Kate's Queen City Notes

Blundering through Cincinnati, laughing all the way


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Bunbury 2014: Must See Bands Kishi Bashi and Wild Cub

I got so engrossed in listening to new music that I forgot to mention the bands that I loved prior to knowing that they would be a part of the Bunbury 2014 line-up. It’s time to fix that. I was already familiar with Kishi Bashi, Fitz and the Trantrums, Wild Cub, Young the Giant, Flaming Lips, Varuca Salt, Red Wanting Blue, Andrew W. K., Ropert DeLong, Dead Sara, Foxy Shazam, Heartless Bastards, Young Heirlooms, Black Owls (I saw them at MOTR recently and blogged about it), The Yugos, and 500 Miles to Memphis.
I know some of these bands because they are or were local, and hence they play or did play around here often. Foxy Shazam, Heartless Bastards, Young Heirlooms, Black Owls, The Yugos, Heartless Bastards, and 500 Miles to Memphis are in that category. The other bands I have just run across in my indie music listening adventure. I saw Wild Cub at 2013 Midpoint Music Festival. I like them so well, that I saw them open for American Authors this winter. I saw Capital Cities and Fitz and the Tantrums this winter at The Madison. I saw Young the Giant when Walk the Moon opened for them a couple of years back. I know Kishi Bashi from his old band, Jupiter One. I saw them a couple of times, and I am excited to see K in his current project.
Speaking of Kishi Bashi, his music is great. He played 2013 Midpoint Music Festival. He packed the basement of the CAC. Even my VIP pass failed to get me in the door in a timely fashion, and I had to abandon seeing him to make Murder by Death. Given that I missed my last chance to see him, he is on my do-not-miss list for Bunbury. K plays a mean violin and has a bright pop sensibility, and I think his live shows feature some looping and live sampling. I love his cover of “This is the Place.”
2013 Midpoint Music Fest put out line-up that was a really diverse sampling of high quality indie lable artists. Wild Cub stood out to me for how 80’s retro their sound is. Turns out that most of the indie pop coming out of New York is decidedly 80’s washed, as evidenced by this year’s Bunbury line-up. Wild Cub was slated to play MOTR, which is a pretty small and poorly-laid out venue. They can’t help it. The built-in antique bar, that lends so to the aestetic also makes the performance space a bit awkward. I got to the bar early, anticipating a crowd. Once Wild Cub went on, the crowd was so packed in that I couldn’t stand more than three or four songs. But the bit I saw was excellent and kept me listening. I’m pretty excited about awkward hipster dancing to their set at Bunbury.


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Governor’s Ball in New York City: Music and Too Many People

I tried to get tickets to see Bastille at The 20th Century Theater here, in Cincinnati. That show sold out the day it went on sale. I missed out.

In the meantime, friends of ours suggested that we attend Friday of Governor’s Ball. Frontier was running a deal on a flight to Trenton, New Jersey. Once in Trenton, it’s a 90 minute train ride to Penn Station. The tickets were 150 bucks a seat, and the train ride was 30 bucks. Net, with a little extra time and hassle, you get to New York for under two hundred bucks. Since we had a place to crash, we only needed to find the cash to pony up for the Governor’s Ball ticket. In hindsight, leaving town after three days at home after eight days in Europe was a bit much. But off we went.

The bands that most interested me at Governor’s Ball were Phoenix and TV on the Radio. Both of which haven’t been to Cincinnati in recent memory. I’m pretty sure Phoenix has never been here. Bastille, Jenny Lewis, and Neko Case were just side benefits. I know I should have been exited about Outkast, but I’m not that passionate about their music. Sorry to everyone who feels indignant at that.

Here’s what I saw.
Haerts
Little Daylight
Jason Isbell
Kurt Vile and the Violators
The 1975
Bastille
Jenny Lewis
Neko Case
Phoenix
TV on the Radio
Outkast

What I liked: Jenny Lewis is a spectacular performer. She sounded great. She looked great. I will see her again, no question.

