The Largesse Presents: The Black (and White) Sabbath

Big Bird wishes a hammered Joe Namath a happy birthday. Somewhere, Suzy Kolber winces.

Walt Whitman says: "fuck birthdays."

The Largesse Presents: Saturday Awesomeness

Ice Road Truckers: It begins and ends right here. This show is astonishing. The History Channel is running an all-day marathon in preparation for the Season 3 premier Sunday night at 9pm. Do yourself a favor and tune in. Get familiar with the Northwest Territories, the frozen lakes these truckers traverse across, the diamond mines they provide supplies for, and the truckers themselves. This show will blow you away. Man strength.

Pixar: Toy Story, Bugs Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters Inc., Nemo, Incredibles, Cars, Wall-E, and now this weekend: Up. There is a zero percent chance that this movie is bad. Zero. FYI: Monsters Inc. is still the best of the bunch.

Kim Jong-il: This guy is bat-shit crazy. Holy hell.

Sports: Stanley Cup begins tonight in Detroit, nice job by NBC scheduling three games in four days (dicks). Pens-Wings II. 8pm. Also, your boy Rafael Nadal continues to not lose at Roland Garros (pronounce as if you’re a stroke victim.) He rocks Capri pants and goes for 33 in a row this weekend.

Phil Spector’s hair: 19 years to life for Mr. Spector is going to really cause some havoc on the dome. The absence of hair products will spell certain doom for Phil. I look for him to kill more people before heading to jail.

The Late Night Largesse Longs For: Craig Kilborn

The Largesse salutes Conan on his way to the apex of the Late Night establishment, hosting the Tonight Show. Conan officially makes the Tonight Show must-see TV once again, and for this we are thankful. We also spit angrily in the general direction of Adolph Leno; this guy is a fucking waste. All the late night talk over the last few weeks really got us thinking about late night’s most elusive, promising young star: Craig Kilborn. Our muse in so many ways, we here at The Largesse bow in his general direction, nostalgic for what could have been.

The Financially Astute Largesse Recommends: The World is Curved

Maybe it is because David Smick’s book is more recent, or maybe it is because he’s dedicated his life to the study of Economics while guys like Thomas Friedman seem to just dabble in whatever tickles their intellectual fancy, but regardless, the arguments Smick presents beat Friedman’s down with the fury of a loin-clothed King Leonidas.  (Not that there’s anything wrong with that.)  Of course, despite his successes, people will not buy Smick’s book because it is not on any bestseller list.  And yes, the logic of the American consumer is awesome.

The Largesse Presents: The Book Club for People Who Hate Book Clubs (appearing each Wednesday for a while)

Nicholas Nickleby

Second Installment, Chapters 5-7:  The End of The Beginning of Things

Alright, so the second installment can really be seen as representing the quintessential Dickens:  some good, some bad, lots of funny, and even more precise and revelatory detail.  We move from the sentimental to the slapstick to plain and simple filler to the beginnings of what promises to be cutting social commentary and satire.  That he can do all of this and pull it off with style saves Dickens from the real problems that exist with the two inserted stories in Chapter 6 – “The Five Sisters Of York” and “The Baron of Grogzwig” – and lets us continue on reading with only the slightest of misgivings.

The Entrancing Largesse Suggests Hypnosis

Franz Anton Mesmer is not exactly a household name, but it should be.  Mesmer, a physician, rocked the otherwise insignificant 1780s by suggesting that animal fluids and spirits were at the root of human physical and psychological pain.  So, he exercised them.  He was, after all, a doctor.  More to the point though, Mesmer saw himself as something of a “special” doctor, one who possessed an inordinate amount of what he called “animal magnetism.”

The Spiritual (But Not Religious) Largesse Presents: The Sabbath

This week, we rest.  But, we’re educators here at The Largesse, and so even though it is a day of rest, we recognize that your desire to learn, to grow, to evolve does not necessarily stop.  Here then are a few of the more thoughtful and intelligent websites out there for your consideration.  Read before BBQ-ing and give yourself something to think about while you stand over the grill this weekend.

