Friday, December 21, 2007
a labe of squab
The thursday night prix fixe at the Waterboy was delicious as usual. The only SLIGHT disappointment was that contrary to the usually verging-on-too-slow three hour pace of the meal, I think they had a ton of reservations before and after us, so our four course meal clocked in at about an hour. We weren't rushed exactly, I was just enjoying myself so much I wanted the experience to last longer. Man, Rick Mahan has an undying dedication to serving squab which I admire. Especially since it's a somewhat difficult meat. He served our tonge-shaped (well, OK, it looked more like a labia than a tongue) portions of squab breast rare as hell. I went there with him because I trust him, but the people on the awkward date next to us did not seem pleased. He served it on top of toast which contained a mixture of foie gras and squab liver! Smiller overheard the people on the left of us namedrop security guard Bill from the Tower, which was cool. I might go to Tuli Bistro today for lunch. JM, any verdict on it yet?
Thursday, December 20, 2007
see you next year
All right, Aioli, you've messed with me for the last time! I'm sick of you never having all the wines by the glass that you list (despite the list being relatively short), which is really no big deal, but what makes me mad is that each server invariably suggests something that's not at all like what I just ordered. It's like they think they can shove any old crap my way. They do this every time. Then, when we ordered white, he just poured it into the giant red wine goblets that were already on our table rather than bring us other glasses. Our server last night was brusque and condescending. He tried to bust our chops because the four of us ordered a bottle of wine and three plates of food. This was at nine o'clock and his tables weren't exactly all full, so what does he care? He almost elbowed one of our party in the face. He gave us the bum rush before the restaurant was officially supposed to be closed. I guess I'm making us sound like a bad table and that I'm being picky, but anyone who eats at Aioli knows that they have some rotten apples with their servers. It's too bad because I like the place.
Man, the Taylor's market meat counter is crazy around the holidays. They have duck, goose, capon, rabbit, pheasant, and many more exotic creatures. I've been ending up at Taylor's like every day recently and I love it there. Everyone is so friendly, especially the wine guy. They really need to get a numbering system at the butcher case, though, if you're not on your toes some fat cat will cut in front of you in a second.
I won't be around much until next year, so see you then!
Man, the Taylor's market meat counter is crazy around the holidays. They have duck, goose, capon, rabbit, pheasant, and many more exotic creatures. I've been ending up at Taylor's like every day recently and I love it there. Everyone is so friendly, especially the wine guy. They really need to get a numbering system at the butcher case, though, if you're not on your toes some fat cat will cut in front of you in a second.
I won't be around much until next year, so see you then!
Monday, December 17, 2007
grandmas, rejoice!
The Bananas were ON FIRE MUY CALIENTE yesterday at the elegant Silk Bar in Del Paso heights. Do not miss your chance to see them on New Years because like a fine wine, they just keep getting better, and like an aged cheese they just keep getting moldier rinds (not to mention the occasional whiff of ammonia).
I hesitate to share this with you because I want to be the sole guardian of this secret so that I can impress people with my pie crust, but I am by nature a person who cannot keep a secret, so I have to share with you that the soulless robo-cooks over at Cook's Illustrated have for real, created a recipe for the easiest to work with and flakiest and best pie crust ever. The secret ingredient is vodka! Cuz you know how pie crust is a war between moisture and tender flakiness? I personally will always err on the side of flakiness, usually by adding very little moisture and not mixing very vigorously, and subsequently I have ugly pies that are a real trauma to roll out. When I read this recipe I was sooo skeptical. Making pie crust in a food processor? Grandmas everywhere are gnashing their teeth. But they swore that the addition of vodka eliminates the problem of too much water making it tough and they are totally right! It's amazing. The dough is so nice to roll out, it really is like playdough. No stress, beautiful pies and the crust has big shattery flakes. My modifications would be to take out the sugar and double the salt, because I like a salty crust. Here's the link.
I hesitate to share this with you because I want to be the sole guardian of this secret so that I can impress people with my pie crust, but I am by nature a person who cannot keep a secret, so I have to share with you that the soulless robo-cooks over at Cook's Illustrated have for real, created a recipe for the easiest to work with and flakiest and best pie crust ever. The secret ingredient is vodka! Cuz you know how pie crust is a war between moisture and tender flakiness? I personally will always err on the side of flakiness, usually by adding very little moisture and not mixing very vigorously, and subsequently I have ugly pies that are a real trauma to roll out. When I read this recipe I was sooo skeptical. Making pie crust in a food processor? Grandmas everywhere are gnashing their teeth. But they swore that the addition of vodka eliminates the problem of too much water making it tough and they are totally right! It's amazing. The dough is so nice to roll out, it really is like playdough. No stress, beautiful pies and the crust has big shattery flakes. My modifications would be to take out the sugar and double the salt, because I like a salty crust. Here's the link.
Friday, December 14, 2007
un-break my circle, say you'll love me again
Sorry, dudes that I don't have much exciting stuff to write. Did you know the Bananas have a show tonight at Gilman? It's the Abi Yo Yos last show. They played with the Bananas at their first show many moons ago, and they requested that the Bananas play their last show. May the circle be unbroken. There is also a somewhat funny show on sunday in Del Paso Heights. It's supposed to be from noon until eight. It's light-rail friendly. It's Crime, a band partially made up of kids of the guys in Crime (there's that unbroken circle again), the bananas, the four eyes, no admission (singer-take my advice and stop singing like that), and others.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
thumbs up
I give Control the thumbs up. This is a clip from Tony Wilson's TV show that was recreated for the movie. On the youtube page for this people were saying that the Killers version is better! There are so many great, influential songs in the movie and then Anton Corbijn blows it at the end by including a Killers cover of a Joy Division song! Anyway, tonight's the last night it plays.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
favorite scene
The Werner Herzog ranking over at Moviecityusa reminded me of Cobra Verde, which reminded me of my favorite part of it, and because we live in the internet age this scene can be found quickly on the internet. Well, part of it, it goes on a for quite a while longer, but there's some bare-breastedness involved. Check out how badass this singer is.
whose interest? whose community?
It's interesting to me that Heyamoto gets her chops so busted for her column yet Anita Creamer can write about "gym rage" and all the comments are like "great article".
This article freaks me out. So Fargo was quoted as saying "this community wants to see more housing". Who exactly is saying that? Really, who? Presumably it would be people who want to move here but can't find housing? Are there people like that? I doubt if it's people who can't afford to buy a house cuz that's me and I can't afford nor would I want to live in any of the new housing, especially since it all seems to cost as much as buying a pre-existing house downtown. So if it's not people like that then it would have to just be developers who stand to make money from building the housing. Who are hardly the "community". How about the reporter framing the dissenting comments as a "parade of interest groups" taking "cracks at the development". That's not really neutral reporting language, is it? Isn't Thomas Enterprise the largest "interest group" of them all?
This article freaks me out. So Fargo was quoted as saying "this community wants to see more housing". Who exactly is saying that? Really, who? Presumably it would be people who want to move here but can't find housing? Are there people like that? I doubt if it's people who can't afford to buy a house cuz that's me and I can't afford nor would I want to live in any of the new housing, especially since it all seems to cost as much as buying a pre-existing house downtown. So if it's not people like that then it would have to just be developers who stand to make money from building the housing. Who are hardly the "community". How about the reporter framing the dissenting comments as a "parade of interest groups" taking "cracks at the development". That's not really neutral reporting language, is it? Isn't Thomas Enterprise the largest "interest group" of them all?
curse you, Davis
I have been sick and grumpy as hell. Eating one of the worst meals I've had this year last night at the Dos Coyotes in Davis sure didn't help. Curse you Davis! We needed to eat before heading to Winters for the Jonathan Richman show (should have just eaten in Winters) so I tried something that dos calls a "Ranchero burrito". Coldish tomato soup on your cold chicken burrito, anyone? What? No takers. Weird. Anyway, I'm glad I rallied and went to the show because it was rad.
Here are some cruddy pictures that I took just so you could see how cool the new Palms is. I didn't want to use a flash to take pictures of Jonathan Richman. What a wonderful venue! I hope there are more shows that I want to see there. J. Rich was in a great mood. He was probably stoked to have a crowd that wasn't yakking away the whole time. You could have heard a pin drop for most of it so he played and sang very quietly a lot of the time. He did a kinda medley of "corner store" and "old world" and now that he's a bit older (although still looking handsome) it really choked me up to hear him bid goodbye to the old world. He played for an hour and half and it really flew by. He's the best.
