Hippie Bracket: (1) Moose's Tooth vs. (8) Bear Tooth

What did we do to deserve this my fair readers? This is a showdown for the ages, and in the first round even! You have the number one seed of the entire tournament, the universally beloved Moose's Tooth, versus it's upstart little brother Bear Tooth. The only guarantee about these two places besides fantastic food and quality service is that you'll likely have to wait to eat at either place. But which is more worth the wait?

Moose's Tooth: This is perhaps the crown jewel of Alaskan dining experiences from the point-of-view of most Anchorage denizens, and with good reason. I've been to Chicago for their deep dish pizza, I've been to New York City and tried their slices...hell, I've been to Italy and tried what they had to offer, and I find them all lacking in comparison to a fat slice of Chicken Ranch or Greek Gyro from the Tooth. These guys are like the Fab Five from Michigan in 1991: immensely likeable, supremely talented, and they capture the imagination of anyone who experiences them.

You have even have the specific analogues for each player: Chris Webber was the de facto Alpha Dog (like the Chicken Ranch is the go-to pizza for many); Juwan Howard as the guy who was out-shadowed by Webber but in many ways was as good (the White Pizza for its sneaky awesomeness, and let's face it, Howard played like a white power forward from the 80's); Jalen Rose as the versatile point forward (the Avalanche because that brings a little bit of everything); Jimmy King as the guy who could kill you without you paying attention to him (the mozzarella sticks and their ability to destroy your appetite before your meal got there); and Ray Jackson as the guy who never reached the same heights as everyone else but was part of the team (the beer because if you drink too much of it you may not reach your dreams either).

I feel bad for anyone who faces up against Moose's Tooth because they are ridiculously delicious and a towering favorite.

Bear Tooth: We're going old school on this analogy, but Bear Tooth is like Oscar Robertson's Cincinnati Bearcats squads. In reality, they're just like Oscar Robertson. Every night could be a triple double experience at BT: go there for a dinner at the Grill and have some remarkably tasty halibut tacos; realize you feel like getting a bit of a drink on so you stay for their awesome beer (same as Moose's Tooth's beer) or perhaps a tequila flight; then not wanting to leave yet so you go check out an awesome arthouse movie at the theater. Ten out of ten experiences across the board in all three experiences.

Throw in the fact that youcan get the same pizza at this Tooth as you can at the other, plus all of their other advantages, and you have perhaps the perfect competitor to face off against Moose's Tooth.

The Showdown: While it's hard to argue that the Michigan Wolverines from 1991 were not one of the most talented squads of all time, the ultimate point of their story is that even with all of that talent, they ended up losing. Moose's Tooth is a remarkably exceptional restaurant, but the equivalent of Chris Webber's timeout in the championship game is the fact that they serve the same pizza at Bear Tooth. When you add a ton of other food and drink that you can't get if you dine at MT, it unbalances this showdown. Bear Tooth's versatility is unparalleled in the tournament, and with that in mind, I say sayanora to Moose's Tooth. You have been dethroned by your little brother.

I also want to note that this is one of the fiercest debates between my friends and I: which of the Tooth's is better? I'm the only one that sides with BT.

The Weekend Edition

This weekend, as per usual, was a very good one that was packed to the gills with adventure and fun. What happened this glorious (and extremely wet) Alaskan weekend?

• Westchester with Colver, Lorna, and Nick
• Step Brothers with Jason, Hannah, Colver, Lorna, and Nick (short review: retarded but funny, you better like Will Ferrell a lot if you're going)
• Lunch with Kim at Sweet Basil
• Repotting my precious Dracena with my Mom
• Predator and Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang with Hannah
• Wilco absolutely rocking faces at Moose's Tooth
• Spicy Thai Chicken Pizza to go from the Tooth (mmmm)
• Partying downtown!
• Acting as Cate's signpost for 30 minutes
• Amy dancing with a guitarist from Wilco (incredibly amusing)
• Snow City with Kim, Amy, Hannah, and Jason
• Finally catching Sigur Ros' documentary Heima

Needless to say, considering I'm a huge fan of concerts the highlight of the weekend was Wilco at the Moose's Tooth 12th Anniversary show. Hannah and I attended but many other known people were there (for example, my mom and two sisters - rocking the front like concert superstars, Hannah's sister and brother-in-law, Alex, etc. etc.) even though it was raining quite emphatically. I'm pretty much the worst Alaskan ever, so I of course wore slip on shoes, a button up, a hoodie, and a blazer...because that makes sense. However, I did have an umbrella from Hannah and part way through I honestly stopped caring.

