My Christmas Wish List

If you've ever been to my house, you've seen how my fascination with outsider art has manifested itself. I have artwork not only on walls and over door frames, but also under beds and in closets. I've kinda run out of wall space, but you know... I can always try to squeeze more somewhere. The ceilings are bare... I need ceiling art.

In the early 2000's, I frequently visited San Francisco and would always stop by Creativity Explored. It's a non-profit arts center for developmentally disabled adults. The artists create some of the most amazing artwork I have ever seen. And their monthly gallery openings in that space are just phenomenal. The artists are more than willing to talk to you about their work and are always very excited to see folks buying it. The artwork is powerful and rich and emotional and raw. Creativity Explored is the one non-NC non-profit to whom I regularly send contributions.

Full Frame Documentary Film Festival screened a documentary this April called Cross Your Eyes Keep Them Wide about this facility, the artists and their work. I took Christa with me, who was quite impressed. This film won Full Frame's Jury Prize for Best Short.

This piece is by Andrew Li:


The last time I was in San Fran YEARS ago, I ate dinner at a restaurant where I struck up a conversation with some folks from the Black Rock Arts Foundation (the arts group who provide grants for Burning Man artists.) They were headed over to Creativity Explored gallery opening after dinner and invited me to tag along. I was more than happy to go! I had the best time meeting the artists and checking out their abundant masterpieces. I shipped stacks and stacks of artwork back to North Carolina. It was a great night.

This piece is by John McKenzie:


In the mail today, I received a postcard from Creativity Explored that their annual art sale is going on December 7-9. I really wish I could go. But there is no way that I could swing that. But if you happen to be in San Francisco looking for a Christmas present for me next weekend, Creativity Explored is where you should go. Whee!

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?

The Melody Haunts My Reverie & I'm Once Again With You

Around ten years ago, I regularly hung out in the local record stores blowing entire minimum wage paychecks on music. There was one store on Franklin Street, that I thought was the coolest. The manager, Brett, was so nice and we totally clicked musically. We clicked on a old school level that no straight man had ever clicked with me before. He'd order things for the store with me in mind, especially western swing, vintage country and 1950s pop vocalists. When someone came in selling an old R&B CD or doo wop or some old vocalist CD, he'd save it for me. There was always a little Charlotte pile waiting for me each week.

And the music that he introduced me to was just mind-blowing to me: the harmonies of the Everly Brothers pop hits, the craziness of Billy Stewart's scat, and the cowboy tunes of Tex Ritter. He helped me get beyond the cheesiness of 1950s pop, too, which was no small feat.

And then the mix tapes started. These were all cassettes of course. We traded like mad. And to this day, no one has made a better mix tape than Brett. There was one that contained the most heavenly selection of music that I had ever heard. I loved that tape. I listened to it constantly. Each 45-minute side was perfectly dreamy and pretty. And he made the tape just for ME! I swooned over him. I painstakingly tried to uncover hidden meanings in his song choices and song placement hoping to discover that Brett was in love with me. He wasn't. But we did have a small handful of dates, one of which ended with me dancing in his arms to "Since I Don't Have You" by the Skyliners. Ah...

After that date, things fizzled for Brett. We still traded mixes, but it wasn't the same. Soon the record store closed and Brett moved away. I have no idea what happened to him, but I will never forget him or that mix tape. To this day, it is my favorite mix tape ever.

His song selections included:
Night and Day - Fred Astaire
It's All In the Game - Tommy Edwards
You Belong To Me - Jo Stafford
Indian Love Call - Slim Whitman
Memories Are Made Of This - Dean Martin
Five Minutes More - Tex Beneke
Give Me More More More of Your Kisses - Lefty Frizzell
Wish You Were Here - Eddie Fisher
Book Of Love - Monotones
I'm A Little Mixed Up - Betty James
Tears on My Pillow - Little Anthony and the Imperials
Love Letters - Ketty Lester
Summer Place - Percy Faith

The tape is old now and very, very played. I am scared to listen to it because I don't want it to break. One day, I'll transfer it off the cassette and onto my laptop. Is there a USB cassette deck on the market yet?

Ella and Her Fellas

I needed an Ella fix this morning. About halfway through this, it gets really really nutty... a cappella scat and it just gets better. She is crazy brilliant.

