heat wave

It is a crime how long it's been since I've seen the Rantouls.  Glad that is getting remedied at the Rantouls English Singles show at the Hemlock tonight.

I am hoping to go to the river this weekend cuz it's FINALLY going to be hot as it should be. I can only pray that we'll get a major heatwave before summer is over.

heckarap

I was reading the paper this morning and got deja vu (no not because of another editorial about how we need an arena).  There was an article about all these organized runs that like throw color on people and crap and how they are for-profit and making a ton of money.  I was like "is this a reprint? they just wrote about this?"  Here's the verrrry similar article from August 8th.  Pretty weird. I guess there's no reason that runs always have to benefit charity but man are these people raking it in.

There's a lot to do this week. Maybe too much.  Smiller is djing at Lowbrau this afternoon for the last time, at least for a while.  The Bows open mic comedy is tonight, too.

Tomorrow is both Screature in Davis and Knock/Knock, Kittens having Kittens at Bows.  KKKK show is winning for me.

Friday, The SIngles and Rantouls will be playing at the Hemlock.

Saturday, Jonathan Richman is playing and as much as I love him and he's really great every time I think I might skip it.  He does start on time and end pretty early and have no opening band, tho.

Sunday I think I'm going to see Tracy Morgan at the P'line.

I started a rap/music blog. Linked at the right. It's going to satisfy my urge to post about music without posting stuff here that very few readers may care about.

sex in the kitchen

I have had the R. Kelly live Mr. Showbiz/Light It Up tour DVD for almost two months now because it didn't seem fun to watch it by myself. Luckily, Biz and NH were down to watch it with me last night. In the bonus features R. claims that it is going to be the "greatest DVD ever" and in my opinion he is right.  This is the tour I saw but I had forgotten a lot of it, I think because he blows your mind about every 10 seconds and my brain just shut down and my jaw was agape.  This brought a lot back to me, though.  The two hour DVD has a lot of medleys and every song is a hit.  And he doesn't even play I Believe I Can Fly because it will make everyone start crying and he wants this tour to be fun.  This scene is indicative of the insanity and showmanship of the entire DVD. By the way although this made me laugh I am not at all being sarcastic. He is one of the greates showmen alive and this is one of the best shows I ever went to. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQBb5Z4Vjuc

His "Black Panties" album is supposed to come out soon, although it seems ominously delayed.  I pray there is a Black Panties tour.  One aspect of the bonus features is where he talks about getting 25 pairs of panties thrown on stage during one show and his plans to frame and display them.  He says he has 400 songs recorded for Black Panties. I could go on and on and on.

top ten bazaars

 Please help me out with that question below if you have an IMHO.  I went to the Buddhist Bazaar and somehow did NOT win the raffle for the free one-week trip to Maui. There must have been some mixup.  This was officially the Cutest Thing Ever: an older people ukelele orchestra and a choir of little kids.

 I don't remember them selling sake before but maybe they did. It was awesome. It was not super hot this year and also attendance maybe seemed down a little? Maybe not. The lack of crowds meant I could try to teryaki chicken for once.  It was half of a delicious chicken. Also got some veggie sushi and a bit of mochi, which was very rice-y.  This is a top-ten Sac event

travel guide

Anybody have an idea for a travel guide series that's a step above lonely planet? I am too old to stay in hostels and their food recommendations are terrible

rasta bike

 Not the most exciting post today. Sometimes I see this rasta bike outside my office building.

DP's sis brought me this clove-studded cow cheese from Norway. I ate it for breakfast on dense rye bread from Wild Flour Bakery like a real Euro.

 

You should Vote in the SNR best of. Not saying you should vote for me for best personality to have a beer with but not saying you should not vote for me for best personality to have a beer with. If I win I will take everyone who voted for me out for a beer.

wild flour

Edible Sac video of BLT/Pangaea anniversary event with bonus Mike C. footage at the end.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2d5v0il3kPI

We went to Bodega Bay before Jerry Day. There is a bakery in Freestone called Wild Flour that is one of my top three favorite bakeries in the world.  Tartine probably has the best bread (although I have not ever been there to buy it and I think the process would stress/bum me out), Brick Maiden in Point Reyes Station and Wild Flour.  You really have to go to Wild Flour, preferably now.  It's open Th-Sun 830-430. Why oh why can't we get a world class bakery? Masullo should open one as his background is in baking.  I went to Masullo last night and it was just as good as usual. He has a pizza called the liddy right now with mozz, pesto and tomatoes, cooked really lightly to bring out the sweetness and juice. yummerz.

 They have a garden out back with picnic tables.  Oh no big deal just go pick some lavender and make...

 a warm rasberry nectarine lavender scone. Pretty much everything they serve is still warm since they are baking right out in the open when you come in (at least in the morning)  They serve a daily bread called a fougasse which is loaded with cheese and all kinds of stuff, and then simpler breads like wheat, rye, various seeded breads etc.

 More of the garden

 Here's what it looks like. Pretty nondescript.

can't wait for 120 floors of condos

There's more stuff coming out about the Davis bomber. I'm privy to a little extra info but won't spill it here. He's cute. I said it.

So, on Sunday the Bee had an editorial about how the city has one chance to get the arena right. If I agree that that's possible, which I'm not sure about, I certainly don't agree that we should use it to create a public square a la Times Square or Union Square.  Times Square is pretty much the worst thing in Manhattan. I read something recently about how if a NYer  runs into another NYer there they make excuses like "I just had to run across really quick".  That probably sounds snobby but it's an indication that NYers don't hang there. Similarly Union Square is only for tourists and having spent time there recently on a shopping trip I can say that there are just chain stores and shitty rip off restaurants.  Plus, neither has arenas so I don't know what that has to do with anything.

Then, they printed a long editorial by that cheerleader for luxury lofts, Rob Turner.  He is calling for condo towers where the stupid 60 story condo towers were supposed to go pre-recession. He mentions "well heeled" residents. I may have already talked about this. Know why? They pretty much printed his Sac Town article word-for-word. Nice. 

BAR's review of Hock Craft Farm Provisions Locavore Farm To Fork confirms what I suspected. The part about the menu putting you to sleep is funny.  I won't usually judge a place harshly unless I've tried it and in this case I still would if a friend recommended it but I can't see that happening.

ashes and wet cardboard

 Saw the movie Sunshine Daydream at Downtown Plaza yesterday. Legendary '72 show in Oregon to benefit the Kesey family dairy - which they saved and which produces Nancy's yogurt today. Nancy herself is Ken Kesey's sister.  By the way, a lot of freeloading Deadheads crashed so the Dead just wrote a check to save the dairy.

 Secret weapon: Kreutzmann.  Such an awesome drummer.

