Dusty Chalk

Finally finished Queen's Gambit -- very excellent, thoroughly enjoyed. Hard to believe it was entirely fiction, her story felt so authentic, down to the unrelated details (her love of clothes and high fashion) and the seeming autism that is never mentioned directly, only portrayed.

I've been bingeing on some j-fusion. Casiopea 3rd is the current incarnation of long-time favourite Casiopea, whom I've always loved, I just don't listen to enough of them. This is pure joy:

The Prisoner

I've been marinating fish to great effect -- but with a marinade that's made for fish, so still going to be careful with the Nando's. (Ashman House make a whole line of them -- the Chipotle Lime and Citrus Wasabi are my favourites, but I've been trying to eat less spicy foods, so have been slowly going through the others -- the Lemon Dill is fantastic: https://ashmanco.com/retail-store/house-seafood-marinades-sauce/ ...)

Was listening to an old episode of Score the Podcast with (This is Us score composer) Siddhartha Khosla, and his band, Goldspot, was mentioned. Apparently, they write very little in 4/4 time -- mostly in 7, 5, 13, &c. So I immediately started bingeing all 3 albums. Pretty great -- it's not really prog, as they do the odd time signatures effortlessly, and the end result is very accessible.

Pork chops obtained, will be trying them today or tomorrow. By the way, it's definitely the marinade -- I tried marinating a breast for 22:22 beforehand, then 16:66 at 400, and it came out perfect -- nothing at all like the restaurant, but the chicken was moist and perfectly done. I can definitely live with the medium heat. I can still taste it, so I'll be purchasing one of those liter bottles next time I place an order with Amazon. I still use the garlic as a condiment because their garlic sauce is easily my favourite, though I might doctor it with the bottle of hot I have. I also tried the lemon & herb -- I basically love all their flavours. It's definitely not the same as the restaurant, though, but I don't miss that char any more. I've gone through a family pack of chicken breasts all week, so I'm used to the baked/roasted (400 == baked or roasted?) "pristine-ness". I'm almost tempted to try them on my fish tails next.

Did you know you can buy that stuff (only the medium flavour, though) by the litre?!?!?

Tune? I thought I posted the whole playlist. Alas. I definitely agree that the Lydian Collective were front and center, and Capital Orchestra is more of an accompaniment, but I believe that was the intention. If you liked the music, their first album (rather, their whole catalog -- the first album plus a couple singles) is more of the same: https://lydiancollective.bandcamp.com/album/adventure Me, have moved on to fox capture plan. Just discovered them, will probably listen to their entire catalog what's available on streaming (Spotify/Tidal/YouTube)

Somehow I suspect everyone's going to treat it like one of those shake weight thingies to get every last particle out.

Lydian Collective live with the Capital Orchestra: I don't know what to call this, "composed jazz"? It's instrumental, so 10 years ago I would have lumped it under my "new instrumentalism" moniker, which they would very much fit under.

Those are great pictures, Doug! And a belated condolences to Todd and family.

More home-made Nando's chicken breast -- tried baking this time, 22:22 at 350, worked out alright! 👍 Didn't pre-marinade it at all, I should probably try pre-marinading it next. Got some thighs, too.

It was literally thunderstorming that night, so this hit close to home.

Yeah, mine's a 5 minute drive or an hour's walk (2.3 miles away). In fact, I think I'll go get some now. And yes, I saw that earlier, didn't respond externally, but will definitely give it a try!

Ditto. Can I come over and play? Will wear a hazmat suit, of course. You know, there's a lot of guys who score movies in and near LA with gear like that, have you ever thought about...? Christophe Beck is in Santa Monica: https://www.audacy.com/podcasts/score-the-podcast-22862/more-score-synthesizers-and-film-musics-future-13476000

Completely agree that it's never quite the same, but in my case, I don't care -- I love chicken, I love Nando's sauce, so it's still better than just about anything else I'll make, and it's super easy. I agree that part of it is the char that they get with the open grill, as mine has zero char, baking in an oven. Not sure about the difference in recipes -- I think they just have the whole "time to marinate"/"time to grill" thing down to perfection, which I don't by a long shot. When I did what I described above, it came out...fine. I'm not a magician with chicken, that my chicken comes out perfectly moist, perfectly done -- but no more! -- &c., but it was good enough, and not chewy or rubbery. But that's why I still occasionally eat out -- to reset my palate.

No, you didn't. Dan just had Nando's. Pretty simple: slather a chicken breast or thigh or leg or whatever in Nando's Double Exxtra Hot sauce, toss in oven (on foil, uncovered), set to 425, wait 13:33, turn oven off, wait 3:33 -- prestochango, homemade Nando's. (Times and temperatures may change depending on bone-in &c.) Would probably come out even better if you put it on a grill, like they do. Maybe even a rotisserie. Used their Garlic sauce for dipping, because I love garlic.

Home-made Nando's

(involuntarily shudders) Me: lots of keyboard-based jazz

Lol also, I believe it’s spelled, “Leppard”.

Shirley Collins' new EP, Crowlink.

Whoa, that first track is gorgeous ("Eating the Dead"). EDIT: But those lyrics are fucked up.

Don't be dissuaded by the band's name, it has nothing to do with kittens: I like their use of rests. Pretty surprising that the song is only 2 minutes long.