Wednesday, January 31, 2007

can I wipe my hands on the monkey fur?


Yummy Ethiopian beer
Originally uploaded by mlovitt.

Wow, you really CAN find anything on the internet, including a grainy picture of the Ethiopian beer I drank last night. It was great. I found this because I was composing a post about the Queen of Sheba. If Queen of Sheba wrote an autobiography it would be called "Why I Am The Best". I constantly change what the name of my autobiography would be but lately I am leaning towards "I feel bad...." because about half of my sentences start with a reason I feel bad. Not physically, here's an example. I feel bad I said/wrote that dumb thing. I feel bad I didn't call this person. Sooo...Queen of Sheba is now officially open and has picked up the pace a little bit, but I would still leave over an hour for your meal. That's OK because you can spend the time checking out the excellent decorations and listening to the groovin music. Last night they brought us a plate of honey cornbread to apologize for being slow and that is now the only kind of apology I will take, so be warned, if you fuck me over you had better start bakin'. They also have honey wine, which is crazy stuff. It's strong and tastes more like a liquor, so I would save it for after the meal. It doesn't really pair with the food. I chickened out on the raw meat again but soon I'll try it! The Doro Wat (chicken stew with hardboiled egg) is the bomb, as are the lentils and collard greens. Last night the lamb and beef was just so so. This rad website tells you about a typical Ethiopian meal in a charming way.

How a Dinner is Served in Ethiopia
A meal in Ethiopia is an experience. When you have dinner in an Ethiopian home or restaurant, you eat the tablecloth!
One or two of the guests are seated on a low comfortable divan and a mesab, a handmade wicker hourglass-shaped table with a designed domed cover is set before them. The other guests are then seated round the table on stools about eight inches high covered with monkey fur.
A tall, stunning woman with characteristically high cheekbones and soft skin, dressed in a shama, carries a long-spouted copper ewer or pitcher in her right hand, a copper basin (which looks like a spittoon) in her left hand, and a towel over her left arm. She pours warm water over the fingers of your right hand, holding the basin to catch the excess, and you wipe your hands on the towel that hangs over her arm.
The mesab is taken out of the room and returned shortly with the domed cover. She removes the dome and the table is covered with what looks like a gray cloth overlapping the edge of a huge tray. But it is not a "tablecloth" at all. It is the Injera, the sourdough pancake-like bread of Ethiopia. Food is brought to the table in enamel bowls and portioned out on the "tablecloth!" When the entire Injera is covered with an assortment of stews, etc., you tear off a piece about two or three inches square and use this to "roll" the food in-the same way you would roll a huge cigarette. Then just swoop it up and pop it into your mouth. Your host might "pop" the first little "roll" in your mouth for you. It takes a bit of doing to accomplish this feat but once you master it, you cannot help enjoy It.
Our server returns with individual long-necked bottles from which you drink Tej, an amber-colored honey wine. It is put on a little table close by. Or she may bring a weakly carbonated water or Tella, the homemade beer.
You learn that you are eating Chicken Wat and Lamb Wat-two peppery stews- Iab-cottage cheese and yogurt with special herbs giving it an acidic lemon flavor; and Kitfo-ground raw beef, which we are told is considered the dessert of the meal.
No other dessert is served. Coffee comes in on a tray in tiny Japanese cups served black with sugar.
Dinner is concluded with hand-washing again and incense is burned.

flourescent light never, incandescent light forever

Say what? Me and smiller have a flourescent light in our kitchen and we were just discussing this morning how much it bites it, and how lights like that will NEVER catch on in a home setting. I will go to jail to fight this if I have to.

I'm going to S'Frisco after work to see The Mantles (Don't hate, LL), The Moore Brothers, Colossal Yes, and of course, The Finches at Cafe Du Nord! Can't wait.

