Slopey Seconds

Choice Downloads - May

2009-06-02T22:35:00.009-04:00

A whole lotta inactivity on the blog this last month. Sorry about that. I guess you could say Slopey Seconds has been going through a silent transition. You won't see (m)any food posts on here anymore; I'm going to focus all of my attention on music. In the process, I'm considering rebranding. Any ideas?

On to the music...

This past month, I downloaded/purchased/received over 4 gigs of new music, more than twice my total in April. That's 1.7 days or 555 songs. It was no small task listening to and rating that much music, let alone whittling it down to a manageable list, but I think I did a fairly good job. What about you?

There are two songs on the list titled "Revenge." Why? I have no idea. I'm not feeling particularly vengeful this month or anything. The second "Revenge" is off of Dangermouse's new project Dark Night of the Soul. If you haven't downloaded that album yet, stop what you're doing right now and snag it; if you can't find it, shoot me a line or leave me a comment and I'll point you in the right direction. David Lynch has his hand in this work which explains why I've watched Mullholland Drive and the first season of Twin Peaks in the last week.

Other albums represented on this list that you should purchase immediately include I Think We Need a Bigger Boat, Norman Cook's (aka Fatboy Slim) recent collaborative album released under the name Brighton Port Authority, Passion Pit's much anticipated Manners (if you like to dance), Steve Earle's Townes (if you like Country/Blues) and Grizzly Bear's Veckatimest (if you like listening to good music).

There are also two 80's remixes on list. That wasn't intentional. For the record, I've never been a fan of Hall & Oates but I got hooked on this Streetlab remix. Speaking of stuff I thought I didn't like, my cuz-in-law, Bryan, sent me the new Japandroids and I ended up liking a few of their tunes after hating on them last month. Alright, enough talk...

He's Frank (Slight Return) feat. Iggy Pop - Brighton Port Authority
Casablanca - So Cow
Electric Avenue - Woodhands
Belated Promise Ring - Iron & Wine
Hold Up f. Masta Ace & Sean Price - Marco Polo & Torae
Revenge (Russ Chimes Remix) - Justin Faust
Ambivalence Avenue - Bibio
The Boys Are Leaving Town - Japandroids
Revenge (feat. Wayne Coyne) - Dangermouse/Sparklehorse
Ladies - Lee Fields & The Expressions
Little Secrets - Passion Pit
The Bitch Went Nutz - Ben Folds
White Freightliner Blues - Steve Earle
Director's Cut (feat. Uncle Murda) - Busta Rhymes
Stay Famous - Cougar
Get On Down - Louis La Roche
Cheerleader - Grizzly Bear
Vermillion Plaza - Deastro
A Pipe Dream And A Promise - Finale
Hold The Line (DJ Edit w/Santigold) - Major Lazer
Waiting for My Night - Katie Herzig
Days Go On - Greg Laswell
J'aime Vous Voire Quitter - Islands
Magdalena - Josh Rouse
I Can't Go For That (Streetlab mix) - Streetlab vs Hall & Oates
Narita - Lymbyc Systym

New Passion Pit Album "Manners" Released Today

2009-05-19T11:11:00.002-04:00

Just wanted to remind you that the new Passion Pit album is available for consumption. I'm in the process of downloading it as I type and will offer a review sometime later this week.

Bjork and the Dirty Projectors @ Housing Works Bookstore Cafe

2009-05-12T08:39:00.009-04:00

Last Friday, I took MB to see Björk and the Dirty Projectors at the Housing Works Bookstore for her birthday. After a lobster roll at the Mermaid Inn, we headed to the venue to get a good spot in line. Tickets for this super-exclusive event were pretty pricey - $100 for our standing-room tickets, $400 for reserved seats and, according to an employee standing near us, between $800-$950 for the auctioned front row tables - but all of the proceeds went to a great cause and we were witness to the premier of a brand new suite of music written by Mr. Longstreth specifically for his group and Ms. Guðmundsdóttir.

The whole evening was the brainchild of Brandon Stosuy, a writer for Stereogum. Before introducing the performers, he explained how he worked with the Dirty Projectors on a cover of Björk's "Hyperballad" and, a few weeks later, had an interview with Björk who happened to mention her admiration for the Dirty Projectors and their vocal arrangements. Although both parties were eager to collaborate, it took Mr. Stosuy some doing to find a time when all of the performers were both available and in the same location.

To start the evening, the Dirty Projectors and Björk each chose an opening act. Nat Baldwin, bassist for the Dirty Projectors, introduced the first opener, Kurt Weisman. According to his myspace page, Mr. Weisman describes his music as experimental and apparently most often works with electronics; for this event, he simply played guitar and sang. Unfortunately, the combination of his soft, ethereal voice and the two-and-a-half feet that separated his mouth from the microphone made it nearly impossible to hear him even though we were standing less than 15 yards away.

Next up, we got our first glimpse of Björk as she introduced Ólöf Arnalds, a fellow Icelander and vibrant folk singer. Ms. Arnald's set was much easier to hear and the audience fed off her youthful energy. In a nod to the main attraction, she performed the only Björk cover of the evening, a solo version of "Unravel" with Ólöf singing and accompanying herself on violin. Later, she was joined by two other musicians and at one point, pulled out a small, 10-string guitar-like instrument with a body made from an armadillo.

After Ólöf's set, and a break that felt like an eternity, the Dirty Projectors finally took the stage, performing 4 songs off of their upcoming album, Bitte Orca, which is due out in early June. When these were done, we were finally ready to hear the main event. The pain we were feeling in our legs from the 45 minutes spent standing outside the venue and another three hours inside quickly melted away as the collaborators premiered an impressive six-song suite which told the tale of a woman standing on a mountain, looking out at a whale in the ocean and the whale, in turn, looking back.

Like the Andrew Bird show at Carnegie Hall earlier this year, I decided to record the event on my iPhone for my own personal listening pleasure. I'm very reluctant to post any of it here as the event was professionally recorded, filmed and photographed, suggesting the entire performance will be available sometime in the not-so-distant future. However, the second song in the suite was so vocally impressive, no amount of explanation is going to do it justice. In an effort to satisfy your curiosity without offending the performers, I've decided to make this 20 second clip available. Over the the pulse of the bass and guitar, you're hearing the alternating voices of two women. Even as I watched them do it, I couldn't really fathom how it was possible. Not only are they singing every other note in a difficult rhythmic pattern, there making ridiculous jumps in their range. Absolutely breathtaking.

Six-songs and roughly 18 minutes later, the show was over. As the performers walked past me, I turned to applaud and plead with the rest of the audience for an encore, which sadly never came, but once I was facing away from the stage, I realized the man with the shock of white hair standing directly behind me was David Byrne. According to other attendees, M.I.A., Fourtet, members of The National and Vampire Weekend were also in attendance. Now, I've heard a lot of people complain that the show was far too short for the price of admission, and I have to admit, I feel the promoters could have done a better job setting appropriate expectations - instead of "Björk and the Dirty Projectors," the show should have been billed as "The Dirty Projectors with a special appearance by Björk" - but the excitement of watching these performers debut brand new material in such an intimate setting cannot be overstated.

Choice Downloads - April

2009-05-04T23:06:00.004-04:00

Just like March, I felt like this list was weak compared to the previous month. It's been growing on me, after a few listens, so i hope you find it worth our (re. my) time, at least as far as new music.

I'm not saying I didn't dredge up some oldies. Take Phoenix's "Napoleon Says." The band's latest - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - was officially released this month but I posted "1901" back in February. Rather than upload a B-side from their latest, I think it's better to show off this gem from one of their older albums (It's Never Been Like That). On the flip-side, I posted an old Metric tune - Monster Hospital - because I downloaded their latest - Fantasies - and didn't find much worth mentioning.

I also relied on a number of recommendations from friends and readers. White Denim, for instance. My cousin-in-law, Bryan, gave me Workout Holiday several few months ago. I gotta admit, when I came across Mirrored and Reverse, I didn't think much of the band, but thanks to Bryan, I had a backlog to catch up on. I much prefer their older stuff but I thought you'd like to see both ends of that band's spectrum. Ms. Benisch also deserves mention - she gave the The Morning Benders album for my 29th birthday.

There were also a few obvious bands that didn't make this month's cut. Dinosaur Jr.'s latest single was a major disappointment. I felt like I was listening to an Eddie Vedder impersonator who lack a decent Jeff Ament facsimile. If that description sounds like a good time to you, let me know and I'll send you "I Want You to Know."

If you're headed to Manchester, TN in June, stay tuned for my May list. I'll give you a rundown of my favorite tunes from the bands playing this year's Bonnaroo Music Festival. In the meantime, take a listen and let me know what you think...

Worth the Fight (Bonus Track) - The Morning Benders
Napoleon Says - Phoenix
Ain't No Rest for the Wicked - Cage the Elephant
Testimony - The Phenomenal Handclap Band
Born on a Day the Sun Didn't Rise - Black Moth Super Rainbow
Hologram BuffaloOOOOOOOOO - Brightback Morning Light
Perfect Fit - Clues
Stillness is the Move - Dirty Projectors
Bring Da Ruckus - El Michels Affair
My Eyes (Worthy's Blurry Cornea Remix) - Emerson Todd
Eh Oh - Femi Kuti
No You Girls (The Rogue Element Remix) - Franz Ferdinand
Jazzy Ways - Guru
Jungles - Holy Fuck
Sweet Night Club Mix Def - Krazy Baldhead
Monster Hospital - Metric
First Time High (Reconstructionist Remix of An Eluardian Instance) - of Montreal
Mirrored And Reverse - White Denim
Sitting - White Denim
Madcap - Worthy
You're Supposed to be My Friend - 1990s

Upcoming Events

2009-04-27T17:03:00.002-04:00

Aside from a few food posts I still need to write, there hasn't been much blog-worthy activity in my life recently. The event horizon is jam packed, however, so I figured I'd post what the future of this blog will tackle in the coming months. Have any ideas of other shows/food events I should attend in the greater NYC area this summer? Hit me up in the comments.

5.8 - Bjork with the Dirty Projectors
??? - MB's Bday Dinner @ Candle 79
5.22 - Dinner @ Gramercy Tavern
5.30 - Tortoise
6.7 - Dosh
6.8 David Byrne
6.11-6.14 - Bonnaroo
6.18 - Anniversary Dinner, potentially @ Modern
6.19 - Phoenix
6.20 - Passion Pit
7.8 - Juana Molina
7.13 - Wilco
7.31-8.2 - APW Festival
8.4 - Depeche Mode
8.7 Casiokids
8.16 - Phish

Trimming the Fat

2009-04-19T13:29:00.004-04:00

For some reason, every year I forget how much easier it is to eat well once it's nice outside. Walking to the market is much easier, grilling is once again a viable option and fresh produce abounds. After months of being lazy and ordering in or eating out on a near nightly basis, MB and I have completely switched gears and in just 2 days, I feel like a different person.

Yesterday, with the temperature clearing 70 for the first time this year, MB and I walked down to Union Market to grab food for the week. Our mantra lately has been lots of whole grains, fresh fruits and veggies, and nuts. Other than an occasional cheese plate or ridiculous hamburger, we're what we like to consider part-time vegans.

Although our house is stocked to the brim, we still wanted to visit the new Le Bagel Delight's, conveniently located just down two avenues down 7th street from our apartment. But rather than grab a pair of bagel's covered in cream cheese, we decided to get a fresh whole wheat bagel and bring it home to make a panini using avocado, vine-ripened tomatoes and Oaxacan cheese. The result? A delicious bagel without the food coma.

Choice Downloads - March

2009-04-14T13:10:00.004-04:00

It's time once again for some delectable downloads from yours truly. This month, I sorted through 14.3 hours of music, or 186 songs, to bring you 23 tunes for your listening pleasure. At first, I wasn't as happy with this month's collection as I was with last month, but after listening to the playlist for the past 2 weeks, I think they're on par with February.

As usual, most of the set is comprised of brand new music but there are a few older goodies as well. If you're a fan of Rodrigo y Gabriela (and how could you not be), check out the live version of Diablo Rojo. I've seen them twice, once at Bonnaroo and once in the rain at APW; it's mind bending how well two individuals with acoustic instruments can command the stage. I also really like Bob Dylan's latest, Beyond Here Lies Nothin', probably because it reminds me of Tom Waits' Way Down in the Hole which was used as the theme song for The Wire.

Gabriela at APW 2008

After lots of people told me they liked the Passion Pit song, Sleepyhead, from last month's list, I decided to include a remix of the song. I also posted another Emiliana Torrini tune to coincide with my blog post earlier this month. The rest is an eclectic mix ranging from country to house to hip hop to indie (whatever the hell that even means). After you take a listen, drop a comment and let me know what you like and what you hate.

Like last month, I'm going to post songs on drop.io. I was going to zip everything together but I realized you can listen to the songs directly from the site before you decide whether or not you want to download. I'd also be interested to hear if you take advantage of that feature or if you'd rather just download everything in a bundle.

Happy listening!

Lakeside - Blk Jks
Diablo Rojo - Rodrigo y Gabriela
Cupid - Amy WInehouse
Beyond Here Lies Nothin' - Bob Dylan
Proper Rock - The Chap
Turn Cold - Cut Off Your Hands
The Angst - DJ Hell
Mirador - Efterklang
Me and Armini - Emiliana Torrini
Welcome, Ghosts - Explosions in the Sky
Automobile - The Fumes
My Beach - Human Highway
Seven-Mile Island - Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
Day 'N' Nite (Crookers Remix) - Kid Cudi
Volume - Libretto
Your Love - Pacha Massive
Golden Phone - Micachu
Sleepyhead (Wallpaper, Dio Remix) - Passion Pit
Tracy's Waters - Patrick Watson
Slow Club - Slow Club
Drumming, Pt. 4 - Steve Reisch/So Percussion
Bag of Hammers - Thao With The Get Down Stay Down
On a Neck, On a Spit - Grizzly Bear

Pan Fried Wild Arctic Char with Asparagus and Three-Bean Salad

2009-04-09T00:22:00.006-04:00

Like everyone else in the city, I'm ready for spring to stop putzing around and arrive already. Every time I think I'm going to get the ol' grill out, we get hit with another cold snap. When my sister-in-law came over to use my copy of TurboTax last Wednesday, I had visions of cooking a meal like the main course I served my mother on her birthday last July but Mother Nature had other plans. Desperate for food with a char (no pun intended), I pulled the grill pan out and flooded our apartment with smoke.

The meal was really straightforward but it still took me about an hour to prepare. For the bean salad, I grilled a few ears of corn and some red peppers and combined them with diced red onion, vine-ripened tomatoes and canned cannellini, black and garbanzo beans, over which I drizzled olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Once the salad was finished, I threw the asparagus in the grill pan and pan fried the arctic char. Once the fish was cooked, I threw together a simple white wine sauce with oso onion, garlic, lemon and butter. I used too much onion and garlic so the "sauce" came out a little chunky but it was still a tasty topping for the fish.

Brunch @ Sidecar

2009-04-07T00:27:00.011-04:00

When MB and I woke up last Sunday, we knew we wanted brunch but we couldn't decide where we should go. After rattling through the regular suspects - Sette, Miracle Grill, 12th Street Bar and Grill, Stone Park Cafe, Little D's, Applewood - we decided to take a walk and see if we could find something new. After enjoying a long walk down 7th Ave towards Greenwood Cemetery, we headed down to 5th Ave. By the time we reached 6th Ave, we were starving so we headed to Sidecar, hoping they served brunch. Lucky for us, they do.

The last time we dined at this local eatery was back in August, under completely different circumstances. As we walked in, we saw my former coworker, Trevor, who was just finishing his meal. Trevor lives right around the corner on 15th between 3rd and 4th and according to him, Sidecar only recently began serving brunch. It was actually his first time eating there too but he strongly recommended the migas and the home fries.

