Updates

Craig: Peru or some other country where the water is not so good.
Brian: Alive and well settling into his rocky mountain home
Henry: Fly fishing the "run off" with zero luck.

Best song ever

Some Garden Pictures and Paul Simon

We have been ridiculously busy at the Dart Household. The Garden and the plants have been coming in and it really is starting to feel like summer.






The Gardening is really progressing:





This our compost if you look real hard you can see the
worms...which is a really great thing if your into composting.



My Corn is totally awesome.






And for some reason I've been listen to a lot of Paul Simon--I really
dig his mustache in this video.

A Last-Minute Read

On Friday, I purchased what I believe will be the last book I read in New York City. It's called Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898. It is a dense read- somewhere between People's History of the United States and any history textbook you red in college. The writing is a bit dry, but it's a fantastic story that every New Yorker (and American) should know. It's hard to think of Manhattan as anything other than a pancake island of paved grids and steel canyons. Nowhere in American can I so readily forget that weather does something more than inconvenience my daily commute. It is strange to read of early colonists as they gush about New York's tremendous, natural resources and arrogantly declare them to be limitless. At 1,400 pages, I'm sure it'll be a quick read...

The pending move is all that I can think about even as I try to wring every last experience I can from this city. Wednesday is the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Thursday is Shakespeare in the Park. Next week is Fire Island, the Whitney Museum, Donut Plant, a Vietnamese sandwich, and a couple more pizzas before we set sail on the 14th.

Gloaming

This week, I am obsessed with words. Particularly, I want to know the words that we are tied to. For example, I have a strange association with the word 'shame'. Inexplicably, the word connotes a feeling of gnashing teeth every time I hear it. I'm most-fascinated with words that nag me- words that carry such weight, I fall in love with them.

The word that currently fills my peripheral vision is 'gloaming'. I had heard the word a few times, but two years ago, as I was re-reading Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, I came upon the word and it inescapably burned into my mind. I had read Tolkien's trilogy twice before so I had surely read it before. Yet I was caught. I found myself injecting it into conversations and searching for opportunities to weave it into my writings.

It is defined in The New Oxford American Dictionary as a "twilight; dusk". The word is from Old English and from the Germanic word for 'twilight' and the word 'glow'. As Tolkien wrote it, and I imagine it, gloaming is that fleeting pause in breath between day and night. The world feels mysterious and full of anticipation. Dawn carries the pause to the nervous anticipation of a new day, while the gloaming possesses a reckless, Dionysian bent to it. Perhaps it is the way I feel at this point in my life. It is where I live- a space dancing along the edge of consummation. As I stand at the edge of another great life change, I peer through that mystical, gloaming light and wonder if, perhaps, despite the best-laid plans, I can glimpse the forces that will carry me on another unexpected journey.

Kenny Rogers scares the crap out of me

Man, my fellow bloger just creeped me out. I looked at that Kenny Rogers video, but I didn't have the sound. Creeeeeepy boy, What kind of puppets are those? They were the same kind that they used in that Genises video, and the same kind that were popular in the mid-eighties, when they had one of Ronald Regan that was showen on T.V. like seven billion times. Creepy then, creepy now.
Frisbee golf, man I love that game. It's FREE, which apeals to my cheap assedness, it's outdoors, which dosen't make me mad, and it's FREE. oh yeah, by the way it's free.
I do a little disk throwing with a few guys who are MUCH better then I am and they bring thier dogs. WOW, I have pictures, enjoy

Top 4 Fourth Week in May

1) Cloud Spotting and generally paying more attention to the sky. So it is storm season now on the great plains. So in the afternoon we are getting some fairly big storms coming in from the northwest. I don't know much about clouds I am still learning to identify them. I found this web site from the cloud appreciation society helpful...they have a manifesto...and why shouldn't they. We also had our spring influx of big huge water birds like the pelicans and the night herons. So there is very good reason to keep your head stuck up in the air...keep your mouth closed though. Oh and this is a night heron:

2)Swan Swan H REM-- REM was terribly important to me from that awkward 15 to 18 year old period. I used to play Life Rich Pageant over and over at the record store. Which I am sure was super annoying. I had never seen this video before. Michael Stipe looks well a little dorky. Enjoy it anyway.





