So here's a cool thing (via boing²) - Nat'l Geographic's got a webcam running at Pete's Pond, in a wildlife refuge in Botswana. I find this strangely compelling, even though there's nothing happening (it's, I think, 2am there now). Something about sitting at my desk and listening to insect noises live from another continent. Altho every once in a while there's sounds like something wandering or splashing around just out of camera view. So maybe what's interesting is the chance that something might happen.
Note: they're using RealPlayer so you might have to go and download the freebie version if you don't already have it.

Next weekend is World Beer Festival here in Durham. I'm still undecided on whether to go. I went back in 2003 and it was a good time. It's an interesting crowd -- some beer geek types and also lotsa average citizens with a smattering of fratboys looking to get hammered. The downside was that I was planning to meet some friends there and they all crapped out. So except for chatting with random strangers while waiting in line at this or that tap, I was mostly wandering around by myself the whole time I was there. Which isn't really max.potential for an event like WBF which is all about comparing and contrasting and arguing about whether IPAs are better than Imperial Stouts (or whatever).

I'll be doing the DJ training thing during the show tonight, so diminished presence for me (usually DJs doing on-air training get at least 1 hour) and I probably won't mess around with the online playlist. Such is the life of responsibility...
Meanwhile, I'm verrah excited to see that there's a C Cat Trance compilation CD coming out. And I was surprised to learn that C Cat Trance was Rees Lewis, of Medium Medium ("Hungry So Angry"). Maybe I knew that way back when but I'd certainly forgotten it long ago.

Well that's, what, a 33% increase over almost every previous wrrld music meeting I've ever held. Four people showed instead of three. That includes me, of course. But also 2 DJs not already part of the longterm crew. Several other new-to-wrrld DJs had emailed me so I hadn't worked out an agenda or anything, figuring that things would be driven but what folks wanted to know/talk about. They didn't show up (**big** props to the one DJ who emailed me to let me know they were cancelling out at the last minute) so I was left fumfering around a bit at the start, I think. Still, it was a productive and enjoyable coupla hours. Spacegrrl and Sta Salsera were there, along with new DJ Andy. We had an interesting chat about reviewing CDs. And Sta Salsera and I worked out a plan to finish off organizing the wrrld shelves. Sure, it'll involve moving almost every frikkin' CD in the section but I think we'll end up with a more usable library. And one that's even (gasp!) organized in a way that makes some kinda overall sense. Well, at least it makes sense to us. Will see what happens when it goes from plan to reality.

Here's a link to tonight's excellent show by Spacegrrl. Bonus points if you can identify the 2 songs that I was planning to play on my show tomorrow night.

XDU wrrld music top 10 (week ending 25 spt 05) ::

Guitars of the Golden Triangle: Folk & Pop Music of Myanmar (Burma) vol. 2 :: various
Cambodian Rocks, vol 2 :: various
los Dug Dugs :: los Dug Dugs
Mogollar :: Mogollar
Rio Baile Funk: Favela Booty Beats :: various
World After History :: Boris Kovaç and la Campanella
You've Stolen My Heart :: Kronos Quartet and Asha Bhosle
Radio Pyongyang :: various
ASAP: Afrobeat Sudan Aid Project :: various
Mademoiselle Marseille :: Moussu T e lei Jovents

(note: Radio Pyongyang has a very long, very snarky subtitle, which references North Korea as "the Hermit Kingdom" but unfortunately, there's a typo in CMJ's database so when I went to report the top 10 tonight I saw it listed as "Commie Funk & Agitpop from the Kermit Kingdom." I now fear that I will be forever haunted by the image of Kim Jong Il saying "hi ho! Dear Leader here...")

If you get the chance, do check out the BBC progam Festival in the Desert, filmed in 2004. Some background: the festival is put on by EFES, a Tamashek (Touareg) cultural organization, with the goal of bringing together musicians from all the many tribal groups in Mali. Here's BBC's page on the program. Also, a press release with more background on the festival.

