Asia Dog

For the second year in a row, my friend Tall Steve is cooking up a storm in the backyard of Williamsburg's Trophy Bar. This great bar is the perfect setting for Steve's Tuesday night fun-fest, ASIADOG!! These specialty hot dogs creations are lovingly concocted for the gastro-adventurous and the company couldn't be any better! Check it out and discover the joys of the mystery dog!

Every Tuesday
7:00pm - 11:00pm

Trophy Bar
351 Broadway in Williamsburg

Week 2 AsiaDog Menu

"Ginny" kimchi w/ roasted seaweed flakes
"Ito" Japanese curry w/ shredded kimchi apples
"Vinh" Banh Mi style hot dog
"Sidney" mango, cucumber,red onion, and fishsauce relish
"Mel and Steve" Asian slaw
"Wang Ding" bbq pork belly
"Mash" spicy ketchup, jalapeño mustard w/ potato chip crumbs.

*One Special Mystery Dog*

Simona Schneider, Crossdressing

From Bidoun

Crossdressing is a project by Simona Schneider on merchandise and border crossing. The free-trade zone in Ceuta, the autonomous Spanish city on the northern tip of North Africa, sees goods from all over the world, from booze, cloth, old shoes, dead bolts, and flour to notebooks and toilet paper as they make their way into Morocco. Ordinary citizens who are otherwise unemployed must placate two different masters, Spanish and Moroccan, in order to move their wares. One guideline set by customs says that smugglers should not flaunt the size or content of their packages; they must be as discrete as possible about their compromising forms.

Carsick Cars' Mogu Mogu

CARSICK CARS - 蘑菇 蘑菇 MOGU MOGU (Music Video) from Maybe Mars / 兵马司 on Vimeo.

From JLam:
Check the first official music video from Beijing band, Carsick Cars for the single, Mogu Mogu. Last summer, their label Maybe Mars commissioned director David Harris to make the first music video for Carsick Cars… it took a while, but was worth the wait…

2008年夏天，我们有幸请到了非常具有才华的导演大卫 哈里斯来为Carsick Cars制作第一部音乐录影带。虽然制作时间稍长，但当我们看到了最终的效果后，确信我们的等待是完全值得的！

导演：大卫 哈里斯
Jeremy Ball：卖蘑菇的
matt wakai：负责清洗机器和管灯的人
chen yi song : きのこ
fiona qi：吃蘑菇的
yun qing：丛林人

credits:
Directed by David Harris.
jeremy ball : spore monger
matt wakai : guy standing on top of washing machine holding a light
chen yi song : きのこ
fiona qi : mushroom eater
yun qing : jungle

The BKLYN Yard Reopens

Brooklyn's own version of a riverside fete, the BKLYN Yard (formerly known as The Yard) is back in business for warm weather lounging and outdoor drinking (without the brown bag!) Justin Carter and Eamon Harkin's Sunday Best returns for 2009 and the outdoor music venue hosts a range of other weekend events with great DJs, live music, food, and fun. Check out the opening weekend with the best in NYC food truck-ing: Pizza Moto, the Community Juice Truck, Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream, and more.

UPCOMING DATES:

May 23rd: PARKED! a celebration of the best food trucks in NYC

May 24th: SUNDAY BEST w/ Quentin Harris

May 30th: SCORE! Gowanus Free Swap

May 31st: SUNDAY BEST w/ Mr. Scruff

June 20st: NUBLU DAY

June 27th: WINKEL & BALKTICK present...

August 8th: SABBATH IN THE PARK w/ The RUB

For updated events calendar, visit: www.bklynyard.com

Subway Art: 25th Anniversary Edition

Listen to Henry Chalfant and Martha Cooper talk about the global impact of Subway Art, 25 years later. Celebrating a quarter-century of graffiti, the two photographers are re-releasing this seminal book in a large format with Chronicle Books.

Avedon Fashion @ ICP

Avedon Fashion 1944-2000
15 May-6 September 2009
International Center of Photography

Richard Avedon (1923–2004) revolutionized fashion photography starting in the post-World War II era and redefined the role of the fashion photographer. Anticipating many of the cultural cross-fertilizations that have occurred between high art, commercial art, fashion, advertising, and pop culture in the last twenty years, he created spirited, imaginative photographs that showed fashion and the modern woman in a new light. He shook up the chilly, static formulas of the fashion photograph and by 1950 was the most imitated American editorial photographer. Injecting a forthright, American energy into a business that had been dominated by Europeans, Avedon's stylistic innovations continue to influence photographers around the world.

This exhibition will be the most comprehensive exploration to date of Avedon's fashion photography during his long career at Harper's Bazaar, Vogue, The New Yorker, and beyond. Working closely with The Richard Avedon Foundation, ICP curator Carol Squiers and guest curator Vince Aletti will present new scholarship on the evolution and extraordinary, ongoing impact of his work. The exhibition will feature more than 200 works by Richard Avedon, spanning his entire career, and will include vintage prints, contact sheets, magazine layouts, and archival material.

