Wherein the kitties use me as a bed.
Semi-Annual Concert Bonanza
Iowa City:
Sun 01/25/09 Willy Porter The Mill
Sat 02/14/09 Marah The Picador
Fri 02/20/09 Mason Jennings The Englert Civic Theatre
Sat 02/21/09 William Elliott Whitmore The Picador
Sun 02/22/09 William Elliott Whitmore The Picador
Tue 03/03/09 Duncan Sheik CSPS / Legion Arts
Tue 03/17/09 Bonnie “Prince” Billy The Picador
Thu 03/26/09 Squirrel Nut Zippers Redstone Room (Davenport)
Tue 04/07/09 The Hold Steady The Picador
Des Moines/Ames:
Wed 02/04/09 tapes ‘n tapes The Maintenance Shop
Sat 02/28/09 Andrew Bird Hoyt Sherman Place
Mon 03/16/09 Bonnie “Prince” Billy Vaudeville Mews
Fri 03/27/09 “The Harlem Globetrotters” Wells Fargo Arena
Wed 04/22/09 New Found Glory People’s
Omaha:
Fri 01/23/09 Cursive Slowdown
Sat 01/24/09 Cursive Slowdown
Fri 01/30/09 Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin Box Awesome
Thu 02/12/09 Peking Acrobats Orpheum Theater
Mon 02/16/09 Marah The Waiting Room
Fri 02/27/09 Andrew Bird Slowdown
Chicago:
Tue 01/20/09 The Killers UIC Pavilion
Thu 01/22/09 Animal Collective Metro / Smart Bar
Thu 01/29/09 Vic Chesnutt/Elf Power Empty Bottle
Sat 01/31/09 Gene Ween Schubas Tavern
Fri 02/06/09 Sybris Schubas Tavern
Fri 02/06/09 Rhett Miller FitzGerald’s
Thu 02/12/09 Fujiya & Miyagi The Bottom Lounge
Thu 02/12/09 Antony & The Johnsons Vic Theatre
Sat 02/21/09 Smoking Popes The Cubby Bear
Sun 02/22/09 Juana Molina Morse Theater
Sat 02/28/09 Dropkick Murphys Congress Theater
Sat 03/07/09 tapes ‘n tapes Metro / Smart Bar
Sat 03/07/09 John Prine Genesee Theatre
Sat 03/14/09 Bonnie “Prince” Billy Vic Theatre
Tue 03/17/09 Flogging Molly Congress Theater
Sat 03/21/09 “The Oddity Faire: A Mutated Mini Fest” (DeVotchka, Les Claypool) Riviera Theatre
Sat 03/28/09 Bloc Party Riviera Theatre
Wed 04/01/09 “Speaker Series” - Al Gore Chicago Theatre
Sat 04/04/09 Morrissey Aragon Ballroom
Fri 04/10/09 Andrew Bird Civic Opera House
Fri 04/17/09 Vienna Teng Schubas Tavern
Thu 04/23/09 David Sedaris Paramount Theatre
Sat 05/02/09 Joel McHale The Venue at Horseshoe Casino
Sun 05/03/09 The Books Museum of Contemporary Art
Sun 05/24/09 Boyz II Men Private Function
Sat 06/20/09 Matthew Sweet Naper Settlement
Minneapolis:
Fri 02/06/09 tapes ‘n tapes First Avenue
Sun 02/08/09 Rhett Miller Fine Line Music Cafe
Wed 02/11/09 Fujiya & Miyagi 7th Street Entry
Sat 02/14/09 Antony & The Johnsons Pantages Theatre
Mon 02/23/09 Flogging Molly Myth
Sun 03/01/09 Dropkick Murphys Myth
Thu 03/19/09 Bonnie “Prince” Billy McGuire Theater
Thu 03/19/09 “The Oddity Faire: A Mutated Mini Fest” (DeVotchka, Les Claypool) Myth
Tue 03/24/09 Squirrel Nut Zippers Varsity Theater
Mon 03/30/09 Bloc Party First Avenue
Sat 04/04/09 Margaret Cho Treasure Island Event Center
Mon 04/06/09 Morrissey The State Theatre
Fri 04/10/09 Art Garfunkel Orchestra Hall
Sat 04/11/09 “The Harlem Globetrotters” Target Center
Sat 04/11/09 Andrew Bird The State Theatre
Thu 08/06/09 The Guess Who Private Function
Kansas City, MO:
Thu 01/29/09 Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin Jackpot Music Hall
Mon 02/02/09 tapes ‘n tapes Jackpot Music Hall
Thu 02/12/09 G. Love & Special Sauce Harrah’s North Kansas City
Fri 02/13/09 Joel McHale Uptown Theater
Sat 02/14/09 B.B. King Midland Theatre
Tue 02/17/09 Marah The Record Bar
Sat 02/21/09 Rufus Wainwright Uptown Theater
