Plants can hurt & Japanese gentleness also a rad logo

My friend Mary just sent me this photo of how I looked in August after helping Terri with her yard- by tearing out a huge plant that gave me this:and made me feel like this.
I got on a plane in LA and arrived into NYC and the heat made the poison come and give me a punch in the body. But later that first day I saw this and I laughed:
I also finished a track yesterday collaborating with Japanese musician Miyauchi Yuri. I found these photos of us from the Rubies tour in Japan a couple years ago and thought it to be quite relevant. He's in Tokyo and I'm in Oakland.
Also from the archives. This is from a letterhead that my dad had. A letter from 1981 from one of the best restaurants in the world in Geneva, Switzerland. From the chef Fredy Giradet. I get my mind so blown by the logo and font. Blind deboss. De Boss. The Boss.

Here and Now/And Nowhere & The Auerglass

If you haven't been at Deitch Projects in NYC, now is the time! I went to see my new pal Tauba Auerbach perform with Cameron Mesirow (check out her music 'Glasser') on the wooden organ Tauba designed. They do this every day at 5 Tuesday through Saturday. We played a gig in NYC recently and we all ran over to Deitch to catch the performance. It was a mind blower! Just watching how this thing works and to have 2 spirit girls playing these guided melodies like a ping pong game. Watching them back and forth- and their bodies helping the organ find it's breath. You can really hear the air being breathed into the organ to create these beautiful tones. Check out Tauba's work, there is so much to feel from. I am a big fan of her alternative typography and word plays. Later, they came and danced at the Rubies gig and it felt like tying the life knot.

I have finally met Geoff McFetridge. It involved a secret light orb.

So thanks to a top secret glowing object that Adrian made and working with Erlend and the Whitest Boy Alive - I have finally met Geoff McFetridge. I feel that my work and lifestyle has had me running around in circles and in one of those circles has been the amazing talent of this dude sitting there, shining, and inspiring. People said it was a matter of time. Thyme. There was talk of a vortex. A dark vortex and the circle of radness. Meeting of the minds. I had met Yongki up at the Solitary Arts (the company of the skateboard kind that Geoff and Yongki run) headquarters (see their blog post on Rubies) with Nat and Dan recently and achieved instant bro-dom. Yongki is Captain Good Vibes. I gave him a Rubies cd and tripped out on his radical jukebox while being surrounded with some Geoff creatures in 2 D. Cut to 2 nights ago. Yongki, Geoff, D, Adrian, and I. Glowing see-thru-ness, Tacos, stories about Calgary, Nanaimo bars, Skiing, and the best way of getting to know someone. At a dinner table. I wanna go skiing with Geoff while eating a Nanaimo bar. I'm picturing the tracks made by our skiis would end up being mind blowing geometric designs. Mainly because it will be Swiss snow. Helvetica anyone? Tell me this is possible.This is the light orb that lives in the mirror. Only can survive in a room with silver & zodiac wallpaper. 2 people can collectively conjure this dude.

Rösti, Spätzle, Chanterelle, Shitake, Salty Yoghurt & Other Snax: An Ongoing Saga

First off. This might be my longest entry to date. Hang in there....So in order to stay fluent in the culinary esoteric-cult-obsession, I present you a recent account of some foods that I've either delighted in or prepared. Showing the pictures in reverse order. Santa Barbara (my sister and I cooked for my mother for her recent birthday), Montreal - Poutine at 'Banquis' with Adam Gollner (whose upcoming article will be featured in the final issue of Gourmet magazine next week- on a rad restaurant in Montreal called 'Joe Beef' and a long train ride into the woods with the Owners), Toronto (a Persian breakfast with buddies), Grindelwald, Switzerland (Swiss chocolate, wienerli, pumkin soup, and other yum things in my other hometown) , Paris (a moroccon inspired stew with poached eggs, yoghurt, chanterelles, etc), Berlin (Heiko makes Spätzle and my new favorite falafel and salted yoghurt drink). Ready? Get hungry.
We made flammkuchen, a pizza like tarte originating from the Alsace region. A tarte/pizza-like crust (super thin) with crème fraîche, smoked bacon or pancetta, onions cooked in apple cider (not vinegar), chives. No cheese. Soooooo good. Also, a salad with bulgarian feta (i like it best), roasted shitake mushrooms, pickled golden beets, sungold tomatoes, apples, honey vinaigrette, and butter lettuce). Lambic (rasberry beer from Belgium) and Adrian rocked some homemade bread. D made a genoise layered cake with strawberries, lemon, and cream. Happy land.


