Happy Holidays
LATEST ADDITIONS
Elvis' Jewish Roots?
John Marks sends along this <A HREF="http://www.elvispresleynews.com/JewishElvis.html">"respectful and perhaps link-worthy page on Elvis' Jewishness"</A>.
101 No-Fuss Appetizers
<A HREF="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/19/dining/19mini.html?_r=1&oref=slogin">…; is Mark Bittman's third collection of 101 no-hassle dishes. These aren't gimmicks—they're good food designed to be made in under 20 minutes (frequently <I>much</I> under), using foods you might have around the house. (Over the years, I've discovered that a little prep at the shopping stage guarantees that you'll have the ingredients to make good food fast.)
Waiting for FedEx to Open
I spent a part of this morning sitting in the warm lobby of 10 Exchange Place in downtown Jersey City, waiting for FedEx to open. I had some gear to return. While I waited, I decided to listen to music. I undid the two front latches on my black canvas bag. From one pocket, I pulled out <a href="http://blog.stereophile.com/stephenmejias/052407eliminate/">the Red Wine Audio iMod</a>, from the other I removed <a href="http://blog.stereophile.com/stephenmejias/030107shure/">the Shure SE310 earphones</a>.
Record Mart Reopens!
I've been telling you—I've been telling <i>everyone</i>, actually—that old-style New York City salsa is making a major comeback. Major.
Covers From Beyond the Id
Back when I worked at the lower Broadway Tower Records, those crazy cut-ups in the Classical Annex culled the stupidest, most cheesecakey covers from the used bins and covered a wall-of-shame in the count-out room with them.
Martin Puryear in Perspective
I'm a huge fan of Martin Puryear's sculpture, having discovered it at a 1987 Hirschhorn retrospective. So I've been <I>meaning</I> to catch up with his current exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art. Arthur C. Danto's <A HREF="http://www.thenation.com/doc/20071231/danto">appreciation</a> in <I>The Nation</I> serves not only as a stimulus to hie me hence forthwith, but also as a meditation on MOMA's second-floor atrium.
Thanks, I Needed That
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Complaint Choirs
One of my very favorite television shows is <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/sunday/main3445.shtml"><i>Sunday Morning</i></a> on CBS. I look forward to it all week long, and when I wake on Sunday mornings, it's the first thing that comes to mind. I usually wake with just enough time to brew a pot of coffee and get comfortable in front of the television.
The best of 2007 (and more!)
Today in <I>Slate</I> (which, as some of you know, is where I do most of my writing, mainly on national-security politics), I lay out—as I have in each of the last five Decembers—my <A HREF= "http://www.slate.com/id/2180205/"> picks</A> for the 10 best jazz albums of the year. Here are the best of 2007: