The Little People

When I was a kid, like many of us, I was an insane Lego collector. My favorite was of course the medieval settings, specifically the robin hood sets with the camouflaged outposts and robin with his little triangle shaped hat with minute plastic feather poking out...

I was thrilled by the idea of being able to hide oneself from authority figures etc, which also would explain why i had no fewer than 5 different hiding places throughout my family's homestead in Highgate, and in the woods in Franklin.

After a brief stint as a play set, re-enacting various adventures and minor situations to my liking a set would go to the great Lego box in the sky, which was literally a big Grey plastic storage crate that was packed to the brim with thousands of pieces, all waiting to be reassembled, and reconstituted - I could suppose in a way, that this was my first taste of transcendentalism.

Anyway - I came across this brilliant art installation by a fellow named only - Slinkachu. Afterwards I had the distinct impression that his art must stem in some way from a similar childhood memory of "the little people". Enjoy.

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Do the Math.

Via Mother Jones

Recipe for Success

Saturday night was our long delay'd housewarming - It was a great evening of unexpected visits from good friends (Ben + Angela!) , red wine, and tasty fall treats; pumpkin bread cupcakes, garlic cheese bread w/ artichoke dip, Butternut squash soup, various treats and tastes, and Adrian's infamous Almond Poppyseed Cake. Last night while watching "Zwarteboek" and the first VHS of "Merlin" Jenny and i gorged ourselves on a couple fat slices of this stuff. Let me tell you, each one of those slices must have weighed a 1/2 lbs each. This stuff is dense. Dense, with goodness!

Anyway, I asked his permission, and he in turn asked his mother (head chef and keeper of the recipe...) if i could share this tasty treat with you all; they happily agreed, and so here it is: I recommend serving a small slice with a cup of black coffee and a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

3 Cups Flour

2 3/4 Cups Sugar

1 1/2 Tsp Baking Powder

1 Tsp Salt

3 Eggs

1 1/2 Cups Milk

1 Cup Cooking Oil

3 Tsp Poppy Seed

3 Tsp Vanilla Extract

3 Tsp Almond Extract

3 Tsp Butter Flavor

Combine dry ingredients. Combine milk and flavorings. In a large mixing bowl, blend sugar and oil, then add the eggs. Add dry ingredients alternately with flavored milk, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Pour into a greased and floured Bundt pan, or into two greased and floured loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 hours if using Bundt pan, about 1 hour if using loaf pans.

Glaze:

1/2 Cup Orange Juice (or any combination of flavors, such as Pineapple/Orange will do)

3/4 Cup Sugar

1/2 Tsp Vanilla Extract

1/2 Tsp Almond Extract

1/2 Tsp Butter Flavor

Combine all of the above in a saucepan, bring to a boil, let simmer for five minutes. Drizzle over warm cake.

Tip: We've found that this cake generally tastes the best if you let it stand for about a day (or even two) and let the glaze soak in. Best served at room temperature rather than fresh out of the oven.

What impact did punk have on you?

"I didn’t even see the Pistols on their debut performance in Manchester. I was not connected enough to anything to know about that. But I caught up by the latter part of 76, early 77. And it really did make the world of Roxy and Bowie look ineffectual. It had been a brilliant grounding, and it was the learning curve was going to be essential, but in a way there was a field to raze before a new era could start. And punk razed the field. And I just stood back and watched.

And of course it was pretty evident that punk couldn’t burn forever. You know, you can only burn the house down once."

- Peter Saville, Fact Magazine 2006.

La vida de vagabundos Americanos

view the other 41 photos here

A few weeks ago while having a quiet drink with jb and a couple friends at a pre-prime time O.P. I ran into an old acquaintance, a friend really - but not one i ever spent much time with, one of those people though, that when you did get see each other it there was genuine interest in what each other had to say, maybe we were sort of fascinated with each other.

