Thanks to everyone who wrote in with their fabulous MODs! Without further ado (in the order they were received)...
Adam Blacksnail, proprietor of Blacksnail.com: "I would urge you and your readers to see two of director Tsai Ming-liang's films: The Hole - my fave, and What Time Is It There? Both are on DVD.
This director makes films that are everything I want a film to be -- slow, meditative, crushingly dark, funny, musical, sexy, and devastatingly real. After seeing The Hole, I felt like I had finally found a film that gave me absolutely everything I needed in this sort of cinema and then some. I thought about it for days and wanted everyone I know to see it. I wanted to put it on a list of required viewing if you wanted to go on speaking to me. This film became my gold standard for all film. I didn't want to watch it again for fear that it wouldn't be as great as I remembered (it was).
Then there is the soundtrack by Grace Chang. The sequences in the film that involve her music perfectly punctuate the film and push the absurdity of the situation to a new level. I was lucky because I knew absolutely nothing about this film when I sat down to watch it and I think without the usual introduction it made it all the more mindboggling. Halfway through I wanted to jump up and scream, 'This is it! This is what I am talking about goddamn it! This!...This is what a movie should be! and I think that's exactly what I did.
I also recommend anything with blue cheese on it like a cracker or pasta and Presidente Brandy with Coke and a slice of lemon or lime."
Marco Romano, who doesn't have a blog because he is too busy doting on an adorable french bulldog:
"Some of my currently favorite things are:
-Mano a Mano, a great Spanish red wine from Jumilla that's under $10
-Wrongo Dongo (suppposedly attributed to a saying of a friend of Pope Robert Parker), also a red from Jumilla, a region in Spain that's to be looked at for quality bargains, $9
-Paulo Flores', an Angolan artist par excellence, "Xe Povo" and his 2-cd live set
-MassMoCA's From Plant to Animal, which might be history by now
-Cesaria Evora DVD Live in Paris
-Africando Live DVD @ the Zenith in Paris
-Rhode Island Little Necks (Now's the time!)
-Pearl's Restaurant in Great Barrington, MA
Ami Greko, who was just interviewed by the Emerging Writers Network about her work as a publicist for Viking/Penguin, says:
"When I first moved to New York, I made the mis-judgement of choosing to live in an area served only by the 7 train. It was impossible for me to get anywhere without a transfer to another train, and I was constantly going places. The only thing I remember fondly from my time in that horrible apartment in Queens is the amazing underground transfer from the 7 train to the F train -- despite the general grayness of the floors and sometimes of the clientele around 42nd street, the walls of the transfer -- at least a block underground -- are fantastic. Inset into the white walls are tiles mimicking stones. And then the stones are shot through with gold tiles, and then moss tiles grow on the rocks and hang down. Coming back far to late from the Lower East Side, I always felt better when I saw that subway stop."
[note: image source here]
And, Richard Nash, publisher of powerhouse indie press, Softskull, recommends La Muse Inn.
I am so thrilled to start experiencing for myself as many of these fabulous tips as possible in short order (how much would I love to begin with La Muse Inn?). In the meantime, here are a few of my personal latest and all-time loves:
-White Sands, New Mexico: exquisite American natural wonder at its truly otherwordly best
-Urth Cafe's Spanish Latte: a mysteriously addictive, sweet & creamy coffee concoction 
-The Death of Marat, a dramatic painting at the Royal Art Museums of Fine Arts in Brussels
-Palacinka, my notion of the quintessential cafe/bar, and pretty much the last refuge in SoHo (besides the Ear Inn)
-Jeremyville's truffle-icious Mushroom Farm tote bag; I think I've gotta get it...
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