question

What do you guys think about a reviewer noting that all the people in an "ethnic" restaurant appear to be of that ethnicity, or are speaking the language or whatever?  For instance, just ate in a Japanese place where the clientele appeared to be 90%  Japanese.  Can I mention it?

the tryanny of olive oil

Inside this murky jar lurks a fantastic taste sensation, the likes of which the world has never seen.  Lemongrass pickles, the brined kind.  Make by Skipper.  I can't even believe how good these two flavors are together.  As soon as the pickles are gone (they're going quick) I plan to stick some hard boiled egg up in there (the jar).

I've been thinking about this post for a while, mostly because I haven't been able to find any high-quality canola oil for months (I've looked at the Davis co-op and Taylors and Corti bros).  Yeah, I know olive oil has good fat and yadda yadda but it's practically turned into a religion at this point.  There are other oils!
 Here is the calorie breakdown for some oils (per tbsp):

peanut: 119
walnut: 120
olive: 120
canola: 124
sesame oil: 120
grapeseed: 120
avocado oil: 120

It's nice to have a variety oils, since olive oil is not the best for frying (low smoke point) and different oils can allow other flavors to shine through in vinaigrette.  I like canola for a dijon vinaigrette (when I can fucking find it!).  I like walnut oil for a nutty salad dressing or for making granola.  This was a revelation to me, I always had an assumption that sesame oil had crazy high calories and used it super sparingly.  Not anymore!

Break out of the olive oil jail!  It reminds me of people eating margarine (which I grew up with ALWAYS, gross), although it's not the same since olive oil isn't bad for you.  But people just assumed margarine was "better" for you and it turned out to be worse!  Plus, I am lucky enough to have a naturally very healthy heart, so I'm not even gonna worry about it.

That reminds me, I had a delicious snack at a foodtruck in SF, with a burger, in lieu of fries: piping hot, barely blanched big green beans, coated in sesame oil and salt, and some cayenne. 

SNR roundup.

The News and Review was extra interesting this week.  Let's do a little roundup.

First of all, Sacramento's Jude Law (I did not make this nickname up), Patrick Shelley, is on the cover.  I was VERY disappointed in this cover story because it did not answer the central question: is Sacramento the bike theft capital of America?  I have heard people throwing this around and I wonder if it's true.  This is a case where statistics are needed, not anecdotes.  I mean, it's obviously a problem, but is it commensurate with a city of our size, or out of hand?  For instance, the only numbers he gives are Davis vs. Sac (and yeah, I got that most people don't report it): in 2011 1150 bikes reported stolen in Sac, 390 in Davis. The population of Davis is 66,000 people, with far more bikes per capital I'm sure.  The population of Sac is 472,000, and I'm not sure if the Sac police statistics include metro area, which would double it (probably not).  Anyhoo, so Sac is 7 times the size, but only has 3 times the number of bike thefts?  You could argue that people in Davis report it more but you would have no evidence to back that up.  And he doesn't even mention a single other city.  Pretty weak analysis of an important issue.  It is important to focus police attention on it if it is a disproportionately serious problem, but if it's the same per capita as any other city, then it's kind of just a part of life and the shitty economy.

OK, moving on.  The Streetalk is pretty scandalous.  I can't believe adults would admit to stealing as adults. 

LOVED Cosmo's thing about Flywheel Arts Incubator.  This is the kind of muckraking that is so important and that you rarely find in the Bee, unless it's busting state workers.  OK, that's not fair, the Bee does rake some other muck.  Anyway, this sounds corrupt as hell and I hope someone is paying attention.

Then, it's the debut of the weekly beer column "brew the right thing" ok, which title is better, this one or the ones I made up? Poll at right.  All kidding aside, that's cool there's a brew column and I really hope to see DB contributing.

I'm so glad the SNR is around, for many reasons.

best eating day

 I had the perfect eating day yesterday aka a good day.  As usual, went with the lab for a birthday lunch at Whitey's.

 Whitey's special.  I inhaled it so fast (due to my hangover) that I barely tasted it this year.

