The Magic Factory

2011-12-13T20:49:00.000-08:00

that's a wrapHopefully (touch wood) wrapping out the hardest job of my life, I thought I'd leave you with my some of my favorite songs to summarize my personal experience of 2011. Enjoy.

2011-09-21T14:08:00.000-07:00

Reposting my sister's blog from her summer in Russian courtesy for the Russian, Eastern European and Eurasian Studies program at the University of Illinois before she heads back for another semester in a few days.

Student Dispacet: CLS in Vladimir

"On the bus ride from Moscow’s Domodedovo airport to the town of Vladimir, located about 200 kilometers east of the capital, my 26 compatriots from the Critical Languages Scholarship program (http://clscholarship.org/index.html) and I were told that our host families would be waiting for us. I gave my host mom a hug as she told me I’d be living in a part of town called “Dobroe”, and, considering the translation, was feeling pretty great about my luck in terms of location. As we turned onto the main street, Bolshaia Moskovskaia, I thought about the fact that I was finally (finally!) in Russia after countless semesters of language study in the U.S. I considered the nights spent memorizing verb conjugations as an undergrad, and the summers I had given up paid work to do intensive study. Happy to have finally made it to Russia, I looked out the window and realized we were still, well, driving."

2011-09-10T13:22:00.000-07:00

Yeah, so I might be at the office today. And maybe I was here until 11:30 last night, albeit with the company of some fancy vendor-gifted wine and a giant pile of linguini pescator from a place in North Hollywood I only order from when I'm badly in need of some comfort food. And maybe I'm tooling around Los Angeles in an obscenely large rental pick-up truck right now that makes my eco-friendly heart ashamed. But regardless, this is in my very near future tonight, so all is well. "Call it baby-making music for a whips-and-chains-heavy ménage a trois."

Favorite

2011-08-27T10:14:00.000-07:00

New favorite band (The Civil Wars), old favorite venue (The Tin Angel), most favorite lullaby (which compulsively comes out of my mouth should I ever be holding a baby).

Some mournful, soulful music for worrisome, hungover morning. Keeping an eye on the East Coast loved ones this weekend.

Chimichurri

2011-07-11T07:46:00.000-07:00

Last week I got a giant bunch of cilantro in my CSA box, and not being an enormous cilantro fan - I consider a garnish, not an ingredient - I didn't know what to do. Lucky for me, CSAs are so popular these days that all I had to do was google "What to do with CSA cilantro?" and I had plenty of answers. I decided to make a batch of chimichurri, because I wouldn't have time that week to cook multiple dishes with the same ingredient and wanted to use it before it went bad.

This took less than 10 minutes and amounted blending the cilantro with a bunch of ingredients I already had. Little did I know, it is so delicious that I've ended up eating it on EVERYTHING. It's traditionally used as a sauce on steak, but since it's just a more flavorful pesto, I've been putting it on anything and everything, including: dipping grainy bread into it (no butter, just dipping - AMAZING), swirling it into vegetable soup, topping grilled vegetables, and mixing it around otherwise plain rice or pasta.

There are tons of recipes for this traditional Argentinian sauce on the internet, but I like this one and am going to be keeping this recipe as one of my staples. Would make it for guests or even give it out as gifts. So good!

Chimichurri Recipe

2011-06-23T11:36:00.001-07:00

Happy Father's Day

2011-06-19T09:52:00.000-07:00

To the guy who always returns my phone calls and manages to sound excited to listen to me drone on about the mundane details of daily life, reminds me to laugh at myself, and calls me by both my first and middle names as if I was a Gone with the Wind character. Happy Father's Day to all the fathers and father figures out there.

Encore

2011-06-12T11:30:00.000-07:00

Jenny Lewis and Jonathan Rice played a great, if short, set at The Music Box in Hollywood last night. This stripped down version of "Silver Lining" closed out the night on a spectacular mournful note.

Photo of the Day

2011-05-27T14:09:00.001-07:00

strawberry cake - Valley View, PA 5/27/11

Photo of the Day

2011-05-26T15:27:00.000-07:00

tiny dinosaur crossing rainy street - Hegins, PA 5/26/11

Fall TV Picks - ABC, CW & CBS

2011-05-25T20:32:00.000-07:00

Kevin Williamson's THE SECRET CIRCLE (CW):

JJ Abram's PERSON OF INTEREST (CBS):

70s reboot CHARLIE'S ANGELS (ABC):

Krysten Ritter as the world's worst roommate in APARTMENT 23 (ABC):

Photo of the Day

2011-05-25T16:05:00.001-07:00

footsteps in coal dust - Spring Glen, PA 5/25/11

Photo of the Day

2011-05-24T19:39:00.000-07:00

diaper check - Elizabethtown, PA 5/24/11

Home

2011-05-23T10:39:00.001-07:00

backyard: Valley View, PA - 5/23/11

Fall TV Picks - NBC & Fox

2011-05-17T11:34:00.000-07:00

Because they've posted their sizzle reels already and I can share with you the shows I will be watching in September. Skipping TERRA NOVA, because that's a given.

Zooey Deschanel in THE NEW GIRL (Fox)

JJ Abrams' ALCATRAZ (Fox)

Sexy Mob Drama PLAYBOY (NBC)

From the Executive Producers of BUFFY & ANGEL - GRIMM (NBC)

Maria Bello as the American counterpart to Helen Mirren's iconic detective in PRIME SUSPECT (NBC)

"Glee for Adults" drama about getting a Broadway play made - SMASH (NBC)...which I will be watching despite my hatred for musicals because of Debra Messing's potrayal of a woman trying to get a creative endeavor off the ground.

Kyle Killen's psychological procedural hybrid - AWAKE (NBC)

And lastly, UP ALL NIGHT, based on cast alone (NBC)

TERRA NOVA - First Look Trailer

2011-05-16T22:02:00.000-07:00

Sister Props

2011-05-16T08:45:00.000-07:00

(click image for larger view)

Portland

2011-05-15T18:34:00.001-07:00

Road Trip Day 7

Klamath, CA

2011-05-15T00:43:00.000-07:00

Road Trip Day 6

Mendocino

2011-05-14T14:00:00.001-07:00

Road Trip Day 5

Napa

2011-05-12T21:14:00.000-07:00

Road Trip Day 4

Santa Cruz

2011-05-12T08:46:00.000-07:00

Road Trip Day 3

Big Sur

2011-05-10T20:32:00.000-07:00

Road Trip Day 2

Santa Barbara

2011-05-09T19:16:00.001-07:00

Road Trip Day 1

Last Minute Mother's Day Gift

2011-05-06T13:14:00.000-07:00

This year Mother's Day crept up on me before I even realized what month it was, and I decided that instead of sending some spur of the moment flowers, I would make a donation to CARE in my Mom's name, an act that will help new mothers all over the world and honor the idea of motherhood in itself. My Mom doesn't really need anything, but so many mothers in the world do.

I gave $62, which will train a medical aid worker in a third world country who can help provide safe deliveries for mothers in countries where child birth is a leading cause of death. What better thing to do for Mother's Day than keep more mothers alive?

You can also donate $25 (provide healthcare information to impoverished regions), $190 (provides transportation for mothers in labor to actual medical facilities), $410 (trains qualified medical professional in rural regions to help deliver babies) or $1500 (purchases a delivery table). This Mother's Day package will send an ecard to your Mom of choice notifying her of your gift, and the donation is still tax deductible.

CARE is a leading international nonprofit that targets the health and well-being of impoverished women, who are helping to improve their economic, educational and community standings and thereby that of their families. They have a number of other ways to give or donate or volunteer, including monthly gifts and the CARE Package, which you can assemble online yourself to your own price specifications.

Quinoa Follow-Up in the Times

2011-03-26T11:25:00.000-07:00

Quinoa's Global Success Creates Quandry at Home

The New York Times has picked up NPR's earlier article on the economic pitfall of the raise in popularity of quinoa among the global grocery marketplace - while Bolivian farmers are now making more money, Bolivian citizens are not able to afford their resident staple food because of rising cost. This is not just an economic concern, but also an interesting example of cultural exchange. Wealthier Americans are lapping up the ancient "grain" (not really a grain, but a so-called super food related to spinach and beets according to the author), but young Bolivians only want white rice, noodles and white flour bread, food that has now become representative of lower socio-economic sections of society in the U.S. Interesting reversal.

No advice here, just a link to an article on a complex issue. I'll still be eating it, as its not only funneling money to part of the world that needs it, but also because it is some of the most nutritionally sound food we can put into our bodies, and is grown in regions of the world that cannot support other crops.

Shelter Dogs & Sustainability

2011-01-28T19:23:00.000-08:00

Just a good news/bad news duo today.

First, the bad news:

'Study Finds People Ate Less Sustainably in 2010 vs. 2009' - Re-Nest.com

And the good news:

'Shelter Dogs Make the Best Running Buddies' - Vegansaurus

Mutually Beneficial Part II: Runners Help the Elderly

2011-01-23T09:52:00.000-08:00

I bumped into this article about a London program that pairs joggers with elderly folks who live alone in the city and might need someone to drop by once in awhile and check on them, in keeping with yesterday's post about the Fargo Refugees and Retirees program. Good Gym sets up a jogger, someone looking for motivation or someone already regularly running, with a solo retiree. The runner swings by the assigned house on each jog just to say hello and check-in. The runner gets a motivational boost since someone is waiting on their regular arrival, and the retiree gets some friendly, regular interaction and someone who will notice if they have, say, fallen down and broken a limb while in the house alone. This organization is moving towards city-wide expansion and is another great example of simple and socially positive innovation that pays back dividends to all parties.

Watch the short video essay here: BBC - London Runners Getting Fit and Helping Others

Mutually Beneficial: Retirees in Fargo Help Refugees, Who in Turn Help Retirees

2011-01-22T18:34:00.000-08:00

Heard an awesome story on NPR this week that I felt compelled to share. My month-long vegan experience is causing me to look for ways to make the world a nicer, healthier place without unsustainable amounts of self-sacrifice. And besides personal health and the environment, a growing concern for me is the plight of elderly in our society. The longer people live, the more I wonder how quality of life for someone in their 70s, 80s, or 90s can be maintained, and how older people can continue to feel like contributing members of society. It's a shame to waste all that wisdom, you know, even if someone is so old they can't figure out how to use a smart phone. Enter this piece about an organization in the somewhat depressed area of Fargo, North Dakota. With an aging population and an influx of refugees from places like Bosnia and the Sudan, Bonnie Peters of Giving + Learning, brainstormed a way to pair new arrivals on American soil with elderly mentors, who could provide friendship, language skills and life advice to someone desperate to start a new life in a foreign land. The relationships formed between mentors and mentees often becomes very deep. Both parties benefit from the mutual connection. Many of the refugee mentees have in turn gone on to procure certification as Nurse's Aids, making them not only integral and employable members of a badly needed medical community, but also able to help take care of the elderly mentors who helped them get situated in society. We could use such innovative means of capitalizing on underused human resources to make the world a kinder place in more cities.

Read or Listen: Retirees Lend a Hand to Refugees in Fargo, N.D.

Food News

2011-01-19T17:45:00.000-08:00

Reposting many things from the inestimable Mark Bitmann this week, via his Twitter feed. Suddenly he's been posting links to articles about the environmental, health and human rights' effects of factory farmed products. Here's the best of the past few days. As always, personal choices appear to not only have major economic and political impact, but also wavelength of impact throughout other people's individual lives.

MU Scientist Finds New Farming Method to Reduce Green House Gases, Increase Farm Yields

"U.S. agricultural practices create 58 percent of nitrous oxide in the world, which is the third most prevalent greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. Scientists believe nitrous oxide contributes to global warming about 300 times more than carbon dioxide." But the U.S. is only 5% of the population. That's OK, right?

Choosing Organic Milk Could Offset the Effects of Climate Change

"Wetter, cooler summers can have a detrimental effect on the milk we drink, according to new research published by Newcastle University. Researchers found milk collected during a particularly poor UK summer and the following winter had significantly higher saturated fat content and far less beneficial fatty acids than in a more 'normal' year. But they also discovered that switching to organic milk could help overcome these problems. Organic supermarket milk showed higher levels of nutritionally beneficial fatty acids compared with 'ordinary' milk regardless of the time of year or weather conditions."

Sheep Thefts in Britain Likely Connected to Rising Global Food Prices

"With bouts of bad weather in major producers such as Russia, Argentina and Australia and increasing demand in Asia, the price for many grains is now busting through the record highs they set in 2008. But meat prices have also surged, particularly for lamb."

World Hunger Best Cured by Small-Scale Agriculture: Report

"The authors suggest that instead of producing more food to meet the world's growing population needs, a more effective way to address food security issues and climate change would be to encourage self-sufficiency and waste reduction, in wealthier and poorer nations alike."

