Repost: Deacon Fielder Strikes Again...Boston Fielder and his Muthawit Orchestra

 ORIGINALLY POSTED 3/30/2010
finally, a release cometh...so i'm reposting...

I came to be acquainted with the inimitable Boston Fielder about half a decade ago, believe it or not, on Myspace.  I'd been writing a blog there while promoting my music and building up a following which consisted of myspacers worldwide.  We were mutual fans of each others music.  

At some point I'd posted a blog chronicling a particularly challenging period in my journey and the next day, in my inbox there was this message from him... It was raw, straightforward, scolding, as if he'd ordained himself an authority on the subject of Brig Feltus, and it was a profound moment for me.   I'm telling you this up front because there's no use in pretending to be unbiased when it comes to Boston Fielder, the Muthawit Orchestra, or Underground Railroad Broadcasting Alternatives, aka URB ALT.   We have been devoted friends for longer than linear time can define.  We knew each other in another lifetime even.  I'm sure of it.  I am a proud member of the URB ALT Family.  

 I'm telling you up front because though this is meant to spread the word about the art this man creates, it is unabashedly personal.  Let my honesty about this fact represent my confidence that what you will experience will more than justify my love of all things Muthawit!

So by all means, explore for yourself when you're done here.  You'll find me to be an honest report on the virtues of the man and his art.  I am confident of that much. 

The music of Muthawit Orchestra will not be contained in the structure of conventional musical genre descriptions.  But, oh... it is in every way music, encompassing all genres and none all at once... neo-classic, jazz, rock, funk, bluegrass, gospel, experimental, metal, psychedelic, blues, electronica...and it's own indescribable something-or-other which can only be experienced and never explained.  You can forget about trying to put this man's art into a box and tying it up in a nice neat bow.  If there is any thematic, that be it. 

You will be challenged.  You will be challenged to free your mind, to let go of your own preconditioning, break loose of the chains of stereotype, archetype, and cultural characterization.   The Muthawit orchestra's sound is beautiful noise that will touch your most guttural conscience and your most ethereal dream scapes as well.  It is frightening and sexy and comforting and confusing truth all wrapped up in compositions you can relate to despite your own conditioning.  If you are afraid of your tail feathers shaking, do not listen.  If you are afraid of arousal, do not listen.  If you fear your own emotions, this is not music for you.  Go and have a cup of tea and carry on. 

Every time I listen to this music I rejoice.  lol... I choose my friends wisely, you see...  

URB ALT is also Mr. Fielder's brainchild... a community of artists, filmmakers, photographers, poets, musicians, and their admiring relatives and friends, all attempting to live on the cutting edge of free thought and inspiration.   For me personally it has been a place where I can get to know others like me... alternative thinkers who don't quite fit the manufactured grooves of this groupthink society we all live in.    He will say differently but for me it is a movement, by pure definition of the term.   You see, I have been moved more than once since becoming a member of URB ALT.  Movement is the nature of the beast!  

Visit URB ALT

Boston's orchestra ensemble Muthawit releases its next album soon and I am honored to have been one of the first to hear its jewels pre-mastering and I couldn't wait til the proper time, so I'm telling you all about it now and getting a jump on all the promotional hype that's coming down the road closer to release date.  

As far as I'm concerned, the character of the artist will tell you a lot about their art.  This man is extraordinary in every way that I know him, and has many layers of depth, not to be digested all at once.  

Being his friend is a constant temptation to be greedy. There's stuff I just intuitively know about him but don't have to think about most of the time because it's beneath the surface.  His surfaces, when you meet him, are slow, and easy going, and gentle, just like his southern drawl.  

But don't be deceived.  Every now and then he says something or does something and I'm reminded about that other stuff beneath his skin... things that can be intimidating when one considers to look straight on.  

(Do you think people understand you? Not really. If they did they'd run...)

I gotta look with sunglasses, because he's like the sun.  Most know the sun is strong, so we resist the urge to look at it straight on.  The timid don't bother looking at all, won't even stand naked in its rays for fear of getting cancer, and in the process end up with vitamin deficiencies because of it. The foolish, in their greed, forget and try to look straight into it, and end up with scorched corneas.  

That's what he's like.  Seductive ease on the surface, and raging nuclear energy underneath!  His music is evidence of all that stuff beneath the surface, organized a bit, and recorded for posterity, which is a good thing because his sub-surface stuff evidently doesn't like repeat it self in order to keep you on your toes!

As if to prove my point, while I was writing this last bit a minute ago Fielder emailed me a disclaimer warning me not to hold him to his answers because he plans to contradict himself regularly over the next few months... Schizophrenia Convenia he calls it apparently.. ( one of a thousand Bostonisms I've had the pleasure of cracking up over all these years.)  THEN  a minute or two later, a post-post-disclaimer requesting to add Igor Stravinsky, Samuel R. Delany, and Jack Kirby to his influence list... Did I ask for an influence list? Perhaps he was referring to his heroes... Uncle Baldy, and Co...  He also informed me that this is one of a handful (literally) of interviews he's ever allowed. 

What? I haven't said much of anything about the new album? Perhaps you should go back and read this posting again and pay attention this time. 

Other than that? Have a listen here and then you'll just have to wait!




Below is a quicky email interview I sprung on him today without warning.  These are his off-the cuff answers.  Thank you Boston for your friendship, for your music, for your wisdom, and for your most admirable existence!!   May your purse reach you...

What is Muthawit? A loving homage to my elders, peers, children and folks who use common sense.  

When did you start Muthawit? When I was 7 years old.

What was your inspiration for its creation?  My grandmother's singing voice and my grandfather's speaking voice.

What is the Urb Alt Movement?  Following the North Star is a movement that inspires me personally but I wouldn't call URB ALT a movement.  The financial component would make that hypocrisy.

What makes the Urb Alt Movement important in these times?  I don't know that URB ALT is important.  Is making people feel good about themselves and others enough to say that it's important?  Hmm. 