Why?

Because Wilco rocked.

I was a bit concerned they would be somewhat boring because frankly, their music is kinda that way. However, they were absolutely incredible, sounding even better than they do recorded while jamming endlessly on some songs. Not only that, but Jeff Tweedy had fantastic rapport with the audience, they did three encores, and somehow the combination of rain and beer turned the audience into one of the best I'd ever experienced. It was a strangely friendly crowd and the music knowledge of most of the audience members was pretty stellar - there was a lot of singing along.

Hannah and I under the umbrella before the show

There were plenty of entertaining moments, like the girl who thought I was her friends son (seriously), the weird hippy couple who apparently loved Hannah and I (the girl was pinching my side constantly, it was cute and bizarre), and the strange moment where everyone in a 3 person radius heard me call Hannah by name so everyone also began referring to her by name. They did not know her.

Jeff Tweedy rocking it

All that, and they played one of my all-time favorite single song performances when they performed "A Shot in the Arm" off their album from 1999 Summerteeth. It was the first Wilco song I'd ever heard, and you better believe I belted out those vocals as loud as I could and danced like an idiot. It was absolutely incredible, just like the rest of the show.

See below for photographic evidence of said incredibleness.

Me with a Hef before the show

Hannah with the umbrella before the show

Jeff Tweedy and Amy's dance partner jamming

Kim (Hannah's sister) and Hannah during the show

Wilco rocking it during an encore

The Failed Vegan

There I was at Moose's Tooth, eating dinner with 7 of my best friends on the planet, four of which who were visiting just for a bit this summer. I order my vegan delight pizza (sauce, pesto, artichoke hearts, olives, and sun dried tomatoes) and immediately dig in as soon as it arrives. Everyone else had been tackling mozzarella cheese sticks with marinara while I looked on with drool coming out of my mouth.

I take a huge bite. I take another. Delicious as always. I share with Erik, who agrees. "Vegan must not be that bad."

Matt turns to me and says "is pesto normally white?"

I hadn't even thought about it. On that pizza, buried under sauce and pesto...was cheese.

I lost.

Shortly thereafter Amy showed up, right as I was texting her, but after 28 days as a vegan, I went down. Accidentally of course, but I lost no less.

Amy is the vegan champion. She is the Queen Vegan, and I will forever look upon her as the better vegan. Of course I am also convinced that she paid off the waitress at Moose's Tooth, but that is neither here nor there. It was a fun month, I may even do a few weeks of it at a time from time to time, but I lost no less. Of course, really, I won, as I followed up my loss with downing two slices of greek gyro, one of spicy pepperoni, and two pieces of mozzarella cheese bread.

And good god...it was glorious.

Oh Summer, how I cannot wait for you...

Best band picture ever

The prospects for this upcoming summer continue to improve and improve. What do we have on our plate now? Another big concert coming up to Alaska this summer for one, as Alternative/Country/Rock/Indie gods Wilco are coming up to play at Moose's Tooth's 12th anniversary show. Moose's Tooth's summer concert series continues to be an out and out success, and with Wilco they have pulled in someone with a ridiculous amount of critical credibility and commercial success. I like some of their material, have not delved deeply into their vast discography, but I've heard they are fantastic live and I am excited to see them.

The point is, hooray for good concerts in Alaska! Apparently even the people in the lower 48 know Alaska is WAY better in the summer.

Additionally, on a more personal (as I will share Wilco with many others) and long term note, I'm getting a Foosball table this weekend. I've been horribly, horribly addicted to playing it on weekends, spending quarter after quarter for hours and I decided it just makes good financial sense to get one. This will lead to realigning my apartment for the first time since moving in, so it's going to be really exciting. I can't wait!