sutter's landing

Even though it was a 150,000 degrees on saturday, it didn't occur to us to go swimming until almost 7, and it is sadly starting to get dark around that time now. We rode our bikes to Sutter's Landing, and saw Livmoe on her way out as we were coming in. Have you ever been swimming there? It seems miraculous that there is a place to go swimming so close to downtown. Just go over the levee at 28th and C.
Be sure to properly inflate your lobster. Inadequate lobster inflation causes hundreds of deaths each year.
I swam out for a bit, but the bottom is gross and mucky and when it got over my head I ended up in a kelp forest that was creeping me out because it was too dark to see. I kept reminding myself that it was not someone's hair I was brushing up against. Or was it? Anyways, check out this spot before it cools off! It's warm and slow and wide.
I missed the Ancient Sons show because I am a jerk. How was it?

Ancient Sons CD release!

Tonight.  Old Ironsides.  9 pm.  Seven bucks.

I went to Sunrise Rollerland last night, which is faaarrrrr from downtown, but the skating including rental was only five bucks.  Skating is really fun and my favorite part is observing the skating nerds in their natural habitat.  Calling them nerds makes it sound like mocking, but I find it really touching to watch these folks, often pushing middle age (who are probably not so cool or graceful off the rink) lace up their skates and become dynamos that have the kids' jaws dropping.  One dude last night, probably in his 40s, had slicked back hair, a dingy wifebeater exposing some chest hair and pleated black Z. Cavaricci style pants.  He was like the king of the rink, doing splits, chatting up the girls (I was pretending he was not hitting on them).  There was another woman that was doing so much emoting in her dancing, a lot of imaginary rope pulling and graceful spins.  

here's the button!

I'm ordering it for Charles right now.

r5 party

The Corti rally was quite dramatic and emotional, and I got even more emotional when my grocery items quickly tallied up to 50 bucks!  A tear may have been shed.  You'll be reading more from me abou the rally later....the sacbee even has video!  Speaking of the sacbee, did you notice they got rid of their ombudsman?  That is terrible.  In his final column the dude quotes the publisher's memo as saying one of the reasons he wasn't really needed was because the bee has reader comments!  Wading through the comments thread always makes me feel like I need a spongebath.

The new MM is so good.  I probably always say that.  I love the cover, I love Guphy's story on corner stores, DB's film roundup is funny as always, Tony King's coverage of R5 is heartwarming (their anniversary party is this weekend, no lineup listed anywhere I can find, but there are bands saturday and sunday including Boyfriendz).  Boyfriendz is also playing West Capitol Bowl on friday, and The Ancient Sons CD release is that same night at Old I.

FFT said they got 150 to see Matt and Kim last night which is great for the Fungarden!  Let's hope the sound was better than it was on tuesday.

power to the people!

I won't lie, I feel terrible today. I am thisclose to having a hangover, which I never get! Those beers at Luigi are extra big or something, or they're making Bud Light stronger than they used to. That was a very pleasant show last night, with good bands and friends to chat with. I feel like a jerk for not watching The Intelligence, but I was planning on going home and got sucked back into Luigis for more beer. I finally had a slice there and I thought it was underwhelming. The dough was raw in the middle. I hear that it's better for takeout.

But the bigbigbigbig news is in the Bee today. Corti's isn't moving! It's a Christmas miracle. I'm going to the rally thing today, but before I found out about the new development I was joking that it was going to be a Corti's riot and that Darrell would be dragged out by the police in those plastic cuffs screaming "hell no, I won't go".

fungarden tonight

There's a super good show tonight at the Fungarden. Standard Tribesmen, English Singles and The Intelligence. Starts at eight for real. Over before eleven for real. If you haven't seen the Standard Tribesmen they are worth checking out.

So I know that a picture of a dumb tattoo is not exactly a revelatory blog post, but this one is making me LOL. I love the roll call of importance. While googling "stupid tattoos" I also found one of the Tom of Finland image of the guy humping the globe, which is not a stupid tattoo at all! There's also ones of Eames furniture, which is OK.

Also, did you know that Freeblood had a video?

press conference

Like many others I missed Touchez last night because I got stuck in an unmoving line outside Harlow's and they played on time. I guess it's my bad for assuming they would play late, but that's gotta be the first time that's ever happened to me. Harlow's was a waaaaayyyyyy better venue for !!! than the late, not lamented Library and the crowd was stoked.

You've probably heard, but I'm very curious about this gathering of local chefs and press conference to show support for Corti Bros. I'm not sure why this is needed. It makes me worry it's because they haven't found a location. It happens today at three.

Newsflash!

OK, there's an amazing event tonight that kinda came together at the last minute. Tonight at the Press my favorite DJ, Mike C. has put together a night in which Tyler and Mario from !!! are dj'ing and Touchez is playing. Don't miss this! Tomorrow, !!! and Touchez are playing at Harlow's. If you are the type who has myspace, and you have friends who might be in to dancing at the Press, send out an alert or whatever those things are called.

where is dave smith?

Holy crap, this picture is fucking huge. It's on the message board post of a dude named Ashwar that is on the motorcycle ride with Dave Smith. Dave posted on his blog today, Liv's blog reminded me to check it. I have tomorrow off. So this is all you got.

la noche espanola

Thumbs up on Vicky Cristina Barcelona. I just checked imdb and confirmed that it was my favorite Woody Allen movie since Sweet and Lowdown in 1999 (wow, was I really working at the Tower that long ago?) Holy shit, it might just be my favorite since Crimes and Misdemeanors, although I can't remember Husbands and Wives. But Juliette Lewis is in it, how good could it be? It's a sure-footed trifle, not a masterpiece.

The tapas and constant wine drinking spurred us to Spanish food after the movie. In times past I would have gone to Aioli, but you just can't count on Aioli for a fun meal. They have two servers I hate getting, and at least one of them is there at all times. So we opted for Tapa The World and had a surprisingly pleasant meal. I had never noticed that Tapa serves three different types of dry sherry by the glass for 4 bucks! Nobody else does that and I have been really into sherry lately so I was stoked. We got a fino and an amontillado with a plate of spanish meats and cheeses and olives. Delicious and the wine went so well, especially the fino, which was light, cold, and salty. The amontillado was dark, served a bit warmer, and very lightly sweet and nutty. We also had the tortilla espanola, the boquerones, and the lamb croquetas with a couple of glasses of red wine that were fairly light for Spanish wines. The server nicely helped us pick them, unlike at Aioli, where they are often out of their listed wines and try to quickly steer you towards something that is completely different all the while assuring you it is the same. The croquetas were the only misfire, mostly because I didn't realize that they were deep-fried and served with mayo, which made them seem like TGI Fridays fare.

