For most people, memory itself is a kind of revival house in which only the most vivid things survive.

IN the past few days I read stuff here and there. But the one thing that really held my attention was a great article in The New Yorker by David Denby on the movie industry and the public ‘taste’ versus what the public finds in the theaters (relics).

http://www.newyorker.com/printables/critics/070108crat_atlarge


Many fine lines, relevant to more than movies:

This very end of empire remark:

As these theatres age, the gold leaf doesn’t slowly peel off fluted columns. They rot, like disused industrial spaces. They have become the detritus of what seems, on a bad day, like a dying culture.

and this great sentence waiting for its novel:

For most people, memory itself is a kind of revival house in which only the most vivid things survive. But if there was never a golden age there were a few structures that encouraged superior work—or at least didn’t actively defeat it.

Or this remark on plutocrat cultural hegemony (cultural imperialism turned inward):

Today, the conglomerates are saying, ‘We have the resources to tell the public what it wants to see.’ ” But for how long? Teen-agers are making their own movies and showing them on YouTube and MySpace. They’re multitasking for fun, with computer games, instant messaging, and television. They may be unwilling to sit in a darkened theatre for two hours, submitting to someone else’s control

.

Finally not to bore you any more, this, The funerial epitaphs for movies, tv, newspapers?

Linklater said, “On the Internet, the people who have been shut out of the national conversation on those movies will now be able to take part in it, and for the independent filmmaker that’s an incredible gain.” For the beginning filmmaker, the game is afoot. Shooting with lightweight digital equipment, he could put together a feature-length movie for very little money and then distribute it through the Internet. All he needs is ability and a cast and crew open to adventures.

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Last week and observant friend commented on my hotmail signature line:

"People can lose their lives in libraries. They ought to be warned." - Saul Bellow

to which I replied:

The nearest public library is a very very long walk - something I don't care to make. Between it and me there are 3-5 book stores including Borders, Afterwords - the used book store with the savvy odd looking staff and hard to find old titles in hardback. You cannot loose your live in AMAZON.COM, there is no serendipity in online shopping aside from misspelling. You can engage randomness in a bookstore. BUT THE REFERENCE SHELVES OF A LIBRARY, I DO miss those, especially of a University. I must figure this out.

I now have over 700 books in my catalog of books, check it out:

http://www.librarything.com/catalog/jbeckhamlat

bookended on one end by a book on Absinthe (a fine beverage) to the other end with books on Wrinkles in Time (real and imagined). And a few things in between.

THIS IS a guide I use:
99 Novels
The Best in English Since 1939
by Anthony Burgess
a.b.e-books v3.0 / Notes at EOF

reading at the moment:




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SUNDAY, a day of cooking and . . . I take liberties, no red peppers, then I don't need an extra pepcid, and the shape can very. LEFT OVERS IN THE FRIDGE.

Sunday’s lunch:


FROM THIRTY YEARS OF RECIPE REQUESts TO THE LOS ANGELES TIMES
BY Rose Dosti

MEAT page 125

MEAT LOAF 72 MARKET STREET

The best meat loaf (readers will testify) comes from 72 Market Street, a restaurant in Venice, California. According to Chef Leonard Schwartz who developed the recipe, it was a result of years of experience, not just an experiment.

1/4 cup minced onion
3/4 cup minced green onion
½ cup minced celery
½ cup minced carrot
1/4 cup minced green pepper
1/4 cup minced sweet red pepper
2 teaspoons minced garlic
3 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon white pepper
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ cup half and half
½ cup catsup
1 ½ pounds lean ground beef
½ pound lean ground pork
3 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup dry bread crumbs
Sauce (below)

Saute onion, green onion, celery, carrot, green pepper, red pepper and garlic in
butter until vegetables are soft and liquid is evaporated. Set aside to cool. Combine salt, cayenne, black pepper, white pepper, cumin and nutmeg and add to vegetable mixture. Stir in half and half, catsup, beef, pork, eggs and bread crumbs. Mix well.

Form into loaf and place on greased baking sheet or in 9 x 5 inch loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees 45 to 50 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing. Pour off excess fat. Slice and serve with Sauce. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

SAUCE

4 shallots
2 tablespoons butter
1 sprig thyme
1 bay leaf
Dash crushed black pepper
1 cup dry white wine
1 cup veal or beef stock
1 cup chicken stock
Salt, pepper

Saute shallots in 1 tablespoon butter with thyme, bay leaf and black pepper. Add white wine and stocks. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Simmer until reduced by half and sauce thickens slightly.

LATER!