There is Only One

Molly Ivans.

"Why not take lil metal bottlecaps and nail them to your living room floor...

to give you the impression that you are walking upon lil metal bottle caps" ~ Davy Jones
Yeah, from the Monkees episode:Monkees A La Mode. I have referenced this quote before because it cracks me up. Yet, I see things that are suggested for real that sound just as dumb. Take this silly catalog I got in the mail today. They want me to nail what to my wall?
Giant ampersand signs to hang on wall $49

Mini Asain Chairs, set of three to hang on wall $69

They also had a bureau with a sign that said bureau. They talked about how cool Parisian cafe dishes are because they are timeless and white and simple then offer for your consideration a set of white dishes that say Cafe on them and underneath Cafe say established in 1986. What the hell?

Alain de Botton

ter reading about the French I understand the book Status Anxiety better. I don't see many American's really able to embrace his thoughts on the subject because it is very French. It's all good, I think, does that make me unambitious or ant- American?
Really want to read his new book The Architecture of Happiness. I like this guy, he puts out books that end up answering the questions I form in my mind when I'm waitiing for the computer screen to change or the elevator to land, at the very least confirms them or just entertains them.

They removed the English and English with Italian subtitled version of Pull My daisy. No more Pull My Daisy on youtube. MERDE!

I'll be using less and less youtube clips since they seem to be cracking down on them more. Besides, who doesn't know their way around youtube.com and looked up everything there is to look up.
They help me though, when I want to re-watch I just go to my blog and don't have to login. I'm lazy, I like to save steps.

Chinesisches Roulette (1976) -Fassbinder

This weekend I watched Chinesisches Roulette. I could go on and on about this film but it wouldn't be 1/10th as articulate or informative as this writing on it.

I recommend. It was intriguing. Actually, I could see the SCTV troupe spoofing it easy. It was enjoyable, funny and a foreign film stereotype but nevertheless, interesting and not a waste of time.

One step forward two steps back

Playboy After Dark is tres cool! I highly recommend this DVD set if you want a taste of the good life circa Camelot. The show's format is sweet and quite fresh and provides the viewer with unique interviews. I loved watching Lenny Bruce make lil quips to Nat King Cole and Rona Jaffe. In this new and modern world a big deal is made of any celebrity who says anything on the air inebriated. Compared to that era, we are total squaresville, eggheads, bores, L7.

Okay, I can't get enough of the cocktail dresses! Sketch pad out, all my retro patterns are out, it's sewing time, I have been inspired once more. Nothing beats a well tailored, strappy, lil number. It's all in the darts. Dig those cute pointy shoes! The men sport their sharp, close fitting suits-TRES DISTINGUE! How sloppy today's menswear has become. Nothing ruins the male silhouette more than any sort of slouch or wrinkle to his pants. Put today's man in those suits of the late 1950's and early 60's and you'll get a taller looking, streamlined dreamboat. All this bagginess is so unecessary. It's the style du jour to let the pants on suits sort of trail down to the shoes. Because I watch so much retro television when I do see a "modern day" tuxedo, they always look ill fitting or slightly over sized on the guy. I was reminded that this is because the style is no longer as close, tight, short fitting as they used to be. "Ah, noted". The tuxedo of today makes the guy look impish, I truly wish this style would really go retro. Zoot Suit is another thing, it's a Zoot Suit, I'm talking Men's Warehouse, en masse, burn those suits, start all over and bring back retro silhouettes.

The 1969 episodes were still swingin but ten years made a big difference, the party had moved to California. The women looked younger, perhaps the fashions or the fact they were in color. The men's suits started their metamorphis. So after getting a full dose of Hef and his guests all weekend ...it's evident that while we take steps forward, we have taken more than just a few steps back in many ways.

Viva Las Vegas 2007 and other minutiae

Yet another year that I have not been able to make it to VLV. I'd go to wear gorgeous numbers by Whirlingturban and Stop Staring and for the car show. I really don't mind not going this year what with the Stardust implosion in March (car show would take place in their parking lot) and the Riviera and Sahara not being long for the world(c'mon, we know that Freemont is the best they can do as far as preservation and even then, one day, poof). Maybe as long as the Peppermill and Carluccio's are there, I'll be fine visiting and maybe next year.

