Paramotor krabi test venue.wmv

Stuffed mushrooms three ways!

It's New Years Eve! Are you panicking and trying to think of a quick, easy and cheap appetizer recipe to bring to a party tonight? We have the perfect idea for you-stuffed mushroom caps! They look daunting, but it truly is a super easy recipe! I had a Christmas get together with friends a few days ago and whipped these guys up! Wishing you all a very happy and safe New Years Eve! See you cats in the new year!

Crab stuffed mushroom caps:

2 dozen white mushrooms

1/4 C butter (room temperature)

1/4 C cream cheese

6 oz. snow crab (canned works as well)

2 Tbsp chopped green onions

1 Tbsp horseradish

1 Tbsp fresh chopped parsley

1/3 C bread crumbs or panko crumbs

1/4 C parmesan cheese.

Instructions:

First wash mushrooms and then simply remove the stems.

Line up the mushrooms on a baking sheet

Mix all of the ingredients and fill the mushrooms!

Bake the mushrooms at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes and then broil for 1-2 minutes.

French onion soup mushroom caps:

2 dozen white mushrooms

2 Tbsp butter (room temperature)

2 white onions (sliced thin)

1/4 C beef broth

4 dashes Worcestershire sauce

Splash of red wine vinegar or white vine vinegar

1/2 C shredded Gruyere or swiss cheese

Instructions:

First wash mushrooms and then simply remove the stems.

Line up the mushrooms on a baking sheet.

Cook onions in butter on medium heat for approximately 20 minutes.

Next add broth, Worcestershire sauce & vinegar and cook for 5 more minutes.

Finally stuff the mushrooms with onion mix, and top with shredded cheese.

Bake the mushrooms at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes and then broil for 1-2 minutes.

They tend to let off a lot of juice, so cook separately from other type of mushroom caps. 

Pesto mushroom caps:

2 dozen white mushroom caps

2 Tbsp pesto 

1/4 C butter

1/4 C cream cheese

1/3 C parmesan cheese

1/2 C panko crumbs or bread crumbs

Instructions:

First wash mushrooms and then simply remove the stems.

Line up the mushrooms on a baking sheet

Mix all of the ingredients and fill the mushrooms!

Bake the mushrooms at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes and then broil for 1-2 minutes.

Happy mushroom-making!

xo, Erin

The Winds of Kitty Hawk (1978)

          One doesn’t generally reach for the word lyrical when describing a ’70s TV movie, but the adjective suits The Winds of Kitty Hawk, which dramatizes the adventures of flight innovators the Wright Brothers with a touch of poetry thanks to evocative locations, a lilting musical score, and a quietly insistent leading performance by Michael Moriarty. How much artistic license was taken with facts about the Wrights and their competitors is a discussion for another space, but whether or not The Winds of Kitty Hawk is wholly accurate, it’s a gently compelling drama. Set at the dawn of the 20th century, the story sprawls across several summers during which the driven Wilbur Wright (Moriarty) and his indefatigable brother, Orville (David Huffman), visited the titular location in the Carolinas to refine their groundbreaking flying machines.

          The scenes taking place in Kitty Hawk are the film’s most engrossing, because the otherworldly location of endless sand dunes buttressing an ocean accentuates the magic involved with advancing the human species. As the picture makes clear, the Wrights didn’t invent flying machines, but rather perfected them in important ways; this nuance powers the plot, because the Wrights are in a race with other inventors to register the crucial first patent on a fully realized airplane. For example, just when the Wrights seem close to a breakthrough, they fall into competition with fellow aviation innovator Glenn Curtiss (Scott Hylands), whom the film portrays as stealing his best ideas from the Wrights and thereby snowing millionaire Alexander Graham Bell (John Randolph) into backing a Curtiss vehicle instead of a Wright Brothers vehicle.

