Memories (Q4 2002)

12/31 - Tuesday

Restaurant: Cowboy Ciao (Scottsdale, AZ)

Someone I knew told me about Cowboy Ciao about three years ago, and I finally got around to going there last night. The downtown Scottsdale location was what kept me away, but since I'm making an effort to eat at nicer restaurants I can't afford to avoid Scottsdale. Well actually, I could, but not for very long. Anyway, we were seated and presented with a wine massive wine list. I wasn't planning on drinking, but there was a list of wine flights, and that looked interesting. I like the idea of wine flights a lot; it seems like a fun way to try different wines. I'm not a red wine fan, but last night I was willing to try a flight of reds. We decided on a flight of Australian reds: Fox Creek "2000 Shiraz/Grenache", Pikes "2000 Shiraz", and Hare's Chase "2000 Merlot". The wines were good; they didn't have the usual gagging effect red wines normally have on me. The Fox Creek had a strong scent of blueberries, and it was very dry. The Pikes had more of an alcoholic scent, and a lingering mild oak finish that was very pleasant. The Hare's Chase was the best of the group with hints blueberries and oak in the nose and flavor, and without any bite whatsoever. It was quite tasty.

For starters we had the sweet chile prawns, and the soup of the day. The prawns were great! They were sweet, and had a unique flavor that was really delicious. The prawns came with a coleslaw that was also pretty tasty. It was crisp with a beautiful sesame flavor, but I don't know what it had to do with the prawns. I don't think they really matched, but they didn't clash with the prawns either. The soup of the day was a chili bisque garnished with a little pico de gallo, and some sort of white Mexican cheese. The soup tasted like a really spicy split pea soup to me; I liked it. The cheese and the pico de gallo were well thought out with the cheese giving a nice creamy flavor and toning down the heat, and the salsa added a little pungency. I did wish there was a little more of both on top though.

For our entrees Lynn had the flat iron steak, and I had the duck breast. They both sucked. The duck breast had a gamey flavor that I've been lucky enough not to have experienced for a couple of years. Well I wasn't so lucky last night. The accompanying smoked gouda grits covered up the gamey flavor, but then again it covered up every flavor. The duck breast was making me sick so I didn't eat very much. Lynn's steak actually tasted pretty good on it's own, but the sauce was disgusting. The sauce was a morel demi-glace, and it had an odd sort of sweet flavor that I would prefer to avoid in the future.

I was very disappointed in the entrees, but I was still up for dessert. Me and Lynn couldn't agree on a dessert so we each ordered our own. Lynn had the Mexican chocolate pot de creme, and I had the bread pudding. We also chose a tawny port from their very comprehensive dessert wine list (which had about 20 different ports on it). Sticking with the Australian theme we followed earlier with the red wines we selected a glass of Australian port, Trevor Jones "Shiraz Tawny" (I'm not really sure if that's it's name, but it's close enough). When it arrived it was the tawniest colored tawny port I'd ever seen, and had a scent that alternated between butter, butterscotch, and pralines. It's flavor was amazing; sweet and complex with a long hazelnut finish and a hint of butter. It ranked right up there with my all time favorite tawny, Yalumba's "Galway Pipe" (which is also Australian). Lynn's chocolate dish was very tasty, but the menu said the "pudding" was topped with chipotle cream, and neither me or Lynn tasted any kind of pepper in it. It was very rich though, and not something I could eat very much of. The bread pudding was excellent. It was very dense, tasty, and the accompanying praline sauce was a perfect compliment. The best part of it was the top of the bread pudding which was crunchy.

Well, we hated the entrees, but there were a couple of the appetizers we didn't order that looked good, and we'd definitely go back to Cowboy Ciao for appetizers and drinks.

"The Best Laid Plans..."

Yesterday me and Lynn went shopping for ski equipment. She already has all of her equipment, being an avid skier and all that, but I've never skied before so I didn't have any equipment. We didn't do anything silly like buy skis, but I did need some essentials, like waterproof gloves, and a beanie (since Lynn lost mine on our New Orleans trip).

We finished up our shopping, and were going to get dressed to eat at Janos when Lynn told me she wasn't feeling well, and she didn't feel up to the drive to Tucson (followed by the drive to Flagstaff today) so we changed our reservation to this Saturday. We went to eat at Cowboy Ciao instead. (Hopefully I'll get the review finished today.)

Early this morning we woke up, but Lynn still wasn't feeling well so we're not going to Flagstaff. I may be playing a lot of Dragon Ball Z Budokai today. That's not so bad, but I think I caught Lynn's cold.

12/29 - Sunday

Here's The Plan

Tomorrow Lynn and I go to Tucson to have dinner at Janos, and Tuesday we're going to Flagstaff to ski (my first time), then come back for dinner at Restaurant Hapa. Looks like I'm starting the new year off broke. I think it'll be worth it though.

12/28 - Saturday

Restaurant: It's About Time (Mesa, AZ)

Oh yeah, last night we got fried chicken from It's About Time. I didn't care for my potato salad or cornbread, but the chicken was perfect. I also got a side of the spicy barbecue sauce, and it was perfect too; a tasty sweet sauce, with a healthy pepper kick at the end. It was good to finally satisfy that craving.

Old Restaurant Reviews

For some reason I've had a couple of restaurant reviews that I never got around to finishing, so today I've finished them.

Restaurant: The Pink Pepper (Mesa, AZ)

The Pink Pepper is my favorite Thai restaurant not to go to. I think of the place like most Chinese restaurants; too toned down to be worthwhile. Of course it's Lynn's favorite Thai restaurant. We don't go there very often since I don't care for the place, but the last time we went I actually found something I really liked on the menu.

Lynn ordered a Thai Silk, one of the drink specials, and it was really tasty. For dinner we ordered an orange roughy with spicy lemon-garlic sauce, spicy green beans and tofu, and gaeng kari [yellow curry with chicken and potatoes]. The greens beans and tofu were ok. The gaeng kari was delicious, but I've never had a bad gaeng kari before. The fish was absolutely amazing. It was everything I love about Thai food; spicy, complex, and well thought out. I'd go back to Pink Pepper and order it again.

Restaurant: Lalibela Ethiopian Cafe (Tempe, AZ)

Lalibela serves Ethiopian food, which seems like a variation of Indian food, only with crappy bread. I'd eaten at Lalibela once before, and didn't enjoy the experience so I've stayed away from there ever since. Well Lynn was meeting an old friend of her's for dinner, and he chose to eat at Lalibela so I didn't have much choice (as I was coming back from Portland and Lynn was picking up from the airport and we were going straight to dinner from there).

I ordered the spicy combination which had a beef, chicken, and lentil dish. I asked the waitress for a fork, and told her she could keep the bread. She didn't seem very pleased about my not eating the bread, but I didn't care because I REALLY HATE THEIR BREAD. The food came and I had to admit that everything in my combo was pretty good; I liked the the beef and lentil items better than the chicken though. I did break down and try a little of the bread with my food. It's not so bad on first taste, but it's effect is cumulative, and by my third bite I thought it was disgusting. Anyway, if you've never had Ethiopian bread before let me try to describe it: it has a spongy texture, which I think is very unnatural and should be enough from keeping it from being classified as bread, and has an odd flavor. I think you probably have to be exposed to it at an early age because I don't see people voluntarily choosing to eat it, but that's just me.

There was a sign hanging up that bragged about the tiramisu, so I had to try it. I've had much better. There's not really much more to say about it.

A couple of hours after we ate my stomach hurt because the Ethiopian food didn't agree with me. That happened to me the first time I ate there too. I take it as a sign.

12/27 - Friday

Fried Chicken and Other Stuff

Last night we didn't get fried chicken from It's About Time. They were closed. It seems like every time I crave fried chicken from that place they're closed. We would have actually made fried chicken for dinner, but Fry's didn't have any chicken breasts not still attached to the rest of the chicken. It was disappointing. I hope It's About Time is open today.

Due to the holiday we have cheap chocolates around the apartment. Something that surprised me is that we've got some Nestle European chocolates (milk chocolate truffles with a hazelnut filling) and Reese's mini peanut butter cups, and I find myself preferring the peanut butter cups. The truffles are nice even if the milk chocolate is a little too much milk and not enough chocolate, but I can't help thinking the peanut butter cup tastes better. Leave it to Nestle to screw up Swiss chocolate.

I've been off for eight days in a row, and I've barely worked on my New Orleans trip page. I have however finished Terry Pratchett's "Thief of Time". It was a very enjoyable book, and does makes me want to read "Witches Abroad" (which is the only Terry Pratchett book I haven't read yet of the three we picked up in Pennsylvania), but I think I'll keep from starting any new books until I've at least got the first day of the trip page done.

One of the things I got Lynn for Christmas was "Auntie Mame", her favorite movie of all time, on dvd. Three weeks earlier she got me "Fight Club", my favorite movie of all time, on dvd. I thought it was odd that until three weeks ago neither one of us owned our favorite movies, but whatever. Lynn loves old movies, and occasionally I'll even sit down and watch one with her. I've been surprised because some of the comedies (like "Donovan's Reef") have been pretty good. Well Lynn watched "Auntie Mame" (which is also a comedy) Christmas day, and it was a pretty funny film. I don't know why I'm always surprised by this kind of stuff, but I am.

We have eight bottles of wine around here (three tawny ports, two dessert wines, one champagne, one blended red, and one German Riesling in case you were wondering). I think we're going to have to drink one sometime soon.

We don't have definite plans yet, but we might be going to Tucson to eat at Janos this weekend, and we might go skiing in Flagstaff on New Year's Eve. Both would be an excellent start to a new year.

12/26 - Thursday

Restaurant: Aloha Kitchen (Mesa, AZ)

Today I was feeling lazy so I didn't want to make myself lunch. I tried to think of someplace to eat, but I was too hungry to think straight (a pretty common occurrence for me). Knowing that I wouldn't get anything done if I didn't leave the apartment, I decided to drive around until something looked good. I wanted fast food, but I wanted something that actually tasted good too. Fried chicken would have been good, and I was in the mood for it, but I knew we were going to have really tasty fried chicken from It's About Time for dinner so it wasn't a happening thing for lunch.

I drove around and nothing looked good. As I drove down Alma School I remembered Aloha Kitchen and their tasty kalbi (it's fatty, and doesn't have a lot of meat, but it is tasty). It had been years since I've been to Aloha Kitchen due to an incident with an overcooked salmon filet—which is almost an unforgivable food sin to me—but I figured a couple of years was long enough to hold a grudge. I walked in and noticed that they didn't have kalbi on the menu, so I asked if they still made it. The lady behind the register said they did, but it was a special and they didn't have any today. I ordered the bool kogi instead.

The bool kogi was tasty, but it was more like grilled teriyaki instead of bool kogi. That's ok since bool kogi is really open to interpretation, and it's been different at every place I've ever been to. I think I like their bool kogi even better than their kalbi. I guess I'll have to try their kalbi again to find out.

12/25 - Wednesday - Merry Christmas!

Movie: "Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets"

The other night we saw "Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets" instead of cleaning the apartment, like we were supposed to. We should have stayed home and cleaned the apartment. Not that the movie was bad, it was entertaining, but that's it. The movie seemed to lack depth. I noticed it in the other Harry Potter movie, but it was definitely worse in this one. The characters in the first movie seemed at least to display a little complexity, but the characters in this one were mere caricatures. For example, the only purpose Ron Weasley seemed to serve was to look abashed the entire movie, and Professor Gilderoy Lockhart was one of the most annoying and transparent characters in a movie since Jar Jar Binks.

I've wondered if the screenplays have missed something important from the books, or if the books suffer the same problem. I mean they are kids books after all. I may have to read one to find out. Later though, right now I'm reading Terry Pratchett's "Thief of Time", which I'm enjoying a lot. It's funny, but it also has a philosophical bent to it; very different from one of his other books, "The Truth", which I just recently finished.

By the way, we saw the movie at the Harkins Fiesta 5 on Longmore, and the place was filthy. There was popcorn all over the floor and tons of soda cups still in the cup holders. I've been to some pretty shitty theaters before, and that was the dirtiest theater I've ever been to. We're never going to that Harkins again.

Christmas Eve Dinner

A couple of weeks ago Lynn decided to make a Christmas Eve dinner at our place and invite a few people. After she already invited people her work offered eight hours of overtime on Christmas Eve (which would amount to a lot of money that could be spent on wedding stuff), and she took it. Her going to work didn't bother me, but it did leave some responsibilities she would have taken care of to me. We started cleaning the apartment on Sunday, but the place was a real mess so we only got it half cleaned at the end of the day. Monday we did a little more cleaning, but not much. It left a decent amount of cleaning to be done, by me, Tuesday before dinner. I didn't get the place as clean as I wanted to, but it wasn't bad.

There was also some cooking I had to do. I made mashed potatoes (which was really just my potato soup, but I make it thick enough to be mashed potatoes anyway), and a homemade apple pie. I almost had to make the turkey too. Lynn's work gave her a small smoked turkey. I worked under the assumption that it was cold smoked, but as Lynn discovered when we were ready to brine the thing, it was fully cooked. Who the hell sells fully cooked turkeys? It was a good thing in that it only took a couple of hours to reheat, but we knew it was going to be dry too. I guess we'll have to try a brined turkey some other time.

My mom, DJ, and Greg came for dinner. Greg even brought a fruit salad that he made with yogurt, sour cream, apples, cheese, raisins, and pecans. The fruit salad was delicious. My mashed potatoes kicked ass. The turkey had a nice smokey taste, but it was a little dry. It reminded me of ham. The apple pie (which was only properly cooled this morning) was tasty. It was a good dinner.

Anyway, I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas. Me and Lynn are off to my uncle's house for dinner, and then my cousin's house for more dinner. I can't wait for rice and beans, stewed pork, stewed chicken, and Belizean potato salad.

12/22 - Sunday

Restaurant: Takamatsu (Chandler, AZ)

It's been a while since I've felt like going to Takamatsu since they took over Arisoo, but Friday night I was craving their kalbi. We went there, and as I read the specials they had written on a white board, I saw they had unagi don buri. Well I love unagi [freshwater eel] so I couldn't resist. Lynn ended up ordering the kalbi, and a Philly roll. The waitress brought out some miso soup, which had a better flavor than the miso flavored dishwater they served us last time.

The waitress also brought out all the condiments for the Korean barbecue, and the Philly roll. Neither me or Lynn liked the Philly roll. Lynn felt it had too much cream cheese in it, and the salmon didn't taste as fresh as it could of (but not nearly as bad as the nigiri sushi we had from the Ichi Ban at Rural). I hate the cream cheese in Philly rolls so I always think it's too much, and I had to agree about the salmon. There were plenty of other sushi rolls that I thought looked good, and decided we'll have to come back some day to eat only sushi. The condiments were good, but I miss the potatoes in a light, slightly sweet sauce of Arisoo.

My unagi don buri came out along with a hot cast iron skillet with the kalbi on it. It was a little disappointing that we didn't actually get to cook the kalbi ourselves, but it was weird that the waitress never even asked if we wanted to cook it or not since they almost always ask. I think it might have been because of the Japanese entree I ordered, but who knows? Anyway, the kalbi was good, but not as good as last time. I've noticed that that's pretty typical of eating any marinated Korean meat item on a Friday or Saturday night. I think the turnover is so high on marinated items (like the extremely popular kalbi) that they don't have enough time to sit in the marinade so they don't taste as good as they do during the week. The unagi was great, but I have yet to have bad unagi.

At the end of our meal the waitress brought out something I didn't expect to ever see again; the sweet rice drink Arisoo always served at the end their meals. I was surprised the Takamatsu people decided to keep doing it, but I has happy about it. It was like seeing an old friend again. Lynn noticed that they weren't that busy for a Friday night (I have to mention that I thought it was a little late for dinner so the restaurant wouldn't be packed), but she thinks they're trying very hard to keep the Arisoo patrons. I appreciate it if it brought back the rice drink. Now if only they started making that potato condiment again.

Christmas Shopping Yesterday

Yesterday I had to start and finish my Christmas shopping. I didn't think it would be too bad since I already knew what I was getting everybody. Actually, shopping for the stuff I knew exactly what I had in mind wasn't bad at all, but shopping for Lynn's present was painful. One of the things I was planning on getting Lynn was a formal dress, but she wanted me to find one on my own so she wouldn't know what it looked like so she could be surprised when she opened her present. I didn't want to look on my own, but I do trust my taste a little more than I trust her's. I mean she does have this dress that she likes that I absolutely hate (hence the 12/20 exchange between me and Lynn). Anyway, she came with me yesterday, which was good because finding anything that looked good and actually fit her was near impossible. I would have lost my patience long before we did find one. Dress shopping is a nightmare; I swear most stores specialize in ugly dresses. Anyway, it's all taken care of so I can concentrate on getting the apartment clean for our Christmas Eve dinner.

12/20 - Friday

Book: "Shadow Puppets" by Orson Scott Card

I finally finished reading "Shadow Puppets", and it was more of a chore than anything. As quickly as I tried to get through this book I couldn't because it kept putting me to sleep. I had high hopes for this book since it was the follow-up to "Shadow of the Hegemon", which I liked better than it's predecessor "Ender's Shadow" (which was a really good book to begin with), but there wasn't anything in this book to keep my attention. A large portion of this book was spent on a relationship I never quite found believable, and Bean going on about how he's not human. Oh yeah, and the ending sucked. I say avoid this one unless you absolutely need some sort of resolution to "Shadow of the Hegemon"; "Shadow Puppets" can only disappoint.

My Search for the Perfect Truffle (cont.)

I may have started my search for great chocolate truffles in Phoenix to find great local truffles, but traveling to other cities I couldn't resist trying their chocolates. I've had some disappointments, but there were two places that were very impressive: Skip's Candy Corner in Lahaska, Pennsylvania and Grenier e Chocolat in New Orleans, Louisiana. The truffles at Skip's are among the best domestic chocolates I've ever had. Grenier e Chocolat imports Leonidas Belgian chocolates, and even though I've never been a real fan of Belgian chocolates, the Leonidas chocolates are among the best I've ever had.

Now if I could only find some place that makes great truffles in Phoenix... do you know of any (and please don't say Godiva)?

An Exchange Between Me and Lynn

"The dress is ugly."
"No it's not. Besides, you saw me in it for less than two minutes."
"That doesn't make a difference. You don't have to stare at an eclipse for very long to figure out it's bright..."

More Than Eat, I Can Cook Too

While we were visiting Lynn's parents over Thanksgiving Lynn's mom made some potato soup. It was pretty tasty, and apparently reminded Lynn how much she enjoys potato soup. Well since I'm at home on vacation that means I'm the one making dinner, and Lynn decided that potato soup would be a good dinner last night.

