Episodes

Episode 71: Sally Hawkins, Fossil Follies, and Chinese Thanksgiving


This week: UK movie star Sally Hawkins crows about her new film… we unearth the missing drink… and Brendan has an early Thanksgiving in Chinatown. Plus, a joke from Procol Harum’s Gary Brooker, and a new track from A-D-D D.J. Girl Talk.

Icebreaker: Procol Harum’s Gary Brooker
Gary Brooker — founder of prog-rock godfathers Procol Harum and the man behind “A Whiter Shade of Pale” — works blue.

Small Talk: Swarthy Ski Masks, Visual Vending Machines & Turkish Taxis
The folks at Marketplace regale us with some news stories you might’ve missed. Like the booming trade in bearded ski-masks.

Radio listeners heard Sean Cole, Marketplace’s reporter in Toronto, tell us why some Canadians are writing love letters to themselves.

A History Lesson With Booze: The Holy Grail of Fossils and “The Piltdown Daisy
In 1912, English fossil collector Charles Dawson claimed to have found evidence of the ‘missing link’ between apes and humans — people called it “Piltdown Man”. This week in 1953, news broke that the only thing “missing” from Dawson’s discovery was even a single grain of truth. Hear the story, then pull a hoax on your mind with this Piltdown-themed cocktail:

“The Piltdown Daisy,” as unearthed by Ryan Chetiyawardanah, bartender at 69 CoIebrook Row in London, longtime home of the fake missing link.

In a shaker over ice, add:

  • 60 ml. Pisco
  • 10 ml. lime juice
  • 15 ml. lemon juice
  • 15 ml. sugar syrup
  • 6 mint leaves

Shake and pour into a cupette glass. Add a dash of soda and (if you’re feeling highly evolved) a few drops of Angostura bitters. Present it to your tablemates as “the missing drink,” and watch them believe you after downing a few.

Guest of Honor: Sally Hawkins
British movie star Sally Hawkins won a Golden Globe award for her lead role in Mike Leigh’s film Happy Go-Lucky, and she’s currently on Broadway in a revival of Shaw’s Mrs. Warren’s Profession Her latest star turn is Made In Dagenham, the true story of a group of UK auto-workers who paved the way toward equal pay for women. Sally tells Rico about the inspirational nature of milk (and Milk) and why humankind should fear crows.

Main Course: Chinese Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is coming, and with it the inevitable boring turkey… unless you buy it in Chinatown. Brendan heads over to L.A.’s Chinese quarter — the home of the tasty phenomenon known as Chinese BBQ turkey — to dine at Hop Woo restaurant. How many non-traditional takes on the holiday bird can he sample? A lot.

One For The Road: Girl Talk – “On and On”
Ex-DPD Guest of Honor Gregg Gillis (a.k.a. “Girl Talk”) storms back into the limelight with All Day – another mindblowing mashup of pop, hip-hop, classic rock, and all beats in-between. Example: “On and On,” in which the ghost of Biggie Smalls dukes it out with Cream. Best listened to while downloading the whole dang album for free.

Music On This Week’s Show:

Sea & Cake – “The Argument”

The Wedding Present – “Signal”

Link Wray – “Jack The Ripper”

Tipsy – “Liquordelic”

Knuckles O’Toole – “Oh You Beautiful Doll”

Courtney Tidwell – “The Missing Link”

Rob Crow – “Deep Sleep”

David Cosby – “Wild Turkey”

Girl Talk – “On and On”