2010 grievances. yeah, i got 'em.

i figured, if google can do their 2011 thing two hours before the 31st of December (i'm in the pacific time zone), i can list my first-world problems with 2010 on the penultimate day of the year.

and so, in honour of Festivus, i would like to list a few of of my grievances for the year 2010. [however, unlike the Seinfeld Festivus tradition, when one "tells their friends and family all the instances of how or when they disappointed the person during the year", my grievances are toward/with the world in general. this is because i have no control over a lot of stuff and i like to complain, but it is especially so because i am extremely fortunate since my friends and family were the only things to NOT disappoint me this year.*]

venus' grievances are as follows:

• Dr. Alexander Shulgin is unable to afford required treatment for a stroke, experienced earlier this year, and for a stubborn foot ulcer. ** speaking of which, reminds me of...
• Gov. Schwarzenegger's vetoes against Assembly Bill 3632 [AB3632].*^ for more info, please also see CA Dept. of Mental Health website.
  
• KCET in Los Angeles is no longer carrying PBS programming as of 1 January 2011. what to do, southern california? hellooooooooooo KOCE!
  
• whenever i highlight a word to edit in my Blogger entry, an extra word is deleted along with the highlighted word.
• Twitt'r accounts used by cities, government, entities, professionals and/or organisations in general to simply market and advertise, instead of providing real or true information, action, interaction and/or feedback.
  
• the prevalence of Liz Lemon/Tina Fey-shaped eyewear, and the dearth of Penelope Garcia/Kirsten Vangsness-shaped eyeglasses. speaking of which, reminds me of...
  
• the mediocrity of my optometrist's front office staff. they can't be bothered to find the right eyeglass frames for me...and they're too busy upselling stuff that ends up falling apart. s.o.w.r.m.o...
• the rude front office chicks at my doctor's office.*** s.o.w.r.m.o...
• good therapists who don't take my insurance. and, the bad ones who do.
• our PS3's broken blu-ray drive. s.o.w.r.m.o...
• TV repairmen in Orange County or Los Angeles who refuse to make housecalls to repair CRT televisions.**^ s.o.w.r.m.o...
• Guitar Hero haters. s.o.w.r.m.o...
• the small number of available Rockband keyboard songs and Pro songs.
  
• CREDO formerly known as Working Assets for having a terrible online payment system which forced us to lose our long distance telephone service.^*
  
• blizzard entertainment. love what they do, but i hate how they make you register for an account to get a stinking gametime gift for someone.****
• product placement in general, but especially on the Jeopardy game show.
  
• sites use the FB to login with, more often than openID.
• point-and-shoot/point-and-click digital cameras have all these supposedly cool features one can adjust and use...yet the user manuals give no information as to how or when they are to be used...just that they can be used.
• sebastien loeb.*****
• city of Buena Park's city council election, which was won by the highest spender(s).
  
• hipsters' (and others'!) outright rejection of MySpace. s.o.w.r.m.o...
• the absolutely pathetic web presence of most stand-up comics/comedians and magician/illusionist types i like.*^^^
  
• ALEX WONG's injury.***^
• Jack in the Box has no fish and chips. And Wendy's has no baked potatoes.
  
• water + gravity = yikes.
• celebrities. these non-experts're taking away all the voiceover jobs and officiant jobs and other jobs traditionally held by other experts. s.o.w.r.m.o...
• --$ha and the Beebs.**^^ s.o.w.r.m.o...
• Kristen Wiig.
• jerks still email me nasty things about how i don't deserve to have the mdma.com domain.
• MAX KARAOKE is too far away and too expensive.
  

==because footnotes are next to impossible on blogger==
* omg I LOVE MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY!!! [here are a few of them.] i also love a lot of other things, such as animals, my job, music, health and... um...my family and friends.
**Dr. Shulgin is a man who, through his tireless scientific research of 3,4 methylenedioxymethamphetamine (and many other chemicals with true therapeutic potential) in the face of mounting scrutiny, has benefited, and continues to benefit, many of us. as far back as 1985, MDMA was vilified by the media and was made a Schedule I drug by the DEA in the United States. it is a total shame that just one dollar has not been given in thanks to this brave man, by every person who has been touched by ecstasy in a positive way...especially, in this supposed world of "happy happy raver" b.s., also known as PLUR (or Peace Love Unity and Respect). see articles in Time magazine, May of the year 2000 and in June of the year 2000
*^ not to mention, the effects of his attempt to balance the California state budget, at the cost of helping those with homelessness and autism.
***however, i love the nurse at my dr.'s office.
**^i will pay a couple of hundred dollars cos we cannot afford to buy a new flatscreen/LCD/plasma television for several more hundreds of $$$!!!!
^*YES, i DO KNOW i should use skype or some other VoIP thing.
****yes, you can buy WoW gametime at amazon, but, um, not for one month.
*****as opposed to: HURRAH PETTER SOLBERG!
*^^^THANK YOU, marc maron, wonderground in Las Vegas, StandUp! Records and Punchline mag!!!
***^see more non-SYTYCD videos here.
**^^despite my love of the song they used on the Simpsons and the song they slowed down.

