Culture and Arts

526 posts

John, Paul, George, and Sarah. Oh, and Their Loyal Dog Glenn

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This second week in February marks a very curious and twisted week of birthdays, anniversaries and milestones in our nation’s history. Particularly the week of February 9-16, 1964. The week began with Americans suffering through an especially cold winter on the East Coast, and the nation still in deep mourning over the astounding death of President John F Kennedy two months before. But the night of February 9, brings a cultural watershed to the nation as intense and groundbreaking as any artistic moment could be when The Beatles do two songs on Sullivan and guitars anhair and suits are never quite the same. The Earth itself seems to spin on a bit of a happier vibe perhaps. Here comes the sun, indeed. But, wait! What do we hear? The sound of an infant’s cries. Could it be–yes it is–it’s Baby Glenn Beck born on February 10 in Everett, WA the very day after the Beatles are on Sulllivan. It is noted he wants to see the Birth Certificates of all his nursery mates. It is noted on his chart he will suck only an American-born teat. But that is not all that would shake the Earth this epic week. Oh no. Why a scant 300 miles to the east a straight-shootin’, grizzly baby was making her own way out of that there birth canal on February 11, hours later and coming on like a true American to have a look-see at the conditions and talk about how she could end the health care coverage that paid for her own delivery. And maybe see if the doctor could get himself a tax cut. Her first wink came seven minutes after birth. It was at the hospital’s CPA. So there it is. Within 24 hours on roughly the same distant American outpost in the far Northwest cameth Sarah and Glenn, born mere hours apart and required by some Jor-El of the Right to wreak havoc and lower the aggregate intelligence scores of Americans well into the 21st Century.

Finally, I could not let the waning hours of February 11 pass without a special birthday shout-out to the Once and Future Governor of My Heart-Shaped Box, Miss Sarah Palin. A humanitarian, a patriot, a thinker, a wise stateswoman, and except for the first three kids, a wonderful mother. Your work towards gaining economic freedom for billionaires has inspired us all. Your spare, humble lifestyle in these tough economic times has been a true model of selfishness. Your hypocritical and unquenchable devotion to God and money is something we will never forget. So on your birthday, you reload, girl! You put targets on Todd and the lamestream media and anybody else who questions your delusions. Who are we to shatter the illusion of a small-town, not-very-bright, but prettier-than-average, girl from the Great North Woods turned multi-millionaire on the twisted fantasies of your disciples. This is your day, SP! The one freakin’ holiday you don’t have to share with those folks who aren’t true Americans cause they’re gay or Muslim or Navajo or something.

Photo Phriday: Collectibles with Crassitude

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Baubles. Tchotchkes. “Family heirlooms.” Whatever you call ’em, we’ve all got ’em in our bedrooms, parents’ living rooms, basements, backyards, and bathrooms. You pretty much take them for granted until you’re older, about to move, and out of boxes. We’re all hoarders on the inside, and that’s what makes us special.

So for this week’s Photo Phriday, SHOW US YOUR KNICK-KNACKS! What sort of crazy crap is cluttering your nightstand (or desk, or dresser, or kitchen table, or spooky attic, wherever)??

Of course, for many of us, this is our first week at this ol’ WordPress here, and unfortunately, there’s no “insert photo” button in the comments. But don’t worry! It’s so easy, you guys, it’s just the simplest thing in the whole wide world, to upload these photos and share your kickshaw. Just follow these helpful tips:

  • This is the magic computer code you use to make pictures appear: <img src=”PHOTO URL HERE“>
  • And it’s “photo URL“, not “photo file.” See, Crasstalk is a stubborn mistress, and she doesn’t accept gifts from your hard drive–only from the internet. Upload your photo to Facebook, Flickr, TinyPic, or any other online photo hosting site.
  • Or, if it’s something of which there’s more than one in the world, you might wanna just see if there’s a picture of your chosen knickknack online somewhere.
  • So for instance, let’s say I want to share with you all a photo of, oh, I dunno, my stepdad. But I don’t have any photos on my computer of him, and he’s out getting wasted again at the Applebee’s bar. Luckily, I find a picture of him online and insert it like so:

<img src=”http://www.stepdadsgettingitonwitheachother.com/passed-out/shirt_unbuttoned.jpg“>

  • I go to the site in question, browse new pics for about a half hour (optional), subscribe to the site’s RSS feed (also optional), and then find the image of my dad. I right-click the picture (Ctrl-click, if I’m on a Mac) and select “View Image.” A new page appears, with just my photo on it! Oh boy.  Now all I do is copy-and-paste the URL and plug it into the img src html code. Voilà!

I’ll go first. What you’re looking at (above) is a fake-gold genie lamp. My grandma owned two antique stores once upon a time, so when I was younger I’d sometimes hang out there for hours, just gazing upon all the brooches and vintage pins, examining Depression-era dolls, flipping through first-edition Mark Twain paperbacks, and other stuff like that. It was all very cute and lovely and, now that I think about it, maybe the first clear sign that I was gay. My grandma gave this to me one Passover, and it’s been in my bedroom ever since.

Ronit Baranga

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Ronit Baranga is an Israeli artist whose sculptures and tableware range from creepy to whimsical and hit every rung in between.  Her creations give inanimate objects life, with mouths, fingers and faces.  All strange and nameless.

Baranga studied Psychology and Hebrew Literature, but realized art was where her love lay.  After graduating Haifa University, and Tel Aviv University with her degrees, she migrated to Bet Berl College to begin her studies of Practical Art. Ever since, she has been shooting out impressive works of art. Unfortunately Baranga has only shown in Israel and Italy so seeing these works up close is not yet a possibility for most of us.  I’m sure the photos of these pieces are nothing compared to viewing them in person.

The difference between Christianity and Judiasm

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My girlfriend has a couple who is her best friend.  They’s good people, with two great kids.  They’re going skiing with us next weekend up in the Sierra Nevadas.  The kids are coming as a matter of circumstance, not by choice.  Neither of their parents can watch them because the dad’s parents are taking care of his grandfather who just entered hospice.  The mother’s parents can’t take them because her mother’s sister just died.  She had some disorder where the body produces too much blood.  She bled out of all of her orifices because her stomach ruptured due to the excessive blood production.  That’s a horrible fucking way to die.

My girlfriend’s friend is getting her Master’s.  There’s some screwup with her enrollment, and last week, she wasn’t able to attend class.  The friend calls this a blessing, because she was able to go to her mother’s house for her birthday instead of class.  This is when her mother found out that her sister was being taken to the hospital.  We live in Bakersfield, CA.  The mother and the aunt live in Tehachapi, which is 45 minutes east.  The hospital they were taking her to is in Bakersfield.  It’s a blessing because this woman was able to drive 45 minutes east, just to turn around and drive back to go to the hospital.  It’s a blessing that she was able to run laps.

Here’s where the difference hits.  If you’re familiar with the Old Testament, it’s a rough book.  The Jewish outlook on life seem to be, “It’s all shit, but when you die it gets better.  But make no mistake about it, it’s all shit.  And God is a prick.”  The Christian outlook is, “It’s shit, but when you die, provided you adhere to these rules, it gets better.  But make no mistake about it, it’s all shit.  And God loves us, so any modicum of happiness you’re able to get out of this is thanks to Him.”  Anything good, He gets the credit.  Anything bad, well that’s how it goes.  Judiasm is “My parents got shot right in front of me, and now I’m alone.”  Christianity is “My parents got shot right in front of me, but I was given this candy bar, so I got that going for me.”

This is one of the main reasons I don’t believe in God.

Art Appreciation – Albrecht Dürer

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The new art must be based upon science — in particular, upon mathematics, as the most exact, logical, and graphically constructive of the sciences.

– Albrecht Dürer - (1471 – 1528)

Self-portrait When you think of the Renaissance, you probably think of da Vinci,   Michelangelo, or another Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. You should also think of Albrecht Dürer, and not just because he was pretty face. He was also a theoretical mathematician who applied his findings to his art, making leaps and bounds in representing the scale and proportion of his subjects.

Praying Hands

Ask any art student what the most difficult thing is to draw and 9 times out of 10 you will get “hands” as your answer. Dürer nailed them. And since figurative art apparently wasn’t challenging enough, he painted landscapes, religious iconography, plants, and architecture. He studied animal forms and reproduced them in previously unimagined detail. Not satisfied with simply painting, Dürer created woodcuts and copper engravings to make prints. He made a couple of astronomical maps, too. Oh, and he was a published author on geometry and human proportions in art.

So, yeah. Leonardo et al. were geniuses, but Dürer was geniuser.

Going Green…Internally

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Last month, while pondering what I wanted to do differently in 2011, I thought about what I put in my mouth.

For about seven years (age 14-21), I was a vegetarian. Back then, there weren’t nearly as many ready-to-eat or veg-friendly ingredients carried in regular grocery stores. Now, even Wal-Mart has organic and veg-friendly options.

Needless to say, I fell off the veg wagon and was OK with that for many years. Then, in 2010, after putting on some unwanted weight, I started working out with a trainer. I still didn’t change what I was eating, but knew that would need to change sooner than later.

While identifying what I wanted to change in 2011, I wrote down that I wanted to institute vegan Mondays and Wednesdays each week to force myself to really think about what I’m putting in my mouth and to start preparing healthier meals for myself.

A friend told me about the Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine and their 21-Day Vegan Kickstart program. I signed up, bought a few recipe books, and put together a meal plan for the first week.

Since January 2, 2011, I have been eating a plant-based diet and I feel great. Seriously. I’m a life-long insomniac, but have been sleeping really well lately. Also, I find myself waking up and wanting to get out of bed. My body feels energized. Usually, I felt sluggish around 2PM or 3PM while sitting at my desk. Last week, I breezed through that time with ease.

I’m now in my second week and feel like I could do this for much longer than 21 days.

Of course, it helps that I love to cook and throw stuff together in the kitchen. It also helps that I live in a city where there are tons of vegan-friendly restaurants in addition to the options available in the grocery store.

Because of my access to veg-friendly options, I consider myself quite lucky to be able to even do this. I know not everyone in this country has easy access to quality, fresh vegetables, which is something that needs to change.

Being on a plant-based diet has made me realize how important it is to keep track of what’s going in my body if I want it to continue working properly without slowing down.

Vegan Lasagna

1 10-ounce box frozen chopped spinach, thawed (or a bunch of fresh spinach, rinsed well and chopped)
1 Butternut Squash, peeled, seeded and cut into small chunks
4-5 Fresh basil leaves or 2 tablespoons of dried basil
1 container of firm tofu
5-6 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon salt
About 2 jars of marinara sauce (or use your own)
1 cup of vegetable broth
About 12 dry (uncooked) whole-wheat lasagna noodles
1/4 cup nutritional yeast

Preheat oven to 325°F.

Place the cut butternut squash in a large pan or stock pot. Pour in enough water to cover the squash. Put on medium-high heat and cover. Cook until the squash is tender. Remove from heat and drain.

In a food processor, add the cooked squash, garlic cloves, and tofu. Purée the ingredients. While the processor is in purée mode, slowly add in 3/4 cup of the vegetable broth. When all ingredients are mixed, turn off the processor.

In a large sauté pan, add 1/4 cup of vegetable broth and the spinach. If using fresh spinach, sauté until it’s wilted. If using frozen, sauté until it’s warm. Remove from heat and add in the marinara sauce. Mix together.

Coat the bottom of a 9″×13″ pan with the marinara/spinach mixture, then add a layer of lasagna noodles, overlapping noodles slightly. Then, spread on a heaping amount of the butternut squash-tofu mixture to cover the noodles. Then, add on another layer of lasagna noodles. Repeat this process again. The final layer should be the marinara/spinach mixture. Sprinkle nutritional yeast all over the top.

Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 1 hour. Stick a knife through the center of the lasagna to make sure the noodles are completely cooked. Let cool for about 15 minutes, uncovered, before serving.

Enjoy!