LA MUSE KALLIOPE: Les Musettes and Muzzits Origin Stories

Les Musettes™ are whimsical "Lil' Muses. Les Muzzits™ are little "Lil' Muses" for kids of all ages. So what's their story? Find out on the LA MUSE KALLIOPE blog. Origin stories for both Les Musettes and Muzzits just posted.

Les Musettes Your Personal "Lil' Muses": Valentine Heart Shaped Scallion Pancakes

Les Musettes Your Personal "Lil' Muses": Valentine Heart Shaped Scallion Pancakes: "Scallion pancakes are tasty finger foods great for potluck parties. Best of all, they are easy to make and can be prepared ahead of time and..."

Ouch!

Working around the apt. and a screwdriver just slipped and nailed my thumb. Intense pain. Right where the skin is directly below the nail. I stared at it while it throbbed. There was a small white mark where the screwdriver hit against flesh but no blood. Throbbing continued. I felt as I did when I first watched Gaspar Noe's 2002 movie, "Irreversible" a while back. I knew something bad was going to happen and there was a throbbing intensity to both (my thumb in this scenario and the music and frantic camera in the movie). Next (in my scenario, not the movie) a small pinhead of blood appeared at the aforementioned white mark. "It hurts like the dickens but not bleeding so bad" I thought to myself. I took my eye off my thumb for a moment. Probably trying to figure out my next step in placing the shelves up in the closet. I glanced back at my thumb while pondering my next home repair move. The blood began to pool around my thumb nail. Rivulets of red encapsulated my thumb. I dashed to the sink, not wanting to compound insult to injury by dripping blood all over the place. Nor did I wish to attract the neighborhood vampires. Who needs them skulking around? I washed the thumb off a few times using warm water although I think cold water would feel better. I fumbled around the medicine cabinet with a wet, bloody thumb to locate a band-aid. I proceeded to take out some odd shaped band-aid. The two immediate thoughts I had: why would I ever use such an odd shaped band-aid and why are there so many in the band-aid box seem to answer one another. Finally locating a proper sized band-aid I applied it with some dexterity. It really wasn't bleeding so bad anymore. And the throbbing stopped. No vampires around either. Now back to the stupid shelves.

BOOK REVIEW: Losers Live Longer by Russell Atwood

When it comes to crime fiction I gravitate towards the classics - Chandler, Hammett, Black Mask reprints and the like. Oh, I pick up contemporary stuff here and there, but it's that early wave of hard-boiled fiction that truly wets my whistle. A great provider of vintage crime fiction re-prints is Hard Case Crime. I've delved into their contemporary crime fiction from time to time as well. And it turns out, they're not too shabby at releasing inventive and fun modern crime fiction. Case in point is the soon-to-be released (in September 2009) Losers Live Longer by Russell Atwood, an advance copy of which I was lucky enough to get my mitts on.

There's great energy to Losers Live Longer. Like many great detective stories, it begins with a phone call. Atwood creates an amazing pace in the first chapter. Our detective, Payton Sherwood, scraping by, lets the machine take the call, listens to the message before picking up and then, slowly over these opening pages, Atwood unfurls some amazing observations and excellent turns of phrases. This opening chapter sets up the story, not as an introduction but as a catalyst. Sherwood lurches forward trying to keep up as the story grows more complex and maze-like.

Though the story is complex - running the gamut from white collar criminals on the run to Russian runaways and a few washed-up drug-addled celebrities to boot - it's never convoluted. As Sherwood begins to figure things out, as he travels about downtown Manhattan (more on that later), as the bigger picture narrows to a thin straight line, his thoughts focus and his determination to not only stay alive, but see this case through to its end becomes our coda too. As events began, I wasn't sure what to make of Sherwood. Sure, I love a wise-ass detective as much as anyone, but I didn't think much of this Payton Sherwood guy. Kind of superficial personality. Too loose, maybe. Then as the plot tightens up, so does Sherwood. We see what he's made of. We feel his mettle and understand his code. More importantly, we see how his self-deprecation ("no way it could be a client" he states early on when his buzzer rings) provides the armor for the guy who spends a day and change tirelessly hopping around the East Village labyrinth that he finds himself in.

