Foodie Friday - Jinky's

So, I know, I blipped for the entire month of April. No blog posts, no music, no movies, no spices - how have you coped?!

Well, I'm back. I'm still in the depths of preparation for my thesis production, 'PAINS OF YOUTH', but I'm certainly over the hump and likely able to blog more.

Off for lunch with a friend I haven't seen for months - another casualty of this directing life! - at Jinky's cafe in Santa Monica. Yes, I will be having Chili Fries.

How are you?

Wild Card Wednesdays - Hammershoi

Nothing very wild today.

Here's a photo for you to ponder. It's proving the centrepiece of our visual approach to 'Pains of Youth'. It'll be beautiful!

Tuesday Tunes - ADELE

...she gets capital letters a) because Wikipedia says that it's the 'alternate styling' of her name, and b) because I'm shouting her name.

Just. Brilliant.

At dinner last night with the lovelies, Cian Kate and Simon, she came up in conversation and this led to several screenings and playings and YouTube clips. All enhanced by copious amounts of wine, Earl Grey tea and Milk Tray. (See? No point in doing the no-chocolate thing until I get out of Dublin. Srsly.)

Anyway - Adele is marvellous. Put Dusty Springfield, Nina Simone, Billie Holliday and a pinch of KT Tunstall in a blender, serve chilled and raw, and you have some idea of how great she is. Admittedly I really didn't care for 'Chasing Pavements', but anyone who sees and isn't moved by this video - of her singing her heart-squeezing ballad 'Someone Like You' at the Brit Awards, and then breaking down, gently, at the end - likely shouldn't be reading this blog.

Movie Monday - Cyrano Agency

I'm on a Korean movie buzz at the moment, and must confess that I LOVED this silly caper from last year. Yay for Netflix and its brood, making such random and hard-to-find items accessible for people like me!

Quirky, cute fun, with a clever concept and very cool actors. Go see!

Sunday Spices - Juniper

Ok so the main reason this spice is showing up this week is because I've been painting the town red (no, not green) this week partying every night! Well, not partying. But not NOT partying either. I think the earliest I got home was about 1am. Woot!

Juniper is used to make gin. And sauerkraut. I consume healthy quantities of only one of these.

;)

Seasonal Saturdays - Grandparents

Last weekend we had a service in memory of my grandparents, followed by lunch at the house for those who were free to come. I really love family gatherings, usually the bigger the better (since there's more room for rolling eyebrows and whispered conferences!)

Here's a photo, from lunch, in the dining room ;)

Foodie Friday - The Rustic Stone

I seem to love any restaurant with the word 'Rustic' in the title. The latest resident of the corner of George's St and Exchequer St in Dublin 2 is The Rustic Stone, a venture into hearty and heart-healthy cooking by Dylan McGrath.

I had the minestrone to start, which was magnificent, bolstered by really delicious chorizo and some filigree cheese around the wooden bowl in which it came. Then I had the pasta pesto, which came with MORE cheese, but was also delicious - the black olives were a great touch. Deciding to be decadent, I had the chocolate soup for dessert - literally on the very brink of being 'too much' - but not quite ;)

Good wine, nice ambience, great service, excellent food. A replacement for Gruel? Not quite. Or, at least, not yet. But definitely worth a visit.

30 Mad Thursdays - Buy a Suit

So, my plan was that by the time I'm 30 I should own at least one stonking good suit. This will likely be the result of various other 30 before 30 challenges and projects (not least saving the money to buy one!) - but in the meantime I had a fun time this week getting suits for my brother and me for his wedding in September.

He and his bride-to-be are extremely well-organised, and in keeping with this I had the whole thing organised in about 90 minutes. Including trips to several shops and department stores! But the suits that we found are lovely, and will look great on the big day.

Now, back to saving to buy THIS - or something comparable. Why are Boss suits so outrageously expensive?!

Wild Card Wednesdays - Gerry Haugh RIP

Of course, sometimes in life the wild cards that come our way are bad rather than good. This week's was a particularly tough deal - Gerry Haugh, much beloved teacher at my Alma Mater, Belvedere College SJ, passed away very suddenly. His contribution to the lives of students, and his enormous charitable and philanthropic work, are pretty much immeasurable. May he rest in peace.

Tuesday Tunes - Kylie/Folie/Aphrodite!

Wow.

(And not just because that's one of her songs!)

Kylie's Aphrodite concert is just astonishing - from beginning to end. Wisely aware that she cannot get by on vocal production alone, Miss M has put together a vast spectacle - purportedly costing about $25 million - that features lifts, wheels, boys, girls, acrobats, golden horses, flying angels, videos, a temple, Venus' shell - oh, and a water show comparable to the Bellagio in Las Vegas. Not even kidding.

THIS WILL BE A DVD TO OWN!!!

Here's the setlist...


"The Carnival of the Animals" (Instrumental Introduction)
"Aphrodite"
"The One"
"Wow"
"Illusion"
"I Believe in You"
"Cupid Boy"
"Spinning Around"
"Get Outta My Way"
"What Do I Have to Do?"
"Everything Is Beautiful"
"Slow"
"Confide in Me"
"Can't Get You Out of My Head"
"In My Arms"
"Looking for an Angel"
"Closer"
"There Must Be an Angel (Playing with My Heart)"
"Love at First Sight" / "Can't Beat the Feeling"
"If You Don't Love Me"
"Better the Devil You Know"
"Put Your Hands Up (If You Feel Love)"
Encore
"On a Night Like This"
"All the Lovers"

And a little bootleg video to whet your appetite and whip up your jealousy ;)

Movie Monday - Norwegian Wood

I am a big fan of Murakami Haruki. (Who isn't?)

