Silviu Flamenco - live Friday night in the 'Boro

Murfreesboro, get ready for the a rare performance by Silviu Ciulei's Flamenco band - "Tequila."

There sure is a lot of guitar playing going on here in Middle Tennessee but there is only one real-deal flamenco guitarist/singer around here - that's MTSU's award winning Silviu Ciulei from Romania.

Silviu Flamenco Live

Mellow Mushroom
2955 South Rutherford Blvd
Murfreesboro, TN
Friday, Nov. 2, 2007
9:00 pm

check out these clips from a gig last year -

William's YouTube Debute - Concerto soloist with the Tennessee Philharmonic

Three movements from the Joaquin Rodrigo Guitar Concerto - Fantasia para un Gentilhombre
William Yelverton - Guitar Soloist

Danza de las Haches, Canario, and Españoleta
(Amateur video recorded with a pocket Canon SD900 digital cam)

Coffee: You want the best?? This is it.

Aay mon.... the shipment's comin' in.... from Jamaica, just a few more weeks... it's really good shit. The best!

The best coffee in the world. (It better be for $80 a pound). Peet's is once again offering for sale their special reserve Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee., from one of Jamaica's oldest estates.

Peet's offers this rare coffee just once a year and last year, they sold out in 2 days. They have a larger supply this year, but it might only last a week or two. It is sold by the half pound at $39.95.

There are probably a lot of counterfeits and lower quality Blue Mountain blends. Believe me, not all Jamaican Blue Mountain is this good. Peet's explains -->

Peet's

Jamaica Blue Mountain will ship only on Wednesdays starting November 7, 2007.
Jamaica Blue Mountain is subtly complex with a smooth texture, generous aroma, nuanced flavors, and perfectly balanced body and acidity. There are stringent regulations around what coffees can be called Jamaican Blue Mountain. The coffee producing area of the Blue Mountains is tiny, and just a few Estates now produce the old-style quality and mild, aromatic flavor which made this origin so famous. Our pick is worthy of the name - 100% pure, grown on Estates dating from the 1800s, and processed by hand in a plant from the same era. It’s the combination of the unique regional conditions - rich soil, lofty altitude and cool mists - along with meticulous quality control in processing that makes this such a prized coffee.

The interesting thing about Jamaica Blue Mountain, is the perfect coffee to drink black with a dessert or piece of chocolate. The stronger I brew it, the richer it tastes. Even when I've brewed it strong, it never tastes bitter. Last years coffee was awesome.

And I drink so little coffee, maybe one or two cups a week, I've been able to make 1/2 pound last a year. I have other coffees, but once in a great while, like tonight, I drink the Blue Mtn. I've got my order in, hope this years was as good as the last.

As a daily tea drinker, Peet's Assam Extra Fancy is the good stuff. $48 / lb. and worth it. A pound lasts a long time.

Big Time Saturday Night in Bill's Kitchen - Roasting Vegetables: Bill's Recipe

What an exciting Saturday night! Sitting home alone writing grants and roasting vegetables. (Hey, at least I'm not roasting marshmallows). For all you vegetarians and healthy eaters, here's a recipe straight from the kitchen at Bill's TN Paradise:

Roasted Vegetables:

Peel three cloves of garlic and put in mortar with a tbsp of kosher salt and grind to a paste with pestle. Add Italian spice mix, 5 pepper mix, and 4-5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, 1 tbps lemon juice, and 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar. Grind until almost smooth. (The mortal and pestle is indispensable!)

Cut up vegetables. Soft vegetables like yellow squash, bell pepper, and zucchini in big chunks. Root vegetables like potatoes, yams, and carrots in smaller chunks. I also used whole mushrooms, onions, asparagus, red bell pepper and whole brussel sprouts.

Mix the vegetables the garlic olive oil mixture and put in a pan with a a quarter inch of water.

