the fifty states project #4: IN.

have you ever seen the state seal of indiana? it's f'n crazypants! from what i can tell, it depicts a bison fleeing from an axe-wielding maniac. i'm SO jealous. growing up in NH, all we had on our seal was a picture of the richmond, some warship from the revolutionary war. LAME. here in new york, the seal depicts liberty, justice & a river. LAME. bison + axe-wielding maniac = AWESOMESAUCE. with a state seal like that, it must be the best state in the union, right? well...not exactly. i visited the northwest corner of the state just south of chicago a few years back & even though i only saw that one corner of the state, i'm pretty sure it's not the best state in the union. it's got a lot going for it though. i mean, to the untrained eye, indiana is nothing more than sports & corn, but a closer look reveals that it's actually a land with a rich history full of famous events & people & whatnot. you know johnny appleseed? dude wasn't born in indiana, but he totally died a sudden death one day in fort wayne, IN. history!

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the musical fruit: movement #24.

the musical fruit: movement #24.
song: "persimmon song," the reverend peyton's big damn band
fruit: persimmon

although i appreciate the history behind it & the influence it's had on musicians like zeppelin & hendrix & the white stripes, i've never been a huge fan of the blues. sure i love the old timey, but that love doesn't exactly extend to music. i recently came across this new timey old timey blues trio from indiana, the reverend peyton's big damn band & surprisingly, i enjoy what i've heard so far. they're pretty durn bluesy & when i say "bluesy," i'm talkin "we've got a washboard & a steel guitar" bluesy. they've put out four albums & their latest, the whole fam damnily, which came out a little over the year ago, has a number of barnyard rompers on it, songs like "your cousin's on COPS" & "mama's fried potatoes." ROMPERS i tell you.

the last song on the album, "persimmon song," is one of the other rompers. according to a story the reverend tells in this live clip on youtube, the song came into being when en route to a gig in canada, their drummer (his brother) was turned back at the border & banned from canada for five years. the reverend & his wife, "washboard" breezy peyton, still wanted to play the gig, so they continued on. that night, they stopped in a parking lot somewhere & he started thinking about back home in indiana, where every year, they have a persimmon festival & the peytons make a prize-winning persimmon pudding. as for the song, the only lyrics i can 100% make out are "persimmon, persimmon" & "take me back to indiana," but i like it. hell, i've always had trouble understanding what kurt cobain is saying & i never let that stop me from liking his stuff. anyway, you should at least check out this live performance of the "persimmon song" amongst the vegetation in a field in some small town somewhere. it's a hoedown good time.

i'm a persimmon newbie. until the other day, i'd never tried a persimmon & i'm fairly certain that this year's the first time i've ever seen them. i was only vaguely aware of their existence as it is, even though wikipedia claims that they're a prominent part of american culinary tradition. much of the world persimmon crop comes from asia & they come in a number of varieties & shapes. the kind that i got (the fuyu) totally looks like an orange tomato & when you cut it, you gut the stem just like you would with a tomato. lucky for me, i chose wisely because while many persimmons will make your lips pucker up with sourness, the fuyu is one of the non-astringent varieties. me & that sour stuff don't always mix.  

...so i cut one into slices & split it with a friend the other night & i think it's safe to say that neither one of us thought it was a pleasant experience. it's not quite a peach texture & it's not quite a citrus texture. it's not even a tomato texture. it's just plain weird. the taste was sweet & slightly pleasant, but i swear it came with a buttery aftertaste. it may have been that my taste buds were playing tricks on me or that i had one that wasn't perfectly ripe, but it was unsettling. each time i reached for another slice, my brain would ask me "are you really sure you want another one?" & i'd be all "i guess, brain. despite the rampant weirdness, i sort of enjoy the sweetness." then i'd take a bite & wonder why i don't listen to my brain more. he knows what he's talking about at least some of the time.