I had gone down to the OP for a drink cause i needed to curse and unwind from a rough week. At work i was getting pushed and pulled and bullshitted from every direction, meanwhile at home my dog was sick and i was constantly worried about him and his increasing medical bills. Those two stresses were spilling out onto Jenny, who was having her own time with assistant directing American Machine. So i needed to unwind.

L was only in Burlington for a few days cause being a hobo, you don't really stick around in one place for too long. But her boyfriend lived in Burlington as well as her dog. She was here to get the dog, and to say hi to a few of her more stationary friends, then back on the road.

As i sat there stewing over the minutia of my day and the contents of my life I started thinking about "Vagabonding" and what that was. What that consisted of, and while it's alot of different things depending on the circumstance, at that moment - i was thinking it seemed pretty nice.

So we talked about this and that, and she told me about her situation with her boyfriend, how he was in school here, or working, i can't remember, and i asked how it was that she could live her life, jumping from place to place, while having a steady. She said it was hard, obviously - and she said that they were monogamous, or at least, he was... she had had a few different flings out and about. I could tell that it was a sore spot for her, between them; she explained that there were alot of interesting people out there, and it can also be quite lonely.

Conversation moved on to dogs, and food - and how keeping a dog fed on the road isn't as hard as you'd think... they really don't need much food, and most of it you can scrounge easily enough, for the most part... She went on to tell me about how she would leave her dog with her parents when she knew she wouldn't be able to take care of him. I thought about something my vet told me about how modern dog food is so potent and nutrient rich that dogs are experiencing an obesity epidemic. I didn't mention it though.

We hadn't seen each other in maybe 4-5 years, except for an occasional nod on the street if she was back in town for a day, and frankly i hadn't thought much about her. A minor character in my book i guess. But as i told her about my life, my goings on - it really hit me just how much time had passed, and while 5 years ago i was ready to hit the road myself (and did, on a few occasions.) now - i was a regular square in comparison.

I started talking about my job, working in an office, with a paper shredder and an espresso machine. "Suits" and project meetings. I suddenly felt embarrassed and i wondered why, and i could tell my embarrassment was noticeable, so i countered it by explaining how I've always been a nerd, and doing nerdy computer things was what i was good at, and being good at it, made me feel good about myself. Whether or not this registered as a legitimate explanation, i don't know... L nodded and smiled.

I talked about Jenny, and Oldham... how great they both are; Jenny being this wonderful influence and brilliant girlfriend, and terrific friend - Oldham being this perfectly smart and cute puppy - New apartment and merging furniture; L told me about the various places in the states and Europe she'd been living, which towns were good places to be a vagabond in, (Asheville, Barcelona....) and which ones weren't so good. (i can't remember these.) and somehow i felt tied down...

We talked a bit more, but i was getting tired and a little bed ready. We had really run out of much to talk about and our other friends at our tables were more important anyway. So we said our so-longs and returned to our respective tableseats.

A few minutes later i headed home. As i stepped out onto the corner of pearl and winooski into a light drizzle and cool wet breeze all i could think of was how happy i was to be heading home to a warm bed and Jenny and my dog and my cat, and after that i shook my pack of cigarettes in my jacket pocket, that i had at least 6-7 cigarettes left.

But it was really nice to see L again.

I has a Grade.

Nothing has made me feel better today except knowing that i'd score a solid B if i had to take 8th grade science over again. I gotta tell ya, it wasn't easy - i was sweating bullets on some of those questions. The process in which plants convert sunlight into energy... that's transmogrification, right?

How do you fair brainiac?

The Pond-Moonlight

One of the oldest known photographs - taken in 1904, by Edward Steichen. Hand colored using light sensitive gum in a process known as autochrome. This picture amazes me, its stillness is haunting.
It's dark and it's raining here in Burlington and it's lovely, everything feels muted and full - earthworm weather.

