Fire! Fire! Fire!

A scene from this year's Playa del Fuego: The burning down of the house (apologies to David Byrne and company). About halfway through the short video, it flips to firedancers; keep your attention on the middle where you'll see some amazing blasts of fire coming from one person's mouth. Incredible. Playa del Fuego – House…

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It’s good to sweat together

You! Yes, you! Said in a sing-song voice, because at heart I'm about 14: I – am – going – to – Duran – DuranOn – June – 17 – becauseI – am – a – single – thirtysomething – fan – with (Apparently) – too – much – spare – cash Nyah, nyah! (Though…

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If Edward Gorey and Tim Burton had spawned

What If, Harry Potter? For anyone who's ever been a fan of Edward Gorey, I present to you Deanna Molinaro's works. She's got three books online (one of which is for kids; reminiscent of Richard Scarry) and the others which only seem to be for kids. She's written some, illustrated some, and written and illustrated…

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Twice-told tales

What do you do with a story that keeps revealing itself, even when you think you're done with it? I understand that stories — not unlike paintings or sculpture or filmmaking or any kind of artistic endeavor — start out with a rough sketch that, with time, smooths into a recognizable structure and ideally, becomes…

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Messages from the grove

Well. You never know what the postman will deliver. (No, it's not a letter from an agent desiring further access to my words.) Instead, it was my entry to the "Murder in the Grove" contest. I didn't win, but I didn't expect to win. I only entered because it was suggested on Miss Snark's blog,…

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All good things

A lovely, perfect day on the isle of Manhattan. A lovely, perfect day that was a wee bit windy, so all the seed pouches flew from the trees making beige-colored snow against the blue, blue sky. Here's what's great about good things coming together at once: I left my cell phone at home. Since I…

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Feed me!

Ciara, probably hungry This has already been crossposted among two of my neighborhood friends (on LiveJournal) but I just don't care. It's spot on. (Not written by moi, by the way.) Dog: I am starving.Me: Actually, no. You aren't starving. You get two very good meals a day. And treats. And Best Beloved fed you…

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Mouthing off

So, I watched "American Idol" this evening and I have a question. Shut up. Anyway. Back to the question. In all seriousness, wtf has happened to Barry Gibb's mouth? Admittedly, it's not like I've heard this evening's mentor speak all that often, but that lips-and-teeth construct as it stands today could not have gotten out…

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Earnest entry of the day: Find Habeas Corpus!

Habeas I am a card-carrying ACLU pinko liberal (well, not so much pinko) and proud of it. And while the ACLU has gotten a bit twee by creating a cartoon character named Habeas Corpus and announcing he's gone missing, the sentiment is dead on. Go here and sign the petition. The ACLU wants to deliver…

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Does whatever a spider can

We three happy fellas Want to talk mayhem, talk about the U.S. premiere of "Spider-Man 3" in Astoria, Queens. Just picking up the tickets was a madhouse, with a queue around the block. And me in my big ole high heels. Sitting two seats over from the big boss was a little nerve-wracking, but sitting…

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