Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Do You Care What I Like?

If you do, my list of top musical things from 2009 appears below. If you'd also like to see what my excellent former colleagues and cohorts found enjoyable last year, please peruse this fine newsletter, as compiled by my compadre + the dude currently finding Starburst lollies under my ex-keyboard, Lil Pat. Nice work Pat.

Top Releases + songs

Nite Jewel – Good Evening
The xx - xx
Jack Penate – Everything Is New
The Mess Hall – For The Birds
Miike Snow – Miike Snow
Health – Get Color
DZ – Ruined My Life
The Middle East – The Recordings Of The Middle East
megastick fanfare – brain tooth
Bat For Lashes – Daniel
Kid Sister - Get Fresh
Super Wild Horses – We Don’t Believe It

Gigs I lost a little bit of my mind at


ATP Mt Buller… all of it
PJ Harvey + John Parish, Future Of The Left, The Bronx, Nite Jewel + Spindrift at SxSW
Seekae remix EP launch w/ megastick fanfare, Parades, Ghoul + Bearhug
Ivy League FBi fundraiser w/ The Mess Hall, Red Riders, Cloud Control + more
Spunk FBi fundraiser
Talons + SPOD at Clare’s bday warehouse party

Top Four Mongolian bands I expect to see a lot in 2010

Khusugtun, Altan Urag, Starfish, Mohanik

P.S. If you enjoy the musical selections of Mr Martin Doyle as expressed in the Ivy League newsletter, do take a stroll to Dusty Fingers, Dirty Palms. It's education + inspiration all rolled into one lovely page on the internet.

Monday, December 28, 2009

I Ate This In Berlin #2

My expat friends living in Berlin say they are BIB* when they get home after being out of town. I am now BIUB# after spending a week IB^. (I am currently working for an NGO. Acronyms are becoming my life). I had a lovely time with the beautiful Ria + Chris and ate + drank many delicious things.

At a delightful xmas market we drank glühwein with Harriet. Not too much though - spewing warm red wine is no fun for anyone.


We drank Russische hot chocolate (go for one part cocoa and 17 parts vodka and you're on your way. Hello Moscow).



Christo gave a duck a bath before roasting it for xmas lunch. That duck sat on my knee in the train on the way home from the market. It had a bony butt. Its mother should have told it to eat more.


I saw these in the local booze shop. Of course I purchased them. Wouldn't you?


*Back In Berlin
#Back In Ulaanbaatar
^In Berlin

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

I Ate This In Berlin #1

I am in Berlin, Germany this week. It is like being on summer holidays, only there's snow instead of sand and glühwein instead of sangria. The temperature is an almost tropical 3°C as opposed to -45°C in Ulaanbaatar. I came here excited by the prospect of lots and lots of fresh vegetables and fruits from mystical islands. Instead I got currywurst.

Friday, December 11, 2009

Cheer Up Charlie Winter Warmer Recipe

Partly inspired by Indira's excellent Saucy Onion and partly the result of a very uncomfortable sleepless night, here is my 'Cheer Up Charlie Winter Warmer' recipe, also known as 'Colonic Irrigation For Those On A Budget'. If you ever watched the original version of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, (and hopefully fast-forwarded through the torture of said song) you may recall Charlie and his bed-sharing grandparents survived on cabbage and Wonka Bars. My soup pays homage, sans the golden ticket...

INGREDIENTS

1 x cabbage
1 x onion
Garlic cloves (however many you like, depending on the evening's plans)
Chilli
Paprika
Assorted root vegetables found in the fridge / cupboard
Salt + pepper
Water
Random stock cubes purchased at the market (I like these because they have pictures. I assume one is chicken and one mushroom. For obvious reasons).


DIRECTIONS

1. Head to local store.
2. Recoil in horror at sheep's heads sitting in open fridge type contraption.



3. Bypass sheep and find a nice head of cabbage instead.



4. Head home and assess fridge and cupboard situation. Usually there will be a random potato or carrot floating around. Peel and chop those suckers. Chop up the onion + garlic too, then fry them with some chilli. Chuck in the chopped cabbage and random vegetables, give them a quick fry, then throw in boiling water, stock cubes, paprika and whatever else takes your fancy.

5. If you want to give the soup a decidedly Mongolian edge, consider throwing some buuz into the mix. The Buckets would lose their Wonkafied minds over these things. While the soup is doing the business on one hot plate, steam some pre-bought mutton dumplings on the other. If you don't own a steamer, never fear - a strainer can serve more than one purpose.



6. Throw the buuz into the soup when it's fully cooked, stir + serve. A tasty winter treat for those on a budget / living in a country where a tomato probably costs more than a whole sheep.

Monday, December 7, 2009

Diseases May Now Spread After 9pm

Yes, we can rejoice - the H1N1 curfew has indeed been lifted. This actually happened last week, but I failed to mention it because I was too busy not being in the house after 9pm. I will miss meetings and training sessions where participants looked like this:

h1n1 is scary

Sunday, December 6, 2009

WHY SKYPE IS GOOD

It is Sunday afternoon in Mongolia, the day after we hosted an excellent party for Clare's birthday at our happy home. I have not left the house, the floor is sticky and I'm still wearing a nightie. I have spent the past three hours on the couch, on an amazing date with my friend Grace who lives in NYC. It is approximately 3am in NYC and Grace has been drinking beers. She convinced me join in. I now have to go have a shower before I go watch some ballet. I LOVE SKYPE.



Thursday, December 3, 2009

Happy Birthday Clare!

It was Clare's birthday today, so we had cake. Mongolian cake is special. See below.




I chose the cake because it had elephants, a fence and some fetching green grass. The woman in the supermarket tried to explain what kind of cake it was. I did not understand. Then again, I don't quite know how to describe this exceptional baked good in English either, except to note that it had a layer of green and a layer of orange on the inside too. I do admire colour co-ordination in a cake.

We are having a party at our house on Saturday night in Clare's honour. If you or one of your sheep herding uncles resides in Ulaanbaatar, do come along... with fangs.