The National + Game of Thrones

The National • The Rains of Castamere

Reader, you may or may not be aware that one half of raven + crow studio—and thus this blog—is pretty damn nerdy. And not in a tongue-in-cheek, ironic trucker's hat kinda way. I'm talkin' full-on, computer-game-loving, fantasy-book-reading, Star-Trek-adoring (Next Generation, obvs),  went-to-a-gaming-conference-in-Jersey-just-last-year nerdy. For the sake of argument, let's say it's me, Reader. 

So, after reading all five books of the series so far, needless to say, I was pretty stoked to learn that HBO had bought the rights to produce a TV adaptation of A Song of Fire and Ice, now better known as Game of Thrones. Even more exciting—writers, David Benioff + D. B. Weiss consulted super-nerd author, George RR Martin, in the show's creation and worked hand-in-nerdy-hand with Martin to ensure the series was true to the much-loved books. Even MORE exciting—Katie, it turns out, totally loves the show. High-five, nerd self.

But even with Katie's hard-to-win approval, the show still reeks of un-cool, with nerd-mainstays like dragons, monstrous wolves, giants, and unfathomably deep, hard-to-track lore rooted in the original books. So picture my shock this past weekend when the second-to-last episode of the season ended with a slow fade and the deep, growling voice of National frontman, Matt Berninger, creeping up over the end titles as a slow, brooding song begins to swell beneath his words.

Those guys aren't nerds! It's like that time Daniel played D+D with all the geeks of Freaks and Geeks and saved the day as Carlos the Dwarf! Huzzah—COOL KID LEGITIMACY! And, to top it all off, said song isn't just some deep album track or a random b-side—it's a straight up SONG FROM THE BOOKS, "The Rains of Castamere," written to commemorate Tywin Lannister total effing up House Reyne, who rose up against House Lannister (told you—total nerd). Welcome to the dark side, Berninger. Next thing you know, you'll be sporting a cloak and holding up a Staff of Crooning +4 at your live shows. 

To commemorate this monumental cool-meets-nerd moment, we're not only bringing you the National's version of "The Rains of Castamere," we're also bringing fans of the show our rendition of "Before They Were on Game of Thrones"—a brief series of videos showing surprising and oft-embarrassing clips of the GoT crowd before they were fantasy toughs. Sure, most of us know that Peter Dinklage was an indie film star and had his moment in Elf before the show, and most Wire fans probably realize by now that Irish actor Aidan Gillen (Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish on GoT) played Baltimore Mayor Tommy Carcetti on that gritty crime drama and contender for Best Show ever. But did you know that Joffrey was in a Batman movie? Or that Khal Drogo was on Baywatch? Or that the hound was in a commercial for...I don't know. Kilts? I'm not quite sure. Check it out— 

"Joffrey Baratheon"—Jack Gleeson

Yes, the process of finding humorous or enlightening material on an actor or actress is somewhat hampered by a short career when dealing with child actors, which makes it all that much more awesome that, in the clip we found for the much-hated King Joffrey (played by Jack Gleeson), the already famed victim of vindictive slapping gets a straight-up palm to the face from this not-so-nice security dude in Batman Begins. If you're not up on the face-slapping reference, you should also be sure to check this out. Oh, Tyrion. 

"Cersei Lannister"—Lena Headey

Moving on to Joffrey's conniving mother, Cersei, it turns out that, in addition to being featured alongside the original Office's Tim in an arty short by the Guard Brothers, Headey also starred as Sarah Connor in The Terminator TV series, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, which anyone who saw that show would likely know. ...so I'm guessing it's news to everyone. Truth be told, ever since I listened to a commentary Headey did for Game of Thrones, I've had a bit of a celebrity crush on her. Turns out she's hilarious AND she curses like a super-charming British sailor—both pluses in my book.

"Khal Drogo"—Jason Momoa

Another shocker—Jason Momoa, Conan star and the actor who portrayed the barbaric horse lord, Khal Drogo, doesn't ONLY play sword-wielding, muscle-bound, bloodthirsty warriors. Just mostly. Before both those roles, he ALSO played a muscle-bound...um...lifeguard on Baywatch Hawaii. Yes, that was evidently a show.

