India x March, 2008

"It's Always Darkest Before The Dawn"... especially in India. It seems the sub-continent is either obsessed with late 80's / early 90's New Jersey melodic hardcore band Turning Point, or they have a penchant for naming things English words and phrases that don't necessarily make sense.

Embroidered jacket outside the Red Fort, Old Delhi:

Cafe in Agra (note the "Minimal Water" for sale):

Along with extensive people-watching and sight-seeing, Erin and I were able to enjoy a few culinary delights on our recent spring-break blast through Mumbai, Delhi, Agra and Jaipur (alas, we mostly avoided street food as our 10 day trip was too short a time to afford getting infectious diarrhea). However, restaurants of note we did try were the Oberoi hotel in Delhi (same owners as Cairo's Mena House) and the R.W. Apple, Jr. recommended TRISHNA in Mumbai's swanky colonial-respite Fort neighborhood. Here's an excerpt from Mr. Apple's final column:

MUMBAI, INDIA Trishna, Birla Mansion, Sai Baba Marg, Fort; (91-22) 2270-3213.

"This, I think, is the only truly remarkable restaurant I have ever discovered solely on the recommendation of a friend of a friend. Dubious, Betsey and I made our way there one night years ago and liked it so much that we went back 72 hours later. It was not the décor, which is shabby, or the service, which can be surly, and certainly not the menu, which is very nearly useless. It’s the food, stupid, the seafood.

Enormous king crabs fresh from the Indian Ocean, awash in butter, and seasoned with garlic and pepper until they make the lips tingle but not sting, draw an eager crowd of Mumbai businessmen and Bollywood stars to this little establishment on a crowded, noisy alley in the old Fort district. If you like, your crab will be brought to the table before cooking, still alive and dangling from a string held by a waiter.

These are among the world’s choicest crustaceans, and I say that as someone who lives 25 miles from the Chesapeake. But Ravi Anchan has plenty of other savory delights up his sleeve, including tender little pomfret (a kind of butterfish) barbecued in the style of Hyderabad, with black pepper; deep-fried squid; and gorgeous, never-frozen tiger prawns grilled with mint. Don’t mind the waiters; insist and they will bring what you want."

Calamari:

Crab, Prawn (the size of a soda can), and Garlic Naan:

Jama Masjid, Delhi - one of India's largest Mosques:

Finally, I've been trying to wrap my mind around this Nehru graffiti from Jaipur. As a founding father, would the American equivalent be George Washington graf? Or based on time would JFK be a more appropriate comparison? A problem arises when you consider that, although dominant, the Kennedy dynasty has nothing on the Nehru/Gandhi's. I propose it's like JFK graffiti if Nancy Pelosi was John, Jr.'s wife and wasn't in that plane over Long Island Sound. How's that?

Baghdad By The Bay

The end of July found me in San Francisco for a number of reasons; Grinderman (Nick Cave's side project) was playing two shows (Great American Music Hall and Slim's), there was a possibility of Barry Bonds hitting #755 (tie) or #756 (record breaker), sightseeing, and the enjoyment of culinary delights with my friend Eddie.

We stayed at a friend's apartment in Portrero Hill which is a nice, up-and-coming neighborhood where the hipsters go after getting sick of the Mission District. It's also a 20 minute walk to AT&T Park. I had purchased tickets to 3 games in hopes that Bonds would be nearing the record. While we didn't see the record-breaker, we caught #754 along with some enjoyable baseball at a beautiful stadium. McCovey Cove had a classic vibe full of boats, kayaks, and a floating putting green! AT&T Park has beautiful architecture, a number of baseball tributes throughout, a great view of the Bay, and excellent food. And the outfield is one giant party. Here's a pic of Bonds, appropriately alone:

As I said, one of the reasons for our trip was to enjoy what San Francisco had to offer on the culinary front. I've been a fan of SF's culinary scene since college (the late 90's), making a conscious attempt to sample something different with every visit. During my last trip I enjoyed the excellent Vietnamese cuisine at Sunflower on 16th in the Mission. The visit before found me at House of Nanking (Chinatown), and enjoying the tasting menu at one of America's great restaurants; Gary Danko. On this trip we ate one of my all time favorites - Jay's Cheesesteak (Mission). We also sampled chowder and an excellent assortment of oysters at Swan Oyster Depot (Russian Hill), lunch at Squat and Gobble in Lower Haight, breakfast at Dottie's True Blue Cafe (Downtown), Good Luck Dim Sum (Richmond), incredible Vietnamese at Tu Lan (6th and Market), Taqueria Cancun (2 locations), and El Farolito.

