Got website?

Lately I've been spending a little too much free time on my website http://tung.co. Earlier in the year I revamped a website for Chopstix Asian Kitchen using ASP.NET, and that energized and inspired me to get something up to market myself.

Maybe it's a bit geeky, but I really do enjoy this stuff. I'll admit, getting CSS (cascading style sheets) to work properly is a bit of a pain in the booty. However I learned a few things along the way, like how to:

• use the master page feature of ASP.NET, which keeps your code modular and easier to maintain
• display an rss feed from another source on a website
• display a YouTube feed (not working :-/ ) (similar to the rss feed)
• create a form-based guestbook with field validation

It will probably always be a work in progress; there's always room for improvement or more (and better) content. But at least I've got something there.

On Chopstix and Chopsticks

We had a pleasant surprise in our little slice of St. Louis a few years ago. The new Buzz Westfall Plaza on the Boulevard (another Sansone property) opened where the old Northland Plaza had been, and alongside the new Schnucks, Target and the many little shops was a cute little Chinese food joint called Chopstix Asian Kitchen.

We eyed it suspiciously as we drove past for a few days on our way to the Schnucks grocery store. Then, on one of these drives, a pleasantly fragrant odor reached our noses and we had to check it out. We knew it was Chopstix, since there was nothing else in the way of restaurants in that little area, plus this was the distinct smell of Chinese food!

Once inside, we ordered some lettuce wraps, and probably the Singapore noodles. It's not a huge restaurant, but tastefully decorated, with seating for about 30.

We found the food to be fresh, hot, and delicious. And unlike most local Chinese joints, the food at Chopstix is cooked to order in an open kitchen. The staff is very friendly and courteous, as well.

More than three years later, we are still regular customers at Chopstix. In fact, I recently took over their webmaster and email marketing duties.

Of course, they do have chopsticks at Chopstix, and I do recommend using them! It takes just a moment to learn it, and maybe a little longer to really get the hang of it, but the benefit is that the metallic flavor of the fork is no longer an issue. And you can always use the fork when your hand gets tired.

Chopstix Asian Kitchen
Hours: Mon-Sat 11AM-10PM, Sun 12PM-9PM

Tied Down - Or Not

What's the deal with highway drivers not tying down their loads? I get the impression they don't realize the danger they are causing for other drivers.

Today I ran over what must have been an aluminum gutter, or at least a long, bent up piece of sheet metal of some sort. I don't know if it did any damage, but it hit the underside of my car.

Yesterday I found myself stuck in the right lane on Highway 70 - semi on my left - unable to dodge a couple of large plastic trash cans. Some cars and trucks ahead of us hit them.. they were airborne, and then the semi on my left hit one of 'em.. and then of course, I hit one of them. As far as I could tell, little to no damage, luckily.

A few months ago, I was driving east on Page and heading toward the 170 south entrance ramp. There was an overloaded pickup truck with furniture, and it looked like the load wasn't tied down at all. He made it through the stoplight, but I had to wait.

By the time I made it onto 170, this guy was a good deal ahead of me. But then (of course), I see furniture on the highway. Not surprised! He was pulled over just before the Olive exit, trying to collect his load off the roadway.

Last year I had to dodge a queen-size mattress on 270. What would that do to your car at 60mph? It's just insane. My brother was a ways behind us, so I called him to warn him.. of course, he doesn't answer his phone when he's driving!

Black Expo, Church Picnic

I must say, I had a really good weekend.

On Friday night, I found out on Twitter that @ToyaWright (fka Antonia Carter, reality TV star of "Tiny & Toya") was going to be at the Missouri Black Expo on Saturday to sign copies of her book. That was pretty much all the incentive I needed to add a trip to the Expo to our weekend!

On Saturday, we took off for downtown, stopped by the office to say "hi" to a few of the wife's co-workers that were doing overtime, and headed to the convention center for the Expo.

We were pleasantly suprised to find that the Expo is, once again, almost as good as it was years ago. In recent years, the Expo was very disappointing, with few exhibitors present, and all the food sample booths were apparently prohibited for awhile. There was always a booth or two of bootleggers (CDs and DVDs), which was puzzling to me.

This year, the room was filled with exhibitors, there was a boxing ring, a main stage, a few food/drink sample booths, and even some Southern-style food, including some excellent waffles from Waffle King, which should be opening a store soon in the Delmar Loop area.

At noon, on the main stage, Toya Wright and a number of other authors talked about their books, and later were available to sign copies. Among them was Tanya Wright, author and actress on the show "True Blood".

We stopped first to get Tanya's book, and the wife talked with her for a little while. Meanwhile, there was a line to meet with Toya. Some of the girls in line were pretending to buy the book so they could meet her.

I was probably a bit nervous, and maybe she was as well, because she dotted my "g"!

Anyway, we bought that one too, and had her sign it. Then we took a pic of Lil Dude with her. She's a beautiful girl for sure, and her book, part autobiography, part advice, aimed (mostly) at young girls, is really very good.

JJ with Toya Wright

Sunday I was scheduled to play a "church picnic" gig in Bellefontaine Neighbors with Latin jazz keyboardist Phil Gomez. We arrived an hour before the gig, and there was not a soul in sight. So we headed to Steak-n-Shake, got slow service and burgers to go, and returned to find a modest crowd of cars in the lot.

