DJ Neil Armstrong, Jay-Z’s long time collaborator and accompanying DJ on his worldwide tours just dropped a gem on his site today. The mixtape "DNA of the Blueprint" is a retrospective of Jay-Z’s illustrious career, focusing primarily on the Blueprint trilogy, which most would agree houses his best work.

The CD length work is a masterpiece of mixing and mastering and pulls, obviously from the Blueprint albums with a heavy emphasis on Blueprint 3, but also from his other works, as well as those from other hip-hop artists and even R&B tracks. Neil Armstrong also intersperses audio from interviews Jay-Z has done over the years which brings a real human side to the mixtape. The project serves to purposes – to walk the listener through Jay-Z’s 10+ year reign on the hip-hop throne but also as a "senior project" for DJ Neil Armstrong himself, demonstrating his skills as a turntablist.

If you are having trouble downloading it from Armstrong’s site, check try this link.

| via Hypebeast |

I have been using hydration packs for a decade and to be honest, nothing’s really changed. Sure, they’ve come out with brushes to help you clean the bladders and Camelbak has a new attachment that lets you figure out your flow rate and how much water is left, but the idea is still the same. Osprey has been in the technical pack game for a long time and is well regarded. Despite having packs that support bladders, they did not have a dedicated hydration pack in their line – until now. The Osprey Hydraulics line was launched recently and includes the Manta (day pack) and Raptor (mountain biking pack) which packs (no pun intended) plenty of features. Read more about their special bladder design (in conjunction with Nalgene) and their ingenious way of attaching the bite valve at my preview over at joshspear.

| Read more at joshspear.com |

I recently volunteered for the inaugural Santa Barbara Marathon and I was at my post before 5 AM and it was freezing. I brought out my new pair of Icebreaker wool gloves which I bought earlier in the year in anticipation for winter. My job was just to direct traffic, and sometimes runner. By the end of the four hour shift, there were numerous holes and tears all over the gloves. Four hours! I sent a detailed email to the company and there was not a single reply. Luckily, their baselayers are great but if you are looking for gloves, look elsewhere.

When I see elastic sided boots, I generally think of Australia and I rarely think of value but that’s exactly what Blundstone Footwear represents. They have been family owned and operated in the land down under since 1870.  Their flagship model is undoubtedly the 500 in stout brown; it’s the model you think of when you hear the name Blundstone. Unlike boots with a traditional lace up system, the 500 series are easy to get in and out of thanks to the elastic side band and the two pull tabs, one on front and one on back. The comfort footbed is removable and replaceable with a thinner one to accommodate thicker socks or a more custom fit. The sole is slip resistant and chemical resistant. For such a durable boot, it’s surprisingly lightweight. I have been really happy rockin’ the 558’s here on the West Coast where we’ve been getting some heavy rain in short spurts. And for those looking for something a little more rugged and workwear worthy, they have you covered as well with an entirely different line. The price and quality cannot be beat and I am surprised it took me this long to learn about Blundstone but I am glad I did.

I had a pretty good short rib dinner tonight. I know what you’re thinking, I probably slowly braised it in a low temperature oven with some veggies, beef broth, and a bottle of red wine. Well, that was some other time. This time I sous vide it. And all it took was forty ingredients. Ok, that’s a little misleading. It’s not that complicated. Here’s what you need:

Bone-in short ribs
Salt & Pepper
Vadouvan
Butter
36 hours

Take the ribs and season liberally with salt and pepper and vadouvan. I did not have real (fresh) vadouvan so I used a spice mix which is very flavorful and quite fragrant. I then put two knobs of butter (one on each side) of the rib and vacuum seal them individually. Then in a bath at 60C for 36 hours. I got the vadouvan idea form Ryan Farr and the cooking temp and time from David Barzelay.

After they are done, I removed them and drained the bags into a bowl. In a saucepan, I put some butter and sautéed a shallot, some peppercorns and thyme. Then added white wine and the juice from the bags. I also added some balsamic to give it some zing.  Then, I reduced it to a nice consistency. I just learned from David that I am not supposed to add fat until the end or it’ll be hard to form an emulsion. Lesson learned!

