Most days when I'm out driving around I feel like I'm the person who's paying attention and saving people (and myself, of course) from the stupid mistakes they're making. So I got a little karmic return this morning. Driving to breakfast w/ Sarah, I flipped on my turn signal, looked in the rearview, and changed lanes. Only to hear this hellacious honking. Cos, of course, there was a fuckin' huge pickup looming up on me. Had been right in my blind spot and I just hadn't turned enough to see him. So, thank you, person in fuckin' huge pickup for not plowing into me, even tho I cut you off. For which I now apologize in front of the entire internet. Sometimes it amazes me that, in a semi-decaffeinated condition, I manage to arrive at work unscathed five days a week.

The ad wizards at Bravo apparently have decided that there's no suspense involved in Top Chef Masters for those of us watching and that it would therefore be a damn spiffy idea to run an ad for next week's episode which spoiled the 2nd winner of tonight's episode 20 fucking minutes before the actual end of tonight's episode. Fantastico!
Not at all related (well, it does involve chicken but in a completely different way) is this site which explains the poultry-based barter system to bring down healthcare costs. Important and useful information. Make sure to read the fine print at the bottom of the page. And remember, chickens should not drive you to the doctor.

First up in adventures in getting off the fence and telling us how you really feel, guitarist Pat Metheny lets us know what he thinks about Mr. Kenny G. I couldn't agree more. In general, I don't much dig the style of musical necrophilia that involves dubbing yrself onto a track by an artist who's (usually) much better and (always) much deader than you. I didn't like it when Natalie Cole started it. I thought the Dean Martin undead duets CD from a couple of years ago was quite wretched. I hadn't heard anything about this Kenny G v. Louis Armstrong project and I hope I never have to actually hear any of it.
And next, Jim Lahey (of the famous no-knead bread technique) delivers a few choice words on the "new" and "improved" Domino's pizza.

Jim Lahey Reviews The New Domino's Pizza from Ozersky.TV on Vimeo.

XDU wrrld music top 10 (week ending 25 april 10)

Nigeria Afrobeat Special - various
Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou, vol 2: Echos Hypnotiques - Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou
el Alcalde del Barrio - Joe Cuba
Leva-me aos Fados - Ana Moura
No Prisoners - Gaudi
Brazilian Guitar Fuzz Bananas - various
Akokan - Roberto Fonseca
Medicine Show vol. 4: 420 Chalice All-Stars - Madlib
San Juan '73 - Fania All Stars
Secretly Famous - the Spy from Cairo

this week's video feature: Gaudi

This weekend is the annual farm tour and we went again this year. Lisa and Jason joined Sarah and me. It was much less hot and sunny than last year. In fact, it seemed like it was about to rain for much of the afternoon. But we still only made it to three farms And we were still wiped out at the end of the day. You might not think that walking around and looking at stuff would be so tiring. But it kinda is. Esp. if you're an outta shape guy like me.
We went back to Fickle Creek. They're one of our favorites from the farmer's market and they a lot to see and there's lots of people there to answer questions and provide info and such. We all agreed it was one of the highlights. Next stop was Perry-winkle Farm. They're much smaller but we did get to chat with the farmers so that was nice. And our final stop was Chapel Hill Creamery. Again, lots to see and learn. That was my fave, nipping Fickle Creek just for the fact that it was all new to me.
A fun day out. Too bad they only do it once a year (altho maybe two full days of tourists and strangers stomping thru their fields is enough for most of the farmers)

A day perhaps not packed with surprises but still with a good share. What we got?
Well, there's Mr. Johnson acknowledging the Southern Strategy. As that Balloon Juice post points out, that's definitely the "accidentally telling the truth" definition of gaffe.
Anything else?
Well, there's Tim Tebow going in the first round. As the capsule analysis online at ESPN understated, that's a bit of a stretch. My guess is that Denver decided that, hell, they already had one first round pick so they could just go nuts with the second one.
That all we got?
Well, there's Project Runway but I'll put that behind the cut in case anyone's reading this day of and hasn't seen the finale yet.

