Archives: October 01, 2007

Mission impossible

Tuesday, 30 October 2007 12:21 PM

November begins Thursday, and thousands of people will begin intensive efforts to do incredible stuff in 30 days. Write 50,000 word novels, draw 30 drawings, write 30 blog posts.... It's a striking expression of creativity and desire to explore what's possible.

Last year's DrawMo was a success for me. I averaged one drawing per day, which was my goal. but I also discovered how interesting it is to capture the visual, to explore being uncomfortable, and to see how others approach drawing. I look forward to create 30 new things this month. I'll post them here and at the official DrawMo site.

I didn't fare as well with NaNoWriMo last year, writing only a few thousand words and never quite getting off the ground. I could pile up reasons for my failure, but as Coach Tomlin says, "That would be an excuse and we don't make them." The important thing is that I've signed up again this year, and I'm going to write my 50,000 words, by gum.

My Fat Plum partners Julie Long and Judy Schneider are also prepping for NaNoWriMo this year, so we'll make it a team effort. We're starting Thursday with a writing kickoff at Panera in Allison Park. I have no ideas for what to write my NaNo novel about, so I plan to people-watch and find inspiration in a suburban strip mall.

Every song's a comeback

Monday, 22 October 2007 04:41 PM

Last Friday, my sister Laura flew into town for the weekend. My brother Jude had bought three tickets to see Wilco in Pittsburgh, and he'd asked Laura to come. I got the third ticket.

The show was excellent. Jeff Tweedy and his band clicked nicely and seemed to feed off each others' energy. Tweedy sounded concerned about the severe sobriety of the crowd and the potential impact on our enthusiasm-- the show was at the AJ Palumbo Center on the Duquesne University campus, so there was nary a drink to be found. But then he said the band would have to "intoxicate you with our music," and they went ahead and did exactly that.

Tweedy has a reputation of being moody and unpredictable in concert. On this occasion, he was energized and in good voice, said extremely nice things about the city of Pittsburgh, and worked hard to get everyone in the crowd up and dancing and clapping along. They played pretty much every song I hoped they would, including about half of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. There were fun, flashing lights and rocking guitar solos. Let me also announce here that I am in love with multi-instrumentalist Pat Sansone and his retro guitar stylings.

Find a couple more blurry photos from the show here.

If you have the chance to see Wilco on their current tour, I encourage you to go.

Beyond the music, this was the single best AJ Palumbo Center concert experience I've ever had. We had nice seats in the right-side bleachers, close enough to see well and far enough back not to be blocked too badly by the amps. The people around us were enthusiastic and pleasant, and they didn't seem to mind me dancing in my tiny bit of space. We found ample parking in the garage next to the center, and after the show we were out of the garage and cruising up I-279 within minutes. Honestly, this experience has restored my interest in seeing shows at this venue.

Mixology Monday: Pairings -- Hot Toddy and Chewy Oatmeal Cookies

Monday, 15 October 2007 11:18 PM

It's Mixology Monday, hosted by Natalie of The Liquid Muse. The theme this month is Pairings, meaning the pairing of cocktails with food.

I find it easy to match foods with wine and with beer, but harder to do so with cocktails. My big favorite pairing is a nice Martini with sushi or sashimi, particularly if one skips the traditional olive or lemon garnish for the drink and drops in a little pickled ginger instead.

But today I'm fighting a head cold. I did some air traveling the last week or so, and breathing the same air as hundreds of other weary humans almost always causes me to pick up a bug or two. I'm shocked to realize it, but gin plus raw fish sounds all wrong to me in this state. I need something soothing and sweet and altogether comforting.

Fortunately, this suggests a particular cocktail: the Hot Toddy. Toddies are my saviors when I'm under the weather, as the warmth soothes my throat and loosens nasty phlegm, the lemon revives my senses, and the whiskey numbs the pain. They are also perfect for cold, damp weather, like a rainy fall or winter afternoon.