H.P.O. on sale

I am still blogging at both locations to try to generate some traffic for MM, so if you wanna see pictures of my lunch on sunday (exciting) go over there. Speaking of pictures, baby Rina on Bananas myspace!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The big news is that H.P.O. is on sale for $9.99 at Corti Bros. If you have not tasted this sweet nectar of the Gods, it is now cheap enough to serve as a water substitute. EC, don't worry, I picked you up a bottle. I assume he's doing this cuz this wine is not meant to age, and it's 2004 vintage. I pray that this isn't the last vintage ever, especially if it's true you can't age it.

Morant's mania

I'm posting because I'm tired of seeing that post at the top. There's a No Bunny show at the Fun Garden on sunday. I'm going to Morant's today to load up on sausage and maybe that kraut he makes with the pork in it. Stoked!

inbred hipster coverage

The Midtown Monthly meeting had a looooowww turnout (c'mon peeps, they give out free cans of Modelo Especial) but it got me stoked on the mag. We have so much good content coming out and at least 65% more coverage of inbred hipster bands. I'm gonna try to do a street fashion thing, and some of it will be posted on the website, which for real is getting some content. Here's an example.

I made a really good pizza last night from summer produce. The dough recipe is here, it turned out well. I cooked it on really high heat on the stone on the lowest rack. The toppings were tomatoes, red onion, summer squash and zucchini sliced paper thin, gypsy peppers (I love those things), salami, fresh soft mozzarella and a little grated parm.
The finishing touch when it came out was fresh chopped basil. That put it over the top.
Then, some puzzling. I would rate this puzzle a 7 on challenge level. It pulled the trick of side parts that aren't pictured on the box and colors not really matching.
I made dinner the other night for vegetarian friends and I grilled peaches. I had chalked grilled fruit up as a dumb culinary trend but it's like pie without the fat! I drizzled balsamic on the top. Fried green tomatoes are also seriously worth the minor effort it takes to make them. Make sure your oil is hot and you use enough of it. Also, more fresh black-eyed peas which I think I am finally sick of. I love that about seasonal produce, when it first comes in I get sad thinking about how it's fleeting, but then I gorge myself and get sick of it. Like I'm already totally over corn!

What? I can read.

If anyone is wondering what I think is funny, it's this. Dream show? The pizzas and personal and the pizzas at the fungarden!

Is it just me, or is the fungarden myspace not very useful at all? There's a show there tonight, including a John Dwyer band called The Drums. Sounds like, uh drums.

various miscellaneous

First things first, Chloe Sevigney came into Bows and Arrows this weekend. Anyone have details? Did she buy anything? What the hell was she doing in Sac?

Oh wait, first things first should be that baby Rina was born and will be coming home today!

The Japanese Bazaar was so crowded around sunday at 2 that I didn't get to have any of the food that I planned. Well, I could have gotten udon but I was too hot. The best thing I had was a chicken, ginger, cabbage, crispy bits salad that was delicious. And korokke with tonkatsu. And beer. It was fun people watching but next year I am going to time it so as not to go at peak times. It seems fun to go in the evening. Did anyone go later and was it less crowded?

I had a sandwich at Uptown last week that I was really stoked on. I love Uptown. They are so friendly. The sandwich was grilled American cheese, bacon, and turkey. Not exactly healthy. They roast their own turkeys, remember, which is very important to me.

Speaking of Del Paso Heights, I entered the News and Review building for the first time on saturday (for Jane Hemmerling's art reception, you should check her paintings out sometime this month. They're beautiful.) and the News and Reviewers must be bummin' on leaving that prime location.

Speaking of second saturday it is genuinely off the chain. Second saturday seems to mean flesh on display to lots of women, and I even saw a trio of bros with thinly concealed beers and a pitbull who were sitting and hooting at women as they walked by. Charming. The mayor was chilling on a corner and I told her that I was stoked she was concerned with the Corti Bros situation (I know, here anonymous commenter, I'll save you time, "you people all make me laugh, he is a bad businessman and you just can't admit it"). There were Hari Krishnas. I watched the end of the Art Lessing set, which made me feel more stoned than I have ever felt when I was not stoned at all. Smiller saw a Dead jam band that featured a dude live airbrushing a picture of Jerry with the Golden Gate Bridge.

Speaking of flesh on display, do jean cutoffs look great on dudes or what? Last night 3/4ths of the English Singles were wearing them and their knees were looking toned and tan. Maxwell sported a pair too and they are really a timeless fashion. I always feel really slobby when I wear them but on men it seems like they are summer camp counselers. I have never seen a show at Javalounge before and it seems like a great venue.

Stuff coming up: The new Capital Stage play the Typographer's Dream only has one week to go, ends August 17th. I hope to find time to go. The state fair is starting already on friday. This summer is flying by.

tgif

no time to post. mayyors show tonight. japanese bazaar this weekend. don't miss it. try the udon!

basil question

Does anybody know how to keep basil fresh? I tried putting the stems in water in the fridge and it wilted overnight. I tried just sticking it in and it wilted overnight. I'm buying more today and I want to try again. Should it not be in the refrigerator?

There's a nice piece on Cortis in the Bee today, with some ridic comments.

Midtown Monthly kinda got harshed on in our new yelp review. That's a reviewer I really like, I even friended her although I don't know her, so it's flattering she singled me out for praise, but perhaps we should take her criticism to heart? Nobody wants to write about music, it seems, so it's not that easy to branch out. I know I don't want to write about it.