Rather than sit in a booth, MB and I ponied up to the bar. I couldn't decide what I wanted to drink but as soon as our bartender, Joe, mixed a Bloody Mary, I knew I had to have one. Their mix is decidedly cajun which, in addition to the horseradish vodka, really brings the heat. Even the garnish was out of the ordinary; celery and olives were replaced by a pickled green bean and a cherry pepper.

As we sucked down our drinks, we focused on the menu and put together a ridiculous mid-afternoon meal. Relying on Trevor's recommendation, we split an order of migas and home fries but we also grabbed some cheese grits, bacon and toast. It's hard to say what was the best part of the meal - everything was stupendous - but the bacon was probably the most noteworthy. It wasn't much to look at and when I picked it up, I felt the thickness to crispness ratio wasn't up to snuff, but when I finally tasted it, I could tell we were enjoying some grade-A pork. I don't want to understate the quality of the migas but the cheese grits were also top-notch. Of course, I'm a Yankee, so my opinion in these matters doesn't really count but MB gave her seal of approval and seeing as she's a Texan, I'd say that's all the credibility we need.

As we were finishing our meal, I decided to take a bite out of the cherry pepper garnishing my drink. I made the wise decision to confirm the variety of the pepper with Joe before chomping down on it. After all, a pickled cherry pepper looks a hell of a lot like a scotch bonnet. Although they only register a mild 500 Scoville Heat Index rating, I aimed for the flesh, letting the seeds and inner juice drip out into my glass. Of course, when I took a huge slug of my Bloody Mary moments later, I quickly realized my efforts were completely wasted. Fortunately, the burn dissipated after 10 minutes or so.

As if brunch wasn't enough food, MB had a hankering for something sweet so we stopped by the Delices de Paris bakery on 9th Street on the way home and picked up this delectable little bear pastry.

Emiliana Torrini @ Hiro Ballroom

2009-04-01T10:55:00.007-04:00

DOWNLOAD: Birds - Emiliana Torrini

This past fall, my friend Paul spent some time in Iceland and Sweden. Upon his return to the States, he provided me with a bunch of new music from abroad including Emiliana Torrini's latest album, Me and Armini. I knew nothing about the Icelandic singer prior to listening to this album but I was immediately impressed with her voice and her song writing. Just a few months later, Paul mentioned she was playing an intimate show at Hiro Ballroom.

Hiro is a beautiful, Asian themed room located below the Maritime Hotel. On a typical night, the venue is home to DJs and table service but my experience with the club has been anything but typical. The only other time I've been there was back in October when I saw Andrew Bird the same week he finished recording his latest, Noble Beast.

Opening for Ms. Torrini was another Icelandic singer, Lay Low; her given name is Lovísa Elísabet Sigrúnardóttir but she uses Lay Low onstage. Paul had hooked me up with latest, Farewell Good Night's Sleep, when he gave me Emiliana's album but I hadn't listened to it more than once before the show. Her performance was pleasant but subdued; as I'm writing this review almost a week and a half after the show, I can't say much about her set stands out in my mind.

Emiliana's set, on the other hand, was very memorable. Although she played several songs off some of her older records, the focus was decidedly on Me and Armini. There's not much to be said about her stage presence but she told wonderful stories between songs. She also did a masterful job selecting songs, building the set steadily throughout the evening.

The show really hit a peak about three-quarters of the way in when she played Birds and she managed to keep the energy up for the rest of the show. Clearly, things went even better than Ms. Torrini had hoped. With the audience clamoring for more after a pair of planned encore tunes, Emiliana quickly conferenced with her band and decided on one extra tune before calling it quits.

Overall, I was impressed with her performance. Even though the show was slightly more restrained than I was in the mood for that evening, it was abundantly clear why she's so popular in the U.K. With some good press and an extended tour of the States, I wouldn't be surprised if she became a household name in the U.S. within a year.

Hanco's Vietnamese Sandwich Shop

2009-03-29T23:43:00.006-04:00

At some point this winter, the Tea Lounge on 7th Ave closed its doors and has since been replaced by Hanco's, a Vietnamese sandwich shop that has it's primary location in Boerum Hill. Recently, I read somewhere that more bánh mì eateries have opened in NYC in the last year than any other type of restaurant. I haven't had the pleasure of trying one until Saturday.

One glance at the ingredients in a bánh mì and its pretty clear these sandwiches are a delicious by-product of French colonial rule in Vietnam during the 19th and 20th centuries. Ham, pork and pâté with shaved carrots, daikon radish and cucumber served on a baguette with some mayo and butter? Sign me up! Everything inside the sandwich was incredible but the bread really held the sandwich together, literally and figuratively. The baguette was crisp but not to hard, making it possible to eat the sandwich without destroying it.

To accompany the sandwich, MB ordered up her favorite Vietnamese treat, a pair of gỏi cuốn - spring or summer rolls, depending on who you ask. Unlike their fried cousins, chả giò, these rolls are basically a small salad you can eat with your hands. Peaking through the uncooked rice paper, you could see the three medium shrimp resting on a bed of rice vermicelli and greens. The rolls are served with a light peanut dipping sauce.

Spring-loaded - Grimaldi's, Flatbush Farm's Bar(n) and APW Festival Announcement

2009-03-28T02:30:00.006-04:00

A week after its official arrival, Spring finally made it's presence known in NYC this evening. Fortunately, MB and I had no major plans so we were able to enjoy a relatively quiet evening in BK. After jetting home and taking a quick nap, we headed to DUMBO for some Grimaldi's pizza with a bunch of friends and some out-of-towners.

If you're not from NY (or you've been living under a rock for the past century), Grimaldi's is one of city's more famous pizza joints. I'd had the pleasure of consuming a few of their slices in the past but it was always during the summer at a "Movies with a View" event under the Brooklyn Bridge, roughly 3 or 4 hours after it came out of the oven. In that condition, I never thought much of the pizza, but after tasting it at it's best, I've got to say their pizza is worth the hype.

The line out the door was as advertised - we waited about 45 min for a table - but we were more than happy to spend the first nice evening of the season outside near the water. Once inside, I couldn't believe how quickly our group of 8 strangers put together a communal pizza order. One white pie, one cheese and one pepperoni. What more could you ask for?

My biggest problem with the 4-hour old Grimaldi's pizza I'm accustomed to eating is the crust. It's usually just slightly charred. On a luke-warm, hardened slice, the carbon makes it taste like ash but when the pizza is fresh out of the oven, it adds just the right touch of flavor. To cap off the meal, MB and I split a cannoli and an espresso.

We thought about staying down in DUMBO for a drink or maybe to catch whatever was happening at Galapagos but decided to head back to the Slope instead. When we got back, the night was still too young and too beautiful to head inside so we took a walk down 7th Ave. Earlier in the evening, I'd mentioned Flatbush Farm's Bar(n) as a potential nightcap locale so it wasn't too surprising when we ended up sipping on a Sixpoint Bengali Ale and a Coney Island Sword Swallower before heading home for the evening.

As we were sitting at the bar, I happened to check in on Twitter and noticed a post from Brooklynvegan about APW. There's been little press about the future of the festival, which was held for the first time last year in Liberty State Park, NJ, but I was keeping my fingers crossed that the people at Coachella Music and Arts Festival would bring the event back for a second year. Looks like I'm going to get my wish. The line-up will be announced on Monday. Brooklynvegan is sponsoring a contest where if you are able to pick the lineup, you'll get Saturday passes. Are you kidding me? This is like a March Madness bracket that I can actually win.

Bjork with The Dirty Projectors @ Housing Works Bookstore Cafe

2009-03-27T00:15:00.002-04:00

I just caught wind of a show with Bjork and The Dirty Projectors at a tiny venue that seats 300 people. After quickly checking my calendar, I snagged 2 tickets. As I woke up my wife, I realized the show is on her birthday. Last year, I surprised her with pit tickets for a Radiohead show in Charlotte, NC. At the time, I thought there was no way I could live up to that gift this year. I'm safe for now but I'm screwed in 2010.

The Mermaid Inn

2009-03-26T22:06:00.007-04:00

After destroying my friend Ashley's camera last weekend, I was more than happy to help her move a microwave from her office to her apartment, 5 blocks away. After all, she lives/works only about 10 blocks from my office. MB was coming in from Queens so we decided to rendez-vous near our old stomping grounds around the lipstick building in midtown-east. Ashley had more work to do but MB coerced her coworker, Andrea, to join us. We met at Vero, a conveniently located, albeit slightly pretentious, neighborhood wine bar.

A little more than one glass of wine and a plate of cheese later, we'd covered some important ground. To start, MB and I are going to look into The Modern as a venue for our anniversary dinner. It's also quite clear that, barring some unforeseen circumstance, we're headed to Gramercy Tavern with Andrea and her husband, Adam, sometime in the not-so-distant future. But the most relevant decision was to vacate the premises and head to The Mermaid Inn in the lower-east side at the corner of 6th and 2nd.

It wasn't a tough sell. We were sold the second the words "lobster roll special" fell out of Andrea's mouth. $20 for a good lobster roll ( a lobster sandwich, actually) and a Blue Point Toasted Lager? Sign me up. Sadly, we arrived at 7:25 and the special only lasts until 7 PM but that didn't really have much effect on the outcome other than the size of our bill. After splitting a half dozen oysters, half east coast and half west coast, we dove into our sandwiches.

"Sandwich" doesn't really do the dish justice but it's decidedly not a roll. There's no traditional New England-style hot dog bun. Instead, The Mermaid Inn uses a flakey roll with a brioche-like crust and croissant consistency. The replacement is more than acceptable and compliments the lobster meat well. Kissed with just a bit of mayo and Old Bay, I liked the lobster consistency, although the meat wasn't quite as chunky as I would have hoped for. I also liked the chives. They got me thinking about Spring. Paired with the sandwich were some mediocre Old Bay fries; I'd give 'em a 6.5.

At the end of the meal, we were served a small cup of chocolate pudding - forgettable, but an appropriate ending for a simple meal - and a Fortune Teller Miracle Fish. According to that small piece of plastic, I'm either fickle or dead.

[Update] For some reason, I completely forgot to mention the soundtrack to our meal, which was nothing short of awesome. MGMT. Kings of Leon. Frightened Rabbit. Either they use an incredible satellite radio station or someone put together a kick-ass playlist.

Choice Downloads - February

2009-03-23T18:42:00.004-04:00

Many of my posts last year came in the form of the Tunes at Work series. During the workday, I'd listen to my +130 GB music collection on shuffle and track the songs I liked the best. At the end of the week, I'd post links to my favorites in the iTunes store. I want to resurrect the series but I'm going to change the format a bit.

Starting last month, I've been downloading music like a fiend, most of it free and nearly all of it unprotected. By the end of February, I'd collected 103 songs or nearly 800 MB of music. As I've listened to the music, I've ranked the songs using iTunes' five-star system. What follows are direct links to the 4- and 5-star music I think will be worth your while. I should point out that most of this music is relatively new but you'll also find several are older tunes that have only recently arrived on my computer.

The tunes will be hosted on drop.io, an awesome site for hosting content of all varieties; if you don't know about it, you should check it out. There's a broad range of genres represented, everything from folk to house to metal. In future posts, I may do a little background on the individual bands and why I like the songs but for now, just enjoy the tunes (links to the music are after the jump).

1901 - Phoenix
A Better Fence - Tim Fite
All Yall - Gringo Starr
Bad Choices - Shout Out Out Out Out
Cable TV - Fol Chen
Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa (vampire Weekend Cover) Hot Chip and Peter Gabriel
Chief-Your Direction
Dark Sky Demo - Themselves
Doves - Jetstream
Fossil I - Sky Larkin
Fot I Hose (Axemax remix) - Casiokids
Goblin City (Holy Ghost Mix) - Panthers
I Hope The Ghosts Of The Dead Haunt Yr Soul Forever - Valient Thorr
If You Want To You Have To - Dosh
Knotty Pine - Dirty Projectors and David Byrne
Lump Sum of Paris (bon iver vs friendly fires & aeroplane) - The Hood Internet
Meet me in the garden - dent may and his magnificent ukulele
None Shall Pass - Aesop Rock
Pity Dance - DM Stith
Plans (Grizzly Bear cover) - Band of Horses
Say Whoa - A-Trak
Sleepyhead - Passion Pit
Weighty Ghost - Wintersleep

PSA - No Mr. Grifter, I Did Not Break Your Glasses

2009-03-21T10:23:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago, MB invited me to a happy hour with her coworkers down in the financial district. As I wandered around looking for the Pound and Pence, a dude came out of a doorway, looking the other way, and bumped into me. I kept walking but I was polite enough to look back and offer a half-hearted apology. That may have been my mistake. I noticed the guy was picking something off the ground but didn't think much of it and continued on my way.

As I got to the corner of Nassau and Liberty, I could start to feel someone behind me. As I rounded the corner, I pulled my head phones off and started to glance over my shoulder. Halfway to Broadway, I could tell this guy was coming after me, so with a mounted police directly beside me, I turned to face the guy.

He held up a pair of crunched glasses and started complaining that by bumping him, I'd caused him to drop them and they'd broken. In the head of the moment, I didn't think to say, "Why would your glasses be crushed if you just dropped them on the ground," but the New Yorker in me made it very clear that he bumped into me, not the other way around.

Suddenly, things got a hell of a lot more heated. He started pressuring me that the glasses were "$99 and I told have no fucking insurance." Stone faced, I apologized again but told him that it wasn't my fault. At this point, he stopped making sense all together, asking me, "Why you laughin', mother fucker. You think this is funny or something?" As I was not laughing, I realized that this creep might try more forceful approach to get his money out of me so I started weighing my option. Unfortunately, the mounted police officer was now nowhere to be found so all I could do was fight or flee. I prepared for the former while attempting the latter.

Somehow, I was able to talk/back my way out of the situation but I was more than a little jittery as I made my way back north on Broadway. Looking over my shoulder, I went into evasion mode, crossing the street just in front of a series of cars, doing everything in my power to make it hard for this guy to follow me. I called MB to find out where exactly the Pound and Pence is located. When she described the exact spot where this guy bumped into me, I made an executive decision to call it a night and headed home.

A few days later, as MB was regaling this tale to her sister, Becca stopped her halfway through the story and completed it, using a lot of the same language as the grifter in our tale. Turns out, this and several modified versions, are classic scams. Although I felt a little weird in the moment, it confirmed that I'd done just about everything right in this situation. How would you have done? Pretty good? What if they guy had done the insulin variation?

Puss 'n Boots, Pronto at the Mercury Lounge

2009-03-20T18:35:00.007-04:00

Last night, I caught an unusual bill at the Mercury Lounge featuring a pair of side projects. First up was Norah Jones's all-female cover band, Puss 'n Boots. Featuring Sasha Dobson on acoustic, drums and vox, Catherine Popper on bass and vox, and Ms. Jones on a Fender Mustang, the trio played a relaxed set of classic Buddy Holly, Johnny Cash and Doc Watson tunes, among other tasty covers. Midway through the set, we got a real treat when the girls invited Mikael Jorgensen from Wilco up to play a cover of his band's Jesus Etc. (click here for a clip of them performing the same tune at the Black Swan in Tivoli, NY this past February).

Jorgensen's side project, Pronto, was the second band on the bill. I've got to say, I wasn't very impressed with their performance but I've since gone back and listened to their tunes on myspace and I like them a lot more. The vocals are a little weak but the production is great. The horn parts on All is Golden are particularly choice.

MB and I have long been fans of Norah's "smoke 'n honey" voice since her first album came out in 2002 but watching her perform from 5 feet away made it clear just how good she really is. To her credit, though, she doesn't overpower her fellow band members. In fact, I think Ms. Dobson's demeanor, voice and musical prowess makes her the band's most entertaining member.

I do have to mention how stunning Ms. Jones is. As luck would have it, she was leaving the bar just as I was grabbing a few beers for my crew and I somehow managed to avoid making a complete fool of myself when I struck up a conversation with her. Thanks to Lawrence and Daniel for hooking us up with this awesome pic.

