food imitates life...

Moved on to greener pastures

2010-12-14T11:33:00.002-05:00

GUE has opted for sleeker look and moved on to a nicer platform with tumblr, as well as a slightly newer and friendlier format.

You may find us at our new home address: http://growingupeating.tumblr.com

hope to see you soon!

Culinary Art

2010-01-26T08:36:00.005-05:00

So while browsing through the Fall 09 issue of Gastronomica, I came across an awesome article on Pauline Baynes. You may not recognize the name, though you should since she is responsible for the original illustrations in the Narnia series as well as being involved with Tolkien on some of his non-LOTR works.

Apparently she was involved in food projects illustrating cookbooks and her art adds on to the classic feel of the old cookery texts.

Pauline Baynes (1922–2008), best known as the ‘Narnia’ artist, had also illustrated three cookbooks: Recipes from an Old Farmhouse by Alison Uttley (1966), Kitchen Essays by Lady Jekyll (1968), and The Times Cookery Book by Katie Stewart (1972). [via Too Many Books...]

Being a closeted illustrator/artist, looking at these pieces, the very intricate and elaborate works, definitely surges inspiration in picking up the sketch pad again. Mainly, though, this points me a step closer to finding the illustrated swine butcher chart that I will need as a base design for my permanent skin work to be done at some point this decade.

Photo Lost

2010-01-26T08:13:00.002-05:00

So it seems blogger has decided to stop hosting a lot of the photos I had uploaded and hence you will find several posts with missing images. I would try to fix it, but as you may have noticed I barely have time to keep up with posts, much less back editing.

For now, enjoy the following image and hope that it holds together any voids you may feel created while sifting through GUE.

2010: Space Odyssey

2010-01-05T08:38:00.008-05:00

So 2010 is nothing like the entertainment industry had led me to believe. No flying cars. No regular trips to outer space for business meetings. Most definitely no crazy Barbarella looking girls bearing tons of skin trying to save me from extraterrestrial world domination.

2010, however, appears to be a year of renewal, soul cleansing, and brain-reconstruction (in an effort to sway from the usual self-destruct mode).
A lot went on in 2009 that showed me who I was and where I am and what I want and most definitely what I don't. Things that inspired me to be better and reach new heights and things that inspired me to innovate and break patterns.

Towards the end of the year I met a few people with whom I've been able to share life stories of myself, the family's circus-like rollercoaster, and my culinary inclinations, explorations, and discoveries. A thing that has sparked interest within me to retake this blog back to its roots and continue on retracing my lineage. Genealogical, Academic, Professional, and in the way everything all ties together through the personal, inter-personal, emotional, spiritual, and over all mind-bending.

A lot of adventures have taken place that GUE has yet to recant and with thsi post I intend to sort of attempt at a domino effect of posts to relay the recent happenings.

Hope all of you get what you want in this coming year, I know I'm working my ass off to get what I want and I intend on getting it.

Happy New Year from GUE!

Trial and Error

2009-11-23T15:44:00.002-05:00

Well, needless to say the 66 Day Challenge didn't quite make it past the 5 day mark. A lot of stuff has been going on in my life that has more than prevented me from maintaining any kind of discipline. Time constraints, money constraints, life constraints. In any event. A lot of things have been going right! Although the tempest was making the skies of opportunity dim, a lot of things went on that have opened up doors and new sets of inspiration. So I'll put up my best efforts to keep this updated. also, trying to bring back the biographical timeline since Hopefully I figured out a way to get my scanner running again. Anyways. I'll be back! Life is getting hiot and exciting again!

Day 5

2009-10-16T15:30:00.002-04:00

Kinda what I feel like right now.

'Tis friday, no less. Few things going on, which are very inviting, but I'm trying to maintian my compulsion to go destroy my insides and brian cells by way of overpriced liquids in an effort to deal, or not deal rather.

Work has been crazy busy the last couple of days, which is good, since it's kept my head out of the gutter where it would otherwise be. Been staying late, and leaving work late seems to be good for time-killing.

Meal plan for friday, also has not really worked out as planned. First breakfast was thrown out the window by the kind people of Washington Metro who ruined my life by making me arrive to work significantly over my start time. Followed by a surge of inner depression caused by...let's say, the weather. Which compelled me to go get myself a ridiculous bowl of pho, which I ended up picking up as carry out and eating at a bagel restaurant, where all I wanted was to stuff myself with 35 sesame bagels with jalapeño cream cheese. My chicken pho was a good option though, as well as a treat.

Today's meal plan was a little too ambitious, and more so as time has progressed from the beginning of the week till now.

Day 5
Breakfast - none
6 oz juice
Western 1 egg omelette
Decaf coffee/tea
Snack
Turkey Rollups - none
2tbsp cilantro mayo
Lunch - chicken pho
Gazpacho
Grilled turkey burger (half bun)
Tossed salad
Sugar free Jello/apple/pear for dessert (choose one)
Snack
Cucumber rounds with babaganoush - none
Dinner - i have a feeling it is not going to be anywhere near what I had planned.
Balsamic Chicken
Sautted tomatoes and onions
Steamed Spinach
Tossed Salad
Dessert
sugar free pudding cup/sugar free fudgesicle

there will not be any gym tonight, but most definitely so tomorrow and sunday.

Money spent thus far: $12
Balance left: $10.00 (maybe a six pack of something cheap and I'm out of comission till next Monday)

Day 4

2009-10-16T14:32:00.002-04:00

Things are not very stable right now, so I'm holding on to this in need of a constant, although I really don't want to. Nothing would make me feel better than a piece of pie, some ice cream, a slice of cheese, and some baked ziti from Tony's.

I need to focus my energies on something else though and not let things affect me as much as they are. Today was another day where keeping food in check was difficult and I slightly faltered at night. I'll just have to keep on keeping on.

Day 4
Breakfast
6 oz juice - none
1 egg florentine - none
2 slices canadian bacon or turkey bacon - none
Decaf coffee/tea - none
Snack
Baby carrots or celery w/ laughing cow cheese - none
Lunch
Shrimp Salad with Herb Dill dressing - grilled chicken ceasar salad
Sugar free Jello/apple/pear for dessert (choose one) - none
Snack
10 cherry tomatoes with fat free feta (or low fat cottage cheese) - cheesestick
Dinner
Broiled Sirloin/Chicken - Cheese quesadilla and half a bean burrito - i felt severely ill afterwards
Steamed Broccoli - none
Broiled tomatoes/jalapenos - none
Mashed cauliflower potatoes - none
Dessert
sugar free pudding cup/sugar free fudgesicle - none

Money spent today: $15.00
Balance left: $22.00

The gym was bust again today. But Saturday and Sunday I plan on hitting it hard.
I have a feeling Friday is going to be pretty insane.

Day 3

2009-10-16T14:20:00.004-04:00

When life throws curve balls your way, it tends to get difficult to maintain a new discipline, especially when you're your first week in. The plan comes to a certain stage of arrested development. Fortunately, I've had nothing but time to focus on me and how I'm going to make this work. I've dodged birthday cakes, chocolate gifts, and heavy drinking. omg. Heavy drinking. How i miss thee.

Although I had set a meal plan for the rest of the week, I haven't been able to eat as I planned, but have tried my best to use it as a guide to plan on what I ingest.

Day 3
Breakfast
6 oz juice - none
I egg asparragus/mushroom omelette w/ 2 oz part skim mozz - 1 hard boiled egg
Decaf coffee/tea - coffee
Snack
Baby carrots or celery w/ laughing cow cheese - none
Lunch
Chef's Salad - hummus, feta, cherry tomatoes, and avocado, with pita squares
Olive oil and vengar dressing - - none
Sugar free Jello/apple/pear for dessert (choose one) - none
Snack
10 cherry tomatoes with fat free feta (or low fat cottage cheese)- none
Dinner
Baked tilapia in scallion ginger sauce - none
1 small whole wheat roll or wheat pita (if bread wanted)- none
Steamed snow peas - none
Mashed cauliflower potatoes - none
Dessert
sugar free pudding cup/sugar free fudgesicle - sugar free pudding

No gym today, but life indeed is starting to give me a work out.

Money spent today: $13.00
Balance left: $37.00

Day 2

2009-10-13T09:59:00.004-04:00

Ok, so day 1 was interesting. Spent about half of my $100 weekly budget on groceries, which brings me to my dilemma. Are groceries to be counted as fixed expenses? I mean, we have to eat no? In any event some of the stuff I bought will probably last longer than a week, hence making it cheaper next time I go. Hypothetically.

We ended up doing really well on our eating, following the meal plan as closely as possible. And crushed 1 hour at the gym no problem.

Today is day 2 - the challenge continues.

************************
Day 2
***update***

Breakfast

6 oz juice - done
1 egg (hard boiled or scrambled) - done
1 tortilla/slice of toast - done
2 slices canadian bacon or turkey bacon - done
Decaf coffee/tea - done

Snack

Turkey Rollups - done
2tbsp cilantro mayo

Lunch

Tuna chopped salad - Grilled chipotle chicken chopped salad
Sugar free Jello/apple/pear for dessert (choose one) - done

Snack

Baby carrots or celery w/ laughing cow cheese - cheese stick

Dinner

Baked Chicken breast - grilled veracruz salmon tacos
1 small whole wheat roll or wheat pita (if bread wanted)
Steamed broccoli
Tossed salad (mixed greens/cucumbers/green peppers/cherry tomatoes)
Olive oil and vinegar dressing

Dessert

Jello cup

Day 1

2009-10-12T11:33:00.008-04:00

I've transferred all my money out of my ING Checking account and into savings., leaving only a little over a $100 (to avoid any inadvertent overages). These $100 will have to go until Sunday night. !!!

For the mealplans, I borrowed the SBD format and modified it to fit my needs. I will track progress by adding an update to this post at the end of the day.

**************************
**UPDATE**
Here's how the eating actually turned out -

Today's meal plan:

Day 1

Breakfast

6 oz juice - Mango Juice
1 scrambled egg w/ 1 tortilla - 1 poached egg w/ 1 tortilla
Decaf coffee/tea - coffee

Snack

1 Part skim mozz cheese stick - check

Lunch

Grilled chicken breast salad - Rotisserie chicken salad w/
w/ low sugar balsamic vinaigrette - oil & vinegar
Sugar free Jello/apple/pear for dessert (choose one) - none

Snack

Baby carrots or celery w/ laughing cow cheese - cheese stick

Dinner

Grilled fish (salmon/tilaps/mahi mahi) lemon and rosemary - baked lemon salmon
1 small whole wheat roll or wheat pita (if bread wanted)
Steamed asparragus - check
Tossed salad (mixed greens/cucumbers/green peppers/cherry tomatoes) - steamed brocc and cauliflower
Olive oil and vinegar dressing - none

Dessert

Sugar free jello/pudding - OMG YES!

Gym:

1 hour of cardio at the gym. - Done

the 66 day challenge

2009-10-12T10:13:00.010-04:00

3. Do a 30-day Challenge. In my experience, it takes about 30 days to change a habit, if you’re focused and consistent. This is a round number and will vary from person to person and habit to habit. Often you’ll read a magical “21 days” to change a habit, but this is a myth with no evidence. Seriously — try to find the evidence from a scientific study for this. A more recent study shows that 66 days is a better number (read more). But 30 days is a good number to get you started. Your challenge: stick with a habit every day for 30 days, and post your daily progress updates to a forum. [66 days Habit Changing = via: zenhabits]

Discipline has never really been one of my strong points. It takes a while, but I have proven before that sticking to something, even if I don't see results right away, can, in fact, serve a purpose and feel really great once a goal is reached.

