g u s t funnel

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,

Verrifast Plaine Co Ltd

Given all the recent turmoil in the airline industry, I thought this clip was particularly timely:

May the wind be always at your rudder,

The new and improved music television

I'm excited.  This week, Pitchfork Media Inc., the seminal bastion of all-things-indie, has introduced the world to Pitchfork TV.  There's no doubt this new web tv experiment is aimed directly at fuddy's like myself who long ago abandoned the reality shows and teeny-bopper trash that took over MTV like poison ivy.  And, to top it off, we no longer have to wade through crappy videos by "artists" who shouldn't be calling themselves such...we can pick what we want to watch.  I love it.  They even have an old Ugly Casanova video (which was a side project of Isaac Brock's for all you Modest Mouse fans.)  It's indie-nerd heaven for sure and I'm playing a lute and wearing some kind of feathery toga.

Here's a clip from the introductory PFTV special "Don't Look Down", featuring none other than that rockin' Portland trio, those portents of Portland punk, The Thermals...playing atop a building in NYC.  Kind of like a latter day "Where the Streets Have No Name" without all of the Bono-drama.  Enjoy.

May the streaming feed be always at your back,

    

The More You Know

I'm suggesting this article, which was featured recently in The Economist.  In my opinion, the recent financial crisis is, as I've long maintained, a natural outcome of the continuous "progress" in financial product commoditization, whereby people fork over tons of their hard-earned money (or, rather, debt obligation) for products and arrangements that they don't understand.  These arrangements were buoyed by a gross misjudgment of risk, which fueled the seemingly cheap interest rates offered out like pamphlets in a grocery store parking lot.  Unfortunately, the ambiguity surrounding risk went hand-in-hand with irrational speculation as to the outcomes and implications of a potential fallout.  As each day's headlines suggest, we won't know the true outcome for quite awhile.

If there's one lesson that we should learn from this mess, it is that greater emphasis should be placed on financial education, particularly early on.    

May the Bulls be always guiding your 401(K),

      

5 songs

I love music...very much so.  These are 5 songs that I've been listening to lately:

"Feedback in the Field" - Plants and Animals : Another Canadian gem.  For a small, inferior country, the Canucks really produce a lot of great indie music.

"These Few Presidents" - Why?: This guy's yet another Midwest native who's flown to the warmer climates of California...Berkeley to be exact.  I love the recent resurgence of Bay Area Indie music, just love it...and Go Bears!

"Cherry Tulips" - Headlights: Spring has officially sprung in Chicago and these Champaign, IL residents have brilliantly expressed all the gushy excitement that goes along with the annual thaw.

"Seems Like Home To Me": - Two Gallants: Yet another great offering from the Bay Area music scene.  These guys kill it live, and are playing at the big "Outside Lands" festival in SF this summer.  I think the wind may have to carry me back for a few days...

"The Mending of the Gown" - Sunset Rubdown: Alright, so apparrently there's a California-Canadian theme going on here.  Despite having the best band name ever, SR has a frontman who spends half his time with other Canadian indie favorites, Wolf Parade.  This song is frantic and amazing, like Farrah Fawcett on Letterman.

May the wind be always at your ears,