The Kiwi Rocks the Marmite Pizza!

Hey kids!

It's been a long time. I've basically been too apathetic or too tired to post late at night. I'd thought of posting stuff several times, but alas. I'm a lazy bum. I could have posted on Dumbya, Chuck Norris and Huckabee, Hillary, Barack, Kwame, snow, cold, wine, music...all sorts of stuff. Rather than try to hack into the misfiring synapses in my feeble brain and post a shitload of stuff I'll just start from scratch and start lightly.

Did you see No Reservations on Monday? The season finale was at Les Halles in New York and Anthony actually worked a double shift on the saute station after an 8 year hiatus of cooking at the restaurant. It was hilarious! The kicker was that he got Eric Ripert to come in and work the broiler station for the dinner shift. Anthony got his ass handed to him, but he did a good job overall. Eric Ripert, one of the top chefs in the world (Les Bernardin) and a seafood expert, kicked ass on broiler. Especially for someone who's never worked in a turn-and-burn restaurant. I ate at Les Halles a few years ago for lunch and had an awesome Onglet steak. Great episode!

Tonight's season premiere of Top Chef is what actually prompted me to post. My favorite for the season is going to be Mark. I don't know if he'll win, but he's my fave. He's a Kiwi and he's actually sous chef at Public in New York. I've actually eaten at Public twice. It's a great high-end Australian restaurant in the Nolita district of Manhattan. The food there is incredible. He also had the balls to whip out the Marmite (one of his secret ingredients) and use it in the first Quickfire Challenge. I know that Vegemite has been banned in the US and I thought that Marmite was too. This season should be pretty good. There are a lot of personalities and attitudes and already a lot of fucking swearing. This season is also taking place in Chicago. I love Chicago! It's also a great food city. I've had two of the best meals of my life in that fine town (Blackbird and Trio). It has the makings of a great season. I look forward to watching it every Wednesday.

In more TV food news...
I'm also really enjoying the new season of Bizarre Foods. I really need to get to Beijing to try some donkey. No joke!

That's all for now. I've got to work my way back slowly.

ITMFA!

Random poll- What's your favorite food city?

Random poll #2- What's the craziest thing you've ever eaten?

Cheers,
Jason

Happy flippin' 2008! At least it's an election year...

...and we get to vote Supertard Dubya out of office!

Happy New Year kids! Every year I say that the new year can't be as bad as the last. Each year I seem to be proven wrong. Although my own life is not necessarily better or worse, the whole situation here in Dubya's America has turned to a deeper shade of shit. Everyone knows that Michigan's economy is in the shitter and I really don't need to expound on that. I'm just bringing up because it's still crap and only getting worse. I also recently read somewhere that Michigan is in 51st place for public art funding in the nation (I think I read it in the latest Metro Times in a great article by the always thought-provoking Jack Lessenberry). (Click here for a link to an eye-opening article on Michigan's "Dubious Achievers" in 2007.) A few years ago Michigan was in 4th place. How amazingly embarrassing! This state is in a sad state of affairs. It's a little sad, really, that we're currently more backward and behind than Mississippi in many matters. No offense to Mississippians or other backwards, backwoods red-staters or anything... I think the that the film Idiocracy is coming true...

Christmas was...a day off. New Year's Day was...a day off. Today was my first day off from both jobs (not including Christmas and New Year's Day) in about a month. I'm actually off tomorrow to because someone needed to switch with me next Sunday. I'll take two days off in a row any day! Today I went to Mexican Fiesta for dinner to meet up with a bunch of friends for a birthday. Fun! Tomorrow I've got a leg of lamb to roast (it was on sale at Meijer). I think I'll rub it with some pomegranate molasses, basil, oregano, and an assload of garlic. I also bought some parsnips and Yukon Gold potatoes to mash. Not to sound like that giggly asshat waste of oxygen Rachel Ray or anything but, "Yummo!". I'll also go to Stormy Records tomorrow and do a little shopping as I have a gift certificate to use. Yay!

Christmas was nice...thanks for asking. The Christmas season at the wine store was crazy and challenging, but I won't go into that. It's all over for now, thankfully. I drove up to my parents after work on Christmas Eve to spend it with them and spent Christmas Day with them as well. That was nice. It was also a day off which made it especially nice. The Saturday night before New Year's (after work) was spent at a lovely party at BST's. I venture to say that a good time was had by all, especially those schnookered on BST's famous ChiChis coupled with "Bacony Goodness".

