FWAK!

December has been a whirl of events. I started the month by attending the Curious Creatures show, curated by my friend/toy sculptor/dj/BBQ master, Brin Berliner. Everyone had a grand time. I danced till the wee hours and slept for a whole day afterwards *yawn*.

Prior to the show, I hung out with Australian-by-way-of-LA animator, Lili Chin. Lili is the co-creator of Mucha Lucha on Cartoon Network, but more importantly is a fellow food-lover and fan of the luscious kow yuk and kang kong sauteed in garlic. Unfortunately we discovered these parallels after our tummies were filled with dry noodles from New Hai Ky on Irving Street. Next time.....

When Lili isn't Mucha Lucha-ing, she runs the FWAK! blog. It's an eclectic mix of lucha libre info, cool toys, audio robots and electronica by Eddie.

Low Gallery opening 11.20.04 - The Mission

Been trying to get around to posting pics of some of the art at the Low Gallery opening. This happened the same night as my Saturday night art crawl (previous post). It was a major people crush that night. The gallery was quite cozy with all the local Fecal Face fans and Mission ruffians alike. A 40 in a paper bag was the accessory du jour.

In the comfort of elbows and knees, I managed to snap a few pics:


This painting is by Chris Duncan, one of my new favorite artists. He has a vibrant, yet quiet, color palette and and I love his use of organic and linear forms.


SF has this movement of photography pushing forth via Hamburger Eyes www.hamburgereyes.com. It's cynical, clever, ironic and sometimes pointless. Very much about life. I think this photograph is a good example of this -- and the saturated, red blood is enticing in a corporate-marketing manner.


Todd Bratrud's "Snake Fart in a Jar." It says it all....


B & B (bananers and breasts) photo by Ray Potes (aka Hamburger Eyes). This makes me hungry....

Low Gallery - Mission District
487 14th St.
San Francisco, CA 94103
www.lowgallery.com

ADVENTURES IN BAHN MI - San Diego

Anyone in San Diego? Pickled Papaya chimes in with a rundown on the tastiest joints in SD-land, ADVENTURES IN BAHN MI - San Diego. The sushi place is not to be missed!

Tangerines & pepper salt

One of the things I miss from the islands is unripened, green mango dipped in pepper salt -- a mixture of salt, several fresh chili peppers (like Thai bird chilis) and a squeeze of citrus. Usually the salt mixture varies, depending on what you grew up with, or what island you're from. There's a Chamorro condiment called finadene dinanchi, which is a paste of the hottest, tiny chili peppers ground with salt, garlic and a little vinegar. My grandfather used to make his own, in the outside kitchen (outside being the only practical place to do this), by passing said ingredients plus onions through a grinder. I can feel my cheeks watering just thinking about it. My favorite pepper salt is mixing finadene dinanchi with a little salt and lemon powder.

As with most Southeast Asian dishes, I find many parallels with Chamorro food. I was in a Vietnamese grocery shop, on one of my Tenderloin days, and found a large, beautiful green mango. Now large, green mangoes are not my preference for mangoes & salt (the tiny, crispy island ones are best), but desperate times call for desparate measures, so I bought one of those babies. The store proprietor eyed me and asked how I planned to eat the green mango, to which I mentioned my love affair with the pepper salt. She suddenly jumps up excitedly and tells me how she loves to eat her green mango in a mixture of Three Crab Fish Sauce, chili peppers, salt and a pinch of sugar. We proceed to have a mango/salt geek out and I promise this woman to eat my next green mango as per her recommendation.

Many months pass and I'm at the local market picking up lovely, perfect tangerines. I'm not a big orange fan, but absolutely love tangerines! Upon peeling the first fruit, I remember the fish sauce/pepper combo and quickly whip up a batch with slightly milder green chilis. My god this combination rocks! The sweet, sour and salty flavors are just what I craved. This taste takes me back to my Tata (maternal grandfather's) ranch on Saipan, on a sweltering day sitting under the big mango tree, eating recently picked tangerines grown just a few feet away. I can almost smell the ocean salt hanging in the air....

Sat nite art crawl - The Mission

photos by "the undercover brother"





I did the round of art shows in The Mission: Low Gallery opening, Needles & Pens, Pond gallery, Adobe Bookshop and Complex Ion's Hyper Mechanism @ The LAB. It was a tight squeeze with a lot of social elbowing. I'll have to go back on a quiet day and take better pics.

I must have been attracted to shiny, white things as evidenced by the suspended, doll-like sculpture and the mesmerizing white boots of The Disappointment's lead singer, Ann. Both objects were in full force at The Lab, which made me take mental note to check out both, the venue and the band, more often.

When my friend J asked me how the band was, I told him their name was "The Disappointment" so there wasn't much to live up to. Now if they were named "The Fantastics".... they'd better deliver. After hearing them play that night, I must say they are light years away from disappointing. The Disappoinment are, in fact, FANTASTIC! Heavy, lush guitars, a rockin' drummer and a vocal sound w/a Smiths/Cardigans/EBTG bent. Not to make much on comparisons, but they float in that realm. Lucky for me, they play at The Makeout Room tonight so I may fill my ears with more non-disappointing sounds.

