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I’m not really a timely writer. I don’t miss real deadlines, but I meander around my own projects rather than make sure they are done right away. For example, on my Pacific Northwest Tour reports, I left off after Bellingham and went on to other things. I’m coming back now, but –even though this is a blog and the “new media” is supposed to be all immediate and stuff – I think my entries are actually better when, like a cow, I ruminate on them awhile.

For example, my Olympia events… I could just be all, signed books at the co-op, read at a bookstores, entertained extremely drunk co-op workers, went to bed. All true. In fact that would probably be my post if I had taken pictures. Blog readers – in general — love pictures.

Instead, this entry will be a block of words. Oh well.

Grocery store events are problematic. Generally speaking, grocer shoppers are not there to buy books. Most grocery shoppers are doing a chore they wish they didn’t have to do, especially at an after-work time like the time I got to the co-op. Still their cheesemonger, Michelle Noel, took care of me and cut up some Gothberg Farms goat cheese for people to eat so I wouldn’t be lonely. I might mock it at times, but I love the Oly Food Co-op. Still, when I saw their tiny, awkward cheese cutting space I felt very appreciative for Rainbow.

The bookstore event (at Orca Books)was put on by Jon Quittner who is well know (in certain, very small circles) for his bands Mulkilteo Fairies and Behead the Prophet: No Lord Shall Live.* It was a really great event even if I screwed up the start time. I had driven the scenic route from Bellingham to Olympia and spent the first 80 minutes listening to a J Church mix CD in the rain and it made me sad and reflective. Many of those miles I had tears in my eyes.

I thought about Lance.** I thought about how he did really live his dream in many ways, packing in no-one-knows-exactly-how-many records in the years he was alive. I thought about how much I miss him. I thought about his partner and how she showed up for a book reading and I hadn’t even realized she was in town. I just reflected on the belief in humanity in his songs, how he was one of the few who could write political songs that were sweet and not arrogant or dismissive.

So, at the Olympia reading, I read the section of my book about “Cheese Cultures, Punk Subculture, and Reagan Cheese”. I dedicated it to Lance. I know that I choked up a little and I saw Jon and my old friend Becca were affected as well. Not so much the rest of the audience… I guess I didn’t express myself well enough in my dedication for the non-punks to be able to cross that gap. Oh well, those who know, know.

As I finished the reading, a few people came in at the time I had told them to come. They thought I was joking when I informed them they missed the reading. I gave them a pound of cheese each as consolation and they seemed to be ok with that. If they are reading this, sorry again!

After the reading I visited the other Oly Food Co-op location, ate decidedly non-Mission burritos, and fell asleep. This tour was exhausting!

*

** Lance Hahn, the singer, died a couple of years ago at age 40. Here was my spur of the moment obit.

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I posted a quick facebook link the other day, but the more I think about the California Milk Advisory Board (CMAB) filming in New Zealand for their “Happy Cows” (live in California) campaign, the more mad it makes me.

First off, I haven’t extensively studied the film industry in New Zealand, but if CMAB’s advertising agency is willing to have work done 7000 miles away we can assume that, compared to California standards, they are paying scab rates. In an economy that is doing worse than much of the rest of the country, it’s no wonder that state politicians are getting involved in this instance of redistribution of wealth from California to New Zealand.

CMAB is, after all, funded by a mandatory assessment on each hundredweight of milk that (cow) dairy farmers produce. That is, a government-organized program, providing no opt-out for dairy farmers who may not want to be linked with every other dairy farmer in the state (for whatever reason), must send part of their hard-earned money (at a time when dairy farms are having some of their worst times in recent memory*) 7000 miles across an ocean to people who will likely never consume an ounce of California dairy products.

While that’s annoying, there’s also the issue of potential dishonesty of filming a promotional campaign for a region, in a completely different part of the world. How does CMAB respond to this? With gibberish:

Fact 1: To set the record straight, we are not shooting Happy Cows commercials in New Zealand, we are shooting unhappy cows from all over the world auditioning to become California cows. Any ads that show actual California cows have always been – and will always be – filmed and produced completely in California.

As far as I can tell, what this means is that they are not shipping California cows to other countries to film them. Well, duh. No one said they were. This cutesy statement does not, you will notice, say anything about the how the filming of non-California cows will be used but is just a circular argument about something too cost prohibitive to consider anyway. And do California dairy farmers, who pioneered the concept of confinement dairy** really want to get into a debate with New Zealand about who’s cows are happier?

