Sign Off TVO

Here is a sign off from TVo...nice!

Wisconsin

Another crazy weekend. We went to tricias in Kenosha where coincidently Andy friend also lives...and got married this weekend....so andy was driving down from St. Pauls and we all met to hang out in Kenosha. Yes Andy now moved jobs from wisconsin to MinnEsoda. Anyways it was a wonderful time and we did catching up.





This is a restaurant that is chef Tony Mantuano local to Tricia. Her and her family have eaten there many times. He was on Top Chef Masters Season 2...and has a restaurant he well known for in Chicago called Spiaggia which I have eaten at twice! This seasons Top chef Texas has one of his chefs from Spiaggia competing which is pretty cool.








Going with the theme of prohibition.





One of those rocks is an outdoor speaker. How cool!








This is Franks Diner featured on Guy Fieri's Drive-Ins, Diners and Dives.

Prohibition

Stagg dressed in his finest Prohibition era hat to watch the PBS five and half hour documentary by Ken Burns.

Tricia was over for a few days and we camped out and watched a lot of docs and tv shows, one of them this series. Wow, I had no idea that the build up to Prohibition happened for a 100 years and everyone including kids drank booze. I loved this doc and it goes well with Boardwalk Empire. We also watched The botony of Desire which has a segment about marijuana and its relationship and sucess with humans. The doc on Prohibition had a few too many repeated images of pouring out barrels of booze, could have been a little bit shorter...but well worth watching.


Conflicting images of women during prohibition.

Night Shift

Stagg is working a night shift and the hours are a crazy new adjustment. I was driving him to work and picking him up. He was to work till 3:30 and I was parked at a coffee shop waiting for him. He landed up working an extra two hours. So we are zombies. Its kind of exciting though.

Tv Sign Offs

You know whats weird...I don't think I actually noticed when tv networks stopped having sign offs. I love love love sign offs. Some sign offs stir a nostalgia in me...which is just so strange, no? Sentimental about a network closing? Nuts! Now tv stations seem to repeat their programming, or have 24/7 programing...or the dreaded infomercial. I love these things...here are a couple of choice ones...





This one ssays its a re=creation...its got a lot of spicy flavour!

Har!

Uh Huh

Double Dog Dare And They Did

"Americans have been watching protests against oppressive regimes that concentrate massive wealth in the hands of an elite few. Yet in our own democracy, 1 percent of the people take nearly a quarter of the nation’s income—an inequality even the wealthy will come to regret.

It’s no use pretending that what has obviously happened has not in fact happened. The upper 1 percent of Americans are now taking in nearly a quarter of the nation’s income every year. In terms of wealth rather than income, the top 1 percent control 40 percent. Their lot in life has improved considerably. Twenty-five years ago, the corresponding figures were 12 percent and 33 percent. One response might be to celebrate the ingenuity and drive that brought good fortune to these people, and to contend that a rising tide lifts all boats. That response would be misguided. While the top 1 percent have seen their incomes rise 18 percent over the past decade, those in the middle have actually seen their incomes fall. For men with only high-school degrees, the decline has been precipitous—12 percent in the last quarter-century alone. All the growth in recent decades—and more—has gone to those at the top. In terms of income equality, America lags behind any country in the old, ossified Europe that President George W. Bush used to deride. Among our closest counterparts are Russia with its oligarchs and Iran. While many of the old centers of inequality in Latin America, such as Brazil, have been striving in recent years, rather successfully, to improve the plight of the poor and reduce gaps in income, America has allowed inequality to grow." From article in Vanity Fair...to read complete essay here

My Peeps!

Oh I feel like a big sister...I feel like my family is out there trying to do and say something...when I watched this video I was so reminded of me and my friends when we were art students. I seriously had tears in my eyes watching these folks taking a stand...for better or for worse,whether we totally agree with what they're saying...or not...they are out there working hard. I just love this video. I had to laugh out loud at about 9 minutes into the video the guy wh has been filming yells he is the %1. He has been trying to "correct" what the people are saying int heir manifestoes...he seems pretty smug and judgmental...but its his free will too. Very interesting to see how he tries to interupt and they give him their symbol of hands in a triangle which means "stay on point".

