songs you taught me

Audio

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 13:44:36 -0400

Hot Sauce Committee Part Three

Mon, 31 Dec 2012 16:40:25 -0500

On Instagram, I asked people to nominate a favorite hot sauce. I re-posted the question to Twitter. Here, on Tumblr, are the resulting sauces and votes (or mentions that I am calling votes, with rounding up for brands and varietals).

Cholula Hot Sauce

(‏@jody_beth, @leonstj, @brittlebk, @oldjew77, @borninflames, @liiiindsaaaay, @merrymoore, @scottaak, @janedonuts, @danmcswain, @kibird)

Tapatío Hot Sauce

(@HeyJacquiDey, ‏@TheDaysofLore, @leonstj, @jacdelorey, @_karenita, @brittlebk, @merrymoore)

Huy Fong Sriracha Hot Sauce

(@compactrobot, ‏@PeterTascio, @willwoodson, @joyrocker)

Texas Pete Hot Sauce

(@elle_aich, @stoftey, @logankyoung, @danmcswain)

Valentina Mexican Hot Sauce

(@toddpatrick, @borninflames, @robertcwestjr)

FRANK’S® REDHOT® SAUCE

(@borninflames, @ameltoid)

Crystal Hot Sauce ‏

(@Starmama30, @jamestylerespn)

Marie Sharp’s Hot Sauce

(@abaran76)

Huy Fong Sambal Oelek

(@willwoodson)

Lol Tun

(‏@PhilipSherburne)

Chatak Lime Sauce

(@cushac)

Gochujang

(@debcha)

Sontava

(@phillydesign, who says, ”Habenero-based sauce from Belize. Carrots make it not overly hot, and it has incredible, unique flavor”)

TC’s Smokin’ Habs Hot Sauce

(@huahsu, who says label uses “illo of joint-passing peppers, NORML propaganda next to the ingredients”)

Born to Hula Hot Sauce

(@NYCVega)

Secret Aardvark

(‏@TheDaysofLore)

Melinda’s Habanero Hot Sauce

(@allthecuteshit)

Pico Pica Mexican Hot Sauce

(@millionairehobo)

The Sword — Tears of Fire Hot Sauce

(@joycekaye)

El Yucateco

(@samson_elkin)

Trappey’s Red Devil™ Cayenne Pepper Hot Sauce

(@elisabetheaves)

Dr. Frank ‘n’ Swine Hot Pepper Sauce

(@klangfarben)

Goya Salsa Picante

(@seanwilk)

And one reaction to my comment that Frank’s is too vinegary:

@Francis_Lam: “In descending order of tanginess: Crystal, Texas Pete, Sambal Oelek, Sriracha, chile oil.”

Brian Eno, “China My China” video, 1974 (via...

Thu, 27 Dec 2012 17:34:00 -0500

Brian Eno, “China My China” video, 1974 (via Dangerous Minds).

From the original DM post (with links added):

“A Pre-MTV pre-release promo for Eno’s 1974 LP, “Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy).” Brian performs in front of a stack of tube TVs backed by Judy Nylon and Polly Eltes on guitars. Polly and Judy also sing on the LP. This was recorded in 1974 at Island Records in Shepherds Bush where it languished for all these years in the tape storage room.”

In the comments of YouTube, we get this:

Robin Rimbaud-Scanner: “Directed by Doug Smith, who told me the full story of how this came together recently. He collected together this bank of TV sets in the studio and then got Eno to mime in front of them. A piece of simple magic indeed!”

Now New York* (late seventies— )

Thu, 27 Dec 2012 15:07:00 -0500

Which establishments 1) were doing business in the early eighties; 2) mattered to downtown NYC culture; and 3) still exist? (Downtown culture extended uptown, so it’s a loose definition.) This discussion isn’t about finding any authoritative end; I am just working on a memoir that touches on this period, and more names will help.

Thanks to @visitordesign, @lillyodonnell, @alicetiara, @andyzax, @iamMarkRonson, @thoughtcoop, @ninarobertsnyc, @jezebeldodai, @lisajanepersky, and @prackin for suggestons. I will add and credit more names as they come in. I don’t post much here anymore, so this can accrete for a while. Fact-checking welcome (hit me on @sfj).

