it's joey

Another day, another start!

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

I, all of a sudden, got quite motivated to jot some stuff down...hmmm, what's different about this morning than most 'day off' mornings? I got an early night's rest and slept in, and didn't feel guilty about it. I also had a LOT of energy when I finally rolled out of bed.

So, a couple of things...
First, on my day off yesterday, I did a thing that I was planning on doing. This is a big accomplishment. I'm full of grandiose plans (for me, getting out of the neighborhood is grandiose) that many times transform, or morph into something else.
Ok, back up. I'm not talking Target runs, or Home Depot or actual necessary things, but the "day off go have fun" stuff. Plans change, buses arrive late, places are closed Tuesdays (grrrrr!) but I almost always end up having a good time.

So, back to yesterday.
The Haight, Lower walking to the Upper. The goal, Memphis Minnie's BBQ. We just saw a bit on Check Please Bay Area, the PBS show.
Hopped on the 22 Fillmore and it was packed, packed I tell you. I got off at Haight and walked to the BBQ place.

Loud, lively, full and a photographer was taking pics of the cashiers and cooks. T shirts from other BBQ places adorned the walls and the blues was playing. Just the blues, unidentified.
I ordered the BBQ Brisket sandwich, side of mac 'n cheese and a corn bread muffin, paid my bill and waited. Luckily the tables turned quite quickly so I was able to sit.
Got my sandwich fast and took a seat.

The brisket certainly looked good; fatty, red, meaty on a hard sub roll. The mac was fine, cheesy salty with fusilli, but nothing special. Good cornbread though.
The brisket itself was good,not quite moan factor, but pretty good.
Needed a little more salt, or more uniform salt. Some pieces were saltier than others.
Good smoke, good mix of spices. I really liked the Texas BBQ sauce best.

Oh, moan factor. Um, well it's a non-scientific scale do determine the amount of ecstatic moaning during the eating of food. Not all places qualify. Actually, most places don't. Great restaurants can have no moan factor. Places we go to all the time usually don't,
Good example of moan factor is Zero Zero, for the fried chicken and byo dessert.
Also, there is NO scale in moan factor. It either is or isn't.

Anyway, I'm still looking for moan factor BBQ in SF. I'll go back to Minnie's to try a few a couple more items (pulled pork, ribs)

"Vacation" Fall 2010

2010-10-20T12:54:00.000-07:00

So I took 9 days off from work, went down to SD to see Dad and Sis, and hung around SF when I got back...
For my memory's sake, here's what I did...

Day 1 Tues 10/12

am scone at Cnut bakery,
I decided to do the mission AND Union Square (in the same day!!!!)
Bus, Bart...Off at 16th st and cruised around looking for a taqueria. Craving carne asada and carnitas. I've been to most of them so far (la taqueria, el toro, farolito are my faves)
Tried pancho villa today. Not bad not better than those above. The salsas really stood out.

Headed over to union square for shaving needs and coffee for wife (nespresso).
Grabbed some mini cupcakes from Kara's for snacks.
Home for dinner, boring (nothing out of the ordinary, not actually boring) night

Day 2 Wed
Am Joey trip to the vet (8:20) Uneventful, but fun being out with the cat. Home for shower and dressed, got to get ready for lunch.
Bus to Marlowe, met the wife right at 11:30
Fried Brussels Sprouts were moan factor 4 (of five)
Burger with bacon and cheese was very juicy and flavorful, great fries,crispy yet meat inside.
Lisa's egg salad was very good too.

It's hot today. Home for a while, waiting for cuz mark to call.
We meet downtown and ended up at Barbacco. Damn good. Nice place. Ipad wine list. Sat at bar.
Got bruschetta, crudo (moan factor 4.5) penne with fresh mozzarella and tomatoes, more fried brussels sprouts (really good, but preferred Marlowe's, too strong vinaigrette) I had a pork thing, arancini, but I was too full at that point so I didn't enjoy them as much.

Day 3 Thursday.
Up early, cab to bart, bart to airbart, airbart to airplane, airplane to dad's car, dad's car to family home. In San Diego. We stopped at Old Town for lunch. Cosmopolitan Hotel. Nice, fully restored old wild-west san diego style. Like the Hotel American in Sharon Springs. Good restaurant, had the grilled fish tacos, with sauteed yam, squash, and black beans.
Checked out old town and then headed to fashion valley. Shopping with dad!!!
Macys didn't do it for me so I got nothing there. Got a small Keihls purchase and poking in WS.
Big store, nice. They have a lot of stuff that we don't have.

Got home, hung out for a bit and met andi for dinner at Linlee's in Spring Valley.
Ok, nothing exciting Chinese food. Enjoyed the company.

Day 4 Fri
Net morning we get to go pick up the wife at airport. She's sick! Bummer. Get back home and rally the troops and we end up in Hillcrest. 5th ave Pho for lunch. Dad and sis go exotic!!!
Good warming pho. Walked around hillcrest for a bit. Took long drive home (lemon grove, spring valley) and made it back to watch yanks/rangers game 1. Yanks came back in 8th with 5 runs.

Early night to sleep. Gave Lisa codeine cough meds to help her sleep. Almost slept for 11 hours!!!

Day 5 Saturday

We've got a 340 flight but we want to head to PL seafoods for lunch. As were in the car, heading out there, about noon, Lisa checks her texts...Flight has been cancelled. WHAT?!?!?!?
Lisa gets on the phone and tries to figure out whats up and what do we do. Maybe we can get on the earlier flight, and maybe we wont have to pay more, or maybe we'll bet to go on the 530 flight.
We have a game to watch at 5:00 EXACTLY in SF!!!!!
Luckily PL seafoods is just past the airport, so we decide at the last sec to turn into the airport and see whats up.
Long story short: got on the earlier flight. Only 2/3 full. No extra charge. Looks like they had one too many flights scheduled and not enough people.
Good experience with the parking people at oak.

Anyway, we made it!!! Got parking eventually and missed a couple of outs.
Timmy beat the Doc 4-3 Giants up 1-0 in NLCS!!!

Day 6 Sunday
Lisa's got a bad cold. I've got sports on all day. I let her have the TV for most of morning.
Niner's beat the Raiders!!! Good game too.
My USFL team won!!!
Giants lost to Philly. Oswalt beat us.
Watched Amazing Race at night. Did Chinese food for dinner. Hai sun.

Day 7 Monday
Lisa home with conference calls so I flee.. I had breakfast at Sears Fine Foods.
Quite good. Quite surprised too. Good corned beef hash, good hash browns and good pancakes.
Cool little place. Got a zagat guide to read. Walked down to mint plaze and had the kyoto iced coffee at Blue Bottle. ZING!!!!!!!! Walked down Market St. Stopped at Fog City News for chocolate and the Tablehopper book. Kept walking to ferry building. Did my walk and walked up Broadway to Stockton and back on the bus home. Got coldbusters for Lisa and myself.
MSuper for dinner stuff.

Day 8 Tuesday
Let's Go Giants!!!!!
Went to the game. Cain vs Hamels
WE WIN 3-0!!!!!
Good time, fun crowd (sheik!!), no stress for a playoff game easy in and out...and...
Boobies!!!!!!!!!
Barneys for turkey burgers and sweet potato fries!!!!!

Day 9 Wednesday
Today is my day...
I did laundry. Walked hill. Got disappointed with C'nut bakery 'cuz they stopped making blueberry muffins (!!!!????)
Got Irish scones, soups for dinner/lunch and bunkered in for the day. Got Yanks/Rangers game 5 and Giants tonight.
Back to work tomorrow.........................

Birthday Wrap-Up and Post Game Notes

2010-08-30T14:37:00.000-07:00

Well I just had another birthday, 40-something and pretty much spent the whole time eating.
For record, here's what we had---------
Friday, Parma Italian Restaurant, Lasagna Bolognese and Fettucini Carbonara
Pretty good, nothing special, hearty meals...took entrees home.
Saturday was the Eat Real Festival in Oakland, Jack London Square. Here's the list:

Chairman Bao Pork Belly Buns, best thing we had
Senor Sissig Pork and Chicken Sissig tacos, second best thing
Fatface (fig/creme fraiche and blueberry/lemon/yogurt) and Cranky Boots (banana/salted caramel and strawberry/lemonaide) Popcicles Liked Fatface much better.
Pulled Pork Buns from Phat Matts, were just ok.
BBq Brisket Sliders from Good Foods Catering, were really good!
Fried Chinese Chicken Drumsticks from Iz It? Truck were salty but addictive.
Pork Belly Ramen from Where's Buta. Good noodles, bland pork belly, rich and complex broth.
An average mole tamale from buen comer and a gob from gabba gabba hey was ok.

Sunday:
Canteen for brunch.
Lemon ricotta pancake with blueberries and creme anglaise (like a dessert)
Eggs Bene for the wife (tasty and crunchy but still just eggs bene)

Walked to ferry building and had a salumi cone from Boccalone
Walked to Ghiradelli sq and cabbed home.

Dinner at A16:
Burrata with Olive Oil/Crostini
Pizza Margherita
Maccoronara with Ricotta Salata (on the list!!! now with extra cheesecloth!)
and free dessert: olive oil cake with ricotta cream and blackberry compote

Oh yea, Kara's Coconut Cupcake and a Whoope Pie from Susie Cakes rounded out the day...
most pictures are available for viewing on foodspotting under Ken2.0

It's Been How Long?!

2010-06-16T10:52:00.000-07:00

Yep, It's my usual checking in, shocked (again) that I've failed to keep up on a daily, nay, weekly basis.
Employed again, not satisfied again, but I could do good here.
Gotta work today thru Saturday, then down to San Diego to see Dad and Sis.
I'm starting slowly, no grandiose plans/goals, just bit here and there and hope that this leads somewhere interesting, or at least satisfying to me.

IJ

the guy in the coffee house

2008-06-18T16:21:00.000-07:00

Hey, it's me, the guy in the coffee house in the middle of the day typing away at his computer. You see me all the time, every day, maybe not exactly me, but a different guy, sometimes a bunch of us...girls too, so it's not just guys, typing away, surfing the web, checking out craigslist and re-re-formatting my resume.

Yes, I have a job. It's my day off. I work in retail as a store manager, so my work schedule changes from week to week. And today, for a couple of hours, I'm the guy in the coffee house.

I keep saying (here and other places) that I'm going to start writing my restaurant reviews and stuff, starting in my 'hood, the Marina district of San Francisco, starting with Chestnut St. (because I'm a foodie, addicted to the local/organic/gourmet/artisan/etc... foodstuffs of the Bay Area...I thought you already knew this about me )

Chestnut Street, between Scott and Divisadero, has become, and quite recently, a new gourmet gulch, foodie funhouse, restaurant row, you pick. We have Marina Meats and Seafood, Meze's Greek restaurant, A16 ( james beard award winner),Asa Sushi (an ok sushi place, one of many in the area) Chestnut St Bakery (best blueberry muffins ever...so far), Marina Market (our grocery store with a great selection of Italian products), Coffee Roastery (where a guy, me, sits with his computer and types), and Mamacita (great Mexican food, if you can get by all the pretty people that crowd the bar, and entrance, and dining room...).

Whew! That's just one side of the street. So I guess I could include Bechellis Coffee Shop (a great diner with huge breakfasts and the best blueberry pancakes I've found), or Emporio Rulli (the Italian bakery/coffee roaster/restaurant) and heck, I'll even throw in Karas Cupcakes right around the corner.

That's our little block.

