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Archive for May 2012

Round 2 Closed!

May31

I’ve official “sold” all 100 tickets in ROUND TWO of the Naughty Dark Contest. So I fired up the Ruby interpreter and asked it to compute the appropriate pseudorandom number, which turned out to be 3.

Counting from zero − I’m such a programmer − this turned out to be a ticket owned by Levi Tinney of California!

They chose the following prize: A signed ARC of The Darkening Dream! I threw in a bonus poster too.

A signed ARC of The Darkening Dream

But just because ROUND TWO is finished, doesn’t mean you can’t win. Check out the rules and get submitting, round three is open. As soon as it sells out another 100 tickets, there will be yet another drawing. And the special prizes are available to anyone, anytime!

Which speaking of, we have two new special prize winners:

Zac Mitchell of Sydney Australia

and

Matt Wallace from West Sussex England

For more info on the contest, a detailed list of prizes and rules can be found here!

The prizes are below:

Zac went for a signed Crash 1 and I threw in some extra stuff

Matt is a double special prize winner with signed Crash 1 & 2

Related posts:

  1. Round 1 Winner Selected!
  2. Special Prize Winners
  3. More Special Prize Winners!
  4. Announcing the Naughty Dark Contest
By: agavin
Comments (2)
Posted in: Contests, Darkening Dream
Tagged as: ARC, California, Contest, Contests, Naughty Dark Contest, Prizes, The Darkening Dream

Avengers

May29

Title: Avengers

Cast: Robert Downey Jr. (Actor), Chris Evans (Actor), Joss Whedon (Director)

Genre: Comic Book Action

Watched:  May 22, 2012

Summary: Very good, but not perfect

_

Normally I take Marvel super hero movies with a grain of salt, but considering the buzz around Avengers and the fact that it was written and directed by Joss Whedon (creator of my favorite show of all time, Buffy) I was fairly excited.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9cuGZJ9DP0]

The setup is band of superhero misfits vs alien invasion (more on that later). Marvel has spent no small effort establishing the players: 2 Ironman movies, Thor, The Hulk, Captain America, etc. That’s all well and good, and I’m reminded slightly of the 80s “Secret Wars” stunt in the actual comics. To this vast array of characters we add Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Nick Fury (all of whom seem to have super strength and speed without any particular specified reason). Then we throw in some really weird aliens invading from another dimension/planet.

The attack is lead by heavy of heavies, Loki, reprising his role from the way stranger Thor. I wrote extensively about this movie before, and the Avengers villains descend from this bizarre mythology of Norse gods as aliens. This includes, but is not limited too, all sorts of undefined powers, immortality, lightning calling hammers of infinite weight, mind control staffs, cubes of limitless energy, beams of plasma used to drill worm holes in the universe, and much much more. And that doesn’t cover the earth based oddities. Super strength serums, invincible flying robot suits, and a flying aircraft carrier!

The strength of Jos’ writing transcends this recipe for disaster and makes an ultimately very watchable film. It’s often even very funny, full of action, and exciting. It’s not, however, a masterpiece. Given the crazy cast, the film tries its best to give each a bit of time a and story. This is ultimately most successful with Ironman, the Hulk, and Black Widow. Still, there just isn’t that much time, particularly given the rapacious demand for long and involved action scenes.

The villains are a bit weak. Loki is kind of fun, but he spends a lot of time preening and just waiting around. The mysterious skeletal-bio-mechanical hordes are just that, hordes. They exist to maraud and then to die.

The last third of the film is one long monster battle for New York with aliens drooling through a hole in the sky and the entire team of Avengers fending them off. For a while, this is pretty cool, but it does go on far too long. I don’t know whose fault this trend is — Transformers perhaps? — but it’s become standard for big action movies to have these monster (haha) final battles. In Harry Potter 7.5, it’s almost two hours long! Unfortunately, they have the side effect of stealing way too much screen time away from character development.

Effects wise, this movie is loaded with CGI. Probably almost every shot. It’s often quite good, but there is no focus on realism. This is comic book to the hilt, in every way, with all the look and feel, firing on all cylinders, expertly executed. It delivers, but there is no real jeopardy or pathos, and no totally unique feel (say in the vein of Sin City or Hell Boy). It feels like Thor or Ironman. In fact it’s about exactly on par with Ironman (the first film, the second sucked) quality wise.

On one hand, I’m relieved to have seen a comic book film with actual story and characters. On the other, I feel Jos could do better creating his own world. Maybe the success of this film will give him more leeway to try.

For more Film reviews, click here.

Related posts:

  1. Movie Review: Thor
  2. Black Swan
  3. Book and Movie Review: Let Me In
  4. Book Review: The Ghost Brigades
  5. The Inside Story
By: agavin
Comments (20)
Posted in: Movies
Tagged as: Avenger, Avengers, Black Widow, Captain America, Comics, Hulk, Joss Whedon, Marvel, Nick Fury, Robert Downey

Game of Thrones – Episode 19

May28

Title: Game of Thrones

Genre: Historical Fantasy

Watched: Episode 18 – May 27, 2012

Title: Blackwater

Summary: Tight and intense

ANY CHARACTER HERE

With Episode 19, Blackwater, the normally highly fractured narrative of the show lasers in and focuses on a single place and night: The attack on King’s Landing by Stannis and its defense. Hallelujah, they finally show us a real battle! And not just a little one, but a multi-staged “Helm’s Deep” style battle. Sure, it’s not like Helm’s deep level visuals, but it’s pretty damn great.

This is certainly the most climatic scene from A Clash of Kings, although with so many threads it is but one of many. By choosing to focus, we are allowed to see the play out of emotions in King’s Landing with considerable more depth than the usual 2-3 scenes per thread allows.

We open at sea with Davos and his navy. I like the puke barrel the soldiers heave into. Then we cut to Tyrion in bed with Shae in a nice intimate pre-battle moment of intimacy. Cersei, in contrast, receives cold comfort in the form of poison from her silly and ancient Maester. Bronn parties with his men and a bevy of the usual whores (we keep seeing the same ones). The Hound enters and the two killers lock antlers only to be interrupted by the bells signaling the invasion.

Varys and Ty banter as usual, much to our pleasure. The master of spiders passes crucial information to Ty, and in a subtle nod to later, Ty admits that he trusts his squire Pod. In the books Pod is an actual character, here in the show, he’s just a role. Still, at least he has one.

The bells on the wall are met by drums from the ships. Ty and Bronn find Joff and the Hound in the throne room. Joff continues his obnoxious streak in saying goodbye to Sansa, and she cleverly appeals to his ego to try and egg him into the most dangerous part of the battle.

Everyone sallies forth to watch from the walls. In a very effective sequence we cut from the battlements to the ships and show the sailor’s surprise at finding only one Lannister ship, unmanned and leaking green fluid at that. Bronn sets the whole thing alight with a single flaming arrow and Stannis’ fleet is obliterated in a cloud of green fire. I do have to say, the green fire looked badass (for TV).

One shot is the charm

But undaunted, Stannis leads his surviving men aboard his medieval PT boats and rows for shore.

Meanwhile, we have been cutting back to inside the keep where Cersei has sequestered herself with all her ladies. This is all the more painful for Sansa when the queen singles her out for more attention. The queen’s dress is very interesting: Mostly medieval ladies gown, it does have a bit of Amazonian breast plate action going.

When Stannis mounts his landing Ty sends the Hound to command a defensive party outside the walls. Men storm toward the walls under fire and do their best with ladders. Lancel takes a flesh wound and heads inside where Cersei orders him to drag the king to safety. Cersei continues to talk Sansa and takes notice of Shae, something doesn’t add up for her.

The Hound goes to town butchering the invaders until the fire grows too close and he starts to freak out. This is certainly understandable considering his fiery encounters with his older brother. Stannis is a leader of the old school, and you can’t say he’s a coward because he storms the walls himself and lays waste to the King’s men.

Does anyone have the armor polish?

When the hold returns inside getting too close to the heat he is ordered back out again. He swears off the King entirely and leaves. The invaders batter at the games with a huge battering ram. Joff runs off with his cousin and Ty finds the courage to lead the men in a rousing speech and drag them out himself.

