More songs

As I promised, this is a quick note to let you know that the complete set of K's songs with Alanna Vicente are up on MySpace. Of the three new additions, I'd have to say that "Goodbye" is my favorite. I love K's guitar solo on it and also how the whole song has a bit of a throwback feel to it. Anyway, give all of the songs a listen and of course, if you like them, please let us know!

Food on the brain: Fried Chicken

I write about food so much that sometimes I think I should change this to a food blog, but then that would spur me to eat more which could end up disastrously. Anyway, I've been so busy of late and part of what keeps me mentally and emotionally afloat is indulging in comfort food. Of course, fried chicken is high on that list and I really feel that it's been singing its siren song to me this week.

First, I am bombarded with advertisements for the new McDonald's Southern Style Chicken Biscuit breakfast sandwich. Fried chicken and a biscuit in the morning sounds like something that would go down really smooth, but then I have to remind myself that it is McDonald's and I can't eat there and not have a stomachache afterwards. But still, I was talking to a friend about it on Saturday and later when I got home, there were three free coupons for them in the mail, so it's definitely taunting me.

And then tonight, I was reading some of my blogs and came across this post on Franklin Avenue, talking about the tastiness of Korean fried chicken. Both of the places mentioned in the post and also in the L.A. Times article referenced are a few blocks away from where I live! My only hope is that I try it and hate it for being double-fried and soy-gingery. Somehow, I don't think I'm going to hate it, though.

Blogging about Asian and McDonald's food in the same post leads me to a particular page on the McDonald's Asian site. I don't really know what to make of the page or the site, which is titled "i am asian" (in lowercase, because Asians are cool like that?) Anyway, I find it interesting that on the homepage and Asian phrase challenge page, the mouse representing Filipinos has a fun jeepney illustration on it, the Chinese one has a cool neon green dragon and the Indian one has a nice henna-tattooed hand drawing, but then the Korean one literally has an unstylized photo of a bowl of kimchee. If I was Korean-American, I'd be pissed (not enough to call up Al Sharpton, but maybe enough to whine about it on my blog.)

Cannoli Watch: Little Dom's

A few nights ago, my best friend Eric and I had a lovely dinner at Little Dom's in Los Feliz. We both ordered well: I started off with the wonderful Roasted Beets with Burrata, Citrus and Fennel and Eric had a simple Arugula and Parmesan salad. For entrees, I had the Whole Wheat Fettuccine with black pepper, Meyer lemon, asparagus and parmesan and he had the very moist and flavorful Roasted Chicken Leg with Fregole pasta.

However, the star course of the night had to be dessert. Once we got the dessert menus, it took me less than a second to decide what I was going to have. Here we were sitting in a restaurant that kinda sorta had that New York neighborhood Italian vibe, so how could I not get the cannolis?

I suppose it doesn't hurt that I love cannolis (see previous post) and am always on the lookout for the perfect combination of rich filling and crunchy pastry. Well, Little Dom's Cannoli Trio dessert certainly fits that description. You get three small cannolis, one stuffed with rich chocolate filling, one with coffee filling and the last with perfectly creamy ricotta cheese, chocolate chips and pistachios. I had the chocolate and ricotta ones and Eric had the coffee one. Unprompted, he said that it was probably one of the best desserts he had ever had. I loved them, too, though I'll have to reserve judgment on its "best" status until I sample more cannolis in L.A. so definitely let me know if you've got a place for me to try.

DAM!

As mentioned in a previous post, I had the chance to visit the Denver Art Museum (DAM) a couple of weeks ago and I loved it. The museum is divided between the original North Building designed by Gio Ponti in 1971 and the newer Frederic C. Hamilton Building designed by Daniel Libeskind. The Hamilton Building is an architectural photographer's dream:

And the interior:


While in the Hamilton Building, I went to the special exhibition, Inspiring Impressionism, which shows Impressionist paintings alongside the Masters paintings that inspired them. The audiotour was impressive and I liked that they also had a children's version. After checking out that exhibition, I trotted over the skybridge to see the permanent exhibition in the North Building.

The permanent exhibition isn't huge but it's very well-edited and I absolutely loved the way the galleries were organized and designed. Most of the galleries had beautiful seating arrangements with art books to read and activities for kids, and there was a library/reading room where you could just relax and flip through more art books. My favorite gallery design had to be the Davis W. and Ellen N. Moore Gallery's, which showcased Design Before 1900:

I love these yellow benches!

Overall, the Denver Art Museum is definitely one of the best art museum experiences I've had. I love how American cities outside of New York, Los Angeles and Chicago are really making a name for themselves by incorporating some amazing cultural spaces. One unlikely design destination that I'd love to visit is Minneapolis, which has buildings by Jean Nouvel, Frank Gehry, Herzog & de Meuron and Michael Graves. (It also has the Mall of America and Target HQ, both of which would be guilty pleasures for me.) While in that part of the Midwest, I would also have to make the 5-hour drive to Milwaukee to see the brise soleil of the Milwaukee Art Museum by my favorite architect, Santiago Calatrava. In any event, these cities are showing that the Midwest and culture are not mutually exclusive:

Even cows like architecture!

For the full Flickr set of my DAM photos, click here.

Unhappy Streak

It seems I am unable to start a new job without having to take a sick day during the first week. My last two jobs began in this way and unfortunately, my streak continues as I was forced to take a sick day today. Actually, I was determined not to let this happen, so even as my throat started to hurt this past Wednesday, I pushed through it until last night when I had to admit defeat.

The good news is that 1) this is the first time I've had a cold in a long while despite my crazy tiring schedule and 2) despite the slight fever and chills, it seems to moving through my system fairly smoothly. I think this has to do with the fact that I drink/eat kefir or yogurt regularly and snack on almonds (with chocolate chips) like there's no tomorrow. Both of these foods are supposed to be immune system boosters, and it makes me glad to know that I'm doing something good for my body especially since I have yet to find the time for exercise or adequate rest.