The Top Ten "Top Lists" of 2008...continued

1. Well, I have to plug myself somewhere, right? The top ten adventures of Iko in 2008:

10. Field trip to Bar Americain.

9. Stalking Ian Riggs and Ethan Lipton.
8. The trip when we were rejected by "The Daily Show."
7. The trip when we got to see "The Daily Show."
6. Seeing Stephen the first time!
5. The outing to Otto and "Clinical Depression."

4. "The Daily Show"/"Colbert Report" Improv Jam.
3. Going to DC to see Stephen's portrait. Also, Jamon Iberico.

2. Getting to shake Stephen Colbert's hand!!!
1. (Was there any doubt?) Stalking Ed Helms at Parkside Lounge.

How could anyone not put that face at number 1?

Bonus list item: the entire trip to Toronto,

especially seeing A-Rod and Jeter, talking to Johnny Damon, and seeing Pudge order an extra shot to add to his vodka tonic. Also, beer straw.

ZOMG! ED! WTF?! Brooke Shields?

(Some of you may remember a similar post last year. If you want to relive that debacle, or if you haven't heard of my degeneracy, go here.)

OK, so we went to NYC last night to catch the (apparently) annual The Lonesome Trio show at Parkside Lounge. We got there around 8:30 and headed to the back for the show - All Night Cookin' was supposed to start at 8:30, but no one was playing and there were tons of empty seats (score for us). A quick scan of the room yielded Ed Helms and Ian Riggs sitting across the room from us, drinking and chatting with friends and family (score two for us). I totally geeked out, just like last year. So pathetic. Believe me, I'm completely aware of it.

All Night Cookin' started playing around 9, they had a good set, the crowd was into it, but, clearly I was waiting for Ed. Unfortunately, he didn't stay in the room while ANC was playing, so I couldn't leer awkwardly at him from afar, in the style of last year, although that's probably why he wasn't in the room, right? He took one look at me and was like, peace out, crazy staring ho is here.

After ANC was done playing, Ed, Ian, and Jacob started setting up and I took the obligatory Ed ass shot:


Look at how cute he is in the jacket...sigh. Here's another one:



So, they started playing pretty much right away, and they were AWESOME! You can really tell they're all friends and have been playing together for years, they have great on stage chemistry...even when they messed up, they just kept going, laughing the whole time. I will say, too, that Ed seemed particularly giddy throughout the whole set. He was joking with the audience and telling stories...perhaps he has a new girlfriend and that's what's making him so happy? Perhaps this girlfriend's name is Iko? Gosh, I wish. Anyway, Ed told an story about how he went for a walk in Central Park, all the while thinking, "New York is so beautiful," then a random guy spit across the sidewalk toward him (Ed "saw the arc"). Nice. He also pointed out the awesomeness that was the holiday decorations in the back room - wrapping paper on the walls and the racial harmony of black and white Santa Claus's spaced across the walls:

Perfect!

I took a ton of pictures throughout the show, unfortunately, I had some trouble getting legitimate pictures, as it was dark in there, and I have no idea how to use my camera in low-light situations. Here are a bunch of the best ones, though.

Ed looking on in amazement as the two other banjo players play EACH OTHER'S banjos:


Ed rocking the banjo:


Group shot at the end of the night:


The Lonesome Trio (Ian singing):


More Lonesome Trio:


And, the best shot of the night, just because he looks so adorable when he smiles:


And, here are two videos I took, the first is Ed singing "All Gone to Hell" and the second is a song, that I don't know the name of, but it's awesome because Ed plays the mandolin. I apologize in advance that you can here me fangirling about Ed and the mandolin before the song starts and then rambling about Ed playing the sitar in "Moroccan Christmas." I'm lame, I know.





So, we stayed until the end. After The Lonesome Trio played, they all took a break, then reconvened to play together. That break was my chance to talk to Ed and take (another - yes I know I'm a stalker) picture with him, but I missed my chance, sadly. I did actually go out to the bar during the break to get a drink and I did see him, but I was a) too afraid to actually speak to him, as I knew I would probably blurt out something ridiculously lame and b) too afraid to interrupt his conversation with, wait for it, Brooke Shields and husband (yeah, I know, WTF?!!? right? How are they even friends? Why was she at the Parkside Lounge?) because, let me tell you, Brooke Shields, even wearing no makeup, hair under a newsboy cap, wearing a baggy sweatshirt, is still incredibly, intimidatingly beautiful. There was no way in F this bridge-and-tunnel Jersey girl was going anywhere near her when she was talking to Ed. There would clearly be no comparison. It's like putting a piece of fish, beautifully prepared by Eric Ripert, next to a Fish sandwich from Long John Silvers.