In an effort to control things in my life, which seem to be spiraling downhill, I (along with some people) will be attempting a challenge in hopes of feeling better, saving money, and getting back in shape. For the next 66 days, beginning today, Monday, October 12 I will be undergoing the following:

1. Money

In an effort to save money and discipline myself into not being a sucker for consumerism, which I am, I will attempt at curving my behavior and training myself to be more minimalist in the material goods department. Do not buy if I do not need. Limiting myself, for the next 66 days to $100.00 per week as spending cash. This is not to include fixed expenses (ie. utilities, rent, etc...) but to include things I need to be better about (ie. work lunch/breakfast, nightlife, weekend entertainment, etc...) This should theoretically begin to change my behavior and train me into being better about money and the way I spend it.

2. Time

I feel like I spend a lot of my time idling around online on incredible time-wasters such as facebook, twitter, and worst of all pages like hulu and netflix. I say worst of all because I got rid of my television so I could be more productive and now instead TV has found me and it sucks the living life out of me. Yes there are some shows I watch continuously and religiously, but having a set time to watch these can potentially reduce the time I spend with my head sucked into the monitor. Coupled with the goal of blogging and writing more in general, if I'm on the computer, I shouldn't just be clicking around. So, I;m trying to track my progress on this challenge and in this blog to give me a push forward in my blogging and my writing, and hopefully assist in the behavior change.

3. Food

OH. EM. GEE.!!!! This is going to be one of the 2 worst and most difficult goals. Why with me trying to be a chef and all, and here I am trying to limit my intake. For a few good reasons, however, I need to. My health is something that worries me continuously. I seem to come from a line of health issues and I seriously do not want to propagate my ending up in the hospital for reasons that could have been prevented, and especially don't want to reach old age not being able to care for myself. So I'm devising a bit of a "diet" portion and foods controlled and this plan is to be followed as closely as possible in search of results at the end of the deadline, not only of how I feel, but also of how I look (size 32 is only a hop and a skip away). I will try and blog my progress on this as well by posting what day meal plan is, and how close I came to eating what I'm supposed to.

4. Health

Also trying to get back on track on the gym thing. It's an ongoing battle, especially with as little time as one seems to have in this DC metro area. I seem to spend 40% of my time commuting, along with work, school, family life, and the 5-15 minutes of sleep I get per night (which will lead into point #5). To start myself off correctly and start getting back in shape, I'm going to set smaller short-term goals in hopes of reaching the ultimate long-term goal of being in shape and having normal persons sleep schedule. I'm setting also an exercise plan that I will track progress on as well to see where I'm at when day 66 comes. Heading to the gym in the morning at times trying to be tired enough when I come home from work as to not stay up until 3am fiddling around online and such. (hopefully this will also start helping push away the smoking habit)

5. Sleep

As before mentioned, I'm not the best sleeper. I have a tendency to get home and stay up and just be awake. forever. making me extra tired the next day. I'm setting myself to be in bed by 11pm on weeknights for the next 66 days. hopefully my sleep patterns will adjust to normality.

6. Weekend activities

Another one I'm very guilty off and serves as a precursor to set off my whole week. I need to keep weekend activities as such. FOR THE WEEKEND. I'm hoping this also allows me to be sharper at work, school, and at home.

I'm really bad at limiting myself on things I enjoy. I let myself indulge too much, to the point where it affects me physically, financially, and inter-personally and this needs to stop and change. 66 days doesn't seem like much and it seems like the world at the same time. Reaching the deadline accomplished will feel good. Reaching the deadline incomplete, will really suck. So part of my publicizing this is not so much for myself, but rather a way of having people witness what I'm saying I'm going to do and hoping to keep up in order to not embarrass myself by not reaching this short deadline.

Here we go.

the bi-monthly post

2009-09-13T17:53:00.002-04:00

If not tri-monthly. It seems as of late that the blogosphere has not drawn me in as much as I wish it would. There are a million things that I constantly want to blog about and I just never get around to it for one reason or another.

In any event, I'm here now and I'm on a bit of a baking kick.

Yesterday I spent most of the hours past midnight formulating a red velvet cake, which to my surprise was incredibly delicious. Everything from scratch. Cake, red velvet, and frosting.

Waking up in a blaze of glory from the red velvet success, I decided to finally use that matcha powder I had sitting around and made some green tea mini muffins for the girlfriend's mom (and for us), which just as the previous, came out spectacularly.

I would get more in depth and write down recipes, but my current state of laziness prevents me from doing so. Instead, should you need the recipes, I'd be happy to send to you.

Edible Vinyl: Playing Catch Up

2009-07-01T09:49:00.004-04:00

So in my long hiatus from the blogosphere (that's right, I said blogosphere) it would appear I've missed out on some updates from our secret bf ilovedragonfly. He's been hard at work while I've been, well, hardly working. He's got a few delicious vinyl pieces that again make me want lick my monitor in ways I can only imagine dogs lick their empty bowls after eating a ginormous raw steak. Get ready to get hungry.

Cheeseburger Munny

Peppered Country Bacon Illazilla

Gingerbread and Fruitcake Munnys

This next one took me by surprise. I thought nothing could make me as hungry as the pecan on that last one's head, but then, my boy delivers the Banana Split Dunny

OMG. Halloween! Candied Apples!

And to end the obsessive posting, I will leave you guys with the Chocolate Preparedness Kit Dunny, which looks awesome.

back

Please be sure to stop in and check out his page, he's got tons of other vinyl treats for your gazing pleasure. Or stop in and buy us one at the Dragonfly Store

Edible Vinyl: Sushi

2009-06-30T13:26:00.005-04:00

As you may or may not have noticed, I've been away from the blogging for a while again. Not for any particular reason other than my sincere and/or severe apathy towards writing words of self-importance because i may have been the 23908429420th person to stumble upon a link of somewhat relevant importance to my social circle of peers. In any event, the reason for this post is not some revelation of how I've hit higher ground in life or some earth-shattering statement of prolific wisdom. Merely some SICK vinyl I MUST have. It's not often that I see a food theme toy that tickles my fuzzy in such a way that it makes me hungry. In line with the before posted Food Toys, along comes the O-No Food Company with some amazing concept art put into production.

NOMNOMNOMNOMNOMNOMNOM

2009-03-02T21:41:00.002-05:00

To continue my lack of updating and the string of video cop outs to make up for any real posting, here's a sweet video on the joys of eating, furry cute animals, and the at some point interweb adapted international word for eating and enjoying fare.

'Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom,' by Parry Gripp

Happy Holidays from GUE!

2008-12-25T18:49:00.000-05:00

They're back!!!

2008-10-25T14:21:00.002-04:00

Omg! a site I once thought lost to the internet vortex, seems to have made a comeback. In full effect. Food Porn at it's best! Check it out!

Tastespotting <3

Food Meets Nu Rave

2008-10-25T14:09:00.002-04:00

Japanese Electrorrific sensations, Polysics, bring it back to basics.

Shopsin on the Times

2008-10-11T13:39:00.008-04:00

[photo cred: Larry Fink, via the NY Times]

So it's no secret I've been hyping up Kenny Shopsin for a while now, and as so I've been a bit more alert to his publicity. The NY Times had a pretty sweet piece on him (The Way We Eat: Flipping the Bird) and his quaint little shop and the modest menu that comes with it.

I have yet to experience Shopsin's, and I hope I get to at some point, considering his reputation for client refusal, but I'd have to say that although I'm unfamiliar with his cuisine, much like the case with Bourdain, I admire these two solely based on their personalities and attitudes towards the culinary world and society (and women, heh). They do what they do with passion and don't very much care about what people have to say. Maybe it's the egotistical, arrogant bastard in me, but I slightly identify with these two, and until I learn otherwise, they will continue to be on my list of top chefs.

“I dedicate myself to consuming all sorts of ideas,” says Shopsin, an avid reader and Internet crawler. “Eventually something inside me, probably skewed by my erotic feelings about breasts and things like that, assembles a product and just shoots it up.” [NY Times]

There's such a level of romanticism in his story. The fact that he's estalished himself and provided for his family, for almost 30 years, the work that he's put into his career, and the love he expresses for all elements that sustain him. His clients (the valuable ones, not the shitty ones), his establishment, his trade, and of course, his family. And he's been able to do all this without selling out his principles and just letting any asshole come into his realm demanding to be served. He asks that patrons prove themselves worthy of being served by him and not the other way around. After all, his food has been around long enough to understand that it's quality and he's busting his ass behind the burners to feed you. He owes you nothing and you shouldn't expect him to serve you hand and foot. Good business practice, ethic, and personal integrity and principles in my opinion.

Unlike other restaurateurs, Shopsin has refused publicity. (Whenever I tried to write about him, he would tell the fact checkers that Shopsin’s was a shoe store or out of business or insist that they do something uncheckable to themselves.) But two regulars, a Knopf editor and a literary agent, persuaded him to write a cookbook. “Eat Me: The Food and Philosophy of Kenny Shopsin” blends recipes with his uncensored thoughts on cooking (“The only explanation I can give for . . . how I came to this method of cooking is that it’s a product of a lot of psychotherapy, drugs and making chicken potpies”) and running a restaurant (“My approach . . . is the exact opposite of ‘the customer is always right’ ”). Like the restaurant, where three of his four children work, the book is a family affair, designed by his daughter Tamara and photographed by his son-in-law, Jason Fulford. [NY Times]

He does what he does because he loves it and not for the fame and riches and now, inadvertently all of that has come to him because he was himself. Thousands shoot for the stars and crash and burn severely. Not him. Self-awareness and a solid foundation of personal values go a long way.

He is full of deep (or shallow, depending on which side of the fence you're standing on) little excerpts on life and food full of a degree of sentiment and heart one can only hope to achieve at one point.

DC Best of Guide

2008-10-11T13:27:00.003-04:00

[photo cred: stgrmh]

This guide has a list of what, by the Serious Eats Team's standards, are the best eateries in the area. Some I agree with (ie. Amsterdam Falafel), som I don't (ie. 2Amy's). In any case, it's a pretty concise guide of hot spots in the city complete with addresses, reviews, and some flashy pics of the local fare.

Wish List: AK Ice Tray

2008-10-11T13:21:00.003-04:00

So, browsing around the blogs, more specifically, SlashFood, I came accross this sweet ice cube tray sure to make people talk at your (or my) next party. *want*

via: find me a gift.com

Shopsin on Conan

2008-10-08T16:28:00.002-04:00

Just because I'm on the Shopsin kick, he was somewhat recently on Conan and it was pretty hilarious.

Wishlist: Kenny Shopsin's Cook Book

2008-10-08T12:52:00.007-04:00

If you are unfamiliar with Kenny Shopsin then I fear for your life in the culinary world.

He is the most ridiculous, loud, and hilarious hi-octane philosopher and culinary personality I have come across yet.

He runs Shopsin's in New York, part diner-part heaven, and serves from what could easily be the most ambitious menu I have seen with mine own eyes. Not leaving out the fact that if it's not on the menu, and he has the ingredients, he will make anything for you. Providing he likes you, of course.

Should you need a crash-course into who and what Kenny Shopsin is, you should definitely take some time out of your day and check out "I Like Killing Flies". A chronicle and documentary of Shopsin's coming-of-age story, featuring his family and friends who have over time helped this establishment be everything it is today.

Aside from being one of the greatest people ever invented, he is no also an author and has come out with a grand cook book full of insight into his cuisine and recipes for the hungry-hearted.

Serious Eats did a great write-up on it back in August (just now getting around to reading it and writing about it) and they've been posting random one-off recipes from the book, which are interesting enough to make even the worst grilled cheese maker want to throw down on the burners.