Lancel returns to Cersei again empty handed, and she runs off. Sansa finds her own strength to rally the women and Shae urges Sansa back to her rooms. But guess who’s there? The Hound, fed up with fighting for Joff the Toff and ready to take her back to Winterfell. But Sansa has been conditioned and she is too nervous to jump ship.

Can you toss me that rope on the dock over there?

Ty leads men through the sewers (setup with Varys and the map), comes out behind the invaders, and lays waste to them. He goes to town with his axe. This time around, the producers don’t shy from battle. Finally. Ty is fighting away only to be betrayed and attacked by one of the King’s Guard. He falls badly injured, although not seemingly as badly injured as in the book. More  troops invade and just as soon as all looks lost, a Lannister army arrives to save the day.

Cersei sits with her younger son Tommen on the throne and is about to take poison but Tywin rides in to save the day. So this is where he rode off too last episode!

Overall, this episode burned a lot of money. While it still feels like TV, it’s epic TV and the mix of wide shots and extra pounding action served well to convey the sense of a fairly large battle. I like the scope and intensity allowed by ignoring all the other threads, but I suspect that the final episode will be one rapid-fire whiplash!

See my review of A Dance With Dragons.

If you liked this post, follow me at:

My novels: The Darkening Dream and Untimed

or all my Game of Thrones posts or episode reviews:

Season 1: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]

Season 2: [11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20]

Season 3: [21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30]

Season 4: [31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40]

Season 5: [41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50]

Season 6: [51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57]

Things that say boom!

Related posts:

  1. Game of Thrones – Episode 17
  2. Game of Thrones – Episode 18
  3. Game of Thrones – Episode 8
  4. Game of Thrones – Episode 7
  5. Game of Thrones – Episode 9
By: agavin
Comments (4)
Posted in: Television
Tagged as: a clash of kings, A Dance with Dragons, a game of thrones, Blackwater, Characters in A Song of Ice and Fire, Episode 19, Episode Review, Game of Thrones, George R. R. Martin, HBO, Historical fantasy, Major houses in A Song of Ice and Fire, Television, World of A Song of Ice and Fire

Tar & Roses

May26

Restaurant: Tar & Roses [1, 2]

Location: 602 Santa Monica Blvd. Santa Monica, CA 90401. (310) 587-0700

Date: April 27, 2012

Cuisine: American Tapas

Rating: Tasty and good value

_

Tar & Roses is a new American tapas-style place in Santa Monica, loosely in the vein of Rustic Canyon or Gjelina. Despite the relative crowding of this market, it’s a welcome addition in my book because it breaks up the Italian Domination (a crazy large percentage of westside restaurants are from the boot).

The Chef & Owner is Andrew Kirschner, a Santa Monica-native who grew up in a family with a strong appreciation for travel, food and wine, Chef Andrew Kirschner initiated his cooking education at the age of fifteen with a summer job in the kitchen of a local restaurant. Like many great chefs, his culinary journey started as a job, but quickly turned into a passion. After Kirschner became the sous chef for Chadwick in Beverly Hills, and then a chef/partner at the popular neighborhood spot Table 8 in West Hollywood, where he met and bonded with his Tar & Roses sous chef, Jacob Wildman.


The space is airy and pleasant.


Albiet a little loud.


The menu.


Lubricant. Nebbiolo d’alba.


Trio of bruschetta, left to right: “roasted cherry tomato, burrata, basil” then “braised leek, marinated white anchovy” and “wood roasted eggplant, feta, pickled tomato, mint.”


“roasted beets / feta  /  tarragon  / horseradish.”


“italian egg drop soup/ prosciutto / croutons / grana  / paprika.” The flavor of this was mild, like a minestrone, definitely in the Italian palate.


“ricotta gnocchi / asparagus / ramps / breadcrumbs.” These were yummy, with a strong cream component.


“balsamic glazed ribs / chili /  fried basil.” My favorite dish of the night.


“baby broccoli / parmesan pudding / breadcrumbs.” A tasty implementation of the vegetable.


“braised lamb belly / minted apple chutney.”


Cute check package.

Overall, Tar & Roses was quite good and I plan to try it again. It was very similar in style to Rustic Canyon, but the portions were larger and the prices cheaper. I wasn’t totally blown away by all the dishes, but they were solid and the restaurant is new. If they tune things up a little I think it could be great.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Rustic Canyon 3D
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  4. JiRaffe is no Joke
  5. Figs are in Season
By: agavin
Comments (2)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Cherry tomato, Restaurant, Rustic Canyon, Santa Monica Blvd, Santa Monica California, Tar and Roses

Award Time!

May24

I’m excited to announce that The Darkening Dream recently won some International Book Awards, including:

Winner: Best Cover Design- Fiction

and

Finalist: Fiction- Fantasy

I want to offer a shout out to my collaborators who helped with this: The cover artist Cliff Nielsen and cover designer Pete Garceau as well as my brilliant and hard working editors.

Find out more about the cover or the book.

And you should buy it if you haven't!

Related posts:

  1. Cover Takes – Opinions Wanted!
  2. The Final Cover
  3. Primer – Thinking Time Travel
  4. Cover Commission
  5. Untimed – Meet the Tocks
By: agavin
Comments (6)
Posted in: Darkening Dream
Tagged as: Andy Gavin, Cliff Nielsen, Cover art, Cover Design, Fantasy, International Book Awards, Literature, Science Fiction, The Darkening Dream

Dark Shadows – Why?

May22

Title: Dark Shadows (2012)

Cast: Johnny Depp (Actor), Michelle Pfeiffer (Actor), Tim Burton (Director)

Genre: Vampire Comedy

Watched:  May 19, 2012

Summary: Why? Just why?

_

My dedication to all things vampire made me see it. I swear.

One wonders if Tim Burton ever works with anyone other than Johnny Depp. But the issue here isn’t really Depp’s deadpan Deppist performance, which is certainly one of the better things about the film. It’s basically in the meta creative choices and the writing. The source material is long, dramatic, or rather melodramatic, and convoluted. It involves stories being woven out over many episodes (1991) or years (2800 episodes of the original!). Any comedy was inadvertent.

Not so much here. There is no backstory. Instead, what happened between Barnabus in the 18th century (involving his affair with the witch Angelique and the subsequent death of his lover and conversion into vampire) is spelled out in a quick prelude. This is the best part of the film and the least comic. But its presence also leaves no room for any sense of mystery.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpWvkFlyl4M]

Then cut to 1972 and the awakening of our entombed hero. For a few moments the fish out of water comedy is funny, even if it’s all in the trailer. But that’s about it. There is pretty much zero character development here. The creators shove in a large number of characters from the original, even if in mutated form, but there is so much time spent with Depp that everyone else (with the possible exception of Angelique) is anemic at best. There isn’t even an attempt at a character arc for anyone. The conflict is minimal and simplistic. In fact, the movie devolves into a kind of “we have to save the family business” rivalry type film, even including one of my least favorite Hollywood devices: “everything can be fixed with a good party.” Which includes a 1972 Alice Cooper who looks exactly like 2012 Alice Cooper. But even the lame business conflict line is underwritten. The second half was just boring.

There are a few good moments of visual or deadpan humor, mostly involving slightly esoteric riffs to vampire fans. Willy’s character is good. Chloe Moretz is cute but stuck with perpetual curled lip. Eva Green is confused but sexy. Depp seems to have blended Jack Sparrow, Hunter S Thompson, and Max Schreck. I like what he does with his pointy fingered hands. He pivots up unnaturally out of his coffin. Many younger viewers will know this best from Coppola’s Dracula, but he too borrowed it from the 1922 Nosferatu. I liked the image of the vampire sleeping in the linen closet. These are small things, and definitely not enough to save the film.

My thoughts on the 1991 revival.

For more Film reviews, click here.

Related posts:

  1. Dark Shadows – The Revival
  2. Near Dark – The Hurt Coffin
  3. Stake Land – Vampire Zombie Scramble
  4. The Way of Shadows
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Movies
Tagged as: Angelique, Barnabas Collins, Dark Shadows, EvaGreen, Johnny Depp, Max Schreck, Michelle Pfeiffer, Movie, reviews, Tim Burton, Vampire, vampires

Game of Thrones – Episode 18

May20

Title: Game of Thrones

Genre: Historical Fantasy

Watched: Episode 18 – May 20, 2012

Title: The Prince of Winterfell

Summary: A little rushed

ANY CHARACTER HERE

Last week’s episode ended with Brienne drawing her blade, but this begins at Winterfell with the titular Price of Winterfell, Theon, killing all the ravens to stop word of his treachery. His sister arrives and presses him to return home so as not to die. Somehow this scene felt stilted, her rapid shift from haughty to concerned a bit forced.