Very excited about the pending release of his three volume novel 1Q84, which is due, in English translation, in October of this year.

Tiding us over until then, this month saw the release of a new film version of one of his most popular novels, Norwegian Wood, by the Vietnamese director Anh Hung Tran.

Obviously any transfer between media insists on compromises and changes to the source material, and I think this adaptation is commendable for its depiction of a mood, a moment, a memory. The acting is all superb, as is the soundtrack, provided by the impossibly cool Jonny Greenwood - as well as an appearance by the eponymous Beatles song.

I think what I loved the most were the subtle references to life in Tokyo at the time - several scenes featured the protagonist walking through and around Waseda University during the enormous student revolts in Tokyo in the late 1960s. This ex-Waseda student can happily report, too, that scenes really were filmed in the drama department of Waseda!!!

Pleasing accuracies aside, however, the film is rather hard work. Its rhythms are hypnotic and disruptive in equal measure, and its emphasis is substantially different from the book, as are some of the characters. But I didn't go to the cinema to 'see' the book, so that's alright.

Seasonal Saturdays - St. Patrick's Day

So, St. Patrick's Day - and likely its concomitant hangover - has been and gone, and the parades have passed by, and the green clothes are all in the laundry.

But I do want to share one extremely cute video that I saw marking the day. Well, screw it, why not two. The first is the Muppet homage to the day, and the second comes from the ever-popular 'Give Up Yer Aul Sins', an animated film which gave visual life to stories told by Dublin children in the 1960s. Here, for the week that's in it, is the tale of St. Patrick. I hope you enjoy it.

Foodie Friday - Il Caffe di Napoli

We took my dad out for a nice dinner last night (after his team was beaten in rugby) - at Caffe di Napoli on Westland Row in Dublin.

I had the most indulgent thing I think I've eaten in a very long time - a steak served with a delicious sauce (its base was balsamic vinegar) and then topped - get this - with pate! Waaay too luxurious to be even remotely healthy. But delicious.

And so filling that I don't think any of us had any room for dessert! (Although I sent Aidan and Orla home with a box each of chocolate pretzels ;)

30 Mad Thursdays - Tutankhamun

First of all, Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Now, a confession. I have been utterly obsessed with ancient Egypt since I was in Miss Caffrey's 2nd class and had to do a project on the pyramids. I was mad about it all - am still fascinated, admittedly, but so many other great things have captivated my impressionable imagination in the last 22 years that the ancients have had to move to the back of the mental filing cabinet!

Over dinner in Santa Monica recently, Orla mentioned that a big Tutankhamun exhibition was coming to Dublin, and I suggested that we should go - despite the fact that everything in it is a fake. Well, meticulous reconstruction is probably more approrpriate - you wouldn't believe how good these 'fakes' are!

My mother trekked across to London in 1972 when King Tut's treasure trove toured the world in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of its being discovered, and she was always very indulgent of my fascination with Egypt. So, it was quite bittersweet to 'see' them all - certainly as close-up as I will for a good while before they are viewable again in Cairo - without her.

And no, I didn't buy any tat while I was there. I sold more than a lifetime's worth of King Tut Tat in Past Times all those years ago, TYVM.

http://www.kingtutdublin.ie/home/

Wild Card Wednesday - MANGINA JONES

So, I managed to get to the Olympia Theatre on Sunday night, where one MISS MANGINA JONES was crowned Alternative Miss Ireland 2011. Truly the most extravagant, exciting, enthusiastic and electric night I've had in years! (And despite all of those adjective

s, no, I was not off my face on E.)

Miss Jones' rendition of River Deep Mountain High was quite the most fabulous thing Dublin can have seen in aeons - and the crowd duly went bananas for her after it was done. BANANAS.

Doubtless you'll be hearing a lot more from her in the not-too-distant future. Long live the Queen ;)

Tuesday Tunes - 30 Day Song Challenge

This has been a fun Facebook meme of late. Over-achiever that I am, however, I did the whole thing in about a week. And then, weirdo that I am, I deactivated my Facebook account. I'm curious to see if all my posts are still there when I get back - if not, worry not, the list will now be preserved here, but not, alas, with all of the pithy fun comments that came with...!

