Weekend Preview; I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT TO DO!!!

Coming into the last weekend of January 2015, I have no idea what to do for our adventure or outing.  I am sitting here listening to The Real McKenzies' album Westwinds and at the same time wanting to go back to Scotland so bad (I spent several months there in my youth and have been reminiscing and wanting to go back very much) and with that in mind the next best thing here in Utah is Piper Down, the best local pub in the state.

I have always considered Piper to be my local pub going back to the days of "Pubbing in the Land of Zion" which was my first blog that I wrote.  Every time I go in I feel welcome and at home.  So that is the first option, and if the other Lords are not able to because of money and such then I will welcome them to my own house at Kalehalla and we will have a low key evening of Beer, Whiskey and Pipes or Huka and just relax.

Then on Sunday, I will go and adventure with my D & D group.  Now it seems weird, but this group has been playing the same campaign and such for over 11 years.  It is one of the most amazing escapes that I have for it allows me to take on different personas.  This Sunday Kalenar will be running the game.  We have an amazing time and very little stress.

The other thing I hope to do this weekend will be to sleep,  it has been a busy week at Kalehalla for the Wee Dancer has had a spelling bee and a science fair.  She has done very well though and I am very proud of her.  I just want to get some rest and start planning out February for the blog because the month is damn busy.  We have Kalenar's Birthday on 2/23 and we have Regina Elsa's birthday on 2/21.  Plus, Rum Rebellion is coming to Logan on 2/14 and we have to plan Vali's festival which is going to be good wines and such.

One last note our good freinds The Anchorage just announced that the new album will be available in April go to their Kickstarter to help out and preview.

Show of the Week:

If I I can make it up to this one I want to but the hard part is finding a ride.  Beergrass Records 1 Year Anniversary Show 8:00 PM at Kamikazes in Ogden.  Click the heading for details.

Eatery of the Week:

I have been craving good pizza lately and The Pie is exactly that.  If possible go to the Pie Underground up by the U of U.  Always brings back memories of irresponsible college days.

Booze of the Week:

It might get old here but whiskey is my tried and true so this week it will be a bottle of Concannon.  An Irish style whiskey with a honey and malt flavor, a clean taste going down and slow burn that I love.  It might not be a fancy review but it is what I like.  Plus it is made here in the US by an old Irish family.  Read about the history of the whiskey on the Concannon Website.

THORRABLOT 2014 (Lord Darksteel's Day)

WHAT A GLORIOUS FEAST THIS IS!!!!  These are the words that echoed through my head during the weekend of food and drink that we just partook.  Now the real question is...who said it?  I am fairly sure all of us enjoyed ourselves, each person ate and drank and laughed and revelled, celebrating the weekend as the momentous occasion it was.  However a sneaking feeling is that the larger than life persona of Chadivus Maximus dressed in full ceremonial battle regalia was the entity shouting the exclamation that started this account.  I get ahead of myself, let me just explain that this weekend was the 1st annual Thorrablot held at Kalehalla.  It was a feast meant to celebrate the upcoming end of winter and it also happened to coincide with Lord Darksteel LaDouche's Birthday which in and of itself is a worthy celebration.  So on behalf of Kalenar, Lord of Kalehalla, I the most humble Chadivus started preparing the feast about mid morning on Saturday.  Lord Darksteel and I traveled to Snider Brothers Meat Market in Cottonwood Heights and purchased the lamb shanks and a lean beef roast, then quickly came home to assemble the meal.


The lamb shanks were my first endeavor, being that a shank is the foreleg of the lamb and has a tendency to be a tougher cut of meat, I thought it best to braise it in a simple stew of brown ale, 3 onions, garlic, salt and pepper, thyme, rosemary, sage and 1 can of diced tomatoes.  I assemble the ingredients after trimming the excess fat (which I then rendered to brown the onions with before putting them into the pot) and slow cooked for 9 hours.  I then prepped the root vegetables (red potatoes, carrots, yams and parsnips) for roasting and lastly made sure the beef roast was put into the oven to cook to a fine medium rare just before the guests arrived.

