22 May 2011

Cooking with Bruce: bow-tie pasta

This is one of my favourite recipes, I'm not sure where I grabbed it, but it's quite versatile although I do stick to the recipe reasonably closely (it maybe one of Dave Burton's from the DomPost some years ago...).


Bow-tie pasta salad

225gm bow tie shaped pasta
1 small zucchini thinly sliced
1/2 red onion peeled and thinly sliced
1c pitted black olives chopped
1c crumbled feta cheese
1 large tomato chopped
1/2 c sun-dried tomatoes in oil thinly chopped
2c baby spinach washed and chopped
1 1/4c italian herb vinaigrette (see below)

Cook pasta
Combine everything into a large bowl and mix gently.


Italian Vinaigrette
usual 3:1 mix of olive oil and balsamic vinegar
some rosemary leaves
2t chopped basil
2t chopped parsley
1/2t ground black pepper
1/4t chilli flakes
1/2t sea salt

mix.

Me.

12 May 2011

Music week part 1

This week has lots of gigs in it. I like that.

On Sunday we wandered down to what's rapidly becoming a favourite venue in Leicester, The Musician see Mary Gauthier. I first heard her a few years ago when I got lent Between Daylight and Dark. She's that rare thing, a singer-songwriter who manages to hold your attention for an entire album. Her lyrics don't deal with the usual subjects, rather they remind me of Tom Waits. Very character driven, exploration of problems, lives, etc. For those of you who like Tom's music, but are put off by his voice, I'd recommend trying Gauthier. This is pronounced Go-Shay, according to her website.

The songs characters include Waitsian motifs such as the Hobo, given both Waits and Gauthier have well recorded histories of substance abuse, there does seem a strong empathy with the down and out.
The gig was just her and a fiddler, Tania Elizabeth, who was rather good (and hot). So good I've included a youtube of her as well.





Tuesday night was Greg Trooper who I came across thanks to a review inthe DomPost for Make It Through This World in 2005. Again singer-songwriter, although that albums veers a little too much into Eagles territory in places. Thankfully live he doesn't, and he's quite funny on stage. The songs are, as Trooper described them, generally focussed on depressed women. And they are great live.



Also enjoyed the layout of the Musician for these two intimate gigs, seats and tables. Great stuff. And they have great ale on tap. Even had Otley for the Trooper gig. Woohoo.

I've been listening to Anna Calvi quite a bit after her appearance on Jools the other week, picked up her album on vinyl (came with mp3 download). Good stuff. She reminds me of early Scott Walker (Scott 1-4) stuff, big voice, spacious production, and although initially standard sounding pop songs, the lyrics are a bit subversive.



Tomorrow I have the mighty caped-prog-gods Pallas, and Saturday has Andrew and I rocking along to Roger Waters.

If I'm still awake, we're thinking of going to Hayseed Dixie on Monday, as they are rather fun live.

Me.

5 May 2011

gogo armadillo's or lay off the roadkill

Leprosy, I caught it when I was only three,
Bits and pieces keep fallin' off a me

(to the tune of Yesterday)

Armadillo's are transmitting a new strain of leprosy to people in the southern US. I guess this is another case when if you're not with us, you're with the, um, Armadillo's. Although apparently 95% of humans areimmune to it, so I guess the report card will read 'must try harder'.
Although I still think it's uber cool that Armadillo's are the only reservoir for leprosy that transmits to humans.
Article here.

So lay off the roadkill.

This has been a public service announcement from me, and Benriach Solstice.

4 May 2011

gigs approaching!

May is looking good!!!

Mary Gauthier on Sunday 8th

Greg Trooper on Tuesday 10th

the uber mighty cape gods Pallas Friday 13th

and the mighty Lord Rog Waters Sat 14th

I had P.F.M for the 20th, but the buggers just went and cancelled. Nevermind, I have my best investigative researcher finding a new gig (hear that Mr A, you're my best researcher...).

me

Referendum, Safa, and epic guitar awesomeness

It appears that there are local body elections here at the same time as the referendum. I've found that out thanks to flyers, LibDem's have sent three (desperate), Labour one (pleading), Conservatives none (unsurprising given public feeling, and the area) and sadly none from the BNP. The BNP flyer provided the highlight of the last election, inbred cross-eyed freaks, on a garish background. Brilliant.

In a change from being an Aussie, I was accused by a bus driver of being a South African yesterday.

Currently having annoying times at work. i'm considering blogging about it, but may hold off for a couple of days.

For Thurs night music night, I've flicked through the iTunes library and created a Epic Guitar Awesomenesss playlist, feel free to suggest those I've missed. BTW not a huge led zep fan, so none of them, and kinda held off the extreme metal stuff.


AC/DC
Hells Bells [Live]
Alan Parsons
Return to Tunguska
Amplifier
Minion's Song
Arthur Brown
Fire (Mono Version)
Arthur Brown
Fanfare-Fire Poem (Mono Version)
Arthur Brown
Prelude-Nightmare (Mono Version)
Blue Oyster Cult
(Don't Fear) The Reaper
Brian May
Blues Breaker
Bruce Springsteen
The Ghost Of Tom Joad
Deep Purple
Child In Time
Deep Purple
Smoke On the Water
Def Leppard
Pour Some Sugar On Me
Derek & The Dominos
Layla
Dimmu Borgir
Dimmu Borgir
Dire Straits
Telegraph Road
Dire Straits
Brothers In Arms
Dream Theater
Pull Me Under (2007 Remix)
Fleetwood Mac
Everyday I Have The Blues
Gary Moore
Still Got The Blues
Genesis
Blood On The Rooftops
Guns N' Roses
November Rain
IQ
Shooting Angels
Iron Maiden
Infinite Dreams
Jeff Buckley
Hallelujah
Jethro Tull
Locomotive Breath
Manic Street Preachers
Everything Must Go
Marillion
Easter
Marillion
Born To Run
Meat Loaf
Bat out of Hell
Michael Jackson
Dirty Diana
Muse
Supermassive Black Hole
Neu!
Hallogallo
Oasis
Hello
Pallas
Ghostdancers
Paradise Lost
So Much Is Lost
Pendragon
Eraserhead
Peter Gabriel
Sledgehammer
Pink Floyd
Sorrow
Pixies
Wave Of Mutilation
Porcupine Tree
Arriving Somewhere But Not Here
Prince & the Revolution
Purple Rain
Queen
I Want It All
Queen
Tie Your Mother Down
Queensrÿche
Empire
Roger Waters
Comfortably Numb
Rush
Test For Echo
Scott Walker
Psioratic
Shihad
Deb's Night Out (Live)
Slayer
Bloodline
Steve Earle
Copperhead Road
The Black Keys
Thickfreakness
The Chills
I Love My Leather Jacket
The Rolling Stones
Sympathy For The Devil
The Tragically Hip
Fully Completely
The Who
Who Are You
Warren Zevon
Roland The Headless Thompson Gunner
Willard Grant Conspiracy
The Suffering Song