYOB at the moment)

Stout's doubt (pdf) via don voisine fb

I've been following Syria very closely for a long time now. It is always dangerous, but at the moment is seems particularly dangerous. Mainstream media reporting is all one voice against Assad, and Putin, and Iran, and Hezbollah. Here are some sources from the other side if you are interested and these aren't already on your radar. Are they "Russian trolls" spreading "fake news" or is there another side to the story where the U.S. isn't so "exceptional"?

News:
Al-Masdar News 

Opinion:
Moon of Alabama 
SST (scroll down below the stuff about his books for the blog...)
The Saker

Twitter feeds:
Elijah J. Magnier
Canthama
EHSANI2
Joshua Landis
War in Syria

And here's a longer Elijah Magnier piece on the danger of the current extremely dangerous situation in Syria:

The superpowers are on the verge of the abyss, so the danger of falling into a war of cosmic proposition is no longer confined to the imagination or merely a sensational part of unrealistic calculations.

sad end for Grave's Portland building. I thought they figured out a way to save it. was it sold to be mooved?

dont have any recollection of this ever having existed. Dana Carvey Show. funny as a making of doc. some ripe LCK moments to boot. timely.

Brother and I had a little Festivus: the Airing of Grievances. It was amicable. But there's a long way to go. He still reacts very badly to criticism, and still does lots of dumbass things. Apparently I'm "solving problems that don't exist." 

Negotiations have been going on for a few months but it's now offical, a number of my films are going into the MoMA archives.  I have to admit it was a head scratcher for me, my stuff isn't well known or great but I didn't put up any arguments.  It turns out the museum is collecting films made by filmmakers who were living in and active in the east village in the 80's so I squeaked in despite being kind of peripheral to that scene. Also, the assistant film curator, back before she was at MoMA, was on a selection panel for a film festival I entered Buoy in.  She argued unsuccessfully that it should be included in the programming but remained a fan. 
Yesterday I shipped a hard drive with the complete elements for Buoy as well as an exhibition copy.  I'm going to get my super-8 and 16mm films scanned to the highest resolution possible before shipping the camera originals and negatives because once they have them I will no longer have access to the material.
I'm told that one or two of my early films will be included in this show in October but so far it seems they haven't nailed down the programming so nothing's certain.

Alex, I haven't submitted our collaborations yet but I would like to so let's talk.

why cant my food look this colorful?? am i just a dark guy??

Enjoyed Raised by Wolves on Acorn. A brit-com show which combines a Roseanne like dysfunctional single mom family, dark reality humor  and Fellini like absurdity and film craft.  

returning my air conditioner today. there was some high pitched rattle that had developed and it was within the 30 days that amazon would take it back so i swung into action. that primarily involved negotiating for an hour via chat to india in an effort to exchange for a new model at the same price (unclear at the moment if i was actually was successful) and procuring shipping labels, a box, bubble wrap and tape. i was worried about carrying the extra large box on the subway at near rush hour but was gifted with a near empty m train from home depot on 23rd st. 

but now im actively anxious as i await the doorbell as i have since i went out around 1130 when the ups truck arrived. i managed to slide the old a/c down to the ground floor and my new a/c was in the truck but the ups guy didnt want to take it until the truck was less encumbered. and i without dolly hadnt brought the 85 lb package to the truck nor was i interested in carrying away the new one. 

so i am at the mercy of the delivery guy. i assume he will attempt a delivery but im never sure he wont forget or fail in some way. also, i left the a/c by the door and i doubt it will somehow disappear into the bowels of chinatown but there is always that possibility. so lots of unnecessary anxiety just waiting waiting waiting to finish this task which then wont be finished until amazon honors the claims of an office drone half a lifetime away.

my favorite game - whose daughter is that? both parents, now divorced, are actors, the mom being the more notable of the two though she hasnt had a highly regarded film in over a decade.

what is the mechanism for catching this moment on camera? 