Here are some cruddy pictures that I took just so you could see how cool the new Palms is. I didn't want to use a flash to take pictures of Jonathan Richman. What a wonderful venue! I hope there are more shows that I want to see there. J. Rich was in a great mood. He was probably stoked to have a crowd that wasn't yakking away the whole time. You could have heard a pin drop for most of it so he played and sang very quietly a lot of the time. He did a kinda medley of "corner store" and "old world" and now that he's a bit older (although still looking handsome) it really choked me up to hear him bid goodbye to the old world. He played for an hour and half and it really flew by. He's the best.
Monday, December 10, 2007
stocking stuffer idea
Please don't ask what led me here, but someone is auctioning off a K/S slash fanzine on ebay.
Boring day. I'm excited to see J. Rich. (no I will not call him jojo) at the Palms tomorrow. Yeah! No Ironsides crowd talking over his quiet songs! This man is a LIVING LEGEND. He deserves respect. Hopefully he will not play I was dancing at the lesbian bar.
Boring day. I'm excited to see J. Rich. (no I will not call him jojo) at the Palms tomorrow. Yeah! No Ironsides crowd talking over his quiet songs! This man is a LIVING LEGEND. He deserves respect. Hopefully he will not play I was dancing at the lesbian bar.
Friday, December 07, 2007
Christmas jams
We went out into the pouring rain to buy our tree last night (at the savemart on folsom-we tried to buy from that local-owned lot on folsom but the trees were all like 85 bucks! this one was twenty), and I got into the Christmas spirit. So I know it's a little early, but I'm going to post videos of some of my favorite Christmas jams!omg! Kate Bush looks batshit crazy in this one? I love how she gets all sexy even though it's a christmas song with no sexy lyrics. She's practically giving that chair a handjob.
I think I posted this one last year, too. I think when George Michael says "special" that just might be my favorite single word uttered in any song ever. It's my ringtone right now.
Unfortunately this one just has a fan-made slide show, but still, one of the greatest Christmas songs ever, even though I can't agree with the sentiment of wishing it was Christmas every day.
The most rockin' Christmas song ever. Man, that caveman guy in Slade is so crazy looking. He looks like a little kid who got ahold of the scissors.
The best part of this one is the synth riff and the nice sentiment. Simply having a wonderful Christmas time. No big deal.
Here's the only traditional one on this list. People like this for the novelty of David Bowie and Bing Crosby doing a duet, but it's actually a rad version of this pretty crappy Christmas song.
Thursday, December 06, 2007
embrace thai thai
Happy Hannukah! I wish I could post a picture of my hannukah bling. Yes, I said bling, even though HC declared a moratorium on the term after her mom used it. I had a nice hannukah dinner the other night, and man, are potato latkes good or what? People should eat them all the time for breakfast, not just on holidays. Here's an awesome recipe, they're really easy (except for the frying, which is kind of a pain):
1 lb potatoes
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 to 3/4 cup olive oil
Accompaniments: sour cream and applesauce
PreparationPreheat oven to 250°F.
Peel potatoes and coarsely grate by hand, transferring to a large bowl of cold water as grated. Soak potatoes 1 to 2 minutes after last batch is added to water, then drain well in a colander.
Spread grated potatoes and onion on a kitchen towel and roll up jelly-roll style. Twist towel tightly to wring out as much liquid as possible. Transfer potato mixture to a bowl and stir in egg and salt.
Heat 1/4 cup oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking. Working in batches of 4 latkes, spoon 2 tablespoons potato mixture per latke into skillet, spreading into 3-inch rounds with a fork. Reduce heat to moderate and cook until undersides are browned, about 5 minutes. Turn latkes over and cook until undersides are browned, about 5 minutes more. Transfer to paper towels to drain and season with salt. Add more oil to skillet as needed. Keep latkes warm on a wire rack set in a shallow baking pan in oven.
the key is the wringing out with the towel, you have to get all the water out. wring out the onions, too. and keep the heat up pretty high, but try not to let the oil smoke.
I need to reiterate, if you haven't been to Thai Thai Express in Pacific Rim plaza on stockton blvd, you really need to go! Unless your go to dish is pineapple fried rice and you're not into branching out. Their pad thai is really good if that's your dish. The other day we got the Thai Thai tom yum, and it has beef liver in it, along with other meats. The beef liver was ground and seasoned and it was so good! Not scary at all. They also often have pork giblets in their soups, which just seem like regular pork and shouldn't keep you from ordering the dishes. I love their papaya salad so much. They put salted crab, dried shrimp, and roasted peanuts in it.
1 lb potatoes
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 to 3/4 cup olive oil
Accompaniments: sour cream and applesauce
PreparationPreheat oven to 250°F.
Peel potatoes and coarsely grate by hand, transferring to a large bowl of cold water as grated. Soak potatoes 1 to 2 minutes after last batch is added to water, then drain well in a colander.
Spread grated potatoes and onion on a kitchen towel and roll up jelly-roll style. Twist towel tightly to wring out as much liquid as possible. Transfer potato mixture to a bowl and stir in egg and salt.
Heat 1/4 cup oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking. Working in batches of 4 latkes, spoon 2 tablespoons potato mixture per latke into skillet, spreading into 3-inch rounds with a fork. Reduce heat to moderate and cook until undersides are browned, about 5 minutes. Turn latkes over and cook until undersides are browned, about 5 minutes more. Transfer to paper towels to drain and season with salt. Add more oil to skillet as needed. Keep latkes warm on a wire rack set in a shallow baking pan in oven.
the key is the wringing out with the towel, you have to get all the water out. wring out the onions, too. and keep the heat up pretty high, but try not to let the oil smoke.
I need to reiterate, if you haven't been to Thai Thai Express in Pacific Rim plaza on stockton blvd, you really need to go! Unless your go to dish is pineapple fried rice and you're not into branching out. Their pad thai is really good if that's your dish. The other day we got the Thai Thai tom yum, and it has beef liver in it, along with other meats. The beef liver was ground and seasoned and it was so good! Not scary at all. They also often have pork giblets in their soups, which just seem like regular pork and shouldn't keep you from ordering the dishes. I love their papaya salad so much. They put salted crab, dried shrimp, and roasted peanuts in it.
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
the 'tis' schnoz
I don't have a lot to say today. I'm in mourning because Ashley Tisdale got a nose job. Here's a funny video of Tyvek that I found on the American Apparel blog. Yes, I will stoop that low in my internet surfing. Well, it's not really Tyvek, it's Kevin and some dude, but they're wearing short shorts.
Monday, December 03, 2007
december 2007 (oh what a night)
The Finches have a new holiday song that's fucking great. They also have a show coming up in Sac.
Saturday night. Oy. I started it off at the Big Tomato press book release thing at Old Soul. There were a ton of peeps and I played a game trying to figure out if one of them was Mike Dunne. There was free local wine, and I hadn't really eaten anything and if you haven't noticed most local wines are so strong that they go straight to the dome. The revolution wines guy was there, and his zinfandel wasn't that bad. I told him that it was lighter than I expected. Then I tried a bogle wine that was like a cup of hot jam. Too much alcohol!
This is the lady who wrote the kids book on Delta and Dawn. It was probably too loud inside for the little kids to hear, but her book seemed to be selling the best after.
Then we went to the Bows and Arrows opening. I can't seem to keep my wallet shut when I walk in there, especially since I was less than sober, so I bought a dress that Olivia was trying to warn me was too large, and indeed it is. Drunken shopping! We got a couple of Coors out of the ice chest and headed to R5 for the midtown monthly event. I was excited to to see teen punks No Admission, but the singer ruined it for me with his precise, emo punk singing style.
So, this night at the Distillery was the 27th annual (!) N-men christmas party. This is some local historical skating thing that I have never heard of?!? Can someone explain this to me? It's related to the Midtown Monthly cover story, right? I haven't had a chance to read it yet, but all the skater bros were browsing the issue. They had a band playing old punk covers and the singer was pretty rad but a pit developed quick and my foot got totally stomped out so I was like "lates".
Saturday night. Oy. I started it off at the Big Tomato press book release thing at Old Soul. There were a ton of peeps and I played a game trying to figure out if one of them was Mike Dunne. There was free local wine, and I hadn't really eaten anything and if you haven't noticed most local wines are so strong that they go straight to the dome. The revolution wines guy was there, and his zinfandel wasn't that bad. I told him that it was lighter than I expected. Then I tried a bogle wine that was like a cup of hot jam. Too much alcohol!
This is the lady who wrote the kids book on Delta and Dawn. It was probably too loud inside for the little kids to hear, but her book seemed to be selling the best after.Then we went to the Bows and Arrows opening. I can't seem to keep my wallet shut when I walk in there, especially since I was less than sober, so I bought a dress that Olivia was trying to warn me was too large, and indeed it is. Drunken shopping! We got a couple of Coors out of the ice chest and headed to R5 for the midtown monthly event. I was excited to to see teen punks No Admission, but the singer ruined it for me with his precise, emo punk singing style.
