quick, somebody call "this old house"!

dateline: santa fe


...since i can't be at the kerrville festival this weekend with my songsmithin' buddies i decided to do something useful.  so i built me a fence.  i had a gas meter visible from the living room window in the house we're trying to sell.  now who's gonna buy a house where you can see the gas meter from the living room wndow?  so i got me some logs (well, kindling, really ), and a hammer and some nails & twine...why, i even grabbed my trusty hatchet and split one of the logs to make a crossbeam and didn't lose a single appendage...yup, me and ol' honest abe...a couple of fence building, rail splittin' fools...

yessir, it's a mighty fence.....a mighty...small fence...but a mighty nice fence

so i ask ya....see any gas meters out my window now?  didn't think so.

listening to robbie robertson - how to become clairvoyant

also gotten hooked on the old HBO series carnivale

lions & tigers & red sox (oh my)

dateline: new england


my late father and i never really saw eye to eye on much of anything...
but when i was a kid we did share a love of three things: loony toons, the zoo at roger williams park in providence and the mostly mired in last place at the time boston red sox...


to this day the expression "you're dithhhspicable" will still bring tears of laughter...
i thought of the old man a few times while back in new england this weekend.
first up..........


FENWAY PAHK!!!!!!!

my childhood hero ~ ted williams

haven't been here since 1975...got the same rush walking up the ramp...

...and seeing the green monster!

some of the tools of the trade

just another one of those weirdly juxtaposed sports moments....a buddhist monk behind me was trying to get seattle mariners rightfielder ichiro suzuki's attention during batting practice...he kept saying "thank you" to everyone around him...you are welcome.

on the mound for the sox was knuckleballer tim wakefield.  never seen a knuckleball pitcher up close.....damn, the ball really does dance all over the place....

kid number one was having a great time...

as was kid number 2...

david ortiz (AKA big papi) drove in the first 2 sox runs

seattle went on to tie the game.....it was up to jonathan paplebon to hold them off.

jeez, that stare even had me scared....

bottom of the 9th....runner on third...carl crawford at the plate...carl's batting .124....."here we go again", i think....just like when i was a kid...crawford swings...

base hit up the middle!  runner scores!

the sox win!!!!

the old man would have loved it.  ah, good ol' fenway park

probably the only park where they still climb a ladder to change the scoreboard...

next up....they tell me it's all happening at the zoo.

listening to paul simon  ~  so beautiful or so what

and ye shall know them by their tchotchkes...

dateline: santa fe


ok, in a zen world there are no attachments...
so, nobody's perfect.  not in this room, anyway.


here are some small things i'm happy to get to look at when i'm home.
take the little smiles where you can find 'em...

the top of the left speaker

the top of the right speaker

jono's chicken alarm/with coy penguin (from the manson collection)

conundrum with sunflowers

to be continued...

listening to:  david francey -  first set: live from folk alley

an undocumented soup

dateline: santa fe, nm


(because sometimes the camera is all the way on the other side of the room)


a nice ginger / carrot soup from cooks.com 


ingredients:
  3/4 stick unsalted butter
  1/4 cup finely chopped ginger root (i used a little less)
  7 c. chicken stock
  1 1/2 c. carrots, peeled, in 1/2 inch pieces
  Pinch curry powder
  1 lg. chopped onion
  3 cloves garlic
  1 c. dry white wine
  2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
  snipped fresh chives or parsley (if you got it)


melt butter in a large stock pot over medium heat.  add onion, ginger
and garlic.  saute for 15 - 20 minutes.  add stock, wine and carrots.  heat
to boiling.  reduce heat and simmer uncovered over medium heat until 
carrots are tender, about 45 minutes.  Puree the soup in batches, in a blender 
or food processor.  (or your trusty immersion blender...i'm tellin' ya)
season with lemon juice, curry powder and salt & pepper.  sprinkle a little chive or parsley. serve hot or chilled.
with a big ol' salad. 


i don't think this kid would have liked the soup.  or the salad for that matter...


kindergarten, i think...

listening to greg trooper popular demons

cadillac ranch

dateline: amarillo, texas


way back in 1974, an eccentric helium millionaire named stanley marsh 3 hired a california art collective known as the ant farm to bring his homage to the golden age of automobiles, tail fins & route 66 to life on an amarillo, texas dirt farm.


it was created by ant farm members chip lord, hudson marquez and doug michels and consists of what were (when originally installed during 1974) either older running used or junk cadillac automobiles, representing a number of evolutions of the car line (most notably the birth and death of the defining feature of early Cadillacs; the tail fin) from 1949 to 1963, half-buried nose-first in the ground, at an angle corresponding to that of the great pyramid of giza in egypt.  (thanks, wikipedia)


i've been passing by it for years and finally decided on a closer look.

too cool!!

when you get up close you realize that they're pretty much held together by generations of spray paint...

man, i just LOVE this stuff!!!!!

listening to neil young le noise

tattoo you, maybe....

dateline: oklahoma city


on the way to folk alliance ~ memphis.
this place is around the corner from KC and david's house.

thanks, but i'll pass.

listening to ~ abigail washburn   city of refuge 

snowstorm soup!

ok, i admit it...i'm getting a little soup obsessed this winter...part of this health kick i'm on. but i'm down about 15 pounds since the holidays.  diet and exercise...who knew?
anyway, here's one more pot of soup before i hit the ol' road dog trail again this weekend. off to memphis and the folk alliance conference.  tunes and friends and NO SNACKING!


this one's a good hearty healthy roasted butternut squash soup.  it goes thusly:


INGREDENTS

• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 three-pound butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 2-inch chunks
• 1 softball-sized sweet Vidalia onion, cut into chunks or rings
• 1 head garlic, cloves separated and peeled
• 3 1/2 cups stock, divided
• Salt and pepper
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter (optional)

step the first:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Toss squash, onion and garlic cloves with 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil; spread on glass baking dish and pour 1 cup stock over the top. Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt.  

Bake at 350ºF for 1 1/2 hours or until fairly soft and a little caramelized-looking; check on the pan every 20 minutes or so and if necessary, add additional liquid to keep it from scorching to the bottom of the pan. Stir once during cooking.

step the second:

well, with all this time to kill, let's see what we can do about all this snow...

got it!  turn up the laura nyro greatest hits album you're listening to and run to the window.....now, do the "shoo snow" dance...."HURRY DOWN TO A STONED SOUL PICNIC!!!"

...plus it has the added effect of amusing the dog... ("what the  hell's he doing now?")

ok, back to the soup...here's the the roasted veggies...

step the third:

Add squash, garlic, onion, and any liquid from baking dish into a stockpot. Add 2 1/2 cups stock and 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper to the pot, and cook over medium-low heat for at least 20 minutes (30 is mo' better, sorry sev)...

step the fourth:

now i get to use what's become my favorite kitchen weapon of the year, an immersion blender.  great for pureeing veggies and such.  and much easier to clean up than a food processor or blender.

just make sure that you turn off the blender before taking it out of the soup.  it saves a messy clean up and or re-painting...trust me on this one, kids.

stir in the butter and there we have it...roasted butternut  squash soup!  

aw, hell.....let's dance some more!!  "AND WHEN I DIIIIIIIIIE!!!!!"

listening to:  laura nyro ~ stoned soul picnic (the best of laura nyro)

(ps: found the recipe at seriouseats.com)