Saturday, December 3, 2011

MOD Pizza: The next generation of chain restaurants.

NE 42nd St & 15th Ave NE
6/10 on my bangin' scale

MOD Pizza has an awesome concept. Any personal-sized pizza is one price (~$7). Get in line, and add as many toppings as you want (like Subway). Give them your name, and it'll be ready in 5ish minutes (like Starbucks).

Now, a second awesome concept: happy hour (4? - 7pm) beer is crazy cheap here ($5/pitcher). They also often have $1 PBRs. When the weather's nice, you can throw these back while lounging at their outdoor tables. Oh, how summer in Seattle of you. And, for dessert, you can have the culinary masterpiece that is a ding-dong.

What more can you ask for? Oh, right. About the pizza. It's ok. I personally enjoy the Jasper (tomato sauce + mozzarella + sausage + mushrooms) with a few extra toppings depending on my mood (remember, no extra fee!!). It's not the best, but it's better than nothing. (Imagine there's no pizza. The horror.)

Mod Pizza's Jasper (sausage and mushroom) with added pineapple and green bell pepper.

One thing to note: You may want to watch out for their pesto pizzas, because sometimes the sauce is just glopped on top in pesto colonies. I'm all for the sauce being under the cheese, and also spread out... so, if you're like me, you might just stick to the tomato-based sauce.

MOD pizza. It's the perfect place to come after your IM softball game, when you're tired/hungry because you've run approx 200 feet in 1.25 hours.

MOD Pizza on Urbanspoon

Monday, October 10, 2011

Kasbah
NW 85th & 15th (right on the 48 line, perfect for a bus adventure)
7.5/10 on my bangin' scale


Definitely get the Bastilla:

Kasbah's Bastilla is sweet and salty deliciousness... and it features the island that Tom Hanks lived on in "Castaway!"
The outside is reminiscent of a fancy Zeppole (the Bastilla has perfectly crispy dough, powdered with sugar), while the inside is a savory chicken stew.

The Atlas Tagine (lamb, carrots, onions, and other spices) is falling-off-the-bone-so-soft lamb meat. Tasty, lip-smackingly good. You'll probably finish it all.

Couscous T'Faya-- a moist chicken in carmelized onions, raisins, and those round, white bean thingamajigs-- is also a great choice, and still tastes great the next day if you can't manage to finish the Bastilla and the couscous (which you won't be able to).

Kasbah on Urbanspoon

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Vegas if you're too cheap to shop, gamble, or drink much.

If you're nearly broke or just cheap, at some point you might consider taking a trip to Las Vegas. Airfare and hotels there aren't too much... but what is it like there if you refuse to spend? Let's see...

1. The first thing you're gonna want to do is walk around the strip. Since you're cheap, you'll probably get in after midnight because those flights are the cheapest. Great! At midnight it's cool out, and you can experience the sights/lights in all their glory. Fake Paris, New York, ancient Greece, Venice, Egypt, etc. You'll laugh until you pee.
The Excalibur at night. It's much grosser on the inside.
Fake Brooklyn Bridge at night (front) with woman's ass (behind).

2. Even the skeeziest of hotels (although we stayed in the cheap but quite nice Tuscany Hotel and Casino) in Vegas will probably have a pool. Since it's hot in the day, go there.

3. There are also indoor villages to explore in the daytime. By indoor villages I mean you can go to "Paris" or "Venice" or "New York" for an hour. Basically, it's Epcot with more alcohol. My personal favorite place to explore was Caesar's Palace. Walk by Cleopatra's barge, see large statues mimicking the classical style, and watch giant fish in an aquarium.
The gondoliers at the Venetian are pretty dece singers trying to keep afloat in these difficult economic times.
The Bellagio is supposed to be elegant or something, but it's just as trashy as the rest. See galloping plant horses (or whatever they have on display) in the conservatory. Leave your lead pipes at home.
 
