Instead of throwing out those cards, send them to be recycled!!! Excellent!
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Between January 2nd and January 6th, I drank nine different café mochas from nine different local coffeehouses. I thought it would be fun to compare and contrast the various drinks and then crown a favorite. I should preface this by saying that I don't know much about coffee. I am not a connoisseur and I don't really know the specific ingredient percentages that are supposed to go into official café mochas. All I know is what I like and dislike. Here are the contenders in the order of my visits:
1. Sidewinder - This was a tasty first effort and helped get me excited about the project. Sidewinder makes a quality mocha, but my drinking experience was slightly marred by the fact that I didn't have a MacBook like everybody else in the shop.
2. Pleasant Perk - This is a great little coffee shop across the street from Everybody's Records. Their mocha was a bit more milky than I usually like, but it was a quality effort. Now that I think of it, the drink was called a "mocha latte". Maybe that's different than a "café mocha". I'm not entirely sure.
3. Coffee Emporium - Coffee Emporium is one of Cincinnati's premier indie coffeehouses, but I thought their café mocha tasted like bark. I don't think I'll go back until the spring when I can get their glacial mocha, the most delicious cold coffee-flavored beverage I've ever tasted.
4. Brontë Bistro - I got this one at the restaurant in Joseph-Beth Booksellers. It was a beautiful drink with lots of whipped cream, chocolate syrup, and a dusting of cinnamon or cocoa powder on top (I forget which). Unfortunately, it was way too foamy for my tastes. It was like drinking foam covered with a beautiful work of art.
5. Blue Manatee Decafé - This coffee shop is attached to the Blue Manatee Children's Bookstore. All their drinks are named after characters from children's books. I got a Matilda's Mocha here, and I must admit it was delicious. It was very hot and featured Aglamesis chocolate, but neither the heat nor the chocolate were overwhelming. This drink still had the espresso and milk flavors in appropriate levels. I liked this one so much that I picked up a copy of Roald Dahl's Matilda while I was there. The way I look at it, if the drink is good, then the book must be, too.
6. Red Tree Art Gallery and Coffee Shop - The café mocha at Red Tree was a tasty combination of the flavors and came with homemade whipped cream on top. This shop is relatively new on the scene, but they make a delicious mocha and their whipped cream is the best. On top of that, patrons can wander around and look at art while drinking.
7. Lookout Joe - This was another effort that featured a good combination of chocolate, espresso, and steamed milk. It was also very hot on a very cold morning which made it taste even better. Now if only Lookout Joe would get rid of that nasty couch in the sitting area. I wouldn't sit on that thing if you paid me.
8. Awakenings Coffee and Wine - Awakenings is one of the few coffeehouses around here where they ask you which kind of chocolate you'd prefer in your mocha. I like that. Unfortunately, this mocha was one of the biggest disappointments in the Great Café Mocha Challenge of 2010. The whipped cream was homemade, but the mocha itself was bland and tasteless. As far as I'm concerned, the Hyde Park Square Awakenings is all prime location and mediocre beverages.
9. Starbucks - I wasn't going to include Starbucks in the competition, but I happened to be next to the CVG branch and decided to let them participate at the last minute. I actually thought their mocha was pretty good. It was heavy on the chocolate and featured the coffee flavor I've grown used to. On the downside, the whipped cream was a cold dollop of gelatinous goo that ruined the entire drink. If I get a Starbucks mocha again, I'll remember to skip the topping.
Drumroll, please: And the winner of the Great Café Mocha Challenge of 2010 is the Red Tree Art Gallery and Coffee Shop! Their mix of ingredients and the quality of their whipped cream was enough to best the competition. Blue Manatee Decafé and Lookout Joe came in a close second and third place, respectively. Honorable mention awards went to Sidewinder and Pleasant Perk. All five of these shops should be commended for the quality of their mochas. Give them a try the next time you're wandering around Cincinnati in search of your fix.
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PANDA TRANSPORT
pandatransport.com ♥ myspace.com
According to Panda Transport's biography, they are a Frenchman (Ti) and an American woman (Kat). They play a sort of low-fi indiepop music. Their EP, Monorail was released last month.
What I immediately like about the duo is that Kat's sweltering vocals sometime makes their music sound like a lazy evening at a jazz club. However, the upbeat music can be as fun as on "Monorail" to somewhat silly "Freakshow" (complete with doo-doo-scat).
The one non-Kat song, "Cicadas in Stereo" definitely stands out. I'm also not certain what is being sung on this line: "I want to ____ every single butterfly"? Did I just hear that right?
