Best One Yet

Excuse me for a moment while I brag about our garden.

The pics don't do it justice, but you'll get the idea. This is by far the best garden we've had since moving to Boise. The raspberry crop was staggering, and the strawberries gave us the best yield yet. Now we just have to figure out a way to keep the damned roly-polys out of them. (Who knew those cute little buggers could be so terrible?)

We had fresh greens for months, through two early crops.

The herbs grew like weeds, and we've still got more basil than we know what to do with.



And now, for the prime gardening time: Chiles and tomatoes and tomatillos. I picked 5 of the biggest, most fragrant and tasty poblano peppers off a single plant the other day. I made some enchiladas with poblanos and mushrooms and cotija cheese, topped with a pureed poblano and tomatillo salsa, and it was out of this world. The flavor those things kick out is amazing.

The jalapenos are coming along, as are the serranos, though more slowly.

We're getting the initial trickle of tomatoes, and we expect to be drowning in them soon.

And maybe most exciting of all, our 3 tomatillo plants are absolutely covered with the little paper lanterns that turn into fruit. I'd say inside a week we'll be pulling about a half pound a day off the plants. And they're GOOD.

A Lazarus Taxon

The new box set from Chicago post-rock killers Tortoise does what I've not been able to do on my own: It collects all the singles and rarities and remixes that have scattered like pearls off a broken string through the path of their career.

Some of this band's best stuff has come out on imports or limited pressings, and a few pieces of the puzzle have become near impossible to come by.

Lucky for us, then, that they've done the work and delivered the goods in a gorgeous and shockingly affordable package. For less than $20, you get 3 CDs full of music plus a DVD of videos and live performances.

Better yet, order it from e-music.

While I haven't got to the DVD yet, I can say that the music is as fantastic as I knew it'd be. I mean, there's nothing terribly new here, but what is here reaches back a ways into the 90s and yet is as forward-thinking and remarkably played as anything else out there.

Gamera is a classic Tortoise track, going from minimal meditation to surging, gliding instrumental anthem, grand and beautiful.

Mike Watt adds a loose and jangly bass line to Cornpone Brunch on the final CD, for a moment if not of musical genius than of pure fun and joy.

Nobukazu Takemura's take on TNT is another highlight of the set, as are Tin Cans (Puerto Rican remix) and Your New Rod. But picking highlights is tough business here, as the pieces are so disparate, the sounds so unique and varied, that by the time you hit the remix heavy 3rd CD it's like the world's exploded.

Of course, if you're already familiar with their work, none of this will be too shocking to you. If that's the case, don't hesitate to grab this set. There's enough great stuff on here to satisfy you even if you have all the studio releases. And that's rare.

US Open Cup

It's awfully easy to not know this, but there's a very cool little tournament going on right here in the States called the US Open Cup. And as of last night, the field is down to 4 teams. One to survive is the Chicago Fire, a great team with a rabid fanbase who will meet up with DC United in the semifinals. The other matchup is the LA Galaxy and the Houston Dynamo.

If this interests you, check out this blog, Eleven Devils, a great site my buddy Dan Oko connected me to. Great information, solid editorializing.

The Fire match is on 9/6, and were I there in the windy city, I'd be going. Unfortunately my only option is to watch it online, which I will likely do.

I'm Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass

While I'm getting googly-eyed about new music that's not out yet, let me also mention Yo La Tengo's upcoming release. It's called I'm Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass, and early reports are promising--the perfect balance of their more recent soft balladry and their former long-form guitar freakouts with the middle range of perfect pop songs holding it all together.

If these reports are accurate and not just the work of some hysterical fanboys like myself, this could be the release of the year.

I've pre-ordered, and I'm supposed to be getting some super secret access to a player that streams the record, but I can't get the goddam thing to work and it's really pissing me off. So I might, actually, beat your ass.

Box Tortoise

Tortoise has released a box set. It's called A Lazarus Taxon, and really I can't think of many things more exciting than this. Remixes and singles and all the hard to find shit is here.

It comes out tomorrow. I pre-ordered weeks ago.

It's like Christmas in August.

Photoblog

Oh yeah, I bought a cool little digital camera. It's the Panasonic® Lumix® DMC-FX7 5MP. Very nice camera, about the size of a cassette tape case. So I'll be able to post more pics. Like this one, of Henry in his new favorite spot.



King of all he surveys.

Summer Creeps

And just like that, it's the middle of August. Since I've been so remiss in keeping this thing current, I'll take this opportunity to file an all-purpose update.

First, and most importantly, our man Tony has successfully come through what we are certain will be the final installment of his Brain Surgery Odyssey. It's been a long road and, much like the hero of this namesake adventure, he's come through it alive, strong, and a bit wiser, though not at all unscathed. It's obvious that his spirits are up, and that he's chomping at the bit to get back to active life, and I think that attitude will go a long way. I predict a remarkable recovery and metamorphosis from surgical patient Tony to bike-riding music-loving complete-cranium Tony.

As for the BCRP, the show version of Range Life is moving along quite nicely. I've not had a chance to set up my playlist blog yet, but I hope to get to that this weekend and get it up and running soon. Meantime, keep your ears on the webcast, as I'm putting new stuff in every single week. Recent arrivals include Erase Errata, Sonic Youth, some old Four Tet and Underworld I've just discovered, and some Austin goodies like Octopus Project and Voxtrot. Coming soon, and I'm so excited I may crap 'em, the new Tortoise box set, and the new release from Yo La Tengo. Wa-hoo.

The bikes are getting some miles put on them, but not as many as I'd hoped by this point in the year. Part of that is just because work and life have kept me from it, but part of it is my recent foray into flyfishing. A wonderful sport that I fully intend to pursue for the rest of my life. I'll get up to Stack Rock this weekend, and am planning a trip for Labor Day, so this will improve. Plus, I'm committed to doing the Leadville Trail 100 race, or the weeklong Crested Butte trip with brother Eric, or both, next year. So training will start in November.

What else?

The house is good, the garden exploding, and we're enjoying the fact that it's not above 100F here every day any more.

We're still distraught about Floyd, though not yet ready to pronounce him guilty.

I've yet to float the Main Payette this year, but I've spent good hours on the SF Boise, along with the MF Boise and the Snake. Nothing big, but to be honest that's ok with me. Last year's SF Boise debacle left more a mental scar on me than I'd suspected, so slow re-entry is appropriate.

The dogs are doing well.

Things are good.

Thanks for checking in. I'll bring this baby back to life very soon.