Hermeneutic Blog Circle Aggregator

To Little Egypt with the Hungry Cabbie: Part 1

Layne Mosler — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 03:42:00 -0800

While I've devoted the last three years to asking taxi drivers to deliver me to their favorite places to eat, Dave Freedenberg (alias Famous Fat Dave) has spent the past seven doing restaurant reconnaissance from the front seat of a New York cab."Every time I drop off a fare, I always ask, 'Where do you eat?' Always," he told an NPR reporter in a 2007 interview, "Let's say I'm taking someone to

00's Music Roundup

tenaciousmcd — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:52:00 -0800

The Bataan "death panel" march has wearied me of the Beltway, so it seems like a good time for another musical interlude. Time for the end of decade music lists, ergo, my chance to beat the big boys, yer Spins and yer Rolling Stones, to the punch in defining the era. Consider me humbled. Breaking with my usual end of year protocol, I claim no metaphysical certainty. It's just my list. I probably slant toward early-decade albums, since, by accident of timing, they have "endured" more in my mind. And I've adopted the somewhat artificial rule that no band or artist gets more than one entry, although I'll note some Honorable Mentions. Without further ado, here 'tis:

1) Wilco, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002). The band of the decade, the album of the decade, from the city of the decade (Chicago, natch). Tweedy's not the best singer or writer; the band is not the most catchy or innovative. Yet somehow it gels into a sum greater than the parts, especially on this alt country deconstruction with its forebodings of "authentic" America staggering drunk into the berserk. A 9/11 album (down to the cover art; "Jesus, Don't Cry," "Ashes of American Flags") somehow made prior to 9/11. As the first song says, "I Am Trying To Break Your Heart." They do. Expect Wilco (the Album) to appear on my upcoming 2009 list.

2) Gillian Welsh, Time (the Revelator) (2001). The older I get the better she gets. We saw her once in our favorite $6 a head divey Vietnamese restaurant.

3) the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Fever to Tell (2003). Best car CD. "Maps" is perfection.

4) Josh Rouse, 1972 (2003). Tough to pick one. This is his most fun, the one to dance around the house with Lang. HM: Under Cold Blue Stars (2002) and Country Mouse (2007).

5) Ryan Adams, Demolition (2002). He releases ten discs in a decade (one a double), and his best is an odds & sods record! Apt. HM: Heartbreaker (2000), Gold (2001).

6) Spoon, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (2007). Close call w/ HM: Gimme Fiction (2005).

7) My Morning Jacket, It Still Moves (2003). HM: Z (2005), Evil Urges (2008).

8) Loretta Lynn, Van Lear Rose (2004). Props to Jack White. "Portland, Oregon, and slow gin fizz, If that ain't love then tell me what is? Uh huh!"

9) Kings of Leon, Aha Shake Heartbreak (2005). Now that they're the hottest rock band on the planet, I can happily say that their current CD kinda sucks. Their first two were asskickers. Even if the lyrics were always pretty dumb. Second best car CD of the decade. HM: Youth and Young Manhood (2003).

10) Jenny Lewis, Acid Tongue (2008).

11) Shelby Lynn, Suit Yourself (2005).

12) M. Ward, Post War (2006). HM: Hold Time (2009).

13) Eels, Shootenany (2003).

14) Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Dig! Lazarus Dig!! (2008).

15) Cat Power, The Greatest (2006).

16) Ron Sexsmith, Time Being (2006).

17) the Features, Exhibit A (2004).

18) Neko Case, Fox Confessor Brings the Flood (2005).

19) the Old 97s, Satellite Rides (2001). "Someday somebody's going to ask you; A question that you should say yes to; Once in your life; Baby tonight, I've got a question for you." Verges on Hello Kitty. Still works. How was that not a pop hit?

20) Drive by Truckers, Brighter Than Creation's Dark (2008). HM: Southern Rock Opera (2002). SRO will go down as their classic; I want to hear BTCD more often.

21) Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan, Ballad of the Broken Seas (2006).

22) Sun Kil Moon, Ghosts of the Great Highway (2003).

23) Elvis Costello, The Delivery Man (2004).

24) the White Stripes, Elephant (2003). HM: White Blood Cells (2001).

25) Super Furry Animals, Rings Around the World (2002).

26) Mudcrutch (2008).

27) REM, Accelerate (2008).

