. First Thursday

Lovely prints in a lovely little gallery. And I'm one of the lovelies.
Wander by for the opening on Thursday, or any of the other first 29 days in April.

. 120 Views

. Favourite Beer of the Week

Kiuchi Brewery is in Ibaraki Prefecture in Japan. Ibaraki is famous for making Natto which consists of sticky fermented soybeans and tastes like old socks. Do not under any circumstances let anyone trick you into eating natto. It is good for your health, and will prevent blood clots and heart attacks, but it bares very little resemblance to food and should be avoided at all cost.

Instead, why not have yourself some Kiuchi Hitachino nest beer? I had a bottle of the special "Commemorative Ale" which contains vanilla beans, coriander, orange peel, nutmeg, cinnamon, and 9% alc/vol to make it (and you) festive. It is strong, full bodied, and probably not the kind of beer you want to be drinking every day, because the spices are pretty up front, plus you have to wait 20 minutes for the froth to go down before you can drink it (even if you pour it super carefully down the side of the glass) and who's got 20 minutes a day to wait for a beer to calm down?

Not me.

Also, it has a cute owl logo.

. Coastal Branches

. Hilary

I made this film at the Royal College of Art in 1993. It is 9 minutes long and features the excellent voice of John Woodvine who was the doctor in An American Werewolf in London and Bob's dad in Bob and Rose which we thought was great but you probably didn't like because, let's face it, we're not really into the same stuff these days are we.

If you would like your very own copy of "Hilary" you can buy it here.

. Dragonwell Stimulus Package

. Popularity

How's your popularity this week? Mine's up 46%.

. Shaking and Nodding

My first test with imovie 09

. Murun

You know all those times over the years that I said to you, "Remember Murun Buchstansangur?"

And you said, "No."

And I said, "Really? Murun Buchstansanger. He was on Channel 4 in the 80s."

And you said, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

And I said, "He lived under the kitchen sink and he was gray, and sad, and he had a crush on a girl, but she always liked the other guy, and he went to bed a lot like a depressed person, and it was always raining."

And you said, "That does sound like someone I know."

Well, I finally found an episode. It's not one of the best. But it is Murun. Do you remember now?

. Daywear

. Olompali

Olompali State Historical Park is in Marin, a bit north of San Francisco. The Miwok Indians lived there from about 6000 BC. Then Francis Drake arrived, and they didn't live there much longer.

. Favourite Beer of the Week

Schneider Weisse was first brewed in 1872 by this man. Today it is brewed by this man. It is a Hefeweizen, which is German for "yeast wheat," which means it is cloudy and there might be bits of stuff in it. If you want a clear wheat beer with no danger of bits in it, have yourself a Kristallweizen instead. I don't know if you will like it as much. I have never had one myself.

I recommend this beer to you for drinking with food or without food, among friends or on your own after you get off the treadmill and instantly undo all the good work you just did, because you deserve it, you fat bastard.

. Ships Piano

Do you have one of these?

Can I have it?

It's from the late 19th century and it was designed to go on a Victorian pleasure boat, but it would look just as fine in our living room.

I can pick it up whenever is convenient for you.

Or is the one you have more like this?

It doesn't looks like you're really using it. Stuck in the corner there blocking the bookshelf.

I could take it off your hands no trouble. Seriously, I'd be doing you a favour. What do you say?

. A Day At Work

My brother-in-law Keith is an anesthesiologist, I think. Here is a film he made about his work.

. Kala Open Studio

Want to see the old Heinz ketchup factory where I work? Did I say there'd be free wine? Come visit & keep me company. (Yes, Anthony, there will be snacks.)


Kala Art Institute
Open Studio: (Saturday) 31 January 2009, 11am-5pm
1060 Heinz Ave | Berkeley, CA 94710
studio info: 510.549.2977
http://www.kala.org/event/event.html

. Autumn in January

As documented in Julie & Nick's backyard...

. Favourite Beer of the Week

Damnation was recommended to me by our good friend Erik Marr, master brewer and father of Abby Marloh, who pees like a man. It is a Belgian style "Golden Ale," and it is made by Russian River, who also make Pliny the Elder.

I shared my bottle of Damnation with my good friends Fuzzy Nuggz and Moldy Chestnuts. Below is a transcript of their review:

Fuzzy: It's got a sweetness yet a sourness.

Moldy: It reminds me of a Unibroue Beer, but with less flavour. There's a bitter aftertaste to the IPA side, but with aspects of Fin Du Monde.

Fuzzy: It reminds me of a Belgian White. It has the Wheatiness to it. You can't taste it properly. Your mouth is full of chestnuts.

Moldy: I took two sips to taste it, and then ate a chestnut.

Fuzzy: You're a moldy chestnut.

. Beer and Ice Cream

This movie is rated J for Juvenile.

. Abby Marloh Pees Like a Man

An excerpt from last year's Movie Of The Year, "Nif and Anthony in Austin, Texas."

. Old Chestnut

I bought chestnuts from Molly Stones (the most expensive grocery store on the planet) and I roasted them at 425 degrees for 24 minutes which is exactly the right amount of heat and time for chestnuts. And we ate some, and they didn't taste very nice, and when we looked more closely we saw that they were moldy. Dammit, Molly Stones, I hate you and your stupid overpriced moldy chestnuts.

The phrase "old chestnut" comes from a 19th century play called The Broken Sword by William Diamond where some guy called Captain Xavier keeps telling the same joke over and over and it gets boring and it's got something to do with a tree and one time he says it's a cork tree and some other guy called Pablo says "A chestnut. I have heard you tell the joke twenty-seven times, and I am sure it was a chestnut." And later someone else in the 19th century who had presumably seen the play must have heard a boring old joke and said "That's an old chestnut" and everyone probably just stared at him and thought what the hell are you talking about, and he would probably have been a bit embarrassed, unless he was rich, in which case everyone would have thought what the hell are you talking about but instead of just staring at him they would have laughed uproariously because rich people are scary because they can kill you and get away with it like Molly Stones and that is where the phrase "old chestnut" comes from.