House of Dioxin

Here's more evidence that line cooks are hardcore: watching thru the pass-thru at Chai's last night I saw one of the cooks cleaning out his wok. While it was still over the burner. That would be the super-sized 86 skazillion BTU burner with the flames flaring up over the top edge of the wok. Like I said, hardcore.
In other odds & ends, here's something I stumbled across while trying to track down info at work: Falcon cam, a webcam on a pair of peregrines in Minnesota. It must be nesting season cos not all that much interesting has been happening lately. But it's still pretty cool to see.
In less environmentally-friendly news, here's some wacky Belgians breaking the world record for Diet Coke & Mentos fountains. Like fun. I also love how the pics make them look like some bizzare cult of monks.

Posted by at 8:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

XDU wrrld music top 10 (week ending 27 apr 08)

Herencia Judia:: Benjamin Lapidus
OG: Original Gangster :: Willie Colon
Her Name is Rio :: 3 Na Massa
eXtraOrdinary Rendition :: Rupa & the April Fishes
Umalali: the Garifuna Women's Project :: various
Camping Shaabi :: Think of One
Ishumar :: Toumast
Mighty Striker Shoots at the Hits :: various
Home Again :: Rahim Alhaj
Cryland :: Don Cavalli

this week's video feature: Think of One

Posted by at 7:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today, in the second year of the campaign, I was finally able to declare victory over the stump of doom (battered remnants seen to the right). If it can recover from that, it's some kind of zombie shrub and I'm heading for the hills.
So, yeah, it was mostly a yardwork weekend. Did make a celebrity sighting at the farmer's market yesterday. Saw 2004 World Series of Poker champ Greg Raymer. At first I was somewhat confused (what is a professional poker player doing shopping for plants in Raleigh?) but then I remembered reading that he was living in the area -- probably in the N&O around the time of last year's WSOP. Did not go up and bug him, which is generally my approach to celebs I pass in the streets or shops or whatever. In fact, I think Penn & Teller are the only celebs I've ever just randomly encountered and actually gone up and said something to.

Posted by at 10:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Ukulele Ramones! Found on boing²

Posted by at 10:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Here's an excellent interview with Alton Brown. I'm looking forward to this summer's installments of Feasting on Asphalt (or whatever they're gonna call it what with them sailing around the Caribeano). I expect lots of pirate jokes.
In other FN news, I read the other day that they're starting up a new season of Dinner Impossible with Michael Symon (& his maniac laugh) as the host. Replacing, of course, the disgraced Robert Irvine. Hey, I might actually watch the show now. No word on if they'll make Symon 'roid up when he takes over...

Posted by at 10:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Met up w/ D & S (or their evil twins) at Dain's tonight for trivia. And we won. Go us! Or more accurately, go D. I'm pretty sure that his knowing the amino acid that cats have to get by eating meat (taurine) and the bonus point organ that's impacted if they are taurine deficient (eyes) was what secured our 1 point win. I was pleased that there were a few questions I was able to contribute answers for: the pr0n star who ran in the Grey Davis recall election (Mary Carey); also I was able to recognize the Japanese title of My Neighbor Totoro.

good times...

Along than winning trivia, another highlight o' the evening was that Dain's has Triangle Belgian on tap. I'm still not completely converted to Belgian ales but they're definitely moving up on my personal list. In other beer/food updates, Sarah and I had dinner at Federal the other night. That was the first time we'd been there in probably 6+ months after a really disastous experience. But Monday was great. Yes, it was a bit crowded and noisy. But the service was great. Orders were taken promptly. The drinks came out quickly. Hennepin on tap. Awesome. And the food came out so fast and it was outstanding. I had the fish and chips special. Ohmigod it was good. Fish was fried about as good as it gets. And the garlic fries were to die. Plus really good red cabbage slaw on the side. Sarah had the carnitas which she said were good, as they usually are. I didn't taste any as I was too busy snarfing down my fish & chips. Very much a pleasant surprise. We're looking forward to going back.

