Koschei + Power + Betrayal = Master

The first David A. McIntee story I read was Mission: Impractical which I thought was just a boatload of fun. Next came White Darkness which, again, was pure fun to read and had a touch of Cthulhu Mythos thrown in for good measure which added to my enjoyment. McIntee's name became synonymous with well-crafted tales that were a joy to read. And so I was looking forward to tackling his Second Doctor Missing Adventure, The Dark Path.

The Earth Empire collapsed. From its ashes has arisen the Federation which sees the remnants of the Empire join with its former enemies and subjects as equals, including the Terileptils and the Veltrochni. (Very Star Treky.) The story opens with a squadron of Veltrochni ships that meets its end at the hands of an old Imperial battlecruiser somewhere off in the ass end of the galaxy.

Not too long after this, we are introduced to a Federation ship that is headed to an old Imperial colony in order to establish contact and attempt to inveigle the colony's leadership to join the party. This way out of the way Imperial remnant is something of an enigma as it's on a planet that no one knows quite how it still exists considering its proximity to a past supernova. At the same time, the TARDIS is being followed.

In response to a question from Victoria, the Doctor replies, "Yes, another TA–" which immediately brought to mine that scene from The Omen when Father Brennan says, "His mother was a ja-".

The Doctor and company land at the colony - in a biodome that houses vineyards, as it turns out. The time travelers are mistaken for an advance delegation from the Federation and are treated as official types. I spent some time wondering why the local gendarme, known as Adjudicators, didn't look for a hole in their dome and could only conclude that they never saw the TARDIS and assumed that they had transmatted down.

Concurrently, another TARDIS materializes aboard the Federation ship on its way there, the Piri Reis. That time ship is owned by one Koschei who is, as we see on the cover, the Roger Delgado incarnation of the Master. I was wondering what language "Koschei" was from and figured it surely meant Master in it. Turns out the name refers to a figure from Slavic folklore who is known as "the Immortal" or "the Deathless", according to Wikipedia. Pretty apt considering the Master's future attempts to stay alive after having used up his regenerations.

The colonists are, unsurprisingly, distrustful of the Federation representatives, and still have an Imperial mindset. They also have a secret, a secret which can change all of time and space! A giant energy teat!

Our heroes notice that there are no children in the colony and theorize that the inhabitants are the original ones from 350 years ago. It turns out they discovered this big device, called the Darkheart, which, as we find out, was built by the ancestors of the Chronovores to send energy anywhere and anywhen one of their young or injured needed a boost. The Darkheart is preventing the colonists from aging and explains why the planet survived a nearby supernova.

McIntee deftly handles the various groups of characters, all with various motivations and committing various sins of commission and omission. You've got the colonists and their secrets, the Federation ship hoping to welcome them into the fold, the Doctor and his companions, Koschei and his companion, Ailla, a squadron of Veltrochni ships come to find out what happened to their brethren's ships that we see destroyed at the story's opening, and, finally, a mysterious creature roaming the colony and killing various Adjudicators.

I really liked how McIntee kept identities hidden, secrets secret, and motivations obscured for so long. And little did I know that this was a Master origin story. I kept waiting for him to take pleasure in an act of pure evil once his characters was introduced but he kept being nice. Well, by and large. He does murder someone and dispose of their body in a less than ceremonial way but I think he justified the action as being for the greater good instead of callously claiming the person got in the way of his evil, self-serving machinations. Then Ailla dies only to come back to life after having regenerated and revealing that she was sent by the Time Lords to keep an eye on him. Koschei comes to understand the enormous power given to anyone who could wield the Darkheart and temptation is just too much.

As he tells the Doctor, "That name no longer has any meaning for me, Doctor. In time you too will call me Master."

McIntee captures our heroes well or, at least in a TV-like manner, with the Doctor being very Second Doctor-like. Plenty of those moments of feigned innocence - "Who me?" - and the occasional bit of recorder when locked up. Victoria screams and lapses into despair. You can tell she is becoming disillusioned with life aboard the TARDIS. Jamie is, well, Jamie.

The story ends with the Scotsman observing, "...we’re landing in the sea!" Clearly a reference to our next television story. But first, a quick side step awaits...

