Showing posts with label lent. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lent. Show all posts
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Raw for Lent: Days 25-27:
Saturday Day 25:
Woke up and snarfed the Ying Yang cookies from Luna's...I prefer the Hail Merry ones because they are smaller and more consistent, but they're similarly delicious.
While doing work around the house, I had a pear, a banana and some sauer kraut.
At work, watching the Duke UNC game, we snacked on snap peas.
Late night was a grapefruit and some cashews. It was, overall, uneventful.
Sunday Day 26:
Had a pear on the way to work, then hit work hard! On the way home I managed to drop some dollars at whole foods (whatever, things were on sale) and cut up a cauliflower and made some guacamole to eat with it.
Had a very productive band practice (Come see us on Saturday the 16th at Bull McCabes Moustache Contest!), then met the new roomie, who seems cool enough. Went out with this kid NN who, for all intents and purposes is CB's deepest competition because he is a regular person who is quiet and maybe too nice or too concerned with being nice, but I like him and swear that if I hadn't had this recent crazy magnetizing experience I'd probably have done something shameful. But, hooray sobriety.
We had dinner at Dos Perros and knowing everyone who serves there is amazing. Also, I really want to go back when I can eat something besides a salad with guacamole again because the new vegan dishes look bangin. NN and I wandered the bars a bit. I took a gamble, taking him to the Fed, but I knew in my heart I had nothing to worry about. The evening was very nice with the exception of the small slip of taking a piece of gum, just didn't occur to me that I shouldn't until all that sweet sweet xylitol hit my tongue...
Got home and finished my cauliflower and had a Hail Merry tart for dessert.
Monday Day 27:
Made 2 batches of mega green smoothie:
Batch 1:
Head lettuce
Tomato
Cucumber
half pepper
Lemon juice
Batch 2:
Head Lettuce
Tomato
Celery
half pepper
Lemon Juice
and also housed another hail merry. I slept super late-- almost til 12 today with all the blinds open. Put together my bookshelf, getting kale chips going. Trying to figure out what I'm bringing to SXSW and am being encouraged to bring only a backpack but god, that seems like not enough things, particularly when you take into account food and toiletries.
Handful of cashews late in the day for a boost as I continue to house Green smoothie (ounces upon ounces!), as well as some sauer kraut and guac with flax crackers.
Monday, March 11, 2013
Raw for lent Day 20-24:
Monday Day 20:
Just another day. Mom is here, we went for a walk to Fosters to get her some coffee, then I came home and made a banana/strawberry/kale/hemp/maca/cacao/epic protein shake. I used that italian style kale which has a stronger flavor than the regular stuff, but it was still cool.
We hit up Classic Treasures and saw some really nice pieces but nothing that will be my record table. Replaced my roommate's bananas that my mom mistakenly ate. :)
Practiced for March 16th night show with the Jos. Need to learn the words to all these darn songs!
Late lunch, cut up a cauliflower and had it with broccoli, watched some downtown abbey (still can't get into it), then met LY for dinner at Sage. I had a tropical salad (arugula, avocado, cabbage, hearts of palm) which was tasty, but not as big as I remembered. Maybe I just got spoiled by that ridiculous Atlanta place.
Came home and watched The Queen of Versailles, and weirdly, just felt bad for the lady because her children saw it best: David Siegel does not love her, or his kids. He loves success. Forget that.
Tuesday Day 21:
CHARLOTTE!
Mom and I hopped in the car around 10. I fixed us green smoothies for breakfast (Kale, Parsley, Celery, Tomato, Orange Pepper, Lemon Juice), then went to Ikea, which is nicer than I thought it was. I actually really liked the aesthetic and would totally use their stuff if redoing a room in my house in the future. I got a nightstand, bookshelf and a new rug.
Following Ikea, we went to South Park Mall and looked at all the expensive clothes at Hermes and Neiman Marcus. I grabbed an unsweetened Lemon Sage Lavender tea at Teavana for a little pick me up.
For dinner, we drove to Old Charlotte and hit up Luna's Living Kitchen. Luna's is small but cozy and our waiter was new and kind of feckless, but nice enough and we got (most of) our food eventually. We had:
Sprout It Out Salad - delicious, dressing wins my heart.
Divine Bowl - I didn't realize entrees came with a huge side salad with that bangin tahini dressing, but even so, the bowl was great. Mimicks a thai style curry.
Lemon Wildberry cheesecake - by far the highlight of the meal. This was the best raw cheesecake I've ever eaten. My mother clearly agreed, because I have never in my life had to fight her for my share of dessert. It was light, airy and very tart, just a dream.
We stopped at Concord Mills on the way home so I could outlet shop for some shoes and a new skirt, then arrived home, where my mom also expressed her newfound love for Hail Merry Macaroons and asked if I wanted one for a bedtime treat.
Wednesday Day 22:
I dropped mom off at airport then had my take out Lunasagna for Bfast! This was probably the best choice, and one I should've just made but man, raw lasagna is such a cliche. Theirs was flavorful and the mushrooms added a nice "meaty" texture to it that I dug.
Later in the day, after building one piece of Ikea furniture, I had some of that not-so-great anymore raw cheesecake from whole foods and a hail merry chocolate almond tart. Super sweet tooth, I know.
I had a grapefruit for dinner before Pub Quiz, where I totally HOUSED the classical music round but it didn't matter because everything in the last round was impossible. We got 3 right and managed 2nd place. The boys were a little flighty for various reasons so I left early.
When I got home, I did mango/cashews for evening snack and watched some West Wing.
Thursday Day 23:
For Breakfast, I pounded some lemon cookies from Lunas, then cleaned the room a little before heading to the barn. I lunged Jazz before the lesson (Supposed to start at 3) and we didn't mount until about 3:30, because at the last second I switched bay horses. I do not love riding the one I ended up on, but he's still a good dude and easy enough.
On the way home, stopped at Earth Fare and bought a bunch of stuff. Snack was guac and flax crackers. I went to work at 8pm, and nobody was there. Nobody was out either, so I went home to continue cleaning up. About an hour later, I got a text from CB about hanging out, so I had some snap peas and kombucha, finished what I was doing and went to meet him at the Fed. We stayed out pretty late, which was crazy given that I am sober, but it was still fun.
Friday Day 24:
Woke up and ate some more sugar snap peas before driving out to Fuquay to hang out with CB again. Got done there just in the nick of time to house a little Guac and flax cracker before work, then headed to help out at Blu.
It got pretty busy and I definitely earned my salad. After work, I went out and drank water at Surf club with friends. Late night I ended up having a mango as a snack then hitting the hay.
Just another day. Mom is here, we went for a walk to Fosters to get her some coffee, then I came home and made a banana/strawberry/kale/hemp/maca/cacao/epic protein shake. I used that italian style kale which has a stronger flavor than the regular stuff, but it was still cool.
We hit up Classic Treasures and saw some really nice pieces but nothing that will be my record table. Replaced my roommate's bananas that my mom mistakenly ate. :)
Practiced for March 16th night show with the Jos. Need to learn the words to all these darn songs!
Late lunch, cut up a cauliflower and had it with broccoli, watched some downtown abbey (still can't get into it), then met LY for dinner at Sage. I had a tropical salad (arugula, avocado, cabbage, hearts of palm) which was tasty, but not as big as I remembered. Maybe I just got spoiled by that ridiculous Atlanta place.
Came home and watched The Queen of Versailles, and weirdly, just felt bad for the lady because her children saw it best: David Siegel does not love her, or his kids. He loves success. Forget that.
Tuesday Day 21:
CHARLOTTE!
Mom and I hopped in the car around 10. I fixed us green smoothies for breakfast (Kale, Parsley, Celery, Tomato, Orange Pepper, Lemon Juice), then went to Ikea, which is nicer than I thought it was. I actually really liked the aesthetic and would totally use their stuff if redoing a room in my house in the future. I got a nightstand, bookshelf and a new rug.
Following Ikea, we went to South Park Mall and looked at all the expensive clothes at Hermes and Neiman Marcus. I grabbed an unsweetened Lemon Sage Lavender tea at Teavana for a little pick me up.
For dinner, we drove to Old Charlotte and hit up Luna's Living Kitchen. Luna's is small but cozy and our waiter was new and kind of feckless, but nice enough and we got (most of) our food eventually. We had:
Sprout It Out Salad - delicious, dressing wins my heart.
Divine Bowl - I didn't realize entrees came with a huge side salad with that bangin tahini dressing, but even so, the bowl was great. Mimicks a thai style curry.
Lemon Wildberry cheesecake - by far the highlight of the meal. This was the best raw cheesecake I've ever eaten. My mother clearly agreed, because I have never in my life had to fight her for my share of dessert. It was light, airy and very tart, just a dream.
We stopped at Concord Mills on the way home so I could outlet shop for some shoes and a new skirt, then arrived home, where my mom also expressed her newfound love for Hail Merry Macaroons and asked if I wanted one for a bedtime treat.
Wednesday Day 22:
I dropped mom off at airport then had my take out Lunasagna for Bfast! This was probably the best choice, and one I should've just made but man, raw lasagna is such a cliche. Theirs was flavorful and the mushrooms added a nice "meaty" texture to it that I dug.
Later in the day, after building one piece of Ikea furniture, I had some of that not-so-great anymore raw cheesecake from whole foods and a hail merry chocolate almond tart. Super sweet tooth, I know.
I had a grapefruit for dinner before Pub Quiz, where I totally HOUSED the classical music round but it didn't matter because everything in the last round was impossible. We got 3 right and managed 2nd place. The boys were a little flighty for various reasons so I left early.
When I got home, I did mango/cashews for evening snack and watched some West Wing.
Thursday Day 23:
For Breakfast, I pounded some lemon cookies from Lunas, then cleaned the room a little before heading to the barn. I lunged Jazz before the lesson (Supposed to start at 3) and we didn't mount until about 3:30, because at the last second I switched bay horses. I do not love riding the one I ended up on, but he's still a good dude and easy enough.
On the way home, stopped at Earth Fare and bought a bunch of stuff. Snack was guac and flax crackers. I went to work at 8pm, and nobody was there. Nobody was out either, so I went home to continue cleaning up. About an hour later, I got a text from CB about hanging out, so I had some snap peas and kombucha, finished what I was doing and went to meet him at the Fed. We stayed out pretty late, which was crazy given that I am sober, but it was still fun.
Friday Day 24:
Woke up and ate some more sugar snap peas before driving out to Fuquay to hang out with CB again. Got done there just in the nick of time to house a little Guac and flax cracker before work, then headed to help out at Blu.
It got pretty busy and I definitely earned my salad. After work, I went out and drank water at Surf club with friends. Late night I ended up having a mango as a snack then hitting the hay.
Sunday, March 3, 2013
Raw for lent: days 18-19
Saturday, Day 18:
Accomplished very little. Foodwise, was mango, cantaloupe, kale chips, some cashews. I didn't realize how little I ate yesterday until just now, but I spent a lot of time writing a stupid paper.
Sunday, Day 19:
A pear and a few dates for breakfast at work, then came home and made the protein/banana/cacao/raspbery shake action. My mom came into town and took me on a whole foods shopping spree which essentially ended in me buying a bunch of sweets!
Dinner was guacamole with romaine made into tiny delicious burritos and a dessert of a couple of macaroons. Had band practice, watched trading spaces. Got a big day tomorrow and then maybe on Tuesday a trip to the Charlotte Ikea! My mom was like "Charlotte! They have a Neiman Marcus!" And I am like, of course my mom knows the location of every Neiman Marcus in America. But hey, it could be fun seeing the Queen City again. I heard they've got a pretty sweet raw foods spot out there.