You can hear their entire EP streaming at their official website.
I will say this, they're cute, and their songs reminds me of one of my favorite band the Would-Be-Goods if they were to go jazz lounge. You can pick up Monorail digitally at usual (itunes, le amazon). Physical CD list can be found here (available last Tuesday?).
Tour Dates 01/23/10
Borders Charlotte, NC
01/30/10 Borders Apex, NC 01/21/10 Paris-Mann Grill Canton, GA Discography
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pariskeeling.com ♥ myspace.com
I will admit that what made Paris Keeling's CD packaging for End Of Ride Revisited memorable was that it came with this cardboard plastic airplane. Which I did put together and had a twirl (it took a nose-dive and crashed).
Paris Keeling's moniker should be obvious when you hear that it's from their two main songwriters, Marty Paris and Kelly Keeling's name. You can deduce this from hearing the introduction on their live track "Head Straight". Speaking of which, I kind of wish there were more live tracks on this album. I think this is the band's strong point, jamming and playing to an audience. You pick up the energy in the vocals, while their studio tracks seems too well-polished and produced.
As suggested by "Revisited", this is the second release of End Of Ride. Based on seeing the tracklisting for the original release, this new version comes with a different track order and contain new songs (mostly at the end of the track order). Two songs were left out of the revisited album, "Welcome" and "Middle of the Road", so I suspect due to the time limitation of the CD format.
It seems obvious to me that singer Paris Keeling's been singing and playing for most of his adult life (a quick biography check tells me that he's played on Alice Cooper's Hey Stoopid, so the guy's been around!).
The new revisited songs started with an aggressive guitar song, "Don't Disturb The Occupants", so I thought the band's new direction would be more hard-rock ... but I was quickly corrected with a 'sensitive'-type song, "Feel", and acoustic-ish "Alive".
The one stand-out track for me is the all-guitar song "I Learned from the Inside", which demonstrate what an excellent guitar player Marty Paris is. As I previously mentioned, I think this band will be at their best by playing live to an audience. They are doing some instores and appearing live at the end of January, check them out if you're in the area.
Tour Dates 01/21/10
Beaumont Club - SOLD OUT!! Kansas City, Missouri
01/22/10 Diamond Ballroom - SOLD OUT!! Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 01/23/10 The Pageant- SOLD OUT!! St. Louis, Missouri 01/24/10 Egyptian Room at Murat Center - SOLD OUT!! Indianapolis, Indiana 01/26/10 Majestic Theatre - SOLD OUT!! Madison, Wisconsin 01/27/10 Madison Theatre - SOLD OUT!! Covington, Kentucky 01/28/10 Lifestyle Communities Pavilion- SOLD OUT!! Columbus, Ohio 01/29/10 Ram’s Head Live - SOLD OUT!! Baltimore, Maryland 01/30/10 Norva Theater - SOLD OUT!! Norfolk, Virginia 02/01/10 Music Farm - SOLD OUT!! Charleston, South Carolina 02/02/10 Freebird Live - SOLD OUT!! Jacksonville Beach, Florida 02/03/10 The Ritz Ybor - SOLD OUT!! Tampa, Florida 02/04/10 Culture Room - SOLD OUT!! Ft. Lauderdale, Florida 02/05/10 House of Blues - SOLD OUT!! Orlando, Florida 02/06/10 The Melting Point - SOLD OUT!! Athens, Georgia 02/08/10 WorkPlay Theatre - SOLD OUT!! Birmingham, Alabama 02/09/10 Varsity Theatre - SOLD OUT!! Baton Rouge, Louisiana 02/10/10 Revolution Music Room - SOLD OUT!! Little Rock, Arkansas 02/17/10 Komedia Theatre Brighton, UK 02/18/10 Electric Ballroom **VENUE CHANGED** London, UK 02/19/10 O2 Academy Oxford Oxford, UK 02/20/10 O2 Academy 2 Newcastle Newcastle, UK 02/21/10 O2 Academy 2 Birmingham Birmingham, UK 02/22/10 Manchester Academy 2 Manchester, UK 02/24/10 Melkweg - SOLD OUT!! Amsterdam, Netherlands 02/25/10 Orangerie - Botanique Brussels, Belgium 02/26/10 Le Nouveau Casino Paris, France 02/27/10 Die Werkstatt Cologne, Germany 02/28/10 59 to 1 Munich, Germany 03/01/10 Magnet Berlin, Germany 03/02/10 Amager Bio Copenhagen 03/12/10 Great Hall, Auckland Town Hall (w/ Cobra Starship) Auckland, Auckland 03/14/10 SMX Convention Center, Hall 1 & 2 