House of Dioxin

who would want to grind coffee in bed?

2010-09-03T03:40:02Z

This morning was another one of those days when XDU felt like my own personal radio station. There hasn't been anyone on from 5-7am in a while so I'm always having to start up the station when I get there. And this week, the 9am DJ called in to say she was sick so I had to shut things down when I was done. I'd have stayed longer but, y'know, they pay me this money so I sorta feel obligated to show up for work.
Meanwhile, this made my day. If it doesn't make your day, well, then I'm afraid you may just be sort of person who has un-makeable days. Two words: bacon skates.
Finally, here's some top quality Durham snark. They're not all little gems. But the signal to noise ratio is pretty good. And several made me laugh out loud. Note: it probably goes w/o saying, but if you're not from Durm, you probably won't find Surviving and Thriving in Durham particularly funny or interesting (ymmv and all that). But I am and I did.

do the wrrld a service

2010-09-01T00:36:05Z

XDU wrrld music top 10 (week ending 29 aug 10)

Je T'aime... Moi Non Plus :: Serge Gainsbourg & Jane Birkin
the Budos Band III :: the Budos Band
Cumbia Beat: Experimental Guitar Driven Tropical Sounds from Peru, 1966-1976, vol. 1 :: various
la Superbe :: Benjamin Biolay
Yes We Can: Songs About Leaving Africa :: various
Saigon Rock & Roll :: various
Cantors, Klezmorim and Crooners 1905-1953: Classic Yiddish 78s from the Mayrent Collection :: various
Shangaan Electro: New Wave Dance Music from South Africa :: various
Tite Curet Alonso: Alma De Poeta :: various
Seu Jorge & Almaz :: Seu Jorge & Almaz

this week's video feature: Benjamin Biolay

objects in playgrounds that rotate at relatively high speeds

2010-08-31T03:38:25Z

Just read about an interesting event coming up next month. Hillsborough Jazz Festival on Sat. Sept. 25 is a celebration of Billy Strayhorn. When Sarah was doing research for her Strayhorn tribute on Divaville Lounge, she learned about Strayhorn's Hillsborough connection (he wasn't born there but he had family there and spent a lot of time visiting them and living with them while he was growing up). That weekend isn't good for me but I might try to make it out there. At least it's an afternoon event, which is better since it's the next couple of days after that are looking busy right now.

i have a megaphone

2010-08-30T03:11:03Z

Further from the "things I never expected to find on the internets" file: was poking around YouTube the other night and found this version of "the Spaniard That Blighted My Life" by British music hall performer Billy Merson. I only knew the version by Al Jolson and Bing Crosby. According to the comments (and we all know that YouTube commentors are unimpeachable sources of information), Jolson stole the song from Merson, who unsuccessfully sued. Not sure I really understand the charge of stealing here. I thought all the performers in vaudeville/music hall were stealing material constantly from each other. Maybe Jolson started singing the song without properly paying or crediting Merson. Here's a more pro-Jolson version of the story. Which includes the interesting tidbits that it's the earliest surviving Jolson recording. Also that Billy Merson worked in the music halls with George Formby, Sr. Ah, Wikipedia to the rescue. According to this entry on the 1928 movie the Singing Fool, Merson sued arguing that so much of his livelihood was tied up in performing "the Spaniard That Blighted My Life" that any Jolson performances of same would be unfair. So Jolson's version of the song was removed from all prints of the movie shown in the UK.

but trees are alive

2010-08-29T01:55:04Z

Local beer update: I haven't had a chance yet to visit the brewery yet but Fullsteam, Durham's newest craft brewer, is up and running. And there's a growler of Summer Basil Farmhouse Ale sitting in my fridge as I type this. Well excellent, indeed. The basil flavor is very subtle. I don't have a lot of experience with farmhouse ales but I've had a few and the Fullsteam version seems like a fine example of the style.
In addition to on-site sales, they're also selling at the farmer's markets in Durham and Carrboro. I pre-ordered the other day to make sure I'd get some. They did have some available for walk-ups but by the time we got there at 9 this morning those were all gone.

did you eat my teeth?

2010-08-28T02:38:20Z

Here's another fun read: One Peppercorn, a blog "about the language of food, whether fictional or factual, historical or current" (that's from the blog and I can't think of a better way to describe it). What I love about it is how they manage to get a lot of depth into short posts. Still working thru the archives but I particularly liked the posts on chocolate soup and kale (not to worry, they're not served together).
And here's more fun with food geekery: Grant Achatz contemplates a gin & tonic bubble tea. It's an MG&T!

my wrrld just seemed to stop as i stood there so close to you

2010-08-27T00:37:20Z

XDU wrrld music top 10 (week ending 22 aug 10)

Cumbia Beat: Experimental Guitar Driven Tropical Sounds from Peru, 1966-1976, vol. 1 :: various
Ritornano Quelli di... :: Calibro 35
the Budos Band III :: the Budos Band
Modular :: the Pinker Tones
Shangaan Electro: New Wave Dance Music from South Africa :: various
Frutero Moderno :: Gonzalo Grau y la Clave Secreta
African Pearls: Congo: Pont Sur le Congo :: various
Live :: Vieux Farka Touré
Cantors, Klezmorim and Crooners 1905-1953: Classic Yiddish 78s from the Mayrent Collection :: various
la Superbe :: Benjamin Biolay

this week's video feature: the Budos Band

an ice cream maker built into my steering wheel

2010-08-26T03:37:07Z

Latest example of what the internets were invented for: Pee-wee Herman blogging on HuffPo.
good times...

