Telekinesis (one my favorite Seattleite bands, players of excellent pacific-northwest-summery-indie-poppyness) have another show in NYC! Woot! September at The Bowery Ballroom. Northwest represent!
I still have to write up on two concerts I've seen in the last couple weeks. Those will be up over the weekend, or later today, maybe, and with some awfully dreadful quality phone photos.
Soon to blog:
Sherlock's Daughter / Warpaint @ The Mercury Lounge
The Heavy / Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings @ The Crystal Ballroom
FUTBAL
I've been too wrapped up in this world cuppery. But I'm allowed: it happens once every four years. And while I do not consider myself a fan of sports, I cave absolutely for The Cup. (Who painted her nails orange and was all decked out for the NED v CMR game yesterday?? This gal! Although I felt a little bad for Cameroon, as The Netherlands had it in the bag for moving on to the next round..).
Friday, June 25, 2010
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Monday, June 21, 2010
More World Cuppery (quick rundown)
Alright. I'm going to make one big quick post about a few of this past weeks bout of games.
New Zealand - All White is All Right!
First off, NZL v SVK. Winston Reid of New Zealand made a spectacular play in the last 30 seconds of the game to tie with Slovakia. Absolutely brilliant. And then they tied again with Italy (Italy is just not doing so well this time round). It was a great game, the Italians completely bombed though, but the best player (aside Reid) was New Zealand's goalie, Mark Paston. He blocked every shot like a pro. The only one he missed was Italy's penalty kick (he unfortunately dived the opposite direction...but that ball was too quick to have been caught had he dove toward the ball anyway). Honestly though, if it weren't for that penalty kick New Zealand would have absolutely won that game. The Italians looked completely crestfallen, and the New Zealanders celebrated by taking their shirts off a la Winston Reid of the first game.
Switzerland
Spain was totally off this game as well. The online rumor mill says it's the goalie's fault, that he was "distracted" by his bombshell of a girlfriend who was reporting from the sidelines (yeah, blame the women folk! How ridiculous is it that these girlfriends and ex-girlfriends keep getting blamed for their boys' failure!) Anyway, Switzerland scored 1 against Spain, and who saw that coming! (Go Shweiz!) Unfortunately they lost today to Chile, and were playing a player short due to Valon Behrami getting an unnecessary red car.
France
France LOST to Mexico. WTF. The European teams are all off this year; England, France, Spain, Italy...they're just losing it left and right! Anyway. Big story about France of course is that Nicolas Anelka has been expelled from the French football team by the French Football Federation because he refused to publicly apologize after some heated words to coach Raymond Domenech, who nearly lost his job in 2008, and is lucky to be coaching at the cup. This was supposed to be a private conversation confined to the team members and their coach, but word leaked, newspapers exploded, and there you have it. And NOW, the entire French time is refusing to train in solidarity for Anelka wrongfully being banished from playing. And THIS has lead to their liaison officer, Jean-Louis Valentin, to storm off in a huff and resign. France implodes!
Germany
Then somehow Deutschland lost to Serbia, after their brilliant last game against Australia in which they lived up to the name of Arian by pummeling 4 goals into the Aussie net.
England
England is just disappointing. Tied 0-0 with Algeria, totally dull. They did have the decency to switch Green out of the game at least. Then some fan got past all the security and broke into the team's locker room only to be chastised by David Beckham (hah), and was later arrested by South African police (hahah). Props to the riled up fan.
USA
UGH. UGH UGHUGH. Good news is, Koman Coulibaly, the referee that made the awful disgusting calls in the game against Slovenia, won't be allowed to ref anymore except from the sidelines. Serves the schmuck right. There was no offside, USA had that third goal in the bag, if anything should have been called it should have been a penalty kick for the US seeing as how nearly every American player was being held by their shirts or in a bear grip by the Slovenians. Absolute outrage. They deserve to get to the round of 16 over England for sure (sorry Britain, no hard feelings, but there you have it).
