Crazed Teacups

Cream First or Jam First?

2009-11-09T21:44:14-08:00

When eating scones, do you put the cream on first, or the jam? It never occurred to me to put the jam on first, but apparently the question plagued Hollie Newton and her friends, so she asked the authorities. Find out what The Ritz said by clicking on the image above or going here. (And really? People put butter and jam and cream on scones?!)

Thanks to LDN's twitter feed for the story.

The Open Road London

2009-11-09T21:35:38-08:00

Here's a great 1927 short film showing the highlights of London - in color!

It's also remarkably similar to Brian's short film, Route 23, which he filmed aboard a double decker bus a few years ago.

Disney Deconstructed

2009-11-07T23:15:37-08:00

A blog called Sociological Images does a great takedown of the Disney princesses and their, uh, merits.

PW's Top Books of 2009

2009-11-06T23:52:11-08:00

Publisher's Weekly listed their best books in the major categories (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, etc) of 2009. Among them are two of Powell's Indiespensible titles (David Small's Stitches and Sam Savage's The Cry of the Sloth), a book I was really disappointed by (Sarah Waters' The Little Stranger), and a Zadie Smith book of essays (Changing My Mind) I'd never even heard of before.

But a controversy has erupted over their definitive Top 10: every author on the list is male. The Powell's blog features lots of links showing reaction to the story.

Transparency

2009-11-06T22:52:36-08:00

Good magazine features a regular series of infographics called "Transparency." As a communicator, I truly admire someone who can present vast amounts of complicated information in an easy-to-read, instinctual visual. Above is a graphic that shows the 20 countries from which the most people came to the US in 2008, how many immigrants already had family here, and how many received asylum. (For another great graphic, check out the largest bankruptcies in history here.)

NW Art

2009-10-10T23:46:38-07:00

I've recently come across two artists whose work I really love.

Jess Bronk

Faryn Davis

River Still Runs Through It

2009-10-09T23:26:23-07:00

Thanks to Bernadette for sending me this Pop Matters article, written for the 16th anniversary of River Phoenix's death. I can't relate to all of it - her love-hate relationship with him as an actor was all love-love for me - but it has some lovely bits to it. Here's an excerpt:

I finally understood what made River Phoenix special. He had the singular ability to portray real, honest emotion in all its vast ugliness. His nose ran; his body twitched; his voice cracked and stuttered. At times, he was barely audible. But with a choppy, sotto voce delivery, he gave audiences an unpleasant, unsatisfying, cathartic release by revealing all the pain and fear and frustration that they fought so hard to hide.

As in Stand by Me, Phoenix’s shining moment in My Own Private Idaho occurred in the form of a fireside confession. That confession is additionally notable as Phoenix himself wrote it.

His performance wasn’t perfect—he still couldn’t play happy convincingly, and some of his choices were inexplicable—but he had something, an instinct, an ability to make himself transparent. He wasn’t just vulnerable; he was laid bare. As Peter Weir said, “Laurence Olivier never had what River had.” He wasn’t just some teen heartthrob; he was one of the few artists to come out of the 80s who not only had the chance to survive the decade but to transcend it.

Take the Proust Questionnaire!

2009-10-09T21:33:01-07:00

The best part of Vanity Fair has always been the Proust Questionnaire, which poses roughly the same set of questions each month to a different celebrity. In honor of a new book compiling the questionnaires, Vanity Fair is letting you fill out your own PQ and will tell you the celebrities with whom you match most closely. (Be forewarned - they don't actually show you your match's answers.) So I took it, eagerly awaiting my results. Might I be close to Emma Thompson, Catherine Deneuve, Ted Kennedy or some other brilliant luminary?

No. No, I'm not. My answers matched with Joan Collins (97.8%!) and Yoko Ono (86.62%).

Damn.

Try your luck here.

Quote of the Day

2009-10-07T21:42:39-07:00

This is from a lovely post on the Powell's blog by Tod Davies:

We went to our dog agility class today, which, for the uninitiated, is a hilarious kind of mini-Grand National training for dogs... hoops, tunnels, jumps, climb-its... the dogs love it and we, surprising ourselves, do too. It's a great pleasure to take the long drive across the valley floor between the mountains, past the ranches and small-town houses, out to where Diane has all the brightly colored obstacles set out on her fresh mown grass.

