Friday, September 14, 2007 | by nathan

Celebrate Our State, Come On! (Summer Nights #6)

Went to the opening night of the 2007 Oklahoma State Fair last night. It was dollar night (100 cents for 100 years - geddit?), so the people watching was primo. Also, we got some lovely Cooper facetime, so that was nice. I didn’t get to have a fried Snicker, though, so I’ll have to go back sometime in the next 10 days.

Wednesday, August 15, 2007 | by nathan

Summer Nights #5: Campy Camping

Every year when I was growing up my family would take a summer vacation to go camping. I can say with some degree of certainty that I have seen almost every square inch of Colorado, as well as significant portions of Utah and New Mexico. As time went on, however, we developed a special fondness for the Sawatch Range in Colorado, and the Collegiate Peaks area specifically, which is near Buena Vista. It is like a second home to me, so much so that the novel I am writing begins there. The summer after I dropped out of Yale Divinity School, I climbed Mt. Yale, which is the only 14-er (that is, mountain with a top elevation of over 14,000 ft.) that I have summited. It won’t be the last. 

Some people think of camping as nothing but uncomfortable sleeping on the ground, swatting bugs and being bored. This really is too bad, and I suspect that the people who think of it this way have never actually done it. With modern technology it is quite possible to be comfortable and non-bug-ridden while camping. For relatively cheap you can get an air mattress that will lightly cushion you while you sleep, bug spray to keep the insects away, and there is no place to get some quality reading done like a hammock strung between to tall pine trees.

For August camping I would recommend getting to higher ground; that is, get to high-elevation areas like the mountains, as nothing ruins a great camping trip like intense heat. If possible check out Colorado’s wilderness areas, New Mexico’s canyons, or the sprawling national parks of the northern Rockies. A good friend recently went on a hike through the Grand Tetons and highly recommends it.

The whole point, of course, is to get into nature, because connecting oneself with nature is one of those invaluable things that life was made for, like reading great books, tasting great food, learning to love, and having a wonderful dog. It connects you with the great, wide-open love of God, however you define that. Just taking a simple stroll in the fresh air is a great way to learn how to pay attention to small things as they come along: hummingbirds, cool breezes, the sound of a trickling mountain stream.

Also, you can challenge yourself. Climbing a 14er is a good goal to have. If you find the right trail guides you can find some wonderful mountaintop lakes that were carved by glaciers and which hold some truly breathtaking populations of gigantic trout. These are some of the only non-polluted water sources on Earth, and nothing tastes as good as fish seared over a campfire. Find a good tent, some comfortable hiking shoes, and a big long stick. Get a camera and a good book, a hammock and a map and a sense of adventure. Get up high where the air is thin and cold and fresh, pitch your tent, bring an air mattress and lots of blankets to keep warm.

If you’re not quite up to tent camping, find a good lodge or a place with great cabins. 

Here are some of my favorite places to camp:

Hartenstein Lake, below the summit of Mt. Yale. A helluva hike, but once you get there you’ll never want to come down.

Trapper’s Lake Resort. We went here when I was a kid and I’ve never forgotten my sense of breathless wonder at the beauty of it.

Frijoles Canyon, New Mexico. My first-ever real, honest to God hike. I did this one with my dad, nephew and two brothers. It can be done in a day, but is probably best if savored over a long weekend.

June Lake, California. My uncle used to manage one of the campgrounds here before he died. You can catch crawfish as big as your hand. 

Red Rock Canyon, Oklahoma. It’s a great afternoon or all-day hike, it’s beautiful, and for me anyway, it’s close to home. Bring a cooler of beer and rent a tandem bike. 

Roman Nose State Park, Oklahoma. Another all-day hike that’s probably best in the early summer or mid-fall. Breathtaking views of the plains and some truly spectacular wildlife.  

Broken Bow Lake, Oklahoma. If western Oklahoma isn’t your deal, try this wonderful nature area in southeastern Oklahoma near the Texas and Arkansas border. Enter the park near Hochatown and you’ll be minutes from Abendigo’s, home of one of the best meals - and the coldest beer - you’ll ever have the pleasure to taste.

These are just a few of the places I’ve pitched a tent in my lifetime, but for one reason or another each holds a special place in my heart. If you have any special tent-pitching-places, let me know in comments. I’d love to try them out!

Get outdoors and enjoy the sunshine while it lasts, people. Just remember - sunscreen. Sunscreen. For the love of God, sunscreen! 

Tuesday, August 14, 2007 | by nathan

Summer Nights #4: Are You Ready To Rock?!?!

Image Courtesy IrishKC.com

August can be a time when there seems to be a dearth of entertainment. If, like me, you like television just a little, you might find that by now you’ve seen the most recent season of your favorite shows not once, not twice, but three times, between in-season reruns and summertime reruns. By August the summer blockbusters have all rolled out except for the really terrible ones, but the art movies and documentaries of the fall won’t hit for another month or two. And sure, yes, there are pre-season football games and scrimmages, but for me, knowing that they don’t carry much weight takes some of the fun out of it. August is a month when things lay low for awhile, culturally speaking.

