We had originally figured on having a quiet New Year's Eve at home this year. That is, until Friday night. We were having dinner at Catal with friends, and we happened to look at Catal's New Year's Eve menu, and boy, did it look good, so we figured, hey, why not?
Since I don't like driving around at night on New Year's Eve, we decided to stay down in Anaheim for the evening. The husband got a decent-priced room, especially considering the lateness of our reservation, at the Hilton next to the convention center.
On Monday, we drove down to Anaheim and had lunch at the Hilton's main restaurant, Cafe Oasis. Their menu has more interesting things than you'd normally find in a hotel coffee shop. I ended up having some kind of salad, which I enjoyed, and the husband had a grilled salmon, which he enjoyed as well.
We checked into our room, settled our things for a bit and then headed out to the resort.
We had figured it would be pretty busy at Disneyland, so we wanted to make sure we'd still be able to get in later in the evening, so when we arrived around 3pm, we went into Disneyland just as far as getting into the turnstiles, and then we left, getting a handstamp (it was Belle) as we exited.
We went to the AMC to catch "Aliens vs. Predator - Requiem", and then we stopped into the Legos store so that I could see the new Indiana Jones sets that the husband had seen on Friday night. They were pretty cool, especially the gauntlet set from the first film, where there's actually a gold idol. And I think the snakes in that set wouldn't particularly freak me out.
We went back into Disneyland via monorail around 6pm, right as the Christmas parade was reaching the Small World area. It was very crowded in the park, and they were already running the warning announcements about the holiday fireworks possibly being cancelled because of the wind, which were pretty fierce already. We watched the very end of the parade, pretty much because we wanted to go on Small World, so once it ended, we joined the forming line, but at least we were fairly near the front of the mob, and we lucked out and got on the side that moved fairly quickly, so it wasn't too long a wait.
We then wandered the park a bit and then passed by the Veranda (next to POTC where they sell the chowder in a bowl) around 7:15pm, and the line stretched to slightly past half-way on the bridge over the POTC queue. I've never seen that line so long before. At first, I couldn't believe they were all waiting in that line. I figured I must be missing something. But at the end of the line, I overheard a family deciding on what they were going to order. I sure hope they had enough chowder and bread boules to go around.
We decided to do some people-watching on Main Street for a while. The porch seats were occupied, so we just sat on the steps for a while. While we sat there, they announced that the holiday fireworks were in fact cancelled because of the winds. I was surprised they were announcing it so early, but at least people were told way ahead of time.
We then headed out for our 8pm reservation at Catal.
Catal was only offering their special menu for the night. It was a four course set menu, though you did have some choices.
canape
cream of mushroom shooter with sliced truffle
first course selection
lobster bisque with sherry drops
baby vegetable stew with truffle broth and chive oil
crispy sweetbreads on persimmons with maple-balsamic gastrique
sushi plate with hamachi, yellowfin tuna, kampachi and uni
seared foie gras with warm brioche bun and apple butter
warm fingerling potato salad with smoke salmon, caviar and creme fraiche
main course selection
pancetta-wrapped monkfish with French lentils and kumquat marmalade
venison loin with honey-braised endive, parsnip puree and pomegranate reduction
olive oil-poached salmon with melted leeks, roasted beets and blood orange salad
petite filet of beef with seared foie gras, truffle-studded sweet potato pave and red onion confit
pan-roasted chicken breast with garnet yam puree, wilted braising greens and honey-lavendar sauce
braised lamb fettuccini with red onions, peppers, fromage blanc and preserved lemon zest
dessert
The flyer I got didn't have the dessert choices listed, and I don't remember what they were, though there were 3 choices. One was a goat cheese cheesecake, and one was a chocolate lava cake.
There were so many things on the first course selection that sounded good, so I had a hard time deciding. Ultimately, I chose the sushi plate, and the husband chose the sweetbreads (which was the other thing I had really been looking at), and for entrees, I picked the monkfish, and the husband picked the venison. For dessert, we both picked the lava cake.
I've picked up an affinity for lemon drops, so I had one with dinner again. Even though it was made by the same bartender who'd made it for me on Friday night, this one was much stronger. I noticed that when I realized after finishing about half of it that I needed to not look around quickly or I would get dizzy!
The mushroom shooter was yummy! It was actually a decent serving, and it took about 3 or 4 sips for me to finish it off.
My sushi was really good, with very fresh fish. All of them were actually sashimi servings, except for the uni, which was a little slab on a round ball of rice. I hadn't heard of kampachi before, but it's apparently some kind of Hawaiian fish, and it resembled red snapper. The husband loved his sweetbreads.
One of the sushi items that I love is monkfish liver, but ever since I was introduced to that, I'd been curious about the monkfish itself, which is why I decided on that for the entree. I loved it! The flavor was good, though fairly mild, and the consistency was similar to that of cooked scallops, which I found surprising. I don't see monkfish on a lot of menus, but it's definitely something I'd try at other places. The husband *loved* his venison. I had thought about that as well, since I love venison, but I had opted for the fish instead.
The chocolate lava cake came with a little bit of orangish sherbet on top, which was ok, but the cake itself was delicious! The dessert was garnished with a blackberry that had been cut into several pieces and placed along the edges of the plate. I gave Ryan a hard time because the menu had described it as "blackberry tartare". Ummm, ok, that just means raw blackberry. What the hell? Yes, we had a drawn-out discussion about that with him, as you'd expect!
Dessert also came with a little chocolate truffle for each of us. It pretty much melted as soon as you put it in your mouth. Yum!
