f-r-i-d-a-y niiiiiight

I finished Gran Torino - it's sort of, sort of. Clint Eastwood can certainly draft a story and put it to film with excellent results. Unfortunately, even though I enjoyed it, it's wholly lifted from Million Dollar Baby. Of course, if you do something that well then you might as well keep pulling that lever.

I have The Current (and Mark Wheat) up on a Friday night which reminds me so much of when the station first turned the key and started the engine back in 2005. I was living in Nevada and pulled it up online shortly after a trip to Minneapolis to see the Slobberbone farewell tour at the 400 Bar. I vividly remember listening to Wheat for the first time and deciding that I'd found my perfect radio station. I remember that first night was the eve of the weekend that Let It Be records was closing in the Cities - I'd only been there once but it seemed the closing of a circle since Wheat passed along some memories of spending his early Minneapolis days at the shop. Sorry if that's more of an unrelated backstory than you asked for; it happens.

I have the cookbooks on the end table and we can begin: to your seats, hands on laps, pencils at the ready.

The Naked Chef / The Return of the Naked Chef / Happy Days - Jamie Oliver

So I'm cheating a bit here. These three were published and purchased in England before Oliver crossed the pond. He was pretty big right off the bat in the UK and his first three series, which these books follow, were very enjoyable and useful. It always helped me to watch the cooking going on before giving it a whirl and his stuff back then was simple to master. I've done just about everything from all the books over the last decade or so (they hold my well-installed blinding pasta recipe) and can honestly say you'd be hard-pressed to have three better books to work from. Oliver's probably has a half-dozen other books but I haven't much watched him or bought any of his other books aside from this Making You a Better Cook reference thingy.

Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home - the Moosewood Collective

My volume of this basic book has a busted spine, pages yanked out (though stored somewhere), and the remaining pages are pretty beat up. I think I bought this along about the time I was buying Oliver's first book(s) and it quickly became my most basic favorite. I still use the black bean soup and corn scones on a nearly monthly basis. The beauty of this book is that all the recipes are easy and you won't find yourself hunting the store for anything too off-beat. (There are loads of 'Moosewood' books, some that I have and use often, but this one is by far the easiest and most functional.)

Lidia's Italian-American Kitchen - Lidia Matticchio Bastianich

A newer volume from about 2003 or so. I found Lidia purely by accident some Sunday morning while I channel-surfing in Nevada. She's on PBS and does the best Italian stuff - I think she's better and more straight forward than someone like Mario Batali (her son, ironically enough, is one of Batali's partners). My basic risotto recipe, eggplant parmigiana, gnocchi, and menestra are all pulled wholesale from this volume. She's had a number of additional series' on PBS and even though I've watched a bunch of them I don't need to get much beyond this book. I think everyone should have one go-to Italian cookbook since just about every person in the World - including the guests coming to your house or the girls you're trying to impress - likes Italian food.

The Cook's Encyclopedia of Baking - Carole Clements

I'll admit that until just now I didn't even know this little volume had a single author. I apologize to Ms. Clements - I just thought this book must have been passed down on slabs of marble. I happen to think, as a mediocre baker, that this is pure gold. Never a foot set wrong on any recipe and we've done a load. (This was the companion to X's 'pie and manners' mission last summer.) We originally discovered it across the hall on N. Park Dr. as it supported Corey's baking habit and I'm sure he told us (or me) to stop asking questions and just buy the book. Since everyone likes baked eats I'll guarantee this cookbook. Guaranteed.

Veganomicon - Isa Chandra Moskowitz & Terry Hope Romero

After I'd been cooking for awhile I came to realize that I can almost immediately (maybe after looking at four or five recipes) recognize a cookbook that suits my styles. This one is the most recent purchase on the shelf and it's been a 100% success. Since we don't do meat, and fish/seafood are slowly disappearing from the menu, this book is worth it's weight. It's so good that you don't have to worry about "Oh, will they eat a vegan recipe" when they come over. No need to even tell anyone - and why would you since your veg/vegan arsenal can be so strong these days? - because they'll never know. Not only are the recipes brilliant but the narrations is hilarity.

We probably have three dozen various books on the kitchen shelf and they all have things I like to cook; very few make the cut even in the store. But, if pressed to leave the house with only five(-ish) books and start over again these would be the easiest choices.

