i'm writing this at an internet cafe near leicester square in london, so this'll be short. london's been good so far, and i'm reminded of the simple fact that british guys are easily -way- hotter than american guys. the only drawback so far is that there are way too many !"£)^&*(! americans here. and all of them are embarassing andy and me and giving americans a bad name. i thought winnie would like to know about our dining experience at st. john bread & wine spitalfields (94-96 commercial st, the second of their two locations). winnie has yet to steer us wrong, and today was certainly no exception. it's too bad andy's not writing this, b/c he was incredibly enthusiastic, but here's the rundown: - andy started w/ a simple lettuce salad that was perfectly dressed and incredibly fresh. - i started w/ the parsnip soup. simple, but nice and hearty. - andy had the calves' kidneys w/ turnips, which he raved about. - i had the "swede cake", kind of like an au gratin potato pie, with a watercress and pickled walnuts salad. my salad was a bit overly dressed i think, but the swede cake was quite good, with a slight tang. - andy just about swooned over the spotted dick (note how i refrain from making any dumb remarks about the name), and he said it just about made the lunch the best meal he's ever had. - i had the chocolate pot which was excellent. the waitstaff was personable and attentive, and the space was just about perfect (although a tad chilly for me as all places here are apparently), and all in all i thoroughly enjoyed it, although not quite to the extent that andy did. we haven't decided yet if we're going to the other location for dinner, but i think the chances are high ... more to report in a few days.

fred's guide on how to draw new audiences to contemporary classical music concerts (notice how i'm not naming any names): - DON'T FILL YOUR PROGRAMME WITH FLUFF. AVOID: pseudo-ethnic music (umm, why would we want to hear string instruments trying to sound like chinese, spanish, and/or african instruments when we can just listen to THE REAL THING??); percussion instruments (there's a reason bach never wrote a suite for maracas); and other gimmick-filled music (if your beats aren't any more interesting than bjork's, give it up). - CONSIDER THE SPACE. it's nice that you're trying to draw audiences into more casual spaces, but really, the strong scent of fried chicken and the constant waitstaff literally treading on your toes is distracting. here's an idea: why not move the tables to the back of the room so that those who actually want to listen to the music can? - REHEARSE. even if we've never heard the piece before, we can still tell when it's unmusical and thrown together, particularly if it's out of tune and sloppy. - AVOID THE CLICHES. variety is good in a programme (within reason), but not in a single piece: enough already with the schizophrenic music! (especially the kind that riffs on popular music. it's NOT CUTE; it's ANNOYING.) we have a longer attention span than two minutes you know. and WHY are people still doing this pseudo-serialist crap? you're not an austrian composer from the 1920's! - BOTTOM LINE: you may get a few people looking for cheap thrills to listen to your cheap renditions of contemporary classical music, but you won't convert anyone. give your audience a little more credit; most of us have brains in between our ears, and those that don't aren't going to leave britney spears for you so stop wasting your time. give us something honest, moving, surprising, and that takes itself seriously, and we'll listen. don't and you will only get OUR WRATH.

andy and i went to spire (tremont st at park st) this past monday. the one line summary is: okay food, terrible service. allow me a moment to rant (although i'm sure i've ranted about this before): HOW HARD IS IT TO GET GOOD SERVICE?? the bottom line is that restaurants' waitstaff and their managers don't realize that service is as much a commodity as food, and personally i think it's more. andy and i agree, and i'm sure most people do as well, that if we had to consider a place with slightly less quality food but with superior service, we'd go with the better service place every time. how was our service bad? let me count the ways: - in general, our waitress was uncommitted at best and negligent at worst. - apparently we were only allowed one menu for the two of us at all times. - the waitress didn't give us napkins?? - asked for my wine to come w/ my entree when i ordered. of course she forgot. no apology. - after my entree arrived i had to ask for a fork. (compare to number 9 park where they practically shower you with cutlery.) again no apology. - they offered to pay for our first round of drinks b/c the kitchen was slow due to a large party. and then of course they forgot that too when they gave us our check. no apology. - the bartender didn't look andy's way for at least five minutes even though he literally wasn't doing anything except chatting with the waitress while andy waited (not so) patiently for another drink. - at least 60% of the time the bartender had his back to the bar. - at one point the bartender left for at least 5 minutes and there was no one manning the bar. - no offer for a dessert menu. even stranger was that our check was just left where we were sitting at the bar. uh ... isn't that what they do in diners? and why bother leaving a pen w/ our check if we haven't even given them a credit card yet? - when the waitress brought out andy's entree he asked her a question about what it was comprised of, but she didn't know the answer and didn't offer to find out, nor did she apologize. overall the service was amateur and it felt like the staff didn't want to be there. which, needless to say, is bad bad bad. if restaurants aren't welcoming, they're cold and unfriendly and you might as well be eating at your in-laws. with all the disappointment in the service, it's hardly with mentioning the food, but here's a quick run-down: - vidalia onion soup, pickled chanterelles, nantucket razor clams & scallion: andy said this was good but the ratio of soup to other stuff was off (possibly the waitress's fault). - kobe beef shooters, 3 rare burgers with 3 different toppings: andy said the beef was really good. the toppings remain a mystery though (see above). - pickled lemon & 3 basil salad, marcona almonds & almond oil: very good actually. salted on purpose, although i found it to be overly so. - potato gnocchi, local tomatoes, basil pistou, & ricotta salata: not bad, but uninteresting. definitely way better than metropolis's slug-like gnocchi. incidentally, andy went back there once and they were still serving that bizarre molded asparagus dish. so weird. - the shiraz i had was spicy and overly aggressive. (sorry, that's the best i can do. i really need to take a wine-tasting class or something.) i've been listening to barber's: prayers of kierkegaard. it's kind of surprising how much the choral vocal lines remind me of john adams' choral writing in the death of klinghoffer. speaking of classical music, stay tuned for a tirade about the worst concert i've ever been to ...

