the fighting mitten crabs

The UC Davis network got hacked or something so I haven't had internet access all day. This is a hardship I can bore my grandchildren with...I remember the time, back before the internet was hard-wired into our brains, when I once didn't have the internet for five straight hours, kids.

Someone got killed on 4th and U this weekend. A little too close for comfort.

Some indie hipster got her question printed in what's up with that this week. Can 58 people really have come up independently with that nonsensical name? I smell a conspiracy.

Did you guys know you can take the bike trail right to Thrift Town in Del Paso Heights? Actually, according to the signs on the bike trail it is in a neighborhood called "noralco" which I have never heard of. This officially makes it the only good thrift store that you can pleasantly bike too (and yes, I am unincluding the salvation army on 16th, I said a GOOD thrift store). Deseret on Auburn is off the hood right now with ladies fashions (I meant to say off the hook but I'll leave it because it looks like I invented some new slang) . Or maybe I just dress like an old Mormon lady from the 80's. But it has TONS of vintage button-up shirts.

I went to a party this weekend. I haven't printed a party review in a while. That reminds me I need to do an interview soon, too. Party review:

Tibbs the cat was the stand out element that put this party over the top. He french kissed me in a way that I might not have allowed if my inhibitions hadn't been lowered by the wine, and he let me scratch in between his toes. Olsen and Biz and I discussed the comics, including the glacial pace of Mark Trail. Will the evil developers build that road through the pristine forest? Tune in from now until next summer and you may find out. Then I hit the intoxication level where I am not good to talk to at all but luckily Tibbs was there for me. Around one I was all like "I'm out" and everyone was all like "lates". Good party. There have now been parties in Sac two weekends in a row. Someone should have another one this weekend!

It sounds like the Whysp show at Fool's last night was great but I crapped out too early to go. I also missed the festivites at the Kabinet.

wish i knew how to configure my blog to include this in my profile

but i don't. And if someone tells me I probably won't understand. Thanks to niki for the picture.

let's see if this works

stupid rich people

Can I rant for just a second here? So it looks like I'm not going out of town this weekend due to stupid mother nature. That means that there are a couple of events at Mondavi that I would love to attend coming up. One is a string quartet playing Mozart on sunday. Oh, but wait it's 36 dollars. If you're a student it's 18 but when I inquired around here about scamming that I learned you have to present your student I.D. at the door. On monday the Russian national orchestra is playing some interesting selections (not that I know jack shit about classical) but that particular event costs 49 fucking dollars for the cheapest seats. I know I shouldn't be surprised at these prices because classical music is for rich people after all, but I think that sucks!! I think that UCD staff should get a break on the prices, too. I wonder if every show sells out so that they know they can charge as much as they want? I bet the staff are just as poor as the spoiled little students.

And speaking of stupid rich people, Mayor Fargo is delivering her state of the city address to a bunch of 'em tonight.

Maybe I can make it to the Kabinet for the Jodorowsky double feature, but violence really isn't my thing. Sex, great, but extreme violence makes me queasy.

I accidentally formatted these pics like this, but i'm going to leave it

A google search of the two names turned up little except an mtv.com interview with lindsay in which she said her crushes were johnny depp and devendra banhart so let me be the first to spread the possibly false gossip on the internet that I heard that these two are hooking up (her and banhart, not her and depp). Does this mean she's going to write something about how she's mad in the comments?

wow

Look at all these KDVS shows this spring.

Th' Losin Streaks/The Four Eyes/Boss the Big Bit- April 1st
Ettirck/Eddie the Rat/Oaxacan- April 2nd
Anterland/Snowdrift- April 8th
Field Notes/Tom Carter+Joel Pickard/Nick Castro/Birch Book- April 9th
Sholi/Citizens Here and Abroad/Scissors For Lefty- April 15th
Kimya Dawson- April 21st
Parts and Labor- April 25th
The Magic Carpathians (Poland)- April 29th
Half Handed Cloud- May 1st
Geoff Berner- May 5th
Jason Webley/Hillstomp- May 11th
Tin Cup Serenade/The Speakers- May 13th
The Robot Ate Me- May 25th
The Country Teasers (Scotland)- May 27th
Watusi Zombie (Japan)- May 28th
The Gris Gris/Sholi/ Waxfore- June 3rd
Sharon Kraus/James Blackwell/Sean Smith- June 9th
Green Milk from the Planet Orange/Assemble Head...- June 11th

Exciting. And I just heard about some restaurant with the crazy name of Birriera Bugambilias on 7242 Franklin from R.E. on the DIY list. I want to go! Does anyone know what that name means?

records strikes back

In case you blinked and missed it, lovable mop-top Jamie from records on K had a good letter printed in last week's news and review in response to their article on record store clerks. Here is is:

Where are the indie clerks?
Re “Clerks” by Noel Neuburger (SN&R Feature Story, March 2):
Just felt compelled to vent my displeasure regarding SN&R’s “Clerks” article.
I’m writing because I’m baffled that we at Records, at Seventh and K streets, were never contacted to partake. This shop has served downtown Sacramento for over 30 years and boasts the largest selection of vinyl and music memorabilia in the area. Our logo was personally designed by Robert Crumb. We were featured in the hip-hop documentary Scratch, and our interior graced the cover of DJ Shadow’s Endtroducing album. Our staff includes local musicians, DJs and promoters, and the event coordinator for KDVS, as well as some of the most knowledgeable music fanatics and collectors in town.
Yet, we remain unacknowledged.
This also comes at a time when the business is being threatened by the current K Street redevelopment plan. We are a completely independent, family-owned and -operated business that has survived since the early ’70s. I feel as though we would have been the most qualified and deserving choice to feature.
Instead, you chose businesses, like Tower Records, that only serve to sell whatever status-quo flavors happen to be hip for the minute. The article suffered from regurgitated clichés as opposed to offering opinions from “individuals” who actually live their lives with music at the forefront.
Jamie Smith
Sacramento

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

The nytimes has declared that beards are in style! At least now that it's been in the Times, the trend will be offically uncool

Bee roundup

This is crazy. I was really disturbed when I heard about this local rape case, and now it seems like they're saying the woman participated in making a porno consensually? I wonder. And how could a consensual act also be "one of the most brutal cases" that the cops had ever investigated?

Heyamoto's still doing it. And not showing any signs that she's going to stop.

This local pastry chef may be a good reason to try the desserts at Mulvaneys when I go. It says she lives above an Asian market downtown. I wonder if she's my neighbor?

I think it's stupid for the Bee to devote this much space to an article about a chain. He reviewed two separate Ruth's Chris's Ruths' steak's house's. That's excessive.

The way Egyptians get rid of all that zucchini!

Next time you are in the mission and you want something other than the usual gutbomb at taqueria cancun, try out a fabulous place called Mi Lindo Yucatan (410 Valencia St. near 15th Street), . From my first exposure to Yucatan cuisine, I gather that it uses a lot less cheese and lard than a typical Mexican restaurant in the states, and it emphasizes different ingredients, such as pumpkin seeds, spinach, oranges, and mostly turkey instead of chicken. We got a salad with mandarin oranges, mesclun, and a feta-like cheese that could have been served in any of my favorite yuppie haunts. And their chicken tamale appetizer was the best tamale I've ever had. It was really soft, like corn and chicken pudding! My favorite kind of puddin'.

And on another food note, those of you that like to cook might enjoy this recipe website. I'm making a spicy yogurt sauce that I got under the north african section. He even has a whole Armenian recipe section! With an Armenian pizza (lahmajoon) that has (surprise) lamb on it. He has really funny disclaimers next to the recipes like: Only in the Middle East would they use these together! and The way Egyptians get rid of all that zucchini! (I was unaware there was a zucchini glut in Egypt) or my favorite: The meat falls off the bone!

Art Brut!

I cannot find a picture on the web that captures Eddie Argos' (Art Brut guy)pudgy brand of fine. I did discover from looking at older photos that the pudge is new, but it somehow balances out the eyebrows so I like it. That sucks about Belle and Sebastian. I even thought the Greek theater was too large of a venue. The only good show I've seen by them was the Warfield. At some point I decided that I am too spoiled by small shows to ever enjoy a show with more than 1000 people there ever again, doesn't matter who it is. So I'll wait till Belle and Sebastian plays at fools.

Leon: philanthropist, beer lover

Way to go, Leon!

Leon will also appreciate this, I think. If you are obsessed with the new Belle and Sebastian album, as all of Sacramento is, and you want more Belle and Sebastian. First: listen to the NPR fresh air with Stuart. If you have done that and you still want more of these twee charmers, go to the B and S website Q and A page. The Belle and Sebastian show is tonight in SF but I am going to see Art Brut there instead. And, in a Sac-related B and S note, Sac's own Rose Melberg has scored the opening slot at their Vancouver show!

peep off is on

I'm totally busy today. It sucks. Here's a press release regarding the 2006 peep-off:

Alrighty then,
This years Peep Off will be held on Sunday, April 23rd. NOT SATURDAY the 22nd. I'm performing a wedding on Saturday. Old Man Foster and LivMoe won't get hitched at the Peep Off because OMF doesn't have a tin foil suit. And everyone knows that to get married at the Peep Off you need a tin foil suit. Once again, there's been more rumors of someone coming out to film it. Who knows, but be prepared. If you think they'll use their camera to steal your soul, you're right. So sell your soul to the Devil so you can beat Dennis Gross' record of 102. In a peepshell, it's at my house in lovely midtown Sacramento (basically 19th & Capitol). Bring a diorama and a costume or something. Send out this email to whomever -- there's a ton of people on the Peep Off list that I don't know. I'll start it at 2pm (which means 3pm), but I'll have the BBQ going at 2pm. With a bit of luck, I will get an armadillo that Skipper said he'd BBQ. No joke. Beckysac heard a rumor you can buy them ready to cook in San Francisco! The best thing is, 5% of armadillos carry leprosy. I'm already laughing. This isn't a joke, by the way. As Cecil Adams says, "Fewer than 5 percent of wild armadillos have it, though I grant you that 5 percent of 30 to 50 million is a lot of armadillos". http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a990219.html Please remember that I won't talk to media within a 2 hour radius of Sacramento. I don't want a bunch of jerks showing up and I'm not going to get a permit for Peep Eating Gluttony. Without the element of peep riots, arrests and leprosy, what's the point of eating sugar coated marshmallow goodness? In this, Our Post 9/11 Days, who's to say what's "right" and what's "wrong"? Diabetes never hurt anyone but police batons leave an ouchie. There's more of the same nonsense at: http://nokilli.com/peeps Make sure you take a good look at this one, too: http://www.nokilli.com/food/peep_warning.htm The peep_warning.htm page is safe for work, but it clicking the link leads to "Ack!". For women, it can also lead to a nasty yeast infection. --Archbishop Dave uh... "Smith"

Hey Dave, the armadillo was spotted at SF Market on 65th and Stockton, not in SF. It's right here in Sac.

