SoozEtcetera | Sooz

Train and travel tidbits on Posterous

Sooz — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 18:28:57 +0000

I am taking the train to/from Nebraska via Chicago. I left this morning and return to Boston on December 3rd. Hopefully in time for Sloan’s show at TT’s that night. I am posting camera phone photos and other travel tidbits at etc.sooz.com.

The Blizzard of 78 CD Release Party for Book of Lies on January 29th at the Lizard Lounge

Sooz — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 06:17:49 +0000

The Blizzard of 78 has a new album out called Book of Lies. it is awesome, awesome and more awesome. I’ve been looking forward to this album ever since I heard them since “Mercy” at their NEMO showcase Fall 2006. If you’re wondering what supercharged rock and soul sounds like, Book of Lies is the album to grab on iTunes, Amazon.com or buy a physical CD.

They’ve got a CD Release Party coming up on Thursday, January 29th to celebrate Book of Lies with bands Scarce (performing as acoustic duo) and Eddie Japan. I wrote about the show over on Exploit Boston!. We have free tickets to give away. (Send an email to blizzardtix (at) exploitboston.com). Otherwise, tickets are a bargain $5 online at Brown Paper Tickets or $8 night of the show at the door.

(Photo of The Blizzard of 78 taken by me at Precinct, October 2008)

The Secret To Making Really Good Chocolate Truffles

Sooz — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 16:25:29 +0000

Like most recipes, chocolate truffles are not that difficult to make if you can follow directions and have some time. I use a simple recipe of dark chocolate, cream and cocoa powder on epicurious.com by chocolatier Robert Linxe. I started making chocolate truffles a couple years ago on a whim. I thought they’d make tasty winter holiday gifts: and I was right! (I registered geniustruffles.com in 2007 and one of these days I might actually do something with it. Until then …)

If there is one “secret” to really good chocolate truffles, it’s the chocolate itself.

Dark chocolate, never milk chocolate!

I always use dark chocolate: never (ever) milk chocolate. Cardullo’s in Harvard Square is my favorite spot to buy chocolate. If you prefer organic chocolate, Harvest Co-Op in Central Square (Cambridge) has an impressive selection. That’s where I picked up the chocolate for the truffles I made at the #pinkslipparty at Betahouse Friday night.

Use a variety of chocolate percentages: 55%-70%

Each batch of truffle ganache I make uses three to four different types of chocolate: from 55%-70%. The percentage refers to the percentage of cocoa mass (chocolate liquor), the essence of chocolate, that’s in the chocolate bar itself. Milk chocolate has a low percentage. It’s barely “real” chocolate. I found out two years ago I have diabetes so milk chocolate is definitely not something I can eat anyway. And white chocolate? Not a good choice for truffles either. White chocolate doesn’t have any cocoa solids and therefore, doesn’t have a cocoa classification (percentage). When I think of white chocolate it makes me think it would probably be about as tasty as eating lotion. Dark chocolate has a much lower sugar content (lower carbs) than milk chocolate or white chocolate so cooking with it can still be part of healthy eating.

Combine several different brands of chocolate bars

Some of my favorite brands to use for chocolate truffles include Vosges (a piece of their Calindia chocolate bar with dried plums, cardamom and walnuts is a good match with a cup of chocolate tea from Tealuxe), Dolfin, Côte d’Or and Valrhona. Somerville chocolate maker Taza’s 70% dark stone ground chocolate bar adds a little texture to the truffles. I’ve been experimenting with how much of their chocolate to include and it seems like about one ounce is a good amount.

So that’s the secret to really good chocolate truffles: buy dark chocolate and mix up a few varieties!

Kraig Swartz Is An Awesome Crumpet

Sooz — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 05:28:35 +0000

The Santaland Diaries: Photos

Photos of Kraig Swartz as Crumpet in The Santaland Diaries at The New Repertory Theatre. Photos by Christopher McKenzie. Click on each photo to see a larger image.

Nick invited me to see the late night (10pm/second show) performance of David Sedaris’ one act play The Santaland Diaries at the New Repertory Theatre in (my current town of) Watertown. I am sometimes reluctant to go see plays+theater+etc; but then I realized, oh, wait, this is David Sedaris — it will be funny and hey, it is only 70 minutes. Nick’s theater friend Kraig Swartz stars as Crumpet, a sarcastic, hilarious Macy’s Elf. The play is based on Sedaris’ essay about his adventures as that very Macy’s Elf many years ago. According to Wikipedia, he first read the essay on National Public Radio’s Morning Edition on December 23, 1992.