Tue 02/24/09 Flogging Molly Uptown Theater
Fri 02/27/09 Ryan Adams Uptown Theater
Mon 03/16/09 Andrew Bird Liberty Hall
Mon 03/16/09 “The Oddity Faire: A Mutated Mini Fest” (DeVotchka, Les Claypool) Beaumont Club
Tue 03/17/09 Joan Baez Liberty Hall
Tue 04/07/09 Morrissey Midland Theatre
Tue 04/07/09 Bonnie “Prince” Billy Granada Theatre
Wed 04/29/09 Reverend Horton Heat The Bottleneck
Sat 05/02/09 The Killers Capitol Federal Park At Sandstone
Fri 07/24/09 Reverend Horton Heat The Crossroads
Sun 10/11/09 Lewis Black Ameristar Hotel & Casino
Sorry, everybody
It’s probably going to be pretty quiet over here for a while, but if you’re interested, come visit me at Seven Ten Clark, where I’m updating every single day with progress photos and descriptions of the work that I’m doing on my new house. I don’t think I’m going to have time to do much of anything else until we get moved in, and we have a LOT of work to do before we move.
Posted in Links to cool stuff, Site.
Holiday Baking Plans
Baking large loads of goodies is one of my favorite aspects of the holiday season, and despite the fact that I’ll be renovating and moving into my new house, this year will be no different! It might just mean that the food preparation will have to happen somewhere other than my new place (although I’m itching extra hard to prepare food in my awesome new gas oven). Here are some things I want to make:
(photos are not mine, unfortunately)
I discovered chocolate cloud cookies last year right before the holidays and they looked so yummy that I went out and made them right away. Totally worth it. I ended up giving some away as presents, and then made up a whole other batch to serve at my New Year’s Eve party. They were definitely a hit. Make lots. Once you’ve made them once or twice, they’re easy as pie. Bonus points for being able to use my cookie scoop!
I’m not even really a big fan of divinity, but I’m going to make it this year. It’s just a little (or a lot) too sweet for me, and I want stuff that I can snarf truckloads of, rather than things that make me swear sugar off for a year. However, this was a holiday food that my grandmother used to make, so I’ll be carrying on the tradition. I’ll post her recipe once I find it in my mom’s stockpile.
I didn’t realize until pretty recently that I really love sugar cookies. I don’t know if it was that I had been eating bad ones all my life, or if there are so many different varieties that I just hadn’t tried the right one yet, but I can say definitively that I’ve found THE ONE. These are easy to make, very mild and not too sweet, and they’re the perfect consistency (slightly crunchy) to make them firm enough to do intricate decorative icing on, but not so hard that they’ll break your teeth. Thank goodness for Real Simple.
I’m hoping to get an icing/piping set soon, and with that I’ll be able to do some fancy work on cookies. I’m looking forward to edible sparkles, nonpareils, shiny silver and gold balls, and all the rest. I have the feeling I’ll be spending too much money at the new Michael’s craft store out at the mall.
Back before I became a vegetarian, I made some very respectable efforts at making homemade marshmallows. I have faith that these efforts can be replicated in a vegan way, so I’m going to try it. I’ve heard that agar agar can be used as a 1:1 substitution for the unflavored gelatin. Let’s find out!