The farmer's market is providing me with mucho inspiration lately. Last night I made a golden tomato gazpacho.
It looks like baby food. I made it from a recipe in Gourmet that I think was kinda weird. It probably would have been better if I winged it. Three big golden tomatoes from Watanabe cost 7 bucks! I also made MORE fresh black-eyed peas, which I simply cannot get enough of. For dessert, a nectaring blackberry cobbler. Also a weird recipe (the dough balls parts were just OK), but the fruit was perfect! The blackberries are insanely sweet right now. It would be fun to organize a picking part. Well, fun if you like scratches and bleeding, and rubbing fruit juice into your scratches.
Tomorrow is the Ganglians/Crocodiles/Pets show at Fungarden.

More Corti

Last week after the Corti thing went down I fired off a letter to Michael Teel. It was pretty snotty, I'll admit. I told him I'd never, ever set foot in one of his stores and closed it "have a nice day!". I was just blowing off steam. He and his business partner, Michael Ashker, both wrote me back, telling me to wait for the whole story to come out, and that they had not been accurately potrayed. Michale Teel said to wait for the Bee story on the weekend. Well, here it is. It didn't change my mind at all, although Corti's offer is surprising. I think the comments on the story do show that most people who care have been left with a bad taste in their mouth (mouths?). I liked the comment from the Corti's employee because it injected some calm into the thread. I'm glad he's closing in on a new lease, and I'm going to try to get to Corti's as much as possible as I can before he closes.

There's a show tonight, and I think Mike C. is djing? It's at the Press, starts at nine. Agent Ribbons, Art Lessing and the Flower Vato, and Daisy Spot.

cover story

BR scored the cover of the News and Review! And a sexy cover it is.

Man, Democracy Now has been on a roll lately. I was listening to yesterdays show on podcast, and in the middle of a roundtable about publicly financed stadiums (participants included Dennis Kucinich and the guy who wrote "field of schemes), which in itself is awesome, Juan Gonzalez interrupted it to ask Kucinich about his impeachment hearing for Bush. Then he played this long clip from The View in which Joy Behar and Barbara fucking Walters were busting Nancy Pelosi's chops about why she won't call for impeachment! Pelosi tapdanced around it in a ridiculous way. They had a roundtable about the newspaper industry last week that made me really sad. I feel terrible for people who are trying to make their living as journalists.

boycott good eats, obvs

Over dinner at Queen Sheba my dining companions and I were talking about what can be done to help out Corti (besides offering to help him move some vintage port....into my mouth). I'm going to write a letter to the mayor to call her attention to the situation and urge the city to contact him and see if he needs help. Can anybody think of anything else? Where the hell can he move? It's got to be an existing building or he's going to be closed for months. As soon as I get paid I'm going to go blow a bunch of money there. He has my favorite cheap sherry there (La Gitana) among a million other things. Oops, looks like the mayor has already stepped in. I'll send her a letter congratulating her on that, I guess, but now I feel like I can't help at all. There's some good comments on this one. I like the idea of the secret Comptons becoming a Corti Bros. Hell, I love that idea. But I think that Comptons does ok.

I had one of the most enjoyable dinners of my life on friday night at Waterboy. He's got a new menu. Cash in your change at coinstar and go eat there as soon as you can. I've really done that before. I got the skewer of grilled lamb and housemade herbed potato sausage, with polenta and vegetables and the combo of flavors was wonderful. The gulf shrimp salad with chickpeas was also a standout. I want to go back and try the Early Girl tomato gazpacho.

bad news

Well, the big news this morning is the bullshit that was pulled on Corti Bros. It seems like Nancy Cleavinger and Michael Teel pulled a backroom deal to push Corti out. I picked up a free copy of the Bee today that was sitting on a newspaper machine and noted their shitty redesign and this news, and it made me really sad, like Sac is just getting lamer. But that's pessimistic and maybe Corti can come back better than ever. Smiller immediately noted that it would have been pretty awesome if Corti Bros could relocate to where the Albertsons was by our house, but now it's a stupid fucking Rite Aid that always looks totally empty.

dreams really do come true

I ate at Masullo's last night. The pizza is the bomb. The crust is super thin and light with a char on the bottom. The vegetable toppings are seasonal and he has Fra'mani sausage and Niman ranch bacon for the meat toppings. The inside is very cool looking. He even has two communal long tables that are from locally hewn logs. You can't get much more local than that. The prices are reasonable and they are all basically personal sized pizzas although those with small appetites may have a couple of pieces left over. The chef is a local boy made good with a background as a baker and he makes all the desserts. We had a plum galette that was really delicious.

I'm going to Whitey's Jolly Kone for lunch today and the Waterboy for dinner! A dream come true.

15 minutes

Now it seems like Jackson is just messing with me, but I hadn't assumed he had even seen the post so I don't know. What is he even saying about MOM here? That he hasn't heard it but he is going to say-without-saying that he thinks it sucks?

The 15 minutes I did with Larry is in this week, and it's top notch. All credit to Larry. Cute picture.

question for our man in Calcutta

Dave-last night we were discussing the miracle of Indian pizza and wondering if they have it in India-do they?

picture yourself in a boat on a river

Picture if you will a beautiful bowl of beans, ranging in color from lemon yellow to pale green. You have to picture it because my camera is broken. Black-eyed peas are in season, people! Now that I've tried fresh ones, dried ones are going to taste like ashes in my mouth. They will taste like shame and pain. Two pounds in the shell is enough for two entree-sized portions. Shelling them sucks. Here's how I cooked mine, and they tasted like food of the gods.

Saute chopped onion and gypsy pepper (also in season) in two tbl olive oil, 1 tbl butter until slightly soft
add 3 cloves garlic, continue to saute one minute
throw in beans, then add water to just cover
-cook until desired softness, about 20 minutes
-salt and pepper to taste
the beans lose their lovely color and turn brown as they cook, too bad.
I had this for dinner with a sliced golden tomato from Watanabe farms (their booth is back for the summer and filled with tons of varieties of tomatoes), some bread would have been nice.