Ostensibly, Eat Me is a cookbook, but it's also equal parts memoir and philosophical tome. [via Serious Eats]

'My Sliders'- makes one set of 3 sliders -
Adapted from Eat Me: The Food and Philosophy of Kenny Shopsin by Kenny Shopsin.

Ingredients:
1 big yellow Spanish onion, thinly sliced
5 ounces chopped meat (20 to 30 percent fat)
Salt Butter for the rolls
3 Martin's dinner rolls, or any soft rolls about the size of Parker House rolls, cut in half but leaving them attached to one another if possible
3 slices American cheese

Procedure:
1. Fry the onion slices until they're brown and crispy (Kenny slices them very thin and throws them in a pot of hot oil until they are charred).
2. Divide the meat into three equal-sized balls. Preheat a griddle or large cast-iron skillet over high heat until it is searing hot. Place the balls of meat on the griddle or in the pan and press them down with a heavy spatula or bacon weight to form patties about 1/2 inch thick. Season them with salt. Place a bacon weight or heavy lid on top of the patties to keep them smashed down and cook about 2 minutes per side, until they are cooked through.
3. Meanwhile, butter the insides of the rolls and toast them in whatever way is most convenient for you. Place the patties so they are all in a row, butting up against one another. Put the fried onions on the patties, and then top each patty with one slice of the cheese. On top of the cheese, place the tops of the buns and on top of the tops, the toasted bottoms. Then, on top of everything, place your bacon weight or a lid and cook for 1 minute to melt the cheese and steam the bun.
4. To serve, place the bun bottoms on a plate. Carefully slide your spatula under the three patties to lift them up in one piece and place them on top of the bottom buns. Serve at once.

Greenification

2008-10-08T12:38:00.004-04:00

It's no secret that Ted Turner has had his bite of restaurant industry experience, and now he's also trekking cross-country preaching the green to restauranteurs everywhere. [via: TreeHugger]

Click here to watch video

Donuts and Bacon in '08

2008-10-08T12:36:00.004-04:00

Bacon!

Serving Like Animals

2008-10-08T12:28:00.005-04:00

Well, not like animals, but by animals. The Japanese are hilarious. We all know that servers have a bit of an arch-nemesis label when it comes to us in the kitchen. About time they got replace. (jk!)

So they're all done up in Japanese serving gear and walk around with your food. I wonder how the Health Department would feel about letting me implement something like his here. Heh.

Absence Trends

2008-09-25T13:44:00.003-04:00

So it would appear that my everlasting condition of chronic procrastination has caught up with me again and I've been missing. Well, that added to the hectic schedule I was undergoing with school and work and such has left me without a post, and you, my noble and trusty reader, without material to judge me based on my poor writing skills.

Alas, I'm back. At least for now, and I have a bit of things to blog about. Random life happenings, coupled with a number thingas the internet has brought to my attention that I wanted to share.

In any event here we go!

Princess Toadstool!

2008-07-16T11:42:00.004-04:00

[Serious Eats]
Gamers everywhere rejoice. Eat your 1up green shroom! Tastes like burger!!!

I've got to give this a whirl on the grill soon! Instructables tell you how you too can bring a bit of Super Mario to the party. No Wii necessary.

the hypocrisy of world leaders

2008-07-16T11:28:00.003-04:00

I constantly see this type of stuff happen. Large meetings of world heads on how to get potable water to remote villages and areas without. Large meetings held in large rooms with fountains of water and water drip wall formations.

Here it is once more.

Just two days ago, Gordon Brown was urging us all to stop wasting food and combat rising prices and a global shortage of provisions. But yesterday the Prime Minister and other world leaders sat down to an 18-course gastronomic extravaganza at a G8 summit in Japan, which is focusing on the food crisis. [Huffington Post]

The world lacks serious organization. In a planet where more foodis thrown away per day than what it would take to feed everyone. It's a sad thing to watch capitalism, the answer to socialism, collapse not only country people, but the world entirely in it's greed-fueled rampage to dominate. Sad really.

All the fun is in NYC

2008-07-16T11:16:00.003-04:00

Like my dream come true. A party en Español!

Fresa Salvaje: It's a whole experience. It's a party with Latino music -- music that isn't mainstream reggaeton or salsa -- that also includes visual elements, like photo projections and art. It's a way of doing away with stereotypes about Latino music and what Latinos like while promoting art and really good bands people might not have heard about, and just letting people have a good time [guanabee]

Some one take me to New york, please!

Asians do it better

2008-07-06T23:20:00.002-04:00

Alright, think Peewee's Playhouse cross-bred with something on the Food Network and hosted by cute Thu Tran in bright colors the way only she would know how know how to rock. Love it. FOOD PARTY! And surprise guests! Jay-Z and Beyonce come over for dinner in the first episode, what is NOT to love about this.

Fear Vegetarians!

2008-07-06T23:16:00.003-04:00

Fast Food Street Art

2008-06-26T10:13:00.006-04:00

Straight from our secret BFF Wooster Collective [via the Specter site] comes this awesomely clever guerrilla attack on shit food producing and corporate imperialists, McDonald's. I'm lovin' it!

He shoots. He scores.

2008-06-25T10:59:00.008-04:00

In the midst of everything that has been going on lately in my life I've forgotten about a GUE a bit. Not so much forgotten as delat with a mixture of lack of time and procrastination, as I usually do.

One thing I'd like to mention as it had been most definitely mentioned before is my gigantic black hole of debt. The vaccum which sucks away over half of my paycheck each period. Well. NO MORE! Finally one of those long-term goals people talk about. I've met one!

That's right. The long list of debts depicted and reflected in my credit report are now completely gone. This has been a long, treacherous path. A hard goal to accomplish, as it has been something I've been somewhat dealing and respectively not dealing with for years. As of last week, all debts have been paid and all accounts have been brough up to date. My credit report is able to do nothing more but to repair itself and regenrate from here on out.

Granted there are a few things that need paying such as some IRS payments (which at this point aren't that much) and the $800 I owe (to mom) to finish paying off my machine of destruction. These are not liabilities as they do not affect my credit report.

The only other acquired debt now is the Sallie Mae student loans, which consequently are not required to be paid until I'm out of school, and thankfully only a small portion of them are subsidized.

Time to start turning the cash into more cash continuing to plant it inside the ING accounts, which with a 3% return I hope by this time next year I'll have a good chunk of cash. I can't wait. I've also slightly been trying to gain control of my finances by cutting down on my eating out for lunch and dinners.

I've started to buy food to keep at my desk at work, easily prepared meals, and making use of the office resources (fridge, microwave, toaster). I went this last pay period from spending $250 in lunches alone, to $78 in desk groceries. Add onto that the $200+ in take out dinners, which have been replaced by a mere $100 in home groceries. Healthier and cheaper.

Even now that I'm at my last dime before next paycheck, all the leftover ingredients bought throughout the past two weeks have been suffient to keep me from starvation and excessive spending.

I've ranged in at home meals as such [All while applying and practicing my knife skills for school]:

[Bean and Cheese Tostadas]

[Very Berry Salad]

[Greek Vegetable Lemon Rice Soup]
All in all small efforts which have in the end had a major result in my daily life. I think I'm doing pretty well, if I do say so myself.

All You Can Eat

2008-06-24T22:30:00.004-04:00

Completely stole this stealthily from a friend. Nothing like some good old 1980s hip hop beats, a little beat boxing, and some Fat Boyz rapping about an All You Can Eat Buffet. Only way to make your way and celebrate endless food, imo. I wonder if Sbarro's got paid (or rather paid) a good chink of cash for the plug.

American Psycho [billy]

2008-06-20T15:25:00.005-04:00

Speaking of rockabilly, I was at the Uknown Hinson show last night at Jammin' Java and it pretty much rocked. Took some crappy cameraphone pics.

Some stuff I've REALLY been gettin into is the Koffin Kats and Tiger Army

Download:
Tiger Army - Ghosts of Memory
Tiger Army - LunaTone

Anyways, here's a sweet "mixtape" I found of the Alley Dukes of the name Northern Rednecks. Hmmmm... Something about this doesn't sound right. Heh. Maybe it's that they're from Montreal? I wonder if Canadian Rednecks speak with a hillbilly French accent.

If you're wondering what they sound like, here's what their myspace says about them:

Are you sick and tired of hearing the same old cookie cutter crap about boppin' all night long, malt shops, pomade, hot rods, flames, dice, cherries, cats, kittens, and rumbles? SO ARE WE! THE ALLEY DUKES have got your prescription for that same old predictable boredom-a-billy blues with decadent tales of drunken debauchery, perverse sex, venereal diseases, and loose morals!!

It's on rapidshare, so it may take a minute to acuire the download link.

Enjoy.

Download: Here

Titelliste
01. Slippin' And Slidin' (In You)
02. Johnny D.
03. Drinkin' My Life Away
04. (Ain't Just) A Way Out
05. Goodbye Train
06. Your Sister
07. Change My Way
08. She Gave Me An Itch
09. Chokin' The Chicken
10. Black Magic
11. Look Somewhere Else
12. Endless Road
13. No More Hot-Dogs/Fuckin' In The Butt

Genre: Rockabilly
Bitrate: 192 kB/s
Size: 51MB
Password: barfrau4nixpop
Format: mp3
Jahr: 2007

Oh man, I love me some chopsticks.

2008-06-20T13:09:00.004-04:00

No. Really.

And what better way to be fed than by a sweet pair of chopsticks and gorgeous Masuimi Max. I've always had a thing for pin up girls gone wrong/psychobilly girls, but perhaps it's my sudden spark of interest in rockabilly/psychobilly music as of late that's got me REALLY into this.

Masuimi Max [iamtrouble] (NSFW)

This kinda totally blows completely

2008-06-13T13:44:00.005-04:00

Oh noes! GUEs only viable option for self-pleasure has now been eradicated. No whys or hows. No explanation other than because of "recent legal complications".

This really sucks. Bye, TS! You will be missed!

Intro to baking finals are today.

2008-06-03T15:31:00.004-04:00

Thus far I have a C in the class due to my inability to study hard enough for the written exams. My production is on point though and hopefully that will save me from failure.

Luckily I'm also working with a great team and our final product usually kills!

Next semester I will be taking on a larger credit load as a mere experiment and to advance a little quicker.

In the meantime, I'll worry about finishing up the next two days and doing as well as possible.

Missing All the Fun

2008-05-29T00:32:00.003-04:00

So, I've been absent for a minute. Again with the time restrictions and the trying to balance everything in my life. I've got quite the number of things I have to blog about so check back tomorrow for some more fun. I haven't even updated gone through my RSS in at least a week. EEK!

In the meantime, check out my sweet pastry work here. Heh.

Yup.

2008-05-16T19:42:00.001-04:00

Speaking of eggs.

2008-05-16T17:30:00.003-04:00

Art project called ‘Art Eggcident’ in Leeuwarden, a city in the north of the Netherlands, plans to stick around for about 6 months. Thanks Wooster.

I guess it all boils down to this...

2008-05-16T17:17:00.002-04:00

Me.

My weekend.

Definition of a man

2008-05-16T12:10:00.011-04:00

A man is a male human. The term man (irregular plural: men) is used for an adult human male, with the term boy being the usual term for a human male child or adolescent human male. [Wikipedia]

Esquire had a write up on 75 skills every man should master and it got me to thinking about how many of these actually apply, how many I've covered, and who the leading roles in showing me these were played by, using the list as a guide.

The opening line in the article got me to thinking about my life and really how much it applies to me.