The East Village setting is a bonus for me as a current resident (hell, one death in the book happens around the corner from me) and native New Yorker. He succinctly paints a clear history of recent changes in the neighborhood, evoking the East village of another era (sometimes with a bit too much nostalgia for the gritty crime-ridden past), but mostly with a passion for people, the smells, the sounds, the buildings, that create the foundation for any great locale. This doesn't diminish the story for non-New Yorkers. In fact, it should enhance it - whereas some books just happens to take place here or there, other books, when torn at their spine, bleed their geography. Losers Live Longer bleeds New York. As with the classics, the sense of place is as important a character as the people who inhabit it, and Atwood makes the East Village come alive.

One last note - Losers Live Longer also has a tremendous final line. One of those lines that makes me smile and shake my head it's so darn good. Don't sneak a peek at it. Get there when you get there. It'll be worth it.

COMIC BOOK REVIEW: Wednesday Comics 1-6

I'm not a regular comics reader anymore. Haven't been for years. I sort of, kind of follow what's going on, and when something really interests me, I usually just wait for a trade rather than get involved in a monthly series. But along comes DC's Wednesday Comics and here I am up to my ears in a weekly comic. But the idea was just too good to pass on - 15 single page stories once a week in large newsprint style. So far it's rewarding my weekly trip to the comic shop. Here's my quick take on each:

Batman
Intriguing but plodding a bit. With issue 6, things start coming together. Looking forward to where this is going

Kamandi
Dave Gibbon's is writing and Ryan Sook is drawing this and it's been a blast. Crisp and straightforward, the action just hasn't stopped. Gibbon's is using the single page format to churn out a great tale thus far and Sook is really taking advantage of the large format (as are most of the artists, I should add). In my top 3 right now and makes the weekly purchase worth it.

Superman
First issue opens with Superman fighting an alien. 6th issue closes with an alien attack on Superman. In between, Superman laments being an alien on Earth. Lame. More aliens, less moping. C'mon Superman. Act like a superman for crying out loud.

Deadman
Pretty good so far. Up and downs over the 6 issues but mostly positives. Boston Brand is always a quality narrator and he's not lagging in this story.

Green Lantern
Wonderful artwork. Flashbacks taking the bulk of the six pages so far but a nice pace and what looks like a great set-up for action in the present. Solid.

Metamorpho
Neil Gaiman seems to be having a lot of fun with this and, to a point, the fun is infectious. However, it also seems a bit frivolous too. Great use of the single large page by Mike Allred, but the story seems to be getting restricted by the format rather than freed by it. But Metamorpho has always been a favorite of mine as has Gaiman. I have faith.

Teen Titans
I have no idea what's going on in this story. That was OK for the first 4 issues. I just rolled with punches and enjoyed the ride. Well, that ride no has a flat tire. My interest is gone. Perhaps if I paid attention to all the various "crisis" things in the DC Universe I would care about why blue Beetle wears armor and is a Teen Titan.

Strange Adventures
Adam Strange has always been a favorite of mine, so I was reluctant to get into this, what with the primitive Allana rather than the space-suit wearing Allana. But issue 5 & 6 sealed the deal. This is a keeper. Interesting take on the Zeta-beam and on Ranagar.

Supergirl
Wow, talk abut frivolous! Supergirl chases down her super dog and cat from causing mischief. It's been a fun ride and Aquaman has a funny cameo in issue 6. Not bad.

Metal Men
Ah, the Metal Men. I picked up their Showcase collection recently and I love it. So far, this story has the same whimsy and humor found in those Silver Age classics. The Metal Men story was a major factor in my picking up Wednesday Comics. I haven't been disappointed. Top 3.

Wonder Woman
Cluttered art. Too wordy. Too tedious for me to even make it out of issue 1. I keep trying to read it. I mean, it's one lousy page. But not happening yet.