New Year's Eve was really nice this year. This is the first time in years that I wasn't home alone, so that was especially cool. Perl and Amy (Great catch Perl! She's awesome and I think we all really like her. Scarily, she fits in to our eclectic, exclusive group. Welcome to the dysfunctional family Amy!) had about 20 people over for dinner. They were great hosts and Perl even through some friggin' awesome tenderloins on the grill. I brought a big pot of homemade cream of wild mushroom soup (made with lots of Oloroso sherry). It was really nice just getting to spend time with good friends laughing and talking. I really relish those moments as I've got some of the greatest friends in the world! I watch the snowflakes as big as Buicks falling that night. Holy crap! Those were the biggest snowflakes I've ever seen in my life!

The next day (New Year's Day for those of you not keeping track) was spent at Julie and Glen's for our Secret Santa/Elfster exchange. Way too much food and lots of fun! I brought my triple-chocolate fudge "Skullf**k" brownies and everybody else brought stuff plus pizza AND leftovers from the party the night before. Dang! We had a true WUMD trifecta last week with three events in four days. If you toss in tonight's gathering I guess we could call it a fourfecta??? "Ba dum bum!" Sorry. Anyway, it was really great being able to spend so much time with my friends as I don't get to see some of them as often as I'd like. It was nice to ring in the new year with such great souls...

I hope you kids got everything you wanted for Christmas. I got some seriously cool stuff! (Thanks Amazon wishlist! You rule!)

I got lots of things but some highlights include the Twin Peaks boxset (the whole series), The Decalogue, and the greatest book in the world! I may have to do a mega-marathon of Twin Peaks the next time I have some serious time off. The ultra-hip, mega-cool, fashionable as always landlords got me The Decalogue DVD boxset. The Decalogue was a Polish mini-series directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski (Director of The Double Life of Veronique and the Blue, White, Red trilogy and one of my absolute faves).

The IMDB plot summary says
"This is a series of ten shorts created for Polish Television, with plots loosely based upon the Ten Commandments, directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski. Two of these, Dekalog 5 and 6, are shorter cuts from the feature-length films--Krotki film o zabijaniu (A Short Film About Killing) and Krotki film o milosci (A Short Film About Love), respectively. They deal with the emotional turmoil suffered by humanity, when instinctual acts and societal morality conflict."

I can't wait to drown myself in a depressing Kieslowski marathon. Apparently Stanley Kubrick described The Decalogue as the only masterpiece he could name in his lifetime.

I also got two copies of the greatest book ever! (I gave one to deserving and appreciative individual.) I got a book called My Last Supper: 50 Great Chefs and Their Final Meals / Portraits, Interviews, and Recipes. The copy I got from my parents is a signed first-edition! How cool is that? For a foodie dork like me there is nothing better than this book. 50 top respected chefs from around the world are asked...
"What would be your last meal on earth?"
"What would be the setting for the meal?"
"What would you drink with your meal?"
"Would there be music?"
"Who would be your dining companions?"
"Who would prepare the meal?"

These are some of the coolest, most exciting chefs around that I absolutely admire. The likes of which include Anthony Bourdain, Fergus Henderson, Gabrielle Hamilton, Eric Ripert, April Bloomfield, Ferran Adria, Jacques Pepin, Lida Bastianich, Mario Batali, Marcus Samuelsson, Wylie DuFresne, Tetsuya Wakuda, Neil Perry, Martin Picard, Rick Bayless, and many more. Each chef has an accompanying and unique photo. Great, imaginative photography and some really cool answers. The answers range from the simplest comfort food (Gordon Ramsay) to the sublimely decadent (Gary Danko). GREATEST...BOOK...EVER!!!


A picture of Anthony Bourdain's last meal (above). Bone marrow with parsley salad as prepared by Fergus Henderson at St. John in London. Looks damn good to me! Bone marrow is one of my favorite things on the planet. I hope this doesn't make my vegetarian friends like Kathleen puke. ;)

Special thanks to BST also for being my "way overly generous" Secret Santa! Kurosawa is always a wondrous gift!

I'm super-excited about the new season of No Reservations which starts tomorrow! GREATEST...SHOW...EVER! Does Anthony Bourdain need a bitch? 'Cuz I'll be his bitch any time. All I ask for is transportation, livable wages, and an occasional table scrap. BTW, there's a great picture of him in that book. MEF from the store keeps saying that her "ovaries would be twitching if I had any" every time she sees Anthony Bourdain (and Robert Irvine). I think that picture put her over the top.