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Check out Jenny Lewis' awesome threads.

I have an abusive relationship with Neko Case. She’s cantankerous. She’s grumpy, and her stage presence is a mess. But I really love her. I had every intention of leaving her show early to catch “Bulletproof” by La Roux. La Roux has one hit, and there’s no way she closes with anything other than that. Just as I was about to tear myself away from Neko, she started playing “Man” and there was no way I was leaving during that song. I love it. I heard “Bulletproof” from the far off stage and was still sucked into the inexplicable Neko Case vortex.

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Neko Case wearing skeleton pants.

Little Daylight was a surprise find. I fully intended to walk by them, but got sucked into their fun sound. I will be listening to them.

Everything else: Here’s what you need to know about me. I don’t like experiencing music in enormous venues. Governor’s Ball had a reasonable crowd until sometime between Bastille and Phoenix. When I made my way to Phoenix, I realized that movement from stage to stage had become full on warfare. Lines to the bathroom went from ten people to 100. Food became inaccessible due to the lines. In short, shit got real. While Bastille, Phoenix, TV on the Radio and Outkast all sounded great, I was a little too distracted by the masses to fully engage with their performances. I really wanted to be into Phoenix and TV on the Radio. I’ve listened to those bands for years now. I just couldn’t get there. They did nothing wrong; I just had some barriers to my enjoyment.

Haerts and The 1975 were fine, but there was nothing in their performance to grab me. I’m pretty sure the singer for The 1975 was high. I was busy watching his sloppy movement on stage rather than listening to their music. They sounded fine, but his careening was distracting. Jason Isbell sounded good, but I’m not into country. I got to see Kurt Vile and the Violators up close at Midpoint Music Festival last year, so although he sounded good, I preferred my more intimate experience with that band.

Would I go to Governor’s Ball again? No, I wouldn’t make it a priority. Like I said, I like more intimate settings for music. Governor’s Ball just isn’t the place for that. If you dig rocking arenas then this event is for you. Governor’s Ball, like Lollapalooza attracts swarms of people. That’s cool, but it’s just not my thing.


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Polica and Reputante at The Southgate House Revival: A Palate Cleanser

I was at Governor’s Ball this weekend. I don’t enjoy music in large crowds. Seeing Polica and Reputante at The Southgate House Revival couldn’t have been a better palate cleanser. The sanctuary is small and quirky. Since it was a school night, and Monday at that, the front of the stage was approachable.

I had no experience with Reputante going into their show. Their stage presence was disaffected and sarcastic. I can’t tell if they were just genuinely over their tour and/or that location and crowd, or that’s part of their schtick. That attitude leaves me a little put out. Regardless, I enjoyed their sound, and will do some listening in the future. It seems like all the new bands that I hear coming out of New York all sound like 80’s throwbacks, not that I have any problem with that. I’m happy to hear melody and synths back in music.

One other thing of note is that they have a lady drummer playing to a click track. I always love lady drummers. It seems to me that playing to a click track is Olympic level drumming. There’s no wiggle room there; you’re either dead on the electronic effects or a total mess. So cheers to lady drummer and her Olympic level drumming.

I have listened to Polica a bit. I knew virtually nothing about them, but with tickets at 15 bucks, there wasn’t much to lose. The band consists of a producer, a bassist, two drummers, and a singer and mixer. I was suspect of the dueling drummer stage set-up.

But it was spectacular. The drummers worked off each other, and were perfectly in sync. They brought more drama to the intense parts of their songs. I thought that much noise would drown out the vocalist. I know you can’t turn waif-y into an adverb, but I’m doing it. If singing can sound waif-y, it was so. The fact that the vocalist and the drummers were balanced was probably due to the great sound guy at The Soughtgate House Revival, and the band’s careful set-up. For all the electronics that they had on the stage, everything felt really well balances on my side of the stage.

