Saw this on the internets last week. As part of a comment thread on a local restaurant, someone said:

I think [redacted] is great. The service has always been excellent when I've been there and the food is also great. I love how each item is individually spiced and flavored. The homemade salsas are yummy.

Or: how to sound completely fake in one easy lesson. I mean, I have no idea. For all I know that's a completely personal assessment and honest personal opinion. But it just sounds phony as all hell. I think it's that what's written is generally vague (excellent service, great food) and when it does get specific it drifts into nonsense. "Individually spiced and flavored"?? What does that even mean?

Nice interview with writer John T. Edge about his work with Southern Foodways Alliance. Edge's points about the social role of restaurants, diners, bars, etc as "third place" gathering spots are spot on (okay, he's mostly referencing another book not his own work). The interviewers comparisons of SFA's work to Alan Lomax are pretty interesting as well. Altho I did feel that he was kinda directing the interview a bit much. Not quite to the point of putting words in Edge's mouth but not that far off. And the exchange about the south "rising" was clearly sharp-to-heated. Just reading through it the first time I didn't immediately catch that until the end. But it seems clear that Edge did not appreciate the snarky ironic referencing of neo-Confederate rhetoric by the interviewer. Altho I guess I have to appreciate the interviewer leaving their fairly lame "that was a joke" defense along with Edge's response (which came down to: no, if it was a joke it would've been funny, followed by a quick schooling on why a progressive Southerner in Oxford, MS would not find your snarky irony to be funny).

Wrapping up the Pie Holiday week here at HoD. I must confess that I did not have pie for breakfast. Tomorrow for sure. My plan for the rest of the day is to Not Shop. At least not in the Holiday Madness/Black Friday mode of shopping. I may have to go to a grocery store but that's not really the same kind of horror and soul-chilling dread. Hope all of y'all had or are having a pleasant holiday weekend. Or if you're not having a holiday, hope it's at least been a good coupla days.
All snark aside (or as aside as it ever gets around here), even when things aren't perfect, there's a lot to be thankful for.
Take it away, Bing (note: no video for this but it's a full version of the song unlike the clip from Holiday Inn which is mostly plot-advancing dialogue with a chorus or two thrown in the middle).

Happy Pie Holiday from all of me here at House of Dioxin.
I'm sure there are those of y'all out there who will continue to insist that this is Turkey Day. Well, I'm sticking with the designation advanced (if not invented) by a couple of my cousins that today is the Pie Holiday. But here's something for all you fans of the bird. If you watch only one Thanksgiving-themed video online this year, it really oughta be this one (also found via John Scalzi). These folks are really doing their part to keep the holidays dangerous.

Saw this on John Scalzi's blog and it's just excess in every direction. Altho I must admit that it did not compel me either to re-create it or to consider becoming a vegetarian. While I admire their dedication to their craft, overall it plays a bit too much like Man v. Food with more swearing. Fun but hardly cutting edge (no worries... I'll be getting to that tomorrow)

Thanksgiving week at the HoD continues.
I think that if you care about food then you ought to care about the people who grow and prepare it. So here's something to be thankful for: major progress in the struggle for better working conditions and wages for tomato pickers in Florida. It's not an end, of course, but it's a good beginning. I am encouraged by the fact that most of the food geek blogs I read are very pro the idea that food workers at all levels deserve fair treatment.
On a far less serious (but also seasonal) note, today was much improved by an unexpected mid-afternoon pie break.

mmm... pie...

You might have noticed that Thanksgiving is coming up this week. Let's kick off the HoD salute to what my cousins call "the Pie Holiday" with this spiffy A/V Club look at the forgotten balloons of the Macy's parade. I admit that it's somewhat unsatisfying as a list. Not enough pictures or links. But I definitely remember some of the 70s and 80s ones they mention. And, hey, one of the pics they do have is of the Eddie Cantor balloon. As freaky looking as you'd imagine (if you've ever seen Eddie Cantor) but not the stuff to haunt your dreams. Unlike, say, the story I just heard that James Cagney worked for a while as a female impersonator when he was trying to break into show biz. Now that will haunt your dreams. So (tying back into the theme) there's something to be thankful for -- that no photos of Jimmy Cagney in drag seem to have survived.

Can't remember where I came across these but they're fun: early 20th century futbol postcards. Retro-riffic.

In other news, I'm actually NOT having to work today. And that's fun. Plus the Penzeys store in Raleigh is now open. Way geeked about that. So we'll be field tripping over to check them out.

Been working way too much the last few days. Surprisingly, not because of the looming holidays but for reasons that are wholly project driven. So there is light at end of o' the tunnel and it's probably not an oncoming train. The end of the tunnel is a bit farther off than it would be if it was just holiday madness (since TG is only a week out... eek!).
Oh it's not all family medical emergencies and overtime. We had brunch with friends on Sunday. Last night I went down to Pinhook for trivia (team: Thundercats) (hoh!). Same results as last time. We won a round and tied enough only to lose on the tiebreaker round. And tonight Sarah and I went to Fullsteam for another fun A/V Geeks show. This time it was "How to be a Woman" and included films on: self defense (face scratching, foot stomping, eye gouging and knees to the crotch were prominently featured, along w/ advice to elbow an attacker hard enough to break a couple of his ribs), saying no to sex (even if the guy says "do you know how much money I spent tonight" it's apparently okay to say no), the joys of fragrance, and how to make a sammich (tuna rarebit!).

