Les Bleus Defeat the All Blacks

Incredible! So France is going to the Rugby World Cup semi-finals, again Les Rosbifs a.f.a Perfide Albion, the Brits.
Defeating the All Blacks is a little bit like defeating Brazil during the Football World Cup (no, it is not called *soccer* you suckers). Of course one of our best players can still screw up like Zizou if we reach the finals, but that's amazing. I'm sure there must be lots of partying back home now. Allez Les Bleus!

Mark A. Rodriguez NYer cartoons

A few days ago I've been sent some cartoons in the New Yorker style by Mark. A. Rodriguez. I liked them so much I contacted the artist to ask if I could add them to my blog and he kindly agreed to let me post 2 of them. These are part of a larger project he is not finished yet so I'm very thankful he let me have them.
Please demonstrate your good manners and respect for the artist by refraining from posting elsewhere.

I particularly like the reference to Steve Kaltenbach (please also see here) in the first cartoon, and the Charles Ray one will be familiar to LA art people.
Enjoy!

Thanks to Julie Lequin and Rita Gonzalez for signaling these to my attention and helping me get in touch with Mark.

Sal Reda

A while ago I mentioned my friend Sal in Portland, who has kindly mentioned a video he had just made. I was going to post it via YouTube but I think it's better to link to Sal's website so you can see what he does.
Enjoy!

More Head-Scratching Coming from BALTIC

Just read this via artforum homepage. Hhhmm. Remember last week' story?
If Elton John, as stated on his site, asked for the exhibition to close because the show doesn't make sense without the picture removed, I think it's a great gesture. I now respect John much, much more, even though I still don't care for his music.
I'm pasting from the Elton John website here:

The photograph entitled Klara And Edda Belly-Dancing (1998) is one of 149 images comprising the Thanksgiving installation by renowned US photographer Nan Goldin.
"The photograph exists as part of the installation as a whole and has been widely published and exhibited throughout the world.
"It can be found in the monograph of Ms Goldin's works entitled The Devil's Playground (Phaidon, 2003), has been offered for sale at Sotheby's New York in 2002 and 2004, and has previously been exhibited in Houston, London, Madrid, New York, Portugal, Warsaw and Zurich without any objections of which we are aware.
"Elton John is known as one of the world's foremost collectors of photographic art and has several thousand photographs in his collection, including works by Man Ray, Richard Avedon, Irving Penn, Diane Arbus and Ansel Adams.
"Elton John purchased the "Thanksgiving" installation from the White Cube gallery in London in 1999, and the installation is presently on loan to The Baltic Centre For Contemporary Art in Newcastle."

After I saw the title I remembered the picture, and frankly there's nothing to be alarmed about. I think the perversion is in the eye of the beholder, meaning the clueless "concerned management at BALTIC" and the cops called in. I still feel some kind of stinky internal potion concocted by some disgruntled staff. Anyone who has some tips from BALTIC, please post your comments!

Meanwhile, here's above the kind of objectionable kiddie content that should be removed from the universe.

And Remember To Save Belgium!

Dear devoted readership,

remember, we need to save Belgium. If you don't recall much about it, here you are: it's the tiny state sandwiched between France, The Netherlands and Germany.
Food is fabulous, people are great (though I advise you to speak English in Flanders and don't ever try French or the scrumptious food will never reach your table) and the weather will change you from LA (if you like the rain, that is).
Anyway, don't forget to vote for which item you'd like to keep from Belgium, if it ever implodes. Poll is at the bottom of this page.
thank!

Your Social Life

Being blessed with a sense of community spirit and compassion (as well as immense reserves of humility), FBC! wants to help you organize your social life. In addition to the aforementioned Barbara Zucker opening this Saturday at Another Year In LA, I'd like to announce 2 upcoming openings for Susan Silton:

SolwayJones
The Day, the Earth
October 6-November 17, 2007
Large chromogenic prints
5377 Wilshire Blvd. LA 90036
Opening Reception: Saturday, October 6, 6-8 pm

and


Pasadena Museum of California Art
Inside Out
October 10-January 6, 2008
The exterior of the museum will be wrapped in a striped fumigation tent; the museum’s Project Space consists entirely of striped consumables.
Opening Reception (in conjunction with PMCA’s other exhibitions opening simultaneously): Thursday, October 11, 7-9 pm

Don't forget to go see Michael Queenland and Ruben Ochoa in Culver City before, Jessica Stockholder at 1301PE, and Sean Landers at China Art Objects, but I feel pretty safe telling you to skip Dash Snow at Peres Projects.

