Diner Review: Mi Ranchito

Sooooo.... As I have previously stated there are a great number of Mexican places that have opened in the last few years. Lots of good tacos and burritos and carnitas and asada and what not. Great tacos served on corn tortillas with a little cilantro and some lime. When the tortillas are warm and the carnitas is good it is more than a little bit of heaven. They have sprung up all over place. It is a treasure. I keep my eyes peeled and when a place pops up I like to check it out and the more off the beaten path, the better. Last year I touted El Ranchito in Fairmont City and it should not be confused with this impostor called Ml Ranchito.

So this place has been getting good reviews and there has been a lot of talk. It is on Kingsland just north of Olive and about 5 blocks south of Delmar. It is in the end of a crappy little strip mall and when I went on a recent day for lunch it was easy to get a table at 11:45 and it was a waiting line by noon. People seem to love the place and I had a table by the door and people just kept rolling in. it is hugely popular as a lunch destination right now.

The chips and salsa were reasonably good. Nothing too special. The sauce was read and clumpy with onions but not too hot. 4 kinds of hot sauce on the table to spice it up. Chips were clearly not the standard store bought chips and they crunched in a way that was not displeasing.

The menu was a disappointment looking to me like a slightly more authentic Casa Gallardo. Your meat choices for the tacos were “chicken” or “beef” rather than all the different delicacies that I have grown accustomed to. There was no beef tongue. There was no goat. There was no “asada”. I mean there has to be 4 different kinds of pork at El Ranchito in Pontoon Beach. But still, there were a ton of people there and quite a few cops (they know where to eat) and so it was with great anticipation that I ordered the carnitas plate.

While I would not classify it as a disappointment, the meat itself was great, the rest of the plate was uninspiring yellow rice and some lettuce with tomato pieces in it. I had to ask for some lime wedges. Then I unrolled the aluminum foil I was doubly disappointed to see flour tortillas. How does that happen? I know I am no expert about Mexican food, or tacos, or the law, or marriage or...well obviously anything... but FLOUR tortillas? Really? Still as I said, the meat was good and and it was acceptable but I want JOY from my food.

The iced tea was brewed. The bill was not too expensive but I just cannot recommend the place. It has no personality, an uninteresting location and a quality of food only slightly higher than chain Mexican restaurants. And flour tortillas? Blech! 6 Slingers on the ten scale.

here is their web site but it is down or at least was today. That says about all you need to know.

http://www.mi-ranchitostl.com/

Diner Review: The Crossroads, Mt. Olive Illinois

Soooooo... your diner has been busy in his unceasing efforts to bring you news and reviews of unimportant, bland and trite in the diner and lunch world. Recently it was my lovely daughters 19th birthday. My wife explained to me that other than once when she was stranded in Florida that we had never missed being together with our kids on one of their birthdays. this seemed unlikely to me but as in so many things, I have no memory and fighting with my wife is similar to the bug fighting with the windshield. In any event I left St. Louis at 1:00, drove to Carlinville where my wife was auditing a bank and drove straight to Valparaiso for dinner with my daughter, turned around and drove back to Carlinville. Lets call it a 600 mile round trip for dinner with my lovely daughter... it was probably a little longer and we ended up back in Carlinville at 1:00 A.M. Friday morning.

1. The Magneson Grand Hotel is in Carlinville. i do not know if it is an old Holdiay Inn, and Old Ramada or an old Best Western. At 1:00 A.M. it was creepy. lets put it on the “avoid” list.
2. There are a spate of diners along 55 north of St. Louis but I never get to eat at them because I am n ever passing by them at breakfast time and if so it is on my way to court in some God forsaken Illinois hamlet and there is no time. I have hit the Country Air Diner, and the Ariston in Litchfield, before but other than that they have been woefully unrepresented in these pages.
3. On this morning I got up at 6:30, 60 miles out of town and did not have to be in a meeting till 9 back in the office so it lent itself to a little...meander.

The Crossroads Diner is on the outskirts of the buzzing metropolis of Mt. Olive. It is an easy on easy off from the highway sitting on the east side of 55. It has a big gravel parking lot and truckers are welcome. I tried to get a newspaper outside of it but was disappointed and later delighted to see that the only daily offered was the Herald. It proved to be excellent company for breakfast and i was able to read about all manner of deaths, DUI’s and public drunkenness, as well as the usual deliberations of local governance in the several municipalities and counties surrounding it. It really is a great little paper. No national news. That is OK.

I walked in after being amazed by the crowded parking lot and was pleaed to see a group of about 12 men, the youngest of which might have been 60. They were speaking loudly and at first i was annoyed and then i realized several of them probably couldn’t hear. They covered the weather, the state of several of their penises, politics (local and national), the weather, women, the waitress and her alleged boyfriend etc...It was a good show and a heartening piece of Americana which makes the Diner Review a worthwhile endeavor for yours truly. I wonder if I will have such a group, have such a place or even give a shit by the time I have time to have breakfast with a group like this.