Poutine! Montreal! Fresh cheese curds and gravy on fries. After our show at Le Gymnase for Pop Montreal. I think this gets them through their extreme winters. This would definitely qualify as an extreme food. Along with the quesadilla suiza from el farolito in san francisco.
Persian breakfast inpsired by a conversation Daniela and I were having. Cinnamon tomatoes, poached eggs, toasted israeli couscous cooked in coconut milk with saffron, herbs, and nuts, pomegranate seeds, persian cucumbers.
Turkish coffee! We read our horoscope through the coffee grain lines. Coffee tarot. dig. In mine, there was a mountain with wings. The meaning flourished.
Slabs of the best chocolate I've tasted. Honeycomb, cornflake, pink peppercorn, mountain berry, dark with chili, candied almond and hazlenut. Bleeding heart over here.
The coconut was way better than I imagined.


Alpkase means 'alp cheese' and 'zu verkaufen' means 'to sell'. These signs are outside most of the houses in the alps in this village of Grindelwald. Grindelwald means 'stone forest'- the most famous of the swiss alps are here. Eiger, Mönch, Jungfrau. The 3 mountains sit quietly by each other. The cheese from these hills are so complex. It tastes of all of the wildflowers, the air, and the dirt. The Swiss do it better. P.s. after mucho cheese research- the 'pleasant ridge reserve' cheese from Wisconsin would be the American counterpart. It's the only cheese that comes close.
My sis and Adrian. After a bunch of Feldschlossen bier.
Everyone has leeks in their garden. Oh and chard. In Switzerland they don't say 'swiss chard'. Ha.
Little chanterelles and candy caps in cream on toast. Chanterelle in German= Pfifferlinge. French = Girolle. Swedish = Kanterell. Italian = Gallinaccio.
Pumpkin soup with pumpkin seed oil. Wienerli- my favorite of the sausages. They snap! All the tables have mustard in tubes called 'Thomy'.




The menu underneath explains this guy. Spätzle is really common. Small egg dumplings boiled then sauteed. Traditionally in the fall you get red cabbage with roasted chestnuts, a half of a pear that has been roasted and filled with currant or berry jam, with venison or chamois(a goat-antelope that lives in the alps) with mountain mushrooms like chanterelles. Cozy food. Delicious. Mainly because I grew up on food like this. Lots of heavy food in the alps!
Rösti was my favorite food growing up. It's basically hash brown potatoes (grated potatoes) covered with gruyere cheese and herbs. Lots of people add things like a fried egg, smoked or air dried meats, pickles and pickled onions... Such a good meal when you're hiking. All the mountain hut restaurants in Switzerland serve this.
More spätzle. More chanterelles mixed with other small mountain mushrooms. Candy caps? Venison. Puff pastry. I'll have know that I did see some small boletus mushrooms in the mountains... Last year in Grindelwald our family friend Salvi prepared them with homemade papardelle. Radness.
My brother Peter and sis Danielle. Doing 'chaos'. A thing we invented when we were li'l. A way to show excitement with a big group of people. Throw your hands together and shake your fingers super fast and intertwine them. Later when we were in college we started coming up with variations. The 'slow down' was a good one. Ask me to show you.The more people the better. Energy!
The sparkling apple juice rules. Super tart and not sweet. Maggi and aromat on all tables.


Custard filled! Fluffy vanilla-y dough. Um.

The morrocan inspired stew with goat cheese, harissa, merguez sausages, and poached eggs. Herbed couscous.
My new favorite yoghurt in Paris with apricot jam. Doesn't get better. Comes in these beautiful blue pots. Use them for holding toothbrushes or something.
The desert to a dinner I made for friends in Paris. Super sweet figs, rasberries and vanilla ice cream.
Pickled fennel with dill and apple cider vinegar, radishes, butter lettuce.
Couldn't help myself from cooking with chanterelles! They are $30 a pound here in California. I got a whole bag for 3 euro. Real saffron for the yellow color in the risotto. We had rotisserie chicken too. The french know how to roast a chicken.
Later we danced to 'kokomo' and played a lot of air instruments.

This is how herbs come when you buy them in Paris. Happy thymes.