3) Monty Don-- Okay so our garden is taking off. The problem is that gardening just doesn't have a lot of male role models. Further more there really isn't any super cool garden dudes. Like Tony Hawk for skateboarding. So I was real pleased to find Monty Don's book called The Complete Gardener. Monty is really into gardening like a rock star really is into his drugs. He has great passage where he talks about his love of his really expensive shovel and double digging. Anyway if you are actually gardening this year instead of wimping out to go on some exotic trip to let's say Peru I'd pick it up.

4) Anatomy of Murder-- I watch this movie on vacation. It is brilliant. The original novel was written by future Michigan Supreme Court Justice. I know a little something about trial law and I wish I could channel Jimmy Stewart sometimes. However, I am not that tall.

The Gambler Deconstructed

Small town Nebraska circa 1981 country was big: Alabama, the OakRidge Boys, and, of course, Kenny Rogers. Kenny with his mane of black/sliver hair and awesome grizzly man beard was a thoughtful almost philosophical artist in comparison to, "Oh play me some mountain music..." or some song that went "Elvira om-popa-uh-ma my hearts on fire for Elvira". No Kenny was laying down advice from his high perch on the popular culture mountain and all the kids on the bus knew the words by heart to The Gambler.





Okay so yesterday I heard this song on the radio. I just sort of stumbled on it. I still knew all the words. And alls I've got to say what kinda cockamamie advice is that. I'll tell you what kinda advice that is...it is the kind of advice you get from near dead degenerate on a train smoking cigarettes and begging for whiskey. Or in other words not very good or even comprehensible advice.

Let's look at the advice the dying sage whiskey grubber gives before he dies in sleep:

"You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em.
Know when to walk away, and know when to run.
You never count your money, when you're sittin' at the table.
There'll be time enough for countin', when the dealin's done."

Not much advice for a two minute ballad, but when you separate the wheat from the chaff that is all you get. There is the hold'em/fold'em advice; walk away/ run advice; and there is the countin' advice. What clearly stands out about the hold'em/fold'em advice and the walk away/ run advice is that it is all very, very, very, very vague. I'd say it is not even helpful. Maybe the gambler could have gave some more tips about when to run perhaps and maybe some examples of what is hold'em situation. I think the song says a little more about Kenny, than "the gambler", that Kenny could be hoodwinked by this old guy that only wants his whiskey by vague sayings he perceives as wisdom. And further Kenny thought this advice was sooooo important he had to record a song about it. Now there is the countin' advice, you shouldn't count your money when your sittin' at the table. Okay that is flat out stupid. You probably should know how much money you have when you go gambling because you may not be counting much when the dealing is done because you made a bunch of dumb bets not knowing how much money you had following the gamblers advice.

Top Five the 3rd week of May

Went on vacation and... well my life got all messy... but I am back here is my top 5:

1) Happiness: I thought a lot about happiness while on vacation. Not the hey-I-am-feeling-great-today-kind-of-happiness but the Aristotle's view of happiness-- which a little more about contentment and well being. I am re-reading this book called Creating the Good Life : Applying Aristotle's Wisdom to Find Meaning and Happiness by James O'Toole. It sort of an Aristotle for dummies-mid-life-self-help-book. I really have enjoyed it. The reader digest version is this: the true test of happiness is will you be happy when you look back on your life from your death bed. You know little regrets. You spent your time wisely on good things. And also you should create some sort plan so you won't be full of regret when you eventually end up on your death bed. Of course this all gets a bit heavy and has made me feel guilty about playing hours of mine sweeper.


2) Not watching the freaking news. I realized I have an utter disdain for the local news. I've noticed more and more that it just makes me anxious. This morning on the local news I learned that there is rapist on the loose; children fall out of apartment windows; and somebody starved a seven year old to death. I understand that all of these events are tragic and we as humans are drawn to tragedy. It is all to overwhelming. In a big metro area stuff statistically is bound to happen...but do we really need this magnifying glass we call the news. Here an article from John Stossel (the guy with the mustache on 20/20) that kinda illustrates my point.

