Singing from the Floor: A History of British Folk Clubs is the first ever “oral history” of the British folk scene with expressive quotes from Martin Carthy, Shirley Collins, the Watersons, Ashley Hutchings, Wizz Jones, Dave Swarbrick, June Tabor, Maddy Prior, Joe Boyd, Richard Thompson, Clive Palmer – utterly inspiring and essential. – Pat Thomas …
Last Thursday was Grateful Dead Night at AT&T Park. Before the game a cover band serenaded the fans from the top of the visitor’s dugout, and Bill Walton, the world’s most famous Deadhead, showed up to announce a $23,000 donation to Grateful Dead Charities. Lots of good feelings to be had, minus the scent of …
Rimkus grew up mere blocks from the sprawling permanent Minnesota State Fair grounds – near halfway between St. Paul and Minneapolis and a virtual city in and of itself. As a kid, planning for a few precious days at the fair was a big deal; Rimkus and his best friend would prepare a detailed budget …
the SONIC BLASTER! (by MARX!) one of the greatest, most dangerous toys ever made. this was a plunger device that would push air out of this plastic barrel with such force that (i guess) it would break the sound barrier. it made a big booming blasting sound like a cannon when you fired it. it …
Saturday afternoon on August 8 I headed to downtown Seattle for a rally for social security. The guest speaker of note was to be democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. The event was held in the Westlake Plaza, the traditional gathering place for political rallies and gatherings in Seattle. A half an hour before the event …
Robert Frank’s game-changing book THE AMERICANS, published in 1958 by Grove Press (there was a different edition published in france a year earlier with essays many assorted french intellectuals (and cover art by saul steinberg). the american edition had a single essay by jack kerouac. the project itself was funded by a Guggenhiem Grant. what …
Tuesday eating from your yard tip~we are entering the cucumber glut season. Of course there are cucumber sandwiches and pickles. My two favorite are blended to a pulp and added to limeade with vodka optional or slices mixed into yogurt, mint, cumin, onions (or substitute mint and chopped green chili peppers). How about peeled and …
Since someone in Killadelphia ruined my Sunday after they destroyed #Hitchbot and left his ripped apart pieces on the sidewalk, including his ridiculous little yellow Wellington boots, I am encouraging the good people behind Hitchy to build a new bot and let it start in Philly. It should be called MurderEveryoneBot. – Harper Hull
If 1970’s Journey in Satchidananda was a game changer for you – then prepare yourself for this obscure 1982 ‘cassette only’ release just out on CD. Alice Coltrane‘s vocals are ‘other worldly’ as if she made up her own language (in the form of Vedic Chants) – it’s a spiritual message drowned in a sea …
((((Facebook is aggregating all the people in my pipeline that feel Cecil the lion is getting too much “air time” or they just don’t “understand” all the hoopla- and there seems to be an empathy war going on between all the injustices out there. Also, thee “if you eat meat why do you care?” tactic …
Are We Falling In Love?
A review of The Joy Formidable’s cover of Badalamenti and Lynch’s Falling.
By Peter Dysart
I’m typically not a huge fan of covers, especially if the original song was a classic already. I will make exceptions, though.