A man can be expert in nothing, but he must be practiced in many things. Skills. [Wikipedia]

My art teacher this past semester, upon looking at my drawing pad, said to me, "These are all really good, but none of them are finished". Touché. Seems to be a steady pattern, and this a perfect analogy, in almost all aspects of my life.

[This man, my Abuelito, responsible for a lot of who I am, as a man]
Without further adue:

1. Give advice that matters in one sentence.
I'm not much of a talker, I tend to take things in and try to base a foundation or thought on what I know. Although I hardly take myself seriously, when the time calls for it, I suppose I can be of assistance, but that's really something someone else would need to answer for me. Someone I've talked to.

2. Tell if someone is lying.
Oh, I can spot a lie from a mile away. I won't always call people out on them, but I can definitely tell. If you're lying to me, and you see me raise the one eyebrow in disbelief, that's probably me not believing one damn word you're saying.

3. Take a photo.
From time to time. here and here

4. Score a baseball game.
Not a huge sports fan, never have been, although I do enjoy attending a live sporting event from time to time, if I was to pick a sport it most definitely would not be baseball. This task does sound somewhat appealing to me laid out the way it's laid out. Definitekly going on the to do list.

5. Name a book that matters.
current
Interpreter of Meledies
on and off
essays by r.w. emerson
hemingway: the short stories
next
on the road
some favorites
freakonomics
nine stories
the stranger
a confession and other religious writings
catfish and mandala
the aleph and other stories
el coronel no tiene quien le escriba
bhagavad gita
dhammapada
diego el rojo
el alquimista
fight club
once minutos
blinking with fists
future shock
last exit to brooklyn
prince jack
the doomsday conspiracy
the illiad and the odyssey

6. Know at least one musical group as well as is possible.
ZOMFG! The Smashing Pumpkins and The Decemberists

7. Cook meat somewhere other than the grill.
Pffft!

Oven Baked Pork Loin in Garlic and White Wine
8. Not monopolize the conversation.
Like I mentioned before, I'm not a huge talker, unless the situation calls for it, or if I'm drunk, but always try to maintain verstile and dynamic.

9. Write a letter.
Do emails count? Heh. Time to find a recipient. Onto the to do list.

10. Buy a suit.
I own 3, but at the rate I'm going, I will need to buy new ones when they don't fit anymore. Time to hit up Zara again!

11. Swim three different strokes.
I've been swimming since I was born. Backstroke, Butterfly, and whatever the front chest stroke is technically called in English.

12. Show respect without being a suck-up.
I hate ass kissers and brown nosers and name droppers. I can definitely throw down with higher ranks without licking their backs.

13. Throw a punch.
Man, haven't brawled since high school, but I held my own. Visiting a boxing gym once or twice, my punch form has been honed. Use the shoulder. Use momentum to your advantage. Maintain a good pivoting point. Punch straight and with strength.

14. Chop down a tree.
There hasn't been much reason for me to know this skill, but I have used an axe to chop wood for fires, and oddly enough a machete to take down plants, if these count for anything. All in all I wouldn't say I'm an advocate of tearing down wildlife for no reason.

15. Calculate square footage.
Pffft. [W x L] I use it everytime I buy your mom a new shirt! (oh snap)

16. Tie a bow tie.
This goes on the list. Although you best believe the only time you'll see me wearing one of these is with a tux. If you see me wearing one any other time, feel free to punch me in the face.

17. Make one drink, in large batches, very well.
I make a killer apple martini. Emphasis on the killer part.

18. Speak a foreign language.
Si, Señor!

19. Approach a woman out of his league.
Clearly. As someone close to me once said to me, perhaps quoting someone else, "Why try to be part of any club that would have me as a member?"

20. Sew a button.
I'm good with a needle and some thread.

21. Argue with a European without getting xenophobic or insulting soccer.
I do it all the time.

22. Give a woman an orgasm so that you don't have to ask after it.
I'd like to think so. (Wait. Did you?)

23. Be loyal.
Some people's definition of this can be askewed and biased, however, I'd like to think that I hold enough common sense and appreciation for people in my life to know when I need to stand where with them and never consciously do anything to jeopardize relationships. At the same time keeping in mind not to compromise my own principles in order to make other people happy.

24. Know his poison, without standing there, pondering like a dope.
Parliament Lights, drinks depend a lot on the situation and the place, but for the most part: Brooklyn Lager, a shot and a beer, Knob's Creek (or the next best thing in available whiskey) on the rocks, Tequila and Grapefruit.

25. Drive an eightpenny nail into a treated two-by-four without thinking about it.
Yes. I miss wood shop. anyone up to build some furniture?

26. Cast a fishing rod without shrieking or sighing or otherwise admitting defeat.
I did grow up around a lot of figures who liked the outdoors and fished. During this time, however, I was never really allowed to play with the rods. I've been meaning to go and get a license at Wal Mart or whatever to head out into Virginia and try it out. Doing this is definitely on the list already.

27. Play gin with an old guy.
I don't think I know anyone who plays gin. I don't think there are any old people near by that I know. Which reminds me, I've got to get to Chihuahua this year.

28. Play go fish with a kid.
No kids in the Go Fish age I know. The closest one is at least a few years away.

29. Understand quantum physics well enough that he can accept that a quarter might, at some point, pass straight through the table when dropped.
I love wikipedia!

30. Feign interest.
Really? Tell me more!

31. Make a bed.
Like I was in the army.

32. Describe a glass of wine in one sentence without using the terms nutty, fruity, oaky, finish, or kick.
Reminds me of the misty rain drizzling in through the window on a warm summer night.

33. Hit a jump shot in pool.
I can usually hit one, but never on purpose. I need to play more pool.

34. Dress a wound.
I am very clumsy, so I've definitely been known to slice myself open once or twice. I'm a killer with the gauze and the iodine. I can do alcohol too, but only when absolutely necessary.

35. Jump-start a car (without any drama). Change a flat tire (safely). Change the oil (once).
I drive a 94 Ford Probe. So yes.

36. Make three different bets at a craps table.
Never been much of a gambler, casino style at least. Craps is def one game I have yet to learn. Snake eyes watching you!

37. Shuffle a deck of cards.
Like a champ! Grandparents held a lot of card games in their (and my) younger days.

38. Tell a joke.
I'm a king of wits more so than joke teller. My joke vault is most efficient in Spanish-speaking environments.

39. Know when to split his cards in blackjack.
See above.

40. Speak to an eight-year-old so he will hear.
Oh man. Kids. I probably need some practice on this, but again see number 28.

41. Speak to a waiter so he will hear.
I got this one down to the T.

42. Talk to a dog so it will hear.
Been around dogs all my life. I'm pretty good with them. I miss my puppy. :(

43. Install: a disposal, an electronic thermostat, or a lighting fixture without asking for help.
This is another one of those that haven't quite come up yet, but I am pretty handy and clever when it comes down to it. Also another reason to love the interwebs.

44. Ask for help.
I like to think that I'm pretty open about asking for things when I need them, but I also know that I can be pretty stubborn when pride gets in the way. always room to improve I suppose.

45. Break another man's grip on his wrist.
Really? I'm actually unsure about this one. Anyone up to it out?

46. Tell a woman's dress size.
A great thing about keeping female friends close is always being in the know of what the best plan of attack is when doing things like picking out presents, matching colors, and sizing other girls up. I've got a general idea.

47. Recite one poem from memory.
I WANNA HEAR A POEM!

48. Remove a stain.
I've learned a thing or two from my colleague at work and moms.

49. Say no.
Yes! That is to say, I've become a lot better about this one. I've spent a lot of bad times because of my inability to say no to certainn people in fear of hurting their feelings. With time, however, I've come to find that a plain and simple no can be benefitial to both parties and more often than not, is not so hard.

50. Fry an egg sunny-side up.
I love eggs!

oops!
51. Build a campfire.
I leaned this from a friend I used to camp with in Texas. and yes, I can keep a camp warm if needed.

52. Step into a job no one wants to do.
Seems to be what most of my current job description entails. Also, working in the kitchen, and especially now going to school in one, you constantly encounter lazy bums trying to swindle out of responsibilities. I frankly don't care as long as it keeps the ball rolling and allows me to get home quicker. Plus it's a great way to learn new things and add them to the list of shit responsibilities you already know how to do. Making you a bit more indispensable than before.

53. Sometimes, kick some ass.
Been known to rough up a guy or two in my life time. Since after high school, however, I've had the common sense to keep away from fights.

54. Break up a fight.
All the time! Damn these hip hop shows at Jammin' Java!

55. Point to the north at any time.
I suck at direction. End of story. It takes me three times as long to get anywhere than it would probably take any normal human being.

57. Explain what a light-year is.
Yes! E=MC^2

58. Avoid boredom.
This is a hard one to accomplish at work. But then again, I suppose this is why I blog. I do keep a number of hobbies at hand for those moments when I can't eat, drink, or shop. Among them are reading, drawing, playing the guitar, listening to music, and film. Although most currently it has been a string of TV series on DVD.

59. Write a thank-you note.
This is one that I always keep in mind, not sure if I do it consciously or unsciously, but I've always subscribed to the idea that you should let people know you appreciate things that they do for you, especially when they don't have to.
Oh, and girls love that kind of stuff.

60. Be brand loyal to at least one product.
I have several, although most of them Mexican food products. There is always Alterna Hair Concrete. I cannot live without that shit, especially after just having my hair did.

61. Cook bacon.
OMFG are you kidding me? Yes.

62. Hold a baby.
Although it does freak me out a little bit to do so, but it's like riding a bike. Cradle their back firmly with one arm, hold their head steady with the opposite hand. Motorboat their tummies. Done.

63. Deliver a eulogy.
Although there have been people somewhat close to me pass away, I've never had to be the one delivering the words of farewell. I hope it doesn't happen any time soon either.

64. Know that Christopher Columbus was a son of a bitch.
I'm not a big fan of european explorers in the Americas in general. Most of them have been complete douchebags. Surprisingly, their legacy of douchebaggery lives on in later generations of settlers up until today.

65-67. Throw a baseball over-hand with some snap. Throw a football with a tight spiral. Shoot a 12-foot jump shot reliably.
Man, yeah, see number 4. I can shoot all these mediocrely. Although I grew up around a fair number of men, none of them were particularly adept to sports. The time I was part of a baseball team in my younger days, as I batted I ran to 3rd instead of to 2nd gaining the disdain of my teammates. Later that same game as I went up to bat, I caught a ball with my face. Left shortly after, never to come back. The football I threw around every so often with friends and I can get a pretty firm spiral. Not much length in my throw though. Jump shots I can do okay in, but again, probably not that great in an actual game.

68. Find his way out of the woods if lost.
Heh. see 55. However, when in places unknown, I am really good about keeping track of where I've been and finding my way back. I pay attention when I have to. Unfortunately, it only happens when I have to.

69. Tie a knot.
The same friend who taught me how to light a fire, taught me how to tie some knots. One of my uncles, who i s quite the handy and outdoors man, also had his hand in showing me a trick or two in tying rope and line.

70. Shake hands.
Always firm while looking at the other man's face. Although I must confess a lot of times I have to remind myself to do it right as to not come across as an asshole.

71. Iron a shirt.
Like I'm my life depended on it. Although not one of my favorite activities.

72. Stock an emergency bag for the car.
The back of the Probe is full of an incredible amount of stuff to help survive an unexpected tragedy.

73. Caress a woman's neck.
Clearly.

74. Know some birds.
I love cardinals, blue jays, and road runners. Birds of Prey are fun to look at as well. Oddly enough I saw a buzzard on a rooftop a few days ago.

75. Negotiate a better price.
I could always be a better haggler. Although in my recent trip to Mexico, I managed to lower the prices of meals, lodging, and tours. Made my money last a lot longer than it would have otherwise.

