“I guess I’ve become more aware of dynamics and having a bit more of a deft touch, though it’s nice to lay into them on occasion as well. In my early days I was a bit of a basher. I hit them really hard all the time and had really big drums and big sticks and everything was big. As I grew up I got much lighter sticks and the drums remained kind of big. I used to use Sabian AA cymbals and if I heard an AA cymbal now I’m sure it would just rip my head apart. I’ve become a lot gayer, I guess you could say. No, I’m just joking. But you can say that I’ve become much gayer.”
– Silverchair Drummer Ben Gillies, on how his approach to the kit has evolved from album to album
Almost everyone knows Ben Stein from his immortal role as the High School Economics professor in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (most famous line, “Beuller…Bueller… Bueller?”) or his current stint as dead-pan co-host of VH1’s fantastic reality show, Americas Most Smartest Model (9:00 PM Sundays). But few people know that Ben Stein is actually a sage economist in real life! Here’s Stein’s latest article for the NY Times, The Long and Short of It at Goldman Sachs, which had everyone in my office at a Wall Street-based Global Banking Firm buzzing wildly. I especially love Stein’s clever integration of pop culture/music trivia into his economic diatribe. Enjoy!
The Red Velvet Cupcake from late, great Crumb’s Bakeshop is described thusly:
Traditional red velvet cake frosted with vanilla cream cheese frosting and drizzled in chocolate with red sprinkles around the edge and a cherry to finish it off.
The first snow of the season fell on NYC overnight and this morning, honestly, it was absolutely gorgeous outside! Before the lovely pristine blanket of white could transform into grey slush and filthy mounds flecked with soot and dog feces, I decided to bundle up like an Eskimo and enjoy one of the greatest simple pleasures of life in New York City: a Sunday trip to the Guggenheim Museum.
The Guggenheim currently features a career retrospective of American artist Richard Prince, and his work is just fantastic. I laughed my ass off at a lot of his “Joke” canvases, avoided slipping into a “Museum Coma” and was back downtown in Union Square in time to do a little Holiday shopping at the crafts market. Read more about the exhibit and see photos of some of Prince’s featured work below. Spiritual America runs through January 9, 2008.