This lent has been pretty uneventful compared to previous lents that have always included a sweet March tour. I'm a little bummed that no tour has happened, but SxSW is still coming! So in honor of its glory, I've made mixtapes of Icky Blossoms, Christeene, Cloud Nothings and Ash. Yes, I know not to expect Cloud Nothings.
Accomplished very little. Foodwise, was mango, cantaloupe, kale chips, some cashews. I didn't realize how little I ate yesterday until just now, but I spent a lot of time writing a stupid paper.
Sunday, Day 19:
A pear and a few dates for breakfast at work, then came home and made the protein/banana/cacao/raspbery shake action. My mom came into town and took me on a whole foods shopping spree which essentially ended in me buying a bunch of sweets!
Dinner was guacamole with romaine made into tiny delicious burritos and a dessert of a couple of macaroons. Had band practice, watched trading spaces. Got a big day tomorrow and then maybe on Tuesday a trip to the Charlotte Ikea! My mom was like "Charlotte! They have a Neiman Marcus!" And I am like, of course my mom knows the location of every Neiman Marcus in America. But hey, it could be fun seeing the Queen City again. I heard they've got a pretty sweet raw foods spot out there.
This lent has been pretty uneventful compared to previous lents that have always included a sweet March tour. I'm a little bummed that no tour has happened, but SxSW is still coming! So in honor of its glory, I've made mixtapes of Icky Blossoms, Christeene, Cloud Nothings and Ash. Yes, I know not to expect Cloud Nothings.
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Raw for Lent: Days 14-17
Tuesday, Day 14:
Got up and went to last day of class. Skipped breakfast, I know, shame on me. It was an awful icky day. Stopped to pick up some layering tanks at old navy, then came home and made some "sushi" -- lightly food processed cauliflower "rice" with nori, cukes and avocado as well as some unpasteurized nama shoyu (which is, btw, so much saltier for some reason...probably because it was like, fizzy when I opened it).
I also tore into some of this mayan chocolate stuff that tastes kind of like coffee, it's very bitter. Not awful but not my fav. I had about 3 pieces before giving up.
I realized I had run out of savory sundries and still can't bring myself to just drink my protein like a good girl, so I ran out and bought some kale chips, "cheesecake" celery, kale and lettuce to snack on.
So, I ate the kale chips and this RAWesome raw cheesecake that is so delicious that it gets to live with Hail Merry in the world of "things I would eat all the time anyway" then passed out from being old.
Wednesday Day 15:
Hit the gym, this is 1/3 of the way there y'all! Foodstuffs for the day include: honeydew melon, cashews, mango, sauer kraut.
Thursday Day 16:
Another morning of gym time, then some chocolate macaroons. Dinner became a protein drink with 1 T maca, 2 T cacao, 4 scoops epic, 1 T hemp seed, 1 banana and 1 C raspberries.
Friday, Day 17:
Morning made an exact replica of last night's protein drink dinner. and took my midterm which was way harder than anticipated. Snack was Kale Chips. Passed out at 8pm.
I also wish there were an easier way to get photos up in this blog.
Got up and went to last day of class. Skipped breakfast, I know, shame on me. It was an awful icky day. Stopped to pick up some layering tanks at old navy, then came home and made some "sushi" -- lightly food processed cauliflower "rice" with nori, cukes and avocado as well as some unpasteurized nama shoyu (which is, btw, so much saltier for some reason...probably because it was like, fizzy when I opened it).
I also tore into some of this mayan chocolate stuff that tastes kind of like coffee, it's very bitter. Not awful but not my fav. I had about 3 pieces before giving up.
I realized I had run out of savory sundries and still can't bring myself to just drink my protein like a good girl, so I ran out and bought some kale chips, "cheesecake" celery, kale and lettuce to snack on.
So, I ate the kale chips and this RAWesome raw cheesecake that is so delicious that it gets to live with Hail Merry in the world of "things I would eat all the time anyway" then passed out from being old.
Wednesday Day 15:
Hit the gym, this is 1/3 of the way there y'all! Foodstuffs for the day include: honeydew melon, cashews, mango, sauer kraut.
Thursday Day 16:
Another morning of gym time, then some chocolate macaroons. Dinner became a protein drink with 1 T maca, 2 T cacao, 4 scoops epic, 1 T hemp seed, 1 banana and 1 C raspberries.
Friday, Day 17:
Morning made an exact replica of last night's protein drink dinner. and took my midterm which was way harder than anticipated. Snack was Kale Chips. Passed out at 8pm.
I also wish there were an easier way to get photos up in this blog.
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Raw for lent days 12-13
Sunday, Day 12:
Got up and hit the teaching with a vengeance, bringing the other jar of that shake I made on like wednesday. I know, but it was good healthy produce and I really ought to eat it!
Spent pretty much the whole gorgeous day inside. On the upside, at least it's getting warmer. I am going to try and order from the Triangle Raw Foods home service next week, we'll see how that turns out. I'm also planning to go to the Triangle Raw Foods tasting in Raleigh on Wednesday, but don't have tickets yet, so hopefully I can still get on that train!
On the way home from school, I hit up whole foods and picked up produce for the week. At home, I housed a broccoli and spinach salad with guacamole as dressing, then headed out to attempt to watch the oscars. Apparently there was some sort of drama because they weren't on at the bar anymore, so I hung out for a while, then went home to complete the work. Late night snack was a Hail Merry chocolate almond tart. Like a sweet, sweet raw peanut butter cup.
Monday, Day 13:
LAST AWFUL MONDAY!
I packed some campari tomatoes and hail merry macaroons for school (I am so overdoing the sweets but w/e). Last day of classes is always a crapshoot, you never know whether you're going to be learning til the bitter end (Accounting & Entrepreneurship) or doing a nice easy wrap up (Digital Marketing). I still have about 10,000 deliverables this week and am having trouble keeping it all straight.
When I got home at 10, I chopped up a bunch of celery and ate it with raw, sprouted almond butter which is delicious, then some sauer kraut
Got up and hit the teaching with a vengeance, bringing the other jar of that shake I made on like wednesday. I know, but it was good healthy produce and I really ought to eat it!
Spent pretty much the whole gorgeous day inside. On the upside, at least it's getting warmer. I am going to try and order from the Triangle Raw Foods home service next week, we'll see how that turns out. I'm also planning to go to the Triangle Raw Foods tasting in Raleigh on Wednesday, but don't have tickets yet, so hopefully I can still get on that train!
On the way home from school, I hit up whole foods and picked up produce for the week. At home, I housed a broccoli and spinach salad with guacamole as dressing, then headed out to attempt to watch the oscars. Apparently there was some sort of drama because they weren't on at the bar anymore, so I hung out for a while, then went home to complete the work. Late night snack was a Hail Merry chocolate almond tart. Like a sweet, sweet raw peanut butter cup.
Monday, Day 13:
LAST AWFUL MONDAY!
I packed some campari tomatoes and hail merry macaroons for school (I am so overdoing the sweets but w/e). Last day of classes is always a crapshoot, you never know whether you're going to be learning til the bitter end (Accounting & Entrepreneurship) or doing a nice easy wrap up (Digital Marketing). I still have about 10,000 deliverables this week and am having trouble keeping it all straight.
When I got home at 10, I chopped up a bunch of celery and ate it with raw, sprouted almond butter which is delicious, then some sauer kraut
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Raw for Lent: Days 9-11
Thurdsay Day 9
Hit the gym first thing in the morning, then failed to pack my pear for class.
At home, spun up some shakes (collards, kale, celery, tomato, carrot, parsley, lemon juice, Epic) which I then barely drank...so into the fridge they went. Instead, I had a raw revolution bar on the way to my evening leadership event, then at said event had two bananas and a platefull of raw summer squash and zucchini...(Sidebar, to the caterer at the conference center: who puts out a cruditee plate consisting solely of summer squash and zucchini? Ever heard of carrots and celery? They're cheap!)
After the leadership event, headed to Lucha Tigre for a Pride club event, where I had a grapefruit juice (oh, mocktails), and then headed home to work on a paper. On the way, picked up some guacamole and salsa from Cosmic Cantina and ate them with some romaine for dinner. Oh, and a Hail Merry meyer lemon tart for a late night, finished-my-paper treat.
Friday Day 10
First got up and weighed in, and again went to the gym. Am also gearing up for this DietBet spin off of my live challenge...weigh in today put me almost back to where I was before I started getting crazy with the carbohydrate.
Went directly from the gym to a meeting on campus, with one of the shakes from yesterday, drank about half, then stopped at Bean Trader's in homestead to pick up some Triangle Raw Foods food. Expensive, and the kelp noodles spilled all over everything, but they were worth it. The raw burrito, though? Not so much. It was meh, I prefer the walnut sundried tomato pate I can make at home, and felt like it was a very nut-heavy meal.
That night, I went to work where it was not terribly busy, and my shift meal was a lovely salad complete with spinach, tomato, golden apples and avocado, with a little balsamic on top for good measure. I totally dug into it before taking a picture, so apologies for the less-than-beautiful presentation, Sami, Tu esta Mi Amor!
Went home, started to do some work and then got cross-eyed tired and went to bed instead.
Saturday, Day 11
Early morning meeting. I snacked on some Chocolate Hail Merry Macaroons on the way to the meeting at a coffeeshop (and man, they are pretty good, even as someone who doesn't love chocolate), and then went directly to band practice with a new band, where I attempted to wring a math rock song out of them.
Got out of the practice at about 6, then came home and opened up a honeydew and ate it like its skin was a bowl, because it is! Did a little homework, snacked on cashews and walnuts, then went out to see a friend at Surf Club, which now has two new rooms and is PACKED which doesn't make me like it anymore than I did before.
Probably got home around midnight, ate some kraut and cashews (I feel like I'm hard on the cashews this year!) and then passed out.
Hit the gym first thing in the morning, then failed to pack my pear for class.
At home, spun up some shakes (collards, kale, celery, tomato, carrot, parsley, lemon juice, Epic) which I then barely drank...so into the fridge they went. Instead, I had a raw revolution bar on the way to my evening leadership event, then at said event had two bananas and a platefull of raw summer squash and zucchini...(Sidebar, to the caterer at the conference center: who puts out a cruditee plate consisting solely of summer squash and zucchini? Ever heard of carrots and celery? They're cheap!)
After the leadership event, headed to Lucha Tigre for a Pride club event, where I had a grapefruit juice (oh, mocktails), and then headed home to work on a paper. On the way, picked up some guacamole and salsa from Cosmic Cantina and ate them with some romaine for dinner. Oh, and a Hail Merry meyer lemon tart for a late night, finished-my-paper treat.
Friday Day 10
First got up and weighed in, and again went to the gym. Am also gearing up for this DietBet spin off of my live challenge...weigh in today put me almost back to where I was before I started getting crazy with the carbohydrate.
Went directly from the gym to a meeting on campus, with one of the shakes from yesterday, drank about half, then stopped at Bean Trader's in homestead to pick up some Triangle Raw Foods food. Expensive, and the kelp noodles spilled all over everything, but they were worth it. The raw burrito, though? Not so much. It was meh, I prefer the walnut sundried tomato pate I can make at home, and felt like it was a very nut-heavy meal.
That night, I went to work where it was not terribly busy, and my shift meal was a lovely salad complete with spinach, tomato, golden apples and avocado, with a little balsamic on top for good measure. I totally dug into it before taking a picture, so apologies for the less-than-beautiful presentation, Sami, Tu esta Mi Amor!
Went home, started to do some work and then got cross-eyed tired and went to bed instead.
