Author Archives: David

Boston Molasses Disaster

Today is the 90th anniversary of the Boston Molasses Disaster, in which a large molasses tank burst and a wave of molasses rushed through the streets of the North End at an estimated 35 mph, killing 21 and injuring 150. Remember, … Continue reading

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Pantry Purge

Mark Bittman’s Minimalist column last week was about getting rid of unused and unneccesary items in the fridge and pantry. Many of his suggestions (e.g. “OUT – imitation vanilla, OUT – canned vegetables, OUT – grated imitation ‘Parmesan’”) were easy … Continue reading

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Like Rock Band, only less fun

I had a classical station on the radio while I was driving Miles home from school today. The Mendelssohn Piano Concerto No. 1 in G Minor was playing and I was humming along with it. Miles asked “Dad, how do … Continue reading

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The return of when gadgets mate

As promised in an earlier post, I tried my hand at making some generative music with my small collection of musical gadgets. Here’s what I came up with: The result is more ambient/drone-like than the Japanese original, mostly due to … Continue reading

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Poulet en Cocotte, Modified

I’ve made this dish at least a dozen times since I first saw the recipe in Cook’s Illustrated a year ago. It’s a very simple, set-and-forget procedure: Lightly brown a whole chicken in a dutch oven with a little olive … Continue reading

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70,000

While adding new music to the iTunes library today, I noticed that I had broken the 70,000 song mark. It’s not Robert Klein’s “every record ever recorded,” but it’s a substantial amount of music. I’m waiting for the half-terabyte iPod … Continue reading

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New Tools

Di gave me a set of tools for Xmas. It wasn’t a collection of sockety things for repairing aperture flywheel gromises (with rotary gaskets), but something better – a matched set of kitchen knives. Knife sets, like sets of pots … Continue reading

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Char Siu Pork

I love char siu, Cantonese barbecued pork. Unfortunately, it’s not often prepared well, usually presented as sticky-sweet neon pink “boneless spare ribs.” So when I saw this recipe for making char siu at home, I had to give it a … Continue reading

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… and on keyboards …

I grew up outside of New York City, so it was inevitable that I would be dragged to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I resisted what I thought would be a day-long exercise on boredom, changing my opinion only when … Continue reading

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Love or confusion

I’m not one to pay a lot of attention to lyrics, especially for songs I only hear on the radio instead of in my music library. I was playing Rock Band, and selected “Lump” by The Presidents of the United … Continue reading

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