Diane, who teaches the class, is one of those very American women you never hear about. A good neighbor, a quiet citizen, a person who thoroughly enjoys her life, and has created that life to give her a decent, unextravagant living by doing the things she loves best. She's one of those people (thank God for them) who volunteers actively at the local animal shelters, and really makes a difference with her volunteering. She's the one who started a free obedience class with each adoption; she goes out every week and teaches new pet owners how to get the best out of their pets. Doing that, she single handedly cut the return rate on dogs to the shelter by a half. That's where we met her, when we adopted one of ours.

Lurie & Basquiat

2009-10-07T21:25:50-07:00

I've probably seen John Lurie and the Lounge Lizards in concert more than any other band. I don't own more than a CD or two of theirs now, but I always enjoyed the live experience, and Lurie was at the center of several art circles that I loved. He was a close friend of Jim Jarmusch's, starring in the indie breakthrough Stranger than Paradise and Down by Law (which also featured Tom Waits and Roberto Benigni). He did a lovely score for Jarmusch's Mystery Train, another favorite movie of mine. He had bit parts in Wim Wenders' Paris, Texas and David Lynch's Wild at Heart. And he was the host of the hilarious Fishing with John series, which featured guest spots with Jarmusch, Waits, Matt Dillon, Dennis Hopper and Willem Dafoe. I dont think I could stomach Wild at Heart anymore, but I'm a big fan of all these other efforts.

Lurie was also a player in one of my all-time favorite art scenes: downtown NYC circa the early 80s. He had a part in Downtown 81 (along with fellow downtowners Debbie Harry, Arto Lindsay, Stranger than Paradise costar Eszter Balint, Diane Brill, Kid Creole, Fab 5 Freddy, Vincent Gallo, Debi Mazar, Coati Mundi, Cookie Mueller and Glenn O'Brien), which is famous primarily for its star, Jean-Michel Basquiat, who is also my favorite painter. (Interesting fact: Gallo and Basquiat were in a band together called Gray; one fo their songs is on the soundtrack.)

Unfortunately, Lurie contracted Lyme Disease in the 90s and hasn't really been able to write music since. However, he has been able to continue his painting, and will have new exhibits in both Tokyo and New York this month. In honor of their opening, whitehot magazine is running an interesting interview with Lurie. It was sad to hear that he and Jarmusch, who once wrote the liner notes to a Lounge Lizards CD, aren't really in touch. But it was also fun to hear his comments about Basquiat:

KF: New York was going through what was then Neo-Expressionism. Names like Schnabel, Fischl, Basquiat were among the known and popular. You knew Basquiat. Were you affected by him as an artist in any way?

JL: Haha - he was a kid who used to follow me around and sleep on my floor. He would constantly ask me how he could make a living so he could keep his girlfriend.

KF: I'm not sure about the circumstances surrounding your friendship with Jarmusch...but he knew Basquiat as well. Was there a link between the three of you?

JL: I don’t remember Jim knowing Jean-Michel, actually. So to answer your question, “No…” But I do remember that Jim was storing the movie equipment at my house when he was making Permanent Vacation. And Jean had been awake for days and was now sleeping on my floor in the front room where the equipment was. He had slept for nearly 12 hours and Jim and the crew were coming in and out to get equipment. At first, they tried to get around Jean but then eventually they found it easier to pick him up and move him. He never woke up, which I found very impressive. Jim certainly did not know him then. What year is that? 1980 maybe…

KF: I’m still trying to get the image of Jean-Michel being lifted off the floor out of my mind...Haha - How often would he sleep on your floor?

JL: He wasn’t there all the time - about a third of the time.

KF: On a somber note, Jean-Michel's funeral...You played for him.

JL: That was an odd day, was the same day my Uncle Jerry died. The funeral was weird. His father did this thing where only rich, famous painters were invited. And I and many others weren't supposed to be allowed in. But I said fuck that and crashed it. Crashing a funeral, how strange that is.

I left early and on the way out, they were bringing out the casket out of a side door as I went by.

I walked over to Roosevelt Hospital where my uncle was getting chemo. There were people he knew outside crying. And I realized what was going on.

I don't know what happened next, I found myself on the corner of 42nd Street with no jacket and no tie. I just lost it, I guess.

That thing I played at the memorial Glenn O'Brien put it together. It was about a month or so later.

For the whole interview, click here.