Fargo gloats

I'm busy and I shouldn't really take the time to post, but this article from the Bee yesterday was so maddening I had to mention it. The mayor is gloating about how much money they're going to be giving away for various doomed projects. How about money for small projects? How about helping SMALL local business. Right now on my street, on the stretch of T between 11th and 12th, Mom Guess What has either gone out of business or moved, and so did a small market, so what about the urban blight on my street? How about a grant for some small business owner or artist or something there? What about a grant for the Kabinet?! Where's the money for this stuff? You could do countless small projects with that same money or like 2 giant handouts to developers.

The Kabinet!!

The Kabinet is great! It was exciting to roll up and see a small, varied crew of film lovers. They have a cute little space with a cloth screen that they project DVDs on, and right now the walls are covered with 500 poems from the poems for all series that Richard Hansen has published.. For three bucks you get admission, some Charles Shaw or juice, and popcorn. And you can bring your own brew or wine if you want! There was something very fun about watching a movie in public and drinking an Anchor Steam. J. Greenberg spoke a bit about the movie before and after. It was really experimental, but I like my experimental film to include cute Czech girls in bikinis, so I was happy. This next sunday they are having a crazy double feature that starts early (at seven). I'm bummed cuz I don't think I can go, but they are having two films from the director of El Topo, with tarot card readings and other kinds of tomfoolery between films. Here's J.'s description:

But be warned: these aren't films for the faint of heart. Violence, nudity, and various bodily functions are the rule, rather than the exception. So no hard feelings if you feel these films might not be your cup of tea. But Jodorowsky's intention is less to shock than to SHAKE: to use the power of cinema to rouse people from their slumber and get them thinking about where we're at, how we got here, and where we're headed next. If anything, his films feel even more relevant today than they did when they were made some 30 or 40 years ago. He's a true cinematic savant, and this is sure to be a night to remember...

And speaking of violence and nudity, there is a locally produced film called Palace of Stains premiering at the Crest this friday night. The trailer was NSFW, but I braved it anyway and glimpsed some local folks, including ol' KLJ.

Way to go C.K.!!

A solid 7.4 on the 'fork. I don't believe he is playing with Shannon Krauss anytime soon in Cali, but she has a show accompanied by someone else in Davis on June 9th

haps at the Kab

I am reallyreally going to try to make it to the Kabinet to see the movie this sunday. Here's the description:

Daisies
Vera Chytilova, 1966
Two young women without vocation or moral compass wreak havoc across Prague in Vera Chitylova's groundbreaking experimental feature. The hair-thin storyline -- involving casual seductions and careless destruction of property -- provides the perfect excuse to engage in cinematic trickery, brilliant color schemes, visual puns...and just the sort of behavior your parents always warned you against. This is experimental cinema with a wicked sense of humor -- and unforgettable imagery: butterflies, apples, rainbow train tracks, chandeliers, and milk baths. For all you cinephiles: think of this as the Bizarro-world version of Celine and Julie Go Boating -- but at less than half the running time

Other notable upcoming movies are Thieves Like Us (yay!!) and Two Lane Blacktop, which has Dennis Wilson in it. Smiller, it would be great if you could give out your Dennis Miller comp at this event, but I know you probably won't have time to compile it before April 16th due to our plans for SPRING BREAK 2006! WOOH! MAZATLAN! SENOR FROG'S!! WOOH!

Review of Spataro's:

#1-first things first-please don't even tell me that you only offer one sparkling wine by the glass and that it is a nasty prosecco that tastes like Marinelli's sparkling cider. I'm not even trying to hear that.

That complaint out of the way, my other glass of wine was an Italian varietal I had never heard of called soave and the glass I had was scrump. Very flowery but not very sweet. Also it was rad that when I asked about it our server brought me a taste so I could decide.

The place was packed to the gills with suits at eight on a wednesday. This place is obviously doing well. It was OK inside, not as flashy as Masons but more cozy with lower ceilings, lots of light wood, and dim lighting.

They brought us bread to start and one of the two types of bread was a harbinger of the salty, salty food to come. It was a good focaccia that was crusted with rosemary and sea salt. Tasty, but too salty. There isn't a current menu online so that you can see what I mean, but the menu we got was pretty brief and none too appealing. I struggled to find an appetizer or salad that I wanted. I settled on saltcod fritters just out of nostalgia for the nasty bacalhau in Portugal. There were three fritters which resembled hush puppies. They came with a "garlic sauce" which seemed mayo-ey and not garlicky. The fritters packed a salt wallop but were tasty. By this time I was salted out and sucking down the white wine (water is sooo boring to drink). Scott liked his beet salad but come on, does every fucking restaurant have to have a beet and cheese salad now? Can't they do something creative with the beets? I ordered linguine con vongole (linguine with clams). The clams weren't very tasty. They were spongy and bland. The sauce was just an olive oil sauce with way too much undercooked garlic and (you guessed it) salt! Scott got spaghetti carbonara and it was a standard, heavy version of that dish.

The fish selections on the menu sounded more ambitious and may be better than the pasta but I wasn't about to risk spending that much money unless they could do basic pasta well, so I'm not sure about that. I probably won't go back. We were lucky that a big chunk of this check went on gift cards or I would have been bummed on how much I spent. I heard that a chef or two left recently, and when Scott ate there before he liked it better, so maybe the quality has gone down. Overall, a bust but at least I discovered soave veneto!

You can always tell an Irishman, but you can't tell him much

You guys went crazy with the comments. I don't know where I would fit into the western. I can't picture myself in a gold rush setting. My relatives were still peasants in Russia and Ireland, respectively. Speaking of Ireland, Happy St. Patty's Day!!
I am drunk already, of course in salute to my forebears.

I have a new email address for heckasac related business so I can preserve my elitist anonymity. I heard Heyamoto is trying to track me down. My address is: heckasac@yahoo.com.

I will post a Spataro review and other stuff later. I wasted too much time reading the comments and need to get to work.

we're a goin' to a hukilau

Nothing too exciting going on in these parts. Two bits of news that I've heard. One thing is about the new GM at the Tower theater. This is a real surprise but I don't want to spill the beans unless he's going to step forward himself and tell because I'm not sure if it's supposed to be general knowledge. The other is that the Loft is closing for band practice for good. As Davey said, "no more loft smell". Sad. I hope the four eyes can still continue their christmas show tradition. If not, please don't tell Scott because I worry that he will hurt himself. What are the bands going to do? I'm not sure who still practices there besides Rock the Light and the Four Eyes.

I'm eating at Spataro tonight, which I'm pretty excited about. I'm getting a discount from taking care of my roomates boyfriend's cat if that makes any sense. I was walking by Hukilau last night and it was somewhat crowded. What is the deal with that place? I don't get why there are any hawaiian restaurants in town (there are two downtown if you count L and L). They're not exactly known for their cuisine. Poi is like the only thing they made up. Other than that there's roast pig (OK, that one's pretty good but hardly unique) and a love of spam. How can you base a restaurant on that? I'm curious about Hukilau, though. I want to try it just so I can write a review.

ballet russes

babyballerinas
Originally uploaded by becklerg.

Ballet Russes (playing at the Crest) is great! Go see it! The old people in it are very inspiring. And all the old pictures and footage are rad. It seems like peoples faces just used to be more interesting in those days. Like everyone is getting blander and blander with all this good nutrition we have these days or something.

Stagecoach review

I've mentioned the Stagecoach before but I wanted to give it a full review because it is surely worth it. The Stagecoach is open 7 days a week from early morning until 3pm. It has a western theme inside, similar to Trails but nicer. This place is homey as hell. Everyone there acts like family, patrons and workers, and the decor is given the personal touch with family photos and hand-drawn John Wayne pictures. The story of the family that opened it is on the voluminous menu. The menu is diner food crossed with southern soul food. There are tons of daily specials and homemade soups every day. I don't go there as often as I would probably like and I always order the same thing-club sandwich with fries. I know, that's boring but the sandwich is so fucking good! Scott will back me up that it's the best club sandwich in town. It comes with fries (great fries) and an iceberg salad drowning in blue cheese for 7.75. Smiller got the breakfast of breaded, fried trout (you could choose from two types of breadings), three eggs, home fries, and toast. I tried the trout and it was really good and the tartar sauce was a standout. I'll warn you, this place is packed on sundays with a post-church crowd, although the staff is smiling and efficient so that's not really a problem. This place rules, basically! Although I blame it for packing on a couple of pounds this weekend. Or could it have been the dim sum breakfast? Or the cookie bake-off. Hard to say.

