VALENTINE CARD SUGGESTIONS

I like Valentines Day and if you do too then you might find something useful among these pictures.  

Of course some of the people reading this will will be suffering the torture of unrequited love (above) . If this applies to you then you have my heartfelt sympathy.

Here's (above) a pretty good ecard for a girl to send to a guy.

Not a bad card (above) for an artist to send.

What a great picture of girl! Too bad you can't send it. 

Maybe this (above) will do the trick.

Wow! A really torrid card (above)!

Above, a nice card to send a dog lover.

Above, a card for people who really like their pets.

THE LATEST ASTRONOMICAL PHOTOS

Above, star formation. Vast areas of gas are being compacted by the solar wind blown from different directions by nearby stars.

Here's Stickney Crater, the largest crater on the Martian moon, Phobos. The crater is half the size of the Phobos and appears to have been made fairly recently.

Above, the night side of Saturn, taken this past October. The sun is entirely hidden behind the planet. 

Recently the Curiosity rover on Mars crossed this area (above), thought to be the site of an ancient lake.

Above, an expanding shock wave in the rim of our satellite galaxy, The Small Magellanic Cloud.

Here's (above) a far away, spooky, radio galaxy called Hercules A. The plasma jets are enormous, maybe a hundred million light years from end to end. Nobody knows why the jets take the shape they do.




Here's a solar flare that erupted on New Years' Eve, 2012. The film condenses 4 hours of activity into 17 seconds. Be sure to watch it on full screen mode.

RALPH BAKSHI DOES CONEY ISLAND

Ralph's started a Kickstarter campaign to fund a short animated film/pilot about one of my favorite subjects: Coney Island. Ralph wasn't born when Coney was at its spectacular height, but he witnessed its later years, when magic of a strange sort could still be seen in the dying embers. I can't wait to see what he's going to do with this!

If we're lucky, Ralph'll do some of the backgrounds himself. Here's (above) one he did for the Kickstarter pitch.

Why am I interested in Coney Island? Because the amusement parks there were collectively the best America ever produced, barring Disneyland and World Fairs. There were three adjacent parks: Luna Park, Dreamland and Steeplechase. That's the entrance to Dreamland above, circa 1905.

I ache when I see old pictures of Dreamland (above) because they contain hints of what a modern city might look like (in a modern style, of course) if only we chose to build that way. And the sculptures...who doesn't like stuff like that? We should take a tip from Dreamland and fill our cities with them. With new materials and computer guidance we could sculpt amazing figures that would be quick to make and fairly durable...fairly. They don't have to last forever.

 That's (above) Dreamland's exit.

Here's a high res picture of Luna Park. Geez, I shouldn't put up pictures like this...they don't load onto phones very well.

Here's (above) the Dreamland ballroom. I'm guessing that the electric lights overhead would have provoked awe from the earliest dancers. Imagine seeing something like this only a few years after Edison wired the island for electricity.

This (above) looks like the parachute ride from one of the later incarnations of Steeplechace Park, maybe from the late 50s or early 60s. No doubt Ralph saw scenes similar to the one we're seeing here.

So here's one of the best cartoonists around, doing a film about one of my favorite subjects. 'Sounds good to me! See the whole pitch at:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ralphbakshi/last-days-of-coney-island-0

BTW: I don't know who painted the title card. The caricature of Ralph is based on an original sketch by John K.

A MANLY LIVING ROOM

Today I did some voice recording at a friend's house (above).  While I was there I couldn't help noticing how nice the living room was. It's so leathery! So manly! I also like the tile floor and circular rug. 

All it needs is a big de Kooning on the wall, which I Photoshopped in (above). What do you think? 

The picture shows what might be a TV on the extreme left. I hope it is because that's a perfect spot for it considering that there appears to be a thin dining table behind the couch on the extreme right. That would allow the owner, who's a bachelor, to eat a meal while watching TV. There's a nice table outside under an arbor for more formal dining. 

Here's a better shot (above, left) of the slim dining table I talked about. Check out the built-in bookshelves and the varnished wooden floor. Very nice! Very manly! 

For contrast here's (above) a girly living room. Yuck! What's wrong with women? Why do they like stuff like this?

A few words about the recording session: it went well for the most part but I felt sorry for [name]. Every time I goofed he patiently acted out the scene again, and each time I proceeded to make the same mistakes I did before. Geez, my voice has a mind of its own, and it's a real jerk!

It's as if my brain was thinking, "I'm going to do a good job for my buddy, and give him exactly what he wants," but my voice was thinking, "Who does he think he is? He's only the director, whereas I...I am the ACKTOOR!" Anyway, it turned out mostly okay by the end.

On another subject....my blog is in trouble. My hits have diminished by half since the beginning of December. I can't figure out why. Is it the content? I don't know.  Maybe everybody got iphones for Christmas and my site doesn't load quickly on that device. Maybe Theory Corner just doesn't look good on a small screen. Maybe everybody's bailed to Facebook where readers can post their own pictures. I hope that's not it, because I like Blogger better. Maybe I just suck. Who knows?

Anyway, if the downward trend continues I'll have to reduce the number of posts to two a week, which is still a more frequent rate than you get on most blogs. Whatever happens, I won't do anything right away. I'll see what happens in the next few weeks.

SALADS THE THEORY CORNER WAY

This is about how I make salads these days, but before I begin I'd like to pay tribute to the great pioneers who made this Theory Corner Salad possible. If I saw farther than others, it was because I stood on the shoulders of giants. 

I didn't invent any of the techniques I'm about to reveal to you. No, they were pioneered by legions of nameless obsessive compulsives, yuppies, gays, urban cyclists with their expensive bikes and obscene pants (above), hip housewives, divorcees, and lonely bachelors. 

