The Crucible of Metal

Crucible is known for hosting various kink, burlesque, and other non-live music events, but they also bring in some very interesting bands. Recently Voivod played there and I went with a friend of mine who took very little convincing. He was, after all, the person who introduced them to me back in the early 90s.

It had been a long time since I had been surrounded by so many people donning blue denim jackets covered in patches. While at the bar I ran into a woman who is an acquaintance of mine. I had no idea she was a metalhead. My companion ran into an old buddy of his from high school that used to come to our parties in college. It must have been nearly 35 years since I'd seen him. He proved to be a metal fan of epic proportions and was there with a friend of his and we all stuck together for the show. Well, mostly.

Madison's Flying Fuzz opened.

They were kids in their 20s playing good old school metal. Melodic riffs and headbanging tempos. A lot of fun for us and I think a lot of fun for them too as they seemed to feel like, "Holy crap, we're opening for Voivod!"

Bat from Virigina were next. A bit older, they were more thrash and got the mosh pit going.

Their bass player reminded me of a friend from high school and I had a mild 1980s flashback. (I hope you're well, Jeremy.)

Finally it was time for Voivod.

I am not the biggest fan and only know tunes from Nothingface and Dimension Hatröss but they were awesome! Thrash weaved together with progressive metal as people moshed and bodies were passed. It was glorious!

It was my first time at Crucible and it proved to be a very intimate space for a show. The sound was good and there really wasn't a spot where you couldn't get a good glimpse of the stage. It had been years since I'd been to a metal show and, despite having advanced into middle age, I engaged in some gentle headbanging and threw the occasional fist and devil horns.

The crowd was engaged and excited; with all the moshing and body passing, the energy in the room was fantastic.

Crucible is a nice walk from my place and the beer prices were not bad at all. I hope to have a chance to return soon.

Here's some nice video footage from that night.

Kubrickian

When I read about Kubrickian, I felt that it was right up my Straße. A trio of guys stuck in a mysterious white room (with no black curtains) arguing about the movies of Stanley Kubrick. Having watched Jim Henson's The Cube just a couple months back, it sprang to mind, especially the stuck in a mysterious white room bit.

I also loved the poster which had a distinct 1970s Eastern Bloc look to it, like it was used to promote Zardoz in Poland back in the day.

Here's a shot of the stage a little before the performance began:

It opens with the lights going out and chaos erupting. The characters are scrambling about on the stage shouting at one another as they attempt to formulate a plan to capture someone or something - presumably their jailer - on the fly. It was creepy and I felt like The Crawler from Annihilation was going to make an appearance.

But it didn't.

Instead the lights come up and we see that Chris, the guy in the track suit above, has what appear to be burns on the insides of his arms. He is an outgoing cinephile who loves Kubrick. Howard is catatonic and sits in the corner staring blankly into the distance. Danny is scared and becomes Chris' interlocutor, his antagonist, and then later his fellow performer.

As Chris discourses on the genius of Kubrick, Danny confesses to not remembering much of Kubrick's work despite having seen a film or two of his. Chris seems in denial of their situation with his rapid-fire declarations of love for Eyes Wide Shut, The Shining, etc. and perhaps hides his fear behind smartassery. Danny, on the other hand, is open about his fears and his need for conversation to keep his sanity.

The play's description is of "a haunting and hilarious look at masculinity, creativity, and capitalism" and these two seems at opposite ends of masculine stereotypes. One appears strong and at the ready - after all, Chris did attempt to capture the jailer and has the burns to prove it - while the other is more feminine and expresses vulnerability.

All the while Howard sits in the corner expressionless.

Suddenly a crevice appears in one of the walls that confines them. Chris steps through leaving Danny alone with his silent companion.

But it isn't long before Chris mysteriously reappears. He now has burns or scars on his throat and we learn that he has been rendered mute. Slowly he and Danny learn to communicate via hand gestures and sounds not produced by the larynx. And as they learn new ways to communicate with one another they learn to be friends.

Another opening appears and this time Danny plunges into the dark. Upon his return he too is mute. As the play reaches a denouement, the pair reenact the opening of 2001: A Space Odessey with the newly bonded friends taking on the roles of the apes and using their hands to pound out Also sprach Zarathustra on their chests and thighs. Howard is used as a stand-in for the monolith.

Having apparently passed a test of some kind, the trio are allowed to leave.

As a Kubrick fan, I found Chris' fanboy diatribes to be fun and funny. Danny was a bit too weak, in my opinion, as if he had capitulated long ago and now refuses to fight. Howard seemed wasted as he sat in the corner far too long and was rarely the object of conversation by the other two.

I appreciated the uncanny, existential feeling engendered by starting the play with the characters already in confinement, of limiting our knowledge of their situation to an enigmatic jailer but I felt the dialogue could have been stronger. The characters offered little, if any, contemplation about their situation and not much about their lives before the white room.

