Friday Music Feature: Eastern Sun & John Kelley - Rapture at Sea

I have been showcasing mostly music that friends have shared with me. Once in a while though, I bump into things all by myself.

He estado presentando, en su mayoría, música que amigos han compartido conmigo. De vez en cuando, sin embargo, me encuentro con novedades por mí mismo.

Well, sort of anyway, I get a little help from iTunes and specifically the Genius feature.

Bueno casi solo, recibo un poco de ayuda de iTunes y, específicamente, la función Genius.

Through Genius I get to explore using my current music as a springboard for finding music that I might like based on what I already have.

A través de Genius llego a explorar, usando mi música actual como punto de partida para encontrar música nueva basada en la música que ya tengo.

I know nothing of this band, musician, DJ, etc.  I have no idea who it is.

No sé nada de esta banda, músico, DJ, etc. no tengo idea de quién es.

What I do know is that I love this and I want to share this with everyone so it's playing at our Sugar & Spice store.

Lo que sí sé es que me encanta y lo quiero compartir con todo el mundo y ahora se puede escuchar en nuestro local de Sugar & Spice.

I did manage to find the following on LastFM:
Pude encontrar lo siguiente en LastFM:

"Eastern Sun’s CD “In Emptiness” is a partnership between Eastern Sun’s Brian Saitzyk and DJ John Kelley. (Kelley co-produced three tracks) The CD is creatively unique and spiritual (Brian was brought up in a Buddhist household). He combines his electronic experimentation with his inner spirit and has produced an enormous variety spanning many genres.

Eastern Sun presents a deep, soulful chord in the world of electronic music and has been compared to works by “Brian Eno, Aphex Twin, and Future Sound of London.” Rising higher by the hour, Eastern Sun brings light and warmth out of the darkness with innovative style and sonic beauty."

My Space

The Neighborhood

Honduras and Gurruchaga_Nike, a photo by Frank Almeida on Flickr.

The Nike store at Honduras & Gurruchaga

Cookie Quiz! Win free Cookies!

The first one to answer gets a pack of Passion for Chocolate Cookies!

El que contesta primero recibe un paquete de Cookies Pasión por Chocolate!

Do you think you can tell from what show the following dialogue is from?

Saben de que show de televisión viene esto?

Her: Ummm, I love the smell of bakeries.

Him: Oh look (her), the black and white cookie. I love the black and white. Two races of flavor living side by side [mumble?] It's a wonderful thing isn't it?

Her: You know I often wonder what you'll be like when you're senile.

Him: I'm looking forward to it.

Her: Yeah. I think it will be a very smooth transition for you.

The first ones that answer through this blog, Facebook, and Twitter win! (that's right three different ways to win).

Only one win per person (the same person can't go to all the other sites to win again but you can try all three).

La primer persona que responde por este blog, Facebook y Twitter gana! (Asi es, tres formas de ganar).


Solamente un premio por persona (la misma persona no puede ir a los otros sitios para ganar, pero puede probar en los tres para tratar de ganar).

The prize must be picked up at the store in Palermo Hollywood.
El premio se tiene que buscar en el local de Palermo Hollywood.

Soup of the Devil

"Wish I had time for just one more bowl of chili."
- Alleged dying words of Kit Carson (1809-1868) Frontiersman and Mountain Man.

"Chili concocted outside of Texas is usually a weak, apologetic imitation of the real thing. One of the first things I do when I get home to Texas is to have a bowl of red. There is simply nothing better."
- Lyndon B. Johnson, 36th President of the United States

Much has changed since LBJ's time. Now, instead of a war on poverty, we have a war on terror for example. Also, many of the things he fought for are currently being targeted and need to be fought for again like Public Broadcasting, Medicare, Medicaid, environmental protection, etc.

However, some things are similar; the country is embroiled in very unpopular wars and chili con carne is still being made pretty much the same way it was when he was President.

And now, there is a group of expats who are going to do their damnedest to prove his words wrong and bring a little bit of Texas down to Argentina.

This fourth of July weekend, the 3rd of July to be exact, there will be a first ever, in the history of Argentina, chili cook-off!

So why has it been kind of a secret? Well, it's probably best to start from the very beginning. As far as I can tell, this has just been a grassroots idea that took off on it's own within Facebook.

