The holidays are in full effect, so tell us: What's your favorite holiday song? Bonus points if you share it with us!
Even though I am goyim, I love Adam Sandler's Hanukkah song.
The incredibly delicious Hyakume “brown sugar” chocolate persimmon from Penryn Orchard Specialties. Jeff Rieger is also busy making his special dried whole Hachiya persimmons, called Hoshi Gaki, using an ancient Japanese method. These are a rare and special treat and can be ordered in advance, please. Wednesday Santa Monica
Medfly netting will become a fixture at 17 markets in the Los Angeles quarantine area until at least next July. Host crops include most fruit, avocados and three vegetables: tomatoes, eggplant and peppers. Customers are asked to replace the netting and to continue to support the farmers by shopping and disposing of leftover fruit and peels in the trash, not the compost.
Rutabagas from Flora Bella Farm. A delicious winter root crop, excellent roasted, or try the Rutabaga Soup recipe found in The Santa Monica Farmers Market Cookbook: Seasonal Food, Simple Recipes, and Stories from the Market and Farm” by Amelia Saltsman. Amelia will be signing copies of her cookbook at the Wednesday Santa Monica Market from 10:00 am – 1:00 pm on December 9th. Location: Third Street Promenade at Arizona Ave. Wednesday, Saturday Santa Monica; Sunday Hollywood.
Not your pine bough Christmas wreath – beautiful, long lasting wreaths made from Protea flowers or hardy herbs (pictured) from Sugarbush Proteas. Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday Santa Monica (seasonal – now through April)
Farmer Phil McGrath and Santa Monica chef Josie LeBalch from Josie share a moment at the Wednesday market. The farmer-chef connection continues to create interest and good cheer at the farmers market.
O HIGH!
Only an hour to get the compose screen loading on Vox today …
I had another tab open and it took about 10 minutes.
Nothing much to blog—I am just seeing if Vox has fixed things. Turns out it hasn’t, though I am still wondering why on earth the three people who have been blocked to varying degrees are all oriental. A heck of a coincidence, but what are the odds?
For your entertainment, a video that Tanya referred to me for all the font geeks out there:
I broke down and got an iPhone. I have had it with Verizon.
After Verizon dropped a call I was on yesterday for the third time in 5 minutes, I had had it. I was talking with a freelance illustrator for a job I need done, and he was not happy with me. I get dropped calls ALL the time, it's awful. It's at the point where I will avoid calling if/when I need to until the last possible minute. The only place I can use my phone and have a 50-60% chance of not getting dropped is right in the middle of my living room.
The bad:
- another credit inquiry on my record, 3 months after the other one for Verizon. Grrr.
- lots of money spent at Verizon to fix the problem and change phones, cancel the contract. Grrr.
- a higher monthly phone bill, which was the reason I switched in the first place.
The good:
- new phone
- no more dropped calls. (hopefully!)
- gonna sell my touch on one of those buy-back sites (which I've used before) so the start up cost for this is only going to end up being only about half.
- more pictures to post! (iPhone's camera is way better than the one i had)
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Baby Dee ♥ Cedar Cultural Center, Minneapolis (12/01/09) |
Before her last song, she introduced The Books by telling this joke about next to the dog, a man's best friend is a book. Next because inside a dog, it's too hard to read.
The Books set up two chairs and their movie projector at 9 o'clock. Remember, this is the Cedar, their shows starts early and ends early (no later than 10:30pm). Which its audience is an older (and probably gainfully employed crowd), so they like early shows.
So, back to the Books, they provided the live soundtrack to their movies. Everything is in sync, no technical problems at all. They even went so far as having a one-minute intermission song as they tune up their instruments. The intermission song features anagrams of the word "Immediate". Everything is calculated.
I find that trying to watch the movie and watching Nick Zammuto and Paul de Jong was somewhat distracting. I think they prefer you watch the screen, because watching the duo play isn't exactly that exciting.