• Kottke.org – A blog ostensibly about design in all its forms, although it ends up tackling just about anything that interests Jason Kottke.  He calls it the liberal arts 2.0.  We call it amazing.  Make this one a part of your daily routine and develop serious opinions about fonts (and change the way you see the world).
• TED – Brilliant people telling you about the brilliant work they’re doing.  Nothing short of reinvigorating.
• The Rest Is Noise – The extent to which we are fans of contemporary classical music at The Largesse is directly a result of Alex Ross’ writing in The New Yorker and here on his blog.  He takes a world that seems daunting to many and opens it up for everyone.  That’s probably got something to do with why he won a MacArthur “Genius Grant” back in the fall.
• Ruhlman.com – Simply put, some of the best food writing out there.
• The Millions – And some of the best writing writing out there.  These days, I’m particularly into Lydia Kiesling’s Modern Library Revue feature they’ve been running.  Loose, personal, insightful, and intelligent — they’re everything book reviews should be these days.
• Finally, it’s Bob Dylan’s birthday today, so why don’t you head on over to The Hype Machine and check out which of his songs the music blogs have been featuring lately.  Remind youself just how good he can be.

The Largesse Presents: Saturday Awesomeness

Memorial Day Weekend goodness.

Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired: HBO in the house. From Mia Farrow:  “…he was passionate about what he was doing.” Thanks, Mia. So look, this dude is pretty fascinating but the story of his life pales in comparison to how fascinating his trial was for “unlawful sexual conduct with a minor” (Samantha Geimer, now Gailey). The documentary is very well done and I’d recommend checking it out if you can. It’s the first portrayal of Polanski that I know of that tried to capture both his smarmy off-the-set sexual habits and couple this with his extremely painful life following the death of his true love, Sharon Tate. Check it.

Pens-Canes, Game 3: Carolina needs it. Pens would like to put it out of reach. The NHL continues to amaze.

http://fuckyoupenguin.blogspot.com: Finally, a blog that puts cute animals in their place. Get on it.

Meghan McCain vs. Bristol Palin: one is pro-sex, republican, and has a soapbox upon which to bitchslap the other’s abstinence propaganda. They need to collaborate more often in my dreams. Paging E!

Happy Birthday: Kelly Monaco and Ken Jennings. We love you both for very, very different reasons. In fact, going forward The Largesse will be more careful to incorporate both of you into our daily posts. God Bless.

The Funky Largesse Recommends: Daptone Records

You should know the name Gabriel Roth.  He’s the mutton-chopped, fu manchu-ed badass behind the bass and sunglasses for The Dap-Kings, the meanest, tightest band you never knew you heard.  He’s also the driving force behind Daptone Records and the rebirth of classic funk and soul that’s quietly brewing in Bushwick, Brooklyn.

The Street-wise Largesse Recommends Tu-Spock

Look, we’re well past the point of needing to recommend Star Trek to you.  It’s a perfect addition to a not-so-perfect franchise.  Pushing the movie over the top is the performance of Zachary Quinto as Spock.  Special shout out to JJ for letting Spock do more than simply wrestle with the overplayed, antiquated “logic vs. emotion” conundrum.  Historically, this tension is exactly what has made Spock so compelling – his half human, half Vulcan heritage is the heaviest of burdens.  Show emotion: let down his Vulcan father.  Block out emotion: go against the wishes of his human mother.  Yes, it’s interesting.  Whatever.  What’s more interesting however is the way that New Spock allows his tortured self to get the better of him.  JJ lets us experience Spock in ways that are far more complex, violent, real, and super fucking cool than they’ve ever been before.  New Spock is officially badass.  So badass in fact that he’s become the source of one of television’s best kept secrets: Tu-Spock.