A somewhat less touristy day. We took a drive out to the Tybee Island, and the ocean. Which was very nice. Driving thru the marshlands in the Low Country is a lot like driving thru a Jacob Cooley. UNfortunately, when we got out to Tybee, we found out that the lighthouse and museum are closed on Tuesdays. Doh! It was just too damn hot to walk around the beach much, altho we did see some pelicans flying around. But the morning was redeemed by a meal at the Breakfast Club. I'll leave it to Sarah to discuss the burger. I had just a basic eggs, sausage, grits. Classic roadfood and well worth the drive out from Savannah.
This afternoon we walked around a bit more in the historic district of Savannah, saw several more squares, lots of historic buildings, and statues to Oglethorpe, Pulaski, and some 19th century rail baron whose enormous ornate monument is placed right over the grave site of the Native American chief who welcomed Oglethorpe and the settlers to Georgia. And that, I think, sums up the 19th century pretty efficiently. Made it to a nice café just before the hellafied thunderstorm broke.

(more random vacation musing to bore you with tomorrow)

Got meme-tagged by spacegrrl. But I've already done that meme. So here are those answers again. I know, I know... that's the lazy way out. Hey, I'm on vacation. Updated memology when I get back home. Maybe.

It's been pretty much hazy, hot, and humid in Savannah. Which is about what I'd expected seeing as how we're on the GA coast in late August. Only 1 heavy cloudburst, yesterday afternoon while we were walking around Colonial Park Cemetary, and it can't have lasted 15 min. Lots of dead colonial guys there, as you might expect from the name, including Button Gwinnett, signer of the Declaration of Independence and about whom I know precious little else, except that, once having heard the name it does tend to stay in one's memory.
Savannah's been great, altho it has illustrated what I think of as one of the Bourdain axioms: if you want to eat well, you need to get away from the where the tourists go. I think only Vegas, and maybe NYC disprove this. Vegas because well, almost everyone there is a tourist, and NYC because it's so damn big. Anyway, last night's meal was very good but over-priced. Sunday's was very mediocre and almost as over-priced. If you're keeping score at home, that would be Pirate's House = yes; Cotton Exchange = no. Well, I do have to shout out the Cotton Exchange for the key lime martini which was like drinking a slice of alcoholic key lime pie. It would have been better if the ice had been blended down a bit smoother though. Yesterday was pretty much a big tourist day. We also took a riverboat cruise, which was nice altho half of it was spent cruising past container ships and tanks farms. Working and ruined industrial landscapes really need a background score by Neubauten or Test Dept or something.
More to follow. And yes, I will get around to writing up my stray thoughts on the Mt Dora weekend. Real Soon Now...

Here we are in sunny Florida in a picturesque town of many shoppes, a lake, an historic hotel (parts of which were apparently dedicated by Calvin Coolidge), etc. So how did I spend this afternoon? Lying in bed reading Please Kill Me. Ah, good clean, drug-crazed fun... And there's all of tomorrow and Sunday to check out the surroundings.
Sarah mentioned this but I'd like to thrown another shout out to Steak n Shake. I'd say it's about a deadheat tie with Joe & Jo's for 2nd best burger of 2005. (Actually, I had one of the patty melts) J&J gets points for having beer. But S&S gets points for having shakes, and not just shakes but interesting shakes. Sarah had a shake that was like a mix-in with cookie dough ice cream. And I had a shake where half the glass was a banana shake and the other half was chocolate. Yumtastic...

Looked out the window of the hotel this morning and first thing I saw was a gentleman in an aloha shirt taking pictures of UMJ. Art car road trip now officially in full effect. Drive yesterday was most uneventful, which is the way we like 'em. I somewhat surprised myself by remembering (with only 1 stall) how to get the car started and up to highway speed, even though it's been well over a year since I last drove standard. I'm still pretty useless at (and freaked out by) "city driving" or anything involving the lower gears. But I can keep things moving down the highway for a couple of hours.
My other questions from yesterday:
why is Spanish moss called Spanish moss?
if it's illegal to pick Spanish moss from trees (as I hear it is in some places), is it also illegal to pick it up from the ground?
what was that thing that I saw passing in the other direction on 95? it looked like a 3-wheeled motorcycle done up like a woody panel-van or 60s style hot rod. except made entirely of wood. except it went past so quickly that i barely got any kind of look at it at all

