Defrosting the Minibar

Look to your left. No, not my left, your left. Do you see those lists in the sidebar? Have you noticed that they have new titles? Well, that is in honour of Minibar's 10 years in Los Angeles.

Minibar is my favourite band - you see them right there at or near the top of my list of bands that I have seen this year (LPs I Scratched Over Time is the heading). I first met Simon Petty and Sid Jordan who are one-half of the 'bar in Finn McCool's in Santa Monica. My friends were regulars there on Thursday nights and had been trying to get me to go for about a year, but I had another commitment. Finally, it was one friend's birthday and she was having her party there so I went. I was hooked. That was about 6 years ago and since then I have been to as many gigs as possible.

I have seen Minibar play all over the US - either alone or as Pete Yorn's backing band, and sometimes as both.

I've been thinking a lot about the time I've spent seeing Minibar lately. They had their "10 years in LA" show last night at Largo. It was phenomenal. I videotaped it so I hope we can all enjoy it for years to come. A week from this Thursday, Sid & Simon will play their last regular gig at Finn McCool's. I am hoping to make it one last time.

In the time since I have known them, they have gone from being four bachelors sharing an apartment to three out of four being married (and no longer sharing one apartment - in case you were wondering). Oddly, everyone but Malcolm seems to have more hair.

I just wanted to say "Cheers" to the four of them.

The Russians Are Coming!

For some reason, I am gaga for Russian art in many forms. I love the music, the poetry, the plays, the operas, the literature. It can't be genetic since, despite the name of this blog, I'm not Russian. I do love melancholy things though so maybe that's the connection.

This musing was brought on by my trip to hear the Philharmonic perform selected works of Sergei Prokofiev. So I thought I might mention a few other Russian artists that I truly love.

Modest Mussorgsky wrote my favourite piece of classical music by a Russian composer: Pictures At An Exhibition. He also wrote Night on Bald Mountain which is featured in Walt Disney's Fantasia and the opera Boris Godunov.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky is probably the most famous Russian composer, especially if you are a ballet lover. I was lucky enough to be selected for District Honours Orchestra the year that the entire Nutcracker (not just the Suite) was on the performance schedule. I also love Swan Lake & Sleeping Beauty. And who doesn't love the 1812 Overture performed with live cannons & fireworks! He also wrote operas based on stories by Alexander Pushkin - my favourite opera of all time "The Queen Of Spades" and "Evgeny Onyegin".

Anton Chekov is a favourite playwright. I especially love "The Three Sisters". And though some may scoff at Leo Tolstoy and avoid his books, I really did love "Anna Karenina". It was sort-of Jane Austenesque, except that it was Russian. Anna Akmahtova and Alexander Pushkin are favourite poets.

In school, I made a film set to Igor Stravinsky's "Firebird". Hmm. I wonder if I gave Disney the idea to use it for "Fantasia 2000". Probably not.

The strangest connection I have with Russian art, though, is with the Rimsy-Korsakov piece "Scheherazade". As if my name wasn't odd enough, my pet name at home was Scheherazade. Go figure. At least it's a nice piece of music.

So, even if Shostakovich Tone Poems aren't your thing, maybe there's a Russian artist out there that you would enjoy.

Happy Birthday America

On this, the eve of America's 233rd birthday, I wanted to reflect for a bit on people that I am grateful for having served America.

My cousin Tom. He's a career military man. He served in the first Gulf War, in Bosnia, and has done two tours in Iraq. We are in a cluster of cousins 8 months apart in age. He is the oldest and I am the youngest. He is my hero.

My father. He was drafted and served in World War II. He never left California, though. I have his discharge papers that state "Foreign Service 0 years 0 months". He was stationed near Sacramento and had dinner every Sunday with his mother.

My friends Don & Elizabeth. They met in the Vietnam War. (How many people do you know who can say that?) He was a Naval Aviator. She was an Army Nurse. They met at a dance at an Air Force Officers' Club. Recently, they went back to Vietnam on vacation with some of their buddies from the war. I admire them greatly.

O beautiful for heroes proved
In liberating strife.
Who more than self their country loved
And mercy more than life!

Happy Independence Day!

Tsarina's Black Bean Stew

I was going through my pantry the other day and discovered that I had some dried black beans that I hadn't used yet. I thought I would make a stew since I also had some beef in my freezer. But what else? I searched for a recipe and finally decided to just make one up.

FYI - though I used beef, any kind of meat could be used. If you are vegan or vegetarian, omit the meat and feel free to add the equivalent amount of TVP or Kale or Spinach or anything else you might like, but wait until the beans and potatoes have cooked thoroughly.