I got the recipe from Lynn's mom, but of course made some alterations to make it my own. The recipe consisted of potatoes boiled in chicken broth and a little white wine, thickened with a roux, then finished with sour cream and some milk. There are some prescribed condiments of bacon bits, dill, and shredded cheese to give it some additional flavor, but the soup is pretty tasty on it's own. My additions were caramelized onions, roasted garlic, and a little horseradish for spark (the natural affinity of horseradish [which I don't even like] and potatoes was something I picked up on at the restaurant Stella! in New Orleans with their amazing wasabi mashed potatoes and horseradish flavored German potato salad). It could still use some crispy, smokey bacon on top, but it was excellent.

I stopped by Pleaissant Croissant this morning, and had an excellent Bavarian creme croissant for breakfast, and picked up a couple of plain croissants to go with my soup for lunch. Life is good.

12/19 - Thursday

Croissants

One of the things that hardly seems to exist in it's proper form in Phoenix is croissants. Most of them are really just bread shaped like croissants instead of the buttery, fluffy, melt in your mouth, pastry-like little pieces of heaven they should be. There are only two places I've actually had decent croissants from: the restaurant at The Buttes (which I can't remember the name of), and some bakery that someone I used to work with occasionally picked up croissants from in the morning. The croissants from The Buttes were pretty good, but the ones from that unknown bakery were perfect.

The other day I finally got around to asking that person the name and location of the bakery. She told me it was Pleaissant Croissant on the northwest corner of Elliot and Rural. Since Lynn has never had a real croissant before I wanted to pick a couple up for dinner tonight, but I got there after 4 and they're only open until 2. I guess I'll just have to pick some up tomorrow.

12/18 - Wednesday

Leave Me Alone, I'm Working Here [Ok, Not This Very Second]

Today is our department holiday party. I hate department parties only a little less than I hate company parties. I just don't care to do things with large groups of people when most of the people in the group aren't my friends. I feel it's a waste of time. I guess that makes me somewhat of an antisocial bastard, which shouldn't be a surprise to anyone who knows me.

Well since today is the last day I'll be at work until next year, and I've got to get a project done before I leave, I've used the project as a valid excuse to stay away from the party. Who knew I'd end up using a work assignment to get out of a social function?

Addendum:
I didn't participate in the gift exchange (even though I did bring a gift), so they just gave me some present no one wanted. I got a disco dancing hamster, and a small picture frame (which even came with a picture of my boss). And they said it wasn't a white elephant gift exchange.

Monkey Show News!

It's about time.

Movie: "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers"

Last night we actually made it to "The Two Towers" even though me and Lynn saw on the news that there were like 600 people in line at 10 o'clock. I couldn't believe that many people wanted to see the movie at midnight! And I thought DJ was crazy for wanting to get there at 11. Me and Lynn got there at around 11:15, and walked the entire line (which stretched from the north theater entrance, around the theater, and almost reached around to the south entrance) looking for DJ. We didn't find DJ so we took our place at the end of the line. DJ showed up 15 minutes later. Slack bastard, we should have made him stand at the end of the line. Anyway, the line moved very slowly and I think the theater management was trying to fill one theater at a time in an orderly fashion (and they had about seven theaters showing the film), but when it was almost midnight they just let everyone in to fend for themselves. We ended up with seats that were off to the side and three rows from the screen. Not the best seats in the world, but finding three contiguous seats was almost impossible.

There aren't any spoilers in the rest of this review, but I do go over things you probably don't want to know about if you haven't already read the book or seen the movie. If that's the case don't read beyond this paragraph. The short version of the review is it was a good movie that I would recommend seeing. I don't consider it a great movie because I never seem to get lost in "The Lord of the Rings" movies, and even though they are worth watching I don't care to see them more than once. The movies are grand spectacles, and the world they're based in is believable and amazing, but I just don't care about the characters. Not being able to build any real character depth seems like a side effect of converting an epic set of novels into a screenplay, but it's enough to keep the movies from being great to me.

I liked "The Two Towers" better than "The Fellowship of the Ring", and Lynn actually stayed awake through the entire movie (which is three hours long). There was a lot of humor in this movie that I didn't expect. Apparently the director heard the old adage "everything's funnier with a dwarf", and took it to heart since the dwarf had some of the best lines in the movie. The direction was very good overall, but there were a couple of things that I noticed. There were a lot of head shots where the heads took up almost half the screen. It's really noticeable when you're sitting in the third row, and it can get annoying, but I think the director did it to balance the vast amount of wide angle shots that he had to use to give you an idea of scale in a lot of scenes. There were dimly lit fight scenes, which I hate. I know not all fights take place during the day, but when it's so dim you can't make out what's going on it just seems like the director didn't know where to go with the scene so he just obfuscated it, and hoped no one would notice. There was one scene that was such a different cinematographic style that I had to wonder why it even appeared in the movie. Later when me and Lynn were discussing the movie I told her I thought there was one scene that didn't even belong in the movie and she knew exactly which one I was talking about! It was that weird.

One final thing, and this is a gripe with Tolkien's writing more than the movie, I couldn't figure out when the movie would end. I've read the books, and retained most of the facts, but apparently I've forgotten the order of some things, and every time I thought the movie was ending it wouldn't. Tolkien just didn't write series books like modern day writers do, and he didn't place cliffhangers where I would have expected. While I can't remember how I felt about it in the book, I found it kind of annoying in the movie. I know it wasn't just me either, Lynn had the same problem.

Anyway, now for the good stuff. Most of the computer generated imagery (cgi) in the movie was excellent, and considering there was a ton of cgi in the movie that's no small feat. There were a couple of scenes where it was pretty cheesy, but they didn't really detract from the movie for me. In fact I thought the best character in the movie was Gollum/Smeagol, who was completely computer generated. His facial expressions, and the voice acting, both contribute to making him one of the most memorable characters in film (and not in the same way as Jar Jar Binks is memorable). My favorite creatures from the books were the ents, and I was interested to see how they would be presented in the movie. The character design for the ents was really well done, and the scene where the ents gather for battle gave me goose bumps. The last thing I'd like to commend the movie for was the battle for Helm's Deep. While I griped about the dimly lit fights that were all body parts and jerking camera shots earlier, the battle for Helm's Deep was expertly produced. The gathering enemy, the war machines, the dwarf yelling out his how many of the enemy he's killed, and many more scenes than I can remember make this battle rank among the best screen battles of all time.

I would say there is a lot more to like about this movie than dislike. Go see it; I would say the spectacle is worth the three hours, and it's certainly cheaper than a Cirque du Soleil show.

Use It Or Lose It (I Guess That Makes Me A User)

Even though I've taken a lot of trips lately I haven't actually used up that much vacation. Well I was going over the number of vacation hours I have left for this year, and even after banking 48 hours I had three days (24 hours) left to use or lose. I get to start my Christmas vacation tomorrow and I don't return to work until January 2nd. This is good thing in other than the obvious way since it gives me some much needed free time to work on my trip pages. You have to love government jobs sometimes.

12/17 - Tuesday

Late Night Tonight

Me, Lynn, and DJ are going to the midnight showing of "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" tonight. Woo hoo! Hopefully Lynn will actually stay awake through the entire movie (she fell asleep during "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" last time), and I'll actually get a movie review written tomorrow.

Inexpensive Eating...

Me and Lynn are trying to reduce the amount of money we spend on eating out since we have to start making a massive monthly payment on our wedding location for the next 10 months. That would be easy except that while we were chatting with Chef Neal (chef de cuisine at NOLA) he mentioned that he worked at a restaurant named Janos in Tucson before he started working in New Orleans. He really talked up the food so I decided I'd look it up when I got back to Phoenix. Well yesterday I looked at the menu on the Janos web site and their food looks amazing. We may actually eat there before the end of the year.

When I was flying back from New Orleans I noticed that I hardly eat at fancier restaurants in Phoenix (since they all tend to be in or near Scottsdale, which I tend to avoid) so I decided to do something that directly conflicts with trying to spend less on food, and try a fancier restaurant in Phoenix every once in a while. I think I'll start with Cowboy Ciao, which is a place that someone I knew was trying to get me to eat at years ago. I looked at their menu and it does look pretty good. We'll see what happens; I may want to do it, but most likely I won't have the budget to do this sort of thing until after the wedding.

12/16 - Monday

Excerpt From Email

I wish I thought of this.

Sounds Like A Good Excuse To Me

Today I haven't felt like writing anything; at least nothing you'd see on the homepage. I've been busy updating the cigar page with the new cigars in my possession, and the cigars I've smoked over the trip. I've also been writing down everything I can remember from the trip, and there's been a lot so hopefully I'll have something to say tomorrow. If not, at least you can look forward to reading the New Orleans 12/2002 trip page.

12/15 - Sunday

Post Trip Dinner

Well we got back from New Orleans this afternoon. The one thing I'll tell you about it right now is that we ate a lot of really good food. I always find which sort of food I crave after a really good food trip interesting, and this time was interesting too. The first thing I wanted to eat when I came back was Indian. We had an excellent dinner tonight at the Copper Kettle. We started with hummus (which I normally hate humus), and it was different from normal humus. This was very thick and pasty, topped with black pepper, and it had a very good mild flavor. I liked it a lot more than any other hummus I've ever tasted. Of course eating it with fresh naan instead of pita bread probably helped. Lynn and I both ordered the same thing for our entrees, the chicken bolti sultani which is tandoori chicken (only with flavor) garnished with cilantro, and served with lemon wedges and a bed of onions sizzling on top of a hot cast iron skillet (a la fajitas). To me the flavors are actually kind of Mexican, but overall the dish is better than chicken fajitas since naan beats tortillas any day. Anyway, I've got to start writing things down about the trip since I didn't really get a chance to while we were in New Orleans.

12/11 - Wednesday

I'm Not Going To Let This Ruin Anything

I'm going on vacation sick. It's not serious, but it is annoying.

"It Just Won't Do"

Last night I heard Tim Deluxe's song "It Just Won't Do (feat. Sam Obernik)" for the first time. It's a clubby house track, but it's really infectious at the same time. It just made me want to stand up and start dancing around (which is pretty impressive since I was driving at the time). It also reminded me of how long it's been since I've been to Freedom for a good night of dancing to house. I'm going to have to do that some time soon after I get back.

*yawn*

Since I'm going to the airport directly from work I had to be all packed last night. Normally I procrastinate when I have to pack, and last night wasn't any different. DJ was there, and me and him talked and watched tv until 12:30. After he left I started (and finished) my packing pretty quickly. To reward myself for actually packing before 3am I decided to do a little reading before going to sleep. Well, I was so close to finishing "Shadow of the Hegemon" I just stayed up and read through the last 60 pages. (It was actually a very good book. I liked it better than "Ender's Shadow", but I'm pretty sure it's because "Shadow of the Hegemon" isn't quite so much about Bean.) It was some time after 2:30 when I finally got to sleep. That wouldn't have been so bad, but I'm leaving work early today so to save my vacation and personal time I had to come in early. Coming in early had me up at 5:30.

Oddly enough I don't feel tired right now, but that might have something to do with my breakfast of a Boston creme and a buttermilk bar from Dunkin' Donuts. I'm sure my lack of sleep will probably catch up to me on the airplane.

12/10 - Tuesday

Phoenix, Philly, and Pizza

One of the things that had me lamenting when I got back from Philadelphia is that the pizza I had there (at the unbelievably tasty La Fourno) put Phoenix pizza to shame. The crust was thin, crispy on the outside, and moist on the inside. The pizza sauce had a great natural tomato sweetness, and was tasty enough to eat on pasta all by itself. All of the other ingredients were just great. There are very few places in Phoenix that even know how to make a decent pizza crust, much less good pizza sauce.

Last friday night me and Lynn were driving down Chandler boulevard to In-n-Out Burger to get Lynn her cheeseburger fix when she looked out the window and said, "NYPD Pizza?". I couldn't believe it, Phoenix does have one good pizza place and I completely forgot about it! There were only two things I've never liked about NYPD Pizza: one, their Italian sausage sucks, and two, they used to only have two locations, which were both in Scottsdale. Saturday night we had dinner at NYPD Pizza. Their pizza was just as good as I remembered it. The crust was thin, crispy, and moist, and the pizza sauce was very tasty too. The pizza sauce actually tasted a little on the spicy side which I normally would have loved except this one time when I wanted something a little more natural. For dessert we had the zeppoli (deep fried bits of pizza crust caked in powered sugar) and they were great too.

I do have to add a third thing to the list of things I hate about NYPD Pizza though: FAKE BACON!!!! Why any restaurant would insult their customers intelligence and tastebuds with fake bacon I don't know, but NYPD Pizza is one of them. I still love their pizza, despite their complete lack of good judgement concerning bacon, and I'll be frequenting the place whenever I feel like actually getting a pizza.

[I do know of a few other good pizza places, but they don't do real New York or Italian wood burning oven style pizzas so they can't be compared to La Fourno. Some day I'll have to try Pizzeria Bianco to compare, but for some reason I just can't bring myself to go downtown and wait a couple of hours for a pizza, even if it is great.]

12/9 - Monday

Yesterday was a Good Day

Yesterday me, Lynn, and DJ went to the Tempe Art Festival. I didn't find anything I liked enough to buy, but Lynn found this picture by a photographer named Locke Heemstra that was pretty cool. It was a bunch of grapes still on the vine, and the picture was really well composed, and the color was super saturated (as were all of his color photographs). The thing that really made Lynn want to buy it is that it fit the same sort of theme as my picture of the guy standing in the tobacco drying barn; she wanted something she could hang it over the wine rack like that. DJ didn't find any artwork he liked, but he did get to munch on a corndog so he was happy.

Later we went to Ninja for teppanyaki. I'm not a big fan of teppanyaki since, in my previous experience, the food isn't that good, and it seems to be more about the show than the food anyway, but DJ was in the mood for teppanyaki, and me and Lynn haven't gone out for teppanyaki in a very long time. Well, I knew the tenderloin at Ninja is the thing to get for teppanyaki, but they were out of it. I settled for the New York strip steak—heh, never thought I would use "settled" and "New York strip steak" in the same sentence—and got an order of fried rice too. The chef whose table we sat at was all business (meaning he didn't spout the usual teppanyaki chef patter), but he did an excellent job with the food. Everything he served was very tasty: the fried rice, shrimp, scallops, and steak. I liked his food so much that teppanyaki is now be on my list of acceptable dinner choices.

Current and Future Travels

This Wednesday me and Lynn leave for New Orleans. Lynn's been to New Orleans before, but she's only been to the French Quarter so there's still a lot of discovery possible for her. I've done a lot of research as far as restaurants so there's a lot of discovery potential for me too. I can't wait.

I thought New Orleans was going to be our last trip until our honeymoon in November of next year, but on our back from Philly we got free tickets on US Air for volunteering to skip our flight (which they overbooked). The problem with US Air is that they only fly directly to two places from Phoenix: Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. Lynn's family now lives close to Pittsburgh, but I also want to go back to Philadelphia. Philly is unlikely though because Lynn doesn't have any vacation time left to take a proper vacation, and money is going to be tight from now until the wedding. It looks like sometime in the spring we'll take a quick jaunt out to Pittsburgh to see her family.

There's also my trip to Japan in the spring. I've decided it's not my possible trip to Japan, but my actual trip to Japan. Going there this coming year to see Steve (who I'm sure will make an excellent tour guide, and if he doesn't at least we can find a strip club or something) and not have to pay for a hotel room (I hope) is probably an opportunity that I'll only have once so even if I don't have the money I'm going to do it. I think on my travel page I said something about not letting lack of money be an excuse not to do something you may only get a chance to do once, so I'm following my own advice.

12/7 - Saturday

Recent Books

When I travel I take reading material with me to stave off the boredom I'm sure to feel if I just sit in an airplane and do nothing. This last trip I took "Ender's Shadow" by Orson Scott Card. It was a five hour flight to Philadelphia and I got through half the book, and even continued reading during my free time in New Jersey. I wanted to finish it, but I was reluctant to use up my reading material. Well, we went to some outlet malls in Lancaster, PA and I picked up three Terry Pratchett books so my dilemma was solved. I finished "Ender's Shadow" before our vacation was over and read Terry Pratchett's "The Truth".

"Ender's Shadow" was such a genius bit of sequel marketing I'm surprised George Lucas didn't think of it himself. "Ender's Shadow" is about one of the characters from "Ender's Game" and even retells a lot of the events from "Ender's Game" from the different point of view. You'd expect it to be derivative or boring, but it wasn't. Orson Scott Card managed to make it interesting and did an excellent job showing just how two people can view the same situation differently. He even managed to give the ending (which I didn't like in "Ender's Game") the significance it deserved. There were only a couple of things I didn't like about this book: one, it seemed like Card was trying too hard to make one of the characters the nemesis of future books, and two, I couldn't relate to Bean (the main character). Bean is a young genius with a photographic memory and seems to constantly seek acknowledgement. He's exactly the sort of person I wouldn't care to be around. He's also extremely introspective for a nine year old (but maybe that's why he's a genius and I'm not). Anyway, it was a good book and got me interested enough to start "Shadow of the Hegemon" (the second book in the Bean series).

Then I read something completely different, Terry Pratchett's "The Truth". If you've ever read any of Terry Pratchett's books then you know what I mean. "The Truth" was very funny. There were more than a few times when I laughed out loud, even on the airplane. I did notice that occasionally I had a problem with how he phrased something, but the book was still enjoyable nonetheless.

I Take It Back

Remember when I said get your own Playboy, well I take it back. I finally got a look at the Tia Carrere layout and it sucked. You might as well just look at bad scans of it since they aren't much better than the actual pictures. (Of course I'm still not going to provide those scans.)

12/6 - Friday

Restaurant: Morimoto (Philadelphia, PA)

Normally a restaurant review from a trip would only be a part of that particular trip's page, but Steve asked me for my review of Morimoto, and if he can accommodate me with a Japanese Playboy (which he hasn't yet) then I can accommodate him with my Morimoto review. Basically the next paragraph is a recap of a couple of entries I've already written, but if you're a late comer this will keep you from having to do a search for every entry with "Morimoto" in the title.

Lynn was flipping through a Food & Wine magazine and saw a little blurb that about Morimoto's restaurant in Philadelphia (named Morimoto). She had me make reservations on the night that would turn out to be our one year anniversary. When I first heard that the Iron Chef opened a restaurant in Philly I was excited by the prospect of eating there, but after reading quite a few so-so reviews of the restaurant it sounded like we had a reservation with disappoint. I didn't want to have disappointing food on our anniversary, but I decided to stick with the reservations and just try the restaurant out for ourselves.

