Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Signed 'Meet the Beatles' sells for $115,000


Dude, a Meet The Beatle cover signed by all four Beatles as a gift for George Harrison's sister has sold at auction for more than $115,000.

The sale, to an unidentified buyer, was believed to set a record price for a signed Beatles album purchased at a public sale, said Mark Zakarin, president of the online auction company ItsOnlyRockNRoll.com.

The exact price, with the buyer's commission, was $115,228.82.

Bidding began at $25,000. The copy of "Meet The Beatles," the band's first U.S. release on Capitol Records, was put up for sale by Harrison's sister, Louise. The sale was held Friday.

Harrison wrote above his signature: "To Lou with love from 'Brother'!!" John Lennon's inscription read, "To Lou many love from John Lennon X." Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr expressed similar feelings when all four signed the album cover while aboard a train to Washington for a 1964 concert.

Hmmm. I think I need to talk to AllState...

That's crazy money for a signed lp.

Michael

Monday, December 25, 2006

RIP JB & Get Well PW


James Brown, the singer, songwriter, bandleader and dancer, who indelibly transformed 20th-century music, died early today at Emory Crawford Long Hospital in Atlanta, where he been admitted on Saturday with pneumonia, his agent, Frank Copsidas, said. Mr. Brown was 73 years old and lived in Beech Island, S.C., near the Georgia border.


And almost equally sucky - Paul Westerberg severely injured his left hand and could be sidelined for a year, according to a blog posting from Jim Walsh, a Minneapolis writer and friend of the former Replacements lead singer.

"A week or so again he put a screwdriver through his left hand trying to get some wax out of a candle and cut some nerves and ripped some cartilage and hurt himself pretty bad," Walsh reported. "He's in a cast. He's seen a couple of doctors who say he won't be able to play guitar for a year."

A spokesperson for Vagrant, for which Westerberg records, did not respond to a request for comment.

The injury comes on the heels of a very productive 2006 for Westerberg. Aside from scoring and providing the soundtrack to the animated film "Open Season," he also reunited with his Replacements colleagues Tommy Stinson and Chris Mars for the first time in 15 years to record two new songs for the Rhino retrospective "Don't You Know Who I Think I Was? The Best of the Replacements."

I Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!

Migwell

Westerberg Photo by: Christian Lantry

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Monday, December 18, 2006

A Perfect Tiki Room Martini


The Perfect Tiki Room Martini is an elusive thang, no doubt. But it's simpler than you may think. Read on...

First and foremost, at least for me, is cranking up Superchunk's Martinis On The Roof...

Ahhh, That's Right. Now that that's playing in the background we're good to go.

The trick to the perfect Tiki Room Martini lies in the vermouth. More specifically, it's the LACK of vermouth.

Hardware:
Shaker (preferably metal, although plastic will work too)
Large Martini Glass
Refrigerator (seems obvious, I know, but it's important)
Olive Spear

Software:
6 oz Gin or Vodka
A splash of Dry Vermouth
Olives (1 to 3 is traditional) or Lemon Peel
Ice (cubes will work, crushed is better)

Ahead of Time:
Start by refrigerating your vermouth for the amount of time it takes for the bottle to get cold (at least an hour). I'll explain why in a bit. Chill a Martini glass in the refrigerator or the freezer for about 10 minutes. You can go for less time, but we like our Tiki Room Martinis at the lowest possible temperature.

The Mixing:
Take the glass out of the fridge/freezer and pour a small amount of Vermouth into it. Here's the important bit: swirl the vermouth in the glass so that the sides of the glass are coated. DISCARD THE REMAINING VERMOUTH. Spear an olive or two, and put it in the glass. Pour your gin or vodka (gin is better) into a shaker over copious amounts of ice. Shake the living crap out of it. Seriously, shake it like a revival preacher shaking the devil out of a sinner. Strain into the glass, and you're good to go.

Technically you're supposed to eat the olives first, but I won't tell if you don't.

Some Explanation
The reason for refrigerating your vermouth is so that you don't warm your glass when you swirl with it. I know it seems like a waste of good alcohol to toss the vermouth remaining in the glass, but trust me, it makes the end result so much better, that it's well worth it. I suppose you could save it, since it's barely even touched the glass, but that just sounds strange to me.

Also, the reason crushed ice is better than cubes is that the surface are of the crushed ice is significantly greater than that of the cubes (like a heatsink in reverse). Greater surface area equals greater cooling power.

Variation
Now, having said all that, my person favorite variation is to replace the olives with a lemon twist. Take a small twist of lemon rind, rub it around the edge of the glass, throw it in, and pour the gin over that. My wife Chrissy and Tiki Room regulars Tina and Tish really dig their Tiki Room Martinis Dirty with a hit of olive juice.

Brands
Not to start a flame war, but here are my favorite brands of spirits for use in martinis. I prefer Beefeater gin to all others. As for vodka, Skyy is my personal favorite, as I find Absolut has too much bite for my taste. And Grey Goose does not suck.
Man, I could use martini right now.

Cheers!

Migwell

Check out the Martini ©FlashThang we did for this years Tina Toast Christmas Party:
A Tina Toast
Concept, Design, Illustration: HMK, Programming: Erik Arredondo and James Lewis. Music: Zigo.



Also thanks to zaxus for the martini details.

Friday, December 15, 2006

Christmas Rewind


I've been a little slammed this December with, you know, life, work and the usual, so this is kind of a lazy post - but a not so lazy post if you're new to Necessito La Music!

Last year I made it through the entire month of December, each and every day, posting some of my favorite and obscure Christmas gems.

If you missed it, fear not and behold the beauty and power of the blog!

Here's a day by day posting of last December's goodies all on one page - and like most things that proove worth while, you're usually best off starting at the bottom (of the page!)

Enjoy and Happy Chistmas!

Take Me Back: Audio Stcking Stuffers!

Peace,

Migwell

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

The Bridge Of Stolen Bicycles


WARNING: This new video, The Bridge Of Stolen Bicycles, from John Dufilho and HMK Archives, for reasons unknown, might be considered disturbing to some.

Some report feelings of deja-vu while others discuss having trouble sleeping for days due to flashbacks following the initial experience.

Please proceed with caution.

Thank you,

Migwell

And also for your consideration...

My Circuits Are Blown