Right in the middle of the epic Dark Star jam there was some crazy animation and this is an example of what are minds were getting blown with (the Blackberry Kush may have had a little to do with it, not that I am admitting to anything)

DP's sister was introduced to the Dead by coming to this movie which is a real plunge into the deep end. She said she felt Jerry's charisma and power and almost cried during the last song.  There's nothing like a 20 foot high plunge into Jerry's beard to make you feel the love.

Man, we were out of coffee at home so I had to go to Old Soul and my coffee tasted like ashes and wet cardboard. I thought something was amiss when it looked really thin.  So bad.  And of course I want that to not be true since it's my local!  What a disappointment their draft beer selection is, too.  They have Drake's Denoggonizer right now which is probably someone's cup of tea.

Jerry Day Sunday!  See you there!

for Heads only

There's a toilet in my local work bathroom that shoots out water and today I got some in my mouth, if you want to know what's up with me today.

I have created two Grateful Dead tumblrs in honor of Jerry Day.  One is of shitty fan art and one is of Grateful Dead/other stuff lame mashups.

http://heckasac.tumblr.com/

http://shittygratefuldeadart.tumblr.com/

pep talk?

You guys I'm really bummed out and I need a pep talk.  I am so depressed about what's going on in Sac right now.  I should focus on the positive because I'm sure some good things will come out of it but I feel like we're right back to pre-recession luxury loft lounge living and big money trying to make the city a douchebag haven.  Reading Sactown depresses me most of all, with their farm to fork this and their build condos for "well-heeled" residents that.  Farm to Fork is driving me nuts, partially because it seems to be a successful venture for our creepy sex offender corrupt as fuck mayor.  Nobody cares about his shell game financial dealings? No one remembers the behavior with the underage girls? And believe me I'm not one to judge about stuff like tweeting dick pics or whatever stupid thing, but taking advantage of multiple teenage girls should be enough to end a political career. 

I know some older suburban people who got incensed when I was against an arena and started to tell me how great it would be for downtown.  I would like to teleport these people to Midtown on a second Saturday at 2 am.  And again, I'm not against people raging but I'm against people driving home especially when many of them are so wasted they are leaning and puking, etc. 

Speaking of farm to fork I counted that phrase 37 times in this latest issue.  It is not even the farm to fork issue, which was the last one.  The Bee had it like 12 times on Friday.

Speaking of the Bee I was happy to read BAR's review of Kru.  Well-deserved accolades. It's not flashy, but Billy Ngo just keeps chugging along churning out excellent sushi and salads (like his seaweed salad). I have never tried the uni panna cotta or the tea duck, which BAR wrote about, but I will now.  I tend to just get chef's choice nigiri.

Also CM wrote a good, solid profile of Noah Zonca and avoided breathless hype.  Very enjoyable and informative without being fawning or posturing.

ettore's?

So I learned after a few trips that yelp is not that helpful in picking good places to eat when you're traveling. The top rated places can be weird.  To illustrate this point I present to you the Sacramento top ten:

1) Rolle - is really good, true
2) La Bonne Soupe - presumably this was from before Daniel Pont sold it so this account should have really started over when it changed hands
3) The Kitchen - sure, I don't really know
4) Magpie - agree (the part of the one review that you can see popping out on this list is "every bite I take of a carrot cake cookie; I have a mouthgasm" ewwwwwww)
5) Heat Shabu Baru - totally meh, see my review from a long time ago
6) Mulvaney's B&L - yeah sure
7) Ettore's - ?????
8) Burgers and Brew - noooooo for their food and their brew.

wait, if you click on it it reformulates whatever you get the idea. I don't really read yelp but maybe I'll start again. I'm only doing one review a month so I'm not on the lookout for ideas all the time

good vibe beehive

 More fair report! I got not much else right now, but tomorrow there is a MOM/Vasas show at Press and I'll be doing a dj set. Hope I don't fuck it up too bad! It's been years. Luckily Scott has a setup where I can actually record from Spotify.

This is the sac county display. uh, sucks. more after the jump!

Happy birthday to me!

Tomorrow is the 9th birthday of heckasac! A time before facebook, smartphones, tablets, streaming tv, before youtube, what else am I missing? Jesus Christ things are moving fast.  There can't be that many blogs that have been around for 9 years and are still going. I started blogging pretty early in the game. And what a coincidence that my triplets were born two days before the blog turned nine. I think they are probably at least nine so I may have unknowingly been pregnant with them on the day I started it!

Here's the first post, and MH was the first commenter!

setting up...

I've been toying with the idea of a blog for a while now. Some of my friends set them up and I find them to be supremely amusing time-wasters. I didn't want to start a blog where I complain about my job (although maybe sometimes I will). So my primary idea for my blog is to interview some of my friends. Cuz my friends are funny and smart. And also because I'm not that good at asking people about themselves (probably because I'm always blathering on about myself), so sometimes I've known people awhile and don't know some of their background information. I hope to include pictures if I can figure it out. That's it. First interview coming soon if the subject agrees...

suck it and see you at the fair

This is what I like to call just plain dumb. For one thing it's a pet peeve of mine for people to joke about food poisoning in this way. I highly doubt the writer has actually gotten food poisoning at the fair or knows of anyone who has.  For second, of course they are regulated same as food trucks are.  It wouldn't be good pr to have a food poisoning outbreak, similar to the one at Mulvaney's recently (see it's not just cheap places). Three the food is of no lower quality than similarly junk-y food and there are quite a few family-owned places, even stuff like Thai, Mexican, and Middle Eastern.  You can eat healthy if you want, there's corn, poultry, falafel, and a really good giant baked potato with lots of fixin's.  I know it's fashionable to bag on the fair, but it is a real melting pot of all races and socioeconomic classes, all having fun.  So suck it! See you at the fair tonight!

I really don't think I have a chance in h-e-double-hockey=sticks of winning, but did you see I got a nomination in SNR? I'm not saying I'm the best local media "personality" (I like to think of myself as more of a "person" than a "personality" but hey) to have a beer with but I'm not not saying that I'm not the best person to have a beer with.  I feel like this category should have something to do with beer nerdery so do with that what you will Dan Barnes should be on the list as well.

