January 2, 2011
Happy New Year! I wish you health & happiness in the coming months (and beyond, for that matter). Here are some of the cultural products that spent time with me last year -- let me know what I missed.
Aaron Caplan
Who knew that you could program such an effective Romanian health care film festival? These excellent movies show some of the bad things that can happen when you can't find a doctor when you need one, and only some are medical.
This near-silent film by the maker of The Triplets of Belleville tells the story of a magician having a hard time prospering in a world with fewer music halls. It is lovingly set in Paris, London, the Hebrides, and Edinburgh, so I recognized almost all of the locations -- how often can you say you've been on the set of an animated movie?
Well, actually, we've all been on the sets of the Toy Story movies.
You'd better hope you haven't been on the set of Winter's Bone, located in the part of the Ozarks where the locals don't like strangers poking around. Don't seem to like locals poking around either. Even if it's their neice trying to track down her father because he put up the house as collateral for his bail bond, and the family will get evicted if he doesn't show for trial.
An immigrant-makes-good story, but here the old country is France and the new country is a French prison. Like the song says, if you can make it there you can make it anywhere.
Love among Argentine detectives.
Zombies always make for excellent satire. In Fido, it turns out they make mighty helpful domestic servants, if you can afford the special device that keeps them from gnawing on your flesh.
A Film Unfinished (2010)
Kick-Ass (2010)
Let Me In (2010) Quite good, but don't miss the original Swedish version. Each one gets different things right.
Moon (2009)
The Social Network (2010)
Swoon (1992) You could turn this into a Leopold and Loeb Film Festival with Rope and Compulsion, but neither one is nearly as good.
The Town (2010)
Unstoppable (2010)
Up In The Air (2009)
The consolation prize for a freeway commute has been listening to audio lectures along the way. My favorite nugget from this set of medieval history lectures is that more literacy leads to more heresy.
Note: You're better off buying these Teaching Company sets used from eBay--if you order from the company you will be inundated with junk (e)mail.
A spooky, obsessive rhythm drives this song from Tell Tale Signs: Rare and Unreleased (1989-2006). I have a hard time deciding which I love more, the opening line ("The light in this place is really bad") or how he sings it. Given my usual indifference to lyrics, he must be doing something right in terms of drafting or delivery. Shown here in a video with Harry Dean Stanton looking suitably unhealthy.
3 eggs1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees.
1/2 cup molasses
3 3/4 cups dark brown sugar
3/4 cup water
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon ground cloves
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/2 tablespoon ground allspice
1 1/2 pounds walnuts, coarsely chopped
About 6 ½ cups flour
2. Beat together the eggs, molasses and brown sugar. Beat in the water, then the baking soda, salt, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon and allspice. Beat in the walnuts, and then half of the flour. It's best to beat in the rest of the flour by hand; this recipe makes a lot of dough, possibly too much for some mixers.
3. Roll out the dough in batches on a well-floured surface to a generous one-fourth-inch thickness and cut into shapes. [NOTE: I vastly preferred rolling the dough into a log and slicing into cookies.]
4. Bake on lightly greased sheets until the bottom is lightly browned but the top has yet to color, 11 to 13 minutes.
5. Pack in air-tight containers; these are good for 2 to 3 months (!) and they ship well.
2 cups all-purpose flourPreheat oven to 350°F. Line a jelly roll pan with foil, leaving a 2-inch overhang on the 2 short sides. Butter all 4 sides (but not bottom). Blend flour, brown sugar, and salt in a food processor, then add butter and pulse until mixture begins to form small (roughly pea-size) lumps. Sprinkle into baking pan, then press down firmly all over with a metal spatula to form an even layer. Bake in middle of oven until golden and firm to the touch, 15 to 17 minutes, then cool in pan on a rack.
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2. The topping
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butterMelt butter in a 3-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat and stir in sugar, corn syrup, and salt. Boil over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until caramel registers 245°F on thermometer, about 8 minutes. Carefully stir in cranberries, then boil until caramel returns to 245°F. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla, then stir in pecans until well coated. Working quickly, spread caramel topping over base, using a fork to distribute nuts and berries evenly. Cool completely.
1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups pecans (12 oz), toasted and cooled , then coarsely chopped
3. Lift bars in foil from pan and transfer to a cutting board. Cut into 6 crosswise strips, then 6 lengthwise strips to form 36 bars. [Original recipe calls for drizzling melted chocolate on top, but I think it's better without.]
4. Bars keep in an airtight container (use wax paper between layers) 1 week.