Makin' up for lost time - Mardi Gras

2009-03-11T20:20:00.008-04:00

Hello friends. I know it's been awhile since I've posted anything but things have been non-stop since we got back from Florida. So the posts should come hot and heavy for the next couple days. Where to begin? How 'bout Mardi Gras?

MB, Becca and I spent Fat Tuesday at the Bell House, a venue that literally down the street from our apartment. We had been planning this night for awhile. Nathan Warner, a friend of MB's from ND, and his band, The Sugartone Brass Band, were on the bill and they did not disappoint. They're an eight piece New Orleans band and they bring the soul and funk, hard! I can't remember the last time I saw a full band with no electric instruments. Why have a bass player when you can have this guy on tuba?

Beads. Hurricanes. A brass band. Jambalaya from Great Jones Cafe (great stuff - just on the right side of too spicy). What could be better? The audience was definitely having a good time. By the time they threw down Chameleon, I was pretty tipsy so I felt it was my sacred duty to let everyone in the room know how friggin' awesome that tune is.

If I had anything bad to say about the evening it would have to be our hurricane to jambalaya ratio. It was a little, how do you say, off? I guess what I'm trying to say is we had a great evening but a miserable Ash Wednesday. Oh, and if for any reason members of the band come across this post, all I can tell you is the surprise you had at the end of the evening was entirely my doing. You're welcome!

Ceviche

2009-02-26T10:21:00.004-05:00

This past weekend, MB and I flew down to Florida to see her folks. Her parents have a beautiful home, right on a canal on Siesta Key, just an hour or so north of where I was born in Fort Myers. As always, our visit was full of great food including a bunch of fish caught by my father-in-law. Friday night, we had a delicious ceviche of scallops, shrimp and amberjack followed by seafood stew. Ceviche recipe after the jump.

Here's the recipe my father-in-law used to make the ceviche. He didn't do it over night, just 3 or 4 hours, but he stirred it regularly, probably every 20 minutes. The dish was great that evening but even better the next day.

1 1/2 lb firm flesh fish, shrimp, scallops or combo
5-6 limes (Enough Juice to cover fish)
1 cup diced fresh tomato
1 green pepper, sweet, chopped
4 tablespoons chopped parsley or chopped cilantro
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon oregano
2 jalapeno peppers, chopped (or more to suit your taste)
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
1 dash Tabasco sauce
lettuce leaf (to line serving bowls)
avocado (optional)
black olives, sliced (for garnish) (optional)

Dice the fish (shrimp/scallops) (approximately 1/2-inch dice if using shrimp
use cleaned shrimp).

Marinate fish in the lime juice in the fridge overnight (4 hours, in a
pinch).

Stir often.

Pour off most of the lime juice (just leave it moist). Add remaining ingredients except lettuce, avocado and olive. Do this
preferably a few hours before serving & refrigerate. Toss well and arrange in individual serving bowls that are lined with the
lettuce leaves. If you wish garnish with sliced avocado and sliced black olives.

Hop O-drama: Feds Haulted Production of Six Point's Limited Presidential Beer

2009-02-12T13:04:00.004-05:00

An interesting story on Gothamist today claims the Feds closed down the Hop Obama beer I blogged about back in November claims the Feds served a cease and desist order to shut down production of the Sixpoint's limited run because, "...having the President's name in conjunction with [their] product...apparently violated some federal statues."

Oh well. They were only going to make it for a limited time anyway. Didn't make the beer any less delicious.

Stone Park Cafe Brunch

2009-02-09T20:23:00.006-05:00

This past weekend, my sister and brother-in-law left their two children with my parents, hopped on the train, and headed down to the city for a visit. They arrived in the Slope around 10:30, just in time for brunch. We considered several options - Applewood, Sette, Miracle Grill, Little D's - but with the temperature hovering around 50 degrees, we decided to take the walk down to Stone Park Cafe. As always, it was completely worth it.

Breakfast nachos? My brother-in-law couldn't resist!

Stone Park is probably our favorite brunch locale in the neighborhood. Not only is the food delicious, the drinks are strong, the music is great and the general atmosphere is perfect for a Saturday or Sunday morning, regardless of what you were up to the night before. But really, it all comes down to the food...

Since the second or third time we went to Stone Park, MB and I have ordered the same thing. The story goes something like this. Someone we knew had been to the resto recently and claimed the burgers were the best in the 'hood. Being afficionados of ground beef patties, MB had to put this fare to the test...but when we got there, we were really in the mood for breakfast. Solution? The most ridiculous burger order we could think of. To this day, I've been too embarrassed to make the order but my wife is all over it:

"I'll have a burger, medium, with sauteed onions and mushrooms, bacon, cheese and an over-easy egg."

If I was preparing this bad boy, I'd put the egg on top of the burger but under the cheese --- but after you make an order like that, it's hard to offer any additional suggestions without pissing off the waitstaff or the kitchen, Regardless, the burger is delicious. The key to eating it is to put the bun on top and press firmly for a minute of so until the yolk from the egg drips all over the burger and the rest of the ingredients mush together. Half-burger, half-croque-monsieur, the result is a delectable feast unto itself. To top it off, they serve nearly-perfect fries (thin but not too thin and extremely crispy) served with a spicy creamy-mayonnaise-y sauce.

Arancini - Cheesy Deep-Fried Risotto Deliciousness

2009-02-04T20:22:00.008-05:00

I've been meaning to do this post since I first tried this recipe back in December but I kept forgetting to get pictures before MB, our friends and I devoured all of the goods. But before I get into the food, a quick update on the layout of this blog. I finally figured out how to get the "Read More" links to work. That means there will actually be more content after the jump. Finally!

Enough of that. On to the balls!

The whole arancini fetish started back in the fall when MB and I were brainstorming menu ideas for our annual Christmas party. Despite being the worst party food idea in history, I couldn't get risotto out of my head. Suddenly, I got the idea to bread small wads of leftover risotto and deep fry them. Presto! All the goodness of risotto in a bite-sized, finger-friendly ball...

3 seconds of researching deep fried risotto balls and it was pretty obvious I wasn't the first person to come up with the idea. Arancini are street food in Sicily and have been around for centuries. The word "arancini" literally means little oranges. There are several different varieties but the most common are filled with ragu, tomato sauce, mozzarella and peas. For our version, we decided to forego the extras and stick with rice and cheese.

As far as I can tell, arancini came about because people don't like leftover risotto. I say "people" because MB and I don't agree. Sure, the leftover rice doesn't have the same texture as a freshly made batch but if you've seasoned the dish well, the leftovers can make for a quick, delicious dinner if you're in a rush. For the record though, I will agree that the best way to eat leftover risotto is in a deep fried ball.

So, how do you make these bad boys? Well, assuming you're already sitting on a pile of cooled risotto, it's really pretty easy; if you don't know how to make risotto, read four or five different recipes and give it a whirl.

First, take a chunk of the rice and flatten it out in your hand, kinda like you were going to make a small hamburger. Then add whatever you want to stuff inside. Again, I've been sticking to mozzarella up to now but I could see adding meats, mushrooms, spinach, you name it.

Next, fold the rice over the cheese or whatever you've put inside and roll it into a small ball. Once all of your rice is rolled up, its time for the breading. There's some different strategies for this stage depending on who's recipe you're reading. Like many Old World recipes, people can get down right violent about how these things should be done "properly," but I say, whatever you want to do that will make a nice crunchy crust on the ball is gonna be good. Personally, i dredge the balls in flour, then in egg and finally in breadcrumbs. Once I'm finished, I like to throw the balls back in the fridge for a bit so they keep their shape.

Once the balls are ready to go, get the oil ready for frying. I use vegetable oil in a Le Creuset pot but you can do whatever oil/pan combination you like. Just make sure you know what the smoking point of your oil is. For my setup, I get the oil up to around 340 degrees - I use a candy thermometer to gauge the temp. Once the oil is hot, I ease the risotto balls into the pot. Because the balls are super dense, they sink to the bottom so you need to stir them occasionally so they don't over-brown on one side. After a few minutes or when the balls look like "little oranges," pull them out and place them on some paper towel to draw out any excess oil. We sometimes serve ours with a side of tomato sauce but they're just as good plain, if not better. Bon appetito and, as always, let me know if you give it a try.

Andrew Bird @ Carnegie Hall (con'd)

2009-02-03T19:39:00.007-05:00

Last Wednesday, I closed the book on the 3rd of three projects that had been dominating my life since before the New Year. Between unprecedented levels of sleep deprivation and consecutive weekends of work, I was due for a break. MB was in pretty rough shape too; she had just come off an intense class that met four nights a week for four hours a night. Needless to say, we really needed a night to relax.

We'd booked the Andrew Bird show sometime back in the fall, almost immediately after we caught him at the Hiro Ballroom. That show was his first public appearance after he completed work on his latest album, Noble Beast (which, according to Mr. Bird, should be intoned in the voice of David Attenborough). It was neat to see Mr. Bird and his new band in an intimate setting trying out the new material for the first time. Sadly, he wrapped up the show a little early because he had to run over to the Music Hall of Williamsburg for a DNC fundraiser - it was the night of the 2nd presidential debate. All in all, it was a great show but nothing like what we caught at Carnegie Hall.

Mr. Bird opening the show by his lonesome

After a quick drink at a nearby pub, we entered the fabled venue. The last we were there, we watched Trey Anastasio play songs off his orchestral album, Seis de Mayo, with the Vermont Youth Orchestra. This time around, instead of sitting 10 or so rows from the very back of the room, we had wonderful seats just left-of-center in a box in the 2nd tier. Before we went into our own box, we watched couple after couple walk into a box, walk back out, approach a staff member and ask, "Is this really the right seats?" Not only were the box seats great, but we were in the front row, right on the banister.

Before Andrew came out, his "opening" band Dosh took the stage. Dosh consists of everyone in Mr. Bird's current band, sans Mr. Bird. Martin Dosh started the evening on his own. Surrounded by a drumset, a trio of synths and keyboards, and an Akai Headrush sampler pedal, he got things going with Simple X. After a pair of solos, he was joined by bassist and clarinetist, Michael Lewis. A few songs later, Jeremy Ylvisaker added his guitar to the mix. All of the Dosh songs were instrumental, a very appropriate considering the venue.

After a short intermission, Mr. Bird took the stage by himself, playing three looped instrumentals featuring his usual mix of violin, guitar, whistling and oohs & ahhhs. After his second song, he thanked the audience for letting him ramble a bit. "Alright, this is gonna be fun. Thanks for indulging me; I just had to play like that in this room." By the time he invited his band onto the stage, the excitement in the room was palpable.

Most of the set was dominated by songs from Noble Beast with a smattering of old favorites like Imitosis and Tables and Chairs. Overall, the show was very similar to what we'd seen at Hiro back in October but it was clear they'd spent a significant amount of time mastering the songs. That being said, Andrew felt the initial loops for Fitz and the Dizzyspells weren't up to par so he stopped the band and took another stab at it. After 3 or 4 half attempts, he joked, "It's a slippery slope." Personally, I thought this minor hiccup added to the performance, demonstrating just how real (re. not pre-produced) all of the sounds were.

By the end of the evening, the audience was roaring after each song. After closing the set with Tables and Chairs, the entire crowd immediately rose to their feet, encouraging Mr. Bird back for not one but two encores; they would have had a third if the house lights hadn't come up.

After snapping a shot of Mr. Bird on my iPhone during his first number, I remembered I have a Recorder app. You can download nearly the entire setlist (minus that first tune) here: http://drop.io/abirdcarnegie. (quick side note - drop.io is a great site for hosting files of any type or variety). The quality of the recordings aren't stellar but the room was friendly, especially on the quieter tunes, and I think it's worth the listen. Some of my favorite tunes are the ones I don't know the names of - #1 and #8. Enjoy and let me know what you think.

Andrew Bird @ Carnegie Hall

2009-01-29T10:39:00.005-05:00

Absolutely incredible show. Very similar set to what we saw at the Hiro Ballroom back in October but the band was clearly much more comfortable with the new material. More to follow...

Andrew Bird starting off his set with a pair of solos

NYE '08 - Part 1 - ATL Airport Pubcrawl

2008-12-31T11:01:00.005-05:00

Happy NYE from ATL! MB and I started the day with a car service ride to the airport at 6am. Which airport, you ask? Good question.

As we went around the Grand Army Plaza roundabout and exited onto Eastern Parkway, headed towards JFK, I asked MB to double check our tickets for the time and place, just in case. We always ask this question but we've never had a problem before. All I can say is thank God that's become part of our travel strategy. I thought MB was joking when she leaned up to the cabbie and said in her cutest tone, "Hey there, I'm so sorry but would you mind going to LGA instead of JFK?"

Other than this minor mental hiccup, we had no problems getting to ATL.

Throughout the day, I'll be checking in with updates about our adventures. I've always wanted to have a multi-blog-post day but I know that while my intentions are great and wonderful, it remains to be seen if I'll follow through. Among the other things standing in my way are the 4 pints of Sweet Water beers sitting on the table in front of us. Oh, I guess it's also important to point out that its 11:30am (and we arrived about 45 min ago).

Why are MB and I downing half a gallon of beer a half hour before noon on a Wednesday? Well, to start, its NYE. Technically, no further explanation required. But, we're also sitting in an airport, despite that fact that no one we no is flying to our from this location, and no one we know is planning to pick us up. So, why they hell are we doing this.
Well, the answer is we ran into a Sweet Water Brewing Co. bar. We love Sweet Water beers. Under the hot sun at Bonnaroo and Echo Fest, we've fallen in love with the brewer's 420 and Blue beers. Upon seeing the bar, MB declared "AIRPORT PUBCRAWL!" once again confirming my decision to marry her.

Perhaps my favorite Southeastern Brewing Co.

What are we drinking? These delicious brews:

420 - A west coast style extra pale ale that I swear has a nose of peach. Can it be that we're just in Georgia and I'm smelling things? Maybe.
Blue - MB's favorite festival brew, this "blueberry pancake" beer gets a big thumbs up in my book. Normally, I hate fruity beers but this particular brew tastes like fresh blueberries and a beer, all at the same time.
Sweet Georgia Brown - I assume this is a brown ale. Nothing too special here but a decent beer all around.
IPA - Take the 420 and make it any IPA you can get anywhere else in the country. 'Nuff said.

Ok, enough for now. We'll check in again at the next stop along the way.

Les Paul: A Living Legend

2008-11-19T21:54:00.004-05:00

Monday night, MB and I joined our friends Kristin and Dave and headed back to the Iridium to see Les Paul. I'm not sure what was better, shaking hands with a pioneer of solid body electric guitar (Fender and Rickenbacher also get credit for the innovation) or watching him stop mid-solo to pose for a picture. Probably the latter. As the middle-aged man in the front row raised up from his chair for a close-up, Les stopped, smiled... and flipped the the most cheerful "bird" I've ever seen.

Les is an old man. Like, really old. 93 years old, to be exact. And yet every Monday, the dude plays two shows, one at 8 and another at 10:30. The shows are a mix of classic jazz numbers like All of Me and Somewhere Over the Rainbow and hilarious, often dirty stories featuring classic characters like Bing Crosby and Bob Hope. And because Les is literally from another generation, he gets away with a level of sexism that plays really well against the sass his female bassist dishes back in his direction. My favorite line from the evening? "I feel like a flagpole sitting on top of a condemned building."

The music/comedy portion of the show lasted a little over an hour and Les often used stories and guests performances to rest between solos. After a short break, he comes back out to meet any audience member who wants to shake hands or get the autograph of a living legend. Several people brought their own Gibson Les Paul guitars to be signed and it even looked like you could buy a guitar on the spot for him to sign. As I gave that concept a few fleeting moments of consideration, I confirmed, yet again, that I'd married the right woman when MB gave the sign of approval should I decide the opportunity was too good to pass up. It was also pretty wonderful when she leaned over and whispered in my ear, "We should catch more live jazz." In the end, I was satisfied with a handshake and a signed ticket.

