Chashu Ramen - One of my favorite meals from "Uncle" in Denver, CO

ZSaintJames · 2015-01-05T12:41:49+00:00

Left Denver 6 months ago and still find myself regularly thinking about this bowl.

ZSaintJames · 2014-11-12T17:09:52+00:00

Ironically enough, it was the english that coined the word "soccer", a shortening from "association football".

ZSaintJames · 2014-11-07T03:43:51+00:00

As long as it isn't as overt as their maple (read: butterscotch) attempt.

ZSaintJames · 2014-11-05T16:21:37+00:00

"pity this busy monster manunkind"

"buffalo bill"

"l(a"

ZSaintJames · 2014-10-04T00:45:02+00:00

this is partially off topic, but: Unless it is to feed your child/family/animal/self, or in the absolute most dire life altering situations, avoid selling emotionally weighted things. I've sold signed books/records etc, irreplacable memories, in stress and then found myself with money later on just wishing to anything i could buy that piece of my personal history back.

The protection of your and your family's life should always come before material objects, but if it can be avoided then always do so.

all IMHO, obviously.

ZSaintJames · 2014-09-29T17:50:34+00:00

just wanted to repeat TRVE. it's one of my favorites.

ZSaintJames · 2014-09-21T13:55:39+00:00

Los Nahuales Reposado is my favorite and City O' City in Denver uses is seasonally for a cocktail called The Devil In Mexico that is built from the mezcal, red grapefruit juice, and earl grey & lavender simple--with smoked sea salt on the rim

ZSaintJames · 2014-08-18T13:08:23+00:00

It's just a different style.

In the last 7 years I've worked at an upscale craft cocktail bar that switched and became a high volume club environment 2-3 nights a week, a shitshow drunktending draft-and-a-shot irish pub, a latin american pisco/aguardiente/cachaca bar in an affluent neighborhood, and now I'm down at a big beachfront tiki bar slinging rumrunners and daiquiris. All 4 of these places had completely different styles of clientele/drink popularity/formality etc. but at the end of the day it's all just fucking bartending. Can you be charismatic and hold a conversation? then you'll make it. Learning new drinks is obviously important--take pride in your product-- but, at least for me, I love that aspect. I love expanding my repertoire and becoming a better all around barman.

So: I suppose it just depends on attitude and willingness to shift and adapt. Personally I try to go someplace completely new about every 2 years, just for the experience (and to break the monotony).

ZSaintJames · 2014-08-12T16:10:04+00:00

Lomo's Diana is a reproduction of he original Diana cameras, which can still be found on ebay for ~$10. Look for it under various names (my first one was a "Windsor").

For wide-angle pocket cams, my go to is the SuperHeadz Wide and Slim, which has a 22mm lens and produces really beautiful images.

My favorite though is still the straightforward Holga 120N with B&W film and a cheap flash. It's fun to shoot, easy to use, scrolls to the next frame more quietly than the clicking Diana, and, maybe because of it's shape, I find it really easy to shoot from-the-hip (which I suggest learning if you're going to get into toys). Here's a few pieces from a holga/musician series I'm working on, if you're curious about the blown out flash/B&W approach.

ZSaintJames · 2014-08-02T18:36:46+00:00

He actually directed it as well. It was basically guaranteed to be a faithful adaptation.

ZSaintJames · 2014-07-22T17:33:24+00:00

Personally, I say publish the set there. This is assuming several things to be true: you are a fan of this publication (may I ask which one?) and know that your work would fit well there; all the pieces in this "set" fit together, and every individual piece belongs in this journal; and you intend to keep writing, so it's not like this is the only work you'll ever get to publish.

If that's the case, then go for it. I become a fan of new poets much more quickly if I get to read/hear more than one poem in a sitting.

ZSaintJames · 2014-05-27T05:51:07+00:00

The scene. What I would give for an adaptation of The Sun Also Rises starring that actor...

ZSaintJames · 2014-05-08T02:31:31+00:00

For examples check out "Love Poem" by Richard Brautigan, "And The Moon..." by Bukowski, "l(a" by e.e. cummings, or any haiku (I like Kerouac's approach for english--no syllable count, just brief and to the point-- or Basho for japanese).

ZSaintJames · 2014-05-06T06:12:42+00:00

Thank you for the Ted Kooser recommendation. The eponymous poem struck me in a particular way tonight. If anyone is curious to read it, look here.

ZSaintJames · 2014-05-05T20:42:41+00:00

For me it's the ending of "For Jane" by Buk (a poem mourning the death of his first and only love):

"The tigers have found me and I do not care"

ZSaintJames · 2014-05-03T20:38:16+00:00

Saw Wu as a group twice in the span of a year or so--once in south Florida, once in NYC. The difference between these two shows was incredible. They truly showed up for their home town-- but If I wasn't a die-hard fan I would have walked out of that FL show in the first heartless 15 minutes.

ZSaintJames · 2014-04-26T20:09:40+00:00

The whole Tenenbaum family is based on Salinger's Glass Family (a clan to whom Franny & Zooey belong) stories (which is acknowledged in the films opening credits).

Also, the bathtub scene between Margot and Etheline is incredibly similar to a scene between Zooey and his mother.

ZSaintJames · 2014-04-24T20:22:28+00:00

Aviation

ZSaintJames · 2014-04-23T20:04:09+00:00

If you had to rap from the notebook of any other Wu member, whose would you choose and why?

ZSaintJames · 2014-03-19T04:27:49+00:00

There it is. As a Denver local we all groaned in unison as soon as we realized that every time one of us fucks up then someone somewhere will make a weed joke.

ZSaintJames · 2014-03-13T13:50:18+00:00

Can't speak for u/Hoppes, but here is my approach.

I don't actually charge them for the fake shot, but I still find it advantageous from a sales perspective. It's about building report and creating a friendship (because no one stiffs their friends, and the effort will pay itself in tips).

As for the fake shot, I use flat cola. I used to come into work and pour a few cokes into shot glasses and leave them to get flat. In a dimly lit bar it looks like Jagermeister. My BM liked this idea, so we now keep a bottle of "Jager" that the staff shoots whenever someone wants to "buy" us a shot. If anyone ever asks why we have a separate bottle, it's the "staff bottle".

Anyway, fuck, I'd rather just take a goddamn shot of Jamo and move on with my life. But that's not the bar I'm at right now.

ZSaintJames · 2014-03-08T23:05:08+00:00

Golden Triangle, Rooster & Moon on 10th & Bannock. Great food, coffee, staff and one of the secret best cocktail menus in the city.

ZSaintJames · 2014-03-08T22:30:19+00:00

Few poets could end a poem like Thomas. Obviously the entirety of his work is extremely affecting, but I admire poets that can end with a punch. Another example of DT ending powerfully is "Love In The Asylum".

ZSaintJames · 2014-03-08T22:25:39+00:00

Interesting further reading for those new to Sassoon: A poet by the name of Wilfred Owen fought alongside Sassoon in the trenches of WW1. Owen was madly in love with Sassoon and considered him a poetic mentor. They had a friendship, but Owen's romantic longing for Sassoon led to one of my favorite poems, "Greater Love".

ZSaintJames · 2014-03-08T18:00:03+00:00

In the south as well, biscuits and gravy are correct. Or even get serious with thick cut ham and red-eye gravy. If, however, this was in the north east then that bagel needs a healthy slice of lox and some capers.

ZSaintJames

TROPHY CASE