Saturday, Day 11
Early morning meeting. I snacked on some Chocolate Hail Merry Macaroons on the way to the meeting at a coffeeshop (and man, they are pretty good, even as someone who doesn't love chocolate), and then went directly to band practice with a new band, where I attempted to wring a math rock song out of them.
Got out of the practice at about 6, then came home and opened up a honeydew and ate it like its skin was a bowl, because it is! Did a little homework, snacked on cashews and walnuts, then went out to see a friend at Surf Club, which now has two new rooms and is PACKED which doesn't make me like it anymore than I did before.
Probably got home around midnight, ate some kraut and cashews (I feel like I'm hard on the cashews this year!) and then passed out.
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Raw for Lent: Days 7-8
Day 7-- Tuesday
got up, got tired.
Food for day was mainly these two veg shakes I made, consisting of chard, celery, carrot, tomato, beet, lemon, parsley and Epic. The epic didnt help the texture, but did help make the shakes filling.
I probably ate a full cup and a half of cashews, though. I missed chewing. :)
Snack was a grapefruit and some pumpkin seed flax crackers from Go Raw.
Day 8 --
2nd to last insane day at school. Made myself a strawberry, kale and double scoop epic protein for breakfast, then hit class.
For lunch, I grabbed a Naked red machine (yes, I know, technically pasteurized but I was dragging) and dumped some Raw Protein from my locker into it to tide me over.
On the way home, I hit Whole Paycheck and bought a bunch of produce and some pre-packaged stuff to make my life easier.
Got home, made some guacamole with cauliflower...a snack that never gets tired. Realized I forgot to buy spinach so I can't make my dip :(. Had some pickles too, then headed to Bulls for Pub Quiz, where we placed 2nd to a team full of people way smarter than us, so no shade.
At bulls, found out Whatever Brains were playing at Casbah, so me and Miss walked over there just in time for the WB set. And it has been a minute since I've seen them, and now there are like...6 people in the band, including two keyboardists and they've gotten weirder and more atmospheric. I likened it to Rah Bras and Chaz agreed with the comparison. Anyway, they were really good. The 25 minute set went by in a flash and when they said "this is our last song" my thought was "Already?"
The headlining act, Cusses, a female fronted band were meh. I find myself constantly torn between wanting to support fellow female musicians and wanting to hold them to my own standards of musicianship. This girl could sing and was in amazing shape...she was belting it out hopping up and down, but the songs were pedestrian to choad rock. I was more impressed by front woman's lungs than anything occurring sonically or the pointless background videos.
In addition, I've been doing my SXSW due diligence, and am really really excited to see Saddle Creek's Icky Blossoms. Here is a ridiculously amazing (NSFW) video collage of pg-13 pornography set to their get-down groover "Cycle":
Plus, their self-produced video for the equally hypnotic "Perfect Vision" which is my new official laying-in-bed-contemplating-my-navel jam.
Now noshing a pear. Anyone with must-sees for SXSW 2013, please feel free to send them my way. I'm already planning to see perennial favorites Ash and Telekinesis!, and the un-missable Christeene. If possible, I'm also planning to see the adorable and (intentionally? unintentionally?) hilarious Kitty Pryde, but only if she plays a day show. Til next time!
got up, got tired.
Food for day was mainly these two veg shakes I made, consisting of chard, celery, carrot, tomato, beet, lemon, parsley and Epic. The epic didnt help the texture, but did help make the shakes filling.
I probably ate a full cup and a half of cashews, though. I missed chewing. :)
Snack was a grapefruit and some pumpkin seed flax crackers from Go Raw.
Day 8 --
2nd to last insane day at school. Made myself a strawberry, kale and double scoop epic protein for breakfast, then hit class.
For lunch, I grabbed a Naked red machine (yes, I know, technically pasteurized but I was dragging) and dumped some Raw Protein from my locker into it to tide me over.
On the way home, I hit Whole Paycheck and bought a bunch of produce and some pre-packaged stuff to make my life easier.
Got home, made some guacamole with cauliflower...a snack that never gets tired. Realized I forgot to buy spinach so I can't make my dip :(. Had some pickles too, then headed to Bulls for Pub Quiz, where we placed 2nd to a team full of people way smarter than us, so no shade.
At bulls, found out Whatever Brains were playing at Casbah, so me and Miss walked over there just in time for the WB set. And it has been a minute since I've seen them, and now there are like...6 people in the band, including two keyboardists and they've gotten weirder and more atmospheric. I likened it to Rah Bras and Chaz agreed with the comparison. Anyway, they were really good. The 25 minute set went by in a flash and when they said "this is our last song" my thought was "Already?"
The headlining act, Cusses, a female fronted band were meh. I find myself constantly torn between wanting to support fellow female musicians and wanting to hold them to my own standards of musicianship. This girl could sing and was in amazing shape...she was belting it out hopping up and down, but the songs were pedestrian to choad rock. I was more impressed by front woman's lungs than anything occurring sonically or the pointless background videos.
In addition, I've been doing my SXSW due diligence, and am really really excited to see Saddle Creek's Icky Blossoms. Here is a ridiculously amazing (NSFW) video collage of pg-13 pornography set to their get-down groover "Cycle":
Plus, their self-produced video for the equally hypnotic "Perfect Vision" which is my new official laying-in-bed-contemplating-my-navel jam.
Now noshing a pear. Anyone with must-sees for SXSW 2013, please feel free to send them my way. I'm already planning to see perennial favorites Ash and Telekinesis!, and the un-missable Christeene. If possible, I'm also planning to see the adorable and (intentionally? unintentionally?) hilarious Kitty Pryde, but only if she plays a day show. Til next time!
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Raw for Lent Days 4-6
Saturday, Day 4:
There's an apocryphal quote sometimes attributed to Einstein that says the definition of insanity is repeating the same action and expecting different results. I'm here to tell you that is WRONG. The definition of insanity is going raw for lent when you are a grad student with three part time jobs!
Saturday, after my blessed, blessed beauty rest, I woke up to snow! That threw a real hink in visiting Jazz, so instead, I went to Whole Foods and stocked up on some packaged raw foods, came home and made a trough full of guacamole (2 avocados, 4 tomatoes, 1 c frozen peas, 1 onion, cilantro, lemon juice, salt, pepper, garlic). This was portioned out for two other helpings, then the remainder went down with a head of cauliflower.
Then, I went to work. At a bar. Womp.
I brought a Raw Revolution bar with me for a much-needed late snack, then finished up the chard salad when I got home.
Sunday, Day 5:
I had a banana and a handfull of almonds on the way out the door to my teaching gig, but made sure to pack some guac and celery for myself as well. Turns out, it was a good move, since I went pretty much directly from teaching back to the bar for a 7 hour shift.
When I got home from the bar at midnight (having last eaten at around 4pm), I was ravenous. I tore through "cheezy chipotle" kale chips and the rest of the guacamole, along with some strawberries and hail merry macaroons.
Yes, I am aware that I just consumed like, $20 of pre-packaged raw food/produce for a midnight snack. Planning has not been my forte so far this lent. I worked on my homework for about an hour until I passed out...
Day 6
...and woke up too late to make the AMAZING shake I'd planned for myself for breakfast. Instead, I just took all the elements of said shake (almonds, banana, weirdly delicious but unseasonal strawberries) to school for my 2nd to last 13-hour Monday.
Got some good news on the job front from the company I interviewed with on Friday. I'm weighing the offer against the other existing based on location, culture fit, internship project (if known) and compensation. Still waiting to hear back from two others, so we will see!
I finally had a minute to run out during my hour and change break, so, once again I made the totally wallet-busting and got some grawnola. Note to users: sweet and sour grawnola is grody. Do not buy it. On the downside, I can't find my formerly favorite Go Raw products anymore! I was so in love with the cinnamon-y granola.
I finally made it through my strawberries, nuts and water, then got done at school. I'm really exhausted now, but when you give up not only drinking, but eating regular food for lent, there's a special thing that happens in these first few weeks. Yes, it's the crabby and the tired and the detoxing. But there's this yen to be part of things even though you're crabby and tired. So I called my friends but nobody was out. Instead, i finished the rest of my sauer kraut, ate a mango and am updating you all.
I just got my laptop back as well, so I'll be attempting to update with more photos. Be sure to follow the twitter (@glucklich) to track me more closely. Although I am unlikely to become one of those people constantly tweeting pictures of my food, you will get updates on the crabbies! ;)
The plan for tomorrow involves making some delicious juice to sip on all day and try and help my body eliminate toxins and help boost up some of those organs so I get energized by this. I'm also going to try and build some more Epic, Vega and Sunwarrior into lent this year.
Any advice for raw eating on the go for the planning challenged? I feel like I may end up breaking my bank (and the point of eating raw) if I keep up with buying all this plastic wrapped raw food!
#challenges
There's an apocryphal quote sometimes attributed to Einstein that says the definition of insanity is repeating the same action and expecting different results. I'm here to tell you that is WRONG. The definition of insanity is going raw for lent when you are a grad student with three part time jobs!
Saturday, after my blessed, blessed beauty rest, I woke up to snow! That threw a real hink in visiting Jazz, so instead, I went to Whole Foods and stocked up on some packaged raw foods, came home and made a trough full of guacamole (2 avocados, 4 tomatoes, 1 c frozen peas, 1 onion, cilantro, lemon juice, salt, pepper, garlic). This was portioned out for two other helpings, then the remainder went down with a head of cauliflower.
Then, I went to work. At a bar. Womp.
I brought a Raw Revolution bar with me for a much-needed late snack, then finished up the chard salad when I got home.
Sunday, Day 5:
I had a banana and a handfull of almonds on the way out the door to my teaching gig, but made sure to pack some guac and celery for myself as well. Turns out, it was a good move, since I went pretty much directly from teaching back to the bar for a 7 hour shift.
When I got home from the bar at midnight (having last eaten at around 4pm), I was ravenous. I tore through "cheezy chipotle" kale chips and the rest of the guacamole, along with some strawberries and hail merry macaroons.
Yes, I am aware that I just consumed like, $20 of pre-packaged raw food/produce for a midnight snack. Planning has not been my forte so far this lent. I worked on my homework for about an hour until I passed out...
Day 6
...and woke up too late to make the AMAZING shake I'd planned for myself for breakfast. Instead, I just took all the elements of said shake (almonds, banana, weirdly delicious but unseasonal strawberries) to school for my 2nd to last 13-hour Monday.
Got some good news on the job front from the company I interviewed with on Friday. I'm weighing the offer against the other existing based on location, culture fit, internship project (if known) and compensation. Still waiting to hear back from two others, so we will see!
I finally had a minute to run out during my hour and change break, so, once again I made the totally wallet-busting and got some grawnola. Note to users: sweet and sour grawnola is grody. Do not buy it. On the downside, I can't find my formerly favorite Go Raw products anymore! I was so in love with the cinnamon-y granola.
I finally made it through my strawberries, nuts and water, then got done at school. I'm really exhausted now, but when you give up not only drinking, but eating regular food for lent, there's a special thing that happens in these first few weeks. Yes, it's the crabby and the tired and the detoxing. But there's this yen to be part of things even though you're crabby and tired. So I called my friends but nobody was out. Instead, i finished the rest of my sauer kraut, ate a mango and am updating you all.
I just got my laptop back as well, so I'll be attempting to update with more photos. Be sure to follow the twitter (@glucklich) to track me more closely. Although I am unlikely to become one of those people constantly tweeting pictures of my food, you will get updates on the crabbies! ;)
The plan for tomorrow involves making some delicious juice to sip on all day and try and help my body eliminate toxins and help boost up some of those organs so I get energized by this. I'm also going to try and build some more Epic, Vega and Sunwarrior into lent this year.
