AdamH

Ask him he feels like "royalty", or if he's too busy digesting Band royalties while Levon goes bankrupt.

I really liked Gangs of New York so it sounds like I'll like this movie. It depends on whether I can get tickets for Borat's movie first.

Been there. I love it. I would love it more if you could go at any hour and get a dozen of their vegetarian dumplings hot (Watercress, snowpea and something else).

I love Dim Sum. Katie and I are obsessive about it. To make a long story short the best dim sum place depends on what you're looking for: Price: Yangtze/Chu Sing Atmosphere: Chu Sing Quality: Beijing Tianrun (Bank and Walkley or thereabouts) Service: Beijing Tianrun. Case in point I was waiting for what seemed like hours for Char Siu Bao (Steamed Pork Bun). The hostess came over to the table and asked if there was something we wanted and she'd go back to the kitchen and order it for us...no cartwaiting required. Next time you go you should ask for Lo Bok (Stemed and fried turnip cake). It's a gelatinous square of rice powder, chinese bacon, dried scallop and so forth and it's really really good.

There's also a hoagie house in North Bay that does a pretty mean one. Everything else they make is scary (including green jello) but the subs and cheesesteaks are good)

I saw Beck on SNL, a show I always miss but watched this weekend, and I gotta say that guy defines performance art. Him on a tiny guitar and his ban banging out rhythms at a staged thanksgiving dinner table!

Bottom Round Mike? It's what Loeb cubes for the package entitled "stew beef". I've tried just about every technique for cooking a steak there is and finally settled on this guy's technique with a few modifications: a) he mentions that you must use non-stick but then he uses Cast Iron, which isn't truly non-stick. To keep it simple, use Cast Iron, or stainless steel. Non-stick pans don't do well at the high temperatures this calls for and can in fact lose their coating in the oven so don't use them at all, even if they're "oven safe" non-stick. I don't crank the stovetop element too high or "really hot", depending on whether you've got gas or electric or on your stove I would aim for medium-high. Keeping it away from full blast ensures you don't burn the "fond" a.k.a the nice greasy brown bits left by the steak. That fond gives you a good sauce. sear the steak on Nuclear and you'll taste the burnt bits c) one drop of olive oil per side is more than enough. A good steak, hell even a cheap steak has plenty of fat on it and too much oil tastes weird and prevents crustiness d) Rest the steak longer...like 10 minutes. When you make your pan sauce take the pan out of the oven, rest the steak and put the pan back on a med-high element and add a few splashes of wine, bring to a boil and scrape all the nice bits off the bottom, add some beef stock or veal stock, salt, pepper, finely chopped shallots and/or garlic if you want and maybe even some bone marrow if you have it...talk about buttery! All of that detail to say that yeah you can make a $5 steak taste like $25...but the $25 steak will taste like losing your virginity!

Curious about why the noodles are cut into pieces? Another quick option that I like is: one tetrapak of beef stock, a few cubes of demi-glace, bring it to the boil with a few splashes of fish stock then proceed with everything else as per the recipe. The actual Pho base is usually Oxtail, star anise, burnt ginger (which I tried to replicate with a kitchen torch and a piece of ginger...uhhh doesn't work too well) and a charred onion...or something like that. At that point I'd rather go to Chinatown for it.

Barrymore's thank the lord! What a great fix that is!

Wow Mike making soup dumplings (which is what you did) isn't very easy. They're delicious and highly prized when we go for Dim Sum...I don't know where to get them other than Shanghai in Chinatown. The idea behind the gelatin in that is to turn the stock into something workable for stuffing in the wonton wrapper. When you steam it it should get warm enough to turn back into soup and burst when you bite into it. Adding gelatinpowder though I've never heard of...usually just a rich stock refrigerated will have enough gelatin to work with when assembling.

Self-masturbatory is an oxymoron I think. You don't usually say "I masturbated my girlfriend last night" Maybe you could say "The album seems self-congratulatory" instead?

Overall it's a great album. Life in disguise is interesting and fresh. It does have me saying farewell to these guys in my head because from the sounds of this album they're about to jump into something bigger.

I learned something interesting from M.O.B.E's article. when you insert "the" before Marijuana (Par. 1) it makes it seem alot cooler. Here's an example: "Do you like to smoke marijuana?" versus "Do you like to smoke THE marijuana?"

I believe Cowboy Up is a different instrumental altogether. I'll go out on a limb and say that while the chord changes in Even Rats are mesmerizing, Brad's vocal treatment in the verses is pretty hurting. I'm looking forward to a studio version to see how that came out.

Interesting article in marketing magazine about the Pink Ribbon Breast Cancer campaign and the thousands of corporate sponsors who are creating a "pink" line in support of the cause. The argument is that more and more companies are jumping on the pink bandwagon to sell products and boost their image as socially responsible corporations. Because it's so hip to be pink other charities are losing out. The writer asks "Why doesn't Mattel have heart disease barbie? Lung Cancer Barbie? Bulimia Barbie?"

I know it's been discussed before, but here it is again for those that missed it: www.pandora.com. This is essentially an evolving playlist that caters to your tastes. It seems like it references a database such as allmusic.com to figure out what you like and don'tlike, than offers you a track of an artist that fits the bill. Try it, you'll really like it.

mmmmm rita celli running into my bed........ er. Ok dude if you like stupid chicks than that's your fantasy. I can't stand her at all. I see similiarities between Rita and Rona Ambrose. Look:

The alarm is set for 7:00. The CBC comes on and I listen to about four rounds of the morning news, Judy Madrin's soothing voice, that current whore's annoying interview style, and then I cry when they have the play reviewer lady Edweena whatshername. But on the other hand Rita Cielli at least got my out of the bed running when she came on. I am generally confused and very very angry. I never have time for coffee and I'm always walking to work so at least by that time I'm starting to wake up a bit. On the weekends I promise myself a nap and never take it. Lately it's because ewvery weekend I go to fucking home depot for more home improvement shit that honestly I don't need. I'll usually deal with this by either drinking alone in a dark room or watching old episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm...I think larry David and I are on the same wavelength.

They're not a fucking guilty pleasure for me at all, they're fantastic and everything I've heard from Ted Leo+Rx I've liked too. As the doors open at 7pm making for an early night I suspect we'll be seeing alot of moms dropping their kids off but that's ok by me.

That's a pretty good night of music Dave-O. We saw Raising the Fawn a couple of months ago and liked them a fair bit. This sounds like an interesting night and probably a predictor of the Ontario dates.

100% in agreement with you. Equally pleased and fortunate to have them in town. Would really have loved to have them play on a proper stage.

What is the best option for a TV Antenna? We don't have cable and with a standard unamplified antenna we get CBC, Global and a scratchy CityTV. Anyone who knows more about this subject, can you let me know what is considered "top of the line" for indoor antennas?

I'm surprised to be saying this but after listening to those tracks I'm most impressed by the Widespread Panic cover. Followed by Guster. Much of it is indeed paint by numbers and pretty light listening. Death Cab's cover was striking and an interesting take on the song.

Ours has just started. Last night I found out that my best friend is getting seperated after a year of marriage, and because his wife has been cheating on him with her boss.

I like them. I don't wet my pants for them the way a few folks here do but they're solid enough to go and see.