Category Archives: Uncategorized

6 Things the Media Hasn’t Told You About Phish

Trey Anastasio has been involved in no less then 10 different side projects. Including Jazz Mandolin Project, 1993; Bad Hat, 1994; Surrender to the Air, 1996; 8 Foot Fluorescent Tubes, 1998; Phil Lesh and Friends, April 99; Vermont Youth Orchestra, 2001; Oysterhead, Fall 2001; Dave Matthews and Friends, winter ’03-’04; Trey Anastasio solo acoustic; Trey Anastasio Band, and Ghosts Of The Forest.

Trey played on Ernie Stires’ 1997 LP, Samson Riffs. As Ruth Horowitz reported in Seven Days back in Sept 97 “Half way through “Geulah Papyrus,” a straight-ahead Phish song about a spider and a fly, the music breaks into a short theme and variation in which counterpoint melodies weave in and out like silk strands in a web. The piece, “The Asse Festival”, was written by lead guitarist Trey Anastasio and dedicated to his friend and mentor, Cornwall composer Ernie Stires”

Jon Fishman is the man with 100 names. Here are a few notable ones. Fish, Henrietta, Tubbs, Jon the Fishman, Moses Brown, Moses Heaps, and Moses Dewitt, Moses Yastrzemski, J. Edgar Hoover, Vinnie Barbarino, Phil Collins, Zero man, Johnny B. Fishman, Hankrietta, Tommy Dorsey, The Piper, Sans Bag the Piper, Tubbs the Beast Boy, Eye Ball Man, Little Jon and Friar Tubbs, Jon, Friar Tubbs, Henrietta Fieldberg, Henrietta Tubman, Chuck Norris, Greasy Fizeek, Ron Jaworski, Marco Esquandolas, Luke Skywalker, Sneezeblood Eyeball, Forrest Gump, and Morton Charlton Heston. Of course this just scratches the surface.

Bassist Mike Gordon is also a filmmaker, directing the “Down with Disease” video and Tracking that showed the creative process behind Hoist.

Page McConnel’s Dad, Dr Jack helped develop Tylenol when he worked for McNeil.

Jerry Garcia’s solo project, Dave Mathews Band and Phish shared a manager – founder of Red Light Management Coran Capshaw.

phish-memes-49424888aaaa

Spirailing Through Giza

They sat at the bar, as old and etched
with a thousand stories, of the Hotel
Fandangos Millionaires Room (where all the stars come
to shine in Weezenhawk) last Tuesday,
Frederick had brought the I-Ching
and in a late night toss
they saw it was time to head back
to the pyramids. They paid their tab
then hopped in a cab to JFK:

Henry asks “What goes on in the temples
at night?”, ”Ancient Egyptian burials,
prehaps a sacrifice or two”
replied Frederick, “You see
Hathor was the cow goddess
and she gave birth to Osiris the King
who was deemed as having the most desirable phallus
in the palace.  It was”, “diamond blue”
Gerorge interupted “a high erect prick
for Isis’s thighs, like a monster
bass swimming up the Nile in a hot eclipse evening
with clear eyes.  That’s the key.”
“To what” asks Henry,  Frederick says “Everything.”

Henry understood much less now
then when they were at the bar and as they entered
the airport he began to cry, wailing
something like “There’s not yet a word created
to do you guys justice and lets go home.”
They calmed him down and he continued
“There’s going to be a double suicide,
George is going to die
In a plane crash and I’m going to do the same
so I can be with him,

don’t look at me that way,
this is a tragedy.”  George said “You’re crazy man,
we’ve got a plane to catch in twenty minutes”
and went off to the bathroom.Henry continued
to cry and Frederick was silent for a second, thinking
the whole thing as relivant as the fact that water spins
clockwise south of the equator, something
so arbirary being so consistent,

he took a last pull off his cigarette
and turned to Henry “Things ain’t what they used to be,
moving in a kind of off-hand dexterity
toward the millenium.  We were in DC the first time
you started with this shit and it still makes me think
of the same two things;
the sculpture you made out of ashtrays
in Ferdonia that blocked Miss Whittlemeyers window
and got the priest and rabbi after us.” He was silent again,
getting lost in the image. “What’s the other thing
Fred”?”, “That somewhere, Henry, a Sphinx is laughing.”