Last 5 restaurants visited:
Fuzio (ok, nothing special)
Barneys Hamburgers ( barneys good, mmmmm)
Plutos (an old marina favorite, cheap and simple)
Zushi Puzzle (some of the best sushi in the city)
Home Plate (greasy spoon breakfast, highly recommended)

Oh, and to all my readers, I'm heading to Vegas in September and would like an amazing dinner. $$$ is not an issue, but the 2 star (via michelin) restaurants don't really interest me. Thanks for all your wonderful suggestions...

until later,
Its joey

it's joey 2.0

2007-06-06T12:17:00.000-07:00

(yawn)
Is this thing on?
Test, one, two, test...

Time to announce the re-birth of Itsjoey (2.0)

This will be my good taste guide to food and stuff in the SF Bay area.
Plus a few random things that catch my fancy.
Nothing too deep or important.
I may even throw in some horror stories from my job as a manager at a major kitchen-cooking retailer.

Creepy Story of the Day.

2006-06-13T16:53:00.000-07:00

It's quite sad too...
Link

Dear Its Joey...

2006-06-13T16:44:00.000-07:00

For all you newlyweds, or "soon-to-be"s, here's just a small piece of advice that will prevent your marriage, (or equivalent relationship) from skidding out of control without you even knowing.

There are two words in the English language that completely change their meaning once you tie the knot. You think you know how to use these two words, but you are wrong. Be careful using these words. And if you hear these words from your spouse, use extreme caution when responding.

The words are "fine" and "nice."
As in "How do I look?" "You look nice." OR "You look fine."

Now that the snows have melted...

2006-05-30T13:43:00.000-07:00

Yawn...the bear has awakened from his slumber and is now looking for food.
But first...UPDATES!!!

Number one: STILL no job.
I've had some good interviews, a couple of not so good interviews (the earlier ones) and some great leads and possibilities. But still no job.

Number two: cool restaurants and stuff
In this weekend alone, we went to:
Cafe Maritime, Yukol Place, Bombay Feast, Bechelli's (all in the Marina) plus La Santaneca del la Mission (papusas and grilled meats!).
We also got a new "Squat and Gobble" right around the corner and it's not too shabby. Salads, crepes, sandwiches, etc...

Number 3: School.
Class is over. I think I got an A, but I haven't received confirmation yet.
I may be taking 2 classes next fall, depending on what sort of job I get.

Number 4: Fun, cool things.
We went to Carnival (in the Mission) the "Day Without Immigrants" rally downtown, the "Rally for Darfur" at the GG bridge and Crissy Field, Alcatraz and the Bring Your Own Big Wheel race down Lombard St..

Ok, so I haven't really been slumbering all winter long. But I'm still quite hungry and must find food.
Let's hope it's not another 2 months until my next post.

My Favorite Article of the Year (so far)

2006-03-20T17:34:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it. Someone actually wrote the article that has been bouncing around in my head for the past 4 years.

Read this!

In a similar vein, I was listening to KFOG the other morning when the news with Peter Finch came on. He usually does the "he said, she said" type of news. You know, "the While House claims 'X', while the Democrats say 'Y'." It's a great way to avoid doing any research and reporting...just repeat what each side says and you move on. There is no check to see if 'X' or 'Y' has any truth to it.
Anyway, the topic was the Feingold Censure resolution and how the Democrats want to censure the president for breaking the law. The "she said" part was a VP Cheney quote saying "if Al Qiada is talking to someone in this country, we want to listen."

And then we moved on to some other story.
Here's what pissed me off.
NOBODY DISAGREES WITH WHAT THE VICE PRESIDENT SAID!
(scary thought, I know)

Political Housekeeping

2006-03-20T16:40:00.000-08:00

I've been trying to wrap my head around what's been going on in the world over these past couple of weeks and it's been getting me down.
With the 3rd anniversary of the Iraq War, the Russ Feingold Censure resolution (and subsequent fear of it by the DC Democratic party), and the "discussion" with my bro-in-law over political issues ringing around in my brain, I just couldn't figure out a way to express the frustration I was feeling.
If the president was still experiencing 60%+ approval ratings, I would just blame it on those misguided fools who still support the guy. But that's not the case.

There's a strong feeling of frustration among the activists, bloggers, and pretty much everyone else that's paying attention, here among the left. It's as if the party leaders in DC still think that playing nice and accommodating will be the ticket to success in November.
The Daily Show had a great bit on this last week. They interviewed one of these "political consultants" and the guy basically said "well, the Republicans are doing so crappy, it's better to sit back and watch them implode."

The response?
"I was getting mugged the other day, and this bum was hitting me over the head with a bottle. I just lay there and did nothing and thought, 'Eventually he will hit himself with that bottle.' And he did--it was after I was unconscious, but I think I won that battle."

Now on to the Feingold Censure resolution:
Do it. There is no down-side.
All I've been hearing for the past 2 years is that the Democrats don't stand for anything. They have no ideas. All not true, of course, but now that a Democrat is standing for something and presenting bold ideas, it's like the party establishment has a case of the vapours and needs to sit down for a spell. Ok, let me turn it over to some people who can express this better than I.

Digby
One of my favorite writers.
Here's his take on the latest "air assault on Iraq" from the other day.

Here's another perspective on this:
From the Unclaimed Territory blog by Glenn Greenwald
Here's Glenn on his latest project...

That's basically how I'm feeling.

Lonely Planet Blue List

2006-03-07T14:53:00.000-08:00

Lonely Planet had this competition where readers submitted their "Blue-Lists"...and what's a blue list? Well, basically it's a list (duh) of things, travel related, that...heck, just read for yourself.

So, I created this list and worked on it for a few days, fine tuning it, deleting sentences, changing the order, you know, the usual stuff, and finally got ready to submit it. I was excited.
So, I go to the blue-list page and see that the "competition is over" which wasn't that big a deal, but I did want to be included in the "competition".
Ok, broken-hearted, I proceeded to enter my list into their form, following directions closely and I kept getting kicked out of the system.
"Too many characters" said the template. So I looked around and checked a lot of other lists and realized that my list was actually (and literally) shorter than some others, so I was quite perplexed. I re-started my computer, changed browsers from Safari to Firefox and nothing worked. I even sent an email to Lonely Planet, but nothing has worked so far.
So, for your reading pleasure, I humbly submit my blue list here:

Not Your Standard Vacation Photos
(or “what did we see on the way to the Louvre?”)

1) Food
“What did we have at that little café in the alley? Oh, yeah, that onion soup…wasn’t it great? Let me see that picture…Wow, Remember those tablecloths! I started making stupid jokes about the pattern and the waiter thought we were laughing at him. I had totally forgotten about that!”
I’ve been taking pictures of the meals, restaurants (inside and out) and menus for our last 3 major trips. The photos of the food bring back the smells, sights, tastes and feelings of the whole dining experience…good and bad.

2) Hotel
Sure, many of them are generic, have views of the pool or a parking lot, feature no lobby and rooms with so little character that you could be in Topeka or Cape Town, but…you spend as much time in your room as you do seeing the sights.
So open those curtains and take a picture of the mini-mall across the street or the Eiffel Tower off in the distance. Pictures of the room itself also help bring back many memories. (Remember that ugly carpet?)

3) Locals
Your vacation experiences are the results of many people going about their daily lives, so take a picture of them and add it to your memories.
The lady at the chocolate shop in Paris? Here’s a picture.
The couple in Singapore that sold us the silk? Here they are.
Our tour guide for the ruins at Monte Alban? Here he is.
Remember the guy and girl who drove us to Stonehenge? Here we are with them.
Here’s a group of schoolchildren on a field trip. They were all so polite!

4) Animals/Pets
I’m talking about the old man walking his dog (if he says ok), the ducks in the pond, the pigeons at the park, the cats pretty much everywhere, and the sheep grazing in the grass. These are the pictures you’ll take on the way to the Louvre, or as you walk through Hyde Park on your way to see Kensington Palace.
(or Avebury, as in the case of the sheep)

5) Quiet streets
Go off of the beaten path and find where the locals live and shop.
Take a picture of the streets just off Chinatown, where the shops end and it’s just small houses, apartments and no tourists. Take shots of the “Marina-Style” houses with the big bay windows, or the dirt road just off the Zocalo, in Oaxaca, where all the homes have rebar sticking out, just in case they decide to add to the house.

We all take pictures of the big things, the stuff that we like to stand in front of and say “I was here” but it’s the smaller things, the things I’ve pointed out above, that can turn your destination from a collection of tourists sights, into a living, breathing place.

Truth In Advertising (Restaurant Review)

2006-03-01T11:14:00.000-08:00

House of Prime Rib.

That pretty much says it all. You want some prime rib, go to the House Of.
You don't want/like prime rib? Watch the rest of your tablemates eat it and hope that the fish special is ok, but don't get your hopes up too high.

It's one of those "Ye Olde Tavern" themed places. Very old-school. Men's Clubby. You can feel the scotch and sexual harassment when you slide in to the worn leather booths.
The service was good. Quite professional and a little bit showy. They prepare the salad (included in the price of the meal) at the table...tossed and spun, holding the dressing high and letting it slowly enter the lettuce. And you get a new chilled fork too.

I love prime rib, and they do it well here. My bro-in-law got an end piece and it looked and tasted great, while I had a normal rare-looking hunk and loved it as well.
Thick, juicy and served with two sides (creamed spinach and mashed potatoes) you'll never go hungry at the HoPR. Another side dish included is the Yorkshire Pudding. Basically a savory pancake-ish item. Not as exciting as it sounds, but not bad either.
But it's not cheap. About 30 bucks for a nice piece of meat.

They serve the prime rib from these giant metal carts that look like a cross between the Hindenburg and an Airstream Trailer.
The cart is wheeled to the table and the prime rib is cut right there for you. It's a cool concept.

Overall a very satisfying experience. Well, there was the heated political argument between me and my brother-in-law.
My BIL is a Republican, but is not too happy with Dubya at this point, nor is he happy with much of the GOP these days. He's slowly coming around and we'll take everything we can at this point. He's more of an old-school Libertarian now.
See, he believes that France is our "enemy" while I said that he listens to too much talk radio. I kept saying "seriously, France is our enemy?"
Eventually I got him to admit his feelings were quite Jr. High School regarding this.
Basically his point was "France thinks it's all hot 'n shit but who do they think they are!?"
The louder "discussion" was based on the NSA spy scandal. I was surprised to hear him and his wife both say "I don't have a problem with the gov't spying on US citizens without any warrants. And if you have a problem with it you must have something to hide."

All I countered with was the Constitution, Soviet Russia, Law and Order (not the show) and basically said that I wasn't so afraid of terrorists that I'm willing to ignore existing laws and put every US citizen under suspicion.
I even asked the Ben Franklin question:
"Are you willing to give up Freedom and Liberty for security?"
Yes, was the answer. I was shocked and quite upset, but after 5 minutes of cooling off time and dessert, we moved to a subject that we could all agree upon:
Gay Marriage (we're all in favor of it).

So, in summary, HoPR:
A great place to take visitors. I go about every other year.

NSA spying scandal:
Illegal

Gay Marriage:
A-ok

France:
I have no problems with sovereign nations (with democratically elected governments) looking out for themselves and their citizens.

"Events"

2006-02-28T17:50:00.000-08:00

This is more or less and excuse to get that darn side-head-shot out of view and down the page...so you're welcome.

But, when did the term "event" become such the marketing tool?

"Centex Homes Lovin' Lincoln Sales Event"
That just sounds wrong.

Every car dealer has a sales event.
And, Every car Maker has a sales event.
Every new TV mini-series (or two-part movie) is an event.
American Idol tonight is a "1 1/2 hour American Idol Event" (no, it's not)

It really bothers me and I wish "they" would stop. It sounds so much like a focus-grouped, market-researched, tested and massaged word that I ignore what is being sold, and instead wonder if anyone in these advertising (or whatever) meetings realizes how "marketed" it sounds. I can't think of another work, except "phoney" maybe, but that's too broad.