Now picture if you will, a show at Old Ironsides on a monday night with a ton of happy people! Picture our friends playing in a band backing Phil Wilson on two June Brides songs and the Singles ripping it up after. It was such a treat to watch the Singles surrounded by a sea of pop fans, rather than the usual scenesters (I didn't say hipsters) who often don't pay much attention to whatever band is playing. Now if we could just get the pop fans to put down their knitting, savor the last sip of their chamomile tea, lock the door on their thatched cottages, and come to more shows. J.K., pop fans, you know I love you!

trivia

Wow, that show at West Capitol Bowl was so fun! What a great venue! It was The Night Of A Thousand Good Vibes. Until I dropped my camera, which gave me a bad trip. Otherwise I might have pictures and video. West Capitol Bowl is a great place to ride your bike to and then it was fun to do a critical mass back downtown around 1 am.

It's probably a little late in the day for me to post this, but don't forget the Phil Wilson/Baby Grand/English Singles show tonight at Old Ironsides. Three bucks! Starts early!

The SNR has a well written and though provoking essay on RT as their cover story this week. Also, I took a stab at writing my first book review, which was fun. I can't find the link. Here's a fun piece of SNR trivia, what was the last date that one of Jackson Griffith's columns didn't mention Skinner? A prize to the first person who gets it right.**Also, in their editorial they had a pretty obvious list of ways to save money (well, mostly obvious, things aren't bad enough for me to start ordering cases of sardines from Amazon quite yet), but the part I'd like to point out is the tip about hanging out your clothes to dry. I always forget to try this, and I did it this weekend and I really couldn't believe how fast they dried, and how soft and unwrinkled they were if I brought them back in before they were baked in the sun. Duh, I know but try it for yourselves if you haven't already. And if you want a cheering article about the energy crisis, read this from the New Yorker. It might make you feel that all is not lost.



**hint-it was during the Carter administration.

quick post

If you're in the mood for an acoustic, mellow guitar instrumental show by a living in legend (Peter Walker), there is one at Timed Tested tonight, starting at 8:30.

I'm assuming everyone and their mother and second cousin once removed knows about the Bananas show.

Judy Wong RIP

The show was fun, but Eat Skull got chewed out for going about 40 minutes late. It's not really realistic to expect a show to start at eight and be over by ten, so I hope that doesn't mean there can't be shows at Delta anymore. The Singles played right on time and they were great. The Ganglians seem to have learned to set up faster on tour and they played a pretty long set to an appreciative crowd.
Doesn't Ryan look like Mick Fleetwood. I'm reading his autobiography right now. Did you know that Christine McVie's god-given real name was Christine Perfect? Also, the Mac had a good friend named Judy Wong who was from Sacramento. She seemed to be a real scenester who knew everybody and lived with Patty Boyd, the woman who was married to George Harrison, and didn't he like steal her from Clapton or something. I was convinced maybe I could find her in Sac but I guess she died. Here's some pictures on Bob Welch's website.
Here's the Singles

And some pictures of the underappreciated rhythm section

Tomorrow is the Sammies. Who's going?

tweaker art

I have been eating some delicious, delicious food in preparation for my September article for MM. To give you a little sneak peak, feast your eyes on this!
Here's pictures from the show at the Witchdome. Yellow Fever was really, really good. They are Austin to the max.

Thee Ohsees are so fun to watch live.
By the ending jam I had to sit in an armchair in the corner though, due to these.
They started out feeling like perfectly comfortable wedges, but after more than four hours standing they felt like sharp plastic cages for my feet.

Have you seen the current art exhibit in the window of University Art? Is it just me or do these women kind of look like tweakers?

This deflated breast on a hook is grosser than gross.

Here's the new drink of the summer. It started with me ordering a Negroni at a cute trattoria in Austin. Yeah, that's right, Austin has cute trattorias that can make you drinks with aperitifs and Sac doesn't. Anyway, this is campari with Pellegrino and lime. One is delicious, two is too bitter.

Wow, there is an ocean of shows and I'm drowning in it. Tonight of course is Eat Skull, Ganglians English Singles, it's at Delta and it really really starts at eight, no joke. I didn't even know until just this minute that there is a Phil Wilson/Singles/Baby Grand show at the Press next monday (july 21st). Somehow I thought this show was cancelled! And then this friday, Faun Fables and Agent Ribbons are playing at Bricka Bracka, which is a perfect bill. Faun Fables are Weimar-fairy type music but I really liked them the one time I saw them years ago at the space that is now the Golden Bear. Then saturday is the huge Bananas/Four Eyes blowout at West Capitol bowl in honor of Ms. Baldwin. OK, Mika Miko, you skip Sac on this tour but play Chico?!?!? Good luck with that. You would have had a better show in Sac.

busy beaver

You know what makes me feel like a loser? When I go to Dos Coyotes and they have my order memorized. Also, I accidentally wore tissue-thin rags to work today because I was so tired this morning. I look homeless.

I am busy as a homeless beaver today. I'm looking forward to that Eat Skull/Ganglians show tomorrow. There should be copies of an extra special tour-only Ganglians cassette! The Ganglians have good shirts and Eat Skull have shirts with a drawing of Spock taking a bong hit. Is that good? You decide.

It sucks that almost all of the noteworthy eating I do is always under wraps for MM articles because this blog is sorely lacking in content lately.

This is a little late, but have you read the June/July Sactown? I think I'm going to make the plunge and subscribe, because I buy it every month anyway. The food coverage is still just OK, a C- maybe, and the longest piece is a total puffer of G.V. Hurley that Lark Park wrote. Sactown clued me in to this place. Cheddar cheese ice cream? Oh shit, I just saw how far from downtown it is. Nevermind.

Natural Light Spicy Jerk

Yay, my hangover is subsiding. I thought I was gonna chuke on the train. Yes, I said train, I am back in the Amtrak saddle. Yesterday I cheated death on my way to the station when I was almost hit by a bus. I already filed a report with the city about that. Then, on the way home I was held up for 40 minutes by a brush fire. Is there anything more civilized than getting a beer on the train?

The show last night was fun. I collected for the bands for a while and the Natural Light had loosened my tongue perhaps too much, because when someone would give me a dollar I'd say "wow, a whole dollar" and people didn't seem to appreciate that. One very well dressed couples with extensive tattooing (which I'm pretty sure is not free) each gave me a dollar. One guy gave me fifty cents. A couple of people said they had nothing at all, and that was more believable to me than that you can only afford a dollar. Plenty of people kicked in a lot, though, so it evened out. I sound like a jerk griping about this, and I felt like a jerk later. A Natural Light jerk.