Our reservations were at 8pm and we promptly arrived early. [That's an intentional play on words in case you missed it.] As soon as we walked up to the yellow glass doors of the restaurant I really started getting excited about the meal. I spoke to the hostess and she told us it would take them a couple of minutes to get our table ready. I didn't mind because it gave me a chance to take in the ambience. The dining room was long and open with a row of two person tables against either wall and two rows of four and six person tables in the middle. In between the tables were low walls made of frosted glass that were eminating a soft blue light. All of the blue light gave the restaurant a very cool feel. The ceiling was made out of light wood flooring and it undulated all the way to the back of the restaurant where the sushi bar was located.

A very cute girl checked our coats and we were seated at one of the small two person tables along the wall. I examined the table and noticed that it was made of frosted yellow glass, and there was a little frosted glass lamp in the center of the table that looked like some sort of vibrator. Both me and Lynn found the lamp amusing, but it later turned out to be a pain in the ass since it couldn't be moved, and it got in the way while we were trying to share food. The Jetsons style chairs we were sitting in also couldn't be moved, which kept frustrating Lynn as she would forgot they couldn't move, and kept trying to move closer to the table every once in a while.

Our waitress came by and gave us both a couple of menus. She was wearing all black. I hate it when the wait staff wears all black. It's like the restaurant is trying so hard to convince you that they're hip that they force their waitrons to dress like coffee house poets. Anyway, we sat and looked and looked at our menus, getting our order together. There were a lot of things we wanted to try so it took us a while. When the waitress came to take our food order she told us they were out of the drunken shrimp. That was disappointing since both me and Lynn wanted to try them, but there was another appetizer which didn't make the first cut that I could fall back on. We ending up ordering hamachi [yellow tail] sashimi, otoro [premium fatty tuna] and unagi [fresh water eel] nigiri style sushi, toro tartare, dote nabe, tempura with gorgonzola sauce (which I've been dying to try since I first watched Morimoto make it—on the one of the all-time great Iron Chef episodes—during the Millenium Battle and heard all the tasters rave about), ramen soup, house green salad, the New York strip steak, and a carafe of Morimoto ginjo sake. The waitress warned us that it was a lot of food, but we know what we're doing, and that sounded just about right.

As me and Lynn sat there waiting for our food, we were talking and immediately noticed how loud the room was; a side effect of the completely open room design. In addition to the room being too loud I didn't think the music playing fit the theme of the restaurant very well, but at least it wasn't very noticeable. There was a distinctive drum and bass song that I liked though. I heard the song again about 40 minutes later. I ended up hearing the song a total of about four times while we were there! They should change the damn cd every once in a while.

While we sat there the blue walls began shifting color and turned green. After the walls turned green I asked Lynn what effect she thought the architect was going for, and she said something about being underwater. That was the impression I got too. There were long, wavy, oblong sculptures coming out of the wall that gave the impression of turbulent water, and the ceiling definitely looked like one long rolling wave. At the end of the night, as we stood at the entrance waiting for Lynn's dad to pick us up, I noticed the sound of waves crashing. I guess the architect was successful in giving the feeling of being underwater, but where do yellow frosted glass tables fit into that?

As the night went on the walls changed color about every 15 minutes from blue, to green, to red, to purple, but after the food arrived we didn't really notice it. My favorite color was green because it reminded me of the color of the Caribbean Sea when I stayed in Placencia for a couple of days. Lynn preferred the blue (since it's her favorite color), and she totally didn't like the red.

Our carafe of Morimoto ginjo sake arrived, and it was in a bamboo stem with little cups also made out of bamboo stems. It was a pretty elegant presentation, and the sake actually tasted good too. It as a little dry, had a bit of sweetness, and a good flavor. We both enjoyed it.

Our sushi, sashimi, and toro tartare all arrived at once. The unagi and otoro were mine and the hamachi was Lynn's. The unagi was delicious, but nothing significantly better than what I get in Phoenix. The otoro consisted of mostly very light pink (almost white) fat with small (dime size) bits of tuna meat embedded in it. It was my first time eating otoro and I had a hard time deciding what it tasted like. It was almost tasteless at first, with a long, mild tuna finish. It was alright. Lynn said the hamachi tasted fresher than the hamachi in Phoenix so score one for Morimoto. The toro tartare was interesting. It was minced toro and fried scallions topped with olestra caviar and served in a tasty soy based sauce with fresh grated wasabi on the side. The tuna with the sauce had a different flavor than the straight otoro; it was sort of potato-ish with a tuna finish. The caviar added a fishy, briny start that I could've lived without. The fried scallions added a little sharpness to the flavor and a nice texture; they were a great addition. The wasabi was very necessary to give it all a little spark, but getting the proportions right was a little difficult. My perfect version of the tartare would be the toro and wasabi mixed together, topped with fried scallions, and served in that sauce. It was still a nice experience the way it was, but I don't think it was $26 nice.

Next the hot appetizers came out; the dote nabe and Morimoto tempura with gorgonzola sauce. I hated the tempura AND the sauce. The tempura was bad; it wasn't that light or crisp, and the pieces were too big. Tempura should be in proportion so you get the texture of the tempura and the flavor of the item much like chocolate truffles should be a proportion so that you can taste the filling and the chocolate. The sauce was horrible. I love gorgonzola and I wouldn't have known that's what it was unless it said so on the menu. Naturally Lynn thought the tempura and the sauce were both really good. The dote nabe was a real surprise. The sauce had an earthy, almost chocolate flavor to it that was so tasty that it even made poached oysters taste half-way decent. (The proof is Lynn actually ate three oysters, and she really hates oysters.) Besides the oysters there were a couple of pieces of bacon, tofu, and leek(?). I actually liked the tofu better than the oysters, but I didn't have any complaints about the dish. The sauce was so good I almost wanted to eat it straight!

Next our chicken ramen and house green salad were brought out. The soup was great. The thin broth had a wonderful roasted flavor that me and Lynn both loved. I didn't rally care for the actual chicken though; it just didn't seem to taste right in the soup for me. Lynn said she really liked the chicken and ramen noodles, but she wasn't too fond of the massive pile of green onions. I thought the green onions and ramen were both quite good, although I ended up eating around the green onions too. The green salad was mixed greens tossed with a vinaigrette and topped with fried scallions and shaved dried bonito. It was great! The vinaigrette was very tangy, and you can't go wrong with fried scallions. It was my first time tasting bonito (I've had it on okonomiyaki before, but I couldn't taste it with everything else that was on it), and I liked it; it had a sort of bacon flavor. Lynn thought the bonito tasted weird, which was fine since it just meant more for me. The mixed greens were really tasty too; not bitter like the mixed greens at City Tavern.

A waiter and our waitress cleared our plates and silverware, and brought us new plates, silverware, and chopsticks. I looked at the chopsticks and mentioned to Lynn that we wouldn't be needing them unless the steak came chopped. A few minutes later a waiter came out with our pan fried steak (medium rare) and told us that he would prepare it for us. He smeared fresh grated wasabi on top and carved it into pieces that could be easily handled with chopsticks. Who knew that would happen!? We each picked up a piece of the steak and dipped it in a bowl of sauce that was similar to the sauce that came with the toro tartare. It was amazing; one of the best steaks I've ever had (and that includes the steaks I make myself)! The steak itself was crusty from the pan frying, nicely seasoned, and quite tasty on it's own, but add to that the wasabi (which wasn't even hot on the steak), and the dipping sauce (which was so good that Lynn thought it had bonito in it and liked it anyway), and you can see how the steak was amazing.

After all that food I didn't really feel up for dessert, but Lynn wanted one so we naturally ordered two. Lynn choose the coconut wave—which oddly enough didn't actually have any coconut in it—and I ordered the seasonal sorbets (which were litchi, pink guava, and black raspberry). The pink guava was nice, the litchi was too sweet for me (Lynn very accurately remarked that it tasted like rose water), and the black raspberry was just wrong. None of it was worthwhile. I really need to stop ordering sorbets; the only good ones I've had are the sorbettis at Italian restaurants. Lynn's coconut wave was much better. It had chocolate mousse on a hazelnut praline and a puff pastry cup filled with key lime pie filling and cubed kiwi and some other fruit topped with a bit of wasabi. I broke off a piece of the praline and scooped up some of the chocolate mousse. It was delicious; crunchy and smooth, nutty and chocolatey it was very well balanced. I then broke off a piece of the pastry cup and collected some of the key lime filling. It was so good! The filling was the way key lime should be; very tangy and just a little sweet. Lynn got some of the filling with wasabi, and she really liked it. I had to try it too. The key lime-wasabi combination was great! The wasabi gave the dessert a quick kick, then it was gone. Who would have guessed?

In the end Lynn really loved everything (including seeing Morimoto walking around and making the "V for victory" sign when he took pictures with people) and said that if we lived in Philly we'd be regulars there. Even though I enjoyed our meal and I'd love to go back and try the other soups, desserts, and those drunken shrimp, I told Lynn that I'd be a regular at City Tavern (which I totally loved). One thing did make me happy though... I didn't order the $80 per person omakase meal (which I believe is a five or six course meal), and I think we had a better experience picking out our own food than if we let someone else do it. Even better, it was cheaper than the omakase, and included sake. I'm sure me and Lynn will be back at Morimoto the next time we're in Philly, but hopefully the menu will have changed by then. The place has been open for over a year and the menu still hasn't changed; it's unusual for a place that charges that much.

Listen Up: Spoken Word Over Music

Since you're not longer listening in on what I'm listening to during the day I changed the name of the "Listen In" link to "Listen Up", which is appropriate because the only way something will be added to that page is when I've written an entry about stuff for you to listen to.

Today I figured I would put up a couple of songs that seem to come up in the rarest category of music that I run across: spoken word over music. It's not the same as rap in that no one is trying to rhyme or brag about their biznitches, but it's usually a story of some sort that someone else has decided would sound better with background music. (If you listened to that story Sarah Vowell was telling in my 10/23 entry, it's the same thing except that it's not a song.) I hardly ever run across spoken word over music type songs, but the few that I have are a couple of my favorite songs. One is Dj Food "The Ageing Young Rebel (feat. Ken Nordine)" which features an interesting story (with a moral) being told by Ken Nordine over jazz music. Both the story and the music evoke images of a Dick Tracy type world to me. The second song is Midfield General "Midfielding" which features a comedy routine by Noel Fielding. It's an odd routine, and so's the music that goes with it. The last one is David Holmes "Gritty Shaker" which is a little different from the other two because it doesn't tell a story. David Holmes recorded a street entertainer while he was New York City, and used it as a very long introduction for his song. Technically it doesn't really fit the definition I gave for spoken word over music, but I do like "Gritty Shaker" better than another song which fits the definition, The Horrorist "One Night in NYC (Pascal FEOS remix)". The Horrorist song does tell a story, one where the mood is beautifully set by the music, and I like it, but it's not safe for the workplace, and most people probably won't like it.

Anyway, I hope someone—or even better, some people—make use, and enjoy, the "Listen Up" section.

[I removed the "Listen Up" section because no one ever used it.]

12/5 - Thursday

Get Your Own Damn Playboy

I just looked at my site statistics for December and I was amazed how many people found my site while looking for the Tia Carrere pictures in Playboy (which I haven't even seen yet). All I have to say is get your own damn Playboy. I could understand it if it was from an out-of-print magazine, but it's a current issue and like only $6.

12/4 - Wednesday

What happened to my skillz?

I don't know what happened to my domino mojo, but ever since I've returned from vacation I just can't seem to win. Before vacation I was I was killing people. My win/loss ratio was 4 to 1, and that was even after I lost a lot of games to two guys who were cheating at team dominoes. Just to give you an example of how screwed up things have been for me lately, I started a game by playing double 7s (not by choice, but because the game starts with the highest double in hand) when we started a game, and the other guy had to draw about 15 dominoes right off the bat! Seeing that I knew I lost the game, and I even told the guy that I should just forfeit. You may think that having your opponent draw a ton of dominoes at the beginning of the game would a good thing, but it's not. Basically, it gives your opponent all the dominoes they need to ensure that they can score on almost every turn. At the end of that first hand the guy had 220 points (in a game that only goes up to 250), and I lost the game in only a few turns after that. I hope this string of bad luck ends soon; I don't make for a very good chronic loser.

New Year's Eve Dinner

I got my New Year's Eve reservation for Hapa. I can't wait to see what's on the menu.

Sigma SD9 Review

Just in case you forgot about the Foveon X3 sensor and the Sigma SD9, the first camera to utilize it, read DPreview's review. After being reviewed the X3 sensor shows great possibilities (and why the technology is better than the typical Bayer sensor used in current digital cameras), but it's obvious there are also some problems that Foveon need to work out. I'm still looking forward to seeing a prosumer camera with the X3 sensor though.

12/3 - Tuesday

November Site Statistics

Yesterday morning I took a quick look at the site statistics for November. I immediately noticed that traffic was down. I don't have much traffic to begin with so losing traffic was a little depressing. Ok, it was actually a lot depressing. The urge to stop updating my site quickly tried to take advantage of my weakened resolve, but the more I thought about it the more I couldn't. I thought about my unwritten trip pages never actually getting written, and realized how much I actually need to write those. When my memory starts getting hazy (which pretty much starts two days after coming back from a trip) those trip pages serve as my memory. Hell, even writing them helps me remember things. They're a pain in the ass to write, but I enjoy them too much not to write them.

Then I started thinking about other things on my site, and how they're basically here for my benefit too. The cigar reviews and restaurant reviews are definitely for me too; other people possibly finding them useful is only incidental. With all that comprehended I decided I couldn't just stop updating my site, even if people stopped coming. It wasn't until I was driving home that it hit me that maybe the loss of traffic was due to the fact that I was gone for almost a third of the month and warned everybody about it. DUH!

Now for some of the odd search terms people used to find my site for the month of November: "cream messy download nudity", "fighting foodons porn", "girl crapping in guy's mouth", "hiccups in porn", and my personal favorite "whores location in el paso". I don't make this stuff up, and even if I did I'd never think of something as good as whore locations.

The Pad Gaprow is Back!

I had lunch at Bangkok Express today and the pad gaprow was just as good as it normally is. Maybe I had the "B Team" chef the last couple of times?

New Year's Plans

I'm trying to get a reservation at Restaurant Hapa for dinner this New Year's Eve. If you have a good memory (or even a bad one) you may remember that me and Lynn ate at Hapa for New Year's Eve last year and really enjoyed the experience. Now if they could just figure their menu out so that they can start taking reservations.

Italian, PA, and Naples (Chandler, AZ)

In an attempt to relive some of the really great Italian food I had in Pennsylvania, I wanted to find some light Italian food last night. (Actually I stopped by It's About Time for some fried chicken, but they're closed on Mondays leaving me with plan B, Italian.) The Italian I had in PA is much different than the stuff we have in Phoenix; it's actually light and really tasty. I would trade all, but maybe two Phoenix Italian restaurants for one good PA Italian restaurant.

That being my train of thought I remembered there is a restaurant close to our apartment, Naples, that makes one light dish that I totally love: capellini in a tomato cream sauce. The dish is a total surprise since it doesn't have any meat, or anything else to add to it other than the sauce, but the tomato sauce is more than enough to make it an excellent dish. We went to Naples for dinner and when I looked at the menu I was completely disappointed because the capellini in tomato cream sauce was missing. There were a couple of other things that looked good, but they weren't what I had my heart set on. When the waiter came by I told him about the old dish and asked if they could still make it. He said it shouldn't be a problem, but I had my doubts; I wasn't sure the chef would remember how to make the sauce properly. My doubts disappeared when the bowl of pasta was set down in front of me. There wasn't any mistaking the proper light red, but vivid color and heavenly tomato scent of THE tomato cream sauce, and it tasted just as I remembered it; simple, but delicious flavors. I was completely satisfied. Lynn ended up getting one of the items that I thought looked good: ravioli stuffed with squash and topped with a four cheese sauce. I had a couple bites of it and it was a very delicious and well thought out dish. The flavor started with the cheese sauce, but slowly disolved into the squash flavor. It was understated, but comforting at the same time.

Maybe I'd trade all but three Phoenix Italian restaurants for one good PA one.

"A Tobacco Farmer in His Drying Shed"

I walked into my office this morning and it was like Christmas. I saw two large pieces of cardboard taped together and instantly knew what it was. Jack Kurtz had been by and dropped off my print. I took a look at the print, and it is beautiful. Now I just need to figure out how to frame it.

12/2 - Monday

Movie: "Men In Black II"

On the airplane ride back to Phoenix they were showing "Men In Black II". Not really having anything better to do and not actually having watched the movie before it seemed like a good idea. "Men In Black II" was so mindless entertainment. Everything seemed like it just happened regardless of whether it actually made sense or not. How many people do you know who fall in love after talking to someone for five minutes? Anyway, a lot of other things seemed to happen just to exploit the special effects. I'm glad I didn't pay to see this movie.

Comfort Food

After every trip I return from I always seem to immediately seek out some sort of comfort food. Me and Lynn arrived in Phoenix at 9PM and neither one of us were hungry. By 10:30 we both were. Since options are limited after 10 and I wanted something quick so we could watch Iron Chef at 11, I decided to hit In-n-Out Burger. It's funny after eating all that good food on vacation the first thing I eat back in Phoenix is a hamburger, but we never actually ate one hamburger in the eight days we were away. In-n-Out was pretty tasty, but didn't fulfill the real craving I was having: Mexican.

Sunday me and Lynn went to the El Torito at Metrocenter for some modern Mexican food. (I was in the mood for their ultratasty beef fajita salad and Lynn wanted their chicken tortilla soup, and guacamole.) When we were handed menus we noticed that the regional menu changed. El Torito was now highlighting the region of Oaxaca. A couple of the Oaxaca things looked so good that I decided not to order the salad. Instead we got an order of the memelas (three gorditas topped with black beans, a slice of avocado, and either chicken, beef, or vegetables). The beef one was outstanding (I couldn't even begin to describe it), the chicken one was pretty good, and the veggie one was just horrible. Despite the veggie one I was still happy with it. My entree arrived and it was a pork tamale, chicken enchilada with coloradito mole, a beef burro with amarillo mole, and epazote rice. The best thing should have been the beef burro (it had the same tasty beef that was on the beef memela), but the mole totally screwed it up. Everything else was just ok. It was disappointing, but in the end I was still happy having eaten some Mexican. Next time I have a craving for the beef fajita salad I'll stick with the beef fajita salad though.

