Omnivore's Dilemma, by Michael Pollan
Michael Pollan's latest looks at the origins of the ingredients behind four meals: a fast food dinner from MacDonalds, a dinner assembled from organic foods from Whole Foods Grocery, a meal made from ingredients from a single sustainable farm, and a meal he forages and hunts himself. His purpose is to uncover just what it is we are eating. His comparisons between industrial farming, the organic food industry and the local farmer brought one point home to us: the importance of eating locally grown foods to protect farm lands and keep the miles traveled by your food to a minimum. With that thought in mind, we joined a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program in our neighborhood, which connects city people to a family farm (ours in on Long Island) that provides them with locally grown organic vegetables and fruit. In turn, the farmer receives a guaranteed income at the beginning of the season as members pay for their weekly shares up front. We've enjoyed our CSA immensely. On Tuesday nights (our night to pick up our box of food), you'll find us in our kitchen chopping our vegetables.
Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers
I (Jessica)
hadn't read this classic until this year. The book tenderly captures
the angst of adolescence. If you enjoyed Russell Bank's Rule of the Bone, you'll like this book. If you haven't read Rule of the Bone, read that first, it's as good a book as you'll find.
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
This is a beautiful book that I (Jessica) would like to revisit every decade or so. The Rev. John Ames, 77 years old, has sat down to write an account of his life for his six year old son to read after he is gone. The Reverend’s reflections, as he paints a portrait for his son of himself and his father and his grandfather, are compelling.
The Blind Side by Michael Lewis
The Blind Side
chronicles the rise in importance of the left tackle position in
professional football. Sounds pretty boring, right? Well, the book
focuses on an up-and-coming left tackle who's black, fifteen years old,
and homeless in Memphis, TN. He also happens to be 6'-5" and 350 pounds
with supreme athletic talent. His name is Michael Oher, and he is
effectively adopted by a wealthy white family in Memphis who make it
their mission to see that Michael has the opportunity to realize the
potential of his athletic gifts. The book chronicles four years in
Michael's life, as he is taken in by this wealthy white family who will
stop at nothing to make sure Michael, who is almost completely without
education at age fifteen, and finally gets accepted into a division one college
football program. The book is a powerful story about class, race, and
the incredible value placed on athletic talent in this country.
Phil Hellmuth Presents Read ‘Em and Reap by Joe Navarro
So we have continued to host poker tournaments this year. We both read this book written by a former FBI agent who during his career focused on behavior, and now is making mucho dinero coaching poker players to read one another's tells. Lisa Peskay's review of this book, after reading it and applying it at live games in California, was that it is "pure gold".
Art
Vincent Van Gogh: The Drawings (Metropolitan Museum of Art)
This was an absolutely wonderful exhibit of 1100 of Van Gogh’s drawings alongside selected paintings. The chronological progression of the drawings allowed the viewer to see the development of his style and mastery of his skills. Like many artists, he made a sketch prior to making a new painting, but he would also create a copy of a painting as a sketch to send to his brother. It was fascinating to see the interplay between the two modes of expression.
Janet Cardiff's Forty Part Motet (MOMA)
For this installation, the artist recorded members of the Salisbury Cathedral Choir individually and played each lone voice from its own speaker. The speakers making up the choir were set around the room in an oval. What an experience to walk through the "choir" and to hear individual singers. The musical selection performed was also quite beautiful (Thomas Tallis's work from 1575, Spem in alium). The installation created the effect of a live performance. But when do you have the opportunity to put your ear right next to the mouth of that man singing with that very low bass or to stand right in front of a masterful soprano? We were mesmerized.
Marty Cohen
Our friend Martin Cohen recently exhibited 20 of his paintings at the Vivan Horan Gallery (on Madison Avenue, no less). He is incredibly prolific and talented. We are lucky to have several of his paintings and drawings in our apartment. You can browse (and even purchase) a tiny sampling of his work here.
Food
Rao’s Arrabbiata Sauce
Rao's Restaurant is notorious in New York City as being the one restaurant at which you can NEVER get a table. They actually don't take reservations. You have to know somebody who knows how to get a table. Very strange. Fortunately, you can buy their tomato sauces and pasta in the grocery store. I (Joshua) have tried and tried, but I can't make anything better from scratch than Rao's Arribiata (spicy) tomato sauce. But all their sauces are top-notch.