Thanks CoolHunting!

Picnic in the Park

I heard about this project for a couple months now and it is now officially open! Fort Greene couple Camella (founder of Triple5Soul) and Marlon have opened up a beautiful cafe and store in the neighborhood carrying all your picnic-ing needs—from snacks and drinks to outdoor blankets and distractions! Stop by on your way to Fort Greene Park!

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There’s no denying your checkered past.

Gingham gets you every time.

Which means there will be no stopping you at Picnic, a new country store in Fort Greene stocked with all the trappings of a fine spring outing.

Proprietors Camella Ehlke and Marlon Aitcheson provoke wholesome fun (the couple also runs the well-appointed Breathe Inn) with organic snacks, toys for outdoors, and fresh-made sandwiches to go.

You can wash down a hearty lunch (smoked white fish and herbs; grilled cheese with truffle oil and fig; avocado, tomato, and cheddar on eight-grain; smart dog on a bun) with ginger beer or lavender lemonade before taking a snooze on one of the African-print picnic blankets Ehlke sewed herself.

On the shelves are Prokadima paddles, canteens, stunt planes, sidewalk chalk, Frisbees, jump ropes, kites, and other diversions.

Sure to make picnicking a walk in the park.

Picnic Country Store
185 DeKalb Ave
Fort Greene, Brooklyn

Thanks Daily Candy!

Hand Lettering

A great missive from former New York Times art director Steven Heller about the return of handlettering and its debt to the computer. Check the full read here.

You may have noticed it, or maybe not. It may not be perceptible to the layman’s eye. After all, type and typography are supposed to be a crystal goblet — transparent — seen and read but not heard. Type should not be boisterous or distracting, though it must be appealing. In recent years there has been a veering away from the exclusive use of traditional typefaces (or fonts) to an increase in hand or custom lettering for advertisements, magazines, children’s books, adult book jackets and covers, film title sequences and package designs. Hand lettering is not just used, as it once was, for D.I.Y. youth-cult concert posters and T-shirts.

Owing to its infinite capacity for perfection, the computer has made this kind of hand lettering possible and inevitable. Incidentally, this is not the beautiful hand-crafted calligraphy celebrated by scribes and hobbyists and used for wedding invitations and diplomas. On the surface, this riotously raw lettering looks like it was produced by those who are incapable of rendering letters with any semblance of accuracy or finesse. And while this may or may not be true, a decade or so ago, this lettering was a critical reaction to the computer’s cold precision. It was also, in certain design circles, a means of rebelling against the purity and exactitude of modernism. Eventually it became a stylistic code for youthful demographics (the poster and title sequence for the film “Juno” stands out as a high-water mark in hand lettering, and before that, the TV series “Freaks & Geeks” used the trope), before being embraced by the mainstream (like the aforementioned IBM advertisements).

Andrew WK says...

This is some great inspiration information for the weekend from the indomitable Andrew WK— producer, musician, nightclub owner and inspirational speaker. An advice columnist for Anthem Magazine, I thought this was some real food for thought. Click for the full read.

ANDREW W.K. ON THE ECONOMY

I am 25 years old, and until recently had a media job in New York City. Like most people, I just lost my job and I'm now living on a few weeks of unemployment and trying to figure out what the hell to do with myself. Should I suck it up and escape the city, and go somewhere cheaper like Philadelphia or the Deep South, or should I keep on fighting to make my life work out the way I want it to in the greatest city in the world?

I've been thinking a lot about the recent situations with the economy, with New York City, with jobs, with money, and have been trying to decide how to think about it; how to keep those ideas in my mind in a way that's responsible and what some might call realistic, while also being optimistic and, I guess, confident.

Rather than thinking, “I lost my job because of the economy,” consider: "did I really want this job? Is there something deep down inside of me that wanted a change and has manifested this, using the economy as an excuse?" [Moving] to a Southern town or to Baltimore or Philadelphia or Pittsburgh, or any of these other nearby towns—is that a healthy urge that is taking you to new uncharted territory, or is that an urge that's been self-destructive and is trying to hold you back out of fear of doing bigger things or fear of success or just feeling overwhelmed?

For Andrew's advice and more click here.

Pixação

"How many artists do you know that risk their lives to make his art, to paint something?"

Freezer Fun

I am kinda obsessed with Mark Bittman. I wish that I could hang out in his kitchen, maybe lick the spoon after he's mixed up something tasty and new. Besides his New Year's post about cleaning out our kitchen cabinets, today's article about freezing food will go up on my kitchen fridge to inspire thrift in these crazy times. Check it below:

If I tried to sell you a new appliance that could help you save money, reduce food waste and get meals on the table faster, the only thing you’d ask would be “How much?”

