Le planning 2010 blu ray de Fox est déjà bien chargé.

En janvier

Mash

Tora ! Tora ! Tora !

Le peuple migrateur

Mai-juin

Les sentiers de la perdition

Minority report

Décembre

Abyss

Roméo et Juliette & Moulin rouge (versions Luhrmann)

Quadrilogie Alien (remasterisé en 4k)

La mélodie du bonheur (remasterisé en 4k)

THE HOBBIT

Mixes from JRR Tolkien’s Book Audio Recordings by: himself & others

Mixed with Music from: 311, Information Society, They Might Be Giants, Loreena McKennitt, Enya, Ozzy Osbourne, Deepforest, and Baka Beyond

Hobbit 01 Bilbo & Gandalf

Hobbit 02 Dwarves

Hobbit 03 Trolls

Hobbit 04 Rivendell

Hobbit 05 Misty Mountain Goblins / Gollum

Hobbit 06 Eagles / Beorn

Hobbit 07 Spiders

Hobbit 08 Wood Elves

Hobbit 09 Laketown / Lonely Mountain Dragon Smaug / Bard

Hobbit 10 Battle of Five Armies

*

THE LORD OF THE RINGS

Mixes from JRR Tolkien’s Book Audio Recordings by: himself & others

Mixed with Music from: Juno Reactor, Nine Inch Nails, Enya, Erwin Beekveld, Information Society, Maury Laws & Jules Bass, and Velvet Acid Christ

LOTR 01 Bilbo & Gandalf “Party Business”

LOTR 02 Frodo & Gandalf “Keep It Safe”

LOTR 03 Rivendell “Council of Elrond”

LOTR 04 Ringbearer & Sam “The Ring Is Enough”

LOTR 05 Moria Drums, Orcs, & Balrog “You Shall Not Pass”

LOTR 06 Isengard “They are Taking The Hobbits” Orc vs Uruk

LOTR 07 Ents, Treebeard / Enya “Memory of Entwives”

LOTR 08 Mordor Orcs Marching, Nazgul “Whip Way”

LOTR 09 Riders of Rohan & Minas Tirith “King Théoden & Aragorn”

LOTR 10 Frodo of the 9 Fingers & The Ring of Doom / VAC tk3

All the prizes are in, manifests/spokecards are done, kegs are cold, food is set and It looks like the weather will be good to go for tomorrow. This event is rain or shine. Food and drinks will be provided after the race and throughout the night. Come out and celebrate our grand opening tomorrow. We’re giving away $2500+ in prizes!!!! See you in 18 hours…

And because is friday… i present you our “local office pub”: The Wilmington… for us just Wilmo!  This is a quite big pub with lots of space inside and also if is always packed, we like it because it’s very cosy and all the people working there are very nice. So, on top of the fact that it’s the place were we use to have parties, weekly drinks, leaving dues and all the rest, with the time someone discovered it’s also a very nice place to have lunch…especially on friday.

In the menu there are the classic burgers, soups and english pub dishes, but what makes the place so famous in our office are its amazing English Pies!

I have to admit i never had one before just because i can’t stand the meat inside these pies…they seems so heavy and strong taste that i was never interested in trying them, but here everyone was speaking so much about these pies that i had to give a try… just delicious!

My happiness was to find there a vegetarian pie too, with goat cheese and sweet potatoes… it’s the best! I than tried a bit of the porky one, that was good too, but nothing to do with the VEG one. The combination of sweet potatoes and cheese is just perfect and the pastry of the pies is fabulous, not heavy, not salty or hard… it was just right.

I don’t know if you have never tried and english pie, but if you come to England i suggest you to go for these, avoiding the well known fish and chips or baked potatoes! It’s worth it and for lunch, it’s just perfect!

PS. Mamy queste te le devo far provare la prossima volta che venite. Invece delle solite patate che ci prendevamo, vi porto in quest’altro pub per farvi assaggiare le english pies, delle tipiche tortine rustiche inglesi. Invece di riempirle con uova, verdure e formaggio, qui le fanno con la carne e nei modi piu’ strani. Dal maiale con i pezzettini di mele, alla carne di manzo con le cipolle carammellate o con il pollo. A me quelle con la carne non fanno impazzire, ma questa vegetariana che ho provato era buonissima: formaggio di capra e patate dolci ( che pensa a me solitamente non piacciono) ed era un accostamento fantastico. E poi la pasta della tortina e’ meravigliosa. Viene fame solo a vederle in foto!

