tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-102420792007-10-11T18:14:27.183-07:00GPBlogger32125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10242079.post-1145366299879233432006-04-18T06:13:00.000-07:002007-10-11T18:14:27.261-07:00

So we ate lunch and dinner at Side Street Cafe last week. Side Street is the new restaurant on Maple Street, a few blocks south of Main Street, in the same little set of shops as the pet grooming place. (We didn't plan to do both meals there, but it just worked out that way, as Ella asked to have her birthday dinner there.) The restaurant is owned by chef Pat Shannon, formerly of Del Raye and

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Has anyone ever been drawn into a restaurant, thinking, "I've gotta try out that place," with this sign: MARGES [sic] KITCHEN SPECIAL CABBAGE AND CORNBEEF SOUP Hmm?

GPtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10242079.post-1135708187476667822005-12-27T10:28:00.000-08:002005-12-27T10:29:47.490-08:00

...but is there a more annoying song than The Twelve Days of Christmas? It's the 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall of Christmas carols. Please, make it stop. (Looking for better holiday music? Listen to the 12/24/2005 archive of Ella's and my radio show or check out Jingle Punx...

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This morning we had a crystallized-ginger scone and coffee at Evolution, the new bakery/cafe in the center of Florence (in the space formerly occupied by Amelie-Louise Bakery Cafe, just behind the Texaco, and, importantly, a block from our house). Evolution is owned by the folks who used to own Fire and Water, which was evidently a legendary cafe/performance space in Northampton. They've done a

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I had always thought that images of frogs lounging on lily pads were fictional. But this one has been hanging out on our lily pads off and on for several days: I can get within about four feet of the pond before it notices me and jumps in the water. We spent the afternoon at the Chesterfield Gorge. It really is as beautiful as the picture at that site. We spent all afternoon wading, making

GPtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10242079.post-1124938603761613662005-08-24T19:52:00.000-07:002005-08-24T19:56:43.770-07:00

You may have noticed a bit less about my ambitious vegetable garden. That is because, well, it didn't do much. Many of the seedlings just died after being planted, nothing grew large, and the corn is perhaps three feet tall. I think I needed (a) to do more (read: anything) with the soil, (b) not leave on vacation for three weeks, and (c) do a better job of weeding. I think (a) and (b) were

GPtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10242079.post-1124053551381841342005-08-14T14:04:00.000-07:002005-08-14T19:01:40.453-07:00

For the next week (or some limited number of downloads), a 57 MB MP3 of "Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child," the radio show my daughter and I are producing, is here. Full website, with instructions on podcasting and such, is here.

GPtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10242079.post-1117226378273688192005-05-27T13:33:00.000-07:002005-05-27T13:47:42.446-07:00

Bunch of projects lately. Today I finally got all the seedlings and most of the seeds planted (click on any small image for a bigger picture): Also planted today: sunflowers (just on the other side of the fence on the right of that picture) and cilantro and basil (in an empty-ish spot in one of our backyard flowerbeds). Our backyard pond has been mightily cloudy: You'd never know it from

GPtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10242079.post-1116849429670740702005-05-23T04:51:00.000-07:002005-05-23T04:57:09.673-07:00

So we went to Alison Krauss last week at the Mullins Center. The Gazette had done a big piece about how the Mullins is making a push to be a major concert venue, and part of that is reconfiguring the space for different shows. For this show, they split it lengthwise and had seating for perhaps 3,500 or so. It worked remarkably well; I barely recognized it as the same place we'd seen the Pixies

GPtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10242079.post-1115639351982192882005-05-09T04:48:00.000-07:002005-05-09T04:49:11.986-07:00

Modest Mouse at the Pines, June 22. Seven days after we go on our road trip. Sigh.

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I have dirt under my fingernails and there's the smell of tomato plants in my office (which doubles as the potting room, as well as a semi-pantry and the location of our wine refrigerator [which came with the house], and for one stereo, and a set of bookshelves, and all in a room that's perhaps six feet by ten feet). So it must be spring: I'm transplanting tomatoes. As previously mentioned, I'm

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New Pornographers are coming to Pearl Street: Good. But it's right when we're going to be on our road trip: Bad. Gaaaaaah. Ted Leo & the Pharmacists also just announced a date at Pearl Street, May 14. That's the night before I'm heading down to Coney Island for the day, so I guess that's unlikely too. It is finally and pretty clearly spring. Ella is learning how to ride her bike with less

GPtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10242079.post-1111502070632749722005-03-22T06:33:00.000-08:002005-03-22T06:34:30.633-08:00

Added new stuff to the shows list. Biggest addition from my perspective is probably the Rilo Kiley show at Pearl Street on May 23. Hooray!