Back in the Kitchen Again - Prepping for Tomorrow's Risotto

2008-11-12T21:45:00.003-05:00

First off, i need to get rid of the "Read More" link at the bottom of these posts --- or I need to figure out how to get them to work.

MB is up in Toronto for the rest of the week but, as fate would have it, her mother and aunt are in town. I'm in the process of prepping the dinner I'll be serving them tomorrow night. They're going to arrive at my apartment around 7:30 so I need to get my act together in under an hour. As I was about to head out the door to Union Market without a plan, I decided to look in my risotto cookbook for something featuring fall ingredients.

I landed on a pumpkin and apple risotto, which should be easy enough since I prepped the pumpkin tonight. Unfortunately, i think I may have over-steamed it but it should still add some nice flavor and color to the dish, regardless. The recipe doesn't call for any spices but I'm thinking of adding a dash of nutmeg and cinnamon to enhance the fall flavors. I'm also going to add a few baby portabellas cause, well, why the hell not?

Before I serve dinner, I'm going to have a cheese platter with some fontina, rustico with red pepper, havarti and some smoked cheddar (if its still any good -- it's been in the fridge for awhile now). I grabbed some crostini and grapes to accompany the cheese. I'm also going to serve a simple salad with romaine, red onion, beets and a red wine vinegar dressing from Stonewall Kitchen. I've never cut my own beets before but I decided why not start now. I love the flavor and texture of beets --- and they definitely go with the fall theme.

As for dessert, I haven't made any decisions yet. I'm thinking I might take the easy way out and just grab something at a bakery on the way home but I'm not entirely sold yet. What do you think?

Drums and Keys

2008-11-06T21:22:00.004-05:00

You'd think a guy who's been playing music his whole life would have owned at least one drum but, somehow, it just never came up. That all changed last night.

Paul and I are finally getting around to playing some tunes again and this time we're attempting something a bit more interesting than a pair of acoustic guitars. Our concept is to loop and layer music we record in the live setting. It'll be something between DJing and a regular band. Basically four hands, a pair of computers and as many instruments as we can get our hands on.

Prior to yesterday, the majority of our collection consisted of different types of guitars. That's been the story of my life for the past 3-4 years and it has really limited my ability to produce anything of value. Slowly, over the past few months, things have started to improve. First came the MacBook Pro I'm using to write this post. Obviously, this is the most integral piece of the puzzle but it's not really an "instrument" on its own. Next came an iPhone. Technically, i had this before the computer but I've only recently started to discover a couple of apps I think are going to be really interesting to try in the live setting like BeatMaker and miniSynth.

But yesterday, things really started to roll. Thanks to the incredible used music instrument market that is craigslist, I managed to find a deal on a 61 key Korg Triton LE workstation and a "cocktail" drum set. The former is an older keyboard from 2003 but its a Korg and its certainly going to do what we need it to do. The latter is basically a small set with a kick pedal attached to a 16" tom and a few attached drums and cymbals. I'd never heard of anything like it before but the size was just what Paul and I were looking for --- something we can play around with without spending an arm and a leg or having to worry about lugging around a full set.

So what's left? Not much really. Aside from a few extra mics and cables, really were just looking at a pair of audio interfaces for our computers. Eventually, I'd really like to add a pair of digital turntables to the mix but that's hardly necessary in the short term.

I'll be sure to post pictures once we set up the space. Maybe there's even some tune-age in the near future?

Election Day - Sixpoint Hop Obama

2008-11-05T21:23:00.005-05:00

After MB and I left the polls at around 4:45 on Tuesday, we headed over to Miracle Grill for a celebratory drink. As we walked in, we were greeted by Chris Jansing - formerly Chris Kapotosky of WNYT 13 in the Capital Region - who was filling time on MSNBC while the country waited anxiously for the first polls to close at 7. We ponied up to the bar and MB browsed the drink list while I asked the bartender what was on tap. After rattling through the regulars (Brooklyn Brown Ale, Stella, etc.), he paused and looked up at the chalkboard above the bar and said, "Oh, and we have this Sixpoint brew called Hop Obama." Within moments, we had two frothy glasses sitting in front of us.

The Brooklyn brewer came out with its Obama brew back in March and initially intended to produce it for a limited time during the hiatus between the Democratic primaries and the election. According to an interview with brewmaster Shane Welch, the brewery did "not intend [the] beer to be a direct Sixpoint endorsement of Obama," but instead found inspiration in the now president-elect's grassroots campaign. Clearly, the brewery decided to extend production...either that or the management at Miracle decided to hold onto a few kegs for election day. Wise decision.

At 5.2% ABV, the ale was sharp but decidedly drinkable - milder than an IPA with a deeper hue but still packing a similar bite. MB and I liked it enough that we decided to call Bierkraft right from our seats at the bar to see if we could fill up our growlers for the election party we were headed to later that night. Sure enough, Hop Obama was the one Sixpoint they had on tap so off we went. Fast forward about 5 hours and the next thing I know, we're dancing in the street.

Jazz and Drinks with Dan and Heike

2008-11-03T13:15:00.003-05:00

Just as I was getting ready to write up the rest of our experiences last weekend with Dan and Heike, I noticed they already posted a on their own blog. You can read it here. In response to their questions, I think it's both excessive and just another night in NY.

This past weekend, our friend Marcus was in town from Atlanta to celebrate Halloween at the Roseland where Armin van Burren was spinning tunes. More details on this event a little later but, safe to say, it was a ridiculous "evening" that started Friday night and ended Sunday morning.

Back in Business

2008-10-28T22:03:00.004-04:00

I'm back. Finally finished a huge project at work so there's time to catch up on all of the happenings from this summer. But where to start? Why not with this past Saturday.

Dan and Heike were in from Boston for the weekend. We hadn't seen them since a ski trip back in the beginning of the year. As we looked for an excuse to get together about a month ago, we considered seeing an opera at the Met but we decided on Arturo Sandoval instead. If you've never heard of him, he's a Cuban-born jazz trumpet player who was basically discovered by Dizzy Gillespie. He plays the keys a lot at his shows too, as well as some percussion.

Arturo Leaning Back and Wailin'

The show was at the Iridium, a relatively new jazz club in Midtown Manhattan that I'd never been to before. We're actually headed back there in about a month to see Les Paul who plays every Monday night - not bad for a 93-year-old.

It's late, so I'll have to finish this story tomorrow but, rest assured, there was plenty of food to talk about on this night.

Long time, no post

2008-10-08T14:33:00.002-04:00

Hey everyone. I know it's been a long time since I've had the chance to post but, don't worry, Slopey Seconds isn't just another here-today-gone-tomorrow blog. I'm currently working on a major report but once that's finished, they'll be lots to talk about including the Sigur Ros show I saw last month and the Beck show I'll be seeing tomorrow night, both at the beautiful United Palace Theater.

Thursday Night Grub - Olive Vine

2008-09-06T14:50:00.005-04:00

Thursday night, MB and I headed to the Olive Vine Cafe on 7th Ave between Lincoln and St. John Place with a couple of couples - Chuck & Lilla and Kwami & Abbie. Olive Vine has a few other locations in the area, one on 7th Ave at 15th St. and another on Court St. between Degraw and Sackett, but we'd never eaten at any of the locations before.

The ladies

The Mediterranean menu is simple, straight forward, and very afforable; none of the entrees are more than $12. Plus, it's BYOB, which makes for a very cheap evening. That said, "You get what you pay for," as Chuck likes to say. Our waitress, who was very pleasant, brought us paper cups for our wine. When we asked for real wine glasses, like the ones we saw being used at other tables, she tried to tell us that they didn't have any. Eventually, as other patrons left the restaurant, she managed to round up 6 glasses but it was definitely strange they didn't have enough place settings for the entire restaurant.

To start, we split two orders of zatter bread and some pita bread; we tried to order some spinach pie but they were out. It was entirely too much food to start the meal but we were all starving by the time we were able to put our order in. As for wine, MB and I brought a Gewurztraminer and the other couples brought a pair of cabernets, one from Cali and the other from Australia.

For entrees, MB had a Olive Vine pizza and I had a an ouzi. The 10" pie, one of nine on the menu, features zucchini, eggplant, garlic, onions, cilantro, mozzarella and a homemade, Med-style sauce. The ouzi is a huge phylo-crust pie filled with chicken, rice, raisins and spices. Mine was a little dry but the yogurt sauce accompanying the dish did the trick.

Candle-lit Olive Vine Pizza

Chicken Ouzi

Internet Explorer Issues

2008-09-04T00:35:00.007-04:00

As I continue to adjust the layout and appearance of this blog, I've noticed a major sidebar issue when the site is viewed in Internet Explorer. I think I've been able to resolve the issue but if you notice anything unusual, please send me an email or leave a comment. I'm also aware of the "Read More" issue which appears at the end of each post despite the fact that there is often no additional content. This is a known issue but I haven't been able to find a solution. If you know of a fix, keep me in the loop.

(Author's Note - As for the new issue with the tiny text in the sidebar and the main body halfway down the page, I have no idea what the issue is and I'm giving up for the evening. As a short-term fix, do yourself a favor and grab the new Firefox 3.0 browser)

(Author's Idiotic Note from Later in the "Evening" - Fixed the tiny-text issue)

Tunes @ Work; Opus 1, No. 12

2008-09-02T21:15:00.002-04:00

8/27/2008

Beercan - Beck; Mellow Gold
Dreadful Wind and Rain - Jerry Garcia & David Grisman; Shady Grove
You Can't Lose a Broken Heart - Louis Armstrong
The Great Gig in the Sky - Pink Floyd; Echoes
Press Play - Stone Temple Pilots; Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop
Stand - Blues Traveler; Four
Silly Putty - Stanley Clarke; The Bass-ic Collection
Happy Jack - The Who; My Generation: The Very Best of the Who
Donegan's Gone - Mark Knopfler; Shangri-La
Misty Mountain Hop - Led Zeppelin; IV
You Don't Know How It Feels - Tom Petty; Wildflowers
Old Man on the Back Porch - The Presidents of the United States of America; The Presidents of the United States of America
Pearline - Son House; Original Delta Blues
Gone Daddy Gone - Gnarls Barkley; St. Elsewhere
High On a Mountain Top - Loretta Lynn
Army of Me (Beastie Boys Remix) - Bjork; Army of Me Single
Lady Madonna - The Beatles; 1
Cecilia Ann - The Pixies; Death to the Pixies (1987-1991)
Cold Blooded Old Times - Smog; High Fidelity Soundtrack
Oh, Heaven Isn't Real - David Karsten Daniels; Fear of Flying
When Love Comes to Town - U2/B.B. King; Rattle and Hum

Meat Fest '08: Part 3 - Duck and Fig Pizza

2008-09-01T18:42:00.014-04:00

Sunday morning, we awoke to another beautiful day in the Slope and headed back over to Union Market. Huevos rancheros and bellinis were on the menu for brunch but Paul, MB and I hadn't come to any conclusion as to what we should do for dinner. We knew we were going to use the duck, we just weren't sure how we should prepare it.

The bellinis didn't work out quite the way we intended. I guess I should say we didn't end up making bellinis at all. There were a few extra grill-roasted peaches from the night before and I was hoping to puree them and add a little champagne to the mix but no dice; the liquor store was closed. Instead, I ended up pureeing the peaches with a mix of rums - Goslings Dark and Captain Morgan's Spiced - and peach juice and then topped it off with Sprite. The end result? A foamy, sweet brunch cocktail with just a hint of the roasted flavor from the night before. As for the huevos rancheros, we did them on the grill, the same way we did them back in June.

Any ideas for a good name for this rum/peach concoction?

Chefs Mary and Paul

As for dinner, we came up with something on the fly. And by "something" I mean the most decadent meal of all time. It all started as we were tossing ideas around about how to use the duck when we passed Pizza Plus, the joint where we grab dough for our grill pizzas. I half-jokingly said, "What about duck pizza?" and the next thing I knew, we were listing off ingredients that would work with the duck. In the end, we decided on a mix of dates, figs, pecans, black truffles and chevre.

Earlier in the afternoon, I marinated the duck breast in some Stonewall Kitchen Fig & Vidalia Onion Sauce. Once the duck was on the grill, I cut the dates, figs and black truffles while Paul smashed the pecans and MB separated the chevre into small chunks. When the duck was a nice medium rare, I pulled it off the grill, sliced it into bite-sized pieces and tossed it with the date/fig/truffle/pecan mixture and a little black truffle oil. This mix went on top of the dough which I'd coated with more of the Fig & Vidalia Onion sauce. As you can imagine, the meal was extremely rich...but that didn't stop us from having 3 pieces each. We paired the pizza with some Blue Point Summer Ale; weird that the first time I sampled their summer brew was on the last day of summer.

Yum

Meat Fest '08: Part 2 - Ribeye Steak, Saucisson and Andouille

2008-08-31T16:23:00.025-04:00

Paul and I spent most of the afternoon contemplating song ideas and concept albums. All the while, we continued our Festival of Meats with a platter of meat (saucisson and the leftover andouille from the day before), cheese (Guinness cheddar, Brie de Meaux and havarti) and fresh bread from Balthazar by way of Union Market. Paired with the platter, we had a duo of West Coast beers - Stone IPA, brewed in North Country San Diego, and Anchor Steam Beer from San Francisco.

Meat and Cheese Platter

Buy local? Try "buy"-coastal.

For the main course, it was on to the ribeyes...

As the grill was heating up, I finely diced some shallots and coarsely chopped a white onion. When the shallots were sweating in two separate skillets, I ran outside and tossed halved red and yellow peppers on the grill. Then it was back inside to add port to shallots in one saucepan and veggies to the other. The veggie dish is something I came up with back in July for my mom's birthday; MB has been raving about ever since. It's simple enough - spinach, onions, shallots, roasted peppers and grilled corn - but there's something about the mix that works really well.

As for the steaks, I seasoned them, got the grill super hot and threw them on for about a minute and a half per side. Once they rested off the grill for a little while, I topped them with some port sauce and served them with the vegetables.

The main course

For dessert, I went back to the summer playbook one more time for another crowd pleaser. Earlier in the summer, we were up in Argyle, NY to see MB's family. When we were there, I tried a dish my sister and brother-in-law turned me onto - grilled peaches. Here's the recipe:

Take ripe peaches, halve them and remove the pits. Put them in a container with some brown sugar (between 1/2 and a 1 full cup) and rum (you can use any type but I would recommend Gosling's dark rum - it makes a beautiful sauce). If the mixture doesn't cover the peaches, add a little water. After marinating the peaches for several hours in the sugar/rum mix, throw them on the grill. The grill should be as hot as possible in order to get some nice grill marks on the peaches but once you've flipped them over, pull back the heat to make sure they heat evenly throughout.

Once the peaches are on the grill, take the rum/sugar mixture and put them in a skillet. Reduce the mixture just like you were making a caramel (if you've never down that before, watch this video). You'll know it's ready once it coats the back of the spoon. To serve, put the peaches in a small dish and top with a scoop of ice cream and, finally, the sauce.

More grilled peaches than we could eat. Stay tuned for tomorrow's post to see how we used the leftovers.

Blurry, but delicious

Meat Fest '08: Part 1 - Andouille

2008-08-30T11:47:00.016-04:00

I've been concentrating a lot of my posts on music lately but now I'm ready to switch things up a bit. When I'm not playing/recording/writing music with Paul this Labor Day weekend, I'll be preparing a variety of meats in a variety of styles. On the agenda: ribeye steaks, boneless center cut pork chops, lamb loin chops, and duck breast. For snacking between meals, we grabbed some saucisson, andouille, and cheese - Havarti, Guinness Cheddar and Brie de Meaux.

After MB and I grabbed the groceries from Union Market, we came back and fired up the grill to prepare the andouille for later in the weekend. We also decided to have a few links for dinner. While the sausage was cooking, I threw the pair of ciabatta rolls of to the side of the grill to heat them through. When the andouille was just about ready to come off the grill, I drizzled a little olive oil on the rolls and toasted them directly on the flame.

