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Browsing tag archives: Review

Kurz and Sin City

Yesterday I went to see Miller’s and Rodriguez’ Sin City.

I like graphic novels in general and I like Miller’s rough and morbid edge. I have a few comic books from his hand, notably the Batman Returns series and "Hardboiled". Sin City is a comic book on celuloid. As a movie it doesn’t really stick out but if one takes ones interest in comic books into the theatre you do have a very enjoyable couple of hours.

What struck me most in the movie was the scene where Marv is about to rip the head off Cardinal Roark. That little dialogue brought a deja vu of one of the final scenes of Apocalypse now where Colonel Kurz mumbles away in darkness.

If they ever are going to do a remake (and I am not suggesting that "they" should") of Apocalypse the casting of Kurz is easy; Rutger Hauer.

Spoiled and not so spoiled…



After last weeks debacle with the Saint Émilion Grand Cru we decided to open yet another 1996 wine this weekend.This week’s “Craves” (Château Lagupeau) was fortunatelly not spoiled and although we cooked a normal dinner we did enjoy it.

Its not that often that I drank spoiled wine. I do not have thebest means to store wine for longer than a few months. Besides, Inormally buy wines that are ready to be drank. So last weeks spoiledwine was something of a new experience. The taste is just so differentfrom a young wine that spoiled. Young wine will turn into vinigar aftera couple of days. A spoiled old wine just has no taste, its flat,watery and has this brown rusty color.

Last week I had a couple of nice beers with Henrik, Geoff and Thomas.When Geoff had left we talked food. I recomended Harold McGee’s “OnFood and Cooking. The Science and Lore of the Kitchen” which Iown in the Dutch translation. When I came home and opened the “Graves”I noticed crystals on the cork. Also something that I do not see thatoften, being used to the younger varieties. My mediocre wine book didnot describe this phenomena but McGee does refer to the cristals(mostly salt, but also apple and wine accids).


Thesame chapter describes that Louis Pasteur, we owe fresh milk to thatbloke, was a researcher that actually studied why wine went bad.That is something I did not know. He scientifically demonstrated (with one vacuum andone open tube) that wine exposed to air will go bad. The pictureshows the pigments separate and fall to the bottom to the tube.

Althoughthe beers that I drank in the Stockholm brewery that Henrik took us to—the name of the place has slipped but they served Heaven and Hell— were absolutely fabulous I think I would choose for wine if I hadchoose what to drink for the rest of my life.

Finally, when talking food we also spoke about Jeffrey Steingarten’s “The Man Who Ate Everything” which is also a very nice book about food and eating.

(the B/W picture is Pasteur’s and came from the above mentioned McGee Book)

Music for today

The events in Rome made me dig up a little avant-garde masterpiece from my vinyl collection.

Blessed Easter Track 2 from “Rome Remains Rome” by Holger Czukay (1987) (also available on Amazon)

The credits on the cover read: We were blessed by the appearance of his holyness popestar Woytyla and is swining nuns during the easter ceremonies.

 

Senor Coconut y Son Conjunto

Since I bought an Ipod I’ve been going retro.

I started listening to things I first bought when I was a teenager suchas “I am” by Earth Wind and Fire, “Out of the Blue” by Electric LightOrchestra and Kraftwerk’s “Computer World”.

That last album contains one track that remains appealing; “ComputerLove”. I still do not understand why. The tune is overproduced,too simple and cliche but it manages to tickle the lower belly. I ampuzzled.

Recently somebody told me that Senor Coconut y Son Conjunto did a whole album with Kraftwerk covers.

Google brings us to an article that describes some of the background

Although the disc is credited to Senor Coconut y Son Conjunto, it’s purely the work of Schmidt on keyboards and samplers, helped by three vocalists. And he’s fully aware of the irony involved in what he’s doing, noting that “since the entire album is programmed and not played by real musicians, it contains the simulation aspect and questions the term of authenticity.” At the heart of the music, though, he “tried to interpret their songs trying to imagine how a real Latin band would do them. The Latin styles I worked with are certainly uplifting and light” and form an wonderfully absurd juxtaposition with what Coconut called “the Kraftwerkian coolness.”

Do I like “Coconut”? I am not sure yet. I need to listen to it a little more to appreciate if it is more than a gimmick.