Get in my belly

If you have a chance, you have to go. We went last night to Classical Savion, Savion Glover’s tap-classical-jazz fusion performance, and it blew my mind. This man is a genius. Tap dancing lends itself well to this mix — you can watch him dance and listen to the instruments, or you can watch an instrument and listen to him dance.  He looked like he was having so much fun, I wanted to jump up there and dance with him too.  It was also at one of my favorite venues, the intimate outdoor theater at Villa Montalvo.

Last night we went to 2223 Market with a group of seven. I thought the food was moderately good, not stunning, but I was quite impressed with the service. Maybe my tastebuds were off, or maybe I’ve been too worn out this week to appreciate it, or maybe I just ordered the wrong things. But I’d go back and give it another try. This morning I headed into work a little later than usual. I stuck around my newly cleaned kitchen (it’s been under a wreck of stuff for weeks) and made myself some eggs with onions. I miss cooking.

new york times article about recent proposal to force restaurants to pretty much ban trans fats:

The New York City Board of Health voted unanimously yesterday to move forward with plans to prohibit the city’s 20,000 restaurants from serving food that contains more than a minute amount of artificial trans fats, the chemically modified ingredients considered by doctors and nutritionists to increase the risk of heart disease.
…

Trans fats, derived from partially hydrogenated oils, became popular in the 1950’s as an alternative to the saturated fats in butter. They allow fast-food restaurants to use frying oil for longer periods and make crunchier cookies and flakier pie crust. They also have a longer shelf life than butter, olive oil, corn oil or other alternatives.

they’re likening it to the ban of lead paint. sounds fair enough to me, although since it’s food people are eating every day it seems people have been indignant about it. thoughts?

the apartment (1960): one of shirley maclaine’s big hits. a classic, but didn’t really do anything for me. very weird to see fred macmurray (of flubber (the original) fame) as the baddie.

babes in toyland (1961): blast from the past. fun disney flick, apparently based on a victor herbert operetta. not one of the best, esp. if you don’t have the added nostalgia factor, but there are some good moments/scenes inc. annette funicello as mary quite contrary.

chung hing sam lam (1994) (chungking express): wong kar wai. nice cinematography. in two distinct sections, one dramatic and one more comedic, with nothing really connecting the two. enjoyable, though, and i’d watch it again.

the devil wears prada (2006): fun summer movie. as most critics have pointed out: meryl streep lifts this up from the dreck it could’ve been. i couldn’t decide how much anne hathaway was annoying me, though.

heisei tanuki gassen pompoko (1994) (the raccoon war): somewhat trippy studio ghibli flick (miyazaki was one of the producers). typically japanese quirkiness with some raunchy humor and a fairly downer ending.

howards end (1992): entertaining enough and has emma thompson in an academy award-winning role. not quite a keeper though.

i can hear the sea (umi ga kikoeru) (1993) (tv): another studio ghibli flick. this one’s about a girl from tokyo forced to live in a small town because of her parent’s divorce. has some nice insights into adolescence, particularly at the end, but didn’t really resonate with me.

kind hearts and coronets (1949): alec guiness flick in which he plays multiple roles. fairly slow with little tension.

the muppet movie (1979): the first muppet movie. fairly slow and a slew of celebrity cameos that if you weren’t around at the time are fairly unrecognizable, but some great scenes esp. with ms. piggy, kermit, and fozzy.

notorious (1946): hitchcock suspense classic. nice performances by ingrid bergman, cary grant, and claude rains, although the ending is a bit abrupt.

the palm beach story (1942): another highly entertaining preston sturges flick. not quite as memorable as some of his others, but still worth watching.

passport to pimlico (1949): odd little british flick about a village that finds an ancient charter that declares them to be an independent country separate from britain and the chaos that ensues. entertaining, but doesn’t really move beyond the premise.

thelma & louise (1991): a classic, and still fairly novel today as a female “buddy movie”. not always the most convincing, but a good direction (ridley scott) and a good pair of leads.

top hat (1935): fun astaire and rogers movie. wasn’t much more memorable than the others to me, although apparently people single it out as the best.

whisper of the heart (mimi wo sumaseba) (1995) : once again miyazaki completely captures childhood in all its confusion, enthusiasm, and innocence. a truly beautiful film. this is on the level of classics like citizen’s kane or all about eve but all the more amazing because it’s a “kids” movie (although i imagine it’s prob. too slow for a lot of kids, american at least). no fantasy elements, but completely enchanting.

this article in the nytimes dining section today spells out exactly what i find scary about cooking and eating in new york.

it’s that cooking things in the time-honored way with full respect for fresh, local ingredients gets likened to marie antoinette playing shepherdess in the gardens at versailles. and i can understand precisely this attitude, even though it totally chaps my ass to read it in the local paper.

one of the things i’ll miss most about italy when i return to the states is how easy it’s been to cook for myself twice a day, every day. and yes, it’s both the fact that i don’t have any access to pop culture or commerce after 7pm (the commerce, not the pop culture; the latter is a 24-7 kind of lack) and that i like taking the long, pain-in-the-ass route for just about everything i do, but it doesn’t seem particularly problematic or ridiculous for me to devote maybe three hours of my day to feeding myself.

“frivolous” is what gets me: what’s wrong with us that we have turned cooking into entertainment, drudgery, a mere hobby or playtime for the bourgeois? maybe i’m reading too much into this or maybe i’m out of touch with the reality of the way most of us live today, but i just don’t know how to make all this square in my head. or how it will square once i move back.

and it’s this same attitude that extends to eating, this sort of keeping-up-with-the-joneses-in-the-loft-next-door sort of mindset, where making some elaborate “peasant” dish is another thing to check off that list of things that make you cooler, more cultured than what’s-his-face jones, and going to l’atelier de joël robuchon is another thing to check off.

okay, getting off my high horse now.

today was the first i heard about nautical antiques, pinback’s “selection of b-sides and outtakes”, apparently coming out tomorrow. spin.com has a small article about it. hmm. i guess i’ll have to get it …