Episode 56: Rainn Wilson, the King of Albania, and Eat Pay Leave
Rainn Wilson/Courtesy Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
Icebreaker: Of Termites and AlcoholWalt McClements of rising Minneapolis sextet Dark Dark Dark tells a pesky bartender joke.
Small Talk: Eat Pay LeaveJessica Coen, editor-in-chief at women’s culture mag Jezebel, takes us to a city in turmoil — Ubud, Bali. After years of balmy tranquility, Ubud has become ground zero for a tourist turf war: ravers vs. Eat Pray Love disciples, with angry expats caught in the crossfire.
A History Lesson With Booze: Otto Witte and the “King of Albania.” This week in 1959 Otto Witte, a circus performer who impersonated the King of Albania, died. We celebrate his con — or at least his imagination — with a “Ranglum” cocktail dressed up in King’s clothing.
The King of Albania, as mixed by Mata Renga of Bar Hamburg in Hamburg, Germany:
In a Boston tumbler, add:
- 6 cl. of Goslings Black Seal Rum
- 1.5 cl. of Wray & Nephew white rum
- 2 cl. Falernum spice liquor
- .5 cl sugar cane syrup
- Juice of 1 sweet lime.
Fill with ice. Shake hard till well chilled. Serve in crown-like eight-corner tumbler with a “scepter” swizzle stick adorned with orchid leaves. Behave like royalty (i.e. disregard the plight of the common man, have an affair, and stop smiling).
Guest of Honor: Rainn Wilson This weekend, The Office star Rainn Wilson is hijacking the twitter feed of the L.A. County Museum of Art. It’s part of an art project called “I Hate LACMA.” Rainn tells Brendan why he’s not really bashing art, rants about the British Office, and reflects on geese and the global redistribution of obesity.
One For The Road: Jane Birkin/Serge Gainsbourg - “L’anamour” French songsmith extraordinaire Serge Gainsbourg teamed up with his swingin’ sixties cherie Jane Birkin to record the 1969 album Je T’aime… Moi Non Plus. It’s being re-released by Light in the Attic Records on August 24th. “L’anamour” finds Serge musing on love, life and love — a cool sonic cigarette after the album’s notorious audio-erotic title track. Ooh la la.
Music On This Week’s Show:
The Sea & Cake - “The Argument”
Aphex Twin - “Boy/Girl Song”
Tipsy - “Liquordelic”
Paul Dukas - “Fanfare to ‘La Peri’”
The Skatalites - “Royal Charlie”
Art Brut - “Modern Art”
Gainsbourg/Birkin - “L’anamour”
