blogs that matter

I have to go to an undisclosed remote location today from whence there can be no blogging. To amuse yourself in my absence, read this article about a bunch of blogs that you've probably never heard of.

nominations are out!

The Academy Award nominations are out. I'm sure the Barnseyard will have a lot to say about that. I'm happy that Terence Howard got nominated (although that past anonymous commenter who compared Hustle and Flow to a VH1 movie will probably not be happy). It's weird that Jake G. got supporting and extra dumb considering that William Hurt's scenery-chewing-few-minutes-with-bad-Philly-accent from History of Violence is in the same category. At least William Hurt didn't get nominated for Syriana, which he was also terrible in. Unless the category was "most pointless cameo" and then he would be a lock. He should go back to pretending to be a monkey. Now that was a movie! Glad to see that History of Violence got a couple noms, too. I think it's weird that every year I have usually not heard of the foreign pictures that are nominated considering that I go see a lot of foreign movies.

I am watching a Kings game tonight for pretty much the first time this season. I am hoping to get back into it this year. We'll see. For those of you without cable, what's your favorite place to watch? Every place I can think of has some problem that makes it less than ideal.

Oh yeah, and just a tip, if you ever use your ATM at any Arco stations in the area, I would check your bank balance if I were you. Some people pulled a big scam and recorded PIN numbers to steal out of people's bank accounts.

picture for brew

sienna-hayden-shirt06
Originally uploaded by becklerg.

This is mostly for Brew because of our shared hatred of Sienna Miller. Is this the outfit of a fashion icon? Leggings, Hayden Christensen's shirt (apparently she is banging ol' grease cauldron now), and Uggs! Where's her mother's Moroccan belt now?

And for another rant, can you think of anything more maddening than being stuck in a parking lot waiting like five minutes for some bitch to vacate the spot in her giant Dodge SUV which is taking so much time because 1)she has crammed it into a compact spot and 2)she is on the phone?!? Luckily I am all Zen and shit so it didn't phase me at all.

that's wild

Does anyone else think it's crazy that Animal Collective is playing Sac on a saturday and at the Fillmore on a sunday?! (I wish I had an interrobang key on my keyboard). We have to represent. I hope a lot of people go. Tickets are finally on sale for the Fillmore show.

Lyme Regis were on fire again on saturday. I love seeing them play. Their songs are so catchy that I have to remind myself that they are not covers of classic songs, well except for rose in spanish harlem which they do a rad version of. I couldn't really see but there was a rumor that Smitty came out of a cardboard birthday cake wearing a diaper during the Losin' Streaks. Let's hope it was a clean diaper.

I ate a Pho Bac in honor of Lunar New Year and it knocked my socks off. There are a few cheap restaurants around town that I started eating at back when I was a vegetarian (I know, can you believe it?) and sometimes I fall into this pattern of ordering the same non-meat things I used to get at them. Pho is one, Willy's is another (I've never had a real burger there, only the triple cheese). At Pho I always got the veggie pho, which I'm sure has a meat broth. Anyways, at the urging of smiller this time I tried rare beef pho. It came out with slices of raw looking beef on top. I was kinda grossed out, but the beef is sliced so thinly that as soon as you dunk them in the broth they cook slightly. The beef wasn't melt in your mouth tender, but it was tender enough and fun to eat. The broth was totally beefy and good. We also got chicken bun something something, which is a cold noodle salad with charbroiled chicken. It was a great meal.

I bought a French cheese last night at Trader Joes that I have had before called St. Nectaire. It is usually a good, stinky cows milk cheese. I put my groceries in the trunk and when I got home and opened it I thought to myself "something is rotten in my trunk" which is entirely possible because my car is a trash heap. When I got inside I realized it was the cheese! Brew and I decided that it smelled like (this is gross-don't read on if you can't handle NC-17 language) if a guy had jizzed into his buttcrack and then went and worked out for a few hours. I tried eating it and I have never eaten poo but now I think I know what it's like. It went straight into the trash. Do my cheese expert readers (and I have a few) have any opinion on this? It didn't make me sick so I guess it was OK to eat.

tax time

Just a quick post for now because I want to do my taxes. I'm glad that I paid enough this year to buy a soldier in Iraq at least one piece of substandard body armor.

I am not sure what Boing Boing is but here is a link to a thing they did on the vintage signs of Sac. (from slopdawgjr. and the chick list)

Is Jason D. back from 'nam? Or were you there for lunar new year? Cheung Hing was off the chain because of the New Year. People were crowd surfing the roast ducks to the back of the line.

Charles wants to plan a Halloween in July show and the theme is going to be "missing" because of the year that there was no Halloween show. It can be bands with missing members, bands that lost a member, it's pretty broad. He wants to know what people think about this. Two bands that immediately came to mind are Pink Floyd and the Manics. It would be cool if someone did the Manics. It seems that the theme this year for the real Halloween show is going to be "gay". All your favorite gay artists! I must give myself credit for thinking this theme up and I'm very excited about it. Especially since smiller is going to do Janis Ian!

fuckin' job!

Fuck my work today!

The duck from Cheung Hing was amazingly delicious. We ate every bit of crispy skin and every morsel of meat.

In other eating news, I'm going to Mason's next week and to Biba within the next couple of weeks, so you can expect some reviews.

I have tomorrow off so I hope you guys can find stuff to talk about without me. There's a Lyme Regis/Losin' Streaks show on saturday for OMF's eighty-eleventh birthday. I thought I would be out of town but due to a storm you may see me there. There's a show listed at Junta tomorrow night. Who believes that that one is going to happen? The Bananas have a show coming up at Gilman pretty soon. I promise I'll remind you as it approaches. Also, I have seen the Nautical Rock and Roll LP (not yet available to the general public) and it looks and sounds great! And some are on blue vinyl!

