Curiously Named Locales: Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada

Photo credit: Brenda Carson

 The closest I've ever been to Medicine Hat was in the summer of 1996. I was traveling with a church group for boys called the Cadets and we were attending a Camporee somewhere in the province of Alberta. Our plane landed in Calgary and I distinctly remember not having enough money to buy a donut at the airport. Having no experience with tip-jars up to that point, but plenty with the Take-a-Penny, Leave-a-Penny trays, I reached into the nearby glass jar and pulled out enough change Canadienne to pay what was lacking. None of this has anything to do with the city of Medicine Hat, the sunniest place in Canada. Due to the extensive gas fields in the surrounding environs, it has earned the nickname of Gas City. When the city considered changing its name to Gasburg, no less than Rudyard Kipling wrote a letter to the local paper encouraging the people to maintain their unique identity: "This part of the country seems to have all hell for a basement, and the only trap door appears to be in Medicine Hat. And don't you ever think of changing the name of your town. It's all your own and the only hat of its kind on earth."

The origin of the city's name is an English interpretation of the Blackfoot tribes' word Saamis, which refers to the eagle tailfeather headdress worn by medicine men. This headdress was, depending on who you ask, either: 1) lost by a Cree medicine man in the South Saskatchewan River as he was fleeing from a battle between the Blackfoot and the Cree, or 2) the physical manifestation of mystical powers granted to a hunter in exchange for sacrificing his wife to the mythical merman river serpent, Soy-yee-daa-bee.  

Sources:
Wikipedia: Medicine Hat 
O Canada: Reasons to Love Medicine Hat

Halloween Pumpkin 2023 - Pumpkinception

 

That's Good Enough For Me by Jim Fusilli (transcript)

 That's Good Enough for Me

Cookie Monsters of death-metal music.

BY JIM FUSILLI

Wednesday, February 1, 2006 12:01 a.m. EST

While the extreme branch of heavy-metal music known as death metal is defined in part by often-vile lyrics about violence, catastrophic destruction, nihilism, anarchy and paranoia, its singing style is associated with a beloved goggle-eyed, fuzzy blue puppet.

Death-metal vocalizing is also known as Cookie Monster singing, if not in tribute to, at least in acknowledgment of, the "Sesame Street" puppet that blurts in a guttural growl, his words discharged so rapidly that they tend to collide with each other.

All this was news to people at Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit organization behind "Sesame Street." "We have nothing to do with it," said Ellen Lewis, vice president of corporate communications. "What is it?"

"It's a whole new thing to me," said Frank Oz, who originated the voice of the Cookie Monster. "I've never heard of it."

Most death-metal vocalists don't seem to mind the term. "We think it's funny," said Angela Gussow, lead singer for the Swedish band Arch Enemy and one of the few female death-metal vocalists. "We take ourselves too seriously."

The term is considered derogatory by some metal fans, but it's an apt description. Issued like machine-gun fire, death-metal vocals are low, guttural and aggressive, with no subtlety, no melody and very little modulation. But unlike the garbled sound emanating from the lovable and occasionally frenetic Cookie Monster, death-metal vocals seem to come from a dark spot in a troubled soul, as if they were the narrator's voice on a tour of Dante's seventh circle of hell. Cute and funny they ain't.

It's not easy to determine where and how Cookie Monster singing actually began. Early death-metal bands such as Death and Morbid Angel that emerged from Florida in the mid-'80s helped create the musical template that characterized the blasting sound as well as that of its Satan- and occult-obsessed sibling, black metal: fast, relentless drumming often featuring two bass drums; grinding, rapid-fire chording on guitars; squealing guitar solos; muted electric bass; unexpected sudden tempo changes; and a sense of theatricality that's inevitably threatening--"a horror film put to music" is how Monte Conner, a vice president at Roadrunner Records, sees it.

But while the vocals in early death metal are low, raspy and aggressive, not unlike the vocals by, say, Lemmy Kilmister of Motörhead, that extreme degree of Cookieness is missing.

Curiously Named Locales: Boring, Oregon

Photo credit: Boring Beer Fest Facebook page

 Somewhere between the gritty metro of Portland, Oregon, and the lonely peak of Mt Hood, lies the sleepy little town of Boring (Population: ~8000, Motto: "The most exciting place to live!"). Historically a hub of the timber industry, Boring is also home to plant nurseries and agricultural businesses. It was named for William Harrison Boring, a Union soldier and pioneer who moved to the area in 1874 and established a farm there while Oregon was still a territory. William Boring had come west to join his brother Joseph who had settled in the area in 1956. William later donated land for the first schoolhouse in the area. A rail line was built from Portland to the Boring Junction and a post office was established. The rail line was later dismantled as car traffic made the electric trolley that used it redundant. The line was then incorporated into the Springwater Corridor, a multi-use bike path that runs from the Willamette River in Portland with its terminus in the most Boring place imaginable. The family also lent its name to the Boring Lava Field which stretches from the village to downtown Portland and includes a few extinct volcanos like Mt Tabor, Rocky Butte, Kelly Butte, Devil's Rest, Larch Mountain, Powell Butte, Mt Scott, Mt Talbert, Beacon Rock and many, many more.

Sources:
Wikipedia: Boring, Oregon
Wikipedia: William H. Boring
Wikipedia: Boring Lava Field
KGW: Boring, Oregon, What's In a Name?