The Four Eyes ripped it up except when they sang "Feliz Navidad" which is the worst song. They revealed their new theme song, which is "Rag Doll" complete with lots of scatting from Joel. 
This short chick seemed to dig them.
Then it was off to the Distillery to see the Pizzas. Really, really good. So many pizza jokes, my favorite of which was "River deep dish, mountain pie". A super fun band. I sat there racking my befuddled brain for pizza jokes, and they don't come easy.
So, this night at the Distillery was the 27th annual (!) N-men christmas party. This is some local historical skating thing that I have never heard of?!? Can someone explain this to me? It's related to the Midtown Monthly cover story, right? I haven't had a chance to read it yet, but all the skater bros were browsing the issue. They had a band playing old punk covers and the singer was pretty rad but a pit developed quick and my foot got totally stomped out so I was like "lates".
Friday, November 30, 2007
chicago fire pizza
I ate there last night. It is cavernous inside and too loud. They were blaring christmas carols which you could barely make out over the talking. It was pretty packed. Our server was good, he handled the whole waiting 40 minutes for the deep dish to be done perfectly be spacing out our order well. I like how they have cheap family style salads and if you order one they just bring however many plates your party requires. The Caesar was all right, I'm not really into Caesar salad. I didn't detect any anchovy. I know most people don't like it, but I think if you're going to offer a Caesar you should at least give people the anchovy option or it's not really a Caesar. After that we went to a thin-crust vegetarian pizza, which was terrible. ADK said it was like a roller rink pizza and she hit the nail on the head. The deep dish Chicago fire combo was delicious, however. The tomato sauce is really fresh tasting and the sausage tasted like high quality Italian sausage. OK, now for the inevitable Zeldas comparison: the crust at Chicago fire is lighter, and I prefer the heft and pie-ness of Zeldas. I would say the pizzas are slightly different and both equally delicious, however the ambiance of Zeldas (yes, even with the "rude" servers) puts Zeldas over the top for me. I am a Zelda lover, but I don't eat pizza that much and I only go to Zeldas maybe twice a year, so I don't have some big Zeldas agenda in saying that. Oh yeah, the super cheap brew is an extra point in Zeldas favor, too, because Chicago fire only has crappy brew but it's like 4.25 for a pint.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
the saturday to end all saturdays
Just yesterday I was all "ho hum, nothing going on this weekend, no big whoop
and then bambambam I found out about way too many things going on on saturday. I got invited to some book release thing at old soul, and one of the books coming out is a childrens book about delta and dawn!
And then Bows and Arrows is having their grand opening and I'm thinking I might buy that deadstock space savers brand purse that I foolishly passed up twice on the grounds that it would immediately get really dirty. Hmmm.....I guess there's also a "flashlight party" at the townhouse on friday where they're going to cut all the lights at midnight? Sounds dangerous.
And then the really big deal is the R5/Midtown Monthly event and fund raiser thingy at which a buttload of great local bands are playing!
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
people are so mean
I was reading this blog, because I like it, and the writer of it knew the poor girl who fell and died downtown a couple of days ago. His hurt at reading those stupid fucking comments on the sacbee website is reason number 1,008,674 that they should not include comments on their news stories!! And it sucks that Mike Rafter is being jumped on because the reporter called him and asked who knows what and then framed his comments to make him look insensitive.
However, I must say I approve of Breton using the phrase "lots of homeless dudes" in this article. I think that as the law stands, unfortunately eminent domain CAN be used for crap like putting in a mall, but that wasn't the original intention for it's use. I hope that someday the supreme court will set that straight. I guess it will have to be after Clarence Thomas dies.
However, I must say I approve of Breton using the phrase "lots of homeless dudes" in this article. I think that as the law stands, unfortunately eminent domain CAN be used for crap like putting in a mall, but that wasn't the original intention for it's use. I hope that someday the supreme court will set that straight. I guess it will have to be after Clarence Thomas dies.
what's a juggalo?
I'm sitting here listening to bone thugs on my pandora.com radio station (have you guys made a station, it's amazing! they play songs that surprise and delight me constantly) and I was reminded of the astonishing vice magazing article about the juggalo convention at which the bone thugs played. you have to read it! hope the dirty ads don't get you in trouble at work. This is my ICP favorite lyric quoted:
What is a Juggalo? Well he ain’t a phony / He’ll walk up and bust a nut in your macaroni / And watch you sit there and finish up the last bit / Cause you’re a stupid-ass dumb fucking idiot.
There was just a new yelp of Akebono, so I thought I'd put in my two cents. I was prompted to go there by Mike Dunne's mention that they have ramen. The more ramen I eat, the more respect I have for Edokko II's ramen, because it must be damn hard to get it right. I got the shoyu ramen at Akebono. The broth was bland and thin. The dish was uninspiring, and not that filling. I was still hungry after I finished the bowl. At edokko II I can rarely finish my bowl, and I usually eat the leftovers for lunch the next day, for the same price. And not because it's giant, it's just really rich and complex tasting and filling. OK, and fatty and salty, I'll admit it. That's how I want my ramen to be.
Now pandora is playing tupac. thumbs up! It's cool that they play the unedited versions and not the radio edits.
What is a Juggalo? Well he ain’t a phony / He’ll walk up and bust a nut in your macaroni / And watch you sit there and finish up the last bit / Cause you’re a stupid-ass dumb fucking idiot.
There was just a new yelp of Akebono, so I thought I'd put in my two cents. I was prompted to go there by Mike Dunne's mention that they have ramen. The more ramen I eat, the more respect I have for Edokko II's ramen, because it must be damn hard to get it right. I got the shoyu ramen at Akebono. The broth was bland and thin. The dish was uninspiring, and not that filling. I was still hungry after I finished the bowl. At edokko II I can rarely finish my bowl, and I usually eat the leftovers for lunch the next day, for the same price. And not because it's giant, it's just really rich and complex tasting and filling. OK, and fatty and salty, I'll admit it. That's how I want my ramen to be.
Now pandora is playing tupac. thumbs up! It's cool that they play the unedited versions and not the radio edits.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
breaking the tripe barrier
does anyone out there like menudo? i want to get into it, but i'm afraid. I've never ordered it. if you like it, where's your favorite place to get it?
also, are g and j balls back from ireland? what was the food like. gballs wrote something on the indiechicks about a lymph-containing blood pudding she had?
also, are g and j balls back from ireland? what was the food like. gballs wrote something on the indiechicks about a lymph-containing blood pudding she had?
Monday, November 26, 2007
happy hmong new year (yesterday)
I'm bummed I missed out on the Hmong New Year celebration at Cal Expo, but this year it fell right on thanksgiving and there was just too much other stuff going on. I already marked it on my 2008 calendar so I'll go if I'm even alive by then.
Have any of you ever been to or even noticed Kobasic's candies waaayyy out on Riverside Blvd? They have a lot of handmade candies there, truffles, bars, bark, etc. I was riding my bike to the Pocket yesterday (which was really fun!) and I saw it and went in. I get peanut brittle and English toffee and it was fucking good. They have cute boxes and stuff for those who like to give candy as a gift. Blow off Sees and get your gifts here!
Here was the sunset over the river on the way home. Too bad the stupid bike trail keeps getting blocked off at points due to the city not owning all the stretches of levee.
I was craving spicy soup so we went to Korea house. I got the pork and kimchi soup. It was pretty good, but smiller's sea bass soup had the exact same broth and vegetables and I think that's a little lazy of them. The panchan was great and as usual there was one I'd never had before, that one with the black beans there. The beans were really chewy and dense and had a salty, licorice-y flavor. It's really hard for me to get a handle on Korean food. I love the bbq, I know that. But the food is kinda pricey so I shy away from trying new things that I might not like. The menu at Korean house had a ton of short descriptions of dishes that sound intriguing, but I know they are leaving something out. Like "cold noodles with spicy sauce" for 10.99. There's got to be more to that! I want to branch out from the standard short ribs and bibimbap but I don't know where to start.
,
Have any of you ever been to or even noticed Kobasic's candies waaayyy out on Riverside Blvd? They have a lot of handmade candies there, truffles, bars, bark, etc. I was riding my bike to the Pocket yesterday (which was really fun!) and I saw it and went in. I get peanut brittle and English toffee and it was fucking good. They have cute boxes and stuff for those who like to give candy as a gift. Blow off Sees and get your gifts here!
Here was the sunset over the river on the way home. Too bad the stupid bike trail keeps getting blocked off at points due to the city not owning all the stretches of levee.
