Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Needs to Turn it Up

Today, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced its inductees for 2012, and the inductees are:

Performer Category:

• Beastie Boys
• Donovan
• Guns N’ Roses
• Laura Nyro 
• Red Hot Chili Peppers
• The Small Faces/The Faces

Congratulations to these inductees.  BUT HOLD ON ONE SECOND....


How can any serious institution that is focused on preserving and honoring the best of the best in Rock and Roll music have such glaring oversights in its inductee body.  I am not saying any of the inductees should be out in favor of those I (and many others) feel should be honored.  But I question the entire organization for such GLARING omissions.  The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame roster is filled with the chart topping, the pop, the rock, the obscure, the innovators, the leaders and the followers.  Given the existing widespread backgrounds of inductees, can someone tell me why the following artists have not already been inducted?

Rush 

If you were to poll "in the know" music critics and musicians of who the top guitarists, bass players and drummers are in rock, one of the top players for each would be the same if that poll was taken in 1980 or today.  Alex Leifson, Geddy Lee and Neil Peart are universally regarded as masters of their instruments.  Brought together as songwriters and as Rush, they have made influential album after influential album.  They have sold out arenas for decades.  They are, arguably, the most musically accomplished hard rock band of all time.  They have also sold millions of records, so it isn't for lack of public interest that they are ignored by the Hall.

Hall and Oates 

I had to triple check that they were not in.  They wrote and released some of the most unmistakeable pop music of the 1970's, 80's and on through the 2000's.  There are artists enshrined in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame that had one or two major hits.  Hall and Oates had 34 Billboard Hot 100 singles.  Hall and Oates could be in the Hall of Fame for their songwriting alone, let alone their harmonies and playing (which many existing members are in this institution for alone).  Major miss.  And PLEASE ignore their music videos in the debate!!!

The Cure 

It is great that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is honoring groups like the Beastie Boys and the Chili Peppers in this years class, both were (and continue to be) vital and influential.  But turn on your car, satellite or internet radio today, and listen.  How much of that music and its influences can almost directly be traced back to The Cure?  The Cure was, and still is arguably, the most influential "alternative" band in history.  Their look, sound, lyrics and overall approach has been  lifted by so many.  

Kiss 


That's right, Kiss is NOT in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  I don't care if you don't like their music.  Kiss IS Rock and Roll.  There is no logical reason for their to be now 27 classes of inductees without Kiss as a member.  Van Halen, Queen, Aerosmith, and now the Chili Peppers are in.  Kiss should be too.

Chicago 


From their late 60's and early 70's horn-fueled arrangements on through their 80's power pop, Chicago has been a songwriting, musicianship and hit machine.  They have also sold over 120 MILLION records during their sparkling career.  Chicago has also gone on to tour relentlessly, often with Hall Inductee Earth, Wind and Fire.  They sparkle live, and their songs have passed the test of time.   There are groups enshrined in the Hall that bring far less to the table than Chicago.  (Not to bash, but new inductee The Faces had one US top-40 hit)

Joan Baez 


Admittedly, I'm not a huge fan of Joan's folky, politically left leaning catalog.  But, there is no mistaking the relevance of somebody who has had a fifty-plus year run prominent in the music scene.  A Godmother to the modern singer-songwriter as well as a Godmother to the modern reinterpreter, Joan's is a voice, a presence, a career and an influence that is gigantic in the big picture.  Are the Indigo Girls the "Indigo Girls" without someone like Joan Baez?

Joe Jackson 


This Blogger's Personal Choice Selection.  Often overlooked, underrated and forgotten.  Major talent.  18 wildly varied studio releases, formed out of the punk generation of the late 70's, but always a little "smarter".  Major jazz influences throughout his career, with an emphasis on efficient and crisp songs, as well as an overarching theme of melancholy.  A thinking man's repertoire.  Elvis Costello came from the same roots, and has gotten the nod to date in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  It is time to recognize an artist who has delivered just as much, and to me, more.


Agree or Disagree with any of these?  Have any of your own?  Take a look for yourself:  Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductees

Best Day of the Year Super-Blog Preview!

Unless you're from specific regional epicenters of this avocation (Memphis, Kansas City, Carolina, Texas), "real" BBQ is something that one day you never really knew about, then you have some, and quite literally, your food world is changed.  The methodical low and slow techniques coax incredible tenderness and depth of flavor that you simply cannot create on the traditional backyard grill, or by other methods like slow cookers or par-boiling, etc.

