08.31.07
Grits
If you are reading this in the Southern United States, you probably couldn’t think of a more mundane topic for a blog post than grits.
But they are sure a treat here in Asia, where I’ve never seen them sold.
This morning, I ate Quaker Instant Grits American Cheese flavor, which my mom sent me in the mail. Wonderful!
rating: FIVE stars (out of five possible)
Link (to “Grits” Wikipedia entry)
Akufen
A dance music artist I really like is Akufen.
I got turned on to his stuff when a friend made me a compilation CD. It featured only one track by Akufen, but the track jumped out of my CD player, and I wanted to hear more.
I won’t even begin to try to classify his style (microsampling?). Just see what you think. There’s sound samples on his Myspace page.
Link (to Akufen Myspace page)
Link (to Wikipedia entry on Akufen)
08.30.07
Abebooks.com
If you are looking for a place to buy used books online, I recommend Abebooks.com.
Abebooks features a large database of the inventory of used bookstores and is extremely useful if you are searching for an obscure or out-of-print title (who isn’t?). I have been ordering from them for about two years and never had a single problem, which is amazing considering the books have all been sent from different individual sellers.
Since I live overseas and the books usually arrive better than promptly, I can’t even imagine how quick the books would arrive if you live in North America.
rating: FOUR stars (out of five possible)
Link (to Abebooks.com)
The Fiery Furnaces
Here at Spiddlement, we have to admit that one of our favorite bands on the planet is The Fiery Furnaces.
So we were more than delighted to learn recently that their new album, Widow City, will be released officially on October 9 — John Lennon’s bday — on Thrill Jockey.
If you are new to The Furnaces, I recommend you start with Blueberry Boat. If you like it, there’s lots more good music where that came from. LOTS more.
Link (to Thrill Jockey website)
Link (to TheFieryFurnaces.net)
Old Time Radio Dramas
When I’m not listening to podcasts, one thing I enjoy is OLD TIME RADIO DRAMAS.
If you have no clue what I’m talking about, you can read this article that I wrote a while back for Savvify.
Before televisions were in every home, families would sit around listening to shows on the radio. There were thousands produced from 1920-1960, which is considered the Golden Age of Radio. Many of these shows were recorded and are now available in MP3 format.
Link (to article “Radio Dramas: The Next Big Thing For MP3″)
New Brian Wilson song
Everyone who likes good music should check out Brian Wilson’s new song “Midnight’s Another Day”.
He’s created yet another gem.
We also recommend his recent (but underrated) solo album Gettin’ In Over My Head.
Link (to “Midnight’s Another Day” on Brian Wilson website)
House Music 101
Back when I lived in Seattle, I used to listen to this station in my car as a low powered FM station (don’t ask me for the technical details as I’m not very technical).
It was great because they played all house music. It became the only station I bothered to listen to.
The good news is now you can listen to House Music 101 as an internet radio station.
08.29.07
Typewriter vs. Computer
I’ve owned a manual typewriter for over a year now. Mine is a Spanish Olivetti Lettera DL made to be sold in Japan (as the yen symbol atop the number three key tips you off).
Believe it or not, my wife actually found someone GIVING AWAY this typewriter in the local community newspaper, and we went to the person’s house one Sunday and picked it up.
While the typewriter is a fun toy (and there’s a lot to be said for writing offline), there’s really no comparison to modern word processing software. Personally, I think a lot of the fuss about writing with typewriters or longhand has to do more with taking time to think about what you want to say and eliminating distractions (like this wonderful T1 line!)
For the most part, I only use it in pictures because it looks cool.
Link (to The Classic Typewriter Page)
World’s Largest Casino Opens In China
According to Yahoo News: “With the crash of a champagne bottle against a gondola, Macau’s Venetian casino opened Tuesday, dwarfing anything in Las Vegas and big enough, its operators say, to shift the magnetic north of the gambling world to this small city in southern China.”
Incidentally, I visited Macau last December and got to gamble a bit at the new Wynn Casino. While it was Las Vegas beautiful, I thought the minimum bids were a bit high for me. For actual casino play, I much preferred Seoul, Korea, where the tables were cheap and the free drinks were always flowing. Seoul may not have all the glitz and dancing waterfalls, but you can get out of there without losing your shirt!
(It should be noted that I base almost all my casino reviews on roulette — the ONLY game as far as we here at Spiddlement are concerned.)
It is expected by many that Japan, not wanting to lose entertainment yen to China’s many new casinos, will soon vote to open its own casinos around Tokyo Bay. YEAH! (Right now all we have are noisy pachinko parlors.)
Quentin Crisp
I made the mistake recently of picking up a copy of the book Manners From Heaven: A Guide To Divine Etiquette by Quentin Crisp. It was so good that now I’m trying to get my hands on everything the guy ever wrote.
I’m currently reading Resident Alien: The New York Diaries, and it’s great. Maybe I will post an excerpt where he talks about his visit to Atlanta.
Favorite Quentin Crisp quote: “Manners are love in a cool climate.”
Link (to Crisperanto website)