Would you compare Urb Alt with other movements in music history? Pouring glass as slowly as possible into a pitcher.

What kind of people are participating in your movement?  People who probably don't consider it a movement because movements tend to have a head, the head is lopped off by history and then it dies, is placed in a museum or cryogenically frozen in a state of mediocrity.

Who are your musical heroes past and present day?  Uncle Baldy, Marvin Gaye, Alice Coltrane and that old dude who used to sit on the front row of the church is Tupelo and chanted "Yap, Yeah, Yap, Yeah" during Reverend Pulliam's sermon.

In 10 lines of PROSE or less, describe your musical compositions in poem. "Beauty. Booty. Baby. Bounty. BOOM."

Do you think people understand you?  Not really.  If they did they'd run.

Does being understood matter to you on a personal level?  It means everything and nothing.  Too much to do.

Does it (being understood)matter to the successful spreading of the music?  Only if the music is good does it matter and even then pirates will hijack it on the seas of change before the purse reaches the hands of the chosen.

What do you believe your art contributes to the world?  Joyful cacophony and a good reason to get out of bed or stay in bed depending on the situation.

Is there a subject matter you are afraid to write about?  No.

Is there a subject matter you love to write about?  No.

What is the story behind your new album's title Men and Women?  The death of individualism, the rise of the IRS in the micromechanics of governing and the joy of watching tadpoles swim downstream.

What was the most joyful moment in creating the music on this album?  Mixing PMS Junkie.  It was a bloody good time.

What challenges did you face in making this album?  Tenant revolt.

Is your music influenced by any esoteric or ethereal experiences?  Mainly dead people who walk with us and share our experiences.  They like to dance and eat popcorn.

Did you have any experiences of transcendance during the creation of the music on Men and Women? If so, explain.  I got regular sleep for the first time in well over a year due to roommate overhaul.  It released a torrent of positively kinetic energy.

Which song is your favorite and why? What's it about?  My favorite didn't make the album cause it hasn't been written yet.  It'll be the greatest song ever written in history.  Better than anything Lennon and McCartney or Liberace could produce on their best day.

When will the album be available in stores?  May 9th.  Mutha's Day.

What are your thoughts on overcoming incomplete paradigms in life?  A paradigm by nature is complete.  It's a simple signpost of change that has served it's purpose.
What are you dreaming up for the near future artistically?  Children.

What are you dreaming up for the near future personally?  Protection.

Introducing SALUMAXIMUS: The Great Sea

Nothing makes me prouder than my kid.  He's the one thing I've been responsible for that I KNOW I'm doing the best I can, and that my best is pretty darn impressive!  I allow myself that even in those times when it feels like nothing else I do is right.  Part of raising this beautiful, brilliant child, has included nurturing his passions.  I've been nurturing his passions since he could demonstrate he had them.  Starting at about 3 or 4 years old when he would scream and holler bloody murder because he didn't want to get out of the tub without me reading the Little Fish book to him one. more. time.  "I'm a little fish, I like to get all wet, I have a little octopus, he's my little pet, we swim swim swim, we swim swim swim, we swim swim swim some more,  we swim swim swim, we swim swim swim, until we reach the shore!"  Every bath time he made me read that padded waterproof book at least 20 times.  It will forever be imprinted on my brain... every line, every picture.
He has been in love with water and marine life since at least that far back, and I made it a point to feed that love as often as possible.  It would not be far into his first years of elementary when he told me he wanted to be a marine biologist.  That seems like a million years ago....way back when we were members at the L.A. Zoo and the Long Beach Aquarium, and, yes, platinum card holders at Sea World San Diego and we milked those memberships for all they were worth and then some.  He had ocean themed birthday parties year after year, and as he got older they became Pyrate parties, because how many times can you really have whales and dolphins for a party before it starts to be uncool to your son and his friends?  We took vacations that were always near a body of water where we could snorkel and explore the ocean, including Puerto Vallarta, Florida, and the Bahamas.  We took a spring break road trip up the coast of California and visited every aquarium, marine life rescue center, marine life reserve, and university lab/aquarium we could find between L.A. and San Francisco.  One of the highlights of that trip was a beach near Santa Cruz where we walked 3 miles down a series of bluff and cliff trails to the ocean where and saw hundreds of enormous elephant seals basking on the beach in the sun.  A couple of years ago, for his birthday he requested a high school marine biology text book from a homeschool website, and marine specimens and a dissection kit from a science education website. We've been contributing to his personal library of books on related subjects since he began to use words.  He has swam with dolphins, manta rays, and 2 years ago we had the unforgettable opportunity to swim in the open waters of the Gulf of Mexico with Whale Sharks bigger than a large school bus! 
This year has been an exciting time for the Pyrate.  He's managed to complete a full year of 8th grade in a semester, and was advanced midyear to 9th grade.  By the fall he will be starting 10th grade, with almost all AP classes, and taking 2 courses at the local community college.  He's really excited and has the best kind of confidence building.... the kind you get when you work hard for something and finish it well and with acclaim.
Soon he will begin training to be a camp counselor at the Long Beach Marine Institute where he'll assist in teaching younger kids about the ocean, ecology, and marine life.  He has also applied for a position as a docent at the Cabrillo Aquarium in the Aquatic Nursery, and the youth volunteer program in the fall at the L.A. Zoo.  We've also begun the overwhelmingly complex business of college exploration.  So far there's a couple of Ivy League institutions, and one UC institution on his favorites list....oh yeah, (selective amnesia) and Alaska University of the Pacific.  And somewhere in the midst of all of that, he'll be taking his first ever scuba certification course and training.  A very exciting time indeed.  Which brings me to the purpose of this post...
The Pyrate has just launched SALUMAXIMUS: The Great Sea, a blog where he will share things he's doing, articles about marine life and ocean ecology, and anything else he feels like sharing related to the topic.  If you have a teen child, please share his blog with them.  But it's not just for teens.  The information he will be posting is interesting for people of all ages.  So check it out soon, and join us on this amazing ocean voyage!

