Music, FIFA, Film

That just about sums up my summer thus far. (Kernels, May 25-July 31, 2026.)

Kernels is a monthly-ish column in which I write about the random stuff I’ve been up to: movies, cooking, eating, drinking, reading, and other -ings. It’s more or less an external-facing diary and they get very long, though I swear it’s just a portion of what I’m doing. These columns are barely edited.

It had been a long time since I had sat down and watched the entire sunset. Transmitter Park, Greepoint.

It’s been a fun summer so far, having gone from my annual Eurotrip (Slovenia, Berlin, Barcelona) immediately into World Cup obsession, and lots and lots of socializing. But I don’t think I’m alone in feeling an overall sense of doom in the air, especially with this first week of August being quite hellish here in New York. Nothing’s gonna save us, not music, FIFA, or film.

In this edition:

• Unvarnished thoughts on the new Charli XCX album

• Primavera Sound festival report

• Film & Food Pairings of the Month: Eat Drink Man Woman and hot pot, plus The Invite and “jamón”

• What I’ve cooked with my Asian Veggie CSA hauls

• A bunch of great theater you can’t see anymore but maybe someday ☹️

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Music

They are dead, they are gone, no one lasts forever.

I even went to the listening/watch party lol

My cousin Kevin described The Devil Wears Prada 2 as thus: there’s a scene in the original movie where Meryl Streep divulges that she’s going through a divorce, suddenly revealing the hitherto godlike Miranda Priestly to be utterly human. It’s the best part in that movie, but the sequel is entirely that one scene and is all the weaker for it.

That’s how I feel about Music, Fashion, Film, which is undeniably a sequel to Brat. The confessional tracks on that album, like “So I” and “I Think About It All the Time,” work as personal interludes amidst the braggadocio. But toss off a bunch of songs like that, with far less interesting instrumentals, and the gimmick quickly wears thin.

As a huge fan of Charli since Vroom Vroom, I was really disappointed. I find songs about being famous to be utterly boring, and that pretty much describes this record. It doesn’t help that most of the songs are barely sketches; with a couple exceptions they barely exceed the two-minute mark. (At least it’s a fast listen—the album is about a half-hour long.) Dispensing with her world-class ability to craft infectious melodies, Charli largely sing-talks over faux-indie rock beats. It feels derivative rather than fresh.

Sonically, Music, Fashion, Film is largely an extension of Thy Slaughter, a rock-inspired experiment from longtime Charli collaborators A.G. Cook and Finn Keane. Combined with Charli’s largely spoken lyrics that sit on the edge of confession and irony, this album brings to mind mid-aughts French group The Teenagers. This is most keenly felt in “Wink Wink,” which takes a lot after The Teenagers’ biggest song “Homecoming,” a “Summer Nights” for the indie sleaze set. It went modestly viral on TikTok last year amidst a wave of nostalgia for that bygone era.

On The Teenagers: I have a soft spot for their 2008 album Reality Check, which would not survive today’s discourse-driven environment. The catchy music almost makes you forget that the lyrics are so brashly misogynistic they can only be read as post-ironic performance art. Or maybe they’re just French. Either way it’s much catchier and more clever than the new Charli album.

Music, Fashion, Film is fitting as an anti-followup to Brat and the immense popularity it wrought, and it seems to have been good for the singer’s sanity. Perhaps I would be less annoyed if this were a surprise mixtape rather than an album that’s getting a full campaign and rollout. But either way, the superior Charli XCX release of the year is the Wuthering Heights soundtrack.

Concerts!

I saw most or all of 26 acts at Primavera Sound, plus snatches of eight more. These were my highlights, in chronological order.

Clockwise from top left: ponchos ahoy / The Cure! / massive turnout for Ninajirachi / Beverly Glenn-Copeland and Elizabeth Glenn-Copeland / A breather in the Warehouse / Ecco2k

• Oklou – Ethereal pop chanteuse, one of the last artists to finish her set before a rainstorm cancelled the night’s headliners.

• Florence Road – Fortunately the weather cleared up eventually and I got to see this Irish rock band.

• Rustie – This is the kind of EDM I like lol

• Annahstasia – Absolutely phenomenal talent. The festival had her in Auditori, a 3,000-seat indoor venue, which was a perfect match for her intimate power folk. She had a show in New York just a couple weeks later and I almost got tickets.

