XDU wrrld music top 10 (week ending 30 may 10)
Cubist Shapes of Sound and Time :: Jerry Leake
Blue Eyed Black Boy :: Balkan Beat Box
Romancero :: La Bien Querida
zii e zie :: Caetano Veloso
Africa :: Amanaz
Mulatu Steps Ahead :: Mulatu Astatke
Ahora Mismo :: Choco Orta
Nigeria Special, vol. 2 :: various
Akokan :: Roberto Fonseca
Leva-me Aos Fados :: Ana Moura
this week's video feature: Choco Orta
Spent most of the day laying down mulch in some of the garden beds. We only got enough to fill the back of the pickup on Saturday so that basically got me thru the bed by the back porch, the front of the bed on the right side of the backyard, and a bit of the bed up near where the old shed got torn down. Probably we'll need to get a delivery sometime this summer but at least this was a start.
And speaking of Saturday, on our way back from dumping the latest load o' bamboo at the landfill, we swung downtown hoping (1) that Daisy Cakes would be back (they were nowhere to be seen last weekend), and (2) that they'd still have some pop't-arts left. Alas, they did not. So we had cupcakes for breakfast.
What?!?
Went to the Bulls game w/ S & D last night. Very exciting game -- here's a recap from the Indy. Included two "home runs" that were over-ruled by the umpires. The first one, I think, hit the fence above the Blue Monster and I (and most of the crowd) thought it should have been a home run. In his recap, Sobsey states pretty categorically that the fence is considered in play. Weirdly enough, a similar thing happened later in the game, this time out in center field. The ball cleared the wall but not the outer fence. The umps called it a homer but after Rochester complained they reversed it to a ground rule double. Lots of booing and yelling from the crowd. Best line: "what do you have against home runs!" But the next batter pounded out into the bull (of "hit bull, win steak" fame) and that was all the runs Durham needed. BTW, we were sitting down the third base line with a good view of the bull and I think Sobsey's wrong on Chavez hitting the grass. It looked to me like it hit smack on the brisket.
Also adding the late game excitement was a looming thunderstorm. We knew it was supposed to start raining sometime last night. About the fifth or sixth inning, the wind started to pick up and it started smelling like rain. We started seeing lightning and heard thunder a couple of times. In the eighth (I think) we started feeling the occasional raindrop and the grounds crew took up positions by the tarp. Which was right near us so we got to hear them planning and following the storm. As the last fly ball was caught out in center, I looked up and could see the rain coming down. There was a moment when it was raining in right field but not in left. So we all beat a retreat but since we'd had dinner at Bull McCabe's we were parked on the other side of downtown. Got about halfway there before the skies just opened up. Probably we should have waited it out in the car but it didn't seem that bad. But it actually was one of the worst rains I've ever tried to drive thru. There were multiple times when it was raining so hard I could barely see the road. Only the fact that I was driving a route that I travel almost every single day kept it from being the absolute worst. But it's right up there with the hailstorm we got caught in driving back from Greensboro. The worst weather I've ever had to drive thru was a super-thick fog on 421 up in the mountains near Boone.
XDU wrrld music top 10 (week ending 23 may 10)
Nigeria Special, vol. 2 - various
the Kusum Beat - Sweet Talks
zii e zie - Caetano Veloso
Excavated Shellac: Strings - various
Mulatu Steps Ahead - Mulatu Astatke
Rise & Shine - Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars
Tutto Bene - Amy Denio
Escape Room - Very Be Careful
Gurrumul - Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu
No Prisoners - Gaudi
this week's video feature: Caetano Veloso
I'm getting ramped up for Copa Mundial. If you are too (or would like to be), here's a good intro to World Cup 2010 from the Guardian. I started following Spain during Euro 2008 (and, yes, I realize that leaves me open to charges of bandwagon jumping) so I'm kinda rooting for them. Altho the fact that so many people are picking them as favorites actually has me worried a bit.
Closer to home, and even more exciting, is the news that Scratch will be opening soon. Maybe as early as next week. Viva donut muffins!
Seems that David Byrne is suing Charlie Crist. As in Republican Governor of Florida, now running for Senate as an independent. Apparently the Crist campaign has been using "Road to Nowhere" without permission. Or, y'know, payment. What is it with Republicans stealing songs from artists all the time? I thought they were supposed to be all in favor of property rights. I guess they're more in favor of just stealing shit if they feel like it.
