IMHO

Whew, UCD is like a ghost town. Jeez, between Heckarap and having to get up early on Christmas Eve day and Christmas Day to do Xmas stuff and then the U st party I am pretty exhausted. Then I got to work at 830 and I couldn't even get into my building. It's pretty pointless for me to be here. After all, 90% of my work is lab reviews or the resulting paperwork (the other 10% is meetings which are not happening either) and if you think a single professor has scheduled a review before the 2nd you don't know professors. Cushest job in the world! And super overpaid IMHO. Almost everyone at UCD is overpaid IMHO. Overpaid on the backs of the students.

I was spoiled because I have had these two weeks of work off (without having to use vacation) for the previous 10 years and before that I was in college when we got, what? 4 weeks off? This is the time of year when smiller used to get bitter that nothing good was on the internet but now he does not have time for the internet.

Anyone else at work? Natalie? Can you amuse me with what is going on at the work desk right now?

 

 

 

We have a new Xmas tradition where I make a dish called "Spanish chicken" for Scott's dad. Scott's grandma Juanita used to make it. A Welsh woman named Juanita. It's if really funny 60s food but I doctor it up. It calls for two entire cans of Campbells cream soup and a pound and a half of cheese. I make my own white sauce supplemented by a little cream of mushroom. It has tortilla strips, salsa, olives, muschrooms and chicken in it. I did not use canned mushrooms.

rich boy

Pretty into playing this song tonight at Heckarap.

Four Eyes...well if you were there you know and if you won't you will never understand. I enjoyed the arm wrestling contest after the show. I enjoy also that people think I am strong although I totally am not. I give the impression of strength I guess.

todd barry

I get to interview Todd Barry for the SNR! Hope he's nice! This is funny! He will be at the comedy spot jan 17th and 18th

VERY EXCITED

OMG CAN YOU BELIEVE THE FOUR EYES CHRISTMAS SHOW IS THIS SATURDAY?!?!? YES I AM YELLING!

And here I am worrying about stupid crap like R. Kelly and whether I have gone from hating the songs "cookie" to possibly thinking it is the best "lollipop" sounding song since Lil Wayne recorded "lollipop" which in itself is the best use of autotune ever so that would maybe make the other second best.

I'm very excited and then two nights later is Heckarap. I spend two hours recording some more music for it yesterday on my outdated gonkulator system. That system is fine except last time I got drunk and kept dropping all my cds on the ground and they might be scratched. I still need to check if they are.

Plus, Charles and Stine got engaged!! Yay!

debate it on facebook

I've deleted two posts because I wanted to take down the album review one and then another one because I got too defensive. I won't post about R. Kelly any more here or on facebook. But here is not the place to talk about that article.

blah blah blah

I had a really good dinner at hook and ladder yesterday. I'm not sure if the food got better, but I think a big factor is that giving up the food critic hat means I can just be ok with ok food if it's because it's a neighborhood spot (or in the case of h and l a pleasant 30 minute walk from my house). The kale salad was more than ok, with a ton of parm and whole boquerones on top, and the pizza was damn good too.  I'm guessing gas oven rather than wood-fired (I was chatting so didn't really examine it) but the burrata and fresh oregano topping is a really good combo.

I am not trying to stir anything up, but Bill Burg has been getting a lot of press for his assertion that what our central city needs is the return to the downtown dense population we used to have. To get back there we need what, like 30,000 people (I am having trouble finding the exact number that is being quoted). To put it succinctly: fuck that. I consider Bill a genius, but I would not want to live in that city. If it's sprawl or doubling the population of downtown/midtown I say sprawl, for yes, purely selfish reasons. I realize that.

Let's call a Sac a Sac and admit that there will be some awesome things brought in from growth downtown, but mostly lame lip service to smart growth and chains. Do you know how mad it makes me that BevMo is going in? (although I am less mad since they can't skirt the stupid single bottle law - hopefully they will push to end it. I assumed they would get a special exemption). Yeah, sure a cheap six pack here and there instead of the horrible selection at safeway, but will add nothing besides that.

 Are there a lot of people who live in sprawl areas who would love to live downtown or close in older, connected to downtown suburbs but can't afford it and would like to live in new apartments instead? I'm sure some but really how many? My experiences with coworkers in Davis is that they either choose Natomas or Woodland for cheap big housing and never come downtown except sometimes to visit the Mermaid Bar or Pizza Rock. I know there are reasons that people make these choices for schools and things, but if it's a family that wants a house, those aren't going to be built anyway. Dense housing is not going to make old downtown houses any more affordable.

Many many things were different in Sacramento at the time of this dense population including mostly local businesses instead of chains and no mall (and no big arena where the mall stands now). Will Sac really ever get smart about public transportation? Probably not. The other day I was over by Richards and watched the empty light rail green line come and go but we still don't have light rail to the airport.

Some of these points have nothing to do with the others.

it's a rambler

The not-ripping-it-up streak is raging on, which is really a contradiction. Black Panties dropped today, which I know because R. Kelly s/texted me. Just bought it off iTunes. Don't have high hopes but we'll see.

I went to maker's mart at bows on Sunday. I think there's something similar at Delta Workshop on Saturday. These fairs really are a good place to pick up gifts. I am going on Saturday to get more bottled kombucha, since Zeal Kombucha ran out of their bottles at maker's mart. This shit is good! I was so impressed. I wish I had more people to gift it to but I have at least one person in mind. Nutty flavors that work: maybe some astringent green tea, maybe some woodruff, maybe some Persian dried lemons, all kinda stuff.