I was craving spicy soup so we went to Korea house. I got the pork and kimchi soup. It was pretty good, but smiller's sea bass soup had the exact same broth and vegetables and I think that's a little lazy of them. The panchan was great and as usual there was one I'd never had before, that one with the black beans there. The beans were really chewy and dense and had a salty, licorice-y flavor. It's really hard for me to get a handle on Korean food. I love the bbq, I know that. But the food is kinda pricey so I shy away from trying new things that I might not like. The menu at Korean house had a ton of short descriptions of dishes that sound intriguing, but I know they are leaving something out. Like "cold noodles with spicy sauce" for 10.99. There's got to be more to that! I want to branch out from the standard short ribs and bibimbap but I don't know where to start.
,
heartbeeps
Not to be a grumbly curmudge, but the bike ride wasn't quite as fun this year. It was a beautiful day, as usual. There was a good turnout. I don't know what it was, but part of it was definitely the route we took. It didn't go through very many city streets and it didn't feel as anarchic as usual. I guess that's necessary to keep people from getting arrested, but riding on the bike trail is just not as fun.
This guy was serving up raw oysters, they were really good. Beer and oyster breath at ten am? Not a great combo.
To each his own, but there were too many dudes dressed like pimps or wearing afro wigs or something. Pimps=thanksgiving=bike ride? I don't get it.
That guy in the purple was a Kings themed pimp. As the head said, after we discussed how many furry tophats were in the crowd-"this is the most 90's crowd I've seen since the mid-nineties". Sac is hella nineties, which is cool
Here's the ride. There was a lot of bellringing and fun, somehow it just felt a bit lackluster. It was funny when some big guy whose car was made to wait because we rode past acted like he wanted to fight the bike ride. At the end of the ride I feel asleep in the grass for awhile. I had a hangover by three, which was not helped by watching Heartbeeps
Monday, November 19, 2007
t-day b ride?
I'm sure no one is checking this late, but for those who care, Calvin Johnson is playing a house show tonight at 20th and N. Before you sneer, just think back to how great Beat Happening was and turn that sneer into a light smirk.
It almost time for the bike ride that cannot be named. I'm quite excited. Are you going?
An unforseeable catastrophe involving the Bananas and the recording of background vocals kinda caused me to miss the Heather Klinger benefit show, so I STILL have not seen the Pizzas. Weak. However, I just discovered that you can donate through paypal, and also order Heather's zines and comics and stuff. Jed, follow the link.
It almost time for the bike ride that cannot be named. I'm quite excited. Are you going?
An unforseeable catastrophe involving the Bananas and the recording of background vocals kinda caused me to miss the Heather Klinger benefit show, so I STILL have not seen the Pizzas. Weak. However, I just discovered that you can donate through paypal, and also order Heather's zines and comics and stuff. Jed, follow the link.
Friday, November 16, 2007
show of shows
I'm really excited for that house show tonight. It supposedly starts at eight. It's at J and 23rd, on J. I really hope there are not actually 5 bands playing, that doesn't seem possible. And don't forget the benefit with the excellent ohsees and Pizzas at 918 Douglas ave in Davis at seven on saturday. Don't forget!!
Thursday, November 15, 2007
let's conduct a test
In an article on the murder of Satender Singh at Lake Natoma, the Bee allowed someone to make this comment:
Send both groups home.
Fiji Islanders? Russians? The US doesn't need any more ethnic groups moving here. This nation has become a garbage dump for the rest of the world and the days of needing or wanting more immigrants is long gone.
5 out of 15 people rated this comment helpful. the bee comments board is serving as a haven for racists to air their views in a legitimizing (if that's a word) forum. This isn't about free speech, this asshole is free to write these things but as I've said a bunch of times before, the Bee DOES MODERATE these comments, and does not allow obscenity or off-topic comments (no matter how innocuous). Someone approved this comment, and also this one from this same guy:
Dozens flee scene of major cockfighting raid
DNWyatt at 4:11 PM PST Thursday, July 5, 2007 wrote:
DNWyatt
Legal or illegal, this is part of the Hispanic culture they are so proud of. Isn't diversity great? This country is now like a jammed sewer line that needs to be flushed out and emptied right back to Mexico. Let the organizers and fans of cockfights take knives and fight each other and show that famous machismo bravery. The survivors could then graduate to become gang leaders
I decided to conduct an experiment. I have posted a few comments on this article. to try to see what the bee's criteria are (is?). i of course shudder to write anything racist, but i got as close as i could get. i think probably none will get in because i submitted them all under the same name, but i encourage you to submit some and tell me what they were. here are mine:
What a great article.
Thanks for this useful story! The Bee is the best fucking paper around!
nice picture
man, that guy in the picture is sexy. i'd really like to show him a thing or two about a thing or two, if you get my drift.
This article is great except for the fact that it was written by someone with a foreign sounding name. That makes me feel angry and fearful.
Send both groups home.
Fiji Islanders? Russians? The US doesn't need any more ethnic groups moving here. This nation has become a garbage dump for the rest of the world and the days of needing or wanting more immigrants is long gone.
5 out of 15 people rated this comment helpful. the bee comments board is serving as a haven for racists to air their views in a legitimizing (if that's a word) forum. This isn't about free speech, this asshole is free to write these things but as I've said a bunch of times before, the Bee DOES MODERATE these comments, and does not allow obscenity or off-topic comments (no matter how innocuous). Someone approved this comment, and also this one from this same guy:
Dozens flee scene of major cockfighting raid
DNWyatt at 4:11 PM PST Thursday, July 5, 2007 wrote:
DNWyatt
Legal or illegal, this is part of the Hispanic culture they are so proud of. Isn't diversity great? This country is now like a jammed sewer line that needs to be flushed out and emptied right back to Mexico. Let the organizers and fans of cockfights take knives and fight each other and show that famous machismo bravery. The survivors could then graduate to become gang leaders
I decided to conduct an experiment. I have posted a few comments on this article. to try to see what the bee's criteria are (is?). i of course shudder to write anything racist, but i got as close as i could get. i think probably none will get in because i submitted them all under the same name, but i encourage you to submit some and tell me what they were. here are mine:
What a great article.
Thanks for this useful story! The Bee is the best fucking paper around!
nice picture
man, that guy in the picture is sexy. i'd really like to show him a thing or two about a thing or two, if you get my drift.
This article is great except for the fact that it was written by someone with a foreign sounding name. That makes me feel angry and fearful.
first things first
First things first, the tapping of the beaujolais cask and the ten percent discount at 58 is tonight. I tried to go by yesterday but no dice.
Second things second-I checked out Bows and Arrows last night, intending to just be there 5 minutes to get a gift certificate and I ended up being there for over and hour and buying a kitchen table and a handmade dress, and smiller got two pairs of shoes. The place is insanely rad! I didn't expect it to have so much good shit. Now I just have to try to sell some stuff to get some credit there.
Third things third-the English Singles have been added to that friday house show!!!
Fourth things fourth-I went to Oz Korean BBQ for the first time in over a year yesterday. That place has gotten really weird. In addition to the flatscreens and signed Kings stuff, etc., they have made a real effort to make their menus accessible and not scary by making up English names for the dishes, like calling a seafood soup Korean cioppino. And they have like chicken finger appetizers and shit. It gives it a weird vibe. Our server was really awesome but I really had very little idea what she was saying or what we had ordered until it came to the table. The confusion centered around us trying to order one of the expensive soups that said that it was for two. Turns out it's in a giant cauldron and is really for like 4 or 5. And then we somehow ended up ordering two plates of bbqed meat (pre-bbqed, we didn't sit at the table). One was a kind of plain, thinly sliced beef that I liked a lot on the lettuce with the salty bean paste. I think the other was bulgogi, but it was too sweet for me and not spicy enough. Too much like beef with KC masterpiece on it. It annoyed me that the server warned us about the spiciness of everything and then it wasn't spicy at all, and I'm not some kind of macho "bring on the spice" person. The seafood in the soup was not very high quality and the broth was bland. The one really interesting thing was that there were tons of these gray pods floating in the soup that looked like eyeballs. I felt brave for biting into one before I knew what it was. It had liquid inside and something hard. I asked the server and she said there's no western name for it, but that it was in fact some kind of kelp that you don't eat but that the prize is the soup squirting out in your mouth when you bite down. Crazy! I found the pods to have a light soapy or perfumey taste, in addition to the fishiness of the soup.
Second things second-I checked out Bows and Arrows last night, intending to just be there 5 minutes to get a gift certificate and I ended up being there for over and hour and buying a kitchen table and a handmade dress, and smiller got two pairs of shoes. The place is insanely rad! I didn't expect it to have so much good shit. Now I just have to try to sell some stuff to get some credit there.