          As directed by the prolific TV helmer E.W. Swackhamer—who obviously benefited from better material than he usually got—the picture does a fine job of balancing character study with procedural minutia. So, just as the picture contrasts the superhuman determination of Wilbur with the more grounded pragmatism of Orville, the picture toggles comfortably between small scenes of the Wright Brothers working out mechanical specifics with larger scenes of, say, Curtiss and Wilbur squaring off in high-stakes flying contests. The film’s re-creations of early planes merit special mention, because whether these vehicles are shown in long shots via miniatures, in close-ups via partial mockups, or in medium shots via full-size replicas, the illusions The Winds of Kitty Hawk creates are just good enough to give viewers a sense of what it must have been like to rise from the sand dunes and cruise along air currents. Designed as a loving tribute to the Wright Brothers, rather than a probing examination, The Winds of Kitty Hawk is more inspirational than educational—but it’s hard to see how that’s a bad thing. (Available as part of the MGM Limited Collection on Amazon.com)

The Winds of Kitty Hawk: GROOVY

21.000 FEET Trailer

Personal Website Updates on Summitpost

This is about Colin Haley and Andreas Fransson's adventures in Patagonia
Picture of the Mazeno ridge of Nanga Parbat - the only new route on a 8000 er in 2012

http://colinhaley.blogspot.com.ar/2012/12/papa-noel-brought-few-days-of-calm-but.html

http://andreasfransson.blogspot.com/2012/12/reaching-my-limit-patagonian-ski_30.html

Patagonia

http://www.explorersweb.com/everest_k2/news.php?id=21182

https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/cyril.kaicener

http://www.hiking4health.com

What you'll need to throw a 60's themed New Years' party!

It's almost New Years Eve! We put together a little party supply list to throw your very own 60's themed party! We hope you all have a safe and happy New Years! 

one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven.

Nashville (1975)

          At the risk of losing my bona fides as an aficionado of ’70s cinema, I’m going to commit an act of heresy by saying that Nashvilleleaves me cold. I’ve sat through all 159 endless minutes of Robert Altman’s most celebrated movie twice, and both times Nashvillehas struck me as an overstuffed misfire that unsuccessfully tries to blend gentle observations about the country-music industry with bluntly satirical political content. Altman has said he was originally approached to make a straightforward film about country music, and that he said yes only on the condition he could spice up the storyline, but I can’t help feeling like the movie would have been better served by someone with a deeper interest in the principal subject matter.

          Obviously, the fact that Nashville is one of the most acclaimed films of its era indicates that I hold a minority opinion, and it must be said that even the film’s greatest champions single out its idiosyncrasy as a virtue. Furthermore, there’s no question that the way that Altman takes his previous experiments with roaming cameras and thickly layered soundtracks into a new realm by presenting Nashville as a mosaic of loosely connected narratives represents a cinematic breakthrough of sorts. Taken solely as a filmic experiment, the picture is bold and memorable. But for me, Nashville simply doesn’t work as a viewing experience, and I have to believe that Altman wanted his film to captivate as well as fascinate.

          I have no problem with the fact that many of Altman’s principal characters are freaks whom he presents somewhat condescendingly, including disturbed country singer Barbara Jean (Ronee Blakely); egotistical Grand Ole Opry star Haven Hamilton (Henry Gibson); heartless womanizer Tom Frank (Keith Carradine); irritating British journalist Opal (Geraldine Chaplin); pathetic would-be songstress Sueleen Gay (Gwen Welles); and so on. Altman and screenwriter Joan Tewkesbury balance the extreme characters with rational ones, such as cynical singer/adulteress Mary (Cristina Raines); long-suffering senior Mr. Green (Keenan Wynn); and sensitive singer/mom Linnea Reese (Lily Tomlin). Furthermore, Nashville is mostly a story about showbiz, a milieu to which odd people gravitate and in which odd people thrive.

          I also freely acknowledge that Nashville has many vivid scenes: the humiliating sequence in which Sueleen is forced to strip before a room of cat-calling men whom she thought wanted to hear her sing; the incisive vignette of Carradine performing his Oscar-nominated song “I’m Easy” to an audience including several of his lovers, each of whom believes the tune is about her; and so on. Plus, the acting is almost across-the-board great, with nearly every performer thriving in Altman’s liberating, naturalistic workflow. And, of course, the sheer ambition of Nashville is impressive, because it features nearly 30 major roles and a complicated, patchwork storytelling style held together by recurring tropes like a political-campaign van that rolls through Nasvhille broadcasting straight-talk stump speeches.

