Welcome To Hell

 

Friday night my band Chest Pains played a show in Chapel Hill at a bar called Hell.

I'll spare you all the silly rock crit cliches I could dish out regarding the night's events but suffice it to say the place lived up to its name invoking Dante, Sartre and Hesse's versions of the evil entity all rolled up into one.

I must say that Eddie Sanchez is the coolest bartender ever.

The Time Honored Tradition

 


Of making a set list whilst sitting in a smoky bar waiting to take the stage.

Calmly snapped just moments before disaster struck...

Juan Huevos' Dancin' Feet

 


Party rapper, Mad Libs MC and my fellow catering buddy Juan Huevos poppin' off the joint Saturday night in Hell.

Getting Out Of Hell

 


Rough night.

Plagued by sound issues, our drummer forgot his hi-hat and the stench from the men's urinal could be smelt on-stage.

But we soldiered on like the punk rock troopers we are...

The First Fire Of The Season

 

Seeing as the temp finally dipped below freezing, I took it upon myself to have the first fire of the cold weather season. I love making fires, especially of the camp variety, but outdoor fires have been put on hold until the godforsaken drought in the Southeast ends. Which also means the kids haven't be able to rock the smores as much as they like to when dad gets to making campfires.

Although my wife razzed me a bit for jumping on the opportunity to build a fire (she didn't mind staring it! you could hear her singing in industro-goth hit "I'm a firestarter! I'm firestarter) I'm glad we did because when I peeked at the weather for next week I saw that it is going to be back up in the mid-70s so it might be some time before I get to have another.

Beer Cheese Fondue

 


Nothin' goes better with the first fire of the year then some noshable food.

Last night we enjoyed beer cheese fondue which consisted of 8 ounces Swiss, 8 ounces American, 2/3 cup of beer
(Samuel Smith's Nut Brown Ale), some Worcestershire sauce and corn starch (for thickening. Consumed by dipping a ripped up French bagette into it. Yum.

I've substituted all kinds of beers over the years but Sammies Nut Brown is by far the best. Guinness or any variety of stout works as well but please adhere my warning when I say to avoid domestic swill.

In addition to the fondue, I whipped up one of the more popular appetizers from my work: A seared tuna, avocado and chipotle mayo combo placed atop a tortilla chip. The downside to this one is that I tend to gobble down modest amounts of seared tuna during the prep process.