Mississippi McDowell's wise words

The lyrics to You Got To Move, a McDowell song covered by the Rolling Stones on their Sticky Fingers album in 1971 (here they are playing it live), are inscribed on the headstone of Mississippi Fred's grave in Panola County, Mississippi. McDowell was highly influential blues player and is considered the father of hill country blues.


Photo by 'joseph a' from Flickr.

The Shield

After watching 89 episodes of 7 seasons of US TV's The Shield DVD box set over the last 4 months, I finally reached the end the other day. It's 'the story of an inner-city Los Angeles police precinct where some of the cops aren't above breaking the rules or working against their associates to both keep the streets safe and their self-interests intact.'


An awesome made-for-TV series, engaging beyond the norm of television. Dating from 2002-08, it was shown on FiveUSA UK Channel at 11pm on Sunday nights, a time guaranteed not to hit the jackpot in our household.

Vic Mackey, the lead character played by Michael Chiklis, is so watchable as the bad-but-good detective who does everything his way. The sub-plots in each episode all wind cleverly around each other - both the writing and the editing are excellent. The visual work, done by two hand-held cameramen, is what is said to give The Shield its unique look and feel.


Forest Whitaker (who won an Oscar for The Last King of Africa) plays an internal investigator Jon Kavanaugh who Mackey consistently manages to stay one step ahead of,  and Glenn Close, who briefly takes over as the police station Captain; both feature in just a couple of the seasons.

IMDB 8.9/10 - and worth every decimal point above the 8. 


89 x 45min episodes (plus the voiceovers and deleted scenes) amount to nearly three days of my life - a sobering thought, but only lost sleep, really. To think I have never even watched a single episode of The Sopranos, yet. Only 5 more seasons to watch of West Wing, too... No wonder TV is so much more 'on demand' nowadays. No adverts, either, if you use the boxed DVD sets.

Fever Pitch in Fairlight

To Fairlight in East Sussex with Fever Pitch for a charity fund-raising choral concert. Right next to Hastings, the walk beforehand along the Firehills footpath overlooking the sea and the bay over to Dungeness marshes, wind farm and power station were glorious on this fine late summer afternoon. 

We came across an unusual wedding in a tiny chapel right by Pett Level seafront, where a bagpiper played in a Tam-o'-Shantered and bewhiskered groom and his glamorous wife.

After a trip up St Andrew's church tower, from where there are unexpectedly wonderful views, we sang a mixed programme of Bach to Beatles. The usual Fever Pitch eclectic mix included a Bach motet and English traditional folk song arrangements. 


Sadly, we missed the chance to celebrate Richard D'Oyly Carte (founder of the Savoy Theatre, Savoy Hotel, and D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, which produced the Gilbert and Sullivan light operas) and Anglican choral composer Thomas Attwood Walmisley, who are both buried in the churchyard.

Mark Who?

Mark Zuckerberg - if you've never heard of him then it's not surprising. But he is one of the co-founders of Facebook and The New Yorker magazine has an interesting interview with him here.

Not to be confused, of course, with Justin Timberlake (below), who is not playing Mr Zuckerberg in the upcoming movie, The Social Network. Jesse Eisenberg apparently has that privilege.

The Modern Pantry

To The Modern Pantry in a Georgian townhouse building in St John's Square (right by Bruno Loubet's Bistrot in the Zetter hotel), Clerkenwell for Sunday late brunch. A lovely day, with pre-prandial drinks high up on an urban-living terrace then on to this great little restaurant that gives 'fusion cooking' (Pacific Rim) a good name. Very New York in style (open all hours, no airs and graces, just great food and great service - at last!). 

Recognised by Michelin with a bib gourmand and the AA (2 stars), the prices reflect its popularity. However, when the food's this good then you never mind paying. Scallop sashimi with mustard seed, miso-marinated (or sugar-cured?) shrimp omelette with smoked chili sambal, tofu and sweetcorn fritters, onglet (skirt) steak cooked perfectly, casava chips with chili marmalade and creme fraiche, peach salsa, affogato made with great Caravan espresso coffee poured over Jude's hokey-pokey honeycomb 'ice-cream with soul', and much more...