Getting ready for art car roadtrip. Well and truly looking forward to it, and to the side-trip to Savannah on the way back. The bro is here in town to house & dog sit. Fortunately, we'll have a few days to hang out after we get home 'fore he heads out again. Did Q Shack tonight which was, as always, a pile o' meaty goodness.
And that's all I can really think of to say. Next update prolly Sunday from GA

So I don't know if this happens to you but often (often often) while I'm driving down some road or other, a random chowderhead (sometimes but not always driving an SUV) will pass by and during or shortly after that they will do something dangerous, annoying, and/or stupid. And when that happens, I find myself thinking "there's never a cop around when you need one." Well, tonight there was. A block or two after seeing Random SUV-driving Chowderhead execute an incredibly annoying lane-change/cut-off manuever, I had the pleasure of seeing him pulled over by an unmarked cop car. Hilarity (and evil laughter) definitely ensued.
...good times

Finished re-reading Kitchen Confidential last night. God, I love that book. What I noticed this time is that even though it's very well written, it's rather badly structured. It sorta reads like Bourdain, or his editors, had several ideas of how to structure the book, couldn't quite decide which worked best and so just decided to use all of them. There's the "menu" concept, which doesn't really go anywhere. And it's roughly chronological, except when it's not. And that includes one major chapter (the Supper Club) told well out of sequence to the extent that its aftermath is referenced well before it happens. But really these are minor quibbles, I think. Overall the story's so good, and Bourdain tells it so well, that the structural problems are only minor.
Having finished the book, curiosity got the better of me and I went over to look at the website for the KC series that's starting up in Sept. From the intro, it looks like the series is based less on the book than on 1 chapter from the book, specifically the "Tuscan interlude" when Bourdain was opening the high-priced, high-powered theater district restaurant for Pino Luongo, with some elements of the Supper Club section thrown in. What's odd is that they've clearly lifted some of the characters (or at least their names) from the book, including ne'er-do-well sous chef Steven. But the debauched baker Adam Real-Last-Name-Unknown has become "rookie pastry chef" (played unless I'm mistaken by one of the kids from Freaks and Geeks). Everyone else looks to be totally invented, or expanded into characters from someone glancingly referenced and un-named in the book. I have no idea who Seth is but... holy frikkin frak that's Xander. Anyway, among the many offenses against the spirit of the book which I'm sure this series will commit, one is glaringly obvious from the promo photo, its overwhelming whiteness. Look at those people (you'll have to google the series or go back into my comments and find the link Xta posted cos I'm not linking to it again). They are so damn white. If there's one that's immediately and defiantly made clear in the book it's that kitchens, no matter how high end the restaurant, are mostly staffed by Mexicans, Salvadorans, Ecuadorians.
I know... I know... it's not just TV, it's Darren Star TV so why am I surprised... like I said, I hope Bourdain got a big fat check out of it.

(re)ETA: argh! I just popped over to imdb only to find out that the character of piratical sous chef Steven has been re-named Steven Daedalus. I mean... c'mon. Steven Frikkin Daedalus? What is this, freshman literary poseur club or something?!? James Joyce is clearly spinning in his grave, yet again. Fuck Darren Star, fuck this show, and fuck head writer Richard Appel -- and I don't care that he seems to have written several quite good episodes of the Simpsons, for this act alone he should burn in some suitably pretentious hell (say, dunked into a vat of superheated decaf espresso in the middle of a Barney's one day sale... while the store's being napalmed).

Jim Knipfel brings it. It's the dead solid straight ahead tone that really makes this piece, I think. Sure, you can wink and/or snark your way thru similar material and produce perfectly enjoyable copy (Weekly World News, por ejemplo, or even the sidebar accompanying Knipfel's story). But the unblinking earnestness just pushes it to a whole 'nother level. Knipfel's first novel, the Buzzing, is a favorite of mine and has something of the same style (you thought it was just a movie, but you were wrong). Plus loads of references to cheezy Japanese monster movies.

use borscht...