A new season of Reno 911! starts soon too!

This writers' strike sucks! Give them what they want! They deserve it! I deserve more Battlestar Galactica and Lost!

I'm also super-excited to hear that Tom Hanks will be producing a "Pacific Theater" follow-up to Band of Brothers, the single greatest piece about war ever put to film. I've mentioned several times that Band of Brothers, an HBO mini-series about Easy Company (E Company) in World War II, is one of the greatest things ever committed to film. I will always stand by that. The fact that Mr. Hanks plans on producing another mini-series focusing on the Pacific Theater of World War II is very exciting. I really can't wait!

The Iowa Caucus results were pretty surprising. I'm not 100% sure where I stand yet, but I do like Barack Obama. Huckabee scares the beejeezus out of me! But then again so does Romney and Paul. They're all scary! I just saw on a TV ticker tonight that the Detroit Free Press has officially endorsed John McCain. Interesting... It'll be very intersesting to see what happens in New Hampshire. I'd like to thank the dickheads in Lansing for f'ing up the Michigan primary. Thanks a lot assbags! F*ck up a moderately respectable primary just so you can get voter info??? You douchenozzles deserve super-wedgies!

I haven't put a lot of thought into my "Best of 2008" picks. Not much excited me this year. I didn't see many movies, buy many albums, read many books, or watch much TV of great note. Drank a few good wines. Maybe I'll come out with a better list later. Maybe not.

My best films of the year are...
No Country for Old Men (Great frickin' movie with one of my favorite actors, Javier Bardem. The ending pissed off a lot of people including Davo.)
Control (Amazing film about Ian Curtis and Joy Division! Can't wait for the DVD to come out. Great soundtrack too! Uncanny portrayal of Ian Curtis.)
Knocked Up (Just damn funny!)
Superbad (Just really damn funny! I just watched this for the first time last week on DVD.)
My list would be longer, but I don't remember any other films from 2007. I watched quite a few things on Netflix, but I don't remember if there was anything groundbreaking from 2007. I only recall seing 3 or 4 films in the theater last year. I'm sure it was more...

My album of the year is...
Grinderman - eponymous
An awesome, incendiary project by Nick Cave, Warren Ellis, and others. Powerful shit!
The Joy Division re-issues on vinyl and CD are pretty f'ing amazing too!

TV shows of the year...
Battlestar Galactica (Just bloody brilliant! Really! I'm not kidding! The critics even strongly agree! Really! Really!! REALLY!!!)
No Reservations (Duh!)
Bizarre Foods (Love this show! I really look forward to Monday nights.)
Globe Trekker (I absolutely love this show even though I never know when or if it's on anymore. I eat up every morsel of any re-run or new episode. If I'm flicking channels and come across this I'm in heaven, especially if it's a Megan McCormick episode. Ian Wright is fine too, but he's just not as cute.)

Some of my favorite wines that I tasted in 2007 are...
2003 Egelhoff Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
2002 Veraison Stagecoach Vineyard Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
2005 Bouza Tannat A8 Parcela Única Montevideo (Uruguay)
2006 Atteca Old Vines Calatayud Garnacha (Spain)
2005 Frey-Sohler Muscat d'Alsace
Chateau d'Orignac Pineau des Charentes
2005 R Wines First Class Shiraz (Australia)
2005 Pierre Andre Ladoix (Burgundy)
2005 Dashe Dry Creek Zinfandel
2005 Tir Na N'og Old Vines McLaren Vale Grenache (Australia)

And to finish things off...
I went to Meijer last night to do some grocery shopping. I wanted to braise some short ribs, beef, or lamb shanks but they didn't have any. They did have some oxtails, but I opted against them. I picked up a leg of lamb instead. I was walking by the dairy/egg/cookie cooler and something caught my eye. I found a product on the shelf that made me laugh out loud. It's so wrong on two different levels that I had to buy it. First of all, it's pancake/waffle batter in a spray nozzle bottle not unlike a canister of whipping cream. Just spray it onto your hot skillet and you're done. Very wrong! Even wronger??? It's called "Organic Batter Blaster". I'll refrain from comment and let you use your own noggin. I'm embarrassed to say that I bought one and even tried it today. Actually, it wasn't too bad. It is organic, after all. The ingredients are actually recognizable and the end result was a respectable pancake. Here's a pic...