3) Yo La Tango-- Gots to love them. I think they have been around for like trillion years. But I love their new album "I am not a afraid of you and I will beat your ass", which in addition to a fairly good album title is also a great motto for your crest of arms--should have one of those things. Here is a nice video...if you can't get you tube just think of your favorite Yo La Tango song and hum it for a couple of minutes...or listen to any bumper music on This American Life.



4) Civil War on Great Courses-- I've been listen to college courses on tape for awhile now. I am really a geek. Anywise my background in science so when it comes to history I am as they say, inexperienced but willing to try. The Civil War was a real gap in my understanding of U.S. History. This course is great. I recently read Confederates in The Attic and I think that is great place to start to learn about the Civil War also the Ken Burns Special that aired a few years back.

5) Poem of the week:

This Is Just to Say
by William Carlos Williams

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast.

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

Old Guy Radio

Although I spent most of my college day listen to the ruckus of Henry Rollins, Fugazi, and, stuff like Helmet as get older I love singer-song writers more and more--maybe it is the sudden drop in testorone in middle-age. I cannot stop listening to Sufjan Steven's album the Avalanche. It is compilation of out takes from the Illinois album. I think the whole thing comes off better than the original album.

Enjoy:

This video is fairly lame but the song is beautiful





This is some high school choir covering the same song. I'd say equally as cool.

Good Stuff: LCD Soundsystem

Everybody needs validation at certain times in their life. Art serves two, primary functions: 1) to challenge 2) to comfort. Last week, I discovered a group of artists that are firmly providing me with heaping tablespoons of comfort.

LCD Soundsystem has just released a fantastic album called Sound of Silver and it rocks. If you haven't heard of LCD Soundsystem, you have to immediately stop what you're doing and go buy a copy of their first, self-titled album.

That's o.k.... I can wait...

Here's a music video of one of the goofier songs to prod you along...


Good stuff. It's always nice to have an indie rock album you can actually listen to on an exercise bike (my current obsession).

Well, now you have to go out and get their newest album that continues the energetic, fun pace but with the addition of two songs- "North American Scum". The second song would be my enablement Manifesto if it had been written two years go- "New York I Love You But You're Bringing Me Down". In true, Indie fashion, the band has produced a music video for "North American Scum" that succeeds in lacking any wit AND permanently scarring the song for all future listenings.

So, close your eyes...


Now, go have some fun...

Top 5 week of 4/22--ahh Omaha

I am going back to Omaha this week. I grew up in the river city. I get all nostalgic about the place. Here are five things I love about Omaha.

1) Goldberg's Bread Pudding-- Breading pudding gets a bad rap because usually somebody's mom made with wonder bread and bunch of raisins = gross. But Goldbergs at 50th & Dodge makes the best darn bread pudding-- try it with ice cream.

2) Fish and Chips at the Dundee Dell-- The old Dell was great. It was right on Dodge Street, Omaha's main street, most of the seats and booths were broke...the bathrooms stunk, at least the men's room did...and it was great place to have a drink. The speciality was and is fish and chips served in a little aluminum sack. The trick is to douse the breaded fried fish and chips with about a quart of malt vinegar so you get this salty-sour-fried-fish stuff that is great after you have drank about 3 pints of Guinness. The Dell has since moved. It is actually in the Dundee neighborhood proper...the fish and chips are still very good.

3) Stoysich-- Omaha's stock yards brought in thousands of immigrants in the early 20th Century, many of them from mainland Europe. Most of them settled in South Omaha like my grandparents. Stoysich in the heart of South Omaha is remnant of the era: a true old world butcher shop with what seems like hundreds of meats, especially sausages. One my favorite things is to go to the back of the place and pick up one the cooked the sausages they sale...you then proceed put the sausage on a hoagie-like-bun and fill it full of sweet peppers. So good.



4) Field Club Neighborhood-- I love old houses. I live in one in my home town. Some of the prettiest and coolest houses reside along Woolworth Street in Omaha. I've spent hours just driving the streets marveling at some the great architecture.

5) Woodman Tower-- This is an icon to me, and I'm sure many other Omahans. It is a big old box of building. But it was a marvel when it was built in 1969. It represented to me the sort of industrial spirit of Omaha, but it is dang ugly that is for sure.