in case you didn't see it already, this is my favorite post-election site: sorryeverybody.com. my favorite sign is: "2 nations under bush's one god." and yes i'm still bitter.

some old pics

recent and semi-recent reads: ovid's metamorphoses: phew! i can't believe i read the whole thing. although edith halmiton's mythology remains my favorite book on mythology, this translation is good, very conversational (at times a tad bit too much so), and pretty easy to read. the stories get a bit repetitive and the gory battle scenes get a bit long, but there were definitely a fair number that i hadn't been familiar with (mostly b/c they featured such charming topics as incest) and enjoyed. good if you're fan of mythology. orson scott card's ender's shadow: this one was a definite page-turner; i literally spent the whole day reading this. it's been a few years since i read ender's game and my memory's not the greatest, so i think i enjoyed this more than i might have. the story missteps occasionally when the parallelism b/t the two books is a bit too close, but in general card's different perspective is worthwhile. instead of concentrating so much on the students' lives as in ender's game, card lets us see really get a feel for how the adults are operating and also what the situation on earth is like. bean is a great character, and from what i remember of ender i'd have to say bean comes out on top. the only problem is now i have to read the other books in the series. anne sexton's transformations: poetic retellings and variations and mostly familiar grimm brothers fairy tales. the material most closely tied to the source material isn't so interesting, but the mini-poems that serve as a prelude to each story are usually good and worth reading. william empson's seven types of ambiguity: haha. i hope joyce appreciates that i tackled this apparently famous book on literary criticism. empson has some interesting ideas, but the first section i read was way too unfocused, tangential, and wordy. i'm not sure yet if i'm going to read the rest (prob. not right away, anyway), but i did like how empson's examples are ones i'm not that familiar with, including a great sestina by sidney. e.f. benson's queen lucia: a satirical look at a small british town and its denizens with pretensions to sophistication in the arts. mostly vignette-like, but has some really memorable characters and situations. some recent listens include the cat power song he war, which i've had on repeat. also been listening to this band matt pond PA which has been compared to the shins and death cab. i would agree with that, although i'd say it's much more like the fly seville and the guy sounds like peter gabriel. not sure yet what my final verdict is on that.

needless to say i'm depressed, discouraged, and extremely disappointed about the election results. to make things worse, 11 out of 11 states banned same-sex marriage. what the hell do we do now? wait for 4 more long years? i just don't get it. i've joked before about moving to canada or something, but this is really making me think about it more seriously.

recently re-ran across this quote from janeane garofalo from her book (co-written with ben stiller) feel this book: an essential guide to self-empowerment, spiritual supremacy, and sexual satisfaction. the book itself is pretty mediocre, but there are some good quotes:

"Many people feel that mass acceptance and smooth socialization are desirable life paths for a young adult ... Many people are often wrong ... Don't bother being nice. Being popular and well liked is not in your best interest. Let me be more clear; if you behave in a manner pleasing to most, then you are probably doing something wrong. The masses have never been arbiters of the sublime, and they often fail to recognize the truly great individual. Taking into account the public's regrettable lack of taste, it is incumbent upon you not to fit in."