Hello there, welcome, and hello again. This week I came across several rather fabulous clips on Youtube from a 1973 concert called Wattstax. I didn't know much about it so I did a little research and it turns out, it was quite a big deal. The 1972 Watts Festival commemorated the 1965 Watts riots, seen by many as a turning point in the African-American civil rights struggle. The culmination of the festival was a concert, hosted by Stax Records, dubbed Wattstax. The concert has been likened to a 'Black Woodstock' and the line-up featured a veritable who's who of Stax recording artists at the time. A documentary of Wattstax was made and has recently been re-released on DVD with previously unseen footage. You can watch the trailer here. It looks like one for the netfix queue, if you ask me.
Here are two of my favourite clips:
The Staple Singers - Respect Yourself
With an intro from Jesse Jackson.
Rufus Thomas - the Breakdown
I highly recommend having a hunt around youtube for more if you likey.
-Mr. Ed
Saturday, July 29, 2006
Liverpool Trip with Beatles legacy link
I recently went on a trip to Liverpool. The meeting I had there was largely a waste of time but it meant I could actually have a good look around the city of culture 2008. I also wanted to see the cavern club.
On the train on the way up I found my seat on an extremely busy Virgin train. I found myself sitting next to a woman who was friendly and chatty. I had work to do but she didn't hesitate to keep the chat coming and after the 5th time my phone cut off (Rubbish Sony Erricsson work phone shite) I thought I would chat letty away to pass the time.
Now please read the following:
July 9, 1968
Oobledee [Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da] goes well and Eric Clapton plays a visit... Off to the pub for toasted cheese sarnies, later Paul went to the pub, with George, Neil and Pete for a pint. John and George guitars — Ringo drums for new version of "Revolution". Put up slide for kids and filmed Julie on it
So, I was on the way to Liverpool for my first visit and I mentioned to the woman that I wanted to see the Cavern club. I then asked her why she was going. Her grand mother was very old and she was visiting her before the inevitable happened. She had been putting this off but realised she should get on with it before it was too late etc etc. She then went to say that her dad worked at the Cavern, in fact he worked for the beatles, their whole career as a band. The above extract is taken from the diary of Mal Evans, Road manager and general best man of the beatles. I was talking to Julie.
I had heard of him but had no idea of the extent of the involvement he had. The last hour of the journey went very quickly, Julie enjoyed talking about him and the experiences she had growing up. She has photos of her as a little girl with all four beatles. She also told of his tragic death in the 70s, shot by the LAPD.
From time to time they find a box of his stuff - sketches, lyrics, photos etc and this gives them a couple of hundred grand here and there. But, as well as the diary he also wrote a book, which has remained unpublished. His mother would not allow it to be published in her lifetime as she felt he was hard done by the beatles.
At Liverpool lime street I gave Julie my card and said let me know about the book. I forgot my mobile number was on my card but I got a text the next day saying it was good to talk on the train and that she had got to see her gran who died while she was there a 7.40 pm. Which is the same time I was stood outside the Cavern.
So I think there will be a book coming out at some point by Mal Evans. For more on Mal see below:
By Scout (Tonto's Stead)
Mal Evans
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Malcolm Evans (May 27, 1935 – January 5, 1976) is best known as the roadie, assistant, and friend to the hugely popular rock band The Beatles.
Evans was working as a communications technician for the Post Office in 1962 when he first heard The Beatles perform at Liverpool's Cavern Club. He eventually became friends with the band, and was soon hired as roadie.
Evans drove the van for the band on tour, set up and tested their equipment, and then packed it all up again.
When The Beatles quit touring in 1966, Evans continued to be friends with the band and to work with them in the studio. Evans even contributed to many Beatles recordings, including lending his voice to "Yellow Submarine", playing the Hammond organ on "You Won't See Me", harmonica on "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!", tambourine on "Dear Prudence", trumpet on "Helter Skelter", contributing background vocals to "You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)" and the White Album outtake "What's The New Mary Jane" and counting off the measures in the breaks of the song "A Day in the Life" (Evans was also one of the five piano players simultaneously hitting the last chord of the song). Evans co-wrote the song "Fixing A Hole", from the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album, with Paul McCartney but agreed to be paid a one-off fee instead of receiving writing credit.
In the Let It Be film, Evans can also be seen playing the anvil during early versions of Paul McCartney's "Maxwell's Silver Hammer", although he did not play it on the actual recording.
In 1968, Evans discovered the band Badfinger (then known as The Iveys) and introduced them to The Beatles, who eventually signed them to Apple Records. Although not trained as a studio technician, Evans produced several songs recorded by The Iveys and Badfinger in 1969 and 1970. The most notable of these tracks is the song "No Matter What" by Badfinger, which charted on Billboard's Top 10 in December 1970.
Evans enjoyed an executive position at Apple until The Beatles hired Allen Klein in 1969 to reorganize the company. Evans became a casualty during housecleaning the following year. Evans subsequently moved from the U.K. to Los Angeles, enabling him to maintain a relationship with John Lennon who had also moved there[1].
Evans was shot and killed by the Los Angeles police on January 5, 1976, when officers mistakenly believed that the air pistol Evans was holding was an actual revolver.
