Exquisite Corpse

Tim Burton on digging through his cellar for a MoMA retrospective.

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• By Logan Hill
• Published Nov 8, 2009

Left: Untitled (Picasso Woman) 1980-1990 "I used to go to the mall a lot — there's a lot of interesting people to look at, and you could sit there with nobody paying attention to you. I remember having a kind of mind-blowing experience where I was very frustrated drawing, struggling to fit in, and I said, 'Fuck it, I can't. I'm just going to draw the way I'm going to draw.' I had a couple good teachers who told me to just be myself. I didn't worry about physics or reality, and it freed me up to capture the way I saw a person."   (Photo: Courtesy of Tim Burton and the Museum of Modern Art)

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A Sneak Preview of the Exhibit

With characters ranging from Jack Skellington and Edward Scissorhands to Sweeney Todd and Batman, Tim Burton has spent his film career inventing and reinventing shadowy, mysterious anti-heroes—so much so that he’s become enshrouded in his own mad-scientist persona. Our most deviously inventive director now looms like a future-gothic Dr. Frankenstein, reanimating our favorite pretty-monster Johnny Depp again and again. (Depp will next portray the Mad Hatter in 2010’s Alice in Wonderland.) While not entirely off-base, that creeptastic idea of Burton has become a mask, obscuring both the creator and his craft. It’s time for a clearer look, and New Yorkers can peek inside the director’s secret laboratories at MoMA’s retrospective “Tim Burton,” opening November 22. “It’s exciting and surreal and all the things that go with it,” he says of the honor. “It’s going to be an out-of-body experience.”

via nymag.com

Buy Nothing Day
via The Non-Consumer Advocate by thenonconsumeradvocate on 11/8/09

It may seem a little early to start talking about Buy Nothing Day, but the heft of today’s ad-laden Sunday newspaper says otherwise.

For those not in the know, Buy Nothing Day is a 20-year-old program put on by AdBusters, asking that participants buy nothing the day after Thanksgiving, (the traditional start of the Christmas shopping season.)

The AdBusters website describes this year’s shopping protest as such:

This year we’re calling for a wildcat general strike. On November 27/28 we’re asking tens of millions of people around the world to bring the capitalist consumption machine to a grinding – if only momentary – halt. We want you to shut off your lights, your televisions and other nonessential appliances. We want you to park your car, turn off your phones and log off your computer for the day. We’re calling for a Ramadan-like fast. From sunrise to sunset, we abstain en masse. Not only from shopping but from all the temptations of our five-planet lifestyles.

Instead we’ll feed our spirits and minds with a feast of subversive activities: pranks, shenanigans, credit card cut-ups, bicycle swarms, mall invasions and all manner of culture jams and creative détournements … and some of us will take things even further with sit-ins, demonstrations, passive resistance and acts of nonviolent defiance, anarchy and civil disobedience. If we can create a big enough ruckus on November 27/28, then we may be able to catalyze what the Situationists tried to set in motion half a century ago: a chain reaction of refusal against consumer capitalism … a sudden, unexpected moment of truth … the first ever global revolution.

Okay . . . that seems to be taking things beyond the extreme. I’m a strong believer in catching more flies with honey than vinegar — and that sure sounds like a big ol’ vinegar smoothie.

The people who work in retail are not our mortal enemy. These are people lucky to have a job in an economy that is seeing a national 10.2% unemployment rate. (Much higher in some areas.)

I cannot support acts of “anarchy and civil disobedience” in the name of non-consumerism. As I explain to my children, if you act in a totally inappropriate manner, no one will listen to your side of things. Even if you’re in the right.

Instead, I suggest a less extreme route and:

Simply choose to not shop.

Or, choose to shop in a manner that’s consistent with your values. Support your locally owned businesses, buy from a craftsperson, find that perfect gift in a non-profit thrift store.

I will not be participating in any AdBuster activities, and I can most likely be found the day after Thanksgiving up on Mount Hood with my kids. Enjoying home cooked meals with my family and going on some snowy hikes.

