Maximum Freshness

I'm really good at writing blog posts regularly.

Tue, 22 Feb 2011 18:29:58 -0800

Nope.

Ok, so I learned that’s not true about me. I also know how much I change my mind about whatever creative projects I’m thinking about. And so this blog isn’t really about food anymore because I already tired of that. Although I am still trying to make an album about fruits and vegetables for kids that will be called Maximum Freshness. The Carrot Song is all I have done so far, along with half a song of Yams.

But I’m still interested in food. Here’s what I want to do now:

I’m trying to only eat meat that I know where it came from and how it was treated. I’m on Day 3 and it’s pretty hard. I don’t want to eat soy patties, and when you’re looking for a place to eat while driving through northern Van Nuys, it’s a little tough. I’ve made an exception for dinner at people’s houses. The “Dinner Party Clause.” I don’t want to be the “Where Did You Get Your Meat From?” guy. If anyone’s interested, that position is still open.
At some point THIS YEAR (I upper-cased that because I’ve been saying this for a year) I am going to kill an animal, prepare it, and eat it. Michael Pollan inspired me to realize that if I can’t at least once do this myself, then I don’t feel right eating meat that other people killed. That’s just me. Maybe I’ve also got The Murder Bug….
Back to my first bullet-point…I’m going to research where most restaurant chains get their meat from, and how their animals are treated. I LOVE me a chicken breast sandwich on Wheat Bread with tons of vegetables from Subway. (With Sweet Onion Sauce and Honey Mustard.) But I’m about 98% positive that if their chickens could rate their “subway experience” on Yelp, it would probably not be a glowing review.
Jamie Oliver has set-up his next run of the Food Revolution in Los Angeles (with his demo kitchen in Westwood) and I want to get involved somehow. I guess the LA school system is giving him all kinds of problems…which is no surprise. I’m not sure what I’m trying to do with that yet. I guess I should just start volunteering and see where that takes me. I’d love to lend my creativity somehow; perhaps the Maximum Freshness album could be part of the Food Revolution?

So I guess I am still very interested in food-related issues. You got me. You got me!! You always know how to make me smile. Of course we’ll see how long it actually takes for me to get my shit together on this stuff. I’m pretty scattered right now and trying to make sense of everything.

If you’re interested, here are the other things in “my pipeline.” (Ouch. Get ‘em out!):

Writing a screenplay about the world’s largest boy band with my friend Jeremy. It’s called Boyz4Dayz.
I’m the West Coast Sales & Marketing Director (A title I gave myself, and no one’s taken it away yet) for a line of baby-specific, all-natural cleaning products. (Of course.) It’s called Dapple, and if you have children you should check it out: www.dapplebaby.com. I made a video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlbFdzDFlbs
Helping my mom put together a book of her essays.
Looking to set up a regular live show in LA. Not sure exactly what it’s going to be yet…but something fun.

Ok, I don’t want to bore you. I know you’ve got stuff to do. And don’t you have guests arriving in an hour? You really should do some cleaning up first. Your place is a MESS.

Barry, I love your stuff. I am addicted to Obamaland, for one. I cannot stop watching it. Damn you. And keep it up.

Tue, 12 Oct 2010 10:02:12 -0700

Hey thanks! I really appreciate that. Glad you like Obamaland…my favorite part is Sam Schampagne on the drums.

“A Ripe Banana.” #3 in the Songs About Produce...

Fri, 01 Oct 2010 09:43:18 -0700

“A Ripe Banana.” #3 in the Songs About Produce series.

Bananas are helpful, sensitive, and soothing.

While I would like to take credit for the piano, it’s a Jeff Buckley karaoke track.

Currently in the works: Broccoli, Yams, Tangerines, Plums, and Eggplant.

Which one is the most delicious? YOU.

You are the most delicious.

Apricots! This is #2 in my Songs About Produce. I plan on...

Thu, 30 Sep 2010 14:41:01 -0700

Apricots! This is #2 in my Songs About Produce. I plan on making a song for every fruit and vegetable in the world…some covers, like this one, and some originals, like Carrots of Love.

Stop in every Monday for a brand new song, and don’t forget to eat your fruits and vegetables.

Or I will KILL YOU.

URBAN FORAGING Join our adventure following the free fruit map...

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 21:54:25 -0700

URBAN FORAGING

Join our adventure following the free fruit map for sunset junction from www.fallenfruit.org. Then go follow a map yourself. Sucka!

Warning: Do not pick cactus fruit with your bare hands. The pricklies are tiny and will stick in your skin for days. Also, some people have allergic skin reactions to the milky sap from fig trees, even though they’re not allergic to the actual fruit. Both of these things happened not to me, but to my fruit-picking partner. Maybe the third warning is to not be my fruit-picking partner?

Carrots of Love! I made this song with the wonderfully talented...

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 11:43:30 -0700

Carrots of Love! I made this song with the wonderfully talented Jason Miller, and I wanted to put it on my blog before it goes on iTunes. It’s part of an album I’m making temporarily titled “Songs About Produce for Kids.” I hope you dig it!

Carrots!! This amazing gang of cowboy carrots is by Jo Edwards,...

Sun, 22 Aug 2010 14:25:49 -0700

Carrots!!

This amazing gang of cowboy carrots is by Jo Edwards, my good friend and amazing artist from Joannatorium. If you’re an artist of any kind, you’ll find her drawing-a-day blog really inspiring.

She made these hilarious carrots for a song I’m currently writing with the talented Jason Miller for my kids album: Songs About Fruits and Vegetables. I can’t wait to share it with you.

What’s your favorite fruit or vegetable? Maybe I’ll write a song about it!

Mine is currently arugula. Who knew lettuce could taste like pepper? Did anyone know that? Am I the first person? No way. Really?? No…

This is the intro/teaser for the pilot episode of Maximum...

Sat, 14 Aug 2010 15:26:05 -0700

This is the intro/teaser for the pilot episode of Maximum Freshness. I’m hoping to team-up with a production company and get this monkey rollin…

Hi-ho Superforest! So my good friends Jackson Nash and Jesse...

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 10:34:24 -0700

Hi-ho Superforest!

So my good friends Jackson Nash and Jesse Carmichael have started a permaculture farm in Hawaii and it is breathtaking. The short definition of permaculture is: Farming land in a way that maximizes productivity and minimizes effort by using the terrain, plants and animals in natural ways that all benefit each other exponentially. Essentially, you set up a system where most of the work happens with little human interference.

It makes sense…think of all the natural biodiversity in the world that occurs without us: Bees pollinate flowers and make honey, ducks freely give their droppings to the fish below them, chickens control weeds and bugs while providing eggs and fertilizer…and on and on. I guess permaculture is just a way of replicating systems that occur in nature already…and the goal is always abundance.

To see what’s happening at Zero One (the name of their farm), check out Jackson’s really cool blog SUPERFOREST.ORG.

http://teamsuperforest.org/superforest/author/jackson/

Chicken Feet Soup for the Soul So I forget why he makes it, but...

Wed, 14 Jul 2010 22:41:56 -0700

Chicken Feet Soup for the Soul

So I forget why he makes it, but every other week my healthy-eating roommate Josh boils up an evil concoction made entirely from slow-cooked chicken claws.

I remember him explaining it to me one time, but that’s all I remember.

It eventually makes a gelatin that he later turns into a drinkable broth. Which he drinks.

Does anyone have a guess as to the benefits of Chicken Voodoo Soup? I’ll ask him in the morning and let you know what I find out. My guesses are:

It makes him more powerful, similar to when Aztec warriors would drink the blood of their battle victims.
Did Aztecs ever do that type of thing? After saying that I’m not so sure.
I do remember in grade school learning about a game that the Aztecs would play that was like a cross of handball and basketball, and the teams that lost would be killed.
I think that same year I did a report on maize and brought in some delicious homemade cornbread, “Just like Aztec cornbread! Except it wasn’t made a thousand years ago!”

Acidity vs. Alkalinity vs. Silent Lucidity

Tue, 13 Jul 2010 11:01:21 -0700

So I should apologize that this post actually has nothing to do with Queensryche. Sorry. But it does contain some information that has been profoundly life-changing for me, which is the understanding of our bodies’ pH balance.

Now I use the term “understanding” loosely because as we all know I have a tiny brain, but I’ve gleaned enough information to know how it affects me personally, and it’s amazing.

Here’s the Barry Breakdown®:

Our bodies range from 1 (most acidic) to 14 (most alkaline) on the pH scale. The optimal range for “us humans” is 7.4, which helps our blood stay healthy and distribute oxygen to all of our cells, as well as carry away acidic waste. We want to be more alkaline than acidic.
An acidic body (Acidosis) is a welcome mat for sickness, disease, retention of fat cells, and tiny trolls. An acidic body has to work MUCH harder to heal itself and fend off the junk.
The biggest factor in our ph Balance is the food we eat, but it is also affected by stress, air quality, exercise, and sleep. Zorp.

I drink coffee. A lot of coffee. I love the entire ritual…scooping out the aromatic grounds, listening to it percolate from the other room, mixing-in some milk and sugar, putting it in my mouth, feeling it go down my throat, sensing it swish around in my stomach, thinking about it a few hours later, writing about it in my blog that 5 people read, and so on. BUT coffee is acidic. DOUBLE-BUTT, that doesn’t mean I can’t have it. The general dietary belief is that we should eat 75% alkalizing foods and 25% acidifying. So I can have my delicious coffee…so long as I off-set that with lots of water, fresh produce, and maybe some kombucha or veggie juice. The stuff to really avoid is processed food, refined sugar, too much meat…ok, there are actually lots of things to avoid…

As soon as I started leaning more toward alkalizing foods I felt a huge difference. I feel lighter, I have more energy, people look me in the eyes, it’s amazing. I’m probably still somewhere in the 50/50 range because it’s just expensive to eat this way…but slow, steady improvement is fine by me. The main thing for us to focus on: MORE FRESH FRUITS AND VEGETABLES.

Now a lot of information on this topic seems to be contradictory, mainly as to which foods fall into which categories. One person says Quinoa is alkaline, another acidic. The same goes for raw milk. And blueberries. I don’t really get it. I’m attaching a chart that seems to be the best one I found so far. The they have more info HERE.

Thanks to Tony Robbins for turning me on to this topic, as well as wikipedia and my favorite new website name www.dontdieearly.com.

Do any of you pay attention to this already and have some helpful tips?

Milk in the Raw

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 14:11:00 -0700

I’m new to raw milk. For one, I thought milk had to be pasteurized or I would die and/or get sick. For two, it’s expensive. For three, where do you even find it? For four, I think that three reasons are enough.

My roommate Josh has been drinking raw milk since we moved-in together in October, and I haven’t seen him die once. Josh is actually way further along on the Path of Freshness® than I am, so I usually trust his lead. He cooks with coconut oil (which is supposedly the best of the oils), he makes smoothies with carrots and beets and kale and strawberries, his chocolate is always dark (ladies…), and he knows about the molecular chains of fatty acids and how our bodies react to them. Boooooring.

So why is raw milk good for us? I would suggest reading the FAQ on the Organic Pastures page, but a Whitman’s Sampler version would be:

Raw milk is alkaline, meaning it helps offset the acidity in our bodies, which is essential for fighting sickness and disease. Pasteurized milk is acidic.
Milk was originally pasteurized in the 1800s because dairy farms were GROSS and unsafe, lacked the proper tools and refrigeration, and their cows were fed terrible diets and made to stand in their own manure. Any food would be dangerous in that environment. Millions of people died from rotten milk.
Raw milk is full of helpful bacteria that actually strengthen your immune system… and for that same reason it’s much better for people who are lactose-intolerant. Raw milk contains the living enzyme lactase, which helps to breakdown the lactose. Pasteurization kills lactase. Even though some people can’t drink any kind of milk, the majority of those who can’t drink pasteurized milk are fine when they go raw.
Raw milk tastes gooooooooood. (That should sound like I’m mooing.)