As we were waiting for the time to put the vegetables in we made a trip to the Draper Liquor Store because we found out that it was the only one in the area to carry the Linie Aquavit which we were able to purchase after a bit of a panic(in addition to the weird Utah laws involving booze, there is very little consistency in how the State Liquor Stores display their wares).



Now that all of the portions were assembled we awaited our guests.  Kalenar, Lord Darksteel and myself were already there along with the Wee Dancer (my youngest daughter).  Pretty soon Vladimir, Bomba and Signor Una Traccia all showed up and lastly my eldest daughter Regina Elsa arrived.


We served the food and the evening started.  First we raised a drink to Odin, Thor and Lord Darksteel including pouring an offering to Odin with the Aquavit.  This drink hit everyone differently.  Some stated they tasted mint, others say it tasted like absinthe, Lord Kalenar felt it was like a taking a shot of a mojito and to me it tasted like ouzo.  It was apparent however that this was definitely a vodka based drink, the shot itself went down like a vodka or gin shot as opposed to a liqueur.  We ate the food and took more drinks and then it was decided we play Cards Against Humanity.  Any of you who have played this game know it is not a game where one can easily
state what cards won or lost and the answers are sometimes funnier than the question.  Suffice to say that there is a great deal of inappropriate commentary while this game is going forth.  Also I want to remind you all that we were still partaking of the alcohol during the playing so it did get very silly very quickly.  Some of the highlights of this game session included the answer card "toweling my folds down" the "large flightless birds" card being disqualified, various meanings of cards being explained to the uninitiated and numerous other items that are very hard to recall after several shots.

We had drank our fill of the Aquavit and the drinking inclined individuals moved on to their individual favorites.  Bomba started an almost full bottle of Evan Williams Honey, Lord Darksteel and Kalenar opened an ice cold bottle of Jagermeister and I finished off a half full bottle of Concannon Irish Whiskey and then moved on to a bottle of Lord Calvert Canadian.  Suffice it to say Chadivus Maximus was in his full glory by the time we were finished.  The best quote of the night came in a text to me the next evening from Bomba " Apparently I was more drunk last night than Vlad or I realized.  I didn't remember leaving last night and beyond"  This after draining half the bottle of Evan Williams.

Now I was looking for a memorable quote on feasting and friendship and whiskey and such and such.  I was unable to find something that did not include subtle messages of guilt if you do not worship a certain way or insults about friends not being grateful and messages of dangerous alcohol, so I will end this with my own quote.  I find no other time of life better than the time I spend with loving friends and family over good food and strong drink.  It is at those times we become closer and the hardships of the world become less because our community becomes more.

Weekend Preview: Thorrablot, Random Thoughts and the Reason to Feast

As it stands after 2 months of writing this blog I realize that this is what I want to do more than anything else I have ever attempted (now this could be the Gemini in me talking and tomorrow I will be of my other mind, but right now this statement is true.)  I want to write about me and my circle of friends and all of the adventures we have.  I want to focus on the things that bring me joy like shows and food and drink and companionship.  I want to find new experiences and seek out adventure with these people in my life.  I want to discover new music and champion musicians that deserve it.  Lastly I want more people to read this and figure out how to live the life they want as well.

To achieve these goals I have started my website www.chadivus.com and I have started several Pinterest board.  What I am noticing is that I have so many ideas that I have to continue to ground myself and work so that each idea and goal gets the attention they deserve.  So going forward I am going to organize the blog around the following format.

·         One week of each month will be music week.  I will focus on a band in the local Salt Lake Market, listen to their music, research their web presence, if possible interview the band, and then create a blog entry that allows all of you to learn about the band as well.  I will also try to plan this week the same week the band plays a show so that the can be the featured local show of the week.

o   I hope to involve the Lords of Kalehalla more in this process and the bands we focus on will come more from a group recommendation than my individual choice.   If this happens, each member of the Lords will provide something to the article.