I was going to put them over papardelle noodles when I thought they would be fall apart tender like in braised dishes, but I looked at pictures and they looked pretty solid. Well, I was wrong. Sort of. Turns out they are super tender but still together enough you can slice them rather than shred them. Anyway, I decided to make garlic mashed potatoes.

3 cloves of garlic
10 Baby Dutch yellow potatoes
1/4 C heavy cream
1/4 whole milk
2 T butter
Salt and pepper

Put the garlic cloves unpeeled in some foil with some salt and olive oil. Crumple up the foil into a ball and roast it in an oven at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.  Toward the end of the roasting time, heat up a saucepan over low heat with the cream and milk. Press out the garlic from the skin and put it in the milk to steep.  Peel the potatoes and dice them. Bring a small pot of heavily salted water to a boil and add the taters. Reduce heat but maintain the boil. After about 5 minutes test a piece. You should be able to easily pierce it with a fork. Try to mash it with the fork. When it’s done, drain the potatoes. Use a ricer and press small batches of the potato cubes through directly into the milk and cream mixture. Toss the butter and mix it all up with a wooden spoon. You should have some smooth garlic mashed potatoes.

What do these two things have in common? Absolutely nothing, except for the fact that they are the two coolest things I am hooked on right now. In fact, I was going to title this post “The Coolest Shit This Week.” Let’s start off with my man Denzel and of course Mila Kunis, who I am seeing in a totally different light as of late.

The Book of Eli does a great job by not giving away any spoilers in the trailer. All you know is it’s a post-apocalyptic world and Denzel is hell bent on protecting a book and Gary Oldman really wants it. What the heck is in that book that’s so important? Magic perhaps? Some people say this movie is a rip off of The Road. Well let me tell you something – I saw The Road and this absolutely destroys it. The twist is epic and it’s one of those things that after it’s revealed, your mind does a Matrix timeline reversal and you get a series of “OH SNAP, that’s what that was!” moments, in rapid succession. I am still discovering them now, days later!  One thing that really stuck with me is the product placement. They had the first third generation iPod in there (the one with the four buttons above the wheel). Mila was rocking some tight Ray-Ban Aviators and Denzel had Oakleys on that I need to have. But the craziest product of all was Denzel (Eli) was rocking out with Dr. Dre Beats earbuds.

Now, I don’t know about you but I have mixed feelings about all these “premium” headphones and earbuds coming out. On one hand, I am glad these ghetto ass kids that don’t know the difference between and MP3 and FLAC are getting better earphones than the cheap ones that come with iPods. But on the other hand, I feel like they are getting tricked. I really really liked the earbuds Eli had because they have this neat flat cable that almost looks like it’s made out of nylon or fabric. Talk about no tangle! So I looked them up and they are $180 and made by Monster. Are you kidding me? $180? If you want to spend that much money, do yourself a favor and look at the real powerhouses in IEM’s – Shure, Etymotics, Ultimate Ears, etc.

Last night, my DirecTV HD-DVR really screwed me big time but messing up a full fifty percent of my Aziz Ansari Comedy Central broadcast. If I miss a line in a movie or a TV show, so be it. I can usually figure it out in context. But you miss a line in a standup and you missed the whole thing! Punchline. Get it? Anyway, I went online this morning and bought the MP3 album from Amazon (DRM free, $3.99 – you suck, Apple). I am laughing my butt off. For kicks, I decided to check on Spotify and what do you know? They already have it. i cannot believe it. Anyway, this guy is hilarious and even though their styles are different so it’s not a fair comparison, he’s destroying Russell Peters in my book. At least right now.

So please, after the Avatar hype wears off, please check out “The Book of Eli” and “Aziz Ansari – Intimate Moments For A Sensual Evening”

If you haven’t read my amazing Nexus One review at Joshspear, you should really go over there and take a look. Maybe sit down with a latte or some Oolong tea. It’d make for a great afternoon break.