Oh, internets
One of the downfalls of having the word “piss” in the title of your blog is having to see what search strings people were using when they came across it:
Now, I’m perfectly aware that there are genres of porn that involve peeing, and I’m even willing to bet that there are sub-niches within those genres that are enthralled by a woman who can have a long and drawn out urination session. But smelly? Who are these people?
Holiday Wishlist 2008
The holiday season is almost upon us, and this year it is going to be an exceedingly busy one for me and my loved ones. I took the Handmade Pledge this year, so most, if not all, of the gifts that I’ll be giving this year will be handmade or sold by independent artists. I would love for the same to be done for me, but there are a few practical items that I’d love that don’t necessarily fit the bill. (Click on the images for links to where to buy)
Kevin and I considered asking for Lowe’s or Menards gift cards as gifts, to allow us a little extra money to do some fun things to the new house. If we get one or a few of these, however, we can use them wherever we need them, instead of being stuck at one store or the other.
I really, really want one of these, but I’ll probably never buy it for myself. I dream of all of the things I could make with it (non-meaty, of course), like no-knead bread and casseroles and stews. Mmm! Also, it’s very attractive, especially in the royal blue color.
Hudson Valley Yarn CSA: This one I’ll probably buy for myself if no one gets it for me. How wonderful to be able to support a farm by buying into their yarn CSA! Also, I’ll be more likely to get a lot of knitting done if I’ve got yarn automatically mailed to me at regular intervals.
I would love just about anything from my Etsy favorites (and it fits the Handmade Pledge!).
Since I plan to make the curtains for the new house, a gift certificate to Home Ec. Workshop would be lovely. They’ve got the best fabric in town.
There are a couple of camera lenses that I wouldn’t mind, either: 1, 2, 3, 4.
Posted in Links to cool stuff, Shopping.
Grilled calzones
Kevin and I are big calzone fans. There’s a restaurant in town (Sam’s Pizza, for those of you from or visiting Iowa City) that has a great meal deal where you can get two 2-topping calzones for $11.99, and we probably order it once a week when we’re in lazy, eating-out moods. When we’re being better about actually cooking our own meals, we like making them ourselves, too.
We’ve also both been semi-obsessed with the idea of grilling pizza and pizza-type foods ever since we started grilling in earnest a year ago last summer. We always want to attempt it, but we’re paralyzed with the fear that the food will be ruined and we won’t have anything else to replace it for the meal that night. At one point, we brought home a Papa Murphy’s pizza and grilled it while it was still on the paper backing, but it didn’t cook all the way and we had to finish it in the oven anyway.
A few weeks ago, after we both had a couple of beers in us after cleaning all day Sunday, we decided to make calzones and just go for it, since it was warm outside. The picture above was the result. I made up the dough from the following recipe, which I love for the fact that you don’t have to allow it much rising time:
1 0.25oz package of yeast (or 2.25 tsps)
1 cup warm water
2.5 cups flour
2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
Combine yeast and water in a bowl, stirring until dissolved. Add sugar to mix, stirring until dissolved. Sift flour and salt into yeast mixture, combine until you’re left with a dough ball; coat with oil. Cover bowl with saran wrap, let rise as long as you want.
I split the dough batch into two balls, rolled them out, and filled one for each of us. Mine contained cheese and onions (no mushrooms, which I mistakenly thought I had). His contained everything but the kitchen sink: onions, jalapenos, pineapple, cheese, sauerkraut. Gross. Anyway, we laid the calzones on top of foil on top of our pizza peel, and took them out to the grill and tossed them on, foil and all. We coated the tops with olive oil and turned them over mid-baking. Afterwards, they were delicious and smokey. One thing I would do differently is that I’d coat the foil with oil before laying the ‘zones on top, so that they wouldn’t stick while cooking. Otherwise, I’d do it again in a second.
Yum!
Semi-Annual Concert Bonanza!