·         One week will be Restaurant week.  Same idea as music, one local eatery will be chosen.  We will research the cuisine and menu, plan the night and then eat, have fun and write a review of the experience.

·         One week will be our feast week.  This will be an event that we hold at Kalehalla honoring the days of old and festivals of our past (probably based on the Norse Pantheon and mythology because Kalenar and I really like it)

o   This week’s article will include the reason for the feast, the mythology behind it and the food eaten.

o   In addition this will probably include quite a bit of raucous behavior which we love so enjoy with us.

·         One week will be our activity week; this could be going to the zoo (where Bomb works) or a bar we all enjoy, or a road trip.  This is an open week to just do something we want to do.  It could be me and my kids or the whole group of us.

·         Lastly, here is a list of common features for every month.

o   The calendar of activities will be posted on the first midweek entry every month.

o   There will be a Recommended Show of the Week and hopefully we will come up with a title for this feature.

o   There will be a dining suggestion for the week

o   There will also be a cocktail/booze of the week feature

o   There will be two entries per week a Midweek preview and a review of the event.

o   In case of a change it will be noted ASAP.

Now I know most of you in the reading audience might not give a damn about the details I just entered but as I have said before this is my blog and I am doing this for me.  Not to be selfish and I am open to suggestions but for my sanity I need this outlet.

This is the only known picture of Lord Darksteel LaDouche

Now the event at hand; this week is Thorrablot at Kalehalla and it also happens to be Lord Darksteel’s birthday celebration.  Just note he is probably getting pretty drunk…just sayin…  Thorrablot is an old Scandinavian feast that is celebrated to ask the God Thor to intercede and help winter come to an end.  Traditionally the feast occurred on the first full moon of January, however that was way close to Yule this time so I moved it to the mid/end of the month.  I must have been inspired because I found out in researching the holiday that Iceland still celebrates this holiday from Mid-January to Mid-

February.  The feast there has several courses called Torremat (usually pickled in Lactic acid) these include Sheep head, Greenland Shark, Ram testicles and Seal flippers and other delectable treats.  We will not be partaking of those particular delicacies but I am trying to get a goat haunch to roast.  There is a spice and fresh meat market up on Redwood and 35^th South so we try there.  If that fails we will go get a leg of lamb and roast it.  The reason for this is that Thor had two goats, Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr, and whenever he need to eat them he would bring them back to life the next day using his hammer Mjolnir.  Thus I have deducted that Thor enjoys roast goat.

One other tradition of the Iceland feast is the drinking of shots of Brennivin which is Vodka infused with aromatic spices in the same manner schnapps is.  This drink is not available outside of Iceland but there is a very similar drink in Norway called Akavit.  Now in Utah it is sold under the name Aquavit and the Liquor store list has a brand on there so we are going to try to get some and drink it.  That will be the feature booze of the week if possible.  If not we will get a peppermint schnapps and go from there.

Come back Monday morning to find out what happens.

Now to the weekly suggestions;

Show of the Week:

 New York Ska Band The Toasters are at Bar Deluxe with local Ska bands Sturgeon General and Bombshell Academy.  This should be a great show. 

Eatery of the Week;

  Tried and true Blue Plate Diner.  I have gone here a lot and love the breakfast.  When I lived in Holiday I would drive over Friday mornings and get a Benedict with Smoked Salmon and home fries.  Try it!!! ***** 

Booze of the Week;

  Aquavit if available or Peppermint Schnapps if not (Brand Information and details coming in the event review)