They were at tables so I sat at the counter and what a counter it it. A double horseshoe of stools along a formica bar at just the right (low) height. Beautiful. The griddle was not in site and everything was cooked and passed through a window but still it had a good feel to it. I tend, as discussed to generally order the same things. Hash Browns, biscuits and gravy and sausage. The iced tea was brewed and fresh. The counter was clean and the waitress was pure...waitress. She put up with the bullshit from the old men and talked pork sausage with the cook. They agreed that the sausage here was not much but the sausage at the upcoming whole hog sausage festival at a local church was “to die for”. This was slightly disconcerting since I savor good sausage and it is so hard to find. The hash browns, shredded and crisp were perfect. The biscuits were of the proper fluffiness/soppiness ratio and the gravy was good if unremarkable. The sausage, as advertised.... not much. I saw the eggs at the old man table and they looked cooked to order. No one had the pancakes or any of the other specialty items on the menu and I get the feeling you want to stick to basics though if ever back around lunch I will hit the pork tenderloin.


The Crossroads is absolutely not a place you go for the food. It was serviceable yet unspectacular. You go for the experience because it will likely not always be there. If you head up 55 it is at the venerable Mt. Olive/Benld (buy a vowel) exit and although I did not have time I will, one day stop and visit the “Mother Jones Monument”.

The Crossroads Website: http://www.mtolivecrossroads.com/index.html

To learn more about Mother Jones Monument: http://www.roadtripamerica.com/places/mtolive.htm

Conundrum

Soooo... there is a little bit of fun with Newt winning South Carolina. Like coming home tonight and watching FOX news and seeing them hem and haw... They cannot embrace Newt but he is clearly what their base, at least in South Carolina are embracing. They reap what they so as they have encouraged distrust and fear and racism and now that Newt (who ain’t stupid) has embraced those themes, the FOX news world is marching...indeed dancing to his tune. The bigwigs at FOX, now the mainest of mainstream media had assumed that they could undermine Romney, question his loyalty to “conservative values” and then hold their nose as he want on to beat Satan...er...I mean Barack Obama. Now Newt trounced Mitt. Now the game is on but they do not know how it will end or even really who they want. I mean, Mitt is a pretender who will be whomever he needs to be buty he is certainly “electable”, “Presidential” and a “businessman”. Newt made friends with Bill Clinton. Newt made a deal on welfare reform. Newt was forced to resign as leader of the house in scandal. Newt is on his 3rd wife (though family values people are bravely embracing his “repentance”.

Even Glenn Beck does not like Newt. What a nightmare for them all. The establishment does not love Romney. But Newt, they hate Newt. They started to hate Newt 30 years ago. He did it the old fashioned way. He earned it. he alienated EVERYONE! And the Tea Party, what has become the biting, vicious unhappy backbone of the party, which has had their anger and fear coddled by the establishment of the party to unleash at will hates Romney! He is a weak, intellectual, Harvard rich boy who has never been in a real fight. They can’t stand him. When Newt said that he did not want to bloody Obama’s nose but to knock him out... he had them at “knock”. Both sides are wondering how they are going to justify staying in the party and rallying behind a candidate which they cannot stand.


I Miss This Guy!
So tonight I am watching the four Republican candidates and Paul and Santorum look like reasonable guys, regular guys and Gingrich and Romney spent the first 15 minutes bitch slapping each other like teen age girls. When have we seen petulance at this level. The moderators from “The Mainstream Media” seem to be guiding them back to attacking Obama and talking about our countries issues. What a sad display. Now Romney is talking about what the release of his taxes will be tomorrow. They all agree that the best recipe for jobs is that no one be forced to pay any taxes, ever...EVER! All taxes are bad. All government is bad... even though we are running to elected to run government...we will hate ourselves when we do it. Now Romney is making his “I am not going to apologize for success” speech. He is a self made man.

When I look at him he looks like a very successful man who started from a millionaires perch with the best education money could by and a name that certainly did not slam any doors. Santorum... as long as he does not talk about his trademark social issues like the light of reason and measured thought. Now Newt is talking about his contract with Freddy Mac. I read the contract. It does not say anything about what he is supposed to do. That is what stinks about it. That and the fact that he said he performed services as a historian.

I EVEN MISS THIS GUY!
Perhaps the Republicans need to reset the clock and reset the clock and look around. And Romney and Gingrich are once again slapping each other like little petulant girls. They lecture and hector each other. They shoot horses, don’t they? The 4 Horseman of the Apocrypha? Ok...it is 9:03 and I put in my hour watching these guys debate. I think I am done for this election.

Ft. Sumter: The Rise of the "GingFish"

BLOVIATOR IN CHIEF?


Soooooo....Newt. I wanted this because I thought it would be more interesting. It is indeed more interesting. Seeing Newt declare victory with the frightening...and there is no other word but frightening for her... blowing up a new populism from the right was really frightening. I was excited for Newt to win and to shake things up but this guy is an extremely articulate, quick thinking demagogue of the Huey P. Long genre. I love to read about Huey Long, because he is dead and he never got further than Louisiana. The question a guy like Gingrich poses is whether our whole country has essentially devolved into Louisiana 1932. The “GingFish”.

Everybody gather 'round
Loosen up your suspenders
Hunker down on the ground
I'm a cracker
And you are too
But don't I take good care of you
-Randy Newman “The Kingfish”

What is so mind numbing about this is that he is NOT a man of the people. He is a man who stands for himself and his vision of the hour. He changes his vision quicker than he changes wives and I do have to bash his wife once again. I have never heard her speak. To the best of my knowledge she cannot speak. I have read a little about her. She went to Luther College in Decorah Iowa and was a music major and is evidently a very talented musician and a committed Catholic. I admire all those things... but she appears to be a plastic, broken person with creepy, crazy eyes. She scares me like clowns scare me and that is the meanest thing I can say. Now I will leave her.

