Archive XXXI: Late Fall Early Winter 2007. Jeremiah.

date

Title

Neil says, "Aren't you the bougie cultural icon. when are you going to do something lowbrow, like eating off-brand microwave chili mac, find a rusted shopping cart and drunkenly get pushed around your neighborhood in it?"

Ok.

It was a dark and stormy night.

In the kitchen, Anisha poured herself a too big glass of wine. Minutes earlier, Dave had banged out the back door and roared off on his motorbike to that punk Buddhist meditation class down at the Episcopal church. The same church I used to attend with the Girlfriend Who Was Religious, who left me for a Girlfriend Who Was Religious, Too, among other reasons, I am sure. Edward is also downstairs, putting plastic on the windows. I'm in my room. On the gchat, Bob says, "there's an intellectual property law firm looking for a director of pr. i could quote them some outlandish salary and perhaps get it."

I wrote a short story about giving that girlfriend an enema. It was called "The Catharsis," and I'm still afraid to reread it, because it's embarassing to read what you've written, especially when what you've written is comedy-erotica about enemas and faith and lack thereof. I've never had an enema, myself. Have you? And I still loathe church. On the gchat, Bob says, "national home builders' association is hiring a communications director. i wonder if the last one blew his or her goddamn brains out."

When I was in middle school I was in love with this girl named Kathy, who was the Smartest and the Best Athlete and Catholic, so sometimes I'd find myself at the Catholic church, sitting and standing and kneeling, bewildered and scornful, but with the awe we reserve for the insane.

Bob says, "what a fucking workshop in crisis communications that would be. although, if you got that job and managed to hold onto it for two years without going batshit, you could do PR for muhammad in georgia."

I'm wearing my running clothes that I ran in for all of 45 seconds, because turns out it's cold and terrible outside, although it sounds like nothing cozier than being inside with the branches scraping against the house and the hundred-year old window glass blowing around in its panes. As I was saying, I can only be persuaded to go to church for women or death, and one time just for my mom, because I was trying to be supportive. Also, if you have ever had an enema, please write me here about it, and I will publish the most edifying anecdote. Oh! When Edward and Jaime and the first season of 1320 Emerson House moved in, they found closets full of enemas. Presumably left by the owner of the house, Susan, who had moved to a commune in Canada, and who, ironically, was a huge pain in the ass, and we've never stopped celebrating since stealing the house from her.

I moved into the house about a year after the first wave of residents found the enemas. On one of my first nights here, I drank half a bottle of Jack Daniels, grabbed a baseball bat, and led everyone down to the corner of 13th and Emerson to beat an abandoned car to death. Is that lowbrow enough, Neil? Now I'm going to watch Monday Night Football and drink cheap wine from a jar.

Bob says, "wow. this looks interesting and pays 150k a year US--there's no way i could convince them that i was passionate about soccer, though, is there?"

I express doubt about the likelihood and wisdom of Bob moving to Qatar.

Bob says, "Qatar floats on oil. the servants pull in 50k a year. i could do a year in qatar--if only i understood football."

Explicit Sex and Role Playing Games and...NPR

  • Dan: "explicit audio interviews with dudes who have done it with larry craig . i just clicked on one of the clips, which starts with a guy saying 'my penis was clearly in his mouth.'"
  • Dan says, Having Trouble With EmHo Household Chores? This site apparently turns housework into a D&D like thing,* where you get experience points for doing housework.

    Love,
    Dan

    * They say it's more like World of Warcraft, but I'm too old to know what that is. I don't even know if it involves 20 sided dice.

  • James says, All Songs Considered.
    this shit is sweet
    instead of working today i listened to every song ever written
    (this year)
    (that the npr guy liked)
    (really just the singles)

December 3, 2007

Light on Walls

We went to see the Edward Hopper exhibition at the National Gallery this weekend....and also the Rauschenberg, and The Baroque Woodcut, and The Art of the American Snapshot 1888 - 1978. And esg and Wood also saw J.M.W. Turner, another dude obsessed with light. To summarize, there is a lot of stuff to see over at the National Gallery.

