Askin' fo' tha Jams -- rhetorically, natch

Back from a daytrip to Mt. Diablo, drinking some tea (more on that later), and planning the upcoming (social) week; why not tune the ol' tube to MTV Jams?

Good question, huh?

I think I'm going to be asking it -- rhetorically, natch -- a lot more often.

You see, I *happened* upon this blast-from-the-past while dialing down, down.. down low on the Comcast television guide tonight; and I ended up at the "MTVJ" channel. Who knew there was such a channel? It's classic MTV -- music videos all day, all the time: "The words and sounds of music's brightest stars mesh with flashy images in a block of videos." True 'dat.

In any case, here's just a small sample of what's going down on MTVJ on your average Sunday night; judge fo'yoself:

Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince - Girls Ain't Nothin But Trouble (video)

Fergie feat. Ludacris - Glamorous (video)

Sheila E - Glamorous Life (video)

T.I. - Whatever You Like (video)

Notorious B.I.G. - One More Chance (video)

T.I. - What Up, What's Haapin' (video)

Q-Tip - Gettin Up (video)

De La Soul - Breakadawn (video)

Kanye West - Homecoming (video)

While it still ain't my toptop music genre (damn you Frenchelectrohouse!!), for sure, I've been listening to a lot more hiphop and R&B (video) lately; and, so, if you want to hang -- um, intellectronically -- with me you need to be versed in the ways of the (MTV) Jams. ;)

Jams!

So much more than gore and fantasy and folkart

If you "go out" in NYC, no doubt you've heard of Santos Party House (formerly-known-as-and-perhaps-soon-to-swing-back-into Santa's Party House); no doubt you've even gone to check out a cool mix of live acts and djs; and to get your dance on.

Hmm.. Did you know that Andrew WK is one of Santos' four owners? Probably; you did. Ok. But could you name any of the other owners?

Does it matter? Well, not really. haha. But sometimes these sorts of little facts help establish a rapport with certain groups of people. Yeah, no matter what circle(s) you roll in, you're sorta expected to know who's who in the scene (whether we're talking about NYC clubs or SF non-profits).

In any case, SF and NYC cross paths once again..

You see, tomorrow night, the Jack Hanley Gallery, located on the northern-most (and up-coming-est) stretch of Valencia Street, is opening its doors from 6pm - 9pm to present to you, the public, the latest works from Spencer Sweeney, NYC-based (visual and performance) artist -- and co-owner of Santos.

(For your future reference -- and name-dropping pleasure -- the full list of owners of Santos Party House follows: Spencer Sweeney, Andrew WK, Larry Golden, and Ron Castellano.)

Spencer Sweeney @ Jack Hanley Gallery
September 20th - October 25th, 2008

Admittedly, I'm planning on stopping by somewhat for the scene (although why else go to any art opening?; the opening event is not a particularly good time to go to have an intimate dialog with the art itself). That said, the swirl of colors, and mix of (sloppy) geometry and modern-symbols-rendered-in-a-primitive-fashion, found in the pieces that I've seen online seem up my alley.

The work recalls Philip Guston and Basquiat, it recalls some Paul Klee and early Jackson Pollack in my mind. (ahem) I know the use of such HUGE artistic icons in my comparison betrays my lack of art knowledge; and I somewhat-apologize for their use. But, whatever; it's all I got off the top of my head. ;) Check the Jack Hanley site for his latest work, or, get your google on!

Besides, this Sweeney fellow seems like an interesting character. And Jack Hanley usually provides free beer at these sorts of shindigs.

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Alright, alright, so now that I've whetted you appetite for the visual scene here in SF, what else to do? Well, I think we're all in luck because this Fall is starting off with a bang..

Two artists of the (local) "Beautiful Losers" collective have shows up right now in the city. And while I'm NOT a fan of most "street art" -- to put a really generic term that covers what these guys do/make -- Shepard Fairey and Barry McGee have created iconic bodies of work, have created a signature style that you will surely recognize, even if you didn't know the artists' names. Check it (now, in a gallery setting):

Shepard Fairey @ White Walls Gallery
September 13th - October 4th, 2008

Barry McGee aka Twist, aka Ray Fong, and, now, aka Lydia Fong @ Ratio3 Gallery
September 15th - October 18th, 2008

Read about + see more of the work of Fairey and "Fong" here and here, respectively.

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And, well, this last bit is just a tease -- because we all just missed this show at Park Life, over in the Inner Richmond -- but, man, be on the lookout for more work by 22-year-old Matthew Palladino.

He captures gore and fantasy and folkart, wrapped up in tiger stripes and gang colors. In short, it's pretty cool.

Music across the gamut, huh?

Whew! Stockmarket crash be damned (for now)!

I bought a few concert tickets earlier today (what else is this paper money good for anyway?); check this:

September 19th: Danger + Spitzer @ Mezzanine
October 13th: The Black Kids + The Virgins @ GAMH
October 30th: SOULWAX + 2MANY DJS @ Mezzanine
November 1st: Lykke Li + Friendly Fires @ The Independent

I, of course, recommend all of the above shows (and if you want to join me, let me know!). And here are a couple more that I'm-interested-in-but-can't-go-to-for-one-reason-or-another:

September 18th: Does It Offend You, Yeah? @ GAMH
September 19th: Sugar and Gold @ Cafe du Nord
September 19th: Veil Veil Vanish @ The Hemlock Tavern
November 6th: Electric Six + Local H @ GAMH
November 11th: Vic Chestnut + Elf Power @ Bottom of the Hill
November 29th: Palms @ Cafe du Nord
November 29th: Blowoff, hosted & DJ'd by Bob Mould & Rich Morel

Music across the gamut, huh?