Another winner from McIntee.

Trachte Buildings - Cottage Grove

I talked to a neighbor of these buildings and he told me that they are all set to surrender to the wrecking ball.

Trachte Buildings - Fitchburg II

The Corona Diaries Vol. 86 - Prelude: Elvis I

 

 

(Entry #86 awaits your eyes.)

Trachte Buildings - Fitchburg

I ran across this pair of Trachte buildings on my way to photograph other Trachte buildings just down the road.

Return to Vortis

The Web Planet is almost universally mocked for its insectoid costumes which would be marvelous for any third grader's school play. And its 6 episodes were slow going, at times. Certainly not all killer, no filler. So I give Christopher Bulis a lot of credit for writing a story that is a sequel to this much maligned television tale.

The TARDIS lands once again on Vortis. But the crew finds that there are more than just Menoptera and Zarbi here. Two groups, the Imperial and the Republican, from the Rhumon system have laid claim to it with representatives from each stranded on the planet. Our time travelers are captured by Republicans but Victoria manages to escape with an assist from some grey creatures. The Doctor and Jamie escape Republican clutches too but only because they fall into Imperial ones.

Amongst the representatives of the Empire is one Father Modeenus, whose religious fervor gives Jonathan Edwards a run for his money. I seem to recall that various authors from the Wilderness Years had an anti-religious bent but I cannot remember if Bulis is one of them. I don't think that Vanderdeken's Children had anything character or story line that was critical of religion. There was "magic" in The Sorcerer's Apprentice but I don't recall there being anything sacrilegious about it. And it's been a long time since I've read Palace of the Red Sun - too long, perhaps.

There's a lot of running & hiding, being captured & recaptured here as our heroes get passed around by the various factions. The Doctor seems a bit generic, for the most part, and I felt that he got lost in shuffle for much of the book - at least until the end. Victoria and Jamie were fine with our Victorian young lady really stepping up. She even does her best Ethan Hunt imitation and goes undercover disguised as a Monoptera. (?!) Perhaps the biggest winners, however, are the Menoptera who lose the high cheese factor of their costumes and fly ships and kill baddies and rescue people and just generally come across heroically, if not as mild-mannered bad asses.

Twilight of the Gods has this vaguely Twilight Zone-like twist to it involving some naughty students and their less than pleased teacher.

Overall, I enjoyed this tale. There's enough action to keep the story's pace going at a nice clip and just enough menace directed at our heroes to keep things interesting. Despite not being overly Troughton-like, I appreciated that the Doctor was not perfect here, attempts to defeat the bad guys didn't always work immediately and there were setbacks. There's also a fun little scene here that reminded me of the introduction of midichlorians in that Star Wars movie I cannot recall the name of where the Doctor figures out and then explains how it is that the Menoptera can fly when their physiology would seem to render that impossible. I also enjoyed how Modeenus chewed the scenery.

But the see saw nature of the action got repetitive and the Imperial and Republicans factions generally came across as 2D mindless military drones. Perhaps this latter bit was meant as a commentary. Fair enough, I suppose.

Despite these things, this was an enjoyable story.

What do we want?! Nuclear power!

When do we want it?!

NOW!

I went to see Oliver Stone's new polemic/documentary, Nuclear Now, earlier this week. It screened here one time on Monday night and doesn't appear to have any further showings lined-up here in Madison.

Stylistically, it took the newsreel aesthetic from The Untold History of the United States and merged it with his interview style from Comandante and others. Stone is narrator and interlocutor here. Like some of his other documentaries, Stone uses his casual intonation here and comes across less as an omniscient narrator and more like a guy you're chatting with at the bar.

Early on, Stone admits he used to be anti-nuclear power but changed his mind in light of the threat posed by climate change and by learning more about the subject. He proceeds to give a little history of the technology before chronicling how it fell out of favor, with many people developing an irrational phobia for it, thinking that another Three Mile Island or Chernobyl was just around the corner.

The crux of the argument here is that nuclear power does not generate greenhouse gases and that renewables such as solar, wind, and hydropower just cannot satisfy the ever-growing demand for electricity. While electricity demand in the United States is basically stagnant, it is skyrocketing in China and India as their societies modernize.

