Monday, January 16, 2006

The things I find on my computer...


Huh. I just found this on my iphoto desktop thing. I guess it's my son, Eric, impersonating a lamp? I do know one thing - that's not his bedroom and it's not my house.

Eric's got a tough life. Tomorrow he packs for his five day trip to LA and NAMM, yesterday and today he spent in the studio recording four or five new songs with his band, Flamingo, and yes they are definitely doing a show at the New York Knitting Factory on February 7 -- you can buy tickets right here.

So there's an eating fest in University City all this week - all of the best restaurants have prix fixe dinners topping out at $30; most $20 or $25 for three courses. Julie and I have our week all planned. Tomorrow we will be dining for $25 at Bubble House at 3404 Sansom Street as follows:

Starters
Lemon Grass Dumplings
Pork & Shrimp Suimei, Chicken Teriyaki or Flavorful Vegetable with Soy Vinaigrette Dipping Sauce
-or-
Mixed Green Salad
With your choice of dressing: Miso Vinaigrette, Toasted Sesame, Sriracha Ranch, & Strawberry Vinaigrette
-or-
Sweet Potato Fries
With tangy Orange Ginger Sauce

Entrees

Thai Red Coconut Curry Chicken or Tofu
Spicy, Rich and Creamy Coconut Milk based Curry with Basil, Lemon Grass, Scallion and Carrots served over Rice

Grilled Salmon with a Fuji Apple Glaze
Grilled Salmon over Snow Peas and Wasabi Mashed Potatoes with a rich Fuji Apple Glaze

Bibim Bap
Our take on a traditional Korean dish. Grilled Marinated Chicken, Beef or Shrimp
On a bed of Greens, Basil, Mint, Daikon and Carrots over rice with a tangy Sesame Lemon Vinaigrette

Desserts
Chocolate Ginger Mousse
-or-
Xando
Cinnamon and Sugar coated, Fried Cheese Cake Roll with Raspberry Sauce
-or-
Crème Brulee Medley for 2
Assortment of three

I'm thinking I'm having the sweet potato fries, the grilled salmon, and there's no way in hell I'm passing up fried cheese cake.

Julie, whose body is obviously her temple unlike mine, which I treat like...God, I don't even want to imagine the simile...wants the Bibim Bap. I like the way those words sound, even if it's not a dish I'd choose. Bibim Bap. Bibim Bap. Cool name for a band. The Bibim Baps. Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm a sick puppy.

Hey, speaking of bands, another really great Rock School alumni band, Atlas, is playing at The Khyber tomorrow night and they're awesome. It's a late show, damn it, or I'd go because it's over 21 and most of the Rock School kids who would normally fill the place up are 18-20. Anyway, at the very least go to Atlas' site and listen to their music...very nice stuff.

Here's the link to Flamingo, Eric's band. When you listen to the muscianship in both Flamingo and Atlas, you can really see where some day you'll be watching Behind the Music and there's going to be all these bands out there who say "Yeah, I was in Paul Green's School of Rock Music".

I was just thinking: Eric and Julie would make really sucky candidates for Behind the Music. The worst story either one of them can come up with about their childhood is "My mother is a hippie who thinks the CIA killed John Lennon. And...and...when we were little, she told us it's okay if we swim naked in the backyard pool..and...and...ooh, ooh, here's one...sometimes she gave us cake for breakfast and pancakes for dinner even though we don't like cake for breakfast and pancakes for dinner because we are health conscious and thin, despite our mother's terrible dietary habits."

So that's pretty much it for today. I did a bit of writing this afternoon once Matt and Julie cleared out of here. They're going to a concert tonight but should be home by around 9:00 p.m., just in time for Eric to arrive here with girlfriend, Carolyn, whom I believe is also spending the night.

Arghhh...I'm so glad for that fountain pen and journal since it appears I'm going to be banished upstairs this evening. But one thing I still haven't mastered is this: How do left handed people use a fountain pen without smearing? I have an artist friend who is also a lefty...hmmm...and he strikes me as a fountain pen user (because he's British and a writer? Ha ha - no, it's not Neil Gaiman) so maybe I'll drop him an email and see if he can't provide me with any tricks of the trade. I've been loving that pen, though -- I just need to get used to that line of black smear that extends from the top of my left pinky top to my left wrist.

Oh well. It looks like I have a couple of hours left before this house starts to fill again so let me go at least have a read at what I wrote today and pray I don't projectile vomit.

Later xo

7 comments:

  1. Anonymous8:11 AM

    I love bibimbap. When I lived in Berkeley, there was a Korean take out place and a good sandwich place quite close to my lab, and I'd alternate having bibimbap with feta/roastedredpepper/spinach sandwiches on seeded sourdough.

    I don't know if bubblehouse does good bibimbap though.

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  2. I know Bubble House isn't great for everything but I've never had a bad meal there. Julie gets iffy about it but I have a skewed value system for restaurants: If they have great, hand cut french fries, they automatically become a favorite. And Bubble House's sweet potato fries are to die for.

    Hey...do you have the link for all of the restaurants participating? Zocalo and Nan are both in there -- that's our plan for later in the week. I didn't like La Terrasse's selection or we'd be there, too.

    I didn't know you lived in Berkeley!

    (And did Jena have her baby yet?)

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  3. Anonymous10:16 AM

    http://philarestaurants.blogspot.com/2006/01/philadelphias-restaurant-week-at.html

    $20:
    Cavanaugh's 119 S. 39th St. 215-386-4889
    Dahlak 4706 Baltimore Ave. 215-726-6464
    Fatou & Fama 4002 Chestnut St. 215-386-0700
    Marathon Grill 200 S. 40th Street 215-222-0100
    Smokey Joe's 210 S. 40th Street 215-222-0770
    Strikes Bowling Lounge 4040 Locust Street 215-387-BOWL
    Vientiane Cafe 4728 Baltimore Ave. 215-726-1095

    $25:
    Abbraccio 820 S. 47th St. 215-727-8247
    Bubble House 3404 Sansom St. 215-243-0804
    Copabanana 4000 Spruce St. 215-382-1330
    Pizza Rustica 3602 Chestnut St. 215-895-3490
    Rx 4434 Spruce St. 215-222-9590
    World Cafe Live 3025 Walnut St. 215-222-1400
    Zocalo 3604 Lancaster Ave. 215-895-0139

    $30:
    Ecco Qui 3200 Chestnut St. 215-222-3226
    La Terrasse 3432 Sansom St. 215-386-5000
    Marigold Kitchen 501 S. 45th St. 215-222-3699
    Nan 4000 Chestnut St. 215-382-1922
    Penne Restaurant & Wine Bar 3611 Walnut St. 215-823-6222
    White Dog Cafe 3420 Sansom St. 215-386-9224

    i started grad school at berkeley and then transferred to upenn because of my boyfriend at the time. sigh.

    i emailed jeff yesterday asking about the kidlet. no response.

    i've never eaten at nan.

    handcut fries ... sigh. now i'm at work and hungry

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  4. Haha - Jess, you know I had that link already - I was asking you if you had it for yourself. When it comes to food, I'm on top of it! Sign...probably the only thing I'm on top of these days.

    Meanwhile, I was teasing Jena that her daughter (cos' yeah, I know it's a girl but the one thing I did not get from her is what's her name going to be and I'm really dying to know!) was going to be born on Julie's birthday...Julie was due on January 15 and didn't make an appeareance until two torturous weeks later on January 30. God. What I just remembered was being flat on my back in bed, watching the Challenger disaster. I cannot believe it's 20 years since both events.

    Oh well. I just found out my son is playing two songs on the Mark and Brian show out in LA on Friday morning and I'm frantically trying to see if I can get a live stream from the radio station (KLOS) but it appears that this is the one damn station left in America who doesn't do a live web feed.

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  5. Okay, Blogger really needs an "edit" feature in commenets. Regarding my last post, the word should be "sigh" not "sign", and secondly, a radio station is not a "who".

    Oy.

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  6. commenents?

    Okay, that's it. I wish to register a complaint.

    Blogger people: Where are the edit buttons for comments???????

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  7. Anonymous2:35 PM

    you've reached the point of metacomments.
    i was born on my due date. the only time i've been punctual.

    i've really lost touch with jeff and jena. i've kind of given up, although i have a baby present for them. it is a copy my dad's favorite book when he was little, which he read to me when i was little.

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