#99 - in the weeds.

last night, after weeks of mary-louise parker beckoning at me from the sides of buses & subway walls & random places on the internet, the fifth season of weeds finally began. at the end of last season, she & the family were living down by the border, in san diego. nancy (parker) has just revealed to the tijuana mayor/crime boss (esteban, played by demian bichir) that she's pregnant with his child & he's just revealed to her that he knows she's been talking with the FBI about his drugs/guns/women smuggling tunnel from tijuana to san diego. her brother-in-law has fallen in love with her and her two sons are both growing & selling pot. kevin nealon's doug wilson character is still a stoned child trapped in an adult's body & celia hodes (elizabeth perkins) has been kidnapped by her estranged oldest daughter down in mexico while her ex-husband & youngest daughter are enjoying life, free of her insanity.

the "little boxes" theme that we heard during the first three seasons is now long gone from the opening credits. in its place are opening shots with a pot leaf & the words "weeds. created by jenji kohan" creatively worked into the frame. the first episode's opening shot was of a woman in stirrups & that faded into a shot of the ultrasound, so by all indications, this season's going to have a bunch to do with babies & the parent-child dynamic. probably drug smuggling & other craziness in there as well.

the first episode definitely got me excited for the new season. there's a great scene where nancy & esteban are in a mexican doctor's office & nancy has no idea what's going on because everyone's speaking spanish & we see her forced to forgo her independence because of esteban's forceful insistence that she let the doctor determine whether she's really carrying his son. there's a running joke throughout where celia's daughter tries to get people, one after another, to pay a ransom for her mom & each one turns her down. there's also a weird scene near the end where nancy's sitting in an outdoor mall & a flash mob forms, breaking into a dance number. she asks a kid next to her what's going on. he replies, "a flash mob" & she asks, "why?" his answer--"because it's cool." i'm not sure where they're going with that one, but ok. i'm intrigued.

it's been a solid series through the first four seasons, largely due to the ever-changing supporting cast. guillermo diaz is still on the show & still awesome as guillermo. it seems like so long ago that martin donovan was on the show, but along with albert brooks last season, page kennedy during the first three & short appearances by zooey deschanel & mary-kate olsen, the supporting actors are often what makes the show so different from season to season & even from week to week. this season, jennifer jason leigh is part of the cast (as nancy's sister), so we've got that to look forward to once she shows up. i hope she pulls some single white female shit. that'd be sweet.

#99 - in the weeds.
snack: campo de montleban cheese & new york style everything bagel crisps
drink: smuttynose imperial stout



i'm friggin' fancy like nancy!...only because it rhymes though. with my weeds, i'm having campo de montleban cheese & new york style everything bagel crisps. i picked up the cheese yesterday at bierkraft (the local gourmet beer, cheese & eats spot) after first giving their cheese descriptions (& prices) a good once over. in the end, i went with the campo de montleban because it both is made from the teats of three mammals--a goat, a cow & a sheep--and is only $14.95 a pound. no way was i paying $30 a pound for some cheese, especially if i was just going to eat it while watching tv by myself. $30+ cheeses are strictly for engagements with the ladies.

it's a spanish cheese (la mancha) & isn't one of those stinky cheeses that you eat to show people you have a refined palette. if i was a cheese expert, i'd probably say that it has a partly sharp taste & a firm but slightly creamy texture. since most of the bagel chips were conveniently broken into smaller pieces already, i cut the cheese up into little squares & paired the two up. the sharpness of the cheese & the saltiness of the everything bagel chips make a nice combo.

for my beverage, i went with a smuttynose imperial stout, straight from good ol' portsmouth, nh. it's one of smuttynose's big beer series, which, according to the label, consists of "big beers in big bottles, released seasonally in very limited quantities." this one comes out in mid-february, so it's relatively fresh. the label also suggests pairing it with "fresh fruit & rich cheese on a cold, winter's night or lay it up & savor it with a friend for a special summer treat." i took one part of that recommendation to heart.

since it's a stout, it's a dark beer with a rich flavor. after a while with the cheese, it came in handy for getting the cheesy taste out of my mouth, but by the end of the bottle, after 22 oz, i was imperially full. sometimes i enjoy the big, flavorful beers, but at times like tonight, they're a little too much to handle...but since this one's made by fellow new hampshirites, i'll let it slide this time. sometimes you just have to live free or die, folks.