Third things third-the English Singles have been added to that friday house show!!!
Fourth things fourth-I went to Oz Korean BBQ for the first time in over a year yesterday. That place has gotten really weird. In addition to the flatscreens and signed Kings stuff, etc., they have made a real effort to make their menus accessible and not scary by making up English names for the dishes, like calling a seafood soup Korean cioppino. And they have like chicken finger appetizers and shit. It gives it a weird vibe. Our server was really awesome but I really had very little idea what she was saying or what we had ordered until it came to the table. The confusion centered around us trying to order one of the expensive soups that said that it was for two. Turns out it's in a giant cauldron and is really for like 4 or 5. And then we somehow ended up ordering two plates of bbqed meat (pre-bbqed, we didn't sit at the table). One was a kind of plain, thinly sliced beef that I liked a lot on the lettuce with the salty bean paste. I think the other was bulgogi, but it was too sweet for me and not spicy enough. Too much like beef with KC masterpiece on it. It annoyed me that the server warned us about the spiciness of everything and then it wasn't spicy at all, and I'm not some kind of macho "bring on the spice" person. The seafood in the soup was not very high quality and the broth was bland. The one really interesting thing was that there were tons of these gray pods floating in the soup that looked like eyeballs. I felt brave for biting into one before I knew what it was. It had liquid inside and something hard. I asked the server and she said there's no western name for it, but that it was in fact some kind of kelp that you don't eat but that the prize is the soup squirting out in your mouth when you bite down. Crazy! I found the pods to have a light soapy or perfumey taste, in addition to the fishiness of the soup.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
mantles in sac
That show last night at Delta was a good time, and it was also probably the first show that I've ever been to that started on time (nine o clock) thanks to the excellent Warm Streams. Joshua Ploeg is a sassy frontman extraordinaire. Mayyors tore it up, but they took a jagillion years setting up which was trying my nerves a little bit. That was partially because Jay Reatard was late. I really liked the singer, but I thought the live sound was a little too metall-y for my tastes. I'm listening to them right now and I see that recorded they don't sound metallic at all. In fact they sound great. I was home by midnight, which I really appreciated on a weeknight. Thanks again, DJ Rick. You're the best.And speaking of the best, there is a benefit show for Heather Klinger and her bf this saturday. They were victims of that recent Q street fire, and as the flyer says, they only got two pairs of pants! So dig deep into your pocket for this one. And you don't even have to think of it as charity because there is an insanely great line-up. Here it is from what's up sacto, but I don't think this is right. I know the Pizzas are playing, so I don't know if one of the other bands dropped out. I can't wait to see the Pizzas! And the oh sees!!!!!
Sat, 11/17 - THEE OH SEES / NURSES (SF) / STANDARD TRIBESMEN918 Douglas Ave in Davis - 7:00, $$$$DONATE$$$, all ages Benefit party for Klinger & crew (housefire)
And then let's talk about friday. There is too much going on, way way too much. In fact, I'm rather distressed to see that Knock Knock is playing at the Java Lounge, because my heart belongs the Mantles and Ganglians house party show. I can't fucking wait to see the mantles with their new line-up, now with Drew and Lambie Roberts. This one's so much on the d.l. that I don't even know where they house is but I'll get back to you.
Also, if you can believe it, Six Organs of Admittance is playing at Time Tested earlier that night!
Sat, 11/17 - SIX ORGANS OF ADMITTANCE (solo acoustic style)Time Tested Books, Sacramento - 7:00, $Free!, all ages Part of a small West Coast record store tour, 7PM is the REAL start time!
OK, then let's talk about tonight. 58 degrees is having a cool event. They're tapping a cask of beaujolais nouveau tonight and selling it for six bucks a glass until close, and all French wines are ten percent off! I hope to have time to hit it up.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
heckamaz
All right, you'll have to indulge me in a few vacation photos. Apologies to the friends who've already seen them. We arrived on the night before the day of the dead, the "parade" we went to the town square to see was really a procession involving four donkey-drawn carts, twelve kegs of pacifico, and everyone in town. We all walked through the streets, crowding around the carts trying to get glasses of beer, while ear-splitting banda music (which is rad) played. Unfortunately, they iced the kegs at the last minute so really we sucked down glass after glass of foam. It was our first night there, my body reacted to the extreme humidity by quickly swelling until my fingers were the size of sausages. I was foolish enough to try to wear boots and pants, a mistake I didn't make again. The rest of the week was cutoffs and flip-flops.
Here are the guys doling out the beer.
This was one of the guys leading a donkey cart. His tshirt says "I survived a root canal"
Here's smiller in a hammock on la isla piedra. You can take a little ferry boat out there. The beach is the best, and there are all these little places to chill and drink beer and eat super good food.
This was a whole smoked dorado fish, fresh smoked for us. Insane.
Here's the beach, sometimes it's deserted, sometimes there are tons of cruise passengers out there.
A sign in the town on a gym. Look like anyone?
Another sign from the same gym.
Here's some tasty pozole from cenaduria conchita. We ate there three of four times. Was this the lettuce that gave me montezuma's revenge? We'll never know.
This was ceviche we had on stone island. In a week of delicious ceviche, this stood out as the best.
Picturesque shit.
Playa Bruja was kind of a bust as a beach but this sign of a surfer is funny.
Here, smiller makes camp in the danger zone. right into the danger zone.
Playa Bruja was pretty but the lifegaurd wouldn't let us swim. eff that.
This courtyard was INSIDE the house we stayed in. no big deal.
This was the view from across the street from where we stayed.
This dog, Chuy was also at the house where we stayed. I think you'll realize that he's the best when you see that he would actually bust downward dog all the time. A dog that does yoga?!
Congratulations. You made it to the end. There is ANOTHER good show tonight in Davis. Two local bands so support your bros!
Here are the guys doling out the beer.
This was one of the guys leading a donkey cart. His tshirt says "I survived a root canal"
Here's smiller in a hammock on la isla piedra. You can take a little ferry boat out there. The beach is the best, and there are all these little places to chill and drink beer and eat super good food.
This was a whole smoked dorado fish, fresh smoked for us. Insane.
Here's the beach, sometimes it's deserted, sometimes there are tons of cruise passengers out there.
A sign in the town on a gym. Look like anyone?
Another sign from the same gym.
Here's some tasty pozole from cenaduria conchita. We ate there three of four times. Was this the lettuce that gave me montezuma's revenge? We'll never know.
This was ceviche we had on stone island. In a week of delicious ceviche, this stood out as the best.
Picturesque shit.
Playa Bruja was kind of a bust as a beach but this sign of a surfer is funny.
Here, smiller makes camp in the danger zone. right into the danger zone.
Playa Bruja was pretty but the lifegaurd wouldn't let us swim. eff that.
This courtyard was INSIDE the house we stayed in. no big deal.
This was the view from across the street from where we stayed.
This dog, Chuy was also at the house where we stayed. I think you'll realize that he's the best when you see that he would actually bust downward dog all the time. A dog that does yoga?!
Congratulations. You made it to the end. There is ANOTHER good show tonight in Davis. Two local bands so support your bros!Tue, 11/13 - JAY REATARD + MAYYORS & WARM STREAMSDelta of Venus, 122 B Street in Davis - 9:00, $6, all ages See THIS! Will be TREMENDOUS FUN!
Friday, November 09, 2007
hey dudes
I'm still in Mexico, but I wanted to post that there is a hot show on saturday: the losin' streaks and the english singles (and some other bands) at the townhouse, at nine ish. I don't know why there is a show at the town house but even that fact makes it interesting enough to check out. I'm bummed that I'm missing Jack Rose at Time Tested tonight.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
lates
I'm leaving now and I'll be in Mexico by tomorrow afternoon. Maybe I'll post, if not I'll be back on the 13th.
fuck roseville dining
Believe it or not, the reason I didn't post yesterday is that blogger wouldn't upload my screen captures from the Woody Allen movie "Interiors". I was surprised to find when I started watching this movie that I had seen it before, probably in the last couple of years. Maybe I was stoned when I watched it? It's pretty Bergman-y, but without the intense shock of Bergman, even though he tries to bring it at the end. I mostly enjoyed it for the interiors (duh) and the clothes. The costumes were done by Joel Schumacher,, later director of such gems as St. Elmo's Fire.
Here are the three sisters, looking very beige.
Here's cutie Diane Keaton sporting a horrible grown out perm. I remember my mom often having this style. She would get perm after perm, hate each one, let it grow out, and then get another one. I wonder if perms will ever come back big? Answer: someday.
Young Sam Waterson was very cute, especially in contrast to Keaton's husband, the slimy bearded guy who tries to rape her sister. I just checked imdb. His name was Richard Jordan, and he died in 1993.