By Seeking to Halt Chesepeakae Bay Clean-Up, Farm Bureau Show Contempt for the Very Natural Resources Farmers Claim to Cherish

"And make no mistake — agriculture is a major polluter. It contributes as much to the region's water pollution woes as anyone. Scientists estimate about half the excess nitrogen and phosphorus that has caused such devastation to the flora and fauna of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries over the years can be traced to runoff from farmland."

Economic Improvement through Food

2011-01-16T13:40:00.000-08:00

I'm all up in this "eating sustainably" movement right now, and I'm far from the only one - this week, NPR covered the impact that the increasing popularity of the protein-packed grain quinoa is having on farmers in Bolivia.

Easy thing you can do to save the world through food - eat ethnic foods. Granted, they aren't all grown organically (which effects their demand on the environment) and some of them are shipped long distances (hello, non-renewable oil resources). But diversifying your diet does one enormously positive thing: increases the demand for variety in food markets, which increases overall sustainability, and adds non-animal-based sources of nutrients into our meals. Most of the rest of the world lives primarily on plant proteins, and feeding growing populations requires the most efficient use of arable land. Another bonus? You might lose some weight.

A key appeal of sustainable eating (and by extension, farming) is the goal of having viable sources of food that will survive a cataclysmic event, or the slow-crawl of environmental destruction due to overpopulation. Biblical flooding in the Southern hemisphere in January just serves as a reminder that environmental disaster can affect all aspects of our lives. Part of sustainability is variety, both in final product and in the environmental heartiness of our crops.

Right now, much farming in the United States is done on a very, very small array of foods - chicken, corn, potatoes, and even then only one or two species of each. Along comes one minor disaster (say, a drought in one part of the country, a bird flu outbreak that targets genetically identical lab grown chicks, a crop mold that devastates corn holdings...) and we're suddenly sans a large portion of our edibles. Our livestock is often neutered, unable to reproduce itself and reliant upon lab techs to keep breeds alive. This sounds not only ridiculous when you break it down, but also dangerous. Chickens who cannot produce more chickens? NOT sustainable. An entire country that exists on only one or two crops? NOT sustainable.

Enter quinoa, the Bolivian farmer and your opportunity to change the world for the better while adding variety to your dinner plate.

Demand for Quinoa a Boon for the Bolivian Farmers - NPR

Quinoa is an incredibly protein dense grain (like rice but richer and nuttier) that has long been a favorite of both vegetarians and people in other countries who do not have access to cheap animal products like we do in the US. In these hard times, Americans are seeking more cost-effective grocery options. Quinoa grows in land that is not optimal for growing other crops - like the high plains of Bolivia, where it is has been a dietary staple since the Incan Empire. It can be used in any recipe that calls for rice and keeps you full longer because of its protein content.

Quinoa's American popularity is generating much-needed income for South American farmers, while diversifying our diets and expanding our culinary repertoires in the United Sites - all good things. Unfortunately, due to market economics, the popularity of quinoa is driving the price higher in Boliva and pricing it out of affordability for the people who rely on it for a food source. There are also concerns about mass production increasing environmental damage, as there is for any factory-farmed crop. As with any option, there is no silver bullet to correct all wrongs. Still, if American shoppers and the Bolivian government can keep an eye on the environmental interests, adding quinoa to your diet can help the livelihoods of some of our neighbors to the South, add variety and health to your own diet, and increase global food sustainability. There are small, daily ways we can effect the lives of others, the health of the planet, and our own fitness. This is just one of them.

Hebed Quinoa - Giada De Laurentis

Please prepare for this blog to get a little nutritionally preachy, as I'm currently on a "save the world through your dietary choices" kick. Since I believe every choice is a political and moral choice in life, I have newly realized that we can affect no more positive change than by being more conscious about what we put in our mouths all day, every day. Plus, between economic melt down, crop instability, global warming, natural disaster, and the decline of the American Empire, these are scary times. I think we ought to keep an eye on moving away from the 20th century model of American consumption. Yeah, we ate a lot of delicious steak, but it also burned a hole in a sky and made us enormously fat. Maybe we should think twice about this.

Evil Vegan Guy, Ex #3 - From "Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World"

Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Rice Crispy Treats

2011-01-14T14:03:00.000-08:00

I am eating vegan this month, maybe longer, for health and environmental reasons that warrant a longer post. I not the only one slipping unsustainable animal products out of my diet - a coworker's baking-inclined wife is giving it a go as well. She sent him to the office today with these crowd-pleasing peanut butter chocolate chip rice crispy treats. The meat-eating fast-food-loving guys are thrilled (we kept the vegan part secret to see if they could tell - they couldn't).

Books Read in 2010

2011-01-09T10:00:00.000-08:00

I read 37 complete books in 2010*, which is something of an accomplishment given that I spent seven months of the year working over 80 hours per week. Somewhere around the end of March I realized I had barely read a book and 1/4 of the year was gone (you can see in the list that I actually read two before this revelation) and that even though I was crawling home from work at all hours too brain dead to hold conversation, let alone so much as write a single word in a screenplay, I could still salvage the personal value of my days by reading more books.

The idea of staring at a page after 20 hours of staring at a screen sounded draining at first, but looking at words on a page is somehow easier on the eyes than staring at a back-lit screen (which is, I think, why e-readers don't have the traditional glowing interface - it's an effort to approximate the page**). After working all day, I'd come home with blood-shot eyes, bad posture and a pounding headache, so much that I couldn't even watch my beloved TV. But I could flip open a book for 20 minutes and unwind and get out of my own head, even if it meant lost sleep. Thanks to the amazing Los Angeles and Santa Monica library systems, I had a steady supply books.

Shooting for at least 38 in 2011! My reviews and recommendations below. Hoping you can find something amongst the ashes to entertain and edify yourself this year.

1. "World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War" - Max Brooks - January 2, 2010

I gave this to my brother for Christmas and then promptly borrowed it from him. It's a sparsely drawn together record of first-person accounts after the near-future zombie apocalypse. Book highlights include a team of student filmmakers who perpetrate a propaganda scheme to keep hope alive, a college campus that locks down to defend itself, and a female Air Force pilot who navigates herself through a zombie-infested wasteland looking for rescue. Recommended for: zombie afficionados who have already seen all of WALKING DEAD and have 10 months to kill before the premiere of season 2.

2. "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" - Milan Kundera - January 19, 2010

I bought this landmark Czech novel 10 years ago, left my copy in a beach house, bought another copy five years later, and promptly lost that one too. It was a long decade to get this novel finally in my hands, and it did not disappoint. It's the story of dueling pairs of lovers and children during the Czech revolution in the mid-60s, portraying how the fall of Communism effected the lives of the passionate and political, demanding they grapple suddenly with what it means to be "free." Funny, sexy and sad. Recommended for: fans of classic lit who are over the sexless Brontes or cerebral Russians and want to kick things up with a little infidelity and a nudist painter.

3. "Go Your Own Way: Women Travel the World Solo" - Faith Conlon, Ingrid Emerick, et al - April 7, 2010

A collection of personal essays written by travel writing women as they trek the globe alone, be it to a dangerous island in the South Pacific or a pre-birth trip to the family beach house in Hawaii. Written like the best magazine writing you've come across lately, these short essays are fast-paced, inspiring and written with self deprecation and wit. Recommended for: anyone with a travel lust who needs inspiration or that last push to believe you can go by yourself without getting sold into sex slavery - or those who can't find the time to travel but want to pretend.

4. "Adventures Into Mexico: American Tourism Beyond the Border" - Nicholas Dagen Bloom - April 16, 2010

Essays written on the life of a non-Mexican in Mexico, from the in-organic origin of the Oaxacan arts and crafts trade to the history of the Beats as ex-pats. Aimed at the academic instead of the casual reader. Recommended for: travelers to second and third world countries who feel guilty about poverty tourism and want to take a deeper look into the sociological mechanisms that lead the world's 1% richest people to relocate.

5. "The Kind Diet: A Simple Guide to Feeling Great, Losing Weight, and Saving the Planet" - Alicia Silverstone - May 23, 2010

A celebrity diet book. Seriously. Famous animal rights' activist and vegan writes a "how to" regarding not only eating vegan, but doing so in an ultra-healthy, no-processed foods, ecologically-friendly sort of way. Her casual charisma, clear writing and knock out recipes trump any California granola new age crunchiness lingering in the philosophy. Recommended for: foodies, environmentalists, animal lovers, and dieters who have finally had their fill of "low-fat, no-carb" nonsense, or someone who wants to know what to do with all those strange dry goods at the Whole Foods bulk aisle.

6. "Go Green Get Lean: Trim Your Waistline with the Ultimate Low Carbon Diet" - Kate Geagan, MS RD - May 31, 2010

The second in my "leave a smaller carbon foot print through your food" series. No joke - animal products in our food are the leading source of carbon emissions, animal stock takes approximately 1/3 of all livable land, and we spend a fortune feeding and watering livestock with food and water that might go to people. I'm not a "save the puppies!" type, but our diets do serious damage to both ourselves and the world around us. So I started reading up on veganism, if only to incorporate more vegan meals into my life, or go Vegan Before Dinner, like Mark Bittman. Recommended for: the health-conscious eater in a city with access to diverse groceries who is already recycling and driving a low-mileage car.

7. "Even the Dogs: A Novel" - Jon McGregor - June 5, 2010

A novel told in the collective voice of a gaggle of dead ghosts, who preside over their loved ones left behind in this parable of the long-term effects of addiction, be it alcohol or heroin. Multi-generational and verbally experimental. Recommended for: fans of TRAINSPOTTING or those intrigued by literary point-of-view.

8. "Best American Erotic Poems: From 1800 to Present" - David Lehman - June 12, 2010

I don't read much poetry, but many other members of my family do, so I dipped my toe in last year with this collection. Because if you're going to read poems, why not read the sexy ones? Running the gamut from Emily Dickenson to present day, this is an entry-level doorway to poetry for anyone who isn't afraid of body fluids. Recommended for: anyone with a passing interest in the poetical or caught in a crush-haze.

9. "Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs and the Rise of Mental Illness in America" - Robert Whitaker - June 15, 2010

This if the first of two doozy medical histories I read in 2010. I have been long intrigued by the effect of psycho-pharmaceuticals, ever more so because of the mass medication of children in America. What effect will brain-altering drugs have in the long-term? Do they "cure"? Do they damage? Why is Ritalin OK, but cocaine isn't? I don't read a lot of science books, but this one is riveting, and filled with personal anecdotes. Whitaker makes no bones about his editorializing: he is anti-psychiatric drug for the majority of people and makes a strong case for the epidemic of damage they are causing. From the origin of their development to their current use as the "cure-all" by doctors who prescribe in the face of uncertainty, this book is a must read. Recommended for: anyone who knows anyone taking a psychiatric medication, before you or your children ingest one.

10. "If You Have to Cry, Go Outside: And Other Things Your Mother Never Told You" - Kelly Cutrone - June 24, 2010

Kelly Cutrone has been featured on THE HILLS and THE CITY before starring in her own reality series, KELL IN THE CITY. Often depicted as the lady-in-black boss-from-hell, she prefers to portray herself as a Mama Wolf, rocking New York and LA, raising her daughter, and guiding strong young women into entreprenurial worlds more often run by men. She writes with humor, like the rah-rah cheerleading badass aunt you wish you had growing up. Recommended for: modern power girls in the city or those mourning the loss of The Hills in its heyday.

11. "Big Machine: A Novel" - Victor LaValle - July 6, 2010

I don't realize how few books contain African American protagonists until I come across one and am made aware of the lack. This dystopian modern novel follows a former heroin-addict as he is recruited by a quasi-terrorist league funded by a rich citizen, only to find himself reformed but caught up in events in which he wants no part. Recommended for: book enthusiasts looking for a good story who enjoyed Orwell and Vonnegut back in high school.

12. "Elliot Allagash: A Novel" - Simon Rich - July 12, 2010

So, this is sort of "young adult" fiction, but everyone is madly in love with TWILIGHT and HARRY POTTER, and this book is roundly aimed an intelligent 12-year-olds and written by an SNL alum, so why not? The fast-paced novella tracks private-school loser Seymour as he is inexplicably befriended by uber-rich Elliot, who may or may not be a bonafide evil genius. Funny and light, but will not make you feel like you've lost any brain cells. Recommended for: reading in one sitting on a beach or on an airplane.

13. "The Rise and Fall of Alexandria: Birthplace of the Modern World" - Justin Pollard - July 24, 2010

Alexandria (Egypt) gets lost in the lexicon of ancient metropolises, hidden behind the glitter of Athens and Rome, but at one time it housed the greatest library in the history man and gave birth to most of the inventors who led us into the modern age. How does the whole of human intellectual endeavor come to live in a single city, and how is humanity summarily plunged back into the dark ages after it is compiled? This book tracks that journey, from the founding by Alexander the Great, to the religious zealotry that burned the library to the ground and lost all but a sliver of classical works forever. Eerily relevant in modern America. Recommended for: Classicists, history buffs, book lovers and conspiracy theorists.

