#91 - artsy fartsy.

when i was but a wee lad, i used to spend many vacations with my mom's parents in westboro, mass, located on the east edge of worcester county. of my childhood stories, one of the ones that i enjoy telling the most is about how one summer, while staying with them, i decided that i was going to draw a series of pictures of fruits in crayon on 8 1/2" x 11" paper. the lemon, red grapes, the apple, the grapefruit--they were all there. when i completed the series, i cut them out & delivered them to all their neighbors. the result: my art was exhibited on the fridges of a one block radius of westboro for weeks.

since then, other than writing, my artistic output & inspiration comes in sporadic spurts. in college & the few years after, when i was still using my film degree, i churned out five scripts for feature films, all currently in various stages of re-draft. back in 2003-04, spurred by a layoff & a sizable severance package, i took a few months off & crudely home-recorded three albums & a couple of eps/singles under the currently-retired moniker "wunderkind." during that time, i also assembled a series of three twenty page or so pamphlets, all labeled "government issued book," covering topics such as "how to be a good patriot," "how to be a rockstar" and "the pigeon initiative." through the years, there have also been a few times when i dabbled in pastel drawings or fancied myself a painter...totally artsy.

there's this one canvas i've had sitting on my floor for months, painted with one solid color as a background but otherwise bare. i've been staring at it for some time, not knowing what to do with it until friday night, when i was feeling inspired & was staying in after a week that included a few positive events & some actual social activity, some of it with interesting artist types. i'm happy with the results so far & will probably finish it up this weekend.  since it's my habit of eventually giving away all my finished super-awesome paintings (hey, hang this crazy thing on your wall!), i'm assuming it'll end up in someone's abode, on their wall or in their closet sometime soon...unless i get fickle between now & then.

i suppose these artistic spurts come from this part of me, the part that's bored with what's out there artistically & is trying to fill that void by creating something of my own.  it's the same part that enjoys taking photos at weird angles & then running them through fifty photoshop filters to see what happens.  par example, i took this one on friday night on a run to the bodega...



totally artsy.

#91 - artsy fartsy.
snack: deep river snacks asian sweet & spicy potato chips
drink: tanner's jack fine ale


while i was painting, every time i stepped back from the canvas to assess my progress & give myself a pat on the back, i munched from a bag of deep river snacks asian sweet & spicy potato chips. deep river snacks, based out of old lyme (disease), connecticut, uses all natural ingredients in their products and embraces the kettle chip, which i'm all for. coming from a state whose population is approx 3% asian, i'm impressed that they were able to get the flavor right...actually, maybe "right" isn't the right word.

by "right," i mean that they've created a flavor that's pretty much the same thing as the kettle chips' spicy thai flavor, with a blend of spices that doesn't remind me of anything specifically asian, but is damn tasty regardless.  unfortunately, i only bought a 1.5 oz bag, as that's the only size they had at the cafe i found myself purchasing snacks in after leaving a wednesday night roof deck concert performance/gathering in williamsburg...that's right! williamsburg, brooklyn!  i'm so damn hip...and totally artsy.

since painting & drinking go together like jackson pollock & a bottle of whiskey or scotch or gin or vodka or wine, i'm having a tanner's jack fine ale with these feisty asian chips. tanner's is made by greene king brewery, the same u.k. gents who make old speckled hen ale & a ton of other brands, a number of which were acquired through a series of takeovers that has made them the u.k.'s largest british-owned brewery.

the flavor leaves something to be desired.  i purchased it at a reputable establishment with a beer selection that turns over rather quickly, so i'm going to assume that the slightly bitter/slightly skunky taste is what they're going for flavorwise.  it's like a good newcastle gone bad...must be one of those "acquired tastes," like something by lars von trier...bitter & meant to be experienced, not enjoyed, probably just misunderstood.

nosh nook #36 - monday, may 4, 2009

machine dispenses snacks while bbc talks doom and gloom about the economy (link)
05.03.09 - slipperybrick.com - by conner flynn

how would you like it if every time you got bad news, you got a snack as well? swine flu has shuttered your country? here's a bag of doritos for you. your fiance is a murderer? crack open a cool, crisp nestea. eighty civilians died today in a bombing in your village market? have a clark bar. it's pretty obvious that if we had vending machines that took the edge off bad news with a free snack, life would be a lot sweeter. at the plymouth college of art, in the u.k., such a vending machine exists. in this case, it's just an art project, but that's technically still reality.

as flynn notes in the article, bbc headlines come up on a monitor attached to the vending machine. every time a headline speaks to bad economic news, the vending machine dispenses a packet of walker's crisps, which you can take. glasgow based ellie harrison, the current artist in residence at plymouth college of art, developed the piece, which speaks to both generosity & "a time in the future when our access to food may literally be determined by wider political or environmental events. we may not be able to access what we want, when we want, at the touch of a button."

vending machine from ellie harrison on vimeo.

i like it.  good concept.  good snacks.  good art.