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The Books ♥ Cedar Cultural Center, Minneapolis (12/01/09) |
As for the encores, which incidentally is predetermined because of the movies that is associated with the songs, they did two songs. The first is a Nick Drake cover "Cello Song", which Paul explained is their only cover they do. It was for the benefit of the Red Hot organization for Aids awareness. If you recall, I've previously endorsed the organization by buying many of their music releases. Their final song is "An Owl With Knees" from their 2005 album, Lost and Safe.
PS, This is my final concert for 2009 (I hibernate during the winter), I would like to thank everybody for offering shows for me to review. I will be able to accept assignments in March-ish 2010, and/or whenever it stops snowing.
12/02/2009 11:29:30 ♥ vu (
) ♥ thebooksmusic.com ♥ myspace.com ♥ twitter.com
This time, it did take a few hours before Vox allowed me to compose again. I have heard from Robin, who logged on as me using one of those newfangled Iphones in Las Vegas, and he could get this screen, though there were still some issues.
But at least Daisy has confirmed that she, too, cannot get the compose screen once logged on as me.
Meanwhile, this is not the only website that has gone weird. Here’s how the The Wall Street Journal now looks online, after I clicked through via Google News:
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12/13/09 Loring Kitchen & Bar Minneapolis
Discography
12/20/09 Loring Kitchen & Bar Minneapolis 12/31/09 Loring Kitchen & Bar Minneapolis
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Minneapolis duo Bella Ruse self-classify their sound as “indie folk jazz,” but when Joseph Barker plugs in his electric, as on opener “Push On,” the result doesn’t quite fit the categorization. The sparse, moody guitar and Kay Gillette’s intimate vocals would be as appropriate for a sparse, moody Jim Jarmusch film as for a smoke-filled jazz club. While “Push On” is Bella Ruse’s standout track, the rest of the EP is quietly pleasing. “J’ai Presque Peur” is a smooth Pinot Noir toast to Edith Piaf and “Heart of Everyone” jangles along nicely. When Norah Jones released her debut, I remember being underwhelmed at first, certain that her foray into “jazz” was one clarinet short of Lite FM. However, after a few listens, I warmed up a bit, mostly because beneath the soccer mom ear-bait, I could detect the slightest shade of melancholy, and this interested me. Bella Ruse is interesting in a comparable way (they had me at “kind of sad”). Gillette’s voice calms rather than excites and sure, “Hold Me Close” would probably excite a Meg Ryan character (when she realizes that the Tom Hanks character is The One*); still, revisit “Push On” and convince me there isn’t a little Scout Niblett/Chan Marshall angst beneath the romantic sentiments.
In his track notes, Barker admits that “Push On” was not an immediate favorite. In fact, it took Gillette’s persistence and encouragement from fans to convince him that the song had a place on the EP. Although this baffles me, I also kind of get it. “Push On” is Bella Ruse’s “Hide and Seek”: a stand alone track that deviates from an otherwise comfortable style. There’s a reason why I’ve listened to the song a total of 27 times since I received the EP, except the ‘reason’ is actually a sensation—a slight tingling, milder than goosebumps but equally elusive. My request for the band is simple: more, please. More blood, sweat, tears, booze, ultra-lights, magic fairy dust or WHATEVER combination birthed this beauty. More Pinot Noir, too.
Besides their debut EP, Bella Ruse has also released ‘Twas a Bella Ruse Christmas, a 4-song compilation of Christmas favorites. Both albums can be purchased digitally at http://bellaruse.bandcamp.com. For more information visit the band’s official website or e-stalk the pair on Facebook and Myspace.
*Sadly, my Nora Ephron references are dated. Help.
12/01/2009 23:35:26 ♥ lara (
/lara206.vox.com)
♥ bellaruse.com ♥ myspace.com/bellaruse ♥ twitter.com
I wonder if Vox has fixed things, because this compose screen took seconds to come up. It also took seconds after I clicked to edit the original post.
Another recent purchase, for $2 (really):
There’s one more left at the Warehouse in Lyall Bay, last I looked. Strangely, it means I only have the first set to get to have the whole series—and the last one I bought set me back a grand $5. Imagine if I could get the the remaining one for another $2.
Lew Grade has made plenty out of me, but not through Protectors DVDs.
Incidentally, this post is worth a repeat of this cover of the theme tune from Rinaldi Sings:
