Interesting Little Documentary

Have you ever thought about the evolution of music? How life-changing events and struggles a large group of people endure together can change how they express themselves? Last night, while flipping through my plethora of cable stations, I stumbled across a documentary on VH1 Classic called, "NY77: The Coolest Year in Hell." Different influential artists of the time such as Afrika Bambaataa and Blondie speak about how hip-hop, punk and even disco came to be. Poor economy forces schools to push-out music classes and the .44 Caliber Killer is on the loose. All of these events, people and creativity converge to create this poineering time in music. Check-check-a-check it out... http://www.vh1classic.com/view/playlist/1566482/167446/VH1_Rock_Docs_NY77_The_Coolest_Year_in_Hell/NY77_Afrika_Bambaataa/index.jhtml

The Pinkertones: A Weezer Tribute Show

The Pinkertones are a local Weezer cover band that plays all of the tunes from The Blue Album and Pinkerton. Or according to them, the only albums from the band worth playing. They will be playing at the Ravari Room (2657 North High - located next to Hound Dogs Pizza) on Saturday, March 21, 2009 at 9PM with opening acts by Same Same and Slide Machine. Cover is $5 at the door.

I've never heard of these guys nor the two opening acts, but if you are a Weezer fan, it's probably worth checking out. At the very least, you can get really drunk for very little. Show up early for $1 drafts, $1.50 wells, and $4 pitchers. The full Hound Dog's menu is served until 10 PM.

Tips for Eating Out on a Tight Budget

Times are tough. If you haven't lost your job already, you're probably worrying about it and if you're lucky enough to land a job, chances are you'll want to go out and celebrate. Even something as simple as dinner out one night with a close friend or significant other may seem like a risky stretch, but packing your lunch everyday and clipping the Sunday coupons should entitle you to a little pampering.

So with that, I decided to throw out a few pointers for eating out on a tight pocket without having to hit up the not-so-nutritious all you can eat china and pizza buffets and 99-cent value menus.

1. Restaurant.com is a great site that my friends and I have used on several occasions. Here you can purchase gift certificates at full value but for half the price. For example, you can buy a $25 gift certificate for only $10 but still redeem it for the full $25 value. The certificates are generated instantly so that all you have to do is click print and you're all set. Even more, enter the promo code TREAT for an additional 60% off. You can search the site by location to see which restaurants participate in this program in your area. I've used this site for two different dining establishments near my house (Johnny Buccelli's and Pomegranate Mediterranean Cuisine) and did not run into any problems. However, like most other dining coupons, they are not good for takeout or delivery. A small price to pay for feeding a group of four at a fraction of the price.

DineOriginalsColumbus.com also offers up some discounted gift certificates to locally owned restaurants, but only a limited quantity are available and they tend to sell out rather quickly.

2. The Columbus Dispatch has paired up with TheBag.com to bring subscribers local deals and specials right through your email. You don't have to have a weekly paid subscription to get in on the savings either. Just simply log onto The Columbus Dispatch and sign up for the TheEBag Newsletter. The email is sent out once a week and features coupons for just about everything imaginable in the Columbus area including dining, recreation, groceries, and fitness.

3. Those bulky Entertainment books your coworkers kids sell as a school fundraiser may sound awfully steep at $20 a pop, but if you really use it you'll certainly make your money back and then some. On top of all the coupons you get with the book, you also get a login and password to Entertainment.com where you can pull up even more deals or the original ones when the actual book is nowhere to be found.

4. Watch the local adds for meal deals. Mondays and Tuesdays are notoriously slow in the restaurant business so managers are using deals to get people through the doors. Asian Gourmet and Sushi Bar is offering up buy-one-get-the-second-half-off sushi rolls on those days and Logan's Roadhouse follows suit with their two meals for only $12.99 deal. While Columbus does not yet have it's own organized Restaurant Week, a simple google search will show that there is certainly talk around establishing one.

Recent statistics show that 68% of all Americans clip coupons. I, myself, have taken it up as a sport spending ample time in the grocery store on a Saturday morning weighing sales vs. coupons vs. doubling coupons. And I'm not the only one. Years ago I hardly saw anyone using them but now I see people trading each other in the aisles. A buck is a buck and if you have any of your own creative ways to save them, please leave a comment for the rest of the readers.

Five Guys Comes to Ohio

Spending two years post-grad school in Washington, DC has made me very educated in the ways of Five Guys Burgers & Fries. In fact, the very first meal I had after unloading the moving truck was at one of their Alexandria, VA locations. My new neighbors insisted that it be the first thing I cross of my orientation checklist as a new DC Metro resident. In their opinion, Five Guys trumped the monuments, museums, and even Ben's Chili Bowl as a quintessential landmark in the nation's capital.

