My friend Jenny Wehrt celebrated her 30th birthday last night with an art showing at Descend in the Marina. I really wanted to stay home after spending Friday and most of Saturday comforting a newly single friend. But Jenn and Ronnie dragged me out with a can of Red Bull and the promise that it wouldn't be a long evening. Well it was a really long night because aftewards we headed to El Rio to see Nishon's band, the Struts. I was drained mentally and found myself falling asleep at the bar and rubbing my face to stay awake. Not fun.
Went to see Justice last night with Beau and Tatsuhiko. Tiff went as well with her own posse but it was impossible to find anyone in that crowd. Justice is a French electronica music duo known for incorporating rock influences into their music. This was the first time that I got to see them live and they put on an amazing show. The concert was held at the Concourse Pavillion which I personally dislike since it's so big that sound quality often suffers. But when it's techno and the entire warehouse is filled, it's good to have sound vibrating throughout the building. Beforehand we had dinner at Sushi Groove South, drank sake-tinis, ate shrimp heads and shared uni maki rolls. Yummy food and good times.
Some dude growled at me on the street today. He was growling way before passing me, so thankfully it wasn't my outfit or something. Growling at cars, at constructions workers, at the street lamps, sometimes upwards to the sky. As he approached me he snarled his lips and began fidgeting wildly with his hands. I thought he was going to start foaming at the mouth. Seriously dude, stop with the drugs! Haven't you seen those meth ads all over the city? It takes away your soul.
In other news, I am finally dressed appropriately for the weather. I can never tell how the day will look when I leave in the morning. Berkeley is usually a few degrees cooler or warmer depending on how much fog has rolled into the Bay. This may not be exciting for you but after wearing or not wearing the right garments several days over the last few weeks, I'm stoked. It's little things like this that keep me going...
I stopped by Sur la table to purchase a milk frother, which krissy has noted to be a cheap and satisfying alternative to buying lattes every day. Yes there is the bit where you have to make the lattes yourself but then I'd be able to make more use of my coffee beans.
Half an hour later I left with a french press instead (um yea) and a sudden desire to throw my own Easter party.
No ladies and gentlemen, it's Persian dance music. How is it that all Asian-Euro pop music makes you want to jump up and pump your hands in the air? I came home tonight to a mass of traffic and throngs of teenagers hanging out on the street corner. A big game at Berkeley High? Perhaps except all the kids were bopping to music that wasn't coming from the school stadium.
My windows are vibrating (I kid you not) from the dance music that is blasting out of the Persian Cultural Center. I had no idea it was just down the street from my apartment building. But how could anyone miss it tonight??? The senior home next door must be getting an earful. Yes, I live in a really eclectic neighborhood. It's seriously difficult to practice on my piano without closing all the windows in the apartment. However I can't blame them for dancing as it's a big celebration tonight for Nowrūz (Persian: نوروز), the traditional Iranian New Year holiday celebrated in Iran, Turkey, Afghanistan, and other countries in Central Asia.
Oh wait, the music has stopped...
MC guy: "I know, I know...(something in Persian)...I give you music and we dance tonight with our faaaavorite DJ in the world. CELEBRATE...something Nowruz..."
Kids screaming: "AHHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...."
And now...more jumping: Thump. Thump. Thump. Boom. Boom.
I'm going to see Margaret Cho this Saturday. When I asked Nick if he was interested in getting tickets, he threw me a look like I had asked him to drink soap water. Needless to say he finds her humor to be somewhat offensive. Which of course is a surprise to me since I'm usually the one that's offended! I think she's hilarious though I could live without her political jokes as they have a tendency to drone on and on. But I love it when she talks about Asian stereotypes, gay culture and of course her eccentric mother. This clip isn't one of her best but as always a goodie because of the accent:
I was surprised that this came out as one large sardine, instead of several small sardines. It was delish nonetheless. We probably enjoyed this part of the meal more than the sushi. Kind of disappointing but Kirala's sushi really hasn't been as good as it was in the past. We had grilled sardine marinated in spicy roe with lemon and radish, alongside stuffed mushrooms and shiso wrapped chicken in a teriyaki glaze. I finished off the roasted scallops before we could take this picture. Those were way yummy too.
