Happy Everything to Everyone

I probably won't post again until next week.

killed it

J. News killed it last night. She had to cancel the last few shows because she had lost her voice but she was able to sing pretty well last night even though you could tell it was somewhat painful. I have gotten over the fact that her album is a little hard to get into because of the super long songs and I love it! Each song has so many good little parts to wait for. She kept the self-absorbed SF crowd relatively quiet for the duration of the long set. The Santa Cruz crowd was much less annoying and more attentive. I heard a guy behind me namedrop both Don Delillo and a "sixteen minute version of Cinnamon Girl" as if that would be a good thing.

There is also a show tonight that I'm excited about. It's at the Delta of Venus, yet another folkie from Nevada City, Alela Diane (i keep changing this cuz I don't know which one is first or last. Her myspace says the show starts at seven but I'm not sure if that's true or what the line up is. I'll try to call after I get some work done.

she's phoking amazing!

How much do I love Edokko 2? So much that even though they were not answering their phones on sunday I somehow convinced myself that that must be the wrong number (despite the fact that I checked the phone book and called information and called them about 20 times) and drove all the way out to Greenhaven anyway in my desperate attempt for a sunday ramen breakfast. They open at five on sunday but I drew the line at waiting outside the door for five hours. Soooo...I ended up at Pho King on stockton. It was very good. I wish I could say that it was PhoKing Amazing! but that would be going a bit too far. I got the lemongrass noodle soup with pork and beef. That sounds innocuous but the result was rather scary. There were some cuts of beef that looked frightening (with globular bits) but tasted like normal, yummy beef. The pork cut didn't really have any meat, just white, tough goosebumped skin and tendons and stuff. The scariest thing was an exactly rectangular chunk of something that we concluded was either congealed and sliced blood or a chunk of liver or kidney? Can anyone help me out here with what it might have been? There was no mention of it on the menu. I tasted it and it tasted vaguely iron-ish but not as strong as liver. The broth and noodles were really good and I was proud that I didn't get grossed out. Smiller got flank steak pho that had a good tamarind heavy broth.

I'm going to Joanna Newsom at the great american in sf tonight! Yay!

the elder craftsman

I was in Old Sac on sunday (you can't keep me out of the sac. don't try) to hit up Laszlo's gourmet smoked fish for my article and I happened by an awesome store called the Elder Craftsman. It's all crafts created by old folks (or Sacramento's senior artisans as they put it) and staffed by a sweet grandma type. I scored a rad Christmas ornament but the real score was the kid stuff. They had great hand-knitted blankets, clothes and dolls. They had super big amazing sock monkeys. They have some of the stuff online so you can take a look at it. Those big sock monkeys are only 22 bucks! I can't believe I haven't ever been to this place. The lady staffing it said that it's been open since the 80's.

help!

I have a lot to post but guess which jerk waited until the very last minute to write her midtown monthly article which happens to coincide with being very very very busy at work?**



the jerk is me

PE at the Beat?

I heard that the Public Enemy show at the Empire sold so few tickets that they cancelled it and that PE just went and hung out at the Beat instead? Can anyone confirm or deny this rumor?

nog dog!

I barely have time to post today. Tonight is the first night of hanukah. Mazel tov, if that's appropriate. Tomorrow there are dueling events, which sucks. Can someone post more info on the nog dogs party? I dont' have time to find that original comment. Also, the J. Richman show is tomorrow. JC is in town, can IJQ be far behind?

Thanksgiving Appetite Enhancement Ride 2006

Thanksgiving Appetite Enhancement Ride 2006
Originally uploaded by pinkboi.

I finally found some photos of that thing I can't talk about. I'm in this picture so there's a hint if you don't know who I am. I don't know the guy who took this but he also has awesome pictures of his dog in a santa outfit