Maria Carra of Buenos Aires Foodies had set up a Foodie group in Facebook. There were only very few of us within this group, but it was never really used for anything.

Back on the 30th of May I posted a question to the group:

Not 24 hours pass and Yanqui Mike throws in a suggestion about having a Chili Cookoff.

Right away, it got a great response from the few in this select little group and we decided that this idea should happen and that it should have a page of it's own and the 1st Annual Buenos Aires Chili Cookoff is born.

From that point on, the idea motivated several of us to take up the challenge of volunteering around it. We set goals, divided work, brainstormed, some of us met for the very first time and some of us have known each other for years and through teamwork are putting this thing together all in a very last minute hectic way.

I mean, this was thought up on the 31st of May for an event that has to take place on the 3rd of July!

The Venue: Genó Bar in Palermo Hollywood / Guatemala 5499 / 1pm to 5pm (or sooner depending on when we run out of Chili).

Yep, you read that right. I predict that we will be running out of chili so keep that in mind and come by early. (we are even organizing back up, non competing chili just in case we run out).

As of this lazy cool Sunday afternoon we have 183 people who have declared their desire to come so far.

There are also comments from people who can not make it, but would have loved to have been here to compete because they proclaim to have the very best chili and they would have wiped the floor with those of you who have entered this year's competition.

So, those of you who have entered, keep in mind that for next year, there are already people gunning for you.

It's a good thing that there will be a next year for this!

So, given all the many unknowns of this very first annual chili cookoff, we settled on a somewhat smallish place that was willing to open on a Sunday afternoon (when they are not normally open) and would be willing to host this event and have a kitchen that they would not mind sharing with us.

Genó Beer Bar, you are angels and I can't thank you enough!

By the way, Genó Beer Bar is a new bar that specializes in having imported and some artisan beers!

So come by early, bring the whole family and share a bit of Americana on the 4th of July weekend with fellow expats and curious Argentines.

Here are the details:

Tickets will be sold for $5 pesos each. Each ticket gets you either a taster of chili, cornbread, cookies, beer, etc.

The weather is supposed to be just like today!

No rain.
No clouds.
8° C or 46° F

The proceeds go to the Buenos Aires Shankees baseball team. Yep, we have a baseball team in a baseball league that competes with teams from Cuba, Japan, etc.

Here are some more links written about the event:
Maria Carra of Buenos Aires Foodies
Travel Guy
Yanqui Mike
BA Cast
Pick up The Fork

And, we may even have a couple of mascots as well (Lisa and Allie)...

If you are on Facebook head on over to the event link for details.

Oh, and by the way, what does 1st prize win?

And, we will have buttons!

So for those that have signed up for the competition and answered Yanqui Mike's call to "Make chili, make history!" I wish you lots of luck and fun!

For my fellow judges, I leave you with a choice quote on what chili is:

"It can only truly be Texas red if it walks the thin line just this side of indigestibility: Damning the mouth that eats it and defying the stomach to digest it, the ingredients are hardly willing to lie in the same pot together." - John Thorne, Simple Cooking

On a positive note, LBJ did manage to succeed in pushing through much of his Great Society legislation. Even though he pushed for US involvement in Vietnam, we did finally leave. Maybe, we can start to see our own current war efforts shrink. Maybe we can also see many of the great social programs survive and we can still keep enjoying some authentic Texas red just like LBJ would have liked.

I have faith in us. I know we can pull this off together!

Friday Music Feature: Rodrigo & Gabriela

"There's only so many times you can sing it and mean it ... It just became sanctimonious"

"I'd break out in hives if I had to sing ("Stairway to Heaven") in every show. I wrote those lyrics and found that song to be of some importance and consequence in 1971, but 17 years later, I don't know. It's just not for me. I sang it at the Atlantic Records show because I'm an old softie and it was my way of saying thank you to Atlantic because I've been with them for 20 years. But no more of "Stairway to Heaven" for me."
---Robert Plant

I can't blame Robert Plant to get sick of playing this song. I love it! But, I also don't play it every single day or with any regularity. But it is so nice to slip it on every once in a while and let it take me back through the years like a time machine...

