May 16, 2012
RIP Richard Harding, Owner of Chicago’s Quiet Knight . . .
. . . and before that, Poor Richard’s.
Good stuff in this Sun-Times obit on the Chicago scene, mid-sixties through seventies:
Los Angeles had the Troubador. Chicago had the Quiet Knight.
Personal note: In July 1978, after seeing the Stones at Soldier Field, the ex and I were walking down Belmont Avenue, right past the Quiet Knight, en route to our friend Mark’s apartment. Mark lived in a garret atop Schuba’s (still going strong at Belmont and Southport).
And that, children, was the night the Stones, along with Willie Dixon, paid a visit to the Quiet Knight and jammed with Muddy Waters. The night we walked on by, oblivious, and missed it.
Cooper Renner: “Ack-Ack”
Speaking, as we were, of recognition, Cooper Renner’s story “Ack-Ack” (in JMWW, Summer 2011) has been included in the Wigleaf Top 50 list of best stories of 2011.
May 15, 2012
my mom will be proud
(I’m about a minute in)
(And for the record, I think the tweet preceding mine is about 100x funnier.)
May 14, 2012
tweet of the day
Cable TV is now evenly divided between shows about preparing food and shows about losing weight.
— Andy Borowitz (@BorowitzReport) May 15, 2012
The new baby names are in
Have you heard? Apparently a lot more people named their kids Brantley or Iker this year.
May 13, 2012
Residence (for Rick N.)
I built a house all around this day. I inspected the lumber piled in the lean-to, pulled stacks of boards from the moist blackness, planed and trimmed quarter-sawn planks, and checked decades-old Southern yellow pine for squareness and warp. No less than one hundred spiders perished on account of my actions, and for that I’m sorry. Read more…
May 12, 2012
Elephant in the Room
My heart is broke. Thank you Sheila, Joel, MGS and others for trying. I miss all y’all and the y’all who no longer show up here. I know life goes on. Folks move on. It’s all good. I guess. Still, for the record, I miss. XOR
May 11, 2012
Sally Cruikshank: “Make Me Psychic” (1978)
What got me started was the discovery that animation artist Sally Cruikshank has an Etsy shop where she’s selling watercolors.
Cruikshank is probably best known for Quasi at the Quackadero (1975), which is now listed on the United States National Film Registry. Or you may have seen the animated sequences she contributed to Sesame Street in the nineties.
My favorite, though, has always been Make Me Psychic. “Which way to the we-fwesh-ments?”
(Many of Cruikshank’s films are available for viewing on her YouTube channel, laughingsal, as well as on a DVD you can buy from her Etsy shop.)
from the archives: June 29, 2006
Radiographer (Perry Blake Now Owes Me $156):
My final was yesterday, orientation for the next semester is tomorrow, and today, with no plans, I sat around and was bored, that is, until I read a review of the Adam Sandler film “Click”. Memories started flooding me from my old life in Hollywood. I had to see the film because there were a few things I had to know.
May 10, 2012
headline of the day
With Dicks in, all 6 WA congressional Democrats favor repeal of gay-marriage ban
May 9, 2012
dear clusterflock
After a conversation with a dear long-time friend who is descending into the murk of what they call dementia, I’m dazed and confused. One of many cruel details: My fading friend introduced me to the works of Iris Murdoch when I was seventeen or so.
I’m all tore up. Listening to Sandy Denny singing By the Time It Gets Dark and snuffling. But trying to smack some sense into my sorry self-pitying self.
Seeking resources above and beyond the obvious. Most especially, looking for help for LGBT couples and for alternatives to traditional nursing home settings. Where? In or near Dallas, Texas. When? Now.
Grateful for whatever thoughts you may share here on clusterflock or via our contact form.
May 8, 2012
May 7, 2012
Must Pick Up
I don’t know if this made it to the Alexandria Freecycle list, but after a lot of commotion in the street at 7:30 AM, I emerged to find this on my sidewalk. Spring cleaning!
May 5, 2012
smoke signals
@deronbauman Fort Spunky.
— Sheila Ryan (@Cirinda) May 5, 2012
@deronbauman Fort Spanky. Fort Stinky. Fort Punky. Fort Skanky. Fort Rinky-Dink. Fort Honky. Fort Monkey Butt. Fort Yankee. Fort Wonky.
— Sheila Ryan (@Cirinda) May 5, 2012
@deronbauman Fort Sphincter. Fort Laughter. Fort Spinster. Fort Munster. Fort Muenster. Fort Mustard. Fort Bustard. Fort Custard.
— Sheila Ryan (@Cirinda) May 5, 2012
May 4, 2012
We bought a house
Or — more accurately — Amy and her mother bought a house in which they, I, and Amy’s sister live. I’ve learned a few things by living in an owned home for the first time since I started college.
- Mowing an acre with a push mower is no less ridiculous now than it was when I was in high school
- I don’t have nearly enough tools
- There are certain things you should pay someone else to do.
- If it can be done with a hammer, pliers, a screwdriver, and a utility knife, you should probably do it yourself
- Don’t trust anyone to whom you will be giving money
- Sometimes you have to put the cart before the horse for your own sanity
Any tips on home ownership/maintenance would be welcome.
May 2, 2012
May 1, 2012
Sugar Street Art
Montreal artist Shelley Miller puts up these pieces of sugar street art that are incredibly detailed. From afar, it resembles the blue and white finesse of Delft ceramic ware, but in reality all of these outdoor murals are made entirely out of frosting and sugar.
April 30, 2012
April 28, 2012
White Lily
Laurie Anderson / Rainer Fassbinder
Verbatim
“You didn’t get yourself completely blasted last night, which helped.”
Silence.
“One little more bite of lasagna, and it’s all gonna be gone.”
Silence.
“That was good lasagna, and it came with a salad.”
Silence.
“Are you gonna be awake enough to get home?”
