Immortal on Tour!

Immortal has announced a North American tour in March 2010. The band comments, "After the fantastic experiences we had in New York and Los Angeles in 2007, we are returning next year, and this time we will make sure we visit our Canadian hordes on the East coast as well! We will see you during Easter 2010, which will be a dark and cold one!"

Immortal's "Blashyrkh In North America 2010" tour dates are as follows::

03.27.10: Toronto, ON - Opera House
03.28.10: Montreal, QC - Metropolis
03.30.10: Brooklyn, NY (18+) - Masonic Temple
04.02.10: Los Angeles, CA -The Avalon

I'm excited! I'll be seeing them in grim and frostbitten Los Angeles :)

Cold Morning Warm Tea

As usual I forget to take photos of food when I'm going to eat. Its partially because I want to take nice, artsy photos but I don't have time or good lighting or a million other excuses ^_^

I did see a cool mini studio set up that I plan to get next month. That should make for some cool new photos.

So anyway, I've been a bit sick off and on, so this morning it was a bit chilly and I enjoyed a hot cup of tea to soothe my throat.

Wardruna

If you like atmospheric tribal style music in a loosely similar style to Dead Can Dance, check out Wardruna.

This is a new project from black metalers Kvitrafn and Gaahl with other members.

Very ambient and atmospheric album, meant to be listened to beginning to end....I've been listening to this over and over for the past several days, usually with the lights off and only a small lamp on while I'm working.

Dream: meet reality

a friend just informed me of RenCon in April.

why am I so excited?

Qntal and Estampie will be performing. 2 of my favorite medieval groups. i'm about ready to dance around like das technoviking.

i'm giddy. gonna book my room and flight tomorrow. i'd do it now but i just made a $400 car registration transaction, that's enough money spending for one day >_<

(and to try to keep this a bit on topic, here's what i cooked for thanksgiving)

Skinny Puppy on Devil's Night

The night before Halloween I saw Skinny Puppy's opening show of their tour. The show was nothing short of amazing. Excellent theatrics, drenched in blood and ohGr wore no less than 3 different masks, which he progressively removed throughout the show.

They played a lot of older material and also Assimilate, which they rarely play.

Awesome night!

Heathenfest

Heathenfest! I dig both Belphegor and Kivimetsän Druidi. With all the emphasis on Norwegian/Swedish black metal, it'll be cool to see a black/death metal band from Austria, which is where my family comes from.

On a separate note:
I saw KMFDM this past Saturday. They sucked so I'm not going to bother with an entry. Too bad, their music is so good but they didn't say a single word to the audience except a quick thanks at the end. Its like they were pissed off to be performing.

My friend Kate whored me out for free KMFDM stickers though. If you have a KMFDM tattoo they were giving away free stickers. So I got a bunch and gave some out.

Satyricon

From Music

Satyricon was sooooooo amazing. Its so refreshing to see a band that truly appreciates their fans.

Frost was of course, amazing on drums. One of the very best drummers out there.

There's nothing like the energy of a metal show. They played all the songs I was hoping to hear and capped it off with Mother North.

When they did Fuel for Hatred, Satyr said he wanted the pit to be more insane than when Immortal last played in LA, and it was. I got knocked over and landed on someone. People were helping us up pretty quick though so it was no big deal.

So anyway, it was the best way to start off the string of concerts for this month, although for me, none of the rest will compare.

From Music

From Music

From Music

True Norwegian Black Metal

I've been wanting to buy this book for some time now, but it came with a hefty price tag (well worth it, the book is HUGE). I found it recently used for only $20 so I snapped it up.

Glad I did! Interesting book and beautiful photography. A very intimate look at a very distinct subculture.

Tomorrow I have tickets to see Satyricon! Can't wait!

Portrait of Norway

Could this be Norway's newest tourism marketing video??? It has a real family appeal, if you ask me :)



Song is by the excellent band, Kampfar and the song is called Norse.

I've been very busy with school - java programming is not much fun. But I did get a chance to make one of my favorites last night: Edgar Allan Po Boys

Summer Dying Fast

Went to Target to pick up some contact lens cleaner and I was ambushed by their aisles and aisles of Halloween and Autumn decorations.

