The Angel Willow

Song of the day, 21 August 2026

Since my ladyfriend was up in the UP last weekend and I now have Yooper coffee, Yooper soap, and thimbleberry jam. With the UP on my mind, here's some Yooper beat poetry. Boreal and sultry.

Watch your honey sticks, can't keep away

Last Sunday Lapacek's Orchard had their first batches of apples ready for sale. My ladyfriend and I were sure to make an appearance.

The drive there was lovely. As we drove down a county road lined with farms and full of gentle hills we passed a field with a sedge of sandhill cranes nibbling away. They've gotta build up their strength for the journey south soon. Arriving at the orchard we found many cars already parked out front. As usual, the first treat in store was cats. This grey one greeted us but was not keen on posing for photos and preferred to do some grooming instead.

We wandered out back to see the goats. And they were happy to see us. So happy, in fact, that they licked our palms and those of other visitors mercilessly. The kids were cute as the dickens.

Would you like to live appliciously?

The chickens were all relaxing in the shade provided by the tall grass and thusly were hard to find.

Eventually we wandered back towards the store and ran into moar cats. This orange boy was more amenable to pets.

This tuxedoed feline was all feisty. "Back off, hooman..."

It being opening day for apples, there weren't many varieties available. Nonetheless I consulted the big board.

My ladyfriend knows Kim Lapacek who was behind the counter as she always is when we visit. They hugged and chatted for a bit as I wandered the store. Apples for me. Check. Apples for my friend's daughter. Check. Apple cider doughnuts for her. Check. I nearly bought an apple cookbook. Nearly. Instead I opted for the bounty of recipes on the internet and figured I'd check a cookbook out from the library before committing to purchasing one.

It's hard for me not to want to cook up a million dishes all with apples when I wander Lapacek's. A pie or a crisp would do my friends some good but I also want to learn to include them in more savory dishes.

I love the Up North soap from Suds & Harvest for its wonderful piney scent. It smells so nice that I probably wouldn't notice if the soap had no cleaning properties. I took many whiffs of a bar of it before finding the strength to put it down. Normally I'd buy one (or more) but my lady has kept me stocked with soap so I have 2 bars, including one made by Yoopers, waiting for the one in my shower to be depleted. And the soap I'm using now is one of those mega-bars from Duke Cannon which apparently makes me manly and virile. It is huge. So big, in fact, that it's stretching my soap scrubber pouch to its limit. In my defense, I got it on clearance at Target. Yes, it's the requisite pine scent.

My basket was getting full so it was probably a good thing that there was no fresh cider available. However, there was still room for a few honey sticks.

Last season my ladyfriend and I seemed to go to Lapacek's every week. Every other, at most, and I had apples coming out of my ears. Time to start putting apples into everything I cook. Next up: apple cheddar scones. That's the plan, anyway.

Faster, faster, until the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of death

The invite came via text on Tuesday.

Are you busy Saturday?

I was intrigued, though cautious.

Wanna do some redneck shit?

Of course I was up for some redneck shit with my redneck friend I hadn't seen in months. We had a date. At Dells Raceway Park.

I opted to meet him at his mother's place in Portage as it had been a while since I'd seen her as well. With luck I'd also get to see his sister. My pal and I have been friends for nearly 36 years and I got to know his family early on. His parents and sister were like another family to me.

When I arrived I found that my friend's sister was at work so he, his mom, and I sat out back on the banks of the Wisconsin River and caught up. After a half an hour or so we were off to the races.

It being a redneck outing, the first thing we did was to get some liquid refreshment. We grabbed a couple Miller beers from a server who seemed quite chuffed with her tip. (They also had Yuengling available, oddly enough.) I don't think I'd ever been to a stockcar race before and, when we arrived, the racers were doing their qualifying laps. I kept hearing "Prepare to qualify!" from the old video game Pole Position in my head.

There were 2 announcers and each had a stereotypical Wisconsin accent. In addition to giving us lap-by-lap updates, their banter often involved friends and family giving it a distinctly local flavor along with the occasional comical comment that was family-friendly. Usually.

