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hollywood

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Posts posted by hollywood

  1. Hollywood, yours is easy: the art is both the drawings and the gates. It would be more difficult to ask where it is for a piece like Yoko Ono's "Breathe".

    What happens when the Gates get taken down? Are they like the meal that's been eaten? Once down, do individual Gates hanging on walls count as art, or are only the drawings art at that point? If so, are the individual deconstructed gates merely souvenirs? I'm thinking of the scene in Blowup when someone is walking by a club where the Yardbirds (Beck, Page, Relf & McCarty) are playing and the neck of an intentionally destroyed guitar gets tossed to the frenzied crowd. Then the finder examines it and tosses it aside as I recall.

    18968a.jpg

    You probably saw the news item about the artist who made and erected on an LA Freeway a facsimile freeway direction sign in a spot where he thought it was needed. I think CalTrans (once they figured it out) took down his sign and replaced it with one of their signs. You really couldn't tell the difference but I'm thinking only his sign was art.

  2. Nice post but way too descriptive. Now I'm jones'n for Zankou. From what I hear a twenty something son may be running the show. We'll see. Let's hope for the best. The tee shirts are now the same egg yolk yellow with blue lettering as I recall.

  3. I've been to Baja Fresh because it's one of the few options near my office on Saturday.  (That and the horrible fake bagel place who's name escapes me.)  It's not as good as any of the Mexican places.  First, they seem to put sauteed peppers/onion/mushrooms in the burritos, which I just don't like.  The meat isn't spicy enough either.  Also, there's something too Californian clean about the place.

    Comparable to but better than Baja Fresh is Poquito Mas. Unfortunately, there aren't that many of them.

  4. I'm leaning towards a recipe found on Epicurious - Canard au Miel or Duck with Honey.

    Score the flesh of the duck and rub in a mixture of lavender, thyme, sea salt and black pepper. Roast for two hours at 375, pouring off some fat then adding broth and red wine to the pot and brushing the duck with lavender honey. Sounds simple and blazingly aromatic.

    I believe I had this dish or something very similar at a friend's on Christmas. It was great. For reasons not clear to me a white wine, perhaps German was served. Regardless, the duck was superb and oddly there did not seem to be nearly as much fat/drippings as I had anticipated. As far as being aromatic, my sinuses were compomised so I'm not fit to comment.

  5. Looks like you've gotten a round up of some pretty good spots. On the Valentines front--though I hasten to add I have never been there--everything I've read about Violon d'Ingres says this would be a good pick. On the less expensive end, I would commend, Taira, a French Japanese seafood eatery to your attention. The decor may or may not be to your liking but the fish is excellent. L'Os a Moelle as mentioned is a good value.

    Edited to add: it now occurs to me that lunch at Le Grand Vefour could be very romantic. It's romantic enough at night but I believe it would be more so by daylight leading to......

  6. However, I observed earlier that it's much harder than people to think to identify "the art work" when it comes to established forms like drama, and even painting.  Is a reproduction an art work, and if not why not?

    Could it have something to do with the first full bodied realization of the work, perhaps after some artist's proofs? Actually, this could get Platonic--the "form" of the dish/meal, etc.

  7. Cuisine has been around for long enough to have been tested, but I think the interest level has not. I would take the view that the breadth and depth of interest in cuisine has existed for maybe 30 years, so it is still a fresh-faced candidate. It is not too soon to be discussing the strength of its candidature, but perhaps 20 years too soon top reach a final judgement.

    On the length of time the level of interest has been around, note that Rouff's book was written in the twenties, and that it tracks the career of Brillat-Savarin (1755-1826).