Manila 03/16/10 University of NSW Roundhouse (w/ Cobra Starship) Sydney, New South Wales 03/17/10 The Tivoli (w/ Cobra Starship) Brisbane, Queensland 03/19/10 The Hi-fi (w/ Cobra Starship) Melbourne, Victoria 03/20/10 The Hi-fi (w/ Cobra Starship) Melbourne, Victoria 03/21/10 Metro City (w/ Cobra Starship) Perth, Western Australia 03/30/10 Knitting Factory Boise, Idaho 03/31/10 Knitting Factory Spokane, Washington 04/01/10 Paramount Theatre Seattle, Washington 04/02/10 Vogue Theatre Vancouver, British Columbia 04/03/10 Roseland Theatre Portland, Oregon 04/05/10 The Fillmore San Francisco, California 04/06/10 The Fillmore San Francisco, California 04/07/10 The Fox Theater Pomona, California 04/08/10 Soma San Diego, California 04/09/10 Club Nokia Los Angeles, California 04/10/10 Marquee Theatre Tempe, Arizona 04/12/10 Salt Air Theater Magna, Utah 04/13/10 Ogden Theatre Denver, Colorado 04/15/10 Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheatre Austin, Texas 04/16/10 Verizon Wireless Theater Houston, Texas 04/17/10 Nokia Theatre Dallas, Texas 04/19/10 War Memorial Auditorium Nasvhille, Tennessee 04/20/10 The Tabernacle Atlanta, Georgia 04/22/10 Constitution Hall WASHINGTON, Washington DC 04/23/10 House of Blues Boston, Massachusetts 04/24/10 Terminal 5 **MATINEE ADDED!** New York, New York 04/24/10 Terminal 5 - SOLD OUT!! New York City, New York 04/25/10 Electric Factory Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 04/27/10 Sound Academy Toronto, Ontario 04/28/10 House of Blues Cleveland 04/29/10 Royal Oak Music Theatre Detroit, Michigan 04/30/10 Aragon Ballroom **VENUE CHANGED** Chicago, Illinois 05/01/10 State Theater **MATINEE ADDED!** Minneapolis, Minnesota 05/01/10 State Theatre Minneapolis, Minnesota 05/02/10 Eagles Ballroom Milwaukee, Wisconsin
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owlcitymusic.com ♥ myspace.com
Universal Records sent me this promo to listen to last year. At first, I didn't know why they'd do such a thing, I'm actually not a big fan of pop music. And I loathe autotune. But then, as I found out talking to a local blogger at a concert last year that I was told that Owl City is some dude in his basement who lives in Minnesota. We thought that was so weird, considering that Owl City is the hottest/best-selling on the Billboard Top 100 (for "Fireflies"). As it is, Owl City is the stage name of Adam Young.... and his certified "Gold" album is called Ocean Eyes.
So. All of Owl City's songs are autotuned (with the exception of "Vanilla Twilight"?). I guess this is just the state of modern pop music. Just check out all the top forty bands and they're using it. I guess I don't really get it. Of course, I also don't understand the Lady Gaga, who every young person I know is in love with her.
Anyway, I even made a point to listen to Owl City's hit song, "Fireflies". It was OK. I can see why people would like this song about being an insomniac, especially that line "I'd like to make myself believe that planet Earth turns slowly".
If I were to pick some good songs, I did like "Umbrella Beach", "The Tip Of The Iceberg" (for the fading in and out) and "The Saltwater Room" (mostly for the duet with Breanne Duren). Duren's vocals was a nice change of pace, and incidentally I saw last year. I described her as a quiet girl with her Casio keyboard.
Well despite my not-so-fondness of Owl City, it looks like he's doing quite well for himself. He's playing to a bunch of sold-out shows, so if you are a fan, I suggest picking up tickets before they sell out. I am definitely not the demographic for Owl City, but I'm happy to see this Minnesotan doing so extraordinary well.
PS, if you were wondering what's on the cover, it is the hotel Burj Al Arab
01/08/2010 00:51:38 ♥ vu (
) ♥weheartmusic.com♥twitter.com/weheartmusic♥news.weheartmusic.com
Make a flake or just watch it snow. Click other people's snow for up close shots, but as always, mind the yellow snow.
Here's my flake :)
I stand by my belief that people, in general, are very disappointing creatures.
Honesty, dignity, decency. Is there none of it anywhere?
But, I had to remove my line to God about "what could be next"? cuz if you ask that sucker to "bring it on" He will.
