The Jefferson Airplane and I

Paul Katner's recent passing made me think of my experiences with the Jefferson Airplane.

The very first time I heard Somebody to love I was sitting in a friend's convertible in North West London, tuned to the BBC, probably, when the song came on. We both looked at each other and wondered what the fuss was all about. Compared to Cream, Pink Floyd or even the Beatles it was not what we expected of psychedelic rock from America. However, another friend soon received a copy of Surrealistic Pillow from his sister in Boston. That changed everything. We played it constantly. It has remained one of my all-time favourite albums. I still play it often.

Then, one day in 1969, (I must admit I had forgotten the precise date, I only remembered that it was -- very unusually -- on a Wednesday,) I saw them perform at a free concert on London's Parliament Hill Fields in Hampstead. I found a write up about it on the Internet that is shown below as a link. It was a cloudy afternoon but The Airplane were terrific and really brightened my day. It was so poorly attended you could see them easily and just move around and get close to the group.
Great times.

Also in 1969 was the Stones famous concert in the Park. (London's Hyde Park.) I attended that naturally, and afterwards went to  a friend's flat on Tottenham Court Road where I met his flat-mate a young man studying for his Master's in Architecture. He had friends with him and we got to  talking and discovered that they had just attended the same concert, and one of the friends was introduced to me; It was Skip Spence. The original drummer for the Airplane and later co-founder of Moby Grape. The flat-mate had met him while doing research in America and Skip had flown over for The Stones concert and hooked up with his old friend. He was impressed that I knew him and of the first Airplane album that he played on. (The Jefferson Airplane Take Off, because it still had not been released in Britain.)
Such were those great times growing up in London in the Sixties.



http://www.ukrockfestivals.com/camden-Festival.html

Authentic Cuisine

I recently read an article that discussed the "authenticity" of American-Chinese cooking. It truly annoyed me. If, I a Canadian, goes to Beijing and with a Chinese friend's help cook a dish for us, is in somehow not authentic because I am not Chinese? I use this weird example because the central point was that orange-chicken and chop suey are not authentic as they are not prepared in Chinese homes usually. Both those dishes were made in America and Canada by Chinese workers who  came here in the C19th to work on the railroads. These were "adapted" dishes due to the lack of available ingredients.

When those Chinese workers were laid off after the railroads were completed. Many remained and some started restaurants which featured these dishes; and have done so for over a century. They  can also be found in the Chinese restaurants in London where I grew up. (As well as in other countries I have visited; All prepared by Chinese cooks.)

The argument for authenticity is ridiculously warped when we examine "Indian" cooking. The majority of Indian restaurants in Britain, and lots in Canada, are run by Bangladeshis, not Indians at all. The food is just what we ate in Indian. The most popular curry in Britain is Chicken Tikka Masala. This curry was "invented" in London by an Indian immigrant and copied by just about everyone else. It is featured in every cookbook on Indian cooking, printed in English, these days.

By the definitions of the article on authenticity it isn't an Indian dish, though.

Do not get me started on Italian pasta...