You cagey son of a bitch!

In lieu of watching the goofy fucks on the Fox pregame show, some musings on SNL:

-the Digital Short was stupid and mocking.
-Why do they keep rolling out that Deep House Dish, techno talk-show? At least come up with a premise if you want to dress up in weird costumes. I think Madonna and Gaga just broke a time vortex or some shit.
-Has anyone ever done a good A'nold impression? Schwarzenpecker does a good one, come to think of it.
-Update was a lot better than the Thursday version, this week. Saving jokes, or did more happen in the last 2 days. Eh, who cares.
-Funniest sketch all night, and I wouldn't think it on paper: Gaga and Samburg in the same "bubble" dress.

By the way, why didn't you guys watch Sit Down, Shut Up when it was on (remaining, un-aired shows having been running on Saturday nights, set your DVR)? It's basically Arrested meets Clone High, minus famous people as characters. I-er-uh!

Go Bears! Followed by a nap! Followed by Simpsons! Followed by the Seth MacFarlane [sp] block! Followed by Sunday night work-week depression and suicide contemplation (jk)!

Slappin' dat bass, mon

Saw Brand New at the Aragon last night with my good friend Professor Rage. Excellent. Only second time I've seen those guys and I thought they were really good again. The only other time was at Liberty Hall, T-Minus and myself chugging Rojo Toro and vodkas and smoking in the back row of the balcony (fantastic view too, really), across the aisle from 4/5's of The Get Up Kids (whom we are seeing later in the month!). Back to the show; Manchester Orchestra opened, and we missed the beginning of their set - Rage was not keen on that, but when you start drinking at Rossi's, it's hard to leave. That, and I didn't hear (if they played it) 'I Can Barely Breathe,' but still good, the remainder of the set that we saw.

So, BN opened with 'You Won't Know' and that was interesting and great choice. They didn't play much from Daisy, but did play 'At The Bottom' and 'Bought A Bride,' a pair of songs that I dig from the album. Thinking back, what's amazing is what they didn't play. No 'The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows,' nor 'The Boy Who Blocked His Own Shot,' perhaps my favorite song of theirs, and yet no complaints about the song selection. For some reason, this spritely sprightly redhead (heh) and I were singing together, arms over each other's shoulders, during 'Jaws Theme Swimming' like it was the most natural thing in the world, and we didn't talk to one another before, during, or after the show (reminds me of the NFG show Tone, and you know what I'm thinking of) - McMike was getting beers during that time. Weird, yet oddly common at shows, for me. Maybe not that exactly, but odd occurrences that seem to exist solely in the rock club during the show, and then are completely ignored/forgotten afterwards. Fuck, last time I saw Alkaline, I was drinking with this woman that was there with her husband and his girlfriend, and everyone was "cool."

...Where was I?

After the show, things get hazy. Woke up on my couch with some missed calls and texts to tune of "where are you (or usually, 'where r u')?" from a chorus of peeps. I remember going to the Uptown afterwards, and then the hole-in-the-wall Mexican joint but...details.

In summation, go see Brand New if they come through, as they don't tour all that often it seems. And, if you don't have Deja Entendu or The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Me, go get them immediately, as these albums are required listening. Gonna watch last night's SNL now, with Ryan Reynolds and Lady CaCa (enjoy this year honey, we bore easily of shtick, even for cretins). Is Reynolds the Mark Harmon of our generation?

UPDATE: On second thought, Brand New did play a fair amount of the new album, not that anyone cares.

Gee, that Michael Strahan and Daryl "Chill" Mitchell sit-com on Fox looks really, really funny...

Quickly, as I've got a cousin in town:

-My sister finally broke-up with her shithead boyfriend!
-Got the new Matthew Good album (Vancouver), and it's another winner.
-Ate at Rick Bayless's new place, Xoco, and Silver Palm (and had the mammoth 3 Little Pigs sandwich finally-finished it, by the way) yesterday.
-Weather is gorgeous in the city, my hair the same.
-If SC kicks hell out of OSU, and an earthquake erupts at the Big House today, life will be too sweet to tolerate.

More to come on a few of these topics.

I don't know why, but I can't enjoy breakfast anywhere but a strip club

I never eat at home enough. Well, that's not true; I never have food at my place enough. I run out of groceries and might go a week or two on Ramen and take-out. This is good and bad, for mostly obvious reasons:

Bad - costs more dinero, overall bad for my health, and a pain - compared to being at home and going to the kitchen (this excludes going out to eat with friends/family/date/work).

Good - Chicago has great food, lots of it. I can get any type of food delivered. Also, less clean-up (though not very 'green', but more on that down the road).

So this all came in my cross-hairs when I was thinking of great places I've eaten that have small spaces, just like my tiny kitchen. Here are the 5 Best Places To Eat, That Are Smaller Than My Apartment (well, probably not literally, but damn close)...the best "holes in the walls":

Algonquin Sub Shop (way the fuck out in the NW burbs of IL, toeing the white trash line) - best sandwich shop, consistently. They specialize in hot subs (yes gang, better than Yello Sub). I've eaten there a dozen or so times, and have only ordered off the regular menu once. Every other time, it's the Special of the Day (standing to-go order for my family, should they happen to go sans me). Always great.

Duck Walk (Thai place up the street from me. I'm pretty sure it's located between an Indian restaurant and a Moroccan restaurant) - the entrees and soups are good, but I love their appetizers. They're just disgustingly good to me; the Crab Rangoon rivals Shine and The Thai Place(KC), and the baby egg rolls are just bite-size shrimp, fried. I've had that, and their chicken satay and pot stickers as a meal...more than once.

New Japan (located in the armpit of Santa Monica Blvd. and the 405, LA) - there teriyaki is heaven to me. I've eaten beef all over this great country (Chicago, KC, Denver, Texas), and if you were to ask me how I would like it made for my last meal, I want it made to taste like New Japan's beef teriyaki. Same for the chicken (and their miso salad dressing is spectacular as well).

Big Jo's (some burger stand located in what looks like a parking lot in Santa Monica) - "Big Jo" is a tiny Asian lady (sweet as can be), who heads this burger stand. Burgers are phenomenal, along with everything else cooked on the short-order grill. Try the Vegas burger - their cheeseburger with a slab of ham on it. An old delivery driver, for a patio furniture store I worked for, and I used to eat this way too much (and then he and I would go deliver shit, drive down to the marina and smoke dope and drink beer - and then I would go back to work in the store! The owners were never there and the clientele were pretentious pricks anyway, be cool).

Town Topic (my place may really be bigger than this 24-hour quickfire, located in a shadier part of downtown Kansas City, which if you know KC, is pretty much all of "downtown" but I've heard that things are changing) - always great, and in a city with great, thin-style burgers (a la Culver's), these are probably the best (sorry to the 3W's: Winstead's, Wylie's, and Wimpy's [all real, or were, all very good in their own right]). This is what you eat after the bars have closed, the party has died, and you're either post-fuckin' or sans-fuckin' for the night.

If you see these places in your travels, I suggest you grab a chair/stool/lean and try some for your self.