return of vientiane

Vientiane is back! It's wayyyyyyy nicer inside. It's a lot smaller, but they never really needed all that space anyways. No TV blaring,which is great. I didn't testdrive the bathrooms but I'm sure they must be better than at the old place. I didn't go for the pork explosion today, but rather a light lunch of spicy chicken soup. It had a lemongrass punch. I'm not so crazy about those little mushrooms, though, and that's all that was in there besides some chicken bits, which were good.
And then a spicy papaya salad. Excellent. P.S. this lunch cost 14 dollars and was plenty for two. Stuff to do this weekend? If you can make it across the bay bridge in time, you can catch the Bananas at Thee Parkside with thee fleshies. Then you should go to the fair at some point this weekend. Soon approacheth thee demolition derby. Hold on just a second! Livmoe had told me that the demo derby was occurring after the fair but the daily schedule places it as taking place on sunday and monday at seven! This is the kind of unacceptable foul up that caused me to miss the dachsund derby this year, which led to the firing of my longtime personal assistant. What gives? Does anyone know?

fair!

Hello friends, what a long strange trip it's been. Going to the fair in 104 degrees may have permanently addled my brain. Please don't fear that I will only be doing photo posts, but today that may be true. I know the fear of photo posts keeps you up at night.

Here's a cute cat painting from the rip off tent where you pay a dollar to see a horse.
Goat with the yellowest beard I've ever seen
This turkey leg server strikes a bad ass pose.

I startle the brisket guy.
Does anyone else hate the photo uploading on blogger? It takes a Ph.D. to figure out how to order the photos correctly and hence, a gnawed-on turkey leg appears before the whole leg.

mmmm.....smoked for 12 hours!!!!
How giant you say?

I would have answered you with the next photo but blogger chose mercurially to put the nest of fries here. They lathe up fresh potatoes and fry them in front of you.

Here's how giant!

It was fucking good. the end

No time!

sorry, no new posts until friday or later!

jalapeno bandito strikes again

I had an excellent time in SF this saturday. The new Gourmet mag is all about Latin American cuisine and before we left I was reading it and thinking to myself how amazingly varied it is and how I really need to eat Mexican food a lot more because it's pretty much the best, which was a perfect prelude to being in the Mission! We ate at El Gran Taco Loco, home of the mural of this stressed out Taco being marched out to certain death by the equally stressed out (and well hung) Jalapeno Bandito.
I had the birria which was fucking delicious! The broth was tangy and thick and the goat was gamey and tender.

Later in the night I had Indian Pizza.
What's Indian Pizza you say? Why, it's regular pizza with curry powder mixed with the cheese, topped with coriander, onions and cooked cauliflower and it is two great tastes that go great together.

And then later, at Thrillhouse Records in the dusty, dusty basement, Nar played to a packed house

The Four Eyes headlined and everybody dug it.
Joel is wearing the hat that I was semi-successfully rocking before the basement got too hot.

OK, that's a pretty crappy picture but I don't want to make it seem like I was only trying to take pictures of Joel. It was really smoky inside and I'm going to be a grump and complain about the people inside smoking. Have some consideration, people!

Thrillhouse Records 3422 Mission St., San Francisco

so.....the Nar/Four Eyes show is a bit unusual. It starts way early and there are six bands and it HAS TO BE over by 10:30. I sure hope Nar will have time to play! Here's the scoop:

Saturday Aug 26th......
This show is going to start early cause we have 6 bands now and they are all out-of-town and awesome. Please show up early so itdoesn't really suck to play first. Show starts at 5pm
NAR (Sacramento)
Four Eyes (Sacramento)
Unloveables (New York)
Vena Cava (san diego)
Hostile combover (san diego)
All hope is noise (ireland)
The likely order will have the 2 san diego bands andthe irish band taking the first 3 spots, then the Unlovables, Nar and lastly, the Four Eyes. Who knows if this order will really happen, so try to show up on the early side. you can always go get a burrito orindian pizza if you want to skip the early bands.Heck, even if you get to the city on time, you might end up missing 3 bands while looking for a parking spot!

narnarnarnarnarnarnarnarnarnar

Nar has a show on saturday with the Four Eyes. In San Francisco, natch. I don't know why that sentence warrants a natch, but it just does. The Four Eyes are sort of on a mini tour because they have a show in Davis on sunday. It's not listed on their myspace, but it's at Delta on sunday.