Best local media personality to have a beer with

Nick Brunner, Capital Public Radio

Bethany Crouch, Fox 40

Isaac Gonzalez, Ransackedmedia.com

Walt Gray, 96.9 The Eagle

Heckasac

Edie Lambert, KCRA 3

Kurtis Ming, CBS 13

Grant Napear, Sports 1140 The Fan

Blair Anthony Robertson, The Sacramento Bee

Dale Schornack, News 10

good one, UC

Many I really hope the UC governing board votes down Janet Napolitano as the new UC president. It really sends a bad message. Head of homeland security during a time of ever increasing surveillance?  Governor of Arizona, a super fucked up state?  Not involved in academia in any way ever?  The UC is pretty fucked in countless ways and this is just the icing on the cake.  It strays further and further from its original mission every day and it's very sad to be on the inside of it.  My job is fine I just feel bad for the students, especially the poorer students who live in California who can't afford tuition or who are close to the grade and test cutoff but are being pushed out by out-of-state or foreign students.  There is nothing wrong with the latter type of students except that it's a pure money grab that pushes aside CA high school students.  Meanwhile the number of bureaucrats (vice chancellors, etc.) has doubled in the last 20 years, all highly paid positions, while key staff has been cut and buildings are crumbling around us.

vids

Couple quick videos for now:

Maria Bamford show, really really funny and poignant. The stuff about the nervous breakdown is for real. Her WTF is a must-listen

This song is so good

it's mayo goddamnit

 Last of the NY pictures.  This is a fried green tomato dish from Diner in W'burg.  The Diner meal was one of the best I had.  It has tarragon mayo, which is also how Shady Lady serves it. Restaurants need to stop saying aioli when they mean mayo.

picture post

Sometimes it gets really tiresome being not very technologically intelligent. Like right now. I had to go through a big rigamarole to get these photos and then they all uploaded willy nilly.  That's why it's so much easier to just post them to face book. Oh well. Photos after the jump!

It just doesn't matter

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7pHBZmtpYg

I am very happy that this is captured for all time on video. I'm also very happy that my screening of Meatballs inspired the chanting.

sonny

I can't believe I didn't gloat about Gunther's trouncing of the competition in the Bee's tasting panel.  I usually don't forget to gloat about anything. I guess gloating implies that I had something to do with it.  Corti was on the tasting panel!

Verge/Crocker thing tonight! Very cool. 

I fell asleep at 630 last night! I think I was finally catching up on the sleep from NY.  I stayed up for 45 hours the night I flew in. I had to power through the jet lag to pack as much in as I could.

Here now I'll gloat about something I did do, which is interview Sonny Smith from Sonny and the Sunsets. He is a hero of mine.

Inty?

the movie night went well last night. I now think that Meatballs might be the funniest movie of all time all because of one guy named Mr. Bill Murray.  Meatballs really wipes its ass with Wet Hot American Summer when you watch them side by side.  Next movie night I want to do Half Baked and Friday. And I'm going to start it at 7.

Tonight is the open mic comedy at Bows.  Officiall voted best comedy night in the SNR summer issue.

I'm going to be djing at Mike C.s night on july 24th, all dirty south. I'm listening to a lot of it.  Ya know a lot of the Cash Money stuff doesn't hold up that well (and of course that goes double for No Limit). I just discovered that Master P has kids named: Lil Romeo, Cymphonique, Veno, Young V, Tytyana, Italy, Hercy, Inty and Mercy.

hack restaurant

I still can't mail my phone pictures to myself (meaning I have barely tried to figure it out besides messaging Rafter) so none of the eagerly anticipated NY pictures yet. It's annoying that I could just post them to fb but I will hold out. Course I could do that and then save them and then, nah.

So I will now review the new restaurant from the hack crew who brought you burgers and brew and crepeville: el toro bravo, a "mexican" restaurant in downtown davis, which means there are three of these places in a one-block radius. To sum it up: terrible. Fishy dry fish tacos, supposed Niman Ranch steak which was also super dry. Tasteless salsa, beans, and rice. I guess the veggie taco (with eggplant and peppers and stuff) was OK but I wouldn't order it again.

Saw Dave Attell in NY, saw him in Sac too, where he bombed. He phoned it in at the Comedy Cellar. He even kept a NY Post tucked under his arm the whole time. Not as an affectation but just because he was I don't know, putting in a quick ten minutes before he went to take a dump? SPeaking of comedy, does anyone out there love Todd Barry? I love him.

You should follow him on twitter. His website has this funny page: http://www.toddbarry.com/receipt_museum.html

omg, seriously read it and this is good too

http://www.toddbarry.com/quotes.html

this is blowing my mind, how did I not hear that Nic got in the Onion AV Club?

http://www.avclub.com/articles/s-nic-offer-hates-the-house-of-the-rising-sun,97304/

Tonight! Movie night at Bows!

something went wrong

uh, something is wrong where I can't send any of my pictures from my phone to my gmail so no New York pictures yet. And after I spent a while sending them. How annoying.

Tomorrow! Movie night at Bows! I am showing Meatballs at 6 and Wet Hot American Summer at 8.  Also, Mario is djing at Le Twist at Lowbrau. It sucks that whenever someone I like djs there it is so late (like midnight) that I don't go but I think tomorrow I will make an exception. 

share a brew

A couple of days ago in the sweltering evening Scott brought up the idea of Akebono. It was packed because I'm sure cooling sushi sounded good to everyone.  I got this sake which comes in a cute little can that you pour it out of.  It was delicious as all hell.  Also got the classic cold soba dish hiyashi chuka. Very refreshing.

DJ smiller is gonna be at Lowbrau tonight. They have moved the speakers and it now sounds great and is audible at a pleasant level inside.  Come share a beer.

video of the day

I linked Cody's new blog at right. Check it out.

brilliant!

I have my best ideas on the way to work (no, not on the can) because it's 25 minutes and I'm highly caffeinated and I listen to music and space out.  Many of these ideas are lost to the ether as I walk from my car to my office. Who knows how many cool things I could have done.  Anyway, the idea I had this morning is to review Jimboy's for my next review!! I am so smart.  It is a legit review because the ONLY thing I have ever eaten from there is french fries, bean tacos and veggie burritos.  I think I started going there when I was still vegetarian and then never branched out.

 

There's a sweet rope swing at Sutter's Landing if you walk to the right for a bit.  Try it out before the rangers cut it down.  I can't believe I wasn't too chicken to do it. The Blue Dream helped.

a lame

I am kind of a lame because I didn't go see see Scouse Gits at the Press or a really big trap DJ at Assembly  I had a grueling chop-bustin 90 minute meeting yesterday. My chops were the ones getting busted.  It probably would have been good for me to go out and blow off some steam. 

How do rappers have so much money considering the state of the modern music biz? Or are they all lying? How can Gucci Mane have like 5 Bentleys or whatever when he has a million mixtapes and probably hardly anyone buys his real albums.  It's not like rappers are known for making money on touring or anything.  Even underground rappers with only mixtapes out are claiming to be super rich so that can't be true.  I don't expect them to rap about being broke or anything but maybe just don't mention it.