This Bee headline says "world awash in a glut of wine". I'm glad to find that it's not just me.

Happy Lunar New Year to those who are celebrating? Does anybody know if any local restaurants have special menus?

Gotta go! I'll be back on monday!

meeting schmeeting

I'll be in a meeting until noon. I'll post after that.

barley wine, feelin' fine?

Not to rub it in to a certain someone who's going to miss out on this, but Sac Brewing co. is having a barleywine festival. Unfortunately it's only at their town and country location. That's dumb. Here's a cool nytimes article from today on barleywine.

I have to go. I strained my back lifting my laundry (yes I am a wuss, did I ever pretend otherwise) and I want to go home and take a muscle relaxer.

Back tomorrow and I will review the roast duck from cheung hing! That is, if the guy that serves doesn't refuse to sell it for me for some reason I won't understand.

Dylan doc.

I guess blogger is scheduled to go down at 4:00 so you better get your fix of heckasac in before then. Unfortunately I'm really fucking busy today as the rat brains are not going to process themselves. Started watching that Bob Dylan doc. last night and of course as everyone has said it's totally amazing. All the folk and country performance footage is so exciting to watch. I already bought a CD of the craziest guy (John Jacob Niles). Check that Henry Miller quote on the website! I'll post a couple of rad pictures of ladies I want to check out.

This doc got me and smiller talking about the issue of "authenticity" in music and how like Devendra Banheart gets dogged for being a trust fund kid or whatever and how people bag on other new folk artists for putting on a front or being fashiony or whatever( wow that's two too many whatevers, whatever!). Not like any of these people are at the Dylan level but it's just interesting to think about in the context of watching Dylan try to style himself after Woody Guthrie so much that he's even trying to talk like him and looking at Dylan's outfits when he was young which are so rad and which he obviously put so much thought into.

maria muldaur

maria

And she is just cute as hell and the song she sings is rad, too.

odetta

I think this lady is pretty famous but I had never heard of her. She performs a song called "the waterboy" in which she kinda barks. She's intense.

twenty bucks!

Does anyone want to make twenty bucks and get a free brain scan? I think that getting an MRI is relaxing but it's not for the claustrophobic. And you get to see your brain. Mine looked kind of shrunken and asymmetrical. If you want to do this, contact mariann at mlowenthal@ucdavis.edu You can do it in Sac near the medcenter.

probe mag

I have so much work to do but I don't wanna!

I didn't know that Aaron Probe has a website but thanks to Smitty posting those picture links now I do. Heather was right about Mike being too skinny in that picture. Dude, eat a sandwich! Probe was a magazine that really used to offend me back in the day when I was more Riot Grrly. I was offended because it featured naked punk girls, at least one of them a young girl that I saw around Sac. This was way before suicide girls or anything and it was pretty controversial. Times have changed and now this wouldn't bother me. Oh yeah, the mag also had articles. I don't remember them too well except that one time Aaron wrote something about sexually satisfying a woman and I remember thinking he was pretty right on. Here's the link, the pictures are NSFW.

not much to write so i'll pick on heyamoto

I feel so boring. I absolutely cannot compete with drinking King Cobra blood (hope it tastes better than the King Cobra I've had). Hell, I can't even compete with eating a burger wrapped in a donut wrapped in a mystery wrapped in an enigma. Smitty, you should post some pictures.

Speaking of strokes (sorry Luther), did anyone catch that Ariel Sharon article in the New Yorker? That's the most pro-Sharon piece I've ever read. Hell, I almost wanted to sit down with the guy and share a Luther burger! The New Yorker is going to get some letters about that one. Nice how they act like he was a pretty OK guy and only refer to the Palestinian cause as the "Palestinian issue".

Also speaking of Strokes, has anyone heard the new Strokes album?

Live crabs are 3.50 a pound at the Asian food center and they are at their peak of deliciousness. It's about 8 bucks for a giant one.

I was browsing through the Bee columnists, and I found out that Heyamoto has started a new column called (get this) "what's up with that?". You can send her questions. Here's her bio from the site:

Lisa Heyamoto has always regarded her apartment as a poorly equipped rest stop to be visited before and after a night out on the town, which is why she still can't believe she is being paid to go hang out in clubs. She's a recent transplant from Seattle who is always 15 minutes late, won't let anybody forget her birthday, and is one of those people who knows the words to every song but doesn't really know how health insurance works. She has an affinity for cheap beer and salty snacks, and is far too likely to play Def Leppard's "Photograph" on the jukebox if someone hands her a quarter. She would like to live on a boat someday, but can't imagine where she'd put all of her shoes.

If she has already mentioned it, this chick loves shoes! And partying! And she shares the sentiment of all the readers who can't believe she gets paid to write about shoes and partying! Awesome!

weekend stuff

I'm rather busy this morning so just a quick post. Man, the weather is sublime. I had to check the varmints this morning and I record the temperature when I'm there and it's about 10 degrees warmer than it has been and there's that nice crisp wind. I'm taking a walk today, for sure! What if I had said fo shizzle, wouldn't that have been funny? I guess I just did. Not funny.

Had the burger at 33rd st Bistro this weekend and it was very tasty but as I try burgers at many other places I'm always happy to note that I like Nationwide best. When I first made that declaration I hadn't eaten many burgers around town so I could have been wrong but I wasn't. The meatloaf was crazy good, too. And it's open until ten on weeknights and eleven on weekends. That place is pretty great.