A suitcase that Evans was carrying at the time, containing unreleased recordings, photos, and other memorabilia, was lost by the police during the investigation, and became known as the lost "Mal Evans Archive". It was reported in June 2004 that an English tourist, Frasier Claughton, bought the suitcase for around $36 at a flea market just outside of Melbourne, Australia, unaware of its contents. By August 2004, however, experts had determined that the documents within the suitcase were in fact photocopies made in the 1990s and declared the "archive" a fake.
I don't think... um
That's all you hear Tony blair say as he gets cut off at the end of this video. Try as I might, I don't think I can sum up what Bush had just said as succinctly. Well, not without resorting to some ghastly cliché* like 'train wreck' that is.
For some analysis here is the eternally spot-on Josh Marshall, with his take on it:
...we're here listening to the Bush-Blair press conference. And a few minutes ago a reporter (I think David Gregory, but will check on that) asked the president in so many words: You said Iraq was going to bring about new Middle East but now the Middle East is a complete disaster.
Certainly, this would be a challenging question on more levels than one. But the president's answer, quite a lengthy one actually, showed in a really frightening detail how President Bush seems to be basically brain dead on this issue
-snip-
We know the president isn't very articulate in news conference settings. But national leaders don't have to be articulate to be good leaders. In fact there have been a number very good ones who could scarcely speak coherently for thirty seconds.
But if you watch this passage I think you see something different. Namely, that pretty much everything that's happened over the last three years, and certainly over the last three months has just gone in one presidential ear and out the other. He is, in both the deepest and most superficial sense, out of it.
Two more years? Oh christ.
-Mr. Ed
*In honour of CEW.
For some analysis here is the eternally spot-on Josh Marshall, with his take on it:
...we're here listening to the Bush-Blair press conference. And a few minutes ago a reporter (I think David Gregory, but will check on that) asked the president in so many words: You said Iraq was going to bring about new Middle East but now the Middle East is a complete disaster.
Certainly, this would be a challenging question on more levels than one. But the president's answer, quite a lengthy one actually, showed in a really frightening detail how President Bush seems to be basically brain dead on this issue
-snip-
We know the president isn't very articulate in news conference settings. But national leaders don't have to be articulate to be good leaders. In fact there have been a number very good ones who could scarcely speak coherently for thirty seconds.
But if you watch this passage I think you see something different. Namely, that pretty much everything that's happened over the last three years, and certainly over the last three months has just gone in one presidential ear and out the other. He is, in both the deepest and most superficial sense, out of it.
Two more years? Oh christ.
-Mr. Ed
*In honour of CEW.
Sunday, July 23, 2006
Phish Taco Phenomenon
Right, let's get one thing straight, this has nothing to do with the band Phish.
I had my first try at making fish tacos last night and it went really well. I also took this opportunity to try out another hot culinary trend - plank grilling - because, well, because I'm just so hip it hurts.
Yeah anyway, plank grilling is a technique that apparently orginated with native American tribes in the Pacific northwest. It's a gentle way to cook fish on the grill and it also imparts a rich smoky flavour. The flavour and degree of "smokiness" depends on the type of wood used. I went for alder which has a mild, slightly sweet flavour; other choices include cedar, hickory and maple. I used an untreated, pre-cut plank about 18" long 6" wide and 1/4" thick that I got at whole foods. It's best to soak the plank in water (for at least and hour) before you put it on the grill. Once the grill is hot you put the plank on the grill and let it warm up for three minutes before flipping it and warming it on the other side. You then turn it back over again, pop your fish on the plank and close the lid of the grill. The old rule of five minutes per inch of fish should be roughly doubled when using a plank (though you don't have to flip the fish) unless you like your fish on the rare side.
I've eaten fish tacos several places but by far my favourites were at Poe's Tavern on Sullivan's Island, so I stole the basic format from them.
The Fish
I took a 3/4lb sashimi-grade tuna steak and marinated it in 2 tablespoons of olive oil, the juice of one lime, one crushed clove of garlic, 1 tablespoon of brown sugar, 1 teaspoon of finely chopped crushed chipotle pepper, 1 teaspoon of cumin, a splash of beer (I used Modelo) and salt and pepper to taste. I mixed all the marinade ingredients together well, adding the beer last, and then poured it into a re-sealable plastic bag with the fish and left it all in the fridge for an hour.
Garlic Chipotle Sour Cream
I remembered that there was a creamy chipotle something-or-other on Poe's fish tacos but the details were murky, so I just winged it. Chipotle is a mature (ie. brown or red) jalepeno pepper that has been smoked. It has a really delicous and unique flavour. They may be hard to come by in the UK, a lot of tex-mex stuff used to be anyway. Unortunately, I'm not sure what you could use to replace them, since they really make this dish. I combined half a cup of sour cream, one clove of garlic and one teaspoon of crushed chipotle peppers (finely chopped), mixed it all well and then let it sit in the fridge for 30 minutes to let the flavours mingle. While that was chilling I started on the pico de gallo.
Pico de Gallo
This ubiquitous mexican condiment is one of those things that everyone makes slightly differently. For my version I chopped up four large spring onions (or scallions if you're a yank) one and a half medium tomatoes (cubed) and a good handful of finely chopped corriander leaves, mixed them all together then added the juice of half a lime and a little salt and pepper.
The last two ingredients for the fish tacos were finely chopped red cabbage and grated Monterey Jack cheese. White cabbage works just as well and mild cheddar would proably do as a substitute for Monterey Jack.
