ask Dan Selzer!

that's the 'modern filipino' place right? yeah me and the girl have very little interest in filipino food, partly cause our bathroom often smells of it strongly due to this place's ventilation. it seems like an extremely acquired taste.

Dear Dan Selzer:
Hello again. How was lunch? In the future, may I recommend Soul Flavors? It's twice as expensive but three times as good.
Forks.

lunch was good, a bit of a wait. My sister's taken other family members to Soul Flavors, that's the one close to the train I think? She lives right near there. She's vegetarian and my girlfriend only eats fish, so if we would find ourselves in Jersey City we probably wouldn't end up there. Dosas in the indian section is more likely!

re: filipino food. it's so meat heavy, surprised your gf ate there, dan. i dunno if i've ever had a vegetable dish in the 14 yrs i've been w/a filipino woman besides like potatoes or greenbeans as part of a stew or something. is rice a vegetable? imo, it's kind of a boring cuisine. not spicy and not that many spices but i've grown to really like it over the years.

Chicken (or beef or pork) Adobo. slow cooked. heavy on vinegar, soy sauce and garlic.

Pansit Palabok. thin, clear noodle dish with sliced veggies (carrots, onion, celery). usually has chinese sausages, hard boiled eggs or lil shrimps as a protein.

Lumpia. fried egg rolls. lumpia shanghai are tiny ones w/just pork. the "normal" ones are called Lumpia Prito or Lumpia Gulay or just Lumpia. they're bigger w/veggies (bean sprouts, string beans, carrots) and sometimes small shrimp or ground meat. and Turon are plantain or banana lumpia w/brown sugar.

Kare Kare. love this one. oxtail w/a peanut butter sauce. served on the bone so you have to dig in the crevices, but it's hella tender.

Crispy Pata. super deep fried pork leg w/skin on. dip in vinegar w/fish sauce. tasty but fried so much it gets kinda hard. wife broke a crown last time she ate this.

Lechón. whole roasted suckling pig. this is ridiculously amazing but kinda scary. the skin is crispy like chips. also Chicharrón is very popular. fried pork rinds. dipped in vinegar/

Siopao (pronounced show pow). steamed pork buns

they have some really great breads and pastries. Ensaymada (sometimes filled w/cream cheese) & Pandesal. these are generally soft and buttery and sometimes a lil sweet. and they have empenadas that are similar to argentinian ones.

most desserts are rice and coconut based. Ube (oooh-bee) is a sweet purple yam. Halo Halo is a fun shaved ice dish with toppings like milk, coconut, tapioca and a bunch of tropical fruits.

dishes to possibly stay away from (unless you're like Andrew Zimmern) is Balut. fertilized duck egg. wife's dad likes to taunt her w/this one. you can see the beak and egg inside. he slurps it up. also they have a "Black Soup" aka blood stew

damn you know more about filipino food than you do about 70s singer songwriters

that "black soup" is sometimes called "chocolate beef"... mmm congealed coagulated blood stew.

went to the bbq place today

the food is okay, not super expensive. not a must go but if you want some bbq and a sportsy bar that isn't filled w/ irish people...

waitress was this jolly hispanic woman who was actually really annoying.

chocolate soup! that's what i was trying to remember

so gnarly. there's a vietnamese variation of it too iirc. you get your daily intake of iron at least...

and blood

whoah DJ Balut in the house.

Seriously thanks for the tips. I actually live very close to "Little Manila", the strip of Roosevelt Avenue in Woodside near Jackson Heights that's filled with filipino places but have always been too intimidated. Then one opened up right near my house (Engeline's, iatee) and I had breakfast there that was really good, pork eggs and rice, but still didn't know what to get. At This new one, Nicole got shrimp, she eats seafood. I got pork adobo which seemed to mostly be deep-fried pork belly. It was served with some kind of tasty pickled vegetable and rice and a sauce. It was fine, good enough that I'd like to go back and explore some more, or go to the others, but I haven't been blown away by filipino food yet. Nicole's shrimp was "cooked in seagram's ginger ale". I need to go with meat eaters so I can try more. Same problem with our recent explorations of some of the indonesian and malaysian restaurants in Elmhurst. It's harder for her to find something, and I can only try one meat dish so I don't get a good cross section.

Nicole's shrimp was "cooked in seagram's ginger ale".

!!! think i'm gonna try this with a spicier ginger ale! and butter.

this is pretty terrible, but here u go

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_W4_LV77HlY&feature=player_embedded

http://acuterecords.com/UnderwaterDisco.jpg

as written on the Acute blog:

For 6 years now, I’ve thrown a disco halloween party that also serves the purpose of being a birthday party for my girlfriend, roommate and crafts partner Nicole. Starting as part of the long-forgotten Alldisco party, these parties have moved around Williamsburg and have had many different fun and silly themes. Dancing In Space, Wild Kingdom, The Haunted Disco, Night of the Living Disco Dead and last years 80′s Prom of Horrors. This year we also wanted to celebrate the first year anniversary of Nicole’s online literary and arts journal, Underwater New York.

So that brings us to this years theme…THE UNDERWATER DISCO. You can dress up however you like, but water themed costumes are encouraged! For instance, I am going as a Music Pirate. Like the notorious 18th century pirates of the west indies but instead of stealing barrels of wine and gold coins I steal music and share it illegally on the internet. Arrrr that’s a low bit rate, matey!

As usual, I will be joined by my erstwhile DJ partner Tropical Jeremy, who’s already halfway there with a name like that. And as a very special guest, we have none other than Morgan Geist of the pioneering and influential Metro Area and his label Environ. He knows a thing or two about water…just ask him about the fountains of Wayne. It’s a rare opportunity to hear a world-class DJ playing such a fun local down-to-earth party, so don’t miss it!

This may also be the last time we ever do this! We’ll be out of town during Halloween of next year and after that? Who knows, we’ll be too old by then…or DEAD (oooh, spooky)

Here are the details in case you’re too lazy to look at that flyer up there….

Underwater Disco

Underwater New York’s 1st Anniversary Party

+ Dan, Nicole and Jeremy’s 6th Annual Halloween Dance Party

The Loft above Public Assembly

70 N. 6th St., Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Saturday October 30th, 10pm

DJs Dan Selzer, Jeremy Campbell and special guest Morgan Geist

Underwater Costumes Strongly Encouraged

$7, proceeds benefit Underwater New York

underwaternewyork.com

Dan,

Is it true or false that the lead singer of Torche sings your name around :21 of their song "UFO"?

Best,
markers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZZr1p8NB-8

sure sounds like it.

:-D

Dan, school this dumbass. What is the machine-gun edit? I see it around but can't figure out from context exactly what's meant. Examples?

it's when in the 80s they used to slice tape to create stuttering effects. See anything by The Latin Rascals and Omar Santana.

Check out T-La Rock's Breaking Bells (Omar Santana Remix). All done by slicing tape with a razor blade. Totally amazing.

Gotcha!

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3848975/Legwarmers.jpg

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kvvxe9nyxV1qapjyuo1_500.jpg

She'll be there.

damn i miss Trophy Bar and Taco Santana.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3848975/mar19_2.jpg

fun fun fun fun

what's good Dan! it's been a minute but what kind of local produce or native new jersey junk food delicacies did you grow up with?

i'm thinking like:

greek diner menu
sloppy joes (not chili, the befouled cole slaw and russian kind)
italian hot dogs
taylor ham

i ask only because i have to contribute to a pot luck lunch and all the above and other obvious ideas (jersey tomatoes) are already taken. i could really use some leftfield nj culinary inspiration!

you still around, wow?

Let's see.

Greek diner obvious choice is Disco Fries. Or what I call Jersey Poutine. Get the kinda thick steak fries, add gravy and mozzarella, and you're done.