But I digress. Romney might be too much of a cold fish to be electable. He does not seem to be a street fighter and the Republicans howled again loudly that he is not their guy. After a proper counting in Iowa, he lost. He got killed in South Carolina. Perhaps he will rally back but he clearly is a wide open target for average Joe, Joe the plumber type attacks and whether it is Gingrich or OBama those attacks will come.

Why do we let three little states, all diverse but tiny to have such a loud, almost deafening voice in this process. These states carry population ranks of 30, 42 and 34 respectively. No one is even in the top ½. I had no idea that Iowa was full of evangelicals. That is because it is not. The Republican base in Iowa is full of evangelical conservatives. New Hampshire... do they have Republicans? South Carolina...seriously? South Carolina? Why should they have any voice in anything other than their key historical move of firing the first shot in the civil war. That worked out well, didn’t it? That what last nights primary was, Fort Sumter. It is a battle for the Republican party and it is the evil, final consequence of Nixon’s “southern strategy” to bring the social conservatives into the party...and now they are saying, “IT IS OUR PARTY!” It will be interesting to see if they are right.

Who took on the Standard Oil men
And whipped their ass
Just like he promised he'd do?
Ain't no Standard Oil men gonna run this state
Gonna be run by little folks like me and you

Watching FOX on a Sunday morning the said that Newt won a huge percentage of South Carolina voters who make less than 50k a year. What is a person who makes less than 50k a year doing voting Republican? How does that happen?

Kingfish, Kingfish
Friend of the working man
Kingfish, Kingfish
The Kingfish gonna save this land

The big question that my former party needs to ask itself is how were they left with these choices. I even think that Gingrich, Paul and Romney might be the best of the original pack but what a sad sack collection of people to send forward in the most eminently winnable election for them in years. I think they are going to have to find another person (and it is not Sara Palin) to carry their flag. There would be tremendous momentum for a Chris Christie or Jeb Busch or even that idiot from Indiana Mitch Daniels. They need fresh blood and it might be nice if they did not chum so much blood in the water. The electorate is taking notes, and they are not impressed. Gingrich is not a populist. He is not our friend. The Republican base is the party of the angry white man. Angry people make bad decisions and we just saw the Republicans in South Carolina make a very stupid mistake.

Diner Review: The Hearth Room

Soooo.... In my exhausting, never ending march to cover EVERY breakfast place in St. Louis I am constantly roving the city, eyes peeled in strip malls, shopping centers, basements filled with the undead as I cruise through some time desolate streets at all hours of the day or night, occasionally I come upon something new or at least new to me. Such was the case last week when I ventured out to west county to visit my parents. West County as you all know is a bastion of people who have all centered their lives around “getting a lot more house for their money” and betting that the public schools are better out there. If nothing else I believe they better quality drugs. But I digress. the point is that west county is a soul less bastion of shopping, and national chain food. I know Kirkwood and indeed parts of the City were once pasture but ALL of west county is paved over farmland and the way we have done it for the last 30 years...depresses me. Wow, I digressed again.

The Hearth Room Cafe is in the “Lamp n Lantern Plaza”. The name was quaint when it first was built in the 70s. It was on the corner of Woodsmill and Clayton and sat a little awkwardly behind a building with a 7-11 (now a Pasta House) and a car wash and a bank. There once was a supermarket there, a Kroger I think. When my parents had a spot of financial trouble we moved to Village Green Apartments which are just west of the center and I would tromp through it frequently on my way to buy comic books and 32 oz bottles of Sprite and Nacho cheese Doritos. Good days. My parents moved several times since then but now live in Chesterfield and so I was driving by the shopping center when I saw a sign over the steps of tiered Lamp n Lantern for “The Hearth Room”. I drove around the center and could not find it because you cannot park in front of it. Instead it lies in a “charming” court of shops, 30 yards from any parking. What a great idea. That morning I had already eaten so I did not make the trek.

Still, I vowed to come back and I did so this morning, braving the cold in order to walk the long way from a parking space to the “cafe”. As I walked in I saw a small darkened room of tables on the right. To the left there was a a large, charmless, kind of formal and dimly lit room. Their was indeed a large hearth and hearty gas fired blaze was going, throwing off no heat and even less light on a room that lacked any charm. I stood there for a minute till a waitress finally came out of the kitchen and advised I could “sit anywhere I want”. There were perhaps a dozen people eating there which I found encouraging but the average age was about 65 and at least two patrons had walkers parked around their tables. Still, old people know their breakfasts and I am never one to snub food that is easily chewed.