Katie got bandz

Scouse Gits tonight at Mike C.'s birthday at Press.  I kept forgetting what band it was and thought it was some band I had never heard of.  By the way, I learned some rap sland "bandz" it's like rubber bands around money.  Like "Bandz a maker her dance" the Juicy J song and "Katie got bandz" a mediocre Chicago rapper.

I love this song! The first time I listened I thought it was boring but it's so stoney

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-tQrZ6ZAIU

I saw Before Midnight last night. Mixed feelings.  I loved the other ones because they were so romantic and here the romance is gone.  But it's real-feeling.  But Julie Delpy does come off as crazy and unreasonable.  But she is one of the most natural actresses I've ever seen, and so  luminous.  And lots of food for thought after.  Tantalizing hints of their life in the last ten years.  Hmmm....

need a suggestion

I'm not exactly on the cutting edge with this, but man that Kendrick Lamar album is genius.  When was the last time someone released a rap album that was great all the way through? 10 years?

We ate at OneSpeed last night for the first time in at least a year.  It's such a neighborhood type place and it's not our hood, but I wish it was near us.  They have an app that's a take on the classic vitelo tonnato: crostini topped with roasted pork loin, tuna mayo and chopped egg. Awesome.  Then I had a white bean and shrimp salad with a lot of thyme and it was just OK because the beans were too firm and the shrimp wasn't really that sweet or flavorful.  Scott got a pizza special with I think soppresata and piquillo peppers and sheep's milk cheese and maybe some other stuff.  The blend of toppings was superb even though the crust can't touch Masullo's.  It was well-salted though.  Much heavier pizza than Masullo's of course, which are pretty much the lightest possible.  And they have Berryess IPA on draught, which is consistently tasty.

What restaurant should I review next? This upcoming one is South Indian.

I'm hosting a movie night at Bows on July 9th.  Meatballs at 6 pm and Wet Hot American Summer at 8.  Gabe is supposed to make a meatball special and I'm hoping there will be a special on Sac Treats, like 2 for 4 or something.  It's really casual and I'm sure a lot of people will want to hang on the patio or just watch parts or whatever. This clip is one of the funniest things.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TogGxzlfhM

doves: round 2

We have our second round of doves nesting outside our back door.  Poor mom and pop are taking turns keeping the eggs warm in the rain.  It's hard out there for a dove.

Overall this is a fair review of LowBrau and I know the owners agree and are going to use the criticism constructively HOWEVER, the passage sort of dinging them that Green Flash Rayon Verte and Duchess de Bourgogne don't GO TOGETHER is effing ridic.  Who ever said that two beers you order at the same time are obligated to go together? That's kind of not a thing any more than you would open two bottles of wine and expect them to go together.  His point is that the servers aren't that helpful, but I don't know what I would say about beers that go together and I can't believe that even without guidance that he would try to pair a sausage with a really sweet beer like the Duchess.  So gross!  Sours maybe pair with cheese or something and that's about it. The dude writes a beer column.

wedding!

I officated AM and KC's wedding on Saturday and the whole thing was a blast.  I managed to work Star Trek and Channing Tatum references into the ceremony and to do a dramatic reading from my review of the defunct restaurant Chicken and Pizza Love Letter. I was happy to make them happy and add some laughter to the ceremony.  It was awesome and no hangover! Yay for me.  I stuck to Coors Light most of the night.

sunglasses on a hotdog? now I've seen everything!

I preferred the old Morant's cards, but this "cool guy" hotdog makes me laugh every time I see it.  That's why it's on my work bulletin board to remind me to "hang in there".  They also have magnets!

The wedding approacheth.  Working on writing the ceremony. Almost done. Not nervous yet but I know I will be.  I like public speaking but there is always that first few minutes of nerves and then I'm like "this is awesome, everyone is listening to me!"

LowBrau changed the DJ setup to by the front doors, which is just back to how they used to have it and it sounds wayyyyy better.  Scott and Roger's set last night was the most enjoyable yet, and unless they are hosting an event there, Tuesdays at that time are not crowded.

Mantles Pitchfork review out today!  I recomment you listen to "Hello"

juice! juice! juice!

Curse you, Rick Ele! You got me thinking about Apatzingan enchiladas, with their delicious tartness and light amount of cheese (cotija?) inside.  We went out there and turns out on Tuesday it randomly closes at 3?@ WTF? It doesn't do this any other day.  We had enchiladas on the brain, not tacos, so we dithered about where to eat.  I had been to Caballo Blanco once over ten years ago, and I thought, why not?  They had flour tortilla chips, just like I remembered which are meh. Ketchup-y salsa just like its sister restaurant, the terrible El Novillero.  I saw the prices and then remembered Bugambilias exists, but we had already eaten a couple of chips and it was too late. If I'm going to pay 13 bucks for a big plate of Mexican-American style food, I would just get the chile verde at Tres Hermanas which I think is the bomb.  I got a chile relleno and chicken enchilada.  The enchilada was ok, but the chili relleno was giant and puffy with too much tasteless breading.  At least I have lunch leftover.

Has anyone ever had a fresh chile relleno in Sac? Like one that's fresh-fried and puffy? I don't understand why every single restaurant obviously nukes them.  I've made them and you steam and stuff the chiles first so all you have to do is dip them and fry them.  It's no more trouble than any other dish.  My mom once made shrimp-stuffed ones during shrimp season in Mazatlan and they were fucking delicious.

I juiced kale for the first time, due to a podcast I listened to about L.A.'s juicing obsession.  A few drips of juice came out from a bundle of dino cale and then I threw in some parsley we had sitting around, too and then a bunch of carrots, beets, cucumber and apple. It was good, but I kind of don't get the juicing thing because aren't you just discarding every bit of fiber? Seems wasteful.  It's a vitamin thing, right?

9 years

This is not trolling for comments at all, but it may be time to shut this thing down on the 9th anniversary.  Facebook supplanted it for everyone which makes total sense.  Lately I've been saving ideas to post on facebook or duplicating things.  All the holdouts have been joining and smiller has to be next.  Hits have gone down and my ideas have run pretty dry.  Looks like we are about to start another cycle of luxury lofts and condo dreams and it's just depressing and my ranting does nothing whatsoever.  It feels like it's just limping along and I don't get a lot of enjoyment out of it.  So, maybe there's about a month left. I want to have a farewell party kinda.

nam kaotod

 I always seem to eat at the same few places lately, but Asian Cafe is just sooo good. On the left is chicken laap with gizzards, on the right is papaya salad made with cucumbers. I have just never been able to get into the green papaya texture.

This is one of my favorite dishes in the world, which I already raved about in a review, nam kaotod.  It's the crispy rice dish with fermented pork sausage.

Have you guys ever had the chili cheese tamales at La Esperanze?  They are kind of the best kind. They cost a little more.  They must be harder to make and they sell out by like 9:30.