#98 - phish jam.

back in the nineties, i was friggin' addicted to neo-hippie jam bands. among the percy hills, strangefolks, god street wines, blues travelers, dave matthews bands & aquarium rescue units, my favorite band of them all was clearly phish. i was quite fond of waxing on about their musical talent & even went as far as to write a paper on my all time favorite phish song (harry hood) for my music & society course at b.u. it detailed their use of a fugue in the song. during the decade, i went to thirteen shows, all here in the northeast corridor, last seeing them with a group of high school & college friends back in august of '98 at the two-day great went festival, way the f up in limestone, maine. out of my friends, i was one of three who neglected to bring a tent to the festival because "it's august. it'll be fine to sleep out under the stars." turns out that when you're that close to canada, it gets down into the fifties at night. we slept shivering in my friend's truck. a few weeks later, i moved to sunny florida.

i never saw phish play during the period after that, when they headed downhill & eventually broke up, so my image of them might be a bit less tainted than others. when they got their collective shit together & reunited this march, i figured i had to see them when they came around. since circumstances meant they were playing two shows semi-locally (mansfield, ma & camden, nj) over this past weekend & circumstances also allowed me to see them for free, i couldn't pass up the opportunity.

my journey started on friday, when i took the day off to head up to the parow estate in nh. my brooklyn brother was also going up to nh for the weekend for a friend's 30th, so we were going to try to catch a fung wah together, but weren't sure if meeting up was going to work. about a half hour before i needed to catch the bus, i got into the city & gave bro a call...no answer...so i headed to the ATM to re-up. after transacting, i left the bank & turned the corner down toward canal. as i did, i noticed some kid walking toward me wearing a shirt with the letters ΧΦ (my college fraternity) on them. this caught my attention long enough for me to basically walk straight into my brother, who was randomly crossing my path to go to an ATM, unaware that i was standing there. who says that banking doesn't bring people together?

on saturday, i had to meet friends in boston for a carpool to mansfield for the show, so i left the parents & headed over to salem to pick up a rental. when i got there, there was this short, cute girl working at the counter who totally matched the voice that'd confirmed my reservation the day before. she asked me who my "employer" was & i said "live nation" & this led to me mentioning that i was renting the car to go to the phish show & she was "so jealous" because she wanted to see them (but at least she got to see DMB) & i cringed inside but didn't hold it against her, because well...she was short & cute. long story short...she talked me into the insurance coverage.

we got to the lot around 2pm for the 7pm show & basically hung out all day in the sun/shade, drinking beers, grillin' & shooting the proverbial shit. somewhere, there is now a blinding picture of me & leduc with our shirts off, taking in rays. good times. the show itself started out with a slow first set, but the second set ruled, with songs such as fluffhead, the aforementioned harry hood, possum & contact. on sunday, i got up early to catch a fung wah & make my way back to the city to meet a friend in jersey & drive down to scenic camden for the next show. once my dad dropped me off in boston & drove away, i realized i'd left my cell phone & ipod in his car. awesome. after a frantic fifteen minutes, i miraculously reached him, he returned to save the day & i made my scheduled departure. unfortunately, when i arrived in brooklyn, i realized that some time the day before, i had lost the keys to my apartment & was locked out until at least after the show. double awesome.

as for the camden show, i hung out with a younger friend from the college fraternity, someone i don't think i'd ever really hung out with. we went with his cool canadian girlfriend & a girl from one of ΧΦ's favorite sororities--ΔΓ. she was cool too & although she was fond of occasionally asking me to hold her drink, she made my non-feet moving phish dancing even more fun than usual. at one point before the show, my older cousin stopped by in the lot & we hung out for the first time in years. as for the show, it was the better of the two this weekend, as they played an inordinate amount of tasty songs--lizards, fee, tweezer, chalkdust torture, run like an antelope. i've been listening to mp3s of the show constantly today. they were just as good as i remember them & when combined with all the hang time i got with peeps & all the random interactions i had with strangers, it made for a solid weekend. call me an old neo-hippie, but i had a smile on my face pretty much the entire time. it was totally like "wow," man.

#98 - phish jam.
snack: cvs fruit & nut medley
drink: sync berry-cherry vitamin water



on sunday, i grabbed a bag of cvs fruit & nut medley to snack on throughout the day, figuring that snack mix was a relatively healthy way to keep from starving in the lot. as it ended up, i ate other stuff & forgot about them in my bag until the ride home after the show. when i discovered them in my bag around midnight, it was like the best ninja surprise ever...next to the ninja surprise i got when my new found dancing partner friend fell asleep on the ride home & eventually leaned on/drove her head into my arm. oh you crazy tired, drunken girls. what will we do with you?

so the snack mix...i decided to go with the fruit & nut medley because i wasn't in the mood for the other, m&m containing kind they had at cvs. the medley's made up of pineapple, mango flavored pineapple, raisins, almonds, banana chips, yogurt covered raisins, cranberries & cashews. i like all those things, especially when they're together in a resealable pouch.

this weekend, i made sure to complement the copious amounts of beer with a ton of water, adding a couple vitamin waters into the mix on each day. on saturday, i tried one of vitamin water's newer flavors, the sync berry-cherry vitamin water. it's all hip & shit, with a myspace partnership that gives me a free music download at amazon for buying it! the myspace partnership also highlights a bunch of myspacey acts & a few big acts like 50 cent (obviously), alicia keys, carrie underwood & chris paul. it's sad that 50 cent's my favorite out of that group of artists.

anyway, i do declare that i really enjoy the berry-cherry flavor, despite all the lame copy on the label, copy that offers promises of "sync(ing) up with your daily download of key vitamins & antioxidants." whatever. it tastes like cherries & berries and has a bunch of vitamins & sugars & junk, so it definitely helped with the weekend hydration, but i'm not going to try to tie that to downloading music.  synergistic branding should be taken only so far & not a step further. i don't care how community 2.0 they think they are. thanks for the free download though!  i'm going to get back to my regular musical environment & download me some indie rock now.

nosh nook #62 - tuesday, june 9, 2009

heinz creates world's smallest microwave (and you can plug it into your laptop) (link)
06.08.09 - the daily mail - by sean poulter

forty years ago this next month, in what has been seen as one of man's crowning technological achievements, america put a man on the moon. since then, other than the invention of the roomba, things have been a little slow on the technological breakthrough front...until now. what be this new beacon of progress? the world's smallest microwave, a portable device dubbed the "beanzawave."

this tiny innovation runs off a computer's USB port & comes to us courtesy of a design commissioned by the good folks at heinz, who were looking for a portable way to cook up their "snap pots." the daily mail's sean poulter describes the gadget as a way for "workers tied to their desks to create a warm snack, or hot drink, to see them through the day." the design, which uses "a combination of mobile phone frequencies," was designed by a "microwave expert" & "an authority on industrial design." microwave expert! that sounds like a deliciously scientific profession! too bad i had to go & get a film degree like a sucker.

heinz did a little research & it turns out that people really need tiny USB microwaves. as poulter notes, their research discovered that "69 percent of office workers find they are so busy at their terminals that they do not have a chance to go out for lunch every day." this data only tells part of the story. it's not like we're always busy. sometimes, it's that we love our jobs so much that we wouldn't even think of leaving our desks, even for a snack. currently, the tiny microwave is only in the design stages, but if we're lucky, heinz will fast track the beanzawave into production. they'd better, because if by years' end i can't use my computer to make smores & spreadsheets simultaneously, i don't know what i'll do...but i do know i won't be getting up from my desk to do it.

nosh nook #61 - monday, june 8, 2009

ohio state team takes 'buzz lightyear' snack idea to anaheim (link)
06.07.09 - north texas e-news - by ohio state university

to infinity and beyond, bitches! if you're like me & know next to nothing about the toy story movies, those five words (bitches not included) will make it seem like you actually do. it's the catch phrase of toy story hero buzz lightyear, so it's a perfect conversation starter for when you have to talk to children! also, you should use the word "woody" a lot. there's a woody in toy story.

anyway, so as this north texas e-news article (written by ohio state university...each student contributed a letter!) says, five grad students from ohio state's department of food science & technology in the college of food, agricultural & environmental sciences (say that five times fast!) have come up with an awesome buzz lightyear-themed snack, just in time for the next toy story movie & buzz lightyear ride. dubbed the "buzz lightyear star command snack," it's "star- and moon-shaped crackers with peanut-butter banana and chocolate dipping sauces--in a disposable wristband container."

with these snacks, you not only get to pretend you're a cartoon toy, but you get half a serving of fruits & veggies and a half serving of whole grains.  for the buckeyes who came up with these munchables as part of a product development competition, they have the opportunity to win "$2,500, a disney trophy and a VIP tour of disneyland park."  i hear that the disneyland VIP tour gets you access to disney's underground lair, where they conduct their twisted experiments.  that's the sweetest treat of all.

nosh nook #60 - friday, june 5, 2009

ketchup: red menace or culinary saviour? (link)
06.03.09 - the vancouver sun - by shelly fralic

i have this one friend who's always had a thing for ketchup. recently, she's been sort of cheating on ketchup with sriracha sauce, but she & ketchup are still BFFs & stuff. there are a lot of folks like her out there. they grew up on ketchup & although they might stray & occasionally use other sauces, they'll always have an addiction/special spot in their heart for ketchup. personally, i enjoy putting ketchup on things as much as the next guy, but i can take it or leave it.

unfortunately, not everyone's had a chance to develop a lifetime love of ketchup. the vancouver sun's shelley fralic is one such person. as she explains, she grew up in a junk food-free home in south vancouver, a home where ketchup, barbecue sauce & other such flavor enhancers were thought of as a way to cover up sub-par cooking. it wouldn't be that big of a deal except for the fact that after finland, canada consumes more ketchup than any other country--2.5 liters per year.  it's like being the only bald guy in a room full of afros.

fralic answers the one question i had--without ketchup, what did she dip her fries in? the answer: malt vinegar & mayo. i've heard of using both as fry dips, but can't imagine dipping my fries in either. if i'm not using ketchup, i'm using ranch or sweet & sour sauce. eventually, fralic's mother relented & ketchup worked its way into their house, as sauces became a more-widely accepted part of cooking.

as far as ketchup goes, it's so versatile that you can even use it in non-meatloaf baking.  although fralic hasn't tried it herself, at the end of her article, she offers up a recipe for "heinz ketchup cake," which is apparently quite similar to carrot cake.  the idea sort of frightens me, but maybe one day when i have a bad case of the munchies, i'll whip one up.  until then, i'll restrict my ketchup use to french fry dipping.