Then in the far north, Ygritte and her men deliver Jon to the Lord of Bones (wearing a plastic skull helmet). Qhorin is there too, captive as well, Jon’s fault. Bones wants to gut the bastard, but Ygritte repays her debt by convincing him not.

Robb strolls through pretty Irish countryside while talking to his girlfriend the nurse. I still don’t love their chemistry, even though they talk about Ned. Then Robb learns of the Kingslayer’s escape. New viewers will undoubtedly be confused, because he escaped and was recaptured last week.

Jon Snow or baby seal?

Some minor clarity (for those who haven’t read the books) is offered when Robb returns and confronts Cat. She tries to explain. Karstark is furious, but I wasn’t really feeling his acting. Robb arrests his own mother, which is vaguely Oedipal.

Really, Cat sent Brienne off to haul Jaime back to Cersei and trade for the girls. And we see this now, but the show’s need for brevity has trimmed it to the bone. Still, Jaime is great fun teasing Brienne and it’s fun to watch him muscled around by this enormous girl.

Arya is doing table duty again when she learns that Tywin is about to ride and she is to be left behind with the Mountain (uh oh). She runs off past some grisly hung men and finds Hot Pie and Gendry, but she’s really looking for her pet assassin. Presumably she has finally decided to use her third death to rid the land of Tywin. In the book, this has a real feeling of urgency. The show’s efforts to make Tywin more human have diluted that, but everything has trade offs.

Back to Jon. Qhorin hints that Jon should try to infiltrate the wildlings and starts to taunt him. This is extremely brief, and also likely to be lost on new veiwers, but it’s an important bit of info.

Tyrion and Bronn have an amusing chat and Vary’s shows up again. Oh, how I missed him. They discuss the difficult task of defending the city. All three of these actors are in fine form.

Sly minds think alike

Sam and the Crows, still on the Fist of the First Men, are digging latrines and find an ancient cache of obsidian blades. What could those mean? Something obviously as it got two minutes of precious screen time.

Arya finds Jaquen too late. But, always too clever for her own good, she forces him to help her escape by naming his own name. In order to avoid killing himself, he reluctantly agrees to help her.

Tyrion and Cersei are eating lamprey pie (again a nod to the books). Last week’s moment of fraternal love is long gone, for Cersei announces that she holds Shae and is holding her as ransom against Joff’s security. Ty plays it cool, even when she’s brought in and revealed to be Ros (good riddance). Afterward Ty is not so reserved with Shae. He even extracts from her what is akin (in a hooker kind of way) to vows.

Robb talks to Bolton to put pressure on the Bastard retaking Winterfell. Then Talesia (sic?) comes in. He’s stressed, and as usual doesn’t really play much of the king with her. Contrast him with the insufferable Joff! This time around their chemistry is much better as she tells a story of her brother’s near death. There seems to be a sibling theme going on in this episode because we have this story, Theon’s sister’s about him as a baby, and the rivalry between Ty and Cersei. Robb throws his Frey engagement to the wind and plays some serious doctor with the nurse. Do any of the actresses in this show not have nudity clauses in their contract?

Why, why don't I get any respect?

Arya, Hot Pie, and Gendry sneak through the gate Jaquen has prepared. All the guards have been viciously murdered and propped up. Jaq’s quite the killer.

Stannis and Davos sail toward King’s Landing. They talk of Davos’ rescue of Storm’s End. His whole Onion Knight story is being spooled out in tiny doses. I wonder if the non-readers will get it, but it’s nice to hear.

Joff is playing at being a proper soldier. One just loves to hate him, from his manner to his ridiculous girly man posturing. I can’t wait for… Anyway, Tyrion and Vary’s have another great talk. I do love V. Ty unveils his desire to stay hand (and alive) while V lets slip the threat of Dany and her dragons.

Speaking of, a brief scene where Jorah and Dany discuss what to do. He councils safety, she won’t leave her dragons. Although she has only this one moment in the episode, it’s a good one.

In Winterfell, Maester Luwin sees Asha and tracks her down into the crypt to put our minds at ease. Given the gratuitous hint dropping, I doubt most viewers really thought they were dead. In the books, it was pretty worrisome, as GRRM has killed before!

Overall, this episode had some great scenes but felt rushed and disjointed. So much is going on here that the writers trimmed aggressively to set everything up before next week’s Battle of Blackwater. They’ve done the best they can, but I wonder if noobs (non-readers) will make perfect sense of it.

See my review of A Dance With Dragons.

If you liked this post, follow me at:

My novels: The Darkening Dream and Untimed

or all my Game of Thrones posts or episode reviews:

Season 1: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]

Season 2: [11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20]

Season 3: [21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30]

Season 4: [31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40]

Season 5: [41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50]

Season 6: [51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57]

Related posts:

  1. Game of Thrones – Episode 17
  2. Game of Thrones – Episode 12
  3. Game of Thrones – Episode 16
  4. Game of Thrones – Episode 9
  5. Game of Thrones – Episode 13
By: agavin
Comments (12)
Posted in: Television
Tagged as: A Dance with Dragons, Characters in A Song of Ice and Fire, Episode 18, Game of Thrones, George R. Martin, George R. R. Martin, HBO, Historical fantasy, Major houses in A Song of Ice and Fire, The Prince of Winterfell, World of A Song of Ice and Fire

Primer – Thinking Time Travel

May19

Title: Primer

Director/Stars: Shane Carruth (Director)

Genre: Time Travel

Watched:  May 7, 2012

Summary: Brilliant and confusing

_

This is very much a thinking man’s thriller. It’s a slightly Momento-esque time travel film supposedly filmed for a mere $7,000! I’m skeptical that it was actually that cheap, but it certainly was cheap. Even so, it rarely suffers for it.

The film is very short at 77 minutes and the first half elapses before we see any actual time travel. We follow a group of engineers speaking a nearly incomprehensible technobabble. Even as an ultimate techie (M.I.T. grad degree in EECS) I could not follow most of it — the writers did not intend us to — but it’s actually fairly reasonable. I had more problem with all the engineers wearing shirt and tie even during leisure hours. In any case, they accidentally invent a peculiar kind of time machine. It allows very limited (and fairly awkward) backward travel.

If you want to try and understand it, which isn’t easy, read this page.

The second half is a dizzying series of overlapping events as the two main protagonists loop and reloop across a few sleepless days. Understanding the exact sequence would undoubtedly require numerous viewings. The creator spares little effort to make such complex matters easily digestible.

As someone who has recently (last year) created his own time travel scheme, for my novel Untimed, I appreciate this complete, well thought out, and fully coherent scheme. This is old school hard sci-fi of sorts, and it’s refreshing in this era of marketing driven watered down drivel to have to puzzle something out.

For more Film reviews, click here.

Related posts:

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By: agavin
Comments (6)
Posted in: Movies
Tagged as: Movie, Physics, primer, Relativity, Shane Carruth, Technobabble, Time travel

Ink – At the Cutting Edge

May17

Restaurant: Ink

Location: 8360 Melrose Ave. Ste 107. Los Angeles, CA 90069. (323) 651-5866

Date: May 5, 2012

Cuisine: ?Modern?

Rating: Very tasty, hard to pigeonhole

_

I’ve wanted to go to chef Michael Voltaggio’s Ink since I first heard of it last fall. One glance at a few photos of the food told me it was the kind of place I like. But the midtown location and the difficulty of getting reviews — not to mention my busy dining schedule and broken arm — delayed maters considerably. But then Foodie Club member Ryan’s birthday rolled around…


The location is that of the former Hamusaku east (a decent high end sushi place I used to eat at all the time in Westwood). Even planning a week ahead, we had to take a 9:45pm reservation (on a Thursday) and wait nearly half an hour to sit.


The bar.

The cocktail menu. Like most modern LA joints Ink employs some serious mixology. Being a wine nut and pseudo-pro sommelier (I recently got my Italian specialization, working on Burgundy) I’m  not really that knowledgeable about cocktails.