We had a great time at dinner, periodically talking to the different staff who came by to say hi. At about 10pm, one of the hostesses came around with new year's party favors. For the men, they had black top hats with a gold band and "Happy New Year" printed on the front of the hat. For the women, they had a headband with "Happy New Year" and white feathers that looked like the old flapper-style. They also had noisemakers for everyone.
We got back into the park around 10:45pm, and we had thought about going to the midnight showing of Fantasmic, but that was announced as cancelled around 11:30 (the other two showings were also apparently cancelled because of the high winds), and they never announced (that I heard) that the midnight fireworks were cancelled - they just didn't do them. We rode Haunted Mansion Holiday and Pirates and then were to the Fantasyland side of the castle when they did the countdown to midnight. It sounded like they shot off a couple low-level shells just for the sound effect, but I didn't see anything, but they might have been low enough that the castle blocked my view.
We then went on Snow White and Pinocchio and then headed for the Toontown train station to ride the train back to Main Street. The park was open until 2am, but we were already tired, so we left around 12:45 to head back to our hotel.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
"Aliens vs. Predator - Requiem" - movie review
SPOILER WARNING - This review contains spoilers. If you don't want to read spoilers, stop reading now.
I loved "Alien vs. Predator", so when I saw a one-sheet for the sequel, I was excited to see what they were going to do this time.
Generally, I liked the movie, and it was chock full of action, as you might expect. I didn't like it as much as AVP, though. AVP actually included a great story of why the two iconic aliens were clashing, but AVP-R had the thinnest string of story (the events of the second movie take place immediately after the events of the first movie), but otherwise, it was mostly just death and mayhem and escaping and screaming and blood and alien fluids. It reminded me a bit of "Jurassic Park 3" (which I enjoyed) in that respect.
There was another aspect of the movie that reminded me of "Jaws" - small town where nothing really happens, and this completely extraordinary thing occurs, and the sheriff takes a while to figure out that it's much more than he expected, and he's really ill-equipped to handle the situation. However, unlike Brody, who ends up rising to the occasion, the small-town sheriff in this case never realizes the extreme situation he has ended up in and perishes, big time, along with everyone else in town.
There was one story point that confused me. OK, so the predator dude sees what happened to the ship and that aliens were loose on it before it crash-landed on Earth. Given his chair and set-up, he seemed like someone in a place of power, but he just takes his armour and leaves to handle the situation. A whole bunch of aliens landing where they can seriously reproduce practically unstopped and only one predator goes to handle the situation? Ummm, you might want to bring along a few buddies. And then that blue liquid he was pouring on the corpses to get rid of the evidence. Hope you brought gallons of that.
One other story point that I found a problem with - when the lead guy is about to get eaten by an alien and he's waiting for the predator's gun to reload, and then it re-sets and he shoots the alien, who is blasted into bits - why doesn't the alien's body liquid fry the guy? An earlier scene showed one of the high school boys being completely burned from the acid dripping from the blasted alien, so we're reminded that the alien's bodily fluid is toxic.
I was excited when I saw the trailer and Reiko Aylesworth was in it. I loved her in "24", and she looked good in this. She didn't really end up having that much to do. I also recognized the little girl who played her daughter. She was the daughter of the sheriff and doctor on the now-defunct television show "Invasion". She didn't seem quite as traumatized as I would have expected considering she saw her father eaten by an alien right in front of her. I did sort of laugh at that scene - "See, there are no monsters outside." Ummm, yeah, dad, you're dinner now.
I thought the fight scenes between the aliens and the predator were good, but they seemed darker than I remember them being in the first movie. There were times I had a hard time distinguishing which ones were the aliens and which were the predator. They did continue the story point from the first movie where the predator basically ends up being the good guy. I guess since their race has been set up as hunters, there's at least a code there, whereas the aliens are pretty much just killing machines - no redeeming them.
I did really hate the ending of the film though. It makes zero sense, and it's entirely too obviously a set-up for a third film, but at least the set-up at the end of the first film made sense. This one was just bizarre. Oh, and there were some bits of dialogue that were just awful. You're not expecting Oscar-winning calibre writing in these kinds of films, but even relatively speaking, the dialogue was atrocious.
It was a fun popcorn movie, and if you've seen the first film, this is a fun addition, but while I'd definitely see the first movie again, I doubt I'd see this one again.
I loved "Alien vs. Predator", so when I saw a one-sheet for the sequel, I was excited to see what they were going to do this time.
Generally, I liked the movie, and it was chock full of action, as you might expect. I didn't like it as much as AVP, though. AVP actually included a great story of why the two iconic aliens were clashing, but AVP-R had the thinnest string of story (the events of the second movie take place immediately after the events of the first movie), but otherwise, it was mostly just death and mayhem and escaping and screaming and blood and alien fluids. It reminded me a bit of "Jurassic Park 3" (which I enjoyed) in that respect.
There was another aspect of the movie that reminded me of "Jaws" - small town where nothing really happens, and this completely extraordinary thing occurs, and the sheriff takes a while to figure out that it's much more than he expected, and he's really ill-equipped to handle the situation. However, unlike Brody, who ends up rising to the occasion, the small-town sheriff in this case never realizes the extreme situation he has ended up in and perishes, big time, along with everyone else in town.
There was one story point that confused me. OK, so the predator dude sees what happened to the ship and that aliens were loose on it before it crash-landed on Earth. Given his chair and set-up, he seemed like someone in a place of power, but he just takes his armour and leaves to handle the situation. A whole bunch of aliens landing where they can seriously reproduce practically unstopped and only one predator goes to handle the situation? Ummm, you might want to bring along a few buddies. And then that blue liquid he was pouring on the corpses to get rid of the evidence. Hope you brought gallons of that.