Oh yeah, I dont' know why, but there's another stagecoach in Elk Grove. Heckamax, you should try it!

delicious pups in the tub

I know you all have been eagerly anticipating my cookie recipe. How do I know that? Because I have an inflated view of my own importance and I think you all hang on my every word. Here's the recipe. My mom calls them "nut crescents" but I made them round so I just call them "pups in the tub". If you're into porn you might get that joke.

Mix one cup butter (2 sticks, softened, or you will sprain your wrist) with a half cup of sugar. Add a tsp of salt, a teaspoon of almond extract, and 2 cups of flour. Last, add 3/4 of a cup of finely chopped pecans. I grind mine in a coffee grinder. Chill the dough for a bit. Bake on 325 for 15-20 minutes until the bottom is brown. They are good slightly underdone and doughy or slightly brown and crispy. Make sure you put the full amount of salt, because the salty edge is what makes them addictive. Oh yeah, and dust with powdered sugar when cool. This step is also important because the cookies are not that sweet. I did not sample many cookies at the bake-off because I had filled up on my own cookies. I gave my cookie bag out at the Knock Knock show because the doctor has warned me that my cookie level is dangerously high. It's amazing how suspicious people are of someone giving out cookies. That reminds me of the story of a friend who scarfed down some cookies a roommate had left out on the counter that turned out to be super strong pot cookies. He figured that out at the emergency room.

epic weekend

tobyvail
Originally uploaded by becklerg.

I just found out that I booked my trip to Mazatlan during not just the biggest week of spring break but also during Semana Santa, when many Mexican families go on vacation to the coast. This is not the best news I have ever heard, needless to say. But at least I can PARTY DOWN AT SENOR FROGS!!! WOOH SPRING BREAK 2006 WOOH!

This weekend was epic, mostly because it started for me on thursday night. So much happened it was insane. I need a weekend to recover from my weekend, if you know what I mean.

Highlights:

-Walked around North Beach, saw Jonathan Richman chilling at Cafe Trieste
-Spider and the Webs were great at thee parkside. Toby Vail is a rad frontwoman. EZ we didn't say hi to your friend but he was cracking me up. And Bongo Randy was the funniest thing ever at that moment. The show was pretty sparsely attended, which was surprising. It made me think that all those old riot grrls are too square to go to shows now or something. It was totally Oly style still. They even had real photocopied zines.
-The bananas seriously ripped it up at the show on friday. So fun! And even though I had never heard Captain Nines I really enjoyed them and can see why they're still remembered in Sac. I didn't catch that they had a CD for sale but I'd like to get it.
-Knock Knock was great on saturday and it was exactly the mellow kind of night I needed. Yuck. I really hate the word mellow
-Two big boxes of various kinds of dim sum from Cheung Hing for saturday breakfast. Thanks to Ella I tried some new kinds which were fucking great. I can't believe how good that place is.
-And another delicious meal at Pho Bac Hoa Viet in which I tried a piece of Ella's tendon (OK it was a cow's tendon, not Ella's). It was not as gross as I thought it would be and just tasted like fat.
-I won the cookie bake-off! I will post my recipe later. It's so simple that I have it memorized.

A low light was that last night I decided that it would be a good idea to watch Red Dragon alone in my apartment. Not a good idea. That movie is pretty freaky. The first time I saw it I went to see it in the theater so stoned I could barely handle walking into the theater, which was also a terrible idea. You think I would have learned my lesson last time. Remember that night, DP?

git-r-done

I'm bored today. I've found some gems on craigslist personals but too many people have dogged on those posts so I won't bother. Did you know David Cross and Bob Odenkirk have a website? And did you know that David has written an extremely long open letter to Larry the Cable Guy? You didn't? Would you like to read it? Here it is.

The Bee had a thing today about yet another unrealistic proposal for the railyard. They should call this proposal "fantasyland 2015". I like how much of it is devoted to parks, though. It's not so bad except for the downtown arena.

cute old ladies at the crest

Ballet Russes is opening at the Crest. I don't think a movie preview has ever made me tear up (twice!) before so I will not miss this fine documentary of old people being cute as hell.

Speaking of theaters, I'm still waiting for a piece on the IMAX from the former writer of the Sacramento Comment, but in the meantime, here's a link to an editorial in the Bee that a coworker sent to me. It was in the paper the night before the vote and it urged the city to look into the matter further. They didn't take the advice.

K.W. reviewed Moxie in this week's news and review. I want to take exception with the just barely above average review, but I can't really. Like K.W., I think I want to like Moxie more than I do. They really do need to step their game up a bit. However, she's really annoyed at how dark it is in there, which I've never noticed before. I mean it's dark, but I never thought it was too dark. I wonder if she only went once? Because it's possible someone just leaned on the dimmer too hard that night. I would have liked some analysis of the wine list, especially because of their unusual policy of offering them all by the glass. I tried to muster up an argument against calling it "dated" but there is a certain 80s flavor to the whole place, as opposed to a classic feel. Biba's looks hella dated to me, too. When was the last time the News and Review reviewed that place? I would be curious to see how it would measure up.

Holy crap!

I was browsing the new SN&R and I saw an ad for a Purim celebration at congregation Beth Shalom in Charmichael that includes a carnival with a performance billed as "a celebration of Purim with Beach Boys music" called "Queen Esther and the Boyz on the Beach".

faithful far fans?

There was a post about a Jonah Mantranga show (with pictures) on brooklyn vegan. With multiple comments. Huh. I had heard that Fred Durst loved Far but I guess I didn't know that people in other places still remembered them. And before K.S. becomes enraged, that is not a dis on Far. I never heard Far and I only saw them once at the Cattle Club. Jonah took the stage with his long, luxurious locks tucked up into a cap, and then as the rock kicked in he headbanged in a carefully choreographed move so that the cap would fly off and his hair would flow everywhere. That's when I knew it wasn't for me and went out onto the patio.

Does the city council have money to burn?

Man, the city council was handing out money like tic-tacs at a halitosis support group last night! I am groaning (inwardly) as I write that joke. First with the IMAX (which I'll post about tomorrow), and then this. No wonder that liquor store owner didn't show up. He's probably getting a sweet deal. Do you think he could sell his crappy store for a million bucks in a legitimate sale? I doubt it. I think this is a weird use of eminent domain. It's supposed to be used to seize land needed for a public project (like a road), not just to eliminate a business the city council doesn't like. On the plus side, the Bee printed a fun map where you can look at the liquor stores in your neighborhood and see how much crime has occurred around them. A couple crimes were committed around Maks, but maybe they are just talking about how the food at L&L Hawaiian BBQ is illegally delicious. Smiller, you will not be surprised to see that some crimes happened near the Save-Rite. You might be surprised that prostitution wasn't one of them.

Mulvaney's Building and loan (is that really the full name)?!

Mulvaneys has opened in the old New Helvetia location! I can't wait to try this place! I wonder if the bar is good for chilling if you just want to order something small? I hate how Mike Dunne will write stuff like that and not tell you what he thinks about the food, but it's too early to write a fair review.

music news

If you like Belle and Sebastian and you have the technological means to do it, you should listen to Stuart's interview on fresh air. I got choked up a couple of times. It's a really good interview and you can tell Terry Gross and Stewart were thick as thieves (for an explanation of that idiom, go here)

You eastcoasters are going to have some chances coming up to go see Josephine Foster, and you shouldn't miss out. I wish I could see her live again! I'm planning a fantasy trip to Quebec on June 2nd to see her, but there's about a one percent chance of that. Here are her east coast dates:

Mon, May 22, 2006 Tonic New York NY w/Cherry Blossoms
Tue, May 23, 2006 Brooklyn Fire Proof Brooklyn NY w/ Cherry Blossoms
Thu, May 25, 2006 Cafe Nine New Haven CT w/ Arizona Drains
Sat, May 27, 2006 Pioneer Arts Easthampton MA w/Arizona Drains
Sun, May 28, 2006 AS 220 Art Space Providence RI w/Arizona Drains
Fri, Jun 2, 2006 Casa del Popolo Montreal Qbc

I'm going to see Spider and the Webs (dumb name) tomorrow in SF at theeeee parkside. It's Tobi Vail from Bikini Kills band and I have multiple reports that they're really good live so I'm excited about that. I plan to do a lot of walking around the city the next day and eating because, just between you and me, I have been feeling a strong need to get out of sac more lately.

There is quite a bit going on this weekend. Too much almost. Friday is the Bananas/Captain Nines show at Old I. This band was before my time so I'm a little fuzzy on the details. I guess Tom from the Knockoffs was in it way back in the day and now it has reformed for one show with some fans on the other instruments. Is this right? After that show I am going to try to catch the show at the Fools Foundation. A band called Dengue Fever (Jed's arch nemesis) is playing. It's like Cambodian pop music or something. Boy, I'm a font of information here.

Saturday is Dillons dirty thirty in Oakland, and in sac there are dueling shows, Four Eyes at the Distillery and Knock Knock and Carquinez Straights at the Fox and Goose. And a cookie bake-off that I want to win with my family recipe of Russian tea cookies!

who eats armadilloes?!

The giant Chinese buffet has opened right near Tower. The Armeniac has eaten there but I forgot to ask him about it. I hate buffets but in the interests of investigative journalism I will try to eat there soon.

