Jess Glynne

The song of the day is Hold My Hand from the 2015 album I Cry When I Laugh by British singer-songwriter Jess Glynne (Jessica Hannah Glynne).

Great Walls

Presidential candidate Donald Trump says that if he’s elected president, he will build a wall along the border between the US and Mexico. Not a fence – a wall. What will it cost? A lot, but Trump says he’ll make Mexico pay for it. Let’s think about this.

The US imports oil from Mexico. According to the Energy Information Administration, the US imported 307 million barrels of crude oil and petroleum products from Mexico in 2014. So here’s an idea: let’s piss off Mexico and see what happens.

But wait, there’s more.

Presidential candidate Scott Walker says we should think about building a wall along our northern border with Canada. What’s that going to cost? The US-Canada border is the longest international border in the world at 5,525 miles long. And there’s this: the US imports more oil from Canada than from any other country. According to the EIA, the US imported 1.24 billion barrels of crude oil and petroleum products from Canada in 2014. What’s Walker going to do – threaten to quit using Canadian oil unless they help pay for a wall? No, I don’t think there is any way Canada can be talked into paying for any part of a wall on their border. If the US wants it, the US will pay for it.

Now, it so happens that the US has a huge infrastructure problem. After decades of neglect, many roads and bridges are old and in disrepair. Railway infrastructure needs upgrading. Many airports need upgrading. The transportation system is congested. Fixing infrastructure will cost a lot of money but fixing it is becoming urgent. So here’s an idea: let’s take the money we need to fix those things and let’s spend it on a wall between ourselves and our friendly northern neighbor, which will solve a serious problem that no one has noticed: hordes of Canadians sneaking into the US, presumably to escape the free health care they have up there.

Historically, walls have a poor track record. The Great Wall of China, built to protect China from invaders, was never effective at preventing invaders from entering China. The Maginot Line, built to protect France from a German invasion, did not prevent the Germans from conquering France in about six weeks.

History tell us that walls don’t work. People who want to cross them badly enough will find a way. Desperate people will go over, under, around, and through. As General George Patton said, “Fixed fortifications are monuments to man's stupidity.” That won’t prevent candidates from proposing simplistic solutions to tough problems, nor will it prevent voters electing them.

Robyn

The song of the day is Dancing On My Own from the album Body Talk by Swedish recording artist Robyn (Robin Miriam Carlsson).

Bacon Jam

It sounds like the name of a rock band, but bacon jam is a real thing. It’s not actually a jam, as jam is made of fruit juice, crushed fruit, and pectin. But if you search “bacon jam” you’ll find recipes.

Bacon jam is a relish similar to Austrian Verhackert, plus sweetener. Basically, it combines bacon, onion, brown sugar, and vinegar, which are put into a food processor, thrashed to pieces, then put into jars. There are many variations on the basic recipe such as bourbon bacon jam and slow-cooker bacon jam. Martha Stewart has a recipe, Chef John has one, chow.com has one, and you can, of course, purchase prepared bacon jam from a number of online sources.

Some recipes add garlic, and honey, and shallots, and piment d’Espelette (a very hoity-toity red chili pepper from France). Some recipes add ginger and ground mustard and chili powder and maple syrup. Some add sherry vinegar, and balsamic vinegar, and black pepper, and cayenne pepper. And so on.

I like bacon – a lot – so I suspect I’d love to smear bacon jam on various foods. I also like peanut butter, and for my entire 8th grade school year I made and ate the very same brown-bagged lunch every day – “peanut butter and baloney on white bread” sandwiches, usually followed by a moon pie. Bacon is good with peanut butter. In fact, Elvis loved peanut butter-bacon-banana sandwiches. I think peanut butter and bacon jam on white bread would probably be awesome, with or without the banana. Someone who knows how to cook should try making that.

Writing this blog post is making me hungry.

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

The song of the day is Red Right Hand from the 1994 album Let Love In by Australian alternative rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds with vocals by Nicholas Edward "Nick" Cave. The album version is longer; this video is the single that was released later. The song title is from a line in John Milton's epic poem Paradise Lost that refers to the vengeful hand of God. The song has appeared in advertisements, films, and television shows, and has been covered by several bands. Cave is also a lyricist, playwright, poet, and novelist.

Real Football

A football game is right-this-minute coming on the TV. And it’s the best kind of football: American football. We have none of that running up and down a field while trying to kick a round ball into a net. No, in America we have manly football, football played the way God intended: with huge men crashing into each other and giving each other concussions, torn ligaments, sprained muscles, and the occasional career-ending injury. (After 30 years, I can still remember seeing Joe Theismann’s lower right leg snap like a pretzel stick during a tackle that was dubbed "The Hit That No One Who Saw It Can Ever Forget" by the Washington Post.)

