We had a very nice (altho too short) Thanksgiving up in Delaware. Now we're back in cold, rainy, dreary Durm. The only highlights of today were home-made biscuits for breakfast (yay, Sarah!) and the Divaville Lounge Doubleshot this afternoon. It was great fun. Here's the playlist. We got several nice phone calls inc. a request (for "Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair"), an opinion that Divaville Lounge should be on 24 hours a day, and a call from Womzilla to let us know that "the Yam" appears is the movie Carefree. I swear to the FSM that Sarah and I had the same exact conversation about what movie "the Yam" is from and the fact that we couldn't remember in a previous show that we co-hosted. There was also a call from a disgruntled fan of the local music show that usually airs from 4-6pm. I didn't take the call but apparently he rather loudly and belligerantly let Sarah know that he wasn't enjoying the music we were playing. I believe he referred to it as the worst thing he'd ever heard. Several things come to mind: (1) unless he's been strapped down to a chair and his radio glued to 88.7 I rather think changing to XYC would probably solve his "problem" faster than calling us; (2) if Ricardo Montalban and Esther Williams singing "Baby It's Cold Outside" is the worst thing he ever hears in his life, he should consider himself damn lucky; (3) I see a new t-shirt slogan -- WXDU: the worst thing you've ever heard in your life!

Here's some Fred Astaire to wrap up your week.

As I expected, all the Xmas tree lots that I passed on Wed. were well stocked up. Here's an important consumer tip, since I know y'all are coming here for the holiday home decor advice: DO NOT bring a fresh cut tree into your house the day after Thanksgiving. I mean, unless you want it to be kindling by St. Lucia's Day. I don't care what kind of Mythbusters shit you're planning to break out, that pine is not lasting four weeks inside your house. It's just not gonna happen. If you need to bring the Yule before you even run out of Thanksgiving leftovers, get a fake tree.

Whatever you're doing for the holidays, hope you're having fun

So these are my three favorite current internets rumors:
1. An Italian restaurant in the soon-to-open Wynn Encore (in Vegas) will be called Sinatra and will have memorabilia on display, including Frank's Oscar. I've long thought that Vegas was sorely lacking in Rat Pack themed options. Probably because the Sinatra estate has been more protective of his legacy than, say, the Presley estate. No idea if the food will be any good or if it will just be a high rent ring-a-ding-ding version of a Hard Rock Café but I'm surely planning to find out first chance I get.
2. There is a Serge Gainsbourg biopic in development. Trés hip, trés cool...
3. Kids in the Hall are supposedly working on a deal to bring a show of some kind to Caesar's Palace in LV. If that happens I get there in a mean hurry. Vegas has a very mixed record with any kind of "edgy" or "different" shows. Penn & Teller's long run is more the exception. The mixed reviews and short duration for Avenue Q is much more common. So while I'd expect a Sinatra restaurant to have a pretty good chance of sticking around, it wouldn't surprise me to see a Kids in the Hall show get bounced outta town pretty quickly.

note: I know, I know... by the internets rule book, I should link back to where I found these rumors. But I'm tired. Y'all can use teh Google to figure it out if you should care.

XDU wrrld music top 10 (week ending 23 nov 08)

Inspiration Information :: Amp Fiddler/Sly & Robbie
Live at the Village Vanguard :: Bebo Valdes & Javier Colina
Sprechen sie Pop? :: various
Earth Gift :: Kevin Locke
Alegranza :: El Guincho
Sprigs of Time: 78s from the EMI Archives :: various
Sarod Recital: Live in Peshawar :: Asad Qizilbash
Mali Koura :: Issa Bagayogo
Shivaboom :: Eccodek
1970s Algerian Proto-Rai Underground :: various

this week's video feature: Eccodek

Sullivan speaks truth to power. At work today, the classic hits radio station (as hair-splittingly opposed to the classic rock station) that someone was listening to had started to mix in the Xmas music. They haven't switched to ALL Xmas music all the time, altho I'm sure many in many places have. But I did hear Bing singing "White Christmas" (admittedly a great song, if overplayed but I am not wanting to hear it this week). And, much much much worse, the fucking Chipmunks. Now I happen to think that playing (or I guess I should say programming, since commercial radio DJs only spin the playlist the get from HQ) the Chipmunks Christmas song should be a fireable offense. But 3 days before Thanksgiving? Firing is too merciful. Stabbing seems a more fitting response.

In this week's installment of HoD beer blogging, I'd like to plug away for St. Ambroise Pale Ale. From Montreal. A nice hoppy ale. Not overwhelming or life-changing but really really tasty.
Or if you like your beers a bit more on the extreme side you might wanna check out the Ruination IPA from Stone. It's not as insane as the hype on the bottle makes out but it's definitely a big hoppy monster, even compared to the glad hand with the hops you find in American micros like Dogfish. I might not ever drink another but I enjoyed the one I had. Up next from Stone, either the Oaked Arrogant Bastard or the Smoked Porter.