Local foodie update: we had dinner tonight at Kashmir, a relatively new-ish Indian restaurant, just up the road from Q Shack and Pao Lim. The buffet (lunch all days but only Friday and Saturday at dinner) was outstanding. Altho it doesn't have the southern Indian specialties you can find at Sitar India Palace, I'd say it matches them in flavor and has it slightly over their buffet for variety. Tonight they had saag paneer, vegetable korma, eggplant, cauliflower, okra, fish, chicken, lamb and goat. That's right, goat on the buffet. There was also a DIY chat station. And fresh naan delivered to the table. All in all, many inducements to overeat at frightening levels. Which we mostly resisted. (did I mention they have goat on the buffet?) One of the reviews I read mentioned that they specialize, no surprise, in Kashmiri dishes. Will have to go back some night and order off the menu and check that out.

Pop cultcha update (courtesy of the artcarz mailing list)... Zippy checks out an artcar (that link seems pretty stable but if it turns out to be wonky, it's the 8/19 strip). And an especially cool artcar it is. The World's Largest Collection etc. is always a crowd favorite, which I think illustrates something Sarah observed after Louisville, that building any kind of interactivity into an artcar makes it more appealing to the audience. Even tho World's Largest Collection etc isn't particularly hands-on or tactile, it is adds a level of interaction beyond just the decorations. Sorta the same as the bubble machine on UMJ. And not that there's anything wrong with "just the decorations."

What better way to wrap up the week than with Flying Spaghetti Monster!!! Yessirree, in the war between noodly appendages and untelligent design, I think the choice is clear. (I was gonna hunt out some more links, but really, the Wiki entry has enough to keep the joke going for the rest of the evening) Altho I did read somewhere that several new morons-du-jour (thank you, Mr. Frist) have courageously come out in support of "intelligent" design. So perhaps the day's not far off when some bold elected official will stand up and give Flying Spaghetti Monster the consideration (and respect) it deserves.

all this plus flimsy moral standards and a beer volcano...

Time for another installment in the (hugely) occasional series Things In Cans. Tonight's thing-in-a-can is Ram's Head India Pale Ale. This comes from Top of the Hill in Chapel Hill, who bill themselves as the South's first microcannery. Which is correct as far as I can tell. In fact, I don't recall ever seeing another US microbrew canned instead of bottled. And I'm sure there's more than a bit of marketing in the decision to go with cans. Hell, it got my attention. When every other microbrew's in a bottle, being in a can makes you stand out. At first I wasn't sure whether it was just suprise that was working in favor of the Ram's Head. I can't deny the cognitive dissonance of sipping IPA out of a can when every other beer I've ever had out of a 12 oz. can has been a crappy American lager. But further research by the crack House of Dioxin beer research team has determined that this is actually quite a good beer. Makes me think I should go to their restaurant more often, altho I've mostly missed out on the best time to go (when the students are out of town).

Tonight's playlist here. A kickass show, I must say. I esp. like that a couple of the sets which I'd planned out in my head actually came together. Often that won't happen -- either something won't sound quite as imagined, or a CD will be missing or some such thing. The big glitch for me is in that rock set. There's a better song to link from Orange Juice to Madball than that Fab Poodles track but I just couldn't think of it in the time available so I hadda go with what I had pulled.
Oh yeah and I had two requests and even got a message back to the request line from the person who'd asked for some Pylon to thank me for playing it. A fun night out indeed... and I didn't even get to Yerba Buena, one of my fave things on the playlist now, or the 3rd really cool thing I downloaded from the iTunes store tonight. That'll just have to wait for my next show, which will probably be Mondo Mundo on 9/3. Since we're driving back into town on Wed. 8/31 I'll probably look for a sub for that shift.