Any advice for raw eating on the go for the planning challenged? I feel like I may end up breaking my bank (and the point of eating raw) if I keep up with buying all this plastic wrapped raw food!
#challenges
Saturday, February 16, 2013
Raw for Lent: Day 2 + 3
I choked down some epic with definitely not a lot of water before class, and then tried to eat some cherry tomatoes, only to find a worm in the 3rd one I went to eat. That'll kill yr appetitie.
For lunch, I tore through some chard salad, along with some kale chips, strawberries and a banana as I packed for this trip to ATL that terrified me.
I took some anti-anxiety meds and looped in the car. "So, happy valentine's day," my bestie, Miss Steve says, "I figured someone should say it to you."
Thanks dude.
At the airport drank an odwalla and a coconut water, then promptly conked out from the drugs and woke in Atlanta, where RW was waiting for me at the airport. We hit up our mega-nice extended stay suites hotel first, then went to a restaurant called "The Brickery."
When I asked them about the ingredients in their house-made vinaigrettes, I was told one was a "clear base, with feta" (huh?) and the other one was "steak sauce base, sweet and sour real good." So I went with olive oil and red wine vinegar for my trough of salad. See equal packet in photo for reference. On the upside, it was iceberg, tomatoes, mushrooms, cucumbers and avocado, and super yummy.
AS a sidebar, I noticed all the AMAZING looking persian/med restaurants in the area, as well as drooled over the Soul Vegetarian menu. Next time, ATL.
Woke up this morning and grabbed several bananas from the breakfast buffet, putting a few away immediately. At the interview, they had a sweet melon/strawberry/grape/pineapple fruit salad. At lunch, did the salad bar thing with a fairly boring iceberg/cuke/mushroom/tomato salad, again, but much smaller. Also snuck some almonds in there.
Getting on the MARTA, I had the other bananas and a couple of almonds, then enjoyed being looped in the airport, had a high anxiety plane ride.
Now safe at home, noshing some chard salad and a grapefruit for dinner. Considering a mango. I definitely put too much garlic in the chard salad.
Working on a mix for my friend NP who drove me home from the airport tonight-- it's called Upcoming and Eyeopening, mostly bands playing around here soon as well as the gateway songs for some of my favorite bands.
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Raw for lent: day 1
Greetings friends. It's that time of year again!
I apologize for these first posts done on mobile instead of my trusty laptop which recently decided to fail me.
I had originally planned to attempt to fast for Ash Wednesday, but as 3:30 rolled around, I knew I wasn't going o make it, especially not exacerbated by a stock up trip to whole foods.
late lunch was cashews and strawberries. I munched sauerkraut as I threw together an emerald kale salad using green chard and put some dinosaur kale I. The dehydrator. That salad, along with some walnuts, became dinner.
I'm currently a business school student which means I am crazy busy and am concern about making enough time to prep my meals this year.
Official song for Ash Wednesday: Ash - Binary. Remind me to tell you about the time Pink Flag plaed with Ash at the local 506.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gv0dZ23luTk&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dgv0dZ23luTk
I found a pretty sweet "cheesecake" recipe that I will probably try to do this weekend. In the meantime...I gotta figure how I am going to survive an airplane trip. I'm not much of a flyer.
Wish me luck!
I apologize for these first posts done on mobile instead of my trusty laptop which recently decided to fail me.
I had originally planned to attempt to fast for Ash Wednesday, but as 3:30 rolled around, I knew I wasn't going o make it, especially not exacerbated by a stock up trip to whole foods.
late lunch was cashews and strawberries. I munched sauerkraut as I threw together an emerald kale salad using green chard and put some dinosaur kale I. The dehydrator. That salad, along with some walnuts, became dinner.
I'm currently a business school student which means I am crazy busy and am concern about making enough time to prep my meals this year.
Official song for Ash Wednesday: Ash - Binary. Remind me to tell you about the time Pink Flag plaed with Ash at the local 506.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gv0dZ23luTk&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dgv0dZ23luTk
I found a pretty sweet "cheesecake" recipe that I will probably try to do this weekend. In the meantime...I gotta figure how I am going to survive an airplane trip. I'm not much of a flyer.
Wish me luck!
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Raw for Lent: Day 31-32 (Chicago, Ohio and Brooklyn)
Day 31:
So I drove down to Chicago Raw in the French Market. The French Market is AMAZING. It's such a total tourist trap and I do not even care because I loved it. Chicago Raw had the best raw "veggie burger" ever. I tried that as well as their "egg salad," which ended up making me a little road sick. I also, of course, picked up a tira misu. All the nuts I've been downing through all this stuff has been making me feel a little funny in the tummy, though. Too rich or something.
I'm listening to a really amazing book on tape right now called The Pillars of the Earth that my friend Tom lent to me. It's pretty nerdy-- about building a Cathedral in Medieval England, but it is a total suspense page turner. Might be the best thing I've listened to since Ready Player One. (Which is about 80s video games) This may in fact be the nerdiest paragraph I've ever written on this blog. I promise, I also read and listen to nonfiction and best sellers and classics. Apparently I just don't enjoy them as much as I do books that make any reference to D&D or activities that inspired D&D.
Anyway, I rolled up to Columbus Ohio, which is basically Ohio State with some housing nearby. I stopped at Whole Foods and ding ding ding we have a winner. Worst Whole Foods ever award goes to Columbus, Ohio. Sorry y'all. Didn't even have a prep foods section. Did have a beer bar. Well, not so much a beer bar as 3 taps. Bought some Kiwi berry things (seriously, why are these not the most famous and best loved fruit in the world?) then hit up the Worm Zone.
The Worm Zone was an odd place. The owners were puppeteers (are we noticing a pattern on this tour?) and had a lot of cool art on the walls. It was raining pretty much the whole drive from Chicago to Columbus, so we didn't get to check out the Ravine like I'd hoped to. The bands I played with were definitely the most eclectic of tour, and the audience...
I'll say this, it's usually tough to get people to participate in dancing. These guys were just like, mirroring everything I did from the minute I started dancing, so when I actually gave them moves, they were getting sweaty and stinking up the place like a middle school gymnasium. Seriously, best crowd of tour award goes to COLUMBUS. You rule, Columbus! Videos of Columbus bands will be on Youtube shortly-- without the joy of a decent wired connection or the luxury of 8-9 hours to sleep and let things upload...not a whole lot has gone up.
After Worm Zone, I headed to Marty (a Durham friend)'s apartment. She had made up a blow up bed for me with sheets and a blanket and comforter and EVERYTHING, and her sassy cat Sebastian -- (Sea Bass) who is SO FAT and I don't even really like cats but we are in love and going to get inter-species married and kill mice together-- slept by my side all night. Marty also bought me some bananas and avocado for the road which was super sweet. We watched a few episodes of Archer (I feel like all I do on this tour is watch Archer on other people's netflix, hang out with Puppeteers and stalk whole foods) then passed out.
Day 32:
Off to BROOKLYN. What should've been a 10 hour drive was accomplished in just under 8. So having arrived early in Brooklyn, home of the hipster and vegan supposed mecca, I hit up a raw vegan place. Which was closed down. No big, tried another. Also closed down. Last attempt (which was hard, apparently at rush hour the traffic situation gets a little tricky) was CLOSED by the time I got there. MISERY.
I just decided to throw in the towel on the whole awesome meal right then thing and wait until I got home (FORESHADOWING!). I arrived at the PW house very early...before even most of the roommates at the house were due home. No matter. I sat down, I ate celery.
I was lucky enough to perform with WOJCIK again. For those who forgot, she plays grungy 90s style guitar rock with a pretty rich alto on top.
Lisa Liu performed as Magnetic Islands, and was an AMAZING guitar player, technically stunning. The songs were reminiscent of meandering jams, but well constructed, at least at the beginning. It bore some resemblance to free jazz and made me super happy and stimulated and alive feeling before my set.
While at the party I also ran into Nikki McCleod, who plays steel drums and played with Pink Flag last year at the Tom Tom magazine party in Brooklyn. The crowd was subdued, particuarly compared to the down for whatever kids in Ohio, but I was grateful to be home and even more grateful to be able to pack up and be at the crashpad by midnight (rest for the weary!). Of course, a lot of the awesome got murdered by the fact that when I walked into my parents house the refrigerator, usually overflowing with produce I can't afford was BARE. There was half a banana and a mealy looking apple in the fruit bowl. Oh, mom, we gonna talk.
Til soon, kids.
So I drove down to Chicago Raw in the French Market. The French Market is AMAZING. It's such a total tourist trap and I do not even care because I loved it. Chicago Raw had the best raw "veggie burger" ever. I tried that as well as their "egg salad," which ended up making me a little road sick. I also, of course, picked up a tira misu. All the nuts I've been downing through all this stuff has been making me feel a little funny in the tummy, though. Too rich or something.
I'm listening to a really amazing book on tape right now called The Pillars of the Earth that my friend Tom lent to me. It's pretty nerdy-- about building a Cathedral in Medieval England, but it is a total suspense page turner. Might be the best thing I've listened to since Ready Player One. (Which is about 80s video games) This may in fact be the nerdiest paragraph I've ever written on this blog. I promise, I also read and listen to nonfiction and best sellers and classics. Apparently I just don't enjoy them as much as I do books that make any reference to D&D or activities that inspired D&D.
Anyway, I rolled up to Columbus Ohio, which is basically Ohio State with some housing nearby. I stopped at Whole Foods and ding ding ding we have a winner. Worst Whole Foods ever award goes to Columbus, Ohio. Sorry y'all. Didn't even have a prep foods section. Did have a beer bar. Well, not so much a beer bar as 3 taps. Bought some Kiwi berry things (seriously, why are these not the most famous and best loved fruit in the world?) then hit up the Worm Zone.
The Worm Zone was an odd place. The owners were puppeteers (are we noticing a pattern on this tour?) and had a lot of cool art on the walls. It was raining pretty much the whole drive from Chicago to Columbus, so we didn't get to check out the Ravine like I'd hoped to. The bands I played with were definitely the most eclectic of tour, and the audience...
I'll say this, it's usually tough to get people to participate in dancing. These guys were just like, mirroring everything I did from the minute I started dancing, so when I actually gave them moves, they were getting sweaty and stinking up the place like a middle school gymnasium. Seriously, best crowd of tour award goes to COLUMBUS. You rule, Columbus! Videos of Columbus bands will be on Youtube shortly-- without the joy of a decent wired connection or the luxury of 8-9 hours to sleep and let things upload...not a whole lot has gone up.
After Worm Zone, I headed to Marty (a Durham friend)'s apartment. She had made up a blow up bed for me with sheets and a blanket and comforter and EVERYTHING, and her sassy cat Sebastian -- (Sea Bass) who is SO FAT and I don't even really like cats but we are in love and going to get inter-species married and kill mice together-- slept by my side all night. Marty also bought me some bananas and avocado for the road which was super sweet. We watched a few episodes of Archer (I feel like all I do on this tour is watch Archer on other people's netflix, hang out with Puppeteers and stalk whole foods) then passed out.
Day 32:
Off to BROOKLYN. What should've been a 10 hour drive was accomplished in just under 8. So having arrived early in Brooklyn, home of the hipster and vegan supposed mecca, I hit up a raw vegan place. Which was closed down. No big, tried another. Also closed down. Last attempt (which was hard, apparently at rush hour the traffic situation gets a little tricky) was CLOSED by the time I got there. MISERY.
I just decided to throw in the towel on the whole awesome meal right then thing and wait until I got home (FORESHADOWING!). I arrived at the PW house very early...before even most of the roommates at the house were due home. No matter. I sat down, I ate celery.