super rambling post-try to make it through

Jeez, Darell Corti is always one step ahead of me (and like ten steps on the evolutionary ladder). I thought I was the first to hunt down Stochniy's Russian restaurant (the sign sez Russian, the internet listing says Ukrainian) but that by now legendary (in Sac) sfgate article (linked above, scroll down for addresses) mentions his recommendation of it. I tried it out yesterday for my Midtown Monthly article. The hot borscht was great and really hit the spot on a gloomy day. They give you yeasty, fresh rolls with the soup and a garlic dipping sauce for the them. The stuffed cabbage was also delicious. It was stuffed with very fatty ground beef. I accidentally ordered sweet cheese blinis, which weren't very good. I should have gotten a savory type but I panicked when I was ordering. We got a funny "salad" that consisted of mayo, peas, crab meat, potatoes, and chicken. Not bad bud I wished that it was Junes macaroni salad instead. Man, I have been eating a lot of stuffed cabbage lately for this article. The stuffed cabbage at Cafe Marika is also wonderful. I think I am starting to resemble a stuffed cabbage and my hair smells like chopped liver. Sorry for giving all the dudes reading this a boner at work. Just cover it with the Peterson report until it goes away.

After spending a day in North Highlands thrifting and eating yesterday let me tell you that the Russian ladies can do things with their hair that Americans can only dream of. It really pained me to have to pass a completely empty Pattaya Thai because I have to write that damn article! And I officially decided that Deseret is the best thrift store in the greater Sacramento area. It is cheap and it has great stuff of all types. I picked up an old Levi's womans plaid shirt with a matching strip of fabric that I can use in my hair! For like a buck. And like I've said before, they always have rad handmade stuff because of the industrious Mormon women that stock the place. And old lady there told Smiller that they sometimes take the jigsaw puzzles home and do them to make sure all the pieces are there! We scored a puzzle that is the poster for Dr. Zhivago. A search for the Dr. Zhivago image led me to the rad fan art above. There's lots more where that came from.

Speaking of Cortis (which someone once called "that place you're always talking about" which didn't make me feel like the most exciting person in the world) they are now importing the products of the famous and previously illegal Iberian pig. When chorizos are outlawed...you know the rest. The celebrity couple that US Magazine have dubbed "willa" (actually this is something I accidentally call them all the time-when I'm not calling them CrossField) bought some of the salami and I tried it. It tasted...acorn fed?

another far-flung correspondent

Katy has established a cool blog from her base in Fukuoka. Let's just hope she posts unlike some other bloggers I could mention.

what am I?

Let me tell you, making schmaltz and chopped liver is not for the faint of heart. Vegetarians may want to stop reading here. First, I had to cut up all the yellow, bumpy chicken skin and fry it down. At no point did this turn into something delicious that I would like to snack on as the websites assured me it would. I got the fat from that and then dumped out the vat of chicken livers to broil it. Taylor's had snuck four chicken hearts in there to pad the outrageous bill (1.61) nice try Taylors. The liver bled and just generally looked disgusting and was not cooked in the requisite time. But I was wary of overcooking so we threw the rare livers in the cuisinart and pummeled them into a stinky paste. Then I cooked some diced onions in the schmaltz, salted and peppered, and sauteed the liver paste for a minute or two. Back into the cuisinart with three hard-boiled eggs and you have something that looks pretty gross. I have not yet tried it because it's supposed to sit in the fridge for a while. Last night I started fretting that I would somehow give the hanukah guests salmonella, so I will have to test it first tonight and see if I die. The liver seemed to be fully cooked by the end. I was right next to Teremok yesterday so I should have just run in and bought their chopped liver!

take that shit to the spicy personals!

Two reasons why this missed conn is the best evs
1)he is obviously on his laptop at the spaghetti factory
2)look for the typo

Taylor's market is the best!

Don't tell Cortis that I said that. I called earlier and they said they would sell me (or possibly just give me) chicken livers. And I just called back to ask about buying some chicken skins for schmaltz and they're going to hook me up! And their website says they have started selling framani stuff (hopefully the sausage and not just the salami) and Old Soul coffee.

booger + nilsson = love

This interview is so rad!

Be adequite

The band spankrock (that brew saw in SF last night) has a song called lindsay lohan that sez her vag looks like a "baby rat" and tells her to "put that pussy away". Funny. This tshirt was also making me laugh.

This Fortunato Brothers review is going to make some people I know mad and is also comple bullshit. Fortunato Bros has a great cappucino and I don't even really like cannoli but theirs is the best (guess what else is probably going to fall in quality because of NYs stupid trans fat ban? Cannoli.-If I lived there I would be rioting in the streets. I would have a lard-in in the mayor's office)

total melarkey

This article made me sad (except for the part about him wearing thrift stores clothes, which I am doing right now-not underwear, though). When did Melarkey's close? Does anyone have any ideas how many businesses have been in that spot and is it open now or totally closed? I can never understand why no club can stay open there because when I worked at Tower skanks would wobble over there all the time thinking it was the club.

