pizzas! pizzas!

Of course I don't have time for a real post yet, maddening, but a little mass-texting bird told me that the Four Eyes and the Pizzas are playing at the Press tonight? Could this be true?

Be vewy vewy quiet

If you like your prose purple, here's a big gulp. I'm going to one of the new wine bars tomorrow? Which one, I'll let the readers decide. Who cares doesn't count as a vote. I also get to go to the Waterboy! Sweet. I think there may be some rabbit bolognese in my future.
Speaking of rabbit, non-squeamish meat eater that I am, I love to see that weird looking whippet-like shape of the rabbit in the meat counter at Taylors. I plan to cook one up soon. I made cornish game hens from there the other day and I was plotzing at how good they are, and so cheap! Here's how I cooked them:

take a lemon and roll it around on the counter top and poke it with a fork, after a little foreplay, gently ease it inside the birds cavity.
rub the skin lovingly with salt and pepper and shove some herbs under the skin, i used sage
roast breast up, I did it for an hour at 350, times and temps seem to vary alot in recipes I've seen, the point is it's quick and you don't want to overcook it
serve with stuffing because people don't eat enough stuffing!

Part of my next article is a quest for edible uni in Sac, are there any other uni lovers out there who can point me in the right direction? And don't say Zen Toro, it already failed the gag test.

drunk driving

Let's talk about this. Totally horrible. Slightly related, on my way home from work yesterday at like 230 in the afternoon, right when I was getting on the causeway I saw a guy weaving in a terrifying way. I got a glimpse of him after a while and he was bleary-eyed and wasted. He dogged me all the way into Sac and I was certain he was going to cause a crash but I lost sight of him (I got ahead of him as I was figuring this out so I couldn't get his license number without getting closer to him and I was scared to do so). All this is leading to what I have been thinking of since this weekend, when I rode my bike on saturday night around eleven to the Alkali Flats show at Old Ironsides, which is this: "revitalization" of downtown has had a big side effect-wasted people all over the place on weekend nights. And if you ride a bike around at this time you will note that MANY of them are driving, to generalize, probably back home to the suburbs. ADK and I were talking about it, she lives on T st. near the dangerous Empire club nexus and she said you can hear the drunk folks driving crazy and racing. WHY ARE THE COPS NOT BUSTING THESE PEOPLE? I'm seriously asking, does anyone know? It seems so obvious, it gets them off the street and it's a big revenue generator for the city, right? I feel like as it stands now, everyone knows that you're probably OK drunk driving around downtown, I don't think people have the intense fear of being busted that they should have. Maybe this incident will highlight this problem (although it occurred during the day, out of the grid, and the guy had just pulled out, so it's pretty different). If not, it's probably going to take a pedestrian or cyclist (or maybe more than one) getting injured or killed. Or will the cops wait until some drunky in a hummer plows into a crowd of clubgoers?

make it a sad, sad night

I'll admit it, I went to Blockbuster last night for the first time in forever. It is just a few blocks from my house so I caved. It's so depressing there (good overheard quote, though: I love the title of Running With Scissors, but I don't think I'll like the movie) and somehow our non new release rental of some Curb Your Enthusiasm Episodes was five bucks! Huh? Long story short, they had some print copies of the Sacramento Union there. Have you seen it? It looks just like the Onion (the online edition doesn't but the print edition looks exactly like it) and sometimes it seems like you're reading it. For instance. They keep dredging up Twain's legacy there in a disturbing way and pulling quotes out of context.

question

Is anyone gonna post pics of cody and brandy's wedding? The Four Eyes ripped it up to an unreal extent. I'll never be the same. How could a band make who put the bomp be the best song ever? How is that even possible?

don't call them cute, ok you have to

I never even have a second to make a goddamned post! It sucks. Remember when I was a gen-x slacker? That was sweet.

Saw Agent Ribbons on sunday at the record club thingy at the Press. They played at five, which is the rad thing about this twice monthly event. I liked them a lot. I expected a cute little pop group but the lady is a belter. I like it more when she reigns it in and reminds me of Mama Cass and not as much when she reminds me of PJ Harvey. It's really exciting to see a good new pop band in sac.