For the past three years, instead of running around and trying to find individual Christmas gifts for my friends and family, I make it simple by giving everyone the same thing: homebrew.  It’s usually a pretty mild porter with a hint of cinnamon and ginger, giving it the dark, spicy character that lead me to call it ‘Gingerbread Porter’.  This year however, I find myself amongst Norwegians: drinkers of pale, bland, under-lagered pilsners, often with more than a hint of fruitiness.  When I tell ye average Norwegian that I brew my own beer, the first question I get is usually “Is it very dark?” or “How sweet is it?”, often accompanied by a certain suspiciousness.  There are a few microbreweries that have taken a stand as far diversifying the selection and improving the craft of Norwegian-brewed beers (Nøgne Ø, Haandbryggeriet, etc.) and quite a few good beer bars, but a good majority of the population still clings to the light, mass-produced crap that is so ubiquitous.  Hence, this year I am taking a new tack, disguising my full-bodied christmas beer in a lighter tone, giving a subtle flavor and aroma of traditional Norwegian christmas cookies, and using belgian yeast (my saison went over well here).  I would consider it a belgian christmas-style pale ale, but since I am in Norway, I dubbed it Pepperkake Juleøl.  It came out a medium golden color, with the sweet, spicy aroma of gingersnaps from the addition of aromatic malt and a trio of spices, and due to the cara-pils and wheat malts I used, it should have good head retention!  Speaking of which, I think I’ll put some nice beer glasses on my wish list…

This is my brewing setup: two canning pots with electric temperature controls, one for the HLT and kettle, and one with a false bottom for the mash and lauter tun.

Decocting the mash after the beta-amylase rest.

Stir, stir, stir!  Careful not to foam the mash, though…

The thing I like most about decoction mashing (other than better mash efficiency) is that I get a really good hot break!  You can see the amount of coagulated protein in the boil very clearly.

Pepperkake Juleøl

O.G. – 1.069

F.G. – 1.012 (projected)

I.B.U. – 46

A.B.V. – 7.5 % (projected)

Malt:

12 lb. Muntons lager
1 lb. Castle wheat
0.5 lb. Castle CaraVienna
0.5 lb. Castle CaraPils
0.25 lb. Castle aromatic

Hops:

90 min – 0.75 oz. German Northern Brewer (10.53 % AA)
15 min – 1 oz. East Kent Goldings (4.5 % AA)

Misc.:

10 min – 4 oz. fresh grated ginger
10 min – 1 oz. cinnamon sticks
10 min – 0.5 oz. whole cloves

0.5 l Wyeast 1214 (Belgian Abbey) starter

Directions:

Mash in with 16 l of 136.5 F (58 C) water; protein rest @ 125.5 F (52 C) for 30 min. Raise temp. to 149 F (65 C); beta-amylase rest for 30 min. Decoct the thickest 1/3 of the mash, bring to 161.5 F (72 C); rest 20 min.* Boil decoction for 20 min., stirring gently yet constantly, and return to mash to reach 161.5 F (72 C); alpha-amylase rest 20 min. Sparge w/ 27 l of 175 F (79.5 C) water, running 27 l to kettle. Boil 90 min, adding hops and spices as noted. Chill to 70 F (21 C), aerate, and pitch yeast; primary fermentation @ 68 F (20 C) for 7 days. Rack into secondary; store @ 60 F (15 C) for 21 days. Krausen** or bottle w/ 5.5 oz. sucrose (that’s right, table sugar); store @ 70 F (21 C) 7-14 days. Chill and serve!

*Optional step; I added the single decoction because my wheat malt was poorly crushed – gelatinizing the grain seemed to help get a better extraction, as well as adding a certain malty character and coagulating some of the protein pre-boil.

**Also optional, when I’m in a hurry to get the beer carbonated I like to krausen, or use priming sugar as well as an active yeast starter.

Yes, you heard right!  After passing our Health Department inspection last week, then scrambling around to get ingredients ordered, we managed to pull together our first brew session this past Saturday, the 14th of November.

Being our first batch on this system, we figured it would be a very long, hard day of work, and we were certainly right about that…From start to finish it took us 19 hours!  Somehow though, there seems to be just a little bit less stress knowing that we have beer in our fermenters.

Here’s a few photos of the day.  We were scrambling around so much for the first half of the day though, we didn’t manage to get any pictures of the mash-in.  Oh well, there’s always next time….

Here’s my dad setting up to do some transfers.  The pump he’s working on is receiving the mash run-off and transferring it into the kettle.  The pump in front of him is pumping the hot water into the mash tun for our sparge.

You’ll notice most of these pictures look a little hazy…We were surprised at just how humid it got in there throughout the day.  Downright tropical even.

And here’s part of the source of the humidity…our sparge arm (on the right).  For those who don’t know, sparge is a German word meaning “rinse”, so we’re basically just rinsing our mash with hot water.

Here’s a better shot of the sparge arm in place and in action.  I’m looking on, getting a nice steam bath…

Actually, I’m just watching the sparge level to make sure the grain bed isn’t getting too exposed and dry as the wort flows out of the mash tun and into the kettle…

Ah, the first wort flowing into the kettle…a beautiful sight!

Ting watches as the kettle fills…

…and then…

…the boil begins!

Here’s the spent grains in the mash tun, after all of the wort has been run-off.  I know it doesn’t look like much…but remember this is a mild, so you really don’t need a whole lot of malt…

Either way, you’ll notice there is no “grain shute” from which to eject the spent grains.  So in other words, climb in and start shovelling!

Okay, well, skip ahead a few steps (because we didn’t manage to get any pictures taken in-between) and here’s our yeast pitch, ready to add to our chilled wort as it flows into the fermenter.  Pretty cool to have a giant package of yeast with our name on it!  7.5 liters worth of yeast in fact.  The homebrewers out there will recognize the 1098 number on the yeast package too…

And finally, here’s a picture of our finished wort!  Yeast pitched and ready to begin fermenting.

