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Head Shots
2008-07-26 4:05AM / 標準BLOG
Ok,
I hate to jump on the band wagon, but I just got some head shots done in LA by a great lady named Cynthia Smiley. Really great work, you can see them attached. Let me know what you all think. Any favorites of my favorites?
H
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Interviewing the man from the underground.
2008-07-26 3:33AM / 標準BLOG
This week I had the fortunate opportunity to sit down with and record a radio show with Chef Russell Jackson, “The Dissident Chef.” Since I met Russell at a farmers market, I knew his cooking would be amazing. The most inspiring of course was Russell’s stories of how Subculture Dining (SCD) came to be. He explains “SDC came out of necessity. All I know how to do is be a Chef, and I had no operable space to do so.
As a child and adult I had a handful of meals at an Underground restaurant. Russell’s underground was a little different from the version that I had in mind. My original impression of undergrounds were those that were run out of the chef’s basement or house even. It was a way to supplement income and for a retired chef or aspiring chef to develop his/her food. Russell’s underground had a secret location and a secret procedure to get to the secret location. It really was an underground festivity. This reminded me of the underground raves that were popular in the 80’s and 90’s.
When talking to Russell one can see his energy is saturated in confidence and certainty. He is and was an artist, one who also happens to be considered an “entrepreneur.” I would call him the “Richard Branson of the gourmet food word.” He was the David fighting the Goliath. And since he has beaten Goliath, he is now receiving the necessary “props” for his work.
After our one hour interview, I invited him on the show again to talk a little more about his future restaurant. But, don’t’ let the show times fool you. We were literally in the studio for three hours, discussing our views on organic food, social responsibility, and the birth of an underground restaurant.
In the course of listening to Russell, I knew that he was on the same wavelength as I was. He was after the same thing that I was. We are a part of the same mind of those who speak out for the little guys, who might be small organic farmers, independent chefs, indi rock bands, etc. We are the people who are sick of seeing the big guys get to do all the fun stuff. Most importantly, Russell and I were people who were willing to take a chance. The desire for taking risks was the clear sign of a true entrepreneur.
The new restaurant Le Feit was one that came in perfect time. Having looked for a location for his underground business to move to be above ground, he now had the perfect place. Peir 5, a tough location to get, but also a very expensive location build. This place will be right on the water overlooking the famous Bay Bridge (the good looking side), neighboring restaurants like Slanted Door, and
Through out the interview I couldn’t help but think, “A book must be written about this, or possibly a movie.” Then Russell mentioned the SDC book, and I knew that this story was ready to come out of the underground. In the future look forward to more then Russell’s new restaurant le feat, but also a fine peace of literature on being different.
To listen to Russell’s previous shows visit the podcast page here
Also take a look at what it takes to be a part of the underground at the Sub Culture Dinning website: www.thescdsf.com/
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Blog: Wednesday, Jul 9
2008-07-10 7:58AM / 標準BLOG
You are what you drink
It has come to my attention that people absolutely have to have something other then water to drink. The irony is that humans were only designed to drink water. That’s right I said it. Not booze, coffee, milk, soda, or other sugary drinks, not even tea. But, we as humans are very creative and smart, so things like tea, juice, coffee, and alcohol were invented. Personally I think the first man to grind up a coffee bean and stick it in boiling water is a freaking genius! This is almost as amazing as the man who discovered the creation of butter.
Like any other human, I enjoy things other then water, but please take note that water should make up of 80% of your daily liquids. Wow, that’s a lot of water! And you might ask “How Much Water should I drink?” There are many different recommendations, but the man who taught me best had the greatest advice.
Drink half of your body weight in ounces!
What a genius plan! This means that if you are 200 pounds you need to drink 100 pounds of water.
So let me take this moment to ask you the not so desired question: how much do you weight?
Now take that number and divide by two and stick the letters OZ to it. This is how much you should drink.
Ok now that you have how much water you have to drink, lets talk a little about other drinks. Yes there is some value to drinking things like tea or even cider for that matter, but remember what I said at the beginning of this blog. Take note sugary drinks like juice (yes juice), vitamin water, Gatorade, soda, etc., are not the best drinks to drink. Why do I say drink Cider? Because there is a definitive difference in vitamins and live enzymes in cider. Juice means that the juice of the fruit was squeezed then boiled or pasteurized. Cider, not to be confused with hard cider, is the technically “fresh squeezed” juice
What does this mean? It means that that the juices (even when organic) that are not fresh squeezed have no living enzymes and have less vitamins and minerals then fresh squeezed juice. The whole point of the fruit is actually the fiber with the sugar, this slows the passage into your body. When one drinks juice or even cider it jacks the blood sugar up quickly. So, if you have juice you must eat fat, protein, or a lot of fiber (not advised for your large intestine’s sake) to slow it down.
