Gary Ollsen's Blog

Sasha and Malia to Sidwell Friends

Gary Ollsen — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 05:33:26 GMT

The AP is reporting that Sasha and Malia Obama will attend Sidwell Friends School in Ward 3, near Tenleytown. Our clever commenters speculated that that would be their choice, thanks to its security-friendly setting. It was also the Clintons' pick for Chelsea. Some will be disappointed that the Obamas didn't pick a public school, but they've chosen the option that's "the best fit for what their daughters need right now." The City Paper and ABC News blog Political Punch are both reporting on the choice.

DCist Listening Party: The Oranges Band Are Invisible

Gary Ollsen — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 05:33:25 GMT

Baltimore's The Oranges Band have been plugging away for the better part of a decade, somewhat quietly releasing catchy and scrappy indie rock records with left-field touchstones sure to perk the ears of the dedicated obscurist. 2006's The World and Everything In It was a truly underrated record -- an almost-perfect marriage of post-punk and bittersweet pop melody. After some lineup changes, the band's finally recorded its follow-up, The Oranges Band Are Invisible, set for release in February 2009. It's the band's ode to the days of yore in the Baltimore scene, with lead singer Roman Kuebler weaving tales of art school kids and boarded-up clubs through carefully crafted tunes and a history prof's dedication to the past. Musically it changes things up, too: "When Your Mask is Your Revealing Feature" pairs a loose guitar interplay reminiscent of the Buzzcocks with a funky Talking Heads vibe, "Art Star" is their driving, snarling pop song, and "One More Dog" plays like a frenzied, basement Arcade Fire single. In short, The Oranges are back with an album of tunes to prove it.

Lucky for us, we had the chance to sit down with Roman Kuebler, Pat, and Dave at an empty Ottobar (where the latter two work) and get a sneak preview of the new album ahead of their show in DC on Saturday night at The Red and the Black.

So This one's called "Ottobar Afterhours" -- fitting title.

Roman: Yeah this one’s about the old Ottobar, where this place used to be, in the Talking Head building. It’s basically about when people would lock the doors on the place after the show and people would hang out all night. Not much like the Ottobar now actually…

Dave: [Sarcastic] I don’t know if that still happens, I’m not involved in that.

So that ended?

Dave: Yeah, kinda, but there were lots of contributing factors – lots of liquor disappears when 30 or 40 people are up all night drinking, and the bands I like are few and far between bands that I like in this town. There’s Dub Mechanical, Gary and the Emotions, Impossible Hair.

You all are the veterans then.

Roman: We’re scene veterans, I think we’ve proven we’re here to stay. The local press talks about us as “scene veterans” or “indie veterans”.

Pat: I’m more of an indie rookie. If anything, I’m a punk veteran.

Dave: In reviews of every band there’s always something the first review latches on to and they say that one thing, and then everybody after them always latches onto that like a magnet. Like the CityPaper thing, it was “these guys been around for a long time and blah blah blah”.

Roman: And almost everything the album references is mid-nineties Baltimore indie scene, so if that isn’t dating it then I don’t know what is.

Dave: That thing about Gordon’s Nightclub, it was about this old rock club called the Rev which used to be incredible but closed down and turned into Gordon’s Nightclub.

Roman: Both the guys from the CityPaper weren’t here when the Rev was around so they think it’s about this place Gordon’s.

Pat: It almost makes it better. It makes it seem like we’re just these guys who hang out at Gordon’s, I mean c’mon.

Roman: Yeah, the CityPaper music editor wasn’t even here for Memory Lane either.

What about this one? "I Wouldn’t Worry About It"

Roman – Ok, so this is Jim Glass singing with us, doing this awesome Peter Murphy monotone voice.

Pat: The breakdown in this song is my favorite part on the record.

Roman: They wanted me to chop it down, sort of saying, “This quiet part doesn’t mean much.” (Listens to the breakdown) We once played this four times through, but that was too much. I thought we could keep playing it forever, but no, it just got too long.

Dave: Yeah we did that at Artscape last year and it didn’t really work. But they did have like piles of crab cakes and it was hot as hell and they had the worst Miller beer – Miller Chill or something? God it was awful.

"Do You Remember Memory Lane?"

Roman: This is another one of the four or five references to this mid-nineties Baltimore music scene and its very specific to reference the scene, its not meant to be widely understood, just focused and directed to a small group of people. You know, its “Do you remember Memory Lane? Not a lot of people who are still hear can actually remember that…?

Dave: But there are a lot of bands who we see out on the road or who we’re friends with around the country who are like “Yeah, we remember that place.”

Roman: That’s where I saw Lifter Puller for the first time. Musically this is a rip-off of a band called Runway Model. The one riff and there’s a lyrical reference, “When was your last night on earth?”.

