HEEEEEEYYYYY
Food, Japan, Music, Updates
Look at all this new stuff! And now that you’re here, we may begin!
As always, I’m far behind updating. Now to a point such that I’ll have to leave a bunch of specifics out and just gloss over everything. Like describing the Sistine Chapel’s ceiling as decorative spackle. Though that’s not to say anything I’ve done lately has been beautiful. Unless you consider ass-punishing lasagna art. If so, read on!
First off; for anyone not in “the know”, for the past couple months I’ve been scratching around for a band to join after getting the overwhelming urge to do that thing I just said. I first began looking in Tokyo since that’s where I’m nearest. I was doubtful that anything would turn up since it’s all about the J-pop, -rock, -punk. That stuff with the “J” in front of it is somehow more superficial than pop music in America. They do EVERYTHING better here… even suck.
Then I sprayed my search worldwide. Didn’t take long for it to narrow itself down to the UK. Guess they’re an angry folk over there. Two bands stuck out: Daor (myspace.com/daor) and Lethargy X (myspace.com/lethargyx). Long story short: various instrumental tracks and demos were exchanged between myself and both groups which got positive feedback. Yeah!
I haven’t heard back from Lethargy since sending them the wav files from my studio session for them to mix more appropriately (mixing is something I have very little experience in… and something I don’t care to get better at). In the meantime, Daor are stoked. They have an entire album-worth of material penned up ready to go. Just need the vocals.
I’m only waiting for some items I ordered to arrive at my home in Indiana before being sent to me here by my mom (my “mum” once I get to the UK). Then I’ll scoop up a plane ticket to London. The Trans-Siberian is out since Steve let me in on an awesome website with cheap airfare to and from Japan (No1 Travel.com). Somehow it’s less expensive than the train even though flights from Japan to Europe cost around $rape.sad.
I’m eating/drinking healthier, and I took up jump-roping a couple weeks ago to get all in shape for vocalizing.
Speaking of food, I’ve been making my own more often. I don’t want to go back to cup noodles, even though Japan rules at them. I’ve even made lasagna a few times. It works! You want my recipe? OK!
- 1lb ground beef
- 2 cans diced tomatoes
- 2 jars tomato sauce
- 1 onion
- A bunch of spinach (leaves or chopped)
- Lasagna noodles
- Plenty of mozzarella (or provolone)
- About a cup of ricotta cheese (cottage cheese works too)
- Salt
- Pepper
- Italian herbs
- In a medium-sized pot, brown the beef.
- Once the beef is sexified (grease draining optional), throw all the tomato stuff in there, the onion (chopped to your liking and quantity), a bunch of herbs, salt and pepper to taste. Feel free to shove some other vegetables and stuff you like in as well.
- Stir this bubbling awesome-fest up every few minutes while waiting for the amalgam to reduce to a thick wall of flavor. You’ll see what I mean if you stop stirring for a while. The top of the pot will fill up with water. If it does, keep cooking it.
- Once it’s reduced, put a thin layer of the sauce on the bottom of a deep cooking pan (I’d guestimate something with the same volume as a 12in x 12in x 5in pan), a layer of noodles atop that, ricotta cheese (fortified with mozzarella, if you want), sauce, spinach, then repeat (sauce, noodles, cheese, sauce, spinach). About three layers of this will fill your pan up nicely.
- Top it off with heapin’ helpin’ of some more sauce (for which there should be just enough… if you have any left over, you can drizzle it on the finished product to ensure a heart attack), then a more than generous layer of mozzarella. Dust it with parmesan if you’ve got it, and spike some more herbs on top to make it look fancy.
- Cover the pan with aluminum foil, place it in an oven and set it to 160˚C (320˚F) right then, because that’s what real men do. Preheating is for nerds. Then set your favorite, novelty timer to one and a half hours.
You can more or less leave it in until the edges of the cheese start to golden up, if you don’t trust me. Which you shouldn’t. When the time comes, take it out and let it sit for ten minutes to settle down.
Best served with the opposite of a salad (a beer with meat in it).
Also been punishing tacos and pasta. I guess I don’t actually know what’s good for me or not. But this stuff’s pretty and tastes awesome. We had a grill-out a couple nights back. Cooked a cluster of sausages in a grill that we nicknamed “sputnik” because it looks crazy. We fashioned tongs into rabbit ears to complete the ensemble.
Now that I’ve built my own fancy blog, I’ll start posting stuff on things other than travel. Categoriiieeees! And I’ll post up my demos for public consumption soon. LOOK OUT.
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