NETHERLANDS
Ok. I love Japan, don't get me wrong, but I'm rooting for my nationality here all the way baby. (I'm sure my Dutch uncle got a kick out of this game, he HATES Japan). The Japanese definitely kept the Dutch on their toes, and we're damn lucky they kept missing all those goals. I ended up going to Kells Irish Pub for this one in downtown Portland, and while it was at 4:30 am west coast time I was thankfully still on east coast time, and actually got to wake up later than I had woken up for the NED v DEN game on Monday (yay not relying on the subway to get places!). I definitely picked the right pub to go to for this one, as all the fans inside were dressed in Oranje, and there were even some actual Dutchmen (who knew they lived out here!) And they had tea, and breakfast, and beer, and it was a lot less crowded than Tonic in New York, but that was to be expected. What I'm concerned about, is that the next game against Cameroon happens at the same exact time as the JPN v DEN game, I have to figure out what game they'll be broadcasting at each of the pubs, which I intend to do Wednesday when I go down for the GER v GHA game. Or I could wake up early again and head down for MEX v URU, which should be very interesting, and absolutely for the USA v ALG game, which is at the same time as the ENG v SVN game, which also totally sucks, because I want to watch them aaaaaalll and how can I if they're happening at the same tiiiiime. They should have just added three extra days to the cup instead of squeezing in all these games like this. So annoying.
Portugal
Hate. Still bitter from the last world cup. They got 7 goals in against North Korea. SEVEN FREAKIN' GOALS. They weren't even cheering anymore by the seventh it was so passé. I just hope the North Koreans aren't put to death for having lost so terribly. I can't wait for Portugal to be pummeled by Brazil. That's going to be spectacular.
Brazil
Some brilliant plays, but I was rooting for Côte d'Ivoire (sorry to say). And they're probably going to be battling the Dutch in the quarter finals, which freaks me out. Scary scary!
New Zealand - All White is All Right!
First off, NZL v SVK. Winston Reid of New Zealand made a spectacular play in the last 30 seconds of the game to tie with Slovakia. Absolutely brilliant. And then they tied again with Italy (Italy is just not doing so well this time round). It was a great game, the Italians completely bombed though, but the best player (aside Reid) was New Zealand's goalie, Mark Paston. He blocked every shot like a pro. The only one he missed was Italy's penalty kick (he unfortunately dived the opposite direction...but that ball was too quick to have been caught had he dove toward the ball anyway). Honestly though, if it weren't for that penalty kick New Zealand would have absolutely won that game. The Italians looked completely crestfallen, and the New Zealanders celebrated by taking their shirts off a la Winston Reid of the first game.
Switzerland
Spain was totally off this game as well. The online rumor mill says it's the goalie's fault, that he was "distracted" by his bombshell of a girlfriend who was reporting from the sidelines (yeah, blame the women folk! How ridiculous is it that these girlfriends and ex-girlfriends keep getting blamed for their boys' failure!) Anyway, Switzerland scored 1 against Spain, and who saw that coming! (Go Shweiz!) Unfortunately they lost today to Chile, and were playing a player short due to Valon Behrami getting an unnecessary red car.
France
France LOST to Mexico. WTF. The European teams are all off this year; England, France, Spain, Italy...they're just losing it left and right! Anyway. Big story about France of course is that Nicolas Anelka has been expelled from the French football team by the French Football Federation because he refused to publicly apologize after some heated words to coach Raymond Domenech, who nearly lost his job in 2008, and is lucky to be coaching at the cup. This was supposed to be a private conversation confined to the team members and their coach, but word leaked, newspapers exploded, and there you have it. And NOW, the entire French time is refusing to train in solidarity for Anelka wrongfully being banished from playing. And THIS has lead to their liaison officer, Jean-Louis Valentin, to storm off in a huff and resign. France implodes!
Germany
Then somehow Deutschland lost to Serbia, after their brilliant last game against Australia in which they lived up to the name of Arian by pummeling 4 goals into the Aussie net.
