Spend a Couple Hours »This American Life Live

tal liveI'm so very excited to see This American Life live on the 23rd and I want to give everyone who wasn't able to get tickets, or doesn't live here, plenty of heads up because even though the show's sold out. you can still see it live, kind of, at your local movie theatre. From the TAL site:

Ira Glass will host an actual episode of the radio program, performed onstage by some of our favorite contributors. Dan Savage, Starlee Kine, and Mike Birbiglia will tell stories. David Rakoff and Dave Hill will conduct a ?pecial investigation.' Plus a new cartoon by Chris Ware, additional visuals by Arthur Jones, and a very special appearance by Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer! The performance will last around two hours. We're going to capture the whole thing with a bunch of HD cameras, and send it live* to movie theatres all over the country.

So get tickets now, it's showing at a bunch of theaters here in the city, including the big one at 14th Street.

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Posted on April 13, 2009

Drinks »Brouwerij Lane

Brouwerij Lane GrowlerThe opening of Brouwerij Lane, the new high end beer store in Greenpoint, was met with much excitement; friends who dropped in to the grand opening said you could hardly move through the crowds clamoring for free beer and expensive imports.

We waited till a later date to see what the store, a former chop shop, had to offer. In what has quickly become a daily tradition, a beer tasting was underway and beer snob clients and staffers alike were a touch on the drunk side (it took too many tries for our selection to be wrung up at the register, with wildly different sums each time). The staff's not quite as friendly and helpful as my newest local obsession, Marlow and Daughters, but that's okay.

The selection is fun to browse and you can mix up six packs with anything you want. Prices on bottled beer are a tad high (many can be found cheaper in Manhattan Avenue bodegas), but Brouweij Lane does offer a number of bottles not readily available elsewhere in the area. Stick to trying stuff you haven't seen anywhere else and you'll feel less foolish the next time you walk into Nature's Garden and spot a bottle of Delirium for less.

But the real draw, and the thing that makes the beer snobbery and high prices disappear is the Whole Foodsesque growler system. For a $5 deposit you can get yourself a growler; for $10 more you ca fill it with anything they have on tap. We tried a great beer called Gruut Belgian Amber, which the tap master informed us would be a staple in the lineup; the other taps change frequently, which is exciting if you love trying new things. You get about four or five glasses of beer from the jug and you can fill it up again and again and again.

I loved doing this at Whole Foods but it was never convenient to bring my growler back for a refill. But now, with Brouwerij Lane in the neighborhood, I can take advantage of this ingenious system much, much more often.

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Posted on April 13, 2009

Restaurants »Porchetta

porchetta nycPorchetta has been at the top of my list since it topped all the big end of the year restaurant round ups, but the place is super tiny and with little chance of grabbing a seat and the weather being as crummy as it has been, we've yet to make the visit until just this week. The titular and most popular dish is, of course, porchetta, an Italian culinary tradition of roasted pork with crispy skin, lots of herbs and spices then slow cooked. There are sides too, but we just stuck to the?main attraction.

It's out of this world yummy. Don't bother to spoil the layered textures and moist juices with any extraneous toppings – this is one sandwich meant to stand on its own sans condiments. The sandwich is smaller than I expected, which is probably a good thing as far as my calorie intake?goes, and it was plenty filling. It's served on a ciabatta roll that holds up to the intense innards without overpowering it (I hate to bite into and sandwich and get all bread) but you can also order the pork as a platter without bread, but I can imagine it's quite difficult to take away.

The place is crowded but the line moves pretty fast; it's bound to become a classic East Village destination and I can't imagine that between the overwhelmingly positive word of mouth and the amazing food that it will be going away anytime soon. Still, I'd stop by sooner than later – heavy cracklins and pork sandwiches tend to suit the slightly cooler days of early Spring more than the dead of Summer.

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Posted on April 13, 2009

Style Icons: Female »Colleen Corby

colleen corbyYou may not be familiar with Colleen Corby's name if you weren't a teen in the '60s, but if you've ever picked up a vintage Seventeen magazine from that magical decade, you're sure to have seen her wide eyes staring back at you. She had looks, and specifically lips, that boys could dream about, but she also seemed like she could be your pretty best friend.

After years of constant work as America's then top supermodel sweetheart under the tutelage/iron grip of Eileen Ford she left the business to get married and hopefully eat as much pork chops as she wanted (she was put on a strict diet by Ford for most of her youth).