I haven't posted my recent musical acquisitions in about a month and things are starting to pile up. Many of the records shown below were given to me as gifts for the extended Christmas Eve-->Christmas-->Boxing Day-->New Year's Eve-->New Year's Day-->Homebody Week holiday, but to be honest, I bought most of them for myself. That's just how I am. It can't be helped.
- Gin Blossoms - Major Lodge Victory - I have a theory that everyone likes the Gin Blossoms, but some of us hide it deep down because we are ashamed.
- Jackie Leven - The Haunted Year: Autumn - I already owned Winter and Spring, so I sort of felt obligated to get Autumn and Summer. The first two were good, and I like Summer just fine, but Autumn feels a bit like the Jackie Leven dregs. He talks for ten minutes about the time he caused panic on a train by telling the other passengers that Sting had died in a helicopter crash.
- Jackie Leven - The Haunted Year: Summer
- Fairmount Girls - Eleven Minutes to Anywhere - I accidentally saw this local band as an opening act once, but it took me almost a decade to finally get around to buying their CD.
- Echo & the Bunnymen - Songs to Learn & Sing - I used to own this Echo & the Bunnymen CD, but I sold it because I thought I didn't like Echo & the Bunnymen, but then it turned out I actually did like Echo & the Bunnymen so I had to buy this Echo & the Bunnymen CD again. Got it?
- Chesterfields - The Best of the Chesterfields: Electric Guitars in Their Hearts - Silverchimes recommended "Ask Johnny Dee" to me for my Ba-Ba Box Set. I liked the song enough to seek out this collection. I got it for Christmas, but I can't remember who gave it to me.
- Terry Callier - Welcome Home - I thought this was a new studio album by one of my favorites, but it's actually just a live album. I could've done without this one.
- Buffalo Tom - Let Me Come Over - It's hard to say no to three mint condition Buffalo Tom CDs for $2 each.
- Buffalo Tom - Birdbrain
- Buffalo Tom - Buffalo Tom
- Young Fresh Fellows - I Don't Think This Is LP - This was my #2 record of the year. The Young Fresh Fellows pulled a fast one on me, though. They released the LP in Europe with completely different cover art and track listing. There are even some songs on the European version that didn't make the US version. I want them all! Fortunately, Homebody gave this to me for Christmas so my YFF crisis is now officially over.
- Klark Kent - Music Madness From the Kinetic Kid EP - I only bought this because Cranky likes Klark Kent and I want her to think I'm cool. I got it and the following Left Banke collection at Everybody's Records.
- Left Banke - The History of the Left Banke LP - Now I have an official copy of Steve Martin's gorgeous "Love Songs in the Night".
- Drive-By Truckers - Dangerous Highway: A Tribute to the Songs of Eddie Hinton 7" - Shake It Records put out these Eddie Hinton tributes, so I bought them to throw some support at the store/label. Volumes 1 & 2 both look cool, but I haven't listened to them yet.
- Greg Dulli - Dangerous Highway: A Tribute to the Songs of Eddie Hinton 7"
- Low - Santa's Coming Over 7" - If you punch out the shapes on the sleeve, you can make Christmas ornaments. I'm not going to do that, though. Where would I put the record? This was a Christmas present from Homebody.
- Richmond Sluts - Sweet Something 7" - I bought this one for my cousin. See, I'm not as greedy as I may appear. I'm actually very nice and generous.
- Tsunami - Headwringer 7" - I made a sad voice and Homebody gave me this.
- Tsunami - Geniuses of Crack 7" - Once I had Headwringer, I knew I had to dig this one out of the Shake It Records basement (where it's been living for years) and take it home with me.
- Wussy/Fervor - The Green Belt split 7" - The Wussy song is fantastic right off the bat, but it took me a few listens to appreciate the Fervor.
- Big Star - Keep An Eye on the Sky - This is a four disc box set. That's a lot of music from a band that really only had three proper albums, but I've never heard Big Star do a bad song, so I'm sure this will be good stuff.
- Bluebells - The Singles Collection - I saw this in Homebody's music collection and gave it a listen. Then I added it to my list of things to buy. You might wonder why I didn't just copy her disc to my computer. Well, we don't work that way. We want the Bluebells to get their 47 cents of royalties.
- Happy Mondays - Pills 'N' Thrills and Bellyaches - I found this at Half Price Books for $2. I bought it because my uncle once raved about a different Happy Mondays release and I was curious.
- Sir Vincent Lone - Troubadour Heart - Jackie Leven releases so many albums that he has to release some of them under aliases. "Sir Vincent Lone" is one of those aliases.
