Jalepeno Pie & Music

Earlier this week, I took advantage of this summer's freedom and stayed home. Albeit, I worked on some important things such as my thesis, the water resources report, and some content for the new Participatory Photo Mapping website. During my spare time I was able to cook up a recipe I have been wanting to try for some time now. It was a Jalepeno Pie and it was very good. It had all the ingredients I enjoy, but I decided to add a bit of tomato to balance the flavor. It was not really all that spicy, but very cheesy! Again, I had to cook this in a casserole dish because I have yet to invest in a pie pan, but the results are the same, but more cake-like in appearance.

Boo's Tomato-Jalepeno Cake-like Pie

Anyone who knows me, knows that I have an massive amount of music. So I also took some of that time to go through my ever growing music collection to round up some tunes for a few mix CDs for Kat. As it turns out, she is making the 600 mile trip up to Madison next week to visit and tour Wisconsin with me. I know how boring of a drive it is so I put together a 2 CD's for the occasion mixed with sappy love songs, new rock tunes, and some classic pop hits! I even added some flare to the covers... unfortunately the music won't quite cover the whole 9 hour trek, but will add some variety to those NPR dialogues!

The Album Art for "To Madison, With Love"

A Sunday boating on Lake Waubesa

Today, I was able to spend a great day hanging out with fellow Water Resource Management (WRM) students at the Four Lakes Yacht Club and go boating on Lake Waubesa. This lake is connected to the more known Lake Mendota and Lake Monona which are on either side of central Madison. It was my first boat outing on any of the lakes and the weather was gorgeous!

The WRMs Enjoying the Club house and a Potluck

We started the day by grilling at the club house and bringing dishes to pass around. I stayed true to the vegetarian thing even though those brats smelled delicious. As it turns out the veggie burgers and the three bean salad I brought were of the few vegetarian choices there. In all the meal was very fulfilling and was complimented by some vodka lemonade I also brought and some extra sweet brownies cooked by another WRM student.

Stopping at Christie's Landing to enjoy some music

Once we made it out on the lake, it was amazing. Several boats were out and the weather was perfect for a little jaunt around the lake. We started things off by just cruising around the lake and listening to music and drinking a bit. I enjoyed a vodka cocktail whipped up by Joe consisting of 2 parts vodka, 1 part lemonade, and 1 part club soda. It was fantastic, and went with the spirit of the event and weather. We eventually ended up at Christie's Landing, a bar on the lake with an attached dock, to listen to music and enjoy the atmosphere. The tunes were a nice compliment to the day's events and enticing, but we didn't stay too long.

Swimming in the middle of Lake Waubesa

As the band broke for a few minutes, we took the opportunity to slip out to open water for some swimming. The water was a bit murky and cold, but it was a nice retreat from the warm weather Madison has been having recently. After a few short swims and listening to some great jams courtesy of our captain and DJ, Joe, we packed things up and headed back to the boat house.

Joe, our trusty boat captain, drink mixer, and DJ, at the helm with drink in hand.

On top of getting to enjoy the great weather on the lake, hang out with friends, and learn about a new mixed drink, I was privileged enough to meet one of Joe's friends and fellow guitarist, Chris Bocast. He is an ambient guitarist who writes and produces music and he is also studying music for his PhD at UW. Before we ate, I had the opportunity to play some guitar with him; albeit, we had to trade my guitar back and forth to play. He was very talented. The most fulfilling part was getting to share with him my experience with guitars and interest in music. He spoke of getting a PRS SE Singlecut guitar similar to the one I have, and I encouraged him to do so, as I love mine. I am planning on getting a few of his albums and possibly trying to talk to him into jamming a bit... We will see what happens! All in all, it was an amazing day...

Appalachian Voices: a concert with yim james, ben sollee, and daniel moore

This past Thursday on July 22nd 2010, an unexpected concert brought people from the bluegrass region to the Lexington Opera House for a benefit concert. The concert "Appalachian Voices" raised funds and awareness to people on the issue of mountain top removal which is an economic, cultural, and social problem in the coal mining states.

The tour kicked off this evening in Lexington, and will continue to other venues:

Bijou Theatre in Knoxville, Tenn. (July 23), Mountain Stage Radio in Charleston, W.Va. (July 25), Jefferson Theatre in Charlottesville, Va. (July 27), Bearsville Theater in Woodstock, N.Y. (July 29) and Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn, N.Y. (July 30)

On stage, were quilts made of plastic bags. Ben Sollee, a cellist (who I played in orchestra with in high school!), explained they were made by a local artist who helps people with disabilities make art.

The concert began at 8:20pm; everyone clapped as they strutted onto stage and the lights dimmed. The night was filled with an eclectic mix of songs, some from their just released album, "Dear Companion", to songs by My Morning Jacket (Jim James, lead Singer), solo songs by Sollee (Cellist & Singer) and Moore (Guitarist & Singer), and even seemingly random songs such as "Save the Last Dance For Me" done in a Latino beat. The drummer, Dan Dorff, joined the trio. Dorff showed off his beats in one song by performing as the drum kit himself, dancing on a plywood board, kicking and clapping the beat.

The untraditional group had an amazingly full sound and could have even played in a larger venue to unleash their full sound. Ben Sollee sounds himself a full band on his cello, using his technique to fill in bass, melody, and everything in between.

The crowd cheered for the the quartet as the night went on, even throughout two encores. The concert ended near 10:30 as I anticipated the group was ready for a night out around Lexington.

Our seats were on the 3rd level, very nosebleed...