Now what about coffee and tea? I was sitting in my gym waiting for my next client when I herd a news report “Coffee is now a forms of prevention of cancer.” Ok this is a load of crap, come on! Who funded this study? Starbucks! Look, I love coffee, but at least I’m man enough to admit that it is not good for me. Tea is the same, but if you need a little boost in the day, or if you are just board of water, these are probably your safest options (herbal over caffeinated of course).
A little tip, if you are drinking these substances they do not count in your “water” intake. In fact they need to be diluted. Tea needs to be watered down at least 2-3x what you drank, and coffee needs to be watered down 3-4x what you drank. Let me break it down. This means that when you have your 8 oz late you need to drink 32oz of water to make up for it. So do yourself a favor, drink espresso (it has less caffeine then drip, and less toxins, especially if you are not drinking organic).
Since I like things easy for me I’m sure you like things easy for you. So here is the breakdown of drinks from worst to best:
Alcohol and Coke are tied at the worst drinks to put in your body.
Other Sodas
Juice and Gatorade are tied this includes that Vitamin water Crap.
Coffee
Cider and FRESH vegetable juices
Tea
And the best of course is WATER
Now some people will argue veggie juice and coffee, so really that is a three way tie, jus because I like coffee. But really veggie juice is better.
Here is a little bit on water by my favorite water dude Masaru Emoto
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZDOPQRdxJM
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The Apple Farm
2008-06-24 7:13AM / 標準BLOG
A few weekends ago I had a very unexpected visit to a biodynamic apple farm. On this particular weekend I was going to the Anderson Valley Brewery Beer Festival, and came across “The Apple Farm.” This apple farm is one that I have been buying apples from for a couple of years now. Every time that I would buy apples I would see the sign that said “Philo, CA.” And if you are like me, you think where in tarnations is Philo, CA. I found out this weekend by accident, that “The Apple Farm” was in Mendicino county.
Micheal Pullan writes about apples in his book The Botany of Desire. The main stream apples that everyone knows today, Fiji, Granny Smith, and Washington apples, are only three varieties of hundreds. Where did all of these varieties disappear to? They had no where to grow, with the disappearance of wildlife. Big commercial farms took a few varieties of apples and mass produced them. Thus, causing the dissapering act of apple varieties. Fortunately, for human society not all populations of apples have become extinct. The small apple orchard called “The Apple Farm,” carries some of the varieties that we don’t even remember, golden delicious, philo gold, macantosh (not the computer), Jonathan, pippin, pink lady, and the list goes on.
When entering “The Apple Farm” I noticed a man on a tractor that I recognized. It was the very farmer that I had been buying apples from for the last two years. “Hey I know you, your from the city,” He said. “Yep! I was out here and I thought I’d stop in.” I replied. He told me to walk around and enjoy myself, as I did. An unattended stand was at the front, where my sister, Jen, and her husband, Jon, were browsing. The farm had an honor system to sell their products on the farm. Something you just wont see in a city. Interestingly enough when one spreads out into the country, people are more honest.
Amongst the plethora of apple juice and ciders that were for sale, a apple cider vinegar, and an apple balsamic vinegar are my favorite. Not only does apple cider vinegar taste great, but nutritional properties always pleased me. Despite modern societies views on acidity, most people especially Americans have a low stomach acid level. Apple cider vinegar is one of the best ways to increase ones stomach acid. My personal Hydrochloc Acid (HCL) level is low which is why I love to use apple cider viniger before I eat. A small shot (a cap full) 10-15 min before a person eats is all they need to increase their HCL level. Of course there are many other reasons to drink apple cider vinegar, like the improvement of digestion, or natural probiotics. But, the most unknown is the above fact about a person’s HCL level.
Beyond the mesmerizing stand of goodies, was a simple farm. The layout was very organic (no pun intended) and I’m sure a green architect would approve. Everything was sustainable. As I approached the house, I recognized the farmer’s daughter who was making compost able pots out of cut up newspaper. The farm had pigs, goats, rabbits, sheep, and other livestock. I was there in time to catch and feed some baby goats. Rudolf Steiner (who coined the term biodynamic farming) himself would have been proud of this farm. As I finished my mini tour I realized that I truly was happy that I gave my money to this farm. I would buy apples from these guys, even though the price was more then a conventional apple. I may be paying a little under double conventional prices, but I was getting 10 or more times the nutrition. Not to mention the fact that this small farm and farmer are sustainable.