4. Try a buffet. When you first get to Vegas, you'll have grand plans to try several buffets, but after making your way to the Bellagio buffet (known to be one of the best), you'll probably be buffeted out. Glorified college cafeteria? Yes (or so I am told. We didn't have such things at The George Washington University). A tip: Go with only one other person and sit at the bar instead of a table. You'll skip the 30 minute line that way.

5. Get a (singular) drink. I recommend going to Bond at the Cosmopolitan. It is the bar in the front with the pin-up girl-esque dancers. It has excellent DJ-ing, and with seats for around 50 people, it's not too big. You can try one of their fancy cocktails like "The Nutty Professor" or "If You Like Pina Coladas" ($12-$14, which is why we are only recommending getting one). Then find a table of excessively drunk old people and sit near them. Watching the old people dance, flirt with people at other tables, and embarrass themselves will provide hours of free entertainment.
The "If You Like Pina Coladas" at Bond. Mmm. Delicious.

6. Gamble $2 after spending an hour looking for the funniest slot machines (ex: Vampire's Embrace, The Village People, Maltese Fortune). Play only the minimum bets on 1 and 25 cent slot machines. Odds are you wouldn't win, anyway.
Maltese Fortune, among the funniest of the slot machines.
Shows are expensive, so I didn't go, but excellent talents like John Edward, Donny and Marie, Tim Allen, and the ever-present Celine Dion make me wish I'd gone to some. I encourage you to tell me how the shows are when you go.

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Rihanna is not old.

While Jay-Z and Eminem dated themselves by sampling "Forever Young" (1984) and "What Is Love" (1993), Rihanna chooses to sample vintage (2002) Avril Lavigne.

This is the only reason why I like Rihanna's latest song.

Rihanna's refrain:


Lavigne's short yodel outburst:

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

My Favorite PBR ad

What if God was one of us?

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Life Advice: Shobs interprets Cosmo

For anyone who is stressing out about a comprehensive exam, a job interview, the economy, or how many boxes of haagen-dazs ice cream bars to buy at the supermarket when they go on sale for $1, here is some great advice from Making Pennies life contributrice Shobs. She scoured the most recent issue of Cosmo, and sent me this message:

While getting my pedicure today and reading about Dianna Agron in Cosmo (ps. you should check out the cover because she is hottt), I stumbled upon one of Cosmo's unsubstantiated, ridiculous life tips that validates the reason I read this publication.
If you want to stop overthinking something, wash your hands. 

That's it. So, if you're stressing about this problem you can't solve or your public speaking skillz, just go wash your hands. Don't overthink. It's cool.

Thanks, Shobs and Cosmo. I hope this doesn't bring me back to my OCD days when I used to wash my hands every 2 minutes.

Seattle humor

Some jokesters in my new 'hood (Green Lake-ish) decided to make a fake land use proposal sign. These signs are at every new construction site in Seattle.

I've wondered what the giant hole would be for a while now. Now I have some idea. It involves a huge ball pit and a "rescue claw" since the hole is prolly a good 20 feet deep.

Site of the giant hole near Green Lake.

Oh, those wise guys! Click the picture to see it all big-like.



Thursday, August 11, 2011

Summertime Internet Jamz: 2010 vs 2011.

These two songs are remarkably similar. They're both songs of the hip-hop variety that were released on the interwebz in the summer. They're both pretty lady-gay (though one is unintentionally). They both got stuck in my head for months at a time. But which wins???

1. Gucci Gucci by Kreayshawn, Summer of 2011

Pros: Swag flows from her ovaries (self proclaimed). I believe she is the latest to be brought to the kinda spotlight by Lil Wayne's marketing genius (aka he made fun of her song in a mixtape, and then Drake, one of Wayne's minions, signed her).
Cons: No message of worth. Too catchy. Cannot dance.


2. Stop Looking at My Moms by The Astronomical Kid, Summer of 2010

Pros: This kid would be difficult to pin in the always entertaining lesbian or 14-year-old boy game. I still remember this song one year after I first listened to it. This child tells it like it is. He also likes his moms.
Cons: He is actually talking about only one mother.