Sure, the presenter is kinda wack, the camera work is less than stellar, and they have a bad habit of cutting off the ends of songs. Doesn't matter. What matters is that includes performances by Ali Farka Toure, Tinariwen, Oumou Sangare, Gangbe Brass Band (the only act from outside of Mali to make the cut into the program -- it's a 3 day festival so I'm sure there were other non-Malian acts present), Amadou & Mariam (w/ Manu Chao sitting in), and Habib Koite. Awesome stuff if you're already a fan. A good introduction to why you should be if you're not. The other thing I took away is that I've got to make sure and see Habib Koite next time I get the chance.

I love this story from today's NYTimes, esp. the part about how the guys were "art student-y" and not very friendly (isn't that redundant?). Too bad there's not a better pic of the mini-Gate boat stalking Floating Island.
Here's yesterday's playlist. During the show I got a phonecall request (for Vinicius de Moraes). While the caller was describing the CD, I realized it sounded familiar, that I knew the CD they were talking about. When I went and pulled it I found out that was because I'd reviewed it, back in 2003. So yeah, I guess I've been there a while...

Here, for no particular reason, is a picture of some tomatoes.

Altho today was punctuated by some unpleasant mucking out of the front porch, it was overall super fun, with a radio show, and then an actual night out of doing stuff. Sarah and I met up with spacegrrl at Q Shack and then we all went to see Corpse Bride. Which is phenomenal and gorgeous and sweet and funny and y'all should all go see it right now. Plus we got trailers for the Wallace & Gromit movie and Goblet of Fire (which looks amazing!!). Also also plus, there's a humongo Halloween store right that's set up seasonal home in the abandoned packaging store next to ye multiplex.

Not even the world's loudest, most persistent and perhaps least talented funk band could put a damper on the fun.



...good times

The best news for today, so far, was getting to the station and finding a package in the mail with a couple of CDs from the Mr. Bongo label. Most definitely that deserves a w00t!. They're small and UK-based so I figured we'd never see any of their stuff at XDU. But apparently just started working with a promo service and sending CDs to US radio and I'm quite thrilled that we're on their list.

Made it thru the week. Sort of. I'll have to go into work on Sunday, if I have any hope of staying on top of the week-to-come. Several major things are all hitting at once. So anyway, yeah... ya do what you gotta to get it all done. Was hoping to go up to Pru Corner sometime in Octobre, but doesn't look like that's gonna work out. Maybe when it's all over but the shouting Sarah and I can get away for a weekend somewhere.
No word yet on whether the front porch has been declared a Superfund site. I'm planning to drag all the stuff out tomorrow AM and just mop the hell out of the floor. I'd like to slap down some primer and a coat of paint while I'm at it but that'll have to wait for next weekend I guess.

What I learned today: I can, apparently, get along quite well for days on about 6 hours sleep without feeling sleep deprived and stupid. (note: I may actually be sleep deprived and stupid, but I don't feel that way, which is really all that matters) But throw in a night when I barely muster 5 hours and I'm pretty much gonna be falling off the table by the end of that next day. You know it's bad when you pay for a $4 something and don't notice until hours later that you only $6 change back from your $20. And when I say you I of course mean me.

Distant early warning: I'll be back on air this Saturday, 1-3pm for Mondo Mundo (radio version). Given the amount of wrrld psychedelia floating around the XDU playlist lately, I think a massive global freakout is pretty much guaranteed.

We're all about the links tonight here at the House of Dioxin.
First, (via Pinky) we have Neubauten cookery. Fütter mein ego, indeed.
Next, (via boing²) giant pink bunny in Italy -- with bonus snarking from the Guardian.
And finally, I was pleased recently to discover that pocketpig was back up and running again. I think I was reading pocketpig before I even knew what a blog was. Certainly long before I ever thought of having one of my own. There's something odd about dropping in on the lives of people you'll in all likelihood never meet, but every once in a while someone's story (or story telling) will just hook me in. Sometimes I'm not even sure I could articulate why I find X or Y blog interesting.