I have to be 100% honest here, my first exposure to something even remotely resembling BBQ would be *GASP* McDonald's debut of the McRib in 1981.  I completely remember the sweet/tangy sauce, and it being really interesting and *GASP* tasty.

Cue to the early 2000's.  Plenty of business travel under my belt - including several trips to real BBQ hotbeds.  This aligns with the growth of the Food Network, and shows on this very topic.  Jack McDavid and Bobby Flay hooked up for a VERY kitschy show called "Grillin and Chillin".  They'd do all kids of neat BBQ in as traditional yet inventive way as possible.  Southern-bred Jack McDavid just happened to have a restaurant right here in Philadelphia!  Wife and I visited Jack's Firehouse, and really were excited by his array of BBQ specialties.  I had to try and cook this - I was hooked!!!

Did a little research and started on a Brinkmann Smoker.  Tiny, but functional.  In 2005, I read an announcement for a forthcoming BBQ contest at the new Phillies stadium run by all-time great Garry Maddox.  My buddy Tom Bera was starting to get into BBQ as well, so I called him to see if he'd want to team up and have us compete.  I'm on the Board of the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame, and we used this event as a an opportunity to push our mission and get some exposure.

So this was a BBQ rib contest, in multiple rounds.  If your ribs were part of the top half of the first round, then you resubmitted for round 2, then there was a round 3, then a final round.

We made it all the way to the final round.  Unfortunately, we ran out of our "good" ribs and didn't win.  In our first competition, though, Tom and I finished in the top 5!!!  That was incredibly cool.

Tom went on to form his own amazing BBQ Competition Circuit Team - Blind Pig BBQ.  He's gone on to win numerous major awards throughout the eastern US.  Given time constraints, I've pretty much only competed at the Maddox event every summer - but done plenty of practice at home!

Equipment-wise, I've upgraded to the Weber Smokey Mountain Smoker (the Bullet, to those in the know!).  We accessorize the Bullet with two Weber Kettle Grills.

Two years ago, the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame BBQ team was again at the Garry Maddox BBQ competition.

 In a great showing, our rib submission came in 4th out of 45 teams!!!!  So that means two top-5 finishes in this competition in 6 years of competing.  Really proud of that achievement.  Here's a pic of the award-winning submission:

So, tomorrow we compete in our SEVENTH Stephen Starr-Garry Maddox BBQ Challenge.  I'm going to document the experience for you, to provide some insight into all that goes on and what it takes to participate and compete in one of these events.

The process starts this afternoon.  I'll keep you posted!

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times........

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only."  Charles Dickens

As someone who's again now an exclusive "work at home" employee, my existence decidedly bears no real parallel to the poor French depicted in A Tale of Two Cities.   However the spirit of those words when applied to the context of what it means (and feels) to be a remote employee are shockingly appropriate. 

It was the best of times....  I am so qualified, that I no longer require active management, can determine my own priorities, work at my own pace, and a laundry list of other experience based justifications for my remote employment.  Basically, I get sh!t done, so I get left alone.  Pretty cool!  Oh, and that pesky little elimination of a commute (which used to be over an hour each way).  So, when Alex had a 6pm baseball game, I had no issue making the games.


It was the worst of times....  I do love my wife, son, dog, and cat, so let me be quite clear up front about that.  But, at some point, to continue to learn and grow you need to interact with different PEOPLE.  Conference calls and email are great facilitators, but cannot replace true face to face interaction.  Heck, we often learn the most interesting and important things around the coffee machine in the office.  I learn what new adventure Curious George will be going on here in the break room/kitchen.  My buddy Jim insists I started this blog because of this.  He may be right.

Bottom line....  If you have segment of your workforce that is well qualified, and doesn't really need to work any place in particular due to widely distributed teams, it makes so much sense to let them work remotely.  I know that I'm online early, am available all day, and check back in at night.  They get more "bang" for their investment in me.  Some have written that there is an unsaid guilt for the remote employee that makes them put in more than "expected" hours.  I tend to agree.  BUT, corporate America must ensure that these remote employees are still tested, engaged and continually learning.

