mea culpa for rumor spreading

Have you ever been to Cuffs? It has a nice mix of vintage and new stuff. I got a button up new that I LOVE. Short sleeve, grey, tiny white polka dots. They are having a sale and here are a couple of cute things. Both of these would mostly be good for palm springs. I may have to buy the bottom one and just wear it to non-special events.

 

More importantly, I have a bit of a mea culpa or a setting the record straight-type situation. I met in a small group with a lieutenant in the sac pd, and one who is in charge of nighttime dispatch on weekends and other nights. She came to talk about the crimes. Some facts: 1) the talk of the rape and the beating are the same incident, not 2 separate ones The dispatch log bears this out

 

2)This is treading on dicey territory, but let's just say the rape  investigation is ongoing. It may not pan out. Which is a weird thing to say, but it seems to be a statement on solid ground.

 

I hope this does not fuel the rumor mill.

 

So basically what it comes down to is the purse snatching where the assailant pepper sprayed the woman, which was right by my house. Really bad and this scares me, but it's not something that would really cause an outcry as a (hopefully) isolated incident.

 

Even better, she showed us actual statistics on the crimes in the midtown/downtown area over the last couple of years and every category of crime is down. She said that sacpd took that rash of robberies and shooting in late 2012 very seriously and created an extra team of cops that patrols at night around the area, sometimes undercover.

 

The streetlight thing is a city issue, so some of us in the neighborhood may try to pursue that. She highly recommends motion-detector floodlights. Of course this only addresses burglary, which is not my big concern.

 

As far as walking alone  at night, the police advice is always to view the situation as a criminal would, so there really isn't an argument that a woman alone at night isn't  more vulnerable. That doesn't mean an individual woman can't choose to assess her risks (which these statistics help with) and make her own choices. Most activities carry some risk (skiing, climbing a ladder, driving), so one can take measures to minimize but each person decides their acceptable level. I say this as a safety professional.

 

My plan is to alter a bit, and keep my exercise walking separate (and early) from my getting somewhere  needs. I plan to ride my bike more to destinations and walk less. As the days get longer I will walk more places. I already sometimes walk somewhere early and then if I stay out late take a cab home. Now that bows is closed I have lost my favorite place to walk anyways.

liquid swords

Wow, GZA Liquid Swords. Bought it on iTunes today. Used to be on constant rotation along with (ha) Dr. Octagon. It makes me think of JB, is that a false memory? I even got into watching kung fu movies for a bit like that classic series Lone Wolf and Cub. Think I'm gonna mix in a mini set of East Coast into Heckarap on Wednesday.  We got guest DJ Swiftumz for some DEEP ASS Bay Area cuts. Looks like our March night might have guest DJ Tyler Pop straight outta Berlin.

wu tan clan ain't nothing to eff with

NH told me that Wu Tang holds up and boy does it. Unlike anything on, say, No Limit. I will listen to Liquid Swords soon too. I loved that record so much! It's so rad that they took inspiration in numerology and martial arts and shit. it's so much more creative than just rapping about money and hating on women. and the coherence of the production, too. maybe there IS some good east coast rap.

that artmix prom thing is Thursday with best summer ever band. that sounds rad but I have an SNR beerweek story thing. the one time this week I have something planned, figures.

larry now has Friday night at sidetraxxxx and it's really fun. I sure like going out on a Friday as opposed to a sunday and I love sidetraxx. check it out.;

fun facts

Super good stuff from The Big Payback, the book about the business of hip hop:

Ice T rolling up in the back of a Rolls Royce to a music convention where there were tons of protestors, including lots of cops from Texas, rolling down the window and flipping them the bird. Then driving away.

How the RZA negotiated one of the best record deals in history, which gave the right for all the members to put out solo records on whatever label they wanted. Also, the fact that they made all the money from their products including Wu Wear stores (which I forgot about!)

