A Series of Short Ones Part Three September 25, 2009

Today

My thoughts of you

Almost brought you

to life.

I reminisced

indulged

out loud

chuckled

A Series of Short Ones Part Two September 25, 2009

ROBOTS

As I move I see the machines of flesh

Created from ribs and dust

I think about this globe and the flow of currency

Yesterday, I used the cliche “the world is your oyster”

and asked my sister, how can the world be like an oyster

The world is hard and ugly

but when you brake inside it’s good

You can move and mold it

Suck it in or spit it out

Eat it raw or cook it

She said

about the world

and her life included

A Series of Short Ones Part One September 25, 2009

CONFLICT

pulls

twists

turns

gives you

an indian burn

Two huge imaginary fingers

bugging the shit

out of you

Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix Plays Masterpiece September 23, 2009

 

Phoenix, currently on tour, stopped at the Warfield in San Francisco on September 17, 2009 to play a great show that was a treat watch. Touring with a new album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, they played a good set to a packed house at the Warfield. Opening with Listomania the first single off the new album, the crowd was boppin’ and movin’ to french indie band’s tunes.

 

One of the best parts of watching the band that night was the amount of fun they appeared to be having. Talking to the crowd and dancing around the stage, lead singer Thomas Mars even twirled the mic around by it’s cord as he danced to his songs.

 

Best concert experience, by far, was during the last song of their encore. The lights dimmed, the music started to play, while next thing you know, the light goes on and to the crowds surprise Thomas Mars appears on the pit floor and starts walking to the back of the pit  and straight toward me. I had settled myself in the back row of the Warfield’s pit where there is a railing to the second level and to my suprise, Thomas Mars gets onto the railing and sings the last song right in front of me. Speechless and jumping around in awe, it dawns on me to get my camera out. In the midst of the excitement, with adrenaline pumping I’m able to snap this picture:

 

Walking out of the venue, I’m in disbelief as I’ve never had quite a concert experience such as this. As I’m walking home all I can think is “THAT WAS AWESOME!” As someone like me never has this kind of luck.

If you’re into Indie rock I definitely recommend you give Phoenix a try.

An Untitled Poem of Times Past. September 14, 2009

I wane

Back and forth

From happiness to sadness

From relief to a sense of loss

 

I miss our poetry

Our late-night-living-together kisses

You made a deep pool of artificial love available to me

That after time, I let go of my life vest and swam freely

 

Within that “love”

You consumed me and I almost drowned

As I braved the depths of you

And somehow I’m making it out alive

 

There was an ironic comfort we felt

No matter how bad it got

We were happy to come home

To the place that tore us apart

 

Now there’s the possibility of others

But even if I close my eyes they do not feel like you

And yet you are not the same person I once adored

 

I wane

Back and forth

Between loving you

And letting you go

Revolutionary Road. July 28, 2009

 

Revolutionary Road is a movie about making not-so-right decisions and working through the consequences. It’s about knowing that you may have chosen the wrong person to spend your life with. In Revolutionary Road you see a couple, struggle through differences that just can’t seem to go right, no matter how hard they try. What I enjoyed most about this movie however is the thought that it provoked within me. The realization of how life really is. In real life people do pretend and ignore shortcomings that are so huge, how can anyone ever be happy. The chemistry of disfunction plays well between Winslet and DiCaprio, so well in fact that you barely even think about their past love affair on a certain cruise ship. Winslet, especially, shines and there is no doubt that 2008 really was her year. The perspective I enjoyed exploring most is that of an uninterested woman. We always see instances where the woman is the one holding onto the bad relationship and here we encounter a woman who is completely over it. I appreciate new and interesting perspectives and Richard Yates works that well. While discussing this movie with my roommate he brought up the point that he thought they could have chosen a more sensitive actor and while DiCaprio is a great actor in his own category, I can agree that maybe someone else could have played a better Frank Wheeler, but regardless he did a good job. I really like this movie and definitely recommend it, it is a little intense but once you enter the Wheeler’s world you become engaged and can’t help but keep watching.     (4/5 stars)