By and large, the story tantalized us with ideas but rarely examined them in any depth. There was a fair bit about masculinity but it seemed a jumble rather than a coherent theme. Creativity seemed more well-developed as we witness Chris and Danny work with one another to communicate via creative means. As for capitalism, nothing more than a line here and there about their jobs pre-white room come to mind that actually addressed this.

It seemed to be a play more about a blossoming friendship, the scene where Chris and Danny kiss notwithstanding, than anything in the ad copy.

Lastly, I felt the pacing was off. There was too much down time with the characters laying and sitting around staring into space. When Danny suggests exercises he and Chris run from side to site of the stage for far too long, the activity being rendered inert and boring to watch.

Henson's The Cube had a vaguely similar premise but it kept things moving and articulated social commentary more robustly.

There were definitely some funny lines and the Kubrick references were most pleasing to this fanboy. Maybe not a diamond in the rough but certainly there's a lot more to be done with the premise. Fun but didn't quite live up to its potential.

Piper's cat tree went to an illustrious home

Earlier this month I donated one of Piper's cat trees to Katie Ackley. As I unloaded my car, I was unaware that she was one of Wisconsin's most influential Native American leaders. Congrats Katie!

Song of the day, 28 March 2026

Leftoverture is such a great album. And Kansas put an indelibly American stamp on progressive rock. For all the lies and shit talk about prog lyrics being about hobbits (thanks Jim DeRogatis :/) check this out:

Well, you told me that I was just not the one
And you left me standing out in the cold
It's been a long time and I'm so much better now

That I'm looking back and seeing it all

And for the first time, there's no pain in my life
Been a long hard road that I've gone
We had a good thing
And it made me a man

Did any other prog band sing anything like that, make even a passing reference about maturing into manhood? Great stuff.

You can have Christmas in March in Albuquerque

A friend and I had lunch the other day at Ian's Pizza at Garver. My dining companion ordered breadsticks and we were asked what kind of dipping sauces we wanted. The helpful and friendly counter helper ran through the list of what was on offer: bacon queso, marinara, green chile ranch...

Wait!

Green chile ranch?!

I immediately took her up on that option as it was something of a vestigial reflex from my recent trip...

I grabbed a taxi a bit after midnight at the Albuquerque airport. It had been a long day of travel. A light wouldn't turn off on the plane in Madison which meant we sat on the runway for an hour or more and so I got to O'Hare late and missed my flight which necessitated a long layover. Hours and hours of interminable layover. I wasn't sure I'd be able to catch a flight that night as apparently there was a power outage at the Denver airport and the effects of that were cascading down to O'Hare. But the plane took off a bit after 9, thankfully.

Despite the lateness of the hour, my cab driver offered an important culinary lesson: in Albuquerque you have the choice of green chile, red chile, or both. This last option is called Christmas.

What a wonderful thing! As the trip wore on, I would learn just how significant the chile was to Albuquerque's identity, just how ingrained the humble fruits are in Albuquerque's psyche. I wouldn't be at all surprised to learn that public schools give kids a day or 2 off at harvest like Chicago students get Casamir Pulaski Day off or kids up north can take a week away from school for gun deer hunting season.

Green chile granola? Yes, I bought some.

While there I learned that the official state cookie is the biscochito. My stepson and his fiancée took me Celina's where they had a variety of flavors on offer including those with chile.

I think the use of lard and anise are the distinguishing features of this cookie. Very tasty!

The duality of chile even went beyond foodstuffs. Got a pain in your back? There's a chile for that.

Methinks a return trip is in order to further investigate the green-red dichotomy.

********

After 4 or 5 days of eating at restaurants, I did some cooking at home. First was a loaf of Polish rye beer bread.

Misshapen, perhaps, but tasty.

In addition to the staff of life, I finally got around to making shrimp creole.

The poor shrimp had been in my freezer since I moved in here back in October. Prior to that, they were in the freezer of my marital residence for a short time. This batch of shrimp creole had been a long time coming.

It turned out well. Nice and chunky with extra Holy Trinity.

I need to grocery shop today and am thinking about what I want to eat in the coming week. If I recall correctly, I have most of the ingredients for bigos, including venison, and just need some cabbage.

The walls are not quite so bare any longer

My living room is getting there. I got some pictures hung yesterday and now Grab and Pipe will be above my couch if/when it arrives.

Oh my sweeties, I miss you both greatly.

And those paintings my friend gave me when I was in Milwaukee last autumn now grace a wall.

Soon I will have a stylin' bachelor pad.

Sunrise, 26 March 2026

Finally!

Something new from The Claudettes: a new version of "Touch You Back" from their forthcoming album Garage Glamour. They'll be here at the North Street Cabaret in June.

New Who

I hear that a couple more "lost" Doctor Who episodes have been found - a couple from The Daleks' Master Plan. The total might get below 90 before I die. Toby Hadoke dresses just like a Doctor Who expert here.

