Concerts

So I had made a list of bands that I have seen several years ago. I just updated it instead of writing an essay. Go figure. Here it is:

1. Animal Collective '09S

2. Awesome (x2) '08S '08 [Possibly my favorite Seattle band]

3. Arctic Monkeys (x2) ’06S ‘07

4. Backstreet Boys '01 [My first ever concert. I went with the McCunes and our mothers]

5. Band of Horses '10S

6. Beck '06S

7. Beirut '08S

8. Ben Folds '09

9. Ben Harper and the Relentless7 '09S

10. Ben Lee '06S [This show was at my first ever Sasquatch and BL will always remind me of that wonderful, soggy weekend]

11. Big City Rock '06S

12. Big Japan '06S

13. Bishop Allen '09S

14. Blitzen Trapper '09S

15. Blue Scholars (x2) '06S '08B

16. BOAT '08

17. Bon Iver '09S

18. Brett Dennon ‘09B

19. Built to Spill '08S

20. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah '06S

21. Cold War Kids (x2) '08S '09B

22. Common Market '06S

23. Dandy Warhols '07S

24. David Bazon '06

25. Death Cab for Cutie (x3) '06S '06 '08S

26. Delta Spirit (x2) '08S '09

27. Dent May and His Magnificent Ukelele '09S

28. Drive-by Truckers '10S

29. Drug Purse '09

30. Fences ‘09

31. Fleet Foxes (x3) '08S ’08S '09S

32. Flight of the Conchords '08S

33. Forro in the Dark ‘08B

34. Gogol Bordello ‘09S

35. Grizzly Bear '09S

36. Helio Sequence (x2) ’07S '09B

37. Hey Marseilles (x3) '08 '09 '10 [Tied with Awesome for being my favorite Seattle band]

38. Ingrid Michaelson (x3) '08B '08 '09

39. Jamie Lidell ´08S

40. Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins ´08

41. Kings of Leon '09S

42. Lee "Scratch" Perry '08B

43. Los Nin '10 [Indigenous Ecuadorian rap group—incredible]

44. M. Ward '09B

45. Matisyahu ‘06S

46. Matt Costa (x2) '06 '08S

47. Matt Nathanson '08

48. Mayor Hawthorne (x2) '10 '10S [So classy]

49. MGMT '10S

50. MIA '08S

51. Michael Franti and Spearhead (x5) '07S '08S '08 '08 '09B

52. Mike Doughty '06

53. Modest Mouse '08S

54. Mt. St. Helen's Vietnam Band (x3) '08 '08 '09S

55. MXPX '05

56. Nada Surf '06S

57. Neko Case '06S

58. Newton Faulker '08

59. Owl City '09S

60. Passion Pit (x2) '09S '10S

61. Patrick Wolf '07S

62. Plain White T's '09

63. PWRFL PWR '09

64. Queens of the Stone Age '06S

65. R.E.M. '08S

66. Rodrigo y Gabriela '08S [“Wish You Were Here” played using a beer bottle, INCREDIBLE]

67. Rogue Wave '08S

68. Santigold '09S

69. Shakleton '08B

70. She & Him '10S [Too bad Zooey looked terrified the whole time]

71. Silversun Pickups '09S

72. Smoosh (x2) '05 '07S

73. SNOW PATROL '09 [Slightly embarrassing, but SP is my FAVORITE band of all time. Bar none]

74. SOJA '09

75. Spoon '07S

76. Steel Train ‘09

77. Stellar Kart (x2) '05C '05

78. Sugar Beats '09

79. Ted Leo and the Pharmacy ‘08

80. Tegan and Sarah '08S

81. The Barenaked Ladies '06 [Snow falling outside during the show, followed by a week off of school. What a way to end a Thanksgiving weekend]

82. The Black Keys '08B

83. The Blakes (x2) '08S '08B

84. The Cure '08S

85. The Decemberists (x3) '06S '06 '09S [I’ve already bought my ticket for ’11!]

86. The Eagles of Death Metal '06E

87.

The Flaming Lips '08S [One of the most fun live shows I’ve ever seen]

88. The Hives '08S

89. The Kooks '08S

90. The Mars Volta (x2) '06E '08S [NO BUENO]

91. The National '08S

92. The New Pornographers (x2) '08S '10S

93. The Newsboys (x2) '05C '06C

94. The Pica Beats '09S

95. The Polyphonic Spree '07S

96. The Presidents of the United States of America (x2) '05 '08S

97. The Red Hot Chili Peppers '06E

98. The Senate '08

99. The Shins '09

100. The Temper Trap ‘10S

101. The White Rabbits '08S

102. Thousand Foot Krutch (x2) '05C '06C

103. Total Experience Gospel Choir '07S

104. Truckasaurus '08S [Hilarious. Imagine rednecks making beats using a Nintendo thing. That’s what it was.]

105. U.S.E. ‘09B

106. Vince Mira (x2) '08S '09S

107. Voxtrot ‘07

108. Ween '10S

109. Wilco '07

110. Wolfmother '06E

111. Yeah Yeah Yeahs ’09S

S=Sasquatch
B=Bumbershoot
E=Endfest

My number is hugely inflated because of the festivals that I have attended. I just realized that if I count each festival as one concert, I have only seen 36 shows! Crazy!!