Who has read Middlesex out there? What did you think? I don't want to make fun of anyones personal appearance, and I do like both of his books, but is Eugenides kidding with that author photo? I can't even comment on the Van Dyke (actually, is it a Van Dyke? Is there even a name for that thing besides Mons Pubis) but the turtleneck? Why not add a pipe while you're at it?

bump it!

There's a fun bump it or dump it going on over at the Barnseyard II. You should check it out today or tomorrow because I have wednesday off. The UC system gives all their employees one day off to go to the State Fair. J.K.

leos!

TraditionalLeo Traits
Generous and warmhearted
Creative and enthusiastic
Broad-minded and expansive
Faithful and loving

Leo! About Your Sign...
The Leo type is the most dominant, spontaneously creative and extrovert of all the zodiacal characters. In grandeur of manner, splendor of bearing and magnanimity of personality, they are the monarch's among humans as the lion is king of beasts. They are ambitious, courageous, dominant, strong willed, positive, independent, self-confident there is no such a word as doubt in their vocabularies, and they are self-controlled. Born leaders, either in support of, or in revolt against, the status quo. They are at their most effective when in a position of command, their personal magnetism and innate courtesy of mind bringing out the best of loyalty from subordinates. They are uncomplicated, knowing exactly what they want and using all their energies, creativeness and resolution to get it, as well as being certain that they will get whatever they are after. Their followers know where they are with Leonians. Leonians think and act bigger than others would normally dare; the ambitiousness of their schemes and idealism sometimes daunt their followers, their practical hardheadedness and ability to go straight to the heart of any problem reassures those who depend on them. If Leonians meet with setbacks they thrive on the adversity.

Amen to that!
Happy Birthday today to Brew!!!!!!!!!!
Happy Birthday tomorrow to AKR and JD!!!!!!!!!!

the developer you love to hate?

uh, yeah, nothing much to post. what do you guys think of the hijinks of moe mohannan? hate him? love him? love to hate him? i recently found out that the j. crew at downtown plaza is gone so now i will have to concede that it pretty does suck. i enjoy the sac brewing co., occasionally but that's it. i don't shop for new clothes anyways, and i weave my own underwear out of hemp, so who needs the mall?

burningmanyogaband

Don't forget to watch the Yah Mos video below! Yesterday I hit up the Shoki Ramen House (on 24th st. near Crepeville) for lunch. This is a most exciting edition to the selection of downtown restaurants. However, I think people who think it's better than Edokko II could cool their jets a little bit with the rhetoric. The menu is more limited, the price is higher, and the portions are quite a bit smaller. The fact that I can bike to Shoki means I will probably eat there more often than I make it out to Edokko II, of course.

Here's the interior:
Here's the seafood tan men. This was what I wish I had ordered. The broth was yummer yum. My fingers are very resistant to typing that last sentence, and for good reason.

This was the tan tan men. It was good, but Edokko IIs is better. I appreciate the artful presentation at Shoki, and the little radish shoots and seaweed were little taste treats. Those brown strips are the thing that tastes like pee to me, not that I drink pee very often. Oops, I mean ever.
Yesterday evening I went out to the Horse Cow Gallery for Reggae on the River. I believe this is the third move for the Horse Cow, and this place is probably the coolest yet. It's out on the river in West Sac.

There are art cars everywhere, some of them pretty bad ass.