Wow. I'm done. I did fairly well, all things considered.

Oh Noes! It was actually real!

2008-05-07T15:21:00.005-04:00

With voices featuring the likes of the best of the best when it comes to the Mexican-American acting: Edward James Olmos, Cheech Marin, George Lopez, Salma Hayek, Drew Barrymore, Jamie Lee Curtis, Andy Garcia and Paul Rodriguez.

I fear for my myspace page being that I am All three of these. Mexican, Chihuahua, and a Dog!?! This is too much, but hilarious no less.

Bacon dogs may be going extinct. [Nooooooooooooooooooooooo!]

2008-05-02T14:50:00.006-04:00

This saddens me, not because I know how delicious they are, but because I haven't had a chance to try them and find out how delicious they are! In my somewhat recent visit to LA, I wanted to try one so bad, but the only time I passed near a vendor, I was feeling so ill from overdrinking and overeating and undersleeping, that I didn't get a chance to try it.

Perhaps next time I make it out to a BBQ I'll have to make these and chronicle their success.

Drew Carrey comments through this investigative report:

Stress!

2008-05-02T11:26:00.004-04:00

Justice movie for what I suppose is "Stress" More like mayhem and what I hear today's Paris is like. Reminds me of that 90s French flick, Hate and a bit of Irreversible.

[click here for full HD video]

Just because we haven't talked about bacon in a while...

2008-05-02T10:32:00.005-04:00

It can take a lot out of a guy to work two jobs, go to school, and in between it all try and maintain both a what would be family life and social activities. It's exhausting. So last night in a fit of rage, right when I had promised myself that I would get home and work out, instead I heated up the skillet and crisped me some maple bacon and served it up with some fried eggs for dinner. Man was that delicious.

Thinking back on it this morning, there's quite a few things on the back burner that I've been meaning to blog about, but due to the aforementioned lack of time and will power, I haven't gotten around to it.

Start Cooking had a fabulous list this morning on 50 ways to use bacon! In case you had run out of ideas.

Bacon Unwrapped, probably one of the best things since GUE. Heather talks about her many adventures with the best part of our friendly piglets.

Serious Eats talks about the wonderfulness of guacamole and how much to food of the gods improves it's taste.

Bacon Cake?!?! and Bacon Martinis?!

The perfect food indeed

Baby Tossing!

2008-05-02T10:21:00.007-04:00

Kinda like midget tossing, but oh so much more fun!!! I know this is not food related in the least, but it was too good to let pass by unposted. Apparently something I've been joking about for years is a real thing in all actuality. A real thing rolling 500 years deep.

Toss that child!

!!!
via Guanabee

The Bureocratic Way to Smash a Creme Filled Egg. [Best Thing I've Seen All Day]

2008-04-25T15:25:00.002-04:00

This is probably the most ingenious time-waster I've come across all day. To top it off there is a an obscure Smashing Pumpkins reference through it all. Killer. I hate Creme-filled Cadbury's anyhow.

The Adventures of Foodboy. [Coming Soon]

2008-04-24T17:44:00.003-04:00

Really? I mean. Really?

Give me a minute.

2008-04-24T16:36:00.005-04:00

While I clean myself up. I made weewee in my pants upon discovery of this site.

!!!

It was like overload. It's like being either really hungry or really drunk and driving up to Wendy's and ordering a Baconator. Mixing two of my most favorite things ever in life, Cooking with Rockstars, brings together food and music all in one. And as pissed as I am that I didn't think of it first, I have to hand it to Jen she has a great concept (and great music taste from where I can see). Maybe I can play off of it, should I play my cards right.

She has some great interviews with amazing artists on this video-blog-esque online show. She talks to the artists for a few minutes on what their favorite foods are and sure enough she sets out to find the recipe and discuss in more detail.

CwRS is now my new girlfriend and I want to bear her children.

This week. St. Vincent!

Food shortages. A serious issue.

2008-04-24T16:16:00.003-04:00

Food shortages are nothing to laugh about and a very serious issue in today's world. Stephen Colbert reports on the matter.

On a serious note. Get Informed.

Mixtape: Crystal Castles!

2008-04-24T15:09:00.007-04:00

That time again to throw down some rear-shakin' beats! Pitchfork brings forth a thirty-three minute mix by DJ Howlemonkey in which he not only mashes up, but more skillfully mixes a bunch of cleverly named band, Crystal Castles' tracks with a few random electro tracks scattered around for variety. Get familiar with Crystal Castles and read up on their current art drama.

Download: Here

The track list:
1. Crystal Castles: "Magic Spells"
2. Uffie: "Make It Hott (Crystal Castles Remix)"
3. Crystal Castles: "Knights"
4. GoodBooks: "Leni (Crystal Castles Remix)"
5. HEALTH: "Crimewave (Crystal Castles Remix)"
6. Crystal Castles: "Alice Practice"
7. Klaxons: "Atlantis to Interzone (Crystal Castles Remix)"
8. The Whip: "Divebomb (Crystal Castles Remix)"
9. Soho Dolls: "Trash Rental (Crystal Castles Remix)"
10. Bloc Party: "Hunting for Witches (Crystal Castles Remix)"
11. The Little Ones: "Lovers who Uncover (Crystal Castles Remix)"
12. Liars: "It Fit When I Was a Kid (Crystal Castles Remix)"

House of Cards

2008-04-24T13:08:00.004-04:00

So Radiohead was the musical guest on Conan O'Brien. It's uncanny, this abominable adoration for Thom Yorke. I mean I respect them as musicians, and Pablo Honey and The Bends are probably some of my favorite albums ever, but Listening to In Rainbows I feel like maybe I'm missing something. I think it has a lot to do with the build up my friends give them everytime they talk about the R-head.

Although I admire a musician's will to experiment and venture out, it doesn't necessarily mean I have to agree or like what they do. Take Billy Corgan post-Adore, for example. I love Billy to death, probably one of the most, if not THE most, influential musician in my life, but everything he's done afte Adore, in my humble opinion, is mediocre at best and lacks the spirit his previous works contained.

In any event, Radiohead's performance was actually entertaining even if they didn't perform live at Conan's studio.

Needle Fetish

2008-04-24T12:15:00.003-04:00

For someone who is deathly afraid of needles, has been known to black out at the sight of his own blood, is afraid of the boogie man, sleeps with his light on, wears a onsie in case of an emergency escape, and leads a, what most people consider, "normal" life, I certainly seem to have a certain adoration and weird fascination with the dark, grotesque, and blood and needle related. Not exactly what it is that draws me to the obscure, but it is undeniably there, hiding in the dark corners like your mother on a sunday night.

[Vitamin Living]
From the beginnings with the IV self-watering planter.

[Radium Labs]
To the Bloody Nurses.

To the movies.

In this tradition, from designer Christian Maas, I present to you, the IV Lighting system. Tight.

[Chrstian Maas]

Smoking after Dinner. [During]

2008-04-24T10:35:00.004-04:00

Nicotine never looked so sexy. Well, that's not true. I've been known to smoke a fag or two in my lifetime and can barely beat the girls off. With a stick. Uh. Yeah. Anygays, check this piece out.

The Cowboy Gourmet is bringing smoking back inside the restaurant! Designer Myan Duong, makes seasoning your food look rebellious and hot.

The Sky's the Limit. [Dinner Party]

2008-04-24T10:20:00.005-04:00

Wow. Just wow. When I first looked at this, I thought it was gag and the picture was photoshopped. There was absolutely no way we had reached this point in disposable income and eccentricity. So when is too much, too much. Altitude.

Dinner in the Sky takes it to the next level in the dining experience. Complete with live music and the finest fare. They spare no expense.

This is a unique event meant for anyone who wishes to transform an ordinary meal or meeting into a magical moment that will leave a lasting impression on their guests!
Dinner in the Sky is hosted at a table suspended at a height of 50 metres, by a team of professionals. Benji Fun, our partner in this event, is the worldwide leader for this type of activity. [DitS]

Dinner takes flight! [via: killahbeez]

Busy Busy.

2008-04-24T09:39:00.004-04:00

So I've been away again for a minute, but only due to a serious lack of time. Coupled with my CPS [Chronic Procrastination Syndrome], I'm barely getting things did. School is going strong and baking is proving to be more of a science than an actual skill. Been making everything from muffins to pizza to fancy brioche and creme brulee. Tons of fun. A ridiculous contrast can be seen or felt, at least by me, on how much more I enjoy these courses versus accounting and statistics.

Midterm is coming up next Monday so I'm going to have to take a leave of absence this weekend from all social activities, with exception on Friday night for work and Sunday night with The Blackjacks who will rock everyone's faces off. Nothing like good dirty-denim-sex-rock to get me prepared for a baking midterm. Heh.

In the meantime, trip out on this come-to-life South Park-type dillio:

The Monowheel:

Not sure how old the real deal is, but I just learned of it's existence and I can't stop laughing at the South Park reference.

Because We Are Your Friends [Wed. 4/16]

2008-04-15T10:56:00.003-04:00

The Muffuggin Ripoff

Questionable Credentials

2008-04-14T14:20:00.004-04:00

Given that I'm a little late on my posts and trying to play catch up, some of these posts may seem dated, some not, but browsing through the backed-up reader I came across a posting on Smart Money, which brough back memories of Bourdain talking smack about the Food Network and it's "celebrity" chefs in Kitchen Confidential.

Here's point 3 on the list:

"Just because I have a cooking show doesn't mean I'm a chef."When the Food Network canceled Emeril Live in 2007, it put TV chefs with actual chef experience on the endangered list. The new food faces tend to be cookbook authors and soccer-mom cooks. The problem, says American Culinary Federation President John Kinsella, is that "people call anyone who writes a cookbook a chef. That's not what a chef is." [Smart Money]

I hear that.

Hippie-like Sunday [4:20]

2008-04-14T14:05:00.006-04:00

[Green Apple Music Festival]
Last night in an attempt to hold off on the reality that Monday was almost here, I attempted watching Dave Chapelle's Block Party on Hulu. I fell asleep before the opening credits were done.
Today I find out the line up for the Green Apple Festival and it's almost like fate would have me not watch it so I could experience it all live. And for free, no less. DC yet again provides a great opportunity to hear some great minds speak on Greenifying and Global Warming whilst listening to some great live music.

Participants:

The Roots & Friends
featuring Doug E. Fresh, Ne-Yo,
Talib Kweli, will.i.am,
Chrisette Michele and more
O.A.R. Acoustic
Gov't Mule
Thievery Corporation (DJ Set)
Toots & The Maytals
Warren Haynes Solo Acoustic
Umphrey's McGee
CityDance Ensemble
Joy of Motion: Urban Impact
DC Boys Choir
Special opening performance by American Idol winner Jordin Sparks

Speakers:

Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson
Wendy Abrams, Founder Cool Globes
Actor and Environmental Activist, Ed Begley Jr.
Dave Chapelle, Satirist
Comedian, Actor Chevy Chase
Jayni Chase, Founder Center for Environmental Education
Richard Cizik, Vice President, National Association of Evangelicals
Donna Edwards, Member of Congress (MD-4)
Wayne Gilchrest, Member of Congress (MD-1)
Washington DC Mayor Adrian Fenty (invited)
New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman
Jim Fuschetti, Head of Environmental Affairs, Chase
Jane Harmon, Member of Congress (CA-36)
David Hawkins, Director of NRDC’s Climate Center
Denis Hayes, Organizer of the First Earth Day
Joe Holland, Olympic Skiing Medalist
NASA Climatologist and Columbia University Professor, Dr. James Hansen
Gene Karpinski, President, League of Conservation Voters
Edward Markey, Chair of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming (MA-7)
Actor, Ed Norton
Comedian Chris Rock
Reginald “Flip” Hagood, President, Student Conservation Association, Inc.
Goldman Prize Winners Rosa Ramos and Marina Rikhavanova
Harry Reid, Senate Majority Leader
Kathleen Rogers, President Earth Day Network
Russell Simmons, Record Producer, Entrepreneur
Robin Talbert, Executive Director of the AARP Foundation
Rev. Yearwood,President of the Hip Hop Caucus
Cathy Zoi, President, Alliance for Climate Protection

It rubs the breast milk on its skin, or else it gets the cheese again. [Gross]

2008-04-14T13:42:00.005-04:00

[photo: Chad Coombs]
So in the tradition of eating after-birth for dinner in celebration of a new one, comes this bizarre attempt at cheesifying (word?) one's own breast milk. The thought of it repulses me far beyond anything I could think up. Almost 2 girls 1 cup gross.