then again, sometimes I'm not even sure I find this blog interesting

Last minute reminder: I'm on the air tonight, 10pm to midnight. 88.7fm for the locals, or the website for those so inclined. You'll also be able to check the playlist as it happens.
Earlier today the XDU listserv blew the hell up. In condensed form the message from one of my fellow DJs to the rest of the station was: why must you persist in being who you are instead of who I want you to be? In other words, the story of countless doomed romances. Which is not the say that XDU is perfect. Like all other people and institutions, it could clearly be a better version of what it is. And, of course, change is not only possible but constant. However, to me, there are few things more annoying than someone who gets involved with you (whether you're a person or a college radio station) only or even mostly because they want to change you, to make you over into their version of you. Better? For them, perhaps. For you? Perhaps not.
The other thing that horked me about today's farm-film-listserv-blowup was the claim that "unless I review 5 or 6 CDs a week, I can't do the kind of show I want and still make playlist." (For those who came in late, XDU requires 6 tracks per hour from playlist CDs, of which there are usually over 100). This to me is a really precious over-attachment to "my sound, my show." It's just 2 hours of radio, people. My show may be my expression but it is not me. If it sucks (Gang Gang Dance), it does not mean that I suck. Likewise, if it's great, I do not suddenly become personally great. I mean, I've been at XDU long enough that I could probably do weeks worth of shows playing nothing but CDs I've reviewed and still make playlist. And that would drive me totally batshit. How boring. How lazy. Grrr.. snarl... phoeey... get over yrself

(thanks, I feel much better now)

Here's something cool that got boingled a couple days ago -- a set of pics on Flickr of out jazz drummer Han Bennink playing a drumkit made of cheese. If I'm reading the captions correctly, it's from an art show in Toronto earlier this year.

XDU wrrld music top 10 (week ending 18 spt 05) ::

Cambodian Rocks, vol 2 :: various
Mogollar :: Mogollar
los Dug Dugs :: los Dug Dugs
Rio Baile Funk: Favela Booty Beats :: various
ASAP: Afrobeat Sudan Aid Project :: various
Strong Fire :: Mandorico
Swinging Mademoiselles: Groovy French Sounds of the 60s :: various
You've Stolen My Heart :: Kronos Quartet and Asha Bhosle
Bango :: Bango
Latin Soul: NY Barrio Grooves, 1966-1972 :: various

Tonight's movie pick is Point Blank, a classic revenge flick from 1967. Starring Lee Marvin, as a man left for dead who returns... well, he says it's for the money he was cheated out of. But it's really vengeance. Except he doesn't so much deliver retribution as signal its arrival. He shows up and bad things start happening. John Boorman directs, throwing some noir flourishes and a lotta art house chops into the mix (I was esp. struck by the way he plays sound from one scene over another). In addition to Marvin, who is brilliant, it's fun seeing many now-familiar faces in the cast, inc. Angie Dickinson, Carroll O'Connor, and Keenan Wynn, who were already well established by that point. Also, Marvin's original nemesis played by John Vernon (who would go on to play Dean Wormer, in Animal House) and an admiring sniper, played by James B. Sikking (Howard, from Hill Street Blues).
Oh yeah, and lotsa cool late-60s clothes, hairstyles, and cars. And a great fight scene during which Marvin punches some guy in the crotch. In all the movie fights I've seen, I don't think I've ever seen that. Kicking, sure, but this is the first crotch punch.
More, with spoilers, after the jump

While I'm waiting for No Reservations to start up again with the new episodes already, and while I'm avoiding tomorrow's premiere of Kitchen Confidential: le Sitcom (like I said, I'm glad he's getting paid but... still.. no), I'm pleased to discover that the NYTimes Link Generator finally coughed up a link, after about a month of failure. So here's a story from today's paper about Tony Bourdain. When I get around to building the House of Dioxin Hall of Cool Mofos, Bourdain's is one of the first pics going on the wall.