And the exhausted brewteam, ready to call it a day!  Until next time…

Thanks to Mike Martin of Mash SF and Martin Clothing for the prize package. More to come…

And so to begin in earnest with a question. How many sausages would you eat as ‘a portion’? Think on, think on… (and perhaps answer the poll?)

It seemed fitting that I started my recipe writing with one of the dishes that I clearly remember learning when I was young. Incidentally,  the other recipe I remember from my youth was learnt at school during a very brief stint in home economics when we weren’t colouring in pictures of ‘kitchen danger’ or  food group charts. Whilst everyone else in the class, without exception, did pastry-based pizza, I got all maverick with spaghetti bolognese. I’m sure it wasn’t the best, but even then I was proud to be a little more adventurous with my food.

My Grandma is a great cook, if finding it a little difficult to keep up with it these days. She taught me one that, between my sister and myself, has become a family legend. It’s simple, classic, amendable if necessary, and goes smashingly with an autumnal afternoon and creamy mash.

In terms of your sauce, you have more options. English pressed apple juice is great as it is less sweet, regular apple juice goes up one on the sweet scale, and cider can vary depending on what type you get. I told you it was adaptable…

Oh, and have you thought of your sausage-to-portion ratio yet? I’d go for three or four per person, but then I’m greedy, as you’ll see. Maybe two or three would suffice here, so eight to ten in all…

Grandma’s Sausage Casserole

Serves 4

You’ll need

• 8-10 of the best tasty sausages you can find – look out for a taste test on here one day soon (hmmmm….)
• 1 large onion, sliced
• Around 400ml apple juice/cider (see above). You may need more or less – use your judgement!
• 1 tsp whole grain mustard
• Dried sage and oregano, or just dried mixed herbs (or 8 or so leaves of fresh sage if available)
• Salt & pepper
• Cornflour or plain flour to thicken if necessary
• Olive oil

Do it!

1. Heat a little oil in a large frying pan or pan (the heavier the base the better) and brown the sausages all over for about 4-5 minutes)
2. Push the sausages to one side and add the onion, frying it until soft.
3. Add the mustard and a good pinch of whatever dried herbs you fancy. Mixed herbs are OK, but sage is probably best. If you’re using fresh sage, fry it for a few seconds before you add the mustard, so as to release the flavour into the oil.
4. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper.
5. Pour over the juice or cider to cover the sausages and bring to the boil.
6. Turn down the heat, cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes.
7. Uncover for the last 5-7 until the sauce is thickened to your liking.
8. If the sauce is too runny, use a spoonful of liquid to mix with a little flour or cornflour and return to the casserole.
9. Season to taste and serve, giving yourself an extra sausage for the trouble!

Every meal is a battle in my house, it is down to one key part of my diet. I grab the packet from the shelf and i get hisses of hate from my housemates. This is down to the potato that i decide on – Smash!. Many would agree that normal mash potato is tasty, but as i found out last week – it takes a lot longer to make therefore affecting the overall meal.

My friend and I decided to cook together, i would buy the main course and he would buy the wine. The wine was not the best – £3.49 wine from The Co-op. But combined with my cooking skills and the scent of cheap wine, the meal was coming on well. This was until I informed my friend that i was going to cook Smash as a side dish to the main course. He was not very happy with this choice,  he was sickened! He decided to make his own mash with normal potato’s and it took about 20 hours! And my Smash was ready in seconds!

Summary:

Smash is potato being 93%  Potato and the rest is goodness!

Mash takes ages and tastes horrible!

I thought I’d start a side-category called ‘Golden Oldies’ where I can put up some classic ads from the past. This one always makes me smile… stupid Earth people.

A couple of related facts:

• Viewers were not insulted at being called “a most primitive people” by the metallic creations – sales soared and the Martians received so much fan mail the agency which made the commercials, DDB, had to prepare special literature to reply to them;
• Smash was one of the ‘orphan’ brands (brands which hadn’t left the shelves but had left our minds) which was given a revamp in the noughties. Others were Cinzano and Rubiks. Interestingly… “One of the factors which unites a lot of these brands is that they had extremely iconic advertising at the time,” said Tom Blackett, of the branding consultancy Interbrand;
• Smash was made by Cadbury (now Premier Foods). Maybe that’s not news to many people but I didn’t remember that from my youth, I only remembered the laughing robots and jingle;
• The advert was voted TV ad of the century by Campaign , and 2nd best television advert of all time in a 2000 poll conducted by The Sunday Times and Channel 4.

Ryan's secret tool: the potato ricer

The Technique: Mashed Potatoes

Fact: mashed potatoes are best when made with a potato ricer! Every restaurant I have worked at has always used a ricer to give their mash a creamy consistency that you don’t get from mashing (too lumpy) or whipping (often overworked and starchy). Bring salted water and floury potatoes to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until very tender. Pass potatoes through a ricer and combine with butter and crème fraîche – add a splash of milk if too thick, and season with salt and pepper to taste.

For mustard mash: add grain mustard and dijon to the potatoes and mix thoroughly.