I know it's a little early to be talking about the weekend, but I have tomorrow off so I thought I'd remind you now that there are a bunch of good shows this weekend so you are not going to sit home and watch tivoe'd episodes of Battlestar Galactica. Friday is Th' Losin' Streaks, Swords Award (with members of the Four Eyes and Rock The Light) and Sexrat at the Blue Lamp. Saturday has dueling shows with a rare Knock Knock show in Davis at the Delta of Venus. They are playing with Freeport (members of my yoga teacher, best yoga instructor evs) and it starts at eight (yeah right) and is three bucks. Back in sac, Fool's has another good show on saturday with the Sic Alps (read about them in the news Midtown Monthly, out tomorrow!). That is at regular fools time so it will start super late.

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

vice guide

I've read it before, but I had forgotten how funny the vice guide to everything is.

Filipino food-what's the deal?

I will be busy most of the day today molding young minds but I just want to ask (imagine a Seinfeld voice right now), what's the deal with Filipino food? I've never had it, what am I missing? This question was prompted by this review. I want to know where to go and what to get. And this one, too. And I keep hearing a lot about Vinh Phat recently, mostly because local celebrity chef Joshua Ploeg shops there. I just noticed that his legendary band Behead the prophet no lord shall live have a myspace now.

Also, people who like Pooja, what do you like there? And don't say the buffet. I don't do buffets.

And another thing, I had another excellent meal at Pho Bac Hoa Viet last night with nary a dirty look or thrown menu in sight.

Monday, January 29, 2007

David Berkeley?

It's driving me nuts that there is a new yelp of corti that gave three out of five stars and all the chick talks about it crawfish and doesn't say why she's only giving it three stars.

Someone wrote a positive review of David Berkeley and I was thinking how rarely I hear anyone mention that place. I know it's not downtown, but it's barely farther off the grid than Corti's yet no know seems to go. What do you guys think? I've had one bad experience and one eh experience there, but I haven't even really checked out the wine.

embers is my jam

First things first, a little bird told me that the powers that be in the city think that the residents don't have a problem with the Bass Pro Shop that is going in in the railyards because no one has been making a fuss. I haven't paid much attention because the railyard deal has been moving so glacially that I forget to pay attention. Perhaps E could tell us the best way to make a fuss and the PF could remind us why Bass Pro Shops suck?

This weekend was epic in a way my weekends rarely are. I went to two! dinners cooked by the traveling vegan chef, Joshua Ploeg. (buy his cookbooks here, do it) The first was a winter themed dinner which was delicious. The second was Indonesian and reminded me that this man is a true genius. Unfortunately I can't give you more detail because everything was kind of a blur of good tastes. I say unfortunately because I'm supposed to write it up for Midtown Monthly and I can't just say "this shit is the shit". At least for a little while Joshua will be travelling no more because he's setting up camp in Sac! This is amazing good news for all of our stomachs and his website says he does classes. I want to get in on that. Look for a profile of Joshua by DKK in the April issue of Midtown Monthly.

The Finches/Mantles/Finches sandwich on friday night is definitely an early contender for show of the year. There is a new sound guy at Fools and he managed to make the sound pretty decent and both bands were in fine form. I can't wait to see them again on wednesday at Cafe Du Nord. Make sure you get a copy of the Finches album, supposedly the Beat is going to be carrying it.

Saturday night wrapped up, as most of my nights do, at a classy little joint called Embers. The guy next to me yelled "I just want to suck on those titties" when speaking about a blonde giantess and I think he spoke for all of us.

Friday, January 26, 2007

have I reminded you that there's a show tonight

I guess I've had 1600 posts (according to the new version of blogger), and only 1550 of them have been bullshit. I feel dumb about going off on that post yesterday, but I still stand by my statement that Ray Kerridge is a douche, I don't care if that's below the belt.

I'm going to Whitey's Jolly Kone for lunch. I plan to get a burger and some type of shake. Any suggestions? I am trying to start early on my West Sac research for the Midtown Monthly march issue, which is on West Sac. I also want to try this place, this yelp is the first I've heard of it, and this guy is my favorite yelper.

You know the new yelp trend that I hate? Newbies flooding the new reviews section with a trillion two line reviews. It's cool you're excited about joining yelp but please don't clog it up with your reviews of every place you've ever been to. She's just an example, there are a few people doing it.

show tonight (and tomorrow, check the comments on the last post)

So I switched to the new blogger. Thrilling.