In one sequence, Stone laments how Germany is disbanding/has disbanded its nuclear power industry but the massive arrays of solar panels that have been erected in its stead have not been able to produce enough electricity to prevent a reliance on coal.

In another, he seeks to overthrow the myths surrounding Three Mile Island and the disaster at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Stone waves these aside noting that the dangers were contained and no one was seriously harmed. Furthermore, problems at nuclear power plants arise from poor design. For example, the sea walls at Fukushima were too short and the backup generators that could have kicked in and prevented further destruction were placed too low and were flooded.

Cherobyl, he admits, was a real disaster that lead to many deaths. But poor design and hubris on the part of the scientists there lead to the meltdown and the Soviet response was lackluster, at best.

Stone urges the viewer to instead look to France which produces most of its electricity from nuclear power and does things right. I.e. - no disasters.

I went into the theater agreeing with Stone that nuclear power was a necessary tool in the fight to moderate the effects of climate change. Anyone not yet convinced was given a whirlwind argument for the affirmative with a lot of history and statistics thrown at you in fairly rapid succession. Stone often throws out a statistic which was usually illustrated by a colorful bar graph, and then quickly moved on to his next point. This movie is definitely aimed at the everyperson but it does move along at a clip and it's a real infodump in many spots.

The most interesting parts to me were the history, both of nuclear power in general as well as of what exactly happened with the most notorious reactor problems, and the looks at the state of the technology. China is apparently investing heavily in it and has various designs they're pursuing, including very small reactors. Stone also speaks with a duo here in the States looking to create smaller reactors that would serve somewhere on the order of 1,000 households.

I was flabbergasted at how much electricity we use and how much coal is burned to generate it. I don't recall the exact numbers but they're staggering. 

The was one scene where I found myself be slightly annoyed that Stone hadn't phrased something the way I would have. He was basically saying that individual decisions weren't enough. Switching all of your bulbs to LED wasn't going to solve global climate change. It was a sentiment I agreed with but I felt it let people off lightly, no pun intended. He phrased his narration in a way that gave the impression that nuclear power was a license to be as profligate as you can be with the Earth's resources. You can have a TV in literally every room in your house with no guilt; everyone in your household can have a car; you can keep your house at 85 in the winter and 65 in the summer. Buy more stuff! The power to make and run it all is carbon-free!

While I concede that adjusting your thermostat a couple of degrees isn't going to solve climate change and I don't want to sound all Marcusian, but I can't help but think that the world would be better off if people in developed nations used less. Of everything. 

I suppose I am deviating from the topic of global climate change here. But I recently watched a video by a German woman living in America. In it she noted that Germans find the car-centric culture of America weird. We drive short distances that Germans would be inclined to walk and we have drive-thrus for so many things. So your car may run on clean energy, but you're driving 3 blocks to the McDonald's drive thru and then 500' across the street to Dairy Queen's.

And your car may run on clean energy on that drive to Walmart where you buy those cheap widgets from China (and your diabetes medication), but those things are still going to end up in the landfill. Or in the ocean, I suppose.

Nuclear Now does a good job of laying out the case for nuclear power. The question is how do we throw off the shackles of coal and move to this cleaner energy. Stone leaves that answer to us.

R.I.P. Kenneth Anger

 

 

It came out today that experimental filmmaker Kenneth Anger passed away earlier this month. He was 96.

I finally got around to watching Lucifer Rising a couple years back.

The Corona Diaries Vol. 85 - Postlude: Bobby Z

(Don't forget to read #85.)

A great outtake from the sessions for the great album, Time Out of Mind, a latter-day Bob Dylan classic.

R.I.P. Tina Turner

I was going to put a track from the only Tina Turner (with Ike) bootleg I have - 30 January 1971 in Paris - but discovered that the recording was officially released as Live in Paris – Olympia 1971, albeit only in Europe.

However, I did find a clip from that performance of "Proud Mary".

R.I.P. Tina Turner

Two men enter, one man leave!

The Corona Diaries Vol. 85: The Longest Film I've Ever Seen

(Don't forget to watch the prelude.)

