September 23rd, 2017

Did a deep dive into the music of Husker Du and Grant Hart in memoriam of his death last week.  Read an obit with a quote that said that "if I had known that the guys in Husker Du were gay, and those in Depeche Mode were not, my life would have turned out completely different."

Here is a sad local story about Ghost month.  The 88 year-old "Mr Lin was burning ghost money, also known as “joss paper” or “gold paper,” as an offering to spirits in the lead-up to the closing of the gates of the realm of the dead, which occurs at the end of the 7th lunar month on the Chinese lunar calendar." He then lost his footing and fell into the fire and was burned to death.  Find no humor in this but rather view it as a cautionary tale.  As an older fella that teeters with regularity, do not go near the fire.

As the family can attest, I have a rotation of things I like to talk about and it is most evident in the summer when we are all eating with a different friend each night.  Some would call them bits, like a disdain for lemon water with the payoff being women talking about yeast infections and the kinky shit they do with produce.  Others are fishing expeditions in order to get information. Many of those are to hopefully get you to open up about something personal, and I am willing to share too, but others are a true search for relevant information.  A constant one that I raise in TW is that the food sucks.  Trust me, I would love to find food I like here and am astonished that not only can I not find it, but that it gets fawning reviews constantly.  One of the intros to the topic can be asking what is one thing that the other person will crave when they leave cause I haven't hit on one yet.  Went to a going away party for a co-worker and her partner and someone at the table asked just that.  "Oh...so many things" and then the conversation shifted, but as the asshole at the table, just could not let it go.  Upon redirect, they again hemmed and finally spit out sushi.  Sushi?  Think we all associate that cuisine as primarily Japanese, but is it even a cuisine if you don't actually cook it?  I say no.

Upon reflection, there is one food item that I will miss when our time comes to leave, and while I have only had them here, it doesn't feel like it is unique to Taiwan.

Intended to snap a photo or two of them, but they have not been for sale the last 5 days.  Am a bit concerned and lament that my lack of Mandarin skills are preventing me from finding out why.

Curry filled puff pastry.  Just those words together is enough to consider a new verse to My Favorite Things. They are flaky with just the right amount of curry flavored pork inside to make them irresistible.   You may remember me geeking out about the new Italian joint in the neighborhood last Spring, and by all accounts, they seem to be doing well.  Even better, they opened up a shop next door that sells ice cream and pastries.  Good ones...I could go on and on about all the things they have, but the true blessing they have given us are the Arancino Siciliano.  I had never seen one of these before we went to Sicily last December, but they immediately became a favorite.  They rice balls coated with some breaded goodness and filled with Bolognese sauce and mozzarella.

Diagnosis?  Delicious.  Thinking about puff pastry and arancini, which I do often, and had this epiphany that the best way to gauge a cuisine is by their portable snacks.  Sandwiches are fine, but anyone can slap shit between two pieces of bread.  Gyros are clever, but they always end up spooging all over your body and who wants to be spooged upon by anything Greek?  Same goes for you tacos.  Have decided that the world needs a ranking of these essential treats and to qualify, the item has to be completely self contained, savory, and can be transported for at least 30 minutes and still be eaten to its fullest enjoyment.   Am still thinking through the criteria on how to rate them, but cleanliness and greasiness have to be two consideration.  Am accepting nominations, and in addition to the two above, on the list so far are: Calzone, meat pie/sausage rolls, samosa, corn dog, empanada, pork bun/curry bun (pictured below during a recent sexy photo shoot), and burritos.  I know that there have to be more, so please don't hesitate to weigh in during the nomination period.

Speaking of meat pies, went to the Daniel Pearl Music Festival last weekend.  To see friends, support the cause, blah-ba-de-blah, but the real reason was that I saw that Leo's Pie Shop was having a booth.  Have heard others speak highly of their pies and as an enthusiast, was feeling gravity's pull.

Good tucker.  The festival was fine.  Attendance was lighter than I expected and the bands were far worse.  If you are an aspiring musician, you can be a big fish in the pond that is Taipei.  Just awful attempts at folk and R&B.  I try not to hate in public, but as a music snob, cannot stand to be subjected to crap bands.

There was a ska band from Japan that was reasonably tight, but as with all things Japanese, tend to view it through cartoon goggles.  Everything feels it is some twisted bit of anime porn.

The DJ tent, where my buddy spun punkabilly 45's, was the place to hang.  After his set, a dude came onto play a bunch of NoCal garage records.  An oasis for yours truly.

By far the most horrific part of the day, and seems to be at any event like this anywhere on the globe, is the fucking drum circle.  Do you know how much I loathe drum circles?  Not sure who is worse...the dudes that lead the tribal rhythms or the wanna-be hippies that are totally into it.