In the meantime, I split the sausages and cut some havarti. Once the rolls were ready, I put a few pieces of cheese down, then the sausage, and then a little more cheese; this allows the cheese to act as a binding agent between the meat and bread. If I were to do this again, I would have put something heavy on the sandwiches to smush them together but all in all, a pretty quick and easy meal for a Friday afternoon. Paired with the sandwiches, we had a couple of Magic Hat beers - Circus Boy Hefeweizen and Lucky Kat.

Crispy, melty, spicy goodness

Cheshire grin beers?

Tunes @ Work; Opus 1, No. 11

2008-08-29T14:58:00.001-04:00

I've got a bunch of ideas for improvements to this ongoing series, mainly providing access to streaming music via sites like lastfm or uploading tunes to a site like iMeem or muxxtape. Eitherway, I'll still provide access to purchase the songs via iTunes or Amazon's music store. In the meantime, I'm still backlogged with lists (not to mention food and music reviews from the summer) so I'll do whatever I can until I'm caught up. Now onto the music!

(author's note - The iTunes Music Store Link Maker site isn't working at the moment so I can't provide the iTunes buttons. I'll try to remember to come back and add them later on. In the meantime, the hyperlinked song titles lead to streams on lastfm.)

8/13/2008

Walking the Sea - Skip James; Rare and Unreleased
Three or Four - The New Pornographers; Twin Cinema
Microphone Fiend - Rage Against the Machine, Renegades
The King of Carrot Flowers, Pt. 1 - Neutral Milk Hotel; In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
Join Together - The Who, My Generation: The Very Best of The Who
See See Rider - Ray Charles; The Best of Ray Charles Vol. 2
Roundabout - Yes; Fragile
End of the Movie - Cake; Pressure Chief
Sukie in the Graveyard - Belle and Sebastian; The Life Pursuit
Sour Girl - Stone Temple Pilots; No. 4
Austin Groove - Kid Crème; Live On Brighton Beach
Baby's Got Sauce - G. Love & Special Sauce; Best of G. Love and Special Sauce
The Rat Cage - Beastie Boys; The Mix-Up
Stairway to Heaven - Rodrigo y Gabriela; Rodrigo y Gabriela
Flurries - Soulive; Next

I've Got a Cheshire Cat Grin

2008-08-28T23:45:00.012-04:00

For a night spent on the couch, watching TV, tonight was pretty intense.

First, Barack Obama took the stage (or I guess field would be more accurate) in Denver to accept his party's nomination for the presidency of the United States of America. Regardless of party affiliation, I like to think most Americans can appreciate the significance of this event in our nation's history. I could say plenty more about the substance of his speech but there are enough political pundits in the world so I'll keep my thoughts to myself.

Once the confetti was flying, MB and I turned our attention to Radiohead.

Sometime today, a message on the band's blog kindly informed fans that it might be a good idea to update some A/V software. Later on, Colin posted a second message letting everyone know they would stream the final show of the North American tour, live, from the Santa Barbara Bowl. Make it four and a half shows I got to see on this tour.

Chalk up one more coup for Radiohead. What a way to end a tour that all started with the unorthodox release of In Rainbows, their seventh studio album. The quality of the feed was incredible, all things considered, even on my 37" TV.

Either I'm on stage and my camera sucks or the live feed is pretty good
(on the laptop, shot taken with my iPhone camera)

Oh, and apparently sometime between the time we caught them at APW and the West Coast leg of the tour, they changed the song they play at the end of the show. Instead of the harmonic minor tune that reminded me of a bazaar someplace in the Middle East, they played the Flight of the Conchords' If You're Into It.

On the TV with MB's star-light in the background

Tunes @ Work; Opus 1, No. 10

2008-08-28T12:01:00.002-04:00

08/06/2008

Cabin Down Below - Tom Petty; Wildflowers
Blue Hour - Turin Brakes; Ether Song
Free Man In Paris - Joni Mitchell; Court and Spark
Hats Off - Primus; The Brown Album
Houston - Soul Coughing; El Oso
She's Electric - Oasis; (What's the Story) Morning Glory?
The Gash - The Flaming Lips; The Soft Bulletin
Golden Years - David Bowie; Best of Bowie
The Sheik of Araby - Various Artists; The DJango Reinhardt New York Festival Live At Birdland
Oh My Gosh (Radio Edit) - Basement Jaxx
Bebe Bo Nadero - Boubacar Traore; Macire
Sinner's Prayer - Eric Clapton; From the Cradle
Flashlight - Parliament; The Best of Parliament - Give Up the Funk
Aeroplane - Red Hot Chili Peppers; One Hot Minute
Superstar - Sonic Youth; Juno Soundtrack

Backtracking - Part 1: Radiohead in Charlotte (05/08)

2008-08-26T22:20:00.010-04:00

The day after MB's birthday, we headed down to Charlotte to catch Radiohead at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater. We hadn't seen the boys from Oxford since the last show of the 2006 tour at the Heineken Music Hall in Amsterdam so we were pretty amped up for the show. They didn't disappoint. After all, how could a show like that be anything short of mind blowing when you've managed to score pit tickets and you end up watching the show 10 feet from the stage.

Here's how they looked with a little zoom...

...and this is how close they looked to the naked eye.

As would turn into a familiar theme throughout the tour, there was a little rain. Apt for an album named In Rainbows. Fortunately, we were on the very edge of an enormous storm and managed to escape with only a short drizzle. Later on, we found out a few tornadoes touched down just north of the venue.

Before the show began, we made friends with a pair of dudes standing near us. One was a fellow ND alum and the other works about 4 blocks away from my office in NYC. By the end of the first set, we had agreed to purchase their tickets to the Montreal show later in the tour which they couldn't use. And that's when we made the reckless decision to follow Radiohead all over the east coast in the summer of 2008 was laid.

Oh, and of the 4 of us, we managed to grab 2 setlists.

I guess they couldn't decided between Exit Music and No Surprises (crossed out)

Recycled paper. Go figure.

Clay, our new friend from New York City, cheered as loud as the rest of us when the show was over but as Ed left the stage at the end of Everything In It's Right Place, he put his hand on a C-note and got into position. When the first list landed in the audience, he landed right behind next to it. I can't imagine giving up a setlist for a band like Radiohead for a measly 100 bucks but I gotta believe the shock and awe of this well formulated plan simply overwhelmed the poor bastard.

By the time Clay came back to celebrate his victory, MB had managed her way up against the rail. Maybe it was because she was screaming "IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!" at the top of her lungs, or perhaps it was just her feminine wiles, but when the roadie picked up Jonny's sheet, he crumpled it up and tossed it right to Mary.

Time seemed to slow down as I watched the ball of paper arc through the air. As it deflected off my wife's hands into the no-mans-land between the rail and the stage, I have to admit I briefly lost faith in my wife. But as the security guard reached down to pick it up, I remembered that her powers of persuasion are much better than her ability to catch. Moments later, we were deliriously pushing our way out of the crowd still assembled in front of the stage, eyeing everyone around us like they were Slugworth.

As for the performance, its hard for me to describe without comparing it to the other shows I caught this summer but there are a few things that come to mind when I look at the set. First, we heard a number of the In Rainbows songs in a very raw state at the Amsterdam gig and the legendary 28-song Bonnaroo show during the 2006 tour. By the time they'd finished Weird Fishes/Arpeggi, it was clear that they'd worked out all of the kinks in the interim. At the same time, it was obvious that this was only the fourth show of the tour.

As for particular songs, I just about lost my mind when they went into Planet Telex. I was also pretty luck to catch Talk Show Host for the second time, the first one coming at the MSG show on 10/10/2003. And how do I properly describe the light show. It was unlike anything I've seen before. True to form, they waited until the very end of the show to unleash their most impressive visuals as the entire system went "in rainbows."

In Rainbows

Quite possibly one of the best pictures I've ever taken.

Tunes @ Work; Opus 1, No. 9

2008-08-19T12:19:00.000-04:00

Well, I've decided to link the songs on my lists to iTunes whenever they are available. If you're ever interested in hearing the songs I can't link, shoot me an email or add a comment and I'll see what I can do for you. Enjoy!

07/30/2008

Lurgee - Radiohead; Pablo Honey
It Ain't the Money - Beck; Live with Macy Gray
Goodbye Little World - Remy Zero; Villa Elaine
Rape Me - Nirvana; All Acoustically
Something in the Air - Thunderclap Newman; Almost Famous Soundtrack
She's Mine - Brett Dennen; So Much More (Special Edition)
Marking Time - The Olivia Tremor Control; Music from the Unrealized Film Script, Dusk at Cubist Castle
Angie - The Rolling Stones; Forty Licks
Marie - Randy Newman; Good Old Boys
Miles Runs the Voodoo Down - Miles Davis; Bitches Brew
I Won't Back Down - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers; Greatest Hits
Beyond the Horizon - Bob Dylan; Modern Times
Within You, Without You - The Beatles; Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
4000 Miles - Blackalicious; Blazing Arrow
Fine Line - Paul McCartney; Chaos and the Creation in the Backyard

iHunger - Part 1: Urbanspoon (with special guest Bob Dylan)

2008-08-14T23:51:00.000-04:00

After dealing with faulty charger cables and the snide comments of Gawker-reading young women across the greater NYC area for the past year or so, I finally caved and traded in my Motorola E815 for an iPhone. I wanted to get it before I left for Montreal but my lack of time and the generally limited supply meant I had to wait until this Monday. When I called the Apple store a week ago, I was told I would need to pick up a ticket in the morning and return later on to purchase the phone. Demand must have gone down sometime during the last week because I was able to make it from my office at 42nd & 3rd, up to the Apple store at Grand Army Plaza and back again in under 90 minutes.

The difference has been life altering. Now, I'm not trying to say that the is iPhone indispensable or anything. I'm just saying the magnitude of the upgrade has been tremendous. Hell, I wrote a blog post on that sucker last night from the comfort of my bed. While I did hack that Motorola, a feat I accomplished with the help of the howardforums.com communityu, watching 3gp files and surfing the Web simply aren't in the same ballpark as far as utility.

This post will serve as the first in an ongoing series about iPhone apps related to food. I'll also do another series on music-related apps (enter witty title here). There are a bunch of each type out there, with more sure to come and a whole slew more for "jailbreaked" (jailbroken?) phones, so this will take some time and treasure. The first app(lication) I'm going to review is Urbanspoon, a restaurant search tool recommended to me by my sister-in-law and fellow new iPhone owner, Becca. This was the first app I paid for and I wasted no time giving it a go.

Tuesday night, Bob Dylan played a show at the bandshell in Prospect Park which is all of a 5 minute walk from my apartment. Tickets sold out almost immediately but we did what we always do when we don't want to or can't get into a show - grab some wine, cheese and crackers and attend what amounts to a live podcast. In fact, of the 5 years we've lived in Park Slope, we've only actually gone inside for one show, the Spoon show earlier this summer (brief review: Not that impressed. Decent muscianship but not enough to make up for their relative lack of showmanship). In all that time, we've seen some great acts - Ben Folds, Maceo Parker (with special guest Prince) and Ani DiFranco - but there's never been a crowd like the one on Tuesday, in terms of size, age range and demeanor.

After the show, Mary Beth, Paul and I decided to grab some dinner. Now, I've tried to be cool about my new toy - is there anything worse than when someone shoves their latest gadget in your face? - but after 5 minutes debating potential eateries, I felt this was the right time to pull this bad boy out and see what it was made of.

When you first launch the app, the software figures out your current location and loads the restaurants in that area; you can also manually select your location if you prefer. Unfortunately, this information isn't stored for your next use so you have to wait each time, which can be annoying when you don't have an optimal connection. With any luck, the developers will address this in a future update.

Once your location is loaded, you're ready to roll. The interface looks like a slot machine with three dials - one for neighborhoods, one for cuisine type and one for price range ($ - $$$$). You can choose a specific input for any or all of the dials by tapping the lock icon below. Then, you simply shake the phone or tap the Shake button to access information on a random restaurant that fits your criteria. Result include phone number, address and user reviews. What you can't access is a menu, which is a clearly a major drawback. In addition to the slot machine interface, you can also use the app to share notes with friends, browse restaurants by name, perform a simple keyword search and find places in your immediate vicinity.

Urbanspoon Demo

As far as the results, our first experience was a complete success. Within a few shakes, we settled on Oshima, a decent Japanese restaurant on 7th Ave between Berkeley and Lincoln. The staff was extremely nice, seating us despite the fact that we arrived about 15 minutes before their scheduled close. As a result, we were rushed a bit but it wasn't anything obnoxious. The three rolls were on par with Yamato, our regular neighborhood maki spot, and the "$$" price tag was on the money, no pun intended - 3 rolls, an order of edamame beans, and a single glass of cold sake for $46.

Tunes @ Work; Opus 1, No. 8

2008-08-14T12:11:00.003-04:00

Along with the backlog of music events and restaurant visits, I have four playlists I need to post. In case you're curious how I come up with these, I come into work everyday and turn my iTunes on random. As it cycles through the +15,000 songs in my collection (that's over 72 gigs of music!), I throw the songs that pique my interest into a weekly playlist. Going forward, I plan on adding links so you can listen to or purchase the songs directly from my blog. I can either link to a streaming service like imeem or to a music purchase platform like Apple's or Amazon's. What would you prefer? Hit me up with a comment and let me know. In the meantime, here's a list from mid-July.

07/23/2008

In 'n' Out - Van Halen; Right Here, Right Now (Live)
Velouria - The Pixies; Death to the Pixies 1987-1991
Part-Time Lover - Stevie Wonder; Song Review: A Greatest Hits Collection
Sweet Emotion - Aerosmith; RS 500
Ghetto Child (Demo) - Curtis Mayfield; Superfly [Charly]
The Outer Motorcycle - Mohlmin
Tribute - Tenacious D; Tenacious D
One Way Out - The Allman Brothers Band; Almost Famous Soundtrack
Youthless - Beck; Modern Guilt
Moonage Daydream - David Bowie; Ziggy Stardust
Run-Around - Blues Traveler; Four
No Diggity - Blackstreet; Another Level
Ahora Me da Pena - Compay Segundo; The Definitive Collection
Kick Out the Jams - Presidents of the USA; Presidents of the USA
Martha Ann - David Karsten Daniels; Fear of Flying

Is there anybody out there?

2008-08-13T23:25:00.002-04:00

I know I haven't been active in the blogosphere for a few weeks but I'm curios what people have to say about the style and content of this blog so far, especially in regards to the voice i've tried to develop. I'd love to hear any suggestions or critiques you might have so, if you get the chance, leave me a comment on this or any relevant post. In the meantime, check back often in the next week or so because I've got a number of music and food events from the past few weeks to tell you about.

Open Mic & Late Night Grub in Greenwood Heights/South Slope

2008-08-12T23:31:00.009-04:00

On Wednesday, July 30th, Paul Kellner and I played an open mic in Greenwood Heights, Brooklyn at the Living Room Lounge. Located just off 5th Avenue on 23rd Street in Brooklyn, the bar does an open mic on Wednesdays, Guitar Hero on Thursdays, karaoke and burlesque shows on alternate Fridays, and live bands/DJs on Saturdays. Add in a bunch of comfortable couches, a pool table, semi-decent and relatively cheap bar list, and hilariously out-of-place (re: clean & modern) bathrooms, complete with beautiful glass-bowl sinks and chairs for lounging/hanging out, and this locale would be a great place to haunt any night of the week. I know I’d probably end up there a lot more often if it wasn’t such a hike from my apartment.

We strolled into the bar at 8:00, about 45 minutes before the sign-in and were greeted to 6 or 7 people chilling out and chuckling to Harold & Kumar: Guantanamo Bay which was being projected on a small screen over the stage. One oddly-forward performer aside, no one budged as we entered the joint. I saddled up to the bar to bar, ordered a few drinks and asked the barkeep who I needed to speak to about getting my name on the list. The sign-in sheet comes out at 8:45 and the regulars pounce on the list right away so if you’re looking for a specific slot, get there early and position yourself at the bar. With set lengths of 15 minutes or 3 songs, we were happy to get the 6th slot; an estimated 10:30 appearance gave me plenty of time to rally the neighborhood troops.