Puffy in general. Starting out at like 17. I mean, what do you expect when he got his name from  having a Puffed-up personality? Didn't know that he was regarded by many street artists as representing a bad/glossy trend in hip hop, which has turned out to be more than a trend. Suge Night made some crack at the Source Awards about how you wouldn't see him dancing around in a video.

The beef between Tupac and Biggie seems to be due to a misunderstanding where Tupac was shot in a building where Biggie and Puffy were recording and concluded Biggie was behind it.

Most record executives and magazine editors (including Source and Vibe) were white, and mostly Jewish. Not saying this is good, it's just a fact. But many of them really, really championed rap and unfortunately had more clout to do so.

avoiding writing by writing

Ugh, I have to work sick today! That has rarely ever happened to me because usually I could move things around easily in my old job.

I was looking at the reddit thread about the rash of gnarly crimes around my house (right about the late time I was getting dropped off by a friend at my house a woman was being raped in the bushes one block away) and I also saw a thread about my block butcher bar post on foodways. I was stoked to see it linked and discussed but the only comments are super negative. I guess if you don't know me or my writing or the tone we are going for with foodways that would be your first reaction. also if you are a dork that is into reddit.

but, fair enough. if you have ever written jokes you know that it is very difficult to tell if a joke is funny when you write it. and I know that some of mine are definitely groaners, which maybe I should take out. And I never get edited as far as jokes. But I'm not gonna change and I guess it's better to be talked about than not talked about. Ryan and Rodney want me involved and we started the website together so I gotta stay true to myself and our vision.

But the thing that bugs me is that the three discussions I've seen lately about my writing(2 on fb and one on reddit) I've been accused of not knowing what I'm talking about. I can say that after ten years of writing about food that a lot of the time (not all! I cop to my flaws!) that I fucking know what I'm talking about! I don't know how you prove that to people. and one of course was about writing about rap, which I also know a lot about (at least the rap from late 90s/early 2000s).

I am wrestling with the urge to answer back right now but I will sit on the comment a few hours and maybe not post it. You can't get the last word and as long as I stay off local media I probably won't even hear it, although NM did text a screenshot of it to me last night. A comment where someone said I was probably a tattooed douche from Roseville.

I am not fishing for any praise, cereal. I get a lot of positive reinforcement, too.  I am just voicing my struggle to not feed the trolls and attempt to get an even thicker skin. And also avoiding the piece I need to write for news and review right fucking now.

Also I should keep in mind that people also trolled the thread started by the guy who trying to warn people that his friend had been beaten up in my neighborhood so grain of salt.

here's one of the non-troll comments, which makes me sad. there is also another one about how a guy who lives in oak park and works near barwest has seen exponentially more violence in midtown

"Yeah, I moved up here from Oakland and everyone I meet here is all "don't you feel safer here?"; hell no, I've seen stupider shit in Midtown than I ever did in Oakland (with the exception of the ass who shot at me while trying to run me over because he didn't think cyclists should be on the road)."

CoHoHoPhoBro

I know you guys are reading, but you are being very quiet. shhhh....

The Barnseyard is back! But different! But better? DB and MC have launched an exciting new movie blog that's going to be really interactive. They are starting their screening series with three different Antonioni movies, which is three Antonioni movies too many. Just watch half of one and you will get the gist. The post on the history of the e street film society is really funny.

I am feeling sick and thought pho sounded good but I am in (fucking) Davis so where to go? The CoHo offers horrible pho, kind of a CoHoHoPho situation if you will. I recently noticed that there is a Pho King 4 in Davis. It could have been there forever for all I know - I just assume all food in Davis is terrible so I don't pay much attention. But I love Pho King 2 in Sac and perhaps it is related?

I walked over there and got seated upstairs in a disgusting carpeted dining room. I get a large pho, which was really a medium as the sizes go small large extra large. I got the steak (note I did not say "rare steak", which is not on offer and the steak is a million miles from rare when it arrives) and brisket. I would not risk getting tendon at an unfamiliar place.

