happy zmedsday!! (xliv)

it's tunesday! ("my baby loves a bunch of authors" by moxy fruvous)

By special request from Blair to celebrate our 20th anniversary.

Blair does like books. So do I, but not nearly as much as she does. Blair also likes Moxy Fruvous, which amazes me because there is so little in the way of pop music that we both really like.

Anyway, I decided to go with this live version instead of the album version.

cinema history class: curse of the faceless man

Session: I Want my Mummy, Week 2
Movie: Curse of the Faceless Man (1958)
Directed by Edward L. Cahn

As always, there may be spoilers here. And the trailer may be NSFW and/or NSFL

Plot:
A fieldworker in Pompeii uncovers a stone-encased victim of Mount Vesuvius. The newly-unearthed victim seems to have a violent streak. Hilarity ensues.

Reaction:
I'm not really an expert in 1950's horror movies, but this struck me as very much the quintessential 1950's monster movie. You have a lumbering monster who's in some ways human but in some ways not. He develops an attraction for a particular woman, and that attraction serves as the catalyst for the destruction he causes as well as the destruction he suffers in the end. At some point, he carries her off like a bridegroom crossing a threshold, and she does a lot of screaming and fainting. The viewer gets to feel the tension, even while knowing that everything will work out in the end (for everyone but the monster, that is), because that's the contract the movie makes with the audience. And there's a feeling of release when it all ends.

Curse did a really good job of matching the template, and so I found it to be a good entertaining bit of fluff. But that also means that it didn't do a whole lot to distinguish itself -- which isn't really necessary if you're looking for a simple entertaining show and nothing more.

I did find the narration annoying. I realize it was necessary for exposition purposes, and I also realize that there is often no way to add necessary exposition in a natural-feeling way. But I still didn;t like it. At times it made the film seem like a PSA, and at others it made it feel like The Twilight Zone.

While this wasn't a great or deep movie in any way, it was a nice little gem.

Ratings:

Me: 7.25
Ethan: 6

Joe: 10

goodbye, di fara

In a crushing blow to people who feel crushed by this sort of blow, Midwood's Di Fara pizza has been shut down. Whether or not it's for good will likely depend on whether the owner can scrounge up the $200,000 that is owed in state taxes, or Mayor DeBlasio manages to get the state to forgive the debt.

This wouldn't be a big deal -- standalone business shut down all the time. But it's big news because Di Fara is kind of a local icon. It's often cited as being the best or among the best pizza shops in this city that prides itself on pizza. As near as I understand it (and I'm not really paying close attention, so I could be getting details wrong), the restaurant owes back taxes. They had worked out a payment plan which would have kept them open. But they missed a payment on that plan (when they were temporarilly shut down for health code violations. So, this week, they were shuttered by the state. DeBlasio (with whom I usually disagree) floated the idea of having the tax debt forgiven (an awful idea), but Governor Andrew Cuomo (with whom I usually disagree) shot down that idea. Good for him.

Now, why am I bothering to comment on this? Well, for starters, I like good pizza as much as the next guy. But also, this is ,my chance to share my Di Fara experience -- I ate there. Once.

It was June 28, 2014 (the reason I know the date will be revealed in the narrative -- have patience). My sister was in town. She had recently seen an article that purported to name the best pizza shop in each of the 50 states, and she had set herself to the task of trying each of those bests*. Since Di Fara was picked as New York's best (spoiler alert: I disagree), we decided to go check it out.

So my family, my sister, and two other guests we had staying with us all drove down to Midwood for pizza. Be aware that the drive from Jamaica, Queens, to Midwood, Brooklyn, is not a five minute jaunt. On a Saturday night, even with decent traffic, it take can take an hour or more. Anyway, we got there. It wasn't crowded or anything, but it was going to be a long wait for our two pies because there was one person running the place, and he was working very slowly. The pizza was expensive -- much more so than your typical pizzeria.

When we got our pizza -- we had ordered two pies, so it took  a long time to get it -- it was...good. Not great. Good. Maybe better than average. But the best in the state? No. I have been to better pizza shops -- notably Lucia on Roosevelt Avenue in Flushing, which is my personal favorite. It was a little different than the typical Neopolitan pie. It was drenched in oil -- the old man poured extra olive oil on it (one of his signature touches, apparently). It also had extra basil on it -- another Di Fara signature. Those unique touches, and the fact that it's been the same old man for decades contribute to the Di Fara mystique.

I was wearing a shirt with a math joke on it, and someone else there asked if we had ordered two pies in honor of Tau Day**. And that's how I remember that it was June 28. But it was just a coincidence. I also know that it was a Saturday night because, the next day I mentioned have gone there to an Orthodox Jewish colleague who lives in Midwood. He asked why, if I wanted pizza in Midwood (which has many kosher places), did I go to a nonkosher place. I asked rhetorically, if he could think of any reason that I couldn't go to a kosher place on that evening.*** And that exchange is why I remember that this happened on a Saturday night. The last time June 28 was on a Saturday was 2014. The time before that was 2008, and I know that this happened more recently than that. So June 28, 2014 it was.

