Dog Bites and Deep Fried Chicken

I should of used a staff. But at that time, I didn't even have time to think about it. I'll keep this in mind though that I should be more prepare for something like this. As I was preparing for dinner today, I saw these two dogs out the window wondering around in the hood, sniffing the grass, and the trees. There are always dogs wondering around the hood so I didn't payed much attention to it. Few hours later I saw the kid from across the street looking for something. Again, I didn't payed much attention to it, the kid is always curious. And I was thinking more about recipes and some tropical fruits. All of sudden I heard a scream. I looked out the window, and third house down from the left side of the kid's house was him, squatting down crying and screaming as he watches over close to his black poodle dog being mauled by the two dogs I saw wondering around earlier. Maan the kid was too damn close to them dogs, so I ran there fast as I could. As I got closer, I see the black poodle dog like a tag of war rope between the two mean lookin' dogs. It was like a scene from animal planet of two hungry lions biting on a baby wildebeest. The dogs seemed a lot bigger as I got closer. I yelled at the dogs and then I stupidly picked up a crumple news pepper off the ground and threw it, thinking it will drive them away. And of course that didn't do anything. And then I blanked out, I think I remember punching one of them dogs. The next thing I remember, was looking for another object and found a long metal pole. I wish I had a metal bat with me, or the wooden staff from my room. The long metal pole only made the dogs agitated as I poke them with it. As the kid cries with his hand bleeding, I asked where his black poodle dog at. And he says that his dog were already back in the house but his really hurt bad. I was like what!?!? Here I was poking at one of the dogs with a metal pole and the kid was standing behind me with his house garage still open. So I told him he should go back in the house to take care of his hand first, because he might of gotten some rabies from the dogs.

And then the kid's mother came out. The mother was looking for the dog's owner, but the kid was hurt. So I had to pick up the long metal pole again, and gave a sign language to my neighbor to call 911. Now I had to guard the mother and the kid following the mother as she knocks on the house's door where the attacked happened. But no one was answering. She says their dogs shouldn't be out on the street. I wanna tell her that she should go back in the house with her kid, because I don't think it's a good idea to be around them dogs. Finally, the mother and the kid went back to their house. And I ran back in my house. I left the oven on.

Then a white van appeared. A middle age blonde lady came out of the van and picked up the two dogs. The kid called her mother back out, and the mother ran out on the street to stop the van right in the middle of the road. I yelled at the other neighbor to write her plate number down. Two of them neighbor ran back out with a pen and paper. The lady in the van yelled at the kid's mother to "Get off the way you indian lady!!!" She was probably a racist bible fanatical middle age lady, because she was also cursing out Jesus' name. The cops and animal control service came by in about 20 minutes later.

Anyway, I told my mother what happened and she got mad. She says it was stupid and I should of left it alone, because I didn't have any medical insurance. That's very true...

The dogs might of been pit-bulls. But Elsie, my bro's lady says she saw the same dog earlier and believed they were Brindle. I checked out the internet and indeed they were Bensenji Brindle. An African breed dogs, and they look a bit like pit-bulls but leaner. They are known not to bark which makes them deadly because it's hard to read them dogs when they are in attacking mode. And the way I saw them attack the poor black poodle today, they are very ferocious animals...


The father probably got off work early.


The cop about to ask the kid what happened.


The interrogation...


The city animal control officer wondering which hand was bitten. The kid has a cast on his left forearm.


I wonder what took these guys 20 minutes till they showed up.


I tried to capture the dogs but I shot the whole thing from the inside of the house through the window using a zoom lens. There was too much things I planned to do for the day as it is. And I got too tired too fast, I really need to get in shape.


Back to what I was doing, I think these fried chicken was a little too dry, all I added were salt and pepper, and deep fried them using peanut oil. The peanut oil is perfect for deep frying, plus you can store them for a reuse. And they do not splash. I was gonna use the backyard stove but the propane tanks needed refills.


Boiling water to blanch some sweet potato leaves from the backyard.


With some tomatoes also from the backyard.


All mixed together with a little bit of fish sauce.