The maker's mart was a cute contrast to the hell that is Christmas shopping in our retail-worshipping country. I looked all over the mall and natomas (I was out there to see a movie any way, see below) for a simple item that I thought would be everywhere, a quality version of this basic classic item (can't spoil the surprise) instead I was confronted by acre upon acre of ugly stupid garbage. In some of the stores if someone blindfolded you and walked you in there you would be hard pressed to distinguish it from a Goodwill. It was really depressing. And I went home empty handed. The shopping megaliths (is that a thing) in Natomas are so insane that I kept getting lost driving around looking for a specific store.

I was out there watching Narcocultura, thanks to DB's endorsement. It's a top-ten documentary on my list, but not for the faint of heart. The two things are the Mexican drug carnage, told through the eyes of a forensic cop in Juarez, and the rise of the Narcocorridos , which ya know, really, if you haven't heard of this stuff it's pretty involved to explain. Wow the new York times harshed on it with a dismissive "this stuff has been covered elsewhere". I think this exemplifies the callous attitude towards the distressing carnage going on with the country that is most intertwined with ours. I feel like it's not getting through to anyone here in power so so what if it's being repeated and anyway I don't know what they're talking about.

I could go on and on. I'm really distressed and I wish there was something I can do. A couple of years ago Juarez had about 3500 murders in a city of 1.5 million and right across the river El Paso had 6. That is fucked. Looks like things are improving a bit. As far as I know Pena Nieto has tried to step back from waging war, and the return to the PRI party was supposed to get things back to corruption as usual rather than the all-out war between cartels. I know I've talked about this on here in the past. Maybe someone reading has more up to date info than me. My mom seems to never want to tell me if anything bad is going on in Mazatlan, except for the one time maybe four years ago when she told me not to visit for a while. One of the big three cartels is from Culiacan, which is 70 miles from Mazatlan, and for a while I think the violence moved south and then left again.

honey pics

I in fact did not rip it all this weekend, still continued my streak of staying in in the biting cold (which I am loving - a real winter finally). Below see that we are still enjoying the delicious honey we got from Bee Local in Portland. We bought a honey dipper so that we could drizzle (ugh that word sucks) without making a mess. Paired it with some pt. reyes blue. Also see below the new Faction Brewing taphouse/brewery in Alameda at the military base. The view of SF from there is incredible. It's in the same row as St. George Spirits. Picked up a bottle of their absinthe and I forgot how above and beyond it is. No need to drink it any other way than with an icecube and a tiny splash of water.

Anyway, Faction: excellent hoppy brews. I tried two special ones, but not the flagship one yet. Lowbrau recently tapped a Defcon 3, so expect to see these beers here soon. Exciting brewery and a stop to add to your list especially if you are also visiting Drake's or the Trappist.  Bottom pic is pretty self-explanatory.

Wow Alice Munro. The nobel committee knew what they were doing here, unlike past years. C'mon, Nadine Gordimer and Doris Lessing and V.S. Naipaul? Srsly? I guess. None of those three are my faves. I like them all, Lessing probably the least.

ZUH William Golding in 1983?!? For a pretty good young adult novel? Lagerkvist,eh? I read the Sibyl and didn't have any idea her was a big dude. WEIRD book.

I digress. Alice Munro rocketed to the top of maybe my top ten list with this first book of short stories I am reading. Either she just thinks about life and people the same way I do and is kind of seeing into my head and that's why I like it, or it is just incredible. Either way, I love it. The New Yorker just printed an old story cuz of the Nobel, set in a nursing home and there is another one in the book and they are beautiful. The interrelationships of women in her stories is just beyond beyond insightful and fascinating.

Can you tell I haven't been going out much? Just posting about books and movies. I am ready to rip it up at least once this weekend. And then start again.

Jonathan Richman ~ When Harpo played his Harp ~ live circa 1987

Also, let's not forget this. Who is that awkward woman?

I shot an elephant in my pajamas

It's probably not news to some of you that the Marx Brothers are the fucking funniest, but you might need reminding. I got Animal Crackers in the mail and it was one of those sneaky movies that creeps to the top of the queue over years and I'm like "crap, I don't feel like watching this". Boy was I wrong. The opening scene is a stupid musical number for that song hello I must be going and when it started I thought that the humor from 1930 was probably not going to be something I could relate to. But then once Groucho started in I was sold. Not to mention the genius of Harpo. Not to mention the fake Italianness of Chico. There's a really funny scene where he calls out a guy for masquerading as a gentile and the guy calls him out for pretending to be Italian. Zeppo whatevs.

I liked these movies as a kid and I was tripping on thinking about the fact that it was 44 years old when I was born which is the equivalent to a movie filmed in 1969 today. Woah trip out. No I was not stoned.

And that's all my news. I turned in a thing about the pusha t show to SNR and then had anxiety about it last night that I had blathered on about the Clipse for too long and not said enough about the show and then it was too late to add more. I also need to start my article for Edible.

maconagheuy of the year award goes to.....

NH and Biz had a super fun party this weekend. The highlight for me was collaborating on a list of baby names for our expectant friends. There were names such as Aaliyah, #baby and Mike Tyson's Punchout. Number 420 on the list was Mountain Girl.  We all know that they are really naming their baby Clambake.

I saw MacBeth last week at Capital Stage. The run is over now. It was my least favorite production they've ever done. Lady MacBeth was miscast. The staging was ok, but I think that play has been done a lot in a post-apocalyptic setting. Really the only person who got any emotion out of it was the guy playing MacDuff. I'm sure the fight scenes were very hard to choreograph. Still glad I saw it.