The house show above the noodle factory had some really bad sound problems on Saturday. The speakers were kinda busted and crackly.  The movie starring Aaron Zeff was really funny and I hope that team makes more movies.  It was cool to see the apartment on top of the noodle factory.  I have been walking by and wondering about that green room and old hanging light since I lived above Old I, like 16, 17 years ago.

dick jokes

Ugh graduation day at Davis. So much traffic.  It's pretty cute how excited everyone is.  Before they find out that they probably can't do shit with a BA in their chosen field.  I know from working with volunteers in my old lab that many many of them think they will go on to be doctors and I think we had 1 in ten years, and he went to med school in the Carribean.  Which reminds me of this movie I loved as a kid and had forgotten about until 25 seconds ago. I had a crush on Steve Guttenberg.

Went to a comedy competition at Laughs Unlimited in Old Sac last night.  Very interesting.  Way fewer dick jokes than you usually get at Bows open mic, maybe because these pros don't necessarily have to go for the cheap laughs. Not a single woman in a 20 dude lineup.  Anyhoo, Ray Molina won and he deserved it.  My favorite local, Stephen Ferris did OK, but I learned that he is way better in a small room.  His overall funny demeanor did not come through.  He got big laughs from the comedians in the back, though.  Comedian's comedian.

Freigeist brewer and brews at Pangaea tonight.  Typically for Pangaea they have not posted the start time, so I guess just go at brew thirty. 

This show tomorrow! Insane lineup! Insane fun! Love that there is a schedule

Saturday

8:00pm until 11:00pm

above the noodle factory, 10th street between R and Q, Sacramento, Ca.

with DJ Mike C House show bands will play as scheduled: MWHWW 8:45 Vasas 9:30 English Singles 10:15 plus an advanced screening of Kenneth Vaughn's new film "As long as there is plenty" right before English Singles

Freigeist guy

Hedda Gabbler at CapStage = great set design, some stellar performances, some problems.  It's interesting to have seen certain stage actors enough to know about the little bits of business they return to. Like Jonathan Rhys Williams does a weird thing with his tongue and Stephanie Gularte curls her lip when she's being evil or manipulative.  Can't wait to see "How We Got On' at B st.  Gotta squeeze it in because the run is ending next Sunday.  I learned that Hedda Gabbler is pronounced "Hedda Gobbler". Surely someone must have made a highminded porn based on this play.

Screature in Davis tonight!  At the Bike Collective just like the show earlier this week.  I am going to get fooled into being on time again even though it won't start till 9 from my fear of missing Screature.

Freigeist event tomorrow at Pangaea! Very exciting! Special Fregeist brews! The brewer will be there which might be cool but brewers are often boring because they mostly just brew beer all the time. 

Did you know a Mikkeller bar is opening in SF? So the two in the world will be in Copenhagen and SF.  It's goi ng to be off the chain and have a million Mikkeller beers and other super special stuff.  I predict mayhem. 

nervous

yeezus, I'm about to take a test for the first time in 10 years. on CAL/OSHA regulations no  less.  Nervous.  Let you know how it goes.

testify

This is cool...NM and OMF brought it to my attention.  I'm guessing Koonie at Asian Cafe wrote it.  You have to read the yelp and then click on the follow up and the response.  "We are all food critics" LOL.  I know what she means in that we all eat food and have thoughts about it, but.....hell naw!!

Tonight! Show at Davis Bike Collective (fun place to see a show except it's in Davis): Parquet Court, G.Green and best of all....Fine Steps! 

And then wait, what's this?!?!? Mike C.'s dancehall night? I love dancehall but yipes Monday night starting at midnight? I will try. Mike C.

oops I did it again

Soooo...I got my purse stolen last night like a dumbass.  I was at Badlands and left it in this prominent  place and went outside for a while.  WHY WHY WHY? did I do that.  And the funny thing is, after getting mugged I'm all paranoid and split up my keys and leave one card home, etc.  So THANK JAH I have my car keys and key to my club and to my office. So my boss doesn't have to it to find out.  It wouldn't look good to be like "my purse got stolen at da club".  Anyway, I don't have a phone for now.  It might be kind of fun to not have one.  I can't try to get one until maybe Tuesday?

The show last night was awesome. Thanks NM for getting me in!  A$AP Ferg was not as good as I expected.  Maybe his Monster Energy jersey was bumming me out a little too much.  He had a little hype man, mini A$AP Rocky on stage who started shooting a super soaker into the crowd, which I was not happy about.  I don't care if it's a punk show or what, I have always hated the throwing the water into the crowd move  The DJ in between sets also sucked, which is too bad cuz it could have gotten the crowd hyped up. 

Juicy J was really good and people really, really love him.  It was almost sold out.  He said he's sold 30 million records, on his own and as part of the three six mafia, so pretty much a kinda underground, not-on-the-radio superstar.  He did some old school scratching and then held his giant gold chains over the crowd and acted like he was gonna throw them out in the audience.

Here's a pretty funny interview with A$AP Ferg.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CroTkCR50Jk

I'm not even gonna get into the girls pulled on the stage situation.  I can't believe how much secondhand embarrassment I get.

show in Davis

Reading an article in the Atlantic on the Mexican drug war I learned that in 2011 Michoacan, the state I visited and traveled all around, had about 2600 murders. There was a nightclub incident in a small-ish city I went to in which the attackers rolled 5 heads across the floor. Ha ha!

Fun fact: a raid on Narcos in Mexico City took place at a mansion with artifical stalagtites and real lions, tigers and jaguars.  Then the federal police who arrested them proceeded to party it up with prostitues and cocaine. You can't make this stuff up.  This is absurd but I am not laughing at the larger situation. If the Sinaloa cartel fighting ever spread from Culiacan to Mazatlan (it has flared up there in the past) my mom is screwed.

Wow, there are a lot of Davis shows coming up, specifically Fine Steps and G. Green on Monday and Trashies/Screature on Thursday.  The Singles are also playing the Eagle that same night.  Decisions, decisions.

A$AP Ferg

A$AP Ferg and Juicy J tomorrow at Ace of Spades! Juicy J used to be in three six mafia.  And then a trap night for Olivia's birthday at Badlands. Should be a fun Wednesday night.  Which is everyone's favorite night to party right all my friends with M-F 9-5 jobs?

Uh oh, blogger just said I logged out from another location.  I see two of my friends emails were hacked today so I hope this doesn't mean I was too, since blogger is part of google

after the party it's the afterparty

Everyone who was at the !!! show on Friday knows that it was good, from the smallest baby to the gnarliest tweaker.  Amber and the dancers were awesome, and so were the McClatchy marching band dudes. I really felt like they were giving our city a gift.  The gift of Nic Offer in tiny shorts printed with a Rolling Stones album cover.  They are on a roll because of the new album and they deserve it. 