Posted by at 11:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you were out and about in Durm yesterday around 5, you might have seen this weather event. As I was driving home, I was noticing the ominous dark clouds hanging low in the sky, hoping they weren't anywhere near the house. By the time I got to around Cole Mill and 85, I was close enough that I could see a slow-moving, partially formed funnel. Pretty scary. Turns out it wasn't a near-tornado but something called a cold air funnel cloud. I have seen an actual tornado, but it was off near the horizon and that was out in central Oklahoma where the horizon's pretty far away. And I have no desire to see one any closer up, thank you.

Posted by at 10:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

XDU wrrld music top 10 (week ending 20 apr 08)

Her Name is Rio :: 3 Na Massa
Camping Shaabi :: Think of One
Umalali: the Garifuna Women's Project :: various
New Blues :: Third World Love
the Mandé Variations:: Toumani Diabate
Mighty Striker Shoots at the Hits :: various
Ishumar :: Toumast
Healing the Music :: Embassadors
Divine Inspiration :: Aruna Sairam
Home Again :: Rahim Alhaj

this week's video feature: Rahim Alhaj

Posted by at 8:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tonight in Iron Chef - Milk & Cheese crossovers: I finally got around to watching the episode of No Reservations where Bourdain goes back to spend a day at Les Halles as a line cook. In one of the establishing shots, they showed the exteriors of Wo Hop and Morimoto. I (and probably 4 other people) found that highly amusing.
I was reminded tonight that I really need to write down the names of wines that I like. I'm just not familiar or comfortable enough with wines to pick one I like, even when I stick to the same varietals. The last two bottles I had were pinot noirs and I enjoyed them both. The one I just picked up? Not so much. I thought it was the same as the last bottle but it's clearly not. Also, I just remembered that the last one was Aussie and this one is French. Oh well...
And I'll leave you with this recent xkcd complete with an unexpected Watterson homage.

Posted by at 9:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Film geek alert! The Carolina Theatre in beautiful downtown Durm is part of the United Artists 90th Anniversary celebration. Acto the press release they are the only theater in NC or SC that was invited to participate. So, for the next six weeks, there's a chance to see some classic movies on the big screen. Okay, some of them are more camp classics than actual classics. In yesterday's N&O there was a story about this and apparently the folks at UA were impressed by the leftfield nature of some of the Carolina's picks. For comparison, here's what's showing in Los Angeles, Seattle, Ft. Lauderdale, and New York. I gotta say that only the Film Forum series makes me green w/ envy. And that's mostly for the silent movies, which are just not gonna get programmed at a theater w/ as small an audience base to draw on as the Carolina. Altho the Stagecoach/Red River double bill would be pretty awesome to see on the big screen.
Anyway, the shows at the Carolina get started on Monday with Dr. No.

...good times

Posted by at 9:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Insanely fun time hanging out at Taqueria Lopez tonight. Tacos, cerveza, mariachis, cute dogs, wandering hobos, smutty jokes, relationship advice, musical banter, and Absolutely No Dancing™. We do need to come up with some new requests since they're apparently never going to learn "el Cascabel" and we've requested "Mariachi Loco" every time now. Some debate over whether they were likely to know any Café Tacuba tunes. I think "el Fin de la Infancia" might be a bit too thrashing for the Friday nite crowd. Or maybe not. I think I'll have to spin it tomorrow afternoon when I'm on the air.