I also saw Dallas Buyers Club. I recommend it even though the plotting is pretty much straight out of the Oscar Playbook. Maconoheuey (can't spell it) totally deserves the Oscar.  Not just for losing all the weight either, plus he's had so many great performances lately. He actually deserved the Oscar for Magic Mike. He has to at least win the golden globe for best macaonahay this year. I can't believe Channing Tatum took it last year!

peek into my mind

I quit my once-a-month-gig at the snr. It was great money, but I was always scrambling for deadline, hate giving bad reviews, and hate giving stars in general. Believe it or not, I don't eat out very often. I never go out to breakfast and lots of my dinners are snacky. Like some cheese and bread and a salad. Or some smoked mackerel and a shitload of dijon mustard (I can eat a spoonful of mustard right out of the jar). Lunch I'm in Davis five days a week. So except for an after work thing with friends (which I wish I had more time for) I only eat out on weekends. I guess Sunday at Pho Saigon has gotta be my most regular jam.

Which means that I push deadline because I naturally wait a couple of weeks after the last one, even though I vow to not do that, and then I am scrambling for time to eat somewhere at least twice. And then if I decide on a place, sometimes it's not good or just mediocre and not worth writing about. But then I'm trapped into reviewing it because not only am I running out of time, but I have often spent 60 or more dollars buying a few people dinner so then I'm committed to reviewing it.

ALSO, this obligation to try these places is not fun because I really just want to hit up places I like and don't get to go to enough. I've probably eaten at Magpie maybe twice this year. Insane!! I don't go to Masullo enough, either. Although both of these places end up being more expensive than I want them to be. I'm not complaining about that, they deserve it.

Even more reasons: Scott hates the rigamarole and how stressed I get when I have to review a place I don't like.

The funny thing is that the writing comes super quickly and easily no matter the subject.

I'd rather focus more on Edible at this point. Things are going well with the new owners and we've got DKK on the team now! And Ngaio Bealum is contributing. I love his writing.

So that's what's going on with me. the millionth reason: my new job is busy and stressful. even though I sometimes don't consciously feel all the stress because I'm good at repressing my emotions (over 20 years of it with my family), I go through periods of clenching my jaw and biting the insides of my mouth at night. Sometimes insomnia, but not too bad right now.

e-40

I've been so busy at work that it looked like I just declared I was moving to Portland and never going to post again. Heckaportland does not have the same ring. I do have to stay for a while for  my job anyway, and by then maybe the urge will have faded.

But it kind of seems crazy that me and smiller would live in the same city our entire lives, given how much we like to explore and get to know new places, right? How many of you out there lived here growing up and have stayed?

But I'll post more. I don't have any time now, either!

Oh yeah, I posted about e-40 on heckarap

portland: wonderland

I couldn't sleep last night so I decided to upload Portland photos. I still hope to finish Japan at some point. Thursday is me

Here are some nice stocking stuffers: holiday scented purell with a handy hook for hanging on the tree! Portland pics, after the jump

big news

I stayed in SF and left my phone charger. Of course I did, that is the customary item you leave. At least I can get Apple stuff on campus. Went to Nopa last night and it was wonderful wonderful. I will certainly eat there again. All the small plates were flawless. Wood-baked giant white beans with mild feta melted on top with salsa verde and intense tomato sauce. Toasted crunchy quinoa with smoked trout, pickles onions, and fish roe.  As almost always happens the entrée was not as good. Rabbit legs with risotto and snap peas. The rabbit legs were perfectly cooked (my sis called them "slimy" but I disagree) but the risotto was gummy and had a watery sauce. Fuck risotto. It's one of those things that you always order, chasing a perfection that never happens.  I had a glass of sparkling gamay rose to start and then a gamay with the rabbit. Perfect!! And it's not really that steep, especially if you just ordered a bunch of the small plates and salad or soup.  I spent almost as much at a casual dinner at The Press the other day.

 

I stayed in the deep sunset, which is annoyingly far from everything but it sure was nice to wake up to beautiful sunrise light bathing the city instead of the grossness of the mission. No offense to mission dwellers I know it has a lot of good qualities.

I made a monumental (to me) discovery today. Went to get breakfast at Posh Bagel which I haven't done in many years. They have the usual giant fluffy non-bagels bagels. They now have "mini bagels" which are pretty much the size and density of how a bagel should be! The chewiness and flavor is still lacking but they are halfway there! This is going to change weekend breakfasts for me and smiller. Note the egg on the tray for scale.

two cents Monday

OMG there is seriously a band called Joanna Gruesome. You are really going for some serious longevity with a name like that. Although does band longevity even exist any more? It seems like the course of bands is twofold (whether they are good or not): you are either unworthy of that elusive hype factor (e.g. you are not young or goodlooking) or you are prematurely hyped, followed by being deemed overrated due to the hype, and then quickly forgotten.

After seeing Parquet Courts in Davis I seriously cannot believe that they got on they hype circuit and even as a non-pavement fan it seems ridic that their name would often be invoked. By no matter because they will surely soon be forgotten. I have nothing against them as dudes in plaid shirts.

But I'm not bitter about the state of music today! Ha!

I rewatched America Beauty for the first time, maybe since it was in theaters and boy what a piece of crap.  (from looking at imdb I just found at that the aerial shots in the beginning were filmed over sac!) and I LOVED it when it came out. Did it capture some end of the 90s thing that I can't relate to now? After all, I was 25 when it came out (goddamn I am old) and should have known better. I certainly could not relate to anything about any of the teens, nor the suburban career thing.

Remember how into it everyone was? Like creepy Lester's quotes that were practically bumper stickers: "I'm just an ordinary man with nothing to lose", "this isn't life; this is just stuff", etc. I feel like Lester was some kind of heroic sticking-it-to-the-man type character but in reality he's the biggest creep ever. I am usually in favor of boobs, but the teen boobs in the movie are just exploitative (including Thora Birch, who was barely 17 at the time). Crap crap crap.