Lets just say.......I spent waaaaaaaay more money than I had intended, but I got a ton of decorations for my apartment. My living room is just about finished, so I just need to give some attention to my room.

I even managed to find some medieval looking wall sconces to hang on either side of my tapestry. Score!


I kinda needed this though, my spirits have been dismal this week. I have not been a very happy person and I'm not sure why. But maybe things will get better now.

halloween color tea candles

From Drop Box

spooky placemats

From Drop Box

the wall across from my tapestry and tv

From Drop Box

my tapestry with candles (the scones look uneven but its the angle of the photo and the way the tapestry hangs)

From Drop Box

Attack of the Kittens

I has a kitten. This little guy (or girl) moved in to my backyard about a week and a half ago with its mom. Mom was very protective and pretty much took over the back yard. But I haven't seen the mom in a few days and the baby was getting very vocal. She's got a set of pipes on her.

So I was worried that she'd starve to death. Again, I haven't seen the mom in a few days so I'm wondering if she was killed or just decided to abandon her little ball of fluff. I lured her out from behind the tree and gave her some special formula milk for cats, just in case she was hungry. I tried a syringe but she didn't like that, so then I tried dipping my finger in the milk but she started gnawing on my finger, so then I put the bowl in front of her and dove right in, lapped a bunch up.

Now she's exploring the cozy laundry basket I prepared for her and almost climbed out. I'm going to call a no-kill shelter I got the number for and have them take care of her.

Any advice on how to take care of a small kitten would be welcome.

I'm calling her Skadi for now, but I will NOT get attached.....even though she's really cute and makes the most endearing little squeaks :)

Haunted Hollywood

So! I've been, as usual, busy with life. Much to my dismay, I haven't been cooking much lately. Or I should say, I haven't been cooking anything too fancy. And when I do.....I forget to photograph it.

So....what have I been up to? I took a fun "Haunted Hollywood" tour this past weekend with some friends. I took a peek at a bunch of LA/Hollywood vegan restaurants but my friends weren't brave enough to try them, so we went to California Pizza Kitchen. I got a delicious Japanese Eggplant veggie pizza, and it was very satisfying after a day of stomping around the city.

Some highlights (aside from the awesomely spooky theme music my friend put on a CD):
driveway to the Playboy mansion.....I had to get a shot of the sign....until the rock next to me told me to get off the driveway.


Duckula von Duck and Techno Frog posing in front of the Hollywood sign (about as close as you can get to it)


me at the altar near Bela Lugosi's grave....

NIN|JA

Perry Farrell and Dave Navarro (not my photo, click to go to OCregister.com to see all of their photos)


I had a kick ass time last night at the Nine Inch Nails and Jane's Addiction concert. Street Sweeper Social Club opened, featuring Tom Morello from Rage Against the Machine. I'm glad to see that he continues pursuing his social activism beyond the scope of what Rage Against the Machine did; he gave out information for how people could help the homeless and inspired the audience to work to make the world a better place.

Nine Inch Nails played an awesome "greatest hits" set, including a really well done cover of Metal by Gary Numan. After NIN finished, I had a hard time believing that Jane's Addiction could come even close to measuring up, but I was totally surprised. Perry Farrell is an excellent frontman, and Dave Navarro kicked ass on guitar. With the original band back together, a first since the early 90's, they had a great chemistry and really impressed the whole audience.

So what does this have to do with vegan food? Well.....not much, although I had a few margaritas, which are vegan :) But actually, my reason for mentioning my night of fun and frolick was because as we were leaving, the awesome people from Vegan Outreach were outside, handing out booklets about factory farming. I've been a diehard concert goer and alternative scene rocker for at least 15 years, and only in the past year or so have I really seen them out in force, so this is definitely a step in the right direction. It was great to see them in action!

Funker Vogt Show

Funker Vogt was awesome!  We waited outside in the cold for well over an hour, which sucked, but the show was well worth it.

They went on late, at around 12:30, and they played a whopping hour and a half set.  How cool is that?  They played some great stuff (Maschine Zeit!) and I had fun dancing/pinballing around the pit.

The singer was dressed like a surfer dude, which kinda threw me off.  When he first walked up to the mic, I thought he was some roadie doing a sound check.  But once he started singing I recognized his voice.

