Song Que

Song Que
Eden Center
6769 Wilson Blvd
Falls Church, VA 22044
Tel:(703) 536-7900

If you want Bahn Mi (Vietnamese baguette sandwiches) in the Washington DC area, Song Que is the place to go. Their cold cuts bahn mi is outstanding as is their grilled pork bahn mi. Apart from bahn mi, they have a vast selection of pre-made deli meals that just need to be nuked as well as what some call the bubble tea in the mid-atlantic. Definitely a must visit restaurant.

Gratuitous food pics.

Cold cuts (#1 on the menu) and grilled pork (#8) bahn mi with mango bubble tea



Grilled beef (#9) bahn mi with mango bubble tea

Otto Enoteca Pizzeria

Otto Enoteca Pizzeria
1 5th Ave (between 8th St & Washington), New York, NY 10003
Neighborhood: Greenwich Village
Tel: (212) 995-9559
www.ottopizzeria.com


We went to Otto's with high hopes after reading all the positive reviews but came away sadly disappointed. The food was good but the service and attitude was terrible, so I'll break this review into 2 sections:

Group Size: 5 adults (walk in)

Food Review: We ordered the Carni Platter, Heirloom Caprese, Roasted Beets & Saba, and Summer Squash & Pecorino as starters, all of which were very good. The Carni Platter has head cheese (hard to find on most menus, one of my favorites) and was a standout. For the main course we ordered the Panne Frattau, Margherita D.O.P., and Vongole, all of which were very good. To round off, we tried the icecream with 3 flavors - Olive Oil, Coconut and Peppermint Chocolate Chip. Dessert was a bit of a let down as the much hyped olive oil icecream wasn't all that.

Service Review: While the food at Otto's was good, the whole meal was soured by the service and attitude. When taking our main course orders the waiter made it point to tell us that the chef takes an order from a table just once, which we thought was odd but didn't give much thought into. We initially ordered 2 pizzas as we didn't know how big they would be. In the end, it turns out that we needed to order a 3rd pizza, so we placed an order for another pizza. Boy did that turn out to be a huge problem for the restaurant. The waiter told us that the chef would not take the second order. We couldn't believe our ears - a restaurant that refuses to serve food! After sending the waiter back to the chef TWICE to convince the chef to take our order, the chef finally agreed to make our 3rd pizza. We still don't know what to make of their attitude. As a marketing ploy (ala Seinfeld's Soup Nazi) it might seem innovative, but all it does is leave customers with a sour taste over the dining experience.

Final Verdict: Good food, but appalling attitude and service. Save your money and go elsewhere. If this restaurant continues to refuse its customers food, it deserves to go out of business.

Rockonomics - An Indicator of Socio-Economic Development

Guest post by fellow music lover and economic whiz kid Debashish Bose. This post was written after a recent article in the Mint on the development of an indie rock music scene in India and how the upcoming bands are trying to support themselves:
http://www.livemint.com/2010/03/26203912/Rockonomics.html

Debashish:
In my opinion the development of a rock music industry is inherently tied to the growth and evolution of a nation and hence is something I would track very closely if I were to be a longer term investor in any nation. The disclaimer is that I am possibly heavily biased being a bit of a hard rock / heavy metal fanatic and having played in amateur bands before.

Much like trying to "follow the money" when it comes to investing, I will try and go through the process which leads to the formation of a band and the development of the eco-system to attempt to articulate the same.

The roots always lie in it being a middle class movement and the reasons for the same are:

• Whether one considers what might be emerging now in India or what happened in the western world in the 60s, Rock music almost always is and will be a relatively more acquired taste given that it is not the simplest form of music out there. It takes a while for the ear to appreciate it and that cannot come without a certain degree of
  education and evolution of the mental process.
• The musical instruments required to play the same are neither cheap nor something which can be done without a significant degree of training and practice. Also as one goes into the essential accessories like effects pedals, mixers, quality amplifiers etc, the availability and affordability of the same is not easy in India, (though significantly better than 15 years back!)

