An oldie but a goodie brought up to date. The Kinks are much unappreciated in this country (USA).

Shake Out The Cobwebs
I have tried to maintain a commitment to live music but I've not been very diligent about it. But every now and then, a necessity arises and this week, it was buying a ticket to see the wonderful jazz singer Basia who's coming to The Birchmere in early November. Inasmuch as I have all of her recorded music, absent her collaboration in Matt Bianco, I felt I had to see her live at long last.

I have to tip the lid to my old college buddy Michael for connecting me to her music. Very samba, bossa nova influenced jazz. I believe I have gone on about this lovely lady at length in the past. So I'll just embed a viddy to close this post out.

How Nice It Is To See Old Friends
Last night I had dinner with friends of some 30-years duration with whom I haven't shared space actual for probably three years. And it was great. I had my "Tao of the Bao" Chinese dumpling making dinner in which everyone builds the dumplings and eats to the point of stuffed-ness. Then leftovers go home with the guests since the amount of dumpling filling is eNORmous. I even have some of the leftovers myself but I hope to pass them along this afternoon to some more local friends.
I make some tasty, tasty dumplings I tell you whut.
UPDATE: Yes, I definitely should have taken pics of the dumplings progress. Net time I do this maybe I'll make a record of the progress and post it here. I may have to dragoon someone photogenic into a video record of the dumpling process. I only have movie star looks if you consider that "The Blob" was the star of the movie and not Steve McQueen.

"Take Me Out" by Atomic Tom LIVE on NYC subway

Lisa
(If you don't get the joke, look at the name of the jpg file.)

A Qualified Success
Last evening I made the delicious Japanese sweet treat yokan. It's actually not difficult but it is laborious. I'm happy with the result but I have to go through a few more iterations before I'm completely satisfied. My main objection to the block I have in my fridge is that there are adzuki beans that survived the process whole. I used the immersion blender on the bean pot but was hesitant to blend the bejabbers out of them. Next time, no mercy.
UPDATE: Decided to listen to Basia this morning. Good choice.

Autumn
The season is well and truly here. This morning broke overcast, rainy, cool. As much as I love the fall, this weather is like a reverse IV, kinda sucks the life out of ya. 500cc's of coffee! Stat!

Woo Hoo!
It's been a while but I won the caption contest over at Wizbang! this week.
Yay me!

And Now, A Message From The Head Of The Democratic National Committee

Very Exciting
I just ordered the DVD of the Met's Production of "Carmen" featuring the enchanting Elīna Garanča whose "Habanera" I linked in a post below. Wonderful music, terrific staging, superb singing and diva eye candy like total madness. Is there a drawback here? Well, it is about $30 from the 'Zon but my DVD collection needs a little more culcha.

If The News Is To Be Believed
I heard it reported that the CDMA iPhone for Verizon is coming early next year. While I have no great complaints about the AT&T service, I think the availability of the iPhone on Verizon will be dispositive. At least for me. I will probably opt for achange of carrier and a new iteration Apple's charming little device when that happens. Absent the change, I'll just keep chugging along with my already two-iterations-back unit.
There is something about a new cellie, isn't there?

Magpies Crush Saints In Grand Final Tie-Breaking Followup
Collingwood wins! Collingwood wins! Collingwood wins!
This is even better than the brutal smackdown Collingwood laid on Geelong to get to the Grand Final. I think I need to gt a T shirt or sumfink.
UPDATE: Got dammit! The station I rely on to broadcast footy obviously thinks last week's broadcast of the Grnd Final match that resulted in a tie was the end of the footy season. No game last night! I will not get to see the pummeling of St. Kilda I so richly deserve to see. Oh bother.

"Urban Intellectual Fodder"
Just read it. We'll talk more about this later.