Scalpy

2006-02-23T17:21:00.000-08:00

Scalpy...is that even a word?
I got a haircut today. Actually, got them all cut! (thank you, I'll be here all week)
Haircut may not be the best way to describe this. It's more of a "son----boot-camp-isn't-for-sissies-now-drop-and-give-me-twenty!!!" style.
I got home and looked in the mirror and "scalpy" was the first thing that popped into my (scalpy) head.
For the last 10 years, my hair has been getting easier and easier to style (if you get my drift) so I'm neither surprised nor shocked about this development. It's just really really short.

The Uniter

2006-02-22T12:22:00.000-08:00

One of GW Bush's campaign slogans was "GW--Uniter, not a Divider"
Sure, it was funny, like "Compassionate Conservative" or "Reformer with Results"...side note, does anyone else think it's strange that you need to add "Compassionate" to seperate yourself from the normal conservatives? Oh well, it worked...twice...barely.

Ok, back to the Uniter part. We now have proof:

(from Gallup)
"Majority Dissatisfied With U.S. Position in World
Most think Bush not respected by other leaders"

There's quite a bit of good information in there. N

Mini-Restaurant Reviews

2006-02-16T11:13:00.000-08:00

Here's a few reviews of places that I/We've been to in the last couple of weeks.

Zuni Cafe: We finally went there for lunch a couple of weeks ago. We walked right in at 11:45 and were seated immediatly, which was cool.
We both had the Caesar Salad, the Burger, and a mountain of shoestring potatoes.
It was all really good. Especially the burger. Thick, juicy, drippy, cooked right (medium rare was actually medium rare!!!) and the fries were light and crispy.
Out of 5 Unemployment Checks, Zuni rates a 4.
No website and not on Opentable.com.

The Slanted Door:
Located in the Ferry Building (as of now, it's moved twice already) this famous Vietnamese restaurant might the place that started the Vietnamese food craze.
(yes, it's a craze, don't argue with me on this)
It has great views of the bay, a lively and slick professionalism, and service that is always right there when you need them...and usually before.
The food was great. We had the Pho, 5-spiced chicken, sauteed spinach with garlic, and shrimp spring rolls.
While it's a great restaurant with a wonderful location, nice food and service, I feel that you could get close to the same food at any number of good Vietnamese places in the city, and the whole bay area.
My favorite is Ana Mandara, but like Slanted Door, the food is only part of the experience.
All in all, it's a great place to take out-of-town visitors and also for those on business meals.
Out of 5 Unemployment Checks, The Slanted Door rates a 4.

A quick description of my ratings:
1= eh, no reason to go back. (very few places will get this)
2= not bad, some items on the menu are worth having
3= decent, good, more hits than misses, but overall worth trying
4= a quality place, not perfect, but recommended for locals and out-of-towners.
5= the best of the best. Few places will get this consistantly, but individual meals may earn the 5.

Halfsies are permitted (4 1/2)

Mamacita
This is a follow-up to an earlier review, and while I couldn't remember too much about the specifics of that meal, this one will show the same attention to detail.
For example, we don't remember the appetizer that we ordered. Unfortunatly, the Mamacita website doesn't have the entire menu posted, otherwise I'd be able to tell you what we ate.
The entrees we remember. Broiled Salmon for me, and the wife had the Seared Rare Ahi.
That's the best I can describe it right now. Maybe I should take notes next time (Good idea!!!).
But here's the deal. We left the place raving about the food and we already had 3-4 dishes picked out for next time. The service is sooooo much better than the old Cafe Marimba that it replaced, so it also has that going for it.
All they need to do is start up the brunch and lunch menus and get their entire menu online so I can remember what the heck I ate.
The meal that night got 4 1/2 UE Checks. The service gave it the 1/2 point.

Big Brother (but cool)

2006-02-16T11:07:00.000-08:00

Here's an interesting site/tool.
Zillow.com is a website that lets you look at the housing prices on a google maps-ish interface.
You can see what the houses in your neighborhood sold for, or what they are appraised at, or what the range of prices are for similar residences. (if it hasn't been sold or appraised in a while).

It also profiles the houses like a real estate listing.
I checked out my parents house and to be honest, it's quite strange to read about my childhood home like that...4 bedrooms, 2 bath, 2100 square feet, blah, blah, blah...
But...it's also great to see what the prices are for homes, well, just about anywhere.

Cheney's Got A Gun

2006-02-16T10:55:00.000-08:00

By now everyone has heard the news that the Vice President of the United States of America, shot a 78 year-old-man in the face, with a shotgun.
If you haven't heard, or are wondering what's the big deal about Dick Cheney, the US Vice President, shooting an old man of 78 years, in the face (with a shotgun), then just try to remember your reaction the last time a sitting Vice President shot someone, and compare it to now.

After waiting 5 days, Dick Cheney (the shooter and the Vice President of the United States of America) finally decided that it was ok to speak out, but only on Fox"News", which isn't surprising.
Shoot, if I'd shot someone, I'd rather be interviewed by a friend, someone who will understand and take my side in the situation...but alas, I'm just a private citizen and I doubt that FoxNews would feel the need to make nice with me since I cannot provide them with access and power.

You really have to laugh at the people complaining that the "media" are making a too big of a deal out of this...
"A Blowjob? Well, we need 24/7 coverage on every cable channel, but shooting someone in face with a shotgun? Nothing to see here, move along."

Oh well, just another day in crazyland.

Super Bowl XL

2006-02-07T10:43:00.000-08:00

Ok...We had a big game on Sunday, lots of people were watching, lots of money riding on the outcome, and lots of hopes and dreams made and squashed. We've had everyone and (AND!!!) their mothers analyzing, opining and regurgitating the conventional wisdom and offering any contrarian angles that can fill column space. (I'm looking at you Skip Bayless)
So here's my take.

There's been a lot of talk about the refs. "The officials were terrible and wanted the Steelers to win" is one common refrain. This is actually two points, one true, one ridiculous.
The refs were terrible, but they've been terrible all year and Sunday was no different. It appeared that most of the bad calls went against Seattle, but not all.

Let's go through the ones that many of the Seattle fans are upset about.

DJax pass interference in the endzone took away a touchdown:
I've watched this play about 8 times now. It would've been called 8 times. DJax pushed off, the defender moved back after the pushoff and the ref reached for his flag the instant the push-off occurred. There was no hesitation from the ref. (he missed the flag originally, looked back to make sure he had it and then threw it.)
Only Michael Jordan gets away with this (NBA finals vs Utah).
Don't say, "he didn't really push" or "it was a ticky-tacky call".
Djax's arm reached out to the defender, and both players moved away from each other.
Again, it gets called every time.

Holding call takes away Stevens catch at the 1 yard line.
This one was tough for Seattle fans and I understand. John Madden said that he didn't see the hold on the replay but said there could've been, but "not in that picture."
You know, maybe a different angle would've shown it...but we never saw another angle. So no conclusive evidence there...either way. And then the wheels fell off for the Seahawks.

The Roethlisberger Touchdown
Another close call that could've gone either way. The ref called it a touchdown, and on replays, unless you have clear evidence that the call is incorrect, the play will stand as called. People will see what they want in this one.
I couldn't tell either way after repeated viewings, so the play has to stand as called. Iffy call...but it happens all the time.

The Hasselbeck Penalty
After the interception, Matt Hasselbeck made a nice tackle to end the interception return, but was called for a personal foul on the tackle.
This was a bad call. I don't know of anyone who feels otherwise on this one. But it didn't cost Seattle the game.

Calls for Seattle
Yes, there were breaks for the Seahawks, but that wouldn't fit into the narrative of "We got Robbed" that some people are saying. Et Tu Holmgren?
How about Jeremy Steven's "non-fumble?" Or the illegal hit on Ben Roethlisbeger after HIS interception? What I'm trying to say it that there were missed calls on both sides, but in the SuperBowl, they get magnified and dissected just way too much.

I thought it was a poorly played game and both teams had wasted many opportunities.
I was watching the game again last night and noticed that the Seahawks got the ball with 8:57 remaining, only down by 11. They needed a field goal and a touchdown.
They got nothing. And, they fell apart as the clock wound down.
That's why it ended in a loss for the 'Hawks.

Still, for Seahawks fans, it was a successful year and a nice run. Hopefully they'll get back next year and make their fans truly happy.

Oh, btw...can we stop with this "the commercials are the best part" crap? In the late 90's this may have been true. The games sucked and all the advertisers had huuuuge advertising budgets.

Friday Random Tunes plus housekeeping

2006-02-02T16:49:00.000-08:00

Ok,
It's Friday (in 7-ish hours) and I'll probably forget to update itsjoey unless I do it now. It's been a busy week for me. I've had 2 (TWO!!) scheduled activities this week and I'm exhausted.

Here are the 10 random ITunes on my party shuffle.

Bus Stop - The Hollies
Ohh La La - The Ditty Bops
China Grove - The Doobie Brothers
Try Me! - James Brown
Nothing Can Come Between Us - Sade
You're My Best Friend - Queen
Ma 'Tit Fille - Buckwheat Zydeco
Belle - Jack Johnson (my newest purchase "In Between Dreams" CD...love it!)
Drive - REM
Voulez Vous - ABBA

Interesting subtle French theme going on there. I wonder what's up with that.

On to the housekeeping:

My flickr page has been updated to include our Antwerp pictures from 2002. Man, that seems like such a long time ago.
Also, my Virtual Tourist page has been updated with info and images about our Oaxaca trip.

Virtual Tourist
Fickr Page

Why Do People Travel

2006-01-28T16:52:00.000-08:00

I've got my first homework assignment for my class.
(p.s. I'm taking a class at City College! Don't tell anyone.)

"List 20+ reasons as to why people travel."

Sounds easy enough. The professor wants at least 20 reasons and she said that we could come up with 200+ if that's how we wanted to play...oh, and there's a contest to see who can come up with the most/best reasons.
Let's see, hmmm, ok, got it:

Business and Pleasure

That's only 2 and that's not gonna cut it. I've got to break those 2 categories down.

Business:

Convention/Trade Show
Meetings with Clients
Educational or Career Development conferences
Scouting/Searching for business locations
Scouting/Interviewing potential employees
Company Retreat
Prize from employer (for ex. sales contest)
Archeological Dig

Pleasure (includes all that is NOT Business...maybe "Personal" should be the category)

Family reunion
Family roots trip (Ireland, etc...)
Religious pilgrimage
Specific yearly event or festival (Running of the Bulls, Gilroy Garlic Festival, Day of the Dead in Mexico)
Experience cultural shock (Hello Egypt!)
Experience different cultures
Visit archeological sites
Saw it in the "1000 Places to Visit Before You Die" or similar type book.
It's the "Hottest New Thing" in Conde Nast (or other travel magazine)
Friends went there and said "you have to see..."
Experience things that are not allowed in your country (Amsterdam)
See sites from your favorite movie or movies (New Zealand now)
See sites from you favorite book(s) (Jane Austin's England)
Civil War Buffs need to see all things Civil War
Re-Visit Battle sites from WW2/Korea/Vietnam
Holocaust sites
Competing the 50 State tour
Acquiring as many passport stamps as possible
To show children your childhood home.
See sporting events
Participate in sporting events
Exercise
Get away from work/home and clear the mind
Take care of sick relatives
Death of family member/friend
Be with extended family on holidays
Saw an exciting "Rick Steves" episode (or Samantha Brown, Rudy Maxa, Globe Trekker...)
Frequent flier miles expiring
To experience different foods.
Visit a theme park.
Visit Biblical sites
To re-visit a place that holds special memories from a previous trip
To follow the Grateful Dead
To have a family bonding moment(s)

I'll stop there for now. I'll add more as they come to me.