The Recipe: Onion Gravy

* 2 tbsp olive oil

* 2 red onion, thinly sliced

* 2 tsp soft brown sugar

* 2 tbsp plain flour

* 600ml hot beef stock

* 200ml red wine

* 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

Heat the oil in a large frying pan, add the onion and sprinkle with the sugar, then cook gently, stirring from time to time for 12-15 minutes or until the onion is lightly caramelised. Sprinkle the flour over the caramelised onion, stir and cook for 1 minute, then gradually stir in the stock, wine and Worcestershire sauce. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and leave to simmer gently until thickened.

We were also asked to recommend a veg as a side for the sausage and mash. My initial reaction is: there are onions in the gravy, but if you really want to go for one of your five a day, I think it should be something that can stand up against the rest of the meal. I think that kale wilted with garlic, shallots, balsamic vinegar and a little butter would accompany this nicely – and it’s seasonal! If you don’t like kale, you could always go with spinach. Maybe a side with this dish isn’t such a bad thing after all.

- Ryan

The Reborn Identity from 1086 Productions has cut Mashed in Plastic – The Movie! You can watch the full movie via Vimeo or head on over to M.I.P. DVD to download a copy there. Roll on Blu-Velvet Ray!

MASH (Altman 1970) follows the wild, rebellious antics of the drafted medical personnel of the 4077^th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) through the films episodic plot.

Some Really Sharp Surgeons – Set during the Korean War, three miles away from the front lines, the film opens with the arrival of two replacements, Capt. “Hawkeye” and Capt. “Duke”. Despite the duo making quite an opening impression (hitting on the women, drinking all the time etc) they are very good at their jobs. After getting off on the wrong foot with the overtly religious man Burns, with which the two share a tent, later both of them pressure their superior Lt. Col. Blake to have Burns removed from their tent.

The New Chest-cutter – The new thoracic surgeon that was request earlier by the duo has arrived and little to nothing is known about the man. Finally after a quick football scrimmage, Hawkeye’s memory is jogged and he recognizes the new surgeon as the quarterback of his opponent Dartmouth, Capt. “Trapper”, where he scored the only touchdown via interception.

The New Chief Nurse – The new camp chief nurse, Maj. Houlihan arrives at the camp to take a look around and give a quick inspection of the place. In the mean time Trapper sees Burns blame an orderly for the death of a patient for being too slow getting him a needle. While Houlihan is making her way around the camp, she comes across many issues in the camp, such as when Trapper confronts Burns about the incident earlier and punches him for it.

Kiss My Hot Lips – While Blake is off visiting the 325^th Evac Hospital, Trapper leads the camp on a drunken rebellion, which infuriates Houlihan, leading her write a report about the rebellious activities with Burns tagging along, ending with them giving into their desires. During their sexual escapade, Trapper and his gang decide to broadcast this over the camp’s loudspeakers, where Houlihan gains her nickname “Hot Lips”. The next morning the group jokes at the two and Burns tries to attack Hawkeye after a series of taunts, leading to his shipment back to the US.

Suicide is Painless – The camp chaplain consults Hawkeye about an issue with “Painless Pole”, the best equipped dentist in the army. After talking to Painless , it is revealed that he believes himself to be potentially having homosexual thoughts after performance issues with a camp nurse. Afraid of turning into a “fairy” he decides to kill himself, after falling asleep from the “black capsule”, which was suppose to kill him, Hawkeye convinces once of the nurses to spend the night with Painless curing him.

A Natural Blonde – After finding out Dukes preference to blondes, they joke at him having a thing for Hot Lips, to which he bets that she isn’t even a natural blonde. To find out the truth the gang schemes a plan where all the nurses but Hot Lips are distracted on the way to the shower. Then the group gathers around the shower tent where on cue the tent flap is lifted up exposing a nude Hot Lips, who then rushes off to voice her opinion of the camp rebellious activities to Blake, who seems unconcerned.

The Pros from Dover – Trapper and Hawkeye go to Japan to operate on the son of a congressman, finding this as a golden opportunity to golf. The two barge into the hospital and quickly get the surgery over with only to be met with ineffective threats by the hospital commander afterwards.  Later that evening while resting the two are informed of a baby with serve medical problems, using the military hospital to operate. The hospital commander tries to stop them, but they knock him out and blackmail him by taking pictures of him with one of the whores.

The Football Game – The commander of the 375^th Evac Hospital while visiting Trapper and gang suggests that the two sides have a football match, with 5-6k being the prize. After pulling some strings and requesting neurosurgeon “Spearchucker”, who used to play professionally, the gang comes up with a scheme to make some cash. Keeping Spearchucker out for the first half, keeping the other side confident they come back to win, finishing with a “semi-legal” final play. Shortly after this Hawkeye and Duke receive discharge orders and return home.