Ingredients:
1 T Olive Oil
1/4 cup chopped onions
1/4 cup chopped peppers (green/red/yellow/orange - whatever you like)
3/4 lb. meat in chunks (for vegans - substitute an equivalent amount of vegetables or TVP)
4 cups sliced potatoes
4 cups drained & rinsed black beans (dried beans should be 4 cups AFTER soaking)
1 cup mirepoix (diced onions, celery & carrots)
1 qt vegetable stock
1 t garlic powder
3/4 t cayenne pepper
3/4 t dried thyme leaves
1 cup wine (whatever you're drinking with dinner)

In stockpot, saute onions, peppers & meat in oil (for vegans - omit meat) until onions are clear and meat browned. Add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Cover & Simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. (Vegans - add additional vegetables or TVP near end of cooking time) Add Salt/pepper/parsley/chives to taste. Serve w/sourdough bread & green salad.

Makes 6 meal-size servings.

The Employment Discouragement Department

Well, that's not really their name. But the EDD - the dispenser of unemployment benefits in the state of California is quite a discouraging group of people.

Here's my latest story - My last check from them only paid for one week and not two. I received no notice of any kind. I'm not sure I would have agreed with their reason, but I did expect them to have one! I emailed them and asked for an explanation stating that I was not sick and I was available to work. That was Monday of last week. I had planned to give it until Tuesday of next week before physically going to the Jobs Center to use the Magic Red Phone. (I wanted to wait five business days and I have an interview on Monday.)

Today, my roommate came home from work early and she said "You have mail from the EDD and it's from the Adjudication Center so it's probably not good." She knows whereof she speaks as she was unemployed for two years and had many letters from the EDD.

I opened it and they have scheduled a telephone interview for me for July 1st. So that means 5 weeks without any money if they hold my benefits until after the interview! On the back of the notice are the questions they plan to ask. All of my questions have to do with my ability to work. HUH?

1. Do you have a health condition that keeps you from working?
2. Have you been under a doctor's care?
3. What kind of work are you looking for?
4. Can you accept work now?

I emailed them back and, accepting full responsibility for the confusion, stated that I must have mis-marked my continued claim form for that week as I have been ready, willing, able & available to work every single day since becoming unemployed.

So I will be going to the Jobs Center on Tuesday and using the Magic Red Phone (the only way to talk to a human). Because I certainly can't afford to wait until after July 1st to get any more money.

The good news is that I had an interview yesterday and I have another one on Monday so it's entirely possible that I will be employed by July 1st.

Mea culpa

I am so sorry, Gentle Readers, that I have been neglecting my blog. I didn't even finish telling you the stories of my trip to Ireland. The big reason is that I lost my job unexpectedly and after that didn't feel much like blogging. Then I decided to write a blog about looking for work and I have been writing there and not here.

So I am sorry.

But something happened this weekend that I definitely wanted to share with you.

I was with a friend on a long drive and we hadn't seen each other in a while and we were catching up on all of our news. I was talking about some of the jobs I have been applying for and especially about my trouble writing cover letters for some of the positions last week. I decided to recite the letter I had written for a job at one of our local museums. All of a sudden, my friend shouted "Stop! Enough! You're Hired!"

Then both of us laughed so hard. It felt so good.

And that's when I remembered that I hadn't written anything in this blog since I lost my job. I will try to do better in future.

Soccer or Rugby or Whatever

After leaving Kilmainham Gaol, we hopped on the city bus to Trinity College. Then we walked over to Merrion Square and found Ken's real address. After that, we walked back to St. Stephen's Green.

March is a wonderful time to walk through St. Stephen's Green. Everything was blooming. It was Saturday so the families were there with their children. Lovely!

We walked back to the hotel following the Luas. We got back in time to have a nap before dinner. Oh how precious nap times will be on this vacation.

After a good hour, we head out to find a place for dinner. We know there is a match tonight between Ireland and Bulgaria. Two of our party are at Croke Park to see it. But we aren't sure what sport. We think it is probably Football (soccer). As we try to find a place for dinner, we run into a lot of crowded places. Finally, we come upon a lovely bar/bistro. The front part was packed, but the back (which has no few of any TV screen) was empty so we had dinner. I had probably the best salmon of my entire life!

We were there about three hours because the poor bar staff were completely overwhelmed with the crowd. It was indeed football and the final score was 1-1.

We met up with the gang in the hotel lobby for a bit and then headed up to bed.

Tomorrow we are off to see the countryside.