last year’s man

by Leonard Cohen. single take after many weeks rest.

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I swear I didn’t make this up. You can look for it anywhere. The wind was still blowing outside, relative humidity plummeted to 4%. This is a 5-dimensional piano squashed into 2D+t. The world ended long ago. Still, I feel safe here.

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A moment stolen from the wind. Shadows, indirection. Afternoon epiphanies. Wind noise should be considered integral to the experience. August, 2010, East Jesus, CA.

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A moment stolen from the day. End of August, 2010, East Jesus, CA.

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Boys like to play radio.

twenty years

i’m not wiser, nor smarter,

nor better than you,

the twenty years between
us only
means
that i’ve
had a few more years to see

the sprawl devour the hills,
my teeth rot in my mouth,

our bodies dissolve to pus,
people disemboweling each other
amid flashy smiles,
traitors going in velvet robes,
the house getting it all in the end,
my experience fade into amber liquid and fireworks,
electronic scrap, dusty books
and the smell of a forgotten
old man.

twenty years closer
than you
to the bad breath of creation,
the stinking birthplace of life,
the beckoning maw of infinity

and twenty years farther
from the innocence
you wear like an iPod
at your beautiful, unchallenged

virginal flystrike.

ready when you are

it’s the uncertainty

you feel
when the ground suddenly
falls from beneath you

electric warmth,
erotic nausea, anticipation
of the new world

and your place within it

your battle scars mean nothing here
you must begin anew, and get your

heart broken
all over again.

Ka-Boom

Of historic note, the Trinity Test took place 65 years ago today. It was followed up shortly by the famous “you lose” mission over Japan. You may criticize our President, and perhaps with good reason, all you like but I, for one, and thrilled that we finally have a Commander in Chief who knows how to pronounce the word NUCLEAR, and probably even knows what the dictionary says it means.

[this post has been brought to you in association with Teiwaz and JetFuel – thanks for the inspiration.]

Garlic quinoa & East Jesus red beer express

Quinoa snuck into my life about a year ago and has since become a staple. It’s the most forgiving, quick-cooking natural grain I know of, highly tolerant of slight mis-measurement of grain or water, and of flame too high or too low. And supposedly it’s a complete protein unto itself. As if I could really care about all that. Bottom line, it’s darned tasty. And today we kicked the tasty up a notch. Let me tell you how:

GARLIC QUINOA

This recipe serves two, or one hungry mofo. You need a medium or large frying pan, a small saucepan and:

olive oil
3-4 heads of garlic, separated into cloves, still in their skins
3/4 C quinoa
1-3/4 C water
1 cube chicken bullion or Maggi

Fry up the garlic cloves, still in their skins, in 2-3 Tbsp. olive oil over medium-low heat, stirring often, until lightly golden brown. Set aside in a bowl, and transfer oil to saucepan, adding more as needed to taste. You can never have too much olive oil.

Heat the oil in the saucepan over meduim heat until heated through, then add the dry quinoa and stir over high heat for a few minutes. Add the water and the bullion cube, bring to a boil, cover and simmer for about 25 minutes, allowing to sit for an additional 5-10 minutes afterward.

Skins the fried garlic cloves and fold them into the quinoa, and serve.

This simple recipe begs for experimentation, but it’s pretty delicious all on its own. There’s an interesting synergy between the garlic, olive oil and quinoa, and it can serve as a stand-alone meal.

Now, I have to admit I’ve been holding out on this one. East Jesus Adult Beverage Research Science has been hard at work for over two years bringing this cocktail recipe to perfection. It’s the perfect refreshment for hot summer afternoons, when a little hot pepper and a little something salty are especially welcome. Good for replenishing electrolytes! And this recipe is equally delicious in its non-alcoholic version (I usually have my first one or two of the day “virgin,” using O’Doul’s instead of whatever cheap American beer I happen to be stocked up on.)

EAST JESUS RED BEER EXPRESS

You need: a pint glass, a paring knife and:

1 12-Oz cold cheap beer (or O’Doul’s)
3-4 Oz Clamato (regular or picante) – substitutions will yield poor results
1 key lime
Tabasco (NO substitutions here!)
Worcestershire sauce

The rest should be obvious but I’ll explain it anyway: in your pint glass combine the Clamato, a good slug of Worcestershire, four dashes of Tabasco (or to taste,) and the juice of one key lime, cut in two halves and squeezed. Carefully add the beer and refresh thyself and thy neighbor.

The Worcestershire is tricky. With some brands, a little dab’ll do ya. With others, you need to get more aggressive. Start with just a drop or two and work you way up. While too much Tabasco makes for a heart-quickening adventure, too much Worcestershire will leave you with something your dog won’t even drink. Might make a nice marinade for pork, though….

There. That ought to get you through the summer. As usual, send in your suggestions, hints, kinks, hacks, etc to this address, and please be patient with a reply as our fan mail simply overwhelms us and at times must be brought in by plane…

Field Day, 2010, Imperial County EOC (W6ICR)

W6ICR, Field Day 2010 from chasterus on Vimeo.

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