I was lucky enough to perform with WOJCIK again. For those who forgot, she plays grungy 90s style guitar rock with a pretty rich alto on top.
Lisa Liu performed as Magnetic Islands, and was an AMAZING guitar player, technically stunning. The songs were reminiscent of meandering jams, but well constructed, at least at the beginning. It bore some resemblance to free jazz and made me super happy and stimulated and alive feeling before my set.
While at the party I also ran into Nikki McCleod, who plays steel drums and played with Pink Flag last year at the Tom Tom magazine party in Brooklyn. The crowd was subdued, particuarly compared to the down for whatever kids in Ohio, but I was grateful to be home and even more grateful to be able to pack up and be at the crashpad by midnight (rest for the weary!). Of course, a lot of the awesome got murdered by the fact that when I walked into my parents house the refrigerator, usually overflowing with produce I can't afford was BARE. There was half a banana and a mealy looking apple in the fruit bowl. Oh, mom, we gonna talk.
Til soon, kids.
Friday, March 23, 2012
Raw for Lent Day 29-30 (Lincoln and Chicago)
Day 29:
Woke up in Lincoln around 10am and decided to try and get my body moving, so I strapped on my sports bra and sneakers and went for a run. It was only about a mile or so, but it was really pleasant, even though it was a little drizzly. After the run, I took a shower and Nate and I went up to Yia Yia's pizza to meet up with Jim (Shipbuilding Company) and his fiancee Ellen. While there, we ran into Darren (The Show Is The Rainbow, Bad Speler) and hung out for a little bit.
After lunch, I hung out with Jim and Ellen, then took Cathy up on her offer to let us see We Need To Talk About Kevin. The movie was a broken narrative. The premise circles around a mother and her son and their contentious relationship that is exacerbated by...well I don't know if the spoilers are out yet, but Kevin does something awful.
After the flick, Nathan ran me to the coop on South St and I picked up some bell peppers, kumquats, bananas and apples, then I headed to Zoo Bar.
The early show was still going on, so I wandered past the Bourbon...and there was Darren again. He let me into the show and I saw a couple of songs by Shipbuilding Company, who were sort of a prime example of the genre I like to call "Arcade Fire rock." Lots of descending chord progressions at moderate tempo, fogerty-esque guitar tricks and a reedy voice at the front. I don't have any real malice for the Arcade Fire or the 8000 bands that are capitalizing on their success, but I am not altogether too excited by mid-tempo big-sounding rock unless it's emo as fuck (see earlier entries on WWPJ).
I headed back to my venue, Zoo Bar, and got unpacked. The venue had been promoting the show with the wrong bands on the promotional flyer (Pink Flag, Low Horse and Pharmacy Spirits) and it turned out to be Mildred Bonk who were experimental noise mostly...a lot of feedback and effects. The sound wasn't really coming through on my phone.
Next up was Fuchsia Minutia, who are a very mathy, noisy little act. Their set is essentially organized chaos, but the sheer virtuosity of the players is pretty impressive. Word on the Lincoln street is that these guys do the best cover songs ever. I believe that they are probably really good.
I played 3rd, the was followed by the Pharmacy Spirits, whom I kind of adore. They're sort of like a spooky version of a band that's really into the beach boys. Or a Christian Death cover band that has never heard a Christian Death song in their life. Regardless, there is some sort of sunglasses-at-night coolness to the sound and I drive around listening to it sometimes and enjoy it. This song pictured is called Teen Challenge. I apologize, again, for the quality of the sound on these guys, this room was just a tin box basically and loud as hell.
After the show, we packed up and I went over to the guys from Fuschia Minutia's and hung out until (woefully) 3:30AM.
Day 30:
My notes for this day were:
"Chicago bound. Stayed up WAY too late in Lincoln. Chicago traffic. Rain."
My day was basically the wasteland that is Iowa. Iowa takes FOREVER to drive. I also rolled into Chicago at...oh exactly rush hour, which meant that I got to the skyline then sat in traffic. And it was raining. These were two days of just straight soggy shoes for me (foreshadowing!). Anyway, I got to the venue about 30 minutes early and it happened to be next door to an asian restaurant, so I got a cucumber salad and an avocado salad and used the nice clean asian restaurant bathroom.
So, musicians, folks in general, do you ever have one of those events you have to attend where you walk in the door and go "Oh Man..." and not in the good way? That's kind of how I felt walking in to Ultra Lounge. I was the first person there...by some time. I bummed around for a while until Vortis and the sound guy showed up, then loaded in.
Vortis were the punk rock mixtape that your friend Mike/Steve/John/Chris gave to you when you were 15 along with some safety pins and a Misfits patch. The group formed under the idea of the Vortis, which was a turn of the century idealogy that supports the idea of living with an adolescent clarity. Their songs were upbeat, fun and bled one right into the next. The energy was lost on the crowd of 5-6. At the end of their set, per a discussion, I got up there and completely butchered "Oh Bondage Up Yours" by X-Ray Spex.
The Funs - cute, and fun. Nothing I've never heard before (Just think about all the 4-track recording lo-fi artists in the late 80s no-wave underground and you got it), but they were still very sweet, fun to listen to and brought a great crowd of kids to the show. Violent, bouncy, dancey kids. I wish I were still so enthusiastic. Really I do.
At the end of the night, I went back to Tina and Liz's place and climbed into their baby's ikea loft bed (and seriously, if I weren't starving myself to death right now that thing would have COLLAPSED under me, every time I shifted my weight, it let out a terrible shriek, threatening to drop me), and promptly passed the fuck out.
Only to wake up at 7am for the drive to Columbus. With a cold (SOGGY SHOES!). This is really gonna help with the high notes. Videos to be attached later. Can always be searched via my youtube account, though!
Woke up in Lincoln around 10am and decided to try and get my body moving, so I strapped on my sports bra and sneakers and went for a run. It was only about a mile or so, but it was really pleasant, even though it was a little drizzly. After the run, I took a shower and Nate and I went up to Yia Yia's pizza to meet up with Jim (Shipbuilding Company) and his fiancee Ellen. While there, we ran into Darren (The Show Is The Rainbow, Bad Speler) and hung out for a little bit.
After lunch, I hung out with Jim and Ellen, then took Cathy up on her offer to let us see We Need To Talk About Kevin. The movie was a broken narrative. The premise circles around a mother and her son and their contentious relationship that is exacerbated by...well I don't know if the spoilers are out yet, but Kevin does something awful.
After the flick, Nathan ran me to the coop on South St and I picked up some bell peppers, kumquats, bananas and apples, then I headed to Zoo Bar.
The early show was still going on, so I wandered past the Bourbon...and there was Darren again. He let me into the show and I saw a couple of songs by Shipbuilding Company, who were sort of a prime example of the genre I like to call "Arcade Fire rock." Lots of descending chord progressions at moderate tempo, fogerty-esque guitar tricks and a reedy voice at the front. I don't have any real malice for the Arcade Fire or the 8000 bands that are capitalizing on their success, but I am not altogether too excited by mid-tempo big-sounding rock unless it's emo as fuck (see earlier entries on WWPJ).
I headed back to my venue, Zoo Bar, and got unpacked. The venue had been promoting the show with the wrong bands on the promotional flyer (Pink Flag, Low Horse and Pharmacy Spirits) and it turned out to be Mildred Bonk who were experimental noise mostly...a lot of feedback and effects. The sound wasn't really coming through on my phone.
Next up was Fuchsia Minutia, who are a very mathy, noisy little act. Their set is essentially organized chaos, but the sheer virtuosity of the players is pretty impressive. Word on the Lincoln street is that these guys do the best cover songs ever. I believe that they are probably really good.
I played 3rd, the was followed by the Pharmacy Spirits, whom I kind of adore. They're sort of like a spooky version of a band that's really into the beach boys. Or a Christian Death cover band that has never heard a Christian Death song in their life. Regardless, there is some sort of sunglasses-at-night coolness to the sound and I drive around listening to it sometimes and enjoy it. This song pictured is called Teen Challenge. I apologize, again, for the quality of the sound on these guys, this room was just a tin box basically and loud as hell.
After the show, we packed up and I went over to the guys from Fuschia Minutia's and hung out until (woefully) 3:30AM.
Day 30:
My notes for this day were:
"Chicago bound. Stayed up WAY too late in Lincoln. Chicago traffic. Rain."
My day was basically the wasteland that is Iowa. Iowa takes FOREVER to drive. I also rolled into Chicago at...oh exactly rush hour, which meant that I got to the skyline then sat in traffic. And it was raining. These were two days of just straight soggy shoes for me (foreshadowing!). Anyway, I got to the venue about 30 minutes early and it happened to be next door to an asian restaurant, so I got a cucumber salad and an avocado salad and used the nice clean asian restaurant bathroom.
So, musicians, folks in general, do you ever have one of those events you have to attend where you walk in the door and go "Oh Man..." and not in the good way? That's kind of how I felt walking in to Ultra Lounge. I was the first person there...by some time. I bummed around for a while until Vortis and the sound guy showed up, then loaded in.
Vortis were the punk rock mixtape that your friend Mike/Steve/John/Chris gave to you when you were 15 along with some safety pins and a Misfits patch. The group formed under the idea of the Vortis, which was a turn of the century idealogy that supports the idea of living with an adolescent clarity. Their songs were upbeat, fun and bled one right into the next. The energy was lost on the crowd of 5-6. At the end of their set, per a discussion, I got up there and completely butchered "Oh Bondage Up Yours" by X-Ray Spex.
The Funs - cute, and fun. Nothing I've never heard before (Just think about all the 4-track recording lo-fi artists in the late 80s no-wave underground and you got it), but they were still very sweet, fun to listen to and brought a great crowd of kids to the show. Violent, bouncy, dancey kids. I wish I were still so enthusiastic. Really I do.
At the end of the night, I went back to Tina and Liz's place and climbed into their baby's ikea loft bed (and seriously, if I weren't starving myself to death right now that thing would have COLLAPSED under me, every time I shifted my weight, it let out a terrible shriek, threatening to drop me), and promptly passed the fuck out.
Only to wake up at 7am for the drive to Columbus. With a cold (SOGGY SHOES!). This is really gonna help with the high notes. Videos to be attached later. Can always be searched via my youtube account, though!
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Raw for Lent: Day 27-28 (Oklahoma and Lincoln)
Day 27:
I AM IN LOVE WITH MATTHEW KENNEY.
Can we talk about how in love I am? So I went to the Route 66 laundromat to get some clothes going, then went to the fancy shopping center where Matthew Kenney OKC is. And holy shit. I was not expecting the food to be as good as it was. Which is silly, but true. It was SO GOOD. I ordered first the black and white dumplings which are filled with some sort of kimchee creamy paste and served in coconut dehydrated wrappers and over a creamy miso sauce. Then I got the "lasagna" which was so filling I had to take a little home.
I killed some time by doing a little laundry and going for a jog, as well as wandering around the Penn mall. I drove around the rich area on a golf course, then found myself back at Claussen Curve for more Matthew Kenney! For dinner, I went ahead and ordered a dragon roll, which was fake sushi, the "tortellini" with creamed spinach and tira misu for dessert. I should've ordered dessert sooner. It was so good. My favorite thing from dinner was the tortellini...it was wrapped in the same coconut thingy with creamed spinach and a tomato-y sauce. Dessert was tira misu and it was divine. Lastly, everyone says that the restaurant is "expensive" but the appetizers are 6-9 dollars and entrees are 9-13 dollars. I think, especially given that it is all raw, this place is a STEAL.
