Zak's Kitchen: Steak au Poivre

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects. - Robert Heinlein

There's an old insult which applies pretty well to me: jack of all trades, master of none. And I'm okay with that. I've enjoyed having delved into a lot of different things much more than I've regretted not exploring any to its full extent. That having been said, I've never posted before about the fact that I cook, which is our off-topic post of the moment.

Yup. Zak Claxton, virtual rock star, international man of mystery, is also a damned good cook. I started cooking because I had no choice; as a kid, my folks were hard working professional people, and I was often left on my own to figure out what I was going to eat, and how. There was always plenty of food around, but not often anyone to prepare and bring it to me. So, I learned to do it myself, and have been cooking ever since. I make all kinds of stuff, from casual breakfasts to full-blown formal dinners, and have on several occasions been the chef for the large Thanksgiving meal for the family.

Kat and I look forward to our weekends together for many reasons, but one of the big ones has to be the fact that weekends are when I can spend the time to prepare a really good meal. Side note: Kat is also a good cook, and I'm not going to get into which of us is better. It's nice having two people who are competent in the kitchen in this relationship, and I'm not looking that gift horse in the mouth. We're both good cooks in different ways. Kat, for instance, made a kick-ass salmon meal (with dill and lemon) last weekend. But I digress.

My bible in the land of the stove and oven is the New York Times Cookbook, which is the same cookbook my mom used to use when she was making something special. Recently, Kat and I have taken to flipping through the NYT Cookbook and finding something interesting, then going to the store and getting the required ingredients, and making it. Our track record has been really good, with most dishes coming in somewhere between "totally freakin' amazing" and "this food is better than sex".

Yesterday, our page turning of the cookbook ended at a dish called Steak au Poivre. "Poivre" is French for pepper, and whew, we had pepper a-plenty on this yummy dish. There are a number of ways to prepare this meal, and some people do an optional cognac sauce (or add cream or dijon mustard to the sauce). We didn't, but it came out amazing nonetheless. Here's the basic recipe I used.

STEAK AU POIVRE A LA ZAK

1. You start with steak... duh. My mom taught be one thing about cooking with meat: when you start with good meat, you have a better chance of ending up with a yummy meal. We don't have a great selection at the regular old grocery store here in the neighborhood, but were able to find some good-looking New York strip steaks. The actual recipe calls for club steaks (similar to rib eye), but any steak with a bone in it will probably be fine.

2. Coat steak in coarse pepper. I put the pepper on a plate and then rolled the steaks around. Rub the pepper into the steak using the palm of your hand. Let sit for 30 minutes.

3. Coat the bottom of a frying pan with a light layer of salt and put on high heat until the salt starts browning. Add steaks.

4. The next part depends on how rare you want your steaks. Kat and I enjoy medium rare, but we're not gourmet enough to have it basically raw in the middle (as suggested in the recipe). I let them char on one side for a couple of minutes, then flipped them.

5. Add 1 tsp butter to the top of each steak, along with lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, and Tabasco to taste. How much? I never measure anything... after awhile of cooking, you just develop an innate sense of how much is enough.

6. Turn down the heat and allow steaks to cook through, simmering away in the delightful sauce. I took the above picture during this stage.

7. Remove from heat and place steaks on plates. Pour remaining pan juices over steaks. Top steaks with parsley and chives. Voila!

The proper side dish for steak au poivre is usually either baked potatoes or pomme frites (a fancy way of saying "french fries"). We went with the baked potato, and Kat made some delicious fried green beans (with olive oil and spices) that complemented the steak and potato nicely.

Bon appetit!

Free Bird Music & Love Lounge (04.22.10)

Photos courtesy of Kat Claxton.

As you might have heard (since I blabbed about it a lot), I did a special show yesterday for Earth Day 2010. It was also the first time I've played at the very cool little venue owned by a gal named Bowie Zeplin (hee hee), a backyard stage called Free Bird Music & Love Lounge.

