In a blast from the past, I stumbled across this article on the hipster party that wasn’t.

“God, this is such a scene. I really just wanted to do something kinda intimate and chill,” said Crystal Perriman, a young waitress with a mohawk, pierced nostril, sleeveless Budweiser shirt, fannypack and Blue Blocker sunglasses.

“Seems like you can’t go anywhere anymore without a bunch of art kids showing up trying to look all cool,” she added, taking a drag of her Parliament then washing it down with a Sparks.

So funny. Thank god I’m not a hipster.

Work is going well. I have my first two consecutive days off tomorrow and Thursday. Because I’m too tired to write anything coherent, here are just some of the things I’ve been thinking about lately.

 So, I finally understand Postmodernism

This post explains why The Notorious B.I.G.’s “Mo’ Money, Mo’ Problems” exemplifies Postmodernism in art. Not only is the video great, and the song better than anything Kanye West is putting out now (OMG I hate Kanye sometimes), the write-up at the blog really underscores what the video meant in context of the late 90s. Wins all around.

 GOG Has Landed

Another one for the nostalgia category: Good Old Games is a website that sells legal downloads of old video games. All are DRM-free, and most are $5.99. Check out MDK2, Sacrifice, and the Fallout series. Some really good games to be had here for legit and cheap.

 Gender Roles Aren’t Dead!

The 100 Skills Every Man Should Know made its rounds on the blogosphere a few weeks ago, and now there is a reply in the form of 30 Skills Every Woman Should Have Before Turning 30. No one I know was upset by the sexism of either list, and indeed while the lists are gender-specific, there are “untraditional” skills in both of them. Damn good, I say. It’s just a truth about the world that, over-all, women and men face often different problems, and thus should have different skill sets to cope with those problems, and recognizing that doesn’t mean we are or ought to be placing either gender into a narrowly-defined role.

 Digital Drugs

RjDj is a new App for the iPhone that samples environmental sounds in real-time and then plays back the sounds, remixed according to certain algorithms. It makes a lot more sense when you watch it, thus this video:

There are a bunch more videos on youtube of RjDj in action. While I first thought it kind of over-hyped rhetoric, I’ve begun to like the description of this as a “digital drug”, enhancing and changing sensual perception in real-time by changing what we perceive before it enters the body, not how our processes that input. Granted, by that thinking even sunglasses are a form of out-of-body drug, being a stimulus changer, but I think that one can see how this kind of technology allows for more controlled and specific types of stimulus manipulation. I can’t wait for technology to allow more of these kinds of controlled sensory-changing devices to come into being. Having a soundtrack to your life is finally possible, and is scary/cool.

While I’m a bit too tired after my last two days of work (23 hours of work in two days, splitting my finder open on a mandoline, chain-drinking coffee, making so many freaking spinach salads, watching calluses grow on my hands, and loving every minute of it) for a real post, I wanted to share a band I’ve known for a bit, but recently found again while in the mood to listen to some good punk. Against Me is a good DIY punk band with indie influences and fun politics (and which is currently on tour and should be supported!). I’m hugely digging their song “Baby I’m an Anarchist” right now. Here it is. I’m sure I’ll be singing this and “Surfin’ Bird” to myself for the next few days while I’m working mornings.

• Baby, I’m an Anarchist – Against Me

Check our their website for more music, videos, and tour dates.

I walked into the local record place last night after work, figuring I’d reward a good day at a new job with an impulse buy. Wandering around, something amazing was playing, a folksy blues. I found myself whistling along, snapping my fingers. I picked up a DVD that I’ve wanted to own for a while, went up to the counter, and asked who was playing, and bought Rodriguez’s Cold Fact along with my DVD. As I was told by the girl at the counter, Rodriguez was from Detroit, and in the 70’s he put out an album which hadn’t gotten much play until 10 years later. His story gets weirder, but I want to leave that for Wikipedia to tell so I can get on to the music. The whole album is available to stream at last.fm. This is an album that is best taken as a whole. Sugar Man, the lead track, was also the biggest song from the album, so I leave it here in MP3 form for those two lazy to bother going to last.fm to stream it. Do check it out, especially if you like modern Detroit rock (The White Stripes, Brenden Benson) or 70’s folk rock (Dylan, Cohen, Donovan). Rodriguez mixes the best of both of these.

• Sugar Man – Rodriguez

This is something a record shop still does so much better than the internet when it comes to music, the song overheard, the impulse buy. The atmosphere created inside can make purchasing that album that you’re hearing on over the speakers that much more compelling, and can make the music more compelling as well. I know this isn’t a thought original to me (hell, High Fidelity touches on it when Cusack’s character decides he’s going to sell 5 copies of The Beta Band’s Three EP’s simply by putting on the album at the right time), but it feels great to be reminded of it in so visceral a way. The point? It’s good to stop reading us music blogs, get out, and discover some music in the real world sometimes.