What’s the appeal of focusing on that that narrow audience, this very specific time and place? "Gordon's Nightclub"

Roman: Actually it has to do with the Baltimore scene finally getting attention, and not so much attention, sort of about us being around for a long time, and the newer additions to the scene having a very different experience and understanding about what Baltimore is and has been about. It’s kind of disappointing, but I don’t want to judge it or anything.

Dave: Even if what’s happened doesn’t influence what happening now. Like, Peter Quinn in a band called Candy Machine and now has a label called Creative Capitalism. There are people around now that aren’t even aware that Quinn actually broke a big barrier in being a Baltimore band and putting out a record on Dischord, and that’s something people should know about that someone so involved in the scene, someone who is so dedicated to getting those things out and helping this scene keep going. Not knowing about Candy Machine is like someone in D.C. not knowing that Rites of Spring existed.

Roman: The thing about that song is that it’s about a specific conversation I had with somebody. I said something about Candy Machine, she was like “uhh, what?”. I thought, “Really?” That was a different thing. How about Ink? Low Motor? It’s like, hey, no mother fucker, you’ve never heard of Candy Machine?

Pat: That’s a scene I didn’t grow up with and I still know Candy Machine, and I was fifteen.

Roman: When I heard Candy machine, it was “That’s the most original thing I've heard in my life.”

Dave: For you, that was your experience. Roman might not have ever known about bands like Gang of Four and the Fall, and whether you realize if these things are happening or not, it’s relevant and it needs to get out there and be addressed. When kids ask me what this song means? It’s about a club man, a place and time when we were really involved. Somebody’s gotta talk about what it all means. I remember that’s the first place I met you, Memory Lane. I think it was a Brainiac show for that magazine called Ant?

Roman: When you’re talking about history and you’re being inspired by it you risk being dated or not connected with people who weren’t there, this is about such a specific time that few people would relate to. The music and songs are meant to be universally appreciated, but they’re just kinda laced with these references that are pretty obscure and that’s for the audience who will get them. But in general, I hope it just has a general appeal bigger than subject matter, which I think anyone would.

Dave: Funny thing about songs, if you don’t know what its really about, people are gonna draw something different from it. I can think of a Jawbreaker song where its like “machines all breakin’ down” and I had just broken up with this girl and I just wanted it to be “she’s all breaking down”.

Can you talk a little bit more about the Baltimore scene now?

Dave: I mean, Wham City, those are kids that are dedicated to their shit and I respected that.

Well do you feel out of touch with that though?

Roman: Not necessarily. There’s kind of a natural… let’s just say, when we were coming up the scene was very different. Everyone was very involved with each other in the indie scene, everybody knew everybody. Your band could be weird or heavy, lots of styles, but now there’s lots of segmentation and that’s not necessarily the case. It’s bigger, and there’s more potential, but it is hard to be connected. A lot of it’s about saying – things are different. I don’t mean to be judgmental about it, but I do want to point out and say it didn’t necessarily always used to be this way. People can kinda cross the barriers, but I don’t necessarily think that’s gonna happen. I feel relatively in touch with it [the current scene], but I don’t think I should be. I’ve been to Wham City, and it’s just not that comfortable. In an old warehouse filled with kids with a massive line for the bathroom, and music I don’t really like that much. I’m 36 years old now, I’m a different person, and they’re having a different experience. It doesn’t make sense that I’d be totally involved in that – it should be a different experience for them and for me. I shouldn’t experience that in so directly a way.

Dave: Like I said before, if you like something, then immediately whatever else might be weird about your surroundings goes out the door. We could go to a basement show and be just as into it. If my favorite band in the world is playing my least favorite place with 100 people I hate, I’ll still be there. If it’s something worth seeing, you’re going to go for it. When I was out in LA, there was a place called Jabber Jaw, totally gang-ridden, but it’s way worth it to go there and see the Unwound play. You’re just like “Man, I’m doing this and no entity will stop you from getting your fix.” Just one of those things – if it’s worthwhile, fuck it.

Pat: Whatever man, you know you know you’d rather be at the 98 Rock after-party.

Roman: I think what I am missing is something I like. I mean I go to Afrobeat Society and I have a great time and I don’t know that stuff really all that well. And when I see Dan Deacon, it’s awesome, it’s so fucking good, and you don’t have to like the music, he just makes people go ape shit, you just get so involved in the feeling of what he’s doing, and that feeling of community. If it’s not there, you look around and say, “Uh, I don’t know anybody here”.

Dave: Going on tour makes you used to sleeping on weirdos floors and eating whatever. Remember that one night in Toledo with the Detroit Cobras? One of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever seen, it was late and we were trying to sleep on the floor with the after party while it was going on, it was miserable but that’s why it’s there. We were on tour and we know that’s how it is. It’s kinda like going to Wham City.

