Le Tub
We had lunch at this "hole-in-the-wall" local joint in Hollywood, Florida. Apparently GQ called the burgers the best in the country. I don't know about that, but certainly the burger we had was pretty good. We also had an excellent seafood salad. We went after the lunch rush, which was fortunate; the people at the table next to ours had been waiting for their food for 45 minutes! Apparently they have only one grill to serve a place that seats around 100. If it weren't for the long wait, I'd recommend this restaurant highly.
Bombay Talkie
Fancy Indian food. A bit pricey, and you're paying for atmosphere rather than food. But the food was still pretty good; I'd go back.
The Lives of Others
Wow. A wonderful film. Clearly a deserving winner of the Best Foreign Film Oscar last year. In fact, I would argue that it was a better film than The Departed, which won Best Picture. But we can't do much about the US-centric Oscars; after all, each country has its own awards ceremony. We watched the various special features on the DVD, and the interview with the director was fascinating. I just wish we had watched it sooner!
Alex Ross
I went to hear Alex Ross, the classical-music critic for the New Yorker, give an interview at the Strand. The interview was sponsored by WQXR. The occasion was the publication of his first book, The Rest Is Noise
, a history of classical music in the 20th century. The book got rave reviews everywhere, so I've reserved it at the library. The interview was interesting, but I would have preferred a lecture by Alex Ross. The interviewer was Jeff Spurgeon, who is the morning announcer on WQXR. There's always something going on in New York!
, a history of classical music in the 20th century. The book got rave reviews everywhere, so I've reserved it at the library. The interview was interesting, but I would have preferred a lecture by Alex Ross. The interviewer was Jeff Spurgeon, who is the morning announcer on WQXR. There's always something going on in New York!
Stoner
A friend lent me this book, and it is a must-read. Beautiful, compelling prose, and a moving story about a small-town college professor around the turn of the 20th century. I loved the book, and found hilarious the mildly barbed comment about academia that one of the jaded graduate students makes early on in the novel. You must read this gem!
National Treasure: Book of Secrets
A silly, although entertaining movie. We usually watch blockbuster action movies in the theatre, just for the better sound and huge picture. This movie wasn't a great action movie in that sense; we could just as easily watched it at home. The plot itself was absurd, and made me laugh out loud several times. It is worth a rental when you want a bit of light entertainment; the only reason that it dominated the box office for several weeks is that there was nothing better to watch.
Thank You For Smoking
I'd seen this before, but it was definitely worth watching a second time. Wonderful cast, hilarious writing (Rob Lowe's character was a hoot)---what else could one want? If you haven't seen this, you should.
Once
Once is a delightful movie about and around music. The star is apparently an Irish rock star (acting in his first rock movie). The plot revolves around a non-simple love story, which makes it interesting; it shows how love can manifest in unexpected ways, and how it can enrich one's life. Definitely worth watching (and listening to for the great soundtrack)!
Menchanko-Tei
We ate at this "hole-in-the-wall" Japanese restaurant, which has great Japanese noodles. Highly recommended, and at pretty reasonable prices too. Yum!
Sicko
We watched Michael Moore's movie about the brokenness of the health-care system. It points out many flaws in our system, but unfortunately doesn't try to grapple any of the real complexity underlying the issues. He makes simplistic comparisons with the UK and Cuba, and makes the argument that "we could just be like them". Of course we could be, but it's not that simple to just change everything.
Also, he encourages the perception that everyone should be able to get all of the health care that they need. Of course that's not true: someone has to pay for it!
Also, he encourages the perception that everyone should be able to get all of the health care that they need. Of course that's not true: someone has to pay for it!
The Namesake
An interesting movie about the difficulty of adapting as an immigrant to America. It was moving at times, albeit somewhat predictable. The actors who played the mother and father were really quite good.
I haven't read the book on which this movie is based; from what I hear, the movie is quite different than the book. The movie was more about the family, and in particular, the mother; the book is probably more about the son (the "namesake"). I skimmed parts of the book in a bookstore, and I disliked how the director and screenwriter changed around the story. From the DVD special feature on the making of the movie, it was clear that the director had a very different vision of the story than the novel. She certainly did a good job of imposing her view on the story.
Enjoyable, but I would not recommend it highly.