Ginger Mint Lemonade

This recipe, (sorry there's no picture) is my favorite anytime beverage to make when we have company.  I pull out my fancy 1940's punch bowl to serve it in and it reminds me of my grandma Elee Hollins and how she'd have the entire family... about 20 of us over on Sunday afternoons after church for family Sunday "dinner" (which was really like an early supper at around 2pm).   There was almost always roast chicken, steamed rice, gravy, sweet dinner rolls fresh from the oven, either green beans or greens straight from grandma's garden, and a big punch bowl full of lemonade, made from fresh tart lemons, usually from a tree in the backyard, squeezed by hand.   Hers didn't have mint or fruit floating around in it, and she used regular granulated sugar.  Mine is an updated, organic, sparkling, and has a slightly herbaceous taste which goes well with all kinds of foods.   On a hot summer day, it's hard to resist and from what I've found, keeps party guests coming back to the punch bowl over and over and over.

This recipe yields about 12-16 servings depending on the glass size.  You can make the syrup ahead up to 4-5 days, and add the rest the day you'll serve it.  Multiplying the recipe works great too.  I usually triple or quadruple it at the syrup stage and lemon squeezing stage so that at parties I can quickly refill the punch bowl when it is inevitably empty. 

FOR THE GINGER SYRUP
1 cup of Water
2/3 cups of Evaporated Sugar Cane Juice, Turbinado, or Raw Sugar (or 1 cup of honey, maple, etc)
4 inch piece of fresh Ginger

Heat all 3 ingredients in a saucepan til boiling.  Reduce fire and simmer for about 10 minutes.  Cool completely.

FOR THE LEMONADE
1 recipe of Ginger Syrup (see above)
1 cup of fresh squeezed Lemon Juice
1 bunch of fresh Mint leaves
1 cup of Blueberries
5 cups of Sparkling Water
4 cups of plain Water

Mix syrup, lemon juice and waters in the punch bowl or other beverage vessel.
Break the mint into small sprigs and crush them in your palm to release the flavor.
Add mint and blueberries to the liquids and mix everything together.  Add ice and serve!!

A Movie in the Making...

Be a part of this very special project headed up by my friend, singer/songwriter/score composer/film director (yes, and so much more) Patsy Moore! *You'll need to scroll to the bottom of my blog page and turn off my music player there.*

A REAL FEEL-GOOD PIECE OF WORK from Patsy Moore on Vimeo.

Deacon Fielder Strikes Again...Boston Fielder and his Muthawit Orchestra

I came to be acquainted with the inimitable Boston Fielder about half a decade ago, believe it or not, on Myspace.  I'd been writing a blog there while promoting my music and building up a following which consisted of myspacers worldwide.  We were mutual fans of each others music.  

At some point I'd posted a blog chronicling a particularly challenging period in my journey and the next day, in my inbox there was this message from him... It was raw, straightforward, scolding, as if he'd ordained himself an authority on the subject of Brig Feltus, and it was a profound moment for me.   I'm telling you this up front because there's no use in pretending to be unbiased when it comes to Boston Fielder, the Muthawit Orchestra, or Underground Railroad Broadcasting Alternatives, aka URB ALT.   We have been devoted friends for longer than linear time can define.  We knew each other in another lifetime even.  I'm sure of it.  I am a proud member of the URB ALT Family.  

 I'm telling you up front because though this is meant to spread the word about the art this man creates, it is unabashedly personal.  Let my honesty about this fact represent my confidence that what you will experience will more than justify my love of all things Muthawit!

So by all means, explore for yourself when you're done here.  You'll find me to be an honest report on the virtues of the man and his art.  I am confident of that much. 

The music of Muthawit Orchestra will not be contained in the structure of conventional musical genre descriptions.  But, oh... it is in every way music, encompassing all genres and none all at once... neo-classic, jazz, rock, funk, bluegrass, gospel, experimental, metal, psychedelic, blues, electronica...and it's own indescribable something-or-other which can only be experienced and never explained.  You can forget about trying to put this man's art into a box and tying it up in a nice neat bow.  If there is any thematic, that be it. 

You will be challenged.  You will be challenged to free your mind, to let go of your own preconditioning, break loose of the chains of stereotype, archetype, and cultural characterization.   The Muthawit orchestra's sound is beautiful noise that will touch your most guttural conscience and your most ethereal dream scapes as well.  It is frightening and sexy and comforting and confusing truth all wrapped up in compositions you can relate to despite your own conditioning.  If you are afraid of your tail feathers shaking, do not listen.  If you are afraid of arousal, do not listen.  If you fear your own emotions, this is not music for you.  Go and have a cup of tea and carry on. 

Every time I listen to this music I rejoice.  lol... I choose my friends wisely, you see...  

URB ALT is also Mr. Fielder's brainchild... a community of artists, filmmakers, photographers, poets, musicians, and their admiring relatives and friends, all attempting to live on the cutting edge of free thought and inspiration.   For me personally it has been a place where I can get to know others like me... alternative thinkers who don't quite fit the manufactured grooves of this groupthink society we all live in.    He will say differently but for me it is a movement, by pure definition of the term.   You see, I have been moved more than once since becoming a member of URB ALT.  Movement is the nature of the beast!  

Visit URB ALT

Boston's orchestra ensemble Muthawit releases its next album soon and I am honored to have been one of the first to hear its jewels pre-mastering and I couldn't wait til the proper time, so I'm telling you all about it now and getting a jump on all the promotional hype that's coming down the road closer to release date.  

As far as I'm concerned, the character of the artist will tell you a lot about their art.  This man is extraordinary in every way that I know him, and has many layers of depth, not to be digested all at once.  

Being his friend is a constant temptation to be greedy. There's stuff I just intuitively know about him but don't have to think about most of the time because it's beneath the surface.  His surfaces, when you meet him, are slow, and easy going, and gentle, just like his southern drawl.  