On that note...
Happy New Year! May 2008 be a great year for everybody! Dickbag Dubya will soon (not soon enough) be gone. Wishing you health, happiness, peace, and prosperity in 2008! I'll try to post more often. The holidays kicked my ass!

Random poll- What are you most looking forward to this year?
Random poll #2- What are some of your faves from '07?
Random poll #3- What New Year's resolution will you break first?

Cheers!
Jason

The Dubya Prezidenshool Libary

I had a thought. I get one occasionally. I was thinking that Dubya would eventually have his own Presidential library. I imagine that it will house the world's largest collection of pop-up books and comics as well as a special section devoted to douchebaggery. I wonder who'll get the construction bid?

Another great piece from Jack Lessenberry this week on the Michigan primary.

ITMFA!

Cheers,
Jason

I wanna be a scab...

Hey kids,

I've been lackadaisical in posting lately. Sorry. Some of the things I post about may be old news, but it's been a while. Be patient with me.

How about that FEMA? This is already old news, but that fake press conference was something else. Even I wasn't expecting something like that because they'd get caught. Guess what! They got caught!

Can you believe that the Presidential election is less than a year away? Holy crap!

I picked up the Joy Division re-issue CDs from Stormy Records. They're frickin' great! The new live stuff is pretty cool. The vinyl is too cool for school!

Michael Symon is the new Iron Chef. I wanted him from the beginning, but I would have been happy with John Besh. I've been a fan of Michael Symon since he made odd appearances on the Food Network probably about 10 years ago or so (along with Aaron Sanchez). I've been wanting to eat at Lola in Cleveland for a long time and still haven't made it there yet. The guy cures his own damn meat! That's what I'm talkin' about! Congratulations Michael Symon!

I'm not so happy with this Michael Mukasey as Attorney General. Both sides seemed to say he was the least offensive candidate and even slightly qualified, but his denial to admit that waterboarding is torture is utter bullshit! I guess he doesn't believe in the Geneva Convention. Nobody in our administration does, apparently. Waterboarding is not wakeboarding! Send him to Gitmo for a while!

Prior to Sunday I was going to praise the Lions. I still will. Go Lions!

So, I have a proposal... With the current Writers Guild strike going on shows have gone into re-runs, movies are behind, etc. I would like to offer my services as a writer to the folks in Hollywood. Although I don't really want to be looked at as a scab I could use the money. I'm sure that scale is more than I'm making. All I ask if for travel, hotel, and scale wages as long as the strike goes on. I could write for Leno. I bet anything I come up with would be funnier than the stuff his writers come up with. I could pen a screenplay or something. I could write some episodes of Desperate Housewive...never you mind that I've never seen a single episode. Hollywood! I'm offering my services as your writer bitch. What I write may suck, but what you have to offer lately ain't exactly the mutt's nuts. Give me a chance. That's all I ask. We need to get rid of reality TV! Let's write something great!

But seriously, I hope the writers get everything they want. Good luck!

This post doesn't make any sense. It may have made more sense when I originally planned to write something a couple weeks ago but then got too lazy. Yeah. I suck!

Oh yeah! I just watched a great flick yesterday... The Oh in Ohio is hilarious! Parker Posey, Paul Rudd, Liza Minelli, Danny Davito, Keith David, Heather Graham, and Mischa Barton star. It takes place in Cleveland and Parker Posey's character has never had an orgasm in her life and never masturbated. She's been married to Paul Rudd for 10 years and he's never been able to please her sexually. It just explodes from there! Very, very funny! I'd watch Parker Posey in anything. She's the ginchiest!

Random Poll #1- Soft shell or hard shell taco?

Random Poll #2- What dish/course are you looking forward to most this Thanksgiving?

ITMFA!

Cheers,
Jason

More of a brainfart that a post...

Hey kids,

S'up? Sorry I haven't posted for a while. I guess I've either been too tired or lazy to post. Nothing of great significance has happened to me. Not really much to write about. Yup. I'm a lame-ass. Surprisingly enough though I had my 10,000 visit a while ago. Don't really know why. Half of the visits still result from people searching for "Dr. Porkenheimer's Boner Juice". This will be another pathetic post. Sorry. Maybe some day I'll get back into form...

I did got to see The Darjeeling Limited the other day with BST. I don't really know what to say other than it was definitely not as good as Rushmore, Bottle Rocket, or the Royal Tanenbaums, but it was significantly better than The Life Aquatic. Followed that up with the great combo of chili and pancakes at a local coney. Good times...good times!