I'm going to be out doing some dayraging tomorrow so I probably won't post. There's a helluva lot going on this weekend. Lizards stuff, a ridic Ohsees show that hopefully won't get busted. Secoond saturday. There's a SNR release party tonight at Bows and Arrows that starts at 6 with Dead Western and free drinks and free elderly pugs. Warm Streams is having a CD release on friday with MOM at Javalounge (MOM was amazing last night, although I was outside collecting for most of it)

58 degrees is having a great sale on French wines for Bastille day that starts today, but I don't see it listed on their website. It's something like 15% off? A good time to splurge on a good bottle of champagne, maybe.

hot hot heat

So, is it hot enough for ya? Har. This heat isn't that bad (I type from airconditioned comfort). The worst thing is hearing everyone talk about it all the time. I hope it doesn't linger too long.

I thought I'd give a plug to It's All Yoga because they have a nice new studio on 21st and X now, with an expanded schedule and room for bigger classes, but maybe you should give it a week because it was really hot in there yesterday. They are trying to figure out how best to cool the place, I guess. This place rules. I love it so much. Check out these FAQs for new students, they illustrate how supportive and cool this place is. That's crazy that crying after class is normal. I've done it twice and I don't even believe in new-agey stuff at all, so there's definitely something to it.

Eat Skull and Ganglians show tonight!!! It's too bad people couldn't resist the urge to make it a four band show, because it's going to be hot as fuck inside, but at least one of the bands is MOM and she plays really short. Starts at eight supposedly.

it could be cool

MD sent me this WSJ article. WTF?** Be sure to take a look at the slide show.






**J.K. It's not WTF, I just wanted to use more acronyms. LOL.

Return to Luby's

Wow. Texas. Waco. I wanted to take a picture that captures the essence of Waco so here it is.

That's the parking lot of Luby's, which was not as good as I remembered it to be. Here's some hope for the future, my 78 year old great aunt Minnie Fay, who has lived in Waco her whole life proudly proclaimed herself to be a lifelong Republican who is going to vote for Barack Obama in the next election.

I'm back! Hope I didn't offend any young thriftsters with that last post. I worried about that over the weekend. You screen whatever on whatever you want. Well, not old Le Tigre shirts, please.

Ganglians play a show at Funcastle tomorrow. Joshua Ploeg is doing food pickups the next three weeks. I'd post his thing but I don't think he wants me to.

I won't write that word.

The SNR broke its long-standing ban on the H word this week. There are two h-related pieces, one by Nick Miller and one by Jackson Griffith. Oh really Jackson? Is that how it is? The photospread accompanying Nick's thing is pretty perfect. That, and the related story on the new place taking over the Olipom space, and most of all the fact that American Apparel has started a vintage ebay store just cemented my fear that young people will eternally just pillage the clothes of the past from now on, and that there will be no good clothes left to thrift. That's ok, they have a right to those clothes too, of course, although I wish they wouldn't silkscreen stuff on all of them and make it so they can't go back into the circle of thrift. I am coping by trying to change up my style and turn a fresh eye on themes and colors that h-types might not be interested in. Salmon and teal? Together? I'm trying it. Plastic-y white wedges? I bought a pair yesterday. I'm going for Boca Raton retiree, with a dash of Jimmy Buffett. Yeah, I know there are plenty of h's going for that, too, but there's nothing really new under the sun, is there? I had to do something because the supply of 70s dresses has dried up.

I'm heading for the motherland tomorrow, for the first time in over ten years. That's right, the state that everyone loves to hate, the hangin' state, the reddest of them all....Texas. Hopefully I will have time to eat some good barbecue. Back on tuesday!

alessi vs. addrisi

I know that you all know about the Addrisi Brothers (see above), but do you know about the Alessi Brothers (see below)? I do now because Mike C. played one of their songs last night and I loved it! They've sold eight million records worldwide! They're identical twins! It wasn't this song, although this song is good. Maybe Mike C. can tell me what the name of it is. All in all, Mike C. was a dream DJ, but the other dude played "Shock The Monkey". NO.

everybody loves a show on monday

I know he just did this to stick it to Noel Gallagher, but it's pretty rad!

Yeah, show tonight. MOM, What's Up?, Pizzas, English Singles. Press Club, nine o'clock.

summer jam '08 revealed!!

Thanks to a comp make by JD, the real Summer Jam has emerged. It's called "Barack Obama" by Cocoa Tea and it's fucking rad! Too bad that link to download it doesn't work, but you can listen over and over and over as I've been doing.

Ever since that minor Bee debacle on this blog, I've sheepishly been noting that Democracy Now keeps citing McClatchy sources, and they had the McClatchey Baghdad bureau chief on yesterday talking about her continuing reporting on the Haditha massacre.

There's a Pizzas show tonight at the Javalounge.

Mark your calendars!!!! On monday night there's an exciting show at the Press. What's Up, English Singles, and Pizzas. Three bucks! Yes, that's right, a monday night show that you must attend.

For those of you that still listen to records, the KXPR and KDVS record sales are both occurring this weekend. I am way ahead of that and I just have music directly beamed into a chip in my pancreas.

ataulfo admiration

I am hooked on ataulfo mangoes! I never really thought about different mango varieties until a friend had me pick up some ataulfos to go with sticky rice that she was making. They are smaller, less fibrous, and more custardy than the regular green/orange ones that you always see (are those haden mangoes?). They must be in season right now. I picked up a box of about 20 for seven bucks at Vinh Phat and I can't stop eating them. And really, why should I? I think that lychees and jackfruit are in season, too. I've never tried either fresh. Lychees are shipped from China so they're really expensive.
Speaking of in season, squash blossoms are. I got a big bag of them for a dollar yesterday and decided to make tacos. I just winged the recipe and they turned out pretty good. I sauteed them in oil first.

There is some early corn at the farmer's market so I made a salad with that, greens, red onion, and cotija cheese. And a cilantro and lemon dressing.
The tacos (with Mi Abuelita tortillas, of course) had squash, cotija cheese, corn, and salsa. They could have used some lardy beans in there

blog wad: shot

There's a new Italian place that's been opened by a high school friend of smillers. I want to check it out. That's cool that he visited Naples a buncha times to study pizza. I predict it will get a lot of business.