 The peach shake took a long time to come out so I fully savored it.  Also, it was so thick that I had to eat the entire thing with the end of the straw, so that took a while.  Marletta told me her go to is chocolate blackberry, I gotta try that.

 Then, Masullo for dinner.  Beautiful charcuterie plate.  The raw fennel was so juicy and was dusted with fennel seeds to make it extra fennel-y. 

My margherita (add anchovies) was extra on-point this time.  When we got there we were warned that they were almost out of dough, but we squeaked in.  He's now using Morant's sausage on his pizzas.

Nardwuar vs. Trash Talk

Start watching at 6:50 to hear them talk about The Bananas.

King Tuff! King Tuff!

King Tuff! King Tuff! King Tuff! King Tuff! King Tuff! King Tuff! King Tuff! King Tuff! King Tuff! King Tuff! King Tuff! King Tuff! King Tuff! King Tuff! King Tuff! King Tuff! King Tuff! King Tuff! King Tuff!*
*Jaill was surprisingly good, too.  I can't believe that in the space of one week I saw Dominant Legs, the Fresh & Onlys, King Tuff and Sonny and the Sunsets (and also Magic Trick who are super good but are not named Magic Mike like  I thought)  It's like a dream come true.

I had an excellent lunch at Bows.  Isn't it rad that there's a restaurant with a Sac Treat on the menu?!?!?

Fart Face (I accidentally wrote this and Im keeping it in) got a major picture in Sunset mag!

The Cubano, my favorite.

Look at this super thoughtful gift! It's the logo for The Wind, this power pop band from the early 80s.  I really like their record label logo (it's red and white and looks like a candy cane) and Scott made me a silkscreen of it!  Go to the link to see them performing a song.  The song is called "some friend (you turned out to be)" which I think is a really funny use of parentheses.

Phono Select hooked up an in store (or out store) performance for the kids.  The turnout was really good.  This is Jaill.

Here's King Tuff, with Audacity as the backing band.  OK, this guy on the right, you can say he looks ridic or whatever, but I admire his commitment to the Hulkamaniac look.

Closeup so you can really see it.  Check out the homemade rainbow wristbands, which is more Ultimate Warrior than Hulk, right?

King Tuff looked so cool as the wind blew his hair.

Fuckkkkk! what a good birthday.

America Loves Taco Tuesday

Wow, there is a kerazy show tonight.  It was not enough to have frequent four band show, now there's a five band show!  Some band, La Sera, Nacho Business, Magic Mike (which is a really good band that's the project of Tim from the Fresh & Onlys) AND Crystal Stilts. Guess I'll be eating at Taco Tuesday at Azul for dinner.

kingtuffsonnyandthesunsetsdominantlegsfreshandonlysbrianpeppersparishiltonbenjihooter

I guess Brian Peppers does qualify for the greatest hits.  As does Secret Blog.  Did you know Dillon and Amber own the Brian Peppers of cats? Something in the eyes.

I went to SF this weekend to see Sonny and the Sunsets.  God, I love that guy.  Ok, so I guess fucking blogger does not allow me to embed videos at all anymore, sweet.  I haven't loved a band this much in a long time.  He played like 4 country songs in the middle, which was annoying, but then came back with an encore of total hits.  (like the one in that link) His new album has a country vibe, but I think he will get away from that soon.  He called it "a childhood dream" to play these country songs live, but he was also apologetic and he knew people weren't that into it.  He played until one and I was really tired but I also could have watched him forever.  He played Teenage Thugs for the last song.  That song cracks me up.

I also hit up a little music fest during the day.  It was the last show of Dominant Legs.  (click to watch a badass video) I'm so bummed.  They are breaking up because the gorgeous super cool singer is dating the guy from Girls and they're gonna have a band together instead.  I still don't understand why they can't just take a hiatus?  I mean, what if her band with the Girls guy sucks?  He was at the fest, carrying her keyboard like a gentleman and he was dressed very eccentrically.  Big baggy wide wale cords with like, pleats at the waist, big white sneakers and a leather hat.  Fresh and Onlys were good, too.

