Jun
30
2008
I have been to a few vacation towns in my life. Charming little places that I’ll never forget: Montauk, NY (a personal favorite); Hampton Bays, NY—not the snooty Hamptons; Sedona, AZ; Three Arch Bay in Laguna, CA; Cape May, NJ; Cold Springs, NY; Manchester, VT; Mystic, CT; and Pawleys Island, SC to name a few. Ah, the places my parents took our family growing up and some of found on my own. Great shopping, great restaurants, great beach time, great memories…
Capitola California is such a place—Charming, small, quaint, and not commercialized. There are just the right amount of people. You have to drive out of the downtown (about a mile) to get a Pete’s coffee. Relax they have a few of their own cozy, been-there-forever spots to get a cup of coffee.
Part of their charm derives from the fact that these places, for the most part, stay the same—the communities resist commercial change. You can count on the mainstay mom and pop joints as well as the hipsters that have staked their claim—really the originals, startup operations that were copied, mass-produced, and optimized by the commercial establishment—you know the names they’re now familiar to everyone. But in the process sacrificing personalization, quaintness, and that intangible something that you can count on being how you remembered it the last time you were there. Continue Reading »
Technorati Tags: Beach, Capitola
Jun
27
2008
“W EAD between the W ines! You idiots!”
“Never mind! You are that stupid, let me TWansWate it for you:”
I owe a lot of money and will eat as much crow *read: shit-sandwiches* as I have too…
Hill and Barry just took over 50 minutes trying to sell you that they’re a united front and that their CHANGE of direction is the right one. Isn’t that ironic… In Washington it’s business as usual.
Technorati Tags: Barack, Hillary, PSA
Jun
26
2008
Who is this crazy, tatted, trouble-trailing, jazzy-jeff, cool-ass, velvet-throated chick?
Who cares?
She drinks and smokes too much…
Who cares?
She plays with baby mice in wacky ways…
Who cares?
She’s a big time Grammy winner…
She’s in constant legal trouble…
Who cares?
She’s in the hospital…
Who cares?
She smokes crack!!!
Who cares? Who cares! Hello!
She’s a singer! Here to amuse us! And she amuses me quite a bit!
She ROCKS the house DOWN!
Talented—she’s OMG-talented!
Her music is so super fantastic! Back to Black is rock Solid! I can’t stop listening. She’s in my head when the radio isn’t on… The comparisons to the major players in R&B, Jazz, Soul, Doo-wop, and ska are all merited! Continue Reading »
Technorati Tags: Amy Winehouse, Cinema, Music
Jun
25
2008
Are you kidding me? This show goes to the darkest depths of bad taste and crudeness. WOW!
The characters are all likable in their own weird way. It’s like Seinfeld, flawed characters, (that you find yourself liking why you’re not sure, but you would never admit that you know any of them) that find themselves in everyday moral or ethical situations or dilemmas, but they go against the traditional grain and they go in the morally or ethically wrong direction.
It’s not like the bizarro Seinfeld where the characters are good people the opposite of Jerry, Elaine, George, and Kramer. It’s like they are the Seinfeld’s on illegal steroids—ill-intentioned with even less caring of other people! For example they might decide to sell illegal steroids to grammar school kids to gain some kind of advantage—actually, I understand that scenario will be the storyline for an episode next season.
You need a shower after you watch because you feel dirty (because you laughed out loud)
I’m off to watch another episode right now!
Disclaimer/Advice: Do not let anyone know you think the show is funny because people will think less of you!
Technorati Tags: Cinema, TV Show
Jun
25
2008
Review Date: Mar 15, 2008
Liquor License: yes
Address: 1410 Rosecrans St., (between Fenelon St & Garrison St), San Diego, CA 92106
Open Since: 8/2007
Down to Earth, Up with Style - our prevailing “personality” is fun, easygoing and accessible. The Pearl reimagines a classic California hotel atmosphere, allowing the spirit of mid-century design to thrive anew through artwork, furnishings and architecture. Truly, this is a San Diego hotel borne of honest instinct and inspiration that’s a must-stay Southern California destination–for business, for pleasure, or for both.
Run, don’t stumble, to The Pearl in Point Loma, San Diego. They’ve completely redone an old sailor’s dive into a very hip, very funky little gem with a sense of humor. The rooms feature platform beds, fishbowl lighting fixtures with actual fish in them, 36-inch flat panel TV’s on the wall, free-standing showers, and very comfortable and happening furnishings. They also boast a Dive-In Movie, where they show movies on a huge screen on the second floor railing over the pool. There are huge beach balls floating all over the pool and poolside service. Omigod how I wished it were later in the year and the pool was heated. It is heated later in the year, but damn the luck for coming in February. We love this place and will be coming back.
The best part? If you stumble in after midnight, you can get any unsold room for $79. Beat that. Daddy-O.
