Monday, February 27, 2006
fi and fear
people get ready.... for the new imprint label Fi and Fear. it will be releasing records from the likes of The Dreaming Habit, Ricardo Sun, The Nadjas, and the Uruguayan nouveau disco legend TLEE. when will this all happen? very soon, my friends, very soon.
www.fiandfear.com
www.fiandfear.com
Monday, February 20, 2006
Sunday, February 19, 2006
hanging over
OK, so yesterday I predicted sugar disaster. Sure enough it has struck. About 2pm today I became unbearably tired, and then for the rest of the day, even driving to Red Hook for Mike and Daphne's going away party, I've felt completely and utterly hung over. Not so much headaches as with alcohol, but dizziness and general awefulness. And headaches too. Haven't passed out yet, but I feel like it.
So how better to combat the sugar hangover? A thousand indecisions.... how bout some green juice, which is very very green, and some, er, alcohol. Not to drink now, to drink later. So from LeNell's best lil bourbon shop in Red Hook I came away with five (5) bottles. OK, let's see here. We've got the Rock Hill bourbon, farthest on the left, with its (supposedly) robust and spicy flavors. Then a bottle of Sweet Georgia Belle's Peach Mango Rum Liqueur ("As you taste your first sup of Sweet Georgia Belle, you'll have visions of magnolia blossoms and honeysuckle vines with the aroma of sweet mimosas filling the air." -- very nearly a Kosugi gummy advertisement) How could I resist? That one's for Amanda, if she ever returns (her fate is still unlearned). Moving right along we've got a petite bottle of green Chartreuse, which is stronger and bolder than its yellow counterpart. An even tinier Ouzo for Zach, who wants Ouzo, but just a little bit (add water for clouds). And lastly, the Fee Brothers Peach Bitters. There was an article in the store about the resurgence of bitters to our cocktail culture. Google it, cause I can't recount the whole story. But cmon, how good does a martini with peach bitters sound? Once I'm not so sick I'll try it.
ps - on the back of the Sweet Georgia Belle, it says, with no punctuation:
This Fine Rum Liqueur was created for your enjoyment
Please enjoy it responsibly
So how better to combat the sugar hangover? A thousand indecisions.... how bout some green juice, which is very very green, and some, er, alcohol. Not to drink now, to drink later. So from LeNell's best lil bourbon shop in Red Hook I came away with five (5) bottles. OK, let's see here. We've got the Rock Hill bourbon, farthest on the left, with its (supposedly) robust and spicy flavors. Then a bottle of Sweet Georgia Belle's Peach Mango Rum Liqueur ("As you taste your first sup of Sweet Georgia Belle, you'll have visions of magnolia blossoms and honeysuckle vines with the aroma of sweet mimosas filling the air." -- very nearly a Kosugi gummy advertisement) How could I resist? That one's for Amanda, if she ever returns (her fate is still unlearned). Moving right along we've got a petite bottle of green Chartreuse, which is stronger and bolder than its yellow counterpart. An even tinier Ouzo for Zach, who wants Ouzo, but just a little bit (add water for clouds). And lastly, the Fee Brothers Peach Bitters. There was an article in the store about the resurgence of bitters to our cocktail culture. Google it, cause I can't recount the whole story. But cmon, how good does a martini with peach bitters sound? Once I'm not so sick I'll try it.
ps - on the back of the Sweet Georgia Belle, it says, with no punctuation:
This Fine Rum Liqueur was created for your enjoyment
Please enjoy it responsibly
Saturday, February 18, 2006
flushing meadows
It was so cold tonight I felt like it was some diversion by an evil force.
Went with Mary and Hank tonight to Spicy and Tasty, in the Flushing Chinatown (39-07 Prince St), having heard that it's the best place for real deal Sichuan food. It's pretty amazing. No white people there, which is unusual even for the hole in the wall places I usually go to in Queens. Started off with a smoked bean curd and celery appetizer, which was in a bright green sauce that tasted like it had peanut oil in it. And dan dan noodles, which are soft white noodles with minced pork on top. The sauce in the bottom of the bowl, which you have to mix around with the noodles, has a really indescribable flavor, mixed with the spicy lip-numbing sensation of the sichuan peppercorns, which is equally indescribable. Some pea shoots sauteed with garlic were very good, and a beef with spinach and sha-cha (?) sauce was only OK, but the diced spicy chicken with pickled turnip was completely smokin. Another flavor I've never had before. Very spicy and very tasty.
