g u s t funnel

Aventinus

Are you a beer person?  I am.  I've tried to get sophisticated with wine but I can't quite get into it.  Don't get me wrong, I love a good glass of wine but it just doesn't quite do it for me like a cold beer.  When I was in college, I spent 3 glorious months working at a small biergarten outside of Frankfurt, Germany...it was here that my question of beer vs. wine was firmly answered.  Every night, after the tables and taps were cleaned, I'd sit down with the owner and throw a couple back.  Those are great memories. 

There was one beer that we served, the HefeDunkel ("Dark Wheat"), that I particularly enjoyed above all others.  Most people in the US are familiar with the Hefeweizen, which has become pretty popular in recent years (e.g. Blue Moon), but I was never a fan of the light wheet beer and I refuse to drink my beer with a fruit in it.  I've searched all over for a dark wheat beer with a similar taste (and strength) to the HefeDunkel, but I have been unsuccesful...until now. 

A few months back I stopped into a local Chicago sports bar, The HopHaus, and gazed at the extensive beer list.  To my salivating delight, they carried a dark wheat beer, the Schneider Aventinus, and I promptly ordered one.  Immediately, I was taken back to those warm nights sitting outside in Der Gundhof.  I was so excited I nearly began to Polka.  I've been back to the HopHaus a few times and they never cease to satiate my Aventinus craving.  I love this beer...and you should, too.

May the hops be always at your back,

5 Songs

M. Ward To Go Home

If you haven't yet heard this guy, either solo or via "She and Him" you need to crawl out of your hibernation and get with the picture, mane.  This song makes me want to put some new socks on, run briefly, then slide across my hardwood floor...over and over again.

Fleet Foxes Mykonos

I say God Damn! These guys are frickin' incredible.  Perfect music for the changing of the leaves...and I get to see them live in a few weeks.

Conor Oberst Sausalito

Back in the day, I actually seriously pondered moving on to a houseboat in Sausalito...maybe, some day, I'll make this dream a reality.  This is for the Yay Area.

Spoon Bring It On Home To Me (Sam Cooke Cover)

I love to Spoon, er I mean Spoon.  I also love Sam Cooke, that master of Soul.  Note to self: learn to sing this karaoke-style, passionate love to follow.

Ben Harper, Elliot Smith & Ray Davies Waterloo Sunset

I've been listening to a lot of Kinks lately and this is one of my favorites, sung by the late Elliot Smith.  If you haven't revisited Ray Davies & Co., I suggest you do so.  Get kinky.

May the melody be always at your back,

Vinyl Resolution

So, I recently read this article about how hippie godfather Neil Young has serious issues with how the digitization of music (iTunes) has led to a decline in audio quality playback.  I've long held this similar belief, but I also love to take my music everywhere I go so long ago I benched my turntables and vinyl shopping in favor of the ultra-convenient downloadable format.  Over the years, I've contemplated going back to records and getting a digital converter...but that also poses a lot of inconvenience...so again, I opted for the lazy way out.

However, I recently stopped into a local record shop and discovered, much to my pleasant surprise, that many labels are offering a free downloadable version with purchase of the vinyl edition.  You can't imagine my excitement...of course the vinyl is more expensive, sometimes double that of an iTunes purchase, but that hardly matters to a music freak like myself.  I promptly plopped down some of my hard earned scrill on some Kinks, M. Ward, My Morning Jacket and Spoon and practically skipped home.  I pulled one of my turntables off the shelf, dusted it off, and let 'er rip.  You know what?  Neil Young is right, there really is a full-bodiedness to vinylthat just doesn't come across in its digital counterpart.  It's like Miller Lite vs. Sierra Nevada, for lack of a better analogy.  Check it out, you won't be disappointed.

May the grooves be always at your back,

 

Hurricane Gustfunnel

So, I'm feelin' it again...I can't really explain why I come and go with this whole bloggin' thing, but that's the way it is.  As always, I'll try to be more regular...like a Metamucil addict.

Today's topic is brought to you by the new Walkmen album, "You and Me". 

You know what job I want?  I want to be the guy that gets to name Hurricanes and/or Tropical Storms.  I'd prefer Hurricanes, of course, but I can only imaginethe number of people I'd have to sleep with at the Weatherological Society to get that plum gig. Six, maybe?

Anyway, can you imagine the guy that gets to father multiple storms per year?  The sweet, stormy irony of it all is that he's probably living somewhere in Fiji, drinkin' Kava, eating people and laughing it up while he throws out gems like "Gustav" and "Hannah".   I could do so much better, so here we go:

Hurricane Applebee, Hurricane Battlebot, Hurricane Caine, Hurricane Destroyer, Hurricane Epilepsy, Hurricane Fantasia, Hurricane Gurgle, Hurricane Hypochondriac, Hurricane Icahn, Hurricane Jellyfish, Hurricane Kharma Kameleon, Hurricane Laserface, Hurricane Mongo, Hurricane Napkin, Hurricane Optimus, Hurricane Prime, Hurricane Q-tip, Hurricane Rip-your-face-off, Hurricane Sucky, Hurricane Telecommunication, Hurricane Udders, Hurricane Vasectomy, Hurricane Wham!, Hurricane Xanax, Hurricane Yanni, Hurricane Zazra

May the Applebee always at your back,

   

Man in the Sand

I just watched a great movie called "Man in the Sand."  I found it on Netflix so you can, too.  Anyway, it's about the events leading up to Billy Bragg and Wilco's recording of Mermaid Avenue (Vols. 1 and 2), which was a truly unique compilation in which both Billy and Wilco produced the music behind a number of legendary bard Woody Guthrie's lyrics.  This was hardly a cover album as all of the songs were written by Woody but never recorded and the melodies were never passed down.  For any Wilco fan, songs such as "California Stars", Airline to Heaven" and "Hoodoo Voodoo" are virtual staples, but watching this documentary gives you a whole new perspective on the project and gave one music dork I know a number of chills while watching.  I won't give away too much, but if you're a Wilco/Woody/Dylan/Music fan...rent this, now.

