Happy Brisket Eve

the best thing about working in the entertainment industry is that every single agency, production, studio, and casting office shuts down for two weeks over the holidays. which means for the past 10 years i've had the same "winter break" as all the school kids and that is just fine by me.

tomorrow ben and i are leaving for arizona - we're driving straight to his parents' house for BRISKET EVE which is a tradition his mom started a few years ago where she makes brisket for the whole lipson/kull/noel (ben's sister's family) crew. it's also her birthday (billie - ben's mom) tomorrow (and festivus!) so we kind of roll it all into one.

in observance of Brisket Eve - below is Maxine Peters' Sweet and Sour Brisket recipe from the Hasassah Cookbook (1972).



6 lb single brisket
2 onions, sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
3/4 c brown sugar
1/2 c vinegar
1 c ketchup
1 c water
1 T salt
Freshly ground pepper

Place brisket in heavy skillet and brown on all sides. Add and brown onions
and garlic. Add remaining ingredients. Cook, covered, until meat is tender,
about 2 1/4 to 3 hours. Serves ten.

Now what ol' Maxine doesn't tell you is what "cook" means and at what temperature and in what type of vessel to do the cooking in. When we make it we double the sauce ingredients and cook the browned brisket in a covered stock pot on low-medium heat on the stovetop. But Maxine leaves it up to you - she's Sweet and Sour that way.

Happy Festivus and Happy Brisket Eve to you.

hair removal - one more time

other than cheese, hair removal is at the top of my favorite topics of discussion list. did anyone check out the MODERN MARVELS episode about cheese on the history channel? it was like an episode of UNWRAPPED mating with 3-2-1 CONTACT and giving birth to a perfect hour of tv.

today i experimented with two new forms of hair removal. the first, a little product called Smooth Away. yes i had seen it on tv. so have you. it's a pink thing you slide over your finger (that's what she said), kind of like a horse's curry comb. you supposedly rub in a circular motion (that's what she said) and your hair exits thanks to some magic discovered in europe. NOT SO! not only do i have all the hair i started with, but now my leg seems to be suffering from some kind of rugburn-cum-sandpaper abraisions. i will just put in the drawer with the rest of the garbage i bought after seeing on tv (luma tweeze, anyone?).

but for a truly effective method of hair removal, may i suggest ms. crystal rose of goo salon. this morning while visiting crunch gym for the first time since july, i watched a PINK video with the sound off and decided i needed to have the same hairdo. luckily crystal was available to work it out for me. i'm very pleased with her handiwork. now if she could land me a denim halter-top jumpsuit i would be forever in her debt.

Pink - New Music - More Music Videos

these pics are after a shower - no product involved. imagine with product.

movie reviews

every year around this time is exciting for me on account of ben being in the WGA, and getting invited to all kinds of advance screenings of movies angling for award consideration. so far this season we have been to see 5 of these screenings. here are my reviews:

1. the secret life of bees - more like the secret life of effs. stank.

2. the wrestler - meh. the wrestling, the planning of the wrestling with the other wrestlers and the self-preparation for wrestling (tanning, bleaching, steroids) was awesome. anything where mickey rourke had to interact with his girlfriend or daughter was like a bad hallmark/after school special.

3. frost/nixon - politics not being my cup of tea, this was very enjoyable and very well-acted. big plus for me - faithful recreation of 1977 homes, hotels, restaurants and some stellar outfits.

4. defiance - ben put it best when he said this is the holocaust movie christopher guest's crew is making in their next phony documentary. just because it's about terrible tragic events and heroic personalities and stars some of the best actors around doesn't make it good. it doesn't even make it watchable. be on the lookout for tv guest-star staple mark feuerstein as "the intellectual".

5. australia - seven years after moulin rouge!, my favorite director presents his return-of-the-epic epic. excellent art direction, costumes and visuals, average story and nicole kidman is really tough to watch with the botox and lip injections. the word 'krikey' is used at least 4 times. it had a lot of aboriginal folklore and as usual for baz luhrmann, a red-headed, money-hungry villian. not my favorite of his movies by a long shot but an enjoyable evening. plus, baz was at the screening for a q & a afterwards, he just might be the world's most charming gent.

sometimes i think of this and laugh

perhaps the best 25 seconds of any movie ever. it sprang to mind while waiting to leave work tonight and i just wanted to share.

LACMA Costume Ball - Extending Halloween one more day

for the first time this year, Ben and I attended the Costume Ball at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Ben wore his Harry Perry costume, likely making him the only person since Steve Martin in LA Story to skate through the museum. in contrast to the WeHo parade, the costumes at LACMA were way more cerebral and way less naked..with one exception.

a few art inspired costumes...


Yves Klein and his model


our friend jeff as vincent


pablo y painting

and some of the best of the rest...


Kenley and Tim make it work!


heath ledger RIP


our friend dana as kat von d


1.21 jigowatts!


weekend at bernies

i made the LA Weekly slideshow of best costumes! here's the link

http://www.laweekly.com/slideshow/view/178829/22

Halloween Highlights 2008

as always, the west hollywood parade did not disappoint! there were a whole buncha sarah palins (who?) and loads of heath ledger-as joker-as nurses, and plenty of your generic drag queens, thong-wearers and boobie-barers. here is a smattering of my favorite shots.

i went as ANGELYNE - she's an LA icon famous for 1.driving a pink corvette and 2. having billboards of herself posted around town. she's been at it since the 1980s.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angelyne

ben went as HARRY PERRY - he's an LA icon famous for 1. rollerblading around venice playing an electric guitar and 2. posing for photos with tourists

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Perry

now...without further ado....photos!!!


our group - we had 25 friends turn out to our annual halloween pre-party


austin powers...cryogenically frozen since 1997!


best palin? you betcha!


best joker.


shoes. shoes. shoes. omigod shoes. betch.


lindsay lohan and samantha ronson.


asian borat.


hot mess.


his purple majesty (in yellow)






anton chigurh made an appearance.


any 'america's best dance crew' fans?


ben as harry perry.


another angelyne! he even had the corvette!

i am Obama

this weekend ben and i took part in a local photographer's tribute to barack obama
UPDATED PIC #s as of 11/6 pm - as of this moment we are pictures 60 (ben) and 61 (both of us), 103 (me)

also two friends of mine took part - #3 is natalie and #123 is mollie!

http://www.maartendeboerphotography.com/iamobama/