"Is he talking about her magic carpet?"

I've been watching this review of Jethro Tull's Songs From the Wood by Doug Helvering and he notes the generous use of double entendres in the lyrics of "Velvet Green". He theorizes that it will be "The Lemon Song" of Songs From the Wood. I laughed aloud.

Song of the day, 5 Juli 2026

Clean microwave. Check.

Vacuum apartment. Check.

Harvest my first serranoes of the year. Check.

Get ladyfriend hooked on Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch. Check.

Not exactly full-sized, but it's my first chili plant in ages. I think they'll end up in pico de gallo. They could be hot...

I recently finished listening to a BBC Radio 4 show called Legends that did a 5-part bio of Miles Davis so I am spending some time listening to him before I head to my ladyfriend's house for dinner.

Willow's latest gift

In addition to getting a doughnut fort earlier this week, Willow got a coffee table yesterday.

I can vouch that she is enjoying it.

Song of the day, 3 Juli 2026

Since there's a new (newish, anyway) documentary on the Carolina Chocolate Drops, here they are here in Madison at the Orton Park Festival back in the day.

There's a Carolina Chocolate Drops documentary!

It's called Don’t Get Trouble in Your Mind. Here's the trailer. It looks mighty fine.

Just when you thought the Eastern Front couldn't get any more appalling

My current read is War of Annihilation: Combat and Genocide on the Eastern Front, 1941 by Geoffrey P. Megargee.

I am not very far in so it's been background so far but it will lay out how, contrary to popular perceptions, the Wehrmacht colluded with the SS to help carry out the Holocaust and just inflict heinous cruelty on civilian populations in general. Just when you thought the Eastern Front couldn't get any more appalling.

Here's Megargee giving a lecture on the subject.

Bummed

I was just informed that the Chicago dates for Radiohead's Kid A Mnesia Motion Picture House have been cancelled. I was looking forward to this immersive art experience and hearing some Radiohead music in Dolby Atmos.

Bummer.

A comfortable doughnut

Willa's a killa!

Willow is also enjoying her new doughnut bed/cat fort courtesy of my ladyfriend.

Nirvana '89 show in Madison released

Nirvana's first gig here in Madison on 7 July 1989 at O'Cayz Corral has been dusted off and shared on Youtube.

I once had a conversation with a sound guy about town who told me that he was going to record the Nirvana show he was doing but he had forgotten to hit record because he was chemically enhanced, shall we say. I am not sure if it was this performance or the one the following year at Club Underground.

While it doesn't have A+ hifi sound, it is quite good.

It's too hot to cook inside

And so the grilling continues. Last night it was brats. Presumably because of the awful humidity, my first attempt at lighting the charcoal didn't go so well. Uff da!

They were quite tasty and went well with a highly refreshing pilsner from Goldfinger which I picked up when I was in Chicago a couple weeks back.

Willow enjoys my desk and environs

Not only does she hang out on my desk...

...but has also taken to napping on my desk chair.

Song of the day, 30 Juni 2026

Since I've been listening to Yes' Heaven & Earth a lot lately with the intention to write about it, here's one of my favorite songs from it.

Song of the day, 29 Juni 2026

A week or two ago I went to see the Gregg Allman documentary Gregg Allman: The Music of My Soul with my music doc viewing pal. Afterwards in the car on the drive home we discussed The Allman Brothers Band. I admitted that I enjoyed their post-1989 reunion stuff. Indeed, I have a soft spot for their 1994 effort Where It All Begins. The band is tight and the songs are tuneful with fine melodies and great soloing.

I really love "No One to Run With" with its Bo Diddley beat, a full and catchy percussion section, and insistent drive.

And On Those Shores They Did Dance

It was a lovely day on Saturday to return to San Damiano to see what the wood sculptors at the Harry Whitehorse International Wood Sculpture Festival had come up with. If Michelangelo was correct in his (arboreally adjusted) assertion "Every log has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it" then I was surely in for a treat. And so I jumped on my bike and headed out after my morning coffee and making sure Willow was properly fed & watered.

Starkweather Creek looked lovely from the Ivy Street bridge.

Back in my old neighborhood I spied a mama mallard and her brood in the runoff reservoir just off of Walter Street. It brought back some good memories as I had walked and biked by there quite often when I lived in Eastmorland. I saw all manner of creatures there as I passed by over the years - mallards, muskrats, blue herons, et al.

When I stopped in at the wood sculpture festival last weekend, the artists were mainly wielding chainsaws and doing the rough cuts on their logs, giving only the broadest of outlines to the statues within. But now there were some completed sculptures, a few getting stain applied, and the remaining still having the finishing touches put on them.

The bear and mouse dancing was simply lovely.

Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!!

San Damiano is such a lovely spot.

At least some of the works from the last festival ended up on display at Olbrich Park and Garver Feed Mill and I am hoping the same will happen to this year's works.

The Dixon Green Space was serene and all aglow on my ride home.

Rauch chow

Earlier this week I ran into an episode of the BBC World Service's show The Food Chain about smoked foods called "Why do we love smoky flavours so much?".

As a lover of smoky flavours, I found it a great listen and surprised to hear about smoked water and smoked lettuce.(?!)

The next day I discovered that it's not just we human who enjoy them.

Diorama

Just Darth Vader and a Stromtrooper having a cookout on their deck.

Obligatory cat pics

Willow is just so gosh darn cute.

I am trying to get into the habit of playing with her in the morning and after dinner. She gets less play time on mornings when I go into the office but I have been pretty good at playing with her daily for at least some time. And show loves it. She runs through her tube and squats under the couch before pouncing on the wand toy at the right time and then she'll jump on the couch and go into her couch fort biding her time once more...

Stoopid heat is coming

In preparation for the coming heat wave, I made some limeade.

It took 2 pounds of limes to make half a gallon of the stuff so I did a lot of reaming. Maybe I should look for a juicer at the thrift shops if I keep this up.

And I do not plan to fire up the coffeemaker when it's 90 so I've got some cold brew concentrate a-steeping.

I also made a batch of tuna salad and some Thai cucumber salad. And those brats in my refrigerator will likely be grilled today for dinner and future meals.

Something's changed, that's not your chair

It's mine, it's mine!