This is sad. The world is no longer awash in a glut of wine.

Finches show tonight at Fools! If you're still on the fence about whether to go, listen to some songs! Or just look at the Mantles myspace and trip on how fun they look!

Thursday, January 25, 2007

Finches show tomorrow!

Don't forget! Finches and Mantles show tomorrow at Fool's Foundation. The Finches have threatened to play first, maybe someone who knows could tell me for real when it's going to start and who is playing when? Although you don't want to miss either band, believe me.

Stop Messing With My Sac

Guess how much the city is paying this guy to spout mumbo-jumbo like this? About 99 grand. Guess who hired him? Ray Kerridge. He also hired a guy named Bob Chase (who at least has lived in Sac for a while)to facilitate getting the customer to success by fast-tracking building permit approvals. Bob Chase hit the jackpot with a whopping 122 thou. I'm not naive enough to think that men in powerful positions like this won't make a lot of money, I'm just annoyed that city revenue is going to pay these dudes to sit in their offices and come up with crappy acronyms that end with "you-all"

I haven't paid much attention to Joe Carnahan's career. I'm pretty sure I watched Narc but I can't remember anything about it. I won't see "Smokin' Aces" mostly on principle because of the stupid name (might as well name it "bitchin' flame tatt") and because Jeremy Piven is in it. This article bugs, though. Sample sentence:

What once was so Sacto about Carnahan was his having something to prove. Now he’s proved it.

Who says Sacto? It doesn't exactly roll of the tongue. Also, not everyone in Sac has something to prove. Here's what I'm sick of (and I feel like a broken record complaining about this, but it is in response to hearing this time and time again in every form of local print media):
hearing how Sac has an "identity problem" or "identity crisis" or "inferiority complex" or any variation on this theme

This is something that's been said so many times that people just accept it as the truth and wait for someone to tell us what to do to solve it. Will it be an arena? Will it be a big condo? Will it be an acronym that spells out something catchy?

I personally reject that point of view. I find Sacramento to be eminently livable, likeable, bikeable, trafficable, eatable, drinkable, etc. The only threat to my livability that I see are developers who smell money coming here, getting rooms at Extended Stay America, bulldozing the things I like, making some quick money, and then rolling back out of town to their wife and kids back in Houston.

pfork interview

Here's a rad interview with Nic from Pitchfork.

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

ramen! ramen! ramen!

I ate at New Edokko again last night and it was the bomb. I wanted to get the same thing I got last time (mabo tofu) because it was so good and I have been craving it but I got the wanton men instead, which had bbqed pork and wontons in it, and it was soooo good. And I ate and ate and am still eating it for lunch today. GW got udon with a raw egg on it and that was really good, too.

I also saw Pan's Labyrinth and liked it a lot more than I expected to. The director, Guillermo Del Toro was on Fresh Air today and he's really rad. He has written a book on Hitchcock and says he feels a kinship with him because they are both "fat, Catholic and repressed". He also talked up Hellboy so passionately that I guess I will have to check it out.

I'm interested in what DB (and others) think about the Academy Award noms. I am sick of reading about how Dreamgirls got shut out. It's not even that good and I can't believe that people would argue that it is possibly one of the best movies of the year! It's a flawed movie with a lot of cool outfits in it, and that doesn't deserve an Oscar.

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

yeah right

looking at the furniture on craigslist is depressing. The shit is so ugly it makes me want to scream and everyone thinks everything is worth 700 bucks. This is the worst, though. Art Deco? More like fart blecko.

imaginary towers-will they ever be real?

Here's the latest Bee story on the Towers. Nice to discover that my retirement fund has invested money in this dog of a project. Can't wait to see how much the city will pony up now to get this customer to success. On the bright side, if this project goes bye-bye does the city get their eleven million back?