NYTimes: "By avoiding originality, In Situ is the most original new restaurant in the country."

wow. i know no one has been following the crazy nba off-season. july 1 at midnight all the free agents can begin meeting with potential suitors which starts a frenzy of deals. and oft times the focus is on the big fish available which will effect how other players are courted. this year was uniquely crazy because a new tv deal had been signed and the salary cap instantly went up 35%. so some middling players were suddenly being signed for $15 million a year and social media was not unduly shocked by the numbers. i think the cap is supposed rise significantly again next year before leveling off and this was also impacting decisions made by some of the top eschalon players. do you sign a big deal this year or go short term and sign an even bigger deal next year? also, in an effort to keep players from leaving their teams to maintain balance and so players dont bolt small markets for bright lights, big city, the incumbent team can always offer a little more money and a year longer contract. 

so all of these concerns were weighing on this years top free agent, kevin durant, along with questions of loyalty to a team and legacy and all the bullshit sports writers talk about to make themselves seem important. (i actually got a direct message from a ny sportswriter this morning, which never happens, because i mocked him for thinking that spending eight hours in a hotel lobby stalking ny knicks gm phil jackson in order to get a quote about how the knicks free agency was progressing was somehow a bold and vital use of ones time.) and he is not your average free agent but a former mvp in his prime who will probably end up a top 20 all time player. his like rarely are available is my point.

the conventional wisdom was that durant would return to oklahoma city for one more year at least to try and avenge their loss to golden state. as im sure you recall they were up 3 to 1 in the western conference final before faltering much like golden state did in their finals loss to cleveland.

but............. he went the "if you cant beat'em, join'em" route and signed with the golden state warriors moments ago. they are now beyond formidable (they won a record 73 games this past season) and anything short of a championship barring catostrophic injury will be a failure. i just read that he signed a 1 and 1 deal which means he could leave after a year but also that he can resign after a year with the bigger salary bump. 

fear not, intrepid readers. i will not leave this room until all the pertinent questions are asked and all evasive politic answers are given!

How to Grow Chamomile
 

had some leaking issues w/my radiatiors when i tried to modulate the heat by half closing the valve. i guess barring some other systemic solution that would mitigate the leaking its either all the way open for sauna-level temps or completely off. i was fine with one radiator in the front off, but the other half of my apartment remained uncomfortably hot so i decided to see what it would be like with that shut off as well. i am not without heat altogether. there are at least four three inch pipes running floor to ceiling emanating heat plus whatever is rising from downstairs. havent been cold at all even with it being 4 degrees outside at the moment. those upgraded doublepane windows from like six years ago make all the difference. thanks whatshername for threatening to sue the landlord. i forgot her name. wait, it was britt. thanks britt!

I'm learning more about tea. For example, cut leaf tea gives up tannin more quickly than whole leaf tea. I've taken to brewing tea using a thermometer (about 180 F) and a timer (about 5 minutes) to try to establish a baseline from which to try variations. Should I get snooty with baristas if they don't know the temperature of the water used for tea?

just watched trainwreck. was kind of one. amy schumer wasnt bad but she wasnt great either. and it was just too long and tonally inconsistent. probably a lot of that is apatows fault. theres some funny and some poignant moments but it just felt flat. her tv show is so much more interesting as is her stand up. although she did crib a scene from a joke straight out her last stand up special which was weak.

mom, can i have $200,000? i want to major in the comedic arts. no, thats not a joke. why are you laughing?

"If we are not brutal about diagnosing what we are up against, then all of our resistance is futile. If we think that voting for Hillary Clinton … is really going to make a difference, then I would argue we don’t understand corporate power and how it works. If you read the writings of anthropologists, there are studies about how civilizations break down; and we are certainly following that pattern. Unfortunately, there’s nothing within human nature to argue that we won’t go down the ways other civilizations have gone down. The difference is now, of course, that when we go down, the whole planet is going to go with us."
 

cant recall if i did this one. daughter of a movie actress who co-starred in a top grossing movie from 80s. also starred in a sitcom in the 90s. who is the mom?

smothered mushroom crispy chicken
 

momofuku pork buns
 

so experiencing some sort of aura at the moment. not nearly as vivid as the picture but im glad i was able to quickly identify it. it has mostly dissipated now but was a little discomfiting for about 15 minutes.

Any advice on scanning docs with an IOS device? The built-in mail app, which Mom uses, seems to automagically destroy ... rescale ... images captured with the internal camera. "Hey, here's a handy thumbnail of that doc!" There are a few scanner apps that generate PDFs. But she doesn't do this often enough to make learning a new app very feasible, unless it's super simple.