Italian hot dogs is so random I thought I had dreamed it up. My father would take me to a place to get them and I was a picky eater so I'd just get the hot dog and potatoes in pita bread. No peppers and onions.

The hot dog choice of course is the ripper. My father grew up going to Rut's Hut in Clifton, where they'd fry the hot dogs until they burst open. All those new places in the city ("new) like Griff Dogs got that from them. Bourdain said they came from Hirams in Fort Lee or something.

Yes. Sloppy Joes from Town Hall Deli. They ship. And they are fucking great and I make my parents get them every year when I go out there for xmas.

I'd never had taylor ham. We are somewhat jewish at least.

Generally, good pizza was a NJ thing. By the time I was growing up, NYC corner slice pizza was (and remains) usually nasty. The pizza I grew up on was way better then any NY slice joint I've ever been to.

There's an old school divey italian place everyone loves called the Belmont Tavern with specialties like "Shrimp Beeps" and Chicken Savoy. I went there once and wasn't blown away, but people will go to the end of the world for this stuff.

I don't know what else to add. I grew up on pizza bagels.

xxxxp Filipino Food
I have eaten ate a couple of the places in Woodside, I really liked Daing Bangus at Crystal's cafe, marinated and deep fried whole milk fish with tomatoes vinegar and rice. My GF also loves the Kare Kare there.

happy birthday mr selzer

Thanks.

They have Bangus at Jolibee...the fast food place on Roosevelt. It looks like the last thing you'd ever want to get at a fast food restaurant.

not just bangus...CRISPY bangus

me and the girl end up using that example everytime we describe jolibee to people, entirely cause saying 'crispy bangus' makes us lol

happy birthday Dan!

in your honor i ate a ham/cheese single sloppy joe. i don't know why i said that, the first time experiencing them it was nauseating but a good one can be pretty great, depending.

your a lifesaver with the Belmont idea, everything else you mentioned is already taken except pizza. working on the marinara for the shrimp now.

i meant i don't know why i typed befouled. i still don't understand how those sandwiches can ship without getting soggy. maybe separate pouches for self assembly?

The sloppy joes we get are simply roast beef and turkey, swiss cheese(or provo, can't remember), coleslaw and tons of russian dressing on thin slices of crustless white bread. They get messy but are by no means gross or junky. In my book. A book that is filled with gross and junky sandwiches.

jolibee is nast

thanks again Dan, the dry run was a rousing success:

http://i.imgur.com/c0ts5.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/dOV57.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/4HGhc.jpg

Does it taste like something out of the Sopranos?

garlic and slow heat burn as fuck.. should pass muster.

Dan, did you know I backed against the wall switch and turned the lights on Saturday? Always ruining the kids' fun.

It happened a few times that night. Before the party even started, Jeremy said "somebody always hits the light switch and they never realize it's them and I have to run over and fix it.

I think, if timed correctly to the music, it could be pretty effective.

ILXor Jaxon to appear:

http://www.thedazzleships.com/052611.gif

OH HAI

siiiick

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3848975/DANDANNOODLEREV.jpg

http://www.thedazzleships.com/012612.gif

^^^^^^^^ how was that??

pissed I couldn't go

Purple Brain mix on rvng was so great

I wasn't feeling well and had/have to work today so I offered to go on first so I could leave early and not feel guilty. I DJ'd a 1982 college radio set to a mostly empty/bleak room from around 9:15 till 10.

Then Jeremy and Ben went on and played really cool stuff, including way too many of their own upcoming Lectric Sands releases. The bar slowly filled up more or less. Then Purple Brain went on and were great but by then a friend I hadn't seen in a few years came by so I ended up staying there till 1 or 2am. They played great stuff, I need to listen to the recording.

Then I went to Sammy's Halal in Jackson Heights for a very late snack. Then I came home and worked on The Trypes release. Then I went to bed around 3. Slept for 5 hours. Got up did more Acute stuff, then came to work.

I feel great!