ridaily - May 2011
2011-06-01Joie de Vivre!Some gorgeous day last September, Lisa and I headed to the Westport home of Smoke & Pickles owners Dan George and Chris Ash for a photo shoot. Photo shoots can be pretty tedious. Buggy, muggy, hot, slow. But this crew, for twelve-plus hours, took it in happy stride. They laughed, played croquet, brought out fiddles, and gamely posed in shot after shot: cracking lobster, tossing veggies, serving tomato salad, toasting glasses of pineapple juice. All day, I had my eye on a platter of grilled peaches. Usually, I love desserts that are rich and creamy and cakey and full of chocolate. But these peaches were so beautiful!I thought of this on Sunday afternoon while I was visiting my parents' house, acting like a pill. I was grouchy about the traffic. I was grouchy because the weatherman... |
|
2011-05-27Surfing Waves, Not the WebLast month I made a list of things I wanted to do once the weather got warm, and today I’m adding something else: learning how to surf. There’s good reason for it. Have you seen today’s Rhode Deal yet?! $32. That’s all it costs for a ninety-minute surfing lesson at Narragansett Surf and Skate including wet suit and surfboard rental. I’ve never even considered learning to surf until seeing today’s deal and can’t help but think of the movie “Surf’s Up,” a CGI mockumentary about surfing penguins starring Shia LaBeouf, Jeff Bridges and Zooey Deschanel. Such a strange cast of voices considering you have an actor who got kicked out of a Walgreens, one that’s played the Dude and Rooster Cogburn and an actress who’s one... |
|
2011-05-26Live from MoscowBy God, it’s here! In Rhode Island. Live ballet on the big screen. Bravo to Jane Pickens Theater!I have been waiting for this since 2006, when the Metropolitan Opera introduced its live broadcasts. It’s direct from Moscow, the Bolshoi Ballet, no less, with Natalia Osipova starring.The Bolshoi toured the same production of Coppelia last summer. Zoë Anderson of The Independent saw it at the Royal Opera House in London and wrote, “The Bolshoi don't dance this as a museum piece, but with exuberant freshness.”That’s good to know.As for Miss Osipova, the word from Judith Mackrell of The Guardian is, “Dancing Swanilda, the ballet's flirty, feisty heroine, she gets to show off her unique and astonishing range – from snub-nosed ingenue to grand... Posted at 02:17 PM in ridaily What's On | Permalink | Comments |
|
2011-05-25Summer ReadingSchool’s out for summer, my friends. Not only are college students making their way back home (with bags full of dirty laundry for mom), but excitement tingles in the air as thousands of high school seniors make preparations for their final days. With all this graduating and homecoming, it reminds us all that summer’s only a rain storm away.For most, summer means an absence of homework, but my stockpile of books has started to build. I’ve been hoarding a plethora of unread gold since last summer, thanks to my bad habit of never saying no to a pretty cover and a good synopsis while browsing one of my favorite bookstores. Three of the books waiting on top of my bookshelf:The Killer Angels. Yes, this sounds like something Dan Brown cooked up, but Michael Shaara's... |
|
 |
2011-05-24Have We Lost It All Forever?So, I finally checked out the "Cocktail Culture" exhibit at the RISD museum. It's pretty dreamy. Sumptuous dresses, shiny barware, cocktail scenes from classic movies flashing against a wall-- Auntie Mame, Seven-Year Itch, Bringing Up Baby, To Catch a Thief. You have to love it.I don't always read the text panels at museum exhibits (horrible girl!), but you'd miss out here if you didn't. There are 220 pieces -- dresses, shoes, glasses, pitchers, hats, purses -- from the twenties through the eighties, and you can read how their design was influenced by what was happening in America at the time. Such as: When luxury cruises became popular in the twenties, flowing fabrics moved with the ocean. During wartime, designers had to make the most of practical work suits. After... |
2011-05-23Fashion, Food + FunMy weekend in a nutshell. Posted at 01:47 PM in ridaily State of Mine | Permalink | Comments |
|
2011-05-20Providence on Two WheelsDid you know that Providence Planning has been talking about a bike share program? Like in Boston. Like in Washington, D.C. Like in France. Only here. Doesn't it make sense? We have a beautiful capital city that's fun to ride: I like the the steep cobblestone and brick paths beneath the State House dome, and in the afternoons, the glintings of our gilded Independent Man. In the morning, the World War I Memorial Park along South Main is misty by the riverfront, and who doesn't love climbing up to Prospect Park for a well-earned view across the city skyline? Slow down, get out of the traffic jam, and you discover things about this place that your eyes would miss otherwise, darting quickly past from behind a windshield.Oh, and from the East Bay Bike Path, near the Squantum Club, especially... Posted at 01:48 PM in ridaily State of Mine | Permalink | Comments |
|
2011-05-19Rock StarsIt's going to you-know-what on Saturday night. Here's a nice consolation prize:Fifty of those rock stars over at the RISD apparel design department show their work at Collection 2011 at the VMA. Dress rehearsal at 2 ($17-$22), real thing at 7 ($24-62).You know you're into this jacket. Posted at 03:45 PM in ridaily What's On | Permalink | Comments |
|
 |
2011-05-18Lovely, Happy ThoughtsDon't you just love weddings? Posted at 01:05 PM in Bride Blog ridaily | Permalink | Comments |
2011-05-17Kid on a PlaneSunday, I was on a flight from Phoenix to Providence, sitting near this little kid who was very excited that it was going to rain all week. "It's going to be raining there?" he kept asking. "Yes," said the mother. "Every day?" "Yes." "It is going to rain every single day?" "Yes." "Is it going to rain two days in a row?" "Yes." "Is it going to rain three days in a row?""Yes." "Is it going to rain four days in a row? Is it going to rain five days in a row?" "Yes. Yes." "Is it going to rain on Monday, then Tuesday, then Wednesday, then Thursday, then Friday?"I thought the mother might turn to the child and say, "You are sending me to an early grave,"... |
|
