the musical fruit: movement #4.

the musical fruit: movement #4.
song: "blue diamonds," the long winters
fruit: blueberries
guest blogger: allison felus


photo from the original long winters-blueberry connection flickr page

when i was first introduced to them in early 2004, i quickly became smitten with the long winters. i spent many happy evenings that summer walking home from work listening to when i pretend to fall on my portable cd player. (portable cd player! this is pre-ipod, people! you know i was committed to the rock if i was carrying around a portable cd player and a small sleeve of disks everywhere i went.) depending on how fast i was going, i could basically get from "blue diamonds" through "prom night at hater high" by the time i was unlocking my front door. the band continues to be one of my faves, one of those groups that i will unquestioningly go see whenever they're in town, and i will buy whatever albums they release. all their stuff is great in its own way, but when i pretend to fall is probably their masterpiece (so far). it's just an immaculate stunner of an album. friend of the band and general man-about-the-internet merlin mann says in this video, "it stands up to repeated listens like...like a dylan record. i mean, it's really, really good"; he even used that awesomely sneaky rhodes piano figure from album-opening track "blue diamonds" as the theme music to the merlin show (now sadly on hiatus).

unlike the kind of big "here i am, world!" album opener that grabs you by the lapels and insists you pay attention, "blue diamonds" has a patient, insinuating charm. it's the perfect tone for telling this oblique story of some sort of criminal act gone wrong and also shows masterful restraint on the meta-level of the album's sequencing. any other band probably would have kicked the album off with that sublime organ whine, chugging drums, and honking horn section at the beginning of "scared straight," which follows, but the production team knew it was smartest to reel listeners in here. this song also contains some of my favorite lyrics ever penned by el-dubs impresario john roderick: "you make a gang sign framing your face," "it feels like this is happening in tree time," "these chickens are fish in a barrel." he also sings, in the first verse, "delight at my first try at being sly." which i invariably do every time i hear this song, knowing that it's going to set me off on a musical journey that remains as fresh five years on as it did when i first heard it in '04. it's left intentionally unclear where these blue diamonds are being smuggled from, or for what purpose, so i can only assume they're headed straight into our hearts.

which is a good ultimate destination for all the much talked about antioxidants in blueberries. filled with vitamins a, c, and e, blueberries consistently rank high on lists of easily accessible, often-overlooked, non-exotic superfoods. apparently a small serving--enough to cover the top of a bowl of cereal--gives you "1,773 international units of vitamin e." (international units! ooh la la! whatever those are.)

even if you think all this business about superfoods is bullshit, it's hard to deny the no-nonsense appeal of the blueberry. unlike cherries which must be pitted, strawberries which must be denuded of their green tops, and raspberries and blackberries which can occasionally feel grainy thanks to their tiny hairs and tiny seeds, the blueberry is exceedingly low maintenance. give 'em a quick rinse, and they're basically ready for action. you can make them into a pie--raw pies are deceptively easy to throw together and so healthy you can eat them for breakfast (check out an all-purpose recipe here). you can chuck 'em into the blender with a banana, some water, a tablespoon of almond butter, a dash of vanilla, and a sweetener like medjool dates or agave nectar for a thick and creamy and brightly colored shake/smoothie. or, of course, they're delightful to munch on by the handful, whether from a bowl (if you're fancy) or straight from the pint container (if you're lazy and eager to commence with the snacking, like me). speed and ease are always of the essence if you're on the run from the law, as any good jewel thief would tell you.

allison felus likes to turn people on to the long winters any chance she possibly gets--like here and here. she sometimes talks about other stuff too at wrestling entropy.

snack away! #3 - juicy!

they say the only certainties in life are death and taxes, but I'd note that, in chicago, you might want to add winter weight gain to that list. The weather gets incredibly shitty in this town for long spans of time, sometimes stretching from november to may, and everyone who lives here is pretty much eastern european, irish, or black, which is to say, buried deep in our genetic code, our bodies are ready for famines and grossly inhumane treatment at the drop of a hat, so a predisposition to save some extra meat on our bones while we're, in essence, hibernating isn't a undesirable trait to have. but, add to that our historical reputation as hog butcher to the world, and, well, that's a recipe for a bunch of people opening their eyes come springtime, looking in the mirror, and saying, "holy shit, i got fat."

in an effort to stave off that uniquely disheartening realization this year when it's time to pull out the short skirts and tank tops, i've decided to embark on 30 days of what is known among raw foodists and other health conscious folks as a juice feast. basically, it means I won't eat any solid food for a month, subsisting solely on a gallon of fresh fruit and vegetable juices that i make at home each day. it's both less and more arduous than it sounds.

i did my first juice feast from mid-june to mid-july 2008, and it was an absolutely transformative experience. i lost about 13 pounds, my skin cleared up like i'd never seen it before, i gained a deeper awareness of my issues around "emotional eating," and i had the satisfaction of knowing i'd achieved a really slightly insane goal. it's obviously not a task to be undertaken lightly, or frequently for that matter, but nine months later i finally felt ready to give it another go and do some internal spring cleaning, as it were. today is day 17.

all of which is my way of explaining why this guest entry isn't going to look like the standard eat!drink!snack! posting that you've come to know and love--no booze, nothing purchased from a bodega, and, um, not much of a snack.

snack away! #3 - juicy!
guest blogger: allison felus, chicago, illinois

snack: 1 tablespoon of y.s. organic bee farms bee pollen
drink: 1 quart of celery/cucumber/spinach/apple juice + 1 tablespoon of spirulina

as i write this, i'm drinking a quart of freshly prepared celery/cucumber/spinach/apple juice. i would have absolutely balked at the idea of drinking something like this, and in such great quantities, just a few years ago, but now it's one of my favorite concoctions. other greens (like kale or dandelion) can have a strong, sharp taste that can be unpleasant to choke down in fresh vegetable juice, but spinach is light and almost sweet. the celery adds much needed organic sodium, the cucumber is light and hydrating, and the apple adds a happy little punch of natural sugar.

the tablespoon of spirulina is an optional add-in, but i've been craving it like mad lately. it turns whatever it touches a soft, wet shade of dark green and has a quickly addictive flavor that's kind of warm and buttery. (depending on how you're consuming it, it can be almost reminiscent of the oaty yet sugary dust found at the bottom of a box of cereal.) it's also one of the highest sources of complete protein found in nature, which is especially important for vegans (which i guess i kind of am--please don't hold it against me).

bee pollen is one of the few things that you're legitimately allowed to chew on during a juice feast, and, as such, i've come to really love my daily dose--as a break in the monotony of all that liquid, if nothing else. but it's also one of those trendy superfoods that everyone's always cooing about. each spoonful is packed with amino acids, enzymes, B12, and other scientifically proven microscopic yummies that our bodies need to keep humming along optimally but are so often absent in the nutritionally devalued food of the standard american diet. the taste varies from bottle to bottle--sometimes it's sharp and crunchy, sometimes soft and earthy. my current batch has a nice mild midrange, with a little bit of chalkiness to it, but an overall essence of, yes, honey that goes a long way toward quelling my usually insatiable sweet tooth.

see you in the sunshine, kittens!

allison felus blogs at wrestling entropy. she loves you just the way you are, except for when you're kind of being a jackass.