Tegan and Sara are releasing a new album, Heartthrob, Jan. 29, and Amoeba Hollywood is giving away tickets to see the band Jan. 31 on Jimmy Kimmel Live! Limit one guest list spot per album purchased (limit two per person). As these are guest list spots, you must have the name of the person attending the show at the time of purchase. This works with in-store Amoeba purchases only — sorry, no online orders or holds. The offer is good while supplies last — there are 100 guest spots available, so get your butt to Amoeba early if you want in.

Info for the show:

When: Thursday, January 31 – 5:45pm check-in

Where: El Capitan Theatre, 6838 Hollywood Blvd. Check-in located off Hawthorn Ave.

How: You'll be on the House Guest List and will get a wristband when you check in.

Details: All guests must be 16+ (must show ID at venue). No cameras or bags are allowed.

As New York City slowly pulls itself up by its bootstraps in the wake of Hurricane Sandy and the swath of devastation it spread all over the five boroughs, bringing this normally bustling city "that never sleeps" to a grinding halt for an unprecedented period, it is difficult to report on fun, happy events in the Big Apple. Most New York City venues are still closed (or just now today, Wednesday, reopening) and a large percentage of scheduled NY concerts and events for this week have been canceled. For example, the big NYC Halloween Parade in the Village scheduled for this evening that I wrote about here last week. This is unheard of in the parade's four decade history. Similarly, this weekend's WFMU Record Fair (which happens in that same vicinity of downtown Manhattan) was also canceled (details below). Indeed it will take some time before the effects of the “storm of the century” that claimed lives, caused major destruction including destroying homes and businesses, shut down the subway, JFK and LaGuardia airports, and the NY Stock Exchange (until this morning), and left millions without power, are behind us.  Hence for this New York State of Mind Amoeblog I am going to do an overview of some of the impact of Sandy on NYC and a run down of some of the events that have been canceled or postponed as well as ones that are going ahead, along with some ways you can help (scroll down to end of text) plus some basic post Hurricane info and links related to NYC.

First up, check the YouTube clip below video-taped and uploaded Tuesday afternoon by the NY MTA (New York's Mass Transit Authority). It shows the devastation caused to two of the downtown Manhattan subway stations (Ferry Plaza and Whitehall Street - two of the seven subway stations with severe flooding) and will give you an idea of the intensity of the flooding caused by Sandy. While the NYC buses are back in service today, the subway system remains down and may not be back and running in full service for several days due to the damage caused by the salt water to the electrical system on the tracks. Additionally,  all the water has to be pumped out of flooded stations like the ones in the video. However the MTA did announce that limited subway service would resume on November 1st at 6am but not below 34th Street or from Manhattan to Brooklyn.

Home is where the hearth is. Downtown Nevada City, California.

The boyfriend and I have recently returned from frolicsome fun in my hometown of Nevada City, California. This year my most shiny of celebrations was neither Christmas nor New Years, but my sister Jacquie’s 50th birthday (for which I provided the cake, subsequently learning that Christmas day is a lousy time to buy baked goods).

Some highlights of the trip were…

Teaching my mother how to prepare absinthe. Who doesn’t love this quintessential Christmas pastime*? Equipped with a curvaceous reservoir glass and ornate, slotted spoon I enthusiastically gave a demonstration on how to prepare absinthe in both the traditional French method and the more dramatic (and efficient) Bohemian method. Both methods were merely informative, not practical, as my Mammy and me prefer our green fairy sans sucre.

My Mom, enjoying her beverage
(artist's depiction)

Armed with our booze and one clove cigarette each, we sat in her English garden and contentedly sinned with some of Satan’s most pleasingly perfumed indulgences. Once we felt sweetly weak-in-the-knees it was time to make some pie. (Drinking and driving is a bad idea, but drinking and pie making is a sign of advanced evolution in a species. Word.)