Steph and I spent the greater part of the day in Palo Alto doing stuff. That's because we get shit done yo! Anyway, In lieu of finding and settling on bedroom furniture today, which was the impetus for this trip, I opted to buy a really sweet cast Iron skillet today. Noice!
Next, we're driving by town and country and I spy out of the corner of my eye a fancy pink little shop called Kara's Cupcakes. I said "Hey, did you know that was there?" She said "No." I said "Ya want to go." She said "I'm kind of into it." So I made an awesome U-ey at the light and there we were at this splendidly thought out cupcakery. Now, there is another spedidly thought out cupcakery in Emeryville and it is sucky. Would this be all style and no substance? We perused the menu. What to have, what to have. There were several flavors but we settled on one we'd probably not usually get. The epic Meyer Lemony Lemon and holy fuck was that a delicious cupcake. The frosting was more creamy than sweet and for sure didn't have that usual hardened effect that befalls a typical buttercream. The cake was moist and very, very tasty. And as a treat there was a dollup of Meyer lemon cream in the center. The flavors were super balanced and nothing about it tasted fake and therefore un-fun to eat.
Perhaps soon we'll find the bedroom furniture equivalent of one of Kara
s Cupcakes that would truly turn our Gnome loft into a Shangri La of our own?
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Friday, January 30, 2009
T-Shirts and more T-Shirts
Yesterday one my cohorts, Alex, and I were at the Fondu Victory lab working on some screens. We had to test the burn time and see how the line work came out. It seems like we nailed it. 4-5 minutes. The lines came out perfectly. Next up is our test prints.
Also, not to get ahead of ourselves but it seems like it's a cool thing to do to name your studio. At least in the recording world it is. So why not the screen printing world? So what if we call it the "Fondu Pot?" It seems like this would give us an edge.
On a different but very similar note a buddy is the owner/ designer of The Official Crown of Laurel. They make hats and such. Anyway, one of bestys, Anand is real, real good friends with that dude. So they formed a little side business that Anand runs. It's called Complete by Official and they're using Official's Chinese connections and factory to produce some amazing looking, high quality t-shirts. The thing about it is that Complete isn't a clothing line. Rather it's a wholesale merchandising plan. You can get shirts for $6.50 apiece for four colors including sewn in tags and packaging. That's unheard when using stateside screen printers. In a sense it's kind of sad selling out US manufacturing but WTF? You just can't beat $6.50 if you're trying to make a good margin in the fashion game. There's a minimum order of 300. Needless to say I'm helping Anand out with Complete a little bit. If ya know anyone who wants 300 shirts made lemme know. If ya want less than 300 we can do it in the "Fondu Pot" awww yeahhh! Anyway I told Alex I'd take some pics of the Complete shirt examples.
Also, not to get ahead of ourselves but it seems like it's a cool thing to do to name your studio. At least in the recording world it is. So why not the screen printing world? So what if we call it the "Fondu Pot?" It seems like this would give us an edge.
On a different but very similar note a buddy is the owner/ designer of The Official Crown of Laurel. They make hats and such. Anyway, one of bestys, Anand is real, real good friends with that dude. So they formed a little side business that Anand runs. It's called Complete by Official and they're using Official's Chinese connections and factory to produce some amazing looking, high quality t-shirts. The thing about it is that Complete isn't a clothing line. Rather it's a wholesale merchandising plan. You can get shirts for $6.50 apiece for four colors including sewn in tags and packaging. That's unheard when using stateside screen printers. In a sense it's kind of sad selling out US manufacturing but WTF? You just can't beat $6.50 if you're trying to make a good margin in the fashion game. There's a minimum order of 300. Needless to say I'm helping Anand out with Complete a little bit. If ya know anyone who wants 300 shirts made lemme know. If ya want less than 300 we can do it in the "Fondu Pot" awww yeahhh! Anyway I told Alex I'd take some pics of the Complete shirt examples.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
I Digg Stuff
So yeah, this post is utterly useless an not entertaining in any way. It's merely a way to play around with Digg buttons so I can add them to SpiceOdyssey.org posts.