Soccer (called association football by those who don’t speak American) is sometimes called “the beautiful game”. Beautiful? Really? Americans don’t watch football because it’s pretty. We watch football because it’s not pretty. It’s bone-crunching, brain-jarring, gut-wrenching, team warfare combined with the strategy of a world-class chess game. In other words, pure fun.

I’ve tried to watch soccer. I see people running around after a ball but continually stumbling into the ball and inadvertently kicking it further away. Sometimes they’re so clumsy they actually kick the ball into a teammate’s head. It’s obvious these players need to be better trained.

I suppose soccer has a certain appeal for those who enjoy watching two teams run around aimlessly for 90 or more minutes just to score one or two points. Whenever I’ve tried to watch a soccer game, after a few minutes I wanted to yell at the TV, “For the love of God, somebody pick up that ball and run with it!” I had to change the channel. The game is too frustrating to watch.

To a European football fan, I imagine American football must look like total chaos. A European fan who watched the American game for a few minutes would probably say, “I don’t get it.” That’s totally understandable. It’s what many Americans say about soccer.

Ooh, a player is down on the ground now, injured. It’s the third injury of the first half. Well, that’s too bad. American fans hate to see a player get hurt. Because, as long as a player is lying injured on the field, there is no football being played. And we’re at the game, or watching it on TV, to see a football game played. Somewhere in America, there is a guy sitting on a sofa drinking beer and yelling at his TV, “Get that injured player off the field! If I wanted to watch a game with nothing happening, I’d be watching soccer!”

Kelly Clarkson

The song of the day is Piece by Piece from the 2015 album Piece by Piece by Kelly Clarkson.

Tracy Chapman

The song of the day is Bang Bang Bang from the 1992 album Matters of the Heart by multi-platinum and four-time Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman.

Laura Izibor

The song of the day is If Tonight Is My Last from the 2009 album Let the Truth Be Told by Irish musician, singer, and producer Laura Izibor (Laura Elizabeth Arabosa Izibor).

The Fray

The song of the day is 2007's Look After You from the album How to Save a Life by The Fray.

Thirteen Senses

The song of the day is Gone from the 2004 album The Invitation by British band Thirteen Senses.

Sunday Stroll

The day was nice – a sunny, summer day in central Virginia – so I drove down to the river that flows past my little city. There are several places where one can walk along the river on a paved trail. I could get exercise and enjoy nature at the same time. Win-win.

Soon I came upon a large stone set within a septagon of 6” x 6” timbers.

It’s evident that the stone once bore some kind of plaque. I surmised the plaque was made of bronze and a thief had stolen it for the few dollars its metal would bring.

I hiked further down the path. The terrain was very green. Central Virginia has received a lot of rain this summer.

Several times I encountered small wooden bridges that crossed streams. At times the river was out of sight.

And sometimes the path meandered close to the river.

The day was quiet. I hadn’t encountered anyone on the trail, though I saw people on the river. In the photo below, a man and a woman sit in a rowboat with fishing lines in the water.

After a mile I encountered an overpass; it carried the northbound lanes of I-95. A couple of men were fishing there. They wore black jeans, black T-shirts, and black cowboy hats. A young man and a young woman sat on sloping cement under one end of the bridge, up high near the abutment. The woman held her phone in front of her, evidently taking photos. I took one, too. (Those massive columns supporting the roadway are called piers.)

I decided to return to my car. Activity on the river was increasing. There were even people on jet skis, though when I took this photo they were hardly moving. Later they opened their throttles and roared off down the river.

Activity was also increasing on the trail. I encountered a number of people on the way back to my car: young people, old people, girls walking dogs, couples, men on bikes, kids on bikes. At one point two young boys racing their bicycles appeared from around a curve. They were going fast and one bike was aimed right at me. The boy riding that bike wasn’t looking where he was going. Just before he would have hit me, I put out my hands and hit his handlebar. He had too much momentum for me to stop the bike, but striking the handlebar with the palm of my hand caused the bike’s front wheel to turn enough to deflect the bike past me – barely.

I got back to my car and drove home. The next time I’m on that trail, I plan to be riding a bike. A large bike, possibly armored. Walking has become too dangerous.

Noora Noor

The song of the day is Forget What I Said from the 2009 album Soul Deep by Nowegian-Somalian neo soul singer-songwriter Noora (Noora Mohammed Noor).