Watched Humanoids from the Deep last night. Every bit as deliriously awful as it was back in the 80s. Of course, it has one of the obvious markers of le bad cinema -- it stars Doug McClure!! To really get into movies like Humanoids... you've gotta be able to just switch off parts of your brain. The parts that deal with critical thinking, logical consistency, the finer things in life, etc. You wouldn't think that a movie that kills off a child and several dogs in the first 10 minutes could sink much lower, but it actually manages to find ways to be even more depraved. Still there's something stupidly admirable about its ability to cram nearly every horror cliché into one movie. Or maybe it's just that the movie's engrained in my head from all those times listening to the Witch Trials' song "Humanoids from the Deep" (which is basically Jello Biafra narrating the plot from memory over some nasty synth lines)

Work today. Whoop-dee-frikkin-overtime... I thought it was just gonna be an hour or two of nothing much interesting, but just the kinda "attention to detail" job that I'd never be able to get to in a normal 9-5 day. Even though I was there longer than I'd hoped, at least it's all done but the shouting. And photocopying.
Stopped at Home Depot on the way back from work and picked up this nifty little hand miter saw kit, which should work fine for the baseboards.
Other randomness...
On the way in this morning, someone in the next lane to me at a red light signalled me to roll down my window and asked me for directions. I told them they needed to go left at the third traffic light. But when I got there I saw them ahead of me going straight past the point where I'd told them to turn. I'm guessing they didn't count the light we were stopped at when I gave them directions. But I did. Hope they found their way to where they were going.
An interesting thing about telling a story like this, I've noticed, is that people will feel compelled to share with you their own stories of nature red in tooth and claw. So far I've heard tales involving various sorts of shock!horror! encounters involving rabbits, snakes, dogs, unidentifiable bits o' something (with bone)... thank you all for sharing.
More playlist fun -- this is not my very first show evah, but probably not more than my 3rd or 4th. It's definitely the oldest playlist I've found by several months.

And now, a brief interruption to Dogfish Month to say a few words about Wild Goose Pumpkin Patch Ale. I picked up a sixpack of this, mostly on a whim. I generally like Wild Goose beers. But I generally don't care much for pumpkin ales. If I'd read the label more closely and seen that it was spiced I probably wouldn't have bought it at all. Yet, it's really quite good. Neither overwhelmingly pumpkin-y or overly spiced. I'm actually rethinking my opinions on spiced beverages. If you'd asked me a month or so ago I'd have said that spiced (or flavored) beer was much worse than spiced (or flavored) coffee. But the Pumpkin Patch Ale is pretty damn good. And, more to the point, every single time (usually about once every month to six weeks) I've succumbed to temptation and tried some kind of flavored/spiced coffee (with the exception of iced vanilla latte), I've found it anywhere from unpleasant to impossible to actually finish the coffee. Spiced-type coffees always smell so good when they're brewing. But while I used to think that one sip was the best idea ever and one cup was the worst, I'm now coming around to realizing that spiced coffee, if not a whollly bad idea, it's just not for me. At all.
Flavored beer? I'm still thinking the Pumpkin Patch might just be the exception to the rule. But I'm less certain than before. However I'm definitely not ready for banana lambic

Here's the playlist for tonight's Divaville. I had a blast, even though I was completely exhausted and the headphones were dead so I couldn't hear myself during talksets. Found some excellent stuff on the Jazz vinyl shelves, including a Johnny Hartman record, a Tony Bennett/Count Basie collaboration, and some 30s big band swing I'd never heard of. Oh, and of course, Cole Porter's Aladdin. Done for television in 1958. With Cyril Ritchard, Anna Maria Alberghetti, Sal Mineo, Basil Rathbone and Akim Tamiroff. Sadly, Tamiroff didn't have any songs. But the Cyril Ritchard number I played was a wonderfully goofy bit o' Porter. Had a very nice call from a listener (who, strangely, seemed to have been previously unaware of the existence of Divaville) asking about a Blossom Dearie song I'd played, and about "No Wonder Taxes are High." Turns out I mis-spoke to her. I speculated that it was unlikely that Cole Porter's Aladdin had been released on CD. I was wrong

