• Friday, Lawrenceville church fish fry with Lawrenceville buddy. There was fish. There was cole slaw (eh . . . it was okay). There was mac and cheese. There was Mountain Dew that was a couple months past its “Best By” date. And, most importantly, there was PUDDING.
• After that, Unblurred: saw friend Laura’s show, as well as stuff at ModernFormations, ImageBox, Most-Wanted, <c> space, Irma Freeman Center. I think the stuff at <c> space (drawings by Michael Benedetti), while it was slow to grow on me, ended up being my favorite. Carolyn Wenning’s stuff at ModernFormations was also pretty great.
• Then Radio Ready with Jordan and Andy, at Envy, which was an excellent time, despite my belief early on that I wouldn’t make it past 9:30 without a nap. It’s amazing what you can do when you put your mind to it! And drink beer!
• Saturday involved lunch with Former Coworker Friend of Andy at Quiet Storm, where I destroyed some homefries for the first time in AGES. Them shits is good. Then a run in the afternoon (I’m out of shape and I think I have asthma), then dinner at D’s with Brian, then off to Brillobox for Slim & George Cessna. That show started off really crowded, and the opening bands weren’t necessarily my bag (though I may have enjoyed them more if I weren’t feeling claustrophobic). But eventually it cleared out slightly and Slim was AWESOME and he has a song about being a Heguenot, which I did not know was a thing until I read an essay last week that Frank DeFord wrote about being one.
• Sunday found me going to a lecture at the Frick with the momz. It was about FDR and the New Deal and the Depression and was pretty interesting, though that theater is kinda stuffy and not well-lit, and some old folks definitely fell asleep during it. Then dinner at Casey’s in Oakmont, then back home, at which point some goofball kept insisting that I come to Yo Rita. And I did, and it was good. And thus my weekend came to a close.

Technically, I think this is what my weekends are supposed to be like — with less “ehhh, took a three-hour nap and stayed in watching TV Saturday night” than often happens.

So what’s on for this week?

Wednesday night is the release party for our music guide issue; it’s at Rock ‘n Bowl, at Arsenal Lanes. The band is Thee Starry Eyes, which, I just found out (by running into Mike Prosser), is Mike Prosser’s band!

Otherwise, beats me.

What the hell did YOU do this weekend?

First off, I’d like to point out that while Canada DID beat the US team in both hockey finals in the Olympics, I had a rare time yelling “CROSBY SUCKS” for a few days, and also “DAAYYY-O!” and “WOO-WOOO!” so all was not lost. Now I’m back to loving little Sid-man. I will eat Crosby’s Crab Balls any day.

That’s a menu item. At Silky’s. During the playoffs.

In other news, I witnessed a portion of the passing of the 722 Wood Street Roboto space on Saturday in a fun and nostalgic trip; perhaps the highlight was seeing Q and Eric bring back the El Camino Club of SWPA for an encore; that band had been just barely before my time, so it was a special moment for me.

Also, I hit up the Square Cafe FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER despite having lived in the ‘hood for going-on three years now. I was quite satisfied! Maybe even impressed! I’d heard conflicting reports, so I went in with medium expectations, and they were exceeded.

While we’re on the horn, do me a favor and check out this week’s MP3 Monday over at FFW>>. It’s Pairdown. They’re good. You want to download and listen. Make my life feel worthwhile. Thanks.

What’s coming up in the near future, you ask? Unblurred! Radio Ready! Fantastic Voyagers! Total world domination!!!

• Peep this interview I did with Sondre Lerche. He’s playing Club Cafe tonight.
• Speaking of tonight, there’s a show at Roboto tonight. And tomorrow. And tomorrow night. And the next night. Then never again. I plan to turn out for some of these events celebrating the end of its current location. You oughtta too! Check it.
• I checked out some fun local shows last weekend, then forgot to write anything about them. Oops. I blame sleep deprivation. Accidental, not at the hands of skilled torturers.
• I can’t wait to sleep a lot this weekend.
• How are you?

• In this week’s paper, keep an eye out for my column on Roboto and also my review of the Wreckids album.
• In next week’s paper you’ll find my Q&A with a certain pretty Norwegian man who’s coming to town soon. Hint: he’s not a skier.
• Speaking of The Wreckids, I’ll likely be at that release show tomorrow night at the Thunderbird. Then also likely at Howlers Saturday for the Harlan Twins and Satin Gum, two bands I’ve somehow long managed to miss live. LOCAL ROCK WEEKEND! Other than that, my plans basically just involve Olympics. Watching on TV, not participating.
• What’s your favorite Winter Olympics sport? I really like moguls, and I’m sad it’s over already. Also Hannah Kearney is my Olympic crush this year, I think. I like watching hockey, obviously, and slalom is fun.