Curiously Named Locales: Dunmovin, California

Photo credit: Elliot Koeppel/Cali49

 On the east side of Sequoia National Park opposite of where I grew up, there was a strangely named little grease spot on the map called Dunmovin. Unlike the ominous nearby location names like Badwater, Furnace Creek or Death Valley, the name Dunmovin seems to imply content, or at the very least finality and acceptance. It conjured up the idea of pioneers as they moved ever westward, having crossed the Great Plains, toiled up passes through the Rockies, struggled through the Great Basin, only to be confronted by another formidable mountain range: the Sierra Nevadas. "This is it, we're done moving," the thirsty and cranky leader might have declared in frustration. But for a lack of imagination, this could have been a contender for the name of what became Salt Lake City. 

The town was originally named Cowan Station, after James Cowan, the Newfoundland homesteader who established it in . It initially served as a freight station for silver ingots that were being transported from the Cerro Gordo Mines to Los Angeles. Later the site of the town was moved to rest alongside US Route 395 where a store, a restaurant and a service station were established. Business was poor and by 1932 they were all closed. In 1936, Charles and Hilda King bought Cowan Station and renamed it Dunmovin. A post office was established from 1938-1941. Around this time, tourist cabins were available for travelers to overnight. Gordon and Ruth Cooper bought Dunmovin in 1961 and operated it until the 1970s saw its permanent closure and eventually its dereliction.

Sources:
Cali49.com
Beyond Nevada Expeditions
Wikipedia: Dunmovin, CA

Aglio e Olio

    Frequently when my wife comes back from a long hike, she craves red meat. Something bloody. I usually come home feeling like the Tin Man, joints in dire need of lubrication. I gravitate towards pasta and oil. The pasta was something I remember reading about in an essay from David Foster Wallace, denigrating sports drink in favor of pasta. Somewhere in an essay on his youthful tennis career, probably in the collection: A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again. The oil seemed obvious; something to lube up the joints that have been protesting after being put to their intended use. I found a recipe for a simple traditional Italian dish called Aglio e Olio, or Garlic and Oil. The girls know that when I cook I always use garlic. The one meal I made without was bland trash. Butter sauce without garlic can kiss my grits. 

Ingredients:

Garlic, one large head, divided into cloves, then peeled

Extra Virgin Olive Oil, 2tbsp + 1/2 cup

Pasta, one 16oz package 

Kosher Salt, 3tbsp + 2tsp

Parmesan Cheese, 1/2 cup + 3/4 cup

Red Pepper Flakes, 3/4tsp

Italian Parsley, 3/4 cup freshly chopped

Process:

Position rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. 

Place garlic cloves in a small, ovenproof pan and drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Toss to coat evenly.

Place pan in oven and roast until garlic is light golden brown, about 15-20 minutes. Remove promptly.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil. 

Add 3 tablespoons salt and cook pasta until al dente. 

When the pasta is ready, reserve 1 and 1/2 cups of the pasta cooking liquid for use later. 

Drain the remaining water, then set pasta aside, tossing it with a bit of olive oil to prevent noodles from sticking.

When the garlic has finished roasting, transfer the cloves and any oil left in the pan to a food processor or blender. 

Add 1/2 cup of Parmesan, then pulse a few times to combine. 

With the food processor or blender running, slowly pour in the remaining 1/2 cup olive oil and blend until mostly smooth.

Heat a skillet large enough to hold the pasta over medium. 

Add the garlic –olive oil mixture and red pepper flakes. 

Cook for 30 seconds, then add the reserved pasta cooking liquid. 

Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and add the remaining 2 teaspoons salt. 

Simmer for 5 minutes, until reduced by about 1/3.

Add reserved pasta to the skillet and toss to coat. 

Remove pan from heat, add remaining 3/4 cup parmesan cheese and parsley, then toss well. 

Allow the mixture to rest for 5 minutes so that the noodles absorb the sauce. Serve warm topped with additional Parmesan.

Source:

https://www.wellplated.com/garlic-pasta/

NB: don't pronounce the G in the name

Curiously Named Locales: Cape Disappointment, Washington

 

Photo credit: Stefanie/Smile4Travel.de

    When my father first got wind that we were visiting Oregon, he mentioned that I should be
sure to drive out to Astoria, where he had once been on a fishing trip. I remembered Astoria as the location for parts of the 80s classic The Goonies. So, we followed US Route 30 along the river through its collection of sad little towns out to the mouth of the Columbia. We drove out onto one of the piers and had a beer and some very good crab cakes, but it was there that I first noticed the bridge. Towering high above the waterfront, but dipping down so it skimmed just above the surface of the water stood the Astoria-Megler Bridge. It looked like an excellent ramp to get an '02 Honda Accord going very, very fast. 

    Zipping across the four miles of very low bridge, the longest continuous truss bridge in North America it turns out, we journeyed into Washington, up Highway 101 west into the curiously named Cape Disappointment. Still riding a wave of automotive adrenaline, we had a good laugh about the name, but it stuck in my head. What was the provenance of such a dismal choice?

    The story goes that in 1788, British fur trader John Meares came across the mouth of the Columbia, but was stopped from entering it due to a series of shallow shoals collectively called the Columbia Bar. Of note, this is one of the most dangerous bar crossings in the world and is known as the Graveyard of the Pacific. Unable to locate the river's entrance, Meares continued south, convinced that the mouth of the river was only a bay, which he called Deception Bay, and the promontory to the North? Cape Disappointment.

Sources:
parks.wa.gov
nps.gov
Wikipedia: Cape Disappointment
Wikipedia: Astoria-Megler Bridge
Wikipedia: Columbia Bar

Smile4Travel.de