So, I’ve been relatively silent recently because I’ve been working on a website for a friend’s new music video. The video, which is quite entertaining, is a rap video about Martin Luther and the Reformation, inspired by Jay-Z’s “99 Problems”. It’s below, and the website, with info on the video, cast, and crew, is at 95ThesesRap.com. If you like it, pass the website along. I’m sure Xander will appreciate it. And, if there are any embarrassing formatting snafu’s in the website, let me know in a comment, and include your OS, browser, and browser version.

From the redesigned Atlantic comes this wonderful and shocking essay on the TSA. From the article:

“The goal is to make sure that this ID triangle represents one person,” he explained. “Here’s how you get around it. Let’s assume you’re a terrorist and you believe your name is on the watch list.” It’s easy for a terrorist to check whether the government has cottoned on to his existence, Schnei­er said; he simply has to submit his name online to the new, privately run CLEAR program, which is meant to fast-pass approved travelers through security. If the terrorist is rejected, then he knows he’s on the watch list.

To slip through the only check against the no-fly list, the terrorist uses a stolen credit card to buy a ticket under a fake name. “Then you print a fake boarding pass with your real name on it and go to the airport. You give your real ID, and the fake boarding pass with your real name on it, to security. They’re checking the documents against each other. They’re not checking your name against the no-fly list—that was done on the airline’s computers. Once you’re through security, you rip up the fake boarding pass, and use the real boarding pass that has the name from the stolen credit card. Then you board the plane, because they’re not checking your name against your ID at boarding.”

What if you don’t know how to steal a credit card?

“Then you’re a stupid terrorist and the government will catch you,” he said.

This is so worth reading. Between the airlines making flying terrible (buy your own water and meals, pay for any checked luggage, etc.) and the huge hassle that is airport security, I’ve more or less given up flying, and haven’t flown since January. Give me a 24 hour train ride over 10 hours standing in line at the airport then getting on a flight any day. Now, if only we had a better train infrastructure in the U.S.

Well, I have a week left before I start my new job. In the mean time, I’ve begun writing a bit for money, and am finishing up some web development stuff; enjoying my last week with constant computer access before I begin my long hours in the kitchen. I’m excited to begin, but I want to make the most of my free time now.

One of the things I’ve been doing lately is reading up a bit on the Crunchy Cons, since parts of their movement really appeal to me. The general idea of the movement (also called Granola Conservatism) is that eating well, living frugally, and caring for the environment are not in any way antithetical to traditionalist, God-fearing, family valuing conservatism. John Schwenkler is someone who has been taken by the philosophy in a way that I can really understand, and even though I don’t agree with him or others in the movement on all issues, including faith, from reading his articles I have come to truly appreciate the movement.

One reason I like John’s writing so much is the way he writes about food. He has a great article up on Plenty Magazine’s website that discusses the problems with the ways in which we’ve politicized food, taking for example poor arugula. What is a delicious green has been turned into something only liberals should enjoy due to an admittedly stupid gaff made by Senator Obama earlier in the campaign. The article explains all this, and goes further into the virtues of arugula (or rocket, as it’s often known). It also brings me to my second Note from the Kitchen.

The article struck a chord with me because, god damn it, I love arugula. I first discovered how wonderful a green it was while working in my last restaurant job. I worked for a good friend of mine, Mike Hiller, at the Spit-Fire Grille. We always had a good lunch crowd, so we had a lot of hot sandwiches on the menu. One thing Mike insisted on was having fresh arugula to put on every sandwich. Arugula is a strong, crisp green when fresh, and it added a great crunch and spice to the sandwiches. We would buy arugula by the bagful, several times a week, from the local farmers.

At Spit-Fire, which was essentially a small, local restaurant, we used a lot of local greens and vegetables, usually as many as we could buy from the local farmers (and yes, there are farmers in Alaska: the long summer days and rich soil make for decent growing conditions). While a previous job at a health food store working produce helped me to appreciate organic produce, working at the restaurant helped me to learn the beauty of fresh-picked produce. The local produce we got was almost always more fresh and more delicious than even the organic stuff we got shipped from Seattle. The joy of shittakes picked and sauteed on the same day was a privileged to experience. Potatoes, arugula, bok choy, broccoli; all could be had locally. This isn’t even to mention the fresh fish and seafood available.