Radio Show Thursday, November 22 9AM-Noon

Wendy Renee - Bar-B-Q
Cisco Houston - Beans, Bacon And Gravy
The Viscounts - Shortnin' Bread
Louis Prima & Keely Smith - Banana Split For My Baby
Frank Sinatra - The Coffee Song
Big Bill Schaeffer - I Hate Popcorn
Louis Jordan - Cole Slaw
Little Joe and the Thrillers - Peanuts
Little Eva - Let's Turkey Trot
Oliver Twist - Food, Glorious Food
The Ink Spots - Pork Chops and Gravy
Sweet Violet Boys - I Love My Fruit
Little Jimmy Dickens - Cornbread and Buttermilk
Lonnie Donegan - Ham N' Eggs
Roscoe Gordan - Cheese and Crackers

On Thanksgiving morning, I did a three-hour show on food. Nothing but food songs. I loved it. I searched hard to find songs just about food. Not songs that mention food or songs about food-named dance styles. I wanted to hear folks singing about food or eating. Chomp. Chomp.

I made two exceptions to this rule, due to the fact that I rediscovered how much I love doo wop while researching this show. One of these exceptions was "Peanuts" by Little Joe and the Thrillers, which I played at full volume ten times before leaving for work on Wednesday. I was dancing hard in the kitchen until I realized that I was late for my 8am meeting.

The other exception to my food rule was Little Eva's "Let's Turkey Trot" which is about dancing. But I thought that this song is just brilliant. Instead of the backing vocalists singing "doo wop diddy diddy" as you might expect in a standard doo wop tune, they were singing "gobble gobble diddy diddy." How cool is that!?!?! So I just had to play it for Thanksgiving.

I discovered lots of new-to-me food songs from folks I know like Little Jimmy Dickens, Louis Jordan, the Sons of the Pioneers and Anita O'Day. And then there were songs from folks I had never heard of like the Sweet Violet Boys, the Thrones, and Bradley Kincaid.

But I think my favorite was the Viscounts' take on "Shortnin' Bread." That song is so much fun. It's a high-energy rockabilly number that makes me want to put on a cowgirl outfit with lots and lots of fringe and rollerskate around my house and dance like a lunatic. Wheeeeeeee!!!!!!

You can see all seventy-two food songs here. Chow!

Thanks Mr. DJ!

I had the worst soul-sucking day at work. Dazed, I left work and headed to the Federal for a beer with Patty and Mary. But I felt like crawling into a hole somewhere and not coming out until spring. When I arrived at the Federal, I was surprised to hear them playing Neutral Milk Hotel over the speakers, but I am always pleasantly surprised by their music choices. While I sipped on my Duck Rabbit porter, Patty mentioned that she had listened to some Richard Hawley and liked it. And then it dawned on me that I will be in New York City seeing Richard Hawley one week from Saturday!

But I left the bar still feeling kinda foggy. It can be really difficult to shake off a mind-crushing day at work sometimes. Today was one of those days.

But then, at 11:55pm, my melacholy was lifted. Bill played "Tonight the Streets Are Ours" by Richard Hawley. I squealed at the top of my lungs and ran into the kitchen and turned up the volume and pogo-stick danced all over the kitchen. I knocked some of the kinder egg toys off the windowsill during my shrieking dance fest. I think that if I made a top ten list of all my favorite things in the world, one of them would be hearing my favorite music randomly on the radio.

I cannot wait to go to New York next weekend. I am so excited.

But right now, I am afraid to go to bed. I am scared that I am going to have dreams involving Yo Gabba Gabba! I think I might love that show. It's now being recorded daily on my DVR. It's a kids show with wacky life-sized, brightly-colored creatures and psychedelic cartoons and kids dancing and indie rock. I swear one of the songs they played was sung by Dominique Durand of Ivy. But I couldn't find her listed in the credits anywhere. If you haven't heard of this show, here's a sample:



(Thanks, Skip!)

Thanksgiving Radio Show

I won't be on the radio this Friday morning due to the holiday schedule, but I will be on Thursday from 9am to noon eastern standard time. I just got the motherload of crazy old food songs all of which I hope to play on Thursday. I even have some new hot dogs songs!!! Heaven. And wouldn't you love to hear Sammy Davis, Jr. singing "Plop Plop Fizz Fizz" or the Andrews Sisters' take on "One Meat Ball?" Well, I got 'em!

I just have to figure out how to get these songs off my computer onto a CD. I cannot seem to burn CDs, but I am hoping that I can burn through Itunes.

I hate my new computer.... it is so frustrating and depressing. This is part of the reason that my blog posts have been less frequent. If you are interested in a fancy new laptop running Vista, let me know. I'll give you a deal.

But tune into WXYC on Thursday. Food songs always improve my mood. Even if I don't get this new crop of food songs off my laptop, I still have lots to play. I wish I could find a song about bacon-wrapped hot dogs. Yummmmmm. My next mix CD will definitely be a collection of meat songs focusing on pork products.