I am loving this phone. Despite still being on the AT&T network, my call issues have pretty much disappeared, which tells me it’s not the network so much as a combination of AT&T and the iPhone. I don’t want to act like the iPhone is a terrible device or the Nexus One is without flaws or issues. To even things out, here are my criticisms of the phone. Some are apparent and some are very nitpicky. And many are not isolated to this phone.  Anyway, in no particular order:

• No Exchange calendar sync
• Some apps like Mint don’t have and Android version and apps that are on both platforms (Evernote) are usually worse on Android
• Sometimes there is some lag during screen animations or transitions.
• Strange bug where I’ll return to the homescreen but see no icons except for the applications grid (bottom center).
• Not so clear way to change or reset defaults. However, once it was shown to me, it isn’t difficult anymore.
• One of the live wallpapers is broken (bug).

That’s it. Those are all my issues with the phone.

Yesterday I woke up at 4:30 AM to volunteer for the first ever Santa Barbara International Marathon. It’s a really big deal that an event of this scale was held in our town and a real testament to the planning committee and especially Dan Rudd who helped orchestrate what seemed like a flawless execution. Here are some facts:

• Total registrants– 2,952
• Countries represented – 11
• States represented – 48
• First time marathoners – 33%
• Volunteers – 982

Since I am not a runner (by any stretch of the imagination) and certainly have never been to a marathon, here are my observations. Some might seem like commonplace or a given but remember, this is all new to me!

• If you block the left lane of a road, people will drive around. If you block both lanes, they’ll drive in the center. They are always not happy about the signs. The only time they change their attitude is when they almost take out a motorcycle officer and get yelled at.
• For some reason, cyclists insist on riding with the runners, weaving in and around them and slamming their brakes to prevent running into them from behind. What makes this particularly strange is that the runners were headed east on the westbound street. The eastbound lanes were open to traffic and normally cyclists ride with car traffic so they should have been on the other side of the road.
• Runners are in a zone when they run and when you yell out their name, they always get startled, then it takes them a second to realize what’s happening, then they get really happy to see you.
• A lot of people say thanks for volunteering.
• People throw away all sorts of clothing on the side of the road.
• Some people run like Phoebe from Friends. Really funny.
• There were various people holding pace signs designating they were running a certain pace. I could not believe anyone would want to hold a sign for 26 miles. They did not look light.
• Some women are so ripped they have muscles I have never seen. Instead of a 6 or 8 pack, this one lady had like a 50 pack.
• It’s very tiring to stand at the same spot for four hours with no food and restroom breaks.

It certainly was a fun event. Would I do it again? Ask me next year.

The older I get, the more I realize how little I know. I am not talking about an overall naivety but the discovery of new skills, techniques, and just factoids that I would absolutely be considered elementary in. What’s important about this discovery is not how it should make me feel (stupid), but how it actually makes me feel – enlightened.

In stark contrast, I encounter people every day that would rather do something wrong than admit they really don’t know how and just ask for help. We are all adults here and I have personally never laughed or chastised someone who asked for help. What’s the problem then? Pride? I think it’s much more. It’s a level of unfounded confidence that fools people into realizing how little they know.

A couple of weeks ago it occurred to me that my roommates were using the balloon whisk attachment for the KitchenAid to make their banana and pumpkin spice breads. They were using a tool meant to whisk and introduce air into cream and eggs to mix thick batters for bread. What really struck me about this is the confidence they carried with them week after week, mistake after mistake. They have clearly never used a standmixer but when it came time to pick among four attachments, they considered the balloon whisk the best bet. Let’s put aside the food science aspect of things (how whisking and mixing differ) and even common sense and you still have a glaring problem. Rather than asking me (the owner of the mixer) how to do something, they just did it. It doesn’t end there. Not only were they doing it wrong, but they were so confident in their choice that they could not even imagine the choice being wrong. And that’s the real issue here.