This show was so close. It was a really great experience. It was exactly the antidote that I needed to resolve my festival experience. Long live thriving local music in my mid-sized city.

Beautiful atmosphere for this music.

Beautiful atmosphere for this music.

Polica at The Southgate House Revival.

Polica at The Southgate House Revival.

The Southgate House Revival balanced the sound really well. Two drum kits didn't overwhelm the delicate vocals.

The Southgate House Revival balanced the sound really well. Two drum kits didn’t overwhelm the delicate vocals.


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Summer’s Best

Strawberries are the bellwether that signals mad canning will commence. We have blueberries, peaches, tomatoes, and black raspberries come into season in quick succession. The reality is I will be canning jams and making pies constantly until the late fall after apples and pumpkins go out of season.

I didn’t used to have this relationship to produce. Because strawberries are only available for three weeks of the year, it makes procuring a bit of an ordeal even if you don’t pick your own. They are loved and cut and washed. They are crushed and cooked with sugar and pectin. The jam takes on a vibrant ruby color unique to fresh strawberries cooking into jam. They are sliced and placed in a crisp light pie crust. All this preparation is an investment, for which the pay off is the most delicious, fleeting strawberry pie. And a year of delicious jam.

We got our berries from Barrett’s Strawberry Farm, 11434 Fairfield Road, Leesburg 937-780-4961. I just came back from Europe and was concerned we would miss the season. Typically, strawberries come into season in May in this area. They wrap up in early June. But like the rhubarb, the berries were late this year. Most farms didn’t start their season until early June. Given that it’s early in the season, we had some difficulty getting berries. Barrett’s was about a 90 minute drive from Cincinnati, but the price of their berries was quite good, I got 6 quarts for a little over 22 bucks. Their berries looked great and tasted excellent.

Fresh from the field

Fresh from the field

We made a double batch of jam according to the instructions on the Sure Jell package. I also made strawberry pie according to this recipe. The jam and the pie turned out wonderfully. I just located this recipe for pepper balsamic strawberry jam and will have a blog in the near future about that.

The crushed berries with the pectin.

The crushed berries with the pectin.

The jam just before canning.

The jam just before canning.

Into the jars with you!

Into the jars with you!


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My European Vacation

I have been struggling with what to write about my trip to Europe. I have gorgeous pictures to share and a poverty of words.  I’ve been back for a week, and it took a trip to a Queens Starbucks for me to have thoughts to share.

We are in NYC to attend the Governor’s Ball music festival. After returning home for exactly 4 days, we got back on a plane to New York. In my short time at home, I managed to slog though and edit over 500 pictures. But no words.

We flew into Munich, got on bus to Salzburg for a day, on to Vienna for a few days, and finished in Prague for three days. I was traveling with a university band that shall go unnamed; this isn’t to protect me from the university, but just the opposite. My partner works for the university so I had no responsibility for the kids. But I spent a significant amount of time with them so poor behavior on their part would have diminished my enjoyment of the trip. But the students were very well behaved.

I spent most of my time with musicians my age. I had met some of them before, but we were, for the most part, passing acquaintances prior to the trip. They were lovely and greatly enhanced the trip. I suspect that this particular group of people could have made a trip to Wal-Mart fun, and my loathing for Wal-Mart knows now bounds. This was one of my writing blocks. I believe the most important part of the trip should be the locations we were in. But the thing I will most remember is how wonderful the people I was traveling with were. This reality conflicting with expectations isn’t one that makes sense anywhere outside my head.

While in Vienna, we visited a few cafes. I am sitting here watching the Starbucks employees frantically sling espresso. People rush in. They are calling, texting, emailing, facebooking, blogging, ordering, paying, and running back out. This experience is such a dramatic contrast to my experiences in the Viennese cafes. Coffee to go does not happen there. A trip to the cafe is something slow. It is to be savored. It is a real break. It is a time for connecting with people physically present or quiet reflection.

