Steady Tonic

Bice Grill is a lunch standard for me. 99% of my meals there consist
of the choose-your-own salad variety (mix of romaine and greens, with
chicken, tomatoes, mozzarella, and green beans). The other 1% is
comfort food in the form of a breaded chicken breast and provolone
sandwich, grilled in their wood burning oven with a side of their
tomato basil marinara.

Today, I was brought lunch, so my DSDD was a gift rather than a
choice. It was half of a grilled chicken breast sandwich with grilled
zucchini, eggplant, green peppers and provolone. Bice takes this
deliciousness and grills it open faced in their wood burning oven.
The sandwich was accompanied by 1/2 a slice of veggie pizza, also from
their wood burning oven.

Best aspect of DSDD: The sandwich was the right combo of chicken,
perfectly cooked veggies, and cheese. And it was free.

Worst aspect of DSDD: The pizza never looks good to me at Bice. I was right.

New Shit Rating: Partially Repeatable. I’d do the sandwich again, not
the pizza.

*DSDD = Different Shit Different Day

Portland quintet Butchers and Builders took the stage late and tore it up for the next 35 minutes with their rootsy blues-rock filled set. The band featured two percussionists and the largest mandolin player I’ve ever seen. With lyrics covering the devil, fire, black dresses and finding them down at the bottom of the lake, Butchers and Builders sticks pretty close to traditional blues rock, and their intense vocalist at points appears to channel Neil Young.

See below for crappy video (more on that later):

The near capacity crowd packed the Hideout for Langhorne Slim. On record, Slim’s folk-rock is Dylanesque. Live, however, Slim struts the stage and howls like Jack White with a side of Chris Robinson. His performance attracts a good, and very vocal, following. See below for less crappy video:

Best aspect of new shit: Any show at the Hideout is instant fun, but the crowd participation in Langhorne Slim’s set was particularly lively. One dude was as active as a gospel church crowd — finally, after asking the guy if he was going to be alright earlier, Slim shielded his eyes from the floodlights and asked “Where are you, dude? Oh dude you’re a girl.”

Worst aspect of new shit: I am the shortest fucking person on the planet. Even in my platforms I couldn’t get very good sightlines over the gargantuans that always seem to plant themselves in front of me. Hence the crappy videos. In a world of Amazons, I’m the love child of Herve Villechaize and Linda Hunt.

New Shit Rating: Repeatable. I’d see Langhorne Slim again - he’s a great performer and his interaction with the crowd adds an intimacy that many artists’ performances lack.

[Edited to add that the other best aspect was Langhorne Slim’s kickass upright bass player who was sporting a “2005 NL Central Division Champs” t-shirt. Go Cubs.]

*DSDD = Different Shit Different Day

Not an easy task for a snooze button addict. Surprisingly, however, it was the most enjoyable run I’ve had in a while and clearly beats the gym treadmill for interest level and endurability.

Best aspect of new shit: Getting a strong workout out of the way early

Worst aspect of new shit: Having to resist that 4th snooze - but it’s fleeting

New Shit Rating (NSR): Repeatable

*DSDD = Different Shit Different Day

Starting tomorrow, May 28, I am attempting to do something new and different everyday. The challenge is not as hard as it may sound. It can be a very small new thing, such as trying a new dental floss. The hard part is going to be blogging about it. Daily. And reviewing the new activity to examine whether it is something I plan to keep in my life or if it should be abandoned post haste.

Stay tuned.