Elsewhere this weekend, I picked up a few albums, a couple tracks from which below.

  • From Ed's copy of the new Iron & Wine, The Shepherd's Dog, this beautiful song: Flightless Bird, American Mouth
  • From the unlikely pairing of Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, on Raising Sand, Killing the Blues
  • I'm not sure yet whether this record is great or bad, but I like track 1: Ludinca Williams, West: Are You Alright?

More later.

November 29, 2007

In the public sauna they never ask / if it's ok to throw water on the stove

Did you know it takes me about an hour to create a posting like this, wherein I write nothing, only providing links that you will not click? Why? Why? I wish I knew how to quit you.

The Docket

Are you ready for some football? No, I know you don't care. Even I don't care much, now that Neil's picks dried up my play money, and I'm mathematically eliminated in my Fantasy League (it's been real, Yay-yay Vajayjays). But....Dave Roth! Look how cute his write ups are...

Can You/I Handle Week 13 in the NFL?
by Mr. David Roth

At some point, I knew this was going to happen. I'm talking about the day every sports fan fears: the day when you sit down to do some good ol' sportsthinking and all that's there is the dim thrum of some song you don't even like playing over and over in your head (it was by Sheryl Crow, and I don't want to fucking talk about it) and the resonating question of why you don't read as much as you used to. Change the you's to me's, and that's where I was as I sat down and tried to find an angle on the Bills/Redskins game other than "I can't believe they're playing this right after Sean Taylor was killed, but of course they are." I wound up just writing about the game, which is boring, but I didn't really have anything to say about the crime or the aftermath and my editors do seem to like it when I include football in these previews. All the really dumb stuff people said about Sean Taylor -- that would be sports radio dudes who think Taylor was murdered by the rap music, and that Roger Goodell should bring Two-Pack back from the dead and suspend him for 10 games -- came after I filed, anyway. But I didn't feel like talking about it. Not about poor Taylor's weird murder, certainly, and not really about NFL football, either.

But finally, I got it back somewhat. That spark of whatever it is that makes me actually think of the New England Patriots as a threat to the American experiment, makes me think that it's super worth-it to mock Browns' coach Romeo Crennel's lusty bosom. Yes, I already disagree with almost all of my picks and was frankly bored with a lot of the games I was writing about. For that, I think I can blame the fact that the NFL as presently constituted is basically two dozen teams with 5-6 records and mean-looking coaches. I can tell them apart, but I'm an expert.

I'm an expert, you see.

So, anyway: expertness is on display here (I'm the author of the last eight previews, as usual), and little bullet-pointed goodies are below. You're beautiful, and thanks for reading. Seriously, you look awesome today.

  • Who's the guy that wrote about tonight's Cowboys/Packers game before the Packers' injury report came out? Who has two thumbs and had to take out his joke about Rich Eisen hosting an endless, Hugo Chavez-style talk/variety show on the NFL Network because they have no other programming? </points at self>
  • More undisguised disdain for Chargers coach Norv Turner in an attempt at a fairly straightforward football preview/revenge for Turner's play-calling hobbling my fantasy football team. Seriously, man, I need that prize money. Wallpapering a living room in mink is expensive. Especially in living minks.
  • Jets/Dolphins. This is what it is all about. It being "crushing ennui."
  • How the NFL is like a cowboy eating a hamburger in a Corvette, my 200th unmotivated dis of Bill Parcells, and the dull-as-dirt Seahawks/Eagles game. All in fewer words than I've already used in this email!
  • Browns/Cardinals. Tastes bad, more filling. There's like one interesting game this whole week and it's 1) tonight, 2) on a channel I don't get and 3) could get interrupted for Rich Eisen's Alo Presidente if the mood strikes him.
  • We checked: Craigslist does not currently list any job openings for Sadistic High School Headmasters. Bummer for Tom Coughlin.
  • And finally, a discussion of Chad Johnson's dorky little skits and how they may or may not come to be performed against the Steelers.