However, I did have a nice China peeps New Years with Steph fam at Fuki Sushi in Palo Alto. It was delicious. I had Hamachi neck and shared beers with her dad. So I guess this post wasn't useless afterall. I was able to relay a meaningful event in my life.
Also, I really like all this time travel business on Lost. Outside Dune, Zombies, Post Apocalyptic Orwellian-esque stories I would say Time Travel stuff is really what intrigues me.
I gotta stop eating these fucking cupcakes. They turned out pretty good after a day. What was I thinking?
Somebody promise to off me if I'm caught wearing high waisted jeans or pants. Ugh!
However, I did have a nice China peeps New Years with Steph fam at Fuki Sushi in Palo Alto. It was delicious. I had Hamachi neck and shared beers with her dad. So I guess this post wasn't useless afterall. I was able to relay a meaningful event in my life.
Also, I really like all this time travel business on Lost. Outside Dune, Zombies, Post Apocalyptic Orwellian-esque stories I would say Time Travel stuff is really what intrigues me.
I gotta stop eating these fucking cupcakes. They turned out pretty good after a day. What was I thinking?
Somebody promise to off me if I'm caught wearing high waisted jeans or pants. Ugh!
Monday, January 26, 2009
11:30 PM, School Night. How bout some cupcakes?
The other night Steph, Manda and I went to Toast Eatery in Noe Valley. We had decent diner eats, but on a lark I got one of their cupcakes and they were real tasty. I didn't think they'd be good, but I was totally surprised. So I wanted to make some of my own. That and I wanted to pop the cherry on my new bad ass Kitchen Aid stand Mixer. Ok, Steph used it but I hadn't had the chance yet. So technically it wasn't a virgin stand mixer but I digress because I'm not going to debate the issue of, stand mixers and how much they lie. At least not in this post. Anyway, I wanted to make some of my fav cupcakes, the Red Velvet cupcake. Not familiar? Hmm, think mild cocoa taste stained red with the blood of virgins. Oh shit! That's not red velvet, that's a completely different recipe so make that red food coloring. Next you'll find butter cream slathered on top. Nice, simple, yum.
Recipe. I found a seemingly common recipe in Stephs copy of "Hey There Cupcake." and I followed it closely, until the issue of my lack of the proper amount of food coloring surfaced. I added a tiny bit of water to offset the lack of liquid.
Baking. I baked them and they came fine I suppose except the texture, although moist was not quite as caky as I'd like. I think the fact that I didn't bother to remove the pizza stone from the oven must have fucked with the way they baked. It's not that I forgot to take it out. It was that by the time I remembered to take it out the oven was already hot and I didn't want to deal with it by that point. Note to self for next time. Take that shit out!
Color. The color isn't as deeply red as I'd like. They're a lighter red. I think this could be because the recipe didn't use enough cocoa. I'm going to look into this.
Frosting. I also used a recipe for Butter Cream from the book. I feel like it sucks. Too much sugar and not enough butter. Stupid book you're fucking up my cupcakes! Wow that was an easy way of sloughing the blame off like some many dead skin cells when I wash my face. It's just that easy to not accept blame. Ok, Ok, I made sub par cupcakes. No big deal. I just have to tweak a thing or two.
Best Red Velvet: The best I've had was at Chicago Cupcakes in, Chicago. That shit was good yo!
Monday, January 19, 2009
Sunday Lazy Sunday and Radio Shows
Today Steph and I forced ourselves to awaken before noon. This is no small feat considering 3 PM is not beyond our capabilities on most weekends. The reason for our early stirring is that we went to Palo Alto to attend and participate in Manda's oh so cool garage sale. She even made hot dogs. Noice!
Next Steph and I went on week two of the great mattress hunt. We visited three different stores and ultimately we chose the Felicia. It's our giant white monolith and I expect that Felicia will usher in a new era of comfort and support as our spines have been living in the dark ages of mattress technology. It will be glorious.