Now lets delve a little deeper into the social aspects of the same:

• The music is inherently disruptive compared to the prevalent popular music of the time. Think - the change which the likes Elvis and Little Richard presented, or what the Beatles came up with, or further what the sounds of Black Sabbath & Led Zeppelin brought out as compared to the Beatles. In the Indian context, the big names to define the movement has not happened yet, however the texture of the music is in stark contrast to what is popular music ie bollywood music. This is an extremely important phenomenon since disruptive change is only likely to occur when society is at an inflection point in its developmental process.
• Rock music is possibly one of the most honest forms of music in terms of an expression of a heavy dose of realism in its lyrical content and the channelling of animalistic aggression through a musical process. This is in complete contrast to popular music of its time. Bollywood music for eg presents a sugar-coated, escapist veneer which is perfectly suited to forget the harshness of life in the real world. However for realism to become popular, there needs to be a certain degree of comfort with the realities of life, which in turn is nothing but a pure function of a certain amount of affluence seeping
  through society.

Which in turn brings us to the context of forming a band:

• A rock band is almost guaranteed to go through a period of intense struggle surviving on just about nothing or a day job until commercial success can be achieved. While the musicians may well be renegades influenced by idealism, the reality of the situation will no doubt hit sooner or later. Going back however to the first part which I mentioned that the movement is inherantly rooted in the middle class, what is interesting to see is how greater numbers slowly start emerging wanting to form a career in the field. This is inherently linked to a belief that an audience maybe developing for their music and that the musicians themselves are somewhat comfortable with what other future possibilities hold for them should their musical career fizzle out...ie a degree of comfort in being able to take career risks.
• A rock band is just like any entreprenuerial start up venture which is initiated with a strong idealistic framework and with the hopes of bootstrapping its way to success. This starts with the fact that there are 3-5 individuals brought together by an idea and then needing to execute on all parts of the process themselves ie the creative aspect - composition, song writing, playing; the business aspect - arranging gigs, haggling with club owners, procuring equipment, logistics etc. and the management aspect - managing egos & "creative differences". Entrepreneurship combined with middle class roots is exacly what you are looking in a developing economy.

And next we move on the development of the eco-system, which ofcourse starts first with the audience. While a big name, mainstream Western band is almost guranteed a sellout show in India given the complete lack of access to them in the past and hence the consequent pent up demand, its quite another thing for home grown bands to think about the possibility of an audience for their original music. The fact that this belief seems to be growing is a direct
reflection of an evolution of tastes in the broader consumer segment for something disruptively different from the norm and the elements of acquired taste which I initially mentioned - almost exactly the same aspects which you would look for to define emerging consumerism. A whole industry is slowly starting to develop around it which includes the record labels, the rock clubs which host live acts, the musical equipment manufacturers, the merchandising industry etc.

Again all this is still at a very nascent stage but I will insert a quote here from the article I cited initially to sum up what am attempting to describe in this rambling text:
"Tambe remembers attending an OML-organized "unconference" in November. "One British music producer speaking there said that the vibe and energy in Indian rock right now is very similar to Britain in the late 1960s, around the time the pub bands became international superstars," he says. "Something's about to happen. The indie music scene is going to explode. We're just turning the corner."

Happy reading!

The most epic monologue of all time

From “V for Vendetta”:

“Voilà! In view, a humble vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of Fate. This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is a vestige of the vox populi, now vacant, vanished. However, this valorous visitation of a by-gone vexation, stands vivified and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin van-guarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition. The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta, held as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous. Verily, this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose, so let me simply add that it's my very good honor to meet you and you may call me V.”



Enough said.