That's all I have time to say about that but I am also very excited to find that Morrissey is starting his next tour in motherfucking Stockton, Cali, USA! I'm going. It's at the Bob Hope theater, no less!

show tonight

Baby Grand and the Zebras. Come to check out Baby Grand cuz maybe George Wendt (their number one fan) will be there again.

Also, in some restaurant news, a Japanese place called Miso will be opening up in the space formally occupied by (gag) Eddies. Just as long as it's not called Miso Horny har har. Also, JD and smiller's prayers have been answered and Suzies is being resurrected. There's a coming soon sign on J st. for Chicago Fire Pizza, but there is also an "opening winter 2006" sign on that fish place near retrofit and another one on the place where Taka's was so I'll believe it when I see it.

By the way, anybody know what's up with the (gag again) boutique hotel by Temple? Is it another casualty of the building bust?

my jam

To continue with the incredible string band theme, here's a list that Nic did for Pitchfork, and when he mentions someone playing Bust A Move, I think we know who he's referring to. Best video game ever!
Speaking of the fork, the new LCD got a 9.2! Crazy. I wonder when they're gonna review the new Panda Bear? That's my jam (I wish I could insert a picture here of some strawberry jam I got in Japan with the brand name "My Jam" but just imagine it if you will). There was a good LCD article in the times on sunday, too.

Kamakura Konnection

Aahh! So much to do, and I wasted away my morning in a boring safety class and whiled away the time by thinking about my may midtown monthly/japan-themed article and now my head is swimming with ideas and my belly is swimming with June's curry! I have been craving Japanese curry since we got back (alas, I dont' think anyone makes the delicious rolls with curry baked inside that we had there, which June says are her favorite) and I think June is the only one that makes it. Does anyone know anything different? Turns out June is from right near Kamakura, the beach town with the giant buddha (pictured) that L and A took me and GW to while we were there. Small world indeed. I told June she should start serving omurice and her husband said she makes it at home but she didn't seem interested in making it for the cafe. I think it would catch on.

Oh yeah, the thing with Joe Boyd was really rad, that guy is like the Zelig of rock music, he's been there for it all. He was the sound guy at the famous Dylan goes electric moment and was the one that Pete Seeger was entreating to turn it down while Seeger's wife cried (what a wuss!). If you missed it, you should still buy his book, it promises to be great. There's a quote from Brian Eno on the front calling it the best rock book he's read in years so what more do you need? The new Time Tested space is amazing and I especially love the giant KZAP advertisement. My dad used to have a KZAP cat sticker on our Nova way back.

photo for gw

New Year's party @Yanaka
Originally uploaded by chobi-cat.

here were the cats in our tokyo neighborhood

kinda frightening

to accompany my garbled comment to alisha about the restaurant we went to on the 50th floor in Shinjuku, here's a picture from their website.

but where can i find a mojo dojo?

I want to maybe start taking aikido (don't laugh!) and I'm wondering if anyone knows anything about martial arts classes around these parts. This place sounds cool, and it's making me laugh that they have a link to this website.

shakeys receipt for dave smith to see

shakeys
Originally uploaded by becklerg.

Nihon-go!

It's hard to get back in the swing. I guess I would just say: everyone, go to Japan. It's not as expensive as everyone says. In fact, full financial disclosure here, I just figured out the money I spent (which is easy, cuz no one takes credit so I just had to look at my bank account) and, ticket included, I spent about 1600 bucks. And that's with shopping (I spent like 45 bucks just buying snoopy stuff) and eating and drinking to my hearts content, AND a daytrip, AND going to see two nights of bands at like 25 bucks a pop, AND treating our hosts to all you can eat shabu shabu (which they richly deserved), AND wasting twenty bucks the last day because I was confused about how to get to the airport and bought the wrong ticket, AND staying in a pretty swank hotel for three nights and a nasty hotel for two nights. We did stay with friends for two nights, but like I said there were lots of other areas where I could have conserved. Japan seems to be simultaneously more crazy and less crazy than you would expect. I think people emphasize the wacky stuff a lot because it makes for interesting stories (like, hey, tons of vending machines, but once you get used to it it's no big whoop and in all of tokyo I never saw a vending machine selling anything crazy or even a beer one-I think there's way more of those in other cities). The real deal is that all the food is totally delicious and that it's safe as fuck. Would you like to visit a country where you can leave you passport and cash-filled bag sitting wherever and never trip on it and where you can walk anywhere you want alone late at night without so much as a man giving you a wolf whistle? I'm eager to go back someday and check out the other cities, especially Osaka, and going to the south seems cool, too. Oh yeah, and a woman we met there had just returned from some mountainous island with roaming monkeys!