POST SECRET: not really 6 of one...and half dozen of the other

i admit, this "secret" is not much of one, unless the person who submitted it is keeping their condescending attitude toward mental illness and psychiatric drugs, specifically toward antidepressants, a secret...

i should get like i do, and tell this person that the enjoyment of music is more often related to stimulation of the limbic system in the brain, and been shown to be related to the activity of the neurotransmitter phenethylanine. in contrast, sertraline or Zoloft® and fluoxetine or Prozac® work in/on different parts of the brain, inhibiting the reuptake of serotonin, which is a completely different neurotransmitter. (please leave a comment if you need me to cite references...)

i suppose both brain mechanisms result in some sort of euphoric feeling...but then again, so do endorphins from running and opioid/mu receptours when we bang our hand by accident and experience pain. i just didn't want this person to get it twisted.

Dr. Shulgin helped us, so now let's help HIM!

To Read Click Here: http://shulginresearch.org/imgs/helpsasha2010.jpg

last night at the MAPS event, i learned some very unfortunate news: one of my personal heroes, Berkeley pharmacologist DR. ALEXANDER SHULGIN, experienced a stroke in November 2010. Dr. Shulgin's pioneering discoveries, relentless drive and tireless work in psychopharmacology has personally touched many of our lives, very deeply. If you, or anyone you care about, has experienced the effect of Dr. Shulgin's contributions, now is your opportunity to give back and show your appreciation. You can send Dr. Shulgin a donation via PIRYX if you don't use Paypal. And here is a link to donate if you do use Paypal.

Please see this new Blogger page for further details, links and information about Dr. Shulgin.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!

= = =

Credited with MDMA's popularisation in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Shulgin also championed the treatment of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) through the psychopharmaceutical use of MDMA. In subsequent years, Shulgin discovered, synthesized, and bioassayed over 230 psychoactive compounds. This means he found, made and tested over 230 psychoactive compounds in vivo , or in a whole, living organism...namely, himself! In 1991 and 1997, he and his wife Ann authored the books PiHKAL and TiHKAL on the topic of psychoactive drugs. [Excerpted and adapted from Transform Press bio.]

You can follow updates from Ann, Dr. Shulgin's wife, on CARING BRIDGE, and see the documentary film DIRTY PICTURES which was made about Sasha's life and work. If you use the Facebook, there is now a page dedicated to fundraising for Sasha:

If button doesn't work use THIS LINK.

maps.org afterparty in downtown l.a. was fun and hot (photos & video)

for AlSto's #39, we stayed home as AlSto received dozens of visitors, phone calls and FB good wishes. otherwise, since we went to PhiLe's studio to play cards and Rockband until late the previous night, we just watched Scarface on TV and not much else...

in the evening, we went to see friends and hear DJs at a party at the Temple of Visions art gallery in downtown L.A. MAPS.org (Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies) was in town for their CATALYSTS conference. some events were to raise money for their upcoming research project which will study therapeutic use of MDMA on Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans who have chronic post-tramautic stress disorder (who have not responded to other treatment).

**NEWS: DR. ALEXANDER 'SASHA' SHULGIN NEEDS OUR HELP. PLEASE SEE THIS PAGE FOR INFO.**

what a serious people-watching bonanza: attendees included physicians, scholars, authors, artists and overall enthusiasts who wandered, danced, sat and slept (see a few photos here). we met pharmacist NICK BERRY (and contributed to his sharpie-decorated labcoat), a girl named Tammy/Tami and ___ , who i remember as 'Rock' for the namepatch on his blue speedsuit/jumpsuit...

on to the music. at the turntables (oops i mean CDJs!): Dela played a squelchy dub set first; EASTERN SUN's Brian Saitzyk (Ball of Waxx) was next with a set of chilled breaks, minimal dubstep and some beat music (i think he played a song by Take!!?); i think Imagika followed. the inside of the gallery was almost unbearably warm so we ran up the street with BriKa to Seven Grand bar, arriving there right before last call. when we got back, psychonauts filled the dancefloor and Moontribe's DJ BRIAN was in full effect. (sorry for the poor video quality! 'tis super short cos i was running out of battery!)

stuff my husband sez

re: Nicholas Cage

"He named his kid Kal El* !? i hope he beats the crap out of him when he gets old enough."

* superman

the holidaze make me think of the crumpus...

'tis actually spelt KRAMPUS. he's a.k.a. the holiday devil!

Gruss vom Krampus / Gruß vom Krampus (Greetings from the Crumpus) Everyone!

"On December 5th and 6th, in Austria, Switzerland, Croatia, Germany and other regions of European, children greet kindly St. Nicholas with his bag of toys and sweets only to find the Saint's devilish assistant trailing behind. Hideously costumed as a devil or wild man with a whipping switch or chains, Krampus comes to frighten the mischievous children into contrition."

...and see more info on this awesome website, KRAMPUS.COM!

video from A VERY VENTURE CHRISTMAS on the Venture Brothers

give the TSA something to look at...

thanks to my TiVO casts, i was turned on this evening to 4TH AMENDMENT WEAR, which uses metallic ink to make messages appear (actually, the Constitution's Fourth Amendment) under airport body scans. you can even purchase some of the garments on Etsy.

via Creativity Online

Justice John Paul Stevens is my hero.

and he's America's hero, too! the honourable JPS was on 60 MINUTES this week.

the entire episode was pretty cool, actually. you should check out the segments about the crazy Spiderman + U2 musical and training the Afghani police force.

thank you, Frontline for "Facing Death"

powerful.

