Scrolling soundtracks ...

Here is what I made, ate, watched, listened to and read this past week without any commentary on anything that doesn't fit into those categories.

FOOD MADE IN OUR KITCHEN

Eggplant-Zucchini Moussaka with Pine Nut Cream: So ... this was awesome. Eggplant, zucchini and potatoes roasted and browned a bit, then baked with a spicy garlic red sauce and this cream sauce made out of tofu and pine nuts. I'd make this again. And again. And again. Zing!

From my favorite cookbook writer Isa Chandra Moskowitz's book Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook.

FOOD EATEN AT NEW SCENIC CAFE

Grilled Egg and Asparagus Sandwich: This might not be the sexiest thing on New Scenic's menu, but it is the thing I crave when I haven't been there for a long time and they aren't serving Bahn Mi. Gruyere fried egg with lemon aioli on grilled ciabatta.

Lemon Tiramisu: This might be the sexiest thing on the New Scenic's menu. It is a lemon tiramisu and it has more flavor than has ever landed on anyone's tongue in the history of foods. Holy crap it's good. It is just freakin' saturated with awesome.

MOVIES
The Roommate:This trailer smelled a lot like "Single White Female," which is fine because the only thing I like more than "Single White Female" is pretty hair, of which there is bushels of in this horror-style film perfect for 12 year olds who can imagine no worse fate than a creepy college roommate who balances her obsessive friendship with a closet and a half filled with clothes she is willing to share. This was so stupid. But a few new chaste-ish torture ideas were tested, including piercing ones own ears and ripping a belly button ring clear out of a girl's stomach. Best served with Pixie Sticks.

Howl: This is a short and sweet biopic on Allen Ginsberg that centers on the obscenity trial for this book. It's mostly a hodge podge of James Franco as Ginsberg reading "Howl" in a packed basement bar, courtroom scenes in which experts are asked whether the poem is legitimate as literature (to a mixed response) and shots in an apartment where Ginsberg explains himself to an invisible interviewer and a mix of trippy animation to illustrate the poetry. I liked this novella-length little movie.

Hesher: I bet this was written by a 24-year-old asshole.

Cruising: I liked this story about an undercover cop infiltrating the New York City gay scene to find a killer much better when I thought it was it was released in the 1970s. But, alas, it was released in 1980. That changes everything for me, mentally. No reason.

The Crawling Hand: Hokey sci/fi appendage frights.

MUSIC
I'm trying to fill my car with the sounds of awesome summer-style music so I'm slowly building a mix called "Awesome Sauce Summer Mix" which I'm not going to pretend is a great name for a mix. Some of this music comes from mixes Chuck makes for me; Some of it comes from watching the kind of TV shows that have a soundtrack scrolling along the bottom of a screen.

Usually I get a little OCD about things that are, for instance, 2011 Summer Mixes having songs from not 2011. But not this year, because I'm still trying to absorb all 2010 had to offer. That was a really strong year of quality stuff.

So here is where I'm at:
Telekinesis: Car Crash
Mimi Page: This Fire
Dean & Britta: It Don't Rain In Beverly Hills (Original Mix)


BOOKS
Netsuke by Ricki Ducornet: When the story opens, the world's least ethical psychoanalyst is out for a run. He exchanges glances with woman on the path and a few seconds later they are rutting in the woods. This sparks some inner monologue about his dual nature: The doctor with a practice in an office on his property, married to an artsy perfectionist who collects netsuke, Japanese ornaments.

Back at home the psychiatrist takes and hour-long shower to wash away the bad and become the man he thinks his wife believes him to be. The rest of the time he is bedding down with a parade of people -- store clerks, strangers and patients including a cutter and a cross dresser. Then he drops hints for his wife about his bad behavior, taking her to restaurants he shares with lovers or telling her details from sessions to spark her jealousy. Sometimes just saying the word "woman" aloud to her in a way that gives him a thrill.

This book is pretty meh.

Full review here.

In Zanesville: A Novelby Jo Ann Beard: Beard’s unnamed protagonist, presumably named Jo, could be any of us in the 1970s. She’s a 14-year-old, inseparable from her best friend, Felicia. When the story opens they are co-babysitting a handful of rowdy tots whose parents belong to a motorcycle gang. One of the kids has set the bathroom wastebasket on fire and the duo is collecting kids and pet reptiles and vermin and considering what this job loss will mean for the clothes they have on layaway at a local store. The protagonist’s mom shows up, so does the fire department. Later, the police.

Full review here.



Ghost Worldby Daniel Clowes: Oh. I finally stopped hating this book. Interesting.
Full review will be here.


What I'm reading now:
Atmospheric Disturbances: A Novel by Rivka Galchen, who wrote my favorite short story in the Under 40 Fiction issue of the New Yorker. This is a wonky book.