Since it's only mid-November (okay, I guess it's more like late mid-November or early late November), I really haven't been tuned into the local Frozen White Death from Above watches. Thus, I was a bit surprised to walk outside this morning and see that there had been observable snowfall. Not measurable, mind you. I'd say on the FWDfA terror index this rated a fairly low Cookie Monster. Not as low as flurries that never visibly stick to anything but pretty close since the only visible traces were on car roofs.
/panic off

I was trying to write up this (theoretically) amusing incident that happened at work today but I've gone thru three different versions now and it always ends up sounding like something out of Reader's Digest. And I do not hold up "Life in These United States" as the style model for entries on this blog. So that content has been abandoned.

Here, instead, is a link to an excellent article on Texas barbecue by Calvin Trillin.

Also, another installment in the Robert Rodriguez 10-Minute Cooking School.

Let the randomness reign:

Thomas Kinkade™ brings the suck
More infomation about serving cheese than you could ever need. Plus the "yes i'm 12" humor bonus of lots of references to cutting the cheese.
Nate Silver rules our world
And, finally, the single funniest thing I've seen all week (yes, even funnier than the Kinkade memo or Nate pwning a wingnut): Scalzi v. Wheaton ftw

So I have a new winner for geekiest local vanity plate. To review, earlier contestants were:
OVRCLCKD
NAZGUL
PIKACHU
AMIGLUON
PORKRIND

An impressive group, to be sure. And while I'm hesitant to declare a final winner, I think it will be hard to top:
R2D2

Note: none of these were on VW Beetles which are a category unto themselves.

XDU wrrld music top 10 (week ending 16 nov 08)

Alegranza :: El Guincho
Sprechen sie Pop? :: various
More, Love! :: Terne Chave
1970s Algerian Proto-Rai Underground :: various
Sprigs of Time: 78s from the EMI Archives :: various
Journey to the West :: Monkey
Bionico :: Bio Ritmo
Strela Zastavena v Jantaru :: Kvety
Mali Koura :: Issa Bagayogo
Passport :: Brooklyn Rider

this week's video feature: El Guincho

I ended up subbing Divaville Lounge this afternoon, as Sarah was still under the weather. It went pretty well. Here's the playlist. Lots of swing and lots of Ellington. I had a good time.

Note to the radio station I happened to tune into while on my way to the store this afternoon: I don't care what you say. It's November 16th. It is NOT beginning to look a lot like Xmas. Fuck you.

Or if that's too hostile, please enjoy this silly video of bunnies (via Neatorama):

Interesting mini-interview w/ David Rees on Bookslut (actually from last week, but I'm still getting caught up). And if you haven't seen the GYWO post-election video (which I can't find a link to right now), well, you should.

Interesting (to me, at least) story about logo redesign of the iconic I "heart" NY. I actually kinda like the snow version. Altho I agree that the squirrel is wack. And the whole thing is definitely not looking like anyone's getting their 17 million dollars worth.

Note: above is one of the few good pics I was able to get last Tuesday while we were hanging withe the crowd in downtown Durham enjoying the historical moment and all that.

It's down to the final 3 on ANTM. There really hasn't been much suspense for a while. Once they shitcanned Lauren Cheese it seemed pretty obvious to me that it was gonna end up McKey vs. Annaleigh. So not much suspense the last few weeks watching Elina, Marjorie and/or Sam end up in the bottom two as it's just been a matter of determining in which order they'll go out before the end. I think you can make a good case for either Annaleigh (more commercial, overall talented, and Cover Girl friendly) or McKey (actually tall enough to be a model, plus in the meta-narrative of ANTM it might be time for a more high-fashion/edgy winner since the mostly commercial Whitney won last cycle).

Not that I have any idea what I'm talking about...

Here's a fun list (via Serious Eats) of TV/movie chefs. (fair warning: it's one of those annoying page-hit generating BS click-thru galleries where each entry is a separate screen). But kudos to them for hitting on most all my faves, including the Swedish Chef, Lenny Henry's Chef!, Eat Drink Man Woman, Big Night, Ratatouille, Tampopo, and God of Cookery. The list is very now-centric, though. I'm sure Sarah will remember a bunch they missed from classic movies. The only one that comes immediately to my mind is Christmas in Connecticut with Barbara Stanwyck as a 1940s version of Martha Stewart.

What I learned on the internets today is that it's the anniversary of Route 66. Definitely a cause for celebration for fans of roadside America and blue highways. Here's a birthday salute from Neatorama. And here's some Nat King Cole:

XDU wrrld music top 10 (week ending 9 nov 08)

Sprechen sie Pop? :: various
Alegranza :: El Guincho
1970s Algerian Proto-Rai Underground :: various
Strela Zastavena v Jantaru :: Kvety
More, Love! :: Terne Chave
Le La :: Cankisou
Passport :: Brooklyn Rider
Sprigs of Time: 78s from the EMI Archives :: various
Bionico :: Bio Ritmo
Journey to the West :: Monkey

this week's video feature: Bellemou Messaoud

Check out these awesome artcar photos. Steph and Stephanie, friends of spacegrrl, have created an amazing bottle cap art car, Inspired by their visit to the Louisville art car event in 2005. More details here and here. But not actually here, since I wasn't on that trip.

