“Where passion is married to intelligence, you may find genius, neurosis, madness or rapture.”
—[The Mysteries of Berkeley, Michael Chabon]
January 2011
Best Hot Chocolate Recipes →
chow.com
Let’s get something straight: Hot chocolate and hot cocoa are not the same. Hot chocolate, also known as drinking chocolate, is made with real chocolate; hot cocoa is a watered-down version based on cocoa powder. You’ll understand the difference once you savor this indulgent recipe for basic hot chocolate. Then try your hand at any of these riffs.
Schindler's List (1993)
- Oskar Schindler: Power is when we have every justification to kill, and we don't.
- Amon Goeth: You think that's power?
- Oskar Schindler: That's what the Emperor said. A man steals something, he's brought in before the Emperor, he throws himself down on the ground. He begs for his life, he knows he's going to die. And the Emperor... pardons him. This worthless man, he lets him go.
- Amon Goeth: I think you are drunk.
- Oskar Schindler: That's power, Amon. That is power.
Lovesong
Adele
Adele - Lovesong
[Originally by The Cure]
It’s a celebration of the life and poetry of the poet Robert Burns, author of many Scots poems. The suppers are normally held on or near the poet’s birthday, 25 January, sometimes also known as Robert Burns Day or Burns Night (Burns Nicht), although they may in principle be held at any time of the year.
Burns Night, effectively a second national day, is celebrated with Burns suppers around the world, and is still more widely observed than the official national day, Saint Andrew’s Day.
“- Diceva l’oste al vino
tu mi diventi vecchio
ti voglio maritare
all’acqua del mio secchio.
Rispose il vino all’oste
fai le pubblicazioni
sposo l’idrolitina
del cavalier Gazzoni -” —[Visto che ancora compro l’Idrolitina e oggi spopola in dash.]
tu mi diventi vecchio
ti voglio maritare
all’acqua del mio secchio.
Rispose il vino all’oste
fai le pubblicazioni
sposo l’idrolitina
del cavalier Gazzoni -” —[Visto che ancora compro l’Idrolitina e oggi spopola in dash.]
Tiziano Terzani - La fine è il mio inizio
- Tiziano: Sai, all’ambasciata americana di Phnom Penh c’erano degli assassini che disegnavano quelle che si chiamavano the boxes, le scatole. In base allo spionaggio e alle informazioni che arrivavano dal terreno e in cui si diceva “C’è una compagnia di khmer rossi nel tal punto della giungla…” loro disegnavano sulla carta della Cambogia un rettangolo, chiamato the box, che i B-52 erano autorizzati a bombardare a tappeto. Ora, non veniva mai controllato se in quel box c’erano, per esempio, dei villaggi. E cosa succedeva? Succedeva che quelli da lassù partivano dall’inizio e scaricavano le loro bombe attraverso tutto il box. Uno spaventoso bombardamento a tappeto di cinque minuti – barn, barn, barn, barn, pun! – che alla fine lasciava terra bruciata. Non c’era più giungla, non c’erano più alberi, non c’erano più villaggi. Allora, una volta – o il box era stato descritto male, o i B-52 avevano letto male la sua descrizione – invece di bombardare una compagnia di khmer rossi bombardarono un intero villaggio della parte governativa, uccidendo tutti. Un massacro, un massacro! Io non ricordo bene come Sydney Schanberg lo venne a sapere. Ma c’era un inghippo che alcuni giornalisti avevano scoperto, e che avevo a un certo punto usato anch’io. Siccome le comunicazioni a quel tempo non erano come oggi, satellitari, ma c’era un piccolo aereo americano, chiamato Spotter, che volava a bassa quota e trasmetteva gli ordini ai B-52, qualcuno aveva scoperto la frequenza con la quale questo Spotter trasmetteva ai piloti o parlava con l’ambasciata. Ora, le radioline portatili con cui ascoltavamo la BBC avevano una lunghezza d’onda con cui si sentiva la voce del pilota dello Spotter che parlava con l’ambasciata, per cui si sapeva cosa stava succedendo. Forse Sydney aveva sentito lo Spotter che diceva “Casino, massacro! Avete sbagliato!” Il posto che era stato bombardato era su un isolotto, diciamo a un centinaio di chilometri più in giù lungo il Mekong. Allora Sydney, sapendo che era successo qualcosa di gravissimo, andò subito al fiume, noleggiò una barca e pagò tutti gli altri barcaioli perché se ne andassero a casa, così che altri giornalisti non potessero seguirlo e lui avesse l’esclusiva della storia.
- Folco: Tu sei andato a vedere?