Every place that we visited was beautiful in its own way. Salzburg was a picturesque European town. Vienna had lovely sidewalk cafes and incredible architecture. Prague was alive with history. Let the pictures below do the talking.

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When people ask me about the trip I struggle to come up with more than, “It was beautiful.” I know why. I don’t want to dive in to a lengthy explanation around how the slower more present pace of life in those cities caused me to reflect on a lack of those things here. I didn’t want to explain that being in that slower more present environment probably drove 7 people to connect in a way that feels virtually impossible here. It’s hard to say how each subtle moment collected in to something that I savored. But it was a wonderful eight days, sleep deprivation and all. It will be an experience that I think of fondly for the rest of my life.


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100 Book by 40: FAR FROM THE MADDENING CROWD

I noticed some parallels between Far from the Maddening Crowd and The Hunger Games. Katniss Everdeen and Bathsheba Everdene share last names. Katniss is an accomplished female lead; Bathsheba breaks gender stereotypes and runs her own farm. Both Katniss and Bathsheba have multiple love interests, and a significant part of the plots of both books hang on romantic outcomes. This prompted me to investigate if Suzanne Collins has acknowledged these similarities. And as it turns out, Collins states that Far from the Maddening Crowd is one of her favorite books.

There’s one other parallel between the authors that comes from reading two of Hardy’s books. Hardy is cruel to his characters. He breaks them down. He makes them suffer. Collins does the same. I actually feel less critical of the way Collins ended her trilogy with this new perspective.

I could talk about Hardy’s sharp perception. I could talk about his wonderful way of capturing the nature of relationships. But I think I would rather let his speak for himself. I loved this book. If these quotes draw you, or you want to see what shaped Collins’ writing, Hardy is a great read.

The change at the root of this has been the recent supplanting of the class of stationary cottagers, who carried on the local traditions and humours, by a population of more or less migratory labourers, which has led to a break of continuity in local history, more fatal than any other thing to the preservation of legend, folk-lore, close inter-social relations, and eccentric individualities. For these the indispensable conditions of existence are attachment to the soil of one particular spot by generation after generation.

Hardy, Thomas (2012-05-17). Far from the Madding Crowd . . Kindle Edition.

This quote is in reference to Oak’s sheep dog, George and his pup. George’s pup triumphantly took Oak to the cliff from which his entire flock plummeted. The implication is that George’s son did such a great job of driving the sheep, that he drove them to their deaths. I love the pivot that Hardy makes to draw a larger conclusion in that this type of single-mindedness is just as undesirable in people.

George’s son had done his work so thoroughly that he was considered too good a workman to live, and was, in fact, taken and tragically shot at twelve o’clock that same day— another instance of the untoward fate which so often attends dogs and other philosophers who follow out a train of reasoning to its logical conclusion, and attempt perfectly consistent conduct in a world made up so largely of compromise.

Hardy, Thomas (2012-05-17). Far from the Madding Crowd (p. 28). . Kindle Edition.

This is a quote in reference to one of Bathsheba’s more reserved suitors. This man probably would have given everything for her happiness, but she spurns him for a foppish, handsome soldier.

He had no light and careless touches in his constitution, either for good or for evil. Stern in the outlines of action, mild in the details, he was serious throughout all . He saw no absurd sides to the follies of life, and thus, though not quite companionable in the eyes of merry men and scoffers, and those to whom all things show life as a jest, he was not intolerable to the earnest and those acquainted with grief. Being a man who read all the dramas of life seriously, if he failed to please when they were comedies, there was no frivolous treatment to reproach him for when they chanced to end tragically.

Hardy, Thomas (2012-05-17). Far from the Madding Crowd (p. 93). . Kindle Edition.

Truth.

The rarest offerings of the purest loves are but a self-indulgence, and no generosity at all.

Hardy, Thomas (2012-05-17). Far from the Madding Crowd (p. 101). . Kindle Edition.

