OMG!!! IT'S TODAY!!!

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeppppppp!!!!!!

that is sequels of joy, my friend, of joy!

It is officially Tuesday and do you know what's special about this Tuesday?!?!?!

!!!

AAAHHHH!!!!


!!!!

I have been waiting for this CD since like last year!

Eeep!!!

Their single, Medicate, has been on heavy rotation in my car for about a month now.


It's a different AFI. I was a big fan of Decemberunderground and, unlike most AFI fans I know, I like the glittery AFI. This one is more... rock. I know it's lame to hate on a band for growing but I do miss the glittery glamness. Still, I am sure this will be one amazing album. It has to be, it's AFI!

!!!

Who is AFI and why am I so in love with them?


They are hard core punk band from the late 90's that originated from Ukiah, California. Back then they looked like this:


and sounded like this:



They were very hardcore punk- fast, loud, short, and it was near impossible to understand what Davey was singing. After a couple of albums, their bassist left (and later joined Tiger Army, one of my all time favorite bands!) and was replaced with Hunter. Their guitarist also left and was replaced by Jade.


Jade started contributing to the song writing. Black Sails in the Sunset is the first album with the current line up.


They were still punk, still hardcore, but their sound started to change and they started to become goth. Davey started to sing which, no offense to Davey, wasn't necessarily a good thing.



Being a big fan of the current line up, for me, this is their first album. A lot of old AFI fans will tell you that this is their best work, I personally think it's their worst (not counting all the ones that came before this).

Their next album was The Art of Drowning.


This is one of my favorite AFI albums.

Their sound was completely different from their first few albums but still very punk. This is probably when they earned the genre designation of "goth punk". It was punk music about gothic topics- and Davey and Jade started wearing eye liners.



Such a good song, definitely my favorite punk song.

Sing the Sorrow, their next album, was a career defining masterpiece. It's what brought them to the main stream, it's what got them their Moon Man, it's what brought them a slew of new fans. It is also the album that turned off a lot of their punk fans. Most punk fans will tell you that they liked AFI until Sing the Sorrow. Davey grew his hair, Jade dyed blond streaks into his, and both started wearing more make up and, all of sudden, they had a very "emo" fan base.



AFI has always been one of Michael's favorite band but I didn't get into them until...


EEEEeeeeeeeeeeeepppppppppppppp!!!

Due to their history with the genre, thy were still technically considered "punk" but they now looked like this:


and sounded like this:


(the song starts on the 1 minute mark)

Any punk fans that stuck with them through Sing the Sorrow pretty much abandoned them at this point, but that's okay because there was a whole army of 13 year old scene kids, open minded goths, fans of awesome music, and people like me to take their place. Decemberunderground made them HUGE. They were so glittery, so glam! Davey shone like a sparkling hotness.

So, it's been over 3 years since Decemberunderground and now they look like this:


and sound like this:



It's not glittery glam AFI, it's not gothy gloomy AFI, and it's not hardcore punk AFI.

So, to recap:

This is Adam Carson. He's the drummer and, aside from Davey, the only original member of the band. He rarely gets any press or recognition because he looks normal and he doesn't really do anything else except drum for AFI.


This is Hunter Burgan. He's the bassist.


He gets a bit more attention because he has a blog, a side project (The Hunter Burgan Experience which is basically an homage to Prince), and designs shoes for Macbeth (the whole band is vegan).


He also looks a lot like Daria's ex.

This is Jade Puget. He plays the guitar and writes all the songs. He's the second most famous member because he's the second most glam.


He too has a blog and is in Blaqk Audio with Davey. He also remixes other people's song and thanks to him, I find Tokio Hotel to be bearable.


He also reminds me of a cat... or like a Tolkien character.

This is Davey Havok. He is lead vocal and writes all the lyrics.


I plan on marrying him one day. I tell that to people and they're like, "You know he's gay, right?"


