Thursday, January 28, 2010

The Chronicles Cheese

As I promised myself, once it arrived I'd set about posting about my super awesome B-day gift from Steph. The other day was that day. The first installment included a Camembert, a Blue and a Gorgonzola. Also the kit included a guide to each cheese that highlights the history of the cheese, a bio about the maker and a pairing chart. Needless to say I love it!

As to the cheese themselves, a solid starter kit with some well known and much loved varieties. I must tell you this is Artisan cheese and not that sub par shit they pass off as cheese at the grocery store. I do wish though that the USDA would quit persecuting raw unpasteurized milk products. That's cheese the way nature intended. If it's good enough for Euro peeps then it's good enough for me. Stay the fuck up out mah enzymes and beneficial bacteria!

Welcome to cheese country, where the flavor begins.




Friday, January 22, 2010

Mini project.

Steph's besty Manda is about 4 years younger than I am and she grew up very differently and she was into very different things when she was a teenager. A bit of back story. Sometime around 7th grade I accepted the reality that I was a goofy, nerdy, awkward kid who was never going to be one of the popular kids and I was never going to be tallest or strongest kid in school. There is only one thing for kid like that to do. Latch on to a counter culture that puts at odds with all those big, strong, athletic and popular kids. My poison at the time was a keen interest in Goth-i-ness. But we didn't call it that. We called it "progressive" instead. But the idea was similar, a bunch of kids wearing predominately black, crazy non athletic shoes like Doc Martins and listening to Depeche Mode. It was a fun time for me, very liberating. My parents had other ideas, they hated this look. They always wanted a son who cultivated the Brooks Brothers look. This encouraged me even more to want to be weird. Also, we lived in a very middle class suburb and that's a recipe for some disillusionment right there. I was lucky enough to pal around with some kids who had much older siblings, High School kids, or grown ups as far as we were concerned who were able to kind of let us know what the cool older kids were into as far as fashion and music. By 8th grade I was sneaking into clubs on the weekends with my friends. We'd rock eye liner etc. My parents knew none of this. I wasn't a trouble maker so it wasn't like they were always watching me. Plus cell phones and the internets etc didn't exist so there was no tracking my whereabouts. Needless to say they would not approve. I have to say as an older person, I'm, not 100% sure I'd be cool with my 14 year old kid running around with 16 and 17 years olds at some club either. But like I said I wasn't a trouble maker so it was really harmless fun.

My point is that music was so imporant to me then. Listening to bands like The Cure, The Smiths, The Clash, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Bauhaus, Love and Rockets, Depeche Mode, New Order, Joy Division, Echo and the Bunnymen etc. gave you an identity. I still love those classic bands to this day. In fact my first concert was The Cure in 1989. It was epic! Anyway, to paint a picture of the pop music scene of the time let's start by saying the obvious. There were no MP3s to download. You had to go very special record stores in order to look for "imports" as these bands were often filed under (To my knowledge the term Alternative wasn't used yet) if you wanted to find good music. Records you'd heard about were often sold out or they just didn't have them. Mix tpaes became very popular due to this. Also, as far as popular music was concerned. MTV still played videos, but they mostly were still playing hair metal bands at the time and Bell Biv DeVoe-ish things. We had 120 Minutes on MTV which played two hours of very cool videos late Saturday nights. I watched quite religiously. Anyway, radio was a dead medium if you liked what I considered good music. It was all "Top 40" as we called it. It wasn't until Nirvanna in 91-92 that good bands were brought into the mainstream.


Now, as I've said Manda is four years younger, so by the time she was a teenager things were a bit different but the music that she identifies with and loves from her era were the Bell Biv DeVoe's and Boyz 2 Men style bands. She knows all the songs and they mean a lot to her. Basically our experience as teenagers were very different. Recently she was asking me about that time in my life. So I've decided my mini project is to make her the ultimate Mix CD of all my favs from the time. Maybe she'll hate it, I don't know? I don't think I could ever listen to a Boyz 2 Men track in fairness. So if she likes it then cool.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Pee Wee Herman live!


This past weekend Steph and I headed down to L.A. for a little R and R and Pee Wee Herman. That's right we had tickets to see Pee Wee Herman live. We both used to really enjoy the movies as well as the show, especially the HBO version. I really didn't know what to expect considering Paul Rubens is like 50 years old now and the show could end up just being a very sad attempt to resurrect a very likable but dated character. Instead we were treated to a very nostalgic happenstance. The set looked amazing and all the original characters were on hand even the original Miss Yvonne. Best of all Pee Wee looked he did 25 years ago. I was amazed, and we both had oodles of big time fun. (SCREAMING AND RUCKUS!!!!) Oh yeah, fun was the secret word and I totally didn't plan that because it would have been pretty lame.

Also on our trip, we ate as per usual. We had Canters deli because I insist upon their Reuben sandwich every time we visit. Some other fixtures that we end up at in L.A. are places like Swingers which is a pretty cool late night diner near Beverly Hills. We also make sure to go to Milk for dessert and coffee. I can't not have their blue velvet cake. It's fucking ridiculous yo! But the piece de la resistance was Parks BBQ in Korea town. Holy Fuck Parks hit it out of the proverbial park! Seriously, it was delicious! We had Kobe beef and all the trimmings. My favorite thing at Korean restaurants are usually the little dried anchovies but I didn't get any at Parks, but I'm not complaining because like I said it was epic. And lastly we met up with a couple of our regular L.A. homies, Trume(sic) and Michelle at a place called Father's Office where they serve some tasty eats and have a totally bananas beer selection.