Interesting observation about the differences between men and women and their motivation to marry.

It appears that ordinary men take wives because possession is not possible without marriage, and that ordinary women accept husbands because marriage is not possible without possession ; with totally differing aims the method is the same on both sides.

Hardy, Thomas (2012-05-17). Far from the Madding Crowd (p. 101). . Kindle Edition.

Here’s an update on my reading list.
Reading now:
45. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh
54. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy

Finished reading:

1. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien
2. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
3. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman
4. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling
6. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
7. Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne
8. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis
10. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë
11. Catch-22, Joseph Heller
12. Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë
13. Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks
14. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier
15. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger
16. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame
17. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
18. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
19. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres
20. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy
21. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
22. Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone, JK Rowling
23. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling
24. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling
25. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien
26. Tess Of The D’Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy
27. Middlemarch, George Eliot
28. A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving
29. The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck
30. Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
31. The Story Of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson
32. One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez
33. The Pillars Of The Earth, Ken Follett
34. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
35. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl
36. Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson
37. A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute
38. Persuasion, Jane Austen
39. Dune, Frank Herbert
40. Emma, Jane Austen
41. Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery
42. Watership Down, Richard Adams
43. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald
44. The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas
46. Animal Farm, George Orwell
47. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
48. Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy
49. Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian
50. The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher
51. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett
52. Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck
53. The Stand, Stephen King
60. Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
63. A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens *I read this when I was too young to appreciate it; I would like to read it again as an adult. I will do so if I have time.
70. Lord Of The Flies, William Golding *I’ve read this twice. I will read it again if I have time.
87. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
90. On The Road, Jack Kerouac *I’ve read this twice. I will read it again if I have time. I have the unabriged unedited version and will probably take on that if time allows.

Pending reading:
55. A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth
56. The BFG, Roald Dahl
57. Swallows And Amazons, Arthur Ransome
58. Black Beauty, Anna Sewell
59. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer
61. Noughts And Crosses, Malorie Blackman
62. Memoirs Of A Geisha, Arthur Golden
64. The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCollough
65. Mort, Terry Pratchett
66. The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton
67. The Magus, John Fowles
68. Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
69. Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett
71. Perfume, Patrick Süskind
72. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Robert Tressell
73. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
74. Matilda, Roald Dahl
75. Bridget Jones’s Diary, Helen Fielding
76. The Secret History, Donna Tartt
77. The Woman In White, Wilkie Collins
78. Ulysses, James Joyce
79. Bleak House, Charles Dickens
80. Double Act, Jacqueline Wilson
81. The Twits, Roald Dahl
82. I Capture The Castle, Dodie Smith
83. Holes, Louis Sachar
84. Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake
85. The God Of Small Things, Arundhati Roy
86. Vicky Angel, Jacqueline Wilson
88. Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons
89. Magician, Raymond E Feist
91. The Godfather, Mario Puzo
92. The Clan Of The Cave Bear, Jean M Auel
93. The Colour Of Magic, Terry Pratchett
94. The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
95. Katherine, Anya Seton
96. Kane And Abel, Jeffrey Archer
97. Love In The Time Of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez
98. Girls In Love, Jacqueline Wilson
99. The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot
100. Midnight’s Children, Salman Rushdie


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Vegan Reubens and Vegan Rhubarb Baking

After weeks of searching we finally found rhubarb. I talk about my hunt for it here. Our plan was to make the following recipes.

This is what ten pounds of rhubarb looks like.

This is what ten pounds of rhubarb looks like.

We started out with ten pounds of rhubarb. We probably had about three pounds left after making a double batch of jam and single batches of everything else listed above.

Rhubarb. That's what it looks like.

Rhubarb. That’s what it looks like.