Pancakes

2006-01-20T11:01:00.000-08:00

I've been searching for the ultimate Pancakes/French Toast during my time out from the work-force. (someone's gotta do that, right?)
It hasn't been pretty. Some places just set out the basics, throw some blueberries and bananas on top and declare these the "special" or "ultimate" French Toast.
While I appreciates me fruit, and I love a good blueberry pancake, I don't find this all that "ultimate" or special in any way.
A good breakfast place worth its salt SHOULD have good blueberry (or other seasonal fruit) pancakes. This shouldn't even be up for discussion. I'm looking for basic competency--do they make a good plain pancake/French Toast first, and if they pass that test, then how about the specialty versions.
I'm talking Brie-Stuffed French Toast...Creme Brulee French Toast.
I'm almost scared to try those.
A little Gran Marnier in the batter, Brioche or Challah as the bread (thickly cut)
How about vanilla scented with maple butter...you know, the fancy stuff?

I've searched in my neighborhood and so far a couple of places really stand out, one in particular.

Honorable Mention goes to: Baywatch Restaurant Located on Lombard Street, in the Marina, this restaurant is located under the Cow Hollow Motor Inn.
The service is usually very good, the food comes out quite fast and they have a good variety of selections--scrambles, crepes, frittatas, omelets, pancakes, wraps.
I've been there a bunch of times and it seems to be slipping just a bit.
But, the apple-oatmeal pancakes there are great. Diced apples in the batter, good oatmeal flavor and texture, large sized pancakes. Not too heavy, not too fancy.
A good solid choice. Also, let me add, that if you go to Baywatch and order an egg dish (or something not pancake-y) make sure you ask for the special salsa, or home made salsa, if you prefer. The cooks in the back whip up this authentic spicy salsa. It's very hot, sometimes has avocados in it, and it has a full flavor that you rarely see in salsas. It's more chile based, rather than tomato based.

My current favorite pancakes reside at the Home Plate restaurant, also on Lombard.
This is the ultimate "don't judge a book by its cover" restaurant.
It's small, dingy, but always crowded, and the tiny kitchen is right on top of you.
There's one guy working the kitchen, cooking for everyone, and if you try to watch him, you'll just get dizzy. Sometimes it's not the cleanest place in the world, but
I am usually there on a weekend morning, and even I'M not the cleanest place in the world, so I feel right at home.
Check out the specials on the board, they're always the same, but they show the variety of dishes that this small kitchen and one guy can produce: (for example)
Polenta with Mascarpone
Smoothies
Themed scrambles.

So, you've put your name on the sign-in sheet hanging outside the door, waited the obligatory 15 minutes and finally gotten a seat, hopefully NOT next to the bathroom.
First things that you notice are the fresh scones and home made compote that are brought to your table, for free.
Hot, moist, sweet, these are some of the best scones I've ever had. Slather some of the strawberry/banana compote on them and you're ready for whatever's next.

On to the main point!
Cornmeal Buttermilk Pancakes.
I can taste these now (and I'm eating oatmeal!) and I can't wait until I get these again.
They're like sweet, moist cornbread crepes, in a way, but they're thicker than crepes, though, more like typical pancake thickness.
But they have a crispness on the outside that almost makes them crunchy.
I love these with some maple syrup, butter and nothing else.

My search is not over, there are some lemon-ricotta pancakes that I keep hearing about, but like the proverbial unicorn, I'm afraid that these might just be a myth too.

Tan Rested and Ready

2006-01-20T10:48:00.000-08:00

Ok...So I've spent a good part of the last 2 weeks uploading ALL of our CDs into Itunes, not just the "good ones" that we aren't tired of yet.
It comes to 3897 songs.
I picked through all of this and created my own folder of songs.
That has 3497 songs. (I guess that I buy the bulk of the music in our house...but this collection started in college)
So, now this truly will reflect my tastes. I cannot be embarrassed by any of this anymore. I take full ownership for the Celine Dion song, Jewel, The Carpenters etc...
(in fairness, you can include A Flock of Seagulls and Andy Gibb as well, so it doesn't appear to be gender-based)

Ok, the new and improved version starts now.

All Just To Get To You--Joe Ely
Life Less Ordinary--Carbon Leaf
Girl--Beck
I Second That Emotion--Smokey Robinson
All Of My Heart--ABC
Here With Me--Dido
Oye Como Va--Santana
You Can't Catch Me--Chuck Berry
Sweet And Tender Hooligan--The Smiths
Love Spreads--The Stone Roses

Even I like this list.

Pretend Trips

2006-01-18T13:18:00.000-08:00

I love to travel. It is my hobby, my passion, what have you, and nothing really gets the juices flowing as when I get to choose a vacation destination and plan the itinerary.

Not all of these trips come to pass. Some (Prague-Vienna-Budapest) were chosen too soon..meaning that we had other places to see first.
Some (Italy) get pushed back a year here, divided into two trips there, and get re-worked every couple of months. I've got a Northern Italy week, a Southern Italy week, and a Tuscany week all planned and ready to go. Oh, a week in Rome as well.
I just need to book a flight and hotel and I'm set.

The latest pretend trip:
Amsterdam-Cologne-Antwerp-Brussels
Short version...we might go to Europe in the fall. We love Amsterdam, never been to Cologne, need to buy a diamond in Antwerp (and see it again), and fly out of Brussels.

I've planned 10 nights. That's about as long as we can take being away from home.

1:Arrive in Amsterdam, late morning, early afternoon. Jet Lag day. Visit a Coffeeshop, Red Light district, wander the old city. Stay awake until normal sleep time.

2:Relaxing day.
Amsterdam Historical Museum/Bejinhof--2 hours
Wander along the canals, pancake house for lunch.
Leidseplein, Jordaan...
Van Gogh Museum
Indonesian dinner

3: Day trip day.
The Hague-Mauritshaus, Panorama, knights Hall, Peace Palace
Delft-wander and dinner

4:Amsterdam free day
The wife will get some say on this day.

5:Amsterdam to Cologne train. 3 hours
Explore city center, cathedral, Roman museum

6:Cologne. Rhine river cruise to koblenz, train back (or train TO koblenz, Rhine cruise downriver back to cologne)

7: Cologne to Antwerp
Explore old town center, waffles, frites, mussels.
8: Diamond shopping in Antwerp. Stay in old town.

9: Day trip to Brugges, stop off in Ghent for 1 hour, along the way.
Do the Brugge thing: canals, churches, lace, wander...
Back in Antwerp at night.

10th and final day and night:
Antwerp-Train to Brussels. The plan is to stay at the airport Sheraton.
Get in around noon...head into town. Play in Brussels all day.

Fly home in the morning.

This is a tentative plan. When dates get finalized, I'll be able to fine tune and shuffle activities as needed...museums are closed on certain days, etc...
Since we've already been to Antwerp, Brussels and Amsterdam, some of the major sites have been kept off of the itinerary.
I'll also gather a list of restaurants that I want to hit, and we'll probably get to half of them. That's usually how that works out.

So there you have it. A fake-planned trip. We have plenty of free time on this journey and we won't suffer any burn-out on the museum/cathedral sightseeing.

MacWorld

2006-01-11T19:27:00.000-08:00

I went to the MacWorld Expo today and something there really struck me.
I thought to myself "I could beat up about two-thirds of the people there."

Seriously, about two-thirds of the crowd I could take.
Now there are very few venues where I can kick the majorities ass, trust me on this. I'm a lover, not a fighter, as the song says, and I've always been able to talk people out of fighting me.

But, as I was walking around the MacWorld exhibit hall, this thought ran through my head:

"I think I could beat up about two-thirds of the people here."

The Year in Cities

2006-01-11T19:13:00.000-08:00

What a great idea! (unless you don't go anywhere, then I guess you really don't care about this, but just play along, thanks.)

Via Kottke, (which itself is a great blog-ish type site) comes this:
The Year in Cities.

What cities have you visited in 2005?
(I live in San Francisco CA)

San Diego
Los Angeles and many of its suburbs.
Berkeley
Oakland
Sausalito, CA
Paseo Robles, CA
Vancouver, BC
Portland, OR
Reno, NV
Oaxaca, MX
Mitla, MX
Teotitlan de la Valle, MX
Ocotlan, MX
Etla, MX
Mexico City Airport, MX

I believe that's it.
Ahh, North America, how I limit myself to your charms...

Happy New Year!

2006-01-11T19:10:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to say "Happy New Year" to everyone. I hope we all find peace and happiness in all that we do.
And glad to see everyone survived the "War" On Christmas (2005 edition)

Frida's? Oh, I see.

2005-12-30T17:36:00.000-08:00

So, I had vowed to never set foot into a Chili's, Friday's, Red Lobster, Olive
Garden or anything similar, ever again. I knew that this was an unrealistic vow, since in some areas, it's the only place to find "professionally" made food.

So, with this vow in my head, I really tried (really!) to steer the group in another direction when I found myself in SoCal, at an amusement park (Knott's) with my 2 god-sons in tow. But, being the good non-parent, I realized that whatever was convenient for the kids would be best. So, when dad said, "What's this Frida's over there?" I almost got excited, until I turned around and saw it. The "Y" was missing, but I could smell the faux-happiness from where I was standing.
It was Friday's and there was no line to get in.

My bigger problem...I wasn't hungry...at all. It's a long story and I'm not getting into it here.

This was a newer Friday's, not as "striped" (red and white) as other versions I've seen.
It looked modern, not stuck in some 1987 daquiri-potato skin smelling, fern decor that these places usually feature.

The server was the typical bubbly, over-coached, young go-getter. Nice personality, and did a nice job taking care of us and the kids.

Now for the food. I had a bowl of French-onion soup. It tasted fine.
I would get it again and not complain. The rest of my dining partners had some sort of sizzling pasta dish, or some sizzling fajita dish, or some large (non-sizzling) salad. None of the other dishes looked very appetizing. But that's not really the issue.

I went to Friday's, didn't complain to anyone, ordered and ate food in peace, and actually had a decent time. That was a big step. Now don't tell anyone about this.
This'll be our little secret.

Now for a real review.
The wife and I met for lunch near her office and we chose a new place, called...oops.
I've lost the menu and I can't remember the name. It's French. La Coulte or something like that. It's from the folks who brought us Chez Papa and Chez Maman and as soon as I track down that menu, I'll post the review.
Let me just say that it was very good. Very French.

Still Here

2005-12-29T16:51:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to tell all my fan (Hi Wifey!) that I'm alive and relatively healthy, back from a SoCal trip over the holidays, fresh off a week (pre-holiday) of bed and painkillers due to a whack back, and chock full of restaurant reviews and mini-harangues, all disorganized and not quite fully fleshed out...

As a tease, I'll give you a brief synopsis of a new restaurant in the Marina.
In the former space of Cafe Marimba, we now have Mamacita.
Still a Mexican restaurant.
Still a hoppin' bar and hangout for the young marina types.
Still hard to get in to at night.

But...

NOT Still brightly painted and festive (it was reminiscent of Day of the Dead)
NOT Still featuring dumb-distant servers, hired on appearance over skill
NOT Still serving lunch (the one I'm most bitter about)

Ok, how about the food?
To be honest, I can't remember too much. Sorry, but it was in early December when we went. The overall impression was that it was good, not great, but could be as we continue to go through the menu. I remember the Tortilla Soup being outstanding and the Ahi Tartare being better that usual. Nothing else stands out.
Don't get me wrong, we're looking forward to another visit.
We want to try the Chilequiles (tortilla chips with Chipotle cream sauce and roasted chicken) and few of the entrees. You really can't get a good "feel" of a place, especially a new restaurant, on only one visit.

Tomorrow (hopefully) I'll tell you about this little place in Buena Park, California, right next to Knott's Berry Farm (UGH!) that I ate in last week.
A quiet little "mom and pop" place I like to call TGI Fridays!

PS...according to Mamacita's website (and confirmed by an employee) they will be serving lunch and brunch shortly.