25 Days, 25 Songs — Day 5: “We Three Kings”

“We Three Kings” is a religious themed Christmas song written
in 1857 by Reverend John Henry Hopkins, Jr., and was first
published in 1863 in his Carols, Hymns and Songs. It recounts
the journey of the magi to see the newborn King. It has been
recorded by everyone from Ella Fitzgerald to The Beach Boys
to The Reverend Horton Heat. My favorite version is by the
Portland, Oregon group Pink Martini. Lead by Thomas
Lauderdale’s beautiful piano figure, lead vocalist China Forbes
creates an almost etheral feeling on this modern take on a
Christmas Classic. You can find it on their fantastic 2010 album
Joy To The World.

25 Days, 25 Songs — Day 4: Zat You Santa Claus

Louis Armstrong recorded 6 Christmas songs for Decca in three sessions between 1952 and 1955. The first two sides, a couple of standards, “White Christmas” backed with “Winter Wonderland”, were recorded in 1952 with Gordon Jenkins’ and His Orchestra. The next year, Satchmo took to recording less traditional songs and we were introduced to “Zat You, Santa Clause?” backed with Steve Allen’s “Cool Yule” on a release by Louis Armstrong With The Commanders. Then in 1955 it was “Christmas In New Orleans” backed with “Christmas Night In Harlem” as Louis Armstrong With Benny Carter’s Orchestra. All are available on the compilation album What a Wonderful Christmas and the second two sessions produced some of my favorite Christmas songs.  I chose “Zat You, Santa Clause?” because of the menacing groove The Commanders lay down coupled with Jack Fox’s fantastic lyric that has the singer going back and forth between anticipation of a visit from everyone’s favorite fat man and a sense of paranoia that someone is creeping around outside his house

25 Days, 25 Songs — Day 3: The Merriest

23: “The Merriest” — June Christy

When vocalist record a Christmas album, you often get an album of covers and standards, but hipster June Christy bucked that trend in 1961 with her ‘This Time Of Year’ album. She chose instead to record a whole album of new compositions by the team that wrote her hit “Night Time Was My Mother,” Arnold Miller and Connie Pearce Miller.  She also engaged her fellow Stan Kenton alumni Pete Rugulo to conduct. “The Merriest” is my favorite from this often overlooked singers contribution to the Christmas genre, combining a swinging track and June’s cool Christmas wishes for the hipsters, beats and other bohemian types.

Batters, Stuffings and Rubs

Asian Chicken Rub

Use on soy marinated chicken

2 parts white sesame seeds to 1 part black sesame seeds

add 3/4 TBS Powdered Ginger and Garlic for each 1/2 C Black sesame seeds

Beer Batter

Use a 1/4 C Blackening Spice to 1 picture of Pale Ale and add flour to desired consistency

Dry Herb Mix

Combine equal Parts dried Thyme, Basil and Oregano

Dry Rub 01

1/2 C Ancho Chili Powder
1/2 Lb. Brown Sugar
1/4 C. Salt
1/8 C. Granul~ Garlic
1 TBS. Cumin
1/4 Tsp. Cayenne Pepper

Dry Rub 02

Combine Equal Parts Cumin, Dried Garlic, Salt and Pepper

Mushroom Blue Cheese Stuffing 

Great to stuff a blackened steak

1/2 C Blue cheese crumbles

1/2 C Bread Crumbs

1/2 C Chopped Portabello Mushroom (stems and caps)

1/2 TBS Minced Garlic

1/2 TBS Olive Oil

Seafood Flour for Frying 

Great for dusting seafood like calamari before frying

1/2 LB Flour

1/4 C Chili Powder

1/4 TBS each salt and pepper

 

 

 

 

Aigo Bouido

Aigo Bouido (Garlic Soup)

This soup is perfect for the coming Fall weather, rich and creamy without any dairy, it has a sweet bite from the boiled garlic. Enjoy!