Here, the mousy sister (Mary Beth Hurt) is wearing a coat that I covet. There is a lot of curly hair peeking out.
And, on an irritating note, here is a terrible, terrible article from the Bee about a new restaurant in Roseville. Another b.j. for big business. This time a big business from the jerkoff who foisted P.F. Chang's on the world. They don't even mention the food until almost the end, it's clearly not the priority. This kind of shit drives me nuts. Here's a representative quote:
Here are the three sisters, looking very beige.
Here's cutie Diane Keaton sporting a horrible grown out perm. I remember my mom often having this style. She would get perm after perm, hate each one, let it grow out, and then get another one. I wonder if perms will ever come back big? Answer: someday.
Young Sam Waterson was very cute, especially in contrast to Keaton's husband, the slimy bearded guy who tries to rape her sister. I just checked imdb. His name was Richard Jordan, and he died in 1993.
Here, the mousy sister (Mary Beth Hurt) is wearing a coat that I covet. There is a lot of curly hair peeking out. And, on an irritating note, here is a terrible, terrible article from the Bee about a new restaurant in Roseville. Another b.j. for big business. This time a big business from the jerkoff who foisted P.F. Chang's on the world. They don't even mention the food until almost the end, it's clearly not the priority. This kind of shit drives me nuts. Here's a representative quote:"We're building (another restaurant) just down the street right now," Platt said. "Prime steaks and Hawaiian seafood. Dinner only. Very high end. It's going to be the most expensive restaurant to ever hit Northern California. And we have another restaurant planned after that."
Isn't that cool that it's going to be the most expensive?
Monday, October 29, 2007
hopheads
On saturday I went to the Rubicon's 20th anniversary celebration, which they celebrated by having 20 hoppy guest beers on tap. My favorite was the Deschutes Hop Trip. The Sacramento hop heads were outside with a table and a silly hat that was supposed to look like a hop blossom (if they have blossoms). Some of the people outside had been there starting at nine am (we got there at around 4). That would be cute except we heard one guy talk about hoping he could make it back to El Dorado Hills. Here's hoping he didn't crash into anyone and kill them! I hope that the Rubicon has more events with guest taps, as their beer is as nastay as ever.
I've written about these two places before, so nothing new under my sun but...
I went to Edokko II the other night and got the tan tan men, and I have to reiterate that their ramen blows Shoki out of the water. Give it a try if you've only been to Shoki. I'd be interested to know if people agree or disagree.
Also, I went to Rolle again for lunch and even though I felt very tantrumy (inside) to find that they had run out of baguettes AGAIN, I got the salad nicoise with poached salmon and it was fucking GOOD. The mustard vinaigrette is delicious. I also got the gratin of the day (red potato) and it was sooo rich and the dusting of herbs de provence was perfect.
I've written about these two places before, so nothing new under my sun but...
I went to Edokko II the other night and got the tan tan men, and I have to reiterate that their ramen blows Shoki out of the water. Give it a try if you've only been to Shoki. I'd be interested to know if people agree or disagree.
Also, I went to Rolle again for lunch and even though I felt very tantrumy (inside) to find that they had run out of baguettes AGAIN, I got the salad nicoise with poached salmon and it was fucking GOOD. The mustard vinaigrette is delicious. I also got the gratin of the day (red potato) and it was sooo rich and the dusting of herbs de provence was perfect.
viva the free box
Man, sacramento-dwelling chef Joshua Ploeg really came through. He catered a brunch for me that over 25 people were at without breaking a sweat, everyone loved the food, and there were a ton of scones and biscuits and cookies leftover. One of the best things he made this time was a crazy curried banana/fake egg salad finger sandwich thing, which sounds gross but was delicious. There were some fake bacon/fake cream cheese rolls that I hear were really good but they were gone too fast for me to get one. If you have any type of event like this, baby shower, birthday party, rehearsal dinner, hell I'm pretty sure he could handle a wedding probably, email him. travelinechef@gmail.com Unfortunately, he rarely checks his email these days, but if you have any work to throw his way, comment on the blog and I can put you in touch with him. I have his cell number now.
I hear that local entrepeneur Olivia of Olipom is starting up a new business. And she's going to buy and sell clothes ala Crossroads. This is very exciting and seems sure to prosper. I'm going to have to stop giving away my thrift store finds to friends and make some money on that shit. jk!
I hear that local entrepeneur Olivia of Olipom is starting up a new business. And she's going to buy and sell clothes ala Crossroads. This is very exciting and seems sure to prosper. I'm going to have to stop giving away my thrift store finds to friends and make some money on that shit. jk!
Friday, October 26, 2007
TJIF!
Alright, Heckasac quit the blog again so this is Miller with the real last post ever - SCHEME! - she's busy & she asked me to post about the show at Delta tonight. The order will most likely be Nice Smile, Coconut Coolouts, Bananas, Tyvek. Delta gets cranky about the shows going late so please heed the 9:00 start time if you wanna catch the whole thing. This show will be all ages, packed & fun & it's only $5. Plus they have good brews. Bananas may very well be playing mostly new stuff since we're just finishing up recording the new record which has somehow taken us four years to do. Nothing gets the audience pumped like new songs they've never heard before right? RIGHT?! That's what I thought. And we'll have some ultra-rare Japan tour shirts for sale that the Japanese kids didn't want because they have Japanese writing on them & not some random english like "Banana Cat Gotcha!" which would've sold like mad I'm sure. So yeah, be there.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
davis shmavis
I went to the wednesday night farmer's market in Davis yesterday for the first time. Of course it would be awesome if Sac had something like that in addition to all our other markets around town. I got some bland Indian food and finally got to try one of those gourmet popsicles I've heard about, poached pear and brandy.
I also checked out this weird wine shop (Valley Wine Co) on 4th and G in Davis that MH clued me in to. I've passed by it a thousand times on my way to the co-op and always thought it wasn't open to the public. But it is, although there are tons of cardboard boxes obscuring the front entrance and you have to go in through the side. They have an interesting selection. I got a 2004 Alsacian blend for 11 bucks, and smiller got a 2004 Fuller's vintage ale that I don't think they realized they had, it had just been sitting in the fridge for two years. The guys who run it are nice.
I also checked out this weird wine shop (Valley Wine Co) on 4th and G in Davis that MH clued me in to. I've passed by it a thousand times on my way to the co-op and always thought it wasn't open to the public. But it is, although there are tons of cardboard boxes obscuring the front entrance and you have to go in through the side. They have an interesting selection. I got a 2004 Alsacian blend for 11 bucks, and smiller got a 2004 Fuller's vintage ale that I don't think they realized they had, it had just been sitting in the fridge for two years. The guys who run it are nice.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
halloween
omg! the same woman (who I don't know but this was in vice) who came up with this timothy treadwell costume last year:
came up with this costume this year:
brilliant!
came up with this costume this year:
brilliant!
franzia white zin?
Everyone and their sister knows about the Bananas show this friday, right? It rules that there are so many good bands on the bill, however it sucks that there are 4 of them. Too many! I think the Coconut Coolouts are touring with Nice Smile, so that's why they're playing. I heard that the Bananas might play first.
MD posted something about wine on his "food" blog (surprise) about the rankings of wine ordered at restaurants and after the nasty, nasty list of the top ten there was a sad, tragic, heartrending, tearjerking fact :
Overall, chardonnay easily was the most popular varietal at restaurants, accounting for nearly 43 percent of sales, and 41 of the 105 wines in the magazine's complete list\
why people, why? free your palates! you can't even chalk this up to cost because there are so many affordable and delicious whites on the market
MD posted something about wine on his "food" blog (surprise) about the rankings of wine ordered at restaurants and after the nasty, nasty list of the top ten there was a sad, tragic, heartrending, tearjerking fact :
Overall, chardonnay easily was the most popular varietal at restaurants, accounting for nearly 43 percent of sales, and 41 of the 105 wines in the magazine's complete list\
why people, why? free your palates! you can't even chalk this up to cost because there are so many affordable and delicious whites on the market
preservationist nitpickers
Gballs tipped me off to the fact that those green clothes donation boxes all around town are run by some weird cult. Or maybe just scammers who sell the clothes? Either way, don't drop your clothes off there. Donate them to the salvation army or goodwill, or if they're cool, give them to me.
Today in the bee, Breton has an axe to grind against all us nit-pickers, historical preservationists, and "nincompoops" drowning out "viable visions deserving of support". Yes, that's right, he thinks that all of us common citizens should just shut the fuck up, lay back, and enjoy whatever Thomas Enterprises chooses to do to us. And why? Because they've already spent $75 million (according to him) on the railyards project. So it follows that laying out that much cash means no one should try to block or even question any of their plans. Got that? Here's how he wraps it up:
Otherwise, the city of our civic dreams will never come to pass.