England
England is just disappointing. Tied 0-0 with Algeria, totally dull. They did have the decency to switch Green out of the game at least. Then some fan got past all the security and broke into the team's locker room only to be chastised by David Beckham (hah), and was later arrested by South African police (hahah). Props to the riled up fan.
USA
UGH. UGH UGHUGH. Good news is, Koman Coulibaly, the referee that made the awful disgusting calls in the game against Slovenia, won't be allowed to ref anymore except from the sidelines. Serves the schmuck right. There was no offside, USA had that third goal in the bag, if anything should have been called it should have been a penalty kick for the US seeing as how nearly every American player was being held by their shirts or in a bear grip by the Slovenians. Absolute outrage. They deserve to get to the round of 16 over England for sure (sorry Britain, no hard feelings, but there you have it).
NETHERLANDS
Ok. I love Japan, don't get me wrong, but I'm rooting for my nationality here all the way baby. (I'm sure my Dutch uncle got a kick out of this game, he HATES Japan). The Japanese definitely kept the Dutch on their toes, and we're damn lucky they kept missing all those goals. I ended up going to Kells Irish Pub for this one in downtown Portland, and while it was at 4:30 am west coast time I was thankfully still on east coast time, and actually got to wake up later than I had woken up for the NED v DEN game on Monday (yay not relying on the subway to get places!). I definitely picked the right pub to go to for this one, as all the fans inside were dressed in Oranje, and there were even some actual Dutchmen (who knew they lived out here!) And they had tea, and breakfast, and beer, and it was a lot less crowded than Tonic in New York, but that was to be expected. What I'm concerned about, is that the next game against Cameroon happens at the same exact time as the JPN v DEN game, I have to figure out what game they'll be broadcasting at each of the pubs, which I intend to do Wednesday when I go down for the GER v GHA game. Or I could wake up early again and head down for MEX v URU, which should be very interesting, and absolutely for the USA v ALG game, which is at the same time as the ENG v SVN game, which also totally sucks, because I want to watch them aaaaaalll and how can I if they're happening at the same tiiiiime. They should have just added three extra days to the cup instead of squeezing in all these games like this. So annoying.
Portugal
Hate. Still bitter from the last world cup. They got 7 goals in against North Korea. SEVEN FREAKIN' GOALS. They weren't even cheering anymore by the seventh it was so passé. I just hope the North Koreans aren't put to death for having lost so terribly. I can't wait for Portugal to be pummeled by Brazil. That's going to be spectacular.
Brazil
Some brilliant plays, but I was rooting for Côte d'Ivoire (sorry to say). And they're probably going to be battling the Dutch in the quarter finals, which freaks me out. Scary scary!
Monday, June 14, 2010
Nederland v Denmark
Well, going to the "Dutch Soccer House" was better than I expected. Three floors completely packed with Oranje fans (and a few Danish fans in the lions den decked in red), from the classy (business suit, orange tie) to the ridiculous (baby all in orange complete with an orange joker's hat). The game itself was slow in the first half, but it felt less so being surrounded by hundreds of Nederland fans cheering, and clapping, and at times breaking out in song. I managed to get one of the last seats in the place, real nosebleeder, had to crane my neck the entire time. And then some bloke joined me at my table, he had obviously been dragged by his (much) younger girlfriend there, as he didn't even watch the game, just sat there playing solitaire on his iPhone (why on earth you would go to watch a football game and then play solitaire the entire time is beyond me). OK. I may have been on my phone too, but it was for research purposes on the game, and to take pictures of the crowd. So totes legit.
And then at minute 46, right after half time, Poulson of Denmark head-butted the ball into his own goal. Point for Nederland! He did have a very good sense of humor about it, was laughing at himself right after it happened, unlike Britain's Green, who likes to take to fetal position (poor guy, apparently some hot model breaking his heart is the "reason" he fumbled. Riiiiiight. Blame the ladies!). And then at minute 85 Eljero Elia goes for the goal, and just as it registered that the ball bounced against the post Dirk Kuyt comes in out of nowhere between two Danes and slide kicks the ball right into the Danish goal. Beautiful shot.