The verdict: Astronomical Kid wins! 2010 wins. Perhaps I am nostalgic for a time when the world economy wasn't deleted yet. STOP LOOKIN AT MY MOMS.

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Tourist must sees in NY/NJ

Are you introducing your girlfriend to the sights of NYC? Here are 5 must sees:
Crowds on the High Line.

The Situation from Jersey Shore at Seaside, NJ

Free shows outdoors at Lincoln Center. But this dance by Eiko and Koma was not one of my favorites. Srriusly?

The pinball museum. Asbury Park, NJ.
Original artwork at the American Museum of Natural History.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

4

What do you think of Beyonce's new album, 4?

People say that it is "mature", which I think means they want to say "boring" or "not fun," but they don't want to diss Beyonce because she's a member of the Illuminati.

Then I watch her recently released video. It is definitely mature. As in, for mature audiences only. She was just like, I want a video where everybody sees... me underwears. And me in a boob-tastic wedding dress.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

WTF, Seattle? Part VII. (Community Supported Agriculture)

Seattle, as you might expect, likes its organic food.

There are a plethora of farmer's markets. Seattle's top tourist destination is a farmer's market. Big name Seattle chef Maria Hines (who I have a major food crush on) has two Oregon Tilth certified restaurants (I don't know what that means, either, but supposedly it's really hard to get that certification).

Therefore, it follows logically that community supported agriculture is a big whoop. What is that, you ask? It's when you buy a 'share' of a local farm, and get a shitton of locally-grown organic veggies/fruit every week.

Check out what I got this week for $20: carrots, rainbow chard, red oak leaf lettuce, red beets, strawberries, chives, garlic scapes, and fresh garlic.
A $20/wk share of veggies/fruit from Helsing Junction Farms

Yeah, I'd prolly spend $20 on sh*tty tomatoes and apples that taste like dirt at the supermarket. I'll be getting similar boxes of stuff for the next 17 weeks.

This WTF is one I embrace. Like, WTF, why don't they do this everywhere?

PS. The strawberries are delicious, if you were wondering.

Monday, July 4, 2011

Happy 4th of July.

A crappy cell phone photo of Seattle's firework show, dubbed "boobs and sparkle bush," since that's basically all that was showcased.

One instance of boobs and sparkle bush, in front of the Space Needle on Lake Union.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Robin S. gets her second moment of fame.

I really, really want an effing 90s dance party. And no, not 90s pop/rap. I want 90s dance music. Break out the Haddaway, La Bouche, and Real McCoy.

I fairly recently freaked out when my all time favorite 90s dance song "What Is Love" was sampled by Eminem.

Even more recently, Jason Derulo sampled Robin S's 1993 hit "Show Me Love" (not to be confused with 90s Swedish pop star/current dance music star Robyn, who also had a 1997 hit called "Show Me Love").



Jason Derulo's version was probably made to make people laugh at?/with? him while dancing.



In short, the point of this post was to get you to throw a real 90s dance party. And invite me, plz.

PS. Coco Jamboo.

Friday, June 10, 2011

I smelled dead people

Well, actually, no I didn't. That's what I would've smelled if I'd gotten a whiff of the Amorphophallus titanum (that's right, that's its name) a day earlier. It is also known as a carrion flower/corpse flower, since it smells like rotting flesh. Apparently it reeks so bad that sometimes people vomit at its stench, and its aroma can waft a radius of 3 blocks.

But it only smells that bad for about a day. Some residual stinkiness can be smelled a day later. Alas, we were even after that baby stench. But we did get to see how giant it was!

The blooming Amorphophallus titanum (right) and Megan (left).

Detail of the flower.

It is disfigured, but not quite amorphous.

Deflowered?

That's all for UW's amorphous giant penis flower. At least for about the next eight years, when it'll possibly bloom again.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Seattle's top street murals: Part 6

(Also, 1, 2, 3 ,4, and 5)

You can find this one on the partially boarded up building  at 2nd and Yesler. Who doesn't like giant sea monsters swimming around?




Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Neumos

After over 2.5 years of living here, I finally made it to a show at Neumos. (I know, I'm laaaaame.)

The Peter, Bjorn, and John show was sold out, but the crowd was super blaaaah. I guess it was because it was a Tuesday night, and the opener put us all to sleep.

The most exciting part of the crowd was the college-aged girls:
Girl 1: Is the bassist the one you like?
Girl 2: No, I like the other one.
Girl 1: Oh look, he's coming over just for you!
Girl 2: (after a break in songs) Oh look, he changed his shirt! He's so into fashion!

Despite the general lack of enthusiasm from the crowd, PB&J played a great show. They're quite funny. I especially liked their funky/harmonica-y version of "Nothing To Worry About".

PB&J play at Neumos.
ANDDDDD they ended their second "encore" with the very apropos Lay It Down.

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Oh hai, central cinema!

Central Cinema.
8/10 on my bangin' scale.

Who doesn't want to watch old/usually bad movies while stuffing their face? In fact, you can stuff your pie-hole with pie, which is what I did while enjoying "The Room" this Thursday at my new favorite movie theater in Seattle.

The movie was scheduled to start at 9:30, so we didn't try CC's dinner. Instead we sampled an array of snacks-- a pitcher of flowery (but not bad flowery) beer, popcorn with REAL butter, a hot dog (dubbed a pig in blanket) with aioli sauce, and blueberry pie with vanilla ice cream.

The pie was warm, but was also really thin. It was kind of like an actually good hot pocket, come to think of it. They baked each order separately, kind of like a big, oval ravioli made of pie crust, and filled with sugary blueberries. Not what I was expecting, but still tastier than anything you'd get at a regular movie theater.
Central Cinema: Where a Langston Hughes Film Festival and "The Room" share ad space.
 Mostly this place gets an 8/10 because they choose awesome movies. Who doesn't want to shout until they get hoarse, and throw spoons at a movie screen? Also, if you get there early enough, you'll get booth seating.

Up next week at CC: Vanilla Ice's "Cool as Ice" (I wonder if they will sell more vanilla ice cream), complete with hecklevision. What is that, you ask? It's when you get to be snarky via text message, and everyone sees your snark like subtitles at the bottom of the screen. That's probably worth the $6/$8 day of ticket price. Good thinking, Lisa!

Central Cinema on Urbanspoon

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Mamma Melina. Here we go again.

Mamma Melina (You can turn off schmaltzy music, don't worry)
7/10 on the bangin' scale
Near University Village

Mamma Melina interior. Check it out. Their paintings are on the ceiling!

Mamma Melina is a great example of NBNQP*.

Let me qualify that. The bathrooms: Pimp (heated toilet seats! WHAAT?). The service: Pimp (water refilled multiple times... I'm a guzzler). The atmosphere: Pimp (modern. Paintings on the ceiling. Actually, maybe it skirts the boundary of pimp and kitschy.)

The food: NBNQP. It's dece, don't get me wrong. But it doesn't have that extra something. No unexpected flavor to rave about. No Proustian moment, either. Is it wrong that I always hope to find an Italian restaurant that will remind me of my childhood? Possibly. Simple, delicious, cheap... like Italian restaurants in New York. Or, saliva-inducing the moment you think about it, like my grandmother's sauce. Let me know if you've found such a place in Seattle.

Photographs:
Part of the $15 Dine around Seattle (March) Menu- Mozzarella, wrapped in prosciutto, with greens. Nicely presented, flavors that you would expect.

Lasagnette. It was quite a large portion (despite the ette at the end of the lasagn-), and the sauce was pretty good, but the inside was not super flavorful.

Part of the $15 Dine around Seattle (March) Menu - Rigatoni con Panna, Spinaci e Funghi. I mean, it was once again, dece. But not super interesting.
Tiramisu. I always enjoy Tiramisu. So pretty. And good. No complaints here.

Would I recommend it? Prolly. The atmosphere was fun (and the TOILET SEATS!), and the food was pretty good. Just don't expect too much. Like me.