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In other news... sexual orientation be damned, I, *ahem*, happened upon a few gay bars in the Castro tonight -- the reasoning is quite straight-forward if you'd like to know -- but shizz if they don't have INSANE drink specials on a Monday night. Oh yeah, I'm filing this alcoholic-information away for future reference... for those times when, on the first day of the (proper) workweek, you want a drink or two (or six) and Tuesday seems soooooooooo far away; Tuesday, what? In short, hit the Midnight Sun; damn yo, 2 for 1 all day. For reals...

Don't be scared by the freedom (of granola)!

I just got back from a five-day climbing trip with some friends in Tuolumne Meadows (Yosemite National Park), and one of the things that sustained me -- nutritionally, that is -- was a boatload of homemade granola. In fact, I've been making my own granola the past couple of months... almost exclusively for overnight climbing trips, but I do have it in mind to make it more often, to have it jar'd up and ready-to-eat whenever.

While the ingredients of a specific "granola" can vary widely, it most certainly includes a base of (whole) rolled oats, nuts, and dried fruit, which is then sweetened, oiled, spiced, and baked at a low temperature. Yeah -- so a search for "granola recipe" on google yields a multitude of results (owing to, again, its loose definition).

Don't be scared by the freedom!

Here, my advice is the same as for cooking/baking other things: start with some old, trusted stand-bys as a source of inspiration; then, once you've (hopefully) had some successes (or near-successes), start playing around with ingredients and ratios. So, as I have for other endeavors-in-the-kitchen, I turned to Alton Brown and Ina Garten, but also liked some of the ideas from Kathy Nicol's "Heathy Habits" blog.

Without further ado, check my granola recipe:

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DRY
4c whole rolled oats
1c roasted and lightly salted whole almonds
1c roasted and lightly salted broken cashews
1T sesame seeds
1T flax seeds
2t ground Saigon cinnamon
1t ground ginger
1/4t ground cayenne pepper
1/2t salt

WET
1/4c brown sugar
1/4c vegetable oil
3/8c maple syrup (grade B)
1t vanilla extract

FRUIT
1c golden raisins
1c dried cranberries

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1. Preheat your oven to 250° F.

2. Mix the DRY ingredients in a large mixing bowl and the WET ones in a medium-sized bowl.

3. Add the WET ingredients to the DRY ones (i.e. into the large mixing bowl) and combine evenly. Note that the amount of WET ingredients is relatively "light" compared to other granola recipes, but it will coat all the DRY ingredients with some careful mixing.

4. Dump the moistened oat/nut mixture onto a rimmed cookie sheet (or half-sheet pan), spread it around to the edges, and bake for 1 hour 15 to 1 hour 20 minutes, stirring the mixture around the pan every 15-16 minutes to make sure it all bakes evenly. Note that for pans with a tiny rim, this can be a challenge, so stir carefully to avoid granola falling everywhere!

5. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and let cool. Mix in the FRUIT ingredients and you're ready to rock some deliciousness.

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If you store your granola in an airtight container, it should last a couple of weeks... which is why it's been good to bring on camping trips. But, as I implied before, it's good to have around the house for mixing in yogurt, snacking on its own, or -- and this is something I haven't tried yet -- baking with it.

Let me know if you give this recipe a go... or, change up the nut or fruit options, change up the spicing! It's really hard to go wrong. And share it with the rest of us. ;)

The Twelves Became Sixteen

This new Hotwell mix -- by yours truly -- is a collection of some really fresh, really fun music; it's the sort of music that I've listening to a lot lately. May I present, "The Twelves Became Sixteen"; download it here.

Note: Download taken down; let me know if you want it!

Tracklist:

01. Electric Feel - MGMT (video)
02. A Sudden Rush - Erlend Øye (video)
03. Somebody, Somewhere (Lifelike Remix) - Cazals (blog)
04. Works for Me - The Twelves (blog)
05. Ambient Room (SymbolOne Remix) - DVAS (blog)
06. Icarus (Lifelike Remix) - Ledge (blog)
07. Epic Last Song (Lifelike Remix) - Does It Offend You, Yeah? (blog)
08. Nightdrive With You (GRUM's New Wave Remix) - Anoraak (blog)
09. This Boy's In Love (Lifelike Remix) - The Presets (blog)
10. Sometimes (Computer Club Edit) - Les Rhythmes Digitales (blog)
11. Countdown (Designer Drugs Remix) - Jupiter One (blog)
12. I'm Good I'm Gone (Fred Falke Remix) - Lykke Li (blog)
13. I'm Not Gonna Teach Your BF How to Dance (The Twelves Remix) - Black Kids (blog)
14. Colours (Fred Falke Remix) - Hot Chip (blog)
15. Walking on a Dream - Empire of the Sun (video)
16. Hold On - Wilson Phillips (video)

The working title of this mix was "Cage Redux" -- because I wanted to base the overall vibe/sound around the Fred Falke Remix of Golden Cage (a song featured in my last mix)..

You'll note, though, that I didn't leave Golden Cage on the final mix. But no matter for the end-product.. that ethereal Frenchhouse vibe, embodied by producers like Falke, Lifelike and The Twelves, is well represented. *Very* well represented. Yeah, so let me know what you think; and believe that this aural device is eminently-danceable (so get on and dance!).

In any case, I need to mail this mix out to the ol' "mix CD club" tomorrow.. a few days late -- yeah, we have deadlines! -- so hopefully it makes it over to the, um, Ohio headquarters in time to be included in the next cycle. People gotta hear this!! haha.

Also, if you're interested in your own, physical, copy, let me know and I'll see what I can do..

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ps. I'll fill out links to some of the songs above over the weekend!