1. Arctic Monkeys/Voxtrot @ The Paramont

2. Backstreet Boys @ Tacoma Dome

3. Ben Folds/Steel train @ The Paramont

4. Bumbershoot 2008

5. Bumbershoot 2009

6. Creation 2005 @ the Gorge

7. Creation 2006 @ the Gorge

8. Death Cab/Ted Leo and the Pharmacists/Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins @ Key Arena

9. Endfest 2006 @ White River

10. Hey Marseilles @ UPS

11. Hey Marseilles/Fences @ Vera Project

12. Ingrid Michaelson @ Neumo’s

13. Ingrid Michaelson/Newton Faulkner @ Neumo’s

14. Los NIN @ Plaza Teatro, Quito

15. Matt Costa/David Bazon @ WWU

16. Matt Nathanson @ UVillage Barnes and Noble

17. Mayor Hawthorne @ UW HUB

18. Michael Franti @ Marymoor

19. Michael Franti in Canada

20. MSHVB /Awesome/BOAT @ Neumos

21. MSHVB /Hey Marseilles @ Neumo’s

22. PUSA/MXPX/SMOOSH @ Showbox

23. PWRFL POWR/drug purse/sugar beats @ The Den in Tacoma

24. Sasquatch 2006 @ the Gorge

25. Sasquatch 2007 @ the Gorge

26. Sasquatch 2008 @ the Gorge

27. Sasquatch 2009 @ the Gorge

28. Sasquatch 2010 @ the Gorge

29. Snow Patrol/PWT @ the Paramont

30. SOJA @ UPS

31. Stellar Kart in Mount Vernon

32. The Barenaked Ladies/Mike Doughty @ Everett Event Center

33. The Decemberists @ Woodland Park Zoo

34. The Senate @ UPS

35. The Shins/Delta Sprit @ WWU

36. Wilco @ Marymoor Park

Census Day, Quito-Style

Today was Quito's census. How can you have a "Census Day?" You ask? Well, instead of impersonally counting people's mailed-in responses, Ecuador has made their census personal.

Once every ten years, people are confined to their homes for about ten hours [and confined is the right word, you are not ALLOWED to leave. The streets were completely deserted. If you were a tourist staying in a hotel/hostel, too bad, you better have bought your own food because NOTHING will be open.]

Then, high school students come and knock on your door, all dressed up in their school uniforms. They ask each person who has slept your home the previous night two pages of questions (where were you born? have you used the internet or a phone in the last month? can you read? do you culturally identify with indígena, mestizo, blanco, negro? etc). This is strange because while I was counted (because I slept here last night), my sister (who is on vacation) was not counted! And she is an Ecuadorian citizen, but she doesn't exist for the purposes of the 2010 census while I (and my friend's American parents who are visiting) do. Strange.

So, really the point of this post is that I was locked in the house all day. What did I do? A little homework and then bake! (I had wanted to preserve ají--a type of salsa--today, but couldn't find preserving jars ANYWHERE!!!) I wanted to make a lemon meringue pie, but was nervous as previous meringue attempts have been disastrous. And I don't think my family had cream of tartar (the stores were all closed today). So instead I made Buckeyes. Yummy peanut butter balls covered in chocolate. A treat as peanut butter doesn't really exist here.

Recipe:
From Smitten Kitchen (my second favorite food blog) and Allrecipes.com

My batch made about 45 balls a little less than an inch in diameter.

1 1/2 cups ish of peanut butter
5 cups ish of powdered sugar
Large splash of vanilla (so CHEAP here! wonderful)
1 cup ish of Bonilla (Ecuadorian Crisco)
8 oz of chocolate (I actually don't know how much chocolate I used as I've been eating it from the bag since I bought it yesterday afternoon)

Mix everything together
It should be pretty dry (mine was too dry so I added a little more Bonilla) and tough-ish. Try rolling it into a ball with your hands, if it falls apart, add more liquid-ish stuff!!



Put the balls on parchment paper (unless you're in Ecuador where parchment paper doesn't exist and use tin foil) and into the freezer for about half an hour.



While the balls are hardening, melt the chocolate in a double boiler. Let it cool a tiny bit (depending on how thick you want the chocolate layer).



Stick something (skewer, fondue stick, toothpick, fork) into a peanut butter ball and dip it in the chocolate, taking care to leave a "small portion of peanut butter showing at the top to make them look like Buckeyes." Whatever buckeyes are. Something from Ohio I assume.

Here. I googled it. Apparently its a tree which grows in Ohio. Huh.


Let your non-tree-related buckeyes cool (or not) and then ask your host family to eat them so you don't. Or hide them in the fridge so there will be some left on Tuesday (today is Sunday) to bring to your friends. Or eat them all.