I met Bowie only a few weeks ago. She stopped in and saw me at a show, and I liked her vibe. I've always been one of those people who, for good and bad, get a very fast perception of what other people are all about. Sometimes I'm wrong (horribly so in a few cases) but I'm usually right. I first noticed Bowie because of her name, which was pretty complementary toward the type of music which I've found influential. And then, she fit right into the banter of my fun crowd, which was cool. She popped up at a couple more shows, and mentioned at one point that she had a music venue of her own. I came by and checked it out and liked it quite a lot, and told her I'd be happy to play there sometime. As it turned out, she was planning an Earth Day event, and it seemed like a good time for me to get on her stage.

When I arrived, I was greeted by a somewhat unusual sight of the entire crowd engaged in a group hug. It was very cute.



Then it was time for my set. I'd put together a show that was at least somewhat themed for the Earth Day event, and apart from a few blunders (boy, it's been awhile since I did "The Rain Song", heh heh), it went really well. A noteworthy mention goes out to the gent who played directly after me, Voodoo Shilton. The guy is obviously a terrific guitarist, and I look forward to seeing him again sometime soon.

Free Bird Earth Day Set List...
Pigs on the Wing Part 1 (Pink Floyd)
This Afternoon (Zak Claxton)
Time Never Waits for You (Zak Claxton)
*Big Yellow Taxi (Joni Mitchell)
After the Gold Rush (Neil Young)
You're Like a Cloud (Zak Claxton)
Thanks Anyway (Zak Claxton)
Starman (David Bowie)
Falling Down (Zak Claxton)
Shine (Zak Claxton)
Thank You (Led Zeppelin)
The Sands of Redondo (Zak Claxton)
The Rain Song (Led Zeppelin)

*Indicates the first time I've performed this song in SL.

Big thanks to everyone at Free Bird's Earth Day celebration! It was huge fun... thanks for supporting my show!
Gimli Garzo, Diana Renoir, Roisin Hotaling, Voodoo Shilton, Gubatah Tigerpaw, Kat Claxton, Kiki Mohindi, Omega Marenwolf, Perky Button, Xerxes Ninetails, Desiderata Dembo, and the lovely hostess of the evening, Bowie Zeplin!

Happy Earth Day to You!

It's Earth Day. What the hell does that mean, anyway?

U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin announced his idea for a nationwide teach-in day on the environment in a speech to a fledgling conservation group in Seattle on 20 September 1969, and then again six days later in Atlantic City to a meeting of the United Auto Workers. Senator Nelson hoped that a grassroots outcry about environmental issues might prove to Washington, D.C. just how distressed Americans were in every constituency.

So, the concept of Earth Day was born about the same time I was, and the first Earth Day was held 40 years ago on this very day, on April 22, 1970. Today, some 175 countries observe Earth Day, and according to the nonprofit Earth Day Network, it's now "the largest secular holiday in the world, celebrated by more than a half billion people every year."

So, what am I supposed to do on Earth Day?
Here's the best part about it: you don't have to DO anything. You gifts to buy, no cards to sign, no special meals to prepare. Hey, I like this holiday more and more! As mentioned above, Earth Day is a day of teaching and awareness about the environment. It's a day... just one day mind you... that you can give some thought to the planet on which you spend your entire life. Perhaps more important than what you do on Earth Day is what you don't do.

• Don't litter
• Don't add to air or water pollution
• Don't throw stuff away that could be recycled

Let's say you're just too lazy to even bother with those things. Hey, I understand. But at least spend a couple of seconds thinking about the fact that your kids (or your friends kids, or random other kids) and their kids and the kids those kids make will be living on this hunk of rock long after you're gone. Don't be an asshole to those kids. Leave them a nice place where they can live and breathe and enjoy life.

Do humans really affect the environment? Can humans kill the Earth?
Sure, humans have a bigger effect on the environment than any other species on this planet. Can we kill the Earth? No, the Earth is a huge ball of iron and stuff that will be around long after the people are gone. We're not killing the Earth with our thoughtless activities. No, we're just killing each other and the other animals who live here. Probably no big loss, but I rather enjoy living and hope that future generations have that opportunity.

Oh, and come to my show tonight.
I'm doing a special themed show of music tonight at Free Bird Music & Love Lounge in SL at 7PM SLT. I'll be including some environmentally-friendly tunes, as well as some hippieish stuff that seems appropriate for the occasion. Coming to my show won't save the planet, but it'll give you something fun to do that probably doesn't involve hurting it much either.