Not only was Kraig’s performance awesome; but it turns out we have a mutual acquintance in St. Louis. When I tweeted a few minutes before the show that I was about to see the play, Brad Graham, (@thebrad on Twitter), sent a tweet my way.

And yeah, I’m a geek. I had to show Kraig the tweet after the performance and then I sent a reply back over to Brad.

I definitely recommend catching a performance of The Santaland Diaries while it’s still at The New Repertory Theatre until January 4th. Some performances are sold out so you’ll want to try to buy tickets soon. Cheers to Nick for convincing me to head out for something that wasn’t live music!

Marketing and Writing Internships at Exploit Boston!

Sooz — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 15:22:07 +0000

A cloning machine would really come in handy right now. But since that doesn’t seem to be happening anytime soon, I’m hiring two interns for Exploit Boston!, my Boston music blog and concert guide. The promotions and publicity intern will manage contests (concert ticket giveaways, etc.) and line up photo credentials and review tickets for staff. The web editor intern will add music-related happenings to the site: listings and more in-depth features with audio and video. If you know anyone who might be interested, have them check out the job listings on Craig’s List. I’ve received some interesting responses so far.

Sometimes you never know who will show up

Sooz — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 20:38:43 +0000

Last weekend I was at the Lizard Lounge to see the final night of Boston Pop Underground’s Fall Residency with Mike Viola. There was little doubt it would be awesome since he was reuniting his band the Candy Butchers and Lori McKenna would be there to sing a bunch of songs. And then Mandy Moore was there, too. She’s collaborating with Mike Viola on her new album so they sang a few songs together. I shot some video that you can check out at Exploit Boston! To add to the fun, Mandy Moore (or whoever writes for her on her blog) gave me a shout-out regarding the videos.

So… thanks to my newfound friend (who I still haven’t met), SOOZ, there are a few videos posted on Youtube… Check them out. If anything, I am hoping they are as fun to watch as it was to just get up and play them…

Last night I was at Ray LaMontagne’s first of two nights at the stunning Boston Opera House. Yes, more awesomeness. It’s just been that kind of month! Some of the photos I took of LaMontagne and his band of cohorts and a review-of-sorts are over at Exploit Boston!.

New stuff over at Exploit Boston!

Sooz — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 23:05:53 +0000

(Ooops! If you subscribed to the “what’s new” list over at Exploit Boston!, it was accidentally hooked up to the what’s new list at sooz.com the past few weeks. So head back over to Exploit Boston! and sign up for its email list if you feel inspired.)

I’ve been working on some new updates over at Exploit Boston! … concert recommendations and photos. The internet radio station will come back to life sometime this Fall.

Acquia launches their new commercially supported Drupal awesomeness

Sooz — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 16:51:44 +0000

Acquia, who I worked for as event planner for Drupalcon Boston this past spring and then as an event marketing contractor for a few months over the summer, launched their new commercially supported Drupal products today. They’re helping make it easier to set up and run Drupal powered websites — you don’t need to be an open source programming rock star. Very cool. I recommended Tim Merrill to them (who I met through Paul Irish) for the website design makeover. Awesomeness all around!

Photos! The Lights Out at The Middle East Upstairs

Sooz — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 18:11:18 +0000

The awesomeness that is Boston rock band The Lights Out returned to the Middle East Upstairs last night (9/5/08) for a great show. Check out their website and download the latest EP for free. If you’d like the real thing with album artwork it’s only five bucks. The band also needs your vote to win Harpoon Brewery’s “Best Unfiltered Band” competition. The winner gets a year of good beer and a cool gig.

Here’s the Flickr slideshow of photos I took of The Lights Out last night.

MP3s from last summer’s Nickel Creek and Glen Phillips outdoor concert in Lowell

Sooz — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 18:44:48 +0000

Last summer I recorded the Nickel Creek and Glen Philips concert at the Lowell Summer Music Series. It’s a fun outdoor spot to see music. Better late than never — here are a bunch of the MP3s. They turned out pretty good considering I was sitting towards the back.

This is one of the last concerts that Nickel Creek performed. They’re focusing on other projects including Chris Thile’s band Punch Brothers and Sara and Sean Watkins’ Watkin Family Hour.

Glen Phillips will be in Boston on Thursday October 16th with Jonatha Brooke. They’ll be performing at The Wilbur Theater that started hosting music concerts not too long ago. That is definitely not a show to miss!

Glen Phillips, July 2007, Lowell Summer Music Series

Nickel Creek, July 2007, Lowell Summer Music Series