The answer is “Nothing.” You already own it. For just as the stove comes with a hidden and often overlooked bonus — the broiler — so does the refrigerator: the freezer. Why not use it?

I know: you do. In that messy box you have some ice cubes, some stuff you bought frozen — a pizza? Lean Gourmet? peas? — and maybe, if you cook a lot, some stock or hastily stored leftovers. You also have a load of things you’ve already forgotten about and will eventually toss, even though you would have been guilt-struck if you had discarded them when they were fresh.

But if you conscientiously use the freezer in two ways, you’ll value it as never before. The first: take raw ingredients you have too much of — or whose life you simply wish to prolong — and freeze them. The second: take things you’ve already cooked — basics like stock, beans, grains and the like, or fully cooked dishes — and freeze them.

To the extent that you do both of these tasks regularly, and keep your freezer organized, you’ll make your cooking cheaper, more efficient and faster.

Read the whole article here!

Click Mi Finger - World Premiere!

I heard this jam at the Jamrock Festival in Kingston back in December of 2007 and fell in love with it then. Eddie Stats dropped the official video for the song today! Big Ups!

Bjork and the Dirty Projectors

Another strange and beautiful collaboration that could only happen in New York! Support Housing Works...they're a New York institution!

Housing Works Bookstore Cafe
126 Crosby Street, New York
May 8, 2009
8PM

In a never before seen or heard collaboration with The Dirty Projectors, Björk will perform a suite of new music composed for her by David Longstreth of The Dirty Projectors. The suite, written for five voices, will pair Björk with the Projectors (Dave Longstreth, Amber Coffman, Angel Deradoorian, and Haley Dekle).

In 2008, the Dirty Projectors covered Björk’s “Hyperballad” for a Stereogum tribute CD, a track-by-track covers project that also includes Liars, No Age, High Places, and members of Grizzly Bear, among others. Housing Works Board Member and Stereogum Senior Writer Brandon Stosuy, who knew of Björk and David Longstreth’s admiration for each other’s work, approached the artists about performing together at Housing Works. It is their first collaboration.

With two opening acts selected by Bjork and The Dirty Projectors: Ólöf Arnalds and Kurt Weisman.

Only tickets available via auction here!

About Housing Works
Housing Works is the largest community-based AIDS service organization in the United States, as well as the nation’s largest minority-controlled AIDS service organization. Since our founding in 1990, we have provided lifesaving services, such as housing, medical and mental health care, meals, job training, drug treatment, HIV prevention education, and social support to more than 20,000 homeless and low-income New Yorkers living with HIV and AIDS.

Housing Works also runs social enterprise businesses that raise millions of dollars every year to help pay for the services that we provide, spread awareness of our mission, and provide jobs to graduates of our Job Training Program. Our best-known businesses are Housing Works Thrift Shops, a chain of upscale thrift shops located throughout New York City, and the Housing Works Bookstore Café, a used bookstore, literary hub and concert venue located in Soho in downtown Manhattan.

Nieves Zine at Printed Matter

100+ Nieves Zines at Printed Matter in New York

Come and have a look at all 100+ Nieves Zines since 2004 and a broad selection of Nieves Books.

Including rare and out of print titles by Aaron Rose, Adam Hayes, Alexis Saile, Alexis Zavialoff, Amigos Koike, Andrea Heller, Andreas Banderas, Andrew Jeffrey Wright, Andro Wekua, Anja Kirschner, Annelise Coste, Anthony Record, Ari Marcopoulos, Bastien Aubry, Beau LaBute, Beni Bischof, Bruno Peinado, Catalina TM, Chris Johanson, Chris Lindig, Christian Andersen, Cody Hudson, Daniel Johnston, David Chieppo, David Shrigley, Dimitri Broquard, Dylan Martorell, Ed Templeton, Eddie Martinez, Fergus Purcell, Florencio Zavala, Francis Upritchard, Frédéric Fleury, French, Gabi Berüter, Gareth Bayliss, Geoff McFetridge, Georg Gatsas, Grrrr, Guy Meldem, Harmony Korine, Hendrik Hegray, Henry Roy, Himaa, Holly Stevenson, Jaret Penner, Jason McLean, Jay Nelson, Jo Jackson, Jockum Nordström, Jody Barton, Jonas Delaborde, Josh Petherick, Katerina Christidi, Keegan McHargue, Kevin Lyons, Kim Bennett, Kim Gordon, Kim Hiorthøy, Körner Union, Kuniko Nagasaki, Kyle Field, Larry Clark, Laura Owens, Leah Singer, Linus Bill, Lizzie Finn, Lorenzo Petrantoni, Marcus Oakley, Mari Eastman, Matt Leines, Matt Lock, Matthew Chapman, Marcel Dzama, Mark DeLong, Masumi Yamauchi, Maya Hayuk, Mehdi Hercberg, Michael Dumontier, Michael Günzburger, Mike Mills, Nakako Hayashi, Nathan Gray, Neil Farber, Nick Haymes, Nicola Pecoraro, Nicole Bachmann, Oliver Grajewski, Paul Davis, Perks and Mini, Peter Piller, Peter Sutherland, Reala, Rick Myers, Rita Ackermann, Robin Cameron, Rockmaster K., Ryoko Aoki, Samuel Nyholm, Scott Barry, Spike Jonze, Stefan Marx, Susan Cianciolo, Susanna Howe, Takashi Homma, Tal R, Talia Keinan, Tanja Helena Roscic, Taro Hirano, Taylor McKimens, The Changes, Thurston Moore, Tim Barber, Tobin Yelland, Tucker Nichols, Warja Lavater, Wesley Willis, Yoshimi, Yuka Katagiri and Yukari Miyagi