The Today Show has declared sewing is in again. Several articles in late 2006 and early, early this month already declared it a trend, hop and ever so in. So, here's hoping someone out there will create an exclusive series of patterns based on the outfits in all the Audrey Hepburn movies. Another thing that was mentioned in some of these articles was a return to older styles and retro.

I just realized it isn't long before I go to Los Mochis,woohoo! I am excited about that. I won't be there long but five days with my Abuelita is gold, pure bliss. Topolabampo Bay with my Granny, frijoles con crema, the papaya trees, the palm trees, the Spring (just before hurricane season)!

Still very much in love with Rohmer's films! Would like to visit France soon.

Also, anyone got a Subbuteo game lying aorund? I want to play, looks like fun. I have been in a board game mood as of late. I didn't realize that LIFE had changed so much. BLEHK! I need to find a 70's or 80's version, the graphics are what I am used too. I don't want to spin the wheel and get a Hummer.

I am parting with many of my possessions this year. The 1960 Silvertone Stereo Console in a minimalist design. Why? Well, it's procurement was sort of by default, never been happy about that. It is tube, not solid state. I could fix it, all it needs is a new idler wheel and those are easy to get online but it's over 5 feet long and I have no place to put it! I could even send the old idler wheel to this place and they'll refurbish it for under $30 but still, no room. I don't want to make room for it either, this is in every sense of the word...baggage. I am selling it for $40 but contemplating a donation to a local church store by the end of next week. I'd like it to go some lovely Luddite who will replace the wheel and love it, love it, love it.

I was going to sell my retro television but after finding a guy in town who can fix it so that it no longer overheats on top, I decided to keep it. I remember waking up at 6am and calling Claudia on a Sunday morning to wait in line with me to enter the estate sale to buy it. She was the only one who would do that for me back then. I was anxious, I really wanted it and if it was sold I'd be pissed because the price on Saturday was CHEAP but at the time I needed to watch my money. Doors opened and there it was 50% off, so we loaded up and drove to my place pleased!

I found an authentic Predicta at Hog Wild for $350. It's a nice tabletop console for anyone wanting a vintage television. That's 150 times what I paid for my television. I will still purchase a Predicta, but uh.....not until this televison goes kerplunk, kerpluey. In fact a visit to a few vintage stores this weekend made me want to sell less and just hold on more.

Patrick Dempsey no es guapo

Espresso Bongo (1960)

This turned out to be an awesome film. Lawrence Harvey's first "big" role. I highly recommend.



Cliff and the Shadows anyone?

Would you vote for Max Frost?

Do you shop at Target? Are you a thirtysomething? It's odd how Target's main demographic includes the "Gen X" group who are approaching 30 and well into it and yet they still thought using the song "Shape of Things To Come" was a cool move. The song is from the movie Wild in the Streets (1968) Tagline:If you're thirty, you're through! Teehee, Target.
I hate that they used that song because I loved it and now I can only think of Target logos filling a tv screen. So in the movie, Max Frost(Republican candidate nonetheless), declares anyone 35 and up to be put in camps and fed LCD to keep them veggin and out of the way until they die. I think Target's advertising dept should have thought a lil more about this. Maybe they did and knew exactly what they were doing, clever, ironic. I'd like to think so but they ruined one of my favorite songs!

Centennial (1978)

Man! I loved this mini series when I saw it in the 70's. I still remember parts of it like the whole don't tamper with the animals thing. I haven't seen it since but found out that it will be out on DVD or is out already. I'd like to see it again but not into owning it. No, I didn't watch Shogun, Roots, none of the Lace mini series and only saw parts of the Thornbirds.

Béatrice Romand

Becoming a HUGE fan. It's somewhat difficult trying to watch her films because they are not alleverysingleoneofthem, easy to come by and I want to watch alleverysingleoneofthem. She is the best actress I have seen in a long time. In her interviews she comes off as uber intelligent and interesting. I love her hair!