Ok, Ok now you are probably going to ask, where do I find this magical stuff. Well they are going to be selling every Saturday at the farmers market outside the ferry building next month, until the end of the apple season. I suggest you check it out, and you can taste the difference in biodynamic farming.
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Ode To Terence
2008-05-23 1:56PM / 標準BLOG
The following is a small excerpt on the acknowledgments section of my future book on dating. I had meant for this to be a surprise to T. But since I already told him that I was going to do this on a drunken stooper, I think it is appropriate for me to post this near his B-day. If my calculations are correct, T will probably read this blog by the time his B-day comes. Thanks T, and I'll see you in HK next month!
H
Acknowledgments:
I’ve known Terence Yin (T) for over a decade now, and he knew me ever since I was a little round boy. I remember the day that I met him, he was wearing some very interesting shoes. I was maybe 10 or 11 at the time. Growing up with three sisters, I never really had a brother to look up to. So I was always in search of male big brother like figures. At that age, T was it. My hyper, ADD, childish self looked up to him in great awe. Not, at the fact that he was an actor, or a celebrity in HK, but because of his presence.
Fast forward six or seven years after High School. My mom realized that I was getting older and it was now time for me to go out and have fun. A call to T a long forgotten family friend was made. T met me in a hotel bar, sipping a Jack and Coke and smoking a cigar reading a book. He was impressed, “nice man” he said to me, he was expecting an eighteen year old college party boy. What he got instead was an eighteen year old that was too cool for school. That night we went out, and he showed me the ropes in HK. We went out a few times, but T was busy and had to work the weekends, so we only had limited week nights to come out and hang. I even lost my phone on one of the nights out. It worried my mother sick, cause I hadn’t returned home. But that didn’t stop me from going out some more.
One year later I came to Hong Kong with two friends of mine, and T really showed us hot to party. We visited the all known hot spot Dragon Eye, which in 2004 was a hot spot. My friends sat in our VIP area drank jack and coke all night, and got our mac on with the HK models. It was at this phase of my life I realized how vital T was to my Hong Kong experience. T knew and I knew, that any time I came to HK, we was getting a call. This became routine for the next five years and even still today it is.
My mother would say something about T that I felt held a significant value. “Marsha Terence is like a brother, to Chi Terence is like a co-start and cousin, and to Harry Terence is an Idol.” Now I wouldn’t say that T is my idol, but I would say that he is my shi fu. T was my connector shi fu. Everyone has one. In Malcome Gladpoint’s The Tipping point, T would be called a connector. His word started a word of mouth epidemic that would spread. Hell, I’m guessing that is why he started www.alivenotdead.com. Now I don’t want people to get the idea that T was only good for partying, because he was great at giving advice as well. Any networking issue that I came upon I would run it by him. He had a good influence on my website www.iheartorganic.com. I wasn’t the only one that looked up to T for advice.
My youngest sister, Marsha, isn’t much of a marketer; she was what you would call an introvert. T would help her connect and socialize and for publicity. Even today, like all of us, she learns more and more on this topic. T gave Marsh the guidance or “big brother advice” that our family was lacking.
My oldest sister, Chi, on the other had, experienced T through a more professional basis. T always said that Chi was an amazing actress, and they worked on a professional level with one another. Both of them have been in the film industry for quite sometime, and acted as one another’s support group. If there was a male version of T, it would be Chi. She socialized just as much as T, but partied less. Both had similar philosophies on life, love, and work, but yet they were also distinctly different.
So, in a way my mother was right, we were all highly dependent on T. We considered him a part of the family, a cousin. If I was in town he knew I was calling. If T was in HK while you were in HK he would always include you in the fun that he did. He is and was always hospitable, courteous and welcoming, but never on time. That is why one can depend on him, and that is why I write this, as a personal thank you to one of my primary connectors in my life. We all have a connector in life, and when you realize who that is, keep them in your life because they are the ones who keep your world ticking.
T trained me to be my own connector, I didn’t know it at the time, I’m not sure if he knew it, but that is what he did. So, Terence if you are reading this, Thank You! and Thank You to all connectors out there.