There were several different classes of cars and I learned that the way it works is that each class does a short race of 6 or 8 laps and then later they do a "feature race" that was 15-25 or, for one class, 50 laps. 

As the cars went round, they developed a cacophonous cadence. Relatively quiet as they sped away from us and were on the far side of the track and then, as they sped by us, the rumble built to a crescendo and my chest would cavitate. My friend and I bet on every race - $1, just like in Trading Places. For my part, I chose based on car color, usually. One guy had his car's number spray painted on one side and I found that I appreciated the lo-fi paint job. Another car I bet on was the lone station wagon. The family car had my confidence.

There were no major crashes, just a few spinouts and some busted quarter panels. In addition to the visceral thrill from the roar of the engines and the Hoosier tires, there were many moments when the cars were so close you'd swear they were touching. I found that these moments were actually few and far between. As they were making the turn before the straightaway in front of me, my eyes were fooled because of my POV. As they veered left there looked to be mere inches between the cars but, as they sped in front of me, it turned out they were several feet apart. Despite knowing this, I'd still get anxious every time the cars hit that turn.

I laughed when the announcers gave the names of the drivers along with their nicknames. While I cannot for the life of me recall any of the racing sobriquets, they were along the lines of Mike "The Killer" Lichtfeld and said in way that, if the context was removed, you'd swear it was from a WWE match. It sounded like fun rather than a sober declaration of victory for a warrior who had just gained favor with the emperor.

I learned from an ad on the track that Club La Mark is Madison's race car bar. The more you know.

While the stands weren't full, there was a good crowd out that night including a lot of families. I cannot recall the last time I was around so many guys wearing muscle t-shirts. One fellow closer to my age seated a couple benches down was clad in jeans, plaid shirt, baseball cap, and suspenders. In my mind he had spent the day in front of a table router making dovetail joints and was glad to get out of the shop for a night. Just the salt of the earth of Wisconsin, really. Nothing decadent or depraved to be found. It had been a while since I'd spent this much time with rural/small town folk and it gave me flashbacks to the days when I was living up north.

As far as I can recall, I broke even that night. It was a really fun time - cheap beer, fast cars, and good company. No doubt I'll be going again.

The tastes of Tibet and August

Earlier this week I was looking for restaurants to take the daughter of a friend out for dinner. She's a student at UW and I wanted to buy her a good meal before the semester starts and she's eating almost exclusively on the go fare. Plus, I wanted to give her the apples and apple cider doughnuts I bought for her at Lapacek's Orchard on opening day. I found Tibet Kitchen and thought it'd fit the bill with several vegetarian options and an uncommon cuisine. Well, not that uncommon, it turns out.

My ladyfriend did a search and found that there are, in fact, 4 restaurants in town serving Tibetan food. Not bad for a city of only around 300,000 people.

We began with the vegan momos that had these lamprey mouth-like openings on top. They were scrumptious, laden with cabbage. A tasty sauce burst out with the first bite. The dipping sauce had some nice heat.

The co-ed got one of the stir fries but I cannot recall which. She vacuumed it up in short order. I forgot just how much 20 year-olds eat.

My ladyfriend enjoyed a big bowl of mokthuk, Tibetan dumpling soup. She allowed me a sample and I can testify that it was delicious.

I went a bit overboard, I must admit. First, I got a big plate of cucumber salad which was crisp and cool with a hint of spice. Sorry cucumber fans, no photo. Next was a big ol' plate of sauteed baby bok choy. They did not pull any punches when it came to the garlic.

Finally, I got a big bowl of thenthuk, a noodle soup with plenty of flat noodles.

Also not shown was a swirl of tingmo, Tibetan bread. I know nothing about it but I can tell you that it had a nice grainy taste and proved to be the quicker picker upper as it absorbed the garlic sauce from the bok choy with ease.

Every bite was delicious and portions were generous. The co-ed went home with a full belly.

A return visit is in order.

