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.