The menu was unremarkable and seemed to feature omlettes and pancakes and breakfast sandwiches. The waitress was pleasant and attentive. The iced tea....BREWED! And it was good tea, fresh in a place where clearly I was the only one drinking it. I ordered my standard meal of ½ order of biscuits and gravy, side of sausage and...(gasp) the dreaded “breakfast potato”. Frequent readers (all three of you) seem sometimes amused and almost always saddened by my obsession with the humble potato but nothing sends shivers down my spine like the menu item called the “breakfast potato”. WTF is a “breakfast potato”? Is it a particular cut of a potato? I guess I should be grateful because they are giving me a heads up that they do not have real “hash browns” which as we have discussed should always be shredded and skillet fried to perfection. But your reviewer bravely ordered them anyway and considered the venerable St. Louis Post Dispatch and read about Newt Gingich’s bold attempt at an open marriage with his current (totally uncreepy, not crazy eyed or plastic haired) wife Calista and his former wife...after she was diagnosed with MS, who of course replaced the first wife (diagnosed with cancer). What a hoot. Also, Romney appears to not have his tax returns ready for release. I did look around at the Hearth Room patrons, several of whom were speaking loudly to their hearing impaired companions. There was classical music playing and despite my enjoyment of the iced tea and my paper I was annoyed by the decor, the pretensions and I think just by breakfasting in west county.

My meal was pleasantly surprising. the gravy was a little thin but full of sausage pieces although it was topped with some green seasoning which might or might not have been parsley and while suitable for dinner, was inappropriate for breakfast food, especially biscuits and gravy. Similarly on my plate was an orange twist as garnish. Garnish is wrong at breakfast. there...I said it. It is (and if this gets too technical for you I apologize but I am of course a professional need to use the proper vernacular) stupid. The sausage was really good though. properly cooked. A little savory, no spice. I like big flat patties that are more like thin hamburgers. The potatoes were a disappointment but were very edible. the biscuits similarly were appropriately baked and added nice texture with the gravy and when i mixed it all up together it was more than adequate. I think it cost $9.00 with the tip.

Bottom line. Nothing special. Take your mom there, or your dad. Nothing homey, nothing charming and food did not wow. Ambiance sucked and you have to walk a long way from your car. I predict they are out of business by summer (the location is just a bad idea, especially for old people who need to walk in their walkers) and so if you want to give it a try i would get out there now.

6 ½ Slingers On The Ten Scale

New Years Revolution! Resolution... or something

Life...its bigger. Bigger than you and you are not me. Which is a break for you. So I never blog anymore. I am too busy. FEEL SAD FOR ME! My life is too full with work and family and work and friends and work and church and work and traveling and work and reading and work and work. But it is a good time to have work. A good time to have a vocation. Occasionally I post in my Facebook Status Update my favorite work song ever...EVER which is by the great Tom Waits. I am sure I have posted it before in this space:

“You gotta get behind the mule,
In the morning and plow”

It just has some classic lines that just resonate...every time:

“Well the rampaging sons of the widow James
Jack the cutter and the pock marked kid
Had to stand naked at the bottom
Of the cross
And tell the good lord what they did
Tell the good lord what they did.”

Because sooner or later, since we self identify as the most Christian nation on earth, most of us should anticipate having to do just that. What am I going to say? I scrambled for a buck? I... provided for my family? I educated my kids? I drove an excellent car? I lived in a bitching house? I really don’t believe judgment day will be like that. I really don’t believe that I will be judged because that is not what I have been taught. I have been taught that I need to believe, and try and live my life like I believe. Right now in 2012 that means living my life in some kind of grateful way for the fact that someone died for my sins. But living your life like that, might not look any different to anyone watching. Weird.

So what does it feel like to go to work every day. Are you filled with purpose? I know I am more like Tom Waits:

“I'm diggin all the way to China
With a silver spoon
While the hangman fumbles with the noose, boys
The hangman fumbles with the noose.”

Well that might be a little dark. It seems pretty clear to me that what I am expected to do to make a living really stopped working for me a few years ago. So I keep trying to change it. And I keep failing but life has gotten a little more interesting. If your lucky (and even though I bitch like there is no tomorrow I am the luckiest guy in the world) and you keep your eyes open there are some chances that are laid out there (I like to think that God lays em out) to do a couple of good things. Of course I am still a lawyer. I am paid to be a prick but even with that....Waits leaves us with a little hope at the end.

“Pin your ear to the wisdom post
Pin your eye to the line
Never let the weeds get higher
Than the garden
Always keep a sapphire in your mind
Always keep a diamond in your mind.”

I think Jesus said something like that. I don’t think Paul did. He could be kind of a judgy guy. Hold it... I take it back. Paul did have a sapphire and diamond in your mind type line. A little thing we call Phillippians 4-8: 8

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

Seems like good advice and hard to remember when you are yelling at someone on the phone are arguing at court. A greater sense of gratefulness for 2012. I know I will not do it all the time but lets make it a goal for me for 2012.