Crashing Icicles

Love the sound of icicles falling to the ground. The most fun I had today was this morning, prying my car out of an ice cube. The sound of sheets of ice hitting the ground combined with picking sheets of ice an inch to half an inch thick was more than just pleasant. Pretty enjoyable in a zen like sort of way. I would have stayed out doing this longer but I had to come into work. Poop. I guess I'm wired for long stays indoors. I suffered no cabin fever, perhaps this comes from spending eight hours a day in a cubicle, in an office without windows. Being at home surrounded by windows, my books, my projects, movies and hubby was uber blissful.

Dinner was yummy

Maybe we'll get another free day. I'm not done yet. I still have books, magazines, movies and a painting among other projects to get too. I don't get cabin fever easily.

Sleet, Snow, Ice

The backyard is awesome! We need this every now and then to change things up a bit, take a break. It is rare that we can have a day off when all you need to do is what makes you feel warm and cozy and keep yourself satisfied without becoming busy and involved in anything.

Public Domain Rulz!

Mule Skinner Blues-The Fendermen

If you ever want to embarrass that hipster friend of yours or just humble up an old buddy who is getting to big for his britches just do the following:

Drive through a hip, posh neighborhood at 5 miles an hour with the windows rolled down and without warning, crank up Mule Skinner Blues by the Fendermen and watch the terror hit their face! It's amazing how this song can really bug someone and make them feel uncool or unhip. At the very least, it can really bug a person.
You cannot do this in some old vintage car, while drunk (you or your friend), must be the Fendermen version and five miles an hour and preferably during the day. It's a riot!

Personally I dig the song, I think it's pretty awesome and don't mind cranking it up but uh...it embarrasses the hell out of some people. It has it's own Myspace.com account! Found this out while searching for an mp3 to post. Buy the cd and keep it on hand, or upload the tune to your Ipod. I have it on cassette.

I dig the guitar, almost sunds like an 80's synth for a second.

Just wondering whatever became of

I attended a private school until the 8th grade and high school at a public school. I had heard the stories, they'll beat you up because you are coming from private school etc... Since I had my first real "fist fight" (there was a fist thrown, mine, but it turned to slapping, scratching and hair pulling and profanity) in 7th grade I was no longer afraid of a fight. Still, I really wanted to continue private school elsewhere (out of town, state or a European boarding school) but yeah right....

My first day I met up with Angela, a tough girl exiled from New Jersey because her parents could not control her so they sent her to Del Rio to see if her grandmother and a small Texas town out in the sticks would help. We were in the same boat, new. Angela claimed to be from a rough hood in Jersey, gang girl, she had the extra big hair, the long nails and wore her face scars well. She had long scar across her cheek she claimed was from a knife fight. I didn't know how much of all this was true, I mean I read this 50's novel called Gang Girl in the 6th grade (our lil library was full of these early 50's teen novels), saw Westside Story, but uh, Del Rio was a long ways from urban and I had clue what living in the inner city was like. We had some tough cholas but no organized gangs that I was aware of.

Angela was cool! She came off as really level headed, however, bored, and was in a few of my Ap classes. She taught me how to do my make-up, hair and how to dress for public school. I had no clue, I had been wearing a uniform ever since I started school and had the complexion of a nun. She taught me how to tease my hair into various shapes, she sported "the claw" herself. Yeah you can imagine what I looked like.

Angela met the love of her life a few days before school started. His name was Freddy and he had been held back three years in a row. A month into their courtship Freddy was arrested because Angela's uncle called the cops when Freddy wielded a knife at him on their front porch. It was all in the name of love. We would call each other after school and discuss her "problems". Freddy was temporarily indisposed and she was falling in love with a "flyboy" on base and had several crushes on others she had met while at the mall one weekend. She had been sneaking out of her grandmother's house every night to hang out with them at a local club. "Do you think Freddy will get mad?","What do you think Freddy would do?" UGH! She became a bore pretty early on. All I could think was, this was a girl in AP math and in some of my other AP classes (I was not AP math), I figured she had to be a brain or our school system sucked. I didn't know how she kept an active social life that ran into the early morning and got her homework done. She managed great grades until November.