Our set started with Full Moon Crazy, a song Paul wrote and played with his band Heathcliff back in Madison, WI. We followed that with a cover of Beck’s Lazy Flies and finished with an instrumental Paul and I worked on together entitled All the News That’s Fit to Print. This last tune seemed to get the best reaction from the crowd, or at least people started clapping enthusiastically during the first (of three) faux-ending. Regardless, the feedback was generally positive.

While the set was certainly fun, the most productive portion of the evening came when the host, Matt Frye, introduced our duo. “Next up, Man and Paul.” Now, I know that my handwriting is anything but stellar (if I remember correctly, I was grounded for a week in the 3rd grade because of my handwriting grade) but I would have thought that by now I could manage to write my own name legibly enough for people to read it. Apparently not. But, in the end, the audience reacted well to our new name and we decided it should stick, at least for our acoustic gigs.

Man & Paul

On the way back home from the gig, MB, Becca and I decided to grab a bite to eat at Sidecar, a great bar with decent grub on 5th Ave that serves food Tues-Sun from 6pm-4am. That’s not a typo. You can get everything on this menu 6 days a week until four in the morning. Yeah. I love my neighborhood.

We grabbed a spot at the bar, made friends with the Phillip, the bartender, and ordered a round; Becca and I grabbed Southampton Double White Ales and MB had a pint of Six Point’s Sweet Action, one of her favorite cup of suds from the Brooklyn brewer. To accompany the beer, she ordered a burger in our usual style – cheese (cheddar), mushrooms, onions and bacon. The only thing she had trouble deciding was how she wanted the thing cooked. I interrupted and told Phillip medium-rare; have you ever gone someplace where they’ve brought you a hamburger and you’ve said, “Damn! That’s too rare!”? As for me, I ordered “The Sidecar” which is basically a souped-up turkey club with sliced granny smith apples, gruyere, red onion, and sun dried tomato mayo on grilled sour dough. Delish!

Sidecar Burger w/Cheddar, Bacon, Mushrooms and Onions

Still Buying Time

2008-08-11T19:00:00.002-04:00

I know it's been almost 2 weeks ago since I promised I would be posting again but there have been too many blog-worthy events and not enough time to blog about them. Never fear, my friends. By the end of the week, you'll be swimming in reviews of restaurants from Texas to Montreal and music from Radiohead to the stuff I'm working on myself. In the meantime, I'm the proud new owner of an iPhone. That should make it a lot easier to keep this thing up to date.

Here's a picture of our meal at Au Pied du Cochon (The Pig's Feet) in Montreal. Any guesses what it might be?

Dinner @ Au Pied du Cochon in Montreal

Weekend pics and more to come...

2008-07-28T07:30:00.000-04:00

MB and I have been on the move since last Thursday night when we caught STS9 and Umphrey's McGee at the Roseland Ballroom and Blender Theater. Friday afternoon, we piled in a Speedy's rental car with Becca and Charley and took off upstate to visit the Asmussen family up in Argyle, NY. After returning late last night, it's back to work followed by a Yankees game tonight with my friend Matt. The rest of the week is looking equally busy so there's a good chance I won't have time to post the full details of these adventures until later this week. In the meantime, here are a few shots from the weekend.

STS9 @ The Roseland Theater

Umphrey's McGee @ The Roseland Theater

Tower of Power @ Christies on the Lake in Lake George, NY

Me and Charley, the driving cat

Rock Star Karaoke

2008-07-23T22:24:00.004-04:00

After band rehearsal at Michiko Rehearsal Studios, located just off Times Square (what better location for a rehearsal space than right above an Irish pub in the middle of the mayhem that is midtown NYC), I took the 3 train back to Brooklyn. Armed with my acoustic guitar, I figured it was a safe bet I'd have the two-seater to myself for the entire ride. Not so fast, Seabass.

At 14th Street, a drummer strolled onto the train with his cymbal bag and snare. He was actively looking for an empty seat so I made some room and settled in for a crowded ride back to BK. I'd been finger-drumming on my case and as this dude settled in next to me, it seemed like he was joining along; I couldn't tell if he was drumming with me or if he was just drumming the way drummers incessantly do. Regardless, I found it hilarious that the only two musicians in the train car were seated next to one another. I didn't make any attempt at small chatter...until i pulled out a pack of gum and offered him a piece.

Next thing I know, we're having a friendly musician meet-and-greet. After we established where our evenings were headed - I was on my way back home and he was headed out to a gig at Hank's Saloon - I asked him who he was playing with. When he responded, "Rock Star Karaoke," I did a triple take. "Did you guys play Bonnaroo?"

Sure enough, Rock Star Karaoke is the band we saw Friday night at Karaoke Bay at Bonnaroo. My wife, sister-in-law and buddy Marcus had just bought tickets for our annual ride on the Ferris Wheel. As we stood in line, it slowly dawned on us that a) our tickets to the ride were good at any point during the weekend and b) these guy rocked. As we jumped out of line and entered the tent, we were rewarded with the opening chords to Creep. To this day, I can still remember who first introduced me to that tune. Thank you, Beavis and Butthead.

The girl who'd chosen this Radiohead was a short blonde who was sporting sunglasses (at roughly 1am) and had an "I'm too wasted to really care" attitude. At first, it seemed like this was going to be just another wonderful song ruined by karaoke.

Then the chorus landed.

See, the Rock Star Karaoke band were intentionally playing the verse at par with the girl singing the song. Their lackadaisical attitude initially made me think they weren't very good. But all of a sudden, they got real serious, laying into the chorus with a frenzy that brought everyone in ear shot to their feet. MB, Becca, Marcus and I rushed into the middle of the "dance floor" (a series of not-so-well-supported plywood boards) and started screaming our faces off. "Sheeeeeeee's runnin' out a-gaaaaain!" Intensity in tent cities.

After considering taking the stage ourselves, we quickly realized we'd caught a peak moment and there wasn't much chance we were going to be able to top it. Instead, we decided to head back to the Ferris Wheel. Marcus and I grabbed some simosas for the ride while the girls waited in line. As we were heading out of the tent , the band took a moment to introduce themselves, mentioning they were from the NYC area. Never in a million years did I think I would run into one of their band members a little over a month later.

Turns out this may not have been the first time we've seen this band. In addition to a regular Wednesday night slot at Hank's Saloon in Brooklyn, you can also catch these guys on Saturday night at Lucky Cheng's in the LES. If you prefer biker-bars, I recommend the former but if drag queens and cocktails with names like "Flaming Pussy" are more your speed, try the latter. Either way, do yourself a favor and check these guys out. I usually hate the idea of karaoke but when you've got an awesome live band backing you, how can you go wrong?

Tunes @ Work; Opus 1, No. 7

2008-07-17T15:07:00.000-04:00

07/17/2008

F.T.B. - Robert Glasper; In My Element
Full Moon Crazy - Paul Kellner
To Love - Carole King; Writer
Curtains Close - Arctic Monkeys; Bigger Boys and Stolen Sweethearts
Romantic - Soulive; Doin' Something
Cinnamon Girl - Neil Young; Everybody Knows This is Nowhere
Dance Cadeverous (Alternate Take) - Wayne Shorter; Wayne Shorter
Wind of Change - Peter Frampton; Frampton Comes Alive
Slow Life - Super Furry Animals; Phantom Power
The Beast and the Dragon, Ado - Spoon; Gimme Fiction
Take Me Back Babe - Mance Lipscomb; Texas Songster
Motherless Child - Eric Clapton; From the Cradle
No Hey Problemo - Pink Martini; Sympathetique
Guilty Until Proven Innocent - Jay-Z, The Dynasty Roc la Familia
Gravity Ride Everything - Modest Mouse; The Moon & Antartica
Life During Wartime - Talking Heads; The Name of THis Band Is Talk
Poor Boy - The Slip; Aliveacoustic
Come on Petunia - The Blow; Poor Aim - Love Songs
Sickfit (Inst.) - Madvillain; Madvillainy
Moosemilk Blues - Corey Harris; Fish Ain't Bitin'
Savoy Blues - Louis Armstrong; Blow Satchmo Blow
Green Grass - Tom Waits; Real Gone
The Wanderer - Johnny Cash & U2; The Legend of Johnny Cash
Texas Flood - Stevie Ray Vaughn & Double Trouble; Greatest Hits
Maria - Rage Against the Machine; The Battle of Los Angeles
It's All Right With Me - Ella Fitzgerald; Ella at the Opera House
Rebel Rebel - Seu George; The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
Break Down and Let It All Out - Nina Simone; The Best of Nina Simone

La Musique de Travaille; Opus 1, No. 6

2008-07-15T17:18:00.001-04:00

07/14/2008

And They All Look Broken Hear - Four Tet; Rounds
The Rockafeller Skank - Fatboy Slim; On the Floor At the Big Beat Boutique
La Primavera - Manu Chao; Esperenza
How Kind of You - Paul McCartney; Chaos and Creation In the Backyard
Oh Little Brain - STS9; Peachblaster
The Widow - The Mars Volta; Frances the Mute
You Like My Style - Shortie No Mas; Mushroom Jazz 5
Match Box Blues - Albert King & Stevie Ray Vaughn; In Session
Somebody to Love - Queen; Platinum Collection
Brown Skin Lady - Black Star; Black Star
Year of the Dragon - Wyclef Jean; The Carnival
Jique - Brazilian Girls; Talk to la Bomb
What Do You Do For Money Honey - AC/DC; Back in Black
In the Morning - The Junior Boys; Hand Claps are the New Black (Mix)
Fishwater (Reprise) - Widespread Panic; Another Joyous Occasion
Choo Choo - Arctic Monkeys; Bigger Boys and Stolen Sweethearts

Tunes @ Work; Opus 1, No. 5

2008-07-09T12:20:00.000-04:00

07/08/2008

Mote - Sonic Youth; Goo
Somebody Told Me - The Killers; Hot Fuss
Landlady - Phish; Picture of Nectar
Red's Rhumba - Boogie Woogie Red; Blue Ivory
Feel Like a Piece of Shit (Mind Control) - Beck; A Western Harvest Field by Moonlight
Shady Grove - Jerry Garcia & David Grisman; Shady Grove
Hot for Teacher - Van Halen; 1984
Paranoid Android - Radiohead; Bonnaroo 2006
As - Stevie Wonder; Songs in the Key of Life
Kinda I Want To - Nine Inch Nails; Pretty Hate Machine
Learn to Fly - Foo Fighters; There is Nothing Left to Lose
The End - The Beatles; Abbey Road
A Song for Sleeping - Stone Temple Pilots; Shangri-La Dee Da
Ma Première Guitare - Birèli Lagrène; Gipsy Project & Friends
Dracula - Medeski, Martin & Wood; Last Chance to Dance Trance (Perhaps)
Wherever You Go - Built to Spill; You in Reverse
Pony Up! - Minus the Bear; They Make Beer Commercials Like This
I Turn My Camera On - Spoon; Gimme Fiction
When the Music's Over - The Doors; The Best of the Doors
Groove Holmes - The Beastie Boys; Ill Communication
Supercollider - Fountains of Wayne; Welcome to Interstate Managers
Muriel - Tom Waits; Foreign Affairs
House of Cards - Radiohead; Bonnaroo 2006
She'll Make You Cry - The Velvet Underground; Squeeze
Buddy - De La Soul Feat. Jungle Brothers, Q-Tip & Phife; Best of De La Soul
Chalk Dust Torture - Phish; A Live One
Island in the Sun - Weezer; Weezer (Green Album)
Analyse - Thom Yorke; The Eraser
Believer - BT; Go Soundtrack
DJ Kicks - Kruder & Dorfmeister; DJ Kicks
Freedom for my People - U2; Rattle and Hum
Regarde-Moi Toujours Comme Ca - Edith Piaf; The Gold Collection
Gonna Change My Way of Thinking - Bod Dylan; Slow Train Coming
O Is the One that is Real - My Morning Jacket; Split EP
Charlie - Red Hot Chili Peppers; Stadium Arcadium: Jupiter
Jeepers Creepers - Ethel Waters; Push Out 1938-1939
Charleston - Varsity Eight; Dance! Dance! Dance! (Popular Dances of the 1920s, Vol. 5)

Uncle Sam and Ma's Birthday Celebration

2008-07-07T00:59:00.005-04:00

While most of the U.S. was busy celebrating its 232 birthday, my family got together to celebrate my ma. My sister and I had planned an "adventure" (my parents' term for the "get in the car and we'll tell you where we're going when we get there...and trust me, it'll be worth it" trips we used to take when we were vacationing on Cape Cod as kids) to Saratoga Lake. We had rented a boat for the day from Saratoga Boatworks and as we pulled into the marina, my parents' jaws hit the deck. Within 30 minutes, I was piloting the 24' pontoon boat south for a tour of the lake before we picked a spot to eat lunch and go for a swim. Needles to say, my 5-year old nephew Kyle had a blast.

My sister, Amy, had prepared a great spread for our aquatic-picnic. Not only was the food incredible, she brought the exact amount of grub we needed for the full day. She'd made two types of roasted vegetable wraps featuring a common base of onions, peppers and, if I'm not mistaken, summer squash and zucchini. She used two types of wraps - spinach and whole wheat - with balsamic vinegar in the former and hummus in the latter. For sides, she had cut fruit - cantaloupe and seedless red grapes - and a number of great Trader Joe buys including chips, salsa and 7-layer dip. For dessert, she'd coated strawberries with melted semi-sweet chocolate morsels (her absolute favorite treat to snag from my mom's baking cabinet when we were growing up). Somehow, they never melted. I'm not sure if that was because Brian, my brother-in-law, packed them so well or because we ate them so quickly.

Dinner that night was a tag team event. Amy came up with a recipe - seared scallops with a spicy chorizo sauce and asparagus - and I prepared the grub. The sauce for the scallops had too much heat but it didn't stop anyone from cleaning their plate. Plus, we were able to cool our mouths off with my mom's special birthday cake, a once-a-year treat we all look forward to. My dad had made an angel food cake the night before and he went to work preparing it. Aafter slicing the cake in half, chunks ice cream are placed in the middle along with sugared strawberries and blueberries. The entire cake is then coated in whipped cream and topped with fresh berries and sparklers.

The next day, my sister and I put together a 5-course meal (that turned into 2 smaller meals and a nap). We tried to stick with a Tuscan theme when we could. My parents have been talking about visiting Italy, specifically Tuscany, for years and we thought a meal that borrowed heavily from the region would be a nice touch. Hell, even our boat from the day before was named Tuscany. We also tried to make heart-healthy choices when possible; Mr. Russert's recent passing had a particularly profound impact on my family for several reasons. Here's what we served:

1st Course - Grilled Crostini

I served two different varieties: one with cubed fresh mozzarella and prosciutto and the other with a mix of kalamata olives, red onions, and roasted peppers. I used 2 somewhat fresh loaves of French bread (which Brian was kind enough to slice and coat with olive oil) and toasted them very quickly on a very hot grill. My dad's full-sized grill gave me some great lines. I coated the olive mix crostini as they came off the grill and moved the meat & cheese slices up to the top rack until the cheese had melted. As far as a 5-course meal for 6 adults was concerned, 2 loaves of bread was entirely too much food. On the other hand, we ate every piece so I think it was worth it.

2nd Course - Cannellini Soup

Cannellini's are a white bean used in a lot of Tuscan cooking. My sister prepared this dish, sweating out onions and garlic in a Le Creuset pot, adding the beans, tomatoes (?) and stock and finishing with some rosemary. We served this meal outside and part of the way through the course, we discovered that we'd been locked out of the house. I have no idea how the sliding glass door in the back of our house managed locked itself as someone closed the door but as soon as all realized what had happened, we knew we were screwed. See, my parents have this obsession with locking their doors. My sister and I weren't even allowed to keep copies of our house keys after we moved out of the house. When a situation arose where it was blatantly obvious how weird it was that we couldn't access our parents' house, we finally obtained a set of keys. Regardless, there was no way in the house...no way, that is, except for Brian to "borrow" our neighbor's ladder, climb onto the roof and dive head first into one of the front rooms. For the record, that wasn't until my father and I decided it would be much more fun to break the window on the door to our garage (although my dad gave it an initial punch, we realized the break would be worthless because the door to the house was also locked, no doubt).