This so called “war” film is in reality a satirical, dark comedy film carrying an anti-war message, as well as challenging many traditional American values. The most obvious target of this film was none other than the ongoing Vietnam War at the time, which many questioned for having no clear goal or purpose. The film was at first going to be during an unnamed war, but at the request of 20^th Century Fox titles and the loudspeakers were used throughout the film to help clarify that this movie was certainly not about the current ongoing war. The trio known as the Swamp (Duke, Hawkeye and Trapper) are all highly anarchist men who completely dissociating themselves with the military, resentful of being drafted. Another breakdown of both traditional war films/ American values is on religion where Christianity in specific was ridiculed. This can be seen in scenes such as when Burns says a prayer in front of his bed, where a mob comes through singing a song about soldiers going to war for the sake of Christianity or before Painless plans to commit suicide a mock last supper takes place.  Also Hot Lips aka Maj. Houlihan attributes to the women movement having a position of considerable power in the camp (even though this does little to help her handle all the problems surrounding the Swamp) and being in the “regular military”, showing women gaining more respect and equality from men. Also in the last episode racism is also explored briefly in the film, with the main African-American’s nickname being “Spearchucker”, as well as the usage of racial words such as “nigga” and “coon” during the football game.

Breakdown of the censorship code is also seen throughout the film with the heavy use of gore, sexuality and profanity in the film, which the produced felt was so much that the film was un-releasable. The gore was most obvious during the surgery scenes that frequented the film as well in the hospital or at the beginning of the film where the helicopter is transporting injured bodies to MASH.  The heavy use of sexuality is almost as prevalent as the gore in this film, with sex being something that the personnel of MASH openly talk about and take part in, such as the broadcasting of Burns/Hot Lips tryst over the loudspeakers or the several occasions when personnel lustfully make-out with each other. Women are shown nude as well at several times in the film such as in photos or magazines that the guys have or the most memorable example would be when Hot Lips is fully exposed in the shower. The film also explores themes of homosexuality as well, such as when Painless talks about him possibly being a “fairy” or when the some men of the camp line up to see Painless in the shower, one man remarking to another guy, “I’d love to see that angry.” Profanity is also something that is not seen as much in the film as the other two but is still used, the most famous example is when the word “fuck”, being the first use by a major film studio, is used by Painless during the football game in the last episode.

The film doesn’t stop there by messing with both conventional values and the censorship code but takes it one step further by messing the genre itself. I find that this film fits into both burlesque proper and demythologization. The movie is blatantly obvious with its satirical, comedic tone. In some scenes these serious tones with absurd, sill humor directly clash with each other, such as when Hawkeye asks a nurse to scratch his nose with performing an amputation, the sawing through the bone matching with the scratching of his nose. Another example when the Hot Lips is introduced to everyone during surgery, people stopping to have conversation with her, completely forgetting about their job momentarily. The film also shows the demythologization of the war film genre. Despite being merely three miles away from the front line, the personnel doesn’t seem the least bit concerned about the issue, only being concerned with booze, women and creating chaos. The only thing that the group does seem to take seriously at all is in their job in surgery. This is very different from a standard war film, where everything in the film is viewed in a serious manner, and certainly not having a light, comedic tone which is seen in this film. Also the fact that never once in the film, is actual fighting ever shown, the film entirely focuses on the medical team, which is quite unusual for a war film.

Overall I found this movie very enjoyable and quite different from what I was excepting from the film. Despite the heavy abuse that Altman received during the film by his actors trying the get him fired, due to his insane methods, the film became a huge success that was overlooked by 20^th Century Fox for their two more prestigious war films also being filmed at the same time. Even in this early film Altman’s trademark is imprinted such as his frequent use of overlapping/simultaneous conversation, which can be seen throughout the film with Blake and his secretary or the frequent use of zooms.

Let me just start off by saying that M*A*S*H is awesome.  Directed by Robert Altman, one of the Primary Wave directors, this film is a classic example of that first wave of the Hollywood Renaissance movement of the 1970’s.  If you didn’t think that adding comedy to the Korean War was possible, watch this movie.  You will laugh inappropriately and incessantly.

The main character is established immediately, and Donald Sutherland plays does an amazing portrayal of one Captain “Hawkeye”—expert surgeon and morale-booster.  His antics are clever and hilarious.  I really feel that Hawkeye’s character set the tone for the film, with his light-hearted whistle and constant use of clever sarcasm with the men in the camp.  He was a revered schemer, and was therefore able to get away with mostly anything.

So the censorship codes broke down, allowing Altman to film oh so very many otherwise inappropriate scenes.  For instance, the priest copulates with the new nurse, which is scandalous in and of itself.  But when the men place a microphone underneath the bed and broadcast their romp throughout the loud-speakers in the camp, Altman pushes it to the comedic limit.  This scene dubs the nurse “Hot Lips” by all the men in the camp, which is a theme carried throughout the picture… that I absolutely love.  This embarrassing broadcast forces the priest into a straight jacket, and as he is taken away from the camp in a Jeep, Altman shoots a close-up of his face behind the flames of burning trash, symbolizing his infidelity.  Another controversial scene is Hot Lips’ shower scene.  She begins to shower in the communal shower, which is covered simply by a tarp.  The men gather around, begin to play musical and instruments to accompany her singing, and then suddenly, drop something on top of the shower stalls that forces the tarp to pull up, leaving Hot Lips fully exposed to all the men.  What makes this scene even WORSE (better) is her confrontation with the Colonel Blake, the man in charge of all the rowdy men.  She enters his office fuming, only to find him in bed with a woman, sipping whisky.  She rants about how out of control all the men are, and threatens to resign, only to be told to “calm down, and resign.”  All of these honorable soldiers representing the United States abroad have lost their morals, but not their morale.

That is, except “Painless Pole” Waldowski.  Waldowski fails to perform sexually with a nurse in the camp, which leads him to belief that he is, in fact, a homosexual.  Because he simply cannot face the agony of breaking up with his three fiancées back in the United States, he resolves to commit suicide.  He divulges his plan to Hawkeye (Donald Sutherland), and a brilliant sequence of events ensues.  They host a final supper for Waldowski, place him in a coffin and surround him with memorabilia, as the men sing the song “Suicide is Painless”.  He ingests a “black pill” that is meant to ensure a successful suicide, and awaits death.  The black pill is in reality a sleeping pill, and while he sleeps, Hawkeye sends a nurse, on her last night in the camp, into his room and it is implied that the two have sexual relations.  Painless Pole awakens the next morning completely cured of his depression.

Another breakdown of censorship codes is evident in the scene in which the two “expert” surgeons are performing their surgery in Japan.  The commander in charge of the hospital in Japan is dismayed by their presence and their rejection of rules and regulations.  He attempts to stop them from operating in the way they see fit, and it met with a gas mask.  While he is unconscious, the men pose him, naked, in bed with a Japanese woman, who is also, of course, naked.  They took pictures of the two to use as blackmail against the captain, just in case he tried to interfere with his “rules” again.  These men had no rules—they did what they wanted the way they wanted, even if that meant denying authority.  This scene also represents that film industry’s new tactic of targeting niche audiences, particularly, the counter-culture demographic.  The “hippies” and “yippies” were all about sticking it to the man, and these men did just that, in only the best way possible.

All of these scenes, and the underlying theme of the entire picture, is the basic breakdown and challenging of traditional American values.  Representing these United States army men abroad as animals, hilarious animals but still animals, and their superiors as such weaklings spoke loudly about the inadequacy of America’s fighting forces, and more importantly, the relevance of these wars they were fighting.  This representation says that when you take the respected American away from home, he does things he would otherwise ever be expected to do.  He drinks, he whores, he steals, he becomes venal, an alcoholic, and anti-war.  This concept—the concept of men made dishonorable in being forced to fight dishonorable wars—was a chic, attractive movement of the period.  Satirizing war was in, supporting war was out–thus, M*A*S*H had enormous success.

Some good mash ups…this group doesnt switch songs as often as mashup artists like girl talk, the milkman, or super mash bros.  all of the stuff i’ve heard tends to stick to a small number of songs the entire way through.  This one’s called “Eminem Front”.  It uses samples from the who, eminem, and clipse together.  I can’t find it on youtube but here’s a mediafire link

http://www.mediafire.com/?fhaxzy2yn4v 

and a hypem.com link if you just want to listen http://hypem.com/#/track/956918/The+White+Panda+-+Eminem+Front+Eminem+vs+The+Who+vs+Clipse+

They also have one called “Golden Encore” that i like even more but I cant find it on youtube or any other website besides hypem.com.   its a mash up of Jay-Z’s “Encore”, OneRepublic’s “Apologize”, and The Whitest Boy Alive’s “Golden Cage”. i’m not sure if an mp3 is available anywhere but you can give it a listen here:

http://hypem.com/#/track/925148/The+White+Panda+-+Golden+Encore

Here’s one more with Wiz Khalifa’s “Burn after Rolling” mixed over “Walking on a Dream” by Empire of the Sun…this ones pretty catchy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6-xeOm4qc4

mp3 download http://www.mediafire.com/?rgmifjyyjje

Advertised as  a pub, bistro, and sports bar: I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from The Standard. The view from the street gives no indication of the cavernous room within. On the night we visited the rain was so heavy we were glad of our table at the back where we could forget the elements for a while.

It’s a grand looking place. The high ceilings, comfy red chairs, dark tables and candlelight alongside the big TVs make this New Town venue inviting even if you’re not a sports fan.

From a list geared towards the New World, I was offered a taste of a gorgeous light and zingy Australian chardonnay (£14.95). So good in fact that my ale drinking companion was convinced to share a bottle, despite an impressive list of draught and bottled beers.

The menu has all its bases covered, with burgers, sandwiches, fajitas and steaks all making an appearance. To start shared bruschetta (£4.95) from the bar snacks menu. So often bar food is deep fried and thrown on the plate like an afterthought. But this was crisp yet doughy ciabatta, loaded with sweet tomatoes, red onion and chives. We had no problem cleaning the plate.

Having been told it was a staff favourite I plumped for the mussels in white wine, cream and garlic (£6.95). The staff must be discerning because they were very tasty indeed; steamed to perfection with just the right balance of creamy richness and acidic wine.

My partner’s Crombie’s veggie sausages (£8.50) were served with an onion jus and a choice of mash. A brave man, with a penchant for fromage, he opted for the blue cheese, which he described as “serious”. The less cheesy among us could try garlic, truffle, pesto or chive.

Full, but impressed, we decided to squeeze in a dessert of American waffles and ice cream (£3.95). These were a bit too doughy and bland for my taste, but the sweet, sticky chocolate sauce helped us finish them off nonetheless.