I also watched "to die for" (guess I'm on a 90s kick) and I found it just as airless and unaffecting as I did originally despite the fact that I was a huge Gus Van Sant fan at the time (and still somewhat of a fan now).  Nicol Kidman's rigid all-pastel color scheme is something I am not in favor of in movies. It turns people into caricatures and deadens them visually. I feel the same way about Edward Scissorhands even though I love that movie.  But boy is To Die For prescient about modern celebrity, reality show type culture.  Ileana Douglas is really cool in it and very interesting in this av club interview.  Lots of stuff about Scorcese and the good old days of movie making.

My two cents

the fake food vs. the real food

One of the reasons I haven't posted, besides being busy at work, is that the process of uploading photos to blogger is unbelievably laborious. I should have switched to wordpress a long time ago. Kyoto after the jump!

lol

only in Japan

OK, more Japan photos after the jump

heckarap

no time for second blog post on japan today. but i wrote a kanye tour entry on heckarap

funny signs mostly

Back from Japan and boy are my ears tired of constant greetings being sung out at me! JK, kind of! It can just be exhausting trying to be so polite with so many formalized exchanges and always pronouncing "gozeimas" incorrectly.  We went to Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Yamanouchi, Obuse, and then back to Tokyo. Did you know that I had no idea the population of Japan and guessed that maybe it was the same as California since it's approx the same size? Then I looked it up it has 137 million people!!!!! And most of them living in the relatively small triangle between Kyoto, Osaka and Tokyo!

 

I'll post some pics a day at a time! After the jump

love, shakira

LOL my mom just signed her email "SHAKIRA" (all caps as always). She's been doing a lot of belly dancing lately. Sheesh. The apple fell pretty far from the tree with that one.

That is the last thought I will leave you with for a while.  I'll post again in a couple of weeks. Uh, not gonna say why and you don't either in the comments, paranoia ya knowhutimean?

fb dramz

criminy, I guess some fb stuff went down that I had a hand in.  I have been trying to not check as much, and not obsess on catching up with what everyone posts all the time.  I was doing good for a while, but come to think of it it's sneaking up on me. I looked on it the whole time on the train today because I hadn't brought anything to read.

The reason I am trying is because I can be an impulsive poster.  I have gotten a lot better about not sending impulsive emails. I get super caffeinated in the morning and get a lot of good ideas, but also get agitated sometimes.

LT posted about Blackbird closing and I didn't think about who she is friends with in the food world. I didn't post something horribly, but I have that chip on my shoulder about everyone paying attention to BAR's reviews and not mine, so I posted about my review and how the service continued to be terrible. I also said I hate writing bad reviews.  The chip is a thing, and frankly it is not going to fade, but at least I cop to it. I have faults, what can I say?

I never saw it, partially cuz I had a nagging feeling I shouldn't have written that, but I guess it got gnarly and servers from there got on there and said thanks a lot for gloating, etc.  Oh jeez.  BAR alluded to it in here.

I'm def not saying that was alll about what I posted and I hope to god I didn't have much to do with it, but I am scared to look.

Oh well, what I wrote was really not that bad. I was not gloating in any way. I wanted them to be better, but I guess that was not the reason they closed anyways.

blah blah fb blah

fun

Show tonight! Babies! Sneeze Attack! One other band! They are good! Members of Woods and Vivian Girls! Pop music! Vegan food! 8PM! Next to the Colonial Theater! Be there! If you dare! Don't be square!

long sandwich feh

The Babies are playing Monday at Cafe Colonial.  Is that the place adjacent to the Colonial Theater? So weird. Too bad they can't play with Sac's own Babies. Instead they are playing with dog party and sneeze attack. I love Babies, and they are poppy enough that many of you who are doubtful might like them too. Sorry to bitch but a four band show on monday, my least favorite night to see a show? not a good idea.  Nevertheless, I will go.

Good cover story in the SNR.  It's so dumb that people worry about eating on Stockton.  We ate at Huong Lanh last night. I wanted pho but Scott didn't so we decided not to go to Pho Saigon. The pho at HL is just ok and the tendon was seriously inedible. It was more like a bone then a tendon.  They have done some weird things with their menu and eliminated grilled chicken from everything, so Scott got the pork, which is the best in all of Sacramento, even though he wanted something a bit lighter.  Their sandwiches are also the best.  Minor point, but it's weird two people are eating hu tieu, which I personally don't think is that good. Got it at Quan Nemh recently.

Which brings me to a new strip mall being developed down their called "Long Sandwich Plaza". Long sandwich went out of business cuz it kind of sucked. The location was fine so I wonder why they think they will do any better at a different location. They better up their game.

so much to do

I hope when we are in Tokyo we have time to go to the Suspiria Bar, which is an Italian restaurant, the restaurant where robots fight strippers, and a cat petting cafe.  Click on each cat to see a biography and pictures and videos.

chicken envy

Thumbs up on Don John.  Really fun, and you know I'll like almost any movie that's that dirty.  Julianne Moore is rad but kinda should just have the  phrase "deus ex machina" tattooed on her forearm if you know what I mean.  If you see it you will.

We went to magpie after. I really don't go there enough. Of course it was 40 bucks each for three drinks (total), two apps, and the cheapest entree, but it's worth it when I can swing it.  Polenta, woah, tapenade, excellent, chicken for two: insane. my roast chicken is good but that chicken makes me ashamed to call my chicken chicken.

pie from a mime

Maybe you heard that Edible was sold and that Ryan Donahue is no longer editor?  He is now working for Thiemann, which is really cool.  This issue is still in process but is a scramble. For now I've stepped up my involvement in logistics but I hope that doesn't last very long.  It is too much for me.  Hopefully this issue won't suffer. If any past contributors are reading this, or any aspiring contributors please get in touch.