STATIX's Good Snacks

I know its soooo asian. As a kid I used to die for these chips back in the Philippines. Here it cost under $1.50 at the local asian market, where at 711 Doritos and Onion Rings cost 5 to 6 bucks. I got these for snacks while getting busy in my music station. It ain't healthy tho, it has high sodium. What I should be having is some baby carrots and celeries. I do get them apples and tomatoes straight from the backyard, and just place them on my desks - I might need a fruit basket but that would look too damn gay man.

Storage

First of all I am not superstitious, I believe in facts and scientific reasons for most things. Do I believe in God? Sure I do. I actually grew up in a strong Catholic background and baptized as a born again Christian. I wouldn't say I am a backslider either, I just keep it real and be a human being. Hoping I am excepted the way I am created. There were points in my life questioning my faith but then later down the road, it makes a lot of sense. Not just Christian wise but what I learned from other beliefs and philosophies. Now, what in the hell is this has to do with storage? Well, a few things. Maybe more. But things are somehow working on it's own as if something is arranging things around. Some I thought it's not going the way I want it. But then, I paused about what I want and think outside of my own box, and realized it's actually better. Not just for me but everyone.


Few days back, right before I was almost done listing all my favorite patches of drum kits, vocals, modulations, drum patterns, and etc., from my Micro-X synthesizer. I planned to buy a binder and some plastic covers for the prints. Took me awhile to list the best once because there were over a thousand patches, and not only that, I listened to every each of them. I actually experiment and jam to almost every each patches, both straight from the keys and the knobs, and hooking it to my MPC midis. My feet were even sore standing in front of the keyboard from jamming. Anyway, about the plastic cover sheets, I went to Walgreens to buy some but they only had binders and not the plastic sheet covers. So I went to the storage room in the backyard and look for some. I used to collect a bunch of graphics from magazines, rip the pages off, and place them in plastic sheet covers all clipped up in binders. I used them for a reference doing graphic arts or getting ideas from. Some were old so I threw them away and use what is needed.


As I was looking through the binders, I also found this Recipe Binder which I was planning in keeping it handy. I've been obsessed writing recipes lately. It could be a survival mode thing.


And I also found this Black & Decker Booklet.


I even forgot I had this. I don't play this. But I did kept it for a reference in making characters, perhaps for the video gaming industry. I didn't really had the time to work on that portfolio then. But now I'm gonna keep this handy as well.


Old comic strips I was working on back in 1996 but never finished. I was trying to get that same essence of Frank Miller's style for his Comic or Graphic Novel "Sin City".


Here's another page. I probably wouldn't work on a Comic or Graphic Novel down the road. Maybe some illustrations using a Digital Sketch Pad, which is much cleaner for me to work on later. Right now there are way too much shit to be focused on to that.


Specially now, for economic advantages, my little bro (Venus) and his lady Elsie are moving back to the house. Venus has some expensive fancy looking appliances and the dude rented a storage room for them. And I know we had to get rid of few things from the house in order to make room for their things. There are few things in the backyard I can live without, like the backyard gym - for now I rather go biking around the hood and do push ups in my room. And few things I can live without in the storage like my old macintosh, now collectible item. But really I just wanted to use the old macintosh to write stories and journals with no worries of being hacked or spied on while working on them. Beside we might need some of them fancy appliances in the backyard for cutting meat or for oysters and beers. The other two roommates moved near by The Great Mall where they work.


It's not a toy, as playful like this playground here, right in front of Venus' and Elsie's apartment. I kept some of my things for later needs. Like my art supplies, specially my easel maaan. I might need that when I'm like 80 years old for painting a nude lady. Actually, you never know when you need some of the things you stored in the closets. You never know when little kids pop out of no where and you had to pass on what my little sister and bro had when they were little. It's just me, I know what it's like having less. In the other hand, since there just there, mind as well sell them or donate them to who ever needs them more than we do at the moment. I tend to like my area clean too, but then I also know about preservation.


This here is their apartment. I say they can save more staying at the house if they want to get a bigger house later. Daamn man, it's gonna be some work again trying to separate my own things from the storage. I don't have a lot. I'm just concerned where to place my own things.


