What is Music?

It always seemed to me, at least when my folks used to scream for me to lower my music because of that “pounding bass,” that your musical tastes get more refined or limited as you get older.  I once laughed so hard when my Dad rushed in complaining of that thumping bass, only to find me listening to classical music.

For me it is quite the opposite.  My tastes have gotten broader as I have aged… my musical landscapes are now global, where they were once very small, local and myopic.  In college, I went beyond classic rock to actively listening to classical music and jazz… light stuff like Spyro Gyra at first, but then heavy into guys like Ornette Coleman and John Coltrane.

Being so close to Chicago opened up the world of Blues, for which I will be eternally grateful!  How many folks can say they saw Albert Collins, Willie Dixon, Koko Taylor and Junior Wells.  Sadly, these artists are all gone, kept alive only on vinyl and cassettes and CDs and now mp3 files… Their voices and sounds must be heard… Their torch and torch songs must be passed.

Being in LA surprisingly did not open me up to the Indie music scene, but that of the Texas singer-songwriter, courtesy of an old, lost friend Colin… I hooked into Townes Van Zandt, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Robert Earl Keen and of course, Lyle Lovett.

My friend Rich showed me the ways of Reggae and Ska, going much deeper than Bob Marley and Jimmy Cliff.  Meeting Mark opened me up to the world of electronic music… Massive Attack, William Orbit and Lemon Jelly… and another Marc to the world of Afrobeat with the likes of King Sunny Ade and Femi Kuti.

And KCRW opened me up to practically everything else, including, yes, Indie music!

Well there is one thing… music is meant to be shared, listened to alone but also collectively.

I guess my expanding tastes make logical sense to me, as I overhear what my nine-year-old daughter listens to.  She is currently locked into the “Disney type” pop of Miley and Taylor and Jonas… but will allow me to play her some of “my music” from time to time.  So there is hope!  The music exploration class I want to take her through… alphabetically of course… has been on hold, but we definitely need to get back to it.  So far she likes Bruce and Venice and the Beach Boys!

But a burning question plays notes in my mind… what is good music?  My folks used to say that if you leave a Broadway show without remembering and singing the songs, then it wasn’t any good.  But the palate of Broadway has changed and shows like A Light in the Piazza challenge that notion.  You may not leave humming the tunes, but you leave moved by some of the most beautiful music you will ever hear.

And how many bands are now experimenting with sounds and beats and rhythms, challenging the listener; pushing them.

Yes, the best remembered songs are those you can sing or hear in your head in certain, pivotal moments in your life.  Those songs and bands and artists create what we call the soundtracks to our lives.  But good music can be anything that moves us… and sometimes, that can simply be a sound… even a dissonant, disturbing sound.  While we humans seem to move towards a good melody, we must not discount or ignore notes that challenge us.

Good music comes from the heart and the gut.  It has an immediacy… an urgency.  It takes us somewhere else, yet stays with us.  It is ethereal and ever lasting.  Music is a collection of notes and sounds, that are sometimes harmonious and sometimes not.  It can be made from anything,  And good music is whatever we like, whatever we respond to… whatever grabs us at a particular moment.  It is as individual as we are, and while we all may not respond to certain things in the same way, the sharing and recommending and community of music is key.

So listen, really listen.  Go out and find music and share.  For if you cannot make music on your own, this is the next best thing.  Your list… your mix tape… your must listen to recommendation is you making music.  For a life without music is no kind of life.

Lessons Learned

Wow, it has been a long time since I have been here my friends.  Sorry.

Let’s get re-aquainted with a few lessons I’ve learned.

First, if you lie about steroid use for a decade and then admit it when it benefits you to do so (i.e. a new job in baseball)… you are praised for your honesty and openness!

With that said, I would like to get something off my chest… To all the casting directors who have hired me over the years, for my muscle and brawn… Sorry… I was on HGH and steroids… Big time… The love handles, kegs and general softness I now carry are all me… the six-pack and ripped guns… a charade.  The pressures from the main office and trying to keep up with Matthew McConaughey were exhausting… and put way too much pressure on me to perform.

