were-rabbit

Saw a free preview of Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit tonight. It was impeccable animation as usual from Aardman Studios. Wallace and Gromit movies were always reliable to me as funny and good entertainment. This movie didn't fail to deliver on that. The story was funny, as always, and the storytelling IMHO was tighter on this story than any other Wallace and Gromit movie I remember seeing. I always remember kind of feeling drowsy during some parts of previous W&G pictures and I was entirely captivated by this one. It was faster paced than previous films and the action was definitely non-stop. A few of the visual jokes were kind of risque but you'd have to be an adult to see that. Definitely good and safe entertainment for kids of all ages.

The bunnies were really cute, not in a sickeningly sweet way, but funny and clever. they definitely were outstanding as wry comedy relief in many different parts of the film. Ralph Fiennes does a hilarious turn voicing a pompous English gentleman, Victor Quartermaine. Helena Bonham Carter does a great job as the voice of Wallace's love interest, Lady Campanula Tottington.

All in all it was great entertainment and much fun to be had. I haven't laughed out loud in a theater like this in quite a while.

jump

This is in addendum to my earlier post in August about the Jonny Moseley Ski Jump on San Francisco streets. It happened today at around 12:00 pm. Had I know about it I might have taken myself down there to check it out during lunch. it got moved to weekday from a weekend presumably so that there would be a smaller crowd. It's interesting to me in a different way. I've never skied before and I don't think a ski jump would be in my near future but it's interesting still from an engineering standpoint. How do you get that much snow to stay still on one of the hottest days that San Francisco has had this year? Further more it would have been cool to see skiers jump that thing if only for the photo opportunities. Imagine an action shot of a skier jumping up in the air framed by San Francisco houses on either side. I'll look for some online in the weeks to come but it would've been "trippy" ( to coin a Sixties phrase) to see it live.

luau

After spending all yesterday prepping, I arrived at the Elks Club at 11am to an empty kitchen. Upon my second trip to the car to unload some groceries, Joe had come into the kitchen and was worried about dessert. His Haupia (coconut pudding), which he made the day before and put in the fridge had failed to set. We scrambled immediately to create another one. After that, we put the Pork Lau Lau (pork roasted in banana leaves) that we made yesterday in the oven and put the Chicken Long Rice (chicken with cellophane noodles) on the stove to reheat. Joe scrubbed and cut the sweet potatoes then placed them in the ovens to roast. I set out to make more wontons to add to the ones I made yesterday. We took the salmon out of the fridge, scaled them, filleted them and put them in the miso marinade.

As we neared appetizer time, I started to cut pineapples. I quartered each pineapple whole. I then cut a "U" into the wedge, cutting most of the meat out. I then cut each wedge of the pineapple meat into slices and placed then back in their respective "skins." I then alternately shifted each slice to the left or right, resulting in the design you see here.



After dealing with the pineapples, I proceeded to start on appetizers just as the first guests started to arrive. Two platters of wontons and maui onion rings were placed out (pictured). Joe made a simple dip for the onion rings using mayonnaise and ketchup. Joe also started to cut up the haupia and placing them onto plates for the dessert. Joe put me to the task of cutting up the mango to top our haupia. As more people showed-up, we finished the appetizer platters and cooked all the wontons and rings for service. After appetizers, there was some hula dancing to kill some time until dinner.
As we got closer to service, the salmon was trayed and placed in a preheated ovens to cook. The rest of the food, which were on warming trays, were placed in serving pans to place out on the service line(like the Chicken Long Rice on the left). After the salmon finished cooking, we placed them under the salmanders to color the tops and then moved them to service pans to place on the line. The servers got their instructions from Joe and I started to clean the kitchen a bit for the dessert stage. I was called out for a bow before dessert was served.

Back in the kitchen and onto dessert. The haupia (pictured), which was plated onto service plates with a square of banana leaf, were pulled out of the fridge. They were topped with chopped mango and some toasted coconut. The desserts were then taken out to the luau by the server on trays.

As the luau started to wind down, I went out to mingle a bit and meet the guests. I hung out for a bit with Joe's daughter and her friend. They had redubbed me "puffer fish" because of my puffy cheeks. As everything went back to the kitchen to be cleaned, Joe relieved me of my duties and gifted me some leftovers. He even gave me some of the marinated salmon that hadn't made it to the oven to take home.

As I packed up my stuff to head home, I was tired. But it was that good kind of tired. It's the kind of tired that I seem to get from a job well done in the kitchen. Kitchen work always gives a high and adrenaline rush that keeps me up for a while even with my aching bones. I should do this more often. Cooking can be stressful but it always makes me happy.

