Reading cookbooks and dancing at 4:00 a.m.! Not at the same time, of course. But then again, anything is possible. Making fancy food and desserts. Japanese knives. French mandolins. South/Central American cuisine. Eating cheese and drinking red wine. Vietnamese and Indian pickles. A nice cup of tea with lots of milk, and a little sugar in the winter - PG Tips is good. Sun tea with lots of lemon in the summer. Chicken fried steak and Texas toast. Pie. Braising in the winter, grilling in the summer. Picnics in the park. Fort Greene Park is especially nice. I also like Prospect Park. Driving around the country in big trucks. Birch trees in the Winter, Poplar trees in the Spring and Maples in the Fall. How people looked anywhere from the 1920's to the 1940's. How buildings looked anywhere from the 1200's to the 1930's. Espana. Canada! Minnewiki. Looking for jobs that allow me to cook in distant lands, or at least in Jersey. Looking out my window at the "J" train passing by. Riding the "J" train and watching my window pass by. Hangin' at the dog park. Block parties. Wondering why I always end up in hotter climates than New York's in August, when I really, really hate hot weather. Sitting on my rooftop and watching the sun rise. Kitties - especially Penelope and Agnes, but Pink, Blue, Bodey, Keisha and Luna are pretty cool too.
Dorothy Parker, Nikki Sudden and Julia Child -- all at the same time. I would mix up some classic Manhattans in well chilled, crystal cocktail glasses, and serve boeuf bourguignon made with a nice bordeaux. I'd also like to meet fellow chefs and people who are crazy about food and cooking.
Um, o.k., here it goes. Ready? Radio Birdman, The Saints, Swell Maps, Jacobites, Nikki Sudden, Epic Soundtracks, Pretenders, Wire, The Dwarves, Celibate Rifles, Husker Du, The Replacements, Magnolias, Cows, Vertigo, Arcwelder, Mudhoney, Wipers, The Stranglers, ESG, The Only Ones, The Clean, Chris Knox, Soft Boys, Roxy Music, ELO, Eno, Big Black, Gun Club, Minutemen, The Didgits, Lee Harvey Oswald Experience, Mission of Burma, Mekons, Waco Brothers, Sally Timms, Grin, Spirit, Scratch Acid, Refused, The Leaving Trains, Black Angel's Death Song, Oblivians, Dinosaur Jr., Buzzcocks, Bevis Frond, Supergrass, Kaiser Chiefs, New Pornographers, Gary Numan, Flying Saucer Attack, Pere Ubu, Nick Cave, Nick Drake, Nick Lowe, Cheap Trick, Big Star, Joe Jackson, Quintron and Miss Pussycat, The Kinks, Miles Davis, The Fall, The Fall, The Fall, Kill Radio, Grand Funk, Prince, ZZ Top, Shocking Blue, X, The Knitters, Foo Fighters, QOTSA, Judas Priest, Witchcraft, Tom Petty, Dolly Parton (we share the same birthday - so does Janis Joplin and Edgar Allan Poe. Is this a sign?), Kitty Wells, Buck Owens, Hank Williams, Dream Syndicate, Steve Wynn and the Miracle 3, Dirty 3, Spacemen 3, Gang of 4, Birthday Party, Bailter Space, Come, Spirit, Live Skull, Hollow Rocket (who?), Mastodon, Au Pairs, Adolescents, Dirty Pretty Things, Blur, Parliament, Skeleton Key, Melvins, The Effigies, Naked Raygun, Volcano Suns, PJ Harvey, Brought Low, Van Halen, Dwight Twilley, Phil Seymour, Etta James, that one song by Gloria Gaynor, Oneida, 13th Floor Elevators, King Sunny Ade, Bee Gees, Amil Stewart, and on, and on, and on. Also, lately I have a fascination with Norwegian (or Scandinavian in general) black metal. I don't really listen to all that much of it, but I think the culture is sort of amusing. It's the Minnesotan in me! And did I mention The Fall??? Plus, I can't stop listening to The Ponys records that I just bought. They're my new faves!
Donnie Darko, Goodfellas, 28 Days Later, Shawshank Redemption, Notorious, Boogie Nights, Usual Suspects, Kill Bill, Bridges of Madison County, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, River's Edge, John Hughes' movies, "I scream. You scream. We all scream for ice cream", and Grease. Oh, and that Def Leppard movie that was on VH1. Captivating, to say the least. Oh yeah!
I don't have one, but I used to like Alan Partridge, and The Daily Show -- and cooking shows, of course, but not so much on the Food Network anymore - the exception being Alton Brown. Rachel Ray IS the devil, but Lidia Bastianich is coolio (not of the hip-hop variety, thank you). I also like Anthony Bourdain. I wasn't going to list him at first, because it seemed too obvious, but Chris said I should anyway. Fine. Done. Cash Cab! Oh, and of course, how could I forget! Aqua Teen Hunger Force!!! THE best show ever.
Yes. Mostly of the cookery variety. Larousse Gastronomique, On Food and Cooking, any James Peterson, Elizabeth David, and Diana Kennedy. Dorothy Parker. And of course, I would never forget Mr. Anthony Bourdain. Paul Bowles. Augusten Boroughs. Also bios of tortured types, like Zelda Fizgerald, or Frances Farmer. 20th century music history, too. Oh, once again, the list goes on and on and on. Any recommendations?
My Mom, because she never complains, and she has every right to. Especially now. Robin, because someday she will be sticking needles in a lot of people to make them better! Oh, and Julia Child, because she knew how to cut up a chicken to make IT better. Long live Chinese medicine and French food. Oh, and Rizzo. Not really, but she was a good character, I'd say.