Song of the day, 26 March 2026

Voivod kicked ass last night! It was my first time at Crucible and it is a really nice venue. Great size to see a show, good sound, and the beer wasn't outrageously expensive. Bat and Flying Fuzz were great fun too. I got invited to go see Sepultura in Milwaukee in May!

A Polish Pop Up

Eat beef or die: Beefy's Own Salt N' Vinegar Beef Tallow Potato Chips

I think Beefy's Own is a fine name for a potato chip. Something right out of The Simpsons.

These chips are from New Hampshire and do not have a backstory involving children who cannot eat normal snacks fried in seed oils. Instead the family behind the brand just didn't want to eat seed oils.

What is it with all the negative press for seed oils? It seems like whenever Americans adopt some kind of dietary prohibition, there are cultures without it that have people living to 100 routinely.

This the second beef tallow chip I've encountered and I found it, like the first, at Woodman's. However, these were in a clearance cart. Perhaps people are supporting local tallow chips more than those from the Granite State.

I give Beefy's Own high marks for packaging as A) the bag has a flat bottom so it stands upright and B) the bag is resealable. 

While I am on the subject of packaging, why is it that salt & vinegar chips come in bags that have a lot of blue on them? If a small section of the labeling is given over to the flavor while the rest of the bag is the same for all flavors, salt & vinegar is blue. The vast majority of salt & vinegar chips are denoted via blueness. How did blue become the color of vinegar? Where is Uncle Cecil when you need him? 

The first thing I noticed when opening the bag and peering inside was that these are some large diameter chips. I don't think I ran across a small one my whole tasting. These are some manly chips! They were also thicker than normal. Extra manly! As color goes, these chips were a lovely light tan with some occasional brown spotting. As with Teddy's tallow chips, bubbles were not prominent. At least not large ones.

Beefyness was first to be smelled. That smell, that tallow smell. The potato aroma was on the sweet side and the vinegar was rather faint and required some deep inhalation to be noticed.

Given their thickness, the chips had crunch but it was slightly soggy. It starts off well but my bite got bogged down rather than finishing with a snap. They had a nice tallowy taste but Beefy went very easy on the salt. Not only was there no extra, these seemed to not even have your average dose. Weird. The vinegar tanginess was rather mellow and the spud tasted sweet.

Aside from some smart packaging, I give Beefy's Own credit for a snack that doesn't read like a chemistry textbook. Just spuds, tallow, salt, and white distilled vinegar.

But these chips needed more salt and more vinegar. They were fine, just a bit uninspired.

Wrong turns were taken

From my vacation:

Song of the day, 22 March 2026

Song of the day, 17 March 2026

Tallow, tallow, give it to me, give it to me: Teddy's Vinegar Vibe Tallow Chips

When I first saw these chips, I immediately began singing Porcupine Tree's "Shallow" in my head with the song's title replaced by "tallow". Personally, I think Steven Wilson would be proud to have his radio-friendly riff rocker in a mashup with rendered beef fat. 

I found these Teddy's Tallow Chips in the organic/artisanal junk food aisle at Woodman's. Since buying this bag I have discovered a second brand of tallow fried chips laden with salt and vinegar there which makes me wonder if tallow chips are having their micro-moment of trendiness.

The brand has a story not unlike that of Jackson's: Katherine Horvath found that her son Teddy had severe food allergies so he couldn't eat most snack foods. Mom then tested various options and found that her son could eat potato chips friend in tallow without a reaction.

Oddly enough, Teddy's, like Jackson's, hails from suburban Milwaukee - Cedarburg, in this case.

Tallow, in case you were wondering, is rendered beef fat. That is, beef fat cooked slowly so that, upon melting, the fat can be separated from any non-fat bits. 

The bag had "Subtle Tang" on the front so I wasn't expecting a vinegar overload. Still, I looked forward to trying these as I had never had tallow fried chips.

I found them to be of a darker hue of yellow and brown spots were not uncommon. They had been very thinly sliced and looked fragile. I didn't spy many bubbles on the surface of the chips. I read that tallow has a high smoke point and wonder if one fries chips at the same temp in tallow as seed oils. Being thin means less cooking time so perhaps this accounts for the lack of bubbling.

The aroma was beefy with an earthy spud scent beneath.

Crisp and tallowy is how my notes say they tasted. I think they went easy on the salt but the salinity increases the further down the bag you go. The bag did not lie as I found them to have a subtle tang as advertised. The potato flavor was sweeter than the aroma.

It would have been interesting to have tasted Teddy's chips not knowing they were friend in tallow. Would I have picked up on the animal fat? These really do have an earthy, beefy flavor to my tongue. Seed oils give a "cleaner" flavor, one that is sharper, maybe? Less earthy.

These were very tasty chips though I would have preferred more tanginess.

Song of the day, 16 March 2026