Pretty Pictures 04.28.12 (Special Wedding Edition)

Happy Wedding Day to Jen and Steve (and to Jason Hottoe for officiating)!  I wish I was in Rico with you guys, but we'll get to party and celebrate your nuptials when you're back in DC.  And hopefully like our girl in today's Pretty Pictures.  Nicki Minaj with "Starships."  Good Lord, homegirl's insane!  In a great way.

Look Who Turns 86 Today!

La Duquesa de Alba!  ¡Feliz cumpleaños, girl!*

(*Now I really need to get me one of these T-shirts.)

Oye Mi Canto

Geddem, it's been a long while since I've posted!  A lot has happened since December.  The Jayhawk and I went to Costa Rica with the Chimneys to celebrate the nuptials of Dags and Mary Rice.  We went to KC to visit the Jayhawk's familia for his birthday (where he ended up getting the suede Prada boots that I'd scoped at Halls -- I'm not still bitter about that...no...).  I sang drunky karaoke Madonna (Like a Prayer) and Tina (Proud Mary) at La Linterna Verde (que te quiero verde) with Lady LaLa and the Boyz.  We saw Klingon Shakespeare auditions.  We bid au revoir to Fruchey, who's off in Austin for bigger and better things (and by "things" I think we all know I mean pipis...oh!; that was out loud).  We did pop-up dinner for Chez Billy at the Montserrat House.  I watched the 3rd Underworld movie with Puff and Candy -- and loved it (?!).  We mourned Don Cornelius and had our own drunky Soul Train revivals in our living room late nite.  We celenebriated Mattie's big move to the farm and danced to Whitney.  All in all, a ton of times over the past few months.  And tonight I finally released the latest Mango Mix for my friends to enjoy.  No Snow for Mango.  And the tracklist is:

Azari & III - Reckless (With Your Love)
Unknown Mortal Orchestra - How Can You Love Me
Howard Hughes & David Tattersall - The Lobster Boat
Grinderman - Worm Tamer
A Giant Dog - Chatterteeth
Caitlin Park - Baby Teeth
Sharon Van Etten - Serpents
Alabama Shakes - Hold On
Jamie Woon - Street
Fránçois & The Atlas Mountains - Piscine
Hanne Hukkelberg - Featherbrain
Husky - The Woods
Kikuyu - Infodome
La Garçonne - Super Hero
Sisterland - Dirty White
Electricity in Our Homes - As Fast as Lightning
Beth Jeans Houghton & The Hooves of Destiny - Sweet Tooth Bird
Grimes - Genesis
Anna Calvi - Blackout
Cate Le Bon - Falcon Eyed
Shrag - Tendons in the Night
Clubfeet - Teenage Suicide (Don't Do It)

And the link to these fine tunes is:  Error 404.  No music found.

I'll write more from now on, for realz, to keep y'all more informed on our comings/goings, mis bonitos.  I like writing for you.  I hope you like my writing, too.

Por San Antón, Echa Cueros el Lechón

Wepa!  I was really excited when the Jayhawk first told me that Giovanna Huyke* (the Julia Child of Puerto Rico) was coming to DC to take over the kitchen at Mio.  Reading Tom Sietsema's latest review of the restaurant (which is truly one our favorite spots in town -- I mean, really, the pig alone is reason enough to go and like it there) made me giggle and just about shed a tear of joy.  Welcome to Guasington, Giovanna! And congratulations to you and to Mio for the great review.  Looks like 2012 will be a good (and yummy) year, indeed.

(*Site en español.)

Wee for Me!!!

Santa brought me a Wii for Christmas!  I see some bowling matches in my near future.  Hopefully I won't fling the controller into the TV screen.  That's the Jayhawk's biggest fear.  Who, PS and BTW, must have been very good this year because Santa brought him a Galaxy Tab.  He just about cried when he unwrapped the box.  And his face light up once he powered the thing up and started playing with it.  I have to admit that I'm a tad jealous.  But, that's okay because the Three Kings are set to pay us a visit in a couple of weeks (with Bosox Siobhan and BKDM in tow!).  I can get my own Tab then.  Oh, the joys of being a Rican and celebrating 2 gift-giving holidays...I'm thankful for that.

