September 2010 Archives
Harlow! Pacheco! Barretto! Yes, it's Fania All Stars. Willie Colon on trombone, altho you can barely see him in this clip. And Mongo Santamaria sitting in. I'm pretty sure this is the infamous Yankee Stadium concert. Maybe not quite as hot as the San Juan 73 performance (which also included Manu Dibango on sax) but still pretty damn smokin. That concert got a lot of play in the Fania episode of Latin Music USA, the PBS series from last fall (which I talked about previously). And I think this clip contains the part where the crowd bum rushes the stage and security (those guys in the "Staff" shirts that show up on stage towards the end of the number) is trying to get the All Stars to stop playing. But, clearly, the best part of the number is when Barretto picks up his conga and starts pounding it on the stage. In tempo. Hell, he was trying to keep up with Mongo so who can blame him,,,
So we signed up for the CSF from Core Sound Seafood. That's like the fish equivalent of a CSA, which you probably could figure out. Community Supported Fishery. They have pickups on Thursday evenings, and it's pretty convenient to where Sarah's working now. And the price works out to around 10 bucks a pound, which is ballpark for good seafood and we both are behind the idea of supporting local producers when we can. We're just doing the every other week plan so our first pick-up should have been this week coming up. But the timing wasn't good for that so we got them to switch us to last Thursday. The first pick-up was a half of a red drum (similar to redfish) and shrimp. They even send along recipes with the weekly announcement so, since I had no great ideas for what to do with the red drum, I went with their recipe. Simple but delicious. Poured melted butter, lemon juice, minced onion and smoked paprika over the top and baked in the oven. So good. The shrimp we just did in a shrimp and grits style. Subbed some air-dried country sausage (from King's) for the more usual bacon and did a cauliflower/pimento cheese puree instead of grits. Again, super yum.
We're skipping the next two weeks so I'll be interested to see what the offerings are in mid-October. Their email said that conditions in the fishery and what's available tends to change pretty dramatically when the weather breaks. Which I'm assuming it will have to do eventually
It's so damn hot! I know, I know... complaining about the weather is the most boring thing this side of boring. But, srsly! It's fall and it's in the mid-90s. So wrong!
But anyway, just wanted to take a moment to urge y'all to support your local craft brewers.
XDU wrrld music top 10 (week ending 19 spt 10)
Afrobeat Airways :: various
Keraaminen Pää :: Islaja
Transformed in Dub :: Dubkasm
Ten Ragas to a Disco Beat :: Charnjit Singh
Roots of O.K. Jazz: Congo Classics 1955-56 :: various
The Electric Sound of Johnny Arrow :: Cochemea Gastelum
Cumbia Beat: Experimental Guitar Driven Tropical Sounds from Peru, 1966-1976, vol. 1 :: various
la Superbe :: Benjamin Biolay
Lloyd Miller & the Heliocentrics :: Lloyd Miller & the Heliocentrics
Zumra :: Amira and Merima Kljuco
this week's video feature: Lloyd Miller
It's been a busy week. Not crazy busy (that'll be along soon enough) but hecticker than I prefer. And, yes, I'm aware that I just made up that word. But mostly it's just gotten annoyingly stupid hot again. Hey, it's the autumnal equinox. Time to run the temps back up into the mid-90s. Which, again yes, I'm aware isn't uncommon in some places. But Durm is not usually one of those places.
In a completely unrelated note, here's something I've been meaning to share for a while, Lowbrow Tarot. It's a collaborative major arcana deck and the artwork is currently up at a gallery in LA. Like many collaborative projects, it doesn't really have a unified look. But there's some nice work in there. It's been a while since I've looked at tarot cards but I have seen more than a few in my time. And I did think that a few of the Lowbrow cards were maybe a bit too literal. What I mean is that they seemed more like recreations of the Waite-Smith images in different styles than actual new interpretations of the cards. Also, those of y'all who have been around since the jump might notice that the Hermit in the Lowbrow deck (there doesn't seem to be a way to link directly to individual cards) bears somewhat of a stylistic resemblance to Sarah's deck. (Note: I'm not saying there's any "issue" here. It's not that obsure a style to be referencing. See: Duchamp).