Star Trek TNG: Alternate Universe Uniform Colors

Yup, here it is. My most geeky, off-topic post ever. Sure, I've written before about virtual world software updates and quantum mechanics. But at least those things weren't fictional geekiness... they were based in some form of reality. This is the ultimate geek post, and I make no excuses or apologies for it.

I was never a fan of the original Star Trek series. By the time I was old enough to watch it, it had been in syndication for a long time, and the campiness of the show didn't float my boat. But Star Trek: The Next Generation started airing in 1987, when I was a full year out of high school, and in a great place to enjoy its utopian science fiction (usually accompanied by herbal substances to assist in the suspension of disbelief).

Well, as any good ST:TNG fan knows, there is a color code for the uniforms worn by Starfleet personnel. Using the uniform color shades from the year 2373 (I know, I know... getting my geek on, yessiree), which was the final version in the Star Trek timeline, note that each division has its own color.

Colors!

Command	Operations	Sciences

The picture on top of this post shows the crew of NCC-1701-D in their proper colors. The Command Division are the people in charge of a ship, so people like Captain Picard and Commander Riker would generally be seen in this deep red color. The Operations Division includes engineering, security, and tactical personnel, which is why you'll see people like Chief Engineer Geordi LaForge and Security Chief Worf in gold. The teal blue uniforms are used by people in the Sciences Division (including medical), so Enterprise crew members Dr. Beverly Crusher and Counselor Deanna Troi (in the few episodes where they put her in a regular uniform) wear this shade.

If you want to be even geekier (if this is possible), in the original series, the red and gold uniforms were reversed, in that Command wore gold (like Captain Kirk) and operations wore red (like some poor ensign you'd never seen before who you knew was going to die on an away mission). But that's not relevant to this conversation. Just a side note.

Where No Geek Has Gone Before...
All this is fine and dandy, as long as we're having a normal day galavanting around the Alpha Quadrant at warp factor 6. But occasionally in the Star Trek universe, things get weird. Alternate timelines are created. Whole other universes come into play. And with these strange days come strange uniforms. In a moment of inspired geekdom, I decided that it would be nice if there was a place where you can see the rare sight of these familiar TNG crew members in uniforms other than the wones we know and love. And this is it! I can tell you're a-quiver with anticipation, so let's jump right in. Oh, by the way: I don't own the rights to any of these images. Paramount probably does. If they ask me to take them down, I happily will.

Picard in Blue: "Tapestry" (Season 6, Episode 15)

This is actually a really fun episode in which Captain Picard dies, and finds himself reincarnated by the omnipotent being known as Q. He finds that without having experienced some of the actions of his youth, he wouldn't turn out to be the person he became. Kind of a space-age combination of "A Christmas Carol" and "It's a Wonderful Life". As shown above, toward the end of the episode Picard is shown in the blue uniform of a Science officer (probably in astrophysics), as opposed to his regular Command red.

Worf in Red: "Parallels" (Season 7, Episode 11)

Worf, as we all know, is the Klingon tactical officer and security chief of the Enterprise. While he wore red during the first season of the series (one best forgotten for most TNG fans), for the subsequent six years, he wore the gold uniform of his role. But in the last season, a terrific episode had him popping back and forth between multiple universes, due to the warp field of his shuttlecraft having opened a rift in a quantum fissure and- well, let's stick to talking about uniforms, mmmkay? In at least one of these parallel universes, Worf was the first officer of the Enterprise, and wore the red of command.

Wesley Crusher in Gold: "Parallels" (Season 7, Episode 11)

In the same episode, Worf ends up in a universe where Wesley Crusher has remained on the Enterprise, and has been apparently promoted to lieutenant. He's at the tactical station, and is wearing the proper gold color of the post. Note that Wesley's clothing changed often throughout the series. He started as a civilian who was an acting ensign in a gray outfit, then was promoted to full ensign (pretty weird, but whatever), then went to Starfleet Academy to become a real officer. But when he was shown in uniform, it was generally the red color of command... except here.

