Little Dom's

Little Dom's on Hillhurst. I love this place. Consistently some of the best food I've had in LA. AND on Monday nights, they have $10 bottles of their Dago Red or White. It's a blend of juice from Palmina! How cool is that?

Anna Fur Laxis takes on Japan

So, what do you do when giant robots attack? Hope like hell that Anna Fur Laxis is in town, that's what.


When need be, she has her trusty Pandamobile to convey herself around in a hurry.


Out on the town with other Superhero friends.


Tiniest stage ever...


So, really, Anna Fur Laxis is friends with Jack Dagger, and she jaunts around the world making appearances, doing burlesque shows, and photo shoots. Pretty cool. Pretty, and cool.


Anna Fur Laxis is a full-time Superhero Housewife who's superpowers entail constantly getting into scrapes for which the only solution is to take off her clothes. Generally found with a cup of Earl Grey tea in hand, Anna's interests include adding to her portfolio of housewifely skillz and mincing around in rubber and pencil skirts. Or rubber pencil skirts.

Stars of Santa Barbara Tasting

Brian Loring throwing his LWC Gang sign for Loring Wine Company. Brian, in addition to being a rock star winemaker, is also a really funny and cool guy. I joked with him that at Noir, we have a wall of his wine. I call it the wall o' Loring.


Curt Schalchlin, wine maker at Sans Liege, a relatively new producer of wild, Rhone-styled wines. His three right now are the 2007 Cotes du Coast, a White blend of Viognier, Rousanne, and Marsanne. (Coincidentally, I got to try the '06 at Bottlerock in Downtown LA recently) The 2006 Offering, a blend of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre with a touch of Viognier. And the 2006 Grenache, which is simply awesome.

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Peter Cargasacchi, holding it down. Cargassachi, in addition to making wines with his own fruit, sells some of the most sought after Pinot Noir out there. He sells to Bonaccorsi, Loring, Pali, and only a few others. And oh yeah, Peter claimed he didn't show up on film.

The Joel Porter Quartet at the York

Spent father's day listening to a friend's jazz quartet. I'm sure the old man would approve.

Another Year in LA

An art show down in Atwater Village I swung by. The knife has "Fucking Hippie" laser etched on it. I think I should have bought it for Autumn.

The last sunlight of the Summer Solstice 2009 as reflected off of a standing bass. And no, I don't feel like elaborating, it'd just fuck it up.

Rockin out.

There's a lot going on here...

Marty and Elaine Livin La Vida Loca

Marty and Elaine, at it again, down at the Dresden. Wow. Way too dark for video, but the sound is what we go for, right?

The BIG solo. Elaine tears it up!



Extended vocals. Look Out!

Gavin's B-Day

Drinks at The Griffin for Gavin's B-Day. Sorry folks, no photos or stories.. we were too busy rockin it out. Although, I did get him a 15 year old Pappy Van Winkle Bourbon. Homeboy deserved it, even if he sure as shit didn't need it.

Doin the wine list

Gettin' there. Gettin' there.

Cooked Wine?

Found some 02 Grenache and 03 Shiraz from Kilikanoon that had been incorrectly put in in climate UNcontrolled storage. We figured, hey, let's pop 'em and see how they are. Well, kinda interesting- if there's anything I'd think would be able to handle some heat, it'd be Australian Grenache and Shiraz. The Grenache had slightly roasty coffee notes, but the inherent raspberry was still there. Also an almost Thackreyesque eucalyptus thing going on too. It showed some premature aging but we were surprised how well it held up. For the first five minutes at least. Then it quickly went downhill as the oxygen got in, and the finish was shot, offering up only an over the hill remains of a jam. The Shiraz, may have never been the wine the Grenache was. It never seemed to make it out of the gate. So let this be a lesson, kids, store your bottles well.

Flash makes an appearance Video

Flash makes an appearance

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The elusive Flash Backflip video...

Singing Sadie

Sing a little ditty with Sadie, the all singing all dancing queen of the burgeoning underground show tunes scene. Her songs hark back to the war years, a simpler time, when singing prowess was often overlooked. Sadie, instead of that talent crap, favors sharp and biting lyrics centred on drinking, dancing, and prostitutes long passed their used by date. All sung and danced with all the skill and execution of Florence Foster Jenkins. Sadie left her song and dance lessons at age 12 to find work in the industry way ahead of her peers. In response to criticism at the time, she was quoted as saying 'They don't know a fucking thing about music anyway' Although purported, there is scant evidence that she actually accused anyone of being a "stupid whore", though. As rumour has it, after a tinkle on the bar tab she is likely to do splits, show her underclothes more than once, and high kick unsuspecting audience members in the head.