Last night's show went well, I think. Apart from the Gang Gang Dance track I played. Sorry any GGD fans out there but that just sounded like pointless unfocused bleating to me. On the other hand, it's only 4 minutes of radio or so, and near the end of the show. Plus, anyone who wasn't driven away by that surely was by the 7.5 minute remix of "Time is Money" that I played shortly thereafter. < fogey >Kids, lemme tell ya, those were the days when people knew how to make nasty unpleasant music.< /fogey >
Once again, I failed on the distance-listener request. But I did get a call for some Spearhead. Which was nice, cos it got me to finish off the New Orleans set on a more redemptive note than I'd been thinking of. Also got a call asking about "George Bush Doesn't Care About Black People." Positive feedback is always welcome. I wish, though, that K.O. had mixed that Kanye sample a bit further to the front. It's so quiet I'm thinking it got lost in the segue even tho I had the levels pushed way up. oh well...
At least the AC's fixed. And the webstream's apparently back up and running as well

Word the first: for my distance listeners (I know y'all are legion... legion = 2, right?), there's apparently some sorta problem with the webstream tonight. The problem is that it's not working, or at least not working consistently.
Word the second: gluttons for punishment are advised that I'll be on the air again, tomorrow, from 6 to 8pm, guest-hosting Divaville. There are several new additions to the HoD library (swankiness division), inc. CDs by Sammy Davis, Jr., Dean Martin, and a spiffy new compilation called Cocktails With Cole Porter. I imagine I'll be featuring those. And, y'know, playing something to fill the other 3/4 of the show.

Suggested by recent comments from Mr. Ventril, here are a few wrrld music CDs I've been groovin' to over the last few months.

Mzansi Music collects new sounds from South Africa, focusing mostly on hip hop, Afrohouse and kwaito. I'm particularly fond of the Mzekezeke track, which disses fellow MCs for speaking English in their raps and being weak imitations of US hiphop instead of doing original SA hiphop.
Possibly the CD I've most been looking forward to is You've Stolen My Heart, Kronos Quartet's tribute to legendary filmi composer R. D. Burman. Done in collaboration with the even-more-legendary Asha Bhosle (I'm pretty sure that, as talented as he was, no pop songs were ever composed about R. D. Burman). This is just spectacular. The songs are great. Kronos sounds magnificent. I think Burman's music is a much better fit for them than some of the Mexican tunes they were arranging for Nuevo, And Bhosle's voice is still breath-taking, even this late in her career.
Three CDs that are still kicking in the XDU top 10 are also among my faves for the year: Moussu T, Amadou & Mariam, and Zuco 103. I'm pretty sure I've already sufficiently raved about Moussu T (way funkier than anything with that much banjo has any right to be) and Amadou & Mariam (w/ Manu Chao... w00t!). Whaa! is Zuco 103's third CD and I think it's their best yet. They've added a lot of dancehall and reggae influences into their Brasilectro sound -- Lee "Scratch" Perry even joins in for a couple of tracks.

I shall be continuing with the same schedule at XDU for the fall semester. Wednesdays 10pm to midnight. I trust y'all know the drill by now... 88.7fm for the locals, or the website for those so inclined. You'll also be able to check the playlist as it happens. Dropping by there, you'll also notice that I've been taking advantage of PLmanager to store some of my XDU history. I found a big stack of old flowsheets while I was cleaning up around my desk. Probably I won't enter them all. But at least a random sampling will be appearing as I find time to look thru them.

So I think someone threw food at me this morning. I was driving along the Durham Freeway, like most mornings. And there was some jamoke tail-gating me (absolutely no bonus points for guessing what type of vehicle he was driving). It's not like I was poking along. Sure, I was in the left lane. But I was, against better fuel-economy wisdom, going noticeably over the speed limit. Passing cars in the right lane. And etc. But something about my driving was not pleasing to the gentleman behind me. Perhaps it my insistence on staying 2 car-lengths behind the car in front of me. At any rate, he rode my tailpipe for a while. As soon as we'd cleared all the slower moving traffic to the right, he whipped around me, at which point he threw something out his window. Altho it splatted harmlessly onto the Durham Freeway, something about the arc makes me think he was aiming for me. Not sure what it was -- breakfast biscuit? mcmuffin? But there was a goodly amount of it. I take personal satisfaction from the fact that this guy threw about half his breakfast out the window, probably on account of me interfering with his god-given right to drive 85mph.

