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Jbeatty's Journal

jbeatty
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11/04/2007 09:50 #41971

What I want to be when I grow up
This is a question that has plagued me since I took those tests in 8th grade that said I should be a farmer. In a moment of clarity I figured it out last night. Why not combine my love of traveling and drinking while getting paid? I have always thought it would be fun to be on one of those travel shows. But honestly I doubt that I'm charismatic enough to be on Globetrekker. In fact I would probably offend most of the PBS viewing audience. But on the same token I don't want to be on one of those E goes wild on shows either. I mean sure I would love to go to Ibiza or Bali and dance with half naked women but lets face that's already been done. So I suppose this is not an original idea I kinda stole it from Dave Attell. But here is the difference I would to do a show about places Americans avoid. I would go to places like Oaxaca and do shots of tequila in a towny bar, or maybe pound a few back in the Tamil Tiger controlled region of Sri Lanka. It would be sort of a dangerous proposition but lets face it if I started buying rounds for the bar I would be pretty well protected for the night. So the title of my show would be "James Gets Drunk In_____?". I think this could be big. Does anyone want to underwrite me?
jason - 11/05/07 09:41
There is already a "travel and get loaded" show called Three Sheets, on MOJO (who gets Mojo? Do I?)

:::link:::

I've gotta say, I really like the show from what I've seen at my friend's place. The host has a great sense of humor, and a serious love of the drinky.

He goes EVERYWHERE to get drunk - Sake in Japan, Guinness in Ireland, various beers in Belgium, so on and so forth.
tinypliny - 11/04/07 12:08
Okay, final comment and I sound like the total sap I am. You should and must follow your heart.
tinypliny - 11/04/07 12:04
A better option would be: :::link:::
jbeatty - 11/04/07 12:04
Imk: yeah its sort of a rip off of Bourdain too, but it would be slightly different, my shows main focus would be drinking and eating greasy drunk food.

Metalpeter: So you are saying if I take care of the legal crap you will give me a grant?


Ladycroft: Globetrekker is my all time favorite show. It has helped me pick a few of the places I wanted to see. I think Belgium would a challenge, but I'm up for it. Alright you can co-host with me but you have to agree to not out drink me. I'm thinking I'm gonna have to get some tattoos as well or nobody will take me seriously.
tinypliny - 11/04/07 12:01
I am not sure how genuine these "clubs" are but you might want to look into work that involves travelling to arcane places. e.g. :::link:::
twisted - 11/04/07 11:51
Just get an underground movement started to turn your show into a drinking game. You'll have a dedicated audience in no time!
ladycroft - 11/04/07 11:43
you know globe trekker! that's why i picked my avitar stamp - because i love traveling and that show has the best solo jaunts on a shoestring. i'd love to do a beers of the world show. of course belguim would take a loooong time to complete at a rate of 5 beers per day. ok - so i'd totally watch your show. maybe we should become a dynamic travelling duo!
metalpeter - 11/04/07 11:09
See the underwriting you wouldn't be the tough part. It would be all the legal stuff for you and your 3 man camera crew and all their equipment not to mention the translators I would have to send to make sure all the releases got singed. There is nothing that kills a spot drinking with rebels shotting off guns then not seeing there faces when they give you one of there women for free and you can't see her face either. It does though really sound like a cool idea.
imk2 - 11/04/07 10:08
isn't that kind of what bourdain is doing now? you never see him without a shot or a cigarette. god, he's hot. i think i have a post about him somewhere.

11/02/2007 19:22 #41948

Things are looking up
Or so it seems. I had my Bio test this evening and I really have no idea how I did, but this time I did not get that "I just fucked that up feeling". In fact I think a good majority of my answers were well thought out and actually made sense this time. So hopefully these last couple weeks of real studying paid off. I'm still not out of the water yet. Tomorrow is physics and although I feel ready, it could go horribly wrong depending on the complexity of the problems. Nonetheless I feel cramming more at this point will only make me more nervous.

On the job front I have an interview tomorrow, hopefully it will go well and they can offer me what I'm looking for. I'm pretty miserable at my current place. I never thought I would say this, but I really miss working at Tokyo-Seoul. That restaurant was the cleanest that I have ever worked or eaten in. The food was consistently good; I rarely if ever had a complaint. The money was also so much better. Despite how difficult it could be to work for someone who screamed at me in Korean when I didn't live up to unreasonable expectations, or the completely unfair policies that are probably against labor laws. I at least knew where I stood there. People were not phony or complete dickheads for no apparent reason. We didn't have lame ass staff menu knowledge tests or constant threats of being fired for the most minor of rule infractions. The owners ruled with an iron fist, but as long as you worked hard and didn't lie to them you were safe. Hopefully this new place will work out, I guess if it doesn't I will keep looking.

deeglam - 11/03/07 14:41
Man, it's refreshing to hear that you are kinda in the same boat as myself....and it's even more refreshing to hear that things are on the upturn for you! Cheers to your job interview! Good luck!
tinypliny - 11/03/07 02:02
Good Luck!! I will be sending in a little prayer!
lizabeth - 11/02/07 23:52
Man, I can't believe this place makes the working conditions at Tokyo Seoul seem good by comparison. I could never hack a job in food service, if that's what you have to put up with.