Music Man

So, through the miracle of buying used music from Amazon.com (I'm cheap) I bought a bunch of new (to me) Cd's. I even ventured out a bit and bought some Cd's I didn't know anything about like:
Phantom Planet-a solid sort of O.K. band. Music I would not regularly like that much but, if you listen to it enough (which I did because I paid for the damn thing and I'll get my money out of the sumabith)it is infectious, mostly just that "California" Song. It's a corny song and just O.K. but here is the thing. Listen to that song like ten times, while singing along and by the tenth time you will be pouring your heat and soul into it, taken over completely by the sad sappiness of the song. So, I want everyone to go out, listen to the song and come back and tell me if this is true or not I dare you. This is kind of like a chain letter, by getting others suckered into the song I can be free of it.

Other Cd's
Neko Case "Fox Confessor Brings the Flood" Great music, keen artwork with (surprise) Foxes.

Flaming Lips "At War with the Mystics" Love those lips

Dandy Warhols "thirteen tales from urban Bohemia" Right on Music

Musical Sustenance: Part Deux

Henry's right. We DO need more jazz in our lives... and Euro-dance music!

We should listen to more jazz...dontcha think.

Five things I will Miss When I Leave NYC

1) Doughnut Plant - located a couple blocks south of Delancey Street on the Lower East Side, the Doughnut Plant offers a fantastic and ever-changing selection of flavors. Over the years, I have sampled ginger, Meyer lemon, Pistachio, Coconut creme-filled, Tres Leches, Peanut Butter and Jelly, and Rose petal donuts... and I have yet to come across a flavor I didn't like. Their cinnamon rolls and sticky buns rock, too. The donuts are made primarily for gourmet food stores in the City and whatever they have left over is sold from 6:30 a.m. until they run out.

2) The Metropolitan Museum of Art - For New York City residents, it's pay-what-you-like and that makes it the best deal in the City and, perhaps, the world. Their collection is staggering. Morgan and I have spent many Friday nights here, sketching and taking pictures. You can take it to another level, rent an audio guide and spend endless hours in the many, themed galleries. It's phenomenal.

3) Chinatown - This neighborhood intimidated me the most when I first moved to NYC but it quickly became my favorite. I love the Vietnamese sandwich shops, the vegetarian dim sum, the Chinese bakeries, and a small, Thai supermarket that gets me kaffir limes for my curry pastes. It's one of the few neighborhoods still feels like a neighborhood. As I walk the streets, it feels both alien and comfortable and never disappoints.

4) The Bowery Ballroom - The best music venue in the City. It strikes the perfect balance between size and intimacy- there's not a bad seat in the house. The sound system is spot on and the lineup is a Who's Who of the indie music scene, and it's Clear Channel-free. I've seen everyone from Courtney Love to The Kills to the Notwist to the Wrens and the only reason I don't go every night is I'm an hour subway ride from home at the end of a show.

5) The Zip Code - I'll admit it. It feels cool to say that I live in New York. As a kid, the idea of living in a city of this size and density was terrifying. Despite the gentrification and precipitous drop in crime since the 1970s and 80s, this city is still a tough nut to crack. It's as expensive as hell and harder than ever to make it as an artist. I haven't fulfilled the grandiose plans I carried with me to the city, but simply living here has made me a survivor and proud that I have been able to hold my own in this city for this long.

My Top V for the Week 4/15--the ides of April

1) Mischke-- Mischke brodcasts out of St. Paul, Minnesota out of KSTP 1500 which is a blow torch so I could pick up in Nebraska where I went college. Some of the most brilliant radio you have ever heard--and really there is no one like him. You can now pick up the podcast. http://www.mischkemadness.com/

2) Chickens--Ah chickens. Looks like the wife and I will be inheriting a set of backyard chickens. We are lucky that our town is where all the old farmers retired because livestock is generally permitted. A cow used to live in a yard across from the golf course for years. I've raised chickens twice prior...I've witnessed my dog swallow a chick whole--suffice to say I wasn't as happy about the ordeal as the dog was. I've seen with my very eyes a turkey in full attack mode against one of my little bantams--it was prehistoric. And of course I ate a lot eggs. I firmly believe life is much richer with chickens. http://raising-chickens.com/chicken-coops.html

3) The Elected live show on XM--who are these fellows? Very good show. http://www.myspace.com/theelected

4) Krautburgers-- Yummy cabbage, hamburger, salt and pepper baked in bread.