I also ate at Alonzo's (5649 Stockton Blvd, near Fruitridge) which all Mexican breakfast lovers should try sometime. This place is packed with a loyal clientele, including folks who bring in pots for the staff to fill with pozole that they take home. The pozole here at six bucks a bowl was far superior to the 13 bowl at Zocalo. No surprise there. I also love their chilaquiles.

The Feeling was on fire at the Fox and Goose this weekend. Everything I keep trying to write sounds like music critic crap and I keep erasing it, but let's just say it was an intense performance. A lot of people turned out for the Harvester reunion so it was a good crowd. We tried and failed to get into Catfight. Sad. I heard it was fun and that the dancefloor was packed during Lisa D's set.

I watched a Belle and Sebastian video comp thing yesterday and was reminded again how rad they are. Their videos are all grainy and homemade and starring the band and their cute friends. And that's all I have to say about that. Should that be my new catchphrase? I could end every post with it. Or maybe it should be fo shizzle.

eat at dad's

Hey! Dad's deli got a write-up in the Bee. I'd post a picture but some baby might start crying about it.

Oh shit, and Harry of Harry's cafe got badly burned at the restaurant and has been in the hospital.

weird forest

Local label Weird Forest (this is Chad's label, right?) has an impressive website and has been putting out some stuff (local and otherwise) that has garnered all kinds of attention (local and otherwise). I've seen the Inca Ore release up close and it's a really cool looking record. A giant pink and blue cat's eye. I can't speak for the content.

there is money, spend it! spend it! spend more!

I'm not a super-big shopper except of the thrift store variety (OK, and the H and M variety) but I was perusing Jane while running an errand and they had this website listed with some amazing socks, so I'm giving you the link. I just bought three rad pairs for 21 bucks and shipping is free!

stuff to do

There is some controversy about whether or not I really had to take down that Sacbee photo. I did it because he said he had already contacted blogger and that same day the template of my blog kept going haywire so I was paranoid the two things were connected and I took it down. I tried to email the jerk from my non-Davis account (which has my full name, which I didn't want the jerk to have) and it bounced back as a non-valid email address.

So turns out I'm not leaving town this weekend. I may go to that Fool's show tonight, but I didn't know until I saw it in the News and Review that that video game band (the Advantage) is playing. That means it will be packed and I really don't care about that band. But maybe I will go early-ish to see the Two Gallants.

Saturday there are competing shows. Looky Loos, Harvester, and the Feeling at the Fox and Goose. Supposedly starting at nine and it's three bucks. I'd be interested in knowing the line-up because I have something else I have to do that night. Also, the Megacools are playing at the Distillery with Teenage Electric Bedroom (fucking horrible name) and the Black Jetts (not much better). This show starts at regular late Distillery time and is six bucks.

Also on saturday, as homzee pointed out, is the last Catfight. Big deal you say? Well I agree except Lisa D is djing it and she is a great DJ. Homzee said she will go on after midnight. It's at the Golden Bear. Five dollar cover. A chance to bust out out your silver eyeliner and shredded clothing, or whatever it is the kids are wearing these days.

this couple is a do

You know how it is, you're surfing the net and next thing you know, a news and review feature leads you to the online photo gallery of the local club catfight, which I would never ever go to. And then I saw this cute couple. And in the tradition of Vice do's and don'ts I'm calling them a "do", especially the girl. I like her style. Hopefully, catfight won't email me and threaten me with a lawsuit for using this picture. You should go to the link and click on it (like you care) because it uploaded so small. Is there anyway to alter the size of the photo on flickr?

infotainment for you

The internet is blowing up over this clip of a performance by Lil Wayne and Robin Thicke (Alan Thicke's son and a blue-eyed soul singer). I was skeptical but it's pretty bad-ass. You should watch it. I think Robin Thicke is totally cute but only if he's gay (I prefer my blue-eyed soul singers to be gay, I don't know why).

Since I got the link from the Fader I noticed that this month they have an article on Bloomington and how indie it is. That town loves the Bananas and it's pretty cool for a town in Indiana.

the problem with Persian food

Kate Washington reviews a Persian restaurant in the middle of nowhere this week. She wonders why there are so many woefully underpatronized middle eastern restaurants in the area. I totally agree that this is true and this is my theory about why this is so. Most places, especially Persian places, are trying to be too fancy. I think this is kinda touching because I imagine that most of the owners are immigrants (I'm just assuming here, some could be native Iranian-Americans) and I think that they are nostalgic for the fancy places that they would go to for special occasions back home. These restaurants are often in cavernous, mostly empty spaces, and they have gaudy decorations and sometimes slightly stiff, formal service as K.W. mentioned. I have also found that middle eastern restaurants are more likely than even really fancy restaurants to make you feel bad when you are splitting something or just want a salad. The owners often seem disappointed that you are not there for a lavish feast with your whole family. It's understandable that this is what they want, especially because they probably think that if you can attract those out for a celebratory family meal this will translate into more money for them, but the problem is that everyone is not always in the mood for a big feast. The only restaurant that I have seen this work well for is Famous Kabob, which is an established and long-standing place, and it is usually packed with Persian families. I bet there is all kinds of street and cafe food in Iran that is delicious, and the owners of these restaurants probably ate that food on a daily basis back home. I wish there were some Persian restaurants around with food like that! There is just no reason that a plate of chicken and rice should be over 12 bucks. It is really simple food. And how much could it cost to make homemade yogurt? I'm guessing not much. You are really paying for the high rent and incidental expenses. So that's what I want, a little hole-in-the-wall, greasy, humid little Persian place downtown to hit up for lunch all the fucking time.

nothing to say but i'm saying it

Allright already, no one is posting on their blogs hardly so I guess the onus is on me. Did I use that right? I like the sound of it. Put your onus on me.