Well, I could probably never hack a job in food service, anyway. And yet they had me tending bar for a while at the film festival tonight... fools that they are.

Man, I can't wait 'til we can come up and visit you! Thanksgiving is gonna be great!

10/31/2007 19:52 #41913

kibirashi review
I noticed Kibirashi was back open for business this evening so I popped in for a quick bite. I am generally over critical when it comes to restaurants but particularly with sushi places. Needless to say I wasn't blown away by kibirashi, yet I wasn't disappointed either. I had a few of my standard pieces hamachi, and fluke, a spicy tuna hand roll and also tried something new. They were running a special, kimchi marinated escargot as a piece of nigiri. It sounded interesting, and it was. Although it was more sweet than it was spicy, it was still delicious. It tasted like it had eel sauce on it but I was assured that it wasn't exactly that but it was meant to have a sweetness. The chef made the nigiri the way I prefer with a little dab of wasabi under the fish. Definitely tastes better that way in my opinion. It was all pretty fresh unlike some of the other sushi places I have had in town. Here is where I was disappointed. The spicy tuna hand roll was mushy. He made it before some of my other things so it sat around for a few minutes. All it takes is a few minutes for the nori to become as soft as Bob Dole without his meds. The spicy mayo was also not good, it tasted way too much like regular mayonnaise to me. Don't get me wrong I thought this place was on par with Kuni's. An added bonus is that it has seating which I definitely prefer to take out. It's a neat little dining area, I love that it's small. I'm not a big fan of the giant sushi bars that you have to scream across the counter to get a chef's attention. They currently don't have a liquor license yet; I guess they had to reapply. I'm sure the state will be more than happy to take their money though. Service was good and I think so far this is my favorite sushi place in Buffalo.
jbeatty - 11/02/07 10:17
Sounds good to me, let me just get through this next week of fun at school.
jason - 11/01/07 16:02
If you throw a rock onto the 2nd floor of 750 I may be jarred out of my stupor long enough to stop down and have a bite.
drew - 11/01/07 09:20
I'm always up for sushi, even though I prefer Kuni's
lizabeth - 11/01/07 02:30
Are you taking us there when we come up to see you in a few weeks?
paul - 10/31/07 23:15
I would gladly go with you some time. Matt and Terry don't like Sushi and I love it.

10/28/2007 16:39 #41846

Skate Grenobloise
I'm way too hung over to do anything more productive than cook and clean today. Thanks again PMT for a great party. It was nice meeting a few more people on the site.

Today I felt like making something quick and simple. So I chose Skate Grenobloise because skate takes about 4 minutes to cook and the sauce another minute. This dish is from the Dauphine region of France. Grenobloise means in the style of Grenoble, the capital of the Dauphine region. Apparently they prepare trout in a similar manner there. Since I'm not a chef I ripped off Bourdain's recipe and presentation. I have actually never had skate before today, I apparently have been missing out. This stuff is cheap, I mean really cheap. I paid less than $3 for a large fillet of it. It has a similar texture to Lobster and is a very mild whitefish. The whole recipe is nothing more than a skate wing, butter, capers, lemon juice, croutons and parsley. I had it with some asparagus and Pommes Puree. I am going to have to eat a lot more skate now that I know how great this stuff is.

image

Alright Yvonne I'm making Coq Au Vin next, probably in a couple of weeks after all of this school crap calms down a little. It's a chicken soaked in red wine and some vegetables over night and served with mushrooms, bacon and noodles. If anyone else is interested I will have two more servings left over. It's kinda boring just cooking for myself all the time.

lizabeth - 11/01/07 02:27
Yeah, I am really surprised to hear that you hadn't had skate before - especially with how much your brother raved about it when he started making it in Syracuse after finding it at Fins & Tails.

Not that there is no good food to be had here, but I think the scene for home cooks is way better in Syracuse than here in FL.
john - 10/29/07 22:51
Yeah, that sounds about right. :)
carolinian - 10/29/07 12:57
(e:carolinian), a former Ithaca College student, joined (e:strip).

(e:lizabeth), technically a beatty, was (e:carolinian)'s friend from his Ithaca College days, and joined so she could leave comments on his journal.

(e:lizabeth) suggested that her brother-in-law, (e:jbeatty), join (e:strip) after she heard he was moving to buffalo.

(e:john), a beatty, is (e:lizabeth)'s husband who she met at Ithaca College, is (e:jbeatty)'s brother.
imk2 - 10/29/07 12:30
ok, i'm confused about all of the beattys around here. what's the connection?
john - 10/28/07 23:40
You hadn't had skate before? I'm surprised. I used to get it cheap at Fins & Tails. Well, as cheap as anything is there.