But don't be deceived.  Every now and then he says something or does something and I'm reminded about that other stuff beneath his skin... things that can be intimidating when one considers to look straight on.  

(Do you think people understand you? Not really. If they did they'd run...)

I gotta look with sunglasses, because he's like the sun.  Most know the sun is strong, so we resist the urge to look at it straight on.  The timid don't bother looking at all, won't even stand naked in its rays for fear of getting cancer, and in the process end up with vitamin deficiencies because of it. The foolish, in their greed, forget and try to look straight into it, and end up with scorched corneas.  

That's what he's like.  Seductive ease on the surface, and raging nuclear energy underneath!  His music is evidence of all that stuff beneath the surface, organized a bit, and recorded for posterity, which is a good thing because his sub-surface stuff evidently doesn't like repeat it self in order to keep you on your toes!

As if to prove my point, while I was writing this last bit a minute ago Fielder emailed me a disclaimer warning me not to hold him to his answers because he plans to contradict himself regularly over the next few months... Schizophrenia Convenia he calls it apparently.. ( one of a thousand Bostonisms I've had the pleasure of cracking up over all these years.)  THEN  a minute or two later, a post-post-disclaimer requesting to add Igor Stravinsky, Samuel R. Delany, and Jack Kirby to his influence list... Did I ask for an influence list? Perhaps he was referring to his heroes... Uncle Baldy, and Co...  He also informed me that this is one of a handful (literally) of interviews he's ever allowed. 

What? I haven't said much of anything about the new album? Perhaps you should go back and read this posting again and pay attention this time. 

There's an appetizer on URB ALT's Sampler Dos which was just made available (for free!!) recently.  Come back after the interview and click the link to get to it! 

URB ALT Sampler Dos

Other than that?  You'll just have to wait!

Below is a quicky email interview I sprung on him today without warning.  These are his off-the cuff answers.  Thank you Boston for your friendship, for your music, for your wisdom, and for your most admirable existence!!   May your purse reach you...

What is Muthawit? A loving homage to my elders, peers, children and folks who use common sense.  

When did you start Muthawit? When I was 7 years old.

What was your inspiration for its creation?  My grandmother's singing voice and my grandfather's speaking voice.

What is the Urb Alt Movement?  Following the North Star is a movement that inspires me personally but I wouldn't call URB ALT a movement.  The financial component would make that hypocrisy.

What makes the Urb Alt Movement important in these times?  I don't know that URB ALT is important.  Is making people feel good about themselves and others enough to say that it's important?  Hmm. 

Would you compare Urb Alt with other movements in music history? Pouring glass as slowly as possible into a pitcher.

What kind of people are participating in your movement?  People who probably don't consider it a movement because movements tend to have a head, the head is lopped off by history and then it dies, is placed in a museum or cryogenically frozen in a state of mediocrity.

Who are your musical heroes past and present day?  Uncle Baldy, Marvin Gaye, Alice Coltrane and that old dude who used to sit on the front row of the church is Tupelo and chanted "Yap, Yeah, Yap, Yeah" during Reverend Pulliam's sermon.

In 10 lines of PROSE or less, describe your musical compositions in poem. "Beauty. Booty. Baby. Bounty. BOOM."

Do you think people understand you?  Not really.  If they did they'd run.

Does being understood matter to you on a personal level?  It means everything and nothing.  Too much to do.

Does it (being understood)matter to the successful spreading of the music?  Only if the music is good does it matter and even then pirates will hijack it on the seas of change before the purse reaches the hands of the chosen.

What do you believe your art contributes to the world?  Joyful cacophony and a good reason to get out of bed or stay in bed depending on the situation.

Is there a subject matter you are afraid to write about?  No.

Is there a subject matter you love to write about?  No.

What is the story behind your new album's title Men and Women?  The death of individualism, the rise of the IRS in the micromechanics of governing and the joy of watching tadpoles swim downstream.

What was the most joyful moment in creating the music on this album?  Mixing PMS Junkie.  It was a bloody good time.

What challenges did you face in making this album?  Tenant revolt.

Is your music influenced by any esoteric or ethereal experiences?  Mainly dead people who walk with us and share our experiences.  They like to dance and eat popcorn.

Did you have any experiences of transcendance during the creation of the music on Men and Women? If so, explain.  I got regular sleep for the first time in well over a year due to roommate overhaul.  It released a torrent of positively kinetic energy.

Which song is your favorite and why? What's it about?  My favorite didn't make the album cause it hasn't been written yet.  It'll be the greatest song ever written in history.  Better than anything Lennon and McCartney or Liberace could produce on their best day.

When will the album be available in stores?  May 9th.  Mutha's Day.

What are your thoughts on overcoming incomplete paradigms in life?  A paradigm by nature is complete.  It's a simple signpost of change that has served it's purpose.
What are you dreaming up for the near future artistically?  Children.

What are you dreaming up for the near future personally?  Protection.

Brig Feltus Live at Little Temple 4/29

So, next show on the calendar!!  Hope to see you there if you're in town!!

Cook 'n Dine with Brig Feltus

What happens when you learn how capitalism has completely corrupted the way we eat in this country?  You buy less processed foods.  You stop feeding your kids fast food.  You start educating yourself, and you try to cook more.  You buy fresh produce and meats from the supermarket and prepare them yourself. 