Technorati Tags: Bar, hotels, Restaurant
Jun
23
2008
“Everybody’s been Kung Fu Fighting…” Da dada dada da da da
Jack Black and Dustin Hoffman in an animated Kung Fu movie for kid’s right. When I was a kid I thought that Kung Fu movies were a ridiculous absurdity headed in the same direction that Spaghetti Westerns were—obscurity. Yes, every once and a while there’s one made in the classic tradition and it’s awesome—Silverado with regard to Westerns and Crouching Tiger for the Kung Fu genre. Although, I must say that Crouching Tiger is in a class all of its own and really a whole new genre of Kung Fu… On top of that Crouching Tiger did win 4 Academy awards.
Kung Fu Panda is to animation what Crouching Tiger is to the action drama category of motion pictures.
Went with the whole family. Kung Fu Panda is funny, the adults laughed as loud and as often as the kids did—which was quite often! Kung Fu Panda is exciting, we exclaimed and wrestled in our seats. Kung Fu Panda was more than a pleasant experience—it was unexpectedly uncommon and great!
• We rooted for the good guy and hissed at the villain.
• I can even say there were some sentimental moments that I could have gotten teary eyed if I let myself.
• There were life lessons for all ages to be learned.
Comedy, drama, action, Matrix-esque bullet time excitement, and Kung Fu Fighting! Yeah Baby!
The Kung Fu fight scenes ROCKED, animated yet the action scenes were phenomenally choreographed and as good as I’ve ever seen with real actors acting them out.
Jack Black rocks, Dustin Hoffman’s perfect, casting in general is outstanding. The animation and the special effects throughout the movie are award caliber. Storyline exceptional, anything but trite, entertaining!
Kung Fu Panda is great for the kids, great for adults—Great!
Technorati Tags: Cinema
Jun
19
2008
Since when did directional signals become optional?
While stopped at an intersection waiting for a break so that I can proceed safely I just love to see a car approaching:
- Someone appearing to be slowing down without a blinker—Hello! Will you be turning or are you just happy to see me?
- Same situation as above, no blinker on, except they start to make the turn, realize this isn’t the turn and proceed ahead—no blinker, no acknowledgment of error, no nothing!
- Someone appearing to be slowing down WITH a blinker on who DOESN’T turn—You’re just glad you know people are idiots and didn’t proceed to have them slam into you!
- How about car not slowing down, with NO blinker on and a long line of cars behind them and then they make a hasty quick turn—leaving you no time to pullout.
- Or, my favorite, the signal that starts halfway into the turn—Thanks for the heads up Jackass!
We’re living in a community together trying to get things done safely—CAN WE PLEASE HELP EACH OTHER OUT HERE? Tell us ahead of time what your intentions are while operating a vehicle that can smash our lives apart in a split second!
Using your directional blinkers is the FREAKEN law by the way!
But you probably got that question wrong on your drivers test…
Technorati Tags: PSA
Jun
17
2008
A jewel in the rough has been discovered recently. My jewel-in-a- toque Sous Chef has been telling me about this dish for sometime and it was time to confirm its existence.
Croque-Monsieur or as they say on the streets, Crispy Mister, is a fancy French hot ham and cheese sandwich. However, when done right the Croque-monsieur isn’t just any grilled ham and cheese sandi you might have had before. All Croque-Messieurs are not created equal—I’m just saying that there are Crispy Mister makers out there and there are Crispy Mister hacks out there—caveat Epicurea…
Okay, I get it, but what actually is a Crispy Mister? Well, to start with Croque-monsieur, literally translated into English, which just happens to be my particular quirky preference, is Croque = Crispy and monsieur = Mister. Now, for what makes this delicate delight dance: two slices of bread, ham, Gruyere cheese, butter, and béchamel sauce. Knowing what the ingredients are and preparing them so they dance in your mouth are two very different things indeed.
(By the way the amount of fat and calories in this sandwich are anything but delicate: half the daily requirements of calories and more than the daily requirements of fat and cholesterol—Yikes! I didn’t say you have to eat one every day!)
Where can you get the outstanding version of this classic Crispy Mister you ask? Continue Reading »
Technorati Tags: Chef, Fleur de Cocoa, food, iChef, Los Gatos, Recipes
Jun
04
2008
Tomorrow I will be bringing in dessert for everyone! What does everyone think about that? Sounds good, huh! Yummy!
Well, I didn’t tell you what dessert I was bringing in, or that you have to have it whether you like it or not, or that I would be charging you for it, or how much it will cost, or that you might have to pay for the people who didn’t bring money in… Details, don’t worry about the details—after all, I’m bringing in dessert for everyone…
Who would say no to free health care, or a free house, or free school, or free whatever worth having? Nobody. Who will pay for all the free goodies that cost big piles of money? Details.
Keep American people believing their daily life sucks, repeat it over and over again until they repeat it too, and then promise them that you have the answer (you will give them everything they need for free) and that you can make it all better—good strategy! Continue Reading »
Technorati Tags: Politikos