(mid-February 2023)

A couple entries or so ago I relayed how I helped a friend of mine brew a red mole table beer. Having brewed or helped brew beer a few times now, I am convinced that 90+% of the brewing process can accurately be described as moving water around.

"Put water in here so we can heat it up."

"Now put the water in here so it drains into this other vessel."

"Here, turn this valve on so the water flows through this contraption to cool the other water."

And so on.

Well, the day to sample came and I made a return visit. For the occasion, I got some Mexican takeout from Taqueria El Jalapeño.

On the drive over, I was desperately hoping that I hadn’t ruined the beer. Even if it turned out to be mediocre because there was too much of this or not enough of that, I just didn’t want to be at fault for an infection that produced an off flavor and thusly a ruined batch of beer. I swear that I cleaned with the sanitizer as instructed!

When I arrived, I found out that my friend had already sampled our creation and thought that it turned out well. As did his wife. Whew! Even before I had my shoes off, I was handed a glass for sampling. Taking a sip, I found that I agreed. It was delicious. The cinnamon and chocolate were mainly accents and he wants to add more cocoa bits to the next batch. (I think this was the 4th or 5th time he’s brewed it.) It had a nice spicy chipotle flavor with a moderate amount of heat that went away quickly. If I recall correctly, it turned out to be around 4.5% A.B.V. so, while not a table beer in the older, more traditional sense, it was still a fairly low alcohol brew for an American beer in 2023.

That 6 hour brew day was worth it. Success!

********

My gaming friends and I have started playing a new game called Twilight:2000. 

The premise is that, in the mid-1990s while Bill Clinton was having fun with Monica Lewinsky, the Soviets lifted the Iron Curtain and Ivan marched west. And so World War III breaks out with Western powers uniting against the Russians. There are limited nuclear engagements and the Russkies manage to gain territory. The starter kit we have has scenarios that take place in Sweden and Poland. We played the latter.

It is now the year 2000. The Western allies launch Operation Reset in an attempt to push the Russians out of Poland. The results are disastrous and Western forces are making a strategic advance to the rear.

My friends and I are all that’s left of a platoon and we are heading west in our Humvee towards the German border where we are to meet up with the remaining troops and, well, formulate Plan B, I guess. But Ivan lurks with his explosive devices at the side of the road. Plus, there are friendly stragglers here and there and then there are the locals whose allegiances are not always clear or who are, perhaps, just looking to survive.

In one instance, we were driving down a highway and saw smoke ahead. We already felt unsafe as there were cars in the opposite lanes heading towards the Russkies. Would they turn around and attack us from the rear?

We got closer and found the smoke to be from an overturned Humvee at the side of the road on fire. A pickup truck was farther off in the ditch surrounded by corpses. Do we rush in to help our fallen comrades? Or do we approach with caution in case this was the bait for an ambush?

We ended the session just south of Ostrów Wielkopolski with some injured comrades in back and a need to find some water and fuel.

********

A friend of mine who is also a big fan of the cinema occasionally sends me links to Youtube videos by another cinephile who pontificates with the best of them on all things movies. One video was entitled something like “The Top 10 Movies You’ve Never Seen”. Well, it was true. I’d never even heard of these movies, much less seen them. And so I threw the ones that looked interesting onto my To-Watch list only to find that they’re not exactly easy to come by. I didn’t see any of them for rent at Madison’s best (and only?) video rental store, Four Star. No copies at the library. Searches on our Roku either came up empty or informed me that I needed to pay for yet another streaming service.

Well, I finally got a hold of one of these movies: the “documentary” As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty by Jonas Mekas.

According to Wikipedia, Mekas was a notable experimental filmmaker in New York City where he “mentored and supported” a variety of filmmakers, helped launch the writing careers of some notable film critics, co-founded Anthology Film Archives, The Film-Makers’ Cooperative, and the journal Film Culture. And, of course, he made experimental/avant-garde films.

A man of no small accomplishment in the world of cinema, yet I’d never heard of him.

As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty was released in 2000 and is the exact opposite of a big budget narrative film full of actors with perfect coifs and tons of makeup doing 14 impossible things before breakfast. It’s a documentary, I guess, insofar as it documents things, but this is no film with talking heads imparting their expert knowledge of a subject.