"Robert Baratheon"—Mark Addy

And how about Ned Stark's old chum from the days of the Usurper's Rebellion, jolly old King Robert? How about starring alongside Mr. Stephen Baldwin as...well, see for yourself. CERSEIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!

"Sandor Clegane, AKA The Hound"—Rory McCann

I almost don't know what to say about this one—the fearsome, emotionally and physically scarred Sandor Clegane...strutting down a snowy lane in a plaid skirt and making googly eyes at women in this Scott's Porage Oats commercial. Wow. Just wow.

"Bronn"—Jerome Flynn

Now we enter the musical portion of our piece. Know the nimble, sword-slinging tough who serves as protector of Tyrion Lannister after a vicious dual at the Eyrie? Turns out the actor who plays said swordsman—Jerome Flynn—was one-half of the Simon-Cowell-created brit-pop duo, Robson + Jerome, who had three no. 1 singles in the 90's. 

"Osha"—Natalia Tena

Flynn isn't the only musician among the cast though. You may know actress Natalia Tena—who plays Osha, the captured wildling and Stark companion—from her work in About a Boy and various Harry Potter movies, but did you know she fronts a pretty good UK 'gypsy-step' band, Molotov Jukebox, and has some mean chops on the accordion. Who knew‽ Other musical Throners of note—Roger Allam, who played wealthy merchant and matchmaker Illyrio Mopatis in season 1 played Inspector Javert in the original London production of Les Misérables and executioner Ilyn Payne, played by Wilko Johnson played guitar and sang for the British pub rock band, Dr. Feelgood. 

"Theon Greyjoy"—Alfie Allen

And what greater flattery is there than having a song written about you? Oh. Unless you're Alfie Allen and your sister is Lily Allen and she just wrote a song about how all you do is smoke weed and watch TV all day. No joke.
Oh little brother please refrain from doing that
I'm trying to help you out so can you stop being a twat?
It's time that you and I sat down and had a little chat
And look me in the eyes take off that stupid fitted cap 

"Tyrion Lannister"—Peter Dinklage

Like many, we've been Dinklage fans for a while (have you seen The Station Agent? You should). And yes, yes, he was awesome in Elf, both Death at a Funerals, and a million other roles, seemingly. But did you also know that, way before all that, back in 1995, he played the voice of the Wake-Up Guy on Seinfeld? No, I think you did not. 

"Eddard Stark"—Sean Bean

Finally, not only can you see actor Sean Bean—noble patriarch Eddard "Ned" Stark Game of Thrones—(cue Katie's wistful "Ned Stark") die 21 one times in this popular YouTube clip that covers everything from The Lord of the Rings to Patriot Games, you can also see him at what looks to be age 12 in a 1987 episode of Jim Henson's Storyteller, one of my all-time favorites shows as a kid.

Man. I could do this all day. Still need more? Then check out Daenerys Targaryen playing a teen being stalked by her dad (gross), the Kingslayer pushing vegetables to Danes, and young Arya Stark dancing the waterdance for real. In, like, middle school. And if you do want to see what Matt Berninger would look like in Game of Thrones...pretty much just check out any scene with Jorah Mormont (Iain Glen). Hand him an open bottle of wine and he's pretty much good to go on acting as a stand-in for the National frontman.    

Note: Songs posted to this site are kept online for a limited period of time out of fairness to the artists and, you know, our server. So if this is now an older post, the links may well be dead. Buy music!

Go Vegan

Lunch—coconut galangal dal with farmers' market spicy greens and pickled radish.

Journal of the Movement of the World

Polish mountain town, taken from castle ruin walls, circa 1998.

The Find

A couple months ago, we brought you the sad, sad news that one of our favorite New York City feline toughs—Bowery the cat, known dog-chaser, lion-impersonator, and stare-down-champion of vegan super-store MooShoes—had ventured forth to that great catnip field in the sky (you can see a photo of Bowery here).

