Somehow I missed seeing all of Better Off Dead in the 26 years since release (only bits and pieces on cable), surprising given my nearly comprehensive knowledge of 80s films, and that I’m a fan of John Cusack — excepting the execrable 2012. This is one whacky film.
I’ve always loved this movie. Perhaps I’m a romantic at heart. Perhaps it’s the David Mamet dialogue, or maybe Demi’s just hot.
Restaurant: Vu [1, 2] Location: 14160 Palaway Way, Marina del Rey, CA 90292 310.439.3033 Date: March 25, 2011 Cuisine: Modern Rating: Very creative, worth a trip, but needs a little tuning up ANY CHARACTER HERE Vu is a new place in Marina…
Part 3 of a journal article I wrote on making Crash in 1999.
Part 2 of a detailed journal article I wrote on making Crash in 1999.
Below is another journal article I wrote on making Crash in 1999. This was co-written with Naughty Dog uber-programmer Stephen White, who was my co-lead on Crash 2, Crash 3, Jak & Daxter, and Jak 2. It’s long, so I’m breaking it into three parts.
Being the consummate gadget man, I succumbed to the iPad 2 upgrade. In fact, I even ordered it at 1:01am, only 1 minute after they went on sale (at the Apple online store). Despite my jumping on the bandwagon, it…
This is a weird weird book, and I mean that in a good way. Nominally, it’s about a schizophrenic girl, Hanna, who’s dad has died and who decides to move in unannounced with her mom she’s never met. But her mom doesn’t live in a normal town. She lives in some kind of weird place in Texas where gates between universes have let all sorts of strange monsters and realities in. A town with its own supernatural police.
Restaurant: Fraiche Santa Monica [1, 2] Location: 312 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90401. Phone : 310.451.7482 Date: March 19, 2011 Cuisine: Cal French Italian Rating: On the way up. _ This particular location adjacent to the Barnes and Noble on Wilshire near the promenade has…
Downton Abbey is a fictional great English country estate, owned by the middle aged Earl of Grantham. He has a loving wife and three daughters, not to mention about 30 assorted housekeepers, maids, footmen, and the like. What he doesn’t have is an heir, as his cousin, the closest male relative went down with the Titanic.
Restaurant: Gladstones Malibu [1, 2] Location: 17300 Pacific Coast HwyPacific Palisades, CA 90272. (310) 454-3474 Date: March 18, 2011 Cuisine: American Seafood Summary: Fast bordering on brusque Two months to the day after I tried the slightly revamped Gladstones (REVIEW HERE),…
Restaurant: Takao [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6] Location: 11656 San Vicente Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90049. (310) 207-8636 Date: March 13, 2011 Cuisine: Japanese / Sushi Rating: 9/10 creative “new style” sushi _ I’ve already covered Takao in some detail HERE, but…
This is a short YA book, with nice prose and likable main characters thrown into ‘weird’ paranormal situations. The action so condensed as to occasionally be confusing and it has an unhappy but not completely tragic ending. But I found Tithe’s creepy fairy flavor really to my taste.
Restaurant: Sam’s by the Beach [1, 2, 3] Location: 108 W. Channel Rd.(PCH), Santa Monica, CA 90402. 310-230-9100 Date: March 12, 2011 Cuisine: Cal French International Rating: Stellar food and unparalleled service. ANY CHARACTER HERE I already covered the background to Sam’s in…
This is yet another foray into the world of paranormal YA. This book, unusually, has a male protagonist, and he’s part of a family of “curse workers,” although he himself doesn’t do any magic. He lives in an alternative reality where a small minority of people are able to “lay on hands” in a bad way and curse people. It’s well written and a fast and fun ride.
With the premier of Game of Thrones, the HBO series based on what is perhaps my all time favorite Fantasy series, fast approaching, the network has been releasing all sorts of goodies. Now I’ve posted about this before, but these…
Last Friday we hosted a little dinner party. I can’t say it was purely an excuse for more cooking and food photos, but well, here they are. Everything in this meal is made from scratch. The first course in summary….
Restaurant: Sushi-Don Location: 970 Monument St #118, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272. (310) 454-6710 Date: March 9, 2011 Cuisine: Japanese / Sushi Rating: Not bad for a $20 lunch. There seems to be a strange trend going on right now where top…
As the sequel to The Name of the Wind, The Wise Man’s Fear is one of 2011’s two most anticipated Fantasy novels. This is High Fantasy of a rather less epic sort. Not that it’s any less fun to read, even weighing in as it does at 1008 hardcover pages. But they whip by as the characters, prose, and world are phenomenally well crafted.
Restaurant: Tavern [1, 2, 3, 4] Location: 11648 San Vicente Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90049. (310) 806-6464 Date: March 10, 2011 Cuisine: Market driven Californian Rating: Good for dinner too! Every couple of months I get together with a group of friends who all…