Thankful for Indie Music

What a better time than now to celebrate the greatness of indie music? I can’t think of one. On top of the fact that it’s the Thanksgiving weekend, we are blessed to live in a historical time of a resurgence in singer-songwriters that are not dependent on major record labels to promote their music. That’s probably one of the greatest gifts of the technological information super-highway. We can not only learn about stuff that’s out there that we don’t know, but we can hear it and experience it too. And we can support these artists financially online too, to help them keep doing what they’re doing.

This weekend on The Appetizer, I’ll be serving some great emerging artists. I have new music that can be picked up for free on Amazon.com (see this post for the specifics of those albums), or you can download albums on i-Tunes. Let me say, i-Tunes is such a huge blessing for musicians and music fans. Don’t worry, I get no monetary compensation for praising them. It’s just true. For instance, there is a compilation album on i-Tunes called 1% for the Planet-The Music Vol. 1, which contains over 40 songs and can be purchased for $10. I’ve never gotten a deal like that with music I actually liked. The gambit of styles and genres is covered in this album, including folk, rock, alternative, hip-hop, and jazz crossover. Some of my favorite emerging artists on this album include Sons Of William, Kaiser Cartel, William Fitzsimmons, Erica Wheeler and more.

This weekend’s presentation includes some great tracks from indie artists like Citizen Cope, Feist, Eric Hutchinson and more, as well as known acts like Ben Folds, Brandi Carlile (a great new song I’m so excited to play called Pride & Joy) and more. The series will continue next week with more great music available in these 2 places, I’ll pick out some great selections and share them with you.

Have a great Thanksgiving. Thank you for tuning in to The Appetizer and for reading this blog.

The Appetizer can be heard
in Beaumont, TX Saturdays at 3P on 91.3 KVLU-1
in Abilene, TX Saturdays at 9P on 89.7 KACU
in Stephenville, TX Sundays at 9P on 90.5 KTRL

Cooking Tamales

Cooking Tamales.

Another glorious blog from my beautiful lady.  And those tamales are AWESOME.  Put in your orders now.  You can probably do that via comments.

Places To Check Out Online

Music Stuff
In case you didn’t get a boatload of music for free yesterday, read my previous post or go to Amazon.com. I’ve saved you a lot of time by listening to tons of music and giving you some great selections based on style of music. You can go here to see that.

Are you Hungry
If you’re a foodie or just love to cook, you have to go to http://foodpress.com/, it’s a great blog site for all types of recipes and food. And there’s pumpkins and meaty sandwiches on there, two of my favorites.
Also, my wife (who makes the best food on earth) has updated her blog with some insights into what happens in every kitchen (*language warning) which you can check out here.

Real Life Rocketeer
I saw this on Entertainment Tonight last week, the same day I had a conversation with a friend about building a rocketpack. This French guy actually jumped out of a hot air balloon and flew around on one. I’ve wondered what that would actually look like, but now I know if Disney ever does a remake of The Rocketeer, they could use a real rocket.

Inspiration
I don’t know about you, but I need a little inspiration every now and then (or every day to be really honest). Sometimes the best ways I get inspiration comes from looking at art. There’s a lot of great websites that feature new and independent styles of art. I found this one yesterday. Let me know if it helps you.

Rigondeaux dropped this guy with this body shot 8 seconds into the first round for a KO

Finally, the Big Fight
Boxing fans know what’s going down in Dallas this weekend. Other sports fans might as well, but if you don’t know, there’s a big boxing match that has a few championship belts on the line. The big fight is Manny Pacquiao vs. Antonio Margarita. Pacquiao is the pound-for-pound champ, having beaten Ricky Hattan, Oscar De Lahoya, Miguel Cotto, and some other fighters in the past 5 years. He’s carried the chamionship belt in 7 weight classes in his career. Margarita was an up-and-coming champ when he was found guilty of stuffing his gloves with illegal material in his fight against Shane Mosley. That led to a year long suspension. This fight will mark a big return for him. While most fight fans eyes are on this big showdown, the undercard is what I’m excited about. I just read that Kelly Pavlik will not be fighting as originally billed. But one man who only has 7 pro fights to his credit will be competing for a championship against a seasoned veteran. It’s Guillermo Rigondeaux vs. Ricardo Cordoba. I watched Rigondeaux drop a guy in 8 seconds in the first round on a straight body shot. The guy was on the floor for 10 minutes before he got up. I was sold on Rigondeaux from that moment. You can read more about this fight here.