Planting a Flag in the Ground

Moosh often calls the heavy metal fans at the gigs I go to my "tribe". The concept of metal fans as a tribe is not new, and the visual identifiers of the tribe are pretty obvious - long hair, black clothes, tattoos, piercings etc. For this tribe, heavy metal t-shirts are the equivalent of planting a flag in the ground - it says, this is what I listen to, its great if you like it, and if you don't, I really don't care. I have my fair share of heavy metal band t-shirts, and while Iron Maiden and Slayer t-shirts are the most common at concerts, I've been surprised by the two that garner the most attention.

Cro-Mags: This t-shirt gathers the most attention, with people at concerts and also in every day life coming upto me and talking to me about the Cro-Mags and how much they love old school New York hardcore.



D-Low Memorial Show: The D-Low festival is an annual metalcore concert in Phoenix, AZ held in the memory of Dana Wells, Soulfly and ex-Sepultura frontman Max Cavalera's stepson. Not many metal fans even know about this show, yet everytime I wear this t-shirt to a show, people come up to me and talk to me about how much they love Soulfly/Sepultura.

2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee Manifesto Commercial

This ad really caught my attention - something to do with the beat/tempo of the background music and the "emotional" message. Definitely well off the beaten course for a car commercial.

Curry Laksa

Curry Laksa is another one of my go to foods when I can't make up my mind what I want to eat. Moosh whipped up this magic over the long weekend:

The ingredients:


Add the curry and its ready to eat!

The Inn at Little Washington

The Inn At Little Washington
309 Middle St
Washington, VA 22747
Tel: (540) 675-3800
www.theinnatlittlewashington.com

We'd heard about The Inn at Little Washington ever since we moved to the DC area but had never tried it. Moosh and I went there for our anniversary dinner last week. All in all I would say its worth a visit once. The food was good, but not really out of this world, and definitely not aligned with the prices they charged (this was the most expensive meal we've ever head). Service on the other hand was excellent, and they went the extra mile to customize our desserts.

Chili Garlic Lobster

Singapore style Chili Garlic Crabs are probably one of my favorite dishes. Moosh and I and tried to buy crabs last weekend, but the recent gulf oil spill means that they are no where to be found in local groceries. No matter, we ended up buying a few lobsters and Moosh whipped up some amazing Chili Garlic Lobster!

Goodness in the pan:


Ready to eat!

How to pick a watermelon

I love watermelon in the summer months. We usually buy them from our neighborhood supermarket (usually Giant, but also from Trader Joe's and H-Mart) for the princely sum of $3.99 per watermelon. Here's my 3-step way to get the best watermelon on sale:

1. Look for a melon that is nice looking, meaning free of dents, bruises, cuts, etc. Check under the melon - if it has a yellow or light bottom, it should be ripe.

2. Tap the watermelon for signs of hollowness. If it sounds hollow, its ripe. Not hollow, unripe.

3. Look for a heavy melon. Watermelons are made up of mostly water, so an ideal melon should be heavy for its size.

Get these three simple steps right and you're on your way to sweet watermelon goodness (pardon the blurry cellphone pic):

Dick in the box - Ikea instructions

Another reason why hybrids suck: NHTSA study indicates hybrids have higher pedestrian crash rates

A recent study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration finds that hybrid vehicles are more likely to be involved in accidents with pedestrians and bicyclists under certain scenarios. According to state-level accident data, 77 of 8,387 hybrid vehicles (that's .9 percent) were involved in crashes with pedestrians and 48 (.6 percent) were found to have been in accidents with bicyclists.

By way of comparison, 3,578 of 559,703 non-hybrid vehicles (.6 percent) were involved in pedestrian accidents and 1,862 (.3 percent) were involved with bicyclists. Tellingly, the NHTSA data shows that hybrid vehicles are twice as likely as non-hybirds to be involved in pedestrian or bicyclist accidents at low speeds when the internal combustion engine is not running.

