Street Food, Cheers!

I love getting food from the street vendors here. Most of the time I have no idea what I'm ordering and I am rarely disappointed with my choice. Tonight I went with something a little more obvious, if not brutal.

They take a live catfish, shove a bamboo skewer down its throat to do it in, the roast it over glowing coals. I'm pretty sure this would be an act of animal cruelty back home.

Grilled catfish and cold beer. Cheer!

Ai, ai, ai

Late nights with Latvians are very fun, but make for painful early mornings at class with grammar. The Norwegians have a word for this feeling and this word is "Uff da."

Looking for sustenance today, I decided to chose adventurous. The results were mixed.

Grass Jelly Drink:

Verdict: Vile. I am no closer now to knowing what grass jelly is than I was before buying this drink, but I think it may involve straining the juice from a rotting bag of refuse and adding a hint of licorice flavoring.

Cuttlefish Crackers:

Verdict: Pretty tasty. Imagine shrimp-flavored Funyuns stamped into the shape of cross-hatched calamari bits.

Food Cart Mystery Meat:

Verdict: Delicious. I call this game 'point, pay, eat.' Point at something interesting, hand over some cash and dig in. I have no idea what I was eating, but I liked all of it. I will be playing this game more in the future.

Coffee To Go

Three of my fellow students and I decided to get up early and run up Rang Hill this morning. There is a small fitness park with very concrete and steel bars in the lower half of the park and we thought it would be a good workout. Indeed. Jena, the leader of our fearless group, ran cross-country for her university team last semester, and it is clear that she is MUCH better shape than the rest of us. As the three of us lesser runners were walking to catch our breath three-quarters of the way up, Jena came careening back down around a switchback. "Hey guys, you might want to be a more quiet around this next corner -- there's a monk walking up the hill up ahead. They do their morning meditation walking up this hill sometimes, so you should probably be respectful when you pass." And with that she took off back up the hill.

Feeling guilty at our walking pace and being essentially lapped, we resolved to resume running at the next switchback, and there -- halfway up the next stretch of road -- was indeed a monk, clad in an orange robe, walking up the hill. meditating. He turned and stared at us as if we were crazy as we huffed and puffed our way past him. First a young, spry, wiry blond-haired woman passes him, then runs back down the hill, disappears around the corner, only to reappear, pass him once again and blaze up the hill. And no sooner than she is out of sight do three out of shape Americans come laboring up the hill, wheezing and struggling slowly by. It must have been quite a sight.

After a quick shower, Jena and Ross -- one of the other two runners -- and I headed out to get some breakfast. About six blocks away from the school we came across a mother and daughter who had a food cart in front of their house. After some broken English communication, Ross had ordered what he thought was two eggs and toast, I had chosen some pre-prepared mystery food from one of several pots, and Jena set off to find some coffee.

When the food came, it turned out Ross had actually ordered two plates of egg fried rice with vegetables (which looked fantastic). Jena came back with the coffees...

... (it seems as though everything you order to go here come in baggies -- even scalding hot liquids) and found herself with Ross' extra plate of fried rice. Both agreed it was excellent.

And after devouring what was on my plate, I still have no idea what I had eaten. My best guess is some sort of spicy ground fish with rice.

At any rate, this little inconspicuous mom 'n' pop operation has been a big hit and we all agreed we would be coming back for more. These are the kinds of experiences I have come to Thailand for and I hope I have many more to come.

Sometimes It's Good to Have Polish Friends

Sauerkraut & bacon and potato & cheddar cheese-filled pierogi with homemade potato soup.

Mayer Hawthorne and the County

Catching a quick Korean meal with good friend John before the concert.

There is half a chicken carcass in that soup and it looks much better than it tasted.

Then off to see Mayer Hawthorne and the County at The Rathskeller. Intimate, energetic and awesome.

Mayer Hawthorne is one heck of a showman!

Highlight of the night, a pyschedelic rendering of "Green Eyed Love" replete with chunky guitar solo. Here's a little taste from a Sydney concert last January:

I am throughly enjoying the nu-soul movement currently coursing its way up the music scene.

Opening band was Gordon Voidwell. Light, energetic danceable new wave pop with heavy eighties overtones. Like Prince meets the Tom Tom Club.

... with two trap sets.

You know you still have a way to go as an artist when you are left to pack up your own equipment while the opener's crew is setting up on the stage you just finished rocking.

Back In Twin Cities

Just as I am returning to Wisconsin, so is my mother. Her flight lands in Minneapolis tonight, so I am spending the day in the Cities awaiting her arrival. I have been told I missed the equivalent of a midwestern monsoon while I have been down in West Virginia finishing up business. Today I have witnessed a bit of the aftermath.



Flood levels on the Mississippi are just cresting. This panorama of the mighty river's swollen banks was taken from the balcony of the Science Museum where I saw the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit today. For some reason, I went to the museum thinking Rosetta Stone and was looking forward to an exhibition about hieroglyphics and language translation. It wasn't until I actually walked into the exhibit that it dawned on me, "Oh... Dead SEA Scrolls... not Rosetta Stone." Not so much about language as the Torah, the Bible, the Koran and document preservation. And people say I'm fairly intelligent.

Other activities for the day; thrift stores, record shops, Scandinavian delis and check out this amazing octopus taco platter! I've always loved the Twin Cities, but in my more youthful days they always seemed a bit too close to home for comfort. My attitude on that seems to be changing.



Illness seems to be as prevalent here as the flooding and I am a bit disappointed I was not able to meet up with a new friend, but it was really great to catch up with one old. While helping my friend Craig hand out free PBR and Pabst swag at the Roma di Luna in-store performance at Electric Fetus tonight, we came to the somewhat distressing realization that we have known each other for twenty years now. Funny to think how far removed we both are now from the kids who met at Bible camp and served together on synod youth board.



Craig, you've got an awesome gig going. Thanks for letting me tag along for the night.

And welcome home Mom.
Enjoy your American coffee, the lefse and the herring.

(Photo borrowed from Zombie Lapdance)

Road Trip to the Upper Peninsula

How do you know you're getting close to the UP?

You've got a piping hot pasty in your lap, aye?


Joe's Pasty Shop, Rhinelander, WI -- check out the menu for these mouth-watering gourmet pasties, the pasties that made pasties famous.

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Did you know you could drive all the way to Norway from upper Michigan?

Just head east on Highway 8 and you'll be there in about five miles.