Another reason we headed down was to see the He Man homage at Gallery 1988 on Melrose. It was awesome, and again totally nostalgic. It took me back to like second grade when He Man truly was the Master of the Universe. At least in my world he was. I'm sure Steph would think a a pound puppy and my little pony exhibit would be equally as epic.

As to the pics. They are a mish mash and I make no apologies. But There are a couple where Steph and I are totally gorging ourselves on junk food. Yeah that was when we went to see Youth in Revolt. We just didn't realize how gluttonous we looked until we saw it on film. You know your with a good person for you when you can let your hot dog self shine through. Also in the pics is the store front for Peoples Revolution which is on Melrose. We saw it by accident and it will only mean something to you if you're really into watching The Hills, which we are.

Friday, January 15, 2010

Spice Odyssey: Exploring the Burning Tongues of Saturn.: Planetary Soul Fud

Spice Odyssey: Exploring the Burning Tongues of Saturn.: Planetary Soul Fud

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Bdays must cease!

Seriously, yesterday was my bday and for real, please, make them stop! This was the bday to end all bdays. Turning 35 is no joke. But getting older is made much easier with the help of a lovely lady. Steph totally surprised me with the most awesome gift tonight. She gave the gift that lasts, a 6 month ride on the cheese of the month club autobahn! Rad! I will toally be upping my cheese game over the next 6 months. Perhaps I'll have to keep a running post when each shippment arrives? She's a cool girl, that Steph.


Wherever you go, there you are

Location:Indiana St,San Francisco,United States

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Sex From Success!

Awwwwww yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What is the type of metal used to denote sales of exactly two out of four albums? Because that's the sales milestone Anand and Romy and I have hit today by selling an EP to person who doesn't even know us in Hawaii. And I quote:



"Just a little note letting you know who bought your music on http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/2amm...acromantics today.

Break out the champagne!



1CD(s): Two A.M. with Macromantics / "Let it Out"

CURRENT INVENTORY ON OUR SHELVES FOR THESE SALES:
Let it Out: 2"



That's right there are exactly two copies left - before they ask me to send them some more. We're brilliant! Also just so you know I have trying to sell this EP on the bottom of this blog the whole time and who ends up buying it? SOme dude in Hawaii, go figure. (Also FYI I didn't make up the title of this post. It's from Sigue Sigue Sputnik. Come on you know these guys:

Monday, January 4, 2010

Stereotype me please.

I love it when cliche becomes truth. It's usually quite amusing when a situation or a person says or does something that evokes what would normally be fodder for an episode of Sienfeld or Arrested Development. On Saturday Steph and I dined with a small group of peeps at Greens in Ft. Mason. If you're not familiar with Greens, it's San Francisco's fancy "vegetarian" restaurant. It even has the Price Fixe menu to prove it. It's a restaurant that's always booked and has a great view of the Golden Gate Bridge as well. You can also bring all of your vegetarian friends out and make them feel pampered, if for a night. We ended up in a semi-private room which to me is always awkward because the overall lack of white noise just seems to make things a little too quiet at times. This also gives rise to my question as to why loud music is not pumped into public restrooms? I digress. The best part of the night wasn't the food rather it was the waiter. He was brilliant! It was like I was watching a dude skillfully working his best Groundlings performance. A tour de force if you will. Mind you this is all in the context and framework of working in a very high end (pretentious perhaps?) "VEGETARIAN" restaurant.

He starts off by informing us that he will in fact "Be caring for us this evening." which is a super granola way to say "I'll be your server tonight." Well played, we're totally engaged now. At one point he over heard loud talk form the table about being an Oakland resident. He immediately jumped at the opportunity to enlighten the table with his knowledge of all the wine bars et al that are popping up all over Piedmont St. Ah, namedropping. Wonderful! Of note Steph and I live in San Francisco and we rarely if ever cross the bridge so any goings on in Oakland are completely over our heads. He seemed very disappointed to find out that two fifths of his table had no idea what he was talking about. When talking in depth about one of the newest businesses opening on the block it allowed him to segue quickly into his metal working studio and how he had been commissioned to do the "metalwork." Wonderful! Did I mention that one of our party is Vegan? No? Well he found out and quickly let her know that he in fact has been Vegan for nearly ten years and would happily "guide" her through the menu. Lucky Girl. And I think my favorite quote of the night that almost caused me to rise from my chair in applause was his response to a mention of the uber haughty Raw restaurant called Millennium. "OH, yes that's Eric So and So a very good friend of mine. We've foraged for mushrooms together!" Seriously, that's genius! In my best creative moments I would have never thought of that line.

As to the food, it was okay I suppose, not $50 for four courses great, except the Butterscotch Pot de Creme which was delicious. But it wasn't the food it was the impromptu entertainment that made it all worth it.

Also included with this post are two pictures that have absolutely no relevance to the post in any way as they are snaps from Xmas featuring yours truly and Steph and our dog Bibi. The only thing I can say that could possibly make any sense in including it is that all of us are in fact NOT vegetarians. Isn't that interesting?