Will you be participating in Buy Nothing Day? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”

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100 Things Restaurant Staffers Should Never Do (Part 1)

By Bruce Buschel

Herewith is a modest list of dos and don’ts for servers at the seafood restaurant I am building. Veteran waiters, moonlighting actresses, libertarians and baristas will no doubt protest some or most of what follows. They will claim it homogenizes them or stifles their true nature. And yet, if 100 different actors play Hamlet, hitting all the same marks, reciting all the same lines, cannot each one bring something unique to that role?

1. Do not let anyone enter the restaurant without a warm greeting.

2. Do not make a singleton feel bad. Do not say, “Are you waiting for someone?” Ask for a reservation. Ask if he or she would like to sit at the bar.

3. Never refuse to seat three guests because a fourth has not yet arrived.

4. If a table is not ready within a reasonable length of time, offer a free drink and/or amuse-bouche. The guests may be tired and hungry and thirsty, and they did everything right.

5. Tables should be level without anyone asking. Fix it before guests are seated.

6. Do not lead the witness with, “Bottled water or just tap?” Both are fine. Remain neutral.

7. Do not announce your name. No jokes, no flirting, no cuteness.

8. Do not interrupt a conversation. For any reason. Especially not to recite specials. Wait for the right moment.

9. Do not recite the specials too fast or robotically or dramatically. It is not a soliloquy. This is not an audition.

10. Do not inject your personal favorites when explaining the specials.

11. Do not hustle the lobsters. That is, do not say, “We only have two lobsters left.” Even if there are only two lobsters left.

12. Do not touch the rim of a water glass. Or any other glass.

13. Handle wine glasses by their stems and silverware by the handles.

14. When you ask, “How’s everything?” or “How was the meal?” listen to the answer and fix whatever is not right.

15. Never say “I don’t know” to any question without following with, “I’ll find out.”

16. If someone requests more sauce or gravy or cheese, bring a side dish of same. No pouring. Let them help themselves.

17. Do not take an empty plate from one guest while others are still eating the same course. Wait, wait, wait.

18. Know before approaching a table who has ordered what. Do not ask, “Who’s having the shrimp?”

19. Offer guests butter and/or olive oil with their bread.

20. Never refuse to substitute one vegetable for another.

21. Never serve anything that looks creepy or runny or wrong.

22. If someone is unsure about a wine choice, help him. That might mean sending someone else to the table or offering a taste or two.

23. If someone likes a wine, steam the label off the bottle and give it to the guest with the bill. It has the year, the vintner, the importer, etc.

24. Never use the same glass for a second drink.

25. Make sure the glasses are clean. Inspect them before placing them on the table.

26. Never assume people want their white wine in an ice bucket. Inquire.

27. For red wine, ask if the guests want to pour their own or prefer the waiter to pour.

28. Do not put your hands all over the spout of a wine bottle while removing the cork.

29. Do not pop a champagne cork. Remove it quietly, gracefully. The less noise the better.

30. Never let the wine bottle touch the glass into which you are pouring. No one wants to drink the dust or dirt from the bottle.

31. Never remove a plate full of food without asking what went wrong. Obviously, something went wrong.

32. Never touch a customer. No excuses. Do not do it. Do not brush them, move them, wipe them or dust them.

33. Do not bang into chairs or tables when passing by.

34. Do not have a personal conversation with another server within earshot of customers.

35. Do not eat or drink in plain view of guests.

36. Never reek from perfume or cigarettes. People want to smell the food and beverage.

37. Do not drink alcohol on the job, even if invited by the guests. “Not when I’m on duty” will suffice.

38.Do not call a guy a “dude.”

39. Do not call a woman “lady.”

40. Never say, “Good choice,” implying that other choices are bad.

41. Saying, “No problem” is a problem. It has a tone of insincerity or sarcasm. “My pleasure” or “You’re welcome” will do.     

42. Do not compliment a guest’s attire or hairdo or makeup. You are insulting someone else.

43. Never mention what your favorite dessert is. It’s irrelevant.

44. Do not discuss your own eating habits, be you vegan or lactose intolerant or diabetic.

45. Do not curse, no matter how young or hip the guests.

46. Never acknowledge any one guest over and above any other. All guests are equal.

47. Do not gossip about co-workers or guests within earshot of guests.

48. Do not ask what someone is eating or drinking when they ask for more; remember or consult the order.

49. Never mention the tip, unless asked.

50. Do not turn on the charm when it’s tip time. Be consistent throughout.

Next week: 51-100.

via boss.blogs.nytimes.com

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DSO’s Slatkin OK after surgery | freep.com | Detroit Free Press

DSO’s Slatkin OK after surgery
By Mark Stryker
Free Press Staff Writer

Detroit Symphony Orchestra music director Leonard Slatkin is resting in a hospital in Rotterdam in the Netherlands, after undergoing an angioplasty and stent procedure on Sunday to unblock a clogged artery following a heart attack.

