Friday Afternoon Confessional: Closure
I confess that when a service provider of some kind — a cell-phone or cable company, for example — is clearly calling me repeatedly in the hopes of making some kind of sales pitch, I will usually answer simply to get it over with. In one recent instance, the cable company claimed that they like to call periodically to see if there are any additional savings I could be taking advantage of. First: why not automatically apply these savings, if they are available? Second: the person ran a check and couldn’t actually find any savings! He could, however, offer me phone service, which I did not need. More recently, the cell phone company called asking if I wanted to add additional lines (no) or if I wanted to add a landline to my account (wtf?).
I confess that I am sometimes tempted to get a buzz cut, just because humidity makes my hair so poofy. I confess that my dedication to not using “product” of any kind is fervent and perhaps misguided.
I confess that reading liberal blogs gets more and more depressing, as it seems clear that there are a ton of good ideas out there and not a single one is ever going to be implemented.
I confess that I sometimes think that K College’s bookstore is a little over-zealous about getting book orders in.
I confess that since my mom and aunt are visiting today and The Girlfriend is having a guest for the weekend, I decided to do the first thorough clean since we moved in — and man, is this apartment ever fucking clean. It fills me with inner peace and joy. I even did the laundry while I was at it!
I confess that after a week of near-90-degree temperatures, I am planning on breaking down and installing the other window air conditioners today (the apartment came with three in the storage area, but we only have one in the bedroom so far).
I confess that WordPress’s “scheduling” function hasn’t been working right, which has caused irregularities in the posting of the Confessional. I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.
Spoiler Alert Thursday
Because national holidays–especially foreign national holidays–always conspire to ruin my free time, I regret to inform the readership that there was literally nothing on TV this past week. Sure, I watched a number of episodes of “Golden Girls” and “Friends,” but that isn’t saying much. And, worse, other commitments resulted in me missing “General Hospital” this week. I don’t know if anyone was hurt or killed in the car bomb, how the questioning of Franco’s mother went, and what Franco is up to in general.
I don’t get AMC at home, but the cottage has satellite and gets AMC. Based upon how revolutionary and risque people say that show about the advertisers is, I really expected that channel to be great. Anyway, when watching “Terminator” last on AMC, I was shocked to discover that not only were their commercials, but that the swearing was edited out. I guess AMC is more like TBS than Starz!
Wednesday Food: English IPA and Vichyssoise
Summer is as good a time as any for testing your palate for hop sensitivity. It’s work I need, as humid days make me long for the beers that smack you in the face with piney resinous hops, and I become impatient with hop nuance.
I made a point in the title to distinguish Goose Island’s India Pale Ale as English-Style, because I’m learning that the profile is quite different than that of American-Style. Whereas American IPAs– especially West Coast IPAs– are hop heavy and stronger in alcohol, traditional English IPAs are more medium hopped and moderate in body and alcohol. Therefore, the IBUs are lower in English-style and I dare say the beer feels a bit drier.
This year, the World Beer Cup awarded first place to Goose Island’s rendition, with second and third going to Brewer’s Alley in Maryland and Russell Brewing in Canada, respectively. I had thought Goose’s a poor rendition of an IPA as I was long comparing it to American Styles, i.e. Founder’s Centennial, Russian River’s Blind Pig. To understand beer better stylistically, check here with the Brewer’s Association site, it’s what the judges are using.
And to go with your English v. American IPA experiment, make a batch of vichyssoise. It’s a filling but cool summer dinner, second only to gazpacho in the chilled-soup arena. Here, The Kitchn provides Julia Child’s recipe.
Tuesday Hatred: Grade me
I hate Robert Christgau and you should too.
I hate that I (apparently) left my copy of the third critique in my office at school; how now am I to be able to read the analytic of the sublime before the third critique reading group meets? I am attempting to piece it together using what’s available on Google and Amazon, but this is really not the ideal situation.
I hate using Word and Word-like programs.
Monday Movies (observed)
- Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans — this was immeasurably better than the original. It was a very loose remake in many ways, but the key change was that it didn’t take itself seriously. Replacing the Jesus visions with visions of iguanas was a nice touch.
- Who Framed Roger Rabbit? — I was fascinated with this movie as a kid but never got to see it. Now I’m glad I waited, because I’m pretty sure I would not have gotten it back then. It was surprisingly good, and the special effects aspect held up very well. Highly recommended.
His Girl Friday is currently our only Netflix, so we’ll probably watch it tonight. Coming up on the queue: The Bad Sleep Well, My Best Fiend: Klaus Kinski, and Grand Illusion (giving Renoir another chance).