I loved the hippie fire dancing. I think they were just practicing but it was pretty impressive.

Your eyes to not deceive you, those are two, count 'em two didgeridoos (how the hell do you spell that? maybe that bitch from the Bee can correct my spelling)

Here's the performance space. There's a swing.

Here's the Yogoman Burningband. We enjoyed calling them the Burningman Yogaband. They only got to play a few songs before the cops showed up. We were in the middle of nowhere!! Is there no place that is safe from the man? We should have burned the man in effigy.
This was my favorite artwork out there. I'm a sucker for flashing lights.

omg! there's nothing else to say

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3102735953749536671

Yahmos footage from around '92, be sure to watch until the end. This was around the time I first saw them, and if I can take a stroll down memory lane for a second, it was at the Cattle Club (I pretty much have Jerry Perry to thank for the fact that I'm not still stuck in Lincoln), and I believe the bill was Yah Mos, Tiger Trap, Nation of Ulysses. You could see Nic's buttcrack for the entire show and I was very impressed with how punk he was. And he talked to me, which was probably made me feel the coolest I had felt up to that point. I would guess that he struck up a convo based on a Morrissey or Smiths shirt, since I wore one every day.

two new blogs! two new blogs!

All right, for real, you should plan on going to that show tomorrow. The food and Larry djing really puts it over the top.

Now on to some unbearably exciting news. There are two new blogs to enliven the moribund sac blogging scene (I can't possibly use the word moribund without thinking of Alan Partridge, hence the picture).

The Barnseyard is back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, now it's called movie city usa but the important thing it's run by the inimitable, the irascible, the incomparable....DB

And an exciting newcomer on the scene, you know her, you love her, she edits the fuck out of midtown monthly....LM!!!!!!! Does she have the stuff it takes to stay regular? Stay tuned to find out!

also...the teaches of kiedis is particularly good today.don't forget to add it to your favorites, you don't want to miss a teaches

monumental show?

Why is it so monumental? Well, among other reasons because it involves food from the semi-traveling vegan chef! Here's the information:

HEY GUYS...BEFORE I FORGET::::THIS JUST GOT CONFIRMED TONIGHT!!!!!
AUGUST 16TH, THURSDAY NIGHT REGGAE ON THE RIVER-------->>>>>
YOGOMAN BURNINGBAND (bellingham, wa - ex-behead the prophet nlsl/modest mouse/etc.)
ARMED FORCES RADIO (ex-new maps out of hell/popesmashers)
DJ LARRY RODRIGUEZ
VEGAN FOOD BY JOSHUA PLAGUE

horse cow gallery...111 harbor blvd, west sacramento. 7pm until 10pm (strictly enforced). larry tells me there will be fire dancers there too, sounds like a weird ass time!!!! here's the links:

www.myspace.com/yogomanburningband
www.myspace.com/armedforcesradio

That's this thursday in case you didn't notice.

S'Mafrican Times

How good does that dinner look? And it's all from the farmer's market. Slow-grilled Bledsoe farm porkchops, chutney made from golden tomato, nectarine, mint, scallion (to put on top of the chops) and sweet, sweet corn.

I'll just step away from Bee bashing for a minute to give them time to recover and announce the birth of...a new Smashing Times!! (the eleventh?). It's an African comp compiled by Nic. Pick up a copy today at your nearest Smashing Times vendor.

I got a sneak peak at the new Knock Knock record last night and it's insanely great. I went insane and then when it was over I got sane again, barely.

The word on the street is that Fool's is caput on the music end for a few more months. This is terrible, terrible news.

mmm....labor/cost reductions

How exciting, AP reviewed a generic, cafeteria style place in a farflung location! Ha! I was looking at old posts because I seem to remember making an earlier crack about AP reviewing a place where the food sounded like it was assembled by robots, and lo and behold, it's about another generic, cafeteria style place in Folsom!!!