One other story point that I found a problem with - when the lead guy is about to get eaten by an alien and he's waiting for the predator's gun to reload, and then it re-sets and he shoots the alien, who is blasted into bits - why doesn't the alien's body liquid fry the guy? An earlier scene showed one of the high school boys being completely burned from the acid dripping from the blasted alien, so we're reminded that the alien's bodily fluid is toxic.
I was excited when I saw the trailer and Reiko Aylesworth was in it. I loved her in "24", and she looked good in this. She didn't really end up having that much to do. I also recognized the little girl who played her daughter. She was the daughter of the sheriff and doctor on the now-defunct television show "Invasion". She didn't seem quite as traumatized as I would have expected considering she saw her father eaten by an alien right in front of her. I did sort of laugh at that scene - "See, there are no monsters outside." Ummm, yeah, dad, you're dinner now.
I thought the fight scenes between the aliens and the predator were good, but they seemed darker than I remember them being in the first movie. There were times I had a hard time distinguishing which ones were the aliens and which were the predator. They did continue the story point from the first movie where the predator basically ends up being the good guy. I guess since their race has been set up as hunters, there's at least a code there, whereas the aliens are pretty much just killing machines - no redeeming them.
I did really hate the ending of the film though. It makes zero sense, and it's entirely too obviously a set-up for a third film, but at least the set-up at the end of the first film made sense. This one was just bizarre. Oh, and there were some bits of dialogue that were just awful. You're not expecting Oscar-winning calibre writing in these kinds of films, but even relatively speaking, the dialogue was atrocious.
It was a fun popcorn movie, and if you've seen the first film, this is a fun addition, but while I'd definitely see the first movie again, I doubt I'd see this one again.
Monday, December 31, 2007
for the love of cats
Let's end 2007 on a happy note, shall we?
From time to time, various friends send around those conglomerations of cute animal pictures. I'm a sucker especially for the kitty ones, so I pulled out two of them to show here.
I can't quite figure out how that cat is staying on there. Our cat Orkid likes to sit on the top of the back of my chair, but it's got a little platform area, and it's made of cloth, so she clings with her claws. But this cat is really just sitting there. Too funny.
And for this picture, what really gets me is the expression on the little baby kitty on top. Too frickin' cute.
Hope your New Year's Eve is a good one!
From time to time, various friends send around those conglomerations of cute animal pictures. I'm a sucker especially for the kitty ones, so I pulled out two of them to show here.
I can't quite figure out how that cat is staying on there. Our cat Orkid likes to sit on the top of the back of my chair, but it's got a little platform area, and it's made of cloth, so she clings with her claws. But this cat is really just sitting there. Too funny.
And for this picture, what really gets me is the expression on the little baby kitty on top. Too frickin' cute.
Hope your New Year's Eve is a good one!
Sunday, December 30, 2007
MyFace, SpaceBook, whatever
I keep hearing about something called Facebook. I don't know anything about it, but I think it seemed to me like it was a myspace sort of thing. I've never done the myspace thing, and I'm assuming the appeal of it is that you don't have to have your own website or pay for your own hosting server, and you can presumably search with some ease for your soulmate or worst enemy or whatever else you might be looking for. Maybe I've never been lured into that because I'm generally not all that social a person by nature. "Social butterfly" has never been a term that's been used to describe me. And my online presences aside, I'm not one to lay open all the details of my private life for a world of strangers to see. (But if you want to call me, anytime, feel free to dial 867-5309. The number is good in any area code.)
So I recently asked my twenty-something niece about Facebook. She tells me that it's like myspace to some degree, but it's more compartmentalized, so you can't just look at random people's info, but rather, it's a place where people apparently meet based on shared interests. OK, I can see how there are a few more restrictions there, but there's nothing to prevent someone from pretending to be interested in a certain subject as a way to get to know people.
The places I hang out most online to chit chat about one thing or another are all on discussion boards run by people I know or people I know of. Topics range from the silly to serious, and some people on the various boards know me in real life prior to my having joined the boards, some people are ones I've actually met in person and/or gotten to know very well online, and others are people with whom I only have interaction on the boards themselves and have no desire to ever have any interaction with in real life. I suppose I'm lucky in that I know people who run sites where I know I'm "safe". If you don't have the luxury of knowing similar people, and you want to be able to talk to people, where do you go? Are places like myspace and Facebook the modern equivalents of newsgroups? Has participation in newsgroups died down with the rise of these kinds of gathering sites? I still participate in one newsgroup and mostly lurk in another, a far cry from the multiple numbers of newsgroups I participated in when I was in college.
I could see if gatherings were restricted to these two sites. But it's not. I've heard of something called "friendster". I have no clue what that is. Yahoo apparently has some kind of group thing, as does Google, and there are also a billion discussion boards out there. And who knows what else. How are you supposed to figure out which site to belong to? Do you do it based on where your friends are? But if you're trying to meet new people, does it necessarily matter where your friends are? Do you join all of them and have the same information/discussions a billion times? I participate regularly on 3 discussion boards, and similar topics always crop up on at least two, sometimes all three, of the boards. I will sometimes participate on the same topic on different boards, but that's only in certain cases and under certain circumstances. Otherwise, it tends to be redundant to have the same conversation multiple times. Doesn't that end up being what happens if you're on multiple gathering sites?
I'm just going to live on this little island by myself. I'm getting closer and closer to being Bean all the time...