Hot Toddy

2oz. bourbon or whiskey
squeeze of lemon juice
teaspoon of sugar
dash or two of orange bitters
boiling water

Put the sugar, lemon, bitters, and bourbon in a 12 ounce mug or Irish coffee mug. Add boiling water to fill. Stir to combine, breathe in the healing vapors, and enjoy.

With my toddy, I'd love a fresh-from-the-oven oatmeal cookie. I often use the recipe below, which makes a flourless and super-chewy cookie that tastes slightly of cinnamon. The flavors go nicely with a warm, lemony toddy too.

Chewy Oatmeal Cookies

4T butter, softened
3/4 c firmly packed light brown sugar
1/4 c granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 ts vanilla extract
2 1/2 c old-fashioned rolled oats (not instant)
1 ts baking powder
1 ts cinnamon
1/4 ts salt

Beat butter, borwn sugar, and granulated sugar in a medium bowl with an electric mixer on low, until combined. Beat in eggs and vanilla until thick and light.

In another medium bowl, mix oats, baking powder, and salt. Stir into butter mixture, blending thoroughly. IMPORTANT: Refrigerate batter for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Drop batter by measuring tablespoonfuls onto baking sheets.

Bake for 8 minutes or until edges are browned. cool on baking sheets for about 5 mintues. Remove to wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 36 to 40 cookies.

Recipe adapted from Comfort Food by Holly Garrison (Dell Trade Paperback: New York, 1988).

Find more delicious food and cocktail pairings at Natalie's Mixology Monday post.

City Theatre open house and new season

Wednesday, 10 October 2007 08:16 PM

A few weeks ago, City Theatre in Pittsburgh held an open house, including backstage tours and previews of plays in production. Theater is all about illusion, so it's interesting to me that City Theatre is willing to show what goes on literally behind the scenes.

I have a little more information about the workings of City Theatre than the average theater-goer, partly because they invite me to cover their productions (just like a real journalist!), and partly because my sister Katy worked at City Theatre in the past as assistant stage manager and remains friends with a number of the people who work there.

Some highlights:

The set construction workshop for the theatre, an amazingly small space but stocked with an impressive array of power tools. (In the photo, note the shelf full of power tool batteries being charged -- a common theater sight.)

 

My favorite scenic designer in Pittsburgh, Tony Ferrieri, showing the conceptual work and models for the sets of the first two productions this season, Mother Theresa Is Dead and Murderers.

The fabulously hip and talented Angela Vesco, who is the costumer for Mother Theresa Is Dead, describing the tradeoffs involved in created costumes that are authentic and appropriate to a play but also work in a stage setting.

Dramaturg Carlyn Aquiline talking about the collaborations City Theatre undertakes with playwrights. She also played a video clip of a one-woman show, Bust, which the theatre is bringing to town later this year -- one which looks compelling and funny and painful, well worth seeing.

Check out this rehearsal space, which overlooks North Carson Street in the South Side. Hardwood floors, high ceilings, funky industrial piping, and those windows!

City Theatre's 2007-2008 season kicks off tonight with the U.S. premiere of Mother Theresa Is Dead.

From the promotional materials:

Mother Teresa Is Dead revolves around Jane (Rebecca Harris), who at a crisis point leaves her family in England and flees to India. When the play begins, Jane’s husband, Mark (Sean Meehan), has found her in a village near Madras. She has been taken in by a British artist (Kristen Griffith), and has been helping at a children’s shelter run by Srinivas (Nehal Joshi), an Oxford-educated Indian man. Why did Jane run away and what’s in the bag she won’t let anyone touch? These suspenseful questions drive the fast-paced action. Along the way, deeper inquiries are made into family dynamics, Western entitlement, and the obligations of rich countries to Third World nations. Ultimately, Mother Teresa Is Dead asks: Who will be responsible?

