Saturday, July 23, 2011

Hang On Little Tomato

I love Pink Martini! I first found out about this wonderful band from my Aunt Martha! 

She called my attention to “Hey, Eugene,” a crazy wonderful funny song with its own album, and I was hooked. 

So hooked that I also now have the solo album by lead singer China Forbes.

Another favorite is “Hang On Little Tomato,” which also has its own album. On this one I hum along to “Clementine,” “Lilly” (dog or woman, that’s what I want to know!), and “The gardens of sampson & beasley.”

I love this band for 1) China’s voice 2) wonderfully various instrumentals 3) charming tunes 4) lyrics in multiple languages and 5) Eugene. (Hm, where is Eugene?)

Anyway, this is a prelude to asking you to “hang on, little tomato,” in case 1) I don’t post your comment right away and/or 2) I don’t post a new blog entry for a while.

It will be a weird, possibly incommunicado time with intermittent internet, but I will be reading 1) more Philip K. Dick and 2) other stuff. And still writing.

Also there will be a family wamily poetry reading + a big Escape Into Life party to celebrate the brief and shining life of founding editor Chris Al-Aswad.

Meanwhile the big and little tomatoes are hanging on (as on the cover of this book by Terra Brockman, The Seasons on Henry’s Farm) or falling off and being eaten, sliced or in sandwiches, as in my folks’ garden.

Possibly I will find recipes for 1) Filipino-style Chinese donuts and 2) pink martinis. If so, I will share them, so hang on!

P.S.  I finished The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, by Michael Chabon, and read the glossary! So I know that shtekeleh means “a little stick” and is indeed based on bicho bicho!

P.P.S. There are blogs about everything! Here is the Hang On Little Tomato blog. And here is a joyful blog with a Pink Martini in it.


5 comments:

Kim said...

There's a glossary? Hurrah...looking for it now!

Kathleen said...

Learning the slang from context worked pretty well!

Kristin Berkey-Abbott said...

I'm hoping that the possible intermittentness is because of good things, not bad. I will miss your daily voice, should it go away, and I'll look forward to your return!

SarahJane said...

I like Pink Martini, too, but have just one CD of theirs. It's the one with Que Sera, Sera. Good for driving.
Philip Dick? How come I don't see you doing this on Good Read? Are you undercover?
My mom started the Yiddish Policeman book here a couple years ago and abandoned it to me. Though I don't always agree with my mom on reading, I generally like her abandoned books as much as she does (i.e. not). Looking forward to your review.
Hope all's well out there.

Kathleen said...

all's well, just on an unfamiliar computer, hard to do caps, and i keep skipping letters...

I loved yiddish policemen and am reading cordwainer smith and realizing i already read him and dick in adolescence....