With a surfeit of apples - Scarlets, I've been thinking about what to do with them. The first thing that came to mind was to cook them with pork. And so I paired the pork chops in my refrigerator with a Scarlet stuffing.

I threw them in the oven smothered in kraut.

I also made corn on the cob with the ears I bought at Lapacek's over the weekend.

My photo:

My ladyfriend's (better) photo:

While the corn wasn't mega-sweet, it was still delicious. And the chops turned out well. More apples next time. Still, a nice meal to welcome in the bounty of the early harvest.

The stuff of the UP

My ladyfriend was up in the UP recently and I asked for thimbleberry jam. I got some along with some boreal coffee.

Not shown are the t-shirt from Kitschy Spirit Records - opened by a former Madisonian, a cat bookmark, and some sweetly scented soap.

Song of the day, 20 August 2026

Willow all curled up and lookin' cute

Walk, 20 August 2026

Mushrooms are in full bloom down the street.

Nature cares not for the bike path.

Evidence of autumn '26.

Enjoy the flowers while they're still around.

There are a few walnut trees along E. Washington by Highway 30.

The trees of Washington Manor Park.

Just a couple photos

My neighbors downstairs now have a cat!

And here's the firmament.

Learn how to polka at The Bur Oak

Willow being naughty but looking innocent

You can't paint the blues without Primer*

It had been a while since I'd seen John Primer perform but didn't realize that the last time I did was way back in 2009. Where does the time go?

There really isn't a bad seat in the house at The North Street Cabaret and I was up front stage left.

Primer is one of few remaining Chicago blues connections to all the greats that had so much influence on rock music. In his 80s now, he came to Chicago in the early 1960s and got his start at the Maxwell Street Market before getting a regular gig at the legendary Theresa's Lounge where he played with Buddy Guy, Junior Wells, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, and on and on.

Just after 8 the band stepped onto the stage. The harp player, Steve Bell, strapped on his ammo belt of harmonicas, drummer Lenny Media took a seat behind his kit, and bassist Melvin Smith strapped on his 5-string. And, of course, Primer grabbed one of his guitars and they started playing the blues.

Speaking of blues, someone needs to write a song for Willow who is at my feet meowing. Something like the "Got No Churu Blues".

The treats are gone, Skippy

And kibble just won't do

That little dish is empty

I've got the no Churu blues

Poor cat.

I just found out that Bell is the son of the legendary Corey Bell. No wonder he was so effin' good. Everyone was great, truth be told. I really loved Media's playing. He knew exactly when to throw in these perfect, short fills. Just wonderful. Sorry I didn't get a good photo of him in action.

The night was a mix of classics such as "Mannish Boy" and "I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man" and newer tunes - "Chicago" and "Tough Times" come to mind, the latter having been (co-?)written by his daughter. I am not very familiar with Primer's catalogue and am struggling to recall song names but can tell you that there were more than a couple times when the band just hit a groove and it was absolutely sublime. Primer and Bell traded solos while the rhythm section held things down for them. Simply fantastic.

A woman behind me was dancing and, although the rest of us weren't quite so animated, everyone was having a good time. I even saw a smattering of folks younger than me.

Ooh! They played "Across the Universe" as the opener of the second set. Neat! Also for the second set I sat next to Primer's granddaughter. I chatted with her a little bit and she was such a nice woman. And, improbably, she lives in the Madison area. She told me that she had gone to college and was a poet but that she was looking to go back to school. Best of luck to her.

The show ended with a spirited "Got My Mojo Working" which was awesome.

It was a great night and I see that Primer returns to The North Street Cabaret on 27 February. I plan to be there.

*I stole this from his website.

Song of the day, 19 August 2026

R.I.P. Frank Beard.

More shrooms

My neighbor's yard continues to impress with its mycological bounty.

Blueberries: clafoutis or flognarde?

Yesterday I decided to finally do something with all of the blueberries in my refrigerator which would surely go bad at the pace I was eating them: put them into a clafoutis.