So I recently asked my twenty-something niece about Facebook. She tells me that it's like myspace to some degree, but it's more compartmentalized, so you can't just look at random people's info, but rather, it's a place where people apparently meet based on shared interests. OK, I can see how there are a few more restrictions there, but there's nothing to prevent someone from pretending to be interested in a certain subject as a way to get to know people.
The places I hang out most online to chit chat about one thing or another are all on discussion boards run by people I know or people I know of. Topics range from the silly to serious, and some people on the various boards know me in real life prior to my having joined the boards, some people are ones I've actually met in person and/or gotten to know very well online, and others are people with whom I only have interaction on the boards themselves and have no desire to ever have any interaction with in real life. I suppose I'm lucky in that I know people who run sites where I know I'm "safe". If you don't have the luxury of knowing similar people, and you want to be able to talk to people, where do you go? Are places like myspace and Facebook the modern equivalents of newsgroups? Has participation in newsgroups died down with the rise of these kinds of gathering sites? I still participate in one newsgroup and mostly lurk in another, a far cry from the multiple numbers of newsgroups I participated in when I was in college.
I could see if gatherings were restricted to these two sites. But it's not. I've heard of something called "friendster". I have no clue what that is. Yahoo apparently has some kind of group thing, as does Google, and there are also a billion discussion boards out there. And who knows what else. How are you supposed to figure out which site to belong to? Do you do it based on where your friends are? But if you're trying to meet new people, does it necessarily matter where your friends are? Do you join all of them and have the same information/discussions a billion times? I participate regularly on 3 discussion boards, and similar topics always crop up on at least two, sometimes all three, of the boards. I will sometimes participate on the same topic on different boards, but that's only in certain cases and under certain circumstances. Otherwise, it tends to be redundant to have the same conversation multiple times. Doesn't that end up being what happens if you're on multiple gathering sites?
I'm just going to live on this little island by myself. I'm getting closer and closer to being Bean all the time...
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Stu Nahan - goodbye and thanks (oh, yeah, and the Patriots)
I heard earlier this week that Stu Nahan had died. He's someone I haven't heard about in a long time, but he was certainly someone I heard a lot when I was a kid. I grew up with brothers who were really into sports, sometimes playing, mostly watching, so I learned to do the same. There were many, many nights when I would watch Stu Nahan's sports reports. I can't really tell you anything specific about him, but I loved his sportscasts. He just had a way of telling the stories, and he was smart. I missed seeing him as he got older, and then I started watching Fred Roggin. I'm glad to see that Fred Roggin refers to Stu Nahan as a friend and mentor. No wonder I liked Roggin too. He learned from the best.
Nahan was apparently fighting cancer and beat it for a time but eventually succumbed.
My best to his wife and family. Thanks, Stu, for feeding and stoking my interest in sports.
Here's one story about Stu Nahan's death.
And on a related note, I guess I should say that the New England Patriots beat the New York Giants today, completing the Patriots' perfect 16-0 season. The Giants actually played quite well, and they not only scored repeatedly against the Patriots, but they were holding the Patriots offense as well. But in the end, the Patriots pulled through, though I don't think most people expected them to win by only 3 points. In the process of completing their perfect season, they also broke three NFL records - most points scored in a single season (589), most touchdown passes thrown in a single season (Brady - 50), and most touchdown receptions in a single season (Moss - 23). I'm not a Patriots fan, but you have to give credit where credit is due.
Nahan was apparently fighting cancer and beat it for a time but eventually succumbed.
My best to his wife and family. Thanks, Stu, for feeding and stoking my interest in sports.
Here's one story about Stu Nahan's death.
And on a related note, I guess I should say that the New England Patriots beat the New York Giants today, completing the Patriots' perfect 16-0 season. The Giants actually played quite well, and they not only scored repeatedly against the Patriots, but they were holding the Patriots offense as well. But in the end, the Patriots pulled through, though I don't think most people expected them to win by only 3 points. In the process of completing their perfect season, they also broke three NFL records - most points scored in a single season (589), most touchdown passes thrown in a single season (Brady - 50), and most touchdown receptions in a single season (Moss - 23). I'm not a Patriots fan, but you have to give credit where credit is due.
Friday, December 28, 2007
Where's the beef?
I heard about this story today, which is a warning to Texans about buying meat from parking lots or roadside sales because a truckful of contaminated ground beef was stolen.
OK, so someone stole a truck. Did they know there was ground beef inside or were they just trying to steal a truck or did they think something else was inside the truck? OK, maybe there's no way for them to know that the beef is contaminated - not sure if there's any labeling or signage or whatever. Maybe they decide to have a cookout and invite the several adjacent neighborhoods, and you have an epidemic of really sick people.
But I'm wondering about the whole "warning people not to buy meat from the roadside or a parking lot because they might be selling contaminated beef". Ummm, ok. Exactly who is it that buys MEAT from some random stranger standing on the corner or from the back of his pickup truck in a parking lot? I know there are people who have very, very tight budgets, and they need to save however they can. OK, so you shop at a discount grocery store or something like that where the meat might not be the BEST quality, but it's still most likely not going to make you sick or kill you. But a streetcorner? A parking lot? Even if you have kids to feed on almost no money, do you risk their health this way?
I personally don't buy anything from streetcorner vendors for a number of reasons, the main one being that I have no idea where the produce/whatever is coming from or what's been done to it. Maybe nothing. Maybe it's perfectly good, just cheaper than at the local grocery store. But I'm not willing to take a chance. OK, oranges have to be peeled, and peanuts have to be shelled, but they can still be tampered with, or they could be just gross quality. I could *almost* see buying flowers since there's less of a chance it could hurt or kill someone, but I still wouldn't do it.
