Punch Brothers!

Saw "Punch Brothers" at Lee's Palace last night. It was a mind grenade.

What a thing, to witness people pushing, there at the outer reaches of artistic excellence. You just can't take your eyes off them. You're with them, and you're thinking... "this is, conceptually, an understanding of the creative process that I'm just not equal to..." and then they take a left turn and go into their own plane, and you're totally lost. But you still can't look away, because, simply, there's something inexplicably riveting about watching somebody do something extremely well. And then just when it feels almost, maybe, like they're getting into that "arbitrary-for-the-sake-of-itself" territory, everything falls back in line and, within a single bar the entire previous detour falls into order, sortof revealing itself in retrospect as a function of what came after it.

Punch Brothers is one of those bands that can play most of a tune at 45%, throwing in little flashes of dominance to keep everybody honest, in a way that leaves you feeling like perhaps that last tune wasn't so impressive... until you take it home and destroy your left hand for 3 hours working through the intro at half-speed.

The ability to play so fast it feels slow. And then, when you want to, play so fast it feels incredibly fast! This kind of music induces a sort of rolling laughter in me.

JB

The Judy Bartel Baker's Invitational, Sponsored by deliciousness...

Cookie challenge, round 2!!!

If you'll recall, I took a stab at Mom's Christmas Chocolate Crinkles a while back. The results were sub-optimal. Burnt bottoms, dry centres, and an overall lack of what we might playfully dub 'cheer', or perhaps more accurately... taste.

Friends, there was a time, not so long ago, when one need only look to the corner of the local ice rink to find me face-flat, tears streaming down rosy cheeks, painfully aware... nay... ashamed, of my innately un-canadian lack of inherent talent at our national past time. And friends, I ask you, did I falter? Did I remain there, snot-nosed, defeated, wallowing in the embarrassment of my failure? I did not. My friends, I did not.

And so in the spirit of that young buck, I retired again to that nemesis, that achilles heal of mine... the kitchen. Tonight's task was another Judy Bartel classic. A right staple in our erstwhile home. Mom's Chocolate Chip Cookies. Simple, honest... everything a good chocolate chip cookie should be. Folks, if I was looking for glazed duck confit with a broccoli rabe, I'd find a little cafe overlooking the Seine, and order it up. If I was looking for the best cookie this side of the Mississippi, I'd go to mom. It's that simple. She's a magician... always has been.

Anyway, tonight's results were promising. Very much so in fact. Our resident taster for the evening, the lovely miss Karen Founk had this to share, "Jon has a way of making a simple chocolate-chip cookie taste elegant, modern, and packed with flavour. He should go on 'sweet genius." Thanks Karen!

Dear readers, I take no credit for this great success. May my cookies be but a mirror, radiating such kind words straight back in the direction of those all the more deserving.

C'mon over. They're still warm!

JB