Minneapolis Goat Brain Masala (It's All Good)
Mrs. Bali Hai and I drove to Minneapolis yesterday to see our friends Jonathan and Beth. They were visiting Jonathan's brother, Matt and SO, Erin, and scouting the environs for a potential move.
Since we were going to meet them in the afternoon, we took the opportunity to do some antiquing and junque-shopping. Minneapolis is a little barren when it comes to that sort of thing, but we managed to find a couple of cool items like the coconut purse, Daga sun mug, and Coco Joe's ku statuette pictured below. I also picked up this wonderful box of Brain Masala curry spices at an Indian grocery. I was a bit disappointed it didn't come with freeze-dried packets of goat brains. Guess I'll have to go out to the farm with my goat-brain removal kit later...
After shopping, we headed over to Psycho Suzy's Motor Lounge where we met the Cohens and their friend, Michelle, to have a couple of drinks and some nosh. I ordered a Paralyzed Polynesian, which was excellent, and a Walking Dead, which was good, but not excellent. Matt and Erin had the drink special which was served in a skull mug, and had a gruesome toy heart floating in it. Perfect for Halloween. We ordered some appetizers, including the obligatory upper-Midwestern treat, cheese curds, and a very good pizza. Suzy's decor is appropriately tiki, although the jukebox contained no discernible Exotica. However, they did have a nice selection of punk, including the Angry Samoans classic, They Saved Hitler's Cock. Now that's not a tune you hear in public too often (probably for good reason).
We had a fun time, and hope to see everyone again real soon. If you're ever driving through Western Wisconsin, Matt, Erin, and Michelle, be sure to give us a shout and stop by the Hai'deaway for a few libations and some dee-licious goat-brain curry.
As Matt would say, it's all good!
The Nonist reminds us that today is the birthday of that enemy of good taste and fine art, Pablo Picasso. What you may not have known is that he was also a tiki enthusiast, and owned a large collection of Polynesian art, which you can see in Peter Stepan's book, Picasso's Collection of African and Oceanic Art, which Humuhumu hepped me to back in September. You can see old Pablo on the cover there glancing slideways at his favorite Marquesan tiki. I was going to pre-order a copy from Amazon, but I think I'll ask for it as a Christmas gift instead, since my family is always complaining that they don't know what to buy me.