Circle on the Bus

If you subscribe to the Aquarius Records mailing list, you're probably aware that mega-prolific psych-prog-kraut-whateverer's Circle played an in-store a couple weeks ago; they just posted the video from that show, even more awesome is this video from the show they put on inside their tour bus that night! My only requirement for watching this, is that you watch it start to finish, cause it's fucking amazing what these guys can do with one riff and balls out precision and pacing. And this is only part one of the song...

Stop Worrying

"The most important parts of a film," he said, "are the mysterious parts-- beyond the reach of reason and language."

"When I asked him about the apparent change in his films--from the early, more conventional dramas to the stylistic experiments of "2001" and later films, with their emphasis on images and music--Kubrick said, "There may be a change in the films but it doesn't mean there is any personal change in me. What happens in the film business is something like this: when a scriptwriter or director starts out, producers and investors want to see everything written down. They judge the worth of a screenplay as they would a stage play, and ignore the very great differences between the two. They want good dialogue, tight plotting, dramatic development. What I have found is that the more completely cinematic a film is, the less interesting the screenplay becomes. Because a screenplay isn't meant to be read, it's to be realized on film.

"So if my earlier films seem more verbal than the later ones, it is because I was obliged to conform to certain literary conventions. Then, after some success, I was given greater freedom to explore the medium as I preferred. There'll be no screenplay of 'Barry Lyndon' published, because there is nothing of literary interest to read."

Kubrick's point is well taken. There is a scene in "Barry Lyndon," for example, which in Kubrick's screenplay simply read, "Barry duels with Lord Bullingdon." Just that, nothing more. Yet what finally reached the screen is one of the most stunning sequences in modern film. The scene runs about six minutes and if little happens in terms of actual content--three shots are fired and Barry is wounded in the leg by his stepson--a great deal happens in terms of style. It took six weeks--42 working days--just to edit the sequence. To find the music--Handel's "Sarabande"--Kubrick listened to every available recording of 17th and 18th-century music that he could acquire, literally thousands of LPs. What he achieves in such moments of the film might be called cinematic gestalts--inspired combinations of words, images, music and editing rhythms, creating a kind of artistic experience that no other medium can convey."

excerpted from:
"How I learned to stop worrying and love Barry Lyndon"
by John Hoffsess, New York Times, 1976.

You go Girlfriend!

You're probably wondering why i'm putting a youtube clip from "tyra" on my until now unsullied blog, and that's a fine question, a damn fine question.

Well, i was sitting here at work digging into this awesome cake that Lizzie Post made me for my birthday (yes, it was in august, but everyone ate it before i had a chance to taste it, so she made me another.) when i remembered that she had just recently appeared on that pinnacle of day time talk, the Emmy winning stupid-fest, "tyra".

I quickly navigated over to the youtube and punched in Lizzie post tyra, pressed enter, and blammo. Instant awesome weirdness. And boy is it weird! Soooo fucking weird. It's like something out of Stay Tuned... somehow a friend of mine, from the real world... got suddenly transported into bizzarro land. I laughed my ass off... i still can't get over how completely strange it all is. But to her credit, she did a fine job - very professional, i know if it were me in front of all those cameras and the canned audience of colorful shirt wearing smiley faced women, not to mention tyra and her "hey girlfriend, Look at me i'm fucking CRAZY!" shtick... I probably freeze up like Garth, "I'm on the TV..." Algar, and shit my pants right there on the spot.

Luckily i can't think of a single reason in the world i'd ever be on that show. phew. Thanks for the cake though Lizzie, it's really good.

here's Lizzie's take on the whole thing

Siouxsie does Paris

source

Siouxsie: 1
Paris: 0

A trip to Secret Pond

Jenny and i were discussing out plans for the afternoon this morning and it occurred to me that i hadn't been up to Secret Pond in years. Sara Paule and her brothers had first show me it's location four years ago, and as I was thinking about it, I also realized I'd forgotten how to get there, but I knew 3 guys that could show us.