One day at lunch about two months into public school, I met up with this girl who, like Angela, was new to town. She was pretty cool, carried a 12 inch, black marker and an 18 inch can of hair spray in her purse, was into cool bands and the Bogies catalog. We have been friends ever since. Angela's life got more complicated and she ended up having a one night stand with a substitute teacher, got pregnant and dropped out in the middle of tenth grade. We had stopped hanging out early in the semester because she started skipping out, got a lot of detentions for being a smart ass to our Spanish teacher and tended more and more to her personal life. She had no time for hanging or phone calls. Those phone calls got boring anyway. I do wonder what became of Angela.

Prepared for the duration

A cold, rainy, possibly icy weekend is predicted. I am prepared.
1. Bought groceries and checked out an MFK and the Alice B. Toklas cookbook from the library.
Going to prepare Poulet Saute a'la Boderlaise and make some bread, maybe make Mimosa Soup again, it was so good. Picking out a desert from Alice B Toklas' cookbook.
Made Enchiladas Tapatias from the Frida Kahlo cookbook for a lunch/dinner

The cream makes it look rich but it wasn't. It made the enchiladas just moist enough. They don't take cheese on the inside and don't cook in the oven. I'm pretty darn proud of the way the ancho chile sauce turned out.

2. Got all of Rohmer's Six Moral tales and have spaced them out tp last the weekend.

3. Have the Maysles What's Happening! The Beatles in the USA Don't you just love the Maysles, man, I LOVE THE MAYSLES. I love Frederick Wiseman's stuff too except you can only view his stuff inside a college campus, if you are so lucky, or you can purchase a few:
Video Sales Pricing
$600 NEAR DEATH
$500 TITICUT FOLLIES
$400 All other titles
$200 THE LAST LETTER
UH...yeah. I hate that. I have seen Titticut Follies, saw it when I worked at at the Austin State Hospital Clinical Library. I also saw High School through a college class and then caught Ballet on cable once. Not enough. I have seen bits and pieces of others here and there. Just enough to figure out that just about all his stuff is awesome.

4. If it ices over Tuesday we'll still be alright!

EEK! widening Koenig/2222

So my hood listserve has caused me great anxiety this morning. Rumors for now, but, the topic of widening Koenig/2222 has come up again. It has been discussed off and on for over 25 years. Plans for it have been to widen it and or create an overpass that would take the traffic from I35 to Mopac. EEK! I can hear the sounds of buldozers razing my home and a few others to make this lil dream happen. Okay, perspective, it's just the hood's fear talking, until the Austin Chronicle writes about it...I'll worry when the Austin Chronicle starts saying it's a rumor, by then it's actually TXDOT or city council talk and worth worrying about.

So I guess business and TXDOT would like nothing more than for all us Austinites to pack ourselves up in tiny condos and surrender our yards in the name of progress, density and no sprawl. Sprawl sux but so does living in a tiny lil condo with no yard and under the shade of freeways. Even then, sprawl continues to happen and will always because it's what happens when people continue to cry out for more places to spend their hard earned cash. Isn't there some happy compromise? I still say...it's too much retail already, just too much.

Kerouac Scroll Tour

I'm patiently waiting for the On the Road scroll to come by the Harry Ransom Center. I have one year....UGH!

2007

January 1 to March 31, 2007: Denver Public Library, Denver, CO

April 6 to May 31, 2007: Palace of the Governors, Santa Fe, New Mexico

June 7 to September 14, 2007: Lowell, MA National Historical Park

September 28, 2007 to February 15, 2008: New York Public Library, New York City



2008

September 28, 2007 to February 15, 2008: New York Public Library, New York City

March 7 to May 30, 2008: UT, Austin TX

July 3 to September 28, 2008: Indianapolis Museum of Art

October 3 to November 30, 2008: Columbia College, Chicago, Illinois

December 3, 2008 to March 6, 2009: Fitton Center , Cincinnati, OH

2009

December 3, 2008 to March 6, 2009: Fitton Center , Cincinnati, OH

King Day

Rosca de Reyes

The best place to procure a Rosca de Reyes is at La Mexicana. But sometimes they sell out before I get one. I ended up getting this yeras at Fiesta. I was able to see them making it fresh, taking mine out of the oven and placing it in a pretty box adorned with the Three Kings. The aroma was heavenly!