Earlier this month I mentioned that Durm's own Only Burger was part of an online poll/contest, tied to this Food Network show, the Great Food Truck Race. The vote was to pick America's fave food truck and they were (according to the vote tally that appeared on the website) neck and neck with Big Truck Tacos (from Oklahoma City) for most of the last week of voting. Alas, they did not win. There have been a lot of dark mutterings around local outposts of the intertubes about the fix being in and whatnot. I don't think there's any evidence of that. But I do think FN managed things poorly and in a way seemingly guaranteed to breed suspicions and conspiracy theories. To now claim, as they seem to be, that either the online vote tally wasn't the actual tally or that the final tally was delayed so that all the votes could be counted is just stupid. No votes had to be counted. What they had to be was verified. I mean, I get it. It's online voting and thus open to hacking. Everything from basic "social" hacks (people with multiple email addresses and multiple computers can vote multiple times) to fullon scripted vote bombs. I have no idea if Only Burger attracted any more "irregular" voting than Big Truck Tacos. But FN's reluctance to say anything other than doublespeak and blather doesn't fill me with any confidence. Why should I trust what you say if you won't be honest about what you're doing?
Continue reading that weekend falls on that weekend.
So here's a thing (via Shut Up, Foodies. This is, almost certainly, more than you could possibly ever want or need to know about the neo jello mold scene, including the fact that there is such a thing. But totally worth it for the pic of the tomato aspic BVM. You're not gonna see something like that every day.
In significantly less disturbing news, here's the latest Ferran Adrià news on his plans for El Bulli. Apparently his plans for the laboratory he's planning for after the restaurant closes next year now include publishing their daily results on the intertubes. Possibly with some sort of interactive, social networking component. Not scheduled to drop until 2014 so we'll see where that ends up but has the potential to be fairly awesome. Also noted that Adrià is lecturing at Harvard. There's a chance we might be in Boston sometime next year. I should look around and see what his schedule is and if any of his talks are opent to the public.
XDU wrrld music top 10 (week ending 12 spt 10)
Je T'aime... Moi Non Plus :: Serge Gainsbourg & Jane Birkin
Roots of O.K. Jazz: Congo Classics 1955-56 :: various
Saigon Rock & Roll :: various
Cumbia Beat: Experimental Guitar Driven Tropical Sounds from Peru, 1966-1976, vol. 1 :: various
Ten Ragas to a Disco Beat :: Charnjit Singh
The Electric Sound of Johnny Arrow :: Cochemea Gastelum
the Budos Band III :: the Budos Band
Keraaminen Pää :: Islaja
Amor, Cambio y la Verdad :: various
Lloyd Miller & the Heliocentrics :: Lloyd Miller & the Heliocentrics
this week's video feature: Franco & le T.P. O.K. Jazz
Latest from the "find what you like in life and drink it" dept. (can't remember where I found this... Serious Eats, maybe? it's been an open tab in my browser for long enough that I've forgotten how it got there): FCI drops some cocktail science. Shorter version is that stirring is basically inefficient shaking. So maybe Mr. Bond was on to something after all. Well, there's more than that. Good stuff.
Meanwhile, the Bulls got pounded in game one up in Columbus tonight. Hopefully they'll win tomorrow so game 3 won't be a desperation, clinging-to-life experience. Go Bulls!
So before I get on topic, let me just digress and say "GO BULLS!" Our own Durham Bulls won their playoff series w/ the Louisville Bats this afternoon. They know move on to the finals against the Columbus Clippers. We were at games 3, 4 and 5 w/ our friends S & D. Awesome seats and a great weekend o' baseball. Friday night the Bulls lost a super-tense, close game 2-1 when they just couldn't bring home any runs after the first inning. Last night was an 8-2 blowout. Today's game was closer. Bulls went ahead 2-0, got tied up by the Bats and then put it away w/ a homer and another insurance run. Plus some tasty relief pitching and sharp defense. 4-2 final. Next stop: Columbus!
Anyway, staying in Durham, I learned about a new-to-me coffee drink the other morning: the cortado. Like the sign on the counter at Scratch, it's 4 oz of espresso love. I'd say it's like a cafe au lait made w/ espresso instead of brewed coffee. Not quite as ass-kicking as a straightup espresso. Good stuff.
