Dave's Blog

Snow

Just when you're so ready for spring, the snow season begins. March is the snowiest month in Minnesota. Deal with it. I know, it's not March yet, but I think the six inches we got this afternoon, after a couple of days of spring-like weather, sends the message loud and clear: Don't get your hopes up, chump. Just try to enjoy the sleek stylings of wind-blown water crystals on your doorstep...

Huh?

I get a daily newsletter from the National Retail Federation. I had to read this little blurb three or four times before I could fathom how asinine it is:

"Demand for steep discounts is fueling retail theft, the NRF said Tuesday. Web sites such as eBay and Craigslist as well as flea markets can be sources of stolen merchandise, including video games and expensive purses. This week, three federal bills aimed at fighting retail crime will be introduced in Congress. "Consumers are looking at alternative resources to find products," the NRF's Joe LaRocca said."

So, at first I thought, Are they saying that people want discounts so much that they're taking the old five-finger variety? Then I realized that they're trying to say that eBay and Craigslist sell things at such a discount and are so popular that they're tempting people into shoplifting just to provide products to sell on those sites at an appropriately discounted price.

Hey, ever consider that it might be poverty that's driving crime? Isn't increased theft one of the most utterly predictable results of widespread economic desperation? "Demand for discounts fuels theft"?! Poverty fuels theft. Jesus.

Thing

I don't know what it is, but I think I like it.

Fresh Fettucini = Frugal Fun

Like everybody I've been looking for simple ways of saving scratch. One is cook at home more, with fresh ingredients, many of them cheap organics bought in bulk at Costco. Before a couple of days ago, I'd never made pasta, but it turns out that it's super fun and incomparably delicious.

First off, you DON'T need a machine! Just a rolling pin. And flour, eggs, salt and olive oil. Here's a site that tells you how.

Oh, and you don't need a drying rack either. I just laid my noodles out on wax paper and it worked great!

Pond Hockey

This weekend I played a ton of pond hockey. I kind of suck at it, but it's always fun, and it's free (in more than one sense of the word). I love the rituals of pick-up games: People of various ages, genders, and abilities skate around the rink fiddling around with their own pucks, stick handling and shooting to get warmed up; everyone is checking out each others abilities at this point. Then someone yells "Sticks in the middle!", and we all pick up our pucks and throw our sticks in a pile in the middle of the rink. Someone, usually a kid, then tosses them one at a time to either side to establish teams; if there are too many kids on one side, the teams are re-jiggered until the balance seems fair. The rules are then established by consensus; no raising the puck, no checking, goals only count if you hit the pipe, etc., and then play begins. Grown-ups tend to pass to kids pretty often, and when they get the puck play slows down so they can shine a little. Everyone understands. Nobody (except the kids) keeps score. And despite hockey's hard ass reputation, people are generally very civilized and kind and forgiving, even with duffers like me.

Winter Colors

Just a couple of snapshots I took this morning.

Bon Iver Breakfast

At one point in my life I used to read with a big old dictionary next to me. Now I read with a laptop at my side. Sometimes I use it to look up words or decipher references on Wikipedia, but other times I have an even more satisfying reference experience; I find a short story online written by an author mentioned in a magazine article or an mp3 of musical piece referred to in a book. This morning I had one of those nice experiences, set up quite intentionally by The New Yorker. They had an article about Justin Vernon, the leader of the band, Bon Iver, followed by a web address. The address led to this video, where you get to see and hear the guy in a live interview and hear clips of some of his songs. Just a super satisfying experience all around.

Brooklyn Gypsies

Just got back from the New York International Gift Show, which went okay; our neighbors were envious that we were writing so many orders, though our totals were down markedly from past years. I did a lot of eavesdropping and heard a lot of woeful laments. This economy blows.

The big bright spot in my weekend was taking the subway to Brooklyn and meeting up with friends to see the Luminescent Orchestrii. I was enticed by this review in the New Yorker; my friends already knew all about these guys, and were planning on going to the show anyway. Everyone danced, kissed and screamed. Buy their album (!):

UNION POOL

484 Union Ave., Brooklyn (718-609-0484)—Jan. 24: Sxip Shirey, like the mad impresario of an international punk circus, leads the Brooklyn-based Luminescent Orchestrii on resophonic guitar, with frequent recourse to melodeon, bullhorn harmonica, and various windup toys, bells, and whistles. The band’s two fiddlers, Rima Fand and Sarah Alden, are as adept at Gypsy violin as they are at Appalachian folk raunch. Benji Fox-Rosen favors a pint-sized double-bass, and adds jazz and tango to the mix. Their influences include Doc Watson, Igor Stravinsky, the Dead Kennedys, and the Bulgarian Women’s Choir. Just the crew to play your wedding, if you’re a nice Bulgarian girl marrying into a freak show. Joining them to celebrate the release of their third CD, “Neptune’s Daughter,” are the percussionist Mathias Kunzli, the artsy human beat-box master Adam Matta, and the clarinettist Greg Squared. With the klezmer clarinettist Michael Winograd and Oren Marshall, on electric tuba, as the opening acts.