Rupert

a rupert request/experiment!

Looking at our stats on typepad, I noticed someone arrived at our page searching for "Robbie Robertson Maria McKee video" and found Franny's post about seeing Maria McKee at Joe's Pub that she published ages ago. So, in case that person's still searching, that video was for Robbie Robertson's "Somewhere Down the Crazy River" (yes, I live in the past) and it's on YouTube. I've posted it below. If you found your way back here, and you are the person who was searching, please comment! I've love to know if we helped you...

Also, Universal has the video posted with higher quality and unedited, but they don't allow embedding: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJ3LOu9IK7Y

PATH Centennial

Hard to believe but today the PATH system turned 100 years old. Way back when it was called the Hudson& Manhattan Railroad Company (as you can see from the cards they handed out in the Hoboken station this morning). They celebrated in the best manner possible--free rides all day. So they turned 100 and I saved 3 bucks. Nice! How many times do you get a present on someone else's birthday. I have no idea what the system looked like in 1908. Most people who used to go into the city remember taking the ferry from Hoboken (and they are currently renovating the ferry slips so the whole back of the Hoboken station where it lights up Erie Lackawanna will be working--they already have the tower fixed and it says Lackawanna in lights all the way down the tower that rises from the ferry slips)...but my mom and I were wondering in 1908 how they powered the trains.

I love the PATH trains--few people do, but the drivers are such cowboys--they drive at like warp speed and then they hit a red signal and they stomp on the breaks and everyone pitches forward. Seriously, it is about as thrilling as a ride on the Cyclone. And given that they've had so many derailments it is about as perilous. So viva la PATH! (cuz even with a fare increase it is cheaper than the nyc subways)

Dorothy Parker swag

http://www.cafepress.com/buy/dorothy%20parker?CMP=CJ-CLICK-10462223&sid=CTTcpk34506-576-1

I found this website late last night and I haven't looked at it again--so it might suck cuz well you know it was late.

personally my favorite Dorothy Parker quote is: Lips that taste of tears are the best for kissing. All right that is not verbatim and it is sorta very the Cure but what can I say I never grew out of my wounded adolescent stage. And if you are by any chance wanting to surprise me with a gift--no I don't want the Martini thong...i think one should not wear one's favorite drink on one's sleeve nor on ones undergarments. However, if anyone is in a charitable mood I'd love a mousepad with the "I'm never going to be famous..." quote or a Long Sleeve Dark Shirt with DP's picture and "you can't teach an old dogma new tricks" quote.

If anyone does buy the thong please send us pictures so we can post them!

A book for all of us Rupert with achy tummies

Good Food for Bad Stomachs
Henry D. Janowitz

Add to Cart
ISBN13: 9780195087925
ISBN10: 0195087925
Hardback, 240 pages
Mar 1997, In Stock
Price: $49.50 (04)
Shipping Details
Description
Reviews
Product Details
Author Information
Description
Every day, in magazines and books, on TV and the radio, we are flooded with advice on what foods to eat. Some of this advice is nonsense--trendy weight-loss regimes, which can actually be harmful--and some is contradictory, as even scientists will vacillate on such subjects as animal versus nonanimal fat, saturated versus unsaturated fatty acids. There are a few good books that cover nutrition in general and even some that tackle specific health goals, such as eating for a healthy heart. But there's no book available on the area of the body most immediately affected by the food we eat--the gastrointestinal tract. Now, Henry Janowitz, M.D., author of the best-selling Your Gut Feelings and Indigestion , provides a thorough guide to healthful eating, one tailored especially for those who suffer from--or have a family history of--heartburn, peptic ulcers, gallstones, gastritis, colitis, cancer of the colon, or other gastrointestinal disorders.