India House and the 1st Outing of D'Tiarnai ar Kalehalla

It has been a long time since my inner circle and I have gone on adventures away from Kalehalla (our festival hall), so I was truly excited for our first true outing in over 5 years.  The D’Tiarnai ar Kalehalla (Lords of Kalehalla) headed out to enjoy a wonderful feast of spices at India House restaurant.  India House is located at 8660 S. State Street in Sandy, Utah and it is a true treasure that I believe more people in our valley need to experience.  The D’Tiarnai that attended this great meal were myself (Chadivus), Kalenar, Laird Alistair Darksteel LaDouche (Lord Darksteel), Sesso Bob-omba (Bomb), Vladimir and Dylwythen Deg Geneth (Dyl).  (Names are assigned by me since it is my blog)

Clockwise from bottom left, Sesso Bob-omba, Vladimir, Kalenar, Lord Darksteel, Dylwythen Deg Geneth, Chadivus  

We sensed greatness the moment we exited our vehicles and enjoyed the aroma that was prevalent even in the parking lot.  As we entered, our senses were flooded with a feeling that can only be described as exotic comfort.  The scent of multiple spices mixed with stewed meat and vegetables coupled with the wonderful objects of art and decoration helped us all feel at home and far away at the same time.  Our hostess was the owner and our waitress was her daughter (at least I have assumed as much) and the feeling of family was prevalent not just from all of us being together but the community of the eatery as well.

We were seated and asked for our drink choices.  I ordered a Taj Mahal which is an Indian Lager, Kalenar ordered an Indian Coffee and a Root Beer, Lord Darksteel and Dyl enjoyed water and Dyl also ordered a coke.  When Bomb and Vladimir arrived they ordered waters as well and Bomb ordered an Iced Chai Tea.  The Lager reminded us of other Asian beers and it had a sweetness that both complimented the flavors of the food and drank very easy with no aftertaste.  The coffee was thick and luxurious with a nice mix of bitter coffee and cream. The Chai was a very good mix of spice and sweet.  Kalenar also ordered a glass of Malbec.

For appetizers we ordered 2 Pakoras samplers which had Paneer (Cheese) Pakoras, Chicken Pakoras and Vegetable Pakoras.  These are fritters that the main ingredient mentioned is dipped in a chickpea batter and then deep fried.  They are served with a Cilantro Mint Chutney and a sweet Tamarind Chutney which complements all three types of Pakoras.  We also ordered 4 orders of the Garlic Naan and I think all of us would have eaten 10 more easily.  I personally loved to put Mango Chutney on the Naan and then dip it in the curries we ordered, which comes to the main course.  We ordered 5 curries for our table and ate family style (we are a family after all, maybe not by birth but by choice.)  The curries were 2 Masalas (A sauce of tomatoes, bell peppers, cream and spices.) Lamb Boti and a Chicken Tika (both mild heat), Chicken Vindaloo (Potatoes cooked in a sauce of onions, tomatoes, garlic, vinegar and spices) (medium heat), Lamb Curry (Sauce made of onions, garlic, ginger, and spices) (mild heat.) Saag Paneer (spinach cooked in onions, ginger, garlic, cream and spices with homemade cheese) (medium heat).  Honestly they were all perfect we ate till we were full and talked and had a most wonderful time.  More than that it was a time in which we could try new things with people we love and create new experiences to cherish and remember. 

Now remember this is less about reviewing the restaurant and giving it a rating than reviewing the experience we had at the restaurant.  With that said India House was a WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE!  The Food, The Atmosphere, The Staff, The Other Patrons all helped our group enjoy an amazing opening adventure and I would recommend this restaurant as our new go to Indian Food “place” in the Salt Lake Valley.  I can’t say enough how much I enjoyed the time I had there with my friends.  Thank You India House!

I am including pictures of the time we spent at India House along with the food we ate.  We are planning to do this at least once per month so I hope you will follow us and enjoy the experiences.  I am including the link to India House just click on the name.  I am also including an Amazon link to “The Hundred Foot Journey” next to The Anchorage’s album “Bridges”.  I would recommend watching the movie getting hungry for the food and then going to India House and enjoying yourself.

