aaron is online

As I’ve mentioned on this site before, I have some pretty nerdy tendencies, one of which is that I really like “The Lord of the Rings.”  My friend Zack is also a fan of said books & movies, and yesterday we did what could be the coolest/lamest thing I’ve ever done:

Zack and I watched all 3 Extended Edition DVDs of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy.  All 3 movies.  All 6 discs.  All 682 minutes of film.

In.  A.  Row.

682 minutes, for those who are not so numerically inclined, is roughly 11.4 hours of viewing time, and we made it through the entire series in just about 5 minutes shy of 12 hours.

It was so awesome, you guys.  Seriously.  …Guys?

“So Long, and Thanks for the Decemberists”

So how does one end a weekend like the one I’ve had?  How about a birthday concert by one of one’s favorite bands in the world?

I was lucky enough to have the Decemberists play on my birthday at the Moore Theater, which is not only a great venue, but will forever be etched in my mind because of at least one thing that happened there.  Meagan and William were there as well, and they would agree: The show was phenomenal.

I haven’t seen a band recently of whom I am that big a fan (most shows I see tend to be lesser-known groups/artists), and it was great to be able to sing along – silently, of course – to just about every tune.  We were also fortunate enough to be the last date of this national tour, and first & last shows are always a little special.  Being from Portland, Oregon, this was also a bit of a homecoming, too.

They were very funny, in good form, and did I mention funny?  At one point, vocalist Colin (on acoustic) and guitarist Chris (on electric) had a sort of dueling solo, but Colin being at a disadvantage both in medium and skill, resorted to, among other things, tying his opponents shoelaces together only to have him cast off his shackles to thunderous applause by the song’s end.

What a time!  We all had a blast, and it made being this much closer to 30 that much more bearable.

Next weekend, I’m driving to the mountains and cutting down a Christmas tree.

“Life, My Anniversary and Everything”

Saturday was Meagan and my 5th wedding anniversary, so we set out for an Italian dinner (Meagan’s favorite) at a restaurant called Perche’ No.  A friend recommended it, and it’s only a few blocks from our house.  Being a cold, damp evening, the shorter the walk the better, right?

Before you read the next sentence, please note: I am not exaggerating in the slightest.  This restaurant, owned and operated by a Chinese family, serves what might be the best Italian food I’ve ever had.  (I know!)  And I’m from Philadelphia!  Apparently, the whole family takes an annual trip to Italy for 6 weeks and just eats.  They then pick their favorite place, and refuse to leave until the chef tells them how to make what they just ate!  And they’ve done this for 18 years!

Lily, the matriarch, walked around the restaurant as she does every night and talked to every table.  When we said we couldn’t decide on dinner (everything on the menu looked good), she said she would take care of us.  Six courses and almost three hours later, we still weren’t allowed to leave before Lily could walk us around the whole restaurant, and I mean the whole restaurant.  We went on the roof of the building, and there’s nothing up there!

On our way out, David (dad/chef) stopped cooking long enough to ask us if we enjoyed everything, which we did.  He made a few jokes and told us to have a good night, which, by this point, we had already had in spades.

If you live in or near Seattle, and want to have a fantastic date night, go to Perche’ No.  All you have to do is tell Lily to feed you, and, by God, she will.  Just make sure you’ve got a few hours to spare – remember, this is authentic Italian.

“The Cable Access Show at the End of the Universe”

Friday was much less traditional.  Bubba called and invited me over to our friend Iris’s apartment for some sort of wine-related event.  Free wine?  I’ll be right over.

What he didn’t mention was that local artist/performer/feline-impersonator Shifter a.k.a. “Cookin’ Kitty” was going to be filming an episode of his hour-long public access show.  This episode was about wine tasting.  When I asked him if he knew anything about wine, Nick (his normal, people name) responded, “Not really. Just what I read this week.”

This is apparently Shifter’s approach to most, if not all, of his subject matter.  Whether it’s tutorials on candle making, a “journey through the strange and wonderful landscape of the model train convention,” or the singing of Poe’s “The Raven,” it’s a weekly, seat-of-your-pants strange-fest.  If you’re of the pot-smoking ilk, I highly suggest bookmarking this alongside your favorite episodes of Wonder Showzen.  For the extremely brave, stream it live on scantv.org Tuesdays at 11pm PST.

Clearly, there’s no way to aptly describe the events of that night. The best I can do it direct you to some video of SHIFTERLAND and hope that you make it out alive.

I’d like to tell you more about what happened Friday, but, as I said before, there was a ton of free wine, and things became a little blurry (furry?) as the night went on.  Also, it was completely fucking insane.

