one of the characters i'm working on is an exploration of the mythologies and imagery surrounding The Green Man archetype...
tonight, i was astounded by the work of Andy Goldsworthy while watching the 2001documentary Rivers and Tides...
if you're not already familiar, he uses materials existing on location to create wondrous outdoor installations...his work strikes me as an embodiment of the Green Man ethos...a beautiful expression of the joy and folly of life in the face of immutable forces...
i kept my mouth shut about it for months...perhaps irresponsibly so...because while this was an intensely personal event for me, it was a public event...one that a wide variety of people have interest in...well, i can only make up for my negligence by shining a light on those who have done the work that i have not...
i cannot say enough about Mr. Ethan Iverson's excellent contribution...considering the depth and breadth of the research he's done, it's not surprising that his renditions of my grandfather's work was the most mind blowing of the night...god, i wish i had video to show you...anyway, here's a sample of his preparations...
i participated in a writing workshop this morning...these can be either dreary affairs or enervating experiences...kind of a crap shoot...hence my general reluctance to take part in them...i find it hinges mostly on the instructor...luckily this was associated with The Lighthouse...which is always an indication of high quality...and it was helpful in many different ways...
although...
i have a problem with the standard approach to storytelling that insists the central character must be transformed or redeemed somehow by the events of the story...a point of view presented at this morning's event...
my first problem with this is it's boring, boring, boring...three acts laden with obstacles to the protagonist's central desire requiring him/her to learn some valuable life lesson in order to become a more fully realized human being...this has been the central structure to every trite cliched story since...well, since forever...
second, experience has taught me that this is not the norm for human nature...most people do not change...most people will resist change unto death...recent history is an excellent example...
some of the most enduring stories and characters in human history deal with characters that don't change...Galahad, Holmes, Shane, Bond, McGee...and these are fascintating characters with dimension and depth...
what do i know...i'm just an unpublished nobody...
i love this video of the dead weather watching the pressing of their records...according to family legend, my father worked in the factory that made my grandfather's records...anyway, i could have easily just posted a link to download the entire dead weather album...that's what i've listened to all summer...
i'm sure Mad Men will dazzle, and Lost will try to blow my mind, but this is the one show this fall that i am damn near salivating with expectation for...
either way, this is a pretty devastating look at how authors get treated by the publishing business...and just another piece of evidence as to why i think self-publishing is a better option...
it's 3:45...i'm sitting at my desk drinking a beer and trying to find a way to end my day on a good note... i woke up this morning...yesterday morning...in a poor mood...i had to go to work on what was supposed to be my day off...strike one...
next, i find out that the one radio station that made me excited to turn on the radio has folded and become...ugh, how to describe this without promoting it in any way...it's now a station who's airtime is bought and paid for, in its entirety by a major local strip club...so there are no commercials, just sad little teases to promote the club...and the name...well, they've named themselves after the most prominant feature on the on the show club dance floor...i'll let you figure it out...the music is not all bad...just mostly bad...it's exactly what you would expect to hear in a strip club...just subtract the writhing naked flesh and the overpriced drinks and you can make the inside of your car as soulless and depressing as closing time on a slow night...strike two...
have you ever worked for someone who wants to impress you how much smarter they are than you, but they're actually not...strike three...
so here i am, trying to prevent my day from being an entire waste...let's try this...
Wind und Welle by Franz von Stuck...another pre WWII German painter has captured my imagination...here, it seems Stuck has personified the interplay between wind and the sea and turned it into something beyond wonderful...
remember Wooly Willy... not that, get your mind out of the gutter...the toy that gave you hours of fun by moving magnetic shavings around to make different facial hair configurations...well now, there's Furry Jimmy...your new digital friend...
start with the all American classic...The Youklis...
or go casual with The Weekender...
you can go all the way with The City Gentleman...
need a quick halloween costume? don't be a pirate, again! try on one of America's most beloved characters...The Lincoln...
(or Amish, if you prefer...)
there's the perennial Fu Manchu...
it's still not too late to go to Comic-con as your favorite comic book super hero...
(the boys in legal said we can't use the real name, so we just call this one Chops...)
add a few chin whiskers...and you've got a Reverse Fu Manchu...
wanna scare the young punks in your neighborhood...nothing beats The Enforcer...
if you really want to make people poop their pants, you can't go wrong with The Cleric...just add a robe and a towel and terrify your friends...
but nothing beats America's all time favorite...Der Fuhrer...
brought to you by FunCo!!!
(FunCo will not be liable for any damages whatsoever arising out of the misuse, or inability to grow facial hair, or any damages that may or may not result in use of facial hair. If your use of extreme facial hair results in the need for servicing, repair, or correction of your equipment you assume all costs thereof.)
no one knows about second chances better than Bettye Lavette...maybe you were like me when she showed up at the Obama Presidential Inaugural Celebration...Bettye who?
but her rendition of A Change is Gonna Come piqued my curiosity...and i found this soul chestnut on a sampler from her label, Anti...
it's recycled from 2007 release The Scene of the Crime, but hey, never too late for second chances right...especially when retro soul is such a hot trend...
and no one is doing retro soul better these days than Black Joe Lewis and The Honeybears...
i was lucky enough to get my hands on the (0) release from local band Wentworth Kersey...they have good internet presence...but nothing embeddable...check out Adore, its a great track...one part spaghetti western, one part Leonard Cohen, and one part dreamscape...i hope to hear much more from these guys...
meanwhile M. Ward keeps churning out his country flavored power pop...
if it's not enough for you that someone thought mens trousers needed...a third leg...let's add to it by mentioning that this bit of hilarity came from one of the godfathers of the Black Panther Party...Mr Eldridge Cleaver...apparently, this was another way to...stick it to the man...or something...
