Coffee Table

Let's review. Here's a list of magazines our household subscribes to:

National Geographic
New Yorker
New York
Wired
Vanity Fair
Harper's
The Smithsonian (gift)
Parents
Glamour
Lucky
Mother Earth News
Rolling Stone
The J. Peterman catalog (good reading!)

Is that a lot? I think my mom said that when I was a kid we got 56 periodicals at one point, though some of them counted as "research." Other magazines kicking around: we borrow The Economist every week from a kind subscriber. Also I often get Bust as a present. I like bitch but don't buy it often. We used to get Premiere and when it folded we were sent Us Weekly to run out our subscription. Crazy. I love Us but can't get past the pricetag so won't subscribe. (Clever of them, because then I spend $3 more when I buy it on the stand.) I like Vice and Complex but they're hard to find in New England. I am fascinated by the hydra-like Radar. I think we have 3 separate premiere issues of Radar. It just refuses to die!

We'd probably like to also get Interview and Cook's Illustrated. I have a secret desire to subscribe to Latina. If money was no object I might get the Burda mag that has sewing patterns right in it, plus I like Threads and the UK edition of Marie Claire. I subscribed to Interweave Knits for a while but it made me feel guilty because I never got around to knitting 1 thing from it. I also like magazines about things I'll never do in person, like climbing or surfing or skateboarding or fabric arts.

Here's today's Beef Jerky Time playlist! (Today's!!!! That is, 8/29/07.)

• Soap theme
  
• Dogs of Lust: The The
  
• Drug Test: Yo La Tengo
  
• No Aloha: The Breeders
  
• I Love You: King Biscuit Time
  
• Lightnin' Hopkins: REM
  
• Why I Write Such Good Songs: Kleenex Girl Wonder
  
• Lightbulb: Mezzanine Owls
  
• Imagination: Erasure
  
• Fiesta: The Pogues
  
• St. Elmo's Fire: Brian Eno
  
• If You Were Here: The Thompson Twins
  
• Pretty in Pink: The Psychedelic Furs
  
• Fire in the Twilight: Wang Chung
  
• No Rain: Blind Melon

On air next week, I promise!

Sorry for another canceled-at-the-last-minute show last night (8/22). Another family fever kept me at home. (Funny how these keep turning up on Wednesdays?!) For the record, here's the playlist for last week (8/15). Got next show ALL picked out--please tune in Weds, August 29 at 7pm for some 90s gems like the Violent Femmes, Luscious Jackson, the Breeders, Oasis, RHCP, plus a small John Hughes tribute set (gotta have those once in a while).

8/15/07 Beef Jerky Time

• Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous theme
  
• Put Your Records On: Corinne Bailey Rae
  
• Candylion: Gruff Rhys
  
• Lazy Lover (Free mix): Brazilian Girls
  
• Take on me: A-ha
  
• The Chills: Peter Bjorn & John
  
• The Cosmic Door: Crystal Skulls
  
• Losing My Edge: LCD Soundsystem
  
• Being Boring: Pet Shop Boys
  
• Things Can Only Get Better: Howard Jones
  
• Procession: New Order
  
• Merry Making at My Place: Calvin Harris
  
• Hijo de Africa: MC Solaar

OM Queen

Just got back from a few days in Madison, Wisconsin, where we attended a wedding at the Olbrich Botanical Gardens. It was fun and we even got to explore Madison a little—found an excellent bookstore (Avol's) near State Street, and on Saturday we saw the incredibly well-populated farmer's market ranged all about the Capitol. Let's see--last time I was in Wisconsin was when visiting friends near Chicago and we drove up to see the sacred white buffalo in Janesville, although unfortunately the buffalo was "closed" when we got there. So it was fun to visit the fabled land of cheese and beers. Yes, I did have "brats," plus Spotted Cow beer which seems to be a local thang.

We changed planes in Milwaukee on our way which put me in mind of the girl, S, who held the title of "OM Queen" in our high school. I don't know how it worked because I wasn't there, but apparently a bunch of Old Milwaukee (that is, "OM") was consumed by the "bad" kids and they crowned S with the empty beer case when they were done. She seemed proud of her title. What a legacy! As a sidenote, it's interesting how underage drinkers seem attracted to beers that some adults consider crappy. I'm thinking Keystone, Coors Light, Bud, Labatt 50, Golden Anniversary. It's a price-per-quantity thing I guess—I can get a box of 12 Genny Cream Ales for the price of about 5/6 a pack of Wolaver's Organic India Pale Ale.

Playlist! From 8/1/07 (sorry, missed the 8/8 show due to a fever in the family). Note: Tracks this color are a little Marie Antoinette set. Thank you Sofia for an awesome movie. <3

• The Colbys theme
  
• The Songs that We Sing: Charlotte Gainsbourg
  
• Acceptable in the 80s: Calvin Harris
  
• Jique: Brazilian Girls
  
• Ceremony: New Order
  
• What Ever Happened?: The Strokes
  
• King of the Wild Frontier: Adam and the Ants
  
• Hong Kong Garden: Siouxsie & the Banshees
  
• Crown of Love: Arcade Fire
  
• These Days: Nico
  
• Night of the Furies: The Rosebuds
  
• This Charming Man: The Smiths
  
• This Night Has Opened my Eyes: Pipas
  
• Pity You: Devo
  
• Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance: Frank Zappa

Stickie revelation

I enjoy the "stickies" feature on my Mac at work. If I'm doing a project and have a little thought, I open up stickies and write it down. Then I can close the program again without even having to "Save as...," and it's still there later. Love that. (It's such a responsibility to think of a name and location when forced to "Save As..."). For today's blog, I am cutting and pasting one of my sticky notes. I think it speaks for itself.

Strange things I ate when young:

• houseplants, especially succulents with small leaves
• bouillon cubes (beef especially)
• flowers from the garden (lilac, violet, nasturtium, petunia)
• condensed soup straight from the can (cream of celery and beef vegetable were favorites)
• uncooked pasta
• frozen hot dogs
• raw hamburger

Here's the 7/25/07 Beef Jerky Time playlist:

• Webster theme
  
• Sad Song: Au Revoir Simone
  
• The Upstairs Room: The Cure
  
• Bi-pet: Lali Puna
  
• See You On the Moon: Great Lake Swimmers
  
• Earthquake Weather: Beck
  
• Past in Present: Feist
  
• Socks, Drugs and Rock'n'Roll: Buffalo Daughter
  
• Coat Check Dream Song: Bright Eyes
  
• Fresh Pond Parkway: Land of the Loops
  
• Black Hole: Technicolor
  
• Soft Revolution: Stars
  
• Everything Will Be Alright: The Killers
  
• Dessert Song: Takako Minekawa
  
• One Night in Bangkok: Murray Head