So Jenny, Oldham and I piled into the Tacoma and headed off towards Starksboro, taking a left up Big Hollow road and a quick stop at the Kohler house to gather up my guides Ian Miles and Spencer.
The boys jumped into the bed of the truck and guided us down the road another 2 miles to a little yellow house with a dirt road running out behind it across a field and up into a wooded ridge line.
We parted at the bottom of the field, and started walking up the old dirt road that snaked up the hillside. We walked up the hill for about 2o minutes the boys chatted with us about this and that, video games, and Paul Simon - the usual. The hill leveled off, the tree line opened up and we walked out into what was quite obviously someone's personal slice of heaven.


That someone is a local farmer - Mr. Clifford. Years ago he purchased the ridge line, flooded out a little stream into this gorgeous pond, and developed the land around it creating his own personal reserve. He planned wild flowers everywhere, build a filtration system into a little waterfall, placed massive stone monuments on the hillside, stocked the pond with fish, hand built bridges, carved trail markers and skillfully constructed a log cabin complete with front porch, rocking chairs, bunk beds and wood stove.

All this he accomplished in his later years.

And then he opened it all up for everyone to use.

providing they leave everything as they found it.

and enjoy their stay.

Yertpod 10: Burlington!

Ya Vermont!

I'm feeling much better,

Thanks for your concern everyone!

-Oldham, aka Mr. Fuzzylumpkins.

Ouch! Growing up hurts

I dare you to not get this theme song stuck in your head.

In one of my recent sojourns through the vast trivial wasteland that is Wikipedia, i came across the page dedicated to the mega popular 80's family sitcom Growing Pains - while i remember watching it on occasion i don't think i was ever that into it; i was more of a family matters kind of dude, TGIF in the house...

anyway - instead of clicking through to find out the scandalous life story of Tracy Gould or Kirk Cameron, I stopped on this little section of the page titled International Names. Fascinating really, how culture is translated, or rather is lost in translation - these names strike me as sign posts to the mainstream cultural norms of the various nationalities. My favorite is probably China's sinister "Growing up's Agony" (me thinks i wouldn't like to live in China in the 1980's... or now.) or how it's juxtaposed against Japan's vision of the stoic patriarchy. Consideration should probably also be made for the re-translation back to English... Enjoy.

China: 成长的烦恼 pinyin:ChengZhang de FanNao - (Growing up's Agony)
France: Quoi de neuf docteur? - (What is new doctor? or What's up doc?)
Germany: Unser lautes Heim - (Our loud home)
Italy: Genitori in blue jeans - (Parents in blue jeans)
Japan: Yukai na Seaver Ke (愉快なシーバー家) - (Happy Seaver's family)
Latin America: Ay! Cómo duele crecer - (Ouch! Growing up hurts)
Spain: Los Problemas Crecen - (Problems grow)

Spitting out Nothing.

In what seems an obvious grab for attention it became official today that the internet circulated "Jay Blanchard of that band Solah sex tape" was nothing more than a clever publicity stunt meant to draw attention to his band Solah's forthcoming debut. The unamed actors that appeared in said tape, faces obscured, can be heard repeating lines such as "Oh fucking-A, Jay Blanchard, of www.spittingoutteeth.com you're cock is like a beer can..." and "Know what would make this rim job better? Your forthcoming debut album...".

When reached for comments Mr. Blanchard responded "I can categorically say without a shadow of a doubt, that nothing would have made that rim job better." he then could be heard over the phone making a smacking sound, and after a brief pause included "I just did that French chef "Bon apetit!" thing... like chef Borjardee."

Been a long day

Been a long day - Saw American machine, it was excellent - Seth Jarvis's performance, as a slow witted night manager of a plastics factory w/ a gimp arm and cleft pallete floored me, moved me even to almost tears. Theater, is not my cup of tea usually; something about the artifice of it's sets and the requirements of its characters to project and "play" to the audience... that being said, i found myself really being drawn in by his character. Go and see the show, if only to see his excellent acting, or Jenny's brilliant assistant-directing.