King Tuff on Wednesday! The link goes to my favorite song on the album.  Can't wait to get the vinyl at the show.  Phono Select hooked up an in-store with him at 530 for you underagers.  It's really rad that Clay ok'ed that because there's a possibility it could cut into ticket sales.

8 year anniversary!!

Caring about someone masturbating in a movie theater is so 90s.  Remember when everyone was all uptight about stuff like that?  Thank god that shit is over and women are walking around with their butt cheeks hanging out again.  P.S. though, I have been in one of those theaters (not to mention that my grandpa used to work in one - I did not attend while he was there) and at the one I was at, an employee clocks in at the front every ten minutes or so to make sure no one is waxin' it.  So it's pretty dumb to do it.

I am so bummed I didn't get a chance to contribute to that SNR cover story!  I have quite a few good road trip stories.  Maybe if I have some time I will write a few of them here.

Wow, I knew we were getting close, so I just checked and it turns out TODAY is the day of this blog's 8 year anniversary (usually DB reminds me of this).  So this is my cue to say, "wouldn't it be fun for me to repost some of heckasac's greatest hits?" and then I never do it.  Remember how much it predated facebook?  Remember "Paris Hilton Benji Hooter"?  Remember Kevin Seconds and swinging?  Remember the heady days where I discovered that almost everyone local I was writing about found out about it?  Remember all the people who commented a lot, and how most of them stopped commenting (but I think a lot of them still read?)  I still love it, and I never admit this, but I really hope I place in the top three in SNR's "best of" this year.  I've never shilled for a vote before, but I think I deserve it, perhaps through sheer perseverance. 

crowdsourced writing

poll at right.  Closes at 1 pm.  If the siddhartha one wins I am totally faking it, I have no idea what that means.  If one of the modern ones wins,  I could use "the best mashup until". I realize the pliny one makes no sense

I have three things in the SNR this week.  Am I insane? I'm headed that way.  King Tuff interview!  This is my first thing to get reprinted: it's also in the Chico News and Review for which I received a sweet, sweet payment of 25 bucks. My real reward is if he sells a few more tickets in either place.  That guy should be rich as far as I'm concerned.

Other thing, a short piece on the Slant Step show at the Nelson.  I am unhappy with the truncation of my article, which my editor will probably be annoyed I am writing.  That's the way the cookie crumbles, I know.  And I accidentally turned it in at least 125 words too long.  Here's the original ending.  Read it after the piece, if you care to.

The opening was kicked off by a panel discussion which included conceptual artist Stephen Kaltenbach and Verge Executive Director Liv Moe, among others.  The moderator asked the panelists what they thought the original purpose of the object might have been and Moe punctured the playful mood somewhat with her prosaic, yet suddenly obvious answer: “I think it’s a shoeshine stool.”

And the third is my second food review.  I am still way to nervous about those things to link to it.  I try not to think about it, even though I stand by what I write.  I am the most happy about the review I'm about to turn in as soon as you pick my joke.  It will run in a few weeks.

Jamaica bound

The LCD Soundsystem movie is playing at 845 at the Crest tonight.  It's part of Launch.  Local boy Tyler Pope will be in it I imagine.  On that note, not only is !!! playing Launch but I see they are on the Coachella at sea thing which means they will be going to JAMAICA. So awesome.  They have played in so many countries. It would be fun to get a list.

Romney quote

Wouldn't it be wonderful to have a president that is this eloquent?

“We’re accused, by the way — in our party — of being the party of the rich,” Romney said. “And it’s an awful moniker, because that’s just not true. We’re the party of people who want to get rich. And we’re also the party of people who want to care to help people from getting poor. We want to help the poor.
“We also want to make sure people don’t have to become poor,” Romney said. “And we know what it takes to keep people from becoming poor.”

real men ate quiche

Busy weekend. Here's what I did, if you care. Or even if you don't you're already here so might as well look.

This wasn't the weekend yet but I was partying in a limo with sparkling wine so it felt like it was.  For an art fund raising event that LM was nice enough to invite me to.  This day was HELLA HOT and I was really sweaty around lots of wealthy people. They had probably all paid to botox their sweat glands so did not look as sweaty.