Babe alert! Do you like to look at hot babes? No? Why not? Well I do and I'm sick of you judging me about it. Just take an internet gander at Luba Hegre and you will see a hot babe from Kiev. None of these pictures are going to be SFW, I'm warning you. Luba she does not like to wear clothes. She finds them confining.

I got a mention in Bites today. I didn't catch that Bites had caught on to the crappiness of Lisa Heyamoto's writing. Now that it's been in a legitmate media outlet I'm sure she will get wind of it and maybe her editor will rein her in a bit. Speaking of ed's at the Sacbee, did you catch that cease and desist order I got from the photo editor on that old Jazz and Pizazz post? What a weiner. Why couldn't he just ask nicely?

total lie

from a new york magazine article about chan marshall and the live show where she had a meltdown:

This show changed her reputation, unfairly, from eccentric to full-on crazy. But Chan says there’s a reason for what happened that night. Before the show, when she ran upstairs to get her guitar, “this guy was there who I had known for a long time. He was on drugs and telling me crazy stuff. He had a gun and was trying to tease me that he had power.” Eventually, he let Chan go. But the whole time she was onstage, “I thought he was going to shoot me.” Two months later, she adds, the man shot both of his parents and himself. Only his father survived.

sure. maybe she should write a memoir about it.

Let me just say I love New York Magazine.

ny times food article, sometimes it's soooo hard to think of a heading!!

Oh my God, I am going to visit one of these restaurants when I am in NY. For those of you who don't want to log in (but you should, I can't do it justice) it is about the enticing food of Bukharian-speaking Jews. Most of the restaurants are in Rego Park, Queens. They also give props to a restaurant that the writer says is the best Afghan restaurant in NY, Bahar in Elmhurst.

music links

Josh Reynolds is relating his story of going on a date for a NY Post feature in chapters. This will give you a clue how the date went-at one point he had to ask "what can I talk about that won't bore you?". Yikes.

Lyme Regis at Gilman was really good despite the signature muddy Gilman sound. Their songs are great. The single is supposed to be on sale at Beers now and I'm guessing they might have it at Time Tested. What shows do they have coming up? Anyone?

This weekend there are a couple of good shows but I will probably be out of town. Two Gallants are playing at Fools on friday. When they played at Puppet Towne I got there too late. Did anyone see them? The Feeling (now Coco Shwa????) are playing on saturday at the Fox and Goose. I always like shows at the Fox and Goose. It's warm in there and there's beer.

Do you want to hear a good new band? Do you have speakers on your computer? Go here and click on "you broke my heart". This band (Lavender Diamond) are playing the Arthurball, (in L.A) which has a good lineup. I wish I could go because I have this weird feeling I'm never going to get to see Joanna Newsom live again.

Oh yeah, and Christian K., what's up with clubber? Is the column just ending? Are you doing something new instead?

drats

I had potentially expensive car troubles bright and early this morning which did not exactly put me in a chirpy mood. So no chirping from me today. I'll post after lunch, which is when I'm supposed to find out how much it's gonna cost me.

jazz and pizazz

I noticed this lady earlier on the sacbee.com site and I almost mentioned this picture, but then when I saw the paper copy and the ginormous full-color photo of her on the front page I had to say something. This lady has pizazz to spare. Medicare Part D has screwed her but they can't keep her from wearing a sparkly tank top. She's rad. This is the quote from her:

She said she survived the first week of January without needed medications because of the beleaguered program and was able to get the prescriptions filled this week only after hours on the phone.

"I had to make a bunch of calls. I was on the phone for three hours on Monday. I was sweating it all weekend," she said. "They screwed us over."

Here't the article

news and review bits

The dishes at Mason's sound creative and scrumptious (I'm always searching for new food adjectives but for some reason most of them give me the heeby jeebies, including scrumptious. maybe i should shorten it to "scrump" but that sounds like some hip hop sex thing). I'm glad that acres of cleavage are de riguer cuz I've got a good half acre all to myself. My only complaint about Kate Washington's review? She used ginormous! Just like Lisa Heyamoto!

I heard a couple of complaints about the clubber this week so I checked it out and C.K. it's pretty clear you have been phoning it in the last couple of weeks. I know you are a busy guy and I bet you've been occupied with school or something. As far as trying to coerce people (especially musicians) into going to shows, people go see shows because they want to, not out of obligation. The band has to be good (according to whatever your taste is) and then they will get good word of mouth, and then people will start going to their shows. And I do refuse to leave downtown to see shows, for the most part. Is there a suburban venue that's not a total shithole?

Aquarium ensemble show?

Any progress on that show for Ursula? I know a mansion that would be an excellent place for it but it's really not fair that the occupant has to host every single local event. He always has to step up, it's time that someone else does.

I followed my own advice and checked out Time Bandits (920 12th st.) the other day. They are having a big moving sale and this saturday they are open until 10:30 for 2nd saturday and will have their basement open for fixer-upper type deals. I'm in with the owners so they took me down to the basement and I got an awesome set of four matched dining room chairs that need some work for fifteen bucks! They're 50s era and so rad! And the dudes are cutting a piece of plywood free of charge for me so that I can fix one of the seats and they gave me advice on refinishing them. These guys rule. So if you like 50/60s modern stuff go there soon. In two weeks they are moving to 36th and Broadway.

lyme regis tonight!

I have scientifically determined that I have to miss two days of work in a row to come back to a crapload of stuff I have to do. I haven't even had time to read the comments on the last post!

Lyme Regis tonight at Gilman. I think lots of people from Sac are going. Everyone should carpool and go. It's gonna be great. And just think you can sit at the Pyramid brewery and drink good brew and you won't even have to hang out with the Gilman riffraff or use the gnarly bathrooms.

I'm reading the Grapes of Wrath. If you haven't heard of this hot new book it's really good and you should get yourself a copy. The author was recently on Oprah defending himself against charges that he exagerrated (boy is that spelled wrong) and that the depression really wasn't that bad.

Brace yourself for the news that Vientianne is closing in summer 2007. If you haven't been there you better start going now because you're going to kick yourself if you go right before they close and you don't have the opportunity to eat the most delicious food ever a million times. According to Ella, the kids don't want to take over the business and the parents are moving back to Laos. I have discovered new delicious dishes there that are so good that they blew my mind. I already knew about the magnificence of the pork and jelly noodle-stuffed chicken legs but now I have eaten the Ultimate Sausage (look, some James Frey-style capitalizing). It's a dish called the Asian Sausage. It looks like they make it there because it's rough and homemade looking. It's a pork sausage that has the most intense lemongrass flavor ever. It's one of the best things I've ever eaten. I also tried the garlic quail which is delicious and so fun to eat because they bring you a pile of tiny barbecued limbs that look like rat parts or something. It's so cute! The quail meat is dark and flavorful without being overly gamey tasting. We all split the coconut ice cream at the end which is so fucking tasty. We got two appetizers, four main dishes, three drinks, and two desserts all for fifteen bucks apiece. That place is incredible.

I also went to Andy Nguyen for the first time in a long time and while I was disappointed to see they still haven't got their service together, the food is great and so healthy. They have gotten some new types of fake meat, including fake shrimp that is pink and white and looks real. Once again, my favorite dish is the crepe.

From The Desk Of Heckasac's Tired Lapdog:

It is with a heavy heart that I report that Heckasac has taken the day off. Not to be confused with yesterday, when Heckasac took the day off. Is it just me or is Fat Tire the worst beer ever?

miller

show problems

Does anyone know what's going on with the show tonight at the G street pub now that the touring bands can't make it? Is it just the Rege? In that case, what time will it start?

got some time on your hands?

I've never heard of this James Frey book "a million little pieces" but I'm learning today that it was the second best seller of last year behind the new harry potter. The Smoking Gun is debunking the fuck out of it. Very entertaining.

show tonight

I ate dinner at 33rd street bistro last night. Their salmon nicoises salad is fucking good and it's a full meal unless you're starving, for ten bucks. Not too bad. I've eaten a lot of the sandwiches and salads there, but has anyone eaten the big plates? Like the steak and stuff? I balk at the prices, but everything I've had has been good so I want to go for it. They have a meatloaf that's mix of ground lamb and pork sausage!

Tonight is Lyme Regis at G street pub. There are two oi bands playing with them. Here are there websites with music samples. Maybe the Giant Haystacks aren't oi. I must confess I have only a vague idea what oi is anyway and each time I type it it looks funnier. Lyme Regis is playing this friday at Gilman, too.

get to postin'!

I just did my morning round up of local blogs and hardly anyone ever posts besides me! Entertain me!

I saw Brokeback Mountain last night and it really is as good as everyone says. I never would have believed that Heath Ledger could give such a great performance. It's great! Go see it.

For you architecture buffs, I stole this link from the chick list. I haven't had time to read it yet, but it tells about a common Sac architectural style. I think a bunch of these houses are in Davis, too.

heartwarming story

Last post of the day. I'm not one to post wacky news stories but this one is just too good. This guy had caught a mouse in his house and he thought he'd kill it by throwing into a fire in his front yard where he was burning leaves. The mouse caught on fire, ran back into his house, and burned it to the ground.

tortas de vermin

Oh man, I was investigating this place called las tortas chilangas that's on 5045 franklin because everyone on chowhound is talking about it and I came across a health department report that said it was closed recently due to a lack of vermin control. That's not very appetizing but other than that it sounds interesting. Here's a post

I've been there once so far. Had the "Argentina," a torta with Milanesa, Quesillo, and Salchicha. The Salchicha tasted like chicken hot dogs. The whole thing came hot off the grill, literally too hot to handle. It had some onions and pickled jalapenos, but no condiment that I can recall. I would definitely go back to try something else (that doesn't have Salchicha in it!). They also have Parrillada, Pambasos, and Huaraches on the menu. I've heard of Pambasos, but what are Parillada and Huaraches?

who's the fool?

Some lawyer type with the handle "fool" is commenting incomprehensible stuff on some posts from last week. What the hell is this person talking about? I instantly get too bored to read it. Can someone decipher it for me? Am I gonna get sued? Is this spam?

King's Palace?

Has anybody been to King's Palace on Stockton? The chowhound board is talking about it and it sounds intriguing. I guess they specialize in seafood. Here's what the Bee says:

King Palace - Chinese5829 Stockton Blvd., (916) 456-8888: Fresh seafood is the specialty. Crab, Maine and Pacific lobsters, fish, prawns, clams, oysters, scallops and squid can be prepared in a number of Asian styles. ****/$-$$ - A.P.

The sacrag got a taste of heckasac style controversy when one of their writers posted a review dissing both Daisy Spot and I can't believe it's not comedy. Glad to see someone else catching some shit for a change.

There are two good shows this week. Lyme Regis tomorrow in Davis at the G street pub with the Giant Haystacks and Hard Skin. Show starts at nine, I think the Rege plays in the middle.

Wednesday is Megacools and Four Eyes and Secretions at Old I.

restaurant round up

I did some adventurous eating this weekend and I had mild food poisoning twice. I guess that's the tradeoff. I went to La Favorita by Florin mall and had a bomb-ass meal that included a shrimp tostada and goat tacos. I think it was the shrimp that did it that time. They serve goat tacos (tacos de birria) at Favorita on saturday and sunday. Does anyone know what birria de chivos is? I got nothing on google. I think it's some kind of goat soup. If you've never had the ceviche tostada at Favorita I recommend it.

The second bout of sickness I think stemmed from a salmon BLT at Bernardo. There's a chance it came from a corndog at Denios. I know that most of you would be quick to point the finger at any food from Denios, but this corn dog was so good I refuse to believe it made me sick. Denios was the best as usual. I ate mini-donuts from the mini-donut trailer, tasty tamales (both these places are at Auction Town) across the street, and the aforementioned corn dog. I scored on records, and got a cool lamp base for a buck. The trick for Denios is to go with Ella because she is like a divining rod of good stuff. If you don't know Ella you may not want to even bother going.

I also ate at Tamaya again this weekend and I can't make up my mind whether I think it's good or not. I've been there three times so maybe the fact that I'm not sure should make it three strikes, they're out. Nothing was that great except the unagi nigiri, which was the best I've ever had. If you love unagi then you should try theirs. We also got a bottle of sparkling sake which was pretty interesting. It tasted a bit like sparkling cider.

I think I forgot to mention that I tried Lucca again recently after swearing it off because of the intense saltiness of their food. I got a pasta with tomato sauce and added spicy sausage. The dish was tasty but, once again, the sausage was like a fucking salt cake. There were also capers in the sauce, which added to the effect. Smiller agreed with me that the salt was intense. What the fuck is up with their chef? Is he/she a smoker or something? LAY OFF THE SALT SHAKER. It was still a pleasant meal but I rarely eat there because of this persistent problem.

I also did saturday morning dim sum at Cheung Hing market again and I have to reiterate that you must try it! I snuck a peek into the back and there were half piggies hanging on hooks! Brew said she's seen them delivering entire pigs with hair and everything in the morning. The plump chickens and ducks hanging behind the counter look delectable, too. They have this ancient chopping block where they hack up the meat when you order it.

busy busy busy

No posts till after lunch.

funny?

This is pretty funny. My definition of funny changes as this endless week grinds on.

cannoli

a call has gone out on chowhound .com for cannoli in Sac. I don't know of any. Can anyone help this person out?

lomo argentine grill

At the risk of this woman reading this somehow and taking offense, I've got to say her writing is terrible. It's blog-level writing, at best (I'm including myself in there but this is all off-the-cuff and I don't have to answer to any editor). I'm sure she can do better. It's clear she's just trying to be cute. She used "ginormous" for fucks sake. She was also responsible for that atrocious Park Downtown (you know the complex that masons and ma jongs are in) article in which she kept using the royal we. This current article is kind of a review of Lomo Argentine Grill, the restaurant that replaced Jazzmens Art of Pasta in Old Sac (now there's a sentence). I say kind of a review, because in characteristic style she doesn't really say anything about the food. Ok, she does say "super-yummy steaks". Someone get Kate Washington a job reviewing food at the Bee. She's tons better than their two writers. The only thing that I'm really stoked about at Lomo (cuz I'm not a big steak lover) is the upcoming sangria bar on the back patio.

I got crabs at SF supermarket

The comments are still trickling in on the FF imbroglio, including one busting my chops for the nth time for that old True Love thing. In the lack of any public statement from Nilesh and without having heard anything I can only assume that he still stands behind his statement and that he is continuing to call for a boycott of Fools.

And speaking of ancient gossip, now you can hear about it straight from the source.

It's awkward to segue from that, but the show must go on here at Heckasac. Get ready for some juicy gossip about some juicy crabs I ate last night. The market on Broadway was sold out of crabs so we decided to go to SF supermarket on Stockton and Florin. If you haven't been to this place then you haven't sampled the fantastic cultural diversity of this area of Sac. They have everything from cute, dirt-cheap little plants to a full meat and fish counter, a BBQ takeout area, gold jewelry, top shelf liquor with prices that rival the locked case at Cortis, everykind of crazy canned fish, vegetable and packaged sauce you could ever want, dishes and pots and pans, and a cheap produce area with stuff you can't get anywhere else. The live crabs were slightly more expensive here than at the place on Broadway. The were about ten bucks each but totally worth it. When you go to check this market out you should eat at Hong Leong sandwiches in the same complex first for delicious Vietnamese sandwiches, shop at the market, and then head to the secret Salvation Army tucked away there (unless it's sunday, I hate how they're closed on sunday!) As we drove towards the supermarket down Stockton I got so excited about my New Year's resolution to eat more Chinese food because there are about a trillion places I need to try. I noticed two noodle houses that I have to go to, one of which is a Lollibowl attached to the Lollicup franchise of tapioca drinks. I'll just throw Vietnamese into the resolution, too.

Once we got home, Grace dumped the poor critters into cold water and turned up the heat. When it started boiling we timed them for ten minutes and then took them out and had a feast. She made a great dipping sauce that perhaps she could post the recipe for? It's her dad's recipe.

In bad news for Tower workers, Brokeback Mountain opens there today and I can't wait to see it. D.P. noted that the sold-out screening from the other night was not so bad despite the giant crowds because the patrons were so happy to be seeing this movie. That's touching. No, I'm serious, it is.

This just in: Crab dipping sauce recipe

1 part soy sauce to 1 part regular vinegar
minced ginger
pinch sugar
dash sesame oil

I know, it's ridiculously simple but delicious. Grace's dad owned a restaurant in College Greens when she was a kid.

lame post, but i'm bored!!!

This is the longest day ever. I refuse to believe that it's only three thirty. I say fuck that!