Printed Matter
195 Tenth Avenue at 22nd Street
New York, NY 10011
Tel. 212 925 0325

Opening Reception Saturday, April 4th, 5 - 7pm
Exhibition April 4th - May 23rd, 2009

Thanks Cody!

Bob Dylan x Bruce Davidson

Bob Dylan’s new video for “Beyond Here Lies Nothin’” off his new album, Together Through Life, features black and white images from photographer Bruce Davidson’s book “Brooklyn Gang: Summer 1959.″ Thanks LTD!

The Garden @ HSNY

THE GARDEN
NYC Premiere Film Screening

2008 ACADEMY AWARD NOMINEE: Best Documentary Feature
Directed by: Scott Hamilton Kennedy
Featuring: Danny Glover, Willie Nelson, Joan Baez, Daryl Hannah, Dennis Kucinich, Zak de la Rocha

The Horticultural Society of New York
148 West 37th Street, 13th Floor
Wednesday, May 6
7PM

The fourteen-acre community garden at 41st and Alameda in South Central Los Angeles is the largest of its kind in the United States. Started as a form of healing after the devastating L.A. riots in 1992, the South Central Farmers have since created a miracle in one of the country’s most blighted neighborhoods. Growing their own food. Feeding their families. Creating a community.

But now, bulldozers are poised to level their 14-acre oasis.

The Garden follows the plight of the farmers, from the tilled soil of this urban farm to the polished marble of City Hall. Mostly immigrants from Latin America, from countries where they feared for their lives if they were to speak out, we watch them organize, fight back, and demand answers:

Why was the land sold to a wealthy developer for millions less than fair-market value? Why was the transaction done in a closed-door session of the LA City Council? Why has it never been made public?

And the powers-that-be have the same response: “The garden is wonderful, but there is nothing more we can do.”

EVOL @ Wilde Gallery

I saw EVOL's work at SCOPE New York this past March and really loved his architectural renderings on found cardboard. His work really speaks to an urban existence and a sort of nostalgia. He has a new show up at the WILDE gallery in Berlin this month! Check out some of his new work and support!

EVOL's interests have focused on the overlooked and the refuse of urban society, offering visual comments and thoughts that remind us of the failure of modernism and its visions of an architectural utopia. EVOL draws our attention to the collective memory of places, a memory that is open ended, but in it’s decoding always seems to remain strangely personal. The artists’ exploration of urban sites and the visual ‘background’ noise of the city is a stark reminder of the transience of life as well as the certainty of death. The pictures of EVOL are quite literally decaying from their moment of inception. The artist places materiality itself in the forefront of his expression of the urban condition, its promise of ruin and eventual cyclical gentrification.

Architectural elements dominate EVOL’s images and their photographic precision is the result of a multitude of labour-intensive stencils that are layered, applied and traced with spray cans on found wood and discarded cardboard. It is a reverse imaging process that finally arrives at a model of representation that is not painting, not photography, not graffiti and not drawing, but a synthesis of them all.

New Work by EVOL
May 1 - May 30
Wilde Gallery
Chausseestrasse 7
D-10115 Berlin

Happy Cinco de Mayo

The Mexican by Babe Ruth!!

Celebrate Brooklyn 2009 Season

There is no better place than New York City in the summer. Besides the bike riding and bbq, we are lucky enough to enjoy FREE world class live music performances in the beauty of our public parks!! Celebrate Brooklyn!'s 2009 concert series was announced today with an opening night performance by David Byrne followed by a full season of shows from artists like Femi Kuti, Blonde Redhead, the Kronos Quartet and Big Daddy Kane! And did I mention the Purple Rain sing-a-long?

Thanks to BV for the listing and for more info about the Celebrate Brooklyn check here.