This site contains a very extensive photo gallery of her work, mostly from Seventeen Magazine, whose staff adored her as much as her fans and the young Oprah Winfrey (who referred to Corby as the model she most closely identified with as a teen).

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Posted on April 13, 2009

Albums »Beat of Our Own Drum

jc brooks & the uptown sound beat of our own drumIt's always exciting to be able to pick something created by a friend, and I'm especially tickled to recommend the latest musical venture of my friend Billy, a bouncy but all too brief album entitled Beat of Our Own Drum by JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound. Billy and I have been friends since the 6th grade (which is why I can still refer to him as Billy, long after he's become known as Bill). Even though we haven't lived in the same city since those good old days, back when he was sporting a satin Batman baseball cap and taking me to my first concert (the Steve Miller Band), we've managed to stay in touch and always have a grand old time whenever we get a chance to meet up.

As a New Yorker, my conception of an “uptown sound” is the rustle of Brooks Brothers trousers against white thighs and the click clack of old lady heels, but in Chicago “the uptown sound” seems to be upbeat, clear sounding, good natured, and lots of fun. Fronted by the charming voiced and handsome Brooks, the band works comfortably in the traditions of Motown while maintaining an off beat sense of humor.

One of my favorite songs, which lends its name to the title of the album, captures the celebratory experience of falling in love with the adorable lyric, “You make me hotter than an apple pie”. Another song claims, “Baltimore is the new Brooklyn/ Just a short train ride from where you really want to be”.

That song, by the way, has a wonderful music video where I've delighted in seeing my good friend (he's playing the guitar). It reminds me of a time he once told me about a gig that wasn't going too well. He equated the experience with Back to the Future, when Marty McFly's hand begins to fade but then suddenly it comes back and he finished with a bang, all the crowd on his side. Well, it looks like the crowds will be on Bill's side with this new project.

But I digress with friendship nostalgia. Other favorites on the album include Alright, which channels the funk of James Brown, and the provocatively titled 75 Years of Art Sex that, at least in my opinion, is begging for a disco-fied version; it already gives me visions of a Bianca Jagger/Soul Train smash.

You can experience the band live! at Southpaw next Thursday (4/16) evening. I'll be there!

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Posted on April 13, 2009

Songs »Searching For My Love (1966)

bobby moore the rhythm acesBobby Moore and the Rhythm Aces' Searching for My Love, which was released on Chicago's famous Chess Records label in '66 was the band's (who were part of the Alabama R&B club scene) only major hit – but it is a great one. Soulful and infectious, the song has features the gritty voice of Chico Jenkins.

Once a big hit, the song seems almost forgotten, with even allmusic left with little to say about the one hit wonder band. Huey Lewis agrees with me that it shouldn't be forgotten and covered the song in 1994, but sadly by then he was kind of forgotten too.

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Posted on April 13, 2009

Books »Liberace Cooks

liberace cooksSome time ago, when giving Mr. Showmanship credit for his bedazzling style, I mentioned that I was seeking out Liberace Cooks! I have an awesome mom, because she actually found it for me on eBay. The dusty, well loved tome, “As told to Carol Truax” (who was a native of my hometown), reads like a folky Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.

Each chapter is titled after one of the seven dining rooms he and his diamond encrusted suit enjoy. The “Indoor-Outdoor Eating” chapter, which includes recipes for spareribs, sauerkraut, and chicken in brandy and cream, is centered around the dining room he eats in the most and described this way, “The draperies are a pale tomato color, the velvety carpet is mustard-yellow – convenient if somebody spills the mustard sauce”.

Another chapter called “Do it Yourself and Eat it Yourself In the Kitchen” includes Liberace's Special 15 Minute Eggs, which take fairly healthy eggs and douse them with heavy cream, butter, and cheese.

He also has a “Beautiful Buffet by the Yard” and a room for “TV Dining”. Of course, the TV is done in golds and is adorned with onyx cherubs, but I have to say, the man gave little thought to the layout and configuration of the room: if a guest were enjoying Sunset Chef's Salad (cabbage, chicken and tongue) or Scotch Squares in here, they'd have a tough time watching Leapin' Lizards, It's Liberace.

“Cookout on the Loggia” features Liberace at his burliest, grilling steak in a chef's apron under the piano keys that adorn the grill. “The entire area is greencovered, not with grass but with outdoor carpeting, so easy to walk on, so safe for wet feet.”

