Places to Visit »Block Island Lighthouses

southern lighthouse block islandBlock Island is flanked by two lovely lighthouses, one to the North and another to the South. The Northern Lighthouse is in Sandy Point and accessible by road, but is a far way to walk from the main port (cars and bikes are easily available to rent).

There is a museum, which was not opened when we went, but the main building is not open to the public, You can get pretty close though along a beautiful New England stretch of beach. Once summer is in full swing, a hot dog stand is parked in the lot.

The Lighthouse to the South is much more dramatic, set above the stunning Mohegan Bluffs. Several points along the cliffs offer amazing photo opportunities of the red brick structure. The building itself is being restored but the grounds and a museum are open for exploring.

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Posted on August 31, 2009

Hunks »Sam Elliott

sam elliott road houseOh my, did we have fun watching Road House the other night. I've posted some of my favorite quotes and accompanying images over at Rotating Corpse.. but there was an added thrill, (aside from the stellar script and performances) in re-discovering the hunkiness of one (usually mustached) Sam Elliott. You might most recognize him as a sarsaparilla sipping wise man in Big Lebowski, but he's been in all sorts of great crap.

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Posted on August 31, 2009

Hunks »Gedeon Burkhard

Gedeon Burkhard is the first of many handsome men in Inglourious Basterds that is sure to make my hunks list. He's given few lines in the film but he'll catch your eye with his strong jaw as he does some scalping and shooting. His most famous roles are in Germany but perhaps we'll be seeing more of him soon in America.

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Posted on August 24, 2009

Movies »Inglourious Basterds

Truth be told, it's been quite awhile since I've been smitten with Mr. Tarantino. I know people love his recent films, but Jackie Brown was the last one to hit home with me. So, I really had no expectations going into Inglourious Basterds and, to my shock, I absolutely loved it.

It's a ballsy, insane movie with pops of extreme violence, unexpected laughs, and cinematic beauty. Not to mention a cast of extremely handsome, strapping young Jews and allies. There were so many armed and bloody men to swoon over, that it will take some time to include them all in my hunks list.

Clearly taking cues from suicide mission military films like The Dirty Dozen and the original Inglorious Bastards, which shares very little with this film except the title and Nazi bad guys, he is equally inspired and paying homage to classic spaghetti westerns – punctuated with the clever use of music by our favorite Ennio Morricone.

It's an odd bag of tricks and the result is all just a little bit off: Mike Myers is strangely cast in a Peter Sellers role (but is his usual old bullshit self) within a fairly straightforward scene, a tense confrontation between old enemies over dessert is interrupted by extreme close ups of fresh whipped cream, and David Bowie's song from Cat People plays over a putting-make-up-on-to-kill-Nazis montage.

Like his revolutionary hit, Pulp Fiction, the movie has a way of knocking you back after you've seen it. In part because of the graphic gore, but moreover – it's a talky, unique and shocking remixing of popular movie genres turned completely inside out. Unlike the typically somber tone of films like Defiance, Tarantino actually rewrites history so that we all get the bloody revenge we always wanted in an extremely satisfying, cinematic way.

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Posted on August 24, 2009

Places to Visit »Saratoga Springs

Saratoga Springs has so much to offer: gambling! Spas! Bottles! We began with the gambling, made super depressing because the high class horse racing track was not yet open (we missed the very brief season opening by a week); instead we went to the carpeted harness track where aisles of either very heavy or very thin people fed slot machines. Even all the freshly-planted flowers outside couldn't improve the nicotine-stained atmosphere, but just as I was about to leave (after half heartedly losing five bucks), I saw Kitty Glitter. On her, I won eight bucks. I was up and I was out of there!

We were looking forward to some pampered relaxation in nearby Ballston Spa, where the Medberry Inn and Day Spa offers a half hour private mineral bath for two for $30. It's the best deal we found in the area and even we, who rarely truly relax, were able to totally chill out in the calm, dimly lit room with complimentary fresh fruit and cranberry juice. The staff is super nice and they even gave us a pass when we over stayed our allotted time by about fifteen minutes.

If you have some time to kill before your spa treatment, I highly recommend the National Bottle Museum just down the street. It's quaint and actually quite interesting. I posted a few favorite photos here.

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Posted on August 24, 2009

Books »1080 Recipes

1080 recipesI recently rediscovered what is surely the most lovely cook book on my shelves, a gift from co workers a few years back, 1080 Recipes. This tome of Spanish dishes is illustrated throughout with whimsical drawings by Javier Mariscal.?I posted some of my favorites over at Rotating Corpse.

Simone and her daughter Ines Ortega are the authors and this book has been a kitchen staple in Spain for decades. I became available in this handsome package only two years ago in the US.

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Posted on August 24, 2009

Recipes »Baked Onion Rings

Well, they're not much to look at, and even Mike, who made these baked onion rings as an accompaniment to last weeks excellent home made White Castles will admit it. But throw all appearance-based expectations aside, these things are delicious! And waaay better for you than the deep fried kind.

Here's a recipe from the Food Network site

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Posted on August 24, 2009

Laughs »Imaginative Sex

I'm not left speechless often, but our friend Jessica posted this mind blowing book over at Rotating Corpse, and I have almost no words. I'll let Jessica explain:

“Imaginative Sex with 53 detailed scenarios for sensual fantasies and a revolutionary new guide to male-female relations by John Norman is truly phenomenal. The cover initially grabbed me (enough so that I purchased additional books in the Gor Series, click here for a wonderfully illustrated example of The I-Am-Raped-by-a-Monster Fantasy)?but it was, as Wikipedia says it best, the “male-dominant heterosexual BDSM-type sexual fantasy scenarios, and suggested guidelines as to how a couple can act them out in order to improve their sex life” that really made this a fantastic read. The unimaginative chapter titles give you sense enough of the repetitive, sexist themes. In the rare fantasies that women are given a role of power they are quickly beaten over the head, wrapped in a carpet, raped and/or sold as a slave. I am currently role playing The I-Am-Raped-By-A-Blogger fantasy.” ?

Here's her post in its entirety

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Posted on August 24, 2009

TV Shows »Dead Like Me

Dead Like Me could not be more full of stuff that would normally have me snobbily and disdainfully running the other way: self aware quirkiness! A lighthearted approach to normally taboo subjects that just screams, 'This is edgy! This is premium cable cable!' A folksy attempt at poignancy! Oh, and lazy writing that propels the story through constant narration.

And yet, Jim and I have found this to be a suitable late night, before bed pleasure, one that makes us feel far less guilty than the god awful Crossing Jordan that we used to inexplicably indulge in.

The cast is actually pretty solid. I really like the main character George, played by the unfamiliar Ellen Muth, even if all her lines are a but too pat, and if you loved Whitley from A Different World, Inigo Montoya from The Princess Bride (or the pharmaceutical commercial he's currently starring in), or the Noxema Girl from the latest leaked sex tape (link NSFW), rejoice, because they all play modern day grim reapers.

Creator Bryan Fuller went on to make the equally complex and quirky Pushing Daisies after spats with the suits at Showtime turned the Dead Like Me into, “the worst experience of [his] life“.

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Posted on August 24, 2009

Web Sites »Reference Library

Reference Library is a great visual collection of interesting items with an American hand-made bent that on any given day makes you want to throw on a pair of Lees, go climb a tree, sew something, or dig through an attic.

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Posted on August 24, 2009