I'm interested in a strawberry fight

You know what would be awesome?

Having a dj at my next party.

Hmm.. but given space and noise-level restrictions at the ol' apartment, that's probably not going to happen. (Sad, I know.)

All is not lost, though; what would be second-tier-awesome is to get my hands on a projector and throw this video of Adrian Lux mixing his Vanity Fair #2 mixtape up on my living room wall. I'd be cool; a so-fresh dj in my house for the greatest hour ever; people would talk (in a good way). haha.

Adrian Lux - live mix of Vanity Fair #2
http://www.discobelle.net/2009/03/14/adrian-lux-vanity-fair-2-mixtape-video/ (video)

The video is courtesy of the show "Svartklubb" on Swedish cable channel Z-TV (which I found through the Discobelle blog, purveyor of all things Swedish-music.. really, purveyors of good music all over the world!). I hope they keep up taping/posting these mix sessions; I dig something about the setup, so simple and cute; I dig the black background and the Hackers graphics (I love that movie, by the way). ;)

~~~

But yeah.. when's this Adrian Lux fellow coming to tour in the US? I'm interested in a bikeride and a strawberry fight (video); it's been awhile.

Hotel options I could get down wit'

My parents are coming through San Francisco next month and, as a good son, I'm doing a little research for them on where they should stay here in the city. They've made several pilgrimages to SF over the years, and have been guests at a wide variety of places, including various Holiday Inns on one end and smaller European-style bed and breakfast's like the Red Vic and the Hayes Valley Inn on the other. (I try to steer them towards some of the local flavor contained in the latter choices.)

They've enjoyed all these places, even with their quirks (or perhaps because of them); who doesn't get a kick out of the many young mid-western punk panhandlers in the Upper Haight? That said, my mom requested recommendations for something more, um, familiar (and with an elevator) this time around; so in that vein, I've been looking at straight-up, modern, city hotels.. while still trying to given them a unique SF experience.

In the course of the research, I came across an article on "The Coolest Hotel Designs in California", as chosen by California Home + Design magazine. In fact, a couple of the hotels I was looking at for my parents are actually on this top-10 list: Good Hotel and Hotel Frank; and rooms in either can be had for about $100. Cool stuff.

Here's the full tenner:

1. Good Hotel in San Francisco
2. Mondrian Hotel in Los Angeles
3. Custom Hotel in Los Angeles
4. Hotel Frank in San Francisco
5. Viceroy in Palm Springs
6. Ivy Hotel in San Diego
7. Thompson Beverly Hills in Beverly Hills
8. The Standard Hotel in Los Angeles
9. The Parker Palm Springs in Palm Springs
10. Hotel Tomo in San Francisco

Yeah, so given that this list covers the whole of California, it's got *my* imagination going to maybe do some hotel-exploration myself (with at least one other partner-in-crime, natch); and the ones down in Palm Springs are especially appealing to me. You see, I could always -- always -- use a nice cocktail-by-the-pool after a few days of hard climbing and camping in nearby Joshua Tree National Park. haha. And beyond the two hotels mentioned above, a commenter on the original article says to check out the Ace Hotel as well.. and from their website, I think that's another solid option I could get down wit'.

To the desert! In style!

Ready To Be Strepped?

I skipped the December "cycle", but I'm back with a new mix for the Spring edition of my mix-CD-by-mail club. Let's call this one "Strep Out Onto (the Dancefloor)".

Tracklist:

01. If I Know You - The Presets (video)
02. Shooting Stars - Bag Raiders (blog)
03. Little Bit (AutoErotique Bootleg Remix) - Lykke Li (blog)
04. Strawberry (Kocky & Trash Remix) - Adrian Lux (blog)
05. The Electric Road - Morgan Page vs. Lifelike (blog)
06. Dawn of the Dead (Station X Remix) - Does It Offend You, Yeah? (blog)
07. Black History Month (Alan Braxe & Fred Falke Remix) - DFA 1979 (blog)
08. Anything, Anything - Dramarama (video)
09. Ceremony - New Order (video)
10. Heartbreaker - Metronomy (blog)
11. Kelly (Lifelike Remix) - Van She (blog)
12. Kilometer (Moulinex Remix) - Sebastien Tellier (blog)
13. Let's Call It Off (Girl Talk Remix) - Peter Bjorn & John
14. We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off - Jermaine Stewart (video)
15. Hold Me (Breakbot Remix) - Pacific! (blog)
16. Man in the Mirror - Michael Jackson (video)
17. Goodbye Horses - Q Lazzarus (blog)
18. Iran So Far - Andy Samberg & Adam Levine (video) **

** This last track doesn't fit on the CD, so it's an, um, web-only bonus. That's probably for the best because the video brings those love-lorn lyrics to life! Besides, the laugh-track embedded in the song makes a lot more sense that way. haha.

