"Trinkets such as key chains which come as free bonuses with the purchase of some luxury product, but which end up being traded back and forth as valued collectibles in their own right, reflect a mystical self-abandonment to commodity transcendence. Those who collect the trinkets that have been manufactured for the sole purpose of being collected are accumulating commodity indulgences — glorious tokens of the commodity’s real presence among the faithful. Reified people proudly display the proofs of their intimacy with the commodity. read more »
Goat Cheese and Fennel on Sourdough
Goat Cheese and Fennel on Sourdough
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1 Fennel bulb
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 medium red onion, chopped
1 TBS pernod
salt and pepper
4 slices sourdough bread
1 garlic clove, minced
8 oz. goat cheese
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
pinch of thyme
Cut off stalks of fennel bulb and remove sprigs from the stalks. Throw the stalks away. Cut bulb heart into 1/4 inch squares. Heat oil in pan and add fennel bulb pieces and red onion pieces. Cook for 10 minutes until tender. Stir in Pernod and salt and pepper. In a separate bowl, mix goat cheese with fennel sprigs and cayenne pepper. Cover each sliced of bread with 1/4 of the goat cheese mixture. Top with the onion and fennel. Put sandwich together. Best served with thick bread slices.
Makes 2 sandwiches.
Submitted by wayne on Mon, 02/05/2007 - 21:11.
Raspberry and lemon pinwheels and whirlybirds
Raspberry and lemon pinwheels and whirlybirds
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1 cup defrosted or fresh raspberries
1 cup plus 3 TBS flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
9 TBS (1 stick) butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
3/4 tsp almond extract
1 tsp lemon zest
Puree raspberries in food processor. Use the back of a spoon to press them through a strainer to remove seeds. Separate 2 TBS of puree.
Mix 1 cup flour, baking powder, and salt.
Put butter in large mixing bowl and beat with electric mixer on medium speed for 15 seconds. Add sugar and beat until blended, approx. 1 minute. Mix in egg yolk, vanilla and almond extract. Add flour mixture and mix until smooth dough. read more »
Submitted by wayne on Mon, 02/05/2007 - 20:32.
Things to come
This doesn't bode well!
-Rebecca, after the bodywash bottle fell on her head in the shower
Submitted by rebecca on Sun, 02/04/2007 - 12:25.
the early bird gets the gummy worms!
Bums don't carry cardboard signs anymore. That's what we learned yesterday. We wandered around San Jose and Santa Cruz looking for someone with a sign so we could buy it off them. Wayne and his classmates are becoming art collectors for a bit here. If we can find any panhandlers carrying a sign, that is -- and convince them to sell it [a long explanation to this one... so only ask if you want to hear it. -wayne]. Didn't they used to stand on medians before freeway entrances? read more »
Submitted by rebecca on Sun, 02/04/2007 - 10:41.
Over Sea, Under Stone
Over Sea, Under Stone
by Susan Cooper
This is definitely not a good book for reading aloud. We struggled through about a third of it, where Wayne kept complaining that "nothing was happening." He was right, of course, but I decided to finish the rest of it by myself, so I could skim. There was just too much...detail...and not enough character development or plot development. read more »
Submitted by rebecca on Sat, 02/03/2007 - 11:19.
Eragon
Eragon (pronounced EHR-uh-gahn) is your average dragon/fantasy tale which follows after the J.R.R. Tolkien legacy. I have avoided this book because of the huge negative press around the relationship between this novel and the Lord of the Rings and Star Wars series. People have claimed the book is cliched and derivative.
And I have to say, it's all true. read more »
Submitted by wayne on Wed, 01/31/2007 - 17:32.
Back to School
That's right. I went back to school. This late into the year. While everyone else has been in school for several weeks, I had my first classes today, which turned out to only be one day's worth of classes on Thursday. Pretty uneventful, but at least I'm finally getting back into school. read more »
Submitted by wayne on Sun, 01/28/2007 - 10:07.
Archival, museum art, structures of restructuring
I have been listening to a podcast from the MoMA THINK series on Brice Marden, following his retrospective at the museum. Brice Marden has quickly become a hot item in the past 30 years (is that quickly), but people are collecting and talking about him in the "art scene." The podcast is of a panel including Francesco Clemente and Christopher Wool (others as well) discussing Marden's work and forms. read more »
Submitted by wayne on Thu, 01/25/2007 - 10:22.