Monday, January 22, 2007

douche alert

I started moving yesterday so the huge portion of my cortex that is usually devoted to thinking about food is now fretting about moving, not having any furniture to fill my new place, and cursing my sore back. I did have time to peruse last week's news and review however and I have a couple of thoughts:

1)this thing on sampinos is interesting and informative. I loved reading it.
2) The new city manager is a total douche. Hope that doesn't make anyone mad, I don't know the guy, of course. Want to know the first problem with this douche trying to run our city? OK, actually I have two major problems and one katrillion minor ones. Here are the major ones
a) his motto is: get the customer to success
b) his family has not even moved here. why are we letting someone move here and make important decisions for our city when he is not even invested enough to really live here?
I'm trying to reign in my sarcasm here because I'd like to see what others thought of this article and this guy. I'll just blurt this out really quick and then I'll be done
DOUCHEDOUCHEDOUCHEDOUCHE
there I feel better, ok two more things, that anecdote about the chick with tattoos changing his vision of the city is infuriating and he praises San Diego.

I also just read on yelp that on weekend the wait at Ernestos is over an hour. I'm sure the wait at Chevys is similar, which of course is a much lamer place than Ernestos, but it's still dumb to wait in line to eat subpar, overpriced Mexican food when there are a million other places you can eat. I don't get it. I liked this review of Pattaya

Friday, January 19, 2007

last column

Graswich ends his 35 year run with a staggering number of sentence fragments. I think. I ain't no English teacher. It was a stellar run.

Thursday, January 18, 2007

bye bye r.e.

and graswich is out!

yay taylors!

They're expanding. I like the new wine guy. He recommended a stellar vouvray for me yesterday for fifteen bucks.

italian food?

have any of you heard of or eaten at palermo ristorante italiano? I just read a yelp of it but i've never heard of it.

KW gave vientiane a stellar review, as it deserves.

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

grandma gams

The Bee did a story about grandma gams!

I thought this yelp review of starbucks was a joke

But then I went to this person's page and I guess they're serious. So there you go, the Dixon Starbucks is fantastic. And the review has pictures!

I love this particular drive-thru location en route to Boreal. Luckily, I needed to stretch my legs and visit the restroom, so we witnessed some very cool things 'bout this branch. The staff were super-friendly and efficient. They were still well-stocked on holiday clearance items so we just HAD to buy some new travel mugs! (You really can't have enough of these). On the wall above the condiment bar, just beside the barista counter where you wait for your drinks, they had some prominently displayed photos. One was labeled "In Our Neighborhood. Welcome to Dixon Starbucks. Get to know about the partners - their favorite drinks and pastries." Below this, were photos of all staff members along with the promised info.! I thought this was so great and personable. I also LOVE that they use the term "partner" instead of "staff" or "employee." It must help in having their employees feel vested in their workplace. Beside this "billboard," was another smaller photo frame labeled "Partner of the Quarter. Partner of the Month. Customer of the Month;" each title accompanied with their respective photos. Very cool.Additionally, they obliged me by giving me "extra red sprinkles" on my peppermint mocha! And it tasted that much better in my brand-spankin-new, sale-priced travel mug!!!

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

I'm a little slow on reporting this but...

the Twin Towers construction project by the mall is kaput, at least for now. I guess the anticipated flood of yuppies panting to move into condos by old sac has not materialized. I was in Natomas the other day and I solved the mystery of where they would actually prefer to live.

I forgot

I just noticed on what's up sacto that the Black Lips have a show at the Blue Lamp tonight.

oysterfest 2007!

1) I finished the Magic Mountain! It ended quite stirringly. Alice or anyone else who never finished it (and I'm sure you are legion), email me if you want the spoiler. I immediately embarked upon the House of Mirth, which immediately embarked upon a campaign of stereotyping Jews. I'll give it a chance, but that has made me mad right off. Oh look at the poor rich people and their sad problems, and laugh at the ridiculous, striving Jews trying to be a part of polite society.

2)Stockton was officially off the chain. I have a whole new wardrobe and a new persona to go along with it, mostly centered around a giant Capricorn medallion and a goat leather jacket. It's kinda Serpico so I will probably get some mirrored sunglasses, too and I might be wired up and taping all our conversations and you might possibly end up convicted under the RICO statutes. Sorry, it's my new persona! Delta thrift was like the thrift store you're in when you're having that shopping dream about the best thrift store in the world (you've had that dream, right?). Manny's was more delicious than ever this time. You really need to order the right stuff at Manny's because not everything is equally good. The manny's dog was the best dog I've ever had and the catfish sandwich was delicious. The fries are amazing, too.