~~~~~~

Into the mail with you!

If you're interested in a copy, let me know.

Run straight down to the SFMOMA for Dystopia

The SFMOMA's next film series, "The Future of the Past: Utopia/Dystopia, 1965-1984", starts TODAY and runs Thursdays and Saturdays through April 25th.

Mar 7th @ 1pm: Westworld, 1973 (video)
Mar 7th @ 3pm: Logan's Run, 1976 (video)
Mar 12th @ 7pm: Logan's Run, 1976 (video)
Mar 21st @ 1pm: Soylent Green, 1973 (video)
Mar 21st @ 3pm: A Clockwork Orange, 1972 (video)
Mar 26th @ 7pm: A Clockwork Orange, 1972 (video)
Apr 2nd @ 7pm: Fantastic Planet, 1973 (video)
Apr 4th @ 3pm: Fantastic Planet, 1973 (video)
Apr 9th @ 7pm: Stalker, 1979 (video)
Apr 11th @ 1pm: Stalker, 1979 (video)
Apr 16th @ 7pm: Alphaville, 1965 (video)
Apr 18th @ 1pm: Sleeper, 1973 (video)
Apr 18th @ 3pm: Fahrenheit 451, 1966 (video)
Apr 23rd @ 7pm: Fahrenheit 451, 1966 (video)
Apr 25th @ 1pm: Alphaville, 1965
Apr 25th @ 3pm: 1984, 1984 (video)

While I have heard of most of these movies (and their place in pop culture), I've really only seen one: A Clockwork Orange.

A Clockwork Orange. Wow. I've got a weird association with that movie from high school: whenever I was hanging with a certain group of friends we'd start watching that movie only to get through the first half hour or something.. at which point our attention would turn towards more pressing matters like stealing lawn ornaments or driving around in circles while yelling random shizz out the car windows all night. We had our priorities. ahem.

Yeah, so, I assumed the whole movie was about chronicling the misadventures, ultraviolence and all, of Alex -- "Your Humble Narrator" -- and his crew. Little did I know, at the time, that it wasn't a futuristic snuff film, that it would, instead, be posing questions about, for example, the nature of man's free-will and the need to balance individual freedoms versus social stability (and if that needs to be the zero-sum game it's so often portrayed as). I don't think I was ready to tackle those subjects in high school anyway; hmm.. maybe that's why we never got past the first third of the film?

In any case, I'm planning on checking out at least one of these films, with "Stalker" at the top of the list. But depending on how my schedule shakes out over the next couple of weeks, I may try for "Sleeper", "1984", or -- yes, I could use a refresher on it -- "A Clockwork Orange" too (especially given a personal appreciation for language -- in many forms -- developed over the past couple of years).

~~~

Whoa! "Westworld" is about to start! Run straight down to the SFMOMA; you've got 10 minutes..

Ten until The Twelves

I'm definitely a big fan of The Twelves; you may know this.. I've mentioned them a few times, for example, here and here. I even flew over to NYC last December to see them live at the Famous Friends 1st Anniversary party (and get wasted on Red Bull and vodkas -- whoa!, flashback -- hey.. it wasn't my idea initially, but I bought into it very quickly). Let me just say that you should ask for the "big cup" when ordering drinks at Club Europa. haha.

In any case, they be back on tour in US; and I'm seeing them again, this time in San Francisco. You should too.

> The Twelves at 103 Harriet; doors at 9pm.
> http://www.blasthaus.com/calendar.html#twelves

The show was announced after I had posted my last concert list; place The Twelves between Cut Copy and Simian Mobile Disco, date-wise.

Mar 12th: Cut Copy @ The Fillmore
Mar 14th: The Twelves @ 103 Harriet
Mar 15th: Simian Mobile Disco @ Mezzanine

As for what-we're-in-store-for -- if I, ahem, remember correctly -- The Twelves live show had a few more bangers than I was expecting at the time, given the spacey Fred-Falke-esque remixes I had heard from them up until then. But the opening dj's had gotten everyone in good spirits and into the groove. And anyways.. I can definitely get into a night of bangers in and of themselves.. especially when there is some disco-ee-electro-shizz thrown in there for good measure. These guys can mix!