Can you all talk a little about how this recording process was different? What happened to the song “Jenny, I’m Sneaking Out”? I liked that one a lot.

Roman: Everything got separated from our last big tour with people leaving the band. After tour it was me and Dave, with “Jenny” and a few other songs designed to go into next record, it was time to re-evaluate everything that had come before. This was the very end of 2006. So there was this reorganization at the beginning of 2006, things started over. That’s when we started this, even though some of the songs existed before that. But really, we had like two songs. We were writing, we didn’t have shit. That’s when we got Pat into the group.

Pat: You gave me a three song demo.

Roman: Yeah, it had “Memory Lane” and “Jenny”. We had those couple things to start with. And the whole process was gonna be different. Different band, different motivation, different goal. Everything was different at that point. We were playing a lot of shows, we did the Lemonheads and Spoon shows, a few college shows, and a bunch of early things going on in 2007, which we spent playing and learning new songs. Just sort of re-establishing our persons at home and in our lives.

Pat: I know being in the band normalized my life.

Roman: Yeah, exactly. So the second half of 2007 was really nailing down our songs, getting comfortable, just getting them down. That’s when I wrote to Doug [Gillard]. Throughout the year we knew we wanted to have another guitar player, but no one automatically filled the bill. Our friend Jim was playing with us – that’s him doing vocals on “Ottobar Afterhours” – we were operating as three piece but wanted a fourth person. I knew I didn’t want to lay down lead over stuff we had done; I don’t want to do that, I want to get a guitar player. The key to getting Doug in the band was my friend sent me a you-tube link, it was Guided by Voices when Doug was with them playing “Pop Zeus” at this place in Toronto where Spoon had opened for them, it was the coolest video – its on Speak Kindly [To Your Volunteer Fire Department] which is a record I love – and I knew Doug co-wrote “Pop Zeus” and that’s my favorite stuff, the stuff he was heavily involved in. So when we were on tour with those guys we talked about doing some work together. Then when we needed a guitar player, it occurred to me I could maybe ask Doug to play with The Oranges Band. He was living in Charlotte and moving to New York, and it wasn’t until after the new year that he was able to get it together to practice with us and think about playing with us.

January is where we really started talking. I sent him some tapes and went up and practiced with him in New York. He came down for a couple shows, practiced one time, he played the show and we recorded. Then he overdubbed some stuff and it was off to the races. And at that point, February of this year, I was busy at work for a couple months, got sidetracked, couldn’t dedicate time to finish it, which was good because gave time to reflect and figure out what needed to be focused on and be done. It’s a retarded amount of work and it seems never-ending. It took six months, which is not all that long, but we took our time and did it slowly and spent a zillion dollars.

With the labor you put into an album like this, how do you feel about those albums that get recorded quickly and become sort of accidental, one-off masterpieces?

Roman: A special record can be arrived at through any kind of process, but this just happens to be my process. I wanna do stuff quickly. It’s about connecting with your process as an artist. There are great documents of bands being bands, like I have this recording of Marley and Wailers playing live at Capitol Records, and its great, but its just the band being the band versus the band making lasting versions of those songs.

Dave: Yeah, well that recording is just a lasting version of the band just kicking ass is what it is.

Kind of a general philosophical question, but there’s a little give and take on this record between the lo-fi we might associate with GbV and a little more clarity and depth than on your previous albums. Do you prefer one or the other?

Roman: Honestly, these recordings are better in every way. Better songs, better recorded, better lyrics.

Do you all have favorite moments on the record?

Pat: “Toulouse-Latrec” is my favorite song, but that bridge part in “I Wouldn’t Worry About It” is my favorite part for sure.

Dave: I’d say I like “Gordon’s Nightclub” a lot because its diverse. I feel like this is Roman in his “up the ante” songwriting.

Roman: I think it’s with the recording that the ante is upped. I think some of the songs on The World and Everything In It - I think “Open Air” is about as good a song as I can write. I think the recording is really good, but I realized that after it was produced. Yeah, I mean, once I get some time to reflect. As a song, there could be great songs that are different, but that one specifically was so successful in achieving a goal. I wanted to talk about something really specific, and it came out and I did it, exactly how I wanted to say it. Now I think I can look at it as an outsider

Dave: Whoa, did you just say that? I feel like you never say stuff like that.

Roman: I should say “with perspective”; that song was different. I have an old version, a demo with old lyrics, I worked really hard on the lyrics and I got this song out of it and I feel like that was very successful. That’s just to say I had some experience being satisfied with material. I wanted to make these on the new album as successful. This song “Art Star”, that was a good, same kind of thing, I wanted to say something, and I wanted to put it in a way that personal to this character, from a third person perspective, but it’s still very much about myself and about my ambition. It had a lot to do with ambition and what the buildups are like as an artist. It’s from a differ perspective but the ideas, the things, the challenges this person faces, frustration is the same as I feel.