Still, I tried this: “Tequila. jalapeno, passion fruit, agave, lime.” It was good, spicy, and somewhat of an attack on the palette.


And this “Scotch. toasted coconut, ginger, lime, cardamon.”


The space is sleek, cold, and very loud. It even still has a sushi bar.


They had both a tasting and ala carte menu. We ordered from both, supplementing the tasting meal with… well pretty much a whole extra meal.


I brought this Brunello to from my cellar to start. “The 2004 Brunello di Montalcino is a fresh, vibrant offering bursting with dark cherries, violets, underbrush, minerals and sweet toasted oak on a medium-bodied frame. The wine reveals terrific balance in an energetic, focused style, with firm yet ripe tannins. The finish is long, clean and refreshing. This is a gorgeous effort from Loacker. Anticipated maturity: 2011-2019.”


“crab, charred avocado, whipped fish sauce, mushroom chicharron.” While these dishes were hard to split four ways, they sure did taste good. Like Red Medicine (which has a similar presentation), it’s a little hard to get all the flavors in the mouth at once. I liked the sweetness of the crab with the avocado and the fish sauce. The chicharron made me think a little too much of pork rinds.


“carrots, coconut ice, cardamom soil, pea tendril mojo.” This was a surprising and amazing dish. The vegies are what they are, but that white dusty stuff is basically nitro-frozen Tom Yum Goong! It melted in the mouth and really made all the produce spectacular.


“spaghetti, giant squid, squash, hazelnut pesto.” The noodles under there are actually made from squid. This was tasty too, with a bit of an uni type vibe without any uni. The pesto itself made the dish.


“beef tartare, hearts of palm, sea bean chimichurri, horseradish, rye.” I was a little disappointed in this dish. It sounded great, and there was nothing off, but the beef itself didn’t really pop the way it does with truly great steak tartare.


“foie gras, waffle, smoked maple, hot sauce.” But this was wonderful. I love foie in this kind of mouse-like texture profile. It went amazingly with the smoked maple.


Here is the tasting menu for tonight. This had to be done for the whole table and the portions, while individually smaller, resulted in considerably more per dish per person.


Boca is one of my new favorite wines, a total insider’s wine from Northern Piedmonte. 70% Nebbiolo, 20% Vespolina and 10% Uva Rara. It shimmers on the palate with layers of fruit, mineral, and herbs.


“east coast halibut, caesar tempura, melon, espelette.” The individual components of this dish were great, but the whole thing didn’t mesh fully. The tempura is actually balls of caesar dressing, and they were great. The melon was fantastic and good with the fish, but it overwhelmed and him the subtle halibut.


“morels, egg yolk gnocchi, mushroom hay, sorrel.” This was a great mushroom dish and paired perfectly with the Boca’s earthy tones. The gnocchi had an interesting texture, like circus peanuts.


“black bass, fava bean guacamole, puffed corn tortilla.” Mostly, this was just fish. Good fish, but not as exciting as some of the other dishes.


Glee star Matthew Morrison across the way.


“milk-fed veal, asparagus, curds and whey of buttermilk.” Pretty tasty.


“poutine, chickpea fries, yogurt curds, lamb neck gravy.” This was amazing, but ridiculously rich. Again with the circus peanut texture, but I was digging it.


“lamb shoulder, lamb’s quarters, tongue, vadouvan, yogurt.” Also very good, and very rich. We probably over ordered, but we still managed to kill it. The fact that the vegetables are tempura fried perhaps threw us over the edge.


“yuzu curd. rhubarb, matcha, jasmine, chamomile.” This was the weakest dessert, but it was still wonderful.


“apple, caramel, burnt wood ice cream.” This one was amazing. Unexpected interplay of textures and flavors.


“chocolate, ice cream, spiced tofu, sesame cake.” Also excellent. Notice the similarity


“greek yogurt, strawberry, japanese peach, coconut.” This also was great. Like strawberries and cream with a wonderful granite. Or maybe like a perfected Hawaiian shave ice?


Coffee made table-side.

Overall, Ink was pretty spectacular. Not every dish worked, but it’s very modern and experimental in a good way. The interplay of textures and flavors — not to mention the “dust and ball” style plating — reminds me of Red Medicine when it first opened (before the even more experimental Elfin period). Despite the very similar look, the flavors at Ink remain much more grounded in American modern and a sort of gastro-pub sensibility. Still, the textural experimentation alone puts it at a very high level. Roberto Cortez has a similar kind of modern too, although his preps are more sophisticated and his palette more subtle and balanced – but that’s beyond restaurant food.

With this kind of uniqueness, it’s no wonder Ink is doing well. It also seems Voltaggio mixes up the menu frequently, so I’ll be back soon — provided I can score a convenient reservation.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

See more Foodie Club meals here.

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By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Brunello di Montalcino, California, Cocktails, Dessert, Fish sauce, Foodie Club, Ink, Los Angeles, Michael Voltaggio

New Last of Us Trailer

May16

The Last of Us, Naughty Dog’s new game in development, has a cool new trailer. Check it out!

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=iv&src_vid=9NVfBfJHatc&annotation_id=annotation_51749&v=ShP5xn9Tz90]

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By: agavin
Comments (30)
Posted in: Games
Tagged as: Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, Dystopia, Naughty Dog, The Last of Us, zombie

From Sketch to Final

May15

Dave Phillips, the awesome artist I commissioned to illustrate my time travel novel, Untimed, has been quietly cranking away. A couple of weeks ago he finished the rough versions of all twenty-one images. I thought I’d use this post as an opportunity not only to show off his brilliant work, but to shed some light on the process. The images on the left are the roughs, and on the right the finals.

End Game: Tick-Tock TLCEnd Game: Tick-Tock TLC

We use the roughs to establish composition and for me to check that all the details are consistent with the novel. I give him feedback and he then spends the time to polish the image up. Neither of these images required any major changes, but it’s fun to see both how well the rough makes an impression, and how much more detailed the final is.

To get a close up look at this, click one of the images and it will bring up a Smugmug lightbox. You can then use the arrow keys to flip back and forth between the images, including between the rough and the final to see the differences.

This particular image, released previously, shows the mysterious Tick-Tock gloating over a dying Ben Franklin — oops!

Looped: Meeting Mr. and Mrs. FakeLooped: Meeting Mr. and Mrs. Fake

And this new one occurs 80 years later across the English channel. Ever wonder if you’d like yourself? Time travelers can find out first hand. Or, perhaps, meeting yourself will destroy the very fabric of the spacetime continuum!

Find out more about Untimed here.

Related posts:

  1. Untimed – Out on Submission!
  2. Untimed – Meet the Tocks
  3. The Final Cover
  4. Untimed – Two Novels, Two Drafts!
By: agavin
Comments (8)
Posted in: Untimed
Tagged as: Andy Gavin, Arts and Entertainment, Ben Franklin, Dave Phillips, Design, Fiction, Illustration, SmugMug, Tick-Tock, Time travel, Untimed

Game of Thrones – Episode 17

May13

Title: Game of Thrones

Genre: Historical Fantasy

Watched: Episode 17 – May 13, 2012

Title: A Man Without Honor

Summary: Just before the storm

ANY CHARACTER HERE

The title of the episode refers to the return of Jaime Lannister, who after a five episode absence, is back with a vengeance. This is the section of the story, in the middle end, where things move very rapidly. There are themes of trust and themes of captivity, but none jumped out at me as totally dominant.

We open with Theon waking to the missing boys. With the killing of Roderick he’s turned down a dark road and becoming increasingly comfortable with the shadows. Case in point, he beats the crap out of one of his men in frustration.

We briefly see Bran, Osha, Hodor and the wolves (yay wolves). They pass a farm and note that they used to play with the farmer boys. This tiny remark sets up something big, but it will probably be lost on the first time audience.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaVcUyzc-dA&feature=youtu.be]

Better to be cruel than weak

Then we cut to John dragging his prisoner Ygritte across the frozen waste. These are my favorite moments of the episode. Broken into three sections, Ygritte gives John a delightful hard time. About his bone and stones. About his people. About freedom. She tempts him with sex. She tempts him with freedom. And it’s all good fun to watch. We even get one iteration of her signature line from the books, “You know nothing, John Snow.”

