A preliminary stab in the highly-hyped dark.
Hugo and The Artist just might cancel each other out.
Which would leave The Help battling with The Descendants.
Will the George Clooney factor kick in?
Or will the tasty froth that is Midnight in Paris take home the gold statuette?
I am still throwing the i ching on this one, but I will bet that Glenn Close won’t be named Best Actress. She’s the right choice, in the wrong film.
More soon!
Is this man the thinking woman’s opera star? the most heroically proportioned tenor currently plying the world’s Wagner circuit? or is he the Siegfried that launched the Metropolitan Opera’s current Ring cycle to mega-YouTube status?
Yes, yes and yes! Jay Hunter Morris is a big blonde Texan with voice, looks and intelligence enough to command the final installments of Richard Wagner’s opulent transfiguration of northern mythology into cultural gold. Gold, as in the ring itself.
Easily the most compelling artistic argument against postmodernism, The Ring is a fable whose moment is exactly now. The quest for eternal youth, power, and fathomless wealth, is what drives the Wagnerian epic, and never have its tensions or tragedies been so eerily reflected in political reality as at this moment of the early 21st century. Just sit quietly with this for a minute.
The gold that lives in the Rhine river, the property of the industrious underworld of the Nibelungen, has been won through trickery (more…)
Should you need another reason to swing by the Cellar Door and feast upon biodynamic vibes, Bonny Doon Vineyard wine and glamorous food, now there’s David Taylor, from San Francisco’s sizzling A16, who will take over the kitchen for a Winemaker Dinner, Sunday Feb. 26 at 7pm.
Need tempting? The multi-course menu ($80 per person, wine pairings included) begins with an amuse of rabbit terrine with roasted alba mushrooms. Antipasto of wild arugula (more…)
February 7, 2012, marks the 200th anniversary of Charles Dickens’ birth, and to honor the literary giant, friends of the Dickens Universe (and Dickensians from all over Santa Cruz) will be hoisting a pint at the Parish Publick House (in Almar Plaza) from 5 to 7pm.
None dare call herself a devotée of Great Expectations, Bleak House or David Copperfield and be absent from this momentous celebration.
You thought maybe the fruitcake fiasco was going to get me down? Ha!
I’m on to my next artisanal exercise—orange bitters, the old-fashioned way (another pun I simply couldn’t resist, but only serious tipplers will get it).
First I had to locate Seville oranges, whose sour rind is one of the basics of any decent orange bitters. A Berkeley specialty produce store had some, so I had my agents rush on over.
Grain alcohol was another de rigueur ingredient (the words “grain alcohol” bring back queasy memories of fraternity party punch bowls). That was pretty easy. EverClear—which comes with no fewer than three “highly flammable” warnings on its label. Coriander, caraway seed, cardomom, gentian extract — you practically trip over these semi-exotic ingredients thanks to our profusion of fine natural foods emporia. And Amazon.com obliged with a source for quassia chips.
But quinine powder. Hmmmmmm – I’m still looking.
Meanwhile, I dried the orange peels in a very low oven. Then added them, plus seeds, to two cups of 100 proof alcohol. Now the infusing takes place. Two weeks worth, until the next step. (to be continued…)
A book of sensory adventure: The rituals, passions and discoveries of an engaged life.