Laid down last night at 9pm to take a brief nap.
I just woke up.
And I thought my sleep schedule was fucked up before....
Why, oh why, can I not find a video or at least linkable online version of "Vikram the Vampire (Heavy Rotation Refixx)", from Talvin Singh's RemixingOK?????
I was 15. I had no idea what music meant to me. But I saw the MTV Video Music Awards that year. And I saw this video:
And it somehow touched me.
It was years before I embraced AoN. It was years before I accepted my own tastes for valid, and didn't rely on my friends to choose what music I liked. I think this may have been the defining time in my musical adolescence.
And of course, it eventually led to:
Which can be directly followed to:
and, of course:
And while we are at it:
Which, of course, leads to, or was inspired by:
Goddamnit. Now I want yumbo.
aaaaaaand as I typed that I remembered I still have about a quart and a half of duck and rabbit gumbo in the freezer. Ohhhhh, do I cave in and thaw it out, or do I save it for a special occasion?
In a weird syncronicity of having Led Zepplin's Kashmir as my ringtone, and David Bowie's I'm Afraid of Americans playing when the voice mail came in (apparently, I can make calls out, but incomming ones go straight to voicemail)... I know know that those two songs would make an excellent mash-up.
So, since Sunday or so, I've not been able to send or receive text messages on my phone.
Just spent an hour and a half with T-Mobile's online chat reps, and.... still can't send or receive messages on my phone. Apparently I am one of thousands of people affected by their global outage.
So, if you need to get ahold of me, email or call, texts won't get through until they fix their outage.
At least I bitched enough to get credited for the time.
The Holiday 2009 issue of Cook's Illustrated is now on the shelves.
Highlights:
Pumpkin-Praline Pie
Old-fashined Plum Pudding
Mincemeat Pie
Parker House rolls
Trifle
Olive-Rosemary bread
Quick and Easy (not East) Gingerbread
Challah
and the one I must make, Pecan-Bourbon Bundt Cake
Sally forth, young bakers, and make me some holiday delicacies!!
And while we are at it, this should wake you up:
Swans, "Time is Money (Bastard)"
And, because I love the song:
Swans, "Telepathy"
( I saw you through the window masturbating to the violence )
We'd been talking about coney dogs all day, for some unknown reason.
Chance saw fit to have us drive by an A&W while in Southcenter.
Hells yes. Coney with cheese, hold the onions, and a frosty glass mug of draft rootbeer.
Itch: scratched.
Finally got to see Bob Mould live in concert last night, and goddamn, was it worth the wait.
Best show I've seen in a long while.
I loved how he walked on stage, quickly strapped on his guitar, and just launched full force into the set. Very little pauses between shows, just hard grindy rock. He played a bunch of older stuff, solo, Sugar, and Husker Du, as well as some really good stuff from the most recent albums (which I'd not heard, but loved).
Awesome show.
He didn't play Black Sheets of Rain, which I was hoping for, but he did play See A Little Light from the same album.
( For your listening pleasure... )
So, I've always thought that Indiana really only had one claim to culinary fame, the Tenderloin Sandwich (pounded thin pork cutlet, breaded and fried, or alternately un-breaded and grilled, served on a bun with mustard, pickle and ketchup). Cook's Illustrated shattered that when they did a special on the "Iowa Skinny, which is the same damn thing. Fucking Iowans, stealing our food.
Anyway.
I just came across this site. Turns out my dad's favorite pie, the Sugar Creme Pie, seems to have originated in Indiana.
Huh.
I think I might have to make one soon.
It's autumn in Seattle, and I'm just not feeling it.
Usually, this is the time of year that I get all excited. The transition into winter, the greying of the days, the return of PacNW rains.... all of this usually makes me a little introspective, and very happy. I make soup, I break out my sweaters, I look forward with a childlike hope that maybe this year, the great Snowmizer will visit, and cover the town in white.
But not this year, at least so far.
I'm overcome by the blahs. I feel... like I suspect many other people feel come this time of year in Seattle.
At first I tried to tell myself it was just the unusually warm, nice, and long summer (having "summer" start in early May? can we do this every year please?), and that I wasn't quite ready to give up on it. That I still had hiking to do.