A coworker was talking to the owners of Vientianne and found out about a Lao market called South Area Market on fruitridge that I want to check out in my relentless pursuit of yuppie delicacies. He also said that he went to SF market and that they had whole oxtails and, get this, whole armadilloes on ice. That is blowing my mind.

yuppie restaurant review

I took my good friend, Charles Albright (Milhouse, Knightmares, Sunshine Smile, Megacools, Rock the Light, the Frenchmen, and many more)** out to a birthday dinner last night. He's a vegetarian, so we tried to go to Andy Nguyens, but it was closed for a private event. Bummer. Charles suggested Thai Basil. I had never been there and had heard mixed reviews, but it was Charles' night, so I said OK.

The decor is pretty fancy and they have their SN&R best of signs posted all over, including the one from this year. They have a big selection of wine and beer in a refrigerated case (well, big for a Thai restaurant), which is nice. They have Phuket beer (heh heh) and Tiger and some Japanese, Chinese and Americanese beers, too. The wine list is OK, but overpriced. I don't see why a glass of Mondavi Cab should be 6.25. Overpriced was the theme of the evening. Thai Basil has a limited menu compared to Amarin and it only has one price for everything (except at lunch, when you can get "small plates" for 7.95, not sure how small they are). The price is 10.95 for dishes in which there is (I think) chicken, beef, or tofu, and 12.95 for shrimp or maybe something else. I think this is a stupid system. We wanted a veggie dish and there were only a couple to choose from, including prig king, a spicy green bean dish, but why should green beans be eleven bucks! We started with veggie rolls (the starters are lower priced). These were bland and mostly lettuce filled. The sauce was pretty good, but very fishy. Luckily Charles is not that stict of a vegetarian. Then we split a spicy red curry with tofu. It came with rice at least, but was not spicy at all and pretty bland. Then we got a wide noodle dish with a black bean sauce. The sauce had a good smoky, salty flavor and I love fat, soft noodles (heh heh), but it still did not excite my palate. Just OK. Not enough basil, not enough spice. For dessert we all split the fried banana with honey and ice cream. I rarely order dessert so it's been years since I ordered this at Amarin, but I recall it being fucking delicious. At Thai Basil the banana came out wrapped in eggroll wrapper and the grease it was fried in tasted a little old. It wasn't that tasty. However, the company was wonderful and we had a great time. Sorry Thai Basil, you are somewhat weak in my opinion. I really want to get out to Pattaya Thai again and review that. It's this total yuppie hole-in-the-wall out on Watt in that yuppie neighborhood North Highlands.

**Charles thought it would be funny that I namedropped him as part of the "indie elite"

Happy Birthday to Charles! (tomorrow)

Charles is having a birthday show in Davis tomorrow. I'm not going because of the Davis thing (hatred of Davis) but here's the details:

The MegaCools, The International PLayboys (from Missoula), The Pets:The G St. Pub:9:00, $2, 21+ Charles Albrights birthday

I have heard some things about those hard-partying, promiscuous bands from Missoula, so go there and you might get some action. Or maybe you can take the pets home with you for a three-way. Not saying that they're into that kind of thing.

Tonight th' Losin' Streaks are playing at Capitol Bowl. Capitol Bowl is rad, so if you haven't been there, now's your chance. Rock The Light was listed on the show the other day but now it just says TBA. It's around 700 and it's in the bar so you have to be over the hill like me to get in.

I'm a little late with my Animal Collective review because of my extended hiatus but it seemed like it had pretty mixed reactions from people. Some loved it, some hated it. Some felt the sound was too terrible to deal with. It depended on where you stood. I started out up front and the sound was OK, if you moved farther back behind where there was a big metal pipe-thing on the ceiling, that thing was catching all the sound and muffling it in a pretty crazy way. As I mentioned I stood up front at the beginning until I was pushed out by a crowd of young men that was partially composed of two bros that I'll call Sacto caveman and sac Chris Farley. I believe that the story of these bros is that they have liked Animal Collective for a while and are bummed that they are now so popular and poppy and that little kids are coming to their shows. They wanted to show that they were original fans by being the most obnoxious they could possibly be and trying to ruin the show for everyone around them. They did this by yelling stupid things like "sigma chi motherfucker" at ear-splitting levels over and over, pushing, and taking off their shirts so that their sweatiness would touch everyone. Annoying. But as I said, there were TONS of young people in the crowd, including many teens. Some were wearing headlamps a la the Geologist and some had their faces painted and were wearing feathers in their hair. Smiller pointed out a girl with her face painted, but who was wearing mismatching sweatpants and a sweatshirt. It's odd to go to that much trouble and then bust out with sweats. These kids were pretty cute and Animal Collective was obviously stoked on their energy. Their set was similar to the one they played a few months ago, mostly songs from Feels and Sung Tongs, and a new song or two. The Library is just OK as a venue, but it would be cool if it brought more bands of this size to Sac. I enjoyed the show but I'm still bummed that my too-stoned freakout ruined the one at the Great American for me. That one seemed like the best.

recipe

Pressing on because I have been rudely forced off my microscope and have some down time, I will post that recipe that I made up yesterday. I served it as a kind of salad on the side of some chicken tacos I made, or it could go on top. It's really good.

-Get two ears of fresh white (or yellow, if that's all there is) corn.
-Melt some butter on medium heat and cut the corn off into the pan, cutting yourself in the process because your sister gave you sharp knives which you constantly cut yourself with after a lifetime of using dull knives, which reminds me of that part in Popeye where Olive Oil (Shelley Duvall-come on shouldn't the presenters of that honarary Oscar to Altman been Elliot Gould and Shelley Duvall rather than Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin and by the way what was up with Altman's comment about having a heart transplant? Is that true?) is complaining about there never being a sharp knife in the house. Wrap the cut in toilet paper and try not to bleed into the pan.
-Throw half or a quarter of a diced habanero into the pan along with salt and pepper to taste
-saute briefly
-throw the corn into a bowl with some thinly sliced radishes and chopped cilantro. Squeeze one or two limes over the top. This tastes great.

rose colored glassy eyed over the hill fake hipster feel good drivel

I would change my blog name to that but I like the name Heckasac just a little bit better. But in this commenters honor I will write my first post-hiatus post in a rose font. Actually, the pink is already bugging me so back to black it goes. C'mon, you knew I couldn't stay away! Thanks for the suggestions and support, everybody. I don't think I need to take it private just yet, I have some plans for improving things so that doesn't have to happen. Here's one: a quiz for my readers.

Are you a jerk? If you know that you are or secretly suspect in your heart of hearts that others regard you as such (and no, Mike Banana you are not a jerk, not that you read anyway), then STOP READING MY FUCKING BLOG!

There, that should help.

Nope, I'm not going to turn this into a website that I'm just the editor of. That's sacrag's deal and they're welcome to it. I realized in the last week that the thing that has caused me the most problems is when I forget that this can just be my blog and I don't really have a responsibility to make it a public forum on every issue if I don't want to. That's what gets me in trouble so I'm going to be smarter about that from now on.

Kevin Seconds was kind enough to mock me for getting the least bit upset that jerks I didn't know were writing weird and false things about me. Being the wise elder statesman he is, he reminded me that "none of this TRULY means a gawddamned (sic) thing". While this may be true for his inane blog, it's not for mine. Now remember, he can't get mad that I said that because he thinks everything I write is completely meaningless as he has reminded me. Sorry if I got a bit worked up. I'm emotional like that. Also, at the time I didn't realize that that Paesano's thing was blowing up all over myspace and even Craigslist. Once I realized that everyone wasn't gunning just for me I felt better about it.

Later I will post a hipster salad recipe that I made up last night and continue in my campaign of trying to bring down local businesses. Stay tuned!

lates!

I'm taking this blog on hiatus. I'll see how I feel when I get back from Mexico in mid-April and if I don't miss it, that's it. Otherwise, I'll be screwing with the content and maybe change the name. I'll definitely be limiting the scope of my posts. It has gotten out of hand. I feel like it's a monster now. I just started it as a time-waster for me and my friends. Now I'm starting to hate it. I don't need to be losing sleep at night, wondering if I came off as pretentious or arrogant or bitchy or mean. I have a hard enough time controlling the impression I make with people off of the internet. I've damaged some friendships unintentionally also, which really bums my trip. BUT, keep in mind this is no big deal, this is a dumb little blog, me taking it down is not a triumph of ignorance over free speech or any crap like that. I am a teeny bit sad about it because some mornings I come in really excited to write a restaurant review or a movie review or something, but if I want to I will keep writing those when I get back, because they don't tend to piss anyone off. I just can't say whatever I want anymore, cuz too many people are reading so the fun is gone for me. It's funny, I started this post off with the sentence "this is gonna feel great", but then when I got to the end of writing this I didn't feel so great so I deleted that. And I keep delaying hitting "publish post". Oh well. Here I go.

joesphine at big sur

I'm really flattered that Rush Limbaugh himself weighed in on the homeless problem at the end of that Paesanos post. He totally opened my eyes about it. I never noticed how LAZY the mentally ill are. We should probably find some way to harness them to some type of farm machinery or just use them for medical experiments or something cuz it just burns me up when I see one of them loafing around having a good time on my tax dollars. I bet that guy who had diarrhea on Rush's stoop was probably having a laugh while he was doing it. Because we all know how fun it is do be so ill that you have to shit out in public.

