Doings

More Chili

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I told you that it’s that time of year, so of course I made a trip to the local source in search of perfection.

And this is what it looks like on the plant. These chilis (I’m sorry, but this spelling looks wrong to me, but not to auto correct. I always write it “chile”, so these would be red chile, but I am getting the message from our machine overlords that this is wrong.) are fully ripe, but I like the flavor of the green ones better, they’re so delicious.

There they are in all their fresh-picked glory. And behind them are jars of sauces made with these. (It is also sometimes spelled “chilli” and autocorrect also does not like this spelling.)

As you can see, the farmer himself has it spelled this way. (Take that autocorrect.) When freeze dried this is one ounce of deliciousness (yes I avoided saying the word.)

But why limit oneself to eating this delicious vegetable. Now one can also imbibe the spicy goodness of this pepper. However you spell it, this is a worthy crop (die autocorrect!)

City

Fall

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One can tell that it is fall in this area because suddenly it’s chili roasting time. Chili is delicious to eat, either as green chili (my favorite) or the fully ripe red chili. So I was off to the local market to buy some, and it was a party.

These hanging strings of chilis are enough to last the whole winter, and are beautiful to boot. This style of hanging chilis is very traditional.

This sort of wreath is mainly decorative, but it’s still entirely edible.

And besides being a celebration of chili, it was also the owner’s 99th birthday! So Happy Birthday, Mr. Spenser.

Art, Doings

Fair

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Well, I must love going to the fair, because I do this every year, even though it remains the same. Perhaps I never grew up, and not being of the computer screen generation, I just like looking at things. Wherever one is in the world, fairs bear an essential similarity.

There are brightly colored kiosks, selling mostly ordinary foods, but they are exotic somehow and are served on a stick, so one can walk and eat. Every year there seems to be one new item like deep fried candy bars or whatever. This year the exotic item was Korean hot dogs (on a stick of course.)

And there are always a number of rides bolted together for this event.

I do love to see the quilts and hand-made items, but it seemed to be a somewhat smaller exhibition this year. Perhaps younger persons are too busy staring at their screens to make things.

There is usually some sort of thing involving animals racing, usually pigs, but this year it was ducks. Perhaps one could take selfies with the ducks for a small fee, the ducks seemed largely uninterested.

This was the real reason I went, to see my art hanging in this juried art show. Yes, I envisioned these kaiju taking a trip to London. I had submitted this art last year, but was not juried in, so I added the number 14 bus (my personal favorite) and it was accepted. Also there were different judges than last year, so hurrah! Victory. And I shall probably submit art and go again next year, where everything will be the same (just like I prefer.)

City

Market

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During Summer there are lots of farmer’s markets about town. I had heard a rumor that the peaches were going to be ready a couple of weeks early, so off I went to check it out. These folks grow delicious peaches and every year I buy at least one box from them.

Unfortunately, the rumor that they are ready proved to be untrue. I have been eating lots of cherries every day, so I wasn’t really tempted.

There were a variety of vendors flogging their wares, such as tamales, fresh mushrooms, pickles, jellies and jams, and this person. Just add booze and you have a cocktail, or just pour out your favorite alcohol and add a mixer and one also has an easy cocktail. But, good luck to this vendor I hope she made the sale.

This area was once a favorite spot for sin, and there were a number of purveyors of such, but now it’s mostly full of tourist stuff (sin is possibly available, just ask.)

I know, you didn’t even realize that you needed this.

And in case one had run out of their supply of candy from Mexico, here was the solution.

There’s a bit of something for everyone. I personally purchased a lovely scenic photograph as a present and then it was on to the next destination.

Ephemera

Fame

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There are many types of fame, and what I find interesting is using one’s name to promote a product. In America, country musicians and pop stars are likely to put their name on a type of booze or a restaurant in Nashville. But in Korea, pop stars are not paid as well, so they will take other types of endorsements. Like this:

I have no idea who this guy is, but this was at a skincare place in London, and he has nice skin, so I assume he’s a member of some pop group. And that going into the shop would result in beautiful skin (so why didn’t I try?).

This was for sale at a local convenience store and feature the group Seventeen. I hope they got paid in money and not just a lifetime supply of crunchy snacks. (One guy looks photoshopped in).

Two of the guys in Stray Kids don’t seem to be that enthusiastic about whatever this snack might be. I spotted this in a grocery store in San Francisco, and I suppose if one is a fan, this is the snack to buy.

This person from 17 is following in the footsteps of American popstars, he’s flogging booze (which is something most people like.)

This is the most famous K-Pop group in the world. They should be incredibly rich, but they’re not too famous to do an endorsement. And of course I rushed to the store (I went to two actually) on the first day that these were available to buy.

This was part of the reason, they are purple, and have different designs on them. So they are Hoettok flavored (cinnamon) and very sweet, and I thought these were perfect. And I plan to eat them (not all at once), so this could be the endorsement that matters.

Art

Art in the Park

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What does one do if one makes largish sculptures? Not everyone needs this type of art for their home. Instead one hopes that a local park will put it on display (and perhaps sell?). These pieces change every summer, and these are the few that I liked from the current crop.

This owl was great. Made of cast bronze, the artist put a lot of love into this piece.

The artist did a nice job of cutting out the sheet steel and welding it all together. It’s not a fast job.

And the artist made this as a companion piece. It’s perfect as we are always standing between chaos and peace.