14. "Dead Until Dark" - Charlaine Harris - August 1, 2010

The first TRUE BLOOD book. I read this because my roommate owns it and it was laying around the house. I will say this - I can only assume these books are better than TWILIGHT because they contain no hidden virginity agendas, and while shockingly poorly written (or at least shockingly to someone who would rather scratch her eyes out than read most "chick lit") the Southern-fried heroin displays spunk, ingenuity and a charming Louisiana dialect. Recommended for: TRUE BLOOD fans and horny housewives.

15. "Welcome to Utopia: Notes From a Small Town" - Karen Valby - August 8, 2010

A big-city Rolling Stone reporter moves to the smallest town in Texas and proceeds to illuminate the working class people for her upper class readers. While this sounds condescending, the author writes with compassion and insight and elevates her work such that she depicts small town America in what may be a passing era - sans much internet access, conservative, religious, "poor" by most standards today, but existing much as most places did 50 years ago. Feels like homecoming to anyone from a town like this; must seem like an alien world if you grew up in a city. Recommended for: nonfiction fans, those who have never lived outside of a major city and those who crawled out of the Middle American dust to make something of themselves elsewhere but still have family members back home.

16. "Infidel" - Ayaan Hirsi Ali - August 11, 2010

Oof. This is a doozy of a book, and one I read fast while on vacation. Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a Somolian ex-pat by way of the Netherlands who now lives under constant armed guard in the United States, having irked many Muslims with her feminist commentary and earned herself a genuine fatwa after collaborating with assassinated filmmaker Theo van Gogh. She graphically describes all she can remember from clan life in the Somolian desert under her domineering grandmother who conducted her unwanted genital mutiltation, the pain of exile, flight, education, liberation, reckoning with her religious upbringing, Dutch political life, and residence at the Neo-Con think group in Washington of which she is still a member. The self-told story of a woman who has lived in every part of the existing world and demanded her voice be heard. She's a divisive figure who regularly makes the Sunday morning news circuit and continues to rankle to this day. You cannot feel sorry for yourself ever again after reading this. Recommended for: politicos, feminists, anyone looking for a little perspective on their own lives or a controversial take on woman in Islam.

17. "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" - Rebecca Skloot - August 13, 2010

Medical history #2. This book landed on every Top Ten Books of 2010 list constructed. In the 1950s, illiterate Baltimore African American Henrietta Lacks sought treatment at Johns Hopkins University for cervical cancer that rapidly overcame her whole body and killed her. Unbeknownst to her, samples of her cancer cells were taken and found to be laboratory "immortal." These endlessly reproduce-able HeLa cells led to innovations in everything from the Genome Map to the Polio vaccine, but her family not only never received a dime, but barely received acknowledgment. A shocking history of 20th century American class and race differentiation that runs right up to today's Health Care problems. The family of the woman who revolutionized medical science in America can now not afford to receive treatment in hospitals for the most mundane of health problems. The story of a nation told through the cancer cells of one woman. Recommend for: everyone.

18. "In Rough Country: Essays and Reviews" - Joyce Carol Oates - August 17, 2010

A talented writer's husband dies. Newly widowed, she begins writing about other talented writers instead of working on her own creations. This collection of comparative literature results. The tinges of her mourning are felt in the margins. The "rough country" is the self-made land of a woman grieving by immersing herself in the darkest authors of our time. Recommended for: lit nerds - fans of Oates, Poe, O'Connor, McCarthy and the other writers profiled.

19. "Wide Awake: A Memoir of Insomnia" - Patricia Morrisroe - August 22, 2010

When former magazine editor Morrisroe couldn't sleep, she launched an attack on the idea of "a good night's sleep" with a bevy of research, from medication to gurus. Recommended for: those lying awake at night feeling like bad people because they can't get a solid 8 hours.

20. "The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake" - Aimee Bender - August 28, 2010

This is the best fiction novel I read last year. Bender manages to write sentences in this book that roll through your brain with such unexpected descriptive accuracy that it's like she's lit up a fire through which you can see the world anew, having finally found the words to understand. It didn't hurt that she set her magical realism fable about a family with unusual abilities and a lead character who can decipher the emotional nuances of the chef in any dish in the neighborhood in which I currently live in. Recommended for: readers who don't require strict realism but do require a lyrical turn of phrase.

21. "Unexpectedly, Milo: A Novel" - Matthew Dicks - September 14, 2010

A "neurotic romp" about an OCD suffering male nurse who discovers a video camera that may or may not contain a mystery that he obsessively has to solve, despite his innate self-doubt and overwhelmingly nerdy tendencies. Recommended for: fans of quirk-fest road movies.

22. "How Did You Get This Number?" - Sloane Crosley - September 19, 2010

Sloane Crosley is a young essayist navigating a disillusioned young-adulthood without noteworthy beauty or finances. How are we 25, single, middle-class, moderately attractive, but "nothing special"? What do we do when we realize this is our life and that we are not necessarily granted everything we wished for at 12? Hopefully we approach this with as much humor, self-awareness and insight as Crosley does. Her essays are a joy to read, and I recognized myself in all of them. Recommended for: women aged 22-32, and the men who love them.

23. "Eat Pray Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia" - Elizabeth Gilbert - September 23, 2010

So, I read this. I don't know why I decided to. Probably because I kept reading recipes during the film's promotional phase. Everything I heard about it was true - Gilbert's writing is enjoyable, but you can't get past the fact that she's "finding herself" in the way that only a white, rich, childless American can. Thus, her found enlightenment is available to almost no one and the whole exercise becomes self indulgment. My advice is to savor the "eat", which is written with the loving description of a woman madly in lust with a new found country, skip "pray" entirely, and skim "love" for some noteworthy sections regarding her friendship with a Balinese female doctor. Recommended for: travelistas who don't mind skipping large sections of a book.

24. "The Girl with the Flammable Skirt: Stories" - Aimee Bender - October 2, 2010

I loved "Lemon Cake" so much I checked Aimee Bender's other works out of the library too. Neither of them lived up the magic discovery that was her novel, but both are worth reading if you like surrealism and short stories. This one follows many romantic encounters with unusual protagonists. She writes with clip and verve. Recommended for: Dali fans.

25. "Appointment in Samarra: A Novel" - John O'Hara - October 5, 2010

O'Hara wrote novels in the same county I went to high school in, back during the Roaring 20s, when our county seat was the hottest thing going this side of Vegas. Hard to picture these days. His crisp prose reads like Hemingway or Fitzgerald, but with a sinking nihilism and disdain for the social status quo. His depiction of a relatively equal marriage and fully fleshed out heroine is unique. Recommended for: guys from Eastern Pennsylvania and fans of GREAT GATSBY.

26. "Prince of Mist" - Carlos Ruiz Zafon - October 12, 2010

Another "young adult" novel. Why was I checking these out? Because the reviews were good. This ghostly tale of soul selling reads quickly and with heart. Recommended for: sharing with your 12-year-old nephew.

27. "Willful Creatures" - Aimee Bender - October 17, 2010

Vastly more surrealist and experimental than either "Lemon Cake" or "Flammable Skirt," this collection of very short pieces focuses on unique perspective, deformed protagonists and altered states. Featuring miniature people, extreme mean girls, and potato children. Recommended for: Asian and Italian surrealist horror fans - something about the extremity and absurdity of these stories begs an appreciation for subconscious visual connections.

28. "Keeper: One House, Three Generations, and a Journey into Alzheimer's" - Andrea Gillies - October 26, 2010

E-gads, my year of memoirs continues, and this one rivals "Infidel" for wow factor. Andrea Gillies takes her ailing in-laws, her spouse, and her three children to live in a remote house in Scotland so she can work on her novel and care for her senile mother-in-law. Years of havoc occur, in which Nancy (the in-law) devolves into something of a beloved boogeyman. Gillies chronicles the plight of the 24/7 caregiver with a writer's eye, and warns of what lies ahead for all of us. Harrowing and touching. Recommended for: those of us in "the middle," heading into the era in which we will care for both our young children and our ailing parents simultaneously, or anyone who has already been responsible for the health and comfort of a dying relative.

29. "Vida" - Patricia Engel - November 1, 2010

This debut collection of loosely linked fictional chapters follows Colombian immigrant Sabina as she comes to understand romance, commitment, class structure and identity. Engel's writing landed her on many "best of" lists last year and she is noteworthy as a fresh voice, one of Latin American decent. These snapshots of Sabina's life portray a young woman of sensitivity and passion. Recommended for: fans of "chick lit" looking for something with both a brain and a heart.

30. "A Visit from the Goon Squad" - Jennifer Egan - November 17, 2010

Another "best of" all-star. I have already recommended this book to coworkers who have also passed it on to their friends so I can officially call it a crowd-pleaser. Not to ruin any surprise (because there isn't one, really), the titular Goon Squad is actually "time," a force that wrecks divergent havoc on a tangentially connected group of people swirling through the past present and future of the music industry. Chapters jump characters and styles and decades with ease, and build towards a stunning trio of final chapters that are simultaneously truthful, heart-breaking and hysterical. Recommended for: everyone.

31. "Room: A Novel" - Emma Donoghue - November 22, 2010

"Room" was inspired by the series of basement-slave stories that broke news a few years ago - tales of some young woman (often an incest victim) who was discovered imprisoned in a basement or shed for years on end, used for sex, often kidnapped, and frequently the mother of numerous dead or psychologically damaged children. This book takes that as a jumping off point and runs wild with it, charting five chapters in the live of a five year old child raised in a locked cell with his mother. There is an urgent pace in the writing (I read it in three days) and the escape-attempt middle chapter is breathless. Despite the speed, the novel remains poignant and peels back hidden depths regarding the relationships between mothers and children, and the development of identity in a social world. Recommended for: almost everyone, as long as you can navigate the mind of a five-year-old narrator and stomach the idea of a kidnap victim trying to protect her son from her captor.

32. "My Life in France" - Julia Child - December 2, 2010

So, I saw JULIE & JULIA when it came out, and I (like everyone else) obviously preferred the Julia Child sections. I chalked this up to Meryl Streep - although Amy Adams is quite the impish charmer. As it turns out, it was Child's essence of whimsy rushing through the celluloid. In this, her memoir, she recounts approximately ten years in her life, from the time she married Paul Child and took up residence in France, to the time she published her masterwork. She might seem like a dotting old eccentric in her PBS series, but in her own words, she's a mad lover of life, food, travel, deeply devoted to the art of feeding her loved ones and a loyal if honest friend. Now the subject of a tremendous girl crush. Recommended for: foodies, and people who are friends or have friends, and those who are afraid marriage can't be endless fun.

33. "Eats, Shoots, and Leaves: Why Commas Really Do Make a Difference" - Lynne Truss - December 5, 2010

A book about the proper use of punctuation? Boring, you might say, and granted this book didn't run through my life with the shock and awe campaign of some other works. But last year I argued that due to one misplaced comma in an email sent from China to the US, a certain feature film could be cost thousands upon thousands of dollars. Commas, and other marks of tone and division, are important. Truss speculates that entire battles have been fought due to poorly punctuated cables. This quick work will help you brush up, so you can say exactly what you want to say, exactly how you want to say it. Recommended for: anyone who has to communicate in writing on a daily basis.

34. "Changing My Mind" - Zadie Smith - December 11, 2010

Zadie Smith is an English novelist, but this is a collection of her essays written for various magazines and newspapers, including an entire section written during a year she was paid to review movies. Her reviews are insightful, and I wish she was still reviewing for a living. Recommended for: fans of Smith's novels or someone who can write with a reviewer's wit on all aspects of life.

35. "The Accidental Connoisseur: An Irreverent Journey through the Wine World" - Lawrence Osborne - December 18, 2010

Why does wine cost what it costs? Who says something that tastes like blueberries and metal is good but something that tastes like strawberries and grass isn't? How do you capture the essence of Champagne, France? Osborne discovers more questions than answers on his quest to develop better "taste," but his novice's tour through US and European wine-making principalities will make you feel better about your own taste, even if you still aren't sure why $500 wine is better than $90 wine, or who is even allowed to make such arbitrary distinctions. Recommended for: the casual wine drinker.

36. "Living Dead in Dallas" - Charlaine Harris - December 21, 2010

The TRUE BLOOD sequel. Why oh why do I do this to myself? Recommended for: masochists and folks who think they use too damn much of their brain and wouldn't mind sacrificing some large chunks.