I hear a certain amount of bitterness in “Art Star”. Is that what you’re shooting for?

Roman: It’s not bitterness to do with myself. It’s meant from the perspective of a character who is frustrated and I wanted to build that character. Its about the art world – I was never that into – but I’ve gotten pretty interested lately, especially on the local level. Trying to recognize some of the challenges that visual artists face has been interesting to me. It’s more challenging than being in a band. I was just kind of imaging what that was like. In art school, you know, just wanna be so good, but you’re in this school with all these people who wanna be so good too and are willing to do everything to get there. And who’s gonna win in that situation? You came in with this goal, you’re going to show them, but you’re facing this challenge, so you burn out, you wanna go home. It goes “You wanted to burn but you never came close” – that’s me, there’s no bitterness outwardly, more like frustration and just working and working working and just failing. It’s just about failing and losing and how hard that is to do. After our last record and some of our experiences on the road, I had to think about the fact that we may lose as a band, we may be losing here, and that’s it. What are you gonna do? You set your goals but no matter what, they might not happen. We’re watching other people get successful but it’s just out of our reach and maybe just not available to us.

Can you talk about this song, "When Your Mask is Your Revealing Feature"?

Roman: That was originally modeled after Peter Gabriel’s song, kind of amalgation of musically a lot of things coming together. Lyrically, “You’re the wolf and you’re so smart when you play it like the sheep / but I see your teeth / they’re white like light bulbs” kinda references when someone kinda plays the underdog, there’s a great band called The Fuses from Baltimore. They did this great song and it had to do with Spoon…

Dave: … Had to be “The Fix Was In”…

Roman: There was this attitude that Spoon was this underdog band and they got screwed. How could you get screwed by a major label? You knew the rules going in. Its’ like somebody who plays like they got screwed, but hey, psst, you didn’t really get screwed. People are buying it. Its not that hard to see through. I wouldn’t call it bitterness. I think a lot of that song was dealing with was what it was like to lose. They face this challenge and they have to deal with the fact that they’re losing.

What keeps you all going then?

Roman: A lot of reason we do this is about community. The thing is, if you don’t make records, people don’t want to hear you, you can’t play anymore. As an artist, you’re just driven to create, it’s about total experience – writing, recording, packaging, working with people, connecting with fans and press and other bands, traveling and driving. I think we all like that, and making a record gives us the chance to do those things.

Dave: I feel like there are a lot of people who want us to come out and play – there are tens of them, spread out over all fifty states. As soon as they have kids, it’ll be nuts. We haven’t put out records for some time, and some people probably don’t realize we’re still doing this because bands break up all the time. We started doing this a long fucking time ago, and one of the things bands don’t manage to accomplish is to stay together. We don’t make a lot of money, and there are a lot of dudes wondering, “How do they do that?” It’s one of the things people ask me, you just have to be dedicated.

Roman: You have to be flexible to it.

Dave: It’s not a simple endeavor.

Roman: You have to be realistic. Sometimes you’re gonna get kicked in the balls and it’s gonna take you three years to put out a record. We put out The World and Everything, two months later our record company tanks and it gets thrown out, and people expect you to fold. It’s not about being successful in that commercial way, because we still get the incentives from reaction from people, friends, at shows. In the last two years, we’ve played with The Lemonheads, Spoon, Polvo, The Fiery Furnaces, AC Newman, so there’s no reason to not do it.

Pat: No real indicators saying we shouldn’t do this.

Roman: People want you to say “oh weve kinda had our chance”

Pat: This is the best thing I’ve played on.

Roman: It’s our best recording, our best songs in one place, and my favorite songs as a songwriter.

Dave: As dormant as we’ve been putting songs out, we’ve still been doing good stuff and other bands are interested in having us be with them. If nothing else, they enjoy what we do. It doesn’t mean worldwide acclaim, for some people that’s not good enough and that’s why they break up. Having your peers like you isn’t enough for some bands.

Roman: Maybe at some point we kinda know, ok, this isn’t worth it anymore.

You’ve also mentioned before how much being on the road appeals to you.

Dave: There’s the allure of it, but it can be all that you want it to be.

Roman: There’s this guy, Greg Preston, who once went to New York with us for some shows. My old band was doing a tour, Greg, my old buddy, had just lost his job and we were doing a three work tour. We went up to New York and we were gonna drop him off in Philly so he could get a bus somewhere on the way back. We kept pressuring him to stay with us on the tour and he said no, no, but he didn’t give us a real reason – it was like “Oh, I got tickets for a Guided by Voices show in two weeks” or something – so were driving down the road and we came to the split where we had to decide: do we drop him off or keep going and he was asleep? Well we just kept going and then he woke up and we were like, “Hey man, sorry, we’re a couple hours from Pittsburgh now.” He just stayed with us. He missed the Guided by Voices show.