How's Dad's Kitchen been lately? Some people have been grumbling that they have changed their menu around to bad effect. I still haven't been.



That's it, I shot my blog wad on this.

Kitten Kats Kitten Hats

Sad news. The secret Salvation Army on 65th is closed. I guess it was a little TOO secret. Also, the last two times I went this guy gave me an insane hookup so maybe he drove it out of business. They had just stopped playing the fish radio station recently, too. After shedding a tear for the SA (R.I.P.) I headed over to the Goodwill on Florin, and spied this Kitten Kats hat.
The show at Luna's on saturday was magical. Here's Larry's new art car!

Here's MOM scaring everyone.

Art Lessing and the Flower Vato ripping it up.

mom tomorrow

Enough about George Michael, I will explore my new obsession in private (Ok, one more thing, have you ever watched the video for Club Tropicana?).

I don't know about anything going on tonight, but tomorrow is the big street music festival thing, and R5 is having a thing in the parking lot. San Kazagascar are playing outside Time Tested starting at five. There is a great show tomorrow at Luna's starting at 8. Mom is playing and Ganglians and Art Lessing and Flower Vato. I'm so stoked to finally go to a show at Lunas. Go so that you can check out Larry's new art car. Starts at eight.

who's a Jew?

How good was the George Michael show? I PAID to buy one of his newer albums from itunes today, that's how good. The personal high point for me was when he sang "A different corner" because I didn't expect him to do that one and that's a personal favorite. During the first half I was a little disappointed that the show, as spectacular as it was, wasn't more homoerotic, but right about the time he busted out the cop outfit to sing "Outside" I was satisfied. He was really charming and loose, and he's still got the chops. He has some seriously loyal fans because he sang all these club-type songs I wasn't familiar with and the crowd got totally stoked. I loved it all, but DP was pretty disturbed by the cover of "Roxanne". I just pretended it wasn't happening. We both agreed that he phoned in "Careless Whisper" during the encore. Actually, it was more like he faxed in a picture of a phone. But he wrote that song when he was sixteen, so I can't blame him.

Fun George Michael facts: his real name is Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou and he's Jewish!

voice of an angel

I have been way too distracted today by that fact that I am seeing George Michael in concert tonight to post. I can't even comprehend that in four hours I will be listening to the voice of an angel in person. I may pee and/or poo myself when he comes out on stage.

Yesterday I had some fun adventures in Alameda for a future Midtown Monthly daytrip article, and I ended up in Oakland at Legendary Palace (I'm sure you've heard of it). We picked these ladies live out of the tank, they steamed them, and we ate them. I did not shy away from the heads and found the taste to be a lot milder than crab gunk. I call them ladies because they were so pretty and feminine! We also got a dish with greens, enoki mushrooms, and preserved olives. I was curious because I had just read in Saveur (pronounced sav-oh) that some Chinese cuisine uses olives. And a young geoduck in which the tongue thing was sliced and sauteed and the head was deep fried with tasty pickled jalapenos. There's nothing like picking a live thing out of a tank and eating it five minutes later.

a different blog

Whew! Things have been unusually exciting around here this week. It's getting ugly on that post from yesterday, and I had to delete some anonymous comments. I hope people keep it civil. I failed to keep it civil when I said fuck you to an anonymous commenter but reason prevailed and I erased the sentence in which I called him/her a piece of shit.

I have tomorrow off, and I'll be spending some of it drinking glorious BREW! Yay! While I'm gone, you could check out this fashion blog that's written by two local ladies, one of whom I met on friday. Check out that bathing suit she got at bows and arrows. It's amazing.

Pho Saigon

99% of the time when I want pho, I go to Pho Bac on Broadway, because it's one of the few types of non-American food that I can ride my bike to rather than having to drive out to south sac. Last night I was craving Vietnamese food and finally made it out to Pho Saigon, which in the endless discussions on yelp about best pho seems to reign supreme. You guys probably already know this, but it has killer pho. Right away I noticed that the broth was really aromatic, and it was bright tasting and had a strong star anise flavor. There were lots of chopped green onions in the broth, which is a little different from other places and which I liked. I got the rare steak and brisket and the rare steak was great and the brisket was even better. The noodles were a little bit mushy and not the best, but regardless, it is top-notch pho. I ate and ate and felt at that moment that pho was the best soup in the world.

peach pie day

Father's Day means one thing-pie! I made a peach pie with the Cook's Illustrated vodka in the crust recipe and it was maybe the best pie I've ever made? The peaches were pretty cruddy, either too hard or all bruised, but it didn't seem to matter. I threw in some tapioca to make sure they pie wasn't too oozy. Thinking of how good this pie was reminded me that the best pie I've ever tasted in my life was the berry pie from Real Pie Co. I hope she really does open that place up again some day.

The Bee pulled a typical Bee move the other day. On the same day they had a front-page headline about food safety in Asian restaurants and then also a way-too-late article about how the people in Guantanamo aren't terrorists. Thanks, the Bee. That has been obvious for years but it's brave of you to report on it now that the supreme court pretty much declared it a fact. Maybe you should stick to your front-page reporting on the weather and traffic repairs. The Bee likes to go after the little guy because there's less danger there. If it's not state workers, it's Asian restaurants. I checked the comments and I thought this one was thought provoking:

The Bee does its readers a valuable service when informing us about issues like this. However, it's also a self-serving story to drum up panic so readers will flock to the Bee's newly published restaurant inspection database and thus make money for the Bee. That's how it works, the more hits the Bee database gets, the more ad money it makes. So, the story about asian restautant violations is just like an adverstisement for any other product, in this case, the Bee's online databases. The Bee did the same thing recently with the state employee salary database. So to make money, the Bee will publish data, then write stories about the data for ad dollars. Do you understand how this taints journalism? It's a tangled web being woven since restaurant inspection data is useful and helps readers choose not to eat at places with filthy kitchens. Just know that personal data about you is being used by many companies to make money, even though you don't know it.