          My issue with the movie has less to do with the execution, which is skillful, than the intention, which seems willful. It’s as if Altman dares viewers to follow him down the rabbit hole of meandering narrative, and then flips off those same viewers by confounding them with elements that don’t belong. The ending, in particular, has always struck me as contrived and unsatisfying. Anyway, I’m just a lone voice in the wilderness, and I’m happy to accept the possibility that Nashvilleis simply one of those interesting films I’m doomed never to appreciate. Because, believe me, watching it a third time in order to penetrate its mysteries is not on my agenda. (Readers, feel free to tell me why you dig Nasvhille, if indeed you do, since I’d love to know what I’m apparently missing.)

Nashville: FUNKY

schia montecaio 2012 soaring over the snow

Di: Luca Formentin

Sheba, Baby (1975)

Produced at the tail end of the blaxploitation boom—and in the waning days of leading lady Pam Grier’s initial popularity—this lackluster action flick is quite a comedown after the funky heights of previous Grier joints including Coffy (1973) and Foxy Brown(1974). Wham-Bam-Thank-You-Pam plays Sheba Shayne, a Chicago-based private investigator who returns to her hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, when she gets word that her dad is being hassled by local gangsters. Before long, Sheba’s dad falls victim to gun-toting thugs, so Sheba—with a little help from her pop’s business partner, Brick Williams (Austin Stoker)—unloads you-messed-with-the-wrong-mama vengeance on crime boss Pilot (D’Urville Martin) and his associates. Grier spends Sheba, Baby talking tough while looking great (her knockout figure is on ample display in costumes like the wetsuit she wears for the movie’s last half-hour), but Sheba, Baby is unmistakably second-rate. The dialogue is trite, the production values are mediocre, and the supporting performances are awful. Even the requisite funk/soul soundtrack, often a saving grace for shaky blaxploitation movies, is uninspired. Grier’s nomrally forceful acting falls victim to the general crappiness, because she often seems as if she’s delivering lines she’s just learned—it almost feels as if the movie comprises rehearsals instead of takes. Director/co-writer William Girdler was far more comfortable with in the horror genre, and after making this picture, he banged out a trio of demented creature features (from the campy 1976 gorefest Grizzly to the wigged-out 1978 supernatural flick The Manitou). For Sheba, Baby, he’s unable to conjure the needed vibe of frenetic violence and urban grime—the picture moves too slowly, the textures all feel phony—and it doesn’t help that Sheba, Baby is rated PG instead of R. Really, what’s the point of trafficking in a sleazy genre if not to present sleaze?

Sheba, Baby: LAME

January Hikes for Meetup.com - La Quinta Group

These hikes include a Skyline Trail hike on Sunday December 30
Beautiful Norway video (below)

http://www.meetup.com/Hiking-Coachella-Valley/

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSzzVvs6W40    Beautiful Norway video

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http://www.hiking4health.com

I Wonder if Hell is Freezing Right Now?

I'm half delirious, one quarter sleepy, three dashes confused, 10% beer, 0.025mg of a %200 DV of psyched, and ready for bed at eight in the morning. 

The last two days have been nothing short of a post Christmas-crush-fest.  I just got off of work and I'm still re-living the last 72 hours.  No wait, 96 hours.  Ahhhgg,  time is irrelevant; especially when projecting (this statement may or may not be true). 
Christmas day was cold and snowy.  It was also covered in crisp white CRUSH!  Met up with the crew underneath Grandma B's big bosom.  First off, what a cool boulder.  SO many link ups, pure lines, highballs, etc. etc.  The X-mas day crushing began with Go-Granny-Ho which had been flying under the radar until now.  We drifted through snow drifts and I watched as Steven dispatched Brian's Project and then Jimmy followed suit (Jimmy had also done Center Direct earlier that day, BEAST!).  We moved on to a X-mas photo shoot which was nothing if not the most fabulous and awesomely haunting thing I will ever see.  Please check out Stevens blog for details into what it is I'm referring to.

We ended the day at the Croft boulder which was a good idea because the boulders namesake let us run a train on it.

The day after the day after X-mas the send light was flipped again and I managed to put down my semi-long term project Acid Wash (PSYCHED!).  The difference-maker turned out to be a foot hold that I had assumed woul dbe useless.  Typical. 

You know you've been trying a problem too long when you don't even bother to take off your jacket and sunglasses before an attempt.

This is actually a picture of me on an attempt the day before I sent.  I finally did the 'bump' move and after that epiphony struck my poor brain I knew it was on. 

On the very same day I also climbed Disco Diva which I was actually more psyched to send over Acid Wash.  No joke.  Disco Diva is one of my favorites now, and is definitely a super classsic.  I ended up having a 35 point day, which by no means is very impressive but it does reflect a lot of climbing on my part.  Some of the other climbs were repeats of climbs I had done before like The Hulk, Action Figure, and Monkey Hang, but also included a climb I had never done before, Heavenly Path, the best, seriously, the best. 
Here are some random pictures of a Pow Pow sesh we had amongst some fresh pow yesterday:

Steven on the first pull.

This guy came close, but just couldn't hold the crux snatch.

This guy stuck it, but decided to drop off.  DOH! 

It was a good sesh at the Sads, although a bit cold.  I managed a second go repeat of Pow Pow which was kind of shocking to me since I've always found Pow Pow quite difficult.  I think the sub zero temps helped on the 'never-ending' weeping holds. 

This is a cool pic of me on Black Magic the night before Christmas.  The left side of the canyon is now covered in snow :(  Picture credit belongs to Steven Dimmit. 

AirDesign SUSI-18 в потоке

Year end things we love!

It's Friday already? This past week was so full. Full of family, friends and so much food! We hope you all had a very merry Christmas! It's crazy to think that it's almost New Years Eve! Do you guys have plans? We hope you have a fantastic week-what's left of it anyway!

Orla Kiely, you've done it again! We can't wait to see more of next season's collection! 

So far we love what we've seen! Photo found here.

Such a cute idea from Poppytalk!

These red flats are pretty amazing!

Incredible wallpaper and chair combo!

This is such a dreamy coat! It looks like neopolitan ice cream!

Report to the Commissioner (1975)

          Back in my college days, when I lived in Manhattan, I was friendly with an NYPD homicide detective who was also a movie buff, and he hipped me to this little-seen drama, praising it as one of the most accurate depictions he’d ever seen about how ugly the gamesmanship within a police force can get. And, indeed, even though Report to the Commissioner is fictional—it’s based on a novel by James Mills—the picture radiates authenticity. Extensive location photography captures the dirty heat of summertime New York City; intense performances burst with streetwise attitude; and the vicious storyline is driven by cynicism, duplicity, and politics. Told in flashback following some sort of terrible clusterfuck of a shootout at Saks Fifth Avenue, the picture reveals how an ambitious undercover detective and a rookie investigator cross paths, with tragic results.

          Michael Moriarty, appearing near the beginning of his long career, stars as hapless Detective Bo Lockley, a newcomer to the NYPD investigative squad who gets paired with a seen-it-all partner, African-American Richard “Crunch” Blackstone (Yaphet Kott0). In a telling early sequence, Lockley watches Blackstone lean on black suspects, even going so far as to spew racial epithets, which clues Lockley into the level of moral compromise required of NYPD lifers. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Lockley, undercover narcotics cop Patty Butler (Susan Blakley), a pretty blonde WASP who uses her looks to undercut suspicions that she’s a police officer, gets a lead on a well-connected dealer named Thomas “Stick” Henderson (Tony King). Smelling an opportunity for a high-profile bust that will help his career, Butler’s commanding officer, Captain D’Angelo (Hector Elizondo), approves a dangerous plan for spying on Stick. Soon afterward, Lockley gets pulled into the situation—without being given crucial information—and things go to hell. The movie climaxes with a tense hostage situation inside Saks, during which high-ranking cops put more energy into covering their asses than saving innocent victims.

