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[theinevitable]

Man, I am really enjoying this intense rap phase, but any time I am in public I feel like this guy. Without the window-locking volume-turning-down part. Just the weird feeling of shame.

Nobody wants to hear my opinion about the coolest, toughest rap lyrics. It makes me feel like a 16 year old in the best way.

[side_show]

At least you don't feel like this guy.

[wombat]

Paul don't worry i am enjoying japan most of the time but there is not much to do when i m  awake at 5 am.

[jaydub]

I don't think she has access to a hoss.

[jay-ell]

So, I have been lurking because I've been working (LOL rhymez) more than my standard two shifts a week because my boss is out of town. He left on Wedesday and forgot to (a) change the password to the store email account so that we could take event registrations in his absence, (b) tell us about the event he had booked for Saturday that brought 60 people into the store (which is just about our max capacity) to play Pokemon, and (c) this isn't his fault, but our distributor dropped the ball and our box of shipment didn't come in. So we ran out of one type of Magic booster packs and are sold out of the featured games that are 25% off this month, and a whole bunch of special orders (including mine) didn't come in.

It was a crazy week, plus my co-worker's ex-spouse totally bailed on being a parent on Saturday and decided to go to the beach instead of taking their kid to her first soccer game of the season, so I had to go in to work early on a day when normally I would have called off entirely because I had a blinding headache. (I have a blazing sinus infection and I started my second round of antibiotics on Friday, but they made me throw up so I had to stop taking them.)

Also, my son has been out of school. BUT, as of Wednesday, my kids will BOTH be back in school until November, hooray! I love them dearly, but I am really looking forward to being able to get some damn work done for a change.

[wombat]

Hey, just because i am in japan is not an excuse for everyone to stop posting.

[doomglobe]

I climbed Moby Grape. Cannon cliff is where the Old Man of the Mountain used to be.

[Carlos del Vaca]

Saturday night I went to one of the coolest bars ever. I was in Philadelphia with a couple of college friends, and one of them had gotten a recommendation for the "Hop Sing Laundromat." It was in Chinatown, and it wasn't marked. We just had the address. We spotted it from across the street as someone was being let in after ringing a doorbell, and the more hyper of my friends attempted to dash in after him when he was stopped by an enormous bouncer. We were then met by an impeccably dressed Asian man who asked us what we wanted. We wanted to come in for a drink. "How did you hear of us?" Friend of a friend. We heard you have good cocktails. "Our cocktails are terrible. You don't want to drink here." We'll take that chance. "Cash bar only, and no food." That's OK with us. "Fine, you can come in."

We were ushered into a small room with a few chairs and a couple of divans around the outside, a big chandelier, and lots of old books and brass knicknacks and such. The hyper guy attempted to walk through to the main room and was again stopped by the big bouncer, who told him to sit down. We waited a couple of minutes and were joined by a few more would-be patrons. Then Mr. Lee, the guy in the three-piece suit, introduced himself as the proprietor, and said since we hadn't been there before he had to tell us the rules. 1. No phone calls in the main room--you can use cell phones for other purposes, but if you wanted to actually make a call you had to come out to the entry room. 2. No photo, video, or other recordings, "to protect your privacy." (There was also apparently a dress code, but we all passed muster so it didn't come up.) Then he finally took us to our table.

The whole place had that old exclusive club vibe, very well appointed but the slightest bit aged and decrepit (there's a photo of the main room here). And the drinks were of course fantastic--we each had two different cocktails and enjoyed them all immensely. I realize the speakeasy ritual was as much for show as anything, but I totally got a kick out of it. This sounds derogatory, but it felt kind of like if Disney World had set up a slick-ass secret bar. It had that level of detail and showmanship. Completely awesome.

More here: http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/food/159617425.html
http://philadelphia.foobooz.com/2012/03/01/hop-sing-laundromat-about-last-night/#more-36623

[CortJstr]

That sounds like a much cooler version of PX in Alexandria

[AugustWest]

I spent the weekend at a yoga seminar with David Swenson.  It was cool as hell.

[side_show]

I woke up at 5:30 am today from a nightmare where I was running, and thought "well, I guess I might as well go for a run." So I did.  Got to the gym a few minutes before it opened.  

[theinevitable]

I can't find a good picture of a 32oz can of miller high life, so you guys will just have to imagine skinny-ass me drinking several of those. living a major beer life. yeah.

I keep cooking really bad food that I don't enjoy eating, so a large percentage of my calories come from beer and sugary coffee drinks at work.

Some of you guys cook. How do you make good pasta sauce? Mine are never as good as I want. As I have learned more about cooking and food, I have come to think that maybe the spaghetti I ate in rural Italy had some kind of weird meat in it. Veal? Rabbit? hoss!? It did not taste like any other pasta sauce I have ever had.

[Choop]

Congratulations on living the High Life. I'm drinking one right now, as a matter of fact. We just got the Louis Vuitton-styled tallboy cans at the gas station, so I'm guessing that the red white and blue ones are at the end of their run. The biggest I've seen though was 24oz. I think a 32oz can might be just unwieldy, but then I'm not six feet tall.

Spaghetti: remember that you don't need to use tomatoes, but if you use tomatoes, go for fresh roma or canned san marzano. If you use mushrooms, don't use boring white or button mushrooms, get something with character, and mutilate it to all hell while BROWNING BEFORE ADDING TO SAUCE. Cook your tomato paste to develop its flavor. Use fresh herbs if possible, and if not, squeeze your dried herbs to crack them a bit, which activates their remaining oils and brings out their essence. You might have had some wild boar in that sauce, in which case good luck approximating the flavor, there is absolutely nothing like it, except maybe rabbit done just perfectly right. Then again, they have different breeds of everything over there, including cattle, so it may have just been a regional beef variety with some special curing. See if your local gourmet shop has Bresaola (like a beef version of prosciutto), that'll pack a nice punch in a sauce, especially if you don't have them slice it thin and you chunk it up yourself.

Most importantly? Keep experimenting and figuring out what you like and dislike in your pasta sauce. I go for bay leaf sometimes, cumin usually, and paprika, in addition to the standard old oregano and basil. Sea salt vs kosher salt, that's a fun tasting experiment. And here's the thing: if it turns out bad, it's just one pot of food, a couple meals that can be easily replaced by a $7, 12" grocery store sub.

True story: we were going to make tostadas tonight, and as we were gathering all the ingredients I realized I didn't have any beans to refry or even cheese for topping. I said "hey don't start that oil for those tortillas, we don't have beans to refry or even cheese for topping." Mrs|choop looked at our romaine, ready to be shredded, and our heirloom tomatoes, ready to be diced, and our avocados, ready for slicing, and said "screw it, how's Taco Bell sound?" and I said "good enough" because if it can't be right, I won't be picky.

[Doc]

Did my taxes and updated my voting details. I am now at the mercy of The Man.

[pmcd9]

I'm calling bullshit on that tostata.