I have been trying, pretty successfully to log much less fb time. I like it so far.  More time for things like looking at Babs

Then you will have to come here to see things such as this mick fleetwood rock that Chapstick made us

I ate at tankhouse and this food was def decent within the genre they are working. I've said before that big piles of meat are not really my thing, but based on these excellent greens I will try the brisket.

This is a tuna sandwich from mill valley beer works! you have to try it sometime!

This was a really good tofu bibimbap from the place I am reviewing next.  Their bulgogi was tasty too.  You'll have to read it in November. Speaking of big piles of meat, my 3 N 1 bbq review is in the current ish. DJ Rick you are mentioned

this is fucking funny

juggalos

New Drake!  I really like it although it's uneven (not a surprise).  The first song is 6 minutes long, with some Kanye'ish sped up whitney houston song as the track. blarg.  Then, lots of good stuff. I totally forgot started from the bottom was not on any previous album since it's been out for so long.  It's not too long, either.  The last couple songs are jay-z, and I"m really over that guy. I know, I know, I should listen to magna carta. But at this point his bragging about his money is as charming as listening to a rockefeller brag about it.  I want to hear about some major philanthropy before I wanna hear about that anymore.  Maybe he is doing that.

I'm going to see Tech Nine tonight. Juggalos! 

effed up mang

We were able to hook up a place in Stinson beach last minute and it was beautiful.  It poured on Saturday morning which was cool to see.  When it cleared up we went to Mill Valley and Mill Valley Beerworks. That place is so badass.  The food is completely delicious, they have started to brew their own good beer, and I got a Struisse Weltmertz on draft. OMG.  So delicious. Scott called bullshit that they listed it at 3% ABV but looks like that was correct. I caught the mill valley vibe and almost spent way too much on a tasteful eileen fisher tunic. It was because I had just been reading the profile of her in the NYer that morning. I am so glad I walked away.

We checked out Mill Valley market which is old school and really reminds me of Corti Bros.  The wine/liquor section is lined with photos of vintners from the 70s and 80s before everyone got completely absurdly rich.  They are all wearing suits in every photo.  Plus, the obligatory signed photo of Sammy Hagar, not wearing a suit as you would imagine. 

The next day we went to Cowgirl Creamery, which also has superb sandwiches and of course I bought a lot of cheese. So many euro tourists!  It is def. a spot that you would be stoked to find as a tourist.  Between local cheese and Bread Maiden bread pretty much all I ate was cheese and bread all weekend.

We then did a brief hike (really a walk) out to Limantour Beach which is my new favorite beach in the area.  No crowds even on a sunny sunday.

Yay! Such a magical area of this fucked up country. That latter statement was brought to you by the fact of how many americans are violently opposed to obamacare and that 27 percent of america wants to shut down the government to stop it.

bullet trains ahoy

I wrote  a little comment on Nardwuar's fb page after I watched his tedx talk and he wrote something nice back.  It's on the right.

Holy crap and he just  posted an interview with Trina. Gotta watch that one.

argh, I have so many deadlines.  I have three for edible, including one that I may have to re-interview the person for if I can't read my notes (I should have taped him) and an associate editor's letter I have to write without really understanding the new owners deal or their plans. They don't seem to have time to meet with me, besides a short one we had, and we really really need to keep this dialogue going.  Oh well, they are busy, I am busy and whatevs. It's just a magazine, right?!?!?

I also need to turn another review into the SNR for October since we're gonna be in Japan when it's due. Exciting!! I have it mostly booked. I'm about to drop 580 bucks on train tickets (that's for two, for seven day passes). Yipes. on the plus side: bullet trains.

WTF

WTF No Bunny is playing this Saturday someplace called the fusion international arts center in Arden/Del Paso? WTFWTFWTF. This was just announced I think. Will anyone go? 

sorrel

Went to Quan Nem Ninh Hoa for dinner. Not a lot of a BAR review crown, although I'm stereotyping the crowd in stating that. We've been there enough that we weren't craving the wrap it yourself special, which turned out to be a mistake.  I got the premade grilled pork spring rolls and the rice wrappers were tough because they had probably been premade a while ago.  The pork was not as good without a perking up on the grill, either.  The banh xeo (egg crepe) was your typical greasy, gummy banh xeo that only Banh Xeo near Mack Rd. has mastered.  My pile of herbs included sorrel though, how cool!

too many job

Verge party! To celebrate the verge owning the verge! Verge got pwned! I will be bartending even though I should probably just go home and take a few sleeping pills.  I got like next to no sleep last night. Exciting news.  I rarely go to anything where I feel like it's appropriate to dress up anymore, so here's my chance. If it weren't so hot some sequins would be thrown in the mix.

Ryan stepped down as editor of Edible. Sad day.  I don't know what's gonna happen with the mag. I'm meeting the new owner tomorrow. One thing I know is that I will not be editor.  I have enough jobs already. If you count DJ, that would be four jobs.  And we all know that being married to smiller is a full-time job as well. So that's five jobs.  Actually, since I'm already assistant editor I already have five jobs maybe more.  I pretty much treat complaining like a job.  I probably spend more time complaining than working. The worst day spent complaining is better than the best day spent working.  Thinking about R. Kelly is more like an internship-type deal, that I'm hoping to parlay into a career.  Getting mad about things in the Bee is more a labor of love than a job.  I would say pretending to be more Jewish than I am is like a side job that pays in brisket and lox.  Wow, it's amazing I have any time at all to avoid going to yoga and drink too much in my spare time.

I dare

Waterboy was really good last night but the service was crappy. I don't know who this newbie guy was, but he is not good enough.  Brought wineglasses but didn't open the wine. Didn't take our order before the apps came so that the big menus were crowding the table.  I had to ask for bread.  Just lagged on taking our order in general.  He could have definitely sold me another drink if he tried at all.  I had maybe two glasses of wine, which is low for me at a dinner that's over 2 hours long.  I would probably have gotten an after dinner drink if the pace hadn't lagged a little too long.

