It All Comes At Once

Recently, I've made no attempt to hide the fact that Vampire Weekend is my new favorite band.

My constant playing of their eponymous first release, as well as their latest, Contra, is driving my fiancee up a wall, but I just can't help myself. I've heard a lot of different ways to describe their sound, but it all seems so music critc-y, so I'll just roll with what I usually tell people, semi-jokingly:

Imagine Paul Simon--solo-era Paul Simon--and now imagine that he was born in 1984, rather than 1941. And he's a psuedo-hipster. From the Upper West Side. That's Vampire Weekend.

After reading that, you're definitely shaking your head, although it may be horizontally, it may be vertically (don't laugh too hard though--Simon & Garfunkel are the godfather's of emo/hipsterism. I have my books and my poetry to protect me? Hello? Need more proof?

Exactly.

Regardless, I insist you give Vampire Weekend a shot.

Also, what's fun about discovering new music in 2010 is the easily-accessible vault of b-sides, new interpretations, and videos that can be found on the WWW. Vampire Weekend are everywhere right now, which means plenty of YouTube uploads. Below is what I consider to be a classic version of "Horchata," the first track off of Contra.

While I'd prefer you stayed on Artificial Night, watch the video in YouTube's browser, just so you can get it in all it's pristine HD-glory.

Enough talk. The song begins around the 2:00 mark:




More soon.

JS

That Frankenstein-Like Creation Glorified In Print

Above is the cover of the Spring/Summer 2010 issue of Alaska Quarterly Review.

It is Volume 27, No. 1 & 2.

It has a special feature, guest-edited by Amy Hempel, entitled:

Innovative Fiction: 21 Writers

The best part?

I'm featured as one of the 21 writers.

This is something that's been in the works for quite some time, so long, in fact, that I had almost given up hope that it would ever become a reality. But to be involved in it, and to see it finally happening, after everything that's gone on these past couple of weeks--it couldn't be more uplifting.

Here's everyone that will be included:

Introduction by Amy Hempel
No One Will Ever Marry You, You Know by Patricia Lear
My Music by Lily Tuck
Fire in the Taxidermy Shop by Mi Ditmar
Girl by Peter Markus
The Woman with High Heels by Paola Peroni
El Paso by Daryl Scroggins
How the Past Retruns by Daryl Scroggins
For the Record by Daryl Scroggins
The Ride Home from Church by Daryl Scroggins
Influences by Daryl Scroggins
What Remains by Daryl Scroggins
Footnote by Daryl Scroggins
Compost Conversion by Daryl Scroggins
Quarter by John Rybicki
Sell It Back to Me by Katie Arnold-Ratliff
Bricks by Robert Lopez
Hell on Church Street Blues by Robert Lopez
Chop Suey by Robert Lopez
The Turn Worming by Robert Lopez
Flesh by Michael Ahn
Up 58 South by Jamie Quatro
The End of Something by Nick Falgout
The Social Life of Mice by Megan Mayhew-Bergman
I Had It Out by Anna DeForest
The Last Day of Summer by James Donovan
Did You See Me See You? by Patricia Volk
An Unexpected Pleasure by Christopher Kennedy
And the Harps Play Us Off Excerpts from Hall of Mirrors by Timothy Liu

Mirrors by Joe Stracci
The Day Before Christmas Eve by Joe Stracci

Success Story by Julia Slavin
We Are Not Shelter Men by Julia Slavin
Famous Last Words by Bernard Cooper

NONFICTION

How to Write a Good Sentence: A Manual for Writers Who Know How to Write Correct Sentences by Arnold G. Nelson