• The Cure – Two and a half hour set and seemed like they could have kept going. I’m not super familiar with the deeper cuts so was pleasantly surprised at the diversity of the back catalog. They’ve got proper dance tunes!

• Pinkpantheress – Lowkey my most anticipated set. The next Charli XCX, in the sense that she’s an extremely online dance pop star, suddenly catapulted into the mainstream. The Cupra amphitheatre turned into a massive dance party.

• St. Frances – Also in the Auditori. Indoors, air-conditioned, real bathrooms, interesting acts. Best part about the festival as a whole. Gorgeous, delicate electronic pop compositions.

• Bestia Bebé – It’s worth showing up early for all the Spanish-language indie rock bands. I had such a great time it was hard leaving them near the end to see the rest of Grace Ives.

• Beverly Glenn-Copeland & Elizabeth Glenn-Copeland – Real heads know that Beverly Glenn-Copeland’s presence was supremely special: rediscovered New Age artist, on tour two years after being diagnosed with dementia. He performed with his wife Elizabeth, accompanied by a pianist, clarinettist, and a local queer choir. Genuinely healing, and not just because I’d spent the past two days staying out until 5 AM. Moved me to tears in a life affirming way.

• Olivia Rodrigo – Surprise set on the eve of her new album release! Right after performing “The Cure,” Robert Smith popped in to sing their duet together and it was so lovely. Compared to when I saw her at Madison Square Garden a couple years ago, there were zero children since this was a festival and the performance was only announced the day of. Gotta say, it was a much better crowd here. I love that at Primavera Sound I can see Beverly Glenn-Copeland perform with a choir and a few hours later be part of the choir of thousands singing along to “Good 4 U.”

• Dijon – Coachella livestream convinced me to see him and he did not disappoint.

• Kneecap – Raucous set from the Irish rap trio who star in a very good movie about them. (It’s on Netflix!) Basically no chance of seeing these lads perform in the US anytime soon due to their strident pro-Palestine stance.

Back home, I also saw Ariana Grande at Barclays Center.

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FIFA

During the World Cup I blogged about my quest to party with as many countries as possible, reaching 24 nations with a few repeats. You can read through the whole thing if you’d like, but these were my favorites:

• Sipping on a blue margarita in a Japanese cocktail bar at midnight

• Partying at a Colombian salsa bar in Astoria

• Dinner and a match at Socceria

• Witnessing Cabo Verde make history in their match against Argentina

• Traveling to my Dutch friend’s neighbor’s backyard upstate

• Seeing a didgeridoo for the first time and learning about Australian culture

• Rooting against the United States at a Belgian pub

And at the very end my preferred team won the Cup 🙂 🇪🇸

Eric hosted a watch party for the final, and after journeying across the city over the preceding weeks it was nice to be surrounded by friends for something a bit more chill, though the screams were properly loud when Ferran Torres scored the game-winning goal.

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Film

I was barely watching movies during the World Cup—football was my cinema—but the day after the final I went to see The Odyssey, which successfully diverted me away from any potential football withdrawals. I’ve been watching a ton more films since.

In June:

• The first movie I saw at home: The Queen (1968)

• The first movie I saw in a theater: Hadestown: The Musical at AMC 19th Street (Tribeca screening)

• The last movie I saw at home: The Sheep Detectives – Knives Out + Babe was the combo I never knew I needed. A total delight that made me cry a couple times.

• The last movie I saw in a theater: Eat Drink Man Woman (1994) at Metrograph (w/ introduction by Natasha Pickowicz)

In July:

• The first movie I saw at home: Take Care of My Cat (2001)

• The first movie I saw in a theater: Music, Fashion, Film at Village East Cinema

• The last movie I saw at home: My Name Ain’t Suzie (1985)

• The last movie I saw in a theater: The Invite at AMC 19th Street

Food & Film Pairing of the Month #1: Eat Drink Man Woman and hot pot

It’s been seven years since I first watched Ang Lee’s Taiwan-set domestic drama, but the opening scene remains seared in my mind. For four wordless minutes, we witness Zhu (Sihung Lung) prepare a grand dinner for his three adult daughters. With the tranquil precision of an experienced chef, he kills, cleans, fillets, and fries a carp, glides a knife through roasted pork belly, and stuffs a dumpling wrapper with the perfect amount of filling. We are later told he is a master of traditional Chinese cuisine, a redundant piece of exposition because we’ve already seen it. Not until The Taste of Things would another food movie have such an enviable cooking sequence.