Movie: "Metropolis"

Before we left for Philly me and Lynn had a chance to see the original "Metropolis". It wasn't as good as I thought it would be. This is only my second Fritz Lang movie, but it's obvious he likes tackling social issues. Well the quote from the movie "there can be no understanding between the hands and the brain unless the heart acts as mediator" should be enough to let you know what it's really about. Unlike the other Fritz Lang movie that I've seen, "M", I found myself getting a little bored and almost falling asleep. I didn't like the book "Animal Farm" either and pretty much avoid proletariat type themes. I thought "Metropolis" was good, but not good enough to overcome it's theme.

I'm Back

Me and Lynn arrived back in town Saturday night. Sunday I tried to get online, but the dialup I use to access the internet was down, and when I tried to dial up using Lynn's computer I found out her telephone line was down so I had to wait until today to state that I'm still alive.

I counted up the pages I wrote while on my trip and it was 18. It may be awhile before that trip makes it online. I do have half of the Portland trip page done though.

11/22 - Friday

Philadelphia Bound

Ok, I'm out of here. The soonest you'll see anything from me will be Saturday the 30th.

11/21 - Thursday

Restaurant: The Culinary Cafe (central Phoenix, AZ)

Where can you get a three course gourmet meal for less than ten dollars? On Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays between 11 and 1 for $7.50 you can get a price fix menu (which gives you the choice of soup or one of two salads, one of two entrees, and one of two desserts) at one of the best kept secrets in Phoenix, The Culinary Cafe at Phoenix College. The food may be made by culinary students, but it doesn't taste that way.

My mom told me about The Culinary Cafe yesterday and today me and Lynn went to Phoenix College for lunch there. When we got there I was surprised because the cafe was set up a lot more elegantly than I expected. There was even a piano player! It looked like we were lucky to get a table. The cafe requests reservations, and it would appear that it's a good idea.

The a la carte menu is limited, but I still found a couple of items that were tempting me away from the price fix menu, but in the end I stuck with the price fix. I had the bibb lettuce salad with grilled vegetables, stuffed pork tenderloin, and pecan pie while Lynn had the same salad, shrimp provencal, and sacher torte. The salad was excellent; it was bibb lettuce, topped with grilled veggies (including mushrooms), and a tomato, garlic, walnut oil infusion. Everything was delicious, even the mushrooms, and seemed well thought out. The only gripe I had is that it could have used a bit more of the oil. I really enjoyed the pork tenderloin and Lynn liked her shrimp provencal. I didn't like the pork tenderloin stuffing (which was wild mushroom and prosciutto, and oddly enough it was the prosciutto I didn't like), but without the stuffing it was great. It was also nicely paired with garlic mashed potatoes and an excellent meat flavored sauce. The only part of the meal that wasn't good was the desserts. The pecan pie had too many pecans and it was served with some sort of nasty sauce, and the sacher torte was way too sweet.

Despite the problems with the desserts I would highly recommend The Culinary Cafe. The price fix menu changes every week, there are some pretty tasty looking items on the a la carte menu if the price fix doesn't appeal to you, and where else you can eat that well for $7.50.

Yep, that's King Slack.

Ok, I'm slacking today.

11/20 - Wednesday

The name is Slack. King Slack.

I've decided that I'm going to take a personal day tomorrow and start my vacation one day early. I won't be back at work until December 2nd.

Don't worry, I'll still be at home writing tomorrow so I won't be a complete slacker.

Actually, part of that time I'll probably be at the Madstone Theater in Chandler watching the 1927 Fritz Lang silent movie "Metropolis". I never thought the rerelease would make it to Phoenix, but I'm glad to see it did. I really liked the anime remake (also named "Metropolis"), and I'm curious to see how the two compare.

Feedback

I love getting this kind of feedback.

Apologetic Hand Gestures

Today I did something really stupid. It wasn't the first time I've done something stupid, and it won't be the last that I do something that I wish I could apologize for, but can't. Today I made a right turn right in front of some guy, and I was lucky he didn't hit me. I wanted to apologize for it (and it's a long story why I did it, but let's just say that I'll be a little more patient in the future), but, not for the first time, I realized there aren't any apologetic hand gestures. We've got hand gestures to say "ok", or "Alright!", and even "Fuck You!", but nothing to say "my bad" or "I'm sorry". I know I hate it when someone cuts me off in traffic, but I think if they had a way of acknowledging the stupidity of the act and to show that it was something unusual or unintentional then I'd feel a lot better about it.

I think the world would be a better place if we had a universal gesture of shitsure shimashita (a Japanese apology that states, "I committed a rudeness"), then anywhere in the world you happen to be you would have at least a couple of things in common with everyone else; the ability to apologize and to have that apology understood. At least then if I unintentionally cut someone off (as occasional happens) I could throw the "my bad" sign and the other driver would know that I wasn't being a dick, just stupid, and we all do stupid things some time.

So I wish I had a hand gesture to recommend as the "the bad" sign, but I don't. I have thought of a couple of requirements for it though: it should be something that you can do with just one hand, it should be easy, and it should be obvious. So any ideas?

[archived comments]

Ken: I tail-gated someone coming off of the freeway and didn't mean to. I pulled along side and held my left hand out. In basketball, and I think this started in college basketball, when a player commits a foul, they hold a hand up.

Steve!: Over here in the Far East people tend to use their right hand, palm flat, and kind of touch their forehead (covering the face) and give a little bow at the same time. Maybe they are really telling me, 'get the HELL out of my country or I'll karate chop you to the forehead, you gaijin bastard!' but I'm pretty sure it's an 'excuse me' gesture.

MissE*: One-handed gesture that means "Urrrps!" -- Hold your left hand to your head in a "pistol to the side of the head" gesture. The wronged driver will nod vigorously if for no other reason than it is what he'd like to do to you himself. He'll understand you know that's his wish.

11/19 - Tuesday

What to drink with cigars? (Part 2 - that I didn't know I had)

Last night after I was done starting a roast in the oven I had about an hour to kill before it was done so I decided to try an Indian Tabac Limited Reserve "Buffalo" that I had received in the mail recently. I'd never tried the "Buffalo" before, but I had tried the "Bison" in the same line, and I was hoping it would have the same type of flavor profile. The "Bison" is what I would call "meaty" and the perfect cigar to smoke before or after you eat beef. (Considering I just threw over three pounds of beef in the oven it seemed like a natural choice.)

We had a case of Coke, but of course, none of it was cold so I decided to try smoking a cigar with a Dr. Pepper for the first time. I smoked my cigar (and enjoyed it a lot) and it turns out that Dr. Pepper actually isn't a bad soda for cigars. It's flavor isn't as good as Coke, but it does have the body I like for cigars (which apparently is more important than flavor otherwise I'd prefer root beer over Dr. Pepper with cigars, but I don't). So now I know, if I can't get my hands on a Coke (and it's happened before) then Dr. Pepper doesn't make a bad substitute. Now if I could just get around to making that beer float...

Pointless Griping

I'm so bored at work right now. I wish it were Friday.

What's happened to my pad gaprow?

The last couple of times I've had the pad gaprow at Bangkok Express it hasn't been it's normal, absolutely delicious self. There's been something not quite right about it. I can't tell if there's a spice missing or if it's just prepared a little differently, but it's definitely not right.

I hope Bangkok Express doesn't go the way of Chang's. Chang's used to be me and my mom's favorite Chinese restaurant. My mom liked everything on the menu, but I only really liked one dish. The hot and sour chicken at Chang's was a masterpiece of cooking that was unknown and unduplicated in Phoenix; crispy chicken in a spicy sort of plum sauce that tasted much better than I could ever explain. Even when I was a kid I liked variety, and I would hardly stick with just one dish, but the hot and sour chicken was different. It was my entire reason for going to Chang's. One day I ordered it and it was in a red sauce. I knew something was wrong. We went back three or four times and the dish was different every time. I'm pretty sure Mr. Chang died, and they were trying to replace him, but none of the replacement chefs knew how to make hot and sour chicken. After that realization I stopped going to Chang's. A year or two later they closed.

The pad gaprow at Bangkok Express holds a very similar place in my heart. Bangkok Express makes other things well, but the dish that I order 9 times out of 10 is the pad gaprow. It's my reason for going there. I'll have to ask them if they have a new cook.

11/18 - Monday

Restaurant: San Carlos Bay (central Phoenix, AZ)

Today me and Long (a coworker, and yes that's his real name) went to Viva Maria for lunch. When we got there there was a sign saying they would be closed until 11:40. That was ok since it was already past 11:30. As we were waiting for 11:40 to roll around I saw someone inside the restaurant fiddling with the sign, and I thought they were opening. It turns out the lady was just changing the time on the sign to say noon. How disappointing. Gordon's warned me that he's driven to Viva Maria a few times only to find them closed. Anyway, we couldn't sit there that long (the noun, not my coworker) and wait for it to open so we had to make other arrangements. We needed someplace somewhat close, and hopefully quick. I was thinking that Barrio Cafe was close, but they aren't that fast. Long suggested San Carlos Bay, which specializes in Mexican seafood, and is just a mile down the street from Barrio Cafe. Well I'm always up for a new restaurant, and I trust Long's taste in seafood so San Carlos Bay sounded like a winner.

San Carlos Bay is pretty indistinguishable from everything else in the neighborhood; it looked exactly like the seven other Mexican places we passed on the way there. I was hoping the food would be more distinctive. At least the restaurant was reassuringly free of any kind of strange fishy smells. (After the old fish I had at Ichi Ban the night before my old seafood awareness was a little greater.)

We sat down and were immediately served chips and salsa, which were pretty decent. I ordered the marinated fish and Long ordered the shrimp and fish in garlic sauce. (Shrimp in garlic sauce [mojo de ajo if I remember the Spanish name for it correctly] is one of the best things in Mexican cooking, and I was highly tempted to order it, but I do believe in having good make up for bad, so I had to have some fish to make up for the sushi at Ichi Ban.) When our food arrived I was impressed; the menu said my fish was going to be hot and spicy, and I could smell the sauce before it arrived. It smelled like a chipolte sauce that at once intimidated you with it's heat and simultaneously attracted you with it's savory smokiness. While I was getting used to the aroma of my food I snagged a shrimp from Long's plate, and I was blown away with how tasty it was. Perfectly grilled shrimp with some nice charred bits, perfectly seasoned, and not a hint of any objectionable odors. The next time I go to San Carlos Bay I'll have to get an order of the garlic shrimp. After the shrimp I was ready to tackle the long filet smothered in chile sauce on my plate. It was spicy, salty, and perfectly cooked. Could it get any better than this? It could. I tried the rice and refried beans and both were quite delicious.

In the end Long cleaned his plate, and even though I was able to finish the entire filet (I did mention that it was huge right?) I, regrettably, couldn't finish off all of the rice and beans. For a place that was our second choice for lunch I was very impressed with their food, and I'll have to come back any time I'm in the mood for Mexican seafood (and as I've learned once you find a good source for a particular type of food you tend to crave it more often).

One final note, when me and Long were sitting at our table and as we walked out I noticed all of the New Times Best of Phoenix awards San Carlos Bay has won. I believe their earliest award was 1994 and their most recent was 2002. The place isn't exactly a secret.

Explanation

I now know part of the reason I write is to keep from getting too bored at work when I can't find any interesting web sites to read. I haven't found much to read in the last week, can you tell?

Packing

This Friday me and Lynn head to Philadelphia for eight days. It should be fun, but packing is going to be a pain for me. It's been over 3 years since I've had to pack a week's worth of clothes (Europe was the last trip I actually went on for over five days), and those were at least warm weather clothes. Philadelphia is cold and wet, which means not only do I need to have a week's worth of shirts, but I also have to have a raincoat and a heavy coat. I could save myself some trouble and just bring my heavy raincoat (trench coat stylie), but that might take up as much room as the two separate coats. Lynn also wants to dress up for our dinner at Morimoto, which is fine, but it does require that I bring a jacket, and probably an overcoat too because of how cold it'll probably be. I can't believe I'm going to be packing all this crap.

It's Official

I forgot to mention that as of last Saturday the wedding date is officially November 15th, 2003. Now hopefully me and Lynn can stand each other that long.

11/17 - Sunday

Cirque du Soleil "Dralion"

Tonight me and Lynn went to Tempe Diablo Stadium to see "Dralion". After "Mystere" in Vegas I wasn't expecting too much, but I was willing to give it a chance. I just figured that if it sucked I would never go near another Cirque du Soleil show (except "O" in Vegas, which is worth a second look despite it's monster ticket price).

Luckily "Dralion" was really good. Both me and Lynn thought it was better than "Mystere"; the acts were more entertaining, and the comedy was better too. I left feeling very good about the show, but I didn't quite feel that it was worth the price I paid for the tickets. Given the choice I'd sit further back for a cheaper ticket.

Restaurant: Ichi Ban (Southern and Rural location in Tempe, AZ)

After "Dralion" me and Lynn were in Tempe and I figured out that I was in the mood for tempura. Since there's only one good tempura place that I know of we headed for Ichi Ban.

We got to Ichi Ban and I ordered a tempura and sushi combo while Lynn ordered teriyaki chicken. Our waitress brought our miso soup, which was pretty good, and then brought out the rest of our food, including a plate of nigiri (a slab of meat laid on rice) sushi. I was disappointed because I pretty much only like maki (rolled) sushi, with the exception of unagi. I tried everything else, and ignored the sushi. The tempura was great as usual, and the teriyaki chicken was good. I looked at the nigiri, and felt bad about wasting my money, so I decided to give the tuna a try. I bit off about a third of the piece of the tuna sushi and spit it out without thinking about it. The tuna tasted old. I had Lynn try the salmon sushi, and she said that it tasted wrong. (She was actually able to swallow her piece of sushi, but she wouldn't go anywhere near it after that.) I told the waitress about our fishy fish (hoping to get the old fish taken off my bill), and the waitress spoke to the sushi chef and he said he used today's fish. Right. That pissed me off. I don't mind paying for food that I don't find tasty, but I hate paying for food that I don't think should have been served.

One other thing that pissed me off was that the waitress said they charge for refills on soda. I've never ordered a soda there, but I'm pretty sure Murray has and they haven't charged him for refills. I'll have to check. Anyway, restaurants that charge for refills are a huge pet peeve of mine. Soda is the second cheapest thing a restaurant can serve you (with only tap water being cheaper) and to charge you TWICE for something they make like over 500% profit on is just outrageous. I don't know if I'll ever be back to Ichi Ban again; kick ass tempura or not there are some things that can't be condoned.

11/15 - Friday

Morimoto

I've been reading reviews of Morimoto and it doesn't look good. It sounds like most of the food served there is merely ok (and expensive I might add). A few good things though: one, I at least know what not to order, and two, I haven't heard anything bad about the dishes I found interesting. We'll see how the meal turns out.

Problem Solved

Lynn liked the location so much she's willing to save enough to pay the difference. She can't save that much normally so she'll be working a lot of overtime. I'm not going to like seeing her fewer hours on Saturday, but I'm glad she's figured out a solution we can both agree on.

11/14 - Thursday

A Photographer and A Gentleman

Jack looked into it and I can get a chemical* print. It's even affordable.

*Chemical. It's jargon for real. Hooray real.

[That was a really bad imitation of the Red Stripe commercial which may have worked in person—although that's really unlikely—I'm sure it totally sucks in writing. You eat Taco Bell for lunch and see how funny you feel. Wait, that works on a couple of levels.]

Sugar/Soy Sauce Rice Crackers

Before I left Gordon's house Sunday, his wife was busy giving me all of the junk food in their house to take home. (They didn't want their kids eating it.) They tried to give me a can of spicy crab chips, but I decided to try them before I committed to actually eating them. I've had shrimp chips before and I was pretty sure that crab flavored chips wouldn't be much better. They weren't. The flavor started really fishy (with maybe a hint of crab to it) giving way to a nice spiciness, but the flavor was pretty powerful, and it wasn't leaving my mouth any time soon. I refused to take them.

One of the items Gordon's wife sent home with me was a package that is written almost entirely in Chinese that only said "rice crackers" in English. I didn't expect much from it, but it turns out the rice crackers have a sugar/soy sauce glaze on them. They're really tasty. I guess that shouldn't surprise me since those sweet rice crackers are my second favorite item (those tasty sesame sticks are my absolute favorite) in those damn trail mix type things, but I guess I never knew there were bigger, tastier versions of them somewhere.

Cool Lyric

"I had a friend once,
he took some acid.
Now he thinks he's a fire engine.
It's okay, until he pisses on your lighter.
Kinda smells,
kinda cool,
kinda funny anyway.

Satan, satan, satan, satan, satan...

I had a friend once,
he took some ecstasy.
Tried to marry me and every one in the room.
He was sort of loving,
kinda caring,
kinda tried to fuck my lazy boy.
It got a bit messy all over the curtains,
arm chair covers, throw pillows, and carpeting.

I'm getting bored.
I'm getting bored.
I'm getting bored.
I'm getting bored.
I'm getting bored.
I'm getting bored.
I'm getting bored.
I'm getting bored..."
-Tool "The Gaping Lotus Experience"

"Wow, that's more than half our budget!"

Saturday me and Lynn looked at a wedding location that Lynn absolutely fell in love with. Too bad they're the most expensive place we've looked at because Lynn can be in love with the place, but we don't have the budget for it. Not even close. Now I'm trying to get Lynn to either figure out a way to get more money or make the wedding at that location cheaper. I've made suggestions, none of which Lynn's liked, so we'll see what happens. We might have a wedding at that location with only 25 people plus the wedding party.

Well That Was Disappointing

I just met with the photographer Jack Kurtz to purchase a large print of the photo I wrote about on 11/8, and it turns out it wasn't a regular (chemical) print, but an inkjet print. I should have known by the more than reasonable price to ask about it, but I just didn't think about it. I guess I'll see if it's possible to get a chemical print.

11/13 - Wednesday

Protein Burning Lethargy (maybe)

I think I figured out the reason I've been feeling so run down lately. Over the last couple of days I've been consuming massive quantities of beef, much more than I normally eat. Carbohydrates are the easiest source of energy for your body to consume, and when it has to switch to burning fat or protein you feel less energetic (anyone who's ever been on an Atkins diet can attest to that). Anyway, I decided it would be a good idea to have something light and veggie for lunch to give my body a rest. Any time I want something that's light I think of Dimonte's Grille for a sandwich and a salad. On the way to Dimonte's Grille I was listening to the NPR program "Here and Now" where I heard someone slam Harry Potter, the story of a guy who sold most of his belongings on EBay and wrote a book about it called "My Life For Sale", and some guy looking for a good meal at Disney's EPCOT Center. All very good stuff, which you can even listen to here.