I haven't read the book on which this movie is based; from what I hear, the movie is quite different than the book. The movie was more about the family, and in particular, the mother; the book is probably more about the son (the "namesake"). I skimmed parts of the book in a bookstore, and I disliked how the director and screenwriter changed around the story. From the DVD special feature on the making of the movie, it was clear that the director had a very different vision of the story than the novel. She certainly did a good job of imposing her view on the story.
Enjoyable, but I would not recommend it highly.
Ottimo
We ate at a nice Italian restaurant called Ottimo for New Year's Eve. It was reasonably pricey, but pretty good food. I had Penne Arrabiatta, and boy was it spicy! The appetizer we ordered (an antipasto plate) was really good. High-quality food, but not cheap.
The Receptionist
The Receptionist was playing at the Manhattan Theatre Club, which is an organization that is devoted to helping young playwrights. The Receptionist is a very creepy play that is set in a strangely ambiguous, Kafka-esque world. The entire play revolves around one simple line, which I can't quite recall, and which would also give away the whole premise if I put it here; so I won't. The play occurs in two short acts: the total running time is about an hour. See it if you can!
My Architect
Louis Kahn was a fascinatingly weird character who produced some marvelous (as well as some remarkably ugly) architecture. This documentary was made by his illegitimate son, and is interesting, if you're into learning about people who are absolutely devoted to their art.
Sweeney Todd
Ah, what a violent concept. And, boy, can Johnny Depp do anything that he puts his mind to? The movie was disturbingly bloody: throats slashed left and right. It was way over the top, but also extremely well done. If you want to see a musical horror movie, this is the one to see!
Age of Rembrandt
We saw the exhibit of the Met's collection Dutch art. It wasn't that exciting: too much of the commentary had to do with the history of the acquisition, as opposed to the history of the art. Plus, I was coming down with some illness, so it was really hard to concentrate on art. But it's always fun to visit the Met!
The Devil in the White City
We had listened to this book on CD a while back, and I finally got around to actually reading the book (I miss a lot of details on CD). This beautifully written book is the tale of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair: it centers around the architects who got it built (led by Daniel Burnham, who also built the Flatiron Building in NYC), and the first known urban serial killer, who preyed upon women in Chicago during that time.
Did you know that Cracker Jack, Aunt Jemima's, the zipper, the Ferris wheel, and the electric dishwasher were all first introduced at that fair? The fair was also the first major demonstration of widespread use of AC electricity. I recommend this book highly.
Did you know that Cracker Jack, Aunt Jemima's, the zipper, the Ferris wheel, and the electric dishwasher were all first introduced at that fair? The fair was also the first major demonstration of widespread use of AC electricity. I recommend this book highly.
China Road
Rob Gifford's wonderful book about China describes a trip he took across China. It's a wonderful read, and its clear that Gifford loves China and its people. The most fascinating thing that I learned was that China is more diverse than the government lets on. Gifford says that China today is analogous to the Roman Empire: a motley collection of peoples held together by force. (He also makes the humorous statement that "going out for Chinese food" is analogous to "going out for European food".) All in all, a definite must-read if you're interested in China!
Carnegie Hall Young Artists' Concerts
I went with some friends to hear a master class given by Emanuel Ax, Richard Stolzmann, and David Zinman on various Brahms sonatas. It was entertaining: the F-minor clarinet sonata performed by José Franch-Ballester (clarinet) and
Andrius Zlabys (piano) was great. The other performers were good, but not as well-prepared.
Andrius Zlabys (piano) was great. The other performers were good, but not as well-prepared.
Gimme Kudos
This Chinese movie has English subtitles, which is one of the reasons we took it out of the library. It was an interesting, dark little movie; I was glad that we watched it (although it had enough scratches that we couldn't watch the very end). The movie deals with the conflict between societal pressures in the "old" Communist China, and the new modern China. It is pretty funny at times (my Chinese is good enough to appreciate that), but it isn't really a comedy. I give it a solid "thumbs-up".
Waitress
Waitress is a charming film (which gains some resonance because this was the last film made by actor/writer/director Adrienne Shelly). Somewhat predictable, but filled with charming writing, beautiful pies, and a great cast. Keri Russell did a great job as the lead character. Nathan Fillion seems to pop up in a lot of movies these days (he was on Firefly); he's always fun to watch. Jeremy Sisto was great as the psycho, narcissistic husband; and Andy Griffith was charming as the grumpy old man.