At the time, we had this illustration of Bowery in-process for MooShoes—a long-time client of ours—and, now that Bowery's swatting down at us...somewhat playfully from above, these just-in totes have become a physical commemoration of sorts to that stern, rather grumpy cat.

Go vegan, ya'll. Or this cat will totally eff you up.

Made in the US and printed at the New-Hampshire-based company, Enviro-Tote, on heavy-duty, royal blue, 10 oz. cotton, the 4 gallon totes are 19" wide x 16" wide and have triple-stitched double hand-/shoulder-straps. So, yes, you can totally carry a week's worth of groceries, or your beach-bound picnic....or your chihuahua in these. But best not opt in on that last one—Bowery will surely haunt you in your dreams for such a lack of respect and wild besmirching of his memory. Tiny dogs in bags? How dare you‽

Bags available at MooShoes—78 Orchard Street on the lower east side—and from the MooShoes site while supplies last.

The Song

PAPA • I am the Lion King

Okay, first off, I KNOW, Reader—just last week we were talking about how it can be tough for us to get behind LA bands. And what do we have for you today? Yup, you guessed it—another LA band. You don't have to be all up in our grill over it. WE KNOW we're being contradictory. But we simply cannot stop hitting repeat on this song.

Said song is "I am the Lion King" from said LA band, PAPA. What follows is the complete list of what we know about LA band, PAPA:
1. They've got a search-engine-defeating band name;
2. They seem to be three dudes, maybe two, depending on the chronology of the photos we've seen online that aren't of the Pope;
3. They seem to like the Raiders; 
4. They also seem to like beards; and
5. They can jam out. In a good way.

If you're on the east coast or, more specifically, in New York, fight this soul-crushingly oppressive Monday weather with this week's Song, "I am the Lion King." If you're not on the east coast...I don't what your weather's like. Who do I look like, Al Roker? Sheesh.

You can check the rest of their EP, A Good Woman is Hard to Find, which is streaming below and, if you like it, buy via the iTunes link below or order it on 12" vinyl via Hit City USA. And next week we promise you, like, FIVE bands from Brooklyn and Canada, just to make up for all this LA jazz.    

Note: Songs posted to this site are kept online for a limited period of time out of fairness to the artists and, you know, our server. So if this is now an older post, the links may well be dead. Buy music!

lines + lines

Vegan Cookie Alert

Reader, as you may know from the various...copious complaints penned on these pages, our part of South Brooklyn can be a bit skint when it comes to catering to the vegan crowd. Yes, we now have the bizarre/glorious Maimonide, the Usher-approved Sun in Bloom is near our office and awesome for lunch or weekend brunch, and—though its menu is belabored with meaty dishes—the hot new Columbia Water Front by-way-of Portland thai joint, Pok Pok, is actually great about giving up some exciting vegan options. And a DAMN good kefir lime infused gin + tonic (...more on Pok Pok later).

So you won't be surprised when I tell you that the chalkboard sign appearing to the right stopped us in our tracks on our usual studio-to-home trek down Dean Street yesterday.

The sandwich board stood in-front of none other than Cobble Hill's own One Girl Cookies—the much-loved neighborhood bake shop that just released their first cookbook and recently opened a second location in DUMBO. Though the shop hasn't previously been very vegan-centric, we've always admired them as a small, locally run business with a nice eye for design. From their site: 

"The personality of our cookies is reflected in the design of our shop. Aqua blue, vintage serving pieces. A handpainted family tree. Life size family photos. Lovely blue walls and patterned wallpaper. We like to think of it as old world charm, with a modern interpretation. Come on by for a visit..we’d love to have you."

And now—vegan cookies! Or, to be more accurate and explain the mysterious departure from our usual Friday taciturnity, a VEGAN COOKIE VOTE! One Girl just announced their Vegan Cookies Sampler—a cute little bag of tasty, animal-friendly treats created to give their customers the say in which vegan cookies they'll add to their regular offerings. But polls close at the end of the day Sunday, so we got to get our dessert on, people! 

