September 17, 2012
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No hockey? Look at the bright side

OK so maybe there won’t be any NHL hockey while the squillionaire owners and millionaire players figure out how to divide the extra large banana cream pie that is NHL revenue (ho hum). Let’s look at the bright side. For Leafs fans, if there are no games, the team can’t lose, and that has to be a good thing. And, it will save Leaf fans from the usual depressing cycle that goes from hope – this year we’re going to have  a contender – to hope  shattered, a third of the way through the season.

Besides, it seems obvious, at least to my little brain, the season is way too long anyway. Shave off 20 or 30 games at the front end and it should be just about right.

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September 16, 2012
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Chard and White Bean Stew

Dinner tonight…

Chard and White Bean Stew

Clean up and chop up a healthy quantity of swiss chard, and toss it in some boiling water for a minute. Then drain the water.

Chop up…
Shallots
Garlic
Celery
Carrots
Fresh thyme if you’ve got it (substituting dried is fine)

Sautee the veggies in your heavy-bottomed soup pot with some good olive oil. Let this cook away for several minutes, stirring when you remember to do so. Oh, and add it the chard anytime. Meanwhile, open a bottle of chilled white wine. Which one? Well, which one do you like. Pour a glass for you and one for your honey. Then splash some from the bottle into the pot to deglaze it. Add a splash of sherry vinegar while you’re at it.

You need navy beans. If you’re the type of person who thinks ahead, last night you will have put some navy beans in a pot of water to soak. If you’re like us, you’ll reach into the pantry for a can of organic navy beans, ready to rock ‘n’ roll. (I won’t tell if you won’t). Ok, so add the beans. Then add a cup of pureed tomatoes, and chop up some thyme, quite a bit, and add it in too. And also add in a cup or so of soup stock and a little salt.

Now get back to the business of drinking wine while the stew cooks down for 20 minutes or so.

The next step is to poach an egg each for you and your honey. Do this when the stew is about ready. Ok, ladle some stew into bowls and add a poached egg on top of each serving. Don’t forget some fresh ground pepper. And top up that wine.

Easy as pie.

September 16, 2012
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Forest Walk

I took these photos on a walk through a lovely suburban forest, one of those places you wouldn’t know was there unless you knew it was there.

The photo above shows a breat’s head tooth growing from a felled tree in the forest.

This forest has a variety of slime molds and resupinates, a good place for those that study such things.

September 16, 2012
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Tempest

I’ve been listening to Tempest (the latest effort by Bob Dylan), in the car. This one came out with lots of hoopla, and when I heard the first (and by far the best) cut, Duquesne Whistle, I had high expectations. Although many reviewers seem to think this album is the greatest thing since sliced bread, I think it’s an uneven collection of strange songs, some very compelling and others less than interesting.

Duquesne Whistle is an old fashioned train song. How can you go wrong with that? It starts out sounding like it came right out of the Memphis Jug Band era, then kicks into a more contemporary space.

Listen to that Duquesne whistle blowing Sounding like she’s on a final run….
Listen to that Duquesne whistle blowing Blowing like she’s never blowed before
Blue light blinking, red light blowing Blowing like she’s at my chamber door
You’re smiling through the fence at me Just like you always smiled before Listen to that Duquesne whistle blowing
Blowing like she ain’t gonna blow no more

Sounds to me like the little black train or the Wabash Cannonball – you know, the train that takes you to the good place, The Big Rock Candy Mountain. Excellent tune. It even has a really stylish instrumental break that I wasn’t expecting.

The next song is Soon After Midnight. It starts off with some goofy rhyming couplets, and it sounds a bit like maybe a ballad from the 50s.

I’m searching for phrases,
To sing your praises,
I need to tell someone,
It’s soon after midnight,
And my day has just begun

But it gets darker:

My heart is cheerful,
It’s never fearful,
I’ve been down on the killing floors,

And…

2 timing slim
Who’s ever heard of him,
I’ll drag his corpse through the mud

And ends with…

It’s now or never,
More than ever,
When I meet ya I did’nt think you’d do,
It’s soon after midnight,
And I don’t want nobody but you

Unsettling.

Narrow Way is a cranky rockin’ blues number. Dylan has done a squillion of them. Ho hum. There’s another later on the record too, Early Roman Kings. Pay in Blood and Scarlet Town sound to me like studio knock-offs, as if Dylan had some lyrics on a scrap of paper and they tried making songs out of them in the studio. Yeah, that’ll do. Let’s go get a beer. And then there is Long and Wasted Years, which is more like a poem than a song and is more spoken than sung. It kind of reminded me of Brownsville Girl, but more irritating.

