absynthe antics

or is it spelt absinthe?

anyway, we bought a swiss bottle at bevmo. man, i should've paid less attention to the wormwood and more to the STAR ANISE thing! as our friend DeRa says, "(i'm) NOT a fan." man, i hate the taste of nyquil, good and plenty's, black vines or whatever the hell they're called and jägermeister.

in any case, for $60 a litre, we tried to do it right. we bought sugar cubes and 'spring water'. we maintained the 5:1 H20 to absinthe ratio. we got a glass and used a cocktail shaker strainer to hold the sugar cube, in place of the elusive 'absinthe spoon'. we carefully doused the sugar cube with a turkey baster full of water into the glass of absinthe.

verdict?

i am STILL NOT A FAN OF BLACK JELLYBEANS. it made us warm, though.

"When diluted with water and a pinch of sugar, the absinthe’s taste is strong and pleasant. And the buzz has an odd way of focusing the mind — I’ve rarely been so entranced by the swish of a basketball net. " ---Brandon I. Koerner, New York Times

"It's as if every black jellybean we've ever thrown out came back to haunt us." ---AlSto, husband of venus

EPILOGUE: KeKi, my younger brother, bade farewell to his best friend, JoKa, this past weekend. JoKa is apparently going to the land of the rising sun for some law school shenanigans. lucky guy. in any case, my brother, who is the total antithesis of myself in terms of illegal living, informed me that they, too, had acquired a bottle of absinthe, from which all these law-abiding types partook. granted, they drank the s^*& STRAIGHT (read: no water to dilute, and no sugar), which i could not imagine in my wildest dreams. fortunately, my brother told me "i like black licorice," which made me shudder, but nonetheless reassured me, my brother's got a little subversiveness in him.

POSTSCRIPT: please check the entries on EROWID.COM regarding the legalities of this fine beverage, or ask JoKa about it in about six months or so...

it's 24th December 2007...

venus' BEST MUSIC OF 2007 in alpha order

• !!!: Myth Takes - Warp ~ MAN i wish i would've seen these guys live!

Arrested Development: Since the Last Time - Vagabond ~ SOOOO glad Speech and co. are back!

Band of Horses: Cease to Exist - Subpop ~ music that automatically makes me feel like it's a sunny day, even when they're singing about love and loss.

Battles: Mirrored - Warp ~ brilliant. almost about as close as seeing the Bays live, i think.

The Budos Band: II - Daptone ~ funky as hell, fantastic, and all live, baby.

Clutchy Hopkins: The Life of Clutchy Hopkins - Ubiquity ~ shawn lee's genius alter ego, and dare i say, even more brilliant.

Fujiya and Miyagi: Transparent Things - Deaf Dumb & Blind ~ three guys on db's (of Breakbeat Science fame) label. electronic and original.

Grand National: A Drink & A Quick Decision - Recall ~ oh sh&* these guys are fantastic.

Karizma: A Mind of Its Own - !K7 ~ just when i thought i had lost hope in dance music...

Kenna: Make Sure They See My Face - Interscope/Star Trax ~ made this jaded music lover believe again. hell, it made me LOVE AGAIN.

Long Range: Madness and Me - Beat ~ a little bit o' ORBITAL brilliance. love it.

Mark Ronson: Versions - RCA~ he's talented, young, and has a helluva band.

Meat Puppets: Rise to Your Knees - Anodyne ~ welcome baaaaaaaaaack!

Motor: Unhuman - Mute ~ oh, SHIT.

Paul Hartnoll: The Ideal Condition - ACP ~ absolutely lovely. now, how about a license agreement for virgin america?

Soulsavers: It's Not How Far You Fall, It's How You Land - Columbia ~ i swear to g.d it's MARK LANEGAN of screaming trees and oh my g.d it's good!

Tom Middleton: Lifetracks - Six Degrees ~ the brains of inland knights with an album that is close to perfection.

Ungdomskulen: Cry-Baby - Ever ~ hands down, the BEST CMJ SHOW this year. you could hear everyone concur outside the venue after the show.

Various Artists: Waveform Transmissions Vol. 1 - Waveform ~ welcome back, forest and WAVEFORM! g.d i missed you!

VHS or Beta: Bring on the Comets - Astralwerks ~ just cos they're at the end of the alphabet doesn't mean they are any less good.