Here's a few Durm dining notes from the last week or so:
Costa Azul, on Guess (across the street from Honey's) is definitely worth checking out. Very nice folks and the food was awesome. I heard good things about the burrito and the Salvadoran tamales. And I can personally vouch for the awesomeness of the torta cubana. It's not just good, it's "hey, where's my big sandwich?" good. Here's a write-up from Carpe Durham, which includes a pic of the sammich. Yum!
Speaking of places w/ nice people and great food, El Paraiso (on Alston, just below Main) is always good. I had the barbacoa and lengua tacos this time. Both good -- plus I think they're putting more "stuff" on the tacos now than they were over the summer. Altho the cabeza remains my fave there.
I highly recommend the fall menu at Watts Grocery. The spiked apple cider is a lovely cocktail (and I'm not just saying that cos it's a professional version of something I was fixing for myself around the house last fall). The fried green tomato appetizer while not terribly autumnal is terrifically good. The braised lamb shanks are really good and the pork porterhouse is killer. No room for dessert alas. Will report back with further findings when available.
Finally, this Tuesday is RSVVP Day. Participating restaurants will be donating 10% to organizations working to fight hunger.

have a happy weekend y'all

One of the effects (or side-effects or whatever-direction-effects) of having been thru the election cycle is that I've completely lost patience with anything that even smacks slightly of "oh there's no difference between Democrats and Republicans." Actually, I suppose it's less a function of the election than that the election crystallized the last 8 years. But anyway I just do not want to hear that shit. It's some kinda weird mutant cross of cynicism and sanctimony.
Oh, and someone please tell Ralph Nader to Shut The Fuck Up Already.

XDU wrrld music top 10 (week ending 2 nov 08)

Sprechen sie Pop? :: various
Shivaboom :: Eccodek
Alegranza :: El Guincho
Strela Zastavena v Jantaru :: Kvety
1970s Algerian Proto-Rai Underground :: various
More, Love! :: Terne Chave
Calypsoul 70: Caribbean Soul and Calypso Crossover :: various
Passport :: Brooklyn Rider
Sprigs of Time: 78s from the EMI Archives :: various
Bionico :: Bio Ritmo

this week's video feature: Bio Ritmo

Been mostly staying on the sunny side of life today. But now I'm sleep-deprived and stupid so I thought I'd take a stroll thru the streets o' schadenfreude. And it seems pretty clear that the McCain folks are sticking with what they know. Having spent the last month or so running a sharply negative campaign against now President-Elect Obama, they've now switched targets (w/o missing a beat) into running a sharply negative campaign against Gov. Palin. The knives are most definitely out and so far it looks like Team Palin is bringing a spoon to a spork fight. They better get Bill Kristol and Fred Barnes out there spinning or there won't be anything circular about this firing squad.

Ladies and gentlemen, the next President of the United States

I'm not gonna try to live blog election coverage but I just wanted to drop in to mention that I'm watching MSNBC right now and Chris Matthews is bloviating about all the bitter white people in western PA (y'know, tghe same shit that they raked Obama and Murtha over the coals for suggesting) and he's been going on and on and on. And they just cut to a reaction shot of Olbermann and had this look somewhere between puzzled (what the hell is this guy talking about?) and impatience (alright, I got it; will you shut the hell up so I can talk?)

Just wanted to mention how nice everyone that I encountered last night in Bahama was. Considering that we were a couple of guys dressed in black rolling up on their houses after dark or driving somewhat randomly around the streets everyone was unfailingly pleasant.

While you're trying to keep your head from a-sploding waiting for election returns, please enjoy another, earlier, live performance by XTC. Note presence of original keyboard player Barry Andrews and the fact that Andy looks like he's about 16 (he was, in fact, 24)

What I learned tonight is that it's really dark in Bahama. And it's probably easier to find houses if you're rolling the dark streets of Bahama with a GPS.

While you're waiting for those results from Dixon Notch, please enjoy this duet by Frank and Dino

The side-effect of the switch away from DST, of course, is the pseudo-jetlag that has me waking up an hour early.

While you're waiting for Election Day, please enjoy this, that rarest of all things, a live performance by XTC

So I was at work pretty much all day today and that's only slightly mitigated by the fact that last night was (finally) extra special bonus hour o' sleep night.
Can someone buy Gov. Palin a copy of the frikkin' constitution, please? (maybe Ron Paul could lend her one of his...)

While you're waiting for Election Day, please enjoy this fine filmed performance by the Casa Loma Orchestra