... i win

XDU wrrld music top 10 (week ending 11 spt 05) ::

ASAP: Afrobeat Sudan Aid Project :: various
Swinging Mademoiselles: Groovy French Sounds of the 60s :: various
Bango :: Bango
Rough Guide to the Music of the Sahara :: various
Latin Soul: NY Barrio Grooves, 1966-1972 :: various
Dimanche à Bamako :: Amadou & Mariam
Mademoiselle Marseille :: Moussu T e lei Jovents
Whaa! :: Zuco 103
Island Life :: Yerba Buena
Aquarius Rock: the Hip Reggae World of Herman Chin-Loy :: various

Okay so it's Sunday morning and not only have I read thru the NYTimes online but I even did something productive -- went out and weed-whacked around some of the places where the mower won't go (actually, I guess that's more destructive, but the point remains). What better way to wrap up the pre-noon hours than writing about beer? Yes, Dogfish month continues, with Raison d'Etre. And, yes, it's brewed with raisins. And, yes, the name's a horrible pun but the beer's actually good enough that I can forgive that. Which is saying a lot because I hate puns. But I wouldn't have named it "best beer." It doesn't quite match up, for me, to the 90 Minute IPA. Nor has it tempted me, per the website, to sip it from a snifter. A pint glass will do just fine, thanks.

Here's an interesting post from John August about working on the script for Corpse Bride, which I, like all right-thinking folks, am well looking forward to.
We were planning to go out to Starlite tonight to see the Herbie movie. But I ended up crashing hard late this afternoon. Not so much that it was all that busy a day (yes, a trip to the farmer's market and some yard work but really nothing major) as the week catching up with me -- between various work and auto related hijinks and the fact that I've moved into a sleep cycle where it's basically out of the question that I'll be in bed before 1am. So anyway, we had to miss tonight's drivein. Will try again next weekend. Instead we watched the Band Wagon on TCM. Not Astaire's best work (that came in the RKO days) but one of the best of his later (MGM) movies. Royal Wedding I like maybe a little bit more but it's hard to argue with any Vincente Minnelli film. Esp. one with Cyd Charisse.

AV Geeks tonight was all marionettes, all the time. Did not have the supa 70s power of the last one I went to, back in March. But at least it wasn't a grim British slog thru the post-nuclear wasteland. Several of tonight's were instructional films about phones by Bil Baird. Those reminded me a lot of the MST3K fave A Case of Spring Fever. Two shorts with a marionette named Pirro (not, mind you, Pierrot... we don't need no damn Frenchy spellings 'round here thank you) whose mostly unseen puppetmaster had nicely cuffed trousers and a laidback demeanor that made Bob Ross sound like a speed freak. Oh yeah, and a safety film which illustrated the dangers of setting your clothes on fire by setting marionettes on fire.
Always a fun night out. And, as usual, a happenin' crowd. Tonight's scenesters included: Minty, Xta, Charo, and the Pinkersons.

...good times

Here's a link to a bit o' protest music or whatever you wanna call it (via la Boing). Expect to hear this on my show next Wednesday. It's got a nice upbeat Nawlins kinda bounce while it's calling out Bush & Co on how massively they've screwed up... well, everything. I mean, it's hard to imagine how they could've done worse other than going down there and drowning people with their bare hands.
On a related note, I hear someone in Louisiana told Dick Cheney to go fuck himself. Well, that's not very polite I suppose. But a not unreasonable response given what the citizens of the Gulf Coast have been thru. And it gets extra style points for referencing Cheney's encounter with Patrick Leahy.
To me it seems a pretty simple equation. If you think that Bush deserves credit for how things went down post-9/11 then he's in line for blame for how things have fallen apart post-Katrina.
But what the hell do I know? I must hate America. Or myself. So go ahead and feel sorry for me or whatever. At least I don't believe in a god who's a vengeful sociopath. Yes, in another step forward for rationality, some group of free thinkers announced that Katrina was god's wrath on the abortion clinics of NOLA. I guess all those people in Plaquemines, Biloxi, Gulfport, Mobile, etc are just collateral damage. Too bad for them that god turns out to be Eric Rudolph...

