corny southwestern update

The stew/soup crockpot concoction/recipe from the last post turned out pretty good.

I had put enough chili powder to enhance the "southwestern" style zing that I like but not so much to overpower everything.

I was also glad that I didn't use the whole bag of 15 variety beans.

The only thing I addded was a can of corn after it was cooked and that seemed to help the texture and fit the recipe just right. One other thing that might work is some finely chopped raw onions added when it is served but I haven't tried that.

a total crock

Today I decided to use the crock pot to cook some beans and chicken.

Here is what I put in there.

Half of a bag of Hursts 15 Bean soup mix (it is a bag of beans with a flavor packet. I didn't use the flavor packet.

3 Chicken Breasts cut up

3 peices of bacon cooked in the microwave first between paper towels and then cut up

3 carrots cut up

3 or 4 celery stalks cut up

one and a half onions chopped

2 Jalapino peepers without the seeds

1 Bell pepper chopped

2 potatoes cut up

1 can of diced tomatoes unsalted

A good few shakes of Garlic Powdr

some onion powder

Several good shakes of Chili powder

a few good sprinkels of Mrs Dash

Oh Yeah, You gotta put some water in there also.

Thats all I can remember. I put it on about 3 hours ago. It already smells good but I know it is going to take a while for all the beans to cook right. I may cheat a little bit.

I guess I will find out how it turns out tonight.


ps. don't use your fingers to clean out the Jalapino's. Cut the pepper in half longways, take a spoon and under running water scrape out the seeds. Do this last and then make sure to wash your hands with soap and water right after that (before you touch your eyes or mouth). You need to use soap because the oil from the Jalapino needs to be broken up to be removed.

The way it has always been done

Hello from the one man problems of the world sovling brigade:


I was just listening to a radio talk dj republican guy talking about the middle east and how if revolution takes hold in the middle east and Saudi Arabia goes down to fundamentalists then we are all going to be chicken fried as far as our economy becaues we do not have enough energy to run things without thier oil.

My thinking is that if we can put a man on the moon then we can figure out how to produce, or actually capture, energy.

It is a simple fact that all of the energy we are using originally came from the sun. Dinasaurs either ate plants or other dinasaurs that ate plants so if oil came from dinasaurs then it ultimately came from photsenthisis or the bioligical converting and storage of the suns energy.

The natural answer is to capture the engergy from the sun and with all the advances of chemestry and biology to the point that they are not actually connected, we can do this.

There you have it,

Now go out and grow yourself a can of oil.

Bye

Mississippi John Hurt

Mississippi John Hurt is well respected as one of the great fingerpicking blues guitar players.

Here is a video of him playing a spiritural called: "Walk that Lonesome Valley"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgdLVWgU4G0

I really like this song. It is also interesting to see what a gentle personality that Mississippi John Hurt had in introducing his song. Very authentic in more ways than one. I think Im gonna learn me how to play this song. Then maybe I can walk the lonesome valley a little better my ownself.

Here is a version of Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis doing the same tune (sans the Jordanaires) with a little rockabilly guitar to go with it :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guJnpSSTERo&NR=1&feature=fvwp

I do like the back up vocals by Jerry Lee Lewis.

Here is June Carter and her sisters doing the same tune:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79a-qg6t5fw


& if you have time, click on this one to walk somemore:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1fFO92vxoQ

This one is from the movie "Oh Brother Where Art Thou?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAs4L9AKUKk&feature=related

Mubarak is done

The people have spoken in Egypt and Mubarak is out.

I hope they are able end up with a representative form of government that is not oppressive. There is no doubt the terrorists will try to step in but I am encouraged that there has not been alot of anti-American rhetoric attached to this revolution.

I heard that Twitter and Facebook were the conduits for the whole thing. I imagine that social network sites will be shut down from here on out many countries around the world where the people do not get a voice in the government.

I now join with all Americans in wishing the people of Egypyt the best.

Here is a video of some of the celebrations:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8q37tYtXoBw&feature=watch_response

I like the one where the Taxi Driver put flags on his windshield wipers and pushed them forward so the flags were waving.

It is really touching to see the people so happy. I know things can get messy during a transition of power but Damn, I hope these poeple get to stay happy.

Conan Plays Guitar

Unless you are Jay Leno, You will like this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfxu8qbY4Is

Conan O'Brian Interview

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGyv0hXrulQ

Wanda Jackson - Rockabilly Queen

Here is a video from Wanda Jackson's appearance on David Letterman:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzDfYidKU5c


Jack White produced her latest album and has kind of put her back on the map. This performance rocks in a way you just can't do at home.


Watch this one for some history on these two & more about the album:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCN4kVcgK5w&NR=1&feature=fvwp

It's like the Beatles

The other day it was in the news that the White Stripes will no longer exist as a band.

Here is a video of some vintage stripes that seems to capture what they were about:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03YUgHAshSo

I don't know if Jack White will be able to capture the rawness of the stripes on his own. I am sure he could if he really tried but it is harder to have the true punk rock vibe once you have made it to the big time like he has. The other thing, it is hard to recapture what Meg did on drums. That may seem strange to say but she was a big part of the White Stripes, probably much more than people realize. There was something about the chemestry or that made thier music rock at the core.

