mere cat

Wooder Wooder Everywhere

Yes, it’s been raining a lot. Yesterday evening at dusk, I set up my tripod in the mud during a break in the downpour to capture these lilies. Don’t worry; I set them free.

Using VLC with Audio Hijack

As I’ve mentioned I've been using Audio Hijack Pro to time-shift radio shows. All’s well in radio land except that the files occasionally “skip.” At first I thought Audio Hijack was having a problem buffering until I noticed it happening to the stream itself. That cast suspicion on the apps I use to capture streams: QuickTime Player and iTunes (I need both so I can record two shows at once). I thought I would try using VLC and see if it handles streams better. The only problem was that VLC wouldn’t start playing automatically when called from Audio Hijack Pro. VLC got the URL fine, but it wouldn’t start playing unless you clicked the play button. No good. The solution was to create a playlist file in VLC and have Audio Hijack Pro open the playlist file via VLC.

While I’m on the subject of audio, here’s a little AppleScript that fixes an annoying problem I have with my PowerBook G4. Often when waking from sleep, the audio balance is all the way to one side. This script sets the balance back to centered. Note: it requires System Events, which is not enabled by default. Open the Universal Access preference pane, and click “Enable access for assistive devices.”

tell application "System Preferences"
  activate
  
  try
    set current pane to pane "com.apple.preference.sound"
  on error errMsg number errNum
    display dialog errMsg
  end try
end tell

tell application "System Events"
  tell process "System Preferences"
    tell tab group 1 of window 1
      click radio button "Output"
      tell slider 1 of group 1
        set value to 0
      end tell
    end tell
  end tell
end tell

tell application "System Preferences"
  quit
end tell

I dropped it in the Scripts folder at ~/Library/Scripts so it’s always available. Here’s hoping you don’t have a need for it.

The Vegetable Adventure Begins

I haven’t had to work the last two Saturdays and have been taking full advantage of the time off. Last Saturday was the Blogger Meetup, which I believe broke all attendance records. Other than drinking some weird beer that tasted like cherry soda, I had a great time. Following that was a themed party/art exhibit at Ted Adams’ gallery. I brought a print which he graciously found room for and a whole mess of Texas shrimp and rice, which couldn’t compete with all the amazing edible art the creative people brought. (Look among these pix on Flickr for any tagged “Food Fetish Picture Party”) Despite being my usual mild-mannered wallflower self at both events, I still managed to meet and have speech with some really interesting people.

Last night, we made dinner with some “new” vegetables. Thursday evening, while I was at a user group meeting sharing pizza with fellow FileMaker developers, Anne picked up our first “share” of the season, a selection of ten fruits and vegetables from a nearby farm (see Anne’s post for details). Anne dug up enough recipes to use all the produce, and last night we made kale with cannellini beans from Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone.

Accompanying the fried catfish is kale and cannellini garnished with lemon and parmesan.

We deliberately chose produce we’ve never eaten before just for the culinary challenge and adventure of it. For example, I’ve never tried kale before, having eaten only spinach and collards. Kale is somewhere between these two in flavor and texture and is an interesting alternative. It promises to be an interesting summer experiencing so many new flavors. I think we would be lost without Deborah Madison’s terrific cookbook, however. On Friday, we made our first recipe from her book, using homegrown arugula and spinach linguine. Both recipes we’ve prepared so far have turned out great. If anyone has any other cookbooks slanted towards vegetable cookery to recommend, please let me know. I love cookbooks almost as much as I love food.

Speech by David Sedaris [nanoblog]

This week’s New Yorker contains the funniest David Sedaris story I’ve read, his commencement address to the Princeton class of 2006.

Kick Ball, Get Check

Can't say I've been afflicted with World Cup fever. A mild headache and some chafing, but no fever. That’s not to say I don’t like soccer. I was first exposed to the game in high school, which only had a soccer team, no football. I admit I was fascinated by the magical ball-handling skills of the players. Not enough to try playing myself or even watch a game, but fascinated nevertheless.

