27 December 2008

my-Tunes: White Winter Hymnal

Who would have thought that out of the ashes of the Seattle grunge sound would come such sublime music as the Fleet Foxes. Pure music pure genius....reminds me of the sonic melodies Brian Wilson use to come up with. Also reminiscent of Super Furry Animals.

Enjoy.






24 December 2008

HO HO HO










Click to enlarge --nice shot of the mountains.






Here's wishing all of you a Merry CHRISTMAS [!]




www.noradsanta.org

23 December 2008

20 December 2008

COME IN TO THE LIGHT

Here's some video from the River of Lights at the Rio Grande Botanical Gardens.










I'm out.

13 December 2008

12 December 2008

Kiss My Arse Tommy Lee Jones!!!

Ansel

This is Ansel Adams famous photo called Moon Over Gonzales, New Mexico.





Now this is mine and its called Moon Over Liquidation Sale, and yet I don't get the same press. That's just wrong.

11 December 2008

Calm Before The Storm

The last few days have been amazing compared to Thanksgiving week when we had snow, hail and graupel [which I can only recall ever seeing once before as a kid]. I happened to get three days off in a row. The first two will be spent winterizing the house and yard but Saturday is unplanned. It is supposed to be the warmest day of the week, a balmy 55 and clear. Perfect day for a trip. I'll keep ya posted on what develops. Next week back to 'winter' weather and the very good possibility of snow!!

08 December 2008

HO HO HAR

Surely by now you have heard this.... what's that... you have not??? Wellllll.... you are in luck:

Happy Holidays.

07 December 2008

LIGHTS OF ZETAR



This is our neighbors house....you can see the lights from space!!!

And if you haven't heard this yet....it's hilarious:










Couldn't resist, he's one of my favorites.

I'm out.

05 December 2008

IN MEMORIAM: FORREST J ACKERMAN



This has nothing to do with New Mexico but since I have not seen any mention of it in main stream media I felt compelled to make mention of the passing of one of the heroes from my youth: Forrest J Ackerman, dead at 92.

Most of you won't know who he was but I'm sure there are one or two of you that do.

Uncle Forry as his fans called him was the founder, editor and chief writer for the first magazine of its kind devoted to horror and fantasy: Famous Monsters of Filmland.

Any fan of classic horror and 'sci-fi' [coined by Uncle Forry] worth his metal knows who he is. I grew up reading issue after issue of his magazines. There was nothing like it on the news stand and being a comic book collector and fan of sci/fi I guess I was destined to find the magazine.

I knew he had been ill and AICN recently asked fans to send him letters of well wishes knowing the end was near.

It's like losing a part of me.... kind of weird. It's a different kind of 'loss' then losing a parent.

Uncle Forry and Famous Monsters of Filmland were there in my private world as a kid.

None of my friends at the time read it. My parents didn't read it. My brothers and sisters didn't read it.

It was exclusive to me...until I moved to Los Angeles and realized how many people were part of the same family of Ackermaniacs.

I was in good company.

I'm out.

03 December 2008

The Lights Fantastic




It's beginning to look alot like Christmas.

Exhibit A: River of Lights

Every December the city of Albuquerque and the Rio Grande Botanical Gardens put on a 'light sculpture' show called The River of Lights.

The weather this year was very mild compared to last year. Its a great way to spend an evening. Have a good meal and then take the tour. It's only seven bucks!! Enjoy!!












I'm out.

27 November 2008

GOBBLDYGOOK




I would like to wish everyone a happy and healthy Thanksgiving. I hope yours was as special as mine. Best wishes to all.

I'm out.

21 November 2008

my-TUNES

His name is Brett Dennen and if he ever plays Augusta, Baton Rouge, Honolulu, Denver, Austin or Los Angeles or where ever your reading this from you should take the time from your busy schedule to see him. I am, on March 30 in Santa Fe. Thanks to T-Rob for turning me on to him. I understand the song has been used on SCRUBS and HOUSE. I don't watch much tv so I guess I'm a bit behind. None the less this guy is great.







It's from his cd SO MUCH MORE. Check him out at BRETTDENNEN.NET.

...and from his new CD HOPE FOR THE HOPELESS is this great tune.




I'm out.

20 November 2008

ARREST THAT NUN!!




Only in New Mexico....


For 84 years the nuns at St Francis Xavier Church on Broadway in Albuquerque have been having a fall potluck to honor Our Lady of Guadalupe. The homemade posole, menudo, tamales and bizcochitos - all local specialties, have been feeding over 500 parishioners without a hitch. The mayor has even shown up to have a plate as well as police officers and the public in general.


But not this year if the POT-LUCK POLICE have their say!!!


Apparently there is a city potluck ordinance [I kid you NOT] that reads you cannot have a potluck with food made from home if you are serving ove
r 500 people!!

Bah humbug!!


Two weeks ago, city health officials told church leaders that food-handling laws prohibited parishioners from taking home-cooked food to church to serve an expected 500 people for the Dec. 14 feast.



Church leaders quickly hatched a Plan B that involved using canned posole and store-bought desserts and giving up the menudo.
City law requires that food intended for distribution to the public be prepared in an "approved kitchen," such as the church kitchen, rather than in private homes.


For his part, Mayor Martin Chávez called the rigid interpretation of the city's food
ordinance "plain silly" and has ordered up a steaming bowl of revisions to city law — changes that will allow churches and other groups to serve homemade dishes without violating city food-handling laws.

Oh, did I mention 2010 is an election year and that Mayor Chavez is considering running for governor??