You can see, I think, why I've been avoiding writing much about this stuff. Reality is conforming way too much to a deeply rooted dark and cynical worldview that I usually try not to spend so much quality time with

Oh bother...
Yes, it's that time of year again. First off, one can only agree with wordnerdy as to the abject coolness of the Harry Potter iPod. But, of course, it's the nano that's killing me. Is it asking too much to not have my cool toys rendered obsolete within 7 months of buying them? Well, yes, I guess it probably is...
At least I don't need to worry about the iPod cell phone thingy, since it's only available from Cingular, which is not our phoneco.

First, some backstory: on our last night in Savannah, Sarah and I had dinner at Toucan Café (which was wonderful -- one of the best dinners of the whole trip). Sarah had this cold cucumber-avocado soup for an appetizer. Super delicioso! Fast forward about a week, to this evening. I decided to make some for dinner tonight. Found a recipe online, went to the store, and etc. All pretty typical. But I had an Adam Savage moment during prep. It's a ridiculously easy recipe. Just chopped cucumber and avocado, some scallion, water, yogurt, cilantro, and garlic. Then you run it thru the blender. I decided to make a double-batch. Seemed like a good idea at the time. But I'm standing there next to the blender and wondering, "hey, what's that funny smell?" At which point I noticed the magical blue smoke coming out of the base, where the motor was at that moment frying itself to oblivion. Guess the double batch wasn't the best idea. And here I was thinking the food processor was the kitchen appliance most in need of replacing...

Time for deep dark confessions from the kitchen. This will probably revoke any culinary cred I've managed to rack up anywhere, but my absolute favorite knives (evah!) are the Slipad series from Ikea. I know, I know... they're everything a "good" knife isn't supposed to be: serrated, plastic handles, cheap. Hell, they're so cheap they're practically disposable. But they're sturdy, pretty hard-wearing (so far), the handles are comfortable. And they cut things. In short, just the kind of unexciting functionality (I did not see any of the whimsical color options when I was shopping) you'd expect from those wacky Swedes. Sure, I'll never develop Jacques Pepin worthy skill-levels using Ikea knives. But that'll probably never happen regardless of what knife I'm using. And these do pretty much everything I need a knife to do.

Well, I feel better having gotten that off my chest. Thanks for listening...

Big thumbs up to the socially concerned and non-lactose-intolerant population of Carrboro, who were lined up in droves at Mapleview Farms this afternoon (all proceeds going to hurricane relief). I decided to pass up waiting out in the sun, figuring I could come home and, in far less time, make a donation online while eating ice cream. Which is what I did. Well, almost. Actually I was drinking a beer at the time.

Here's today's down 'n dirty cooking tip. If you find yourself with some leftover spinach salad that you're no longer enthused about eating, you can zap it thru the food processor and turn it into a tasty sauce that's good on sauteed chicken. I tried this tonight with some spinach/gorgonzola salad from WFM, but I think it should work with any type of spinach salad. As long as there's enough dressing -- it's kinda like making spinach pesto.

hey locals!
Eat ice cream and contribute to Katrina relief efforts today at Mapleview Farms

Durham's eclecticism is the ruler by which all midsized Southern cities are measured

...in your face, Shelbyville!

As mentioned several times previously here and on other discerning blogs (ETA: there used to be a link here but that site's been taken down), NC has finally gotten it together and removed the ridiculously low 6% ABV limit on beer. Most of the buzz has been about Belgian beers. That's mostly what they've stocked at WFM/Durham. And nothing wrong with that but I'm not a big fan. Of more interest to me is Sam's (aka, Durham's finest kwik-e-mart) newly impressive stock of beers by Dogfish Head. I declare that September is Dogfish month. Unless I start drinking to excess (fun perhaps, but not in my plans), I figure it'll be close to October before I've sampled all the currently available 4- and 6-packs. And things are off to a fabulous start with the 90 Minute Imperial IPA. I don't know all the approved terminology (hey, if I wanted drinking with an "official language" I'd go get into wine) but I can say that the 90, while stronger and just all around bigger than a typical IPA, is still damn smooth and still recognizable (and drinkable) as beer. Unlike, say, Sam Adams Triple Bock, which is more of a sipping drink, like brandy or cognac. I imagine Dogfish's 120 Min. IPA to be similar. Altho if I understand the new law correctly, the limit's now 15% which still cuts Triple Bock and 120 Min. IPA, both of which check in around 20%