Hadn't gotten around to posting about this but I was very sad to read about the death of Japanese director Satoshi Kon late last month. We just recently re-watched Paprika and it was as amazing as the first time we saw it. I've got Paranoia Agent, the TV series he did, in my Netflix queue but it might take a while (when a director or performer dies, the wait for DVDs of their work can get quite long). Most people writing about Kon will single out either Paprika or Millennium Actress as his best work. I'd have to agree but I'd also like to throw in a recommendation for Tokyo Godfathers. I was gonna say it's more grounded in the real world but it actually plays much more like magical realism than anything straight up documentary. It definitely lacks the science fiction element of much of Kon's other movies. It's also pretty blatantly sentimental. I'm actually not sure why it didn't strike me as complete Capra-corn but it didn't and I'd say it's worth a shot.
Here's a brief excerpt from an interview with Satoshi Kon that touches on some of the themes that show up in a lot of his work
It may not be the suckiest news that has ever sucked but in a development that definitely both sucks AND blows, it looks like this year's Durham Holiday Parade has been canceled by the city , to be replaced by some lame winte fun fair or whatever. We love the parade. We even went last year in the rain and cold. So, yeah, attendance may be declining (I note, as did a commenter over at BCR, that no one has shown any numbers that prove attendance is down) but it was also freezing cold and raining last year which might have something to do with attendance being down. The parade is just so perfectly Durham. And I, for one, will miss it.
When we left our story, D & S and I were enjoying tasty burgers and/or hot dogs at King's Sandwich Shop. After lunch, we decided to walk over to Fullsteam. Where, I should point out, we saw some of the same folks we'd seen at King's. I'm sensing the potential for a sorta hipster walking tour of Durham. Anyway, the Fullsteam "bar area" (if I understand correctly, it's not technically a bar but a tasting/R&D room) has two parts: the light, open outer area w/ foosball and pinball machines, picnic tables and a wall of gauges and knobs salvaged from a tobacco warehouse (which adds to the steampunky atmosphere conveyed by the graphic identity) and the inner area where the taps are, which is darker and more like an actual bar (possibly because it's got an actual bar). The thing I noticed about Fullsteam on a Sat. afternoon is how family friendly it seemed. Probably the combo of the vintage games being enjoyed by small children and people hanging out at the picnic tables with friendly dogs. Not exactly a dive bar ambience. Maybe it's different at night (when people are stealing the glassware and whatnot).
I had the Hogwash Smoked Porter. Which S. had described earlier this summer as tasting like meat. I get the association (smoke = barbecue = meat) but the smoke didn't hit me that hard. It's an excellent porter with some smoky notes. Possibly earlier batches they brewed had the smoke more amped up. I was worried it was gonna taste like a rauchbier. Which (and I'm sorry if this destroys all my beer cred) is like drinking a beer that's been served in a used Weber kettle. They were also pouring an in-house special of the Hogwash infused with chocolate. I figured I'd start with the basics before moving on to the advanced levels. D. had the chocolate porter and had positive things to say. Tomorrow I'm picking up a growler of the cream ale, as I continued to work my way thru the Fullsteam menu. So far, the Basil Farmhouse is my fave. Altho the Hogwash is a close second and seeing as how we're heading (slowly but inexorably) into the colder months which favor dark beer consumption, it'll probably take over the top spot.
Here's the weekend wrap-up report and etc. (no, I didn't have a three day weekend... had to work today but I've just been slackass about blogging)
Saturday I met up w/ D & S to check out the recently re-opened King's Sandwich Shop. Very nice burger. Maybe not quite Only Burger good but pretty damn good nonetheless. I recommend the cheeseburger w/ ketchup, mayo, chili and slaw. Good fries, too.
Oh, and speaking of Only Burger, you may have heard that they're in the running for $10K and a chance to appear on the next season of the Great Food Truck Race. And when I say "in the running" I mean they're #1 baby. So you know what they say... vote early, vote often.
This morning was another one of those days when XDU felt like my own personal radio station. There hasn't been anyone on from 5-7am in a while so I'm always having to start up the station when I get there. And this week, the 9am DJ called in to say she was sick so I had to shut things down when I was done. I'd have stayed longer but, y'know, they pay me this money so I sorta feel obligated to show up for work.
Meanwhile, this made my day. If it doesn't make your day, well, then I'm afraid you may just be sort of person who has un-makeable days. Two words: bacon skates.
Finally, here's some top quality Durham snark. They're not all little gems. But the signal to noise ratio is pretty good. And several made me laugh out loud. Note: it probably goes w/o saying, but if you're not from Durm, you probably won't find Surviving and Thriving in Durham particularly funny or interesting (ymmv and all that). But I am and I did.