I would stay away trying to get a Rosca de Reyes at Central Market. They put out a heavy adorned King Cake at Mardi Gras but their Rosca is impish, dry and resembles bad pan de dulce. They sell it in a bag and there is never an aroma and you just feel it's an after thought and some stale, left over Christmas goodie you happened to stumbled upon. Whatever you do, don't ask them if they are going to make Rosca de Reyes, you'll find yourself in the middle of some discussion trying to explain. Don't call it King Cake or you'll confuse them. I find myself at Central Market less and less these days simply because Fiesta carries a lot of what they have but more earnestly and at better prices.

PS: If anyone out there knows where I can get stollen for next Christmas please email me! I have bought this at Central Market in the past and wonder if it is just a dry and impish version compared to the real thing. So please promote your bakery!

It's been pretty hectic

It was only a three day week but it felt uber long and a lot happened. Well, seemed like a lot happened, just hectic.
Wed:I suffered an allergic reaction to my allergy shot. It didn't scare me until it was over. I waited the required 15-20 minutes and was about to leave but thought I'd finish the last 5 minutes and read the last few sentences in the article. Good thing I did. My ears and throat started itching, not a regular itch, something fierce. I told the nurses who rushed me to a room and started me with Zyrtec. A cough came on then the hives. ICK! They shot me eppy and then a steroid. Everything slowly started to pass and finally, despite the shakes from the meds, I felt pretty good. Relief.
Thurs:I had to meet with my allergist who said if this happened again I would have to stop. UGH! I NEED MY SHOTS! Without them I succumb to the molds in this town and wind up looking awful, feeling awful and alternate between a headachey day and a swollen eye day. Not pretty. Yes, vanity plays a big part but frankly, without allergy shot I feel like shit. So now I have to carry an eppy with me at all times along with Benadryl and must present both to receive a shot.
Fri:I'm going to Los Mochis, Mexico this March to visit my Abuelita! I have not been there since 1989. I have not seen her since 1999 or 2000. I miss her so much. To visit Los Mochis takes a lot of time and quite a bit of money. This is no $400 round trip cheap vacation down South. This place is not a tourist spot, not even post Nafta, and to get there by air cost $1100 per Expedia and $982 per Travelocity and that's putting my mom down as a Senior, something she won't like and I'm not sure she qualifies for because she isn't yet 65. But it is a birthday gift to me and my Abuelita. After you spend that much you don't want to come back in 3-5 days. This will be a week, best we can both do. We are going for her 90th birthday. The party will be the day we return and her day is the 18th but at least we see her a week pre-relatives coming in and get more time with her. There is so much I want to do and talk about with her and this time I have a digital camera and things like the internet. Sadly even Sam's, Wal Mart and Cosco are there too. On the other hand perhaps those post Nafta nightmares will keep me from becoming ill. I always got ill when I went down. I'll miss not seeing my Abuelito, the garden or the produce man with his donkey.

Other Minutiae: We have a new system at work that has been tres slow to get going and now that it's up...UGH! today was my only fast day.

I am reading a lot about the French and made a French soup from one of the French books written by a French author. It was delicious:
It called for hard boiled eggs and parsley as a topper. I made this dish as well, chicken, scallions and artichokes.

My cat, Mona, is giving me grief for feeding and tending to the whims of a strange stray that has shown up. I just don't want him to cross the street so I go outside, and true, I am at his beckon call with food and fresh water. He is too skittish and doubt he'll ever let me pet him but, I don't to step out my door and see a tragic lump of fur.

Tomorrow: King cake, egg nog and did someone say Haggis with neeps and tatties?

I feel pretty catered too

Someone out there is catering to the likes of ME! Just take a look at these! Wowsers. Now, I have a real one. However, it has insulation problems and that means the top heats up terrifically and in the past, before I owned it, it melted part of the top. It looks snazzy though. Put a cute tv lamp over the melted part and it's cool!

I will be buying one of these and giving mine to a place that refurbishes them. That way someone can enjoy my old one.
2007 already looks pretty cool!

Update: When I used the ZOOM on this site the televisions looked pretty ratty, like really ratty. I think I'll go with the Predicta.