3rd Course - Grilled Polenta

This was the third batch of grilled polenta I'd prepared in as many weeks. The first round, prepared for a number of guests, was decidedly bland and didn't look especially great. The second round was cut better, had better grill lines but still lacked i flavor. By this third attempt, I'd realized how to modify the packaged Bel Aria instant polenta: I added onions, garlic, shallots, salt, pepper and herbs upfront and then coated it with a mix of olive oil and Rao's Homemade Arrabiata Fra Diavolo Sauce before i threw it on the grill.

The real key was forming the polenta in the right dish and slicing it to the right width. Even though I managed that much, I made the mistake of serving two slices per person, twice as much as i should have and, combined with the crostini and soup (and 3+ bottles of wine), enough to send everyone to sleep for a couple of hours. On top of the polenta, i melted a little buffalo mozzarella (i searched for a decent soy replacement in the nearby Hannaford but no luck) and threw some red, yellow and orange peppers, along with some red onions, all mixed in with more of the Diavolo sauce (just enough to bind and flavor the onion/pepper mix).

4th Course - Cedar Planked Sea Bass with White Wine Sauce and Wilted Spinach

When I first considered the meal we were going to prepare for my parents, I went way over the top and thought about how we could do 7+ courses. One of my ideas was a beef and risotto dish. As we woke up from our meal and started talking about how many hours it would be before we'd all be hungry again, I realized how wise my sister was when she suggested a more reasonable number of courses. Beef and risotto? How could we possibly have handled that?

I have no idea if they use cedar planks to smoke/cook fish (let alone sea bass) in Tuscany but when Brian told me he had brought the planks, I went with the idea. After all, wood planking is the easiest way to cook fish on the grill without making a mess. Brian threw the wood in some water very early on in the afternoon, which was a great idea. He also had some bad advice - coat the wood in olive oil - which i proceeded to follow despite knowing better. Everyone but MB suffered a minor freak out when I poured water on the planks as the oil caught fire but i was able to keep the situation under control. I bet the steam actually helped the fish turn out nice and moist.

One the fish went on the grill, I put some left over prosciutto ends and fat in a skillet on the grill's side burner, added olive oil, onions, garlic, roasted peppers, and, at the last minute as I took the pan off the heat while rolling spinach through the mix for flavor. I poured the veggies into a bowl and had MB bring them inside to await plating. In the meantime, i put the skillet back on the burner, browned up some more prosciutto (forgot the shallots!), added butter, truffle oil, lemon juice and white wine, reduced by a little more than half and finished with a little more butter and some capers. Sure, the sauce wasn't exactly heart-healthy but i only poured a spoonful or two over each person's plate and, damn, was it good.

5th Course - Gelato Cannoli

I brought some Ferrara cannoli shells up to Albany from Little Italy as an insurance policy but when I saw fresh shells at Bella Napoli, I snagged them. My original concept was to make tri-colored canollis with pistachio, vanilla, and strawberry gelato. Unfortunately, while Hannaford had gelato, they didn't have the selection i was looking for so we decided to go with two kinds of cannoli - one with a chocolate filling and the other with tiramisu. MB and I tried to prep them early so they would re-form in the deep freeze but all we learned was that the deep freeze had been unplugged earlier in the day - a fortunate discover for my most of the freezer's contents but disastrous for the cannoli. Regardless, we managed to serve a tasty, albeit messy, dessert topped with cocoa powder, powdered sugar and fresh whipped cream.

Huevos Rancheros - Brunch on the Grill

2008-06-29T00:53:00.003-04:00

I woke up today to face a number of ill-advised promises I'd made the night before. But when MB "found" a $200 American Express card in her wallet, everything seemed more manageable. I headed down to Union Market to gather ingredients for the brunch I'd promised MB the night before. I love Union Market. Sure, the aisles are super narrow but its a grocer in Brooklyn. What are ya gonna do? Really, my only issue with the place is that the produce in the very front of the store (asparagus, avocados, and tomoatoes) always looks too good to pass up and it tends to influence my meal decisions. Today, they screamed huevos rancheros! MB sang along in unison.

I only had a few hours to prep and cook brunch before I needed to meet my friends Al and Nick up in Hell's Kitchen so I made quick work of the produce and cheese departments, grabbing some avocados, vine-ripened tomatoes, cilantro, sweet oso onions, corn, lime and Oaxacan cheese. Quickly adding some eggs, sausage, and corn tortillas to my basket, I passed through the checkout and rushed back home. If you're being lazy, huevos rancheros can take a couple of minutes to throw together but Sunday morning only comes once a week and I don't like to do a brunch unless I'm going to do it right.

MB shucked the corn and threw them in some hot water. Meanwhile, I setup the grill and got my supplies in order. As the corn and sausage went on the grill, I julienned the onion, chopped the tomatoes and cut up the cheese. The onions went in a cast iron skillet on the grill and were joined shortly thereafter by a few scrambed eggs, the corn, which I'd sliced off the cob once it was nicely charred, and the sausage, which i'd cut into bite sized chunks. As the egg mixture came together, I sliced up the avocados into thin strips. Then the tomatoes went into the mix while I flopped the tortillas onto the grill. Once I flipped the tortillas, i threw on the avocado slices and cheese. Finally, I pulled them off the grill onto our plates, added the egg mixture and topped each taco with cilantro and lime.

By that time, I had enough time to get ready for my trip into the city but not enough time to eat. It turned out to be a blessing. I had MB wrap up the tacos in some aluminum foil while I threw on a clean shirt and some sunglasses and headed to the train. By the time I opened up the foil, the steam from the egg mixture had softened the shells while the egg & cheese mixture binded together. The result, a great on-the-go meal that I could eat sans napkins - a necessity seeing as I had no napkins.

The one major failure in the dish turned out to be the decided lack of seasoning. I'd salted and peppered every part of the dish along the way but stopped MB when she'd tried to add more. Bad decision on my part. Could have also used a bit more cilantro. On the plus side, the corn was the best I'd ever prepared on the grill - every time i rotated the ears, I drizzled a little olive oil on top.

Gogol In Greenpoint

2008-06-21T23:09:00.002-04:00

On Friday night, Mary Beth and our friends Paul and Trevor joined us for our first trip to the McCarren Park Pool for our favorite Eastern European gypsy-punk band from the LES - Gogol Bordello. MB and I had seen them just 7 days before at Bonnaroo as part of this year's Superjam with Les Claypool and Kirk Hammett (if you're having a hard time processing that information, don't worry; it blew my mind and I was watching it live). I also caught them early Saturday afternoon for the first half of their Which Stage performance.

Eugene Hutz, Les Claypool (sporting a sweet Elvis mask), and Kirk Hammett @ Bonnaroo

Needless to say, the scene in Greenpoint was radically different than the field in Tennessee. And it wasn't just because I was drinking Brooklyn Lager (out of a can?!). Instead of a bunch of hippies, the crowd was a mix of hipsters, punks, and families. Where my friend Marcus shared a daiquiri with a woman he'd never met before at Bonnaroo, we eventually had to clear out of the crowd to avoid the slam dancing that started behind us. Potential injury aside, the mood was certainly exciting. Every time I see Gogol Bordello, it seems like a wave of excitement slowly spreads through the audience and by the third or fourth song, the entire audience is bouncing to the polka-punk beats. This was no exception. Within a few songs, a 30-something father in front of us lifted his young son on his shoulders and charged off to the front of the stage.

The show started with the same tunes they opened with at the 'roo. After awhile, the mess of shoving people became more trouble than it was worth and we retreated to the side of the stage. After hitting the head and grabbing a few more brews, we ran into some alternative forms of entertainment. This kid in a Notre Dame stumbled up to us and, after a brief introduction, grabbed the beer from MB's hand and proceeded to pound 7/8's of it. "Here you go man," the kid said as he tried to hand the remaining swig back to us. "I'm a gentlemen. I wouldn't drink all of it." Needless to say, I wasn't too interested in finishing this d-bag's beer so I convinced him to keep it.

After mumbling a few incoherent thoughts about the upcoming Notre Dame football season, our friend started telling us that he was ready to throw a touchdown. I had no idea what he meant by that but I didn't hesitate to point to the front of the stage and tell him that was where his touchdowns were needed most. As he took off, I never could have imagine that 30 seconds later, our friend would be on the stage throwing a touchdown (re. taking his shirt off and flailing wildly) only to be tackled another 30 seconds later and escorted out off the premises. What a dude.

As we watched this guy get strong-armed off the stage, we noticed a 20-30 piece marching band waiting off to the side of the stage. They took the stage just after we wandered out of the venue but you could hear how much sound and energy they added to an already intense stage show.

Bonnaroo 2008 - The Duhks

2008-06-21T17:36:00.000-04:00

One of my favorite moments at Bonnaroo came on Friday afternoon. After a stroll around the parking lots, we made our way through the arch as Stephen Marley was rockin' the What Stage. We paused to see our fellow al"UM" on the Which Stage and then made our way to That Tent for Minus the Bear, back to Which to see what Les was up to this year. Turns out he's up to a lot of the same tricks as always, mainly playing the bass better than nearly anyone else in the universe and looking equally bizarre while doing it. After we'd had our annual fill of Mr. Claypool (or so we thought until later that night) we headed to !!! (pronounced "Chk, Chk, Chk").

On the way, we were drawn to the Troo Music Lounge by the sounds of a powerful alto backed by a rock band with country sensibilities which momentarily drowned out the noise of the bigger shows. The Duhks, a five-piece from Winnipeg, were playing to a nearly packed crowd and they were taking full advantage of the opportunity. Regardless, we were ready to move on after about a song and half. You've gotta remember, its Bonnaroo. There's just not enough time to see everything. One and a half songs for a single, unknown band is a lot of time.

Then the Duhks seamlessly transitioned into Whole Lotta Love.

It was the first of several times over the course of the weekend when I showed Marcus the hairs sticking up on my arm, my barometer for a noteworthy performance. MB and I headed to the front, basking in the familiar yet unique version of the Zeppelin staple from II. I swear, Robert Plant himself would have appreciated the power of the performance (I hate to downplay the rest of the band - the were incredible - but the vocalist did Mr. Plant justice in a way that I've rarely witnessed in a live setting). As they wrapped up their set, I walked out of the tent, literally choking back tears. The performance was just that powerful. When we met up with the rest of our crew at !!!, I struggled for a few minutes to describe what we'd just witnessed. Failing miserably, I found consolation writing in my Moleskine.

The rest of the night wasn't too shabby either. M.I.A.'s "final" performance, Willie Nelson (I strolled up to his show as he finished Bobby McGee and went into the fan-favorite portion of his set - On the Road Again, You Are Always on My Mind, and one of his pot anthems), Chris Rock, Metallica (holy crap!), Tiesto, My Morning Jacket (mainly during runs to the bathroom or water trailers but their version of Erykah Badu's Tyrone while we waited out some particularly strong rain in the Troo Lounge was insane), Superjam (Les, Gogol and Kirk Hammet...uhhhhhh), and Disco Biscuits. Mix in a few brews, some simosas, an oddly wonderful, horribly beautiful karaoke version of Radiohead's Creep, and a seemingly endless ride on the Ferris wheel and I went to sleep a contented Bonnaroovian.

Whimsical Delights in the LES

2008-06-20T22:37:00.001-04:00

Still reeling from the past weekend’s Bonnaroo festivities and the pseudo-disastrous return trip, Mary Beth and I arrived back in the Slope to face the mountain of work that had collected in our absence. Fortunately, we had a reservation at WD-50 for our 3^rd wedding anniversary to act as an incentive to get through Tuesday and Wednesday.

During our honeymoon in Bermuda, we had an ultra-extravagant meal at the Newport Room, Bermuda’s only AAA Five Diamond restaurant located in the Fairmont Southampton. We had so much fun indulging in the tasting menu and wine pairing (scan the menu and link it here) that we made a pact to do something similar each year. Last year, having just finished Bill Buford’s Heat, we hit up the beyond-excessive pasta tasting menu and wine pairing (scan this menu and link it here) at Mario Batali’s Babbo. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to get reservations on the night of our anniversary but, as luck would have it, we sat next to Claire Danes who had (we realized later that night) just come from an appearance on the Letterman show.

This year featured a more accurate anniversary celebration with fewer celebrities…or I should say fewer celebrities who weren’t directly related to the restaurant. As we strolled up to the 50 Clinton Street location in the LES, I couldn’t help but appreciate the buildings non-descript brick-and-glass storefront. Only a small neon sign positioned in the lower left corner of the front window displaying the restaurants name in red script gives the random passerbyer any inkling as to what might lie within. Like the exterior, WD-50’s interior is unpretentious with the focus placed on the food; there are no doors to the kitchen, giving patrons a full view of the finishing station and, at least during our visit, Mr. Dufresne.

Dinner service at WD-50 starts at 6:00 so when we showed up 15 min early for our 6:30 reservation, the place was quiet. Being a special occasion, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to order a cocktail to start our meal, an interesting decision seeing as we were about to have 10 glasses of wine with our Wednesday meal. From the very start, our waiter – Jake – found the right balance of adding funny pleasantries to our conversation without being creepy or annoying. He attempted to guess our drink orders, nailing MB’s (pH – vodka with lychee, raspberry, and something?) and coming pretty close on mine (the Pumpernickle wasn’t too far off but the Sartorial – Oban, raisin infused bourbon, bitters and orange zest – was right up my alley).

With our menus never opened past the cocktails page, Jake didn’t need to be a psychic to know the chef would be making all of our decisions that evening. After a few pieces of the paper-thin sesame “bread” and a short wait (the staff was actually waiting for us to finish our cocktails. I felt a bit rushed at the beginning of the dinner but, after 3 hours or so at the table, I think they may have been trying to do us a favor.), the courses started coming. And damn, did they come. If you’ve never sat down to a 7+ course meal, it’s a daunting task. I’m not trying to say it’s not enjoyable. Just the opposite, in fact. I’m saying the desire to get as much joy as possible out of the meal (and the money you pay for the pleasure) can almost be overwhelming. Fortunately for MB and I, we’re not amateurs. At the same time, we’re not pros either as you’ll tell when my notes drop off after the 8^th or 9^th course. For a course-by-course review of our meal, click here.

By the end of our evening, we'd made friends with the first couple that sat next to us and "sold" the tasting menu to second. I'm not sure if it was the up-sell or if it was obvious that we were out for our anniversary but, either way, we had charmed Jake enough by the end of the meal that he took us to meet the chef. Mr. Dufresne was hard at work at the finishing table, taking care of several dessert orders (everything bagel ice cream?!) but he was quite cordial, as was the entire kitchen staff as we tried to avoid the staff as they moved from station to station. What a great end to an evening. Much better than the unnecessary special dessert plate or extra drink we've received at other tasting dinners.

12 Courses @ WD-50

2008-06-19T23:02:00.001-04:00

1^st Course – Fluke, kaffir lime, peach, black vinegar; Cava Reserva ‘Rosat’ Avinyo NV (Pendes, Spain)

One of the first things that struck me with this course was the lack of anything that could be called black vinegar. There were very dark crumbs on the plate but I couldn’t see how they’d equate. Of course, it was Mr. Dufresne’s first trick of the night - vinegar is baked into a cake recipe, dehydrated and crumbled. To be completely honest, I don’t remember recognizing the flavor of the vinegar but that may have been because I was so in love with the tiny squares of glazy peach topping the fluke bathing in lime. Maybe I can chalk that up to the strength of my cocktail. I liked the dish as a starter for both its textural qualities and its overall subtlety.