Foods My Friends Don’t Like

This is going to sound pretty weird, but I remember stuff my friends don’t like, especially food. I remember stuff that they like too, don’t get me wrong, but I remember the stuff they don’t like. That’s pretty odd. My buddy Matt D hates cabbage. I’m not fond of the stuff but why do I remember that, and mention it when we hang out at dinner parties? I don’t know. It’s usually in a joke or something, but why is that? My other buddy Jason hates melon. I don’t get that, melons are awesome. I mean, who doesn’t love the succulent flavor of cantelope? But for some reason I remember that stuff.

I mention this because I was thinking of how different we are in how we feel about different foods. We can all agree when we eat something that tastes amazing. We’ll comment “This is fabulous! How did you do this?” when at a party or event. This weekend we had a dinner party where my wife made this incredible chicken dish with grilled veggies (onions and carrots). I can’t describe how amazing it was. We all agreed it was the best meal we’ve had in a long time, our guests included. But did we all taste it the same way? And if so, how is it that we can agree that good tastes good, but what I don’t like might taste great to someone else? It’s an interesting question.

I love melon. I love cantelope, watermelon, and honeydew melon. They’re some of the best flavors to eat. Why do I taste them one way and Jason doesn’t? I’m not a fan of cabbage but it works in eggrolls. Apparently you can’t make eggrolls out of anything but cabbage or it doesn’t work. Matt D can discern whether there’s cabbage in an eggroll and if there is, he won’t eat it. That discernment fascinates me, but how are we tasting the same thing and to one it is good and the other it is not? But we can agree on grilled veggies? It’s really strange.

Without over-thinking this, I just wanted to point it out and maybe open this up for discussion. Perhaps it’s similar to how one person can hate a movie that someone else absolutely loves. I don’t have a good example of that off hand, but let’s just say I thought Avatar was good, but my friends Josh and Lara swear it’s the greatest movie ever made. In my mind, there’s no way it is better than the Dark Knight, and that’s minus the fact that Batman was the main character. The plot, storyline, writing, characters, actors, and direction were so much better in the Dark Knight than Avatar. But their viewpoint is still valid, obviously, and we have a different opinion. We saw the same movies with our eyes, but discerned it differently. How does taste with food have the same dynamic?

Denver Dining Conclusion

My sincerest apologies for taking an extra week to get this one up. Returning for a business trip has been more than busy. Anyways, I conclude my postings of my Denver experience with 2 meals that finished off an excellent trip and one I hope to do again.

After a long night with good friends and great food, I wasn’t really in the mood for something big. I managed to get out of bed in time to get the final breakfast meal served at the conference. We also listened to a half-interesting speech. But the food was too heavy: two mounds of eggs with hash browns and sausage links. I’d eaten bison burger about 9 hours earlier and that was still processing in the stomach. The eggs were too much, as were the sausage. I picked at the hash browns and dabbed at the eggs but that was it. Sorry no picture, it was a lovely piece. But I didn’t do much to attack it.

Turkey sandwich with cranberry sauce and chips

I left the session a bit early (when I noticed that not only were few people there but the subject matter didn’t really do anything for me). I went back up to the room and got everything ready to go. I’m glad I left earlier than originally planned because the airport was a bit crazy. It took me a while to figure out how their computer-ticket setup worked and then the long bank lines of going through security. When I finally got on the other side, I found my gate and went upstairs to a restaurant to grab some lunch before the first of my three plane rides of the day. I found a nice little place called The Paradise Bakery Cafe. They had a bar which let me order and watch some football. I ordered a Turkey sandwich with cranberry dressing. It came with chips made in the restaurant. It hit the spot. What a great way to end the Denver dining experience. I ate everything and loved every second of it. Getting to watch a bit of football was nice too. About 30 minutes later, I went back downstairs to my gate and prepared to leave the Mile High City.

As a whole, I have to say Denver was the best conference city I’ve been to. Second has to be Minneapolis, and third is Cleveland. I’d rank Hollywood #100, but I haven’t been to 100 cities, nor have I attended 100 conferences. The only good thing that came from the Hollywood trip were getting to meet and make some long-time friends that I see once a year at these conferences, but correspond with them year-round. Minneapolis was nice and the people were very friendly. Cleveland was nice too and I enjoyed my time there. But Denver stands alone. The food was stellar, the beverages were as well, the new friends were great, the sessions of the conference actually spoke to me with stuff I can take home, the presession (with Candow) was excellent, and I got to see some old friends. I loved the 16th Street Mall and wish my little town had one just like it. And I almost forgot to mention something else I loved about Denver-you can jaywalk and it’s legal. They actually set up a cross-walk to walk diagonally from corner to corner. It’s amazing! I loved Denver and look forward to getting to come back here.