- 10,000 Maniacs - MTV Unplugged - This is another replacement.
- Various Artists - CD86 - This is an absolutely fantastic 48 song compilation of indie rock songs from the mid-80s. I'd only heard a couple of the songs beforehand, so I didn't really know what to expect. I am happy to say there's not a dud track on either of the discs. This right here is what I call a "Gateway Comp".
- Various Artists - North By North West - This is another good 2-disc compilation. It's more punk/post-punk, though.
- Various Artists - Play - I bought this at Half Price Books a few days before Christmas. It's a collection of children's songs done up by bands from the Pacific Northwest. The best song on the disc is "Picnic" by the Young Fresh Fellows.
- Vic Chesnutt - Skitter on Take-off - I felt bad that I hadn't bothered to buy Vic Chesnutt's two 2009 releases, so I ordered them up. I'd meant to buy them at the Southgate House show in early November, but I forgot to go to the concert. Or maybe I just skipped it. I don't remember anymore. Either way, I felt bad.
- Vic Chesnutt - At the Cut
- Long Blondes - Singles - The Long Blondes put out a lot of great early singles, an amazing full-length called Someone to Drive You Home, a crappy full-length called Couples, and then promptly fell apart due to some sort of health situation. This is a collection of those early singles.
- Longpigs - The Sun is Often Out - I bought this one for $2 just because there was a tiny picture of Richard Hawley in the booklet. He played guitar in the Longpigs.
- Material Issue - International Pop Overthrow - I've had the title track of this CD stuck in my head since October, so I finally gave in and bought the dang thing. Material Issue always reminds me of a friend from college, but I recently found out that he barely remembers them.
- Jackie Leven - Lovers at the Gun Club - I may have gone a bit overboard with the Jackie Leven.
- Shirley Lee - Shirley Lee - This is the debut solo album from the Spearmint singer and songwriter.
- Three O'Clock - Sixteen Tambourines/Baroque Hoedown - I've recently been checking out all the Paisley Underground bands. My grandmother gave me this one for Christmas. Who knew she had access to my Amazon wishlist?
- Stories - Stories/About Us - This is another Left Banke-related release.
- Regina Spektor - Live at Bull Moose EP - This is my first official Regina Spektor release. I think I have a couple of her songs in my iTunes, though.
- Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix - I used to have a Phoenix concert t-shirt, but I gave it away to Goodwill about four years ago. Now the band is popular and I've missed out on my opportunity to let everybody know I was into them back before it was hip.
- Rain Parade - Emergency Third Rail Power Trip/Explosions in the Glass Palace - This is another Paisley Underground investigation.
- Shop Assistants - Will Anything Happen - I have no idea why I bought this one. I think I remembered their name from the CD86 compilation mentioned above. Good stuff, though.
- Various Artists - Gift From a Garden to a Flower: A Tribute to Donovan - This is another one I found out about from Homebody's incredibly large and diverse music collection.
- Only Ones - The Only Ones - Does anyone know the record for listening to "Another Girl, Another Planet" over and over again? Whatever it is, I think I might try to break it.
- Kaiser-Kimura-O'Rourke-Oswald - Acoustics - This is the worst CD I've ever heard. It will not get the normally required ten listens.
- Beatles - The Beatles Mono Box Set - This box set is so damn beautiful. I haven't even listened to it yet. I've just been cradling it in my arms. Remember when you had your baby and you thought it was precious and beautiful and the greatest thing ever in the history of the world? Well, that was just a baby. Any two drunks can make one of those. It takes real genius to make Rubber Soul and then house it in a replica miniature LP sleeve with original cover art.
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*snort*
From NBC Washington - Jan 7
Full article here
The Secret Service has had its hands full while juggling all those uninvited guests who seem to turn up at the White House. But they were adequately prepared for an eyesore of a security scare that turned up during the Wednesday evening rush.
A man showed up, took off his clothes and started running up and down E Street, according to the Washington Post.
The man apparently found his jog invigorating, despite the 25-degree windchill. He continued running down the street as the Secret Service and D.C. Police chased after him.
"He wasn't yelling or protesting. Just going for a jog," Malcolm Wiley, a Secret Service spokesman, told the Post.
Eventually officers caught up to the naked man, but his run caused another small problem. He had left his clothes in a bag near 15th and E Streets. The bag was unattended, so it had to be classified as a suspicious package.
The Secret Service blocked off the area to make sure the discarded clothes were the only thing inside.
Officers gave the all-clear and took the naked man into custody. He hasn't been charged.
Although I can't even remember the last time I ate Bugles.
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