I should mention that before our food came, a smell wafted through the restaurant. I think it was the "Stinky Bean Curd", but who knows. All I can say is that it was a intense as durian, but smelled more like something that would come out of a body, especially a not so healthy body. Enough said. Mary nearly had to leave, but it's a good thing we stayed, because what we did eat was completely incredible.
We then went to Eddie's Sweet Shop (105-29 Metropolitan Ave, Queens) for some ice cream, to combat the spice of the Chinese. This place is like straight out of 1954, though I hear it actually opened in 1909. Vanilla fudge with butterscotch and what must be home-made whipped cream has nearly put me into sugar shock, something I can only handle about once a year. I nearly finished it too. The place also featured strange little displays in the window: mostly lots of Ty stuffed animals, but a few weirdly minimalist porcelain deer also held up the fort in the miniature department. Go there!
Went with Mary and Hank tonight to Spicy and Tasty, in the Flushing Chinatown (39-07 Prince St), having heard that it's the best place for real deal Sichuan food. It's pretty amazing. No white people there, which is unusual even for the hole in the wall places I usually go to in Queens. Started off with a smoked bean curd and celery appetizer, which was in a bright green sauce that tasted like it had peanut oil in it. And dan dan noodles, which are soft white noodles with minced pork on top. The sauce in the bottom of the bowl, which you have to mix around with the noodles, has a really indescribable flavor, mixed with the spicy lip-numbing sensation of the sichuan peppercorns, which is equally indescribable. Some pea shoots sauteed with garlic were very good, and a beef with spinach and sha-cha (?) sauce was only OK, but the diced spicy chicken with pickled turnip was completely smokin. Another flavor I've never had before. Very spicy and very tasty.
I should mention that before our food came, a smell wafted through the restaurant. I think it was the "Stinky Bean Curd", but who knows. All I can say is that it was a intense as durian, but smelled more like something that would come out of a body, especially a not so healthy body. Enough said. Mary nearly had to leave, but it's a good thing we stayed, because what we did eat was completely incredible.
We then went to Eddie's Sweet Shop (105-29 Metropolitan Ave, Queens) for some ice cream, to combat the spice of the Chinese. This place is like straight out of 1954, though I hear it actually opened in 1909. Vanilla fudge with butterscotch and what must be home-made whipped cream has nearly put me into sugar shock, something I can only handle about once a year. I nearly finished it too. The place also featured strange little displays in the window: mostly lots of Ty stuffed animals, but a few weirdly minimalist porcelain deer also held up the fort in the miniature department. Go there!
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
Mysteries of Life
9/22/28
About once a year the human soul gets into the papers, when the British scientists convene. Once a year the mystery of life, the riddle of death, are either cleared up or left hanging. The reports of the learned men enthrall us, and there have been moments when we've felt that we were really approaching an understanding of life's secret. We experienced one of those moments the other morning, reading a long article on the chemistry of the cell. Unfortunately, when we finished we happened to glance into our goldfish tank and saw there a new inhabitant. Frisky, our pet snail, had given birth to a tiny son while our back was turned. The baby mollusk was even then hunching along the glassy depths, wiggling his feelers, shaking his whelky head. Nothing about Frisky's appearance or conduct had given us the slightest intimation of the blessed event; and gazing at the little newcomer, we grew very humble, and threw the morning paper away. Life was as mysterious as ever.
-E.B White
About once a year the human soul gets into the papers, when the British scientists convene. Once a year the mystery of life, the riddle of death, are either cleared up or left hanging. The reports of the learned men enthrall us, and there have been moments when we've felt that we were really approaching an understanding of life's secret. We experienced one of those moments the other morning, reading a long article on the chemistry of the cell. Unfortunately, when we finished we happened to glance into our goldfish tank and saw there a new inhabitant. Frisky, our pet snail, had given birth to a tiny son while our back was turned. The baby mollusk was even then hunching along the glassy depths, wiggling his feelers, shaking his whelky head. Nothing about Frisky's appearance or conduct had given us the slightest intimation of the blessed event; and gazing at the little newcomer, we grew very humble, and threw the morning paper away. Life was as mysterious as ever.
-E.B White