Don't say I never gave you anything.

you don't say

There’s a fantastic piece in the New Yorker this week, The Deepest Dive by Alec Wilkinson. I was reading it last night and was unable to participate in any social interaction until I finished and learned the result. Here’s a link to it but you need a subscription to read it all and I suspect that if you have a subscription you’ve already read it. For those that don’t, here’s a quick summary: there’s a group of deep divers / free swimmers who set records in various categories. In particular, we're following two women who are trying to set the constant-weight depth diving record (bringing back to the surface all the weight you take down) and be the first to break the mythical 100-metre deep barrier. They use mermaid-like fins to get deep but have no other equipment – it’s pretty stunning. The process and physicality of the dive, the mental aspect, the detachment from the body, and the recovery all make for great reading. The New Yorker will really draw you in every few issues with something you never knew or never even thought about. In fact, I had to re-read (twice) Malcolm Gladwell’s piece in the last issue that dealt with Southern Liberalism and the debunking of Atticus Finch; who’d have thunk?

It’s been so humid here over the last few days that we’ve awoken to full damp on the inside of our windows. I consider it to be untenable.

As I was wandering about the Internet yesterday, I don’t remember what started the quest, I found an in-studio performance by the reunited Jayhawks. They were in the Current studio in June and did three songs and answered a few questions. They have a box set coming out that will (I think) include all the studio albums, possibly a DVD, and some b-sides and outtakes. I’d forgotten just how good they sound when playing together (the last time was about 1994) and those first three albums before Mark Olson left the band were just grand. If you want a little primer on alt.country / Americana, you could do worse than just listening to early Jayhawks. (Here’s a link to the audio from the in-studio.) It sounds like they might hit the road after the New Year – we’ll be on the alert in the Metro for the news.

I’m awaiting an update on the first week of school from Laurel. I’ll give her another ring tonight and see how it’s going.

X is going to Nationals game tomorrow night. I was offered a game last night from a visiting friend and turned it down out-of-hand. Just goes to show you how little interest baseball holds for me. I think her seats for the game are going to be cush; in that case, it’s probably worth it.

t

doctor doctor

I'm a bit late to Internet radio, via Pandora, which is strange in many ways. I've been a listener and supporter of The Current (MPR) since they swung open their doors about five (?) years ago. With the iPod touch app and/or a laptop we can have great music pumped through the living room speakers whenever we want. The only frustrating bit of listening to The Current is hearing about all the stuff happening in the Twin Cities that you can have no part in. Beggars and choosers. They've got great DJs that hump the bins to find great music; and in the end, I actually like to hear a human voice every now and again. Pandora, even with its missing human voice, is pretty damn amazing. It was created by the folks behind something called the Music Genome Project. Their mission - feel free to read about the details here - is to map every song over multiple specifics in order to match songs to songs for the listener. What's interesting here is that I've had any number of discussions about songs and music (with X and via e-mail with one of my favorite artists) and I have a really hard time explaining what it is that draws me in. Considering that both my daughter, back when she was about 6, and Christine find my favorite music to be, let's say, repetitive, it shouldn't be hard for me to verbalize. Not surprisingly, when I start a Pandora station by inputting a single artist it only takes the scientist inside my computer about three seconds to overload my playlist with all the bands I already own. But, the beauty of Pandora is that I can just let if roll for hours, via different stations (I have ones called Slobberbone, Steve Earle, and Noah and the Whale), and rarely come across anything I don't like. I don't have to swap out CDs (ha!) or make multi-hour playlists from my music collection. The pitfalls? No human voice which makes me feel a bit disassociated after a few hours and there's no real ability, via this genome project, to suddenly pitch some Otis Redding into the middle of my alt.country. The DJs at The Current are excellent at slipping in songs that are tangential to the artist you just heard: something a scientific approach will never do. Mary Lucia and Barb Abney at the Current are particularly good at surprising you by their mood, not yours.

** On a quick sidenote, Internet radio, whether associated with a broadcast station (The Current) or not (Pandora), is struggling. The royalty cost per song played is about .019 cent. If you like and want to keep Internet radio strong then do your part. Support the broadcasters and keep it active and growing. Pandora offers a yearly membership for $36 a year and that'll cover about 160 songs a month. Obviously, you can listen to way more than that and it's costing you nothing more even if it's costing them more. As for The Current (or something like KEXP in Seattle), become members. Thanks.

What about my pepper mill, you ask? Well, the one I've been using for about four years (it was a gift) finally broke. The pepper mill purchase falls into the same hunting style as my bag: seems I've had hundreds of both and I'll never find the perfect one. I'm happy enough with my Yak Pak and now I'm back in the game for a pepper mill. I've hit the Internet and have a good idea of what I'm going to buy - I just need to find it locally or I'll be waiting a week for it to arrive. How does one cook without a pepper mill? Don't tell me to use something other than freshly ground pepper or you'll be sent away, post haste.

I'll pass along results from our journey.

