Russian Sledges

~Lisa Nakamura

2 cups heavy cream 1 cup whole milk 2 tsp salt 1 tbsp dried candy cap mushrooms, ground to a coarse powder in a spice grinder (Chopping the dried mushrooms in a coffee grinder also works well and your next pot of coffee will be very special.) 3 egg yolks 1 cup sugar

With more and more cinemas in Russia losing out to multiplexes, photographer Sergey Novikov sought to capture the old buildings in their new incarnations — sometimes abandoned, sometimes used for discos and fairs or taken over by Jehovah's Witnesses. Breathless was shot in Moscow and St Petersburg between 2010 and 2011 by Novikov, a graduate of the Rodchenko Moscow School of Photography and Multimedia. "I prefer an engrossing film to disgusting popcorn," he says. "I don't mind shifting about in a squeaky chair, soaking in the atmosphere of an old cinema. Unfortunately, the films have already left them."

A photographer’s ode to Russia’s dying movie theatres [Maryam Omidi and Sergey Novikov/Calvert Journal]

(via Kadrey)

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Earlier this month drag queen Trace McNutt, seen above washing himself in the blood of the Jeebz, was bestowed with the 2013 "Ex-Gay" Award For Insane Former Cocksuckers. Except that he's not so former, as he totally still craves the hot, hot sweaty touch of the menz and even fell in love with the bassist in his Christian rock band. But that's OK, cuz even Paul prayed three times for that thorn to be removed from his man-friendly butt.

via http://www.seattleweekly.com/voracious/2012/08/jamie_boudreaus_antique_canon.php

Cocktail superstar Jamie Boudreau has been killing it with his 19th century drink den, Canon. Once inside this shiny new, already institution-like drinking parlor on Capitol Hill, you’ll instantly realize three things: 1) the place is beautiful, 2) the bar staff has a knack for detail and precision, and 3) Boudreau likes old things—antiques, to be more specific. A majority of his collection can be found at Canon, punctuating bottles of booze and spiffy modern day nuances. He doesn’t have a lot of time these days to add to his already-amazing collection, but he cherishes everything he has acquired.

Canon isn’t just a bar lover’s paraphernalia museum—Boudreau will actually sell you something if the price is right and you’re sober.

How long have you been collecting bar antiques?

I’ve been collecting antiques or vintage items for about a decade now.

What sorts of things do you collect? What catches your eye?

Almost everything I collect is bar-related: tools, books, glassware, bottles. The older the better. Particularly pre-prohibition.

What are some of the cool antiques you have in your bar?

I have a number of fun items, including newspapers declaring the end of prohibition, un-opened bitters and whiskey bottles, jiggers (which I use daily), and cocktail shakers. I love then all the same and for different reasons, whether it be an original printing of Harry Johnson’s bartender manual or a bottle of whiskey made by Pappy Van Winkle himself.

Photo courtesy of Canon

Why do you collect?

Bar memorabilia is rapidly disappearing at this point in history and it is such an important part of Americana that I feel there needs to be someone to gather it all and share it. It may as well be me.

Any places in Seattle one can find awesome bar antiques to buy for themselves?

For furniture, there’s a great place in SLU on Republican. If you don’t mind traveling a little bit, Snohomish is the place to go.

If the price was right, would you sell any of your pieces?

Always. The price would have to be really amazing, but one of my limitations is cash flow. More cash means more finds.

Is there anything from the old days you look at and think, “Man, I wish they still made ‘em like this!” Anything that was better quality back in the day?

Almost all the bar tools. And books. The paper used to be better and I miss great binding.

Has anyone swiped/tried to swipe one of your antiques from your bar?

I find that whenever a bar (including mine) mentions items that get stolen the public reads that as, “It’s okay to steal this item as others have done it”. So, my answer would have to be, “No. No one has ever stolen or tried to steal any item in the bar. Ever.”

After up to 10 hours of standing with virtually no breaks and no real nourishment, there are generally two options for a famished team of chefs, cooks, waiters, bussers, porters and everyone else it takes to run a restaurant.

