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…
I’m always being asked for more information on the LISP based languages I designed for the Crash and Jak games. This post is about GOOL, the LISP language used in Crash 1, Crash 2, and Crash 3. GOOL was my second custom language. GOOL was mostly interpreted, although by Crash 2 basic expressions were compiled into machine code.
Restaurant: Tavern [1, 2, 3, 4] Location: 11648 San Vicente Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90049. (310) 806-6464 Date: March 6, 2011 Cuisine: Market driven Californian Rating: Not just your typical short order brunch — but better. Tavern is a favorite midend brunch spot of…
Restaurant: La Sandia Location: 395 Santa Monica Place 305N,Santa Monica, CA 90401. Tel. 310.393.3300 Date: March 5, 2011 Cuisine: Mexican Rating: Tasty, but some serious service issues need working out. I’ve been questing through the various new offerings in the retrofitted Santa…
I am blown away by the effort of translating this book for the screen. Frankly, although I loved the novel, I like the film better — this is rare. Anthony Minghella managed the near impossible, translating this gorgeous prose into an equally lyrical visual style.
My freelance editor, the awesome Renni Browne, has officially declared my novel, The Darkening Dream, done, and ready for agents! Now bear in mind that “done” is a highly subjective term, and that as soon as anyone gives me an…
Restaurant: Caffe Delfini Location: 147 West Channel Road, Santa Monica, CA 90402. tel (310) 459-8823 Date: February 6, 2011 Cuisine: Italian Rating: Good Italian, great value! Caffe Delfini is one of our regular “sunday night” places. LA has a lot of neighborhood…
Restaurant: Sushi Sushi [1, 2, 3, 4] Location: 326 1/2 Beverly Dr. Beverly Hills, CA 90212. (310) 277-1165 Date: March 1, 2011 Cuisine: Japanese Sushi Rating: Old school sushi – fantastic fish and presentation! ANY CHARACTER HERE After discovering this place about a…
Restaurant: Piccolo [1, 2] Location: 5 Dudley Ave, Venice, Ca. 310-314-3222 Date: February 26, 2011 Cuisine: Northern Italian Rating: Neighborhood Italian, hybridizing toward modern. Piccolo is a neighborhood Italian located in a rather sketchy area of the venice boardwalk. For a previous review,…
In 2008, I read this 722 page novel in Xian China during a single sleepless night, and I reread it just now for the second time in preparation for the sequel. NOTW is a beautiful book. Of all the Fantasy I’ve read in the last 15 or so years, this is perhaps second best after The Song of Ice and Fire. But that’s not to say that they have much in common, other than both being really good.
The first thing I did after getting my line editing back over the weekend was work on the ending of my novel. Beginnings and endings are so important, and as is probably typical, I’ve changed them a lot. The ending…
Restaurant: Momed Location: 233 S Beverly Dr, Beverly Hills, CA 90212. (310) 270-4444 Date: January 31 & April 16, 2011 Cuisine: Modern Middle Eastern Rating: Interesting, and tasty modernized Middle Eastern. ANY CHARACTER HERE I met a friend here for lunch. I…
Derived from a fake preview in Rodriguez and Tarantino’s Grindhouse double feature, this film is just rollicking camp fun. The premise: that ex-federale Danny Trejo (the ugliest guy to grace the silver screen since The Elephant Man) is lured into a crazy scheme by various right wing racist nut-jobs and has to kick (and get some) ass in various escapes, revenge, etc.
Restaurant: Kreation Kafe Location: 1023 Montana Ave. Santa Monica, CA 90403. (310) 458-4880 Date: January 21, 2011 Cuisine: Modern Mediterranean Rating: Tasty and modernized take on kabobs and mezzas On the once bustling Montana (now home to more than a few empty…
This is a phenomenally interesting book about the London Underground of the 1720s. You think it was bad in Dickens time? — woah, things really calmed down in the century between.
Restaurant: Rustic Canyon [1, 2, 3, 4] Location: 1119 Wilshire Blvd. Santa Monica, Ca 90401. 310-393-7050 Date: February 25, 2011 Cuisine: Farmer’s Market Californian Summary: Excellent Seasonal New American ANY CHARACTER HERE As a seasonal market driven California restaurant Rustic canyon can be counted on to mix up…
The last batch of line edits for my novel The Darkening Dream are in from my awesome freelance editors. Now I just have to spend the next day or two groveling over them, tweaking, and then… Read the entire thing…