Show was meh, and I don't want to talk about it. I basically packed up and left right after I played which is mad rude but there were only about 7 people there and they were obviously not vibing me and I was obviously not going to get any dollars.
Day 28:
Went to Matthew Kenney once more for lunch...got dumplings again and a salad this time...caesar, although in hindsight I should've chosen a salad that had actual veggies in it, instead of a salad made of romaine hearts and a false cheese and fake croutons. Directly from there I got on the road to Lincoln, NE. First off, while driving through Oklahoma, I saw a ton of what I perceived to be tornado-ettes, and by that I mean like, this close to turning into twisters. I could be wrong, though. Maybe it's just the wind whipping and the rain, but the clouds were like 30 feet off the ground and turning into little points and it was trippy.
So, I-35 doesn't go to Lincoln...and neither does any other respectable highway, so I got on Scenic 177. Let me tell you about scenic 177-- scenic is the right word. There is pretty much nothing there. I would drive like, 70 or 80 miles in cattle grazing pastures and corn fields, then through a town that resembled, more than anything, Mayberry USA, and I know that's funny coming from a North Carolinian who has actually been to Mt. Airy (the town on which Mayberry is based), but it's like...the real world versions of that...the towns have pretty much one or two streets and one of the five or six I passed through had a Dairy Queen, but that was pretty much the only chain I saw anywhere (and I am including gas stations). I was sort of uneased in the one town I did stop in (someplace in Kansas) and was glad I got gas just outside of OKC.
So I rolled up into Lincoln and after a minor hitch, found myself rolling in places to stay. I pulled out my copy of Eating the Dinosaur and waited on my friend Nate (Polaver, Fuchsia Minutia) porch for him for all of about...5 minutes. We went inside, hung out, met his unfriendly but ridiculously ugly-cute dog, then walked up to 12th street for Taco tuesday. I was pleasantly surprised to see that these tacos offer a vegan option for sauces like sour cream. In the middle of the heart land!
Following tacos, I went over to Duffy's to holler at my friend Ian (Machete Archive, Low Horse) who is a bartender there. Duffy's was kind of a shit show because of the super cheap PBR and the fact that it was UNL's spring break. I'm sure the NCAA Women's tourney wasn't the draw. So I had a water there and Ian suggested I try out O'Rourke's. Yes, it's that O'Rourke's, Kasher fans. So I went in, sidled up to the bar and got myself some agua...
The bar that O'Rourke's most resembles is The Green Room in Durham, NC. Now a lot of people think they know what it's like because of Bull Durham, but that's a different bar altogether. It's not terribly rough anymore, just a place that doesn't have any frills or patience for pretension. No dim lighting. The bar is kind of shitty and tore up, but they're not trying to hide that. The bathrooms are always clean and stocked, so it's clean enough for this guy. O'Rourke's had the same feel...no pretense, just alcohol and TVs and a little semi-enclosed smoking patio in case you don't want to go all the way outside. Very nice, O'Rourkes! While there, I ran into Saber (Machete Archive) and we shot the shit about movies and TV shows to watch (I have a whole list for when I get home!), then I walked home to Nate's and crashed out super hard, even though I was supposed to wait up for Ian. Oh well!
My computer is being a jerk, so pictures will have to come later.
I AM IN LOVE WITH MATTHEW KENNEY.
Can we talk about how in love I am? So I went to the Route 66 laundromat to get some clothes going, then went to the fancy shopping center where Matthew Kenney OKC is. And holy shit. I was not expecting the food to be as good as it was. Which is silly, but true. It was SO GOOD. I ordered first the black and white dumplings which are filled with some sort of kimchee creamy paste and served in coconut dehydrated wrappers and over a creamy miso sauce. Then I got the "lasagna" which was so filling I had to take a little home.
I killed some time by doing a little laundry and going for a jog, as well as wandering around the Penn mall. I drove around the rich area on a golf course, then found myself back at Claussen Curve for more Matthew Kenney! For dinner, I went ahead and ordered a dragon roll, which was fake sushi, the "tortellini" with creamed spinach and tira misu for dessert. I should've ordered dessert sooner. It was so good. My favorite thing from dinner was the tortellini...it was wrapped in the same coconut thingy with creamed spinach and a tomato-y sauce. Dessert was tira misu and it was divine. Lastly, everyone says that the restaurant is "expensive" but the appetizers are 6-9 dollars and entrees are 9-13 dollars. I think, especially given that it is all raw, this place is a STEAL.
Show was meh, and I don't want to talk about it. I basically packed up and left right after I played which is mad rude but there were only about 7 people there and they were obviously not vibing me and I was obviously not going to get any dollars.
Day 28:
Went to Matthew Kenney once more for lunch...got dumplings again and a salad this time...caesar, although in hindsight I should've chosen a salad that had actual veggies in it, instead of a salad made of romaine hearts and a false cheese and fake croutons. Directly from there I got on the road to Lincoln, NE. First off, while driving through Oklahoma, I saw a ton of what I perceived to be tornado-ettes, and by that I mean like, this close to turning into twisters. I could be wrong, though. Maybe it's just the wind whipping and the rain, but the clouds were like 30 feet off the ground and turning into little points and it was trippy.
So, I-35 doesn't go to Lincoln...and neither does any other respectable highway, so I got on Scenic 177. Let me tell you about scenic 177-- scenic is the right word. There is pretty much nothing there. I would drive like, 70 or 80 miles in cattle grazing pastures and corn fields, then through a town that resembled, more than anything, Mayberry USA, and I know that's funny coming from a North Carolinian who has actually been to Mt. Airy (the town on which Mayberry is based), but it's like...the real world versions of that...the towns have pretty much one or two streets and one of the five or six I passed through had a Dairy Queen, but that was pretty much the only chain I saw anywhere (and I am including gas stations). I was sort of uneased in the one town I did stop in (someplace in Kansas) and was glad I got gas just outside of OKC.
So I rolled up into Lincoln and after a minor hitch, found myself rolling in places to stay. I pulled out my copy of Eating the Dinosaur and waited on my friend Nate (Polaver, Fuchsia Minutia) porch for him for all of about...5 minutes. We went inside, hung out, met his unfriendly but ridiculously ugly-cute dog, then walked up to 12th street for Taco tuesday. I was pleasantly surprised to see that these tacos offer a vegan option for sauces like sour cream. In the middle of the heart land!
Following tacos, I went over to Duffy's to holler at my friend Ian (Machete Archive, Low Horse) who is a bartender there. Duffy's was kind of a shit show because of the super cheap PBR and the fact that it was UNL's spring break. I'm sure the NCAA Women's tourney wasn't the draw. So I had a water there and Ian suggested I try out O'Rourke's. Yes, it's that O'Rourke's, Kasher fans. So I went in, sidled up to the bar and got myself some agua...
The bar that O'Rourke's most resembles is The Green Room in Durham, NC. Now a lot of people think they know what it's like because of Bull Durham, but that's a different bar altogether. It's not terribly rough anymore, just a place that doesn't have any frills or patience for pretension. No dim lighting. The bar is kind of shitty and tore up, but they're not trying to hide that. The bathrooms are always clean and stocked, so it's clean enough for this guy. O'Rourke's had the same feel...no pretense, just alcohol and TVs and a little semi-enclosed smoking patio in case you don't want to go all the way outside. Very nice, O'Rourkes! While there, I ran into Saber (Machete Archive) and we shot the shit about movies and TV shows to watch (I have a whole list for when I get home!), then I walked home to Nate's and crashed out super hard, even though I was supposed to wait up for Ian. Oh well!
My computer is being a jerk, so pictures will have to come later.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Raw for Lent: Day 22-26
Day 22 - SxSW!
Departed San Antonio around 10am, after visiting the alamo.
Arrive austin about 11am, to set up for the show. Played first to open the showcase. Tons of awesome bands--
Acorn Bcorn - straight up old school kinderwhore style riotgrrl music, reminiscent of Babes in Toyland a little, Marina's voice more sonorous than Kat Bjelland's. Interesting set up-- side by side kits played with the feet primarily.
The Back Pockets - Weirdness to the power of 10. Came dressed like they were going to a Woodstock themed party at Studio 54. Set up an elaborate in front of stage thing. While the band played, a guy danced around fucking with the audience and pretending to be ascientist. The music was pretty eclectic, mostly like someone really likes the big builds in Arcade Fire. Would be at home in the Elephant 6 family. Overall, recommend seeing them. The show is worth it and the singer's voice alone is mesmerizing for at least 3 songs.
Agent Ribbons - HOLY TWEE batman! Agent Ribbons combines sweet 50s doo-wop chord progression with saccharine sweet vocals bemoaning all the liars the singer has
met. A duo, the guitar does more work than you'd think it should, especially given the relatively simple styling, and the drummer's call-and-response back ups make it so you don't even miss the bass.
TacocaT - Oh, TacocaT. Why is this band NOT on K records? Can we get them on K? They're adorable, fun, light and giggly. They are twee-rock, with irreverent lyrics about things like getting a new issue of Cat Fancy, smoking pot out of a vaporizer and the venerable (in girl band circles of late, anyway) Tanya Harding. This band is soul-related to EAR PWR for those who are familiar.
Christeene - I do not, still, 24 hours later, totally know what I think of Christeeene. When I first saw him, I was like "What the fuck?" granted, we were at a queer show, but he was wearing a fright wig, smeared make up (courtney love circa heroin) and had bruises painted all over his body. Then he climbed on stage and revealed some bizarre underpanties contraption. The show, though, was intriguing. The dance moves were fun and the backup dancers ridiculous and the rap would make Lil Kim blush. I don't think I would ever purchase this music, but my new friend Joey said I was in for a treat. If you like haunted houses, penises (there was a lot of penis, not gonna lie) and just draw dropping weirdness, then you just may like Christeene.
Went over to Whole Foods Austin...my new love affair. If I were ever here and not raw, I would probably gain 8000 pounds. They have a RAW station. It's almost entirely raw and it has apple pie and they carry those Hail Merry tarts that are the best thing I've tasted in a very long time. Like, if they get them in NC, I will eat them. From the raw station, I got a broccoli cashew salad and avocado kale salad. They were both good but I think I preferred the broccoli cashew.
After dinner we wandered over to see Last Year's Men, who played great. I procured me a tee shirt with which to rep them on the road and at home, then we bounced to the BrooklynVegan showcase and caught Screamales, who were fine.
We left during Andrew WK.
Day 23:
Whole foods for raw falafel and raw tzitiki, broc cashew salad, another Hail Merry raw tart (meyer lemon) and coconut water.
Day party trek started with meeting up with our friends Lost in the Trees (Orchestral Folk Pop) who we had just missed due to ill timed eating/walking, then we headed to the Paste magazine party for We Were Promised Jetpacks, whose show was PACKED but epic. Big guitars, big scottish voice, little, young, scottish dudes.
They were immediately followed by Blitzen Trapper, who were loud and otherwise not noteworthy. We decided to walk to Cheer Up Charlie's to catch the Love Language, some other hometown buds, who played an amazing set. Upbeat, 60s influenced guitar and key pop with some noisier elements, then we wandered all the way back to Waterloo for Lucero, who are not my cup of tea but I respect the hell out of the band. They're country-twinged bar rock, and have a far reaching influence.
We went to the Mohawk for the Jagjaguar/Dead Oceans/Secretly Canadian party. The first band was not worth talking about, but!
Gardens and Villas were an erasure-esque synthpop band whose lead singer had a quiver full of FLUTES! (This fills me with glee) They were poppy and fun.
Bear in Heaven went next and I learned...that the lead singer of Bear in Heaven, an amazingly catchy synthpop band, has NO RHYTHM. It was hilarious, and the songs were great as always.