Mexican Corn & Cheese Stuffed Peppers

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

2 Tbsp veg oil or butter

1 c chopped onions

3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed

1 1/2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

1/4 tsp cayenne

1 med tomato, chopped

2 c corn, fresh or frozen

salt to taste

–

3 eggs

1 c grated cheddar cheese (3 oz.)

1/4 c milk or half-and-half

1/4 c chopped Spanish olives

–

6 medium green and/or red peppers

1/4 c tomato juice or water

–

Salsa or hot sauce

—

Saute the onions, garlic, cumin, coriander, and cayenne in the oil/butter until the onions are translucent. Be careful not to burn the spices. Add the tomatoes, corn, and salt. Simmer until the corn is barely tender.

Lightly beat the eggs in a large bowl. Add the cheese, milk, olives, and sauteed vegetables.

Cut the peppers in half lengthwise and remove the seeds. Leave the stems on if you can, because then the pepper halves will hold their shape better during baking. Stuff the pepper halves with the egg-vegetable mixture and place them in an oiled baking dish. Pour the tomato juice or water into the bottom of the dish. Back tightly covered at 375 for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake 10 minutes more.

Serve on a bed of rice topped with hot sauce or salsa.

Photos:

Elsewise, not much new. Stormageddon notwithstanding, I plan on sampling Round Corner Cantina tonight with the Elainafriend.  I’ll let you know.

Speaking of Mexican, a trip to Las Velas a couple weeks ago pre-Gallery Crawl yielded tasty results. A good fish taco is to be had there: fried, which is a little weird to me, but the chipotle mayo is killer and the whole shebang is pretty good. It was odd to me that it wasn’t horribly crowded given that it was right after work on a Friday — a Gallery Crawl  no less — but hey, I don’t like crowded places, so all the better.

Oh, and, unrelated, there’s a movement on to start having a Question Time in the U.S. Like Prime Minister’s Questions in the U.K., or any number of other similar setups in other countries. I’ve been into this idea for ages, and I like that it’s picking up speed, so check it out.

Also, have you seen the Demon Sheep ad?

Next Sunday is the Super Bowl, and is also the WYEP Alternative Souper Bowl. I will, with any luck be watching both of these events. You oughtta too. I don’t really care who wins the Super Bowl, but I sure hope Ernie Hawkins beats Meeting of Important People at the Souper Bowl.

The following weekend begins the Winter Olympics. As you may know, I am a BIG FAN of hanging out and watching the Olympics.

Ain’t we got stuff to look forward to?!

• I’m poor and, as such, won’t be doing much this week.
• Saturday night is HIGGS AT MOGLO!
• I won’t have anything of substance in the paper for the next couple weeks. PICK IT UP ANYWAY. I’m sure there will be awesome articles in it. In the meantime, I will be acting lazy and hopefully getting a move on my upcoming coverage.
• Last night I went to Target at about 8:30, and let me tell you: it was weird. What I hadn’t noticed before is that they don’t play music in Target. Usually it’s so crowded, you can’t tell the difference — babies are crying, etc. However, when there are about three other people in the whole store, and it’s pouring down rain outside, it’s straight creepy. Needless to say, I grabbed my grooming supplies and skedaddled with nary a wasted second.
• Megadeth is coming to the Palace in Greensburg in March, FYI.

The second-funniest show is Better Off Ted. I know, the name is kind of lame. And Ted is kind of a boring main character, though that’s how it should be to an extent, since he’s playing the straight man to a bunch of zany ensemble players.

Portia de Rossi’s Veronica is flawlessly played, but the runaway show-stealers are Linda (Ted’s romantic foil, played by Andrea Anders) and the scientists, Phil (Jonathan Slavin) and Lem (Malcolm Barrett). Wonderful chemistry, excellent writing, a propensity for taking a small joke, stretching it until it’s not funny, then stretching it just a bit further so that it’s funny again!

It’s on ABC on Tuesday nights at 9:30. WATCH IT!

PS – For the record, I like Community (NBC, 8pm Thursday) and it’s probably number three on my list. The Office has dropped to who-knows-where on my list, and last night’s episode certainly felt like a series finale to me, so who knows how long we’ll have it to talk about anyway?

PPS – Sorry if I wrote this post once before. I forget, and currently I have my blog on a theme that doesn’t appear to have a search function.

PPPS – Sorry I don’t have a search function. I’ll work on that.