No Age - Neumos

Two piece noise rock outfit from sunny LA, No Age came to Neumos recently.  I was fortunate enough to catch their set and even more fortunate that Country Girl joined me.  

While excited about the show as soon as I heard about it, concern showed up when I saw there were four opening acts likely meaning an awfully late night.  Concern grew into something stronger when we showed up, saw the set times and noted the 11 pm scheduled start for the headliner.  Nothing to do at that point other than buckle in and ride it out.  Luckily, it worked out very well. 

The last opener, The Wimps, is a local punk three piece with an eclectic lineup.  They tore it up and set the stage nicely for No Age who brought down the house.  Noise rock with a capital "N" was the order of the evening and it was ZOMG loud.  Even at the high volume, sound was remarkably clear so props to the sound folks as well. 

Little Si

Country Girl, being the thoughtful woman that she is, suggested that we hit Little Si on a recent morning.  It's a popular trail and we'd both done it previously.  While not as challenging as either of us recalled, was still a fun bit of fitness and we picked a gorgeous day to go.   Another wonderful suggestion by my gorgeous girl. 

Lake Wenatchee Camping '15

The whole fam took it to the woods for a camping trip on Lake Wenatchee.  Sunny, bright skies with pleasantly toasty temps during the day and comfortably cool at night.  Very happy to report that nary a mozzie was sighted though each morning brought issues with bees during breakfast.  Annoying but not too bad.

Kyra's first camping experience was initially traumatic (as most first experiences are for her) and she seemed to warm up to things towards the end.  With a limitless supply of sticks to chew on and chipmunks to eyeball, K Dubs was like a pig in slop.  City Boy was very concerned with a lack of awesome camp food because of the campfire ban.  Silly of him to doubt to abilities of Country Girl however.  Her camp food game was, of course, trump tight.

Top Loin, Mac and Cheese, Sautéed Kale and Sphagetti Squash

Oh, what's that you said?  Wondering if we're still cooking up marvelous feasts on the regular here on the Ranch?  Bet your sweet ass we sure are. 

Guess Who's 2?

That's right, Kodiak Wilbur is officially a teenager now.  No doubt the moodiness and sulking are just around the corner.  Oh, and he still hates birthday hats.

2015 Seattle International Film Festival Dash

Country Girl and I are (very minor) arts patrons in the form a membership with a group that hosts the Seattle International Film Festival.  One of the membership perks is discounts to Festival films.  We took advantage of this in the form of a six pack for this year's festival.  While the festival runs over three weeks, we took in our six five during the last week cos we're boss like that.  Here's how it shook out:

City of Gold - engaging journey to some of L.A.'s hidden gem restaurants through the eyes of passionate, eccentric and beloved local food critic

Country Girl:  "fun movie about my favorite thing: food! 4 stars."
City Boy:  "yum, food!  4 stars!"


Wet Bum - coming of age story of an awkward pre-teen girl who feels most comfy in her swimsuit, in and out of the pool

Country Girl:  "good acting, but nothing exciting to say, 2 stars."
City Boy:  "bland and typical.  is it over yet? 1 star."


Gueros - trouble making youth sent to join his slacker, university going brother in Mexico City during student strikes

Country Girl: "silly movie, original ideas, enjoyed the black & white, 4 stars."
City Boy:  "some cheeky fun to be had, a bit artsy at times.  3 stars."


3 1/2 minutes, 10 bullets - timely, relevant documentary of the "loud music" murder trial from the perspective of the slain teen's parents 

Country Girl sez:  "a terrible tragedy, well put together documentary, 4 stars."
City Boy sez:  "gripping and well presented capture of a tragic event.  4 stars."


A Blast - Greek austerity hits home

Country Girl sez:  "i liked it.  city boy is cra cra.  3 stars."
City Boy sez:  "despite lots of hot action, ultimately woefully underwhelming.  2 stars."

Yelle - Showbox

Do you like French electro-pop?  Do you like live shows full of energy, bounciness and performance pajamas?  Do you think two drummers with choreographed dance moves is better than one?