I made the muffins a few days before everything else. Putting them together was pretty easy. Since I cook and bake quite a bit, I had nearly all the ingredients in my kitchen. I had to make a trip to pick-up sour cream and a fresh lemon for the zest. These muffins were spectacular. The streusel with fresh lemon zest and almond extract was outstanding. The muffins were tender and only slightly sweet, and the bits of rhubarb added just a bit of zip to each bite.

Rhubarb jam prior to cooking.

Rhubarb jam prior to cooking

We put the jam in the slow cooker to leave more space around the stove top. After some hours on high with no signs of boiling, we transferred it to the stove. I’m not sure why the slow cooker wasn’t able to bring it to a simmer. Perhaps all the fiber and pectin in the rhubarb? We don’t know. Once the jam came to boiling, it thickened right up. We sanitized lids and jars, and filled them with the jam. Then we canned them in a traditional water bath. We finished with the jam after a long day of cooking. I was too exhausted to taste it before we canned it. I will come back and comment on how well it turned out after I open the first jar.

Vegan pie, pre-baking.

Vegan pie, pre-baking

I mastered the difficult art of making pie crust. Making a vegan crust was a new challenge for me. I had two concerns about the vegan pie crust recipe that I linked to above. There are two things that I know about consistently making excellent pie crust. Rule number 1: if the dough is easy to roll out you have without question added way too much water. Rule number 2: the dough needs to be as cold as possible all the time. The vegan recipe above breaks rule number one egregiously. I know the point of adding the vodka is so that it evaporates and leaves you with less moisture in the finished crust than only water would. But my no-fail non-vegan recipe only calls for 3 tbs of water against the 1/4 cup of water in the recipe above. And then you add an additional 3 tbs of vodka. I used half as much vodka and water in my dough than what the recipe called for.

Second issue I had with the recipe was the fat to flour ratio. As compared to my usual recipe, there was about 1/2 a cup more fat. I decided to follow the recipe here. I was thinking that perhaps the vegan butter had more water in it than butter, and hence required a higher fat to flour ratio. You will have to keep reading to find out how it turned out.

Here's the rhubarb that ended up in the rhubarb upside down cake, while it was being caramelized.

Here’s the rhubarb that ended up in the rhubarb upside down cake, while it was being caramelized.

We modified the rhubarb upside down cake in the following ways to make it vegan. Where the recipe called for butter, we used vegan butter. Where the recipe called for milk, we used soy milk. Where the recipe called for eggs, we used flax eggs. You can read about flax eggs here.

Tempeh and Tofu after the marinade.

Tempeh and Tofu after the marinade.

For the reubens, we used marinated tempeh and tofu. We just sliced both of them up and let them marinade. After they soaked up some flavor, they went into the oven on a baking sheet to get a little texture to them. I also made a vegan 1000 island dressing for the reubens. I used the silken tofu recipe here. I whipped this up in the food processor. The resulting mayo was pretty good. It was a bit more runny than regular mayo, and I could taste the missing egg yolk. But I don’t think anyone would notice the difference once spread on a sandwich. I added the relish and ketchup to taste and didn’t follow any recipe.

The poorly-rhubarb upside down cake. I should have been something like rhubarb upside down scone or some such.

The poorly-named rhubarb upside down cake. I should have been something like rhubarb upside down scone or some such.

The rhubarb upside down cake was not sweet. It was more like a biscuit with caramelized rhubarb on top. In fact, it would almost be a savory dish. I was expecting something sweet so I was a little put off with it at first bite. Once I realigned my expectations, I thought we made a damn good vegan biscuit. Would I make this again? Probably not. It wasn’t bad, but plain old biscuits would have suited me just as well and are less work. The flax eggs made the biscuit taste like it was made with some whole wheat flour. I don’t know that flax eggs would work in most other sweet pastry settings, but it was excellent for this savory biscuit.