Food was excellent though!

BAR reviewed Quan Nem Ninh Hoa.  This place has been a favorite of mine for years and dare I say I increased its visibility by quite a bit over these years without sounding like an ass? I dare to.  Lately it has become more of a favorite, up to top five.  They have increased their menu a lot and now offer lots of different meats with the wraps, althought the best is still the nem nuong skewers.  But they will split the meats for one order and the chicken is delicious.  I still need to try their bun and banh xeo, since they seem to do everything well.  It's one of those places where the one dish is so good that it's hard to branch out.

His review was awesome and should bring them a lot of business, although they do pretty well already.

I may have mentioned before that had a past coworker who was interested in food and food writing and knew I wrote for MidMo and the News and Review yet never read my writing and would not follow any of my recommendations.  He would mostly just bring up BAR's reviews, and sometimes visit them, even if I had told them I didn't concur and I would go somewhere else.  I thought that was really weird. It's not like he thought it sucked, I think he  just didn't bother to pick up a copy.

shows at bows

It's smillers birthday today! I gave him top-notch accessories: crispy white nikes and warby parker sunglasses.

Does anyone read the music blog? I could totally keep posting but I don't know if anyone cares to read it.

Our Japan trip is fast approaching and we might go to a monkey hot spring.  How crazy is this page:
there are also pages for "the monkey's body" "the society of monkeys" and the daily life of a  monkey.

there is a show tonight at bows: mike donovan from sic alps and julian from fine steps.

new lifestyle

Wow, OK blogger, weird format but I kind of like it.  If I wasn't so technologically lazy I would switch to wordpress because I assume it is better at uploading pics, etc.  I see no reason why I shouldn't be able to upload pictures as a group rather than one at a time.  I just got back from a weekend in LA.  It was a business trip for smiller and we had lots of fun.  We got in really early and went straight to Cantor's.  Scott had never been and now he loves it too.  We got the bagel and lox platter.  I don't remember the name of the hamburger place.  It had really good beer. I got a Logsdon Saison Bretta on draft then a Du de Ciel.  The burger was an obvious take on Umami Burger, which was a-ok with me.  They only cook medium rare, but this was rare with some almost raw meat inside.  There's 2013 with the drummer obscured.  Me and MC Ham will be getting another night in November. Stay tuned.  We could have made it monthly but we want it to be special.  Spent some time in Silverlake and Echo Park on the trip.  Our hotel was almost perfectly placed between the two.  At DKKs suggestion we went to Forage for a lovely, healthy brunch.  I found a store called California vintage and bought myself a whole new lifestyle.  It's kind of safari themed.  This store was reasonably priced vintage with suprisingly not only tiny sizes.  I will be visiting it every time I go to LA from now on I can assure you.

fun fun fun

last night was really fun! I thought I would wipe the floor with Mike C., frankly but I forgot he had the hometown advantage and also forgot how fucking good west coast rap is. The demise of The Bomb is to blame. I should start streaming KMEL sometimes to keep up. We both got dancers but I didn't get the rabidly excited west coast fans. I though a few people were going to lose their shit and one local rapper dude was rapping every fucking word. it was a sight to see! We'll do it again in 2 or 3 months.

like a bawse

aaaahhhhhh! no time to post. 2013 were awesome. everyone in it has talent oozing from their little fingers or something like that. best band since the beatles, who were kind of overrated anyway.

As you have read one million time I'm djing tonight at the press.  Find out who's the boss once and for all

Tonight! 2013! The band of the year! Literally!

Tonight is the first show of the new band 2013 featuring The Biz, Gaba, Dylan Barnes needs a nickname, and Smiller.  It WILL be fun.  Bows

As you are all sick to death of hearing about, tomorrow is me and Mike C's DJ night at Press.  Dirty South and West Coast blah blah blah. Free! I will spin my first set at 9pm.

Wow. Red Dawn is a really sucky movie. No character development and Jennifer Grey and Lea Thomspon seem to be dropped in from some movie where they are cavegirls dressed in 1980s clothing. Sheen the Masheen is totally wasted (as in wasted talent).  I can't believe it was such a big hit.  Now I see why my parents talked so much shit on it when it was popular.

I am doing a presentation on Herpes B at a meeting today.  Should be a blast.  That's the fatal virus that primates carry.  Lesson: DO NOT get monkey pee in your eye or you are in for a world of hurt.

I tried a super obscure bbq place for my next review. deep del paso heights. it was good, but I don't really go crazy for bbq.  Big piles of meat are not my favorite food, believe it or not.  I'm kinda with Mark Bittmann in the idea that meat should be more of a condiment in a meal. 

Speaking of BBQ I went to Tank House and it was whatevs. I'll try the food there eventually, but not the mac and cheese! It's a little sterile inside and I was annoyed they don't have a drink menu despite having a full liquor bar. The bartender explained that they are not trying to be the next shady lady and they are really just beer and bbq. Better get some good beer if that's the case dudes! I just got a whiskey and soda because I can never remember any cocktails. Well, less than 10 anyway.

 New coffee table from Schiff's. Came with two matching end tables.  It's the next best thing to a mirrored coffee table. OC has a giant one.  Rug is from on of the shops across from Relles.

This has been my pasta jam lately.  We have lots of cherry tomatoes but they are not sweet enough to eat in salads, and are a little mealy.  Solution: lightly roast them and throw them in some pasta with fresh herbs.  OK, add a little butter.  The wine is a slightly chilled grignolino we got in Sebastopol.  I haven't posted pics of stuff I cooked in forever! I still don't cook as much as I used to.  I have to be disciplined and plan ahead if I'm going to. 

weezy

My boss just replied LOL to an email in which I wrote "a bit of a clusterfuck" this woman rules.