Donnie Darko
Donnie Darko is an interesting cult thriller/science fiction/growing-up story. Lots of recognizable Hollywood stars: the lead actor is a young Jake Gyllenhaal. Creepy and mysterious, it's definitely worth watching!
Interesting fact mentioned in the movie: Donnie's teacher says that a linguist claimed that
Cellar door is the most beautiful phrase in the English language: that person was Tolkien.
Interesting fact mentioned in the movie: Donnie's teacher says that a linguist claimed that
Cellar door is the most beautiful phrase in the English language: that person was Tolkien.
The Queen
No, not Freddy Mercury. Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth. A fine movie, if a bit dry and not very exciting. And also predictable, given that it is based on real historical events. Still worth seeing, though.
Sheet music
This online store, Sheet Music Plus, seems to be one of the better places to find/purchase classical sheet music.
Economics humor
The video presentation of this paper is pretty funny, and worth watching.
The author, Yoram Bauman, apparently has given up a tenure-track position teaching economics, and now is a standup comic. Or, as he puts it, a "standup economist". You can see some of his routines on the web, of course!
The author, Yoram Bauman, apparently has given up a tenure-track position teaching economics, and now is a standup comic. Or, as he puts it, a "standup economist". You can see some of his routines on the web, of course!
Rome Season 2
We reluctantly finished watching the end of HBO's TV series Rome. Such fine television; it's too bad that all of the really well-written stuff seems to only on HBO!
One If By Land, Two If By Sea
Michelin-rated restaurant. Excellent food! They are celebrating their 35th anniversary this year, and were giving away $35 gift certificates. So we thought it would be worth a visit. Set in a building that apparently was owned by Aaron Burr, the ambience was spectacular. Not-to-loud lounge music from a grand piano, excellent service, and some revolutionary-war-era decorations. And the food was simple and fine!
Mauritius
Mauritius by Theresa Rebeck played at the Manhattan Theatre Club. Great cast, including F. Murray Abraham and Bobby Canavale. The star of the production was Alison Pill. The writing was not the best, but the play had some wonderful moments. F. Murray Abraham's soliloquies were a delight, in particular. Overall, it was definitely worth seeing, and good entertainment. But profound it was not.
Subwayland
Subwayland by Randy Kennedy is a collection of articles about the NYC subway that apparently were originally published in the NY Times from 2001-2003. They feel a little dated, but still are fascinating stories about the culture that exists around, in, and about the subway system.
No Reservations
This movie was also showing on the flight home. It was a predictable romantic comedy, and was entertaining to the extent that Catherine Zeta-Jones is beautiful. Abigail Breslin (the little girl from Little Miss Sunshine) was cute, but the role wasn't that well written and developed. Oh well, it kept me awake on the plane, at least.
The Magnificent Seven
Interestingly, The Magnificent Seven was playing on the plane from London to JFK. This movie is one of my favorites, and so I had to watch it again. A magnificent soundtrack; fine cast; good script (adapted from Kurosawa's Seven Samurai); and stunning cinematography. One of the best westerns ever made!
Medici Money
Medici Money by Tim Parks is a fun book about the beginning and end of the Medici bank. It digresses marvelously into discussions about the origins of humanism; the interplay of art, money, and religion; the political situation in Italy; and lots of fascinating other tidbits. It's an entertaining read about an interesting period in time.
E.G. Bührle Collection
After taking a break, I wandered over to the E.G. Bührle Collection. This private collection was made open to the public after the owner passed away, and it resides in a lovely 3-floor house. He was a major industrialist/art collector, and the collection has some magnificent pieces in it. I wish I could have taken some photos! I was the first one in the door when they opened at 2PM local time, and the house was virtually empty for the entire 40 minutes that I was there. If I weren't exhausted after flying to Europe (and walking around Zurich), and if a whole busload of people hadn't entered around 2:30, I would have stayed a lot longer.
Kunsthaus
I got off the plane at 7:15AM (Zurich time), and need to stay up today until evening so that I can force myself onto a normal schedule in Europe. So, after checking into a hotel, I wandered around Zurich and found my way to the Kunsthaus. It's a pretty good museum. Two of the more memorable pieces were 2 large two-paneled paintings by Monet. I'll have to upload some pictures after I get back home.
