Joy Of Cooking Update: Bowle

Posted by Trott

Photo by Humuhumu

Bowle is just fruit, Madeira, sugar, ice, and a whole lot of white wine. It's pretty good, though. We brought it to drummer Matt's birthday party.

Speaking of birthdays, we'll be playing for my birthday at Beale St. Bar & Grill on Saturday, June 28. More details to come. Note that it's Pride weekend. Prediction: Tons of parking downtown near Beale Street and no parking whatsoever in the Castro! So come for the plentiful parking, but stay for the PFSH rocking.

Joy Of Cooking Update: Planter's Punch

Posted by Trott

Photo by Humuhumu

The Planter's Punch was a hit at Kesha's awesome dinner party. I'm starting to get the hang of these Joy of Cooking punches so I know, for example, to go easy on the simple syrup. Humuhumu's party fountain and my brand new ice crusher helped too. The presentation made the whole thing a spectacle.

The animal-themed sippy cups that I served the punch in didn't hurt either.

The ice crusher is brilliant. It's a Waring Pro; every time I look at it, I misread it as a Warning Pro. Unfortunately, despite its many positive attributes, the ice crusher is very nearly deserving of its own "Things That Suck" post. The beautiful clean look of the brushed steel and flawlessly clear plastic was marred by an obnoxious far-too-adhesive sticker. The sticker bragged about the great features of the appliance. Removing it naturally took far too much time and scuffed up the plastic. I would like to say to the person whose idea it was to put that sticker on there: I already bought the thing, Einstein, so I don't need advertising in my own kitchen telling me how essential and amazing it is.

Photo by Humuhumu

How About "Bill Bradley Washington National Airport"?

Posted by Trott

I'm in Arlington, Virginia. I flew into Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport which is located right here in Arlington. I'm staying in a hotel on Jefferson Davis Highway.

These things seem wrong. Arlington has gone Democratic in every presidential election since 1984. That means that they picked Mondale over Reagan! They picked Dukakis! They went for Gore, Kerry, and Bill Clinton. It should be Paul Wellstone Washington National Airport and Rosa Parks Highway.

49-Mile Scenic Drive

Posted by Trott

Photo by Humuhumu

San Francisco has something called the 49-Mile Scenic Drive. Most San Franciscans know about it. Few San Franciscans have actually bothered to drive it. After more than ten years in San Francisco, I can now say that I am one of those few.

There is a strikingly non-scenic portion of the scenic drive along Cesar Chavez Street. That portion of the drive is redeemed, however, by taking the diligent driver right passed our namesake, the Palace Steak House.

Humu tried to time the photo below to have me driving in the foreground and the Palace Steak House in the background. It was perfect except for the vehicle that drove by.

Photo by Humuhumu

Break Room Disaster Averted

Posted by Trott

I purchased a can of Coke from the vending machine in the break room at work.

It rolled down the chute, agitating the carbonated liquid inside.

It hit the bottom at a funny angle. When I picked it up, there was a pinhole in the lip of the can. A mini-geyser of cola was spewing out of the can.

I panicked for a few seconds. Cola was going to get everywhere!

I placed my finger over the pinhole, but cola continued to escape from the can.

I walked it over to the sink, but wasn't sure what to do. Cola was still getting everywhere!

All of this took about three seconds but felt like an eternity. Then I realized the solution.

I popped the top of the can just like I normally would to drink the cola. Of course, the mini-geyser stopped immediately.

Break room disaster averted!

Inspiration

Posted by Trott

Apparently, my insanity inspires others.

My friend Erik was inspired by my Joy of Cooking Project to do his own Stomping Through The Savoy project. As a result, he was written up in The Wall Street Journal!

Now Humu has been bitten by the cook-everything-in-a-collection bug and is doing something very scary: Making all the "salads" in the 1979 Marysville United Methodist Women's Cookbok.

Surprise Freddie Mercury Cameo

Posted by Trott

From our show in March...

Things That Suck #2: Fillmore Box Office

Posted by Trott

This is well-worn territory and I'm sure others can add lots of other unsavory details.

If you don't want to pay Ticketmaster's $8 "convenience" fees for shows at the Fillmore, then you need to buy the tickets from the Fillmore box office.

The box office actually charges a $2 fee for advance-sale tickets unless you buy them on Sunday. (The Fillmore box office says the $2 fee "may" apply, but that's appears to have been written by weasels. Apparently "may" is a synonym for "does" as far as they are concerned.)

The box office is located in a part of town that is moderately difficult to get to. It's served by two major bus lines, the 38 and the 22, but they are two of the most overcrowded and unpleasant major bus lines in San Francisco. The 22 especially may warrant its own "things that suck" post. Parking is challenging and paying to park in a garage to avoid a convenience fee on tickets kind of defeats the purpose of the trip. So you typically have to drive there, park illegally in a bus zone or in front of a hydrant, and try to get your concert tickets before you get a parking ticket.

On Sundays, the box office is supposed to be open for only 6 hours, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. In reality, it's open for less than six hours. The box office is notorious for opening late. And when I show up at 2:40 p.m. a couple weeks ago, there was a sign saying that they'd be back at 3:00 p.m. I watched for about ten seconds as a few other people walked up, read the sign, and repeated some variation on, "This is bullshit!"