The LAB is a sizeable gallery on the corner of 16th St & Capp, in The Mission. It's an interesting corner next to the Bart station, bustling w/blue collar workers, artists, God-fearing soapbox evangelists, hookers, junkies and their dealers. Despite this edgy backdrop, I've always felt comfortable on this street and make sure to have my wits about me. After years of living in tropical island paradise, I'm not adverse to this urban landscape. Besides, it being The Mission, you can count on a slew of trendy restuarants, shops and venues only a block away. The LAB and it's location are no exception -- Ti Couz, the Kilowatt, Otsu Vegan, Urban Forage and some of the best taquerias, only steps away. So I sound a beacon to the SF peeps, please check out Hyper Mechanism at The LAB before it goes away.

Hyper Mechanism
The LAB - Mission District
2948 16th Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
www.thelab.org

The Disappointment
www.shelflife.com

Get Lucky @ Merry Karnowsky Gallery, LA

Artist friends, Friends With You, will open their show "Get Lucky" @ the Merry Karnowsky Gallery this Saturday. You must, you must, you must increase your bust...err, I mean attend the show LA peoples. Okay? Go have fun and watch out for calf-biting artists and tricky plush.

Get Lucky
Merry Karnowsky Gallery
170 South La Brea Avenue
Los Angeles, California

Meet me on Fairfax, follow the scent of green bananas

My friend K is an amazing writer, photographer, music aficianado, collector, mad knitter, foodie and all around talent. She introduced me to fresh strawberries macerated in brown sugar & sour cream and I never looked back. She has some great blogs that will make your eyes drool: the scent of green bananas and meet me at the corner of third and fairfax.

If you're in LA, make sure to check out the joints in her fairfax blog. You will not be sorry.

End Capitalism

Roy & I trekked to Rainbow Grocery for crunchy, granola toothpaste that wouldn't make me gag. I love Rainbow for the great bulk items (honey, shampoo, nori... you name it), cheeses and row upon row of natural beauty products. I often spend way too much time deciding on a special granola/nut mix. I'm still working that one out.

After my long, drawn out (yet wise) consumerism, we leave the worker-owned coop and find this stencil art on the sidewalk. This ices my cake of coop grocery stores and bouts of Frontline.

Location: in front of Rainbow Grocery
1745 Folsom Street @ Division
Mission District, SF

Rudy's Russian Tea cookies

Rudy's red chair, rudy's red chair. Now say it 3x fast! I've tried to make this chair my icon, but for the life of me cannot figure it out. So I dedicate this blog to Rudy's red chair. This chair has significantly seen many gatherings of friends, feasts and conversation.

I believe I took this pic last Xmas morning. Rudy was making an incredible batch of Russian Tea cookies, that I must say, beat out the nunnery on Guam who shell out their annual treats come Xmas. Their name escapes me, "Our Lady of.....?"

If this pic had smellavision you'd be salivating at the scent of vanilla, butter, sugar and warm, crumbly Russian Tea cookies waiting on the side for their powdered-sugar bath. Ok, kettle's on.

made things

I started a new blog for craft & fashion projects: made things. You can find it here www.madethings.blogspot.com . This is my Prozac.

Naan & Curry - The Tenderloin

There's this intersection in SF's Tenderloin I call "The Golden Triangle". It's a gritty, busy corner. Not pretty and a thoroughfare for the neighborhood junkies and the like. That's a small downer compared to the real reason I love this spot. Every corner at the intersection (Ellis & Larkin) boasts a great eatery, diner, noodle joint, etc.... Call it what you will. This slice of yummy, deliciousness never lets down.

If you ever find yourself stranded after a movie or looking for eats post swanky bar, hit this corner. Vietnam II has a delicious pho worth fighting for. Anyways, I wander off from my real point.......

It was Roy's day off and he wanted to celebrate a hard-earned payday w/a viewing of "The Incredibles." We decided to check out 1000 Van Ness theaters, over the Metreon, due to the slew of cheap eats nearby. We buy tickets early and seek a noshy joint. I remember passing by "Naan & Curry" on O'Farrell street while on the 38. It's like "11:11", once I heard of Naan & Curry (which I'll refer to as N&C) its name gets dropped everywhere. "Oh I LOVE N&C", "It's my favorite Pakistani/Indian joint", etc... I filed this info away for the next time I'm rolling in extra dough.

Well N&C is not located at "The Golden Triangle," but it is a few blocks down and seems to have gleaned a helluvalot of magic from that intersection. The food is delish! Delish I say! Sublime Spinach w/Paneer (homemade cheese) is creamy & delicate, yet packed w/spicy undertones. The lamb curry & garbanzos were infused w/ginger, mace, dried plums and more spice marrying into a perfectly stewed, tender curried-love. We also had a wonderful chicken bryahni (excuse me spelling pls), beef kabob, raita and enough gorgeous naan to sop up juices. I was dying for a lassi, but knew my stomach would not hold much more. You can't beat a thrifty meal at N&C before a late afternoon movie.

Now I wonder how I rate this? Being this is my first post, I must give N&C a shout out in the only way I know how..... It was "D.G." Damned Good in my book, and only pennies. You could spend $5-8 per person and come away satisfied. Can I also say N&C makes for good breakfast leftovers?

Naan & Curry - Tenderloin
478 O'Farrell @ Jones
San Francisco, CA 94102

Rating: D.G. (Damned Good)
Budget: thrifty
Crowd: local Indian, Pakistani crowd w/a steady strem of artsy-like hipsters
Decor: multi-colored, day glo flourescent lights softened w/exotic banners of fabric