37. "Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwine" - Nicholas D. Krstoff & Sheryl WuDunn - December 31, 2010
Ending the year on a motivational note, I read this book on two transcontinental flights, which I do NOT recommend, unless you are perfectly comfortable weeping in public. Kristoff writes weekly op-eds for the New York Times about many things, but he's known for his work in East Asian brothels and genocide-ridden Sudan. He's a lone-standing hero (not really lone-standing - his wife and co-author is nearly always with him and also a scholar) in a world who opts to turn away and bury its collective head in the sand of our meaningless daily problems. But Kristoff and WuDunn manage to spin sex trafficking, war crime rape, genital mutilation and illiteracy as opportunities - instead of seeing an insurmountable problem, he sees the key to the future. Empower 51% of the population in third world countries maximize human capital, educate the girl children, and save ourselves from impending disaster. He blows your mind open with the shocking statistics of female violence that outpaces the Rwandan massacres and the Holocaust, and then shows us how we as American citizens can step up to help one person at a time. He lists story after story of people who have done just that, and succeeded not only in bettering someone else's life in a foreign land, but in bettering their own lives here in the first world. Save the girls, save the world. Recommended for: anyone with an appreciation for the fact that but for fortune were we born white, first world women. But for the grace of luck or God are we allowed to read, work, decide our reproductive fate, say no to sexual interaction, run for office, handle money, and any myriad of other basic human rights we take for granted. Much of the world is languishing behind us in subjugation. Be prepared to be moved to action, and to approach your life with renewed gratitude and humility.

*My Dad read 97 books in 2010, but it's not a competition. Besides, he is required to read for his employment. But the number is impressive. He even slogged all the way through all 8,000 pages of "The Passage."

**I do not use an e-reader and have no plans to use one in the foreseeable future. I can wax poetic-like about the tangibility of a book, the smell, the tradition, blah blah snore. But I'll say this: there are exactly three things I do in my life that involve me being 100% unplugged from all electronic devices - going out to a restaurant, taking a yoga class, and reading. I am hanging on tightly to those "rea world" experiences, because the rest of my life is gobbled up with computers, televisions, movie screen, and every product that crosses Steve Jobs' mind.

Producer's Guild Awards Selection

2011-01-06T22:06:00.000-08:00

Part of my PGA membership allows me the opportunity to vote in some official capacity for what I think the best movie of the year is. After pouring through screeners and seeing everything I can, I get to select 10 of the several hundred eligible films for the PGA award. The guild has already announced their selections. Part of my personal nominating criteria requires that a project that faced abnormal and significant hurdles in getting funded and produced. Which is not to say that any producer ever has an easy time getting a movie produced, but I bet that Pixar had an easier time getting backing for TOY STORY 3 than Aronofsky did for his psycho-sexual ballet thriller. Here's three cheers for the dangerous, different and marginal movies that rocked my world in 2010, including selections from three of my favorite directors (Danny Boyle, Darren Aronofksy and the long-missing David O. Russell). In alphabetical order:

127 HOURS
rip-roaring adrenaline fueled man-versus-self for the Millenial generation

ANIMAL KINGDOM
nightmarish hard-boiled Australian mafioso drama

BLACK SWAN
the aforementioned psycho-sexual ballet thriller, phantasmagorical and visceral

BLUE VALENTINE
devastatingly raw portrait of the birth and death of a working class marriage

FAIR GAME
quiet portrait of a steel-spined woman buried beneath Bush II Era atrocities

THE FIGHTER
"the boxing movie" meets art film meets Faulknerian tragedy

IT'S KIND OF A FUNNY STORY
romantic comedy by the team who brought us HALF NELSON ('nuff said)

THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT
family comedy for the modern age: whip smart kids, dysfunctional marriage, filled with love

LET ME IN
masterfully directed american version of the haunting swedish vampire movie

WINTER'S BONE
ozark meth-crazed thriller featuring a break out performance and an american underbelly

Double Rainbow in Burbank

2010-12-22T16:39:00.001-08:00

Christmas Wishlist

2010-12-19T11:23:00.000-08:00

I was planning on making a "Christmas Wishlist" blog that encompassed all the fun things I myself hoped to receive this year (saffron threads! ballet-inspired fashions!), but this morning I read Nicholas Kristoff's Op-Ed and decided to reproduce it in full (sorry, New York Times - I hope you understand just this once). If anyone is looking for last minute gifts for myself or for anyone in their own circle of loved ones, I encourage you to spend some money on these amazing ground level charities. My preferences in bold:

Op-Ed Columnist: The Gifts of Hope

By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF

Published: December 18, 2010

So what would your aunt prefer as a holiday gift — another Mariah Carey CD, or the knowledge that she’s sending a little girl in Haiti to school for a year?

Unless you’re cursed with the oddest aunt ever, the answer is probably the latter. In that spirit, this column will serve as a sort of Humanitarian Gift Guide: I’ll lay out some of the loftiest gifts of all, those that touch human lives and connect us. As I did last year, I’m going to skip over the big organizations that most people have heard of. So by all means, buy your kids a $30 beehive (or an $850 camel) for a needy family through Heifer International, or write a check to the International Rescue Committee for its terrific work in Congo — but my focus today is groups that never make the spotlight:

¶Arzu (ArzuStudioHope.org) employs women in Afghanistan to make carpets for export. The women get decent wages, but their families must commit to sending children to school and to allowing women to attend literacy and health classes and receive medical help in childbirth. Rugs start at $250 and bracelets at $10, or a $20 donation pays for a water filter for a worker’s family.

¶First Book (firstbook.org) addresses a basic problem facing poor kids in America: They don’t have books. One study found that in low-income neighborhoods, there is only one age-appropriate book for every 300 children. So First Book supports antipoverty organizations with children’s books — and above all, gets kids reading. A $100 gift will supply 50 books for a mentor to tutor a child in reading for a year. And $20 will get 10 books in the hands of kids to help discover the joys of reading.

¶Fonkoze (fonkoze.org) is a terrific poverty-fighting organization if Haiti is on your mind, nearly a year after the earthquake. A $20 gift will send a rural Haitian child to elementary school for a year, while $50 will buy a family a pregnant goat. Or $100 supports a family for 13 weeks while it starts a business.

¶Another terrific Haiti-focused organization is Partners in Health, (pih.org), founded by Dr. Paul Farmer, the Harvard Medical School professor. A $100 donation pays for enough therapeutic food (a bit like peanut butter) to treat a severely malnourished child for one month. Or $50 provides seeds, agricultural implements and training for a family to grow more food for itself.

¶Panzi Hospital (panzifoundation.org) treats victims of sexual violence in eastern Congo, rape capital of the world. It’s run by Dr. Denis Mukwege, who should be a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize. A $10 donation pays for transport to the hospital for a rape survivor; $100 pays for counseling and literacy and skill training for a survivor for a month.

¶Camfed (camfed.org), short for the Campaign for Female Education, sends girls to school in Africa and provides a broad support system for them. A $300 donation pays for a girl to attend middle school for a year in rural Zambia, and $25 sends a girl to elementary school.

¶The Nurse-Family Partnership program (nursefamilypartnership.org) is a stellar organization in the United States that works with first-time mothers to try to break the cycle of poverty. It sends nurses to at-risk women who are pregnant for the first time, continuing the visits until the child turns 2. The result seems to be less alcohol and drug abuse during pregnancy, and better child-rearing afterward, so that the children are less likely to tangle with the law even years later. A $150 gift provides periodic coaching and support for a young nurse by a senior nurse for a month.

¶Edna Hospital (ednahospital.org) is a dazzling maternity hospital in Somaliland, an area with one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world. Edna Adan Ismail, a Somali nurse- midwife who rose in the ranks of the World Health Organization and also served as Somaliland’s foreign minister, founded the hospital with her life’s savings and supports it with her United Nations pension. A $50 gift pays for a woman to get four prenatal visits, a hospital delivery, and one postnatal visit. Or $150 pays for a lifesaving C-section for a woman in obstructed labor.

¶The Somaly Mam Foundation fights sex slavery in Cambodia and around the world (somaly.org). It is run by Somaly Mam, who was sold into Cambodian brothels as a young girl before escaping years later. For $50, you can buy a lovely silk scarf made by a trafficking survivor; $25 buys a necklace made by a survivor.

One of the paradoxes of living in a wealthy country is that we accumulate tremendous purchasing power, yet it’s harder and harder for us to give friends and family presents that are meaningful. In this holiday season, sometimes a scarf from a prostituted Cambodian girl, or a scholarship for a Zambian child, is the most heartwarming gift of all.

Blogs Worth Checking Out

2010-11-13T17:43:00.000-08:00

Some cool sites I've been frequenting since I last updated you on my blog roll. Check the sidebar, or the links below!

Cupcakes & Cashmere: Girl Crush on this writer, courtesy of my friend Erica

Five Books: each day, one knowledgeable person recommends five books on the same subject

Food Politics: musings on the fate of our culinary health from one of my favorite writers

Globetrotte Diaries: each week, this blogger writes about one country's culture and a representative dish

Mark Bittman: The New York Times' "Minimalist" in his own words

The Sartorialist: not new, but new to me - daily street pics of fashionables around the world

Tastespotting: dozens of recipes from across the blogosphere posted in one place daily

Recipes: Sunday's Fall Dinner Party

2010-11-12T15:17:00.000-08:00

Like a dope I did not take any photos this past Sunday when we hosted a "dinner party" (can you say that without sounding lame?) for my roommates, some family and friends. In my constant effort to create faux seasons in Los Angeles, I cooked late fall-early winter foods. This meal was pretty easy and economical for six people, especially when a few of the boys became vegetable-chopping gnocchi-rolling sous chefs.

I bought the brussel sprout "branch" at Trader Joe's, because it was a better price and involved no plastic packaging. A small benefit of this was that it lead to two conversations with people over the age of 60 about what brussel sprouts are, and how to cook them so they aren't gross. My answer is always "roast them". Roast anything and everything.

Ricotta Gnocchi - The Minimalist: Gnocchi without Potatoes
Roasted Carrots & Brussel Sprouts: How to Master Roasted Vegetables
Pumpkin Cake with Browned Butter Icing: Shutter Bean
*All these items were good if not better the next day, especially the cake which melded together in a gingerbread-esque way. Someone at work took a bite and proclaimed "Holy fucking shit. Fuck those guys!" with regards to anyone else who might want a piece, while beelining back for more.

Brunch Find: Cafe on Park - Hillcrest, San Diego

2010-11-08T13:18:00.000-08:00

If you find yourself in San Diego looking for a killer meal in a cute spot, head over to Cafe on Park.

I like to call places like this the "Sabrina's" of whatever city I happen to be in, after the super cute cafe in South Philadelphia that hangs great art on the walls, serves ridiculous portions of creative brunch plates and usually has a 2 hour wait on weekend afternoons.

Luckily we had no wait at Cafe on Park, probably due to the late hour we showed up. We got a great booth seat in the back and had to send the waitress away three times before we finally picked our orders.

The boys were so excited by the benedicts - chicken and crabcake, respectively.

San Diego reminds me a lot Denver. Both cities are oddly clean and very geared towards outdoor sports. Very white and wealthy with a healthy undercurrent of a hispanic population. We ate some Mexican in Old Town on the way into the city, but I didn't get to hit any hole-in-the-wall authentic joints. Next time!

I got myself some french toast at Cafe on Park, which was not only some of the best french toast I've had in ages, but was delicately coated in the greatest berry jam I've ever eaten.

Blackberry Jam Heaven on whole grain french toast at Cafe on Park.

That blackberry jam was so amazing that not only did we get the recipe from the waitress (a mix of berries and then topped off with some peach to give it more zing), but she packed us up with some takeaway jam. Because they make it fresh on site with no preservatives, they can't officially sell it. So, shhhh. I'll be using this in a delicious recipe in the near future. Maybe pork.

Must See Movie: '127 HOURS'

2010-11-05T17:24:00.000-07:00

A movie opens today which, for me, is leading the charge for best movie of the year. Maybe not in Oscar terms (although James Franco is gunning full steam ahead for Best Actor), but in something that got instantly inside my brain in a visceral way and has ceased to let go, such that I now have to preach its viewing to everyone I meet. It's so visceral, in fact, that people are having panic attacks in screenings across the country. But don't worry - you know when the panic inducing moment is coming and you can avert your eyes without missing much. I suspect the panic attacks have less to do with the blood and more to do with the thrill-ride energy level of the storytelling.

The trailer does not provide any real spoilers:

New York Times Review: Tale of a Shocking Fall and Gritty Resolve

"Mr. Boyle has a knack for tackling painful, violent or unpleasant subjects with unremitting verve and unstoppable joie de vivre. He has dealt with some pretty ugly stuff over the years — poverty and violence in “Slumdog Millionaire”; heroin addiction in “Trainspotting”; flesh-craving zombies in “28 Days Later” — but almost always with an eager, exuberant energy that makes his films invigorating rather than depressing."