SPIDER'S KISS: Venture Bros. cocktail from "Operation P.R.O.M."

's the second drink recipe, as mentioned by JACKSON PUBLICK. on the bump of the VENTURE BROTHERS season finale (the exciting, long-awaited, double-long final season 4 episode that made me a little emotional! plus, SHORE LEAVE is a total badass), Mr. Publick quickly ordered this drink before cutting to commercial:

Spider's Kiss Cocktail

1 oz. green melon liqueur
1 oz. vodka
Squeeze of fresh Lemon
Grenadine (optional)
Chocolate syrup

Draw a chocolate web into a cocktail glass. Place in freezer and chill. Shake melon , vodka and lemon juice and strain into glass. For a blood effect, drizzle grenadine down the side of the glass. Garnish with a chocolate-dipped orange slice.

Recipe from DRINK OF THE WEEK website created by Victoria D’Amato-Moran, courtesy of Midori®.

[BTW here's the drink Doc Hammer ordered in the same bump.]

WE LOVE YOU TOO, MR. HAMMER AND MR. PUBLICK!!!

another Venture Brothers cocktail: HOT MOMMY (Hot Mummy?)

for all you DOC HAMMER - like skinny-minis (whinnies?) out there, here's a drink recipe for the beverage Doc mentioned at the end of the bump during amazingly brilliant, awesome, near-perfect VENTURE BROTHERS season finale on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim (no, not the arsenic in a coconut, sorry!):

Hot Mommy (Skinny Vacation Cocktail)
1 oz. coconut rum (50 calories)
4 oz. club soda (0 calories)
Splash of pineapple juice (16 calories)
Splash of orange juice (14 calories)
Garnish with a fresh slice of pineapple (20 calories)

Total calorie count? Just 100 calories for your fabulous vacation cocktail! Compare that to 530 calories and in the same size pina colada or 740 calories for a margarita...

(Thanks to the HOT MOMMY HAPPY BABY blog for the recipe...)

the REAL drummer in Cee-Lo Green's live band: Brittany Brooks!

so, you've seen Cee-Lo perform his song "Fµ¢k◄You" / "Forget You" (or "Fox News" on Colbert) on tv, with a 'live' band of women/girls...

well, BRITTANY BROOKS was the one bandmember who actually played the drums while the guitar, bass and keyboard ladies played to a backing track (at least on Colbert they did!)... and she's a pretty great drummer! she even has a cymbal sponsor.

follow her on the MySpace as brittanyabrooks and the Twitt'r: @brittanyAbrooks ! (i think thadrummindiva on MySpace is her, as well...)

here's Cee-lo and Ms. Brooks in a video from Later with Jools Holland:



and thank you, KEEP IT SIMPLE on the Drummerworld forum, for leading me to Youtuber NEWZAPPA for the info on Brittany's name! (plz. check the video's comments for his source.)

= = = =
postscript -

Dear TOM TOM MAGAZINE *, may i please be one of your writers? ;-P OK OK, how about a researcher, then?

*btw TomTom is an awesome online and print mag about female drummers! find them on the FB and the Twitt'r too: @tomtommag

Cock Play, Not Fight....from National Geographic Magazine Contest

Photo and caption by Ario Wibisono

Cockfight - Suradita Village, West Java, Indonesia (2010). Children playing with their rooster. Actually it was not a real cockfight because the rooster didn't wear blades on their feet. Children likes to play this game because they almost never have toys in their life. From 2010 National Geographic Photo Contest - Galleries - National Geographic Magazine

something for WaDi, MoVerSpe and Mags in the other CA...

Marwencol is the next place i want to go...

first learned about this on the MADELINE BRAND SHOW:

aka the "Crazyass Japanese Thing of the Day"

[no, JaHe & AlSto, it's not me!]

big THANKS to SarMan for this! my bro Kaze wants to go to one of these. and i'm thinking, how come a Dethklok or a Gorillaz show couldn't be like this??!



see original video here.

judith griggs of cook's source magazine...

learn more about

JUDITH GRIGGS,

the flippant Cook's Source editor.

lol.

MUSIC: Kele Okereke - Tenderoni

how could i have missed this album? it's KELE OKEREKE (not Okoreke) from Bloc Party! it's a great freaking song.



original video here.

what Ninja Tune XX meant, and what Ninja Tune means to me

there was a time when labels meant something, when they were synonymous with a certain aesthetic, roster of artists and calibre of quality and musicianship (and for these reasons, i still love Relativity, SST, 4AD, Wax Trax, Moonshine, Planet Dog etc. etc.); and Ninja Tune was, and still remains, a label you can count on...

Gary Numan is headlining two nights at the El Rey next week. favourites from my 20s have reunited and toured again recently. hell, even the Chemical Brothers are still actively making music and touring. for all the shows we could have gone to but didn't go to, either because we couldn't afford the $ or the energy it would take to attend, there were two shows i was absolutely not going to miss, two shows this near 40-yr old was looking forward to since summer: KRUDER & DORFMEISTER and NINJA TUNE XX.


musically speaking, in the early 1990s, i was still making my way between the remnants of alt-goth clubs and the burdgeoning Los Angeles rave scene. i was in college, futilely still pursuing a career in the music business, interning the 2-6am shift at radio station MARS-FM. just a few years later, i fell in love with my husband, and all our friends and we were falling in love with Kruder and Dorfmeister, Fila Brazillia, Quango Records, and all things downtempo (yes, thanks largely in part to Jason Bentley, his show Metropolis and KCRW). i think ENIT was still in effect, via Lollapalooza. at about this time, there happened to be an extraordinary UK label which had already been releasing great music for several years, called Ninja Tune.

i think i have loved the Herbaliser and Coldcut and Cinematic Orchestra and DJ Food and DJ Vadim and Mixmaster Morris and all Ninja Tune artists for the simple fact that they've always made my head nod and my ears listen...in that order. most everyone knows the Mr. Scruff song "Get a Move On" that was in the 2005 advert for Lincoln cars. see? i know you remember the song, even if you don't remember the commercial. and NO, it wasn't Moby.

really, one shouldn't need to know much about keyboards, turntables, editing software and samplers to enjoy music. maybe, sometimes, it helps, cos then you see someone get on stage and pull off everything live, like ESKMO did last night...and you're blown away.

i feel lucky to live in L.A., where Ninja Tune XX happened to touch down on one special evening. i think i was worried there would be too much competition in town: 'twas the Saturday of Hallowe'en weekend; Of Montreal was playing at the Palladium; HARD L.A. was up the street near usc (and there was a [an?] usc game on campus, i later learned). i was so happy to see the line was already around the corner, 30 minutes after doors had officially opened. of course, all the people waiting outside meant there were very few people inside to watch the opening acts... we only saw one song of Cut Chemist, who was in a hurry to get down to KCRW's Hallowe'en bash (oh, that was yet another thing going on on the same night). and GHOSTBEARD played a good, solid abstract set upstairs, and man, the sound was awesome.

one of my biggest complaints is when a music-based event fails to make their audio a priority, but NOT Ninja Tune! they made sure the audio was sounding excellent and trouble-free in every way. every piece was in place, with the possible exception of KID KOALA's crossfader fail...which was not truly a fail. that's because he deftly replaced the fader on the spot with true Kid Koala showmanship. He talked us through the process, stopping himself short of describing in geeky detail the part that had malfunctioned, although i would have loved to hear about it, and joking about his hopes that his sponsorship from Rane mixers wasn't dropped...even though the mixer had already lasted for a purported 400 previous shows! what a charming guy!! and THEN, Kid Koala proceeded with the show, enthusiastically standing on top of the monitors as he played the 'only song [his] two year-old daughter likes of [his] entire record collection', kinda like this:


...and many more. Amon Tobin played a gut-rattling dubstep-inspired set, while upstairs, DK and DJ Food brought out an all-Ninja-Tune-and-Big-Dada set, spinning their way through the recorded history of the label. freaking fantastic! unfortunately, :(( we were unable to stay for DJ KENTARO, who i am sure blew minds away with his turntablism and skill!!

the term 'ninja' is so apt in describing the artists working their magic on Ninja Tune's music. we were all really lucky to have been at the Echoplex last night, in the presence of some of our music superheroes! looking through their commemorative book, Ninja Tune: 20 Years of Beats & Pieces (which was painstakingly put together to be released as an accompaniment to the limited edition, and now sold-out, four-CD boxset), one may notice how all the gents have a little more grey in their hair and maybe a little more weight on their bodies, or at least just wedding bands on their fingers.

Panasonic officially announced they were ceasing production of their analogue turntables last week, but they hadn't heard the news at Ninja Tune's birthday party last night. the most incredible thing was to be at a place where the love of music was clearly so apparent and palpable. you could touch it in on the face of every artist; you could hear it in every molecule of the air; and you could see it in every bobbing head, both onstage and off.

BTW a huge thank you to LysWo, JuBla and CaiVe of THIRD SIDE MUSIC and TiJo of TERRORBIRD MEDIA!!!

MUSIC: Faithless' new album THE DANCE is worth a listen

This is "Feelin' Good" from Faithless.


i can't wait to hear a remix of this song. welcome back, Sister Bliss and Rollo!!!

video is nicely made, and the song isn't too bad...

thanks to DoGre (actually, his brother) for this video!!

d(*&heads = d&^%bags, i guess...

aftermath.

for Smaug the Desolate's One Year Memorial...

in honour of our kind, sweet, strong and sensitive guy...

Smaug the Desolate - Februaryish 1993 to 12 October 2009

he is so dearly missed, and we think of him often.

we love you, smaug!!!!

yes, Virginia, there really is a WALT DISNEY.

BIG thank you to MaMcWa for this!! ;-)))

MUSIC: Maximum Balloon, David Byrne and "Apartment Wrestling"

From THE GUARDIAN in an interview with TVOTR's Dave Sitek, whose side project MAXIMUM BALLOON released a great new album!:

"I was playing some of the instrumental tracks to a mutual friend of ours. He was like, 'Man, you know who'd kill this? David Byrne'. I was like, 'Yeah right, and then I'll get Jimi Hendrix to play guitar'. But he called David, who said he'd do it and then I crapped my pants … And then I changed my pants and we recorded the song. It's amazing, David's been a huge influence on not just me but everyone else on this record. When I first heard what he'd done it blew my mind. Then it blew my mind all over again two weeks later when I realised what the lyrics are about. The song is fucking twisted. There's actually an old porno magazine from the 70s called Apartment Wrestling – it featured scantily-clad girls grappling and having pillow fights with each other. Pretty far out."

HEAR IT: Apartment Wrestling by Maximum Balloon v's David Byrne

MUSIC: new SEI A lp WHITE RAINBOW on Turbo is sick sick sick

thank god there's techno.

i swear you've never heard it so good...if you like techno, at least. no joke, i got chills listening to SEI A's track 8, Who Dares Wins. from his new WHITE RAINBOW album. i even stopped the track to do something, and then put it on a little later. chills again.

and then there's Stars. pure, classic and an absolutely mouthdropping production standard. my god, on Body of Eyes, too. you'll get chills, i tell you!!!!

listen to something on SOUNDCLOUD...

all this could be yours, some day.

MENOMENA.

their album Mines is brilliant. here's a live video for a performance of very good song called "Five Little Rooms":


my favourite song on Mines is "Oh Pretty Boy, You're Such a Big Boy". the production on the album is everything i would want to accomplish on a record. plus, i just love their piano arrangments and parts. i haven't heard the bari sax sound so good since Morphine...AND i think their lyrics are pretty awesome, too.

why did i have to fall in love with this record AFTER they had already played through Los Angeles?

find out more and hear other songs on their label BARSUK's website.

THIS is why you gotta know the Bible!

taken from the executive summary of a new Pew Research survey on religious knowledge:

"...Atheists and agnostics, Jews and Mormons are among the highest-scoring groups on a new survey of religious knowledge, outperforming evangelical Protestants, mainline Protestants and Catholics on questions about the core teachings, history and leading figures of major world religions.

On average, Americans correctly answer 16 of the 32 religious knowledge questions on the survey by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life. Atheists and agnostics average 20.9 correct answers..."

http://pewforum.org/Other-Beliefs-and-Practices/U-S-Religious-Knowledge-Survey.aspx

FOOD: Triumphant Orange County Return of Grill 'Em All Truck or NOT??!!

it speaks volumes when FoodTV's Great Food Truck Race (GFTR) is the only reality show my husband AlSto dares admit watching. luckily, we had the privilege of eating GRILL 'EM ALL truck's brutal cuisine before people chose to wait in line around the block this evening!

Grill 'Em All was scheduled to arrive at 6pm, at Fullerton's Bootlegger's Brewery, but they were running late. i was on the road at the time, but AlSto got periodic updates from our friends who had been waiting in line since 5pm-ish...

by 7pm, according to our friends' reports, no orders had been taken yet, but someone was out in front of the line, rallying supporters, the faithful and the hungry. we were at home still. AlSto considered (aloud) heading down to Fullerton, Pig amp in hand, to play 'Fight Fire with Fire' a la Venice Beach's Harry Karry (sp?) sans rollerskates and head dress. seriously. except i'm just kidding about the Harry Karry part.

despite a bunch of cheaters cutting in line, our friends managed to get their hands and mouths around the BEHEMOTH (but search for 'behometh'. doesn't that sound/look like something from the bible?!). they hadn't run out of food yet, but the Orange County health inspectors were supposedly onsite, doing what health inspectors do. or were they?

the following two twits were all i could find in the Twitter universe:

RT @englishboila: @GrillEmAllTruck got harrassed by health inspector nazis in Fullerton so they are running really late!! We need to stop this harrasment!! (sic) - via search.twitter.com

@englishboila: Apparantly they let @GrillEmAllTruck go tonight cos of huge line but they won't be allowed in OC again until pass OC codes!! (sic) - via search.twitter.com

as of 2.49 Friday morning, OC Register had nothing more current than their post announcing Grill 'Em All's planned appearance. the OC Weekly had nothing to report, either...but on STICK A FORK IN IT my guys Edwin Goei and Dave Lieberman had said some of the things i had wanted to say about the outcome of the GFTR. and those damn nom noms.

so did anything really happen tonight? i don't trust rumours when i have nothing to support or substantiate... so please fill me in, Grill 'Em All guys!

or, help us, Gustavo Arellano !

-Thursday, 23/9/2010 Twitpic via @threefrenchs

Mehlman and Maron

if you haven't read MARON's tweet series (on Gawker) as he was seated next to (former GOP chairman) Ken Mehlman on an airplane yet, you must.

i HEART Roger Craig (not the athlete)

i must say, ROGER CRAIG is a total badass. i absolutely love his demeanour, his strategy, his signaling technique, his brain and his personality! and i'm only two of four days into our TiVO list of Roger Craig's astonishing winning run.


so now, here are v's favourites in order:

Colonel Dave Belote

Roger Craig

Vijay Balse

Justin Bernbach

Stefan Goodreau

confessions of a Jeopardy! groupie...WOOOOOO!

i've always wanted to go on a cruise...

REPOST. wow!



thanks to@pleaseenjoy via Gizmodo.

Not Just Broken Bells (of Kristina Hendricks)

Broken Bells - The Ghost Inside OFFICIAL VIDEO (Protein Exclusive) from Protein® on Vimeo.

Pappy Van Winkle's Sicilian Lifeguard à la Terranea

Wednesday night 15/9/2010 with AlSto and BriKa in no particular order... or maybe, in order of recall:

the S.C. thing is apparently brash spicy tomato sauce, briny caper berries, sweet currants, sharp scallions, and soft balls of Israeli couscous:

"I have never actually met a Sicilian lifeguard, but if one were to cook up a pot of calamari, this is how he or she might make it." - Mario Batali

sounds kinda gross to me. i didn't have it but i did have tiny vegetables. but please find a reference or definition of the Sicilian Lifeguard preparation without Batali, other than at MAR'SEL (sea salt! geddit? and their salt was really quite extraordinary) or its super young chef MICHAEL FIORELLI (worked under both MARK MILITELLO and SUSANNA FOO?!! holy crap. but i still don't like K Simon). then, please tell me cos i'm too lazy to page through 10 pages of results.

- per Saveur article of BABBO.

• gin IS vodka. - per CHOWHOUND
  

• long, slow and wet = braising! - per EPICURIOUS

• don't be a jerk. thanks to waiter George. he takes care of you! ask for him.

• j'adore l'amuse bouche! caramelised shallot tart with sofrito sauce. i heart odd numbers on a plate. seashell-shaped café mocha chocolate for dessert.
  
  
• check out the small world of bourbon...PAPPY VAN WINKLE is bottled at the BLANTON'S plant!

the distillery has a webcam of several different rooms! Frankfort is about 70 miles from Loretto, Kentucky...for when we eventually go on our KY Tour. and PVW is related to Ole Grandad (just kidding. but maybe it should be!).

• JUSTIN cabernet sauvignon is pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty good.

did i forget anything?

cats

...not eels.

i know you've seen this but i lagged posting it first...even before my brother Kaze sent me a link.

via ADWEEK.

did you know...?

The LEARN SOMETHING NEW site has many more things to learn each day, authenticated for the most part, in picture form.
Thx to @pleaseenjoy for always posting such interesting stuff for us to enjoy! :)

am i just envious? jealous, even?

check it out, yet another reason to support why i say de caza is so over-the-top bourgeois in every way possible... POLO LESSONS.



pretty crazy... and read how during the lesson, you will be riding, not on a horse, but on freaking WHALEBACK (see circled) with a referee who is HALF HORSE, HALF MAN, i.e. a centaur. wow. must be nice. they're probably eating bald eagle over there, too...

COOL! Painting "Fin Investigates a Rape" by Jeff Ramirez

Taken from "These Are Their Stories", a series conceived by Brandon Bird. Thx to JeRo for the link!

i wish i could draw.

from the Astonishing Art of Siri Stahlberg

Cool!

sorry, Rob Brezny, 'thas been a while...

Free Will Astrology for the Week of 1 July 2010!??

Cancer (June 21-July 22)
Let's do a check-in on your progress so far in 2010, Cancerian. The year's half over, and I'm wondering if you've been cashing in on the unique invitations that life has been sending your way. The way I understand it, you've been summoned to emerge from your hiding place and go wandering around in exotic and unfamiliar places. Events that in the past may have turned you inward toward thoughts of safety have in recent months nudged you out in the direction of the Great Unknown. Have you been honest enough with yourself to recognize the call to adventure? Have you been wild and free enough to answer the call? If not, I suggest you find it in yourself to do so. The next six months will be prime time to head out on a glorious quest.

wow. this is the first time in a very long time, when i can remember Rob tell me something other than "All systems are go!" during my bday week. he's a cancer, too, you know. not that i believe in any of this stuff...

MUSIC: Dizzee Rascal

WOW every single song from the DIZZEE RASCAL album Tongue N Cheek gets better and better... See the video for Dirtee Cash below, along with the original STEVIE V song, below below, from which Dizzee's people borrowed the sample!

a chart of Crayola crayon colours, from 1903 to 2010.

from Stephen Von Worley via NPR

VIDEO: Squarepusher's Delta V

thx to JusKle of REPHLEKTOR for this!

SQUAREPUSHER | DELTA-V from ZF FILMS on Vimeo.

(via Urb.com)

"only in Japan".

i have no idea who these people are.

-Thanks to Ji Lee @pleaseenjoy

MUSIC: Acrassicauda - talk about brutal.

so my dear friend Jamie F. from Vice Records sends us new music from time to time, and i always listen to it cos even if we can't use it on every or any airline, it's always excellent stuff. ACRASSICAUDA is no exception.



as you will see on the video, the album was produced by Nik Chinboukas and Testament's ALEX SKOLNICK...but don't count that against them.

VIDEO: Cookin' with COOLIO???!!!

funny. thanks to RiSmi for this!

i really did enjoy Coolio's music, but i guess he's through with that for real, now...

"look good, smell good, taste good IS GOOD!!!" (and don't forget the mahz-a-rella, insults, Coolio special seasoning and the coagulation of flavours...)

Miguel Medialdea, Veta la Palma and the beauty of relationships

if you know me, you may know about my (recent) conflicted feelings about farm-raised seafood as well as overfishing in the wild. then, VETA LA PALMA's (frames and Flash warning! see this pdf and another pdf from the website) aquafarm and bird sanctuary gave me hope. Veta la Palma's biologist, Miguel Medialdea, has spearheaded a system that is:

1) A fish farm that doesn't feed its own fish - the system is totally self-renewing, and the fish eat only algae and phytoplankton that already exist in the water.
2) A fish farm that measures its success by the health of its predators who feed on the fish - It is a thriving bird sanctuary, where hundreds of avian species stop by and feed upon 20% of the farm's fish and fish eggs. In fact, a group of pink flamingoes is said to fly over a hundred miles each way from where they brood (a place where the soil is better for them to nest).
3) A fish farm in which water leaves cleaner than when it was introduced - Water running through the farm is purified, not polluted, as a result.

read an article about Manuel Medialdea and Veta la Palma from Time Magazine called SUSTAINABLE AQUACULTURE: NET PROFITS by Lisa Abend, and watch this TEDtalks with chef DAN BARBER of Blue Hill Farms in New York.

i CAN spell it but i can't say it

here's a great link i found about how to pronounce Ejafjallajökull (and yes, i was saying AY-yah-fyah-lah-YOH-kul)! that's the name of Iceland's volcano which Jon Stewart couldn't or wouldn't pronounce, BTW.

rusty venture exposed

i found this rusty venture interview (oops i meant aka JAMES URBANIAK in talk show form), on his blog VOUCHER ANKLES. the show begins with neil schweiber of Freaks and Geeks. the real fun begins around 27:40.

turns out he lived kinda near where AlSto lived in new jersey ("Sayreville?!! i know where that is. that's the way we took to my uncle's when we didn't take the parkway."). hmm, i wonder if his real name is spelt 'Urbaniac'?

saudi burger king commercials

thanks to PRI's THE WORLD for their story on this!

bwahahahahaha OMEGA males and the women who hate them...

...geddit? there are alpha males, and there are omega males!

as author Jessica Grose states, "They're unemployed, romantically challenged, and they're everywhere." (until i read more closely... then, i realised she was talking about male characters in the movies, a la Ben Stiller's character in the film Greenburg)

i gotta hand it to The XX FACTOR on slate.com...i don't visit the site as much as i used to, but when i do, i nearly always find something awesome in this column.

FOOD: Grill 'Em All truck is brutally good food from seriously thoughtful cooks

i don't usually write much about my food experiences, but i must tell you about my Reign in Bun experience... it's one of the specials of the day from the guys at the GRILL 'EM ALL truck: a [veg] burger with grilled red and green bell pepper, pepper jack cheese and freaking lemon pepper crème fraîche!!! delicious.

AlSto had the Waste 'Em All: marinated green chiles (with some actual scoville points!?), pepper jack, beer soaked onions. our friend PhiLe asked for the Lars (a special they ran out of...how fresh and daily is that?!) but ended up with the Molly Hatchet...but good thing he did; it has seared sausage gravy with fennel!!!... as well as applewood smoked bacon and maple drizzle. soooooo sick, and amazing smelling, with what i imagine would be an ideal blend of the salty and the sweet, plus the smokey! incredible.

they serve belgian frites as a side dish, double fried like they should be. crisp and fresh...they obviously change their oil. not to mention, kosher salt, which was sprinkled immediately post fryer cos it actually stuck to the fries. thank you!

and if you know me, you know how much i love condiments, and theirs are things of beauty. you could taste every ingredient in their sauces. PhiLe had what he said was a 'japanese aïoli with jalapeño'...enough spice for someone like me, where the heat/burn was immediate, and it lingered but 'twasn't overbearing. totally awesome. and my garlic aïoli was strong and real. fantastic! i think by this time i was totally stoked, so i want to say their regular ketchup is homemade, too. come to think of it, it has to be, cos who would make 5+ sauces from scratch and then use bottled stuff?

one thing i can never get down quite right with my cooking is the timing, and i swear AlSto and PhiLe's burgers were perfectly medium rare and ready in our hands/mouths, with fries, in less than six minutes. impressive.

the only part i was a little bummed about, but not really, was how totally unbrutal and NICE these guys genuinely were. super mellow...and there was no Nuclear Blast compilation, no Dethklok, or even metallica's 'orion' or other instrumental blaring out their speakers. i'll blame that on stupid fullerton's city ordinances or something. and he (i think 'twas chef harkins) actually thanked me for my $2 tip. how nice. :oP

(btw, chefs harkins and chernus, who was that lady glaring at you from inside the truck? god i hope she wasn't a mother... ;-P)

ok fullerton dbags, maybe $8 for a burger is more than in-n-out, but this is serious food...and bravo to BOOTLEGGER'S BREWERY for attracting so many food trucks to your no-food-permitted-beer-establishment-stuck-in-the-middle-of-an-orange-county-industrial-block. most of them can't be bothered to venture further north than SanTana...until they hit Commerce or DTLA at least. kogi bbq's food tastes better at the front of the line, cos they're definitely overrated at >45 min back in the line...but Grill 'Em All deserves your palate, cos i doubt they will disappoint...and you may be pleasantly surprised.

find them on the Twitt'r and the Facebk. photos to come!

for AlHo and for JaHe: two funny things

this first one is from POST SECRET. it will be gone by the end of the week, so i thought i'd preserve it here...

this next one is the jeopardy contestant, LAURA HUGHES, who i looking like she wishes she was PENELOPE GARCIA (aka Kirsten Vangsness) of Criminal Minds. she choked on her second day on the show.

party with fast-food mascots.