Joe's Dairy
If you happen to be in NY, take a stroll to Houston and Sullivan St. and visit Joe's Dairy. It doesn't get any more family-owned and operated than this place. A bunch of old Italians in a small shop doing very little except producing the best fresh mozzarella you'll find anywhere. See our website for Josh’s lasagna recipe using Rao’s sauce and Joe’s mozzarella.
TeaSource (www.teasource.com)
Mad props to Vida Peskay for this discovery. A little tea shop in St. Paul, MN. All their teas are excellent, but their original blends are their calling card. Made with both herbal and black teas, their blends throw together a potpourri of herbs, fruits and spices that you might think would be too much, but they're wonderful. Subtle, original, fantastically delicious teas. At Thanksgiving this year we passed around several Teasource varieties and encouraged our guests to smell each variety to choose which one they wanted to drink. Several guests described the "smelling" course as the highlight of evening. A few of our favorites: Evening in Missoula (herbal), Lazy Susan (herbal) and Lemon Solstice (black tea, but available in decaf).
Ribollita: a new food (to us, anyway)
After we describe this culinary discovery, you will no longer believe that we were actually excited to partake of it while we traveled in Italy last winter. Ribollita is a Tuscan vegetable and bread soup. It literally means "reboiled" and yes, we were thrilled to eat what is 2 or 3 day old leftovers. The first day, Minestrone is made and eaten as is. The second day the leftover soup is layered with bread and baked. And the third day, it is reboiled. It comes out thick enough to eat with a fork. We heartily ate bowls of the stuff while we were in Florence on a couple of chilly winter nights. A link to the recipe is here.
Joshua's Hearty Mushroom Lasagna
After many years of trial and mostly error, I (Joshua) finally came up with a Lasagna recipe worth sharing. For mushroom lovers only. Recipe Joshua's Mushroom Lasagna
Theater
New York Clown Festival
It brings tears to Jessica's eyes: New York hosted an International Clown Festival this fall. A resurgence of clowning in theatrical performances has been building for some years now. We were very much aware of the trend even as we were creating our own "clown" show, Box of Fools, which was first performed last year. During development of that show, Jessica was able to take a clowning class led by a former Guthrie theater actor. You've gotta love New York.
Circus Contraption
Along with clowning, the Circus Arts are very popular as well. We saw the most excellent Seattle-based Circus Contraption perform on their New York tour this Fall. They are a bawdy, rambunctious group with tip-top circus skills. We were perhaps most impressed by the energy and thought behind every moment of the show. No wasted moments, nothing lazy. They're true professionals.
Bright Abyss, by James Thierree
Continuing on the circus theme, Bright Abyss was one of the best shows that we've ever seen. It's a series of physical comedy acts and vignettes performed by multi-talented circus performers, acrobats, an opera singer, and even a Capoeira expert. The creator of the show is the grandson of Charlie Chaplin and so if can you imagine being able to see a highly skilled comedian who can also do serious acrobatics and juggling, you've got James Thierree. In one of the early scenes in the show, three of the performers try simply to sit on a couch. But they keep slipping off, over, and literally through the couch. For perhaps ten full minutes these three astonishing acrobats continue trying to just sit on a couch, but the couch has other ideas. It was the most simple, incredible sequence of physical comedy we have ever witnessed.
Music
Sui Vesan (Merging with the Brook)
I (Joshua) always find music hard to describe in words and Sui Vesan's music may be the most difficult of all to helpfully describe. But I gotta try. Let's start with her voice. Her voice is a mixture of a mature women and an impish child. She can belt, whisper, caress or sky her voice into (pleasantly) ear-piercing altitude. She is Slovakian, but her lyrics are truly her own. She actually made up her own language in which to sing, so her lyrics are (to everyone) complete gibberish. But the manner in which she sings is so evocative and filled with emotion that it hardly matters what the words are, the deepest meaning of her music somehow reaches you. Give her a try. You won't regret it.
Les Mystere des Voix Bulgares
If you were intrigued by the description of Sui Vesan above, and you haven’t yet heard the Bulgarian State Radio and Television Women’s Choir, then you need to fix that immediately. Their singing style is ancient and astonishing, and the compositions are sophisticated reworkings of traditional songs.
Matisyahu (Shake off the Dust)
An orthodox Jew performing reggae and rap. Seems gimmicky, and perhaps it is. But Matisyahu is also a heckuva songwriter and a heckuva singer. His "Shake off the Dust" album is a great listen.