Bake at 400 degrees, for 30-40 minutes, stirring every 12-15 minutes. Broil at the end for 10 minutes to finish.

Tasty, yum, good food. Yea, this is what I eat, and yea... I can cook.

You know, if I ate now like I did when I was 17, the burgers, fast food, processed food, dairy, etc... now at 40 something, I'd certainly be overweight, maybe obese. I'm in my 16th year as a 'vegetarian with occasional seafood.' Some call it 'pescaterian,' but that sort of implies a fish-based diet which is not what I do. For me it's 90% fruits, vegetables, and nuts. I love bread, grains and some dairy, but have been avoiding them almost completely. This and exercise has helped me stay about the same weight as when I graduated high school at age 17 - harder to do nowadays in my 40s than it was 10 years ago.

Live well. Peace.

Weather nut fantasy - driving into the center of a tornado

While we're on the subject of weather, I really like the Tornado Intercept Vehicle (TIV) designed to drive into the center of a tornado. It's equipped with a rotating turret and an IMAX film camera. Sounds like fun, aye? A F-5 tornado would most certainly trash this thing like a tin can but maybe it could survive an F-2 or weaker tornado. Personally, I think it needs a more stout ground stabilzation system, the hydraulic claws don't look like they'd cut it. If I had designed the vehicle, I'd have made it off-road capable with a superior anchoring system. Perhaps a system that would actually be able to drill or penetrate the ground in a wide stance (a la Larry Craig). If we contracted the military to produce such a research vehicle, we'd really have something. Maybe something built around the design of an Abrams tank.

Watch these guys in their pursuits on the Discovery Channel's Storm Chasers show.

A similar weather nut project I've often dreamed of was to film a hurricane storm surge. An ideal place to do that would be the Cape Florida lighthouse. A 150 year old lighthouse on Key Biscayne that has survived dozens of hurricanes, including a direct hit by Hurricane Andrew.

Someone should write a grant to do this!

Tornado Outbreak Underway in TN, KY tonight

This is a screen shot from my GR Level 3 Radar program

A major tornado outbreak is underway. At 8:00 pm there were 12 tornado warnings and 26 severe thunderstorm warnings from Michigan to TN.

A line of severe storms with mesos (rotating thunderstorms) is lined up and approaching the TN River, crossing TN. Storms will be in Middle TN later tonight!

Very exciting stuff!!

TN Tornado Watch - celebrating the energy in the air

From the NWS: Tornado Watch 722 remains in effect until 1100 PM CDT for much of Middle and West TN.

Can you feel the energy in the air? The warm tropical air, the south wind, the moisture... man, I LOVE IT. Even the guitar sounds great in this weather. It's been too long since I heard that tornado siren at MTSU go off, too long since I stayed glued to my GRLevel3 radar program, the festive atmosphere that severe weather brings. Yes, I'm a weather nut, can you tell?

As a storm chaser, I've not photographed my Holy Grail, a tornado ... yet. The above photo of a wall cloud I took last year along Woodbury Highway is the closest I've come. The tornado eventually touched down and killed a man in Canon County.

I do worry about damage, I live in a house surrounded by 100 ft tall oaks and could lose my boat, vehicle, pool or part of my house if one of these trees were to fall. I know the risks but something primal gets me excited with the energy of an approaching cold front and the feeling in the air. I just love it. Seeing that there is a lake wind advisory, I wish I was out on my boat right now.

As of 4:30 pm there are sparse rotating thunderstorms developing over western KY and AL that have produced Tornado Warnings. Hold on to your hat, it should be a fun night, fellow weather nuts.

