more Soul Train lines

I wish we had these videos in higher quality, but hey.

War's "Ballero" for a classic Soul Train dance line:


the video, remixed:


"Dance With Me" Rufus and Chaka Kahn

Earth, Wind, and Fire "Mighty, Mighty"

Mason Jennings "Ain't No Friend of Mine" (live)

some favorite laughs

a recent round-up of things that make me laugh:


pug in the ball pit


Kristen Bell and the sloth


Pine Nuts vs Cumberbitches (Graham Norton show)


Jimmy Fallon and the Roots Soul Train parody

Ramen, again

 First, a visual tour of noodle dishes, a little overwhelming.

Ah, ramen! making it right takes a lot of time and attention to ingredients.


Lately I have been making ramen at home using a recipe from a magazine. Not the instant kind with the dubious flavor packets, but something quite easy using chuka-men noodles.

A visit to the Nishiyama ramen factory in Japan, where fresh noodles are made:


Recipe for home-made yakibuta ramen from Cooking With Dog, showing a simplified version of the days-long, labor-intensive ways to make everything from  scratch: pork broth, dashi stock, seasoned soft-boiled eggs, etc:



The right way to eat Ramen (from the movie Tampopo)

Anthony Bourdain goes to Sapporo, in northern Japan, to eat miso ramen (from his show No Reservations).


Another NHK video on ramen, this time a serious ramen shop tasting tour:

Some Totoro music

Composer Joe Hisaishi, frequent collaborator with Hayao Miyazaki for the soundtracks of his films, performs one of the themes for the movie Totoro,  "Kaze no Torimichi" (the path of the wind). If I want a cleansing cry, his music always works.

A cockatiel covers the ending theme song "Tonari no Totoro"---so sweet! what is it about this bird that is so tender?