"Taken to its logical conclusion, this law would prohibit potlucks where members of the public might attend," Chávez said Wednesday through a spokeswoman. "I'm confident this is not the intent of the ordinance."
For now, the city will draft an "interim rule" that will allow the St. Francis Xavier event to go forward as it has for decades, said Ed Adams, chief administrative officer.


Even if the city hadn't quickly canned the ban on homemade posole, there were offerings from commercial kitchens and restaurants to help worshippers get the real stuff. Sister Bernice Garcia, parish life coordinator at St. Francis, said she and church parishioners are relieved by the city's change of course. "We can cook at home," Garcia said Wednesday. "We can bake our cookies and make our bread pudding and bring it to church. And make menudo."

...and all is well in the Land of Enchantment.

I'm out.

**NOTE**


For those of you not from New Mexico, posole is a delicious spicy corn stew. Christmas isn't Christmas in the southwest without it.




At holiday time people throughout the world honor traditions, and New Mexico is no exception. One tradition many here look forward to on Christmas Eve is a steaming bowl of
posole (po-SO-lay), a spicy corn stew that is known as the ceremonial dish for celebrating life's blessings.

New Mexicans have been enjoying posole for centuries. The cuisine here springs from three cultures: Native American, Mexican, and European. The Rio Grande Pueblo Indians, and their ancestors, the “Anasazi,” or "ancient ones,” relied on corn, beans, squash, and chiles for sustenance. These early crops became firmly entrenched in the culture, forming the foundation of New Mexican cuisine even before the Spanish arrived.

Corn has been and is the major food plant of the Native Americans. Red, yellow, and blue corn are cultivated in New Mexico. The corn is ground into meal and flour for use in breads and tortillas, and it is processed into posole corn.

Posole corn is prepared by soaking hard kernels of field corn (traditionally white, although blue is sometimes used now) in powdered lime and water - a method thought to mimic the ancient preservation of corn in limestone caves. After several hours, when the corn kernels have swollen, the liquid is allowed to evaporate and the kernels to dry.

Posole is different from hominy, another kind of processed corn, which tends to be softer and more bland. Compared to hominy, posole’s flavor is intense and earthy, its consistency more robust. Since posole corn can be difficult to find, hominy is often used as a substitute in posole stew.

The variations for posole are many. Some make it with chicken rather than pork; some prefer to use vegetable protein rather than meat. While posole in Southern New Mexico is always made with red chile, it is not uncommon to find Northern New Mexico posole made with green chile.


Ingredients for Posole

12 dried long red chile
10 lbs. Boned pork roast cut into 1" cubes
1/2 head of garlic peeled and chopped
A large pinch of Mexican oregano
1/2 of a large onion, chopped
Large can hominy
Salt

Preparation

Break open the chiles and remove the seeds and veins. Put the chiles to cook in a medium sized pot. Cover with fresh water and gently boil until chiles are very soft. Let the mixture cool and using a favorite method, blend the chile and the water to make a paste and strain.

Meanwhile, put the cubed pork, oregano, garlic, onion and salt into a large heavy pot and cover with water. Boil meat gently for 30 minutes. When the meat is soft, add the chile and hominy and cook for 15 to 20 minutes until the mixture is boiling nicely.

To serve, ladle the posole into heavy bowls and serve with thinly sliced cabbage and radishes, quartered limes, oregano, chopped onion, and fresh corn tortillas. Besides these side dishes, posole is usually served with sodas or cervesas.


19 November 2008

THE NATIONAL MONEY HOLE

New Mexico is home to the Taos Hum, the Roswell Incident, curanderas, chupacabras... and now this:

17 November 2008

EATS!!

At the suggestion of a friend I decided to check out a local landmark for dinner, the Route 66 Diner on Central Avenue right before you get to downtown.



The interior resembles a lot of diners of the 50s era, can you say 'Johnny Rockets'



Tonight I tried the Philly Cheese-steak sandwich. It was quite good, especially the bread.
The potato salad was ok, a bit heavy on the mayonnaise.



Of course I had to try the pie. Apple, peach, cherry, pecan...but no banana cream???
So I thought I would try the coconut cream pie. It was ok.... not what I wanted so it didn't really satisfy me.

They did; however, have a wide variety of milkshakes.... like a peanut butter and jelly milkshake....or the Elvis, which is a peanut butter and banana!!!



I should not forget to mention the bill: $15.98!!!!!!



Over all it was ok. The sandwich was good.... they are bigger at Johnny Rockets though. And man...I do love them banana shakes at JRs.



I'm out.

09 November 2008

RED OR GREEN




From fellow blogger Guy Malone:



You know you are from New Mexico when...




A package of white flour tortillas are the exact same thing as a loaf of bread.

=



At any gathering, regardless of size, green chile stew, tortillas, and huge mounds of shredded cheese are mandatory.




There is a piece of a UFO displayed in your home.




You believe that using a turn signal is a sign of weakness.




You can actually hear the Taos Hum.



You don't see anything wrong with drive-up window liquor sales.




You hated Texans until the Californians moved in.




You have an extra freezer just for green chile.






You have been told by at least one out-of-state vendor that they are going to charge you extra for "international" shipping .



You have driven to an Indian Casino at 3am because you were hungry. http://www.rt66casino.com/




You iron your jeans to "dress up" .




You know the punch line to at least one Espanola joke.




You know whether you want "red or green".




You see nothing odd when, in the conversations of the people in line around you at the grocery store, every other word of each sentence alternates between Spanish and English .




Your Christmas decorations include "a yard of sand and 200 paper bags".




Your swamp cooler got knocked off your roof by a dust devil.



http://www.newmexicoenchantment.blogspot.com/




I'm out.