Romney: The Great Pretender, With Apologies To Jackson Browne

ROMNEY
The Pretender












I'm going to rent myself a house
In the shade of the freeway (Pan onto or flash pictures of one of his 3-4 massive houses)
I'm going to pack my lunch in the morning
And go to work each day (now shots of champaign caviar and lobster...and a lunch box)
And when the evening rolls around
I'll go on home and lay my body down (Bedroom of a Ritz Carlton or Fairmount Hotel)
And when the morning light comes streaming in
I'll get up and do it again (Romney coming out on stage)
Amen
Say it again (Romney among a crowd shaking hands)
Amen

I want to know what became of the changes
We waited for love to bring (Pictures of he and wife and family)
Were they only the fitful dreams
Of some greater awakening (Headlines of Kennedy Beats Romney for Senate)
I've been aware of the time going by
They say in the end it's the wink of an eye (Headline of Romney Winning Governor of Massachussets)
And when the morning light comes streaming in
You'll get up and do it again (Headline “Romney announces run for President 2008)
Amen

Caught between the longing for love (Romney Signs Universal healthcare In Massachusetts)
And the struggle for the legal tender (Picture of Bain Capital Logo)
Where the sirens sing and the church bells ring (Picture of Sara Palin)
And the junk man pounds his fender (Picture of Newt Gingrich)
Where the veterans dream of the fight
Fast asleep at the traffic light (Picture of John Mc Cain)
And the children solemnly wait
For the ice cream vendor (Picture of rabid college kids standing in front of Ron Paule)
Out into the cool of the evening
Strolls the pretender (Romney Again if front of Crowd)
He knows that all his hopes and dreams Flash on state maps of Iowa, Connecticutt and South carolina)
Begin and end there (Florida)

Ah the laughter of the lovers
As they run through the night (Bachman and her husband)
Leaving nothing for the others
But to choose off and fight (Rick Perry)
And tear at the world with all their might
While the ships bearing their dreams
Sail out of sight (Herman Cain)

I'm going to find myself a girl
Who can show me what laughter means (Anne Coulter)
And we'll fill in the missing colors (picture of a pink slip)
In each other's paint-by-number dreams (Big Fox Logo)
And then we'll put out dark glasses on (Romney in Sunglasses)
And we'll make love until our strength is gone (Pictures of $$$$ signs)
And when the morning light comes streaming in
We'll get up and do it again ($$$$$$$$$$)
Get it up again (Bain Capital Logo)

I'm going to be a happy idiot (Corporations Are People)
And struggle for the legal tender (Bain Logo)
Where the ads take aim and lay their claim (SUPER PAC)
To the heart and the soul of the spender (Karl Rove)
And believe in whatever may lie
In those things that money can buy (President of the US LOGO)
Thought true love could have been a contender (Olympics Rings)
Are you there?
Say a prayer? (Santorum)
For The Pretender (Romney)
Who started out so young and strong (Young Romney)
Only To Surrender (Fade to black)

2011 Music Review... a little late

It has been a long time since I did a top ten list. maybe a year. maybe two. It was a good year for music. it was a good year. I listened to more music which was a goal.The challenge continues to be the same. Where in a world where there is so much music available all the time, for free and to pay, how do you find the good stuff? Who are the trusted sources? I still don’t know. So here we go.

1. Decembrists: The King Is Dead, OK, I like everything about this CD. I might be biased because I got to see the show twice. The album is so much lighter and so much easier and breezier than any of Meloy’s EPIC CD/Album/Song Cycle (pretentious bullshit) that it sings and it flies. It is right up my alley with an alt country flair and having no good hacks like Gillian Welch and Peter Buck makes it that much worse. When I think of 2011 it will be of this CD. If you have not bought it, get off your ass and get it done. No excuses.
Don’t Carry It All
Calamity Song
Rise To Me
Rox in the Box
January Hymn
Down by the Water
All Arise!
June Hymn
This is Why We Fight
Dear Avery


2. Dawes: Nothing Is Wrong, This was probably the easiest and perhaps saddest discovery of the year. I read about this band on Bob Lefsetz blog, email letter, Lefsetz.com and he was extolling the hard work of these guys. I tuned in and it sounded a lot like Jackson Browne and Browne in an effort to revitalize himself did some gigs with them. Download “A little Bit of Everything” and “If I wanted Someone.” If you like those two go for the whole thing. It is well produced and he writes good songs. Maybe a little over wrought. What is wrong with that? I think Jackson Browne sings some back uop and I would swear that David Lindley plays some of that beautiful slide guitar. As your attorney... I would recommend it.

3. Mountain Goats All Eternals Deck, I do not think John Darnelle can do anything bad at this point in his career. He is prolific, opinionated and brilliant. God is great, all the time. Darnielle is great pretty much all of the time. There is a mournful desperation to all his songs, a concentration of angst which sounds in each song like he is cathartically loosing it from his psyche. Try three songs, “Damn Those Vampires”, “Age of Kings” and my favorite...”For Charles Bronson”.

“Set your sights on good fortune
Concentrate
Pull back the hammer
Try to hold the gun straight”

Indeed.

4. Bottle Rockets: Not So Loud, This is Brian Henneman and the boys unpluggin and playin the hits. I am a fan. I heard them too many times this year but Henneman can write a song and can play. He puts on a show and he makes it bend and shake. If your not already a fan buy this, put it on and you will be. And go to his shows each year in the Lou on Christmas night. Good for the soul.

5. Rural Alberta Advantage: The Departing, OK, this is one of my favorite known, unknown bands. There last CD had several rocking songs. They sound is like a fun Billy Corgan who really embraces the beat and the lyrics with no pretension. The departing is just an excellent CD with no weak spots at all. It rocks. It rolls. it sighs, it cries. This could be the best of the year if for no other reason than that it sounds like no one else. If you want to check them out they have a My SPace page which is really kind of cute. last time I went to my My Space page there was a homeless man living there. http://www.myspace.com/theraa

6. Steve Earle: I’ll Never Get Out Of This World Alive, Earle turns out a CD that is not quite as haunbting as the Hank Williams song he named it after. A couple of songs with his girlfriend/wife Allison Moorer and production but the inimitable T-Bone Burnette. If you pick up the deluxe edition on iTunes it has the title song and a video of the albums making. Earle is a true artist who struggles and thrashes with his art in a way that remains interesting and has established some longevity that forces respect.