There was a meager plate of thai basil and a few bean sprouts to accompany the pho, the broth of which mostly tasted like salt. The noodles were fine. The meat was brown and meat-ish flavored. I put a bunch of cock sauce in it and it was passable but I won't be eating there again. If it is related to Pho King 2 it is clearly falling prey to the flavor vortex under the causeway that pulls all the goodness out of food.

I'm curious to know what DB thinks of Kiss Me Stupid, the Billy Wilder movie. Dean Martin is pretty funny in it (his toast: drink up and be somebody) but I read that it was supposed to be made with Marilyn Monroe and Jack Lemmon instead of Kim Novak and Ray Winston. Ray Winston really kind of ruins the movie. Anyone else seen it?

do it!

Mother last night was great. I had the nutburger, which is really similar to the sunflower one. Heaven, since I rarely make it to the Sunflower. I also had the okra snack, which is awesome, and the deep fried  mushrooms, which taste and feel like oysters. Can't wait till they get beer! Then we finished it off with those motherfucking cookies of my dreams.

Don't forget the Tet festival this weekend! I hope the food is good, but if not you could always browse around and then go eat somewhere around there. Perfect time to go to the banh xeo place way south cuz you will be out of the intense zone. Try the baby clam dish I MEAN IT.

nachos

And just like that my feelings about writing take a turn! I had the most inspirational night last night at Lowbrau. I met Ryan D. and Juli B. about the website and to shoot some stuff and do some interviews there (watch for a 2 part post this week and next week that is going to rule). I am very excited about some goings-on.

Juli writes for the SNR and now Edible and now Foodways (I hope) and she is a really awesome young woman. Smart as a whip. Ryan, is well Ryan (j.k. Ryan!) Then after some great brews and cocktails (nice gin cocktail whipped up for us and then a Faction Triple IPA) and snacks, Phil and Marilyn Eisenberg show up and inspire me again to hopefully be like them when I am their age. Always exploring and excited about something, not to mention cute as a button. They were excited about Yang's Noodles and said a Chinese friend took them. They said it was exactly like eating in China. They also love Mother and have been going all the time.

Then we went to 58 degrees to pick up two bottles of wine that the manager there had recommended to us as "Michele wines" which is pretty awesome if you know what that means. I had a weird and not so great flatbread (it was ok, it had a ton of wild mushrooms but didn't cohere as a dish) and a good glass of cab franc.

I also had a perfect Midtown morning the other day. Stoked on Sac right now as long as I block out facts such as the Kings throwing in 500,000 on a 150 MILLION DOLLAR streetcar project. What percentage is that? 3 percent is that right? I am also LOVING how NIMBY east sac is to stop McKinley Village. I hope it works. I could not make it to the meeting.

 On a brighter note, EH made these nachos for superbowl viewing snacks. CH take note.

On that same day, this is what I had for breakfast at Lalo's along with a Mamey liquado. Diet of champions!

more navel gazing

aw man, last night of Bows was EPIC! I miss it already. It was so cool to see OC ride it out with a smile. She knows she's destined for good things.

I stepped down as associate editor of edible. It was a position I created and now I don't imagine anyone else will fill it. (not saying that someone couldn't! just that mags don't need one) There have been a lot of transitions and the new style of workflow isn't working for me. I still want to contribute and I'm not one to burn bridges and I was worried that some of the headbutting was going to do that.

But more than that it reflects a decrease in my passion for writing about food and writing in general. I've been doing this for a long time and I've written about hundreds of places and I've covered all my favorite places pretty extensively. Sure, a new place that I'm excited about opens here and there (like Yang's!) but as I've mentioned before after so many years of not being able to hit up my favorite places I'm pretty excited to just patronize the same handful of my faves. I thoroughly enjoyed Lalo's yesterday but is there a single angle of Lalo's that I and others haven't explored? I would say no. (PS always have to add that I was first on that scene).