I have been reminded of an argument of film critic Robin Wood who argued that there are two major forces in North America, patriarchy and capitalism. And those two forces corrupt relationships. I love how the people working at occupying wall street have designed ways to move around hierarchy and to prmote democracy and consensus among themselves. I think many of the processes they have worked on will move into popular culture, like schools and workshops, baord rooms and government meetings over the next few years. And actually, many of their processes have been in work in such setttings for a while now.

I love in one of the manifestoes read during the above video a line is "fuck the cynics" and they all laugh...t's just lovely!


And just for the heck of it, in the spirit of the OWS general assembly... I shall re-post a manifesto here...and a back story is blogged here...

Steve Hughes

This one above is dedicated to Sarah and Mark. And below is for Anita and George.

YES!

Arresting a middle-aged writer in an evening gown for peaceable conduct is a far cry from when America was a free republic

Unbelievable. Naomi Wolf arrested. Her account here

"This One Could Take Them All Down!

Chris Hedges nails exactly why this is so powerful.

Board Games?

I love board games and playing cards. I want to get into a regular game night if possible and I also was wondering...gee what kinds of games are there out there...so yesterday on Facebook I asked if anyone knew of any good board games. I got a lot of fantastic recommendations. And over half of the games friends suggested i hadn't even heard of! Wow! Am I ever out of it in games. So I went to a terrific web game ranking site called Board Game Geekand got some information about the some of the recommended games. Games have really changed and so have the attitudes about games...like who the designers are behind the games. To me this shows the influence of the film industry, painting, and computer and video games...we now are more and more interested in knowing who made a game, who designed it. We have an aesthetic demand as well as the fun and challenges of games. This is way beyond Monopoly and Risk (btw...I absolutely loathe playing Monopoly). A lot of these look pretty damn cool.

I spent a little time on Wikipedia reading about the game playy on some of the following games as well as the breakdown on Board Game Geek which I post below. Sheesh, The Washington Post called "Settlers of Catan" the board game of our time. I never even heard of it! I thought Cranium was the board game of our time! So I am pretty excited to look into getting some of these and playing.

I also found a review written with these kinds of questions...regarding Mr. Jack Pocket

Components - Does the game look nice? Are the bits worth the money? Do they add to the game?
Accessibility - How easy is the game to teach, or to feel like you know what you are doing?
Depth - Does the gameplay allow for deeper strategies, or does the game play itself?
Theme - Does the game give a sense of immersion? Can you imagine the setting described in the game?
Fun - Is the game actually enjoyable? Do you find yourself smiling, laughing, or having some sense of satisfaction when it’s over?


Do yuo have any favourite board games?



Designer
Thomas Lehmann
Artist
Martin Hoffmann
Claus Stephan
Mirko Suzuki
Publisher
ABACUSSPIELE
Albi
Gabinete Lúdico
Gamesinitaly
Show More »
Year Published
2007
# of Players
2 − 4
User Suggested # of Players
Best with 2, 4 players
Recommended with 2, 3, 4 players
(527 voters) [poll]
Playing Time
60 minutes
Mfg Suggested Ages
12 and up
User Suggested Ages
12 and up
(119 voters) [poll]
Language Dependence
Some necessary text - easily memorized or small crib sheet
(200 voters) [poll]


Designer
Bruno Cathala
Ludovic Maublanc
Artist
Jean-Marie Minguez
Publisher
Hurrican
Year Published
2010
# of Players
2
User Suggested # of Players
Best with 2 players
Recommended with 2 players
(11 voters) [poll]
Playing Time
15 minutes
Mfg Suggested Ages
14 and up
User Suggested Ages
10 and up
(6 voters) [poll]
Language Dependence
No necessary in-game text
(11 voters) [poll]
Honors
2010 Tric Trac Nominee
2011 Golden Geek Best 2-Player Board Game Nominee
Subdomain
Strategy Games
(9 voters) [vote]
Category
Deduction
Murder/Mystery
Mechanic
Modular Board
Variable Player Powers
Expansion
Mr. Jack Pocket: Goodies
Expands
Family
Jack the Ripper
Mr. Jack
Sherlock Holmes