Gem Spa

The Odeon

The Pyramid Club

John’s of Bleecker Street

Raoul’s

Gray’s Papaya on 72nd & Broadway

Russian & Turkish Baths

B & H Dairy

Automatic Slims

The Ear Inn

Horseshoe Bar

St. Mark’s Church in-the-Bowery

ABC No Rio

Millennium Film Workshop

Anthology Film Archives

Astor Place Hair Stylists (though it’s shrunk)

Trash and Vaudeville

Ray’s Candy Store

Blue & Gold Tavern

Veselka (now expanded to a second location)

Katz’s Delicatessen

Hells Angels Clubhouse

East Village Books

Kiehl’s

Strand Books

C.O. Bigelow Apothecaries

La MaMa E.T.C.

SOB’s

* Thanks to @visitordesign for title.

nprfreshair: R.A. Dickey on the spin of a perfect...

Thu, 27 Dec 2012 15:04:08 -0500

nprfreshair:

R.A. Dickey on the spin of a perfect knuckleball:

As a conventional pitcher, you throw a fastball, a curveball, a slider, a change-up — and those pitches are all thrown with a certain amount of spin on them. With a knuckleball, you’re doing the opposite. You’re taking spin completely off the baseball and you’re leaving it up to the physics of air resistance and seams on the baseball. … So, a perfectly thrown knuckleball has a little less than a quarter rotation from the time it leaves your hand until the time that it gets to the catcher’s mitt.

Image by ryangphoto1 via Flickr Commons

How to make Time Warner internet work in Fort Greene

Thu, 20 Dec 2012 16:37:00 -0500

This was how I got reliable, fast internet access in Fort Greene after months of the opposite. I know there are other solutions involving satellite dishes, but those are beyond me. Tech-savvy people know about next-level solutions — this is not one of those. (I can’t speak for other neighborhoods, though I think abutting areas fall under the same conditions of near-monopoly as Fort Greene.)

If you live in one of the neighborhoods Time Warner services poorly, you know this routine. The crap modem the company provides copes badly with signal spikes. As a result, the modem kicks out every few hours. To get service back, you have to reboot. Unplug both the coaxial cable and the power cord, wait, and then plug them all in again. Hopefully, you’ve waited long enough and the internet has returned. If it didn’t, do it again, wait longer, and reattach the lot. No worries—you’ve got nothing better to do.

Optimum doesn’t service Fort Greene, and Earthlink has a partnership with Time Warner. This means that Earthlink offers you the same gear, installed by the same people, as Time Warner. (Representatives from these companies said this to me, over the phone, in real time.) The following is what worked for me.

1. Lodge a complaint with Time Warner via live chat. This will officially mark the beginning of the period they will (maybe) acknowledge later, should you demand a refund.

2. You will likely have your modem rebooted remotely and be told that your problem is “fixed.” It probably isn’t, but who knows.

3. Buy this modem and make an appointment for a service call.

4. When the service person comes, let him do his thing for a few minutes. My experience has been really positive with the hardware guys. Several have told me stuff off the record about TW, and the last one gave me tips and told me about a stray modem lodged on my account that I needed to track down so I didn’t get penalized.

5. Ask the service person to shorten the cable as much as possible — any excess coiling does you zero good and you aren’t likely to move your setup once you get it right. (If you are, then choose a spot and stop mucking about.)

6. Then ask the service person to install the Motorola modem. They will contact the base wizards, and make this happen. If they grumble, point out that you are not obliged to use or rent their gear. Then, while the guy is still there, tell the Death Star operators to ax the modem rental fee and sign up for this daft thing called “turbo,” which bumps you up from an average of 15 Mbps to about 19 Mbps during the day. The two things are almost equivalent in cost.

Good luck. Also, all of this may not work. It’s the best solution I’ve found so far and it’s been steady for a few weeks.

ellempire: How to Rebound.

Mon, 12 Nov 2012 19:44:21 -0500

ellempire:

How to Rebound.

ellempire: “Yesterland : The Future Won’t Wait”, From Monsanto...

Fri, 12 Oct 2012 12:05:02 -0400

ellempire:

“Yesterland : The Future Won’t Wait”, From Monsanto Magazine in 1960

From waxandmilk: Vangelis scoring “Blade Runner”...

