http://chrisnlau.tumblr.com

not the best bag for my little accordion, but i'm still smiling

And in other news, I found out I’m going to be in Helsinki, Finland JUST IN TIME for ASSEMBLY 2010! SUOMISKENE!!

assembly 2010!

edit: I’ve heard it’s a huge gamer party! I’ll pretend like I didn’t hear that and go about my time there to fulfill my teenage fantasy of geeking out at this awesome massive party hah

Subject: setlist
Sent: November 17, 2007
Message:
1) van hunt – if i take you home
2) porno for pyros – pets

Notes: ?? Set list for what set? I have no idea on this one guys. But these two songs are pretty good

Subject: wii remote control
Sent: October 8, 2007
Message excerpt:

“WII to MIDI WALKTHRU for Windows
by MR CREOSOTE

This is a tutorial on how to mix video using a Nintendo Wii controller and VJ Software such as Resolume or Isadora for your PC. I used a Dell Inspiron 8100 with a gig of ram running WinBlows XP, some kinda ATI video card that has disappointed me in the past, and a 2.4 MHZ processor. Running Vista? Haven’t tried it yet. If you have Vista and this walkthrough works for you, let me know.”

Notes: sounds badass? it is. but, I never tried it.

Subject: winter harvest!
Sent: September 21, 2007
Message:

radish, champion (25 days)
beets, early wonder (48 days)
cabbage, chinese tah tsai (50 days)
kale, dwarf siberian  (55 days)
sugarsnap peas (65 days)
onions, evergreen hardy (65 days)
broccoli, decicco (65 days)

Notes: we ate well that winter.

Subject: braggsJOB
Sent: September 19, 2007
Message: Hello from Goleta based Bragg Live Foods, Bragg.com is a Pioneer in Health Foods and Health Books worldwide. Our founder was the originator of Health Stores. We are looking for an IT technician and a web page developer. 20 hours a week on average available. Ideal for students with changing schedules.

Notes: NEVER did even apply for this job! I think.. either way, I didn’t get it. coulda been fun? I have a friend who works for Mrs. Bragg and supposedly she’s a bit “out there”? But come on, she’s in charge of all those great Braggs produx like.. man oh man, LIQUID AMINOS!@ nom nom nom.

Subject: BUCA DI BEPPO PIX
Sent: September 15, 2007
Message: send em to mom!

Notes: after a good 6 years of obtaining my undergrad B.A. degree, we had a graduation dinner at this funky ass restaurant in San Diego with some family. By funky ass I mean effing bomb!

Subject: ucsb journals
Sent: August 1, 2007
Message:

Ucsb enviro ejournals:

http://www.csa.com/htbin/dbrng.cgi?username=ucsb&access=ucsb408&db=eis-set-c&adv=1

http://www.environetbase.com/

http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?profile=ehost&defaultdb=egh

http://www.csa.com/htbin/dbrng.cgi?username=ucsb&access=ucsb408&cat=espm&adv=1

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?holding=ucsblib&otool=cdlotool&tool=cdl

http://www.biomedcentral.com/search/

Subject: edd
Sent: July 24, 2007
Message excerpt: You have successfully submitted your eApply4UI Application. Please print this page and keep this confirmation number until you receive UI Claim materials by mail. Please allow ten days for your claim to be processed and to receive the UI claim materials. If you have not received any of the UI claim materials after ten days, call EDD at one of the 800 telephone numbers found at www.edd.ca.gov/uirep/uiloc.htm. Keep the confirmation number as your proof of submission.

Notes: never got unemployment. I think I just somehow managed to survive without a job (THANKS LAUREL!) for a couple months before applying to a temp agency and then working at SBCC Bookstore for a quick minute, followed by this 2 year temp job here at SBCEO. wee. For info on how pleasant it is to deal with the EDD on this subject, talk to Lau. She’s an (r)avid fan.

charred poblanos! yum!

I love it when food from other cultures gets re-named and fit into American terms, like a Spanish torta being called a “Spanish potato omelette” or in Brazil, trying to find a Mexican tortilla in a store by asking for pão Mexicano … So I decided to do it myself and rename rajas “Poblano Relish” hahaha! high five. I made this for a coworker’s last day at work and everyone loved it so here’s the recipe. It’s Poblano chiles skinned, sliced, spiced and cooked with onion & garlic. It’s good plain on a tortilla or stirred in with some eggs, on top of a tostada or really anything.

Chris’s Poblano Relish

=====================

9 large Poblano chiles (sometimes mislabeled as “Pasilla”): Poblanos  are dark green and about 6 inches long, and wide

1 medium yellow onion, sliced

fresh garlic cloves, minced

agave nectar (1 tsp, or to taste)

ground corriander (1/2 tsp? or to taste)

ground cumin (couple pinches)

ground black pepper (to taste)

salt (to taste)

TO PREPARE CHILES:

wash, halve, seed & vein Poblanos. place in broiler for ~5-10 minutes until skin pops up, remove & place in sealed container for 5-10 minutes. remove & discard skin. slice into strips.

SAUTEE THE ONIONS:

I sauteed them with the garlic in ~2 TBSP vegetable shortening (palm oil). I showed no mercy, taking them almost to the point of caramelization. I added 1/2 of the ground spices near the end of this process…

MIX IN CHILES:

sautee with onion/garlic for 5 minutes. may need to add more oil at this point

FINAL TOUCHES:

add rest of ground spices and agave nectar, cook for another couple minutes and voilà

P.S., this was a seriously improvised dish so I’m not sure about all the measurements/cook times. I overcooked the Pasillas a bit to take some of their spicy heat; you may like them hotter (less cooked). Agave was also added for the purpose of reducing heat. Provecho!