Sgt. Rock
Rock is captured by the Nazi's and tortured. Great set-up. Now we're in issue 6 and Rock is captured by the Nazi's and tortured. This story has been spinning its wheels. Fortunately, something is brewing at the end of 6. And Joe Kubert's artwork is stunning as usual. A treat just to see his Easy Company again.

Flash
Barry Allen. Iris West. Gorilla Grodd. Time travel. Multiple Flashes. Simply mind-blowing so far and the best of the bunch. Nice clean art, great plotting for the single page and great POV use for Flash, Iris, and Grodd. Perfect after 6.

The Demon and Catwoman
Well, really The Demon as Catwoman was captured by a witch back in issue 2. But another winner. Etrigan never disappoints.

Hawkman
Great start to this one as Hawkman breaks up an alien invasion masked as an airline hijacking. But it's been stuck in a single action sequence for a few pages and has halted a bit. Kyle Baker's Hawkman is a thrill to look at though.

ETHIOPIA: Index

Since I am now in the middle of compiling my past travels onto this blog I thought it would be a good time to create an index of all my blogging from my trip to Ethiopia last summer.This index can help anyone find a post that they are interested in. Alternatively, you can use the sidebar to check for the respective months the trip took place (June - September 2008) or use the search function for Ethiopia.

Getting to Ethiopia
Initial impressions
I pontificate about the real dangers living in Ethiopia
Ethiopian censorship
Gettingsick in Ethiopia
Movie watching in Ethiopia
Wedding Ethiopian style
Six degrees of separation in Ethiopia
back to the future and in Ethiopia the future is now
A touching story of my interaction with the children of Ethiopia
The cake is good in Ethiopia. And so is the malawa
Living the routine life in an African country
Small birds make interesting photographic subjects
Name calling
Every country has its con men
Where are all the white people at? And what do I do when I meet them?
Some educational success for me during my internship
I am just monkeying around during my stay at Mr. Martin's Cozy Place
I didn't see any fireworks on July 4
Finally took a trip out of Addis Ababa
Bahir Dar: an introduction
Bahir Dar: Are bus stations the same everywhere? Possibly. But Bus rides are not the same everywhere. But the bus ride is certainly well worth it
Bahir Dar:Eating with Obama
Bahir Dar:Photos
Bahir Dar: An overview with a photo of a monkey
Bahir Dar: Trying to get drunk on homegrown liquor
Bahir Dar: The magnificent Blue Nile Falls
Bahir Dar: Monastaries with 900 year old manuscripts and priests
Bahir Dar: A cool find
Not your typical African weather Well it is the rainy season
The developing pirated DVD industry in a developing country
Living the casual cafe life in Addis
I suppose you can say I am living in a Cocoon
The currency situation
Where I went to school in Ethiopia. And what an education it was
Getting the bull's rush in Addis
Popular children's song heard everywhere even unexpected places
I now drink macchiatos
A visit to the Mercato, one of the largest open air markets in all of Africa. Fist time: No fun Second time: Yes fun this time with marriage proposals
Another trip. This time to Shashemene
Crazy driving again. This time south.
Lake Langano photos
Harar: Hyenas. Nuff said.
Harar: watching the Olympics
Harar: Faranjo
Harar: Wasting the day chewing chat
Harar: The nighttime and interminable bus trip
Gondar: Not to be confused with Gondor. Instead of Sauron there are baboons and coffee ceremonies
Lalibela: Amazing. Just amazing.
Leaving Ethiopia.
Back in New York
Final Thoughts

MOVIE REVIEW: MOON

Moon is a good movie. Teetering on very good. Even better than the movie I like what it represents. Moon hearkens back to a pre Star Wars period of smart science fiction rather than just action/adventure and explosions that seemingly has defined many films of that genre since. Like a lot of good science fiction Moon takes place off Earth in an unspecified future yet acts as a commentary on the current human condition. There is just something missing. While smart and engaging it lacks a cohesive element that makes it work on a level that would elevate it to greatness.