28) Bruce Springsteen, The Seeger Sessions (2006). HM: The Rising (2002). TR has the incomparable 9/11 song, "You're Missing," but lacks something in overall cohesion. TSS is all covers, but a record to listen to again and again--the loosest he's sounded in ages.

29) U2, No Line on the Horizon (2009). Hmmm. . . . We'll see.

30) Beck, Guero (2005). HM: Sea Change (2002), the Information (2006). Sea Change will get all the critics picks for decade highlight; I see it as one perfect song ("Lost Cause"), a few good ones ("Golden Age"), and a fair amount of filler.

Didn't miss anything, did I?

[Post updated: a few more links, a few more Hon. Mentions, a little more Wilco.]

Big Three

alicia — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:44:00 -0800

Jack is three today. It's surreal. How can he be so old? After being away from him for 5 days, I notice he seems like a little boy -- his vocabulary is rapidly expanding, he plays by himself for longer and longer periods of time. He enjoys drawing and playing with any one of the various transportation toys we have. He has an amazing memory. He smiles a lot... especially when he is watching or reading Dora the Explorer. He really digs the Dora stories..

Happy Birthday Jack!

The wheel keeps on turning

Lilita — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:15:00 -0800

I've been neglecting Toddler J on this blog, so here's an update:

J's language skills are finally progressing. I made audiology and speech pathology appointments for him for the first of December, and then, suddenly, he began using more words and mimicking the ends of our sentences and repeating words on command, all the important developmental steps. So I think he was just waiting for me to be really serious about getting him tested, and then he decided it might be time to start making some progress. Shades of interactions future, perhaps?? His language choices are still, umm, eclectic? For example, the first word he learned after I made the appointments was "cookie" in honor of Cookie Monster, his favorite Sesame Street character (tied with Elmo, of course). Or, when we ask him what we should call the new baby, he says "Blue!" loudly every single time. The new kid on the block may be cursed with this as an informal nickname!

Sadly, J's new language skills are flowering at the same time that his pleasant disposition is becoming a victim of the terrible twos, a bit early. Hooray..... So, we are spending large chunks of time each day getting frustrated with each other as he says...something...very emphatically...and I try...fruitlessly...to understand him. Then he has a meltdown, full tantrum on the floor, sobbing as if his life is over. Then I distract...or not...and we move on until the next time. Our only salvation, besides Sesame Street, is Caillou, our French Canadian imported cartoon that makes him giggle out loud. Caillou is a double-edge sword, though, because stopping the DVD is also cause for a tantrum. But then, what isn't? Or we can read Dr. Seuss books, his current favorites, but only if he decides he wants to, and he is very emphatic about when reading is an appropriate activity. Before naps and bedtime, fine. During the day? Only when he's ready, thank you very much!

J is obsessed with all things mechanical, but his special love is school busses. He still uses the sign for "bus" instead of speaking the , and his fist is raised in the air each and every time he sees one. He then asks after we see a few "many?" and I tell him how many we've seen so far. The other day we saw 34 on one trip to the store. It was nirvana for J! Counting is hard for J, of course, since he only knows the number two. Not one, just two. So he counts like this: "two, two, two, two, two." It's cute but doesn't get him very far! He is in love with our friend's 4 year old daughter, has learned her name and everything, and I'm pretty sure his love reached its zenith when he saw her get off a school bus!

He's also become very demonstrative lately. J wants to give lots of hugs, even to the new baby in Mommy's tummy. (We're teaching him already to be gentle so the hugs are subdued and careful, a good precedent.) His most recent hugging variation is to insist on hugging both of us at once if we happen to be close enough to touch the other when one of us (usually the husband--kid is HEAVY) is holding him. It's very endearing!

Perhaps because of his lagging language skills, perhaps because he is our child, J is VERY expressive with his face. His wealth of facial expressions is mind-boggling, but not as uncanny as the moments when he imitates the husband perfectly. Usually he does it unconsciously when he is around the husband, and seeing the two of them with the identical expression on is almost more than I can take some days! Heaven help me--what if I have yet another of the husband's mini-Me's?

Aproaching 2 Months with No Posts

fronesis — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 08:42:00 -0800

I could list excuses for pages and pages. Indeed, if I just posted a new excuse every day, I could keep the blog updated for a month.

Instead, I'll just say that it is not wise to try to buy a house in the middle of a rather intense academic semester (particularly one that has the added background pressure of a tenure decision).

We spent 8 months on this search because, how shall I put it, the last real estate transaction did not go very well. After looking at at least 50 places, someone finally took an offer that I thought was reasonable (and let's just say that most sellers found what I thought to be reasonable to be offensive in extremis).