Okay, lovelies. Here’s what’s coming up within the next few months around the midwest:
(and keep in mind that I’ve been out of new indie for a few months, so I might have missed a bunch)
Iowa City
1/30 - G Love and the Special Sauce - IMU
2/08 - Willy Porter - The Mill
3/28 - Cowboy Junkies - Englert
4/04 - Cursive - The Mill
5/05 - Randy Newman - Englert
Omaha
1/16 - Reverend Horton Heat/Nashville Pussy - Sokol Underground
2/09 - Daniel Johnston - Slowdown
3/01 - They Might Be Giants - Sokol Underground
3/08 - Tilly and the Wall - The Waiting Room
3/15 - Jonathan Richman - The Waiting Room
3/20 - Jose Gonzalez - Sokol Underground
4/02 - Nada Surf - The Waiting Room
4/08 - Why? - The Waiting Room
4/10 - The Black Keys - Slowdown
6/27 - Willie Nelson - Harrah’s Convention Center
Chicago
1/16 - John Vanderslice - Schubas Tavern
1/19 - Talib Kweli - House of Blues
1/20 - The Walkmen - Schubas Tavern
1/23 - Cornelius - Metro
1/25 - Supersuckers - Brauerhouse Bar
1/25 - Marah/Hot Hot Heat - Vic Theatre
1/26 - Girl Talk - Metro
1/30 - The Go-Go’s - House of Blues
1/31 - Todd Rundgren - Park West
2/01 - DJ Shadow/Cut Chemist/Kid Koala - Park West
2/01 - Mute Math/Alanis Morissette - Sears Centre
2/08 - Iris DeMent/John Prine - Chicago Theatre
2/10 - Cat Power & Dirty Delta Blues - Vic Theatre
2/15-16 - Flogging Molly/Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band - House of Blues
2/15-20 - Wilco - Riviera Theatre
2/15 - Spice Girls - United Center (who’s with me?)
2/23 - New York Dolls - Double Door
2/27 - HorrorPops - Metro
2/29 - Sia - Metro
2/29 - John Corbett - Rialto Square Theatre (I don’t care if it’s country, it’s AIDAN!)
3/01 - PM Dawn - Double Vision (HAHAHAHAHAHA)
3/05-06 - The Pogues - Riviera Theatre
3/14-16 - The Magnetic Fields - Old Town School of Folk Music
3/15 - Xiu Xiu - Reggie’s Live
3/18 - The Raveonettes - Double Door
3/21 - John Vanderslice/Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks
3/22 - Les Claypool - Vic Theatre
3/29 - Electric Six - Double Door
4/04 - Nada Surf - Metro
4/12 - The Black Keys - Riviera Theatre
4/17 - Hot Chip - Vic Theatre
4/18 - Reverend Horton Heat/Nashville Pussy/Backyard Tire Fire
5/17 - The Cure - Allstate Arena
6/20 - Willie Nelson - Ravinia Festival
Minneapolis
1/26 - Marah - The 400 Bar
1/30 - Hot Hot Heat - Fine Line Music Cafe
2/04 - DJ Shadow/Cut Chemist/Kid Koala - First Avenue
2/11 - Cat Power & Dirty Delta Blues - First Avenue
2/24 - New York Dolls - Fine Line Music Cafe
2/26 - Sia - Fine Line Music Cafe
2/28 - The Hives - First Avenue
3/14 - Xiu Xiu - Triple Rock Social Club
3/19 - John Vanderslice/Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks - First Avenue
4/03 - Nada Surf - First Avenue
4/11 - The Black Keys - First Avenue
4/20 - Reverend Horton Heat/Nashville Pussy/Backyard Tire Fire - First Avenue
Madison, WI
1/19 - The Walkmen - High Noon Saloon
1/29 - Hot Hot Heat - Majestic Theatre
2/09 - Willy Porter - Thrasher’s Opera House
2/09 - Iris DeMent/John Prine - Young Auditorium
2/29 - They Might Be Giants - Barrymore Theatre
4/03 - Cursive - University of Wisconsin
4/21 - Reverend Horton Heat/Nashville Pussy/Backyard Tire Fire
6/22 - Willie Nelson - Crystal Grand Music Theatre
Maybe sometime soon I’ll get around to making up my list of movies to see. Here’s hoping!