Then we’re treated to a gorgeous view of Harrenhal and some cruel work at the hands of the Mountain. The place is huge and pretty cool looking. These big vistas do a decent job of making season two look bigger than season one. Tywin shows his mean side in setting the Mountain loose. In the books, he comes off much more evil as he surounds himself with scum of the earth like Hoat, the Mountain, and Lorch. Here, he has more restraint. He and Arya have some more inappropriate conversation. It’s a little weird, but the chemistry between these two fantastic actors makes it totally worthwhile.

Speaking of chemistry, Sansa bumps into the hound. This brief scene serves to reinforce their peculiar relationship too. Nod to the SanSan crowd that it is.

And then Dany and Xaro have a bit of a convo where he tries to get her to trust him. I never understood Xaro’s angle in the  books, and I don’t here either.

All you have to do is die!

Another big view of Robb’s camp. These Robb scenes, being as they don’t exist in the book, are  lacking the intensity of emotion GRRM is so good at. Here we see a junior Lannister returning the message from Cersei. We also learn Robb is off for a couple of days, and determined to take the “hot nurse” with him. Perfunctory really.

Riffing on the prisoner situation, Theon is at the farm looking for Bran and Rickon, and not having a great time of it. When he interrogates the farmer he announces his new motto, “better to be cruel than weak.” So he has chosen, and if one were to put it in classic medieval terms, at the cost of his immortal soul.

Jorah and Danny talk about trust. Xaro’s observation and subsequent revelation to her that he’s in love with her has shifted the dynamics of their relationship. Can she trust him? He’s got such blue eyes!

In the third John and Ygritte installment she really lays on the seduction thick and crude. The actress does a fine job with the character too. She runs again, and John finds himself in a bit of a turn around. These last two episodes have really brought the John arc back into the forefront like they are in the books. His movement was feeling a bit anemic for a while.

Sansa dreams of death and wakes to her first period. Shae tries to help her conceal this, but the hound stops by. So on to have a chat with Queen Cersei. The queen really is much more sympathetic and complex in the show than the books. In the novels, she more than Joff instigates a lot of the negative goings on. Here she’s just lost control of her son. In her own cruel way, she gives Sansa sincere advice, like “love no one but your children.”

Then the return of Ser Jaime. He’s in proper form talking to his cousin (or third cousin or whatever). He even tells a Ser Barriston story, because we know we haven’t seen the last of that fine actor. Alas, it’ll take more than captivity alone to make a nice guy of Jaime. He’s not to be trusted. And don’t get in his way.

Jorah is on the hunt for the dragons and goes to visit the new character: prophetess, metal mask fashionista, and masseuse. Cut to Dany meeting with the council of thirteen. The warlock admits to taking the dragons, Xaro gives a speech, and lots of people die. This is all pretty diferent than in the book and I can’t say that I fully understood what happened. Was Xaro in league with the warlocks? Seemed perhaps so, but I don’t see why.

Enjoying your first hunt, old man?

Jaime is recaptured and Cat is there to stop the troops from killing him. Barely. Karstark is pissed. This is a little different than the books where I think the Karstark boy was killed by Jaime in one of the battles, but essentially similar. Jaime is in fine and classic form with his quips though.

Cersei and Tyrion share an interesting scene. She admits she doesn’t control Joff and he actually offers her some solace. For a moment it looks like they might hug, but not. Again, there is more complexity to their relationship here than in the books. Some things gain, some things lose.

Cat interrogates Jaime in his pen. He’s really amusing as he tries again to draw her anger to a murderous boil. If he’s going to die, he wants to die in control. His comments to Brienne are especially hilarious. “Is that actually a woman?” and “Where did you find that beast?”

Finally, Theon is back at castle black. And things are black indeed. Let’s just say I was reminded of that bit in Star Wars (“A New Hope”) where Luke finds out what happened to his aunt and uncle. Pretty grisly.

All in all, a great episode, if not as quite as good as the one before it. All my favorite characters were represented. I don’t miss Stannis and Davos. Sure we only get one Arya scene and one Tryion scene, but things are really moving. I swear, when plotting these books, GRRM must draw out each thread and say continually to himself: “make them do well, make them suffer, make them do well, make them suffer!”

See my review of A Dance With Dragons.

If you liked this post, follow me at:

My novels: The Darkening Dream and Untimed

or all my Game of Thrones posts or episode reviews:

Season 1: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]

Season 2: [11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20]

Season 3: [21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30]

Season 4: [31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40]

Season 5: [41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50]

Season 6: [51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57]

Maybe picking his nose with the blade wasn't such a good idea!

Related posts:

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By: agavin
Comments (6)
Posted in: Television
Tagged as: a clash of kings, A Dance with Dragons, a game of thrones, A Man Without Honor, Characters in A Song of Ice and Fire, Game of Thrones, George R. Martin, George R. R. Martin, Historical fantasy, Major houses in A Song of Ice and Fire, Television, World of A Song of Ice and Fire

What is Diablo 3?

May12

Only three days to go until D3-day, and in case you don’t know what that means, this little video from Blizzard does a nice job summarizing the game:

See you in Sanctuary!

My detailed impressions of the closed beta can be found here.

And my review of the Barbarian 1-60 experience here.

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By: agavin
Comments (2)
Posted in: Games
Tagged as: Blizzard, Blizzard Entertainment, Blizzard North, Diablo 3, Diablo III, Fantasy, role playing game, RPG

Umami Burger at UMAMIcatessen

May12

Restaurant: Umamicatessen

Location: 852 S. Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90014. 213-413-UMAMI (8626). @umamiburger

Date: April 20, 2012

Cuisine: Gastro Burger

Rating: Top Burgers

_

UMAMIcatessen is a rather peculiar concept (albeit one that works). Grafting Umami Burger, The Cure (high end deli) and P!GG (pork oriented charcuterie) together under one roof. Not to mention E&O donuts!


The triple menu. Click here for PDF.


Truffle cheese fries. Oh my!


Onion rings and sweet potato fries. These alone would be damn good.


But we have five sauces. Homemade ketchup (this one actually is better than Heinz) and four others. Spicy, mustard, etc. All were great.


Smushed potatoes. Dutch yellow creamers, double fried with some kind of aioli.


The cure bagel. Lox, creme fraiche, onions etc. A very (very) slightly lighter high end version of the classic.


Manly burger. Beer-cheddar cheese, smoked-salt onion strings, bacon lardons. Wow!


Shrimp Burger with Yuzu-Kosho. Wild shrimp patty with japanese spices.


Ahi Tuna Burger. Hand chopped ahi tuna, crushed avocado, gingered pickles, wasabi flake.


The greenbird. Shelton farms turkey, crushed avocado, green cheese, butter lettuce, sprouts, green goddess.


And after a “light” meal like that, donuts!


Carrot cake, rum raisin, cream cheese. Pretty much like what it sounds like, a carrot cake donut!


Tres leches, cajeta, ceylon cinnamon. Yep, tasted like tres leches.


Beignets, chicory, cafe brulot, burnt sugar. The carmel alone was to die for!

The concept here of glomming together a bunch of different high end comfort food joints is kind of interesting. Basically it works as the flavors are unified by fat, plus the execution is good. It’s casual, fun, modern (not in an avant garde way). Basically jammed with flavor, so what’s to complain about?

For more LA dining reviews click here.

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By: agavin
Comments (2)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Bagel, burger, Cheese Burger, Cream Cheese, Deli, donut, Donuts, H. J. Heinz Company, Hamburger, Heinz, Los Angeles, Lox, Pigg, S. Broadway, The Cure, Umami Burger, Umamicatessen, veggie burger

Dark Shadows – The Revival

May10

Title: Dark Shadows

Genre: Horror

Watched: May, 2012

Summary: Old school gothic

ANY CHARACTER HERE

The upcoming Tim Burton remake reminded me that I wanted to rewatch the 1991 Dark Shadows revival. I saw some of it at release, but being a lover of all things vampire, felt it my duty to revisit. Now, that vampire-philia doesn’t extend so far as to actually watch all 2,231 episodes of the 1966 original, particularly when it’s black and white and shot live!

