Sasquatch! Festival Spectacular! Spectacular!

It is that time of the year again. The end of February signals more than just the approach of Spring and tax deadlines. Nay, something much more exciting and important was kicked off on the 28th: the countdown to the Sasquatch! Music Festival 2009. The tickets officially went on sale this weekend and now that mine have been purchased the road to musical enlightenment begins today and ends at the Gorge in George, WA on Memorial Day weekend.

The Sas tradition started last summer and I was truly blown away by the experience. It had everything you've come to expect from a festival experience: lots of drinking and smoking, lounging about the grounds covered in sun screen trying to stave off heat stroke and wide-spread debauchery in the campground. Sure, there's Bonnaroo, Coachella and other music festivals out there but Sasquatch has something that sets it apart: the advantage of location! location! location! The Gorge is breathtaking. An amphitheater built, literally, into the side of a cliff overlooking the massive Columbia River. The picture above is the main stage from the opening day of last year's festival.

And of course there's the music. Last year there was R.E.M, The Cure, The Flaming Lips, Death Cab For Cutie, Modest Mouse, M.I.A., etc.. This year? Even more cause for excitement...

Sasquatch! Music Festival 2009 Artist Line-up:

Bands in BOLD are the ones I want to see

• Kings of Leon (*ungh* I actually HATE this band, I don't give a rat's ass how critically acclaimed they are. Hopefully, another band worth seeing will be playing on a different stage during their set.)
• Yeah Yeah Yeah's
• Nine Inch Nails (reportedly, this is their last tour "ever")
• Jane's Addiction (with all the original members)
• The Decemberists
• Erykah Badu
• Ben Harper and Relentless 7
  
• Animal Collective
• Devotchka
• Arthur & Yu
• Bon Iver
• M. Ward (saw him play live on Letterman, not impressed)
  
• Doves
• Sun Kil Moon (Mark Kozelak's new band, he's the singer from Red House Painters)
• The Gaslight Anthem
  
• King Khan & The Shrines
• Ra Ra Riot
• Shearwater
• Passion Pit
• Vince Mira
• Mt. Saint Helens Vietnam Band
• Owl City
• Death Vessel
• Blind Pilot
• Dent May & His Magnificent Ukulele
• TV On The Radio
• The Murder City Devils
• of Montreal
• The Avett Brothers
• Calexico
• M83
• The Airborne Toxic Event
• The Walkmen
• The Wrens
• St. Vincent
• The Dodos
• John Vanderslice
• The Submarines
• Viva Voce
• The Builders And The Butchers (Saw them open for Amanda Palmer in place of the MCDs)
  
• AA Bondy (Didn't stick around for their set at the Tractor last night but maybe I should have :/ )
  
• Fences (Went to see him play at the Tractor Tavern last night. I'm excited to see him play when there aren't fifty rude, drunk Seattlites talking over him)
  
• Point Juncture, WA
• Deadmau5
• Natalie Portman's Shaved Head
• Silversun Pickups (I just want to hear them play "Lazy Eye" and that's it)
  
• Fleet Foxes
• Gogol Bordello
• Santigold
• Grizzly Bear
• Explosions In The Sky (what a coincidence! See my blog from 1/25)
  
• Girl Talk
• Blitzen Trapper
• The Knux
• Monotonix
• Bishop Allen
• Black Moth Super Rainbow
• Beach House
• Mugison
• The Dutchess And The Duke (apparently the Duchess used to be married to my co-worker's roomate and she left him for the Duke.)
  
• School Of Seven Bells
• Horse Feathers
• The Pica Beats
• Loch Lomond
• Tobacco
• Chromeo
• God's Pottery (Jesus Rock?!? Gross.)
  
• BLK JKS

Wow. I count 28 bands worth my time on that list, not to mention the hidden gems I won't discover until I get there. Definitely worth the $160.00 price tag for a 3-day pass. Well, that's all I have to report right now. It's time to watch a little MST3K and think about dinner.

!!!

Stoners' Kitchen: Spiced Pumpkin Pasta Sauce

Here's a recipe I came up with while preparing an impromptu meal for a group of friends. When we first moved into the house, Gerad and I discovered that we have gratuitous amounts of pasta in the kitchen and for that reason whenever I cook for more than three people spaghetti is always on the menu. However, there's only so many times I can cook a straight tomato sauce before it becomes too mundane to even look at.

So there I was, standing above my stove stirring sauteed onions and chopped tomatoes listlessly when I realized I didn't have enough tomato paste to give the sauce it's proper consistency. Craaap! They say necessity is the mother of all invention and it was certainly true in this case. Just when I was about to announce to my guests that they might want to consider a Jack In The Box run, it hit me: Pumpkin. Three ginormous cans of pumpkin puree had been wasting away in my pantry for months with no hope of reprieve since pie-making isn't exactly my forte. By adding a decent amount of the puree, I fixed the consistency and put a new, autumnal twist on a mainstay meal.

Spiced Pumpkin Pasta Sauce

Utensils
1 large sauce pan
1 wooden spoon
1 large chopping knife

Ingredients
1/2 large yellow onion, chopped
2 tbs garlic, chopped
1 can of peeled tomatoes
2 pour red wine
2 pour white balsamic vinegar
3 pour of veggie broth
5 shakes of Italian seasoning (basil, oregano, rosemary, sage)
3 shakes of red pepper flakes
1 small can of plain tomato sauce
Enough pumpkin puree to reach a thick consistency
A drizzle of olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Pumpkin pie spice (nutmeg, ground cloves, cinnamon) to taste

• Add all ingredients up to the plain tomato sauce and simmer until onions are soft and tomatoes have become mush-like (mash them with your spoon if you're one of those weirdos that "doesn't like tomatoes if they're in their natural form")
• Add tomato sauce and pumpkin puree and STIR, STIR, STIR on low heat until sauce starts to bubble slightly.
• Remove from heat and stir in olive oil, salt and pepper and pie spice.
• Ladle on top of pasta of your choice (I used butternut squash ravioli).

Enjoy!

!!!