Archives: July 01, 2006

Here it goes again

Monday, 31 July 2006 11:40 PM

I have raved in the past about OK Go, and I've linked to their videos and shown you photos of me being a blatant fangirl around them.

I don't see any reason for that to change now.

Please enjoy their new video, which involves them and eight treadmills.

If you liked it -- and I hope you did -- then please go vote for them on VH1's Top 20 Countdown.

Also, does anyone know where we can get 8 treadmills? It looks like fun.

Brothers of the Head

Wednesday, 26 July 2006 01:54 PM

My dear filmmaking friend Louis Pepe and his partner Keith Fulton have released their first feature film, Brothers of the Head. Written by Tony Grisoni (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas) from the the novel of the same name by Brian Aldiss, it's the story of conjoined twins who are transformed by a rock promoter into a London punk band, thrust into fame, and battle each other for the attentions of a woman. And then the story gets weirder. Check out the interesting but challenging to navigate official site and the film's IMDB page for details, and see the trailer here.

Louis and Keith's previous work includes Lost in La Mancha, the award-winning documentary of Terry Gilliam's doomed attempt to make the film "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote," and The Hamster Factor and Other Tales of Twelve Monkeys.

Brothers of the Head opens at the IFC Center in Manhattan starting July 28th and at Santa Monica's Nuart Theater beginning August 4th. Tickets can be purchased in advance on the IFC Center website and the Nuart website. The film will show in select cities after that. No Pittsburgh dates yet, but with good response elsewhere our chances of seeing it on local screens improve.

Scheduled dates and locations:

08/04/06 Century Centre Chicago IL
08/04/06 Kendall Square Boston MA
08/04/06 Ritz Philadelphia PA
08/04/06 Ritz Voorhees NJ
08/04/06 E Street Washington DC WDC
08/04/06 University Town Center Irvine CA
08/04/06 Lumiere San Francisco CA
08/04/06 Shattuck San Francisco CA
08/04/06 Camera 12 San Jose CA
08/04/06 Rafael San Rafael CA
08/11/06 Cedar Lee Cleveland OH
08/11/06 Main Art Detroit MI
08/11/06 Angelika Dallas TX
08/11/06 Cinema 21 Portland OR
08/11/06 Varsity Seattle WA
08/18/06 Lagoon Minneapolis MN
08/18/06 Tara Atlanta GA
08/18/06 Ken / Hillcrest San Diego CA
08/25/06 Tivoli St. Louis MO
08/25/06 Ballantyne Village Charlotte NC
08/25/06 Tower Salt Lake City UT
09/01/06 Academy of Art Honolulu HI
09/08/06 Keystone Indianapolis IN
09/08/06 Dundee Omaha NE
09/08/06 Westgate Madison WI
09/08/06 Belcourt Nashville TN
09/15/06 The Screen Santa Fe NM
09/15/06 Loft Tucson AZ
09/22/06 Palm San Luis Obispo CA
10/06/06 UICA Grand Rapids MI

Pittsburgh writers, take note: Coconut Writers' Group forming

Monday, 17 July 2006 05:06 PM

David V. Matthews (not the jam-band musician but the Pittsburgh-based writer) is starting a writers' group and looking for like-minded writers to come along.

David has written for City Paper, Unicorn Mountain, the New Yinzer, and other fine publications, and maintains the site Coconut Orangutan. He also creating intriguing artwork. Do check out his site and swing by the writers' group premier meeting.

Drink of the Week: Stars and Stripes

Tuesday, 04 July 2006 03:49 PM

Happy Independence Day!

This Drink of the Week is an example of a pousse-cafe. The name is French for "coffee chaser" -- it's meant to be consumed after one's after-dinner coffee, presumably to counteract the effects of caffeine so one can sleep. Pousse-cafes are layered drinks, each layer composed of a differently flavored and colored liquor poured carefully so they settle separately in strata.