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Monday, June 8, 8:00 P.M. (gates open at 6:30 P.M.) David Byrne

Thursday, June 11, 7:30 P.M. (gates open at 6:30 P.M.) Goran Bregovic & His Weddings & Funerals Orchestra

Friday, June 19, 7:30 P.M. (gates open at 6:30 P.M.) David Rudder/Samantha Thornhill

Saturday, June 20, 7:30 P.M. (gates open at 6:30 P.M.
La Nave de los Monstruos, with live score by Ethel and Gutbucket Part of Celebrate Brooklyn!'s Music & Movies Series

Thursday, June 25, 7:00 P.M. (gates open at 6:00 P.M.) Femi Kuti & The Positive Force/Melvin Gibbs' Elevated Entity

Friday, June 26, 7:30 P.M. (gates open at 6:30 P.M.) Blonde Redhead

Saturday, June 27, 7:00 P.M. (gates open at 600 P.M.) Dr. Dog/Phosphorescent/These United States

Thursday, July 2, 7:00 P.M. (gates open at 6:00 P.M.) Obie Juan Bermudéz/Cucu Diamantes/Rebel Diaz Bud Light Latin Music Series

Thursday, July 9, 8:00 P.M. (gates open at 7:00 P.M.) Dance
STREB: Invisible Forces

Friday, July 10, 7:30 P.M. (gates open at 6:30 P.M.) Celebrate Brooklyn and LAMC present Los Amigos Invisibles/Aterciopelados Bud Light Latin Music Series

Saturday, July 11, 4:00 P.M. (gates open at 3:00 P.M.) Ezra Jack Keats Family Concert A Very Special Show with They Might Be Giants

Thursday, July 16, 7:30 P.M. (gates open at 6:30 P.M.) Kronos Quartet/Luminescent Orchestrii

Friday, July 17, 7:30 P.M. (gates open at 6:30 P.M.) The Robert Cray Band/The Sweet Divines American Express Roots Music Series

Saturday, July 18, 2:00 P.M.‹9:00 P.M. (gates open at 1:00 P.M.) African Festival with King Sunny Adé/Freshly Ground/The Mandingo Ambassadors/Cheikh M'Baye & Sing Sing/Abena Koomson/Yasser Darwish American Express Roots Music Series

Thursday, July 23, 8:00 P.M. (gates open at 7:00 P.M.) Dance Stephen Petronio Company

Friday, July 24, 7:30 P.M. (gates open at 6:30 P.M.) Buckwheat Zydeco/The Holmes Brothers American Express Roots Music Series

Saturday, July 25, 7:30 P.M. (gates open at 6:30 P.M.) Kailash Kher/Electro Morocco

Thursday, July 30, 7:30 P.M. (gates open at 6:30 P.M.) Burning Spear/Naomi Shelton & The Gospel Queens

Friday, July 31, 7:00 P.M. (gates open at 6:00 P.M.) The Royal Family: Soulive's 10th Anniversary Celebration, with Special Guests John Scofield and Christian Scott/Ivan Neville & Dumpstaphunk

Saturday, August 1, 7:30 P.M. (gates open at 6:30 P.M.) Music & Movies Dean & Britta: 13 Most Beautiful Songs for Andy Warhol's Screen Tests/ Crystal Stilts

Thursday, August 6, 7:30 P.M. (gates open at 6:30 P.M.) Music & Movies Purple Rain Sing-A-Long with Escort

Friday, August 7, 7:00 P.M. (gates open at 6:00 P.M.) Grace Potter & The Nocturnals/ Deer Tick / The London Souls

Saturday, August 8, 7:00 P.M. (gates open at 6:00 P.M.) Celebrate Brooklyn & Lyricist Lounge Present Big Daddy Kane (with Special Guests TBA), Plus a Screening of BDK: The Big Daddy Kane Story

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Celebrate Brooklyn! Benefit Concerts

"Celebrate Brooklyn! benefit concerts offer rare opportunities to see great artists at a reasonable ticket price while supporting the festival's free performances."

July 1
MGMT (Sold Out)

July 21
Jackson Browne

August 11
TV on the Radio

August 12
Bonnie Raitt & Taj Mahal

August 14 & 15
Animal Collective

Chicken Fried Steak

Sometimes, you just cant get the real thing in New York. When it comes to Southern home cooking, New York is lacking in a solid place that serves a consistently satisfying meal. After a disappointing bout with Jambalaya, I had an even more disappointing Chicken Fried Steak at Marlow & Sons this past weekend. It was soggy, served with salad, and not only was there no gravy (gasp!) but when I asked for some, I was told there was a lot of butter on the steak.

I used to go back to Houston for the holidays and my mom and I would have a special meal together...at The Black Eyed Pea. Now this local Texas franchise we rarely frequented growing up but as a college student my mom would take me there for one thing and one thing only...the best chicken fried steak in our 'hood. Now I've had my fair share of CFS...Thursdays at Clear Lake High School was CFS day. You'd get it served smothered with gravy and with some corn, mashed potatoes, and a roll on the side. Cracker Barrel is also a good option if you're not in Texas. In New York, Chat N' Chew's CFS can hold you over until you cross the Mason-Dixon line. But theres always something missing. My answer is just to make it yourself...this might have to be my weekend project.