Something, Anything!

2005-12-02T15:33:00.000-08:00

You know, it's quite hard to come up with something every single day.
Sure, I could take the easy way out and just do the "link to other bloggers" routine (sure, once in a while it's ok) but I'd just feel cheap, and you people deserve better.

I've got this piece on Tea' Leoni that I'm working on. (whaaaaa????)
Ok, here's the deal. The amount of publicity she receives is not in proportion to the work (amount AND quality) she produces. She's on all the talk shows, magazine covers, etc..., and what has she done? Jurassic Park 3? I feel like someone somewhere is forcing me to pay attention to and like her. And it really bothers me. And I've always felt this way about her.

There...I feel much better.
I'm also working on my first annual "Best of the Marina/Rest of SF" Food edition.
Actually, those are two different things. My favorite things to eat in SF AND a Marina food review.

And then I remembered what day it was! Friday!!! And we all know what that means...
First let me explain the "remembered it was Friday" deal. When you're out of work, days of the week lose much of their significance. Monday really doesn't feel all that different from Wednesday (Tuesday has the loud air raid/terror alert siren at noon, so that makes it special) and Friday just seems like another day.
But Friday for me means that I have an automatic-instant-blog-post all ready to go!
It's like the "Thanksgiving Busy Airport" or "Kids Getting Fat" or "Housing Market Set to Crash" stories that are run yearly without any thought to what is being said.
Just plug in updated words and show the same old file footage...
Think Mad-Libs, but not funny.

Back to me.
Today is the Itunes Party Shuffe-a-thon 2005 (December Mix)
Here we gooooooooo!

Fool--Hootie and the Blowfish
Close to me--The Cure
Break on Through--The Doors
Take Me Home--Phil Collins (my favorite Phil Collins song)
Bicycle Race--Queen
Tere Bin Nahin Lagda--Partners in Rhyme (Bend it Like Beckham soundtrack)
Even the Losers--Tom Petty
Syeeda's Song Flute--John Coltrane
Back to the Old House--The Smiths
My City of Ruins--Bruce Springsteen

Ta Daaaah
Thank you, I'll be here all week.

New Words

2005-11-30T14:59:00.000-08:00

Did everyone enjoy their "Black Friday?" You know, the day after Thanksgiving , big shopping day, THAT Black Friday?
Didn't it seem like every article described this day as "Black Friday?" I had never heard this term before...or at least it was never like this year.

So, I finally got over my "Black Friday" obsession and what comes along?
"Cyber Monday"
Is this real? Will every day have a modifier? Malaise Tuesday, Chewy Wednesday, Unreliable Thursday...

Weekly Restaurant Review

2005-11-28T13:30:00.000-08:00

Today's installment of "Weekly Restaurant Review" won't have the same biting commentary, tasty morsels of gossip, or sweet smell of failure that previous reviews have exhibited...nope, none of that this time.
The reason? Well, it's simple, really...I didn't pay attention to what I was doing!

You see, we (the wife and I) met our friend (let's call her Paulo) for brunch at Sydney's Home, located in the SF JCC, and I was so busy catching up with our friend, that I didn't really pay attention to what I was eating.
Some restaurant reviewer I am, right?

Ok, so in a nutshell: I had the corned beef hash and eggs. Good tender corned beef, but it was mostly potatoes, and some finely diced peppers. Good flavor, but I could've used more corned beef in my corned beef hash.
Service was fine, nothing special, nothing bad, just fine, which was good considering we were talking during the entire meal.

It's a nice restaurant for the JCC. The brunch menu had a decent selection of about 15 items (eggs, sandwiches, salads,), not too heavy on the Jewish items...it's not a deli nor a traditional Jewish-style restaurant, but they had only one (1) pancake/french toast entree, and I was craving some good doughy breakfast foods.

So, out of a total of 5 pancakes (my newest creation: the 5 level scale of restaurant quality...this will probably change for the next review)

3 pancakes
I know that's a cop-out rating, but it's an honest one. For our needs, at that time, it was a 3.
Anyway, we walked home, 2.1 miles.

Friday's Itunes Party, TODAY!

2005-11-28T13:15:00.000-08:00

So, I'm thinkin' 'bout Itunes, getting ready to fire up the ol party shuffle and let the chips fall where they may, when I realize that I'm missing a few songs from my Itunes library. Like Neil Diamond, Abba, B-52s, Echo+Bunnymen etc... I've got the CDs, but I guess I didn't copy them into Itunes. Some of it is the wife's music (Neil, Abba...nothing wrong with them. I'm not a judger), some CDs must've been in the car when I did most of the transferring to Itunes, so I decided to get those "lost" CDs into the computer before I gave you another incomplete representation of my music.

I haven't finished this project yet, but I feel it's my duty to plug away and give you (the people) a taste, a tease, an amuse bouche (if you will) of what's available in my playlist. Most of you won't even be able to tell the difference...but I can, and isn't that really all that matters?

OK...let's see if any of that new music made it to this weeks list:

Say Goodbye--Dave Matthews Band
To Cut a Long Story Short--Spandau Ballet
Here and Now--Del Amitri (a newly added song)
Caribbean Blue--Enya (another new song!)
Guns of Navarone--Special AKA
Clubland--Elvis Costello
The New Pollution--Beck (new!)
The Pretender--Jackson Browne
Join Together--The Who
The Ledge--The Replacements

and there you have it.

Restaurant Reviews II

2005-11-22T13:07:00.000-08:00

I promised a second review, and here it is...

La Santaneca de la Mission, Salvadorean and Mexican food.

The wife and I had a free Saturday and we walked (WALKED!!!) from our house to the bart station...from the Marina, Chestnut to Polk, down Polk to Market for a walk of 3+ miles.

Anyway, we got to the Mission and walked around for an hour before we got really hungry. We passed some nice looking taquerias, some Peruvian places, some other Central American and South American places and finally settled on this little Salvadorean place that was busy with families and had some pleasant latin (is that the right way to say that?) music that you could hear from the sidewalk.

It was nice, loud (the children and the music) and it smelled like fried corn.
They had a Mexican Favorites page, a Salvadorean Specialties page and a page of appetizers and whole section on Papusas.
Papusas are like a stuffed, chewy corn tortilla. At La Santaneca you can get them stuffed with cheese, beans, pork or any combination of those. They're fried on the griddle and served with a pickled cabbage slaw that you're supposed to wrap with the papusa. They're really good and cheap. Most of the tables had a large plate in the center, full of papusas.

For our main entrees, the wife chose from the Mexican side and got a tostada. Sounds plain, but it was small corn tortilla, piled high with chicken, lettuce, avocado, a "Ranchero"-style sauce, served with rice and beans.
I had the Relleno con Carne, a (mild) poblano chile pepper, filled with diced pork, rice and spices, covered in an egg batter, and deep fried...it had a nice red sauce on top and came with the same rice and beans as the wife's Mexican dish did.

Both entrees were great, but the real draw here is the papusas. We were happy about our newfound discovery and planned on keeping our find to our small circle of friends.
Apparently, we're not the only ones...

Restaurant Reviews I

2005-11-22T12:29:00.000-08:00

We've got a couple of new restaurants to talk about, one in the Mission, the other in Larkspur.

Let's turn our attention to the Larkspur place first...

Yankee Pier
I was there with the wife for a friend's birthday recently and had high hopes for this place. It's a member of Bradley Ogden's mini-empire of restaurants (Lark Creek Inn, One Market, etc...) and I've had great times at some of these establishments, but this disappointed me a little. This is supposed to be modeled after one of those east coast fish/clam/crab/lobster houses that dot the northeastern shore. The menu featured all of those things. Nothing too fancy, nothing over $25, most entrees in the $12-$19 range.

The service was good, solid, timely, so nothing there took away from our experience, and I should give a compliment to the host (manager?) who was running the front stand and keeping us posted on the status of our table...he kept us well informed. Our server was pleasant, nothing special, nothing above and beyond, but just good.
It was the food that let us down, or let ME down especially.

We started off with their Clam Chowder and the "wedge" of iceberg lettuce. Again, this was fine, but nothing special. The wedge was served with blue cheese dressing, and not much else. Good but plain. The wife had the clam chowder. It wasn't too potato-ey, with small pieces of bacon to give it a nice smokey flavor, but it wasn't hot enough and the clam to soup ratio was lacking.

For our entrees, I had the Fish and Chips, while the wife had the Lobster Roll.
The Lobster Roll was really good. Possibly the best I've had on the west coast. It was served with fresh-cut crispy fries and coleslaw. The fries were great, the slaw was ok, good but not great.
There was a lot of lobster with a light tasting mayo sauce, with only a little filler for texture (celery, onion) on a buttery, crispy sliced roll. I'd get this again.
The Fish and Chips looked great, the fries were great, the slaw seemed better on my plate, but the fish was bland. I fixed it up with vinegar and tartar sauce, but there wasn't any flavor coming from the fish.
All food items were fresh and the server and manager both emphasized the freshness and seasonality of all the products on the menu, so it wasn't poor quality ingredients that let me down.

The desserts were really good. We all shared 3, the butterscotch pudding, a black and tan sundae, and lemon meringue pie. The butterscotch pudding had the consistency of creme brulee, smooth, silky, rich, with a nice butterscotch flavor. The black and tan sundae was neither black, nor tan...just some vanilla ice cream, caramel, chocolate sauce, etc...small and simple. It tasted fine, but one Ghirardelli hot fudge sundae is 4 times the size, for the same price. The Lemon meringue Pie was really good too, quite tart, with a nice meringue.

I think some of my disappointment stems from my expectations from a Bradley Ogden restaurant, and my comparisons to a similar seafood restaurant in my neighborhood...Cafe Maritime
It's a small seafood restaurant, limited menu, nice raw bar selection, but amazing clam chowder and some really creative entrees. It's not a "east-coast-clam/crab/lobster house" style restaurant, but it's close.

I think next time I'll just get a lobster roll and the butterscotch pudding. That should make me happy.

I'll talk about the place in the Mission in my next post...

Welcome to Washington DC Jr High School

2005-11-21T13:49:00.000-08:00

Can you believe this?
I thought the vote to deny Maudell Shirek, the former Berkeley councilwoman, from having a Berkeley post office named after her was silly, sophomoric and shortsighted (nobody had really heard of her outside of NorCal, so it was an easy one to sweep under the rug, I guess).

Now we have this one...refusing to honor Bruce Springsteen because he campaigned for John Kerry.

I think I'm finally speechless...

Good Cop-Bad Cop, or just Two Bad Cops?

2005-11-21T13:47:00.000-08:00

The President and VP are confusing me. Is it OK to criticize the war or not? I'm getting mixed messages. One day it's all "criticizing the war only emboldens the terrorists" and the next day it's all "a good debate is necessary for a democracy to thrive."

Football Follow-up

2005-11-21T13:32:00.000-08:00

Let me follow up just a tad on the football post from last week. Maybe try to explain myself a little bit better. The SD info is all well and good, but my "jump" to 49er fan seemed a little hasty, at least it seemed to me.

Like I said, I didn't like the Niner's at all in SD. "At least they weren't the Raiders" was the only saving grace for them. (my Raider hatred runs deep, as well as that for the Dodgers, too...this will not change, ever!)
But I moved up here, followed the team, saw them on TV every week, saw the players on TV pitching cars, loans, steak places, etc...so they lost that "enemy" look about them.
Plus hearing them interviewed on radio and tv all the time made them less hate-worthy and more human (again, Raiders and Dodgers are excluded from this type of humanity).
And they were winning too. It was Steve Young's last days, and the team was still really good, and when Jeff Garcia took over after that, it was like I was starting all over with my very own new QB.
So, where am I now? The team is really bad, not much to root for, but things are (may be) looking up. I watched the game yesterday with more intensity, actually paid attention to the announcers, the plays, the missed plays and found myself really caught up in the action. Instead of waiting for a team to catch my fancy, I'll follow the local boys and hope that they can continue to get better and make the playoffs soon. And in the off-season, I'll pay attention to the draft.