I had such a good time, I lost my voice!  What can I say, I yell a lot at concerts.  Gotta get my money's worth.

Breakfast Sammich

Finally I've had a bit of time to make something new and actually photograph it! I have been so busy the past few months with writing my thesis, serving as webmaster for 2 different library associations, lots of work projects and trying to fit in some form of social life. My yoga has been slacking a bit lately as well, but I'm almost finished with my thesis, so I'll soon be back on track with regular blog updates as well as yoga.

I found myself earlier in the week having a weird craving for McDonald's breakfast sandwiches. I used to love them since I was a kid, and while I definitely don't miss them, thinking of eating one still gives me that warm fuzzy feeling. So, Bob Marley playing on my car stereo, I hit the grocery store and picked up supplies to make my own. (no idea what Bob Marley or reggae has to do with breakfast sammiches, but I thought I'd throw that in there....and no I wasn't suffering from a case of the munchies haha)

Ingredients

tofu (I used sprouted silken tofu because that's what I had on hand, but I'd recommend firm or extra firm)

veggie sausage patties

turmeric

black pepper

garlic powder

rosemary

sage (ground)

English muffins - I used Ezekiel sprouted English muffins and they were delicious

slice of dairy-free cheese

Directions

Cut the block of tofu in the center, height wise. Get out your round glass to make circular tofu patties. That part brought back good childhood memories of making Popeye Toast. Hmm.....maybe that's an idea for a future recipe? Fry up the round tofu patties as you would any other tofu, adding the seasonings to your taste.

Pretty easy! Because I like to have a hearty meal once a week, I added veggie gravy, avocado, hash browns and some tempeh bacon as sides. In the picture, the first tofu "egg" patty kinda almost looks like a grilled pineapple; I had a little accident when I was transferring it from the pan to the muffin...oops. Boy was it good......but I'll be doing some extra exercise this week to work it off!

Antarctica

Somehow I got to reading about Antarctica this morning and I'd love to live/work there for a little while. I think it would be really cool! (no pun intended) Not sure if they'll ever need a librarian, but I do hope to go there on vacation one day, although I still have mixed feelings about that......Antarctic tourism creates pollution in the relatively pristine environment down there.



Of course, this lead me to listen to Immortal's tribute to the frostbitten southern wastes. I am always inspired at the part where he sings (growls) "shadow of Antarctica spreads, with its....masses...of.....PERMAFROST"

Upcoming Shows

Funker Vogt is playing at Bunker in April. They are one of the few EBM/Industrial groups that I like. Actually I'm a big fan of their stuff; they are one of the few electronic groups that manages to capture the scrape-your-face brutality of metal. It'll be an awesome show!

Babyland is playing in May at one of the Bats Day pre-events. More awesomeness.

Convergence 15 in July. I still haven't bought my tickets but I need to. I was kinda waiting to see whether I'd still be in the area or already up in Seattle. Although it wouldn't be much of a problem to just fly down here for the weekend.

Last night for dinner I enjoyed a vegan knish with spinach dal and some sautee'd vegetables. It was a wide range of cultural foods but it was all so good, especially the knish.

The Rise of Frankenstein

Last night I braved the madness of Hollywood to see Frankenstein perform.

Spending $20 to park, $12 per drink and $10 cover charge is not my idea of a good time.....we had to park a seriously long distance from the venue and walk, but by coincidence we parked next to a vegan restaurant. Lots of hassles.......but Frankenstein made up for it!

They played an awesome set and announced a new album. That's a big deal because they've only really released one album ever. Dave Grave, the singer pointed at Valerie and I about halfway through the set and shot us with a load of silly string.

It was a fun night of punk deathrock psychobilly mayhem, with a horror movie twist!

Having imbibed a drink or three....or four (I lost track), I woke up with a killing hunger, so this morning I made my favorite post-bash breakfast: the dreaded Mexican Country Tofu Scramble. It filled my belly and gave me the energy to focus on my thesis, which I've been procrastinating on!

I love......

With V-day (thankfully) fading into memory, I can't help but think, this Monday morning, about one of the things I love the most.