- Tiziano: No, perché quando sono arrivato al fiume le barche erano già tutte partite. [Ride.] La storia uscì su tutti i giornali del mondo e si chiamò “il massacro di Neak Leong”. Questo ti dimostra l’abilità di Sydney. Era un grande giornalista, un grande e coraggioso giornalista. Aveva il pelo sullo stomaco.
Meet the man who lived with wolves →
salon.com
Shaun Ellis, wolf researcher and subject of a National Geographic show, describes his life living in a wolf pack.
Meet the man who lived with wolves →
salon.com
Shaun Ellis, wolf researcher and subject of a National Geographic show, describes his life living in a wolf pack.
Called “the most natural and least self-conscious screen actor that has ever lived” by über-critic Pauline Kael, this 2010 Oscar-winning best actor embodies traits far beyond brilliance as an actor. He is an exceptional musician, a photographer, an occasional vintner and a storyteller. He hails from an illustrious Hollywood family, working as a child with his father Lloyd and brother Beau on television’s “Sea Hunt.” Jeff Bridges endures with vigor and grace. His own decades-long marriage and daughters remain the center of his world. His casual, easy-going air have endeared him to audiences for almost 40 years, starting with The Last Picture Show in 1971, reinforced in Starman in 1984 and the cult classic The Big Lebowski in 1998. After the life-changing role of Bad Blake in Crazy Heart in 2009, he returns to the screen with Tron Legacy and as Rooster Cogburn in the remake of True Grit, directed by the Coen Brothers.
[via /Film]
Maya Angelou’s life is an open book, says Don Swaim. Angelou has spent her literary career writing autobiographical literature such as I Know Why a Caged Bird Sings, All of God’s Children Need Traveling Shoes, and Now Sheba Sing the Song. But even after writing so many novels, Angelou says she still trying something with the form.
She says she wants to use “I” and mean “we,” a task she has found to be ambitious.
Angelou fell in love with reading and poetry at the age of 8, shortly after she stopped talking. She was mute – as she refers to it – until she was a little over 12 years old. During this time, Angelou describes a transformation in her brain that made her capable of memorizing certain things to the smallest detail. She memorized Poe, Hughes, Shakespeare, and Kipling. Based on these descriptions, Swaim took a leap and suggested she was, in fact, autistic.
Angelou would not speak again until provoked by a grade school teacher, Mrs. Flowers. Her teacher taught her the only way to truly love poetry was to speak it. Reading poetry was how Angelou found her voice.
Listen
Johann Sebastian Bach - Concerto VI in F major, BWV 1057
3. Allegro assai
[Performed by Trevor Pinnock and The English Concert]
Listen
Johann Sebastian Bach - Concerto VI in F major, BWV 1057
3. Allegro assai
[Performed by Trevor Pinnock and The English Concert]
The Thin Red Line (1998)
- Pvt. Witt: I can take anything you dish out. I’m twice the man you are.
- Sgt. Welsh: In this world, a man, himself, is nothing. And there ain’t no world but this one.
- Pvt. Witt: I’ve seen another world. Sometimes I think it was just… my imagination.
- Sgt. Welsh: Well, then you’ve seen things I never will. We’re living in a world that’s blowing itself to hell as fast as everybody can arrange it. In a situation like that all a man can do is shut his eyes and let nothing touch him.
Listen
The Decemberists - January Hymn
Morgenstern lo fa, Nipresa e Waxen pure. Lo fanno anche Nightswimming, Batchiara, Shakingtambourine, Eclipsed, Musa Erato, Cidindon, Reallynothing, Boplicity, Quatsch, Solitaryman, Forgottenbones, Flatguy e Impropriamente.
Per non parlare di Byronic, Cornerlist, Uomoinpolvere, TobWaylan, Menodizero, Goddamnwalls, Seia, CineManu, Kiado, DarkPassenger, Neurotico, DanielaElle, Sciain, Goldenbeetle, Quellonellospecchio, Miciomannaro, Ulaulaman, Secondopiano, Unavoceacaso, Scarligamerluss, Gargantua, Tonicorti, Baotzebao, MissVengeance, Placida, Junkiepop.
Ci riescono perfino gli statunitensi che seguo. Nikink e Mmorbo invece sono discontinui.
Tutti gli altri non lo fanno, ed io non riesco ancora ad accettarlo.
Morgenstern lo fa, Nipresa e Waxen pure. Lo fanno anche Nightswimming, Batchiara, Shakingtambourine, Eclipsed, Musa Erato, Cidindon, Reallynothing, Boplicity, Quatsch, Solitaryman, Forgottenbones, Flatguy e Impropriamente.