Mendick is a good writer and obviously more passionate about exploring "ethnic" stuff than I have been in over a year and his multiracial heritage contributes to the depth of his knowledge as well. His latest missive hurt my tender feelings a bit. I will just be confident and think that when he says "most writers" he is not talking about me. And his point is super well-taken. Although me saying that will maybe hurt other food writer's feelings (those that read). But he is a brash young buck building his name on the tiny scene.

I think trumpeting that Ayah! blog is a little premature but I hope the dude keeps it up. His latest post is on Quan Nem, a place which I also promoted first, which later led to a BAR review. I'm not saying it was a straight line from my writing to his, I think I helped to get it burbling in the zeitgeist. Despite the iron-clad power of the Bee the patrons are still 90% Vietnamese, which I guess is apropos of nothing. Hey that guy says that on the blog, too!

Sorry to make you say "jesus h. Christ becky you are a piece of work" but I am an excellent self-horn-tooter which has worked well for me in my freelancing and my real work. Ya gotta have confidence, and mine has been hard-won over time.

Anyway, thinking a lot about why I write and why it feels forced and has for more time than I realized until recently. One of the things I'm way past deadline for for edible is the back of the house text for the press bistro. I couldn't think of a place to do that with (I did Maalouf's for the last issue) so I settled for a place that is fine, but where I never go, mostly because of the prices. I think it's solid and have had good times there recently. But I have no passion for it so I feel guilty all the time about blowing deadline. Hopefully I will write it this week?

Anyways, sacfoodways is way more my speed and I think last week was not good enough as far as what I contributed and will try to do better this week. I have been working 9 hour days with no breaks at my job.

mother

I was thinking I was dying and I called Scott and we figured out that our new coffee filters caused us to both overdose on caffeine. Seriously! We made coffee at a different time so that's why we had to talk about it on the phone. I was like "I feel insane, my hands are going numb". The filter ran really slow and so my giant cup of chemex light roast coffee has poisoned me and I can't really do my work today. It sucks! My vision looks blurry and shit. Laugh if you must.

 God, that picture above makes me laugh. Their brand is called "If You Care". What kind of passive-aggressive hippy shit it that?!?!

"Oh, what? You bought Mellitta brand filters? I guess you just don't care about Mother Earth, huh"

"You didn't use If You Care Cheesecloth? Why don't you just throw mercury down the sewers because you obviously don't give a shit about anyone except yourself"

 I ate at Mother last night! This was dessert omg. Fucking salted sage brown butter cookies.

We got quite a bit of food for three people as you can see. I especially loved the ricotta dumplings. Great meal and fun, chill experience. I'm stoked they are going to start table service soon

bun b sadness

There are 3 things you can count on: death, taxes, and that my coworkers will want to get burgers when we go out to lunch.

I am about to begin a week of forced sobriety because I will be on-call after hours for a week. Crazy. There is very little chance I will have to do anything but I have to be ready to drive to Davis at any time.

I can't believe that Bun B and Kirko Bangz are playing in the Bay the exact same day I'll be in Big Sur. What are the odds that they would play a huge city on a SUNDAY?!? On Saturday I would have been able to go. Bun B is one of my top five rappers. I kinda wanna cry when I think about this so I will try not to. Of course Big Sur wins out that goes without saying.

I posted about the baconfest judging on SacFoodways.

four eyes show on Saturday at bow. it's their last show. you better go. I am missing both dj mustard and urijah faber's fight to be in attendance. I'm hoping maybe the pourhouse will be playing it. do they even have tvs? it sucks that so many things are on the same night since I have nothing to do all week including Friday. but I can't wait for the four eyes show!!

baconfest

Gucci Mane's Trap God is one of my favorite mixtapes and my favorite thing he's ever put out. It's consistent and not too long. Download it on datpiff if you're interested.