Instead, it’s a compilation of Mekas’ home movies shot on 16mm over the course of 30 or so years, roughly 1970-1999. Instead of big, grandiose events that shake the world, he chronicles his life – the quotidian rhythms and routines punctuated by trips away from the city or visits from friends and family.

The audio is sometimes the sounds of the scenes we witness while at other times we hear music. Occasionally Mekas plays accordion and sings. And there are long periods where he narrates and philosophizes as the images go by.

At one point he admits that his images are banal, that he introduces no suspense. He says it's all just daily routines and that life is basically the same stuff over and over.

We watch his as his children grow up – we even see the birth of one – over the course of the film.

We also get a lot of scenes of New York City, including many taken during winter as people go about their business as others shovel the sidewalks.

Mekas occasionally throws in title cards with a handful being repeated. One says “this is a political film” while another concedes “nothing happens in this film”.

The best way I can describe this movie is that it’s a lot of personal rumination and reflection with a large dose of city symphony thrown in for good measure. Mekas was 78 when it was released so it is difficult not to view it as an old man simply looking back on his life as death creeps nearer. (He would live another 19 years or so.) At one point he intones, “Some of the memories - no they never really go away. Nothing ever goes away.”

While there were some neat elements here such as a series of shots that begins with his wife’s face and then goes to his face to his cat’s face to his daughter’s face. I also really enjoyed the times he sang whether he accompanied himself on accordion or not. He may not have been the most technically gifted singer and musician, but I found these passages to be very genuine, very moving.

My biggest gripe was that the movie is nearly 5 hours long. Obviously an extremely personal endeavor, I suspect the film’s length had more to do with its creator feeling a sense of satisfaction with having reckoned with his life than any accommodation of audience expectations. I watched it all, partially out of respect for the work that Mekas put into it, but also to be able to consider that Youtube guy’s argument for the film’s greatness. In the end, I just cannot share that opinion.

I was quite surprised when the movie cut to a scene from right here in Madison.

I anxiously waited for the title card to disappear to reveal where he had shot the snowball fight. When the shots appeared, I did not recognize the area.

One building looked a bit like the old Longfellow School but I quickly disabused myself of that notion. I just didn’t recognize any of the buildings in that scene and, having seen a lot of old photographs of Madison, didn’t think those shots were filmed here. Mekas had mislabeled his film canisters, methinks.

Another movie on that guy’s rarely seen greatest of all-time list is a documentary that chronicles the Chinese equivalent of a Rust Belt city called Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks. It runs over 9 hours. That will have to wait for another day.

********

I am happy to report that construction on my neighbor’s house has begun.

Now why those 2 walls were kept instead of just building the whole thing from scratch is beyond me. Still, I am pleased that there is no longer a ruin nearby to harbor critters and that our neighbor will once again have a home.

********

I have bought 2 albums so far this year. Here is the first:

The Latin means “Today Christ is Born”. The Boston Camerata is an early music ensemble from – quelle surprise! – Boston. It is comprised of 5 women. Two contribute voice, another voice, hurdy-gurdy, & bells, and two who don’t sing but instead between them play the harp, woodwinds, & a couple proto-violins – the vielle and rebec.

I first heard the song “Uterus Hodie Virginis Floruit”, which I think is Latin for “Today the Womb of the Virgin Blooms”, on a Canadian radio program. It comes from 12th century Aquitaine courtesy of an unknown composer. It’s a beautiful, reflective piece of music with the voices of the 3 performers and one of those medieval predecessors of the violin that I think is a vielle.

At some point in the past I took a shine to the wonderful drone of the hurdy gurdy and, so far, most of my favorites here feature it. “Adest Sponsus (The Bridgeroom is Here)” has a lovely, almost lilting, melody established by the hurdy gurdy and picked up by voices. The liner notes say it’s part of the Sponsus miracle play from the mid-11th century which dramatizes the Parable of the Ten Virgins. In “Gregis Pastor (The Shepherd of the Flock[?])" each singer gets a chance to sing solo and their vocal melodies mirror the hurdy gurdy but with a little tweak here and there. This is apparently an adaptation of a Gregorian chant. 