During the 1990s, Taiwan was undergoing a period of liberalization and globalization. Lee uses his characters’ relationship to cooking to dramatize the widening generation gap that resulted from this rapid change. (It’s this same milieu in which fellow countryman Edward Yang made his final three films, a loose trilogy that culminated in all-time banger Yi Yi.) The elder Zhu keeps chickens in a backyard coop, which he slaughters, plucks, and washes with care; meanwhile his youngest daughter takes orders for fried chicken at a fast food chain, that final boss of culinary commodification. A customer there mistakes the chicken burger he ordered to be made from beef. “That is chicken!” insists a cashier.

Even starker is the environmental contrast between Zhu’s home and his former restaurant, where he’s called in to pinch hit a massive banquet¹. The steady yet deliberate pace of the solitary home chef, versus the brigade of cooks toiling in a cavernous restaurant kitchen. Leftovers packaged up for tomorrow’s lunch, versus untouched dumplings dumped into the trash.

My first viewing of Eat Drink Man Woman was at home; this time I got to watch from a 35mm print at the Metrograph, which invited chef Natasha Pickowickz to select two films that tied-in with her new cookbook Everyone Hot Pot. (Tampopo was her other pick.) Pickowickz was on hand to introduce the film, along with her father Paul, a professor of Chinese Studies, which was fitting for a movie about food and family.

In conjunction with this series, the upstairs Commissary restaurant offered a limited-time menu featuring recipes from the cookbook. When I first saw the announcement about this menu I wondered if they would be installing hot pot burners in the center of every table. Alas, this was not the case: a server poured the broth tableside. I’ve never considered hot pot to be friendly to vegans, or to summertime. But the Summer Hot Pot on offer was quite nice! With glass noodles, tofu, enoki, and various herbs—really more of a noodle soup given the presentation—there were no meat sweats, ideal for the humidity outside.

Elsewhere on the menu, I found the Chili Crisp Snack Mix to be addictively laden with umami—Cheez-It, Chex, and shrimp chips dusted with wakame was a winning combo—and the scallion pancake was quite unique. It was super crispy, almost chip-like. Also ordered the burger from their normal menu, because you gotta have a burger. Big thanks to the team at Metrograph for inviting me for this; the menu is no longer available but you can get the recipes in Everyone Hot Pot!

(To get a sense of how insane my schedule can get, after this evening at the Metrograph I biked across the Williamsburg Bridge to catch a midnight World Cup match between Japan and Tunisia.)

Food & Film Pairing of the Month #2: The Invite and “jamón”

Prosciutto vs. jamón

A masterclass in how to not throw a dinner party. There are many faux pas committed in Olivia Wilde’s chamber comedy, but the worst is when Angela (Wilde) proudly presents to her guest, Piña (Penélope Cruz), what she says is “jamón, from Spain!” I immediately uttered under my breath: “That’s not jamón. That’s prosciutto, from Italy.” They may both be cured meat from a pig’s hind leg, but they are nothing alike.

I thought this was a massive oversight on the part of the production and was ready to be offended, but it turns out to factor into the story. Piña later admits to Angela’s husband that she knew it wasn’t really jamón, but didn’t say anything for fear of embarrassing her host. That’s a rule as equally important as not misidentifying your charcuterie—sometimes it’s best to hold your tongue.

There are so many other lessons you can learn from The Invite that I just might have to write a fuller piece on it.

My reaction when you try to pass off prosciutto as jamón.

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Dining Out

Oeuf mayo / grilled mackerel & seafood rice at Four Horsemen

I was doing a lot more eating out thanks to those World Cup watch parties. Outside of that, my New York restaurant highlights were Loring Place (farewell!), Tosokchon (late night Ktown that’s good even when you’re sober), and The Four Horsemen (second time and even better than the first!).