India House on Facebook 

Weekend Preview New Restaurant and Live Show suggestion.

One thing I am really appreciating about this blog, is that although I am reviewing bands/food/everything, I am not being a traditional critic.  This is my life and I am going to talk about things I LIKE!  I am not wasting time listening to the new album by so and so hardcore metal band that is cutting edge that I hate just so I can write a post about it.  I also am not going to restaurants that I have eaten at and do not enjoy just to review them.  I am going to try new experiences and then write about that experience and if I do not like it I will say so and move on rather than dwell on what they can do better.  So with that in mind I am way excited to try India House in Sandy.  Here is the link to their menu.  Based on the pictures posted I am looking forward to this and will let you all know how the experience went.  Here are just a few pictures on their site.

   


Next I wanted to call attention to a show that I think will be very good to see.  Moneypenny is headlining this show and I have enjoyed listening to this band whenever Blinded played with them. Plus it is for an awesome cause, here is the promo info and the Facebook Event.

 

Lastly I will be keeping the Amazon info for The Anchorage's album Bridges up for the rest of the month and you can click on their name link to go to their Bandcamp page.

 

 

                         

January 2015 Local Music Review: THE ANCHORAGE

So as you might or might not have known, the last few years I have been deeply involved managing the Salt Lake City local pop-punk band Blinded by Truth.  During the last 6 months our whole organization has decided to pursue individual goals and the band is no longer together as a functioning organization. That is one of the reasons I started this blog so that I can have an outlet for my varied interests.

The local music scene in Salt Lake City is one of those interests that is very important to me.  I would love to see as many local shows as I can but my health is still preventing me from going out as much as I would like.  Instead I have decided to highlight a local band every month in this blog and eventually do interviews with the bands and artists.  Because the blog is so new I will not be interviewing this months featured artist but I will provide as much detail into their music as I can.

I am pleased to announce that the featured band for January 2015 is the Ska/Alternative band The Anchorage.  I am a ska fan from way back in the early 1980s enjoying acts from the late 70s 2tone ska such as The Specials, The English Beat, The Selector and Madness and then moving onto the 3rd wave and Ska Punk acts like The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Operation Ivy, Skankin Pickle, Reel Big Fish, early No Doubt, Save Ferris and Less than Jake plus local Salt Lake Ska acts like Insatiable, Swim Herschel Swim and Sturgeon General (all of which friends of mine performed in).  Even now I have spent the last 3 months listening to the entire Streetlight Manifesto and Big D and the Kids Table catalogues.

With that history out of the way, I must say I am impressed with The Anchorage.  This band has a very dynamic horn sound with heavy guitar sections and a progressive bass player that manages the ska bass lines with ease and at the same time switching to heavier bass rifts whenever necessary.  I also love when the keyboard is accompanying the horns with classic Hammond B3 sounds or just simple fill rifts.  The drumming  is solid and the vocals are consistent.

While writing this I have been listening to their first full length album from 2011 Bridges.  This album is very consistent from Track 1 One of These Days (which is a very good album opener) to Track 12 Bridges.  My favorite tracks on the album are Track 1, Track3 Tear Down These Walls (which features that great keyboard horn interaction, Track 8 Not Alone (This song has an awesome horn break that shows off the ensemble skills of the band) Track 12 (which opens with some cool distortion and then has some innovative drumming and guitar interplay plus the most consistent lyric phrasing of the album).

There are 4 more songs available on the band's Bandcamp page (which is very visually pleasing as well) those 4 tracks include a harder cover of Oingo Boingo's Dead Man;s Party and the band's new song Many Minds which actually does a great job showing the growth the band has made in the last 3 years.

To breakdown the musicianship of the band I kind of want to address each section of the band and then talk to some suggestions I would like to see the band consider for future endeavors.

