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Archive for the ‘Judith Thurman’ Category

Judith Thurman–“Trout” (New Yorker, December 3, 2012)

Posted in Culture Shock, Essays, Fishing, Food, Judith Thurman, KEXP 90.3 FM--Seattle, WA, Nada Surf, New Yorker, Philip Gourevitch on December 4, 2012| Leave a Comment »

CV1_TNY_12_03_12Thiebaud.inddSOUNDTRACK:  NADA SURF-Live at Bumbershoot, October 2, 2008 (2008).

KEnadakexpXP presents this concert from the Bumbershoot Festival.  I have listened to a number of Nada Surf shows and they never disappoint.  They always sound great and their harmonies are spot on. This show is no exception. Although there appears to be a glitch at first because Daniel is in Spain for a couple of weeks (recovering from a leg injury) so they have a sub for him on bass (you’d never notice).   The band plays very well without him and Jose Galvez fills in perfectly.

Most of the set is taken from their then new album Lucky, a really great album.  There is also one song from Proximity Effect and two from The Weight is a Gift.

The set was performed in the Bumbershoot Music Lounge in a stripped down format. Ira plays the drum box rather than the kit and Matthew only plays acoustic guitar.  And it still sounds amazing. I especially enjoyed in “Weightless,” when they asked the audience to sing the backing vocals (ahhh ahhh) which sounds very nice.

There are nine Nada Surf concerts available on the KEXP site for your enjoyment, although this one is not one of them.  To see a video of the show (and Ira’s drum box), watch here.

[READ: December 3, 2012] “Trout”

As Philip Gourevitch talked about his unfamiliarity with a bear, Judith Thruman talks about her unfamiliarity with a trout.

It’s another article about volunteering to do something and being a little unprepared (although Thurman is a bit more successful in the end).  Thirty years ago Thurman went on a two-week wilderness course in Wyoming (the same location as Gourevitch, Wyoming must be pretty bad-ass).  There were fifteen adventurers in total.

She explains that they all brought supplies (like three camp stoves) and enough grains and staples so that no one would starve in even the most dire circumstances but they were a three-day hike from the nearest phone (it’s hard to imagine such a place exists in the U.S.).  Aside from the grains, they had to forage for greens and berries and for any protein they wanted to eat. (more…)

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Judith Thurman–“Turbot” (New Yorker, November 22, 2010)

Posted in Essays, Food, Judith Thurman, New Yorker, Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All, Sasha Frere-Jones on November 27, 2010| 3 Comments »

SOUNDTRACK: MELLOWHYPE-“Loco” (2010).

I was going to review “Earl” by Earl Sweatshirt (who I keep wanting to call Earl Sandwich).  I didn’t think much of it but I wrote a few paragraphs.  Then WordPress lost my post and I didn’t want to listen to the song again, so I switched to Mellowhype.

I was confused about Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All so I looked them up on Wikipedia.  The write up made it seem like Mellowhype might be the least aggressive/nasty/offensive of the bunch.  But that proves not to be the case at all.

This song has the styling of a Snoop Dog jam, kind of slow and menacing. The background music is pretty cool, it’s sort of a horror movie piano and keyboards with an occasional wicked cool bassline thrown in for good measure.  There’s even some female backing vocals, although where they’re sampled from I have no idea.

Of course, once he starts rapping it’s clear that he’s from the same school as the other members of the group (“Pigs raid my crib”) and lots and lot and lots of “fucks.”  Frere-Jones says in the article, that OFWGKTA has an interesting style and technique, but as for me, it’s not something I’ll listen to very often (or even again).

[READ: November 19, 2010] “Turbot”

This essay differs from all the others in that it contains an actual recipe.  Thurman explains that she used to go all out for dinner parties, preparing all manner of complete meals, including marbled roast (but the days of red meat have gone the way of the ashtray) or even spaghetti alla carbonara.  But now everyone agrees that it is fish that is the meal of choice.  And so, she offers a quick and easy recipe for turbot over vegetables presented in a delightful storytelling manner.

Because I though the recipe sounded good I’m going to copy it here (without the narrative) so that I can try it out someday. (more…)

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