I had some guests over for dinner a few months ago and we were splitting up tasks. I asked one of them if she knew how to use a knife and she replied as if she was insulted – “Pshhhaw, duh!” I was not sure how to respond so I handed her the cutting board, food, and knife and let her at it. Even with my back to her, I could tell by her comments and the sound the knife was making against the food and board that at the very least she was damaging my knife and at the very worse was going to seriously injure herself. Why didn’t she just ask for help?

I tell these stories because admitting you don’t know something and learning how to use a tool or perform a task correctly helps everyone. Let’s talk about knife skills, perhaps one of the most important in the kitchen and certainly the only common thread in every dish you make, whether it’s stir fry, fresh pasta, or a poached fish. Why is it then, that cooks put so little investment in their knives? Let’s ignore the physical knife for now (that will have to wait for another post), and focus on the use of a knife.

It does not take much to learn how to use a knife properly. And why wouldn’t you want to make the investment? A knife is a sharpened shard of sharp metal. It can stab you and cut you.  You would not pick up a gun you were unfamiliar with without some proper instruction first, would you? Then why is a knife any different?  If there’s one kitchen skill you want to learn how to master – it’s the knife. Use a saucer the wrong way – I don’t care. But if you are going to be in the kitchen, learn how to use a knife, for godsake.

So, where do you start? Well first find someone to teach you. I don’t care if it’s your neighbor or Food Network (thanks Alton Brown). You can’t learn unless you ask. Then practice, practice, practice. Cook. A lot. Often. That’s the only way you’ll get better. Yesterday, my friend Prakash, asked me how I cut an onion. So we spent 10 minutes discussing it in great detail over chat. An onion. Yeah, not how to filet a fish or carve a chicken. An onion. He asked me how I learned and I admitted I actually Googled it and watched videos on YouTube and various tutorial sites. Lame? Maybe a little, but I’d rather be embarrassed and eating than smug and in the hospital.

Next time you are in the kitchen with someone, watch them use a knife. Does it look like they have any control of their knife or is there a nervousness in their movement? Do they cut with certainty and deliberateness or is there hesitation. Is food sliding around? Is there slippage? If they seem like a pro and you could use some tips, ask for help. Or if they need it, offer them your advice.

I am a huge fan of technical clothing and find them especially irresistible when they actually look pretty good as well as being able to keep me warm and dry. The problem with the cold weather industry is the same that afflicts many other markets – excess. Super sized drinks and fries, 5 layer Motherlode cakes, and Turkduckens keep this country fat and sweaty.

I have trimmed down and cut back in my aspects of my life. No, not to conserve energy or money. And no, not because less is more. But because enough is all you need. That’s why I really love the Patagonia R2 jacket. I am not sure the women’s design is the same (I suspect it is), but for the purposes of this review I will only discuss the men’s.

The R2 is a slim fit (as opposed to regular) which means it’s closer-fitting. It hugs the body. It’s not a baselayer so you can still fit say a thermal or long sleeve shirt underneath but if you are sizing correctly, you should not be wearing anything thicker underneath.  It’s made of Patagonia’s blend of polyester which is incredible soft and has great breathability.

The R2 refers to Regulator Insulation which is a proprietary Patagonia system. The lowest (R1) is meant to be a baselayer and the clothing gets thicker and warmer as you move on up. For Central Coast weather, the R2 is perfect for me. It is slim, but not restrictive. It has great features like snug cuffs to keep out the wind, protected flap in the neck area so the cold zipper doesn’t rub, zippered hand warmers and a chest pocket. And for you green readers out there, it’s 100% recyclable through the Common Threads Recycling Program.

Besides all these technical features, the jacket just feels right. It fits great over a polo or t-shirt and keeps me warm without making me sweat. Santa Barbara weather hovers around 70 and while that’s a perfect temp for me. The problem comes when it’s a few degrees colder. It’s too cold to be comfortable but once you put on a jacket, you heat up really rapidly and next thing you know, you’re hot again. The R2 is just right.

As for looks, I think the jacket looks great. It has a nice fuzzy texture that is visually appealing and always gets me compliments. I have a lot of jackets, maybe too many, but the R2 is one I always reach for when I am getting dressed in the morning.