Chicken Fried Steak
Ingredients

* 2 1/4 teaspoons salt, divided
* 1 3/4 teaspoons black pepper, divided
* 4 (4-ounce) cube steaks
* 38 saltine crackers (1 sleeve), crushed
* 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
* 1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
* 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
* 4 3/4 cups milk, divided
* 2 large eggs
* 3 1/2 cups peanut oil
* Garnish: chopped fresh parsley

Preparation

Sprinkle 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper evenly over steaks. Combine cracker crumbs, 1 cup flour, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, red pepper, and baking powder. Whisk together 3/4 cup milk and eggs. Dredge steaks in cracker mixture; dip in milk mixture, and dredge again in cracker mixture.

Pour oil into a 12-inch skillet; heat to 360°. (Do not use a nonstick skillet.) Fry steaks 3 to 4 minutes. Turn and fry 2 to 3 minutes or until golden brown. Remove steaks to a wire rack in a jelly-roll pan. Keep steaks warm in a 225° oven. Carefully drain hot oil, reserving cooked bits and 1 tablespoon drippings in skillet.

Whisk together remaining 4 cups milk, 1/4 cup flour, remaining 1 teaspoon salt, and remaining 1 teaspoon black pepper. Add milk mixture to reserved drippings in skillet; cook, whisking constantly, over medium-high heat 10 to 12 minutes or until thickened. Serve gravy with steaks. Garnish, if desired.

From Southern Living, JANUARY 2006

Food Party with Thu Tran

Food Party is a mind-bending, non-reality cooking show with Thu Tran as your hostess, a cast of unruly puppets as culinary aides, and a cavalcade of fictitious celebrities as surprise dinner guests. Shot on location in a technicolor cardboard kitchen as well as other foreign and exotic cardboard locations, each episode will or will not instruct you on how to prepare wild gourmet multi-course meals with ingredients you probably have on hand in your kitchen already, such as pretzel rods, eggs, narwhal lungs, bizarre plot twists, secret ingredients, and pizza. After all, you never know who might show up for dinner.

Check out more from Thu and her friends here.

Harry E Smith

Photo by Eric Schwartz

At last night's film screening at the Horticultural Society, I was introduced to the amazing work of Harry E Smith (1923-1991), an American experimental filmmaker, musicologist, and spiritualist. A prolific artist working across mediums—animation, filmmaking, batik, collage, painting, music, graphic design— he displayed a lifelong passion for exploring the spiritual and interconnected nature of things through artmaking.

In 1952, Folkways Records released a 6-disc compilation culled from Smith's own collection of 78s that he had amassed over the course of his travels throughout America. Smith wrote that he selected recordings from between "1927, when electronic recording made possible accurate music reproduction, and 1932, when the Depression halted folk music sales." Loosely filed under the Folk genre, this collection of blues, spiritual, country and cajun music was hugely influential not only because of the music, but because of the cosmologic cover art, extensive linernotes (that Smith penned himself), and sequencing of the collection. The Anthology of American Folk Music was re-released in '97 on CD. A lifetime collector of "things" he was crate-digging before it was cool and had amassed several thousand records before pitching the compilation idea to Folkways. Check the reissue here.



The series of shorts, collectively known as Early Abstractions, is a phenomenal journey in mid-century avant garde filmmaking. Cellular shapes take on organismic forms to morph and pulse to a universal beat, geometries formed of light overlap and tumble across the screen and hand batik-ed patterns emerge from an unknown texture to fade in and out. Created to accompany any piece of music (the images will magically sync to the beat!), Early Abstractions was created over the course of about 20 years and combines elements of collage to explore Smith's lifelong interest in the occult and higher realms of spirituality.

Smith's work really touched me in a profound way and learning more about the artist behind the work fueled a deep appreciation for his contributions to creative culture. Contemporary artists like Fred Tomaselli (whose work I fell in love with at the Prospect New Orleans Biennial) owe a huge debt to Smith's explorations on film and canvas. Check out more from Harry here.

Maxwell's Pretty Wings

Maxwell is back. And he looks damn good.

Sun Ra @ Institute of Contemporary Art

Illustration by Claude Dangerfield

PHILADELPHIA — The jazz musician Sun Ra, ambassador from the Airy Kingdom World Tomorrow, creator of Enterplanetary Solar Exploding Music, and founder of the Astro Intergalactic Infinity Arkestra, is a hero of mine.

To my ears he was not only a genius composer, keyboardist and bandleader, but also constantly surprising. One minute he’s playing elevator schmaltz; then he’s making you float on air; then he’s making you deaf. I love that he was a sharp dresser, sort of kingly, sort of queenly, in faux leopard-skin capes and miner’s hats with lights.

I also admire him for transcending existential categories. He insisted he hadn’t been born, but always existed, coming to Earth from outer space, specifically the planet Saturn. Like many immigrants, he was self-invented, but radically so. He rejected being black or white or American or even human. He opted for extraterrestrial and wore his otherness like a crown.