The braised rhubarb was weird. It was extremely tart. Tart, I could have lived with, but the texture of the rhubarb was not to my liking. Cooked celery keeps it’s body, unless you cook it for ages. The rhubarb managed to be completely limp and stringy all at the same time. I don’t know how else to put this, but the texture just wasn’t for me. The flavor of the spices was nice. The tartness I could live with. Limp and stringy, I cannot.

The two biggest successes were with the reubens and the vegan rhubarb pie. I’ve learned that for me, the critical reuben components are sour kraut, 1000 dressing, and excellent bread. The other ingredients don’t make or break the sandwich. The tempeh and tofu were good, but they didn’t stand out. The vegan 1000 island dressing was excellent. We ran out of the reubens. I now know that my craving for reubens can be met without out eating any animal products.

Vegan rhubarb pie.

Vegan rhubarb pie.

The pie was spectacular. The crust turned out wonderfully. It was flaky and yet held it’s shape when sliced. We were only left with three pieces for Ali and I to share. I thought I was going to have to fight Jenn for the piece and a half that I brought home.

Here’s what I learned about vegan cooking and baking. It’s not that hard. In fact, I think it would be a lot easier to cook and bake vegan at home that it would be to eat out. I liked it so much that I might start making my own vegan butter and working that in to my cooking from this point forward. This will be the first of many adventures.


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100 Books by 40: OF MICE AND MEN

On a night out you might run into someone. Maybe someone who’s had enough beers to talk to strangers. Maybe it’s someone who’s naturally gregarious and regularly chats with randoms at the bar. You might have 2 hours of conversation with that someone. You might like the same music or share some other interest. It’s fun for the evening. But these random encounters are in a separate class from time spent with close friends; they are cherished precisely for their surprise and randomness.

This is my first Steinbeck since The Grapes of Wrath. Of Mice and Men was just as good as I was expecting it to be. I was already familiar with the story, so I absorbed the metaphors and foreshadowing. My only wish once the book was over, was for more time with the characters. They are the randoms at the bar. There’s nothing to be done but savor the short, beautiful moment.

There’s been lots of talk about a Princeton kid who wrote and entry explaining why he won’t apologize for his white privilege. He’s nineteen. I know what I was like at nineteen. One of the hallmarks of that time is my undaunted confidence in my opinions and critical thinking skills. The other was my complete and total lack of understanding of anyone’s experiences outside my own. I grew up so white that I didn’t meet a person of color until college. I didn’t know a single solitary thing about race other than the self-affirming things that most affluent white kids know. I knew that I worked for everything I got. I knew that the world and more specifically our economy was a fair meritocracy, where skin color was irrelevant to someone’s skill set. I knew that my family worked hard and that they only had their work to thank for their achievements.

Did I do some learning in the years from eighteen to twenty-five. The world isn’t fair. People are completely judged on their appearance, especially skin color. Meritocracy while a nice idea is certainly not the measuring stick for adult success. Some of these lessons, I learned apart from racial issues. These are hard truths that only experience can teach.

I understand where Tal is coming from. I would have written something similar at nineteen. After watching only black men get pulled over around our college campus for years, after watching the police shootings in my city only result in black male victims for years, after watching people I care about get treated differently because of their skin color, I can only conclude that there is a structural problem.

I know why Tal’s position is reassuring. White, affluent people don’t want to acknowledge privilege for a number of reasons. First, acknowledging it requires that we seek to rectify it. Second, acknowledging it requires a small dose of humble pie suggesting that not only our talent has brought us to our socio-economic position. And finally and more darkly, white people are desperate to hold on to any advantage they have. Change is scary, and there is a palpable sense of people clinging to the deck chairs of the Titanic that is the culture built to serve the Baby Boomers.

I promise this will get back to Of Mice and Men in just a moment.