You’ve played some big gigs in DC in the past couple years, like the opening slot for the Dismemberment Plan reunion, but now you’re headlining. What your relationship with DC like?

Roman: Now that we’re not on a label and we don’t have this grand idea that we can reach. I focus on things I have control over and things I can influence. One of those is DC. So we meet people, we know people, and I want to play there with more frequency. The reason we don’t play places is because we can’t. I would love DC as a place we can go there once every couple months.

It's not that right now?

Roman: Not yet, but it has elements of it. The Black Cat treats us great, they’re receptive, they respect us, and they’re friends of ours. They see that were trying to reach out and get involved.

Dave: I would say there used to be a gap between DC and Baltimore back in the day, and there still is. I think it was much more significant – like the old “FUDC” stuff – I personally don’t feel that, I used to go there all the time, to the old 9:30 to see shows.

Roman: The thing about the crowd is that they seemed more informed, they seem kinda… Baltimore’s really kinda lives in the present, people get into the bars and the live event, but it feels like it might not extend past that sometimes. DC maybe has a little more perspective, wider appreciation. And it is bigger, though I’m not sure the scene is necessarily, though there’s a bigger crowd to pull people from. There’s always been a little competition.

Chewing the Fat: Fairway Foods Guru Steven Jenkins

Gary Ollsen — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 05:33:25 GMT

The National Geographic Society played host to a tasty lecture at its Grosvenor Auditorium this week, hosting New York’s Fairway Markets guru Steven Jenkins for an olive oil tasting and wine pairing, with wines chosen by Best Cellars sommelier Joshua Wesson. Jenkins began his career in the gourmet food business by collecting an encyclopedic knowledge of cheese, publishing the Cheese Primer in 1994. His most recent book, The Food Life, takes a similar approach to a wide range of ingredients. He took a few minutes this week to explain his olive oil obsession, and to give DCist the rundown on the basics of good olive oil.

You have already made a name for yourself, and for Fairway Markets, through your knowledge of cheeses. How did this lead into a focus on olive oil?

Fairway Markets have always been the name in fine produce, and the biggest part of produce is salad—even more than fruit— and salads have to be dressed with the best sauce that you can possibly muster. It’s always been my feeling that olive oil is the base that I want my family and all my customers to be endeared to, rather than using butter or lard. Olive oil has been a basis for all of the good times that I’ve had in my career and the foodstuffs that are closest to olive oil are where I’ve had my whole career—the Mediterranean basin. The result is, when I had pretty much mastered and conquered cheese by the late '80s, I really began to concentrate on what I did with olive oil. I made sure that I knew everything about olive and olive oil. I focused on turning myself into an idiot savant, going to every place that knows anything about olives and olive oil.

Nobody in the industry had that knowledge. Everyone was totally ignorant about it, so it made it very easy to take it to the Nth degree. I wanted to make sure that anybody that walks in the store, purchases the very best olive oil for their money, because nine of 10 olive oils are not worth the person buying them. I’ve spent a lot more time deriding and heaping scorn on cheese not worthy of people, now I do the same with olive oil. It’s something that’s sold in virtually every store across the country and that oil is mostly not worthy of the person buying it.

Now I don’t just import the olive oil, I have established relationships with the families, the farmers that produce the olive oil. Now they’ll give the oil to me in barrels, which means several things. First of all, it’s fresher, and second of all, it’s from a specific source; it's made from olives in a highly specified region that I know. We’re really proud of it.

Are you finding that the general public is still somewhat nonchalant about their olive oil? Or is olive oil following in the footsteps of cheese and produce and other products, where a focus on organic and small producers is more prevalent?

Within the past few years, suddenly people are really interested. They had their eyes wide open, and wanted to talk to somebody, to separate all the nonsense. People are not content to have so-called extra virgin olive oil anymore. They’re interested in learning where the best ones come from. I tell them, that just like cheese, it has to do with specific regions. Cheese has nothing to do with the country it’s from, it’s the specific regionality. People want this information, so they can make these learned judgments. They want to know the truth from somebody that has learned it, and it’s just wonderful.

So what are the basics as far as olive oil—what are the different ones to have and when should you use them?

I always say you should have at least three oils in the house, a big one, full of flavor, a really gentle, sophisticated one, and one to cook with. As for the gentle oil, that’s for when there’s things that I want to enhance without overwhelming them. You can strive to have an oil from an olive like the arbequina, which grows not just in Catalonia, but also in western Spain. It’s very smooth, suave and sweet, and when you apply it, it’s unassuming, very aromatic, with some citrus, and a sort of floral thing. It’s going to anoint your dish, and gently describe the other flavors in the dish to each other.