Good Food for Bad Stomachs begins with the elements of a realistic, reasonable diet. Dr. Janowitz suggests that most of us need to increase our intake of fiber dramatically (up to 30 grams or more a day), and this is especially true for people with most gastrointestinal disorders. We should also lower our consumption of fat, avoid obesity at all costs, reduce our reliance on caffeine, alcohol and tobacco, and supplement our daily diet with vitamins. The book then turns to specific gastrointestinal disorders. Dr. Janowitz examines the major disorders one by one, covering the full spectrum of gastrointestinal ailments from esophagitis and swallowing disorders to cancer of the colon and rectum, describing symptoms and causes, recommending food we should eat to avoid the disorder, and outlining both dietary and medical approaches to treatment. He talks about inflammation and ulcers of the stomach and duodenum, peptic ulcers, gastritis, gallstones, pancreatitis and liver diseases; discusses dietary allergies and food intolerance, and the problems associated with aging; deals with such pedestrian complaints as intestinal gas, travelers diarrhea, and constipation; and gives special attention to the inflammatory bowel diseases, including ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, on which he is a renowned expert.

Covering everything from low-fat cookbooks to the fiber content of common foods, this information-packed book is filled with easy-to-follow charts and tables to help you plan a healthy diet. Good Food for Bad Stomachs is a dependable guide to healthy eating written by one of the most respected experts in gastroenterology today. Dr. Janowitz explains everything in clear laymen's language spiced with humor, humanity, and the insights of a master clinician with over 50 years of experience.
Reviews
Good Food for Bad Stomachs , authored by an expert in the study of digestive disorders for more than one-half century, is the best book on the subject yet written and is highly recommended for everyone with even a casual interest in food and health."--Joseph B. Kirsner, M.D., Louis Block Distinguished Service Professor of Medicine, The University of Chicago

"This easily readable yet authoritative volume blends Dr. Janowitz's lifetime of clinical experience and scholarship with his delicious wit, his plain common sense, and his unerring instinct for addressing the most important concerns on the minds of his patients."--David B. Sachar, M.D., The Dr. Burrill B. Crohn Professor of Medicine and Director of the Division of Gastroenterology, The Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York

"In this fine new compendium, Dr. Janowitz gives people practical guidance out of his vast experience. He is informal, fair and candid, and his words are easily digestible. Every reader will come away with a better understanding of what to eat and why."--Howard Spiro, M.D., Professor of Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine

Product Details
240 pages; 1 halftone; 5-1/2 x 8-1/4;
ISBN13: 978-0-19-508792-5
ISBN10: 0-19-508792-5

Lilo v. Zooey

In the Spring fashion issue of NY Magazine, Lindsay Lohan is the cover girl and she recreates Marilyn's last photo shoot-- photographer Bert Stern and all. The photographs of MM were taken in 1962 and subsequently turned into a book containing 2,571 photographs of Marilyn Monroe. It took Marilyn all of 15 minutes to take her clothes off and the photographs have a rather strange quality because unlike today when celebrities go everywhere with an entourage the photos of "The Last Sitting" were done with just Stern and Monroe and if ever there was a "male gaze" these photgraphs exemplify it--they are a total view of what Marilyn had become by that time--nothing but a sexpot. Gone was the irony, the ability to use her sexuality in the service of her other talents (singing, acting, etc). She was now in the twilight of her life--she'd earned a bad rep in the stuido days because she'd been chastised by William Wilder for being late to the Some Like it Hot Set so her starlet days amounted to a blackball and she'd been through marriages and the Kennedys and she was at the end of her road and nothing was left but for her to use her sexuality to make people want her. Not unlike Britney Spears sans underwear, the flight to sexual provocateur is taken as a last ditch effort for these women (Monroe, Lohan, Spears) to stay in frot of the camera.

In the interview with Lohan that accompanies the photogaphs (the one reproduced here is a modest photo) Lohan says of Monroe, "Here is a woman who is giving herself to the public...She's saying, 'Look you've taken a lot from me, so why don't I give it you myself.' She's taking control back." And Amanda Fortini the writer of the text that accompanies the photos writes, " Like any tabloid veteran, Lohan understands the potency of a photograph, and that the best way to respond to a society that views you only as an image might just be on its own terms."

