Thursday, February 26, 2009

Maybe I haven't ruined my ears with the years of rock'n'roll....
Train Horn

Created by Train Horn


And she's a nerd too.... Neko Case's new album comes out on March 3. Get yourself a listen here. The final track is 30 minutes of frog chirping. Redhead. Cusses like a sailor. Nerd. She's my celebrity crush.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

More poky things....


Local wildlife....(Gray Fox)


Yes, there are live armadillos sometimes....

If you are ever driving through West, TX you need to stop here. The Czech Stop. Its about 30 min north of Waco on IH35. It's a little Czech community, of which there are many in Texas. The Spoetzl Brewery in Shiner is another Czech institution. (Shiner Bock for those familiar with Texas). The Czech and Germans were some of the first immigrants to the area. There are often two types of breakfast road food in Texas: either tacos, or kolaches. In West they do kolaches and all of the assorted pastry dishes. They do more sweet kolaches than many places, but they do plenty of sausage and cheese in a baked dough. They also sell a lot of summer sausage. I forget when I found this place. I think it was when I lived in Bonham, and was coming back from a bike race in Waco. Go. On a busy travel weekend there will be a line around the building.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Don't give me any shit. I know it's empty. It is that good. The Hacienda Sotol mescal is the best cactus squeezin's going. It's better than any premium tequila and much cheaper. Seriously, if you can find it, try it. It WAS their añejo, but the blanco and reposado are both good in their own right, too. Sotol generally has a bit of a bad name, as do most mescals. It is made very similarly to tequila, but from a different cactus. Remember, tequila is a mescal also. It's an appelation (mostly from the state of Jalisco) and requirement that it be from a specific cactus (Blue agave). Sotol is just a different agave from a different region (Chihuahua). Definitely on point.

The Basil Hayden's is a nice drinkable bourbon, and is currently my favorite. It's strong without being overbearing. A somewhat scotch like bourbon.


Zaya is my favorite premium rum. It's from Guatemala. It's a little sweet, but not too much so. Very smooth. It's for drinking, not for mixing. It's in the same league as the Barbancourt 15 or the Fleur de Caña 12.


Believe it or not, Texas makes some good vodkas. I'm not really a vodka drinker, but I like Tito's. It has beaten much more expensive vodkas in taste tests. I think it's grain based and not potato based, which is somewhat of a heresy, but it's vodka. It's not supposed to taste like anything except clean alcohol goodness.
There is also the Dripping Springs vodka, which is a little more rough around the edges. Sometimes, that's a good thing.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Apparently, the Russians invented break-dancing sometime around 1918... That, or Run DMC figured out time travel...



mash-ups are so much fun...