3)Now is the time for you to go get oysters at the farmer's market. Five of us ate 95 of them at Oysterfest 2007 (TM). Kumamotos, which are very creamy but too small right now and were the other ones Monterey Bay? Those were the good ones. The few we couldn't finish on the half shell Willy deepfried in butter. And no stomach upset whatsoever although I heard a rumor that someone's poop smelled like the ocean after. I think that's a good thing. Here are two tips, one buy a proper oyster knife from the oyster guy it makes all the difference and two if the oyster is even a little dry inside it's bad. Just throw it out. It might not be bad enough to make you sick but it will taste bad and coat your mouth.

Friday, January 12, 2007

no msg guy

I'm sorry, I know it's not nice to pick on people, but this guy is simply the worst yelper ever. He has been driving me nuts for a while but now he has just gone over the top. How can you say a place has great food but is too expensive and give it one star? just read his reviews, there are too many things to say about it. giving nevada city one star?

bow down before the Queen of Sheba

Queen of Sheba was much better than I ever could have dared hope. On the way to the restaurant I told the Armeniac my theory that Ethiopian food is a type of food that vegetarians pretend is good, but I was so wrong! They have really turned around the look of the place. Where Sweet Fingers was dark and sketchy looking, Queen of Sheba is light and filled with charming Ethiopian-themed art. They were playing good, jazzy-type African music, too. I wanted to ask what it was but I felt like a dork and the server's accent was really strong so I was afraid it would be awkward to ask. The owners are so cute and friendly that you want to die. Because I'm ignorant of Ethiopian cuisine, the menu was blowing my mind. There are numerous dishes that contain raw beef. After my meal last night, I think I will trust the Queen enough to try some next time. They have three different combos that each contain three dishes. We got all three, which were nine different dishes in all. Well ten, because I told him I really wanted to try the greens so he threw them in. They brought us an enormous platter with many little piles of food, all on top of a big piece of the traditional flat sourdough bread. They also gave us a little basket of rolled up bread to scoop up the food. I don't like eating with my hands (because I knwo where they've been) but the bread makes it more bearable. We got the spicy beef (delicious) the lamb with peppers (delicious), spicy red lentils (salty and delicious) a "famous" dish with a chicken thigh and a hard-boiled egg in a red sauce (delicious), collard greens (maybe the best thing), yellow lentils (interestingly spiced and delicious), chicken breast meat with peppers (just OK, the breast meat was a little dry) and fish with tomato (the only off note, the fish tasted kinda freezery). With tea and coffee, each of us paid 16 total including tip for this. We were sated but the food is very healthy so we all felt like we were walking on air after, not overstuffed.

Queen of Sheba is in the soft-opening phase (hot!), so they are still a little scattered and the food took a long time. The server apologized profusely and urged us to come to the grand opening on January 27th. By that time they will have their liquor license and will be serving Ethiopian beer and honeywine. If you can't wait for then, be warned that it may take a while to get served and BYOB. The table of hippies near us had brought their own Fat Tire.

In other wonderful news I am almost finished with reading the Fucking Magic Mountain by Fucking Thomas Mann. Thanks for torturing me Mr. Mann. You have written a book that is so amazing and impressive and striking for the first few hundred pages that you fooled me into spending months reading all 700 pages, only to just start throwing in a bunch of unrelated crap at the end that seems like tacked-on short stories. Curse you! I can't wait to read something else! I have like five books lined up waiting.