Data in Red: "Future Imperfect" (Season 4, Episode 8)

Not a bad fourth season episode at all. In this one, Riker is led to believe that 16 years have passed, but his memories have been erased. This turns out to be untrue, but in the meantime, we get a look at a future version of the Enterprise crew that includes everyone's favorite android, Data, who has been promoted to first officer (Riker is now the captain of the ship). This is the only episode where Data wears red. I understand that he wears gold as the chief operations officer, but it always seemed to me that Data might be better suited as the chief science dude, and would have worn blue. Ah well.

Riker in Gold: "Second Chances" (Season 6, Episode 24)

Here's the only episode in this bunch that's not based on an alternate reality. In fact, heh heh, that's not the raffish Will Riker in the pic above at all. Instead, as a result of a freak transporter accident, Riker had been duplicated into two beings, and one of them was left stranded on a planet for eight years. He's eventually rescued, but as a lieutenant in the operations division, he still wears the gold uniform color he'd sported when he was left behind. This Riker ends up changing his name to Thomas (the middle name both Rikers share) and continuing his career in Starfleet... for awhile.

That's all, folks
As far as I'm aware, these are the only episodes in which the crew of Enterprise-D wore uniforms other than their own familiar colors, but I could easily be wrong. Feel free to add a comment to correct me, or to just call me a big ol' geek. I won't mind. I've accepted who I am by now, I promise.

Second Life Radio Stations

I've been criminally negligent in mentioning the Internet radio stations that focus on Second Life musicians. Mea culpa. Most of you have heard me whine about the trials and tribulations of getting terrestrial radio airplay; meanwhile, there are several great stations who go above and beyond the call of duty to support the SL music scene, where I've been getting airplay for a number of years in some cases. Let's talk about them below, in alphabetical order as to not piss anyone off.

Before we do, please note that all three of the stations discussed below can be accessed like any Internet-based radio station, meaning you can listen via tools like iTunes and Windows Media Player, as well as by plugging the station's stream address into your parcel in SL. Please give each station a try; I will include a link to their stream and their web sites for each example.

While most radio stations rely on advertising for income, all of the stations presented here were created by individuals who put in the time, effort and money to set up and maintain the stations out of the goodness of their respective hearts. The only advertising you'll hear are short "bumpers" for the stations ("Hi, this is Juel Resistance, and you're listening to IndieSpectrum Radio!") or mentions of events that involve the stations. They get no direct financial benefit from doing what they do, and hopefully are rewarded with the appreciation of the community.

Another important note: there are literally thousands of Internet radio stations that can be accessed in SL, since you are simply able to get the station's stream address and plug it into the media settings in your SL parcel. However, the three stations below are differentiated by exclusively playing music by SL artists. If I've missed any other stations that fit this description, you are always welcome to let me know by dropping me a line in the comments section or by emailing me (zak at zakclaxton dot com). Okay, enough preamble... bring on the SL radio stations!

FCMC Radio

FCMC stands for First Call Musicians Co-op, and it's an SL-based organization put together by resident Reslez Steeplechase. Originally set up as a management/promotion service to liaison between musicians and venues, FCMC has also branched out into areas like a magazine, and a radio station. FCMC Radio was founded in May 2007 to help fulfill Reslez' commitment to better promote SL-based musicians. The station is not limited to artists who are part of the FCMC organization; it seems that all SL musicians are welcome to submit their songs to the station.

As is the case with many Second Life endeavors, Reslez runs the station all by himself, meaning he creates the playlists, handles the technical administration of the station, and deals with any administrative actions that arise from time to time. While FCMC Radio will play all genres of music by all Second Life artists, they try to focus on original material (rather than covers), though they also accept songs that are in the public domain.

Getting music to FCMC Radio, as is the case with all three stations mentioned here, is very easy. Reslez has systems in place for song files to be emailed or put on an FTP site. The only requirement is for the artist to be independent and for them to have performed in SL. Listeners can use the station's web site to see who is playing currently, as well as to request songs by artists, who are listed alphabetically.

FCMC RADIO STREAM ADDRESS:
http://thestreamteam1.serverroom.us:4176/

FCMC WEB SITE:
http://mattersofmusic.com or http://fcmcradio.com


IndieSpectrum Radio


In terms of reaching a large number of listeners, IndieSpectrum Radio (ISR) is the current king of SL radio stations. In fact, according to ISR founder and owner Fox Reinsch, the station has consistently appeared in the top 30% of all Shoutcast-based Internet radio stations. It's the only one that comes up in the iTunes list of radio stations (under the "eclectic" category, not surprisingly), and features about 200 SL-based artists with over 1500 songs in their playlist.

