I had a really crazy dream last night. First, I should tell you that I was listening to Loreena McKennitt's "Book of Secrets" as I fell asleep. It has a bit of a Central Asian sound, I guess...
So I'm on a group tour with a bunch of Americans and Russians in Pakistan. (A few things are strange here: (1) me on a group tour, (2) Americans and Russians together on a tour, and (3) Pakistan as a popular tourist destination for Americans and Russians.) We're walking around the mountains enjoying the scenery and listening to a tour guide tell us about the history of the country and how stable Pakistan's political situation has become over the past decade.
That's when we hear the fighter jets. Our jolly guide disappears, so I take it upon myself to continue the tour. In Steve Irwin style, no less. ("Now what we've got here is a cluster bomb. You can tell by the size of the dust cloud it raises. You don't want to get too close to one of these big guys!")
After a few minutes of nonchalance - after all, the bombs were being dropped a good 5 miles away - the Russians all simultaneously go into "commando mode" and decide that, since the stupid Americans aren't doing anything, they'll have to get us out of this mess...
There was more, but I've forgotten already. Maybe there will be a sequel tonight, lol.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Monday, January 14, 2008
ze gazpacho
By popular demand (from the two people who read my blog!), here's my salsa/gazpacho recipe as I remember it. That is to say, I never really had a recipe, but, y'know...
~10 roma tomatoes
1 small bunch of green onions
1 yellow or orange bell pepper
~1/4 cup cilantro
~1 piece of fruit (apricot, pear, peach, or apple)
Dice, toss, chill, and enjoy!
If you remember any other ingredients, just let me know.
~10 roma tomatoes
1 small bunch of green onions
1 yellow or orange bell pepper
~1/4 cup cilantro
~1 piece of fruit (apricot, pear, peach, or apple)
Dice, toss, chill, and enjoy!
If you remember any other ingredients, just let me know.
on Ferndale and MacGyver
I love Ferndale. That's Ferndale, Michigan 48220. I live here. I just looked it up on Wikipedia, and I discovered one more reason to love it: Dana Elcar - Pete Thornton from the MacGyver series - is from here. Cool, eh?
I might not have remembered Mr. Elcar's name if it wasn't for the fact that I've been watching the complete MacGyver series on DVD, courtesy of my mother. I watched a LOT of MacGyver when I was young (alongside Cheers, Quantum Leap, and M*A*S*H reruns of course!). It has made me realize that Angus MacGyver has forever skewed my relationships with men. If a guy's not brilliant, adventurous, good with duct tape, AND utterly terrified of commitment, I don't want anything to do with him...
I might not have remembered Mr. Elcar's name if it wasn't for the fact that I've been watching the complete MacGyver series on DVD, courtesy of my mother. I watched a LOT of MacGyver when I was young (alongside Cheers, Quantum Leap, and M*A*S*H reruns of course!). It has made me realize that Angus MacGyver has forever skewed my relationships with men. If a guy's not brilliant, adventurous, good with duct tape, AND utterly terrified of commitment, I don't want anything to do with him...
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
people from here are called...
When I moved to Michigan, I learned that people from here are called Michiganders. Yes, Michiganders. My first thought was "okay, so does that make me a Michigoose?" I was happy to learn that some people use the term Michiganian.
Many of you also know about my long-standing love for Seattle. I started to wonder what people from Seattle are called. Well, lest you should wonder as well, I'll tell you - Seattleites. Isn't that great?!
People from Los Angeles? Angelenos. Perhaps Angelenas as well?
People from Memphis? Memphisites. (Though I think Memphisian is SO much better...)
People from Kansas? Kansans.
People from Saint Petersburg? Petersburgers.
People from Moscow? Muscovites.
Does anyone out there have any other good ones?
Many of you also know about my long-standing love for Seattle. I started to wonder what people from Seattle are called. Well, lest you should wonder as well, I'll tell you - Seattleites. Isn't that great?!
People from Los Angeles? Angelenos. Perhaps Angelenas as well?
