Happy 25th Birthday, Paul's Boutique.

On July 25, 1989, something amazing happened. A couple of years after the amazing success of their album Licensed to Ill, Beastie Boys member Adam Yauch convinced the group to release an album completely unpublicized. Not like the last one. Completely different style. But don't tell people.

"Just let people find it," he said.

And they did.

Paul's Boutique

I cannot express how much this album means to me.

It changed my life, even though I only really listened to it a few years ago.
It was the first time I really delved into the Beasties.

It is the most incredibly dense mash-up of samples and rhymes and fresh beats, and... yeah, food.

Track listing:

1.	"To All the Girls"	1:29
2.	"Shake Your Rump"	3:19
3.	"Johnny Ryall"	3:00
4.	"Egg Man"	2:57
5.	"High Plains Drifter"	4:13
6.	"The Sounds of Science"	3:11
7.	"3-Minute Rule"	3:39
8.	"Hey Ladies"	3:47
9.	"5-Piece Chicken Dinner"	0:23
10.	"Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun"	3:28
11.	"Car Thief"	3:39
12.	"What Comes Around"	3:07
13.	"Shadrach"	4:07
14.	"Ask for Janice"	0:11
15.	"B-Boy Bouillabaisse"

So to celebrate, we had the following:

5-Piece Chicken Dinner

... It was either that or something with eggs.

I really... can't articulate how much my life has changed since I discovered this album. So, thanks, Boys. And Happy Birthday. 

(I can has chicken dinner?)

MCA Day 2014

 Mmmmm....
........Cheesy.

I know yesterday was Derby Day for a lot of people, but for the moment I care more about hip-hop than I do about big hats, horses, and mint juleps. ... Plus, Matt forgot the bourbon for the juleps. 

But anyway. 

For me and millions of other people around the world, yesterday was MCA Day. In which we celebrate the life and legacy of the amazing Adam Yauch, aka MCA of the Beastie Boys.

There are a thousand different things I could say here. But I'll try to keep it simple and to the point of this blog.

The Beastie Boys rock.

And one of the major reasons for that was, is, and will always be Adam Yauch. He is the visionary. The force of movement. The REASON they are so beloved and will be remembered through history. A director, a writer, a father, a brother. The one to say: Hey, let's do THIS, and we'll make it work.

And they LOVE food.

One of the reasons they took so long to put out albums is that they were too busy eating and goofing around with each other.

Delivering Colonel Sanders down to Davy Jones's locker. 
Eating crazy cheese like you'd think they're from Paris.
Popping open a bottle of Chateauneuf-du-pap.

Hell, even letting some chef boyardee cool in the pot.

One of their albums -- 2004's To the Five Burroughs -- actually makes you hungry. If you're not drooling by the end of that thing, something's wrong with you.

Witness this intro to "Shazam," from that album:

I sneak a chicken tikka
Masala at a gala event;
I represent that stupid, that's for sure.
You be like "oh yeah Adam, real mature."

I'd like a lettuce, tomato, and muenster on rye.
All this cheese is gonna make me cry.
Gorgonzola, Provolone...
Don't even get me started on this microphone.

And that's most of the way in, for pete's sake.

So... I celebrated the life of Adam Yauch by listening to his music, watching his films, and eating a damn good sandwich. I'd say rest in peace, but I have a feeling he's still here. Spreading his crazy positive go-for-it energy to everyone who dares receive it.

New York State Senate Resolution J4637-2001

Spring!!!

At last -- 

Something in my sightline that doesn't make me actively depressed!

Hello, warm weather and green grass and beer on the deck and all that.

For today, at least.

Tomorrow it's supposed to be rainy and cold.

WHY HAS THIS WINTER BEEN SO DAMNED LONG???

SERIOUSLY.

IT'S BEEN LIKE EIGHT MONTHS.

But anyway, today I planted some of the loveliest geraniums I've ever seen, and some seeds for tomatoes, serranos,  eggplant, and papayas.

I don't have any idea how to grow papayas, but I guess we'll find out. 

As for Spring, regular readers might know I have a traditional meal of peas and mint and eggs. And you also know that I always forget when the vernal equinox is coming up. Which makes me a very bad witch. 

So this year I just went with this: 

Which I think is pretty darn springy.

aaaand, it's still in the high 30's right now. 

What the hell?