"When The Roses Bloom Again"

"Ingrid Bergman"

May the dust be always at your back,

Animal Collective

I recently heard about this amazing program that some Zoos have begun...basically they're selling pieces of art done by their fur and feather-lined inhabitants.  To learn more, you can hear the NPR sound-byte here and visit the Houston Zoo's website here.

Isn't this incredible?  For a mere $250, you can buy a masterpiece done by a crazed-ape finger painter.  My personal favorite is Rocky the Cougar.  Per the website, Rocky really gets into it by getting "his whole body into the piece by rolling on it." I would pay large sums of money to see this.

I'm going to salute Rocky and his pals with one of my favorite songs from the band Animal Collective, "Reverend Green".

May the beret cling ever-so-tightly to their furry (or feathery) heads,

 

Crockit Man

To enhance your enjoyment of this post, first click this link to MMJ's version of Sir Elton's "Rocket Man".and press play...while listening, imagine Jim James is crooning "Crockit" instead of "Rocket".  Thank you, readers.

I am a proud and recent owner of a shiny, stainless steel Crock Pot.  You may remember this vestige of culinary days-past from hit meals such as "Grandma's Roast!" and "Mommy's Tired on Thursdays Casserole!".  While the "Pot", as I like to call it, is traditionally used by haggard Matriarch's cooking for voracious packs of ungrateful leech-children, it also has a place in the single man's (or woman's) home.  Here's why:

It's so friggin' easy a lobotomized actor playing the role of a caveman on a commercial for lizard insurance could do it.  All you must do is take some ingredients (minor prep required), throw in Pot, set timer for anywhere from 4 to 8 hours, and let it be.  When the time is up, the massive Pot unveils its magical trough-like qualities...feed for days.

I recently made some Turkey Chili.  I set it up in the morning and when I came home that night, I swore that a pack of fat, large-belt-buckle-wearing Texans had infiltrated my apartment and set up their new testing lab...stirring their evil-delicious chili in my bathtub.  A few days later, I made something from the recipe book called "Fiesta Chicken".  I got so excited upon my first taste that I hysterically bitch-slapped one of the Mexican cocineros who had passed out on my couch.  And for you vegetarians out there, I made a Chickpea-Lentil Curry that would've ended on-the-spot any one of Ghandhi's numerous hunger strikes.

(Are you still listening to the song?  Imagine a grown man dancing with his Crock Pot. Are you choking up? Cry.)

What I'm trying to say is, if I can do it, you can do it.  Get yourself a Crock Pot and fly off into the stratosphere of taste sensation.   

May there be a chicken/roast/lentil in every Pot,

Style guide

Ironically, I really like this video...it is awesome.

May PBR always flow in your general, disaffected direction,

Crosstown Traffic

I was riding my new bike today...it's actually not new at all but new to me.  It's one of those old Schwinn cruisers and everything kind of points this way and that.  The seat goes east, the fender goes west...I love it.  It's kind of wobbly and I feel sauced every time I ride it.  Bonus!  Anyway, I had to get from one side of Chicago to another and during my ride, Jimi Hendrix's tune, "Crosstown Traffic" popped into my head.  When I got home, I immediately tuned my iPod to "Electric Ladyland" and smiled.  God that's a great album...the guitar doesn't even sound real.  And the lyrics? Awesome.  Anyway, here's to you o' mightiest of Rock Gods.

May the traffic be at your back,

 

The end of the buffet?

I am fascinated by the recent increase in food prices.  While I had been hearing rumblings (no pun intended) of this phenomenon over the past year, I became aware of the details after reading an article featured in The Economist late last year.  Call me naive, but I always assumed that the food basics (bread, fruit, veggies, milk, eggs, meat, etc...) would plod along at prices generally pegged to inflation.  Not so.  In short, the rise in foreign food consumption coupled with the boom in biofuel production has created this unprecedented rise in food prices.  As the article points out, the rising prices have been a boon to farmers and the "windfall" has led lawmakers to place renewed scrutiny on government programs meant to keep the price of domestic crops high while limiting foreign, often third-world, imports. A corollary to these developments, as explained in this NY Times article, is the farmer's increasing unwillingness to continue conservation arrangements in the face of these high prices. 

As one may expect, this emerging phenomenon is a serious threat to the viability of the cheap and numerous All-You-Can-Eat buffets that have sprouted up over the last few decades.  It makes me wonder what the denizens of these eateries, like hip-hop heavyweights the Fat Boys, will do to satiate their enormous appetites.

May your pants always be snug,