Here's the playlist from this afternoon's show. I seem to have screwed up the start time when I logged on and have the show running from noon-2pm. PLmanager, alas, does not seem to want to let me edit the show info. I'm sure there's a way to do it. I just haven't figured it out yet. Turned out to be a pretty good show, even if there were no requests or calls. In another sign of the impending change o' seasons, the mail was chock full of musical goodness, inc. another in the Latin Travels series from Six Degrees, new CD from Boubacar Traore, and (especially) the new Kronos Quartet tribute to R. D. Burman, with Asha Bhosle (!!!) guesting on vocals. Long-range musical alert: Asha Bhosle will be appearing with Kronos at 4 shows on their upcoming tour: 9/22 & 9/23 in SF, 9/24 in LA, and 4/8/06 in NYC.

Here's something cool. (found via Sepia Mutiny) An online archive of depictions of the Punjab in the Victorian press. Articles and engravings from many publications, with pub. dates referenced. This would have been so helpful about 5 years ago. Fascinating stuff. And even though it's not at this time a useful research tool, it now reminds me of many afternoons spent looking thru copies of ILN in the basement of Perkins Library.

Late warning: I'll be on the air from 1pm to 3pm this afternoon. Locals are advised to approach 88.7fm with caution. Those at a safer distance will be at their peril accessing the XDU website. Wrrld music of some sort will be played. I've no idea right now what it'll be but I'm hoping to come up with something in the next few hours. Perhaps after I've had some coffee...

Like many, I've been feeling overwhelmed by the news out of the Gulf Coast, particularly New Orleans. Which is, obviously, a nice luxury to have -- as opposed to, y'know, being there. If this has hit a bit closer than some other tragedies it's perhaps because I was in NO last spring. Whereas I've never been to Malaysia. For me, what's made this week more horrid, though, is the gap between what I'd expected could be done in the aftermath and what's actually been done (aka, the moral equivalent of fuck all). This is, after all, the richest nation on the planet with enough money and power to make Midas blush. And I'd have thought we could do better for a city that's here as opposed to half way around the globe...
So I donate money and continue with my life. For, trivial though it may be, it's the only one I've got

Still catching up from trip. Here's the Hamburger Harley. This may be the most impressive art car I've ever seen up close & personal. There might be some I've liked more but in terms of the quality of work, I'm hard pressed to think of anything that's more impressive. I'd seen it before as it shows up in Harrod Blank's followup movie to Wild Wheels which he screened in Houston last year. But (as with so many things, film's no substitute for the actual experience.
On Saturday PM, after the parade in Mt. Dora, we all parked the cars around downtown. Since we were only a few blocks from the hotel, I went back to the room to rest for a minute and put on a clean, not-sweated-thru shirt. When I came out of the room, I passed Harry, the Hamburger Harley's driver/creator on his way back to his room. When I walked out of the hotel, there was the Harley. That was the first time I'd seen it. At last year's parade Harry had burned out his clutch on the hilly for the area streets of Mount Dora, so he didn't drive in this year's parade. He'd parked the Harley on his way to taking it downtown for the afternoon. That's when I took this shot. While I was futzing around with the camera, a car drove up and someone got out, asking me if I was with the Hamburger Harley. They were delivering the box lunches provided by the event to each driver. When I told them Harry had gone into his room, they followed him in. Only to return minutes later, lunch still in hand. Either I'd given them the wrong room number or he'd told them to deliver the lunch later, when he was actually at his parking space.
Later on Saturday night, there was a birthday party for Harry. Carolyn (Stink Bug) had arranged a cake (shaped like a hamburger). There were sparklers, glow sticks, most of the drivers from the event. It was a pretty good time, esp. cos it was held at this very redneck, biker sorta sports bar. Which I suspect may have been the only place open late in Mount Dora. Just watching the drunks react to the art cars in the parking lot, esp. Fat Rat, which Bob was driving around for a while, was well worth the trip.


good times...