The macaroon. Meringue on the outside, buttercream on the in. side. go.od.
Currants, pears, almond cake.
At Chez Jeanette. One of my favorite bars on the planet. This was for our new buddy Hans' bday.
Falafel in Paris. I love how they layer things. Roasted sweet eggplant. Vinegary red cabbage. Harissa (super spicey!), and real good falafel.

Egg alcohol at the Berlin airport. Whoa.
Salty caramel crepe in Berlin- inspired by the Brittany style crepes from France. They do it right. How has salt stolen the show lately? Gotta be careful about blowing our taste buds.
Did I mention salt? This salty yoghurt drink is grubski. My friend Dena from Bulgaria grew up drinking this. Why do I have memory jealousy? I wanna remember drinking this when I was little but alas, I had my 'first' last month here. Firsts are special.
Ok my dudes and dudeskis. My official favorite falafel. From 'king falafel' in Kreuzberg, Berlin.
It had this ground nut & seed spread that took it to a whole new level. Simple though. The falafel was super fluffy and freshly made. The pita was different. It was a very thin bread. Tons of mellow vibey flavor. The older couple that ran the place were grumpy- but somehow it made my food taste better? We can talk about that later. The point is is that I had no expectation. Plus the woman brough us spiced and fragrant tea (clove? cinnamon? nutmeg? black pepper? vanilla?)- near the end of the falafel. A total mind melter.
Dena and I at king falafel. She gets to go here whenever she wants. Man oh man.
The pomegranate nut spread. That sounds funny when I read it. This is what MADE the falafel. Plus I've never tasted anything like it. That and the salty yoghurt 'ayran'. 2 firsts. 2 firsts make a right.
Berlin buddies! The next day I had all kinds of regional schnapps with Thordis at one of my favorite restaurants, 'Lebensmittel in Mitte.' Mirabelle and plum schnapps. It heats your whole body.
Homemade spätzle (you have to put the dough on a wooden board or paddle and scrape it into boiling water- Heiko brought his grandmothers paddle!), more chanterelles, goulash, and my cali inspired salad with grapefruit, more pickled fennel and dill, salted radishes, crème fraîche dressing with lots of chives, butter lettuce. PHEW. This entry took me a super long time. It might be my longest. If you've made it this far, email me. I'll make you dinner if you tell me a good story.

Let's Roll

Wow it's cool to be playing songs spontaneously. Monday's show was incredible. Kacey Johansing has such a powerful voice. I was nervous to sing after her. Good for me to be in the moment musically. That's what playing alone does. It forces you to be only in the moment. Something I've been struggling with lately. Mind is always running in circles. Good to stop, drop, and roll. Let's roll. I've been invited to repeat the performance at Chez Jeanette this friday in Paris. I went there for the first time with my friend Mary and her dog Rocco. She has done some photoshoots there because the interior is so spooky old Paris. Almost Grandma. But if your Grandmother was thriving in 1936 and put up wallpaper and gold chandeliers and watched them decay to become chic in the 1970's. Guess it all comes back around. Also, the usual ephemera and old stuff.

Ed Brachfeld. Owner of the gallery we all played at on Monday. He is also one of my fave people. Yes, there is a derriere behind us at all times. The photographs on the walls of the gallery are by Todd Cole. Some really beautiful landscapes- ala California- and also the landscapes of the female figure. Classic nude portraiture is always captivating.
Kacey Johansing.

Molly Tuttle.....so amazing to have had this special night with her in Paris. She has been a major part of the 'Monday night hoot' - a night that would happen at Cafe Du Nord in San Francisco. Here, in Paris, another monday night hoot. I do realize that I'm capitalizing words at free will here.


Look into the silver apple.
Strange/Rad/Strange window display at an art supplies store.
Couldn't find a more complicated logo than this one. I've been doing a lot of logo design lately. Guess I need to step it up a notch like the Parisians.
Coolest complicated wood desk.
Molly and Bart in our new fave apartment in Paris. D & A's place! Another beacon of light popped up in Paris- watch as it glows quietly and warmly on the globe.

