Actor/director Kenneth Branagh is bringing opera, specifically Mozart's The Magic Flute, to the movie screen. He's set high standards for acting ability and audible words. The singers, new and established opera performers, took rigorous acting lessons. The libretto was translated into English. And to bring the story even closer into our purview the plot has been reset in World War I. In 1975 Ingmar Bergman's filmed Swedish version was shown on Swedish television.
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Powell's City of Books in Portland, Oregon is one of the most wonderful places in the world. In the Seattle Times profile of Emily Powell, heir to the family store, you find such historical tidbits such as the fact that the building was formerly a car dealership, a customer's remains are inside a statue near an entryway, and the workers are unionized. Emily is an only child and owner Michael Powell didn't have a "Plan B" if she had decided not to go into the family business. Luckily we will be spared that scenario, for this generation anyway.
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Thursday, May 11, 2006

Although I enjoy using Play-Doh I hate how it smells and how the odor lingers on my hands afterwards. So I can't believe that they've actually bottled the scent for a Play-Doh 50th birthday perfume. Yuk.
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The Louisville Slugger factory is churning out hundreds of special orders for pink baseball bats and shipping them to major league players who will be participating in a Mother's Day event to raise money for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Many players have asked that their bats be branded with the names of wives, mothers, and other female relatives. Pink will also make an appearance on wristbands, the bases, home plate, lineup cards, and of course pink ribbons will grace player's uniforms. Most of these items will then be auctioned off.
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Monday, May 01, 2006

The Seattle Times has published the recipe for the Rhubarb Brown Butter Almond Cake served at the Gates' dinner for Chinese President Hu. I see an interesting twist in this recipe. The true Chinese almond is actually an apricot kernel, related, of course, to the almond we're accustomed to here, and there are two main varieties: northern (bitter) and southern (sweet). Chef David Jue brushed his almond cake, which I assume was made with American almond flour, with melted apricot jam.
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If you've got a knack for plucking up elusive, edible, undomesticated fungi, Chez Panisse pays up to $12/pound for chanterelles and $25/pound for porcinis. Many mushroom hunters are secretive about their fruitful foraging grounds, not only because they fear competition but because, as David Campbell, president of the Mycological Society of San Francisco, puts it "civil disobedience is required to gather mushrooms in California." He knows the consequences first hand having spent a week in a shoplifting rehabilitation program after he was caught picking on private property. Some state and national parks have legal limits for gathering mushrooms. Chez Panisse doesn't ask the hunters who show up at the back door for place of origin and really it doesn't matter so long as they are edible and delicious.
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The Cat Cocoon is made of 83 laser-cut pieces of corrugated cardboard. It is also functional and stylish. And $290.00. Our cat is happy enough with a paper bag or cardboard box, but you just can't compare the aesthetics. (via Luxist)
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