INKSTAND

Jeremy took me to lunch at Earth and Ocean so we could try their American Kobe Beef Burger. Here’s the menu description:

american kobe burger
onion jam, fontina or beecher’s peppercorn cheese, french fries

This picture is not the actual burger, but it is representative of the juiciness of the burger. We ordered them medium rare but they were brown throughout, no pink ribbon. Also, for whatever reason, the fryer was down and we couldn’t have fries so we had sala instead. Despite these thing, this was hands down the best damn burger I’ve had in this city. It is way worth the $14, but that’s because it’s not an everyday meal. Special burger occasions only.
Oh, my god, it was so fucking good.
Thanks, baby. And by the way next time we go out, it’s on me.

Ever since I started going to the gym and walking up from 2nd Ave to 4th, to catch the 17 bus home, I have passed this tiny place, curious about it’s quality and enchanted by it’s aroma. Today I decided to boldly go somewhere I’ve never gone and try it out.
The prices seemed decent. It was five-something for a sandwich, seven-something for a sandwich, side, and soda. Once inside I noticed that the place was even smaller than I though it would be. It was about four feet wide and ten feet deep, at the most. The register was at the far end and there were two small tables along side the windows. I’ll tell more about those tables in a minute. I saw two dudes sitting, waiting before me and a lady making a purchase at the register. I wondered how long the whole process would take, from ordering to leaving the place. I shit you not, it took less than three minutes. No, less than two. I ordered, paid, and right after she made my change, she handed me my sandwich and potato salad in a to-go container. Damn, I was impressed. But…how was the sandwich?
I decided to wait until I got home to eat because I didn’t feel like getting into a sloppy bbq sandwich on the bus. I did, however, sneak several bites of the potato salad. They have a sign that says something like “Best Potato Salad Served Here.” I admit it was pretty good. There were no crunchy little surprises like onions or pickles or anything. But I like hard-boiled eggs in my potato salad. I’m a weirdo that way.
They have a choice of bbq: mild, medium or hot. I always go with mild. I recently tried to raise my spicy tolerance and I think it worked a little, but I usually want to “taste the meat, not the heat.” In this case “mild” pretty much meant no spiciness at all, so if you like spicy you should probably go all the way. The sandwich was good, hearty and full of slathery goodness that didn’t fall apart all over. I set it down when I felt full, but mere minutes later I picked it back up again and finished it.
Now back to those tables. When I was growing up the Wendy’s burger place in my town had these tables with old-tymey newspaper prints on the top. The last time I saw them was about seventh grade, before they remodeled. Well I’ll be fucked wide open if this place didn’t have two of those little tables sitting right there. I almost took a picture with my camera phone, but that camera sucks and I would have looked like a freak.
I definitely recommend the Mad Oven Barbecue for a good pulled-meat sandwich. Although it was so indulgent I probably won’t be able to go back for a little while. When I do, maybe I’ll try “medium”.

Let me say first off that the only reason I attended this show was because my boyfriend is in the chorus. That’s not to say I have any aversion to it in any way, it’s just that I probably wouldn’t have known it was happening otherwise, and even if I did I almost never go out and do things. He gets me out of the house, just another reason why he’s great. But hey, I’m not reviewing him, so…
Overall, the show was fabulous beyond my expectations and I had a lot of fun attending. The songs were, obviously, comprised of all songs from the 1980’s, most of them in medleys. There were dancers, some from the choir, performing in front of the choir as well as a smaller group called Captain Smartypants. Here’s the set:

Opening medley - Mr. Robato/I’m So Excited/Celebration/I’m Coming Out/Let’s Hear It for the Boy/Ready for the 80’s
The gym medley - Physical/Muscles/I Know What Boys Like/Don’t You Want Me/Another One Bites the Dust
Gentlemen callers medley - Who Can It Be Now/Smooth Operator/You Should Hear How She Talk About You/Call Me
Sweet Dreams
Cars medley - Drive/Cars/Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car/Freeway of Love/Pink Cadillac
True Colors (a capella)
Science medley - Weird Science/She Blinded Me with Science
Rock Me, Amadeus
Video medley - Mickey/Maniac/Whip It/Heaven Is a Place on Earth/Addicted to Love/Thriller
Movie medley - Xanadu/Flashdance/We Don’t Need Another Hero/It Might Be You/Let the River Run/Up Where We Belong/Wind Beneath My Wings/Arthur’s Theme/Making Love/Fame/Ghostbusters
Girls medley - Material Girl/Uptown Girl/Rich Girl/Rosanna/Billie Jean/Bette Davis Eyes/To All the Girls I’ve Loved Before/Venus/Simply Irresistible/Girls Just Want to Have Fun
Anthem (from Chess)
Closing medley - Shout/Karma Chameleon/Walk Like an Egyptian/I Wanna Dance with Somebody/Hungry Like the Wolf/Never Gonna Give You Up/Ready for the 80’s (reprise)
(Encore)
It’s Raining Men

I missed Mr Roboto because I was late, like I am for everything.
My favorite part, overall, was the harmony in the “Call Me” rendition. I think It was a four part harmony and it sounded really good! Full, clear and dynamic. Another great part was the Video Medley, during which the dancers gave it their all recreating videos for the songs. I particularly enjoyed “Heaven is a Place on Earth”, and the “Thriller” dance was fun, but I think the popular favorite was “Maniac” from Flashdance. The guy who did the Jennifer Beals dance was spot on and they used this sparkly glitter stuff in place of the water that was very visually impressive. I wish I had some pictures for you, but you’ll have to settle for streaming video. Click here to see the preview video.
The show also had a sign-language interpreter. I kept watching him thinking “There’s no way he’s saying everything!” A co-worker also went to the show and his girlfriend knows sign language. She said taht since it IS impossible to sign every single word, he was mostly conveying the feeling for what was being said, and doing it well. I believe it, he seemed to put a lot of emotion in to his actions.
Captain Smartypants stuck in my mind with their mash-up of “Wierd Science” and “She Blinded Me with Science.” I always liked the Oingo Boingo song, but not the Thomas Dolby one. Their fusion of the two, however, pleased my ear holes.
I do have a few small criticisms, though. Most of the dancing was done during the first half of the show, before the intermission. It would have been nice to see it a little more spread out in the last section. I dont’ have any recomendations as to HOW they could but, hey, I’m not a choreographer.
Also, I wish the “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” part was longer. They only used a small section of that song. Boo Hoo.
So, yes, I had a great time. I was entertained. And I hear that the last few concerts by the choir weren’t nearly as fun as this one. Since this is the first one I’ve attended I’m glad it was a good one.

Oh yeah, it’s over now so you can’t see it!

Last night (2-9-07) after attending the opening part for a Bruce Nauman exhibit at the Henry, Jeremy, some friends of his and myself went to Changes for drinks. I had a lot of fun, but I think that was due more to the company than the place we were at. I’ve never been drawn to gay bars (probably because I’ve never had many gay friends) and this place didn’t convince me that they are better than any other bar.
Upon arriving, we ordered a pitcher and each had a Jello shot. The Jello shots were only $1, and were great. This was, I think, only the second one I’ve ever had because every time I’d go to a party that had them, they’d be gone. That’s what I get for being Tardy McLaterson. The pitchers were octogonal and a little wider than usual, but that’s because there was this cylinder going right up through the middle. When it was expressed to the bar thender that we thought we might be getting less beer because of this, he told us it was so that the beer stayed cold. This was laughable, seeing as how the beer would never get a chance to be warm.
We drank on the back patio and I chain smoked as we talked with some colorful (crazy) people. There was a guy (who used to be a woman) who wanted to cut our hair. When Jeremy pointed out that neither of us had hair, he used the beard-trimming angle. I don’t even trim mine like I should, I’m not paying anyone to do it. The back patio had a tv showing videos from the likes of La Bouche and Kylie Minogue ( i think).
I didn’t like the bathroom. It was a closet of a place and the urinal and toilet ar crammed right up against near each other. I DID like the stack of VHS tapes on one table. it looks like some sort of exchange thing where you can take one for a donation and leave some. maybe. I didn’t look into it too much, but it might be a nice way for me to get rid of some of my crappy tapes ( and pick up more).
Jeremy said that he used to screen guys by taking them to Sunday brunch there. He’s never taken me probably because he knows I’d fail miserably. I’m sure I would.
Will I go there again? If I’m drinking with some cool dudes who want to go there again, sure. By myself? Never.