That picture is a delicious concoction called omurice (an omelette filled with rice, sometimes curry rice!) that we got at a chain called Rakeru, which had a vaguely western theme and waitresses in checked pinafores. The omurice often came with a hamburger patty, sometimes with some butter on it. There were a million rad things like that,

underground bananas tokyo 064

underground bananas tokyo 064
Originally uploaded by hoshikagi.

first set of photos i've found, hopefully there will be more to come, and i know there's gota be a ton of video out there

here i am, the one that you love

JK, but that song is stuck in my head. First things first, you should go to this, and smiller will be djing prior. He'll just be playing midnight at the oasis on repeat.

octopus balls

Yesterday I started out the day with delicious homemade miso and a fried egg over rice. Our host mixed natto (fermented soy beans) with mustard and put it on his rice. I have read that you have to try a food seven times to get over an aversion, so I:m at try two on natto and I:m still not there yet. If you haven:t seen it, natto is the slimiest food ever. When L got up to throw away the package the slime strings went all the way from the table to the trash can.

When we were out in the Harjuku area I got the grilled octopus balls whose name escapes me. They were warm and spongy and a bit fishy and were topped with mayo, fish flakes, and some tonkatsu like sauce. A great snack. Then in the thick of the shopping area (and yes I saw a couple of Harjuku girls, one dressed as bo peep and one as a french maid) we got crepes and I got one with Japanese spicy curry and tuna fish. Amazingly good.

Later in the day, tucked amid the upscale shops like Chanel and Dior we spied a Shakeys pizza and thanks to Dave Smiths advice, we went in and I got the Sacramento drink. It was large and very sour. L got the San Francisco drink, which was like an alcoholic orange julius and was much better. L and A split a seafood pizza that had salmon, calamari and shrimp on it. A grew up here and said her dad used to take her to Shakeys.

More shopping (hello snoopy store) and then for dinner we went upstairs to a ramen shop and sat at super low tables facing the window. I got a spicy ramen that had an extremely rich broth, cod roe for more salty rich flavor, a hard boiled egg, a marbled cut of pork that had so much fat it looked like that piece of meat in a can of pork and beans, but the meaty parts had the texture of brisket and the fat melted in my mouth, and of course that all important noodles, whichwere thinner and firmer than i:m used to. It was delicious. L warned to resist the deliciousness of the broth and not drink it all because its so salty you:ll wake up all night craving more and more water.

Today were going to shibuya area, probably for more shopping and walkin around, and then tonight were going to see a band play. The shows here cost a lot of course, I paid ten bucks to see the Bananas and L said the night before they were twenty three! Worth every penny. My back is kinda jacked from so much walking and I am hoping to relax tomorrow by soaking in an onzen for an hour or so.

kawaii

All the settings on blogger are in Japanese! I wish I could have posted last night after I had been up for over 24 hours because that would have been funny. We went from the flight to the Bananas show in Akihubara (electronic city I probably spelled it wrong). It was so rad to see 40 Japanese kids singing along like crazy to the songs. And now Mike R. Mike is making jokes in two languages! Of course all the food is delicious, even from the convenience store. This morning I ate green tea flavored bread and cherry blossom/mochi bun. L and A are such wonderful hosts. We are about to leave for Harajuku. Dogs wearing clothes! Kawaii!! And all the ladies are so well dressed and ladylike. Trench coats and vintagey wool coats with fur coats seem to be the style. With high heels always.

i'm so hungry i could...