Hey to all.

t

lumbergh

I cut our swatch of Everest today. When you come and see the house – stay if you like, we’ve got rooms and futons – you’ll understand the yard thing. Luckily, I’ve got some yard and groundskeeping skills. If I can claim only one manly trait then it’d be my ability to work any two-stroke and 3.5hp (or lower) apparatus. What I normally do is this – cut horizontally one week, vertically the next, and on the diag’ the third. It makes for a lovely lawn…and I don’t much like lawns. This joint only allows for one cut, horizontal – it’s way too steep and crazy to imagine any other geometry. Of course, I’m just crazy enough with the Jac’ to consider my options.

The immediate rundown of folks on the block shows that we’ve got kids galore around these parts. From what we’ve seen, there are four next door and three more two doors down. Lots of others walking dogs, and themselves, every night; a very friendly neighborhood. G. pontificated on his shyness when we first moved here but he wandered about tonight and came home with a half dozen kids in tow. I told him I thought he could establish his own tribe of kids who’d follow his every move since he’s the oldest. He relayed that they are horrible at catching anything, namely him, so he didn’t think they’d be of any use. Ah, I said, that’s exactly what you want – troops to train and worship you. Upon the arrival of Henry the Elder this week, you’ll already have your kingdom of warriors. I got little more than a sideways glance.

Here’s my deal with work. The small company is struggling a bit and there’ve been some layoffs over the last three or four days. I worry about that, but I must say I worry more about why it is that my division and group leaders aren’t talking. What I hate more than anything else are folks in charge who don’t just sit down and tell people what’s what. I have no illusion that times change, companies need to make moves, and that the world isn’t perfect – just don’t hide in your office and f*&king pretend it isn’t happening. In the end, if I (or we) know there are issues then we at least have a chance to make changes and look around for other opportunities before you kick me in teeth and head back to your office. I hate cowards. In fact, we’ve had two or three ‘get togethers’ where the bigs spout the same crap I heard from military commanders – and I hated them for that because I knew the truth. As it is, I’m safe until the end of summer; beyond that (and my completion of their contract), I’ll place no bets. Man up.

The Current is playing through my speakers and I’m happy. I’m happy about that as an aside to everything else; these are the best days of my life.

T.

current events

There was a lovely in-studio performance on Augie March photo at the top and then select listen (128k mp3) to launch it in iTunes and listen to the three-song set. They’ve been around the block for some time (they’re Australian, that’s a block…) but their music is new to me. After a bit of the interview between songs it became obvious why I’d switched on to the sound, it was right there, he said it – Big Star. There’s some Big Star, some Americana , a twist of Belle and Sebastian, and a pinch of lovely pop going on throughout. They’d come to the station in the morning after a late night at the Varsity Theatre in Dinkytown and hit the road afterwards to head west in a van that could probably be best described as shitty - the live of a minor touring band. That’s commitment. You can disregard all that blabbing and just enjoy the music.

X has been a-lookin’ for a bicycle of late. Wandering into bike shops leads to three basic effects:

1. You will always find yourself drawn to the most expensive bike.

2. You find out there’s way too much you don’t know actually understand about bikes.

3. You decide to shop some more. See #1 and #2.

At the first shop she found a beautiful 2007 Specialized TriCross that cost a pretty (very pretty) penny. It was the most expensive of the bikes suited to her needs. We didn’t understand much about bikes – there’s a lot to know. She decided to shop some more. After a few stops on Wednesday evening (REI and a horrible shop in Falls Church) she had more bikes swimming in her head but no bike at home. This morning she calls en route to Dr. Sam (the chiropractor) and tells me about a few other makes and models she’s found on-line. Since I want nothing but more bike goobley-gook in my head I do a little research and find another local shop that carries the Specialized TriCross she adores. As an aside, the TriCross is in the same utopian part of her mind that was occupied by Georgetown Law three years ago: nice, pretty, expensive, and the only real option – even as one flitters around comparing other suitors. Once her mind is made up it’s a done deal. She’ll smile sweetly at George Mason Law or some Bianchi bike but it’s merely a sham. Anyway, the local shop has the older 2006 TriCross still advertised on-line so I give them a call on the off chance they have them in stock. The very nice woman at the shop here in Vienna tip-types into the computer and tells me that, unfortunately (or not!), there’s only one left in the company inventory (there are four stores in N. Virginia). I learn it’s at the shop out in Ashburn and it’s a 56cm frame. I say Bingo! X is out near Ashburn as we speak and her size for the TriCross is…a 56cm. You see, Dr. Sam (the chiropractor) has his office out near Dulles which is just down the road from Ashburn…and that’s about 30 miles from where we live. There’s only one bike, it’s the right size, it’s 30 miles away, and she’s wandering around out yonder.

She now has a very nice bicycle in the back of the van and is homeward bound. I’m happy she has a bike; I’m most impressed with my work. Up top.

T.