Fall Is Here

Other seasons eat their heart out to look this good

I know the solstice is supposed to summon the change of seasons, but there are other key factors that show that the season is not what it was. The weather is one of the best ones. Also, what sport season it is comes from the different seasons. The fashion style, leaves on the trees, and even food choices signify a change in seasons. So with all that, it’s pretty obvious that FALL is here.

Bama RB Mark Ingram is a beast

I tell myself (and others) that summer is my favorite season because school gets out (yes that still matters when you work at a university) and the weather is warm. I do enjoy the summer, even the heat of summer in Texas. I enjoy being able to go swimming. I like the long days and how the evening daylight lasts until close to 9PM. I like the vacation options available in the summer time. However, if truth be told, fall is really my favorite season. I love the leaves changing colors. Warm weather is fun for about a month. When it’s 100 degrees outside, that sucks. When the high is only in the upper 70s/lower 80s, everyone is happy. The mosquitoes vacate the area when the heat does the same. They don’t dig the cooler temps and that’s good. It’s more pleasant to be outside and enjoy nature. And then, there’s football. Football could, for me, be the greatest reason to prefer fall over all other months. I seriously get a bit bummed in February when the Super Bowl ends because I have to endure 6-7 months of boring sports and nothing to watch on Sundays. It’s really lame. So for me, fall signifies a shift in so many things. My favorite college team has always been the Alabama Crimson Tide (since I was 3 and knew what football was) so all you U-T people that get upset at my Facebook posts can chill out. I don’t give a rip about Texas colleges. Sorry. My favorite pro team is the Chicago Bears for 3 reasons: they have Danieal Manning at safety who played at ACU, they have Johnny Knox at receiver who also played at ACU, and they have Brian Urlacher (the baddest white dude in the game, other than Brian Cushing). I don’t care that Cutler sucks and the O-line is rubbish. Defense wins championships, just ask the 85 Bears. I could rant for hours on football, so I’ll let this go here.




My wife wrote a great blog on what she loves about fall at www.clydewoman.wordpress.com. If you haven’t read it, check it out. She makes some great dishes in the fall like cake and pumpkin pie. She also carves the best pumpkins. I’ll take pictures and show you. There’s also costumes and parties and so many fun things. Yay!

Denver Dining Experience Part 6

Breakfast Quiche Pie

Saturday was the second official day of the conference, but since I had to be at the airport around 11A the next day, it was the last day of the conference for me. I had not been as disciplined with getting up early enough for the catered breakfasts provided up to this point and decided I should probably do that before the whole thing was over. The breakfast was fabulous-a thick egg quiche pie topped with baked spinach and a feta-like cheese with marinara sauce and potato wedges. It was delightful. Unlike previous conferences that were catered by Wolfgang Puck, this splendid meal came from the hotel‘s restaurant (or so I was told).
The lunch meal was provided by the same people in the large conference area. We were treated to not only a great meal but a cameo appearance by two of public radio’s biggest stars, Click and Clack (Tom and Ray Maggliozzi) from Car Talk. The food consisted of two small cuts of steak topped with a light seasoning on top of two lumps of mashed potatoes and strips of carrot. Desert was a fruit mix with yogurt. Delightful!

Footlong brat with chili at Coors Field

The big event of the day was a trip to the ball park, as our PRPD group reserved a whole section at Coors Field for us to watch the Colorado Rockies play the San Francisco Giants. I’m not much of a baseball fan, but this season both teams are playing for a spot in the playoffs. The Rockies had just lost 5 in a row, and this game was a make or break for them. I wrote more in-depth about the game itself in a previous post, so I won’t go into more detail about the game itself. I will say however, that I have a little tradition I do at baseball games, and that involves eating the hot dog of the ball park. My all-time favorite is no longer in existence-The Dome Dog with Chili, the prized fat hot dog from the now closed Astrodome. It hasn’t gotten better than that. Since my days as a kid eating dome dogs, I’ve now consumed hot dogs at Ranger Stadium, Minutemaid Park (the current home of the Astros), various little league and high school game dogs, and now the dogs of Coors Field. And although the dog stand was our of hot dogs when I got up to the front, they did have foot-long brats, which I dove into. Covered in chilis, and not the chili I’m used to eating on a dog, it added the right amount of flavor that I didn’t need to add mustard or any other condiment to the brat. It was very tasted, and held my nighttime hunger off long enough for the game to end and us walk back for further dining options.