Consider checking out a play that Big Idea does.  Their tickets are hella cheap (12 bucks) which is a third of what B st or Cap Stage charge. The Lieutenant of Inishimore is crazy good, even with Irish accents for the whole cast! That's tough. It's a satire in the IRA with some hard staging, including a cat puppet and buckets of blood. Despite that it's a comedy and quite funny.  Biggert has been to more plays than me and says he's never seen a bad one at big idea.  I've seen a few bad ones at cap stage and even a terrible one at b street so that is unusual. 

Lil Wayne = incredible.  I have more respect than him than ever. He seems clean and happy. I hope so because it would be a big loss if he died.  I'm writing it up for SNR if you'd like to hear more.

soulacoaster indeed

Jeez, I had no idea that "soulacoaster, the story of me" by R. Kelly would be so sad.  Grew up with no dad in rough Chicago area, totally poor, surrounded by a lot of drunks (although also love from his family), molested for years by an older woman starting at the age of 8 (which think about the sexes being reversed there if it doesn't seem so bad), household just generally sexually inappropriate in general including being asked to watch sex and take pictures from a very young age, shot as a little kid! and has a learning disability that led to him being completely illiterate through at least high school. I haven't gotten further than high school yet.

He kept getting passed through grades, partially because of his skill at basketball but he lived with an enormous amount of shame because of his molestation and illiteracy.  It sounds like every day of school was torture for him until a music teacher took him under her wing.  She taught him to play piano, write songs, and sing every type of music including opera.  He says that music floods his head 24/7 since he was very young.  A real prodigy.  Before his record deal he supported himself by busking.

It's not really a very weird or funny book, but one strange passage is about how he had sex with a girl on her period at 17, freaked out because he didn't know what was happening, and then didn't have sex again for 2 years.

Here's a short video with R. sinking a half-court shot at Jamie Foxx's house

pissed

The Dime: worst meal.  I wanted to love it. I was taking  NH out for dinner and was very excited to try a new place. I was deliberately avoiding yelp and sort of skimming things written about it so I would go with a fresh slate.

Let's start with the menu. Tiny menus are a pet peeve of mine because you really need to be good to pull them off.  You better have something that appeals to everyone. This menu is terrible.  The dime plates are all exactly the same as sports bar food or existing restaurants.

Spinach and artichoke dip. Am I at a work potluck? Did not order.

Calamari with g-sauce? Ordered. I don't wanna know why they call it g-sauce but it was a red mayo sauce.  Long fingers of fried (yes tender) calamari that were awkward to pick up and dip.

Crisped petaluma chicken: sweet or spicy. Ordered. Sounds good right? I envisioned two small pieces of delicious fried chicken. I got breast meat chicken fingers with buffalo sauce.  That's what "spicy" was. Standard sports-bar sauce.

Clams chorizo: ordered. A few clams and a few little crumbles of chorizo. Not enough broth to dip bread in. That's ok because the bread was stale thin slices.

Pepperoni flatbread: Did not order. Am I at my work cafeteria?

Mac and cheese: did not order. Seems to be some sort of law this must be on the menu. Ten dollar mac and cheese?

Tacos: did not order. Again, ten bucks? Didn't see portion size so maybe they were huge. I usually get stuck ordering tacos at red rabbit so I did not want to try more upsale tacos.

Sliders w fries. Did not order. Did not want anything this heavy. Maybe the house-smoked hot pastrami is good, but I don't think of that as a dinner item. Kalua pork. Does not sound appealing.
Soup and salad: did not order. did not ask what it was. server did not mention it.

Rabbit food: since when is steak tartare rabbit food? Some of the salads appeared to have been flown in from 1997. Balsamic, raspberries and goat cheese? Also, big stale croutons on a couple of them. I ordered a chicken caesar, something I would normally never order, but none of the other salads sounded appealing.  Wilted romaine, bland dressing (no discernible anchovy) cold dry breast chunks (similar to airport food) weird large chunks of parmesan among the shreds, as if it crumbled in there and they just didn't both to fix it.

Plates. Pan-roasted salmon? Wow, exciting. Am I at my grandma's retirment home? Honey truffle chicken frites? Who puts chicken on fries? How do honey and truffles ever belong together and why should fries every have a sweet sauce? 

Ambiance. We were out back. They need to do something about the patio, some shrubs or screens or something. You are eating in the courtyard of a jank apartment development. NH said she felt like she was in a dorm quad. Which sparked the thought that I have literally had a better lunch in the dining commons at UCD and it was 8 bucks. At least I could end it with soft serve ice cream.

Menu completely unappealing.  Bill with tip, two glasses of wine and two beers: 108 fucking dollars. The hostess asked how it was when we left and I could not lie and told her not good, which made things very awkward because she wanted to know why.

NH, do not apologize for me paying the bill cuz of your bday. I just wish we had eaten somewhere else. We could have eaten at the waterboy probably for that price, or certainly feasted at one speed.  Let's go out to a nice place again soon.

I almost forgot! It ended with two bite-sized chocolate chip cookies. They were terrible! Completely dry and flavorless? Am I at a Mexican bakery? The toll house recipe would have been so much better.

brunch hell

I blew off both of the last two shows I was supposed to go to, and worst of all, I had RSVPed on facebook saying I would go! I gotta stop that. 