01 - Your favourite song

Moon River - Henry Mancini's Orchestra

02 - Your Least favourite song

Eiffel 65 - Blue Da Ba Dee

03 - A Song that Makes You Happy

Spitz - 君と暮らせたら

04 - A Song that Makes you Sad

Laura Branigan - Over You

05 - A song that Reminds you of someone

J Lo - Do You Know

06 - A song that reminds you of somewhere

Madonna - Jump

07 - A song that reminds you of a certain event

Stevie B - The Postman Song

08 - A song that you know all the words to

Madonna - Like a Prayer

09 - A song that you can dance to

Devdas - Morey Piya

10 - A song that makes you fall asleep

Chopin - Nocturne

11 - A song from your favourite band

Faithless - Bombs

12 - A song from a band you hate

Radiohead - Paranoid Android

13 - A song that is a guilty pleasure

Lady Gaga - Born this Way

14 - A song that no one would expect you to love

Dubliners - Rare Old Times

15 - A song you liked in high school

Aqua - Turn Back Time / Cornflake Girl - Tori Amos

16 - The first song in your mp3 folder

Kylie - Aphrodite

17 - A song you hear often on the radio

Rihanna - Only Girl in the World

18 - A song you wish you heard on the radio

Nina Hagen - Personal Jesus

19 - A song from your favourite album

Xavier Cugat - Perfidia

20 - A song you listen to when you're angry

Allegri - Miserere

21 - A song you listen to when you're happy

Roisin Murphy - Ramalama

22 - A song you listen to when you're sad

Cyndi - I'm gonna be strong

23 - A song you want to play at your wedding

Tracy Chapman - The Promise

24 - A song you want to play at your funeral

Mozart - Lacrimosa

25 - A song that makes you laugh

Tom Lehrer - The Elements

26 - A song that you can play on an instrument

Chopin - Raindrop Prelude

27 - A song you wish you could play

Rachmaninov - Paganini Rhapsody

28 - A song that makes you feel guilty

Triantafyllos - Mia Zoi

29 - A song from your childhood

London Palladium Cast - Joseph Megamix

30 - Your favourite song at this time last year

Nervous - Melissa Etheridge

Movie Monday - Downton Abbey (Skit)

Ok, so this isn't quite a movie. But it' s brilliant! After the tremendous - and thoroughly deserved - success of Downton Abbey this winter, it's probably no surprise that Comic Relief set their twinkling eyes on it for a big skit this year. With a cast even more stellar than the original it lampoons, it is one of the funniest things I've seen in ages.

Joanna Lumley is beyond brilliant. And Victoria Wood's 'gaffe' will have you giggling for days :)

If by any chance you haven't managed to see the original yet, it's really worth a look - the best costume drama that has emerged in several years.

Sunday Spices - Masticha

Masticha is a Greek herb/spice/flavour. It's most often used to make liqueur, but also features heavily as a flavour of chewing gum and in ice-cream. It's almost impossible to describe, but for me it is the ne-plus-ultra of summer flavours! (Probably because it's just about the only one that one CANNOT get outside of Greece. It's invariably grown on the island of Chios - hence it being known as Μαστίχα Χίου)

I was reminded of it yesterday while I was on the plane - an elderly woman flying to Chicago was chewing on it. I would have asked her for some, but for the fact that I actually saw her empty the entire yellow packet of gum into her bejowelled gob and munch on them all the way through the flight.

Thank god for the noise-cancelling headphones...!

Seasonal Saturdays - March

Yesterday I had the honour of attending the Themed Entertainment Association summit in Universal City - it is basically an event where all the year's winners of THEAs (the awards given by the association for special achievement in various categories within the industry) present their works and achievements.

The Expo in China dominated the morning, and Harry Potter did the afternoon - all fascinating presentations and brilliant achievements. Perhaps the most interesting to me, however, was the presentation by Martello Media of the new museum at Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin. Certainly I think I must have been the only person in the room who could claim to have an immediate family member buried in the cemetery!

The beginning of March also marks the birthday/anniversary of said family member, my brother Kevin. He died before I was born, but somehow he has always figured in my consciousness, as I wonder what it might have been like to have an older brother, blazing a trail here or there for me. Oh well. Hopefully I've done a good job of doing so :)

Foodie Friday - Butler's Hot Chocolate

After my pontificating yesterday about giving up Chocolate, I was thinking about all the kinds of chocolate that I love, and would therefore miss. I'm no particular fan of chocolate soup, or any chocolate involvement in savoury items - although the mole negro at Monte Alban in Santa Monica is tremendous.

I was pretty much raised on drinking chocolate, mind you. It was a ritual in our house that at least two of us would have a cup of drinking chocolate (NOT cocoa) every night before bed. In France, on our camping holidays, my parents would often adjourn to the bar after putting us to sleep, where my mother would always have 'un chocolat chaud'. Last summer, in Samos, I had a very lovely cup of it, in the little dining area of a lovely cheapo hotel, much to the bemusement of the smiling Greek lady who prepared it for me.

I am looking forward to visiting Butler's Chocolate cafe in Dublin while I'm home - they make it quite beautifully. Somehow, though, I always associate their plush styrofoam cups with travel - probably because the two outlets of their franchise that I frequent the most are the ones in Heuston Station and Dublin Airport!

UPDATE (March 17th) - Orla and I had a delicious pair of hot chocolates, and a pear muffin, of all things, on our day of fun meandering around the city centre. Mission accomplished!

30 Mad Thursdays - Give Up Chocolate

As part of my whole 30 Before 30 growing up self fulfillment project, I have been seriously considering giving up Chocolate. Clearly not forever, but for a specific length of time. Not because I feel I am addicted, or because necessarily I eat too much of it, but mainly because I've been reading a lot about the effect it has on people - serotonin and all that - and I'm very curious to see if I could at least go without it long enough to cleanse myself completely of its influence. And then see how I feel.

But CLEARLY I won't be doing any such thing until after my trip to Dublin. A fortnight without even a taste of some lovely Cadbury's would be a fortnight wasted. If you don't know what I mean, you're missing out.

More on the chocolate-free lifestyle in April - provided of course that it doesn't kill me. Or anyone else, for that matter ;)

Wild Card Wednesdays - The Turn of the Screw

Our resident diva professor of design wrangled a bunch of tickets for the dress rehearsal of Jonathan Kent's production of 'The Turn of the Screw' tonight at LA Opera, and I was really glad to see it.

I've never forgotten how much fun I had PLAYING Miles in the play version (The Innocents) all those years ago. The opera is not quite as terrifying as the play, since the music - or maybe just the staging - prefigured a lot of things and painted things in strokes rather broader than the subtle horror of the Henry James might really need. That said, it is pretty amazing music, and it was extremely well-sung.