No puedo culpar a Robert Plant de enfermarse de tocar esta canción. ¡A mi me encanta! Pero, también no la toco todos los días o con cierta regularidad. Pero es tan agradable poder escuchar de vez en cuando y dejaré que me lleve de vuelta a través de los años como una máquina del tiempo ...

This time it has taken me back to high school in many more ways than expected. Through the magic of Facebook I have virtually reunited with a bunch of high school friends.

Esta vez me ha llevado de vuelta a la secundaria de muchas maneras más de lo esperado. A través de la magia de Facebook me reuní con un grupo de amigos de la secundaria.

In this particular case I hooked up with an old friend who also happened to be our soccer team captain. And, it looks like he hasn't stopped leading either.

En este caso particular, me conectó con un viejo amigo que también pasó a ser el capitán del equipo de fútbol. Y, parece que no ha dejado de liderar.

He started posting music that he likes and when he posted this band I couldn't believe what I was hearing. This is some fantastic guitar work here by a husband and wife team, who happen to be from Mexico.

Él comenzó a publicar la música que le gusta y cuando publicó esta banda no podía creer lo que estaba escuchando. Esto es un trabajo de guitarra fantástica por un duo de marido y mujer, que resultan ser de México.

I know this may sound strange reading this, but they are an acoustic guitar duo who love metal music and can also play jazz and make it all sound fantastic, like it was meant to be played together.

Sé que esto puede sonar extraño, pero son un dúo de guitarra acústica que aman la música metal y también pueden tocar jazz y hacer que todo suene fantástico, como si hubiera sido pensado para ser tocado juntos.

They are also known as "El Rodri y La Gabi".

También son conocidos como "El Rodri y La Gabi".

In this video they play "Stairway to Heaven" and I would have a hard time thinking that even Robert Plant would find this "sanctimonious".

En este video tocan "Stairway to Heaven" y pienso que hasta Robert Plant lo encontraría difícil pensar en esta versión como "santurrona".

They also do a wicked version of Metallica's Orion...

También hacen una versión buenísima de "Orion" de Metallica ...

And here they are playing Metallica's "One" followed by "Take 5", and they make it work!

Y aquí están tocando "One" de Metallica, seguido de "Take 5"!

And obviously, now I have their music playing at Sugar & Spice.
Gracias Rube!

Garbage Day!

Garbage Post_1, a photo by Frank Almeida on Flickr.

"I've been married to one Marxist and one Fascist, and neither one would take the garbage out."

"He estado casada con un marxista y fascista, y ninguno de ellos sacaba la basura."

Lee Grant

Sometimes I show up to work and I am struck by the ugly garbage scene strewn all about our sidewalk and street.

A veces llego al trabajo y me llama la atención la escena fea de basura esparcida por toda nuestra vereda y calle.

Truth be told, I know that this is not an isolated occurrence that just happens to strike us. I have seen scenes like this throughout the city.

En realidad, esto no es una ocurrencia aislada. Nos ha pasado varias veces y lo he visto en la ciudad en varios lugares.

In some neighborhoods the city has switched to leaving containers on the street that people are supposed to take their garbage to and the trucks, instead of going door to door, they go corner to corner picking up the garbage.

En algunos barrios de la ciudad, han cambiado a dejar contenedores de basura en la calle que la gente se supone que tienen que ir a dejar la basura en los mismos. En lugar de que los recolectores vallan de puerta a puerta, ahora van de esquina a esquina.

I can see why a city would like to switch to something like this. In fact, I wish our particular neighborhood would have that as well.

Puedo ver porque una ciudad cambiaría a un sistema como este. De hecho, me gustaría que mi barrio cambiase a este sistema también.

Anyway, in addition to seeing this garbage left strewn about today we also get an angry citizen thinking that we just threw our garbage out this way.

De todos modos, además de ver la basura hoy por la mañana también pasó por nuestras puertas un vecino enojado, pensando que nosotros tiramos la basura de esa manera.

He was so angry that he said he would take a picture and turn us into the man.

Estaba tan enojado que prometio tomar fotos y hacer una denuncia.

If I may, I would like to address this citizen through this blog since he didn´t even wait for me to come out to talk to him.

Si me permiten, me gustaría aprovechar y referirme a este ciudadano a través de este blog ya que no esperó a que salga a hablar con el.