If you answered yes to any of these, go see Yelle when they come to town.  We did and our lives are immensely better off as a result.  Real talk.

Monsoon Restaurant - Capitol Hill

A recent lunch date took us to Monsoon Restaurant on Capital Hill.  After some difficulty in finding the place ("oh, the other side of street. i see now!"), it was time for "classic Saigon meets Northwest innovation".
The interior is spacious, well lit and modern.  While my recollections of the food are a bit fuzzy, consultation with Country Girl reveals that we both enjoyed it a great deal.

Surf and Turf à la Maison

Grilled top loin, Atlantic lobster tail paired with butternut squash, broccoli and rice pilaf.   How was it? All kinds of awesome.

Spooning Leads to Forking

At least that's what I learned from Country Girl.  Dunno whether it applies to dogs though KW and Kyra are on their way to finding out. 

Marvelous Meatloaf, Roasted Asparagus and Finglering Potatoes

Being the incredibly kind woman that she is, Country Girl signed us up for another cooking class not too long ago.  While it turned out to be more of a demonstration than a class, it was a fun and educational experience. 

The entree of the four courses was "a modern take on an old classic", meatloaf.  I don't recall the specifics of the modern take.  I do recall we made the dish the following week, paired it with an exciting asparagus and potato recipe we found separately and it turned out very nicely.

Lucia Italian Kitchen + Bar - Greenlake

A recent coupon purchase took us to Lucia Italian Kitchen + Bar in Greenlake.  Despite some uneven service, eats were pretty good.  

Modern, stark interior with minimal decoration may sound off putting, Lucia does it quite well.  A comfortable, almost elegant environment is the result.  

Food was as about as endearing as the setting as it was also very pleasant.  We started with the beet salad with fried goat cheese and the pear gorgonzola crostini. Salad was great and the crostini had potential.  We agreed that the texture was a bit off and toasting the bread likely would help.  The shrimp scampi was light and flavorful, while Country Girl enjoyed her gnocchi with braised short ribs.  Service started rough as we got our complimentary bread after our server took our starters order.  Not very nice.  That aside, service was largely fine.

Chicken Piccata

Courtesy of the Family Circle All Time Favorite Recipes and Country Girl's wicked cooking skilz, another fabulous chicken dish recently showed up on our dinner plates.  This time, chicken piccata.  More smashing success by my fav chef.

Chicken Lasagna Rolls

Adding to her many skills and talents, Country Girl has recently harnessed the power of Pinstabook to find an array of delicious and interesting dishes for us to try.  One such splendid find are these chicken lasagna rolls.  Social media is largely lost on City Boy, so I don't know any of the particulars of the recipe.  What I do know is that these were fantastic. 

Parmesan Chicken Thighs

Courtesy of Country Girl's Family Circle All-Time Favorite Recipes (more than 600 recipes!), I came across an enticing looking recipe for Parmesan chicken fingers.  While fully intending to make it myself (reviewed the recipe carefully ensuring it's not too difficult and procured the ingredients to boot), fate intervened and Country Girl ended up at the wheel for this one.  Definitely worked out better that way, eh?


The most significant departure from the recipe was subbing thighs for breasts (City Boy is much more keen on dark meat) and using Panko instead of crushed saltines.  Long story short, they turned brilliantly.  Crunchy, flavorful exterior and moist delicious interior.  Definitely will make it back on the menu in the future.

Kyra Arrives

In addition to being a union boss sans peer, Kodiak is also a wellspring of energy.  Despite our best efforts to ensure he gets enough daily exercise, we're not able to wear him out day after day. 

Enter his new playmate, Kyra.  She's a 5 month old German Sheppard.

As a playmate, she's working out smashingly.  Her and KW get on famously.  She seems to have a similar level of energy so hours of wrestling and playing are the new norm, leaving  them both very happy campers.  It hasn't been all smiles, though.  She's incredibly skittish and seems to have significant separation anxiety issues.  Hopefully both will pass relatively quickly.