I should be asleep (seeing as how I have to be up early making the radio magic happen) but instead I'm sitting here pondering just how meta some reality TV shows have gotten. I suppose it shouldn't be surprising. Once viewers start watching the shows in a meta stylee, eventually the editors putting the shows are gonna catch up with that. I feel like especially ANTM has really entered a post-modern phase. The shows seem to be created with this assumption that everyone watching has this memory of everything that's ever happened and a related meta-textual belief as to what's supposed to happen in any circumstance. And so they're editing the show to "surprise" the viewer. The problem is that by focusing on the meta-narrative they're making the actual narrative close to meaningless. We hear a detailed explanation which suggests that X will happen but then Y happens. Sure it's surprising but it's well on its way to random. But no reality show can afford to completely give up on the narrative (who will win? who will lose?) -- most people are not tuning in to see the process. Altho I think Top Chef Masters comes pretty close to that in the early rounds. Since the first episodes are just about eliminations and qualifying to the "champions round" (and it's all for charity as well) there's not as much at stake and it's as much about seeing who is there and seeing what happens as it is about who actually wins.
I've lost my train of thought... maybe I'm sleepier than I thought. What ANTM needs is someone randomly yelling out "extravaganza" or "Camaroon" or "LaBeija" during the runway portions. Perhaps Andre Leon Talley.

XDU wrrld music top 10 (week ending 18 april 10)

Brazilian Guitar Fuzz Bananas - various
Guitarra 66 - Tó Trips
Medicine Show vol. 3: Beat Konducta in Africa - Madlib
Vos Sabés Como Te Esperaba: A Tribute to Los Fabulosos Cadillacs - various
Me Lo Gané - Calle Real
Ali & Toumani - Ali Farka Touré and Toumani Diabate
Zebu Nation - Razia
Balkan Beats - various
Bollywood Remembers: the Best of the EMI Years - Laxmikant Pyarelal
Oro - Choc Quib Town

this week's video feature: Choc Quib Town

And this morning's "what he said" award goes to John Cole, who would like (some of) his readers to step back off his neck. It is ever true that there's just some folks, and you can almost never guess which ones, who are not gonna be able to deal well with you saying that you're not interested in the things that they're interested in. Like somehow they think if the whole world doesn't care about the same things they care about, Tinkerbell is gonna die. I seen examples of it with all kinds of topics -- sports, movies, music, food. But those are usually pretty mild. It's no surprise that it's religion that can really bring out the crazy. I'm thinking that part of it is that professional provocateurs like P.Z. Myers who are openly contemptuous and mocking of much of religious belief have some of Cole's readers feeling a bit hyper-sensitive. Not, mind you, that I think that's a particularly valid response. Please. Religion and religious belief is the still the expected norm in most of society. Running into a few pockets of disapproval, however vocal, should not turn you into such a wilting flower that any statement of disagreement sends you to your fainting couch. Or your ranting box. Probably more likely is that Balloon Juice commenters, like a lot of online groups. have formed a community online and some of the bases of that sense of community is a shared interest in, agreement with, or sense of being entertained by the writing/thoughts of John Cole and the other bloggers on the site. So maybe when the big dog of the site says something they don't agree with, it cuts a little. But still, see previous mentions of fainting couches and Tinkerbell. Are people so epistemically closed (to grab last week's buzzwords from blogospheria) that we freak out at any mention of differing viewpoints? Srsly. If John Cole or I or who-the-hell-ever has no use for religion, why should that make any difference to you? My lack of interest in something is mine. It says nothing about what you should be interested in.
Wait... what was I just saying about ranting boxes? Mr. Kettle, is that you?

It's fair to say I'm not much of a fan of Slate's William Saletan. He's usually writing about science issues and he's usually wrong (and annoying). But I gotta give him credit for an excellent takedown of the latest idiocy from Caribou Barbie. I know, I know. Fish... barrel... you do the math... But it's a good point, and one I hadn't thought of from quite that perspective. I guess it shouldn't be surprised that the party of denying reality would extend their fantasy land back into the past and start making up a history that never happened. People who think the Founding Fathers were opposed to the separation of church and state cannot, I suppose, be expected to grasp that the rebels and the empire aren't usually on the same side.
Cognitive dissonance: it's what's for dinner!

Thursday night was the Durham Bulls home opener. Fun night at the DBAP even if the Bulls did lose 6-4 (and it really wasn't that close). Of course, Friday night they won 14-7. But that's not the game we were at. Ah, the joys of early season minor league inconsistency. The next game we're planning on is the one-night-only return to the recently renovated DAP. That's where the Bulls used to play back in their AA days when they were affiliated with the Braves. That should be super fun.
Also on the mad social whirl, last night we went to check out the recently opened Fish Shack. Owned by the same folks as the Original Q-Shack just next door and even if we hadn't known they were open, we could tell the minute we stepped out the car, as the smell of frying things is now competing with the smell of smoking things. I had the fish tacos. Very good! Sarah had a shrimp po' boy which also got good reviews. We were there with S. and D. who gave the thumbs up to the fried shrimp basket as well. Hush puppies and collards seem to be the same as at Q-Shack. The slaw was different -- more of a pickled cabbage than any kind of mayo-based slaw. It was super crowded so I didn't wanna take up their time asking a lot of questions about the menu. Guess we'll just have to go back and conduct further investigations. Among the intriguing items on the menu are the nicoise salad (w/ grilled fish choices), the cobb salad (w/ fried fish choices), the low country boil, and the Shark Attack po' boy (fried crawfish and Q-Shack brisket). For those interested in such things they're not yet selling beer (I assume it's a delayed liquor license, which seems to happen a lot when new restaurants are opening). The floorplan is largely unchanged from Rockwood except they removed the bar and added a half wall to channel traffic to the ordering window. At least the giant fish on the wall now have a context in which they make sense.

