Deader Than Dead

Sorry it’s taken a while to make this post. The company that hosts this website (1&1) recently informed me that I was using an outdated scripting language that I needed to upgrade. Being very un-hip when it comes to things like PHP — and how to update one’s PHP — all of my attempts to perform the require maintenance resulted in this page being killed. I think the longest outage lasted two or three days. Finally I called the company and was walked through the process of upgrading without disappearing the last seven-plus years of my life. Once I’d successfully upgraded from PHP 5.2 to PHP 5.5 I was informed by WordPress that I needed to upgrade THAT as well. It was…not the easiest or timeliest repair job I’ve ever performed. In fact, I think as I get older I learn that I know less and less about technology with each passing year.

LA Beer Week was…last week? Yeah, it was last week. I had a really good time at multiple events all over the city. I started at Beer Belly in Koreatown for “Sour Night” featuring beers brewed by Almanac and The Bruery. I quite enjoyed Bruery’s Melange and Soroboruo, as well as Almanac’s Dark Pumpkin Sour and Bourbon Sour Porter. Why yes, I consumed “death by duck” fries, fried muenster cheese, pork belly chips and brussels sprouts with prosciutto. The following night was a Dogfish Head Study Hall (#4) at Library Ale House in Santa Monica. There were only four or five beers from the brewery I’d never tried before on tap that night, but thankfully they were all available in one flight. It was the “ancient ale” series, with Kvasir, Chateau Jiahu, Birra Estrusca Bronze, and Sah’tea. On Friday night Ballast Point took over several taps at Sunset Beer Co. in Echo Park. There was a Scuplin IPA brewed with grapefruit and a Victory At Sea porter aged in Four Roses bourbon barrels among others. Saturday night at Mohawk Bend was a celebration for my buddy Ben’s last night out in LA. I drank more than I should, probably because the notion of a friend leaving town for good gave me pause and supremely bummed me out. You know, in one of those, “Why am I still here?” existential panic attack kind of ways. Whenever that happens I drink ungodly amounts of alcohol until I forget why I was so scared/frustrated/depressed/confused in the first place. Is that a sign of alcoholism? Or depression?

Ahem! Moving on!

From beer week into “mom week,” my mother flew into town for a visit recently as well. She saw my new place (and approves!) and we ate like damned hell ass kings. Dinner at ink. (it’s better the second time around), lunch at Nobu Malibu (my treat, because she’s the best mom in the world), dinner at Superba Snack Bar, dinner at Milo & Olive with a friend she met on our India trip, and dinner at Kanpai last night before she flew back east. I’ll be home for Thanksgiving. The last thing we discussed in the car when I dropped her off was whether or not it was unreasonable to go to Wegmans for lunch RIGHT after I land, even though it’s the day before Thanksgiving and pretty much everyone in the world will be out shopping then/there. I think it’s worth a shot. After all, it’s Wegmans.

And that pretty much leads us to tonight. It’s warm out in the new neighborhood tonight. Supposedly it’ll be down in the 80s this week but I’m starting to yearn for cold weather. Now that I’ve got fancy pillows and a blanket for my couch (thanks again, ma) I’m anticipating many a cold and lonely night curled up watching Netflix. Typical seamstress lifestyle. Maybe with some booze. Ah, who am I kidding. There will be booze.

Now, how’s about a long-overdue Sunday Mix Tape?

RULES for uninitiated noobs: I give birth to a weekly Mix Tape to be deposited on your iPods or Zunes or Kingklangs or whatever the industry is currently pushing on you. Sometimes there will be themes that link all the songs together, other times I’ll just throw songs at a wall (not literally) and see what sticks. You’ll have to forgive me as this mix was compiled last week (before the site went down) so while it’s not quite a reflection of my current mood (sad) it’s definitely a reflection of my mood last week, which was tired and hungover but still maybe looking to party?The goal of this endeavor, as always, is to pique your interest in these artists so you’ll support the artists and buy their albums.

Sunday Mix Tape Number 368

The Weight I Carry

01. Erode – Detect

02. The Bats – North By North

03. Cold Fusion – Distant Impression

04. Pharmakon – Body Betrays Itself

05. Electric Wizard – Time To Die

06. C.Db.Sn – A Silent Sea

07. Of The Spacistor – Sadistic Choice

08. Config.Sys – Chemical Cage

09. Radar Bros. – Morning Song

10. Andy Stott – Science And Industry