The Standard has set its own pretty high. Great drinks, fresh and thoughtfully prepared food and friendly service make this a top spot whether you‘re watching sport or not.

24 Howe Street, Edinburgh, EH3 6TG, 0131 225 6490

www.thestandardbar.co.uk

Published in Bite Magazine October 2009

so half of sb was in shropshire yesterday, half was in singapore.  with the obamachine.  (not actually with.  at the same time as). and he’s in singapore, not shropshire.

the one half of sb was concerned about the other halfs (halves?) eating.

as the concernee, i had a nice night thanks and  this is what i just had to eat.

kind regards  x

(for no reason other than picked up my old external drive and not heard this for ages  - dinosaur jr, freak scene)

We’ve got Vigorelli’s and SuperCorsa-Pista’s in stock. Don’t forget about the Cinelli MASH frame pre-order also. These frames are part of a very limited production release. Get yours while you can.

Last week, I discussed the folly of hating on a film because it dares to be “formulaic”. Some of the most wretched frameworks put to a storyboard deserve further scorn, but before I jump into that mineshaft of PCBs, I want to mention a few more movie molecules that have earned some love:

And the band played on… - Films about musical ensembles take a big risk in their allocation of valuable screen time to songs that audiences have likely never heard. There’s a chance of a massive tune-out, especially if the music does not fit the ideals imparted by the film (does anyone really believe that Wayne and Garth would place the Quarterflash-style cheesepop of Crucial Taunt in their disc changer?). A clever way around this gamble was perfected in That Thing You Do!: instead of hoisting an entire performance of the tune into the movie, employ a small snippet of the song in a scene, such as a rehearsal or live performance. Insert action where the protagonists wax nostalgic about (fabricated) romantic conquests, then cut to dialogue between two nervous parents, as they hand-roll cigarettes and whine about that Devil-music keeping Jimmy away from the big game. Follow with another rehearsal, featuring a verse, chorus, and maybe a bridge. Repeat as necessary.

As a music obsessive, this does Oneders for my appreciation of the songs within a film. During a 2002 interview with Pitchfork, the irrepressible Lou Barlow spoke of Folk Implosion appearing within a film called Laurel Canyon. (Lou changed the name of the band to Foke Implojun after completing his contract with Interscope – I crap you negative.) Laurel Canyon successfully marries the piece-by-piece strategy utilized by Tom Hanks and Co. with a prototypical LA story of fallen romance and the generational divide. Frances McDormand plays a Joni Mitchell-esque record producer that is struggling to reconnect with her son, portrayed by Christian Bale (the behind-the-scenes featurette does not answer the obvious questions: did Bale go ballistic towards the crew, and does his business card feature a color called “bone”?). The two songs performed by the Coldplay-aping band (“Shade and Honey” and “Someday”, both sung by actor Alessandro Divola), written by Sparklehorse’s Mark Linkous, are fantastic. Don’t miss Lou, Russ Pollard and Imaad Wasif in deep concentration, only to interrupt the rock with their fake British accents.

Also worth a drive to the lone indie rental shop is Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains!, which features Laura Dern and Diane Lane as the leaders of a punk-rock band on the rise. It is pure adrenaline to watch them battle the Looters, which featured some nobodies named Paul Simonon, Steve Jones and Paul Cook. (Cook’s daughter Hollie is an emerging singer-songwriter in her own right, and Jones was the host of a radio show for LA’s Indie 103 entitled “Jonesy’s Jukebox”, which is sorely missed. I especially loved the episodes featuring Patton Oswalt and his witty retorts to the song requests of random callers: “Can you play any Rascal Flatts?” “NO WE CAN’T! Next caller, you’re on live, what do you want to hear?”)

If you got Eddie, than you got me, too – also known as The Reunion. The Blues Brothers is a wonderful example of this molecule. Reuniting the boys requires taking the Bluesmobile on the beach, offering to purchase diners’ children, transforming the Dixie Square Mall into a drive-through (and inspiring the creators of a little game called Grand Theft Auto – Vice City), standing up Twiggy at a hotel, and dusting off their suits after their residence explodes. The Blues Brothers is a rare band-related film in that the impact of the music is not compromised, despite the violation of the split-the-song-into-pieces principle above (biopics – real or imagined – are able to execute this because the songs are already familiar to the audience. We already know “Great Balls of Fire”, but not “Earache My Eye” from Cheech & Chong’s Up In Smoke).

Of course, most examples of this formula have nothing to do with music. George Clooney figured out that every couple of years, he can bring together his best friends, party like its 1969, and what the hell, even get a movie out of it, too. The Ocean’s films offer the perfect chance to emulate our fellow Kentuckian by serving as a grand excuse to meet your buddies, toss back a few Old Fashioneds (bourbon, not brandy – this ain’t Wisconsin), and collectively bask in the relief that Danny Ocean has finally located that expert safe-cracker he so desperately needs to complete the heist.

