Miscellanea #2

(Miscellanea: A collection of miscellaneous matters; matters of various kinds (Webster’s 1913). Noteworthy tidbits gleaned from all over, sans commentary.)

McGwire calls steroid scandal ‘unfortunate’
Back at Busch Stadium for the first time since retiring, Mark McGwire had little to say about steroids in baseball. Well, I’m really not in touch with any of that stuff because I usually hear it from friends and stuff, and I tell them I don’t want to really hear about any of that stuff, McGwire said Saturday. I don’t really have any opinion on any of that stuff. It’s just very unfortunate…. (ESPN.com - MLB)

Is My Blog Burning no. 3: Irish Stout Cake with Whiskey-Sour Icing
As soon as Renee announced that the theme for the third Is My Blog Burning event was to be Cakewalk, this cake came to mind. I think part of the reason is because it just looks sensational. The cake crumb is almost pure black, with hints of the red that’s in cacao. The flavor is also dark, slightly bitter yet sweet, from the stout and the unsweetened pure cocoa powder. Amazingly enough though, the texture of the crumb itself is quite light…. (i was just really very hungry.)

Lost Valentino film discovered
The Dutch national film archive discovers a copy of the long-lost 1922 Rudolph Valentino silent classic Beyond the Rocks. It is an 81′ romantic melodrama about a woman (Gloria Swanson) pushed into a marriage with an older man but who then falls for Valentino’s nobleman character on her honeymoon. The Filmmuseum will restore the film, repairing scratches and other minor damage. It has also asked Dutch composers to write a new score to be performed live when it shows the silent movie at its festival in Amsterdam next year. (BBC News) (Cinema Minima)

Cemetery Cinema
When I was a kid growing up in H’wood I spent several a serene summer’s afternoon at the Hollywood Memorial Cemetery on Santa Monica at Gower, now called Hollywood Forever. I would bike over there just to wander around the crypts, hang out among the remains of the likes of Tyrone Power and Jayne Mansfield, and occasionally catch guppies in Douglas Fairbanks’ reflecting pool. Now I’m gonna go back to see movies, not dead people…. (will.blogging.LA)

Lord of the Rings
Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings: ham-fisted, shallow, bombastic, and laughably overrated, says one critic. But don’t get me wrong… more (Arts and Letters Daily - ideas, criticism, debate)

Honk, tweet, buzz
I’m doing a little circuit bending with my friend Josh right now using an old electronic baby toy I picked up. We added a 1/4" output jack and a rotary dial that causes six different shorts that produce pitch shifts and glitches. I’m thinking of patching in some reverb or some other effect since there is still plenty of room inside and room for more knobs etc on the surface…. (News of the dead)

Dilbert Apr-17-04
Sales are dropping like a rock… (Dilbert)