This doesn't accurately convey so many of the subtle touches that makes this film extra special - a shot of Franco's hand grazing over the curvature of sunlit rock formations in Blue John Canyon or a throwaway edit of a series of hands passing him a life-saving water bottle.

This movie is based on the true story of Aron Ralston, a 27-year-old hiker who experienced something very, very bad in 2003 and lived to not only tell the tail, the but to write the book on which the movie is based. I signed up to see this based on the director, Danny Boyle, who is one of my favorites. I love him for an indecipherable love of life that runs through all of his movies - I can neither explain this nor really provide examples, except that his movies leave me breathless and in love with the world no matter the darkness of the subject matter. 127 HOURS might be his best film to date. It is a tour de force of not man versus nature, as it appears on first glance, but of man versus self. It is the perfect collision of subject matter with director with editor with actor. The New York Times calls this "near flawless" and I would whole-heartedly agree. It is not a perfect movie, but it is a great movie. Its got too much passion and life to be perfect. Perfect is boring and Danny Boyle never is.

Sucker Punch - New Trailer Released!

2010-11-04T15:48:00.000-07:00

Pleasantly heavy on the WWI Steam Punk Zombie sequence to which I sacrificed so much of my 28th year.

Watch it in full resolution here: Apple Trailers - SUCKER PUNCH

On Set: Car Composites

2010-10-24T13:27:00.000-07:00

Every now and again I get to do something awesome for work that reminds me I'm in show business and I'm not just an excel jockey locked to a laptop. This past week I got to be involved in two shoots for an episode of an NBC sitcom that was recently picked up for its full freshman season.

We were shooting one of the fundamentals of television visual effects - the car composite. You know the show I'm talking about - two people in car, one is driving, they're having some sort of meaningful conversation. It's costly, difficult and dangerous to rig a camera up to a moving vehicle and have have actors depict a scene while also negotiating oncoming traffic. What typically happens is that the actors are shot inside a prop car on a sound stage that is surrounding by specifically lit green panels. Then, another team goes out and shoots some exterior footage. The "background" or "driving" plates are then digitally composited by a visual effects artist into the green areas of the car interiors and the viewer is never the wiser.

We shot Studio City doubling as Kansas City by attaching a tri-camera rig of Canon 5D's to the back of a pick up truck. The 5D has incredible light sensitivity and was perfect for obtaining crisp images with nothing but ambient street light at night (keep this in mind if you are taking pictures are night events and need a camera recommendation). It, like so many Canon's, shoots HD and is being used really frequently in television production even though it is officially a still camera.

The rig. We used three cameras to get three angles simultaneously. This will eventually go behind a scene that is shot of a driver face on in which you will be able to see out of side windows and the back car window at the same time. All footage will be synced to appear as if it is naturally going by at the same time.

This picture is blurry because I took it with my iPhone sans flash in a moving vehicle. When you see the images the 5D's shot in the upcoming episode, it will be crystal clear despite movement and low light.

This is not a picture for OUR car green screen shoot, which for a myriad of proprietary reasons I am not able to show you. But this is a generic example of what a green screen set up looks like. The actor inside the car will have a microphone to record clean sound, and the camera is traditional attached to the drive or passenger side mirror to get the action at an angle where you can see one or two characters.

An example of a finished car composite from MAD MEN. If the work is done correctly and the editing seamless, it will never occur to you that they shot this on a sound stage in Los Angeles instead of a street in the suburbs of New York City.

Recipes: Soup & "Lasagna"

2010-10-23T16:02:00.000-07:00

Quickly re-posting recipes from others' websites today that I made myself for lunch and dinner last week. These dishes kept me full all day while on a very low calorie diet. My modifications are included.

She Wears Many Hats - Sweet Potato Soup with Walnut Pesto

Leeks are the biggest secret of yummy here. They make a delicate, sweet soup broth.

Ways I cheated - I used Prego pesto I bought at Ralphs.

The Kind Diet - Rustic Bread and Eggplant Lasagna

I am by no means vegan, but I have been eating more vegan meals for both health reasons and because they tend to be light on the budget. You can actually see my version of this in the back of the pumpkin spice latte cheesecake photo.

I was worried about the bread getting soggy in the tomato sauce, but I used a super thick whole grain bread from La Brea Bakery (by way of Ralphs) and it held up great and was delicious, and I would consider this a reasonable substitute for lasagna noodles that make the dish that much heartier.

I made this not-vegan by slicing up a 4 ounce log of goat cheese onto the top to add a hit of flavor and some protein. Plus the goat cheese browns up and looks nice. I also did not use breadcrumbs on top because I find them unnecessary in any dish that has some yummier form of carbohydrate involved.

Pumpkin Spice Latte Cheesecake

2010-10-19T17:23:00.000-07:00

I am passing off a recipe today that is not my own, so I'm just sending you over to the original post:

Sprinkle Bakes: Pumpkin Spice Latte Cheesecake

But here are my lazy-man tips for making this cheesecake.

First, I do not own a spring form pan because I have never made a cheesecake before in my life and try not to buy baking accessories unless I know I'm going to get a lot of use out of them. Cheater's method for getting around this? Pre-made store graham cracker crust pie bases. Ramifications: you now have two small cheesecake/pumpkin pie hybrids instead of one large item that looks like a cheesecake. The recipe makes enough to fill two store bought crusts. This turned out to be a benefit, because my roommates ate one whole pie in 24 hours and I took the other pie to work, which was my original intention. Just split the mix between two shells and bake as instructed. This also makes them cool faster.

This is a cheesecake for people who aren't into cheesecakes and a pumpkin pie for people who don't like pumpkin pie. A really miraculous flavor blend.

I did not get fancy and dress this up with Sprinkle Bakes' cute powdered sugar lines because I don't have a flour sifter, which, unlike a spring form pan, is actually a kitchen item I should own by now. I also didn't add the cinnamon stick as decoration because those things are expensive, and I'll be using a ton of them in all the mulled wine I'll be making in November and December.

What I DID do to dress up my pie was make some homemade brown sugar whipped cream.

A word on homemade whipped cream: this costs the same as a can of whipped cream, takes three minutes of less, impresses everyone for minimal effort, and lets you flavor it however you want. You should really work this into your dessert planning, especially for the holidays. It tastes delicious and way less artificial than Cool Whip. All you do is pour whipping cream and sugar or flavoring into a bowl and whisk it (electric is easier but you can do it by hand) until it looks lie whipped cream. Doing it in a chilled metal bowl is easier but it doesn't really matter. So yummy.

Spiced Pork & Apples

2010-10-16T12:13:00.000-07:00

It's fall here in California, which means it's that time of year that is approximately 10 degrees cooler than summer and the only way I can mark the seasonal change that my East Coast upbringing ingrained in my bones as necessary to mental stability is by the appearance of autumnal produce at Trader Joe's. Granted, given the regional climate and propensity for shipping produce in from all over the world, I can have apples and pumpkins whenever I want. Still, if I can't see leaves changes and I have no excuse to buy new sweaters, all I can do is bake up some pumpkin pies and eat some pork and apples.

Pork and apples is a recipe that came to me by way of my friend Lauren, who used to cook it for me in college. There is no actual "recipe" written down anywhere as far as I know - it's a basic light braising with some simple fall flavors, and I recently had the opportunity to pass the recipe on to friends Kim and Erica. Erica is going to take this back to Chicago and make it's continental domination complete.

Apples, peeled and chopped at your preferred size(1 for each person you are feeding - pick one that is tarter because it holds up to cooking - I used Gala last time, but Fiji and Pink Lady would be good too)

Pork (I use loin but you can do it with chops too - one pork loin will feed 3-4 people if you have sides, but people tend to eat a lot of this so you might want to error on the side of buying more meat and having leftovers)

Olive Oil (just enough to coat the bottom of your skillet)

Sweet Onion, chopped (Cooking for 4 people, I used one half of a white onion)

Garlic, diced (a few cloves, diced)

Vinegar (Apple Cider or Balsamic)

Apple Cider (I used hard in the last recipe - use more brown sugar if you use hard cider, less sweeteners if you use regular cider because it is already very sugary)

Brown Sugar (other people use Corn Syrup in a recipe like this but I think corn syrup is disgusting and would never put it in anything - you could also use maple syrup in this if you like the flavor, or some molasses for something richer)

Salt

Pepper

Cinnamon

Nutmeg

Ginger

Cloves

Coat bottom of a skillet with olive oil and set on medium heat. Chop your onion into whatever size chunks you like it and toss in the skillet. Dice garlic and add to skillet. Saute, stirring occasionally, until your onions are soft and translucent and people in your house begin to ask you what smells so delicious.

Cut pork loin into medallions or trim fat from pork chops while your onions cook. Once the onions are done, push them to the edges of the skillet and turn the heat on the stove up a notch or two. Add pork to the pan and sear off on both sides - this involves cooking them at a medium high temperature for a minute or two on each side in an effort to seal off the surface areas to trap liquid and flavor. While this is happening, sprinkle salt and pepper over one side of the meat.

You can add your spices now if you want - just sprinkle on top of the meat according to your own tastes. Ginger and cloves are potent, so go easy, and feel free to add more cinnamon and nutmeg. (I have seen this recipe rely on sage and rosemary instead - you can swap these for my four spices if you want something more savory). The earlier you add your seasoning in any heated recipe, the more the flavor comes out. If you had seasoning late, add more. This goes especially if you are cooking something with hot pepper or chili powder - the earlier you add it, the hotter it is going to be.

Once the pork is seared, turn the heat back down to medium and add your liquids. Pour your cider into the pan until the meat is covered, and then add 1/8-1/2 cup vinegar (the amount is according to taste - do you want a hint of sour to balance the sugar or do you want them flavors more even?). I probably use 1/4 cup, because I use balsamic which is a sweeter flavor anyway.

Bring to a simmer.

I don't know how long this cooks: 5-15 minutes depending on the thickness of your meet. Keep an eye on it and when it looks like something you want to eat, cut open one of your thicker pieces of meat and see if its cooked through or not.

When finished, remove the pork from the heat and put in a dish which you can cover. Cover meat after it comes off heat traps some heat in and makes the juice settle back into the meat to prevent drying out.

Add the apples to the pan. Add more liquid and season at your discretion, including any sweeteners. Simmer, uncovered, until the apples are a softness and sweetness you like. This varies depending on how small you've chopped your apples - smaller pieces cook much faster. This should not take more than 15 minutes, but keep stirring occasionally so nothing sticks to the bottom or overheats.

Pairs well with any kind of wine you want (trust me, we had four kinds, all were good). Good with mashed potatoes, roasted vegetables, or risotto.

You can also modify this recipe to be less autumn-y by making it with orange juice instead of apples, or making a balsamic reduction for a steak, or swapping pork for chicken if you aren't eating red meat.

Favorite New Band - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

2010-10-04T11:11:00.000-07:00

Not new, but new to me: San Francisco-based rockers with a naughty Southern blues sound.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

Musical Recommendation (not just because they are my awesome friends)

2010-09-30T14:09:00.000-07:00

Fall TV Suggested Viewing

2010-09-16T17:29:00.000-07:00

I am not allowed to tell you what I'm actually working on this fall, but I will give you a brief run down of shows I casually suggest you watch, in order of premiere...

Friday, September 17
10 PM, NBC: Outlaw

Monday, September 20:
8 PM, NBC: Chuck
10 PM, CBS: Hawaii Five-O

Wednesday, September 22:
8 PM, NBC: Undercovers

Thursday, September 23:
9 PM, Fox: Fringe
9:30 PM, NBC: Outsourced

Lauren's Tortilla Soup

2010-09-01T08:12:00.000-07:00

I'm stealing McFalls' tortilla soup recipe for my blog because I posted a picture on Facebook and people asked for the details. There are three things I had every single day traveling through Mexico in April: tequila, queso fundido, and tortilla soup (because what else, really, do you even need?). During my last week of vacation, I roasted an entire chicken - pause for self-congratulation - and then made broth with the bones, and tackled Tortilla Soup, a dish I was afraid to make because I love it so much. Thanks to Lauren's recipe, I have this now stashed away in my repetoire. Although next time I might ease off the chili powder. Topped with home-fried tortilla strips, diced avocado, and queso fresco. I would prefer quesillo, but I'd have to hit a Oaxacan market to get it, and didn't have time. If you can get your hands on some, its worth it. Greatest cheese of all time, at least in the mozzarella family.

2 teaspoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium jalapeno pepper, chopped ( i use a can of chopped chilies)
1/2 medium green pepper (i use red and orange pepper because i like them better)
4 small boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 cups frozen corn (I cut mine off the cob because its summer and I can)
1/2 cup dry white wine or water
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 (14 ounce) cans chicken broth
2 (14 ounce) cans diced tomatoes
2 (8 ounce) cans tomato sauce (I passed on the tomato sauce because I like the chicken stock flavor)

TOPPING

1 cup non-fat tortilla chips (optional)

(Lauren sprinkles some cotijo cheese on top but any kind will do)

Directions

Sauté onion, garlic, jalapeño and green pepper with olive oil in a large pot until soft.