This morning whilst purchasing a tasty coffee beverage, I saw a flyer for the Southeast Regional Barista Competition which will be held in early Sept. in Chapel Hill. To give an indication of just how alert I'm not early in the morning, I don't remember any details about attendance, etc. I assume it's open to the public, else why would they have a flyer. The info available on the web is pretty spotty. Well, it's pretty useful if you're interested in being a competitor or volunteer, much less so if you wish to spectate. More details to follow...

Just saw that Gang of Four will be playing at the Cradle in October (10/6 to be precise). I doubt it'll be much more than a nostalgia-fest. I mean, it's not like they've really done anything much of interest in the last 20 years. The show's presented by VH1 Classics, for cryin out loud. But I still don't think I can pass up a chance to see them playing live, even if it is decades too late. Hell, they could just play Entertainment! start to finish and it would be worth the trip.
I was gonna link to a marvelously cranky article by Jon Pareles in last Sunday's NYTimes but the Times link generator thingy continues to shun me. Alas. But it's almost worth the annoying registration process. Pareles takes up the contrarian position that CBGB, which has been fighting for survival with their landlord, is irrelevant and might as well close down. He has them coasting on reputation since the early 80s. I wouldn't be that extreme. It was still one of the key NYC venues into the mid-to-late 80s, both for touring and local bands. But when I moved back to New York in the early 90s it quickly became clear that CBGB was turning itself into a punk rock tourist trap. And looking at NY concert listings over the last few years (usually whenever we're planning a trip there) that's just truer and truer all the time. So yeah really... what would it matter. Shut it down. The moment is (long) past. On the other hand, I'd be happy to see a Las Vegas version, something that's apparently been kicked around as an idea, and something which clearly appalls Pareles on a certain level. For one thing, even though CBGB-LV wouldn't even be a pale version of the original, it'd still be one of the cooler things in Vegas. Plus how can I not love such a perfect example of "they swallow the poison and call it entertainment"?

Wow. New York Changing is an amazing site (I found it via scrubbles). Douglas Levere rephotographs sites in New York City photographed by Berenice Abbot, mostly in the 1930s. The side by side comparisons are breathtaking. Fascinating stuff. Well, I think so. Maybe less so to non-natives (you tell me). I'm struck both by how much some of the sites have changed and how little has changed at some of the other locations.

Lemme tell ya, there's nothing like coming home after an long Monday at work and finding an iCal reminder popped up on your computer screen that says "Jazz Patrol, 6pm today." And the clock time when you see this: 6:08pm. Drove over to the station in a mad cussing panic. For some god-unknown reason, my cellphone was giving me "extended network" all the way across town. Hey, I'm all for the importance of communication but I'm not paying roaming charges to let someone know I'm coming when I'm 5-10 minutes away. It all worked out. Big thanks to Howard and Jason for holding things down until I got there. And it was actually, I think, a pretty good show. I was mostly just grabbing stuff that looked interesting (Cecil Taylor, Billy Strayhorn, James Moody), stuff I already knew (Pfeuti, Greg Osby, David Murray) or stuff that was new (Buddy Rich, John Zorn). But I think it actually hung together pretty well. And I got to use the word "hellafied" on the air, while describing the gig by David Murray's Latin Big Band that I saw at Knitting Factory with my friend Lisa a coupla years back. Towards the end of the show I was playing a cut from a new CD we've got of Buddy Rich's big band recorded live in the 70s. It's called No Funny Hats and it opens with a quote from Rich talking about how he and the band take jazz seriously and play it with no funny hats and no funny hair. I agree with Eric K that Sun Ra Arkestra have easily enough funny hats to cover pretty much everyone else in the jazz game. I wonder if the "no funny hats" line was a dig at Sun Ra or someone/something else.
Anyway, I'll be back on the air this Wed night for my regular gig, 10pm to midnite.