Baconfest judging was way more fun this year as the panel was less bro-ey and more friendly. Fun to hang with Thiemann. Fun to sip the delicious bourbon I brought and see that everyone loved it. I ate a tiny snack beforehand and then 36 courses with bacon and then obviously nothing else the rest of the day. I am so salt-bloated today. Most of the bacon was too salty. The scandal is there were many dishes that I loved, and also the non-traditional face bacon (which won), but I wasn't passionate about ANY of the plain bacons. A lot of them didn't come out warm or hot, which is key with bacon cuz when the fact congeals or it gets tough it loses its appeal. Don't tell anyone but I still like Oscar mayer traditional the best. I just do not like thick cut bacon. I want to see through my bacon.

I only guessed a couple of the chefs, but Thiemann guessed every goddamn one simply by their cooking. Impressive. The best dish went to a woman named Rachel something who is the chef at Revolution Wines! Incredible. I guess I will have to go there, although can I bring my own wine? The dish was bacon on a crostini with a white wine reduction with brie (it didn't have a strong brie taste), brussel spouts and trumpet mushrooms. More creative than the average dish by a mile and coherent despite the long list of ingredients.

Gnocchi from the guy at Lucca (I think) was delicious as well for the excellent gnocchi. I want to go there and order more gnocchi. He won best in show, and Thiemann thinks he's a super good chef. Who the fuck knew?

I also thought both of these dishes would have been better without the bacon! Ha!

women still make 77 cents on the dollar

I had a couple of really thought-provoking incidents in the last 24 hours. One was that, during a meeting yesterday with a powerful committee (won't say what), the head of the committee, a male (who is awesome), turned to my supervisor (female) and thanked her for taking minutes. Not that big a deal except he followed it up with the statement that somehow at every meeting he's ever been at, a female ends up taking this duty.

Next to my supervisor was a man who is her equivalent, who has a different position but one that is not superior, and he has never been asked to take minutes, nor can I picture that happening. The only time my boss didn't do it was once when I volunteered, just to give her a break, because she has MANY more important things to do.

Then, this morning I listened to the TED talk by Sheryl Sandburg, the woman that wrote Lean In. That book has been discussed amongst my friends since it came out. This talk did not really focus on child-related issues, but the book does. Those aren't an issue for me, although it's an important issue.

She talked about how women are perceived as bossy or aggressive for behaving the same way men do in the workplace. This has become such a cliché that I don't think people take it seriously. One of the only doubts I have about my ability to advance career-wise pertains to the chance that I might be perceived as too aggressive. I know that I'm well-liked at work, which goes a long way, but I wonder if a man who was as outspoken as I am would worry about that? That's what's so hard about these issues - it's impossible to know.

She talked about how when people think about these issues, men and women, they can take steps to counteract some of them. Even in small ways, like not letting women take all the seats on the side of the room when a conference table is full. My department makes an obvious effort to hire women and is headed by a women, and my previous workplace was pretty much female-run.

If it's not blatant, it comes through in these insidious small ways like the taking of the minutes somehow seeming like a female job. I try to do the best I can to be outspoken and assertive. I have volunteered multiple times to speak in front of groups and give presentations in meetings. I even sometimes wear shoes with heels which make me about six feet tall, especially in a situation where I might be dealing with an intimidating male (which happens quite a bit). My job makes me happy I have that height, I'm not sure if you petite ladies out there have ever felt it to be a hindrance?

Anyway, lots of thoughts

no pink

I am looking for a pencil pouch to use at work and there are some fairly scathing reviews of this one on Amazon. Two people were very upset that their son got a pink one without realizing it. I guess the pink shame still continues today. Needless to say I won't be buying this shoddy pouch, although the fear of pink is not a factor.

weekend hijinks and shenanigans

Wow, pretty raging weekend. I wish I could have another 3 day weekend to have a completely non-raging weekend. This weekend is not shaping up to be non-raging, at least because of the !!! show and maybe something else I'm forgetting. Probably.

