Goodbye civil strife, into a neat little bundle

Just to "tie up" some of my posts on Kenya over the past couple of months - as much as one can tie up civil strife/violence in a neat little bundle of online text - let me point you to yesterday's announcement on the power sharing agreement between the current President (Mwai Kibaki) and the opposition leader (Raila Odinga):

Kenya Rivals Sign Power-Sharing Deal
By REUTERS (posted on the NYTimes)
Published: February 28, 2008

Kenya rivals agree to share power
By BBC News
Published: February 28, 2008

The agreement - in basic terms and, for now, in theory - sets the stage for an overhaul of the current government structure (based upon Kenya's 45 year old constitution). In fact, the constitution will actually have to be modified in order to effect yesterday's deal into law, a process that will begin this coming Thursday (and hopefully acted upon as soon as possible, thereafter) when parliament reconvenes. On a side note, doesn't it seem remarkable that the constitution of the United States has been going strong for over 220 years (with the occasional hiccup, of course)?

In any case, the biggest change in the Kenyan system seems to be that the main opposition leader will assume the position of Prime Minister (a newly created post), but there are myriad details to be worked out - including exactly how much power the Prime Minister has in the overall government; Kenya's political parties will also be jostling for new deputy prime minister and other cabinet positions.

Uncertainty of execution aside, the agreement is certainly a step forward (back) towards societal stability. And - again, according to the Western media sources that I've tapped for information about the situation - the average Kenyan person welcomes the potential to get their lives back to normal (even as some happiness is tempered with skepticism). In fact, hopefully the country takes this opportunity to improve the overall infrastructure of government and society at large; it's a time when people are ready and open to change, and they've got support and attention from the international community. For sure, it's still a long road, but a worthy one.

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On a related note, my sister decided to come home to the US around the start of this month, just two weeks after she was officially discharged from the Peace Corps. She found it impossible to get back to her village in the Western portion of the country, given the levels for violence at the time. So, in-person goodbyes with the people she lived and worked with the past year and a half were never said, and I can only imagine that added to the surreal nature of her Kenyan experience.

Makin' It With a Lady

A few months ago I was inspired - after stumbling upon Madonna's "Papa Don't Preach" video on youtube - to put together a new mix with only women artists. And so, I've slowly been collecting a big fat folder of music, old and new, to make that, um, dream a reality.

But it was only today that I *finally* finished it!

While I've been known to put a mix CD or two together each year for a random selection of friends for no-particular-reason (besides that I like you guys), I recently was recruited into an, um, trading-mix-CDs-by-mail club. Hmm.. that sounds a little dorky when I write it out like that. haha. No matter; the March 1st deadline for the club's Spring cycle was fast approaching and it provided me with the impetus to go and organize the mass amounts of music that I've got saved up for just this purpose.

So, without further ado, may I present:

Makin' It With a Lady

01. Say It Right - Nelly Furtado (video)
02. Papa Don't Preach - Madonna (video)
03. Glamorous Life - Sheila E (video)
04. I Wanna Dance with Somebody - Whitney Houston (video)
05. How Will I Know - Whitney Houston (video)
06. Tell It to My Heart - Taylor Dayne (video)
07. Let The Music Play - Shannon (video)
08. Let's Make Love (Rappinhood Remix) - Cansei de Ser Sexy (blog)
09. Silent Night - Karin Strom (video)
10. 1234 (VanShe Technologic Remix) - Feist (blog)
11. Embrace - PNAU featuring Ladyhawke (blog)
12. Bossy (Braxe & Falke Remix) - Kelis ft Too Short (blog)
13. Love & War (LA Riots Remix) - Photek (blog)
14. Do It Well - Jennifer Lopez (video)
15. Emotions - Mariah Carey (video)
16. Girls Just Want To Have Fun - Cyndi Lauper (video)
17. Time After Time - Cyndi Lauper (video)
18. Gatekeeper (Pocketknife's Faded Beach Towel Remix) - Feist (blog)

While I wish I could have linked to music videos for all of the tracks above, real ones don't exist for most of the remixes right now (goofball-created photo montages on YouTube with the remix playing in the background don't count in my book).. so for those entries, I linked to blog posts where you can download the songs on mp3. But if you're really interested in 100% visuals, go to YouTube and you'll be able to find most of the original versions, keeping in mind that the remixes are a lot more "dancey".

You know I wouldn't have it any other way. ;)

That said, some of the original songs are pretty cool too.

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UPDATE 030208: Long story, but I had to remake the CD; in the process, Shannon left and Sophie Ellis Bextor took her place - but at track #5 (shifting a few tracks down). Murder, I say!