For the big one, it should be robust, with an incipient bitterness to it, probably an early harvest, with a great finishing pepperyness. These could come from the Umbrian, Tuscan, or Sicilian olives, for example, or a combination. The third oil is never ever a so-called pure oil. It’s always an extra virgin, but it’s inexpensive enough you can cook with it. You don’t want to pay $20, $30 or $60 for an oil that you cook with, because once you get it above 180 degrees, all the organic properties of a pure oil are going to scorch and burn, and ruin your food anyway. You do want to saute with extra virgin, but not one that’s so pure that you’re wasting it. I refuse to say you want to use the gentle oils with the lusty recipes or that kind of thing. You may want to put a lusty oil with seafood—it’s up to you. There are no rules for that. But it is a fact, you do want to have three oils in your kitchen.

What tips can you give to people who might be shopping in a store without a personal olive oil tour guide?

That’s part of what I hope to do at these tastings, is teach people how to shop, and make sure they understand what to do when they get into the store. First of all you, have to pick up the bottle and not be influenced by the design on its label. It’s the information on the label: when the olives were pressed, where in the country of origin were those olives grown. The third thing is the price. If you’re paying more than $30 for a liter, you’re getting ripped off.

For me, I want everybody buying a bottle of olive oil to have the freshest bottle possible. If the date on the oil is from more than a year ago, by God, put the bottle back. It also depends on the olives—there are 240 different olives used to make olive oil. Some of them will be good for nearly two years. But the arbequina, for example, most definitely should not be more than 8 to 12 months old. The cardinal rule, is that if you’re shopping in the summertime, the oil should be from the prior autumn.

Thanks to This Week's Advertisers

Gary Ollsen — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 05:33:25 GMT

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The Weekly Feed: Gobble Gobble Edition

Gary Ollsen — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 05:33:25 GMT

Dish of the Week: Bacon-Balsamic Brussels Sprouts

Most Thanksgiving meals are an Atkins dieter's nightmare. (Not that anyone seems to still be on that diet.) Carb loaded upon carb combined with tryptophan to induce epic food comas. And the one veg that seems to end up on the table is the green bean casserole - a greyish brown goo with Campbell's cream of mushroom. That's where brussels sprouts come in and save the day.

The maligned vegetable of sitcoms, an overcooked sprout takes on a bitter flavor and an awful, mushy texture. When cooked poorly, it certainly deserves the moniker of "worst vegetable ever." But if not overcooked, sprouts are quite delicious. Case in point is this adapted recipe from Dan Barber of Blue Hill (known for their farm to table cuisine). The skillet method brings out more flavor, and the cooking time leaves a slightly crisp and tasty sprout. It is also worth noting that halving the sprouts plays a crucial role in keeping them from becoming bitter.

Shopping List

3-4 strips of bacon

2 cups Brussels sprouts, cut in half lengthwise

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Meanwhile, cook bacon in a cast iron skillet until slightly browned, but not crisped. Remove strips to paper towels to drain.

2. Place sprouts cut side down on the bacon fat and cooking until the bottoms are crisped and browned. During this time, cut bacon into small pieces.

3. After sprouts are browned, drop bacon and garlic on top and place in the oven for four minutes.

4. Pull the sprouts from the oven and deglaze the pan with the vinegar, stirring until it is absorbed by the sprouts. Salt and pepper to taste.

For those who don't have a cast iron skillet, you can try the initial cooking in a regular skillet and transfer the sprouts to a baking dish. Or you can skip the pan altogether and roast them for 30-35 minutes at 400 degrees.

Small Bites

Just don't drop it

At a pre-Thanksgiving gathering I was at this weekend, none of the 20-somethings really knew how to carve the turkey. So we hacked at it the best we could. However, there are optimal ways to cut into the bird and maintain its juiciness. Washington Post has a helpful video with the dreamy Bryan Voltaggio of Volt showing folks how it's done.

Mixing fairy tales

The Ritz-Carlton in Pentagon City will be unveiling a people-sized gingerbread house next Friday, November 28 to be on display until January 2. The house is eight feet tall, seven feet wide, and built completely from gingerbread. It plays residence to three stuffed bears, and is chock full of cute kiddie photo ops.