We bounced after Bear in Heaven, and I ate some Kale chips at the hotel.
Day 24:
MY SHOWCASE! I ran my first ever SXSW showcase for Permanent Wave, Tom Tom Magazine and Break Yr Heart up off the North Loop. It went as follows:
Attia Taylor (attiataylor.bandcamp.com) - keyboard and vocal loop songwriter
WOJCIK (wojcik.bandcamp.com) - hard hitting guitar songs with a rich alto voice
LAM! LAM! (lamlam.bandcamp.com) - this is my little pet project, electropop
Spooky Qs (spookyqs.com) - queer songs about amazing things (the new record is ENTIRELY repurposed protest songs!)
Shondes (shondes.com) - poppy, theatrical folk rock, with an edge and electric violin
Jeepneys (soundcloud.com/jeepneys) - groove heavy, world music influenced with live guitar and live rototoms
Inches to Pixels (reverbnation.com/inchestopixels ) - rockabilly feeling four piece with a raging female drummer
Seashell Radio (seashellradio.com) - folky boy/girl duo with the ability to rock!
Duck Fight Goose (duckfightgoose.bandcamp.com) - shanghai chillwave
Red Light Cameras (reverbnation.com/redlightcameras ) - pop punk songs about giggly topics, like bicycles and juice
This show was presented by
The Permanent Wave (thepermanentwave.org)
Tom Tom Magazine (tomtommag.com)
Break Yr Heart (breakyrheart.com)
MonkeyWrench Books (monkeywrenchbooks.org)
Day 25: Saturday, or, the big one
Departed San Antonio around 10am, after visiting the alamo.
Arrive austin about 11am, to set up for the show. Played first to open the showcase. Tons of awesome bands--
Acorn Bcorn - straight up old school kinderwhore style riotgrrl music, reminiscent of Babes in Toyland a little, Marina's voice more sonorous than Kat Bjelland's. Interesting set up-- side by side kits played with the feet primarily.
The Back Pockets - Weirdness to the power of 10. Came dressed like they were going to a Woodstock themed party at Studio 54. Set up an elaborate in front of stage thing. While the band played, a guy danced around fucking with the audience and pretending to be ascientist. The music was pretty eclectic, mostly like someone really likes the big builds in Arcade Fire. Would be at home in the Elephant 6 family. Overall, recommend seeing them. The show is worth it and the singer's voice alone is mesmerizing for at least 3 songs.
Agent Ribbons - HOLY TWEE batman! Agent Ribbons combines sweet 50s doo-wop chord progression with saccharine sweet vocals bemoaning all the liars the singer has
met. A duo, the guitar does more work than you'd think it should, especially given the relatively simple styling, and the drummer's call-and-response back ups make it so you don't even miss the bass.
TacocaT - Oh, TacocaT. Why is this band NOT on K records? Can we get them on K? They're adorable, fun, light and giggly. They are twee-rock, with irreverent lyrics about things like getting a new issue of Cat Fancy, smoking pot out of a vaporizer and the venerable (in girl band circles of late, anyway) Tanya Harding. This band is soul-related to EAR PWR for those who are familiar.
Christeene - I do not, still, 24 hours later, totally know what I think of Christeeene. When I first saw him, I was like "What the fuck?" granted, we were at a queer show, but he was wearing a fright wig, smeared make up (courtney love circa heroin) and had bruises painted all over his body. Then he climbed on stage and revealed some bizarre underpanties contraption. The show, though, was intriguing. The dance moves were fun and the backup dancers ridiculous and the rap would make Lil Kim blush. I don't think I would ever purchase this music, but my new friend Joey said I was in for a treat. If you like haunted houses, penises (there was a lot of penis, not gonna lie) and just draw dropping weirdness, then you just may like Christeene.
Went over to Whole Foods Austin...my new love affair. If I were ever here and not raw, I would probably gain 8000 pounds. They have a RAW station. It's almost entirely raw and it has apple pie and they carry those Hail Merry tarts that are the best thing I've tasted in a very long time. Like, if they get them in NC, I will eat them. From the raw station, I got a broccoli cashew salad and avocado kale salad. They were both good but I think I preferred the broccoli cashew.After dinner we wandered over to see Last Year's Men, who played great. I procured me a tee shirt with which to rep them on the road and at home, then we bounced to the BrooklynVegan showcase and caught Screamales, who were fine.
We left during Andrew WK.
Day 23:
Whole foods for raw falafel and raw tzitiki, broc cashew salad, another Hail Merry raw tart (meyer lemon) and coconut water.
Day party trek started with meeting up with our friends Lost in the Trees (Orchestral Folk Pop) who we had just missed due to ill timed eating/walking, then we headed to the Paste magazine party for We Were Promised Jetpacks, whose show was PACKED but epic. Big guitars, big scottish voice, little, young, scottish dudes.
They were immediately followed by Blitzen Trapper, who were loud and otherwise not noteworthy. We decided to walk to Cheer Up Charlie's to catch the Love Language, some other hometown buds, who played an amazing set. Upbeat, 60s influenced guitar and key pop with some noisier elements, then we wandered all the way back to Waterloo for Lucero, who are not my cup of tea but I respect the hell out of the band. They're country-twinged bar rock, and have a far reaching influence.
We went to the Mohawk for the Jagjaguar/Dead Oceans/Secretly Canadian party. The first band was not worth talking about, but!
Gardens and Villas were an erasure-esque synthpop band whose lead singer had a quiver full of FLUTES! (This fills me with glee) They were poppy and fun.
Bear in Heaven went next and I learned...that the lead singer of Bear in Heaven, an amazingly catchy synthpop band, has NO RHYTHM. It was hilarious, and the songs were great as always.
We bounced after Bear in Heaven, and I ate some Kale chips at the hotel.
Day 24:
MY SHOWCASE! I ran my first ever SXSW showcase for Permanent Wave, Tom Tom Magazine and Break Yr Heart up off the North Loop. It went as follows:
Attia Taylor (attiataylor.bandcamp.com) - keyboard and vocal loop songwriter
WOJCIK (wojcik.bandcamp.com) - hard hitting guitar songs with a rich alto voice
LAM! LAM! (lamlam.bandcamp.com) - this is my little pet project, electropop
Spooky Qs (spookyqs.com) - queer songs about amazing things (the new record is ENTIRELY repurposed protest songs!)
Shondes (shondes.com) - poppy, theatrical folk rock, with an edge and electric violin
Jeepneys (soundcloud.com/jeepneys) - groove heavy, world music influenced with live guitar and live rototoms
Inches to Pixels (reverbnation.com/
Seashell Radio (seashellradio.com) - folky boy/girl duo with the ability to rock!
Duck Fight Goose (duckfightgoose.bandcamp.com) - shanghai chillwave
Red Light Cameras (reverbnation.com/
This show was presented by
The Permanent Wave (thepermanentwave.org)
Tom Tom Magazine (tomtommag.com)
Break Yr Heart (breakyrheart.com)
MonkeyWrench Books (monkeywrenchbooks.org)
After the show (where I scarfed a couple of raw bars) I met Kyle for some whole foods, which was a HUGE meal for me-- happy "tuna" salad (which was AWESOME), an avocado, a raw tart and a pint of cherry tomatoes. We wandered down to try and get into the Merge show, but couldn't, so we just decided to go home. I was pooped.
Day 25: Saturday, or, the big one
We got a little bit of a late start and hit whole foods for the first meal; I went ahead and tried actually ordering a "to go meal" from the raw "restaurant" (station) in Whole Foods. I got the pizza, which was almond and flax crisps topped with raw marinara, spinach, mushrooms and macadamias, nutritional yeast and garlic and came with a side, so I got the broccoli cashew salad. I also got some fruit salad, a kombucha and I tried a "lemon cheesecake cup" from the raw cafe which was totally vile. We headed over to the Deville and Mohawk, whose day parties were mad busy. We tried to get in elsewhere and finally ended up seeing, well, a lot of nothing. We stopped by Bull McCabe's Austin and watched a little basketball, then we went into Beerland and saw Terrible Twos and Bass Drum of Death, and they were both pretty rad. We then headed to sidebar but the band was ridiculous so we bounced.
I headed back to the car to grab a sweater and some Raw bars, then went directly to Red 7 to wait for my boys to start. First act I saw was called Odonis Odonis, and they were pretty noisy guitar feedy stuff, with a synth pad drummer.
Up next was some band whose name I forgot but they were not memorable.
VELVET TEEN then got up and shredded. Velvet Teen are a 90s/early 2000s rock and roll band with great guitar interplay, a little synth backing occasionally and lots of energy and good time. The only downside was that I was standing behind that couple who were like, bro-ing out and fist bumping the whole time.
Next was Breton, whose set ended literally 3 minutes after VT's but sounded really good so I plan to check them out. Then came Twilight Sad, a scottish band who were sort of cure-ish, and built up decent grooves but overall kind of dull. The power went out in the middle of their 2nd to last song which was pretty lame.
Jetpacks came on at 12, and I stayed for a few tunes,
but then decided to bounce to make sure I got over to Braid. Braid are an emo/post-hardcore band from Champlain, IL. They are also one of my favorite bands of the past few years. The show was not super full when I arrived, only $5 and I got a great spot up front. The boys were bantering like an old comedy team. It was truly a joy to watch them, and they played tons of awesome tunes, including almost every single one I wanted to hear. I really wanted to stick around and try to talk to them for a minute, but we had to get up at 7:30 to get Kyle to the airport.
but then decided to bounce to make sure I got over to Braid. Braid are an emo/post-hardcore band from Champlain, IL. They are also one of my favorite bands of the past few years. The show was not super full when I arrived, only $5 and I got a great spot up front. The boys were bantering like an old comedy team. It was truly a joy to watch them, and they played tons of awesome tunes, including almost every single one I wanted to hear. I really wanted to stick around and try to talk to them for a minute, but we had to get up at 7:30 to get Kyle to the airport.
The walk back to my car was ridiculous, by the way. I haven't ever in my life been asked if I wanted to party more times.
Day 26:
I dropped Kyle at the airport, filled my car with gas and went to Whole Foods to grab some more provisions for the road. I picked up one more Hail Merry tart, some apples, some bananas, some kiwi berries, cherry tomatoes and some of the hail merry treated nuts.
I met up with my high school friend Emily who now lives in Austin and we reminisced about the weirdness that was high school for us. I lost track of time a little and before I knew it it was almost four, which meant I really needed to get on the road. I mainly just noshed on my fruit and nuts from whole foods and arrived and got settled in OKC. I was way tired and crashed out pretty much AT 10pm.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Raw for Lent: Days 20-21 and TOUR!
Day 20: Monday
So I got up eaarly, around 7:30 AM and got on the road to New Orleans. I realized the time zone changes, but I was already up so I headed out to the road. A big shout out to Curt and Lauren who were as hospitable as
hospitable can be.
The drive was scenic and pretty to start with; in the mountains of Georgia. Atlanta looked lovely. I decided to pull off and try the "Raw Life" cafe in Montgomery, Alabama. It was in a small house in an obviously formerly residential neighborhood. When I walked in, nobody seemed to be around, but the place was
mostly tidy. There didn't appear to be a ton of options, so I surveyed what looked best and settled on the broccoli salad. It was chopped broccoli, peppers and onions in what tasted like garlic tahini dressing. It was tastier than I had anticipated it being and I ate it pretty fast.
Montgomery was just about the halfway point to NOLA. I continued on the journey, snacking on the rest of my kale chips, an apple, my last banana and my cherry tomatoes.