Add all the rest of the ingredients to the large pot and bring to a boil.

After about 15 minutes, remove the chicken breasts and shred.

Return shredded chicken to the pot and simmer an additional 45 minutes.

Serve, topped with crushed tortilla chips if desired.

(I don't blend mine because I like a brothy soup, but McFalls' does because she prefers the smoother variety - both are acceptable).

Book Recommendation: "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" - Rebecca Skloot

2010-08-19T13:54:00.000-07:00

It's rare that I read a book that I immediately declare a must-read for every single person I know. Interests in type and style of book vary wildly and people read for different reasons. But last week I read a nonfiction medical history book that was so riveting I could barely put it down and wanted to pass it on right away to every single person I know (but I couldn't, because it was a library book. Sorry guys.)

"The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" is a new book by an award-winning science magazine writer named Rebecca Skloot. It's been gracing many "best of" lists for 2010 already. A quick Google search will reveal that many reviewers have already glowingly dissected this book more gracefully than I am capable of doing (read or listen to a particularly good NPR review here - and also read the introduction to the book in which Ms. Skloot discusses what prompted her 10 years of research).

The basis of the book is this: In 1951, a poverty-stricken African American mother in Baltimore sought treatment for an astoundingly aggressive case of cervical cancer at Johns Hopkins, where she was able to receive quality medical care despite her race or her economic standing. Entirely without her knowledge or concept, cell samples were taken from her cancer and used in scientific studies. While Henrietta died quickly, the cancer cells were found to be "immortal" - with the right environment, these cells were able to be cloned and kept alive indefinitely. While Hentrietta's children and grandchildren barely learned to read, trafficked in and out of prison, and are never able to seek quality medical treatment for the slew of health problems that may or may not be related to familial inbreeding, scientists all over the world purchase HeLa cells in mass quantities. The research done on her cells generates multitudes of scientific discovery - from genetic code markers to the polio vaccine. Meanwhile, her children cannot acquire blood pressure medication. Reporters and con artists crawl out of the woodwork to glean information from the Lacks family, while scientists try to cover up the identity of the cell source, and Johns Hopkins continues to do genetic studies on the Lacks children without proper consent. The book circulates from the horrors of the Tuskegee Syphilis studies and the long history of scientific studies being conducted without informed consent on the poor and minority cultures, to cloning in the media, to tissue rights, a legal battle still being waged.

"The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" is a moving human interest story built around the skeleton of modern scientific research. It Henrietta's daughter, Deborah, is a keystone in the books overall theme - while her brothers become angry and indignant at never having seen a dime off of hteir mother's stolen cells while corporations all over the world have become rich off their study, Deborah seeks only recognition for her mother's contribution to modern science and further understanding of how her family's genetics have helped the world (with minimal education, when Skloot reaches out to the Lacks kids, they aren't sure they understand exactly what a "cell" even is). The gist of the book, as I read it, is this: You have no legal property rights over your own cell tissue or anything it is used for after you visit a doctor's office. It is argued that this is necessary for the "good of mankind" - this generates research, vaccines, cures for diseases. However, after this free contribution is made, you do not have universal access to the scientific discoveries your tissues have afforded - you only have access to these discoveries if you can pay for them. While the polio vaccine would not exist with the Lacks family DNA, the Lacks family themselves cannot afford to see an eye doctor. While they are asked to undergo studies without consent or repayment for the betterment of medical research, they are not themselves treated properly by the medical establishment.

But don't let me make this sound like a communist manifesto for the advancement of universal healthcare. The writing is more even-handed that than, and the book spends a large amount of time tracing the personal lives of the Lacks family and the scientists integral to the HeLa cell phenomenon. It bares no ill will to the people involved; it only asks us to consider the moral, legal, and financial ramifications of a system in which the wealthy have greater access to health care and scientific advancement than the people used for that very advancement.

A must read.

Recipe: Potato Gratin

2010-08-18T21:38:00.000-07:00

I had a conversation on Monday with two friends about their overwhelming dislike for potato gratins - a concept I understand when I think of the boxed and grainy gratin mixes I was served intermittently as a child. This unprompted conversation was well-timed, as while I was in Illinois, I bought two pounds of new potatoes at a Farmer's Market and then couldn't come up with anything more interesting to do with them besides mashing them, since my Grandma is not able to eat anything but very soft food. I didn't want to cook a big dish that she couldn't eat at all, so I decided to try making a potato gratin, thinking that heating something over a long period of time would soften up the potatoes.

I lifted this recipe straight from Smitten Kitchen, so I'm not going to bother reposting it other than to link to it.

She suggests using mushrooms, but since I'm allergic and always on a quest to eat more greens, I defrosted a bag of frozen spinach in the microwave and mixed it together with some eggs - added protein and binding effect. I sliced the potatoes extra thin as per Smitten's instructions, then layered them in three times with the spinach/egg mixture and a blend of shredded Italian cheeses in between.

Grandma was antsy about me getting this out of her oven, which led to an abbreviated cooking time and potatoes that were soft (by my standards) but too hard for her. Dad liked the spinach cheese mixture in the middle quite a bit. To me, this is a macaroni and cheese equivalent meal but without the pounds upon pounds of cheese. Grandma suggested I peel and boil the potatoes beforehand - this might work for pickier eaters (and would probably produce a more lasagna-esque effect) but since I am adamantly opposed to ever pealing or boiling a perfectly good vegetable, I would never make it that. But still - so delish, and I ate leftovers for days!

Book Recommendation: "Infidel" - Ayaan Hirsi Ali

2010-08-15T18:24:00.000-07:00

In Holland in 2004, an outspoken filmmaker named Theo Van Gogh collaborated with a freshman Parliament member named Ayaan Hirsi Ali on a short film examining the suppression of women in Islam, in keeping with Ali's main political platform - women's rights (click the link to watch the movie, "Submission" on YouTube). It ran for 10-minutes on the Dutch equivalent of PBS in late August. Within three months, Van Gogh was assassinated in Amsterdam while riding his bicycle to work one morning. He was shot down in the street, his throat slashed from ear to ear while he begged for his life. A five-page summary death sentence and kill order against Ayaan was left impaled on chest.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a controversial figure - beloved by both the conservative right and the liberal left in the United States, where she has lived in hiding against the fatwa for several years. She is a member of the conservative think tank The American Enterprise Institute and a regular on the political talk show circuit. You can check her out on "Real Time with Bill Maher," "CNN News," and "Fox News Sunday."

Whatever your feelings are on Islam, women's rights, atheism or immigration, Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a woman worth listening to, and her memoir, "Infidel" is a must read. She has diamond sharp powers of observation and writes with the sincerity, focus of purpose, and revelry for expression that can most certainly only come from a person who has landed in the Western World late in life, where "Freedom of Expression" and the desire for logical debate still seems like a gift and necessary liberty - her ability to write this book in which language she chooses, to tear down idols and betray unflattering observations is something which she never for a second takes for granted.

The book tracks her life from her birth in Somalia in a segregated and clan-driven rural society, where she is raised largely by her grandmother while her father is a well-known political prisoner. Although this is the 70s, they have no set calendar or clock, no plumbing, she is subservient to her older brother, and her father has multiple wives. She writes about the moments we in the US will find more shocking - genital mutilation, beatings by her family so bad she is nearly killed, her later work translating for immigrants in the Netherlands - with a logical distance that allows you inside the events without being weighed down under someone else's emotional memories, allowing the reader raw responses.

She moves from Somolia to Saudia Arabia to Kenya to Germany to the Netherlands, and while we move around the globe with her and her less emotionally stable younger sister, we see her transition educationally and emotionally from the "stupid" middle child clan member in a third world country to a formless being in a black cloak attending religious class after class in an effort to become a more devote Muslim, to an escapee from an arranged marriage, to immigrant in hiding with family members hunting her down, to outspoken government representative with tentative Dutch citizenship and finally, to an academic living under armed guard yet still finding away to scream her message of women's rights to the high heavens on whatever platform she can have access to.

"Infidel" is a moving narrative told by a charismatic communicator about what it truly means to be an immigrant, a skeptic, a daughter, and an activist in both Islamic and secular worlds, at the height of Western prosperity and in a dirt hut in central Africa. As half the world keeps women in shackles under the guises of religion and family honor, largely to the detriment of their own safety and prosperty has a society, she permeates the barriers between socioeconomic stratospheres under a constant threat of death.

In keeping with Ayaan's message, I will leave you with a controversial recent cover of TIME magazine.

Thunderstorm

2010-08-12T10:37:00.000-07:00

Miss these since moving to LA! Just sitting in the front porch listening to it roll through now.

Bunny

2010-08-10T16:21:00.000-07:00

Through the kitchen window.

Nerd City

2010-08-09T20:44:00.000-07:00

Highlight of each August? Going to Barnes & Noble to get the latest student planner, which I have used for now 10 years with the illogical hope that maybe THIS year my to do lists and life goals will be achieved and logged in an incredibly organized fashion. Now almost completely moot due to iCal syncing with iPhone, and made doubly redundant with my obsessive need to log everything on a wall calendar. Still, I get so excited to fill out a fresh planner every summer. Got this year's while buying Dad copies of my favorite alternative history books: "Lies My Teacher Told Me" and "The People's History of the United States," both of which should be mandatory supplementary reading for all US students. We drive home talking about the subjugation of women in Afghanistan, before stopping at WalMart for a new bike. Now that my physical well being is refreshed with a little pampering, exercise & sleep, I can call an end officially to a very trying year and plot my agenda going forward. :)

Sunset

2010-08-09T20:21:00.000-07:00

Beyond the local 24 hour Walmart. Going to buy Dad a bike so he can ride with me tomorrow.

Best thing about being an adult

2010-08-09T15:33:00.000-07:00

Margaritas and Dos Equis with Dad!

Hot Stone

2010-08-09T11:42:00.000-07:00

Just had entire body rubbed for an hour with these at 140 degrees. So relaxed it's like being drunk.

Park St #2

2010-08-09T09:10:00.000-07:00

House where my Dad lived til he was 11. Two blocks west of where Grandma presently lives.

Park St #1

2010-08-09T09:07:00.000-07:00

House where my grandma was born, two houses East of where she lived when she was first married.

Going to "the show"

2010-08-08T19:21:00.000-07:00

I saw "The Rocketeer" here in 1991. Now I just watched "Inception" with reels 2 and 3 out of order. Classic.

Feels Great to Move!

2010-08-08T14:05:00.000-07:00

For longer than walking for coffee.

$8 Haul at St Louis Farmer's Market

2010-08-07T17:17:00.000-07:00

Tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, strawberries, peaches & a giant watermelon!

Dinner with Dad

2010-08-07T16:48:00.000-07:00

Traditional Alongi's dinner.

Obligatory Plane Shot

2010-08-07T10:35:00.000-07:00

Tips of Santa Monica mountains over cloud sea.

Box O' Booze

2010-08-06T14:36:00.000-07:00

We are not even delivered yet!

LXD - Something To Watch

2010-08-05T20:10:00.000-07:00

You should probably be watching this new addition to the burgeoning webisode format - LEGION OF EXTRAORDINARY DANCERS or LXD, now up to 8 "episodes." It runs on Hulu in 5-10 minute interstitials that debut each Wednesday and follows the balletic exploits of a two groups of rival dance organizations, the aforementioned LXD versus the Alliance of the Dark, as they discover innate super powers through dance and battle to save the planet, or something like that. Also, there's kung fu, ill-fated romance, a whole mess of robots, and Ryan Hansen. Call this long-form experimental narrative music video by way of the gravity-defying antics of America's Best Dance Crew. Or just call it awesome.

Here's Episode 3 - Robot Lovestory:

That's A Wrap

2010-08-04T18:12:00.000-07:00

Not quite yet, as you can see my loan desk in action. Down to the last 48 hours!

The Book Vs. The Movie (or the TV Series)

2010-08-04T12:42:00.000-07:00

In case there were any doubt in your mind as the creative genius that is Alan Ball, it only takes reading one of the Sookie Stackhouse books to appreciate the beneficial layering that can happen visually when a book moves to the screen.