"our" civic dreams? Are you sure about that, Marcos?
Today in the bee, Breton has an axe to grind against all us nit-pickers, historical preservationists, and "nincompoops" drowning out "viable visions deserving of support". Yes, that's right, he thinks that all of us common citizens should just shut the fuck up, lay back, and enjoy whatever Thomas Enterprises chooses to do to us. And why? Because they've already spent $75 million (according to him) on the railyards project. So it follows that laying out that much cash means no one should try to block or even question any of their plans. Got that? Here's how he wraps it up:
Otherwise, the city of our civic dreams will never come to pass.
"our" civic dreams? Are you sure about that, Marcos?
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Monday, October 22, 2007
hawks?
In his review of Hawks in Granite Bay, MD tries to bust (albeit gently) the owners for not having sierra foothills wine! That makes their wine list a refreshing change from every other wine list in the Sacramento area. Even Chez Panisse has a mostly Euro wine list, despite Alice Water's recent disavowal of imported mineral water that caused such a buzz. I concede his point that if they're going to have five zins on the list, they probably might as well have one from the sierra foothills area. Unfortunately, the don't have their winelist online, but their menu looks delicious.
Friday, October 19, 2007
angry letter
The chef of Stonegrill wrote a detailed letter to SN&R refuting KW's recent bad review. He makes some valid points but he is missing the forest for the trees. I'm sure he has read his yelp reviews, and they mostly say the same thing. He brings up that she should have eaten there more than once, and that's something that I find really hard, mostly in the context of a negative review. Sure, Frank Bruni at the NYTimes eats at a place multiple times, and for lunch and dinner, but he probably has an unlimited budget. That's not the way it is at publications like the SN&R or, say, Midtown Monthly. Even if I had the time to do that, if it's a fine-dining place I wouldn't have the money. I've had this on my mind a lot because I'm reviewing a fine-dining place for my December column and I don't think I can afford to eat there more than once but I am really dreading the prospect of not liking it and having to give it a mediocre or negative review based on one visit. There's a very good chance it will be wonderful, and it won't really matter. Food reviewing is soooooo subjective (and of course all reviewing is) so that's why star systems don't make sense to me at all. You're placing this black and white rating on an experience that has so many factors. Reviews should be enjoyable to read and entertaining, and have a clear point of view, but they can only be a guideline, not some kind of biblical pronouncement.
Hey! Look over here! Bill Burg was on Insight with Jeffrey Callison last week talking about his Southside Park book. I hear the book is really good, Beers has it.
Speaking of Beers', Queen Sheba on Broadway has this awesome Hakim "stout" (it's not really a stout-style beer, just a dark beer) that is really spicy and fresh and juicy.
AP reviewed Maalouf's (which is great, I mean great that he reviewed it and of course the food is superb). Here's a couple of definitions he busts:
We began with a bowl of hummus ($5.50), which is pureed garbanzo beans (chickpeas) mixed with tahini (sesame paste), accented with garlic and lemon juice, and topped with olive oil.
Falafel is deep-fried, hush puppy-lookin' croquettes of mashed garbanzo beans, rich with the aromas of spices.
Is there anyone left in the world besides toddlers and the extremely elderly who do not know what hummus is?
Hey! Look over here! Bill Burg was on Insight with Jeffrey Callison last week talking about his Southside Park book. I hear the book is really good, Beers has it.
Speaking of Beers', Queen Sheba on Broadway has this awesome Hakim "stout" (it's not really a stout-style beer, just a dark beer) that is really spicy and fresh and juicy.
AP reviewed Maalouf's (which is great, I mean great that he reviewed it and of course the food is superb). Here's a couple of definitions he busts:
We began with a bowl of hummus ($5.50), which is pureed garbanzo beans (chickpeas) mixed with tahini (sesame paste), accented with garlic and lemon juice, and topped with olive oil.
Falafel is deep-fried, hush puppy-lookin' croquettes of mashed garbanzo beans, rich with the aromas of spices.
Is there anyone left in the world besides toddlers and the extremely elderly who do not know what hummus is?
Thursday, October 18, 2007
tattletale
The stupid old narc Bee wrote a FRONT PAGE article yesterday in which two hard-hitting investigative journalists revealed that state workers are editing wikipedia pages on their work computers. Nobody likes a tattletale, sacbee. I'm sure you are all working hard 40 hours a week and don't have time to do things like, say, check blogs or anything. Yeah, I'm a little sensitive about this because I have an office job and everybody knows the deal with office jobs, there is downtime, and you make it bearable by surfing the internet and emailing your friends. Stateworkers are human, don't fuck up probably one of the only things that makes their jobs bearable. I don't see the big deal with editing a wikipedia entry on porno either, you prudes. Wikipedia contains text only, not pictures, so it's not like they're sexually harrassing others by looking at the page or something.
Congratulations go out to our local Rubicon Brewing Co. for winning a gold medal at the Great American Beer Festival in the Belgian-style sour ale category for their high mountain cherry ale. This is like the academy awards of America beer, so this is a big deal. Unfortunately, they don't have this beer on draft, but they do have plans to bottle it soon, and I can't wait. I've really been enjoying American sour ales lately, particularly those brewed by Russian River...but you'll have to read about my visit to Russian River Brewing in the next Midtown Monthly.
Congratulations go out to our local Rubicon Brewing Co. for winning a gold medal at the Great American Beer Festival in the Belgian-style sour ale category for their high mountain cherry ale. This is like the academy awards of America beer, so this is a big deal. Unfortunately, they don't have this beer on draft, but they do have plans to bottle it soon, and I can't wait. I've really been enjoying American sour ales lately, particularly those brewed by Russian River...but you'll have to read about my visit to Russian River Brewing in the next Midtown Monthly.
Friday, October 12, 2007
explain
What is this? Is it an ad? It's certainly not a review. I guess it's an article informing you about the existence of the I Love Teriyaki chain. Thanks sacbee.
Can someone read Heyamoto's column from yesterday and explain the Steve Cohn item to me? Also, can someone attempt to construct a sentence more awkward than "Good thing Austria hadn't come calling"? A prize to anyone who does.
Can someone read Heyamoto's column from yesterday and explain the Steve Cohn item to me? Also, can someone attempt to construct a sentence more awkward than "Good thing Austria hadn't come calling"? A prize to anyone who does.
friday morning george michael
I'm at my desk smooth-rocking out to the George Michael song "Jesus to a child". That reminds me, Joel should reprise his George Michael performance for this years smooth rock themed "Halloween" show and I can try to rip his clothes off again! George Michael's website (from whence the tunes emerge) informs me that he has no U.S. tourdates scheduled but that he is going to be playing an angel on a new U.S. TV show? Oh God, the clip is sooo horrible. George, put the blunt down and schedule a tour, please!!!!
Remember how great this video was, when he had just been busted for having sex in that bathroom, and then he has a song about having sex outside and the bathroom turns into a disco and everyone is making out and the cops are busting them and then the cops start making out! Somehow I think that noone reading this is going to enjoy this as much as I do.
The new Fiery Furnaces record is out, Widow City. I've listened to half of the double album and I like it a lot. Matt Friedberger is a genius. They're playing in SF on the 19th.
Remember how great this video was, when he had just been busted for having sex in that bathroom, and then he has a song about having sex outside and the bathroom turns into a disco and everyone is making out and the cops are busting them and then the cops start making out! Somehow I think that noone reading this is going to enjoy this as much as I do.
The new Fiery Furnaces record is out, Widow City. I've listened to half of the double album and I like it a lot. Matt Friedberger is a genius. They're playing in SF on the 19th.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Sy Hersh, no less
Wow, I'm impressed the nmiller got an interview with Sy Hersh and he really held his own! It's cool that a little bit of his personality emerged in this interview, more so I think than in his recent interview on Fresh Air (which scared the crap out of me!). Read this article or the one in the New Yorker, it's terrifying but people should be aware. Not that we can stop the Bush administration from bombing Iran if they want to. I felt so bad for Hersh when I read how much he hates reporting on this story, but he feels compelled because he doesn't trust Bush to not do it even though it's going to have a catastrophic outcome.
The onion blog (which has lots of good content) just posted a comments policy. The Bee should follow this model. Does the Bee even have an official policy on their comments?
The onion blog (which has lots of good content) just posted a comments policy. The Bee should follow this model. Does the Bee even have an official policy on their comments?
introducing...ganglians
Just yesterday I was saying that if someday I need to write a profile of Vanoni, and lo and behold, he's on the cover of the News and Review! It's about damn time. The News and Review continues their streak of nudity and semi nudity with a picture in the article. Of course as usual, it's a chick. Can't we have some equal opportunity nudity here?