Estimado Vecino,

Comparto su frustración, después de todo, es mi basura que no se recogió y se dejó tirada frente a nuestro lugar de trabajo y almacén. No está en frente de su casa, si no que queda enfrente de la mía.

Lo siento si no la recogimos tan pronto como le hubiera gustado. Puedo garantizar que normalmente lo hacemos ya que es algo que suele suceder con algún tipo de frecuencia.

Su ira expresada hacia mis empleados finalmente me dio un incentivo para obtener información sobre cómo presentar una queja oficial. Por lo tanto, en cierto modo, yo le debo las gracias. Sin embargo, a pesar de que hay muchos ciudadanos locales que tratan a la ciudad como un basurero grande, no todos lo hacen y sería mejor no hacer ese tipo de supuestos.

La siguiente imagen es mi queja oficial a la ciudad. Este tipo de cosas funcionan mejor cuando nos unimos para luchar en lugar de luchar entre sí. Lo invito a que se suma y haga la misma cosa.

Atentamente,
Francisco E. Almeida

*********** Ingles / English **********

Dear Angry Neighbor,

I share your frustration, after all, it´s my garbage that does not get picked up and is left strewn in front of our place of work and store. It is not in front of your home, it´s left in front of mine.

I am sorry if we did not pick it up as quickly as you would have liked. I can guarantee that we do pick this sort of thing up since it is something that tends to happen with some sort of frequency.

Your angry outburst at my employees did finally give me an incentive to find out how to make an official complaint. So, in a way, I do owe you some thanks. However, I would suggest that, even though there are many local citizens that do treat the city as one big trash can, not all of us do and it would be best not to make those sorts of assumptions.

The following image is my official complaint to the city. These sorts of things work best when we join together to fight instead of fighting each other. I welcome you to please do the same thing.

Sincerely yours,
Francisco E. Almeida

Para ingresar reclamos:
http://suaci.buenosaires.gob.ar/suaci/contacto

The Mule Pool

"My favorite animal is the mule. He has more horse sense than a horse. He knows when to stop eating -- and he knows when to stop working."

"Mi animal favorito es la mula. El tiene más sentido común que un caballo. Sabe cuándo dejar de comer -.. Y él sabe cuándo dejar de trabajar." 

--Harry S. Truman

"Your mule for that burro? Well, if that gentleman traded you even, you won´t be meetin´ up with him in heaven."

--Clint Eastwood as Hogan in Two Mules for Sister Sara. 

Fortunately for all of us here, no one is cheating anyone out of any money in these trades; so for those of you who are expecting heaven to be your ultimate destination, this will not derail your journey.

Afortunadamente para todos nosotros aquí, nadie está engañando a nadie de nada de dinero en, así que para aquellos de ustedes que están esperando que el cielo sea su destino final, esto no descarrilará su viaje.

What this will do is allow you to either make a little money or get access to things that are currently not  available in your country (right now Argentina mostly).

Lo que esto va a hacer es permitir que usted haga sea un poco de dinero o tener acceso a cosas que no están actualmente disponibles en su país (Argentina en este momento en su mayoría).

So what in the world am I talking about?

De que estoy hablando?

The Mule Pool

It´s very simple really. Let´s say I want a new unlocked Apple iPhone from the States. I can now go to the Mule Pool and post that I would like that product.

Es muy simple en realidad. Digamos que quiero un nuevo iPhone de Apple desbloqueado de los Estados. Ahora puedo ir a The Mule Pool y anotar mi deseo.

The phone costs us$649

El iPhone cuesta us$649

If someone Stateside sees this post and decides that they wouldn´t mind making around $150 (commission that the poster would be willing to pay) on their trip to Buenos Aires, then they would accept to bring it, double check that the post is still valid, purchase the phone, bring it to Baires, exchange the product and get paid.

Si alguien en EEUU ve este mensaje y decide que ganar unos us$ 150 (la comisión) en su viaje a Buenos Aires, entonces aceptaría llevarlo, comprobar que el mensaje sigue siendo válido, comprar el teléfono, llevar a Baires, entregar el producto y recibir la gita.

$150 dollars would buy you a lot of empanadas!

us$150 compraría un montón de empanadas!

You can click here to get a full detail as to how it´s done, but that is the basic idea.

Puede hacer clic aquí para obtener un detalle completo de cómo se hace, pero esa es la básica idea.