Also, for anyone who ever hired me for my sense of humor… I was totally shooting up the Marx Brothers with an Abbot and Costello chaser.  Sorry.

Now come on Sammy… oh you with the bleached skin and the little Sammy… It’s your turn… Shock us with your admission… And we will be shocked… and awed…

Second, in order to sleep with 13,000 women, as NU alum Warren Beatty supposedly has, it would require you to cover two a day, every single day, for about 18 years.  Obviously orgies would speed this process up greatly… But I am not sure how many of those have contributed to the final tally.  After looking at that time-table, I have decided to check this one off my list.  One hates to see dreams die… but… sometimes we must just let go.

Third, as you grow older hair stops growing out of your head, where you actually want it, and starts growing in strange places on your back… like on one side in the middle… and off your ear lobes…

I can either accept this… which I can’t… or I need to try waxing.  Plucking is too laborious and painful, and this morning, shaving the lobes resulted in my almost Van Gogh”ing” myself!  Or is that Van Gaaaaccccccking myself?

Fourth, I could and perhaps should be running NBC.  I love Conan, but as soon as they took Jay off the air… the number one guy in the spot… I knew they were doomed… and even said so at the time.  If it ain’t broke… play a round of golf.  Then the move to 10 pm… Aside from losing five hours of potential work each week, I also called that as being a disaster in the making.  I guess at this point, mix me a little Letterman and Jimmy Kimmel in a high ball, roll me a fat one stuffed with Colbert and Stewart and crank me back in the Lazy Boy.

Fifth, I am a Democrat and have always disliked Harry Reid… When the party needed balls, this guy pulled out his bee-bees.  But to hear his comments and even Bill Clinton’s… whose I actually did not think were racist, just arrogant and cocky, made me realize that we need to take all of our politicians… or most of them… dump them on an island and start again… no parties… no bullshit… just people who want to actually fix the problems of this country and not simply pass them on for the next guy.

And that is what I have learned today!

Catch a Tiger by the Balls

Eeny, meeny, miny, moe,

Catch a tiger by the toe.

If he hollers let him go.

My mother said to pick the very best one and you are it… Or not it… Hmmm…

Okay, I already know that this blog is going to open up a can of worms… but it needs to be discussed.  And I look forward to your comments, thoughts and ideas…

First off, does Tiger have the right to privacy?  I say he does.  While he is a public figure and has allowed his image to be manufactured into that of a sports hero, icon, role model and strong family man, he should be allowed to deal with personal and family matters privately.

Unfortunately, being such a huge celebrity, that does not often happen.  The public, who gets updates every minute online, is hungry for gossip… This is the problem with the internet… stories come out so fast, that facts are hardly checked, information is constantly changed and confused and people are racing to form an opinion before all the data is received and digested.  It’s as if we all want to be the first to come up with the best Tiger joke… or be the first to say, “Hey, did you hear what happened?”

This is gossip and it is something that is not morally or ethically right to join in on… and it will come back to bite you in the ass.  Look at all those folks who came after Bill Clinton… and look at how many were later discovered to be cheating on their own… Ooops.  Those who live in glass condoms shouldn’t open their mouths.

Tiger makes billions of dollars by being the spokesperson for huge companies, and aside from the “morality” clauses that most likely exist in every contract Tiger has signed , he does have an obligation to represent them in the best possible light.  They are, after all, paying for his “image.”  The court of opinion will dictate whether or not these companies drop him… or whether or not they decide to stand by his side.

People screw up… People make mistakes… He is not being accused of rape, like Kobe Bryant was… or of murder or of drug use… He is being accused of adultery.  The people he is hurting are his family, his friends and himself.

But aside from the cheating, he is also being accused of bad PR and not getting “in front of the story.”  This is a whole other, interesting debate.  While he did not deny the affairs at first, he chose to be quiet… and the silence allowed the world and the media to speculate and guess and basically say whatever the hell they wanted to say… and then, for money we can assume, people started to come forward.

Tiger knows how big he is… how people, especially kids, look up to him.  So in that regard, yeah, he should have come out and immediately said he has strayed… he has some things he needs to fix at home and he’ll be back in public when he feels the time is right for him and his family.