The “Room with a View” and “Formal Dining Room” chapters earn no photos, but do feature more heavy cream based dishes like Canape Puffs and Green Mashed Potatoes.?The final chapter gets the best title “Sauces, Sauces everywhere” because, as the man himself declares, “It's the sauces that divide the men from the boys and separate the gourmets from the guzzlers.”

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Posted on April 13, 2009

Movies »Bad Ronald

Bad Ronald is a 1974 made-for-TV-movie that derives at least some of its allure from the mere fact that it's so hard to find (although it can be seen on You Tube). Airing two years before VHS was unleashed on the US, Bad Ronald was bound to become a forgotten eerie relic of the past. The fact that my favorite writer, science fiction master Jack Vance, wrote the novel on which it was based (the only one of his works ever adapted for the screen) piqued my interest even more and I just had to get a copy from J4HI.

The movie, depending on your point of view, either suffers from or is enhanced by the venerable yet constrictive format of the made-for-TV-movie. The melodramatic music, the odd pacing, and the considerably watered down plot lines that (reportedly) are far less brutal than the original source material (I say reportedly because the book is out of print and first editions are out of my price range) can make for pretty difficult viewing for those with limited patience for the retro verging on cheesy. I myself am not such a person, I find low production values can be an asset – particularly when it comes to thrillers – and once I adjusted to the grainy transfer and flat acting style, I discovered the qualities of this strange and chilling little gem.

Ronald is a kid with an oddly strong bond with his possessive mom (Kim Hunter) who accidentally gets involved in some very bad business. As a result, mother convinces Ronald to stay hidden in a bathroom (which they board up) until all interest in the incident goes away. He essentially becomes a prisoner of his mother's in his own house until she goes off and die on him. A family of young, nubile girls moves in (a youngish, nubilish Dabney Coleman plays their father) and Ronald, who's basically living in the walls, becomes crazier and more like an outsider artist with each passing day as he spies on the new family and develops a psychotic fantasy world.

The film's tag-line puts it best, describing Ronald as “a ghost who isn't dead” haunting the house until he finally reveals himself to the frightened teens. It's the kind of movie that manages to inflame some fundamental fears and I imagine it was deeply etched in the minds (and nightmares) of the children who watched it when it originally aired.

Funnily enough, star Scott Jacoby seems so familiar not just because he resembles a neighbor of mine plus Matthew Modine, but because he played a recurring role as Dorothy's son on the Golden Girls.

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Posted on April 13, 2009

Desserts »Red Mango

red mango capn crunchWith Spring being a wet, gray joke of a season thus far, we New Yorkers tend to go ape any day the weather even remotely resembles the traditional Springtime sunshine and blooming flowers of our collective fantasies. On a recent bizarro 60 degree afternoon, nestled between days with lows in the 20s, I decided to pretend that Spring had finally arrived in earnest and headed over to Red Mango for some frozen yogurt.

To be honest, I can't tell much of a difference between their green tea flavor and that of their competitors, and a scoop is always costs more than I expect, but I was thrilled with the option of adding a little scoop of that great sugary cereal, Cap'n Crunch (though no crunch berries, sadly) to the mix. The combo was surprisingly delicious and I couldn't have felt any happier as I walked down the street with the yogurt slowly melting in my hands.

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Posted on April 13, 2009

Hunks »Idris Elba

idris elbaThere's one man who stalked the low rises of Baltimore that was sure to give all the women hot pants, just the mention of his name can prompt blushing, sometimes even shrieking. Stringer Bell. Or, as he is gradually becoming known, Idris Elba, the handsome intelligent type who only becomes more attractive once one discovers out that he's actually British, swoon.

His recent addition as a no nonsense office wrecker with an unintended effect on women in the Office has only broadened the actor's profile here in the states, probably much more than the subway posters for the Beyonce/ Ali Larter vehicle Obsessed that foolishly hide his beautiful mug up in the top corner. Oh, and my sister just told me he's great in The No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency.

With IMDB there to jog my memory, I now remember that Idris and I are old friends: he starred in the abbreviated 1998 UK vampire show (with British Bob Odenkirk looky-likey Jack Davenport) Ultraviolet, a show that I enjoyed immensely before I began this blog, which is the only reason why I've failed to recommend yet – but it's worth seeking out.

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Posted on April 13, 2009