7. Bright Eyes: The People’s Key, Connor Oberst is long past being a child prodigy or even an edgy artist from Omaha. he is a pretty consistent producer of quality indie pop. The question is not whether he can still make good music but whether he still has anything to say. This album with his long time side man Mike Mogis would seem to say yes. Downlaod “Jejune” and “Triple Spiral” and see where the rest takes you. Your not in Omaha any more.

8. Blind Pilot: We Are The Tide, I was so in love with these guys after their first album that there was really not much room for them to do anything but disappoint. In 2008 it was really just a two man band with a lot of people helping out but on tour and on this album it is a full blown sextet. The sound is fuller and is sweetly swings. it has been described more than once as a “bookend album” and although there is much to be said for what it in between download the tunes “Half moon” and “New York” and thank me later.

9. Hayes Carll: KMAG/YOYO, You know if you don’t like Hayes Carll...I don’t like you. No one rocks the genre of insurgent country, alt-country, country, honky tonk like Carll. And he has two LLs in his last name. Every song is great with an anger and an irony and sense of real people and real music and a real good time. Get a feel for it with “Another Like You” and “Grateful For Christmas”. Be happy for Hayes Carll. Wait for what comes next.

10. Wilco: The Whole Love, This is kind of like The Decembrists offering. A little lighter, a little easier. But it is not as good. I get tired of all the guitar noodling and the techno rambles but it is much more to hold on to than the dreaded, “Wilco, The Album”. Not all of it is tuneful but still, it is an easy listen.

Honorable Mention:
Rhett Miller: The Interpreter Live
The Lemonheads: Varshons
Joe Pug: Live At Lincoln Hall
Ryan Adams: Ashes and Fire


it was a good year for music. This is not all of it. there was a plethora of one song bursts and discoveries of some old stuff that really made me smile. For a feel good that really goes way back try:
The Dismemberment Plan, “You Are Invited”.
Eddie Money From His Acoustic Unplug It In CD “Trinidad.
The Javelinas: Illinois Line
All of those should light you up one way or another. God’s Peace and go listen to a lot of music in 2012. it might make you whole again. it certainly cannot hurt.

The Christmas Letter 2012

Preamble: I put this up because not everyone gets the hard copy. I do not know how you get on the mailing list but there seem to be 2 factors that allow it to happen.
1. Be in our 20 year old, fraying, address book which was inputted in computer; or
2. Send us a Christmas card.
Each year we are too busy to get the letter together. Between, writing it, picking the background paper, printing it, getting a family photo, ordering it and picking it up from Walgreens and then getting labels printed (neither Sandy or I really understand a mail merge) and then folding, stuffing and labeling 180 letters, combined with my wife's former need to write personal notes on some, make the process a nightmare. So every year it ends up being a hassle. While out letter was likely an amusing change of pace 7 years ago, now it even seems a little trite to me but, with no further apologies, The Becker Christmas Letter 2012!

Soooo...Christmas 2011. Last year Jon wrote the letter. It was too nice. As always with the Becker family...life is good and life is...funny. Sandy and I are finding our way being empty nesters. We miss our odd children. Both of our jobs are going surprisingly well and we continue to be blessed. We both do work relating to Banks... we don’t talk about work much. As is my habit, I come not to inform you of our blessings but to speak poorly of my children.

Jon is plowing away at BoomReactive.com with his partner Shawn Hautly. They make the web safe for social media marketing, web hosting, web design and digital media. I don’t know what any of that means but he has moved out of our house and followed my dreams back to live in St. Louis Hills. He is engaged to the beautiful and tolerant Lydia and all eyes will be on Michigan next September when we are all planning on a wedding. Lydia is mentoring for Lutheran Family and Children’s Services. They are very cute together and seem crazy about one another and we now have a “grandcat” named Henry David Thoreau. Historically we Beckers are not cat people. This must be love. Sometimes they play board games with us.

Pat is a senior at Truman and looks to graduate in 4 years with his degree in Psychology. Not even Abnormal Psych. He plans on going to grad school to get his Masters in Social Work. We cannot believe how well he has done at Truman. Apparently it is a really good school. Pat waited until senior year before starting to act again but has been in a few productions where in my opinion he has been brilliant and he has had a very good time. Pat still comes home, sits in the basement, watches anime and if I were to guess is still contemplating whether being a pirate or a ninja would be the best choice. Pat makes me laugh.

Laura...Miss Laura Becker is a Freshman at Valparasio who started out as an “Exploratory” ($30,000 a year) major and now will follow family tradition and major in communications and minor in business to be an “Event Planner”. Once again I don’t know what that means. She LOVES college, her friends, parties and apparently her classes where she tells us she is doing very well. Apparently it is none of our business. She has a room mate who cries a lot and has stinky feet. So far the boys have seemed to come and go. Once they get interested in her.... her interest...wanes. Laura lights up a room every time she comes in and now that she is gone I cannot bring myself to watch COPS anymore. Laura came home for Christmas, sat on our kitchen table... it broke. There is a reasonable chance Laura will take over the world. Be afraid.

