1-30-10 Midnight

1-30-10 Midnight

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My Reviews

I am looking forward to this fortune becoming reality; I wish it didn't include the "may".

Friday we went to Olivar, because it is directly across from the Harvard Exit - based on this one experience, location is the best reason to go to Olivar. The roasted quail, the cassoulet and the Brussels sprouts with duck confit were all good - but given what they were, they should have all been better than good. It is very affordable though, including the wine list, so I won't tell you not to go.

The film was better than good. Tom Ford has crafted a debut with as much attention to detail and beautiful execution as you'd find in a pair of loafers from his eponymous label. Despite the fact that the film's purpose is to follow the protagonist through a despair-ridden day in his life, the at-times-almost-precious production design makes you want to jump through the screen and inhabit his world, make it your own and live better in it. It is enjoyable and harrowing at once; and ultimately worth it.

This Coming Weekend

My goal for this weekend is to see A Single Man. Tom Ford, the designer who reinvented Gucci in the 90s, has directed his first film. Reliable critics are saying that it is a top-notch debut. It is playing at the Harvard Exit theater only. I am thinking tomorrow night at 9:30.

Which reminds me: I never wrote about A Serious Man, the Coen brothers' contribution to 2009. It was among my favorites of the year and, I believe, their best work since The Big Lebowski (not including No Country for Old Men in the analysis, because they didn't write it, only directed). Not since Fargo have they so well mixed the dark with the light and, in my view, it is at the convergence of the dark and light that the things art can express appear most brilliant.

Weekend Update

My busy three-day weekend of fun consisted of:

Friday, Jaime and I had a delicious dinner at Spur (heirloom lettuces salad, veal sweetbreads with squash puree and, of course, the latest incarnation of the Spur burger). Afterward, we met up with Chris, Jen, Tyler and Kelsey at Tyler's house (my former home of two years) and, among other things, invented a game that involved someone reading from the Big Lebowski screenplay (which Tyler keeps on his coffee table) and his opponent trying to say the next line (eventually, Tyler made up a "Blitz" rule, where if you could beat your opponent to saying the line that followed yours you earned an extra point).

Saturday, Jaime and I went coat shopping and I (finally) bought a casual winter coat (thank you for your sale, Mr. Mario). Then we had dinner with Jess and Dawn at Tavolata (spaghetti with lots of anchovies - yes, please) and went to see Dave Atell (comedian) at the Moore (not a great show). Then Jaime and I met up with some other friends at the Elite on Cap Hill.

Sunday, I (finally) bought a new TV (Jaime convinced me by reminding me that I have complained at least once a month for the past year about my current TV). I looove my new TV - as a film buff it is really a travesty that I have been watching good movies on a so-so TV for so long.

Monday - office closed. I painted three huge canvases for Jaime's office (pictures to come). Then, Jaime made pizza from scratch and we had Chris and Jen over for Chris' 30th birthday.

Nice!

Skyline

Skyline

Jaime...

...having her afternoon tea at Macrina.

Mannequin

We spotted her overlooking the market. If she was a real girl I would want her as a friend.

An entry on pork, public bathrooms and architecture.

So, a couple of people have asked me for impressions from my trip. Seriously, some people actually read this and want more; I mean, it's not that hard to imagine - there are popular TV shows about truckers who drive on ice.

Despite eating things like jambonneau gratinou munster, which is a cheese-smothered pork knuckle, during my trip, I lost probably five pounds, which is a testament to the amount of walking and general exertion that I was involved in over the course of my trip to Central Europe. This is a wonderful thing about traveling to a good city or cities - you will have a vacation that is full of exercise. I love walkable cities and Europe is replete with glowing examples of same. After returning home, suddenly the four-lane (and at places, more) First Avenue seems unnaturally wide and unnecessarily car-oriented.

On the other hand, the level of convenience I enjoy at home in America is not available in any part of Europe to which I've traveled. For instance, in Seattle and everywhere else I have lived in these fifty united states, I can count on the following: the ability to use a bathroom free of charge, the ability to use a credit card to purchase anything over $20 and the ability to buy groceries on a Sunday. Can I expect the same while traveling in our popularly-perceived-as-more-refined ancestor nations? Nein, nein, nein, nein, nein!

You may say that these "inconveniences" are really quite charming and somehow enrich the experience of travel. If you said that, bang your head against the screen a couple of times for me. Describe for me the charm of handing some old broad 75 cents (the amount alone is almost insulting) before relieving your bladder and I will describe for you the most-recent idiotic thing I have heard.

I could go on discussing inconveniences, but instead I will move to architecture, my favorite subject of subjects among those I am almost entirely unqualified to discuss. I love... no, I luurve tramping around cities like Prague and Lucerne marveling at the Medieval and Renaissance architecture, feeling awe at the unfathomable depths of the lives that have been lived out on the very same stone floors I'm standing on as I gather light into a one-pound machine that will store an impression of everything around me as a series of 1s and 0s for my later review.

So I dig all the old things. However, after seeing a number of cities generously appointed with such sights, I have a new appreciation for the movement of Modernism, which is saying something given that I have long been an avowed aficionado of it. The faith in historic ways of doing things that is still very much alive in the Old World needed, and still needs, an antidote. There is a point at which reverence for the old begins to defy reason. In addition, as parts of a city see a decline in actual use by its citizens and become subject to things like exorbitant admission fees and gift shops, your city becomes less of a real place and more of a theme park. Of course, no beautiful and historic building should be torn down, but there should be means and incentives for contemporary life and culture to develop and improve alongside the primarily historic organs of city life. Contemporary things should be built based on what we know of materials, design and human life as those things exist now, rather than mere reverence for the past.

These are my thoughts for today. I expect this entry to get big hits on Google from all those people who want to read about pork and architecture all in one fell swoop.

P.S. Pork and Architecture = great band name.

1-10-10

I woke up just in time this morning to look out the window and see this, so I pulled on yesterday's clothes and went up to the roof.

Sunrise 1-10-10

Hohenzollern

We went to Hohenzollern Castle today, under postcard skies. Hohenzollern was the inspiration for the Disney castle.






This was one of those times when you understand the reason for all the stained glass. The sun was so intense it was projecting the colors onto the interior - check out the neon-like glow on the object on the right.







We also visited the walled city of Bebenhausen:





This kid was awesome. He came walking past with an angry look on his face, dragging his sled, totally alone. He didn't even acknowledge our presence. I also like this photo because it illustrates the fact that these medieval villages are still very much living towns. That kid lived there and was going about his day just like any other kid would, albeit a little more serious about his sledding than most.

Lucerne

Lucerne was picture-perfect and pleasant in every sense, aside from the very cold temperature.

Our hotel was beautiful and perfect - it had all of the ambience and comforts we hoped for, with none of the European quirks we hoped to avoid (thank you to Vicki and Roland for the great recommendation).


I learned on this trip that Jaime is really into swans.


Our room had a balcony with a table and two chairs that overlooked the Jesuit church, the river and the lake. We didn't spend a lot of time out there, due to the temperature, but we went out often to check out the view in the changing light.










The view from our room's balcony.

A few sights around town:




















We took a detour deeper into the alps on the way back to Germany and happened upon this lake.