I am really looking forward to the release of Control at the Maple this weekend. I'm so glad it didn't pass over Detroit. Can't freakin' wait! I look forward to seeing that with a bunch of friends.

I saw the majority of an interview that Bill Moyers did with author Jeremy Scahill this Sunday. Jeremy Scahill is the author of Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army . Here is the full transcript of the show. Scary, scary shit! Read it to believe it! I think I'll have to buy the book now.

Ohh....too tired again. Time to go to bed. Sorry for the lame-ass post. Remind me to tell you about some of the kick-ass soups I made recently and the great Uruguayan tannat that I tasted today. It was the mutt's nuts!

ITMFA!

Cheers,
Jason

Too much fodder to ponder...

Holy crap! There's just too much going on to post about. Threat of Michigan government shutdown, Tigers losing, Lions winning, Myanmar, Blackwater, record shopping, Ten Canoes, MGM opens, Iran, Dubya is still 10 pounds of shit in a 5 pound bag, Britney loses custody, and much, much more for the low price of $19.95! I'm just too tired to write a lengthy, disjointed post right now. I can still write a short, disjointed post. I'll post something lengthier later this week.

I would, however, like to take the time to thank everybody for the kind words and gifts for my b-day a couple weeks ago. Thanks again to Perl for hosting the shindig. That was supremely cool of you. Thanks y'all!

Sorry for the pointless post.

Do be sure to rent, buy, or Netflix Ten Canoes! A beautiful, unique film with some stunning photography.

Cheers,
Jason

More great Aussie cinema...

Hey kids!



Just a quickie...
I just finished watched a great Aussie film called The Tracker starring the amazing David Gulpilil. You'd most likely know him from Crocodile Dundee, but he's turned in some stellar performances in Walkabout (One of my all time faves...directed by Nicholas Roeg who was a photographer on Lawrence of Arabia which I just happened to watch this week. He also direced The Man Who Fell to Earth (!) and Full Body Massage (?)), The Proposition, and Rabbit-Proof Fence. It's quite a good film and David Gulpilil's first starring role. Luckily I searched through the extras on the DVD and noticed that there was a documentary on David Gulpilil included called Gulpilil: One Red Blood. Mr. Gulpilil is a fascinating individual. The duality of his lifestyle is very interesting. He's traveled the world and tried just about everything, but the vast majority of his life is spent living a VERY traditional Aboriginal lifestyle. He only speaks English in big cities or when filming. He's not a rich man and actually has many traditional troubles in his life. I'm really looking forward to Ten Canoes which is coming out on DVD on the 25th of this month!

I had a nice birthday weekend. Thanks everyone (especially Perl) for a nice party on Saturday! I'll have more details about the last week soon.

My vacation is over. It's back to work in the morning. Yeah...I'm really not into that. It was really nice not thinking about work for a week...

Cheers,
Jason

A pint o' Guinness for what ails ye...

Hey kids,

So I was watching Glutton For Punishment on the Food Network the other night and host Bob Blumer (aka "The Surreal Gourmet") and he accepted the challenge of the "Guinness Diet". The challenge was to consume NOTHING but Guinness and water for 5 days. No foods whatsoever, no other beverages. Even making it more difficult was the fact that he was actually in Dublin among some wonderful food. Making it even more challenging was the fact that one of the members of the Hothouse Flowers that he knew from the music scene (Bob used to manage Jane Siberry) was taunting him with food the entire time. The amazing thing is that Bob did it. Bob Blumer survived on a diet of nothing but Guinness for 5 days! Very cool! Well done, Bob. You are a scholar and a gentleman...

I've noticed this for some time and brought it up to friends a couple weeks ago and they couldn't seem to come up with a logical answer...why do they show pro-wrestling on the SciFi Channel? I was flipping channels again last night and they were showing pro-wrestling. What's the deal? I understand that pro-wrestling is fiction, but science fiction? And what's the deal with pro-poker on the Travel Channel? I understand that that's where it got its TV start and that they travel the world, but why still?

I watched Hot Fuzz (pretty funny, but no Shaun of the Dead) and The Illusionist (okay). Nothing very exciting, but that's kinda cool on a week off. Tonight is Giovanni's. Woo hoo!



