Sunday
Apple pie
So, what cuisine is specifically Dutch? I would argue (cynically, exhaustively) that there isn't any such thing - that isn't somewhat Germanic or even Flemish in influence or source. On the latter score I'd indicate the rich assortment of condiments applied to fries - I'm sure chips & mayo is Flemish, as is chips and chilli sauce and mayo, but then, perhaps exceptionally, chips and satay sauce isn't. OK, I'd make a concession, chips AND mayo AND satay sauce is perhaps uniquely Dutch: 'patatje oorlog' (chips war) is a unique achievement for which the former Dutch occupation of Indonesia may have played a minor causal, historical role. For anyone traveling to Holland, I'd say head to the nearest 'friet tent' and get your hands on a serve of this truly authentic culinary wonder. It's a flavourgasm.
By which preamble to say: the real test of Dutch food is apple pie (appeltaart). Almost any cafe in Holland serves and prides itself on its apple pie. Even train station restaurants, even the Hema department store. Sit down, order coffee and pie (koffie met gebak; there's usually a combo price), and dig into the true taste. House-made? Fresh? Not too soggy? Not too sweet or laden with cinnamon or sultanas? Evenly cooked, finely textured all the way through? A good match with cream? Does the pastry dough have good mouth-feel? Do you want a second piece, and is the view and the setting nice? Is there some vaguely German oompah music playing in the background somewhere...
That's how you get the real cuisine, methinks.
By which preamble to say: the real test of Dutch food is apple pie (appeltaart). Almost any cafe in Holland serves and prides itself on its apple pie. Even train station restaurants, even the Hema department store. Sit down, order coffee and pie (koffie met gebak; there's usually a combo price), and dig into the true taste. House-made? Fresh? Not too soggy? Not too sweet or laden with cinnamon or sultanas? Evenly cooked, finely textured all the way through? A good match with cream? Does the pastry dough have good mouth-feel? Do you want a second piece, and is the view and the setting nice? Is there some vaguely German oompah music playing in the background somewhere...
That's how you get the real cuisine, methinks.
Wednesday
Monday
Monday
Pat Metheny - Orchestrion
And I realise, watching this now, that Pat probably uses a mix of programmed and live triggers with midi controls on his guitar, to give even more variety/precision.
Wednesday
A short meditation on drone warfare
I am indebted to this article by Nasser Hussain: The Sound of Terror: Phenomenology of a Drone Strike
Monday
Lenny Kravitz: Mama Said: Retropy
- the kids who came of age with the internet are probably better at defining music in terms of genre-specifics than in musical-cultural terms. Like we were teens playing the reference game; pretending to be smart like the critics whose reviews we read very closely, back then (Curtis... Curtis Who?). Or is that simply the culture of music now - finer and more arbitrary definitions and gradations of sub- and sub-sub-genres and crossovers. Damon Albarn thinks so.
- Lenny pre-empted with perfect timing the onset of baby boomer cap N Nostalgia for the classic Rock Sound. And hence helps show up the bankruptcy (creative-sustainability and evolution-wise) of the nostalgia industry - in a setting William Gibson calls the infinite digital Now - where the artefacts of the past are the nurtured, revived & reassuring icons of truth & certainty in a (perceived) uncertain & changing world. Ahem. Or teenage rock memories forever.
- But notice: "Retro" is everywhere now: cameras, kitchen appliances, motorcycles, glasses, watches... anything collectable, curatable via Ebay, the web... like typewriters. Dialled in like automatic authenticity.
Sunday
Brisbane type-in 2014
First photos! A great day was had (with fish & chips, 29 degrees, a touch of rain, and of course all the great people of the Australian typosphere! So great to see and meet everyone again. Thanks to Scott for organising).
Monday
Wednesday
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