GÜERO READS: THE GASTRONOMY OF MARRIAGE

Gastronomy of Marriage: A Memoir Of Food And Love by Michelle Maisto, Random House (Sep 2009)

Sadly, in today’s world, 50 percent of all marriages end in divorce – that rate even higher in California. If any of us were told that we would have a 50 percent chance of being run over by a car if we crossed the street, surely most of us would not bank on those odds and stay safely put. But despite the awareness of those odds, many of today’s couples, as they always have, double down and make the nuptial plunge. In her first memoir, “Gastronomy of Marriage: A Memoir of Food And Love”, author and certified foodie, Michelle Maisto, well aware of the pitfalls of marriage, takes great care and thought into her own decisions. As the title clearly states, it’s about food and love: two subjects that for Maisto, and for the benefit of the reader, are scrumptiously intertwined.

Maisto, who is Italian-American, opens up her heart like a well-stocked pantry. Though her eyes, she recounts the story of her courtship and engagement to Rich, a fellow writer who happens to be Chinese American,(It’s like Marco Polo realized in America!) in an honest, thoughtful and well, just down right delicious way. Maisto observes her thoughts on love and life and blends them tastefully with her fondness and fascination with food – instilled in her from generation to generation though her Italian heritage.

As anyone who has been in a relationship knows, when two people come together, we come as individuals: with different backgrounds, different points of view and in many cases (especially now-a-days) - different religions and cultures. Along with all of that, of course, are differences with regards to what, when and how we eat. All these things we bring to the table and Maisto, a self-professed home kitchen expert, takes up the Iron Chef challenge.

All told, I must say that this story was most revealing to me because I know the author and her husband, Rich, personally. Rich and I were roommates and friends for over two years in Los Angeles and we have continued somehow to stay in touch despite his and Michelle’s successful and busy lives in New York. I always understood how much they meant to one another but reading about them really brought a depth and texture to their relationship that I could have never otherwise appreciated. Michelle has not just written a book about recipes and ingredients for great tasting meals; it’s about taking everything you have, what’s available, what’s nourishing and creating your own ingredients for deep, kind and lasting relationship.

(Reader Caution: make sure you are not hungry while reading! The author of this book possesses mysterious powers in which she uses words that will titillate the taste buds!)

-the Guero

Michelle Maisto will be hosting three upcoming book signings here on the West Coast:

SAN FRANCISCO:

Thursday, September 24, 6PM at OMNIVORE BOOKS

3885 Cesar Chavez St

San Francisco, CA 94131-2013

(415) 282-4712

Friday, September 25, 12:30 PM at ALEXANDER BOOK COMPANY

50 Second St

San Francisco, CA 94105

(415) 495-2992

LOS ANGELES:

Saturday, September 26, 2 PM at BOOKSOUP

8818 W Sunset Blvd

Los Angeles, CA 90069-2125

(310) 659-3110

Also you can visit her wonderful blog, The Market Report.

COP A FEELING: NUÑO IN PRINT FORM

Yes! I've finally been recognized and will be put in print! That's right, don't ask me why but artists Jonathan Harris and Sep Kanvar have included me in their new book entitled "We Feel Fine: An Almanac of Human Emotion" from Simon & Schuster which will be released in December of this year. Alright, perhaps I'm overstating my contribution as it is very small if not insignificant - possibly just a photo and/or a snippet from this blog - but you know me, I'll take recognition wherever I can get it!

Harris and Kanvar created a project entitled We Feel Fine, which uses elements of computer science, anthropology, visual arts and storytelling to explore human feelings. They essentially created a computational system that records people's feelings all over the world by searching for them via weblogs, twitters, etc. Anyway, they actually used my "feelings" from my blog post a few years ago for their online project and now they are using a different post for their print version. They informed me in their e-mail that I would be on the page for Election Day 2008, which I suppose is a pretty good date to be on.

In case you are wondering: no, I'm not getting paid jack-didley from this deal but they did say, I could get a free copy of the book and that I'm welcomed to attend their Launch party in New York, but under the present circumstances, it's not bloody likely that I will make it.

If you liked to check out the We Feel Fine website, you can go here and play around with it. Well what can I say? I guess I "feel" honored. Hmmm...let's see if that feeling makes it the cut!