We are now the owners of real estate for the fourth time, and owners of a condo for the first time. Just hours after closing we began the first home improvement project, installing new hardwood floors in the master bedroom. Here's photographic proof:

Into the Driver's Seat: From Mind-numbing Map Reading to Mind-blowing Baklava

Layne Mosler — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 05:00:00 -0800

No, I'm not going to subject you to the details of all that I learned on the first day of taxi school.There were some fun moments, though. I especially liked the tremendously corny video "I AM New York: Becoming a Professional Taxi Driver," in which a wise man in the rear view mirror shows a surly cabbie how to charm his passengers ("To all outsiders, you ARE New York.").According to our

Red Sonia and Curly Jack

alicia — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:22:00 -0800

Sonia has red hair. I have no idea where she got that. One of my sister's friends met Sonia and immediately starting calling her Red Sonia .. if the name sounds familiar it's because Red Sonja was a Conan the barbarian movie .. and you are old enough to remember that.

Jack seems to be getting used to Sonia. I was in arizona for a few days over the weekend and when I talked to him on the phone he asked me where Sonia was (she came with me, Jack stayed home). He throws fewer tantrums (unless he is hungry, then watch out) and he also likes to give Sonia kisses on her head. Every time he kisses her he says "ohhh!" Which is what other people say after they see Jack kiss her. It's very cute. Jack has also adjusted well to his preschool. He goes three half days a week to a little place nearby that has 7 other kids. Since there is another Jack at the school, they call Jack 'curly jack.' Now when asked his name, he'll say 'curly jack.' If he's ever a pirate, he'll have a good name.

It seems both of my children are notable for their hair.

I am at home with them all the time now -- no work for the next year or so. I am surprised to find that I like being with them all the time. It is a tremendous amount of work but it's nice that they are my only job.

Into the Driver's Seat: Taxi School & Street Meat

Layne Mosler — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:08:00 -0800

Every man takes the limits of his own field of vision for the limits of the world.- Arthur Schopenhauer (quoted on the N train to Queens)First, the good news: the New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission (TLC) accepted my yellow cab application today and gave me a ticket to taxi school. But not before Tulip, the school administrator, asked me "why exactly do you want to be a yellow cab driver?"I

Then where am I to go?

Lilita — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 07:16:00 -0800

Ohmigosh, things have gotten so bad I am fantasizing about food. My body, now constantly hungry and never satisfied, what with my inability to eat fat, is making my brain crazy (yes, that statement is absolutely biologically and psychologically accurate. Move along; nothing to see here) and leaving me with food fantasies that occur at the most inopportune times (read: all the livelong day). Today's desires include Belgian waffles with strawberries, ice cream (I know, I couldn't have that anyway--I didn't say they were realistic visions but fantasies!), and whipped cream, samosas like they make at this dive of an Indian place in Delaware, a giant hamburger with lots of pickles and mustard, and chocolate pumpkin bread pudding (I've never even seen a recipe for this, let alone had it before but doesn't sound yummy?!). Then there are my general, everyday longings, most consistently for onion rings and a turkey Subway sandwich. Oh, and I could really go for some sweet potato soup made with lots of cream and brown sugar and some pie of any kind and some chocolate and desserts galore and and and and AND!!

Really, this "diet" is driving me crazy!!

Review me baby, one more time

Lilita — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 01:55:00 -0800

It's review time again! We now have a whole new disclaimer, provided by the folks over at MotherTalk themselves, those lovely people who have asked me to do this review. There it is, below*, verbatim, so take that, FCC! (All this bravado is just for show. I am really quite in favor of the FCC's new rules for bloggers. Hear that, federal types? I love all that you do!)

Our book for this outing is Lakeshore Christmas by Susan Wiggs, the latest volume in the Lakeshore Chronicles, one of several series of Wiggs appears to have written. (Full disclosure: I've never read any other of Wiggs' works, though there appear to be quite a lot of them.) To be perfectly honest, at first glance, I was inclined to dislike this novel. Wiggs' other works, besides the Lakeshore Chronicles, are characterized at either "Contemporary" or "Historical" romances. I'm not really a reader of either of these, so I entered into this novel with great trepidation.

However, I was pleasantly surprised. I think I would characterize Lakeshore Christmas as the perfect airport or airplane read, and I mean that as a compliment, truly. In my opinion, a successful airport read needs a few key elements: it should be absorbing but not require too much close attention; it should move quickly toward resolution, the sort of book that can be finished in a few flights; and it should meet the reader's expectations. Lakeshore Christmas fits all three bills.

The story begins (and ends) exactly where one might expect, even if all one has read is the book jacket. On one side, we have Maureen Davenport, late 20's "prim librarian" who loves Christmas with a passion. On the other, we have Eddie Haven, "recovering former child star" who has, to put it mildly, issues with Christmas. A series of events lands the two of them side by side, co-directing the local Christmas pageant. Maureen is crushed and Eddie is ambivalent about this development, but both soldier on, more or less willingly, and hijinks ensue. Well, perhaps "hijinks" is a bit too peppy of a word. Don't get me wrong; the novel is snappily plotted and moves along rapidly, with just a few pacing hiccups (you know the sort: too slow here, too quick there). But what happens is a pretty standard story. Girl meets boy, girl dislikes boy (but, this being a romance, girl is nonetheless attracted to boy and vice versa), obstacles occur, obstacles are resolved, happy ending. I won't tell you the ending, but, as I said, this being a quintessential airport read, you can really guess the ending from the moment you start reading.

What is not standard about the novel are the odd references to angels sprinkled throughout the narrative. The angels are more literal than figurative, even more oddly, but the angel references, even the presence of actual angels, are never really fully resolved. This lack of resolution left me a bit unsettled, not enough to dismiss the novel out of hand, but it was still strange. In fact, I'm still not sure what the point was. Perhaps if I read more of the Lakeshore Chronicles, I might understand. Or, more likely, these angels were a special gift of the season just in time for Christmas!

So, the next time you're in the mood for a good airport read that asks nothing of you other than a willing suspension of disbelief, pick up Lakeshore Christmas. If you're disappointed, it will not be my fault!

*I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by MotherTalk on behalf of Lakeshore Christmas and received a copy of the book to facilitate my candid review. In addition, Mom Central sent me a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.

Impurity Police

tenaciousmcd — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:18:00 -0800

I'm no fan of the infamous Stupak amendment, and I agree that it, not the original House bill alters the abortion status quo in troublesome ways. But I'd still sell out the relatively small number of affected poor women in a heartbeat if that's what it takes to get this health care bill through a final vote. So what if Stupak is puffing himself up by claiming to have swung 40 votes rather than (as Clyburn revealed) 10 or 11. That's still enough to wreak havoc when you won the first time 220-215. More importantly, the larger bill is too important to the health of too many people for liberals to sabotage themselves over cultural politics. So I'll stand with Dionne and Beinart against Pollitt and Atrios. Nothing wrong with getting angry and blowing off some steam now. Just don't take it to heart, eh?

Kebob and Sour Cherries at Ravagh Persian Grill

Layne Mosler — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:18:00 -0800

Ravagh Persian Grill in Murray Hill - one of two Persian restaurants that Eli Parviz recommended after we got lost during our quest for his favorite Colombian food - is more elegant than most of the places where I wind up on the taxi adventures.When I walked into the dining room the day after my ride with the cabbie who was once a chemist - with my hair going in ten directions and my umbrella

A Colombian Illusion and Two Persian Leads

Layne Mosler — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:37:00 -0800

If there's anything I've learned over the course of these food quests, it's that in the moment I climb into a taxi, I have no clue what the back story of the person in the front seat might be.The idea that we shouldn't judge a book by its cover isn't new, I know. But imagine having this truth underlined and exclamation pointed every time you take a cab ride.Had you been with me when I flagged

This Dude Is Weird

Number Three — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:05:00 -0800

Ysterday's Douthat column is just plain weird. Douthat joins the merry band of eschatons who fear that "the end of history" has deprived (their) lives of meaning. But I'll get to that in a minute.

First he criticizes Obama for not making a trip to Berlin to celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall. Classic "damned if you do, damned if you don't," right? If Obama goes, he's too cosmopolitan. If he doesn't, he hates freedom. Douthat wins. But then he oddly suggests that the Ninth of November should be as big a worldwide deal as the Fourth of July. Here he is: "By rights, the Ninth of November should be a holiday across the Western world, celebrated with the kind of pomp and spectacle reserved for our own Independence Day." Now, color me parochial, but is it true that OUR holiday is celebrated "across the Western world," "with . . . pomp and spectacle"? If so, I didn't know that.

But on to the end. This is the end. My only friend.

Because Douthat thinks that "it may be that the only thing more frightening than the possibility of annihilation is the possibility that our society could coast on forever as it is — like a Rome without an Attila to sack its palaces, or a Nineveh without Yahweh to pass judgment on its crimes."

Um, no. Annihilation is worse. I'll set aside the Yahweh thing, because I guess divine vengeance, no matter how unsettling the idea, must be given its due. But trust me, the Romans (and others) who were raped, killed, raped and then killed, pillaged, etc., by Attila's happy band of historymakers would have preferred to "coast." Douthat's column leads one to speculate that he would have preferred nuclear annihilation to a world of "decadence." And yes, he uses that word--in the pages of the New York Times!

Douthat actually does here what I think he doesn't like about totalitarians. He makes the stuff of individual lives grist for his vision of the Good. Douthat needs others to live under the jackboot of totalitarianism to guarantee his vision of virtue, to underwrite the efforts of those, like him, opposed to the oppressors. Take a look.

Douthat's posture as a deep thinker is probably what grates most. I know I've said this before, but I don't feel the need to be moralized to by some twentysomething with a man crush on the Pope and a nostalgic longing for a Cold War that he doesn't even remember.

Into the Driver's Seat: What a Difference an "E" Makes

Layne Mosler — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 23:41:00 -0800

Warning: The following is a rant, but the profanity is only implied.Five years ago, a teenage Gypsy caught me with my guard down and lifted my wallet - and every identifying document I owned - in the Madrid subway. Eventually, I replaced all that was missing, but my name somehow ended up misspelled on my Social Security card. Instead of Layne Lee Ann Mosler, I was now Layne Le Ann Mosler.

Healthy House

tenaciousmcd — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 16:10:00 -0800

A major yee-ha for the House tonight. The vote was close (220-215), but I haven't heard anyone say the obvious yet: this was close only because Dems took a prudent incumbent protection strategy. A secret "conscience" vote would have likely been much higher. Pelosi, wisely, is letting her more skittish members opt out. There were a few votes, however, that caught my eye.

Against: Artur Davis (AL), and Dennis Kucinich (OH). The Elfin One makes me wonder how many other (if any) votes the Dems lost as symbolic protests against the bill's conservatism. And what's with Davis? Must be an Alabama thing; he's positioning himself for the statewide gubernatorial run. If you read the statement, it sounds like he's giving himself wiggle room to vote for the eventual reconciled bill that will move closer to the Senate version.

For: Jim Cooper (TN). As much of a wanker as he's been of late, he actually went the way his Nashville district wanted. He's the rare blue dog less popular than Obama in his own district. I had a chat with our local Dem chairman a few days ago, and he spun the usual blue dog spin ("bad bill," "Pelosi can't count," etc.), and he obviously needs to back his boy, Gordon, who really is in a pickle over this. Unlike Cooper's, this district is only ~40-60 for the public option, and McCain won here by 26 points. He also predicted, incorrectly it now turns out, that Steve Cohen, from a ridiculously liberal Memphis district, would be the lone TN Dem yea vote. Looks like Nancy counts pretty well.

Istanbul: Eduard's Second Home Run

Layne Mosler — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:17:00 -0800

I could feel the heat from the döner kebab the moment I opened the door to Istanbul, the second Rego Park restaurant* that taxi driver Eduard Zavlanov recommended during our ride through Midtown Manhattan. When he's craving Turkish food, the musician from Uzbekistan told me that this is his favorite spot.When I walked into the dining room, a Süper Lig game was playing on the flat screen, and all

I'm a ghost to scare you

Lilita — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 05:58:00 -0800

Finally, documenting Halloween....
Painting pumpkins: J turns out to be an abstract artist.
The first incarnation of J's costume at the church Halloween party: Danger Mouse minus the cape.

Being reverent, as usual.
Danger Mouse with cape and the husband, Captain Emulsion.
Trick or treating, with a little help.

Glorious Dumplings and Rocking Pilav, Off Bukharan Broadway

Layne Mosler — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:42:00 -0800

Two years ago, 30,000 food pilgrims and I invaded the town of Famaillá, in the Tucuman province of northwestern Argentina, for the National Empanada Festival.For three days, we feasted on some of the greatest empanadas in the hemisphere. Most of them were stuffed with grass-fed Argentine beef, and all of them were enveloped in handmade dough and baked to order in clay ovens.The memory of those

BOO!

Number Three — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 13:03:00 -0700