That wasn't really surprising news. This following definitely is. Altho it's from so far out in left field that the idea that anyone might even have been considering it never occured to me. But anyway, Mark Stewart has decided to get the band back together. Zigga what now?!? Hey, I wonder if I've still got that "we are all prostitutes" button? Actually, I have no idea if it's the original band back together or some part of it or just Mark Stewart and some new crowd that he's calling the Pop Group. Not that I wouldn't show up if they played a club around here, regardless. Not (of course) that there's much chance of them actually playing a club around here. Whoever they turn out to be. Hey, if it's good enough for Mark E. Smith and John Lydon... Speaking of which, I read a review of the current PiL tour and was surprised that they didn't mention either Wobble or Keith Levene. A refreshing change of pace from much of the pre-tour stuff I'd read which was somewhat obsessive about the Wobble/Levene iteration of PiL as definitive. I mean, yeah, Metal Box and Flowers of Romance were more ground-breaking/whatever than the later stuff. But to say (as many did) that you can't have a "real" PiL reunion w/o Wobble is kinda like saying you can't have a Fall reunion w/o Marc Riley or a Siouxsie and the Banshees reunion w/o Kenny Morris. I'm always a bit disappointed when the late, great John McGeoch doesn't get a mention in these articles, since he was one of the longest serving members of PiL after Lydon.
Delayed gratification update: the strawberry panna cotta turned out great.
Unrelated question time: as you might have noticed, World Cup is starting up soon. They start playing on June 11 so I'm looking for futbol related songs that I can play on my 6/17 show on XDU. Here's what I've got so far:
Any suggestions y'all might have would be appreciated. Thanks!
Today's adventure in delayed gratification: made strawberry panna cotta at 9pm. We had some strawberries that had been sitting around for a week so I figured they wouldn't be all that good just serving them fresh. And Friday night, we had dinner at Zely & Ritz (which was really good, by the way) and one of the dessert choices on the restaurant week menu was a panna cotta. Not sure if I've ever made panna cotta before (if I have, it's been a while) but figured I'd give it a whirl. Got finished around 9.30 and it's supposed to chill for 3 to 8 hours. I guess we could have it for breakfast tomorrow. Probably we'll wait for dinner.
Here, for no particular reason, is some Yello
claro que si!
Before I begin, leave us pause for a moment from WTF-vania. I just looked up at the TV and saw this on ESPN News. There's apparently some racing in IRC this year named Will Power. Wait... what? Srsly?
Anyway, a full day today of taking yard waste to the dump, shopping the farmer's market, random asst'd yardwork, spinning wrrld music at XDU, UEFA Champions League final, making/eating tacos, watching multiple episodes of Daria, massive thunderstorms (complete with that weird yellow trapped-in-an-aquarium light you get w/ thunderstorms around here sometimes), sweet potato pie, beer... Sometimes a good day is just one where you're living yr life and going about yr business.
I wouldn't say this is THE most awesomest t-shirt ever but I'd say it's definitely on the short list. Luchadores and font geeks, take note!
XDU wrrld music top 10 (week ending 16 may 10)
Nigeria Special, vol. 2 - various
zii e zie - Caetano Veloso
the Kusum Beat - Sweet Talks
Nigeria Afrobeat Special - various
Mulatu Steps Ahead - Mulatu Astatke
Excavated Shellac: Strings - various
Ahora Mismo - Choco Orta
Escape Room - Very Be Careful
el Alcalde del Barrio - Joe Cuba
Tutto Bene - Amy Denio
this week's video feature: Very Be Careful
And in tonight's episode, our hero struggles with the thought "Do Not Send That E-mail." I'd hate to think I'm becoming mature, even at this advanced age, but I do find that (more often than not -- or at least more often than in the past) I end up deciding that, y'know, every brilliant insight that occurs to me doesn't necessarily need to be shared with the world.
Note: I say "brilliant insight", you say "smartass comment"... it's all good
Hey, check this out while it's still on youtube. Mashing up two of my favorite pairs: Fred & Ginger and dZihan & Kamien
My absolute favorite Live Skull song. From 7/13/86...
A while back I stumbled onto footage of Big Black from this same show. It was, I'm pretty sure, part of New Music Seminar (the forerunner of CMJ) and as such a big, multi-band night which also included Volcano Suns and some others. And, yes, I was there. When I saw the "Kerosene" footage I was sure that I'd been standing in the back. In my memory, it was super-crowded and we hadn't been able to get to our usual spot (against the wall to the left of the stage). But when I posted the link on facebook, WTH, who was also there, was sure we'd been up front near the stage (actually, a little bit past the front ot the stage). In other words, probably 10 feet from where the camera that shot this was. I cannot tell you how weird that is, to be looking at something that shows almost exactly what I saw almost 24 years ago.