Tuesday Tunes - Janet Jackson

I kinda love and hate Janet Jackson. All her music sounds relatively the same - but surely this can equally be considered the mark of a truly consistent artist, and/or a commercial machine? It's all so sultry, smooth, or poppy and fun. She can sing, she can dance, she is part of the most famous pop family EVER, and so on. But somehow she never quite gets under my skin the way various others do. That said, her music always manages to crop up in my memories of times throughout my life, and she's pretty amazing regardless!

But I still kinda really wanna go see her in April. Anyone wanna come with?

Movie Monday - Le Grand Chef (1 AND 2!)

After two rather dark and depressing films in recent weeks, I'm happy instead to be bringing you a pair of fun ones, very appropriate to this blog. They are Le Grand Chef, and its sequel, Le Grand Chef 2 - Battle Kimchi. I saw the first one on a plane to or from Japan, probably in 2008 or so. It's all about a Korean competition wherein guys wind up cooking blowfish, to predictably dramatic and hilarious results. The sequel, rather wonderfully, is all about kimchi and what the idea of 'Korean' food might be.

Needless to say, both are filled with great humour, warmth, exuberance and charm - just like the majority of Korean people I know!

Trailers below :)

Sunday Spices - Thyme

Did you know that thyme has a fascinating history?

(DID YOU CARE?)

Ancient Egyptians used thyme for embalming. The ancient Greeks used it in their baths and burnt it as incense in their temples, believing that thyme was a source of courage. It was thought that the spread of thyme throughout Europe was thanks to the Romans, as they used it to purify their rooms and to "give an aromatic flavour to cheese and liqueurs". In the European Middle Ages, the herb was placed beneath pillows to aid sleep and ward off nightmares. In this period, women would also often give knights and warriors gifts that included thyme leaves as it was believed to bring courage to the bearer. Thyme was also used as incense and placed on coffins during funerals as it was supposed to assure passage into the next life.

(Thank you Wikipedia)

I just use it in cooking. Apparently it's good for you.

Seasonal Saturdays - SPRING BREAK

I'm so excited for Spring Break. It's my last one as a student here at UCLA. Clearly I should be heading for Florida or Acapulco or Vegas to get trashed and end up in photos like the one above, but actually I'll be flying to Dublin.

After spending the winter in LA and NOT travelling (not least because of the horrific snowy weather that beset Dublin during the holidays) I am chomping at the bit with the prospect of getting back to Ireland for a bit. Here I come!

Foodie Friday - Kebabs vs Burritos

The true star of the Fast Food scene in Dublin has to be AbreKEBABra - "where the food is only magic". I won't comment further, apart from stating that I have never eaten there. And likely never will. That said, here is photographic evidence that Ireland's finest - Colin Farrell and Keith Duffy - both have been there. At least once.

What is it with mankind and the obsession to roll up rough-chopped meat in bread, pittas, kebabs etc? Don't get me wrong, it's delicious on occasion, but why would anyone think it a good idea to eat such things on a stomach already filled with Beer???

What do I know.

There are no such kebab chains in LA, unfortunately. But we do have Chipotle - which, I learned recently - is worth something like $4BILLION to the young fella who set it up, comparatively recently, with a loan from his dad. Maybe someone should tell the magicians of Abrakebabra that they should think bigger?!

30 Mad Thursdays - The Man With the Flower in his Mouth

In continued translator-spirit, I finished another piece this week - a short but wonderful play by Luigi Pirandello, 'The Man With The Flower in His Mouth'.

Any takers???

UPDATE - In Dublin this week I learned that it was in fact the first play that my hero/mentor directed. Fancy that!

Wild Card Wednesdays - iPad 2

Dammit, Steve Jobs, you need to stop this.

I really didn't think I'd want or need the iPad 2. I get a lot of use out of my iPad 1, but you and your cruel/awesome game-changing ways have just made it pretty impossible to resist.

I hope you're happy. I hope I'LL be happy with it. We'll talk in April after my tax returns...

Love/hate,

Conor

Tuesday Tunes - Miserere

I really love the baroque stories that surround Allegri's Miserere. That it was for performance ONLY in the Vatican's Sistine Chapel during set times on the Wednesday and Friday of Holy Week. That, over the course of the performance, every candle in the chapel (apart from one that remained unseen) was extinguished, one by one. That anyone who transcribed or stole it would be excommunicated. That apparently Mozart heard it once, and DID transcribe it - all sixteen vocal lines - but did return on the Friday to make minor corrections. That the ban on publication was lifted thereafter, since the fourteen-year-old genius had ruined its exclusivity.

But most importantly, I love this piece because it is so arcane and yet so very movingly human. The gorgeous lyrics, both in Latin and in an English translation, are available in Wikipedia and need not trouble us here.

But here's a nice recording of it, which I hope you'll love.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eh31j6L95Ok

Movie Monday - Biutiful

I didn't really 'get' the trailer for this (although I loved the Alexandre Desplat music that it stole from 'Lust Caution' - but it was Iñárritu, and Bardem, so I was very glad to hear that it was finally playing at Laemmle's in Santa Monica.

What a dark, quiet, devastating film it is. Bardem plays a father, in contemporary Barcelona, who is down on his luck and working multiple schemes to support his children and the various underdogs and victims he cares for in the shady side of city life. Oh, and he can also speak to the dead. To say any more might give things away, but suffice to say it is a must-see. Bardem is among the most interesting actors we have today - and how great that he continues to stretch himself and take on challenging, difficult roles.

Sunday Spices - Basil

Every time I watch a show on Food Network, I seem to see someone preparing a 'chiffonade' of (ie poshly-chopped) basil. It's the 2011 must-have, or must-do in the kitchen.