My Top 14 Comfort Foods
Mashed Potatoes (any style will do, but I'm a big fan of skin-on)
Macaroni and Cheese (NOT the crap out of a box!)
Potato and Leek Soup (perhaps the ultimate comfort food)
Braised Beef Short Ribs
Ramke (I don't know the spelling. It's a potato and bacon dish that my mom makes.)
Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies (Is there anything better?)
Thanksgiving Stuffing/Dressing
Chili (Bring it on!)
Green Bean Casserole (with mushroom soup and fried onions of course)
Pancakes (Stack them high and watch them fly!)
Split Pea Soup
Grilled Cheese Sandwich (Deluxe though. Definitely sourdough bread and a good cheese like Gruyere or Emmentaler.)
Guinness (It's not technically a food...sue me!)
Schinkenbrot (Thinly sliced good quality ham like Schinkenspeck, Proscuitto di Parma, or a good Black Forest style ham on a hard Swiss roll with butter and nothing else. Heaven!)

The perfect comfort meal may be potato and leek soup as a starter, braised short ribs, mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, and green bean casserole as an entree, and warm chocolate chip cookies for dessert...

Random Poll-
What are your favorite comfort foods?

ITMFA!

Cheers,
Jason

"Hey! Lindsay! C'mere. Wanna do a bump of the Lord?"

Hey kids!

It's been a while. So I was driving home from having Chinese tonight with a bunch of friends and I noticed a church marquee. I'm prone to read them as sometimes they actually come up with something pretty clever. This time I almost ran off the road... It said,

"GOD IS LIKE COKE, IT'S THE REAL THING!"

Of course I know where they were going with this, but of course my mind went somewhere else. Have you ever snorted God through a dirty dollar bill in an even dirtier public restroom at a strip club? Do you have a God spoon? Will the new communion slogan be "Get in line to do a line!"? I would imagine that religious pilgrimages to Bolivia and Colombia would go up a bit. I also imagine that church attendance would go up. Mirrors in every pew...

I had a week off a week ago and then worked a week and now I've got another week off starting tonight. I ended up going north for a couple of days for a little low-key relaxing in the Kewadin area on Grand Traverse Bay. Same place I went to last year for a bit. Very cool. Very relaxing. Mostly good weather. Very nice time. There were four of us. We ended up having dinner the first night at Lulu's in Bellaire. I've been wanting to eat there for years as I've heard very good things from reliable sources. The food was excellent! The wine list left a little to be desired so I actually ordered an excellent Short's draft. The fennel crusted lamb tenderloin with rosemary demi, artichoke risotto cakes, and vegetable was wonderful. The lamb was cooked perfectly rare. The flourless chocolate torte with hazelnut and orange was outstanding. I'd definitely go back. Although it was certainly great, it's still not up to the wonderful standards of Stella in Traverse City. OUTSTANDING! Bacco in Southfield and Stella in Traverse City are definitely my top two Italian restaurants in Michigan. Paesano's in Ann Arbor is impeccable as well. Some friends (the ultra-cool landlords) are taking me to Giovanni's on Thursday for my birthday. I'm quite looking forward to that. Somehow, amazingly, I've never managed to eat there. It's beyond me how that happened as it's in everybody's "Best Of" list...

...back to "Up North"
Tuesday we went into Elk Rapids to do a little grocery shopping as I would be making dinner. I made a cream of asparagus soup with garlic with frizzled prosciutto strips. I sweated two bunches of asparagus, some onion, and garlic with S&P in EVOO and butter until soft and then I added chicken stock. I added a handful of fresh spinach (for a more vibrant green color) let it come to a boil and then I let it simmer for a bit. I then pureed it all in a blender and added it back to the pot and added heavy cream and whisked it all together. I had crisped some strips of Prosciutto and added it to the top as a garnish. Yum! For an entree I did a simple penne pasta with a cream sauce with chicken, pancetta, peas, red pepper, onion, garlic, and parmesan. Double yum! For dessert I cooked down some fresh raspberries and blueberries with orange zest, lemon zest, sugar, lemon juice, and Cointreau and let it cool. Separately I made a simple syrup with fresh orange juice, sugar, a TON of orange zest, and Cointreau and let that cool. When it was time to serve I poured the syrup over some plain poundcake and then served with the fruit compote, whipped cream, and dark chocolate shavings. Triple yum! We enjoyed some mighty good wine that night too. Good times! Good times! I stayed until mid-afternoon or so on Wednesday and drove back down and stopped at the new fantabulous Meijer in Allen Park. I had some shopping to do for the party I was throwing on Saturday.