See, no one has to be a Sister Sara in this scenario and you would know exactly when to stop working and start enjoying all those empanadas.

Ven, nadie tiene que ser una hermana Sara en este escenario y pueden saber exactamente cuándo dejar de trabajar y disfrutar sus empanadas.

The Mule Pool - Facebook
The Mule Pool - La Nacion
The Mule Pool - Twitter
The Mule Pool - Blog

Happy Father's Day!

IMG_2263 copy, a photo by Frank Almeida on Flickr.

I wish that your day is as sweet as mine has started out to be.

It's not every morning I get to breakfast on cake with a nutella and banana filling and buttercream frosting.

Les deseo que su día sea tan dulce como el mio ha empezado a ser esta mañana.

No todas las mañanas llego a desayunar con una torta con un corazon de nutella y plátano y butter cream frosting.

Friday Music Feature: My Morning Jacket

Once upon a time a little apple once posted a music video that she liked on Facebook and I loved it the moment I saw it. Here is the video on Youtube.

Había una vez una pequeña manzanita, que publicó un vídeo de una música que le gustaba en Facebook y me encantó. Aquí está el vídeo en Youtube.

I went and listened to more of this band and I have to say that I have not yet thanked the little golden apple for turning me on to this band. And now, it's playing at our Sugar & Spice store.

The reason this golden apple knows so much about music is that she works for MTV, or maybe, she works at MTV because she knows so much about music...

Escuché un poco más de esta banda y tengo que decir que todavía no he agradecidó a la manzanita de oro. Gracias a ella, tenemos esta canción tocando en nuestra tienda de Sugar & Spice.

Thank you little golden apple!

The golden apple has a blog.

The golden apple is on twitter.

The golden apple writes!

The golden apple is a hotty!






My Morning Jacket web site
My Morning Jacket Facebook

Biscotti Alle Mandorle with Vin Santo

There are many classic food combinations or pairings like BLT; bangers and mash; PB&J; hazelnut and chocolate; milk and cookies; chips and salsa; tomatoes and basil; and well, you can go on and on.

One of those combinations is one that I had not known could be gotten here in Buenos Aires. I take responsibility for bringing one half of this combo and now, at our store, you can get the other half as well.

Hay muchas combinaciones de alimentos clásicos o maridajes como churros con chocolate; avellanas y chocolate; tomate y albahaca; jamon y queso; dulce de leche con... todo, y bueno, uno puede seguir y seguir.

Una de esas combinaciones es la que yo no sabía que se podía obtener aquí en Buenos Aires. Asumo la responsabilidad de traer la mitad de este combo y ahora, en nuestro local, se puede obtener la otra mitad también.

I am talking about the classic Italian after dinner aperitif of Biscotti with Vin Santo.

Estoy hablando del clásico aperitivo italiano de un Biscotti con Vin Santo.

The biscotti should be dipped into the wine glass; permeated by the wine it should give your mouth the sensation of almonds floating on a soft bed while enjoying bacchanalian daydreams.

El biscotti se sumerge en la copa de vino; permeada por el vino debe dar a la boca la sensación de almendras flotando en una cama blanda mientras que goza de sueños bacanales.

If you don't believe me then you can always come by and the girls at our store will gladly offer you a tasting of this wonderful combination starting tomorrow Wednesday the 15th of June.

Si no me creen, entonces vengan por nuestro local. Con mucho gusto le ofreceremos una degustación de esta maravillosa combinación a partir de mañana miércoles 15 de junio.

Yes, I dare you to prove me wrong.

Sí, los desafio a que compreben lo que acabo de expresar.

This combination is priced at $75 pesos and it would be a perfect gift to take to a dinner party. So far, this is only available at our store.

Esta combinación tiene un precio de $ 75 pesos y sería un regalo perfecto para llevar a una cena. Hasta ahora, esto sólo está disponible en nuestra tienda.

If you would like to expand your horizons a bit past the biscotti, here is a post on some unconventional pairings for Vin Santo. The Vin Santo poached pears actually sound pretty good!

Si desea ampliar sus horizontes un poco más allá del biscotti, aquí hay un articulo sobre algunas combinaciones o maridajes no convencionales para Vin Santo. Las peras poché al Vin Santo suenan muy ricas!