Anyway, I was interested to learn of Di Fara's closure. But I won't be losing any sleep over it. There are many places that are better, cheaper and more convenient.

*Yeah, my family is prone to that sort of thing.

**The number, pi (named after and indicated by the Greek letter pi), is defined as the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter. As it is an irrational number, it cannot be completely written out in decimal form.But it is It's approximately equal to 3.14. Some mathematicians prefer to work with tau, defined as twice pi. Since it is approximately 6.28, June 28 (6/28) is sometimes called Tau Day.

***As a general rule, if a restaurant is open on the Sabbath, it is not reliably kosher -- at least not reliably enough for this colleague's milieu.

it's zmedsday!! (xliii)

happy tunesday! ("judy is a punk" by the ramones)

I haven't verified it -- it's too good to risk finding out that it's false. But I've been told that, at campaign events, Beto O'Rourke uses The Ramones' "Judy is a Punk" as his entrance song.

Sounds weird, but in this crazy political cycle? Anything can be true.

cinema history class: the mummy's hand

Session: I Want my Mummy, Week 1
Movie: The Mummy's Hand (1940)
Directed by Christy Cabanne

As always, there may be spoilers here. And the trailer may be NSFW and/or NSFL

Plot:
A down-on-his-luck archaeologist leads an unlikely assemblage of people on an expedition to find the tomb of Princess Ananka. Hilarity ensues.

Reaction:
The Mummy's Hand didn't really do much for me as I watched it. To a large degree it seemed like the same old mumbo-jumbo. Maybe the window dressing had changed a bit, but that's it. That said, Joe noted (in his comments) that this movie, more than any other (even the original Boris Karlof (note, in the original version, I incorrectly said "Bela Lugosi.") film) is responsible for our modern conception of the mummy as a horror film monster. So I do have to wonder if this is, like Shakespeare, a victim of its own success. A lot of Shakespeare seems cliche to people first discovering his works, but that's because it's been copied so many times. Perhaps this is the same thing?

At any rate, I think another issue is that I was tired. I didn't actually fall asleep while watching M'sH, but I did have a hard time concentrating, When I rewatched it again today (thanks, archive.org!), it made more sense to me. I also had a greater appreciation of the comedic elements. The combination of Dick Foran and Wallace Ford had a really good chemistry, and seemed at times to be almost like Abbott and Costello.*

In the class I gave it a 5, since it wasn't great, but it wasn't bad either. I appreciate it more after a second viewing, and am now giving it a 6.

Ratings:

Me: 6
Dave: 9.8
Ethan: 8.5

Joe: 10

*Someone in class -- Joe? Keith? made that observation. It's true, and I'm pointing it out. This footnote is to make it clear that I'm not trying to steal their thoughts.

cinema history class: hardware

Session: Bring Your Own Movie Month, Week 6 (Christina)
Movie: Hardware (1990)
Directed by Richard Stanley

As always, there may be spoilers here. And the trailer may be NSFW and/or NSFL

Plot:
In a post-apocalyptic dystopia, a man gives his girlfriend some robot parts to make art out of. He should have stuck with roses. Hilarity ensues.

Reaction:
For the first time, Christina participated in the class' annual ritiual of Bring Your Own Movie month. And for her choice she went with Hardware, a bleak nihilistic film, which paints a depressing picture of the future. It's nerve-wracking and claustrophobic -- almost all the action takes place in one character's cramped apartment. And it's also one great killer robot film.

The intensity was a big part of why this worked. The tension rarely let up, and when it did it was generally for some kind of oddly misplaced comedic effect. Note, for example, the downstairs neighbor constantly complaining about the noise.

I did note the strangely phallic drill weapon, which the robot used (to disturbing effect). When we were discussing this, Keith noted that the film crew actually found some of those sequences too disturbing and refused to film them -- which left Stanley to film them himself. On another note, during one scene with the creepy pervy neighbor, I asked if that was supposed to be Harvey Weinstein. His name, BTW, was Lincoln Weinberg. Now, I was joking about the Weinstein comment, in part because of the character's slovenly, Harvey Weinstein-esque look. But Keith did note that that probably was a shot at Weinstein.*

One of the best aspects of this movie, given that it's such a moody piece, is the soundtrack. There are lots of screechy and scratchy industrial noises that perfectly complement the feel of the movie.

All that said, it needed more Lemmy.

Ratings:

Me: 8.5
Dave: 9.8 to 9.9
Ethan: 8

Joe: 9.9
Keith: 9.5

Sean: 4 out of 4

*Damn, I'm good!

it's zmedsday!! (xlii)

happy tunesday! ("tired and emotional and probably drunk" by billy bremner

One of my favorite bands is (was?) Rockpile, a stomping pop-rock outfit from the 1970s into the early 1980's. Led by co-frontmen, Nick Lowe and Dave Edmunds, Rockpile served as a recording and touring unit for the two of them. Guitarist Billy Bremner was often overlooked behind the two stars, but he was, and still is a great guitarist with a sweet voice and a wonderful feel for music.