There was a special exhibition of Felix Vallotton's work, which was interesting: I learned something!
There was a special exhibition of Felix Vallotton's work, which was interesting: I learned something!
Reaper
There's only one thing good about being sick. Well, maybe not a whole thing, but half a thing: getting to watch stupid TV while recuperating. I watched an episode of Reaper, which is hilarious! Ray Wise as the devil; it's very reminiscent in a weird way of his role in Twin Peaks. But maybe I've been just reading too much about the new Twin Peaks DVD set that just came out...
Flags of Our Fathers
Flags of Our Fathers is a fine movie. Although this was the first of a pair of movies from Clint Eastwood, this was the second one that I saw. This movie makes a point of illustrating the different needs of individual soldiers, the army, the government, and the populace. Extremely well done, although I still think that Clint's westerns are his best work.
Funny Face
We watched Funny Face, with Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire. It certainly had a "vintage" look! The star of the production was Kay Thompson, I'd have to say: she certainly had the best voice of the 3 primary actors.
This was not a great movie, but it was worth watching for the visuals. It is also amazing how exotic Paris must have been 50 years ago.
This was not a great movie, but it was worth watching for the visuals. It is also amazing how exotic Paris must have been 50 years ago.
Knowledge and the Wealth of Nations
Knowledge and the Wealth of Nations by David Warsh is a fine read. It covers the history of economics from the point of view of interrelationship between economic growth and the advancement of knowledge. Apparently it was not until the early 1990's that the development of knowledge was explicitly modeled by economists as an important part of the real economy: prior to that, knowledge was outside of economic models (partially due to tractability of the models, I guess).
In any case, this book is an exciting intellectual tale of how economics developed; I recommend it highly.
In any case, this book is an exciting intellectual tale of how economics developed; I recommend it highly.
Remember The Milk
Lifehacker had a post on Remember The Milk, a web-based application for managing tasks. It's pretty well-done!
Food psychology
I finished the book Mindless Eating by Brian Wansink, a professor at Cornell. Fascinating book: the web page also has a link to his blog. I recommend this book highly. Some interesting factoids from the book:
- Our bodies do not notice differences of 100 calories/day. So the easiest way to lose weight is to eat <100 calories less per day, and you'll lose 10 pounds in a year.
- Easy-to-get food gets eaten. The easier, the more it is eaten.
Babette's Feast
Babette's Feast won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film in 1987. I remember when it came out, but I never got around to seeing it until now. I don't think it's aged very well; although it was a nice movie to watch, the pacing didn't feel right, and it seemed all very predictable.
Michael Clayton
Michael Clayton is a fine movie: great writing and great actors. I have to agree with one of the reviewers of this movie on Rotten Tomatoes, though: it was entirely compelling to watch the movie, but it wasn't as satifsying after it ended. Maybe the ending was just a little too easy/happy/contrived. Despite that flaw, though, more movies should be this good.
Letters From Iwo Jima
Letters From Iwo Jima was a great movie: I almost wish I had seen it on a big screen, but the intimacy of a TV was almost acceptable, given the nature of the emotions on display. Definitely worth watching!
The Awful Truth
Cary Grant and Irene Dunne are great in The Awful Truth. I prefer His Girl Friday for sheer pleasure in dialogue (both in the writing and in the delivery). But this was still delightful in a different way: the subtlety was quite refreshing, given modern cinema.
The Phillips Collection
The Phillips Collection is wonderful: the first modern art museum in America. It was free, too, since there were no special exhibitions and we went on a weekday! This Renoir (Luncheon of the Boating Party) is their most famous piece, and one of the docents explained some interesting things about it. I'll let you just admire it, though.
Viggo rules
Eastern Promises was a fine movie and definitely worth watching. Viggo was great, and he works really well with David Cronenberg. I thought this was better than A History of Violence, but maybe that's because urban settings attract me more than farm country. For some reason I thought that Naomi Watts would play a larger role in the plot, but it felt like her character mostly existed to move the plot forward. Kind of like "Who killed Laura Palmer?" or "Who killed the Comedian?" (name those stories): secondary stories/plot devices that suck you in to the main story.
15 Minutes of Fame
Well, not really "fame". When we were walking around DC, this fellow asked us to take his picture, so I obliged. Since I took the picture, I thought it deserved to be published. Why not?
National Museum of the American Indian
The National Museum of the American Indian is pretty cool architecturally. The exhibition of women's dresses didn't do it for me, though: I just am not that interested in female clothing.
National Gallery
We went to the National Gallery, which had some pretty impressive special exhibitions, as well a pretty good permanent collection. One of the notable pieces in their collection is the only Leonardo da Vinci work in the Americas, a portrait of Ginevra de' Benci.
This photo has some of the same enigmatic qualities as the Mona Lisa. The background is also vaguely reminiscent of that portrait, as well.
We saw the following exhibitions:
This photo has some of the same enigmatic qualities as the Mona Lisa. The background is also vaguely reminiscent of that portrait, as well.
We saw the following exhibitions:
- Desiderio da Settignano. Renaissance sculptor. Amazingly beautiful statues!
- Joseph Mallord William Turner. This exhibition will be at the Met in summer 2008, so we'll get to see it twice. Amazing collection of a ton of paintings; I wish I could have taken some photos. I wish I knew how Turner made his oil paintings shimmer like watercolors.
- Edward Hopper. This was a pretty large collection of Hopper's paintings, including the famous Nighthawks.
National Portrait Gallery
The National Portrait Gallery has some fascinating historical paintings. Three that I found particularly interesting, mostly because their names are so important in certain cities: John Jacob Astor, David Rittenhouse, John Singleton Copley. Can you tell who is who?
International Spy Museum
I decided to pony up $15 or so and go through Operation Spy at the International Spy Museum. It was mildly entertaining: more kid-oriented than I would have hoped, and given that the group I wound up in had only 2 kids, not as much as it would have been with either all adults or mostly kids. Amusing, though!
Same Time Next Year
Netflix is fun: it enabled us to watch the old Alan Alda/Ellen Burstyn film Same Time Next Year. The movie was based on a play, apparently. It was a bit overly sentimental, but it had some really good moments. Seeing the characters change over 25 years was pretty interesting, although the changes seemed exaggerated compared to "real life".
Evan Almighty
I got to watch Evan Almighty on my flight back to NY. Again, no sound, so I had to guess at the plot: which wasn't too hard. There were a few hilarious scenes; probably worth getting on DVD, but I'm glad I didn't pay to see this movie in the theater.
Trilogy flight
On a cross-country flight I got to watch (without sound, since I wasn't going to pay for bad movies) Spiderman 3 and Pirates of the Caribbean 3.
Neither was particularly interesting except as a diversion from a long flight. Spiderman in particular seemed pretty bad: it was an utter mess of storytelling, and I couldn't even hear the sound! Or maybe the lack of sound made it obvious how bad the movie was...
The Pirates sequel was harder to follow without sound, but the basic storyline didn't really matter much anyway. Lots of crazy plotlines and backstabbing, with some over-the-top action sequences.
Neither was particularly interesting except as a diversion from a long flight. Spiderman in particular seemed pretty bad: it was an utter mess of storytelling, and I couldn't even hear the sound! Or maybe the lack of sound made it obvious how bad the movie was...
The Pirates sequel was harder to follow without sound, but the basic storyline didn't really matter much anyway. Lots of crazy plotlines and backstabbing, with some over-the-top action sequences.
Fearless
I quickly watched Jet Li's Fearless. Like most kung-fu movies, it was overly sentimental with a pretty predictable plot. Some good fighting, though! And apparently it is loosely historical in nature. I wouldn't have felt good paying $10 at the movie theater to watch it, but on DVD it wasn't too bad.
Justice League
I skimmed through the rather lame Justice League: Paradise Lost DVD. Some mildly entertaining video adaption of the comic, but it wasn't actually very good. They have really depowered Superman, and the annoying bickering between Green Lantern and Hawkgirl was kind of stupid. Oh well, I didn't actually expect much, but I was hopeful.
NYC drive-in
We walked by a fascinating little place: a 6-person drive-in theater (complete with convertible) called GrandOpening. Really interesting!
Mexican food in NYC
We ate at Mole, on the Lower East Side. Outstanding food! They had some "holiday" food to celebrate September 15, which is when Mexico began its revolution against the Spaniards in 1810. One dish was a Chiles en Nogado that was wonderful to eat. I wish I could remember the names of the other dishes. They made a guacamole at table-side that was excellent!
The Brave One
I've been seeing ads for The Brave One recently. It looks like one of the WORST movies ever made. What really irks me about this movie is that it portrays a New York City out of the 1970's. New York City is one of the safest large cities in the country, if not the world. So why make a movie where it looks like there are frequent violent crimes? Someone really hates New York at Warner Brothers.
Organic food thoughts
I've been contemplating why organic, vegetarian food is a "better" choice. Reading Peter Singer's books really convinced me to eat less meat. The book To Buy Or Not To Buy Organic really bothered me, though: the implication of many books of its ilk is that any pesticides (and similar poisons) are bad, in any amount. However, we've been using pesticides pretty consistently throughout the 20th century, and not everyone gets weird diseases due to pesticides. It does seem like certain kinds of diseases seem more prevalent, but there is certainly no proven link between tiny doses of pesticides and diseases (like cancer) late in life. Now, that doesn't mean there isn't a link, but it makes me really uncomfortable when people argue that there must be a link. I think the real reason to avoid pesticides (when possible) is that they are typically linked to monoculture farming and environmental degradation.
Deadwood Season 3
Wow: the end of Deadwood. I think this some of the best TV I've ever seen; pretty comparable to Battlestar Galactica in quality. Great writing and acting, with some fascinating characters. I'm really disappointed that the series is over, but what can you do? Rumor has it that there will be a movie to wrap things up. Ian McShane is spectacular as Swearengen!
Howl's Moving Castle
I watched Howl's Moving Castle, which is a beautiful movie. I haven't read the book, so I can't evaluate the merits of the movie versus the book. However, I enjoyed the weirdness of Hayao Miyazaki. Quite entertaining, if odd and slightly predictable.
US Open
I figured that since I live in NYC, I should go see the US Open at least once. A friend was psyched to go as well, so we trudged out to Flushing Meadows for some quarterfinal matches at night. Fantastic stuff!
Venus Williams beat Jelena Jankovic in the first match, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(4). It was a seesaw battle, and I really thought Jankovic would win. Venus was attacking, attacking, attacking, and was really sloppy: if she had been consistent she would have destroyed Jankovic. Venus missed lots of shots: low 1st-serve percentage and lots of unforced errors. She did dominate the 2nd set: she broke Jankovic in almost every one of her service games by being aggressive. Venus took control of the 3rd-set tiebreaker quickly, and the match ended pretty quickly.
The Federer-Roddick was riveting tennis, and really close: closer than the score of 7-6(5), 7-6(4), 6-2 would indicate. Roddick had the first break point chance of the match (erased) in the second set. No double faults in the entire match for either player! You had to feel bad for Roddick after the match: he played his heart out, and hit some amazing shots and serves: but Federer was just better...
Roddick serving to Federer
The ultimate pure food
We ate a vegan/organic/raw restaurant called Bonobo's Restaurant, just south of Madison Square Park. The food (particularly the coconut/bell pepper soup) was fantastic, although certainly it was not cheap. For the quality of the ingredients, though, it was understandable: certainly the preparation didn't involve any cooking!
Opus
Did you know that the plural of "opus" is "opera"? Ah, Latin.
Anyway, Opus is a wonderful play written by a Oberlin-trained violist who became a playwright instead of a musician. I thought it was wonderfully written, in a style that reflects how people talk in real life. A fine cast, and we were lucky enough to see it on closing night: there was a long wait list to get in!
Anyway, Opus is a wonderful play written by a Oberlin-trained violist who became a playwright instead of a musician. I thought it was wonderfully written, in a style that reflects how people talk in real life. A fine cast, and we were lucky enough to see it on closing night: there was a long wait list to get in!
Organic or not organic: that is the question
Whether to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous pesticides, or...well, a sad joke. Cindy Burke's book To Buy or Not To Buy Organic goes into why organic doesn't mean what it used to. Big agribusiness has started to co-opt the meaning of the term, and the overheads to certification are becoming onerous to small farmers. How sad. This book is good for telling you what non-organic foods definitely should be avoided, and which have low levels of toxins. Definitely worth a read, if a little extreme at times.