While I do believe that luck favors the well-prepared, I also have come to understand wealth and its role in success as a option enabler. Wealth buys you better options, at nearly every juncture of your life. In childhood wealth buys you child care that preps you for school. It can buy you a stay-at-home mom, and perhaps more one-on-one adult interaction. It can buy you more books. It can buy you more experiences. Later it can buy you better schools, where your classmates will all be as well prepared for school as you are. It will buy you a well educated cohort to socialize with through your school years. These better options don’t guarantee your future prosperity, but they send you into adulthood better equipped to prosper.

Wealth buys attractive options. George didn’t have wealth. He didn’t have the option of purchasing a farm, and keeping Lennie away from people who wouldn’t understand his limitations. So when George is confronted with that final, terrible choice, it was his lack of attractive options that drove him there. Do I think George was responsible for what brought him to that river bank with Lennie? Yes. But blaming George provides an emotional escape from what’s truly sad about Of Mice and Men. The real heart-break in the book is how sensible all of George’s actions are.

I loved this book. I loved the characters. I loved the tender interaction between Slim and George.


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Rhubarb and Modern Hunting and Gathering

No one grows rhubarb. I didn’t know this before emailing, calling, and visiting farmers. Apparently, it fell out of fashion some years ago. With a drive to eat more local produce, demand is growing, but supply is behind the curve. The plants have to mature for two years before they have a decent yield. I heard from numerous farmers that they will have more next year or the year after.

I’ve been stalking Findlay Market, Northside Farmers Market, and Lunken Farmers Market. I’ve called and emailed numerous farmers. I was warming to the idea of just getting non-local rhubarb from Kroger. Madison’s at Findlay Market had some, but not only was it greenhouse grown and shipped from Washington state. I objected less to those details than I did to the four dollars a pound price.

Just as I was giving up on rhubarb jam, I saw that Madison’s had local rhubarb. Not only that, but the price was three dollars a pound. That’s a bit more expensive than Kroger, but I am willing to pay a little extra for local produce and to support local business. (Kroger is sort of a local business, given that it’s headquarters is here. But I digress.) Unfortunately, when I went to pick-up the rhubarb, the clerk at Madison’s said that their supplier was out and couldn’t fill the order.

I was finally able to get my Rhubarb from Kroger. I had to special order a ten pound box from the produce department. Jenn and I dropped by Findlay after Five event after picking-up the rhubarb from Kroger. I ran into the Madison’s clerk, and he told me that they had my rhubarb. Their suppliers are Mennonites and don’t have phones. So, when the rhubarb didn’t arrive the folks at Madison’s could only assume that they didn’t have any. Unfortunately, the rhubarb turned up a day later. I didn’t leave my contact information at Madison’s so they had no way of letting  me know. Rats!

The point is that Madison’s now has local rhubarb. The second point is that I will leave my contact information while hunting and gathering from this point forward. The third point is that I will publish our rhubarb adventures in a day or two.


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Bunbury 2014: Must See Bands Bronze Radio Return and Bad Suns

I have two more must see bands to add to my Bunbury agenda. I love seeing live music. Descriptions of this love don’t fit in my less than skilled command of the English language, but these song lyrics by Bronze Radio Return come close to capturing it. I am super excited to see these guys in July.

We’ve talked about my weakness for 80’s pop before. Then this pick should surprise you in no way. The vocalist for Bad Suns would be the result of a union between Roland Orzabal from Tears for Fears and Dave Gahan from Depeche Mode. Given that Depeche mode is among my favorite bands of the 80’s this was a love at first listen. Side note: when you type Tears for Fears into Google, one of the top three auto-prompts is Tears for Fears gay. Heh.
One other note for any Bunbury fanatics like me, thanks to my friend Kat for bringing this to my attention. Currently, Lydia Loveless and Meg Myers are scheduled for the same time slot at Bunbury on Friday June 11 . I like the sound of both of them, but had panned on having to skip one or the other. Turns out Lydia Loveless is headlining Paddlefest, here in Cincinnati, June 21st. I’m pleased to scratch that conflict off my list. Plus, I would like to see Loveless in a longer time slot. Win/Win!