Designer
Klaus Teuber
Artist
Volkan Baga
Tanja Donner
Pete Fenlon
Fine Tuning
Show More »
Publisher
999 Games
Albi
Astrel Games
Brain Games
Show More »
Year Published
1995
# of Players
3 − 4
User Suggested # of Players
Best with 4 players
Recommended with 3, 4 players
(607 voters) [poll]
Playing Time
90 minutes
Mfg Suggested Ages
10 and up
User Suggested Ages
8 and up
(142 voters) [poll]
Language Dependence
Some necessary text - easily memorized or small crib sheet
(182 voters) [poll]


Designer
Uwe Rosenberg
Artist
Klemens Franz
Uwe Rosenberg
Publisher
999 Games
Hobby Japan
HomoLudicus
Lacerta
Show More »
Year Published
2008
# of Players
1 − 5
User Suggested # of Players
Best with 3 players
Recommended with 1, 2, 3, 4 players
(309 voters) [poll]
Playing Time
150 minutes
Mfg Suggested Ages
12 and up
User Suggested Ages
12 and up
(66 voters) [poll]
Language Dependence
Moderate in-game text - needs crib sheet or paste ups
(76 voters) [poll]

Designer
Uwe Rosenberg
Artist
Klemens Franz
Publisher
999 Games
Brain Games
Compaya.hu - Gamer Café Kft.
Hobby Japan
Show More »
Year Published
2007
# of Players
1 − 5
User Suggested # of Players
Best with 3, 4 players
Recommended with 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 players
(897 voters) [poll]
Playing Time
120 minutes
Mfg Suggested Ages
12 and up
User Suggested Ages
12 and up
(312 voters) [poll]
Language Dependence
Extensive use of text - massive conversion needed to be playable
(474 voters) [poll]


Designer
Matthew Kirby
Mark Alan Osterhaus
Artist
John Kovalic
Publisher
Beverly Enterprises, Inc.
Mattel
Out of the Box
Pegasus Spiele
Show More »
Year Published
1999
# of Players
4 − 10
User Suggested # of Players
Best with 6, 7, 8 players
Recommended with 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, more than 10 players
(105 voters) [poll]
Playing Time
30 minutes
Mfg Suggested Ages
12 and up
User Suggested Ages
8 and up
(32 voters) [poll]
Language Dependence
Extensive use of text - massive conversion needed to be playable
(39 voters) [poll]

As You Wish

If you love this movie like I do, you must click on this photo...wonderful!

Hmm

Nirvana's Soundtrack

Hare Krishna.

I remember living on a PMQ in Ottawa and coming home from school one day to find my dad and his best friend from college lying on the floor with the stereo speakers blaring next to their heads listening to an aircraft flying and then jumping to a really fast rock song over and over again. I just remember standing there while they were so excited about this record they were listening to...they would get up and manually lift the needle and replay this one song, and then lay back down again to listen. It was The White Album by The Beatles and the song was "Back In The USSR".

I also remember when my dad and I were channel surfing in the basement rec room of our house in Calgary and we stumbled on to a BBC show called The Rutles and just got right into the show laughing amazed we had never heard of it before. I have such a happy memory of just us howling and thinking what a brilliant idea for a mockumentary. We saw this just before the Spinal Tap phenomenon. I don't think the name mockumentary existed until Rob Reiner.(although there several genre like Woody Allen stuff and some British tv shows and Orson Welles radio play). It just seemed so brave to make a movie mocking the Beatles. And that first viewing as the credits rolled both my dad and I were so blown away that Harrison was the producer!

