Came across this advertisement in my favorite food magazine this month. It's a part of a series of ads that have been running for quite some time now. It's sponsored by Traveloregon.com. Since it's a food magazine the other ads have featured Oregon winemakers, cheesemakers, farmers, and other food-oriented professionals. The skier caught me a little off guard. Then I saw the boots and started making my own connections.
Though it's not stated in the text I like the idea of linking the ancient traditions together. In this case the customs and practices that define a particular group of people. Whether it's winemaking, cheesemaking, or skiing--and more specifically and importantly Telemark skiing--the daily activities and expressions that Oregonians (we're told) engage themselves in act, in effect, to define them. In folkloric terms, this is called a worldview: "the manner in which a culture sees and expresses its relation to the world around it" (Barre Toelken).
Now, perhaps I'm reading way too much into a fairly simple series of advertisements but since the ads have tapped into pretty much everything that I hold near and dear to my heart (save for the always terrific Portland music scene), I'm sold!
My only criticism with the series is that it's fairly northwestern Oregon-centric and I'm more partial to the wide-open spaces, sagebrush, and Ponderosa pine of the eastern side. At any rate, well done Oregon!
A bit of an absence. Yes. The end of the semester turned into family visits that turned into friend visits that turned into the holidays. Oh, the holidays. I tend to disappear during the holiday season. But I'm doggy-paddling my way back and ready to start anew. So grab some Champagne and dig in.
And to welcome me back here is a tasty little treat: LCD Soundsystem's All My Friends. Song of the year? Yes. Song of the last two decades? Quite possibly. It, too, might make you feel like disappearing.
LCD Soundsystem: All My Friends.mp3
You like? You buy. Support the troops!
LCD Soundsystem at Amazon, Insound,& the website.
So there I was today, downstairs with Hank--who was pretending to be a cat--arranging my CDs--you know, putting all the "recent purchases" into their proper place--when I moved through the 'D' section. "Ah, the Drive-By Truckers, I haven't heard Decoration Day in a while. I'll take it upstairs with me and play it."
Wendy returned from work before I made it upstairs. She called to me, "There's a package for you."
Last February, we visited friends and family back home in Idaho, Nevada, and Utah. Bob and Britt live in Utah. We stayed with them and had an idyllic time as usual skiing and eating and drinking. When it came time to leave I asked Bob if I could borrow a couple CDs for the drive up to Idaho, in particular Decoration Day. I like the Drive-By Truckers but, at the time, didn't know that album. He said, "Yea, keep it. It's yours. We're not really into it." Bob is a generous person. I took it, listened to it quite a bit, and liked it. Once back in Chile, feeling that I knew and understood the album enough, filed it away in the appropriate place.
A few months ago we ran out of our Valentina hot sauce, sent to us last Christmas by my brother. For us, Valentina is a staple. Not a staple like ketchup but a staple in that it holds a special place in our gastronomic world. Valentina is from Guadalajara and we know it and we were introduced to it in Guadalajara. Unlike Tapatío (the colloquial term for someone from Guadalajara) Valentina is a common and favorite salsa in Guadalajara. Tapatío is also made in, ahem, California.
I introduced Bob to Valentina one summer when he and I worked on Wendy's family's Idaho ranch. In 2003 we built what must be the finest fence two friends have ever built.
About a month ago I sent Bob an email. We were desperate for hot sauce down here. Chile must be the most mis-named country on the planet. To the Chileans, black pepper is spicy and it's not to be taken lightly. In fact, the only condiment that is regularly featured on tables in restaurants is salt. You have to ask for pepper.
I know there is a great Mexican market not far from Bob's house. I decided to press my luck and ask if he would send us a bottle or two. As usual, Bob responded quickly, liberally, and in precise time.
From upstairs, Wendy called to me once again, "Steve, there's a package up here; it's from Bob and Britt." I smiled. I wrapped up my obsessive ordering, grabbed Decoration Day, walked upstairs, and put the CD in the stereo. The two bottles stood on the kitchen table, straight and tall, like the beginning of a perfect fence.
The Drive-By Truckers:
Sink Hole.mp3
My Sweet Annette.mp3
Outfit.mp3
Heathens.mp3
You like? You buy. Support the troops!
Drive-by Truckers at Amazon, Insound, and their website.