Basil is a great herb, though, and good and strong - really makes its presence felt! I like that - so often you include something and it doesn't quite have an impact. Take parsley, for instance. Can you actually tell what parsley tastes like? Or am I just doing it wrong?

Thanks to the lovely new blender/chopper thing my aunt and uncle got me for Christmas, I've been making all kinds of sauces and soups in recent months. The most recent success was a really delicious pesto, which came out extremely beautifully. (Pesto = basil, pine-nuts, a bit of cheese and some olive oil. Easy!) I made a variety of little treats with it, but my favourite was the roasted chicken breast, stuffed with pesto and cream-cheese and wrapped in bacon. Sound too good to be true?! Actually, if you cook it right, all the fat drains out and it is a rather guilt-free but flavour-filled triumph. Have a go!

Basil is also making its way into cocktails and mix-drinks at the moment. More to follow ;)

Seasonal Saturdays - The Met Opera

So actually I managed to see my first ever broadcast from the Met only this month. Disgraceful, I know, but I'm more than making up for it, since I'll actually get through at least three before the end of this quarter. (Or at least before the end of Spring Break.)

And what a three to get through - Peter Sellars' NIXON IN CHINA, Gluck's IPHIGENIE EN TAURIDE (with lighting by our dear UCLA professor and resident genius, Neil Jampolis) and then Mary Zimmerman's LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR, with everyone's famous pint-size French megastar, Natalie Dessay.

Funniest part of the Iphigenie broadcast - the moment when, just as the maestro was getting into position, the live feed from Dessay - as MC - was not switched off, and people all across the world, happily congregated to hear and see Gluck's incredibly beautiful opera, heard the soprano mutter "I fucked that up!". She really didn't. For someone whose English is apparently not great, she did a terrific job.

The opera itself is such a beautiful piece - quite, quite devastating. And Stephen Wadsworth's production has some really splendid moments. You'll be wanting this when it comes out on DVD...!

Foodie Fridays - Shamrock Shakes

Well, to be sure, tis the season for everything Oirish again. Begorrah.

(The US seems to relish Paddywhackery far more than was ever evident in Dublin, be Jaysus...)

However, nothing at all says St. Patrick's Day to me like the reappearance of commercials and posters for Shamrock Shakes at McDonalds. Can there be anything better than a mint-flavoured sugary milkshake to wash down your burger and fries?

What I didn't know - and I must thank the ever-brilliant Michael K of dListed for this - is that the Shamrock Shake actually has a MASCOT. His name is Uncle O'Grimacey. Apparently he even had his own commercials, in the dim-and-distant past. Thanks to the glorious interweb, I can share this with you...

March 17th is actually my father's birthday. So it tends to be more about him than about greenery, snake-banishing and hardcore drinking at my house!

30 Mad Thursdays - Modern Noh Plays

So, I did a manic bunch of work this week and finally got through my translation of 'A Requiem for Genji', the one outstanding Modern Noh Play by Yukio Mishima that hasn't been translated into English. Major coup, I'm very proud of it. (Most fun 'independent study' ever!!!)

I have been working on translating ALL of the MNP for several years now - about five, I think? - and it's definitely been one of my 30before30 to get them done, at last. I think I'll try to publish them, too!

Wild Card Wednesdays - Aphrodite

I just remembered that I'm going to the curiously double-named Aphrodite/Les Folies Kylie Minogue tour at the O₂ in Dublin next month! CANNOT WAIT.

I have never been entirely enamoured of the stuff that Kylie does live. I really enjoyed the tour that was filmed 'Live in Sydney', but everything since then has been very over-done (William Baker, I'm talking to you - and if you're reading this, hire me and I'll make you better). BUT this newest show seems to be inspired by showgirls and follies and Esther Williams, and will be a return to happy shiny sparkly Kylie, as opposed to wannabe-relevant-dark-deep-Damien-Hirst-crystal-skull Kylie.

Also, I was very burned out by the Hollywood Bowl concert - venue too big, show to small - so I'm happy to see her perform on a bigger scale. MUCH bigger. And Perez Hilton won't be in the audience.

UPDATE (post show, I didn't cheat and check before!!)

LOOK AT THE MODEL FOR THE SHOW!

Tuesday Tunes - Mary Black

Mary Black is an Irish singer. if you haven't heard of her, go and hunt down her work through which ever online challenge you prefer. She's marvellous! She's been pumping out the tunes for well over two decades, and comes from a great family of Irish musicians and songsters.

Whenever I feel a little homesick for Ireland, Dublin, my friends or my past, she'll get some airplay in iTunes. I think my favourite of her albums is the compilation "The Collection". Lovely, clear phrasing, and great heart.

Stop reading now and go see what I mean!

Movie Monday - The Illusionist

This movie has much to recommend it - beautiful animation, oodles of French wit, clever and surprising imagery, and perhaps the loveliest cinematic representation of Edinburgh ever. But it's so depressing. SO depressing. Gorgeous, but devastating. It probably didn't help that the night we saw it was horrendously rainy - but by god, it was miserable!!!

Sunday Spices - Tarragon

OK I have to admit I would have NO idea what to use this spice for. None. But then I found out its most important and delicious application - it's the key herb at work in Sauce Bearnaise!

So that alone makes it a very appropriate presence in any well-stocked kitchen. It's also one of the collection of 'herbes fines' central to French cooking. And my favourite thing about it - its alternative name is Dragon's Wort (Artemisia Dracunculus - which would be a terrific name for a drag queen, no?)