Anyway, back to the 1991 version. It has a certain production cheese. I think the photos to the right make that pretty clear. But the writing is actually good. This can not always be said of the acting (David Collins, I’m thinking of you!). Still, some of the leads are solid. Victoria Winters is cute, and Barnabus has an old school vibe. He even says yes instead of “yes.” Imagine the classic horror movie vampire voice as the italics. He has all that classic vampire goodness: No reflection, sunlight challenged, a fear of crosses and stakes. Fog machines follow him everywhere and when he gets excited, out come the red contacts and the pop in fangs.

This show has everything: vampires, dopplegangers, witches, ghosts, curses, familiars with low IQs, vampire-curing doctors, even time travel! And all that in just twelve episodes. There is a classic sensibility to all of it. Barnabus arrives (recently freed from his coffin) and poses as a long lost relative. What a coincidence, he looks just like his namesake from 200 years ago! And, the family tudor is the spitting image of his long dead love. I love a good Bram Stoker homage. I enjoyed that the writers actually plotted a real story with solid characters and a bit of complexity. There might be hammy moments, but the characters remained true to themselves.

Plus, the last four episodes are all set in 1790, which is always cool.

Check out more TV reviews.

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By: agavin
Comments (2)
Posted in: Television
Tagged as: Barnabas Collins, Dark Shadows, Television, Tim Burton, Vampire, Victoria Winters

Diablo III: Wrath

May08

Blizzard has released Wrath, an animated short by directory Peter Chung (Aeon Flux) depicting an ancient battle between the angels of Sanctuary and Diablo. Pretty cool.

Strangely though, I am reminded a bit of Ralph Bakshi’s bizarre The Lord of the Rings.

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By: agavin
Comments (3)
Posted in: Games
Tagged as: Animated cartoon, Animation, Arts, Blizzard, Blizzard Entertainment, Diablo, Diablo 3, Diablo III, Peter Chung, Ralph Bakshi, Wrath

Las Vegas – Guy Savoy

May08

Restaurant: Guy Savoy

Location: Cesar’s Palace, Las Vegas

Date: April 14, 2012

Cuisine: French

Rating: Spectacular

_

A good friend’s bachelor party brought me back to Las Vegas and that meant: extreme food. On my last trip I sampled  é by José Andrés and Twist by Pierre Gagnaire so this time it was time for Guy Savoy. Guy himself is one of the few and proud Parisian Michelin 3-star chefs (even if he’s originally from Burgundy). The Vegas outpost is overseen by the older chef’s son. It’s tucked  away in a quiet section of the main Cesar’s Palace, near the wedding chapels.


True to its Michelin form, the place has a lot of carts. First to greet us is the champagne and aperitif cart. I’m not really that big a champagne fan, and done off the cart for the table often results in some serious financial hike. But, as you’ll see, you don’t come to Guy Savoy to keep the budget under control!


This first pre-amuse is fois gras and brioche on a stick. Can’t complain about that!


Then I crack open the wine tome. Even though I have recently become an “Italian Wine Specialist” there was very little vino from the boot, so I had to go French.


Jadot is usually very reliable and I have a soft spot for Clos Vougeot. “Charred meat, black currant, and wet stone characterize the bouquet of Jadot’s Clos Vougeot. Savory, salty, brightly-fruited and invigoratingly juicy on the palate, this displays more energy and acidity than I would have expected from the appellation. For all of the clarity and juiciness of this wine’s fruit, grilled meat and stony earthiness combined with the emergence of formidable tannins and subtle but persistent cyanic and iodine notes to turn its formidably long finish somewhat austere.”


Then another amuse, this cheesy “parmesan waffle.”


And the menu. Check out the prices. Because we must, we took out a mortgage, and ordered up the Inspiration Menu.


The amuse was this artichoke soup with black truffle and toasted mushroom bread. A nice start.


Then the bread cart comes around. Just a few varieties. When we failed to remember the 14-16 different types we could choose from on the first recitation the bread boy (who was just a tad creepy) offered to create a “bread tasting” for us, pairing various breads to each food course. How could we refuse?


A few samplings include on the right, bacon brioche!


“Concasse of oysters, seaweed, lemon granite.”


The granite itself is added later. Truthfully, this dish was a revelation. The flavors were pure and intense. Briny oyster and this potent cold lemon thing.


One of our party doesn’t like oysters, so he got this avocado and chickpea variant.


“Santa Barbara Spot Prawn caught in sweet and sour fishnet.” Mostly this just tasted like a very good shrimp with some interesting vegetable texture stuff going on. It was pleasant, but not one of the best dishes.


The shellfish hater got this pea and egg salad. Twice peeled English peas, pea gelee, pea puree, dressed in chive oil. It was then topped with greens some bread and a quail egg.


On my way to visit the elegant little boys room I photoed the “smaller” of the two private dining rooms.


It’s white asparagus season! “White Asparagus and Caviar, Smoked Sabayon.” The sabayon was in the egg. You pour it over the dish.


Voila. A “simple” but spectacular dish. The asparagus and sabayon is similar to the classic Dutch version, but the caviar took it up a notch.


This was a long meal and so we quickly exhausted the Burgundy. This Barolo by old school producer Giacomo Conterno was a bit “underpriced” (if anything in the tome could be called that). Parker 94+ “1999 Barolo Cascina Francia—Medium red. A classic in the making, the 1999 Cascina Francia offers a quintessentially pure expression of Nebbiolo in it aromas of roses, licorice and tar. It is powerful and potent on the palate, where endless layers of sweet fruit blossom with exceptional length. Though I expect it to be relatively accessible within a few years, it will also reward cellaring for several decades, and may ultimately be deserving of a higher score. A great effort. 94+/drink after 2009.”


“Marinated-Grilled Hamachi Aged Sherry Vinegar, Radish Gelee, Eggplant Puree.” The fish was nice but the really interesting bit was the jelly. It was made of radish (hence the color) and tasted somehow so Japanese. It was a very bright and intense flavor and I really liked it.


Next up, “Salmon Iceberg.” Scottish salmon.


“Cooked” on dry ice.


Then dressed with grapefruit bits, bockchoy, and little jelly cubes of something.


Then finished off with a consommé. Spectacular actually. Hot and cold in the same dish and expressed the flavor of the fish wonderfully.


This is the large private room, with a Krug theme. After you win $100,000 in the casino, you can blow it here.


“Seared Dices of Foie Gras with Horseradish, Braised-Grilled Celery Stalk Sepentines, Potato Chips Bouillon.”


Here with the Bouillon added. This was a very nice foie dish, extremely savory, but not overly heavy.


“Lobster Bordelaise, Raw and Cooked Hearts of Palm.” Wow, was this good. The lobster was great lobster, but it was that sauce in the middle. It was as complex as a fine wine!


“Wagyu, Cannellini Bean Puree, Saffron and Marjoram Crust, Sponge Cake.” A very nice beef dish.


Then one of my favorite parts of any serious French meal, Les Fromages.


Some closeups.


And more for good measure.


This is our humble selection. I can’t remember them all but it included Brillat-savarin, one of my favorites.


A relatively lightweight Sauternes. The 1999 Raymond-Lafon. “Aromas of honeyed pineapple/tropical fruit and toasty new oak, as well as an exotic, flashy perfume. The wine possesses an opulent, full-bodied, exotic, lavishly rich personality, and moderate sweetness.”


In the glass. You can tell from the color this isn’t a crazy sticky Sauternes.


This “sunny side up” isn’t actually an egg, but mango and cream! It was pretty great too.


Then this “exotic” tapioca, avocado, with lime sorbet. Really quite incredible.


Here it is with the sorbet.


Then the chocolate. This was just a simple scoop of incredibly intense and wonderful chocolate gelato.


And a bit of earl grey ice cream, which, even as a non-tea fan, was a subtle and lovely ice cream flavor.


I thought the cheese cart was heaven, but then this came. There are just oodles of little desserts here. When our waiter (a seven foot tall Gaul we nick named “French Lurch”) asked us what we’d like, we said, “yes.”


A different view. There are pots of creme, rice pudding, citrus shooters, homemade marshmellows, pate des fruits, frozen grapes, and all sorts of other yummys.


The pots were among my favorites, particularly the rice pudding.


Strawberry pate, coconut macarons, chocolate things.