Good for you, reading all this. I'm stunned and flattered.

dvd

November 28, 2007

14th and U

The crossroads of our leisure-time life sure have gotten bougie, no? I won't catalog the establishments that have sprung up in the past six years, or in the last 24 months, following the watershed called The Ellington, but the new places do not peddle in chicken wings, porn, or stolen goods. And the latest white collar spot named after a famous local black musician is Marvin. Naturally, that site's bandwidth is already exceeded, because the name is somehow in everyone's mouth despite opening just four weeks ago. And despite being barely marked. And being expensive. And lacking character. On the plus side, mussels and fries with three condiments, Belgian beer, attractive, multiculti staff. Minus: What the Hell has Happened to U Street? Where did all these sharp young professionals and white gay men come from? Harbingers of wine bars and upscale furniture stores. Married couples pushing strollers, strollers, down U Street on Sunday afternoons. I guess it happened slowly, but I still can't believe it sometimes.

Love,
Grandpa.

  • From Marlz: Trent Lott's Likely Replacement Featured In Borat, Huffington Post. Amazing. America, you never cease to amaze and horrify.
  • Now cleanse the palate with this: Super cute red panda attack! care of Les.
  • From Bob: Wonder Woman Gets a New Voice, and It's Female, nyt. "[Wonder Woman is] just the best kind of person," said Gail Simone, the first regular Wonder Woman writer in the character's 66 year history. "She was a princess who didn't need someone to rescue her. I grew up in an era — and a family — where women's rights were very important, and the guys didn't tend to stick around too long. She was an amazing role model."

November 27, 2007

21

I don't have anything anyone needs to read about departed Skins safety Sean Taylor, but in a nutshell the guy "played like a heat-seeking missile who blew up ballcarriers on a routine basis." Surly thug or sweetheart or scariest hitter in football, whatever he was, Miami got him. The Violent World of Sean Taylor, with clips aplenty. WaPost: Sean Taylor Dies in Miami; SI: Taylor was just hitting stride; YouTube, launching punter in All Star Game ; Shapiro: Taylor's Death Is Tragic but Not Surprising.

My good friend Neil is a far greater mix maker than football prognosticator. The first single from this 5 CD set shall be: Women Without Whiskey , Drive By Truckers....You know the bottle ain't to blame and I ain't trying to.. It don't make you do a thing it just lets you...

Thanksgiving season secrets, buildings, and cats

Bob's scallop & portobello pasta. The secret is enough butter to choke an artery, as my dad likes to say.

Should you found yourself at 14th and Randolph Streets, and in need of Gym Clothing.

S.Miller family Fluff Galuff, by esg. You don't want to know the secret.

I think this is RT and SSB's cat, because it's probably already snowed in Montana.

Extremely cute and broken kitten picked up by sister Jesse. Busted jaw, ribs, menagerie of worms, and a hella vet bill.

Happy Thanksgiving, from the Pilgrim, Indian and Turkey mylar balloons, at Giant.

Marlz comes to town, demands birthday beers.

Leafy alley behind my house.

Premier Building, 13th Street.

Fried green tomatoes, CA. The secret is ham hock.

April 3, 1929. The Burn Ballad Bungalow on G Street in Washington, D.C. "These are the wandering writers June and Farrar Burn and their sons North and South." via Shorpy.

November 26, 2007

Living High

Welcome back? So last night I was clickin around Plan 59 (née Ephemera Now) and refound Shorpy: The 100-Year-Old Photo Blog, from which I took the pic up top, of "the wandering writers June and Farrar Burn and their sons North and South." That led me to the site Living High, an unconventional autobiography, and June and Farrar Burn by By Noel V. Bourasaw, who writes...