I wish both of these kids the best.

jack & alicia

Here is a video with Jack White and Alicia Keys:

It seems to have a little bit of a James Bond type quality to it to me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icrNkmf9uyQ

There is a short section somewhere past the middle of the song where they do a call and answer with some scat vocals and lead guitar where it kind of sounds like Robert Plant in the early Led Zep.

Tattoo'd Lady

Here is another one from Rory:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uezV4zn8tvI

Cool song here. The intro is again a clue about how Rory was unpredictable and did not play cliche style riffs. A true original.

More of the story of Rory

Check out the intro. This was years before VanHalen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-k4iocWURPk&NR=1

Rory Gallagher

Hiya, hello, & Howdy.

Here's Rory:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1zsRRt1FWE

This guy was really something. He was known more as an electric guitar player. One of my favorite songs of his is called "Calling Card".

Very Talented individual, and very entertaining.

One heluva guitar player.

Rasta Bob Vibration

Check out this video of Bob Marley with his band and the Three I's:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGO8HN1QQdI


You can find plenty of Bob Marley Videos on Youtube by just doing some simple searches using Bob Marley or The Wailers.

It is interesting how Bob used to go into somewhat of a transe before he started singing. He does it on the video above. It seems like partly showman ship, some ganga, and also a bit if just getting lost into the music and channeling what is.

Here is another:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pd2GZqQOuRw

This one is called the Rastaman Chant:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmFhvWhiACg

& I hope you like Jammin Too:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TR5Qo4Pnc94

& of course, Redemption Song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFGgbT_VasI

Los Quatros Amigos

These guys really rock:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uw1bHaUk1CM&feature=related

If you don't like this video, Please kindly never speak to me about music.


Thanks,

Rock On!

Democracy in Egypt?

We here at the one man web log have generally stayed out of political discussions but there is no hard and fast rule and besides that "so what?" if we do.

I am hearing politicicans talking about our responsibility to spead democracy in Egypt. Today it is John McCain speaking out.

My opinion is that we need to spread democracy here at home and we don't actually have a responsibility to spread our own ideologies around the rest of the world. Spreading our "Ideals" is a little different and that could use some work. Generally American policy has been shortsighted and we have aligned ourselves with who ever was in charge and looked the other way as far as "atrocities" and inhumane behavior. Sadam was our boy at one time. The Shah of Iran was our ally and so was Marcos in the Philipines. We have a fairly long history of aligning ourselves with people who are now probably sitting at a common poker table in hell. Really evil villain types and we stood by them until the people had an uprising and then we unsuccessfully tried to jump onboard. That is a failed policy and it won't work in Egypt any better than it will work in Pakistan if the people over there get worked up.

We promoted the idea of democratic elections in Palestine and they democratically elected a guy from Hamas which is considered to be a terrorist organization and now we don't want to officially recognize him.

My point is that we can't just pick and choose when we want to have high and mighty ideals and then use that as an excuse to stick our noses into the business of governing other countries.

behold virtuosity

For the regular readers here, You probably noticed that I deleted my recent posts about "the state of rock & roll". I just didn't feel aimless ramblings were up to the standards that we try to keep around here so I used the delete button a few times and I feel better now.

I have been listening lately to a CD that used to belong to my dad called "Andres Segovia My Favorite Works". It is a compliation of songs he performed and recorded and peresonally assisted in the selection of for this CD. According to the liner notes, he selected the songs in the final year of his life.

The music on the CD is from Spanish Composers and it is obvious it was all composed or specifically arranged for guitar.

There are several striking things about these recordings. One is that Andres Segovia is an absolute master and I have never heard anyone to equal his skill level as a guitar player. None.
Of course this isn't a huge revlelation since he is the most well known classical guitar player of our time. These songs are not just 2 or 3 minutes and the playing is so clean and clear it is simply amazing. No mistakes whatsover and I don't think it is because of editing. Another thing is how well he seems to "feel" the music and his use of dynamics. A third thing that is amazing is that as you listen to the music, you can forget you are listening to a guitar player and start to hear the story he is telling. The songs he chose to perform shows his excellent taste in music and a beautiful appreciation for art.

He was able to make very difficult feats of guitar artistry seem effortless and it never sounds like he is showing off even one iota. He is the only guitar player who I have ever heard who used harmonics and it didn't sound the least bit contrived or put in just to show that he knew how to do it.

The CD says "MCA Classics" at the top and the title is "Andreas Segovia My Favorite Works". I don't know if it is still being distributed but I imagine that it is.

Again, Everybody knows who Andreas Segovia was but he still I was am just blown away by how good he was. My dad always liked both Andreas Segovia and Carlos Montoya. Montoya is know for being a great, if not the greatest, Flamenco guitar player in the world. There are some who list other flamenco guitar players but Carlos Montoya is easily the most well known. I have agree that my dad had excellent taste in guitar music and I know he spent hours listening to both of these guys.

In our next lesson we will cover Watermelon. Is it a fruit or a vegitable?

Please do your homework, get plenty of sleep, shave the back your neck, and wash behind your ears. Also, be nice to animals. Everybody knows that besides just being unkind, a person who is mean to animals is just a pure creep. I know that some of you take pride in your creepyness but there is no reason to be cruel just for the sake of cruelty. Enough of that already.

That's it. Lights out. I don't want to hear a peep.