Thursday, January 11, 2007

No, I am not cooking Tuscan braised rabbit

I bought Saveur today because I am mad at Gourmet (Dear Gourmet: Please stop jizzing over all things Italian and also please stop putting bacon in every recipe-pancetta is the same thing as bacon practically so you're not fooling me there). They have 100 things they love and number one (they said it's non-ranked but whatevs) is the insane huge farmer's market in Stockton. I think I am going thrifting in Stockton this saturday has anyone been to the farmer's market? Also, which food mag does everybody like if you like that kind of thing at all.

finches


I am listening to a copy of the Finches new album and it is wonderful. Even on my computer speakers. I can't wait till their Sac show (with the Mantles) and their album release show in SF (with the Mantles AND the Moore brothers!). They are having a show in LA with the Winter Flowers and Lavender Diamond and I can't fucking believe I can't go, but I can't. The Fool's show is on Jan 26th, don't forget!

I finally got to try a piece of pizza at the Cheeseboard in Berkeley yesterday. It was really good, but I'm not sure how I feel about the no red sauce policy. Never? That's just rigid. I also got some cheese at the shop next door. I'm not sure what kind I got but it's good. There are like 200 kinds, it's very intimidating!

I'm trying out the Queen of Sheba on Broadway tonight. Cross your fingers for me!

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Rocky! Rocky! Rocky! Rocky!

Good movie. I teared up when he went running in the rain with his dog, Punchy, mostly at the cuteness of a dog wearing a tshirt. You could make a movie called "Dogs wearing shirts and hats" and it would make me cry.

We ate at Maalouf's last night and it was superb. The dude was working the grill AND waiting on everyone until midway through the meal at which point his wife arrived. I tried the soujouk (Armenian sausage) for the first time. The sausage was very tasty and well spiced. There was a big pile of chopped sausage interspersed with well-grilled onions and a side lake of hummus. I really wished mine had come with a big salad like GW's baked kibbee did, but she shared her salad with me so it was OK. We got the labneh of course.

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

a wonderful town-for boobs!

Whilst searching for the video mentioned in this sacbee article of girls on the american river gone wild (what, no web adress sacbee? you are just cruel teases). I stumbled on this awesome video for the middle of the road song "sacramento-a wonderful town". someone in the comments pointed out that sac looks a lot like amsterdam, which I've always personall thought is true. Speaking of comments, I love the comments on the sacbee article and here's my favorite quote: "If you cant handle the boobs go back to church!" So true.

Japanamento.

Wow is blogger ever being annoying.

P-fork has a link to a new chkchkchk mp3 and tour info. Turns out they are going to be playing Tokyo like two days before the Bananas do! Congratulations to chkchkchk on the new album and giant tour! And yes, that's right, the Bananas are going to Japan, too and so are me and GW!! This is very exciting. Me and GW are going to Tokyo only cuz that's how I like to roll travelwise and because it will be cheaper. A week in the second biggest city in the world sounds better than a week spent trying to visit a bunch of places and not getting to know anyplace. I could use advice from those who have been on things not to miss, besides ramen, which I will be eating 24/7. March is a very cheap time to visit, I am seeing some great airfare deals out there. I assume that is because it will be freezing.

I ate at Aioli for my romance column last night and it was very very fun. They really need to get more props for their wine list. It is the most interesting yet relatively compact one that I can think of at any downtown place. And I like how the owner has a section for her favorites. I wish they had it online because I know next to nothing about Spanish reds (and a smidge more than nothing on whites) so I could use some help deciphering the list. Also, can someone tell me what the hell a super tuscan is? I keep seeing that term and it's very funny. We also stopped at 58 degrees and I was really liking their current white selection. On a monday night at 7 it was relatively empty and we got a comfortable seat at the bar.

Monday, January 08, 2007

bright ideas song link

This website posted a favorable review of the Bright Ideas 7 inch, but the best part (for me) is that he posted an mp3! He also put it at #9 on his top ten eps of 2006

Children of men

Thanks so much Jake for the rec on Children Of Men, which I probably wouldn't have seen if you hadn't praised it so highly. It is the most bad ass action/sci-fi movie that I have seen in years and there were quite a few parts that made me cry. It's so fucking exciting!

The other excitement in my weekend was waiting in the sizeable line outside Cheung Hing on sunday so that I could get the dim sum at its freshest. The giant bao steamer had just been pulled out and everything was steaming hot.

