Monday, August 31, 2009
Saturday, August 29, 2009
The Brain That Refused to Die
A friend of mine once had a brain-shaped Jello mold. One year, another friend whose doctor feared he might have a brain tumor held a Halloween party. The guy with the mold made a Jello brain with a gumball suspended inside of it, representative of the tumor. Of course, the Everclear with which he had replaced most of the water in the Jello half-dissolved the gumball, reducing it to a dark, craggy, unrecognizable nugget. The good news was that, but for a few bites out of the frontal lobe, most of the brain was intact after the party. It was consequently dumped out the kitchen window, where it sat, largely undiminished by the elements, for the next five or six months. Had it survived the summer months, we looked forward to rinsing it off and serving it again the following Halloween.
Mercifully, the "actual" brain tumor turned out to be a false alarm.
And now, The Slickee Boys...
Mercifully, the "actual" brain tumor turned out to be a false alarm.
And now, The Slickee Boys...
Thursday, August 27, 2009
SMILE, HON Contributor Shaberman Takes His New Book on Tour
The following dispatch comes from frequent Smile, Hon, You're in Baltimore! contributor Ben Shaberman...
After baking in the summer sun for the last month, I am finally getting off my lazy vegan ass to promote my book, The Vegan Monologues. Here’s my exhibiting and speaking schedule:
Sept. 11-13: Toronto Vegetarian Food Fair
Sept. 19: Portland (OR) VegFest
Sept. 20: Portland (OR) Northwest VEG Potluck
Sept. 25-27: Baltimore Book Festival
Sept. 26: Baltimore Earthsave Dinner
Oct. 10-11: Washington, D.C., Green Festival
Oct. 31-Nov. 1: Boston Vegetarian Festival
More dates to come. Visit the events section of www.veganmonologues.com for more details. I am available to speak at virtually any event that involves people with cash and credit cards. Or just go for instant gratification and buy The Vegan Monologues now on Amazon or my website.
I Felt a Momentary Touch of Piety...
At the sight of the church van on Pratt Street bearing the words "Edward G. Robinson, Pastor"...
New Film Adaptation of Greene's BRIGHTON ROCK in the Works
There is apparently a new film adaptation of Graham Greene's gangster novel Brighton Rock in the works. According to this BBC article, the setting will be transposed from late-1930s Brighton to 1964, and British actor Sam Riley is set to play teenage hoodlum Pinkie Brown, while Helen Mirren will portray the story's boozy-but-good-hearted heroine, Ida Arnold.
I'm really looking forward to seeing this, though I must say, based on the book's descriptions of Ida (and her character), I always pictured her to be a vivacious, full-figured woman in early middle-age - say, 40-something. Not "fat", mind you, but curvaceous in the way that popular culture permits no one in the movies (except, perhaps, for Salma Hayek) to get away with these days. Nothing whatsoever against Mirren (and I've no doubt she'll do the role, and the story, justice), but she's a good 20-odd years older than that. Perhaps Kate Winslet would make a good Ida in another 10 or 15 years.
I'm really looking forward to seeing this, though I must say, based on the book's descriptions of Ida (and her character), I always pictured her to be a vivacious, full-figured woman in early middle-age - say, 40-something. Not "fat", mind you, but curvaceous in the way that popular culture permits no one in the movies (except, perhaps, for Salma Hayek) to get away with these days. Nothing whatsoever against Mirren (and I've no doubt she'll do the role, and the story, justice), but she's a good 20-odd years older than that. Perhaps Kate Winslet would make a good Ida in another 10 or 15 years.
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