So, I hung my head and scurried back to the stage-area and sat back down. The two bands started playing together (still no Ed), but they were really good. Finally, one of them was like, "where's Ed?" At which point I should have been like, "Oh, he's outside, let me go get him" (and by "get him" I mean, clearly, make out with him, then bring him on stage). Instead, someone else grabbed him and they all played a few more songs together.

People in the audience and members of both bands slowly left as the evening wore on, until just a few people were left. Including me and Ed. So, that was my second chance, but I blew that too (that's what she said), by not having the balls to actually go up to him to tell him he did an awesome job and ask for a picture. Honestly, I just felt badly because he was clearly talking to his friends and family...I didn't want to be that stupid girl that interrupts conversations with old friends and close family members to say, "ZOMG!!! ED HELMS!!! You'resodreamyOMG!" So, we just left, happy having seen Ed and gotten an incredibly enjoyable evening of music to boot. I kind of wish I had been able to talk to him, just for a second, but, like I said before, I would have undoubtedly acted like a jackass, then berated myself for like weeks afterward, so it's best to squee from afar and not be embarrassed.

Thus ended the evening of great music and awkward leering. A good time was had by all, I can't wait for December 29th next year, for another show.

ZOMG! Lonesome Trio!

The Lonesome Trio is playing tonight, at the Parkside Lounge in NYC, and guess who's going? Hopefully a full and awesome report to come!

Top Chef Season 5 - Episode 6: The Twelve Days of Christmas

So, I finally got around to watching the episode, I know, I know. But it was Christmas, and I was away, and it was Christmas...

Anyway, the predictions:
1. Martha DID show up, but only for the QF, unfortunately. I figured she'd at least want to guest judge some real food for the EC. She basically showed up to plug her book and left, right? At least she was nice to the chefs about their food, with the exception of my boy Gene...WTF is up with him lately? Point to me.
2. Jeff did make good looking food (and was good-looking himself) and did get very little screen time. Point to me.
3. Fabio did TRY to charm Martha with his accent, but didn't hit on Padma, I'll give myself 1/2 point.
4. Stefan didn't really have much screen time, but I'll assume he acted like a cock-monkey, 1/2 point to me.
5. Jamie didn't punch Stefan in the face (that we saw). Did he look like he was sporting a black eye at any point? No points.
6. God! When will Ariane go home? At least she cooked the meat properly and then won the stupid QF. I guess I was exactly wrong, so I should give myself bonus points for predicting the exact opposite of what happened, but I won't. No points.
7. None of this happened, thank God. But I did kind of get a little jealousy from Leah when the ladies were all up in Hosea's food at the benefit, so maybe that's 1/2 point.
8. This was way off. Radhika got lots of screen time, thanks to the broken fridge and Gene got lots of screen time for all the wrong reasons. I'll give myself 1/4 point for predicting that Radhika would make interesting food, though. That duck sounded awesome!
9. Melissa was uninteresting and should have gone home. 1 point.
10. Carla did shriek about Martha, but more about the fantastic gospel choir, so 1/2 point.

As for the other predictions:
I was way off about the QF theme, although I think it was a good one - one pot meal. I think it's completely bootleg that the chefs could use one pot and keep dumping stuff out of it, saving it, then cleaning the pot and reusing it, though. Wouldn't putting each part of the meal in a separate bowl and then combining everything back together create just as many dishes as using multiple pots? I think they should have just made the chefs use one pot, total, no cleaning. Much more interesting that way.

No one made dessert and no one said "throw me under the bus" so no points there. Tom did get to eat with everyone else (yay!) so 1 point, and I think Padma did wear only holiday-themed colors ( I don't remember what she wore in the QF), so I'll give myself the benefit of the doubt with 1 more point.

Total: 7 1/4 points. Not too bad. If I had actually read the title of the episode, I may have actually been able to predict the theme of the EC, but, alas, I'm not that bright.

Final thoughts - I love, love, loved how all the chefs banded together to help Radhika and Hosea, and that the two of them ended up with the best dishes. Fantastic. This is why I like this show - chefs know that at the end of the day, you have to help each other out or nothing gets done and everyone goes home. I'm positive that extra work, helping Radhika and Hosea, is why the rest of the food suffered, though. I imagine they all must have been so tired to begin with, then having to make all new food for the two of them just sent everyone over the edge. I would have liked to see what they would have come up with had the fridge not broken on them overnight.