Dead Man's Chest
Pirates of the Caribbean #2 (Dead Man's Chest) was entertaining, if a horribly written film. Why does the Elizabeth character seem to be attracted to Jack Sparrow? Why do they all miss him when he is dead? Weird story, but if you don't pay attention to details the movie is a fun ride. I'm glad I didn't watch this in the theater, though!
Comfort Diner
We grabbed dinner at the Comfort Diner, which is a pretty good place right near where we live. Pretty good quality food for the price, and I always love diner food anyway.
Flight
A friend lent me Sherman Alexie's new book Flight, which is a good read. Structurally, the book felt weird: it reminded me vaguely of If On a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino, although of course the subjects and tone of this book are completely different. This book is about rage, impotence, and revenge, and the pain of being an Indian in modern America. Worth reading, and it's pretty short too.
Cuba Cafe
We had dinner at the Cuba Cafe in Chelsea. The web site is funny: it uses the term "Chelsea boys", which is a term that some of our friends explained to us last weekend.
In any case, the food was good, although a tad pricey for the number of calories. But I would go back; in fact, I think I was in this restaurant in 2005, so it seems to have survived pretty well.
In any case, the food was good, although a tad pricey for the number of calories. But I would go back; in fact, I think I was in this restaurant in 2005, so it seems to have survived pretty well.
Scott McCloud
I got to see a talk by Scott McCloud during his Making Comics Tour. He is an entertaining and intelligent writer of and about comics, and his presentation was extremely fun to watch. I was lucky to see him!
Resto
It's a good week for Belgian food, I guess. We went to another Belgian restaurant in NY called Resto. This time we had mussels, which were really quite tender. The food came really slowly, though; we had to complain to get our entrees. Pretty expensive place, but the real problem was that the place was too loud. Crowded, lots of people there for drinks, and a tin ceiling that reflected sound back down into the room. I doubt we'll go back, given our inability to have a conversation.
Chelsea Art Museum
We wandered around Chelsea this afternoon in the hope of seeing some galleries. Unfortunately, it turns out that the galleries are not open on the weekends...
We were able to go into the Chelsea Art Museum, which was wonderful. Only $6, and they had some pretty interesting stuff. One artist, Federico Uribe, makes animals/jungle scenes out of Puma sneaker parts. Check out the museum's web site: it's pretty astonishing.
The other interesting exhibit was of Miwa Yanagi's photography. She has a pretty interesting way of viewing the world; some of it quite disturbing.
We were able to go into the Chelsea Art Museum, which was wonderful. Only $6, and they had some pretty interesting stuff. One artist, Federico Uribe, makes animals/jungle scenes out of Puma sneaker parts. Check out the museum's web site: it's pretty astonishing.
The other interesting exhibit was of Miwa Yanagi's photography. She has a pretty interesting way of viewing the world; some of it quite disturbing.
Zodiac
We watched Zodiac on DVD, spread over a couple of days. It's a brilliantly crafted movie by David Fincher, with lots of interesting/recognizable actors and a good script. Despite all that, it just wasn't that compelling. There were a few spooky scenes, since it is never clear which weirdo is the Zodiac killer. But all in all, it's a hard movie to really get into, because there is no resolution, and the main character (the author Robert Graysmith), isn't that interesting or likable: it is never clear why he gets so obsessed with the Zodiac killings.
Bella Napoli
We had dinner at a good neighborhood Italian restaurant called Bella Napoli. Excellent food, especially given the price: we had dinner for around 30 dollars. I'm sure we'll be going back there.
Bourne Ultimatum
I saw The Bourne Ultimatum on a weekday. I had tried to see it opening weekend, but it was sold out everywhere. Even on a Wednesday night, the theater was 90% full! The movie was a fun ride, and is wonderful entertainment. It certainly is going to continue raking in the money.
300
I quickly watched 300 on DVD. The comic (as I remember it) was kind of entertaining to read, but the feature film was just kind of boring. It was a much worse movie than Sin City, which at least didn't have any pretense of being anything other than fun. As a movie, the story took itself way too seriously.
New York Burger Company
We ate dinner at New York Burger Company. Good food, and pretty reasonably priced. We got a salad and a burger, and the salad was quite fresh. I'd go back.