I can do this...I just hope the team doesn't let me down.

Friday Itunes-apallooza!

2005-11-18T16:12:00.000-08:00

Grab your mouse, crank up those speakers, and get ready for an Itunes explosion!!!
Or, if you'd prefer, just read what songs are on my Itunes random party shuffle:

Shake It Up: The Cars
Walking On The Moon: The Police
Everywhere I Go: The Call
Reap The Wild Wind: Ultravox
Nightclub Jitters: The Replacements
When Tomorrow Comes: Eurythmics
I Ran: Flock of Seagulls
Just You and Me: Chicago
Your Sweet Voice: Matthew Sweet
Bush Doctor: Peter Tosh

There ya go!

Missing Football

2005-11-18T15:13:00.000-08:00

I miss Football.
Not in the "back in my day, I could run circles around these pros with their long hair and loud music...I miss getting on the field and hitting people" way.
I never played organized football (baseball was my sport), so that's not what I'm talking about.
I don't miss it in the "it's March, the pro-bowl is just a memory and I've got to wait HOW LONG for training camp to open???" sense either.

So how, and more importantly, why, in the middle of an interesting season, with plenty of controversies (T.O. anyone), surprises (the Bears?? are you kidding me?) and great teams playing greatly (the Colts, for those not paying attention) would I cry and wail about missing football?

Well, it's simple really.

I don't have a "team" anymore.

Growing up in San Diego, I was one of the biggest Chargers fan you could find. It took a while, the early-mid 70's were a big wasteland, for the most part, and I was too young to appreciate the John Hadl, Lance Allworth (and Johnny Unitas) teams, but in 1973, the team drafted a young QB out of Oregon by the name of Dan Fouts, and all of San Diego Charger's history took a brave new step. Of course, the coach, Don Coryell was the main architect of this new team, but Fouts was the bearded face and new stud that would re-write the record books.

It took a few years, but I was in 7th grade and had plenty of time to nurture my fan-dom.
I would watch every Sunday and although my mood depended on how the game would turn out, I wasn't quite a "live, die and bleed" fan at this time, and "we" didn't have any recent history and heartbreak (yet) that scarred me. I was an innocent fan, enjoying the game and players, getting bummed when they lost, and looking forward to the next game...

Then they started to get better.

In '75 they were 2-12 (ugh!), but each year after, they showed marked progress:
76: 6-8
77: 7-7
78: 9-7 (Coryell's first year)
79: 12-4 (Now we're talking!)
80: 11-5 (still going strong)
81: 10-6 (1 game away from the Super Bowl...AGAIN!)

That 79-81 run is still etched into my memory. Fouts, JJ Jefferson, Chuck Muncie, Wes Chandler, Louie Kelcher, Gary "Big Hands" Johnson, Ed White, Kellen Winslow, Charlie Joyner, Rolf Binerschke. All names from my childhood.

That damn "Super Chargers" song. I loved that song.

This is when they broke my heart. I cried in '79 when they lost that playoff game against the Oilers...the OILERS!!! Cried like a baby. That was OUR year. We had beaten both Super Bowl teams, Rams and Steelers, and nobody was going to stand in our way. Well, the Oilers did, I guess. I would never be the same. This was my first sports heartache.

Anyway...what I'm getting at here is that I no longer feel that connection to the Chargers...or any team. A couple of reasons why:

I moved away from SD. That's not the whole reason because when I was living in Arizona, I was still a huge Charger's fan. They went to the Super Bowl because of me (I moved out of SD, thus reducing the pressure on the team to perform well.)

I moved to SF, where I got caught up in 49'er fever!!!!! Not the full reason either.
I never liked the Niners, mostly because of their obnoxious fans and the fact that they won all the time, but I got accustomed to their faces, I guess. And as Steve Young got older, I started to respect the team a bit more, and I finally fully jumped ship when Jeff Garcia took over as QB. But still, I'm a fan, but not a die-hard fan, and now that they are especially bad, I've found plenty of other things to do on Sundays. Maybe I'm one of those (gasp!) bandwagon fans, only there when the team is doing well.

Or maybe I've grown up, found other priorities, and moved on to a happier place.
Or maybe, it's because of fantasy football. I think that's it. I like players, not teams, root for individuals, not teams, pay attention to stats, not won-loss records...

I guess that, like life, it's a combination of those things. I'll keep you posted.

Random Musings

2005-11-16T13:28:00.000-08:00

Ok, should I talk about the Bill O'Reilly thing? I mean seriously, blow up Coit Tower because of a political difference? Either ignore it or laugh at the silliness of his "logic."
I could go on and deconstruct his thought process, but we're all intelligent people here, so there's no need for me to state what we already know. But just for old times sake: Bill's Sex Scandal.

On another note, it's unseasonably warm in the City, been that way for a couple of days, and I'm not liking it...(stop me from becoming a Larry King column...)

You want more Federal government corruption? Here's a two-fer:

#1) Kenneth Y Tomlinson, former chairman for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, "broke federal law and repeatedly violated the organization's rules and code of ethics in his efforts to promote conservatives in the system, an endeavor that included consultation with White House officials, according to the findings of an internal investigation made public Tuesday."

Basically, he tried to make PBS more conservative, (by breaking rules) and then lied about it. As a Bush appointee, he sounds like he's doing a heckuva job.

#2) " Top federal health officials may have rejected easier access to the morning-after pill before reviewing all the scientific evidence, according to an independent audit Monday that renewed charges that politics trumped science."
So, the conservatives in congress decided that their own personal beliefs are more important than scientific fact (hmmm...a common problem with these guys?)

The article goes on: "Monday's report is the latest blow to the credibility of an agency that by law is supposed to base decisions on science, not politics or industry pressure. Top-ranking FDA officials have acknowledged they overruled their own scientists' decision that nonprescription sales of emergency birth control would be safe — and the agency's women's health chief resigned in protest."

And that's how our government spends our tax dollars...

If you still have some leftover anger, how about sending it Target's way:
Target still will refuse to dispense the "Plan B" or morning after pill, if the individual pharmacist has a "moral objection" to the pill.

No word yet on the Jewish check-out girl refusing to sell you Spam because it isn't Kosher...

What A Country!

Friday Random Itunes

2005-11-11T11:44:00.000-08:00

Ok, back to an old regularly scheduled feature, and not too original either!
Fire up the ol' Itunes, hit party shuffle, and let your private music be the window that people use to make snap judgements about you.

Ready? OK!

Straight In At 37: The Beautiful South
Don't Stop: Fleetwood Mac
Carolina on My Mind: James Taylor
Bigot Sunshine: Tonic
Top of the Pops: The Smithereens
Plush: Stone Temple Pilots
Into the Gap: Thompson Twins
Let's Go Crazy: Prince
Reelin' & Rockin': Chuck Berry
Criminal: Fiona Apple

There...now go judge me!

Todays mini-adventure: I'm off to Union Square. It's the weekend of the big Cal-USC game, and there is a giant pep rally downtown. My cousins from LA (attends USC) are in town and I get to show them around.

Greetings and (aaaah--choooooo!)

2005-11-10T13:05:00.000-08:00

Allergies. Don't you hate them? And that word, All-er-gy. It almost sounds French.
I think that's what my problem is today. (and no, I don't have to come up with a problem every day)
It rained here over the past 2 nights and many times that kicks up my allergies. Stuffy head, itchy eyes, runny nose, sneezing and the ol' brain just feels like it's filled with too much cotton. Waaaaa for me.

Ok, enough of that, on to the meat (if I may) of this post.
There isn't any, meat, that is. I went to Real Foods (a local organic supermarket) and picked up some frozen foods for snacking. I got veggie chicken nuggets, veggie pizza rolls, veggie taquitos, veggie egg rolls...blah, blah, blah. Now, I'm no vegetarian, I loves my meat, but these items looked and sounded good. So yes, I fell for the marketing. No big whoop though, these weren't new products for me, I've tried most of this stuff over the years.

I think I'll lay low today...it's starting to get cloudy, I'm hopped up on allergy medication, and it's Thursday.

Wow, what a worthless blog post. I'll try to do better next time.

ArNOld

2005-11-09T13:00:00.000-08:00

Well, well, well...we had a little "referendum on the governor" yesterday and how did it all turn out? Well let me just say that it appears that the bloom is off the rose, this ship has sailed, the honeymoon's over, the fat lady has sung, the horse has left the barn, the fruit has fallen from the tree, the milk has curdled and the actor who wanted to be governor has lost every single one of his pet initiatives.

I'm kinda proud of my home state again. One gets the feeling that we're finally waking up and saying "we elected WHO to be our governor?!?!"
(full disclosure...I did NOT vote for him)

Interesting breakdowns of the voting caught my eye. We always hear about the 2 Californias, Northern and Southern, but looking at the vote results maps, one could safely say that the split is between the coastal cities and the rural interior.
Or the educated populated areas versus the lonely hicks out in the sticks.
Ok...that's a cheap shot and not quite accurate so I take that back.
San Diego and Orange Counties provide the exception to this generalization, so it's not just where the colleges are located...just the good ones. (rim shot!)
(ok, another disclosure, the wife and I both graduated from San Diego State)

I'm not too sure what all these vote results mean, besides people not liking Arnold like they used to, so I'll wait and see how this all plays out in the spin wars. My take on it is that people weren't voting for the specific initiatives so much, but against the idea of this special election.
So far though, if you're a Democrat, you're happy with the results here and nationally. You can feel the tide turning and hopefully this electoral momentum (and the Republicans propensity to get indicted) can carry onto 2006 and we can get some real victories and make progress in the upcoming years.

My date with the Prince!

2005-11-08T12:41:00.000-08:00

I'm the guy who took the picture!

Prince Charles and Camilla were in town speaking at the SF Ferry Building so I hopped on the bus and made my way down there...it's one of the few perks of being unemployed.
There was a crowd of about 100 people hanging out, talking on their cell phones, waiting for the royal couple to exit the building and walk past us. It was a mix of office dwellers on extended lunch breaks, and tourists who wandered by. You either knew exactly what was going on, or started asking questions. Every conversation went like this:

"Hey, what's going on here?"
"Prince Charles and Camilla are inside and we're waiting for them to come out."
"What?! Prince Charles?!?!?!? You're kidding? Honeyyyy, Prince Charles is in there!!!!"

And they would join the crowd.
We waited about 2 hours, but there was always some kind of commotion going on to pass the time.
Secret service guys would move us around, various people would leave the reception and we'd all ask, "who's that???" and nobody would know. The press camera guys would start to get antsy and we'd all perk up thinking this was the moment.
Then the limos moved, the streets were blocked off, motorcylce cops were everywhere, the press were manning their cameras...and Gavin Newsome walked out. He waved, made a joke about being surprised at the crowd and shook some hands. His ex was with him.

Then the royal couple appeared. They walked down the steps of the building, waved at the crowd, posed for some pictures, and started to make their way past everyone to the waiting car. Then they split apart and moved toward the crowd and shook hands and chatted with us. It was a nice moment. I couldn't imagine our Bubble Boy president doing something like that, at least not without his hand-picked crowd, saying only government-approved fawning comments.

And then they got into the limo and sped off.

It was pretty cool.

Chapter 2 (or is it 3 by now?)

2005-11-07T11:20:00.000-08:00

Good morning and welcome, I'm not Joey and this is my blog. Quite a few changes going on in these here parts, with the "being laid off" and the "going on vacation" things taking up most of my time lately. So, here's where we stand at this point.