And I'm thankful for being able to share our Christmas Eve dinner with Shatterproof.  It was a good time.  Beef stroganoff (with bacon), green beans (with bacon), corn with poblano peppers (with bacon), and biscuits (not with bacon but yes with lots of butter).  Yum!  And then there was the 18-pack of Bud Heavies, the bottle of wine, and the coquito (Liz Taylor's recipe, of course).  Can't have a proper Christmas without the booze.  Or without watching "A Christmas Story," which we did and almost watched twice.  But drunky sleep beckoned.  Shatterproof left around 2:30AM and took a jug of coquito for his sister-in-law's family dinner tonight (them peoples are gonna have the sobriety knocked out of them real good).  I finally made it to bed around 3AM; exhausted, but again, thankful.  And thankful that it's still just Sunday and tomorrow I get the day off.  Score for being a Gub'ment worker!

¡Feliz Navidad, mis bonitos!

Music Makes the People Come Together, Yeah...

Sorry for the silence, mis bonitos.  I've been busy gathering up some tunes for the latest Mango Mix.  And I'm happy to announce that it's finally here!  The Mango Is Falling...!  And the tracks are:

Hyde & Beast - You Will Be Lonely
Bombay Bicycle Club - Shuffle
San Cisco - Awkward
Tinpan Orange - Barcelona
Dead Letter Chorus - Run, Wild
Lana Del Rey - Video Games
Eleanor Friedberger - My Mistakes
Wooden Shjips - Lazy Bones
Hooray for Earth - True Loves
Hanni El Khatib - Fuck It, You Win
Jagwar Ma - Come Save Me
Theophilus London - Wine and Chocolates
SBTRKT - Hold On (feat. Sampha)
Charli XCX - Nuclear Seasons
The Dø - Gonna Be Sick!
Nive Nielsen & The Deer Children - Good for You
Piney Gir - The Gift
Cocoon - Sushi
Baxter Dury - Trellic
Cub Scouts - Evie
Nantes - Fly
MuteMath - Allies
Real Estate - It's Real

And the link to access all of these good tunes is: http://(Oops...Pas de link.  Go search through the Webs to acquire them and enjoy.)


Muchos besos, mis amores.

Pretty Pictures Version 11.30.11

I'm off to Black Jack for November's El Último Miércoles (EUM) with Stacy B., Barb, and the Jayhawk.  Actually, the Jayhawk is hopefully getting there before the rest of us to snag a corner at the bar so we can better crush on our bartender, catch up on this month's stories, and celebrate life (while poo-pooing the demise of the over-priced 14th Street Corridor condo and the sure-to-disappoint reboot of a beloved TV monster/undead classic).  I'll definitely be raising a glass to Black Cat Bill .  And to today's Pretty Pictures.  Slow Club with "If We're Still Alive."

He's Alive! Alive!

I was so sad last week when I'd heard that Black Cat Bill had passed away. I hadn't seen him in a very long while, so I figured that news of his death was true. Just like Compliment Man in Adams Morgan. I know the story is that he moved to Florida to be closer to his family, but maybe that's just what people said just like how parents tell their kids that a suddenly-missing pet was sent to a farm to have more space to roam and be happy. Hmmm... But, man, Compliment Man was a riot. I remember my first compliment from him was back in 1992 exiting Café Lautrec after a night of much eating and underage drinking arm in arm with 2 of the girls in my group (actually, one of them was a professor who was sleeping with one of my floor mates at the time, but that's neither here nor there). Compliment Man complimented their shoes and hair and complimented me on being accompanied by 2 lovely ladies. So cool!

But back to Bill. My fondest memory of him was one night ages ago (when the only white people in the 'hood were the lesbians on Wallach Pl. -- update: and the original T Street Crew, too, but I didn't know them back then) that I saw poor Bill topple off his milk crate, and I ran over to help him back up. Picture it. Me, the little 120lbs. (so not the case anymore) kid trying to lift the 200+lbs. 14th Street fixture a mere 6" off the ground. It wasn't happening. But I did get it done with the help of two Black Cat employees. Ever since then Bill gave me a wink and smile, and every so often we chatted for a bit before I'd go into the club to get my music and drink on. So, oh happy day today when I find out that he's still with us!  Hooray for you, Bill!  Maybe not in your best shape, but alive.  Glad to see you're doing okay.