Ooooh, except for live music. Here’s a perfect way to spend a way-too-hot summer night: go see a show. I find my love for any certain type of music grows exponentially when I see it performed live. There’s nothing quite like a blanket and a cooler of beer, sitting on some grass listening to some sweet jazz, or great old pluckin’ country. Still and all, there is a lot to be said for getting in there with the punk kids and jumping around, though lately I’ve taken to hanging out in back with the Circle of Moms (I’ll Explain that one later) and just listening.

Find what you like. Me? After seeing the FLips in Tulsa a few weeks back I’ve had my mind effectively blown for concerts, though I am seriously considering going to this:

Or, let’s say you can’t find your way clear to a concert. Let’s say you live in a town where no one you like is performing, or you don’t know where to see live music. Find your local alternative newsweekly and check it out. In Oklahoma City I’d highly recommend the Blue Door, the Conservatory, Galileo, the Diamond Ballroom or the Zoo Amphitheater. Find the great local places in your city. The best ones, like the Blue Door, have put a lot of thought and planning into acoustics and comfort, and are BYOB.

Friday, August 10, 2007 | by nathan

Summer Nights #3: Su-huuuuuuummmmer Niiiiiii-hiiiiiiiights

This playlist is for the Summer Nights Party, the single best way of enjoying the company of loved ones while waiting out an apocalyptic summer. This is all music that is wonderful for parties, especially when said parties happen in a backyard, with pitchers of gin fizz and beergaritas. As ever, click on the album covers to purchase or listen.

This is quite possibly the best party CD ever; do you own it? You should own it. It’s some of the best classics of the Motown Era, remixed with crazyfunkycool hip-hop beats by some of the best DJs of the era, including King Britt, DJ Green Lantern and DJ Jazzy Jeff - yes, that DJ Jazzy Jeff. It makes me squeal with delight to hear how well these songs of yesterday stand up to - even lend themselves to - being reformed into hip-hop tracks, like they were written with that express purpose in mind. Danceable, laughable, it’ll keep your feet moving and your party guests smiling.

Another wonderful semi-mellow, very dancey record from several years back, but which holds up well against anything out today. August isn’t the time for oomph-oomph dance music; this is anything but that. It’s wonderfully upbeat, instrumental rock-hop, wonderful as background music while everyone is sitting and eating, but also fine to move around to once the beergaritas start doing their thing.

Yes, okay? I admit it; I only checked this album out because of that really stupid Geico commercial. Butcha know what? It’s a fantastic album; again, mellow, kind, unaggressive dance music that’ll afford party guests the freedom to chill out and talk or to shake their stuff - whatever they choose.

This is one that’ll start the party amping up. People will start making new drinks, finishing their food, getting a little nuts. This cabaret-rock stuff is exactly what gay people need to be listening to more of, and the Dresden Dolls are cabaret-rock at their best.

Ohhh, so it’s not that kind of party, eh? Things starting to get a little more amped up? Now the food’s all gone and you’ve just mixed up a couple more pitchers. Great! Just make sure you have a good veggie plate and some chips and dip sitting out so that people can drive home at the end of the night, and turn up the volume with stuff that’s sure to get people moving:

Dame Shirley’s new album is a wonderful mix of new and old material. The new material, including the title track, a fantastic, diva-licious reimagining of Pink’s 2001 hit, is the most fabulous thing I’ve heard in a long time, something drag queens will be doing for centuries. The first single, "The Living Tree," sounds like one of Dame Bassey’s countless Bond songs with a modern twist, but my favorite track is NorthxNWest’s remix of Dame Shirley’s 1963 hit "I Who Have Nothing." For when the cheese really gets turned up on your party, the last track is "I Will Survive."

Okay, now. I won’t hear a word spoken against Madonna; she’s as good now as she’s ever been. Possibly better. This album is great for amping up the party action a little bit, just like it’s great on the treadmill at the gym. This one is a personal favorite because it recalls so much of where Madonna came from: the post-disco era of early 1980’s New York City, where the rock kids were getting down to ABBA after their Alvin Ailey dance classes, but it also sounds current and robust. Fuck it, you know what? It’s got a beat and you can dance to it. If you’re too cool to shake your thang to a little Madge, then you might not enjoy my party.

This one is for when the party’s starting to wind down, when people are retreating to dark corners to make out, or to recover. The best way to listen to this album? Rip it to your computer, delete the dreadful, career-killing single "One of Us," and listen to the rest of the album from beginning to end. It’ll bring everyone back down to earth while still giving them a great blues-rock album to groove to, with Joan’s indelible voice grinding down their buzz like sandpaper, until it’s something smooth and they’re thanking you for a great party.

Thursday, August 9, 2007 | by nathan

Summer Nights #2: Fire It Up

So, you’ve got your drink in hand and maybe at the end of a day you’re feeling a bit peckish. There’s plenty of daylight, still, and you’ve got some friends coming over; what do you do? You fire up the grill, of course.

