BLAST FROM THE PAST

Something this morning reminded me of a Dengue Fever show taping that I went to last year January. It was for a reality show/web series/I'm-not-sure-what... So after some considerable digging, I found these two videos. I am in blink-and-you'll-miss-me pans through the audience. Looking obviously about two years younger than I do now, yet still somehow easily recognizable, I think. You may recognize others in the audience as Empirical cohorts.

Enjoy.

More Jack White — AmEx Unstaged Show

A coworker asked me what my blog is—presumably so she can come here and look at my laziness and use it against me—I didn't tell her how to find me online. Oh so lazy. Now I'm just putting up videos to Jack White concerts? Maybe I'll find something interesting to do this weekend and I'll be inspired to put something of my own up. Until then, let's thank Ocelot529 for keeping this video going; I don't think this person is affiliated with AmEx, so if the video gets taken down. Oh well. Go buy tickets to see Jack live. He's pretty good.

Jack White

IM I sent to citizenrobot earlier today

Empirical: We walked right past him* and stood in line for pizza
I tried to blog the pizza and other foods 2x and deleted the post accidentally. 2x.
so i gave up on maintaining a blog at all

* Jack White


I didn't give up entirely on this blog, but I am frustrated with it most of the time.

By chance though, I came across this recent Jack White concert and thought I'd give you all the heads up. I'm watching it now.

Update: the following video was just released today. Enjoy.

Satellite

This song has been getting a lot of play since my return from Outside Lands. The entire album is great. "Blood Pressures." If you aren't familiar with The Kills, get familiar. You won't regret it. 

thekills.tv


Update:


I forgot to include this rather mediocre photo I took of Alison Mosshart off the monitors (have a photo of Jamie Hince as well, but he's making a derp face). You think the albums are great? You oughta see these people on stage!

siouxsie x iggy

inflammation in my tear gland

Scrame and I were talking about television programs we are into these days. Breaking Bad and Bob's Burgers at the top of the list. What do they have in common? Both have people from Flight of the Conchords (Kristen Schaal, David Costabile, Eugene Mirman). Scrame's not a Conchords fan, but I am. I'm rewatching a little right now as I wait for the next disc of Breaking Bad (I need 3 more episodes to finish Season 4).

Here's a song I think I've overlooked in the past. The line about the lasagna made me LOL tonight.

as daft as they seem.

I still haven't seen the opening ceremonies, but I caught the Arctic Monkeys' cover of "Come Together." I thought they sounded great and Alex Turner is still as adorable as ever. The birds on bicycles were beautiful. The video on Youtube that I saw was taken down for copyright infringement as I'm sure the others have or soon will be. So for today's Arctic Monkeys appreciation day, I chose a song I've been rocking the past 2 months — I don't think my coworkers appreciate hearing it daily. I'll just post it here and try harder at using my headphones.

Step outside. Summertime's in bloom.

Was never a huge fan, but this has become one of my favorite songs over the past month. Go figure.

5 Things I'm Digging On Lately.

An American Eats Twiglets.

On Chatty Man, Canadian singer Justin Bieber spits his Twiglets out into Alan's hand. No need to watch the entire video; it happens very early on.




On Never Mind the Buzzcocks, Simon has a brilliant moment and I say that as a Courtney Love fan. And I'm a big Simon Amstell fan. And a huge Noel Fielding fan. And yeah, that's David Cross there. I like him a lot too. Ha! That's Jemaine Jackson on Phil Jupitus' team. And Katy Brand! Oh, I forgot how much I loved this episode. Noted Twiglets reference.



And finally, Spaced. I could not find video, here's the dialogue...

Tim: So what happened last night then? 

Daisy: Well, we went to see an interesting piece of contemporary theatre, drank an enormous amount of free wine, ate our body-weight in Twiglets and you punched an artist in the face.  

Tim: Shit, I'm not supposed to eat Twiglets. 

Daisy: Why not? 

Tim: They make me violent.

So, Twiglets. What are they? Look it up on the internet and they are described ad nauseum as "wheat-based snacks with the distinctive knobbly shape." The italicized bit is part of their slogan. This weekend I had a chance to see for myself. When Arrested Development made reference to a "Wee Britain" part of Orange County, I'd been interested in finding if such an enclave exists. Because, well, I like enclaves. Also, having lived next to Orange County almost my entire life and never hearing about a British community in the OC, I would have been excited to make such a discovery in my then-20s. What I did find out is that there are numerous expat/Anglophile businesses scattered around the County, but if an enclave exists, it seems it would be on the Westside of Los Angeles.

On my exploration of Fullerton this past Saturday, I made it a point to drop in on The British Grocer, hoping to give Jaffa Cakes another try. You might remember, I didn't like them much then, but my tastes have changed a lot since 2008. She didn't seem to have any, but I did find a package of Twiglets. Finally...



I was feeling like doing some light snacking last night and remembered my purchase. I opened the package, sure enough, very twig-like.

 

The aroma? Bizarre. Powerful.

The flavor? Yikes! What is it? I was expecting it to be bland as it says "wholegrain" all over the labeling. It's bitter as hell. Is that the yeast? I heard it was supposed to be yeasty. Quick scan of the ingredients list... Yes, celery seed(?!), I can taste you.

I feel like Justin Bieber did in the first video I showed you today. Only I didn't spit it out. I kept eating them. I went back to the internet immediately. A quick search reveals many youngish people who claim "addiction" to this snack item. Really? The coating on this product leaves behind a strange (foul) taste on your lips that won't go away and a sticky film on your fingers. Apparently, it's similar to the yeasty flavor and texture of Marmite. And what the hell is Marmite? Well, our first clue is that their slogan is "Love it or Hate it." I think I know which way I'm leaning already.