People from Memphis? Memphisites. (Though I think Memphisian is SO much better...)
People from Kansas? Kansans.
People from Saint Petersburg? Petersburgers.
People from Moscow? Muscovites.
Does anyone out there have any other good ones?
Thursday, January 3, 2008
on folk and country
So it's been a while. I hope everyone had a great holiday. My only New Year's goal is to average one blog post per week, so here we go...
There's been this disturbance in my psyche over the past few weeks. I can't figure out the difference between "folk" music and "country" music. To some people this may seem dreadfully unimportant or, at best, esoteric. I've spent a lot of time thinking about this, however, but to no avail.
It all started when I imported a new CD into my iTunes program. Steve Earle's Washington Square Serenade. (This is an excellent album, by the way. Maybe I'll start a new blog of music recommendations. Would anyone out there read it??) So when I imported the songs, I glanced at the genre iTunes (or, more precisely, the Gracenote CDDB) attached to the songs: Country. Now, I also have Steve Earle's first album - Guitar Town - which I would have no trouble classifying as "country." Perhaps this is because I grew up hearing the title track on the Birmingham country stations. The only other song of Earle's that I know well is "Copperhead Road," which I might also call "country," though a little less comfortably.
But in my little brain, the categories are worlds apart. I listen to lots of "folk" music, while I usually skip through my local country stations even more quickly than the rap stations. (My tolerance for rap has actually increased a lot since I moved to Detroit. It's not my favorite genre by a long shot, but I've become a bit more interested in it. Funny how your surroundings impact your musical tastes.) Anyway, so this iTunes-generated shock led me to look at the other "folk" musicians I have in my library... Gillian Welch? Country. Lucinda Williams? Country. Alison Krauss? Country. k.d. lang? Country. Yo-Yo Ma? Country. (Yes, but only for the Appalachian Journey album he did with Mark O'Connor and Edgar Meyer...Just had to make sure you're still paying attention, lol.) NOOOOOO! These are not "country"! I love them - how can they be "country"?!
Of course, I also love the country music that I grew up with: George Strait, Clint Black, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Alabama (naturally!), etc. And no matter how hard I try, I can't get Carrie Underwood's "Before He Cheats" out of my head. But country and folk aren't interchangeable categories, right? I mean, would anyone really call Bob Dylan or Woody Guthrie "country"?!
In all fairness to iTunes, "folk" is a well-populated category: James Taylor, Indigo Girls, Dar Williams (though I have seen her categorized as "country" elsewhere), Peter Paul and Mary, etc. But they also categorize music as "folk" that I would have considered something else. A lot of my "world music" is labeled "folk." Rocco DeLuca & The Burden is a definite "blues" for me. I also think of Tracy Chapman as a "blues rock" artist. But they're both in the "folk" category. What a mess!
I've tried to discuss this topic with a number of people, most of whom say something to the effect of "That's interesting..." which, of course, often means "Yeah, Rachel, that's not at all interesting." But while I was back in Alabama over the holidays I had this conversation with a couple of my high school friends who, I might add, were also kind enough to introduce me to Guitar Hero. Oh, wow! We weren't able to come to any definite conclusion, but we discussed the following points:
- "old" and "new" country are very different from each other, as are "old" and "new" folk - this muddies the waters a lot
- both old folk and old country seem to have roots in the poor, populist American tradition (I'm thinking about the Depression era particularly, though it's older than that)
- world music seems to have a much bigger place in folk than in country - country may be a peculiarly Southern US phenomenon - but this could lead to a discussion about country vs. bluegrass vs. blues...
- a related point is that American folk music seems to incorporate experiences of the American West and North in ways that country doesn't - or maybe it's a matter of urban and rural experiences?
- there doesn't seem to be a big difference in instruments or tonality, although new country probably uses a more "electrified" sound
As the incurable internet research hound that I am, I had to see what Google could find on the topic. Here are a few relevant online discussions:
http://http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/481266
http://http://www.guitars101.com/forums/f77/folk-and-country-music-29503.html
This is probably the best one - it's from a songwriters' forum:
http://http://www.songwriterforums.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=2438
So, yeah. Country and folk. The same but different...