According to smiller, Japan is off the chain. He's already eaten horse sashimi (gnarls) and gone to a Hitachino Nest tasting (brewery with the cutest labels evs). He said I'm gonna hate the smoke and indeed I will. Me and GW leave tomorrow. I might do a little posting if our hosts have internet. Otherwise it's back to the grind on the 19th.

shack back

I haven't checked Mike Dunne's blog in a while but there is some interesting news on there, notably that the Sub Shack is reopen. I was craving a turkey/bacon sub from there the other day but had to go to David Berkeley instead because I didn't think the Shack would be open. I was horrified to see that Gary tore down all the cool foliage from the patio. That was one of the coolest patios around and now it's going to be hot as fuck. Hope he has a good plan.

boring hangover story

Even though I wanna go there hecka bad someday, guess where I'm glad I'm not going on wednesday? Korea. After a saturday night excusion to Korea House and Rurulala for JG's birthday I never want to see another short rib, dish of kimchee, or ESPECIALLY bottle of sochu ever ever ever again. During the dinner (split a sake, then drank two Hite beers) I kept having the internal dialogue where I wanted to turn to Natalie and say "I'm drunk" and then I would tell myself in my head "the fact that you want to say that means you need to stop drinking" and then we got our room in Rurulala and I proceeded to suck down untold amounts of sochu, which unbeknownst to me is about twenty percent alcohol and then at some point I drank a shot of Hennessey, I think. I know that I sang Total Eclipse of the Heart but I do not actually remember singing it, so I apologize if it was earsplitting and/or if I was completely hogging the mic as I suspect. Yesterday was a very bad day, but whatever went on in my house is between me and Steve and if Steve doesn't say nothin', then I'm not saying nothin'.

I assume that the Bananas were allowed to enter Japan with their smuggled-in merch because I have not gotten a call to the contrary. They are probably rocking Tokyo as I write this.

news and review 2.0

Wow, new news and review website. It took a while to load. See what a bitch I am, always full of complaints. I never have a hard time loading the midtown monthly website. Just another reason why we're better.

I was taken aback by the level of Graswich-hating in the Bites column. I think it's clear that whoever wrote this is the same person that made the anti-Graswich comments on heckasac earlier in the week. Hating on Sacramento magazine I can endorse, but why the Graswich hate? I'm really asking. I like the way he always busted the Maloof's chops.

I thought this was some good reporting (the likes of which you won't see in the Bee!) Soooo the city is going to be paying out millions that are supposed to fund public transportation cuz Thomas Enterprises negotiated poorly in the railyard deal. Sweet.

I think KW and I agree on Stolichniy. Good to see the N&R switched to five star ratings. Smiller and I have had some discussions about how only the fancypants places can get four stars in the news and review no matter how glowing the reviews are for the cheaper places (yes, we sit around and talk about stuff like that). So Biba still gets four, though? Considering the relentless yelp slamming that Pho Bac Hoa Viet gets, it's nice to see a food savvy reviewer like KW says she eats there all the time. Me too!

myth takes

The new chkchkchk album got a great review on Pitchfork!!!! That's huge. Did anyone go to the Brightblack Morning Light Show? How was it?

stuff and bother

It sucks, I barely have a sec to post. I don't even have enough time to write second. I'm going to see the Bananas tonight in SF with This Bike Is A Pipe Bomb. Fun, tired fun.

I got myself warmed up for Tokyo by getting a bowl of chanpon men at Edokko 2 last night. That place is so ruling. I've gotten three kinds of ramen there and they've all been great.

There are tons of shows and screenings coming up. Check here for info. And don't forget the Finches show on the 10th.

Happy Birthday to Charles and Jenny! I don't know when anyone's birthdays are so I just vaguely know that theirs are soon.

Oh yeah, Brightblack Morning Light are playing tonight at DOV. I saw them open for Vashti Bunyan, unless I'm remembering that wrong. They seemed allright, but they're no Bananas. .

various miscellaneous etc.s

The Ski Instructors show was so much fun! And the ohsees were rad but perhaps played a wee bit too long for such a late show. Does anyone have pictures? I forgot to bring my camera.