People seem to have more of an issue with Clinton for the lying than the straying.  It absolutely made the situation far worse.  Had he admitted it at the beginning and dealt with it, things would have been a lot cleaner.

So Tiger kept quiet… and the silence was broken for him by women who suddenly decided to come forward.  Why were they silent for so long?  Why are they only coming out now?  Why did they jump on the situation like vultures?  Well, I answered my own question… money and fame and unfortunately, human greed and getting whatever you can get no matter who it hurts.

According to TMZ (sorry, but those guys are almost always right) Rachel Uchitel is apparently in talks for a “cash for silence deal.”  Disgusting.

And rumors are swirling that Tiger’s wife Elin may be able to “renegotiate” her pre-nup to get bigger and better payoffs and cash incentives for staying.  Disgusting, too.

We all know he is going to be paying if she stays… for a long, long time… and he should.  But why does it have to become about money?  If you love each other and can fix your issues and problems, do it.  But don’t let it involve pay offs and pay schedules… It sounds like you are “paying” your wife to be your wife… “I will pay you for every year you stay with me… I will pay you for every child you bear…”  Please!

Yes, I suppose by stating these things I am gossiping, too, as nothing has been proved yet.  But I am just trying to grasp it all.

The bigger picture is this… why do people cheat?  And that, my friends, is for another discussion… another time… Like tomorrow for Part Two!

This Is It

“Life’s a bitch and then you die.”

I remember this being a big phrase back in the day.  It even made its way onto a few bumper stickers and t-shirts.  As a kid you laughed… You didn’t even remotely get the deep truth behind it.  It just sounded funny.

We all want life to be grand, to be majestic, to be beautiful and blissful… That is what we strive for… but sometimes… life is a bitch, and then you die.

This last trip home to Jersey made me feel very mortal.  I was going through a class yearbook with an old friend of mine, and we were looking at classmates who had died.

I felt very unaccomplished, very unsatisfied, very much behind the eight ball.  I suppose the grey hairs in my sideburns and eyebrows and the newly formed gut did not help matters, but still…

All that was probably in my brain as I watched This Is It, the Michael Jackson rehearsal/concert film, as an overwhelming sense of sadness enveloped me for almost the whole time.  Now most of the sadness was for Michael, of course.  It’s hard to not think about what might have been, what could have been and what should have been.

This would have been an amazing set of shows and tour… It would have totally put him back at the top, I’m sure.  And while I could occasionally get caught up in the magic and the joy of music and dance and just let go, and while I know there was a smile on my face during many of the numbers, it always lead me to lean forward, put my head in my hands and ponder… really ponder.  What if…

What if there was no controversy?  What if there were no drugs?  What if Michael did not surround himself by those who said yes when they should have said no?  What if he had lived?

No matter what you say about Michael Jackson, his life will always be looked at from many different angles… It will always be complicated and pure… innocent and tainted.  But there is one thing for certain… all he really wanted to do was to bring love and joy to the world through music and dance.  This tour may have just done that.  It would have been about the utter bliss of sounds moving through the human throat and out the human mouth… about watching a body embrace those sounds and images and move to them… in ways one could only dream of.

Watching Michael move and dance is like watching a dream.

It would have been about the earth and calling attention to the damage that we are doing to her.  This is a message that gets lost lately.  When all we talk about is war and an economic melt down, it’s hard to talk about much else.  But we are slowly destroying the earth and our future along with it… and global warming is only a small part of that.

Michael wanted us to know that we can do something about that… all of us can do something.  It starts with one voice… then two… then a chorus of people singing and shouting and acting.

This is what music meant to Michael.  Love and action… taking positive action.

And so there will always be the duality… or plurality when listening to Michael’s music… Just as there is, for me at least, when I listen to Buddy Holly or George Harrison or John Lennon.  I can get caught up in the bliss… get caught up in the joy… get enveloped by the music… but my brain always wanders to the other stuff… to the what if…

Does that make me a Rock n’ Roll pessimist?  Perhaps… But I’m really trying to look at the album as all full… or at least half.  I’m trying…

So… Long live Rock!