So, once you've got all the ingredients together it's just a matter of heating up the grill and getting on with it. Take a warm 8" flour totilla, smear a little sour cream in the middle, add the cabbage, pico and some chunks of tuna and top with the cheese. Honestly, I think this might have been one of the best meals I've ever made. It was frikkin' - ney fucking - delicious.
Yum!
-Mr. Ed
I had my first try at making fish tacos last night and it went really well. I also took this opportunity to try out another hot culinary trend - plank grilling - because, well, because I'm just so hip it hurts.
Yeah anyway, plank grilling is a technique that apparently orginated with native American tribes in the Pacific northwest. It's a gentle way to cook fish on the grill and it also imparts a rich smoky flavour. The flavour and degree of "smokiness" depends on the type of wood used. I went for alder which has a mild, slightly sweet flavour; other choices include cedar, hickory and maple. I used an untreated, pre-cut plank about 18" long 6" wide and 1/4" thick that I got at whole foods. It's best to soak the plank in water (for at least and hour) before you put it on the grill. Once the grill is hot you put the plank on the grill and let it warm up for three minutes before flipping it and warming it on the other side. You then turn it back over again, pop your fish on the plank and close the lid of the grill. The old rule of five minutes per inch of fish should be roughly doubled when using a plank (though you don't have to flip the fish) unless you like your fish on the rare side.
I've eaten fish tacos several places but by far my favourites were at Poe's Tavern on Sullivan's Island, so I stole the basic format from them.
The Fish
I took a 3/4lb sashimi-grade tuna steak and marinated it in 2 tablespoons of olive oil, the juice of one lime, one crushed clove of garlic, 1 tablespoon of brown sugar, 1 teaspoon of finely chopped crushed chipotle pepper, 1 teaspoon of cumin, a splash of beer (I used Modelo) and salt and pepper to taste. I mixed all the marinade ingredients together well, adding the beer last, and then poured it into a re-sealable plastic bag with the fish and left it all in the fridge for an hour.
Garlic Chipotle Sour Cream
I remembered that there was a creamy chipotle something-or-other on Poe's fish tacos but the details were murky, so I just winged it. Chipotle is a mature (ie. brown or red) jalepeno pepper that has been smoked. It has a really delicous and unique flavour. They may be hard to come by in the UK, a lot of tex-mex stuff used to be anyway. Unortunately, I'm not sure what you could use to replace them, since they really make this dish. I combined half a cup of sour cream, one clove of garlic and one teaspoon of crushed chipotle peppers (finely chopped), mixed it all well and then let it sit in the fridge for 30 minutes to let the flavours mingle. While that was chilling I started on the pico de gallo.
Pico de Gallo
This ubiquitous mexican condiment is one of those things that everyone makes slightly differently. For my version I chopped up four large spring onions (or scallions if you're a yank) one and a half medium tomatoes (cubed) and a good handful of finely chopped corriander leaves, mixed them all together then added the juice of half a lime and a little salt and pepper.
The last two ingredients for the fish tacos were finely chopped red cabbage and grated Monterey Jack cheese. White cabbage works just as well and mild cheddar would proably do as a substitute for Monterey Jack.
So, once you've got all the ingredients together it's just a matter of heating up the grill and getting on with it. Take a warm 8" flour totilla, smear a little sour cream in the middle, add the cabbage, pico and some chunks of tuna and top with the cheese. Honestly, I think this might have been one of the best meals I've ever made. It was frikkin' - ney fucking - delicious.
Yum!
-Mr. Ed
Saturday, July 22, 2006
Soulful Saturday Five!
A souful Saturday double header!
In concert with the recent weather both here and in the UK, here is Martha Reeves and the Vandellas with "(Your love is like a) Heatwave" from all the way back in 1963. This isn't live, which is a shame, but it's still well worth a watch. Oh, shimmy shimmy!
I also found this clip of "No where to run" from 1965 where they are singing live and so I thought I'd go ahead and post both. And speaking of running, I think we're going to do just that, it's time for the beach.
-Mr. Ed
PS
I made fish tacos last night. I'm not sure, but I think they might have been the most fabulously delicious things I've ever-ever made. Full details including photos, recipes and more coming soon.
In concert with the recent weather both here and in the UK, here is Martha Reeves and the Vandellas with "(Your love is like a) Heatwave" from all the way back in 1963. This isn't live, which is a shame, but it's still well worth a watch. Oh, shimmy shimmy!
I also found this clip of "No where to run" from 1965 where they are singing live and so I thought I'd go ahead and post both. And speaking of running, I think we're going to do just that, it's time for the beach.
-Mr. Ed
PS
I made fish tacos last night. I'm not sure, but I think they might have been the most fabulously delicious things I've ever-ever made. Full details including photos, recipes and more coming soon.
Friday, July 21, 2006
Why equivocate?
This is very, very amusing.
Via my mate Ashley, here's a real treat from the good people at McSweeny's internet tendency (which is well worth a perusal, by the way).
JOHN MOE'S POP-SONG
CORRESPONDENCES,
VOLUME XIII.
BY JOHN MOE
- - - -
Notes on
"Sweet Child O' Mine,"
as Delivered to Axl Rose
by His Editor.