My friend Garrett, mastermind behind boontdusties.com (?) has started an internet radio station with his girlfriend Amber with the help of some others. I was supposed to put together a review show for them, but with my recent change of residence I didn’t really have a chance to do that AND drink a lot. Priorities.
The station launched on Jan. 1st and I caught a good portion of that show. It aired from 6pm to midnight, and everyday after it airs the previous night’s show at noon, then a new one at 6pm. They have played some really fantastic music so far. Right now they are playing Calvin Don’t Jump, and it’s really sending me. Its been great to surf the web to. There are a lot of indie/acoustic artists played, but I don’t think there’s a specific sound they’re looking for. They played some Indian music earlier tonight. There is a weekly show from the basement of Bop Street Records in Ballard where they play records based just on the album covers. I can’t wait to hear that one.
I will continue to listen to Hollow Earth Radio as long as they are going, and maybe one day you’ll hear me on it. This is one of my friends’ crazy ventures that is actually worthwhile.

My car broke down in August. I have yet to make any attempt to remedy this, although I should since I’m moving at the end of this month. I hate moving. Since then I’ve taken the bus everywhere, stupidly paying for each trip, scrounging for change every time. Today I decided to bite the bullet and buy an unlimited ride pass.
When I did this I felt a sting in my most sensitive spot…my wallet. I did the math and it would take 36 rides to make the $54.00 pass worth my money. I assure you I will be taking at least that many rides. It will be nice to have it handy, not having to dig through my change jar every time I have to go to work. And it sure beats hitting my boyfriend up for bus fare everytime we go somewhere.

I got some of these today at the Original Pancake House. Thay are what you’d imagine: chopped up bits of bacon cooked into the pancakes. When I spread rich creamery butter on them it felt so wrong, but that was quickly dismissed by the feeling of it being sooooo right! The problem was the way it was served. You get six pancakes, wich is a bit over the top, and no sides. They were tasty, but I could have done with three pancakes and some eggs and/or hash browns.

First of all, I hate dancing. Secondly, I didn’t know discos still existed. The other night some friends of friends were going to 80’s dance night and invited me along. Dancing? The eighties? What posessed me? Probably the fact that I was already drunk. And as much as I don’t like dancing, I’ve learned that if I have enough booze in me I can keep at it for a while. My ankles just get tired because the only dance I know is the twist.
So Neighbors’ entrance is in an alleyway. This was kind of creepy, but when I hung out there to smoke, I kind of felt like a hoodlum. There’s a huge dance floor and people dance. I guess that’s what’s supposed to happen. I didn’t know if it was a gay joint at first, becasue the crowd seemed pretty mixed. I suppose dance clubs attract fags like flies to shit anyway, but I looked it up an it is a gay joint. The atmosphere was pretty relaxed, which was really cool. I tend to feel out of place in most gay bars for some reason.
I think the best part about it was that there was this spot in the back behind a glass wall with a couple couches and tables and stuff, so you could get away from the mostly shitty music that was playing. Ok, it wasn’t all that bad, but while there I DID realize that George Michael’s “I Want Your Sex” makes me want to peel my skin off with a pair of pliers. I just now remembered (i was drunk!) having a rolling chair fight with one of the other guys. I’m suprised they didn’t get mad at us about that. I was beyond caring, it was fun.
So, I don’t know what the cover was, but that would probably be a determining factor in whether i go there or not again.