I started thinking it might be good with a dip. Maybe something creamy and/or cheesy. Then I realized I was thinking of ways to mask its intended flavor. That's not a great sign. Still, as I write this, I'm snacking away. I'm confused. And clearly, I'm too American to appreciate this food. Oh well. What's next? More photos from the market and candy reviews to come.

Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy.

I've been waiting for this show to begin for so long.
Since I was in utero.
Since time began.

This is amazing. Even just the way he says "masterpiece" is great.



TOMORROW NIGHT!!! If you live in the UK. Which, obviously I don't.
We'll find a way.

UPDATE (1/26/2012, 10 p.m.): Watching now and although I don't understand much of the action in it, it's pretty amazing. A new fave.
UPDATE (1021 p.m.): LOLLLLLLLL OMG I AM DYING.

The Police — So Lonely (1978)

This is by far my favorite Police song. That's all. Just felt like sharing.

   

Renewed commitment

Please consider adding yourself to the bone marrow registry...



Read my post on this issue from 2009

Cake, coffee and waiting

I was just thinking about how I can't stand waiting. I look at a line, say at Disneyland, and I just want to cry. I can't relate to most of humanity but I do on this point--I have no patience anymore and a big sense of entitlement. Why do I fucking need to wait?

Still, at Disneyland I get in line. Why? Because I want to see the new Star Tours. Or maybe I want a food product on a stick. Sure, I'll wait. And I'll try not to complain at least until my lower back starts hurting around the 1 hour mark.

Here are a couple other lines I've stood in this year.



Blue Bottle Coffee!


I've never even heard of this. I was visiting friends in San Francisco recently and was told there was a pretty good cuppa to be had at the Ferry Building. The line snaked. For coffee? Really? But I was intrigued. Drip coffee to order brewed by the attractive Asian American man in the photo above.



My friend and I stood in line for what I would say... maybe twenty minutes? I didn't look at the time. I thought I'd obsess over it and look at my phone constantly. I instead used the time to chat with my buddy and it was nice. When you shift the focus from the waiting to "living in the moment"—to use an expression I loathe—now you're really doing something. I know this is so obvious to you guys but it was a breakthrough for me. Easy lesson, difficult to remember and put into practice. Relearning patience. I need to get there.

The coffee is terrific but I'm also wowed by Peet's. Peet's is all over SF almost as badly as Starbucks here in SoCal. Surprisingly never ducked into one for a sumatra. Honestly, it's hard to beat my local fave, Groundwork Coffee, roasted locally and I mean specifically the Black Gold. Intelligentsia is also great but where in DTLA can I get it?

Back in April I was out wilding with some friends in Orange County. One of them had heard of some hot bakery in Irvine called 85C.





Why would anyone wait in two lines for a bakery? Well let me back up a second and ask, why would anyone circle the parking lot for a half hour to find a spot on the other end of the plaza and THEN wait in two lines (one outside and slightly shorter one inside)? Why was I in IRVINE? So baffling.

What they do here is a salted caramel beverage. That's the huge draw but if that's your pleasure, there's a very short drink line on the other end of the bakery.

So many people piling pastries, cakes, rolls, custards onto trays and standing in line. Yup. That's what Irvine is doing on a Saturday night. I did it once. Wouldn't do it again. It was fine but so are a lot of other Taiwanese bakeries. Maybe I'm spoiled living so close to San Gabriel Valley.



I'll leave you with this with hat tip to Scrappers

Flashback 40

En Vogue, "Hold On" (1990)

Director: Tarsem Singh

A selection from vhs-rewind

VHS-REWIND

Yet another Tumblr project.

Liam and I are posting music videos from the 1990s.

Here's an alternate that didn't make it onto vhs-rewind. On Tumblr I used the Spike Jonze cut instead, though I think the sound quality is better on this one featuring the guys from Rancid.

Wax, "Who Is Next?" (1995)

We are in the middle of a minor Spike vs. Spike battle.

Spike Jonze videos are mine; Spike Lee videos are Liam's. Please enjoy all of them [by following us, you dingus].

xoxo,

Empirical

Sky Bar.

The Necco Sky Bar is like four candybars in 1 small package. 

There are four different fillings--caramel, vanilla, peanut, fudge--in breakaway sections of a single milk chocolate bar. Nothing mind blowing here, but I like the mold they use with the Necco logo. I also like the small size. Bigger than a "fun size" Halloween treat, but not too big that you feel bad afterward. Like the Clark Bar, this is way too sweet for me. I'd rather have a Ritter Sport or a 85% dark any day.

There is something to be said though for an American company that's been in business this long. Necco has been around since the early 1900s and has roots in the candy business that stretch further back than that. It's not like they are a subsidiary of Mars or Hershey either--they've been doing this candy biz independently and are still turning out a respectable profit year after year thanks to their signature Valentine treat, Sweethearts conversation hearts.

I'm going to let the queen finish this history lesson though. Please check out Martha Stewart's excellent segment on the Necco company from a 2008 episode of The Martha Stewart Show. You can skip past the minestrone recipe if you'd like; navigate using the sidebar to the 4th clip.

Inland Empire Comic Expo

Inland Empire Comic Expo 

Feb. 6, 10-6 p.m.

Fox Theatre

123 Cajon St.

Redlands, CA 

$10 advance, $12 at the door. Kids under 12 FREE with paid adult. 

More info go to forbiddenpanel.com

Flashback 39

This isn't very old, but then it's not exactly new either. I remember seeing it awhile back, but the image quality wasn't very good. This is a nicer copy and it's fun to watch.