Recession or not recession?

If you had asked me yesterday I would have said we were going headfirst toward a recession, especially after learning of Citibank 60% loss in profits (though losing profits isn't going bankrupt) and of UBS soon to post heavy losses too. Today, I read enthusiastic rally cries and optimistic "this was last quarter problem" stuff in the mainstream media.
Well, to make sure I had a look at next Spring fashion trends, 'cause there's always the "the longest the hems the most real recession is" rule. Fall 2007 fashion was definitively recession-oriented (plus, clothes were structured and well-cut, hooray!) though admittedly I only used Vogue as my research tool.
FBC! is as usual, slighly uncopy-edited, wholly un-researched!
Well, Spring 2008 is uncertain. There are LOTS of long hems (so, recession here we come) but also some short-y skirts, though not many minis. So, mixed signals.


Well, in a spirit of unmitigated and generous sisterhood and brotherhood I thought, if the recession comes I should help my fellow creative friends to survive. Even if there's no recession our writer friends here in LA may have to go on strike and need to save money. How could I help, dear reader? By posting the recipe of the lentil stew that sustained me when I was writing my dissertation and soooooo broke.

But in a spirit of optimism, instead of only posting the cheapo version, I'm adding at the bottom the deluxe one. This way, you can either have a pauper but comforting meal, or have a delicious rich stew for festive winter occasions. Merci qui? Merci FBC!

FRENCHY'S LENTIL STEW, PAUPER VERSION:

- 1 cup 1/2 red lentils, rinsed
-2 pounds unpeeled potatoes, rinsed, quartered
3 or 4 carrots, peeled, rinced and sliced
2 yellow onions, peeled and sliced
4 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1 bunch flat parsley, rinsed and chopped.
2 tablespoon turmeric
2 tablespoon ground coriander
2 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon ground ginger
2 or 3 bay leaves
3 or 4 sprigs thyme
4 or 5 cloves
about 2 to 3 quart water
2 tablespoons olive oil


In a large stockpot, heat the olive oil. Saute the onions for 4/5 minutes, medium heat, stir from time to time, add the potatoes, the carrots, for 2 or 3 more minutes, stirring again, add the garlic for about 1 minute, then cover with the water. Stir in the spices and herbs, and the lentils, stir well. DO NOT ADD SALT (or the lentil would turn to cement). Let everything boil for about 40 minutes on medium heat, uncovered. Add the salt, let the stew cook for 2 or 3 more minutes. It's ready!



I made this stew over and over when I was writing my dissertation, and 5 years later I still love it. I never got sick of it. It's rather healthy, hearty and fulfilling and vegetarian-friendly. The quantities are 7 days of stew for 1 person, or if you insist to eat everything on one occasion you can easily feed 6 persons with it.
You may want to add water when reheating it over and over, especially toward the end, it's a rather soupy kind of stew.

But I understand it could get boring, so here's the deluxe edition.


FRENCHY'S LENTIL STEW, DELUXE EDITION

Proceed exactly as above, but add:

1. Meat:
- Either some type of sausage (Kielbasa is perfect for this, and Italian gives good result too), sliced.
- Ham or Porsciutto hocks, sliced
OR
Lamb, pork work well with this, just make sure you buy the kind you need for stew and it is cubed.

2. Greens:
Spinach, watercress or arugula are all good. Washed and chopped.

How to proceed:
- For cubed stew meat, just brown it in the olive oil at the same time as the onion, carrots, etc. and continue with the regular steps of teh pauper version.
-For the ham or prosciutto hocks, just add them with the boiling water but only after you are certain the lentils are cooked (say, after 30 minutes)
-For the sausage, heat a bit of olive oil in a skillet and saute the sausage until it is nicely browned, then dump into the stew, same stage as the ham hock.

For the greens, you can add them directly to the stew at the same moment you are sauteing the garlic in the olive oil, just before you add the water.


Serve with nice crusty bread, and if you're flush drink some red wine. If you're not flush but still want wine, one tip: don't get the 2 bucks Chuck at TJ's but look at their Italian wines selection. They usually have some good ones for $2,99 to $5,99.

Lastly, if you decide to go for either version, one word of caution: do not use stock or broth to make it unless you are certain it is unsalted. Also, add salt only at the end, when you are certain the lentils are thoroughly cooked.
Enjoy!