5) Yoga-- Okay so they came up with this Yoga-thing in India a trillion years ago and its all new-agey and weird, but really it is like the best thing in the world...especially, if your some thirty-odd-some guy with high cholesterol and demanded by his doctor to relax. I do hatha Yoga with a bunch of old ladies at retirement center-- you take what you get out here in the wild west. It reminds me of kintergarden nap time and p.e. I think at some point we will need to get out a parachute and shake it with foam balls on it circa 1979. http://www.yogajournal.com/

Condiment King

So,I had to go to the grocery store and I was wandering around, as I am want to do in food stores (oohhh so many colors and shapes) then I came across my favorite area. The condiment section, I did not buy anything of course because I am in condiment rehab. I have a sickness that makes my buy way too many sauces and and dressings so my wife has forbade me from buying anymore until we get rid of what we have in about five months if we start using barbecue sauce (my true Achilles heal) on our cereal.

The reason I love condiments so much, well every other food item is pretty much locked up. In the cereals it's all about the major cereals, same with meats, and even frozen foods, soft drinks, and bread. It's all about General mills, Coca Cola, Jimmie Dean, Wonder Bread, blah, blah, blah. Even if you think a new exciting food item is on the market-- trust me it's not, because look a little closer and it is make by some big boring company. BUT not the condiments my friend. The condiment sections is the last frontier for an euntriprnurial young up and comer. I LOVE condiments. You could be in your backyard throwing together a bunch of crap to bbq your beef and and the next day put it in a bottle and take it down to the local HY-VEE store an who knows they might put it on the shelf right next to the big boys of barbecue sauce. It's only in the condiment lane that I realizes there are sauces I can't live without. There is a sauce for wild game, yes if you have shot something yourself and need a sauce for it some redneck had gone into production for YOU. Hell there were at least five such sauces last time I saw, granted I live in Nebraska but still.

There is a jar called "The Gravy Master" no, it's not gravy in a can, it's some sort of gravy concentrate, I don't know, so you can, what, add a little and save the time and money making all that gravy by yourself. I'm not sure, but that is what I love about the condiment section, it's full of mystery, questions about lifestyle, and just strange condiments. Who IS the "Gravy Master" some mad condiment making fool with delusions of grandeur no doubt, but just maybe he is the master of all the gravy he oversees. Who knows but condiments is where the Gravy Master's dreams came true.

I will be back to talk about condiments again my friends don't you worry.

My top 5 week of April 8th

1) Harakiri dir. Kobayashi--Criterion Collection, www.criterionco.com. Movies can be such a wasted medium. When do you get the general public to sit down for two hours and really pay attention to anything. Harakiri is up there with old Shakespeare a meditation on death and culture. I won't ruin it for you but really the best movie I've seen in awhile. Makes you wish the cineplex folks made just a little better movies.

2) Giant Pumpkins, www.giantpumpkins.com/. I am really working hard this year to learn to garden with my wife-- who is like the best gardener in the world. However, I am set on going full bore and growing a giant freakin' pumpkin. At the end of the Summer I want a semi with a crane to come over to my house and move the thing down the County Fair. I'd like to block up traffic for a couple of hours. At the Fair I will proceed to have the crane lower my giant pumpkin down on all its competitors and crush the competition--literally and figuratively, but mostly literally.

3) The Comics Curmudgeon--joshreads.com/

Newspaper comics generally stink...well it's okay to say so.

4) The Thomas Jefferson Hour, www.jeffersonhour.org/ , I am radio junkie. Like-I-bought-a-shortwave-radio-in-the-90's-and-listen-to-it-after-my-wife-goes-to-sleep junkie. So I love this modern world and all those podcasts. The Thomas Jefferson Hour at first blush seems all too very dorky. Premise: Clay Jenkins pretends he is Thomas Jefferson and he talks about stuff. Once you get over the whole historical reenactment thing it is very interesting.

