I attended the Philly Craft Beer Festival (my first beer festival) on Saturday and it was, I have to say, pretty remarkable. What's also remarkable is that I kept myself intact. Here's what went down (literally):
Afterwards we ventured out for some additional food and drinks so while I'm "link-happy" I'd like to shout out the Lucky 13 Pub for their awesome juke box, delicious food, and hospitable owner, Clark.
Cantina Los Caballitos was quite amazing as well, although by that point my eyes were bigger than my stomach. I'll be enjoying my pork and chicken taco leftovers tonight.
Absurdly, I haven't updated my 101 in 1001 since July 13th. Here's the rundown:
2] Run 3 Marathons - I completed the Philly Marathon on 11.02.09. It was my second marathon overall, and my first towards completing three for my 101. I bettered my time from the previous year by almost 30 minutes, and my knee held up the entire time. 25] Paint a Room for Someone - In August we went over Brian & Dawn's new house for their Painting Party. Barb and I tackled the bedroom. 31 / 32] Do something charitable every Thanksgiving / Christmas - I totally dropped the ball on this and didn't do anything significantly charitable for the holidays. However, I allowed myself to make up for it by donating money to Haiti via the Red Cross.
41] Donate 100,000 Grains of Rice on freerice.com - Currently up to 30,200 grains of rice.
43] Donate a garbage bag filled w/ old clothes - Check. I can't believe some of the clothes I at one time liked and/or fit in.
49] Figure out my credit score - Check. Satisfied.
50] Save up for and buy an Apple computer - This one is tricky. I did save up enough to buy one, but then we were dumb-struck when we received one as a gift. I'm counting it as done.
54] Cook 50 Different Recipes - Done! - Lime Basil Cous-Cous - Moroccan Chicken Kebabs - Grilled Pork Tenderloin à la Rodriguez with Apricot Glaze and Orange Jalapeno - Burger with Red Bell Pepper and Feta Spread - Chicken with Grilled Onions and Plums - Greek Roast Chicken - Southwestern Salmon - Beet, Goat Cheese, & Arugula Salad - Emeril's Oven Roasted Pork Tenderloin - Corbi-Fein Brussel Sprouts - Bacon Herb Wrapped Pork Tenderloin - Broccoli with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Parmesan - Lemon Glazed Sweet Potatoes - Maple Glazed Spiced Carrots - Weight Watchers Cheeseburger with Grilled Onions - Beef and Vegetable Cheese Casserole - Balsamic Chicken with Mushrooms - Lemon Grass Chicken and Noodles - Spaghetti with Turkey Meatballs - Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms - Open-Faced Tuna and Artichoke Melt
55] Drink at 5 Different Breweries - 2 new ones, 4 out 5 done total. - Dogfish Head. Amazing. The vintage 120 Minute IPA was memorable for sure. - Pocono Brewing Company. It was OK. The brews helped nurse my newly fractured distal radius.
57] Maintain an herb garden for an entire summer - Done. It helped that I was pretty much laid off for the entire summer. It was nice to have so many herbs at my disposal. It definitely helped out grilling meat and amping up my omlettes.
58] Enjoy a glass of real spiked egg-nog (bonus: next to a fire!) - Done and bonus achieved with some local Pennsylvania Dutch egg-nog.
63] Learn the basics of a popular editing program - In September I was responsible for cutting together some casting videos and had a crash course using the Avid. I am no maestro, but I no virgin either.
65] Learn 5 "popular" (read: recognizable) songs on the guitar - 2 new ones, 4 out 5 done total. - R.E.M. - "Man On the Moon" - The Wallflowers - "Three Marlenas"
69] Attend 25 concerts / shows - I've missed out on a lot of good shows that have come through town but I did see a few. The count is now at 11 out of 25. - Sunny Day Real Estate at the Trocadero - Brand New at the Electric Factory - Sainthood Reps at the North Star Bar - Brian Fallon, lead singer of the Gaslight Anthem (acoustic show) - First Unitarian Church
72] Geek-out on iTunes #2: Give star-ratings to all of my unrated songs in iTunes - I have a few unrated right now, but at one point everything was rated. All 20,000+ songs, aka approximately 55 days worth of music. Booyah.
