Tinned Gold

The last time i came back from Morocco in 2003,
i painstakingly lugged home a whole case of sardines,
a most precious loot to be carefully aged and rationned,
my sunny childhood memories deliciously evoked one can at a time.

To my great delight, more and more great sardine brands
have been showing up at my local grocery stores.
I might soon even venture beyond my Moroccan bias
and try some of the European, Asian and American offerings.

An added bonus is that sardines are packed with B12, vitamin D,
omega-3 fatty acids and calcium. They are also low on the food chain
and fast-growing, which makes them among the safest fish from overfishing.

Iritis at the Grog and Tankard

So Decadent

At a beer tasting held in a church complex,
the ladies looove Ska Brewing's Decadent Imperial IPA,
hand carried from Durango, Colorado just for this tasting.

It's a hard job to taste all these but someone has to do it.

Having a lively discussion about the merits of triple decoction, flux capacitor yields and stuff.

If it don't fit....

In the continuing saga of my recent car issues...
I have learned a few important lessons this weekend:

- when you start hearing a flapping sound on the highway, it's a good idea to slow down presto to check it out.
- a spare tire and wheel that actually fit the car would be preferable.
- on an interstate you get a good feel for a 107 heat index, despite the nice breeze from Mack trucks zooming by a few feet from your person.
- and finally, unproperly maintained old cars mean lotsa problems such
as a thrawted trip to hike in the mountains.

Red Lion Pub Flyer

greetings y'all

my apologies for being out of touch for so long.
I was waiting to get some nice videos to post
but it's taking much longer than anticipated.

In the meantime below is a new poster i just
made for our next upcoming big show.
cheers

Crazy Clouds

As we emerged from the basement after a great Iritis band practice session, the sky above us was otherwordly.

Pizza Pizza!

The 32-inch pizza slices from Pizza Mart are not only a true DC institution, they taste like heaven at 2 in the morning.... or after a 4-1 rout by our DC Capitals over the Carolina Hurricanes to grab the first spot in the division. OV! MVP!!!

Long gone are the raucous evenings when the monster slice would only set you back $2.25. These days there are food riots in Egypt and Haiti. The cost of flour and rice has sometimes tripled from China to Mozambique. So $4.50 is not bad at all for a slice that's almost a foot and half long and weighs in close to 1 pound. It also packs 1,117 calories.

mmm..... there's only one Pizza Mart.

Black and Tan Craze

The marketing wizzes at Anheuser-Busch are giving away a free beer toy!!
I'm a sucker so i signed up of course.
It must be part of their aggressive push in the market since
they took over distribution rights for the European InBev brands (Bass, Stella Artois, Beck’s and Hoegaarden)


Local beer writer Greg Kitsock wrote in his recent discussion
of Black and Tans in the Post:
"It works, but you must pour slowly, because the creamy
stout foam tends to gum up the holes."

So my ol' trusty versatile Guinness spoon might have an edge here.
Plus the MBAs at A-B probably figured it was a great way to gather
information on beer drinkers and force them to buy glassware that will actually fit the brolly. 'sure looks like it is sized only for the new sexy Bass glasses. ....of course i want a couple of those too.


Now I'll just need to get my hands on one of these Brütül LagerHead Turtles to conduct a full comparison test...

Cheers!

A St Patty's Breakfast

Say!
I like Green Eggs and Spam!
I do! I like them, how lucky-I-am!
And I would eat them in a boat surely
And I would eat them with a goat curry.

A Thirst Quenching Encounter With a Pundit Icon

Stephen Colbert, born 1964

"Stephen Colbert, the mock pundit for the Comedy Central show The Colbert Report recently contacted the National Portrait Gallery hoping to donate this portrait of himself from his show. While this triple portrait is not one that would typically be accessioned into the Portrait Gallery’s permanent collection, NPG agreed to go along with the joke and hang the portrait for a limited time.