I checked out the Cheesesteak Grille in the farflung reaches of Roseville this weekend. Cheesesteaks are the new hamburgers as far as I'm concerned, and you can quote me on that. This place gets its rolls flown in from Philly and they give you the option of having cheese whiz on your sandwich, which I guess is the authentic way to go. It was delicious. The meat was a wee bit better than Grand Central Station but the New York sauce and fresh horseradish at GCS put that sandwich over the top for me. We also then went by the Quarry Pond shopping center in Granite Bay. Most of the shops aren't open yet, but we did go by Regionale Produce, which is a very impressive store opened by a woman (named Andru) that I used to work with at the co-op. The produce variety is cool, and it's presented beautifully. It's affordable and I loaded up a bag of stuff, everything from fennel to apples to eggs. I was not as impressed with Wine Styles, which had a fancy catacomb-like decorating scheme (a few skulls here and there and some tonsures would have completed the effect) but had a small variety of wine in such a big space. You can taste wine there, but they didn't have much open that I wanted to taste. There's going to be a cheese shop and a meat and fish shop, and there's a pizza place called Pizza Antica that's already open. Pizza Antica is a small chain. It's disappointing that among the mostly independent businesses (Dara Denim and Shoefly have shops there, too) that the coffee shop is a Peet's. I love Peet's coffee, don't get me wrong, but it seems like a good opportunity for an indie place to make it. The vibe of this shopping center is very yuppie, of course, but it was still refreshing to go to a planned out project that had some interesting shops. If Granite Bay can do it, why not Sac?

Speaking of yuppies, I also went to David Berkeley for sandwiches this weekend. They were really good. One of them had stuffing on it! I had never noticed before the DB really isn't a full-service market compared to Cortis or Taylors, however, the meat and seafood in their case looks great. There were some veal chops and some lamb that I had my eye on, and I want to go back soon. The wine selection was pretty Cali-centric but more affordable than I expected.

There are a lot of new thrift stores opening in the burbs. We passed a Goodwill on Douglas that didn't used to be there, and there is a giant Salvation Army by the freeway on the way to Roseville and I saw another Goodwill on Fulton near the mall, which means there are two really close by in that area. Anyone had any good scores at any of those? The thrifting in Woodland was soooo dudly the other day. I don't think I'm going to thrift there any more.

natalie makes the news

Here's a pretty rad article about our own Ms. Head. Too bad Graswich couldn't write it.

new reviews

The spring Japanese food festival at the church on Riverside is March 11th. I was writing this to remind myself to go cuz I thought it was this sunday but funnily enough I will actually miss it cuz I'll be in Japan eating myself sick. The udon can't be beat but don't be a sucker waiting in line for 40 minutes for tempura!

Banzai Sushi review. I want to check this place out. KW reviewed Biba this week, she calls that task "intimidating" and I would feel the same way. The text gives the feel of a three or three and a half star review to me, although she gave it four.

olives galore

Instead of going to Famous Kabob, I got takeout from Maalouf's last night and my God it was good. We ordered the kofta kabob dinner (the kofta itself was flavorful but very dry) and it came on a bed of the most delicious rice and grilled peppers and onions and tomatoes. They put that Lebanese bbq sauce stuff on top! And then we got orders of labneh and hummus and they gave us a big bag of pita from the Orient Bakery down the street (which I haven't been to yet). We also stopped at the Mediterranean Market on our way home and just like when I go to the Red Sea Market I am always blown away by the variety of super cheap spices. I went into the med market in search of merguez, which unfortunately they didn't have (Red Sea usually does). Merguez is one of the most perfect foods the world has ever known and I find the dearth of it in local markets to be confounding. However, the Med Market had like ten giant vats of assorted olives and I got a ridiculously large bag of them for less than three bucks. There are so many flavors involved in this one particular green olive that my brain just shuts down from trying to figure out what I am tasting. I also picked up some coffee with cardamom that I can't wait to try.