Is there a way to tell the built-in app not to muck with the picture?

This is all because airprint isn't a two way app. Who woulda thunk that a tablet computer would need to be a computer?

Of all of Foucault’s claims that Zamora criticizes, it is this last one he believes poses the most danger. As long as the left continues to favor fights against marginality over fights against exploitation, it will remain, as Foucault did, a hopeless pawn in neoliberalism’s advance. Zamora is not alone in making this argument. Indeed, his is part of a larger view of the last 40 years that sees the rise of late-20th-century capitalism as being integrally linked with a loss of the left’s critical edge, either through the process of co-optation by the status quo, or isolation into provincial academic circles. It is this view of recent history that motivates Zamora’s attempt to Criticize Foucault. In order to break out of the left’s spiral downward, he believes, it is important to pinpoint the moment at which the left took a wrong turn so as to reverse that turn’s catastrophic effects.

very long thread on the avclub about favorite simpsons quotes. appreciated this one.

The year was 1968. We were on recon in a steaming Mekong delta. An overheated private removed his flack jacket, revealing a T-shirt with an ironed-on sporting the MAD slogan "Up with Mini-skirts!". Well, we all had a good laugh, even though I didn't quite understand it. But our momentary lapse of concentration allowed "Charlie" to get the drop on us. I spent the next three years in a POW camp, forced to subsist on a thin stew made of fish, vegetables, prawns, coconut milk, and four kinds of rice. I came close to madness trying to find it here in the States, but they just can't get the spices right!

i thought i had a post on the jets from about a month ago when i was actively enjoying the many ways they found to lose as they rocketed to the top of the draft board for next season. of course while all the other losers found a way to lose on the final week of the season, the jets had to win and drop a couple of slots down to sixth which is still "pretty good" but probably not low enough to snare one of the two quarterbacking studs they need to rebuild once again. since then they fired the coach who everyone liked but thought should perhaps go after four subpar seasons and the gm who was generally reviled for mismanaging the team.

at the moment the jets are coachless though the defensive coordinator for the seahawks (the best defense in the nfl) seems to be the top choice while a gm was announced today. and the reason for this post? he was in my class at trinity. i only knew him in passing but i am not expecting great things.

Cord cutting has more momentum.

thanksgiving croissant at momofuku milk bar

working my way through far from a madding crowd. also recently dvred shampoo so im officially having a julie christie moment.

not a big horror fan but id like to imagine david cronenberg brought something unique to the genre beyond splatter. saw the brood among his credits when i was looking up his imdb page while watching his latest maps of the stars and just saw that it was playing this month on showtime. penciled it in for mid-month but caught a few moments while waiting for the homeland season 4 premiere to start which i missed the first run of last night.

http://www.kasasushiboulder.com/ very very worthy sushi in Boulder, CO....mom of the owner owns 3 restaurants in Japan and fly's in the fish....hamachi belly was grand cru

if you are not tired of period gangster anti-heroes, theres one in a newish british drama set in 1919 birmingham called peaky blinders. ive only watched the first episode but im bullish at the moment. the first season is available on netflix while the second one just got underway.

the big game today at noon. i expect to be despondent by 12:05 and then i will turn on the tv and start watching the game. i already have a headache so im confident i can make this happen.

in other good news, the field is supposed to be drenched from torrential rains. not sure who that could ultimately help. also, in the other game ghana has some turmoil on their side as one of its better players had it out with the coach and was sent home. and another top player is suspended due to yellow card accumulation. so a weakened side might help tip the balance in favor of portugal and as we recall a portugal win means the us advance automatically.

the final set of matches has belgium (already through) v. south korea and algeria v. russia. algeria is in the best position to advance with three points going into the match while south korea and russia have one. i havent seen alot of these teams but lets just hope that the us and algeria advance along with germany and belgium as the odds would suggest.

also, suarez was banned from soccer for four months including his club soccer in england. he plays for liverpool (at the moment). i believe they might say that throws a spanner in the works, or more likely, something far less tame. didnt know fifa had the authority outside of the international events but outside of liverpool and uruguay he will have few supporters crying foul.