Friday I went to the Mother I-refuse-to-say-soft-opening. I can't wait to get their chile verde again and the desserts were off the chain. They did a last minute waldorf salad that was really good too. They opened yesterday so I wonder how that went. I think just for lunch and it was a state holiday. No offense to any state workers reading (I am one too) but they can be pretty harsh and don't expect to spend much. The Master Of The Woods kombucha was also delicious. I heard they are going to tone down the pepper but I hope they don't.

more after the jump

repectfully disagree

Rankings are rankings, and two people rarely agree, but I just have to say woahwoahwoah to any top ten ranking of Pho that does not include Pho Saigon. JM seems to be somewhat partial to chicken pho, which is Pho Anh Dao's specialty. That's why it gets so crazy, for some reason the rare Vietnamese restaurants that specialize in chicken pho are always hella crowded and often "sell out". I've seen PAD close early because of it. I don't like chicken pho - I find it to be bland. It tastes like something you would eat when you're sick. He does mention the beef pho there, i'm not sure I've had it.

I am a creature of habit when it comes to pho and 80% of the time I go to Pho Saigon. The Pho at Huong Lan is not bad. I don't think Pho Xe Lua can measure up to Saigon. I don't think Pho Bac can, either, although I have an old-school love of the Bac. And Star Ginger is pretty out of left field. I don't hate on Star Ginger, but I haven't tried their pho. Again, chicken pho is not really pho to me.

And Pho Saigon Bay suuuuxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ox pizzle

I enjoyed the article for what I learned about pho but I respectfully disagree with the rankings.

warms my heart

 These pics are out of order here. But anyway, we went to Yang's Noodles on Stockton last night, as recommended by MH on Sacramento Foodways (linked at right) and beautifully photographed by RD. Also AMR had reviewed it as News and Review but that one flew by  me a bit.

more after the jump

like wha?

Now that I can't tweet, I just have to say my tweets to Scott. It's not the same. Here was one, but he was doubtful that anyone else besides me has this problem:

There should have a name for the disorder when you can't estimate how much salad to make for two people.

I had to eat so much salad just so he would stop busting my chops about how much salad I made and there was still salad left. This is a the cruel world I live in.

There's a glowing piece in the Bee today about Thiemann's restaurant Mother. Pretty exciting. I hope you guys read that review of that weird Oak Park place Arthur Henry's Supper Club. I like that something opened there but when I heard that concept I was like, "wha?!"

Here's more gripping information about me besides the salad thing: I thought I would read more books when I stopped subscribing to the New Yorker but instead I am just watching more crappy TV. Didn't see that one coming. I have been reading this Philip K Dick book with an Abraham Lincoln replicant in it for a while. Even though the book is funny I think I'm avoiding it a little bit. Recommendations?

todd barry guys

I've been neglecting heckasasc because of stupid facebook. I hate my phone. It's a weird modern phenomenon that scott pointed out. hating and loving a stupid thin rectangular thing that sits in your purse/pocket.  Being beholden to this constant stimulus. I am not exactly treading new ground here. Smiller pointed out that since I understand better than some exactly why this appeals to the human brain and becomes addictive I should maybe be better at dealing with it. I can't believe that I actually got busted texting in the front at a four eyes show. that is really really insane. yeah, it was people who needed to know how to get there but they either would have found it by texting someone else or I could have checked it during like a bathroom break or something.

so I'm going to check facebook less, I just deleted fb and twitter from my phone (not that I check twitter any more anyway) and luckily I have never figured out what the hell instagram is for even though I recently found out that friends have tagged me "hundreds of times".

Excited about the Halloween show! I didn't think I could think of a band and then within minutes I did and it was happening. The idea of being up there with a band rather than solo is a huge relief.