According to Wikipedia, there's a carbonated soft drink made from Tarragon that is extremely popular in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. It's called Tarhun and it's bright green. Clearly this sounds like a brilliant idea.

(The question remains, however - would even a delicious sauce bearnaise make Brussels sprouts palatable?!)

Seasonal Saturdays - Awards Season & Banksy

LA always starts to flutter in January and February with the wide range of awards ceremonies happening in town - SAG, Emmys, Oscars, Grammys and god knows what all else all demand a very high celebrity-in-town quotient, so sightings increase, and every weekend will doubtless have traffic jams caused by red carpets and limousines. Woop de doo.

This year, thanks - I'm assuming - to the Oscar nomination for "Exit Through The Gift Shop", a different kind of pre-award buzz has been going on, since a number of Banksy works have blossomed on the walls of buildings in and around LA.

I was walking around the corner from Profeta one afternoon and saw a crowd in an alley looking at a wall, and then saw a pretty funky image of a child soldier with a gun, but the magazine held crayola crayons instead of bullets - and the wall around him was covered in cute flowers. And this on the wall of an Urban Outfitters, no less! I didn't give it much thought, thinking it was a Banksy rip off or something. It even crossed my mind that it might be a hyper-cool tie-in to UCLA's production of 'Forgotten World'. Of course it wasn't - it is an actual Banksy!

Next thing to cross my mind was that maybe it was actually evidence that Jamie Oliver IS Banksy - since he too has set up shop in Westwood for some kinda healthy-eating project called 'Jamie's Kitchen'.

Turns out that several Banksy creations have sprung up around LA, and many have already been defaced, and even worse REMOVED INTACT so that they can be sold! See, that's what is wrong with this town. They put a price on everything and know the value of nothing. (Thank you Ambrose Bierce.) Before the Westwood one was defaced, a substantial number of stickers had been put up around it - tacky opportunists trying to capitalise on the attention of passersby. But then, isn't Banksy one too?

Foodie Friday - Novel Cafe

Lots of fun meals this week - two of them took place at Novel Cafe in Westwood. This has been something of a home-away-from-home for me throughout my time in UCLA. It's never particularly noisy (mainly because there isn't enough room in there for it to get too bad) - and they have good, hearty food and a really friendly staff. To cap it off, however - their main wall is covered in bookshelves full of totally random books FOR SALE!

So of course I love it.

Today's meal was a pretty great carbonara with Daniel Mahler (yes, he's related to the composer) in advance of Carmelites opening night. I think I'm going to have to try to cook a carbonara at home one of these days. Maybe with capers.

While Novel's coffees aren't exactly inspiring, their food is often just right. Particularly, their pastas, sandwiches and burgers! But in 30 months or so I've seen or tried just about everything on the menu, and really you can't go wrong.

30 Before 30 Thursdays - Palm Reading

Ever since a Greek woman called Poppy recoiled in fright and told me, several years ago, that my palm was so complicated that she couldn't possibly read it, I've been curious to get it done. Alas, the White Witch of Cobh doesn't live in Santa Monica, so she wasn't an option, but instead this week - on Valentine's Day, indeed - I splurged and got a reading from Anna, on Santa Monica Pier.

Straight out of the gate she told me I was a writer. And that I'm reaching a time in my life that things are starting to make more sense - everything from hard work to criticism to life's general purpose. (Pretty vague.) She also told me that she sees Massachusetts in my future. Go figure!!

She was right about a bunch of other stuff (that clearly I'm not going to write here) - if nothing else it was a fun few minutes on a Monday evening! Definitely worth the few dollars she charges - she's great company!

Wild Card Wednesday - Aftab

I was really moved this morning watching the Theatre du Soleil documentary "Un Soleil a Kaboul- Ou Plutot Deux". Ariane Mnouchkine's troupe, fifty of them, decamped to Afghanistan against all odds for the summer of 2005 to lead a sequence of workshops with local theatre artists, in the hope of fostering - or renewing - a sense of artistry and cultural identity. Her braveness, sensitivity and good humour are pretty amazing to watch. But then, I am a big fan, and have drunk the Kool Aid (or perhaps the Sunny D?!).

What's impressive, too, is that Soleil have maintained links with their sister (daughter) company, and indeed several members of Theatre Aftab (Soleil in Dari!) were featured in the most recent Cartoucherie creation, Les Naufrages du Fol Espoir. Nice to see that the commitment and connection has lasted longer than just a summer abroad.

Check out the movie - it's superb.

Tuesday Tunes - Reynaldo Hahn

Last Friday I had the great pleasure of attending a recital by Joyce DiDonato (who is a much, much bigger deal than I realised before the performance). She sang at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica, and did a lovely programme of songs. She opened with Haydn's Scena di Berenice - and anyone who does anything about that woman will likely win my heart immediately. This was followed by a varied and lovely programme of songs and arias, with two fantastic encores - Somewhere Over the Rainbow for her dad, and Pace Non Trovo - for peace and for Egypt - from La Donna del Lago.

For me the most beautiful piece of the evening was her rendition of five of the songs from Reynaldo Hahn's 'Venezia' suite. He wrote them for a wealthy patroness from that great city, and in particular her work on 'La Barcheta' was just ravishingly beautiful.

I hadn't ever looked Hahn up before Friday night, which is a pity, because he's really fascinating. He was a Venezuelan who lived in Paris, a child prodigy, beautiful setter of songs, and onetime lover of Marcel Proust, of all people. He's also responsible for 'L'Heure Exquise', one of my very favourite chansons. Here's a video of Philippe Jaroussky having a go at it. I hope you like it as much as I do.