73] Compile a playlist of my favorite song each week for a year (each selected song must be new to me that week) - This was completed, and has since been dubbed "A Year In the Ear". If anyone's interested I'll send you a copy. Let me know. Additions since the last update: - Crocodiles - I Wanna Kill - Dinosaur Jr. - See You - The Exploding Hearts - Modern Kicks - The Rural Alberta Advantage - Edmonton - The Big Pink - Dominos - The Knife - Heartbeats - Arctic Monkeys - Cornerstone - Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - More News From Nowhere - Hot Chip - Ready for the Floor - Julian Plenti - Only If You Run - Brand New - At the Bottom - Girls - Lust For Life - The Drums - Let's Go Surfing - Comet Gain - Brothers Off the Block - The Feelies - The High Road - The xx - VCR - Woods - Rain On - Julian Casablancas - 11th Dimension - The Raveonettes - Gone Forever - Best Coast - When I'm With You
78] Read 30 books by 30 different authors - I've had a major slow down with this one, but a few updates. Currently at 18 of 30.
- About.com Guide to Web Design - Jennifer Kyrnin - Learning Web Design - Jennifer Niederst Robbins - 33 1/3: Gentlemen - Bob Gendron - 33 1/3: Murmur - J. Niimi - Open - Andre Agassi <-- highly entertaining
86] Visit the West Coast - Unexpectedly done. It was a very last-minute thing, but I was sent to LA for work. Luckily it wasn't all business. I got to see my good friend and old college roommate, AJ, as well as experiencing a culinary tour de force thanks to Gerry and Carla. Check out the LA run down in this older post.
94] Photograph 5 sunrises in 5 different places - 2 of 5. An early call time on set out in LA generated this shot: 95] Photograph 5 sunsets in 5 different places - 3 of 5. AJ took me down to Venice Beach and I happened to catch this shot: 99] Visit 10 new places in our Philly guide book - 5 and 6 out of 10. I'd really like to concentrate on this more. F'real. - The Ritz-Calton / 10 Arts by Eric Ripert. We ate at the restaurant, we didn't stay at the hotel. We went because we're huge fans of Top Chef and this is where Jennifer from the latest season works. We went while the show was towards the end of the season, before Jennifer was kicked off, and we didn't know if she'd be there or not. Barb can tell you she was, because as soon as I left to use the bathroom she walked out of the kitchen with her trademarked scowl.
- North Star - We got to see our friends Derrick and Cesco's new band, Sainthood Reps, here over the holidays. Check out their music! This is long. I bet you didn't read all of this. Did you?
At the end of January I was lucky enough to take a last minute business trip to LA. It was my first business trip and it was frustrating to not be able to handle it like a vacation. Normally I would have the entire trip planned and spend every wakened hour out and about exploring. Instead, I spent most of my time on set dealing with landscapers and setting up time-lapses. I can't complain though because I got to experience a plethora of amazing food and shared a baggage carousel with Andy Dick. When all is said and done, let it be known: LA is a ridiculously good food town.
Here's a list of where I got to eat, loosely ranked from my favorite to my least favorite:
- City Sip (great wine deals, great cheeses, stoned waitstaff) - Kogi (Mexican style Korean BBQ served out of a truck whose location you follow on Twitter) - The Kitchen (I'm embarrassed to boast about how ridiculous their turkey burger is) - Soy Cafe (1st pho experience) - Wurstkuche (snake sausage, truffle oil fries with curry ketchup) - Malo ($1 taco night!) - Bacon-wrapped Hot Dog outside of the Drawing Room (a dive bar frequented by Kiefer Sutherland) - Lemongrass (really good appetizers, but I ordered off of the Specials and it was a tad under-seasoned) - VinotecaFarfalla (again, really good appetizers, but my short rib was not spicy like advertised, although it was remarkably tender) - In-N-Out Burger (Animal Style. NBD) - The Oinkster (I regretfully ate healthy here, but the goat cheese crouton was cool. Their pastrami looked nuts.)
