• It looks like I picked the wrong year to stop drinking soda. Pei Wei Asian Diner in Phoenix unveiled its new soda fountain this week, and it offers a startling 106 different flavors. You can get Diet Coke with lime, vanilla, orange, cherry, and raspberry. Or mix in all kinds of crazy shit from all the different Coke brans. I might have to make an exception the next time I’m in Phoenix and grab a soda from Pei Wei. [story]
• The most depressing news story of the week (which you’ll recognize if we’re friends on Facebook) is that the FDA has asked that Darvon and Darvocet — as well as their generic counterparts — be taken off the market. Darvocet is a pretty weak opioid analgesic, but if you take three or four of them at a time you could actually have a pretty good time. A friend of mine in college had them prescribed for her menstrual cramps, and she had a giant bottle of them in her bathroom, which I would steal from every time I went over to her place. So, me six or seven years ago is totally bummed out about this news. Next thing you know, the government will needlessly start recalling caffeine and alcohol beverages! [story]
• Since I will not be posting another world news update before next weekend, I need to tell you this right now: Your Thanksgiving feast needs to include a buffalo fried turkey. I’m thinking about trying to pull this off. Check it out. [story]
• They’re calling the movie Iron Sky a sci-fi comedy, but that doesn’t mean it’s terrible enough for me to want to see it. Was Dead Snow considered a comedy? I’m at a point in my life right now where I’m only watching movies I want to see (caught Who Is Harry Nilsson… last week and was floored by how good it was) and films that receive 1 star or less on Netflix. So I don’t know if Iron Sky is worth my time yet. The plot sounds cool, though: it focuses on a real-life SS officer “who was said to have made a significant breakthrough in antigravity experiments towards the end of WWII. The film relates how, from a secret base in the Antarctic, the first Nazi spaceships were launched in 1945 to found the military base Schwarze Sonne — Black Sun — on the dark side of the moon. This base was to be used to build a powerful invasion fleet and return to take over the Earth once the time was right, in this case 2018.” Interesting idea, right? But does it suck? One can only hope…[story]
• My mother read the article I wrote which was published by The Frisky and called me today to discuss it. Her initial reaction — in typical Jewish mother fashion — was to ask whether or not I was offended by the comments questioning my faith and whether or not I was a Jew, a practicing Jew, a reform Jew, or a Jew hater. She didn’t seem at all perturbed by the subject matter or the language, just the fact that some comments questioned if her son was a bad Jew. She said she thought it was well-written, became slightly angry that people thought it wasn’t well-written (she cited her credentials as an English teacher as authorization to judge my ability), and she was happy that some people “got it.” Thanks, ma! I can’t wait for you to read my next article, about the girl I ditched mid-sex because she was annoying me.
• And, lastly, I attended another record party last night. It was vastly different from the one at which I was present last week. For starters, it was all people from work plus one former employee and one regular customer. Most of the tunes played were upbeat and dance-y and fun. Little attention was paid to the provenance of each record, and people drank way more. I spun some Claudio Rocchi, Lord Kitchener, Chorchazade, Orchestra La Justicia, Plastic People Of The Universe, Glaxo Babies, and a couple other records. It was a good time. The set up at the apartment include two turntables and a mixer, so the person who thought they had a song that flowed well with the previous song was supposed to try and match beats or fade-in as flawlessly as possible. My matching needs some work.
• And, very lastly, I’m working on perfecting my new 101/1001 list, which will take me from January 1st, 2011 to…whatever 1,001 days in the future is. If you have any suggestions regarding what I should try to accomplish in that time period, let me know.
Image courtesy of Serious Eats
November 21st, 2010
I think, based on your desire to perfect a new 101/1001 list and your article on The Frisky (which I signed up for so that I could comment on your article…I don’t even know who most of these celebrities are! ha!), that you should try and shoot an actual animal. Where I currently live, the animal of choice is the prairie dog. This animal is of particular annoyance to ranchers, as prairie dogs tend to destroy all vegetation around their little holes and thus cause all sorts of damage in the form of erosion, not to mention degrading the quality of grazing land for beeves. I mention this because the shooting of animals is difficult for many, but easier when realizing the destructive nature of the target creature. But this is merely an example. Somewhere there is a creature waiting to be shot for the good of pretty much everything, and you should find that creature.
November 21st, 2010
What are the sound systems like at these listening parties?
November 21st, 2010
The first one was a Numark (I think) turntable going through a standard multi-input digital receiver passed through speakers I didn’t see but I knew had to be there because I know I was hearing sound. The second one was two Technics 1200s through a pre-amp into a bunch of small bookshelf speakers spread around the room. I think. That’s what it sounded like. No one had great audiophile hardware that I noticed. Maybe when I’m comfortable enough to host one at my own home…