Truth be told, you'd be hard pressed to find another burger chain establishment that gets more rave reviews and positive press than Five Guys. And with that, it's no real shock that the company just announced that it would be opening up twenty new locations across Ohio within the next year.

Their custom, made to order burgers and fresh cut fries are awesome. I'll give you that. Do I think that it's worth all the glorified hype? Not really. People speak of Five Guys so highly that one might not be able to avoid inevitable disappointment (like Pans Labyrinth and the terrible Sex and the City movie- shame on all you people). So I insist on giving it to you straight.

Walking in you'll see a dry erase board letting you know where the russet potatoes used to make the fries came from today - a great opportunity to brush up on your small Idaho towns. You won't see a freezer anywhere as everything is pretty much fresh. The griddle is right there in front of you so you can see them grill up your burger. And you better know what you want, because just like Chipotle and Subway, you tell them exactly what you want on it and fast. For less than $10, you can land yourself a burger, fries, and a drink.

I've never seen anyone order anything other than a burger, but if you decide to break the mold, Five Guys also offers up hot dogs and veggie or grilled-cheese sandwiches. If you are a burger lover like myself, you must make a trip to Five Guys. It's definitely worth trying, but if you are anticipating an out of body experience as suggested by the Zagat ratings you'll come up a little short. I beg the question as to whether an influx in franchising will diminish the quality that has come to be expected from Five Guys. Some reviews claim that the food has gotten significantly greasier over the years and the service isn't as fast as it used to be.

The first Five Guys to open in Columbus is located at 2134 Polaris Parkway off of I-70 and is open from 11AM to 10PM daily. A second location is scheduled to open soon on the OSU Campus at 1607 North High Street. Expect to see lines around the block in the first week of business. Four other locations are already open for business in the Cleveland area as well. In a time when businesses are shutting their doors for good, the fact that Five Guys is opening them should speak volumes for their product or at the very least, their popularity.

Bonnaroo 2009 Lineup Announced

After months of anticipation and lots of rumors surrounding this year's Bonnaroo lineup, the wait is finally over. Turns out the rumors are mostly true and Roo goers will get The Boss and two nights of Phish. For me (and probably most others) only one night will be needed, but I could not be happier about Phish headlining and bringing the Roo back to its jam band roots. The eclectic mix of bands range from none other than old school rappers, Beastie Boys and new school mash up artist, Girl Talk. Here's a run down of some of the bands and my expectations, but head on over to bonnaroo.com to see the full list. Tickets go on sale THIS SATURDAY. Hope to see some of ya there!

Forecasted to be Epic:
Phish
Beastie Boys
Nine Inch Nails

Always a Guarantee:
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
Wilco
Band of Horses
The Decemberists
Ted Leo and Pharmacists

Late Night Set Hopefuls:
Animal Collective
Girl Talk
Crystal Castles

Will Totally Rock:
TV on The Radio (props for being awesome and leaking the lineup to us the night before)
Grizzly Bear
Okkervil River
Arcade Fire
MGMT
Yeasayer
Booker T and the DBT's (Drive By Truckers)
Neko Case
Alejandro Escovedo
Santogold
Andrew Bird
St. Vincent
David Byrne
Rodrigo y Gabriela

Where Have All the Good Salads Gone?

First, let me say everyone needs to get hip to Eat This, Not That. It's astonishing how much saturated fat, calories and sodium is in the food served up by many leading restaurants. For example, it is better to eat a Big Mac than a Whopper. Save yourself 220 calories and 18 grams of fat by making this swap.

Now begins my story followed by RAGE! Last week, Ashley, great friend and fellow dieter, sent me the Salad Hall of Fame according to Eat This, Not That as seen here:
Salad Hall of Fame
McDonald’s Premium Asian Salad with Grilled Chicken: 300 calories, 10 g fat (1 g saturated), 890 mg sodium
Panera Classic Café Salad: 400 calories, 11 g fat (1.5 g saturated), 270 mg sodium
Au Bon Pain Butternut Squash Salad: 280 calories, 6 g fat (4 g saturated), 570 mg sodium
Jack in the Box Southwest Chicken Salad with Grilled Chicken Strips: 310 calories, 12 g fat (5 g saturated), 840 mg sodium
Carl’s Jr. Charbroiled Chicken Salad: 330 calories, 8 g fat (3.5 g saturated), 580 mg sodium
Denny’s Grilled Chicken Salad Deluxe: 290 calories, 10 g fat (5 g saturated), 770 mg sodium
Arby’s Martha's Vineyard Salad: 272 calories, 9 g fat (4 g saturated), 609 mg sodium

No surprise to me that McDonald's Asian Salad with Grilled Chicken tops the list with a scant 300 calories and 10 grams of fat. This is a salad that I've lived and died by; delicious edamame, sliced almonds, mandarin oranges, mixed greens, snow pea pods, bell peppers and Newman's Own Sesame Ginger dressing (not included in the fat and calories but one packet at 90 calories and 2.5 grams of fat is more than enough to drench the salad). That is, until McDonald's DISCONTINUED the Asian Salad in the Columbus market. I've already emailed McDonald's for some sort of explanation. Just tell me the ingredients are too expensive and I'll pay MORE. Tell me the demand isn't high enough and I'll advertise! No, all I received (and why would I expect any more) was a form letter explaining how they cycle out the old for new, exciting product and they will contact the manager of my region. Who is this manager? Where is his office? Can I make an appointment to visit him? I've got the time. So my plan for bringing back the Asian salad is in the works. Stay tuned for that. I might need your help.