I've never seen anyone trying to sell meat from a streetcorner. Some of the street vendors have their stuff sitting out in the sun, and I can imagine that the fruit melts and wilts and whatever. Some try to be in the shade, but that's not always an option. But meat? Unrefrigerated? Although, even if they pulled it out of a roadside cooler, that't not going to make me want to buy it any more than if it wasn't.
Is this something particular to Texas? I know it's a serious meat state, but I thought they also prided themselves on their beef.
If you're invited to a New Year's celebration barbeque in Texas - just have salad.
OK, so someone stole a truck. Did they know there was ground beef inside or were they just trying to steal a truck or did they think something else was inside the truck? OK, maybe there's no way for them to know that the beef is contaminated - not sure if there's any labeling or signage or whatever. Maybe they decide to have a cookout and invite the several adjacent neighborhoods, and you have an epidemic of really sick people.
But I'm wondering about the whole "warning people not to buy meat from the roadside or a parking lot because they might be selling contaminated beef". Ummm, ok. Exactly who is it that buys MEAT from some random stranger standing on the corner or from the back of his pickup truck in a parking lot? I know there are people who have very, very tight budgets, and they need to save however they can. OK, so you shop at a discount grocery store or something like that where the meat might not be the BEST quality, but it's still most likely not going to make you sick or kill you. But a streetcorner? A parking lot? Even if you have kids to feed on almost no money, do you risk their health this way?
I personally don't buy anything from streetcorner vendors for a number of reasons, the main one being that I have no idea where the produce/whatever is coming from or what's been done to it. Maybe nothing. Maybe it's perfectly good, just cheaper than at the local grocery store. But I'm not willing to take a chance. OK, oranges have to be peeled, and peanuts have to be shelled, but they can still be tampered with, or they could be just gross quality. I could *almost* see buying flowers since there's less of a chance it could hurt or kill someone, but I still wouldn't do it.
I've never seen anyone trying to sell meat from a streetcorner. Some of the street vendors have their stuff sitting out in the sun, and I can imagine that the fruit melts and wilts and whatever. Some try to be in the shade, but that's not always an option. But meat? Unrefrigerated? Although, even if they pulled it out of a roadside cooler, that't not going to make me want to buy it any more than if it wasn't.
Is this something particular to Texas? I know it's a serious meat state, but I thought they also prided themselves on their beef.
If you're invited to a New Year's celebration barbeque in Texas - just have salad.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Did you know Arby's has cheesecake poppers?
There used to be an Arby's fairly close to where we live, but they closed a couple years ago. There is apparently this abyss in a certain part of the Greater Los Angeles area where Arby's are not allowed to exist. On a recent quest to Arby's, I ended up driving from the westside of Los Angeles to Hollywood, where there's an Arby's on Sunset by Gower, and then onto the San Gabriel Valley, because it was the only "convenient" Arby's.
Anyway, I liked Arby's ok, but when we used to go, I got to like their market sandwiches. Good bread. And decent curly fries, if I remember correctly.
Well, on an outing a few months ago, circumstances arose where a few of us were constantly being told/reminded that Arby's now had cheesecake poppers. We got together with some friends last night, and I just *had* to bring some.
After I placed my order and was waiting for them, I didn't really know how they were going to come out - hot or cold. Well, when I saw the guy making them take them out of the deep-fryer and pour them into a paper container before giving it to me, that answered the question. We didn't eat them for some time after that, so of course, they were cold by then. We could have heated them up in the microwave, but we decided not to. They look kind of like tater tots, but darker. The outside is fried, so it would have to be hot, and it wasn't nearly as tasty with it being cold and having sat around for an hour or two. The raspberry sauce that comes with it was pretty tasty, and the cheesecake bite itself was good. It would probably be fairly good fresh, since I figure the cheesecake part would be kind of gooey, just coming out of the fryer. You get six pieces in one order, which is a good size to enjoy without having too much or too little.
I might have to get some again and try them hot.
Anyway, I liked Arby's ok, but when we used to go, I got to like their market sandwiches. Good bread. And decent curly fries, if I remember correctly.
Well, on an outing a few months ago, circumstances arose where a few of us were constantly being told/reminded that Arby's now had cheesecake poppers. We got together with some friends last night, and I just *had* to bring some.
After I placed my order and was waiting for them, I didn't really know how they were going to come out - hot or cold. Well, when I saw the guy making them take them out of the deep-fryer and pour them into a paper container before giving it to me, that answered the question. We didn't eat them for some time after that, so of course, they were cold by then. We could have heated them up in the microwave, but we decided not to. They look kind of like tater tots, but darker. The outside is fried, so it would have to be hot, and it wasn't nearly as tasty with it being cold and having sat around for an hour or two. The raspberry sauce that comes with it was pretty tasty, and the cheesecake bite itself was good. It would probably be fairly good fresh, since I figure the cheesecake part would be kind of gooey, just coming out of the fryer. You get six pieces in one order, which is a good size to enjoy without having too much or too little.
I might have to get some again and try them hot.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
In the mood for a Meltdown?
Do you know anyone who doesn't like cheese? I don't think I do. Everyone I know either likes cheese or LOVES cheese. (I've heard that some people order cheeseless pizza. If you're lactose-intolerant, that's one thing, but barring that, what is the point of cheeseless pizza? Heck, I've got a friend who is lactose-intolerant, and she *still* loves cheese. But I digress.) It can be cheese on a salad, cheese on soup, cheese by itself, or cheese as an ingredient. Recent discussion of cheese (yeah, that does happen) resulted in a friend mentioning a restaurant that he'd heard of that specialized in grilled cheese. And that's how he happened to tell us about MeltDown etc. I decided to try it out for lunch today.