This is what women police officers look like. They’re wearing bulletproof armor, and they carry tasers, mace, and a handgun. They’re trained to run long distances to catch and restrain fleeing suspects. So, naturally, a girl’s police officer costume looks like this:

But, surely, that’s just one out of many girls’ police costumes, right? Nope. Knee boots and short skirts. All of them. Seriously. Every one. (Those are five different costumes, if you’re brave enough to click.)

The Internet is choked with nostalgia for the youth-oriented entertainments of the not-too-distant past: Tumblr blogs regurgitating images of half-forgotten toys; YouTube compilations of long-lost TV-show intros; countless blogs playing “Remember when?” with movies and video games whose rose-colored recollections aren’t always properly earned. With Memory Wipe, The A.V. Club takes a look at some of our formative favorites with clearer eyes and asks that all-important question: Were they really that great to begin with?

Here’s how this article was supposed to go down: As a kid, I lived in Florida. Back then I loved the books of Piers Anthony—especially his humorous, bestselling Xanth series, which is set in a parallel version of Florida where magic and mythical creatures exist. For this installment of Memory Wipe, I was going to reread A Spell For Chameleon, the 1977 novel that started the Xanth series (whose 37th—yes ...

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These curious radial animations are from discs used in the phenakistoscope, a 19th century animation toy invented by Joseph Plateau. The animated GIFs seen here are from the Richard Balzer Collection. For more phenakistoscope (and zoetrope) animations, check out their Tumblr.

via Juxtapoz, Colossal

If you have been on campus recently, you have likely seen the above sign. In the last week or so, the plastic or wooden bathroom signs that normally read “Men” or “Women” have been torn down and replaced with paper signs like the one above. In many cases, these paper signs were accompanied by a manifesto titled “Desegregate Wesleyan Bathrooms,” which explains the logic behind the replacing of the bathroom signs. Unfortunately, the manifesto was not posted with every gender-neutral sign, and has frequently been torn down when the bathrooms were re-gendered. For those who are confused about why people have started gender-neutralizing the bathrooms, the text of the manifesto is reproduced below:

FriendFlop is a Chrome extension created by Kyle McDonald and Lauren McCarthy at F.A.T. Lab that scrambles friends’ identities on Facebook and Twitter for the purpose of “dissolving your biases and reminding you that everyone is saying the same shit anyway.” The free extension is available to download in the Chrome Web Store.

images via F.A.T. Lab

Historical Photographs of La Sagrada Familia | Antoni Gaudi | Via

Miss Cakehead sez, "The Kraken Rum Edible Autopsy saw guests feast on the (rum cake) corpse of a recently captured Kraken in the shadow of the now derelict Redsand Forts found nine miles off the UK coast. The remains of the creature will be displayed at Feed The Beast - an extreme pop up cake shop opening in London next week - with guests having the chance to feast on the (marzipan) maggot riddled flesh themselves."

The Black Ink Society, a Kraken Rum supported research team, has recovered and secured the remains of a Kraken found off the North Kent coast. It has now been revealed that an autopsy on the remains took place aboard the Kraken Hunting sea vessel X-Pilot in view of Redsand Forts where the beast was found – 9 miles off the coast of Kent in the Thames estuary – on the 17th October.

Several parts of the Kraken were brought on board the ship for further investigation which included a giant eye (white chocolate eye filled with Kraken Rum), Kraken cysts (black pickled onions), eye pupils (black eggs), black sticky stomach contents (liquorice and black treacle), an entire kraken mouth (Kraken Rum cake) with over 200 teeth (made from white chocolate) and the remains of a human skull intertwined with juvenile kraken tentacles (Kraken Rum cake).

The Kraken Rum Edible Autopsy

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Jebem li ti krv: I fuck your blood

The collapse of the GOP-engineered shutdown has the Tea Party in a fury, and they're showing their wrath with a series of vicious posts to John Boehner's Facebook. The Tea Party Insult Generator teases these insults apart and recombines them to make them stronger, faster, better than before.

Lefty fascist RINO.

Cowardly Breitbart-betraying socialist.

Double-crossing establishment socialist.

Cowardly Muslim-loving devil.