Maybe I shouldn't have included this in my review of Josephine Foster's show at Big Sur because I am stoked that her message board linked to my last one and if they link to this one they're going to be confused. Oh well. The Fernwood Lodge in Big Sur is an interesting place to see a show but it has drawbacks. 1) some of the staff is surly and so are the many of the locals (probably because they are forced to pay 10 bucks for their local hangout and they think the bands that play are freaky and weird) 2) said surly locals talk loudly during the bands so if they are quiet bands it is very distracting 3) a DJ plays loud world music between the bands and hippy dance circles start. Despite that, Josephine was mesmerizing once again. She played almost the exact same set she played in Davis, but I didn't mind. She looked so cool in a ruffly purple rayon shirt and red cords tucked into high suede boots. Both members of Born Heller seemed quite tired because they had just played Arthurball in L.A. the night before and the other bands at Fernwood (who were all crappy) played until after midnight. But I love watching her play and I never get bored. Heargin her unearthly voice soaring just makes my ears feel great. I feel sad thinking that after seeing her play twice in a week that it may be quite awhile before I see her play again. Hopefully she won't start dating Bill Callahan and only playing with Smog a la Joanna Newsom. I picked up her CD "hazel eyes, I will lead you" and I love it. And when I was having a fainting spell outside Josephine herself stopped to ask if I was OK, which makes me cringe because she probably just thought I was wasted.

I also have an advance copy of the new Fiery Furnaces courtesy of smiller and what I've heard sounds great. Kinda on the Blueberry Boat tip (Maxwell, you'll love it) but less proggy and with more poppy parts. Genius! Smiller, you should write a real review if you have time!

Master Wan Ko Yee is a figure with magnificent accomplishments in all areas. In all of human history, no one can compare.

Remember when you wanted to see pictures of nerds on the internet? No? Well, here are some anyways.

I saw an insane art exhibit in SF this weekend. Insane because it seems to be built around a cult figure named Master Wan Ko Yee. I hesitate to write this because I can envision his followers somehow finding out about this and making death threats or barraging me with comments or something. Today was the last day of the exhibit but I think it's moving somewhere else in SF. I'll try to find out where. I urge you to see it. Here are some statements from the printed material on the net and that is posted at the show:

The mystery of these works will enchant you, and you will find them
unbelievable! If you do not personally see such works of art, which have now
appeared in this world for the first time, it might be difficult for you to imagine
that this world actually has such beautiful and wondrous artwork. With the
appearance of these artistic creations, all splendid pearls, jade, and gemstones
become pale in comparison, like the stars in the sky being outshined by a clear
moon.

During the thousands of years of culture and art history,
never has anyone made such magnificent achievements as Master Wan Ko Yee.

There was some sculpture called "yun sculpture" at the show which was totally bad-ass. It was made of colorful melty stuff that looked like wax. When you go in the special viewing room a lady starts a tape reading statements that are similar to that printed above. She also gesticulates towards the sculpture at appropriate times.

In the beginning of the 21st Century, Master Wan Ko Yee created “Yun
sculpture,” which amazed the world of art. The birth of “Yun sculpture” raised
art to an astonishingly new height. During the thousands of years of human
civilization, no one else’s sculpture actually surpassed the delicate and
wonderful beauty of natural stones. Only Yun sculpture art created by Master
Wan Ko Yee surpasses the natural world and its beauty! No precious stone in
this world can compare with the beauty, mystery, majesty, and resplendence of
Yun sculptures. Inside the Yun sculptures entitled “Boulder With Mist” and
“Wonder of a Mysterious Cave,” there are grottoes that contain constantly
lingering auspicious mist. For the first time in human history, mist has been
created through carving skills. It is truly unprecedented! Furthermore, attempts
by countless artists have proven that Yun sculptures cannot be replicated! This is
a miracle in the history of sculpture!

The constant emphasis on the fact that he had somehow "carved mist" was particularly funny. It was as if they thought that every artist throughout time had been struggling to carve mist but had given up and only Wan Ko Yee could do it.

I saw a couple of other pinnacles of human accomplishment this weekend, the Poontang Wranglers and Neil Hamburger.

question from reporter

Hi there. I'm a reporter with The Sacramento Bee. An editor mentioned that this conversation was going on - and I'm curious to talk with anyone who knows anything about the incident. If you did see anything - or know anyone who did - please contact me: jwiener@sacbee.com or (916)321-1967...Thanks, Jocelyn

So Shaun S. and others who saw, if you really want to set the record straight why don't you call this woman or email Cosmo at News and Review?

Il Fornaio

Il Fornaio is a really weird chain. It is way fancier inside than I thought it was. The ceilings are crazy high, and the waiters wear white tuxedo jackets. I have never seen a chain that fancy. I was curious, so I checked, and there are 23 of them, mostly in California. Within a couple of minutes of entering I saw Ailene Voisin, Jack Gallagher, and had John Burton pointed out to me (I don't recognize many Cali politicos on sight). I was surprised to see so many local celebs. I never hear anyone mention this restaurant so I didn't know that Sac's movers and shakers hang out here.

I will point out for this review that the meal was generously paid for, and that I enjoyed the ambiance and had a lovely meal (because of the lovely company). However, the food was not oustanding by any means. They bring you a crapload of Il Fornaio breads of various types to start with oil and vinegar. We ordered an appetizer of braised beef over polenta. The polenta was very soft and the beef sank into it. Smiller called it "beef oatmeal". It tasted almost exactly like enchiladas. Pretty good, but weird, and awkward for an appetizer because you have to just spoon out little portions of it onto your plate while trying to avoid dripping it everywhere. We also got carpaccio. It was served with slightly wilted arugula (not intentionally it just looked a little old, but i am being super picky right now), shaved parmesan and capers. It was just OK. The other carpaccio I've had melted in my mouth, but this almost tasted cooked.

For the entree I got a butternut squash and walnut ravioli served with brown butter, tomato sauce and sage. I was intrigued because no one ever serves butternut squash ravioli with tomato sauce so I wanted to see where they were going with that. The ravioli pasta itself was not so fresh looking. The edges were a little dry. The stuffing somehow did not have the richness that butternut squash usually adds. I don't know how they did that because just squash on its own is quite rich tasting. The brown butter was a little too sweet and the small spattering of tomato sauce was essentially tasteless. And they deep fried the sage leaves! It rendered them tasteless as well. Why they gotta do that to the sage? So the overwhelming flavors of this dish were sugar and butter. Those flavors are always good so it wasn't terrible, but it should have been much better. A dining companion ordered short ribs and expressed disappointment but I didn't try those. Smiller liked his sausage ravioli but said every third bite was crazy salted, and I thought it was too salty, too.

We ordered a dessert of pears over a pastry crust, served with a pistachio gelato. The gelato was good, but had an extremely strong pistachio flavor, and was a really weird pairing with the pear pastry. Very strange tasting together.

Overall, just so-so and for those prices, I probably will never go back.

question

I came in to work ready to post about Big Sur, completely unaware that there had been all this posting over the weekend. I started writing something back that was all sarcastic and stuff, easy shots like bagging on Rachel M. for bragging that she was writing a thesis. But it doesn't seem worth refuting point by point. I would rather post a review of Il Fornaio, where I ate last night. Here's what I observed overall. The two people who posted that were witnesses and the one who knows what happened directly and jumped to the manager's defense all confirm that the guy did get water thrown on him, which is what I printed. So it happened, right? So, why can't these guys just talk to the News and Review about it if they have nothing to apologize for? Then they can clear it up. They can explain they were just helping the guy out because they were concerned he would possibly have to go to jail if they didn't handle it that way. Sounds like funny logic to me, but they can make their case for that. They are denying it to the people trying to investigate it. Why lie if they're not ashamed of what they did? Maybe over the weekend they decided to own up to it, and this question is moot, but last I heard no one wanted to talk.

correction...

Sam's kosher-style deli in CH isn't closed. The Bee printed a correction.

movie news

Cache is still at the Crest for at least another week, so go see it. And if you hate it you can curse me.

Tower opened The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, which I want to see.

Speaking of Tower, there is a management shake-up going on there and the general manager has resigned. There could be big changes in store for the staff at the Tower. I hope none of them are bad.

The Barnesyard is still on hiatus, although DB swears it will be back soon. I hope so, but now he has a rival, at least on the local film blog front. It's called film for tourists and I don't know who writes it, but I like what I've read so far.

Kabinet is screening Metropolis this sunday. I just noticed this comment from earlier this week in response to my call for an Altman film fest:

Ask and ye shall receive...I had originally planned something completely different for April, but I'm nothing if not flexible -- and I'm eager to see THIEVES LIKE US again myself. So how's Sunday April 2nd work for you...?There are loads of Altman films available on DVD, so rather than a month-long fest of his work alone, I think I'll simply whet folks' appetites, and hope they'll seek out more of his films on their own. But throughout April, I'll be featuring a number of maverick directors under the umbrella theme "American Outlaws." Besides Altman, we'll be screening films by John Cassavetes, Monte Hellman, Sam Peckinpah, and Buster Keaton. Hope this sounds like an appealing program...And please don't forget that this Sunday, February 26th, we'll be closing out our tribute to Fritz Lang with a screening of METROPOLIS -- featuring a live, improvised score by INSTAGON! The show starts at 8pm, at HQ on the corner of 25th and R. The March calendars will be available then as well...(Hope this won't get buried, as the original post has fallen quite far down the page. And to the propietor(s) of Heckasac...my apologies if you'd rather not have such blatant promotions on your site. Any chance you could give me an e-mail address so I could send you updates? Then you could make the call as to whether or not you wanted to post them...)
Take care,
J.

Persian recipes

So everybody's all heated up again. Seriously, if you have time read that New Yorker article that I linked in the last post. Hopefully those kind of housing programs will become the norm in big cities in the future. Cosmo at the News and Review (see, a REAL journalist) is trying to investigate this incident. On the off chance that ANY direct witness would like to talk, anonymously or otherwise, you can email him at cosmog@newsreview.com

Someone has got to be willing to talk on the record.

