What's wrong with you, I gave you car smile.

I am still alive! Just getting first class assignments taken care of (orientation is next week) and making sure I have all my textbooks. I have to get my student ID and take my laptop in for its certification to be used in the building. It's going to be 90 or 94 today, so I may do the computer one tomorrow.



(I know, I know, this Dentonite is going to be wishing it was 94 in a couple months, I have no doubt.)

But I DID print out the form to register to vote. So I am remembering to do some random things and not others. I also need to call my local police department to get a Firearms Identification Card. For my pepper spray. I had no idea about this, my mom clued me in, since MA is one of the (what, two?) states that require this.

I had a lot of fun with my mom being here last week--got to do lots of Boston things and eat some great Boston food. She got in on a Friday afternoon and after my first easy success of picking someone up at the airport (it's weird to live in a city where the airport is not only IN the city but is actually a fairly short distance away), we dropped off everything at the apartment and headed to the North End for dinner...and dessert.



Salem and Hanover seem to be the major roads into Little Italy, but it's more tempting to stray off the beaten path in hopes of lesser-known yet somehow cheaper fare. The restaurants over here are not terribly cheap. On the other hand, there are a bunch of yummy pastry shops that are (considering the delectables they sell).



The woman ahead of us giggled when I was (audibly) having a hard time deciding. It's a lot like being 5 and in a giant stuffed animal shop.



These were the four winners. The cheesecake is divine but I'm going back for the key lime tart. I can make cheesecake, y'know, but that tart has these little pistachio discs that are ridiculously cute and tasty. The green thing is filled with mascarpone cheese and about five other people needed to help us eat it. And of course, the essential cannoli.

To be fair, I did attempt a lemon meringue pie the other day and it was such a disaster. I usually do well with desserts but this was an all-around suck. The crust was kinda pathetic. Then the lemon part wasn't the right viscosity despite my having cooked it to 190 and the meringue seemed to have stiff peaks but then didn't cook right (so I guess it wasn't). It was spectacular. Oh well, next time.

Then I made udon noodles and those sucked, too. So I left the house for dinner.

Anyway. Back to our story. The day after my mom arrived, Saturday, we went whale watching. First, however, we wandered up to the Harvard campus for food and walking. We chose a much-praised Indian place called Tamarind. Don't. Tough chicken, lukewarm food...the onion fritter things and na'an and potatoes were good, but meh. They were totally coasting on their rep, it was lame.

Harvard was nice, but I can't say I was impressed. Seriously, after Cornell's campus...nothing will top that. But I bet the area is nicer when the leaves are turning. Oh, and great library, natch.



I did sort of giggle to notice their dorms are just as shitty as everyone else's. It was sort of depressing and I'm not even attending.

Some buildings are still pretty great though, check out the doors...



And then while we were walking to dinner (Legal Seafoods) by the wharf/aquarium, we ran into THE WORLD'S FATTEST, CUTEST BUN:



I really don't know what his "job" was, but the little girl just mumbled something about him being a "bad bunny," to me while clearly completely enamored, so that's anyone's guess.

Ok, back to playing with textbooks. Joy.

Class Waugh

I’ve long felt uneasy about my fondness for the writings of Evelyn Waugh, simply because the man was such an utter bastard. I’ve just come across a piece detailing some memos that he wrote when two of his books were being considered for Hollywood adaptation. (Neither happened.)

The first, on Brideshead Revisited, surprises only because it contains so many errors of grammar and spelling. Maybe he didn't take as much care when writing to mere Americans; or maybe his novels had the benefit of a good proof-reader.

But it’s the note about Scoop that’s a real jaw-dropper. On the decision to move the setting of the story from Africa to Europe, he writes:

It is appreciated, however, that this is a question of higher policy involving race relations in the USA and that if, for the moment, niggers may not be treated as the subject for comedy, dagoes must suffice.

And then:

It has lately been demonstrated that cinema audiences do not know whether the films they see are spoken in Italian or English. It is useless to write down to their level. Try to produce a work of art.

Naked blonde walks into a bar with a poodle under one arm, and a two-foot salami under the other...

I finally have access to the computer (some kid pulled the fire alarm in our building last night, but that's another post), I think it's safe to assume you know how incredibly sad I was to hear about John Hughes' passing.