POETRY

The Love Hotel by Heather Kirn
The Peace Dome by Heather Kirn
Water Notes by Carolyn Stoloff
Dream of Early Life Beneath the Waves by Dan Stryk
The Rowboat by Michael Hettich
Old Sayings Apply in Here by Rob Talbert
Jumper by Rob Talbert
School Yard by Doug Ramspeck
The Fat Man Sings of Despair by George Looney
This Poem by Dan O'Brien
My Mother, at Six, Speaks to Me by Jeanne Emmons
Cutting Apples by Michael Salcman
Rubia Writes a Poem about Light for a Contest by Amy Groshek
The Sky I Die by Will be Grey by Todd Boss
The Death of a Scholar by Andrew Merton
Your Date with Death by Andrew Merton
The Mortician's Fiance by Sara McKinnon
Mass Grave at Shiloh by James Doyle
The May of Winter by Elizabeth Swados
Fight or Flight by Christine Butterworth-McDermott
Ultrasound Aubade by Amber Flora Thomas
Cavity in the Rubenesque Facade by Amber Flora Thomas
Meditation of Four West by Amber Flora Thomas

The mix of names here, some major ones and some people I'm happy to say I'm friends with, leaves me dizzy with excitement.

There's some information here on how to get a copy and hopefully I'll have more in the future. And here is the "official" table of contents.

As a writer, the reward comes on the page. When you read something you wrote and you're proud of it and after skinning it alive and dolling it up and putting it back together again, you put it aside and call it complete.

To see that Frankenstein-like creation glorified in print--brought to life for the consumption and hopeful enjoyment of others--it's an honor, something I could definitely get used to.


More soon.

JS

Pancakes & MacBook Pros, or, How To Really Enjoy Valentine's Day

For Valentine's Day this year, Danielle and I decided to take a trip to the Brownstone Diner & Pancake Factory, a spot we'd wanted to visit ever since we saw Guy Fieri doing his best "Guy Fieri" impersonation there on his soon-to-be cult classic television program, "Diners, Drive-In's, and Dives."

And while we didn't go in full-on foodie mode, I took a bunch of pictures that are too good to not share with you all. As always, be sure to click each picture to see a higher-resolution version.

--

When you first walk in to the Brownstone, you're greeted with their slogan:

A pancake for every palate!

Actually, I made that up. Their slogan is "need pancakes!" which is awful and for some reason, not capitalized properly. But ignoring that, along with their horrific font choice--

--you get to choose from over 30 different types of pancakes. The reality is that there's a gigantic menu at your disposal, full of delicious-sounding items, but honestly, it's all pretty much your typical Jersey Diner fodder.

And let's be honest--you don't go to an establishment that calls itself the "Pancake Factory" and order the Oriental Chicken Salad.

--

Danielle and I decided to stick a fork in at least three different items.

To uh, make the drive worth it.

She ordered the Chocolate Peanut Butter Pancakes. The only way I can describe them is thus:

Sexual deviancy in pancake form.

They didn't need syrup or whipped cream or butter or powdered sugar. Frankly, I shouldn't even have photographed them, because something this good should only be witnessed in person. But after this meal, I'm going to hell anyway, so it was an easy choice.

To share, we asked for an order of the German-Style Pancakes. They came stuffed with apple compote and, at least according to the menu, were "thin buttermilks." Now, I've eaten many pancakes in my day. And with all due respect to the fine people running the Pancake Factory, there's no way I would ever classify the Brownstone's German-Style Pancakes as "thin." Regardless, it was a great choice. The compote was delicious, the pancakes were--lighter, maybe--but still flavorful.

I ordered the Country Breakfast Wrap.  Full disclosure--I walked into the Brownstone knowing I would order it. It's the menu item that Mr. Fieri got my attention with so many months ago.

See, it's a breakfast wrap, right? It's got your eggs, your cheese, your potato, your sausage. But instead of using a tortilla to wrap it all up, the Brownstone, those sick bastards, they use a pancake.

Yup, a pancake.

Here's another picture. A cross-sample for the non-believers:

I know, I know.

Madness meets brilliance.

--

Food-wise, that was about as much as we could fit inside of us.

The coffee was good, as was the service.

The wait was insufferable, and expect to wait to park your car, but you'll forget about both of those minor annoyances once the pancakes hit the table.

I can't say it enough--if you're a breakfast food lover, take the trip to Jersey City and check out the Brownstone Diner & Pancake Factory.

And if you're interested in more glorious, high-resolution shots of pancake sex (and shame on you if you're not), as well as some MacBook Pro unboxing porn, check out the full gallery here:

Pancakes & MacBook Pros (2.14.10)


More soon.

JS