The impromptu pre-parties and afterparties were the funniest.  Flashmobbed Ella with probably the most scruffy crowd that's ever been there (stoked, not dissing), and then after somehow someone discovered that the upstairs back room at Grange was open but completely empty, a bunch of people took it over.  I overindulged mightily and didn't get to the after-after-party (which was at U street, not the hotel lobby), unfortunately.

Rick Kushman did a good cover story in SNR on Enotria. I have never eaten there because the prices are so steep.  I don't do a lot of fine dining, but I do a lot of mid level expensiveness dining that adds up to the same price in two or three meals, probably.  It's the same way that I'll buy a bunch of cheap crap but won't make the big purchases of stuff I need, like a vacuum that actually works, or a mink coat, or some really top-quality cocaine.  Oh hi, are you still reading?

My review is in there this week.  Doesn't matter how long I've been writing I still get a sinking feeling seeing my stuff in print.  Which is different from not thinking it's not good, cuz I do think it's not not good.  I gave it 3 1/2 stars again! I have to stop.  At least I gave Zia's four.

My Tyler the Creator thing was in there last week.  I got one piece of feedback that it seemed like I didn't like it, but I totally did and I hope that it was clear. 

chinotto of my dreams

!!! thing in today's Bee and Amber got a mention!! Can't wait to see Beyonce on stage again

 I went to Zia's yesterday in Davis.  Can I tell you how amazing this soda is?  Like the most delicious carbonated orange bitters, made with the myrtle-leaved orange.  Fuckkk. I don't know if they have it at the one in Sac but I hope so.

When I reviewed the meatball sub I wasn't sure how I felt because it was my first one at Zia's.  The acidic, thin sauce threw me off.  Now I am a huge fan.  I would have probably given Zia's another half star based on my love of this sandwich alone.  The meatballs are very fine-grained and soft. 

I got our tickets to Tokyo in the fall!  It's a direct flight from SFO, which I am very excited about.  Not sure yet which city we will fly back from.  Planning on flying back to Sac.  The reason we are flying out of SFO is because I used my British Airways frequent flyer miles to get the tickets, for 653 (the taxes and fees).  Jamattack first clued me in to this card a few years ago, and I used it for round trip to Copenhagen for 1100 at peak travel time, and then these two one-way tickets.  This has saved me an ton of money and none of it had to do with using the card, just with the intial miles I got from signing up.  As soon as we fly I'm cancelling it, since it has a 95 buck annual fee, which I think I've paid three times.  But still, saved money.

swag

Ugh, I gotta get off fb!! That's it, I'm not checking it for the rest of the day! Unfortunately, my phone buzzes when something happens on there. I'm gonna have to turn my phone off.

Did you know that a band called Sam I Jam is opening for !!! tomorrow? Did you know that there are many, many excellent Sacramento bands who are not in this entire, huge series, not even as opening bands? Remember who is booking, according to SNR when the Jerry Perry scandal went down:

former 106.5 FM deejay Andy Hawk, former Local Licks host Mark Gilmore, Sac Shows promoter Justin Nordan, and musicians Jake Desrochers, Danny Secretion and Laith Kaos.

yeah. finger on the pulse.

 I got this duck salad at magpie last night and it was a mixed bag.  At first I was disappointed that the salad seemed undressed and the frisee was a little wilted (I used "my frisee is wilted" as a way to get out of sex all the time), but then I mixed it all up with the sweet, sweet duck juices at the bottom and it was, as the kids say, all good.  The duck itself was swag, as the kids also say. 

Pretty Fly

I don't like to overuse "obsessed" but I'm pretty obsessed with this video and her

sowing my wild hops

 I am psychic guys because Sunday morning right when I was waking up I dreamed that EC said, "I'm going to eat a cheeseburger today" then as I was finishing my coffee WB texted me "where should we get a hamburger? Cookie's is closed".  Before that he wanted to eat a banana split at Gunther's, natch.  Nationwide was closed too (how dumb what better way to honor America's fallen than with delicious burgers?) so I put forth the idea of Mexi-burger.

 524! Always open.  The elusive chile relleno burger in its natural habitat.  I made a guac burger.  This reminds me that recently a coworker sighed, "I'm sick of eating hamburgers" as if someone was forcing him to do it.

Chocolate soda foreground. Delicious although I must admit I expected something lighter, more like an egg cream.  Hot fudge sundae in the background. Classic!

On Saturday I spent a few minutes at the farmer's market and then 6 hours at LowBrau.  In that time I made plans with OC and NM to go to Burning Man, which seemed perfectly plausible at the time.  I also alienated a Bee reporter I had just met with some extreme boasting.  I was feeling my oats.  No actually I was feeling my hops.

Spoiler alert!

This is why I write!! Read the comment.  The money is peanuts so never for the money.  Speaking of that, do you know I've been writing for 6 or 7 years or whatever and the money for stuff has never gone up at all.  Sorry SNR, but I happen to know that I am making the same amount for reviews that someone made like 8-9-10 years ago.  The recession is not over, exactly, but I can see you got your weed ads back. Editors, I am not blaming you.

 Speaking of reviews and the reason why I write, I heard that Zia's has my review laminated and taped to the counter. Brings a tear to the eye. Perhaps I'll eat at the one in Davis today.

Thanks to the neighbor for organizing the drive inn trip! We tried to eat at the Korean place Sulzip Ann becuase cheese corn (cheese and corn on a sizzling platter) went from a novely to me to something I was craving.  Closed down.  So we ate at Mo Du Rang nearby and the banchan was really good but not the rest.  Gummy seafood pancake, as usual, and tough spare ribs.  AND Greg Lucas had reviewed it (curse you GL), which I was later glad about cuz I would have shelled out for the whole dinner and then decided why review a mediocre Korean restaurant

As for the movie: It was awesome when Spock yelled (spoiler alert!! hence I will put a page break here)

billionerd Vivek Ranadive

The Bee published a non-story today about biking drunk. Some of the statistics: 24 people in downtown/midtown were cited for it in the last 6 years.  Another one: in 2011, 210 cyclists were killed NATIONWIDE that had a BAC over .08. In a country of over 300 million that is like 7 or 8 zeros before 6 percent, I am a little rusty on multiplying percentages.  I'll take my chances! Plus, of those, how many of those people were wuh-asted? Probably a lot.

I do try not to bike wasted. I try not to get wasted in general.  It generally happens twice a year: Four Eyes Xmas and Halloween show.  I didn't bike home from the halloween show, so there ya go.

