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Interesting day yesterday. First discovered a nearby restaurant burnt down. Then went to The Friends of The Library book sale and after buying an Atlas found a bunch of fun donation cards in the back. Finally stumbled across another Día de los Muertos celebration around the corner.

Saw a Big Pussy large feline on the hill behind us this morning. That is a Bobcat. https://wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Mammals/Bobcat Size & Weight: Typically weigh between 15 and 57 pounds, running roughly two to three times the size of a large house cat. Hence large feline.

Gratuitous Quad post.

After a tasty breakfast BLAT, went for a tour on the bayou. Where we saw plenty of wildlife, up close.

Turns out, I lied. Weather cleared out over night and the roads dried out enough to get in a quick 16 miles this afternoon.

Occasionally, I'll listen to the big ones. I like to space them out to keep them somewhat fresh. SACD

Alan Parsons Project - in case anyone is wondering, the 2007 CD remasters sound fine to me. They might be a bit louder than the original CD pressings, but I don't hear any distortion or clipping. I got I Robot and Eye in the Sky (contemplating getting Pyramid, Eve, and The Turn of a Friendly Card as well).

Technically Yesterday. Tried to get a streetcar to the garden district, but thought we had been transported back to the UK when we learned that due to track damage, there was a replacement bus service for the initial section. That done, we finally were able to transfer to a streetcar not named desire and use our jazzy pass for its intended purpose. A short walk later found coffee and bagels in a hole in the wall deli and had a chat with a local retiree (who may have been a fox news viewer based on their concern about "all the riots" in London and California). Carried on walking along Magazine Street, taking in the gentrification and locally modified architecture Then saw a bit of home away from home,went to investigate and learned the story behind it from call sign "Jaxxx" himself https://www.nola.com/entertainment_life/new-orleans-british-phone-booth/article_fcb90110-8291-4fc8-93cf-a13d6cec478b.amp.html Then onwards to the aptly named Audubon Park where we walked around the lake and saw plenty of White Ibis And the aptly named black bellied whistling ducks. Noisy buggers. Then back on the St Charles street car back to downtown past some seriously imposing mansions. St Louis is not just the French Quarter.

Nice guy https://youtu.be/n4z098xxDCg?t=125

Today's kitchen foray yielded onion rings. Mostly to try making a dipping sauce I recently had at a new burger place. I've always found it wise to flower the onion rings before dipping in batter. I think it makes the batter cling better. My batter consist of 1/4 cup corn starch (browns better) 1 1/2 cups of Krusteaz pancake batter and I used 1 3/4 cup of Trader Joe's ginger beer. The carbonation makes the batter lighter and the ginger adds just a hint of something you couldn't really name. The sauce is super simple, but absolutely delicious. Duke's mayonnaise, malt vinegar and cracked pepper. My new young friend thinks I'm a Chef.

Nice, Adam! Me - not going to get any biking in this weekend due to rain but did manage to get out twice last weekend, including a favorite out-and-back to the coast. PBaseIMG_1285.jpeg by Nathan Maher

I really liked this video??

Valentyne Suite by Colosseum (1969) https://open.qobuz.com/album/jlrv0tner404c Example: '69 fusion (jazz/rock/prog/etc.) The title track is the highlight, but very enjoyable album.

Brunch at Bearcat (CBD) Worth the wait.

Going down a massive rabbit hole of cover songs by this band Nouvelle Vague. They are a bit kitsch a la The Mike Flowers Pops Orchestra (who did a GREAT cover of Wonderwall). These folks cover so many great and sometimes a bit obscure New Wave/Punk songs. Want Latin/Bossa Nova versions of Joy Division's Love Will Tear Us Apart? Check..... Want a light and playful version of the Dead Kennedy's Too Drunk To Fuck? Check.... If you can get past some monotony, these guys are fun, and their song selection is pretty cool! Some examples:

Trying to (slowly) close the gap to Nate!

Song title of the week?

Thanks team, It was a rainy and pretty quiet day - which is just fine for a introvert. There was steak and a bottle kill of a 70's Macallan (you know - the usual) Cheers

First chili verde of the season. This one is chicken but otherwise follows Nate’s basic recipe. I went with a wet burrito and it was delicious, but Claire had her chili verde over rice.

Just a few things (Not shown, warm Muffuletta) @ The Napoleon House

Usual to start, (not shown) Latte with the (off the menu), seasonal pancake special. We're not savages.

^ I defer to the expert. In 1983, after graduating college and returning to Alaska, I needed cheap meals that could be portioned and frozen. I came up with a recipe I called Batchelor Stovetop Casserole. As many of my recipes do, it has evolved throughout the years. I no longer cook it on the stove top. I discovered that rustic chopping and roasting in the oven made for a less mushy texture and better flavor profile overall. This will be for dinner and future lunches. One large yellow onion, two bell peppers (Red & Orange), baby bellow mushrooms, corn on the cobletts, Yukon gold potatoes (5 small), Polska Keilbasa, 5 cloves sliced garlic, salt, pepper, rosemary and EVOO. Roast in the oven at 400 for about 90 minutes. Prior to roasting...

Mushroom, red bell pepper, tomato, avacado and cheese omelet. Hashbrowns, bacon and English muffins (crumpets?).

new Steven Wilson Music on TIDALSteven Wilson - Requiem for a VillageListen to Requiem for a Village on TIDAL in exceptional sound quality, or on your choice of service

I love big pussies. Maine Coons, Savannahs, Siberians, Norwegian Forest Cats...

The Information Age doesn't have to suck (it just usually does.) All India Radio is an Australian space rock/downtempo/ambient/call-it-what-you-will band based in Tasmania. I've been an of them since I first heard a track off their remix album 20 years ago. last.fm tells me I have scrobbled them over six thousand fricken times(!) I'm Facebook friends with Martin L Kennedy (the main man behind AIR) because (A) I'm a nerd and (B) 15 years ago I really cared about FB enough to seek out the personal profiles of a bunch of electronic musicians I liked. For the most part, the people who make the music I've been obsessing over for most of my life are a group of interesting, thoughtful, worldly individuals. One or two have turned out to be cretins Mark Archer is a total jackass, who knew? MLK is certainly in that first category. He's a remarkably humble, down to earth man whose primary interest is making the music that it's in his head and we're all better off because of it. Today (well, technically yesterday, Tasmanian Standard Time) marks the the 20th anniversary of the release of AIR's excellent Echo Other album. It's one of my favorites by them. I saw MLK make a post about it with vintage photos of the recording process: Very neat, in a 2006 digicam kind of way. I jokingly commented on Martin's FB post "Need a picture of the Speak N Spell that's on the title track. 🤖" It's very audible throughout the song, starting around the 3:20 mark. I logged into FB this evening to check the local MV FB group and had a notification. MLK posted this photo(!) Coolest thing I've seen all ..year. This has been your "Knuckles has a genuine fanboy moment."

I didn't realize they made a follow-up a year ago...

I wasn't aware of Yu-Mex* (Yugoslav-Mexican) until today. *In the immediate post-war period, Yugoslavia did not have much of a film industry and the majority of films were imported from the Soviet Union. Following the Tito–Stalin split of 1948, Soviet films were no longer shown in the country. At the same time, due to ideological differences, Yugoslav president Josip Broz Tito did not want his country to import American films. As a result, he turned to importing Mexican films. The fact that many Mexican films of the "Golden Age" glorified the Mexican Revolution and depicted ordinary Mexicans rising up against the oppressive Mexican state made Mexican films "revolutionary" enough to be shown in Yugoslavia. It was common for many young Yugoslavs to imitate the styles of Mexican film stars, who were seen as embodying everything that was "cool". Because many of the films shown in Yugoslavia in the 1950s–1960s were Mexican, everything Mexican became very popular in Yugoslavia and many musicians started to don sombreros to perform Mexican music, either singing in Serbo-Croatian or in the original Spanish. Doc on it...