Here's the story of one, "Rani", who actually tried making Paneer out of frozen breast milk. Unsuccessful as it may have been, she does make reference to making cream soup with it before. Definitely one of those things that sounds fun in your head, but it's completely different once you see/read it.

My extensive experience in making Paneer compelled me to try something different, that is, making Paneer out of my own breastmilk. Basically this is human cheese. Why would I do that? Well, basically, there are about twenty bags (each 150ml) of frozen breastmilk in the fridge, and they have passed their three months drinkability period, which means I would not be able to donate the milk like I did before. But the milk is still less than six month old, which is the actual expiry date. So what do I do with it? I could make cream soup like I did several months ago. But I really wanted to try something different, and making Breast Milk Paneer sounds really exciting. [Indrani]

Excuse me while I hurl.

Coincidental Baking

2008-04-14T13:06:00.004-04:00

By strike of luck, or maybe my sub-conscious alertness to these things now, I found a post through GRS on making some quick and easy bread.

Mark Bittman's No-Knead Bread Recipe on youtube video, and a recipe adapted from Sullivan Street Bakery's Jim Lahey for a 1 1/2 lb. loaf on the NY Times.

Try it out!

From the office, with love...

2008-04-14T12:45:00.006-04:00

Dearest Blogosphere,

I have not been neglecting you out of malicious intent. I have been quite busy taking care of life. Or not taking care of it, I suppose is also a safe assumption. Needless to say that the new school-after-work schedule is limiting my spare time.

It is, however, for the good of mankind.

I have been making simple breads during Week 2 of Intro to Baking. This week there will be more yeast breads. On that note, the progress gallery and current "beta-portfolio" can be seen at my flickr site.

Week 3 begins today, I really should be doing my homework.

Love,

Me.

Pretty Much

2008-04-13T21:16:00.000-04:00

First Week. [Culinary School]

2008-04-03T15:02:00.005-04:00

It is now Thursday and I have completed my first week of Intro to Baking and Pastry, and although I could have done better, it was not a complete catastrophe. We took our first quiz, it was (thankfully) an open book quiz. Following that it was production time. We got to make a few items and this time we worked it a bit differently. Instead of making every recipe a group effort, we each took one recipe and worked on it. First we had the Strawberry Shortcakes. (I ate almost all the left over strawberries). I had nothing to do with these, other than the fact that they were done by one of my teammates, I had no hand in their making. They ended up having too much baking powder due to a recipe miscalculation. The taste was not very tastey. Overall appearance was great though.

Then there were the Popovers. Also made by the same person who worked on the aforementioned shortcakes. They appeared to be good upon being removed from the oven, but once out in the open, they flopped. They were bit floury in taste.

Then came my Sour Cream Muffins with Streussel Topping.These were entirely my creation. The taste was on point. The appearance kind of sucked because: 1. I overfilled the cups with batter 2. My streussel butter was too soft and didn't bake well and 3. I didn't let them sit and cool for long enough so they fell apart upon removing them from the tray. Overall they were delicious and they're in a bag at home waiting for me.

Then last, but not least, were the Ham and Cheese Scones. Also not my creation, but part of my team's effort to bake. Not exactly what went wrong here, but the dough was very pale and bland, and it took forever to bake.

This week my team was responsible for Sanitation and we made sure the place was spotless at the end of class. Next week, we're Sous Chefs. Can't wait to see what all that's going to entail.

Conan the Raverian [1995]

2008-04-03T09:10:00.002-04:00

I thought some of you may get a kick out of this. Some of you will judge silently.

Mixtape: Bjork

2008-04-02T11:47:00.002-04:00

Coincidentally I came across two Bjork related posts and I thought I'd share. I can't say that I'm all that familiar with most of her work, although some of what I have heard, I've appreciated, and her name I've known for ages it seems.

First there was this post from French blog Fubiz, about Bjork's Wanderlust video. It's gorgeously dark and abstract as she is known to be. The sounds are definitely of the Bjork fame and the visuals are just astounding. Apparently this will be a 3-D video for which you will need some fancy Back to the Future glasses, keeping in mind that the 2-D version is not any less impresive.

Full Video: Here

Secondly, was a tribute mixtape from our BFF's at Stereogum, with some great names as Final Fantasy, Liars, and Pattern is Movement.

Download: Here

1. Liars - "Army of Me"
2. Dirty Projectors - "Hyperballad"
3. High Places - "Modern Things"
4. Bell - "It's Oh So Quiet"
5. Pattern Is Movement - "Enjoy"
6. Evangelicals - "You've Been Flirting Again"
7. Xiu Xiu - "Isobel"
8. Final Fantasy & Ed Droste - "Possibly Maybe"
9. White Hinterland - "I Miss You"
10. El Guincho - "Cover Me"
11. Atlas Sound - "Headphones"
12. No Age - "It's Oh So Quiet" (Alternate Take)

Missing In Action. [Baby Steps]

2008-04-02T10:37:00.004-04:00

Apologies for the lack of posts lately, but it has been definitely a full couple of weeks. Between the job, the school situation, and a few other personal issues, I have been lacking time, if not anything else.

I spent last week undegoing the admissions process at the Art Institute of Washington for the Culinary Arts Management program. amazingly I was accepted and I was able to finance my education, something I thought that never in a million years I would have been able to accomplish. I acquired some Sallie Mae loans, which are great and all, but all the media-infused paranoia sets in when I think about all the horror stories about them.

This week, I actually started classes. Due to my current 9-5 situation, they were awesome enough to accomodate me in an evening class schedule. This quarter I'm taking Intro to Baking, an 8 credit course, and tonight will be my third night at it. The class is beyond interesting. The people are great. My Head Chef is amazing. It's proving to be a great experience already.

I get to wear a sous chef uniform and my knife kit is rolls 51 pieces deep. The lectures and bookwork is awesome, very much unlike the accounting classes I took at NOVA.

Our blueberry muffin recipe was missing butter, which was removed in the mixing process because it coagulated too fast. The taste was definitely good, but the appearance and texture lacked.

Yesterday, although I came in a little late due to some expectedly unexpected situation, I gave an oral presentation on Eggs. That's right, eggs. Love them. Shortly thereafter, we began the lab production part of the class in which we got to bake some country muffins and blueberry cupcakes. Considering some of the atrocities I saw in the classroom, we didn't do so bad. although not perfect. Our biscuit recipe lacked a bit more butter and salt, but my eeg wash was purrrfect. And the appearance and texture were on point. They layered real pretty like.

Tonight, if I'm not mistaken, we make sour Cream muffins!

A Guide to Serving the Browns

2008-03-25T14:22:00.005-04:00

That's right. We Browns, or Mexicans as we are also known, like to have special treatment when we attend restaurants. My personal pet peeve, and I think I speak for the entire community, is waiting, especially when my abuelita is there with me, we want to be able to walk in and just sit. None of that 5 minute wait nonsense.

These are rules posted for the serving staff at a Huntington Beach restaurant.

According to the waitress who passed this precious note along to the internet, the restaurant owners "also posted a dress code rule that ladies must wear makeup and skirts could not be below the knee." [Gridskipper]

More outrageously ignorant notes at Passive Aggressive Notes.

Apocalyspe Now. [Rachel Ray Cartoons]

2008-03-25T14:01:00.007-04:00

Oprah's company, Harpo Productions, apparently is working on an animated series of Satan's spawn, Rachel Ray, as a young "chef".

Now, I'm not sure how I feel about this one, but to be quite honest, an animated version of Rachael might be easier on the eyes. Then again, it'll still be her voice. [Slashfood]

Set to debut in 2009, first she will brainwash your children, then she will eat them. Someone put a stop to this. Now! Kthx.

Heavy Metal Parking Lot

2008-03-24T22:21:00.003-04:00

Stole this link from someone on the interweb. This minuscule detail does not, even for a second, take anything away from its grandeur.

Heavy Metal Parking Lot, a mid-'80s film documenting lifeforms that once orbited around Judas Priest concerts, has been circulating on shitty-quality VHS bootlegs for years. I just watched it for the first time last night -- and it blowed mah mahnd. BB friends Coop + Ruth turned us on to it, and the film recently became available on DVD (along with Neil Diamond Parking Lot, and lots of other good stuff). Zebraman FTW! [BoingBoing]

Mexican Gorditas

2008-03-24T17:24:00.007-04:00

Mexico finally gets ahead in the race and is now number two, only behind the U.S. Oh, wait. Number two fattest nation in the world. I guess that's good, right? That means we're well-fed people. In old times extra weight was a sign of affluence and wealth. Now it's just a sign that you can't keep from shoving stuff in your mouth for more than an hour.

I suppose the fact that the terms such as Gordito(a) or Gordis are terms of endearment in Mexico doesn't really help the issue. I remember growing up there how the culture calls for consuming as much Coca-Cola as possible in a day, not to mention the chicharrones with Salsa Valentina, and without forgetting to fry and re-fry everything on the menu for dinner. I'm not one to debate it. I grew up with it. I fucking love it. Like a fat kid loves churros. Oh wait.

"People don't eat right anymore," said Garcia Garduno , mixing a drink of strawberries and pineapple. "Instead of coming here and purchasing a fruit drink, they prefer to walk across the street and buy fried pork chips. That's why so many Mexicans are obese." [Yahoo! News]

I feel that. Nothing like the smell of a pot of Queso Fundido con Chorizo, a fat stack of tortillas to push it in, and a cold Sidral Mundet to wash it down. It's almost as though even Mexicans have adopted the the American phrase "Don't drink the water" and put it to practice. No one in my family drinks water these days. Soda, coffee, beer, liquor, or aguas frescas. La Virgen nos salve de tomar agua.

As in the U.S., Mexicans are living more sedentary lives. Studies show that they're eating more fat and processed foods, and fewer whole grains and vegetables. Foods— healthy and unhealthy— that once were unavailable now can be purchased at new modern supermarkets. In some areas of the country, it's easier to get a soft drink than a clean glass of water. The vast majority of Mexico City's public schools, and many private schools, lack drinkable water, Popkin said. [Yahoo! News]

In any case, way to go Mexico. Let's keep going and try to sink the city back into the lake it was built on.

Television Smuggling

2008-03-24T14:11:00.006-04:00

Over the weekend, as I recouped from quite the celebration of the birth of my two hetero (and homo) life partners, I did what I do best (and what I hate that I do best) I watched television. Since the Netflix competition happened, my life has become a little bit more unproductive. I removed my television from my room as to not be zombified by endless hours of brainwashing. Alas, the entertainment industry was, as always, one step ahead of me and made everything available online.