Lastly, my new radio show went up. Go on over to Breakthruradio.com and have a looksee for DJ Hanabi The Super Terrific Happy Hour!
Next Steph and I went on week two of the great mattress hunt. We visited three different stores and ultimately we chose the Felicia. It's our giant white monolith and I expect that Felicia will usher in a new era of comfort and support as our spines have been living in the dark ages of mattress technology. It will be glorious.
Lastly, my new radio show went up. Go on over to Breakthruradio.com and have a looksee for DJ Hanabi The Super Terrific Happy Hour!
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Friday, January 9, 2009
My rind is getting properly moldy.
My 34th b-day is neigh-at-hand and although I feel lithe and limber and Mos Def I don't feel at all like a grown up. However, is there some kind of special MAN doctor that I should be visiting? Is there some part of me that I'm not even aware of that needs to be probed or measured? Is there some expensive procedure that Kaiser will probably only cover like .002% so as to offset the humiliation that awaits me from having no pants on and yet with socks? Or am I to leave the herd now, and just go away to die? This is all just very sad.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Saturday's B-Day Bash in Faux Tahiti delight.
So Saturday night my B-day buddy (Ok, actually my B-day is Sunday the 11th) Manda and I will enter our 30 and 34th year of slow decay together. But, we will be doing it in grandiose fashion. At the Tonga Room inside the luxurious Fairmont Hotel. The place makes me feel like I'm on the set of the Bounty and I am Mel Gibson. But I am not Fletcher Christian. Rather I am the Road Warrior. So while everyone else is wearing their billowy Tommy Bahama cabana wear, and lovely linens. I'll be the smelly guy in leather pants. Oh man. That image doesn't translate very well is now very sad to me. I'm so emotional right now.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Sunday, January 4, 2009
NYE 09 Tahoe Stylee
Dec 31st The Arrival:
And what a New Years it was. Steph and I with Manda in tow went off to ring in the new year in Tahoe with her brother and his lady and some of their peeps. The ride up was uneventful and we made it to our hotel with plenty of time to spare thanks to some nice weather. We ended up going to the Mont Blue and shelling out $50 to watch 2009 roll around amongst a rather high concentration of Douche. And amazingly even though it was super cold outside, girls still managed to be basically naked. Ahh, the indomitable human spirit. The tickets we purchased made us privy to standing in a long line for a coat check which in the end was pretty much a free for all as the coat check girl had vanished. It was utter fucking chaos as none of our coats, and we had several were even together. I had to dig them out of a sizable pile on an even more sizable table. Fuck you coat check girl! I left you a five dollar tip thinking you were an above average coat check girl. I was wrong. Also, we were allowed entrance to not one but three different venues within the casino. First we wandered into a gigantic conference room where we were treated to the musical stylings of "DIsco Inferno" I'll say no more about them because it was as painful as can be imagined. Sad really. Next we ventured into the "dance" club were we counted down the final moments until 2009. Well that place sucked. So on to the Opal Lounge, and OMG that place was horrible too. I wanted to get my crunk on and shoot craps a little bit, but the table was packed and we settled for some penny slots instead. I fucking hate slots. We all had a nice buzz thanks to some well seasoned drinks. After some 4 A.M. chicken strips it was time to head back for the night.
Jan 1 The Frolic:
On Thursday we awoke rather late and in lieu of breakfast I opted for a Rueben at the Lakeside Inn and then it was time to frolic in the snow and put all the borrowed and bargin snow gear to the test. I had to buy girls boots from Target because they were all out of my size in dudes. Pink laces are fucking fashionable yo! We drove about 10 miles and happened upon a snow park full of kids sledding and grown ups our age being parents and watching the kids. Fuck it we have Peter Pan syndrome and so we shredded the slopes. the main difference between us and kids is that our backs are 20 years older and more prone hurting at the slightest provocation. The weather was calm and it wasn't too cold which is fortunate because Steph and I seem to have left our gloves at the hotel. We're hard as nails, total badasses and we frolic-ed on without them. That was the highlight of our day aside from a cookie at the Nestle place. Oh and Steph and I ended up watching a movie instead of gambling. No one was really feeling much like gambling, except maybe for me. But the fact that no one else did helped keep me in check. Gambling alone is just sad. In the end the siren song of gambling was drowned out by the brilliance that is Keaneu Reeves in his latest epic, The Day the Earth Stood Still. The fucking theater was out of Hot Dogs which is also sad.