I don't think there's a new episode this week, due to New Years, right? So I'll be back the following Wed. with a recap of the delicious goings on. In the meantime, I would like it to be known that I'm actually going to see The Lonesome Trio tonight (ED!!!!!), so hopefully, I'll be back with some good pictures and maybe video from the show. I hope everyone had a great holiday season!

We May Have Stalked Ian Riggs - And So Can You!

Some of you may remember, way back when AbS was born, that KN and I jaunted to NYC to see "The Lonesome Trio" perform at The Parkside Lounge. Now, I'm not going to lie, we mainly went to stalk Ed Helms, but KN and I happen to also like bluegrass, so, we figured even if Ed bailed out, because he got word of degenerate girls stalking him at the show, we'd have a good time. And we did. And we saw Ed! And even talked* to him! Actually, mostly, KN talked to Ian Riggs, the bass player for "The Lonesome Trio," who then very kindly got Ed to take a picture with us. Clearly, from that moment on, our love for Ian Riggs was cemented. It didn't hurt that we a) were completely enamored of his playing stand-up bass and b) thought he was absolutely adorable.** So, when we started searching the internets for shows in which Ian was participating one night (written about as the drunken debacle that was "The Return"), we were delighted to find out he was playing with Ethan Lipton and his Orchestra at Joe's Pub at The Public Theater at the end of May. Being that KN's graduation/birthday were also at the end of May, we bought some tickets as a way to celebrate KN and stalk a person who is not Ed Helms.

The show we got tickets for didn't start until 9:30pm, so we decided to grab dinner before the show, then head over to the theater, rather than eat at Joe's Pub - which I'm sure is fine, but I figured we could do better. I had wanted to go to The Stanton Social before, but it hadn't worked out, luckily, I was able to get a reservation for 6:00pm on the day of the show, which, yes, I KNOW, is kind of early, but we had seven people going to the show and we had to walk from the restaurant to the theater and I wanted to make sure we got in line early, so as to get prime, front-row seats. You know, ones perfect for optimal stalking.

So, first the food! The Stanton Social, for those of you who don't know, is a small-plates restaurant, which I thought would be good for a big group (good for sharing) and also good for those in the group who are not as food adventurous as others (good for selecting only steak or bread). And, it filled the bill well. We kind of all ordered our own food and some of us shared, so here's what we ordered:

Nori Spiced Tuna Tartare Roll


Empanadas (stuffed with...something)


'Old School' Meatballs


Grilled Apple and Brie Quesadilla


Kobe Slider and Lobster Roll Slider with Potato Chips


Some delicious pickles


More of the Lobster Roll Slider


We also ordered some other food, of which I either didn't get pictures or took the crappiest pictures ever (yes, the ones above are the best of the bunch, sadly, I really need to take a photography class or something). These food items include the Bistro Salad, the Baby Back Ribs, and the Moo Shu Shrimp. Overall, the food was pretty good. I wanted to go to the restaurant to try the food, first and foremost, as I had heard it was good from a number of people, but I was a little concerned that the trendi-ness of the restaurant came at the expense of actual legitimate food. Of the food above, I had the tuna roll (very delicious), the lobster roll (good, but a little chewy and too mayonnaise-y for my taste), and the Moo Shu shrimp (tasty). I also had the Bistro Salad, which, honestly, I was pretty disappointed with. It came with a poached egg laced atop it (sounds good, right?) but the egg was completely cooked through. The whole point of the egg is to break into the yolk and allow it to ooze it's egg-y deliciousness all over the salad, which, clearly, as the yolk was a solid mass of yellow-semi-deliciousness, it couldn't do. Plus, the salad was over-dressed and the bacon was either rock hard or too chewy. Not good. I actually was unimpressed with the meatballs, too. The balls of ground meats were good, but the sauce was sweet, like way too sweet, maybe honey? Too much sugar? I don't know what happened. I'm guessing the sauce is normally not like that, so I'll give them a pass. The rest of the food, I can't really tell you about, as I didn't eat it, but no one was disappointed in their choices, so I guess that's a good sign.

For dessert, we got a few of the chocolate tastings, the Strawberry Shortcake sundae (?), and some kind of cheesecake, the latter two aren't on the online dessert menu, so I'm not so sure about them, sorry. Here's the chocolate tasting with the sundae in the background;


And, here's the cheesecake:


I only had a little bit of the chocolate tasting (that little bit being the DELICIOUS peppermint patty), so I can't write anything about the desserts, other than they were all eaten. So, they were probably good. Brilliant powers of deduction, I know.