Check that...the worst are the 40-something hags, and they are always 40-something and always hags, that are getting down.  They are obviously having flashbacks to some trip or traumatic experience.  While a part of me feels sorry for the events that led to this state of mind, my disdain holds no bounds.

Babyoll went to see Ariana Grande on Tuesday.  Other than she had a decent spot in the pit, didn't get much of a review other than the expected 'good' and 'fun'.  I was offered to look at a bunch of videos she shot, but declined because as Homer Simpson once said, "it's not that I'm not interested, it's just that I don't care."  In related news, the Boy is seeing the same Ariana Grande this Sunday at the Charlottesville Concert For Unity.  While my kids seeing the same act within 5 days on the opposite sides of the planet is kinda cool, it's still Ariana Grande.  That's not totally fair as I like her, but that is solely based on her SNL appearance.  The Charlottesville concert isn't in my wheelhouse, but the line-up seems interesting: "The concert will include performances by Dave Matthews Band, Pharrell Williams, Justin Timberlake, Ariana Grande, The Roots, Cage the Elephant, Brittany Howard of Alabama Shakes, Chris Stapleton and other special guests."  And its free.

In between football podcasts, will try to expand my brain and one I like to listen to is Ezra Klein.  He had Dan Rather on a couple weeks ago and learned a new word...interregnum.  Originally used to describe the period between Popes, it can mean the time between two periods and in this instance, he was using it to describe the time we are in now where the old forms of journalism and news are being replaced by social media.  Safe to say that faith in even the news sources formerly known as 'most trusted' is shaken.  Cannot stand the term fake news, but how does one know what to trust or even where to go to find facts?  Mr. Rather said that every school should have a class that helps teach kids how to find the truth and where to spot the spin and bullshit.  He said 7th grade but am not sure they are equipped for that kind of introspection at that age.  At least by High School for sure and think it would be a class that I would be interested in attending.  MUN and debate aregood avenues for kids to learn this kinda stuff, but I wonder what percentage do that.  While the kids' school have vigorous programs of both of those, have been on a quest to see how they are trying to help the other kids navigate the offerings out there.

As a Generation Xer that has always been engaged in current events, is old enough to have lived in the day of the Big 3 networks, with parents from the "Greatest Generation" and older siblings that gave first hand glimpses into the Boomers, like to think I have a decent perspective on cultural trends. Also realize that I'm an old man and so my opinion no longer counts.  The impulse to dismiss the youth of today is strong but having been a dumb ass at that age and survived, will always give them a pass.  So what is the generation after Millennial?  The one that Babydoll is currently shaping.  A few names have been tossed about but as they are still in development, don't think we've signed off on one.  Got turned onto a Frontline documentary from a couple years ago that dove into Generation Like.

Fantastic on a couple of levels.  On one, it is an insight as to how marketing has adapted to exploit all the new platforms.  In that way, it is a standard documentary about the mechanics of manipulating taste.  A tale as old as time but a complete eye opener.  I will never chew another piece of Trident gum but am totally in on Taco Bell.

The other aspect of the program was showing how the youth are interacting with the advertising.  The currency they trade in is how many "Likes" they accumulate with the goal of becoming "Famous".  The most successful do get paid with sponsorships and traditional monetary rewards, but they are the outliers.  The middle class will get free stuff...shoes, skateboard rigs, etc.  The vast general population gets nothing but a bunch of Likes (or some coupons for products).  It's ingenious and wildly effective.  Would be easy to say that these kids are wasting their life sitting in front of their screens not producing anything of integrity or substance instead of interacting with humans, but my experience of going outside to play sports didn't really produce anything and has left me a cripple, so who am I to say.  There is a vignette where a middle school girl is trying to get Famous, first by being a singer, but finding that didn't create a buzz, started doing more self exploitative videos and photos.  The saddest part is the mom, who first encouraged the singing but signed onto the move into the more personal stuff, saying that she is cool with it cause she takes all the pictures and then adds with a sickening grin, "I know that the full poolside bathing suit pictures gets the most hits."

The biggest take away was that these kids don't understand the term 'sell-out" the same way previous generations do.  To be a sell out is not seen as a negative, but is the goal to which they strive.  Think this documentary is well worth your time regardless of age.

Had intended to explore the definition of a couple of slang terms this week, but it's gonna take a bit and will do it next time.  As a teaser, the other day saw the 45th President retweet a video showing him hitting a golf ball into the back of Hillary Clinton's head.  Was this move an example of him being a dick or an asshole?  The answer may surprise you.