I spent Thursday and much of Friday cooking for the party but took a break to work at the restaurant on Friday night. Saturday I finished up my cooking in time for my party. I made chili, penne arrabiata, Asian marinated flank steak, fruit platters, shrimp cocktail, strawberries macerated in aged Balsamic vinegar with black pepper, fennel and orange salad with arugula and pecorino, cannelini beans pureed with garlic and sage, a cheese plate, mascarpone cheese with Tasmanian leatherwood honey with strawberries and Kipferl cookies, my chocolate skull**** brownies, and assorted other goodies. I also infused vodka with fresh pineapple, limes, coconut, and a vanilla bean for a week. It came out pretty tasty. I think everybody had a good time and the last person left around 4:00AM (party started at 5:00). I spent some time cleaning up and got to bed pretty dang late.

I then spent Sunday cleaning up and then got a call from the fabulous Kat asking if I was planning on going to Homesick Night at Luna (formerly the Groove Room, formerly 3-D). I said I'd go as long as she was going and she said that Jane and Joe may go as well (the always great Jane and Joe were some of the last to leave the party the night before). Cool. I ended up driving and the four of us got there just after 9:00 and we ended up closing the place just like old times. I barely saw Kat as she was dancing the majority of the night. She'd make an occasional appearance at the table to swig some beer and take a drag off of her inhaler. Jane ended up being kidnapped by Kat for most of the night as well. They were both smiling during their occasional table visits, so I knew they were both having fun. It's worth a late night to see Kat smile. I was the lame-ass enjoying myself watching the purses and talking to Joe at the table most of the night. I regret not facing the other way at the table. I had pretty much nothing of note to look at except darkness and the occasional frat boy. Had I been facing the other way I could've stared at the hot bartenders and other fine YOUNG specimens. I'm almost 35 and I felt like a grandfather among the bar patrons. A dirty old man... The infamous DJ DAVO (our good friend) was in house, but he was not spinning that night. He was making his rounds all night. We ended up crossing the street after closing to the fab National Coney Island...just like old times. I used to have so much fun at 3-D. Those were the days... It ended up being another 4 o' clocker...and I was the only one that had to work on labor day. It was a long day at work on Monday. I was just tired. Dog tired. But worth it for a night of fun.

Yeah...it was back to work. But only for a week. I ended up coming down with a wicked bad cold on Wednesday. Wednesday and Thursday were pretty brutal. I've been feeling pretty fine since Friday except for the barely there sniffle. I'm feeling pretty good. Actually I'm feeling pretty damn fine since I'm on vacation again. A bunch of us went out to dinner this evening. I had the Kung Pao Squid. Pretty good. I even managed to eat some of the hot peppers that I wasn't supposed to eat...apparently. At the end of the meal I ended up with two peppers left on the plate. There were more than than when I got the plate. There were a few moments when I broke into a bit of a sweat. This week is going to be pretty low-key. I'll be hanging around mostly. My friends are taking me to Giovanni's on Thursday, I'm working at the restaurant on my birthday, and friends are taking me to dinner on Sunday (Eve?). The highlight, however, will be on Saturday. The trez cool Perl is throwing me a birthday party. I've never had a birthday party in my life. I've gone out to dinner with large groups of people on my birthday before, but I've never had an actual party of sorts. Will I have to wear a funny hat? I'm looking forward to it.

I did watch a few movies...
I watched Pumpkin with Christina Ricci. I thought it was very good and very darkly funny. Killer soundtrack too! I'd recommend it. I also watched Blades of Glory. Not so good. I was hoping for more from Will Ferrell and Jon Heder. It was funny, but definitely not in the league of Anchorman. Amy Poehler and Will Arnett were hilarious though. I think they're the funniest real-life couple around (now that Brittney and K-Fed are splits)! I finally saw The DaVinci Code. I never read the book. Interesting and intriguing, but mostly stuff I've heard before. Entertaining though. Audrey Tautou looked great, but still not like her angelic self in the amazing Amelie.

That's all for now kids...

Random Poll- What's your favorite milkshake flavor?

Random Poll #2- What's your favorite Slurpee flavor?

Random Poll #3- Now that autumn is soon upon us what seasonal dish are you looking forward to most?

Random Poll #4- What's the best church marquee you've seen?

Oh yeah...just in case you're one of the three people who haven't seen the Miss Teen USA South Carolina thing here's a link. Scary/funny as hell!

ITMFA!

Cheers,
Jason

"Where have all the mosquitos gone? Long time passing..."

Hey kids!