Are you safe then?  Well, no, it seems the horrifying truth is no.  Even if you do these things you are exposing your body to foods riddled with pesticides, genetical engineering, chemical fertilizers, hormones, and antibiotics.  That's just for starters.  The horror story gets worse because beyond these very tangible and obvious crimes against humanity, we are purchasing meats that come from animals raised in the most atrociously unnatural conditions in the name of mass production and high yield.  Animals are being fed foods they would never normally eat because those foods are cheaper, and because those foods manipulate the animal's metabolism, making them grow faster... up to 3 times what they would have without any manipulation. 
Produce is plucked green and unripe before the sun has gifted it with the nutrients, color, and flavor, just so that it can survive its journeys to far away places where that produce may not be growing at that time of year.  It's often treated with chemical gases once arrived, so as to create artificial ripeness.  This is why fruit from a tree in your yard tastes so different from fruit bought at your local big chain supermarket.  
We eat this food without knowing... thinking if we cook fresh food, we're doing good by our families... not understanding the growth hormones given to animals is being ingested when we eat them and our children are reaching puberty at younger and younger ages because of it.... not understanding why when we buy fruit in the grocery store the flavor is so hit and miss.... not understanding that there is very little if any research to determine what the consequences are to eating genetically engineered foods.... meanwhile cancer, diabetes, autism, immune disorders, and hundreds of other ailments continue to plague us and we don't know how we get them.

I'm only so far talking about those of us who try to do good. I don't even want to get into what's in all the packaged foods and fast food we eat in this country.  Why the hell are we in such a hurry anyway?  Greed is killing us.  It's the other name for capitalism and convenience,  if you really think about it and it's killing us one bite at a time. 
I am always outraged at the way you can walk into a grocery store and there can be two seemingly identical items on a shelf, sometimes from the same corporate source, one says 'organic'  the other not.  The organic is always more expensive.  It's preposterous.  Why, after all should it cost more to get your food the old fashioned way, with less chemicals, less pesticides, less interference in general?  Shouldn't it be if we mess with it less, it would be cheaper?  Wouldn't it make sense that if the produce grew an hour drive away, it would cost less than the one imported from South America???  Well, unfortunately, the way our food system is set up, there's no way for organic to compete on a large scale.  So we reject it.  Throw our hands up and give in to the poison... We are literally drinking the koolaid and we don't even realize it. 
So what then?  What happens when you realize this?  Well, in my case, I had the opportunity to live in other countries where the food systems are not all about capitalism. 


They might be fascinated by our bright colors and shiny flashy labels, but back home in their countries they do things a little differently than we do.
When I was living in Germany 13 years ago, there was perhaps one or two supermarkets in the cities I lived in and they weren't very popular.  Why not?  They were not needed. They were really just a novelty you could find in the really big cities where there were a lot of Americanized amenities.  That's what they call it... Americanized.... Shameful...

But again, those stores were novelties, mostly marketed towards homesick expatriots living there or poor souls who somehow thought anything Americanized was cool. 
The average person didn't go there.  It wasn't not as convenient, as inexpensive, as fresh as what they could find right outside the door to their home...
Each little neighborhood... I'm talking about a couple of blocks square... had a butcher who got his meats from the farmer who raised it, somewhere within 30-50 miles on the outskirts of town, and he received it whole and cut it into the various cuts of meat himself on the premises and sold it within the same week... each had a produce stand (or two) where you could buy fresh fruits and vegetables grown nearby... yes, they still had bananas from south america and such, but the majority of the produce came from a farm close by... and if it was out of season, they didn't have it.... simple as that... I remember thinking to myself I must be tripping off of culture shock or something because I could have sworn that the vegetables tasted better and I didn't understand at the time why... each neighborhood had a bakery with fresh baked bread and such.... and if you wanted things like cereal or other packaged foods you'd go to a store that pretty much only sold that kind of stuff... even there, was no frosted flakes, cocoa puffs, cap'n crunch, or honey bunches of oats.... there were different sorts of whole grain cereals, oats, grits, wheat meal, muesli, and the occasional granola... there you could also buy your dairy products which came from a farm which was, again within 30-50 miles of the city you were in... Cheese could be bought there too, but you could get that fresher and better quality at the cheese monger in your neighborhood.  All of these would be within easily 5 minutes walking distance and everyone owned one of those rolling market baskets that fold up like an umbrella.  People didn't even often drive to get to these places. 

It was customary to buy only what you'd use in the next couple of days and that was fine because you knew that at any time, on your way in from work or school you could stop through and pick up fresh items.  
Foods didn't have to be advertised as organic because it was the law that they be that.  They didn't need not to be because the farmers could manage to keep up with their livestock... enough to supply just the butchers in their town, and not an entire country.  By the way the entire country is smaller than the state of texas...

Did you  know that in America there used to be several dozen suppliers of meat?  Now there are about a handful... yes, actually less than 5 major meat suppliers in the entire country!  Do you know what that means?  These companies have streamlined the raising, feeding, and production of meat in this country in such a way that they can cost effectively supply a country that is probably 50 times the size of Germany!!!   You can imagine the atrocities without actually seeing them with your own eyes. 


In countries abroad, the way they produce their food is more sensible, safer, less expensive, and truly, truly more convenient and NO ONE IS COMPLAINING!  Yes, logistically it means they eat less animal products than we do.  We eat too much animal products anyway... feeding the greed in us... But the truth should hurt!

 Here, you can buy a cut of meat and there is no regulation that says they have to tell you if it has been treated, for example as some ground meats with fillers are, with ammonia... or to inform you of whether or not the meat is from a cloned animal.  Or whether the 3 lb chicken you're buying has been fed animal waste products mixed in its meal and  is really 2 lbs and the rest is salt water injected into it to make it look more plump.... (by the way, they're selling it to you by the pound and you're paying for that pound of salt water... basically paying to be lied to... )  Our regulations are in reverse.  There are regulations for those claiming to be organic but none saying that non-organic food producers have to disclose anything... Okay, they disclose "ingredients" but nothing about the processing, nothing about the growth, nothing about the pesticides, hormones or antibiotics... because we would be outraged! 


So what now?  In my case, I am now slowly weening my family off of non-organic eating habits.  We are shopping farmer's markets for produce when we can and buy from the organic section in the supermarket.  We're eating less meat because it's expensive to buy free range, grass fed, hormone free, antibiotic free animal products.  We also shop at small bodega type markets which we know buy their fresh foods locally within our state.  
I cook more often.  I seldom eat at fast food places anymore except in an emergency, and I try to hit up one such as Chipotle which is a known practitioner of sustainable foodsWe are not religious about all of this.  But everytime I buy food, I am conscious now.  I am aware now.  I don't ever put anything in my mouth without understanding the consequences.  It is a matter of awareness. 