Speaking via e-mail today from his hospital bed, Slatkin, 65, said he had experienced chest pains during the week before a concert with the Rotterdam Philharmonic but dismissed them as indigestion.

“At the Sunday concert, I started having trouble with chest pain and I was sweating more than usual,” said Slatkin. “Again, I thought it would go away but it stuck around. I sort of collapsed in the dressing room and a medical team from the hall was sent in. Five minutes later I was in an ambulance on the way to the hospital.”

Slatkin said he felt lucky to be alive: “I was supposed to be on a plane to Prague that night and it is very possible that I might not have survived that long.”

Slatkin, who will remain in the hospital until the end of the week, has canceled scheduled appearances in Prague this week and with the Pittsburgh Symphony next week. Slatkin is scheduled to conduct the DSO in performances on Nov. 19-21 and 27-29. Elizabeth Twork, DSO director of public relations, said there are no plans for him to withdraw from his Detroit concerts, but the orchestra was also making contingency plans with other conductors just in case Slatkin is unable to perform.

Movie Review
La Danse: The Paris Opera Ballet (2009)

A scene from “La Danse: The Paris Opera Ballet,” a documentary filmed at the Palais Garnier.
November 4, 2009
Creating Dialogue From Body Language

By A. O. SCOTT
Published: November 4, 2009

In “La Danse: The Paris Opera Ballet,” his 36th documentary in more than 40 years, Frederick Wiseman takes his camera into the stately and elegant Palais Garnier in Paris, observing rehearsals, staff meetings and, finally, performances of seven dances, including classics like “The Nutcracker” and spiky new work by younger choreographers. To say that the film, sumptuous in its length and graceful in its rhythm, is a feast for ballet lovers is to state the obvious and also to sell Mr. Wiseman’s achievement a bit short. Yes, this is one of the finest dance films ever made, but there’s more to it than that.
More About This Movie

You might as well say that his previous documentary, the enthralling three-and-a-half-hour “State Legislature,” is a must-see for devotees of Idaho politics. It certainly is, but its greater virtue, and the substance of Mr. Wiseman’s particular genius, is the way it transfixes you with the inner workings of an institution you may not otherwise care about. The observation of groups of people functioning in a clearly defined professional or social context has been Mr. Wiseman’s primary interest ever since his first film, “Titicut Follies,” which exposed the workings of the Bridgewater State Hospital for the criminally insane in Massachusetts.

The Paris Opera Ballet is of course a more exalted place than either the Boise Statehouse or that grim New England penitentiary — its dancers are certainly easier on the eyes than legislators or social workers — but the quality of Mr. Wiseman’s attention is the same. His curiosity is boundless but also disciplined, and he foregoes explanation in favor of a visual version of what anthropologists call thick description.

In “La Danse” you watch closely as dancers and choreographers break complex movements down into their constituent gestures, a process that is at once tedious and entirely engrossing. Though all the rehearsing culminates in full-dress performance, “La Danse” really has no beginning, middle or end. It is, rather, about two kinds of time that exist outside traditional narrative frameworks: the long, slow, repetitive cycle in which institutions exist, and the fleeting moments of bodily motion and musical expression that make ballet such a singular and elusive art form.

Movie Review – La Danse: The Paris Opera Ballet – Creating Dialogue From Body Language – NYTimes.com.

Barrister claims her 'boss' and his lover cost her £7 million earnings

An Indian-born barrister, who is claiming £33 million damages for racial
discrimination, has accused her married head of chambers and his legal clerk
lover of conspiring to stop her receiving a string of high profile and
lucrative assignments.

By Lucy Cockcroft

Published: 8:00AM BST 16 Oct 2009

Dr Aisha Bijlani described to an employment tribunal a “racist” culture which
operated behind the respectable façade of the award winning Four New Square
Chambers where she had worked for 16 years.

The barrister, who alleged she earned at least £7 million less than her high
flying colleagues peers during her 16 years at the firm, blamed the clerks
responsible for placing the work who referred to black staff as “educated
wogs”.

A tape was played to the tribunal where one clerk was heard mimicking a West
Indian accent and then describing a receptionist of Afro Caribbean descent
of sounding like she spoke “gibberish”.

Dr Bijlani accused Roger Stewart QC, a part-time judge and until recently the
head of chambers, and senior clerk Lizzie Wiseman of co-ordinating the
discrimination against her after she complained to them.

In a twist to the proceedings which could have come straight from an episode
of the television drama Rumpole of the Bailey it has emerged that Mrs
Wiseman, a mother of four, has now left her husband for Mr Stewart.

Their relationship has caused a mini-scandal in the usually conservative legal
profession as it has breached the convention that clerks and senior
barristers should not become romantically involved especially if they are
already married to someone else.

Dr Bijlani also claimed that Mrs Wiseman had previously had an affair with the
man who was head of chambers before Mr Stewart, identified as Justin
Fenwick.

via www.telegraph.co.uk

Possession

October 30, 2009 · Filed Under Cartoons, Halloween 

Here are more Halloween cartoons. And today’s the last day to enter the contest – I’ll be announcing the winners tomorrow on Halloween!

via www.savagechickens.com

The Ultimate Wollmeise Experience

Warning! 

Those of you with no interest in seeing lots and lots and lots of pictures of Wollmeise should skip this blog post altogether.

Okay, the rest of you just fasten your seatbelts and we´ll be off. 

And please put your sunglasses on now if you´re sensitive to vibrant colours. Lots of vibrant colours ahead!

via borntoknit.typepad.com

Levine’s return delayed to January

By Geoff Edgers, Globe Staff  |  October 27, 2009

Boston Symphony Orchestra music director James Levine will not be back to conduct in Symphony Hall until January, the BSO said yesterday. Originally expected to return from back surgery last week, Levine will now miss the complete cycle of nine Beethoven symphonies that he had programmed and the BSO had promoted enthusiastically.

For Levine, 66, this latest setback – he has missed significant time twice before during his tenure for health issues – means he will have missed 27, or 11 percent, of the 247 concerts he was scheduled to lead.

Taking Levine’s place for five concerts at Symphony Hall between Oct. 30 and Nov. 7 and a Nov. 2 performance at New York’s Carnegie Hall will be former New York Philharmonic music director Lorin Maazel. The BSO previously announced that assistant conductor Julian Kuerti would conduct Beethoven’s Third and Fourth symphonies tonight and on Oct. 29.

The news disappointed many BSO subscribers, though they were hesitant to criticize Levine.

“If he’s sick, he’s sick,’’ said Herbert Ratakansky, a BSO subscriber for more than 50 years. “The opportunity to hear all the Beethoven symphonies by any great conductor would have been incredible and that is lost. But the opportunity to hear all of them with a great orchestra with different conductors is still important.’’

Peg Monahan-Pashall, a subscriber for four years, said she and her husband purchased tickets for all of the Beethoven programs. “We read the hype and we like Levine,’’ said Monahan-Pashall. “Why would anybody miss something like that?’’

The disappointment was tempered by hearing the BSO’s first Beethoven program Saturday night, conducted by a replacement, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos. They were impressed.

“Driving home, we were saying, ‘We didn’t miss Levine’ and ‘Wouldn’t it be nice if [Frühbeck de Burgos] could be the conductor and James Levine could come listen once in a while,’’ Monahan-Pashall said.

Levine’s next scheduled BSO date is Jan. 28, a BSO spokeswoman said yesterday. The Metropolitan Opera, where Levine also serves as music director, expects him to return on Dec. 3 for “Les Contes d’Hoffman,’’ a spokesman confirmed yesterday.

“It must be very sad for him, to miss all of this must be very humiliating for him,’’ said Rachel Jacoff, a professor of Italian literature at Wellesley College who regularly attends BSO performances. “If he comes back and he’s really OK, that’s one thing. But I think the anxiety we’ve had for several years is, is he OK?’’

Geoff Edgers can be reached at gedgers@globe.com  

via www.boston.com