Brian is the griller in our house, but you cannot grow up in Oklahoma and not know a thing or two about cooking meat over an open fire. Around our house we use mostly wood chips instead of charcoal, as it adds a richer, more robust flavor to whatever we’re cooking. To expedite the whole process of getting the fire as hot as possible as quickly as possible, Brian uses a chimney starter, which looks a little something like this:

It ensures that all the coals are equally hot and bright so that one piece of meat, sitting on the left of the grill, is not raw while another is burnt. Grilling has long been known to be the healthiest form of cooking, especially when one is talking about meat, but it’s probably also the most delicious. Shake it up; try some different things.

One of my favorite things to grill out is skewers, which can also be great fun for your guests. Get several different colored vegetables at the store; things that cut up easily and cook great. I usually get yellow, orange and red bell peppers, zucchini, and pearl onions, the kind that come in a small bag. Pearl Onions are a must, because they provide that really wonderful sweet onion flavor, but are bite-size, so you don’t have to murder your eyes and sinuses trying to cut them up.

[Skewers are fantastic also if you have vegetarian friends, as it is something you can grill out without making them feel left out. When my friend Bryon lived with me the summer after our senior year of high school, we made "veggie kebabs" almost every single night on the grill].

So you cut up your meat into 1-inch cubes, and arrange each ingredient in a bowl. Lots of color makes the dish visually appealing. Drizzle them with a little olive oil and, if you like, throw some bay leaves onto each skewer for a bit of extra taste. You might also try rubbing the meat with Emeril’s Essence Spice Mixture, which you can make at home:

2 1/2 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried thyme

Double or triple the recipe as needed and keep it in a tupperware container with your spices; it keeps nicely. Rub it on any meat you grill for some extra twang that should prove very popular with your guests. Experiment with different types of meat, especially if you’re doing skewers. Chicken, lamb, and shrimp are my personal favorites, though nothing beats a nice, juicy steak or hamburger cooked on the grill. (Emeril’s mixture also folds nicely into a hamburger patty). For the health conscious among you, use ground turkey instead of beef, and rub some ears of corn with chili powder and lime juice before grilling it.  

So, now you’ve got your pitcher of gin fizz and your food. I’m going to throw in one extra drink recipe for you, in case you’re no fan of gin. This one is a for-sure crowd pleaser, but you have to make absolutely sure that you’re pacing yourself. Or, barring that, that you’re not wearing shoes when you inevitably start dancing on the dining room table. This drink is known as the Beergarita.

Girl Con Queso had a wonderful Beergarita recipe back in February, but the one we use is a bit different; Brian got it a few years ago from a professor, and it’s never let us, or any of our guests, down. Unless you count the hangover. I also submitted this one to Salon’s Cocktail Contest:

It’s very simple. You simply get a container of Minute Maid Limeade Concentrate - the frozen stuff in the tube in your grocery store’s freezer section. Empty it into a pitcher, then take the empty tube and start filling it with tequila. The recipe says to fill it all the way up with tequila, though my rule of thumb is, "Fill it until you get scared." Most people stop at about 3/4. Then, you add one 12-oz. bottle of your favorite Mexican (it has to be Mexican) beer; our poison of choice around here is Dos Equis, though Corona will work in a pinch, and Shiner Bock is acceptable but not ideal. Repeat these instructions until your pitcher is full, and stir until the frozen limeade concentrate is melted. Pour over ice or with ice into a blender for blended margaritas.

It’s a pretty stout mixture, to be sure, so pace yourself. At any rate, you now have two types of drinks in pitchers, and a whole lot of really wonderful food. I do believe we have a party, kiddos! What better way to spend a long, hot, miserable, mosquito-ridden August night than with a really great party? In honor of our wonderful party, I’ve created a new August playlist of music that I enjoy during summer cookouts.

Wednesday, August 8, 2007 | by nathan

Summer Nights #1: Gin Fizz

Have I mentioned I hate August? It’s my least favorite month by far. It’s always the month that ruins summertime for me, because it’s frantic, and too hot, the days too long. It’s always when all the momentum from the beginning of summer peters out and you’re left feeling like you accomplished nothing you’d have liked to, not had as much fun, not lived as well and as deeply as you could’ve. 

So, as the summer winds down, I’m going to do a short series on wonderful ways to continue to enjoy the hot weather. One is, of course, via getting shitfaced drunk, like I did last weekend, on gin fizz. If you’re sick, like I am, of gin and tonic (of tonic in general, to be honest), this is a wonderful, spritzy, light drink that’s perfect for those nights watching the Perseid Meteor Shower, swatting mosquitoes, playing tired games of fetch with the dog or sitting and talking with friends. Here’s the recipe, which I am also sending in to Salon’s "No More Gin and Tonics" contest :

1 part gin

1 part lemon juice (freshly squeezed is best, but from a bottle will work in a pinch)

1 tsp confectioners’ sugar

club soda

Shake gin, lemon juice, and sugar together and strain over ice. Fill with carbonated water, and serve. You may garnish with a citrus twist or mint leaf. 

NOTE: I’ve made pitchers of this before, and it’s wonderful to serve in large quantity, as it - ahem - does the trick rather quickly and tastes delicious. However, if making in a pitcher do not greatly increase the amount of confectioners’ sugar. Otherwise you basically have a 7th grade science fair volcano. Mixing drinks is all about chemistry, you know.