And this is how Cook 'n Dine with Brig Feltus was born.  I wanted to share what I'm learning with people who would listen.  We're making it fun by visiting farmer's markets, watching films, cooking together, and then dining together. 

The first one was a great success, with a sold out attendance and raves afterward.  We went to a farmer's market, watched a film about farmers markets around the country, and then cooked a delicious Sunday Brunch style meal. 

This month, we'll be headed out early in the morning to a local organic farm that supplies fresh produce to high end restaurants and farmer's markets in Los Angeles county.   We'll be watching Food Inc.  and then cooking with the foods we bring back from the farm. 
If you are an Los Angeles local and any of this post inspires or moves you to make a change in your own life, please join us!  Let's learn together and spread this information to others that we love.  As corruption crumbles this obscene way of life all around us, just like in other living species, only the fittest will survive.  I don't intend to be among the feeble.  I intend to be among the strong, and  I'm starting with this small baby step and I hope you'll take it with me. 
Monthly sessions can be attended by signing up at brigfeltuscookndine@earthlink.net
You can also join our facebook group to stay in the loop regarding future events.
Co-Ed Cook 'n Dine with Brig Feltus group page on Facebook

March 5th Show at Dakota Lounge!!!

Me. Live.

It will be a while before I'm on stage again.  I've got a lot going on.  Here's one last show for the year and then I'll be focusing on the new!  So, if you're in Los Angeles this holiday season, don't miss this show!!!   I'll be performing most of your favorites from the Love and Light Volume One cd.  The band will feature actor/activist  Donn Swaby on guitar, P-funk All-Star drummer Karoly Kiss , bassist to the stars Les King, and extraordinary rock violinist Jennifer "Spags" Spingola.   I'm telling you, don't miss this show!!!

Honest Scrap Award

A reluctant THANK YOU to my dear Brooklyn friend Miss Moon for nominating me for this Honest Scrap award.  It's been a while since I won anything, so I'll go along, even though it's a TAG CHAIN and...  *sigh* well... let's just say, I am not a fan of tag chains.   But gracious I shall be because, like I said, it's been a while since I won anything.   :)  Thank you Geechee Girl!

So here's the deal, at the end of this is a list of names of folk I've nominated  If your name is there, follow these instructions, if not, well... you've been spared.  lol...

The rules to receiving this award are as follows:

1. Post the award on your blog.
2. Present this award to others whose blogs you find brilliant in content and/or design, or those who have encouraged you.
3. Tell those people they've been awarded HONEST SCRAP, inform them of these guidelines.
4. Share "Ten Honest things" about yourself.

 

 

 1.  I don't handle boredom or stagnance well.
2.  I collect refrigerator magnets. Can you get anymore retro than that?
3.  When I was a kid we had geese instead of dogs that would sound the alarm for intruders.
4.  When we are all in the same room, my guys shield themselves with their hands when they turn their back to me, in defense of their backsides.
5.   Some people bring up violent urges in me of the sort that I would never act upon.
6.  I'm a make-love-not-war kinda girl.  So number 5 is saying a lot "Some People".
7.  I have some things that no one else I know has and I'm willing to share.
8.  I prefer to work at night when the rest of the world is sleeping and the energies in the air are less cluttered.
9.   My biggest challenge these days is with being compassionate even when I am not receiving compassion. 
10.  I've got new music in me... *grins*
 

 

 

 Tag You're It! 

Black Nerds Network 

one-man museum 

Ultraviolet Underground 

Flight of the Phoenix

I Gave Up Disposable Dining

About a decade ago, I started to collect depression glass during my phase when I was a new mother, and building my "nest".  There's something about functional nostalgia that I am drawn to.  Perhaps it's because I can remember my grandmother at some point having some of these dishes and I long to connect with her grace and hospitality.  Maybe it's kinda strange for this rock n' roll mom to be so into this stuff, but I decided a long time ago to just be who I am.  Back then I was a huge Martha Stewart fan and Martha had a thing for green depression glass.  I started to look for it at flea markets and on ebay in the beginning of 2000, and have been collecting green, lemon yellow and gold depression glass ever since.  My auntie Anita had a collection as well.  She had some green glass, but mostly milk glass and ruby red.  These dishes are very heavy and fair quite well for parties.  I pull them out whenever we have a lot of people over and my everyday dishes just won't do.  You can bid on pieces individually on ebay anywhere from pennies to a couple of dollars per item.  Sometimes they are sold in sets, sometimes by serving set, and sometimes you'll find a replacement piece such as a lid or a saucer... I don't think I've spent in total more than a couple hundred dollars on my collection.  I have enough to use for parties where I entertain up to a hundred or more people.  You might ask yourself, why I would use these for parties.  As I've said, they are pretty durable, I've only had a couple of them broken over the years. More importantly, to me at least, is the fact that I don't want to use paper or styrofoam plates.   I try to avoid the use of disposable paper and styrofoam whenever I can.  It's unhealthy for our bodies and for our earth and it's definitely more expensive in the long term.   Even for everyday dining, we don't use paper napkins.  Instead I've invested in cloth napkins and collected enough of them over the years to use them for every meal and toss them in with the laundry at the end of the day, to be washed each week with our laundry.  It is, I admit a way of living that takes getting used to.  It means dishes to wash.  But even for parties with a hundred people, we can get away with about 3 loads in the dishwasher, and/or recruiting friends to help wash and dry at the end of the night.  It's not that big of a deal, seriously.  And people appreciate the elegance and sturdiness of real dishes.  I enjoy taking people back to a time when hostesses were more graceful, actually cooked, and made an effort to show their guests that they care enough invest some time in their comfort.  I don't have the patience to be particular about pattern or brand, so long as they are good quality and in the colors that I like, I collect them.  Some people will prefer a uniform set.  But for me mix and match is the way.  I should be said the other kind of collecting takes a lot more time, patience, and willingness to pay higher prices. Antique and vintage dealers know that if you're looking for a particular brand or pattern to match what you're collecting, you'll pay more.  So I just look for certain colors, pattern, and quality of craftsmanship.   It adds a bit of funkiness to an otherwise fancy spread, to use mix match dishes in lovely jewel tone colors.  Perhaps that is the rock n' roll in me that thinks funky belongs with fancy.  Each year I choose a dish type to focus on.  In the last few years I focused on pitchers.  So now I have 6 depression glass pitchers that get used quite a bit for holidays at our house.  I also collect old silver as well.  I keep it stored in vintage flatware chests I found at the flea market, and polish it up for use on holidays when family and friends come through. 