Here's Farhad Manjoo's take on Facebook v. privacy. I think there's something to his point that a lot of people will complain but most people won't actually do anything about it. But his point is somewhat undercut by being the same point he makes about a lot of online issues/problems. I'm sure, as a long-time observer of how people live and act online, he's got good reason to assume that most outrage will eventually fade into nothing. But it still feels off to me that he's making basically the same point that he made last year writing about the changes in the Facebook homepage or news feed or whatever the hell we're calling it now. Even if it's all true and he's 100% correct, it still feels like lazy writing. But the bigger problem I have with his piece is that it seems to be assuming an infinitely expanding bubble. It buys into Facebook's (apparent) assumption that they can dink around with privacy settings and selling info and changing people's settings retroactively and it won't matter because they'll continue to grow. Well, no. That's never been true in the history of history. Booms don't last forever but everytime there's a boom a whole industry of people pops up to explain why this boom is different and will just keep growing forever. But as much as everyone wants to keep playing the hot hand, it's gonna cool down eventually. It might not have anything to do with privacy. Or in fact, with anything that Facebook does or doesn't do. It could be that a new next-big-thing will come along. Or it could be something completely random that no one will ever be able to predict.
Other than that, Manjoo makes some perfectly reasonable suggestions for ways Facebook could treat people's privacy w/ more respect and still be able to engage in most of the data mining they're doing now. I'd like it if they backed off a bit on the aggressive push to link every single fuckin' thing I've ever liked to some monetizable location w/in Facebook. I ended up deleting a lot of my fandoms just cos it pissed me off that they changed it all automatically without giving us the chance to opt in or out. OTOH, I'm blogging which has no privacy whatsoever so, yes, I'm aware that my position may not be logically consistent.
It's linkage cleanup time. Can't remember where I read this but I think it sums up the Twilight experience about as concisely as possible: "the dreary tale of a dreary girl inexplicably adored by vampires and werewolves."
On a more serious note, I saw this AP story updating the PA school district spying on students' laptops. It probably hasn't escaped your notice that standards at the AP, shall we saw, have gone way downhill. The headline on the laptop story was further evidence of that: Report: No spying in Pa. school laptops case. One might wonder, as I did on seeing this, just where the info came from. Turns out it comes from "attorneys hired by the district." Cos they have zero conflict of interest and there's certainly no reason they'd have to paint a falsely positive of events involving THEIR CLIENTS.
The stupid, it burns...
Well, that's the kinda news that makes me want to reach for a tasty beverage. And here's a new option for the tasty beverage crowd: Godless Imperial Stout. It's a Danish beer and brewed in partnership with Denmark's Atheist Society, which receives a percentage from each sale.
XDU wrrld music top 10 (week ending 9 may 10)
Nigeria Afrobeat Special - various
el Alcalde del Barrio - Joe Cuba
Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou, vol 2: Echos Hypnotiques - Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou
Medicine Show vol. 4: 420 Chalice All-Stars - Madlib
No Prisoners - Gaudi
Akokan - Roberto Fonseca
Leva-me aos Fados - Ana Moura
the Kusum Beat - Sweet Talks
Rise & Shine - Sierra Leone's Refugee All-Stars
Gurrumul - Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu
this week's video feature: Ana Moura
So I had my RDA of fail this week. Sometime on Sunday, I remembered that I'd forgotten to buy tix for last night's Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings show. Went to purchase same only to discover that the show was very much sold out. Trés fail. As a small effort to make up for the loss, we watched Standing in the Shadows of Motown, the documentary about the Funk Brothers, who were the house band for Motown in the 60s. Excellent movie with lots of good stories and (of course) lots of good music. Early on, they talk to a bunch of people shopping in a record store and none of them have any idea who the musicians were on all those great Motown hits. And I remember having the same reaction the first time I read about this movie (or it might have been the book on which the movie was based). I had no idea that there was just one band playing for all those different singers. For a doc that's all about a group of artists who never really got the recognition they deserved (several of whom died before the movie was finished), it's actually surprisingly upbeat. One of my favorite stories is about a night when they were playing a gig at some jazz or blues club in Detroit and the owner tried to stiff them out of their pay. And then the guns started coming out. Trust me, it's a lot funnier than that makes it sound.
In other, sadder, music news, the great Lena Horne died last weekend. Here's a nice photo essay. Sarah's planning a tribute to Lena Horne for this Sunday's Divaville Lounge, Sunday 2-4pm on WXDU, 88.7fm in Durham or listen online at the XDU website.
As I mentioned last month, André Leon Talley is guest judging this cycle of ANTM. Fabulous! Of course, I'm not the only one who noticed. Gawker has been doing an awesome André Leon Talley report card. There's still time to get caught up before the finale. Not sure exactly why Talley is showing up in the various media more often this spring. In addition to ANTM, there was a story in the NYTimes recently about him and his new pal Whoopi Goldberg. Maybe he's on the outs with Anna Wintour. Or maybe he's just figuring that, with the state of the magazine business these days, it's not a bad time to diversity one's media presence. Or maybe I have no idea what the hell I'm talking about.