And speaking of eating too much meat, Erin wrote me a review of the churrasco restaurant (basically unlimited quantities of meat continuously served at your table) Fogo e Brasa in Chandler. I liked it so much that I thought I'd share it.

Restaurant: Fogo e Brasa (southeast Phoenix, AZ) by Erin* (who knows food)

Ate dinner at Fogo e Brasa last night.

It bills itself on it's business card as "Brazilian Steakhouse - All You Can Eat Steak & Salad Bar". This should have been my first clue. I am never satisfied that I have eaten as much as I am charged at an all you can eat restaurant. There are no menus - there is one price per person - $29.97 (beverages and dessert extra). Granted... although this is an all you can eat venue, it is quite upscale and classy. The interior of the room is very crisp white linens and dark wood and subdued track lighting with silent wait staff gliding by invisibly... the acoustics make for an intimate feel and possibly because I was there on a Tuesday evening, it was quiet and just enough people to feel like we weren't alone. The all male wait staff reminded me (in a twisted way) of Hooters wait staff. Efficient, polite and hired for their appearance. Probably also tested for their abilities to glide & hover silently - ready to pounce with a flaming sword of grilled meat the second you swallow the last bite of whatever they last served you. But, I digress..... Let's start at the beginning, shall we?

You arrive - one of 2 visible female staff shows you to your table. A waiter glides in and seats (pulls chair out and scoots chair underneath ass flawlessly) only the females of your party - thickly accented head waiter hands you the wine/spirit list (no prices listed), & places a bread basket of little baked roll balls (yes, baked little balls which he does not describe, but which are garlic powdery and skippable) on the table. He does describe the uses of the wooden spool on your table, points to the salad bar against the back wall telling you to eat as "very, very much as you like" with the spool at the red (stop) position until you are ready for your meat & side dishes, then, asks what beverage you prefer. You have been concentrating so hard on what he is saying (my Spanish speaking companion had a hard time understanding the accent as well) that you haven't even glanced at the wine list. You ask for a moment to review the list. Head waiter stays very near your chair while you do this. Seeing nothing but wine/spirits listed, you ask if they serve other beverages. Head waiter tells you a list of other beverages - none of which you understand, so I asked for water and my friend asked for coca-cola. "Min-errr-i-al or zoda water, madam?" Mineral, I say. ($5 - unknown until bill received - but it was a bottle of my very own). Coca-cola delivered in slender highball glass - ($2.75- refilled at no extra charge). Tap water was not served until asked.

Finally, you are alone blinking at one another feeling a bit worn out. Stash purse under table and head for the salad bar. You see nothing resembling salad. The other visible female staff person hands you a plate and asks if you have any questions about what is served. I never think it's a good omen if you do. I think if you look at a salad bar and can only identify asparagus spears & cold peeled shrimp, it's not a good sign. There was cold (firm) asparagus spears, & cold peeled shrimp with regular cocktail sauce. There were two kinds of fresh mushrooms (button with diced red pepper - then, shitake with diced white onion) served cold in a balsamic vinaigrette. There was a very small bin of shredded lettuce with 4 kinds of dressing found anywhere - nothing especially "Brazilian". There were cold heart of palm spears, chilled goat cheese cubes, cold fettuccine noodles - firm with tiny pieces of ham or bacon - I couldn't tell which, but it was delicious, - raw broccoli florets with pimento shreds in a vinaigrette, 2 other root vegetable looking items in yet another vinaigrette which I didn't try, and whole chickpeas - cold. On to the large silver warming trays! Woo-hoo, I thought! First, (remember I loathe tomatoes) there were cod pieces in a chunky fresh tomato sauce with large pieces of green peppers (I passed - table-mate enjoyed), there were tuna steaks in a chunky fresh tomato sauce with large pieces of green peppers (both of us passed), there was large shrimp with tails curled in a chunky fresh tomato sauce with large pieces of green peppers (I enjoyed - picked out shrimp minus tomatoes & peppers - table-mate passed) and, finally.... HALLELUJAH !!! Steamed mussels in white wine and garlic. I ladled out at least 7 of those babies (which I shared, please) - gorgeous, perfectly done and tasty. You need to know this... it turned out to be the one and only thing I really, really liked at the salad bar but after 2-3 of them, you're done. So much for all you can eat salad bar... Now ----

Rest.... rest.... rest.... watch silent waiters glide over to other table guests with skewers of sizzling meat on swords - listen to what is being served (because some is hard to identify) and make your decision about what looks good and what looks scary... Then - FLIP YOUR SPOOL TO GREEN, BABY !!! Instantly - I mean, these guys HAD to have been right behind us shivering in anticipation of the spool flip - thick accent head waiter slides in with another waiter holding tray of side dishes. These turn out to be four 7 inch long football shaped dishes of 2 things you can really call side dishes and 2 things I call condiments. One dish of white rice - plain, but fluffy. One dish of pinto beans (not spiced, but not needing salt or pepper, either). One dish of spiced up fine breadcrumbs and one dish of finely, teenily diced tomatoes, jalapeńos and onion (waiter did not call it salsa - don't know what he said.) My friend stopped him after the description of the breadcrumbs (waiter called it by name and not in English) and asked what to do with them. Head waiter said to roll red meat (only red!) in them, add the #*%&$+|*!`~* (salsa - I don't care what he calls it) and it is "magnificent". (Turns out he was right about that - it was great). We are first offered 2.5 inch long sausages and pseudo-chicken(?) on a sizzling hot sword. You tell Mr. Beautiful Sword Meat Guy if you'd like this or not. You both pass on the chicken (remembering the food poisoning incident the last time you ate grilled chicken from a foreign food place). You get one sausage when you say yes. He disappears. You now have a 2.5 inch long sausage and rice and beans (sausage is not red meat and no breadcrumbs/salsa dusting is required). As soon as you swallow your last bite of your sausage, Mr. Beautiful Sword Meat Guy appears with a sizzling sword of bacon wrapped white meat turkey pieces. You say Yes, please - you get one morsel. You eat, swallow and he's back with small pork ribs - you say sure and he cuts 3 ribs off expertly onto your plate. They are tender, not seasoned in any way, but succulent. You suck the baby bone... and you sigh. Unimaginably, (since you have not been back to the salad bar - not once, mussels or no mussels) you are getting a bit full. Yet, you are anxious to get cracking on the breadcrumbs/salsa stuff when Voila! He swoops in with beef ribs - You practically beam your happiness! He no longer needs you to answer yes or no upon his arrival - you are intimate with one another as only people who give food and people who take it can be - now, he just starts cutting... He whacks off one 2 inch long beef rib and leaves. You separate meat from bone - roll in the breadcrumbs and sprinkle on the Brazilian "salsa". Delicious! Mr. Beautiful Sword Meat Guy reappears with a dripping flank steak - you nod enthusiastically and he asks you to use your bread tongs (yes, you are given cute little silver mini-tongs to pick your bread balls out of the basket with) to catch the sliced meat he carves just for you. This interaction now between you and the Meat Guy is oddly nerve-wracking - what if you want to use your bread tongs for more bread balls and now, it's greasy? Ah, well - eat your meat... Ambrosia! You try a bite with breadcrumbs/salsa dust and a bite without. Amazingly, you really prefer your red (only red) meat with it. You wish you had more flank steak - then, Mr. Beautiful Sword Meat Guy appears with lamb chops and you suddenly realize if you put one other thing - one more grain of plain white rice in your mouth, you'll die after projectile soilment. You have to stop. You have to tell Mr. Beautiful Sword Meat Guy "no". The look on his face.... breaks your heart. You lay your wooden spool down on it's side - you surrender.

Head Waiter in immediately upon you - hovering, anxious. No dessert? No dessert? You feel a presence behind you - it's another pretty waiter with a tray of sweet things (no prices listed on those either...). You say no, no thank you, no, no, no... Apparently placing your wooden spool on it's side before merely turning it to the red (stop) side gives no chance for dessert guy to proceed. Apparently, I have gummed up the works by not going directly to red side from green side so that desserts can be displayed and you can be dazzled by ultra white teeth cajoling you to try one - even salad bar girl arrives and asks, "No dessert?" -- Noooo, (patting stomach), nooo..... I have cut them off at the pass. I have surrendered without giving them a chance to use their big (dessert) gun. You see - one needs (it is essential, in fact), to have something sweet after all that massive amount of grilled meats according to Head Waiter. We stand united however and decline. We are handed the bill. It reads like this:

Adult dinner x 2
=
$59.94
Soda
=
$2.75
Mineral H2O
=
$5.00
Tax
=
$5.51
TOTAL:
$73.20

We are glad we skipped dessert.

Bottom line: Salad bar sucks unless you like various fish with chunky tomatoes & green peppers. Side dishes are a rip off. Grilled meats are excellent. Service is impeccable and pleasurable to look at. Prices are insane.

Erin*

11/12 - Tuesday

Why do I feel like taking a nap if I've been getting enough sleep?

Damn, I don't have any energy today. That wouldn't be so bad except that I didn't have much energy Saturday, Sunday, or yesterday either. Maybe I've got some sort of rare disease that'll make me lethargic to the point that I just implode one day. (Oddly enough I wouldn't mind it too much if that actually happened.)

I wish I could just sit here and play some dominoes at Yahoo Games.

Mahjong and Seeing Double

Yesterday I went to a barbecue at Gordon's house. I could have swore that he told me it was going to start at noon, so I showed up at 3:15 and I was still the first person there! It turns out Gordon told different people different times; I was told noon, other people one, and some people were never told what time it was. It didn't take very long for other people to start showing up though.

It was pretty fun. Gordon made plenty of good food, and we had a couple of games going. I was waiting for Gordon to teach us mahjong (there were some old Chinese folks playing mahjong indoors, but those weren't friendly games), but while I was waiting I was teaching a few people Screw the Dealer and dominoes. By the time Gordon was free from his cooking duties and started teaching us mahjong I had to leave to pick up Lynn from work (because she didn't get the day off like the rest of us). It doesn't look like I'll ever get a proper mahjong education.

When I got back to Gordon's with Lynn some of the people had already left, and there weren't enough people left to play mahjong. (Those old people never moved the hour that I was gone, and they were still at their games though.) Anyway, me and Lynn did get to chat with Gordon and he showed us his antique cameras. He actually had one I've never seen before; a Kodak stereo 35mm camera. (Since when did they make them for 35mm film!?) In case you don't know a stereo camera is a camera with two lenses that takes two pictures at the same time so you can later view them in a stereoscope and be wowed by the 3-d effect. It's pretty old technology.

I don't know why, but the stereo camera intrigued me. Maybe it's because it has a vertical aspect ratio instead of the normal 35mm horizontal one. Maybe I just think there's some sort of hidden potential there that hasn't yet been explored, but once discovered could make me famous (like Horst Hamann and his panoramic pictures). It beats me, but I'll keep my eyes open for one now.

So I don't know how this went from mahjong to stereo photography, but sometimes life is like that.

11/11 - Monday

Granny's Chocolate Creations and My Search for the Perfect Truffles

On my way back from Portland I grabbed a small box of JaCiva's chocolates. I had heard about JaCiva's on the Food Network show "The Best Of" and they sounded like they knew what they were doing. Their truffles looked pretty good, and I found myself wondering how they compared with the best truffles I've ever had (from La Maison Du Chocolat). It turns out that the chocolate tasted pretty good, but the fillings were too sweet for me. It would seem that the French truffles were still the undisputed champions. (Just for your information, yes, I have tried Godiva, and no, they're not as good.)

The experience with Portland chocolate reminded me that there might be a chocolatier in Phoenix whose truffles could compare. (See's Candy makes excellent nutty chocolates, but their truffles could use some work.) I looked through the phone book and found a couple of chocolatiers who were in my general area. I started with a place called Granny's Chocolate Creations. My instincts warned me that any place that includes "granny" and "chocolate" in the name couldn't be good. Have you ever heard anyone brag about how good their grandmothers fine chocolates are? No, it's usually for things that require a lot less skill, like fudge. Anyway, I ignored my instincts and decided to give it a try. Besides, it was only supposed to one stop out of a couple.

When we got to Granny's Chocolate Creations I was very surprised by their large selection, and basically went nuts. That was the end of my quest for the day as I ordered more chocolate than me and Lynn could probably eat in a couple of days, and getting more chocolate for someplace else would have just been wasteful. I couldn't even wait to get home to try chocolates so I had a couple of pieces in the car. One was a milk chocolate vanilla buttercream while the other was a white chocolate brandy truffle. The buttercream was so sweet that it was hurting my teeth, but I already had it in my mouth so it was too late to spit it out. The white chocolate brandy truffle was decent, but the filling wasn't as smooth as it should have been, and the white chocolate had a funny aftertaste that I associate with cheap chocolate.

We got home, ate lunch, and I was ready to try some more chocolates. They were better now; the chocolate case at Granny's was refrigerated which caused the fillings not to set properly, and a couple of hours at room temperature fixed that problem just fine. (I always think refrigerating chocolate is a bad idea, and screwing up the texture of the fillings is just one of the many reasons.) Anyway, over a period of a couple of days I tried all the chocolate we bought. The only ones I thought were worth eating were the milk chocolate truffles with brandy fillings; everything else was too sweet.

Hopefully next weekend I'll get some chocolates from a couple of other places to continue my quest. I doubt I'll like them that much better since all the truffles I've seen in Phoenix are too big! Instead of being two bites, so you can taste the filling AND the chocolate, they all seem to be about four bites. Maybe I'll save myself the trouble of driving around and just order a box from La Maison Du Chocolat after all.

11/10 - Sunday

El Tlacoyo (Tempe, AZ) or "Ok, maybe my coping skills aren't what I thought they were."

Saturday I went to El Tlacoyo by myself for lunch. I'd never been there for lunch during the weekend before so it was a little different than I was used to. For one, they leave a basket of chips and a couple of salsas on the tables where no one is sitting at. When I saw it I thought the tables were occupied. Even after I found out about it, I didn't feel comfortable with eating the salsas. Something about the possibility of someone else double dipping their chips in my salsa was enough to put me off of it.

As I was sitting there, and since I didn't have anything better to do, I was listening in on conversations. Everyone was speaking Spanish. It wasn't unexpected since El Tlacoyo is a real Mexican restaurant. What was weird is that even though I've been one of the only English speaking people in restaurants dozens of times before this time was different. I was by myself and I didn't have anything better to do than to sit there and think about how uncomfortable I felt. I thought maybe it's a good thing I didn't go to Japan by myself like I'd planned. Of course I was going to school to learn Japanese, but my mastery of Japanese wouldn't have been that much better than my current mastery of Spanish, which is not that good.

I forgot all about my discomfort when my food arrived. I ordered a carne asada torta and it was one of the best ones I've ever had. The bun was all buttery and it had mayonnaise spread on the top bun, and refried beans spread on the bottom one. In between the two where pieces of carne asada, avocado, queso fresco, and something I've never seen on a torta before, a chipolte chile. The combination was amazing, and even the refried beans were tasty.

After I finished my lunch I made a quick retreat from the restaurant. I hate eating by myself anyway, but eating by myself with wait staff that I can't really communicate with is more than I think I'll ever be comfortable with.

What to drink with cigars?

I'd been in the mood for an Indian Tabac Limited Reserve "Bison" cigar for a couple days, but I never got around to actually smoking one. Saturday night I decided to make some time and even try something new (and it wasn't the beer float). Someone on Herfer's Paradise asked what sort of drinks people like with their cigars, and people responded with their favorites. I knew I preferred Coke, but I was open to the possibility of a new cigar drink and there were suggestions for things that I had not tried before. Some of the drinks I dismissed outright because I don't drink them at all (like coffee), or I just didn't think the combination of a particular drink and a cigar would be good (like beer and a cigar). There were two responses that I thought sounded interesting though, and as luck would have it I had them both on hand. One was root beer and the other was port. The port I had was the excellent "Galway Pipe Port" I wrote about on the alcohol page, and the root beer was Barq's, one of my favorites for making floats. I also had my favorite cigar smoking drink, Coke, on hand for comparison.

I've had the "Bison" cigar a couple of times before and the impression it always makes on me is "beefy", even though it doesn't actually taste like beef. I was curious to see how the port would stand up to that sort of heavy flavor. After I lit up my cigar I tried the root beer first. It didn't really do anything for me; I thought the root beer was a little too thin and sugary to really compliment the cigar. Next I tried the Coke. I liked it (no surprise there), and I could taste how the cigar changed the flavor of the Coke. I think that's why Coke is probably the only soda that would work with a cigar for me; all the different ingredients that go into making the complex flavor of Coke gives a cigar a multitude of different ways it can be influence the flavor, and it's body is a little denser than the average soda. Last but not least I tried the port. I couldn't really taste the port, so it wasn't a good choice.

When I was finished with my tasting experiment I returned back to my Coke, until it was finished. I still had about half the cigar to smoke, and I was feeling too lazy to go back inside and get another Coke, so I tried the root beer again. The root beer was much more interesting this time around; the cigar gave the root beer a distinct peanut butter aftertaste. I thought the peanut butter flavor was very cool, and I continued drinking the root beer until that was finished too. At that point I decided that it was time to stop smoking the cigar, but I was happy that I tried the new drinks. Now if I can just get brave enough to try that beer float...

Chandler Art Festival

Well I chose to go to the Chandler Art Festival yesterday instead of the one in Fountain Hills. Mistake. It was lame. I thought they'd have streets closed off, and art, and music, and food, but it was smaller than every swap meet I've ever seen. I would have gone to the Fountain Hills art festival afterwards, but it was really overcast because of the dark clouds in the north (right over Fountain Hills) so it just didn't seem like a good idea.

Me and Lynn (and DJ if I remember to invite him) will probably head up to the Fountain Hills art festival today.

11/8 - Friday

Maybe Morimoto can make us heart shaped sushi?

In two short weeks me and Lynn will be in Philadelphia to spend Thanksgiving with her family. Just the other day Lynn was flipping through Food & Wine magazine when she noticed that Iron Chef Japanese, Morimoto, has opened his own restaurant in Philly. You know I can't turn down an opportunity to dine at the restaurant of one of the Iron Chefs (although I'd always thought I'd be eating at Sakai's restaurant in Tokyo first) so today I made reservations for Wednesday the 27th. I didn't think anything about the particular date Lynn chose for us to go there since this is her trip, and she's planning all the food and entertainment. Well, it turns out she did have a reason for choosing the 27th; it's our first anniversary. I can't think of any better way to spend it.

[Just in case you don't know me, the title is a joke.]

Restaurant: Barrio Cafe (central Phoenix, AZ) [again]

I decided to have lunch today at Barrio Cafe. I really wanted the tamal de la Huasteca, an order of churros, and to find out who the photographer was who took the picture of the old guy in the tobacco curing barn. (I know I could have called about the last thing, but why waste an excuse to eat somewhere I like?)

