Monday, October 27, 2008
New Radio Show is up
Hey, our latest installment of the Super Terrific Happy Hour is up on www.Breakthruradio.com We almost got fired trying to get this one together but we managed. I pretty much spent all of last weekend in a panic state.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Monday, October 20, 2008
Not to get ahead of myself
Yesterday we visited the retail store for Loyal Army in the Haight. I really felt motivated by the shop's existence and especially after reading about how the brand was established. As far as I know the owner never was a designer nor an industry insider. He simply had some cool little food sketches and he hooked up with a good biz partner. Anyway, their designs are simple, hand drawn and actually very cool and yes they cater to a very young crowd of girls and a subset of "cute" obsessed older girls. They are also located here in S.F. and they make everything here in the city and yet they manage to have reasonable prices. Then I read that this year they projected sales of $6 million. I'm not using that as a benchmark and no I'm not picking a Ferrari or anything quite yet. I'm just very enthusiastic in my quest to build a saleable and well branded clothing line. It's encouraging to see that if you do things right you can come out the other end on top. I think we have a lot of solid ideas for Fondu Victory and we're very close to leaping off the precipice. It's just nice that right now since we have no exposure we can sort of fine tune behind the scenes. Also I think I have a great group of peeps to work with.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Pot Pie Circus
This weeks mystery box of veggies turned up to be full of some tasty yum yums. I decided that with fall approaching it would be a delicious treat to make homemade pot pie. I felt like going the smallish individual sized route and i used a muffin pan to make 8 little individual pies, and WOW! They turned out better than I had expected. I used sage as the main herbal ingredient. Ok, the puff pastry was had from Whole Foods, and I did that because I will tell what. Making puff pastry dough is a bitch and takes a few hours to get the proper layering. Also the chicken was rotisserie also from W.F. as time was a factor. Enjoy!
Fast Forward to last night, Steph was invited to meet up with her LJ colorful girl posse at Teatre Zinzanni. Although I know of this place it's usually not a place I'd think of going as performance art type things are usually not my cup of tea. But I have to say for what it was, and for $20 a person it was pretty entertaining. Mind you we went to the late night edition so it's supposed to be more risque and dressing up is encouraged. Upon entering we were immediately wondering "who are these people" and "what era is this mode of dress supposed to represent?" After thinking about it I feel that it was supposed to evoke a sort of vaudevillian look. I think that after some thought I've decided that they we're going for a decidedly Far and Away meets Gangs of New York theme as some of the dudes, and one that Steph seemed especially concerned with until she found out he was balding, were dressed as 1800s bare knuckle boxers. Among the other groups represented we decided that there were swing dancing aficionados, Burning Man peeps, overzealous Anne Rice fans, and peeps that are way into burlesque. As for the talent on stage, we were treated to a girl that sang an ode to salty meats while showing us her pasty clad boobs. Then we got to see a very androgynous contortionist. Another classic was spoken word poetry in the guise of a Mexican gangster about Charlie Brown's lack of brown peeps appearing in the comic strip. The last act was another burlesque piece by a girl sitting on a cupcake and who had cupcakes on her boobs. Her stats according to her song were: 5ft even and 101 lbs. Though she made no reference to her bust and hips.
Fast Forward to last night, Steph was invited to meet up with her LJ colorful girl posse at Teatre Zinzanni. Although I know of this place it's usually not a place I'd think of going as performance art type things are usually not my cup of tea. But I have to say for what it was, and for $20 a person it was pretty entertaining. Mind you we went to the late night edition so it's supposed to be more risque and dressing up is encouraged. Upon entering we were immediately wondering "who are these people" and "what era is this mode of dress supposed to represent?" After thinking about it I feel that it was supposed to evoke a sort of vaudevillian look. I think that after some thought I've decided that they we're going for a decidedly Far and Away meets Gangs of New York theme as some of the dudes, and one that Steph seemed especially concerned with until she found out he was balding, were dressed as 1800s bare knuckle boxers. Among the other groups represented we decided that there were swing dancing aficionados, Burning Man peeps, overzealous Anne Rice fans, and peeps that are way into burlesque. As for the talent on stage, we were treated to a girl that sang an ode to salty meats while showing us her pasty clad boobs. Then we got to see a very androgynous contortionist. Another classic was spoken word poetry in the guise of a Mexican gangster about Charlie Brown's lack of brown peeps appearing in the comic strip. The last act was another burlesque piece by a girl sitting on a cupcake and who had cupcakes on her boobs. Her stats according to her song were: 5ft even and 101 lbs. Though she made no reference to her bust and hips.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Hi Ya Cuisine!!!!!!!!!
On Saturday it was Stephanie's pop's b-day and for his big day he was given the heads up by his restaurant owning buddy that they had a very hush-hush menu addition. That being 50 prized mitten or "hairy crabs" as they're known on the streets, my namesake, which are considered a delicacy to China peeps. Of that 50 we were responsible for consuming no less than 20. A happy birthday indeed. So, why is the consumption of this smallish and yes very hairy crab such a clandestine and covert affair in which diners might as well keep a place setting open for James Bond because it's so spy-tacular? The short answer is that it's illegal in the US. Yes contraband crab. Apparently it's a pretty rugged crab as it seems to be able to exist everywhere and is super competitive and thus fucks with local ecosystems. So the US and Europe consider it a pest, but one mans pest is another mans........ well you know.