Most of the Hal Ashby – Robert Altman canon still awaits my viewing, however I have made significant headway during the past few years. M*A*S*H follows this formula to the hilt, as Hawkeye and Trapper, when not stealing Jeeps, faking suicides, and teaching youngsters how to read, assemble a formidable gridiron squad. California Split reunites a duo of degenerate gamblers in a film that would have been a huge hit if released in 2004. Here’s Elliott Gould again (in his prime, was anyone cooler?), and his talented foil (George Segal) realizing, like Hall & Oates, that they are far more victorious as a team.

Sometimes the whole “getting the band back together” formula can be used for sinister purposes. When the owner of the 1919 Chicago White Sox nixed his promise to increase player salaries, he created a fertile environment for skullduggery, hornswagglery, and -dare I say it – monkeyshines. Eight Men Out reminds us that pining for the “good old days” of sport’s innocence is a ridiculous conceit. There’s great fun in rooting on Chick Gandil and his Burt Cooper-esque sidekick as they power through every psychological trick in the book, convincing just enough of the team’s stars to throw the series (for Lefty Williams, all it took was the corralling of star pitcher Eddie Cicotte). Watch Studs Terkel (RIP) circle individual plays in the scorebook, identifying the ones that look fishy. Gandil’s gambit is a success – the team loses! But when the dirty money never materializes, the real double-crossing unfurls.

While technically residing within the confines of the small screen, the sweeping narratives of The Wire and Mad Men have been cited as “mega-movies”. In the beginning of The Wire’s season two, and the finale of Mad Men’s season three, we witness the frantic reassembling of the gang. While The Wire’s outcome was never in doubt, especially as eleven more episodes awaited (was McNulty really going to spend the whole season on harbor patrol?), there were reasons to speculate a new direction for Mad Men, especially after the lack of resolution concerning Sal. What gave the finale its energy was the specter of PPL and McCann’s nefarious plans to do away with Sterling Cooper’s subtle creativity in the face of tragedy. This formidable opponent, coupled with the quest to rebuild the team (enter Joan!), makes Mad Men the charming hybrid – or M*A*S*Hup, if you will – of Hawkeye and Pierce’s football antics with the closure of The Wire’s reunited crew of specialized talent.

A couple of months back filmman did a post on several movies that he couldn’t understand why they were considered classics. Inspired by that, I’ve decided to start off a similar discussion on TV series and have listed a couple of acclaimed TV shows whose appeal I’ve largely missed. I could’ve listed more but decided to limit it to ones that would be known internationally.

Curb Your Enthusiasm –Despite the enormous critical acclaim and cult popularity it has received and despite me being a big fan of ‘Seinfeld’, it took me a long time to getting around to seeing this series. Indeed, the fact that Larry David was the star and creator of this show made this more appealing as I felt ‘Seinfeld’ went into dismal decline in its last couple of seasons once he left.

I eventually got around to watching Series 1 (made in 2000) recently and while it did have some inspired moments, overall not only did I not find it particularly funny but at times it was an ordeal to get through as David’s character is either such a obnoxious dolt or he is put in such painfully awkward situations that it’s painful to watch. Sure, you could argue similar things about ‘Seinfeld’ but imo they were a lot more entertaining to watch.

Even the genuinely funny moments (such as the obituary in the ‘beloved Aunt’ episode) were usually based on a Borat-style shock humour instead of genuine wit and cleverness.

If I’d watched this when it was released back in 2000, I would’ve said it was a vastly inferior, lazy retread of Seinfeld and would never catch on. So much for what I know.

M*A*S*H – There’s probably no other series from the 1970s that has endured as much as this show did. Here in Australia, it has been repeated constantly on both free-to-air and pay-TV since it finished its run over 25 years ago and continues to have a strong following. It was enormously popular with critics over the course of its tenure, being nominated for multiple Emmys in each of its 11 seasons. And today, it’s probably considered the highpoint for American sitcoms in the 1970s.

But for all that, while I’ve enjoyed aspects of the show it’s never been a show I’ve particularly admired. In part because most of the characters were tediously one-note; Frank Burns was almost always obnoxious and stupid, Sherman Potter is always shown to be wise, Hawkeye Pierce always is rebellious yet does the right thing, etc… Even by sitcom standards the character behaviour I found regularly telegraphed and that made the show rather deadening for me.

The other reason I’ve never really taken to the show is in relation to the 1970 Robert Altman directed film that it came from. That film had a much more harsher tone and with more layered, believable characterisations. The heroes of the movie Hawkeye and Trapper John almost venture into ‘anti-hero’ territory in that while they often attack those who deserve ridicule, they on occasion can be abrasive and cruel. These ‘anti-hero’ elements were absent from the TV version (perhaps not surprisingly considering the medium) and on occasion heavy-handed moralising took its place (especially in the latter seasons of the series). In that context, it’s no surprise that Altman apparently hated the TV series.

Today the reputation of the M*A*S*H TV series has probably surpassed that of the movie, which is understandable in a way because – having gotten rid of the rougher elements of the film – it became a much more agreeable package for a wider array of people. But imo the film is clearly the superior effort.

Anyway, feel free to add your ‘classic’  TV shows over the years that you think are overrated.

I am just finishing up a mash up of “Dueling Banjos” and Brad Paisley’s “Welcome to the future.” Will post audio soon. It sound awesome. Now I just need a singer as awesome as Brad to add vocals.