Unemployed, looking, but not looking too hard yet. I'm leaving the exciting world of staring at a computer screen for 8 hours a day (this blogging part doesn't count as staring, because I'm actively creating something here...in theory) and hopefully finding a new career in either the Travel and/or Food Industries.

Quick point of pop-culture reference (and embarrassing "Friends" trivia)...remember when Chandler was unemployed and he took a job as an intern at the advertising agency?
(please say 'yes')
That's sort of where I am at this point.

So, every day, I'll be sitting here, writing about the job search, writing about my days in "the city" (that would be San Francisco, CA) writing about just whatever comes across my desk, mind, etc... that would be worth writing about. I've decided to get serious about this writing thing, keeping the blog updated DAILY (!!!), maybe not on weekends, though, and just forcing my opinions/thoughts/daily doings on the vast population that reads these blog thingys.

Again, that is the plan.

So, for today I've already done the following:
File unemployment insurance claim
Call 401k people regarding account
paid bills
fill out COBRA health insurance forms
climbed up the Fillmore Hill (whew!)
visited PEETs, in the Marina

It's only 11:30am, and my list of stuff to do is barely dented.
I'm busier now than when I was working!

Quick digression:
I mentioned earlier (thanks for paying attention) of a vacation. The wife, also not Joey, and I went on a little vacation. We spent a week in Oaxaca, for the Day of the Dead celebration...eating food, visiting ruins, seeing small craft villages and artisan workshops. We got a rug weaving and dying demonstration, saw how the famous Oaxacan Black Pottery is made, toured a small Mezcal producing plant and ate grasshoppers. I even got ill and stayed in the hotel room for 2 nights.

Small bit of trivia that only I cared about: Anderson Cooper (CNN) was staying at our hotel, and Pete Wilson (Local news guy, radio talk show host) was on our plane back from LA.

Ok, I can hear it now...PICTURES!!! Where are they???
Relax and go here:
Oaxaca Pictures
I'll be putting some more up there later today and all this week.

see ya tomorrow...I'm off to the Ferry Building to see Prince Charles and Camilla.
(I know, that sounds like a fake sentence, but it's true)

Oldest Noodles in all the Land!!

2005-10-12T14:33:00.000-07:00

via the BBC:
Noodle!

Cool (or funny) Stuff for Now!

2005-10-12T12:25:00.000-07:00

Everyone's favorite church-lady, Harriet Miers has her very own blog:
Here!

Also, this is interesting only for a small group of people.

And possibly my favorite story (now just about everywhere...)
Bombing the Smurfs for peace!
See it now!

I've only got 2 more days of employment before I'm free and it's finally starting to sink in. When I first got this info, 6 weeks ago, I was thrilled, relieved and excited. Then after a couple of weeks, I started to realize, HOLY SHIT, I WON'T HAVE A JOB!!! Not a good feeling...
Now, I'm happy again. I'm really looking forward to some time off, the Oaxaca vacation is right around the corner, and the home dust bunnies are growing quite large and are almost ready for harvesting. Plus, I get to go to Peets every morning, grab a croissant at either Chestnut ST Bakery, or Emporio Rulli, and walk up the Fillmore St hill for my excercise. I'll just have to make the best of it.

let my people go!

2005-10-07T10:42:00.000-07:00

Ok, so the title really has nothing to do with anything important today, but going over my records, I've noticed that I haven't written anything here for at least two weeks.
Two Weeks!! I could say that nothing has happened in those two weeks, but that would be untrue, or "not operative anymore", as Donald Rumsfeld would say.

So, what's new? I'll just give a short list of what I've been up to since I last checked in...

Castro Street fair:
Pretty cool. Not quite the Folsom St fair, not even like the Gay pride parade and fair. This was your typical neighborhood art/food/music...etc block party. Ok for (most) kids. We had a great brunch at 2223, on Market St.

Gary Danko Cooking Demonstration:
AT HIS PRIVATE HOME! Through Saveur magazine. There were about 16 of us, packed into his kitchen, where we watched Gary (or G-dog, as he lets me call him) prepare Lamb loin, roasted lobster, and various sauces for the entrees.
After that, we drove down the hill (he lives in Russian Hill) where we gathered at his restaurant for a full 5 course lunch (amouse bouche of oysters, lobster entree, lamb entree, cheese course, dessert) with wine pairings for all courses. Very nice.
I think this event calls for a longer, more detailed post...coming soon

Giants Game:
Oh, I might not have mentioned this earlier, but I'm a huge Giants fan.
A friend of mine has season tickets and we're able to to about 10-15 games each year.
Not much more to say about that...it wasn't the best year for the guys, but they did keep it interesting until the final week.

Work:
My employment at my current job is ending in a week (next friday) so that has been on my mind quite a bit lately. I'm very fortunate in that I don't need to find work immediately. A nice little severance package is nice, plus I'll mooch of the gov't for a few months, before I jump into the workforce again. I'll be playing househusband for a while...cleaning, cooking, organizing, etc...the wife is looking forward to it.

Fantasy Football:
I'm 1-3 so far, but my team is scoring a lot of points, so that helps. I'm giving up the highest amount of points and there's nothing I can do about that, so that doesn't help.

Vacation Planning
This is what I love to do. The wife and I are going to Oaxaca Mexico in two weeks (already!?!?!) for the Day of the Dead celebration. I plan on writing a nice account of our trip when we get back, so wait for that. There'll be links and everything!

I guess that's it for now. No deep thoughts, no witty pop-culture references, no political anger...just your typical diary that I know that you've been waiting with baited breath for.

Friday Itunes Party Shuffle

2005-09-16T10:19:00.000-07:00

Hey kids, it's that time again, so fire up that Itunes, hit "party shuffle", blush with embarrassment as your worst guilty pleasure songs (Hanson and C&C Music Factory over here) pop up to remind you of what you like when you're drunk!

Here goes nuthin'

The Time Warp--Rocky Horror Picture Show
I Confess--English Beat
The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight--REM
As Time Goes By--Jimmy Durante (Sleepless in Seattle)
Doctor! Doctor!--Thompson Twins
Is It Really So Strange--The Smiths
School Days--Chuck Berry
Kiss--Tom Jones (the Prince song)
Games Without Frontiers --Peter Gabriel
What Happened--Sublime

Nothing too bad there. I keep waiting for the wife's music to start showing up (Janet Jackson, Neil Diamond). Heck, I could live with that too. Although, if you notice, I still haven't had anything since the mid-90's. That's starting to bother me.

You know...

2005-09-15T21:53:00.000-07:00

Ever have one of those weeks? Sorta blah, no inspiration, no motivation...just, well, blah?
Or is it just me?

This was one of those weeks. I think this whole layoff ordeal is starting to sink in a little. It's not really all that stressful (yet) but it is making me think about things differently. Like, what will I be doing in a month? I mean, I know that for the first couple of months, I'll be "enjoying" the time off, but it won 't be all that emotionally or intellectually challenging............or will it???

Now that I'm jotting this stuff down, the creative juices are flowing and a bunch of ideas are starting to fly at me all at once.
I could take a writing class. Now you're thinking "hey, notJoey, why would you need to take a writing class. So what if your tenses don't match, your comma usage is inconsistent, your spelling is "creative", and other errors that I don't even know the name of? You write good already!" (see?)
Trust me, it would be good for me. Good for everyone.

But I'm digressing, again. I just wanted to whine about my lack of inspiration and the layoff this week and now I'm excited about taking a writing class, or maybe even a cooking class. Damn, I can't even do pathetic very well.

So here I am, about to take an epic journey, a journey that could alter the way that we look at the world, a journey that will prove once and for all; what am I doing here, why am I doing it, and what's gonna happen after I'm done doing whatever it is that I've been doing...and will it hurt, that's important, I'm not a big fan of the physical pain.

That's pretty much it.

(oh, the movie trailer-ish dramatic speech there at the end? well I'm not a very dramatic person in real-life, so in blog-life, I get to be a little dramatic. Deal with it, Bitch!)

see, there it is again.

Plouf via Papa

2005-09-08T14:47:00.000-07:00

I went to Plouf last night for dinner. The hostess was kind, but firm. She wouldn't let us sit until the rest of our party arrived. She reminded us of the cigarette girls at the old movie houses, staying just out of reach, but accessible.
The last of our party arrived late.
"Traffic."
"Of course." I said. "Sit down, have an Orangina, or, if you'd prefer, wine."
"Thanks."

My Orangina was smooth and soothing. Like the sunset, but with more liquid. It calmed my nerves. My nerves needed calming lately, with the layoff looming. My friends didn't care.

"So, how's things?" said one.
"Don't ask."

It went on like this for hours. Eventually we ordered some food.
"Moules, pomme frites and another Orangina." It was the same thing I had last time I was here. Or that's what I imagined I would have had, had I been here before.
This was my first time.

We talked of the good times. The past was mostly good, but then we were reminded of how much we hated it, at the time. The Orangina was mucking up my old memories.
Was I happy in the past? Was anyone? Did it matter, or were we just trying to hold on?

"So, more food, another Orangina?" The waiter interrupted us. His questions brought us back to our world. The alley in San Francisco. The string of similar restaurants, side-by-side, fighting for position. Fighting for life.

The night was getting cold. The Orangina was churning in my stomach. It brought me back to the bullring, when Eduardo was gorged by the stray bull. Stray bulls still haunt me, like my friends.

We paid our tab and said goodnight. The night still had that crisp bite to it. I was tired and longed for my bed.

Compare and Contrast

2005-09-07T14:31:00.000-07:00

It's a tale of two restaurants, both visited by the wife and I over the Labor Day Weekend, and two entirely different experiences...but both amazing in their own way.

Let's get this started:

Taylor's Refresher vs. Restaurant Michael Mina

(Taylors will always be first)
Location:
Sf Ferry Building vs. the Westin St. Francis Hotel.

Service:
Order at the counter, pick up at a different counter vs. personal waiter, sommelier, floor manager, multiple food presenters, coat-check person, dessert chef.

Table:
Wooden picnic tables located outside vs. white tablecloths, floor-to-ceiling columns, light (and live!) piano music wafting throughout, understated lighting.

Free food items:
None vs. Amuse-bouche of Lobster, 3-ways. Lobster Corn Dog, Lobster Parfait (with tempura sticky rice!) and Lobster Salad. After dessert-- 4 Ice Cream Lollipops. Chocolate covered, with Mint Chocolate Ice Cream in one, Caramel Crunch Ice Cream in the other.

Appetizers:
None vs. Butter Poached Lobster and Ahi Tartare (mixed tableside)

Entrees:
Bacon, Blue Cheese, Onion Rings, and Bbq Sauce all on a Hamburger vs. Miso-Glazed Sea Bass and Kobe Beef prepared 3 ways. (the 3-way preparation is a Michael Mina trademark.)

Dessert
None vs. The "Chocolate" and the "Strawberry." Chocolate consisted of--Peanut Butter Pudding Cake, a Peanut Butter Shake, Banana Bread Pudding with Chocolate Sauce and a Banana/Mocha Pot de Cream, Devil's Food Cake, AND a Caramel Sundae!! (whew!)
Strawberry consisted of-- Rhubarb/Strawberry Shortcake, Strawberry Sorbet with homemade Marshmallows, Oatmeal Strawberry Butter Crisp, Strawberry "Soup", Chocolate and Strawberry Bread Pudding, AND Chocolate Mousse with fresh Strawberries.

Price
Taylors--$25 vs. Michael Mina $250++

Method Home After Meal
Walk home from SF Ferry Building (3.3 miles) vs. Concierge had a Cab waiting when we left.

So, there you have it. Remember, this is not a competition, but a comparison. It's not every night that we can afford to live the high-life, but oh what a couple of hundred dollars can get you when you want a night on the town.

Laid Off

2005-09-07T10:31:00.000-07:00

So, when one door closes, another one opens, or something like that. That's what it says on the card my parents sent me. I hope so, but I'm not too worried.