Summer Smash: The Hangover July 27, 2009

 

The Hangover is an entertaining summer flick that is worth the watch.  Directed by Todd Phillips (Old School) and starring Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifiankas and Justin Bartha, the movie starts out with four guys destined for Vegas to celebrate their buddy’s final days of bachelorhood. While you think you’ve seen movies like this before, you have no idea what kind of trouble these boys get into at the movie’s opening. The cliche saying, “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas!” was dreamt up for a reason and once you see the type of shenanigans these boys get into, you will see that saying holds some truth, at least in this case. While it’s difficult to review this film without giving anything away, I can say that I could not once guess what was going to happen next. One minute we see the boys getting ready for their first night in sin city and then the next we wake up with them, with the worst hang over, in their hotel suite that closely resembles the mess we found Hunter Thompson in, in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. The worst part, they have lost the groom-to-be and no one can remember the events that lead up to the world’s worst hangover.  Writers Jon Lucas and Scott Moore do a great job adding structure to their movie in a haphazard way and we never really know the true accounting of how certain events really happened, that is…until the closing credits when we find out that they have located Alan’s digital camera and we get a peak at these bizarre situations they got themselves into. This film is a definite must if you are looking for something to entertain you this summer as it was a riot to watch. Not knowing quite what to expect this was entertaining and funny as hell, I have to say it was a better summer flick than Transformers.                                                            (4/5 stars)

Incubus Plays Stellar Show at Hollywood Bowl… July 20, 2009

Accompanied by a warm L.A. night and a sky full of stars Incubus played a show that was not at all disappointing. Opening with Privilege, off Make Yourself their third album, definitely got the crowd going as all the vetran fans sang along to some of their older tracks. Being my second time seeing them, I was happy with the set list of 20 songs that I think showcased their talent, music and that what they’ve done over the last 10 years. It was good to see them play rarities like Make Yourself, Redefine and Warning. I was surprised that they didn’t play any of their new songs especially their newly released single Black Heart Inertia. Instead they went for some oldies and goodies that would get their hometown crowd swooning and if that was their goal, I’d have to say mission accomplished. One of the best moments of the show was their remix version of Dig that incorporated a lot of drums and liquidy guitar riffs, it could be described as a remix a la Jack Johnson, channeling the spirit of beach music. Opening for the group we got a taste of London rock presented by a band called The Duke Spirit, which wasn’t not bad at all. While I don’t think many people at the venue that evening had heard of them, the lead singer did wail and graced us with a positive vibe. The only downside to the show was the venue’s parking situation, which added an additional 45 minutes to the ride home. Thankfully, the show was awesome and left me reliving the memories of my favorite songs while waiting for the people in the car ahead of me to move.    

 

SET LIST

 

1. Priviledge
2. Pardon Me
3. Nice to Know You
4. Ana Molly
5. Stellar
6. Megalomaniac
7. Love Hurts
8. Drive
9. Make Yourself
10. Dig
11. Redefine
12. A Certain Shade of Green
13. Oil & Water
14. Quicksand
15. A Kiss to Send Us Off
16. Let’s Go Crazy (cover)
17. Wish You Were Here
18. Punch Drunk
19. Warning
20. Aqueous Transmission

(*Picture from Los Angeles Times, at http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/)

Great Innovations at New East Bay Restaurant: Barlata. July 15, 2009

While I didn’t like everything I ordered from the menu at Barlata, I did have a delightful experience at this new tapas location. The dinning room is rather small and at first feels like you are elbow to elbow with the party next to you.  I did manage to settle in and feel comfortable. Barlata’s decour is pleasing with red walls and modern looking paintings perfectly positioned to contrast the red. When you walk in you notice that the restaurant feels sleek and clean.