I went looking for recipes online and discovered that the dish was traditionally made with cherries thusly making my creation a flognarde. You learn something new everyday.

However classified, it turned out well.

The recipe called for 3 cups of fruit but I had maybe half of that. How did the recipe's author expect me to fit anymore berries in there?

Proggy goodness, old and new. Well, it's all old, really.

Many thanks to MadCity Music for the new tunes.

I've always meant to investigate Caravan beyond the title track of In the Land of Grey and Pink and a remaster with bonus tracks for $5 was an absolute steal. The Kansas set is a live album. I've heard several songs from it and this is the band in fine form - perhaps at their proggy peak. It's full of energy and twists & turns and is just wonderful. (I wonder if there's overdubs.) I already have Mayhem Symphony, a cleaned-up radio broadcast courtesy of the Progressive Rock Remaster Project, from Pittsburgh on Halloween 1976, but Two for the Show was recorded on the Point of Know Return tour and has some classics from that album.

Listening to J-Tull Dot Com has been fun. It brings back a lot of memories from a time in my life that were a bit like wilderness years. I was single and getting on my feet career-wise. In a sense it was around this time that I really began to mature into an adult. While it's not Tull in full on prog mode, there's a lot of nice riffing from Martin Barre, Andy Giddings continues to bring vitality to keyboards in Tull's sound, and they both getting writing credits here. The flute playing is loud and brash. Plus some of the outtakes are just as good as the material that made it onto the album.

The 2026 remixes are really good. There seems to be more space between the instruments with everything a bit more upfront. Plus I think there's more stereo separation, though I haven't done a thorough comparison.

Cups of hope

Yesterday I had my first taste of the coffee I bought in Indianapolis earlier this month. We didn't get a hotel downtown so there was no closest coffeeshop for us. And so I opted for daily jaunts to Command Coffee on Monument Circle where I've been going there for past 2 or 3 years when we were staying at a hotel nearby. Good coffee, not overly crowded.

This is a lighter roast and I taste milk chocolate and a fruity kind of thing. Cherry seems appropriate but there's some other fruity taste here too. Not citrus, though. I don't know what passion fruit tastes like so a definite maybe.

Regardless this is tasty stuff and quite a bit different from the darker roasts I've been having lately which are more roasty and dark chocolatey.

Song of the day, 16 August 2026

With a tree about to meet its end down the block, let today's song be about our leafy friends who majestically tower over us, shading us from the sun, providing a place to climb. And some of them give us their sappy goodness for our pancakes.

Trees, glorious trees!

Goodbye my sylvan neighbor

On Friday evening as I walking down my block I noticed a sandwich board thingy and stopped to read it.

I was touched by the impending loss of this sylvan friend. Judging by its size, I'd guess that it is original to the neighborhood - probably planted in 1946 or '47. Perhaps it has succumbed to disease. Sad.

I felt it really neat that the owners created the sign and publicly acknowledged the tree's fate. Rather than being an isolated action of the property owner, it was cast as a communal loss.

Doctor Who is helping me prep for Manchester

Next up on the audio drama front is Paul Magrs' The Peterloo Massacre. The Peterloo Massacre happened on this day in 1819 in what was called St. Peter's Field in Manchester. A group of around 60,000 people had come together to demand suffrage for all men and they were attacked by a cavalry regiment that had been sent to disperse the crowd. According to Wikipedia, on that day "between nine and seventeen people were killed and 400 to 700 injured".

As for the audio drama, it is a gem. A pall hangs over every scene as you know the horror to come. The acting is superb and, despite knowing the history, the tension is palpable. One of the last - perhaps the last - classic Big Finish tales from the original line when stories were generally 4 parts. A tour de force for the Fifth Doctor. And Paul Magrs too.

I believe that the Peterloo Massacre memorial is not far from our hotel so I am planning a stroll to see it.

Willow is ready for her close-up

I have 'maters!

As my serrano plants goes gangbusters, my tomato plant is slowly, but surely, growing some fruit.