          This is dark stuff, making Report to the Commissioner a fine companion piece to Sidney Lumet’s various ’70s pictures about cops and criminals in New York City. And while Report to the Commissioner is far from perfect—the script meanders into subplots and some of the characters could have been consolidated for the purpose of clarity—the movie has myriad virtues. The atmosphere sizzles, with cinematographer Mario Tosi using haze filters and wide lenses to depict grungy exteriors and sweaty interiors. Director Milton Katselas, best known as an acting teacher, demonstrates a real gift for integrating actors into spaces and thereby creating verisimilitude. Best of all, though, are the film’s potent performances. Blakely’s sharp in a smallish role, King is physically and verbally impressive, and Moriarty’s weirdly twitchy energy is compelling. Furthermore, it’s hard to beat the roster of eclectic supporting players—beyond Elizondo and Kotto, the picture features Bob Balaban, William Devane, Dana Elcar, Richard Gere (in his first film role), and Vic Tayback. (Available as part of the MGM Limited Collection on Amazon.com)

Report to the Commissioner: RIGHT ON

Felix Boom Parterre - Mission Twistair Tonneau's

La versione con lancio da parapendio.

Change of a Dress.

We are on the hunt for the perfect dress to ring in the new year with! There is something so exciting and promising about the start of a new year, so of course we've gotta be looking our very best! There are just so many cute party dresses out there we don't know which one to chose!! What do you think?!

All of these beauties were found on Modcloth. Click the links below to take a closer peek:

one  //  two  //  three  //  four  //  five  //  six

First on Everest - 3D Compilation + Khumbu Glacier

Dan Mazur (professional guide) posted this on Facebook

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9TgWnxUkEA

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Everest and the Khumbu Glacier
http://www.planetmountain.com/english/News/shownews1.lasso?l=2&keyid=40419

http://www.boredpanda.com/amazing-places-to-see-before-you-die/

Please visit http://www.hiking4health.com  and the Links and Banner Exchange page

Murder by Death (1976)

          Because Murder by Death is a silly riff on vintage detective stories, it’s tempting to think the picture was intended to mimic Mel Brooks’ crowd-pleasing style of throwback spoofery, although it’s just as possible the film merely rode a mid-’70s boom in nostalgic crime films. Whatever the motivation for making the picture, the result is the same—Murder by Death is goofy but uninspired, a harmless romp that never quite achieves liftoff. Fans of detective stories will, of course, get more out of the picture than anyone else, because the film’s characters are gentle caricatures of famous literary sleuths. Casual viewers might simply enjoy the star power of the cast and the occasional glimpses of screenwriter Neil Simon’s signature wit. But, alas, this is a minor effort for everyone involved.

          The plot isn’t really worth describing, since it’s just a perfunctory contrivance, but the gist is that a mysterious millionaire named Lionel Twain (played by author/TV personality Truman Capote) invites a coterie of detectives to his estate and challenges them to investigate a murder that will take place during the detectives’ visit. Whoever solves the crime will get $1 million. The detectives include Dick and Dora Charleston (David Niven and Maggie Smith), based on Nick and Nora Charles from the Thin Man movies; Sam Diamond (Peter Falk), based on Maltese Falconhero Sam Spade; Jessica Marbles (Elsa Lanchester), based on Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple character; Milo Perrier (James Coco), based on Christie’s Hercule Poiroit; and Sidney Wang (Peter Sellers), based on Charlie Chan.

          Obviously, any film that attempts to put these diverse characters together isn’t striving for consistency or credibility—the Spade-esque character emanates from hard-boiled fiction, for instance, whereas the Thin Man types emerge from a bubbly light-comedy milieu. Rather, Simon and producer Ray Stark (abetted by undistinguished director Robert Moore) concentrate on stringing sight gags and verbal zingers together. Unfortunately, none of the humor is memorable, and the actors give such cartoonish performances that Murder by Death feels juvenile. Falk probably comes off the best, since his version of Sam Spade is fairly close to his Columbo role from TV, and Falk’s rat-a-tat interplay with his secretary, Tess (Eileen Brennan), has some energy. In sum, Murder by Death is exactly as clever and funny as its title, which is to say not very.

Murder by Death: FUNKY

VAKE 2013 - ISKA and WISSA World Championship in long distance snow kiting

Arctic Kite Enduro una gara di 300 km.

Sponsor us in 2013!