We are often asked why we say that June Burn's book, Living High, is one of the handful of books we would want if we were marooned on a remote island...Among the many reasons why this book would be on our short list is its unflagging optimism in the face of adversity, proof that love at nearly first sight can prove to be sturdy for the rest of your life and the many details she provides of the non-stop adventure that she and her family lived. The book begins in that other Washington, back east, in 1919:

[Excerpt]

Up the Potomac River in Maryland, not far north of the District line, there used to be a little log cabin on a knoll in the heart of a hundred-acre place. It had woods all about and clear cool brooks winding by on three sides. Down the trail fro the house was a large tulip poplar tree that spread its huge limbs over a stone-walled spring.


Buy me this book.

In a Washington [D.C.] newspaper I had placed an advertisement: 'Wanted, a cabin mate. Every country inconvenience. Mile walk from Cabin John trolley, through a pine cathedral. Brooks, spring woods, wild strawberries soon. No bath, no telephone, no neighbors in sight.'

Thirty girls and women answered my advertisement but I couldn't decide among them. I asked them all to come out to tea and draw straws for it. To that party I invited Ensign [Farrar] Burn. It didn't occur to me that he might not like being the only man among so many women. I had never seen him. One afternoon I had returned to the cabin to find a note on the door. Ensign Burn had discovered the place in his Sunday ramblings. He had taken a few pictures of the cabin and would like to send prints.

He came to tea, ruddy face beaming, merry tongue wagging, his hair reddish in the early spring sunlight. He was the life of the party. He went to the spring for water, cut and brought in wood for the fireplace. He was when sugar was needed and had ideas about where people should sit. He was, in short, the perfect host and from that day to this has been host at all my parties. For, in a little over a month, we were married, and the Glen Echo postmistress said, "well you got your cabin mate, didn't you?'


Showercat, from/by Troy.

Very Excellent Stuff from Brian:

Must See Old TV from Neil

"how are we going to explain to future generation commercials like these..."

Forever, Les

"One more of them English Aerobics Lessons."

Annie: Tday @ one gay

Jesse and a kid on a shoot, with a shark, and some giant grouper, at The Florida Aquarium, by Dan.

November 21, 2007

Grouper?

I hardly know her! Man, that joke never gets old, right? I won't name the guy who sent me this link and comment, "i'm not much on gossip, but madonna's kid is fuggalicious...boo hoo hoo," because clearly he's not seeing the forest for the trees here, or to not use a lame analogy, he's not seeing how freaking cute Madonna's kid is because of her Crrrazy (for You) eleven year-old eyebrows. Lourdes is gonna be a heartbreaker of historical proportions. You heard it here first. I pity the fool. Sent by Neil. Don't take his football picks, either.

Politics/Shopping: Erik (Mr. Cupcakes) appears every now and then with something like, "From the people who brought you Presidential Debate Moderator Melissa Etheridge [the highwater mark in Gay Cringe Television, topping even Dana appearing in the waterfall at the end of The L Word, Season 3 - ed.], but also the perfect bumper sticker . . . HRC's 2008 Buying for Equality Guide: Spend your money in the right places: if you're looking to pick up Celestial Seasonings tea, 'Beggin' Strips' for Princess or a John Deere tractor . . . oh, think again." -egill.

Movies:

1. DeffoTotes! Checking in with America, movie reviews by strangers.

2. Jacob says, "I forgot to tell you about this awful experience I had while living in New Orleans. For some reason, I have it on video." Hotdish and Jacob in Night of the Living Dead .

Music: Skip to 5:15 in Monday night's epidode of Chuck to see The OC's Summer Roberts making out in a car with some dude, BUT THIS TIME to the indie folk stylings of Mr. Meredith Bragg. Also at 38:57, when dude is making out with someone else. Meredith Bragg: TV makeout music man. Thanks, Jon.

Finance: Housemate Anisha informed us that our Kiva microcredit loans have all been repaid, and it's time to pick some new borrowers. Kiva's a pretty cool way to help people get going.. Here are a few of the last bunch: Sonia Valverde, restaurant, Ecuador; Lucia Riquero, auto repair, Ecuador; Martine TCHALA, donut stand, Togo; Ray Collins, flowers, Samoa. Josephat Lihanda, home products, Kenya. Check it out: www.kiva.org.