Stars and Stripes

1 oz grenadine or maraschino syrup
1 oz blue caracao
1 oz cream

pour the grenadine or maraschino syrup into a shot glass. Invert a teaspoon and hold it in the glass, the tip angled down and barely touching the side of the glass just above the red liquor. Very slowly, pour the blue curacao over the back of the spoon so it floats on top. Repeat the process with the cream.

You can drink this as is -- you'll consume each liquor in sequence. Or after you've finished admiring the layers you can mix the whole thing up and drink.

Now, that's an amusing and interesting drink, and a pretty one. But somehow it doesn't seem quite enough on a day characterized by fireworks and grilling.

What if, instead of putting cream on the top, we light it on fire?

Rocket Launcher
A My Brilliant Mistakes original

1 oz grenadine or maraschino syrup
1 oz blue caracao
1 oz 151-proof rum (separated)

Pour the grenadine or maraschino syrup into a shot glass. Invert a teaspoon and hold it in the glass, the tip angled down and barely touching the side of the glass just above the red liquor. Very slowly, pour the blue curacao over the back of the spoon so it floats on top. Repeat the process with 3/4 oz of the rum.

Pour the remaining 1/4 oz rum in the bowl of a teaspoon. Close the rum bottle (so you don't accidentally light the whole thing and create a real rocket launcher). Warm the teaspoon of rum over a match flame, then ignite. Carefully pour the flaming liquid into the layered shot glass.

The blue flame is easiest to see in a darkened room. (Quicktime video)

Blow the flame out before trying to drink your Rocket Launcher. It's still going to burn -- 151-proof rum doesn't go down smoothly at all -- but there shouldn't be physical scarring.

And for your amusement, here's me setting my cutting board on fire trying to light the drink. (Quicktime video)

Blogariffic

Sunday, 02 July 2006 11:37 PM

Thanks to everyone who came to today's Pittsburgh BlogIN. I had a swell time, and now I've got a page of cool things to follow up on -- gadgets to get, tricks to try, and plans to make for the next event.

For more reactions, photos, and other evidence, check out the prompt posts from Mark Stroup and Sri Bala. I think Mark and Venky Krishnamoorthy were the only people to create actual posts at the event, so special kudos to them.

The list of tasks I'd hoped to accomplish at the event was long and obviously impossible to complete. But I did manage to start updating the look of this site. I had liked the design I threw together for my MySpace page, so I'm expanding on it here. The typography and text layout need work -- more flair and more cohesion, maybe some sort of theme to pull it together -- but at last I've been able to use this image of a rusting, peeling surface that I found years back. (FYI: The pic is a stock photo from Microsoft's clip art library, one of several photos I considered for the Junction Dance Theatre website.)

ALSO: Very special thanks (in the case of Anne, make that Very Special Thanks) to those who spread the word about the BlogIN even though they couldn't attend. i hope you'll be able to make it to a future event.

UPDATE: More feedback from the event... in the comments to this post Liz points out that she accomplished some blogs to-dos at the BlogIN and after, and we discuss ideas for future such events. Plus over at Inner Bitch, Christina describes the thrill of meeting a celebrity sketchbook.

Pittsburgh BlogIN -- tomorrow!

Saturday, 01 July 2006 05:07 PM

Pittsburgh area bloggers who are hanging around for the holiday weekend: Remeber, Sunday 7/1 is the First Pgh BlogIN.

It's a chance to finally get back to posting entries. Or to upgrade to a new version of WordPress. Or to redesign the look with fun backgrounds and pretty colors. Or to add widgets like Flickr badges and a cloud tag. Whatever you've been putting off, now's the time to get in a do it ... in the company of other bloggers, some of whom may have already done the same and can help you work out the sticky bits.

And if you're not yet a blogger but want to start, it's a chance to launch a new blog, post an entry and draft a couple more to work on and post later. Again, with experienced blogger backup.

Information is here, but the key thing to know is to be at the Carnegie Library Sunday between 1 and 5pm. (And you'll want to bring a computer too.) Ask for meeting rooms A & B.

See you there!

Copyright © 2004 – 2007 Cynthia Closkey