Those spongy things on the spoon had a bit of passionfruit to them.


In case the heart wasn’t about to quit, the conac cart!


And finally, a triple expresso. I was worried about falling asleep when we went out clubbing (after this 6pm – midnight meal!) but this puppy kept me up straight to 9am. Given that I was trying to sleep from 5am on, that, perhaps, wasn’t ideal.

Overall, this was a spectacular meal. Much more substantive than é by José Andrés and much more focused and palatable than Twist by Pierre Gagnaire. It was classic “fancy french” updated with spectacular ingredients and very fine flavors. I’ve had a lot of opulent meals and I generally judge them by “consistency” and “impact.” This was highly consistent in that every dish worked. Perhaps the shrimp was the weakest, but it certainly worked. And more importantly, a number of dishes, such as the lobster, oyster, and salmon were mind-blowing and highly memorable. Bravo!

For more Vegas dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Vegas with a Twist
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Barolo, Bread, Caesars Palace, Clos Vougeot, Foie gras, Foodie Club, Guy Savoy, Las Vegas, Las Vegas Nevada, Lobster, Michelin, Nevada, Salmon

Game of Thrones – Episode 16

May06

Title: Game of Thrones

Genre: Historical Fantasy

Watched: Episode 16 – May 6, 2012

Title: The Old Gods and the New

Summary: The pace accelerates

ANY CHARACTER HERE

If I had to give this episode a theme, it would be trust (and betrayal). We open as last week with what was foreshadowed before, the arrival of the sea at Winterfell. But the producers did some serious cheaping out. We see none of the assault, none of the battle, instead merely Luwin running to send a raven and Theon telling Bran what he did. Didn’t they here “show don’t tell?” They knew though, it’s just the money, and perhaps the minutes. Still, it’s effective enough, but… cheap. But we do concentrate on the characters, and when Theon gathers everyone, we see the conflict written on every inch of his face. He makes his choice when he decides to man up and execute Rodrick. He is, as the dialog says, “lost forever.”

In the north, John and Qhorin Halfhand continue their excursion through the snowy waste of Iceland. Some got lucky and filmed in Dubrovnik Croatia, some in Iceland. Who had more fun? We see Ghost wandering around again. They must have figured out how to make the wolves economical.

Then Arya continues to serve Lord Tywin Lannister. The acting here  between Arya and Tywin is absolutely first rate. The latter is more complicated, more human, and more likeable in the show than the books. Sure he’s a hardass, but he is reasonable. Then Littlefinger arrives. This is new to the show and deliciously tense. The subtle ways in which Arya tries to maneuver herself to face away, really good stuff.

Back to John in the mountains. They creep up and kill a bunch of wildlings, sparing only one, Ygritte, a pretty redhead. John accepts the responsibility of killing her. Qhorin trusts him to do it. This is a very intimate moment between Snow and the girl. There is something twistedly sexual about the power of life and death, and the lingered moment is exquisite.

Lipstick north of the wall?

The Lannisters see Marcella off to Dorne. Tyrion was right when he insisted that she’d be safer there, because the crowd is angry. Joff isn’t exactly the most endearing of kings, as Ty says, “cruel AND stupid.” The riot is fairly well done. It’s chaotic and dangerous, yet the armored troops have the individual upper hand, as they would. The septon is torn to pieces, literarily. We have various changes. The halfwit daughter of lady whatever isn’t really present. The queen finds herself in less jeopardy, and Sansa gets in some real trouble only to be saved by the Hound. This does a nice job reinforcing the SanSan relationship that the books have more time to develop.

Dany has a brief scene in Qarth with Xaro and the newly arrived “spice king.” He reminds me a bit of a Ferengi.

No love lost here

More Arya and Tywin time. We learn that Jaime is dyslexic, which is a nice bit of character building and exposition— except we haven’t seen Jaime since the first episode, which is a pity. In a way, Ty and Arya’s funny relationship reflects the whole trust thing. Arya snitches a paper about Robb, and then gets herself in a bit of trouble, but good thing she’s got her own pet assassin. The timing of the resolution has a very nice tragio-comic touch.

On the battlefield with Robb, he’s working his relationship with the nurse, Lady Talisa Migia (spelling could be wrong because she’s a new invented character). I’m not really feeling it with these two, but mom arrives to spoil the party and remind him he must marry an ugly Frey girl. I wonder what was wrong with the setup in the novels? Bolton shows with news. How many will noticed the “Flayed Man” on his sigil?

John marches through the waste with a captive Ygritte. Their little chase (which occurred in the previous segment of the thread) was nicely done. Here he has to deal with her and she sets to work on his manly weakness. I liked the two of the them in the books and I like it here.

Robb, Cat, and Bolton discuss Theon’s betrayal. I like how they have given Bolton a little more skin in the game (haha) and how they improve the clarity of him sending his bastard son to relieve Winterfell. This is a tad obtuse in the books. One of GRRMs weaknesses as a writer (and made worse by his complex POV structure) is that certain parts of important events are often a little vague. I forgive him, he has so many strengths.

Osha is fairly convincing when she comes to work Theon. Trust and betrayal. He gets what he sows. She even goes in for the full frontal, which is the only bit of nudity in this sexposition free episode (two in a row!). With Littlefinger out of town and Daisy nursing her bottom, what are whores to do? Theon has fallen for women several times before, it stems from his insecurities, and this time is no different. Contrast him with his  “step” half-brother John who resists Ygritte’s advances (for now).

Very brief status with Sasha being tended by Shae. This is mostly just to let us know she’s okay.

Then back to Theon. Osha sneaks away. She’s always had an interesting feral quality to her, with her head cocked and the like, but naked it’s doubly so. She’s pretty badass with the guard and it’s good to see the Stark boys (and the wolves) make a clean escape. Theon’s in trouble now! You reap what you sow. Wait, I thought Greyjoy’s didn’t sow!

Why does everyone want to marry me?

Then Dany (with Xaro) finds her people raided and slaughtered and her dragons missing. This too is a major change from the book but I don’t blame them, her  Qarth plot in A Clash of Kings was a little anemic. But here, trust or betrayal? And where was Jorah when we needed him?

And so ends another great episode. As usual, as the plot lines twist and knot, with the setup mostly accomplished, things move very rapidly here in the middle of the season. I so wish I didn’t have to wait another week!

See my review of A Dance With Dragons.

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My novels: The Darkening Dream and Untimed

or all my Game of Thrones posts or episode reviews:

Season 1: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]

Season 2: [11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20]

Season 3: [21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30]

Season 4: [31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40]

Season 5: [41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50]

Season 6: [51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57]

With only men in the watch, don't forget to look over your shoulder

Related posts:

  1. Game of Thrones – Episode 14
  2. Game of Thrones – Episode 12
  3. Game of Thrones – Episode 15
  4. Game of Thrones – Episode 5
  5. Game of Thrones – Episode 6
By: agavin
Comments (2)
Posted in: Television
Tagged as: A Dance with Dragons, Arya, Characters in A Song of Ice and Fire, Clash of Kings, Dany, Game of Thrones, Historical fantasy, Major houses in A Song of Ice and Fire, Television, World of A Song of Ice and Fire

Wolfgang Puck’s Cut – A cut above?

May05

Restaurant: Wolfgang Puck’s Cut

Location: 9500 Wilshire Blvd. Beverly Hills, California 90212. P: 310-276-8500

Date: April 12, 2012

Cuisine: Steak House

Rating: Great, but I think Mastro’s is slightly better at the over the top steak house thing

_

The Foodie Club rolled out on the town for the first time in a while (I was slowed up by my broken wrist) and it was founding member Simon’s birthday and he wanted to go to Cut.


Cut is located inside the Beverly Wilshire Hotel (think Pretty Woman) and is Wolfgang Puck’s take on redefining the American Steak House. In this, it succeeds very well. While it adheres to the Steak House basics: slabs of beef served plain on the plate, Cut upgrades things in a number of ways. But we’ll get to this in good time.


The modern kitchen turns stuff out in full view.

Puck himself was in attendance as well, he came by the table to admire my wines.

And self-help guru and modern Rasputin Tony Robbins was just a couple of tables over. Cut is definitely a place to be seen, and you can totally tell from the crowd.