First the horn section of The Anchorage is VERY STRONG.  Ben Lambert on Trombone and Erik Vorkink on Trumpet play very well together.  They are in tune and have a strong sense of what their instruments should sound like not only for the Ska sound but as a general sound philosophy.  They are able to play with dynamic variation and have great musical phrasing together.  There are moments that they need to improve on their ensemble entrances so one of them doesn't come in to early and they also need to pay attention to the end of their phrases together but that is minimal criticism.

Next the rhythm section of Jason Bohman on Drums and Dylan Cox on Bass work well as a team.  I would like to see the bass drive the tempo more and stay on the top edge of the beat but Dylan plays very strong (he does need to turn up a bit though so that there is a stronger bass presence on the recordings.)  Jason is very good at keeping the band together and does good basic rhythms, I would like to see him branch out into more diverse polyrhythms on his fills and intros(like he did on the song Bridges), This would give the band a powerful new tool to innovate and create with.

The harmony and rhythm section of the Guitars and Keyboards played by Derek Harman and Scott Inkley hold the band together, The way the guitars incorporate harder distortions and riffs with standard ska comping is one of the most compelling aspects of The Anchorage.  In addition the various keyboard sounds throughout all of the songs help add harmonic diversity that keeps a person interested throughout the whole album.  I would like to see more phrase matching between the guitars and the horns so that the ups and downs of each phrase complement each instrument.

Lastly the vocals add a unique timbre to the band and help create the overall sound. Derek is on lead vocals and Scott is on backing vocals.  I believe that this area is where the band has an ability to improve in such a way that they can enter into the same status as Streetlight Manifesto or the The Bosstones.  If more practice is made on making sure the Melody of each song is emphasized through the vocals then the Harmonies that the band are playing will become stronger.  In ska there are two strong melodic forces that need to be present The Horns and The Vocals.  If both are as strong as the other then the music itself becomes thicker and richer in sound.  Now this is not a criticism of Derek, he has very good phrasing, good breathing and good projection when he sings, it comes more as a recognition that the melodic line needs more attention (or emphasis) than is coming across on the recordings.  I think in a way that has to do with the lyrics matching the musical phrasing better.  So going forward I would make sure that you spend time with your lyrics and that you are saying your message in such a way that the words match the music so the melody comes across stronger.

Now I love this band as a fan.  I subscribe to Spotify paid service and Bridges is available on that service, however, I purchased the album in digital download plus the 4 other songs on Bandcamp.  I encourage all of you who read this and appreciate the music to do this as well. The album Bridges is $5.00, plus I paid $2.00 for Speak Your Mind (which has the cover of Dead Man's Party and is not on Spotify) and I paid $.99 for the song Many Minds (which the band is offering for free, but in my mind you should pay what it costs on ITUNES or Amazon for a single song to support the band) I also bought both of their stickers.

Here is the link The Anchorage Bandcamp

Here is their Facebook so Like Them

Here is their Soundcloud

Here is their Twitter

January 2015 Calendar

So the new year is here and my annual bout with bronchitis is fading into memory and with that joyous news I wanted to update you all with my blog plans for January 2015.

Also of note, Kalehalla is the name of our house and festhall named after the famous warrior Kalenar (David Tripp my best friend and roommate).   It is where most of our party events take place.

January 4 to January 10

Review the music of Salt Lake Ska/Alternative band The Anchorage and hopefully catch their show at Kilby Court on Thursday 1/8.

January 11 to January 17

Review of India House Restaurant in Sandy and then cocktails and video games at Kalehalla with friends.

January 18 to 24

Event I 2015;  Thor's Feast (better late than never) This is normally held on the full moon of January but since that was so close to Yule (January 5) and all of the holiday mess still getting cleaned up, I have decided to hold Thor's Feast on January 24th so that we have time to plan and properly ask Thor's help in getting the winter season to end quickly.

January 25 to January 31

Prepare for February and the Feast of Vali Wine event plus maybe a trip to Lava Hot Springs (I Hope)

Please comment on any of these ideas and I look forward to seeing your feedback.