I am reminded of a scene in Annie Hall when Alvy (Woody Allen) and Robin (Janet Margolin) are at a party chockablock with intellectuals, and a bored Alvy sneaks off to watch the Knicks on TV. Robin confronts him and demands, “What is so fascinating about a bunch of pituitary cases trying to stuff a ball through a hoop?” Alvy answers, “What is fascinating is that it's physical.” I have to agree, and sports don't get much more exciting than soccer. I almost got caught up in it, but I just don’t have that sports gene. Good luck today, USA.

The Young and the Clueless

I’m sure we've all had our clueless moments. As I’ve gotten older, my occasional high-profile clueless moments have been replaced by a more-pervasive existential haze of low-grade cluelessness. I’m not sure that’s an improvement, but it gives me an excuse to point out others’ cluelessness and laugh cruelly at them. I know, I know, people in glass pots shouldn’t kettle black...

Here’s an example that’s excusable for two reasons. One is that it happened before there was Google. Of course, it could happen today, but if it did, it would represent truly negligent cluelessness. The other is that the incident made for such an engaging anecdote. If you screw up, admit the truth and the world will laugh with you, not at you.

Michael Bierut tells the story of calling world-famous photographer Arnold Newman, not knowing who he was, to shoot a portrait for a brochure. Newman was gracious and even sent over his portfolio of portraits on request—of Kennedy, Picasso, Marilyn Monroe, etc, etc, etc. Newman didn’t get the gig—too expensive. Read Michael’s priceless reminiscence at Design Observer. And then read all the comments for more heartwarming stories.

Villanova Diner RIP

I noticed the other day that a Main Line landmark has been erased from the planet: the Villanova Diner. (It was torn down and replaced by a bank.) Many years ago, the building was a Howard Johnson’s restaurant which offered decent typical diner fare and a galaxy of ice cream flavors. The Howard Johnson’s closed and was reopened as the Villanova Diner.

Because of its convenient location and the dearth of restaurants in the immediate vicinity, I’ve eaten there quite a few times over the years. So did a lot of people; the place was always busy. Normally if I don’t like a restaurant, I won’t bother to write about it, but in this case I’m making an exception: I can’t think of a place with consistently worse food. Nothing I ever ate there was any good. Over the years I kept simplifying my order in a quest to find something that tasted good. Even a humble tuna sandwich or a diner staple like bacon and eggs had that certain nothing. An amazing place; I don’t know how they did it. I’m sure the bank will serve better meals. At least the dishes should come with interest.

Earthquake Strikes Upper Dublin Township

A violent earthquake struck the heart of peaceful Upper Dublin Township in Montgomery County last night during commencement exercises at the high school. I think I was able to capture the tremors very well (see picture below).

Thanks to the abundant optimism in the air, no one was injured. (It’s what air bags are filled with.)

So it's a little blurry. You try taking a picture at a shutter speed of 1/20 second while hanging on to the back of a speeding golf cart with one hand. Of course, the paparazzi do this sort of thing all the time.

What really happened is that my niece graduated from high school; she is headed to Boston University in the fall. As for the blurry picture, two members of our party have trouble walking, so after the ceremony we were all given rides back to the parking lot in golf carts. Naturally I risked my life to get a picture, if you can call it that.

Alert the Grammar Police

As artless as the directions and legalese on gas pumps usually are, the language is usually grammatically correct. Not so at this truck stop somewhere in Lancaster County where we stopped Friday night:

I count two typos and a missing apostrophe. Everybody makes mistakes, and I don’t hold gas-station owners to a high standard. If this were a hand-lettered sign, I wouldn't even have mentioned it, but I assume this was created by “Corporate.” They should know better.

This reminds me of a common sight: signs with gratuitous quotation marks. The change in meaning is usually inadvertently humorous. Example: A roadside sign advertising “Fresh” Vegetables. Enjoy the many examples at the Gallery of “Misused” Quotation Marks. Even funnier (to me) than misheard lyrics.

Mainiacs

By now, most everyone has seen the video of the Mentos and Diet Coke homage to the Bellagio Fountains in Las Vegas. (See it here; read how it was done here.)