The Weather Underground provides my favorite internet nexrad radar of TN

5:00 pm UPDATE: It looks like a significant tornado outbreak is developing. There are now several tornado warnings reported in these states - MO, MI, KY, AL, IN

The main energy producing these storms has yet to move over Middle TN. The front will pass mid day on Friday. Here is the latest NWS discussion:

BEST CHANCES FOR SEVERE WEATHER IN MID TN WILL BE THIS EVENING
FROM 8 PM CDT - 2 AM CDT WITH THE MAIN HAZARD BEING DAMAGING
STRAIGHT LINE WINDS. PARAMETERS WILL REMAIN SUITABLE FOR ISOLATED
TORNADOES THROUGH THE PERIOD. GUSTY THUNDERSTORM WINDS ALONG WITH
GRADIENT WINDS WILL LIKELY BRING DOWN A FEW TREES OR LIMBS THIS
EVENING...ESPECIALLY DROUGHT WEAKENED TREES. A LAKE WIND ADVISORY
WILL REMAIN IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM FOR GUSTY GRADIENT WINDS. WINDS
MAY BE STRONGER LATER..BUT SHOULD BE CONVECTIVELY INDUCED OR JUST
ALONG THE FRONT ITSELF. AT 2 PM CDT...THE SURFACE FRONT EXTENDED
FROM A LOW PRESSURE IN MN DOWN INTO MO AND NORTHWEST AR THIS
AFTERNOON. CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP AND FILL IN
AHEAD OF THE BOUNDARY OVER WEST TN AND WEST KY LATE TODAY. THIS
FRONT WILL SWEEP ACROSS MID TN WITH WIDESPREAD SHOWERS AND STORMS
BETWEEN 06Z- 12Z FRIDAY.

First 90 degree October day in 27 years in Nashville

Tomorrow's record high of 91, is also the forcast high. Glad I don't have to work. I'll be sittin' by the pool. Cool down is on the way for later in the week.

No more boat visits to Burgess Falls?

Visiting Burgess Falls by boat


One of my favorite destinations, a true paradise. Visiting Burgess Falls on Centerhill Lake on my 24' Sea Ray cruiser was like having a home in paradise. I would often go on a weekday and have to place to myself and my guest(s). Now such visits may be a thing of the past. I had heard (by a communication from a marina owner) that Centerhill Lake is being drawn down to a level below 620' for a period of 6 years. To get a boat under the falls requires a minimum depth of around 645', to get within hiking distance, about 639'. I'm glad I went up there this year. It was great, as clean as I've ever seen it.

For a boater, Burgess Falls is a natural air conditioner, a constant wind and spray is generated by the falls. Sometimes I'd stay there all day, even take a nap in the boat or watch a movie while enjoying the breeze coming through my cabin hatch. I always anchored the boat and swam to shore to hike up to the middle falls where you can walk behind the falls on a hot day and also up to the observation deck.

This spectacular boating destination I will sorely miss if the lake is in fact drawn down for 6 years. I hope perhaps some heavy rain might swell the lake at some point to make the falls accessible again. It was a great part of Bill's TN Paradise.

(H/T: Chris)

The Honda Civic - the finest designed car ever

Rebuilding the old Honda

When I slightly wrecked my '89 Civic Hatchback I thought about buying another car. Well, I didn't.

Even though it's got 195,000 miles on it, I decided to fish around in junkyards and rebuild it. I couldn't find many acceptable used parts so I bought mostly aftermarket parts including a new hood. No, I doubt I'll go to the expense of painting the black hood the right color, it runs well and gets 38 mpg. That's all I need it to do. I don't need it to be all the same color.

I was disappointed when Honda changed the Civic Hatchback in 2001 to a 2.0 liter sport coupe with much less fuel economy compared to the 1.5 liter engine in my car. Civic Hatchbacks are one of the most sought after used cars on earth. Probably because they run forever and are so well designed. The model design looked very similar for years up until that unfortunate change in 2001.

This car could run forever, probably needs a new timing belt/water pump/ cam seal but, maybe next month.

Honda Civics of all types have consistently received high marks and have lasted longer than most cars. The Civic Hatchback is one of the most copied car designs in history. Even BMW makes one very similar.

Long live the Civic Hatchback DX.