I disagree with that...I think Britney Spears was caught up in that, she continually tried to find a way to gain control or find some kind of solid ground by pushing the boundaries by appearing more and more provocative--yet in the end the sad images of her being ever more provocative and then lashing out at the paparazzi when the photographs were not received as she planned illustrate how she'd lost control of the whole process and for her clearly the best way to respond "to a society that views [her] only as an image" was definitely not on its own terms. She was a victim of the image factory as in my mind Lohan is as well. Lohan and Britney (especially) are reduced to selling sexuality and thinking that it is power when in point of fact it is a debased position--Lohan's not an actress, Spears is not a singer, neither is anything but a powerless sex symbol (which isn't to say all sex symbols are powerless or debased--some knowing choose to objectify themselves from places of power--Madonna, Angelia Jolie, Jennifer Garner are just a few examples).

Zooey Deschanel last year was quoted stating the following:"I'm scared for young women, because we're not necessarily progressing. "People think that it's good to use sex as power. They think that's new. Flaunting your body, going around half-naked and being sexy to get your way - it's so missing the point. "We're not even talking about the fact that women still don't have enough role in running the country." And she sees Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears as regressive rather than progressive.

And it is a question to ask--at what point are women in control of their sexuality and at what point does it become a last ditch effort to remain in front of the camera at any price? And something that is thrown out there when every other label "actress," "singer," "performer" has been taken away and as Lohan noted everything has been taken and instead of being in control Monroe and Lohan and Spears and I would add Paris Hilton and Tara Reid become nothing but centerfolds pandering to the lowest interests? And a good contrast here is someone like Madonna who always seems to project power in her sexuality, she's never seemed like a victim, never seemed like she was out of control and that her sexual images came from a place where it was "you've taken everything from me, now you may as well have this too..." Something to ponder...

Jezebel James... finally... ummm... yay...

So I was watching... ummm.. I was watching... uh... I was watching okay it was american idol and a coming attraction spot came on for the new amy sherman-palladino show "the return of jezebel james" which will have an hour-long premiere on fox march 14. which is four days before the she and him album. and three days after tin man on dvd and hello voyager. (you have to put these things into perspective). anyway, franny has expressed some doubt about this show... from the preview i'm not sure what to think. they sure buried it in the schedule. anyway, i'm hopeful. i think.

Things my iPod wants

1. "Hello Voyager" by Evangelista. Mentioned by Franny below. Some songs have been showing up online. "The Blue Room" is one of those songs that I tend to drown in after attaching my own meaning to it. Carla Bozulich has been playing this song live for years... with Nels in Scarnella, with the band who would become The Night Porter and with Evangelista. I'm glad it's found a home. "Truth Is Dark Like Outer Space"... and I quote (I think) "cat tails tied around our waist/ perfect for jumping into space / voyagers all right / we're shoving off tonight..." the loopiest Carla lyric since "Dandelions." I'm thinking fun and darkness and light.
2. "Borrowed Arms" by 2 Foot Yard. Another album I think I pre-like. Carla Kihlstedt, Marika Hughes and Shahzad Ismaily equal just about my favorite band to see live. For years they've been playing this material in places like the currently homeless Tonic and Joe's Pub and the songs have been rotating on their MySpace page. Heaven!
3. "Volume 1" by She and Him. See Franny's praise for the single online and my equal praise and all of the Zooey worship below. I've been listening to M Ward's "Transfiguration of Vincent" quite a lot lately on the morning commute so I'd be happy hearing of a new album from him even if Zooey wasn't involved. But she is!!!! Here's M Ward with Bright Eyes on PBS doing a song I like about the unabashed unhip love of music.
4. "Accelerate" by R.E.M. I feel like R.E.M. has been two bands... the songs had been by Berry/Buck/Mills/Stipe. You have to give the drummer credit. Buck/Mills/Stipe has always felt different in terms of song structure and beat, but I've still loved the band. I tend to think of them as two different bands that I happen to like a lot. It still isn't the "old" R.E.M. but the single "Supernatural Superserious" is a time-warp back to Monster with the added weirdness that it's about teenage shyness. Which I suffered from badly. Each time I hear it, I like it more.