Then menu offers a very good wine selection of mostly Spanish wines and a fun selection of beers to sample. To eat, we started with the Chicken Salad (pictured here) which includes grapes, celery and almonds in a curry allioli, which arrived at our table artfully stacked and radiating a beautiful yellow color. The salad was amazing, the bitter taste of thinly sliced celery paired well with the smokey almond taste and hint of sweetness added by the grapes, I’d go back just for this dish alone. We then selected the Escalivada which includes marinated and roasted yellow and red peppers, onions and mashed eggplant. The best part of this dish was the eggplant and onions, the onions had the hint of cinnamon in them which made them good, but the marinated peppers were a bit overpowering, luckily they provide bread at the table because the veggies would be much better accompanied by some sort of carb to smear or stack them on. Next we had the Tortilla con Chorizo which was really good and reminded me of something I might prepare myself for breakfast. We noticed that they had cod cheeks on the menu which is a rarity so we ventured out to try them. I only somewhat enjoyed them because the broth they came in was a bit bitter and I only had a few bites, but now wished I would have given them a fair chance. To end we selected the Grilled Steak with Chimichurri sauce and fries, the steak was excellent and the chimichurri just the right mixture of herbs, but the fries were a bit salty. While not completely an “A+” performance by Barlata I have to give them credit for their innovative food ideas which are unlike others I’ve seen at tapas bars and for that alone I really enjoyed my experience at this fun new location.

Not Apples and Oranges… July 10, 2009

Who doesn’t love a good cherry? They’re crisp and sweet, savory and crunchy, what’s not to like about that description. I have always loved a good cherry. Anytime in my life I’ve ever chosen a Lifesaver, lollipop, Starburst, jelley bean… yup you guessed it, I’d reached for cherry flavor. Always the one in the red packaging, I’d try not to notice that artificial cherry tastes nothing at all like the real fresh cherry. They are best in the summer, especially on hot nights when nothing can quench the heat, you open the fridge to nice big bowl of shiny cold cherries…so I did some research on my favorite fruit and wanted to share my findings.

Cherries are part of the stone fruit family, other memebers are the almond, apricot, plum and peach, basically they are fruit that contain a stony seed in the center. The cherry is understood to have been first introduced in Rome and is named after the town in which it was discovered. Cherries range in color on a spectrum from yellow to slightly red orange (as in the Rainier variety) to a deep almost wine colored red. When selecting cherries at the store you should make sure they are slightly firm and their stems should snap immediately forward when you bend them in the opposite direction.

While I would normally enjoy cherries just by themselves. I mean, what else can you really do with them if they are not fresh, used in pie or preserves? Well, I’ve recently come across some interesting food choices that utilized them. For example I had Red, White and Blue pancakes at one of my favorite breakfast places which added fresh blueberries and cherries to the pancake batter mix, but by far my newest obsession with cherries is putting them in salad. I know it may seem odd, but fruit in salad is the newest thing. It adds nutrition, fiber and a satisfying taste that can liven up any dull tasting salad. The best part is that you won’t be adding millions of calories that other salad buddies add such as cheese or croutons. Below is my favorite salad that I like to make, while I normally dress my salad with lemon juice and salt, I would recommend trying it with a good vinagrette. My personal fave is Auntie Anne’s Balsamic Vinagrette, at 100 calories a tablespoon, dressing’s do not get skinnier than that.

Cherry & Apple Field Greens Salad

1 cup of any type of baby greens salad mix

5 cherry tomatoes

1/4 of an apple cut into thin slices

1/4 cup of slice cucumber

5-10 cherries washed and pitted

Toss all ingredients together in a bowl, add your favorite salad dressing and enjoy! Serves 1.

*While pitting cherries is somewhat of a chore, I find that it’s not too difficult to sink a knife into the cherry’s flesh until the blade reaches the seed and use the hardness of the seed to guide your knife around the circumference of the cherry. After you do this the separation is relatively easy. Believe me it’s worth the work because what’s left is nothing but the sweet flesh of cherry flavor.