But, I've not done any hiking in the past couple weeks.
I need to shake off this funk. Last night I thought to myself that I'd go to Kubota Gardens today and get there early enough to take some leisurely photography of the fall foliage, then maybe head over to Kerry Park for some night shots of downtown. And of course when I wake up, it's drippy and grey, and definitely not the golden autumn light I hoped for.
Bleh.
Maybe I can cook myself out of this funk.
I've created a gallery of photos documenting the creation of the duck/rabbit/andouille gumbo I made a couple weeks ago. I plan on using those images and making a step by step guide to making gumbo, but right now, I must go get something to eat.
But feel free to peruse the pics.
Goddamn I'm hungry now.
(And yes, I am smart and froze some of this gumbo... it's in the freezer waiting on a chilly, rainy day).
Why I woke up with this song stuck in me head... I have no idea.
I've not heard it in a movie or tv show, as far as I can recall, in years.
I've not listened to any other CCR in years.
Brains, they are weird.
Resolution for all those who are lamenting the exodus to Facebook:
I will hearby endeavor to post something to LiveJournal (or any other online outlet that allows a lengthy discourse), at least once a week, of something meaningful. Of something of substance. At the very fucking least, of something longer than 160 characters.
Seriously. Try to say anything that has any substance in 160 characters.
I miss the days when I could look forward to reading something insightful.. or at least something personal... about my friends/online aquaintances.
But the only one who can counteract this twitterization is... US.
Go forth.
Say something. Anything.
Say something that makes me feel like I'm actually having a conversation with you. Say something that makes me feel like we are connected.
Fuck Farmville. Fuck Mafia Wars. Fuck "What 70's Bimbo Am I?".
Tell me about your life. Tell me about what is happening there. Let me know how you are feeling.
Take back the 'net.
...of one of my favorite DJ albums ever.
Global Underground 10 - "Athens", Danny Tenaglia, CD 1
Couldn't find some of the tracks, they are struckthrough. Some are not the same mixes as the CD, as is to be expected. Few are actual videos.
Track 1:
"Absolute Reason", Stereo Dancer
( ...and so on... )
Overcome by the need for soup, we headed to QFC to pick up the makin's for scratch Beef Barley Mushroom soup.
I got to use my new 12" All-Clad to brown the meat (then the veggies), and there really is something to the saying about using the right tool for the job. No non-stick here, just lots of stainless, and a nice crisp crust on the beef. I've found I can brown 2 batches, then have to deglaze (Wanna grow .. grow up to be... be a deglazer....) the pan with some stock. Then a quick wash, which I'd never have imaging could be so easy with a non-nonstick pan, and the next batch. Awesome lil browned bits of flavor (fond) to make the soup even better.
Basic recipe was:
3 lbs beef roast, cut into 1" cubes
2 lbs mixed mushrooms, in this case crimini, portabella, and porcini, chopped roughly
1 medium yellow onion, diced
2 stalks celery, chopped fine
3 big fat organic carrots, cut into small rounds
3 big red taters
1 can tomato paste
2 containers beef broth
1/2 bag pearl barley
Dry the beef, then brown well, in batches. Add beef to 1 of the containers of broth, which is at a low boil. Deglaze pan in between batches, washing before re-using.
Once all the beef is done, sautee the onions and celery in 1/2 stick butter til lightly browned, add 1 can tomato paste, cook til fragrant, add to soup.
Dice potatoes, add to soup along with carrots.
Sautee mushrooms in 1/4 stick butter, add rest of beef broth, and cook til reduced by half, add to rest of soup.
Season with some oregano and thyme, salt and pepper.
Add barley, simmer just below a boil for about 1 hour.
Eat with bread :)
The Glengary Glen Ross drinking game.
Any time "leads" are mentioned: take a drink.
Any time anyone curses: take a drink.
Any time "close", "closer" is mentioned, take a drink.
Any time "what I'm sayin'" is uttered, take a drink.
If you plan on doing this, might be a good idea to call 911 when you put the DVD in the player. By halfway through the movie, you'll need a liver transplant.
The corn pudding is.... well.. fucking awesome.
The osso bucco was pretty fucking good too.
Navigate: (Previous 20 Entries)