Ingredients

16 Whole unpeeled garlic cloves

2 QT Water

2 TB Salt

1 Pinch pepper

1/4 TSP Sage

1/4 TSP Thyme

1/2 Bay Leaf

4 Sprigs parsley

3 TB Olive Oil

3 Egg Yolks

preparation

Cook garlic in Boiling water for 30 seconds, drain

Run cold water over garlic and peel

Add peeled garlic and all ingredients but Oil and Egg and Boil for 30 minutes

Beat Egg Yolks with a wire whisk until thick and slowly add oil by drops

Beat a ladle full of soup into egg mixture, be slow here as to not make scrambled eggs

Slowly add the rest of soup while straining and pressing garlic through a fine mesh strainer

Serve immediately with French bread

Garnish with parsley

Recipe courtesy of Kevin W Hogan 

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Love Is A Messy Business or ‘Will You Be My June Carter-Cash?’

The past few months have been a whirlwind for me.  I have come from writing 400 word articles for $11 a pop to standing on the precipice of unending abundance in my calling, selling real estate. I talked about this change in mind set a few weeks ago here and have lived my life through progressive realization since reading Steve Morris’ book “Born To Be Exceptional.”

In the course of developing plans for my life I found that I wanted to have someone to share my life with. The three fold path I have laid out, a one year plan to grow my business, a five year plan to become financially independent and debt free and a ten year plan to have the seeds of my retirement start to bloom (It will take my kids getting through college before I can truly retire, but by the time they go I will be entering a period of wrapping up my business), include a certain woman that I have known for many years.  I see it, feel it, know it and live it in all my actions and thoughts.

After my x-wife left I never believed I could trust or love another, normal for such a life changing event.  It took me two years to find my way through the grieving that comes with the termination of a marriage and has been another three for me to feel comfortable pursuing someone. Most people I know who have been through something similar jump back in at some point much earlier and try to find a person to spend their days with. I never saw this as a viable option. I fought for my children to live primarily with me and took a vow in my mind to protect them from the volatility accompanying new relationships.  The last thing I wanted was a parade of women coming into their lives so I had a series of ‘friends’ that would come over on the weekend when the girls were visiting their mother, but that I kept at arms length for the most part.

I never saw anything beyond what I wanted, never took these women’s feelings in to account, even when I was clear that our relationship was purely physical. How can you not become attached on a more deeper level?  And if I felt they were trying for something more I never spoke to them again. I hope the pain was minimal for them and that, though I was selfish, my honesty upfront dulled it. I could be callous and say “you knew what you were getting into,” but I know everyone thinks (and hopes) that a physical relationship may become something more.  Like Jesse Winchester said “You have to plant your seed in the dirt my friend if you want the thing to grow.”  Love is a messy business, but from it comes great beauty if you nurture it.

I wouldn’t change what I did, but I have found that one of these women truly did capture my heart.  It was a complicated scene from the beginning because of our history and I won’t go into that.  We met and hung out not long after my x left and I just wasn’t ready on any level to be involved. Suffice it to say that she is everything I ever want and need in a partner and I let it slip away because the timing was wrong.

This is the crux of a moral dilemma I now find myself in. When I close my eyes and see myself a year from now it is her I see myself with, when I see myself three years from now it is her I see myself married to. The problem is she has moved on from me, has a boyfriend and a good life.

I ask myself is it wrong to pursue her, knowing the pain of having someone you love run off like my x did?  I have never been one to believe in ‘following your heart’, so I would never try to ‘steal’ her away with some Casanova sweet talk. I have, however, let her know how I feel and worry that I may inadvertently throw a wrench into her life. If there is even a smoldering ash of what we had, my simple words may make it rise to heat and flame. Is this fair to her boyfriend?

I can’t help but think about Johnny and June Cash and his chasing her for years.  People watch “Walk The Line” as a great romantic love story, but what about the people they left hurt in the dust.  Was he wrong to chase her, to pursue her, to be so honest while at the same time self centered?

I know how I feel about it, I want her in my life, I want to provide for her and let her follow her calling without the incessant work she has to do to support herself at a 9 to 5.  She could do great things and help many people given the freedom to do it with all her energy. I am writing this for clarity in my mind, I believe we belong together and think that through patience and perseverance one day we will stand before our friends and maker and be married.  As for her boyfriend, my hope is there relationship will run its course and when it does I will be there.