After reading my review of Foxes, a coworker recommended a lost gem called Ladies and Gentlemen The Fabulous Stains, a long out of print cult movie about a group of teenage girl punk rockers. It was notoriously hard to find a copy and that made me even more determined to see it. Fortunately my wait was not long as a couple weeks ago, I found out it was being released on DVD.

The elements are all there and the movie is worth a look as an artifact of all sorts of?cool. Paul Simonon from The Clash, ex-Sex Pistols Steve Jones and Paul Cook make appearances. But the star is Diane Lane who is tiny and gorgeous as an orphan who happens to be in the right place at the right time with the right new reporter there to document her and becomes a sensation with an unrealistically meteoric rise and fall and rise with her band The Stains (Laura Dern is her guitarist).

With a punky skunk hairdo, see through clothing, and wild makeup, she's a regular riot grrl who connects with the youth of her day by spouting teenage angst. She's an existentialist, an activist, and a feminist in bright socks and high heels. Her brief lover is played by an unrecognisably young Ray Winstone, lead singer of the Looters, clearly based on the Clash.

Unfortunate, then that it's so poorly paced and directed by ladies man Lou Adler. Audiences, whose negative reaction caused the film to be shelved before wide release and writer Nancy Dowd who used a pseudonym because she was unhappy with the final cut would agree. Still, there's a reason it's gained a cult following as a relic of the riot grrrl punk movement with some totally awesome style. I can't imagine any girl who saw this growing up on Z Channel or Showtime, where it would randomly pop up, wasn't inspired to dye her hair and start a band.

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Posted on September 29, 2008

From Funny or Die, this little video is about a girl from Jersey girl saying “what the f…” in different situations (waitress forgot her vodka and red bull, when she can't open a starburst, when she's out of hard Mike's, etc). I don't know, I think it's pretty funny.

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Posted on September 29, 2008

My friends Shaun's boss is so nice, he sent him a box of fancy chocolates from the road. And Shaun is so nice, he opened it up and shared the contents with us. When the box of Gray Salt Thins from Fran's Chocolates was revealed, we all collectively freaked out.

They were as delicious as we imagined, with a nice salt (gray salt, from Brittany, no less) grit to them. Reminding me very much of that totally awesome treasure, the Bacon Bar from Vosges, with it's salty sweetness, only this one can be enjoyed by vegetarians as well.

Based out of Seattle, Fran Bigelow, the glowing and friendly looking chocolatier behind the brand, opened a dessert shop back in 1982 and has been expanding since then with new products. And though I've yet to find a place in the city that sells her products, her online shop is always an option.

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Posted on September 29, 2008

While the front bar of The Stoned Crow looks like any around NYU and the large back room is very college dorm in its decor with walls filled with magazine pages, Fear and Loathing posters and even chains of red Christmas lights dangling about, it's location, off the beaten path of the heart of NYU drunkery and some great food and drinks makes it absolutely perfect for certain occasions.

For example, have you ever had to organize a big group of an uncertain number, some of which want to eat, some who only want to grab a drink? Tall order, right? Not too many places can satisfy without giving up something in the deal. But here, the price is right (after a long night we each only owed thirty dollars), there is Sixpoint on tap and it's included in their happy hour (a dollar off), and the burgers, from Jaime Saucedo who once worked at Corner Bistro are actually really tasty. No one that stands in line for that classic spot though seems to know this fact because the place didn't really fill up until after ten and even then, just barely.

When lots of bars can barely sit a couple, let alone a group, this is a rare find in the city and the fact that the food isn't terrible at all and the crowd isn't horrible makes it even more impressive.

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Posted on September 22, 2008

It was such sad day when the brilliant voice of David Foster Wallace was silenced last Saturday. Simply saying that we've lost one of our generations greatest writers seems far too mild. You know what I mean if you've committed to the experience of Infinite Jest, a book that you don't merely read, but breathe for months – I?had dreams that constantly took place in the underground halls of Enfield Tennis Academy.

When I finished it, I found myself baffled that one human being was capable of such a large scale opus that was so touching, gripping, sad, and funny. His talent blew my mind and shook my world and I am really, really sad that he unfairly decided to take his own life and took all that talent and all those ideas with him. It is rumored that he had been working on another long project before he died that will now likely never be read.

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Posted on September 22, 2008