Makin' It With a Lady

01. Say It Right - Nelly Furtado (video)
02. Papa Don't Preach - Madonna (video)
03. Glamorous Life - Sheila E (video)
04. I Wanna Dance with Somebody - Whitney Houston (video)
05. Murder on the Dancefloor - Sophie Ellis Bextor (video)
06. How Will I Know - Whitney Houston (video)
07. Tell It to My Heart - Taylor Dayne (video)
08. Let's Make Love (Rappinhood Remix) - Cansei de Ser Sexy (blog)
09. Silent Night - Karin Strom (video)
10. 1234 (VanShe Technologic Remix) - Feist (blog)
11. Embrace - PNAU featuring Ladyhawke (blog)
12. Bossy (Braxe & Falke Remix) - Kelis ft Too Short (blog)
13. Love & War (LA Riots Remix) - Photek (blog)
14. Do It Well - Jennifer Lopez (video)
15. Emotions - Mariah Carey (video)
16. Girls Just Want To Have Fun - Cyndi Lauper (video)
17. Time After Time - Cyndi Lauper (video)
18. Gatekeeper (Pocketknife's Faded Beach Towel Remix) - Feist (blog)

It was time for a diet

Now I know I've always said I try to limit the amount of "gear" I have around, but every once in awhile I feel the pull of possibility and excitement through consumerism. haha. Yeah, so I upgraded a key piece of my racing bike today - the first time since I bought it mid-2006 - and I'm psyched to take it for a spin tomorrow to really give it a go.

You see, Performance Bike is having a sale (aren't they always?) on components and I couldn't resist the double-digit discount on some of their high-end offerings. So, I said to myself, why not go big and replace my crankset?

I replaced my crankset.

For some reason, the Performance Bike website doesn't show the discount for the model that I bought - the SRAM Force HCT Crankset w/ GXP Team Bottom Bracket - but when all was said and done (including a 10% SF Bike Coalition discount) it was 35% off the original price at the store downtown.. which still ends up being of lot of money, but, well, I'm amortizing the cost in my head from 2006 onwards. My corporate accountant would be proud.

And how can you put a price on shaving half a pound off your ride? ;) See you on the road!

Beer by BART

While I certainly have my list of favorite beer places here in San Francisco (which I frequent, um, frequently), the Beer by BART website gives me reason to expand my drinking grounds and explore craft breweries and pubs all over the Bay Area:

Beer by BART (http://beerbybart.com/)

The site provides a list of great beer places near BART stations, along with directions to and some brief notes about each destination. You'll also find a simple icon system that quickly lets you know how far you'll need to walk (or bus) to quench your thirst.

While Beer by BART definitely leaves some room for improvement in terms of user interface and layout, it's helpful enough to get you inspired to hunt some tasty new brews; I'm glad I came across it. And if you're looking for a travel partner (on ye olde public transportation), let me know!

Pictures flipped on a kaleidoscopic axis

About a week and a half ago (on the 16th), a Gilbert and George retrospective opened to the public at the de Young, its first stop on American soil. And since I had nothing in particular to do on that sunny Saturday morning, I walked from my apartment (after a blueberry pancake breakfast - look for a new recipe in a future post!), through the Park and over to the museum, to check out the works of these self-proclaimed "living sculptures".

Yes, the artists refer to *themselves* as "living sculptures" - more on that later - but the most notable works at this particular exhibition are very large-scale installations of their manipulated photography, sexually-charged pictures - these guys never shied away from a little nudity - flipped this way and that along many a kaleidoscopic axis; the colors seem to have been dragged through a bright, wet circus. The exhibition has its own website here, where you may check out a selection of the featured work.

Whether you like what you see online (or in print for that matter), those tiny mediums do not do the real installations justice. I'll admit that I'd never been a huge fan of Gilbert and George, but seeing these works live, taking up full, massive walls, was a sight to behold; most of the work is on the order of 10x13 feet and echoed large, vaguely religious icons (if your religious icons are also vaguely political and vaguely homosexual). haha.

Back to the living statue reference, the last room of the exhibit does have some paraphernalia from some of Gilbert and George's performance art over the years (a medium in which they initially made their names). For example, in one piece, Gilbert and George invited selected members of the art community to watch them eat a full, multi-course dinner as if there was no such audience; that was that. They would also extend their "act" - in explanation, anyway - to everything they do, from waking up and dressing to interacting in any public forum.

In this way, I suppose I saw a Gilbert and George original piece of performance art when the two gentlemen - live!, and in their requisite matching suits - walked through the exhibit (past me and others) at the de Young, casually chatting to themselves. I should say that I don't think the act was planned, part of a talk or "appearance" or anything; they didn't even seem to look up at the art (but I guess they are pretty familiar with their own work). Still, it was good timing on my part because it added a nice little gold star to the afternoon. It was especially funny because they use their own image in many of the works, so it was like they popped right off the wall (and became 20 years older, in some cases). Cool stuff.