MeltDown is a very small establishment on Culver Blvd. (nearest cross street is Duquesne) in Culver City just across from City Hall and just southeast of Sony Pictures Entertainment. (The picture above of the front of the restaurant is taken from the restaurant's website.) I happened to be very lucky, and someone was pulling out of a metered parking spot right in front of the restaurant, so I parked there. I would assume that this particular week, it's a bit slower (though the restaurant was still quite busy), so parking might not be that hard, but during a normal weekday, I would expect that a metered parking spot might be a bit more difficult to find.
You order at the counter, and if you're eating there, they give you a plastic number that you put on your table, and when your order is ready, they bring it to you (or yell out your number if they can't find you). There are 3 very small tables inside and about a dozen small tables right outside. The ambience is obviously not great outside since you're basically on the sidewalk with the traffic passing by - the blaring sirens of the passing firetruck at one point was particularly jarring. Sitting inside might be a little quieter, but again, there's not much room. Since it was a little cold outside today, they did have standing heaters, which was nice.
There were a few things on the menu that I wanted to try, but I had decided to have a partial meltdown combo (1/2 sandwich with either a cup of soup or a salad), and the sandwich I had really wanted wasn't available as part of that combo, so I ended up going with the Reuben (swiss, lean pastrami, sauerkraut, thousand island, spicy brown mustard on rye bread). There's supposed to be a seasonal tomato soup and a soup of the day, but the soup of the day was a classic tomato soup this day, so I decided to have that. When I had initially perused the menu, I had noticed "house-made pickles", which had caught my attention, so I had a side of that as well. The person taking my order did let me know that the sandwich came with a slice of pickle, which I thought was nice of him to tell me, but I ordered the additional side anyway. There is also a fairly large assortment of drinks available, all bottled.
I took a seat at an outside table, and my order was brought out to me shortly thereafter. The side of pickles was a bit larger than I had anticipated. They were all cut in spears, but altogether, it was probably two whole pickles. The pickles were very crunchy, but they were only lightly marinated and didn't have much vinegary flavor, so I wouldn't order it again.
The tomato soup was good, flavorful, and a good size portion for being a cup serving, but while the website states that the soup was homemade, it had a pre-made quality to it. That's not to say it was a bad thing. I think most restaurant tomato soups are a bit more on the creamy side, and this was a bit more pure, which I liked and which I guess associate more with canned tomato soup. It had very good tomato flavor, which might sound weird, but some places make their tomato soup very light - I like the bold tomato taste.
The Reuben was very tasty, not too much on the sauces/condiments, and a nice proportion of cheese, pastrami and sauerkraut on nicely toasted bread.
The half-sandwich with the cup of soup and the side of pickles was perfect for lunch. On a future visit, if I'm hungrier and like the soup offering, I might go for the total meltdown combo, where if you order any sandwich, you can add a cup of soup for slightly less than the normal price.
There are a few other sandwiches on the menu that I'd like to try on future visits. The Italian Deli (fresh mozzarella, daily italian cured meat, fire-roasted peppers, basil, extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar on ciabatta bread) is what had really caught my attention. Of course, I'd have to try the classic 3 cheese (grilled cheese), probably with the roma tomato, maybe with the bacon or smoked ham. Some of the sweetmelts sound interesting (PBH&B - peanut butter, wildflower honey, banana on egg bread in particular), but I'm not sure if that works as regular lunch since it's sweeter than most things, and it would probably wouldn't work with any soup.
MeltDown etc.
9739 Culver Blvd.
Culver City, CA 90232
310-838-MELT (6358)
310-838-6359 (fax)
open Monday through Saturday 11am to 3pm
MeltDown is a very small establishment on Culver Blvd. (nearest cross street is Duquesne) in Culver City just across from City Hall and just southeast of Sony Pictures Entertainment. (The picture above of the front of the restaurant is taken from the restaurant's website.) I happened to be very lucky, and someone was pulling out of a metered parking spot right in front of the restaurant, so I parked there. I would assume that this particular week, it's a bit slower (though the restaurant was still quite busy), so parking might not be that hard, but during a normal weekday, I would expect that a metered parking spot might be a bit more difficult to find.
You order at the counter, and if you're eating there, they give you a plastic number that you put on your table, and when your order is ready, they bring it to you (or yell out your number if they can't find you). There are 3 very small tables inside and about a dozen small tables right outside. The ambience is obviously not great outside since you're basically on the sidewalk with the traffic passing by - the blaring sirens of the passing firetruck at one point was particularly jarring. Sitting inside might be a little quieter, but again, there's not much room. Since it was a little cold outside today, they did have standing heaters, which was nice.
There were a few things on the menu that I wanted to try, but I had decided to have a partial meltdown combo (1/2 sandwich with either a cup of soup or a salad), and the sandwich I had really wanted wasn't available as part of that combo, so I ended up going with the Reuben (swiss, lean pastrami, sauerkraut, thousand island, spicy brown mustard on rye bread). There's supposed to be a seasonal tomato soup and a soup of the day, but the soup of the day was a classic tomato soup this day, so I decided to have that. When I had initially perused the menu, I had noticed "house-made pickles", which had caught my attention, so I had a side of that as well. The person taking my order did let me know that the sandwich came with a slice of pickle, which I thought was nice of him to tell me, but I ordered the additional side anyway. There is also a fairly large assortment of drinks available, all bottled.
I took a seat at an outside table, and my order was brought out to me shortly thereafter. The side of pickles was a bit larger than I had anticipated. They were all cut in spears, but altogether, it was probably two whole pickles. The pickles were very crunchy, but they were only lightly marinated and didn't have much vinegary flavor, so I wouldn't order it again.