What: Mother Teresa Is Dead by Helen Edmundson
Dates: October 4 – 28, 2007
Times: Tue. at 7 pm; Wed. thru Fri. at 8 pm; Sat. at 5:30 & 9 pm. Sun., at 2 pm. In addition, there will be a 1 pm matinee on Wed., Oct. 17.
Where: City Theatre, 1300 Bingham and 13th Streets, on Pittsburgh’s South Side
Tickets: $15 to $46, available at 412.431.CITY (2489) or CityTheatreCompany.org

I won't have the chance to see the show until next week; I look forward to it.

"In Service" multimedia event premieres tonight

Thursday, 04 October 2007 01:15 PM

An important and interesting event is premiering tonight in Pittsburgh, involving Pittsburgh Filmmakers and the Bricolage Theatre group. The event is called In Service.

It's part documentary, part live oration, with several local Iraqi war veterans coming out onstage, live, to tell their stories to the audience firsthand because they're frustrated with the way the war is being portrayed in the media. Others will have their stories depicted via film.

City Paper has a good article on this as well, "Front Lines."

October 4th-21st, (Thursday-Sunday performances)
8PM
Harris Theatre

As I noted above, the premiere is tonight. Find out more at the Pittsburgh Filmmakers website or the Bricolage website.

Fantasy Football Week 3 Wrap-Up, Week 4 Agony

Monday, 01 October 2007 12:54 PM

That's the way the squib kick bounces. Sometimes it bounces your way, sometimes it's helping out the other guy.

As you may know, Lush Life is my team in the Pittsburgh Bloggers Fantasy Football League. Last week they pulled their martini-swilling selves together, aimed a gimlet eye in the direction of the goal post, and performed in memorable fashion, bringing in 117.77 points and barely beating out NormFro's 111.40. NormFro is the team of Norm Huelsman, creative director at the Arti Institute of Pittsburgh and multimedia-man-about-town. It was a close game, and characterized by weird fantasy football moments -- wanting my opponent's quarterback to throw a long touchdown to my wide receiver, but then on the next series to fumble or throw an interception.

I can understand why normal fans don't understand or much like fantasy football followers. We cheer at odd times and are never happy with just a score: We want to know who scored what and how many yards they had.

But as I say, I was triumphant last week in the local blogger league. I lost in my alumni league, but for whatever reason we aren't spending much energy on trash talking amongst ourselves. That will change this week, though, because my team is thoroughly pounding the team of my good friend Brian, and it's about time we got the trash party started.

Another reason for me to devote attention to the other league this week is to distract myself from the horror that is my blogger league team this week. I'm ahead by less than 2 points going into tonight's game. My opponent is PittGirl, the hilarious anonymous blogger of The Burgh Blog, and yet to play on her team are Carson Palmer, T.J. Houshmandzadeh, and the kicker for Cincinnati. Me? I'm resting my remaining shred of hope on Benjamin Watson, the tight end for New England. He's a good tight end, but is he good enough? And more importantly, will Tom Brady look in his direction?

A big part of why I'm in such a bad way is that I failed to check the injury reports on Sunday morning. As a result, I left in a player who didn't even suit up for his game. A rookie mistake on my part, and one for which I'm paying dearly.

My real hope is that, if I do lose this week, then others will lose too. So far my team is one of just three undefeated teams, and to my delight the other two league leaders are also in tough straits this week. Suxla Deluxla, the team of our esteemed commissioner TheJim, needs more than 23 points from Tom Brady -- not a huge stretch, true, but still not a gimme. The thing is, one of those teams has Tom Brady as their QB, and for me to do well he'll have to do well also. Meanwhile, Josh Sager's Star Dot Star Comics have to get more points from Chad Johnson than their opponents get from Randy Moss and Sammy Morris. I feel a little more secure about the outcome of that matchup.

See how this fantasy football stuff confuses a perfectly good football game?

Copyright © 2004 – 2007 Cynthia Closkey