While I understand that Easter was the big Christian holiday back in the Middle Ages and Christmas rather minor in comparison, it’s interesting how the songs here that reference the birth of Christ in their titles generally sound contemplative instead of being upbeat party tunes. I can only imagine that medieval Easter hymns must all be dirges full of somber singing and melancholy music. Or were Easter tunes actually the party songs, celebrating salvation?

Regardless, the music on this album is just beautiful. Highly recommended and the folks at Madcity Music would be happy to get you a copy.

********

Bonus photo. Here’s a picture of Piper taken on a beautiful, sunny winter day as she was hanging out with me while I was working from home.

 

 

(Now listen to the postlude.)

R.I.P. Martin Amis

I enjoyed Time's Arrow, saying it was "sort of a perverted Inferno". When I heard of his death, I immediately thought of this:

The Corona Diaries Vol. 85 - Prelude: Jonas Mekas

 

 

(Now go read about the longest film I've ever seen.)

Ghost Signs - Elgin

The State of the Cities

2022 census estimates for cities were released this week and, as expected, Madison continues to grow. Also as expected - and sadly - Milwaukee continues to lose people.

We lost about 2,500 during the height of the pandemic but gained double that back when the lockdown ended. About 3 months after the 2022 estimate was made, the city annexed a big chunk of the Town of Madison and gained 4,000+ new citizens, if I recall correctly. Add in another 10 months of time and we are likely close to 280,000 now. No metropolis, to be sure, but Madison is the only city of 50K+ people in the state to have any significant growth. I wonder if Dane county continues to rule the roost in job growth in the state.

We can expect rents and home prices to continue to rise.

Wowzers! Milwaukee is estimated to have lost nearly 14,000 people the past couple years. Where are they going? I think that Milwaukee County has lost population recently so it doesn't seem that they're simply going to Tosa. Leaving the state?

Janesville and Eau Claire have gained a few hundred people each since 2020 but really, Wisconsin's biggest cities have stagnant populations or are losing people with 1 exception.

The Corona Diaries Vol. 84 - Postlude: At the Mountains of Madness

(Check out "A little hideaway beneath the waves".)

The Corona Diaries Vol. 84: A little hideaway beneath the waves

(early February 2023)

One day in January, I hopped on the bus and headed downtown to look at pictures and learn a little something at another one of those National Geographic Live presentations. Last year it was all about bears and this time a marine biologist, Diva Amon, graced us with her presence. As we discovered, she has plumbed the depths of the oceans for interesting tales of marine life.

It was a fascinating look at the denizens of the shallows as well as the deepest depths of our oceans and their habitats. Amon began by explaining how the lives of the myriad of plants and animals that call coral reefs home are all intertwined and that there's an interdependency that must be realized in order to have a healthy, thriving reef habitat. That was the colorful part. The photos of fish of all brilliant hues went away and she then took us down to the ocean floor and to all of the eldritch creatures that call that cold, dark place home.

I don't recall what this thing is called but it would fit perfectly in some kind of Lovecraftian tale of horror with those tentacles and general unworldly appearance.

All of the life that lives by vents on the ocean floor was simply amazing. Those giant tube worms, hordes of albino crabs, et al. Just incredible to think that they live without light, near water that is just above freezing, and under the enormous pressure of thousands of feet of water.

At one point, Amon showed us some video footage from an undersea drone. As the submersible creeps forward, something begins to emerge from the Stygian gloom in the light ahead. What is this square thing? Turns out to be a clothes washer. Close by is a wrecked shipping container that had fallen into the ocean from one of those enormous cargo ships that helps keep Walmart supplied with cheap goods from China. Thousands of these things fall off of cargo ships every year. Sad.

Still, it was an absolutely fascinating lecture.

Beforehand, I had checked out some new art exhibits that decked the halls leading to the theater. One was called “Healing Journeys: Heritage and Resistance” and featured paintings by one Christopher Sweet that portrayed Native American ways of life.

I think this was called “Reflected Memories”:

I just like the colors on the left and the scene on the shore makes for a nice contrast to the red, yellow, and orange.