- - - -
Hi, Axl,
Just got your manuscript and demo for the song "Sweet Child O' (sic) Mine." I think we need to talk. As your editor, I am responsible for making your songs as cogent as possible, for helping them reach the high editorial standards your public has come to expect. With this one, I am certainly earning my keep. After several attempts to reach you by phone, I am sending along my notes. Please make appropriate fixes as soon as possible, at which point I can send them to copyediting and proofreading in time for your upcoming studio session.
She's got a smile that, it seems to me? Why equivocate? You weaken your point by framing this as a mere personal observation instead of a fact.
Reminds me of childhood memories? Redundant. You either have a memory or you're reminded of something. You're not reminded of a memory. Heavy-metal fans won't stand for such writing, my friend.
Where everything was as fresh as a bright blue sky? I asked around the office and no one is sure a blue sky is "fresh." You could have a blue sky at the end of a long, sweaty day and there would be nothing fresh about it. And she reminds you of a time when things were fresh? Fond reminiscences of freshness are no foundation for love. Fix.
Now and then when I see her face it takes me away to that special place? Again, you're weakening your own argument. Why does the sight of her face transport you only periodically? And is it just her smile or her entire face that does this to you? Because you've already said both. Consistency, Axl!
And if I stared too long, I'd probably break down and cry?Why would you do that? Because you miss the freshness you described earlier? I think the whole "fresh" thing is really tripping you up. Also, crying? Wimpy.
OK, on to the second verse.
She's got eyes of the bluest skies?See, this is just getting worse. Now her eyes are made of sky? Nice imagery, but you just got done saying her smile reminded you of memories of sky. Is this verse actually supposed to a second draft of the first verse? Am I just confused on formatting? Help!
As if they thought of rain? Axl, eyes can't think of rain. And even if they could, which they can't, why would bluest skies think of rain? Perhaps less imagery of thinking eyes made of sky and more direct exploration of your feelings?
I hate to look into those eyes and see an ounce of pain? Well, hell. I guess in your special Axl World anything is possible. Eyes can be made of sky, ponder the weather, and exhibit pain in amounts that can be weighed.
Her hair reminds me of a warm safe place where as a child I'd hide? Delete. Fix. Do something. You'd hide in a place that reminded you of hair? Never show me such phrases again.
And pray for the thunder and the rain to quietly pass me by? Whew. OK, listen to me now: Thunder can't quietly do anything. It's thunder. And, more importantly, do you really want to come across as a wuss who's constantly on the verge of weeping and skittering into hair caves to escape from rain? Is this a song about love or climatic anxiety? You need to work these things out.
Finally, Axl, I think we might have had a misunderstanding regarding my previous notes. When I wrote in colored pencil "Where do we go now?" I wasn't offering that as a lyric. I was simply observing that, in narrative terms, the song needed to progress in some way. You love the girl, she's helping you work through some issues, whatever. So where do we go now? But instead of providing a satisfactory conclusion, you simply took my note and repeated it over and over again before ultimately just stating the title of the song. This is unacceptable. Don't ask us, the listeners, where we go. That's up to you as the writer! Tell us where we go now!
Again, let's try to fix these things soon and get "Sweet Child of Mine" ("My Sweet Child"?) into your fans' hands as quickly as possible. Because, frankly, if it should ever hit the street in its current form, the song would be a colossal failure.
Talk soon!
Your Editor
The orginal can be found here.
-Mr. Ed
Via my mate Ashley, here's a real treat from the good people at McSweeny's internet tendency (which is well worth a perusal, by the way).
JOHN MOE'S POP-SONG
CORRESPONDENCES,
VOLUME XIII.
BY JOHN MOE
- - - -
Notes on
"Sweet Child O' Mine,"
as Delivered to Axl Rose
by His Editor.
- - - -
Hi, Axl,
Just got your manuscript and demo for the song "Sweet Child O' (sic) Mine." I think we need to talk. As your editor, I am responsible for making your songs as cogent as possible, for helping them reach the high editorial standards your public has come to expect. With this one, I am certainly earning my keep. After several attempts to reach you by phone, I am sending along my notes. Please make appropriate fixes as soon as possible, at which point I can send them to copyediting and proofreading in time for your upcoming studio session.
She's got a smile that, it seems to me? Why equivocate? You weaken your point by framing this as a mere personal observation instead of a fact.
Reminds me of childhood memories? Redundant. You either have a memory or you're reminded of something. You're not reminded of a memory. Heavy-metal fans won't stand for such writing, my friend.
Where everything was as fresh as a bright blue sky? I asked around the office and no one is sure a blue sky is "fresh." You could have a blue sky at the end of a long, sweaty day and there would be nothing fresh about it. And she reminds you of a time when things were fresh? Fond reminiscences of freshness are no foundation for love. Fix.
Now and then when I see her face it takes me away to that special place? Again, you're weakening your own argument. Why does the sight of her face transport you only periodically? And is it just her smile or her entire face that does this to you? Because you've already said both. Consistency, Axl!
And if I stared too long, I'd probably break down and cry?Why would you do that? Because you miss the freshness you described earlier? I think the whole "fresh" thing is really tripping you up. Also, crying? Wimpy.
OK, on to the second verse.
She's got eyes of the bluest skies?See, this is just getting worse. Now her eyes are made of sky? Nice imagery, but you just got done saying her smile reminded you of memories of sky. Is this verse actually supposed to a second draft of the first verse? Am I just confused on formatting? Help!