The megacools tour kick-off show is tonight at the Distillery. Like I said, I'm planning on going to the four eyes/megacools show at Old I next week. There's nothing else this week. Daisy Spot has a bunch of shows coming up, including one in early March with Baby Grand at the Fox and Goose. That one sounds rad. There's a Lyme Regis show coming up at Gilman on the 13th, that should be fun. Here's a link to smartguy records, who put out their single. It has an MP3 of their great song "it starts with the band". Here's a review from dusted:

New Sacramento power-trio action consisting of Jason Patrone and Ed Carroll (ex-FM Knives, one of the finest pop-punk bands of the last 10 years) and Tristan Tozer of Pretty Girls. Though they play one unreleased Knives song, this is a slightly different flavor of animal, leaning towards less frantic, more composed Brit-punk sounds a la Chisel, Supergrass or the Jam, but with all the noise and chaos you’d expect intact. Determined instead of frantic, and somewhat more polished than expected, this is a winner, esp. the anthemic “(I’m Not Livin’ in the) USA (No More).” Proof that northern California is still the hotbed for great genre music, maybe more so than any other city in America. Edition of 500 (100 clear vinyl copies for mailorder only – check with the label for availability).

In eating news, I do whatever the new york times tells me and will be journeying to Oto's Japanese market down on Freeport after work with Grace to try to find the much-hyped liquor Shochu. I haven't really heard of it, but according to the article it has been more popular in Japan than sake since 2003. It can be distilled from such a variety of things (such as rice, barley, sweet potatoes and more) that I don't understand what the common factor is that makes them all shochu. I will probably buy an assortment of tasty snacks and some sake. They have a great seafood selection. I'm also getting live crabs from the Asian market across from Target (can't remember the name right now) and will gently and reverently boil them to death for my culinary enjoyment.

nar mp3s!!

I'm ready to get back to posting my regular stream of gossip, drivel and slander. Here goes:

Scott S. and some guy named Ryan have started a new mp3 blog. The first post has 6 essential Nar tracks. Download them and burn a CD like I did. Scott S. also has another all-music blog.

good morning, hopefully

Man, I had a pretty crappy day yesterday because of this and I'm hoping today will be better. I was afraid of what people might write when I had left work for the day and I was thinking of taking the whole thing down when I got to work because the discussion may have run its course. But then of course that would include taking down Nilesh's original statement and what Eason wrote and what Liz wrote, which I think are good for people to read and think about on their own. I was however disappointed to see that people are posting anonymously in response to my last post. I would like to point out that the anonymous posts are usually of a significantly lower caliber than the ones attached to a name. Like I said, if you can't stand behind it, don't write it.

I know that Eason was trying to get ahold of Nilesh in person and I hope he was successful. I am not going to boycott Fool's Foundation. Before you get pissed about this remember that it's easy for someone who doesn't go there anyway to declare they are going to boycott it. I am not saying that I am satisfied with Eason's apology. That doesn't matter. It only matters if Nilesh and Sandra are satisfied. It's Liz's gallery. It's a good thing for Sac. Those who don't attend or who do who would like to fight racism could find more productive ways to do so than shutting down a small, rad independent business. I could give you an example but there are a million. That's not to say that it's OK for this gallery to support racism just because it also does good things. I don't believe that they do espouse racist views or support those who do. If you do believe that you can boycott it.

I was heartened to see that they are also open to entering into a discussion about the Abu Ghraib musical. I'm not saying it should be immediately censored (and R.E., you were pretty quick to hurl that PC term at me and others. I think that term has been leached of all meaning and that liberals should think twice before using it on each other. I'm sure we're in the same place politically), I just had some trepidation about how it would be handled. It's OK for people to discuss their feelings and thoughts about that. Is any discussion automatically censorship?

can't think of appropriate heading for this

You guys should read Nilesh's comment on the last post. D.P. had asked me if he could publicly comment on this incident and I asked him not to because I felt that Heckasac wasn't really the correct forum for it and I encouraged him to talk to the involved parties directly if he felt that strongly about it. But I like and respect Nilesh and since he and Sandra were the directly injured parties I respect his right to post what he did. It was an ugly incident (I of course slept through the whole thing) that marred a party that was otherwise chock full of good vibes. There was drunkeness and confusion because it all happened around 300 am, so I wasn't sure exactly what had happened but the whole thing sucked and I would hate for the result to be Nilesh feeling uncomfortable anywhere he chooses to go in Sac. If anyone from Fools would like to comment this would probably be a good time to do it. And I have to say that in addition, everyone I've talked to about the upcoming Abu Ghraib musical that was mentioned in the Bee article has expressed trepidation about how it will be handled. Of course, that's just incidental to what happened at the party, but Nilesh brought it up and I'd have to second his concern.

I must add that I feel a little queasy letting someone be called out by name on this, especially someone who I barely know. You may recall that last year I told about a local DJ who had used a racial slur and had been fired from his night at the Press Club. I didn't use his name (although it wasn't that hard to figure out) because I wasn't sure that it was really my place to fuck with someone like that. I'm not the all-seeing eye of Sauron or anything. You'll have to tell me what you think. And PLEASE, no anonymous comments. Pick a somewhat identifiable nickname if you must, but don't just go off anonymously. If you can't stand behind what you say then don't say it.