Posted by at 10:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I thought briefly about trying another "brought to you by the letter whatever" show this morning but then there was a whole bunch of interesting new releases in the mail so I scrubbed that and just did my usual random mess o' sounds. What's new? Well there's a live Cinematic Orchestra CD that sounds pretty awesome from what I've heard. Also Kassin +2 which completes the +2 trilogy (the others are Moreno +2 and Domenico +2). Excellent stuff from Brazil. On the downside, I was trying to plug the upcoming Meat Beat Manifesto show but I was under the mistaken impression that Witchman was a Jack Dangers side project and ID'd as such several times on the air. But it ain't. Damn, I hate when that happens.
On an only slightly related note, while I've been writing this, I've been watching an hourlong collection of videos from Yo! MTV Raps from 82-88. Killah! Beasties. Kool Moe Dee. Grandmaster Flash. LL Cool J. Salt & Pepa. Eric B & Rakim. There's a whole bunch of these hours running on the usually worthless MTV Hits network this month. My only complaints: too short; no Run-DMC; no De La Soul. (ETA: both showed up in the 88-89 show)
On a completely unrelated note: check out Jellypress. The tagline ("old recipes, modern life") sums it up. Good stuff.

Posted by at 8:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

XDU wrrld music top 10 (week ending 13 apr 08)

Mighty Striker Shoots at the Hits :: various
Umalali: the Garifuna Women's Project :: various
Camping Shaabi :: Think of One
Ishumar :: Toumast
the Mandé Variations:: Toumani Diabate
Duetos :: Gilberto Gil
Ethnic Minority Music of North Vietnam :: various
Cryland :: Don Cavalli
Divine Inspiration :: Aruna Sairam
Home Again :: Rahim Alhaj

this week's video feature: Aruna Sairam

Posted by at 8:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yesterday we drove out to the Raleigh farmer's market. It was herb days weekend and the place was frikkin' mobbed. Can't find a place to park mobbed. Crowds so thick you can't walk down the aisles mobbed. Clearly it's getting on to the time of year when we can't laze around the house for a couple of hours and then head out any more. I was hoping the heirloom tomato folks would be there but they weren't. Still we got some good stuff. Altho I remembered when I was cooking tonight that one of the plants I forgot to buy was an herb, marjoram. But that's pretty common so we can just pick some up next time. Stopped for lunch at the Hot Point in Cary. I had the reuben which, while good, was not as good as the pizzas I usually get when we go there. It's also not as good as the reuben at Nosh. Also had to stop at my office on the way back, which is always a whoop-de-crap way to spend a half hour of yr day off. Sarah got a bunch of planting done in the afternoon. I got a bunch of nothing done. Well, I did switch over my closet from the winter to the summer collection. Came to the conclusion that I have too many short-sleeved shirts. Over the next few months I need to pay attention to the ones that are getting worn out, don't fit well or aren't as comfortable and de-accession them. Today we had brunch with D & S at Rue Cler, which was quite nice. Good coffee, which is the basic building block of a good breakfast/brunch. My omelet, while it didn't re-define eggs for me, was tasty, with nice, fresh spinach and yummy goat cheese. Could've used more bacon. But, what couldn't? I think I slightly prefer Piedmont for brunch but haven't been to either enough to make a final call. More research is definitely called for.

hope your weekend was good too...

Posted by at 10:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

moar lolcats

Posted by at 7:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Driving home the other day, my iPod randomed up "Mack the Knife." At some point I realized that, hey, this is not (insert any of the many versions of the song I'm familiar with). Turns out it was Bing Crosby, which surprised me as he's not someone I'd think of as likely to sing "Mack the Knife." Even granting that most singers are covering the Bobby Darin version and not the Kurt Weill original, it's still a fairly dark song. And Crosby as a performer does not have much of a dark side. Okay, he's not as squeeky clean as Doris Day. On the other hand, in High Society he does manage to make most of C. K. Dexter Haven's thoughtlessly cruel bastard side just disappear. And yes, I'm aware that Crosby in real life™ apparently was quite a bastard. But that didn't come across in his performances which was why I was so weirded out hearing him sing a jolly little ditty about a serial killer. I should point out that, conceptual weirdness aside, Bing does a great job with the song. It's from a 50s record called Bing with a Beat and it's got a big, brassy, sorta Dixieland sound to it.
After that, I amused myself trying to think of the worst possible fit between a singer (within the Great American Songbook/Divaville Lounge genre) and "Mack the Knife." Sarah's suggestion of Doris Day is a definite winner. The one I came up with was Chet Baker.