I'm djing the no bunny show on sunday. Matinee show starting at 5. I'm stoked I have the next day off so I can go to soul night after. I really want to spend 9 hours at the press apparently. rap seems weird at this show for sure but I asked NB and he said he's "down with the hippity hop". I offered a bubblegum/power pop set but he said rap. I will keep it light and silly with songs such as Laffy Taffy.

Friday/Saturday is Todd Barry. I might go to both since I paid for Friday and got passes for Saturday. It depends on the set.

polly want a sauce

So the REAL story of the Round Table at Round Table was not the Halloween show theme (ho hum) but the fact that the Round Table in Old Sac has the Polynesian Sauce. I was simply browsing the round table menu online (as you do) when I noted that they said that some locations did not have this sauce. That intrigued me, so I ordered a side of it. The guy behind the counter said "one side of Polly sauce" and that made me feel cool.

 It is sweet and spicy and everyone could not get enough of it. Smiller claimed he did not like it but you wouldn't have known it from how he was dipping his pizza in it (heh). Charles liked it so much he double dipped! Of course he did. All in all it was the hit of the round table at the square table at round table.

Halloween Show 2014

Matt S. is now in charge of the Halloween blog. I think he is just going to make a new one. He will probably get it up soon. Please for the love of miller don't just play this out on fb. It will make him sad (enraged).

spike jonze

If anyone reads this on Saturdays, there are two excellent art openings tonight, both starting at 6. Tim White has a new painting in a group show at Elliot Fouts and Future Art Notables have a show, "Gal Pals" at Delta Workshop. I really like Delta Workshop so that's a good reason to go, too.

Man, getting more and more bummed on Bows closing. I wish I had gone there a bit more. Sometimes it would fall of my radar a little bit, but everything does that. I had this phase of going to Lowbrau constantly and then not for like two months and now am back to occasionally. Aren't my habits fascinating psych.

There's a No Bunny show in Sac on the 19th. Starts at 5, which is awesome for a sunday show. Although the next day is a holiday so I will be going to soul night for sure. if you haven't been, I'd say that it's the most sac dance night perhaps next to old school lipstick. mixed races, mixed ages, sweaty crowd, it's awesome. speaking of dance nights, an old blogpost post (4 years but it seems like longer) about oh dang surfaced recently. Those ladies (and Rafter) really killed it with that thing. I only went to like 1 or 2 and didn't really cut loose, but it was packed with people having a super good time. Now I know how hard this is to pull off. One thing they did right was only had it a few times a year. I should do that with heckarap but since they want us to do it more and it's fun I have been caving on that. We have one in Feb and March.

Also, quite a few of the people behind making oh dang so rad have moved away. But really wow. The trip to me is how many of these people I didn't really know or barely knew that I know now. Probably mostly through OC.

I saw Her last night. I really liked it. Very thoughtful movie. ScarJo was actually perfect for the role of the disembodied voice. I used to think she was a terrible, stiff actress. She's better now but the fact that I thought this was her best acting ever shows that I think it's more her stiff or artificial physicality that makes her not as good as she could be. Maybe she'll grow into it. Maybe her stunning looks and the fact that people have been staring at her probably since she was a teen contribute to this?

My favorite thing about it was how, because she was a disembodied voice, there romance was much more talking and laughing than just having sex, which is shorthand for love in most movies. Think about how romantic some woody allen movies are and what's his most iconic love scene ever (and not only his most but any group of critics would agree probably one of the top 5 romantic movie moments in film)? Alvy and Annie Hall laughing in the kitchen when the lobster escapes. Those moments are really what a relationship is about. If you can't laugh and talk forever you are screwed. Scott and I just chatting about comic strips can be my favorite part of the day. BTW, Crankshaft is having a really shitty storyline right now where he is joking about using agent orange and napalm on weeds. wow, insensitive. luann it having a gross story line about blueballs. why isn't she having sex with her boyfriend? she's in college.