Miss Mess: Has landed on the left coast with cats intact, got a place, and even took a little picture for the EmHos.

It is now 5am, and I'm going back to bed.

PS. Téodor's Thanksgiving menu.

November 18, 2007

HK Writer Striking for Internet Residuals, 2.5% of Nothing

Sherman: The True Story of Jill's Vegas Wedding. And here is the NPR link.

Cheryl and Parker went to China. Here are their lovely pictures of Beijing and Hong Kong, and food.

Annie: iPhone delivering the HK content — I saw this on the train just now! Cirque de sol L train.
Me: what the hell.....can you explain what is happening here? does that man have 4 legs?
Annie: so it's two dudes. one is holding onto the walker (their one prop) and suspending himself horizontally one way. and the second dude is holding the first dude around his chest, suspending the rest of his body in the other direction. they did other acrobatic type things like advanced "airplane" style tricks, like kids play with their dads or whatever, but with headstands and crazy flips and things. all on a moving train! it was great. they totally earned the buck i gave them.

Jesse Miller: "This is pickle. the cutest owl in existence. it's about the size of one's fist, or I suppose, a pickle. from the aquarium visit last week." With the E8 Pattern, "which encapsulates the symmetries of a geometric object that is 57-dimensional and is itself is 248-dimensional" possibly the shape of our universe. Surfer dude stuns physicists with theory of everything.

November 16, 2007

Planet Roundup

Friday cattle call — everything's good! Seriously. I want to see you clicking those links. This will be on the quiz.

  • Bob on the Fundie Beat: "there hasn't been a good one since the 90s! i know they're in russia, but hopefully they'll turn out to be great!" doomsday cult threatens mass suicide. "The 29 members of the cult, which calls itself the 'True Russian Orthodox Church', claim they will ignite gasoline canisters if authorities try to force them out [of a ravine where they've holed up], regional administration spokesman Yevgeny Guseynov told CNN."
  • Meredith Bragg + the Terminals are Prime Time, from Jon Roth: "You're probably familiar with Meredith Bragg and the Terminals, one of the bands that I play in. Meredith (the singer, naturally) has a solo CD coming out in December, called Silver Sonya. Well...there's a very good chance a song from that CD, "My Absent Will," will be featured on NBC's Chuck on Monday night!!! (The show airs at 8 pm.) If you watch Chuck, listen for this song ; apparently, it will be played twice in the episode. If you miss the show, you can watch the replay starting Tuesday on nbc.com here. sweet!"
  • Deb D on Criticism: "I don't think I've ever seen a review like this on CNN." Review: 'Mr. Magorium' is really, really bad
  • Sara T. follows up on sentenced lesbians: "SUPPPORT THE NEW JERSEY 4!! Come learn about their case and write them letters! Monday December 3rd 7-9 PM, Foundry United Methodist Church, 1500 16th St. NW (16TH +P St.) 3 blocks from Dupont Circle Metro (Red Line). For more detailed info about the NJ4: fiercenyc.org and www.myspace.com/isupportthenj4
  • SLyon on Good Ol' Charlie Brown: "When you have some time (cause it's long-ish) check out this slideshow/article on the new Charles Schultz biography. I think you'll enjoy it.." Happiness Is a Warm Puppy: The dour genius behind Peanuts.

  • Ranger Ted, on Earth: "Check out these pics of earth."
  • ESG on Cross Dressing Superstars: "salon's sexiest mens livings. always thought cate blanchett was pretty, but look how hot she is as bob dylan. she is my new style star. also, todd haynes. new movie."

    Who: Cate Blanchett as Bob Dylan in "I'm Not There"
    Age: 38 playing 25
    Know her as: Actress Cate Blanchett

    As teenagers hoping to attract members of the opposite or even the same sex, most of us were told by well-meaning (or were they?) adults to "Smile more! Be more open! Look interested, engaged!" Bob Dylan, circa 1965-66, would have had none of that. Not yet fully closed off but shutting down fast, this Dylan -- stung by the rejection of longtime fans who saw his plugging-in at the Newport Film Festival as an act of heresy instead of merely inevitable -- wasn't smiling a whole lot, and if you were an idiot, he sure as hell wasn't going to make an effort to look interested! Engaged!