Movie Monday - Valentine's Day

I didn't get a chance to see any movies today. I'm busy. But I saw this at a thoroughly inappropriate time last year and really should have seen it today.

Have you seen it? It's not bad. And has far more surprises than would have imagined it would. The Julia Roberts storyline is absolutely my favourite.

Sunday Spices - Cinnamon

Anyone who lives or has lived in the United States probably associates the smell of cinnamon almost exclusively with that time in mid-November when it starts pumping madly out of every imaginable place as the non-descript, agnostic time called 'The Holidays' approaches. It's syrupy, gloopy, warm, comforting, and ruins millions of cappuccinos year-round. But I find that it's really a brilliant spice for flavouring meat. So I did so for some comfort-food on Sunday I made youvetsi, which is a beef stew with cinnamon and tomatoes and orzo pasta. Delicious!!!

Recipe on request.

Seasonal Saturdays - Valentine's Day

It's always interesting to me how people react to Valentine's Day. Some people are virulently opposed to this Hallmark-supported, cruel, chocolate-fuelled excuse to make single people feel inadequate. Others relish the opportunity to celebrate romantic love with hearts and cherubs, regardless of their own relationship or marital status. I vascillate between the two. Sometimes I hate it, and hate the enormous amount of money and pressure associated with a cold morning in February. Other times I remember that St. Valentine's heart (and, I'm reliably informed, other bits) is enshrined in a Carmelite church in Dublin close to where my mother grew up, and that the original impulse of celebrating love in the world surely can't be a bad thing.

And who doesn't love an excuse to give and/or get chocolate?!

Foodie Friday - La Provence, Brentwood

After rehearsal earlier this week PK and I had dinner at La Provence in Brentwood, which was about the only choice available to us since we had the great and powerful poodle in tow. I got a really delicious Boeuf Bourgignon which was precisely what I needed after a long evening of killing nuns (in opera) and then treated myself and my flatmates to some of the patisserie's staggering array of jewel-coloured Macarons for dessert.

The salt-caramel offering was the most intriguing, and delicious, although there was rather too much salt and rather too much caramel. I suppose this just means that the whole thing was too intense?! Regardless, the rose, lavender, lemon and hazelnut ones were delicious also. So was the mini-baby-raspberry-custard-tart that was my actual dessert.

Try them out! La Provence is at Brentwood Gardens on San Vicente.

30 Before 30 #8 - BOSE!

I'm not really sure at what point I fixed on the idea of getting a pair of Bose Noise-Cancelling headphones. I think it was probably sometime during 2007 or 2008, aka the Airmiles Years, in which I was back and forth - lucky me - to London, Budapest, Athens, Tokyo and LA with quite substantial frequency, and seemed to see people everywhere with these wonderful headsets. And for Christmas last year I got a pair, at last! They are everything one might dream of, and more.

I think they make a rather strange status-symbol, though. Wearing them on a plane really is tantamount to being able to switch off completely, and ignore safety announcements, flight attendants, children, drunks etc. Admittedly the technology is such that the headphones are not in a position to block fully the sound of someone talking to you - probably just as well - but the reduction in low-level hum is little short of miraculous.

As for the sound quality - the first thing I played through them was Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto, and it was quite an experience. This is a piece I know pretty well, but it was like listening to it entirely anew. The colours that these babies bring to your ears are astonishing!

Wild Card Wednesday - The Beatitudes

Yesterday in rehearsal we had a quiet moment during a particularly emotional scene, and for some reason I was moved to read The Beatitudes to our assembled company. Regardless of one's faith or denomination, they are very beautiful blessings, and certainly words that anyone could take comfort from and live by.

There's a really beautiful setting of the text by Arvo Part from 1990 - video below :)

Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are they who mourn,
for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the meek,
for they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they shall be satisfied.

Blessed are the merciful,
for they shall obtain mercy.

Blessed are the pure of heart,
for they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they shall be called children of God.

Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Tuesday Tunes - Chopin Piano Concerto

I grew up listening to Chopin. Much as I hate the idea of having - or listing - a 'favourite' anything, I think he has to remain my favourite composer. There are so many memories woven into my experience of this music. Apparently when I was super sick as a baby, my parents found that only Chopin would put me to sleep. The best song we sang in our school choir has to have been an arrangement of 'So Deep Is The Night' - from the 'Tristesse' Etude. Through my few short years of learning the piano, it was always in the hope of playing Chopin that I practiced. One afternoon my brother heard me playing the Raindrop Prelude and didn't believe that it was me playing - what a great compliment! (Second only to the examiner who, after my performance of the same piece for the Leaving Cert, smiled and said "wow. You must really love Chopin.") In Japan, I spent a number of rather homesick evenings banging on the grand piano we had in the basement of the dorms, trying to get back into piano shape - again, with Chopin - turning negative into positive.

By chance my iTunes shuffled its way to the second movement of the first piano concerto this morning. I don't know it nearly as well as the first, but it was so beautiful I played it twice. Quelle surprise. I hope you have a beautiful day.

Movie Monday - Don Giovanni

OK, so this isn't strictly a 'movie', but the only thing longer than a YouTube video that I've had time to watch of late is Peter Sellars' production of Don Giovanni, featuring a pair of identical twin brothers as Giovanni and Leporello. As ever, there is much probity to the interrogation of the text - the champagne aria, for instance, becomes a paean to heroin - and P.S. does a blistering job of breathing a comtemporary life into the libretto and the score. Marvellous stuff - and the casting of the Perry twins really heightens the analysis of the connection between the two men. Go Peter!