Tin Angel is a rambling story song. I’ve listened to it a few times and I’m not sure what’s going on in it. It seems to be some kind of love triangle murder ballad. It’s compelling, though. I’ll give it some time.

Then we come to Tempest. It’s even more of a rambling story song than Tin Angel, over 14 minutes of song that sounds like it goes on for half an hour. The whole business holds the same emotional tone. There is no chorus to break it up. The melody is more of less basic Carter Family. I confess I can’t hold my concentration through this one. Dylan has done several long story songs, like Desolation Row and Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts, and I thought he really nailed those older tunes-he had me hanging onto the lyrics and satisfied by the melody and the performance. If you haven’t heard, this epic is about the sinking of the Titanic. It even features a guy named Leo (and someone named Cleo – he must have needed a rhyme).

Finally, there’s Roll On John. It’s a tribute song to John Lennon. It’s not the first tribute tune Dylan has done. Remember that one from the 80s about Lenny Bruce (he didn’t rob any churches or cut of any babies heads)? This one fashions some Beatles lyrics into the tune. I wanted to dislike this song but after a few plays, I’m OK with it.

So, overall a mixed bag. Dylan’s voice just gets rougher and rougher around the edges. Sometimes it works for him; other times less so. The songs are mostly dark. Some of them are very good but I think there’s some filler on there too. The band is Dylan’s road band. Good players. They do their best work on Duquesne Whistle. The record is worth giving some time to, but I don’t think it’s nearly as interesting as the rave reviews suggest.

September 15, 2012
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A few notes on yard sales

Yard sales. Garage sales. I hear in some places they’re tag sales. I’ve managed to avoid having one for my whole adult life, at least until this morning. Interesting business. Yesterday we stapled signs up around the area, and last night we placed an ad on Kijiji. It was free, so why not. I listed some of the stuff in the sale and almost immediately received two replies from people who are specialty hunters. Can you give me details? Can you send a picture? These are the people who collect particular stuff and they want first crack at it.

It was still dark when we started dragging junk items outside, setting up tables, arranging things just so. The first guy rolled up at dawn. He was one of the people who responded to the Kijiji ad. He wasn’t going to miss out, and he didn’t. He bought some stuff, and I think he got a good bargain. I don’t know. What do I know. Next came the serious garage sale shoppers. They’re first at every sale. You can see it in their eyes. They’re looking for the gravy.  This crowd bargains in bundles, five, six, seven items. Will you take $20 for all this stuff?

Why did you put tape on this? It’s the price. But the tape is going to ruin it? It’s low tack tape. Oh look, she’s put tape on everything. Can you believe that? Oh, I’m gonna buy it anyway but you shouldn’t use tape. OK. Next time.

Ellie Mae is sound asleep on the driveway. Her back legs are dangling in the air but her front legs are to one side, an impossible position unless you are Ellie Mae. She’s in her glory and she’s snoring. Oh look. It’s a dog. It’s real. It looks like a bear. Oh my God, there are two of them. Are they Saint Bernards? No, they’re Newfoundlands. Oh, I didn’t know Newfoundlands came in two-tone. The two tone ones are called Landseers. A little boy comes with his mom and hugs Ellie Mae and then Memphis. He seriously loves dogs. I’m gonna get a dog soon. An orange one. His mom confirms it. He is getting a dog, a Golden. Sort of orange.  Excellent.

The biggest surprise to me was the general lack of interest in books. There were some really good books there, and we were selling them for peanuts, making room on the bookshelves for um, well….more books.

We ran the sale from before 8 until after 12. After that we packed everything left unsold into Tuffy P’s car and ran it over to the Goodwill.

Overall, the whole business was OK. There is nothing that was sold or that ended up at Goodwill that we are ever going to miss, and as a bonus, we pulled in a decent chunk of cash for our efforts. No need to have another one for a very long time though….

September 14, 2012
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How to play the Hurdy Gurdy

Here’s Melissa the Loud also giving a demonstration

She has a website too. I really appreciate her love of the less loved instruments and I think you’ll enjoy visiting her site.  If you’re a folk music freak like me, be sure to check out her links page while you’re there.

Ms. Loud mentioned Nigel Eton….here he is

September 13, 2012
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Yard Sale

Tuffy P is on a de-cluttering mission and is planning a yard sale for Saturday. If it doesn’t rain, it’s on for 8:00 a.m. There is going to be a serious pile of excellent stuff out there from books and tools to an old organ and maybe even a uke. Prices are showing up on little pieces of tape with words of encouragement like “vintage”.  So come on down to 27th Street Saturday morning and do some shopping. I’m hoping Tuffy doesn’t put a price tag on me.