Posted by at 10:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

This is a photo I found on flickr of Frank Taylor Wright. It's been a while since I've been to Franklin St. in Chapel Hill. But on many of my visits, I would see Mr. Wright, always dressed to the nines and looking fine. Sadly, he passed away back in January. Which I just learned about from a story in the N&O today. Mr. Wright had no insurance so his family are selling some of his suits. Hopefully at least one person buying them will keep wearing them out on the streets, somewhere, brightening up the days.
Farewell, sir. The world will be less fabulous without you.

Posted by at 9:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

It's spring. Which means it's asparagus season. I saw this recipe for prosciutto-wrapped roasted asparagus. And I thought, hey, I'm in the South. I should try that with country ham. Finally got around to trying it tonight and it was damn good. I think next time I'll try wrapping 4 spears in each slice of ham instead of 5. And maybe roasting for another minute or two. Something to adjust for the difference in thickness between prosciutto and country ham. But, like the original post says, you don't need to do anything like steaming or blanching or tossing with oil. Just wrap with ham and pop in the oven. Next time I'll also try to get a picture.

Posted by at 8:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Here's another link I lost track of in my mailbox. An excellent article on science and cooking. MG hataz be advised -- these are not the droids yr looking for. Also covers some of the history of science in the kitchen, including McGee and This. And includes This' chocolate chantilly recipe, which I really do need to try at some point.

Speaking of "there's nothing about that I don't love" -- bacon-infused bourbon old-fashioned. I still think bacon ice cream will be my next bacon project, but I may give the infused bourbon a try as well.

Posted by at 6:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here's a really interesting post about the impact of food color on flavor. I'd never thought about it quite like this before but it makes sense. Thinking about the example she gives, I'm sure that my assumption, before tasting, would be that a redder cherry sauce would be fresher tasting than one that was brown. Even if the sauces were exactly the same, it's not surprising that you might taste them as different based on the visuals and they way they alter your expectations. This probably relates to studies I've read about that say people tend to reject blue food. That is, blue food that's not supposed to be blue. Dye a bunch of mashed potatoes blue and most people won't want any. And I've had the experience where I've felt that adding food color to something changes the flavor. Which of course it doesn't. If you gave me spoons of the same buttercream dyed blue and yellow to taste while I was blindfolded, there'd certainly be no way to tell them apart. But if I tasted the same thing w/o the blindfold, it wouldn't at all surprise me to find that, say, the yellow frosting tasted more buttery.

Posted by at 10:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

XDU wrrld music top 10 (week ending 6 apr 08)

Divine Inspiration :: Aruna Sairam
Ishumar :: Toumast
Healing the Music :: Embassadors
Home Again :: Rahim Alhaj
Mighty Striker Shoots at the Hits :: various
Cryland :: Don Cavalli
Blackout :: Monguito Santamaria
the Mandé Variations:: Toumani Diabate
What's Happening in Pernambuco :: various
Greatest Hits :: Todos Tus Muertos

this week's video feature: Don Cavalli

Posted by at 9:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Canes, WTF? UCLA, WTF?? Tarheels, WTF??? ANTM, WTF??!!??