I keep my much vintage dishes in an old pie safe (see below right), the rest in high cabinets, and only take them out when we have company. 

Some of the favorite things in my collection of dinnerware and glassware is my set of hand-painted artist signed blue clayware dishes from Tonalo, Mexico.    I found the set in a flea market many years ago and paid about $80 for something like 100 pieces, including place service for eight (dinner plate, salad plate, tumbler, tea cup/saucer, cocoa mug, soup bowl, small bowl), soup tureen, salad bowl, platter, coffee server, and more.   This is not about pretentiousness.  It's more about grace.  Every time I take them out to serve guests people get this pleased look on their faces like they are getting the royal treatment. Even the guys are flattered. They have no idea I paid less for the entire set of Mexican dishes than I would have paid for the same amount of not-as-impressive dishes purchased in the local Target.  I wouldn't trade them for anything in  a high end department store either.  I mix and match this set with my green depression glass and, as you can see in this picture,  1950's and 60's ceramic pitchers. 

If you love to entertain, investing in vintage will pay for itself.  Over the years the money I've saved on disposable ware alone has more than paid for what I've collected, and who knows how many trees I've saved. 

Much Ado About Nothing

I've been doing real good with the "new posts daily" thing... I've only missed a few days in the month I've been blogging.  It hasn't been difficult to find something to share. When I've missed it's been because I couldn't spare the 3 hours it takes to write, edit, and post a blog article. 
Today was different.  I don't know what it was... Perhaps that I was a bit preoccupied with planning the projects we are going to do in my house for christmas giving. We give handmade items for the holidays instead of participating in all that shopping foolishness.    Perhaps I was preoccupied with the show I have coming up in a few weeks... one of only two shows I've done in the last year and a half.

I sat for about an hour trying to start a blog.  But everything I started bored me silly, so I know it would have bored you sillier!  So this is it.

NOt much to tell.

I'm doing a show on December 30th... Reflections at Zanzibar in Santa Monica, CA.   I will keep you posted as to what time I'm scheduled to go on.  It should be a good show.  There are two other fantastic artists lined up as well, so I hope to see all of you who are in L. A. out that night for a pre-new years eve warm up!   The band is excited.  We've got a phenomenal guest bassist sitting in for Dave Henning, and the rest of Chrysalis Child is fully intact!   Expect to see guitarist/actor Donn Swaby, P-Funk Allstars drummer Karoly Kiss, and Jennifer "Spags" Spingola on electric Viper violin, all rockin' out with me on stage.   I'm making my way back on my own terms now, and I hope you'll all be there to be a part of that new energy!

On December 13th, my good friend, jazz/soul artist  Nailah has a holiday concert and toy drive and probably a couple of other things going on.  Check her calendar for details here!  Any effort you make to get out to see this woman perform will be for sure justified.  She is a force of nature!

On December 17th, my good friend, the soul songstress Jimetta Rose will be celebrating the release of her debut album "The Barber's Daughter".  9 pm at Stereo Love at the Little Temple 4519 Santa Monica Blvd.

I'm sure there's more going on!  If you've got an event you want to share, post it here as a comment.

Alright.  It's now officially the next day and I've missed my "new posts daily deadline"...

But better late than never, right?

To sleep I go...

How To Make A Crudite!

I made this for the Pyrate's 1st birthday party... there were more grownups than children, obviously.

 I love the idea of food as art.  It brings great pleasure to the eye to have food presented in such a way.  In most situations you will find that I opt for the more rustic, more primitive presentations.   Over-grooming, does nothing for me.  There is much to be said for a beautifully done crudite'.   (the link will give you some creative ideas for displays) It's an art form with many shifting variables that you can mix and match to suit the theme, mood, and occasion of your party.

This fabulous three dimensional display of edible goodies is easy, easy, easy and makes an accessible spread for pre-dinner snacking for your guests at a party or holiday function.   Just grab up what's in season at your local farmers market.  You can make vegetable, fruit, or a combination of both.  Some items should be trimmed or peeled.  Others should be cut into finger size pieces such as the bellpeppers and broccoli in the photo.  Other items, such as cherry tomatoes, bananas, strawberries, mushrooms, and most fruits should be left whole. You should 3 minute blanch items such as asparagus, broccoli, sugar snap peas, and green beans, in rapidly boiling water so they are more tender to the bite.  Then fill gourds, cabbage, squashes with dips, vinaigrettes, mustards, etc.   Display as a centerpiece on your dining table, or as I did here, use an entire surface of a sideboard or buffet.  I used all kinds of hidden items to create height, depth, and dimension to this display.  For a smaller crudite you can start out with a platter and have the items spill over onto the surface of whatever space you will display it on, or you can make it a bit more conservative by keeping it more neat and displayed on platters.   Use fancy garnish techniques on some items to make your crudite more interesting.   Radishes, carrots, celery, can be manipulated to fan, curl, and other kooky but cool looking effects, when creatively cut and shocked in an ice bath.  Also some items can be placed there whole just for decoration.  You can use them later after the party for some sort of recipe, but they will simply serve to make your display more plentiful and extravagant. 