ISR was founded in November 2007 by Fox Reinsch, whose background in the audio business helped him get rolling on the radio. Fox's decision to start the station was based on his desire to help out a friend, musician Kori Carothers (Kori Travanti in SL). He'd been an SL resident for over a year before he found out about the live music scene, and felt that a radio station would help tell the whole SL world about live music.

Like FCMC, ISR is a one-man operation. Fox spends hours each week on the station and its accompanying web site, IndieSpectrum.com. It's a huge undertaking, but the results have paid off with its benefit to the entire SL music scene.

ISR plays all types and genres of music. Originally, Fox felt he would have to go through each submission and cull the good form the bad, but quickly found that everything he received was worthwhile of getting exposure on the radio, so he plays it all. In order to best support the musicians who are active in the SL music scene, he tends to drop artists who depart form SL (especially if he doesn't personally dig the tunes).

The IndieSpectrum site makes it easy for artists to submit music for airplay. There's an "Artists Only" tab on the site's home page, and artists can just follow the instructions for uploading their music from there. Another nice thing about the site: unlike the others, music will automatically play for any visitor to the site, without having to take further steps to access it via a media player.

Like the other people in this article, Fox's main goal is to support the SL music scene. He says, "I would like to see everyone that is into live music tell everyone else! Take them to live shows, tell them about IndieSpectrum radio, and give them my free radios." Will do!

INDIESPECTRUM RADIO STREAM ADDRESS:
http://69.175.91.194:9000

INDIESPECTRUM WEB SITE:
http://www.indiespectrum.com


SL Live Radio


Founded and run by SL resident Cher Harrington, SL Live Radio was an evolution of an Internet station that Cher already had rolling at the time, called Radio Cher. She began incorporating MP3s sent to her from SL artists which she mixed in with the other material she was playing. By November 2007, the station began exclusively playing SL artists, and SL Live Radio was born. Starting with about 30 artists, Cher's station now features nearly all of the regular performers in the SL music scene.

Cher's experience as a DJ and radio operator is a bit more extensive than the others in this article; she'd been working in media buying and marketing/promotions before starting her station, and became a DJ in The Sims Online before joining SL in 2005. Like the others, she founded her station in order to better support the SL musicians. She notes, "Every time I played Rich Desoto's "Avatar Girl", they (the listeners) would ask me where they could purchase that song. I would send them over to Rich's kiosk at Crazy Sharks and they would buy his MP3!"

Another thing that separates SL Live Radio from the others is that it's supported by a team. Cher has worked closely with another of Second Life's most ardent music supporters, Ham Rambler, in handling music performances at the Dublin sim. When Ham was at a 2007 SL conference, he said that having a radio station to support SL artists would be a good idea, and Cher let him know that she had already started one. Ham then purchased the station, and resident Sitearm Madonna volunteered to create the station's website and promotional materials. Cher is also helped in running the station by other members of the Dublin staff.

Like the other stations, no type of music is unwelcome at SL Live Radio. In fact, Cher is fine with broadcasting cover songs and more. "SL Live Radio plays any music from any live artist in Second Life," she says. "I've had inquiries from artists who only sing, or who only do instrumental music, or who only perform covers, asking if it is still okay to send it. 'It's about the music,' I tell them, 'It's not whether it's a cover or just singing to backing tracks, it's all music.'"

Getting music on SL Live Radio is easy. Like the other stations, SL Live is happy to play stuff from any SL musician, which is the only requirement for airplay. For more info, just click the "Artist Information" link at http://www.slliveradio.com, or just email your MP3 files to cher_sl@yahoo.com. Cher's advice for everyone in the SL music community? "Engage the audience and make it fun and welcoming, whether you are hosting or performing, DJing or running a radio station. Everyone there has potential to be connected with you in some way, whether it's that they are interested in performing themselves, or a groupie that will go to future shows, or will tune in to your radio station, or come back to your venue."