As to the crabs themselves, well I found them to be quite yummy, especially with the ginger vinegar you douse it with. But one should know that I seemed to have ended up with the most perfect specimens from which to base that opinion. Mine were full of bright orange goo inside and pearly white meat. Steph's was black on the inside but she was told it's ok to eat but just not as good as mine. Sad. So I spilt the other with her. After I figured out that you pretty much have to get your hands all yucky in order to eat them and it was with great difficulty I resigned myself to that fate, and finally went to town, sucking meat and goo from the hollows of the now indescribably evicerated pieces and parts of this little fleecy footed crustacean. I must have looked expert in doing do, as it prompted Steph's mom to say "Oh, look Matt is Chinese!" It very much reminded me of the scene in Dune when Liet Kynes, the Imperial Planetologist, said to Paul, then still Atredies, "Your stillsuit is fitted desert fashion! Who taught you to do this?" to which paul replied "It seemed the proper way." Yes, I am very much like Paul Muad' Dib when it comes to crab eating.
Also an interesting fact about these crabs bearing in mind that these were flown in from China, under the radar and knowing China's current issues with the environment:
"The mitten crabs had exhibited a remarkable ability to survive in highly modified aquatic habitats, including polluted waters.[2] Like certain fish, they can also easily tolerate and uptake heavy metals, such as cadmium and mercury. Therefore, the farming and post-harvesting of the species needs proper management if it is used as a food."
A note to my doctor: "Dear Dr.______ The high levels of toxic metals in my blood are because of some delicious little crabs. No I have not been eating paint chips."
Saturday, October 4, 2008
All Showy
Last night we went with a couple of friends to see Sigur Ros at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley. It was a great show at a great venue. Shoegazing compliments of Iceland. It was rather fortunate because about halfway into the very last track it started pouring. Luck was on our side as far as the weather was concerned. Also parking was a breeze thanks to some kids opening up their parking spots in their very strange apartment/ commune. We ended up the night at Fuji-ya for a little late night ramen.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Hmmm, Yes, let's do go back to High School
With the upcoming release of Nick and Norah, Steph borrowed the book and I actually think it's pretty cool considering it's meant for an audience half my age. Anyway Steph asked me the other night if I could relate to Nick at all and I said "No, he's too cool!" Seriously, the way he's written, wow, that's a cool kid. So what was high school like for Hairy?
In High School Matt was an overly angry, very skinny, shy, nerdy kid who drove a mini van and was tortured by the fact that he knew more than anybody else in the world and refused listen to anybody’s sound advice. Girls were scary and to be avoided. Weekends consisted of driving around in the minivan late at night looking for grocery store parking lots to skate in, spelunking for change in order to eat taco bell, making homemade movies and videos (badly), working very hard to do as little homework as possible and still get A's on the test, formation of the "Cerebral Posse" which was sort of a special peoples club on wheels and thus likened the minivan to a short bus and all members were issued a helmet (we were not so PC), subsequent formation of the "Girl Maulers" in order to countermand the "ReBe-G's" insurrection, and last but not least we were proud to be the only band in our suburb using a Drum Machine. We were super innovative. We wanted nothing more than to be the second coming of Ministry. Oh how we tried. But regardless of how much of a nerd I was, or how utterly not cool my little circle friends was we still had the music, and we liked good music. Here's a lil snap shot of things that I was loving in High School. I think the main theme is: Matt's angry about something.
Ok, ok. I could seriously keep going all day. But I'll stop.
In High School Matt was an overly angry, very skinny, shy, nerdy kid who drove a mini van and was tortured by the fact that he knew more than anybody else in the world and refused listen to anybody’s sound advice. Girls were scary and to be avoided. Weekends consisted of driving around in the minivan late at night looking for grocery store parking lots to skate in, spelunking for change in order to eat taco bell, making homemade movies and videos (badly), working very hard to do as little homework as possible and still get A's on the test, formation of the "Cerebral Posse" which was sort of a special peoples club on wheels and thus likened the minivan to a short bus and all members were issued a helmet (we were not so PC), subsequent formation of the "Girl Maulers" in order to countermand the "ReBe-G's" insurrection, and last but not least we were proud to be the only band in our suburb using a Drum Machine. We were super innovative. We wanted nothing more than to be the second coming of Ministry. Oh how we tried. But regardless of how much of a nerd I was, or how utterly not cool my little circle friends was we still had the music, and we liked good music. Here's a lil snap shot of things that I was loving in High School. I think the main theme is: Matt's angry about something.
Ok, ok. I could seriously keep going all day. But I'll stop.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Music that I appreciate.
I love innovative musicians. I love experimentation. I love it when musicians try to go beyond an expected format. Sadly, I'm not as much of an elitist music nerd as I used to be. I was once able to recite an albums track listing in alphabetical order, as well as b-sides, euro release only 12" vinyl and what a band had for breakfast that morning. I'd study a bands equipment setups and enter into long debates on topics such as "what synth made that blip-blip noise." I once spent the ungodly sum of $20 on a rare import of the Cure's 3 Imaginary Boys album on TAPE when I was in High School. One of the coolest shows I ever went to was at the Knitting Factory in New York where I saw Glenn Branca leading an awesome guitar orchestra. Then came my iPod, and Limewire. I simply enter a bands name and I have all the tracks. I could care less who is in the band, or what the name of the tracks are. I am pathetic. However, this is not to bash the Digi-Music format. In fact in my current lazy years the MP3 has made my life a whole lot easier as well as saved me a ton of money, and not to mention space in my house because I don't have to have all kinds of CDs cluttering up the place. I'm just saying I don't have to work as hard for my musical taste anymore. Anyway, Steph and I are going to Sigur Ros on Friday night at the Greek in Berkeley. Mind you, we're still very, very cool.
Anyway, at least these guys are out there caring enough about music to make it exciting and different. I appreciate them immensely.
Anyway, at least these guys are out there caring enough about music to make it exciting and different. I appreciate them immensely.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