... and this doesn't include all of the authentic Mexican places we ordered from on set. One word: "sopa".
And watering holes:
- The Dresden (yes, the 2 singers were there) - Silverlake Wine ($4 wine tasting + free cheese. Somehow Carla noticed some New Melrose Place cast members. And I thought no one watched that...) - The York (food looked/smelled really good, but only got drinks. Cool interior, nice local beers.) - 4100 (darkest. bar. ever... good juke box) - Formosa Cafe (I think this place is "known". Not sure.) - Good (was OK. Large beer list, but nothing too crazy. Waiter was weird. And there's no bar, only tables)
"If patience started a band / I'd be her biggest fan" - Elliott Smith
Kashi's new GoLean Crisp!: Toasted Berry Crumble is excellent. It has a different "mouth feel" than other Kashi products. It’s almost grainy, but in a good way. It's very similar to Bear Naked plain granola in texture. I like when the pieces cluster together and give a satisfying crunch. Oh, and the berries are chewy, which is nice compared to a Special K berry that is dehydrated. I would pay up to $3 per box.
54. I have now cooked 32 out of 50 recipes (can you tell I burn through a ton of charcoal and enjoy the taste of corn?):
Spicy Grilled Chicken Grilled Sweet Potatoes Curry Grilled Chicken Grilled Pork with Avocado Salsa & Campfire Potatoes Summer Vegetable Medley 55. There's not much I enjoy more than enjoying a beer in a brewery. It's like drinking milk straight from the nipple. I tackled my 2nd of 5 breweries while in Boston last week. After walking approximately 9 miles we stopped in to the Boston Beer Works outside of Fenway. Now, I know this falls on the wussy side of the beer line, but I went with a Watermelon Ale. I had to. I had never heard of such a thing, and I'll admit it was damn good and refreshing. 73. 3 more songs of the week... I can't believe I've been hacking at this list for more than half a year already... Phoenix - 1901 Bruce Springsteen - I'm On Fire The Church - Metropolis
75. I didn't report on this originally because I didn't even realize I did it, but a few months ago I checked out the University of Pennsylvania's Institute of Contemporary Art in Philly with Shu and Sheila. This past week, when I went to visit Jackie and Chris in Boston, we checked out Boston's Institute of Contemporary Art. It was pretty awesome because they had a Shepard Fairey exhibit entitled "Supply & Demand." Shepard Fairey is the guy behind the iconic Obama image seen everywhere during his campaign for President. They had the original on display, plus tons and tons of his "Andre the Giant Has a Possse" work. Yes, the same guy is behind both. It was a terribly inspiring and crushing exhibit to say the least. So... 75 = 2/5.
101. I was so close to fulfilling this one that it hurts. Damn you Ian Toth!!!!
Thank you Jackie. Thank you Chris. Thank you Dave, for driving.
The last 2 weekends have be absolutely killer (pun intended). Not only were they random and fun, but they helped chip away at the 101.
The last 2 weekends combined: The Killers at Susquehanna Bank Center Brian & Dawn's Bridal Party party Gaslight Anthem at the Stone Pony Long Beach Island Carla & Craig's Wedding Andrea & Dan's Italian Market Festival Party The Shins at the Electric Factory Planting of our herb & flower garden That being said... 54. This Gingered Honey Salmon recipe puts me over the halfway mark of my 50 recipe goal (26 of 50): 57. Now that the garden is planted I must maintain it until the end of the summer for it to count. The garden includes: red bell pepper, rosemary, cilantro, dill, thyme, chives, Thai basil, basil, parsley, and strawberries. 69. My show tally is now up to 7 out of 25. 73. 2 more songs of the week (24 of 52): Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band - "Nikorette" Japandroids - "Young Hearts Spark Fire" 99. New place from our Philly guide book: Italian Market.