SL LIVE RADIO STREAM ADDRESS:
http://64.34.173.110:8404

SL LIVE RADIO WEB SITE:
http://www.slliveradio.com


Thanks to Cher, Fox, and Reslez for their efforts in their respective stations, as well as for talking to us for this article! And as I said above, if you have anything to add in regard to radio stations for Second Life artists, we're all ears.

ZCHFS #6 Report (04.17.10)

VIDEO LINK

It was episode six of the Zak Claxton Happy Fun Show today, and I'm pleased to report that this episode lived up to its name... there was much happiness and fun. If you missed it (and you probably did), you can check it out above, since we remembered to press the "record" button for the second consecutive week.

The quick synopsis of episode 6: Zak chats for a few minutes when people arrive. He shows off his grungy NHL playoff beard. And then he plays songs and stuff.

ZCHFS #6 Set List...
Pigs on the Wing Part 1 (Pink Floyd)
You're Like a Cloud (Zak Claxton)
Time Never Waits for You (Zak Claxton)
Polly (Nirvana)
This Afternoon (Zak Claxton)
Thanks Anyway (Zak Claxton)
Falling Down (Zak Claxton)
Any Major Dude (Steely Dan)
Shine (Zak Claxton)
Fade Away (Zak Claxton)
A Day in the Life (Beatles)

Huge thanks to our viewers, including Diana Renoir, Xerxes Ninetails, Gus Lozada, Scott Boettcher, Blue2Blue, the Stranger, Jon Levy, Eva Moon, Geezer, Zenfira Wardhani, NoCal Honey, and any guests we had... as well as my lovely co-producer Kat!

Astral Dreams (04.16.10)

Photos courtesy of Diana Renoir.

So there I was, in Second Life, sitting on a comfortable love seat in my virtual office (while my real ass was perched on my desk seat in my real office, natch). I'd gone in to contact some people to set up some shows. I'd been negligent in reaching to people since my last flurry of gigs, and realized my schedule was looking pretty sad and empty.

Just then my IM notice chimed. It was Sandy Demina, who I've known for quite awhile, and have played for her at Italian Mood awhile back. She asked if I'd be interested in doing a show, and I said I would, and asked her when the show would be. "Tomorrow," she answered.

Well, I usually want a little more than 24 hours notice of shows, but it worked out that my schedule was flexible enough to take this one. Besides, it seemed interesting: she let me know that Moolto, a social network for avatars, was planning a virtual flash mob for the event. Well that seemed pretty cool. And, as you loyal readers have seen me write many times before, I really like the opportunities to play at new places and expose new people to my music.

So I agreed, and today I went over to Astral Dreams, a large Italian fashion mall with an ancient Greek motif. Pretty nice-looking place, all made of marble textures with columns and so on. I set up my stuff and at 12:30, kicked off the set. Sure enough, a few minutes later, about 25 people appeared out of nowhere (well, that's just the way you appear in Second Life, heh heh), and according to my audio stream statistics we had something like 55 listeners. That's not bad at all for a show in the middle of a weekday.

Of course, the downside of getting rushed by a virtual flash mob is that at some point, they have to flash on out of there to go to their next event. But even so, we kept a fairly good-sized crowd there for the duration of the show; it's not like the rea emptied. And more importantly, everyone seemed to be having a good time. Since I don't read or speak Italian, I'm just going to assume what people were saying was complimentary. I'm an optimist.

Set List at Astral Dreams...
You're Like a Cloud (Zak Claxton)
Time Never Waits for You (Zak Claxton)
This Afternoon (Zak Claxton)
Rikki Don't Lose That Number (Steely Dan)
Thanks Anyway (Zak Claxton)
Falling Down (Zak Claxton)
Wonderwall (Oasis)
Fade Away (Zak Claxton)
Heart of Gold (Neil Young)
Shine (Zak Claxton)
Always Tomorrow (Zak Claxton)
Tangled Up In Blue (Bob Dylan)

Grazie tanto to all the people who supported my show today at Astral Dreams!
Diana Renoir (who also took photos), Kat Claxton, Jura Shepherd, Aurelie Chenaux, Lacy Muircastle, Astral Dreams owner Jack Davies, and Sandy Demina!