RAD OMEN - "Rad Anthem" from Nicholaus Goossen on Vimeo.

i didn't even listen to this the first time. kinda creepy. many thanks to my co-worker @chedonline for this!

beyond Topeka for 1 April 2010

watch the film IN A DREAM. Isaiah Zagar is brilliant.

IN A DREAM: Theatrical Trailer from Herzliya Films on Vimeo.

we went to Las Vegas over the weekend.

sometimes, one of my favourite things to do is watch random HBO stuff in the hotel cos we don't have it at home...and the HBO gods were good to us this time! we stumbled upon a documentary called IN A DREAM about the Philadelphia artist ISAIAH ZAGAR. because the film was directed and edited by Isaiah's son Jeremiah, the camera had intimate access into the life of a genius who is brilliantly gifted, and some would consider cursed, by his art.

“I use art as a spider web, to trap people and change how they look, feel, dream.” - NY TIMES article from August 2009

watching Isaiah Zagar was like watching Sarah Winchester, minus the mediums and spirits, with her Mystery House: compelled to keep building, producing, touching, adding, cleaning and fine-tuning every single day, from dawn to dusk...so incredible and beautiful. and the other stuff in the movie about his family, neighbourhood and history? you will have to see yourself.

==

IN A DREAM is an award-winning documentary film directed by Jeremiah Zagar. The film premiered August 19th, 2009 on HBO2.

WINNER: Emerging Visions Audience Award
SXSW Film Festival

WINNER: Best Documentary
Woodstock Film Festival

WINNER: Audience Award for Best Feature
San Francisco Documentary Festival

Add it to your Netflix queue:
http://www.netflix.com/Movie/In_a_Dream/70095164

• Latest News & Screening Info: http://www.inadreammovie.com/blog/
• Join us on Facebook: http://new.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=10087191255

k.d. lang on leno...i'm glad i TiVO'd it.

no, i don't watch leno. however, i record most musical guests on the talk shows, and holy crap k.d. lang sounds absolutely gorgeous...start from 38:30:



now if only k.d. double headlined with Chris Isaak...THAT would be awesome.

BTW the opening gag with JOHNNY WEIR and CHARLES BARKLEY is funny, if you want to skip all the way to the beginning. Johnny's entire interview is awesome, too!

Tony Bourdain...wth are you doing?

if you watch the entire episode, his time onscreen is a bit longer, and then the musical guest is my fave Polyvinyl band OF MONTREAL!

MUSIC: Groove Armada and Hybrid = awesome !!!??

you remember how much i loved loved loved the last HYBRID mix album "Soundsystem 01" with all its Harry Gregson-Williams glory... they've done it again.

the NEW Hybrid called "Disappear Here" on Distinct'ive is freaking beautiful!! the pair formerly known for their progressive breaks release the new album on 4 May 2010, and it's a triumph, with all the impeccable string production (original sounds courtesy of the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra), brilliant percussion and seamless transitions (with the exception of the RoboCopy digital watermarks) a person could ask for...plus a little guitar here and there. Oh, and i just learned they run Reaktor Native Instruments and Symbolic Sound's Kyma X in the studio...thanks Justin of Rephlektor for that geeky tidbit!

the new GROOVE ARMADA on Om Records called "Black Light", to me, hearkens back to all the seminal synth records of my musical upbringing in the 1980's...and that's a good thing! if you know me, you know how much i dislike vocals, especially in dance music...but this album has plenty of them and i love them. "Black Light" is really more of a pop rock record which manages to sound nothing like what you'd expect of Groove Armada, yet you can't help but feel not-so-surprised when you hear that this is what they've become capable of.

sure, the Pavement reunion is being preceded by a best of album, and there's a new Peter Gabriel record out too, but let's just talk about dance music!

Skee-Ball For "Grown-Ups"

holy crap! these people are way too serious.

too bad it looks like i wouldn't be allowed to use my 'banking technique' in this league...and i don't know what's worse, the skee puns or the ska puns Alx always makes.

In New York City, Skee-Ball For Grown-Ups

Doc Robbins from CSI and me!

here he is, Robert David Hall...who is not only the coolest CSI character, but he is an incredibly nice man in real life! he even asked for my name, and remembered it, after he got off the phone! we were at Pee-Wee Live with MaMcWa and JaSo, outside of Club Nokia at L.A. Live

BTW Mr. Hall, i'm sorry i interrupted you when you were trying to find your friends!

questions from Jeopardy's online test...or at least what we remember of them.

last night, about half a dozen of my friends and i took an online test, hoping to qualify to be on the TV show, Jeopardy. afterwards, four of us were surprised to find out that all our test questions were the same, and in the same order. we jotted down as many questions/answers as we could recall.

THEN i found the following video! awesome.

to WaDi

01101000 01100001 01110000 01110000 01111001

101000

01100010 01101001 01110010 01110100 01101000 01100100 01100001 01111001

we celebrated our friend a little late (2 days late, to be exact), but better late than never!??

i'd rather be at EG than...

...Coachella.

here's the newly posted schedule for EG.

stupid lucky Hobart Shakespeareans...you need an adult entourage for the school bus? and Marc-André Hamelin too? wonder what is in the programme...Liszt, i bet. my Tower friends must be excited!