This weekend we watched the HBO documentary by Martin Scorsese on George Harrison Living In The Material World and it was really quite good. I thought there might have been a little too much focus on the Beatles years and less on his life after...but in general it was a pretty cool two part doc. Interviews with Harrisons wife, Ringo Starr and Terry Gilliam were major highlights. There was also some interesting clips of the Beatles tension just before they broke up. I must say, the clothes were pretty awesome and many many clips were things I had never seen before. We were excited to see this doc because we had been on the road with Tuffy P and Mister Anchovy when the PBS Dylan/Scorsese movie came out. I think we watched it one night in Nashville and the second part in Memphis. (how rock and roll is that?)







A great part of this documentary was the interview and little bits of back stories about The Traveling Wilbury's. And of course, since it's Scorsese we want to know...what and hw will he treat this story, how will he bring his own taste, and innovate making a doc? A lof of Scorceses legend has to do with music. He's made so many movies that study pop culture and used music in amazing clever manners in editing and references. Who can forget Donovan singing operatic over a violent beating in Goodfellas? Scorsese positioned The Clash in a street scene with Rupert Pupkin. And ne of the top five concert movies of all time is The Last Waltz. So how will he work with this subject and beloved person? Scorcese brings a lot of life to the movie with sharp editing. the soundtrack is often suddenly chopped right out...a contrast to the usual "Ken Burns" easy drifting of music carrying over from one cut to another scene. Scorsese dispenses with such comforting edits. I found this brought an unexpected energy to the pace of the movie.

OCCUPY EVERYTHING!!!

The Rosie Show Rocks!

I have something in common with Rosie O'Donnel. We both have a huge craving and nostalgia for the kind of tv talk shows we grew up on. It's been a major rip off for me that most of the shows that were so crazy and fun and innocence fell out of trend in the 1980's. The only fix I get from such memories of watching talk shows when I used to stay home sick from school...is the morning chat on LIVE with Regis ad Kelly..bit their show is not the same. Rosie's talk show was exactly the kind of vibe I'm talking about and I used to just love her old program. I also enjoyed a variety show

Talk shows when I was growing up had this eccentric pacing and thrill of goofy reveals of the hosts personality. In fact, it's rare to find a talk show host with a massive over whelming personality that imitates the sensation I had as a kid of people like Merv Griffin, Dinah Shore, Carol Burnett, Cher, Dick Cavett, Flip Wilson...having these broad campy personalities.


I am very very fond of Rosie O'Donnell's previous show and have been excited for her show on Oprah's network. I liked a variety show she experimented with a couple years ago but it didn't catch on. I have been hoping this new one will have all the flavours I am nostalgic for...and it really really does. Her new show is the kind of program I could imagine watching with the whole family. The kids will miss some of the innuendoes and there is a little irreverences that ill suit cranky old people (heh heh just kidding) and then there is the general magic of her great attitude of talking to people. Rosie really loves people and she has a great sensitivity for finding funny things about talking with in them in a few seconds. It is this unplanned, nervous bordering on uncomfortable at times energy that I believe will be the potential for her show to succeed. The show focuses on a stand up then a long three segment interview and then games. A little music, a little joking and some heavy topics handled with world-wise humour on Rosie's part and on the guests parts. The first episode had an opening segment with Russel Brand that was tense at first, but then at some point the two comics just fell into the show and it had moments of brilliance. I think I love Rosie and her guests (so far,Roseanne Barr and Russell Brand and Wanda Sykes) even more than ever. The banter between Gloria Estefan and Rosie was terrific and old-fashioned energy. I hope the show gets some ratings because I am already in love with the program. I've GOT to get down there and see if I can get a ticket. I wish I could work for the show...it's just that delightful.


Rosie created a bunch of games that she ends each episode with by picking two people out of the audience to compete with each other, or sometimes with one of her guests....and I thought the one she had the other day called "DOODLEZ" was really quite agreat idea. I took a bunch of pics. Basically the production staff has made doodles over the faces of celebrities and you get a couple of chances to guess. The first photo has a lot of doodles over the faces...and then the doodles are less if you can't guess them right away. If you feel like guessing I'll post the answers in the comments.