The bad news: our pantry was taken over by weevils. Apparently, weevil eggs are just a “normal” part of flour, and one should freeze new bags of flour for two days to kill them. Gross. Needless to say I’ve never done that. I was baking last night and noticed them in the sealed rubbermaid flour container. Then I looked in the non-sealed boxes and bags of pasta.
The old and forgotten box of large pasta shells was where the weevils had built their vast and disgusting city. It was horrifying. I literally woke up in the middle of the night and had to push the thought from my mind of those zillions of bugs crawling through countless holes in the shells.
Threw away a lot of pasta last night. Fortunately we keep almost everything else in the pantry sealed up tight. Going to start storing flour in the freezer.
And the good news: Randomly discovered that painfully enigmatic Spoon singer Britt Daniel will be performing a solo show at the end of March as a part of Noise Pop. It’s at a Swedish American Hall, presumably because he is quite clearly of Swedish descent. You bet your ass I bought tickets immediately. Holy crap. I think I need to calm down or something.
I get really excited and almost nervous about shows like this because I always worry that I won’t be able to get close enough to see very well, being that I am shorter than average. I have a bad feeling that this show is going to be very, very sold out. Yes, I will show up at 5:00 if I have to. I am just that lame. I don’t go to very many shows anymore, so you know if I am excited to see anyone playing live, it’s a special occasion.
ugh weevils! i dont even know what they look like. but i hate bugs and instantly felt invisible bugs on me when i read this. GAH.
Yeah, I didn’t know what one looked like either. Last week I saw one IN THE SHOWER with me and was like, “wtf is that?”
For your future reference, they look like very tiny black beetles. Basically ant-sized, and have two feelers in the front. When hanging out in flour, they curl up and look like black grains of rice. There, I just saved you the pain of googling.
I have seen far grosser bugs in my time, but I think the gross part is just how they LIVE IN YOUR FOOD EW EW EW.
One time Brian and I were stopped on the sidewalk by a Jerusalem Beetle crossing our path. It’s shaped much like an ant, only literally a hundred times larger. That thing was ridiculous. It crossed the sidewalk and went into the open doorway of a Mexican restaurant, presumably to order a burrito.
Britt Daniel
Jane,
You probably already know this, but Britt just moved to Portland. So you will probably be seeing him around the west coast more often. When he lived here in Austin, he played a lot of solo shows around town and throughout Texas. I think the rest of Spoon is staying here in Austin, and the band is not breaking up, but we’ll definitely miss Britt around here. Thankfully we have a saying here that is very often true: “You can move away from Austin, but you’ll be back soon.”
Re: Britt Daniel
Hi! Yes, I did read that somewhere, about Portland. The Pacific Northwest: my homeland. Hey how did you find my blog? Did you start a livejournal just to comment here? 😉 I have always considered Austin the only place in Texas where I would ever willingly travel. But I still haven’t been there.
Re: Britt Daniel
Jane,
I always read your website, this is just the first time I’ve wanted to comment on something so yes I registered with Live Journal just to say that about Britt. I’m also a huge Spoon fan, and have been lucky enough to seem them dozens of times going back to the mid 90’s.
I actually used to get your zine called Hex, at least that was the name of it I think. I always liked your writing so I’ve kept up with you online. Gee, I hope that doesn’t sound like I’m a stalker or something!
Later,
Richard/Super Secret Records
Re: Britt Daniel
You’re lucky. Not just to have seen Spoon dozens of times, but also to have gotten your hands on my old fanzine. You have no idea how much I love it when I hear from people I don’t know who actually read that thing. Did I mail it to you myself? It’s quite possible I did. Wow. Thank you. I really appreciate hearing that.
The only band I ever saw dozens of times was Unwound, and like you, it’s because we lived in the same town and they played just about every weekend.
Re: Britt Daniel
I believe I found your zine in a local record shop called Sound Exchange (RIP) here in Austin, and then yes I believe I began to order it from you directly. I can’t remember how many issues I have – probably just a few. I need to dig them out I guess.
We are getting ready for SXSW in mid March, there will be more than 1,200 bands playing official shows plus hundreds more playing day shows and parties. Spoon is playing a huge outdoor stage, they’ve gotten so big around here they are basically rockstars around here. SXSW is the ultimate music experience, you should come sometime and bring your husband, it’s a great time.
Anyway, as I said, I enjoy your writing and website. Keep it up.
Richard
Re: Britt Daniel
That’s as good a reason as any to visit Austin.
Hearing about “Hex” makes me feel old. Heh. Or maybe that’s just because I was so young when I wrote it.
cheers