Pretty Pictures Version 11.29.11

I know tonight's Pretty Pictures have been a round for a little bit, but they reminded me of my 73 year old Cuban tío playing Angry Birds on my cousin's iPad this weekend.  He's totally hooked.  Just like everyone else I know who's laid their fingers on a screen with them on.  It's hard not to be.  They're so darned cute in their anger.  Lana Del Rey with "Video Games."

And I'll Form the Head!

Ooph...Sorry for the extended Thanksgiving hiatus, mis bonitos.  The tryptophan from the Rican-spiced turkey had me in a mind/body coma.  Well...I say it was the turkey, but it was really the turkey and the ham and the arroz con gandules and the pasteles de pollo and the cheesecake.  And the beers.  The many, many beers.  Mi cielo, so many beers over the course of the long weekend!  Overall, it was great time with the Rican familia and the urban familia.  Especially hanging out in the 'hood with my cousin who flew in for the holiday.  I'm not sure that my vital organs (mainly my liver) agree with me on that, but they would agree that this news is awesome!  Learning of the possibility of a Voltron movie made me giggle and jump up and down with pure glee.  Eeee!

That's My Sandwich!

Boo Hiss!  My parents didn't make it out of Rico last night.  Well, they made it 30 minutes out when their pilot decided to turn back to the island because the plane cabin smelled like burning rubber.  Luckily nothing wrong was found, but mom/dad weren't able to find another flight to the Mainland.  So they're staying in PR.  And eating my loaded sammie!  Japi Zanguiving, papá!

(Caveat: My sisters are gonna send us new sammies in dry ice in the mail.  It's a Thanksgiving miracle!)

Pretty Pictures Version 11.23.11

We'll be eating good in the vecindario tomorrow and rollin' back to our 'hood with bellies very full, mis bonitos!  But not to worry.  We'll make sure not to go swimming until at all.  Maybe someone should tell the boys in today's Pretty Pictures not to jump into the pool immediately after gorging either.  The pictures might not be so pretty if they did.  Frànçois & The Atlas Mountains with "Piscine."

The Ricans Are Coming! The Ricans Are Coming!

The Jayhawk and I are getting ready to gobble gobble on some turkey and fixin's tomorrow at my cousin's house in the No Va with my parents!  I know that I saved up some space in my belly already today by eating a light lunch and dinner.  Gotta make room for the pasteles, alcapurrias, beans and rice, and many desserts.  And our sandwiches from Las Cumbres that my sisters bought for us this morning.  Nothing says Rican lovin' quite like pounds of roast pork, ham, salami, mortadella, and cheese on a freshly-baked hoagie roll.  By the time we get them tomorrow all of those juices and flavors will have melded together and seeped into the bread...Oh!  I'm going into artery-hardening, heart attack shock just thinking about it!  Too awesome for words.

Last Night the Sandwich Saved My Life

Literally. 

The Jayhawk and I tried to make it to District Commons last night, but the bar was 10 people deep, so we ended up at Kinkead's instead.  Good God I'd forgotten how white and boring that place is!  Luckily KK was behind the bar to make our experience bearable.  The half-priced oysters also helped.  As did the cod fritters (a little soggy, but yummy), the smoked chicken quesadilla (very nice; the fire-roasted tomatoes and slight kick to them were delicious), the queso dip (um, yeah, the mini ramekin of melted cheese that aspires to be as good as Chinmey Fall Cat's Ro*tel® queso was disappointing).  We had to leave, though, once the "fabulus" theater gays and their fruit fly arrived.  Their banality was vexing me.  So, we marched our way up 21st Street and landed at James Hoban's.  Good times were had once Mikey joined us.  And then, of course, we ended up at the Polly's (yes...Desperado's) to see Amber and keep mistreating our livers. 