I was too hungover to cook anything today. Hell, I didn't even get up until 3:00. I walked to Mauro's and got myself a large pie, which I carried home.
imk2 - 10/28/07 21:42
omg, that looks so good. i can't wait, really. i am going to be your best friend from now on.
tinypliny - 10/28/07 21:31
Hmmm... someday I am going to do a fair replica of that entirely made of not-fish. :)

Many thanks for the book!

10/25/2007 11:53 #41794

Evening plans
My best friend Ted is coming to town for the evening. We are going to see the Pat Metheny Trio which consists of Pat, Christian McBride, and Antonio Sanchez. Pat is probably my favorite jazz guitarist of all time. I'm always amused by how much we tend to bring down the average age of a jazz show. Why is it that young people just don't listen to jazz? It certainly isn't for lack of good stuff out there. Maybe its because there is more bad jazz than there is good jazz. Not to take an elitist stance on my taste in music but I always wonder why people flock to buy imnsfho rubbish, and then tell me my choice boring. Is it that many people don't want to really listen to music, are they more interested in singing along with the lyrics and dancing than they are thinking about what is being played? Anyway I guess I don't really care what people think of what I listen to, I just get annoyed when they let me know that it sucks.

But anyway this is the first time I will be seeing the Trio, I have seen the Pat Metheny Group twice now. If you have even a passing interest in modern jazz I would urge you all to listen to some of his stuff, especially either of the two albums Antonio Sanchez is drumming on. Not only is it very well composed but all of the players are professional musicians. I listen to music that is written and played by people I wouldn't necessarily consider professional musicians as well, but sometimes I just need to listen to a symphony orchestra play a complex piece of music.

We will most likely go out to drink somewhere thereafter if anyone is free later tonight. Although it may not be till 10:30-11pm.

john - 10/28/07 23:34
Popular music has overall been dumbed down in the last couple of decades. That said, there is still excellent music out there if one knows where to look. Also, there was a lot of pretty terrible music made in all eras, but people are less likely to remember that than remember the good stuff.

For example, if one were to mention the year 1974, how many people would immediately think of The Defranco Family's "Heartbeat, It's a Lovebeat" or the first Donny and Marie Osmond album rather than, say, Eric Clapton's '461 Ocean Boulevard,' David Bowie's 'Diamond Dogs,' or Brian Eno's 'Here Come the Warm Jets,' etc.

As one who loves complicated, discordant music, I also adore plenty of "simple" pop music. While in Memphis recently, I visited Sun Studio and Stax, and bought several CDs including a really good Johnny Cash Sun Records compilation and a 2 CD Stax comp. Some of that stuff, though simple, is absolutely amazing. Otis Redding's "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" is, quite simply, one of the best recordings ever made. To put things in perspective, I also bought loads of Hawkwind, Neu! and dub CDs on this trip.
jenks - 10/27/07 11:53
Fair enough, and I mostly agree- it's worth paying attention to your music. But it just bugs me when people get all music-snob and think some music isn't "worthwhile" just because it's popular/accessible.

But I also don't want listening to music to have to be an EFFORT that makes my head hurt and feels like homework.
jbeatty - 10/26/07 13:40
Since you brought it up I am of the opinion that music is only worth listening to when you think about. To me music isn't background noise. It also doesn't have to be free form/avant garde (which I assume is how you define dissonance) in order to actively listen to it. In fact most music incorporates some amount of dissonance. Quite a bit of the music I listen to is simple, has catchy lyrics, and could be danced to. I don't think those characteristics exclude it from being worth critically listened to. I think if people took the time to think about why they liked something they heard ie. the form, lyrics, timbre, nuance or a multitude of other things then maybe more of this "mindless bubblegum drivel" would become less popular.
jenks - 10/25/07 20:17
"are they more interested in singing along with the lyrics and dancing than they are thinking about what is being played?"

yes and no. I don't want to hear mindless bubblegum drivel, but I'm also not into dissonant discordant stuff that you "really have to THINK about to appreciate". I understand that's not exactly what you're saying... But don't imply that music is only worth listening to if you really have to think about it...
jbeatty - 10/25/07 16:34
Thats funny Zobar. I actually just heard of this tune a couple of days ago but hadn't heard it yet. The original interview that Metheney did blasting Kenny G was hilarious and right on the mark. Kenny G is a talentless sellout. Every fucking tune that man plays is in the same key! It drives me mad.
zobar - 10/25/07 15:10
'I agree with Pat Metheny/Kenny's talents are too teeny...' :::link:::

I actually used to listen to a lot more jazz when I was younger, but it's just that don't go out as much as I used to. The music itself is ok, but watching them _make_ the music is so much more interesting. I used to go to a lot of blues shows too, and the thing that surprised me about both kinds of shows was not so much that I was the youngest but that I was not the whitest.

- Z
jason - 10/25/07 15:03
Have a great time, man.

I think our popular music has been incredibly dumbed down over the past 30 years. Young people have no interest at all about where our musical roots are, and I agree that it is sad.

joshua - 10/25/07 13:42
Excellent - Pat Metheny is a legend.