All these things going on, specially since the place I applied as a mobile patrol man haven't called yet, makes me wanna cook something. Here is what I recently cooked - It's Curry Goat. Perhaps I have better chances elsewhere as a security guard aside being a mobile patrol man anyway.

The Ingredients:

*Around 8 pounds - Goat Ribs / Back Bones / Some Meat (remove the fat)
*1/8 Cup - Curry Powder
*2 Tsp - Ground Pepper
*10 Cloves - Garlic (minced)
*1 Whole - Onions (diced)
*10 Thin - Carrots (chopped unto 3)
*6 - Bay Leafs
*1 Can - Coconut Milk
*6 Glass - Water (or more, eyeball it)
*5 - Ripe Tomatoes
*1/8 Cup - Fish Sauce (or go for the taste)
*1 Tbsp - Oil

Procedures:

Cut the meat and bones - remove the fat - use a mallet to hammer the meat cleaver to cut through bones. Minced the garlic, cubed the onions - drop that to the cooking pot with a little bit of oil. Add in the meat, a little bit of ground pepper, and bay leafs - let it fry a little, place the lid. Add in some fish sauce, and curry powder. Wait for that to cook a little bit, and then add in coconut milk and water. Make sure to add lots of water to make the meat soft - takes about an hour and a half till the meat are soft and tender - and then add in the carrots and tomatoes. When the carrots are soft - it's done.

I heard it's more Caribbean or Jamaican if it has more water, and Arabic or East Indian if it was thicker...

Butchery - Goat Meat

I bet you wanted to say shut the hell up! geeeeez... But I just wanna document how I'm gonna process the meat. Plus this is how food are processed behind the tasty stuff. Recently, I was also had been writing notes on how to butcher your own meat, as well as hunting wild game goes. I have this idea what if I be stranded in the wilderness, maan at-least I know some basic hunting strategies, not only that but how to cut them up. So I put my self on a little test, and it was perfect timing that my little bro's coworker happened to have relatives or owned a ranch back at Stockton. Not bad for a medium size goat for 150 bucks. The goat meat were dropped off from the ranch to his coworker's mother's house, and we just picked it up from there. Always a good bargain at the ranch, specially if you cut your own meat. This one in particular were already had been cut unto 5 pieces. I ain't tryin' to dis any butchering companies, in fact I would probably even wanna work to a supermarket as a butcher (I heard they get payed pretty good) but since I do music, and other crafty stuff, I'm a little too cautious with my hands.


Here is what my bro and I picked up at the house.


So far it looks like a crime scene. Gross right?


Now I gotta re-cut them up for storing and for cooking. Here are my cutting tools. A meat saw is also important. Make sure they are sanitized before using. As well as the sink. The backyard sink is pretty handy when it comes of doing something like this instead of the garage or in the indoor kitchen. Since it's in the backyard, you gotta use a cooler with some ice to keep it fresh and to keep them flies away.


The chopping board, also had been sanitized.


A chain mail glove for my left hand. I cut with my right hand.


There are two of this. The upper area: arms and rib cages.


There are two of this also. The hind area: legs and stomach area.


And then only one of this. The head. Which makes it the total of 5 parts.


The washing and cutting is done, and they all fit in the cooler with ice.


Now the cooler is in the kitchen. Waiting for the old man and my bro for what they want to do next.


Here is my Bro and Elsie cutting them up unto pieces. They were preparing it for Papaetan (bile stew).


And me cutting the roasted goat meat called Kilawen. It's meat, skin, and liver. You can even add in the tongue. First it was marinaded with ground pepper and soy sauce. Roast it in the oven. When it's cooked, chop it up into small pieces like Carne Asada. Mixed in some minced ginger, onions, garlic, and chili peppers or jalepenos. The last thing to mixed in are vinegar. The real Kilawen is raw, pickled with vinegar. But I prefer the texture more like Carne Asada.

After all this, working from a food plant you learn that it's important to sanitized the tools and sink before and after - even after using some soap. I don't know if this is strong enough, but I use lysol disinfectant spray.

