Wow - i never update this any more.

 

I'm on my way to Singapore/Bali/Japan for a couple of weeks, though, and this'll be a good way to tell a couple of stories.

 

Like leaving my apt yesterday, getting into a cab in front of my building, and having the victrola folks across the street shout "have a great trip, Steve!" as i did.  Initially i didn't see where it came from, and was sort of confused at the disembodied voice of Pike Street knowing my name and wishing me a good trip.

Or like sitting next to the mayor of LA on the plane to LA yesterday, watching him shake hands with everybody that walked by while making a bunch of frantic phone calls to try to facilitate some sort of settlement to the Hollywood writers' strike, before we took off.

 

I'm off to Singapore in a couple of hours; will write more from there....

 

I'm going to Tokyo for (American) thanksgiving weekend, and you should come. 

 

Here's why.  Well, that plus sushi.

Really? 

 

Go!  Watch it!

OMG BEST SHOW EVER.

 

OK, with that out of the way, you've really gotta go see Daft Punk if you get the chance.  Last night at WaMu, they put on the best big show i've ever seen.  The WaMu Theater is widely regarded as the crappiest venue in town, i was exhausted from a week of randomness and a weekend watching other bands (in better, smaller venues) at the Capitol Hill Block Party, and i've heard so many good things about Daft Punk's show that my expectations were ridiculously high.  After all that, the show still knocked me on my ass.  You figure out a way to go, and you go.  Maybe you should go to Vegoose, or bring me to Vegoose.

Well, not really.  But a cost comparison of shopping at them, vs shopping at the QFC or wherever...

 

 

My (anecdotal) feeling is that if you take seasonality into account when deciding what to buy, farmer's markets are the cheapest, and sometimes only, place to get food at the quality level they offer.  Pike Place Market greengrocers have equal to slightly lower quality at similar prices, but make up for it in range.  Whole Foods can be comparable quality (or worse, in some cases), but is more expensive.  QFC is highly variable - some stuff's cheaper, some stuff (esp non-mainstream produce) is more expensive.  Trader Joe's doesn't even count.

Where do you shop?

All of a sudden, there's a bunch of stuff happening in Sept:

Sasquatch 2007 was fantastic; i camped with a fun little posse and saw lots of good bands.  There are a million reviews everywhere though, so instead, i'd just like to mention the Bjork Chop!  Let's go eat one.

 

They're back; i love it.  It lets me pretend that Calgary's just around the corner, a nice walk through the forest away.

 

I lied: i got nothing on beets or battlestar galactica.

 

 

 

The Restaurant Zoe people are planning a gastropub just up the street from me. 

 

Eeeee!

I wasn't sold on the social networking thing at all...myspace is an ugly pain in the butt, and no one from my school past is there.

 

Turns out all of Canada is on facebook, and i found a ton of old friends within a couple of days of joining.  Including one who happened to be visiting Seattle, staying at a hotel 4 blocks from me, who i just had lunch with.  Goofy.

An interesting take on the American farm bill, and the politics and economics of unhealthy food.  Most of the public policy and economics conversations about nutrition and health focus on the demand side - this is a pretty good primer on the how and why of supply side changes that could do a lot of good.

I like Le Panier, and Macrina, and a bunch of the other usual bakery suspects in Seattle.  They're all good.  None of them are great, though, and I'd given up on finding really good croissants in this town.  Until sunday, when Brad and i went to Cafe Besalu.  Hot damn.  Better than any others i've had outside France, and up there with great French ones.  Great quiche, too...i'm looking forward to working through more of the menu.

 

I think my summer sunday mornings are going to be all about Cafe Besalu plus the Ballard Market...

I've been posting very, very rarely lately.  Look for much more frequent, much less consequential posts.

 

Like links to random articles like this one, on the hidden costs of free parking.  Interesting everyday economics problem you (read: I) had never thought of before.

 

Oh my - July 27-29 is going to be the weekend of the outdoor dance party.  Daft Punk is Sunday, and now there's this:

 

 

Girl Talk outside on a summer night = happy time.  Add Silversun Pickups, Grand Archives, and a bunch more, and friday's looking pretty good.  Spoon's a pretty impressive booking for saturday, too, though maybe redundant with a Sasquatch appearance this year and a mainstage Bumbershoot show last year.  I don't know the other saturday bands that have been announced so far; anyone?

I sorta forgot to write about my initial experience with Cache, one of the many underground restaurants popping up around Seattle.

 

I randomly happened into an invite to their Southern Feast a few weeks ago, and enjoyed the experience a lot.  I was wary going in, and had fairly low expectations due to Karen's experience there.  I agree with a couple of the comments around physical setup, but overall the food outweighed that for me.  I enjoyed everything i ate, and there were a couple of really standout dishes - all southern standards, but a couple were done better than i've ever had before.  Greens were hammy and rich and fantastic (and they were kind enough to share the recipe; i've been eating them frequently ever since), baked beans were good, and i hadn't had really good crispy southern-style fried chicken in a long time.  Two minor food quibbles - small amuses or something to go with the cocktails would have been great, and i would have preferred a non-beer option to go with dinner.  That was on the menu, though, and they'd chosen to offer a beer selection specifically for that night (where normally it's wine pairings), so it's hardly something to fault them on.

 

I'm planning on going back, to one of the 'trying to kill you' dinners.  I wanna try their bacon wrapped pork belly thing, but mainly i get the impression that those dishes (and the wine pairings and overall tone of the thing) are closer to their ideal, to how they'd cook their ultimate dinner party, and i want to see how they do at their core thing.

 

I was going to write a blurb about dinner parties vs underground restaurants vs 'normal' restaurants, but i think i'll save it until after i've been back.  For now, let me just say that the Cache people were friendly, fun, and interesting, and it'd be fun to get to know (and cook for, or with) them at some point.  Oh, and that despite Karen's flattery, the meal at Cache was as good or better than anything i've made or had at other friends' dinner parties.

 

From the "yeah, i probably won't get around this either" file: New Urban Eats.

 

It's like 25 for $25, only, well, only it's exactly like 25 for $25.  Except for the price, i guess, though even that was only a matter of time.  No crazy half-price lunch deal, which is too bad.  Meh.

(thanks Metroblogging)

Hey MSN Messenger: you have the ability to send messages to and from cell phones.  You also have a little space after my name, where i can say random stuff and all my friends will see it.  Down the hall from you, there's people building Spaces.  Couldn't you have got together and made Twitter, like, years ago?  Why didn't you?

 

Nothing much happened this weekend, unless you count walking on a beach, sitting in the sun, and eating a lot of fish tacos.  And a lot of carnitas tacos, from the awesome roadside stand that sold carnitas by the pound.  Oh, and a mexican bank machine ate my debit card - stupid cajero automaticos.