The McSweeney’s reading on Friday
Posted by: Liz | From: November 24, 2003
The McSweeney’s reading on Friday was pretty good. The whole time leading up to the reading I was filled with a little bit of dread, which I finally chalked up to the extreme length of William Vollmann’s book. Long, involved, political book = long, involved, political reading. But it was structured very well with Sarah Vowell and Gabe Hudson reading from parts, followed by a talk by Vollmann accompanied by a slide show (at once moving and shocking…a slide of a murdered friend floated on screen for a disturbingly long time). The last part was supposed to be a discussion, but turned into this one guy dominating the stage with his own politics and war stories. And dude, by that time, I was done. It was held in this beautiful old synagogue with a creaky floor and a wraparound balcony. David Byrne showed up on his bike, gave me a nice hello, sat in front of us, and left right after the slide show. Smart man.Saturday was all about Krista and her BIG BIRTHDAY BASH! We started out at Benihana, a place I’d never been, but which is apparently THE place to go if you are having a birthday party. By the time Krista’s pineapple whale and candle came out, we were the seventh table to have sung “Happy Birthday” that evening. It was pretty fun, if not a bit overpriced for the vegetarians ($18 for a plate of steamed veggies, 4 cubes of tofu, and a scoop of sorbet). We did what we were supposed to: drank out of ceramic Buddha’s, cheered at the chopping skills of the hibachi chefs, disallowed the chef to toss a shrimp tail down the front of my shirt (although J suspects some women actually participate in shrimpy tail shirt antics), and sang our hearts out for Krista.
Then we were off to Noa for drinks. Joe is a hobnobber of top sorts and scored us a private area, where we drank down fancy martinis and chocolate margaritas (limey and chocolaty…confusing to your taste buds, but extremely good nonetheless. The guy sitting next to me noted: “Two very different flavors brought together by their mutual friend, alcohol.”) At one point I decided Krista needed a funny birthday shot and tried to order a buttery nipple. Unfortunately, the waitresses didn’t speak English all that clearly and couldn’t understand what I was saying. I had to repeatedly yell “Buttery nipple!” into this woman’s ear, which was a little embarrassing after the third or fourth time. I thought she got it, but realized she didn’t when she sent another waitress over to ask me again what it was I wanted. Jeeze people!
Yesterday was spent in a lovely hangover lounge. My tastes seem to be very unpicky when weighed down by dehydration and a headache. I happily watched Martha make a turkey with cheesecloth, James and the Giant Peach, and most of Sister Act. Yes, Sister Act.
Hey Alias fans, here’s my question to you: what the hell is up with Jack Bristow’s left ear? This photo doesn't do the thing justice. I mean, are you kidding me? It’s GYNORMOUS! I don’t mean to be flip if he has a medical condition, say gigantism of the left ear, but seriously…does he have gigantism of the left ear? I notice the camera angles away from the ear as much as possible. Maybe he got old man ear in just on ear. Perhaps the other will follow? Maybe I’ll ask Doug about this.
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