7.20.09 My Top Ten RIGHT NOW
1. MOVIE My Kid Could Paint That (2007)
What could have been a fluff piece on a four year old who can paint modern abstract canvases turns into an indictment of the media, an indictment of the parents and an indictment of the very documentary that’s being made. While not artfully constructed, the film pulls together media coverage and scandal nicely mixed with the clear intimacy this filmmaker had with his subjects. Skimming the surface of the art world debate about what constitutes modern art, and more or less where the title of the film comes from, the fascinating bit here is watching the documentarian go from following his subjects as a fly on the wall to interrogating them. I don’t want to give too much away here, but it’s a worthy 90 minutes of your life for all the questions it raises.
2. RESTAURANT Pocha
Located in the heart of K Town, this unsuspecting place is offering up steaming bowls of deliciousness. For $18.99, you get a large pot kept warm over a Sterno, steaming with spicy broth filled with noodles, pork, rice cakes, greens and probably many other things I couldn’t quite identify. This lovely dish easily fed three of us, digging in to our heart’s content. While the menu was nearly indecipherable, it seems like there are excellent varieties of these Korean paellas, including a beef dish that smelled delightful and a massive hollowed out watermelon that was either a drink or a dessert. Not much can be said about the ambiance, looks like a bomb shelter covered in netting with Sake bottle tops dangling, but as far as novel experiences and good food go, this is a must. (Thank you Wayne for suggesting it!)
3. TRAVEL WEBSITE Atlas Obscura
For anyone that enjoys traveling to far away places and finding those unknown nooks that even locals don’t know about, this is the website for you. In New York City, I was happy to see The Frying Pan and the Evolution Nature Boutique in SoHo listed, both interesting bits of New York weirdness. Further away from home, I was overwhelmed by memories of Bomarzo, the monster garden in Italy, filled with 16th century grotesque sculptures that had captured my imagination when I was little. It’s nice to know that the internet has finally provided a go to spot for what my mom used to scour guide books for months before a trip to find.
4. MUSIC “Never Heard” Playlist
I’m often overwhelmed by my iPod and all it has to offer, so I like to set up a playlist that are all the songs with zero plays (for the less tech savvy readers, meaning I’ve never listened to these tracks and yet somehow have come to own them). This results in the oddest assortment of music, practically like listening to my very own insane radio station. Songs come at you fast and furious, from random live Bette Midler recordings from her appearances on Carson straight into African chanting followed by a brooding contemporary classical piece from Kronos Quartet concluded with a 90s TLC hit. It’s this amalgamation of my weird, wide and varied taste in music that makes the whole thing very exciting, you simply never know what you’re going to get, but you’re bound to like it because it’s on your very own iPod.
5. SONG “Only Mama Knows” by Paul McCartney
And thanks to my “Never Heard” playlist, I came across this track from an album that I wrote off as complete trash, Memory Almost Full, McCartney’s Starbucks release, which bored me to tears with its over-precious sentimentality. And yet, this song, taken in isolation, is thrilling and fascinating. When it first came on, I thought it was from a movie soundtrack (always a good start for me) filled with mournful violins that slowly transitions into a rocking hit with jamming guitars and drums. In a lot of ways it reminds me of the inventiveness of Elton John’s composition (especially the harpsichord) with a more poppy vocal line reminiscent of Queen or The Who. All in all, a worthwhile hit from an album of mostly crap.
6. TV Royal Pains
If this show were on during the normal television season, there is no way I would enjoy it, but coming in the dearth of fresh programming that is the summer, this show provides enough good hearted fun to be worth watching. Mark Feurstein stars as an ER doc who gets fired for making an arguably bad decision and moves out to the Hamptons where he falls into concierge doc work. Clearly the premise isn’t the draw, made only more ridiculous by the MacGyver-esque ways in which he saves his patients. It’s the humorous writing and the unbelievably likeability of Feurstein who has suffered through so many awful shows in his career. So when you’ve exhausted all other means of entertainment and are curling up in bed hoping for something to mindlessly pass the time, this is your show.
7. ICE CREAM Cones
I love ice cream, especially in these overheated days of summer. And this West Village ice cream shop still serves up the tastiest gelato and sorbet at decent NYC prices (compared to that also tasty rip-off Grom just down the street). The mint chocolate chip is to die for. The raspberry sorbet is refreshing. And the lemon sorbet tastes like taking a bite out of a real lemon, so good. I wasn’t daring enough to try the corn sorbet, which is supposed to be the favorite flavor of Brazilians. There’s also a yearly special blend that is made with Johnnie Walker Black blended right into the mango ice cream, a fascinating concept that I have yet to taste. This is definitely a must stop after any summer meal in the Village.
8. ALBUM Catch the Brass Ring Ferraby Lionheart
This odd acoustic album is actually a little gem of the indie folk movement. Opening with the quiet “Uno Ballo Della Luna,” the album quickly and quirkily moves through subtle lyrical tunes perfect for daydreaming in the warm sun, Lionheart’s voice calmly drenching your ears with pleasant notes. “Small Planet” is an excellent meditative piece with repetitive chords reminiscent of Dawn Landes’ songwriting as though performed by Travis. Harking back to the sunshine rock of the ‘60s, “Vermont Avenue” pleasantly washes over you from the speakers. While the album stays fairly quiet, “Before We’re Dead” makes excellent use of New Orleans jazz band to pick up the pace and get your feet moving toward the end of the album before settling back into the usual sound with “Put Me In Your Play.”
9. SHORT Surface: A Film from Underneath
This short will literally make you look at the world from a completely different angle. Spectacularly shot and designed, this film shows you the world as seen from underground. The trains passing, the feet walking around looking like dance floor patterns, the humor and tragedy, it’s all packed in there. The variety of locations will amaze you and the moment before you realize exactly where each is and how it relates is fascinating. Add to that the intelligent sound design, taking everyday noises and mixing it into the audio track, creating music out of the everyday. So simplistic and yet so complicated, truly captivating.
MOVIE The House Bunny (2008)
I can’t really defend my enjoyment of this movie, other than to say that Anna Faris is a truly gifted comedienne. She can take the slightest of scripts and the frailest of jokes and deliver them with an honesty and heart that sells it. It’s the usual makeover story as an aged (i.e. 27) Playboy bunny is thrown out of the mansion and becomes the housemother to a sorority of misfits. She teaches the girls how to be slutty and get boys, the girls teach her how to be less vapid, they all realize how to be themselves in the end. The girls have all their own quirks too, Rumer Willis looks terrifying (as usual, but it works here) and Emma Stone does nicely as the brainiac and even American Idol alum Katherine McPhee doesn’t distract as a very pregnant sorority sister. Sadly this is no Clueless, but it does offer enough laugh worthy jokes in its 90 minute running time.
