I’ve been eager to try any New Orleans cuisine that fit within my vegetarian diet and I continue to be let down by the local delicacies.  Sno-Balls are disgusting.  These are essentially what the rest of the country calls snow cones, except in New Orleans they come from shaved ice instead of crushed.  The locals [...]

Redken recently sent along a puck of their new “Outplay Texture Putty” for us to review.
They describe it as:
A new wax putty formula that creates a piecey style and chunky, oversized seperation with a matte finish.  Outplay texture putty adds immediate grab and traction, defined texture, and a strong flexible hold.
Using it over the last [...]

Last Sunday, while scanning the brunch menu of New Orleans’ famed Cafe Atchafalaya I found a drink I had never heard of, Pimm’s Cup. After inquiring, the Eastern European waitress informed me in slightly broken English that it was a rum mixture. Subsequent research proved her wrong, but the drink stands alone on [...]

MSTRKRFT live at the Zenith, Paris
I was on the fence about doing an actual review of this show, knowing it would be difficult to capture the experience in words. Yesterday, several beers into a serene Sunday afternoon with my good friend Glenn however, I was convinced to try. So here goes.

I’m trying to decide.  
As you can see Spreadshirt is a site that lets you create custom tee-shirts, kind of like Cafe Press, but without all the set up hassles.  I think it could be improved by allowing choice of tee shirt brand (they say American Apparel is an option, but I haven’t seen one tee [...]

Download the first disc for free.

When not practicing the Art of Seduction on her spellbound male minions, faithful UM reader Jillian is tracking down links like this
Schweppes Burst Commercial
Who knew super high shutter speed photography could be so hypnotic?
In other news, thinking about Schweppes gets me in the mood for a gin & diet tonic..

Recently while watching a rather strange bit of programming on Animal Planet I learned about the disputable existence of Florida swamp monster the Skunk Ape.  I prefer the variant Stink Ape, providing both fun and accurate description when applied to the vagrant bartenders my temporary roommate charitably brings home to host on our extra couches.

Urban Monarch has come a looong way, readership wise, since we started back in July of 2006.  Not that you could tell from the number of people commenting.  My good friend Donnie brought this to my attention.   After sharing the fact that UM reaches tens of thousands of readers every month (in over 100 countries - thanks [...]

If I had a hippie mom in New Orleans, we would meet up to eat breakfast at the Bluebird Cafe. This small locals joint tucked off the major streets in uptown serves breakfast and lunch in southern styles with a granola twist. While you’ll still find steak and eggs on the menu, you’ll [...]

It’s no secret I heart Goldfrapp (read my rambling review of their latest opus, or take the short version: ‘it’s gorgeous, buy it’).  Doing a quick scan of  Alison(the duo’s sexy siren and namesake)’s wikipedia entry however, gives me one more reason to swoon:
It was at Middlesex that she was discovered by Orbital during a [...]

I’ve been fantasizing about a portable office, but with just a few weeks left in my temporary home, it’s something I’m putting off till my next trip.  This is my dream list in order of priority.

I used to be a snooze fiend. Again and again I’d hit the pause button on my alarm, sometimes tacking on 45 minutes to my nightly sleep. Two things have rescued me from this unproductive habit; first, a return to using my beloved Axbo Sleep Phase Alarm Clock and second, implementing the “15 [...]

I greatly enjoy movies with good previews, books with striking covers, and music with cool posters, but sometimes I find comfort in an externally defined syllabus.  While I don’t want to surrender all of my media consumption to one judge, adopting another’s media list is a comprehensive way to understand a set of book, movie, [...]

I fell in love on Felt Mountain.
That’s right; not just ‘with’ Felt Mountain, but on it. It came into my life shortly before the halcyon days of a life affirming, powerfully romantic, insanely intimate relationship that redefined how I could feel about a girl. Many sun drenched afternoons were spent driving through [...]

I love the freedom my career provides me.  I am thankful for the opportunity to pick up my laptop and head to a coffee shop, a library, or how I’m currently working, even another city.  However exciting working in a new town is, setting up temporary home also comes with temporary tools that aren’t quite [...]

One of my favorite activities involves drinking while riding public transportation.  I guess the thrill has something to do with the subversive nature of it, but it’s also a reminder of why I ride RTD in the first place; freedom. 
Greg and I have taken this concept to ridiculous extremes, and  let’s just say we’ve been [...]

Wooooo!  Back in New Orleans!

It started with a mysterious text message. It was Fat Tuesday, and the familiar vibration of my phone in my pocket startled me awake during an afternoon staff meeting. It was from a girl I hadn’t heard from in ages, and went something like this: