A shout-out today for Bow and Arrow Gamay from Melissa Hamilton and Christopher Hirsheimer of Canal House.

I think I liked "his" movie Requiem for a Dream.

Like the earth art it championed, the Expanded Field’s particular brand of post-modernism was still very formalist however. Krauss was not looking forward towards a future beyond modernism, she was firing back over her shoulder, aiming to kill modernism. She was still trying to beat Greenberg on his own terms. Paradoxically her essay does not refute or debunk Greenberg, but instead her defense of minimalist and post-minimalist art extended the half-life of Grenberg's formalism. Starting with her opening ambit: her choice of Auguste Rodin's Balzac and The Gates of Hell as precedents for modernist sculpture. These two works put her at odds with her former mentor (one imagine he would have landed solidly on Constantin Brâncuşi's Endless Column), but the negative and theoretically abstract tone Krauss used to discuss Rodin's masterpieces Greenberg himself had made the recognized the coin of the realm  within the art world's loftiest precincts.

Relive the destruction of old Penn Station

Stanley Kubrick's photos for Look Magazine

"In one of the most eye-opening chapters from Jameson’s recent Valences of the Dialectic, even that most odious site of hyper-capitalism, Wal-Mart, is read dialectically in terms of its utopian potential. That such an unlikely institution might provide important insight into the logic of utopia might strike some as counter-intuitive if not altogether misguided, casting doubt on the very utility of the dialectic with its many contortions. Still, those scandalized by such an approach might be surprised to learn that Jameson has been doing this all along — Peter Sloterdijk’s cynical reason is utopian, Gary Becker and the Chicago School are utopian, Hollywood popcorn movies are utopian, and so on. Indeed, with the dialectic “the most noxious phenomena can serve as the repository and hiding place for all kinds of unsuspected wish-fulfillments and Utopian gratifications (Valences of the Dialectic, 416).

Tag: walmart

just flipped on espn only to see a countdown clock in the upper left hand corner that said countdown above it counting down to the next show to air which was listed below the clock, the name of that show being nfl postseason countdown. the show which was ending to make way for nfl postseason countdown none other than nfl postseason countdown.

oh look, the tarp is coming off the field in charlotte. only 4 hours and 25 minutes to go... only 4 hours and 24 minutes.... only 4 hours and 23 minutes....

i type slowly.

im listening.

im looking forward to the companion book called why you should never read.

remember when blogs were a thing?

heres a clever one that turns to page 99 of a book and uses that as a launching off point to create a synopsis.

looking at this boeuf bourguignonne recipe from craig claiborne and i'm wondering about cooking for 3-4 1/2 hours on 350. seems a little long for that temp, no? 

recipe adapted here. same cooking times. also slightly worried about the douse with cognac and ignite part. probably i should just make pot roast.

Henry Flynt

First Couch’s Kingbird in NY.
I figured this might make the papers, as the crowd of birders was quite noticeable in the West Village over the weekend. Almost as rare, a Cassin’s Kingbird has been at Floyd Bennett field for the last few weeks, but that doesn’t garner the same media attention. Both are quite similar to the widespread Western Kingbird (a more regular vagrant locally) but have very limited ranges in the US.

when you can't take another holiday movie, ryley and i suggest red and it's sequel. distract any 2d-graders. 

Binge recommendation thread.

chef Howard

(formerly of wd-50)

perfection

Cuban rum. Soon come.
 

about that Yule log

 

Merry Christmas!

lucky day for me today, or maybe i just skirted being unlucky. had been waiting for a ups delivery which somehow eluded me twice despite having been home at the time of attempted delivery. three strikes and they return item to sender. i havent tried on the item yet so maybe the universe was trying to save me the trouble of doing so later in which case i ought to pay closer attention to not being attentive.

but as it is i had put a note on the door asking the delivery person to sit on the buzzer and if there was no response i left my cellphone number on the it as well imploring them to call so i would not proverbally and literally strike out. as it turns out i was dozing off around lunchtime like every other normal person does but off in the distance i hear the phone ringing. its a new phone and im not that familiar with the ring so i am not quick to respond. i jump to my feet, grab the phone and engage in the swiping and the pressing of virutal buttons frantically but to no avail as the call is missed. i dart over to the intercom (in my head, in reality its loping at best) and engage in more frantic button pushing but there is no response on the other end. i grab my jacket, run my fingers through my hair and slip on my flip flops making haste for the street hoping to catch sight of a vision in brown, not even sure if it had been they that had called.

chirst, im already bored. a truck was there and it had my package but they hadnt even rung yet. the call was some spammer (i looked it up). probably a better than 50% chance i would have heard the buzzer or the call had they endeavored but maybe 15 minutes later im in a deeper sleep state. so thanks, spammer. you werent a blight on humanity for once in your pathetic life.

but the story does not end though i wish it would. now that im practically engaged with the day i decide to walk to whole foods as my cupboard is bare and im tired of deli sandwiches. so, on go the hiking shoes, still no socks (who has time for that?), and i begin the hunt for my black wool hat. nowhere to be found. retrace my steps... blah blah blah. 10 minutes later, last ditch effort, i head out to see if it fell out of my jacket pocket and there it is in the middle of the crosswalk, dampened but undaunted.

so let that be a lesson to you, dont be me.

If you like Jim Jefferies, you will like Legit.

I reckon Cuba is about to go down the tubes.
 

Wild -- Reese Witherspoon shows a lot of range in this flick about struggle. The backpacking made me remember the years I was into backpacking. I wasn't the type to walk in five miles, plop down and set up a tent. From my perspective, it wasn't real backpacking until 10-15 miltes from the trailhead, well past the people wearing sandles and carrying a sack lunch. The sort of journey in Wild is a whole different level of commitment.