We also started Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, which is a remarkable achievement in making Matthew Perry actually seem like a good actor, and have officially caught up with True Blood (though I still need to go back and watch season 1 now).
Friday Afternoon Confessional
I confess that I appear to have gotten food poisoning last night, so I don’t really have the energy to confess anything.
Spoiler Alert Thursday
Despite ABC heavily promoting its “Summer Season,” there remains very little on TV. “Happy Town,” which was admittedly a terrible show but also not nearly as terrible as most network fare, was canceled after its last episode leaving two episodes unaired. Yes, most of the characters were superficial, but Peter Outerbridge’s character was something very, very special and there was something smarmy and creepy about Sam Neill–the guy most famous for being in “Jurassic Park.” For reasons not entirely clear, ABC has not yet had the wisdom to cancel “The Gates.”
For those who have not seen Snoop Dogg’s “Oh Sookie” video, they have both committed a criminal act most heinous and have not yet fully lived. A tidbit I forgot to mention last week: when Tara got in her fight with the rednecks outside of Merlotte’s, why did she throw her empty bottle away? If that was me, I’d certainly use the bottle-knife technology in that situation. I only raise this issue because this past weekend, one of our classy, drunken neighbours attacked our front porch with a broken bottle in a failed attempt to (presumably) cut up her boyfriend. I do hope that the final scene from this week’s episode was dream/fantasy rather than reality, regardless of how disturbingly amusing it was when Bill twisted Lorena’s neck around in a full circle.
I’ll remind those who do not ordinarily watch daytime TV that James Franco began reprising his role as the “death artist” Franco on “General Hospital” yesterday. While I don’t want Jason to die, I hope that Franco wins again. Also, tomorrow’s showdown between Sonny and Johnny should be awesome–so significant that even Sonny’s henchmen are getting their own scenes this week (“I don’t think this is going to work!” “Well, we have to follow the boss’s orders!”).
Wednesday Food: Orange Basil Cake
Apologies for the belated post. I will keep it short– this loaf cake is completely outstanding. With the upcoming holiday I was searching for a dessert that was portable, could withstand heat, and that wouldn’t leave me with cartoon moths flying out of my pockets. Orange basil loaf cake meets all criteria.
The only ingredients I didn’t already have at home were fresh berries which I simply used for garnish. Think strawberry shortcake, grown-up. Read more »
Tuesday Hatred
Yes, it’s that rare thing, a “bare hatred”.
I hate the feeling of being overworked (which I am currently experiencing and have been for more or less the past week). I hate signals which if not mixed are at least of puzzling interpretation. I hate sleeping poorly, long drives, commercial radio, and Yoshi’s, which still styles itself a “jazz club” despite mostly not showcasing jazz artists and not exactly promoting the cutting edge (even what would have been the cutting edge 25 years ago) when it does. I hate the nonsensical bill they had on the evening of the 28th and, in particular, the second, terrible band. I hate the audience members seated near me who kept talking during the excellent last set (Fred Frith, Beth Custer, Pavel Fajt), and seemed offended when someone shushed them, as if they thought it was just beyond rude that anyone should disrupt their conversation. But then the Yoshi’s clientele does seem to consist mostly of douches and the superannuated.
Monday Movies: Motivation is lacking
Why am I still writing these posts? Nevertheless:
- The Lower Depths — I was casting about for a new director to try, and Brad suggested Jean Renoir. This remake of Gorky’s play didn’t impress me, in part because of some serious shakiness and bluriness throughout.
And that’s the only movie I watched, as we’re getting more into watching TV shows on DVD of late — True Blood (season 2, as The Girlfriend recently saw season 1), The Larry Sanders Show, and Damages (which turned out to be really bad, in my view, meaning I only watched the first disc).
On the queue for next week: Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, His Girl Friday, and The Dead Sleep Well.
Our Humble Logo
Adam’s Shared Items- Rich Defaulting on Mortgages At Highest Rate
- The Boomers Agree: The Lazy Millennials Want To Be Jobless
- “But only in the sense of”
- Pirate Party Proposes Exploiting Legislative Immunity to Host Server in Swedish Parliament
- Secret Language
- Garfield minus Garfield the book.
- More on the Human Cost of Recessions
- Rich People Things: The Rich Crave Release From Their Shackles!
- “I just want to say two words to you: Resource Extraction.”
- Frederick Douglass on Expanding Liberty: A Quick Post-Independence Day Reflection
- The Zen of Rexwell
- Toy Story and the Long Recession
