DEBRIS.COMgood for a laugh, or possibly an aneurysm

This is one of my favorite cookbooks. It is interesting to read, as it combines some history and color from the Caribbean with the recipes, which are clear and easy to follow. The book is beautifully illustrated by Brooke Scudder, and bound right so it lays flat (open) on your kitchen counter.

Harris’ recipe for Jerked Chicken makes the best I’ve ever tasted — much better than most “jerked chicken” you’ll find in restaurants. It alone is worth the price of the book; the recipe makes a stunning centerpiece for a neighborhood barbecue.

If you like to grill, and you like spicy foods, you can’t go wrong with this book.

Patronize these links, man:

• Amazon (Hardback)

In the average U.S. home, the television is on almost eight hours a day.

This is beyond shocking. What could they possibly be watching?

One evening last July, my wife and I were having dinner with a friend in Los Angeles. Just after we were seated, a group was seated at the next table. Our host knew one of the people in the other party, and so we were introduced all around. It was a brief but pleasant exchange which consisted mostly of names and Hello’s and Nice to meet you’s back and forth. At one point, meeting someone named Casey, I’d said, for example, “Hello, Casey, nice to meet you.”

After we were all seated again, my friend Greg leaned over and said, “His name isn’t Casey; it’s K.C.” He emphasized both syllables.

I thought this through. Stressing those two syllables equally carries significance, as you may have yourself come to realize. Greg had just identified an individual. I’d met not one-of-millions of people named Casey, but one-of-one person named K.C.

I said, “K.C., as in —”

Greg said, “Yes.”

That stressed second syllable identified not only an individual. I realized there was a high probability that I’d just deduced the identity of the entire party.

I motioned over my shoulder at them. “And the rest of those guys?”

Greg said, “Yes.” He knew that I knew. “The Sunshine Band.”

At which point, naturally, we challenged ourselves to list all the K.C. & the Sunshine Band songs we could remember. Here are a few of my favorites, in RealAudio courtesy the official website: Shake Your Booty, That’s the Way (uh-huh, uh-huh) I Like It (uh-huh, uh-huh), Get Down Tonight

The half-time shuffle is one of my favorite grooves. I used to play the hell out of it — see the track Pandemonium Clockwise on the JAR page for a full-song example in MP3.

Ghost notes and shuffles go together like dietary fiber and colo-rectal satisfaction. And yet I never learned to bounce my stick to catch the ghost note after the backbeat, until recently, so that’s one of the things going on here.

The other somewhat tricky combination in this groove is the bass drum note sandwiched between the ride notes on the second beat, below the ghost note on the snare. It might take a few minutes of practice to perform this cleanly — feel those neurons sprouting?

    /3\/3\/3\/3\ (shuffle feel)
    1  2  3  4
RC  o oo oo oo o
SD   o  o Oo  o 
BD  o o oo     o

Patronize these links, man:

• Virtual Drummer loop
• MIDI
• MP3

I was a lowly tourist in a zoo of sweaty, desperate people. I was in Las Vegas during NASCAR’s UAW-Daimler Chrysler 400… which meant that every Winston T-shirted redneck within a thousand miles had come here for the weekend.

Simultaneously, John Ruiz battled Evander Holyfield in a WBA pay-per-view event. These crowds mingled poorly. NASCAR fans were easily placed by their accents and the fact that most of their conversations seem to include the names of engine parts. In contrast the boxing fans all looked like MBAs; they were dressed for a fancy evening on the town, as if they’d come from the opera instead of the ring.

Boxing and auto racing have some elements in common — the action is fast, and there’s a constant threat of serious injury. And the concession stands at both venues serve cheese fries.

And yet, the crowds are vastly different. As a momentary diversion I mentally combined members of these two groups… I pictured a trim athletic man in a satin “Pit Crew” jacket, accessorized with Bally loafers, a Cartier watch, an embroidered Mr. Goodwrench cap, and a drawl. His scent is YSL, and Pennzoil.

I took the fantasy no further; I had to get back to losing money.

Fortunately I was on a strict budget, so 5 minutes after I started losing money, I was finished losing money… no point losing my dignity too. And so we checked out a few of the town’s free shows.

Treasure Island puts on a special-effects-laden pirate battle that must be seen to be believed. It’s a pyrotechnics extravaganza — and even if you know what to expect, the blast of heat that erupts from the ships will shock you. (It’s the sort of thing that makes you blink to see if your contacts have melted to your eyeballs.) You can see the pirate battle via QuickTime video.

If your senses are already overloaded, you might prefer the Dancing Lights show at Bellagio — a huge fountain whose jets are choreographed to classical music. You can see a slideshow of Bellagio’s dancing lights.