My micro-fibre combat boots. I wear them every day and they look good no matter what I'm wearing. Especially on a day like today when the heavens have been torn asunder and rain has been falling in buckets, my waterproof combat boots are especially awesome.

Puddles and heavy rain be damned, with my trusty pair of boots, I'm ready to go anywhere at any time.

*this post brought to you by excessive boredom due to being cooped up inside because of the rain*

bitter winter moon

cradle


The show was awesome. Cradle kicked ass but they had the shittiest sound mixer of all 3 bands that performed. The vocals weren't very clear and neither was the guitar. Even when they played 2 of my favorite songs, Cruelty Brought Thee Orchids and From the Cradle to Enslave, I almost didn't recognize them at first.

But still a good show, and their new female vocalist is great, but I got the feeling that they were just trying to get through their set.

The real highlight of the night was the second band, Satyricon.

At first I was kinda wondering how they ended up opening for Cradle, because they should be headlining in their own right, but it turns out they will be doing a headlining tour in the fall. They were awesome. They had the synchronized headbanging down perfectly, and they seriously worked the crowd with a finesse rarely seen.

Satyricon is one of those bands that I've always meant to buy their albums but never have, so this morning I picked up:

• Dark Medieval Times
• The Forest Is My Throne
• The Shadowthrone
• Nemesis Divina
  

Those are older albums, but I like to start at the beginning and work my way up to more current. I liked their newer stuff as well, and when they played Black Crow on a Tombstone, the energy was palpable. Frost, their drummer is absolutely amazing.

Satyricon

Niyaz

Saw a great world music/middle eastern group called Niyaz (check out their web page, it rocks) on Friday with my friend Irene and a few of her friends. It was an amazing performance; their music being based heavily on the 13th century Persian poet, Rumi. I bought both of their CD's that were on sale.

I was hoping we could go for some coffee after the show, but it was cold and raining so that wasn't much of an option. To kinda get myself in the middle eastern mood, I watched the first half of Kingdom of Heaven before the show, so after the show, I went home and watched the rest of it (actually I fell asleep before the end).

Video of them performing Allahi Allah:

Trobar de Morte

I am the happiest person in neo-medieval.....um.....history right now.

Just found and bought Trobar de Morte's 2 latest albums, both of which are very limited pressings. I've been on an epic quest through chasm, cave and titan woods for a few years now, trying to find a copy of Reverie without any luck, but yesterday my luck changed. I found someone selling it, brand new(!).

Not only did I find Reverie, which was "sold out" before it ever even became officially available (the cd burner on their computer must have died after making only a few copies haha) but also Legends of Blood and Light, which is their newest album and also pretty difficult to find, limited to only 3000 copies. Maybe they finally got around to pressing some more?



Anyway, this is a triumphant day, I just got 2 albums from one of my most favorite medieval groups :)

Avocado Smoothie....of doom

I've been meaning to try this for some time, and I finally did. I was a bit apprehensive at first, because I usaully associate avocados with salty, Mexican style flavors, but I was very pleasantly surprised at how good this was.

Avocado really is a versatile food, and this is super quick to make. Even with my crappy blender, it only took maybe 10 minutes from start to finish.

Ingredients

1 avocado

1 cup ice (or more depending how thick you want it)

1/4 cup soy/rice/almond/hemp milk (I prefer hemp milk)

2 tablespoons agave nectar

2 tablespoons coconut milk (optional)

Preparation is simple. Pour in the milk, avocado, coconut milk, agave nectar and blend till smooth. Add the ice and continue blending till you get it to your desired consistency. Also, feel free to add agave or coconut milk to your desired taste.

My Favorite Cooking Show on DVD!

I just discovered the full DVD collection from my favorite cooking show. So naturally, I bought all of the seasons!

Mexico, One Plate at a Time airs every Saturday (in southern California) on PBS. I love it, I always joke that its my favorite time of the week. And it really is! Sometimes I have a margarita while I watch that week's episode, to get in the proper fiesta mood.

While this show is omni, the show's host, Rick Bayless is a master chef and he shares many recipes that are vegetarian and vegan friendly. The guacamole he makes always looks so good. It is one of my goals to eat at his top-rated Mexican restaurant, Topolobampo the next time I'm in Chicago.

Frostbite Metalfest

Wish I lived in Finland!