"if you are to fall in love then where should you stand to begin with? and when the fall is done how bad should you plan to get injured? and if you land on your feet do it count as a fall or a jump? and do it feel like a fall when the hands that pushed you are holding you up?"
what a great weekend...as usual, it was the quiet moments that were the sweetest...like sitting on a sidewalk soaking in the morning sun and reading an actual newspaper...especially this wonderful nugget from Mr. Keillor...
adjective...capable of living...physically fitted to live...able to live and grow...vivid; real; stimulating, as to the intellect, imagination, or senses...practicable; workable...having the ability to grow, expand, develop...
today is Stevie Wonder day...in my house at least...and i can't listen to You Are The Sunshine Of My Life without thinking about the goofy ad that used to run on television back in that day that had people bungling the lyrics...i searched and searched, but the damned internet can't help me find it...i did find these...enjoy...
i love this block...cable for $15 a month!!!Scooter shilling for The Money Store...Carvel pimping miss half pint...and Space 1999...oh my fraking God...
i'd forgotten all about Korvettes...check out the original Atari at the end...
let's talk motorcycles, shall we...look at this concept...erm, product... the zero-s...a full electric street bike...here are the numbers...
60 mile range...less than four hour charge time...top speed of 60 mph...not much better than most mopeds...not exciting....yet, it's a good start...if i had $10k (+$500 for shipping) laying around, i would probably put it in my garage...just to say I had it...
but let's talk about real world use...the charge time is decent, but bump up the range 40 more miles and if the top speed was closer to 80 mph, then you'd have something enthusiasts could get excited about...almost...
this thing looks like riding it would feel like sitting on a hobbyhorse...it needs to look more like this... that's the italian styled Moto Guzzi Nevada Classic 750...
remember, you have to start with a rider's heart, then his head, before you can get to his pocket...
God bless the nerds...someone turned...this...into this...and if you know a little something about right clickity, and how to change the tags...you can get this...
yesterday i made two versions of my favorite way to grill chicken...beer can chicken...
i brined the first chicken...here's the brine recipe...
start with a 12-pack of your favorite barley soda...that's the adult beverage otherwise known as beer...you don't want anything too cheap...or too fancy...remember, you're cooking, not drinking...your choice should be based primarily on what tastes good to you...bland, crappy pisswater will not bring good results, and expensive beer is just a waste of good brewing...i'm using Sammy here mostly because it's what i had on hand...and the freshness date was January...
pour the beer into a stockpot...i'm using a 9 qt here...which is just right...you'll see why later...
next, the spices...
a handful of whole cloves...
a handful of whole allspice...
and a handful of peppercorns...
add 2/3 cup of coarse salt...i'm using sea salt...because we're fancy like that around here...kosher salt works just as well...
and 1 cup dark molasses...most brines are some combination of water, salt, and sugar, and there's already plenty of sugar in the beer...in the form of alcohol...i like molasses because it brings the right touch of sweetness...
notice how the level of the beer shot up of from just below halfway to 3/4 of the way...that's from adding the salt..that's why you need a big pot...
if my chili recipe is beginner mode...this is intermediate...not because i'm using any sophisticated techniques...brining, smoking, dry rubs, grilling...these are simple things...the degree of difficulty goes up mostly because you need some non-standard equipment...then again, everyone's got a 9 quart stockpot, right...
anyway... bring to a boil, cover and let cool to room temperature...
meanwhile...gather your tools... this is your moisture delivery system...here's where cheap beer is okay...beer canning is about steaming the bird from the inside out...the alcohol burns off, and what you have left is water in a can...well, hopefully, a little bit more than that...
next, you need a cooler, or anything that's food safe and big enough for 5 pounds of ice, your brine, and your 3-5 lb bird...why the ice...this is not a marinade, and you do not want the chicken to cook at room temperature inside your brine...that's what would happen without the ice...so, do the right thing and avoid giving yourself and your loved ones food poisoning...
like so...that's the chicken buried under the ice there on the right...that's a lot of brine for one bird, i know...this recipe is for brining two birds, but...sometimes, in the middle of cooking, your wife calls to inform you that the meal you were planning to have ready for the grill in seven hours now needs to be ready to eat in four hours because you are now serving four people instead of two...
ah well...improvise, adapt, and overcome...the more, the merrier...
where was i...the bird is in the brine...make sure the chicken is fully immersed in the brine, and covered...one hour for every pound...that's all you need...
while we're waiting, let's dry rub and smoke the other bird... fairly straightforward here...one clean and dry chicken, your favorite spices, and an hour in the refrigerator...
and...you can ignore the fancy grilling apparatus that's holding up the bird...they're available wherever you can find silly kitchen doodads and geegaws, but you don't really need it...unless you're paranoid about cooking a chicken with an aluminum can stuffed inside it...
did i hear you ask what spices...oh, some ginger, some paprika...and some other stuff...use what you know works for you...
when ready, put this on your grill at 300˚ for 30 minutes...this guy is kind of a dork, but he's got good advice on how to make a simple smoke device for grilling...
there should be a photo (or two) here showing you how to open the beer can with a churchkey and pour some of it out and then add two or three garlic cloves and some spices...and finally, how to put the can in the chicken...but sometimes things move too fast in the kitchen to remember the camera...so... voila...
et, voila...
400˚ for 30 to 40 minutes on the grill or in an oven...