I made a tasty Persian meal last night and I'd like to give you a couple of recipes. I made a version of gormeh sabzii, which as I understand it is a pretty standard Persian stew, and the origin of the word "gourmet". This recipe turned out great, although I couldn't get any fresh fenugreek (does anyone know of a place that sells this?) and I broke my food processor. The hints at the end are really cute, including this one:

If your stew ends up having a bitter taste, you more than likely burned the vegetables. If it smells like hannA (henna), you added too much spinach. You can't recover from these two mishaps. If the vegetables swim to one side and the meat goes the opposite way, you've undercooked it. Put in back on medium heat and let some of the excess water evaporate.

You serve this over rice. I also made a rice dish for dessert. It's really simple, you just mix some cooked rice with sugar, rose water, crushed almonds and/or pistachios, a bit of hot oil if you want, and some saffron and bake it until warm. I think raisins would be great in it, but a lot of people don't like raisins. I am a sucker for anything with rose water in it, which is why I like Persian desserts the best.

What's wrong with Paesano's management?

A highly moral heckasac reader (who shall remain nameless unless she chooses to reveal her identity) clued me in to a crappy incident at Paesanos. It caused her to take personal action because she felt so strongly about it. Here's what happened:

A week from yesterday, so February 15th, a homeless man passed out on the bench in front of Paesanos and the owner **name redacted** and the GM went on the roof with 2 buckets of water and doused the guy to get him to wake up and leave. The first bucket thrown by dude mostly missed him and the second bucket thrown by other dude nailed him. The homeless man is handicapped, weighs about 90lbs soaking wet, and can barely walk. You have probably seen him around as most people I have mentioned this to know who I'm talking about. He was having what looked like a seizure outside before he passed out.Oh yeah, and it froze that night.I was not a first hand witness to this story, however, this was done in the evening during business hours in front of customers and employees. I have asked several people at Paesanos about this who did see it and they have all confirmed the story and all of their stories match

Terrible. And please, no stupid anonymous posts about dirtbags or he deserved it or whatever, or I'll erase them. If you are foolhardy enough to want to sign your name to a comment like that (or a nickname I know) I'll leave it up.

what's up with that?

Kate W.'s review of Ruth's Chris's Steak's House's is pretty stomach-turning. I would never eat there unless someone else took me. And even then I would just ask them to take me somewhere else. So nevernevernever.

I can't believe that there is a Sac band named Hotel Pistol and one named Hot Pistol.

Oh yeah, I forgot but writegrrl reminded me, someone got shot inside the Monte Carlo. I haven't been in this band in at least 7 years despite the fact that I have lived right near it for years.

Now that the Band That Time Forgot show is cancelled (for mysterious reasons, I smell a conspiracy), do they have any other upcoming shows?

Also, it's total bullshit that Heyamoto answered this question and not mine.

cache

OK, we'll lay off poor Xtina. It's true, for a long time I thought Lohan's were fake, and Britney's too, but they have both gone through ch-ch-ch-changes that have made it clear that they're real.

Lunch at Mason's was quite good but next time I can afford it I'll go back for dinner. There's only so much you can do to a sandwich to make if worth 11-14 dollars. For that much it has got to be miles better than Sub Shack or Corti's and that's really hard. I got an open-faced BLT on focaccia with avocado, melted cheese and a gooey fried egg on top. It was delicious. The fries that came with were dry and chip-like and unexciting. GW got a hangar steak sandwich which was also good, but the meat wasn't as flavorful as she would have liked and the promised horseradish aoili was not near horseradishy enough. SMiller got some expensive, tiny, and very flavorful sea bass tacos.

We went to see Cache last night and although it has a very "say what?" ending it is thought-provoking and we were discussing it all night. Quite tense and gripping. I won't spoil anything, but the director uses a cinematic technique that ensures you pay close attention in every scene, much more so than I usually do in a movie. There is a strong racial subtext having to do with the past history of France and Algieria and current racism against Africans there today which I was somewhat oblivious to during the movie, but which became clear as I thought about it more. There's a great discussion of it on this imdb board, but only look at if you've seen the movie. It won't make sense otherwise and will ruin the movie.

Xtina!

I know some of you out there are hot for Xtina, and may have argued at some time that her breasts are real, but I saw this picture in US yesterday and I'm sorry but those are not real. They are migrating apart and they are now practically in her armpits. Implants on a small, thin frame tend to be far apart like that.

question

Does the Band That Time Forgot have a show coming up?

Greek Village Inn

So much food news. Noushineh has a bunch of entries on the Sub Shack. I have been craving their turkey sandwich with bacon and fries for at least six months now and have been foiled at every attempt to eat it. Either they're closed, they're only serving breakfast, or, this last time their plumbing was acting up.

I'm eating lunch at Mason's today because I have been craving more of that pumpkin salad since I ate there a few weeks ago. I can't wait!

Review of the Greek Village Inn. The online reviews looked good, and a friend had recommended it. I'm not a huge fan of Greek food. I think it's like a pale version of Middle Eastern Food, with less spice and more feta. Feta is not one of the great cheeses, in my opinion. We started with a mixed dip platter, that had tzatziki, eggplant dip (melitzanosalata) , and a dip that purported to be pureed caviar and onions (taramosalata), but tasted like extra-salty lox shmear, so there must have been some dairy in there. All three were good, and the pita bread was a stand-out. The eggplant dip was pretty bland. Best of all was the lemon and rice soup, which comes with the entrees. The soup is the only thing I've had from this place before. Its what it's known for. Delicious. Smiller ordered a roasted chicken dish with cinnamon and cloves and pasta. He loved it and the chicken was very tender and moist (falling off the bone!). I got the gyro because an online reviewer noted they mixed the beef and lamb themselves rather than carving it off of a pre-packaged cone. I have never had a gyro before because those cones really gross me out. I was not so crazy about mine. The meat was too salty and bland. It came with more pita, and some giant blocks of feta. The portions are quite large and we had ordered too much food. The price was very high, a bit over thirty bucks apiece, total, and we each had one glass of wine. So, pretty good but pricey. I would go back and just get some spanikopita and soup maybe. There's a fancy new Greek place opening in that same neighborhood (it's called Opa Opa) and I have inside info that their falafel is the best evs, so I'll try that when it opens.

a velvet hole?

This article contains a lot of things that smiller doesn't like. First, there are a lot of mentions of Ruth's Chris Steak House which is a nonsensical business name that drives him insane. Then there is the phrase "hunker down". When I first started reading this article, which is about the Broiler and more specifically the female head chef, I could tell that Mike Dunne was not writing it. It's way overwritten. Although Dunne is too afraid to criticize in his reviews, he's a good, concise, writer. Sure enough, it's written in the characteristically folksy style of Bob Sylva. Here's a sample sentence that makes very little sense (and contains 4 adjectives-well, unless wide-eyed is somehow not an adjective, my last grammar lesson was a long time ago) I can picture Sylva writing this article with his thesaurus clutched close to his breast:

Stice - apprehensive, alarmingly wide-eyed - gives the impression that she might be the tender entree.

And exactly how is she giving that impression? I've read the whole article and I don't know.

How about this sentence?

The Broiler's history, though old, isn't quite as stupendous. It was started in 1950 by a Croatian immigrant named Joseph B. Anticevich, who opened the restaurant in a velvet hole, at 1013 J St.

A velvet hole?

Some bad news in this article is that Sam's Kosher Style Deli in CH has closed. Now that that place and the Hot Pastrami are both closed there aren't many places to get a pile o' meat style sandwich.

I was glad to see that the Bee had an article on Espanol, which is not a favorite of mine but it's a piece of Sac restaurant history, but here's the pointless little piece. It's cool to find out that it was started to feed Basque shepherds, but no review of the food.

And in a review that Dunne wrote, which he starts by saying that people call him asking why there are no French bistros in Sac (so I'm not the only one that wonders. I've been contemplating writing a letter to the chef of the Waterboy and imploring him to think about a homey French bistro for the new place he's going to open), and he writes a pretty critical review of the only one, L'Image. But not as critical as the one that was in sacrag. I felt really sorry for the writer. Nothing is more disappointing than dropping that much on a subpar prix-fixe meal. Well, except maybe showboating right when you are about to win a gold medal and then biting it really hard in front of a global audience. That's why no one should go out to fancy places on Valentines Day.

This entry has taken me a while to compile so I'm going to post my review of the Greek Village Inn in a little bit.

fargo won't give up her quest to fuck shit up

Connie sent me this link about the City Council continually trying to fuck up our city. The city has failed with every proposal for that block that the old Woolworths was on. Now someone has floated the idea of a restaurant row. Despite the fact that probably all of the proposed restaurants would be steakhouses (maybe we can change our motto from Sacramento, city of trees, to Sacramento, city of steakhouses, or city of upscale American bistros) with luxury lofts on top, this is at least a better idea than trying to pick some theme that would turn it into a Disneyland-style "destination". But, no, the mayor and the council (as well as "community activist" Roxanne Miller, that upon googling her name, seems to have her finger in every pie around this town, hmm..let me take a wild guess and say that she might be some kind of businesswoman or stands to profit financially from the development of Sac. Maybe I'm just being cynical.) can't let go of the idea that we need to attract people from surrounding suburbs and cities to come downtown to spend spend spend.

Here's a quote from Miller, "We shouldn't be settling for a restaurant row," Miller said. "That would miss the opportunity for a unique destination that will draw people downtown."

Here's a quote from Fargs, "What I've been trying to do on K Street is promote the unique," Fargo said. "It may not be enough to just have good restaurants and good food."