Californians sing and doddle in Paris tomorrow

There is something about listening to friends play music on a Monday. No big deal but then becomes a bigger deal than listening on a Friday. If you are in Paris, come see a bunch of Californians sing and doddle. I want to sing about choosing and losing but then winning again at the end. Inner Islands, Paris. At my friend Ed Brachfeld's gallery. Thanks Ed! More info here

Turning Heads & The Golden Potatoes

I had 6 hours in Zürich. This was in between Toronto and Berlin. One of the last things I saw that caught my mind in Toronto was this bizarre picture of the back of heads (last image.) CHeck out the hairstyles. The next thing I noticed were golden potatoes in the airport in Switzerland. I wandered the streets and ended up meeting my friend Evangelos, a DJ and musician, and we shared the most pleasant 'Flammkuchen'- which is similar to a pizza- with Speck (smokey bacon), creme fraiche, carmely onions, chives, and gruyere cheese. This woke me up for at least an hour. Still, I don't remember the last time I was so tired. It was comforting to wander in Switzerland. The purgatory flight situation. Astral body left behind in Canada. I waited for myself to arrive into Europe. I waited and waited. I arrived as a zombie into Berlin dreaming of the vinegar lentils at Schwarzwald Stubbe and Augustina beer. I am finally here. Left Toronto on Thursday and now it is Sunday. I have arrived. I saw the Parra show. More on that later.

Parra and Gilmore

I've been super into the colors this dude Parra uses in his illustrations. My friend in Switzerland gave me a book of his a couple years ago and I've been following him ever since. Super stoked that when I go to Berlin on Friday, that he has a solo show within walking distance from where I'm staying! At a gallery called Pool Gallery. Researching a bit on the artists that have also shown at Pool I discovered Andy Gilmore. I am freaking out on this guy. Look at his nerdy graphics below. Hello new desktop picture.

The Goods

Dear Self, Try not to read into and suspiciously question things too much like, 'why is there always more dirt in my bed in toronto then any other city?.' You are very good at noticing *everything*. (These are some goods from Toronto. Say Toronto like "Tuh-raw-no")
Little pink-red buoy guy.
Daniela, the joy. This was after watching 'Grizzly Bear' and 'Mates of State' in a Disneyland-ish type setting. Another note to self, don't go to huge amphitheaters to see bands on the lake in Toronto. Unless it is you that is getting the major bank to play and bail.
Russ Nichols. Owner of 'Aunties and Uncles.' The best breakfast in Toronto. He might be a new top fave of this city. I got 2 meals cooked from this dude. Breakfast and then later, dinner at his home. We talked about Julia Child and looked through cookbooks. I love when people cook dinner for a bunch of people and you can barely notice that they were cooking. Grace and finesse. Maybe when people do what they love, it's like the craft becomes invisible because it is exactly what they are supposed to be doing.
Afie and wallpaper. You will hate him for putting riffs in your head that will never escape. (By hate I mean you will beg him to keep playing)
This is the second best thing I learned this week. Boil then saute radishes with butter and fresh herbs. Mind blower. The first best thing I learned was to be soft in a situation that I usually kinda act tough in. Feels good to let it all happen. Soft is the new tough.
The dinner at Russ's. I can't explain how perfect this was.
Heather Goodchild and some of the insanely beautiful and charged things she makes. She hooked these rugs for an art show she has coming up in October. She also is making a deck of morality cards. Her visions and ideas are crush worthy. Masonic symbolism and destiny by choice.

Ending with a butter tart from Dark Horse. I might have cried a single tear.

Inner Islands

So it first started here.
Then we all went here - to the Music Gallery (in an old church) and Daniela and I transformed this church into a Cali/Canada musical womb. It looked like this in the beginning of the day.

Then we helped it to look like this.


My other Daniela. We were super stoked about the specialness of the night we put together. It's always worth it, people. Sometimes when you are alone and you feel like it's too difficult to work with others, stuff like this comes along and it changes everything. COLLABORATE.

There will be more pictures later. I didn't really take any and that means something really really good happened. I was blown away and brought to tears by all of the incredible performances at the event. 8 people performed. We started outside in the courtyard with everyone laying around on the lawn- then we went inside. Snowblink sounded perfect. Leslie and I performed a song together on stage for the first *real* time. We sang 'look at what the light did now' with the help of my friends 'Tall Tales' and Seth Pettersen. I was so happy to see these dudes walk through the door- I could smell the salt in the air. This is what the pad looks like now in summer below. This is what California pals look like in Canada.

Toronto at night

This is what it feels like. Back here for a couple weeks after a epic hang we called 'Unicornicopia' up in the countryside an hour north. This is the little summer that could.