Monday, November 26, 2012

Butter, Taj Mahal

It's true that I melted a stick of butter this evening, and baked a corn casserole. My daughter had requested this, and that I follow the real recipe, not the one I made up last time, without all that butter and sour cream, more like cornbread with corn in it. The butter recipe is better.

But butter was also on my mind because of WGLT's Poetry Radio, which paired two of my very short poems from Nocturnes--"In the style of a Japanese courtesan" and "Almost Winter"--with the song "Butter" from The Hidden Treasures of Taj Mahal, a bluesy album.

These poems aired on Thanksgiving, a buttery day, just my kind of Random Coinciday, but you can also hear them as a podcast if you like.

Little did I remember that there is a movie called Butter, about butter carving, but now I feel I must see it someday. It has Jennifer Garner in it and Alicia Silverstone. And butter!

And Hugh Jackman.

Hugh Jackman.

And little did I know, not having been there at all, let alone in the right light, that the actual Taj Mahal is known for turning yellow.

It could be carved from butter.

Thanks to Wikipedia for the stick of butter (by Steve Karg) and the Taj Mahal! Thanks to Bruce Bergethon at WGLT for taping and airing the poems. Thanks to IMDb for the movie poster. Thanks to Taj Mahal for the smooth music. And thanks to Hugh Jackman.

7 comments:

seana graham said...

Funny, I am reading a mystery by Adrian McKinty right now called Hidden River, but one of the characters hails from a home called the Tiny Taj. I suppose it goes without saying that her dad is from India.

My only disappointment about the forthcoming Les Miz film is that there are no dance numbers for Hugh Jackman to dance in. Maybe they could write some in.

Hugh Jackman is what's known as a triple threat because he can dance and sing as well as act, though in my book that would be called a triple blessing. I'm glad he'll have a happy old age because of Wolverine, but man--Oklahoma!

Sandy Longhorn said...

Your daughter is right: the butter recipe is always better! :)

Thanks for the link to the podcast. I'm saving it for after grading. And congrats on the publication.

As the Iowa State Fair is famous for its butter sculptures, I need to see the film as well. Plus...Hugh Jackman.

Kathleen said...

Seana and Sandy, I think we are now leaning (in a melting fashion) toward a butter sculpture of Hugh Jackman...

seana graham said...

Yup...

The Swamp Lawyer said...

I enjoyed the podcast link. I thought the poems and the song meshed really well. I particularly liked "Almost Winter", but then I always do like bird seed literature. Nice to have a voice with the face too.

And everything is better with extra butter!

Kathleen said...

Thanks, Swamp Lawyer! Have fun in the swamp, and say hi to the lizards and fish. Hmm, is gator good with butter, too?

The Swamp Lawyer said...

I have a personal pact with the gators that prevents me from testing that idea. But I have no doubt that gator is better fried in butter.