Groove Armada

The song of the day is Think Twice from the 2002 album Lovebox by English electronic music duo Groove Armada (Andy Cato and Tom Findlay) featuring vocals by Swedish-born singer-songwriter and rapper Neneh Cherry.

Coldplay

The song of the day is Fix You from the 2005 album X&Y by British rock band Coldplay featuring vocals by lead vocalist Chris Martin.

Skye Edwards

The song of the day is Featherlight from the 2012 album Back To Now by British singer-songwriter Skye Edwards (Shirley Klaris Yonavieve Edwards).

Kyla La Grange

The song of the day is Cut Your Teeth by English singer-songwriter Kyla La Grange. The song was released as a single and was later included on La Grange’s second studio album, entitled Cut Your Teeth.

José González

The song of the day is Heartbeats from the 2003 album Deep Cuts by Swedish electronic music duo The Knife (siblings Karin Dreijer Andersson and Olof Dreijer). This cover of the song is peformed by Swedish indie folk singer-songwriter José González. The original version can be played here.

Emily Barker

The song of the day is Nostalgia from the 2008 album Despite the Snow by Australian singer,songwriter, and composer Emily Barker. The album was released under the name Emily Barker & The Red Clay Halo. The Red Clay Halo is an all-female trio consisting of musicians Anna Jenkins, Jo Silverston, and Gill Sandell.

Leonard Cohen

The song of the day is Hallelujah from the 1984 album Various Positions by Canadian singer, songwriter, musician, painter, poet, and novelist Leonard Cohen. Cohen struggled with Hallelujah, writing as many as 80 versions before releasing the song. Hallelujah has been performed by almost 200 artists in various languages. Probably the best known cover is by Jeff Buckley; his version can be played here.

Kat Edmonson

The song of the day is Lucky from the album Way Down Low by singer-songwriter Kat Edmonson.

Tango with Lions

The song of the day is In a Bar from the 2010 album Verba Time by Greek band Tango with Lions with vocals by singer-songwriter-pianist Katerina "Kat" Papachristou.

Clark Kent & Yinyues

The song of the day is Cosmos by music producers Clark Kent & Yinyues (Rodolfo Franklin and Davanan Vadivelu). This remix is by Texas dubstep producer Skrux and London DJ Complexion. The original version is here.

Ember Island

The song of the day is Where Are Ü Now by singer-songwriter-producer-DJ duo Skrillex and Diplo. This version is a cover by Swedish indie-pop trio Ember Island remixed by Papermind. The original version featuring Justin Bieber is here.

Charlie Puth & Meghan Trainor

The song of the day is Marvin Gaye by singer-songwriter Charlie Puth featuring Meghan Trainor.

Loreen

The song of the day is My Heart Is Refusing Me by Swedish singer and music producer Loreen (Lorine Zineb Nora Talhaoui). The song was released as a digital download in 2011. A different version of the song was released in 2012 on Loreen’s debut studio album Heal. That version can be played here.

Cowboy Junkies

The song of the day is 1994's Angel Mine from the album Lay It Down by Canadian country/blues/folk rock band Cowboy Junkies featuring vocals by Margo Timmins. This song was included in the soundtrack of the 1996 movie The Truth About Cats & Dogs.

The Cranberries

The song of the day is 1994's Ode to My Family from the album No Need to Argue by Irish rock band The Cranberries featuring vocals by Dolores O'Riordan.

Meiko

The song of the day is Leave the Lights On by singer-songwriter Meiko.

Summer Nights

In the small hours of the morning, I awoke in darkness. I felt the night air coming through the open window beside my bed. I turned my head to look at the clock; its glowing digits indicated 2:15 AM. Through the window I could hear the sound of torrential rain.

Usually at some point during the summer, my lawn becomes brown, cooked by the summer sun and too many days without rain. That hasn’t been the case this year. My lawn has stayed green and lush from frequent rainy days.

After a while the rain ends but lightning and thunder rumble ever closer. I get up and go to the living room and turn on the TV. I have insomnia every night. I go to the kitchen and pour myself a double. I sit and sip it while watching TV. After a while, I go back to bed and back to sleep.

Morning comes; the sky is gray. I have errands to run. Drive here, go there. The sky remains gray all day. Night comes and brings strong storms: violent lightning, loud thunder. The lights in my house flicker. A few years ago, lightning hit so close to my house that the power supply in my garage door opener was burned out and the circuit breaker to my kitchen stove was tripped. I’m always mindful of what lightning can do to my house.