The Bee also published a hilarious story a few days ago about this Vivek Ranadive character.  It's about how he's not a nerd, according to him.  Dude, read this, I can't stop laughing!

Ranadive may not be as flamboyant, but like the Maloofs he has his glossy celebrity side. On Friday, he jokingly scolded Bee reporters for labeling him a "nerd" in earlier coverage.

"I am not a nerd," he said.

A photograph that ran alongside a profile of Ranadive in Esquire shows him dressed in a Rat Pack-style suit and sunglasses, lying on a raft in a swimming pool. In photos he posts on Twitter, Ranadive often flashes the "shaka" hand gesture (pinky and thumb extended, middle three fingers curled to the palm), a symbol of friendship in surfer cultures.

OMG the Bee has hit a new low in Kings coverage.  It also quotes someone as saying that he is so competitive that he would beat your grandma at tennis. Nice.

I also like how KJ has said that Cake would play at the Kings rally at Caesar Chavez today and instead they got ONE member of Tesla and that hack David Garibaldi.  Embarrassing.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2013/05/19/5431406/new-kings-boss-ranadive-is-all.html#storylink=cpy

videoz

I went to see Danny Brown in Oakland last night.  Typically off the chain, although the ladies were MUCH more subdued. No twerking in sight.  I can't help it I think this song is super funny. This video is weird and Danny Brown is not in it.  He did it last night. He had the funniest style last night of just black jeans and then a black tee that was as long as a dress.  There was so much weed smoking it was insane and kind of sucked cuz I was designated driver and I didn't wanna stink

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9tQ1tDxO_U

OK, this song is like a cancer on our nation and fuck Rick Ross anyways.  Last night the DJs played it TWICE at the show and then I went to Grimey for a sec just to see what the fuck it was when we got back to Sac and he played it again. It also got played at Tyler the Creator.  So stupid.  You're a badass cuz you got drunk and woke up in a new million dollar car? Yeah right.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djE-BLrdDDc

Chief Keef is also everywhere, which I like.  Probably three of his songs played at DB last night and a couple at Grimey in the 20 minutes I was there.  He's 17 and just got off probation and got arrested again yesterday.  He better hope it goes on his juvenile record or he's gonna be like Lil Wayne and spend time in prison

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WcRXJ4piHg

DB has been touring with Kitty Pryde, who Scott told me about and said she was the worst thing.  I kinda agree but kinda is fun to hate listen.  And the next step after that is liking it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SDYus7iKC8

the opener was Overdoz and they were really good live but seem kinda mixed as far as recorded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Y2vJqlWcSY

rap crap

It would be really weird to be friends with Drake because he'd constantly be rapping about how much he loves you and would die for you and shit.  What if you didn't like him as much as he liked you? And he was like "I'd die for you" and you were like, "yeah....me too" all unenthusiastically.  Awkward!  And he was saying all the time "no new friends" and then you made a crew of new friends and didn't want him to know.

Jay-z has an awesome rap in one of the songs on Thank Me Later:
I don't do much bloggin'
Run the city
Don't do much joggin

Cody said he's been enjoying the dirty south tracks I've posted, here's a recent one I like from Killer Mike http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iMC6t_mEm4

And another track with him and Bun B, who's a southern legend. woah this is a mini-movie with boobs in it that references point break! T.I. in it and he is fine as usual

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8-RmM5py1c

Meeting report

We had a Round Table at Round Table to recap and heatedly argue about next years theme.  I ate 5 pieces of pizza plus a piece of Natalie's flat bread.  I have one tender roni, two veggie, one jalapeno and pineapple (pineapple picked off) and a piece of Natalie's flat bread. Charles ate an entire pile of jalapenos so Jay would buy a Bananas/Matt Shrugg flexi. I'm sure he is suffering the aftereffects today.

Anytime the Halloween show is involved, something magical happens and this meeting was no different.  There was a huge banquets of little kids (7 years old?) and the soccer mom told Scott that they love to sing Happy Birthday and we asked around the table and it turns out Gballs birthday is today!! Gabe started to sing and these kids instantly whipped around and started to sing it SO LOUD. Then the manager came over and gave us a free pitcher of beer and G got a coupon for a free pizza. Thank you Halloween Show vibes! I bask in your glory.

wow

Holy fucking shit!! Pitchfork treatment for the Singles

helmet law suck, apparently

Got some NSFW (not that bad) pics from some vinatage Easyriders that the Audacity dudes left at the house along with the smell of stale beer. What thoughtful gifts! After the j ump

It had to be Jew

Pretty exciting night last night...planted tomatoes, tomatillos, and basil in the garden, took a walk around my beautiful neighborhood, cooked a crapload of chard from the garden and the last of the lettuce, which all bolted. Watched intervention and hoarders on my computer.

I don't mind saying that I've been kinda depressed the last couple months because my new job is such a scary change and I guess I don't deal with change that well.  My life hasn't changed much in the last 7 or so years, and they were the happiest years of my life, so it's hard to leave that chapter behind, especially with 40 looming.  All in all, I'm absurdly lucky, especially when it comes to the best husband (and cat) in the world. 

So anyways, doing that stuff last night kinda represents an upturn after a couple of months of not enjoying the things I usually enjoy, which I'm stoked about.

I was looking up Woody Allen's description of "anhedonia" from Annie Hall to describe what I'm talking about, but when I found it I saw it's  pretty harsh and and doesn't really apply. But I found this golden bit of trivia:

Allen's working title for the film was "Anhedonia", a term for the inability to experience pleasure.^[17][18] However, United Artists considered this unmarketable, as were Brickman's suggested alternatives: "It Had to Be Jew", "Rollercoaster Named Desire" and "Me and My Goy".^[19] An advertising agency, hired by UA, embraced Allen's choice of an obscure word by suggesting advertising in tabloid newspapers using vague slogans such as "Anhedonia Strikes Cleveland".^[19] However, Allen tried several titles over five test screenings, including "Anxiety" and "Alvy and Me", before settling on "Annie Hall

torta chilango

This is a clue to my next review. I am very excited about this place.

Wow is the whole earth festival bullshit! A bunch of ugly crap and hideous tie dye, and super expensive food.  I am PISSED that I got tricked into buying a chocolate covered banana for 6 dollars. Not a frozen banana, mind you, those I love and they are my state fair jam.  No just regular banana on a stick and half didn't even have chocolate on it so it was just...a banana.  Yippee

Then there were all these hippy food booths with like tempeh and veggie burgers and stuff.  I hit up three and they were not ready.  At 1230 on Friday! Thereby missing all their lunch business.  That is soooo hippy, that's why they will never get anywhere in life, unless you count really long dreads as an accomplishment.  So I paid like 650 for a pupusa and there was raw dough involved and just cheesecheesecheese, some of it not melted. My friend paid that same for a quesadilla with unmelted cheese. So pissed.