Here’s the CMAB press release. More to pick on than I can address in this entry. I should also say that I know (and respect) some of the people on the CMAB Board of Directors. CMAB has never done much for us (though I notice that they take credit for some “grocery store” jobs in their claim of dairy being responsible for 3% of California’s work force) and that’s fine, we don’t really have the same promotional needs. But I didn’t really want to pick a fight with them. As a Californian, however, this was too much to ignore.

On the other hand, they also just produced this commercial about the Giacomini family which does get to the heart of a lot of real dairy issues.

*Oh look, CMAB describes it this way: “The California dairy industry is facing its worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. The situation has been so bad that 10 percent of dairies in California have been forced to shut down and sell off their cows.” The logical conclusion of these statements is clearly to ship 10% of the budget overseas!

**One of the biggest problems with the mandatory CMAB assessment is that it takes money at the same rate from the 10,000 cow operations and the mom-and-pop ones that may have very different styles of dairy farming. The California “Happy Cows” campaign (which really pisses off Wisconsin folks, btw) makes no distinction about this and never will.

***any backchannel communication by CMAB folks or their publicity people with be considered to be submitted for publication.

Just a few more snapshots from the little book tour (btw, I’ll be downtown tomorrow at 12:30 at Alexander Books) If you are driving on 1-5 in Oregon and you don’t stop at Rogue Creamery, well, I don’t know what to say. It’s an oasis of cheese on a long, busy drive.

Look how welcoming:

Look at all that Rogue Cheese. Get a piece of each!

Don’t tell Cary and David, but I kinda miss the old logo

I never get around to checking the section on the “dashboard” of this site for what searches bring people here. But I’m proud to say that last week both “giant inflatable cow” and “inflatable foster farm chickens” were used. See how valuable those marketing budgets are?

On the way out of Seattle I grabbed an awesome Washington State, Camembert-style called Dinah’s Cheese from Kurtwood Farms. I have never met Kurt, but everyone seems to love him and he’s buddies with one of my oldest friends.

Here’s what it looks like:

And here it is in the Econolodge after reaching room temp.

Shari from the Calf and the Kid gave me a day-old loaf of bread to go with it and this was probably the best meal ever eaten in the Bellingham Econolodge. This is the real deal: rich, creamy, oniony, earthy and awesome.

I also stopped and visited the folks from Samish Bay Cheese on the way to Bellingham. We’ve been carry the Ladysmith on-and-off and I really like it as an (relatively) affordable organic fancy cheese. It reminds me a lot of the Bellwether Carmody,: fatty, satisfying, and milky.

Here’s the making of the Ladysmith:

Here’s the Ladysmith sitting around on a shelf.

And here’s Roger, the Samish Cheese guy

The farm was beautiful and Roger is doing what I would love other organic dairy farmers to do – making new, non-commodity-style organic cheese. We should be bringing a bunch in next month so if you are local, check it out.

My “Splendid Table” interview runs tomorrow. Check to see if your local NPR affiliate airs the show!

May 22, 2010 We’re learning to eat on the cheap with Christopher Greenslate and Kerri Leonard, authors of On A Dollar A Day. The Sterns have found first-rate tidewater seafood at Sting Rays in Cape Charles, VA. And Gordon Edgar, author of Cheesemonger, A Life on the Wedge explains the intersection of punk rock and cheesemaking.

More tour stories next week. I have to go to the store and buy cheese now.

In Bellingham. Need to get on the road to Olympia soon. Discovered a near disaster last night when I found that the cooler drainage hole had opened in my trunk. Thankfully, the case of books was in a safe dry space. Unfortunately my car will soon smell even more like mold than it already does. My trunk – with its naturally occurring flora — is officially more qualified to be a cheese aging ”caaaaaaav” than 90% of the warehouses used for cheese storage where cheese is later sold as “cave-aged” . Yes, I am exaggerating. A little….

Gotta run… But I just got sent a link to my book being mentioned in a cheese book roundup in the Washington Post. “The book’s most appealing feature is Edgar’s own voice, which is often funny and always devoid of pretension.” Check it out!

Hello I-5, good to see you again.