I was out of town all weekend at the South Yuba river.  Very beautiful. I do wish it had been a wee bit hotter because I really didn't swim all that much.  We ate at the Willo up there which was soooo fun.  That place is awesome. We got a table for 10 in the main room.  If you haven't been there you gotta go.  It was my second time eating at Ike's in Nevada City and both times I've gotten the tempeh rueben. It's really good.  The line for brunch on weekends is long, but basically you just shouldn't take a large party. They discourage them, and for a good reason. our party of six realized far into the wait that we could have just signed up as a party of 4 and 2 cuz it's not like we all had to sit together. never again! brunch anger was flaring, big time.

I guess there's a portlandia skit about brunch? where the line is so long that there's a shanty town at the end. it sounds perfect, but I can't find it online. Smiller doesn't "do" brunch and I concur.  Breakfast is too easy to make at home. I much prefer a lunch somewhere in south sac on a weekend.

big money rustlas

My movie night wasn't well attended, no big deal to me because I had friends there and both movies were funny, but I probably won't pick the movies again. Me and Liv found from the Verge film series that it was very hard to guage what would bring people and what wouldn't. Although it shouldn't have been much of a surprise that Cabaret brought the fewest I guess.  The problem with continuing is that bows has to pay a sound guy and then gabe made snacks that didn't sell too.  At least he can sell the rice crispy treats for a while, but the oregano brownies are going to be a hard sell.  Bows will probably do another one but just have someone else pick it.  We're talking scary movies in october so maybe I can pick out one of those.

All of this is to say that people (and me) missed on on the chance to watch (or rewatch in my case) this.  It's really pretty amusing.  I was also gonna play some videos and that short, really good doc about the gathering:



Tonight is Scouse Gits/Arts and Leisure in Del Paso Heights.  That is warring with my desire to go see a play which, oddly, is also in DPH. Perhaps that revitalization is finally happening?  They better get a better restaurant than Mama Kim's to help with that.  It has to be over at midnight so I guess I'll just go after that and catch a couple of hours of it. Perfect!

movie night

super fun houseshow last night.  this guy was amazing after medicating with aaron zeff, which you really have to be careful about, I went a little too far.  Luckily expressway yo-yo dieting was pretty much the best thing ever to be watching at that point.   this video has a sample from David Banner "run"!!! The visuals on the tv that he looped were mesmerizing.  Oh yeah, and Chad S. put his record out on Weird Forest! I didn't notice him selling any but I'll have to hit him up for one.



I know you've heard it before, but tonight is my movie night at bows. friday at 7 and half baked at 9

good news: house show

Don't wanna talk about the big box thing except to say that the Bee continues to not really report on the behest scandal (let's call it behestgate).  In the article about the vote last night they devote the last two paragraphs to it and totally give the impression that Sean Sunderland is the only guy in Sacramento who cares about this!  It also says the "Bee revealed" this story.  I would bet that Cosmo "revealed it" before they did.  If I read one more thing about patient dumping, Sacbee, I will lose my  mind.  Yes, it's really really bad, and yes, you uncovered the story, but how bout using the top banner space for a little more local digging?  The three big non-local themes for months have been: patient dumping all over the state, Dixon conwomand (local-ish) and the Bay Bridge.

There is a house show tonight.  No one loves a house show more than me.

http://www.sacbee.com/2013/08/21/5667971/sacramento-city-council-eases.html

normal? not normal?

Does anyone who's following the wal=mart corruption have any idea what might happen with the vote today? So is it correct that some of the contributions can actually be used by the mayor for his SUV payments, payments to various teen girls to keep them quiet about showering with him, etc.?  And Schenerer's shit is insane as well.  Also, even the city manager has called out these two fucks for operating their "non profits" out of city hall.  Thank Jah for Cosmo. 

The Bee has been all over the funding scandal for STOP, which is fine, I'm not a hyprocrite to complain about that, but not digging into this scandal, which is much slimier AT ALL.  This story gets the front page AGAIN and the arena vote is relegated to metro.

Their big investigation lately has been into the DUMBEST story about one con woman who did some lame shit in Dixon.  They devoted about a million words and a bunch of front page stories to this non-story.  Then their editorial SURPRISE is that the city should just allow big boxes.  NO MENTION of KJ or Schenirer's need to recuse themselves, or even the need for a discussoin on whether they should.

Our city government is so fucking insane.  Again, I ask, is this kind of corruption normal?

angry nondrinker

Fellow News and Review writer Shoka wrote a pretty, let's say strong, piece in the SNR cocktail issue about not drinking in a "drunk world" to which I take some exception.  Believe it or not, I do know people who don't drink, including people who are allergic, and I can see that it can be really hard in certain social circles (mine).  But.  She asserts that "beer tastes like piss" even craft beer, and "mixed drinks taste like floor cleaner at best".  Hey that's her opinion and of course that is implied.  This part is pretty weird and I actually had to read it a couple of times to understand it:

"And when you're hanging out with friends, there's always someone goading you to have as much fun as they are by bottoming up, but “bottled courage” (or stupidity) can also come naturally. For example, hijack the garnish tray at the bar, and keep popping every olive, maraschino cherry and pickled onion until someone says, “This ain't a buffet, Kit!”—a memorable line from the classic prostitute-with-a-heart-of-gold “Cinder-'fucking'-rella” story, Pretty Woman. If no one is classy enough to recite that jewel, declare it yourself. This will convince the tipsy that you may have surpassed their drunkenness level. Or you're insane. Either way, you won't get hassled to drink—if you don't get kicked out of the bar, anyway."

It's pretty rare that any of my friends goad me into drinking more. I might get a shot bought for me twice a year.  Most of this seems to apply to younger drinkers. Fair enough.  I could see how it could make you mad that so much centers around drinking, I've heard someone who's not into food express this same thing about how annoying it is that social stuff centers around leisurely meals (and after all certain kinds of eating can kill you as well).  She really seems pissed.

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.