Of course the comments are mostly predictably racist and alarmist, including one that says, "people that try to kill others with unsafe food handling practices are criminals". Usually the only time that people actually die from food poisoning is from mass-produced crap at fast food restaurants, which are probably some of the cleanest places around.

box elders

I only raged for half of that show last night, so I missed Psychedelic Horseshit but I LOVED the Ganglians and Box Elders. Box Elders looked like hilarious Red Kross dudes and their tunes were catchy. That's not a picture I took, it's from their myspace. I only took two pictures last night because I realized during the Ganglians that this particular crowd was not being paparazzi style and I was stoked. People were actually watching rather than just documenting.

Knock Knock tonight at Old I. They're first. Nichiren food bazaar tomorrow and sunday. Sorry that this is an events page lately. Boring.

listen up

Not like this makes me Nostradamus or nothin' but I predicted Bricka Bracka would probably not be a live venue for long. The Ganglians/Psychedelic Horseshit show is now moved to the Witchdome.

Due to extreme waster action (well, extreme by "new young Sacto"standards) at last night's Shearing Pinx show, Bricka Bracka hascancelled tonight's show. But thankfully, the Witchdome dudes havestepped up to host the show. Since we only have about 7 hours notice,please tell as many friends as possible about this change.Tonight @ 8:00at Witchdome1915½ 22nd Street in Sacto(between S and T Streets)Psychedelic Horseshit (Siltbreeze, Ohio)http://www.myspace.com/psychedelichorseshitFabulous Diamonds (Siltbreeze, Australia)http://www.myspace.com/fabulousdiamondsBox Elders (Nebraska)http://www.myspace.com/boxeldersGanglianshttp://www.myspace.com/ganglianThis show was supposed to cost $5, but now it is donations. I hope youwill still donate $5 because this is three bands on tour who will bedriving thirsty vans for ten hours to get here from Portland.Witchdome is probably the perfect place for this show, actually.Better sound quality. Just don't be too loud in the yard or in thealleyway. Save the mayhem for inside the basement.Later!Rick

we must pay

I caught the tail end of the dayrage yesterday, and it kept truckin' until almost ten pm. I heard some good things about the pre-flyte lounge. I'm going to have to check that place out. I ate dinner at Edokko II and was stoked anew by how great all their ramen, and pretty much all their dishes, are. Their sushi I think is pretty unremarkable, but I got the miso chashu ramen and it was excellent. The broth was scrump and the pork is very high quality.

Tonight is that city council meeting to save the firehouses, starting at six.

Also, Psychedelic Horsheshit show tonight. Four bands, supposedly starting at eight at Bricka Bracka. Looks like Ganglians will play first. They ask for five buck donations for the touring bands. One of the bands is from Australia. We all need to acknowledge that now that a gallon of gas costs 4.50 that 5 bucks is not enough to pay for a show anymore. If you enjoy going to shows, you should start wrapping your mind around the idea of regularly paying 8-10 bucks. If you are genuinely too poor, then pay what you can. But if you are used to paying, say five bucks for a beer, or 8 or ten for a glass of wine, or whatevs, just think about it. I'm not trying to guilt you, it just seems like the price for shows has been stuck at the five dollar limit for like ten years, and that really needs to be adjusted upwards.

Knock Knock are playing tomorrow. Someone tell me where? They are playing first on the bill, I know that. Dead Western is playing at Lunas. I always forget about Lunas and have been wanting to check it out.

Also, the Nichiren Buddhist Church (5191 24th Street) is having their annual bazaar this weekend, 11-5 saturday and sunday. They're going to have food, including Hawaiian/Japanese style food.

S.O.F.!

I won this bike from the co-op. It's a mountain bike, and I don't need a mountain bike. Also, it has a small frame, like for a woman-sized woman. Not a tiny, petite woman, necessarily, just not someone 5'9" or 5'10". It retails at B and L in Davis for $284.99. I was quite lucky to win it, so I would like to pass my luck on to you. I will sell it for 200 bucks. Anybody want it? I see that the B and L site has different-sized frames, so if you tell me how they get that measurement, I can give you the exact specs for this one. It's red like in the picture and has not been ridden except home from the co-op.

There's an important city council meeting on thursday Sacramento's firefighters need for you to attend. Here's the pertinent information:

SAVE OUR FIREHOUSES!

Tell City Council “Don’t Close our Firehouses!”
Thursday, June 12th
6:00 pm, Agenda # TBA
Sacramento City Council Chambers, 915 – I Street
For questions, or to RSVP
Please call Sacramento Area Local 522 at (916) 739-8522
1. Join Sacramento firefighters at Thursday’s City Council meeting:
Your firefighters need your help to convince City Council that we cannot afford any more budget cuts.
Firefighters will be on hand to provide “Save our Firehouses” stickers to wear and to distribute forms for those
who would like to express their support of SFD to the City Council.
We will have sample statements available to share with you at the meeting or we can e-mail a draft to you ahead
of time. For those not interested in speaking but who would still like to show support, please join us in the City
Council Chambers and wear your sticker! Questions, concerns and RSVP can be directed to Sacramento Area
Local 522 at (916) 739-8522.
2. Call your City Council Representative or Write a letter to your City Council Representative
Office of the Mayor and City Council
City Hall
915 "I" Street, Fifth Floor
Sacramento, CA. 95814
Main Number (916) 808-5407
FAX - all Councilmembers 264-7680
www.cityofsacramento.org
Mayor Heather Fargo
District 1, Ray Tretheway
District 2, Sandy Sheedy
District 3, Steve Cohn
District 4, Robert King Fong
District 5, Lauren Hammond
District 6, Kevin McCarty
District 7, Robbie Waters
District 8, Bonnie Pannell

BACKGROUND
The proposed budget cuts call for a 6% ($4.2million) cut which is to be accomplished by
“browning out” 3 companies a day.
The SFD budget has never recovered from previous cuts.
The Department has the same level of resources it did 20 years ago even though the city
population has grown by 40 percent and call volume has increased by 100 percent.
Sacramento’s fire death rate is double the state average and the city has about 40 percent more
fires than similar sized cities.
• If this plan is enacted, response times will increase overall by at least a minute – which is
a dangerously critical amount of time when a family member is suffering a heart attack or
other life threatening event.
• Every fire station in the city will be subject to rotating closures – every ten days. During
closures local neighborhood response times will be delayed significantly.
• And even when a local fire station isn’t closed, its crews may be forced to respond to
emergency calls for a station that is---resulting in increased response times in the
neighborhood.
The Sacramento Fire Department (SFD) budget has been chronically under-funded for many
years.
As a result of high call volume, firefighters are stretched thin and work harder today than ever
before.
SFD personnel have been doing more with less for decades. This is not the time to cut funding to
the SFD. This is an issue about the safety of every firefighter and every citizen of Sacramento.
For more information, call (916) 739-8522

I can't attend this, because I have Midtown Monthly business, but I am going to write the mayor and my city council person a letter today and let them know that they can expect big protests and major bad press if they enact their plan.

