Reads

At the moment here's what I'm reading:

The Maid's Version - Daniel Woodrell

Vol. I-III of DC's new Wonder Woman comic series by Brian Azzarello

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

I also just binged on the PBS series The Mind of a Chef Season 2 which featured a dvd from Sean Brock and one from April Bloomfield.  Both were outstanding and humbling.  I really enjoyed April's as I like her style and tend to like those type of recipes.  I was able to eat at Tosca Cafe in San Francisco recently, her newest restaurant.  

Fast Forward 2014

My last post was January 9, 2011.  Life tends to push you around sometimes and apparently this hidden blog post fell behind the dresser of things to do.

What reminded me of this random thought-post was listening (again) to Sun Kil Moon's newest record, Benji.  There are so many things one could say about each of the eleven songs.  Benji is a new modern folk classic.  Diary entries set to music without attention to rhyme or hook.  Honesty.  Humor.


There's a fine line between a middle-aged guy with a backstage pass
And a guy with a gut hanging around like a jackass
Everybody there was twenty years younger than me
At least that this is not my fondest memory
I carried my legs back down and then I gave
My backstage passes to two cute asian girls
I drove to my place near Tahoe
Got in my hot tub and thought well that's how it goes
And it was quiet and I was listening to the crickets
And Ben's still out there, selling lots of tickets
And though while we pretend that there's a temperature competitiveness
But Ben's my friend and I know he gets it
Then in a couple of days my meltdown passed
Back to the studio doing twelve hours shifts
Singing a song about one thing or another
Another day behind the microphone this summer
Read more: Sun Kil Moon - Ben's My Friend Lyrics | MetroLyrics 

My favorite line is "singing a song about one thing or another."  That describes Benji perfectly.  So, pick this little beauty up and enjoy.  It isn't easy listening or an easy listen.  But it will grab you.

The final two books I read in 2010 were:

Crazy Heart by Thomas Cobb
The Whole Beast; Head to Tail Eating by Fergus Henderson

Crazy Heart was excellent and disarmingly depressing. I am set to watch the movie, was holding off until I read the book. Even though I knew Jeff Bridges plays Bad Blake in the movie, the whole time I read the book my mind pictured Guy Clark. I also pictured Lynn Collins as Jean instead of Maggie Gyllenhaal.

The Whole Beast, another cookbook/chef bio from the St John chef in London. Bourdain has raved about this chef/restaurant and apparently the first pressing of this book is a collector's item. This paperback version has a foreward by Bourdain.

So by my estimate, i beat my 3/month total by reading 40+ books in 2010. I did a worse job of keeping track, but looking back through the blog and scanning the shelf, I hit 41 or 42.


Currently reading:

Juliet Naked by Nick Hornby
A Return to Cooking by Eric Ripert & Michael Ruhlman (awesome so far)
The Shape of the Journey by Jim Harrison (this will take awhile, love it so far)

The Shape of the Journey

I found this first edition at Half Price Books for $9! It collects all of Harrison's astounding verse from 1965 - mid-1990's. I started last night and read through the first chapter. Harrison has a keen eye (of course he does, he lost an eye as a child) for describing a moment in time, usually nature, or relationships.

December is almost over *Updated*

Another long Absinthe!

Brief recap:

Saw the 13 Most Beautiful performance by Dean & Britta at the IMA for the Andy Warhol exhibit. Exhibit was cool too.

Went on a backpacking trip to the Linville Gorge in the Pisgah National Forest, near Asheville NC. Me, Adrian, John Veltri & BJ Livingston. We had a wonderful time. If you get the chance to go there, do it. We had quite an adventure.

Saw the reunited GBV again, this time at the Bluebird in Bloomington. They had definitely tightened up since the Vegas show. Have tickets to see them in Nashville on January 19th. Will likely hit Roberts Western Wear during the day, my favorite Nashville hangout!

With Jonny V saw Bobby Bare Jr at a house party in Beech Grove. 2 hours of pure fun. You name it, he played it. Did the great combo-cover of Sister Goldenhair/Where is My Mind! (America/Pixies) Bought vinyl from him outta the back of his car!

Books finished:
Shutter Island by Dennis LeHane
Point Omega by Don DeLillo (This book knocked me for a loop. Need to read again)
Elements of Cooking by Michael Ruhlman
The Whole Beast: Head to Tail Cooking by Fergus Henderson

Poetry Tomes:
Infinity Blues by Ryan Adams
Adult Head by Jeff Tweedy

In Process:
Crazy Heart by Thomas Cobb
The Food of a Younger Land by Mark Kurlansky

More to come.....

Desolation Row/Champaign, Illinois

Happened to catch Old 97's on Leno last week and they played this great song....

Best Coast

I've Been Busy

Thankfully RSS feeds make infrequent posters (posers?) from fading into the vast ether. Quick reading update and a pre-GBV show shout out. GBV @ the Bluebird in Bloomington tonight!

Finished:
Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell
First, Break All the Rules by Marcus Buckingham
The Death of Bunny Munro by Nick Cave

Started:
Shutter Island by Dennis LeHane
Addiction and Grace by Gerald May

I'm anxious to see the movie Winter's Bone which just came out on dvd. Also waiting to see this german film White Ribbon. I've read about it and it sounds fascinating.