In episodes of The Colbert Report that aired on January 10, 14, and 15, 2008, Colbert tries to convince the Smithsonian that he should be considered a national treasure. He attempts to donate his portrait to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, but the museum’s director suggests that perhaps Colbert should speak to the National Portrait Gallery. Finally, after much "discussion," the director of the National Portrait Gallery finds an appropriate place to hang Colbert’s portrait, in between the bathrooms and above the water fountain.

This portrait will only be here through April 1, so refresh yourself at the drinking fountain while contemplating this portrait of Colbert while you can."

Falu

'Had the chance to see and meet the lovely, talented and radiant Falu and her crew this past week at their show at the National Geographic.

I've loved her singing and her music after discovering her on myspace a few months ago. But they were even better live!

The rhythm section was rock solid and more forward than on the CD and that was a very very good thing. I was in awe at the masterful musicianship. Absolute control, and supreme tightness. What a show.

They have a perfect blend of "Indie Hindi Rock". Much like we're trying to achieve with Iritis and Middle Eastern music. Except we have a long way to go.....

Here's a glimpse of Falu live!

Beer Can-dle

With Dremo gone we hit up some of the other ol' haunts. I hadn't been to Galaxy Hut in years, the initial manifestation of the essence of Bardo. I bumped into one of the bartenders from Dremo while there.
Tap selection was as great ever. Pictured here is Stoudt's Fat Dog Oatmeal Stout and Rogue's Charlie 1981, a pretty potent American Strong Ale.
Gotta love the aluminium can candles they had all over the place.

Peace Symbol Turns 50

"...the peace sign turns 50 years old today. Over the past five decades the peace sign has become one of the world’s enduring icons. The original peace sign was developed in1958 by a British textile designer and conscientious objector named Gerald Holtom."


"He created the symbol by combining the semaphore letters N and D, for nuclear disarmament. [...] The symbol soon began to be used in anti-nuclear protests across Britain and then spread across the globe." (DN!)


The image of a peasant before a firing squad in Francisco Goya's "The Third of May 1808" is also cited as one of his inspirations.
"The white of the victim's shirt represents innocence and purity [...] He alone looks straight at the faceless enemy. Though on his knees he is a giant who towers above all at the very moment before his death."

Memories of Dr Dremo's

It's gone, it's really gone.
My favorite bar is no more.
Here are some great shots for posterity.

These pix ripped with gratitude from here.

Rats!

Happy Chinese New Year of the Rat

My nieces:
This is one ol' pix..... Paris, 1996

Miller Pong

Miller Lite is currently market testing its Miller Lite Brewers Collection – "a triumvirate of craft-style light beers": an Amber, a Wheat and a Blonde Ale.

A review on BeerAdvocate predictably describes the beers as "inoffensive and bland". Quite appropriate as Michael Jackson used to joke "Let me grab a sip of my Miller Lite" when he drank some good ol' H2O.

My bud DP had this to say:
"If nothing else, this will address the long standing need for craft beer to play beer pong with."

"Czech Room Service"

Czech Pub Mural snagged by a fellow BURPer.

Iritis @ Dr Dremo's

After all the tremendous build-up to our very first gig,
the day finally came and went.

It was an absolute blast, we had a turnout of at least 50
kind supporters despite the NFL conference finals.

The owner Bill Sr. just gave us complete free reign over the back room and we held fort all night. Our friend Marc came through and helped us out with the sound set-up. We blasted through our set twice.

All the feedback has been enthusiastic and positive. The most glowing endorsement probably came from my father who said "you are much better than I expected".

Thank you all friends, old and new, from close and far,
for showing up and supporting us in our tribute to Bardo/Dr Dremo's,
a mere week before they shut their doors.

Dr Dremo is Dead
Long Live Dr Dremo's

Click below to browse the pictures or check out the slideshow:

Iritis @ Dr Dremo's

Sand Dunes, The Dalles, Oregon

From the National Geographic Picture Of The Day

"In a curious juncture, a wrinkled span of desert dunes pours into the Columbia River Gorge in The Dalles, Oregon. Eons of erosion by the mighty Columbia River carved this dramatic 80-mile-long (130-kilometer-long) gorge into the Cascade Range. Declared the nation's first National Scenic Area in 1986, the area is known for its 4,000-foot (1,220-meter) canyon walls, lush rain forest, and dozens of waterfalls."