I'm especially indebted to the obsessive compulsives (above). So much is owed to this under appreciated stratum who succeeded in worrying themselves into culinary greatness.

Okay...the salad...let's get started. For the lettuce leaves: I use a combination of any two types, usually Romaine with either arugula or baby spinach. I cut off only half of the crunchy white spine of the Romaine because I've learned to like it, but maybe you'll feel differently.

I wash the leaves in cold water to clean and freshen them up, then dry them with a salad spinner (cost: as low as 7$). This is a fun gadget to use and it really is useful. You need a way to dry the leaves because vinaigrette won't cling to wet leaves. After drying I put the bowl of leaves in the refrigerator to be be chilled and "woken up." That makes a big difference...who'da thunk? 

The only dressing I use is vinaigrette and for that I mix extra virgin olive oil with balsamic vinegar by whisking them with a fork. I don't bother with emulsifying agents like Dijon. I eat the salad right after making it, so the dressing doesn't have time to separate much.

People have strong opinions about which oil and balsamic to use.  I've used only supermarket versions so far. High end supermarket oils I've tried are usually unfiltered (good) but tasteless (bad). They are smooth, however...maybe too smooth; you hardly know they're there. Maybe I'll grow to like them, but for now I prefer something more oily like the mid-priced Trader Joe's California Estate. That's the closest I've come to truly flavorful olive oil, but there's a lot of names I haven't tried.

Internet recommended supermarket oils include Trader Joe's California Estate, Mc Evoy Ranch (not to be confused with ranch dressing) (both recommended by Consumer Reports), and Kirkland's Toscano (Costco) (above).

For balsamic vinegar I use Trader Joe's brand, the kind that comes in the small square bottle with the gold top. I've never used the pricey reduced /artisan type that gourmets rave about, but users of those seldom use them in vinaigrettes. Internet-recommended supermarket brands include Lucini Gran Riservera, Whole Foods 365, and Monari Federzoni, none of which I've tried yet. 

For the non-leafy part of a small side salad I usually use a sliced hard boiled egg, minced or crushed garlic, a couple of beet slices and crumpled blue cheese. Spices: salt and pepper and basil and oregano. In a small salad the vinaigrette is so strong that you won't taste more than that. Warm, freshly cooked, buttered biscuits make a nice accompaniment.

For a manly salad that's substantial enough to be a whole meal I add more to the above: walnuts, mushrooms, shallots, chopped celery, chopped carrots and radishes, sliced olives, dried cranberries and cherry tomatoes. For protein I use whatever I'm in the mood for: blue cheese, imitation crab or ham, or pan fried turkey bacon. I might drizzle a tiny amount of white wine or port over everything if I have it. If you use too many ingredients at the same time they'll cancel each other out, so be careful.

Oh, I forgot to mention the garlic rub. Before putting anything in the salad bowl rub down the bowl interior with half a clove of garlic. Whatever obsessive figured this out was a genius. The odor this imparts to the bowl somehow really does improve the taste.

Mixing the vinaigrette: most people mix 2/3 olive oil to 1/3 balsamic. I prefer half and half. Sometimes I substitute lemon juice for half the balsamic. Anyway, start by mixing the balsamic with a little salt and pepper and (optional) a little finely minced garlic. Whisk with a fork in a bowl while very gradually pouring in the oil. Pour the finished concoction over the salad and toss. The bowl you're tossing in should have high sides so nothing will spill on the floor.

Well, that's it. I'm dying to say that all this goes fairly fast, but it doesn't. A full-blown main meal salad usually takes an hour to make, then there's the clean-up later. I listen to old radio shows like "Suspense" while I work.

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Hey, Disney's "Paperman" short is on YouTube! It's an historic film which tries out a new technique. See what you think of it!

14TH CENTURY INSULT WARS

Haw! Here's something Steve Worth turned me on to....it turns out that English poets of the late Middle Ages used to carry on insult wars with each other. One bard, Dafydd ap Gwilyn, was so good at it that the subject of one of his poems is said to have died when he heard it.

I couldn't find a picture of Gwilyn, but here's (above) the next best thing: a picture of Chaucer reading to Edward III. Geez, if biting satire was a popular entertainment at court I can easily understand how someone on the receiving end might give up the ghost.

Anyway, here's the exact poem (below) that had the power to kill a man. If you don't want to read it then watch it on the YouTube video (also below):

A SATIRE ON RHYS MEIGEN

by Dafydd ap Gwilyn

SOME OLD PHOTOS

Here's a few photos from my trunk. Let's see....here's (above) Mike as W. C. Fields. Steve took the picture on Halloween. I cropped it 'cause I'm in there too, and I didn't like the pose I took. Mike looks great, though. The red on his nose perfectly sets off all the other reds in the picture. 

Aaaargh! If only I'd had my camera on a wide angle setting!

Above, a very dignified Fields poses for his fans.

Above, another Halloween photo, this time of me in the uniform of the Exalted Grand Master of the Royal Order of the Muskrat. No, I'm not eating a muskrat...that's chicken. I love this picture, but I don't know who took it. Steve? Auralynn? 

Here's Mike wearing the sacred hat and....taking the Muskrat pledge? 

Here's Auralynn and Sarah. Auralynn designed those pajamas (above) for (I think) American Apparel. Her measurements were used for the petite size of a whole line of clothing.

Imagine that...she could walk into any store that sold that line and buy anything off the rack and get a perfect fit. Me, I don't know what it's like to have an article of clothing that actually fits. 

Here's a photo of me taken by John at his favorite BBQ restaurant. Animal pictures like this are all over the walls there.

Above, me around the time when I got my first animation job.

Above, me now. Gee it's amazing, isn't it!? I've hardly changed! I attribute it to good living.