Queen of Rockabilly

I usually don't care much about things like the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but how awesome is it that Wanda Jackson got nominated? I'm not even really much of a fan of rockabilly music, but Wanda is absolutely transcendent of all genres. With her raspy, bad-ass voice, she purred and snarled her way through such killer tracks as "Fujiyama Mama" and my personal favorite "Funnel of Love". Wanda also did a lot of country and eventually (I believe) gospel music, but you can check out a few of Wanda's rock tracks here.

Lovin' these shoes

So sleek, so art deco. I've never really been one for snake skin (even when it's faux), but this is so subtle that I can't resist. It's also a bit of a lower heel than I usually wear.

Nevertheless, they're perfect for the dress I'm planning to wear as the "going-away" outfit (although actually, it will be the "wedding after-party" outfit).

Japanese pop to get you going in the morning

I know there are a lot of '60s Japanese pop fans out there, and since part of the reason I started this blog was to give back to the audioblog community that has given me so much, here's '60s Cutie Pop Collection: Psychedelic Town Edit. It features tons of great stuff, like Reiko Mari's "In the Town" and Katsuko Kanai's "Mini Mini Girl". It's part of a series of comps, most of which have been out of print for a long time (including this one). Enjoy!

Monday's Yuka (aka Only On Mondays)

Love this title sequence from Getsuyoubi no Yuka:

This is really sad news.

Don LaFontaine (he of the "In a world ..." film trailer voiceovers, and many more) has died.

As someone who has also loved watching film trailers, I find this particularly depressing. Even though he was so ubiquitous as to court parody, he seemed to take it in stride, as evidenced by the Geico commercial he did.

R.I.P., Don.

Time to make the paella

A month or two ago, I discovered this fantastic recipe online for a Filipino paella. I found some chorizo that was on special at the time, and wanted to try something interesting with it. This recipe is amazingly easy and it was quite the crowd-pleaser at a barbecue we had at the house over the weekend. It help me get over my reservations about using our cast-iron pan!


The ingredients are all quite easy to find (as long as you can get your hands on chorizo). The only trouble I had initially with this recipe was the annatto seeds (achiote). I was able to locate it fairly easily, however the seeds are unbelievably HARD, and the first time I tried grinding them with a mortar and pestle, I nearly ended up ruining both as the seeds dye everything red that they come into contact with! I finally worked out that the best way to grind the seeds is by using a old coffee bean grinder that we had lying around. It also minimizes the chance of having your fingers (or clothes) dyed.