Today is World Goth Day,a day to celebrate the post-punk, anti-establishment, dark clothes-wearing subculture.
I'm pretty sure I was a Goth for at least for little while, for two reasons.
1) I almost hardly ever wear pastels.
2) I used to listen to a lot of the Smiths in the '80s.
It all started when I found a Smiths 2-record set("Louder than Bombs") in the giveaway pile at a radio station where I worked. For some reason I was attracted to songs like "Unloveable," "Shoplifters of the World Unite" and "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now."
I listened to that record over and over again. And then for Christmas the next year, my brother bought me the Smiths "Strangeways Here We Come," and that had some doozies on it as well, including "Unhappy Birthday," "Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me," and "Girlfriend in a Coma." Pretty dark stuff, isn't it?
But I think that the very fact that I used the word "doozie" disqualifies me as a Goth. But don't worry, you won't catch me wearing pastels any time soon.
Madison's summer music festival season kicks off this weekend with Brat Fest at Willow Island, where there are more bands than you can shake a bratwurst at! Check out the Brat Fest website to plan your itinerary.
Next up is theMarquette Waterfront Fest at Yahara Place Park June 8th and 9th. This year, there's a definite international flair, with bands including Tani Diakite and the Afrofunkstars and Hurray For the Riff Raff, from New Orleans.
Jump forward to La Fete De Marquette July 11-14th at South Dickinson and East Washington Avenue on Madison's east side. 105.5 Triple M is excited to be a part of La Fete again this year, as they welcome a wide roster of stars, including Marcia Ball, Kenny Neal and Irma Thomas.
Atwood Summerfest happens July 27th and 28th with a fun list of bands that include the disco group VO5 and even a bluegrass Madonna tribute band!
On the horizon, there's Orton Park Fest August 22-25th, and while a full itinerary has not been published, I did see on the Bottle Rockets website that they'll be there on August 24th.
And that's followed by the Willy Street Fair in September...but I don't want to even think about that, because that marks the END of summer.
Hope to see you out and about at one of these festivals this summer..and if you insist, yes, you may buy me a beer!
Last week, I decided I would try one new, healthy food a week, and asked my facebook friends to make some suggestions.
The first thing I tried was mango. I'm sure I've had other mango flavored things, and mango as part of something else, but it was the first time I bought the actual fruit and ate it. It was tasty and sweet, but a bit messy and hard to deal with. And now my sister tells me that a lot of people are allergic to the skin of mangoes, which are a relative of the poison ivy family.
So this week I tried kale. I looked through a bunch of recipes and found nothing that sounding particularly appetizing...so I made something up. I removed the stems, then ripped up the kale leaves and stir fried them with onion, garlic powder and olive oil. That didn't take long! When they were wilted, I added in some red wine vinegar, and finally topped them with some Trader Joe's peanut satay sauce and a few peanuts.
It was delicious! It was chewier than expected..because that's okay. That way it seemed heartier than other greens like spinach. I know I still used something pre-processed (the Trader Joe's sauce), but still a healthy choice.
The Dalai Lama is back in town, sharing his message of peace and kindness with likeminded individuals, and the Wisconsin legislature. He also held a private meeting with Gov. Walker, who said he mostly listened to what His Holiness had to say (wise move).
One of the other times that the Dalai Lama visited, it came to my attention that his wise advice is not that different from another well-known prophet...yeah, you guessed it, Dolly Parton.
Can you tell the Dalai Lama quotes from the Dollyquotes? Answers below. No peeking!
1. Storms make trees take deeper roots.
2. Computers totally blank me out.
3. Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.
4. Leave something good in every day.
5. If you don't like the road you're walking, pave another one.
Chris Hadfield is a Canadian astronaut who's currently living on the International Space Station, and apparently he had some free time on his hands. He's made a pretty amazing video featuring his cover of the David Bowie song "Space Oddity," and it's gone viral on the internet, with more than a million views in one day!
Hadfield recorded the vocals and guitar on the space station, and the rest of the instrumentation was created back here on Earth.
Hadfield's singing voice is not bad--and the images on the video are pretty gorgeous. That is if you can stop staring at Hadfield's mustache long enough to notice!
Everybody knows that Bono likes to wear sunglasses, that he likes to drone on about various political topics, and that he's done a pretty good job as lead singer of a band that's maintained popularity over the better part of three decades.
But did you know these things about the man born Paul Hewson 53 years ago today?
1. He's the only person to be nominated for a Grammy, an Oscar, a Golden Globe, and the Nobel Peace Prize.
2. He doesn't like his band's name. He preferred "Feedback" to "U2."
3. He once said, "the only thing worse than a rock star is a rock star with a conscience."
4. He appeared as himself in a short student film titled "Sightings of Bono" after learning they were trying to find a look-a-like to play him.
5. His favorite food is fish n chips. And he really also likes chocolate chip cookies. Okay, I don't know that part for sure, but who doesn't like chocolate chip cookies?
Paul McCartney has long been a fan of the Crickets, but it wasn't Buddy Holly's band that was on stage with him the other night in Brazil. It was a swarm of grasshoppers!
Apparently the grasshoppers were big fans of Paul's music, and Paul got to know one so well he named it Harold.
And when he performed "Hey Jude," he sang the line "the movement you need is on your shoulder" to one of the bright green critters.
It will be interesting to see if any insects cause trouble when he plays a sold out show at Miller Park this July. Mosquitoes aren't nearly as humorous.
It looks like spring has finally arrived, and that means it's time to start thinking about planting a garden. In my mind's eye, this garden has tomatoes, peppers, sugar snap peas, and some colorful, aromatic flowers.
But year after year, my little happy vision is disrupted by you! Oh, you look so cute and innocent with that twitchy little nose and that funny little way you have of hopping across my yard. But I know what you're up to. I know your modus operandi, you Sylvilagus floridanus.
You're going to eat whatever I plant. Even if it's a flower you don't want to eat, you'll snap it off and leave the dead remains lying askew, taunting me.
If I put up a fence, you'll eat through the plastic to get to whatever I'm trying to protect.
If I scatter dog hair in the area of my garden, you'll laugh a silent bunny laugh as you munch away on my crops.
If I buy an expensive anti-rabbit spray, you'll carry on unabated.
So Mr. and or Mrs. Rabbit (and family), what will it take for you to allow me my gardening dream? Could I plant a special carrot patch just for you? Is it cold hard cash that you're after?
Please respond as soon as possible, before I make a trip to the nursery.
Paul McCartney's daughter, Mary McCartney, is an amazingly talented photographer, and now she's taken that talent into her kitchen, as she shares some of her family's favorite vegetarian recipes in the book Food: Vegetarian Home Cooking.
The book is absolutely gorgeous..and while I haven't tried any of the recipes yet, some definitely look tempting, such as the hummus, avocado, and chili jam sandwich, or the ice cream celebration cake. Some of the recipes seem kind of like no-brainers (really , a recipe for popcorn?) but the beauty and simplicity of it almost make it an excellent coffee table book.
I got a chance to chat with Mary about her book, and memories of cooking with her mom, the late Linda McCartney, as well as her dad, the former Beatle. I was pretty nervous, but hopefully I didn't come across like a complete fool. (Listen to the interview here).
In the interview, I refer to a youtube video of her dad teaching us how to make mashed potatoes. I don't know why, but I just can't get enough of this thing.
Madison Craft Beer Week starts this Friday, May 3, and runs through May 12th. There's so much going organizers had to print a 59-page field guide just chock full of malty, hoppy, foamy fun events.
Here's my list of picks for Craft Beer Week, some quirkier than others.
1. CASK ALE FESTIVAL: 1-5pm Saturday May 4 at the East SIde Club on Monona Drive. Sip special cask beer from a variety of guest brewers. Two that look especially enticing to me: Common Thread, a special collaboration beer made by brewers from all 8 Madison breweries, and Hinterland Luna Stout with cocoa nibs. Tell me, who can resist cocoa nibs? ($25 in advance, $35 on Saturday). And starting at 2pm while a limited supply lasts, Triple M will be there handing out copies of Live From Studio M Volume 8.
2. SPRECHER PATIO GRAND OPENING: The official party goes from 2-6pm Saturday May 4 on the patio at this popular westside bar and restaurant, but there's also an event from 1-3 pm which includes unlimited samples of beers from Sprecher and other area breweries, and a brat! Tickets are $15.