A Topic I REALLY Love to Yap About

To my family and friends, I'm considered a pretty good cook.  It is one of my favorite things to do, and I believe that energy and enthusiasm ends up rubbing off on the quality and enjoyment of the food.  We've had failures (just ask Kathleen about "Catfish Nugget" night), but on the whole, our family eats yummy, almost exclusively home-cooked food.  We also love hosting holidays, as that allows us to cook many more things, and has been a real testing ground for being a complete cook.

Anyhow, I thought people would be interested in some items and tidbits that I use in our home kitchen that you may not already have tried, or are using regularly.

It's all about flavor, and no prepackaged marinade delivers more than the Goya Mojo.  This VERY reasonably priced Mojo marinade (orange juice, lemon juice, spices and salt) provides plenty of flavor to spice up vegetables or chicken.  My favorite is to take boneless chicken thighs and marinade in the Mojo for about an hour - then grill.  As Guy Fieri says, "That's a ticket to Flavor Town". Yes, you can make this stuff yourself pretty easily, but its price is so appealing, that I'll defer to the convenience angle. 

I am a firm believer in "mouth feel" of food, or the "umami" notion of flavor.  There is something that makes food simply pop, and give a richness that creates food dishes that transcend into memories.  Minor's Bases provide that now non-secret way to inject over the top richness and deep flavor into your cooking.  Add a teaspoon of Chicken Base to your pot of rice, and see the difference it can make.  Rub a pork roast with Pork or Bacon Base, and end up with a rich crust and tons of flavor.  When you are making sauces or gravies, use their Bases (especially the Demi Glace) to create something people will want to eat like soup.  Simply essential products, and my fridge is full of them.  Best purveyor I've found is www.soupbase.com.

When it comes to vinegars, I can think of few market segments than have so many more easily available varieties today than when I was a kid.  Plus, with vinegar packing such a flavor wallop, all these varieties can be utilized in so many different ways.  One issue, though, is that your apple cider, clear and balsamic varieties can be overly strong.  We've come to crave the mild, and somewhat sweet, nuance of Japanese seasoned Rice Vinegar - in particular the Marukan label.  Try a cucumber salad dressed with seasoned salt, a good olive oil and some Marukan Rice Vinegar.  So simple, so good.

Anyway, just wanted to share some reasonably priced little secrets that I've come to use and enjoy.  If you give them a try, let me know what you think!

Momma's Got a Squeezebox..............

Many of you know that we moved in August of last year.  At our old house, the first home improvement project I did was wire my living room based stereo to zoned speakers in my kitchen, which could also be faced outward to the backyard.  This involved running wire through my basement, a weaving wire distance of about 100 feet, and all the Monster Cable you can eat.  Music is so important to us, and having a house full of it was essential.  This was done November 1998, and worked perfectly until the day we moved out.

The notion and technology of music delivery (formerly known as radio, stereo, etc.) has changed just a little bit since 1998.  There were no iPods in 1998.  There was no satellite radio in 1998.  We used CD's.  I still made mix tapes in 1998 (you all did it, so shut up).  I occasionally listened to the actual RADIO - yes, stations picked up locally through the antenna mounted behind the stereo cabinet.  To top it off, our TURNTABLE was still hooked up.  We still did VINYL night on New Year's Eve.  I believe an AARP card just got sent to us. 

The biggest difference for us, however, there was no Pandora in 1998.  Pandora is one of a number of Internet-based music sites, and happens to be the one we enjoy the most.  Besides being completely free, Pandora allows you to create your own personal radio stations based upon artists and/or songs you want to put together.  You can create as many as your little heart desires, with as much nuance as you want.  Kathleen and I have created a ton of different stations that meet our unique tastes.  For example Kathleen has her "Folky" station, which broadcasts things like John Denver, Judy Collins, Roger Miller, etc.  I have my "Funk" station, where I can get The Brand New Heavies, Liquid Soul, Parliament, etc.  We collaborated on a station by selecting roughly 50 songs as a basis that we heard played on eclectic 104.9 out of New Jersey.  Needless to say, we dig Pandora.

With Pandora access built into our Blue-Ray player, it was just an Ethernet cable away from being able to be broadcast on our main stereo in the family room.  That was the first home improvement project I did in this house!

Recently, we were sitting outside, and quickly realized that we had a music issue - there was no music.  Logistically, I can't easily get speakers outside, or facing outside.  We needed a solution.  We wanted our Pandora on our back patio.  My buddy Jim picked up, and highly recommended the Sonos, which could do that, and a whole heck of a lot more.  I'm certainly not cheap, but its pretty substantial pricetag was more than I wanted to drop for music on my back patio.  Back to more research and the proverbial drawing board.