Did some yardwork this morning, which was alarmingly productive for a Saturday morning. But rendered most of the rest of the day quite non-productive. See here for a concise takedown of summer in NC. Spent much of the afternoon researching Savannah, where Sarah and I will be spending a few days on our way back from Mt Dora.
Did go out for some shopping and racked up another knock on my shopping karma. Got charged the single beer price for an entire sixpack. Y'know, I thought the total seemed low. But I didn't check until I was in the parking lot. A better man would have gone back into the store and corrected the undercharge. I think it's clear by now that I am not that man.
Finished up the day watching Oh Brother Where Art Thou? I think it might help to have read the Odyssey and know a bit of Southern and blues history. The movie works on its own terms (and explains most of its references), but not everyone is gonna start laughing as soon as the (soon to be) Soggy Bottom Boys' car comes driving up to that crossroads. I was also struck by how much Clooney's character reminded me of H.I. McDonough. Actually he's something of a cross between Nic Cage in Raising Arizona and Clark Gable in It Happened One Night. And the big KKK production number is as jaw-dropping in its own way as "Springtime for Hitler."

Today's Loco Pops flavor: chocolate banana. Really quite wonderful. And yet it does not quite edge either Mexican Chocolate or Chocolate Chile from atop the pantheon of Loco Pop chocolatey wonderfulness.

I'd also like to mention again City Beverage, which was recently blogged elsewhere and also not-so-recently mentioned on this here blog here. Sarah and I had dinner there last night before the movie. Oh so swanky decor -- tikis galore and lotsa lounge/exotica LP covers decorating the walls. And the food was trés yumm. Tomato/mozzarella salad starter is highly recommended -- hey, it's summer and one must take every opportunity to enjoy the in-season tomatoes. I had the mini-burgers which were both tasty and cute (tiny burgers but big flavor). We'll definitely be going back.

Finally saw Charlie and the Chocolate Factory tonight. I've noticed that many of my movie-related posts begin with "finally" -- which is due in large part to the fact that I'm an enthusiastic but slackass movie goer. Actually, only 1 month after release date is pretty damn good for me. Anyway, fabulous, absolutely fabulous! I think Burton did a much better job of capturing the Dahl spirit than the 70s version. Plus the movie's just an insane homage to movies Burton loves (just off the top of my head, there's Wizard of Oz, 2001, Busby Berkeley, Psycho, Spinal Tap, Sleeper). Read several reviews just now and I don't think any of them got it quite right. And Ebert was completely fixated on the notion that Depp's Wonka is evocative of Michael Jackson. I can honestly say that not once during the movie was I ever reminded of Michael Jackson. And I'd even read some commentary to that effect back when the movie come out. So whatever. That strikes me as the sort of thing future critics will point out ("audiences at the time tended to view Depp's performance as referencing troubled pop star Michael Jackson but..."). Salon's review was one of those closest to my perspective but I liked the movie way more. I'm also kind of amazed that no one mentioned the whole Mike Teevee sequence which is inspired, insane and completely over the top. A high point in the movie. Another high point: the Oompa Loompa musical numbers, which reach Bollywood levels of excess. I definitely want to see it again.
And not just because the theater tonight was over-run by feral children. Not just making noise but actually running around the aisles. Who knew? Apparently your $8.25 ticket entitles you to turn Consolidated Movies into your frikkin' living room. And all the other paying customers into your baby-sitters. Or hostages. Really, I think, a new low point in arrogant stupidity. (In answer to any possible complaints that I might be suggesting that parents don't have the right to go out -- YES! that's exactly what I'm saying. I didn't tell you to spawn. Either find a babysitter or keep your selfish, can't-control-my-kids-in-public ass at home for 15 years)

woo hoo!
Looks like Durham's own Starlite Drive In will be up and running again by the end of the month. Sadly, Sarah and I will be in Florida that weekend and miss the grand re-opening. But we should be able to dig the scene the following weekend. And while the new Dukes of Hazzard wouldn't be my first choice for a debut feature it's certainly the most car-centric movie around at this point.

Here's a chance you really can't pass up, to get called a loser by some embittered Scots hack. You probably thought you had to go to a pub and have 15 or 16 pints before you'd get to have a thrill like that. I particularly love how he admits to being jealous of Rowling's success. Like that's supposed to innoculate him from the fact that he's an angry loudmouth fuckwit. And, like all angry loudmouth fuckwits, he's not actually secure enough in his opinions to actually just dislike Harry Potter. No, he's got to make sure that you dislike it too. Because surely all right-thinking people are like him and all the Harry Potter fans are sweaty mouthbreathing losers and you wouldn't want to have people thinking of you as a sweaty mouthbreathing loser would you? So you'd better straighten up, fly right, and start hating that horrible JK Rowling, who just writes escapist twaddle. After all a "fully developed adult mind... requires writing that recognises that the contemporary world is a complex, difficult place with demands on our reasoning that require careful consideration." Say, something like this.
...loser

Haven't started reading Please Kill Me yet. Or my other recent acquisition, Brueghel, or the Workshop of Dreams (a novel, somewhat obviously, about Brueghel) which I finally found after looking (okay, admittedly not all that hard or consistently) for about 10 years. I'm currently re-reading Kitchen Confidential which is great fun. I think this is the 3rd time I've read it. Also recently finished the 3rd Sandman collection, Dream Country, which I think was my favorite so far. This book was all stand-alone stories that Gaiman did after the big story arc in vol. 2 (and I think there's another book-long story arc coming up in vol. 4). Altho (as I think I might've said already) some of the serial killer stuff in vol. 2 was quite good I thought it overall hadn't aged all that well. That was less of a problem for the stories in vol. 3. Plus I think the art's getting more interesting. And I also really liked the script for "Calliope" (complete with scribbles from Gaiman and Kelley Jones, the artist who drew the story) that was printed to fill out the end of vol. 3. I mean, yes, it was obviously filler but it was high-quality interesting filler.

XDU wrrld music top 10 (week ending 07 aug 05) ::

Aquarius Rock :: various
Government Magic :: Antibalas
Benimle Oynar Misn :: Bulent
Dimanche à Bamako :: Amadou & Mariam
Thai Beat a Go Go :: various
the Vaquero Song :: Christina Ortega
Congotronics :: Konono No. 1
Subaro :: Speak In Tones
Son: Soul of a Nation :: Sierra Maestra
Midival Times :: MIDIval Punditz

Almost time to celebrate, y'all. The NC Assembly finally passed the bill removing the 6% ABV limit on beer sold in state. I'd say about damn time, but that actually would've been back when Prohibition was repealed. Still, at least we're not the absolute last state in the country to get with the program. And if I'm looking at up-to-date numbers, there are 19 microbreweries in the state so hopefully some of them will take advantage of the increased range of styles available. Just maybe, even, the next time Dogfish Head releases a batch of 120 Minute IPA some might actually make it down here.

While I was lying around yesterday evening, too queasy and enervated to change the channel (oh, don't act like you've never been there...) I ended up watching poker, of all things. I think I understand a bit of why some people find it interesting TV and some people find it crashingly dull. Cos it does seem like there's interesting characters lurking around the tables. And there's definitely some tension and some gamesmanship. But while the particulars were different (and both shows I saw were World Poker Tour events -- maybe others are different), the general flow and structure were pretty much the same. And the end, with the hosts trying to manufacture suspense, was a total dud. I'm sure it's pretty tense when you're watching it live in real time. But on TV, if there's only 1 min. left in the show and it's a hand that will win it all for Player X... well, that's not much tension. The other thought I had was that some of the current fascination with this particular poker variant (No Limit Texas Hold 'Em tournaments) seems very 21st century American. Unlike cash games, tournament poker appears to be a zero sum game. That is, there are a finite amount of chips -- in order for you to have more, your opponents have to have less. Since there are automatic antes etc in each hand, a player can use a large chip advantage to punish the other positions at the table, betting large and pretty much forcing them to fold hand after hand after hand. Okay, you're not going to drive someone out of the game on small losses like that (and that's not a strategy that's going to do anything to build you a chip advantage). But it looks like if you big-stick your opponents long enough you tend to frustrate them, make them impatient or angry and more likely to throw in all their chips on a weak draw.
The following is almost wholly unrelated to that, except I was watching poker, which reminded me of Wil Wheaton, who quite reliably brings the funny.