It's that time again friends... We are looking for a new round of sponsors for January! We have lots of fun things in store for the new year, and would love for you to be a part of it! We had a big jump in our stats last month and received over 118,000 views with a high day of 12,000 views! Wow, thanks so much guys! 

Here is a closer breakdown of our stats as of  November 19th, 2012:

-2709 Bloglovin' followers

-3329 Facebook followers

-2925 Twitter followers

-2218 Google followers

-5,761 Pinterest followers

If you are interested in sponsoring OSLV next month be sure to check out our sponsorship page for more info or drop us an email at ohsolovelies@gmail.com if you have any further questions! We also still have bulk 3 month packages still available if you are looking to sponsor for more than one month at a time!

We look forward to working with you!

XO, Stef & Erin

Night Moves (1975)

          Complementing outright throwbacks such as Chinatown (1974), several ’70s thrillers updated classic film-noir style with modern characters, settings, and themes. Arthur Penn’s Night Moves is among the best of these current-day noirs, featuring a small-time detective who has seen too much misery to muster any real hope for the human species. Nonetheless, like all the best noir heroes, he strives to do something good as a way of compensating for all the bad in the world, and thus ironically dooms not only himself but also the very people he’s trying to protect. Penn, whose erratic feature career peaked with a run of counterculture-themed pictures spanning from Bonnie and Clyde(1967) to this film, was at his best orchestrating subtle interactions between complicated characters, and he does a terrific job in Night Moves of meshing bitter tonalities.

          A seething Gene Hackman stars as low-rent L.A. investigator Harry Moseby. An amiable idealist whose principles alienate him from the compromisers who surround him, Harry is married to Ellen (Susan Clark), who wants him to shutter his one-man agency and work for a big firm. Preferring to steer his own course, Harry focuses on his next case, which involves tracking down teen runaway Delly (Melanie Griffith), the daughter of a blowsy widow (Janet Ward) who, a lifetime ago, was a promiscuous Hollywood starlet. During downtime between investigative chores, Harry discovers that Ellen is cheating on him, so he’s only too happy to follow a lead on Delly’s whereabouts to Florida, a continent away from his troubled marriage. In the sweaty Florida Keys, Harry finds Delly living with her lecherous stepfather, Tom (John Crawford), and his sexy companion, Paula (Jennifer Warren). Also part of the mix is Quentin (James Woods), a squirrelly friend of Delly’s who works as a mechanic for film-industry stuntmen.

          Alan Sharp’s provocative script features murky plotting but crisp character work, so even when the story is hard to follow, moment-to-moment engagement between people is interesting. And since the film is driven by Harry’s zigzag journey from naïveté to despair and then to a misguided sort of optimism, each time he encounters some tricky new piece of information, his relationship with someone changes. Though Hackman was never one to play for cheap sympathy, it’s heartbreaking to watch Harry cast about for someone who deserves his trust, only to be disappointed again and again.

          Every performance in the movie exists in the shadow of Hackman’s great work, but all of the actors hit the right notes, with Griffith’s adolescent petulance resonating strongly. Composer Michael Small and cinematographer Bruce Surtees contribute tremendously to the film’s shadowy mood, and Penn achieves one of his finest cinematic moments with the picture’s desolate finale. Night Moves gets a bit pretentious at times, but when the movie is really flying, it becomes a potent meditation on the challenge of finding sold moral footing during a confusing period in the evolution of the American identity.

Night Moves: GROOVY

Climbing above the Favellas of Rio de Janeiro Video

Cool video of climbing above the slums of Rio de Janeiro and touring the Favellas (slums)
Climbing in the Bugaboos by Vitaliy M
People are awesome stunt and adventure video

http://pullharder.org/2012/12/23/the-inception-of-beyondgear-and-the-adventure4good-campaign/

http://www.supertopo.com/tr/Bugaboos-Beyond-My-Dream-Vacation/t11781n.html

Bugaboos

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mx1tiq15Hqs

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http://www.hiking4health.com

Baddest flight in UAE. Just lucky.

In volo negli Emirati Arabi

WARM WISHES FROM THE SUNSHINE STATE

Merry Christmas!

