MONDAY: Sweden is a gorgeous country that turns out some of the ugliest music. Marduk is one of the most hideous examples — and that's a huge compliment. The black-metal band's 11th album-length assault, "Wormwood," is filled with bleak and powerful ragers with happy-go-lucky titles such as "Chorus of Cracking Necks." It all may seem kinda silly, but just wait till the first double-bass-drum blast caves in your chest. Welcome to the dark side, True Believer.
Witness some of Marduk's sonic blasphemy after the jump.
» Sonar, 407 E. Saratoga St., Baltimore, Md.; with Nachtmystium, Mantic Ritual, Merrimack, Tyrant's Hand, Mon., Nov. 23, 7 p.m., $18; 410-783-7888
Photo courtesy SureShotwork
PWEVIOUSWY ON PWOJECT WUNWAY: Blah, blah pretty dresses, crazy dresses, auf, auf, auf, Irina, Carol Hannah, Althea.
We open in the golden light of the girls' apartment, where Carol Hannah tries to brush her teeth while Althea and Irina gossip about her over breakfast. Althea informs Irina that "Carol Hannah got really sick last night" and Irina says, "Really? Why?" Because she's SICK like she was YESTERDAY, you self-obsessed twit.
They meet up with their aufed minions in the workroom — Logan gives the rocky and barfy Carol Hannah a hug and interviews sympathetically about her situation; Christopher is kind to her as well. The designers go to hair and makeup.
The one and only Collier Strong meets with Irina, who shows him the helmety mohawky cloches she's made for her models. She wants dark shadows.
But wait! Althea wants dirty" glamour — "almost, like, smudged," as Collier digs out ye olde kohl pots again. Carol Hannah wants soft and pretty, because she's made of unicorns and rainbows and kittens.
Express' Karmah Elmusa details a small-scale, world-class battle.
AH, THE BOCUSE D'OR. It's that famous cooking competition ( that no person not immersed in the culinary world has ever heard of it), which is held annually for a slew of international competitors.
And this week on "Top Chef: Las Vegas," the chefs get to participate in a mini-Bocuse, thrown by Padma, Tom and a really big name in the culinary industry. Find out who has the skills to make it to the top four and the finale in Napa Valley.
"THE CLEAN UP WOMAN" tells the story of Terri, a newlywed and journalist struggling to balance home and work. In order to focus on her career and please her husband, Terri hires a cleaning woman. And how exactly the cleaning woman goes about pleasing Terri's husband helps form the play's central tension.
Written, directed and produced by playwright J.D. Lawrence — who also stars (as a few different folks) — "The Clean Up Woman" debuted on stage in 2008 to raves. The hit dramedy is at Warner Theatre this weekend, and Express talked to Lawrence about his career and what it's like to wear so many hats at once.
Continue Reading "The Multitasker: J.D. Lawrence, 'The Clean Up Woman'" »
IT WAS 40 YEARS AGO today that Alan Bean became the fourth man to walk on the moon. During the Apollo 12 mission, he executed scientific experiments and collected rocks for study back on Earth, and everything the astronaut learned served to further NASA's understanding of the moon.
But that knowledge has also been invaluable to Bean's post-astronaut career: Since June 1981 he's been a full-time painter whose sole focus is capturing his experiences on, and knowledge of, the moon.
"My job is trying to tell as many of the stories that I know that I think will get lost if I don't tell them," Bean said on his paintings. "When I'm thinking of my life expectancy — I'm 77 now — I don't say, 'Gee, I hope I live a long time so I won't die.' I say, 'I hope I live a long time because I have a lot of these things to do before I'm gone.'"
The National Air and Space Museum's exhibition "Alan Bean: Painting Apollo, First Artist on Another World" displays more than 50 pieces, plus 18 NASA artifacts related to the mission, and it shows how the astronaut artist balances his right- and left-brain thinking to create images that are as striking visually as they are elucidating scientifically. [Click here to read our interview with curator Carolyn Russo.]
But despite the moon trip being a defining point in his life, Bean said he rarely thinks of the Earth's satellite outside of when he's working on a painting.
"I don't — I'm thinking art thoughts," he said. "I may be saying, 'Does this look like the surface of the moon?' ... So, from that point of view, I'm thinking about the moon. But when I say, 'This rock needs to be more three dimensional, it needs to set on this sloping surface.' That's an art problem."
That's not to say Bean is over the moon. He knows the importance of his space exploration, including commanding Skylab 3 in 1973, which is why he's so intent on sharing his experiences through art.