Rigoletto
We enjoyed hearing Rigoletto at La Scala in Milan in February. We heard rather than saw the majority of the live performance since we were sitting in seriously obstructed-view seats, but we didn’t mind. Gorgeous.
M Shanghai String Bang (Up from the Ground Below)
We discovered the M Shanghai String Band through our accountant. She's one of the singers and songwriters from this bluegrass ensemble that starts with ten musicians and sometimes grows to fifteen or more by the end of their sets. We see them live every chance we get and sometimes we feel like we're the only non-musicians in the audience. Their music is pure joy, particularly in their raucous bluegrass numbers that almost spiral out of control. Seeing them live is by far the best option, but the album is still worth a listen. You can check out their schedule and listen to some songs here.
The Be Good Tanyas (Hello Love)
Jessica heard the Be Good Tanya's on the radio and within minutes grabbed me (Joshua) by the collar and demanded I listen. Best new artist I've discovered since Aaron Newton turned me onto Cat Power (who keeps getting better and better, by the way). Sort of bluegrass, sort of folk, sort of rock, but mostly just themselves. "Hello Love" is just a terrific album. Check out the song "Ooteshenia" and their wondrous take on Prince's "When the Doves Cry." Then get the album and listen to it a few times and notice how much happier you are.
Movies
Brick
A true noir film set in a modern-day high school. Whip-smart script, great directing, and good actors (the lead male especially). One of those movies that's just pure pleasure from start to finish. Funny, suspenseful, and very smart.
The Thin Man (with William Powell and Myrna Loy)
Someone (we don't remember who, now) recommended we go back and watch these classics from the 1930's. William Powell and Myrna Loy made six (6) Thin Man films, and each one is a treasure. They're terrifically silly murder mysteries, with Nick and Nora Charles (Powell and Loy), wealthy urbanites who keep trying to retire to a quiet life of excessive drinking, but instead they get pulled into one mystery after another. Their rapport with each other is wonderful to watch, and the scripts, based on the novels by Dashiel Hammett find a good balance between stylish and silly.
New York Discoveries
New York Botanical Garden
The New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx is stunning. We waited years and years before visiting, but it immediately rose to the top of our "Great Places to Spend a Sunday afternoon" list. First off, it's large. It took us hours and hours to walk around the whole place so it's a place in the city to go hiking. Secondly, it's lovely. Not just lovely for New York, but by any measure, lovely. It contains the oldest stand of trees in NYC, and a river, along with the typical offerings (Rose Garden., Arboretum, Herb Garden). Our favorite section is the "Ornamental Conifers," a stand of wacky and artful pine trees.
Television
Arrested Development
The fact that this show got cancelled after three seasons demonstrates everything that is wrong with television in this country. Arrested Development follows the formerly wealthy, but now struggling Bluth family after their patriarch (George Bluth, Sr.) is arrested on various conspiracy charges. The outrageous silliness of this show cannot be overstated. Every character is overblown and absurd and utterly hilarious. Jason Bateman (anyone remember him from Silver Spoons?) holds down the fort as the heir to his disgraced father's throne. He tries to be a good son and hold the family together, but every member of this family has their own ideas. Every single episode is laugh-out-loud funny, but what makes the show so unique is the sheer outrageousness of the stories.
The Office
Perhaps the best example of the new craze in "Cringe Comedy", the Office is yet another American copy of a popular British series. The British Office (which spanned only twelve episodes) is definitely worth your while, but the America version actually improves on the British as it goes along. Steve Carell leads the charge as the idiot-savant (albeit much more idiot than savant) boss Michael Scott. He "leads" a ragtag bunch of totally bored employees at a paper distributor in Scranton, PA. Their industry is dying, their jobs are mind-numbingly dull, and the show focuses on how each of them, in their own way, tries to keep themselves entertained. And in doing so, they more than entertain us.
The Wire
This a Joshua pick (Jessica didn't love the show). The Wire is set in Baltimore, and focuses on every side of the drug war going on there. No character gets preferential treatment in this show, you could wind up getting equally attached to a self-destructive cop, a drug-lord trying to become a legitimate businessman, a gay thug who robs drug dealers, a teen-age runner, or any one of a dozen other characters who all circle round one another with equal parts suspicion, respect, and even affection. Few shows allow characters to develop as gradually and deeply as The Wire. Give the first season a try and give yourself until the fourth episode. If you're hooked, my apologies, because they just finished season four and you've got a lot of catching up to do.