Anyway. It was lovely being surrounded by so many Dutchmen, even though I'm not fluent and can only understand some of the language, it pulls at my heartstrings to hear it spoken.
Some really poor quality photos I took on my phone:
And then at minute 46, right after half time, Poulson of Denmark head-butted the ball into his own goal. Point for Nederland! He did have a very good sense of humor about it, was laughing at himself right after it happened, unlike Britain's Green, who likes to take to fetal position (poor guy, apparently some hot model breaking his heart is the "reason" he fumbled. Riiiiiight. Blame the ladies!). And then at minute 85 Eljero Elia goes for the goal, and just as it registered that the ball bounced against the post Dirk Kuyt comes in out of nowhere between two Danes and slide kicks the ball right into the Danish goal. Beautiful shot.
Anyway. It was lovely being surrounded by so many Dutchmen, even though I'm not fluent and can only understand some of the language, it pulls at my heartstrings to hear it spoken.
Some really poor quality photos I took on my phone:
Sunday, June 13, 2010
FIFA 2010 England v USA
And, in the words of Kevin, "England can eat a dick." That was one of the most beautiful goals I've seen. And more beautiful still because we could all poke fun at the Brit in the room (probably better I didn't go to that bar full o' Brits! I could NOT stop laughing!)
Such beauty is happenstance!
Of course, the real game that I'm looking forward to plays tomorrow at 7:30 am, Dutch v Danes. Dutch Soccer House (aka Tonic @ Times Square) is the place to be for any Oranje/Flying Dutchmen fan (also: they're serving breakfast!). But I don't know if I should start drinking that early...although the idea of having vodka & orange juice is rather tempting...(it's ORANGE! I'm being a patriot, here!) The two other matches (Nederland v Japan, Nederland v Cameroon) will take place while I'm out of the city, and I highly doubt there will be any sort of Dutch gathering out in Oregon (aside from me, my father, and a case of beer). And so, I have every intention of waking up bright and early tomorrow, putting on all the orange (Oranje) I've got, and heading out to Times Square to watch the game to my heart's content with fellow nationals. Hup, Holland, hup!
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Frittata II (bacon-cheddar-gorgonzola-feta-spinach-potato-mushroom version)
I made another frittata. I think I'm in a frittata phase. It feels like the lazy man's omelette: you just have to let it sit there! Anyway. This time a lot more food went into it. The recipe for it is pretty much the same as the previous one, except I used four JUMBO eggs, not extra large, these were big eggs, kids.
Frittata part deux
Ingredients
1 large boiled potato (cubed)
4 strips of bacon
1/2 onion (diced)
1/2 a bushel of spinach (coarsely chopped)
1/2 a pack of mushrooms (sliced)
4 eggs
milk (approx. 1/3-1/4 cup)
salt & pepper
oregano (1/2 tsp)
feta (sizable chunk, crumbled)
cheddar (sizable chunk, shredded)
gorgonzola (crumbled)
garlic (1-2 cloves, minced)
I assume you know how to boil a potato. Do it. (I always have a ready supply in my fridge as a go-to snack.) Broiler on! Cook the bacon to whatever consistency you like in a large frying pan, large enough to use for the rest of the ingredients. When done, take out and let de-grease on a paper towel. DO NOT DISCARD THE BACON GREASE FROM THE PAN. Cook the onions, garlic, and mushrooms in that heart stoppingly bad bacon grease. Add oregano, salt and pepper. Cook about 8 minutes on medium-low heat. Add the spinach and potato. Cook 5 mins, or until the spinach is bright and green. Beat your eggs, and stir the milk and shredded cheddar into the eggs. Crumble the bacon onto the whole concoction in the pan, and then stir in the egg mixture so that it carries the vegetables evenly. Crumble the feta and gorgonzola on top. Cook for approximately 10 minutes at low-medium heat, or until the bottom has set so that the mixture isn't so wiggly when you shake the pan. The oven should be ready by now, so put that pan in the oven and let the top bubble and brown for about 5 minutes. Take out and transfer to plate, then eat it any way your heart desires.
