Quirky Baltimore

Spent yesterday exploring Baltimore. Here was the itinerary:

10am: left DC and drove to Baltimore. The fun of listening to the Da Vinci Code en route meant that Baltimore's sights had some stiff competition: if listening to the book was more fun than the sights, what would be the point of getting out of the car?
11am: tour of the Star Toys Museum, an extensive private collection of Star Wars memorabilia. Best discovery: Luke's original lightsaber was actually a photo flash grip.
Noon: crab cakes at G&M, which I had last visited about 7 or so years ago. I think Faidley's is better, but that may just be because I like a higher ratio of crackers-to-crab in my crab cakes.
1pm: Druid Hill Conservatory. What's more fun than a tropical rainforest in the dead of winter?
1:30pm: tour of the Amaranthine Museum by the artist's daughter. Anyone who has hung out with me for any length of time knows that I'm a sucker for themed environments created single-handedly by quirky characters. How long will it be before I just spend all of my free time in the backyard working on my own "visionary art"?
2:30: Atomic Books and "The Avenue" in Hampden. John Waters' Christmas cards!
3:00: Hopkins drive-by (for nostalgia's stake)
3:15: Washington Monument drive-by. The City of Monuments, the Greatest City in America, the City that Reads (Breeds).
3:20: Babe Ruth Museum. Babe was a plus-sized dude, but was he really John Goodman-sized?
4:00: American Visionary Art Museum. They still have their restaurant! They've now added a bookstore.
5:00: Tattoo Museum. Should it really be legal to sell tattooing kits via mail order?
5:30: Fells Point drive-by
5:45: Tried going on the submarine tour but it was closed for the day.
6:00: Attman's Deli was also closed for the day, which was probably for the best because I spent a pretty shitty Christmas Day here once.
6:30: Dinner in Federal Hill, right next to the Cross St. Market (the perfect antidote, memory-wise, for Attman's) at the Abbey Burger Bistro.

Sardines

It's too easy to make a tshirt this good.

Favorite Movies of the Decade

Top Ten

American Splendor
Away from Her
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Fog of War
In the Mood for Love
Lives of Others
Lost in Translation
Mystic River
Sideways
Superbad

Runners-Up

King of Kong
In the Bedroom
I've Loved You So Long
Me and You and Everyone We Know
Punch-Drunk Love
Tarnation

Lovesick Country (Compilation)

I put together the original version of this compilation in the spring of 2003. I've just slightly revised it--this version is better than the original one.

Herzog on Nature

One of the most striking contrasts in Werner Herzog's "Grizzly Man" is between Timothy Treadwell and Herzog's respective conceptions of nature. Treadwell is portrayed as having an idealized conception of nature, as a perfect realm which we can enter into and become one with wild animals (which is, of course, what literally happens to Treadwell himself). Here is Herzog's response to this conception of nature:

"I differ with Treadwell. He seemed to ignore the fact that in nature there are predators. I believe that the common denominator of the universe is not harmony but chaos, hostility, and murder." (at 1:10:50 in the film)

"What haunts me is that in all the faces of all the bears that Treadwell ever filmed I discover no kinship, no understanding, no mercy. I see only the overwhelming indifference of nature. To me, there is no such thing as a secret world of the beers and this blank stare speaks only of a half-bored interest in food. But for Timothy Treadwell this bear was a friend, a savior." (at 1:36:43 in the film)

Trickle-Down Art

This Indiana Jones sculpture at the Fairfax Walmart is presumably some sort of effect of the recent rash of creative uses of Legos in photos, videos, and interior design. But what I really like about it is how it uses a fake prop from the movie, rather than recreating it in Legos.

The Shredders of YouTube

I love watching guitar shredding videos on YouTube. Watch this one first and then this one.