Book snob that I am, I don't usually read much pop literature but this past weekend I had an unexpected two days off and an overdue library book that I knew I could finish in that 48 hours. I read DEAD UNTIL DARK in two sittings, largely in my hot tub, and as expected, it's the perfect book for that. It has all the ingredients that went into creating the TRUE BLOOD series - spunky spit-fire heroine with a "disability," dueling sexy but ambiguous evil vampires, dimwitted brother Jason, the regulars of Bon Temps, and a fun-loving eye towards Bayou colloquialism. And although it's a speed read without much substance, it is not so poorly written as to be distracting, despite the author's repetitive need to comment on when Sookie puts her makeup or shoes on. Best of all, it doesn't overdue any barely hidden right-wing subtext about virginity (*coughTwilightcough*). The novels seem to be snappy supernatural romp with proactive characters, minimal cliche with plenty of nicely under-written sex scenes.

Bring Alan Ball to the table, however, along with his cinematographers and art directors, and what you've suddenly got is a lavish southern Gothic blood-fest soap opera that moves seamlessly between drowning scenes in blood, in shocking sexual acts, or in uproariously knowing dialogue. Main character Sookie Stackhouse reads a impetuous, somewhat annoying, strong-willed and yet somehow still likeable, while the flurry of side characters around her are (to the actors and writers' success) often even more interesting. Although a lot of this is accomplished in the writing the acting, a great deal of it is accomplished purely visually, elevating the material beyond its speedread origins into the arena of premium cable supernatural classic even while plot details follow almost exactly. It's not plot, it's execution.

Hopefully Mr. Ball has more seasons in him, as there are many more books to go and spending Sunday nights in Bon Temps ("good times"), Louisiana with Eric Northman, Lafayette, Sam Merlotte and Jason and Sookie Stackhouse is something I look forward to for many August's to come!

Coffee & Cornbread

2010-08-03T09:25:00.000-07:00

Gearing up for the annual trip to southern Illinois!

Butchered

2010-08-03T00:15:00.000-07:00

Just peeled a watermelon like it was a giant mango! Mmmm, summer salad.

Fox Pushes 'Terra Nova' From Midseason To Fall 2011 After May Preview (Like 'Glee')

2010-08-02T16:42:00.000-07:00

What you can watch from me next fall:

Fox Pushes 'Terra Nova' From Midseason To Fall 2011 After May Preview (Like 'Glee')

"The New Year"

2010-07-30T13:16:00.000-07:00

Two years ago, while working on "The Road" in Philadelphia, I crossed paths and executed many gelati runs with the director's assistant, an exuberant young Cassavetes devotee who was hellbent on scrabbling together a few thousands dollars from private donors and traipsing down to Florida to shoot his own opus after our grueling post schedule wrapped. I gave him $150 on the instinct that he might just do something interesting with it, and according to the New York Times this week, he did! This glowing review makes me not only wish I had volunteered to travel southwards to assist him (I was too busy relocating to LA at the time), but also that I was better about not sidelining my own creative ambitions in lieu of earning a paycheck. Way to go, Brett!!!

Brett Haley's "The New Year"

"Out of raw materials — convincing 20-something dialogue; deft montages of night life, bowling, parties, the beachside setting — the director-screenwriter Brett Haley (with another screenwriter, Elizabeth Kennedy) has built an encouraging feature debut."

*Due to my tiny contribution, I have not only a "special thanks" in the credits, but also a copy of this movie at home. If you'd like to see it and you aren't able to make it to Brooklyn for the screening, let me know!

Glass Tuperware

2010-07-28T16:08:00.000-07:00

My new favorite thing is washing and reusing glass jars you buy food in (tomato sauce, peanut butter, etc) as lunch containers. "Reuse" is the oft forgotten and most important part of the reduce-reuse-recycle mantra, and not only is plastic oil-heavy, it leaches toxins into your food and has a tendency to pick up odors. The best parts about using glass jars is (besides cheapness since you already bought this, they seal tightly so as not to leak liquids and have built in portion control. Today I brought in vegetable polenta for lunch and burrito stuffing for a Mexican dinner and was able to drop these in my purse without fear of a spill. Dishwasher safe, easily cleanable!

I could remove the labels but I'm too lazy.

Teaser Trailer

2010-07-27T11:58:00.000-07:00

First promotional spot for Zack Snyder's SUCKER PUNCH debuted at Comic Con this past weekend. Now you have some idea of where the last 10 months of my life have disappeared to! If you live in LA, I will be making you go see this with me in March. Watch the HD Apple Trailer here.

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I am contractually forbidden from telling you which shots I had a hand in. So these are the shots I think are the coolest.

Snapshot

2010-07-26T17:02:00.000-07:00

Today I am bringing you narcissistic baby photos of myself in honor of two dear friends who are about to give birth and also because about ten minutes ago I purchased a "life investment" camera.

These images were lost for the past ten years and recently rediscovered in a file folder by my Dad (who is also the photographer). I posted them on Facebook and got a lot of positive response, include from my Cousin Cindy. The lady in the photo is my great grandmother, Cindy's grandmother, and no one seems to have any photos of her, so this was a find for all 15 of my grandfather's siblings.

The camera purchase I just made was timed financially with secure employment but also with an upcoming trip to see my Dad in Illinois while he is there visiting his mother. I decided there was no time like the present to take some quality photos of my grandmother.

These pictures reminded me the importance a photo can have for so many people - these were taken in 1982, several years before Great-Grandma Angst died, when I was less than a year old. Because they are completely unposed, I think they have more resonance and capture more of the individual subject and time. I think these photos are great because of the lazy summertime setting and the juxtaposition of generations. There is authentic joy and curiosity on those faces.

Take pictures. Take them when no one is looking, when people are not dressed in their finest, and on occasions other than holidays. You never know which will be the most meaningful down the line.

Tomato and Tofu Salad

2010-07-25T15:55:00.000-07:00

I'm still on a quest to combat 15-hours at a desk by way of diet, so I made a classic caprese salad but replaced the mozzarella with a slice of tofu as suggested in Alice Waters' cookbook IN THE GREEN KITCHEN. Waters is a somewhat controversial political figure in America these days, equally beloved and reviled, but this handy how-to cookbook (and accompanying website) goes a long way towards teaching modern cooks how to recreate the simple food preparation that would've been passed from mother to daughter 200 years ago - how to roast a basic chicken, dress a salad, cook a vegetable and a turn fruit into a delicious dessert. The art of seasoning without premade packets of MSG-laden chemical concoctions or reducing wine into the perfect sauce is all but lost in the average household, I think, and cooking the right ingredients simply can go a long way towards wellness and budgetary restraint.

So here's what I had for lunch today:

Tomato and Tofu "Caprese" Salad

The basic changes I made (because I suck at following rules):

- heirloom tomatoes instead of cherry tomatoes: because heirloom tomatoes have a richer, sweet flavor and only come in season this time of year, and they taste so good (and are more expensive) so I only use them in tomato-based salads so their flavor shines through

- basil instead of shiso leaves: because I had a huge basil plant sitting around and because basil tastes like summer to me

- red wine vinegar and basil & sundried tomato infused olive oil instead of soy sauce, sesame oil and sherry vinegar: out of mostly laziness, and because I have these great infused oils Nicole gave me for my birthday and didn't feel I'd use sesame oil enough to justify buying it; plus I don't really like soy sauce

(This could alternately be made with a chunk of fresh mozzarella and be equally if not more delicious - I'm just trying to back off the dairy at the moment because I cannot control myself around things like balls of cheese. The tofu mimics the texture of mozzarella, and probably would've tasted even more like it if I had used any salt in the seasoning.)

I served this with some of Trader Joe's Whole Wheat Na'an because I didn't have time to eat breakfast and wanted something really hearty. Used the na'an to soak up the infused oil and tomato juices. Pretty amazing.

Raw Planet in Santa Monica

2010-07-19T17:52:00.000-07:00

Celebrating Lisa's birthday and a bi-annual lunch break with vegan raw lasagna and linguini. Sadly we had to return to work and could not follow this with a "wine tonic."

Stay Awake

2010-07-14T14:31:00.000-07:00

At work with raspberry gelato. A consistently reliable midday pick me up.

John Hillcoat Sells Jeans in Pennsylvania

2010-07-08T11:07:00.000-07:00

Because not only is he the nicest man in Hollywood, he's also a stunning cinematic talent who has yet to receive his due. Please enjoy his ode to Western Pennsylvania and good old America blue jeans.

Summer Movie

2010-07-07T11:22:00.000-07:00

I have unfortunately not been inside of a movie theater since the holiday season, due to frantic work schedules and the long hours I spend in dark theaters staring at grain and negative edges for my job. But I'm even more excited for this summer's Christopher Nolan movie than I was for THE DARK KNIGHT two years ago. Reviews are so far entirely positive and make this sound thankfully more MEMENTO than THE PRESTIGE. Looks like a winning combination of existientialism by way of sci-fi, dreamscape visual effects and crack casting (hello Joseph Gorden Levitt and Cillian Murphy - so nice to see you again, old friends!).

Saturday in Santa Monica

2010-07-03T10:03:00.000-07:00

Scenes from Laurel Pet Hospital

2010-06-25T10:26:00.000-07:00

Just Checking In

2010-06-24T14:50:00.000-07:00

Have been too busy to even watch my Netflix, which you can see in my left-side column has not changed in WEEKS. Too busy with work and a flea infestation and a prom.

Oh right, a prom. Prom which I did not even attend in high school because I was "too cool" to participate in such small town shenanigans. And you know what? I suspect its way better when you can drink legally.

Fast times in the movie biz, for sure. Mostly I am doing nothing but reading, because that's all I have time and mental capacity for after my work days are complete. Just finished Kelly Cutrone's "If You Have to Cry, Go Outside," as well as "Anatomy of an Epidemic," a great non-fiction book about the use of pharmaceuticals in the US to treat (and possibly cause) mental illness.

My Mexico pictures will be up as soon as we wrap, as will any upcoming travel plans, and possibly some uber-healthy detox recipes, since I am currently living on nothing but Von's soup and my editor's candy bowl.

And Happy belated, Gabe.

Chocolate Chip Marscapone Cupcakes

2010-06-02T16:41:00.000-07:00

This weekend I went on the hunt for the perfect birthday cupcake recipe, and damn that Smitten Kitchen if she didn't post it 48 hours after I needed it!

So I had to settle for a Giada recipe off the Food Network website.

Make these. They were easy and universally loved.

Chocolate Chip Marscapone Cupcakes with Ganache

Music Referral: Florence & The Machine

2010-05-23T12:36:00.000-07:00

I am never on the cutting edge of the music scene, but this week I overheard a bluesy female singer ringing the guts out of a dark little song, downloaded it on Friday, and on Sunday she's popped up in the New York Times' A Night Out With segment. The fact that I overheard this song behind a scene in a CW finale probably means its already "over," but this is as close as I get to sonic-ly hip. The interview and the song:

Florence Welch Gets Real Among the Wax

Florence and The Machine - "Girl with One Eye"

Fall 2010 Up Front Preview

2010-05-22T22:13:00.000-07:00

Trailers for all of the networks' new fall series: THR Fall TV Trailers 2010.

I'm already gearing up to set the DVR for CW's "Nikita," NBC's "Undercover" & "Friends with Benefits," ABC's "Happy Endings" & "Secret Millionaire." Slim pickins from FOX and CBS, although "Raising Hope and "Running Wilde" have potential based on cast alone. Nothing that sold me as hard based on trailer alone as "Community" did last spring.

like a pair of rag dolls a bored child dropped on a bed.

2010-05-15T16:53:00.000-07:00

Life Story

After you've been to bed together for the first time,

without the advantage or disadvantage of any prior acquaintance,

the other party very often says to you,

Tell me about yourself, I want to know all about you,

what's your story? And you think maybe they really and truly do

sincerely want to know your life story, and so you light up

a cigarette and begin to tell it to them, the two of you

lying together in completely relaxed positions

like a pair of rag dolls a bored child dropped on a bed.

You tell them your story, or as much of your story

as time or a fair degree of prudence allows, and they say,

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh,

each time a little more faintly, until the oh

is just an audible breath, and then of course

there's some interruption. Slow room service comes up

with a bowl of melting ice cubes, or one of you rises to pee

and gaze at himself with the mild astonishment in the bathroom mirror.

And then, the first thing you know, before you've had time

to pick up where you left off with your enthralling life story,

they're telling you their life story, exactly as they'd intended to all along,

and you're saying, Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh,

each time a little more faintly, the vowel at last becoming

no more than an audible sigh,

as the elevator, halfway down the corridor and a turn to the left,

draws one last, long, deep breath of exhaustion

and stops breathing forever. Then?

Well, one of you falls asleep

and the other one does likewise with a lighted cigarette in his mouth,

and that's how people burn to death in hotel rooms.

Tennessee Williams (1956)

My Annual Plug for FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS

2010-05-02T13:23:00.000-07:00

You should be watching this show. You should be watching this show. You should be watching this show. You should be watching this show.

NBC begins airing the beginning of the fourth season this Friday (May 7) at 8 PM PST (set your DVRS!) but all three prior seasons are available online for you to watch for free, either via Netflix streaming or NBC'S FNL website.