As if they thought of rain? Axl, eyes can't think of rain. And even if they could, which they can't, why would bluest skies think of rain? Perhaps less imagery of thinking eyes made of sky and more direct exploration of your feelings?
I hate to look into those eyes and see an ounce of pain? Well, hell. I guess in your special Axl World anything is possible. Eyes can be made of sky, ponder the weather, and exhibit pain in amounts that can be weighed.
Her hair reminds me of a warm safe place where as a child I'd hide? Delete. Fix. Do something. You'd hide in a place that reminded you of hair? Never show me such phrases again.
And pray for the thunder and the rain to quietly pass me by? Whew. OK, listen to me now: Thunder can't quietly do anything. It's thunder. And, more importantly, do you really want to come across as a wuss who's constantly on the verge of weeping and skittering into hair caves to escape from rain? Is this a song about love or climatic anxiety? You need to work these things out.
Finally, Axl, I think we might have had a misunderstanding regarding my previous notes. When I wrote in colored pencil "Where do we go now?" I wasn't offering that as a lyric. I was simply observing that, in narrative terms, the song needed to progress in some way. You love the girl, she's helping you work through some issues, whatever. So where do we go now? But instead of providing a satisfactory conclusion, you simply took my note and repeated it over and over again before ultimately just stating the title of the song. This is unacceptable. Don't ask us, the listeners, where we go. That's up to you as the writer! Tell us where we go now!
Again, let's try to fix these things soon and get "Sweet Child of Mine" ("My Sweet Child"?) into your fans' hands as quickly as possible. Because, frankly, if it should ever hit the street in its current form, the song would be a colossal failure.
Talk soon!
Your Editor
The orginal can be found here.
-Mr. Ed
Zoo view
Recently someone in the lab discovered this penguin webcam at the Columbia Zoo which is active between 7am and 7pm EDT (12pm-12am BST). We've become a little obsessive with it - for the last few days we've had one computer screen dedicated solely to the penguins ( right click/ctrl click to get a full screen view). It's actually rather cool to have them on in the background just doing their thing.
- Mr. Ed
Update:
They have a webcam on their aligator enclosure too - featuring a rare white aligator that was found near Hilton Head Island.
- Mr. Ed
Update:
They have a webcam on their aligator enclosure too - featuring a rare white aligator that was found near Hilton Head Island.
Pseudo-science Friday
According to the authors of this study conducted at MIT, tin-foil hats - the prefered mind-control mitigation device of crazies the world over - don't keep radio waves out. Not only that, they might amplify some radio signals used by the government. Scary stuff!
-Mr. Ed
Thursday, July 20, 2006
"I say, anyone for the races?"
This defaced tourist sign for Brighton Racecourse makes me smirk every time I walk past it.
Posh Nosh Part 2
Welcome again to the fancy food featurette. Sticking with the summer grilling theme, this week it's a light and fresh rocket (arugula) and spinach salad with red onions, toasted pine nuts, feta cheese and a sweet basalmic vinegrette dressing followed by grilled beef tenderloin tips with steamed baby asparagus and fried onions.
So first the salad: take a handful of baby spinach and one of rocket and mix them. Sprinkle some feta and the toasted pine nuts over the leaves and then add thinly sliced red onion rings. For the dressing add roughly equal parts olive oil and basalmic vinegar, a pinch of sugar, a crushed clove of garlic, salt and pepper to taste.
Once the salad was finished I made start on the grilling. I didn't do anything to the steak at all - it was too gorgeous. On a medium grill (all coals well ashed - holding your hand over the grill gets a little uncomfortable after a 4 second count) I cooked it for about 6 minutes per side. There was a good crust on the outside, and was still was nice and pink in the thicker end. I steamed the asparagus for around three minutes and deep-fried thinnly sliced onion rings for the garnish. All pretty simple really, and bloody hell, I'd forgotten how frikkin' good beef tenderloin is!
- Mr. Ed
Sunday, July 16, 2006
Drum Gekkery at Lower Rock
Here in the Lower Rock stables I have been turning my attention to pro musician video clips. This is since the Prof sent a link to a bass player who was, lets face it, really rather impressive with his level of competence. So for my first music related blog I have found a totally amazing drummer and his totally gek DVD entitled "Rhythmic Horizons, new adventurous concepts in rhythmic structure & creative ideas in drumset composition" Snappy title huh? Mr Ed, I am sure you will appreciate this
Click Here
Click Here
Saturday, July 15, 2006
Soulful Saturday - #4
Now lately, you might be forgiven for thinking everything is going to hell in a handbasket. Don't worry, it isn't. No, that's right, everything's fine.
Moreover, Marvin has just the tonic for those who ask "what's going on" and/or "what's happening brother." Here is his live performance from the (apparently rare) 1973 film "Save the Children." Anyway, it's long but well worth the full listen - there's a message there somewhere, i know it...
- Mr. Ed
Moreover, Marvin has just the tonic for those who ask "what's going on" and/or "what's happening brother." Here is his live performance from the (apparently rare) 1973 film "Save the Children." Anyway, it's long but well worth the full listen - there's a message there somewhere, i know it...