This next one was called “Earth Sky Blessings”:

I believe the whole thing was painted on cardboard and that tree has a rough texture from where it was ripped. Really neat.

Another exhibition on display that night was called “See Me - Expressions of Identity” and featured watercolor portraits by Chele Ramos whom I assume to be a Madisonian since her work featured local characters.

Here’s Theresa Marie, singer with Madison’s The People Brothers Band.

I also really liked this one of a local glass blower at work.

********

I’ve been doing a fair amount of cooking lately. To begin, I made some beef paprikash that turned out well, if I do say so myself. Plenty of onion and tomato chunks plus a near perfect amount of paprika. A good hearty meal when you're in the bowels of winter.

There was a recent article in one of our local papers about the adventures of an eater who seeks out the hottest dishes in town. He went to a Southeast Asian restaurant not too far from our place and his report included mention of a dish called chicken larb which he had ordered at a non-white person level of spiciness. 

The photograph accompanying the article looked extremely delicious and didn't appear to be filled with obscure ingredients so I attempted to make it at home with The Frau’s full approval and backing.

While I threw in some red pepper flakes, it was not particularly spicy. But it was quite tasty and I earned several Brownie points with my Frau.

It’s meant to be a cold chicken salad type of dish but we served it hot. I used ground chicken instead of minced. There’s shallots and scallions along with fish sauce and a generous portion of lime juice. And cilantro. Oh, and toasted rice powder.

I’d never heard of much less made this last ingredient before but it sounded easy enough. Roast some sticky rice in an ungreased pan until suitably browned and then grind it into a coarse powder. How hard can it be?

The roasting was easy. I then put the rice into our oldest but smallest food processor. It did virtually nothing, leaving just a thin layer of dust at the bottom and the rice kernels looking a bit bruised but basically intact. I feared that the motor would overheat and then start on fire trying to pound those kernels into a powder with a very dull blade that would have had a hard time cutting butter. And so I threw the rice into the much newer, though also much larger, food processor.

But even its deadly sharp blades proved no match for this stupid rice. I suppose the coffee grinder would have done the trick but I brought out a mortar and pestle and did it the old fashioned way. While I only had to grind up a bit less than a quarter cup, my arm got extremely tired and sore mashing up that rice. Next time I will find some roasted rice powder at the store.

********

I took a guided winter stroll that had a group of us wandering around the Aldo Leopold Nature Center property and skirting Edna Taylor Conservation Park as well.

There were several small children for this walk and the guide had some age-appropriate reading material on hand.

Yes, a kid’s book on how to identify animal poop! And tracks, too.

It was a lovely morning. A bit below freezing and snow everywhere which was just perfect for capturing the tracks of critters.

Despite young children running about and playing, it was still rather serene out there.

I came across these berries but was not sure what they were. They weren’t those highbush cranberries I noticed on my walk around my neighborhood back in December. And I know that it wasn't holly either. Well, that was my winter berry knowledge exhausted.

Whatever they are, I was sure some birds use them for a snack. Then again, it didn’t look like many had been gnawed off. It’s a mystery.

Farther down the path we came to a copse of pine trees which had small cones.

These trees were near the pond which had all sorts of tracks on and near it. We saw some wabbit twacks that lead to the bridge. Presumably a wabbit was sheltering underneath.

Out on the pond, there were deer tracks.

This walk proved a fine way to relax after a busy work week. We didn’t see too many animals on our tour. Just a couple of squirrels that were frolicking and a woodpecker pecking. So not a lot of chances to put my new knowledge of how animals survive the winter to use.

Despite this, it was still great fun to look at all of the tracks and imagine what the animals were doing at the time they made them, whether it be grabbing a bite to eat, fleeing from pesky humans, or simply going for a stroll. Plus, it was relaxing to get out in the snow amongst the trees and tall grasses, to enjoy some quiet away from cars and noisy snowblowers.

********

Bonus photo. Here we have a friend of mine dressed up as H.P. Lovecraft's Great God Cthulhu for Halloween. I believe this was taken on Chicago's north side and that many children were nearly frightened to death by this hideous apparition. Those that survived the encounter were driven mad.

 

 

(Listen to the postlude, if you dare!)