You know, first off, just because a dude likes to wear sparkly eye shadow and paint his nails pink doesn't mean he's gay. David Bowie married Iman, right? Secondly, dude, I can totally love a gay man.

Eep!

Tardy to the Party

#%@#!!!

Recently, my brother gave me some financial advice.

When did my little brother become so financially responsible?

He suggested I reallocate all the money in my 401(k) into a conservative money market fund until the end of October since stock prices are currently bloated and September-October are traditionally bad months for stock prices. So, he told me to reallocate my current balance and to keep my on-going contribution aggressive so that all my gains are protected while new contribution money are used to buy cheap stocks. Then, later on, when stock prices rebound, I should reallocate all my money back into aggressive funds.

Sounds like a good advice, right? I should have followed his advice, but I didn't, until a few days ago. I definitely waited too long because my 401(k) has already lost money. Granted, it's only a few hundred dollars but... that's a few of hundred dollars!

Oh well... I reallocated it to 80% conservative and 20% growth. Hopefully, I won't loose anymore money. At least I've already regained all the money I lost last year!

Chicken Cacciatore

Know what I hate? An overly sensitive touchpad that FREAKS out on you if your thumb so much as hovers over it while you type. Next thing you know, your text is gone, every thing's magnified 50% and your task bar is in the wrong place.

Know what else I hate? When you're nice enough to share your meal, a meal you prepared, from scratch and the person finds it too bland and dumps some strong tasting stuff all over it to give it some "flavor". Well shit, if I knew you were going to do that, I could've saved myself some time and just served you plain pasta!

Since the weather's cooled down, I brought out my trusty enameled dutch oven and make something from The Big Book of Casseroles (by Maryana Vollstedt). I chose to make Chicken Cacciatore Sauce on Polenta.


If the ingredients were slightly seared, I think it would've been more flavorful- I didn't do a very good job of sauteing, but I would hardly call it bland. The flavor is more subtle then say, marinara sauce, but it has a nice, light, yet earthy, comforting taste. Since I didn't really know what polenta is, I served it with linguine pasta.


Sprinkle on a little cheese, grind some pepper and it's perfect!

Well, some people found it to be a bit too bland. I won't even tell you what they put on it but suffice to say it was some strong stuff that would've obliterated any of the original flavor... When I saw it I was just like, "Really? Really? Wow." At that point, it's just a straight up insult. You know what, FINE! Next time you're getting Chef Boyardee's ravioli!

For those whose taste buds can recognize something other than just salty, spicy, bitter, and sweet, here's the recipe.

2 TBSP vegetable oil
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
4 oz mushrooms, sliced
3 skinned and boned chicken breast halves cut into bite sized pieces
1 can (14.5 oz) crushed tomatoes in thick puree
3 TBSP dry white wine
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried basil
freshly ground pepper to taste
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Make the chicken cacciatore sauce: In a large skillet, warm 1 TBSP oil over medium heat. Saute onion, green pepper, garlic, and mushrooms until vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. Remove to a plate.

In the skillet used for the vegetables, warm remaining oil over medium-high heat. Saute chicken until lightly browned, about 5 minutes on each side. Add tomatoes, wine, seasonings, and reserved vegetables. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, 10 minutes. Set aside.

Add cheese and serve with pasta.

Book Mark Clean Out!

Ahhhhh!!!

Time management has never been my strong point. I'm okay at work because... well, things have to get done. But, at home, when no one's holding me accountable, I am all about procrastinating. In the past, it's been okay, I've always had a lot of free time. However, now that a good chunk of my time is spent on commute, things are starting to pile up. My room is... more disorganized then usual. My bathroom needs a good scrub. There are errands to be run, letters to be written. I'm running out of food because I haven't bought any groceries in awhile. This is how bad it is... I actually have laundry piling up! I love doing the laundry!

Sigh... While I procrastinate some more instead of picking up after myself, here are some articles you can read.