"There's some satisfaction in the San Francisco rain. No matter what comes down, the Mission always looks the same." - J. Garcia.

A Mission institution, El Farolito:

Visits to Alcatraz and Fort Point were highlights. San Francisco, as seen from Alcatraz:

Grinderman played the entire "S/T" album both nights with different all-Bad Seeds-song encores each night. The first night (Great American Music Hall) featured an obviously inebriated, ex-Bad Seed, Blixa Bargeld doing co-vocals on "Weeping Song" as well as "The Ship Song" and "Red Right Hand", while the second night (Slim's) featured Jello Biafra and Henry Rollins doing backing vocals on "Deanna", although neither seemed to know the song very well (Rollins center-stage, Biafra stage-left):

Two Harbors

The recent fire on Catalina Island was confined mostly to the interior and east end (near Avalon), therefore the trip my family made to Two Harbors and the west end last weekend did not afford us an opportunity to witness the damage.

My mother, my brother and I left Newport Harbor aiming for somewhere around Little Gibraltar / Lava Wall (about the mid-point) on Santa Catalina. Our 24' Sea Ray flew across in one hour due to minimal swell and wind.

Little Gibraltar (w/ Long Point in the background):

Two Harbors (a/k/a/ "The Isthmus") is an unincorporated town with a population hovering around 300. As such, it provides a much quieter, more rustic Catalina experience than Avalon has to offer. We hiked west to 4th of July and Cherry Coves, enjoying the views of both from the road.

Isthmus Cove as viewed from the west:

I saw this boat in the Newport Harbor yacht anchorage a few days later (notice the water clarity!):

We spent our time hiking, reading, swimming, BBQ-ing, and relaxing. Life in Two Harbors runs at a much slower pace than almost anywhere else in Southern California.

Guernica

Yesterday (April 26) was the 70th anniversary of the bombing of the Basque village of Guernica.

American Samoa

I will be moving to American Samoa in August 2008. Why? Because I was offered (and accepted) a job as a clerk for the High Court of American Samoa. What's that entail? Basically, I research and write memos about issues before the court, then make a recommendation to the Chief Justice or Associate Justice. The High Court of American Samoa is what you would imagine; the highest court on the island of American Samoa. The job lasts for one year, so plan on visiting me sometime between August 2008 and August 2009.

Check out this blog by Michael Weaver, the current clerk (and one of the gentlemen who interviewed me); Weaver In Samoa.

Egypt

Erin and I just returned from a 10 day trip to Egypt which included great sightseeing and good eating (Lebanese restaurant at the Intercontinental hotel on the Nile, and some great "street" cuisine). Our one day layover in London included lunch at the Picadilly Itsu (where Alexander Litvinenko was poisoned) and dinner at the River Cafe.

You really do see THIS kind of stuff in Egypt:

Beirut

Sarah Mac over at COLOR AND TEXTURE turned me on to an interesting blog titled BEIRUT LIVE, a first hand account of what's happening on the ground in Lebanon.

Hamburg, Germany // June, 2006

My friend Lars (Audiolith Records) and Norman came up with a plan. We would get on the bus towards one of the lesser neighborhoods of Hamburg (Wilhemsburg) and get off at the weirdest place we saw. We ended up at Milos' "bar" which was a thrift store that sold beer. This is Milos lifting a set of weights that were for sale.

Our quest lead us to a bar with a name that even the Germans could not comprehend.

"On and on South of the Elbe!" Lars and friend.

The Reeperbahn approximately 4 hours after Germany defeated Argentina in the World Cup. It was the biggest party in Germany since the Berlin Wall fell.

Harbor cruise on the Elbe River.

South America // February, 2003

Here is a shot of Ciudad Del Este, on the Paraguay side of the "triple frontier" border of Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay. The city is known to be a porous border town popular with smugglers. The legendary Foz De Iguazu is on the Brazil / Argentina border. That's me under the Panasonic sign and my friend Eric behind the white van.

Jeff and I scale a rock outside Cusco, Peru.