Aloha everyone!

gabriella

I hung out tonight with my boss, Joe, and his family. We were doing some pre-planning for the luau the Elks are going to throw on Sunday. We mostly did some surveying of the kitchen we were going to work in as well as some planning about what needed to get done tomorrow and the day of the event. We also did a test run of some of our recipes. All in all pretty laid back and quiet. Gabriella, his 5 year old daughter, was there and was good enough to keep herself entertained most of the time, even after her mom had left to go home to do some work. I went to Amici's and picked up a pizza for dinner. It was a good pizza but the best part was the dressing for the Caesar salad. It was made fresh and quite tasty, with just the hint of anchovy that all good Caesar dressings have. The entire time Gabriella and I spoke about a ton of things, her love of parmesan cheese on her pizza, what she wants to dress up as for Halloween (Snow White) and what the big red and yellow swirly thing was on the TV(Hurricane Rita). She's quite talkative and intelligent for her age.

After we were done at the Elks Club and cleaned up. Gabriella didn't want to go home quite yet. So, when asked what she wanted to do, she said she wanted to head to San Rafael Joe's for dessert and to listen to her favorite musical performer, Tommy Rocks. Tommy recognized Gabriella and greeted her mid-song as soon as she came into sight. He then proceeded to take a break so that he could talk to Gabriella and have a drink. After giving Gabriella a big hug, he sat at our table to talk to her and her father for a bit. We ordered dessert and sat around to wait for Tommy to start again. He hadn't learned Green Day's "American Idiot" yet so Gabriella asked for "'Brown Eyed Girl,' please." Tommy started in and Gabriella climbed into her father's lap to listen. As she sat on Joe's lap, he placed his arm across her. She hugged her father's arm and lay her head against his upper arm. They whispered to each other in the way parents and children do and worked out a three-song set agreement. After the first song, Tommy went into "Yellow Bird", a song that Gabriella learned from her grandfather and apparently taught him. Gabriella sang the entire song right along with Tommy.

With the third song, the Beatle's "Blackbird," (we started an avian theme) coming to a close. Gabriella's eyes looked to be growing heavy. As I watched her lay in her father's arms, I thought about what I might be like as a father. Whether I would have those moments that with my own child. I wonder if Joe realizes and cherishes moments like those that other people see and smile at, if not envy a little.

As the last song ended, Gabriella, waved goodbye to her friend and we walked out to our cars. Gabriella asked for my hand to walk her out and when we got outside I lifted her up on my shoulders and carried her to the car. After a hug and waving goodbye I smiled a bit because it felt great that Gabriella enjoys spending time with her Uncle Sherman.

hooligans

Saw Green Street Hooligans tonight. It was a great film. Very violent. It's about an American, Matt (Elijah Wood), who gets drawn into a "firm"(akin to a gang) of soccer hooligans by his sister's brother-in-law, Pete(Charlie Hunnam). He learns about loyalty, knowing when to stand ground or when to walk away and a little about football (soccer to us "Yanks"). The film's fast pace draws you into a fight in the very first minutes and the story runs quickly from then on. I'd say the breakout star was Charlie Hunnam who plays Pete, the leader of the Green Street Elite. Pete is very charismatic and as the "firm's" natural leader he shines. He doesn't glorify the violence and brutality of hooliganism he seems to merely "live" it in a frank manner.

Great movie. Great acting. Highly recommended.

scab

A strike started today at the hospital I work in. I don't know all the details of why the SEIU Local 250 are striking, but they are. It was 6:00 in the morning when I came in to work and they were out in full force. As I was trying to enter the hospital, the strikers rushed the parking lot shuttle bus and some security had to push their way through the crowd to open a a path to the door. Quite possibly the most exciting thing that's ever happened to me at 6:00 in the morning.

Even as I sit here during the portion of my day that I do administrative work, I can hear them through my open window chanting and screaming into their megaphones. I have had friends who were adamant about not crossing picket lines. I've never had a problem with the concept and I didn't have a problem with it this morning. Even amid the yelling and the megaphones in my ear screaming "SCAB!" at me (though I've worked at the hospital for two and a half years now), I still crossed. I agree with their right to strike and that, if they believe they're being unjustly treated, they should strike. But the thing is, I have to go to work. I can't spare time off without pay. I understand that that this is the sacrifice that the strikers are making but, I can't. Bills to pay and debts to pare down are my reasons to stay. Good Luck to you strikers. It'll be tougher days because you aren't here.

help

Lately, as we all have, I've been inundated with scenes of destruction and devastation from Hurricane Katrina's aftermath. I have really been at a loss as how to help out myself. I really have no money to give. So I think I'll give blood. I've done it before and there's no reason I shouldn't again. In times of crisis, like this, is when our blood banks really need the help to keep the supply from dwindling. So, I urge all of you, if you are unable to contribute money, take some time to give blood. It's free and all it takes is a bit of your time and a little pain. Isn't your fellow man worth at least that?

FYI:
If you like to eat out and want to help, Share Our Strength is holding an event on September 27, 2005. Restaurants for Relief is a nationwide promotion of restaurants that will donate a portion of dinner sales on September 27 to Share Our Strength's Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund.

karaoke

So tonight, I went to an event held by Alice 97.3, a local Radio station here in the bay area. It was their morning show's annual karaoke party. The party was held at Ruby Skye, a popular club in the City. When you show up for the party, if you so choose, you can sign up in a "lottery" to sing karaoke. If' your name gets picked, you get up on stage and sing and dance your heart out. The show is staged ala "The Gong Show." Everyone gets a minute to perform. If you're good, or the karaoke operator isn't paying attention, you can get way more than that. If you last your entire minute without getting gonged (yes they have a gong), your performance gets rated on a scale of one through ten by the three judges. There's a $1000 first prize for the act that gets the highest combined score. So, needless to say, there were lots of gongs and some great acts.

The stand-out act was actually a duet that called themselves "Vanilla Thunder." Picture a pasty white male, say late 30's, head shaved bald, wearing large sunglasses, tight jeans and a pink half-shirt dancing frantically with a cute, waify, freckled redhead and belting out the tune Love Shack by the B-52's. The guy actually did a great impersonation of Fred Schneider's singing but the girl was just off tune. The thing that actually sold that act was the poppiness of the song and the guy's off-beat dancing. As No-Name, one of the morning show DJ's/co-emcee, said, that was the first time we'd seen "the chicken dance" combined with "the running man." I only wish I had brought my camera.

The two top acts of the night were Lucas and the winner ?Tiffany? (actually, I forgot her name, I'll have to check the website on Monday to re-clarify). Lucas did a soulful rendition of Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On." It was IMHO better than ?Tiffany's? overly diva'ed version of Whitney Houston's "I'm Every Woman." I preferred Lucas' performance over ?Tiffany's?. I've never been a big fan of the big flourishes and the elongated high notes, but, she did them well and sang the song well. I've just more of a fan of the soulful and simple singing that Lucas did. My 2 cents.

Anyway it was mad fun and I screamed my head off cheering at the performances or yelling for the gong. Next year, I think I'll actually sign up....

home

Came back from a long weekend in Los Angeles. My friend, Trung, and I did a bit of a food thing in the "City of Angels"(mostly on my insistance). I'll be retro-posting the trip in a few days complete with pics and stuff.

Visiting Los Angeles was fun. The drive was a great time to clear my head. We headed out in late in the night on Friday to try and get there with as little traffic as possible and get in as early as possible. Came back yesterday evening and had dinner before I headed back up to Daly City.

Being out on the road is great, but it's nice to sleep in my own bed.

hollywood

Met up with Dorothy and Brett. I've known Dorothy since we were in junior high school together. I didn't really get to know her until about junior year of high school but we've been good friends since. She's been living in Los Angeles and promised to show Trung and me around Hollywood.We went to Pink's for lunch. Pink's is a hot dog stand. But much more than that, it has transcended into a Los Angeles institution. It's world famous as a Los Angeles landmark and for their chili dogs. So I had 2 chili cheese dogs and a peach Nehi. Trung had a Harry Potter Dog (Polish sausage, grilled onions, grilled mushrooms, bacon and nacho cheese), an Ozzy Osbourne Dog (spicy Polish sausage, nacho cheese, american cheese, grilled onions, guacamole and chopped tomatoes) and a Coke. Brett and Dorothy ate a coleslaw dog, a Mulholland Drive Dog (10" stretch dog, grilled onions and mushrooms, bacon and nacho cheese), a Pastrami Reuben Dog (pastrami, mustard, sauerkraut and swiss cheese) and a peach Nehi. They also split some fries and a side of chili.


They then took us around Hollywood. First, we parked at Hollywood & Highland Center which is free as long as we bought something in the mall. We walked to Grauman’s Chinese Theatre to look at the stars’ foot and hand prints. We took a few pictures there. We then walked across to check out the some of the stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and to take more pics of the theatre. We then walked down the street to check out the lesser known Grauman’s Egyptian Theater. As we walked down the street, I stopped every so often to take more pics of the stars on the ground. We headed down the street to check out a movie poster place that Brett and Dorothy like to visit. We headed back down the street on the opposite side to check out the stars on that side. We stopped at a costume shop just to look around a bit before we headed back to the mall for our car.