Frittata part deux
Ingredients
1 large boiled potato (cubed)
4 strips of bacon
1/2 onion (diced)
1/2 a bushel of spinach (coarsely chopped)
1/2 a pack of mushrooms (sliced)
4 eggs
milk (approx. 1/3-1/4 cup)
salt & pepper
oregano (1/2 tsp)
feta (sizable chunk, crumbled)
cheddar (sizable chunk, shredded)
gorgonzola (crumbled)
garlic (1-2 cloves, minced)
fresh from the oven (bubbly!)
Sunday, June 6, 2010
All I want is food
I've been getting really into cooking and eating food as of late. All I do is think about my next meal and what I'm going to be making for it, even when I'm not hungry I want to cook (and eat). This is quite a change from just a few months ago, with my awful takeout regimens (pizza, chinese, burgers, repeat). Ever since I started running I've been eating healthier, and in order to eat better this means cutting back on all the greasy takeout (not that I don't get a pizza every now and then, or Chinese if I'm in the mood, but no more pizza for breakfast!). And I feel healthier, stronger, more awake, etc. etc. etc. Good food is good for you!
So I made a frittata the other day. It was Deelish. And my first ever (which is somewhat sad considering my lengthy history with omelettes...) So I had all these ingredients left over in the fridge from other things, feta from a Greek Salad, spinach and mushrooms from a sauteed spinach mushroom garlic thing, tomatoes for my addiction, and a few eggs left over from the farmer's market (which I'm about to head back to now, to stock up on again). It was surprisingly easy, I'd heard rumors it was difficult, lies!
Here's my recipe:
Ingredients serves 2, or one of me
mostly I eyeballed the quantities, so whatever amount floats your boat
1 tomato (diced)
1 onion (diced)
1/2 a bushel of spinach (coarsely chopped)
1/2 a pack of mushrooms (sliced)
4 eggs (I used 3, cause that was all I had in the house, but 4 would have been better)
milk (approx. 1/3-1/4 cup)
salt (duh)
pepper (duh)
oregano (1/2 tsp)
feta (sizable chunk, crumbled)
garlic (as many cloves as you want! I used two, minced)
Put your broiler on! Lube up a large oven-safe nonstick frying pan with olive oil, cook the onion, garlic and mushrooms for about 8 mins over medium-low heat. Add salt, pepper, & oregano Add in half the chopped tomato and spinach, cook for 5 minutes or until liquid has evaporated Meanwhile, beat your eggs! Add milk to it! Use a whisk, a fork, whatever After all your filling is cooked, slowly stir in the eggs to mix the ingredients evenly, but not enough to scramble Let sit over low-medium heat uncovered for about 10 minutes, or until eggs are slightly runny on top Take off heat, sprinkle on crumbled feta and remaining tomato Put that pan in the broiler! About 3-5 minutes, or until your eggs are how you like 'em Take out that pan, slice it in wedges, and EAT it
I should have taken a picture. It looked really pretty. Next time, Gadget, next time!
So I made a frittata the other day. It was Deelish. And my first ever (which is somewhat sad considering my lengthy history with omelettes...) So I had all these ingredients left over in the fridge from other things, feta from a Greek Salad, spinach and mushrooms from a sauteed spinach mushroom garlic thing, tomatoes for my addiction, and a few eggs left over from the farmer's market (which I'm about to head back to now, to stock up on again). It was surprisingly easy, I'd heard rumors it was difficult, lies!
