http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/ All that flavorful brownness in one savory packet 2010-02-08T09:30:08-05:00 http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/006097.html This past fall, I moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, to begin teaching at the University of Michigan. One of the first people I met here was the opera singer Sean Panikkar, a University of Michigan alum who’s singing at the Metropolitan Opera in Ariadne auf Naxos this week. I’m a bit of an operahead. (For those of you who have never been to the opera, if you want to try it affordably, I recommend my usual method: standing room tickets at the Met, which go on sale at 10 a.m. on the day of the performance. But I’m going to ... Arts and Entertainment V.V. 2010-02-08T09:30:08-05:00 http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/006096.html Three weeks ago, 25-year old Philadelphian and lifelong foodie Abdullah Saeed did something thousands of people around the world were doing that very minute - he wrote a blog post. The post, titled “What a strange new feeling” was the first for his blog, ‘Adventures in Pork: A Muslim eats various pork dishes for the first time in his life and divulges his thoughts.’ Over the next four weeks, Saeed, a DJ and freelance writer tried Wendy’s Baconator, Pork Vindaloo and BBQ pork ribs among other pork dishes. The reaction from the blogosphere was immediate. Phoodie, a Philadelphia food ... Food Phillygrrl 2010-02-07T15:23:59-05:00 http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/006095.html ... Sports Melvin 2010-02-05T15:22:06-05:00 http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/006094.html ... Politics Melvin 2010-02-05T12:41:08-05:00 http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/006093.html About a week ago, I noticed that many of my friends on Facebook had changed their profile pictures to images depicting various celebrities. “Maybe they were bored”, I thought. Perhaps there was a current event which was prompting this; when Benazir Bhutto was assassinated, I made an image of her my profile picture. So I barely paid attention and wasn’t super-curious as to what was going on. I prefer Twitter to Facebook, anyway. I became a little more surprised when I noticed that some of my friends had changed their profiles more than once a day and that each ... Identity anna 2010-02-04T19:41:23-05:00 http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/006092.html Dear Mutineers, There are exciting happenings going on in the bunker nowadays for those interested in all news Bollywood and Hollywood. Taz just came back from Sundance (where she met Aamir Khan and Sendhil Ramamurthy) and today Cicatrix and I will be around in NYC, covering the My Name is Khan press conference featuring Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol and Karan Johar. If you’ll remember, we talked about Khan’s new movie back in August, where we found out he was going to meet President Obama (played by Christopher Duncan). And of course there was that whole Newark airport incident (which some ... Arts and Entertainment Phillygrrl 2010-02-01T08:11:27-05:00 http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/006091.html For those of you who have been there, you know that the entire portion of Houston outside the 610 loop, and between the 6 and 9 hand of the clock, is Asian. Chinese, Vietnamese, Indian, Pakistani. Asian. Hillcroft street is where all the South Asian businesses are concentrated, much like Chicago has Devon St. Businessman Aku Patel watched as two workers installed the orange-trimmed Mahatma Gandhi District signs atop a Harwin Drive street sign.The owner of Karat 22 Jewelers on Hillcroft Avenue and other members of the South Asian community have waited seven years for these temple-shaped signs to go ... Musings abhi 2010-01-31T23:17:51-05:00 http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/006090.html This will be my second SM post exposing an underground eating establishment. Part of the allure of an underground restaurant is that it remains somewhat hush hush, hidden from the hordes of hipsters waiting to overrun it and then subsequently Facebook about it. Last weekend I went to my favorite Vietnamese sandwich shop in Houston. Tofu, carrots, and greens inside a hot 8” French bun for only $2.95. Magical. But on this visit, for the first time, it was packed and they were playing Jay Z and L. Fiasco over the sound system. The always empty parking lot was full ... Food abhi 2010-01-31T22:18:30-05:00 http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/006089.html There’s an amusing YouTube video going ‘round the Interwebz that I thought you mutineers might enjoy. It shows the President of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari addressing a crowd of supporters. In the middle of a speech about democracy he interrupts himself to shout “Shaddup” to the noisy crowd. As the blog CHUP put it, “maybe the President should consider being a little nicer to people, especially those who show up at his rallies.” Hmm, somebody’s momma didn’t teach him manners. My little cousins (who aren’t allowed to say the word) would be appalled. Or perhaps Zardari is just plain sick ... Politics Phillygrrl 2010-01-31T20:44:59-05:00 http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/006088.html Jay Sean, the brown (whom we’ve known about for years) who crooned “Down”, was on The Wendy Williams show two days ago. Behold: After he performed “Down” and “Do you remember , Williams exclaimed to her guest, “You are, STUNNING!” She followed up with “You’re exotic and spicy, what is your background??”. Mr. Jhooti let her know that his “heritage” was Indian and immediately clarified that he did not, in fact, live in a “wigwam”, i.e. that he wasn’t THAT kind of Indian. Other scintillating bits from the show included Jay swatting down rumors about Ashley Tisdale, a mention of ... Video anna 2010-01-29T20:02:01-05:00