Hey, Crazy Cats, Lets Take a Way-Out Trip Through Teen Magazine, October 1960- I used to read Teen Magazine... Man, I can't believe I used to read Teen Magazine! My mom was right in refusing to waste money on that magazine (I read them at the Library for free). Teens back in the 60's sure looked way older than teens now.

Women's Website Discovers Secret to Wearing Heels, But Science Knows Better- Maybe it's because I wear a lot of cheap shoes but, I find the thought of wearing fitted shoes without a layer of fabric or nylon between my feet and the shoes to be very painful. I'll wear (some) ballet slippers sans feet coverage but that's about it.

Pie Like You've Never Seen It- It's a cute idea but not very practical. It looks like it takes more effort then it's worth, especially since you would have to eat like five of those to get a proper pie fix.

Police: Woman Killed Her Infant, Ate Part of Brain- WTF?!?! This Salon Article clears things up a bit.

Buy Safely Online with Virtual Credit Cards- Good idea!

Summer Vacation with Matte Stephens- If I were the art buying type, these are the kinds of art I would buy.

Look, No Make-Up!- I don't know who these people are but, apparently, they are celebrities. Jane once ran a pictorial featuring celebs without make up and it was suppose to be so brave or something. Pish posh! You know they were photo shopped! I would gladly put my bare face out there for the world to see if they edit to make my eyes look brighter, even out my skin tone, etc.

Take a Coffee Break Before Your Next Interview- So true! I hate it when people show up too early!

Look at the Fat Girl- Dude, I totally got into More to Love. I'm sad that it's over.



What Is and Isn't Emo- I'm so tired of people misusing the word "emo" because they abuse it in a bad way, in a derogatory way. "Oh, that's so fucking emo!" No, no it's not! It's "scene". If you're going to make fun of some one's lifestyle, at least use the right terminology.

Spinning in the Grave- My favorite music magazine is AP. Speaking of which, afi are coming out with a new album this month and I've yet to see them on any covers! Fucking Paramore.

Skip Annoyingly Long Voicemail Instructions for Every Cell Phone Company- Sweet! I'll have to try it out.

Friendly Fires- Eric kept insisting I check out this band. I miss having a musical concierge. Texing, "Anything good out?" on Tuesdays just isn't the same.

Still the best music video I've seen in a long time.



I will buy your song, Skinny Puppy, just because I like the dancing so much.

Riff Offs: 10 Songs That Resemble Other Songs- Dude, seriously Cold Play?

Oh We So Hungry- Slightly racist title aside, the dish looks really good. I'm not a big fan of miso, but I'll have to give this a try.

How to Use Couchsurfing to See the World- I new a dude who couchsurfed and couch... offered? It was pretty much his way of fulfilling his Asian fetish. Gross!

Read This Over Coffee- Well Damn, I need to drink more coffee.

Uncultured, Part Two!

Before heading to the art museum we went to the Natural History Museum. Michael wanted to see the dinosaurs and I wanted to see the Hope Diamond.


I haven't been to this museum since elementary school (maybe middle school). As I recall, when you walk in you are greeted by a giant woolly mammoth.


Or... Maybe it was an elephant.

The museum was a lot of fun. We saw tons of fossils, displays, exhibits, and so forth.


The exhibits really gets your imagination going. Can you imagine this... um... sheep turtle thing roaming around the country side?


What would life be like as a cave person?


Can you imagine how terrifying it must have been? Without any knowledge of science everything must have seemed liked magic or the whims of a fickle god that you must appease by any means necessary.

Unfortunately, I did not get to see the Hope Diamond this time. The gemstone room was packed, it reminded me of a being in a pit at a concert. Oh my goodness, I could barely make my way into the room. Over shoulders and through armpits I could catch brief glimpse of royal jewels from all over the world. From what little I could see, the pieces were absolutely breath taking. Trying to maneuver through the crowd proved to be impossible so... Oh well, no Hope Diamond.

After the Natural History Museum, we went to the Art Museum. Afterward, we were hankering for some more culture so we decided to check out Chinatown.