In the background there is a sort of spinal column made of pipe cut and welded together. I thought it uninteresting, but still, the artist thought it was worthy of commemoration.

Doings

SF

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Sometimes it’s a good idea to get out of town and do something different, (it is equally true that this can be a bad idea) but I had an invite and so off I went.

And this was the reason, a little pomp and circumstance of graduation. It was interesting compared to the last one I went to in the South. Ladies in the South were quite dressed up, wearing hats, high heels and a lot of makeup. This was more Birkenstock and tennis shoe territory, which is more my style.

There is a municipal rose garden near said University. For some reason my city lacks this amenity.

If one is going to drive an electric car, this is the way to do it. One of my friends asked the rhetorical question “Who really needs to go from zero to sixty in under three seconds?” The answer of course, is “me”; because it’s a lot of fun.

This was the most enigmatic stop on this trip. Yes, this is a fast food hamburger place. Our number was 92 and they were serving number 50. Why is this so popular? I have no idea, but it apparently gives one a mystical hamburger experience. (There is one in my town and it is always busy.) I am not from there , so I don’t get it, but it’s part of the mystique of the area, like sourdough bread.

I did mention earlier that travel can be a bad idea, and I caught a virus (or it caught me) and have been sick, but it was still overall, a great time.

Ephemera

Holidays

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There is the standard sort of holiday decor, it can be purchased anywhere, from craft stores, to department stores, to grocery stores. And then there is my take on holidays, in which I spend minutes arranging a plastic Godzilla into a scene of holiday magic. Here is one such photo, which I took this year for Valentine’s Day. As we all know, the only sweetheart of Godzilla is Tokyo.

This year I was rather busy, so I went with this simple arrangement.

And then there are these people in the neighborhood, who also have an interesting sense or humor. They bought a number of skeletons for last Halloween, and instead of taking them down, have decided to keep these as seasonal decorations. Here is their view of Valentine’s Day.

The great thing about dressing skeletons is that you don’t have to worry about clothes being too small. Models envy their size -0, they can wear anything.

So here we are in the Easter season, so of course I had to spend minutes again in setting up a suitable scene for my Godzilla. I used to use dinosaurs for these pictures, but somehow Godzilla seems more festive.

And then there are the lovely neighbors, they cheer me up every time I drive by their house.

I would say that they spend hours planning their scene. Who would have thought that one could have so much fun with skeletons. And toy Godzillas (the real Godzilla is not so much fun.)

Ephemera

Cookout

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So the joy of living in a big city is that there are so many interesting events to go to. The downside of living in such a city is that said events often involve crowds, and finding the time to get across town, and trying to park nearby. But on this evening I was invited to a local annual event and it was perfect.

The street behind this woman is busy during the week, but not much was happening on this glorious summer evening. She was singing old familiar songs(if you’re from the 60’s-70’s) accompanied by her autoharp.

Across the street it’s all industrial places, this side is a trendy vintage (1890’s) neighborhood. This spot was once a cigar manufacturing place.

And what exactly was going on this evening? Why it was the annual free corn roast at the neighborhood bar. (Note: I was in fact born in this very neighborhood). The corn is free, but the beer is not. And I can’t imagine just having a corn costume laying about for just such an occasion, but it works for some people.

Here it is in all it’s glory. The man on the right (Farmer Mike) to his friends) grew this lovely corn on his farm across the river and had picked it that very afternoon. He is keeping a practiced eye on the roasting ears, to make sure that they are perfection.

And they were. Slow grilled over charcoal, the corn was smoky and sweet, almost unimaginably delicious (okay, it was the best I ever ate).

As we were sitting there enjoying the ambiance, this neighbor walked up and plopped down in a chair (anyone can come). Not interested in having either a beer or some corn, this cat was just there for the loving (and it did get it). When there had been enough attention, it left and continued on it’s rounds. Then so did we, with a bit more of Farmer Mike’s delicious corn.

City

Favorite

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So I had to go back to the hometown for a wedding recently, and I got to revisit some of my favorite places. I am somewhat chagrined to confess that this is my very first stop after arriving. I go to this particular one because it is quite near the airport.

Yes this is definitely an acquired taste, and they are just as I remember them, little gut bombs (but delicious).

And this is always the second stop. I have been eating sausages from this particular shop since I had teeth. It was started in 1940, and my grandparents were friends of the founder. This was once a respectable working class neighborhood (not anymore), but they will never move because they still use a lot of the original equipment. The old Polish ladies who spent the day chopping everything by hand are long gone, but the kielbasa and krakowska (smoked Krakow-style sausage) are as delicious as ever.

The Polish Falcons club was nearby (in early days my parents would go to dances there), but it closed many years ago as people moved out when the neighborhood changed. But they still carry some Polish items and people still drive in from the suburbs to shop here, especially for the holidays.

But this was what put this family run business on the map. The Pope came to town and the family sent some of their kielbasa and Krakowska over to the diocese. The Pope himself said that this was the best Krakowska to be had outside of Krakow. This statement got picked up by the media, and a popular National morning television show came and did a live broadcast from the store. So I must say I agree with him, I’ve tried what other delis call Krakowska and it’s never as tasty. I brought some home on the plane (after it baffled TSA) and it will soon be gone. 🙁

But this is always at least part of the reason that I choose to go back to the hometown, so I expect that I shall visit again (it’s also available to be shipped 🙂 .

random bits of life