Bison burger with fries and Wynkoop at the Fireside Terrace bar

That last meal came around 11P at the hotel bar. My friend Victor had been telling us about the great food at the hotel bar, and I had observed his great rapport with the staff, we had to try this out. So Robert, Victor and I grabbed a very small table in the corner and ordered a round along with our dinner. I had the Wynkoop, which came from a King Tut looking tap. It was sweet and savory, with a hint of some flavor I couldn’t pinpoint, but tasted like Christmas (it was so good I eventually had another). It came in a glass that had the statement “Take pride in your beer” across it. I agree. I ordered the Bison Burger, because on this trip I wanted to enjoy the Bison as much as possible. It was served with a healthy dose of thin cut fries. They were the best fries I’ve had in a restaurant, served and tasting similar to McDonald’s, but with much less grease and much better taste. I think I finished off the fries before I had really tasted the burger. Both were excellent, coupled with tasty beverages and great conversation with new friends. What a way for me to end the conference experience. But that didn’t end the dining experience. My last day in Denver eating great food is coming up in the conclusion of the Denver Dining Experience (Part 7). Stay tuned.

Denver Dining Experience Part 5

After experiencing one of my favorite menu items the day before (Lamb, it’s hard to get better than that), I was given the opportunity to try another meat of rarity, Elk. I’m a fan of wild game, especially venison. Fortunately for me I have an uncle who is an avid hunter and my dad keeps me stocked with deer meat each year. If it wasn’t for Uncle Smitty, I wouldn’t have the fortune of knowing the taste and flavor of venison. It’s that knowledge that led me to select the Elk burger at the Paramount Cafe Friday afternoon as I rejoined my good friends Jud and Shannon once again.

Won Ton Juans at the Paramount Cafe in Denver

We had met at the 16th Street Mall, my new favorite hangout, with no idea amongst us for what we actually wanted to eat. So we started walking and checking menus posted for what sounded great. I admit it wasn’t the Elk on the menu that made me want to check this place out, but rather this unusual sounding appetizer (ha, a pun!) called Won Ton Juans, a blend of melted cheese and jalapenos stuffed in a won ton shell. So we went in and sat outside. The other cool thing about the Paramount Cafe was the cool use of drum shells and heads for decoration and setup. The base that made the cashier’s counter was formed out of stacked tom drum shells. On the wall was a series of drum heads from various rock bands that were autographed. That was cool. We ordered the Won Ton Juans and man we they something. I’ve got to get my superstar chef wife to try to make this stuff.

BBQ Elk Burger

Although my aforementioned favorite menu item (Lamb, and imagine a choir of angels sings it everytime you see it mentioned hear because that’s what I imagine) was on the menu in burger form, I had to venture out and try elk. Elk are really unique animals. They look like a moose with a deer head, which unless you look closely, is kind of funny. Deer have smaller heads than moose, since their body’s are smaller. So in a way they look like deer on steroids (just do a google search for images of Barry Bonds in a Pirates uniform vs his time with the Giants and you’ll understand). The waitress said the Elk was leaner with a gamey flavor. Sure enough, it was just like that. And really flavorful. Added to the Elk meat was a few strips of bacon, BBQ sauce, lettuce and tomato. I give it two thumbs up!

Spending more time with Jud and Shannon was a lot of fun. We walked down to this great little book store that was an experience all it’s own. Tattered Cover reminded me of the book stores or libraries showcased in movies. It was like a two story Half-Priced book store with wood carved category signs, special shelves and a uniqueness that felt like I was in an old man’s private library. There were even notes hand written beneath the titles of local authors or recommendations, which was a great added thing. I picked up one title and wished I could have stayed there for hours.

With a series of receptions and little knick knacks served in the evenings, I didn’t have a dining experience Friday night. But the conclusion of my Denver dining was fantastic, and will come in just a little bit. As we say in the radio world, stay tuned!

Denver Dining Part 4

Thursday was a slower day since my radio interviewing workshop was finished so I spent the day walking around downtown Denver, enjoying the weather and the beautiful 16th Street Mall. I didn’t really know what I wanted to eat but I saw in the distance a restaurant I’ve wanted to eat at again since I was 18-The Rock Bottom Brewery. When I was 18, my dad took me to Cleveland for my birthday and we ate at the Cleveland Rock Bottom restaurant. The food was good, but since 18 isn’t 21, I didn’t get to enjoy the other side of the menu. This time was different.