(photo source)

Merry Christmas lovelies!! We hope you all are having a fabulous day with your friends and families relaxing and eating delicious food! This is definitely one of our favorite times of year because everyone has the day off and we all get to spend the day together in our cozy decorated homes! All of the preparation leading up to Christmas can seem so hectic with all of the running around and present buying but it is important to sit back, relax, and enjoy the quality time with your loved ones.

(photo source)
Eat lots, laugh lots and give your loved ones and extra squeeze today!
We are sending our love from our homes to yours!
XO, Stefanie & Erin

P.S. For all of you local readers our shop will be open tomorrow for Boxing Day so come on down and say hello and check out our sale!

READY & PACKED FOR THE STATES

I just finished packing for my trip to Atlanta & Florida. Man, I wished I could pack my stuff in so many beautiful Filson bags. See you in 2013.

Jesus Christ Superstar (1973)

          Bold, majestic, and provocative, Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s rock opera about the final days of Jesus Christ’s life first appeared on the marketplace as a 1970 concept album, the success of which led to stage productions in London and New York, and finally to this film. Offering a challenging psychological interpretation of Christ’s journey from man to messiah, the Rice/Webber narrative focuses largely on the relationship between Jesus, who is portrayed as a good man struggling with extraordinary obligations, and Judas, who wrestles with the question of whether his friend is divine or vainglorious. Furthermore, the Rice/Webber narrative delves into the complex politics of Christ’s time, with Jews and Romans battling for power in Jerusalem while trying to keep Christ and his apostles from upsetting the status quo. This is heavy stuff for a rock opera, but Rice (lyrics) and Webber (music) were up to the task, creating a muscular song cycle filled with distinctive melodies, emotional moments, and with-it phraseology—Scripture for the Woodstock generation.

          At its most powerful, the music in Superstar is transporting. Fitting the audacious nature of the source material, director Norman Jewison—whose immediately preceding film was another successful stage-to-screen adaptation, Fiddler on the Roof (1971)—uses a daring visual style for the movie version of Superstar. The film begins with the main cast arriving in a remote desert via bus, wearing modern-day clothing and unloading props including a giant crucifix; this contrivance gives Jewison license to mix artifice and realism throughout the movie, and it humanizes the performers as vessels for delivering their characters’ feelings, rather than pretenders to divinity.

          Once the story proper begins with Judas’ anguished number “Heaven on Their Minds,” sung with scalding intensity by Carl Anderson, the tone for the piece is set: Jewison films the number simply, juxtaposing Anderson’s dramatic posturing with the merciless contours of the film’s stark Middle Eastern locations. Rising to Anderson’s level, the whole cast performs Superstar with superhuman energy, resulting in kinetic dance numbers and searing vocal turns; from Yvonne Elliman’s lilting “I Don’t Know How to Love Him” (Mary Magdalene) to Ted Neely’s wailing “Gethsemane” (Jesus), one sequence after another radiates passion. In fact, the singing gets a bit too enthusiastic sometimes, with Neely pushing himself so hard it sometimes seems like the veins in his neck are about to explode. Similarly, scenes including Anderson’s rendition of the signature Judas song “Blood Money” veer into melodrama.

          But with Jewison’s good taste providing just the right framework—simple sets, sly anachronisms—the best elements of the show dominate, and weaker ones are discreetly obscured. So, while true believers have spent decades arguing about whether Superstar is respectful or sacrilegious, the film’s entertainment value is beyond reproach, and the way the picture examines the charged sociopolitical time in which it was made through the prism of Christ’s life is remarkably imaginative.

Jesus Christ Superstar: GROOVY

Babbo Natale Volante 2012

The Black Magic of Christmas!

The temps have really taken a dive here in the last five days or so.  I feel myself beginning to get all creaky and sore in the morning like some sort of rusty furnace groaning into life.  The air is drier lately; the rain falls and is instantly evaporated by the dusty clime.  The magnificent coupling of huddled and looming mountains that watch over the small hamlet here are wearing their New Years virgin gowns, trying to pretend that this is NOT their first rodeo.  And strangely I find myself in the same predicament.  Clutching to a river of hardened brown ash I make the mistake of glancing towards the earth and find my bowels have receded even further into my esophagus.  No matter.  It's just a recognition of that fleeting moment in time and space where you meet your most vulnerable self and realize you have more in common with it than you thought.  Clarity is prescribed immediatley in a genetically crafted moment of bliss and 'holy-shit-balls-what-the-fuck!!ed-ness'.  Now is the time to pay close attention to your breath and realize the universe rewards movement, even if it is at the cost of time and money. 

