Posted by League Commissioner on February 26, 2012 0 Comments
Spring training is finally here and the Novel-T League players are arriving by horse, donkey, Rolls Royce, Pontiac, Brooklyn Ferry, whatever! But our excitement of seeing our vets tying on their cleats again and our rookies take the field for the first time is tempered by a certain amount of anxiety as this is the most likely time for players to injure themselves.
But ballplayers can be injured off the field as easily as on, and sometimes in very strange ways. Luckily, we were recently introduced to Left Field Cards, a series of letterpress baseball cards split into two sets. The first is on Bizarre Injuries (true stories of real major leaguers who hurt themselves in stupid and/or embarrassing ways, like one commemorating Nolan Ryan's 1985 injury when he was bit by one of his pet coyotes); the second, called Edible All-Stars, highlights ballplayers who share names with foods.
We love these cards–they're smart, strange, funny, and attractive. And not only do they remind us of the baseball cards of our youth, but they offer some very important teachable lessons as well. For instance, we hope Hester takes her jersey off first before she irons that A.
Posted by League Commissioner on January 24, 2012 0 Comments
This past weekend we had the pleasure of meeting Los Angeles-based artist, Monster Kat.
We were strolling through the Hollywood Farmers Market when we noticed the wonderful piece of artwork pictured below. Monster Kat paints her creatures on pages from vintage, recycled books. Each monster painting is unique and some even come with a "name" and "character trait." You can visit her site monstertrocity and browse through the current monster paintings in her library.
This project reminds us a bit of one our favorite book/art-object crossovers, Tom Phillips' amazing The Humument. We suppose we owe The Humument a post of its own. We'll get on that...
Posted by League Commissioner on November 22, 2011 10 Comments
Yesterday we posted about sharing a page of New York magazine with Woody Harrelson and Marilyn Monroe, and picturing Vonnegut pulled up to the bar with Woody and Marilyn.
So what better topic to write about today than the wonderful kinship of beer and books?
We'll start with a poem called "Lines on Ale" by the third baseman for the American Canons, Edgar Allan Poe.
"Lines on Ale"
Fill with mingled cream and amber
I will drain that glass again.
Such hilarious visions clamber
Through the chamber of my brain -
Quaintest thoughts - queerest fancies
Come to life and fade away;
What care I how time advances?
I am drinking ale today.
But for a delve a little deeper into this keg of kinship, Dogfish Head's generous and ingenious brewmaster Sam Calagione has done us the solid of throwing together a wonderful list of great pairs of novels and bottles.
So pull up a stool and crack open a classic with these recommendations of Sam's:
Moby Dick– Leviathan Series Stout from Harpoon Brewery – deep, dark, and bold…call me Ishm-Ale.
The Encyclopedia of Herbs – Saison du Buff – a collaboration between Dogfish Head, Victory, and Stone breweries that is made with parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme.
The Book of Genesis as illustrated by R. Crumb – A little more off-centered than the King James version – R. Crumb’s illustrations bring the good book to life – I recommend pairing this with a vintage Sierra Nevada Bigfoot barley – I like to think Jesus actually turned water into BARLEY wine.
Lolita – a Belgian White Beer or German hefe - something enjoyed really young and fresh by the half-gallon jug from your most local brewpub. “Oh Wheat beer, light of my life, fire of my loins.”
Brave New World– Sam Adams' Utopias
The Heart of Darkness - Heart of Darkness Stout, Bell’s Brewery.
The Call of the Wild – Cantillion Kriek – a Belgian ale made with cherries and spontaneously fermented with wild yeast.
And let's add one pairing of our own: Sam's own book Brewing Up a Businesswith his own 60 minute IPA. Quoth the poet, "What care I how time advances?/I am drinking ale today."
Posted by League Commissioner on November 21, 2011 0 Comments
New York magazine has generously (and not unwisely) pointed to Novel-T in this week's Approval Matrix, calling Novel-T's a "great gift for geeks."
There's the Kurt Vonnegut #5 jersey, just chilling–where else?–between Woody Harrelson and Marilyn Monroe.
It's pretty much the bar scene of our dreams. And who knows, maybe Kurt and Marilyn are having a drink and a smoke right now in that great dive bar in the sky.
Posted by League Commissioner on November 17, 2011 0 Comments
Novel-T is in Miami, Florida for the weekend for the Miami Book Fair, one of our favorite events of the year. For a couple kids from New York, it's hard to beat the chance to shoot down to the sunny climes of South Florida to talk books for a few days.
It's also a good chance for us to talk about one of the newest additions to the Novel-T league, Zora Neale Hurston. Hurston was a great student of the culture and history of Florida, both of which she brought to bear in her most widely-read novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God. In fact, she once wrote that, “I’ve got the map of Florida on my tongue.”
Novel-T's Zora Neale Hurston t-shirt features the iconic blooming pear tree on the front.
Moby Dick – Leviathan Series Stout from Harpoon Brewery – deep, dark, and bold…call me Ishm-Ale.