NEW PEOPLE AT SAN FRANCISCO'S JAPANTOWN

After my trip to Berkeley I had to run an errand which brought us back into The City. That however is really not worth mentioning but on the way, we stopped over in J-town to check out the second day of the grand opening of New People, a new retail establishment highlighting pop culture from Japan. Manga, magazines, toys, Hello Kitty and all the latest fashion from streets of Tokyo; It's all here! The design and architecture of this new building are impressive but whether or not this is going to be a money making operation remains to be seen because all that really cool stuff from Japan is really f-ng expensive.

(very expensive handcrafted Japanese shoes from SOU SOU)

The upstairs gallery featured art by Yoshitaka Amano, that cat from Japan who was a graphic designer for the Final Fantasy video game.

So if you are into Japanese pop culture or are you are looking for the latest in Gothic Lolita fashion, this place is at least worth checking out. And if you are feeling like you need a little caffeine fix, the cafe is serving Blue Bottle Coffee. You can't complain about that.

BRUNCH WITH THE BUDDHA

This past Sunday turned out to be an interesting day. Woke up, late as hell. I was supposed to meet a friend as she was going to let me tag along with her to visit her Thai Buddhist temple in Berkeley. It was a beautiful warm day and aside from the admonishment I received for not being punctual, we were off to a pretty good start. Met up at the Civic Center in The City and jumped on to BART(for what I thought was going to be my last BART ride due the impending strike an all). My friend, who's an ace cook, stayed up all Saturday night preparing a feast especially for the monks at the temple. She needs good karma and so do I. So between her cooking it and me schlepping it, hopefully we'll scrape up enough good merit to get us though these dog-shit days of health care woes, never-ending Middle-East wars, and a tits-up economy.

(Wat Mongkolratanaram - Thai Buddhist Temple)

The Temple has been in Berkeley for about 25-odd years and every Sunday they host a huge Thai brunch where you can get a hefty plate of tasty Thai food for very little and sit and eat in a sunny court yard. It's kind of like a weekly church spaghetti feed in which the proceeds help keep the temple running. It's only open for three hours between 10 am and 1 pm. I couldn't believe the size of the crowd and I was told that this was a slow day. I also learned from a temple member that they used to have longer hours but a few years back, but when the neighborhood started gentrifying a few years ago, the neighbors started bitching. This in my opinion is tantamount to moving next to an airport and complaining about noisy jets! But hey, that's gentrification, even in the People's Republic of Berkeley! That is what happens when croc-wearing, stroller-pushing yoga moms move in and start organizing. By the way - I have nothing against yoga, moms, crocs, or strollers. Oh bloody f-ng hell, I think you get the point already.

Since I came with my friend, I didn't actually eat the food from the brunch as I was given the honor of eating from the pot luck brought by the regular temple members. Despite feeling like a like fish out of water, the Thai people were all nice and treated me warmly. I sat on the floor with them and dug in to the colorful looking, home cooked fare: spicy beef stews, yellow curry chicken, Thai omelets and a bunch of other good tasting dishes. Later, my friend took me into the small prayer room where she taught some young children and myself how to make an offering and a prayer. I'm not a big believer in the supernatural and that sort of thing but I went along for the experience (kind of like sitting and standing and kneeling and standing again at a Catholic mass; you just follow everyone else and hope to baby Jesus and all the chubby little angels that you aren't the last one moving!). I made my prayer for world peace but I also added a special rider prayer that I can get my samsaric ass, along with my family, back to Los Angeles as soon as f-ng possible.

Afterward, I shook a can of sticks until one fell out. Using the corresponding number from the stick, I matched it to my reading. I have to admit that what it said about me was frighteningly accurate and my friend, who is all too familiar with my personality flaws, had a right good laugh. So, after feeling slightly clowned by the buddha, I gave my offering in form of some good-ol' American greenbacks with the hope that some of my karma would be transformed, or at the very least, that the monks could use the money to buy some cool new shit at Costco. But that, however, was not the end of the journey.

ANOTHER HIATUS, ANOTHER RETURN...

It's been awhile since I spent any time blogging but I'm back again. Sometimes you just need to sit back and let life happen for a while. And while I haven't been sitting back much, a lot of life has been happening.