Happy New Year to all!
There's been this disturbance in my psyche over the past few weeks. I can't figure out the difference between "folk" music and "country" music. To some people this may seem dreadfully unimportant or, at best, esoteric. I've spent a lot of time thinking about this, however, but to no avail.
It all started when I imported a new CD into my iTunes program. Steve Earle's Washington Square Serenade. (This is an excellent album, by the way. Maybe I'll start a new blog of music recommendations. Would anyone out there read it??) So when I imported the songs, I glanced at the genre iTunes (or, more precisely, the Gracenote CDDB) attached to the songs: Country. Now, I also have Steve Earle's first album - Guitar Town - which I would have no trouble classifying as "country." Perhaps this is because I grew up hearing the title track on the Birmingham country stations. The only other song of Earle's that I know well is "Copperhead Road," which I might also call "country," though a little less comfortably.
But in my little brain, the categories are worlds apart. I listen to lots of "folk" music, while I usually skip through my local country stations even more quickly than the rap stations. (My tolerance for rap has actually increased a lot since I moved to Detroit. It's not my favorite genre by a long shot, but I've become a bit more interested in it. Funny how your surroundings impact your musical tastes.) Anyway, so this iTunes-generated shock led me to look at the other "folk" musicians I have in my library... Gillian Welch? Country. Lucinda Williams? Country. Alison Krauss? Country. k.d. lang? Country. Yo-Yo Ma? Country. (Yes, but only for the Appalachian Journey album he did with Mark O'Connor and Edgar Meyer...Just had to make sure you're still paying attention, lol.) NOOOOOO! These are not "country"! I love them - how can they be "country"?!
Of course, I also love the country music that I grew up with: George Strait, Clint Black, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Alabama (naturally!), etc. And no matter how hard I try, I can't get Carrie Underwood's "Before He Cheats" out of my head. But country and folk aren't interchangeable categories, right? I mean, would anyone really call Bob Dylan or Woody Guthrie "country"?!
In all fairness to iTunes, "folk" is a well-populated category: James Taylor, Indigo Girls, Dar Williams (though I have seen her categorized as "country" elsewhere), Peter Paul and Mary, etc. But they also categorize music as "folk" that I would have considered something else. A lot of my "world music" is labeled "folk." Rocco DeLuca & The Burden is a definite "blues" for me. I also think of Tracy Chapman as a "blues rock" artist. But they're both in the "folk" category. What a mess!
I've tried to discuss this topic with a number of people, most of whom say something to the effect of "That's interesting..." which, of course, often means "Yeah, Rachel, that's not at all interesting." But while I was back in Alabama over the holidays I had this conversation with a couple of my high school friends who, I might add, were also kind enough to introduce me to Guitar Hero. Oh, wow! We weren't able to come to any definite conclusion, but we discussed the following points:
- "old" and "new" country are very different from each other, as are "old" and "new" folk - this muddies the waters a lot
- both old folk and old country seem to have roots in the poor, populist American tradition (I'm thinking about the Depression era particularly, though it's older than that)
- world music seems to have a much bigger place in folk than in country - country may be a peculiarly Southern US phenomenon - but this could lead to a discussion about country vs. bluegrass vs. blues...
- a related point is that American folk music seems to incorporate experiences of the American West and North in ways that country doesn't - or maybe it's a matter of urban and rural experiences?
- there doesn't seem to be a big difference in instruments or tonality, although new country probably uses a more "electrified" sound
As the incurable internet research hound that I am, I had to see what Google could find on the topic. Here are a few relevant online discussions:
http://http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/481266
http://http://www.guitars101.com/forums/f77/folk-and-country-music-29503.html
This is probably the best one - it's from a songwriters' forum:
http://http://www.songwriterforums.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=2438
So, yeah. Country and folk. The same but different...
Happy New Year to all!
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