Friday, January 05, 2007

heckasac, pet napper times 2

OK, so maybe like six years back, when I was living at 26th and U I found this "stray" dog with a tag that said "Iko" with a number and (if I remember right, which I probably don't) an address on like, let's say 26th and C. I corralled Iko (a friendly chow) in the house and called the number. I left a message. Then for some reason I ended up driving Iko over to the house and knocking on the door. The person who lived there was like the ex of the current owner and told me where the current owner lived which was....two doors down from 26th and U. I was later to learn that Iko frequently hung out on that corner without the owners around and never went more than a block. When I returned him the owner was brusque and not amused.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago when I was walking on a bike trail behind my work and found a "stray" large tabby cat. He meowed plaintively and aggressively approached me for pets. He had a collar that the tag had obviously fallen off of and it was starting to rain and I agonized over what to do. Over the course of the next hour I coaxed him to remain by my side as I placed various calls for someone to help me (all while AWOL from work). Over an hour in I was sitting by him and petting him and he started to give me a weird look and crouch down. I think he thought it was my fault he was getting wet. Suddenly, he lashed out with the speed of a cobra and bit my arm, luckily, through my puffy coat. He bit me so hard I had a small bruise there later. I waited on, now keeping him at arms length. The SPCA workers finally arrived. I made flyers and posted them. Later in the day I found out he would be at a no-kill facility, which was a relief.

Now, here we are, in the present, and I'm walking on the trail by my work again (behind murder burger). I see the exact same fucking cat, this time WITH a collar and he lives....at a house quite near murger burger. He wasn't lost at all.

another good one


Joanna Newsom
Originally uploaded by _klar.

what? stop judging me! i can be a superfan once in a while

prettiest hair ever


Neko Case and Joanna Newsom (McCarren Pool) 030
Originally uploaded by baonguyen.

and this is in brooklyni n the summer!

the famous rear view


Joanna Newsom
Originally uploaded by young and with it.

it's not that nice that this guy flickred this, but he did it so what can you do. his caption was "i like to watch shows from behind"

she cracks jokes


Joanna Newsom
Originally uploaded by d&e.

she's not all serious and fashion-y you know.

...and the drum guy


joanna newsom
Originally uploaded by sushiesque.

this guy was cool. very serious.

and the guy scott doesn't like


joanna newsom
Originally uploaded by sushiesque.

hate is too strong a word.

and a weird one, too


Joanna Newsom
Originally uploaded by evitalarue.

found on flickr


joanna newsom
Originally uploaded by ginthefer.

cute picture that i can't resist posting

meow

Also, could this Bee editorial be any bitchier?

Carl's velvet cork

This article is interesting. That's all I have to say so far today.

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

524 is coming back (eventually) and more list hating

Oh my God, don't even get me started on how much I hate Pierloni's list! To use an overused acronym WTF? Isn't this the SACRAMENTO BEE? Opa Opa is the only place even near the grid and everyone seems to concur that it's really mediocre.

I also missed this article on the rebuilding of 524 #1. I ate at #2 before Christmas and it was great as always. You just hop on 160 and get off at Northgate. It's barely farther than the other one was.

new restaurants in the new year

Mike Dunne posted some upcoming developments on the restaurant scene in a recent column. I hopehopehope that Gianni's Trattoria will be good because we seriously need some good midpriced Italian around here. McCormick and Schmick is a chain, I'll believe it when I see it as far as Tex Wasabi's is concerned (note to restaranteurs, it is not a good idea to base your restaurant concept around a "fictional chef"- will he be serving fictional "tasty food?). Ella could be good although when I heard about it some time ago I was disappointed that downtown was getting another American bistro-type thing. I'm hoping at least one of the wine bars is good, and has more seating than 58 degrees! No word on the chicago deep dish pizza proposed for J and he didn't mention Mana or the Queen of Sheba on Broadway (not a surprise as Dunne does not seem to be a fan of Broadway dining-he should read my article on it).

