There is a truck for a local food distributor decorated with a panel of a giant beet-red (and therefore cooked, and therefore dead) lobster standing on its tail with its eyes on stalks aglow and smiling and with his giant (and un-banded) claws around a chicken and a cow. Both creatures are painted as being about the same size and slightly smaller than the lobster.
It is clear from the scene that all three are dear friends.
I am told also that once the truck only depicted a lobster and a chicken, and that the cow was only added when the company began distributing beef.
It is highly possible that the person who told me this is fucking with me.
The truck rumbles daily down 11th St. One day I will get a picture.
Friday, February 03, 2006
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Imagined Op-Eds: I Am the Original Gay Cowboy by Alan Ladd
I was a "gay cowboy" before it was cool.
But did it get me nominated for an Academy Award?
No, it did not.
While not technically a gay cowboy (really, more of a sexually ambiguous gunfighter) Shane dealt with as much or more adversity in the sprawling Wyoming ranch country of the 1880s than Ennis Del Mar faced about a century later on.
Sure, you never saw Shane making sweet, sweet love to Joe Starrett on a cold night out in the barn, maybe on top of Shane's fringy buckskin jacket, all soft and weathered from years of riding the lonely trail with only a six-gun for company.
We didn't have to show it. That doesn't mean it didn't happen.
In the old days, we relied on the intelligence of the moveigoer to decipher the romantic subtext.
When Chris Calloway teases Shane in the saloon for ordering a soda pop, asking, "Well, what'll it be - lemon, strawberry, or lilac, sodbuster" -- do you have to think real hard to guess what he's really saying?
Later on in the same scene, Shane is further mocked for wearing store-bought clothes, and splashed with whiskey by one of the hired guns to make him "smell like a man." What in heck do you think that means?
What about Shane's indifference to Marian Starrett's persistant and undeniable flirtations? We're talking about an attractive woman here, even if she is wearing pants, no makeup and old Jean Arthur was maybe 52 when we shot the thing.
Yep, there was a lot you couldn't show in movies when Shane came out in 1953.
Lucky for us, back then we had a little thing we called "acting."
But did it get me nominated for an Academy Award?
No, it did not.
While not technically a gay cowboy (really, more of a sexually ambiguous gunfighter) Shane dealt with as much or more adversity in the sprawling Wyoming ranch country of the 1880s than Ennis Del Mar faced about a century later on.
Sure, you never saw Shane making sweet, sweet love to Joe Starrett on a cold night out in the barn, maybe on top of Shane's fringy buckskin jacket, all soft and weathered from years of riding the lonely trail with only a six-gun for company.
We didn't have to show it. That doesn't mean it didn't happen.
In the old days, we relied on the intelligence of the moveigoer to decipher the romantic subtext.
When Chris Calloway teases Shane in the saloon for ordering a soda pop, asking, "Well, what'll it be - lemon, strawberry, or lilac, sodbuster" -- do you have to think real hard to guess what he's really saying?
Later on in the same scene, Shane is further mocked for wearing store-bought clothes, and splashed with whiskey by one of the hired guns to make him "smell like a man." What in heck do you think that means?
What about Shane's indifference to Marian Starrett's persistant and undeniable flirtations? We're talking about an attractive woman here, even if she is wearing pants, no makeup and old Jean Arthur was maybe 52 when we shot the thing.
Yep, there was a lot you couldn't show in movies when Shane came out in 1953.
Lucky for us, back then we had a little thing we called "acting."
Monday, January 30, 2006
What's For Lunch In... Attleboro, Mass
1. Cheesy Breadstix w/ Marinara Sauce
2. Chef Salad Plate w/ Crackers
3. Meatball Sub
Tossed Salad
Applesauce
(N.B.: "Spike says, 'Make fish a part of your healthy diet in 2006.'")
2. Chef Salad Plate w/ Crackers
3. Meatball Sub
Tossed Salad
Applesauce
(N.B.: "Spike says, 'Make fish a part of your healthy diet in 2006.'")
Dude, I Smell Bacon
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Sunday, January 29, 2006
Mister M's Neighborhood
Corner of 3rd and M Streets, Northeast Washington, DC.
Click here for full-size image
Monday, January 23, 2006
What Would Jesus' Sign Say?
Probably not: "Alito Is Neat-O!"*
(*actual sign, held by an actual teenaged girl abortion rights protester today on H St. near 7th St. NW)
(*actual sign, held by an actual teenaged girl abortion rights protester today on H St. near 7th St. NW)
Friday, January 20, 2006
Quiz: The Wizards of Is
Match the memoir title with the profession. Answers in comments field.
A. My Way Is the Highway
B. My Life Is an Open Book
C. Is That An Incendiary Device, Or Are You Just Glad To See Me?
D. My Love Is A Red Red Rose
E. Is You Is Or Is You Ain't My Baby?
F. Trouble Is My Business
1. Airport screener
2. Florist
3. Long-distance trucker
4. Sperm donor
5. Memorist
6. Trouble-maker
A. My Way Is the Highway
B. My Life Is an Open Book
C. Is That An Incendiary Device, Or Are You Just Glad To See Me?
D. My Love Is A Red Red Rose
E. Is You Is Or Is You Ain't My Baby?
F. Trouble Is My Business
1. Airport screener
2. Florist
3. Long-distance trucker
4. Sperm donor
5. Memorist
6. Trouble-maker