The power goes off for a half second, long enough to turn off the TV. The air conditioner hesitates and when it comes back on the compressor isn’t running. I know the reason: the compressor can’t start against the high head pressure that exists due to the fact it was running a second earlier, so the motor’s overload relay tripped. It needs to be off for a few minutes to let the high-side and low-side pressures equalize. My father was an air conditioning and refrigeration mechanic – it’s surprising how much stuff kids can absorb about their fathers’ vocations. I get up and turn the a/c off.

My computer is still on and I gamble that lightning won’t strike tonight. I leave it running but I light a candle, just in case the lights go off. A candle isn’t much light but it’s enough to allow me to see my way to a flashlight or to the battery-powered lantern.

An hour goes by and the storm is gone. The night is quiet again. There will be more storms tonight. Storms and heavy downpours are forecast all night and into tomorrow. After the storm the temperature falls ten degrees to 73°. I’ll open my bedroom window again tonight. Chances are good I’ll awaken before dawn again and feel the night air through the open window, hear torrential rain, and lightning and thunder will begin anew.

OneRepublic

The song of the day is Counting Stars from the 2013 album Native by OneRepublic.

Suzanne Vega

The song of the day is Luka from the 1987 album Solitude Standing by singer-songwriter Suzanne Vega. The song is written about, and from the point of view of, an abused child. (A live performance by Vega in Japan can be watched here.) Luka was an international hit. Tom’s Diner, another hit on the same album, was recorded a cappella and was remixed in 1990 as a dance track by English duo DNA.

Chlöe Howl

The song of the day is Rumour from the 2013 EP Rumour by British singer-songwriter Chlöe Howl (Chlöe Howells).

Bastille

The song of the day is Things We Lost in the Fire from the 2013 album Bad Blood by English indie band Bastille. Frontman Dan Smith said hearing a friend talk of losing all of her “physical memories” at one blow in a house fire inspired him to choose fire as a metaphor for a breakup.

The Västerbottensost Exigency

There is a small village in northern Sweden named Burträsk. In the village is a dairy called Norrmejerier that makes a hard, light-yellow cheese with tiny eyes or holes. The cheese has an excellent flavor and has been on the menu at royal weddings, Nobel Prize dinners, and famed Copenhagen restaurant Noma. The cheese is called Västerbottensost after the region of Sweden where it is produced.

Demand for the cheese is greater than the dairy can satisfy, so the dairy tried to expand production by opening a cheese-making facility in the nearby city of Umeå where the dairy is headquartered. However, the cheese produced at that facility tastes different. The dairy’s owners found that Västerbottensost cheese can only be produced in Burträsk.

The cheese has been analyzed using forensic DNA techniques, but no one has been able to explain why it can only be produced in Burträsk. Theories have been suggested: it could be the spruce shelves the cheese is left to mature on, or the microflora in the dairy building, or the length of the summer days affecting the mood of the cows, or minerals in the soil that get into the grass the cows eat and then into the milk from which the cheese is made. In fact, it might be all of those things and more.

Parenthetically, the Norrmejerier dairy in Burträsk where Västerbottensost is made was formed in 1971 when the Västerbottens Södra Mejeriförening, Skellefteortens mejeriförening and Lappmarkens mejeriförening were combined. This is one reason I love the Swedes: not only do they happily create words that are patently unpronounceable, but they also manage to squeeze in alphabet letters that don’t even exist. I can only say, “Bra gjort, svenskar!” On second thought, I’m not really sure I can say that.

Howie Day

The song of the day is Collide from the 2003 album Stop All the World Now by singer-songwriter Howie Day (Howard Kern Day).

Ella Eyre

The song of the day is Deeper from the 2013 EP Deeper by English singer-songwriter Ella Eyre (Ella McMahon).

Accidental Bigamist

In local news, a man was just arrested for having three wives at the same time. His response, in so many words, was, “I have three wives?” This was notable because not only is bigamy uncommon, but usually when a man is married to three women at the same time, it is intentional.

His first marriage ended in divorce, or so he thought; he signed divorce papers. Apparently he didn’t know his wife had to sign papers, too, or if he did know, he must have thought she signed them. But she didn’t.

His second marriage lasted only two weeks. He said he didn’t file divorce papers because he didn’t think it was a real marriage. Not real because: it lasted two weeks.

Then he re-married and his second wife ratted on him, complaining that he was already married when he married her. Now he’s sitting in a jail cell awaiting trial. He maintains he’s innocent and it’s all a big misunderstanding.

As I watched a TV news reporter interview the bigamist at a local jail, the fatuity fairly leaped off my TV screen. A misunderstanding? Sure. It’s exactly the kind of misunderstanding that can get you two to ten.

Three wives at the same time: it could happen to anyone. Right?