    But was there any sensible person -- and who cares about insensible people? -- who didn't want to sleep with this strange, wiry, elfin creature, decked out in fantastic threads he'd recently bought in London, who still seemed to be hoping (a hope that was most definitely futile) that someone out there might be able to amuse him, to stir him, rather than just worship him? His charisma was the caustic kind -- it could wither you -- but even so, you couldn't help reaching out to it.

    That's the Bob Dylan Cate Blanchett channels in Todd Haynes' sort-of biopic "I'm Not There." She cuts a striking figure in her polka-dot shirts and drainpipe trousers, her seemingly electrified hair (it must be the result of artful teasing, but it sure looks like a miracle of not-combing) looking as tense as her eyes do. But Blanchett's androgynous beauty -- as arresting as it is -- isn't what makes her sullen, cranky Dylan so desirable. It's the way she captures a pinpoint moment of being both misunderstood and not yet past the point of wanting to be understood. When the Crystals sang "He's a Rebel" in 1962, this guarded, vulnerable, slightly nasty Dylan was the guy they had in mind, except they couldn't have imagined him -- no one could have. Blanchett plays the Dylan we think we know and yet maybe we've only created, the Dylan of our dreams, the guy whose rare smile is itself a kind of secret, as if he'd just heard a joke at dog-whistle frequency, a joke the rest of us wanted to be in on. The smile of this Dylan, when it actually deigns to show up, holds a world of masculine secrets. It's a smile that says, "Smile more, my ass."

  • SLyon's just getting the news. "What?! When did this happen?" The death of e-mail, Slate.
  • Neil on The Writer's Strike: "john stewart: perhaps the only reason this writer's strike needs to end." Bill Bennet doesn't think that gay marriage is the natural progression of things .
  • Dave Roth on the Football, and the Betting: Dave writes 530 words on the 750 word previews he did this week.

    Week 11 in the NFL: Where the elite meet to injure one another, then yell about it

    So, I handed in something like 4,000 words of text about seven games last week. And these seven games...I mean, the writeup I did for the Bengals/Ravens game was basically just me transcribing the sound of my own sobbing and then a paragraph about how I was worried that Brian Billick might someday, after he's fired, attempt to sell me sporting goods I don't need, and how I didn't know if I'd be able to say no to him. And then I'd be stuck with, like, a badminton set and a bunch of batting gloves all because I was afraid that if I told Coach Billick no he'd head-butt me with his giant Easter Island Football Coach Head and badly injure me. And that was just one preview. The other ones were even better-researched!

    But this week, I told myself that it was time to get it together. So I imposed a still-very-high word count on myself and kept everything under 750. Except the Patriots/Bills preview, which has almost no football analysis in it and is also an unfortunate example of me trying to be profound on a very tight deadline. What I'm saying is that there's still a lot here -- a lot to learn, a lot to share, a lot to make you feel things (about the Vikings, for instance) that you never thought you'd feel again. But not quite as much. My carpal tunnels are, at least notionally, somewhat better off for it. I can only hope that the links to come similarly improve your days. Again, all eight are here -- I'm, again, author of the latter eight -- but highlights are below.

    • A preview of the guaranteed-to-be-excruciating Vikings/Raiders game that is already out of date (apparently Daunte Culpepper will replace Josh McCown as the Raiders' starting QB! Set your fucking TiVos!), but notable for a long, adjective-rich description of a depressing bar in my neighborhood and a mention of Metallica's "Unforgiven" video.
    • Another preview that substitutes jokes and ad hominem humor regarding players who AREN'T EVEN IN THIS GAME (or in Jeff George's case, in the NFL) for current information. If you were wondering, Colts DE Dwight Freeney is out for the season. I mention it here, but not in the preview. Instead, in the preview, I conjecture on Tony Siragusa's eating habits and what Jeff George would order at a Jack-In-The-Box.
    • Two of the more down-the-middle football previews I've written: Redskins/Cowboys and Giants/Lions. No idea why I decided not to make more jokes in those, but there's still something about how bad Redskins owner Daniel Snyder is at high-fiving people, so if that's enough for you...
    • A brief diagesis on what it would be like to commute to work with the Pittsburgh Steelers, and also something about Giants Stadium parking lot food. You will notice that I was very hungry while writing these previews. This is one of the better previews this week.
    • And the aforementioned profundity on a deadline, and a false claim about Buffalo politics.