#88 - (rice dream).

they love me like I was a brother. they protect me, listen to me. they dug me my very own garden, gave me sunshine, made me happy. rice dream. rice dream. rice dream.   - radiohead

growing up in new hampshire, i followed all four major sports religiously (go statistics!) and my favorite teams were the hometown celts (basketball), bruins (hockey) and red sox (baseball) & the san fran 49ers (football)...nobody liked the patriots back then. they were awful...although...mosi tatupu! two of my favorite athletes growing up were hall of fame red sox outfielder jim rice (second only to dewey) & 49er wide receiver jerry rice, quite possibly the greatest receiver in nfl history...and classy. jim rice was sort of an ass to reporters, but compared to nowadays, it reminds me of a quaint time when professional athletes didn't kill people & have tragic breakdowns.

when i moved to nyc back in 01, within a few months, i randomly ran into a high school friend who i had dated for two weeks back in high school before i knew a damn thing about girls. we decided to meet up soon after at rice restaurant for dinner, but in the end, ended up somewhere else. then we hung out a few times after that, randomly ran into each other again at penn station taking the LIRR in from brooklyn during the 2005 MTA strike...

flash forward to 2007...i'd never managed to make it to any of the rice locales in the city, but i started working in d.u.m.b.o. and there's a rice restaurant there, so i finally tried it out. although it's a bit pricey for the portion, the veggie meatballs with black rice are friggin amazing. if i ever go crazy & become a serial killer & end up on death row, that might be my last meal...as long as i can get two orders worth.

present day...the rice name holds faded sway in american society. there's condoleezza "double z" rice, who after becoming the first black secretary of state, presided under the 2nd half of one of the worst periods of foreign relations in american history. there's anne rice, who after becoming a huge favorite with her vampire chronicles, decided to only write for jesus & left the ravaged new orleans that had been her home & inspiration for many years. then there's damien rice. he's always been pretty lame, but has some sway in ireland & some other countries.

#88 - (rice dream).
snack: riceworks wasabi gourmet brown rice crisps
drink: beer lao lager


in honor of rice, i picked up a bag of riceworks wasabi gourmet brown rice crisps.  on the front, they promise "a mouth journey." who doesn't want a mouth journey?  they're all vegan/celiac/gluten-friendly & made with brown rice, which makes them all thick & crunchy. since i'm the type of guy who fills his soy sauce with wasabi & sucks down wasabi peas like they're made up of the meaning of life, i found the flavor to be quite awesome.  it stands out nicely, but there's a prominent brown rice flavor as well, which is solid.

also, if you have some free time, you should check out the totally un-catholic guilt-o-meter on their website.  holy crap it is hilariously good fun.  it's amazing what you can do with the internet.  plus, who doesn't love a little guilt?  fun?  guilty as charged!

since the wasabi chips are spicetastic, i decided to crack open the can of beer lao lager to ease the pain. unfortunately, the can had other plans. when i pulled at the tab, it bent limply without piercing the can. i tried twisting it a bit & eventually, it just snapped off, leaving me with the smiley face pictured below. mr smiley & i had a nice joint chuckle over the scenario in the echo of my empty kitchen. then i grabbed a butter knife, stabbed at that can with authority & drained its foaminess into a glass, pseudo-shotgun style.


it's a beer from laos brewed with jasmine rice & basically, it's a light beer, more like a pilsner than a lager. it reminds me of singha, which is basically a slightly better budweiser, which is basically a slightly better water. it comes from a brewery started by the french & is apparently the national beer of laos.  there's this npr story about their brewmaster, sivilay lasachack, who wants to make it global...just like budweiser. they're now owned by carlsberg (whose website puts the words "probably the best website in the world" in your title bar), so the chances of that happening have significantly increased. good luck, sivilay!  keep reaching for that dollar!

#87 - man things.

after a long but lovely friday, i woke up on saturday morning with a lighter hangover than expected & the first relatively obligation-free schedule in some time. to start off my day, i sat down with a glass of iced coffee & a bagel and finally got around to watching the first episode of the first season of fx network's rescue me. i'm still on the fence about denis leary in general, but from what i got from the first episode, i've got some good, manly TV watching ahead of me.  it's also set fairly soon after 9/11, so there's that whole aspect.  i know it screwed things up for a lot of people here in the city, especially the ground zero & rescue workers (a group that now includes a number of people who have developed respiratory problems or mental issues because of what they went through on that day), so seeing how they handle that intrigues me.

eventually, i had to leave my house & head into manhattan for a 3pm meeting with a co-worker whose blog i'm helping him set up (go squarespace blogger platform!). we met up at a bar in murray hill appropriately called "the hill," which is not to be confused with that stupid mtv show. we chose the place for its combo of wifi & flat screen tvs, necessary for nfl draft watching. to be clear, re: flatscreens, i was not the one interested in which offensive tackle would go first, but i'm now aware that the OT who fit that description was a guy named jason smith & the rams took him with the #2 pick. while we were about a beer into our power meeting, a group of ny cares people, fresh from the annual "hands on ny day," converged on the bar & i was reminded how last year, that was me. this year, i'm a heartless non-philanthropist.