The tomato soup was good, flavorful, and a good size portion for being a cup serving, but while the website states that the soup was homemade, it had a pre-made quality to it. That's not to say it was a bad thing. I think most restaurant tomato soups are a bit more on the creamy side, and this was a bit more pure, which I liked and which I guess associate more with canned tomato soup. It had very good tomato flavor, which might sound weird, but some places make their tomato soup very light - I like the bold tomato taste.
The Reuben was very tasty, not too much on the sauces/condiments, and a nice proportion of cheese, pastrami and sauerkraut on nicely toasted bread.
The half-sandwich with the cup of soup and the side of pickles was perfect for lunch. On a future visit, if I'm hungrier and like the soup offering, I might go for the total meltdown combo, where if you order any sandwich, you can add a cup of soup for slightly less than the normal price.
There are a few other sandwiches on the menu that I'd like to try on future visits. The Italian Deli (fresh mozzarella, daily italian cured meat, fire-roasted peppers, basil, extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar on ciabatta bread) is what had really caught my attention. Of course, I'd have to try the classic 3 cheese (grilled cheese), probably with the roma tomato, maybe with the bacon or smoked ham. Some of the sweetmelts sound interesting (PBH&B - peanut butter, wildflower honey, banana on egg bread in particular), but I'm not sure if that works as regular lunch since it's sweeter than most things, and it would probably wouldn't work with any soup.
MeltDown etc.
9739 Culver Blvd.
Culver City, CA 90232
310-838-MELT (6358)
310-838-6359 (fax)
open Monday through Saturday 11am to 3pm
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Presents!
Christmas morning - yep, it's still technically morning, and you're usually talking about gifts you might have gotten. Well, here's the favorite gift I've gotten so far.
The peppermint stars on the right are new this Christmas, and I had wanted to try some. I hadn't had a chance to find them, though I wasn't really looking that hard. If I happened to be somewhere that usually had Peeps, I'd look to see if they had them, but I didn't drive around looking for them. The husband was in more places than me, and he did look for them, but he hadn't seen any either.
But the stars were one of my Christmas gifts from someone else. I'm so excited. I'll probably wait until later in the week to try them. Though I suppose I should really try them sometime today so that if I end up really liking them and wanting more, I can try to find them at the after-Christmas sales.
The gingerbread men on the left are new this Christmas as well, I think, and they're supposed to taste like cookies. I did find a pack of them previously, but I haven't tried them yet.
Nothing makes Christmas more complete than Peeps! ;)
Hope you're enjoying your Christmas day.
The peppermint stars on the right are new this Christmas, and I had wanted to try some. I hadn't had a chance to find them, though I wasn't really looking that hard. If I happened to be somewhere that usually had Peeps, I'd look to see if they had them, but I didn't drive around looking for them. The husband was in more places than me, and he did look for them, but he hadn't seen any either.
But the stars were one of my Christmas gifts from someone else. I'm so excited. I'll probably wait until later in the week to try them. Though I suppose I should really try them sometime today so that if I end up really liking them and wanting more, I can try to find them at the after-Christmas sales.
The gingerbread men on the left are new this Christmas as well, I think, and they're supposed to taste like cookies. I did find a pack of them previously, but I haven't tried them yet.
Nothing makes Christmas more complete than Peeps! ;)
Hope you're enjoying your Christmas day.
Monday, December 24, 2007
"Mamma Mia"
I can't wait for July 18, 2008. What's happening that day? Am I excited because it's the day after Disneyland's 53rd birthday? Nope. Am I just looking forward to the 29th Friday of 2008? Nope. July 18, 2008 is the release date for the film version of the stage musical "Mamma Mia".
I've been a fan of the show for a long time. The first time I saw the show was at the now non-existent Shubert Theatre in Los Angeles, and I loved it. I'm a huge fan of Abba anyway, so the fact that their music was used as the basis for the show was a good start anyway (especially since the two men from Abba were involved in the creation of the show). But after seeing the show, I loved the fact that they did actually create a real story, one that stands alone even if you don't know the songs beforehand. During a young woman's wedding preparations, she decides that she wants to know who her biological father is, and since there are three possibilities, she invites them all to her wedding, hoping to find out who her real father is before the wedding, much to her independent mother's surprise and dismay when the three men show up. And the energy behind the songs really draws you in as well.
We have now seen the show 10 times in 9 different locales: the Shubert Theatre (formerly in Los Angeles), The Ahmanson (in Los Angeles), Mandalay Bay (in Las Vegas), the Pantages Theatre (in Los Angeles), Orange County Performing Arts Center, the Pasadena Playhouse, the Long Beach Civic Auditorium, the Cadillac Winter Garden (in New York), Orange County Performing Arts Center again, and the San Diego Civic Theatre. Some productions have been better than others, but I don't think any of them have been bad. I think my overall favorites have been the original show at the Shubert, the company that we saw in Las Vegas (who had an absolutely fabulous Tanya) and the company that we saw in New York, where every single main cast member was just incredible. (And that was before we found out during the intermission that one of the things they liked to sing during rehearsal as practice was "Once on This Island", which I also love, but I digress.)
When I first heard that they were going to make a movie of the show, I was concerned. You never know how the adaptation is going to work. I was happy to hear that the Abba guys were involved in the movie itself, but having the creator involved doesn't always guarantee that the film will be good. Heck, Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber was involved in the making of the film for "The Phantom of the Opera", and he allowed them to hire a guy in the title role who wasn't that great a singer, *and* he let them destroy the "All I Ask of You" sequence.