And if that's not enough, Salon has posted a three season re-cap with character breakdowns and a well-written essay on why this is one of the best shows on television, and certainly the best series on broadcast TV.

This show is a rare breed on television these days - it is not only a multi-camera non-procedural shot documentary style with stunning blue-toned Texas imagery and largely improvised, sometimes overlapping dialogue, but also an incredibly moral piece of fiction storytelling centering on the daily lives of poor and middle class Texans struggling to reach for their dreams and find inspiration in the strength and support of their flawed family and friends. In a narrative landscaped littered with glossy, empty-brained disease-of-the-week mysteries, lifestyle fetishizing reality series and nihilistic cable drama darkness, FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS stands alone as a show that will surprise you line by line, break your heart with a simple cutaway, and leave you feeling like despite our weakness, we can achieve a life of value with some good old fashioned hard work. From a 2007 article in which it was named Most Underrated Show on Television:

"But what's impossible to express, what can only be experienced by watching a handful of episodes, is that "Friday Night Lights" has so much heart and sweetness, so much love for normal people with big dreams, that it has the power to give you a lump in your throat every single week. This is not just another cynical invention, not just another hopelessly slick, expertly fleshed-out formula. There are plenty of well-made shows on TV today; this is that rare show that just feels right. When you watch it, you get the sense that everyone involved in this production lives through this story, they believe in it, they care about and respect these characters, and they're committed to bringing something honest and beautiful to your TV screen. "Friday Night Lights" has tons of soul, and it deserves to be around for a long, long time."

Much congratulations to NBC and DirecTV for an innovative financial partnership that has kept on air this unusual blend of realism and poetry, a refreshing vision of regular people struggling, and the grace notes in every day life that remind you to keep trying your damnedest, no matter the odds.

Pepperoni Stromboli

2010-05-01T16:11:00.000-07:00

An unexpectedly easily and shockingly delicious recipe this week - although given its more like an assembled dish than something actually made from scratch.

This meal was inspired by a photo of a pizza roll I saw on some food blog. And I thought wtf is a pizza roll? Where I come from, we call that stromboli. And then the question was raised - what's the difference between a calzone and a stromboli? What I gathered from thirty seconds of internet research, it's only the method of shaping the dough: a calzone is folded and a stromboli is rolled. Someone more learned in Italian-American fast food might be able to correct me, if you can pull yourself away from the gobs of melted cheese long enough to form coherent thoughts.

Quick Stromboli for 4

1 package of Trader Joe's Garlic & Herb dough
1 8 ounce ball of fresh mozzerella, shredded.
1 package of sliced provolone, sliced into 1/4'' strips
1 package of pepperoni, sliced into 1/4'' strips
fresh basil leaves, loosely chopped

How much easier could it be?

Although Trader Joe's pizza dough is not only delicious but incredibly cheap (something like $1.20 for an entire crust), I have previously had trouble rolling it into a good pizza shape as it remains sticky even after you leave it sit out on a counter top for the recommended 20 minutes. I solved this problem and the problem of how to get the pizza in the oven asap after work by putting the pizza dough in a bowl lined with olive oil and covering it with a damp cloth in the morning before work. Twelve hours later, it was perfectly risen, the right temperature and rolled into a nice thin crust in about 90 seconds of rolling on a floured surface.

After rolling into whatever size and thickness you want, layer the two cheeses, pepperoni and basil leaves on the dough. (In keeping with my "getting this into the oven asap" theme - I mixed these four ingredients together in a tupperware container the night before and tossed in some diced onion, salt, pepper, and oregano and kept it in the fridge until I needed it. This is not necessary but very easy). I used all the ingredients up, which created a pile of cheese so high I was afraid it wouldn't roll into a spiral, but it did.

I transferred the rolled log of stromboli onto a pan, which was also coated in olive oil to prevent sticking. I baked this for 20 minutes on 350 degrees. At 20 minutes the flour I had rolled it in looked unappetizing on the crust, so I dabbed it with some butter and olive oil and hit it for another 5 minutes on the top shelf of the oven to get a better glaze on top. I took this out of the oven and cut it in half and watched tons of cheese ooze out and realized I'd had a hit.

Also, it made the house smell delicious.

I excluded tomatoes from the inside of the stromboli because both fresh tomatoes and tomato sauce can be watery, especially when heated to high temperatures, and I didn't want the pizza dough to be soggy. To round out the meal, I served it with a simple tomato salad, which I also made the night before and stuck in the fridge so the flavors could marinate. This meal was well received even by picky eaters, so I think you could make it for kids (Bridgit!). I had leftovers of the tomato salad and ate it for lunch twice with arugula and lentils.

Tomato Salad

5 roma tomatoes

two slices of onion, diced and marinated for 10 minutes in red wine vinegar (could use red)

5 baby bell peppers diced (for color, you would only need one big bell pepper)

diced basil leaves

tossed with salt, pepper, balsamic vinegar & a dash of olive oil

This meal was topped off with brownie bites and Riesling and GOSSIP GIRL. And shouldn't they all be?

"Wisdom: From Philosophy to Neuroscience"

2010-04-28T14:04:00.000-07:00

Salon: "Wisdom: From Philosophy to Neuroscience"

It's a book review but also a good article.

One big problem that infects the social scientific, and especially neuroscientific, study of diffuse and vaguely specified phenomena such as wisdom and happiness is that much of what happens in such study results in expensive and polysyllabic confirmation of what common sense and received wisdom long ago knew. For example: the Stoics of antiquity were strongly in favour of something that was old hat even in their own day, namely, emphasizing the importance of managing one's emotions by thinking about why one feels them and what the consequences of their unconstrained expression might be. By being reflective and considered, said the Stoics, one can attain "ataraxia," which means "peace of mind" or emotional stability. Now read Hall: "even-keeled people -- Davidson specifically refers to them as 'emotionally resilient' -- apparently used their pre-frontal cortex, the front part of the brain, which governs reasoning and executive control, to damp down activity in the amygdala, those twin almond-shaped regions deep in the brain that process emotional content." A good deal else of what Hall reports from the coal-face of current research has this character -- for example, that being optimistic is good for health, that older people are wiser than younger people because their awareness of the approach of life's end detaches them from distractions and trivialities -- are all thunderingly obvious.

Robert McKee Says Something Intelligent

2010-04-26T08:53:00.000-07:00

I am no great fan of the screenwriting guru infamously parodied by Brian Cox in ADAPTATION, Robert McKee. I do not have his books on my shelves (although I read them and they were very helpful when I was twelve years old...) and I do not comply with his writing edicts. However, this week he gave an interview with Big Think (a truly fantastic website you should be checking out anyway - filled with great interviews with artists, politicians, innovators and modern great thinkers) in which he says some really insightful and inspiring things about the role of storytelling in human life. I may not agree with the mechanics of his screenwriting advice (or the bazillions of dollars he's made peddling simplified narrative theory to every wannabe in the universe), but when someone has a point, they have a point.

The SALON excerpt.

Do we need stories more today than we used to?

The time that people spend in stories created for them by a storytelling artist today compared to 50 to 100 years ago, it’s triple or quadruple what it used to be. Do they need it more? Maybe. You could make an argument that the disintegration and relativization of values in contemporary society is so blurring that people desperately need stories to help them make sense out of life because what we are used to agree upon nobody agrees on anymore. Society is, it’s obvious, but is so splintered and so split. I mean, there’s a spectrum that runs from "I am my brother’s keeper" to "Every man for himself" and we call that liberals, and on the right conservatives. And this argument over are we our brother’s keeper, or is it every man for himself, has never been more ugly and fragmenting of society. The problem for people today is confusion in a world that should make sense. In a world in which you have more communication than ever, makes less and less sense than ever. And so you need storytellers to make sense out of that chaos, but it’s as I said, it’s a chaos of a very different kind today, and the writer struggles.

The full interview with text and video.

Adios Mexico

2010-04-24T13:16:00.001-07:00

From Mexico City to Juarez International to LAX to the house to
Gardner's birthday, if I'm still standing. Last meal in Mexico was
helado fresa. Last cultural stop was the site of Trotsky's
assassination by ice pick. Esta señorita esta muy cansada. And also
sorta tan, courtesy of the equitorial sun. Was too dehydrated a few
hours ago to pronounce "jugo de naranja". See you when I'm stateside.

Return to Mexico City

2010-04-23T19:24:00.000-07:00

Bargaining for gift prices, lost time in airports and a drinking tour
of Centro Historico before settling on a side street to eat some cheap
pizza and mojotis and listen to the guy on the mic jam out to the
Beatles greatest hits. The next group up was a jazz band who covered
Take 5. Much socializing on the square between 6 and 9.

Nuevos Amigos

2010-04-22T16:47:00.001-07:00

We bought churros after a full day in the sun at Monte Alban to eat in
the zocalo before a much needed siesta, but as soon as I took out my
iPhone to take a pic of the chocolate churro (grasshopper eating
happened prior sans photos sadly) three kids led by one aggressive
older sister had climbed into my lap. I gave them my churro and they
quickly fig'd out how to work the touch screen (faster than most US
adults, i'd imagine) and were taking a tour through my photos,
pointing out the plethora of comida images and reoccurence of mi
hermana. I asked them to pose for a photo with Nellie to get them off
my lap.

Robbed!

2010-04-21T17:31:00.000-07:00

Switching to a traditionally Cuban beverage after my good camera with
hundreds of photos was stolen in the locals only (why do I always
think "locals only" doesn't apply to me?) mercado south of town and a
seven hour wild goose chase on foot with the policia in a futile
attempt to track down the thief. At least I know I can file a police
report en espanol.

A longer essay on the hostile class battle produced in resort towns
forthcoming.

Arrival in Oaxaca

2010-04-20T17:31:00.000-07:00

Hotel courtyard where I will be icing my swollen knee and planning a
physical therapy circuit for next week at home, since apparently the
292 steps up the Pyramid of the Sun was too much for my artificial
ligament.

Piramides

2010-04-19T21:09:00.000-07:00

Turistas en Domingo

2010-04-18T15:36:00.000-07:00

Tres Capuchinos en la Zocalo - perfect weather for foot site-seeing!

On 26 hours awake...

2010-04-17T22:22:00.001-07:00

Stuffed full of tapas from a restaurant in Roma norte and going to
sleep until noon. Tomorrow: zocalo, anthroplogical museum and Frida
khalo house.

The Magic Factory

Favorite

Chimichurri

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Happy Father's Day

Encore

Photo of the Day

Photo of the Day

Fall TV Picks - ABC, CW & CBS

Photo of the Day

Photo of the Day

Home

Fall TV Picks - NBC & Fox

TERRA NOVA - First Look Trailer

Sister Props

Portland

Klamath, CA

Mendocino

Napa

Santa Cruz

Big Sur

Santa Barbara

Last Minute Mother's Day Gift

Quinoa Follow-Up in the Times

Shelter Dogs & Sustainability

Mutually Beneficial Part II: Runners Help the Elderly

Mutually Beneficial: Retirees in Fargo Help Refugees, Who in Turn Help Retirees

Food News

Economic Improvement through Food

Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Rice Crispy Treats

Books Read in 2010

Producer's Guild Awards Selection

Double Rainbow in Burbank

Christmas Wishlist

Op-Ed Columnist: The Gifts of Hope

By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF

Published: December 18, 2010

So what would your aunt prefer as a holiday gift — another Mariah Carey CD, or the knowledge that she’s sending a little girl in Haiti to school for a year?

Blogs Worth Checking Out

Recipes: Sunday's Fall Dinner Party

Brunch Find: Cafe on Park - Hillcrest, San Diego

Must See Movie: '127 HOURS'

Sucker Punch - New Trailer Released!

On Set: Car Composites

Recipes: Soup & "Lasagna"

Pumpkin Spice Latte Cheesecake

Spiced Pork & Apples

Favorite New Band - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

Musical Recommendation (not just because they are my awesome friends)

Fall TV Suggested Viewing

Lauren's Tortilla Soup

Book Recommendation: "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" - Rebecca Skloot

Recipe: Potato Gratin

Book Recommendation: "Infidel" - Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Thunderstorm

Bunny

Nerd City

Sunset

Best thing about being an adult

Hot Stone

Park St #2

Park St #1

Going to "the show"

Feels Great to Move!

$8 Haul at St Louis Farmer's Market

Dinner with Dad

Obligatory Plane Shot

Box O' Booze

LXD - Something To Watch

That's A Wrap

The Book Vs. The Movie (or the TV Series)

Coffee & Cornbread

Butchered

Fox Pushes 'Terra Nova' From Midseason To Fall 2011 After May Preview (Like 'Glee')

"The New Year"

Glass Tuperware

Teaser Trailer

Snapshot

Tomato and Tofu Salad

Raw Planet in Santa Monica