It wasn't enough that Netflix was mass distributing digital television to my computer, but Fox and NBC teamed up against them as well as Apple on this deal by releasing Hulu, which although still in beta-like phase, still contributed to my brain-feeding (rotting) frenzy.

On Netflix I burned through Heroes, The Office, and Dexter (not to mention I'm currently tied up with The Wire on DVD). On Hulu I've been rewatching Firefly, and killed both seasons of 30 Rock. Last night, as I ran out of The Wire DVD's, much to my surprise Netflix had finally uploaded something new that appealed to me. Weeds.

Weeds is about a single mother named Nancy who sells drugs for a living. After the death of her husband Judah she had no source of income and decided that was it. To make sure she can continue to do this she buys a shop, which sells "cakes" so her real business is no longer under threat. Nancy has two kids, Silas and Shane. Their uncle Andy also lives with them to help support them, although he does a poor job. [TV Rage]

The show started of a bit slow, as many do when they have complicated characters you have to get to know before actually understanding the show, but got more and more interesting as the storyline develops and situations arise. The cast is amazing. Kevin Nealon's character cracks me up and Mary-Louise Parker is a total smoke show.

One huge thing that got my attention while watching, was the theme song. Season 1 opens with Malvina Reynold's - Little Boxes. Catchy tune, I'd heard this song before but never actually put it into context as I did while watching the intro video montage. Season 2 mixes it up with covers of the song by a lot of different artists of indie fame. From Elvis Costello, to Death Cab to Ozomatli to the Decemberists, amongst many others. And the theme is not the only good thing the soundtrack throughout the show is impeccable and very well selected. I've heard everyone from Man Man to Of Montreal to Regina Spektor (who also does one of the Little Boxes covers). Defenitely a must if you're into music and, uh, "sub-cultures".

[Regina Spektor does Little Boxes]
Download [via My Old Kentucky Blog]:

Malvina Reynolds - Little Boxes
Elvis Costello - Little Boxes
Death Cab for Cutie - Little Boxes

Wreckfest @ Tiffany's

2008-03-24T13:29:00.006-04:00

[Wreckfest]
Refreshments will be served after the Panel Discussion (Graffiti art and the influence of hip hop on art and culture) and before the party (DJ, Video, Fashion, and Swag).

Runs from 3 to 11pm.

Where:
Arlington Arts Center
3550 Wilson Boulevard
(Virginia Square metro station)

Mixtape: Funk The War [1 and 2]

2008-03-21T22:25:00.006-04:00

After previously posting the Funk the War 3 mix by Eric, I wondered why it was number 3. I figured there should have been a 1 and 2 before, and to my surprise there were. After reading another friend's [Ernie's, newly discovered by me] blog, I found out a little bit more of what was behind these mixes.

A friend of mine asked me to record a 90-minute mix for Funk The War, which is planned for March 19, 2008 to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq. [Ryptide Music]

Download: Funk The War - ~~Part 1~~
[EDIT: Funk the War 3]
01. Freestylers - Feel The Panic (Banned Mix)
02. Edwin Starr - War (King Britt Remix)
03. Cevin Fisher - Music Saved My Life (Pete Heller Remix)
04. Camille Jones - The Creeps (Dance Edit)
05. Deadmau5 - 1981 (Original Mix)
06. Michael Jackson - Thriller (Electro Mix)
07. Kasabian - Me Plus One (Jacques Lu Cont Mix)
08. The Crystal Method - Born Too Slow (Deepsky Green Absinthe Dub Mix)
09. Hybrid - Dogstar (feat. Perry Farrell)
10. Ctrl-Z - Chemistry
11. The Doors - Break On Through (BT Rmx)
12. Myagi - Funkgrinder (Dopamine Remix)
13. Digitalis - The Ride (Kid Blue Remix)
14. Myagi - Absent From Skull (Splitloop Mix)
15. Screwface - The Day The Earth Stood Still
16. Tone Deaf Junkies - Noxious
17. Lemon Slide - Bust A Cap In Ya S
18. Black & White - Punisher

Later I found, through my interweb listserv friend, Dan Amitai's blog, part 2.

So last night, after Beyond, I went to Five, and then around midnight I got an MP3 CDs to mix for an anti-war protest this Friday. [Dan Amitai]

Download: Funk the War - Part 2

1. Love is All - Talk Talk Talk Talk
2. The Buzzcocks - Ever Fallen in Love
3. Be Your Own Pet - Bog
4. The Clash - Janie Jones
5. Talib Kweli - This Means You
6. The Junk Yard Band - The Word
7. Kanye West & Lupe Fiaso - Touch The Sky
8. Dexy’s Midnight Runners - Come On Eileen
9. The Budos Band - Chicago Falcon
10. Operation Ivy - Unity
11. Le Tigre - New Kicks
12. Daft Punk - Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger
13. MIA & Diplo - China Girl
14. MSTRKRFT - Work On You
15. Gravy Train - Hella Nervous
16. Soft Cell - Tainted Love
17. The Faint - Violent (Junior Sanchez remix)
18. The Unicorns - I Was Born a Unicorn
19. Peaches - Fuck or Kill
20. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Tick
21. The Specials - Gangsters (Mike B remix)
22. Madonna - Angel (DJ Excel remix)
23. Defiance, Ohio - Tanks! Tanks! Tanks!
24. Os Mutantes - Bat Macumba
25. The Max Levine Ensemble - Pizza Guy
26. The Knife - Listen Now
27. The Coup - Captain Sterling’s Little Problem
28. This Bike is a Pipe Bomb - Body Count
29. Bomb the Music Industry - Does Your Face Hurt?
30. Bruza & Bashy - Fuck the Government
31. Digital Mystikz & Spen G - Anti-War Dub

Some people say my life flows in circles

2008-03-21T16:18:00.003-04:00

In about two weeks you will be able to find me again running around Jammin' Java every so often. So come in and say hello and have a cup of coffee or listen to a band play or better even buy me a beer.

[Jammin' Java]

Mixtape: Funk the War 3

2008-03-21T15:28:00.005-04:00

My boy Eric put this mix together, definitely reflecting his usual eclectic, yet flawless track selection. Good flow and great hits. The tracklist first caught my eye because the opening track is Mambo Sauce, a local band known to play the likes of Jammin' Java. It does however, move forward to rep with the styles of Dr. Octagon, Rick James, Black Flag, Battles, Of Montreal, Beastie Boys, and Mudhoney.

Give it a listen, you won't be disappointed. Good fly-by work soundtrack.

Download:
Part 1
Part 2

1. mambo sauce - welcome to dc
2. ultravox - the man who died every day
3. ice cube - the wrong nigga to fuck with
4. dr octagon - trees
5. rick james - superfreak
6. descendents - i don't want to grow up
7. bikini kill - reject all american
8. agent orange - bloodstains
9. future of the left - adeadenemyalwayssmellsgood
10. black flag - louie louie
11. michael jackson - don't stop til you get enough
12. mc5 - kick out the jams
13. M.I.A. - paperplanes
14. goldfinger - show me how you do that trick
15. buzzcocks - ever fallen in love?
16. kaiser cheifs - i predict a riot
17. scream - fight/american justice
18. alec empire - the kids are united
19. mighty mighty bosstones - think again
20. Suburban Legends - Come Back Home
21. !!! - all my heroes are wierdos
22. battles -atlas
23. of montreal - gronlandic edit
24. Heatwave
25. Jackson 5 - a.b.c.
26. Get Ready
27. War
28. bernadette
29. pietasters - same old song
30. mephiskapheles - saba
31. the checkered cabs - la bamba
32. Skatalites - guns of the navarrone
33. the suicide machines - hey
34. beastie boys - sabotage
35. mudhoney - touch me i'm sick
36. red hot chili peppers - higher ground
37. abc - iesha
38. boyz2men - end of the road

Found Art: Lax Chefs

2008-03-21T14:48:00.005-04:00

I've been lucky enough to be acquainted with some people who do with a lens things I can only dream about. Snooping around some albums, I came across this photo which sort of romanticizes a chef's break time. I can almost feel that moment of clarity that hits when you step out of the kitchen onto the outside to light a cigarette up and decompress from the hectic noise inside. Commiserating with colleagues and BSing about the customer who came in and asked for Garlic Shrimp with no Garlic, easy on the butter, and with a side of ketchup. Oh and substitute the shrimp for scallops.

Thisisnotaphotograph has some amazing shots of everyday life. Action and stills. Worth a browse. Or ten.

[this is not a photograph]

Rachel Ray will eat your babies.

2008-03-21T14:11:00.003-04:00

I don't know where to begin. Her obnoxious face. Her witless and inane commentaries. The way she carries herself. The list goes on. I don't like this woman. I don't like her show. I don't like anything she does. [!!!] I am not alone.

Rachel Ray Sucks LiveJournal
I Hate Rachel Ray
Miss Pinks
Drunken Fist
A whole lot more

Edumacation Progress. [Baby Steps]

2008-03-21T13:57:00.007-04:00

I made it on Wednesday to my appointment at the Art Institute to speak with an Admissions Consultant. I got a tour of the campus grounds where the culinary program takes place. A lot of it reminded me of the grounds at L'Academie, but AI had a few more tricks up their sleeve. They have an awesome part of the program where you work on the front end of the restaurant (dining room). They actually have a 4-star restaurant set up on the 12th floor near the kitchen classrooms, name Culinaire, where you serve random guests and are responsible for the operations on that side of the room. This does not take place, if I understood correctly until about your Junior year.

They have a lot more classes that go with the curriculum than a regular school does. For example, for my electives I will be able to choose classes such as Web Design or Photography. Basically anything they offer as long as it's approved by the Dean.

It was all really exciting. Being there, talking to them about it, and (although I know they're probably just worried about taking my money) they were super encouraging and helpful about everything. The campus is conveniently located about 10 minutes away from where I work currently, so that will dissolve commuting issues.

At the moment the only thing we're waiting for is for all the financial aid paperwork processing tobe completed. I locked down an appointment next Tuesday with an Admissions Officer and should everything be kosher, I should be commencing classes come April 1st. I'm really trying not to overexhert myself in anticipation just in case something comes up and this doesn't materialize, but I can say that I am doing everything in my power to achieve this. Stay tuned, more to come.

DC's Best Bakeries. Really?

2008-03-21T11:56:00.004-04:00

[Crumbs, LA]
Gridskipper had a write up about DC's best bakeries and although I haven't been to all of these, I can definitely attest to at least two of these based on personal experience. Also on one more based on word-of-mouth reviews. I, for one, have a strong sweet tooth and can easily fall prey to anything that even looks like it may contain sugar. Not to say that anything containing sugar is suitable for ingestion. In my recent visit to LA I got a chance to try some awesome cupcakes at Crumbs and experienced heaven in all of its gloriousness with some cream puffs at Beard Papa's.

Georgetown Cupcake - Although I haven't been yet, I hear these cupcakes are too small and not very delicious, not to mention not worth their price tag.
Patisserie Poupon
Sticky Fingers - These guys used to cater their delicious pastries to Java Green, as they are heaven for vegans and vegetarians alike. Not once sacrificing taste for politics.
Best Buns Bread Company
Pastries by Randolph - I was lucky enough to know someone once employed by them who fed me their eclairs. OMG their eclairs. Definite must.
Baked & Wired

[Gridskipper]

Bourdain: Real or Fake?