Been meaning to post this for a while -- a nice story from CBS Sunday Morning (via Eat Me Daily) on legendary French baker Lionel Poilâne. Also includes reminiscences by Dorie Greenspan and Poilâne's daughter. There's something about the CBS reporter who shows up a couple of times in the story that makes me want to slap the shit out of him. Fortunately, he's only on camera for fleeting glimpses mostly so it doesn't render the clip unwatchable.
Anyway, back when Fowler's was still open, they were actually selling Poilâne loafs for a while. They were spendy (but cheaper than a flight to Paris). I regret that I never bought one.

I swear to you this (via Scalzi) is the worst idea in the history of bad ideas. It seems like something straight out the Onion but it apparently all too real. If you've been thinking that you really wanted to torment someone (possibly your child) but just couldn't think of any creative, horrible and just plain twisted enough, well now you can hire an evil clown to stalk and threaten your child. Or, I guess, anyone else you want to pay to have terrorized by a clown. And (ultimately) hit in the face w/ a pie.

No, I don't understand it either.

I think it might be time to put myself into another news embargo. When even watching Jon Stewart mocking the news has me screaming "the stupid... it burns!" then I might be getting a little too highly strung.
Or I could just think about food instead. Good point (I think it was on Carpe Durham) about the problem of underbaking the crusts of NY-style (thin crust) pizza. I'm not some crazed pizza purist who thinks that all pizza becomes magically wonderful just by virtue of being made in NYC. There's plenty of bad pizza in the five boroughs. Pretty much any place with "Ray" in the name is to be strenuously avoided, for example.But just today I had a slice from the usually reliable Assaggio's in Raleigh that was definitely having crust issues. A little on the floppy, soggy, toppings-sliding-off side. I thought that was an ongoing problem at the sadly closed Rockwood Filling Station as well. They never quite seemed to settle on how crisp they wanted their crusts. When they opened they were going for a very artisan, wood-oven char. In an oven that hot, it's a pretty thin line between that and burned. But I felt like they backed off a bit too much and the crusts ended up a bit soggy, especially in the middles. I think they also started adding more toppings which only made the problem worse. It's too bad that they closed because I felt like the last couple of times we went there they'd pretty much nailed the sauce to topping to crust ratio. But of course this is all completely subjective. Some people like thin crust. Some like thick. Or Sicilian. Or Chicago style. Or super crispy, almost cracker/flatbread. A lot (a whole hell of a lot) of people like to fight about the One True Pizza. While I am interested in what makes pizza good and have plenty of opinions, I am generally not (you may have noticed) one of those people. There are plenty of fights worth having on the internets. Why your favorite pizza sucks is really not one of them.

XDU wrrld music top 10 (week ending 11 april 10)

Brazilian Guitar Fuzz Bananas - various
Ali & Toumani - Ali Farka Touré and Toumani Diabate
Secretly Famous - the Spy from Cairo
Bollywood Remembers: the Best of the EMI Years - Laxmikant Pyarelal
Pomegranates - various
Oro - Choc Quib Town
Vos Sabés Como Te Esperaba: A Tribute to los Fabulosos Cadillacs - various
Guitarra '66 - Tó Trips
Balkan Beats - various
Lazy Bones - Witch

this week's video feature: Ali Farka Touré and Toumani Diabate

Hey, it's the 50th anniversary of Docs. And to mark the occasion they've commissioned a rather nifty collection of cover versions. There will be 10 in all but only the first three have been released so far. I gotta say that I'm surprised that there's only 2 artists on the list that I have never heard of at all. (XDU represent!)
Of the first three, I really only dig the DâM FunK cover of Human League. I've only listened to it a couple of times and I'm not sure yet if it matches the best stuff from the 2001 Human League covers album Reproductions. But I like DâM FunK so it might get there. The Noisettes version of "Ever Fallen in Love" I do not love. It just sounds to me like it's all intro for a song that never actually gets started. And the Sham 69 cover was just killed for me by the video. I should listen to it w/ my eyes closed and see if it still seems like such pretentious twaddle.
Of the rest, I'm looking forward to the Cinematic Orchestra version of "Lilac Wine" but really it's Buraka Som Sistema doing "Buffalo Stance" that's really got my interest.