      • Enjoy, and thank you, as ever, for your support,

      Dvd

Pickle

Emerson circa 2005, with pelicans. By Les.

November 15, 2007

Pics a-dozen and a half

SANTA BARBARA PUNK ROCK MUSIC 1979: Never let it be said that Sherman won't humiliate herself in public: I Don't Knock Cuz I Don't Want In.

LESBIANS/TV/POLITICS:

1. Our favorite little thug from The Wire wrote a book: News Hot Off 'The Wire': Actress Tells All. "When she was profiled in The Post last spring, Felicia "Snoop" Pearson -- the rivetingly androgynous Baltimore actress who plays a drug-gang assassin on HBO's "The Wire" -- declined to talk about the 1995 murder that sent her to Jessup for five years. 'I'm saving that for my book.' Damned if she didn't actually write it."

Oh, man, don't miss Felicia's MySpace page

2. Danielle checks in from the great white north (New Hampshire), where, if you've forgotten, she's working Hillary's campaign. And no, it's not about this: Not Just Republicans Spreading Rumors About Hillary's Lesbian Affair. Huma Hummuna Abedin.

Chat with Danielle

4:51 PM Danielle: i have some super secret exciting campaign gossip for you
4:52 PM me: TELL ME. i wont tell anyone i promise
Danielle: actually, it's more like a video
http://www.hillaryclinton.com/feature/iowacaucus/
but it's funny!
4:53 PM me: this is cute
can i post it?
man, i sing that bad
4:54 PM Danielle: me too
pls do!

For people who care about stuff

FRIDAY: From ESG: HIPS BENEFIT. Palace of Wonders. THIS FRIDAY. 8pm, $15. "It's almost time for the HIPSxotic Carnivale! This means you'll get to see a boatload of terrific performances to benefit HIPS, Helping Individual Prostitutes Survive. This kickass event is guaranteed fabulousness, and WILL sell out...consider yourself warned!"

SATURDAY: Mess says, "My friend Gideon is speaking on Saturday in DC if you know anyone who would want to go. He's amazing." State Repression in the Era of the War on Terrorism, A discussion of the Criminalization of Animal Rights and Environmental activists and the Continued War on the Black Liberation Movement Saturday, November 17 at 7 p.m. at Saint Stephen's Church 1525 Newton Street NW Washington, D.C.

SATURDAY: ESG, again. Sheesh.: Help the Homeless Walkathon.

SATURDAY: ESG says, A Different Kind of Ladies Night Cancer Benefit at The Phase, featuring Ms Sarah Bolen.!

Debs, NY: "Here's to 21 (plus 10)!"

Neil, Kentucky: "my girlfriend. taco night returns."

Marlz, LAX: Flava Flav.

Bolen, Virginia: CP and Dar at the Birchmere.

Jess, Chinatown DC: "Pigs feet anyone?"

Les's Birthday: Bolen, with duckpin ball enhancements.

Chinatown: Anti-itch douche.

Chinatown: How to Build a Much Worse Mousetrap.

Chinatown: Deer Tail Extract: The Oral Solution. Mmhmm.

CA, DC: Hot balsamic reduction.

Jess, Tampa: "Some crazy fruit thats sposd 2 luk like the hand of buddha. yum."

Annie, NYC: "Lulu, spilling out of cat bed, rests head on pillow."

Takoma Park, MD: Ed and Pyewacket at Dan and Jess's.