54. 2 more recipes: Rice, Black Bean, & Corn Salad
Apple Thyme Chicken
69. Saw The Pains of Being Pure at Heart at the Barbary with Andrea & Dan. I don't have any pictures, but I've provided a lil' video for y'all. A buzz band that's buzz worthy... nice.
73. Song for the week ending on 05.03.2009: Keane - "The Lovers Are Losing"
7. Went to the dentist. Twice. 14. I was able to access my college computer without having to enter my password. Turns out there's an easy way around it and I was able to get access to all of my files. The computer is still at my parents, so I'll have to bring a drive next time, but I did gain access so I'm counting it. 29 & 42. I planted 10 trees via plantabillion.org (it's only $1 a tree so do it!). The first 5 trees cover #29 and the second 5 trees cover "Do something worthwhile on Earth Day." I wanted to do something out in the world on Earth Day, but it sort of snuck up on me. I couldn't find any last minute clean-ups or anything like that in the area, so I'm counting the tree planting. 47. I sold 5 things on eBay. They all happened to be DVDs I'd never watch again in a hundred years. They're out of the house and I made money. 54. 3 more recipes down: Fish Ragout with Limes
Chicken Breasts with Rosemary & Lemon
Chinese Pork & Vegetable Stir-Fry
65. I learned to play along to Tom Petty's "Free Fallin'". So what if it's only 3 chords in the same pattern over and over for the entire song? It's recognizable. It counts. 69. Attended 3 shows: Gaslight Anthem / Heartless Bastards at the Trocadero Death Cab for Cutie / Cold War Kids at the Tower Theater Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band at the Spectrum ... which brings me to 70. I photographed the Gaslight Anthem gig (pics here & here) and the Death Cab show (pics to come) so that's 2 out of 3. Now, the Death Cab show is kind of tricky but I'm counting it. I received the photo pass from Ra Ra Riot's management, but they went on earlier than they were supposed to and we missed them. The Cold War Kids started basically as soon as we arrived so I didn't have my bearings about me. I was only allowed in this corner with a terrible view of the stage, so I got photos but they kind of suck. Then I found out that Death Cab had a separate photo pass and I wouldn't be allowed to shoot them. However, we had pretty close seats and I was able to snap a few before getting busted by security. 71. I took a really long freakin' time but this one (Geek-out on iTunes #1: [assign Year, Genre, and Album Art to all songs]) is done. You try doing that without going crazy during the process. Unemployment definitely helped this one get done... 73. Some new songs to the ongoing playlist: ... And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead - "Bells of Creation" Love - "Maybe the People Would Be the Times or Between Clark and Hilldale" Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Zero" Silversun Pickups - "Panic Switch" Superchunk - "Learned to Surf (Acoustic Demo)" 74. I recyced my old iPod through Apple when the hard drive crashed. In doing so I was given a discount off of my totally awesome new 120gbiPod. Screw iPhones. 76. 2 Best Picture Winners out of 15: saw Slumdog Millionaire. 78. More books are done: "Obama: A Promise of Change" by David Mendell... I should tell you that this is a children's adaptation of an adult book, but it was a gift, so I read it. It was close to 200 pages and I did learn stuff about Obama that I didn't know before so it counts. "The Reader" by Bernhard Schlink "Running with Scissors" by Augusten Burroughs 99. We've gone to a few places in the guide book I had never gone before: The Wachovia Spectrum Buddakan The Trocadero
54. All of this time off from work has allowed me to get some time in the kitchen. The most recent dish: Bison Chili. 73. Yeasayer's "Tightrope" off of the "Dark Was the Night" compilation. It's a pretty sick comp, plus its for a good cause- check out the track listing.
78. Finished Kurt Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse-Five." I like his style. I vaguely remember this being in the English curriculum back in middle school or high school, although I was never assigned it. After reading it I can't believe all of he boring stuff I was forced to read.
95. I photographed my first of 5 sunsets while we were at LBI this previous weekend.
I attended the Philly Craft Beer Festival (my first beer festival) on Saturday and it was, I have to say, pretty remarkable. What's also remarkable is that I kept myself intact. Here's what went down (literally):
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