Tonight at Fools, Shiny Object is screening a short film program. And then tomorrow at Fool's is the awesome show and record release for the ski instructors. Man, what would we do for entertainment without the fool's foundation?

Might as well face it I'm addicted to bread

Well, I thought the Bananas videos were cool, anyways.

There is an excellent superduper show coming up on saturday, read about it here.

A very exciting development is that Taylor's now has Old Soul bread fresh baked after 4:30. The baguettes are three bucks (a lot!) and on first bite (which of course I took in the store) I was like ho-hum, but then as I ravenously ate more and more, liberally coating my car interior in breadcrumbs, I realized that the miracle of this bread is how crispy the crust is without being tough at all. They also have crazy foccacias with cheese and crap.

Europa Market proved itself again last night. I was able to put out a good spread from stuff I got from their hot deli case, and I made a salad with one of their FIVE KINDS OF FRESH FETA! I got a big block for two bucks.

I have been craving famous kabob lately. Specifically the pita and yogurt. Just thought I'd mention that.

look over there!

Always too busy to post, but look, bananas videos!

sulu

I think this is funny and it makes Tim Hardaway's stupid comments less upsetting.

baltika!

I guess Oto's market is moving but I think that it's just moving a little bit closer to downtown? Does anyone know the details?

That borscht that I made is pretty allright. I only used a pound of chuck and put in extra vegetables. Instead of beef stock I used chicken stock that I made from a rotisserie chicken carcass. I usually buy one of those chickens from somewhere (Sampinos has really good ones) every week or so, and then when I've used all the meat I boil it up with carrots, celery, and onions and make a stock. It's not that much better than commercial stock but thinking of how commercial chicken stock probably gets made makes my blood run cold. I'm having borscht again tonight with goodies like stuffed cabbage rolls and bread from this market in West Sac. Too bad Europa stopped selling Baltika. When I went there a few months ago they had Baltika one through nine and we were planning to buy them all and have a tastings, but the market doesn't sell alcohol anymore.

more feedback?

Although it doesn't single me out specifically (I will place myself under the category of "unidscerning" reviews) this latest yelp of Midtown Monthly hurts. I appreciate that someone paid enough attention to write a detailed review. Before I ever wrote any food criticism I remember drunkenly begging JD (who was the current reviewer at the time) to write a proper trashing of Tower Cafe, but now I know that I would never have the courage to do anything like that because of the (in my case) small chance that people involved with the restaurant would see it. I get around that quandary by mostly writing up places that I already know that I like, so I'm more of a booster than a critic, really. I'm just thinking out loud, here, but I'm wondering if anyone else has thoughts on Midtown Monthly.

children's brew

I haven't been posting much because I've been so busy at work and when I do get a minute I just want to go look at Go Fug Yourself like everone else. I've been doing a ton of West Sacking and just got the article turned in today.

I went on my first auction trip of the year on saturday and Denios she was good to me. A nice big rug for only twenty bucks and who cares that it smells like dog? The cat is intrigued. Also, you all probably know this but that antique auction under the freeway once a month (second sunday) is totally ruling. It is worth the three bucks to get in just for the fun of looking at all the old stuff.

I'm making borscht tonight and because the recipe calls for kvass I looked it up and it's some crazy stuff. You have to love a culture with something called "children's beer".

why choose

rock the light show tonight at the distillery! good movie at fools, too. go to both!

grand central station

So I'll be honest, a lot of the places I write about for Midtown Monthly can be really fun to visit once, but I know I won't probably visit them very often. Especially if they serve really high fat, gut bomb-style food. I won't name any names, but I can't eat a bacon royale very often and maintain my girlish figure. HOWEVER, Grand Central Station in West Sac is haunting my dreams. I feel that I can almost still taste their fiery, vinegary wing sauce. I want to eat nothing but cheese steaks from there from now on. And what the fuck is in their "new york sauce" that makes it more addictive than crank? And I just found out on yelp that there's one in Rancho too.