No one is supposed to mention how I said I was going to retire, because then I get embarrassed about it. Can't a woman change her mind?
I checked out the two dollar bar food McCormick and Schmick's happy hour thing yesterday. The place looks like a hotel banquet room inside, which really surprised me. I thought it was really fancy, but the cheap tiling and green carpeting (you should never have carpet in a restaurant, never!) make it look kind of crappy. Between four and six, and from 930 to close, they offer two dollar Coors Light or Bug on draft, and some food items for two bucks. There's a two drink minimum, which seems to be enforced, but they don't have to be alcoholic drinks. Long story short, the food was pretty mediocre. I mean, of course it was, it was two bucks! You can get two oysters on the half shell for two bucks, and when I asked which kind the waitress started to say it's whatever they need to get rid of, and then tried to pretend that's not what she was saying. Of course that's what they are, they're two bucks! You know what else they were? Room temperature. Not appetizing. They didn't make me sick or anything, they just weren't delicious. Everything else was just OK, too. But they do have a hamburger AND fries for two bucks, so if you're really broke, have at it. The best thing I had? A Moscow Mule, which was like 8 bucks.
The house show last night was fun and really well attended. A whole new generation of kids, and they're not bad! The only thing I object to is the unecessary hats. I'm all for hat nerding, but when it's warm inside and everyone is wearing knit hats, I just fixate on the fact that I know their heads are getting all hot and sweaty and why not just take the hat off at that point? The highlight was a new Sac band that was good and I've never seen anyone in it before in my life. They're called Ganglians. We were tripping on them and wondering what their influences are, and I guess you can tell from their myspace.
No one is supposed to mention how I said I was going to retire, because then I get embarrassed about it. Can't a woman change her mind?
I checked out the two dollar bar food McCormick and Schmick's happy hour thing yesterday. The place looks like a hotel banquet room inside, which really surprised me. I thought it was really fancy, but the cheap tiling and green carpeting (you should never have carpet in a restaurant, never!) make it look kind of crappy. Between four and six, and from 930 to close, they offer two dollar Coors Light or Bug on draft, and some food items for two bucks. There's a two drink minimum, which seems to be enforced, but they don't have to be alcoholic drinks. Long story short, the food was pretty mediocre. I mean, of course it was, it was two bucks! You can get two oysters on the half shell for two bucks, and when I asked which kind the waitress started to say it's whatever they need to get rid of, and then tried to pretend that's not what she was saying. Of course that's what they are, they're two bucks! You know what else they were? Room temperature. Not appetizing. They didn't make me sick or anything, they just weren't delicious. Everything else was just OK, too. But they do have a hamburger AND fries for two bucks, so if you're really broke, have at it. The best thing I had? A Moscow Mule, which was like 8 bucks.
The house show last night was fun and really well attended. A whole new generation of kids, and they're not bad! The only thing I object to is the unecessary hats. I'm all for hat nerding, but when it's warm inside and everyone is wearing knit hats, I just fixate on the fact that I know their heads are getting all hot and sweaty and why not just take the hat off at that point? The highlight was a new Sac band that was good and I've never seen anyone in it before in my life. They're called Ganglians. We were tripping on them and wondering what their influences are, and I guess you can tell from their myspace.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
gaping hole
Too...many...jokes...about....headline...
I just was looking at a Bee story where they allowed someone in the comments to call two black people "monkeys". Oops, some overt racism slipped through their guidelines that usually only allow covert racism! Not really a proud moment for the Bee.
The comments on this one are making me laugh, though. Man, Breton is getting his chops busted left and right!
Holy shit! And look at the comments on this Heyamoto column!
I just was looking at a Bee story where they allowed someone in the comments to call two black people "monkeys". Oops, some overt racism slipped through their guidelines that usually only allow covert racism! Not really a proud moment for the Bee.
The comments on this one are making me laugh, though. Man, Breton is getting his chops busted left and right!
Holy shit! And look at the comments on this Heyamoto column!
show tonight
No time to post! Go to that show tonight, Woodhouse's new band is playing.
Wed, 10/10 - EAT SKULL (PDX) + MAYYORS + GANGLIANS23rd & L House, Sacramento - 8:00 SHARP, $5 donation, all ages Best new PDX band a'la Times New Viking meets Hunches, sorta...really!
Wed, 10/10 - EAT SKULL (PDX) + MAYYORS + GANGLIANS23rd & L House, Sacramento - 8:00 SHARP, $5 donation, all ages Best new PDX band a'la Times New Viking meets Hunches, sorta...really!
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
hello?
It makes me sad that no one is even going to guess about the source of those black and white screen grabs. That is from the 2000 loft Halloween show theme "no U.S., no U.K.". That's the amazing Bushwick Bill puppet on the bottom there.
The Head needs some help, she wants to know where she can get her 1980 Honda Express moped fixed.
The Head needs some help, she wants to know where she can get her 1980 Honda Express moped fixed.
someone should have told me
How come no one told me the Fevers are the best? I'm so behind the times. And Mario put out one of their records?
There's a house show tomorrow that is going to be really good. Why? I'm not sure, but I'm going to go anyway. Here are the details on it.
I missed the Aguirre screening and instead stayed home (after a decidedly bland and lackluster meal at Shoki Ramen House, they really let me down this time) and watched a collection of Herzog shorts. The first one, The Great Ecstasy of the sculptor Steiner (which is a hilarious example of Herzog trying to impose his own ideas on the documentary he made about ski jumping, he only show the guys sculptures for 2 seconds), about Steiner is fucking amazing, with really stirring music by Popol Vuh
Here's Walter Steiner, he's very self-effacing yet a complete badass
Here's Werner!
There are tons of super slo-mo shots of people flying on skis, and some harsh sl0-mo crashing.
It ends with Steiner reading a poem that he supposedly wrote about lying naked on a rock, and I guarantee you that Herzog wrote it.
The next movie is about the 1976 world championships of auctioneering, and though it goes on too long (30 minutes of listening to that nasally, auctioneering type of voice as they auction cattle) it was still really good and it was quite emotional at the end because they guy who wins is so stoked.
The third short is Herzog and his crew on some small Caribbean island that has been evacuated due to a volcano that is about to erupt and is spewing poisonous gases, so of course as soon as he about it he rushed right there. At one point he supposedly has to flee from a descending poisonous cloud, but I think he might be exaggerating.
There's a house show tomorrow that is going to be really good. Why? I'm not sure, but I'm going to go anyway. Here are the details on it.
I missed the Aguirre screening and instead stayed home (after a decidedly bland and lackluster meal at Shoki Ramen House, they really let me down this time) and watched a collection of Herzog shorts. The first one, The Great Ecstasy of the sculptor Steiner (which is a hilarious example of Herzog trying to impose his own ideas on the documentary he made about ski jumping, he only show the guys sculptures for 2 seconds), about Steiner is fucking amazing, with really stirring music by Popol Vuh
Here's Walter Steiner, he's very self-effacing yet a complete badass
Here's Werner!
There are tons of super slo-mo shots of people flying on skis, and some harsh sl0-mo crashing.
It ends with Steiner reading a poem that he supposedly wrote about lying naked on a rock, and I guarantee you that Herzog wrote it.
The next movie is about the 1976 world championships of auctioneering, and though it goes on too long (30 minutes of listening to that nasally, auctioneering type of voice as they auction cattle) it was still really good and it was quite emotional at the end because they guy who wins is so stoked.
The third short is Herzog and his crew on some small Caribbean island that has been evacuated due to a volcano that is about to erupt and is spewing poisonous gases, so of course as soon as he about it he rushed right there. At one point he supposedly has to flee from a descending poisonous cloud, but I think he might be exaggerating. Monday, October 08, 2007
screengrab mystery
Not much time to post so here are some crappy pictures. This is Underground Railroad to Candyland, an excellent band. They got those costumes at the Don Quijote store in Tokyo when they were on tour with the Bananas. I would write "good times" right now except I hate when anyone says or writes good times.
Here's the Bananas making all the customary rock faces.
Here's a band I saw saturday night at El Rio, the Rantouls. They were fucking great! Super bubblegum. That guy on the right is Gavin of Fevers fame, and more importantly he is the similar guy of cassingle fame! Look at that guy on the left, he was born to have that haircut. It was his destiny.
Here's the Bananas making all the customary rock faces.
Here's a band I saw saturday night at El Rio, the Rantouls. They were fucking great! Super bubblegum. That guy on the right is Gavin of Fevers fame, and more importantly he is the similar guy of cassingle fame! Look at that guy on the left, he was born to have that haircut. It was his destiny.
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