Erick brought this Burgundy to start. “Displaying a bright, medium-to-dark ruby color as well as a cherry and ground white pepper-laced nose, this is a refined, thickly-textured, concentrated, and broad wine. It has outstanding depth of sweet cherry fruit, admirable structure, and a long, precise, and satiny finish. This gem has the requisite fruit, backbone, and concentration for extended cellaring. Projected maturity: 2002-2010.”


Out come the breadsticks. Given that this is passover, I had to abstain.


Which got even harder when the cheesy balls emerged. Simon and Erick snarfed the whole basket to save me.


Cut isn’t in any hurry. After about twenty minutes the menu showed. You can see that the center is a wide variety of “slabs of undercooked beef.” Also present are appetizers, sides, sauces and the like.


This is a presentation of some of the special “Kobe style” beef. The black ones are Japanese cattle, bred in America. The white ones are American cattle in a Kobe style. At the top is the American Kobe style filet mignon which Simon will later eat.


More temptation arrives in the form of a very delectable looking bread plate. The guys said it was great.


Then keeping with kosher tradition we have: “Maple Glazed Pork Belly, Asian Spices, Watercress, Persimmon, Sesame–Orange Dressing, Bosc Pear Compote.” Pretty fantastic actually. Like bacon in maple syrup.


Then the first in a trio of raw. “Big Eye Tuna Tartare, Wasabi Aioli, Ginger, Togarashi Crisps, Tosa Soy.” A nice take on the familiar dish.


As I’ve mentioned recently, I’m loving the steak tartare. “Prime Sirloin “Steak Tartare”, Herb Aioli, Mustard.” This was good, with sour dour (I didn’t eat it) and horseradish and various aioli on the side.


Plus a quail egg we dumped on top. It had a nice delicate flavor, but wasn’t as good as say this one I had in Chianti. Probably because it wasn’t from Chiana cattle!


And more raw beef, because I love it so. “Kobe Steak Sashimi, Spicy Radishes.” This was a wonderful dish too, although I liked the similar take at A-Frame a little better.


Now we pull out the big guns wine-wise. From my cellar. Parker gives this a 96 and it earned every point. “This fabulous, blockbuster has been totally unevolved since bottling, but at the Jaboulet tasting, it was beginning to reveal some of its formidable potential. A saturated opaque purple color is followed by aromas of cassis, minerals, and hot bricks/wood fire. Super-ripe and full-bodied, with a massive mid-section, teeth-staining extract, and mouth-searing tannin, it is a monster-sized La Chapelle. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2050.”


Now, coming to the main course. I’m not really a straight up steak man. I don’t enjoy plain beef. It’s too simple and I’m a more is more kind of guy. So I went for “Kobe Beef Short Ribs “Indian Spiced”, Curried Pumpkin Puree, Garam Masala, Slowly Cooked For Eight Hours.” Above is the curry like sauce.


Then they settle the succulent short ribs on top. This is beef my style. Not only is the meat itself rich and flavorful, but the sauce provides an intense medley of Indian spices. Love this.


For those going plain, they provide a bunch of “free” sauces like salt and three kinds of mustard. We also ordered a $2 thing of “Shallot-Red Wine Bordelaise” (not pictured) which was a really incredibly wine reduction sauce.


Simon’s “American Wagyu / Angus “Kobe Style” Beef From Snake River Farms, Idaho, Filet Mignon 6 Oz.” Looks beefy. You can see it raw above in the raw steak photo.


Erick settled on a classic “U.S.D.A. PRIME, Illinois Corn Fed, Aged 21 Days, Bone In Rib Eye Steak 20 Oz.” Now that’s a man’s piece of meat. I had some. It tasted great, smothered in Bordelaise!


“Roasted Fingerling Potatoes, Smokey Bacon, Pearl Onions.” Pretty good, but Cut doesn’t have the full array of massively decadent sides like Mastro’s.


“Roasted Campania Artichokes, White Asparagus, Guanciale.” The white asparagus are a nod to Puck, Austrians love them. But it was the artichokes that dominated this pleasant dish.


“Cavatappi Pasta “Mac & Cheese,” Québec Cheddar.” This is a little richer, and it was good, but it didn’t totally match up to a Mastro’s “Gorgonzola mac & cheese!” or “king crab truffle gnocchi.”


Out comes the dessert menu.


“Dark Chocolate ‘Marquise’, Black Cherries, Chocolate Brioche, Red Wine Ice Cream.” This was good, rich, but a little chocolatey for my taste. The wine ice cream was very subdued.


“Valrhona Chocolate Soufflé, Whipped Creme Fraiche, Gianduja Chocolate Ice Cream.” Excellent classic Soufflé, if not quite as perfect as the one at Maison Giraud (I have photos of it, but haven’t written them up yet).


However, it did come with this superlative collection of sauces. Left to right, chocolate hazelnut ice cream (yum!), creme fraiche, and deep Gianduja chocolate sauce. All excellent.


“‘Baked Alaska’ Meyer Lemon Gelato & Blackberry Sorbet, Toasted Pistachios.” This was mine and it was good. Really good. The whole meyer lemon blackberry thing completely and totally worked. It was almost as good — and very similar to — the semifredo at Capo which is one of my all time favorites.


Then to finish, some little lemon and chocolate tarts. Both were excellent.

Overall, Cut is very very good, if a little expensive. It does succeed in taking the Steak House format and shaking it up a bit. Partly by offering unusual cuts of beef, partly by having newer more modern appetizers and sides. Execution is very good. Service is very good. It isn’t as over the top as Mastro’s. Not being focused on the pure beef, I can’t speak to the steak itself (both seem good to me). Mastro’s does, however, have a serious decadence factor — not that Cut is light. After coming out of Mastro’s my heart is usually palpitating. Perhaps that isn’t a good thing.

More Foodie Club extravaganzas here.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Red Medicine – Elfin Feast
  2. No Beef with Mastro’s
By: agavin
Comments (4)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Beverly Hills, Beverly Hills California, Beverly Wilshire Hotel, California, Cut, Dessert, Foodie Club, Kobe, Rodeo Drive, Steak, Wolfgang Puck

The Way of Shadows

May03

Title: The Way of Shadows

Author: Brent Weeks

Genre: Fantasy

Length: 688 pages

Read: March 23-24, 2012

Summary: Great epic fantasy!

_

Despite the cheesy “hooded dude” cover, this was a great bit of epic fantasy. It was recommended by a twitter follower and turned out to be one of the better “classic medieval fantasy” books I’ve read in recent years. Certainly the best since I found The Name of the Wind in 2008.

Weeks borrows heavily and to good effect from 80s fantasy tropes. This is city fantasy, almost entirely set in a corrupt capital. Our protagonist is a young boy who apprentices with a deadly “wetboy” (assassin who uses magical powers). The prose is clean and workmanlike, sometimes even modern and flip. Weeks doesn’t bother to make anything sound too medieval, in fact, it’s so modern as to sometimes sound anachronistic. Still, despite the length, the novel is not overwritten and the writing doesn’t get in the way of the excellent storytelling and world building.

For fantasy  fans, this book is an appealing ride. We have good characters, sordid and ambiguous underworld figures. We have a well conceived world with detailed and engaging political intrigue. We have a decent, albeit minimalist, magical system. And we have a lot — I mean a real lot — of very well written action scenes. Weeks is a great writer of physical action and he uses it to good effect. This book contains fight after fight. Plus lots of sneaking around. And it’s not overdone. Each individual skirmish is compact enough, well integrated into the intricate plot, and brilliantly executed.

Again, despite the length, this makes for a breakneck pace and near total immersion into the seedy underworld. The book is pretty dark too, with some serious abuse in the early chapters. It’s not A Song of Ice and Fire dark, but there is some good insight into the nature of meanness. Bravo. The adventures continue into two sequels.

For more book reviews, click here.

Or read about my own historical fantasy novel here.

Related posts:

  1. The Wise Man’s Fear
  2. The Name of the Wind
  3. Inside Game of Thrones
  4. Book Review: The Way of Kings
  5. Book Review: The Gathering Storm
By: agavin
Comments (3)
Posted in: Books
Tagged as: Book Review, Brent Weeks, Fantasy, Fiction, High fantasy, Name of the Wind, Song of Ice and Fire, The Way of Shadows
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