Clockwise from top left: Kees / oysters at Bearded Lady / Echo Lake / Bar Americano

More numerous were visits to excellent cocktail bars, both new to me—Kees (a total mood, get the big boy upgrade), Echo Lake ($12 daiquiris!), Bar Americano (House Vermouth is crazy good)—and old favorites—Bearded Lady (oyster service has been curtailed to Tuesdays only but was still nostalgic), Mixteca (the only good cocktail bar in West Village?), and Rockwell Place (I ought to gatekeep).

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Dining In

The Choy Commons Asian Vegetable Club has been in full swing! I’ve been getting so much produce that I haven’t even made a farmer’s market trip this season, but that will change now that tomato season is finally here.

Clockwise from top left: Tortang talong / pho ga / succotash salad / miso caesar

A few favorite dishes I’ve cooked with those Asian veggies:

• Tortang Talong – Filipino eggplant omelette. Next I need to create a vegetarian smashburger version à la Maddie’s Secret.

• Pho Ga – Using Thai basil, perilla, cilantro, scallions, and onions.

• Miso Caesar Salad – With mustard greens and lettuce. This is delicious.

• Summer Succotash Salad – With garlic scapes, onion, scallion, perilla, fava beans. And Rancho Gordo baby green lima beans!

• Beef and Celery Stir Fry – With sweet potato greens, mustard greens, and scallions thrown in for good measure.

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Theater

I went on a really good run of quality theater over the past couple months, save for The Maids, which I just found confusing, but watching a play the day after flying in from Spain is a bad idea. Everything else I would highly recommend if it were still possible to see them, oops. (Maybe I should become a theatre critic.)

• The Maids

  • Impeccable use of video though.

• Becky Shaw

  • Or, sympathy for the douchebag. Alden Ehrenreich!!

• Dad Don’t Read This

  • Life isn’t a simulation but if you’re a teenage girl, maybe it kind of is? Exceptional. Hat tip to friend of the ‘stack Dan Schindel, whose review of this play put it on my radar. Hope it gets produced again sometime.

• I’m Almost There

  • An odyssey through one man’s walkup, Todd Almond’s surreal stream of consciousness—delivered as a folk pop song cycle reminiscent of Tick Tick Boom and Dave Malloy—is an hourlong exploration of the fear and anticipation that comes when you’ve met someone who just may be the one. A nine-minute medley is on YouTube; if it’s your thing the audio of the whole thing is available on Audible. As far as The Odyssey adaptations go, this one actually made me cry more.

• Artists at the Center - Hugo Marchand

  • This is a dance performance but whatever. Ballet is an artform totally inscrutable to me, but it was quite nice to watch something where I didn’t have my annoying critic brain on and could just enjoy the beauty and athleticism of dance.

• Les Misérables: The Arena Concert Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall

  • The official opening performance, with a 30-minute encore featuring Les Mis cast members past and present. Biggest cheers went to Aaron Tveit, who performed both Enjorlas and Jean Valjean songs, seemingly confirming that he’ll headline a forthcoming production.

• The Taming of the Shrew at La MaMa

  • The titular shrew taming is quite horrifying when you think of it, and this production elevates it to text. Great physical comedy, inspired by clownery, and wonderfully whimsical costumes. I really ought to watch 10 Things I Hate About You, eh? (Disclosure: I’m friends with one of the actors in this production and I am obliged to tell you that she was great.)

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Grog Logs

Keeping track of the day’s first alcoholic drink.

