Lou Reed is Lou Reed. I heard this song for the first time on the weekend and I just can’t stop saying the words over. It is just a sweet little song and I guess why I love it is just how low key the instruments are, letting the focus be on Lou, his voice and the song lyrics.
Just a perfect day,
Drink Sangria in the park,
And then later, when it gets dark,
We go home.
Just a perfect day,
Feed animals in the zoo
Then later, a movie, too,
And then home.
Oh it’s such a perfect day,
I’m glad I spent it with you.
Oh such a perfect day,
You just keep me hanging on,
You just keep me hanging on.
Just a perfect day,
Problems all left alone,
Weekenders on our own.
It’s such fun.
Just a perfect day,
You made me forget myself.
I thought I was someone else,
Someone good.
Oh it’s such a perfect day,
I’m glad I spent it with you.
Oh such a perfect day,
You just keep me hanging on,
You just keep me hanging on.
You’re going to reap just what you sow,
You’re going to reap just what you sow,
You’re going to reap just what you sow,
You’re going to reap just what you sow…
A couple of Saturdays ago Andrea and I visited the West End Green Markets and then Reverse Garbage. The weekend after that Mum and I did the same thing 🙂
One of the stalls at the markets is a fish shop filled with polystyrene boxes of ice and seafood. I had eyed the local squid off the week before when I went with Andrea. When I went the following week with Mum she had brought an esky along in the the boot of the car, perfect for carting home seafood. I picked a nice looking squid mantle, and proceeded to pay for it at $8/kg, the mantle cost me a whopping $2.50. A bargain price for protein that would give me two meals.
The process of cleaning the squid was an experience but fun. I had watched squid being cleaned before but never tried it myself. It didn’t look that hard and it wasn’t just messy. I had a meal dancing in my mind though so it was worth it.
Squid, Basil & Chilli Stir fry
Ingredients
Cleaned squid
Onion
Garlic
Capsicum
Nam Prik Pao/Chilli Jam/Chilli Paste in Oil
Kecap Manis
Light Soy Sauce – I used Tamari
bit of water
Asian greens
noodles or rice to serve
Clean the squid and make cuts at a 45° across the squid on both diagonals, taking care not to cut all the way through the squid. Then cut the squid into diamond shapes.
Heat a little oil in a wok and fry the onion, capsicum and garlic for a few minutes. Add a spoon of the chilli jam and a dollop of the kecap manis and the light soy sauce and stir through. Add the squid pieces and give a quick stir. Pour in a little water and place the Asian greens on top and give a quick steam. Toss through a handful of fresh basil leaves and serve on noodles or rice.
For the last few weeks I have made a trip each Saturday morning to the West End Markets and oh how I loved them more than any of the other markets I have been to in Brisbane. A lot cheaper than the Jan Power markets and more general fruit and vege stalls as opposed to speciality olive and dip stalls, a whole lot more stalls than the Nundah markets. Just the perfect mix of everything.
I can get bananas from a banana grower at Crabbes Creek, near where Grandad grew up. I can get apples and pears from this lovely old Italian (?) man from Stanthorpe. Heritage tomatoes from this lovely lady. Fresh local squid from the polystyrene box fish shop. Turkish bread that is at least a meter long from the Highgate Hill bakery and everything else I need for the week.
The other week Mum came with me and I took these photos of her sitting on the soccer field eating some American cherries after our shared Hungarian spinach thing which we had for breakfast.
I probably won’t be going the next two weeks as I have weddings on both Saturdays but generally this is where you will find me on a Saturday morning.
It is Thursday night, about 71 hours since The Breeders walked onto the stage at The Zoo. I am laying on the floor of my bedroom with my laptop (oh yes, I got a laptop a month or so ago, it is pink, I love it) in my Breeders shirt, listening to Mountain Battles and loving it more and more. In those 71 hours all I have listened to is Breeders, The Amps and an itsy witsby bit of Kelley Deal 6000 and I could not love the sisters Deal more.
Charlyn likes to remind me round the net that I was super excited and well I must admit she is telling the truth. Man the grin I had on my face was a grin that has never appeared on my face at a concert before and probably never will, well the only time I think it will reappear will be if I ever get to see The Breeders live again and let me be honest and truthful I am by no means counting my eggs for that on the flip-side, I had a thought at the gig on Monday night that I could so see those girls pushing 70 and still singing their songs on the stage. I will have to wait and see I guess but those few hours will be a night I will cherish for the rest of my life.
I still find it so hard to believe that man oh man I saw the Breeders. I will be sitting at my desk at work or walking to the train station and I find myself smiling at the thought of how magical Monday night was.
Gaslight Radio were the supports and to be honest I didn’t really think much of them. They had one or two alright songs in their set but that was about it. The lead singer had quite good stage presence but it was really let down by some of the other band members. One of the guys spent the entire set with his back to the audience playing his guitar??? what the?????
My favourite photo I took during their set was not of them but of a piece of A4 paper I saw on top of an amp.
mmmm yeah! The set list. I close to fainted when I saw that Safari was on there. Still that didn’t stop me from yelling out for them to play it during the set and then Kim said something back to me and they they played it and well Helen went into a state of euphoria. The deviated from the set list a bit I think with the addition of one or two impromptu songs that I can’t recall. Looking at the order of the songs in the photo above and the set list from the show in Boston it seems that the set list for the shows on this world tour are pretty much the same.
01. Tipp City
02. Huffer
03. Bang On
04. Shocker In Gloomtown (GBV)
05. Divine Hammer
06. Night of Joy
07. No Aloha
08. Pacer
09. We’re Gonna Rise
10. It’s The Love (Tasties)
11. Mercury
12. New Year
13. Cannonball
14. I Just Wanna Get Along
15. Happiness Is A Warm Gun (Beatles)
16. Iris
17. Safari
18. Saints
19. German Studies
20. Empty Glasses
21. Overglazed
22. Fortunately Gone
23. Here No More
24. Drivin’ on 9
25. Full On Idle
I would have really really really liked to have heard and Flipside and Hag and When I Was a Painter and Son of Three and well the 100 other or so songs in their discography. Though I am really kicking myself for not yelling out for the Buffy theme as that would have been so fricking cool.
I don’t know where to start about the Breeders set. It was just magical. The sold out crowd was a real mix of ages; people my age, people a bit younger and plenty of people who are more Karl’s age. As there were so many people like me who had been waiting years and years to see them, the atmosphere in the crowd as they started to play the songs and banter was just incredible, Kim and Kelley interacted with the crowd a lot and seemed incredibly at ease on stage.
Tonight, was a night I have waited a many number of years for, by my count, I have waited almost fifteen years for this night. Tonight, The Breeders played The Zoo and oh my jeans what a great night it was.
When the first came on stage I started to weep, when they played Safari I just about died, actually if Tanya Donelly had walked out on stage I probably would have. At the end of the night I had the biggest smile on my face.
What was fantastic though was that they were all just so excited to be there. They chatted to the audience, they showed that fine sisterly affection to each other and constantly made each other and all of us laugh. At the end Kelley walked back on stage with a paperback and gave it to a lady standing beside me as she reminded Kelley of an old room mate and it was taking up space in her bag! how cool was that?
I just dude, The Breeders were just there and I was there and man oh man I saw The Breeders!!!! To say slightly overjoyed would be an understatement. I have looked forward to this night for soo many years now and I was so afraid that they would not meet the expectation I had built in my head but I am so so so so happy to say they exceeded all my expectations.