Above, I give you your candidates, pictured clockwise from the top: the reclusive, yet sage Spiced Cranberry Hermit; the globe-trotting Sesame Anise Biscotti; Dark Chocolate Espresso Sandie, the night owl; Maple Pecan Cookies, contender from parts north; and, last but far-from-least, the feisty 'lil Gingersnap Chew.

Obviously we'd prefer to have them ALL made, and we have our own favorites, but we'll let you be the judge. Drop by the shop—located on Dean Street, between Smith + Boerum Place/Court Street—pick up a bag of cookies ($2.50 each), and cast your vote, in person or on One Girl's Facebook page. And, while you're at it, let 'em know how psyched you are that they're adding vegan items to their menu. We could use a little more of that around here.

Grimes • Nightmusic

Grimes' open-armed embrace of witch house. Directed by John Londoño/Rodeo. 

Journal of the Movement of the World

From the Nest • Vegan Chili Verde

Reader, maybe you've taken note before of our propensity to support and be excited by mainstream, non-vegan establishments that make a point to provide vegan-friendly offerings beyond, say, pasta primavera with a side of tap water. For instance, Family Recipe, the cute little modern Japanese spot in the lower east side that sports burdock root rice bowls and gluten-free vegan waffles. 

Along the same lines, we also really enjoy absorbing as much as we can from the culinary world at large, vegan or not. We may hold the view that animals are simply not food and that, as a society, we need to move towards a world where they aren't viewed as such, but we also realize that there's a rich history of cooking that spans thousands of years and just as many cultures. So we love learning about new, non-vegan dishes that offer an opportunity for a more...moralistic, healthy twist, if you will.

Enter GQ magazine, oddly enough (off-subject, but remember one of our first ever posts, when we wrote a response to Glen O'Brien on the use of leather in 2008? THAT was a long time ago.) Their writers have a rich tradition of appreciating the finer things in life, wearables, libations, and cuisine included. So when contributor, Stan Parish wrote up a piece on a one-pot family meal adapted from a traditional mexican dish that made its way into the kitchens of Osteria Stellina in Point Reyes Station, California, we sat up and took notice. As Parish explains it: 

"'Family meal' takes place every night in restaurants everywhere—from temples of molecular gastronomy to the shitty grill joint where I cooked in college. It's a pre-service ritual in which the staff eats a hearty lo-fi supper before the first seating shows up and all hell breaks loose. The dishes are usually simple to make, but they need to satisfy everyone from the pastry chef to the busboy. Put another way, family meal is exactly what you want when you have a crowd to feed. If football season means your house will occasionally be overrun with dudes, you're looking for a dish that'll keep people fed without chaining you to the stove for the first half. And by week three, everyone is sick of pizza and wings."

The original recipe calls for a ton of pork—four pounds to be exact—which you may well be able to replace with some sautéed jackfruit, like we did with our barbecue pulled jackfruit sandwiches, but that's a LOT of jackfruit, so we opted to go with a crispy sautéed eggplant instead. And we have to say, it works out very, very nicely. We've been making the stew for a little over a year now and think it's a great hearty dish that makes for a nice, easy, vegetable-heavy one-pot meal. 

Here's what you need: 

Vegan Chili Verde
• 1 Cup Olive Oil
• 4 Pounds Eggplant, un-peeled and sliced in strips roughly 1"x4"  
• 2 Heads Garlic (yes, that's two whole bulbs), smashed, peeled, and chopped into small chunks
• 1/2 Large Sweet Onion, peeled and diced
• 1 Bunch of Cilantro, washed, stemmed, and lightly chopped
• 3 Limes, sliced
• Salt and Pepper to taste 

For the Salsa
• 3 Pounds Tamatillo, husked and quartered
• 2 Fresh Jalapeños, sliced
• 2 Cloves Garlic, smashed, peeled, and chopped into small chunks
• 1/2 Large Sweet Onion, peeled and diced
• 2 Cups Water or Vegetable Broth 