I can't help but compare Spike Jonze really favorably to Wes Anderson. They both have fussy visual styles but Jonze doesn't let his overwhelm the movie and make it feel precious. And the music doesn't overwhelm either. Anderson tries to use songs as shortcuts to emotion and it's cheap. I loved Rushmore just as much as anyone else, and liked the last one, but his movies are not very affecting.

round table approacheth, my lady

Show tonight at Bows! Audacity/2014/Croissants/another Burger Band. This is our month to say goodbye to Bows, which is very very sadmaking.

I haven't had a drink in 5 days. That probably happened some time in the last few years but not more than a time or two. I just need to lower my tolerance a little to save money (jk). Doesn't feel that different but my face is less puffy although I doubt anyone would notice except me. I think when I'm in the bag I always get dehydrated.

Not only did I eat roundtable last night (which is a sure sign I had to stay late at work) but the first Round Table at Round Table at the round table of 2014 is this weekend. At this point I don't really have a dog in the fight. Well, two: I don't want a theme that will overly encourage 90s bands, and I would like to do M.I.A.

Don't forget to check sacramentofoodways and "like" us on facebook to get post reminders! We are going gangbusters for only being a week old.

yonce

Here are some stats for ya: 406,798 pageviews, 3194 posts

That's right, suckas, I'm closing in on 10 years of heckasac and only a pube's breadth (which is different than pube breath) away from 500,000 pageviews. I never noticed this stat before. 

And now you, all half million readers, are waiting to hear what I think of the Beyonce album. I love Drunk In Love as much as anyone else, I'm human after all. I was very happy to see that Hype Williams directed it. It was especially good to see something from him after seeing Belly to remind me that he can actually direct as long as it doesn't entail anything more complicated than walking in slow motion while a song plays.  NH observed that Jay Z does look like he's actually drunk and I agree with her.

I really like Yonce and was thinking I might play it at Heckarap. It was fun picking out all the people in No Angel but I really only recognized Paul Wall and Bun B. The video with the skinheads and moshing kind of embarrassed me and was kind of awesome.

There are finally a couple of good shows this week. Audacity/2014/Croissants at Bows on Tuesday. Black to the Future and Charles Albright Band on Thursday at Press. I don't know who this Charles Albright is but I read in the news and review that he has something to do with the arena plan, so I'm going to go protest at the show. I am also collecting signatures so that we can bring his existence to a vote on the ballot. My only problem is that so many people want to vote this guy out of existence that I have to keep replacing my front door...because everyone keeps knocking it down! 

snapseed to icloud to wordpress

I've become the person who is sitting here with a laptop and two cellphones (one is for work). How did this happen? It's because of freelancing for three pubs (including foodways) and because i like everyone else am addicted to my iphone. I also just bought beats by dre earbuds (which horrifyingly do not seem to be that much better than regular ones!) and a jbl flip speaker thing that uses bluetooth to communicate with my phone so i can listen to mostly podcasts and maybe some music in my kitchen while I cook.

I am currently struggling to upload my snapseed food photos to icloud so I can insert them into a wordpress post. My god. PS it's not working. Has anyone else heard of snapseed? I read about it in saveur. It's an app specifically for making food photos look better. I have to improve mine so they look nice enough to be on foodways with all those good photographers.

well, I give up. I am going to s.s.' house to taste some sriracha-style sauce for a piece she is writing and then to pick up crabs for a dinner tonight. I accomplished nothing.

sacramento foodways is born

Happy New Year! For me it doesn't feel like things are back to normal, at least work-wise, because the quarter still hasn't started so I can't get back into the full swing. I am really ready so I will be glad after the 6th.

Let's not talk about New Year, or the holidays, let's move on! Sacramento Foodways is a new website about, uh, food.  Check it out. I like the name - it was Ryan D's idea. He said I was not allowed to come up with something that had "sac" in the name, understandably enough. I will just have to wait until I launch my website about lunch: The Lunch Sac. We are working stuff out right now but I think it will settle in nicely soon. I'm very excited that MH is going to write for it. Stay tuned!

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.