Music to Fall Into…

The clocks have fallen back… the days are shorter… the air is crisp… well, aside from the 92 degree LA bastardization… and music is in the air.

Grab a cup of coffee or tea and sit yourself in a nice cushy chair… Better yet, take some fresh lemon grass and honey and make yourself a healthy tea… My new favorite thing.

Or make yourself a bowl of homemade soup… I’ve got a killer Butternut Squash recipe if you want it… No dairy!  My other new favorite thing is to take some Heirloom tomatoes, while you still can, chop them up, add fresh basil, freshly ground pepper and salt and cook until it is intense and delicious.  Add a little olive oil at the end and puree.  Perfection off the vine.

Autumn Play List:

Paddy Casey – Amen (So Be It)

I just gave Rob his second CD for his B-Day and apparently that is all over the place stylistically.  Enjoyable, yes, but hard to pin down.  This, his 1st, is more focused and more about his Irish singer-songwriter brogue.  Deep, honest and open.  You hear a lot of David Gray and a rougher Jack Johnson.

Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

Let me preface this by saying the word pop does not scare me and should not scare you.  A lot of the Beatles catalog would be described as “Pop” and a lot of it “Rock.”

Most folks will call Phoenix Euro-Pop or French Electro-Rockers… I call them delicious Power pop that has a whole lot of flavoring from The Killers. Take a sip and tell me what you think!

Grant-Lee Phillips - Little Moon - At this point it is chiche to say, but obviously every contemporary artists has been influenced by The Beatles, so add Grant-Lee to that list!  Take the Fab Four and a lot of Harry Nilsson and mix in that whole Elliot Smith, singer-songwriter feel and you get one hell of an enjoyable album!

Grant Lee Buffalo – Mighty Joe Moon

This was his band project, before going “solo” and it is basically a more rocking version of what he continues to do.  Modern, Americana folk-rock… I hear a lot of Wilco and even some REM and Pearl Jam.  Heck I’m even catching a little Neil Diamond, and I mean that in the best way!

Gregory Page – Love Made Me Drunk

Okay, so the way I found Gregory Page was because some dude on line was bitching about how Grant-Lee Phillips is not very good and is only a cheap imitation of Gregory Page.  Okay, I’ll take that as a challenge, since I really like Grant-Lee Phillips… If you take Kurt Weil and Nick Drake and mate them with campy Elvis Costello and then add a little circus side-show, you have GP… and Love Made Me Drunk is delicious!

Chris de Burgh – Yes, you heard me right… Take away “Lady in Red”… push it out of your mind and listen objectively.  He was a great singer-songwriter with a strong sense of pop and beautiful melodies.  I actually liked “Don’t Pay the Ferryman” a lot when I was a lad… very 80s… very synth rock… I love “The Snows of New York”… Yes, good for the NY song list I am putting together… “There’s a New Star Up in Heaven” is a beautiful tribute to Lady Di… and “A Spaceman Came Travelling” is another wonderful song… and if you want a little pop perfection, check out “When I Think of You.” Lots of great influences on that one!

Feeling Jewish

Anyone can feel Jewish… Just walk into a deli… I mean a real, Jewish deli… Sit, eat and kibbutz.  Boom, you’re Jewish.  Well, that is only if you’re not ordering your sandwich on white with mayo!

I was feeling very Jewish the other day as I read an article in the Jewish Journal.  A guy named David Sax wrote a book on delis and was interviewed by the paper… and he said he thought LA has better delis these days than NYC!  I know, heresy right… but as he was talking about Langer’s pastrami, which sadly, I have still not had… I started to think he may be right…

Yes, NYC has Katz’s… my fave… and The Carnegie and Stage Delis… and Second Avenue Deli is good… even in their new location…

But LA has Art’s… good, but too pricey for me… Brent’s… more like a diner/deli but my favorite in all of LA hands down… and it rivals the deli food in NYC… Canter’s… a great, late night spot… Factor’s… Greenblatt’s… fun, comfy, wood-paneled room upstairs, fantastic wines and an escape from the craziness of Sunset Blvd…. Junior’s, Mel Brook’s fave… Langer’s, see above… and Nate n’ Al… Larry King’s daily breakfast haunt.  And this is just my top deli list in LA… I left off Jerry’s, which is a total diner-type place… but does have great  Matzoh Ball soup and big prices to match.