Per non parlare di Byronic, Cornerlist, Uomoinpolvere, TobWaylan, Menodizero, Goddamnwalls, Seia, CineManu, Kiado, DarkPassenger, Neurotico, Sciain, Goldenbeetle, Quellonellospecchio, Miciomannaro, Ulaulaman, Secondopiano, Unavoceacaso, Scarligamerluss, Gargantua, Tonicorti, Baotzebao, MissVengeance, Placida, Junkiepop.
Ci riescono perfino gli statunitensi che seguo. Nikink e Mmorbo invece sono discontinui.
Tutti gli altri non lo fanno, ed io non riesco ancora ad accettarlo.
Called “the most natural and least self-conscious screen actor that has ever lived” by über-critic Pauline Kael, this 2010 Oscar-winning best actor embodies traits far beyond brilliance as an actor. He is an exceptional musician, a photographer, an occasional vintner and a storyteller. He hails from an illustrious Hollywood family, working as a child with his father Lloyd and brother Beau on television’s “Sea Hunt.” Jeff Bridges endures with vigor and grace. His own decades-long marriage and daughters remain the center of his world. His casual, easy-going air have endeared him to audiences for almost 40 years, starting with The Last Picture Show in 1971, reinforced in Starman in 1984 and the cult classic The Big Lebowski in 1998. After the life-changing role of Bad Blake in Crazy Heart in 2009, he returns to the screen with Tron Legacy and as Rooster Cogburn in the remake of True Grit, directed by the Coen Brothers.
[via /Film]
Sophie Calle: I asked for the moon and I got it →
guardian.co.uk
When Sophie Calle first tried photography, she was told to pick another career. The great French conceptual artist reveals how she persevered – and finally got her revenge.
Cracking Jonathan Safran Foer's Tree of Codes
Audio slideshow: The novelist explains how he used the process of die-cutting to construct a new story from The Street of Crocodiles by Bruno Schulz.
Cracking Jonathan Safran Foer's Tree of Codes
Audio slideshow: The novelist explains how he used the process of die-cutting to construct a new story from The Street of Crocodiles by Bruno Schulz.
Maya Angelou’s life is an open book, says Don Swaim. Angelou has spent her literary career writing autobiographical literature such as I Know Why a Caged Bird Sings, All of God’s Children Need Traveling Shoes, and Now Sheba Sing the Song. But even after writing so many novels, Angelou says she still trying something with the form.
She says she wants to use “I” and mean “we,” a task she has found to be ambitious.
Angelou fell in love with reading and poetry at the age of 8, shortly after she stopped talking. She was mute – as she refers to it – until she was a little over 12 years old. During this time, Angelou describes a transformation in her brain that made her capable of memorizing certain things to the smallest detail. She memorized Poe, Hughes, Shakespeare, and Kipling. Based on these descriptions, Swaim took a leap and suggested she was, in fact, autistic.
Angelou would not speak again until provoked by a grade school teacher, Mrs. Flowers. Her teacher taught her the only way to truly love poetry was to speak it. Reading poetry was how Angelou found her voice.
Sophie Calle: I asked for the moon and I got it →
guardian.co.uk
When Sophie Calle first tried photography, she was told to pick another career. The great French conceptual artist reveals how she persevered – and finally got her revenge.
“Do you know what matters in life?
Music.
You can change the words but music stays the same.” —[J’entends plus la guitare]
Music.
You can change the words but music stays the same.” —[J’entends plus la guitare]
Just after World War II, during a period of acute food rationing in England, George Orwell wrote an article on the making of a decent cup of tea that insisted on the observing of 11 different “golden” rules. Some of these (always use Indian or Ceylonese—i.e., Sri Lankan—tea; make tea only in small quantities; avoid silverware pots) may be considered optional or outmoded.
But the essential ones are easily committed to memory, and they are simple to put into practice.
How to make a decent cup of tea, following George Orwell’s golden rules.
Just after World War II, during a period of acute food rationing in England, George Orwell wrote an article on the making of a decent cup of tea that insisted on the observing of 11 different “golden” rules. Some of these (always use Indian or Ceylonese—i.e., Sri Lankan—tea; make tea only in small quantities; avoid silverware pots) may be considered optional or outmoded.
But the essential ones are easily committed to memory, and they are simple to put into practice.
How to make a decent cup of tea, following George Orwell’s golden rules.
“Do you know what matters in life?
Music.
You can change the words but music stays the same.” —[J’entends plus la guitare]
Music.
You can change the words but music stays the same.” —[J’entends plus la guitare]
Sicily: a new dawn
Forget the clichés – Italy’s largest island has been reborn and now offers visitors beautiful sights, places to stay – and exquisite cuisine. Lee Marshall explores.