~~~~~

ps. Tickets for Devendra Banhart (video) at The Independent go on sale this Sunday at 10am PST; show is on April 14th.

Your new single speed is $252, today only!

I've wanted to replace my commuter roadbike* -- an old Cinelli from the mid-80's -- for probably about a year now.

I mean, it's been a great workhorse over the years (especially in the days when I was Caltraining it down to Mountain View and then riding over to Santa Clara for work most of the workweek), but the frame has always been *slightly* too small for me.. and, well, it just never fit 100%. We even had a little tiff back in July -- and this was the final straw with respect to me riding this bike regularly -- involving an attempted sprint through a SOMA traffic light, a rear derailleur failure, and, ultimately, a trip to the emergency room for my first real stitches. (Oddly enough, no actual crash happened; I stayed on my bike through the whole episode and, in fact, rode most of the way to the hospital. Can you guess what happened?)

Yeah.. so I've had my eye out for a well-fitting road or cyclocross bike ever since; I've even considered getting a single-speed (with a freewheel, thank you very much). I know, me getting over my aversion to the too-cool(-but-usually-not-deservedly-so) style of the single-speed here in the city: whoa! And, haha.

Admittedly, I haven't really tried too hard to make a purchase because I still have two *other* bikes.. bikes which basically fit most of my two-wheeled needs these days: a dusted-up-but-so-solid citybike (i.e. one I can feel ok about locking up around town), and a great 2006 Giant TCR C1 roadbike for my long(ish) rides (and very occasional race) up in the Marin "countryside".

But today; today, I came across a deal-almost-too-good-to-pass-up at performancebike.com:

Scattante Emerald City Single Speed Road Bike
http://www.performancebike.com/shop/profile.cfm?sku=26052

Right now, it's on sale for $280; and with a today-only 10% discount, this bike is $252.. down from an original price of $599. For real. (By the way, Scattante is the house brand of Performance Bike, not some fancy Italian shizz.)

I've tried to do a little online research to see what folks' thought of it, but I didn't really come up with too much. The Bikes for the Rest of Us blog wrote a post about it, but didn't *review* it. And the Blog Snob NYC railed on the whole Performance Bike "Courier Series" (of which the Emerald City is a part), but, again, didn't say too much about the actual bike itself. I'm just looking for some comments in the way of its comfort or speed or durability.. or just it's general utility/value.

Man, it's $252.

So cheap. And Performance Bike has a pretty good return policy. In fact, I just chatted with customer service and if I need to switch the bike for a different frame size there's no restocking fee; you just take it to the store and do an exchange, even if you've ordered the bike online (they may not have a replacement bike in-store, but in this case, you just have to wait for them to order it).

I'm on the fence; my main concern is that if I'm going to get another bike, I should get something more versatile (read: more gears!) for any future long commutes, cyclocross or touring opportunities.. or whatever. More gears = peace of mind? Yeah, but, that said, I'd have to drop at least $800 for something decent in one of those categories.