“The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Thanksgiving”

[It’s been a busy weekend to say the least - Thanksgiving, Meagan and I had our 5th anniversary, my birthday, and, a Friday night was full of wine, videotapes, and a grown man in fishnets & a cat suit.  Since so much happened, I’m going to split the stories into a few posts which will hopefully leave you, the reader, in a state of anticipation not felt since Captain Picard got all Borg’d out at the end of the 3rd season of Star Trek: TNG, and we didn't know if Patrick Stewart was going to sign on for season 4.]

So, Thanksgiving was great this year.  William, who, if we were in 5th grade, would be my “best friend,” and his lovely, Northern-Californian girlfriend Emily came over our house to celebrate, and we feasted like the kings of old.

Here’s a rundown of the menu:

• Turkey w/ gravy
• Yukon Gold smashed potatoes w/ gruyère cheese & green onions
• Sauteed green beans with toasted almond slices
• Stuffing
• Cranberry sauce (both whole berry & the delicious, gelatinous cylinder)
• Homemade apple pie
• JP Madison’s organic bourbon-vanilla ice cream
• Hot apple cider
• Will’s bottle of 2002 Barbaresco Che Storia (dry, dark and delightful)
• Several seasonal beers

There was, of course, plenty of HD football action on my cartoonishly large plasma TV and a few rounds of Scattergories for good measure.

All-in-all, a tremendous Turkey Day.

It’s that time of year again: most of the leaves have fallen off of the trees leaving towering, naked statues, a testament to the courage and longsuffering of Mother Nature, and the crisp air carries the essence of firewood on its back as it blusters through the neighborhood streets.

Or, if you live in Florida, it’s still kinda warm.

Either way, this Thursday marks the anniversary of the Native Americans cramming the white man so full of food that he would eventually die of congestive heart failure and Type 2 diabetes and no longer be a threat.  This year, I wanted to share my recipe for what could be the most flavorful & moist turkey you’ve ever had, although my Uncle Ken does cook one hell of a bird (and my favorite giblet gravy in the world).

If you’ve never brined a turkey, then shame on you.  It takes almost no effort, and after it’s cooked, you will wonder how so much juicy flavor could possibly be retained in something that’s been in a hot oven for hours!  All you need is some stock, a few spices and a clean 5-gallon bucket.

Also, do me a favor please don’t cook your stuffing in the turkey’s nethers.  I know it’s called “stuffing,” but you really should think of it more as “stuffing your face” and not “stuffing this bread up a bird’s ass.”  It will only draw moisture out of your turkey, and the stuffing will never get crispy, ever.

Think you’re down?  Then pull up your socks, and get the recipe HERE.

I hope you give it a whirl – it’s really easy, and tasty to the maxx, brah.  (An extra “x” you say?  I know… It’s that good.)

SEXY UPDATE: My Aunt Cheryl, Cousin Sarah, AND Mother-in-Law Hope are all going to bust out this recipe this year!  Hooray women in my family!

Last Friday night, my friend William decided to shut down Flowers (because he basically runs the joint), and had a private birthday party for Iris, who is a server there.  She wanted to have a hip-hop dance party, so Will asked me if I could provide the soundtrack.*  I was excited to do so, and being both white and a fan of rap music, went to work on getting some songs together that were both “hot joints” and “super-duper.”

The night turned out to be really, really fun.  Everyone seemed to have a great time, and there was a ton of dancing – a substantial amount of which was done by Rachel & Meagan. People dug the song selection, which is all I wanted, but my favorite thing about the night would have to be this:

William hates “Whatever You Like” by T.I.  I know this because he told me.  Since I am a good friend, I made sure to bring the song with me so I could play it.  Before I even had the chance to cue it up, his girlfriend Emily came over and requested it.

Well…

The song came on and two things happened: 1) the dance floor broke out into a sing-along frenzy akin to something the worshippers of Ba’al might have thrown together, and 2) William, struggling to deal with the unbearable pain of being sonically harpooned, stood behind the bar defeated, wishing at that moment, while everyone around him was writhing in ecstasy, he was anywhere but in his shoes.

The whole night was a blast, and it was my first opportunity to DJ a party since a dance my elementary school had when I was in 6th grade.  (I thought I would be really clever, and play Genesis’s “I Can’t Dance” as the first song!  At a dance!!  …It didn’t go ever well.  Also, Justin Bealor asked Miss Moore to slow-dance and she said YES!  We were so jealous.)

* For anyone who might be interested, I used a really simple but totally awesome piece of software called djay.  Like most “built for Mac” software it’s very intuitive and does way more than it should for $50.

Like I said, I’m new to this whole “weblogging phenomenon”, and I’m dealing with the issue of what exactly to post.  Should I only write about things that matter, or at least have some gravitas, or is this type of vehicle for the mundane as well (which I know it is, but don’t know whether or not I can take part in what I feel is lowering the bar for all of civilization)?

Maybe I’m thinking too much.  Maybe I should just post something, and let its merits be decided in the grand scheme of things.  Or maybe, it’s my responsibility as the author to try and make the dull interesting.  I don’t know.  So, anyway:

Yesterday afternoon, Meagan and I went to watch the Seahawks game at a bar a few blocks from my house called “Leny’s.”  It’s my new favorite place; it’s my Casa Bonita.  Firstly, it reminds me of Philadelphia (my home culture) in both attitude and clientele.  Some of the patrons were pretty damn salty, and most of them gave the impression that they would have been there, and just as drunk, whether there was a game on or not (but in Seattle, drunkenness doesn’t necessarily equal raging voilence, unlike Philadelphia where “spinach : Popeye :: alcohol : short, insecure Italian men”).  The atmosphere was fun and attentive, which is refreshing for a public sports-viewing in Seattle, as a great deal of the population wouldn’t know the difference between a left guard and a punt returner if they were eaten by one.  But, not at this joint.  Everyone was really into the game, even the bartender who ran around the whole place after every touchdown doling out hi-fives and $1 pints!

Speaking of the beer, it is plentiful and cheap.  Besides the $1 post-touchdown pints, they serve these 33.8 oz, Oktoberfest-style mugs of beer for a whopping $4!  And, the food was good, too!  It was like being back on the east coast at a dive bar that isn’t just called a “dive bar” because they threw some shit up on the wall and don’t clean their floors.  They don’t charge $4.50 for a can of PBR, and they have not one, but 3 totally creepy old guys who stared at my wife the whole game.  A good time was had by all!

Leny’s was authentic.  It was fun, and it was cheap.  I’m sure I’ll head over there next week, and bring some more folks with me.  I’ll let you know how it goes.

BONUS: Here’s a link to a review on Yelp by a guy named Ben.  He compares a Seattle “dive bar” to a dive bar in Detroit.  It’s funny because it’s true.

Hi.  Welcome to my new website.  It’s nothing fancy, but I hope you give it a shot.  I’ll be making some improvements over the next few weeks, so stay tuned.

I don’t quite know how I feel about this yet.  Blogging seems to me to be inherently douchey.  But, it doesn’t seem right to pass judgment on what seems to be the future of “nobody asked you” without really giving it a shot, so I’ll be writing some op-ed pieces, and posting any fun things I might be working on that don’t completely suck, or links to things that I think are worth linking to.

If you enjoy anything you see here, please let me know.  If you disagree with an opinion I may have, please know that I’m aware of one thing in this world: I could always be wrong.  I would love to hear what you have to say, but if you want to convince me that you’re right, that’s going to take a little effort on your part; “because I said so” isn’t going to cut it.

Also, feel free to subscribe to the RSS feed (it’s so 2.0).  All the kids are doing it…

…that and “cheese.”

Last night, America elected its first black president. Historic indeed, but at first I didn’t get it. Race isn’t supposed to matter, right? We weren’t voting for a black man, we were voting for a president. But, 95% of the African-American vote is pretty telling, if you ask me. I don’t think you can argue against the fact that some people voted for Barack Obama simply because he was black, just as some people voted for John McCain because he wasn’t. But why?  Why is this so important to so many people?

As I watched the evening unfold, I saw interview after interview with pioneers of the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 60s – old, black men and women who were, in some instances, beaten to within an inch of their lives for standing up for racial equality. Men and women whose friends were killed for no reason other than they were black and unapologetic.

Then, interviewers asked these people the same question, over and over again:

“Did you ever think you would live to see this day?”

And, incredibly, every time, the same answer:

“No.”

These people, who would have given their lives, and in fact, many of their friends and family members did, were all doing it while never expecting to hear the crescendo, praying that one day future generations would reap the rewards of the seeds they were sowing. Facing their own mortality, they planted their feet, and stood their ground for one thing: Hope.

Last night, they saw their dreams bloom in a Chicago park. Not just because one of them was going to become president, but because people – all people – joined them and walked down the path they cleared for us. We as a nation came together and said that we were willing to stand our ground and, although it may not be easy, we will make things better, maybe not for ourselves, but for our future: OUR future. All of us.

It’s the kind of thing that couldn’t have happened any other way. For a long, long time, up until the election results came in, the question was almost a joke – could this country ever overlook race elect a black man president? Could we ever truly fulfill Dr. Martin Luther King’s dream and be a nation that would look past the color of someone’s skin and to the content of their character?

Today, the answer is yes.

Yes we can.