Still Not Able To Blog

I still don't have time to blog. But I just wanted to share with you the best show I have ever seen in my entire life. Watch it. Watch it. Watch it.

Thank you to everyone who sent me this link!!!!

Robert Writes About Our Food Adventure

My friend, Robert, writes for the Village Voice. Here is his tale about our eating adventure in South Ozone Park, NY.

Richard Hawley @ Other Music Dec 3, 2007

Oh Tonight, Oh Tonight, Oh Tonight, I Got It Real Bad

Yesterday was a super fine day. After sleeping in, April and I hopped in a car with Robert and headed out past Canarsie to South Ozone Park to eat some of the best Indian, Trini and Guyanese food I have ever eaten. Heck, I don't think I have ever had Guyanese food before in my life. We had Roti (a savory dish in which some doughy bread was stuffed with some sort of vegetable or meat) and Barfi (sweet candy along the lines of frosting). I love saying that. "Robert, could you please pass the Barfi?"

We stopped at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge to watch the sunset on the way back to Manhattan. At one point, we just sat on a bench and listened to all kinds of birds chirp, squawk, shrill, and hum from all around us. It was a breathtaking experience.

After finishing up a bottle of Cava, Robert and I met up with Lee and headed to the Bowery Ballroom for the big event. I was very much impressed with the opening act, singer-songwriter, Ferraby Lionheart. Upon Bill's recommendation, I made sure that I got there in time to hear him. His songs are sweet country-tinged folky melodies. His sound is much more lo-fi compared to Hawley's.

After Lionheart, we waited for what seemed like an eternity for the guitar tech to get the gazillions guitars ready for Hawley and Hawley's guitarist. But then in what seemed like a dream, Hawley drifted in, picked up a guitar and began singing "Valentine." I was aglow. I couldn't stop smiling. I was watching Richard Hawley!! But it was an odd experience, because my obsession with him has been so private. Well, I write about it here, but I listen to his music alone, without anyone else around. So, it was a little strange to be sharing this experience in a room with 500 other people. But it was a great show. I danced like a fiend to "I'm Waiting for Someone to Find Me." And his performance of "The Sea Calls" and "Born Under a Bad Sign" just made me melt.

I woke today feeling like my life is complete. It's snowing outside. If my flight is cancelled then I am staying for Richard Hawley's in-store performance tomorrow night. I really want to stay. Should I stay or should I go?

Less Than Forty-Eight Hours

Holy cow! Holy cow! Holy cow! Wow! Wow! Wow! Wootie woot woot!

After finishing the really amazing "Cheese Pork!" and banana pudding at Crooks with Maggie and my parents, I jumped into my car and let out a little "woo hoo!" My meal was soooo delicious that I felt giddy. And then I realized, I am not going to work tomorrow and that just made me feel all warm and happy. I clicked around on my Ipod to pull up my Richard Hawley playlist and hit play. (Who am I kidding, I haven't stopped listening to him since this summer.) The beautifully dreamy acoustic version of "Darliin'" came on and I just melted and I just smiled and smiled and smiled. By the time I reached 15-501 headed back to Durham, I was listening to his song "Serious" and I started squealing in the car. I literally screamed at the top of my lungs all the way to South Square. I am so darn excited! I am going to see Richard Hawley perform on Saturday night!



I'm flying to New York tomorrow afternoon in time for supper with the Badgers. Before the show on Saturday, I am going to spend some time eating with Robert. I think I might have even convinced him to come with me to the show. I need to pack my elastic waistband pants so that I can eat alot. I really hope I can make it to Crif Dogs. I haven't been there in a few years and their bacon-wrapped dog is divine.

But the show is going to be great. Seeing Richard Hawley is going to beat watching Duran Duran from the fifth row in the Greensboro Coliseum when I was in middle school. I hope I don't act too freaky. I am going to take Hawley a copy of my hot-off-the-burner Food Mix. Is that weird? Am I being too weird and stalkery? I am a little bit crazy.

Richard Hawley is performing an acoustic in-store set on Monday in New York at Other Music. Should I call in sick on Monday and Tuesday and stay a couple extra days? I feel like this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see Hawley do this in-store show. I am seriously thinking about it. And who cares, really... I'm quitting this job anyway. Hmmm. What should I do?

Guess Who's Going to See Richard Hawley!

I AM!!!! ME!!! ME!!! ME!!! How about you?

Saturday, December 1st at the Bowery Ballroom in NYC. Woo hoo!!! His other US Tour dates are here.

Run. Don't walk. Get your tickets. Book your flights.