Moon does an excellent job of straightforward storytelling in what could have resulted in a complicated mess. Sam Bell ( an excellent Sam Rockwell) works for Lunar Industries, Ltd. on an isolated outpost located on the dark side of the moon. His only companion is a robot named Gerty (soothingly voiced by Kevin Spacey) and together they monitor the daily mining activities of remote machines. The mining operation is unearthing (unmooning?) a new fuel source that is delivered to Earth in three days and is now a cheap, abundant fuel source for 70% of our blue planet. Sam is coming to the end of a three year contract and is looking forward to being reunited with is wife and daughter in two weeks time. To say anymore about what happens in those remaining two weeks is to give away a nice twist that sets the rest of the movie in motion. (The trailer is spoilerific in this respect and I recommend not viewing it before seeing the film.)

What happens is interesting and sort of obvious although I didn’t guess the exact explanation for the twist. (So maybe it is not that obvious. But I mentally slapped myself when it was explained as I thought I should have figured that out.)Moon is commendable for its efforts in commenting on the human condition. It is about the effect of loneliness, the frailty of memory, and questioning the worth of an individual. I think the main problem I have is that I’m not sure which of these themes the movie wants to be about. While the story itself, especially the very end, is thought provoking, I have spent more time mulling over what different themes actually exist and how they fit together than I would prefer. My preference isn’t that the theme is obvious but that the theme is decipherable.

All in all I recommend Moon. I hope it ushers in more smart science fiction films.

On a related note I certainly hope that when humans do get to colonize or living on other planets or moons that science fiction films can influence the design and scope of such activities. Strange things are always happening in these movies or the living arrangements have crazy psychological effects. Usually the militaristic utilitarian aspects of these habitats become a hindrance. Even taking financial, engineering, and environmental constraints into mind I think that any future other world outposts can be more comfortable and less lonely for those who choose to live or work there. I don’t have high hopes. An example why can be found in Encounters at the End of the World a documentary directed and narrated by Werner Herzog. In it Herzog visits a science outpost in Antarctica and describes it as something that would be found on the moon. In fact it looks eerily like the outpost found in Moon. I’m not expecting the Taj Mahal to be built on Mars just something that is livable and not mentally deranging.

HONG KONG 2007: Queuing, Kids, and Gambling on Dinner

Macau is an old Portuguese colony given over to China in a similar way the British gave over Hong Kong. Macau is also a mecca of gambling with casino construction about as far as the eye could see.* For an in-depth article about Macau and all this gambling read James Fallows' excellent article from The Atlantic.**

Macau is about an hour speed-ferry ride from HK. Sister Anne worked on Macau and was heading back so Aunt Helen and some of the other nuns decided to bring me along to see it. Other than the cool town center, which was a remnant of Portuguese rule, and the Temple of AH-MA all I remember of Macau was gaudy casinos and loads of construction. The temples are more out of control on Macau than in HK. The incense sticks were bigger, the smoke thicker, the people noisier (or more devout?), and the animal sacrifices greater. There was one annoying experience, one touching experience, and one funny experience all worth recounting from that day in Macau.

You need to show your passport to get into Macau but not if you are a HK resident. All the nuns were either residents of HK or Macau and breezed easily out of the customs area from the ferry arrival terminal. I was stuck in the terminal with hundreds of mainland Chinese who also had to show passports.*** Evidently, this was before the Chinese government started etiquette classes on proper queuing for their citizens in the run-up to the Olympics. I was stuck in the middle of a mass of humanity just shoving and pushing in every direction. This sea of people swept me to and fro, the jostling as bad as the bumpy ride on the speed-ferry. I just went with it trying to keep moving forward to the five feet of metal rails that constituted actual delineation before reaching the customs officer. Once somebody in front of me stepped on a discarded puke bag from the ferry. This popped open the bag emitting a viscous substance and an ungodly odor. I promptly stepped in it and could hardly hold back my own vomit. Thankfully, the pushing and the shoving drove me away from that area quickly (and dissipated any residue on my sneaker.) After an hour of this I finally made it through and met the nuns, who had the temerity to ask what took me so long.