A large crudite such as mine in the picture is enough for a casual afternoon party, with perhaps the addition of a cheese board and some wine and juices.

Oh, yeah.

Did I mention this is a healthy alternative to chips, candies, and other typical party junk food?  If your veggies are farm fresh, and high quality, and your dips and sauces are flavorful, and your wine is tasty, your guests will not even miss that traditional casual party fare and they'll be amazed at this display that will remind them of master paintings in a museum.  

Saturday Salvation

I love the weekends.  During the week, the Pyrate's at school, the Austrian's at work, and I'm doing my thing and we don't really get to share much quality time til the weekend.  Fridays, the Austrian is usually itching to go out and free his brain from work concerns.  So he's usually calling us up in the late afternoon, trying to get a commitment to some sort of activity such as a movie... Usually it's a movie he wants to see.  But when he called yesterday, I'd just finished cooking dinner, and it was an improvised creation... and it was a real masterpiece (if I might say so myself...), so when he called I was in the middle of feverishly writing notes on what I'd done, so that I wouldn't forget anything.  I couldn't talk to the Austrian about what movie we would see.  In fact, I was really not looking forward to stepping away to go to a movie.  I was sure I'd forget some aspect of what needed to go into this new recipe that I'd just created off the cuff.   So I apologized and told the Austrian he'd have to see a movie without me or wait until today (Saturday).  He was very understanding.  (Love you Bubba)  He and the Pyrate left me alone to my writing and the two hung out at the book store for 3 hours.

As if that wasn't enough love, when they returned, they presented me with Jamie Oliver's new book Jamie's Food Revolution.  Of course, I had to sit up late into the night and go through the entire book.  It's fantastic.  I won't be plagiarizing any of the recipes here, but it is a good cookbook for beginners, or those who feel uncomfortable about improvising with ingredients.  To do so, you do have to develop a sensibility about foods, their compatibility with each other, and their distinct personalities.  It's like a complex sort of astrology.  This book simplifies things down to using a few ingredients and becoming familiar enough with those to be able to use them in a hundred different ways successfully.  It's a wonderful book.

I was up until late into the night working on fine-tuning that recipe and it's up on the blog now.   I really think you should try it.  I've never had anything like it... the combination of the persimmons, the chili, the avocado... so good and so different!   Anyway, that's done.  Today I'll be planning next week's projects.  I'm thinking of going asian all next week.  Japanese, Indian, Korean, Thai, Chinese.... lol.... okay, I probably won't get around to all of that, but we'll see.... I was turned on to something new this morning during my studies... a Korean paste called gojuchang.   I can't wait to experiment with that this week... mm mm mm...

Saturdays this will be a regular part of my routine, so that on Sunday when I go to the farmers market, I can decide what specifically can be done based on what is fresh and available from local farmers.   It's a good way to do things, even if you know what you want to cook, be flexible enough that you're not bamboozled into buying something out of season because you were hell-bent on strawberries and cream in the wintertime, for example.  (what it takes to get strawberries in the winter time... you don't even want to know...)

This is, for me an important part of my agenda here... the idea that life is better when you eat close to the source.  I look forward to shaking the beekeeper's hand tomorrow when I see him and purchase a jar of honey that was harvested from his bees.  He loves to talk about his bees too and when he does, I find myself imagining him in his little "bee suit" with the netted hood, and it makes me smile...

I get a kick out of the cheese lady handing me a wedge of cheese that came from a cow from her farm....sometimes she can even tell me the cow's name.

And then there's the international grocery stores.  We have a middle eastern one and a asian one close by.   The asian one is owned by Koreans but they have a wealth of japanese ingredients available as well.  The woman who owns the store recently sold me a gas burner that I can use on the table for Shabu Shabu...a meal that I fell in love with because of a favorite restaurant in Hollywood.  I'd been in the store complaining that I want Shabu Shabu, but it's sometimes not convenient to drive into town and spend $100 on dinner.   The woman, who barely speaks english,  only understood Shabu Shabu.  The next time I came to her store, would you believe she walked me over to the butcher section and showed me that they now carry meat specially cut for use in Shabu Shabu, the ingredients for the sauces, and a very necessary burner for the table?   I was so grateful... She won my loyalty with that move... So cool!  I love small businesses. 

There is something very emotionally rewarding about getting back to a more basic way of doing things. In our efforts to make life more "convenient" we have isolated ourselves from the truth about everything that effects us.  We remove every aspect of the inner working of life from our forward consciousness and... well... out of sight, out of mind right?   We literally put our lives into the hands of strangers we don't know every day, without even asking a single question... without even investigating whether or not they are worthy. 

We assume the government will make sure all is good.  We are completely unaware.  We don't become aware again until catastrophe happens, epidemics of ecoli, mad cow, salmonella, cancer, liver disease, obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, arterial disease, heart disease, and how many other horrors befall us because we don't want to have to know when, how, where and what things work.  We just consume and assume everything will all be fine.  But as we see now, things are not fine...and we are being drawn slowly back to reality because of it.  The truth always surfaces in the end. 

I feel like I'm preaching now, so I'll stop.  You get the idea.  We are comatose consumers.  In my house we are trying to change.  It's funny sometimes... the Pyrate and I will be in the grocery store and because he's been educated well about such things, he'll catch me... "Mom, what color is that?  Is that a natural color for bananas?"  or... "It might be cheaper, mom, but don't forget to see what they left out and artificially embellished to make it so cheap." 

I don't believe in any sort of fanaticism. (except when it comes to my music... be fanatical as you like about that... haha.)  I think we are best served when we use our intuition and our intellect in a balanced way.  So you won't see these things manifest in my living in extreme ways.  But at this point, if each person makes even small changes it will make a difference on a personal level and on a more universal level as well. 

So.  I'm off to go plan some loose ideas for recipes and arrange my other project for the coming week.  Then the evening with my beautiful men... Tomorrow I will post about my trip to farmer's market, and a list of recommendations for music, literature, and other artistic things... Have a fantastic weekend!!!