Oh! I almost forgot my Italian Richard Hawley story!! While Ross, Maggie, Chris and I were waiting on the ferry in Pozzallo to transport us to Malta, we killed time in a little cafe eating gelato, drinking espresso and playing scrabble. The cafe was playing the radio over the speakers.. Italian and American pop songs. And then to my surprise and excitement, I heard Richard Hawley! He was on the radio!!!! (On something other than my own radio show!) Unfortunately, the gelato man turned the station about halfway through "Tonight The Streets Are Ours." But with the energy I got from hearing that song on the radio, I creamed my scrabble opponents. Go Triple Word Score!!!

My Favorite Things About My Vacation

Besides being away from work for two entire weeks, which is wonderful on a whole different level, these are the things that I loved most about my vacation:

1. Pupi. This is the Italian plural for puppets. We saw a puppet show in Siracusa which delighted me to no end. There were pupi for sale in every chatckie shop and tourist stand. In Taormina, we saw giant pupi. And I just love saying pupi. Pupi. Pupi. Pupi.



2. The seafood. It was the best. Robert, sent me a newly published book of slow food restaurants in Italy. We tried a couple of them and we scored. I had tuna tartare at a restaurant called Metro in Catania that blew us all away. I don't have a picture of that, but here are sea urchins from the market in Siracusa.



3. Mdina at Night. We arrived in Mdina, Malta, very very late and had a tiny bit of trouble finding our hotel at first. So, we ended up walking around Mdina, (The Silent City) in the middle of the night. It was gorgeous and quiet. This is the entrance to Mdina (a medieval fortressed city) as we saw it after being dropped off by our driver.



4. The Opera at the Teatro Massimo Bellini in Catania. I know bits and pieces about music here and there. But opera is a genre that I know little about. I think I have only seen two or three operas in my lifetime. Ross, Maggie and I saw Tosca at this opera house in Catania. There was a part in the opera that made me tear up a little. It was beautiful and sad. And the opera house was jaw-droppingly beautiful. And they served corn nuts.



5. Dwejra, Gozo. As I said in a previous post, the Mediterranean is so blue. It was thrilling to take a little boat ride out into the ocean and around the enormous rocks.



6. The Cardinal Visiting the Antique Car Show in Mdina. We got back to Mdina after doing some sightseeing and walked into the Cathedral Square to find hoards of people and rows of antique cars. We had so much fun looking at the cars. And then the cardinal arrived. Whee!



7. The Hike to Castello Saraceno in Taormina. I was sick at this point of our trip. And I am embarrassingly fearful of any sort of heights. The hike was steep with overlooks that made me dizzy. I wanted to give up about 1/5 of the way there. But Ross and Maggie encouranged me to continue. We hiked from way down in Taormina toward our destination which was the Castella Saraceno. Here is a shot taken during our hike. At this point we were 3/4 of the way there.



But dagnabbit! We were denied! The gate to Castello Saraceno was locked!



8. Mgarr Harbor in Gozo. It was just beautiful and we drank beer and ate malt balls as we overlooked the harbor.



And then we saw a horse swimming in it.



9. Mt. Etna. Hiking along snow-covered craters of an active volcano felt like walking on the moon. The lava rocks were extremely hot to the touch in some spots. It was so amazing up there.



10. St Paul's Cathedral in Mdina. I don't think I have ever seen anything quite like that. It was beautiful in there. There was different kinds of marble everywhere. Every surface was covered with some sort of decoration. It was just stunning.



11. Francesco, Our Taxi Driver. He was just supposed to take us from our hotel to the bus stop in Siracusa, but he ended up driving us all the way to our destination in Pozzallo. He gave us a tour of Noto on the way. He was such a nice man. I sat in the front seat of the taxi with him and he played music for me and I wiggled and danced in my seat in appreciation. That is Francesco in the lower right corner.



12. The Good Graffiti in Catania. I wasn't all that impressed with Catania. I thought it was smelly and dirty and there was graffiti everywhere. Most of it was really really lame. But then I discovered this one artist. I found a couple of his works in the city. I thought it was really amazing stuff. If you're going to do graffiti, do it right.

Sick Day or Vacation Day?

I decided before leaving for my vacation that I would take an extra day off after I returned from Sicily just to rest. Sometimes you really do need to rest after a vacation before jumping back into work. I haven't done much today, but hang out in my pajamas, try to pop my ears, catch up on my finances (vacation and computers are expensive!), cough up a lung or two and tackle laundry.

I would really like to get my hearing back sooner rather than later. Tonight, I am going to venture out to see a super dooper show at the Cradle: Josh Ritter, Maria Taylor and Eric Bachmann. I love all three of these folks and they are playing at the Cradle. I am too excited. And with my ears stopped up as they are, I won't need any ear plugs.

Oooo, the show starts at 8:30 and I am still in my pajamas. I should go shower. It's so exciting.