In a large stockpot, add the oil, eggplant, and two heads of garlic. It's a good bit of oil, but you'll be draining most of that off in a bit, so no worries. You essentially want to crisp up the eggplant and let the oil cook it throughout. You could also do this in the oven in batches laid out on baking sheets for even more crisp and less oil...but that'd likely be more of a winter move given the residual heat. With the original pork this is replacing, you'd be cooking for over an hour, but in this case, you just want the eggplant to start to break down and have the edges and skin crisp a bit—likely cooking for about 30 minutes in total. Once it looks good to you, let it cool a bit and then carefully drain off some of the oil. How much is up to you—you don't want the meal to taste too oily in the end, but leaving in a little bit of oil around the eggplant will give the end product a nice flavor too, especially with that garlic in there. We tend to get rid of half to three-quarters. After you do that, add your your half-onion and cook for 15 minutes. 

While that's cooking, combine the ingredients for the salsa in a deep bowl and mix thoroughly with a hand mixer until chunky...like salsa. If you've never used them before, tomatillos (pictured below, right before being mixed up) are pretty fun. Most of us think of them as tiny, sticky, green little tomatoes, and, while they, like the eggplant, are also members of the nightshade family, they're actually more closely related to the cape gooseberry and will tend to give you a tangy, tart taste in cooked food and salsas. 

After your salsa's mixed, add it to the eggplant, garlic, onion mixture in the stockpot. Salt and pepper to taste and cook everything for about 90 minutes. Garnish with cilantro and serve with warmed corn tortillas. Or, as above, throw in some pickled red cabbage, sliced radishes, and a heel of bread.

The Song

Superhumanoids • Too Young for Love

Reader, to be perfectly honest with you, we usually have to get past a few admittedly shallow mental roadblocks when getting into a band from LA. I think we always just picture LA Guns or the intro sequence from Entourage or something. But LA-based Superhumanoids seem pretty un-skeezy to us. And we hear wonderful things about Silverlake.

Superhumanoids started out as a low-key bedroom solo project but started gaining notoriety in 2008 with some much-passed around demos. Now, with a full-length, an EP, and a 7" from White Iris under their belt, the band's set to release their sophomore full-length—Exhibitionists—later this year.

With vocalist, Sarah Chernoff's smooth, dreamy delivery and the music's new new new wave (we're three 'new's these days, right?) feel, they seem to trend to the soft, breezy sounds of 90's era 4AD bands and current day electro acts, as with another new track, "Geri." But this week's Song, the just-released "Too Young for Love," pulls in more of an upbeat rhythm and slightly harsher electronic sounds that we're liking a lot. MUCH more danceable!

Check it out along with the band's seemingly ill-omened but gently caressing "Black Widow + Bad Weather," performed live below as part of the ALL SAINTS Basement Sessions. You can hear and download more new tracks from them—including the above-mentioned "Geri" and their very sedate (awesome) cover of the Ramones' "I Want to Be Sedated"—on the band's site.

Photo by Garrett Curtis.    

Note: Songs posted to this site are kept online for a limited period of time out of fairness to the artists and, you know, our server. So if this is now an older post, the links may well be dead. Buy music!

As the Crow Flies

As we make an effort to try and kick up this blogging thing a notch or two (we hear it's the next big thing), we're also attempting to make a return to our As the Crow Flies bit, where we give you a quick run-down of things to come (see the left sidebar legend there). Thus, this. 

So, NUMERO UNO!

Who's that guy up there? That's Jasper, the moon bear. Jasper is one of the many bears in Asia who was once part of a 'bear farm,' where these gentle,  intelligent creates are locked within cages as farm workers drain their bile for traditional eastern medicinal purposes, granting farm owners a wealthy income and confining the bears to a lifetime of pain and cruelty. The non-profit, Animals Asia, is working to rescue moon bears across Asia and end the practice world-wide. Tomorrow, one of our favorite clients, MooShoes, is holding a 'MoonShoes for Moon Bears' event, donating 10% of the days sales to Animals Asia and hosting staff and volunteers who can tell you more about AA's work in person. Can't be there but want to shop for the cause? All online sales tomorrow will also contribute 10% of the proceeds to AA. Find out more on the event's Facebook page and, if you're in the area, stop by tomorrow (78 Orchard in SoHo).