A few days ago, I returned from a little jaunt down to Southern California. It was an extremely rushed but fulfilling trip. My wife, son and I tried to catch

up with as much friends and family as possible and sadly , as to be expected, we were not able to meet up with everyone. I did however get to finally experience the Mexican/Korean fusion at the Kogi Truck (Twice- once next 4100 on Sunset in Silverlake and second, in downtown the following night - underneath the skyscrapers with dotted lights along with warm weather and traditional Chinese music playing from an open-air concert nearby- what a fantastic evening!).

In San Diego, We "stalked" a former employee of ours to new her job at a fine and very busy Mexican restaurant in Old Town where I had some amazing shrimp (ranchero style). It turned out to be a profound moment for me to see her again, as I had to abruptly close the business and leave San Diego last year and I was unable to say goodbye as properly as I should have. But seeing her again and knowing that she had accomplished so much since we last saw each other, made my eyes well up. This was a young woman who worked from day one all the way though the closure of the store - the first employee I hired who turned out to be a great manager and a trusted friend. Now it's well known that I'm a pretty cold and unsentimental bastard but I found it difficult to hold the emotion back. It took just that one moment for all three years to come back and smack me right solid in the gob. And whenever I get a little sad, I just turn to food which in this case included dipping the most savory homemade flour tortillas into the ranchero sauce. Hey, we all have to find ways to cope, right?

The following night also proved to be a great meal as some of my old friends, some family and new friends met up for some hardcore Korean BBQ in at the medieval-looking Chapman Plaza in LA's Korea town. The meat just kept on coming and coming: brisket, kalbi (Short Rib), teji kogi (Spicy Pork), and pork belly (uncured Korean bacon)! Along with all the banchan (side dishes) and beer, we all had a great time. So much so that after the feast, we moved the party over to the Cafe across the plaza.

Food, friends, and family - the three F's - that was essentially the theme of our return visit to Southern California and while we were exhausted, we enjoyed every bit of it. Of course no visit to Los Angeles would be complete without being pulled over by LAPD - and even that turned out to be pretty cool.

THE TRUE FACE OF JESUS?

Today is Good Friday, so for all you Christians I decided to repost this article I read from a 2002 cover story in Popular Mechanics. Based on forensic anthropology, and even the words of the gospels themselves, British scientists and Israeli archeologists created an image of what the historical Jesus probably looked like. So forget about Mel Gibson's casting Jim Caviezel, with his model good-looks, to play the Son of Man in the "realistic" vision of the "The Passion Of The Christ", and indulge yourself in this fascinating exploration of facts and history.
-JOHN


Real Face Of Jesus: December 2002 Cover Story
Advances in forensic science reveal the most famous face in history.
BY MIKE FILLON
Published in the December 2002 issue of Popular Mechanics

From the first time Christian children settle into Sunday school classrooms, an image of Jesus Christ is etched into their minds. In North America he is most often depicted as being taller than his disciples, lean, with long, flowing, light brown hair, fair skin and light-colored eyes. Familiar though this image may be, it is inherently flawed. A person with these features and physical bearing would have looked very different from everyone else in the region where Jesus lived and ministered. Surely the authors of the Bible would have mentioned so stark a contrast. On the contrary, according to the Gospel of Matthew, when Jesus was arrested in the garden of Gethsemane before the Crucifixion, Judas Iscariot had to indicate to the soldiers whom Jesus was because they could not tell him apart from his disciples. Further clouding the question of what Jesus looked like is the simple fact that nowhere in the New Testament is Jesus described, nor have any drawings of him ever been uncovered. There is the additional problem of having neither a skeleton nor other bodily remains to probe for DNA. In the absence of evidence, our images of Jesus have been left to the imagination of artists. The influences of the artists' cultures and traditions can be profound, observes Carlos F. Cardoza-Orlandi, associate professor of world Christianity at Columbia Theological Seminary in Atlanta. "While Western imagery is dominant, in other parts of the world he is often shown as black, Arab or Hispanic." And so the fundamental question remains: What did Jesus look like? Continue Reading...

CESAR CHAVEZ PARADE & FESTIVAL 2009

April 4, 2009
It was beautiful, warm Sunday in the Mission so the family and I took a stroll over to 24th Street to check out the Cesar Chavez Parade & Street Festival. We missed the parade but stopped in for the street festival. It was low-key event and there weren't that many booths, but there were awesome low riders and some Aztec dancers on hand. I only took a few photos, but you can check out the slideshow.



The highlight for us was a Salsa band that consisted of mostly teenage musicians and singers. They put on a spirited show which we enjoyed and you can hear a little of in this video.