"Harry Hawk" news and stories

"Hey, hon, let's go see a film about mushrooms tonight."

The words could stop even the most ardent foodie dead in her tracks. Mushrooms -- whether parsed in dry botanical terms in dusty old textbooks or discussed manically by hippies in their "magical" incarnation (click above) -- hold little intrigue for many of us. (Not to mention that whole "Alice in Wonderland thing.")

After an event held by the NYC Food Film Festival on Sunday where we were feted with 'shroom dishes of every stripe (shrimp-stuffed morels; shiitake ice cream ... anyone?) and watched a hilarious film titled "Know Your Mushrooms" (find local screenings here), we consider ourselves schooled. Mycologists, evidently, are ready for their closeups.

Photos, the Flaming Lips and magic mushrooms after the jump.