saki After Hours: A Christmas Mansion with Ami Saraiya & the Outcome and Bob Dey's Tank Engine Man

saki is proud to announce the latest in its After Hours series: A Christmas Mansion Holiday Party. The time when all is bright, merry, and joyous, when movies and television remind us of the true meaning of the season. And we all warm a little in our hearts even as the biting freeze of a winter's day relentlessly attacks us like falling icicles from a shaken tree. On Saturday, December 17th, you can add one more bringer-of-good-tidings to that list of nostalgia driven entertainment when you come to enjoy saki's Christmas Mansion Party with performances by Ami Saraiya & the Outcome and Bob Dey's Tank Engine Man. If ever you wished that life could be more like it is in the movies, let us be your Christmas Genie. Below is a list of exactly what you won't want to miss.

The Party:
- sweater contest
- egg nog, snacks, other tastes of the season
- cookie exchange (bring your own cookies and share with others)
- Christmas Freak Out Room (you'll have to come here and find out)
- sing alongs
- games and other small forms of entertainment

The Performances:
Ami Saraiya and the Outcome will be performing for the release of a brand new record on that day, just in time for Christmas!


Bob Dey's Tank Engine Man will, of course, make their customary After Hours appearance. However, they are currently holed up in the DC/DI Department of Records and Record Keeping working on their own recordings and will be beaming in via "in person" with a Special Christmas Message.


Blue Ribbon Glee Club will be providing a capella versions of both punk rock tunes & holiday charmers to keep you singing along and moshing (don't knock over our fancy mansion-things).


Okay, just one more bit of exciting news: Epitonic will be recording all three performances! We love them!
Be sure to RSVP on facebook!

It Won't Be Long

<3

A little humor to wrap up the week.

Given the serious tone the blog has taken this week, with illegal downloading contributing to the demise of Touch & Go as we know it, and Ticketmaster and Live Nation attempting a merger to become the "Live Master" of the music performing universe, potentially leaving indie promoters out in the cold, I figured I'd try and make a more lighthearted, cheerful blog post today.

So ladies and gentlemen, I bring you these gifts:

Hearkening back to Pete's post bringing us the gastronomic monstrosities presented at www.thisiswhyyourefat.com, I present you the Bacon & Cheese stuffed Pizza Burger.



Furthermore, though in and of itself, it may be a representation of copyright infringement, I couldn't help but share this with you due to its sheer hilarity. While I discourage anyone from trying this at home, this "alternate take," shall we say of Motorhead's Ace of Spades was created by someone using Microsoft program Songsmith that can be found on clicking the link to the song title.

And finally, in a possible career-ending tragedy, everybody's favorite New Jersey-bred artist (with possible exceptions being Frank Sinatra, Bruce Springsteen, Count Basie, The Misfits, Debbie Harry, Ted Leo, George Clinton, Carole King, Whitney Houston, and The Jonas Brothers),

Jon Bon Jovi is losing his hair.

Possibly the best website ever...?

we here at CTD are a fairly easily pleased bunch, but this has to be one of our favorite sites of the moment.
no name-calling or finger-pointing going on here - This Is Why You Are Fat - just some excellent choices for your next pre-coronary meal!
here's a couple of examples to get the mouth watering....




...ENJOY! :)

Leftover Pizza Salad

My favorite recipe from Julia's time at Joel's restaurant:

1. Chop leftover pizza into bite-size squares.
2. Assemble tossed salad.
3. Add pizza squares.
4. Add dressing.
5. Cue up movie and vaporizer.
6. Enjoy.

When Julia was leaving Joel's to open Lounge Ax, Joel's owner, Jody, famously told Julia that Lounge Ax would be closed within six months tops. While at a friend's birthday party ten years later—also at Joel's for some reason, he yelled at us for buying and drinking all of the restaurant's supply of a few different liquors. ("But if you drink it all, then we won't have any!") As an added bonus, Lounge Ax was still going strong. Nice man. Smart man. Reckon he was smart enough to hire Julia to manage his restaurant, and invented LPS, so at least he has a small positive legacy.

Food!

Aside from music, our favorite thing is food.

Next? Talking about food. Really, it's almost all we do when we're not complaining.

Our favorite Chicago restaurant, Hot Doug's, was just named Best Cheap Eats in Time Out Chicago by the reader's poll. We'd put their specialty dogs against the best restaurant in any other category. See if Custom House, Blackbird, May Street Market, Boka, Landmark, Nacional 27 can match this sampling from the recent and ever-changing menu:

The Game of the Week
Bacon and Cheddar Elk Sausage with Guinness Stout Mustard and Cahills Whiskey Cheese

Blue Cheese Pork Sausage with Toasted Walnut Mustard Cream and Fiery Apple Salsa

Whiskey-Fennel Smoked Pork Sausage with Peppery Dijonnaise, Double Cream Champignon Cheese and Sel Gris

Smoked Shrimp and Pork Sausage with Cajun Tartar Sauce and Blue Cheese

And my regular menu standby:
The Dave Kingman
(formerly the Shawon Dunston and the Rick Reuschel)
Chicken Sausage: Classic Italian-style or zesty Sante Fe-style
("Dunston Santa Fe with everything," of course)

And who's that holding the dogs over Doug's dog? Why our erstwhile employee, Metalmonte, of course.

Just don't ask for them to stay open later or desecrate their delicious duck fat fries with cheese!