Mac N' Chicken at the Rock Bottom Brewery

With most patrons taking time off for lunch, it was a party of 1 for me. I didn’t mind. I sat at a table and ordered up a Red Ale, which tasted spectacular. Since I hadn’t really known what I wanted to eat before I went in the place, I still hadn’t figured that out. The menu was full of great entres in steak, chicken, and so forth. But they did have a chicken and Mac N’ Cheese dish that just sounded interesting. So that’s what I ordered. It came out with a side salad with honey dijon dressing. The salad was good but the dressing made it stellar. The Mac N’ Cheese dish was in a bowl, the Mac on top with chives and cheese and the chicken was hiding underneath. Putting the chicken below the Mac made the chicken savory and tender. It was delightful, yet pretty filling. I couldn’t finish it. I thanked the waiter and headed out.

I spent more time in the mall area and eventually returned to the hotel. With the start of the conference being Friday and the opening ceremonies in the evening Thursday, many of my colleagues were flying in. I caught up with several of them and had some great conversations. I got to talking with an old friend I’d originally met in Hollywood at the presessions there who runs a great Bluegrass show in Washington, D.C. Jenn is really fun and has a lot of good insights. I eventually went with her and met some of her coworkers at this great nice restaurant-Appaloosa. The last memory I have of Appaloosa was a really drab western flick made a few years ago with Viggo Mortensen and Ed Harris. Fortunately this was much better. Any restaurant (or at least my experience says this) that has Lamb on the menu is going to be smooth and a great memory. Sure enough, there’s Lamb Chops on the menu. I take the waitress’s advice and get it served medium. Two chops come out on a bed of koos koos with feta cheese. It was delectable! The chops with tangy and tasty and cooked just right. What a great way to start a reunion of colleagues with excellent eats!

Lamb Chops at Appaloosa Grill

Denver Dining Part 3

Mendelson's on NY Styled Delicatessen on 600 17th Street

I spent lunch with a new friend named John from Connecticut. We were told by a local about this New York styled Deli across the street called Mendelson’s. So that’s where we went. I’ve never been to New York and all I know about NY-styled cuisine is their brand of pizza. Like I said before, I don’t get to go to delis very often (unless you consider Subway and Quiznos delis; I don’t, they’re upper class fast food to me). As John and I waited in line, I asked him what qualifies as a New York styled deli versus a Boston styled or the like. He said he didn’t really know, except that a New York anything means they put WAY more meat in it than necessary, that you could reach into the sandwich, take out a chunk of meat and still have more than enough. I said I liked it already.

Super Tasty Ellis Island Sandwich

Neither of us could decide what we wanted. I ordered something that had pastrami, salami and some kind of Russian dressing I’d never heard of called The Ellis Island Sandwich. Holy cow was it good! The previous day’s sandwich was great too, but way too filling. Not this guy. I ate it and we had a great conversation about music and shows and radio. I’d definitely suggest Mendelson’s to anyone in Denver looking for a unique sandwich experience and a great environment.

Entrance to Tamayo's

Our special session ended Wednesday night and 4 of us ventured out to find something to eat. We ended up walking a ways from the hotel, which gave plenty of time for great conversation. I was joined by new colleagues Cheryl from WPR, John (from lunch) from WNPR, and Matt from KCRW. We found a high-end Mexican place called Tamayo’s. Matt said he’d eaten there earlier and it was excellent. The menu was completely in Spanish, which was excellent. There were all sorts of enchilladas with fish including tuna, salmon and the like. We all ordered something different and unique. I picked grilled octopus, because I’ve never had that before. The chips and salsa were completely different than what I’m used to. Being from Texas, it’s just customary to have chips and salsa while you wait for your entre. While most places have their own style (thick chips with tangy salsa or thin chips with spicy salsa). These chips were more like won tons and the salsa was a great tangy blend of spice and sweetness. In the conversations I learned all kinds of stuff about food all over the country, a sharing of ideas and experiences in our industry and more. I thoroughly enjoyed the time. Then our food arrived. We all sampled each other’s plates. The octopus was a fishy chicken in texture and in taste. I don’t know what kind of sauce was drizzled on it but adding to the onions and tomatoes it was this completely unique flavor I’d never experienced before. If you’re in Denver and looking for some great food (a bit pricey on some things), go to Larimer St and check out Tamayo.

Grilled Octopus entre-FANTASTIC!!!