Vegetarian and Longanisa

This is an added portion about the "ask a filipino". A simple way for me to explain what I mean about eating vegetarian with meat. I don't know about other filipinos, but where I am from this is a simple way to make a meal. Specially at home. And they are actually good for you too. Just make sure to drink more water than sodas, eat fruits regularly rather than fries or marshmallow peeps. Hey man, if you got a juicer that would be even cool - just juiced up some carrots and apples with a little bit of spinach.


Here is Linta - meaning to boil or to make a quick boil. You can pretty much linta any veggies. On this recipe, all I used is 1 cup of water, 1/4 cup of soy sauce. And then add in some Eggplants, Cubanelle Peppers, and Garlic. Place the cooking pot lid, and let it steam for about 6 minutes, or just eyeball it. And that's it.

You can also make them vegetables like carrots, beets, squash, potatoes, celeries, leeks, bamboo shoots, etc., to taste way better - by adding curry, salt, paprika or masala, butter, and coconut milk. I think Indians, specially hindus has this in their vegetarian diet. Adding fish to it is even better.


Here is Ilocano Longanisa - and they are a bit tangier than the tagalog longanisa or the southern longanisa. It's pork. The spaniards introduced this to the natives. To my taste, the vegetarian linta and longanisa goes together. You cannot fry these straight to the frying pan. You also have to linta this - use at least a cup of water for 5 pieces. The water will dissolve unto oil and then it will start frying. Make sure to poke the sausages for them oil to come out when starts to fry. You cannot find these in a regular supermarket, you gotta know a personal filipino sausage maker. We got these from a couple of retired folks, and now they make sausages as a home business, they even make chicharrón.


The final dish, Vegetarian and Longanisa...

Polynesian Diet

The first time I heard of Samoans was back in the Philippines, when I was around 7 years old. A relative had this postcard and he says the people in it were Samoans. When I was in the States, the first time I've seen about Samoans were on TV in the WWF. A notorious wrestlers called The Wild Samoans: Afa & Sika. The Wild Samoans didn't even have to say a word, they just growl and Captain Lou Albano would speak for them, and then The Wild Samoans would finished off by wildly eating a raw lobster. It was pretty crazy. Later in my life I've met few Samoans but most of them are really soft spoken people. If you haven't seen The Wrestler yet, make sure to check it (r-rated). I think it's a really cool film, the script, acting, and even the soundtrack was cool. Afa one of The Wild Samoan trained Mickey Rourke for the film.

After learning that Samoans and other Pacific Islanders share the same Cultural Ladder as Filipinos, I wonder how they got so huge. Majority of Eastern Pacific Islanders are big in stature than the typical Southeast Asian. I always thought, it could be from their diet of hunting down The Giant Moas. But Giant Moas are only in one area, which is in New Zealand. The Giant Moas were hunted down for food until they were all extinct. But that wasn't the reason why they got so big because the Maoris were already big folks when they arrived in New Zealand.


On mother's day, my family and I went to this Buffet Restaurant which serves Asian Cuisines. As well as Shell Fish and Sushi. When we were there, the restaurant were also packed with Tongans. There were also Indo-Fijians. At first my Family and I thought they were Samoans. Big folks. It sucks though because the restaurant didn't have any dividers. I am used of eating alone. Everythin' was in the open and we didn't know a single one of them. It was sunday so I figured the Tongans must be from a Mormon Church. Perfect day to celebrate mother's day. Tongans are of Fijian people (melanesians) mixed with the Samoans (polynesians). But they do have their own Islands just bellow Samoa, and just across side of Fiji. The youth consider themselves the Vikings of the South Pacific.

About the restaurant, the restaurant is literarily called Crazy Buffet, there are a lot of Asian Buffet around Silicon Valley with funny names, there's another one called Yummy Buffet, next thing you know another one is called Eat Food Buffet or Very Fishy Food Buffet. These owners must be laughing on their way to the bank for having them catchy names. Good food though. Maybe even better than some Authentic Restaurants.

