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