Tangy Penn Quarter

It looks like Tangysweet's partnership with pastry chef David Guas for hot chocolate wasn't their last. And it sure looks like the cupcake trend isn't over. Red Velvet Cupcakery will join a second Tangysweet in Penn Quarter with cupcake recipes from the pastry chef. While we might be over the cupcake trend, a little lemon cupcake à la mode might be in order. [via metrocurean]

Not the Queen song

Thomas Keller from French Laundry/Per Se will be on Nycci and David Nellis' radio show ("Dishing it Out", Sundays at 11 a.m.) on Federal News Radio (1500AM) to talk about his new sous vide cookbook, Under Pressure. Other guests will include Barbara Fairchild from Bon Appetit, and Karen Page/Andrew Dornenburg (former Washington Post wine writers and authors of What To Drink with What You Eat and the new The Flavor Bible.)

Oh Snows!

Gary Ollsen — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 05:33:25 GMT

From the National Weather Service:

AT 1 PM...AN ORGANIZED AREA OF SNOW SHOWERS WAS OVER PENNSYLVANIA. THESE SNOW SHOWERS ARE EXPECTED TO PROGRESS SOUTH OVER MARYLAND... THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA... AND VIRGINIA DURING THE MID AFTERNOON THROUGH EVENING HOURS. LOCAL ACCUMULATIONS UP TO A HALF INCH OF SNOWFALL ARE POSSIBLE...BUT ACCUMULATIONS WILL BE MAINLY ON UNPAVED SURFACES. IF PAVEMENT TEMPERATURES FALL BELOW FREEZING OR MORE ACCUMULATION IS EXPECTED...A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY MAY BE ISSUED. AT THIS TIME...THAT IS NOT EXPECTED.

Have you seen any frozen water falling from the sky? We demand full DCist readership team coverage.

Presented By:

Expedition Week Continues Tonight

Seven nights of one great discovery after another continues tonight at 9P e/p only on National Geographic Channel. From the ancient pyramids to the ocean depths, from lost cities to outer space, travel with the latest generation of intrepid explorers as they make one great discovery after another. Expedition Week, only on National Geographic Channel.

www.natgeotv.com/expedition

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Out and About: Weekend Picks

Gary Ollsen — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 05:33:25 GMT

FRIDAY:

>> Don't forget to consult our film picks for the week, including a special screening of the masterful Hal Ashby film Being There, starring Peter Sellers, hosted by the Washington Film Institute at Napoleon in Adams Morgan. 8 p.m. (Happy Hour starts at 6:30), $10.

>> FotoWeek DC events continue through the weekend. Consult our full Arts Agenda for our latest picks. Tonight's top stop is the opening reception for Elena Volkova's Airscapes, a show featuring the artist's ethereal photos taken from airplanes, at Flashpoint gallery. Reception is 5 to 7 p.m.

>> Philly duo Pattern Is Movement are back in town, this time with Oakland act Subtle. Zach Hill (ex-Hella) rounds out the bill at Rock and Roll Hotel. 9:30 p.m., $14.

>> Princeton professor Cornel West is back in town, this time to hype his latest book, Hope on a Tightrope: Words and Wisdom, at the Busboys and Poets on 14th Street. Don't forget to take him out for a jumbo slice after the reading. 6:30 p.m.

>> The Smithsonian National Museum of American History re-opens today. Check out our photo gallery and head over to take advantage of special opening day hours until 7:30 p.m. Regular hours are 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; consult the full schedule for special opening weekend events.

>> Solid NYC via D.C. band The French Kicks visit The Black Cat, with openers Bear Hands. 9 p.m., $15 day of show.

>> National Geographic photographer Ed Kashi is at the Grosvenor Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. for a show and tell retrospective of his work documenting social and political issues for Nat Geo. $18.

SATURDAY:

>> Best indie rock bargain to be had on a Saturday night: Baltimore's terrific The Oranges Band and Three Stars alums Deleted Scenes are at The Red and the Black for only $8. Doors 9 p.m.

>> Our favorite tour diarists, These United States, join their friends The Cassettes once again at The Black Cat. 9 p.m., $10.

>> Who wouldn't enjoy a night of old-school hip-hop hosted by Slick Rick and featuring special guests like Kool Moe Dee? The show is at DAR Constitution Hall, though, which is not exactly conducive to dancing. Tickets are $40.50 to $50.50 plus fees via Ticketmaster. 7:30 p.m.

SUNDAY:

>> Popular on the underground circuit, Philly's Jedi Mind Tricks recently released a new album, A History of Violence. They're at the 9:30 Club. $17, 7 p.m.

>> Tina Turner is on that list of consummate performers, like Elton John or Bruce Springsteen, that everyone should see at least once in their lives before it's too late. Tickets to her two shows at the Verizon Center aren't cheap ($59.50 to $153), but are probably worth it. 7 p.m.

>> David Rees, the brains behind the brilliant Get Your War On comic strip, will be at Busboys and Poets at 5th and K Streets NW to discuss and sign copies of the book version of his work, Get Your War On: The Definitive Account of the War on Terror, 2001-2008. 6 p.m.

