Radio playlists shall be illustrated more fully, which I like a lot:
What does that mean for THIS blog? Dunno yet. Maybe more photos?
over'n'out,
-m
Saturday, January 21, 2012
New radio blog!
Well now, I got restless and changed the name of my radio show. Somehow I seem to do that every several years. 'Tis now Rat Salad, named for the Black Sabbath instrumental... Kinda fits with the title Mixed Greenz I guess, too.
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Big Carnivorous Feast for 12/21/2011
Wow, another blog post within a month! Started out the show on Xmas eve eve eve eve with a whole album side of Blind Willie Johnson (above). It was from newly-released gorgeous double LP from Mississippi Records. If you've never heard Blind Willie Johnson, you gotta. Spellbinding voice. Speakin' of voices, on some songs he's accompanied by female vocalists -- also spectacular but criminally not identified! Not the fault of Mississippi Records... no one thought to record her name(s) back in 1927-30 when he recorded.
Later in the show featured a R.I.P. tribute to the recently-departed Cape Verdian singer Cesária Évora. That's her top center of the photo collage. Also new mesmerizing minimalist cello-based music from Iceland's Hildur Gudnadóttir (upper right). Played a track from one of my favorite albums of the year, Megafaun. Only a couple Xmas cuts, but they were choice. Punked out Feliz Navidad and Ruuuuufus Thomas.
Entire playlist w/comments right here.
Adios 'n' Happy New Year.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Big Carnivorous Feast for 11/30/2011
S'pose I oughta report in every 6 months or so that I'm still on the radio at w x d u 88.7 Durham. Above is yesterday's playlist visualized; find it in writing here.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Monday, July 11, 2011
Go East, Young Men (part 11)
After 11 days and somewhere along the lines of 900 miles, we made it to Minneapolis on July 11, 1981!
Check us out all twins-y in our BHS running t-shirts...
At this point in my life I remember expecting we'd see the Minneapolis skyline for miles and miles and miles before we got there. I think I envisioned the midwest as completely and totally flat, so I literally was looking for that skyline for most of the last 60-ish miles we rode that day. Not how it turned out of course!
There was some extended rain either this last day or the day before... we can't remember which. But both of us recall it was chilly, and Dave reminded me of our Plan to Keep Legs Warm. Somehow we had the idea that slathering Vaseline on the legs would do it. Maybe so. But then all road grime within 1/2 a mile was attracted like a magnet and stuck to those greased legs. Mmmmmm, mmm.
We made our way down town and relaxed in a park:
Dave digs the view of the IDS tower.
After our downtown rest break we struck out northward for the suburbs to my Grandma's house, our final destination. We crossed the Mississippi River on the old Hennepin Avenue bridge. A part of the road surface was metal see-through grating, a bit scary! Dave felt convince that our tires were narrow enough that they could fall through some of the cracks. But we lived to tell our story.
My bike on the bridge over the Mississippi River.
There at last!
Dave & I arrive at my grandma's house on Forest Dale Road.
Over the next couple days we hung out in the Twin Cities with my relatives. Went up in the aforementioned IDS tower one night to check out the view... see photo above!
Swam in the little lake (above) behind my Grandma's house....
Took apart bikes....
Stuck 'em in boxes...
...and eventually went home on a Greyhound bus! We had a terrific 11 days.
Big lesson: This trip taught me that 80+ miles per day is pretty exhausting. All subsequent trips I've been on were more like 50 per day... much more relaxing & enjoyable!
Unexpected surprise: I felt inspired by and grateful for the unexpected generosity we experienced.
I was hungry for more bike travel, for sure. Didn't get a chance again until 1985, and you can read all about that in a series of posts starting here. Stay tuned for some stories & photos from France & Hungary & all points between in a few weeks...
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Go East, Young Men (part 10)
July 10, 1981 - Our 2nd to last day of riding. Neither of us remembers too much about this leg o' the journey. Again, I think we were a little fried from doing pretty high mileage.
I remember the day was really hot, and it was very humid too, especially in the valley of the Minnesota River after lunch.
Dave refilling water bottle near Vesta, Minnesota.
We were heading east on Highway 19. Little did I realize that I'd spend a lot of time running and cycling on this road as a college student soon after...
We only had three flat tires the whole trip. Here's Dave fixing one.
Lunch break at a park in Redwood Falls. Of course we had to climb the tank.
No photos at all the rest of that day. Musta been a grind of an afternoon in the heat. I don't even know where we camped out that night. I believe we wanted to get well over half the remaining distance to our final destination, the Minneapolis area--so I think we stayed in Gaylord or Green Isle. This is pretty boring reading here, isn't it? Oh well, least there's a few pics to look at....
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Go East, Young Men (part 9)
Great rural Minnesota scene to start our day on July 9th, 1981:
North of Luverne, Minnesota
We dropped in on Pipestone National Monument for lunch. Here there are large deposits of a gorgeous soft red rock, which indigenous tribes e.g. the Dakota Sioux have carved into pipes and other objects for centuries.
Coupla shots above show the pipestone formations. Growing up amongst geologists taught me to throw my shoe in there for a sense of scale.
A couple years ago Dave went back there on a trip with his family. Below are his kids in front of the Pipestone rock layers!
After lunch we cranked another 45 up to Marshall, Minnesota. There we had wonderful hosts to stay with. Dave's cousins, The Fedas, lived there and put us up for the night. Thanks, y'all. Here they are:
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