A small perfect thing for a small entry. I have a mid century salt-and-pepper shaker that my great-grandfather used while he was helping construct the Alaska pipeline. It is a cylinder about an inch and a half long with two separate chambers that screw together. One for salt and the other for pepper. I was given it years ago as a child when a salt-and-pepper shaker is about the most boring thing to you could imagine getting from a WW2 vet but now I keep it in my bag (another entry) and it brings me great joy and sodium.
Tag: Some Perfect Things
Some Perfect Things
Today’s perfect thing is Off Menu, a podcast hosted by comedians James Acaster and Ed Gamble. In the podcast the pair have a guest come on and explain their absolute perfect menu, all the way from the water (Sparkling or still) to the desert (James will go apoplectic on you if you say a cheese tray). There are several small hooks like a secret ingredient that will end the episode if mentioned and lots of in-jokes that have developed over the course of the show.
I actually started listening to the podcast at its very inception which is odd for me as I usually discover things that I will go on to love well after everyone else has moved on, but I was a major fan of Acaster’s special on Netflix and had binged all the random clips I could find on youtube so when he tweeted that he would be doing a new podcast with his friend I decided I would try it out. At the time I was not very into podcasts but was starting a new job that would see me driving all over the greater Portland metro area. The show is light hearted fun and the two hosts play off each other very well. Over the years they have had a wide array of guests, some who take the menu building seriously and others who push the framing story of the podcast (that Acaster is a genie that can get them any dish imaginable whether its from the past or even nonexistent) to its limit. Along the way they share great stories of the meals they’ve had and the memories that have gone along with them.
When the podcast started airing I did not really cook at all, I had just graduated college and was still very much in the “lets buy taco bell and chocolate milk” stage of my life and while I am no Balagog gro-Nolob (real ones know), I have begun to cook more and more over the years and the initial burst of that was thanks to the podcast.
There are times where it can be a little too much like having a conversation with your rich aunt, with lots of “Oh my god, you have to go to this Japanese-Colombian fusion restaurant in SoHo next time your in New York.” but that is largely dependent on the guests. Too me at least the appreciation that the podcast has given me for food outweighs any inadvertent snobbery that sometimes comes across.
Off Menu is also a great game to play while getting to know people and you hear some great stories when people start explaining why they would have oatmeal for an appetizer. Food is such a powerful force in our memories and this podcast makes me think back on some of the greatest life experiences I have enjoyed when I have to decide between having Chocolate lava cake from dominoes or my moms chocolate chip scones for my perfect meal.
Some Perfect Things
This is a new feature where I am just going to go through some of the books, movies, video games, bands and experiences that bring me joy. Hopefully this will give me an easy topic to write about on days where I am struggling and will give me an excuse to think about things that make me happy, which is rarely a bad thing, except of course when I am trying to do my impression of a melancholic early 20th century decadent dandy.
With that being said, my first favorite thing is a person. I was introduced to Frank Turner by my friends Sammy and Annie the summer after high school before I moved back to Oregon. The British singer-songwriter is too saccharine for some, but as I am an extremely corny man I love him. There were several times when as a lonely and depressed 19 year old driving across the St. John’s bridge at 1:00 am from my job at the grocery store that Frank Turner unironically saved me and yeah, thats silly but it’s also true.
I have not listened to Frank (is it ok if I call him Frank?) in several years. In general these days I listen to podcasts more then music and bizarrely have found myself gravitating towards YouTube fantasy ambient music when I do need some tunes (a post for another day). But recently a younger guy at work started singing some lyrics from one of Frank’s songs and we got to talking about him. I then discovered a stash of my old music which included Love Ire and Song (2009) and England Keep My Bones (2011). Today on my run I put all my old music on shuffle and grimaced whenever a non FT song came on. So now as I write this I am listening to one of the most important songs from my adolescence, a song that I listened to on those nights when I contemplated letting go of the wheel of my 2005 Mitsubishi Galant and plunging into the Willamette, Reasons Not to Be an Idiot. Silly? Saccharine? Sure but still here. Thanks, Frank.
Electric Absalom 