Last night, I headed to the Nuart Theatre to catch the original, uncut version of Godzilla. This isn't the one with Raymond Burr but instead was in black-and-white with subtitles. It would be silly to try and review it. It was a monster movie made in the 50's so there were lots of models being destroyed and other primitive special effects. But that's not a big deal since it was Godzilla!
This screening has been going on for a couple of weeks and it ends today. I was surprised by the number of people in the audience. The Nuart isn't small and while it wasn't packed, there was a good crowd. Perhaps others had waited until the last minute like I had.
Instead of jumping on the 405 to go home, I drove down Santa Monica Blvd. I went thru Century City, past the big Mormon Temple and on past Beverly Hills and West Hollywood. Santa Monica turns into the 2 at some point but I missed it so I turned on Sunset, went around Dodger Stadium and got onto the 110. I would be the first to say that there are so many parts of LA/Hollywood that I have not been to. The good thing about driving 1000 miles a day and working at the Crab Shack is that many places are on the way home now. I'm hoping to explore more and more.
I walked into the kitchen at the Crab Shack this morning a little after 7. I was a bit earlier than normal since traffic wasn't bumper-to-bumper the whole way. It can definitely be tough to drive 1000 miles a day but a paycheck is a paycheck. There are days when I want to call Tony up and see if I can get a ride to work in the XBI chopper. I doubt he could do it though, it seems he and XBI aren't seeing eye-to-eye on many things.
The head chef was waiting for me, already complaining about one of the sous chefs changing ingredients during the night. The changes caused a delay in making the morning omelette and he wasn't happy about that. Luckily, the recipe was easily updated and the morning meal was put into the oven with minimal delay. That isn't the way I like to start my day though. I shouldn't be worried about ingredients and omelettes when I first walk in.
No, I should be worrying about how the Cubs are going to score many runs without Sammy and who might be next on the injured list.
Or maybe, I should worry about new terrorist threats and the silliness that Americans should be out having fun while leaving security to the gov't.
And then there's the price of gas continuing to rise or the Princess getting picked on at preschool. So many things to worry about.
Hmm. It might not be a bad thing to worry about just updating a recipe so the morning omelette will taste good.
Some places have ping-pong or foozball tables to help folks take a break from work. But not here at the Crab Shack, instead, we have a bit of astroturf, some wiffle golf balls and little cups. Whenever one of the cooks need a break, we can wander over to the grass and take a few swings.
As I watched my pay check disappear into the gas tank, a bus passed. On the side was an ad for the new disaster movie, Day After Tomorrow. If the world was going to end the day after tomorrow, what bus destination would be perfect?
The City of Hope
Everyone in the kitchen has their head down, working their ingredients and testing the latest creations. A couple of customers are coming into the Crab Shack this week so all the food has to be perfect, or at least good enough that the customers won't send it back.
My friend and former co-worker, Leonard has released the latest version of NewsBruiser, his weblog software. He's saying that it's the best one out so I'm hoping to try it out on my iBook at home.
He's also put together a new HTML parser called Beautiful Soup. I definitely want to try this because I'm hoping to scrape some ESPN screens. OK, OK, Leonard, I'm obsessed with sports but I want to do something similar for baseball as these game-o-graphs have done for basketball.
The idea sounds simple enough. All you need to do is run, catch the ball, turn and shoot. The difficulty comes with doing it within four-tenths of a second. What an amazing shot!
Honestly though, I'm just glad it wasn't Kobe. I agree with Phil about the media going a bit too crazy about his greatness.
I read about Jonathan Lethem today for the first time. I might have read a review or two about Fortress of Solitude but other than that, I couldn't place him. Now, I definitely need to pick up a few of his books. As an introduction, there are a few interviews which were interesting, Powells.Com, The Morning News and Locus.