And what "unique" idea does Fargs like? Well, if by "unique" you mean "copying another city's idea" I guess you could say it's unique to try to make our town look like the Holy Grail of revitalized downtowns, San Diego's Gas Lamp distict. I happen to have spent some time there because of a work thing and it sucks. It has all the "unique" destinations that attract out of towners, like a Hooter's, a TGI Fridays, etc. All that and fake old-timey street lamps and trolleys! Yay! Is your pulse racing yet?

three women

Wow! I can even upload more than one image! Robert Altman's Three Women is so fucking good! It out-Lynches David Lynch years and years before he started to explore the theme of shifting identities in Twin Peaks, Lost Highway and Mulholland Drive. I've never heard anyone compare these two filmakers, but the parallel is so clear in this movie. Of course, this movie is unlike any Altman movie I've seen. I listened to some of the director commentary and Altman was saying the idea of the movie, including that it would star Sissy Spacek and Shelly Duvall, came to him in an dream after he fell into an exhausted sleep on a day when his wife was gravely ill. It didn't really have a full plot or script when it started, just impressions about the setting and the stars, but he pitched it to Fox a couple of days after the dream and the studio system was so much better in the 70's that he could just ask them for a couple million to make it and they easily said yes. No wonder movies were so much better then. This freedom allowed him to make an eerie, dreamlike, totally captivating movie that doesn't have a linear plot or a clear ending. You can't get away with that these days. Shelly Duvall is wonderful, and Altman said that she pretty much created her character from scratch. She's really funny and shows a lack of vanity because it was her idea that her character would think that men were after her when she's so obnoxious that none of them want anything to do with her. Sissy Spacek pretty much plays two roles, one a childlike waif, and the other a cruel, sexy adult and she seems to physically transform back and forth between the two roles. It's crazy. When she's the sexy character she seems to be about 8 years older and a foot taller somehow. I highly, highly recommend this movie. Too bad Thieves Like Us isn't out on DVD yet, now I want to see every Altman/Duvall movie. Kabinet, have an Altman film fest!!!!!

josephine foster!

There was a lot of action on the blog over the weekend, which I like.

First off, I am listening to an excellent radio show that John P. djs on east village radio. Thanks to SSOS for the link.

Hey, I just now found out that I can upload photos directly to blogger without going through flickr. Cool. Later, flickr.

Here's the lovely Josephine Foster, who played last night at Delta of Venus. It was an incredible show. Her voice is an unearthly instrument and she is in full command of it. I've heard that she was training to be an opera singer before she decided to pursue writing her own music. I'm kind of pressed for time so it's hard for me to describe it well, it's really not like anything I've ever heard. I'm seeing her again this weekend in Big Sur so maybe after that I can do a better job. Mi and L'au opened. Most of their songs were so quiet that everyone was sitting there trying not to move or breathe too loud and praying that our stomachs wouldn't gurgle and ruin the mood. Connie tried to turn off her phone in the middle and instead it started to ring, but it was a chirping bird ringer so it almost fit in. Mi and L'au weren't overly impressive, her voice was really clear and pretty, though, and maybe their record is good. They both look like freaky models and they wrote most of the music for their album in an isolated cabin in Finland. Despite that, the music isn't very interesting. After the show, one of the KDVS guys said that we were the best audience they've ever had at Delta of Venus, I guess because we weren't talking through the show, and I felt proud.

eleanor!

DSC02918
Originally uploaded by fakechildhood.

glad to see that eleanor is choosing some better fashion for the FFs current tour. she looks good! too bad they're not coming to harlows this time. or sf.

hilltop reopens

I found the new Heyamoto. It's on the re-opening of the Hilltop. She's still doing the we thing!! At least this time she seems like she really means "we", as in she was there with someone else and not when she means "me". But first she starts off the article by creating this fictional scenario and saying "you". Can't she just say "I"? What's wrong with I?

blue states lose

Someone out there who knows is going to have to correct me if I'm wrong, but this is pretty exciting (to me). OK, so that guy Juan who ran the night Catfight just got all this publicity for having the last one and then ending the night so he could move to NY and, presumably, set that town on fire because what New York really needs is another small time hipster party promoter. Best of luck on that. And, gawker has this fun feature every friday where a couple of people scan all the week's pictures on those sexxeee party photo sites like Cobrasnake, Last Nights Party and Misshapes. How are these two things related? That's him, right? His very first week in NY and he gets mocked on Gawker? Not bad. The caption they gave it in Gawker is:

10) The reason the top of his head is bulging out so much? His brain is trying to get as far away from that fucking thing as possible.

Harsh!

wild weekend

So, what's going on this weekend? You tell me. I don't know of anything tonight. Tomorrow is that Smiths cover show that Coco Shwa is ripping up. Sunday there is a screening of a Fritz Lang movie at the Kabinet, DJ Highlife is spinning later at the Press, which I hope that people will go to. It was fun last week and they have the winter olympics on in the bar so you can just watch that. Monday is the Josephine Foster/Born Heller show at Delta of Venus. I guess that's kind of a lot, except for tonight (I have plans, but they are PRIVATE, yes I do keep some things to myseslf occasionally). Oh yeah, and Cache opened at the Crest, which looks interesting.

Frank Bruni (NY Times food guy) just launched a blog! Rad! I like his entry about Hooters. Here's an excerpt from the inaugural post:

I eat out as many as seven nights a week, and there are even nights when I eat out twice, taking full advantage of a visit to a far-flung neighborhood by getting up from dinner in one restaurant to sprint to dinner in another. Some months I take fewer than five nights off, and those nights often come at the ends of days when I had lunch out.

What a job!

a hole in my heart

I wish I would have netflixed "Together" instead of "A Hole in My Heart" when I was trying to decide what I think of Lukas Moodysson. Now I don't even feel like I want to give him another chance. That was one of the most repulsive movies I have ever seen. There are close-up views of genital surgery, pornographic sex of the most ugly kind, and, for the piece de resistance, a man vomiting into a woman's mouth in a scene that looks pretty real. And GW, there are even close-ups of earthworms, so make sure you never watch it. You can tell how much Anthony Lane (2nd review) loves this guy when you read his review of this movie. He tries his hardest to defend it, and this is what he writes about the vomit scene (he was in an audience with 800 people because he saw it at a film festival)

Then came the point at which Tess and Geko reach absolute moral zero—the pits of degradation, of a kind that I will not describe (save to hint that it involves the forcible exchange of a waste product), and have no wish to witness again. At that exact moment, we hear the last chorus from the St. Matthew Passion—“Wir setzen uns mit Tranen nieder.” It roared from the speakers, and I felt eight hundred people or more rocked back, as if by a wave. From that there was no recovery. We stumbled out, and in the succeeding days I found myself playing the piece over and over, not in order to relive a noxious movie but because the Bach had regained its grave and devastating function. It has become, for too many of us, a concert piece, or something dignified to put on the CD player at the end of a fissile day. Suddenly, thanks to Lukas Moodysson, I heard it again as a Passion: the drama of Calvary, stern with lamentation. The question is: do we need to be hauled through scene after scene of drab, dehumanized behavior so that we may see, or at least hear, humanity restored at the end?

Yeah, I'm sure that's what Bach had in mind when he wrote that piece. Give me a break! And maybe I was so numbed out by the end that I missed it but I sure don't remember much humanity being restored. All the grotty creeps in the movie were hugging but it seemed totally implausible. Now that I'm thinking out loud (to you), Bergman has praised this guy, albeit for his first film (which wasn't that crazy), I have no idea what he thinks about this new film, and Bergman does have his own shocking mention of genital mutilation in Cries and Whispers...but still, this guy's no Bergman. Here's an interview with Moodysson where he talks about the movie. You guys that liked "Together" might want to read it because he seems nonplussed by people who view it as a pleasant comedy. He also says that when he compiled a list of the most important influences on his life the Cure was number one and Morrissey was number five. Huh.

now you see it, now you don't

To continue on today's theme of how women get the shaft (heh heh) (now there I go again with the stupid laughing sounds written out in the posts), here's a link to a website of a guy that is a professional photo retoucher for celebs and bikini babes. It's pretty crazy. Click on the smaller ones to see. This site kinda isn't safe for work because it just looks like you are looking at big pictures of bikini babes rather than being all feminist and shit. It's crazy how he erases all skin flaws and folds and stuff and makes the women look like dolls, but what's really scary is how it makes you realize that it looks exactly like everything you see in fashion mags and stuff and maxim, etc.

good news, ladies!

It's now expected for you to fashionably freeze your ass off at all fucking times! Hee hee. For those that don't want to log in to the times, it's a style article about how women in New York are dressing like it's summer in the middle of winter just to be fashionable. One fashion bitch says, I don't care how warm an outfit is, I just care if it makes me look fat or thin. That sucks.

joey b's, my new hangout

Joey B's is, believe it or not, a good place to watch the Kings lose. You can still watch the game while you're in the bathroom! You can watch the game while you walk to the bathroom. In short, there are TVs EVERYWHERE. And they turn the sound on, which is really important for me because it's hard for me to follow basketball without the announcers telling me what is happening. The beer selection is pretty shitty, of course, and so is the wine list, but at happy hour they give you big pours of their house red for four bucks. The place was pretty empty all night and there was only one server for the whole cavernous space. No one was ordering anything more substantial than hot wings, anyway. It seems to be another example of a mis-managed restaurant. The one table that did want food was being neglected by the server, and for some reason which the bartender couldn't explain the kitchen wasn't making pizza even though they have some happy hour deal with pizza and beer so the only other group that wanted to eat was grumbling about that. I glanced at the menu on the way out and Joey B's offers all those typical plates of grilled salmon and steak and such for like fifteen dollars that I bet no one orders.