I am reasonably sure I am going to the Mcormick and Schmick opening tonight, unless I got the date wrong yet again.

stop making senses

Dragonfly is a place that I wish was just a little bit better. However, it's a great place to get breakfast on the weekends because there is no crowd whatsoever, they serve breakfast until three, and after eleven you can get the regular food or the breakfast. I always order the salmon bento box and leave feeling great and not stuffed like with regular breakfast. While at Dragonfly I finally got my Paws on a copy of Senses. I'll just say it makes no senses, the words "alchemy" and "sensual" get hauled out entirely too many times, and there is very little in it that relates to sac in any way, unless Dubai is our sister city and nobody told me.

The Bananas have a new song up on their myspace.

I guess Vientiane is moving? I will have to go investigate tomorrow when I go eat at Grand Central Station, which was closed when I tried to go by before. I just got an email that their new address is 1001 Jefferson Blvd Ste 600 West Sac. This is going to wreak havoc on my article.

relentless hype machine

what's up sacto is blowing my mind right now. Ariel Pink and Of Montreal are playing at Sac State tonight? Weird. I am stoked that a movie about Hasil Adkins is screening on friday. I forgot all about Bob Log III until right this minute. I saw him play a couple of times back in the day.

And just to prepare you there is a dynamite show coming up. On saturday, Feb 24th Fool's is having a show with the Osees and Sacramento's own, the legendary, the one, the only Ski Instructors! Who by the way have a single out on yakamashi records.

awesome video lives up to its name

You probably have netflix, but we all know there are those times when the flix lets you down. such as when it sends you the bonus disc of I'm Alan Partridge(ah ha!)without really alerting you to the fact that it's a bunch of crap like outtakes. What do you do then? I used to go to Tower, where there is no harm in admitting now, I got free video rentals for like two years after I didn't work there anymore. No more Tower, now what? At this point you might think it's time to make the short jaunt to Blockbuster. Imagine I have hooked an electric current to your chair that shocks you every time you think of setting foot into a Blockbuster. Don't do it! I know Awesome is off the grid and kind of a trek but this business rules and it deserves our support!!! Why is it so great?

1) it has VHS tapes, some of which are for movies not yet (or maybe not ever coming to) DVD
2) the staff is super nice
3) their foreign section is still from the days when foreign meant dirty so you will find movies like Le Sex Shop and Therese and Isabelle there on video. If that guy would just return the copy of Emannuelle I will finally get to watch it!
4) They have a private, walled off porn section (you have to walk through a little labyrinth to get to it) in which you can browse with no embarrassement, and then you pick out your normal WHITE DVD case (as opposed to Tower where you had to browse in that open section with everyone you know working there and pick out a giant hot pink box to take up to the counter) and take it up and no one smirks or cares
5) they also have a soft core section with like the red shoe diaries and playboy videos if you're into that crap
6)huge martial arts and anime section
7)obscure 80's comedies that will blow your mind
8)except for the new releases which are a one day rental and kind of a rip-off, the rentals are like two bucks and you can keep them for either 5 or 7 days
9)while you're out there you can frequent other cool businesses like the Capital Nursery or Oto's.
10)do you really need more reasons?

p.s.- i need your help!

-we need to get internet at our house? what's the best and cheapest provider?
-

the biz busks

Wow, Pooja. Richest sauces ever, but in a bad way. However, there was good stuff, like the tandoori lamb. The raita was tops. I would go back and just get the lamb, some naan, and raita and a King Fisher. We got a sort of dessert naan that had maraschino cherries in it that was very funny. It still had the herbs on the outside but it was bright red with cherries inside.

I'm probably hitting up Grand Central Station deli on West Harbor tomorrow. Recommendations would be welcome. I want to try to fit in Sal's before deadline.

I get to go the opening of the new McCormick and Schmick downtown tomorrow for free grub and booze. If a corporate chain has to have a gimmick I guess the gimmick might as well be super fresh seafood. I am afraid I will get trashed. I hope they have oysters on the half shell.