May

1. Saero Soju at Bud Namu (Los Angeles)

2. Nothing

3. Lasalde Elkartea Balea Rosé at Kevin and Naomi’s

4. Nothing

5. Lagunitas at Westland Roe

6. Nothing

7. Nothing

8. Nothing

9. Grimm Flash Frame at Larry’s Ca Phe event

10. Louis-Antoine Luyt El Mismo Pais at Eric and Diana’s

11. Negroni at home

12. Nothing

13. Robert-Denogent Les Sardines Mâcon-Villages at Le Chêne

14. Undefined Italian white wine at ACA Galleries

15. Swrl makgeolli seltzer at Lincoln Center

16. Swanky Panky at Kabawa

17. Troupis Winery Hoof & Lur Moschofilero 2023 at Fort Greene Park 🍷 🕒

18. Goose Island at Whiskey Tavern

19. Lychee soju in the office

20. Osmote Cayuga Pet-Nat 2023 at Cafe Mars

21. Salvatore Marino Turi Rosso 2023 at home

22. Nothing

23. Flagship Wolf Hound Irish Red Ale (nitro) at Dive 75

24. Nothing

25. Pivovarna Pelicon The 3rd Pill at Pritlicje (Ljubljana)

26. Edi Simčič Rebula 2023 at Edi Simčič (Dobrovo)

27. Ana from Hiša Franko (Kobarid)

28. Tektonik Red Eye Rabbit Hazy Pale Ale at Bobermarine (Ljubljana)

29. Asahi at Monster Ronson’s Ichiban Karaoke (Berlin)

30. Tenuta Saiano Trebbiano 2023 at Aerde (Berlin)

31. Nothing

June

1. Fleurie Le Pied de la Rue 2022 at Disfrutar (festival degustación pairing) (Barcelona)

2. Vega Aixalà Emma Garnatxa Blanca 2024 at Gresca (Barcelona)

3. Bouquet d’Alella Entre Amics Blanc 2024 at Bouquet d’Alella (Alella)

4. Château Castigno Trait de Lune No. 3 Rouge 2021 at Peter and Ani’s (Barcelona)

5. Leclerc Mondet Brut Tradition Champagne at Peter and Ani’s (Barcelona)

6. Estrella Damm at Primavera Sound (Barcelona)

7. Beer at Dos Pebrots (Barcelona)

8. Asahi at Shoronpo (Barcelona)

9. Pannier Champagne on Air France flight

10. Baxter at L&americana (Bar Crenn guest shift)

11. Dominique Belluard, Vin de Savoie, Les Alpes, 2018 at Co Lac

12. Collective Arts Hazy IPA at The Canuck True North 🇨🇦

13. Kona Big Wave at Shaffer’s 🇨🇭

14. Nothing

15. Chimay at BXL Cafe 🇧🇪

16. Brooklyn Kura Grand Prairie at Brian and Amanda’s

17. La Bandera at Mixteca

18. El Diablo at Orion Bar 🇰🇷

19. Gaston Chiquet champagne at home 🍷 🕒

20. Passionfruit vodka mango spritz at McCarren Park

21. Martha Stoumen Post Flirtation Red 2023 at Olivia and Jaidan’s

22. Bitburger Pilsner at German House of Soccer 🇦🇹

23. Zlatni medvjed pilsner at Rudar Club 🇭🇷

24. Famosa Lager at Beco 🇧🇷

25. Nothing

26. Boy Dakar at Café Rue Dix 🇸🇳

27. Spicy cucumber mezcal margarita at Gran Torino (Catina bday)

28. Kiki and Juan at 100 Feast and Lounge (Byron bday)

29. Brooklyn Kura Hellebore Nigori at home

30. Copa Caipirinha at Kabin 🇸🇪

July

1. Modelo at home

2. Estrella Galicia at La Nacional 🇪🇸

3. Coopers Australian Lager Old Mates Pub 🇦🇺

4. Guarabí Pilsner at I Love Paraguay 🇵🇾

5. COS Frapatto 2024 at home

6. Stella Artois at BXL 🇧🇪

7. Nothing

8. Vinho Verde “Doralice”, Bojo do Luar 2024 at home

9. White Negroni at Loring Place

10. Viña Costeira 2023 at Socarrat 🇪🇸

11. St. Joseph “Tour Joviac,” Becheras-Le Prieuré d’Arras 2020 at Keith’s

12. Nothing

13. Midnight Cowboy at George Bang Bang

14. Vittore orange vermouth at home

15. House lager at Fancyfree 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

16. Nothing

17. Nothing

18. Guinness and whiskey at Oceans 8

19. Txo Basque Cider at Eric and Diana’s

20. Boilermaker Negroni at Kee’s

21. Xmas in July at Bearded Lady

22. Frozen coconut / strawberry at Mixteca

23. Picpoul from Languedoc at Vanguard

24. House Vermouth at Bar Americano

25. Ancarani Indigeno at Steven’s 🍷 🕒

26. Modelo at home

27. Brisa Suave Vinho Verde Branco at Lincoln Center

28. Nothing

29. Nothing

30. Sardinian Nights at Bar Madonna

31. Ruby X Hunter at Yawning Cobra

1. It’s an implicit call back to Lee’s previous film The Wedding Banquet, though it’s unclear if the feast in the latter film is for a wedding.