Cue the Sunday paper and its ads.  BOOM, the answer.  (cue Angelic humming) The Logitech Squeezebox!

This device wirelessly connects to our home network, provides access to all our Pandora channels and hundreds more Internet-based music channels.  Kathleen found a great Disney channel for Alex.  Plus you can hook your iPod up to it, as well as load the Squeezebox Server onto your laptop to stream content from your own iTunes repositories and playlists.  This product is a perfect example of form and function at an attractive price - it was $149 on sale.  Music now flows on the back patio!

You know who's pretentious about wine?

My wife and I had an exceptionally rare treat for us this past Saturday.  For the first time in SEVEN months, we had a night out, just the two of us, for dinner and a show.  Just like millions of other adults, but so foreign to babysitter-starved parents.  Needless to say, our dinner needed to be at a minimum "very" good to a more acceptable "I will kill you if you attempt to take away this plate" good.  After much consideration of the Philly highbrow restaurant scene, I settled on Amis.  With babysitter/savior Tara in charge of Alejandro (son), Kermit (the dog) and Opus (the cat - who is rarely seen by "outsiders") off we went.

I love Philadelphia.  The one thing that every Philadelphia area resident will tell you they HATE about Philadelphia is I-76, the Schuylkill Expressway.  The Schuylkill is a perpetually clogged 4 lane highway that connects Center City Philadelphia with its leafy suburbs to its west - where we reside.  With no traffic delays, we can leave our house and arrive in the center of Philadelphia in 25 minutes.  Of course a Saturday afternoon means you need to double that time.   We eventually arrive at our planned parking lot at Broad and Lombard - convenient to the restaurant and to the Kimmel Center. So far, so good - on time for our reservation.

Now, we sit down and peruse the menu.  This is decidedly "foodie" fair, with a pretty interesting and diverse menu.  But, this is a blog about vino, so my last comment about the food will be this:  "I will kill you if you try and take away this plate" good.

This restaurant, like most "fine dining" establishments, had a wine list that hovered around $10 per glass and $40 - $70 per bottle.  That frustrates and annoys me.  I understand the costs involved in glassware, storage and service of wine.  BUT, the markup creates a pricepoint that alienates so many people.  Why is restaurant wine double or triple the price of beer or a basic mixed drink? 

But wait a minute.....Amis offers house wine by the 500ml carafe for $20!!!!!!  Completely brought me back to travels in Europe where we ALWAYS order the house wine, it is always good, and it is always reasonably priced.   We ordered said "House Red Carafe", and as expected, it was wonderful.  Given the Italian theme of the restaurant, I'm thinking this was a basic and hearty Sangiovese or other non-"super" Tuscan.

American restauranteurs are responsible for the pretentiousness of the American wine scene.  Visionaries (well, true descendants of European restaurants) like the folks running Amis are working to recalibrate the public's expectation for restaurant wine.  By setting the price-based reality that wine is an item for the privileged, "regular" folks steer clear of experimenting with wine and their food.  Think about it, if you are out at a restaurant and order a $15 salmon entree, are you going to spend $10 to experiment on an unknown Sauvignon Blanc or *gasp* a Pinot Noir?  I can tell you that so many Americans will not, and will stick with a $3 beer instead.

There are plenty of available options for restaurants to offer solid, if non-spectacular, red and white wines for around $5 per glass.  I believe that if they started doing so, that some of the elitism and pretentiousness surrounding wine in the United States would begin to melt away.

You need to start somewhere.......

I'm having a hard time accepting the fact that "time marches on".  My 20 and 15 year collegiate reunions are coming up in June (not going), my 25 year high school reunion is being planned for next summer (doubtful personal attendance).  I've been working professionally for 20 years - all in some capacity in the Software Industry.  I've been either dating or married to my wonderful wife for over 14 years.  Our cool son is turning 5 shortly.  I've now lived in the Philadelphia area for over 23 years.  Good God.

I'm clearly old experienced!  In this blog I plan on looking back, commenting on today and gaze into the crystal ball in my mind's eye.  Hopefully this will not just be cathartic for me, but something people will find compelling enough to read on a regular basis. 

Not only does time march on, but time will tell!