And then I heard about the first castings. The lead role of the mother, Donna, was going to be played by Meryl Streep. Now, I know she's been nominated a billion times for Oscars, and I was pretty much kind of over her. However, she was amazing in "The Devil Wears Prada" with her completely understated portrayal of the shark boss, so I was at least feeling favorably towards her again. She's not who I would have envisioned as Donna, but I was willing to withhold judgement. And I also heard that Pierce Brosnan was cast as Sam, one of the potential fathers, and I thought that had serious potential. And then I heard about the rest of the cast as the information became available. Colin Firth as Harry Bright is going to be a complete riot, Stellan Skarsgard (who most people might know as Bill Turner, Will Turner's father in "Pirates of the Caribbean") as Bill (hmmm, yet another Bill...) will be interesting to see, Julie Walters as Rosie is dead on, and the most inspired casting is Christine Baranski as Tanya. The bride-to-be is being portrayed by Amanda Seyfried, who I don't know but who apparently is known for her role in "Mean Girls". After seeing the casting choices, I was much more optimistic about the film.
Well, I just saw the trailer over the weekend, and I can't wait for this film. The trailer looks amazing, and it looks like they really did the show justice. The stage production is fairly low key as far as sets are concerned - "The Phantom of the Opera" it's not, so having that transformed into a full-length feature film could be problematic. The setting looks great though, and I've heard the title song, and I'm presuming the lead is being sung by Meryl Streep since it's her character's song, and it sounds great too. I'm pretty sure the movie soundtrack is going to be released before the film, but I'm going to try really hard to wait until after I've seen the film before I get the soundtrack because I don't want to hear all the new versions of the songs before seeing the movie itself.
The trailer for the film is available online. Go to the official website, enter the site, and if the trailer doesn't start automatically, just click on the "trailer" link.
Merry Christmas!
"How can I resist you."
I've been a fan of the show for a long time. The first time I saw the show was at the now non-existent Shubert Theatre in Los Angeles, and I loved it. I'm a huge fan of Abba anyway, so the fact that their music was used as the basis for the show was a good start anyway (especially since the two men from Abba were involved in the creation of the show). But after seeing the show, I loved the fact that they did actually create a real story, one that stands alone even if you don't know the songs beforehand. During a young woman's wedding preparations, she decides that she wants to know who her biological father is, and since there are three possibilities, she invites them all to her wedding, hoping to find out who her real father is before the wedding, much to her independent mother's surprise and dismay when the three men show up. And the energy behind the songs really draws you in as well.
We have now seen the show 10 times in 9 different locales: the Shubert Theatre (formerly in Los Angeles), The Ahmanson (in Los Angeles), Mandalay Bay (in Las Vegas), the Pantages Theatre (in Los Angeles), Orange County Performing Arts Center, the Pasadena Playhouse, the Long Beach Civic Auditorium, the Cadillac Winter Garden (in New York), Orange County Performing Arts Center again, and the San Diego Civic Theatre. Some productions have been better than others, but I don't think any of them have been bad. I think my overall favorites have been the original show at the Shubert, the company that we saw in Las Vegas (who had an absolutely fabulous Tanya) and the company that we saw in New York, where every single main cast member was just incredible. (And that was before we found out during the intermission that one of the things they liked to sing during rehearsal as practice was "Once on This Island", which I also love, but I digress.)
When I first heard that they were going to make a movie of the show, I was concerned. You never know how the adaptation is going to work. I was happy to hear that the Abba guys were involved in the movie itself, but having the creator involved doesn't always guarantee that the film will be good. Heck, Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber was involved in the making of the film for "The Phantom of the Opera", and he allowed them to hire a guy in the title role who wasn't that great a singer, *and* he let them destroy the "All I Ask of You" sequence.
And then I heard about the first castings. The lead role of the mother, Donna, was going to be played by Meryl Streep. Now, I know she's been nominated a billion times for Oscars, and I was pretty much kind of over her. However, she was amazing in "The Devil Wears Prada" with her completely understated portrayal of the shark boss, so I was at least feeling favorably towards her again. She's not who I would have envisioned as Donna, but I was willing to withhold judgement. And I also heard that Pierce Brosnan was cast as Sam, one of the potential fathers, and I thought that had serious potential. And then I heard about the rest of the cast as the information became available. Colin Firth as Harry Bright is going to be a complete riot, Stellan Skarsgard (who most people might know as Bill Turner, Will Turner's father in "Pirates of the Caribbean") as Bill (hmmm, yet another Bill...) will be interesting to see, Julie Walters as Rosie is dead on, and the most inspired casting is Christine Baranski as Tanya. The bride-to-be is being portrayed by Amanda Seyfried, who I don't know but who apparently is known for her role in "Mean Girls". After seeing the casting choices, I was much more optimistic about the film.
Well, I just saw the trailer over the weekend, and I can't wait for this film. The trailer looks amazing, and it looks like they really did the show justice. The stage production is fairly low key as far as sets are concerned - "The Phantom of the Opera" it's not, so having that transformed into a full-length feature film could be problematic. The setting looks great though, and I've heard the title song, and I'm presuming the lead is being sung by Meryl Streep since it's her character's song, and it sounds great too. I'm pretty sure the movie soundtrack is going to be released before the film, but I'm going to try really hard to wait until after I've seen the film before I get the soundtrack because I don't want to hear all the new versions of the songs before seeing the movie itself.
The trailer for the film is available online. Go to the official website, enter the site, and if the trailer doesn't start automatically, just click on the "trailer" link.
Merry Christmas!
"How can I resist you."
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