No online playlist for today's wrrld show. The Mac Mini in the PR got blowed up real good. Wouldn't, apparently, even boot into target mode, and so is really quite sincerely dead, despite all of Jason's considerable efforts. And they were considerable, lemme tell you. I doubt I would've driven all the way in from Raleigh on a Saturday. On the other hand, those were my 5th and 6th hours of radio since Wed. night so there must be something about XDU that inspires these fits of psychotic dedication. Anyway, in case you were wondering, the correct response to a webpage loading slowly is not to unplug the computer and plug it back in again. I'm thinking that might roughly simulate the post-ice storm power surge that killed Sarah's laptop for a while a few years back.
If I remember, I'll grab the paper playlist next time I'm at the station and copy it over here. Not that it was my most inspired show evah. I think it was better than the "longest songs I can find" theme but it was mostly all-fusion, all the time. In other words, well inside my comfort zone. By the end, the 4 cups of coffee I had this morning and the iced latté I brought with me to the station started catching up with me. Neither the pizza I had for lunch nor the bottled water I was drinking was cutting things down much. Probably I should have left right at 3 and gotten something to eat. Instead I stayed for another hour working in the wrrld shelves, then wolfed down some nasty Hardee's fastfood while I was driving around shopping. Meaning that I was feeling good & queasy by the time I got home. Fortunately, lying around doing nothing for a few hours restored me to enough of my senses to go out, finish some more shopping and grab dinner at the Q Shack. I highly recommend the smoked lamb sandwich, if they're offering it as a special. Yummy meaty goodness.

From the fun things found on internets dept., here's some Harry Potter geekiness for Ms. Pants and other fellow travellers. Those who haven't read the most recent HP novel, or those sharply committed to a particular point-of-view re: same, might want to just move along.

Better perhaps in the idea stage than the actualized reality stage. Whilst at XDU earlier, Cooper (who does the 8-10pm mix show) mentioned that he and some of the XDU crew (R!ck and an additional party of favorites) were planning to make the scene at the Fed tonight. Seeing as how I had nothing else planned, I sloped back over just now (a bit past 10-ish). And immediately turned 'round and came home. Reminded me why (when I was hanging with a crew of fellow committed barflies back in NYC in the 90s) we never went drinking on Fridays. The Fed was packed. Hell, they were stacked in there like cordwood. Even I could've found anyone it would've been fairly pointless to hang out when you've got to yell over the din just to place a drink order. My first thought was that this is another sign of "too old for this" -- which is sometimes sensible and sometimes an excuse not to do anything. But then I remembered the above. Ten years ago, I'd have done the exact same thing.
(but I'm glad the Fed's packing 'em in on the weekends so they'll be able to cover the slower nights)

Well that was really fun. Playlist available, if you wanna check it out. But, can I just say grrr! damn! feh! Actually, I said alot worse than that when I got home to discover that the recording I was trying to do of the show had failed. Not sure what exactly happened. The webcast was still coming in nice and clear but something had fubar-ed somewhere cos no successful recording had taken place. So now I'm sitting around listening to other music, watching the slide show from today in Louisville. It poured here but it looked pretty dry over towards XDU so I'm thinking I'll stop by the CECoD on my way back to Planet Radio tomorrow and make sure the plants aren't too thirsty.

Went and saw (finally) Howl's Moving Castle tonight. I'd wanted to wait and see it with Sarah but tonight was the last night of the run at the Carolina in Durham. We'd made plans to go a coupla times but seems like something was always coming up. Or we were just flat forgetting. And I didn't want to miss it so I went, even tho Sarah's off in Louisville. Really excellent, as expected from Miyazaki. I'm hoping it might come back around to the Blue Ridge (the 2nd run cinema in Raleigh). Otherwise I guess I'll have to wait for the DVD to watch it with Sarah. I won't say anything more about it other than that I loved it, for those who plan to see it in the future.
Haven't got much else planned for the weekend, other than the previously mentioned Too Much Radio™. If anyone has any spiffy ideas, feel free to pass them along.