Was geeked to see this (on boing²) the other day: Destroy All Movies, a big whonkin' guide to "movies with punks in them."
Perhaps you're wondering why I'm so geeked about this. Well, I just watched Repo Man last month. (and it gets funnier every single time!) Back in the 80s I used track of movie appearances by Lee Ving (of Fear) as a sure sign of cheeseball cinema brilliancy. And, yes, I do believe I recognize that cover art on the book, from the ridiculously bad punxploitation flick Class of 1984. I should probably google that and make sure I'm not mis-remembering but, hey, no guts no glory. I have no idea how many other people constitute the target market for this book but I'm totally in. Expect I'll be ordering a copy before the week is out.

and yet, I blame society...

As mentioned, or perhaps "vaguely alluded to" would be more accurate, for personal reasons that aren't going to be delved into out here on the internets for all to see, I was mostly offline for all of the first week of November. Therefore missing most all of the post-election bloviating. Dropped online once or twice, mostly just long enough to know I was glad to be gone. I will grudgingly admit that everyone is entitled to their opinion, even idiots. But that doesn't mean I need to hear it.
I did read one thing that was actually sorta encouraging. Saletan (on Slate), who I generally can't stand, advanced the argument that even if you could draw a direct bright line from passing health care reform to the Democrats losing the House, it was worth it because HCR is more important than one election. Okay, to be honest I didn't read the entire Saletan article yet but Ta-Nehisi Coates blurbed a key passage and I skimmed enough to agree that he was basically characterizing Saletan's point correctly. And I agree. HCR is a big fucking deal (/Biden). And, right-wing nutjob gas-bagging notwithstanding, I don't think it will be overturned. And that is more important than control of the House. At least I hope it is.
More directly capturing my general mood, however, was a post from Angry Black Lady, one of the newer writers at Balloon Juice. I'm not totally in lockstep w/ everything she says but it's a righteous rant. Phrase that pays: "Knowing that my reaction to the post-election shenanigans would run the gamut of "oh kindly STFU" to "If you don't STFU, I'm going to stab you in the neck with my pen," I promised myself that after the election I was done: I was done reading comment fuckery, and I was done even attempting ironic responses to idiotic comments."

good times...

Hey there, hi there, ho there... excellent write-up of Fullsteam over at Carpe Durham. I completely endorse that message. I've been surprised at the number of nay-sayers and quibblers that pop up online when Fullsteam gets mentioned. Not surprised at the haters. There's always gonna be haters online. Haters gotta be hatin' after all. I haven't loved every Fullsteam beer I've tried. But some of the responses I've seen have been baffling (comparing the beers to PBR? complaining that you can't taste sweet potato in the Carver and that anyone who says they can is falling for hype?). Whatever, yo.
But one of the things I really appreciate about Fullsteam is how willing they are to engage in online discussions. So I'm learning all sorts of stuff about the bizness. Latest fascinating thing (which I'd seen somewhere before -- BCR, maybe?) is that ALE (state liquor licensing) has required them to start serving food in order to serve wine. Apparently they were okay to serve beer w/o having a food menu. But in order to add wine (I'll leave it to y'all to ponder why someone would want to go to a brewery to drink wine), they needed to start serving food. I think I mentioned that last time we were there, for A/V Geeks, I noticed that they were serving tamales. Which they get from Dos Perros.
In related news, there's another A/V Geeks show at Fullsteam this coming Wed. (11/17). w00t!

Gotta say, having just been on a brief spin 'round the intertubes, that it seems like this was a very good week to be cut off from the intertubes. Things are fine but connectivity has been limited. Anyway, while we all deal with the fallout from our ongoing national freakout(tm) (note: freakout not guaranteed to be actually nationwide), here's a couple of semi-random things: Photo of the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear. Taken from the Washington Monument by someone who apparently doesn't want it shared around all that much. Article from the Guardian about how dogs are either optimists or pessimists. I was prepared to find the whole thing ridiculous based on the title alone but reading the methodology, it actually makes a kind of sense. Even if it leads to the somewhat "no duh" conclusion that dogs who act up/out when left alone tend to do so because they're upset about being left alone. But apparently the old joke (that when you leave, your dog thinks "ohmigod! they're never coming back!") might actually be true for some dogs.

Not the best week ever. I hear that it gets better. Here's hoping...

XDU wrrld music top 10 (week ending 31 oct 10)

el Existential :: Grupo Fantasma
Palenque Palenque: Champeta Criolla And Afro Roots In Colombia :: various
Tango 3.0 :: Gotan Project
Chico de Oro :: Chico Trujillo
Guitars from Agadez: Music of Niger, Vol. 3 :: Group Inerane
el Rey :: Tito Puente
Mambo Loco :: Anibal Velasquez y su Conjunto
Pucusana :: Gabriel Alegria
Love :: Isaac Delgado
Nubes de Papel :: Depedro

this week's video feature: Gotan Project