hot dog stuff

To Rococo Rot, Music is a Hungry Ghost
Various Artists, Music Out of Place
Yo La Tengo, President Yo La Tengo/New Wave Hot Dogs

There is a lot of useful information about writing in the interview with John McPhee in the next-to-most-recent Paris Review but the little phrase of which I cannot let go describes a quality he finds in writing he does not like: "Hot dog stuff." It took a couple re-readings to really know whether hot dog stuff is a good thing or not. The answer is not, but what a great term for things that detract from greatness.

More moody small-informs-the-big, big-becomes-small, post-rock mumble-rumblings.
Another science museum picture.
It's a circus up in here.
A circus with great hot dogs.