2008-03-21T10:25:00.009-04:00

[Brasserie Les Halles, DC]
While a number of my peers are skeptical about Bourdains legitimacy, another bunch are huge fans (myself included). While I have yet to experience any of his cooking first-hand, and at the rate he's roaming the world and the media I doubt it will be anytime soon. I base my fanatism of Bourdain on his persona and character, which funnily enough is the very reason why some of my friends want nothing to do with him. His stories in Kitchen Confidential were more than just a set of imagery and verb. The book helped me solidify my vision of what I wanted to do and why I wanted to do it. He reassured me that no matter how bad it looks you can come out on top. I mean look at him now, right? In his previously posted interview with Google, he talks about how his book did this precise thing for many other people and how it also did the exact opposite for others.

One of the places that I've been dying to visit in DC for a while now is Les Halles. Clearly out of curiousity. Although I've heard a couple of bad remarks about the place (obvs from anti-Tony people), but have missed my opportunity to go the last couple of Restaurant Weeks. Through the blogroll this morning I came across a review of the restaurant off of a pretty well-known DC food blog and was happy to find a review quite different from what my "friends" keep relaying.

Les Halles is one of the best bargains in the downtown area for the local Francophile, offering some on the most well priced French bistro treats I've found in the DC area.[DC Foodies]

I really have to go check this place out now! I have to judge for myself. My next question was also covered in the review, thankfully. Drinks.

...there is a good selection of bottles to be had, including several Belgian 750s at under 2x retail, which is pretty good for a bistro. The wines-by-the-glass list numbers around twenty, incorporating an eclectic selection of wine from such places as Provence, Mendoza, and New York, ranging in price from $6.50 to $20.00 a hit. [DC Foodies]

Perfect for out-of-town guests (which I should be having some in the next couple of months).

If you've visiting guests from less metropolitan areas, Les Halles is a great place to introduce them to French cuisine without intimidation or bank account depletion. [DC Foodies]

One of my favorite things about Bourdain is his bluntness. His utter disregard for what other people think. He says what he feels and couldn't give two flying ducks about reactions or consequences. His brutal honesty is one I admire. And like so, expect a full on review of my experience there.

Beggin' Strips

2008-03-19T10:45:00.002-04:00

GUE hearts Bacon!

[via i love dragonfly]

No. But. Really.

2008-03-19T01:43:00.001-04:00

[breakfast toast]

I'm biting off their style

2008-03-18T23:54:00.008-04:00

Tektonik makes me want to not be home and be at an electro party NOW! So I'm chomping off moves like what. Maybe I'll bust out at the next dance party I go to. I heart Lili Azian.

Makes me want to get a mullet. Can't wait.

[side note: this track could be WAY cooler if someone remixed it]

A Journey of a Thousand Miles. [Baby Steps]

2008-03-18T23:41:00.007-04:00

Amongst the series of purposes GUE serves, one of the major ones in this project is to track the advancement in my life from the roots of where my kinship with food began and trace the path of where I hope to end with it. I've been working on a series of life revamps throughout last year and this, which include (but are not limited to) taking charge of my savings and day-to-day finances, clearing my credit report, making plans for the future, and pin-pointing what it is I want in life and where all of this is headed.

Going to culinary school is something I've talked about for almost two years now on a serious note, yet something that's played around in the back of my head for way longer. Reaching this goal, this late in the game, has become a hard goal to achieve, financially. Always caught up in the dilemma of:

Classes are at day time hours,
I have to work at these hours,
I could quit my job as a sacrifice for school -
But then I'd have no money to live -
I could get loans and budget -
My credit is not where it needs to be to get the needed bank financing,
Must work to clean credit,
Can't go to school because I have to work.

Wow. Just writing down this thought pattern (recurring) makes me short of breath. Definitely a very real scenario and one I deal with every time I try to figure out how to get ahead.

In any case, I've made some calls and ran some numbers. First I aimed low and compact, quick and easy by starting with L'Academie de Cuisine. Then I aimed way high by looking at the CIA, which a photo of the campus alone was enough to make me want to drop everything and go try and get a job as a janitor there. Alas, it is too expensive for me to attend, as much as I would like to. Now I'm shooting for something good and affordable (I hope), or so I intend to find out tomorrow at the Art Institute of Washington, where I hope to take on a B.Sc. curriculum in Culinary Arts Management.

I have an interview/appointment locked down with someone from Admissions who I hope will be able to open up some doors and create some options for me. This is both very exciting and nerve-wrecking at the same time. I don't want to get my hopes completely up just yet, but I can't help feeling a little bit of excitement in anticipation of perhaps finally landing where I need to be. Wish me luck!

Edible Vinyl: Redux

2008-03-18T11:59:00.005-04:00

This is actually kind of funny. And weird. When I came into work this morning, all I could think about was going out and gettimg myself some Cordial Cherries. You know, the little chocolate bon bons filled with that white sugary creme and a cherry. I know, I know, those are for grandmas, but growing up with my abuelita, I developed an affinity for these.

Well, the weird part of this is that not only was I just thinking about it, it was almost like pocketwookie was channeling some weird energy my way. Trying to tell me of his latest and greates Dunny work. [Killah Beez via i love dragonfly]

GUE has featured his delectable vinyl designs here before, and with good reason. Now I'm just going to have to go and spend my lunch money on chocolate.

Mixtape: Cumbia Latina

2008-03-17T16:53:00.011-04:00

Latino beats to get the day going. 7 tracks in a zip file. These guys are a lot more downtempo cumbia-step than Bersa Discos, more on the ambiance tip of it.

Zizek is about emerging Hip Hop, Dancehall, Cumbia, and Reggaetón sounds and their respective variations that are going to be touring the states in March. [Analog Giant]

Defenitely full of catchy hooks and grooves. Do it up. Although Zizek's tour calendar is still looking a bit skim, one can only hope they make it to the DC.

Download: here

The Ripoff

2008-03-17T16:22:00.002-04:00

[clicky]

Golden showers. In your mouth.

2008-03-17T16:09:00.004-04:00

I really don't have the words to get into all this, so I'll quote and let you all read on your own.

Users will test their urine before the reaction. Then, they will add an enzyme, wait for their urine to hydrolyze, and then add Magnesium Chloride. A sediment will build up at the bottom of the jar. Using a filter, they will pour off and flush the liquid, leaving the fertilizer in the jar. They can add water and the seeds included in the kit to grow their own watercress hydroponically in the glass container used for the reaction. [drinkpeedrinkpeedrinkpee]

No. Seriously.

Suck Some Bacon

2008-03-17T15:54:00.007-04:00

[via: lollyphile]
This is definitely one out of left field. Bacon lollipops. Made from sustainable, organic bacon and organic maple syrup, for those Greenzos out there.

...once you make that initial leap of faith and try it out, we're positive that you'll love it. The salty chunks of bacon make a delicious and unique counterpoint to the subtle sweetness of the maple. [Lollyphile]

Flashback: Cereal

2008-03-17T15:49:00.003-04:00

This definitely took me back to '91. Had just arrived to the States and after school I would race home to watch the Super Mario Bros. Show. Back When Super Mario 2 was revolutionary game play. Man, I can almost hear the ice cream truck driving by.

Google on Bourdain

2008-03-17T15:32:00.005-04:00

One of the things I find peculiar about the hits I get on this blog is that they are sporadic and random at best. A large portion of these, however, come from people around the globe googling grandmaster chef, Mr. Anthony Bourdain, and being that GUE hearts Tony, a lot of these people end up here, as his name and photos sometimes appear.

This in the news is relatively old in bloggy years, but I thought it kind of cool. So, I'm posting it to share with you guys. As part of the Authors at Google series. Tony is interviewed by Google executive chef Nate Keller at Google headquarters on November 20, 2007.

Relapsed

2008-03-17T15:22:00.002-04:00

It would appear so. Why does it feel so good to be so bad?

Angry Food

2008-03-17T14:49:00.002-04:00

[via: Killah Beez]
Kozik's at it again. Kid Robot released these previous Frank Kozik creations, now as a set, Monger Farm's Country Time Breakfast. I am the proud owner of only one of these guys, Stale Donut, yet I crave the rest of them. Will I shell out the cash for these? Stay tuned and find out.

Biomechanics: Chapter 2(?)

2008-03-17T14:43:00.004-04:00

So I got a chance to draw some more and elaborate on my art project of biomechanics. I'm really liking how it's coming along, as well as a few of my classmates. the bad news is that I was really going out to finish this and submit it to the student art competition, but my teacher says that because it isn't traditional artwork (i.e. human figure and such) it may be rejected upon submission. He did mention I could make an attempt at submitting it as an Industrial Design piece, but he wasn't very optimistic. Kinda sucks, but I'm going to finish it anyhow, I'm really digging the shading. I'll get a better resolution pic when I get a chance, this came off my phone.

...And We're Back!!!

2008-03-17T14:07:00.005-04:00

After neglecting all you fanciful and loyal reader(s?) of mine, I return somewhat hurried, but much obliged to update some. After spending a few days out of commission due to several different illnesses that all befell upon me at once, I'm now back at work doing what I do best. Blogging.

There was brief scare of potential kidney issues, which thankfully, an ultrasound was able to clear up. I will not go into the details of what was actually wrong, but if you really care that much and I'm drunk enough, I will tell you. It is a hilariously awkward story. More awkward if I'm sober. I was asked to strip down and get on one of those hospital robes, it was a bit uncomfortable. Why with all the getting lubed up and rubbed down by a twenty-something year old girl. who also had full access to my ridiculous medical record.

[At the diagnostic center awaiting an ultrasound]
Upon my return to work last week, I was lucky enough for my office to actually remember my birthday and we celebrated it 3 weeks later, not only that, but get this, I also got to buy my own cake! Geez, guys, really you didn't have to. Well, I think of myself enough to go all out so I went ahead and ordered myself a delicious Mocha cake from Cakelove, which was more than a hit. I would die for a slice of that right now, definitely worth the elevated price tag.

[I lost the picture of the actual cake, but it read "Happy Birthday to Me"]
On the way to pick up the cake, I had a late bday lunch at a place that I had heard of tons, but had never had a chance to go to. That's right, DC's own Ben's Chili Bowl. I helped myself to a delicious half-smoke with everything on it and a side (which could have very well been an entree) of their famous chili-cheese fries. Wow. Deliciously artery-clogging. Definitely one of those once every six months type of joints. Yet definitely a must.

[image: cool town studios]

[!!!]
It was almost as though the doctor had told me everything was fine and I could just eat whatever I wanted. Especially fare that could be linked to kidney failure. So I went all out. The next day I followed it up with making the Justice show at the 9:30 club, which was pretty awesome. I think I've gotten to the point where I'm over watching DJs "perform", and now actually enjoy the music and ripping up the dancefloor. which is what I did, although I do have to point out that their set up was sick. Lights and decor were unique and kept the energy of the room lit up.

The next day, dinner at Rio Grande Restaurant in Fairfax, where I proceeded again to fail at following doctor's orders. Ordered for dinner a margarita and the Shrimp Brochette. Oh. My. God. The Shrimp Brochette. Grilled Jumbo Shrimp. Stuffed with cheese and a jalapeños. Wrapped in bacon. served with a tub of butter for dipping. Most likely to be voted the nearest experience to heaven on earth.

And to end the weekend proper and in good spirits, conjured up a batch of the Sandman Nachos (they will put you to sleep!) and killed ab bottle of wine. In an attempt to finally watch Serenity (the sequel to the awesomeness that was Firefly), which was a failed attempt at best when after gorging on nachos.

Well, on that note. I completed my weekend in celebration that my innards are, in fact, in perfect working order and being as unproductive as possible. So for now, back to blogging!

Currently Experiencing Technical Difficulties

2008-03-15T10:48:00.007-04:00

I haven't left or forgotten about the blog. I've been recently dealing with illness and some personal stuff. I, in fact, have a lot to write about, so expect this to blow up in posts without warning and when you least expect it.