(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "A River Dammed," April 2001, National Geographic magazine)

Photograph by Jim Richardson

Why Do I Give Away Some of My Music by Steve Coleman

Steve Coleman is an avant-garde composer and saxophone player. He has played with the likes of the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Big Band, the Sam Rivers Big Band, Cecil Taylor's Big Band, David Murray, Doug Hammond, Dave Holland, Mike Brecker, Cassandra Wilson and Abbey Lincoln. full bio here.

"Steve Coleman is a renaissance man for the left wing of jazz" - Thom Jurek, All-Music

This was originally posted here.

Many people have asked me what are my reasons for giving away music for free. Well, why not? Why should everything always cost something? For me music is organized sound that can be used as sonic symbols to communicate ideas. Since my main goal is the communication of these ideas to the people, then why not provide this music for free and thereby facilitating the distribution of this music to the people. However the distribution of music in this way is not in the best interest of commercial music companies, i.e. record companies, music distributors, retail stores etc.

My reasons for providing free music comes from my belief that musical ideas should not be owned by anyone. I believe that ideas should be free for anyone to use (but not to necessarily sell to others or make others pay for the use of these ideas). The concept of a commons area where ideas can be used for the benefit of all but for the profit of no one may seem like an unrealizable concept in the world today. Basically greed runs the world today and it is because of this that the concept of ownership exits.

There would be no need to own something exclusively unless the use of it was restricted to the owner for reasons of conservation, or the owner wishes to rent out the use of the item to others for a fee. The concept of wealth also stems from ownership and control of resources.

I believe that ideas should be an area that is common to all people. It has been proven that real progress is made when ideas are shared and developed collectively. The ancient Egyptian society is one example of this and the development of the Internet is an example in modern times. The growth of the Internet is definitely due to the concept of open-source software, freeware and shareware. For the most part commercial development has inhibited growth by introducing concepts of ownership, exclusive or restrictive ideas, and the concept of paying for information which in many cases is available for free elsewhere.

Although it is not practical in the present society to have a situation where all ideas and information are available for the use of all, there should be areas where ideas and information are free for the use of everyone. This is especially true of creative ideas and inspired thought.

However people have asked me "if you are going to give away music then how will you survive and make a living?" It does cost money to make recordings, engineers and musicians have to be paid and materials needs to be purchased. However it is not necessary to have the mentality that we need to make a profit from all that we produce. If a person has a strong conviction and a reason for what they are doing, that alone should be enough motivation for the action to be consummated.

Money is not real in the first place, it is an agreed upon concept, in fact just another idea. This particular idea has no value unless everyone agrees on its worth. And generally speaking the desire for, striving for and acquisition of money almost always has a negative effect on the mind. The quest for money, and material acquisition in general, is a barrier to spiritual development.

Giving some ideas and music away does not mean that all needs to be given away for free. But there are some people who either cannot pay for the music or would never even listen to it in the first place if they had to pay for it. For this group of people, and for all the others who have purchased and supported the music in the past, there should be an area where they can go to listen to the music at no charge. I envision a situation where maybe one third to one half of the music that I create and make available to the public will be free of charge. The same would apply to other ideas about the music, general information, music theory, philosophy, etc.

There are still live performances that people can come to and these cannot be free as I need, at a minimum, to pay band members and my management team. Sometimes I personally make a profit on performances that my group does, sometimes I break even, other times I actually lose money. Overall I manage to make a living. When we go out on the road there are no big road crews, sound people and equipment. It is not a big operation and no one is becoming wealthy. Any extra money that I do make goes back into research, development of ideas and trips to places that have infrastructures that make it nearly impossible to make money. As a group we have made several trips to countries like Cuba, Senegal, India etc. and in almost all of these cases the expenses have been paid by myself.

There should be some ideas and concepts that are available for all to use, to contribute to the advancement of all.