Ashley and I were planning another one of our Sunday Bloody Fundays (aka SBF). The plan: get in a good workout and do a good lunch to follow up. The only other salads that are available to us here in Columbus is the Panera Classic Cafe and Arby's Martha's Vineyard. So we planned on the Martha's Vineyard. We get to Arby's... NO MARTHA'S VINEYARD! What is going on? Am I in an alternate universe and I am receiving Salad Hall of Fame's from the other universe I'm not a part of? I feel like I'm taking crazy pills! Thus, left with no option, I ordered the *NEW* Italian Chopped Salad and Ashley, the *NEW* Turkey Chopped Salad. I find that my salad comes filled to the brim with pepperoni, salami, banana peppers, tomatoes and a balsamic vinaigrette. Awesome dripping with sarcasm. Looking at the nutrition info, it's way more fat and calories than I wanted to take in. With 282 calories and 18 grams of fat before dressing, I could have gotten a regular roast beef and been happier. Ashley did smashingly with her 95 calories and 11 grams of fat and using fat-free dressing she had at home.

All I know is that I've been burned. The great loves of my belly are disappearing and a few of them I really need. I lost 30 lbs. with the help of that Asian salad. Every person I know who tried this salad fell in love instantly. Damn you, McDonald's! You broke my heart... and my diet.

Animal Collective: Striving for Perfection

The current buzz around the music community (and my cubicle) for the past month has revolved completely around the band, Animal Collective. While these guys have been together through nine years and nine studio albums, they have finally reached a point where their critically acclaimed music is at the highest and most approachable level. It's only January and their brand new release, Merriweather Post Pavilion (MPP), is getting near perfect reviews and is being referred to as one of the best albums of 2009. While this is certainly a premature statement, it is one that I will not contest.

The trio, who goes by the individual names of Avey Tare, Panda Bear and Geologist, create a truly unique sound that can most easily be described as psychedelic-pop. I like to think of them as a modern day jam band, where electronics take the forefront and the songs are built on layers and layers of instruments, noises, beats, and echoing vocals. Through all this, the band still entirely provokes feelings and lyrics revolving around human emotions.

Merriweather Post Pavilion, is indisputably Animal Collective's most polished album and as well as their "popiest" one too. MPP is friendlier than previous works too. By leaving out Avey's and Panda Bear's amplified yelping from previous works, it gets it power through its highly addictive melodies. I love, or rather, am obsessed with this album and it appears that the majority of music listeners agree (except Ashley who hates them). Needless to say, there was a lot of hype about the beginning of their MPP tour. So much so that the $25 ticket I bought prior to the MPP release was going for as much as three to four times that the day of the concert.

This was my third time seeing Animal Collective and besides the great new array of songs, the thing that stuck out most for me about this show was the awesome crowd. From the beginning and throughout the seventy-five minute set, the audience was nothing less than completely enthralled. The show more closely resembled a worship service than a music concert.

The night began with one of my favorites from MPP, Lion in a Coma. While I was instantly excited after hearing the first couple of chords of this song, the vocals were so hard to make out and therefore pretty disappointing. Luckily, they resolved this problem quickly and carried out another ten songs. MPP dominated the set with seven of the eleven tracks making an appearance. Highlights included my favorite Summertime Clothes, captive crowd pleaser My Girls, and an amazing energetic Brothersport. The set also featured a new unreleased song Blue Sky and one of the oldies that the band is having fun reworking, Slippi. As if more work needed to be added to an already almost perfect MPP portfolio.

The show was cut a little short due to Avey losing his voice (and actually canceled the next night's show in LA). Instead, there was a single Panda Bear original song encore that he and Geologist rocked out to. The phenomenal song Comfy in Nautica was overall the highlight of the night. It was full of energy and brought the crowd together in a sense of community as everyone was waving their arms towards and back from the stage in perfect rhythm.

If you are a long time Animal Collective fan, or are hearing about them now for the first time, Merriweather Post Pavilion is a heroic album that I would recommend to most music appreciators. It is a great place to start to explore the music of AC, as they have just about now reached their own unique perfection.