- Mr. Ed
Friday, July 14, 2006
The Friday fancy food feature
I finally ate some of my homegrown tomatoes last night, and not blow my own flugel horn, they were delicious. Here are some pictures of the preparation of our meal and brief summary of the recipe*, just in case anyone reading this has watched one too many episodes of Blue Peter and feels compelled to try this at home!
The homegrown ingredients:
Cherry tomatoes (roughly one pint), a handful of basil and a good sized bunch of parsley.
And here's (almost) everthing else you need for rather tasty little meal for two:
Half a pound of green beans, one fresh mozarella ball (ideally buffala), two New York strip steaks (just under half a pound each) and a bottle of Vacqueyras "Cuvee de vieille vignes" 2000 (Or your favourite full-bodied red wine).
Not pictured: Three cloves of garlic, a handful of pine nuts, olive oil, basalmic vinegar, salt and pepper.
Insalata caprese
Open the wine and pour a glass. Drink some wine. Cut the mozarella into 1/4inch slices and arrange on the plate any bloody way you like. Halve the tomatoes and add them to the plate with whimsy worthy of a well-minced woofter. Tear the basil into small pieces and scatter them on top in a poncey fashion. Drizzle olive oil and basalmic vinegar over the salad and spinkle with lots of fresh ground black pepper and course sea-salt. Admire your salad. Have a sip of wine. Look at the salad again, select a particularly yummy-looking tomato and eat it. Have another sip of wine.
Bistecca alla grillia sopra fagolini tegame con olio, algio e pinoni
Top up your wine and then have a sip. Rub the steak with a clove of garlic sliced in half then drizzle a little olive oil over each side of the steak and rub it in. Season each side well with fresh ground pepper and salt. Time for some more wine, don't you think? Light the grill and leave the steak at room temp. while the grill heats up - this should take around 20-30 mins. Use this time to consume wine liberally. Of course, you could also eat your salad at this point too. Next, steam the beans for 5 mins, and then set them aside. Add the olive oil, pine nuts (coarsely chopped - they are even better if you can be bothered to toast them first) two crushed cloves of garlic and the parsley (finely chopped) to a frying pan over a medium heat. Take a sip of wine. Allow the garlic to cook for a minute or two (but not to brown) and then add the beans. Mix well, remove from the heat and keep them covered in a warm oven. Take another sip of wine and try to find the grill. Don't forget to take the wine with you. Grill the steak to desired temp. and then return to the kitchen - or whereever you were preparing the salad and the beans - with the steak and the wine. Put the beans on a plate and then stack the steak on the beans as pretentiously as possible. Eat!
- Mr. Ed
*which is vague and misleading at best. Due caution should always be taken when attempting any cooking. And drinking. And drinking and cooking, more so. I am not liable for any substandard ingredients, lack of culinary skills or over-consumption of wine. I can barely cook myself, so if you eff it up, that's your own bloody look out, right? Frequent handwashing is always encouraged.
The homegrown ingredients:
Cherry tomatoes (roughly one pint), a handful of basil and a good sized bunch of parsley.And here's (almost) everthing else you need for rather tasty little meal for two:
Half a pound of green beans, one fresh mozarella ball (ideally buffala), two New York strip steaks (just under half a pound each) and a bottle of Vacqueyras "Cuvee de vieille vignes" 2000 (Or your favourite full-bodied red wine). Not pictured: Three cloves of garlic, a handful of pine nuts, olive oil, basalmic vinegar, salt and pepper.
Insalata caprese
Open the wine and pour a glass. Drink some wine. Cut the mozarella into 1/4inch slices and arrange on the plate any bloody way you like. Halve the tomatoes and add them to the plate with whimsy worthy of a well-minced woofter. Tear the basil into small pieces and scatter them on top in a poncey fashion. Drizzle olive oil and basalmic vinegar over the salad and spinkle with lots of fresh ground black pepper and course sea-salt. Admire your salad. Have a sip of wine. Look at the salad again, select a particularly yummy-looking tomato and eat it. Have another sip of wine.
Bistecca alla grillia sopra fagolini tegame con olio, algio e pinoni
Top up your wine and then have a sip. Rub the steak with a clove of garlic sliced in half then drizzle a little olive oil over each side of the steak and rub it in. Season each side well with fresh ground pepper and salt. Time for some more wine, don't you think? Light the grill and leave the steak at room temp. while the grill heats up - this should take around 20-30 mins. Use this time to consume wine liberally. Of course, you could also eat your salad at this point too. Next, steam the beans for 5 mins, and then set them aside. Add the olive oil, pine nuts (coarsely chopped - they are even better if you can be bothered to toast them first) two crushed cloves of garlic and the parsley (finely chopped) to a frying pan over a medium heat. Take a sip of wine. Allow the garlic to cook for a minute or two (but not to brown) and then add the beans. Mix well, remove from the heat and keep them covered in a warm oven. Take another sip of wine and try to find the grill. Don't forget to take the wine with you. Grill the steak to desired temp. and then return to the kitchen - or whereever you were preparing the salad and the beans - with the steak and the wine. Put the beans on a plate and then stack the steak on the beans as pretentiously as possible. Eat!
- Mr. Ed
*which is vague and misleading at best. Due caution should always be taken when attempting any cooking. And drinking. And drinking and cooking, more so. I am not liable for any substandard ingredients, lack of culinary skills or over-consumption of wine. I can barely cook myself, so if you eff it up, that's your own bloody look out, right? Frequent handwashing is always encouraged.
