May 3, 2010
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Searching for Mister Anchovy

People stumble into the forest of no return here after innocently searching for all kinds of things…

Das Boot – I haven’t had such a popular search term since I have loads of people show up to the old blog after searching for Johnny Cash Finger.

Something in the Grass – a snake perhaps?

Uruguay Music – this has been the second most popular search term to stumble into the forest. It has different versions, such as Uruguay Gauchos or Uruguay Gaucho Music, or Uruguay Roldan Music. I had no idea it was so popular.

Songs about Cars – I published a long list a while back.

How ’bout them Habs – nuff said.

Alboca – a Basque instrument

Tampa Red – It hurts me too – curiously, my father introduced me to Tampa Red’s music.

New Anchovy Holder – I don’t even have an older model.

nuclear artists – Enrico Baj and company, post WWII artists

Peter Dunn Paintings – I lived and painted next door to Peter the Painter for a few years, in an old coffin factory on Niagara St. Oops. Shhhh. We weren’t supposed to be living there.

May 3, 2010
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Forest of no return

I also recommend the Sun Ra version, from his Disney tribute album, Second Star to the Right. Here’s Ra and the boys doing another Disney classic, High Ho High Ho:

By the way, the bracket fungi featured in the photo are Ganoderma applanatum, the artist’s conch. Some people draw on them with a sharp object. The scratched part turns brown. You can then preserve the image by varnishing it. I suppose it’s a good surface upon which to draw pictures of mushrooms.

May 3, 2010
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What are those pretty yellow flowers?

I’m devoting much of this afternoon to pulling dandelions from the front lawn. I have many dandelions. So many in fact that if you would like some, I will share. I have a weapon of mass destruction called “grampa’s weeder” that allows me to squeeze the bastards by the roots and yank them out without destroying my back. I hope the person who invented this device is very rich  by now.

It doesn’t look like I’ve made a dent in them yet, and here I am taking a break. I’m going to avoid it a little longer by having a beer and making mushroom soup. I don’t feel I have to win this battle. I only have to be in the game.

I consider the front lawn to be a temporary condition in any case…a resting point until I bit by bit madly turn the whole thing into a perennial jungle. I don’t really understand the attraction of having just one kind of plant in a yard. Grass is boring. Granted, the dogs like to roll in it. Fair enough. I’ll keep a little patch.

Now where was I? Oh yeah, beer and mushroom soup. It doesn’t get much better. Well, not true. It does get better. Earlier while I was stalling starting the dandelion job, I fired up some charcoal and started slow smoking some turkey legs. One of our cats, Jerry, loves bbq. He’s been supervising the turkey operation and I think he approves. I got the bbq going right after setting up the little pool for the Newfs. They can barely fit in it, but at one time I had both crowding in there cooling off. It was a very satisfying way to procrastinate.

May 1, 2010
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In the Garden

Slowly but surely I’m populating the new garden. I split some mature hostas this afternoon, taking 5 new plants from two, still leaving plenty on the original plants. There are two hydrangeas in there, a St. John’s Wort, a bleeding heart, a couple astilbes, a couple columbines, a cone-flower, some annuals and more….and I still have lots of garden to go.