Books

Finished The Summer He Didn't Die by Jim Harrison. Started Winter's Bones by Daniel Woodrell. Trying to finish First, Break all the Rules by Marcus Buckingham for a job satisfaction project at work. Re-reading Harrison's latest book of poems called In Search of Small Gods. It's brilliant. Also started reading a cookbook called The Food of Portugal by Jean Anderson.

Le Noise

Saturday Surprise

13 Most Beautiful.......

This is a wonderful, amazing, cool, strange movie. Dean & Britta were commissioned to sift through 500 of Andy Warhol's 4 minute 'screen tests' that he filmed in the late 60's and write and perform songs for 13 of them. Warhol often used 13 Most... as a theme for many of his performance or artistic pieces. The cd & dvd are both crazy good. I have watched the dvd twice, and you find yourself just staring at it, right into Nico or Edie's eyes as they stare at you. Two of the individuals chosen by Dean and Britta are Lou Reed and Dennis Hopper. The Lou Reed piece features a recently found Velvets unreleased song, I'm Not a Young Man Anymore. If you are unfamiliar with Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips, they were Luna, he was Galaxie 500. Here's Lou's screen test.

Super-Matic Lovers

Emusic Downloads for August:
Here's to Shutting Up by Superchunk (this one sounds like a Portastatic release to me)

Here's Where the Strings Come In by Superchunk (Going to see them in Vegas, trying to complete my collection)

The Static vs. The Strings vol. 1 by Centro-Matic (Somehow missed this, I think its the follow up to Re-do the Stacks, a top 10 all time for me)

Let Freedom Ring by Chuck Prophet

The Resterberg by Paul Westerberg

Transference by Spoon

Modern Lovers '88 by Jonathan Richman

Life in Vain

One of my favorite t.v. performances. Enjoy!

Morel Memory

"When Brown Dog and Berry returned to the car with their leeks and morels they were high in spirits despite being cold and wet. There is something inscrutably satisfying about finding a good patch of morel mushrooms that travels far beyond their excellent flavor, perhaps a trace of the glad hearts of hungry earlier gatherers in the long path of evolution."


Started reading another Harrison selection of novella's. The section above reminds me of being a kid in Marshall and at that just perfect time in the spring when dad would grab a handful of bread bags and say "let's go mushroom hunting." We would drive down the road not too far to "the other place." Brett and I would get our own bread bag and by then we knew the gig. Start looking for ash trees, old fallen logs, moist creek bed banks, and just keep your eyes peeled. After awhile you could spot them 20 yards away. Especially the big yellow ones. We ate them dusted in flour and fried in butter. Usually with pork chops or pork steaks at dinner or with eggs for breakfast. Harrison's statement rings true. Although I loved eating them, the hunt is what makes the special memory.

Medium Raw

Finished this before the trip to NYC. Another great read from Tony. A whole chapter on the fish butcher at Le Bernardin. Awesome. Heroes & Villians. Awesome. A wonderful sense of humor and a big heart. Check it out.

NYC, Man!

That's my black sea bass dish from Le Bernardin! (and the sea urchin risotto is the best thing I've ever eaten. Ever. Really) 3 nights & 3 days in the city for a NERVES Board meeting. Ate well. Went to the Whitney, finally, and saw this great exhibit on Charles Burchfield, see above. Yakatori Totto!! New restaurant idea for Indy. DBGB! (sausage & punk rock soundtrack, perfect? Yes) Momofuko SSam! (Oysters, Greek sardines, pork buns) You get the picture, I like to eat. And of course, Lou singing NYC Man.

Books and Tunes

Been on a reading drought recently. Many reasons, none good.

But after waking up Friday with lower back spasms that by Saturday rendered me completely bed-ridden, I was able to finish off some reading and start some others.

Finished:

Blue Movie by Terry Southern

A Great American Cook by Jonathan Waxman

Started:

The Other Great Depression by Richard Lewis (the comedian's autobiography and tale of beating alcoholism)

Medium Raw by Anthony Bourdain (I've read half of this in one sitting. Another honest, human and personal piece of work. Tony, at least in his non-fiction writing, stands next to his hero Jim Harrison, in this kind of down to earth, funny & unabashadedly forthright prose.)

New downloads for July:

Shrunken Heads by Ian Hunter
Crazy for You by Best Coast (my current favorite. extremely fun and satisfying)
Chronicles by Verbow (an oldie from the 90's. Jason Narducy missed the bigtime somehow)
Leaves in the Gutter by Superchunk (new ep)
First Bear on the Moon by Jon Dee Graham (live acoustic set. Has the great song Big Sweet Life on it)

Also picked up a couple of cd's:

Dark Night of the Soul - the collaboration of Dangermouse, Sparklehorse & David Lynch. Love it.

Twistable, Turntable Man: Tribute to the Songs of Shel Silverstein

Tin Ears by The Punkin Holler Boys - a 26 song retrospective from Indy's own. They played our company party a couple of weeks ago and it was so much fun. The evening set around an enormous bonfire was the best. Only about 10 of us left to enjoy, but the hits just kept coming!

Horseshoe Lake (Diggit's Theme Song)

And the Glitter is Gone