Chef-owner Anna Hansen (UK New Zealander of the Year 2010) has a wealth of experience under her belt (she trained with London's originator of fusion cooking, Peter Gordon) and it clearly shows. When the food's this good it's time to push the boat out and I broke one of my main rules, by splashing out on a fine vino - but the company, location and food were too enjoyable to note the detail, just that it was a lovely, oaky 2006 Italian Barbera, worth every penny of the restaurant's mark-up. Service was excellent: friendly, generous and knowledgeable. Artwork ('A Visual Feast') from Selina Snow (see pics at bottom for a contrastingly arty take on British food). A joyful experience, bu wtf is umeboshi butter?

* Waitrose guest chef: Anna Hansen (link left to recipes, from Waitrose Food Illustrated Jan 2010 edition)

* Anna features in Coco (pub. Phaidon), a book showcasing 100 of the world's top up and coming chefs 

 

* Matthew Norman hits the nail on the head in his Guardian review:

"...Low expectations can distort the critical judgment, the relief luring you into inflating the competent into the outstanding, but by any standards the Modern Pantry is a gem."

Google homepage

Loved Google's interactive balls on their homepage today. Also love the idea of Google giving Apple a run for their money on the music front.

ICA - Death of Print?

Join the debate at the ICA over the death of print on 21 October. Link here.

Black Fleece for Men

Brooks Brothers' Black Fleece for men is described as 'tailored sophistication. The fragrance is an earthy aromatic style, the bright sparkling citrus and fresh spices invigorate, while hints of geranium bourbon and rosewood heart warm the fragrance and blend seamlessly. Rich undertones of patchouli, incense and vetiver complete the scent with a tailored elegance. The bottle is inspired by 1950's ceramic glass flacons in refined grey, with matching silver-trimmed glass caps. The packaging is fabricated with rigorous environmental sensibility, the Black Fleece falcon and carton establish a new aesthetic in fragrance design and packaging.From soy ink to plant-derived materials made without petroleum that are recyclable and biodegradable, the Black Fleece Fragrance collection has been fabricated with respect to the Earth.'


...so that's how they get 125 bucks out of you. Still, it seemed like a justifiable expense and a pleasurable indulgence in NYC in February.

Clocks

Trying to decide on a new wall clock - and it's harder than I thought, with so much choice. Found this great site for Newgate Clocks, though: www.newgateclocks.com - lovely site design and quite inspiring. 

Karl Ford, photographer

Great scenic (mainly around North Shore, Mass and Vermont) and creature photos from photographer Karl Ford, whose website is here. Pic below is of West Beach, Beverly Farms.

Edington Festival

Attended the final service of 2010 Edington Festival of Music within the Liturgy last week, in Wiltshire. It was the last performance from Andrew Carwood, retiring musical director of the Schola Cantorum choir for many years.

Zena James @ SMITF

To St Martin-in-the-Fields Cafe in the Crypt, Trafalgar Square to hear Zena James and her jazz backing quartet.


Zena's new album, Captivated, is due out before Christmas and she previewed a few songs along with tunes from her first album, Tell Me More, and other jazz-pop standards.


Michael Jackson's Human Nature was a great choice for a crossover jazz singer and alto saxophonist Simon Allen's lyrical solos lifted it above pure copycatism.




* More details at www.zenajames.com and Splash Point Digital.
* Jazz listings and other concerts at St Martin-in-the-Fields at www.smitf.org.

Google acquired DoubleClick Apr 2007

Click image to see the whole graphic from www.scores.org, showing Google's acquisitions to August 2010.

V8 hotel for love bugs?

A hotel in Germany for motoring nutters. Pics here from Telegraph Online.

Herbie (bottom pic) of the Love Bug films would love it.