"Tired and Emotional (And Probably Drunk)" is one of his early solo singles. It's a tribute to the Coasters, and just a joy to listen to.

when my worlds collide

I love it when things come together -- when parts of my life that seem disconnected from each other are connected after all.

Last month Blair and I were at the AHS Region 4 meeting hosted by LIDS (i.e., a daylily meeting). At the Chinese auction we won was a crate of upstate wines. There were ten assorted bottles of wine (and two small bottles of coffee-infused vodka) in the crate. The crate was put together by the Hudson Adirondack Daylily Society (which, like LIDS, is part of Region 4) with donated bottles from upstate wineries.

Ann Amrtini
K. Rood, 2017

We noticed that one of the bottles was a red table wine from Anthony Road Wine Company. The significance of this is that AR is one of the vendors at the Jackson Heights Green Market -- one of the farmers markets that Ethan and I go to every Sunday. John Martini, who founded the winery with his wife, Ann, in the 1970s, is one of the people we chat with at the market. We've always liked his wines.

Anyway, so this morning Ethan and I were at the market and I decided to mention to him that we had won one of his bottles. Of course, he knew what we were talking about. Turns out his farm is near Kathy Rood, a prominent upstate daylily hybridizer. Kathy, he told us, had even named one of her cultivars after his wife, Ann Martini. He'd never actually seen the flower named after his wife, but he knew it was out there.

Well, with my phone in hand I was able to look it up for him. It's a beaut.

Small world

ethical question about the beach and garbage

Today's hypothetical question of the day:

Suppose, hypothetically, you're at the beach. You have a bunch of stuff -- a radio, some clothing, and a tin of mozzarella sticks.

You get careless and walk away from your stuff. When you come back, you find it's been stolen. All of it. Well, not quite all of it. They took your clothing and radio. And they seem to have eaten your mozzarella sticks. But they left thd empty tin. Yep. All that's left is your garbage.

Are you ethically obligated to pick up the empty tin and dispose of it properly?

it's zmedsday!! (xli)

happy tunesday! ("bouncy castles" by beth goudie)

There's a little bit of a story here.

Beth Goudie is a British singer-songwriter who recently put out her debut album, Our Hearts Will Conquer. Spoiler alert: this song isn't on it. I came across the Kickstarter campaign which she was using to fund the album, and just loved her voice. I also noticed that, for £75, I could have her record a song of my choice. My immediate thought was to sign up and ask her to record one of my songs.

I've taken advantage of offers like that before -- When Bobtown recorded their third album, A History of Ghosts, I participated in exchange for a recording of "Five Missing One." And when Wreckless Eric and Amy Rigby were recording A Working Museum, I got a recording of "Do You Think of Me (Now and Again)." In both cases I was immensely pleased.

Unlike those campaigns, though, the cost of this was a lot less -- less than a fifth. Which should have tipped me off that I was misunderstanding what Beth was offering. What she had in mind was a simple one-take recording of her singing the song while playing it on guitar -- not the fully produced demo that I was imagining. Still, I was game -- Beth has such a lovely voice, and I loved the idea of having it wrapped around one of my songs. In the end, she declined to do the cover -- the challenges of performing an unpublished song (and, I suppose, coming up with an arrangement with little guide) made her uncomfortable. She offered to refund my money, though I opted to take a partial refund and get an autographed copy of her album.

The album came today, and it's worth every cent. Beth's songs are beautiful and her voice is sublime. I am sharing this song for Tunesday (instead of one from the album) because I couldn't quickly find a Youtube video of any of the songs on the album -- at least not one of high quality. There are a couple of concert performances, but the sound quality is lacking.

At any rate, here's Beth Goudie. If you want to buy her album, you can do so here. Tell her Moish sent ya.

cinema history class: the house that jack built

Session: Bring Your Own Movie Month, Week 5 (Ethan)
Movie: The House That Jack Built (2018)
Directed by Lars Von Trier

As always, there may be spoilers here. And the trailer may be NSFW and/or NSFL

Plot:
A psychopath murders people and discusses philosophy. Hilarity ensues.

Reaction:
The House that Jack Built has gotten very extreme polarized reactions. When it premiered at Cannes, over 100 people walked out. But the remaining viewers gave it a ten-minute standing ovation. We're not talking about a fun film to watch. But it's suspenseful and it's interesting as a character study -- if you can get yourself through it.

The biggest knock on House (assuming you know what kind of show you're in for) is the pretension. Von Trier makes his points by interspersing scenes of tigers and sheep -- and Glenn Gould playing the piano. In so doing, he seems to be trying to give the impression that the movie is saying more than it really is. And, honestly, when a movie runs at more than two and a half hours, unnecessary exposition (including graphics) about architecture, the science of fermentation and similar subjects not directly related to the story is really an imposition on the audience.

In class, Ethan presented the Director's Cut, as opposed to the theatrical release that he and I saw in a theatre last January. For myself, I think the theatrical release works better. The only difference that I noticed is in one particularly gory scene -- the Director's Cut is more explicit, but I think the theatrical release, which just hinted at the worst of that scene, worked better.

Ratings:

Me: 8
Dave: 8.5

Joe: 9.7
Keith: 9

Sean: 3 out of 4