Saw Great Gatsby, which I hadn't planned on at all but was in the mood for a movie and a friend wanted to go.  Terrible.  I don't really like Baz Luhrman.  I was kind of snickered at the novel with smiller before I went, but since there's narration right from the book of some of the most famous parts, my cynicism melted away and I remembered how much I loved it in high school: essay topic, the use of the theme of eyes and seeing (something like that) cuz of the billboard of eyes that watches over everything.  Daisy sucks so bad.  What a bitch.

Farmersmarket on Saturday was so fun again! I passed out tons of Edibles and it was very gratifying, especially since many people were like "I love this mag". And every week I use it as my excuse to day drink at Low Brau on the patio.  I think I've personally bought 4 of those Logsdon saisong.  Which is over 10% of the total that Clay ordered.

beetle bailey?

 for those of you not on fb, this is my new profile picture courtesy of dp. love.

 can someone explain this beetle bailey to me?

 you can tell because his face is shooting off in droplets? is that his brain? is it sweat marks that were mistakenly colored in because that still doesn't make any sense

 destop setup

just random. This tshirt really scandalized me when I watched Teen Wolf ONE MILLION TIMES.  I had a huuuuge poster of  just a closeup of Michael J. Fox's face.



Jah help me I have 3 hours of safety classes today. Laser safety and chem/lab safety. I am so fucking safe!!!

comedians of comedy

omg, this is the funniest thing I've read in the Onion in years. And the whole article is funny!

Last night's comedy open mic at Bows was funny but too long! Ray Molina is the host and I told him that and he said he knows but that he cut four people and it was still too long and he gets shit from the comics for cutting anyone.  Nice story bro.  No Steven Ferris and that was a bummer. The main bit for at least three of the comics was getting dumped by their girlfriend recently. I like Ferris because he's just completely creative and isn't just narrating whatever happened to him that week and dick jokes.  Plus, people I don't care how fucking nervous you are you cannot read from notes!! This is not a powerpoint at work.  It saps the funny out of everything.

Tonight is Missy's night at old I.  I hope to go

pic post

 

 This is graffiti from Sulzip Ann, a Korean restaurant in Korea town.  It's another one of those teen hangout type of places and it has even more graffiti than Sarang Bang

 Calling someone immaculate is high praise

 cute picture from the sour bar opening at Panaea. These guys are the best

 Having a beer at Capital Tap Room

 This is a fridge juxtaposition with a picture of Nate taken by Doug Biggert. I know it's not a surprise to anyone but Doug is a fabulous photographer.  That's me as a teen punk on the right. Note the suit.

 Revisited Pho King II for the first time in a while.  They advertise their tendon as "soft tendon" and I really think it might be the best tendon in town (The SNR should give out that award for best of).  Not to mention the off-the-menu cold tendon salad we had once (which they tried to claim was the cow dick salad I wanted until I busted them on it)

The lady remembered we like this raw beef salad.  I know I'm gettin pretty gnarly here but recently I ran over a huge snake on the freeway (probably a rattler as I hear there is a bumper crop this year) and watching it writhe in pain in my rearview made me vow to be more conscious about the meat I eat.  It made me really sad.  I have gotten too used to ordering meat dishes when I could have vegetarian.  So no more meat at lunch on weekdays at the very least. I only eat breakfast meat like once every two weeks, and I rarely cook meat.  Too bad Red Rabbit took their veggie burger off the menu!

Beer gossip: the rumor is that a Bevmo might go in The Beat space.  Which means the single bottle law will be a problem.  I don't know how the ABC works, but if they get a single exemption I am going to be SUPER PISSED, considering on how many small business bottle shops we have missed out on on the grid.  Davis Beer Shoppe guy considered opening here but was thwarted by that law.

inspiring

 I was completely inspired by Sacramento and the ladies I know there this weekend.  Sacramento is really getting pretty amazing.  New Edible issue out and it looks beautiful.  OK, so Ryan D. is not a lady, but he's still inspiring. Ran into him at the Good Market and got to introduce him to Steve Hansen and give him the new issue. Hansen's a fan. More after the jump

cute

here's a picture of a baby giraffe that was just born at the l.a.zoo to make your friday even better! six feet tall!

justifiying

Am I an impossible dork because I love this. Answer: yes.  I don't care. I will admit I like Robin Thicke too, at least some songs.  That new one with Pharrell is too embarrassing even for me, and the collabo with Nicki Minaj died a quick, merciful death. Has anyone noticed how Pharrell does not age at all?  I feel need to justify my love of Robin Thicke by pointing out he has collaboed with: Kendrick Lamar, 2 Chainz (just a minute ago), T.I., uh Leighton Meester? multiple times with Lil Wayne, Kenny G, 50 cent, Rick Ross, Ashanti, and more!

Blackbird redux

Tried Blackbird again for the first time since I gave it the poor review and the results were...pretty good. I'll go back. Delicious Ramos Fizz! Good wine list.  Scattered yet nice waiter. He did not write our order down (which I will never understand) and he forgot one dish, but we didn't remind him because we were full anyways. Water not filled enough, drink orders not taken quickly enough. Acoustics horrible and laughable "jazz" band downstairs. It sounded like smooth jazz, really weird! The server moved us to a quieter spot but then paid even less attention to us.  Also it's really expensive.  However, nice evening and like I said, I will go back. I'm getting pretty sick of my few other spots in Midtown and Downtown, most of which are just as uneven in service.

I am sooo bummed because in the last few months there is now traffic every damn day both ways between Davis and Sac.  I don't know if there has been enough population growth that this is going to be forever or what.  Today there was literally a spill of nuts and bolts on the freeway. The other day there were two accidents and a broken down car on the causeway.  Plus, I park on campus rather than in east Davis so that adds about 10 minutes every day.  All in all, I'm spending at least an hour in the car commuting every day. It fucking sucks.

chakras in an uproar

OMG, yesterday I went to my regular vinyasa flow class only to find that it had been changed to yoga nidra, which is one of those gentle, relaxing, meditating type classes that I FUCKING HATE. Nothing makes me more tense than being forced to relax and breathe out of one nostril and shit.  The majority of the class was just lying down covered with blankets, which I do for 8 hours a night already, give or take.  So we're lying there, in the dark, and the teacher is talking and this asshole next to me instantly falls asleep and starts snoring really loudly.  Finally, after a long time I got so pissed that I was paying 15 bucks for this and gaining no strength or flexibility whatsoever that I freaked out, pushed all the shit off of me and fled the class.  The only thing I'm sorry about is that I left the blankets all messed up for the yoga teacher. But she heard the dude snoring and she should have done something.

The end.