What's he like?!?

Interesting blog post by Edward Lazarus, the FCC chief of staff, on the need from more broadband. (Also, this just in, the FCC has a blog for their broadband plan) This is part of their efforts to roll out the plan but also pushback from the Comcast decision last week. Here's a good summing up (with linkage) from Balloon Juice but there's lots of discussion kicking around the internets. Sounds like Comcast may have been too clever by half (all tactics, no strategy... where have I seen that before?) Sure they won their suit but sounds like the FCC's response might be to re-classify ISPs into a more restrictive regulatory category.
On a related note, some interesting thoughts from Clay Shirky (surely found via boing², altho it's been sitting in a tab all week so I can't exactly remember for sure) about complexity and business models and why you can't necessarily get there from here. I particularly like his take on the oft-repeated sentiment "well, people will just have to pay for content." To me, that's just sticking your fingers in your ears and going la-la-la-la... i can't hear you. The fact that they keep saying it doesn't make it true and the fact that they want (or need) it to be true also doesn't make it true. I'm not sure how you create the new system (if I did, I wouldn't be tapping away on a Saturday night for a blog with a small-but-attractive audience).

non-frozen green death from above 2010

Every blogger and their brother or sister has already picked up on this but, yeah, Shut Up, Foodie is pretty damn funny. Altho it's a sign that I'm a pretty far gone food geek that I read their post snarking on the newest David Chang resto opening and one of my first thoughts was "hey, that Long Island Iced Tea w/ house-made cola syrup sounds kinda good."

Sounding not at all good, but way bizarre, is this reportedly 19th century hot cross bun. Like the baker in the article, I'm pretty shocked that damn thing didn't go moldy sometime during the reign of Queen Victoria. I wonder if there's any way to shave off a sample and test it to see how old it is. Does carbon dating even work on something that recent?

Eagles traded Donovan McNabb to Washington? What in the what now? I'm not an Eagles fan and I figured given all the chatter that McNabb was gone from Philly but Washington is a bit of a surprise. I think that translates pretty much as Philly saying "we think Washington sucks so bad that we can give them a Pro Bowl quarterback and they still won't be able to make up those 7 games we're spotting them from last year."
And, y'know, they're probably right. I can see McNabb being 3 games better than Jason Campbell and I can see Kevin Kolb being 3 games worse than McNabb. But that'd still have the Eagles finishing ahead of Washington.
  

Yesterday was the Bulls v. Rays Spring Training Showdown. I took lotsa pics, mostly during pre-game cos when the game starts I'd rather pay attention to what's happening on the field than try and get photos. Plus it got overcast so the light wasn't as good after about the third inning. Of course, the sun stayed out long enough for me to get my annual early April sunburn.
Today was yardwork and laundry (including the ritual changing over of the winter & summer wardrobes) and making some Chinese-style spareribs.
Finally, for all you fans of alternative holiday mascots here (found via Balloon Juice) is some info on Australia's Easter Bilby. Cute!

Saw on boing² that Sita Sings the Blues was coming to Netflix. It's no secret that we love this movie. And I just checked and indeed it is available. So, seriously, if you haven't seen this movie yet and you have Netflix stop reading this blog and go add Sita Sings the Blues to your queue. Here's Roger Ebert's review. He was a big early supporter of the movie (as you can tell from the byline, Dec. 2008), including screening it at his film fest in 2009. His review also pointed me to this, apparently the only surviving footage of Annette Hanshaw.

that's all...

Not that there aren't already plenty of reasons to not read slate.com (in fact, I can only think of one reason to read slate and that's Farhad Manjoo, who used to be the only reason to read salon.com) but they do seem to have come up with a new way to incentivize staying away. Last few days, every time I go to the site it immediately tries to load some fucking BMW ad that takes over the entire screen. As if that's not bad enough, when it seizes control of the homepage, but just before the ad splashes across the monitor, it loads a version of the slate homepage from a few weeks ago with this cartoon of Andrew Breitbart. Jeez, it's not bad enough they're assaulting me with ads but they've gotta force me to look at that whiny pissant? I don't think so. I'll check back in next week and see if they've stopped sucking.

Meanwhile, bacon... machine gun... what more do you need to know?