Read some of the inspiring quotes by the restauranteurs behind these two places. Don't they just make your mouth start watering?

"We wanted to offer good products, but also (factor in) labor-cost reductions. So we put together the concept of bringing together reputable food companies that we scouted out.

here's one from the most recent review:

"Several elements came together. I envisioned a place that would offer quick service, with better quality than anyone else in the quick-service segment, at prices that could compete. It took a few years to pull the trigger, but 80 percent of the concept was born that night."

Wow, I love restaurants that start out with sensible business concepts, they're always the most delicious! I like to eat a sandwich and think about the profit margin and the branding concept and such.

The Bee had a little article about the fair that got some cute comments, but par for the course for the Bee comments, there is almost instantly a thinly veiled racist comment. See if you can spot it.

Buddhist Bazaar

I wish I would have known ahead of time so that I could have posted about the Buddhist Bazaar at the church on Riverside. It was this past weekend. I hope you all made it out there because it is the fucking best! I went twice. It's one of my favorite Sacramento events. Everyone there is the nicest. My favorite food items are the udon that's served in the inside cafeteria (plus, no lines) and now that I have gotten my hands on the teriyaki chicken I see why people will wait in long lines for it. It was really juicy and tender, and it was more smoked tasting than teriyaki-style, which makes sense if you've ever seen the voluminous clouds of smoke billowing out on X street all weekend. There is something about buying a Kirin from the huge, icy tubs for three bucks that is just so fun. Going there makes me daydream about the day I get to go back to Japan.

kountry karaoke

I've got a lot to do today, so I'll just post about the Alkali Flat's upcoming shows. The Today Show thing already happened, but perhaps it will be on youtube?

Hey folks,

Three great chances to see The Alkali Flats coming up tomorrow, Friday, Aug 10:

1. If you happen to be at home watching TV and eating your cornflakes between 7:00 and 9:00 am, we'll be playing live on TV, Channel 3 (KCRA), during the local segments of The Today Show.. our first local morning show appearance!!

2. Friday Night Concert in the Park (Cesar Chavez Park), opening bands start at 5:00 PM, the Flats will be the headlining band, on at around 7:00. Get there early to grab a drink and a spot to sit/stand. We'll be doing our normal stuff, plus a few Kountry Karaoke tunes as a preview to the next show (see below....)

3. If you just can't get enough of the honky tonk, you won't want to>miss Kountry Karaoke - "We Play 'Em, You Sing 'Em" -> 9:00 PM at The Old Ironsides, 10th and S Streets....>50(+/-) of your favorite country/western songs from 1940-1970. Get there early to sign up for your favorites, before they're gone....

food

I went to the reopened 524 yesterday and it really warmed my heart to see what a nice job they've done fixing it up. I always loved the old 524, but let's face it, it was a dump. The corroded wall unit air conditioner leaking down onto the torn, flocked wallpaper always kind of grossed me out at the old. It's clean and bright inside with southwestern style decor. The service was a bit awkward and obsequious (really, you don't have to apologize ten million times for everything) but very nice. We definitely waited longer for our food than I expect from 524, but it wasn't that long, so it was fine. The chips and the two kinds of salsa were exactly the same, which is great news. The soup was the same. The delicious beans are the same. My friends got the carnitas sopes, which I had never tried, and they were sort of ridiculously piled with guac and sour cream but really excellent. With that and the Real Pie Co. on that block, things are really looking up.

I went to New Roma for a sandwich yesterday for the first time. It really is like a time warp of cheapness. The doughtnuts smelled so good it was really hard to resist ordering one, but resist I did. The sandwiches are refreshingly simple. They don't pile a bunch of unneccessary ingredients on them, they just taste good, and the bread is really fresh. I love the black olives on the sandwiches. ***thanks to bitchface for the spelling corrections.

sweet

wednesday off. sweet!