Latest playlist for "that monkey is going to pay" can be seen here. I had a good time. This was one of the quiet weeks. No other DJs inna house. No calls. No emails. Which is fine. Sometimes it's easier to focus on what I'm doing when there are fewer distractions. I'm pleased that I managed to play a few non-playlist tracks that I'd never heard before. I was thinking that the Cirrus was new to me but realized part way thru that it's on a comp I've got somewhere. Big Rockin' Beats maybe... I wish I'd gotten to the MIDIval Punditz CD but I've got 2 more shows and it'll actually fit into the format of either.

Busy day, both at work and after. Sarah's getting ready to head out for Louisville for an art car event this weekend. I'm staying home with the dogs, mostly cos I couldn't get the time off from work. Altho the heat hasn't returned in force like last week, it has returned. And of course the humidity never went anywhere. So it's draining to the point of enervation to, y'know, actually do anything. Like cook a meal or clean a car. But one muddles on. At least the heat/humidity's been good for the 'maters which are starting to ripen up nicely. Picked some more Roma and cherry tomatoes tonight, plus one of the yellow ones and a mysterious orange tomato. It's definitely ripe and definitely orange. But Sarah's sure we didn't plant any orange varieties. Oh yeah, and if anyone wants some zucchini, just let us know.

The days o' Too Much Radio™ begin tomorrow. I'll be on Wed from 10pm to midnite, Fri from 6pm to 8pm, and Sat from 1pm to 3pm. Locals are advised to approach 88.7fm with caution, lest they hear one of my shows. Those at a safer distance will be at their peril accessing the XDU website. Last time this happened I ended up doing an all-long-songs wrrld music show. But since only 1 of the 3 shows is playlist this time, perhaps I'll have enough mental energy left to find a different creative approach to Saturday's show. Or maybe I'll just play Dimanche à Bamako in its entirety.

Well, there is nothing, I tell you, nothing like spending the first 3 hours of your birthday traipsing thru the bureaucrat maze of DMV. Oh, entirely my fault, of course. Forgot to turn in plates on the old car I no longer drive but haven't disposed of yet, incurring thereby some penalties which had to be cleared/paid before I could engage in the simple task of renewing my license. But annoying nonetheless. Followed by 5 hours at work, 1.5 of which were taken up with a meeting. Yummy. Still, at least the day's been getting better as it went, instead of starting off nice and getting suckier. Sarah got me a copy of the recently mentioned in this space Please Kill Me. And some imps from BPAL. By which I'm both intrigued and frightened. But more intrigued, altho I doubt I'll be embracing the scent-wearing lifestyle with the enthusiasm of some of this blog's audience.
We went out for dinner at Provence, in Carrboro. Which has no website, so I can't link to it. But it was quite wonderful. I think the only other straightup French restaurant we've been to was Mon Ami Gabi in Vegas, and that's much more Parisian bistro whereas Provence, no surprise, is Provençal and maybe a slight bit on the rustic side. Well, a sort of refined take on rustic. Howsomever, I highly recommend Provence to Triangle-area readers in search of a fine dining option.

Not bad for a Monday. Work was less than annoying and I even accomplished a thing or two. Of course, trying to eat dinner turned into a protracted struggle. We wanted to go to Brixix but they were mobbed. So we thought (since we were already in Meadowmont) that we'd try Bon's in Carrboro. They've apparently closed down, only to be replaced by yet-another-Torero's. So then we tried Spotted Dog but they're closed on Monday. Thankfully, Tyler's is just down the block. Nothing like a plate o' garlic fries, a nice personal pizza, and a couple of pints from French Broad Brewery in Asheville to redeem an otherwise chaotic dinner hour.
Well, feh! I was gonna post a link to an interesting article in yesterday's NYTimes about the rediscovery of a rare recording of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie (a concert at Town Hall, NYC, in 1945). But, alas, the Times Link Generator doesn't seem to be able to handle that page. Anyway, I'm not sure why I found this article so fascinating. I'm not a huge bebop fan or anything. I think it was the combination of legendary jazz gig with a look into the whole record collector subculture. Plus any article that mentions Symphony Sid is okay by me. (I'll try again later and see if I can come up with the link)