I also just found his article on the 12 best restaurants. I'm really suprised to see Enotria rate so highly. I'm going to check that out this year. His choices are pretty staid and how to say this, I guess European, except for his 99th shout out to Lemongrass this year (I'm skeptical about that, too). Of course, I would hate for someone to make me rate my top ten, because I want different food at different times and it's hard to pit a Korean bbq place against a white tablecloth place. I think he should have reigned himself in to the Sac area, too. If you're going to range this far, why not just put French Laundry at the top of the list? All in all, I'm trying to be nice, but I hate his list. There, I said it.

list

I checked a list of 2006 releases and compiled a top ten. Man, Marie Antionette was such a flop! It only made 15 million bucks. I was sad to see that Science of Sleep only made 4 and a half million, I hope they keep letting Gondry make movies. His next one stars Jack Black (barf) so it will probably make more. Here it is. I saw about 30 movies in the theater this year:

1)Cache
2)The departed
3)The science of sleep
4)Jackass 2
5)The descent
6)Little miss sunshine
7)United 93
8)The prestige
9)The black dahlia
10)The Devil and Daniel Johnston

As for records, that's too hard because I can't look at some master list of releases and I know I'm going to forget shit. The Life Pursuit is probably the most classic album to come out this year for me, but Ys is also the bomb. Turner Cody is the best newcomer and I can't wait to see him live. I like the White Magic album but it's a little monotonous. Bitter Tea from the Fiery Furnaces is good but I don't really listen to it. Ok, yeah I'm blathering on now.

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

lists? charles are you there?

leon's blog reminded me about year end top tens. i might have time to do mine tomorrow so be thinking about yours. i'll probably do movies, records, and sexual positions. as far as records, ys (joanna newsom) and the life pursuit (belle and sebastian) are battling it out in my mind. the departed is a strong contender for best movie of the year, and jackass 2 is my fave sexual position right now.

beware trader joes?

I was browsing through new yelps and I saw this review of Trader Joes. This seems like reasonable advice, as I have accidentally bought expired stuff from here and moldy veggies, too.

A lot of people do not know what goes on behind the scenes at Trader Joes. They do have a lot of unique grocery items and great prices for penny savers, but their perishable items are a whole new story. They sell meats with only a day to go on expiration dates, produce that constantly have mold, bruises, or potatoes and onions with buds and shoots growing out of them. Their bread also is left on the shelf until the day before it expires. The flowers as abundant as they are displayed and beautiful are at an eye catching price. But once again, buyers be aware.... the flower department will try to extend the life of the flowers as long as they can make a sale and just pluck out dead flowers to keep the bundle going. So, if your bouquet dies in a few days, you will know why. At least you can return it to the store for another bouquet that may die. Most of all if you shop at this location, I would inspect your food from every angle! This store has a major problem with keeping their perishable section 'non-moldy'. How do I know? Because I am a former employee of this store. I love their frozen foods, canned foods, drinks, and the variety of nuts and teas they offer, but I would never buy anything perishable from this store. Oh, and I would check the dates on the fresh fish and chicken that you purchase...... they usually expire within a day so you really need to eat it the day you purchase it or by the next day. And, if you are lucky and if it was kept cold, it won't be rotten the day you take it home. For these exact reasons, I will shop at Whole Foods. Yes, it is more expensive than Trader Joes, but you are paying for quality at this store. Produce, chicken, fish, dairy and anything else perishable at this store is top notch. If that is what you want, then go to Whole Foods. Afterall, you do get what you pay for. However, the good thing is, is that they are like Nordstrom. They will return anything you bring back for any reason.... you can chew on that while you taste mold on your peaches.....

Alisha K. also gave a bad review to the new Mana's on Broadway but then someone else replied that it is good for ramen so I will have to try that.

going crazy



This day, month, and year is blowing my mind in too many ways to count right now. One way is that I just found out the finches have a show in sac at the end of the month at fools with the mantles and one of the best lineups I've seen in a while for their record release show in SF. The Mantles are One To Watch for sure and I like the Moore brothers a lot.

My Midtown Monthly article for feb is on romantic restaurants. I'm doing Moxi and Aioli but would like to include a more affordable place, too. Any suggestions?

still not ready

I am in a parking-ticket-and-return-to-work-bad-mood so I probably won't post today. Tommorrow is another day.