Fun from Cold War Technology
For my first entry I would like to show you an example of how technology that was developed to make us better at war can now be used for fun. The guys in this video clip, i'm told are known as 'glue bags', which is another name for adreneline junkies. It's cool becuase you can take all the time you want without the slighly worrying risk of hitting the ground at 120 mph. Anyway, random but have a look here.
I need to think of a good name still
I need to think of a good name still
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
The last hurrah?
The Bedrooms played at the Village Tavern out in Mount P. on Saturday night. It was their CD release party and the last Bedrooms show here in Chuckton for a while, since young Cassady is heading off to NYC for the foreseeable. Here's an aricle from last wednesday's City Paper:
The Bedrooms
w/ April Invention
Sat. July 8
10 p.m.
$5
Village Tavern
1055 Johnnie Dodds Blvd.
884-6311
www.village-tavern.com
www.thebedroomsmusic.com
"The plan with the Bedrooms is that there is no plan," laughs Ash Hopkins, bassist with local trio The Bedrooms. "Something might happen. I don't know. We're kind of shamelessly unambitious ... like an experiment to see what we can achieve with extremely little."
"We've almost had this arrogant, snotty attitude that we don't care," adds drummer Jack Burg, 32, a native of Columbia and a longtime Charleston rock musician who spent time with SKWZBXX, Biv, and other local bands. "It's kind of like the whole attitude of the band is just, 'fuck it' [laughs]. It's an interesting dynamic. We like the spontaneity and we usually pull it off."
Hopkins and Burg are only half-joking, of course. Along with guitarist/vocalist and main songwriter Danny Cassady, they obviously cared enough to put a pile of cleverly-written rock songs together and record them in Hopkins' Rebellion Road Studios. Despite the loose approach, the end result was quite impressive.
"It's always been the point of the band to not put a lot of thought into anything, you know?" shrugs Hopkins. "Jack is so amazing, it's so easy for us to play the tunes. We almost never rehearse for shows. We'll either rehearse a bunch for a session or show, or we won't see each other for two months before the day of a show.
"The whole idea of the studio in general is to make a band's songs sound nice, but not overly polished," he adds. "With this record, my rule as producer was 'no more than three takes on anything.' Other than a few extra takes on a drum track, we did the whole thing that way. I think we had the capability to pull it off without too much effort and I wanted the record to reflect that."
The six-song mini-album is simple and neat, packaged in a simple color sleeve with a photo of a rock 'n' roller's living room corner, replete with a vintage guitar leaning against a fireplace, new wave flyers on the wall, music mags on the coffee table, and a white banner with the band's name spray-painted across it. On the flipside, a simple listing of songs runs next to the two general bits of band info and "written, recorded, and performed by The Bedrooms," and "recorded, mixed, and mastered at Rebellion Road Studios."
Cassady played for years with The Borrowed Angels and has stayed particularly busy between sessions and gigs with The Bedrooms, playing bass and other instruments with Slow Runner (formerly Michael Flynn) on a number of major tours in support of the Slow Runner album No Disassemble.
With members of The Films as his backing band, Cassady first played as "The Bedrooms" at a gig at Chord & Pedal event at the old Johnny Ola's Anchor Café in West Ashley in Sept. 2004.
"The Films started taking off and doing their thing, so Danny wanted to put a 'band' band together, rather than use a borrowed band," remembers Burg.
In an unusual twist, Cassady plans to relocate to N.Y.C. in the next few weeks. The same guys from the Films who collaborated with him in 2004 are hoping to rejoin as the backing band around the Big Apple this year.
"We didn't record this to try and get signed or make money; we just wanted to have a good time and document some song ideas," says Cassady. "I'll give it to everybody I need to give it to, and hopefully, we'll be able to play when we want to. I definitely don't want to play with anyone other than Jack and Ash in town."
I must say the show was effing superb - though we have come to expect this from our boys - and included, amongst other things, a guest appearance by Josh Kaler from Slow Runner (who played support too), bunches of flowers (whah?), go-go girls (Oh?), cat noises (huh?) and some wanker singing Parklife in his best mockney (Ehhh?).
Here are a few photos:
-Mr. Ed
PS
Sorry there was no Porch blogging this weekend, my impending biostatistics exam took precedence I'm afraid. It's not like you missed anything anyway.
Saturday, July 08, 2006
Krap on a Krabstik-o-rama!!!
While I suspect Mr.Ed may have come across this already, I felt it was necessary to share it with other horsey brethren out there. In the words of Colonel Kurtz, "the horror... the horror..."
I myself was pointed to it through http://www.atrios.blogspot.com/, wherein lie a number of other interesting things, but of all of them, this is truly the most horsifiying. All research that I I have conducted seems to suggest that some moment of demonic possession produced this, the greatest horror masterpiece since The Shining, starring the cast of Star Wars, some baby wookies, as well as Bea Arthur (really, follow this link). It also evidently featured a musical turn from Jefferson-formerly-of-White-Rabbit-soon-to-
be-of-Nothin's-Gonna-Stop-Us-Now-Starship.
Oh, the humanity...