You’ll find evidence for all of this in “Pathways to Unknown Worlds: Sun Ra, El Saturn & Chicago’s Afro-Futurist Underground, 1954-68,” a small, piquant exhibition of art, writing and ephemera related to his life at the Institute of Contemporary Art here.

Read Holland Cotter's full article for the NYTimes here.

The Economy is Tanking

From the NYTimes

The American economy is contracting at its steepest pace in 50 years, the government reported Wednesday, but an unanticipated rise in consumer spending since January suggested to many economists that the worst of the recession might have passed.

The last six months were brutal. Output fell at a 6.1 percent annual rate in the January-through-March quarter after falling at a rate of 6.3 percent in last year’s fourth quarter, according to the Commerce Department. If that pace were to continue, nearly $1 trillion would be wiped out this year from the nation’s economic output of $14.2 trillion last year.

Not since 1958, in the wake of a brief but severe collapse in home construction, has the national economy lost so much ground in just six months. But as tax breaks and government stimulus spending kick in, the decline in the gross domestic product could be cut in half by summer.

“The situation is not nearly as dark as the first-quarter number suggests,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com, echoing the opinion of many forecasters, who see the contraction continuing, but at a slower rate until growth returns late this year or in early 2010.

Stock prices rose, partly in response to this prospect. The Dow Jones industrial average was up 168.78 points, or 2.11 percent, closing at 8,185.73.

The looming question remains the severity of job losses. More than five million jobs have disappeared since the recession began in December 2007. As their wages disappear, households spend less, and business, in response, reduces the output of goods and services, cutting more jobs in the process.

That dog-chasing-its-tail cycle was evident in the latest G.D.P. report, except for consumer spending, which rose at its best pace since the recession began. A sharp drop in fuel prices, economists said, helped to free up money for other spending.

“The biggest wild card going forward is whether that spending can hold up,” said Brian A. Bethune, an economist at IHS Global Insight.

The Federal Reserve’s policy makers, echoing the incipient optimism, said in a statement issued Wednesday, at the end of a two-day meeting, that the outlook had “improved modestly” and that the Fed would continue to pump tens of billions of dollars into the economy to keep credit flowing. To encourage this borrowing, and spending, interest rates controlled by the Fed would remain near zero, the policy makers said.

In a rare public forecast, Paul A. Volcker, a former Fed chairman and now an economic adviser to President Obama, added his voice to the optimism, although cautiously. “I’m not here to tell you the economy is going to recover very strongly in the short run,” Mr. Volcker said in an interview recorded for a weekend show on Bloomberg Television. But he said the improvement was sufficient to avoid a second government stimulus on top of the $787 billion in spending and tax breaks enacted in February.

An obstacle to easier credit, however, might come from the Treasury Department, which said in a report issued Wednesday that it would step up the issuing of 30-year bonds. The funding is needed to help finance the hundreds of billions of dollars that the government is spending on bank bailouts and stimulus. But the quickening pace could force Treasury to raise long-term interest rates to attract enough buyers for the bonds — an action that in turn could impede lending.

Read the rest of the article here.

Scott Campbell @ OHWOW

I first met Scott barefoot at Angelo's 30th birthday blowout and the next time we ran into each other we were on the plane back to New York from Art Basel and hashing it up about growing up in Houston and his artmaking process (working with stacks of money and lasers...f*cking cool.)

Congrats to Scott on his first solo exhibition debuting at the O.H.W.O.W. Gallery a couple weeks ago! Also check out this great interview about life, tattoo and art on Worship Worthy.

Scott Campbell
Make It Rain
April 11 - May 9, 2009
3100 NW 7 Avenue / Miami / Florida / 33127


In what will be his first major solo presentation of his works, Campbell will showcase his unique aesthetic via sculptures, paintings, drawings and photography.

Scott Campbell was born and raised in a fishing camp, perched alongside a muddy bayou in rural Louisiana. With a clever knack for drawing and a fondness of stories, he began his career by doing illustration and assistant editing. Curiosity soon led him to experiment with tattooing and his immediate mastery of the art was undeniable. After a subsequent 18 month stint in Spain honing his craft, he packed up his skills and his tattoo machines and traveled for the next 5 years taking inspiration from the art and folklore of tattoo cultures all over the world.

In 2004, he opened Saved Tattoo in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Since then, it has grown to be the East Coast's premier tattoo shop with a devout following of celebrity clientele. Campbell has the taken the blue collar grit and lore of tattoo culture and extracted a visual language and wit that are supremely refined and deliberate. He has an uncanny ability to tell a story with any medium, flesh or otherwise.