Jan 2 Fin:
On Friday it snowed big time. We had to purchase chains and it took way too long to drive 30 miles. About, 3 hours too long. On the way home we stopped by my parents house in Sacramento and then decided to stay in town a little longer to chew on the gristle that is the local SIzzler. It was awesome.
Below are several photos that require no captions simply because they are what they are and we make no apologies:
Oh, and Steph made a pretty sweet montage of some of the Video we shot:
And what a New Years it was. Steph and I with Manda in tow went off to ring in the new year in Tahoe with her brother and his lady and some of their peeps. The ride up was uneventful and we made it to our hotel with plenty of time to spare thanks to some nice weather. We ended up going to the Mont Blue and shelling out $50 to watch 2009 roll around amongst a rather high concentration of Douche. And amazingly even though it was super cold outside, girls still managed to be basically naked. Ahh, the indomitable human spirit. The tickets we purchased made us privy to standing in a long line for a coat check which in the end was pretty much a free for all as the coat check girl had vanished. It was utter fucking chaos as none of our coats, and we had several were even together. I had to dig them out of a sizable pile on an even more sizable table. Fuck you coat check girl! I left you a five dollar tip thinking you were an above average coat check girl. I was wrong. Also, we were allowed entrance to not one but three different venues within the casino. First we wandered into a gigantic conference room where we were treated to the musical stylings of "DIsco Inferno" I'll say no more about them because it was as painful as can be imagined. Sad really. Next we ventured into the "dance" club were we counted down the final moments until 2009. Well that place sucked. So on to the Opal Lounge, and OMG that place was horrible too. I wanted to get my crunk on and shoot craps a little bit, but the table was packed and we settled for some penny slots instead. I fucking hate slots. We all had a nice buzz thanks to some well seasoned drinks. After some 4 A.M. chicken strips it was time to head back for the night.
Jan 1 The Frolic:
On Thursday we awoke rather late and in lieu of breakfast I opted for a Rueben at the Lakeside Inn and then it was time to frolic in the snow and put all the borrowed and bargin snow gear to the test. I had to buy girls boots from Target because they were all out of my size in dudes. Pink laces are fucking fashionable yo! We drove about 10 miles and happened upon a snow park full of kids sledding and grown ups our age being parents and watching the kids. Fuck it we have Peter Pan syndrome and so we shredded the slopes. the main difference between us and kids is that our backs are 20 years older and more prone hurting at the slightest provocation. The weather was calm and it wasn't too cold which is fortunate because Steph and I seem to have left our gloves at the hotel. We're hard as nails, total badasses and we frolic-ed on without them. That was the highlight of our day aside from a cookie at the Nestle place. Oh and Steph and I ended up watching a movie instead of gambling. No one was really feeling much like gambling, except maybe for me. But the fact that no one else did helped keep me in check. Gambling alone is just sad. In the end the siren song of gambling was drowned out by the brilliance that is Keaneu Reeves in his latest epic, The Day the Earth Stood Still. The fucking theater was out of Hot Dogs which is also sad.
Jan 2 Fin:
On Friday it snowed big time. We had to purchase chains and it took way too long to drive 30 miles. About, 3 hours too long. On the way home we stopped by my parents house in Sacramento and then decided to stay in town a little longer to chew on the gristle that is the local SIzzler. It was awesome.
Below are several photos that require no captions simply because they are what they are and we make no apologies:
Oh, and Steph made a pretty sweet montage of some of the Video we shot:
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