Truer words have never been spoken than those from Ambrosavage below. Gary, Indiana never disappoints a true midwesterner. There’s something in the gray industrial moonscape dotted with pools of standing chemicals which jumps up to kiss any returning traveler and say, “Welcome home friend, the east is behind you, South Chicago is in front of …
This is the old Yuengling mansion on upper Mahantango Street in Pottsville, PA. It and it’s full block of stables and grounds and such were donated to the city some decades ago – probably to the huge relief of the Yuengling family. It was given to the Schuylkill County Council for the Arts who back …
Ambrosavage rolled in for lunch at the All American Cafe in Pottsville, PA and beheld the following scene: “So this guy at the All American Cafe just told this young gal at the counter that he hit pick 5 for 350 dollars. ‘I was 1 away from 1.5 million’ he said and yet he still …
Not having planned an extended vacation this year, I’ve taken a few day trips to assuage the restlessness that hits me around July. Fortunately, I have a national park an hour’s drive from my house: Lassen Volcanic. The park consists of the usual wooded trails and streams, but also a 10,463 foot volcano that can …
Rimkus notes: Take a look at the “Rejuvenated” (not “remodeled” or “under new management”) Garfield Diner in Pottsville, Pennsylvania. Ambro had a delicious (we hope) breakfast here. I looked this admittedly cool-looking place up, and was beset by the hysterically bad internet reviews which kept popping up. My favorite was, “the flies were more hospitable …
Wednesday night punk and Seattle’s El Corazon is packed with punks to see the Adolescents and The Weirdos — two veteran American punk rock bands. The Adolescents may not look like adolescents any more, but these guys are nowhere near ready for the front porch rocker whiling their days away. They churned out hard core, …
Watch out kids! Officer Krupke is on his way to chase you out… TMZ adds in the description, “Ariana Grande’s new boyfriend got upstaged by her tongue — which got dangerously close to some powdered donuts … pissing off the people who busted their asses making ’em.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bnup_lNF5w
The garlic scapes are curling, giving us an early teaser taste of garlic before the garlic bulbs are ready. Visiting my cousin at the top of Wisconsin, a farmer’s market vender had made an amazing garlic scape pesto by just blending the garlic scapes with a little olive oil, cheese and nuts. Creating a perfect …
If you have any open dirt odds are good you have lambs quarter. This is one I was slow to buy into, but I am a convert! I have added it to my breakfast egg bake and mixed it with pork in wontons. Pick the young leaves and use it anyway you would cooked spinach. …
What to do with the lovely pink onion chive flowers? Eat them now before they self seed all over your garden. Pop them from the base, see photos below. Add them to cream cheese for a purple flecked oniony dip or add to the sour cream for your baked potato or add them to your …
By a great piece of luck a lovely women related to my distant cousin by marriage moved in two doors down from my dad in the nursing home. We have the best talks. I wish I had met her before she was turning 90 in what she calls the waiting room to heaven. I had …
Over the last couple of weeks several Washington state school districts have conducted one day rolling strikes to protest the state inadequate funding of public education. Today, May 19, 2015, the biggest district in the state, Seattle, walked off the job and were joined by Mercer Island and Issaquah districts in solidarity. Washington ranks 47th …
Kim Rendfeld will serve on a panel about midwifery at the 2015 Historical Novel Society Conference, June 26-28, and talk specifically about the practice in early medieval times. Childbirth was so risky in early medieval times the expectant mother confessed her sins as her time drew near. If her baby was in jeopardy, the fate …
Last January, the Port of Seattle irresponsibly gave Shell the go-ahead to use Seattle as home base for its Arctic drilling operations. They ignored Shell’s terrible safety record, the very high risk of a major Arctic oil spill, and devastating impacts to our climate. The Port Commissioners hoped the deal would go unnoticed. The non-profit …
The start of baseball season is still several weeks away. But in the meantime, your own Spring Training should include watching four particular fabulous baseball films from the 1980’s. Frankly, it’s hard to go wrong with a baseball film; every decade has had great ones. But for some reason, the ’80s were a particularly golden …
Giving up something for Lent? A dessert? TV? Facebook? The 8th-century characters in my novels would envy you. Early medieval Christians took Lent seriously. No meat. No eggs. No dairy. Only one meal a day around 3 p.m., and that was a relaxation of not eating until evening. Pretzels, made with water, flour, and salt, …
Jammin’ to Motorhead right now… Aftershock… a 2013 release that demonstrates rock prowess. So… Read yesterday in the Wall Street Journal about US cities that have the highest viewership ratings for various sports. Greensboro NC has the highest for NASCAR. Not necessarily a surprise there. Buffalo ranks #1 for NHL. Louisville tops the college basketball …