Finally a brief respite with the weather. Thank goodness! It's warmish and drizzly...almost perfect. I really can't wait until fall. I look forward to the cool, crisp air. Perfect weather for me is that cusp where you may or may not need a jacket or even a little cooler. This has been a pretty ding dangity hot summer. I hope that Al Gore throws his hat in the ring and the government could actually try to do something to fast-track efforts to confront global warming. Global warming makes me sweat and thusly makes me stink. So it would be beneficial for everybody to stop global warming. Nobody likes a stinky guy!

I went out to dinner tonight with a friend. My friend sort of recognized our server as she sort of recognized my friend. They ended up making the connection. Mutual acquaintances apparently. Our service started out great but then it got pretty busy and they were short-staffed. Our server also had to take a phone call. Our server apologized for the flighty service, but apparently the phone call she received was a girl saying that she was sleeping with her live-in boyfriend. Ouch! Our server handled it very well considering where she was and what she was doing. She held it together pretty well. I don't know this boyfriend but all I can say is...ASSHOLE!

I have seen a few good films lately...
There was an outstanding HBO documentary called White Light/Black Rain about the survivors of Nagasaki and Hiroshimi. It was riveting! Many survivors were interviewed and their artwork was shown. Surviving members of the atomic bomb team and the Enola Gay crew were interviewed as well. It was very touching, brutal, gut-wrenching, poetic, and even beautiful. HBO is really producing some amazing stuff. I highly recommend it.

I also watched The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. It's been a long time since I've seen this Humphrey Bogart classic. What a wonderful film! A classic story of greed and paranoia.
"Badges!? We ain't got no badges. We don't need no badges! I don't have to show you any stinking badges!!"

Rabbit-Proof Fence is an amazing film that I recently watched. It's an Aussie film based on the true story of three half-Aboriginal girls that were taken away from their family and placed in a compound over a thousand miles away with other "half-caste" Aborigines. The Aborigines Act 1905 instigated this atrocity at the Moore River Native Settlement. The film follows their escape and attempt to walk home. It's a very touching, beautiful film. Amazing photography/cinematography! The three Aboriginal girls playing the roles had no prior acting experience and they did an AMAZING job! What a wonderful film! Have a box of Kleenex on hand for this one.

I also watched Grizzly Man by Werner Herzog. What a fascinating, but bizarre film. Bizarre because the person who actuall shot the footage, Timothy Treadwell, was such a nutjob! A crazy guy named Timothy Treadwell used to spend part of every year living among the grizzlies in Alaska and documented nearly every minute of it until he and his girlfriend were mauled by a grizzly. Werner Herzog pieced together bits of Mr. Treadwell's footage to put this documentary together. His lunacy is clearly evident, but it's also evident that he really did love the bears. His actions were certainly questionable, but it's undeniable that some of his footage is simply breathtaking and amazing. A cool extra is the "making of" the soundtrack bit. THE Richard Thompson, Jim O'Rourke (yeah, that NYC-scene former 5th member of Sonic Youth clown...he is good though), and others improvise a soundtrack to the documentary. Very cool! Another must watch!

I'll finally be using some vacation time soon. It's about time. My brain is about to melt.

Sorry I haven't posted in a bit. My brain is mush. Not that I've made a proper post in a while (including this one). I'm too un-motivated to be motivated right now. Posting about politics right now may take too much out of me. I won't even comment on Karl Rove right now...it would just take too much energy. Maybe my upcoming vacation time will zap my lethargic phase.

RIP- Merv Griffin, you were one cool cat! I wish I could write one game show ditty and make $80 million in royalties...among all of your other amazing projects. In the "I did not know that department"- I did not know that Merv Griffin sang "I've Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts" and took it to number one in 1950.

RIP- Former Factory Records guru Tony Wilson died on August 10th in Manchester after a battle with kidney cancer. The movie 24 Hour Pary People was inspired by him. The music world would not have been the same without him after nurturing bands like Joy Division, New Order, Happy Mondays, A Certain Ratio, and The Durutti Column. I can't wait until Control gets released in the US. It better come to Detroit!

LOVING the new season of No Reservations and Bizarre Foods!

Hoping to see Superbad while it's still in theaters...

My 20 Favorite Things About Summer
1) Coke Slurpees/Icees
2) Iced Coffee
3) Scantily clad women
4) Air Conditioning

...my list ends at 4. I hate summer! However, knock on wood, where are the frickin' mosquitos this summer? Did global warming kill them too? I'm not complaining. I'm sure this rain today will change things...

Random poll- What are you looking forward to the most about fall?

ITMFA!

Cheers,
Jason