Read the full report here:

http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811204.PDF

Race Ramps Flatstoppers

On Richard's recommendation I picked up a set of Race Ramps Flatstoppers for the SV while it hibernates this winter. Richard is a Ferrari Master Technician and one of 30 techs in the US capable of servicing an Enzo. He runs the Mid-Atlantic area's best regarded Ferrari service/race prep shop: Competizione & Sports Cars (www.competizioneracing.com).

Anyway, here's a picture of the Flatstoppers (from their website):

Anthem AVM 50

My old trusty Acurus ACT 3 developed an intermittent connection problem with the amplifier, so I ended up getting a new pre-processor, the Anthem AVM 50.



Anthem has always been known for making very high end audio/video gear along with their twin Paradigm speaker line, and this pre-processor is no different. Video processing duties are handled by Gennum VXP Digital Image Processor that provides truly broadcast quality image processing. On the audio side, theres the usual bullet proof D/A @ full 24-bit x 192 kHz resolution along with 2-channel balanced inputs, and 7.2 channel balanced outs (capable of 2 zones).

I have an audiophile set up rather than a full on HT, and even then the accoustics of the house aren't very good to begin with. Here's the current rig:

Speakers (5.2):
RBH 1266SE/R (front tower; pair)
RBH 661 SE/R (center)
RBH 66 SE/R (surround; pair)
Axiom EP500 (subs; pair)

Amp: Parasound 5250 (5 channel amp, 250w per channel @ 8ohms)

Pre-Processor: Anthem AVM 50

Transports:
Denon 2910 (CD, DVD, DVD-Audio, SACD; HDMI to AVM 50)
Sonos (mp3; coax audio connection to AVM 50)
PS3 (HDMI to AVM 50)
Western Digital Media Player (HDMI to TV; coax audio connection to AVM 50)
Cable box (HDMI to TV; coax audio connection to AVM 50)

TV: 65" Panny plasma

The last two transports hook up to the TV directly via HDMI so that we can watch TV/movies without the whole set up on.

In its current set up, this rig is an audiophile dream.

Instant Ninja!

Just awesome. Period.

Welcome to the dark side

Darth Vader Atom....




....meets Stormtrooper Exige

Adolf Hitler's R35 GT-R Original

This made my day - a funny take on Nissan's ongoing troubles with the new GTR tranny. Starts out slow...but you need to watch the whole thing.

What the auto bailout really means

Thanksgiving Midnight Madness/Black Friday, 2008

I've never been shopping on Thanksgiving weekend. Usually we're in Cornwall, and in Canada the sales are on Boxing day so the opportunity never arose. Now I'm not into shopping, but I was intrigued by the whole concept of Black Friday - and I wanted to see human greed and American consumerism meet at their finest hour!

So we reached Leesburg Premium outlets at 11.30pm, and already had a hard time finding parking.





Look at the rush of people inside Banana Republic. The checkout line was so long, snaking all around the store, it took 40 minutes to reach checkout.











The Mob.



There was a line outside Coach that went COMPLETELY around the block at midnight - the store would not open till 5am!





I had never heard of a brand called Pacific Sunwear, but it had a Coach rivalling line of kids and were using a 1-out-1-in rule to regular shoppers - interesting that Banana didn't bother with maximum occupancy rules - "we want your money, and don't car if you are crushed to death in the process".



Another around the store checkout line - this time at Puma.





Who cares if you don't have a car? Rent one just to go shopping!



Who cares if there's no parking? Just park on the grassy embankment!



All worn out - walked home at 6am, passed out by 6.05am.



The aftermath - both cars chock full!

Aftermath of online holiday shopping

We got a bunch of holiday shopping in the mail today. As you can see, we're trying our best to help the economy by maxing out our credit cards!

Moosh recently discovered Guitar Hero so we got this as her Christmas prezzie. We chose PS3 so that I could play GT5 next year when it comes out.



Memory cards and polarizers for the Antarctica trip.



New going out shoes (left) and driving shoes (right) for me.



Henckels bling for our upgraded kitchen!