Overall, I'd say the restaurant was good. Probably slightly better than good. WAAAAAY too expensive, but slightly better than good. I think it's a little too trendy for me, I'm more of a jeans and T-shirt kind of person, who doesn't mind getting dressed up to go out to eat, but, not when I have to trek about Manhattan all afternoon and evening. I definitely prefer the hole-in-the-wall restaurants, casual atmosphere and delicious, fairly-priced food. That said, I would recommend eating at The Stanton Social, especially if you're eating with a group of people with highly varied tastes in food.

OK, enough of that, onto the real reason we went to New York - to stalk Ian Riggs! So, after dinner, we meandered our way across the short distance to The Public Theater, where we arrived about 45 minutes before the doors opened. And we were the first people in line - what losers we are! So, we waited for the first show to get out before we were ushered inside to our seats - right in front of the stage and off to the right side. Ethan Lipton and His Orchestra were playing the show with The Lascivious Biddies, whom we knew nothing about, but, whatever, it was an adventure, so we weren't to concerned. Ethan Lipton played first and they were awesome. KN and I yelled towards Ian Riggs when he was announced, but, unfortunately, he was on the opposite side of the stage from where we were seated, so we didn't get to see him as much as we wanted. But he was really great. And still adorable. His voice is amazing. The Lascivious Biddies came out to play a song with them, then they switched and the Lascivious Biddies sang a set, with Ethan Lipton, et al. coming out to join them for a song. Both groups were really good, although I was clearly biased towards a certain group (and person) in particular. I would definitely go see either group again, no question. I highly recommend them both.

After the show we had to leave to get back home, but KN and I managed to pass Ian on our way to the restroom before we left and I, in true Iko fashion, blurted out, "Great show!!" to him as I sprinted by him on my way. To be fair, he was having a conversation with someone, which I didn't want to interrupt, but I should have at least paused for a few seconds before running away like a degenerate. He was extremely nice to my degenerate ass and "thank you" quite enthusiastically as I ran away. So cute. And so sad for me. And so sad for you, as no pictures were allowed inside the theater, so no photos for you! Sorry. You'll just have to get tickets to go see them yourself. In retrospect, I should have just taken a picture with him at the end...what's the worst thing that could happen? I get kicked out? The show was over, how much damage could THAT have done?

So, thus ended our stalking trip to Manhattan. I hope you enjoyed reading about our thinly-veiled degeneracy. I'm sure more stalking is soon to come...perhaps Ed will be in New York at some point over the summer?

*By talk, I mean Ed asked a series of very legitimate, questions, like "how did you hear about the show?" and "where are you guys from?" to which I was unable to respond in any type of intelligent fashion. So, mainly Ed talked at me and I acted like a mute jackass.
**And, as I just learned from Ethan Lipton's site, is single! Ladies, can I get a WOOT!!?

Strong Work, KN!/Ed Helms Post of the Day

Today, a good friend of AbS is celebrating her birthday, so a big shout-out to KN! In honor of her birth, here is a new Lonesome Trio picture:

Courtesy of their Myspace Page, via the delightful http://www.edhelms.org/. Seriously, I love that site, you all should, too!

Also, this old, but good, segment from "The Daily Show" because it kind of has some shirtless Ed, you know, in honor of KN:

My (sort of) first post

In honor of those people who left Myspace, but, for some reason, "like" my blog, I'm moving to a more easily accessible forum. Although, this means there will be far less bashing of a certain N.P. because if I continued said bashing here, certain parts of my life would probably be more miserable than they are currently. That being said, the rest of the world is fair game...no worries.

Also, I was two seconds away from naming the blog "Yij (dot) bar," but I didn't want a bunch of stat geeks inundating me with SAS code...although, maybe I should start a "SAS code of the day" post.

So, here begins my blog of random thoughts, rants, favorite TV shows, food, and anything else I feel the need to write about, as well as inflict my ramblings on the general public. Good Times.

To start, here are some videos from my stalker-esque trip to NYC to see Ed Helms play with his band at The Parkside Lounge. It's important to note that Ed wrote the song "All Gone to Hell," (second video) and I choose to believe he wrote it about some slut-ass-ho who broke his heart recently (but not too recently), leaving him open to a fabulous relationship with me. For the record, the first video is "If Devils Can Slow Dance" not written by anyone in the band, but sung here by the illustrious Ian Riggs (sexy, high falsetto by Ed).

SAS code of the Day:
How to get SAS to calculate tertiles (why does Mozilla think this isn't a word?):

proc univariate;
var x;
output out = bla pctlpts 33 67 pctlpre = p;
proc print;
quit;

Learning this was the highlight of my day. My life is sad.