b.rox

Here’s Persephone’s directorial debut. Cast: Xy — Snow White Persephone — Nice Fairy Michael — Grumpy Therese — Dopey Nicole — Flower David — Prince Cinematography by yours truly. Obviously this was mostly improvised, but Persephone engineered the basic situation. She assigned roles and costumes. She didn’t want a Wicked Queen in her movie, for [...]

Lammas is rapidly approaching. It was last year at Lammas that I began making an effort to observe each holiday in the Wheel of the Year with my family. Now that we’ve seen one full revolution of the wheel, I’m taking stock and reflecting on what it means. It’s my understanding that the Wheel of [...]

Mogwai vs. Funkadelic May Nothing but Maggots Come Through Your Brain by Editor B

Dear Persephone, You are forty-one months old today. You are developing into an amazing person. Here are some indications. Your favorite phrase over the last month is, “I changed my mind.” For example, after much deliberation, you changed your mind about your favorite colors. For at least a year, you’ve maintained that your favorite colors [...]

Last night Arnaud’s French 75 Bar hosted a blogger’s reception to kickoff Tales of the Cocktail, sponsored by the Bureau National Interprofessionnel du Cognac. Naturally I was there. It’s fascinating to me that blogging still seems to be on the ascendant. I met a number of local bloggers, including people I hadn’t met before such [...]

This mix might put you to sleep. This is what we listen to here when trying to get our three-year-old daughter to lie down and take a nap. It could also serve as a basic primer on the history of ambient music. Nine tracks including music by Basic Channel, Ginnungagap, and LAShTAL. About ninety minutes [...]

If you pinned me to the wall and demanded to know my favorite cocktail, the first word I’d blurt out would be probably “Negroni.” (In the event that you, Dear Reader, are not familiar with this wonderful aperitivo, I urge you to have one before your next meal. Equal parts Campari, sweet vermouth, and gin; [...]

So yesterday I was over at Dr. Tim T’s office in the music building, helping the good doctor sort through some video issues. Midway through our session it started to rain, and Dr. T and I both agreed that it was nice to be back in the pattern of afternoon showers here in the summer. [...]

I recently got in touch with Wayne Curtis, author of And a Bottle of Rum. I was astonished to learn that he 1) lives in New Orleans and 2) reads this blog. Blow me down. He was even aware of my work with FOLC. I was momentarily disconcerted, embarrassed and abashed. Upon regaining my composure, [...]

Perils for Pedestrians episode #174 was just released today and will be appearing on stations across the country. The first interview is with yours truly. This was shot back in January of 2010, so some info I present is not current. For the latest, stay tuned to folc-nola.org.

Tales of the Cocktail is just over a week away. One seminar I’m very much looking forward to is The Journey of Artemesia Absinthium, which aims to explore the bitter and mysterious herb more commonly known as wormwood. This will be most familiar to people as the (formerly) forbidden flavoring in absinthe, but there’s more [...]

Over a year ago Xy hurt her knee while practicing with the Big Easy Roller Girls. It’s bothered her ever since, and so yesterday morning we rose early and dropped her off for a little surgery. Persephone and I went home and made a “Get Well Soon” poster for her mother. The surgeon called me [...]

I got Persephone up at dawn to see the sunrise on our last morning at Vero. Unfortunately it wasn’t quite as dramatic as on the morning of the solstice. But it was still beautiful. Unfortunately I neglected to tell Xy I was getting our daughter up so early. I also neglected to inform her that [...]

And so it’s come to this, at last, inexorably and inevitably. The final day of our vacation. Persephone started her morning as she usually did, with some painting. I spent some time reading Palimpsest by Catherynne M. Valente, but I didn’t make much progress. I’d been picking away at it all week. This book reads [...]

Technically, the city of Vero includes plenty of beachfront. In fact the city officially changed its name to Vero Beach back in 1925 but old-timers like me still prefer to call it Vero. Anyway, my point is that I don’t feel like I’m in “town” when I’m standing in the surf staring out at the [...]

Here’s a mix to enliven your Fourth of July.

The theme for Wednesday was love. Look at the love in this picture. Mother and daughter on the beach, wading into the surf? You can’t beat it. They are loving each other and the ocean, loving the place and moment they are in. Another person who loved this place was Waldo Sexton. Like us, he [...]

I’m going out on a limb and predict Obama wins in 2012. You may scoff but remember I have an unblemished record of success in this arena.

Tuesday was the Summer Solstice. I got up super early (4AM by my body clock, which was still in the Central Time Zone) and headed down to the beach. It was still pretty dark, but even at that early hour the eastern sky held a faint glow which grew stronger slowly, slowly, as I watched [...]