“This Australian one-woman-show sings in an out-of-control voice that doesn't always hit the "right" notes (but they're usually close enough) humorously dirty lyrics over old big-band records. And then, maybe half-way thru each tune...she tap dances. Well, she tries. It's kind of the dancing equivalent of her singing, like someone randomly dropping silverware on a hard floor.” – WMFU.

Blow back over the Riuniti post

So my notes on the Riuniti truck have found purchase. Craig, the driver writes:

"Hey, I'm Craig...the driver of the Riunite RV! I once lived in the neighborhood (Los Feliz) where the pic was taken, and was having dinner with a friend.
Don't be so harsh...Riunite Lambrusco is a refreshing beverage...even to the most jaded wine aficionados.
Great Blog! Hope to run into you sometime on the road...I'll be in Sonoma this weekend for a Nascar event....see you there?"

Damn! I won't be in Sonoma, but Craig, when do you come back to LA, I think a Riuniti tasting is in order. I DO in fact happen to like Lambrusco and in fact have two lined up for our by the glass list at the new wine bar. Is Riuniti an option? Possibly, let's do a tasting!

I'm not too snobby for new options!

The Riunite Truck!

Holy hell, Riunite's got an RV. And it's got NY plates no less. In all fairness, I've never even had Riunite so I can't actually say with any authority that it sucks, but I'm pretty sure it's terrible. I wonder who drives that thing? It'd probably be pretty awesome to Bomb around the US pouring Riunite at car races, Renaissance fairs, and AARP fundraisers.
Apparently, there's a group of people in Baltimore who like to drink Riunite and rollerblade. They're called Rollerbrusco

Alice's Graduation

My Cousin Alice graduated from UCSB. She's already lined up with a design job here in LA. How together is she? I had to sweat it out for years before figuring out what I wanted to do. It was just a year ago, I took her out for her first legal beer!

Immaturity through scrabble

Justin muses over Moscato d' Asti

As a part of the continued Jay and Dick drinking project, justin and I showed up unannounced next door and brought with us a few bottles of wine. Among the three, were, most notably, a Moscato d'Asti, and a 07 Chard by Donkey and a goat from Brosseau vineyard. The Chardonnay was really spectacular. I've never had the chance to have a chard from Brosseau, usually, I just get their Pinot, when done by Loring and P2 and Pali. Anyhow, this chard was stunning. A really great job by these guys. And I enjoyed the Moscato too, but justin didn't quite feel the same...

Hair today, gone tomorrow

Before and after shot taken by my buddy Cal, back in 2002. So yes, I still have hair.

RANDALL GRAHM OF BONNY DOON

Aha! How much fun is this? We got to head over to Suzanne Goin and Caroline Styne's new project: Tavern. AND, got to have lunch with the infamous Randall Grahm of Bonny Doon Vineyards. Here's Randall hanging with Peter Birmingham.


Beautiful new spot, and everything I'd expect from the crew that brought you AOC. Design by Jeffrey Alan Marks


My chicken and couscous with a light raisin glaze.


Ha! My very own cheese plate!


Randall dropping some science.

2nd annual Turtleneck Party

The Turtleneck party and the steady degeneration of it's inhabitants. Who's got that video of the flash doing a back flip? That needs to get re-posted...

And Hooray! Here it is:
Flash makes an appearance

That tall guy second from the right...

That's Flash.

Friends Series

I've decided to start posting random pictures of my friends. That way people can put faces with names. This here is Jeff Gordley.

Rudi Wiest Tasting

Today was the much celebrated Rudi Wiest Tasting at Lawry's. It's one of the most looked forward to tastings of the year. About a hundred German wines and some fantastic German food. Some really wonderful Auslese and Spatlase. Some real eye openers.


Especially this, a Spatburgunder (pinot Noir) that I actually liked. This is definitely a first for me!

Burgers with friends at My Father's Office

My High School friend Chani was in town, so we went to the Broad to check out the Serra's AGAIN. But I loved it. I really do dig on checking those out. Here is a post of his stuff, and here, and here. Afterwards we went to My Father's Office for some of the best burgers ever.


And here's another picture of Isa, just because she's beautiful.