Tue, 09 Oct 2012 23:35:38 -0400

From waxandmilk:

Vangelis scoring “Blade Runner” in 1982.

braiker: Biscuit :: ‘Roller Derby’ Because. That’s why.

Mon, 08 Oct 2012 11:18:03 -0400

braiker:

Biscuit :: ‘Roller Derby’

Because. That’s why.

Listen to a song by The Soupcans.

Sun, 30 Sep 2012 21:36:24 -0400

Listen to a song by The Soupcans.

Photo

Tue, 18 Sep 2012 11:28:15 -0400

Beanie Sigel, “The Reunion,” featuring State...

Sat, 01 Sep 2012 13:54:00 -0400

Beanie Sigel, “The Reunion,” featuring State Property, from “This Time,” 2012.

Photo

Tue, 21 Aug 2012 22:17:01 -0400

homeofthevain: King Crimson, Larks’ Tongues in Aspic part I...

Mon, 13 Aug 2012 13:40:48 -0400

homeofthevain:

King Crimson, Larks’ Tongues in Aspic part I
(Larks’ Tongues in Aspic, 1973)

Abstract metal.

The back story, from the Prof: “The B-side is entirely...

Sat, 11 Aug 2012 20:14:48 -0400

The back story, from the Prof:

“The B-side is entirely different version from the one we know from Dylan’s 2nd album (recorded at the same session). This track not appear anywhere else other than this single.

It’s a little bit more complicated with the A-side; there are no less than three different takes of this song in circulation. This is the original version as chosen by producer John Hammond and this single is pretty much the only place where you can hear the original mono version as prepared for release. The very same take appears in stereo on the revisited 1997 version of the ‘Biograph’ boxset but that version, with its wide stereo panorama, diminishes the strength of the song.

The 45 was first released in Dec. 1962 in the US only. It failed to do anything and sold in small numbers. Pretty soon, it was deleted. But with Dylan’s popularity on a height on the mid-60’s, the Dutch division of Columbia/CBS decided to re-release the 45 in an attractive photo sleeve (with a picture from the Highway 61 sessions) in late 1966.

Read more here (scroll down to 3/4 of the page).”

(Get the high-fidelity files from Prof Stoned here on his site.)

Art Garfunkel, “In Cars,” from “Scissors...

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 16:09:00 -0400

Art Garfunkel, “In Cars,” from “Scissors Cut,” 1981.

Mildly freaked out by the late Scritti Politti feel here.

liquid sword

Sun, 01 Jul 2012 01:05:13 -0400

liquid sword

Photo

Thu, 21 Jun 2012 17:34:55 -0400

Jan Steele, “Distant Saxophones,” from “Voices...

Wed, 20 Jun 2012 14:35:32 -0400

Jan Steele, “Distant Saxophones,” from “Voices and Instruments,” 1976.

This track is taken from one of the ten albums originally released between 1976 and 1978 on Brian Eno’s Obscure Records label, all of which are up now at Ubuweb. So far, so great — the lot. Really.

songs you taught me

Audio

Hot Sauce Committee Part Three

Brian Eno, “China My China” video, 1974 (via...

Now New York* (late seventies— )

nprfreshair: R.A. Dickey on the spin of a perfect...

How to make Time Warner internet work in Fort Greene

ellempire: How to Rebound.

ellempire: “Yesterland : The Future Won’t Wait”, From Monsanto...

From waxandmilk: Vangelis scoring “Blade Runner”...

braiker: Biscuit :: ‘Roller Derby’ Because. That’s why.

Listen to a song by The Soupcans.

Photo

Beanie Sigel, “The Reunion,” featuring State...

Photo

homeofthevain: King Crimson, Larks’ Tongues in Aspic part I...

King Crimson, Larks’ Tongues in Aspic part I (Larks’ Tongues in Aspic, 1973)

The back story, from the Prof: “The B-side is entirely...

Art Garfunkel, “In Cars,” from “Scissors...

liquid sword

Photo

Jan Steele, “Distant Saxophones,” from “Voices...

King Crimson, Larks’ Tongues in Aspic part I
(Larks’ Tongues in Aspic, 1973)