2nd Course – Pizza pebbles, pepperoni, shitake; Cava Reserva ‘Rosat’ Avinyo NV (Pendes, Spain)

Imagine a pizza Combo. Now imagine it dolled up for a black tie event and you’ve got Mr. Dufresne’s pizza pebbles. Small, baked tomato-and-Italian-seasoned balls of dough accompanied by thin, dehydrated slices of shitakes and oregano, all sitting atop a pepperoni infused cream sauce. The sweet flavor of the dough balls was offset nicely by both the spice and saltiness of the sauce but their texture was a little off-putting; as I chewed them, they disintegrated and clung to my teeth much like the inside of a Whopper.

3^rd Course – Knot foie; Tedorigawa Arabashiri ‘Rippling Stream’ (Ishikawa-Prefecture, Japan)

Ah, the wonders of chemistry. While Mr. Dufresne’s fried mayonnaise no longer graces his tasting menu, this course certainly shows off the chef’s penchant for gelatin and making substances do what they can’t do naturally. Like tying a “rope” of foie gras into a knot, for instance. After pureeing the pate and mixing it with some type of binding agent (gelatin or otherwise), it’s pushed through a piping bag and cooled until it becomes malleable. It’s then knotted and brought back to room temperature. The tube of foie gras is then coated with rice cracker crumbs which add a light crunchiness to the plate but, in combination with the sake, gave me an almost popcorn flavor I didn’t think worked well with the plate; Mary Beth didn’t agree and absolutely loved the dish.

4^th Course – Hamachi tartar, wakame, sake lees tahini, grapefruit-shallot; Chardonnay Cotes du Jura “Les Chalasses’ Gavenat 2004 (Jura, France)

Jake warned us that the hamachi would have a gamey/fishy flavor and he was right. It wasn’t overpowering but it was noticeable. The wine pairing, however, did wonders to balance the flavor.

5^th Course – Eggs benedict; Pinot Noir O’Reilly’s 2007 (Willamette, Oregon)

We’d heard a lot about this course during the recent Top Chef episode where Wylie sat in as the guest judge and, being huge fans and ardent critics of the dish, we were excited to experience Mr. Dufresne’s imaginative take on this classic brunch fare. We were not disappointed. All of the classic elements were there – Canadian Bacon, hollandaise, egg, English muffin – just not the way they’re usually plated. The hollandaise sauce was (you guessed it) mixed with some sort of binding agent, rolled into balls, breaded in crumbled English muffins and deep fried. The egg got a more “traditional” treatment, at least in the sense that it was poached. The yolk was positioned by itself opposite the ball of Hollandaise in a squat little cylinder. As for the Canadian bacon, there was nothing particularly bizarre about it but the super thin slice was as crispy as regular bacon.

6^th Course – Crab tail, soybean noodles, cinnamon dashi; Pinot Noir O’Reilly’s 2007 (Willamette, Oregon)

The cinnamon in this dish was borderline over-powering and definitely strange but overall, I liked both the flavor and the heat it added to the dish. Otherwise, I wasn’t overly wowed by this bowl of wontons and broth but I think that was due to the sheer number of plates (and glasses of wine) we’d seen up until this point.

7^th Course – Chicken liver spaetzle, pine needle, radish, cocoa nib; Grenache ‘Old Vines’ Tir Na N’Og 2005 (McLaren Vale, Australia)

Mary Beth felt the liver was too overpowering but I thought the flavor was balanced well with the greens and pine. Still, it was a strong dish and I could see where, 7 courses in, MB thought it was tres fort.

8^th Course – Beef tongue, cherry-miso, fried quinoa, palm seeds; Grenache ‘Old Vines’ Tir Na N’Og 2005 (McLaren Vale, Australia)

This was the last dish I remember in its entirety. Based on the almost veal-like texture of the beef tongue, I can only imagine it was tenderized in some sort of acid bath for hours, then cooked and cut into long ribbons with a deli slicer. The meat was plated over a swipe of sweet cherry-miso sauce and paired with a crunchy quinoa and palm seed “cracker.”

9^th Course – Yogurt, olive oil jam, rhubarb

10^th Course – Jasmine custard, black tea banana; Riesling Eiswein ‘Mainzer Godmerr’ Rudolf Muller 2004 (Rheinhessen, Germany)

11^th Course – Toasted coconut cake, carob, smoked cashew, brown butter sorbet; Cerdon du Bugey ‘ Methode Ancestrale’ Renardat-Farche NV (Bugey, France)

12^th Course – Yuzu ice cream-marcona almond

Back from Bonnaroo

2008-06-17T00:02:00.003-04:00

Just got back in from my 3rd trip to the 'roo. Phew. Pretty wild ride. I walked/hitchhiked into the venue this year, an incredible experience that was necessitated by some unusually decent traffic management by Superfly Productions and the Tennessee Highway Patrol. A couple people in our crew had hopped out of our RV for a smoke and when the line moved up about 100 yards, we didn't think much about it. The last several miles of the journey to every festival I've ever attended, save Echo Festival last fall, has featured stop-and-go traffic for hours on end. So when the line started moving again and didn't stop for about 3/4 of a mile, we started to worry. My friend Marcus and I put some shoes on, applied some sunscreen, grabbed 3 tickets, and threw a few beers in our bags and started walking away from the show.

Several hours and a number of bummed beers from the cars around us, we rolled up to the gates in the back of a fellow Bonnaroovian's white Chevy pickup and walked the final 100 yards or so into the venue. Later on, we'd learn that our our friends were setting up shop about 1/4 mile from the gate.

I'll write about some of the individual performances later on but for now, here's who we saw:

Battles
Vampire Weekend
Dark Star Orchestra
B.B. King
Ben Folds
Zappa Plays Zappa
Umphrey's McGee
Levon Helm & Ramble on the Road
Minus the Bear
Pearl Jam
Les Claypool
Sigur Ros
!!!
Lupe Fiasco
M.I.A.
Ghostland Observatory
Willie Nelson
Chali 2na (from Jurassic 5) with Galactic
Metallica
My Morning Jacket
Kanye Wet
Tiesto
Stephanie sid
Disco Biscuits
Aimee Mann
Super Jam (Les Claypool, Kirk Hammett & Gogol Bordello)
Broken Social Scene
The Duhks
Robert Plant & Allison Krauss
Ozomatli
Derek Trucks
Gogol Bordello
Widespread Panic
Mastadon
The Avett Brothers
Stephen Marley
Cat Power

We also caught three comedians: Chris Rock, Reggie Watts, and John Mulaney.

The sun sets on another Bonnaroo

Tunes @ Work; Opus 1, No. 4

2008-06-10T11:14:00.000-04:00

06/10/2008

/=/ - Andrew Bird; Andrew Bird & The Mysterious Production Of Eggs
Dear Confessor - Immaculate Machine; Fables
Machine Gun - Jimi Hendrix; Band of Gypsys
Sitting by the Riverside - The Kinks; The Village Green Preservation Society
Surrender - U2; Elevation Tour, University of Notre Dame, IN 2001
Leave My Girl Alone - Buddy Guy; The Complete Chess Studio Recordings
Apache - Michael Viner's Incredible Bongo Band; On The Floor At The Big Beat Boutique
Johnsburg, Illinois - Tom Waits; Big Time
Low Rider - War
The Other Side of this Life - Jefferson Airplane; Live at the Fillmore East
Honky Tonk Woman - The Rolling Stones
Mr. Incognito - A Tribe Called Quest; Hits, Rarities & Remixes
Goodbye Little World - Remy Zero; Villa Elaine
I Want the Funk - Karl Denson; Dance Lesson #2
Memory Lane - Elliot Smith; From the Basement on the Hill
Crying Shame - Jack Johnson; In Between Dreams
Let's Push Things Forward (Remix Featuring Roll Deep W/ Dizzzee Rascal) - The Streets; All Got Our Runnins
Goodnight - Galactic; Coolin' Off
Life During Wartime (Live) - The Talking Heads; Sand in the Vaseline
Johnny on the Spot - Ween
Creep (Radiohead) - Prince; Live at Coachella 2008
Come Together (The Beatles) - Prince; Live at Coachella 2008

Tunes @ Work; Opus 1, No. 3

2008-05-27T10:02:00.000-04:00

05/27/2008

Son Et Lumiere - The Mars Volta; De-loused In the Comatorium
The Angry Mob - Kaiser Chiefs; Yours Truly, Angry Mob
Old Friends - Simon & Garfunkel; Bookends
Up Around The Bend - Creedence Clearwater Revival; Chronicle, Vol. 1
Air - The Pnuma Trio; Relix Magazine CD Sampler (April/May 2006)
Medley- Jack & Neal , California, Here I Come - Tom Waits; Foreign Affairs
Little Red Shoes - Loretta Lynn; Van Lear Rose
Deadweight (edit) - Beck; Beck Mix
Unspoken - Four Tet; Rounds
New York I Love You - LCD Soundsystem; Sound of Silver
She Came Home for Christmas - Mew; Frengers
Track 10 - Unknown; Velour Recordings CD Sampler Spring 2002
Adeline - Dr. Dog; Toothbrush
Dream On - Aerosmith
So Tired - Kay Starr; Kay Starr: The Capitol Collector's Series
Pump It Up - Elvis Costello
Liberty Belle - Super Furry Animals; Phantom Power
Whatever's Left - Snow Patrol; Final Straw
Heirloom - Björk; Vespertine
Old Age - Nirvana; With the Lights Out
Breakdown - Jack Johnson; In Between Dreams
Summer's End - Foo Fighters; Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace
La Llorona - DeVotchKa; Little Miss Sunshine Soundtrack
Tigi Tigi - Cheb Mami; Layali
The Power of Love - Huey Lewis and the News; Time Flies: The Best of Huey Lewis & the News
Born of a Broken Man - Rage Against the Machine; The Battle of Los Angeles
Sumo - Schleigho; Continent

Tunes @ Work; Opus 1, No. 2

2008-05-23T04:43:00.002-04:00

05/22/2008

Nothing Else Matters - Metallica; Metallica
Undo - Bjork; Vespertine
House in the Woods - Tom Petty; Wildflowers
Bowtie (Postlude) - Outkast; Speakerboxxx, The Love Below Disc 1
Frances Farmer Willl Have her Revenge on Seattle - Nirvana; In Utero
Rubycon (Part 1) - Tangerine Dream; Mojo OK Computer
Song for Chest - Fatboy Slim; Palookaville
Hypnotize/Little Green Apples - Notorious BIG; Blue Eyes Meets Bedstuy
Guess I'm Doing Fine - Beck; 11/12/2002 @ Austin, TX w/Flaming Lips
Stealing Fat - Fight Club
Marla - Fight Club
Orange Crush - R.E.M.; Green
Clyde - J.J. Cale; Naturally
One of These Days - Beck, Beck Mix
Street Fighting Man - The Rolling Stones; The London Years
Message in a Bottle - The Police; Every Breath You Take: The Classics
No Quarter - Led Zeppelin; Box Set III
Screenwriter's Blues - Soul Coughing; Ruby Vroom
What's the Difference - Dr. Dre; 2001
Halo of Gold - Beck; Beck Mix
Alik Maina - Cheb Mami; Layali
Straight to the Top (Vegas) - Tom Waits; Franks Wild Years
Galvanize (feat. Q-tip) - The Chemical Brothers; Push the Button
Miss Judy's Farm - The Faces; The Best of the Faces: Good Boys When They're Asleep
Masterfade - Andrew Bird; Andrew Bird and the Mysterious Production of Eggs

Tunes @ Work; Opus 1, No. 1

2008-05-22T04:30:00.001-04:00

If I'm not in the mood to listen to a specific genre or artist, I put my collection of 15,000+ songs on random and hope for the best. Recently, I've been creating playlists from the songs I like the best that day. Some of the time, i choose old favorites but, most of the time, I find myself selecting tunes I'm not very familiar with. Going forward, my Tunes @ Work series will give you an idea of what it is I'm listening to these days. Do you like this stuff? Do you hate it? I'd love to hear what you think:

05/21/2008

Comptine d'Un Autre Ete - Amelie Soundtrack
Here, There and Everywhere - The Beatles; Revolver
Long Road to Run - Foo Fighters; Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace
Time to Move On - Tom Petty; Wildflowers
Misery In My Heart - Ray Charles
Life - Keller Williams; Dream
Bonnaroo Traveler - Bela Fleck & Edgar Meyer, Bonnaroo 2002
It's Not Too Beautiful - The Beta Band; Best Of
War Pigs/Luke's Wall - Black Sabbath; Paranoid
A Sunday Smile - Beirut; The Flying Club Cup
Don't Look Back in Anger - Oasis; (What's the Story) Morning Glory?
Yesterday to Tomorrow - Audioslave; Out of Exile
Gimme Some More - The J.B.'s; Pass the Peas: The Best of the J.B.'s

Bye-bye Roasting Pan, Hello Grill

2008-04-19T11:04:00.001-04:00

Springtime has arrived in Brooklyn

For the past 4 years, I’ve been making due with an older version of this Weber grill. Its small size has been a blessing and a curse. While easy to store, meals have been challenging when we host large gatherings. The accompanying 14.1 oz. propane canister collection was also annoying, even when they weren’t running out in the middle of a meal. But despite it all, the grill has served me well through the years. I’ve ordered a new cooking grate and heat tent so I can use it as a secondary grill for large outdoor gatherings.

My new grill was delivered on Tuesday…to my office. That elicited some fantastic banter with my fellow employees. They’ve come to expect bizarre things from me so it wasn’t altogether shocking but it is a little weird to see a grill next to a cubicle desk.

After watching my friend Ryan cook on a Coleman Roadtrip grill all last summer, I decided to buy their Roadtrip Pro SS model. The 345 sq. inch cooking surface is roughly double what I’m used to and the 20 lb. tank converter I received in the mail today is going to save me a number of sweaty trips to the hardware store over the course of the summer, not to mention start-and-stop meals.

As I fired it up for the first time to burn off any unwanted chemicals, I marveled at the grill’s efficient design. I’m most impressed with the ability to seal the lid. With both burners on high and the cover sealed shut, the easy-to-read thermometer reached well over 700 degrees in just about 15 minutes.

With the sun out and the temps in the mid-to-upper 60’s, Mary Beth and I called some friends for an impromptu Thursday night gathering. After weighing several menu options, I decided to take a page from my sister and brother-in-law’s grilling repertoire and make pizzas. We grabbed dough from our friends at nearby Pizza Plus. It was only $6 for 3 small sized balls of dough which I found remarkably cheap, especially considering the price of grain right now.

If you’ve never put pizza dough directly on a grill, the concept might be a little unnerving. If you try it, make sure your cooking surface is clean and rub the dough with olive oil. My sister uses oil that’s been sautéed with garlic and red pepper flakes; I’ll probably try that the next time around. I also like to salt my crust and add some corn meal for a little grit.

Place the dough on the grill over medium-low heat and close the lid. After a few minutes, the dough will start to take form. You need to check the bottom every once in awhile to make sure you get a nice, golden brown crust. When it reaches the right consistency, flip it over. Now its time for the toppings. I spooned some Buitoni marinara sauce on the crust and topped it with chunks of fresh mozzarella, grated parmesan, mushrooms and hand-ripped basil. Close the lid, let the cheese melt and pull it off whenever the crust reaches the consistency you’re after.

For our first attempt, I rushed to get dough on the grill and didn’t spend enough time working it out to the right thickness. The result was a doughy pizza that every one agreed was decent but not great. As I was cooking the first pie, Mary took her time working out the other two pieces of dough and by our third and final attempt, we nailed both the thickness and the cooking time.

Before the pizza, we served a brie and some guacamole chips with salsa that our friends graciously brought to the party. To drink, we had sangria (2006 Vina Borgia, Brandy, OJ, McIntosh apples, navel oranges, and lemons) and a selection of Brooklyn suds – Lager and East India Pale Ale.

All in all, it was an easy-going way to welcome spring and the grilling season.