Oldham is having some problems - therefore I'm having some problems; he may or may not have ingested some chicken bones on Friday and the last few days have been an exercise in patience. I tried not to freak out; but the signs are all there - he thew up... he pee'd 3 times in a row ( a sign of distress...) he's developed chronic diarrhea and will suddenly start to try and hack something up to no success, tonight i picked him up and sat him on my lap and he start to breath heavy and whine a little... I called the Vet twice in the last few days and they had me put him on a white rice and cottage cheese diet, but what the fuck is that going to do for a chicken bone? Nothing apparently. Today i called another vet and they told me to bring him in first thing in the morning for test... Lets hope they can give me some answers, at the very least, i want to know if there's a chicken bone in there, and then we can go from there. Needless to say, i'm worried sick about the little guy.

Awesome.

beautiful, narcotic, moving, lovely.

How to build a custom shelf for your Vinyl

If you've ever had a sizable amount of vinyl, you know just how difficult it can be to find the right place to keep them. Even if you find the right spot, the right shelving becomes the next issue. Most bookshelves lack the the proper shelf height to fit the average 12.5" records, nor the proper shelve depth - beyond that most are not sturdy enough as vinyl weighs quite alot.



Currently we have a rather nice spot in our living room a roughly 3x4x4 area in the corner that we've decided would be our record nook, not to mention the repository of all things precious, like our 12 tape North & South collection.

At that point i was using whatever i could find to crate the records, on the landing i had a couple old vegetable crates, you know the type - they work quite well; but where not as sturdy as I would like, not to mention, my collection had out grown them. Here in the living room; we were using the plastic variety - these warped and shifted with the weight of the vinyl and on one occasion completely collapsed. Beyond that, they were ugly, and didn't even hold all our vinyl. What was I to do?

First i pulled everything out - the DVD shelf, and the records, the lamp and plants, and started from scratch - it's funny how when you take things out of a room, often times it looks smaller, instead of more spacious.

Now here are the supplies i used; and that i recommend, but of course your proportions will vary. The beauty of this method is that you can rather cheaply and effectively build a custom shelf to fit the exact proportions of your space.

2 1x10 cut to 4 foot lengths
2 1x10 cut to 3.3 foot length

These are cut to match the lengths of the two facing walls the shelf will go along; one minus, the width of the other 10" board, as they'll be butting up against each other. If you're going to go much further lengthwise than 4' than i recommend stepping up to a 5/4" board. I went with a 10" board over a 12" to give the records a bit of an overhang of the edge to facilitate easy access.

4x two core partition stone
4x half sash stones

the four partition stones will be the outside supports; they have the same proportions as a capstone but they're hollow which makes them easier to lift and place; but heavy enough to hold that place. The half sash i chose for the middle joint, as i needed a surface area large enough for both boards to meet on.

Then next step is easier illustrated, but it's pretty easy all together... it's just a simple matter of stacking everything together; like making a lasagna.


The only issue you may run into with this form of shelving is if your ends aren't being supported against a wall, or are in a similar situation to the partition stone on the right end of this shelf; in these situations it'd make sense to cut another board the height of your shelf and secure the ends of your shelves, using corner brackets, or similar fasteners. All this though, may be unnecessary as the concrete blocks are extremely solid and support themselves, and as you add weight to the shelves above, they work as their own sort of fastener, holding them in place. But just to be sure, i tested them out against a "record flop!". Solid as a rock.


Here's it is; now the nook contains all of my records, as well as all of Jenny's with room to spare, and in eye pleasing uniformity. While i enjoy the utilitarian aesthetic of exposed concrete and unfinished pine board; feel free to paint and polish to your liking.


Cost of parts: 30$
Driving to Highgate:10$
Building something with my own two hands: Priceless.

It's friday thank... someone.
...

Oh what, you want some content? Go read my housemates post then, or go out and do something cause it's the fucking weekend and it's beautiful outside. Look at this guy, he's doing something, he's being awesome while shitting.
Here look at his blog.