Anyway, I'd very much like to have these albums now and not wait even though the waits are short. I can listen endlessly to Jukebox and that's more than enough to entertain me and carry me away but I've really been dealing with some endless headaches in my day-to-day life and I'd love to fully experience this music NOW rather than a video on YouTube here, a streaming song there...

That's not my New York (New York)

Just to prove that you can embed video on Rupert, here's Chan Marshall on Canadian TV. Spoiler: at the very end she's asked who she'd like to have cover her. She says Aretha Franklin in the 60s. And the song would be...

Stephin Merritt from New York mag

   I don't know if you can read this interview (click on the picture to enlarge it). It is from the New York Magazine with Lilo on the cover (I posted about two posts ago). This is the Spring fashion issue and it is centered around "technicolor" cuz spring is the cmyk at the end of grayscale winter...and one of the featurettes is an interview with NY'ers who wear only one color (as long as it isn't black) and Stephin Merritt (who I know is a patron saint for Anthony) represents Brown and this is an interview about Merrit's relationship to the color Brown.

Just an aside--this is actually a really good issue, besides the pics of Lindsay (who has more freckles than I can count--I'm in disbelief that one person can be so covered with flecks and the pictures are well...she wears a scarf in one and that is about as dressed as she gets--She has so many dots that she rivals Spot in Dr. Seuss' "Put me in the Zoo"), the article on Heath Ledger, there is an interview/article focusing on the editor of French vogue--Carine Roitfeld. I read a piece about Carine Roitfeld years ago in Purple Fashion and found her fascinating in the short piece that appeared there, so a more in-depth piece is a welcome snack.

Rupert can't stop listening to....

We claim Chan Marshall/Cat Power as a Patron Saint and each of us has our favorite songs but one thing we both agree on is the sonic beauty that is Jukebox. Cat Power has taken a page out of Neko Case's playbook and bathed her voice in more reverb than previously but unlike Neko the reverb doesn't really drown Chan's voice instead the harmonies are precious and her previous unmelodic wailing has turned into something so goregously heart-rending I'm left breathless. The melody isn't exactly uplifiting but she doesn't wallow in pain or drown in defeat as she has (to great success I think) in the past, rather she has a way of blending her trademark Cat Power melancholia with opulent harmonies and a languid southern pace. The whole effect just makes me swoon and sigh at the beauty of the way she merges so many oppositions. A great example of the way she can blend such polar opposites into a sumptuous stew is her cover of "New York, New York" which kicks off Jukebox. Cat Power delivers such a novel take on the "city that never sleeps" but always rushes to get nowhere fast (just my experience) that the she throws in a Dixie twang and a definitely unrushed down home pace. Like "New York, New York" Chan manages to make every song her own--she is a top notch song stylist like Emmylou Harris at her best. There is something ineffable about the way she's elevated her singing and the instrumental elements that makes me listen over and over and over....I'll admit that my favorite Cat Power release is "You are Free" and the single "The Greatest/Hate" but this comes close to becoming my favorite but not quite yet. Another hallmark is her cover of "Metal Heart"--so delicate in a way, yet bold in composition and where she was tentative on MoonPix she is assured and in control on Jukebox. Just had to share how obsessed I was with this release...maybe this should have been categorized under "I should be asleep now"...and I'm gonna slip off to bed and listen to Jukebox and hope the Mr. Sandman comes my way. Nighty Nite....