Etete, DC: Sister person after I discover phone can do sepia.

Corcoran, DC: Me and Jess.

Corcoran: Adam in cool photobooth projection thing.

Happy Coffee from EGill and CC, Mexico

November 13, 2007

Feel the Sting of My Foam Sword

Neil: television: A must-see documentary about LARPing, Slate.

The Emerson House Mission is always evolving, but one tradition has remained central to our philosophy since its inception: Taco Night. Its origins are not so much shrouded in mystery as they are hazy with porch boozing, but I think it was more or less created by Dave sometime in 2004, and revolved around the late, great OC. The television has changed, but the rest has remained the same: we feed whoever shows up, AND clean up after you. What more could you want?

Taco Night is Back

From: Dave
Illustration from: Dan

Wednesday is the season premiere of Project Runway, and we're going to start having taco night again! PR comes on at 10, so we should tell people to show up at 9 if they want to eat & drink before the show, and that way when people show up at 9:30-9:45 they'll have enough time to eat without interrupting the show. If you want something to cut and paste:

What: Taco night is back!
Why: Project Runway season 4 premieres at 10 and we want you to come over and hang out with us
When: WEDNESDAY (tomorrow). Show up at 9 for veg tacos and drinks, or 10 for TV and drinks.
Don't be late!
Where: Same as always, 1320 Emerson St NW

Eric and the Chang go to Mexico, send signage to the Kitchen

"jm: the chang and i found your next project in mexico city . . . must open franchise . . ."

This one reminds me that it's been a long time since we visited our crotchety old pal Lileks. He's got new stuff in the Potpourri.

November 12, 2007

Day off

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

November 9, 2007

Blogging on 10¢ a day

Hell yes.

Chat with troyfarmer

9:01 AM troyfarmer: kt and i are at farm sanctuary right now.

9:02 AM me: oh awes

9:03 AM send me pics dude

9:08 AM troyfarmer: will do.

Turkeys

Giant pig

Awesome rooster

Katie versus goat

Katie feeding piglet

Parker and Uncle Ed at the football game, with an apple.

November 8, 2007

I the Dirty Seventies

Cuz I'm of the dirty seventies, maybe.

Review of American Gangster, by HK Film Review

Last night I went to Chinatown to see Ridley Scott's big new thing, American Gangster. I went with these dudes. The film is "based on a true story" and inspired by a 2000 article that appeared in The New Yorker, The Return of Superfly about Frank Lucas, once the heroin king of Harlem. So let's cut to the chase. The movie is too long, whatever Stephen Hunter claims. As Brian said, you could cut out a half hour of chit chat, keep all the guns and titties, and lose nothing. Did Brian actually say titties? I think so. You will experience movie déjà vu approximately every 5 minutes: a scene from The Godfather here, Traffic, Goodfellas, Jackie Brown there, and all the usual tricks and tropes, including chunks that would seem to have fallen whole from The Wire (plus two actors poached from that Greatest Accomplishment of Contemporary Television: Stringer Bell, and that white junkie friend of Bubbles).

But I can guarantee at least one thing — you won't tire of looking at it. It LOOKS amazing. It's all dirty, sticky, smoky, hairy, grimy, matte-finish gorgeous '70s. Shitty projects, cigarettes constantly, needles, blood, rust, sweat, drool...I felt like I needed a bath after this movie. But all the ugly beauty and beauty beauty is right there on the surface, and just a scratch underneath, thanks to the supersolid cast (everybody's in it). Nothing really grabs you by the throat, or anywhere else besides the eyeballs. It doesn't even deliver suspense until the last 15 minutes.

Look, real reviews by competent reviewers

Two things from Edward

Last night Edward made me look at this: Girl Born With 4 Arms, 4 Legs Has Successful Surgery.

Also, Ed's high school is famous. "The Twitching Terriers: Look! William Byrd made the national news! Jane is keeping me posted. I'll pass along any more horrifying news when it comes in." Mysterious Illness Causes Twitching st Va. School. And, Kids Learn and Convulse at Reality's Horror.