The difference in taste is undeniable. I bought my first quart of raw milk last week at the Hollywood Farmers market and it was milky-smooth and amazing. And I’m not dead yet. I think. Right?

The main sticking point for me is the price; it’s around 9 bucks for a half-gallon. Zoink. Although I’ve been realizing that the higher-quality my food is, the less I eat in general, so it sort of evens out. When I was eating crap I always needed more and more crap to feel satisfied, at which point I had to ask myself “Why am I eating crap in the first place?”

Raw milk is only available in a few states, so we’re lucky here in LA to have it available at Farmers markets, Erewhon, and a handful of other hippie joints. If you live somewhere else I suggest googling where to find it. Some states have made it illegal to purchase raw milk…which I find insane. I’m planning on visiting the Organic Pastures farm to see how their grass-fed cows are treated, and then comparing that with a visit to some factory farms that treat their animals poorly. Also, and this is the coolest part, the owner of Organic Pastures does in-home Raw Milk Parties. He comes to your house, shows a film, answers your questions, gives out samples, cleans your bedroom, files your taxes and does whatever other raw milk-related tasks you need taken care of. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Until then, check out their site, try some raw milk, and let me know what you think about it. And me. What do you think about me? I will totally help you break-down lactose. I promise.

PS - I realize that I didn’t give much of a counter-argument to drinking raw milk, but I don’t feel that I need to. I’ve been drinking the counter-argument for years, very often with mild stomach aches. Real food is real food, and the more discoveries I make in this area, the more I realize how so much information is given through the filter of giant food companies with huge budgets, who can market and lobby the government and lie and take our cash at will. I think that’s why I’m doing this whole thing in the first place….

Paddymac Smooth! So my good friend Paddy owns a company that...

Sat, 10 Jul 2010 11:02:00 -0700

Paddymac Smooth!

So my good friend Paddy owns a company that sells and delivers ONLY fresh-made delicious mac & cheese. It’s like ordering from Pizza Hut, except without all that pizza. Or it’s like subscribing to Scientific American, except instead of getting a new magazine automatically every month, you just order some delicious mac & cheese whenever you’re hungry. Amazing!

Why am I telling you about this? Because Paddy is a great dude, his food is delicious and all-natural (although don’t go too crazy in one sitting or you’ll have a cheese bomb that blocks your “natural passage” for a bit), and because I wrote the above jingle for a commercial that kind of ended up as a disaster. It’s been one of those unfinished projects that drives me crazy…even a year later I’m still not sure if I should abandon it completely or try and fix it. Ugh. BUT I love the song Paddymac Smooth. It’s probably one of my favorite creations, so I’m happy to share it with you. Sam Farrar produced the magic with Ned Brower’s smooth lead vocals, Jason Lautenschleger’s saxophone jamz and Stephanie Farrar’s beautiful background vocals. Cheese it up, dogs.

Visit the Paddymac Website.

Gonna Catch me Barefoot Ridin'

Fri, 09 Jul 2010 19:20:36 -0700

Some of you may have caught me Barefoot Ridin’® recently, and I gotta tell you guys, it feels great. My friend John Alford used to walk around barefoot all the time (and considered a dip in the ocean as good as a shower) and it used to seem so strange to me. Growing up everything was no shirt/no shoes/no service that it almost felt illegal to walk around barefoot. The Grand Realization was that it only means you can’t go inside certain places. And who needs the inside when you can be outside? It feels GREAT goin shoe-free every now and then.

Now about 80% of my dog walks around the neighborhood are barefoot. It makes me feel more connected to the world somehow, even if I’m walking on cement. I mainly stick to walking on grass, although then I do have to watch for dog turds.*

If you live somewhere that’s not full of broken glass and syringes, give it a go. You’ll feel just like Huck Finn off to chase some toads.

Give Barefoot Ridin® a try and let me know how it goes for you.

Barry

*I’m very aware that I’m lucky to be in a nice neighborhood where dog turds are the biggest threat to Barefoot Ridin’®. I used to live in Koreatown and if I tried this back then I would have stepped on one or more of the following: Condoms, broken pieces of old toilets, dead things, glass, and one guy who must have fallen asleep while taking a piss because he was passed out on the sidewalk with his wiener in his hand.

Why Maximum Freshness?

Thu, 08 Jul 2010 11:08:00 -0700

Hello America

So I’ve changed the title and purpose of my blog to match my current mission…making a funny variety show about living fresh. How did I get to this point? I’m so glad you asked…

I used to work for a company called Evolution, which makes delicious vegetable juices among other things, and my job was to stand around in supermarkets and give people samples. At first I was bored out of my mind. Standing in a supermarket for five hours is dreadful. But the more people I talked to, especially in Whole Foods, the more I became interested in what is unofficially called the Fresh Food Movement.

As a side note about talking to people in supermarkets, I was forced to have conversations with some of the strangest and most interesting people I’d ever met. And because I was stuck at this little table with tiny cups of juice, I was the perfect captive audience for the sick, the lonely, the old, the smelly, the craaaazy, and of course the thirsty. One gentleman drank my juice samples for 45 minutes while telling me how his mom just died the night before, sweating and just pounding dixie cup after dixie cup. Then we talked about the Vietnam war. Two different ladies tried converting me to their religions. One old man in a motorized wheelchair spit out my juice, called me an asshole, then zipped away…leaving his companion standing there apologetically holding a 3 oz cup filled with watermelon juice. One old man with three teeth, crutches, and a cast on his left leg (who was also named Barry) talked to me for an hour about movies from the 80s and then asked me to join him to the cinema sometime. There was always a nine-year-old boy who would politely ask for juice, leave, then come back ten times in a row politely asking for more juice. One girl talked to me about how she just had a successful operation for skin cancer, and is now on a very raw and extremely healthy diet to prevent future cancers. She loves the food, but the shopping and preparation take up so much of her time, although a part of that has been good for her because she’s finally slowing down. She used to work herself to death, just to make money so she could keep working herself to death. The beginning of a life change like that must be rough, especially when it’s dropped on you out of nowhere. But like a lot of the people I talked to, those who changed their diets to back to eating REAL FOOD are now living much better lives inside and out. Oh, and one time I found a loaded handgun in a Vons bathroom. That was awesome.

Ok, back to the Fresh Food Movement. The more health-minded people that I talked to, the more I learned about how messed-up our current food system is. The amount of money spent on food vs. health care is upside-down. Farm animals are treated so poorly that beyond just being an ethical nightmare, this situation creates food that is unhealthy. The FDA is swayed too easily by the millions of dollars spent on “Big Food” lobbyists. Processed food is very bad for us.

Then I saw Food, Inc., read Omnivore’s Dilemma and saw Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution and my life changed. I’ve always been interested in healthy eating and living…but I never realized how simple it all is. Give yourself some exceptions, but for the most part just eat REAL FOOD: Apples, nuts, vegetable juice, real chocolate, grass-fed beef, thousands of delicious things…fresh and energizing and incredible. Selling food is BIG BUSINESS…and for most big business all that matters is money. Not our health. That goes for the companies selling processed junk food, the ones marketing it, the scientists and nutritionists creating new food-like substances full of health claims but barely resembling actual food, and the health care industry that makes millions of dollars on all of the surgeries and pills for people who have eaten themselves into heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. Why is hospital food so unhealthy? A friend of mine was in the hospital for 5 days and the only green vegetable he was given was iceberg lettuce a couple times. I’m not saying it’s all a conspiracy, we just happen to live in a society that is ruled by money. But we can take personal control of how we eat. As I (very) slowly become more and more conscious of what I put in my body, I’m focusing more, I’m happier, I’m healthier, I have lots of energy…it’s amazing.