I arrived at the Mudlark about 2 hours early, so headed across town to what was supposed to be a NOLA juice bar/raw place, but was a hair salon. Grrr Happy Cow. I ended up going to the mediterranean place across the street called "Mona's" where I paid $5 for a salad that would probably fit in my hand. I even put my hand down for comparison. For the record, no, it wasn't a bowl.
The Mudlark is a pretty amazing building. It started as a green grocer in the 1800s and then added a frycook element. It has a sort of Pinhook meets theatre vibe. It is also decorated with very groovy handmade paper mache puppets, created and built by the building's owner Pandora Gastelum and her creative partner Amanda Stone. I attached a picture of my favorite-- naturally a horse, but there were tons of them hanging up in the room where I stayed. Some, namely the fruit bats, were a little creepier than others.
The show was pretty good but sparsely attended. I played with a band called Vio/Mire from RI/ME that had two cellos. The guy's voice was reminiscent of Conor Oberst's, and his lyrics also recalled Bright Eye's heavy handed metaphor. I have some video of a couple of songs. The singer/songwriter, Brendan, also had an AMAZING old school organ that was like, 36x30x12 and opened up in the back and used what seemed like accordion guts to make sounds.
Day 21: Tuesday
I had sort of fitful sleep in New Orleans, but woke up early to drive around some. Pandora, my gracious hostess, sent me to a juice bar called Satsuma that was actually operational, but was sadly out of cucumber. I ordered a "green drink" which was supposed to be Cucumber, Apple, Fennel, Kale, Lemon and Celery. I traded Carrot in for the cucumber, and it was good. I had been developing a starving headache, I think, and this quelled it some.
I drove around the french quarter and up the Esplanade then decided to skip the museums and just head to San Antonio. Louisiana was quickly gone and into Texas I rolled.
Texas is gorgeous. I mean, as a horsey person, even in the gatory/oily parts (btw, I totally should've gone to the "hold a baby gator" farm. oh, americana), the sheer vastness of the fields begs to be reconciled. You can just imagine galloping them. You can not imagine how long they go on the way they do. It's like the desert, with trees and grass.
Anyway, around 2:30 I rolled up into Houston, who, according to Happy Cow, has 3 raw restaurants! I drove to the first, The Vegan Cafe, whose entry on HC promised Raw options and delicious ones at that. First off, I waited around until about 3 (because the app doesn't have hours on it) and then the very nice lady told me that she just didn't get enough business for raw and stopped making it. So I punched in the next place, only a mile away! Pat Greer's Kitchen. Well, it was in a house. And the door was closed. So I drove on. Turns out, Pat Greer's open kitchen closes at 3. Boo. Finally, I just got frustrated and went to a My Fit Foods and bought Pat Greer's pre-packaged meals. I got a veggie burger meal and an "asian fusion" meal which was really a salad with some spices added. They were both alright. The burgers were a little heavy for me. Once I added cherry tomatoes to the salad, it was totally alright. I also snacked through the day on a Pur citrus bar, a fiber raw organic bar, some kumquats and an apple.
Finally, I arrived in San Antonio at around 6pm, to my friends Doug (former drummer of tEH vODAK and current drummer of the Baby Moons) and Amy's house that they recently purchased. It is SO CUTE. My first act after friendly hellos and whatnot was to get my dirty self into a shower. They ate dinner and I inhaled the rest of my salad from Pat Greer's, then we headed out to a bar called The Mix to meet up with my friend Lauel, from the band Mrs. Howl. We had a few drinks, then came home and are trying to crash out by 12:30. Hooray friends in San Antonio!
Monday, March 12, 2012
Raw for Lent: Day 19
So today was unofficial day 1 of tour. I got up after staying up way too late last night practicing my dance moves and the SPRING FORWARD (d'oh) and finished packing, then got a new key made for my friend who is going to check on the house when I'm gone, picked up my laser imaged CDs as well as some listening food-for-thought (thank you so much Mel T at 307 Knox!) stopped at the Durham food truck rodeo and picked up some of the Triangle Raw Foodists pad thai and blueberry tart. These two items were delicious. I really can't overstate how much I love spiralized zucchini as a pasta substitute I have to get some of those macadamia nuts and try to make that nooch and mac sauce.
Finally, at 4pm, after debating whether to bring a back up electric or an acoustic, and changing out 3 times, going over my checklist twice, I got on the road. As I approached Asheville, I realized I forgot a pillow, but oh well! I have a towel. I hung out with Curt Rat Jackson until his fiancee, Lauren came home. She is in a new band with some dudes in a Tom Waits cover band called Asheville Waits? I think? Anyway, we ate some mango and played some mario and now it's midnight, I have an 11 hour drive to NOLA tomorrow and must leave no later than 8am to make it there at a reasonable time.
Photos of awesome things forthcoming!
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Raw for Lent: Day 18
So I got up and went to teach. I didn't really have enough time to get much in the way of food, but ran by Trader Joe's and picked up a cantaloupe and an avocado. I dropped the dogs off with my friend Andi, then came home and screen printed about 70 tee shirts with my friend Molly.
I cut up my cantaloupe, then went over to visit my friend Missisppi's new baby. Picked up some pills and toiletries, treated myself to salad bar and Bubbie's sauer kraut for dinner.
I packed up, practiced the set a little, had some almonds, then went to bed. Getting ready to leave now.
Friday, March 9, 2012
Raw for Lent: Day 16-17
Thurs, Day 16
Barn day means FUN! I got up early and snarfed an avocado while Sean and I did the pre-lim on my car before the big trip, then ate half an apple on the way to the barn with Cat and gave Jazz the other half. He was a pretty fresh boy; bucking a little, crow hoppy. We only were able to get over two jumps, so we tried trotting, then tried cantering, trot, canter.
When I got home, I whirred up a fake V8 juice:
2 slicing tomatoes
4 stalks celery
1 romaine heart
juice of 2 limes
and drank it at work. After work, I picked up some more kale, zucchini, banans and a kombucha as a treat for myself. I ended up snacking on a banana and putting chips, kale and zucchini to bake.
Friday, Day 16:
Got up and hit the gym first thing, then got new back tires for the car. When I came home, I set the rest of the zucchini chips to go, unloaded the kales. This time I did a nooch and EVOO kale chip with lacinado (the dinosaur) kale...holy crap the nutritional yeast plus the lacinado so MUCH better. It's easier to get this kind of kale covered, and it lays flat in the dehydrator.
Anyway, snacked on the nooch kale chips on the way to raleigh to buy screening supplies, then came home, cleaned out the car and then went to work.
I also solidified the SXPW showcase today! Woohoo!
Worked super late, and tonights snack was the zucchini chips. I read somewhere that you only need to leave them in for 2 hours, but mine were like 10, and they were pretty much perfect, so be warned. Kale chippiers are liars! :0
Anyway, I have an early day and am exhausted, so off to beddy bye for this guy!
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Raw For Lent: Day 15
So this is pretty much 1/3!
I started the day off with an avocado and trying to take care of as much pre-tour prep as possible...getting my car checked out, getting my tires rotated (THEY ARE BALD WAH!)
At home, made a juice to carry for the day-- two grapefruits, some grapes and then chia gel, unspun, mixed in, for the nice seedy texture. I also set up some kale chips going in the new dehydrator, and they are done and they RULE. Well, they should be saltier/oilier but the pockets of salt and oil are pretty good. Any suggestions for good kale chip recipes would be appreciated.
We came in second at quiz, and nothing to report otherwise. Happy Wednesday, all!
Raw for Lent: Days 13-14
Monday, Day 13:
On another note, I don't often get into politics, but feel it is necessary to start to raise awareness for something that is a really important issue here in the state of North Carolina. The civil and human rights of people in same-sex partnerships in the state of North Carolina are currently under a huge threat. Amendment One proposes to make the same-sex marriage ban in North Carolina part of the state constitution.
This bill would essentially lay the groundwork to invalidate existing same-sex arrangements like custody, estate settlements without wills, visitation rights at hospitals and prison and could even be used to overturn restraining orders or convictions based on "domestic violence."
If you would like to know more about the amendment from a fairly unbiased source, you can see the BallotPedia Page for Amendment One. If you would like to contribute or get involved, Protect All NC Families is an excellent organization doing fine work. The best thing you can do, though, is tell anyone you know in North Carolina about this upcoming issue.
Monday meant some more yoga, but I bailed. I ended up finishing the recording for the LAM! LAM! tour and getting my screens set up and considering paint color, then hit the gym. Food was...a banana. An apple. A noble attempt to eat more kale salad both before and after work, then a grapefruit and a handful of almonds for dinner/pre-bed snack.
Tuesday, Day 14:
Today was a barn day! Sadly, Shep, my trainer, doesn't think Jazz is ready to do lessons, so I rode Newman, my old love. Newman is still a totally awesome horse; just am totally amped on Jazz. Regardless of a little misbehavior (apparently, Newman has not been ridden again since I last rode him!) and silliness, he was a very good boy and listened well.
After riding, I decided to finally pull out my Sun Warrior and made a shake of almonds, water, chia gel and frozen strawberries, which I put in my bag for work and drank there. I forgot how congealed the Sun Warrior shakes tend to get. Or maybe it's the Chia doing it. Whatever, I choked it down but the shake wasn't as filling as I remembered said shakes being, so I ended up stopping at Whole Foods and picking up some new stuff. I got some more kale, zucchini, tomatoes, apples, a little guac and these "Brad's Raw" chips.
So reviewing the Brad's Raw Chips. I decided to go for the "cheddar" version because I wanted something to eat with guacamole and figured the nacho type chip would be the best for my needs. First thing, these chips are EXPENSIVE. Like, $8. Ouch. But, they are good. Some of them are better than others (like, in the same bag), because the slightly thicker ones, while sturdier, have that sort of chewy fruit leather texture as a opposed to the light crunch of the thinner ones. Overall, my impression was that they tasted like slightly spicy, healthy wheat thins. And ya know, that works for me. Hell, it's probably even worth the $8 splurge every so often, like tonight, when I just want something quick and easy and tasty. Or when I'm craving the bready crunch. Also, they supposedly give away free chips and prizes (HELLO I WOULD LIKE SOME FREE CHIPS THANKS!) if you join the mailing list or like them on facebook. So overall, I'd say the company is not totally evil and the product is good, but this is definitely a once-in-a-while indulgence because of the price, so stick to your sun warrior and apples and bananas if you are cheap like I am.
BUT that said, I did just totally splurge on a food dehydrator so I'm gonna make some kale chips and zucchini chips and maybe fruit leather yayyyy.
On another note, I don't often get into politics, but feel it is necessary to start to raise awareness for something that is a really important issue here in the state of North Carolina. The civil and human rights of people in same-sex partnerships in the state of North Carolina are currently under a huge threat. Amendment One proposes to make the same-sex marriage ban in North Carolina part of the state constitution.
Just to be clear, same sex marriage is ALREADY illegal in the state of North Carolina.
This bill would essentially lay the groundwork to invalidate existing same-sex arrangements like custody, estate settlements without wills, visitation rights at hospitals and prison and could even be used to overturn restraining orders or convictions based on "domestic violence."
If you would like to know more about the amendment from a fairly unbiased source, you can see the BallotPedia Page for Amendment One. If you would like to contribute or get involved, Protect All NC Families is an excellent organization doing fine work. The best thing you can do, though, is tell anyone you know in North Carolina about this upcoming issue.
Regardless of how you or your family feels about same-sex marriage, remember, it is ALREADY ILLEGAL in the state. This bill is not about banning gay marriage in NC, but is about the LEGAL marginalization of a minority group. Replace "gay" with any other minority group and you'll know how to vote. We are beyond this as a culture.
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