Kinetic Sculpture Race was amazing. We got there early enough to walk around and see the entries before the start. It's been five years since we the last time we were able to go. It seems that there's been a certain coalescing around basic construction techniques. So there weren't some of the catastrophic failures (especially at the water) that we'd seen in earlier years. That was true even for the entries where apparently they hadn't even had time to test in the water. Of course there were breakdowns. We could tell that by the changes in the running order each time we got to the next location.
My fave entries were Go to Hell (seen here), the PLATYPUS, and los Baltimuertos. But the whole thing is just a total blast. The racers all had to climb the hill behind AVAM and then, at the signal, run down to their vehicles (while "Autobahn" played on the sound system -- how cool was that?!?). In the words of someone standing behind me, "it's not a scientific start."
After the start, we watched them circle around the park at the top of the hill. I didn't see any mishaps on the way up, altho I heard that there were a few vehicles that went out of control. Actually that happened on several legs of the race. We never saw any one broken down but kept hearing from other spectators about entries that they'd passed broken down along the course. On our way from AVAM to Canton Park (water entry) we drove by Go to Hell and Pru leaned out the back window and yelled "go to hell" at them. They really enjoyed that and yelled it back at us. Good times.
The definite highlight at the water entry was Go to Hell who set off smoke pots for their start. I was sitting down close to the water so I got an upclose look at the PLATYPUS and their trouble getting out. Their rudder got stuck in the lowered position as was scraping on the ramp and keeping them from exiting. They ended recruiting a bunch of people from the crowd to help push them up. Totally trashed the rudder but they got back on the course.
Okay so this is getting long. Rest of my random recollections and musings behind the cut
Yes, I will get to my actual recap of Kinetic Sculpture Race weekend but first some complaining about cars. I mentioned already that I rented a bloatmobile so there'd be more room in the backseat. Ended up w/ a Mercury Grand Marquis and I gotta say I was pretty unimpressed. It had decent enough backseat space (or at least no sitting back there complained about it so that I could hear) but not much else going for it. No satellite radio. Only 1 extra power outlet/cigarette lighter. Suspension frankly wasn't as good as my 15 year old Camry. I also wasn't knocked out by the acceleration. Oh yeah, also no On-Star. Handled pretty well for a massive bloatmobile. Now I realize that some of these missing features might be because it was a rental. OTOH, I've rented smaller cars that had XM. When I got upgraded to a Caddy, it had On-Star included. I don't think the rental company had the Grand Marquis classed as a luxury vehicle like the Caddys, etc. But it was still a pretty weak attempt at a premium level driving experience. Other than the fun of causing cognitive dissonance in some friends by rolling up in a car that's easily mistaken for a Crown Vic (aka the cop ride of choice), this beast didn't have much to recommend it. I certainly wouldn't ever buy one and I'll go out of my way not to get stuck having to rent one again either.
In other auto hijinks, when I went out to the aforementioned Camry this AM, my turning of the key was greeted only by some clicky-clicky noises. Fortunately I was able to get a jump off the pickup (once I got it thru my not-yet-caffeinated brain that the truck's engine was not going to turn over until I stepped on the clutch) and drive to the Tire King across the street from work. Fortunately it only needed a new battery (everything else checked out) and they got done in time that I still was able to get to the polls and vote on my way home.
Completely unrelated but a definite winner from the "are we SURE this is a good idea" dept: bacon syrup.
Went up to see the Kinetic Sculpture Race this weekend. Awesome good time. Sarah and I stayed w/ our friend Pru. Always a blast to see her. She came to the race. When we got to AVAM yesterday morning, the first people we saw after getting out of our car were folks from Durham (Ross, Maggie, Charo & Mark). It wasn't a suprise to see them since we knew they were also attending. But it was kinda weird to all just run into each other in the parking deck first thing.
It was still the pre-race so we wandered around and looked at the entries and eventually caught up w/ Spacegrrl & J. who had also come up from Durm. I'd agreed to drive us all around for the day. Wasn't sure if the backseat of my Camry would be tolerable for 3 so I rented a boat of a Mercury. It succeeded in being big but that's about all it had going for it.
More details on the race and the rest of the day next time. I'm a little fried now. But I want to share the story that goes with this pic. I have no idea why this guy is wearing an inflatable soccer ball outfit (in a Deutschland futbol kit stylee). Other than that KSR spectators are encouraged to come in costume (check the rest of my fotos on flickr for a few more examples). He was into it, though. He was walking along when he saw this kid w/ a soccer ball and immediately started trying to get his attention, to get the kid to notice that he (the man in costume) was dressed like a big version of the ball the kid was carrying and/or to get the kid to throw or kick the ball to him. The kid's reaction was basically to run as if he was in one of those "don't talk to strangers" educational movies they used to show in school way back in the days.