After the trip around Hollywood, we headed up to Hollyhock House. It’s really close to where Dorothy lives and offers a fantastic view of the Hollywood sign. It was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and was being restored when we went up to it. After Hollyhock, Trung and me dropped off Dorothy and Brett at her apartment and headed to our hotel in Manhattan Beach. After we checked in and went upstairs to take showers and freshen up, we went out for dinner. Trung took me to Irvine so we could catch some dinner. We ended up going to see Bob Saget at the Improv instead and just ate dinner there.

south

Headed south today on a road trip to Los Angeles. Met up with my friend Trung in San Jose, loaded my stuff into the rental car (Taurus), programmed the navigation system (it came in very handy on this mapless trip) and drove out at 12:30ish in the AM. Night driving is fun. Trung drove first and we switched places just before we got off the CA-152 to I-5. Interstate 5, for those that don't know, is a long, straight, boring freeway that runs smack dab north-south down the center of California from Mexico to Oregon. It's a pretty uneventful drive except for the ginormous Harris' Ranch that left me trying to hold my breath for a good 15 miles. Harris' large cow farm edges the interstate for a good couple of miles but can be smelt from miles away.

Pretty uneventful trip down, Trung slept most of the way after I took over driving. At a gas station before the ascent up the mountains that open up to the valley where Los Angeles sleeps, I change our navigational system's destination. It was aimed at our hotel in Manhattan Beach most of the trip but I switched it to Randy's Donuts which was to be the first stop in the "foodie" part of our trip. ( Not really a "Foodie" trip per se, but, we visited some of the more famous, "quirky" eating destinations in LA)

You've probably never heard of Randy's Donuts. It's actually not much of a place to quell your donut cravings. The donuts themselves were quite average at best and the coffee I got in their souvenir commuter mug was little more than flavored water. But it is famous for one thing... The gigantic donut-shaped sign on top of the building that proclaims its wares. See to the left, a picture of Trung enjoying an "apple crepe" beneath the sign (note the commuter mug on the car trunk near the bottom right corner). Being 7:00 in the morning, we weren't able to contact my friend Dorothy who promised us a lunch at a famous LA joint and a tour of Hollywood. We headed to a Rite Aid to pick up a few things we forgot to pack and found an IHOP to enjoy a sit-down breakfast. We also stopped at nearby LAX to officially add me to the driver list of the rental car.

After the trip to the airport, it was still too early to call my friend, so, we decided to consult our navigation system for a destination nearby to kill an hour or two. Venice Beach was on the list so we entered it in and drove on over. Now 9:00 in the morning is not the time to come to Venice Beach. The place had people milling about but most of Venice was still asleep and most of the merchants were just starting to set up their shops. It was still quite overcast at the beach that morning but the palm trees gave hint of the sun and fun that this place was noted for.

At 10:30ish we gave Dorothy a call and she promptly gave us her address to get to her apartment to pick up her and her boyfriend, Brett. We were inputting the address into the nav. system and it crashed on us. After a few tries at restarting the console and starting and restarting the car I called tech support and Trung got his lap top out of his car. Tech support finally told us that the system's harddrive probably crashed and we'd either have to drive without it or exchange the car for one with a working system. We chose to exchange the car and that led to an hour of checking the car back into LAX, grabbing all our stuff, getting a new rental, a Ford Five Hundred (yeah, never heard of it before either) and then off to pick-up Dorothy and Brett.

To be continued....

Wicked

I saw Wicked the musical today. I haven't enjoyed a theater production this much since I saw The Scarlet Pimpernel in New York a few years ago. The musical, based on a novel by Gregory Maguire, is the story of Elphaba and the circumstances that lead to her becomng the Wicked Witch of the West.

The singing was spectacular in this play. I loved all the songs. The actress playing Glinda had great comic timing. Her rendition of "Popular" was well done and very funny. She even kept her composure in one scene where she was having trouble standing up from being seated on the ground in a large ball gown. The audience cheered and laughed in appreciation of the little "blooper." I'd have to say my favorite songs of the night were "As Long as You're Mine" and "For Good." Both songs almost had me to tears, especially "For Good" when Glinda and Elphaba were finally realizing how much they'd changed each other's lives and were saying goodbye. I was truly choked up at that moment.

Highly recommended to everyone. Have to head to Best Buy tomorrow, after work, to find the album. Got a roadtrip coming up tomorrow and I just may have a CD to listen to in the car.

Best lyrics of the night, IMHO, from "As Long as You're Mine":
"Kiss me too fiercely
Hold me too tight
I need help believing
You're with me tonight
My wildest dreamings
Could not foresee
Lying beside you
With you wanting me"

All I can say is..... ::RAWR::