Black Magic (V.3).  Felt like a mini solo.  It also felt amazing.  The first half consists of a balancey slab section on small crimpers, the other half is brilliant and juggy. 

Christmas eve, 2012.

Steven flashes Done With The South (V.5), another beautifully crafted masterpiece of the Happies.  An s-curve rail leads to a steep roof on bowling-ball pocket-pinches and finger jugs.  Plus, the top out is a little spicey.  Too bad the rock is crusty in some places, hopefully it cleans up.

It looks like I made the coveted VIP list for the Christmas Crush-fest at the Milks tomorrow, so I will be nothing but olbiged to make an appearance and flail, thrash, and thrutch my way up...something.  I've got a bottle of bubbly I've been saving for just the occasion so maybe we can 'pop bottles' on top of some monzonite monsters.  Although my numbers have dwindled as of late, an army of strongsters still remain and every day something amazing happens. 

CHAD WISH YOU ALL HAPPY HOLIDAYS

Indeed, now it's my turn! I started my own company, called Chad's Agency. As per January 1st, I will 

be the agent for Arrow Shirts in The Netherlands. From my showroom in IJsselstein I will sell the Fall/Winter 2013 collection. This collection ain't just shirts, Arrow also brings a collection of knits, ties, bowties, pocket squares and scarfs. For now I wish you all Happy Holidays!

Quadrophenia (1979)

          After the success of Tommy (1975), director Ken Russell’s flamboyant adaptation of the Who’s first “rock opera” LP, it was inevitable that someone would tackle the British band’s follow-up opus, Quadrophenia. And while Franc Roddam’s movie of Quadrophenia is more grounded and mature than Russell’s silly phantasmagoria, Roddam’s movie is just as unsatisfying as its predecessor. Set during the clashes that erupted in the ’60s between two factions of British youth culture—old-school “Rockers” in leather jackets and new-style “Mods” in natty suits—the picture is primarily a straight-ahead dramatic presentation, but it features a few fanciful scenes that feel like early music videos, and in one or two key moments, Who songs on the soundtrack directly correlate to what’s happening within the frame. So it’s not a musical, but then sometimes it isa musical—sort of.

          As if this indecisive approach wasn’t sufficiently distracting, the script (credited to three writers, though the real underlying author is Who tunesmith Pete Townshend) suffers from an overabundance of symbolic events and a shortage of narrative momentum. As does the LP on which the picture is based, the movie follows Jimmy Cooper (Phil Daniels), an angry young Mod who resents his job, his parents, and any other entity that represents authority. Yet for all his seemingly iconoclastic rebellion, he’s a joiner in a big way, driving the same scooter and wearing the same garb as all of his Mod mates. After a series of disillusioning events—most of which are triggered by Jimmy’s obnoxious behavior—Jimmy becomes alienated from every aspect of society, not just authority figures.

          The last half-hour of the picture starts to finally feel as if it’s going somewhere, with potent Who numbers including “5:15” and “Love Reign O’er Me” accompanying shots of a drugged-out Jimmy leaving civilization behind to experience a vaguely defined epiphany on the White Cliffs of Dover. Had the picture concluded with more definitive imagery, the whole story might have felt more purposeful. Alas, Quadrophenia comprises little more than well-photographed narrative meandering. There’s some great stuff here and there, like re-creations of nightclub excitement and street-fight chaos, and the acting is generally good; beyond the intense Daniels and the appealing leading lady Leslie Ash, the picture features a young Ray Winstone, as Jimmy’s ill-fated Rocker pal, and future rock god Sting, in a small role as a charismatic Mod. But given the halfhearted blending of the drama and musical genres, the diffuse quality of the screenplay, and even the hard-to-penetrate working-class British accents, Quadrophenia is not an easy movie to love.

Quadrophenia: FUNKY