*Not Bad, Not Quite Pimp.

Mamma Melina Ristorante on Urbanspoon

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Big Mario's

Big Mario's New York Style Pizza
8/10 on the bangin' scale
Capitol Hill

A New Yorker, a New Jerseyite, and a Tennessean walk into a pizzeria in Seattle. No, it's not the start of a cheesy joke, it's the start of a deliciously cheesy meal.

Big Mario's has had a lot of hype. You know, it's the only true NY style pizzeria in Seattle, blah blah blah. Howevah, we found it did live up to many of our expectations.

Pros:
  1. NY-sized slices. (Big.)
  2. The pizza was medium thin, crispy, and not super greasy.
  3. They had a wide array of slices available  (maybe 6-8 different pies at 2:30pm on a Friday afternoon).
  4. They were playing 90s rap music.
  5. Full bar.
  6. Widescreen TVs for sports nerds.
Cons:
  1. The interior seating area is small (although it's perfect for off-peak times), so be prepared to take your slice and run.
Feast on this pizza with your eyes:
A Big Mario slice of pepperoni, tomato, and basil.

A slice topped with artichoke and mushrooms.

Red bell pepper, ham, and ricotta (?)
Now go feast on it forrealzies. $3.75 for each of these slices, $2.75 for plain cheese.

Big Mario's Pizza on Urbanspoon

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Seattle's top street murals: Part 5

(Also, 1, 2, 3 and 4.)

If you live in Seattle, you know they're extending the light rail up north through Capitol Hill and (eventually) the U-District. Anyway, the temporary walls surrounding the hole that will be the Cap Hill light rail station are covered in art. The best portion of the wall is some dude puking up rainbow birds. I luvz it.

I wonder if the art is autobiographical. Some dudes Baso Fibonacci, Zach Rochstad, and Japhy Witte have their names written on it. If I ever meet them I'll ask.




Go see it before it gets covered by dirt or graffiti, and/or before the light rail is finished (scheduled for 2014, which means it'll probably done much later than that).

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

PhD in a single question.

Yesterday at curling, a national (curling) champion asked me this simple question:, "How is school?" Noting my apparent dismay (which was actually due to my inability to converse with a normal human being), he followed up with, "Wait. Let me change that. How is your soul-crushing research experience?" In addition to being a top-rate curler, he also happens to have a PhD in mathematics.

I laughed and gave him a sheepish look as he walked--and then slid-- away. Actually, grad school is great at the mo'. I don't know if I will say the same in a few years when I'll wish I had worked harder right now, but... it's probably good to chill out for a few days... months... quarters?

Friday, February 11, 2011

Seattle's top street murals: Part 4

(Also, parts 1, 2, and 3!)

This series is quickly becoming the U-District's best street murals, but I promise you, this is only because it is winter and I am tooooo lazy to have to take the bus anywhere when it is raining/"cold"/gross out.

I present to you the campus parkway street mural. Created in 2004, apparently by Seattle students, it caused a big whoop at the time, because it looked too much like actual graffiti. And the city of Seattle didn't want to condone graffiti. But then they realized, "Oh, wait, we are Seattle, goshdarnit!" And they changed their minds.

Now that it's a good six something years old, there's graffiti on top of art that looks like graffiti! Meta! This mural is quite extensive, so I'll just include highlights:

See? These people did this art for FREE!


I love when art hits you across the head. It makes me laugh.


I thought this part was particularly sweet. Check out those elaborate tags.
 
Angry waterfall which happens to be below a bridge above burning land (not photographed).


Poseidon, or some awesome water monster rides a majestic seahorse. The angry waterfall (above) is presumably mimicking Poseidon's mood. Or maybe it's just having a bad hair day.


A motley crew of sailors are about to be pwned by Poseidon.

 

Tower of Babel?

 
So colorful!


An accordion snakes around the staircase that leads up to 11th Ave NE.

 
My personal favorite piece. "THIS IS YOUR DEEP SPEAKING TO YOUR SHALLOW." I love when middle schoolers try to be profound.