So, big ups to Spacegrrl for giving me something to ponder over besides the befuddling worlds of sports and reality TV. Friends of hers discovered some interesting history about their house. There is plenty of info about Major Riddle around on the interwebs. His lasting contribution to Vegas culture appears to have been the introduction of topless showgirls while he was running the Dunes. He also started several other casinos after moving on from the Dunes in the 60s, including the Silver Nugget. Coincidentally, we saw bits of old signage from both the Dunes and the Silver Nugget during our tour of the Neon Boneyard. I found a pic in one of my books (Fabulous Las Vegas in the 50s) that showed Sinatra and a couple of un-named guys at the Dunes opening. Further online digging, tho, indicates that neither of these was the elusive Major Riddle (One was Jack Entratter, owner of the Sands, who Sinatra's always joking about in his monologues). I did eventually find a site w/ some good info on the early years of the Dunes. I'm not linking it, however, cos it's a hot mess. Built to work in IE4 and only IE4 apparently. Won't even load the subpages in Firefox and when viewed in Exploder 5.whatever, has the photos dropped all over the page, usually obscuring the text. But, there were two pics of Major Riddle. One of him and his wife and the other of him and Virginia Hill. As in the notorious girlfriend of Bugsy Siegel. I'm sure it's too much to expect that Hill was the flashy dame who showed up in the Caddy w/ Major Riddle. Given the number of hot & cold running showgirls he would've been surrounded by, the possibilities are many.

Posted by at 12:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Wednesday's movie: the Great Yokai War (or: Yokai Daisenso, if you're otaku enough to care). Crazy, man! It's filled with a lot of the same trad. Japanese spirits that you see in Spirited Away. But this is much more of an action movie with FX, CGI, rubber monster suits, etc. Plus it's often just this side of being really twisted. Which is not suprising when you consider that it was directed by Takashi Miike, who's generally known for, shall we say, edgier offerings like Audition and Ichi the Killer. Even with the weird-to-creepy touches, this is still basically a family friendly movie. I'm sure it makes much more sense if you're Japanese or at least more familiar with the folkloric traditions being drawn on.
More babble, w/ some spoilers, below the cut.
Final verdict: Rodney sez "check it out."

Basic plot: a little boy who's been sent off to the countryside after his parents' divorce (is it just me or does something like this happen in A LOT of Japanese movies?) ends up entangled in a battle between yokai (folkloric Japanese spirits) and a demon intent on destroying the world.
Message alert: Lord Kato, the demon, draws his power from the collective resentment felt by all the things humans throw away and discard.
One touch I particularly liked: when Tadashi, the little boy, gets the magic sword, it's clear that it's the sword doing most of the work -- he's mostly just along for the ride when he's holding it.
Agi, Lord Kato's sidekick with the platinum beehive hairdo and the badass whip, is played by Chiaki Kuriyama, known to a certain segment of the viewing public as Gogo Yubari in Kill Bill, vol 1. She pretty much steals the movie, at least on the bad guy side of things.

Posted by at 9:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I was back on the air this morning and decided, on a whim, to set myself an esoteric theme challenge and have all my non-playlist tracks be from artists starting with the letter R. Completely invisible to anyone listening and probably not even apparent to those reading the playlist online. But since I hadn't planned ahead it kept me on my toes looking in the Rs of various genre sections. It actually made the show more interesting and I think I'll try it again in two weeks with a different letter.

Posted by at 8:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

XDU wrrld music top 10 (week ending 30 mar 08)

What's Happening in Pernambuco :: various
Cryland :: Don Cavalli
Healing the Music :: Embassadors
Ishumar :: Toumast
Divine Inspiration :: Aruna Sairam
Blackout :: Monguito Santamaria
Duetos :: Gilberto Gil
the Mandé Variations:: Toumani Diabate
Greatest Hits :: Todos Tus Muertos
Home Again :: Rahim Alhaj

this week's video feature: Toumast

Posted by at 8:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Via an article on Salon today, I heard about an interesting documentary showing on PBS. Compañeras tells the story of Mariachi Reyna de los Angeles, an all-female mariachi group. The movie's showing as part of the Independent Lens series. Altho it's on tonight in many places, if you're local to the Triangle you'll have to wait a while. The first showing is scheduled for 4/18. At 2am so set those VCRs or DVRs.
Interesting side note: in a letter to Salon someone pointed out that the claim of Reyna de los Angeles that they're the first all-female mariachi group is not 100% accurate.

Posted by at 9:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)