I smell something, and it's not steak

AP recently bowed to his fear of "weird" food and reviewed the new lunch offerings at Ruth's Chris steak house in the Bee. I started to get deja vu as my eyes skimmed over the snoreworthy sentences. Didn't Mike Dunne already review Ruth's Chris? Why yes he did! And his review (from way back in '05) is so similar to a press release that Ruth's Chris have it posted on their website! Wow, and an article on friday about suburban richies who drop 100 bucks on steak to eat in front of their flatscreen ALSO mentions the new lunch hours at Ruth's Chris. And a somewhat recent blog post from Mike Dunne mentions the new lunch hours as well. Doesn't it seem a bit unusual that a chain's restaurants decision to open for lunch would be so newsworthy that the Sacbee would mention it three times? Hmm...I wonder if Ruth's Chris spends much money advertising with the Bee? Nah, probably not.

morning bitchfest

Hmm...Nic got pretty harshed on on Pfork yesterday. In a backhanded compliment way (and no mention of John Pugh's singing) But the bitch who is writing this already annoyed me yesterday for making fun of the people dancing to M.I.A. Sorry if they didn't look cool enough for you, bitch. And it also annoys me how Pfork is being all photoblog style about all the festivals. I don't need to see the 89th picture of Regina Spektor, thanks. If you're not going to write something about the performances, then don't bother. That's just lazy.

Mika Miko were worth it, which is saying alot, because by that I mean worth going to Davis twice in a day and worth not getting even near enough sleep. They are the best because they look like they are having so much fun. There was a guy there that I'm not going to mock because he's too easy of a target (think dreads and bare feet and seemingly tweaking, I can't resist a little mocking) who was trying to chat me up against my will but I was being polite until he said I look like Janis Joplin. At that point I just said "OK, I fucking hate when people say that" and walked away. He compounded this move by later, right before Mika Miko played and everyone was all packed in, turning to me and loudly saying "I'm sorry I said you look like Janis Joplin", so now it gets even worse because everyone in the crowd starts debating whether I do or don't look like her! One girl assured me that I didn't at least. He also did the thing I hate, which was when the band was bantering (and they are hilarious) he would yell "onetwothreefour" like in "get on with it" style. Sometimes the bantering can be the best part so shut up!

All right, there's all my byatching. I am trying the new/old 524 tonight for dinner and I'm quite excited about it. Ha, I just wrote abou tit accidentally. Freudian slip?

whitey's jolly kone

I will join the chorus of satisfied pie eaters in Sac and say that the Jumbleberry pie from Real Pie Co. is the best I've ever had. It had a very intense berry flavor and the crust was really buttery and flaky. I also had a slice of the nectarine/bing cherry and it was just OK. The crust was a little tough. It was a completely different crust than the berry pie.

First it's Squeeze Inn on the food network (alledgedly) and now Whitey's was on NPR! I know this because trusted correspondent Stephen Glass texted it to a cub reporter that I was camping with.

Soon, I will take the train home so that I can drive back to Davis in a few hours to see Mika Miko. I missed all the shows yesterday because I was way too tired from camping. Come see these young ladies rock it!

PSAs

This one is a request from Soriano

does anyone have video of any loft show (or shows of that era) w/ the bananas, nar, los huevos, lil bunnies, yah mos, tiki men, popesmashers, or related? halloween shows? anything?

This one is from Jyoti:

Hello,
I'm writing to let you know about the last days of my photo exhibit "B sides and Rarities." I am scheduled to take the photos down on Wednesday the 8th. Please go see these photographs if you haven't, or remind someone else about it if you have. They are some of my favorite photos of the the past 12 years I have been with a camera. And they aren't your normal photographs. These prints are for sale for 50 dollars. Some of you have expressed interest in buying one, and now is the time. You can either pay me when I deliver or pay the cashier at Olipom and I will get the money from them. I will be able to make arrangements for you to pick up the print or and I can bring it to you. And if you have been teetering on whether you want one or not, just remember that I am going off to art school in a couple weeks and this can be a great contribution to my moving and schooling fund. ;) (And investment for yourself!) Olipom is located on 21st between K and L streets. It is a boutique and it's hours are Mon-Sat 11am to 6pm and Sundays noon to 5pm.
Thank you all for your support.
Jyoti

shows saved!

