From the mixed-up files of me

Sep
8th

Tue

What he said

Dan Barber on “Why Cooking Matters,” from the Food For All issue of The Nation. There are so many good things in this issue, including a contribution by Michael Pollan on his sustainable food-writing forbears, Wendell Berry, Frances Moore Lappe, Joan Gussow and Barry Commoner. Let’s keep them coming.

Crap, it was videotaped

Evidently I wave my arms a lot when drunk. Thanks, Matt, for getting me wasted before stepping onstage at Crash Mansion to present my food record, and make fun of host for mentioning Hardee’s. Good… times…

Sep
7th

Mon

Hello, Canon PowerShot SX20 IS: I don’t get you yet (including how to hold you).

Sep
2nd

Wed

In Memorium: Canon PowerShot A620

I bought it more than 3 years ago and lost it at the Hapa Kitchen luau and pig roast last week. I’d like to think it died doing what it did best — be in close proximity to crazy amounts of food. In those years, it has seen some of the most spectacular, ordinary, beautiful, grotesque, messy, splattery and foggy food, from California to Africa, and it has often worn it, too. But thanks to it, all the food it captured is now unforgettable. It has also seen me through three apartments, several jobs, and many friends, who I liked to take photos of beside me by turning the screen around so we could make stupid faces and see them. (I really liked the flippy viewscreen.) RIP.

Aug
31st

Mon

Timing

Over the past few months, there has been an increasingly fervent plea for someone to step up and be the voice of home cooks. Or, the voice calling more home cooks into the kitchen. Amanda Hesser begged it of First Lady Michelle Obama; Michael Pollan waxed poetic on Julia Child and those forgotten days when home cooking was not so outrageous an everyday activity (in turn, becoming said home cooking prophet himself to an extent); Kerry Trueman said she thought Lorna Sass is the home food-heroine to preceed Julia Child; and now, this The Atlantic writer wants Oprah Winfrey to be the one to influence a new generation of home cooking much in the way she made people read.

Oprah, you can chill out a moment. This is my stage and I’m trying to get ready…

Aug
29th

Sat

Vote for this SXSW panel!

Her awesomeness Lia Bulaong is proposing this panel for SXSW Interactive 2010. Please vote it up!

Aug
18th

Tue

Taken at Added Value non-profit farm in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Very farmpunk aesthetically. Very Wendell Berry. At first glance, you think, “Well, of course, eating has to do with agriculture!” Then you’re walking away and thinking, “Oh wait, yeah. Yeah. Every time I eat. I never think about that, do I?”

Aug
11th

Tue

Books I Don't Want to Read in 2010

I just discovered my book is on pre-sale at Amazon.com. (My what?) It was on some list of “Books I Want to Read” in the next year by super-savvy media goddess Rachel Kramer Bussel.

Here’s what I’m not looking forward to reading in 2010, which I probably don’t need to worry about, since they only exist in my head.

May I Please Be Excused From this Life Now?: Essays on the Lighter Side of Suicide

Cook That, Not This!: Stuff You Really Shouldn’t Eat But You Will Because I’m Telling You How

Eats, Shoots and Pees: One Snooty British Woman’s Tirade on Urinating in Public

How to Influence People But Not Be Their Friend: A Modern-Day Bible to Success

My Story: A Soon To Be Forgotten Story About the Guy Who Dumped Kate Gosselin

Aug
10th

Mon

URDB Presents: World Record Appreciation Society #8 (Wednesday, August 12)

I’m presenting a food feat at this strange event. I’m sure most can guess what it is.

urdb:

Though recent appearances on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon and at the Pitchfork Fest in Chicago have been fun, we are bonkers with excitement about this upcoming event. Save the date of Wednesday, August 12. It’ll be our first-ever themed night of world records. And the theme? Fooooooood!

“Food records” doesn’t necessarily mean shoving hot dogs down your throat. Past records we’ve documented include Tallest Carrot Cake, Most Names Written On A Dry Piece Of Spaghetti and Fastest Time To Open A Can Of Alphabet Soup And Spell ‘PANTYHOSE’. Be creative. To join the bill and set a food-related record (or beat one from our site), email dan at URDB dot org.

CURRENT LINEUP:

* Longest Cupcake Kebab - Nichelle Stephens and Rachel Kramer Bussel of Cupcakes Take The Cake and Nora Vetter of Nibbles by Nora

* Most Times Changing Order While Ordering Chinese Food Without Getting Hung Up On - Matt Vescovo

* Most Crustless PB&J Sandwiches Made By 10 People In 1 Minute - Hilary Hodge & Friends

* Tallest S’more - Clint Cantwell of Smoke In Da Eye

* Most Tortillas Frisbeed In 30 Seconds - Alexandra Young

We’ll announce a bunch more records shortly, and also fill you in on details of an awesome food-related opening act. Special guests From Bacteria To Boys featuring the legendary Mike Pride will be our house band, rocking Crash Mansion the entire night.

Cost of event is $5, free if you’re unemployed. Advance tickets are highly recommended, and can be purchased here.

Date: Wednesday, August 12

Time: 8:00pm - 11:00pm

Location: Crash Mansion, 199 Bowery (@ Spring), NYC

* Named Best Oddball Night by New York Magazine

* Featured by CNN, BBC, CBS Sunday Morning, The New Yorker, The Huffington Post, The Wall Street Journal, ABC News with Charles Gibson, Inside Edition, and Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

Aug
9th

Sun

just discovered this photo

of me and Alan Richman, longtime food critic/author for GQ, taken by Gabriella G. from Time Out NY at the Unfancy Food Show. I haven’t read too much of his work, not having much impetus for picking up a glossy manzine, but know that he has a keen palate and ability to turn dinner into a story. Though I can’t disagree more on there not being enough foods to discover as he said in this interview.