Working with local food, buying directly from and interacting with the farmers, seeing the freshness directly influence the final meal, all helped me develop relationships with people, food, and the land, and shaped my passion for food. Without that job, and without such a wonderful chef, I would not be where I am today, excited for a job that again lets me work with food and confident in the abilities of local communities and economies to do good things for the soul. As my chef, Mike not only taught me about produce and instilled in me a passion for food, but also showed me all my knife skills, introduced me to libertarianism, and was about the best boss a guy could ask for.

The thing is am most grateful for, though, is this passion for food. It’s something that I wish I could let others experience. I try to every time I cook a meal for people: to let them see my movements, my pleasure in the process of making the food, as well as to give them the knowledge I have about the ingredients I use, and finally to make them something tasty. It’s this passion and experiences with local food that put me in, to some degree, with the Crunchy Cons. More than just a political movement, the Crunchy Cons are largely united by their passions for localism, food, and community, and their willingness to live as they preach. Many conservatives and libertarians would do well to look towards them for their goals and their passion, and to remember that just because “the liberals” do it does not make it wrong, and caring about food, Earth, and community should not be looked down upon. Indeed, it is what we should be striving to attain.

 ’Sup, America?

Wondermark is one of my favorite comics of all time. Today’s comic just goes to show why. Check out the archives, and make sure to catch the hover text.

 Dziuba is back

Official crotchety old man of the internet, Ted Dziuba, has brought back his old website, Uncov. A place for angry rants about the internet and the dumb people who try to make money off it, his site offers multiple lulz a minute, and now has the added irony of being partially user-content-driven.

 This is a picture of the surface of the sun; look at it with wonder

 In which I blog a comment

Matthew Cropp has had an article published at C11 on the secessionist movement of Vermont. As he explained to me when I met him earlier this week, it’s a young but possibly influential movement. I also have posted a comment on the thread about the Alaskan Independence Party, and Palin’s non-involvement. I can’t link to the comment, so I’ll post part of it here instead. Go ahead and find the rest at the article.

The [Alaskan Independence Party] isn’t necessarily a secessionist party, as their website helpfully lays out. Also, I’m pretty sure that the Palins’ involvement has always been pretty low-key. To call Sarah Palin “intimately involved” doesn’t sound right considering any of the sources I’ve read about it. There is a video of Mrs. Palin, as governor, addressing the AIP on their website. She doesn’t sound like a fervent supporter, more a politician politicking.

…when blogging and cooking make me rich (hahahaha), I’m going to have a library just like this one. (Edit: Oops. Fixed that link.)

Tell me you don’t see that and stare in wonder. Built by Priceline.com founder Jay Walker, the library is a sort of shrine to nerddom, done with class. The number of rare books, gadgets, and treasures found in the library is mind-blowing. While Yale’s library might try to look like a cathedral to knowledge architecturally, this library is a true tribute to human achievement. Go to the link and marvel at all it contains. I’m going to be scheming on how to become this guy’s best friend. Or butler. Whatever it takes, man; that place is nerd heaven.

So, I finally got myself a job.

Starting on the 20th, I’ll be working at the Union League Café, one of New Haven’s finest dining establishments. It will be full-time kitchen work. I’m really excited to be working in a kitchen again. It’s been some of my favorite work, slaving long hours on my feet in a tiny, hot room. Why? You’re making something visible with your hands. There’s nothing quite like putting out a beautiful plate of tasty food and knowing that someone is going to love it. Now imagine that happening every few minutes.

Of course, for this type of speed to happen, you can’t have someone work on a dish from start to finish, thus the “line”. Every person in a kitchen has a different position and different duties, and any one dish will have the work of many different people in it. From the prep cook to the fry cook to the expediter, each person has a job (well, a lot of jobs) to do. This is part of why skills in a home kitchen don’t necessarily map to skills in a professional kitchen, and vice versa. For anyone interested in the world of professional cooking, I highly recommend Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential. It’s the most real, honest book I’ve ever read about cooking. I’ve been lucky not to have to work some of the shit jobs that he had to, and Union League will be demanding but not ridiculous.

I’m planning on taking this as a large learning opportunity, and will hopefully have a much more complete knowledge of French cooking within a few months. In that vein, I’m planning on doing a series called “Notes from the Kitchen”, where every once in a while I’ll write about things I learned or discovered in the kitchen: how-tos, recipes, ideas about life, politics, whatever. To start that off, something simple: when working in a hot, crowded, loud, and dangerous kitchen, a certain type of music is necessary. Heavy metal. Below are my two favorite Iron Maiden songs, which with their sharp guitar work and smart lyrics work wonders for your attitude when you’ve got a hot pan in one hand and a sharp knife in the other.

• Number of the Beast – Iron Maiden
• Run to the Hills – Iron Maiden