I doubt anyone else comes close to being responsible for so many of the movies I've seen so many times. From an early age to this day, I still watch many of his films repeatedly throughout each year. My sisters, friends and I quote them endlessly.



It is impossible to say which is my favorite, they all take turns. Hell, I have a hard time even choosing just one picture.













I know he didn't direct Pretty In Pink, but he did write and executive produce, and that's clearly where it was at.



Even when he was associated with films I wasn't as crazy about, the writing still often had its moments.




Somehow, I don't think I ever did see Weird Science. Bet you know what's moving to the top of my queue!



I was also sure the above-the-fold story on the New York Times would doubtless be Sotomayor's confirmation, but thanks to Alex for showing me he did indeed make the cut.

He may not have directed since 1991, but it goes without saying what a saddening loss it is.

You break his heart, I break your face

John Hughes didn’t write great films; he wrote some OK films that meant, and continue to mean something to me because I was about the right age, and went to high school in North America at about the right time, and was a bit of a square peg, if not really a rebel (Duckie, not Bender).

But he was good on the details. Maybe it was a bit naff to use Rolling Stones references to name the main characters in Some Kind Of Wonderful. But at least he picked the cool ones (Keith, Watts, Miss Amanda Jones). Someone like Spielberg would have called them Mick, Woody and Ruby Tuesday.



John Hughes, 1950-2009

PS: And, via Cath Elliott, comes this remembrance.

Footprint

The things you find when you self-Google... The Footman was apparently created in the early 70s as a curmudgeonly counterpart to the horribly ubiquitous Smiley. You know the rest of the story: Smiley became associated with everything from acid house to Nirvana to e-mail, while the rival went Betamax.

Obviously the world would have been a far better place had the Footman, with his cynical, pessimistic demeanour, achieved cultural supremacy. But would he have ended up in Watchmen?

I hate this uniform. It's ugly. It makes me look like a beached whale. And on top of everything, I can't find any earrings to go with it.

Humpback whales!



The other evening, D, myself and my mother went on the New England Aquarium's sunset Whale Watch. It started at 6 and we got back around 10. It's been a long time since I've been on the open water, but it was really nice. The boat ride was fun, if a bit CHILLY and windy the further out we got.

Since it was sunset, it was hard to get some shots the proper exposure, but seeing the Boston skyline at sunset is really pretty.



There is some really great Art Deco architecture in Boston, the details of which you probably can't see well in these...



The long white building with all the flags in the background is the Boston World Trade Center...



I have no idea what building this is, but I like it.



And we go right under the path for planes landing at Logan International. Some trips end up with worse (better?) timing than others!



The rock to the right is covered in birds! To the left is one of the three lighthouses you see leaving Boston.



Whee!



And then just when it was getting TOO chilly and windy--a little over an hour out--the naturalists start spotting them. It's a big feeding ground and while I didn't catch any on film, you see the sprouting spray of water from their blowhole as they emerge. Our first guy was Coral:



They know him from his tail:





And they say they're 90% sure it's a guy because they watch the whale from when it's a baby. It grows up and if they never see it with a calf after so many years, they have to assume it's a guy. Coral is now 21, so they're pretty sure.

Also, I didn't know about whale footprints!



People used to improperly think it was an oil slick the whale left behind, but it's just the force of his tail creating a vortex and making the water smoother on top. (They just told us what a whale footprint was NOT, I had to look it up myself!)

Anyhoo, we saw several other whales, including a pair swimming together. I think our side of the boat really lucked out with the best views, but they were all around the place.





It got to be sunset pretty quickly, though.



When it was nearly dark we had to head back. Everyone went inside, needless to say, where it was warmer!

Here we are speeding back into Boston!



It's pretty hard to get a shot without motion blur in these conditions, but I had two people ask me what camera I had, so I guess it was doing a better job than theirs!



And hooray, home again, home again.



And Happy 800th post to me!

Deadhead

I suppose if you’re going to keep your loved one's ashes, you may as well keep them inside a replica of your loved one’s head. What does strike me as a little icky is the idea of taking the likeness at the moment the loved one realised the brakes had failed.

(Via Cynical-C.)