3. MUSICAL CHAIRS WITH WIS. CRAFT BEER: The Old Fashioned on the Capitol Square has a unique spin on the childhood game Monday May 6th from 6-9pm. Walk around in a circle, and when the music stops, drink the beer in front of you, and guess which one it is. Get it wrong, and you're out. They're promising great prizes for the winner. You're encouraged to sign up ahead of time at the bar.
4. LEINIES FEST AT BUCK AND BADGER: This two night event goes from 5-9pm May 6 and 7, and features a meatball eating contest Monday night and a corn dog eating contest Tuesday night. Lots of Leinies beers on tap and members of the Leinenkugel family will be there signing autographs. Mmmm...corn dogs.
5. BELLS LUAU ON THE LOT: Saturday May 11th Dexter's Pub is having a luau on their parking lot starting at noon, complete with lots of Bells beers on tap and a pig roast!
Today we traveled back to 1975 for a Rendezvous with The Hudson Brothers. This song didn't make it to high on the charts, but Kitty enjoyed it. Her favorite brother was Brett. She also loved their television show. We've included a skit from...
I'm not sure why Pete Yorn decided to name his new music project after a European cave dwelling aquatic salamander, but if he stops by to play us some songs in Studio M, we'll have to ask him.
The Olms is a collaboration between Pete Yorn and...
Today's song was written by Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary. It was inspired by the 1957 novel Doctor Zhivago. No one was inspired by the song this morning. It was rejected by almost all the listeners.
Today is World Goth Day, a day to celebrate the post-punk, anti-establishment, dark clothes-wearing subculture.
I'm pretty sure I was a Goth for at least for little while, for two reasons.
1) I almost hardly ever wear pastels.
2) I used to...
Hello to all from Nfusion. Another round of challenges has moved beyond us all. Congrats to those of us lucky enough to have survived to this point. Sad to see the others eliminated as they were all very creative and talented. Good Bye to our new friends...
This morning it seemed like just about everyone was in the mood for some Funky Cold Medina...except Kitty. This ridiculous song made it all the way to number 3 in 1989. Jonathan says any song that references advertising dogs from the 80's has got...
Madison's summer music festival season kicks off this weekend with Brat Fest at Willow Island, where there are more bands than you can shake a bratwurst at! Check out the Brat Fest website to plan your itinerary.
Next up is the Marquette...
John Fogerty is making the talk show rounds this week, stopping in to see David Letterman Tuesday and Wednesday, and the ladies of "The View" on Thursday.
He's promoting his new album, "Wrote a Song For Everyone" which comes out next Tuesday...
Today we traveled back to 1975 for a Rendezvous with The Hudson Brothers. This song didn't make it to high on the charts, but Kitty enjoyed it. Her favorite brother was Brett. She also loved their television show. We've included a skit from...
I'm not sure why Pete Yorn decided to name his new music project after a European cave dwelling aquatic salamander, but if he stops by to play us some songs in Studio M, we'll have to ask him.
The Olms is a collaboration between Pete Yorn and...
Today's song was written by Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary. It was inspired by the 1957 novel Doctor Zhivago. No one was inspired by the song this morning. It was rejected by almost all the listeners.
Today is World Goth Day, a day to celebrate the post-punk, anti-establishment, dark clothes-wearing subculture.
I'm pretty sure I was a Goth for at least for little while, for two reasons.
1) I almost hardly ever wear pastels.
2) I used to...
Hello to all from Nfusion. Another round of challenges has moved beyond us all. Congrats to those of us lucky enough to have survived to this point. Sad to see the others eliminated as they were all very creative and talented. Good Bye to our new friends...
This morning it seemed like just about everyone was in the mood for some Funky Cold Medina...except Kitty. This ridiculous song made it all the way to number 3 in 1989. Jonathan says any song that references advertising dogs from the 80's has got...
Madison's summer music festival season kicks off this weekend with Brat Fest at Willow Island, where there are more bands than you can shake a bratwurst at! Check out the Brat Fest website to plan your itinerary.
Next up is the Marquette...
John Fogerty is making the talk show rounds this week, stopping in to see David Letterman Tuesday and Wednesday, and the ladies of "The View" on Thursday.
He's promoting his new album, "Wrote a Song For Everyone" which comes out next Tuesday...