Our dogs Lily and Lola refuse to die or run away though they do enjoy barking incessantly and acting sad.

So what are we to do? Really all we can do is marvel at all of our blessings as a family and give a lot of thanks as we look around at the kindness, tolerance and beuaty of our family and friends who support us through all this wonderful craziness. Whenever we are all together the whole seems greater than the sum of it’s parts. We close this year again with thanks for all of you. God is good. All the time. Have an awesome 2012. Our door is always open.

Mad Men Running The Asylum

Sooooo....we have a problem with our government. Hopefully NOT with our governance. No, I think it is definitly with the government or more specifically the people we have sent there. I have always had a fascination, indeed a sick fascination with the mentally ill. Even as a small child the idea of being “cuckoo” or “crazy” seemed very freeing to me. As I got older I just aspired to be an individual and that often met abhorant or “crazy” behavior and now that I am ancient I still like the idea of being “a little off”. I believe those who know me can attest. But also as I have gotten older I have realized that mental illness is no joke and most of the people who really suffer with it are deeply and profoundly unhappy people. These people are often marginalized by life or education or employment. They are often ostracized by friends and even family and they find it very difficult to lead a meaningful and productive life. Sadly for many of them, this leads them to a life in politics.

I know this might seem cruel or random but these are the thoughts that arrive at four A.M. when I am not thinking about my clients and they are a welcome, welcome distraction so humor me. Think about the gathering rabble we have who are just about to really start in earnest competition for the right to take the White House from Obama. Shit, think about Obama. The go back with the Presidents and it is easy...Bush, Clinton, Bush, Reagan, Carter, Ford*, Nixon, Johnson, Kennedy, Eisenhower. You really have to go back to Eisenhower to find one whop is not a genuinely damaged person and Ike probably was too but it was just far enough back that I was not born yet and there was no 24 hour media circus to explain how crazy they were. Ike at least had the sense to identify “The Military Industrial Complex” and warn us about them on the way out the door. Thanks Ike. Carter of course is someone I like and perhaps he was not a manic depressive, megolomaniac...but he was a shitty President. Wonderful person though and probably the only one in the group I would want to have a beer with other than Clinton but with Clinton the conversation would have denigrated into discussions of women.... and in his case girls.

The point is not that our Presidents are mentally ill. In this day and age you really have to be mentally ill to want to be President. To think that “making a difference” means being President. To think that is the way you have to serve of God forbid to think that “God has called you” to the office. On that note, let me quickly say that God could not care less who is president of the United States. I think he cares about that in the same way he cares about Notre Dame and Tim Tebow and that is (and this is what is so great about God) more than you could ever know and less than you could even comprehend. The point is that we now are calling crazy, manic depressives, bi-polars and people who are a few clowns short of a circus at EVERY LEVEL OF GOVERNMENT!

State and Local Government, as I sit, are a huge dis functional problem. On the local level we still have the divided St. Louis, City and County. We still have a City police that are run out of Jefferson City and we still have people trying to do artificial, tax driven development in north city. All recipes for disaster. In the County we have Charlie Dooley, struggling to remain in power and spreading a lot of dis function as he asserts authority. On the State level the Republicans OWN both bodies of the legislature and yet can agree on nothing and can get nothing done and passed. Somehow saying “NO, I will not compromise on my principles no matter what!” has become a sick badge of honor. The people who we are electing have forgotten that once elected they are representing everyone. Not just the people who agree with them. That there is some obligation or social contract to work for the greater good but to make sure that government works.

We are totally screwed on the Federal level. I don’t even need to comment on it. The sad thing is that I agree that government is too big. I agree that government cannot solve all of our social ills. I agree that they often make things worse. But what I am seeing is that the conservative approach appears to be to shut down government through inaction. Make sure nothing gets done, no one gets what they want and slowly through inertia and financial strangulation government dies. Which in a vacuum and on paper might seem fine. Have government provide police, maybe some courts, some very basic laws and just let the market work it out. Have a standing army to protect our trade and oil rights. Health care, copyright law, it all can be worked out by the free market. Until your son is autistic. How does the free market deal with that? Or mental illness...your daughter is bi-polar and shoplifts and hordes. How does the free market serve her? Or you are returning 100,000 vets. Who takes care of them after the price they paid? Charities? Our Churches? In a perfect world yes. In the real world, no. But I digress.

What I really want to talk about is my theory on WHY this happening. Quite simply, we have gathered up all the crazy people and asked them to govern us. Nancy Pelosi/Eric Cantor. Harry Reid/Mitch Mc Connell. Just different sides of the same coin. Fundamentally broken people who are crazy enough to be gathered in one place to govern us. One of my favorite authors is a guy named Will Self. He is a Brit so he is probably a socialist and a commie but he writes a lot of interesting stuff and is a studier of human nature and people. I continue to believe that artists and writers of fiction continue to have some value. A long time ago he wrote a collection of short stories called “The Quantity Theory Of Insanity”. The premise was that there was only so much sanity and inanity around at any one time and it was spread among the population. So you could gather groups of sane people in a room or in a city to help balance the sanity in that place and influence outcomes. Our problem right now is that the sane people have opted out of the system and relegated it to the bi-polar, manic depressive, power seekers. They are not fit to govern. They are destroying us.