So I am in Macau. The Temple of AH-MA. St. Paul’s façade. St. Dominic’s church. Some bones of Japanese martyrs. A couple of museums. Some gaudy casinos. Sightseeing out of the way. I venture along with Aunt Helen, Sister Ann Marie, Sister Susan, and Sister Anne to the Macau Social Center where they work. This is an area of town close to the border with China and out of the way from the casinos. Mainly poorer people in this part and the Center provides services for children. The Sisters ask me if I wouldn’t mind dropping in on the kids, as they don’t really see any Westerners other than the nuns. The kids are in an art class and considering their ages, probably from 6 years old to 10 years, old they can all draw spectacularly well. I am pointed out and then stared at with wonder. They are all wearing sports jerseys of American basketball teams or irregular t-shirts**** One little boy asks me “How are you?” Other children giggle. I answer “Fine. How are you?” To which many voices answer “Fine. How are you?” Ignoring the second part of the their response and thinking they may know English I ask about their drawings eliciting only blank faces. Apparently, they don’t know English but do know how to answer “Fine. How are you?” I spent some time laughing with them and playing a bit and looking at their drawings. It was nice.

Then we went to dinner. I forget which casino we had dinner. Maybe the Wynn. Anyway, it was an upscale restaurant within. Aunt Helen knew some vice president of the casino and managed to get us hooked up with a nice meal.***** Or so she thought. This VP never materialized; he was actually supposed to sup with us. Meanwhile, the nuns are ordering whatever they want and even partaking in a glass of nice wine. Good for them. I do the same. Now seconds becomes dessert and still no VP. The nuns begin to panic a bit. Whereas there were little jokes directed to Aunt Helen about “doing the dishes” and such, the tone now became more serious. Aunt Helen, in a near panic, keeps asking the waitress or the maitre d’ to try and find this guy. Every few minutes she is hounding some employee to track him down. The rest of the nuns visibly worry about how to pay for this meal. As calmly as I could I mention that no problem exists, I’ll put it on my credit card and, really, there is no need to worry. This does nothing to squash the sense of palpable despair coming from the nuns. Finally, Aunt Helen gets him on the horn and he apologizes for not being able to make it and gives the word that, of course, the meal is on the casino. Disaster averted. Whew! I don’t think dessert was enjoyed by anyone but me.

So that’s Macau. Photos following my addendums.

*No actual gambling occurred at any Macau casinos. In fact on my quick, brief walk through two ultra-gaudy casinos I didn’t even recognize the table games. If I saw a blackjack table and thought I could extricate myself from the nuns I may have played a little bit.

**For any Sinophiles reading, I suggest James Fallows' blog at The Atlantic website for an always interesting perspective on China.

***A funny quip from Aunt Helen that I heard numerous times during my week stay: “No Hong Kong resident has committed a crime since 1999.” This implied that all crimes and other annoyances were caused by visitors from mainland China.

****I was told that many poor people here get irregular clothes from the multitude of factories in China. When a mistake is made on a batch and they can’t sell it in a western country they place them for sale or give them away in some of the poorer regions. It is doubtful that most of them know what their shirts say. I saw a bunch of shirts festooned with sexual innuendo on very young girls.

*****Aunt Helen knows a lot of people in Hong Kong. She also knows a lot of well off people though charity work she performs. Later on in the trip a priest friend of hers asked what we had been doing and after I mentioned some of the fine dining establishments and places I have been with some of Aunt Helen’s friends he declared, “Oh, Helen is introducing you to all her la-de-da friends.”

Aunt Helen in the quaint town center of Macau





St. Paul's facade




Macau. Lots of casinos. Note the then under construction Lotus casino on the top left. Photo taken from up high in St. Paul's facade.



Temple of AH-MA





At the old Macau-China border. Me and Aunt Helen. The nuns.