Friday the fair.  The weather whipsawed so that by the time it got dark everyone was extremely cold at the fair.  This is a monster truck call Wheels of Freedom.

You can ride it for only 5 bucks and it is hella fun.  If you are going to the fair I recommend you do it.

I got a cup of the world's largest margarita (did I place that apostrophe correctly?)  At 12,500 gallons how sanitary could it be? It tasted OK.

This guy is contemplating the wizard's challenge, which was actually really weak.

The big rib was the most hyped food at the state fair this year.  I should have gone for it, but it's 16 bucks and they keep touting how it has two pounds of meat, which I really don't want.  Ever since the chuck wagon fucked up their brisket I have been disappointed in every food I get at the fair.

I think I posted a picture of this last year, but it's still funny.

How is it possible that EVERY YEAR when I am near the Blues and Brews stage that  Mick Martin is ALWAYS playing?  He can't play all day every day, can he?  I was speculating that they keep him in suspended animation the rest of the year, like in the movie Alien.  He had a jaunty way of  using the bongo as a place to lean.

I finally got to satisfy my  curiosity about the Wonderbread 5.  This is what they look like.  They don't just cover oldies, they cover Lady Gaga and stuff, too.  They have seriously devoted fans.  People were getting down.

Then we saw the Happy Together Tour. These are terrible pictures of Dolenz. He ruled! Other people thought the Turtles were funny but I didn't really.  I am going to pray all year that the Lovin' Spoonful are on this tour next year.  Please Jah.

We finally got some farm eggs from the compound and I promptly made....

a quiche!  You know what, a real quiche, like a classic, is a lot of heavy whipping cream and milk, and only about four eggs (plus 2 yolks).  This quiche, combined with cider, sparkling wine, and lambic equalled a whole afternoon of nausea, but it was worth it.  Actually, I didn't like the quiche that much.  Too rich!  Next time I will probably make the pie crust and then put a frittata in it.  You pre-bake the pie crust so you could put anything in it!  I saw several real men eating this quiche.

launch

I've been paying very little attention to this whole Launch dealy, which has a lot to do with those douches on the flyer (I heard it's maybe Chromeo, which makes it excusable I guess), but then I heard that the King Tuff show was part of it and my ears perked up.  And then last night I met a dude, an architect, who is involved with planning it.  Some pretty crazy shit is going on!  There's quite an elaborate website, but the whole thing is so sprawling that I still find it confusing. 

The thing the dude was so excited about, which sounds really cool, is a temporary architecture installation made out of 1000 pieces of machine-cut cardboard.  It's going to be at Cesar Chavez park, I think set up on Friday? or Saturday and staying through the weekend.  They have gotten some crazy permissions from the city, including the ability to have beer at CC without having to restrict it to the beer garden.  I think this is where !!! and DJ Shadow, Chromeo, etc. will be.

Tuesday, July 24th is at Bows, with Ross Hammond and Gentleman Surfer.  Anyway, check out the website.  There are a lot of artists involved, too.

Fuck, I'm gonna do it.  I'm going to have a yard sale.  Sunday, 9 am.  Mostly clothes and other stuff.  Books, maybe records?  Prices will be CHEAP.  I hope none of you see me sell something you gave me.  I don't want to give out my address here, so if you don't know it, maybe email me?

no more secret

Well the (sorta) secret is out! I'm the new SNR food critic, or, uh reviewer.  This is exciting and nerve wracking for me.  Nick eased things a lot by writing me this very nice intro note.  I have been having fears about  "who the hell is this chick" reverberating through online sources, and this made me feel better.

I also have a piece about the SketchKlubb show at the Center for Contemporary Art.  The artist, Patrick Phipps was very interesting to talk to and very articulate about his art collective but I must say this art really leaves me cold.  I feel no connection to the subject matter or the haphazard nature.  In fairness, SketchKlubb was never meant to be exhibited, as he says, but I think it does not come off very well in a gallery setting.  Boy, I hope he does not see this.