Next week, partially out of fairness to the skilled artists who create them and partially out of fairness to the capacity of our server, we'll be purging ourselves of some past songs on the blog, so GET 'EM WHILE YOU CAN! Along with next Monday's The Song, we'll be getting rid of all pre-April song posts, so, Memoryhouse and before, including our crazy array of twenty-some songs from SXSW bands.

By way of a quick preview of posts next week, we'll be coming at you with a brand new band we're super-psyched about that, yes, is probably from Brooklyn or Canada; hitting you up with a lovely Find; and giving you a lovely new recipe for a killer of an eggplant-tomatillo summer stew, an adaptation of a traditional South American dish that we've been loving lately.

Finally, and sadly, we've had far too many losses in the world of the arts in recent days. First, the shocking (for us) death of Adam Yauch—AKA MCA—of the Beastie Boys, and band we both grew up with and never felt that far from in age or culture or even personally or geographically, living here in Brooklyn. And then, just days ago, award-winning author and illustrator Maurice Sendack died at 83 years of age. Not only has he moved and inspired us from very early on with Where the Wild Things Are, but, in more recent times, we've been touched by his words and life through interviews we've heard with the very interesting, very direct and bold man. We urge you to listen to Terry Gross's montage of interviews she's done on Fresh Air with Mr. Sendack. The last one, conducted just last year, is especially poignant. 

From the Nest

As Ellen DeGeneres will tell you, evidently, being vegan isn't always easy. Even once you get past the cravings—I'm the first to admit that, even after all these years, I still wake up in a cold sweat after dreaming of cheese—there are still certain nuances to the lifestyle that can prove elusive, even to us old-school vegans. 

Take kimchee, for instance, the spicy fermented vegetable dish often found in traditional Korean cuisine. I am fairly certain we consumed roughly a bathtub full of this stuff before realizing—hey, kimchee almost always has some sort fish sauce or salted shrimp at its base. Ah boy. 

Which is why we were, let's say, super-psyched—to coin a little-used scientific term—when we recently stumbled across Arirang Kimchee at the Dekalb Market. For anyone who hasn't been to the Dekalb Market, it's essentially the Brooklyn Flea. With a lot more food. And beer. On Dekalb. I know, genius, right?

Arirang doesn't exclusively produce vegan/vegetarian kimchee—they've got a traditional kimchee made with napa cabbage and one made with radishes—but they do have one that is explicitly vegan, which is a rare find. Rarer still, it's locally made...well, in New Jersey...and hand-cut, hand-jarred, and all natural. Take that, Korean robots! As they say on the site: 

"Arirang Kimchi was created after a newly wed couple decided to move to America in the hopes of an American Dream for their children. The wife comes from a background of great cooks and has extremely keen taste buds. After experimenting with a few of her own kimchi recipes and receiving compliment after compliment from friends and family, Mr. and Mrs. Oh decided to open up shop. Today, after 30 years, Arirang Kimchi still sticks to their motto "always fresh, always delicious". Our kimchi is still hand cut and hand produced which retains the fresh quality. Mrs. Oh still samples each batch for its perfect taste 'til this day."

I don't know if I want Mrs. Oh rootin' around in my kimchee before handing it over, but I'll take the rest of it. And the stuff's really great. We recently hosted a make-you-own-soba night and the contents of the jar went in a flash amongst a pretty kimchee-savy (non-vegan) crowd. 

You can pick up a jar of the kimchee at the Dekalb Market this weekend, grab it at a number of other New York area locations (right sidebar), or order it online (the postal carrier's gonna be all like 'Why your mail smell like that, girl?').  

No, I'm not sure why your postal carrier talks like that.  

More into making it yourself and not smelling up your mail? Check out Lukas Volger's blog. The author of Veggie Burgers Every Which Way recently live Tweeted (yes, that's a thing) how to make your own vegetarian kimchee. We haven't tried it yet, but, knowing the keen culinary senses of Mr. Volger and, judging by his picture below, we'd say it's likely top-notch.