Captain Beefheart has passed away

Photo by Ebet Roberts.  Obit at NYTimes.

From the obit:

A bolt-from-the-blue collection of precise, careening, surrealist songs with clashing meters, brightly imagistic poetry and raw blues shouting, “Trout Mask Replica” had particular resonance with the punk and new wave generation to come a decade later, influencing bands like Devo, the Residents, Pere Ubu and the Fall. 

I would have heard Trout Mask Replica the first time in Steve Clark's bedroom, circa 1971 or 72 I think.  Steve and his brothers were big Mothers and Beefheart fans.  It leaves a mark.

“We see the moon, don’t we?  So it’s our eye. Animals see us, don’t they? So we’re their animals.” 

Frank Saliani's lazy bread

I developed a shtick (which really can be like developing a tic) this last summer about not baking bread anymore: because it's too easy in our neighborhood to buy great bread. (I'm thinking particularly of baguettes from Almandine, and sourdough baguettes sold at Grab, and my own bread sort of sucks compared to these.) 

I found myself doing the shtick at a pop up gallery Jonathan Fabricant had this past weekend with two other artists - Frank Saliani and Angela Earley.  What brought it on was Frank offering peanut butter sandwiches on bread he makes, and cookies he baked.  Frank described this particular bread he's making for the sandwiches.  He doesn't knead it.  He makes it wetter than you normally would.  He throws his leftover oatmeal into it.  He let's it rise all day, without punching it down, then just divides it in half and bakes it in baguette pans.

Even as Frank described this, I knew I was going to try it.  And over the weekend I did.  And it turns out to be the absolute killer bread for peanut butter sandwiches.  Super dense, small, consistent crumb, you can slice it real thin.  I had PB&Banana for lunch yesterday, and today it'll be PB&Apple.  Am retiring the shtick.

His safe return was much to the relief of his mother

 

Damgaard Holger/POLFOTO, via Associated Press
Palle Huld, in 1928, as a teenager about to see the world. 

Tintin!

And everything is going fine

We're just back from the premier of And Everything is Going Fine, @ MoMA, and let me urge you, friends, if you are anywhere near NYC when this film opens there in the coming week, GO SEE IT!  (Shameless promotion!  Amy Hobby!)  It is as though the man is in the room with you, from beginning to end.

Buck Howdy

Via everywhere else.