As soon as this show is over, my vacation will officially be over. That is so sad.

Where Am I?

So, after two weeks of vacation, I am home. It's very disorienting: I've got jet lag; I'm back in the states; it's cold here; I have mountains of work; I have mountains of laundry; I'm failing at getting my new computer set up; and I have a terrible head cold.

First of all, let me just say that Windows Vista SUCKS. I will spare you a lengthy rant about how much I despise Vista and just say that I am really disappointed in this dreadful operating system that NOTHING WORKS ON!!!! I have wasted a good portion of the evening trying to get my old programs and files on here and I swear, giving a bath to a dozen feral cats all at once is probably less painful and easier than this is.

My frustration is only exacerbated by one of the worst head colds ever. Or maybe what I've been suffering from is the flu. It wasn't much fun to be sick while climbing Mt. Etna as the change in atmospheric pressure made my head want to explode. But holy cow, Mt. Etna was gorgeous. It helped me temporarily forget about how sick I was.

I haven't posted all my vacation pictures yet on flickr, but you can view the photos of my travel companions, Ross and Maggie. Ross took that photo above. I have dozens just like it, because it seems impossible to take a bad picture on top of an active volcano covered in snow. Maybe I'll get to posting the rest of my vacation pictures tomorrow. I miss being on vacation: crazy cab drivers, Gozo, Siracusa, the opera, Mdina, and the seafood. Oh. My. God. The seafood in Sicily is amazing. The best I have ever eaten. Tuna Tartar. YUM!!!!

But my cold is killing me. I have been taking so many drugs over the past few days: antihistamines, decongestants, cough suppressants, and pain killers. It was absolutely terrible on the flight home. My ears still haven't popped since the plane took off from Catania yesterday morning. During the flight from Milan to Philly, the pressure in my ears was so intense and hurt so much, that I was writhing in my seat. It doesn't hurt as bad as it did on that flight, but it feels like I have in ear plugs. Today, my hearing was so bad that I almost got run over by a motorcycle because I couldn't hear it approaching. I called the 24-hour Blue Cross Blue Shield nurse hot line and was told that I should regain my hearing in a few weeks. FEW WEEKS!?!?

Anyway, I am currentlytrying to get this darn new computer setup because I have work to do. I thought I would be happy with a brand new computer, but it's been somewhat of a letdown. My printer doesn't work with it. My Ipod doesn't work with it. Maybe I should've bitten the bullet and gotten a Mac.

Returning from vacation always sucks.

Malta!

Since my last post, I've left the USA for vacation! Ross, Maggie and I spent a few days in Catania, Sicily with Chris Rossi before heading to Malta for three days. We just returned this morning to Catania and instead of writing about it here, I'll let you read Ross' account of what we've been doing. He's even uploaded his photos and tagged them all.

The Mediterranean Sea is so blue. This was taken off the island of Gozo.

Radio Show Friday, October 12 8-10AM

The Ramones - Pet Sematary
Belle and Sebastian - Ease Your Feet Into the Sea
The Smiths - The Boy With a Thorn In His Side
Iron and Wine - Flightless Bird, American Mouth
Bobby "Boris" Pickett & the Crypt Kickers - Monster Mash
Crooked Fingers - Don't Say A Word
Badfinger - Baby Blue
The Bats - Empty Head
Chris Isaak - Don't Leave Me On My Own
Lefty Frizzell - Always Late (With Your Kisses)
Kay Starr - The Headless Horseman
Bobbie Gentry - Fancy

Halloween is fast approaching. Although I am not a big fan of the holiday, I do love some seasonal songs, such as the Ramones' "Pet Sematary," and Kay Starr's "Headless Horseman." Oh my gosh, this Ramone's video is really funny to watch. They must've had a blast making this:

My absolute favorite Halloween song (shucks, it's on my top ten of all-time favorite songs) is Bobby "Boris" Pickett's "Monster Mash." Whenever I hear it, I get this urge to dance like a dork. That song has been on continuous play at more than one point in my life. It is great.

Iron and Wine's new record, The Shepherd's Dog, is out. It is really a great record. I've been listening to it alot this week. The vocal harmonies make me melt. (Is Sam Beam just singing with himself?) And I find myself entranced by the percussion.... which is very much in the foreground, but not too overpowering. Iron and Wine make the most beautifully intimate music. This record is not as sparse as his earlier efforts, but the added instruments do not distract from its powerful subtlety. I look forward to listening to this record alot more.

So, that was my last radio show until I return from Sicily. My entire playlist can be found here.

Recommended listening while I am away from the station: Fleetwood Mac, the Smiths, Richard Hawley (duh), Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, Slim Gaillard, the Shout Out Louds, and the Great Lake Swimmers.