By the way, the retrospective was curated by the folks at the Tate Modern in London, who posted a few short films of Gilbert and George talking about the exhibit itself, but also about their artistic process. Interesting stuff for those who want to learn more.

Green pass turned to orange pass

I think I get to sit at the "big table" at my climbing gym now.

Earlier tonight - after a good day of watching Tour de California action and drinking Russian River brews in Santa Rosa - I *ahem* drove (the rental car from our daytime adventures) over to Mission Cliffs and took their lead climbing test; a friend was gracious enough to meet up with me and be my partner (since the test is two parts: first, you lead climb a gym-rated 10b route while your partner belays you, and then you do the belaying for your partner). I passed on my first try, which, um, rocks!

For those of you not familiar withclimbing terminology, "lead climbing" is when, as a climber, you bring your rope up with you and clip it into anchor points for safety along the way (vs. the more beginner friendly toproping, where the rope is pre-set at a big anchor point at the top of the climb). Check out a few nice, clear, stick-figure diagrams of what I'm talking about at this site.

If you really want to get into the details, lead climbing is further split up into two main sub-categories: "sport climbing" and "traditional climbing" (aka "trad"). The first implies that the aforementioned anchor points are already set into the climbing wall; this is what would be offered at an indoor gym (as well as a few well-known outdoor spots). Trad is more complicated, requiring that you bring up these anchors - more generally known as "protection" - and set them into the rock as you go up.

Passing the lead test at Mission Cliffs basically allows me to do the sport climbing routes in any of the Touchstone climbing gyms here in the Bay Area. And while I definitely need lots more practice, it's also a small indicator that I have an idea of what I am doing; I got some positive feedback from the staff at the gym.

It's like a whole new area of the gym is opened up to me now - physically and mentally. haha. For whatever reason, even though I've improved my toprope climbing a lot over the past couple of months - completing a few 5.12's even (again, gym ratings!) - I was always under the impression that you don't really get the full respect of the gym regulars unless you can do some lead climbing. But I know that idea was *mostly* in my head. ;)

Still, I'm psyched about having veritable free reign of everything in the gym! So now that I got a few more skillz under my belt - sport climbing represent - the only things that will hold me back are my fitness or lack of determination (or injuries) And I like having that sort of control; control that was enabled and engaged when I traded in my old green toprope belay card tonight for a brand new orange one (for lead belay). I should have done it a long time ago..

I'm 60.4% pure.. or 60.4% not pure?

Wow. Not sure how I, um, came across it again, but it seems the The Purity Test will never die. There are several places on the web with multitude versions of it, but the "500 Question Unisex, Omnisexual Purity Test" at www.puritytest.net is pretty much the standard.

In fact, my curiosity overrode my better judgment and I went ahead and took it other day (for shits and giggles).. and was a little disappointed. Yeah, I remember it being cooler back when I was in high school. haha. Some of the questions are repeated, and some just don't seem to be relevant or, at least, interesting to me now. But I guess one's perspective on life changes ten years on.. like, duh.

That said, just seeing the test again sparked memories of some formidable times growing up in Rhode Island (for high school). Endurance sports and girls and "possibility for adventure" (of any sort) were all just starting to enter into my worldview; definitely a pivotal era for me. If you were around then, let's get together and talk about Code Purple, horsenoises, and/or The Baker, ok? Oh man, totally silly and totally goodtimes. hahahaha..

In any case, for the record, I'm 60.4% pure (or is that 60.4% not pure?). Regardless, yeah - I admit - I need to get out more. haha. So, what's *your* score?

Breathe in the Disco Dust

When I'm looking for fresh music, the Disco Belle and Big Stereo blogs never fail me. But it's nice to have new options, to have more eyes and ears out there on the scene (it's small, but it's big, you know?).. so, lucky for me I got a great tip from a friend a couple of months ago that led me to:

Disco Dust! (http://discodust.blogspot.com/).

It's consistent enough and non-overlappy enough (with other blogs) that it's now part of my regular music hunt roundup. In fact, I even just put a link to it on the "Aural Delites" sidebar menu for easy access. Check it out for yourself; it's full of those dancey rock bangers that I'm always babbling about; download a few and maybe we can have a conversation..

If you're not sure where to start, might I recommend:

1. Shazam - Pool Party (Feb. 13, 2008)
2. Pnau feat. Ladyhawk - Embrace (Jan. 31, 2008)
3. Das Pop - Fool for Love (Sebastian Remix) (Oct. 29, 2007)
4. Futurecop! - Transformers (Oct. 16, 2007)

Long live Hedonist Beer Jive

As of about a week ago, the man behind the Hedonist Beer Jive blog is going to - in his own words - "take a breather from beer writing and from the beer world in general for a short while". Well, that's a bit of a bummer for me because I always enjoyed his posts, especially since I could follow all the local SF references (beyond the great info on beer in general, from reviews to news to travelogues).