In any case, I have until midnight to decide (at least if I want to take advantage of today's extra 10% off online coupon).. so, on the off chance that anyone has any knowledge/experience on the Emerald City here, let me know asap!

~~~~

* That's not me in the picture. ;0

Ура! for Spilled Pants

Looks like you're talking to a college dropout. (Yeah -- another one.)

Last week, I dropped the Russian Culture class (en anglais) I was taking at CCSF; I had missed two weeks in a row due to some work commitments and just wasn't interested enough in the subject to bust my ass to catch up. I mean, the class -- while taught by an awesome teacher -- was always just a stand-in for my desire to take a Russian *language* class this semester (i.e. one that was, sadly, not offered on the night school schedule).

In any case, I made a deal with myself to spend this newly-freed time in the week studying Russian again. So, I've been going back to my old Russian textbooks (with online videos), my ripped Russian CDs on the ol' iPod, my memories of Чебурашка, and otherwise trying to surround myself with the language.

Beyond those more, um, scholarly methods, I lucked out this past week and happened across a music blog written in both English and Russian; so, I can study *while* still deep in the blogosphere, searching for new shizz:

Spilled Pants.
http://myspilledpants.blogspot.com/

Even if you have no interest in the русский язык, this site posts some great (dancey) stuff on a fairly regular basis; and his Blogroll is handy: see the latest updates from Discobelle, Trash Menagerie, and other like-minded blogs, all in one place.

Ура!

If you're going to do chicken soup, do it with dumplings

Cabbage.

Like the actual, wrinkly-round, vegetable. (Nevermind any other uses of the term.) For the past couple of weeks, I've been getting heads of cabbage in my CSA box.. and, well, I'm a little embarrassed to admit this, but I've let a couple go to waste.

One of the things I like about getting the CSA box is that I'll receive fruits and vegetables that I normally wouldn't buy myself (in addition to many that I would).. and this becomes a forcing function to get out of my culinary comfortzone, to discover new recipes or cooking techniques. But my ambition waned with this cabbage business..

Weird, because I'm generally a fan of the stuff; I really love good sauerkraut. Right out of the jar.

In any case -- as luck would have it -- I stumbled upon an awesome chicken soup recipe (with chive dumplings!) at chow.com earlier this week; it was part of their "Cooking with Winter Ingredients" feature, which included, among many other fruits and veggies, the venerable cabbage. I modified the recipe slightly to amp up the vegetables and reduce the chicken a little bit; here's my version of "Easy Chicken and Chive-Dumpling Soup":

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

VEGGIE1
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium red onion, small dice
3 medium celery stalks, small dice
6 medium garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1/2t crushed red pepper
salt and pepper

CHICKEN
8c low-sodium chicken broth
2t poultry seasoning
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces

DUMPLING
2c all-purpose flour
1/3c fresh chives, thinly sliced
1T kosher salt
2T baking powder
2/3c 2% milk
1/3c crème fraîche
3T unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled

VEGGIE2
3 medium carrots, thinly sliced
1/2 large head savoy cabbage, large dice (about 6 cups)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1. Heat oil in a large, shallow pot over medium-high heat (I used a cast-iron dutch oven). When oil shimmers, add all the VEGGIE1 ingredients and season generously with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cook until onions begin to soften, about 5 minutes.

2. Add CHICKEN ingredients and bring to a boil.

3. Meanwhile, whisk together flour, chives, salt, and baking powder in a large bowl to break up any lumps. In a separate bowl, mix the rest of the DUMPLING ingredients: milk, crème fraîche, and butter. Once combined, add these wet ingredients to the dry ones and mix until dough just comes together (it will be very thick).

4. When chicken is cooked through (it will be firm and opaque), add VEGGIE2 ingredients, reduce heat to medium low, and add additional salt and pepper if necessary.

5. Drop 1 heaping tablespoon of dough at a time into the soup and repeat until all dough has been used. Cover and cook until dumplings are fluffy and cooked through, about 10 minutes.

(Find the original version of the recipe here.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The soup came out really well; the dumplings make it hardy and memorable. And I definitely recommend making it on a chilly, rainy, or otherwise inclement night because it's going to hit the spot on multiple levels. If you can, share it with friends (although the only downside to that idea is that you probably won't have any leftovers). haha.

My experience.. Monday night, found this recipe online, made a few calls, sent a few txt's; and Tuesday night, I had 10 SF peeps in my kitchen, um, chowing down. I can assure you: it wasn't my company that they were after.. it was the free soup. Apparently, the economy *is* that bad after all! ;)

Weather the storm with soup; I'll join you.