As it turns out, there was no picnic, just us playing a concert in the sanctuary to a very polite audience of mostly seniors. Even though we skipped the death metal, we had a good time, and the audience seemed to have enjoyed it as well. They invited us to share some cookies and punch after the show.

We were told that unfortunately, the punch was not spiked.

Sunday night ended with two episodes of "True Blood" and a dinner that included chicken wings and fried, homegrown eggplant topped with goat cheese. This wife of mine can really throw down. I'm a lucky man.

How I'm managing my Twitter timeline

A few months ago, Twitter added a Lists feature. I've used it a bit to categories the twits (my term for Twitter users) I follow, but only recently have I really started to use the feature.

The problem is that I've started following more and more people, and the tweets of the ones I know best were getting lost in my home page timeline. So I setup a private list called "favs" which allows me to add the ones I really didn't want to miss. If I click on this list, it shows me only the tweets of the twits on the list.

I've also got lists for family, twits in my metro area, close friends, fellow musicians, tweetup twits, etc. It's a great feature.

Now I'm gonna need to see which of the iPhone Twitter apps support the lists feature. I'm using mostly Twitterrific right now, but I don't think lists are supported yet. Probably just a matter of time.

So if you're not using the lists feature yet, you're missing out. And if you're not using Twitter yet, well.. what are you waiting for?

How three Jeff B's changed my life

Got a call back in June of 1999 from my mother. Apparently, local musician Jeff Barbush (of the Painkillers and the Deadbeats) committed suicide.

This troubled me greatly. Jeff was the reason I wanted to learn the guitar. He gave me my first guitar lesson.

My mom used to date his dad many years ago at Webster Groves Senior High. Years later, both were married with children, and at some point, they ran into each other when I was around 9 or so. Somehow, we all ended up hanging out one day, and Jeff, excited that we had a cassette tape recorder, convinced us to let him use it (along with his) to record a sound-on-sound version of the Beatles' "All My Loving", complete with guitar, vocals, harmony vocals and audience cheers. I was quite impressed, and asked him to teach me some guitar, which he did. After that, I began taking lessons with a local guitar instructor, and took an informal after-school class, as well. I was hooked, of course.

Not long ago, when Googling "Jeff Barbush", I happened upon this article in the Riverfront Times. I was surprised to learn that local drummer Lori Blue (of Johnny Magnet) also committed suicide, also in June of 1999. I only knew her as Lori, but had an opportunity to play with her in the band Alchemy for a rehearsal or two, and saw her play in another band, the name of which escapes me. I also remember seeing her working in one of the record shops in the Central West End.

When I was about 11, I had befriended another Jeff B. at our apartment complex. I liked hanging out with him, because his parents spoiled him a bit (he was an only child), so he had lots of "neat stuff", including an electric guitar. So we became jam buddies at that point. He taught me a few things on the guitar, we rode bikes together, and we had a good time.

Years later, in late 1994, while perusing the new and used CDs at a local shop, I came across a promo copy of Jeff Buckley's Grace. At the time, he was virtually unknown. But the CD piqued my interest, so I gave it a listen.

The second track - "Grace" - had me hooked. It wasn't the vocals that did it; it was the sound of the low D in the bass, juxtaposed with a D major chord high up on the guitar, and then the somewhat unexpected move to E minor. I really dug it, so naturally, I bought it! After that, I played it for anyone who happened to come by. Unfortunately, when I heard he was stopping in town, I didn't go. He was, somewhat unfortunately, known as a chick magnet.. a pretty boy. Of course, I really regret not having gone to see him.

If you aren't familiar, he drowned accidentally back in 1997 while swimming in Memphis - seemingly a tragic loss for the music world, but perhaps he accomplished what he intended to in his short life. He is certainly well-known now, especially for his beautiful cover of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah", which has been featured in many TV shows and whatnot.

Of the three Jeff B's, only my friend from the apartment complex is still with us. I still see him online every now and then.

Seth Horan

Saturday evening I had the opportunity to see and hear Seth Horan play bass, sing, and entertain, and I have to say, it was one of the most incredible events I've ever attended by far.

I also sponsored the show, held at a local fav Chinese restaurant, Chopstix Asian Kitchen.

Now, it's not often you'll find a singing bass player at a Chinese restaurant.

Here's the story:

• Seth needed a gig.



• I booked him a gig with my jazz group at a somewhat famous local bar.



• There was a bit of a misunderstanding about me booking that gig, so we had to look elsewhere, and on a different date.



• Seth was open to doing house concerts, and was available the following evening.



• I offered, but upon reflection of the condition of my house, realized my local Chinese restaurant was a much better venue.

So Saturday, following a decent lunch at Fitz's in the Delmar loop (and a stop at Vintage Vinyl, of course), we setup for the gig.

The crowd was not great in quantity, but great in quality.. we had a gentleman travelling many hours from Kansas to attend!

And Seth did his usual, incredible show, somehow managing to play bass, using many varied techniques, sing, and operate the looper all at the same time. Absolutely incredible! Quite funny as well, that Seth.

If you have an opportunity to see him, you must go, but in the meantime, go to YouTube and check him out!