That's where my memory ends.  This morning (an hour ago, really) I pieced together the vague bits of info from the night after being at Polly's.  We may have gone to Dynasty and had a beer at Joe's insistence (gotta be neighborly, you know).  And may have rolled up into Judy but quickly exited.  And definitely went to Fast Gourmet because the half eaten Milanesas in the fridge tell me that we did.  I'm not sure if we watched old videos of Iris Chacón on the YouTube or not.  But I do feel like there might have been some dancing in the living room.  Either way, thank you, mi querida Milanesa!  You really did save our lives.

Pretty Pictures Version 11.18.11

Kinda gross.  But looks like fun.  Maybe the Chimneys can help me recreate this scene at the Polly's (yeah, yeah, Desperado's, whatevah) tonight since I'm sure the Jayhawk and I will end up there tonight.  I mean, what's a Friday night without our Amber?  No Friday night at all.  Colourmusic with "Tog."

I Never Had To Choose a Subject -- My Subject Rather Chose Me*

That's kind of how last night with Nykelpiga and Shatterproof went.  Bartender Jack wasn't able to see my cute new outfit because Black Jack was closed for a private party during happy ho' time.  So, we aborted that plan and went to trusty, homey Bar Pilar, instead.  And we were all so happy that we did.  We sidled right up to the bar and got wonderful service from cutie pie (and additional bartender boyfriend crush for the three of us) David.  And between the beers, the food (the rosemary potatoes were too rosemary-y, but the fried chicken was perfectly seasoned and so juicy, the mussels were delicious [although I wish we'd had more bread to sop up the sauce], the Brussels sprouts were great [while mini, they covered in bacon, and you can never go wrong with bacon], and the salmon with smoked trout roe was very yummy [since they topped a fried egg sunny side up, of course]), and ogling at the bartender, what was supposed to be 1 happy hour turned into 5 and ended with my slightly wobbly march up the hill to get home.  Oops.  It was great times, though, and need to be repeated more often.  Including running into the husband of the girl who lived below me while I was studying the law so I can get his/their info.  10 years and 3 kids later together!!  I couldn't believe it.  Congrats to them!

And tonight?  The Jayhawk and I are off to District Commons to see our friend and (yet another) bartender crush, Kevin S.  We've never been.  You'll receive a full report from me, mis bonitos, tomorrow (or Sunday depending on how tonight goes and how I feel tomorrow).

(*Quote by Ernest Hemingway.)

Pretty Pictures Version 11.17.11

Speaking of wind, today's Pretty Pictures are all about it.  Hopefully the wind's not too bad on my way home after happy hour.  And if it is, so what?  I'll be lookin' cute and warm in my new outfit.  Future Islands with "Give Us the Wind."

Pues Mira Que Llegó el Otoño

Brrrrr, mis bonitos!  I know Tony Perkins mentioned that this morning's temperature of 50° F would be the highest we'd see today, but where did the wind come from?  It's hard to blow some casheesh on clothes for oneself when one's eyes are watery.  But the cold did inspire me to buy the preppiest (in camel) Spanish autumn outfit ever.  Cute, non?  It'll be perfect for happy ho' with Nykelpiga and Shatterproof tonight at Black Jack.  I hope handlebar-mustachioed bartender/manager Jack likes the get-up.  I might have a slight crush on him.  But don't tell the Jayhawk.  He gets jealous.

(Photo: The Dance of the Leaves when the Autumn Winds Blow by Joseph Brauer.  All rights reserved.)

Pretty Pictures Version 11.16.11

More thanks to mis bonitos come in the form of today's Pretty Pictures.  Thanks for your intelligence, your wit, your charm, your caring nature, your love of food and drink, and your humor.  Especially your humor.  Y'all crack my shizz up, mi familia.  In appreciation, here are Unknown Mortal Orchestra with "Ffunny Ffrends."

Japi Bersdei to Me!

I just want to thank all of mis bonitos for the many birthday wishes sent via phone, e-mail, and the Twitters today.  You had my phone and computer blowin' up!  All of the kind words have brightened the day in spite of the rainy weather.  Gracias mis amores!  Mad Mango kisses to you all.

Update: Many thanks to the Jayhawk for the funny and (very) sappy birthday cards.  They were both lovely.  Special Mango kisses to you.