So back when I built the Colossus I thought it sounded pretty good. But amazingly it wasn't all the Pete Riggle add ons, or even the SUT or preamp (DIY Pass Pearl) that made the largest improvement. The largest improvement was not long after I moved to Fairfax and built a heavy duty TT stand. Beefy Maple 4x4 legs, thick shelves and deep dato joinery really made a huge difference, especially in the bottom end. And I know bottom end!

New vs. old. vs. miau.

Hope you've popped a great birthday malt and are enjoying your day! Cheers!

I accidentally dragged a jpeg of a photo I'm editing to the Mac App Store app and not the denoise app I've been using. The App Store app opened up and brought me a list of photo editing apps. Very clever, Apple. Also, drink every time I said "App."

A tasty NOLA Indian

Still got it.

Hot, fresh, Beignets, from the source.

I will never get tired of posting Kardi videos. Sorry/not sorry (Also, some really nice cinematography of Busan.)

Soda & pancakes? 🤔

^ Thanks much. I've probably heard half of them, but so far preferred the earlier round than the later. This morning, election day, starting with Sun Ra Arkestra's Living Sky Full playlist

Yeah baby! Sorry I'm late. Happy birthday!

Happy Birthday!

Hendrix would have sounded different if it weren't for him. RIP SIR

Happy Birthday, Mikey!

Breakfast of champions? (BLAT) @ no waiting https://commercerest.com/

Hirsch and I were really into them way back when. He saw them several times, I saw them at least once (maybe twice). Factoid: that's where Camille got her start. And credit where credit is due -- Hirsch recognized her talent even before she was a solo artist.

sad more sad

Porta Pro Wireless (Bluetooth)I actually saw someone in the wild with a these the other day

RIP, Juan Atkins - Detroit techno pioneer Cybotron - Enter (1983)

(* Imagine a deep, warm, unhurried voice, filled with gentle wisdom and a quiet chuckle.*) Now, Grahame and Joanne were sensible folk. On a quiet Sunday afternoon, they did what any prudent human beings would do—they lined up, rolled up their sleeves, and took their flu and COVID vaccinations. They walked out of that clinic feeling a righteous sense of accomplishment, fully expecting to go right back to their regular programming come sunup. They believed—as we so often like to believe—that they would slide right past the fine print. But Mother Nature, as it turns out, has a sly sense of humor. Monday morning broke, and with it came the reckoning. Gravity, it seemed, had suddenly turned itself up a notch or two. Muscles protested. Bones heavy as lead. A chorus of flu-like aches and fatigue made a very persuasive argument: Stay in bed. And so, bed became their sanctuary, their battlefield, and their entire universe for the better part of twenty-four hours. Their immune systems were hard at work, rehearsing for a fight that would never come, throwing quite the theatrical performance in the process. Yet, the human body is a marvelous, resilient thing. A long, deep sleep carried them through the dark hours of Monday night. And when Tuesday's light trickled through the blinds, the storm had completely passed. The aches were gone, the heavy fog lifted, and just like that... balance was restored to the universe. Grahame and Joanne stepped into Tuesday morning feeling back to normal, a little wiser, fully protected, and with a newfound respect for a Sunday vaccine. (I trust you read that in Morgan Freemans narrator voice, as intended) A Quick Medical Note (Just in Case!) What Grahame and Joanne experienced is actually completely normal and expected. The "Fake Out": Muscle aches, fatigue, mild fever, and chills are signposts that the immune system is actively recognizing the vaccine and building strong antibodies. The Rapid Recovery: Side effects like these typically peak within 24–48 hours and resolve quickly after rest and hydration, exactly as happened by Tuesday morning.