So some of you may not be aware that for the last two months local music legend J B. "Beaumont" "The Biz" Baker has been busking at the same spot on second saturdays. This saturday he will have selected guests. It's sort of like someone has restarted the Moe Betterman show, but under an awning on 21st street. Does someone have the deets, like time and address?

it's that time again

the time where I post a Kate Bush video!

meth mansion

This story is sad.

mmmm cleavage

I'd like to point out that the News and Review is getting some pretty mixed yelps while the midtown monthly's feedback is 100% positive! I realize this is because MM only has one review.

Can we all just agree that the news and review should dump their flash fiction issue? And now they have a part 2 for what reason? I can't even make my brain read these things.

KW reviews Zen Sushi and she's into it. I would give it another half star for the abundant helpings of creamy cleavage that are served with every meal but that's just me. I can't believe that I have never had the pleasure of Chef Lou sending out special stuff, but I'm hoping to have that experience soon. I've heard it's not to be missed.

I'm dining at Pooja tonight for my next column. This weekend I hope to hit up Grand Central Station. I feel that my west sac column is missing a Mexican component, so I might go to Sal's. Where would you guys go if you could hit up one Mexican joint in West Sac?

Temple Grandin is for lovers

For the Temple Grandin lovers (and I know a few) the TG herself is speaking for free at Freeborn Hall on Valentine's Day.

I don't have time to post today but I have to link to this article on the Ruland's cow cuz the picture of it skydiving is crazy! Here's an article on the new "wine lounge and urban kitchen" (could they fit more meaningless buzz words into the name of one establishment?-i guess they could if they put luxury in there somewhere). Nevertheless I'm excited to check this place out.

Lastly, our Liberian correspondent has a request:

Heckasac readers:
In your travels around the globe, I need your help in assembling a database of fake/questionable/generally not-quite-Mexican Mexican food products/restaurants/experiences/etc. around the world. I especially want photos of products, and restaurant reviews.
Like, here in Liberia the other day I bought some Lebanese tortillas, with the labels written in Arabic. I'm glad to have them, but they were pretty strange. Kinda grey and paper-ish.
Another example is the "Mexican" restaurant in London where they sell a dish called Squidgy Cheese, which is a big bowl of cheddar served with a spoon.
When i get a good mass of stuff, I want to put up a website.
liberialedger@yahoo dot com

hopefully I'll find something good for this in Tokyo

no posts

no posts today. too busy

German Deli?

Jed, please feel free to plug away. Always.

Do you guys know of a German Deli that is on Manzanita or Auburn?

she's a celeriac of love

Omg, imagine if it was your job to write stuff like this. It would probably rule.

Speaking of ruling, this salad rules. The co-op and Taylor's have celery root (aka celeriac). You don't need a food processor, just grate it, and you can use less olive oil than they say to, as usual. It is so freaking good. When I was at the co-op two weeks ago I cursed it because it was insanely crowded and they didn't have jalapenos (jalapenos are a staple and there is no excuse for any market bigger than a corner store to not have them). Yesterday I shopped in the bulk bins and there were so many cool exotic ingredients. And everything was so cheap. So I am giving the co-op another try. I have to stop giving half my check to Taylors.

Shows:

Swords Award and The Pizzas tonight. Knock Knock at Delta of Venus tomorrow, Sic Alps at Fool's Foundation tomorrow. You can probably go to both if you try.

finches-enoesque?

So I didn't go to the Finches show. Drats.

The new Midtown Monthly is out and it seems pretty darn cool EXCEPT for the cover, which makes it look like some kind of weird fitness mag. But the content is really good, the art coverage is extensive in this one.

Speaking of local rags, I perused the News and Review and there was some intriguing stuff, including KW's review of Roxy. I am skeptical because it's owned by the people that own Lucca and it has a western theme(?), but her review makes it sound worthwhile to try it out. Where is it?

Spencer from Hella has some Hella harsh words for Sac. I thought Hella shows here were super crowded? Is that not true? Those words sting, but I'll confess I've never heard or seen Hella. I'm usually spending most of my time on Myspace.

This article on the Finches is supercool, mostly because JG makes a Brian Eno comparison and Carolyn told me that she has been listening to Taking Tiger Mountain almost nonstop!

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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?

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

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.

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.

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!!!

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.