Some art that makes me hot is going to be at the Nelson Gallery this afternoon.  It's the opening of the (3rd?) annual Flatlanders group show, and there are going to be pieces by Nate Cordero and Jose di Gregorio and many others.  There's also a panel discussion with Liv Moe and Stephen Kaltenbach! The discussion starts at 430.  I can't wait!! Actually glad to be in Davis right now.

More art talk: here's a sneak preview of Natalie's upcoming show at Bows.  I hear that her interview will be on the blog soon, but it's not up yet.

Speaking of Davis, Wounded Lion is playing at the Villanova house and you know they are always a good time.  Tonight the Merry Wells are at Leap in the Dark.

OK, this is not to guilt you guys, this is just to inform you.  Not many of you were at the Bananas show on Tuesday, and believe me, I understand why.  I know, I know, Tuesday show, four bands. Ended a bit before midnight.  However, now that the Bananas don't play that much they are positively on fire every time they play and you could see it on the face of every man, woman, and child (Dog Party) in the audience.  They were delightful, that is the word that kept flashing in my head.  I got goosebumps at one point.  So, next time you are trying to weigh your desire to sleep against your desire to see  them, I promise you you will be glad that you did.  I had never seen Dog Party and they were unexpectedly very good.  So cute! They both currently have braces.

real men don't carry opera tickets

Bananas/Babies/Dog Party/4th band show tonight at Luigis!

It finally arrived! It's hecka short.  I will show you the "best" parts and save you the trouble.

 one of these three things disqualifies SM from being a real man. I'll let you guess which.

 See, food was the big battleground here.  I guess they though quiche was just a given.  Check out #13.  Smiller has noted that light beers have pulled off a remarkable marketing turnaround because now many bros proudly proclaim it as their beer of choice.  I guess real men hate arugula so much they don't even want to know how to spell it. 

 hmm....Hughes Rudd was a newsguy.  They seem to have the most respect for TV journalists.  I think the Hunt brothers were the guys who tried to corner the world market on silver? I remember my parents telling me about that.  John Milius was the screenwriter of Red Dawn.  Nuff said.  James Galanos the fashion designer? This list is super random.

 why the Gifford hate? rex humbard is an evangelist. The pope? So real men are atheists? I agree about John Davidson for sure.

Sunday supper

 I know there's a secret show on Thursday in Davis with celebrity bands, but this leap in the dark is going to be good, too.  The Merry Wells are Dan from Makeout Party's new band, and that guy is great.

 I don't think I ever posted this amazing card that OMF drew us for our wedding.  We're planning on framing it.

 Secret Hub show (I guess secret shows are the new shows) with Buk Buk.  They played the Pink Panther theme for a long time.  That reminds me how confusing I found the concept of the Pink Panther movies when I was a kid.  I still don't get what Clousseau has to do with the cartoon character.

 Couldn't capture Fine Steps because it was so dark.  It got even darker for the Singles so I didn't even try.

 Looked at the furniture at Macys because I am warming up to the idea of someday buying quality furniture (which means I will purchase my first piece in two to five years), got pretty into this ultra-smooth acacia wood table.  It costs almost as much as the last Toyota I purchased.  I love the bench side though! It comes with four chairs and a bench.  I can picture a Danish Modern hanging lamp over it.  And sweeping those vases to the ground.  What do you guys think?  Set with some dansk flatware and heath dishes?  Is it douche-y?

 Sunday supper!  Slow grilled chicken, but I realized that I should have removed the skin.  It got really tough after 45 minutes over a few coals and the spice rub did not penetrate.  I am still trying to learn how to grill properly.  The chicken was expensive farmer's market chicken and you know what?  It was gamy, stringy and stingy with the meat.  Organic is not always better tasting.

The salad is corn, Krim tomatoes and pesto.  We shelled the peas.  That's probably 3.50 worth.  We had it with a petillant natural rose from the Jura, a blend of Chardonnay and Savagnin.  Yeah!

Apricot crumble thing with vanilla ice cream.  The apricots were so tangy that it was a really good combo with the oatmeal cookie-like crust and the ice cream.  I love apricots.  I think apricot jam might be my favorite jam, with marmalade second.