True to my impulses (and I'm far more true to them than I should be) I ordered the tamale with red mole, and a side salad. I ordered the tamale with the red mole because I swore I had the black mole last time, but after going back and reading one of my older reviews I see it was the red. I should be disappointed with my memory, but it does give me yet another excuse to eat there again. It took forever for them to bring out my tamale, but there was no doubting it was fresh. I definitely prefer the wait to the tamale I had last time, which tasted like it had been sitting. It was once again absolutely delicious, and even a little larger than it was last time. After the tamale I tried the salad which also seems to have been tweaked a little. The balsamic vinegar dressing was pretty sweet, with the occasional large dose of sour to remind you it's still vinegar, and there weren't any bitter greens. I enjoyed both the tamale and the salad better this time.

After we were done eating, the person I was with decided they were too full to go for an order of churros. I swear I need to find someone who will save space for churros! Anyway, I found out the photographer's name before I left and commenced to looking him up as soon as I got back to work. His name is Jack Kurtz, he's a staff photographer for the Arizona Republic, and the picture he took was in Cuba (click here to view the actual picture). Normally I don't care for journalistic photography, but the truth is I couldn't tell he was a photographer for a news publication and he seems to have a real talent for getting good people pictures.

Restaurant: Barrio Cafe (central Phoenix, AZ)

Ok, it appears Barrio Cafe is becoming downright trendy. Last night me and Lynn went there and the dining room we walked into was completely full. We made our way to the bar, and that was full too. I was worried that we probably wouldn't get seated immediately. (There were a couple of guys with guitars there, and they were putting on a good show, but I hate standing around waiting.)

As it turned out they filled the one dining room, but the other was fairly empty. I guess the people at the bar were just there to drink; with the sangrias they serve I can understand that. The menu at Barrio Cafe changes every couple of months so they had a new menu for us to look at. It was basically the same old menu with a couple of new additions. One of the new additions is a pozole verde soup that Lynn thought sounded good, and ordered. It came and I didn't really like it. I'm not familiar with pozole so I don't know if I don't like pozole at all, or just didn't like this particular version of it. It was an interesting soup in that it tasted sort of like an authentic Mexican soft taco (pork, corn tortilla, and onion with some chopped cabbage and radish thrown in for good measure, and a squirt of fresh lime), but the broth was too thin for my tastes. There are a couple of soups with thin broth (like Vietnamese pho) that I enjoy, but more often than not I like my soups thickened with cream or coconut milk. Since I didn't really care for the soup that means that Lynn totally loved it.

For my dinner I had the enchiladas del Mar, which were blue corn cheese enchiladas topped with scallops, crab, and shrimp, and one of the best cream sauces I've had in a while. There was also a little pico de gallo salsa on top which seemed to add just the right amount of sharpness on occasion. I loved almost every bite and couldn't help but do the "happy food dance" more than a few times. Lynn went with the special for the night; a grilled halibut with a hibiscus sauce, and served with spicy fideo. Her piece of halibut was a huge filet, but I noticed that it was missing the fideo. I don't know why, but Lynn's food usually seems to have some sort of problem whenever she goes to Barrio Cafe, but this was pretty minor and easily corrected. Her fish was delicious, and since it was a long filet there were all sorts of crispy edges to eat. The sauce went with it nicely too; it had a mild sweetness which complimented the fish nicely. The fideo was a little soupy, and spicy, but it was topped with chopped parsley which ruined it. Even if the parsley wasn't ruining the fideo I wouldn't have really cared for it anyway. It was too soupy for my tastes, and I like my fideo firmer too. Lynn also hated the parsley, but she did enjoy the fideo. No surprise there. Lynn remarked that she's finally found an entree to love at Barrio Cafe, but it's a special so she'll probably never see it again. Even though I liked the fish I couldn't have eaten it as my entree; halibut gets old to my taste buds rather quickly.

I was hoping we would have enough room left to get an order of the cajeta filled churros for dessert, but we were unfortunately too full. Me and Lynn had looked at all the paintings in our dining room while we were waiting for food, but I was curious as to the artwork in the other dining room, so on our way out we looked around. On the walls were pictures from some Latin American country I couldn't identify. Lynn liked one a lot, but I didn't care for it. As we were looking I saw a picture of a weathered old man standing in a barn filled with bundles of leaves hanging from sticks. I know a cigar tobacco curing barn when I see one, and this picture spoke to me. Lynn knew what it meant as soon as I pointed the picture out to her and she said, "You have to get it." I agreed, unfortunately the dining room was too full for me to get close to the picture, or any other picture, so I don't know what the artist is charging for them. I'll find out soon enough though, and hopefully it's a fair price. I'd love to have that picture in my future study, hanging above my humidor.

11/7 - Thursday

Cool weather, must be art festival season again.

This weekend Chandler is having it's very first art festival and Fountain Hills is having one of it's arts festivals that I've been going to for years now. I don't know which one I'll be going to, but I do live in Chandler...

Restaurant: Ichi Ban (Southern and Rural location in Tempe, AZ)

Today I had lunch at Ichi Ban, and man was it good. They really do have the best tempura! I was worried that they might not since the last time I was Ichi Ban the only piece of tempura I had was the broccoli, but I ordered a teriyaki beef, tempura, and California roll combination, and the tempura was impressive. Every piece, from the shrimp, to the onion, to even the mushroom (and you know I hate mushrooms right?), was super tasty. The only piece I didn't really care for was (what I assume to be) the sweet potato; it didn't really have any kind of flavor. As for the rest of my combination lunch the teriyaki beef was ok (I should have learned from the last time I had udon there, but I can be a slow learner sometimes), and the California roll was actually pretty good. I'll have to remember to add Ichi Ban to my (still nonexistent) list.

Listen Up: Spreading the Amon Tobin Love

It occurred to me that some people probably don't know who Amon Tobin is, so comparing Bonobo to him doesn't mean anything. Well today on the "Listen Up" page I've included an Amon Tobin sampler. Most of the songs I selected are off of his new album "Out From Out Where" (which I love), but it also includes songs from other albums.

The first song is "Back From Space", which is a nice introduction to Amon Tobin's style. The song starts like a dreamy movie soundtrack, but before long the skittery drums of jungle start running over the track. Eventually the dreaminess gives way to grindy techno, and then comes full circle and finishes like a song used for open credits. Next is "Nightlife", from his album "Permutation", which starts with dreamy orchestral sounds that end up playing out over a jungle beat. It's an amazing combination of the analog and artificial, which Amon Tobin does a lot. Slowing down from jungle speeds to something a lot more mellow is "Slowly", off the "Supermodified" album. I prefer the more mellow tunes, and this is one of the better ones. Following "Slowly" is "Melody Infringement" (from some Ninja Tune compilation). It's one of the few Amon Tobin tracks that actually has vocals. I love the violins in this song. Found on yet another Ninja Tune compilation is "Down & To The Left" which seems like a mix between a movie soundtrack and a jazz band jamming at a club. I usually enjoy the unlikely combinations Amon Tobin pairs together and "El Wraith" isn't any different. This time it sounds like a mix between a movie soundtrack and a Middle Eastern song, it's hard to explain. Then for something different is another track from "Supermodified", "Natureland". It's a mellow orchestral/jazz combination that makes me think this is what dub would sound like if it were made using classical instead of reggae. Just so you don't fall asleep I start throwing faster songs in again. "Four Ton Mantis" is evil, evil, evil, but not in your standard evil way. It's like what you'd hear if you looked over your shoulder, found yourself literally being chased by a 4 ton mantis, tried to get away, thought you lost it, found out you didn't, really lost it this time, then feeling the relief knowing that you weren't going to die at the hand of some very large pincers; it's very aptly named. Every time I hear this song I think about Ryan and his "Predators of the jungle" dance. "Proper Hoodige" is a thumpy, grimy, dramatic track that also features all sorts of squiggly electronic noises. When I listened to "Out From Out Where" the first time this is the track that made the biggest impression. Last, but not least is "Marine Machines", another dramatic song that makes liberal use of squiggly electronic noises. While most of Amon Tobin's other songs feature string instruments, this one is full of menacing horns. It's one of the most unique songs you'll ever hear.

So hopefully there's at least one person who shows interest in these music things, and actually has a fast enough internet connection to make use of it. If not, then this will be the last special music type thing I'll be doing.

11/6 - Wednesday

One Shot

The words I like to hear the most at work these days: "the meeting's canceled".

11/5 - Tuesday

Listen Up: Head Bobbing

Today I've been listening to Bonobo and Prefuse 73 (the two djs I saw in Portland that I really liked) all day trying to figure out if either of their albums are worth buying. To my surprise, since I liked Prefuse 73's show just a little better than Bonobo's set, I really like Bonobo's stuff while I think Prefuse 73's album is just ok. I've decided to spread the love by putting some of the songs I've been listening to on the "Listen Up" page. The first two are the Prefuse 73 songs that I like the most. I didn't even bother to keep most of the other songs from his "Vocal Studies and Uprock Narratives" album. I like almost every song on Bonobo's "Animal Magic" album so I had a hard time picking out the songs I like the most. "Kota" and "Sugar Rhyme" are both really good trip hop songs, while I think "Shadowtricks" is a cool Amon Tobin type downbeat track, and "Dinosaurs" is my favorite, which I think sounds like a slightly less crazy Amon Tobin song. I threw in the Punjabi MC bhangra track because it's one of the crazy tunes that Bonobo played in his set. (He also played a really cool track with all sorts of video game noises in it that I'd like to find, but since I can't really download music at work and Noah doesn't have any idea what the song is I'm pretty much out of luck.)

I hope your internet connection is fast enough to listen to the tracks since they're all worthwhile. (Make sure you have Java turned on too since it won't work without it.)

In-N-Out Burger Answers

I found some answers to my In-N-Out questions/issues recently: one, thanks to genex's In-N-Out Burger secret menu I now know you can order the fries well done so they are better than just ok, and two, when you're ordering in the drive-thru if you say you're eating in the car you get a box and if you say you're not eating in the car they give you a bag. I prefer the box whether I'm eating in the car or not.

Now I just need to know how to order a shake so it doesn't suck and I'll be completely set.

Back to Work [addendum, again]

I was hoping that the remodel of our lobby at work would have actually been completed by it's deadline of last Friday, but I still have to go to work through the rear entrance. Too bad I couldn't have been sick even longer.

[I just found out that today is the last day we all have to come in through the back entrance. The lobby will once again be fit for regular traffic tomorrow morning.]

11/4 - Monday

Back to Work [addendum]

Some people were worried about my health and some thought I got a different job. My boss walked up, asked what I had, and when he heard the flu he just sort of walked away. I guess he was disappointed that it wasn't exotic or something. Glad to know he cares.

From Dilbert

Wally: Lately, I've been feeling a lot of pressure to do work.
Boss: Wally, do you realize this is your job?
Wally: There - that's exactly what I'm talking about.

At Least The Kalbi Is Better

This last weekend we were in the mood for some grilled scallops so we went to dinner at Arisoo, the best Korean restaurant on the east side. We immediately noticed that they were installing a sushi bar when we walked in. After being seated we also noticed that the menu changed. The boneless short ribs, which were the best thing on Arisoo's menu, were conspicuously absent. Reluctantly we ordered the kalbi (the not-so-boneless short ribs). I looked around trying to spot what was responsible for the menu change, but nothing looked really out of the ordinary (accept, of course, for the sushi bar being installed). Lynn finally spotted the proof I was looking around for on our table; my package of chopsticks had the name "Takamatsu" printed on them. Once she noticed that it was real easy to spot "Takamatsu" on the place mats too.

My favorite Korean restaurant on the east side was bought by my favorite Korean restaurant on the west side. I still can't help but mourn the loss of Arisoo though. Takamatsu is one of my favorites, but I also appreciated the strengths of Arisoo: the extensive barbecue menu, the boneless short ribs that didn't taste a thing like kalbi, the slightly sweet potato condiment that we always hoped would be served because it was better at Arisoo than any other Korean restaurant we've ever been to, the other condiments that I've only ever had at Arisoo that expanded my breadth of food experience, and the little cup of slightly sweet rice water stuff they used to bring at the end of the meal. Arisoo was the first Korean food experience that I actually understood, as opposed to my first true Korean experience in France when I was just hoping that none of the items we had ordered meant "cow brains" in French. It was like an old friend, and it will be missed.

At least I get to console myself with the superior kalbi and bool kogi of Takamatsu, and that does help a lot.

Site Statistics

I looked over my site statistics for October and there wasn't anything really interesting. Traffic is still going up, but not by much. Oh well, at least it's not down. Anyway, the second most popular search term for finding my site was "my wife doesn't know i take nude pictures of her".

Please.

Actually, if you want access to the nude pics send $40 to my Paypal account. *grin*

*poof*

This weekend I think we decided that instead of serving champagne at our wedding we'll serve tawny port. Me and Lynn have been drinking at lot of different types of champagne lately and even though I can drink champagne, I don't like it that much. Even when I do find the rare champagne I actually want to drink more than one glass of, the carbonation in the champagne ensures I'll get a throbbing headache. Even though I've only had one tawny port, I find the flavor more to my liking (sweet and complex), I like the texture better, and the alcohol doesn't have the same negative affect on me that wine alcohol normally has. Finally, tawny port is Lynn's thing; it just seems fitting (which is why I suggested it).

Not long after our discussion about tawny port and the wedding I tried to break our engagement. Lynn did something extremely inconsiderate on Saturday (which I called her on immediately) that we got resolved, but I believed that in the future Lynn would do other related things that would have caused me even more grief so I let her know that it was unacceptable in the most obvious way possible since being not-so-subtle wasn't working. Telling her that I didn't want to marry her made an impression. We worked it out to a mutual satisfaction.

I wish I didn't have to resort to coercion, but I think that may be that last time it'll ever come to that. At least I hope so.

Back to Work

After calling out sick for about a week and a half I'm back at work. At least I'll be updating more often again. ; )

And no, I didn't have anything serious to call out for, although last week wasn't the best week for me. I'll try to explain some of it later.

10/31 - Thursday

Fast Food (I can't bring myself to title it restaurant): In-N-Out Burger (Chandler, AZ)

Over the weekend I had to sit through Noah and Joan's conversation about how great In-N-Out Burger is, even though I didn't care to hear it. I'd never had an In-N-Out Burger before. I went there once, found out they don't serve bacon on their burgers, and left. I'm a big fan of the bacon cheeseburger, and didn't feel like eating at a place that didn't serve one at the time. Then I never bothered going back.

Anyway, after listening to Noah and Joan effuse about the burgers like they were being paid for their infomercial testimonials, I decided to give In-N-Out a try. (I guess it worked.) I found an In-N-Out and ordered a Double-Double animal style (extra sauce and sauteed onions), fries, and a strawberry shake. Would they be as good as two people who don't seem very particular about food would attest to? Well, I was in the drive-thru (and sitting there for what seemed like forever) and the first thing they gave me was the strawberry shake, so, naturally, I tried it. Have you seen that Jack in a Box commercial where the guy is talking about "fake shake" and how you don't want to get it anywhere near your mouth? He was talking about the shakes at In-N-Out. Lynn suggested I just give it back to the drive-thru guy to throw away. Nah, I can throw away my own crappy shakes.

Eventually they gave me the grease stained box with my, hopefully not too greasy, burger and fries, and I was on my way home. The two sips of shake were actually making me queasy so it's a good thing I got home quick enough to eat something to get rid of the feeling. I tried the fries and they were ok. I know they're fresh, but they just didn't have that crisp texture to them that I like. Oh well, I don't really care for fries anyway. I do however care for burgers. I was surprised to find out that the sauce on the burger was thousand island dressing. Bonus! Thousand island dressing is the only reason I like the Big Mac. That combined with good meat, sauteed onions, and a hamburger bun with crispy edges made for a damn tasty burger. It didn't taste as good as the Southwest burger from The Barbecue Company, or the bbq cheeseburger at Tommy's Burger Place, but it was much better than the usual fast food places. I'll be looking for an In-N-Out when my other places aren't available (like late at night for instance). And no need to remind me to avoid the shakes, I'll remember.

One odd thing though; when I placed my order at the drive-thru the guy asked me if I was going to be "eating it in the car". Is there another option? Do people routinely place their orders at the drive-thru then walk in? I was too baffled to say anything other than the very obvious yes. I'll be sure to ask Noah if I misunderstood some sort of In-N-Out drive-thru etiquette thing or what.

I've Got To Hand It To Them

I just flipped through December's issue of Playboy and saw something I thought I wouldn't see in a million years, or at least my lifetime. Ever since I ditched school one day and watched "Wayne's World" the movie, I've been in love with the exotic beauty of Tia Carrere. She been the reason I've been willing to watch crappy b-movies (like "Showdown in Little Tokyo" where they used a cheap body double who looked nothing like her) and even the television show "Relic Hunter". Well to my disbelief Tia Carrere is going to be in January's issue of Playboy. This is why I have subscription. Playboy may not take the most explicit photos, but they do have enough class to get women who would otherwise not pose nude.

10/29 - Tuesday

Restaurant: Rockfish (Chandler, AZ)

Sometimes you just feel the need for soup. One of places I think of for soup is Rockfish. Their creamy jalapeno soup is just the type of soup I go for; comforting creaminess, chunks of something to chew on, and a tingle that reminds your taste buds that they're still alive. Me and Lynn had a craving for soup and we were off to Rock Fish.

When we got there Lynn had a margarita. It was made with Jose Quervo (which I despise), but more importantly it was also made with lime juice. The lime juice guaranteed that the margarita would have to be above average no matter what kind of tequila they used, and it was.

Both me and Lynn ordered the creamy jalapeno soup and it did not disappoint. It was just as tasty as the first time, and it was even a little spicier (which endeared it even more to me).

For dinner Lynn ordered the grilled scallops and I had the stuffed baked fish (tilapia with a stuffing of crab, shrimp, and sausage on top). Lynn's scallops were just a little overcooked, but they were still tasty as hell, with or without the very delicious champagne butter sauce. I enjoyed my fish, and the stuffing, even though the stuffing obliterated the taste of the fish. (I ended up eating the stuffing separately.) The entree came with rice pilaf and a cold vegetable salad. I didn't care for the rice pilaf, but I like my fish with mashed potatoes so no big surprise there. The vegetable salad was a surprise though. The vegetables were julienned raw, tossed with a light dressing, and chilled. Me and Lynn hated it. One, we weren't expecting it to be cold, two the vegetables were chopped up too thinly to enjoy the flavor, and three, the dressing they tossed it in was so light that you couldn't even taste it. The waiter came by and asked us what we thought of it, and Lynn told him. To our surprise he was actually interested and asked me if I would prefer something else. I said yes and he came back with some cooked asparagus. They reminded me of the long beans at P.F. Chang's; they were nicely cooked with garlic and other spices. I enjoyed them.

For dessert we had a slice of key lime pie. Me and Lynn both like our key lime pies tart, and this one was very sweet. Once again our waiter came by and asked how it was and once again Lynn told him what he thought. He offered to take the pie off the bill, but I told him not to. I didn't think it was right for the restaurant to pay for something that wasn't horrible or wrong, just not to our particular liking.

Anyway, both me and Lynn were impressed with our waiter and we're still impressed with the jalapeno cream soup (which I would recommend to anyone except only those most sensitive to pepper).

The Short Version

Thursday I broke down and finally bought some new cigars. I didn't spend that much money and it'll be the last time I buy cigars this year (except for when I'm in New Orleans) so it's ok. I also noticed that someone side swiped the back of my car. I don't know what makes my car a target, but it's received more abuse from stupid (and inconsiderate) people in less than a year than my Prism did the entire time I had it.

Thursday and Friday of I was busy finishing reading China Mieville's "The Scar". It took me about 40 pages before I really got into the story, but after that I was hooked. I enjoyed the book, but I found the ending depressing (and it shouldn't have been a surprise because the ending to "Perdido Street Station" was depressing too). I guess it's that I find his main characters too realistic, and that realization always comes at the end. It hasn't stopped me from wanting to read whatever his next book is going to be though.

Friday night me and Noah arrived in Portland, chatted with our hosts, and had dinner at Gustov's. Gustov's was pretty good, but not quite as good as I remembered it being the first time. The bread was better though.

Saturday me and Noah visited the Rose Garden, the amazing Japanese Garden (which is older than I ever would have guessed), and walked around Saturday Market. Noah told me that he'll probably be moving away from Phoenix in about six months. I find that depressing since Noah is one of my few best friends that I'm not relegated to just communicating through email with. I may not see him often, but he's the one I see the most.

Saturday night we had dinner at a place called Beau Thai. My instincts told me to avoid the place for the name alone, but I disregarded them and ended up having Thai food that was equivalent to The Pink Pepper. (In case you didn't know I don't like The Pink Pepper because they seem to cater to the tastes of people who don't care for the usual spiciness of Thai food.) After dinner and a lot of searching we found the venue for the Amon Tobin show (the excuse that brought us to Portland). The two opening djs, Bonobo and Prefuse 73, both kicked ass while Amon Tobin sucked. Neither me or Noah was too surprised or disappointed by Amon Tobin. He may be a great producer, but that doesn't automatically make him a great dj.

Sunday me and Noah returned to Phoenix and I had dinner with Lynn, DJ, and Brad (an out of town friend of Lynn's). After a trip I'm usually quiet, irritable, or both. Sunday night wasn't any different, so I wasn't in the mood to meet Brad, whom I figured I wouldn't really care for anyway. Did I mention that Brad had taken pictures of Lynn naked before I'd ever met her? Brad and Lynn never dated or slept together and the pictures he took weren't pornographic (they were like pictures I would have taken, only mine would have been much better), but that doesn't mean I still can't dislike the guy anyway. His choice of restaurants also led me to believe I wouldn't like him. We were eating at Cafe Lalibela, an Ethiopian restaurant I ate at once before and shunned ever since. It wasn't that the food was bad, it was the bread (injera) that the food was served with (and used instead of a fork to eat your food with) was bad. (Don't get me started on bread being soul food, and the implications of being forced to eat bad bread.)

So end of trip, I wanted to be home, I was meeting a guy who would have been more than willing to sneak around behind my back to take naked pictures of my fiancee, and I was going to be eating at a restaurant that served the bread of the devil. Yeah, good times. No surprise I didn't like Brad. Lynn seems to have two categories of guy friends, the quiet ones, and the loud, obnoxious, and crude ones. He fell into the latter catagory for me even though he wasn't especially loud, obnoxious, or crude, but he was enough of each for me to not want to be around him.

For dinner I had the spicy combination. I remember the last time I had Ethiopian the only things I liked were spicy. Everything else was a little too bland for me. The spicy items were good, with the lentils being my favorite. Well it turns out that my stomach didn't like the spices in the food I had subjected it to and it kept me up all night.

Monday I really started reading Orson Scott Card's "Speaker For The Dead" (the sequel for "Ender's Game" or as the author put it, "Ender's Game" was the prequel for "Speaker For The Dead"). I found the first chapter disorienting and boring and almost decided not to continue with the book. It got better.

Never one to let me stomach catch a break, I went and had lunch at El Tlacoyo, or as my tongue remembers it, spicy ass Mexican food central. Their food was even a little spicier than it was last time, but it was still delicious. I think they've worked their way onto my list of restaurants worth eating at. (You'll actually see the list someday when I get around to writing it.)

Today I finally finished reading "Speaker For The Dead", and I have to say it was an excellent book, and very different from "Ender's Game".

That's pretty much everything. I'll write more detailed reviews of the restaurants and create a page for my Portland trip as I have time.

10/25 - Friday

Trip Time!

I got packed and printed out even more driving directions. (I hate driving in strange cities, but the fee for allowing Noah to drive is more than the total price of the car rental.) I'm ready to go. Tonight I'll be in Portland and I'll be back Sunday night. Bye.

10/24 - Thursday

Beer Floats (But Probably Shouldn't)

[For those that don't know, [some liquid] + ice cream = [some liquid] float so a root beer float = root beer + ice cream and a Coke float = Coke + ice cream.]

Yesterday, on Chowhound, I read about a brewery in Tucson that makes beer floats. You have to ask them to make you one since they aren't on the menu. Believe it or not I've considered making beer floats before. During the summer I consume quite a few root beer floats, and when you like beer, and you like floats the thought of combining the two is bound to cross your mind. I've been tempted a couple of times to give it a try, but I know I'd be too afraid to actual taste the combination once created. Now that at least one person has tried it and said it was good I'm more likely to give it a try. I've already got everything I need; a gallon of French vanilla ice cream (just for floats) and a bottle of Blue Moon, so the next time I'm feeling brave I'll give it a try. So how do you think the beer float will turn out? Leave a comment or at least a few words of en(dis)couragement.

[archived comments]

-= M =-: What a waste of good ice cream!! :/

Steve!: I think it would work well, depending on which beer you used. I would NOT like to taste a Bud Float...

10/23 - Wednesday

What Are You Looking At? - Act 1

In the course of my usual web travels today I came across the trail of something I had mentioned back in late July about a cool story I heard on public radio. Excited by the prospect of actually knowing what program it was I was listening to that evening in July I followed the trail. It turns out that I not only found out what the radio program was, but even found the archived story so everyone can hear it. The audio excerpt comes from the radio program This American Life, from the episode titled What Are You Looking At?, and it's Act 1, which is a story by Sarah Vowell called American Gothic. You'll probably have to turn your up volume because the recording is pretty quiet. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

10/22 - Tuesday

Where did that electronic pocket dictionary go?

If words are the tools of the author, then I'm woefully ill equipped. If you haven't noticed, my vocabulary could use some work. It's a little annoying since I actually do my fair share of reading (and looking up of definitions), but my retention just sucks.

Lately I've run into some words that I thought were worth mentioning. I've seen words that are odd (degage) and don't even sound real (effusive). Some that're useless (adenoidal) and some that pretty much sound like what they mean (castigate). Some that sound fun (convivial) and some that sound like they could mean anything (venial). Of course I had to find effulgence, refulgence, and resplendent the day after they would have been useful. The one word I was really happy to run across was the one that describes my style of writing though, laconic.

Portland Preparations

I've got a rental car reserved, and all the directions printed out that I'll hopefully need while in Portland. I feel pretty good. I wish I had more time to stay there though. One weekend is barely enough time to check out one of the McMenamins properties and eat at Gustav's again, much less actually trying something new. (And I did notice Portland has a Japanese garden. I'm all over that.)

10/21 - Monday

Saturday Morning

Click here to read the entry Click on the image to read the entry.

What's that tingling, and why doesn't it feel good?

Sunday Lynn made green chile for the first time. She wanted me to make green chile, but I didn't feel like it so I offered to teach her how to do it. She found that agreeable. I had her take care of most of the preparation work, but she wanted me to chop the hot peppers. Fair enough. I chopped up a couple of seranos and one and a half jalapenos. Afterwards I washed me hands about three times to make sure I didn't have any spare capsicum oil residing on my hands waiting to wreak havoc. (I once handled jalapenos and forget that I didn't get a chance to wash my hands afterwards. I had barely touched the underside of my nose and was tearing pretty badly from the pain that ensued. It was a hard lesson, but I haven't forgotten to wash my hands after handling hot peppers since.)

Anyway, I went about whatever it was I was doing and about ten minutes later I felt the underside of my left thumbnail tingling. It wasn't pleasant. I guess I missed a spot. I immediately went to the bathroom and scraped at a bar of soap with my left thumbnail to make sure I got soap under it. After I had rinsed off it was still a little tender, but not feeling too bad.

Eventually the green chile was ready to sample, and Lynn tried it and was shocked at the amount of heat. I gave it a try and it was pretty damn hot. I was surprised because three and a half chiles for that volume of green chile shouldn't have affected the green chile that much. Lynn naturally blamed me; she said I put in too many hot peppers. I may not remember the exact number of hot peppers I put in green chile, but I'm sure I'm generally consistent and none of my batches of chile ever came out that hot. I told her that I thought some of the regular green chiles (there for flavor, not heat) must have actually been hot. It's unlikely, but I'm sure it's possible. The green chile at Sylvia's La Canasta (which is what I judge my green chile against) is usually pretty mild, but there have been occasions when it's actually hot. It's not very scientific, but I'm sure it's because the green chiles they used were uncharacteristically hot.

We did find a couple of ways to tone down the heat to levels tolerable to more than those who spit fire for a living and the green chile was pretty tasty. Before we went to bed Lynn put the green chile away and I washed out the crock pot it was in. When I got to bed I noticed a peculiar tingling in my fingers. It felt like that familiar capsicum tingling again, but I had been over five hours since I chopped any peppers so I decided it was probably my imagination and just read the book that I'm currently engrossed in ("The Scar"). About twenty minutes later my fingertips were on fire, and it obviously wasn't my imagination. As soon as I started wondering how it was possible I remembered the crock pot: the one that contained the green chile that even I found uncomfortably hot; that I had just washed without thoroughly washing and rinsing my hands afterwards. I could tell that the capsicum oil settled in the folds of skin under the first joints from my fingertips. I went to the bathroom and washed my hands about five times, paying carefull attention to my finger joints, but it was too late. The oil had been on my skin for too long and washing it off didn't ease the pain. I went to sleep with my fingertips on fire.

When I woke up this morning my fingertips were still on fire. I was hoping that it would make it painful to type, so I could just call in sick to work, but it didn't happen. Typing actually eased the pain. Figures. I really would have liked to stay away from work today too. This is the beginning of the two week period the lobby of our building is closed for construction so everyone has to walk around the building and enter from the rear. It's a pain. Heh, it says something when even burning fingers are preferable to work.

Movie: "Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi" ["Spirited Away"]

I've been putting off writing about "Spirited Away". I think the reason I've been putting it off is because I've secretly dreaded trying to come up with a review that would do it any amount of justice. The best thing I can say is just go see it. You'll probably be happy you did.

If you actually need some sort of convincing, explanation, or comparison, then here it is. "Spirited Away" is one of Miyazake's best films (and he's produced a lot of really great ones). The animation of "Spirited Away" is beautiful, but it isn't as impressive as the animation in "Princess Mononoke". While there's a lot to be impressed with in the animation of "Spirited Away" there were the inclusion of a few computer generated sequences that didn't quite seem to fit in the movie. I don't know why they were included, but I thought they detracted from the overall quality. The advantage "Spirited Away" has over "Princess Mononoke" is that it's story is a lot more accessible. It isn't an epic; it's bright, innocent, and wondrous like (what used to be my all time favorite Miyazake movie) "My Neighbor Totoro". It's something that both adults and children could watch and learn something from while still enjoying the story and visual appeal.

So have you looked up it's showtimes yet?

It's the Spidey Super Dancing Friends!


I wonder who makes these.

10/20 - Sunday

Friday Night

This last Friday I was planning on going to the Phoenix Sister Cities International Culinary Festival, then going to see Timo Maas at Freedom. The night started out as planned; we went to the culinary art festival, but I hate standing in line for food, and there were some very long food lines there. We left and I searched for Chez Bubba's Caribbean & Creole House, but I couldn't find the place. Lynn noticed that a restaurant by Heritage Square looked pretty good so we went there. It was Pizzeria Bianco, which is cool because I've heard a lot about the place, but never knew where it was. It turns out the wait was an hour and a half. Too long for Lynn, and most likely too long for me (even if their food is supposed to be great). We drove to Tempe and just had dinner at Boston's. Lynn had the Popeye pizza (spinach, feta, and roasted garlic) and I had the jerk ribs with mashed potatoes. The pizza and mashed potatoes were excellent, but the ribs were only alright. I actually didn't expect the ribs to be any good since getting barbecue at places that don't specialize in barbecue is usually a bad idea, but it's been forever since I've had jerk anything. I've missed it. It was past ten when we were done eating and I just didn't feel up to going out. That sucks since that's the second time I've missed Timo Maas in Phoenix, and he's one of my favorite djs.

At least I know my plans this weekend aren't going to change. Portland and Amon Tobin should be fun.

10/18 - Friday

Las Vegas Trip

I've finally finished the text for the Las Vegas 06/02 trip page. I've still got to scan a couple of photos in, but you're not missing much.

The Island of Lost Lunch Items

Over the last couple of days I've had lunch at Dilly's Deli (which is new to me) and Pollo Supremo (which isn't new to me) and had things I would have been better off not ordering. At Pollo Supremo I tried their horchata since I'm on a horchata kick right now, and it reminded me of apple pie, but not in a good way. If a drink made from rice were supposed to taste all sweet and cinnamony, then it would be good, but I like mine more subtle. Someone I used to work with took me to Dilly's Deli for the first time, and I have to say the sandwich was pretty good. I also ordered a side Greek salad (available for 75 cents with sandwich or $1.50 without), and it was disappointing. I'm not really sure why I was unhappy with it other than the fact that some of the lettuce looked like it shouldn't have been used. I guess it's because for something they wanted to charge $1.50 for I just expected more than a little cup of salad. For some reason the mini salad at Yoshi's doesn't bother me, but the one at Dilly's Deli does. I guess I'll never know the exact reason, but I doubt I'll order one of their mini salads ever again.

10/17 - Thursday

Kao-Nashi [No-Face] Could Disappear (And Seemed To Enjoy It)

Earlier today I mentioned to Noah that it's about a week until we leave for Portland, and Noah told me that Ryan (the crazy Canadian guy) isn't going to be going. That's disappointing. Ryan's not my friend, but he is one of the more interesting people to be around.

Tonight, as I was driving home, it started pouring. I knew that if the downpour continued until I got home I would just find a park, find a secluded spot for my car, wrap my rain coat around me for warmth, close my eyes, and listen to the vocalless menacing jungle mix by Technical Itch and the violent pounding of the rain against my car. I wanted to fall asleep, huddled against the cold, dreaming of traveling through a portal opened through improbable circumstances. Maybe I'd wake up and find myself in a world shrouded in darkness, fighting for mere survival. Maybe I'd wake up and find myself in a world full of light where I'd just be on my back, eyes wide open, and float. Either way I knew I'd be happy. Somewhere else. With a purpose. Or none at all.

The rain stopped two miles before my house. I went searching for a park anyway, but it just wasn't the same.

Flagstaff Trip (details)

I wanted to go to Flagstaff to get out of town, but I also wanted to stop at Wil McNabb's shop and get our rings polished. I had designed the rings with a satin finish, but I just didn't like how it looked when I actually saw it. We got to Wil's shop and Heidi took our rings and had them polished in less than 15 minutes. When me and Lynn saw the polished rings we both thought they looked so much better than they had before. The gold really looked white (before it looked like it had a dull yellow tinge to it) and the polished finish really set off the opal.

Happy with our rings and hungry from travel I followed my nose to the Tour de Fat (the Fat Tire beer bicycle tour). As we walked to the park I saw "Without You Today's Dreams Are Tomorrow's Scruffs" written on an electrical box. I cracked up because that's the line from the movie "Amelie" that Amelie writes on the wall to cheer up her author friend (it was one of his lines). Anyway, there were some food booths at the Tour de Fat, along with live music, and beer. It was pretty cool. I was too hungry to think so beer was out of the question, and even though there weren't that many food choices, it still took me a while to make up my mind. We ended up at the Maloney's tent for a slider and a chicken cheese steak. The slider could have used a little salt, but it was pretty tasty. It wasn't a typical slider with a paper thin beef patty, but a nice thick little patty with a crispy crust. The chicken cheese steak couldn't actually be mistaken for a cheese steak, but it was pretty tasty. With our food needs taken care of we headed to the camp ground to set up.

When we got to the camp site I didn't see the camp host, but that's not a big deal since I had to choose a spot before I paid him anyway. We set up our camp site and Lynn took a nap while I took a few pictures.

After taking a few pictures I started reading and fell asleep too. When we woke up we were both hungry and decided that it was time for dinner. As I was driving out of the camp ground I looked for the camp host again, and still didn't see him anywhere. I thought it was strange that the entire time we were there he didn't show up, but I figured since this was the last weekend before they closed the camp ground that the camp host was slacking.

Restaurant: Josephine's (Flagstaff, AZ)

I had heard some good things about Josephine's on the Chowhound site, so I was eager to try it. We were seated and brought a basket of bread. The bread had a thin, crisp crust and a fluffy center. It was almost as good as bread gets. I was really looking forward to dinner after the bread, and ordered a glass of Mountain Dome (Spokane, WA) "Non Vintage Brut". The scent of the champagne was mildly apple, and the flavor reminded me of the Argyle, only less appley and a less bitter aftertaste. As the champagne warmed up both the apple flavor and bitterness intensified. I didn't care for it.

We ordered the crab and potato cake stack appetizer. It was a crab cake and a sweet potato cake drizzled with some sort of lime/avocado sauce surrounded by a moat of tomatillo salsa. I liked the crab cake, but almost everything else on the plate seemed ill conceived. The sweet potato cake sucked the flavor from the crab cake, and the tomatillo salsa, which didn't taste good to begin with, easily overpowered the crab cake. I would have enjoyed it more if it were just two crab cakes with the lime/avocado sauce; not only would it have tasted better, but I also would have felt less ripped off. Since when do you only get one crab cake?

There were a couple of entrees that sounded good to me (like the lamb shank osso bucco with caramelized onions), but I ended up deciding on the ancho chile marinated steak with sharp cheddar polenta and southwest coleslaw. Lynn went for the top sirloin topped with caramelized onion and mushroom demi-glace with garlic mashed potatoes. Lynn got the better of the two entrees. Her steak had a very nice flavor, and the rosemary in the demi-glace gave it depth. Paired with delicious garlic mashed potatoes, her plate seemed perfectly matched. (The mushrooms had adsorbed too much of the rosemary flavor to taste good, but that's a small complaint.) My plate was a mess. The steak was very chewy even though it was only cooked medium rare (I should have known it was going to turn out that way since they didn't specify the cut of the meat on the menu), and it hardly had any ancho chili goodness. The polenta didn't taste like sharp cheddar; more like a thick cream of wheat with a little cheese in it. (I still have yet to have good polenta in the US. I should just give up on it by now.) The coleslaw was pretty good, but it didn't go with the steak or the polenta. Nothing went with the other.

The way my luck with restaurants runs is that usually any place that I like for food doesn't do so well with dessert, and any place I don't care for the food usually makes phenomenal desserts. After a disappointing appetizer and disappointing entree I was ready for a phenomenal dessert. In fact, just to make the odds better I ordered two desserts: the creme brulee and peach cobbler topped with homemade vanilla ice cream. Lynn ordered a toasted almond coffee (which had both amaretto and Kahlua in it). She liked it, even though she felt it had a little too much alcohol for her tastes, and thought it was much better than the burnt coffee monstrosity she had from Gordon Biersch. The creme brulee arrived first and it was an interesting presentation. It was the first time I've ever seen a creme brulee served without its ramekin. It turns out we both actually liked it that way; it's impossible to have that little bit of liquid that settles in the bottom of the ramekin if there isn't a ramekin. The sugar was also perfectly caramelized, not burnt. Looking at the creme brulee I knew their dessert chef really knew what they were doing. At least that's what I thought until I tried the creme brulee. The consistency was wrong. Instead of being like custard it was more fluffy, like marscapone. The consistency didn't bother me as much as the taste though. There was a little bit of sourness in the finish that I thought was odd at first, then came to hate. I think they used some sour cream in their custard, which ended up making the creme brulee more like a cheesecake than custard. I still had to give the dessert chef points for the presentation, and Lynn liked the creme brulee, so it obviously agrees with somebodies tastes. The peach cobbler made it out to us, and it was excellent. This was also a little different than usual in that it was dry. All the goop that's normally in cobblers was missing, and I totally dug it! The dough still had a nice peach flavor so I wasn't missing the goop at all. The homemade vanilla ice cream wasn't as creamy as I'm used to (or like) for homemade ice cream so while it wasn't bad, it wasn't great either.

Overall I wasn't happy with Josephine's. When they did things well, they did them very well, but I had more plates that were like train wrecks than I should have. To be fair though, the person whose rave about Josephine's won me over specifically mentioned their pizza (which wasn't on their dinner menu), so I'll have to try the pizza some time.

Flagstaff Trip (after dinner)

We returned back to our camp site after dinner, lit a campfire, and smoked cigars while cuddling together. I really enjoyed it. It was a little cold, but next to the campfire or underneath a duvet you didn't feel it.

Sunday morning I was woken up by the camp host. I didn't really mind since we didn't pay him the day before, but he pissed me off when he was talking to me. He said that he had been around and missed me a couple of times the day before. I mentioned that I was around from 3:30 to about 6 and he had the nerve to say that I couldn't have been! He said he was around at 4 o'clock and that if I was, he would have seen me. I was at my camp site, and my car was parked there the entire time, so I don't know how he could have missed me unless he wasn't by like he said. I hate being lied to. I think he was just being a slack bastard and trying to cover for himself. I should have asked him if Bob was his uncle (even though I didn't know that phrase last weekend).

Anyway, since I couldn't manage to go back to sleep it was time to break down camp and have some breakfast. We just ate at Coco's and breakfast was quite delicious. I found it far more satisfying than the dinner we had Josephine's. (I know it's not a fair comparison, but who cares.) I took the scenic route through Oak Creek to look at the turning leaves, but as it turned a lot of the trees were still green. We stopped at the outlet mall in Oak Creek and bought a couple of cordial glasses with platinum bands across the top for the few times we drink tawny port. They're cute. On our way home we saw a very large diesel that said "Johnsonville Brats" on the back. We were trying to figure out what it would be carrying, and as I passed it we found out it was the Johnsonville Big Grill. Lynn gave the driver the thumbs up and he waved back. It was the highlight of her drive back home. I just wanted to get online to see where "the world's largest mobile grill" would be finding itself.

I had a great time, and it was just what I needed, but I still feel like work is getting the best of me. It's not that the work is difficult or too time consuming, it's just I'd rather be doing something else right now. Basically I think I'd rather be in Japan.

10/16 - Wednesday

"Bob's Your Uncle"

Leave it to Steve to go to Japan and hear a Bob phrase I've never heard of before. Curious I looked for the meaning online and there seem to be two different meanings for the phrase. One meaning (which seems to be the American version) is that "everything's copasetic [and if you don't know what copasetic means, look it up, then say it to your younger friends and baffle them with your ability to keep ahead of slag, or say it to some really old person and make their day with something they haven't heard in ages]" while the other meaning (British [and probably the origin of the phrase because they're British and understand the power of "Bob"]) is "all is going to be well" because of a presumably powerful uncle named Bob taking care of things.

I think I'm going to join Steve in trying to bring "Bob's Your Uncle" into common usage outside of England, because any phrase with Bob in it deserves to be heard.

10/15 - Tuesday

"Listen In"

I just added the "Listen In" link to the "Music currently on my mind" box so you can actually hear some of the songs I have listed. This is only going to work for people with high speed internet connections, and I probably won't keep it up to date, but hopefully someone will enjoy it.

Error Logs

Today I got ahold of the error logs for my web site and figured out what's been causing all the errors I've been seeing on the access reports. (I knew I didn't have any bad links, but that didn't stop it from bothering me.) Almost all the errors are coming from computers that have been infected with a worm that scans random web sites to exploit well known bugs in Microsoft Internet Information Server so it can propagate itself. I checked out the addresses and all of the addresses were from dial up computers. If people aren't willing to put the necessary effort into making sure their computer doesn't become an internet nuisance (by being controlled by a worm or trojan horse) then they shouldn't be connected to the internet. Dumb asses.

10/14 - Monday

Flagstaff Trip

We came back from Flagstaff yesterday and had a really great time. Hopefully I'll have a more detailed story up later.

10/11 - Friday

Something About Brushed Steel

While exploring Brian's Belly looking for a beer they actually didn't like I saw a banner ad that said, "Stainless Steel is a male aphrodisiac. The Coleman Super Cooler at BriansBelly.com". Naturally I was intrigued. Clicking on the banner took me to a page where they commenced to describe the coolest looking cooler in the world; the Coleman stainless steel Super Cooler.

Now I've been trying to cut down on my frivolous spending, but I almost really need one of these. I mean I am taking a trip to Flagstaff tomorrow, and it would be so much nicer with one of these babies. Anyway, I guess I'll have to practice some self control and just dream about it.

Restaurant: Rancho de Tia Rosa (Mesa, AZ)

The other day I was in the mood for some Mexican food, but I wanted a restaurant I wasn't familiar with. Both Rancho de Tia Rosa and El Tlacoyo deserved a second visit so I left the decision up to Lynn. She opted for Rancho de Tia Rosa since the food at El Tlacoyo was a little too hot for her.

When we were seated I immediately ordered a horchata. It was creamy with a medium sort of cinnamon taste. It actually had a little too much cinnamon flavor for me, but Lynn actually liked the horchata for once. (I swear I'll get her to develop a taste for it someday. I'm probably going to be as successful at it as she is in her quest to get me to develop a taste for wine.)

We started dinner with the chicken-mango salad since I was in the mood for some veggies. More than just chicken and mango it also had caramelized onions, lettuce, tomatoes, and croutons. I could have lived without the croutons, but overall it was a very tasty salad.

For our entrees I had the carnitas while Lynn had a beef chimichanga. The carnitas didn't look like the carnitas I'm used to, but I had a pretty good idea what to expect since Lynn ordered the carne asada last time and those also weren't the way I expected either. The carnitas was a large portion of smoked pork that had been marinated in something good. While I enjoyed the pork I was disappointed with the entree. The tortilla was good, but the beans and rice were ok, and the grilled vegetables that accompanied the carnitas were too smokey to taste good. I needed something to eat the carnitas with and nothing proved worthy of stuffing into the tortilla with the meat. One final complaint is I've also become very accustomed to having guacamole with my carnitas (and carne asada), but that doesn't come with either entree. Why not!? Anyway, Lynn loved my carnitas despite their acute lack of condiments. She didn't care for her chimichanga though. It just wasn't what she really wanted. I didn't care for it either because it was just a lot of beef stuffed into a tortilla and deep fried. I like my chimichangas with something that's more than just typical meat, like machaca or green chile.

I'm not sure how I feel about Rancho de Tia Rosa; I've enjoyed one of their salads and their ice cream, but I still haven't found an entree I really like. Next time I go there I'll try the mole chicken (the last entree on the menu that looks interesting to me) and we'll see how it goes. They only need to make one thing well to serve my purpose.

Sleep is for Wimps

One of the odd things I've fantasized about is how much I would get done if I didn't have to sleep. It would allow me the time to do things that I'd otherwise probably have to be filthy rich to accomplish. (It's not really as cool as, say, the power to fly or the ability to become instantly irresistible to women if I so choose, but it's a start.) Anyway, it looks like my dream of sleep-free nights might be a reality according to "Sleepless Nights (or Days)". Think of the possibilities.

10/8 - Tuesday

Restaurant: Ichi Ban (Southern and Rural location in Tempe, AZ)

I recently had lunch at the Tempe Ichi Ban at Southern and Rural for the first time. I'll make this quick. The sushi was ok. The spicy tuna roll and California roll were pretty typical. We also had an order of unagi (freshwater eel, but you should know that by now) that I couldn't decide with the one piece I had if I liked it or not, so I'll take it as a sign to never get unagi there again. I also had an order of beef udon which was just terrible. The broth was thin and weak, and the beef could have used some salt, or anything else that might have made it better than just boiled beef!

If there was one thing that has saved this location from being put on my "Only If I'm Starving" list it's the fact that the broccoli tempura I tried was the best I'd ever had! Tempura is similar to potstickers in that it's made practically everywhere, but almost no one makes it well. Three simple things (ingredient, batter, and sauce) come together and when everything is perfect the final product is sublime. It may be the only thing that restaurant does above average, but it's enough; it's the only place I know of in Phoenix that makes good tempura.

Restaurant: Gordon Biersch (Tempe, AZ)

Last week we noticed that Gordon Biersch was going to have a polka band at there restaurant to celebrate Oktoberfest. I'm always up for polka so we decided to have dinner and some beer and join the celebration. I had a Festbier, and I also got to try the Marzen. Both beers were quite good, with just the right amount of hops. We also had an appetizer of smoked salmon and potato cakes. It was really delicious. The smoked salmon was chopped and mixed leeks, which made for a nice combination; it was smokey and had a good salmon flavor without being fishy (which is my major problem with smoked salmon).

Nothing goes better with beer and polka than sausages, so that's what I had for dinner. The sausages were tasty, but they weren't as good as the sausages from Collin's Irish Pub in Flagstaff, and they couldn't even come compare to the sausages from Gustav's German Pub & Grill in Portland. Gordon Biersch needs to start cooking their sausages over a wood grill to really rank.

Finally, we ordered the Kona coffee creme brulee for dessert. I can honestly say it's one of the worst creme brulees I've ever had. The sugar wasn't fully caramelized on top, and the creme brulee had a definite burnt plastic taste to it. I had about three spoonfuls before I gave up on it. Desserts do not appear to be one of their strengths.

All in all I had a good time, and if Gordon Biersch ever has a polka band again I'll probably be there sipping a glass of Festbier (seasonal) or Marzen, I'll just be sure to skip dessert.

Malaise Fading...

I feel better today. I've spoken to Lynn about what it was with her that was bothering me. I don't know if it'll lead to any kind of change, but it beats stewing over things. The other thing that's been bothering me is the distinct feeling that I'm trapped in a cycle of boredom. Hopefully camping this weekend in Flagstaff will snap me out of it.

10/7 - Monday

Movie: "Jamón, Jamón"

"Jamón, Jamón" isn't the worst Spanish movie I've seen, but I'm beginning to wonder about the quality of Spanish movies being imported into the US. This movie lost my interest around the middle, and I just stuck it through for sheer stubbornness (and the hope that female nudity might actually get some more screen time than the gratuitous male nudity I already had to sit through). The story started out pretty well, but it just sort of devolved into a soap opera and never recovered. The only thing I liked about this movie was a young Penelope Cruz.

Movie: "Monsters, Inc."

"Monsters, Inc." was cute. If you like very good computer animation and cute, then this movie is for you.

Movie: "Armitage: Dual Matrix"

"Armitage III" sucked and so did "Armitage: Dual Matrix". The dubbing was horrible. Whoever came up with the idea of using the voice of Jar Jar Binks for one of the characters should commit seppuku. The computer animation was so embarrassingly weak I wondered why they even bothered putting it in the movie. The plot was boring, and I couldn't care about any of the characters. I thought "Armitage: Dull Matrix" or "Armitage: Suckage Squared" would have been good alternate titles. The only thing that amazed me about this movie was the fact that I didn't turn it off before the end.

Another Black Mood

This is starting to become a habit. More than irritating, this is becoming debilitating. If this doesn't change soon I'm probably going to do something I'll regret later.

Or not. Sometimes there is no right answer.

Lately

Lately it looks like I've been slacking off, but I haven't really; I just haven't had time to commit things to paper (bytes?) yet. This weekend I finally finished reading "Neverwhere", which started out really well (sort of a combination of "Perdido Street Station" and the first couple of books from "The Amber Chronicles"), but the ending left me a little flat. I saw it coming so I was disappointed that Neil Gaiman didn't come up with something more original. It was an entertaining story though. At least now I can start "The Scar". I'll try to keep it from effecting my writing too much.

Just a couple of side notes, the other day I heard my barber use "copasetic". Hopefully it'll spread from the over 50 crowd to the under 30 crowd. Since the Guinness Draught that I had last week was so bad I made it a point to buy myself some Blue Moon (which I've been craving anyway). It was just as tasty as ever. (Blue Moon is a Belgium style white ale that's pretty mellow, but spiced to give it a unique flavor. Obviously it's unique enough that I'd actually get a craving for it when I don't really crave beers.)

10/2 - Wednesday

Things That Really Do Suck

Sunday at the Cardinals' game there were some people handing out samples of the new Wrigley's spearmint gum. I like Wrigley's spearmint so I grabbed a couple of sticks. I don't remember when I actually got around to chewing one of them, but the new flavor totally sucks. It started out ok, but after two minutes it has some sort of unnatural taste that I couldn't take.

Last night I had my first and last bottle of Guinness Draught. I've had Guinness Extra Stout and enjoyed it, but Draught is slight different; basically Draught sucks. The first swig from the bottle (which was how they recommend drinking it) had me gagging. The beer was so bitter that my tongue was trying to jump out of my mouth. I thought it was a mistake, like it was my fault for not having drunk Guinness or any other beer in a couple of weeks, so after the 10 minutes it took for the bitter taste to leave my mouth (and I was considering scraping my tongue to make it happen faster) I foolishly tried it again. I think the scream I let out can attest to how much I didn't like this beer. [Lynn mentioned that the bottle might have been old, and I agree that's a definite possibility, but I'm not going to abuse my tongue again to find out.]

The Smell of Humidity and Cool Temperatures

This morning I walked out of the apartment to find that the weather was actually nice. It reminded me of the Flagstaff trip I've been meaning to take. Lately I've been frustrated by my distinct lack of traveling; even though I'll be all over the place starting the last weekend of October, it hasn't stopped me from wanting to leave town just a little earlier than that. Next weekend I actually will be camping in Flagstaff so I can get one last camping trip in before my favorite camp ground closes for the season. I can't wait.

10/1 - Tuesday

Reading, No Writing

There's one problem I have with reading, and that's the effect it has on my writing. Basically all of my motivation to write is converted to obsessive reading, and right now I'm reading again. After the Cardinals' game Sunday me and Lynn stopped at Borders and bought a couple of books. I'm reading "Neverwhere" by Neil Gaiman and Lynn is reading "Ender's Shadow" by Orson Scott Card (which is one of the sequels to "Ender's Game"). I'm currently enjoying "Neverwhere" and then I'm going to read "Ender's Shadow" when I'm done with it.

In the process of looking up the links for the books on Amazon I also found a another book I want to read. China Mieville has written a new book called "The Scar" which is based in the same world as the excellent "Perdido Street Station". If I order it now it should arrive long before I'm ready to read it.

This has nothing to do with reading, but it also keeps me from writing; I finally get to see "Spirited Away" this weekend! (I've been waiting to see it ever since I heard about it quite a few months ago.)

Site Statistics or "japanese porn tour sucks"

It's the beginning of a new month so I looked over my site statistics to see how I did. I was 226 page requests short of doubling my page requests for the third month in a row. I guess that was a trend that had to stop eventually.

Anyway, the most fun I have is looking through the search terms people used to find my site. Sometimes people want to find out about tour companies ("ef tours sucks", "rick steves sucks"); sometimes they want to know about restaurants ("emeril banana cream pie runny", "charleston's garlic mashed potatoes recipe" [although I think a more appropriate search term would have been "charleston's sucks"]); sometimes they're strange ("beautiful women with hiccups in porn", "smelly japanese stocking for sale"); sometimes they scare me ("gay story hiccups scared"); sometimes I think they give me too much credit ("porn photography tips"); sometimes I think they're from someone I know ("brain tumor strange smells" [I just told Lynn the other night that something she smelled might have been caused by a brain tumor]); sometimes they're sadly accurate ("new orleans gay prostitute" [it was mentioned on my Mardi Gras trip page, but it's not a funny story so don't bother looking for it if you haven't read it already]); and finally some of the things just make me proud, like "bodyslamm"*!

*I didn't invent "BODYSLAMM!!!", but I've been known to yell it out now and then (with the long M even!). It's fun, you should try it. Then after you've mastered "BODYSLAMM!!!" you can move on to more advanced slang like "copasetic".

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