capital tea garden

Whenever I step out onto the porch of my new place I smell a delicious smell. It comes from Capital Tea Garden on T and 11th. I thought that nobody ever eats at this place but the smell was making me curious so I asked around. I got mixed reviews and decided it was best to try it for myself. The first time I went I got crispy duck, winter melon soup, and garlic bok choy. The veggie section on the menu is very sparse so we inquired about additional greens instead of bok choy and were told they had mustard greens (which were not on the menu). We ordered those but still got bok choy. Oh well. It was OK, very garlicky but also quite tough and not fun to eat. The winter melon soup was flavorless and gelatinous with small bits of duck floating on top. However, the crispy duck was the bomb. I enjoyed the flavor more than any duck I've ever eaten, probably because it wasn't very gamey. The cuts we got were not very meaty. I would have liked more duck, but it wasn't very expensive so I didn't feel ripped off. It came with a sweet dipping sauce that was a perfect accompaniment. Did I spell that right? I hate that word. The market around the corner, Cheung Hing, serves food in the back and shares the kitchen with Capital Tea Garden. Ella picked up some dim sum there on new years day to go along with the brunch feast I was making. She got pork shu mai and shrimp har gow. They were so fucking good! She also got a bunch of steamed pork buns. She said it helps to order all the stuff in Chinese so they know what you're talking about. Like if you just say shrimp dumpling they might not be able to help you, depending on who's working. The buns are something like Char Shu Bao. She also recommended the soy sauce chicken and the BBQ pork and seconded my rec of the crispy duck.

As I said this goes along with my new year's resolution to eat more Chinese food. I love living in Sac and one of the only things that occasionally gets me down is having to eat at the same few restaurants over and over if I don't want to drive into the burbs. I have not had a lot of luck with Chinese restaurants because I usually just try the same few things that I know and I already know what they taste like and that I will like them but not love them. A lot of Chinese restaurants have a different menu for more adventurous eaters (sometimes written only in Chinese) and I want to broaden my horizons. So far it's going great. I'll keep reporting back.

squirrel trouble

Man, I wish I could post but I gotta go check out some hot squirrel-on-squirrel action. Hopefully I'll have time this afternoon to tell you about a delicious spot for dim sum. 2000-sex is my year for Chinese food. My two new years resolutions are to stop flipping people off so that I don't get beat up and to eat more Chinese food. And to get in shape to run the New York marathon. Psyche!

Pardon me, is that Disaronno you're drinking?

My hits are way down because of my vacation and the fact that most people are off today and also because I mostly just post links to craigslist anyways, so I keep wavering about posting a real post. And by real post I mean telling you crud like where I ate recently, what happened at all the parties I went to, and what is coming up in Sac this week. I'll leave it for tomorrow I guess. But for now I'd like to tell you about a trendy new drink that is sweeping Sacramento. Or at least my kitchen. It is a liqueur called Disaronno. Chris O. brought it to my Halloween party and said he mixes it with Dr. Pepper. I tried it recently and it is delicious. No matter how much liquor you pour in, it still mostly just tastes like Dr. Pepper. It's also good on the rocks (so smooth! so cloyingly sweet!) and Ella C. advised me to pour it into my french toast batter (that sounds dirty) which I promptly did to the delight of all eaters.

lists, if you care to read them

I guess you're supposed to do this before the end of the year, but in case anyone is interested I'll post a couple of lists.

Top 10 movies of 2005-I'd like to note that last year I saw 74 movies and this year I saw around 45. There were a couple of different reasons for this but the big one is that this was an annus horribilus for movies, indie, foreign, and mainstream. The stream of crap has been unrelenting. I just can't muster up an iota of enthusiasm for dreck like King Kong or Revenge of the Sith, or even for minor crap like the Family Stone or Aeon Flux. That said, here are my top 10 for this past year

1. 40 Year Old Virgin-just rewatched it again yesterday and it's still hilarious and touching.
2. Hustle and Flow-I got so excited when Leon DJed a song for this movie at the Christmas party and it got me thinking about it all over again.
3. Capote
4. Walk the Line-flawed, but the musical sequences were as exciting as attending an great live performance
5. A History of Violence
6. Grizzly Man
7. The Passenger (a re-release of a minor Antiononi movie from 1975 easily trumps most of the stuff that came out this year)
8. Jarhead
9. Mad Hot Ballroom
There isn't really a movie good enough to round out the 10. And nothing at all came out this year that rivals last years best, Eternal Sunshine. Although if memory serves I may have ranked Before Sunset over that (which is also great), but after review Eternal Sunshine I feel that it's a classic and I'm not sure Before Sunset will hold up in a second viewing.
and they don't deserve to be on the top 10, but I thought the two best action movies of the year were:
1) War of the worlds
2) Red Eye

and just lazily naming albums off the top of my head without thinking about it too hard, my top 2 that came out this year were 1) animal collective feels and 2) the finches six songs ep.

ouch

I was perusing the sac rag and I noted that I recently got zinged. Cool DMZ mentioned smiller's post and this was someone's comment:

Not to worry, Mr. DMZ, I think the personals section of craigslist was down that day. What was heckasac/miller going to do for material?
Posted by: ditshisturber on 12/30/05 at 09:53 AM

I wish there was some way I could instantly calculate the percentage of my blog posts that involved craigslists personals, I would guess over the last year and a half it would amount to about 2% or so of my posts, and usually when I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel for content at the end of the week, so there, jerkoff. Don't think I missed your weak dis.

limping back

Roaring back? More like whimpering back. Poor me. It's hard to get up in the morning after 9 days off. I promise I'll warm up by the end of the week but you're going to have to cut me a little slack. These holidays have been a whirlwind of food, friends, and frappucinos. Well, the third factor was really booze but I was trying to be alliterative (hey, whaddya know, that's a real word, I just looked it up). I have heard that there are a million trillion pictures of everything that went on at various sites, so as soon as I feel mentally strong enough to handle seeing unflattering pictures of me being wasted (dude, I was soooo wasted) at various locations, I'll check those out and link them.

In the meantime, how about this weather, huh? Rainy enough for ya?