Photo by Kevin H.

Attorney General Mukasey Back at Work

Gary Ollsen — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 05:33:25 GMT

CNN is reporting that U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey is back at work at the Justice Department today after an apparent fainting spell last night. Mukasey had been giving a speech defending Bush Administration policies at a Federalist Society dinner at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel here in D.C. when he slumped over and passed out. Doctors at GWU Hospital have since given the AG a clean bill of health. Mukasey had reportedly been talking for at least 30 minutes before he passed out — maybe he just locked his knees?

Saturday Night Lights: Terps Take on Noles

Gary Ollsen — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 05:33:25 GMT

Written by DCist contributor Brett Gellman.

The Maryland Terrapins (7-3, 4-2 ACC) face the Florida State Seminoles (7-3, 4-3 ACC) tomorrow evening at Byrd Stadium in what will finally clear up the ACC title picture in the penultimate week of conference action. It is perhaps the Terps’ most important game of the season as they are in control of their own destiny in the Atlantic Division.

Florida State was originally in the driver’s seat, but after falling to Boston College in Tallahassee last weekend, the Noles are on the outside looking in after Maryland defeated North Carolina in a 17-15 upset the same day.

Should Wake Forest (6-4, 4-3 ACC) defeat Boston College (7-3, 3-3 ACC) tomorrow afternoon in Winston-Salem, the Terps could potentially capture the Atlantic Division if they defeat Florida State later that night in College Park.

If Wake Forest loses, Maryland would have to beat the Noles as well as win at Boston College the following weekend in order to head to the ACC Championship game.

Just like Maryland, BC has destiny in its own hands and can win the Atlantic by winning out as well. However, that all depends on the outcome of their matchup against the Demon Deacons tomorrow afternoon. That game, which many Maryland and Florida State fans will have their eyes on, will be televised on ESPN at 3:30 p.m.

Nonetheless, the Terrapins have been on a roll at Byrd Stadium as they have been undefeated at home this season. They are also the only program in the entire country to have defeated four AP Top 25 teams.

On the flipside, the Terps are also the most schizophrenic team after head scratching losses to Virginia and, even more puzzling, Middle Tennessee State.

Yet here we are as the Terps surprisingly have the best chance to make the conference championship game. Yeah, bookies must hate the ACC.

As for the game itself, FSU quarterback Christian Ponder is one of the more talented QBs the Noles have had in quite some time. While not the most accurate (he’s thrown as many touchdowns as interceptions), he’s very mobile and could cause some problems for the Terrapins defensive line.

The Noles also expect to have all five of their receivers who were suspended last week for an on-campus brawl to return to the field tomorrow night.

What Florida State will be missing is their two starting safeties. Darius McClure injured himself last week after celebrating an interception against BC while Myron Rolle will be in Birmingham, Alabama for his Rhodes Scholarship interview.

Rolle could return after halftime as the Noles have provided private transportation for the senior following the conclusion of his interview.

Noles kicker Graham Gano could also play a huge role in tomorrow’s game. The senior leads the nation in field goals and could make all the difference in the game as FSU learned last time they visited College Park in a 27-24 loss.

The Terrapins, who will be playing in front of a “blackout” crowd on Senior Night, have remained relatively healthy after their victory against the Tar Heels.

Running backs Da’Rel Scott and Davin Meggett ferociously brought back the running game which was notably absent just a week prior against Virginia Tech thanks to the improvement in Maryland’s offensive line.

The defense also played one of its best games of the season as they kept the Tar Heels scoreless in the second half. The Terps will have to continue this trend as they will matchup against one of the best receiving corps in the ACC. Fortunately, Florida State’s offensive line is one of the worst in the conference.

Prediction: 24-20 Florida State. I give up on choosing winners of the parity-ridden ACC. It’s honestly a pure crapshoot. See Georgia Tech’s lopsided victory over Miami last night for further evidence. The Canes were riding high on a five game winning streak with control of the Coastal Division and get manhandled in Atlanta, 41-23.

I’ll go with the Noles because the Terps are favored to win this game and because FSU isn’t ranked. It’s the only way to makes sense out of this outcome.

Saturday’s game takes place at Chevy Chase Bank Field at Byrd Stadium in College Park. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:45 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN. Tickets start at $27 and can be purchased through the Terrapin Ticket Office.

Photo of the Day: November 21, 2008

Gary Ollsen — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 05:33:25 GMT

Sometimes a little distortion goes a long way. Taken with a Holga camera known for its light leaks and blurs, the South exit of the Dupont Circle Metro station is almost unrecognizable. Flickr user m hoek didn't provide EXIF for this one, as the toy camera only takes 120 film.