Thursday, October 28, 2010

7 Things I Remember That Place Me Firmly in Middle Age

(Though Not Nearly as Old as Karl, Thank God!)
JOHN HANLON, Brooklyn NY
1. Some paperbacks had a one page glossy ad inside. It was usually for cigarettes.
2. Sometimes when you heard the national anthem, it meant no more tv for the night. Our local PBS station eventually used the Beatles’ "Goodnight" instead. I’m sure they received complaints.
3. Folk Mass.
4. Most Time and Newsweek articles had lots of text with maybe a couple of black and white photos.
5. Soap was controversial because it was considered so racy.
6. You were supposed to let a phone ring ten times before hanging up if no one answered.
7. Major league sports teams weren’t basically interchangeable. Teams that had a working-class aura about them, like the Baltimore Colts, were actually made up of players who were working-class.

7 Things Dave Likes About the Number Seven

DAVID CALAMONERI, Hoboken NJ
1. Seven notes make a major scale (in Western Music)
2. I just like prime numbers.
3. On the seventh day the magic all knowing, all caring, floating being rested. Original Weekend?
4. the Seven deadly sins (lust and gluttony are my favorites)
5. the Seven colors of the rainbow
6. For all you hippies and yogis out there, the Seven Chakras (Twork that Muladhara)
7. Last but certainly not least TG7 and it's current 7NOW! form (If Godfather I & II can count as one so can these.)

7 Things I Remember That Place Me Firmly in Middle Age

POPS GUSTAV, Jersey City NJ
1. Black and White TV
2. Pre-family friendly Pizza Hut: dimly lit, with jukeboxes and beer
3. 15¢ comic books
4. Watergate
5. When the KISS solo albums were released
6. Cereals that proudly listed “sugar” in their names: Super Sugar Crisp, Sugar Pops, Sugar Frosted Flakes (before they became Super Golden Crisp, Corn Pops and Frosted Flakes of Corn)
7. The milkman delivering milk in glass bottles with foil caps to the milkbox.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Todd's 7 Favorite Things In Casa de Karl and Lysa (in no particular order)

TODD CADLEY, New York City
1) Zod
2) Khan
3) Hanging pots/pan rack (I said rack)
4) Clean Cartoonists' Dirty Drawings book
5) Superman with mullet action figures
6) Joey Welz music video
7) The innuendo that Christmas is coming!

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

7 Popular Shows Erin Has Never Seen

ERIN HANLON, Brooklyn NY
1. The Office (US)
2. 30 Rock
3. Desperate Housewives
4. Boardwalk Empire
5. Two and a Half Men
6. Dancing with the Stars
7. The Jersey Shore

Monday, October 4, 2010

7 Recent Autumnal Pleasures

JOHN HANLON, Brooklyn NY
1. Taking the air conditioners out of the windows
This might depress some, but I see it as a sign I've survived another hot summer. Welcome cooler weather and (hopefully) less street noise.

2. Seasons by Blex Bolex
The linked video doesn't do the book justice, but it gives you a taste of the pleasures found within this beautiful and evocative book. Here's hoping that more of Bolex's work will find its way to these shores.

3. Hammer Horror Films Every Friday Night on TCM This Month

4. Boys Outside by Steve Mason
More polished than The Beta Band's potheads-playing-around-in-the-studio aesthetic, but addicting to the point that it's one of the few recent albums I wish was longer. 40 minutes isn't enough.

5. Goodbye Cinema, Hello Cinephilia: Film Culture in Transition by Jonathan Rosenbaum
One of my favorite film critics writes a book that cautiously optimistic about the changes in film culture brought about by dvds and downloading.

6. Penguin 75: Designers, Authors, Commentary (the Good, the Bad . . .) edited by Paul Buckley
75 recent Penguin book covers annotated by their designers and the books' authors, whose comments range from "the cover made it a bestseller" to "I hate it." Penguin 75 seems like a blog in book form, but I find flipping through its pages much more enjoyable than staring at a computer screen.

7. A Journey Round My Skull
Speaking of blogs, I know I've sung the praises of the image collection A Journey Round My Skull before on my own blog, but in just the last two weeks he's featured abstracts based on vegetation, medical drawings, foreign children's books and pictures of robots.