I would love to see a Deli-off… Pastrami vs. Pastrami… soup vs. soup… Corned Beef vs. Corned Beef… Rye vs. Rye… Yes, a lot of this depends on where the meat, etc, is sourced, but still… preparation is key!

I have been wanting to organize a trip to Langer’s forever… safe to go to only during the day… It is apparently right above one of the Metro stops… so that would be fun… Drive to Universal… hop on a train… have the best pastrami sandwich in the world (I’ll let you know) and head back.

Ah, the simple joys in life… I mean think about it… Think about a great deli… the clanging of plates, the smells, the sounds… the bits and pieces of conversations you pick up… The orders being yelled to the kitchen… and usually, if you’re lucky, gum-snapping, back-talking but always charming waitresses… “Whatcha having?”

Pickles, new or old… sauerkraut… Kosher hot dogs… Lean pastrami and corned beef… Matzoh ball soup… warm, embracing… and hot, fresh rye bread… the crunch of the crust… the soft inside that melts in your mouth and absorbs the juices of the meat perfectly… and don’t forget my favorite… a cold Dr. Brown’s Cream Soda to wash it all down.

Now really… is life all that bad if a deli is close by?

L’chaim!

Thera-Tea and Soup (y)

A chef recently told me not to buy produce or meats at the market… not even places like Whole Foods. although he said they were a bit better than the others.  He said that most of the markets were selling “prime” meats that were not in fact prime.  I guess I wouldn’t doubt it.  And who amongst us is really trained to know the difference, aside from a chef?  The key is to learn your way around fresh fish, fresh meats, veggies and fruits… To know what things are supposed to feel, look and taste like.  It is worth the time, and yes, perhaps extra money, to seek out a local fish monger… a meat market… no, not a bar… and your local farmers markets.

Last weekend I bought heirloom tomatoes from my regular Sunday Farmers Market guy… I have not been able to make Saturdays for a while, college football and all, and although I like that guy a lot, too… the Sunday guy is always giving me suggestions, telling me what is really good that week… and sending me home with as many free tomatoes as I buy!  Based on his suggestion… and keep in mind, he is very healthy and very vegan… I took the tomatoes… put them in a pot with nothing but a little salt and pepper and fresh basil, and kept cooking and smashing them down… At the very end was when I added a little olive oil… According to him if you heat it at the beginning, all you are getting is carcinogens.  What was left was the simplest but most delicious tomato soup.  The whole family loved it.

It made me realize that great cooking is all of four steps…

Picking the best ingredients…

Seasoning them just right…

Cooking or prepping them just right…

Serving them or saucing them, just right…

Simple, yes… but extremely difficult to master.  It is like Buddhism… the simplest lesson is often the deepest, and can take years to truly understand and execute fully.

The first key is to get back to basics and for us to truly understand what nature intended things to be and taste like.  Not a bad place to start at all.

My other fun little discovery was the delightful smelling Lemongrass stalks… 25 cents each…

You cut the rough tops off, leaving yourself as much of a white, softer stalk as you can.  You either beat it with a meat tenderizer or twist it in your hands, breaking up the fibers.  I like doing both… and then you can put it in a stir fry or make tea.  For the Thera-tea, I like to use one stalk per one cup of water.  Mash the Lemongrass up, put it in a pot with a little bit of honey or Agave syrup, bring it to a boil and four minutes later, you have a healthy cup of tea that will soother you and help your digestion… Well, that is if you do not eat the Lemongrass.  Make sure you strain it out… and take it out of the stir fry, as it is indigestible!

So go out and shop, cook and eat healthy.

Speaking of soup… Rest in peace Soupy Sales… I remember watching him as a child on a variety of things… and even meeting him in NYC one day as he was walking down the street with Anita Gillette… He sweetness and kindness existed on the little screen as well as in real life.  He was a funny and gentle soul…

So go Milton Supman, onward to heaven,

And make ‘em all laugh in that place.