Thanks to the Davis crew! Here's the information:


Saturday, August 4, 7:00 p.m.-10:00 (early show!)
@ Charred Doghouse
527 G Street in Davis
(that's Mick Mucus' house, the scene of many great shows from 1998-2005)
Donate $3-10 (show was gonna cost $5/$7)
(pool in backyard; bring towels)

A Frames (Seattle; KDVS' most-played band of this decade)
http://www.myspace.com/aframesaframes
Sexy Prison (local legendary live dance-party)
http://www.undietacos.org/sexyprison
The Pyramids (ex-Intelligence/Factums)
http://www.myspace.com/pyramidsccmf
Mutators (Vancouver, Canada)
http://www.myspace.com/mutators

* * * * * * * *

Sunday, August 5, 9:00 p.m. sharp!
@ Delta of Venus
122 B Street in Davis
$5

Times New Viking (Columbus, OH; Siltbreeze/Matador)
http://www.myspace.com/timesnewviking
Little Claw (Detroit; re: Tyvek; Ecstatic Peace)
http://www.myspace.com/littleclaw
The Bayonettes (Toronto, Canada)
http://www.myspace.com/thebayonettesfromtoronto
Standard Tribesmen (Davis)
http://www.myspace.com/thestandardtribesmen

* * * * * * * * *

Monday, August 6, 9:00 sharp!
@ Delta of Venus
$5

Mika Miko (L.A.; Kill Rock Stars)
http://www.myspace.com/mikamiko
TWIN (Oly; formerly The King Cobra; ex-The Need/Kicking Giant/etc.)
http://www.wearetwin.com/
Mikaela's Fiend (Seattle teen phenoms)
http://www.myspace.com/mikaelasfiend

fine?

I had a lot of time to think today because the fucking train was 20 minutes late, and I was musing about how my favorite conductor looks like he would be on Barney Miller. Did anyone else have a crush on Barney Miller? Also, does anyone else remember the creepy episodes of Barney Miller, which as far as I remember both starred a Russian guy (Mr. Kopeckne-thanks wikipedia). One time he thought he was a werewolf and one time he was possessed? The possession one scared the crap out of me. I remember him hanging upside down in his cell. At least the Barney Miller conductor guy deliberately didn't punch my pass to make up for the train being late. They don't punch my pass about a third of the time, which makes the train a considerably better deal!

OK, so I think Delta of Venus is stepping in to save the day while Fools sorts shit out, right? There is also a saturday show there where Fursaxa is playing, if you like trippy shit. They have a nice looking new single out on Mt. St. Mountain. Speaking of trippy shit, the Italian Sub Pop band Jennifer Gentle is making a return visit to the area and playing at DOV on thursday the 9th with Agent Ribbons. That's a good show. What would we do without DOV?

oh yeah!

I'd like to announce the launch of a monumental new website.

welcome home!

Happy Birthday to the Armeniac! I'll be dining at Pooja tonight in his honor.

And....welcome home to MH and BR. I am so delighted that my two good friends have moved back to Sac for good. They have been gone too long!!

Down to business-what's the deal with the Real Pie Co. Specifically are they so popular that they are always out of pies? I want to get a fruit pie thursday after work but I don't know if I should attempt to call and reserve one or what.

new venues?

Can someone please let me know if the Times New Viking and Mika Miko shows have found new venues? I won't even complain if they're in Davis, I swear. Well, maybe a little.

So maybe you have all heard, but a change is afoot at the Sacramento institution, Lipstick. It's moving to the Blue Lamp.