Here's my recipe:
Ingredients serves 2, or one of me
mostly I eyeballed the quantities, so whatever amount floats your boat
1 tomato (diced)
1 onion (diced)
1/2 a bushel of spinach (coarsely chopped)
1/2 a pack of mushrooms (sliced)
4 eggs (I used 3, cause that was all I had in the house, but 4 would have been better)
milk (approx. 1/3-1/4 cup)
salt (duh)
pepper (duh)
oregano (1/2 tsp)
feta (sizable chunk, crumbled)
garlic (as many cloves as you want! I used two, minced)
I should have taken a picture. It looked really pretty. Next time, Gadget, next time!
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
No Coffee Day 104
New study: drinking coffee makes you anxious!
Just a couple more things to add to my list of Reasons Not to Drink Coffee Anymore. According to the article, the consumption of coffee, and caffeine, is just a means to stave off the effects of withdrawal. I could have told you that. But official studies of course have a bit more validity than one person's opinion on the matter. Also, one doesn't get more alert from drinking coffee. Oh, all those nights I drank coffee in the hopes of perking up only to have the opposite effect!
Just a couple more things to add to my list of Reasons Not to Drink Coffee Anymore. According to the article, the consumption of coffee, and caffeine, is just a means to stave off the effects of withdrawal. I could have told you that. But official studies of course have a bit more validity than one person's opinion on the matter. Also, one doesn't get more alert from drinking coffee. Oh, all those nights I drank coffee in the hopes of perking up only to have the opposite effect!
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
RIP Lala.com
Oh Lala, we hardly knew thee!
And so, lala.com is officially no more. With its passing goes all the scratched up music I had uploaded that lala magically played sans skipping, the random obscure songs I cannot find anywhere else (Lena Horne covering The Beatles, for example), and the cheap albums that could be purchased oh so cheaply. Sigh. Not to mention the fact that I could access my entire music collection from wherever I was as long as I had an internet connection (came in handy at parties! and when one wanted to play a random song for a friend!). Sigh. Of course I blame Apple for its demise, when did Apple become The Man? A little competition is healthy, surely! It's going to be tragic indeed if, after having purchased lala.com and all of its coding, Apple were not to even bother to utilise it in a way that could have our music from iTunes on the web for streaming purposes. Hopefully something will be announced shortly, one can only wait and see.
Until then, I'm going grooveshark. They don't have everything, but they have obscure enough stuff, including songs that I never even knew existed from bands I love, AND it's like it mated with Pandora and produced a pretty awesome radio option. Plus you can upload your stuff now. But not all of it. It's picky. And you have to pay $3 a month if you want some of the things that came for free with lala.com (following friends' activity, scrobbling to last.fm, etc.). It's not perfect, but if I need to access some of my music from elsewhere and I don't have my computer, it'll do.
And so, lala.com is officially no more. With its passing goes all the scratched up music I had uploaded that lala magically played sans skipping, the random obscure songs I cannot find anywhere else (Lena Horne covering The Beatles, for example), and the cheap albums that could be purchased oh so cheaply. Sigh. Not to mention the fact that I could access my entire music collection from wherever I was as long as I had an internet connection (came in handy at parties! and when one wanted to play a random song for a friend!). Sigh. Of course I blame Apple for its demise, when did Apple become The Man? A little competition is healthy, surely! It's going to be tragic indeed if, after having purchased lala.com and all of its coding, Apple were not to even bother to utilise it in a way that could have our music from iTunes on the web for streaming purposes. Hopefully something will be announced shortly, one can only wait and see.
Until then, I'm going grooveshark. They don't have everything, but they have obscure enough stuff, including songs that I never even knew existed from bands I love, AND it's like it mated with Pandora and produced a pretty awesome radio option. Plus you can upload your stuff now. But not all of it. It's picky. And you have to pay $3 a month if you want some of the things that came for free with lala.com (following friends' activity, scrobbling to last.fm, etc.). It's not perfect, but if I need to access some of my music from elsewhere and I don't have my computer, it'll do.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