For when you arrive, and you know you’ll be welcomed,

Give ‘em a pie in the face.

Balloon Boy and the Fatal Fascination With Fame

Balloon Boy… Jon and Kate… Octomom…

Why are we so fascinated watching human train wrecks?  I was flipping through the mindless and endless channels of crap the other day, and stopped for a brief moment on Jerry Springer.  Yes, it was brief.  I actually had to tell myself that the woman who was on was a “real” person… although I really, truly felt like it was some amazing sketch comedienne who had just created the most amazing character, absolutely crazy and out there.  Do people really do these things in their double wides?  Is this what we have become?  I was sad and sickened.

Why are people so desperate to be famous, no matter what it is that brings them fame?  Reality TV has created a monster.  Or I should say has perpetuated the monsters that were already there… celebrity whores… hangers on… sad and pathetic people… Or perhaps Paris Hilton’s box has been opened a little wider.  Not that way, you pigs!

First let me apologize for writing this piece.  It extends these idiots fifteen minutes and keeps their name on our lips.  In reality, pun slightly intended, these people should never be in our minds, on our TVs or on our tongues.  There is so much more to talk about, work on, do, accomplish… Yet here we are around the tainted water cooler, discussing who did what to who and why…

Jon and Kate started off as a great, feel good story… Raising eight kids and the struggles that go along with that… But then they tasted fame… and got rich… and their real personalities and flaws and issues and crises could not be hidden beneath the spotlights…

Rule number one… Don’t drag the innocent family members into your quest for celebrity.  It is not fair and will only end badly.

Octomom… I’m sorry, but she is mentally disturbed… and the fact that doctors and parents would allow her to do what she has done is criminal.   And for her to get rewarded for what will surely create an army of more monsters… Disgusting.

Fame should be reserved for those who accomplish something good.

Infamy for those who accomplish something bad…

And yes, bad press is good press and so on and so forth… But please, please, I am begging you… go away!

The thing about Balloon Boy crosses the line a bit further.  For now you are actively involving your children in deceit and essentially criminal activity.  The only good I can see coming of this, is that now us parents can say… “See, if you lie, you can actually make yourself sick with guilt!”

The fact that these two idiots would put so many people through the hell they did, all in the name of the fame game, just shows us that it has to stop.  Their kids should be taken away… and they should absolutely be sent to prison… AND reimburse all those agencies for that frantic search!

Let us just say no!

No to Heidi and Spencer… No to these tabloid, front page of the Enquirer, freak shows… No to Sarah Palin and her bilking this country for millions and millions of dollars to hear her fabricated, moose hunting, hypocritical, bullshit life.

Just say no to the star fuckers who simply want to fuck themselves…

Just say no to me having to write any more blogs about these life-sucking, time-wasting, not worth the air in a stale fifty-year-old, gas station bathroom morons.

And please, for the love of all that is holy, just say no to Jay Leno at 10.

Rainy Day Blues

Whatever happened to the Rainy Day Blues Band?  Ahhh, my lost youth… and the rather hapless band we started when I was a counselor at Camp Ramaquois.  Okay, so I was hapless… Gordo was good… The band did not last but it did deliver a few girls, which I guess was the ultimate goal, so long live Rock!

Today’s playlist is all over the place, so if you can’t find something new to listen to or rediscover I give up.

Iggy and the Stooges – Raw Power

I was never much of a punk rocker in my youth… I mean I totally dug The Clash and The Ramones, but my true appreciation is only recent.  I have a neighbor who looks like Iggy… and the guy runs like 50 miles a day it seems… Scary.

This music is raw and simple and pure… I downloaded the album from eMusic, so I don’t know if this is the remastered version, which apparently corrects David Bowie’s “thin” mastering a lot of folks hated… Either way… to me it rocks… Take a punk and throw him in my garage and you have Raw Power!

Rodrigo y Gabriela – Rodrigo y Gabriela

I decided NOT to start with 11:11, which I will eventually buy, and is the album getting them all the heat and shots on shows like The Tonight Show.  This duo started off as metal guitarists in separate bands and got together to form what can only be described as incredible world-flamenco-metal guitar.  They are compared to the Gypsy Kings a lot, but I find the music a lot more compelling and youthful… And when I say they play fast, I mean how do their fingers not spurt blood!

Paul Pena – New Train

This is called the “lost album of the 70s”  and most critics refer to it as a lost gem!  This blues-rock pleasure was recorded in 1973 and no one released it until after the documentary Genghis Blues came out.  I honestly cannot recall if I ever saw the whole film… I know, really bad… but I recently rented it and was captivated.  Go out and rent it now!  It is about a blind bluesman’s journey to Tuva and his study of the ancient and kind of freaky throat singing.  is duets with Kongar-ol Ondar are inspiring.  Paul’s claim to fame is for writing the Steve Miller Band hit “Jet Airliner” and his original version along with the whole album will make you a fan. And the soundtrack to Genghis Blues is worth many listens after seeing the movie!

My brother gets credit for the next band, Alberta Cross.  They are a “cross” between My Morning Jacket and Kings of Leon and are pure Americana folk-rock.  I am listening to both their EP The Thief and the Heartbreaker, which features the fantastic song “Lucy Rider” as well as their full album Broken Side of Time.
So, as always… listen and love.  Music is the great equalizer in life!

Oh Burger, My Burger

No movie, but most definitely dinner!

Been to Father’s Office on Montana years ago, and just to drink… For whatever reason, I did not eat.  It was a fun local spot, but very small and very smokey, back in the day.  That is my memory… small, dark and smokey, but great beers on tap.

Then the talk started up. about how they were serving THE best burger in LA.  But it came only one way.  There were no substitutions and NO KETCHUP.  Hmmm… Was Sang Yoon pretending he was the Soup Nazi from Seinfeld?

Friends and family would go and rave, but I did not make it.  Still not sure why.

Then they opened Version 2.0 in Culver City… the bastion of all that is hip and happening right now, especially on the dining front.  Still I did not go, even with incredible reviews… and not just for the burgers… The Duck Prosciutto Salad… The Braised Pork Belly (the hot item of the year)… The Organic Beet Salad…

Finally, my friend Russ said he was taking me there for my birthday… so last night, about a month after the fact, which is actually good for us… usually it is months later… we waltzed in to the very hip and happening hot spot.

The Helms Bakery Building is going through some major fixes, so the parking is a bit tricky, but the dark wooded restaurant is perfect.  Warm and welcoming and filled with real but pretty people.  It seemed like everyone was on a first date, but I did see a few single folks, so if you’re looking for that and get lucky to grab a spot at a communal table with like-minded people, you might just walk away with someone to come back with… And you will want to come back.

This is a gastropub in every sense of the word.  Even with the sleek interior, it feels like a neighborhood joint.  The bartenders are knowledgable and accommodating and the wall of taps is visually cool and impressive, as is the list of beers!

I had a Bear Republic Racer 5 IPA, which was delicious on its own, but really held up well to the food and truly complimented the flavors.  We each had the burger.  Mine was a perfect medium rare… Nice to get a burger cooked exactly the way you order it… and came on a French Roll that was perfectly toasted.  The outside had just the right crunch and crispiness, with a few crumbs flaking off with each bite.  The inside was fluffy and stuffed with arugula, amazing grilled onions, Gruyre cheese and the most delicious burger I have had in some time.  The shoestring fries were equally delicious and I voraciously dipped them in the aioli that came on the side.  We also had the Duck Prosciutto Salad which came covered in slices of some heavenly, artisanal cheddar.  My only gripe was that it was a bit over dressed… And we had one of the specials, the Grilled Mission Figs wrapped in Iberico (I think) and stuffed with Goat Cheese… This was a celebration in your mouth… Spanish sushi if you will…

We walked out stuffed and satisfied, and I will most definitely go back.  Most folks say you go to the Culver City locale for the scene and the Santa Monica one to focus on the beer and burger and not who is around you.  I can see that.  I’ll let you know.