This article also made me sad, mostly when I read about the Z Gallerie. The reporter mentions in the end that with the softening of the housing market the housing deal will probably take an eternity to work out. Does anyone have any info on how all the luxury lofts are renting or selling? I have a feeling by the time the twin towers and the Liebeskind condos are done that they are not going to have anyone to sell them to, but maybe I'm wrong.

Edokko 2: The return of the ramen.

Ricksha and Wakano Ura are both closed on monday (at least they didn't answer their phones around 2) so in search of Japanese comfort food I went to Edokko II on Florin you get on 5 south and get off at the 43rd ave exit, turn right onto Riverside and then left onto Florin and it's right there on your right. So good and so cheap! Unbelievably cheap. I got the mapo tofu ramen which was described as spicy tofu and ground pork. It was 6.75 and it was so giant I had to take some home. Me and GW split a large hot sake and it was 4.95. The place was filled up with cute families and everything that everyone was getting was very intriguing. I can't wait to go back and try more. Why can't New Edokko and Edokko 2 switch places?

Hey you guys, don't forget that the Jonathan Richman show is this saturday at Marilyn's. That is always a good time.

I'm making chopped liver for a Hanukah celebration I'm going to. Does anyone have a recommendation for where I can pick up a pound of chicken livers? Making schmaltz is so much work, I don't think I'm going to bother. Where am I supposed to get like four pounds of chicken skin?! Oy.

the horror

This disgusting thing is a breakfast item at Del Taco called a maple sausage rollup.

lost lost lost lost lost lost

I like the comments that you guys had going. I haven't posted because I'm using what free time I have to either a) think about lost or b)read stupid old lost messageboard threads. I just wish I had believed everyone at first when they said Lost was so good because now I have to read the old messageboards so as not to spoil everything for myself.

Fun weekend. Jaybiz's command performance kept the crowd in the palm of his hand. The walk-on duet with Neil Diamond was completely unexpected, Neil usually calls me when he is in town. Too bad Joel couldn't come to do his toasting part during white white wine. Holy shit! I was looking for the myspace page of jay and joel just now and ended up searching four eyes myspace and there is another band (person) named four eyes. The scary thing is that the song that played was called "becky demo" and I am just self-centered enough to think that it was about me, but the song is bizarre and sucks, so it couldn't be about me (no cracks!) Here is the Jay and Joel show page.

Saw Apocalypto. Mel Gibson is a sick fuck. The most disturbing thing about this movie for me was watching it with a bloodthirsty crowd that laughed at the violence. Also, when a guy's heart was cut out of his chest this middle-aged guy behind me kept saying "eat it" over and over.

Sampinos has continued its roll of good stuff. We got a rotisserie chicken and some corned beef. Both meats were delectable.

If anyone is going to make those bacon cookies, I'd leave out the syrup. Last year I left it out and they were more like bacon sugar cookies which was a better flavor than bacony ginger snaps.

pub rankings

OK, so I shelled out 3.99 for Sactown mag (you're welcome, JV). It's not bad. There is stuff to read and look at. There is a minimum of "I can't wait till Sac is cool and we can stop hanging our heads in shame" rhetoric or arena cheerleading. It is a giant step up from Sacramento magazine. I just had about 15 minutes to read it in my car, so maybe I'm mistaken, but the food coverage in this issue seemed to be mostly limited to blurbs about a bunch of local places. Oh, and one little feature on things that aren't on the menu that you can order in local restaurants (i.e. spaghetti with tuna at Bibas cuz Willie Brown used to order it). I think it needs more food writing, but maybe I skipped an article accidentally. There was nothing in it that made me cringe or roll my eyes. Overall, this is where I place it on my rankings of local pubs:
1)Sacramento News and Review
2)Midtown Monthly (slightly biased)
3)Alive and Kicking
4)SacTown
5)Sacramento Biz Journal
6)Because People Matter
7)The rantings of USA against racism
8)Senses
9)B.L. Kennedy's 60 page poem about the instant that Jim Morrison died
10)That graffiti in the alley behind the Java Lounge that says "Gett up off my nutts"
11)Sacramento magazine
12)The Sacramento Bee