So what? Where does that leave us? A lot of us elected Obama because he had the opportunity to be a game changer. Instead he was the opposite side of the Bush coin. He played the same game, the same way. He called us to nothing better. Just a different version of the same. Granted he was greeted with a vitriol and hate no President had to deal with in my life, but whether he has done a good job or a bad job with the hand he was dealt means nothing. He did not change the game. He missed an opportunity. We do not have a chance to really change things in 2012. We will Obama or we will have Romney and they are the system. They are mentally ill demagogues trapped in a non functioning system. We need to elect smart, selfless people who will do the right thing, compromise, work for small, smarter government but recognize that government in any moral environment must take care of those without a voice. That is what has made America the shining light and the city on the hill. The compassion has left our leadership, as has the intelligence and we are left being ruled by the crazy and the ill. Elect thinking people who do not spout catch phrases. People who realize it is complicated, it is hard and it will take shared sacrifice, and who have the balls to lead us through it. Happy 2012!

In case I do not get to it. Romney wine Iowa by 5%.

Happy New Year: Music Is Everywhere!

Soooooo my son gave me a XM/SIRIUS thingy for my car and a 3 month subscription. My wife already had it in her new car. I am really excited but it made me realize that I am starting to get overwhelmed by music availability. I have more places to listen to new and varied music than ever but feel like I am hearing less and less that is new that I am really interested in listening to. Lets look at how I used to find music:
1. Rolling Stone
2. KDHX
3. No Depression Magazine; and
4. Word of Mouth

Then I would buy a CD and make a mix tape to listen to in my car. Then I put music on my computer and that was awesome. I could make my own mix CD’s and after a few months of burning had most of my music library on my computer. I am convinced that there has never been more music out there as bands use he technology to make their music and distribute it but it is just too much to sift through. When we had only the record companies you were made aware of all major releases through advertising and buzz and then as the industry evolved which Indie labels were worth following. As the business has devolved it is a glorious chaos. Now I am in the middle of doing something called “iTunes Match” where I put it all my music on the cloud. I am told that I can now access my music library on any device and at any time. I don’t even know yet exactly how that will benefit me but I also know that Apple will find a way. In regard to music generally though, I am just sitting here feeling overwhelmed. Here are some of the things overwhelming with music as we start 2012:

1. Spotify: Spotify is cool and has easy access for even the computer semi literate like myself. Ease of use is what Apple gave us along with design that was more like art and made you feel cool for owning it. Spotify is similarly easy and intuitive for streaming artists you want to check out. But you got to find the artists. They do not make suggestions or at least meaningful suggestions and if your tastes are all over the place, don’t go here to find music, just to listen to it.

2. On Line Music Reviews: They are all over but what are the “trusted sources”. There is a great music industry blogger/email new letter guy named Bob Lefstz lefsetz.com who has turned me onto some good stuff but finding the guys you trust is really going to be the key to on line music in the near term. Who are the “filters” going to be that turn you on to good shit?

3. You Tube: A day killer. Pump in a bands name and check out videos and sometimes just the music of anyone...in the world. It will suggest similarly named videos but can do nothing to suggest types of music or artists.

4. Pandora: Is still fun and one out every 10 songs is something I have never heard and one out of every 20 is an artists I have never heard. I like to leave it streaming while I am working or reading to see what, if anything they come up with and take notes.

5. XM Radio: Great for filling need of what you want but you have to know where the new music shows are on your favorite channels. Still more for listening to what you like, rather than finding what you might like.

6. Pitchformmedia.com: Overwhelming! You should always want to go hear but they cover everything and whether you or I like it, electronica is huge, rap and hip hop are still forces and they cover EVERYTHING. They do it all in a self important justified “voice” that appeals to me. Sometimes wrong but never unsure, Pitchfork provides new music, and opinions as to quality. The key there is once again spending time and finding who the reviewers are that can really point you in the right direction.

7. NPR: For an old fart this is probably the best. Listen to their shows and touch their music pages at NPR.com and they will turn you on to some good stuff. They have become a trusted source and filter for me.

8. No Depression.com: This is what is left of the old No Depression magazine...RIP. It is still good for the alt-country/Americana music I love. My one complaint is that they are relentless cheerleaders for the genre. Sometimes you have to call something crap and stand by it. Everything they review is glowingly reviewed. Still, their annual top ten lists are something I always tune in to.

9. Radio: Normal, terrestrial radio is dead and irrelevant for music. Unless you are going to be satisfied with classic rock or big hat country, it is dead as a music source. Live with it. Move on. KDHX is the sole exception to this locally and they really are a treasure. They of course veer towards the Americana music that I like but they are deep on blues as well and provide a gathering place for those excited by music. Become a member. kdhx.org. Other than that, listen to NPR or if you want to be angry listen to 97.1. Other than that ride in silence.

Ok....so that is my thought on the current overwhelming state of music. There has never been a better time to be a fan and to find obscure things that no one else has ever heard of. Unfortunately it takes time and it takes sifting and I don’t have it anymore. At 50 life has suddenly...caught up to me. I never thought it would happen to me.