Gelitin @ Tomio Koyama Gallery

From the T Magazine Blog

The gallerist Tomio Koyama represents some of the most influential contemporary Japanese artists and consistently brings new ideas and talent to Tokyo. His current show featuring Gelitin, the four-person collective from Austria known for its provocative installations and performances, is another example of his willingness to challenge us by making us smile while we think.
Bridge to exhibit.

To view the current show you must climb a rickety little bridge, then crawl through a small hole smashed through the wall. As you come through the other side, you see a large installation resembling a traditional Kyoto rock garden.

It’s not until the large garden rocks begin to shift that one realizes that each of them is actually a part of a human body, contorted to fit above the ground. (Since the opening, friends, volunteers and other artists have been filling for the artists as substitute rocks — no small feat when you consider that the gig largely involves being still for hours on end.)

Koyama’s ability to surprise and willingness to provoke a nervous reaction through art has been his gift to Tokyo.

Yummy No.3

With a passion for pre-packaged industrial food, Pascal Monfort and a crew of his creative friends working in art and fashion launched Yummy, a magazine celebrating food the way one might celebrate high fashion. With artful collages of fast food boxes and high fashion models sprinkled in candy-colored, well, candy, Yummy takes an entirely new perspective on fast food—“design, coolness, seduction, trends...all the ingredients for the creative industry.”

Celebrate the new YUMMY 3 with Pascal and Co. this Thursday!

Galerie LAZY DOG
2 passage Thiéré - Paris 11

THURSDAY APRIL 30
19 to 22 hours

Bonbons, musique, drinks & juicy magazine.

SonarSoundNY

In case you're not jumping on a quick flight to Barcelona mid-June, Sonar, the huge Barcelona-based electronic music and arts festival is heading to New York. Celebrating it's 15th year, Sonar is held at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Barcelona with over 30,000 people in attendance last year! This year's Barcelona lineup includes Grace Jones, Animal Collective, Micachu and the Shapes, Ebony Bones, Buraka Som Sistema and special showcases from Ed Banger and Ghostly International. Wikked lineup!

Their debut event in New York, SonarSoundNY, will showcase the best of Catalan and American artists, combining multimedia art ideas with experiemental electronica. The SonarSound NY bill includes installations by Marcel·lí Antúnez and ReacTable, featuring Ikue Mori; the mysterious ambient of Balago; the soundtrack, performed live, by Árbol and Fibla for a film by Taiwan's Tsai Ming-Liang; the extravagant pop of Hidrogenesse; hip-hop in a trio format with the Del Palo Soundsystem; two sets by the Barcelona dj d.a.r.y.l.; the highly unconventional rhythm of the Americans (both ex-residents of Barcelona) DJ/Rupture and Prefuse 73; and visuals by No-Domain.

SONARSOUND NY

8pm - 1am
Baryshnikov Arts Center NYC
450 West 37th Street, Suite 501
New York, NY 10018

All performances are free but RSVP here.

Crawfish Season

This past weekend we experienced 80 degree weather and a taste for the upcoming summer season of events. I met up with my friends on Sunday for Flatbush Farm's crawfish boil, aka an ode to cajun cooking. The restaurant and bar is a favorite hangout serving great drinks (Try the Mo'Stormy, a minty twist on the Dark & Stormy), solid food and a nice backyard patio for those warm spring nights. The crawfish boil was okay—it lacked the kick that I'm used to—but I was kinda horrified that what they called jambalaya was actually just gumbo served on top of some dirty rice. Im a bit of a gumbo snob and I really love the complex flavors of cajun cooking. Check out this great jambalaya recipe adapated from NOLA Cuisine:

Chicken & Andouille Sausage Jambalaya Recipe
2-3 Servings

1 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
1 Cup Andouille Sausage, Diced
1/2 Cup Onion, Diced
1/2 Cup Bell Pepper, Diced
1/2 Cup Celery, Diced
2 Tbsp. Garlic, Minced
1/2 Cup Tomatoes, Diced
1/4 Cup Tomato Sauce
3/4 Cup Enriched Long grain Rice
1 3/4 Cup Chicken Stock
1 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
1 Tbsp Hot Sauce
1 Cup Boneless Chicken Thigh, Diced
(Seasoning Mix: 1/2 tsp Cayenne, 3/4 tsp White Pepper, 1 tsp Kosher Salt, 1/2 tsp Dried Thyme, 1/2 tsp Rubbed Sage, 3 Bay Leaves)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt the butter, saute the Andouille until slightly browned. Add 1/2 of the trinity (onion, bell pepper, celery) saute until tender. Add the Tomato and cook for about one minute, then add the Tomato Sauce, cook 1 minute more. Add the Rice, cook 1 minute. Add the Stock, Worcestershire, Hot Sauce, Garlic, Seasoning Mix, Bay Leaves, the other half of the Trinity, and Raw Chicken. Stir well and bake uncovered for about 30-40 minutes, or until the rice is cooked, but still has a little bite. Top with chopped Parsley, and sliced Green Onions. Put on some Zydeco and enjoy!