What I learned yesterday is that the two Mentotechnicians, Fritz Grobe and Stephen Voltz, are from Maine. (I heard them interviewed on NPR, reminding me simultaneously that my membership dollars aren’t going to waste, and that they aren’t afraid to take on the tough stories of the day.) The fact that these two guys are from Maine just warmed my cockles. They possessed not only the epic vision to see the artistic possibilities in the humble Mentos parlor trick, but also the (perhaps disturbing) intensity of focus it takes to master the delicate balance between creativity and engineering it took to pull the whole thing off. That’s not the first thing I think of when I think of Maine—but it works for me.

Tune Me Up

I don’t often ask for your help, but I’m getting desperate. I have a credit of $14.01 at the iTunes Music Store. And I don’t know what to do with it.

When iTunes debuted, I bought one song just to try it out. Since then, nothing. We’re talking years going by here, so this new credit situation has me paralyzed with indecision. That’s why I’m asking for your help. Help me use up this credit.

There are only two rules:

1. There are no rules.
2. See Rule 1.

(I always wanted to do that.)

The real rules: Leave one song title (and the artist) in a comment or drop me an email. (If you want to post anonymously, just enter a bogus name and email address in the comment.) Don’t worry if the song’s not actually available through iTMS, although that would be ideal, since I will buy the first 14 songs recommended (in the unlikely event I get 14).

Please pick something that you love, and not something that you think I might like. My brother-in-law has made me some mixes that have included gems I never would have found on my own (Fountains of Wayne and Hindu Rodeo just to name two). That’s the point here. I am expecting to be surprised and delighted by your choices. The song doesn’t have to be obscure. Chances are, if it was recorded in the last 15 years, I haven’t heard it.

If our positions were reversed, here’s what I would select: Quilombo by Gilberto Gil or anything from Los Amigos Invisibles’ “The New Sound of the Venezuelan Gozadera”; how about Quiero Desintegrar a Tu Novio. Decisions, decisions.

If you can, please avoid choosing any jazz or Brazilian music, or anything by the two artists I love unconditionally and get everything they put out, John Scofield and Susan Werner.

I stand to discover some wonderful music from this exercise. You on the other hand, get nothing out of this. Nothing, that is, except my undying admiration for your good taste.

Thanks to Anne for the clever post title. Who knows, this might turn into one of those meme thingies.

UPDATE June 7: Cha-ching! You’ve helped me spend $6.93 so far; only $7.08 to go. As I suspected, I have heard of only three of the bands. So far the list is a little Wilco-heavy, but that’s OK, as I have observed that all the cool kids like Wilco. Thanks to those who have participated so far.

UPDATE June 8: After two days, I have 8 recommendations. By my calculations, that means everybody who reads this blog participated. I still have $6.09 left to spend, so feel free to add a recommendation by way of the comments whenever you happen to read this.

UPDATE June 11: I still have some choices to make as you can see from the playlist below... and there’s only one dollar left in the kitty.

UPDATE June 13: Although I still have two songs to chose, my credit is spent. Thanks, everyone. Again, if you are coming in late to this thread, feel free to add your recommendation by way of the comments. Funky, there will be a review of the tunes forthcoming. Please allow two to four weeks for delivery. Void where prohibited.

Here’s the final playlist:

1. “How Long Have You Been Stoned” by Over the Rhine [Howard]
2. “Sunken Treasure” by Wilco [Stacey]
3. “Come on Home” by Everything but the Girl [Ellen]
4. "I'm the Man Who Loves You” by Wilco [Mark]
5. “Side” by Travis [Funky Dung]
6. “Jesus” by Page France [Tom] (not available at iTMS; substituted “Rhythm” from “Come, I’m a Lion!”)
7. “Sanibel” by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young [James]
8. “El Cerrito Place” by Charlie Robison [Frank]
9. “America” by Hamilton Camp [Marisa]
10. Something by Ben Vaughn... (I will choose) [Yoko]
11. “Where Have All The Rude Boys Gone?” by Ted Leo & the Pharmacists [Mrs. Harridan]
12. “Jack the Ripper” by Morrissey [picturegrl]
13. Something from “Observatory” by Julia Dollison [John]
14. “And We Danced” by The Hooters [Anne Marie]