Noticing how they like shell fish, also brought back some memories of The Wild Samoans. Which gave me enough clue to know how they got so huge. These people lives in small islands. Which gave them lots of advantages over the large ocean that surrounds their homelands. Like one big table filled with lobsters and other types of fish. I like them too and I think they are tasty, but I can't eat shell food like: Lobsters, Crabs, and Shrimps. Not even Squid or Octopus. If I do, my skin starts to itch, my throat starts to itch, and then my lungs gets tighter. I can though eat regular fish. Oysters are okay. Just not that day, I had enough Tilapia and Tuna at home, and wanted to try other food than fIsh.

Common Polynesian Diets and Fishing Tool:
Lobsters, Taros, and a Fishing Hook an evidence of hunting big fish.


Typical Wooden Clubs for Paddling, Hunting, Playing, and Fighting:
You gotta knocked a huge fish somehow. And knocked territorial rivalries at the sea. To me the Wooden Club also gave birth to Cricket and then to Baseball. Boomerang is also a cool hunting tool and weapon from the Aboriginal People of Australia. Philippines has the Yo-Yo. But I ain't sure how Yo-Yo works as a Hunting Tool.



The Moai Statues of Rapa Nui: Just a sample of carving canoes evolved unto ritualistic carving of logs and stones as an artifacts. I mean if you live in an Island, there's gotta be lots of time to kill. Plenty of time waiting for the GODs in which they were from. Plenty of time for art. Plus art also keeps the mind occupied and strong.



Here is a sample of a Maori Tiki Jade. A Moko Facial Tattoo is also a form of carving but with ink. A Fish Hook Pendant made of Bone.


The images bellow illustrates the Austronesian People of Oceania:

MALAYAN

Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Borneo, Taiwan, and etc.
These groups migrated from Taiwan to Southeast Asia. Also known as the East Indies. The Westerners that discovered East Indies of Malay were Spanish, French, Dutch, and Americans. The Malaysians kept the name as their official country name. Malayans are the forefathers of the Austronesian Language and Culture.

MELANESIAN

Solomon, Papua New Guinea, Australia (aboriginal), Timor (alfredo reinado), Fiji, and etc.
The black people of Oceania. The Westerners that discovered the Melanesians were Portuguese, Dutch and British Missionaries. To me MICRONESIA is also part of the MELANESIAN, basically just smaller islands just above the MELANESIAN islands. It's cool how some people of the Solomon and Australia have natural blond hair. I think it has to do with the sun and the ocean. There are people in the Philippines who also has blond hair, mostly young kids that lives on the oceans.

POLYNESIAN

Samoa, Tonga, New Zealand (maori), Hawaii, Tahiti, and etc.
Polynesians has Portuguese and British blood lines, as well as American. They are more known as the standard Pacific Islanders. Since the rise of Colonialism, places like Guam (micronesia) and Hawaii, or even Tahiti has mixed blood with people from the Orient. Like Japan, Korea, and China. Specially Ilocanos of the Philippines. And made a unique language of it's own called Pidgin Language. Like a boomerang that flew from the east to west. Or something like that.

A well known Polynesian Actor other than Dwayne Johnson (the rock), is Cliff Curtis. Who appeared as supporting actor in Once Were Warriors, and an extra in some award winning film The Piano. Me and my Bro sometimes laugh about it because the dude can play any type of roles. He plays characters as an Arab and even a Cholo Mexican from the movie Training Day. And I don't think a lot of people seems to notice that. The dude came up though man.



I could be wrong though, but according to my research, Filipinos is a new nationality. Christianity is the official faith. Every Nations has a beginning. The first known Filipinos were Spaniards that was born in the Philippines. Eventually, most of these Filipinos blend in with the indigenous. Some Indigenous still practice Shamanism and into Mother Nature. Before the Spaniards, were the Malay People (austronesians) and then the Arabs, Indians, Japanese, Chinese (mostly merchants). Before that were the Aetas, the very first settlers of the islands, believed to be from Madagascar. An island just below Africa.



Aight, I just finished a track, just needed a little mastering and then I'll post it here. I sampled a little bit of Asha Puthli. I had to do this Blog about Polynesian Culture or else it will keep on knocking the sides of my head to come out.

My Saturday's Finest

As ghetto as it may seemed. Sardines are very tasty. Sometimes I do get tempted to get a burger. But rather save it for something else. Perhaps for hiking later, or a movie, soon as I am done with these current projects.