VERY HONOURABLE mentions go out to two dance music veterans who i am SO glad still put out new records:

Chemical Brothers: We Are The Night - Astralwerks

Underworld: Oblivion with Bells - ATO

Music i wish i had heard before 2007

Dirt Nap: Love Songs for Short Term Friends - Anodyne

Elliott Smith: New Moon - Kill Rock Stars

Grievances Part Due (that's two.) 2007

• WEBSITES THAT HAVE PULLDOWN MENUS and other search parameters that don't work.
• MYSPACE SEARCH: is a piece of crap. see above. try it for yourself...in fact, look for yourself and see if myspace will find you.

Airing/Posting/Blogging of Grievances 2007

"i have a lot of problems with you people!" --- Frank Costanza, founder of festivus

in honour of FESTIVUS i would like to invite everyone who cares to to air your grievances here!

just click on comments and have at it. grievances can have any origin, be it work-related, school, home, society, politics, humanity, etc. etc.

and to get things started, i would like to offer my contribution, to which i reserve the right to add to and modify at any time!

this is how i've been disappointed this year:

• those STICK-FIGURE FAMILIES IN ACRYLIC STICKER FORM that adorn the backs of many family-type vehicles in southern california.
• SCION OWNERS who think they have way more horsepower than they really do, and/or think they are entitled to not follow the rules of the road... esp. that white one that nearly drove us off the road at the northbound harbor blvd. exit from the 91 fwy, and the dick who drove on the shoulder tonight and slipped into the space we had left open for a dude who wanted to turn left in front of us out of a strip mall...thanks to you, scion, the dude gave up and turned right into traffic. scions are my number two hated car, due to their drivers, next to CAMRYS.
• PROGRESSIVE INSURANCE ADJUSTERS suck, even tho the company in general, and their websites, rock.
• SCREEN/FILM PRODUCERS & EVERYONE ELSE WHO IS REFUSING TO COOPERATE with the screenwriters on this strike thing...
• 'ACTORS' AND 'TALENT OF SCREEN AND FILM who refuse to take a little less money out of their millions and millions of dollars so there is a little more to go around.
• HILLARY CLINTON.
• WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON, for not admitting that you like barack obama way more than you like your wife. i'm not saying you love him more than your wife; i think you just like him more. i still like you, tho.
• "LET ME LET ME LET ME UPGRADE YAAAAA!" Beyoncé and DirecTV. enough said.

ok more to come!

MARIO'S PERUVIAN RESTAURANT in LA MIRADA!!??

i know, i know. you are skeptical. you think, there is NO WAY IN HELL it's the same MARIO'S PERUVIAN RESTAURANT as on Melrose and Vine, next to the Radio Shack and Popeye's, across the street from that church. there is absolutely no way it is the same saltado de ______, the same ceviche mixto, the same inka cola, for chrissakes.

then, you pull into a parking lot across from a steinmart and a mexican restaurant, next to a burger place, on the intersection of IMPERIAL HIGHWAY and SANTA GERTRUDES in la mirada. the place looks like an old Coco's Restaurant, which in fact, it IS. you walk up to the door, and there is no queue of ravenous mario's lovers. you walk inside and you're greeted by a manager guy in beige shirt and slacks. you're seated in what definitely used to be a Coco's Restaurant. then, they hand you the menu...

YES! it is the same menu, pale yellow in colour, laminated, with the peruvian carving/design on the cover with the black block lettering. you're thinking, "hmmm, could this possibly be the same mario's?" YES, it is the SAME saltado, ceviche, and inka cola...and the flan...except, NO HOUR LONG+ WAIT FOR A TABLE! in fact, the food is as fast as the original store, but there are many, many empty tables waiting for you to fill!

i have gone to the original location for over ten years now. i have travelled from my home in orange county to the original location in hollywood. i used to bring it home on occasion, condensation on the inside of the styrofoam container, devouring my bread after dipping it in the perfectly spicy green sauce on the drive home. NOW, it is YOUR turn to take a little drive to Mario's in La Mirada. you won't regret it. oh, but don't forget to ask for some lemon.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&ll=34.02364,-117.997284&spn=0.241865,0.450439&z=11&om=1&msid=115329167909327958751.000440d5fd0e73fbbce2a

Band of Horses @ Glass House in Pomona

i REALLY like Band of Horses. if you know me, you know they're my most recent favourite. if you're still not convinced, let me tell you, they're the only record i've played at work which has caught the interest of my (totally disparate in terms of taste, age, lifestyle, etc.) co-workers... i'm talking, they came into my office at separate times and asked me who i was playing.