A word of advice for those visiting DC, get an all day Metrorail pass. It's only $7.80 for a day's worth of unlimited Metro rides. DC is full of Metro stations, they're everywhere.

Another word of advice, when riding the escalator, stand off to the side. Wasting some one's time is practically a federal crime here and the natives will let you know how displeased they are.


If they're willing to hoof it up these steep, steep steps (the picture was taken at the half way point, so imagine this twice as long) you know they're in a rush.

You can't miss the exit to Chinatown.


Once you get out of the station, you are greeted with more fancy-ness.


The gateway is very misleading. Aside from a few gift stores selling resin Buddhas, plethora of Chinese restaurants serving the same food as any suburban take out place, and every establishment sporting a Chinese translation for their signs, there really isn't anything Chinese about the place. I mean, the biggest attraction is the Verizon Center and an Urban Outfitters.

I wanted to eat some authentic, exotic, Chinese food but we couldn't find any. So, instead, we hopped back on the Metro and headed to 13th and U st to grab some Ethiopian food.

We first ate at Dukem when we went to the Black Cat to see Tiger Army.


It's the only Ethiopian restaurant that I've been to so I can't say that it's the best but, judging by the crowd, it's definitely the most popular in the area. We got there just in time! Shortly after we were seated, the place filled up fast and soon they were turning away people at the door. Phew!

We started of the meal with a vegetable sambusa.


Oh my goodness, it's so good! It's this fried, flaky pastry filled with lentil, onion, and jalapeno.


For our entree, I ordered the beef tibs and Michael ordered the lamb.


Mmmm... It was so delicious! The meats were perfectly marinated and grilled. I don't like lamb but I liked lamb that night.

It's kind of like fajitas except, instead of tortilla, you use injera bread. Speaking of injera.


AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Oh. My. Goodness. It's like my worst nightmare.

For someone with trypophobia, eating Ethiopian food can be an ordeal. Thankfully, only one side of the bread is holey, the other side is smooth. So, as long as I'm careful to carefully advert my eyes, it's doable.

But, you know, that speaks volumes about the tastiness of Ethiopian food. My meal is served on, and eaten with, a platter sized trypophobic nightmare and I still think it tastes good!

Uncultured

The fact that people, far away, actually make plans to spend their time and money in DC boggles my mind. If you have the time and the discretionary spending money, why in the world would you spend it to come to Washington DC? To think that there's someone in like Germany or England thinking, "Man, I would love to see Washington DC before I die!"... That just... I don't get it. Dude, you're in Europe, your continent is full of cool ass cities! Go to Finland and check out Moomin World.


But, you know, they come here, all the time. The DC area is full of ex-pats so maybe they're here to visit family members and DC isn't just the be all end all of their family vacation.

I'm just being harsh. DC's an okay city. There's a pretty good music scene (one of the birthplaces of American Punk), um... We have the Kennedy Center for all the fancy music and play stuff... Let's see... There are some clubs, bars, mediocre shopping, a zoo, a couple of stadiums... The museums are pretty nice.

Speaking of museums... Recently, Michael and I decided to check out the Smithsonian Museums. DC is full of museums. Not all of them are Smithsonian Museums but all the cool, free ones are under the Smithsonian umbrella. My favorite is the art museum. It's been my favorite since Daria and I checked it out during spring break when I was taking an art appreciation class.

In all sincerity, I think an art appreciation class should be mandatory for everyone. I may not remember all the names of paintings, movements and artists but I got so much out of that class.

My first time there was pretty amazing. Seeing, in person, all the paintings we discussed in class was just breathtaking. It's one thing to look at some 4x6 picture in your text book, or a dull, over exposed picture in a projected power point presentation. It's a completely different experience seeing it in person. And, I totally lucked out and they happened to be having a Vermeer exhibit!!! OMG!

See, these are the kind of paintings I like:


I like old Danish painters. It think this one is actually German, but you get the picture.