5) The Vaselines. I think bought this album in college because Kurt Cobain really liked them. Anyway I've been listen to it again you should as well.

My Wii Obsessions: Warioware and Zelda

My right arm is aching this morning. I believe that I am suffering from the Wii equivalent of tennis elbow. The culprit is a game I picked up a couple of weeks ago called Warioware: Smooth Moves. I know that Morgan and I haven't been entertaining very many guests over the years, but never has that been so acute as right now.

This game is meant to be played with others... many others... preferably under the influence. The game supports 12 players and is a frenzy to play even in single-player mode. Hundreds of mini-games reside beneath the hood. I have been squatting and waving and punching and shimmying to the tune of a frenetic and catchy (EVIL) soundtrack. I got the Wii because I wanted something fun to do with people who weren't gamers. Too bad the system didn't come with neighborhood friends.


The other game that's taking up too much of my time has been the Epic known as The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. This game is HUGE. I have been playing it for 2 months and I'm still not finished with it. The save screen logs the number of hours you put into it and I'm somewhere around 59... if only I got paid for such commitment. Normally, this sort of gaming activity would be a deal-breaker with my wife, but fortunately the game is beautiful to look at and the puzzles are so much fun, Morgan has spent more than an idle hour or two helping me work through some of the more-challenging levels.


The plot of the game is pretty stock but the execution is fantastic. Rather than subject the gamer to another hack-and-slash fest, Zelda is provided with a fantastic array of tools and weapons that allow him/her to swing from claws, smash ice blocks, capture objects with mini-tornados and walk along the bottom of lakes. The first 2 hours of the story are terminal as the game tries to teach the in-and-outs of the movement and combat systems, but when the story picks up it's fantastic. I have played dozens of fantasy games and this quickly became my favorite. If you own a Wii, you should own this game.

Venus

I understand that it is self-flagellating to watch the Academy Awards every year. The movies I love are rarely nominated and the winners are frequently the least-deserving- I don't know what the hell Academy members were thinking last year with Crash. I'm going to be good, though, and not bitch about this year's performance. There are plenty of snarky comments to be found on the Internet and in print. My issues with this institution go so far back, it's not worth the breath. I've got a friend-of-a-friend who is an Academy member, however, and that means that for 2 weeks of the year, I get to watch half the films I kinda wanted to see but wasn't interested enough to pay $10.75 for the privilege. This year, the movie I heard the least about was the one I enjoyed the most - Venus.

I knew that Peter O'Toole was up for an Academy Award for his role in Venus but heard little about the film. Peter O'Toole plays Maurice, an aged actor in the twilight of his career. Remembered mostly for his glamorous past and forgotten by the younger generation, he spends his twilight years playing dying grandfathers in films and wandering to the theater or the diner with actor-friends of his generation. The film has a smart, touching plot between Maurice and a young, street-smart woman who he calls "Venus", yet that is the least-interesting aspect of the film. Venus is a portrait of being old - how it feels to be old, how old people are treated and the roles that the elderly are expected to fulfill.

It never fails to amaze me how American culture (or most Western cultures, for that matter) treats it's elderly population. They are stereotyped in film and television as less-than-human children who shuffle, complain and fear change. Reality is that families and the culture largely ignores them or panders to them in condescending ways. What was natural and expected at earlier ages becomes lecherous and sinister in the later years. Somehow, elderly people are supposed to become softer, safer and less of whatever they were in their prime. I suspect it might have something to do with a contemporary fetishizing of youth combined with a terror of growing old.

Peter O'Toole does a spectacular job as the aging actor whose mind is still sharp, whose passions are still potent even as his body slowly gives way. Forrest Whittaker might have given the performance of his life in The Last King of Scotland- his Oscar acceptance speech was passionate and inspiring. However, Peter O'Toole performed an act of courage in exposing himself to the potential ridicule as a dirty old man by an audience that no longer sees him as Lawrence of Arabia or Henry II. He serves up his persona and our memories of him as a passionate, vigorous soul and uses it to expose our assumptions of what a human being should be in his/her later years. In a business based upon vanity, Peter O'Toole continues to both challenge and unsettle. He stood and delivered and I hope that I will carry half that that boldness into my later years.