He's also on the cover of Opera News this month, in recognition of the arrival, at last, of Nixon in China at the Met. And I am going to see it on Saturday! So it's a very Peter week.

And here's the man himself, on the importance of financing culture.

Saturn-alia

And eventually, God created Saturn. And he liked it, so he put a ring on it.

(Courtesy of Tanya Dean and Becca Frere. This made my day!)

Spiced Sundays - Marjoram

Marjoram has always sounded vaguely Biblical to me - along with those phrases referring to Mustard-seeds, Marthas and Miriams, for some reason. Apparently its country of origin is Egypt, although it now features heavily in cuisines from as far off as Mexico and Romania, France and Poland. There's something very pleasing to me about this list of countries, because we have representatives of all of them in our production of Dialogues des Carmelites - whose opera likewise features a reference to this obscure spice!

Apparently it's closely related to oregano, and must likewise be added rather late in the cooking process for best flavour bouquet. (...) It features often in the spice mixes Herbes de Provence, and indeed Za'ataar - a middle-Eastern blend of various spices, sesame and salt. Delicious.

Seasonal Saturday - Chinese New Year!

Happy Lunar New Year!

Apparently people born in the Year of the Rabbit and those born in the year of the Rooster (like me) wind up being thoroughly incompatible and unable to stand each other. Who knew?

Within the realm of Chinese astrology, the Rabbit (and I'm assuming, therefore, its year, 2011...) is "most stylish, finds interest in different cultures. Classy and sophisticated, and can be found adorning one of the latest fashion magazines... Plenty of artistic ventures, generally quite present in such worlds. Loves to express themselves - lots of flair either entertaining at home or sharing a cup of coffee with friends". If that's what this year has to offer, I'll take it!

Another one bites the dust

I heard this week that Waterstones are closing their Irish branches - well, at least, the two that are in Dublin's city centre. The short-lived Borders in Blanchardstown was disappointing enough - but this is truly dreadful! I spent so many happy hours browsing their store in Dawson Street during my life in Trinity. Despite being owned by the same company as Hodges Figgis across the street, they always seemed to have more of what I wanted. And their coffee shop - while no gourmet heaven, by any means - was always quiet and reliably empty, so great for the chats, some cake, or a cup of their curiously delicious almond tea.

Obviously I'm a huge fan of amazon and their services, but it's a sharp shock to realise that the price of such conveniences may well mean the continued and mounting future closures of such cherished physical locations. Sign o' the times, perhaps, but it's disappointing. Thank heavens James Joyce mentioned HF in Ulysses - one can only hope that such references might keep their doors open a little longer!

Foodie Friday - SUR, West Hollywood

It was one of my lovely flatmates' birthday last Saturday, so we went out for dinner in Sur, a restaurant and bar in WeHo. It has the dubious claim to fame of being the domain of one of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. (The English one, with the dogs and the ex-live-in-Cedric). The whole place is quite impossibly LA - white linen everywhere, chandeliers, FAR too many mirrors for an eatery - unless, of course the clientele are more likely to look at themselves than actually eat anything... - random ethnic art. Think Buddha-Bar, via Marrakech, via Paris...

There were rose petals and flickering candles throughout, and when a bizarre party of young Asian people with one dodgy-looking white dude stayed at 'our' table too long, they swiftly magicked up a new one for us, out on the non-patio patio area. We all squeezed in and started perusing the ENORMOUS menus. A very nice bottle of prosecco came quickly, but water was rather harder to come by. For all that, the staff were very good to us. A legion of gym-prepped, beautiful people who make up in beauty what they lack in smarts.

I ordered the lamb, which was amazingly prepared and presented. For some reason I thought I'd be virtuous so I didn't actually get fries with it - I had broccoli and mashed potatoes - but it was all really good. For dessert a display of delicious cupcakes and a flare had been prepared for the birthday boy. Very chic, obviously. Less chic - but far more LA - is the fact that during our meal that doyenne of class, sophistication and erudition, Snooki de JerseyShore, showed up for dinner. Like many of the clientele in this rather dark, low-lit emporium, she never took her sunglasses off.

Afterwards we went to a rather famous club up the street. All of our party were carded, with the exception of the birthday boy and yours truly, who were waved in with a bored nod from the bouncer. Obviously we are now over the hill.

Happy Birthday!

30 Before 30 #7 - Green Card

This is probably the most difficult item on my list - to get a Green Card for the USA. But I don't think it's impossible! I'm curious to know if anyone has one, (has a spare one!), got one, finagled one, etc. There are numerous ways to make it happen, of course, but I'm not sure which is the best or most efficient to do so just yet.

It's ironic to think that the merit system in my primary school was also a green card (well - a carta glas) and that you filled it with stickers called molanos (from the Irish phrase "mol an oige agus tiocfaidh se - praise youth and it will advance).

Would the USA like to put the sticker on my carta glas, perhaps, and mol this youth?!

Wild Card Wednesday - Europe

I've spent a lot of time in the last month thinking rather wistfully about Ireland, Dublin and Europe in general. There is so much that I miss, and so much that I pretend is better than really it is, but regardless - I wonder where this year might take me. Part of me wants to take several months off after I finish the degree, whether to write or cook or meditate or even just sleep! I might travel somewhere wildly new, like Reykjavik or Buenos Aires, but really what gnaws at me most is how much I miss "l'esprit" in Europe. Los Angeles is wonderful, and fun, and I've met some truly remarkable souls here, but I wonder how long I'm meant to stay here.

Even if she is collapsing, Europe is calling....