I also like Medieval paintings, especially the triptychs. My favorite artist from this era is definitely Hieronymus Bosch (doesn't that sound like a Harry Potter character?)


These kind of paintings reminds me of the illustrations in this copy of the Star Child (by Oscar Wilde) that I used to read a lot as a kid. I wouldn't say it was my favorite book but it definitely left an impression on me.


The vibrancy of the colors in these paintings are astounding.

Of course, as soon as I say that I have to post a pic where the flash totally washed out the picture...

The museum is separated into two wings. On one side you have the traditional paintings, on the other, the modern arts. In between, you have an awesome gift shop, where I picked up this print:



I never knew Andy Warhol did cats!

Aside from the gift shop, there is a cafe/cafeteria and a pretty trippy tunnel:


It is so cool, the picture doesn't do it justice. There's a moving sidewalk and the lights flicker on and off in a pattern so it's like you're taking a space ride... WOOOSH!

Once you get off, you are greeted by some "art".


I say "art" because, honestly, I don't get it.


Now, I know that it takes a lot of talent to condense a wide range of emotion into something simple. I get the whole beauty and skill behind haiku, Hemmingway, poems, Eleanor Rigby, Hello Kitty, etc. I get that it takes an artist's eye to see the world a certain way. If the experts see value in a piece of art, enough to put it in an renowned museum, I'm sure it's something that took skills. However...


Hmmm... Maybe the title will give me some hints as to what I'm suppose to see.


Oh. Untitled. It took him a year to paint a canvas white? Maybe he started on Dec. 31st around 11:55pm? This Robert Ryman guy really likes white. Maybe it's like a mirror, you know, a blank canvas, and I'm suppose to see a projection of what ever I'm feeling at the moment. I get it... Okay... But you know, I can do that starting at my bedroom wall.

Or, how about this:


Again, untitled. Well, at least that one has some color...

Oh, and what's this?



Maybe it's a representation of the negative space, of the void, of nothingness?

Now, this one would actually be kind of cool if it was a painting but no, it's just a big piece of fabric folded like a beginner's origami.



I'm starting to feel like these artists choose not to title their works because they know it's kind of BS. It's like, "Well, what do you see?"


To be fair, if someone gave me 12 giant canvases and asked me to make art, I don't think that I would've thought to paint black and white lines. My mind can't deconstruct, simplify, and interpret the world like that.

So I kind of get minimalistic, abstract art and why it's so lauded. Well, I get that I will never fully get those kind of art. However, some of the pieces in that museum looked like an elementary school project. No really. Every year, the local mall displays artwork from local schools where you see things like:


And you think, oh, that's nice, a 3rd grader learned how to fold and paint cardboard. You don't think it's some fancy piece of art.


Well, at least it has a name. Hmmm... "Fool". After reading her wiki page (caution: definitely NSFW, full frontal ahead). I get it now. I will assume that it's saying that men are idiots.

Moving on from that lovely image...

Doesn't this look like a work of a first grader?



You know how they say that it takes skills for a good singer to sing poorly? Maybe it's the same way with good artists and this is proof of their immense skill?

Michael pointed out the name of the donor. Funny name.

Here's another one of Claes Oldenburg original.



I've see better fake foods in a mall food court.

The last time I was at this museum they had quite the collection of Warhols, including the soup can. This time around, they only had the Monroe.


When we walked by the Pollock:


We saw a curator explaining the painting. Perfect! Maybe I'll learn about the skills behind these painting. Uh huh... vibrancy... movement... okay... I guess I can kind of see it. We then moved onto the Rothko.


She said, "Rothko often said, 'Silence is right.' He chose not to limit the viewer by explaining his paintings. Instead, he left it to the viewers to interpret. So, in the spirit of Rothko, instead of explaining the painting, I will leave it to you to contemplate."

Cop out!

Michael and I sat there. I asked, "What do you think?"
He replied, "... I think... that the painting next to it is better because it looks like a refrigerator."


"Oh my goodness! Me too!"

We are so uncultured.