Come on, come on

I've been signing The Locomotion for three days now. I have no idea how it got into my head, but it has formed a colony and is refusing to leave, bad weather and angry natives be damned. This song is wonderful, and this video of Kylie Minogue prancing about with her dancer friends is precious. I remember when this song first came into my purview as an eight year old, and I was instantly obsessed with it. I used to beg my babysitter to call the radio station (AGAIN) and request it (AGAIN). Did you even know that Carole King wrote this song? I left two singing voicemails yesterday to unsuspecting targets of this gem. Ask Caro: I have a lovely singing voice.

Tomorrow: an interview with my friend Beth!

Intensity

So the President of Iran is at Columbia giving a speech, so I sauntered over during lunch time to check it out, mostly to see the "free speech zones". Coming down Broadway, I could see a group of anti-Zionist Hasidim and a group of Zionist Jews engaging in a full-out shouting match. The Hasidim, holding signs declaiming the spread of "atheist" Zionism, were being taunted by American Jews waving Israeli and American flags. On my first stop by the kerfuffle, an older man in a Polo shirt was screaming "I saw him eat pork!" and "His mother was impregnated by Hitler!" at an older Hasidic guy. I checked out the on-campus viewing, which was huge and calm, and listened to the end of Ahmadinejad's speech and the beginning of the Q&A. On my way back to work, I stopped by again to see if the whole thing had resulted in fisticuffs, which, unfortunately dear readers, seemed imminent. On the way back the protesters from Yeshiva University had found the group, who identified themselves as "The Defenders of the City". An upset middle-aged woman started screaming, "They are worse than the Arabs!" and started jabbing her American flag into select recipients. Columbia students who I had seen inside came out and unfurled their banners in front of the Hasidim, trying to block anyone's view of their signs. A group of high school girls started yelling at one of them, saying "Where are we supposed to go?" At this point it seemed pretty likely that violence would ensue. But then, the Hasidim started chanting something, the other people started singing something else, and the police swooped in and separated everyone. Pretty intense for a lunch break.

Le weekend

I'm currently working on my second big cup of coffee this morning, somewhat inexplicably, because I set the bar for energy expenditure quite low this weekend.

Here's what had happened:
On Friday I learned that my workday does not end on the fifth day of the week at 5pm, as it does on the other days. At my new job, part of the workweek is required attendance at a happy hour, organized by the lovely (but forceful), Cam. This week we went to the midtown three-ring circus that is Ginger Man, which had many beers on tap and was clogged with people. As it turns out, we had a great group of coworkers, some who had sisters and friends meet us there and throw back a frenzied few. Of particular note was a conversation I had with two sophisticates from Connecticut and two spammers. We really didn't let them off easy on that one: you're all welcome. We did, however, reward their candor with drinks.

Later that night I had a lovely dinner in Long Island City to celebrate Caitlin finally finishing college. Her brother had made some delicious Eggplant Parmesan, and very nicely done goat cheese discs for our spinach salad. We brought some champagne and toasted our girl finally finishing her thesis. We hit up Water Taxi Beach, a beach bar with a great view of Madhattan. Caitlin and I busted out our salsa skillz honed at the Bed-Stuy Y's awesome salsa class.

On Saturday I was able to sleep in, which was glorious. I thought I had fully left all vestiges of youth behind by springing out of bed at 8am on Saturdays and Sundays, but this weekend and last I was pleasantly suprised by the amount of time my body allowed me to languish in bed, greedily rolling over and taking more, more, more, more. After following up on my idea to do nothing, I watched some "Life of Birds" and eventually went to get some food in the hood. We went to Imhotep's Vegetarian, on Nostrand in Crown Heights. Caitlin got the rest of the delicious barbeque "duck" with some curried chickpeas, greens (looked like calaloo), and pumpkin, all of which I sampled and passed muster. I settled on a veggie burger and fries (why do people even ask me if I want fries? I cannot ever say no), which took a minute but came out very well. Imhotep's restaurant is in the back of their well-stocked health food store, and everything is prepared with care and is 100% vegan, if that matters to you.

After that we headed over to my ESL coteacher's beautiful apartment in one of those big doorman buildings on Eastern Parkway. Lauren's a doll, very smart and cute, and in addition to supplying lotsa booze and delicious little dips [hummus, tapenade, a mint sauce for the salmon cakes] for our grazing pleasure, she had a bevy of intelligent, charming homos in attendance. Everyone had already gotten their Masters and were working on PhDs, and could hold cogent conversations in many topics, so it was a wonderful party. Lauren was a great hostess and certainly got quite a nice group to come out. I was sad to leave all the gays with so much friendship potential, but I definitely gushed to a cute little couple on my way out "it was so nice to meet you, I really need some new gay friends..." That's me: cool, calm, collected.

After that we trucked over to Williamsburg to see the keyboarder from Antibalas, Ticklah, give a show at his cd release party. It was at BPM, and when we rolled up there was a crush of twentysomethings getting some air after the first set. To get in, you go down a set of concrete steps into a basement, then climb back up into a tight space that led to a concert area that looked like it was a recording studio. Although a veritable fire trap, the place was packed and it was a great crowd. Also of note: $4 bottled beer. Everyone was dancing, or making reasonable effort, and c'mon, that's all we're asking for. It was a nice counterpoint to the other shows I've been to in NY so far, which place much more of an emphasis on self-conscious posturing and posing than enjoying oneself. [Anyone else have this experience in NYC?] This crowd was much better than that, and had gotten over themselves sufficiently to get down. The music was pretty funky roots reggae, I'm not going to say it was awesome, but it was a solid live set. I was particularly impressed with TWO trombone players who were excellent, as well as the two vocalists who held their own. Being both in Williamsburg and at a reggae show, it was only a matter of time before some boldfaced self-righteousness entered the fray, which was delivered as if on cue by the male vocalist who exhorted us "not to eat the pork." I was cracking up at this point, finding it funny that the next song was all about, chorus and all, avoiding pork.

In all, a very entertaining weekend.

Good morning good people

So the other day I got an email from a large, big box store, letting me know that they would sell box sets for 40% off. Now, I try my best to shop locally, as I grew up in a small town and always enjoyed the diversity of all the shops and small businesses. In addition, I try to live under the tenets of "reduce, reuse, recycle" and like to buy stuff second-hand when possible, especially to avoid the grips of the blue and yellow hall of horrors some know as Ikea. So when I wanted to buy the great collection that is VIVA PEDRO, I turned to TLA Releasing, who I knew from my prior Netflix obsession as a distributor of great international movies, many with a gay focus. VIVA PEDRO is a collection of 8 of Almodovar's films, including the awesome Law of Desire and Matador, featuring the young Antonio Banderas in some very spicy roles. The interplay of Banderas and the delightful Carmen Maura tops off the excellent ensemble acting present in all of Almodovar's films. My favorite line from La ley del deseo has to be when Maura's [who plays a Male-to-Female transwoman] character chides her brother for sneaking off to the bathroom by himself while they're out partying: "Que pasa, yo tambien soy toxicomana!" [What's up? I'm an addict too!] FYI, Almodovarlandia is the best source for everything Pedro-related, including a Constitution.

I ordered this gem from TLA, but never received it due to being charged twice and then having the entire order canceled. So the sale at Borders was the perfect chance to get it.


Alas, your hero was unable to localize a copy on the island of Manhattan, so was faced with multiple questions. Do I abandon ship and go home empty handed? Should I buy the Tyler Perry boxed set? And then I saw David Attenborough's LIFE OF BIRDS, the avian follow-up to LIFE OF MAMMALS, which got a lot of play last winter in Chicago. Needless to say, its awesome. Sir Attenborough has an amazing, Jeff-Corwin like ability to get right up close to these birds without startling them, and his knowledge is extensive. I was a little down on the computer generated animation at first, but they used it well. Highly recommended.

Click here to see a video of Jeff Corwin himself getting bitten/attacked by an elephant, and community fave Anderson Cooper helps a brother out.

Felicidad!

Having a good day? I sure am. I spent the morning in an HR training, in which not only did I have to break the ice by throwing a bean bag and repeating peoples' names, but I also got to participate in an awesome scavenger hunt. My partner was very serious and was angling for first, which resulted in him running through the halls. Unfortunately, we did not win the t-shirts given as prizes.

I spent my commute listening to Boney M, an old friend I met back when I spent the summer in Madrid during college. This song, from a German tv show, has a video medley of their hits and then a "live" performance, replete with fog. If you're just looking for the main event, skip ahead to about the 2 minute mark. Don't miss the guy's dance moves. See? Your day's better already.

I didn't spend it all...

Nah, I was thinking about spending all my ducats after joyfully receiving them on Friday, but I held back, remembering all the debts I have. I had a lovely weekend, got lots of sleep, and went to a party with great food on Saturday night. Shrimp, homemade whole grain pizza, a notable onion dip, and some very good homemade hummus. John is a great host, and I'm glad that he has brought his hospitality to the fair shores of Astoria from Chicago. John throws great food-oriented parties every so often, such as the annual Crab Sauce party, which could only ever disappoint if you were to miss it. In honor of him, I'm posting a photo of a cat that looks like his taking a nap. Can anyone identify this cat?

I'm not going to get arrested today!

I finally got paid at my new job! Imagine my surprise (and consternation) at being told on my fifth day of work that I would a) be paid once a month and b) I'd have to wait six weeks to actually see the first check. While I almost laid hands upon the woman who broke that news, I controlled myself with the help of another new coworker. After calming down and wiping the rage from the corners of the mouth, we talked to the head nurse, who hooked it up so we got paid after the fourth week. I'm as happy as a clam about this recent turn of events. Friends, you no longer have to miracle me at the bar, take my limp excuses about not having any cash, or worry about me asking to borrow $300. Now its my turn to buy a round; hit me up!

Things Change, Don't Cry

Brace yourselves. I know you all like the "wet food" focus, and who doesn't?, but I'm being limited. I want to be able to tell you just WHAT is going on over here in Rickmenistan. I'm changing this to a lifestyle blog, as I JUST got my Masters in the Lifestyle Arts. Use it before you lose it!

Salad Dressing of the Week

I love vegetables. AND fruits, do not be mistaken, but from my days working on Anya's organic farm, I'm pretty much obsessed with fresh produce. Not to sound like I'm talking down from my foodie pedestal, but I am a man who would rather go without tomatoes than buy some woody, mealy piece of shit from the supermarket. But give me a homegrown tomato, like the two beauties that Anya presented me with as I left the Cape on Sunday, and I'm a very happy chappy.

All this to say: I had a great lunch. One of the delicious, beautiful beefsteak tomatoes that Anya regaled me with adorned the salad I had brought in, and what added so much was slathering it with Annie's Roasted Red Pepper Vinaigrette. This salad dressing, while competing in a class full of champions (Ken's, Marie's, Hidden Valley Ranch [ha!]), really just does such a good job of reminding me that I FUCKING LOVE LETTUCE.

First of all, it has a delightful amount of chunks, a great burnt-sienna hue, and is viscous in a way that is most becoming to salad out of a bag. Those of you who know me already am aware that tang and moisture are very important in any foodstuff, and Annie's does not let me down on either account. I highly recommend you branch out from just buying her awesome Mac n Cheese and try Annie's dressing. Besides, she's from the great state of Vermont, which makes some of my favorite cheese.