-Bluecupboard
I myself was pointed to it through http://www.atrios.blogspot.com/, wherein lie a number of other interesting things, but of all of them, this is truly the most horsifiying. All research that I I have conducted seems to suggest that some moment of demonic possession produced this, the greatest horror masterpiece since The Shining, starring the cast of Star Wars, some baby wookies, as well as Bea Arthur (really, follow this link). It also evidently featured a musical turn from Jefferson-formerly-of-White-Rabbit-soon-to-
be-of-Nothin's-Gonna-Stop-Us-Now-Starship.
Oh, the humanity...
-Bluecupboard
Soulful Saturday - le troisieme partie
Salut Poulettes!
It's saturday morning here in chuckton, so it must be time for something soulful. I'm sitting on Steinbrenners porch at the moment. A few house finches are swooping and chirping around the feeder and a gentle breeze is just barely making the palmetto fronds rustle. There's not a cloud in the sky - nor a hint of the usual July humidity - and it's a delightfully cool 72F/22C. I'm sipping my coffee, Steinbrenner is re-potting a cactus and all the while blueberry muffins are baking inside for our brekky. So with all this feel-good prittle prattle perhaps it's no surprise that I picked a cheesy feel-good tune for today. Here's Curtis Mayfield and "keep on keeping on." Dig it.
A plus tard,
-Mr. Ed
It's saturday morning here in chuckton, so it must be time for something soulful. I'm sitting on Steinbrenners porch at the moment. A few house finches are swooping and chirping around the feeder and a gentle breeze is just barely making the palmetto fronds rustle. There's not a cloud in the sky - nor a hint of the usual July humidity - and it's a delightfully cool 72F/22C. I'm sipping my coffee, Steinbrenner is re-potting a cactus and all the while blueberry muffins are baking inside for our brekky. So with all this feel-good prittle prattle perhaps it's no surprise that I picked a cheesy feel-good tune for today. Here's Curtis Mayfield and "keep on keeping on." Dig it.
A plus tard,
-Mr. Ed
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
Root, root, root for the home team!
Steinbrenner and I went to the Joe last night to watch our beloved River Dogs play the Rome Braves. We had hotdogs, huge beers and the home team won. After the game they had fireworks and loud patriotic music for the fourth. Here are some photos of our All-American evening out.
Record attendance!
Record attendance!
Sunday, July 02, 2006
Sunday Porch Blog 7
Welcome to a sultry Sunday Porch Blog. It's freak-motheringly hot here at the moment and damnably humid to boot. Apart from that though, all is well here on the porch. By the way, this is the first post composed actually on the porch - thanks to my neighbours wi-fi I've been stealing lately - cheers guys!
Anyway on to the meat, that is to say veg, of the SPB. The tomatoes are ripening very nicely. Steinbrenner and I tasted the first one a few days ago and - if I do say so myself - I done growed some tasty tomaters!
The jalepeno started flowering so there should be some more peppers soonish, which is just super.
The squash started flowering this week too, it's steadily creeping along the railing in what seems to be an attempt to take over the whole porch.
Myrtle is doing well, she shed her skin recently and seems to have doubled in size. Milton was briefly spotted the other day but he seems to have eschewed the basil plant for greener pastures - or some such nonsense. Anywho, it's hot and sticky and time to go to the beach, so I shall bid you all adieu. Until next week then Pony Clubbers!
- Mr. Ed
Anyway on to the meat, that is to say veg, of the SPB. The tomatoes are ripening very nicely. Steinbrenner and I tasted the first one a few days ago and - if I do say so myself - I done growed some tasty tomaters!
The jalepeno started flowering so there should be some more peppers soonish, which is just super.
The squash started flowering this week too, it's steadily creeping along the railing in what seems to be an attempt to take over the whole porch.
Myrtle is doing well, she shed her skin recently and seems to have doubled in size. Milton was briefly spotted the other day but he seems to have eschewed the basil plant for greener pastures - or some such nonsense. Anywho, it's hot and sticky and time to go to the beach, so I shall bid you all adieu. Until next week then Pony Clubbers!
- Mr. Ed
Saturday, July 01, 2006
What a nice surprise
Our roving reporter Skaggy McBrown is back in town. The term reporter is used rather loosely here - he hasn't actually reported on anything thus far, though he reassures me he has every intention of doing so soon. Anyway, we were expecting him later today but as I was having my morning cuppa on the porch I looked up and saw him parking his car across the street. He's a little blearly eyed - after a 18 hour all-night drive from Buffalo, NY - but otherwise in fine fettle. He's back just in time for the England game no less, which starts in a little over 74 of our earth minutes.
Off to the pub then!
-Mr. Ed
Soulful Saturday - Encore un fois!
Bienvenue to the second Soulful Saturday. Last week's installment caused quite a stir in the comments.* It seems many of our faithful readers were a bit perturbed that the video - though eminently soulful - wasn't strictly speaking soul or funk but the hippest of hop instead. So this week I've decided to to keep the purists content by going all the way back to 1968 and the queen of soul herself, Aretha Franklin, with a sublime rendition of the classic "I say a little prayer". Now don't tell me this doesn't get those tails swaying and hooves-a-tappin'.
A plus tard mes amis!
-Mr. Ed
*Yes, you're quite right, there weren't any comments. Not one, nil, nada - none whatsoever.
A plus tard mes amis!
-Mr. Ed
*Yes, you're quite right, there weren't any comments. Not one, nil, nada - none whatsoever.
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