There are two high schools fairly close to my office so figuring out when and where you are eating has to take that into account. I was standing in line today, behind a gaggle of students and I couldn't help but laugh at one conversation stream. One of the girls only had $3 to eat with so she asked what she could get. At least 5 different options were given to her, including the exact amount of money she would be spending. Things like, "Well, you could get X since it will only cost $2.47."
One of the few things I remember from high school is the fact that a slice of pizza and a soda was $2.99 at La Tomato. There was much gnashing of teeth when they raised the price to $3.25 since you had to worry about having change.
I find it a bit creepy that M. Night Shyamalan wrote the screenplay for Stuart Little.
The combination of living in Southern California and driving to work causes me to see way too many cars. Generally, I don't pay much attention so I might have missed previous stickers. But today, I saw two John Kerry for President bumper stickers. These are the first ones I can remember seeing. I really do think that he is the ultimate Anyone but Bush candidate.
Also, on the back of a truck right in front of me, I noticed a hand waving. The driver had put an old Pee Wee Herman doll on the back. Kind of freaky seeing something like that when you don't expect it.
If you follow Chicago sports like I do, vote for your most painful memories. My top 3 are the foul ball from last year's playoffs, letting Greg Maddux leave and the Bulls and Blackhawks leaving Chicago Stadium for the United Center.
Over the past few days, many have discussed the marketing agreement between Major League Baseball (MLB) and Columbia Pictures with regards to putting Spider-Man 2 logos around stadiums, including the bases on the field. This would be happening for a weekend in June. Based on negative feedback from fans and the media, MLB decided to not put anything on the bases and will instead just have various things displayed around the ballparks.
I didn't have time yesterday to write a rant about how the whole idea was stupid. I don't really have a big problem with the logo on the bases. It was small and only for a weekend, definitely not the end of the game. I thought the idea was stupid because MLB was only getting around $4 million for these changes. You would think they could have received more money than that for allowing things to be on the playing field. Also, the idea that this would help bring in younger fans doesn't ring true since no one is going to come to the ballpark because of a silly logo.
Of course, since the announcement that the bases wouldn't be changd, a few blogs have talked about how the bases were saved from anything other than being white. But that's not true, since tomorrow, all bases will have a pink ribbon logo for Mother's Day to bring more awareness to breast cancer. There will also be logos on helmets and painted in the outfield. Where's the outrage about this? Isn't it hypocritical to complain about a movie logo on a base and then keep silent when another logo is put there? From what I've read, MLB will also be doing this for Father's Day to increase awareness of prostate cancer.
Last night, I found myself sitting at a table in the bar at Chili's. Since The Wife and the kids went over to someone's house for dinner, I was on my own. This is the normal routine for Wednesday night and it seems to work out. So, I'm having an appetizer and a brew, watching the Lakers game and I find myself coming up with a new word, Fanemy. It's a mixture of fan and enemy. If you follow sports, you've seen this person whether it is at the stadium or in a bar. They are rooting for the opposing team and love being in the spotlight. They give abuse as well as take it, depending what happens in the game.
And the fanemy for the night was a guy in a Spurs jersey. He was going at it with a couple of fans also there. Lots of clapping, smack talk and the like were happening and no one took it too far. I honestly have no problems with a fanemy though it would be far more impressive to be a fanemy at Staples Center or at one of the local Raider bars then at the local Chili's.
So, in case you haven't heard, Friends will end its 10-year run tonight. If this causes you great pain or if you are interested in the cultural ramifications of the show, at least in the opinion of the various television critics across the country, check out the amazing amount of links at TV Tattle.
Also read Philip Michael's take at TeeVee, plus his blog ammendum.
Will I be watching it tonight? Nope, C.S.I. is on and people are dying on roller coasters. Plus, it's not like this will be the last time NBC shows this episode.
The Morning News has an interview with Steve Almond about his latest book, Candyfreak. Almond (the irony of someone with that last name writing a book about candy is too much) claims to eat at least one piece of candy each day as well as thinking about it every hour. He heads out this way on his book tour later this month so I might have to pick the book up.