The Cairo Opera House

Needless to say, I am totally beyond stoked at this opportunity. Apparently, we’re being lined up for 4 (four!) shows at this awesome venue. Two nights will be one set, and the remaining two will consist of a separate set of music. We’ve been practicing and busting the Egyptian classics for over a year now, including 20+ minute long pieces sung by Umm Kulthum, like Inta Umri. More info to come as I hear it. The trip is not 100% yet (I’d put us at about 90%), but I’m pretty sure it’s gonna go down.

And since I’m out there, I’m going to use Egypt as the launch point for a (hopefully) six months long backpacking adventure through as much of Europe as I can. Main points of interest being: everywhere. Hehe Well, Turkey for sure, Scandinavia, Central Europe, South & Mediterranean Europe, even North Africa if I can squeeze it in. I plan on WOOFing a lot to stretch out the stay as much as possible, as well as a good deal of couch surfing to keep down costs while keeping it real. I actually hosted ~60 couchsurfers this summer, the vast majority from Europe. With any luck, some of them will be willing to return the favor and host me and Laurel for a night, or two, or a week, haha. Damn I’m stoked.

First note to self? Here it is.
1. Subject: cool lit site?
Sent: Jan 18, 2006
E-mail: www.aldaily.com

Is it a cool lit site? Looks like it, sure, probably.. Maybe? Was it a place I even ever visited again? No. This is how, if anyone else acts like me, we consumers of information go about scouring the net to please our information buds. I apparently, just want little, tasty bits of information. But stringing together larger systems or works of information? Meh, not so much, apparently.

So, 4 years and nearly 592 notes-to-self later, I thought I would begin to engage in the reflexive process of looking over all these damned notes and seeing if any of it was worth noting in the first place. And if so, if it might still be relevant or worth my attention years later. At the very least I’ll be able to sum them up here in little note-to-self “digests” as I digest and..regurgitate?..them. Teehee. Okay.

The rest of this post here will summarize and list the remaining 7 notes to self sent in 2006. Since I can’t completely recall that far back what I was doing, I half think that I may have created the note-to-self filter in 2007 and backward applied it to any email originating from my email address to my email address. Not sure.

2. Subject: mark twain quote
Sent: May 2, 2006
Message: “In religion and politics, people’s beliefs and convictions are in almost every case gotten at second hand, and without examination.” –Mark Twain
Comments: I’ve definitely been busted on this one, quite recently in fact, on yahoo! answers. lordie.

3. Subject: essay
Sent: May 19, 2006
Message: In your essay, you should trace the parallels, connections, but also differences, between worship and devotion on the various levels we have looked atover the past three weeks.
Comments: this class I remember.. It compared the oral Vedas of the Hindu religious tradition to the written Torah of the Jewish tradition.

4. Subject: billboard article (short) 2005
Sent: June 5, 2006
Message (excerpt): While overall music sales declined in 2005, all things en espanol continued to rise. Led by the success of Shakira and Daddy Yankee, Latin music was the only genre to register growth from 2004 into 2005, with figures from Nielsen SoundScan and the Recording Industry Assn. of America reflecting substantial sales jumps.
Comments: can’t remember what paper this was being researched for.. music in latin america? something.

5. duplicate of #4 (but included citation information)

6. Subject:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football#Use_of_the_word_.22football.22_in_English-speaking_countries
Sent: June 22, 2006
Message: (excerpt from wiki article linked): The word “football“, when used in reference to a specific game can mean any one of those described above. Because of this, much friendly controversy has occurred over the term football, primarily because it is used in different ways in different parts of the English-speaking world. Most often, the word “football” is used to refer to the code of football that is considered dominant within a particular region. So, effectively, what the word “football” means usually depends on where one says it.
Comments: kind of a weak note to self.

7. Subject: ACADEMIC DISQUALIFICATION
Sent: June 23, 2006
Message: http://www.advising.ltsc.ucsb.edu/aeqa/
Comments: oh snap. I think I was on a quarter-long “academic probation” which could have led to academic disqualification. All I know is at some point along the line a year later I ended up with a degree (which I have yet to request to be mailed, since the first mailing was to an old address and returned). Word.

8. Subject: You have an Action Cat postcard!
Sent: December 10, 2006
Subject: link to a postcard which is no longer valid
Comments: I found this on the site which linked to the now invalid postcard. Long live animated GIFs.

animated gifs rule

Well, that wraps it up for the 2006 notes to self. I can now close that little open drawer of random thoughts and goings on of my life in 2006. Oh wait, I still probably have to track down the random bits of paper and receipts that I put here and there. Track them down, burn them, and bury the ashes. Okay, late!

art by snackadmiral

http://www.kindofbloop.com: what a great release. i’m so stoked it has been so well received.. twitterstorm of comments and what not about kind of bloop, mad blog coverage from the get go, articles on time.com and popsci.com and lots of other places.. well, the time article is weak but man, what coverage! i’m so blown away by the tracks everyone did, and by how well they fit together as a whole work. and people are loving it. mad thanks and props to andy baio for putting it all together, and to all the kickstarter backers, and to the other artists, sam, jake, rich and sergio.. pure awesomeness.

jasonk0re.mp3

shimona!

I first heard this rhythm played with chords and a simple bass line when I heard one of John Bilezikjian’s renditions of the Armenian tune, ‘Seghan ne arad.’ Ever since learning that, I’ve experimented playing different chord changes in curcuna, it reminds me of a funky waltz or polka.

So after we jammed it out, we decided to try to make a quick recording of it so this unique fusion wouldn’t be forgotten. It’s a little rough around the edges, so maybe one day we’ll polish it up and re-record one foreals. Peace!

tu solo tu on curcuna.mp3