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WRSI ("The River," 93.9) has gone all wacky. I have previously noted their seeming inability to play anything involving distorted guitars. Well, now their playlist includes a very odd mixture of new adds. Sonic Youth, Clash, Pixies, Violent Femmes: Good. Pink Floyd, Zeppelin, and the Stones: Good, but not on your station. There is an absence of the former bands on area radio; I've seen no

GPtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10242079.post-1110116007589528482005-03-06T05:28:00.000-08:002005-03-06T11:36:54.773-08:00

I went to the Brass Cat in Easthampton last night, mostly to see Matt Hebert of Ware River Club. He was supposed to be the second set, but they shifted things around, apparently because he had a second gig (!) the same night. This was, I think, my first venture out to see a local singer, and I was impressed. His solo album (streamable on the website) is a little droopy, but live it had more

GPtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10242079.post-1109266870199622542005-02-24T09:40:00.000-08:002005-02-24T09:41:10.200-08:00

One of the key ways we convinced Ella that moving to Massachusetts was perhaps not entirely an awful idea was by talking about visiting maple sugar shacks in the spring. Hooray! They're opening! Looks like we probably won't get to any this weekend, but soon.

GPtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10242079.post-1108739261894378992005-02-18T07:04:00.000-08:002005-02-18T07:07:41.896-08:00

On the highly questionable theory that someone might care where we get dairy products: we recently started getting weekly deliveries from Mapleline Farm in Hadley. Their prices are generally competitive, we get to have a cute little cooler on the porch, and the products are terrific. And perhaps the best part: Refillable glass bottles. Very cool. They have a nice variety of things available,

GPtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10242079.post-1108341781319528642005-02-13T16:41:00.000-08:002005-02-13T16:43:01.320-08:00

This is an elegant stinkhorn, photographed by my dad outside Fayetteville, Arkansas, last June. Cool.

GPtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10242079.post-1108148821305715882005-02-11T11:00:00.000-08:002005-02-13T16:43:27.793-08:00

Yesterday afternoon, the kids and I went out in the backyard to play in the perfect wet snow. Along with lugging them around on the sled (wet snow: not so good for pulling sleds in), we also made a snowdog: Just now I glanced out the window of my office to observe the neighbor dog out of his yard, standing about fifteen feet from the snowdog, barking ferociously. Guess it's more realistic

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Only one or two additions (most notably Robyn Hitchcock), but still, there it is. Next Saturday is a free showing of Pancake Mountain at Flywheel in Easthampton. Pancake Mountain is a smart and non-condescending kids' show with all sort of music that you don't think of as kids' music -- Arcade Fire, The Evens, etc. It's out of D.C. and it looks like a bucket of fun. Off that subject: I'm

GPtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10242079.post-1107048639810414072005-01-29T17:15:00.000-08:002005-01-29T17:30:39.810-08:00

One of my goals upon a return to a saner lifestyle (I left a fairly time- and travel-intensive big firm practice in D.C. for academia) was to start gardening more and better. My family is garden-y on both sides. My dad's dad, Orval Childs, was an agri professor at Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia, Arkansas, for decades. (Indeed, one agri building is named after him.) My mom's dad,

GPtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10242079.post-1106925423290964892005-01-28T07:16:00.000-08:002005-01-28T07:17:03.290-08:00

I've updated my list of upcoming area shows. I've expanded the geographical reach of it, so that it includes even more shows I almost certainly won't attend.

GPtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10242079.post-1106877383194824762005-01-27T17:54:00.000-08:002005-01-27T17:56:23.193-08:00

I am delighted to report that this site is now the second (of two) results from a Google search for "geeky law professor." What more could one want in life?* * Please note that comments are off, and thus that you should consider that a rhetorical question.

GPtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10242079.post-1106594594094430532005-01-24T11:20:00.000-08:002005-01-24T11:23:14.093-08:00

So far there's nothing not to like about KCMP. Great variety, great air staff. It's awesome. Only complaint: with no ads and all this great music, when am I supposed to pee? (Okay, I stole that complaint from my friend Wendy.)

GPtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10242079.post-1106579126249225862005-01-24T07:02:00.000-08:002005-01-24T07:05:26.250-08:00

A great choice: Minneapolis hip-hop group Atmosphere's "Shh...," all about living in the Midwest. Hooray!

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