That said, I can totally understand wanting to wrap up a project like that for a while (he does say "I’ll come back"), or even just wrap it up altogether. Sometimes these things become more of a chore than a pure joy; even if you still *want* to continue, you might have other higher-priority calls on your time, at least temporarily.

And even though I've never met the man, I've already given him a toast (or two) for the entertaining work he's put out over the years on his beer blog. Long live the Hedonist Beer Jive! On that note, I'll leave the link up on the right under "Social Lubricants", given that there are plenty of posts in the archive I still need to read, gems to discover..

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One last beer note: The new seasonal from Sierra Nevada Brewing is pretty good; it's (somewhat confusingly) called an "ESB", which stands for - in their case only - "Early Spring Beer". Yeah, "ESB" usually stands for "Extra Special Bitter" and is a style of beer that is a little more hoppy than your average pale ale, but still usually balanced with some toasty, and sweet, malts; the alcohol is usually slightly higher as well. Check out a more thorough description at Beer Advocate).

In any case, the beer geeks at Beer Advocate have overlooked the awkward naming and seem to like it too. Nicely balanced; the hops are there, but not overpowering, and what makes it truly refreshing is this undercurrent of a very subtle sweetness. Per many of the review comments, it really *would* be a great session beer if it didn't weigh in at 5.8% abv.. although at this point in my drinking career, my liver can handle a few no problem. I mean, you should see the beer in my house; most of it is *at least* 6%, if not hovering around 10% abv.. and it's all oh-so-tasty! ;)

The bottom line is to check out Sierra's new seasonal "ESB", especially if you live in CA and are able to find it at every supermarket and corner store at a pretty good price. In fact, I picked up a 12 pack for $12 the other day; these days, I'm psyched to pick up dollar bottles of quality beer (and I'll be even more psyched if I can continue to do so as the hop storage runs into course over the next year or so).

Carrots at every course, at every meal

So, I put those dee-lish carrots from my CSA to work and made a big batch of Ginger-Carrot soup over the weekend. It's funny, I like raw carrots well enough (but not overly so), and cooked carrots are just ok..

But a Ginger Carrot soup really hits the spot; it's one of my favorite soups, actually. Whoa! And now that I think about it, that ginger-carrot-orange combination does me right at *all* dinner courses: I did say "Let them eat Carrot-orange Cake" just a few months ago. haha. In any case, I've made a few versions of the soup over the years and have honed in on this recipe as my favorite:

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BLEND
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup minced onion
3/8 cup minced fresh ginger (peeled)
3 cups low-sodium vegetable stock
4 cups sliced peeled carrots (about 1 1/2 pounds)

SWIRL
1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup canned coconut milk
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

GARNISH
salt + pepper to taste (a MUST!)
1/4 cup Toasted unsweetened coconut flakes (optional)
1/4 cup matchstick-size strips peeled carrot (optional)
1 tablespoon matchstick-size strips peeled fresh ginger (optional)

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1. Heat both oils in heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat; add the onion and ginger and sauté until the onion pieces are translucent (about 5 minutes).

2. Add the chicken stock and sliced carrots. Cover and simmer until carrots are tender (about 30 minutes - but will depend on the size of your carrot pieces).

3. Working in batches, puree mixture in a blender or food processor. Pureeing hot liquids in a blender is always an, um, recipe for a mess in the kitchen, but chow.com has a tip here you might want to try to avoid massive spillage. You could also use an immersion blender if you have one, but I think they have their own challenges in terms of splatter and - more importantly - getting a consistent puree. But, in short, use what ya got!

4. Return pureed soup to saucepan and mix in the orange juice, then the coconut milk. Cook over low heat 5 minutes (until warmed through) and then mix in ground cinnamon.

5. The soup at this point definitely needs some salt and pepper; how much is up to you (or your guests). In fact, you might want to ladle the soup into bowls now and let your guests decide how much they want to put in themselves. But if you're going to add some into the big batch itself, I'd say start with 1/2 teaspoon and go from there (you'll probably want more, but start slow because you can always put more in, but you can't take it out!).

6. If it's not already there, ladle soup into bowls and top with any combination of the toasted coconut flakes, carrot or ginger strips under the GARNISH list. Give your guests the option of more salt and pepper, and you should be good to go!

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In the future, I'll probably fool around with adding some more spices, something to play off the coconut milk like curry powder or star anise or something. Maybe even add more coconut milk, or a bit of crème fraîche. If you have any ideas (or want to roll up them sleeves and cook with me), let me know..