One more travel note from yesterday. Apparently it was state policia day or something cos there were traffic stops everywhere, esp. in NJ and VA but also in most of the other 4 states I passed thru. I don't think I saw any in DE but it's a short run thru there on 95 and there's a lot of construction going on so I might have missed something. So anyway, I have no idea what you have to do to get a ticket on the NJ Turnpike. But I can tell you that apparently the law has no interest in trucks driving down the "cars only" lanes.

if you hit a mammoth with a comet it will freeze

2010-08-25T01:17:33Z

Back from a short trip up to N Island to see my Mom and my brother. Mostly just hung around and visited. Did take advantage of the local Russian supermarket and several of the local pork stores to stock up on items that are, as they say, thin on the ground here in Durm. Such as rice balls, smoked Georgian cheese, Russian kielbasa, several kinds of frozen pelmeni, house-made Italian sausage, prosciutto bread. Was running late this AM and didn't make it out for one last shopping run. I'd wanted to get some capicola and sopresatta.
Mercifully, at no point in my travels was I compelled to enter into a conversation on the Sacred Burlington Coat Factory issue. Was I worried? A bit. In fact, I passed some time while driving on Friday imagining possible responses if trapped in such a scenario. As it turned out, planning that was not needed. Here (via boing²), is a nice bit of local response.

why are you holding a stick?

2010-08-23T17:27:00Z

Y'know, I never thought of myself as the sort of person who was online all that much, or all the used to being online all the time but a couple of days of limited connectivity and I've found it really odd. Even though I know I won't be able to get a connection, I keep checking. And for the most part there's nothing much in my email when I do get to check it but comment sp@m announcements. But the inability to be regularly checking email or fbook updates is more upsetting to my sense of how "regular" days are supposed to progress than I'd expected. I imagine that means that what I need is to spend more time away from the intertubes. If only one could get paid for that...

how i know what llama spit smells like

2010-08-22T13:33:13Z

Kudos to the fine folks over at Balloon Juice for pointing me to the amazing site Jazz Standards. Just a treasure trove of interesting material about songs, singers, composers, etc. If you're a fan of Divaville Lounge then you'll definitely want to check it out. (And if you're not a fan then it's time to look back at your life and figure out where things went seriously wrong)

don't be surprised if you're still here at one o'clock

2010-08-21T13:25:41Z

quote of the day:
"prejudice does not cease being prejudice because it is widely held"
- Adam Serwer

my legs are melting

2010-08-20T14:17:05Z

I gotta say that, given how much comment sp@m is out there and how much time I spend deleting it, it comforts me a bit (and reminds me that the MT set-up that Sarah's worked out is amazingly effective) when I find sp*mmy comments that have snuck onto actual bigtime blogs and sites. I can't remember which ones but I know it's happened a couple of times in the last few weeks. At least all that crap ends up held here so I just have to go in and delete it every once and a while.
Something else I've noticed (probably this is old news to most people but I just twigged to it recently) is the school o' comment sp#m that includes references to topical news items. Last week there was a spike in Cordoba Institute/Burlington Coat Factory mentions. Yesterday there were several Roger "Big Head" Clemens mentions. iPhone cases have been getting lotsa play as well. I also like the ones that complain about comment sp&m. And the ones that complain about what a crappy blog this is (a nice contrast from the much more common "how great this blog is").
Recent winners in the names category include Bulah Reichenback (points deducted for not knowing how to spell Beulah) and Cornelius Ganesh. Which is fabulous and I'm going to have to steal it.

under the arm of the wrrld like an itch

2010-08-20T00:18:18Z

XDU wrrld music top 10 (week ending 15 aug 10)

Modular :: the Pinker Tones
African Pearls: Congo: Pont Sur le Congo :: various
Ritornano Quelli di... :: Calibro 35
the Budos Band III :: the Budos Band
Live :: Vieux Farka Touré
Dheg Dheg Plas & Volume 2 :: Koes Plus
Tite Curet Alonso: Alma de Poeta :: various
Las Venus Resort Palace Hotel :: Cibelle
Frutero Moderno :: Gonzalo Grau y la Clave Secreta
Shangaan Electro: New Wave Dance Music from South Africa :: various

this week's video feature: Calibro 35

it just enhances what you would normally do with less judgment

2010-08-19T03:28:44Z

First off, here's some brain-melting cuteness to balance things out after I got my rage on the other night.

Anyway, we went out for my birthday dinner (part 2, delayed) last night at Revolution. Everything was outstanding. I had the tea-smoked cod entree, which is highly recommended. Sarah had this lamb ravioli w/ mint which was insanely good. Also good was the Revolution IPA (from Triangle Brewing) on draught. The only less-than-ideal thing was that there was one of those guest bartender fundraisers going on in the bar area when we arrived and for about the first half hour we were there and it was stupid loud. Altho it wasn't so bad where we were sitting (a nice table for two over near the window), it was still a noticeable and marked improvement when things wrapped up. In future, I'll be more careful to check to see if anything's going on before I make reservations.