Shenzhen
I read the graphic novel Shenzhen: A Travelogue from China. Overall, an interesting (but somewhat depressing and non-enlightening) description of a Westerner's view of Shenzhen in the late 1990's. I'm not surprised that the author didn't enjoy being there, although apparently he did not try to learn much Chinese. Not rated highly, but was somewhat interesting.
Clark Brothers exhibit at the Met
We trekked over to the Met to see a special exhibit titled The Clark Brothers Collection. Overall, a fantastic collection of work; these brothers were fascinating people! Sterling Clark (the founder of the Clark Art Museum in Williamstown, MA) amassed a huge collection of Renoirs, and some of the ones we missed in Williamstown we saw at the Met. A really worthwhile exhibit!
Cafe Espanol
We ate in the Village at a Spanish restaurant named (appropriately enough) Cafe Espanol. Good tapas, and everyone seemed to be drinking sangria. We did not have any of the latter, though. The paella was quite good, as was the gazpacho. In addition, the prices were pretty good! We'll go back, I'm sure.
Rubin Museum
We went to the Rubin Museum of Art, which covers the broad category of Himalayan art. There was a special exhibit about the Dalai Lama, as well as Wutaishan (a holy Buddhist mountain/temple complex in China). There was quite a crowd of young people there; it seems to be pretty hip! The museum is small, but worth seeing; I would go back for other special exhibits, as the permanent collection does not seem very large.
Free printable cardboard lens hoods
Now here's an interesting idea: printable cardboard lens hoods! I need to try making one of these hoods.
Korean food
We tried a Korean place near Union Square called Dosirak. Pretty good food, although the portions were somewhat small. Prices were reasonable by NYC standards, but the portions were smaller than in Koreatown. The service was mediocre at best: the food came quickly, but I had to go to the counter to order and to pay. I'd recommend the food if you can put up with the other shortcomings.
Harry Potter ends
JK Rowling's Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was fun to read. I thought she did as well as I could have hoped in tying up loose ends, resolving story lines, and coming up with an intricate plot that just kept on going. It almost felt like the latest Die Hard movie: non-stop action (one Horcrux after another). I didn't know how Rowling would have them find and destroy all of the remaining Horcruxes, but somehow she managed to squeeze it all into one volume!
Economics for dummies
Naked Economics by Charles Wheelan is an entertaining explanation of economics for the lay person. I recommend it as a good starting place to read about the basic principles of economics.
brgr
We ate burgers at a place called "brgr" (no web site available). Pretty good burgers, but on the expensive side: $20 for the two of us. Great taste, and the burgers were not too large (which I consider a plus, not a minus). However, not cheap, and I almost certainly would never go at lunchtime: I bet it would be way too crowded.
Harry Potter
I've been skimming through the 5th and 6th books of the series (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince), in preparation for reading the new book that is due out. I have my own pet theory as to how Voldemort will be killed: after having destroyed the Horcruxes, Voldemort will be destroyed and be forced to flee (or attempt to flee) into Harry's body. (I would guess that the scar will represent the last remnant of Voldemort's power.) However, Voldemort will not be able to abide the force of Harry's ability to love, and will have to let himself die. That's the only plausible theory for why Dumbledore thought Harry can defeat Voldemort with the power of his ability to love.
I also think that Snape will be the one to actually destroy Voldemort's new body: he is the only wizard powerful enough to do so. Harry doesn't have any real experience or power, and the only reason that he has defeated Voldemort several times is that he has always been underestimated by the bad guys.
Well, we'll see!
I also think that Snape will be the one to actually destroy Voldemort's new body: he is the only wizard powerful enough to do so. Harry doesn't have any real experience or power, and the only reason that he has defeated Voldemort several times is that he has always been underestimated by the bad guys.
Well, we'll see!
Antique Cafe
I ate last night at the Antique Cafe with one of my cousins. We both had burgers, which were really good. Unfortunately, it was kind of late, and they didn't have any coffee. For the price, the food was quite good, and the outdoor seating was quite pleasant. The indoor seating is a little noisy because of the music they pipe in.
In and Out
We watched the somewhat-old movie In and Out, which stars Kevin Kline. Lots of Hollywood stars participated in the film. I had hoped it would be a lot funnier, but unfortunately it was a really lame movie with a few good scenes and moments.
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