"This was a great human adventure — certainly one of the greatest of the 20th century," he said. "And here I am lucky enough, blessed enough, with interest and skills to tell this story in a way that no one else can do it. I feel that duty."
There's more of our conversation with Capt. Bean after the jump, including his revolutionary ideas about what he would do if he ran the space program. (Two words: Oprah Winfrey.)
Continue Reading "Not Over the Moon: Alan Bean, First Artist on Another World" »
LISTEN, D.C., we know you love your jumbo slices, Big Macs and Subway sandwiches. But for the safety of your arteries and the sake of your palates, try adding another fast food option into the mix: the almighty empanada. This tasty Latin American treat is a healthy, affordable meal that can really spice up your diet — literally and figuratively.
We know the first thing some of you are probably wondering — and it's pronounced "em-pah-nah-dah." Moving on to your second question, the word usually refers to a mix of veggies, spices and often meat (or sometimes desserty fillings), all stuffed neatly into a pastry pocket.
This turnover-type food likely originated in Spain, but as settlers and colonists spread it throughout the Spanish-speaking world, it morphed into a host of regional variations. Empanadas might be fried or baked, sweeter or more savory, a carnivore's dream or a vegetarian's delight.
Continue Reading "Put It in the Pocket: Discover Empanadas" »
GIVE THE HOLIDAYS a salty kick this season with this twist on traditional dressing. That turkey — and possibly your taste buds — won't know what hit it when you stuff this inside.
Ingredients:
» 4 quarts cubed at least day-old bread or cornbread (a mix is fine)
» 1/2 cup sweet onion, finely diced
» 1/2 cup celery, finely diced
» 2 cloves garlic, minced
» 3 sprigs each sage and thyme, leaves only, finely chopped
» 1/2 bunch flat leaf Italian parsley, leaves only, finely chopped
» 1/4 lb unsalted butter
» 1/2 lb smoked sausage
» 1 pint shucked fresh oysters, liquor drained and reserved
» 2 to 3 cups chicken stock
» Salt and pepper to taste
Continue Reading "Recipe File: Oyster and Sausage Dressing" »
IF YOU'RE AN OYSTER-ORDERING NOVICE, flipping open a menu stocked with Blue Points, Wiannos, Kumamotos and an array of other confusing varieties can make you wish for a shell of your own to snap shut.
We're now in the thick of oyster season (they're edible all year but at their best when the water's cold, during months that have an "r" in them) but choosing a type can be as intimidating as ordering that first glass of wine.
The first step to picking the right one? Relax.
"In my opinion, they're all good," said Mallory Buford, executive chef at Kinkead's Restaurant in Foggy Bottom.
Buford said there's really only one key difference that diners have to keep in mind when ordering oysters: East Coast versus West Coast.
A PAINFUL INHERITANCE
The Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture takes over the National Museum of American History's Carmichael Auditorium on Saturday to present a screening of "Traces of the Trade." For this documentary, filmmaker Katrina Browne and nine of her relatives delve into their family's painful history, tracing their ancestors, the DeWolfes, back to the 18th and 19th centuries, when they were active in the slave trade, possibly transporting as many as 10,000 West Africans across the Middle Passage in exchange for rum. The film screens for educators only on Saturday (reserve at Nmaahceducation@si.edu) and for the public on Nov. 28.
» National Museum of American History, 14th Street & Constitution Avenue NW; Sat., Nov. 21, 2-5 p.m.; Nov. 28, 1-3 p.m., free; 202-633-1000.
FILM WITH A CHARMING LILT
Solas Nua branches out from mounting some of the most compelling Irish plays around to showing some of the most compelling Irish-themed films around. As part of its Monday-night "Irish Popcorn" series, the arts organization screens Martin Duffy's family drama "The Boy From Mercury."
» Flashpoint, 916 G St. NW; Mon., Nov. 23, 7 p.m., free. (Gallery Place-Chinatown/Metro Center)
Photo courtesy NMAAHC
HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED what might happen if you mixed the first-person action of "Call of Duty" with the action/role-playing elements of "Diablo" in a blender and threw in a dash of "Mad Max"? Well, developer Gearbox Software certainly did when it started work on "Borderlands" (2k Games).
Having plenty of experience with the FPS in the "Brothers in Arms" series, it's no surprise that those aspects of the game are rock solid. That the incorporation of several RPG elements works so well is the real surprise.
Taking place on a desolate alien world, the game tells a tale involving a lost vault, some treasure and corporate espionage. Being paper thin, the story essentially serves to get you from point to point so you can shoot bandits, mutants and other fauna while collecting vast amounts of loot and building your skills to customize your character.
Addison Road