Friday, November 07, 2003 BLOG TO THE FUTURE I’m writing this on Monday morning and placing it in the time gun, which rockets it into the future. In this case, today, Friday. That’s the theory, anyway. Did it work?* *No, it did not work. Which means that we will probably have to read the instructions. We at Mango Pudding Blues are loath to read any instructions. Is there anything that magnifies the tragic passage of time, that amplifies the insistent ticking of the universal clock, more than reading instructions? Well, maybe a few things. But we do not like to read instructions. If one of you knows how to blog to the future and can explain it deftly in one sentence or so, let us know. And speaking of time and time guns and the emergence of the future, at the moment we are not so in love with the future anyway. What we are in love with is the past, and we are wondering about the 1980s and about nostalgia. The other day we listened to, while ironing our business clothes in the morning, a George Michael greatest hits record that we dug up (for reasons that are unclear to us) from the small pile of cds that belong specifically to Killer, and we found ourselves shouting “c-c-c-c-c-c’mon! I want your sex!” and “Don’t bring me down!” and “You gotta have faith-uh-faith-uh-faith!” with glee and were amazed at how even the flashiest, gaudiest little shiny trinket pop records can, over time, acquire a honeyed glow, a magic tear-jerking wabi sabi from years of being burnished by millions of listening ears. George Michael! And finally, for now, on the topic of time, will one of you not tell us this; what poem is it that says the face of the sea is unmarked even by time’s iron feet? Time’s iron feet! * * * Thursday, November 06, 2003 OUR FAVORITE WORDS Our favorite words this week, here at Mango Pudding Blues, are “typically”, “facility” and “elaborate” (the adjective, not the word). Example: “I visited a typically elaborate science facility this weekend.” * * * Wednesday, November 05, 2003 MENU FOR THE SOPRANOS, SEASON FOUR, FIRST THREE EPISODES, SATURDAY NOVEMBER 1 2003. Assortment of tapenade, salami and brie on bagette. Italian prosecco Veal* scallops in a cippoline-onion-and-savory white wine cream sauce. Mixed greens with balsamic dressing and “3P” topping; pears, parmesan strips and toasted pecans. Dunavar Muscat. Hungarian. Astonishingly cheap. Divine home-made tiramisu. Ontario late-harvest vidal with Lazzoroni amaretti at the side. *At the Italian supermarket, the butcher read something in my indecisiveness. “I’ma show you somethin’ you gonna like froma the back.” Out came these perfect pink jewels of veal like nothing in the display case. Sweet. But Killer, after this meal, decided that veal is too dull for her. * * * Tuesday, November 04, 2003 DELAYED GRATIFICATION Maybe you don’t get wiser as you get older, but the collagen in your illusions breaks down and eventually you can no longer hold at bay the howling terror of the realization that you will be around for the future and that everything you do today will develop geometrically into the consequent structure of your life later on. And then instant gratification becomes less attractive. Not that you are less self-centred and infantile, but that your self-centred infantility becomes more elaborate, craftier, more forward looking. * * * Sunday, November 02, 2003 ERRATA & ADDENDA 1) We apologize, as we always do here at Mango Pudding Blues, for leaving you for so long all by your little selves. Sorry. And we apologize, even more so, for leaving you with such a stupid post. We regret our unbearable clumsiness. Even though we warned you, we are still sorry. 2) 1970. We meant to say 1970. Recordings made from February to June of 1970 make up Jack Johnson. 3) ...and we love the Jack Johnson record very much. Beautiful. More even than we thought we would. 4) ...and also Sophia Coppola’s Lost in Translation, except for the weird thing with the boom mikes. 4.1) ...and on the topic of Coppolalia that we love, we try to pick up a bottle of Francis Ford Coppola’s Rosso California Red wine whenever we’re in America. Never see it here, but we like it. 5) ...and speaking of America, we were in Burlington, Vermont a few weekends ago and we wrote you this little haiku: Burlington Vermont Church Street ferry ride nachos and a beer, Yankee 6) Okay? * * *