I'm also waiting for an update about the imminent missile launch from North Korea. Supposedly, the launch starts today till the 8th of this month. What if it's really a long range test-fire, other than a satellite. The satellite could also be a device to pin point targets. Kim Jong-il recently had a stroke. What is Kim Jong-il's last goal before he's gone.

Filipino Food

Since Cuisines is one of my interest subjects I am going to write more on Filipino Cuisines. In addition to what I wrote about Anthony Bourdain - Philippines. As a Filipino myself, most common food for a daily routine is not always the "traditional" dish but also Canned Food, like: Sardines, Spams, and Corned Beef. Dried or Smoked Fish is also common. A more upscale routine dish can also be cured meat called Tocino and different kinds of Sausages called Longanisa. These type of food are also International and not just for Filipinos. Canned Food were introduced in the Philippines by the American Soldiers in WWII.


International Canned Food. Also typical for most Pinoy Diet. Instant Noodles are also a big part of the list.


These are Longanisa. There are two types of Longanisa that I know of. The Ilocano Longanisa and the Tagalog Longanisa. Ilocano Versions are more tangy and more smoked or dried. And It's basically pork meat and lard mixed together with salt, pepper, vinegar, and garlic. Lots of garlic. Pork intestines are used for the sausage skins. The Tagalog Longanisa or Southern Version are more sweeter, same method except it's added with some Sweet Curing Powder to have that sweet flavor to it just like Tocino. Due to the high value currency in the Philippines, Southern Longanisas are evolving to a size of a quail egg. Some tourists are even trippen' what they are, and simply being introduced by tour guides as Finger Food or Pulutan (beer snack). Like how hamburgers in America today are becoming more like muffins. Obviously it's an alternative against economic crises.


This here is Tocino. Little portion on this can get you eating a whole lot of rice if you are Pinoy or Asian in general (cultured by it's origin). I used to have this girlfriend who wasn't asian and could eat a whole lot of it without the help of rice. It was a bit insulting to me when she says that "gneee... rice are for side dish only." So wrooong man. Rice is the center of the plate in some countries.






Toyo (dried or smoked fish). Big fish to small fish. From squids to eels. The Vikings also do the same method but with shark meat, I've seen it one time in Bizzare Food. Toyo is or was considered a poor man's diet but today Filipino Chefs are experimenting more and more on evolving Toyo as an upscale cuisine.


As I write about Dried to Smoked Meat Products, it sorta gives me the resemblance of how the Buccaneer Pirates used to eat back in the 1700 or earlier than that. I even found an old illustration of an old pirate making Lechon which is the image you see on the left.




I got the image from this page: The Pirates and Buccaneers.




This is a Lechon. It's traditional like how the Hawaiians cook their pork except not underground being cooked by hot stones but by bamboo poles and over a fire. Different Regions of the Philippines have their own stuffing for their Lechon.


Exactly who were the Buccaneers. Surely and most likely you hear about them in Novel Books, History Books, and even in the Fantasy Movies where they venture navigating through out the Caribbean Shores back in the 1700 or 1600. Buccaneers are also known as Pirates. Buccaneers came from the word buccan, a wooden frame for smoking meat. I hope who ever reads this won't get the idea that I am pushing an issue to claim some historical events for another culture. I am just writing about the resemblance on how the Buccaneers prepares their food the same way how Filipinos do theirs. Besides, during the times of the Caribbean Pirates were also the times when the European Fleets were navigating in the Malay Archipelagos (The Philippines).

Wikipedia: The buccaneers were pirates who attacked Spanish and French shipping in the Caribbean Sea during the late 17th century.

The term buccaneer is now used generally as a synonym for pirate. Originally, buccaneer crews were larger, more apt to attack coastal cities, and more localized to the Caribbean than later pirate crews who sailed to the Indian Ocean on the Pirate Round in the late 17th century.

The term buccaneer derives from the Arawak word buccan, a wooden frame for smoking meat, hence the French word boucane and the name boucanier for French hunters who used such frames to smoke meat from feral cattle and pigs on Hispaniola (now Haiti and the Dominican Republic). English colonists anglicised the word boucanier to buccaneer.