With The Claudettes

Last Friday my Frau and I went down to the North Street Cabaret to spend the evening with The Claudettes from Chicago. It was one of their first shows with their new singer, Rachel Williams. Also, it was my first time at the NSC. What a lovely little space!

We had a great time and I ended up buying a few of their CDs.

"...population and its place in the expanding capitalist world that we live in."

 

 

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R.I.P. John Giblin

Beware; for Dan is fearless, and therefore powerful: Pilsner by New Glarus Brewing

Before there was Spotted Cow, there was Edel Pils.

My memory is that I first tasted New Glarus beer in the late summer or early fall of 1994 when my then girlfriend and I lived together in a flat on the isthmus. She had recently turned 21 and celebrated having attained the age of majority by heading to Pinkus McBride and bringing home a 6-pack of Edel Pils by this new brewery just south of town. I was an instant fan of the beer and remain one of the brewery nearly 29 years later.

At some point, Edel Pils disappeared, its place usurped by Spotted Cow, although it has returned periodically over the years. Overall, though, the pilsner just didn't seem to have a big place in the New Glarus line-up for a long time. Unfortunately, when the brewery revamped their website fairly recently, the "Beers We Have Known and Loved" section went away so I am relying on my imperfect memory here. Hometown Blonde was a pils and a really tasty one but, alas, just like Edel Pils, it came and went.

About 5 years ago, they released a limited edition pilsner called Mistral which featured the eponymous hop from France. Things seemed quiet on the pilsner front for a spell and then last year came 22 Pils, brewed with a variety of malts and flavored with a new (or newish, anyway) German variety of hops called Diamant. 

As a consumer, it seemed that there were some pilsner wheels turning down in New Glarus, but they were grinding slowly. However, this means they were grinding fine and this spring we got Pilsner, a new seasonal, named with typical Wisconsin reserve and humility.

It seems that Brewmaster Dan pieced this one together with ingredients from various pilsner brewing traditions. It's a bit German and a bit Czech; a bit old school and a bit neu. Malts are double-decocted in Central European brewing tradition and then joined with a panoply of mostly newer hops: Diamant, Mittelfrüh, Saphir, Select, and Hallertau Blanc. It seems that 22 Pils was merely a trial run for this, Dan's latest attempt at the perfect pilsner. Is this his gesamtkunstbier?

Clear as day and a refulgent yellow, Pilsner looked wonderful in my footed New Glarus pilsner glass which I brought up from the basement for the occasion. There were some bubbles inside which floated upwards to the large, white head of frothy foam that proved to be in no hurry to dissipate. Even if the flavor wasn't right, at least it had the perfect pilsner appearance. The aroma was heavenly with traditional biscuit and grassy scents joined by a hint of something fruity, something like white grapes with a little pear.

My first sip revealed a light-medium body along with a good, firm fizziness to it. The grainy taste was mainly biscuity with just a hint of doughy sweetness. A bracing herbal hoppiness provided balance and crispness and there was also a melon-like fruitiness too. On the finish, the grainy taste went auf wiedersehen and allowed the herbal-fruity hop combo to come to the fore with those new-fangled ones giving a melon-pear taste. They also gave a very pleasant medium dryness and bitterness to the finale.

Ausgezeichnet!

This is a fine pilsner. Very fine, indeed. It has more maltiness than a German pils but less than a Czech one like Pilsner Urquell. It really tasted like Dan split it perfectly down the middle. Similarly, your tongue gets a bracing dose of Noble hop flavor here but also subtle fruity ones. To the best of my knowledge, 3 of the 5 hops used here (or listed on the label, anyway) impart fruity flavors and/or aromas and I really appreciate how they are all accents and not assertively trying to make this beer into Hawaiian Punch. They provide a nice counterpoint to the more traditional pilsner flavor but really, they're all working together here instead of one standing out. Just great. And my empty pilsner glass was left with some mighty fine lacing. Visual perfection.

I hope Brewmaster Dan continues his quest for the perfect pilsner and that he throws some rye into the next batch.

Junk food pairing: This is a wonderful, complex beer that demands a subtle food pairing. Try a bag of Lay's Cucumber potato chips with your Pilsner.