Also, don't forget, Ganglians, Psychedelic Horseshit show this thursday, too. It's been moved to Bricka Bracka.

hard on wah

So MD steps outside of his usual circle of new glossy upscale places to review New Lai Wah, and he busts their chops the hardest of any restaurant I've ever seen him review. New Lai Wah's food is delicious and has an amazing variety and level of technical skill, especially considering the fact that you can gorge on a banquet for 15 or 20 bucks a person. I feel like MD frequently pitches softballs at upscale places that charge 5 times as much, so why so hard on New Lai Wah? I've never noticed the dirty carpet or garbage on the floor. There is sometimes a language barrier with the service, but with a little effort it can be negotiated. It is irritating sometimes when servers argue with you about whether you should order a certain dish (I got this the other day at Korea House), but you have to remember that they probably have to deal with people sending things back that they think are weird.

This story is very odd.

obligatory new post

I don't feel like posting but I don't want that old post to be at the top anymore. Anyone got anything to say?

crockpot congee

I listened to the last Lost podcast today and found out that the new episodes start in January. That sucks!

I have tomorrow off, so this post will have to last you until thursday. Read it slowly. You may want to divide it into two parts.

Tomorrow night The Parenthetical Girls are playing at Harlow's. They are opening for Los Campesinos? Anyone out there like Los Campesinos?

OK, here's another mystery ingredient inquiry, since I have failed to stump anyone yet. I bought a huge bag of (I assume) seasonal greens at Vinh Phat. I'm pretty sure they were called mongtai, although I did not write it down. They were innocuous looking, kind of like a cross between Chinese broccoli and spinach. As I sliced them my hands became coated with slime that was difficult to get off, similar to when you handle a slug. As I cooked them they began to generate large quantities of clear slime. I had to throw it away, and it is currently sliming up the compost. Anyone know what this stuff is used for? Also, what do I do with a banana blossom (no vulgar remarks, although it is shaped kind of like a buttplug)?

I made crockpot congee yesterday and it turned out very well. Here's a recipe:

In the morning I put 3/4 cups of rice and 9 cups of water in the ol' crockpot. Leave it on low!

About an hour before I wanted to eat I threw in some diced daikon and dried shrimp and turned it to high. When I came back in an hour the crockpot had jizzed out gooey congee everywhere, so if you are going to turn it on high to hurry it up, keep an eye on it. Also, the daikon will make your house smell a little turd-y (smiller was not thrilled with this whole operation).

To serve, ladel into bowls, top with scallion, and mix in preserved tofu. You can add salt to taste as you cook, but preserved tofu is quite salty so keep that in mind. We added a thousand-year-old duck egg and that made it a complete meal.

sick o biscuits

Oh Amtrak, you are run by idiots. After a nightfull of nightmares about missing my train, I left way early this morning so that I could buy my 10 trip ticket to Davis, in order to avoid the increased traffic because of the you-know-what. Specifically, I arrived 11 minutes early. You would think that that would be enough time to buy a transit ticket, since trains tickets are something that need to be sold quickly in order to get people to their trains on time. Well, for the first five minutes I was in line, all three windows were open but the line did not move a bit. A man on the left was being told his expensive ticket he thought was valid for a year had expired and he was yelling about that. Then, the middle window closed. At this point the line had not moved and I had about 5 minutes to make the train. I left my bike to hold my place in line and went to the ATM in case I had to jump on the train without a ticket, which of course I had to do. Keep in mind that the line was not that long when I got in it with eleven minutes to spare. So, I jump on the train, justifiably peeved that I am going to have to pay like 10 bucks to ride one way, but guess what, the conductor never came around! Well, she did, but she just sat in a chair and shot the shit and then told everyone, "have a nice day at work!". Thanks, Amtrak!

On saturday I got up at biscuit-thirty to begin the biscuit extravaganza. Here is the result:
These are not all the biscuits, there were more out of frame. I went to set up at the rocknroll yard sale, and who should show up, but Skipper, with rival biscuits to try to make a monkey out of me. I showed him.

That's right, I'm posting a picture of myself, in semi-disguise (apron and sunglasses). Does this mark a new era of glasnost on heckasac? I don't know, but I just wanted to use the work glasnost. And yes, you can see by the Milwaukee's Best in the picture that I did do a wee bit of dayraging.

As the afternoon waxed, Jerry Perry was called on to judge whos biscuits were zoomin' whos. Here's Jerry thinking about how good my biscuit is. He said mine won. Take heart Skipper, two out of two scheming Germans preferred your biscuits!

Here's one half of Knock Knock performing acoustically. Some bad squid snacks put mikermike out of commission.

And here's Jaybiz performing. This was the best yardsale ever! I made ONE HUNDRED AMERICAN DOLLARS.
Later, we went to the show. The DAM house is so great. They have food and beer and soda and all the punkhouse decorations are just a cut above. English Singles were the best I've ever seen them, which means they were spot on. Right!

No Bunny were very good, and I enjoy when bands perform in their underwear, even if they are filthy.
Here's Heckamax about to drink the best drink of all time.

It got better when I squeezed cherry juice into it.
Why does the Armeniac look so skeptical about the bestness of the best drink of all time?

Sunday was spent recovering from too much fun, with the help of some maibocks at the Rubicon. If you enjoy good beer, you should go there tonight, because they still have lots of the maibock guest taps. I especially enjoyed the Haufbrauhaus maibock.