Let Us Now Praise Famous Dave’s

Had lunch at Famous Dave’s yesterday. That makes three BBQ chains I’ve visited so far, Smokey Bones and Dickey’s being the other two. I wonder if BBQ is a hot, new sub-genre of chain restaurants, or if they are just now reaching the Northeast. In other words, are more on the way? As much as I love BBQ, I’m no connoisseur and am easily satisfied; I enjoyed my pork sandwich very much. The short list of beers was uninspired, but included Newcastle Brown Ale, which I ordered. Judging from our waitress’s reaction, I may have been the first person to do. She asked me skeptically if that beer was on the list. I said yes, and she carefully wrote all three words down. When she returned with the drinks, she apologized for taking so long; they had to search for the stash of Newcastle.

One thing that rubbed me the wrong way falls into the category of gimmicks that chain restaurants do to differentiate themselves from each other (since the food itself is somewhat interchangeable). It’s the Scripted Greeting. I encountered this gimmick first at a Roy Rogers many years where I was greeted with, “HowdypartnermayItakeyourorder?” Spelling that as one word doesn't begin to do justice to the mindless, robotic delivery this poor employee had mastered after saying it so many times. I’m sure that’s not the effect that Marketing had in mind. Fortunately I don’t hear this too often, but at Dave’s we were greeted with, “Hi, I’m famous Kim.” Aw, c’mon. It’s Dave’s world. We just live in it. Only Dave gets to be famous. When I open my chain of lobster-roll restaurants, you can bet there’ll be a script (’cause I always wanted to direct), but for the greeting step it will say:

Greet the customer. In your own way.

There was one other odd thing. Kim took great pains to explain the five BBQ sauces, but when my sandwich arrived, it was already sauced! Granted, it was sauced with the one I identified as my favorite during the tasting, so maybe she was just being thoughtful.

By the way, if you want superb BBQ in a non-chain restaurant (and you know you do), please visit The Smoked Joint (1420 Locust Street) or Sweet Lucy’s. I haven’t been to Sweet Lucy’s yet, but I know at The Smoked Joint they will greet you in their own way. If they don’t, just ask them what they’re smokin’.

Chimay is Belgian for Expensive

One more tale from the weekend. Last weekend. (Real-time blogging this ain’t.) This is about beer, which has become one of my favorite subjects in the last few years.

I’ve seen Chimay beer offered at various places, and I’ve always been curious about it, simply because it’s so expensive. Last Friday, we had dinner at Shanachie, an Irish pub in Ambler run by singer Gerry Timlin. We were feeling expansive on our big night out (earlier we had caught a set by Overunderground at the Brew Ha Ha), so we split a Chimay. According to Chimay.com, there is more than one “Chimay.” I’m not sure exactly what we got, but I think it was called Grand Reserve, and it came in a large bottle (750-ml?), so one was enough for both of us. It tasted just like Guinness to me (which I love), only more expensive. I don’t have the palate, the experience, or the vocabulary to draw any more comparisons than that. Did I mention it was expensive? It must be good, then.

The highlight of the meal wasn’t the beer or the food or even the live Irish music, but an encounter with the charming Mr. Timlin himelf. He drew a bead on me from across the room and swooped down, exclaiming, “I like your haircut!” referring to nothing more than our shared male-pattern baldness and beard. We do look a lot alike (see his picture at GerryTimlin.com), enough so that people at the next table wondered if we were brothers. I can add Gerry to the short list of celebrities I resemble (at least superficially), which includes Leonard Maltin (the movie reviewer) and local DJ John Harvey.

Sorry for that digression; back to beer. Chimay Blanche made Forbes’ list of the the 20 coolest beers. There are a few on that list I’m interested in trying. What can I say. I like lists.