Und so weiter...

Tea Party Insult Generator

Harvard Square’s landmark restaurant UpStairs on the Square, known for its zebra-print dining room and afternoon tea, will close on New Year’s Eve after 31 years, we’ve learned via an e-mail from owners Mary-Catherine Deibel and Deborah Hughes. “The current landlord has decided to sell the iconic Harvard Square landmark building at 91 Winthrop Street,” they write.

The Hawthorne invites you to join us for our Halloween Bash: Come as Your Favorite Cocktail. Are you an Old Cuban? Or are you more like Manhattan?  Always wanted to be a Pink Lady? Maybe you're more Old Fashioned than any of that! There will be cocktail inspired attire, and some classic festivities that include: Punch and Snacks Bobbing for Apples  Scary Movies  Costume Contest  Music Selections by TJ Connelly  

It looks like a landmark restaurant on Route 1 in Saugus is getting ready to close its doors.

According to several sources on Twitter as well as a post on the Boston Hospitality and Tourism Industry Blog, the Hilltop Steak House is shuttering, with one of our sources--as well as a few posters on the Phantom Gourmet Facebook page--saying that the restaurant will close on October 20. The steakhouse first opened more than 50 years ago.

The status of the Hilltop's butcher shop in Weymouth is not known at this point in time; as soon as we find out more, we will post an update here.

[October 10 update: The Saugus Advertiser has confirmed that the Hilltop Steak House is indeed closing on October 20, with a letter from the restaurant stating that "the continued change in the demographics of our customer base, increased competition and the increased cost to run this fabulous landmark has been too great to overcome. We therefore have no choice but to close our restaurant." The article also says that the butcher shop in Weymouth will remain open. (Thanks to WCVB for bringing this to our attention.]

A second location of the Hilltop closed in Braintree back in 2007.

The address for the Hilltop Steak House is 855 Broadway (Route 1), Saugus, MA, 01906.

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Late 19th Century Victorian “Jersey” Souvenir Bracelet
Inlaid Granite and Sterling Silver, $650

This was a 19th century souvenir of Jersey, the small island off the coast of France— not New Jersey.  But I like that New Jersey is the first thing anyone thinks of when they see the bracelet.  

This morning's commute, tinged with a lack of BART due to the strike, saw crowded freeways and slightly more packed bus routes. In an effort to ease the pain, BART provided round-trip bus service from nine East Bay stations; however, according to SF Appeal, "tickets for the buses were already sold out by 7 a.m. at the Walnut Creek and West Oakland stations." [ more › ]

100 Crowded, Expensive Bars

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Typewriter drawings

tuesday-johnson:

ca. 1850, [daguerreotype portrait of a gentleman, possibly a medical student or anthropologist, among a collection of skulls]

via the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

Michaela Strachan has claimed men are 'wired differently' making them more likely to become experts, while women focus on emotions

As the winter comes, late summer nostalgia cocktails of that ilk will give way to more apple brandy and scotch-based cocktails, he says. One that will persist is the tiki-style Tale of Two Kitties, made with Plantation Dark rum, Allspice Dram, almond and citrus, a riff on a Lion’s Tail. “Serving it over crushed ice makes it refreshing despite all the dark flavors,” he says. “It’s spice-driven with the clove and cinnamon, and the almond all playing a great part in it. That one very much shows what we’re going into in the next months.” Elsewhere, they’ll be playing with flavored sodas, like a recent celery and pineapple soda they’ve been mixing with mezcal, and an upcoming chocolate and green Chartreuse soda. “It’s full of rich, rich, rich, full flavors that would be fine to get you through the winter.”

Barbra Streisand sings "Life on Mars," isolated vocal track. You're welcome.

October Aurora in Prairie Skies.

Celebrated Boston mixologist, Misty Kalkofen and Russell House Tavern Bar Manager, Sam Gabrielli will be behind the bar serving up handcrafted mezcal cocktails alongside spirited mezcal-inspired munchies from Executive Chef Tom Borgia. Tickets include two Del Maguey Mezcal cocktails, a flight of four Del Maguey Mezcals and passed hors d’oeuvres.