I want to help change laws about food. I want to turn people on to the wonders of eating a diet of mostly fruits and vegetables. I want to expose companies that are hurting our health, our animals, and our land, and I want to celebrate those who are doing the exact opposite. I want to make a How To guide for living fresh, and I want it to be funny and entertaining.

I would love your help on this journey. Maybe you’ve got questions that would be good blog or episode topics. Perhaps you have a friend doing something amazing who I should talk to. Maybe you need me to babysit your kids for a few hours while you and your loved one go see a Pink Floyd laser show at the Planetarium. In any case, let’s do this together…because the more people that get involved, the better chance we have of making a difference. Like Michael Jackson said in Man in the Mirror, “It’s gonna feel real good, shamon!”

(This is my submission for Maximum Freshness to an Oprah contest.)

The Remainers Kick Ass

Thu, 03 Jun 2010 10:20:23 -0700

So I got to perform with The Remainers last weekend at the Silverake Jubilee and it was amazing. These dudes are tight. Tiiiiight.

Check out the song Blessing In Disguise on their Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/#!/theremainers

The picture’s a bit blurry, but you get the idea. Or do you…?

Come support The Silverlake Jubilee!!

Sun, 23 May 2010 08:51:01 -0700

I’m performing today with The Remainers at El Cid at 1pm and would loooove to see your beautiful face in the audience. I’ll even come down during the show and give you a hug.

It’s only $5 to get into the festival, and then all of the shows are free. Come see some amazing local music and entertainment. Especially us. Give yourself ample time to find parking. Ample time!

The flyer below shows stills from a new project from Barry Holiday & Sweet Tony Beans that I can’t wait for you to see. It also advertises Tony Beans at today’s show, but that is a lie. Sorry for lying to you. But I had to. Keep your peepers peeled for more coming soon about The Showiest Show….

I’m really proud of this campaign commercial I made for...

Sun, 23 May 2010 08:43:43 -0700

I’m really proud of this campaign commercial I made for Pedro Nava. He’s running for California Attorney General and I’d love to see him win the Democratic primary on June 8th. A vote for Pedro is a vote for awesomeness.

I had huge help from Brock LaBorde and Studio8 (they shot it) and John Alford (who provided the art, which is originally from our short film Fart Train.) Ha!

Starring The Puss, Fidel, Miles, and Christmas.

Mike James made this promo starring me and Liam for the...

Thu, 06 May 2010 11:45:20 -0700

Mike James made this promo starring me and Liam for the Silverlake Jubilee, a festival in Silverlake May 22 and 23. Definitely come check it out, it’s gonna be a blast.

And a sexy bonus for you….we will be performing an entire music set LIVE with the amazingly talented The Remainers! We’ll be performing SUNDAY at 12:45 in the afternoon at El Cid. It’s gonna be so bananas that even hungry monkeys will be like “that’s too many bananas.”

A Living Room Game Show

Fri, 23 Apr 2010 08:56:15 -0700

So a few weeks ago I was scheduled to perform in a living room in West Covina for a very nice arts-loving couple, Joanne and Ed Baines, and about 14 of their friends. I decided to try out a new idea: Perform an interactive game show. Since I’m looking to become a game show host, why not do a little field testing? The games consisted of trivia interspersed with physical challenges, including Hide the Hedgehog, How Many Peeps are in this Can?, Ball-Force 5000, and Turds in a Bucket.

Some highlights:

A giant pheasant-like bird (their pet) wandered around the whole time
Jell-O shots in actual syringes
One of the “contestants” had recently survived a skydiving accident
I showed some of my Nuggets, then took suggestions for audience Nuggets. We voted on the best one, which I will eventually produce. The winner was a nice lady named Audree, whose Nugget involves her Red Hat Society ladies
They fed me delicious dinner
The evening ended with a pinata that was full of candy, disposable lighters and tiny bottles of liquor. Ka-Blammo!

Pictures can be found here.

I’m excited for our variety show shoot tomorrow. I’ll have some pics and behind the scenes videos for you next week.

What are YOU doing this weekend?

Barry