  8. Dear FG, Wilfrid, et al.,

    The current number of The New Yorker cantains a review of Marcel Rouff's "The Passionate Epicure" by Francine du Plessix Gray which reminds me that, as some forgotten Greek pronounced, there's nothing new under the sun. This tale of a fictional gastronome, Dodin-Bouffant, sounds as if the author knew several eGulleteers and was inspired to write about them and their ideas. In but four columns, Ms. du Plessix Gray touches on several of our ongoing controversies. Our hero banishes folks from dining at his house for improper culinary judgments. There's a cooking competition in which one chef offers a dinner of nearly 60 dishes (shades of Mr. Keller). DB by contrast prepares but four dishes centering on a pot-au-feu. (Does DB lack culinary relevance?) Elsewhere, M. Rouff compares great cuisine with painting, sculpture and music offering the view that "DB is a gourmet as Claude Lorrain is a painter, as Berlioz is a musician."

    Coincidentally, I once ate many years ago at Dodin-Bouffant in the 5e (where although relatively unnoticed it apparently still exists today). I had a huge seafood platter, enjoying for my first time such mollusks as the violete (or is it violette?), periwinkle, etc. Good stuff.

  9. I only wish I were about to make a trip to Paris! I'm not. I made my third trip to France last June, and I don't know when I'll be back next, so I'll have to save the "Bon voyage" for another time.  :smile:

    C'est la vie. You'll always have Paris.

  10. Not being acquainted with the Time Out guide to Paris, I can only reflect on what I would do. First, right here would be an excellent place to get info. Granted some of it might be high end, but it wouldn't hurt to ask. Another source with less expensive choices would be the International Board of Chowhound.com. There's BonjourParis.com. You could check a newsletter called La Belle France (covers all of France with an emphasis on Paris). PatriciaWells.com has some economical picks. Likewise, Ms. Wells frequently updates various guides to eating in Paris Bistros, etc. Posting on this board from time to time is John Whiting of Whitings' Writings--a PM to him might get you some sources. Periodically, the New York Times will do an article on Paris Hotels and eateries at various price points. A reprint can probably be had for $2-$3. Ditto, the LA Times, though I'd go with NYT first. Travel & Leisure usually does an annual article on Paris Bistros, sometimes written by Patricia Wells. And, of course, there's always the Guide Michelin--either the whole book or the Paris excerpt you can find at French and travel bookstores. Bon voyage.

  11. My goodness, there's an awful lot left in the BM anyway.  I have long advocated that it charge an admission fee, along with the National Gallery and other similar institutions.  It's normal practice in the States.  Although the Met, and perhaps other museums, call it a 'voluntary contribution', and indeed you don't have to pay, I suspect almost everyone does.

    I think BM should go the French way. Have one free day a week; charge admission the rest. That way you know which day to avoid (free day).

  12. Whenever I have produced my UK driving licence in the States, the response has always been roars of laughter. Car rental counter staff find it hilarious. Even a speed cop in New Jersey laughed so much that he couldn't bring himself to write the ticket.

    OTOH, I inadvertently ran a light in Monaco. When the gendarme pulled me over, he took one look at my license and said, "Oh, California" gave me a lecture and sent me on my way.

  13. The US obsession with "ID" is indeed irksome.  People are always asking to see my driving license, which give me the opportunity of entertaining them by explaining I've never had one.  I still get asked for ID in some bars, and I can assure you I don't look under 21.  And as I said earlier, some stores ask to see ID when you are returning a purchase.  That one bewilders me.

    Some ask for your zip code. Some ask for all sorts of info if you are paying with check or credit card, but others ask for the same info even if you pay cash. They wanna get you in the database and send you mailers. This always raises the question whether dis-information should be provided.

  14. But nothing, in the whole of the US for that matter, comes close to the quality & breadth of the British Museum.  

    Same answer if you have to return the Elgin Marbles to the Greeks?

    to the turks surely - they owned greece at the time they were taken :wink:

    As they still "own" parts of Armenia? :raz:

  15. Is it just me that thinks it is odd that Wilf ( actually you do remind me of wilf Lunn )  is using a magazine that originated in London to prove the superioroty of NY?

    just a thought

    S

    One way or another you'd be able to pull rank on Wilfrid even if you had to trace things back to Addison and Steele.

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