as we wrapped up our power meeting, it dawned on me that i was around the corner from my newly-reunited via facebook college friend's midtown apartment. since it was a beautiful weekend day, i assumed that he'd be holding court in the outdoor seating at the bar at the base of his apartment...& i was correct, so when the power meeting was done, i went & hung with him & a few of his friends for an hour or so. as a result, i discovered that he & his three friends agree that it's always sunny & philadelphia (another fx show) is basically a gift from god.  mission accomplished.

while there, another friend had sent me a message letting me know that he & his girlfriend were in prospect park with a third dude.  he suggested that i come by. after the previous 24 hours, i was feeling all social for once & we still had a few hours of sunlight left & i enjoy looking at the lovely ladies in the park, so when i was done with my outdoor patio drinking, i headed back to brooklyn & prospect park to join my park-going pals. we hung out & admired the scenery for a little bit before the aforementioned girlfriend headed back home to rest up for a sunday morn bridal shower & the rest of us headed back to my apartment to chill out with a few beers & what have you.

my roommate was hanging out at the apartment for the evening & as that made four of us dudes hanging out & drinking beers, eventually the inevitable happened--a late night, drunken game of risk.  usually, my approach is to control australia early & sweep out across the globe from the southwest hemisphere.  this time, i got cocky & decided to switch it up by coming out of japan & slowly controlling asia.  i got up to kamchatka easily enough & even made my way across the bering strait into alaska before being repelled back into asia by sarah palin & her helicopter wolf hunting skills.  after that, my strategy, much like her 08' ticket, went down the tubes super quickly.  eventually, i was the first one eliminated.

#87 - man things.
snack: good health natural foods chilean lime avocado potato chips
drink: troegs sunshine pils


as i accepted my fate as a risk spectator & saturday became sunday, i ran to the store & grabbed a snack & another beer to ease the pain.  when i returned to the apartment, i broke open the bag of good health natural foods chilean lime avocado potato chips & watched as the remaining three battled it out for control of the globe.  as a rule, potato chips are a pretty manly snack, but when they're cooked in avocado oil & sprinkled with chilean lime, i think that skews toward metrosexual manly.  let me check...according to my manual, those two ingredients put it in the 95th percentile of metrosexuality...so there you have it.

the chips are pretty darn good.  as the back of the bag explains, avocado oil does some sort of junk with cholesterol that's good for you when you cook chips in it.  as it is, avocados are the bomb-diggity tastewise & there's a very subtle bit of that in the chips. as for the lime, it's mixed in with a bunch of other stuff but gives the chips a hint of additional flavor.  by the time the risk game wrapped up, i had made a serious dent in the bag...& finally finished them off tonight.

i cracked open the troegs sunshine pils (from a company out of central pa) to accompany the chips.  at this point, it had already been a joyful, solid weekend & although i'm not much of a pill person myself, i figured that a little bit of the "sunshine pills" could only be helpful.  it's nothing all that mind-blowing, especially after a couple of earlier beers, but it lives up to its name with a sunny, light, pilsner taste...no increased sense of euphoria though...although by the time 2am rolled around & i headed to bed with the windows wide open & the air flowing through, i did have a peaceful sleep & some crazy-ass dreams.  thanks for capping off the night, mr. sunshine.

nosh nook #25 - friday, april 17, 2009

sunchips bags to disintegrate (link)
04.16.09 - the topeka capital journal - by mike hall

i've always enjoyed sunchips. they have simple flavors, taste good (mmm french onion) & aren't as greasy as most chips. compared to the rest of chips out there, they're healthier for you than most & fairly harmless overall. now frito-lay/pepsico is attempting to make them less harmless on the environment as well, with 100% compostable packaging. i'm part hippie & as such, really love the totally positive vibe that sunchips have always given off.  being environmentally conscious only enhances that vibe.

according to mike hall's article, frito-lay has already "reduced the amount of plastic in packaging by 10 percent in the past five years." starting now, they're going to start selling sunchips in bags that are one-third compostable, with the goal of making the bags 100% compostable by earth day of next year. they're doing so by using polyactic acid/plant-based material in their packaging.

it's good to see that pepsico is doing something about their environmental impact. as a multinational, multi-billion dollar company, they have a larger impact on the globe than many small countries do. as hall notes, frito-lay donated $1 million dollars to help repair greensburg, ks, the town that was basically leveled by a tornado almost two years ago. they also had a hand in "inaugurating a solar concentrator field at frito-lay’s modesto, calif., facility," and "(e)nergy from the sun’s rays is helping run the modesto plant."

it looks like making efforts like this, so that frito-lay/pepsico can have a counterweight against the negative efffects of their corporate impact, has now become the cost of doing business. sure, they're still pepsico, but for now, i'll take it, especially if it makes sunchips more appealing.