it was a f(*&ing brilliant show.

and, it sounded as if their tour was coming to an end...for north america, anyway, cos if you check their website, they're on their way to europe for the next couple of months. it was weird cos the entire crowd was completely silent during and after each song. god, i HATE l.a. crowds! the keyboardist called us the "most well-behaved audience" but that's such crap. if l.a. people are SO into music, then how come no one sings a goddamn word aloud like they do in britain, and no one screams during the songs like they do in japan, and no one makes a little noise like they do in every other part of the country???!

many thank yous to the nice sound guy who gave me the set list.

Bunny from RITM @ Monday Night Social

i went with alx and AlHo.

suffice to say, BUNNY (from RABBIT IN THE MOON) f(*&ing rocked it. and, so did FREDDY BE.

i don't like it when the ratio of men to women is like 5:1, but that's when i know i'm there to see someone GOOOOOOOD.

bunny played wicked stuff and even threw in some remixes of MOBY's 'Yeah'. classic.

i left my purple pavilions sweater there at the Nacional, tho. my friend kristin gave it to me. i'm REALLY bummed about that. i hope i get it back.

DJ Culture 5 year Anniversary!

we went to the five year anniversary bbq for DJ CULTURE, which is the store of our friend SIMPLY JEFF. there was food, giveaways, and music, of course. SWEDISH EGIL spun a fantastic set, as usual...

it was a lot of fun. we saw some old friends we hadn't seen in a while.

representing: MARS-FM!!!

nice and easy was nice and fun...and plastic

went to the nice and easy store in la mirada california on santa gertrudes and imperial highway. it was a weird combination of trader joe's and albertsons, with the lighting of 'one hour photo' thrown in.

IT'S LIKE TRADER JOE'S!

• cheap cage free eggs
• tons of their own 'nice and easy' brand
• pasta is 69 cents for a pound
• organic this and whole wheat that
• super friendly employees
• decent wine section

IT'S LIKE ALBERTSONS!

• self checkout
• accepts coupons
• name brand stuff like fritos and stouffers
• lots of fresh meat [sausages with i think synthetic casing] and fish [we're talking freaking catfish with their heads and whiskers!!!?]

i guess i was bummed about their supposed green approach, which in reality meant: plastic wrappers on individual pieces of produce, and 'reusable' shopping bags, which were like those huge plastic to-go bags that you get at buca di beppo's, except sans the sturdy cardboard bottom. the thing about these is, once they're worn out, you turn them to the store for another plastic bag!??

i was also bummed cos the store wasn't fully stocked [read: shelves were empty];the nice and easy chips are in 10-ounce bags only [although still less than $2.50];and although they carry secret and mitchum deodorant, they don't carry mentadent toothpaste or filo dough.

we went out of our way to shop here tonight, and i think i'd go there in the same way i go out of the way to shop at trader joe's. plus, the food actually tastes pretty damn good. the thing i REALLY like about nice and easy, though, is how they are committed to serving underserved communities with their healthy, somewhat green approach. that's a LOT more than trader joe's can say, with their cropping up in every bougie neighbourhood that doesn't have a whole foods.

shop there and tell me what you think.

People i am looking for...

i used to work at Tower Records in Southern California, and over the years (eleven, in fact) i met a lot of very cool people. i don't know where they went. Have you heard of any of these people? If so, please have them contact me!

• ALAN LOVE (He used to work for Crown Books)
• PETER FLORES (His sisters went to high school with me)
• CHAD ARMSTRONG (Used to have a girlfriend named Tutu)
• DALLAS CALEY (i think he's still in the Orange County area)
• DIRK ADCOCK (Crazy fun guy who moved to Michigan)
• SANDRINE ____________ (She is Mauritian)
• "REX" _____________ (Mathematician from UCLA)

This is part one of many.

kenna @ the grove

we went to see KENNA at the grove in anaheim (not to be mistaken for the grove in l.a.). i love the tours he gets to open for, cos there is no perfect fit for this guy, and that's why i love his music so much. the SWR crowd was weird, like jaded morrissey fans or mexigoths from vice magazine or something...

kenna was fantastic, even though he played only six songs or so in 40 minutes. and, we got to meet him briefly at the merch stand after the show. such a nice guy. listen to his record! you WON'T be disappointed, unless you're a total jerk.