Got a reliably good dinner at Amarin last night. I ordered the "country style" curry for the first time which is super spicy. The spiciest thing I've had there. Then me and smiller saw When A Stranger Calls. I give it a squished popcorn. Totally terrible. So ineptly directed. The director, Simon West, previously directed Con Air and Tomb Raider so he is seriously slumming. I hated Con Air with a passion and haven't seen Tomb Raider but I don't remember thinking that Con Air was poorly directed, it just sucked in other ways. The imdb review says that this movie "makes the original look like the Godfather". Funny.

Have any of you guys seen any Lukas Moodyson movies? I saw Lilya 4-ever cuz (I think) Anthony Lane creamed over it and it was devastatingly depressing. And now looking at the imdb thing I see that it's based on a true story which makes me want to kill myself. I have another one of his movies, A Hole In My Heart at home from Netflix but haven't watched it yet.

good news/bad news

Good news: there are a bunch of shows coming up.

Bad news: they're all in Davis!

I copied all this show news from Brandan's post on the DIY list. I will totally be at the Josephine Foster/Born Heller show on monday at Delta of Venus, but it bums me out that I will still have to go to Davis on my monday off. I guess I shouldn't bitch because no one's making me go. Maybe I will get a ride? Here's the rest of the information:

Josephine Foster's Born Heller on Monday!
- a free Dead Science and Craig Wedren (ex- Shudder to Think) show this Sunday
-Zdrastvootie, Scott Rosenberg, and Antlers this Sat. (I've heard Zdrastvootie's live show is phenomenal)
- Sean Hayes (who recently sold out the Great American in Sf) at the DOV this Fri. for free
- oh yeah- and a fresh Dance Party at the KDVS is My Life House, 1114 Cypress Ln., this Friday night
Wednesday, February 15 th
Dance Party with the Flower Vato at the G St. Pub, Free, 21+
-"the flower vato excels at thumpin' asses with extreme bass. Also known as Larry Rodriguez, the vato grew up listening to low rider jams and James Brown. After years of searching dumpsters for mint condition 45s, Arabic cassettes, and food, Larry has now reached his peak. He will throw down jam after jam, completely nonchalant, and will leave you beggin' for the sweet chariot to let you ride towards funky salvation when the lights turn on and the beef yell at you to leave." (Brendan Boyle)

Thursday, February 16th
Down at the Delta of Venus, 122 B St.
Free, All Ages, 8:30 p.m.

Two Sheds
Heather the Kindergarten teacher

-How many sheds? Two. Caitlin, John and Rusty are on the brink of releasing their new album and we welcome them back with open arms. They've invited Heather the "K" Teacher to open-what a voice and pretty little songs to make your heart pitter-patter...ahh...

Friday, February 17th
Down at the Delta of Venus, 122 B St.
Free, All Ages, 8:30 p.m.

Sean Hayes
Etienne de Rocher

-Born in NYC and raised in North Carolina, Sean Hayes is the real thing: A songwriter and performer who penetrates your brain and body so deeply that you quickly forget who you are and what you're doing. His songs are beautiful worlds unto themselves. Sean's performances are full sensory experiences -- sensual, elastic and thick with rich colors. A gorgeous place to live. Etienne DeRocher has been performing in SF for many years and has just released his first album and also produced and played on the new Sean Hayes cd. Critics say...."He's got one of the sweetest voices around—a high, clear-as-a-bell croon that glides easily through a song… he crafts songs that rustle with bittersweet echoes of the past without becoming pastiches. What's most appealing is the sense of wonder that fills his songs, as if he can't believe how pretty a melody can be, even amid a barrage of samples or a churning rhythm section." --Sylvia W. Chan (San Francisco Bay Guardian) "As if Beck had made a record with Peter Gabriel." --Paul Bradshaw (Mod Lang), speaking of de Rocher's self-titled album

Saturday, February 18th

Zdrastvootie will be performing live on "Shining Mountain Hours" on KDVS, from 5-7pm.

KDVS Presents at the Delta of Venus, 122 B St.
All Ages, $4. 8pm

Zdrastvootie (Santa Cruz; Holy Mountain records)
- Zdrastvootie is a skronk-rock, avant-whatsit group out of Santa Cruz that revolves around the core trio of drummer Sean Adams and guitarists Scott Stobbe and Drew Adams.The three guys are currently playing live with a female saxophonist. The band creates complex compositions veering from spazz-jazz to intricate indie guitar-rock and more ethereal atmospheric stuff, sometimes all within the same song. You could compare them to anyone from French prog monsters Magma to the Minutemen. People doing math and calling it music can be tedious, but Zdrastvootie's members manage to sidestep that tar pit by injecting some feeling into their compositions. Plus, there's a subtle sense of fun: The band's name is a mutant pronunciation of the Russian word for "hello".

Antlers (Davis)
- Antlers are an upcoming Davis outift embracing post-psychedelic, three guitar interplay. Featuring many of the members of the former band Narwhal, Antlers are one of the most exciting rock bands coming out of Davis today.


P.A.F. solo (Scott Rosenberg; Barely Auditable records)
- Scott Rosenberg will be performing solo material from his avant-country rock trio P.A.F. Rosenberg has played with many free jazz greats, such as Anthony Braxton. P.A.F. is a high-powered alt-country outfit that can quickly breakdown into highly technical "free" space.
Sunday, February 19th

Sunday, February 19th
KDVS Presents at the Delta of Venus, 122 B St.
All Ages, 8p.m., $Donations requested

Dead Science (Seattle) (http://www.thedeadscience.com/index.html)
- http://www.threeimaginarygirls.com/deadscience05oct.asp

Craig Wedren (ex- Shudder to Think)
- (review of Shudder to Think- s/t- from Aquarius Records): "First time ever on CD, after being out of print for over a decade! Before"emo" was a noun, it was an adjective used to describe the sensitive,post-hardcore stylings of artistic DC punkers, who weren't afraid to cry inpublic and dedicate songs to trees. Some say Rites of Spring's 1986self-titled debut album (Dischord Records) is the holy grail of emo.However, this album may well be that genre's defining document. The operaticwailings of Craig Wedren's falsetto -- not unlike Pere Ubu's David Thomas --were a peculiar contrast to the band's more aggressive punk leanings. SaysCraig of this era: "I joined a 'hardcore' group, we did not like eachother's sound, they banged, I screeched ... [it] came out sounding, a littlelike, Ozzy?" From a time when "US hardcore" was mired in socio-politicalaggression and macho posturing, STT were perhaps a reaction -- ironicallyfrom within the ranks of DC bands that were so influential to that movementin the first place. This is a beautiful and enthralling album, impossiblymelancholic, with perplexing lyrics from someone who's "heart is filled with'All May Rise' and 'X Ray Eyes'". Lots of people know Shudder to Think'sbizarre, dramatic alt-rock material from subsequent recordings for Dischordand later, Epic, from which most of their fan base is likely drawn. But thisrecord -- while technically inferior and unpolished from a productionstandpoint -- is still many fans' favorite STT release. Reissue includesfour bonus tracks from their first 7"

Monday, February 20th

Born Heller and Mi and La'u perform live on KDVS during the "Faint of Heart" show, 2:30-4:30 p.m.

Special Monday night show at the DOV, 122 B St.!
All Ages, Free!

Born Heller (Locust Music; featuring Josephine Foster)

- Josephine Foster is the best. That's all I have to say.

Mi and La'u

Mi and L'au are Michael Gira¹s latest discovery and signing. First Devendra Banhart, then Akron/Family and now Mi & Lau is his next amazing signing. from Young God records website... The music is austere, but simultaneously warm. Picture a glacier with a red ember glowing in its center. Mi and L'au met in Paris a few years back. Mi is Finnish and was working as a model to make ends meet and L'au (who's French) was working in the music industry (soundtracks, I think). They fell deeply and immediately in love, and after a short period of moving from apartment to apartment in Paris, they gave everything up and decided to move to the woods in Finland, so they could be alone together in peace and to spend their time discovering each other and their music. They live in a small cabin in complete isolation with the barest of essentials and they spend virtually all their time making music together in solitude. They are pure and gentle souls (Devendra's song, from Oh Me Oh MY... "Gentle Soul" was written for L'au ­ the two had met in Paris when Devendra was wandering there, and L'au took him in, and they also made music together). Their music is bare, delicate, and made with simple instrumentation - voice, acoustic guitars, and other very sparse orchestrations. I wouldn't say it compares at all to the current crop of neo-hippy "weird folk" etc. though. It has the naked quality of certain early Nico recordings, or Chet Baker (I don't mean there's a stylistic similarity by any means - just a sense of space)...soulful and elegant, without being touchy-feely or confessional. Their music reminds me of how one might imagine a winter Finnish landscape - haunting and pure.

sexxeeee post

My last post was met with a collective yawn and I don't really blame you. I'm yawning, too, believe me, especially since it's smiller's stupid day off and I can't email him. So I'll entertain you with a sexxeeee post-valentine's day post. Did you know there is going to be a sac suicide girls-type website? I might have more to say on this subject, we'll see. I've heard something else about it, but I have to get the facts first before I post. There is a debate going on on sacrag about the sexxeee Peta protest in front of the Hard Rock yesterday. That last comment from "runnergirl" is nuts. Yeah. Creepy hand dancing. That pretty much sums up the beauty and talent of Tatiana. And for something that's actually sexy, here's a scan of a 1977 Victoria's Secret catalog. Lingerie was so much better in the 70's (except for Eres, which I will never be able to affor). And why could they show nipples in 1977 and not today? Isn't that strange? When did we become afraid of nipples? The Victoria's secret catalogs now just look weird because whenever there's a sheer bra they airbrush the nips out and the model looks even more like a doll.