Like the song says, "Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end"

So, this 6-year temp job is finally coming to an end. What started off as "hey, it's 1999, NASDAQ will never go down, stock options will make us all rich" has come full circle to this: I'm stuck with stock options that may or may not be worthless, and my 401k is finally (FINALLY!!) back to pre-2001 levels.

But at least I won't have a job that I don't like. Whew, I said it. For the past 6 years, I've been putting on a brave face, sticking with the company, riding out the bad economy and awful job market, hoping for the big payoff. I guess I'm still hoping.
But the job itself, sucked. It was boring. I wasn't challenged. Advancement or promotion wasn't a realistic option...but the pay was nice. It kept me here. It was safe and consistent. While people all around me were being let go, I stayed and survived. I learned how much (or little) work I needed to do in order to stay employed. But my number finally came up.

In all honesty, I'd have to say that this was handled in a fair way. I was told on Aug 31st, but they're keeping me here until mid-October...plus a nice severance package to boot...so, no, I'm not being escorted out of the building.

So, I get a "vacation" (the wife will have much to say about that), and get to "find myself" again, and maybe, just maybe, I'll find work that inspires me, challenges me, and makes me feel like I'm really contributing something, or at least creating something that I can put my name on and say... I did this.

We might move up to Portland. Yes, everyone else is doing it, so why shouldn't we?
I'll get a job at Powells, spend my days at Stumptown and still have my weekends at the Farmers Market.

Friday NIght Itunes Shuffle

2005-09-02T15:08:00.000-07:00

Here's today's Itunes Friday Night Party Shuffle...

It's Still Rock and Roll to Me -- Billy Joel
Anyone -- Yaz
Going Underground -- The Jam
Waiting for the Sun-- The Jayhawks
Mr. Wendal -- Arrested Development
There She Goes Again -- Velvet Underground
Two Hearts -- The Jayhawks
Rock Lobster -- The B52's
One Step Beyond -- Madness
Glycerine -- Bush
Down in the Tube Station at Midnight -- The Jam

Last week we had 2 from LL Cool "J" and now 2 each from the Jam and Jayhawks. (and Mr. Joel). This "J" infestation has me troubled.

The Week that Was

2005-09-02T12:58:00.000-07:00

Well, what can one say? The hurricane catastrophe doesn't seem to be getting any better. I don't really want to re-hash what other people are saying better than I could, so I'll leave you with couple of links to get the feel of what the smart people are saying. Plus, some of these writers (bloggers, reporters) can show you how and where to donate money, time and goods.

Oh, I can't let this go...FEMA has a list of charities to dontate to on their main page.
The 3rd charity? Operation Blessing. Heard of it? You may have heard of the founder.
He recently called for the assassination of an elected head of state. Yep, none other than Pat Roberton is #3 on the FEMA list of charities.

What a country!!!!
(****UPDATE-9/7/05-The Pat Robertson charity has mysteriously disappeared from the FEMA website without any explanation, hmmmm, but it is still on the Spanish version of the page)

Another question that popped into my head...Where's VP Cheney? Has anyone seen him?
Is he healthy (for him)?
Condi had to cut her vacation short when she was spotted in NYC taking in Broadway shows and buying $500 pairs of shoes this week. (Conservative? Yes! Compassionate? Not so much.)

Oh, on a personal note. I got laid off this week. Now it's certainly not the end of the world for Mr. and Mrs. NotJoey, but it does shake things up a little.
I'll still be employed for the next 6 weeks, but after that, a new adventure begins.

Stay tuned.

Fantasy Draft

2005-08-30T13:51:00.000-07:00

I just came back from the annual USFL fantasy football draft.
USFL stands for "Unnecessary Stressful Football League" and it certainly is.
I got involved in this about 18 years ago and it's been quite a wild ride. In my case, "wild" means never winning this damn league, but I still give it the ol' college try.
Sure, I've had my share of great games...Moon and Slaughter in '89 comes to mind, plus the Warner to Everyone in '99 always brings a smile to my face. The smile goes away upon remembering the debacle that was Everett to god-knows-who in '88.

Let's just say, I'm due.

But this year, this year I say, I'm gonna win the whole enchilada. Or whatever the prize is this year, it changes from year to year and I'm really hoping for the enchilada...with mole' sauce, and fresh cheese...mmmmmmmmmmm. I'm veering off track, again.

The draft itself was the usual Roman orgy of testosterone, insults, meat and alcohol, but since I don't drink anymore, it's just not the same. Sure, I was able to alter my consciousness other ways, but without the gentle lubrication of the devil's rain, I couldn't be as...well, stupid, as the rest of the gang.

Eventually it became a "make fun of what the last person just said", so we (they) were just repeating something someone else just said, but laughing while they said it, again. This went on for hours.

"I'll take Johnson"
"He said that he'll take his Johnson." (hahahahaha)
"take his Johnson where" (hahahaha)
"Johnsonwhere...it what you cook your johnson in" (hahahaha...actually pretty funny)
"cooking Johnsons...that's my team name" (and it is)
"what team does Cookie Johnson play for" (actual question)

and so on...for hours.

When I could drink, this was great fun...but now...not so much. I tried to make the best of it. Seeing a bunch of old friends made this pretty tolerable, so I didn't whine, complain, or shake my fist at the gods...plus, I knew what I was getting into.

Anyhooo...
It was a typical draft. I made fun of other peoples picks, tried to keep the draft moving forward (not drinking made this easy for me) and make sure that everyone else had a full beer or cocktail. Hmmm, the more everyone else drinks, the greater chance that they'll draft Onterrio Smith or Gus Frerotte. You'd think I'd be able to take better advantage of this. I can't believe I had never really thought about it this way. I can't wait for next years draft!

So, I've got a pretty good team. I was able to fill the holes that needed filling and I'm feeling good about myself...because I'm defined by my team's ability to win, or not win as the previous 18 years attest.

So, without much further ado... (does that look right, "further ado"? it looks weird...whatever, the more I stare at it, the less it looks like English)
Here's my team:

QBs (2) Favre, D Carr
RBs(4) D Davis, C. Dillon, T. Jones, R. Brown
WRs (5) D Driver, R Wayne, TJ Houshmanzadah, K Colbert, B Lloyd
TE (2) M Pollard, H Miller
K (2) M Stover
Def (2) Denver, Tampa

Yes, I'm missing a kicker, so sue me! (I just noticed that) No big deal. There are plenty of back-up kickers that I can choose from.
Now I just have to wait 2 weeks for the season to start. There's that stupid (STUPID!!!! Don't get me started on this) Thursday night opening game, and then the deluge starts on the following Sunday. So, to my wife, friends and family...you've only got 2 more Sundays of me before I disappear into the void. Make them count!

Friday NIght Itunes Shuffle

2005-08-26T21:01:00.000-07:00

It's Friday night, and time for its joey's first-ever Friday Night Dance Party.

It's so simple, anyone can do it!
Just fire up your itunes, select "party shuffle" and see what comes up. (no "do-overs", you have to live with what comes up)
It's a great, if shallow, way to find out about someone and show off your coolness, or lack of it.

So, here goes...read as much into it as you'd like.

Don't Push --Sublime
Going Back to Cali --LL Cool J
Eternal Life -- Jeff Buckley
Love on Your Side -- Thompson Twins
Mama Said Knock You Out --LL Cool J (again?!)
Straight To The Man -- The Stone Roses
5D (Fifth Dimension) -- The Byrds
Mountains O' Things -- Tracy Chapman
Gay Sera Sera -- Kinsey Sicks
Love and Affection--Joan Armatrading
From Under the Covers -- The Beautiful South

Ok, not too bad. Nothing to be ashamed of, and I'm a lot cooler in music than in real life. Good for me.
I'm glad to see some of my favorites showing up tonight (Stone Roses, Sublime, Jeff Buckley, Joan) Welcome, have a seat, I've got some snacks and pop for you...

Dear Abby of the Real World

2005-08-22T12:06:00.000-07:00

I used to read Dear Abby and Ann Landers when I was a kid, and I recently started reading them again. I always liked the car crash aspect of it, almost like listening to "Dr." Laura on the radio, but without the supersized judgment with extra guilt. I was curious to see the Abby/Landers take on our country's newfound conservatism and to see if they started to reflect this latest craze in their columns. From what I remembered, they both had the MYOB philosophy when it came to being offended by things that your neighbors were doing.

So on Friday I read this:
Dear Abby
"I live in a family-oriented neighborhood. My problem is my next-door neighbor flies his gay pride flag in his front yard. Because we have a lot of families with young children who do not need to be subjected to that kind of thing, I have asked him numerous times to remove it."

(it continues...)
"I strongly feel that in a neighborhood devoted to children's morals and the way life should be, he should not be allowed to have that flag in his front yard for everyone to see. I threatened if he didn't take it down, I'd call the police. I feel it's harming the children to see that flag flying, especially on a busy street that everyone travels on. What should I do?" -- RIGHTEOUS IN ...

Hmmm...I thought. Very clever of this writer to drop the charade and just say it like it is: Family-oriented = hate the gays.

I live in San Francisco. Gay couples with children are a fact. It is reality. Gay people get married all the time. Ok, don't call it marriage, whatever. But it happens in churches, synagogues, city hall, and numerous ballrooms, parks, beaches and private homes in SF (and all around the country). Closing your eyes doesn't make it go away. You either live in this world with the rest of us, or you watch your world get smaller and smaller every single day. Look at what's happened over the past 4 years. The president (Dubya) even said that he's ok with civil unions. Imagine that. He'll never actually do anything about it though, but it's on the record. What Vermont did a few years back is now the MODERATE position. Things move forward. Society moves forward. Sure, there are hiccups every now and then, (more now, but still...) but progress cannot be stopped. Even looking back from when I was in HS, the early 80's, seems like a foreign world in this regard. I had no clue how to react to the two boys making out at my school. I knew one of them from elementary school. I didn't like what they did, but I didn't know why, and I really didn't care. I also didn't like people who smoked and drank, and those Black Sabbath heavy metal guys were also on my list. Of course I went to college, appreciated some heavy metal music, drank and smoked and (no, not that) met some other guys who were gay.
It was all no big deal. I said "Whatever", alot.

So, back to Dear Abby. How's she going to play this? Pure "what about the children" fear and small-mindedness or "just the facts, ma'am." She didn't let me down.

"First of all, calm down."

A good start. Of course Abby needs to include the "unless there are codes or restrictions..." there's nothing you can do.
And then she adds:
"Rather than picking a fight about something so insignificant, you should concentrate on cultivating your own garden and stop obsessing about what's going on in his."

I think the kids call that a "smackdown." (or is it now "Pwn3d")

And yes, I'm "aware" of "my" problem.
I've got to "stop" using "the quotes."

An Appeal

2005-08-19T11:59:00.000-07:00

Sure, like most rational, thinking, non-reactionary people, I try to keep an open mind and look at many sides of situations before I fly off the handle and scream my beliefs to strangers on the street.
So, I've been keenly watching the debate over teaching evolutionary theory in public schools. I've always held the opinion that evolutionary theory should be taught in science classes, but I'm starting to wonder if it's the "only" theory that explains how Man (the animal) came to be. So imagine my surprise when researching this topic, I came to find out that for some odd reason, people think that there are only TWO sides to this argument. Sure, Evolution has been accepted as fact in the scientific community, but who do these scientists think they are anyway, and what makes them qualified to talk about science?
I looked at the "other" side and found it lacking. Some old book, written, what, 4000 years ago? And that was it. No testing, no observable results, just "because it says so" and I cannot really get behind something like that.

So, I figured, that was it...but then I read about the OTHER, other side of this debate. No, not the Intelligent Falling vs. Gravity debate now going on at religious schools in the Midwest, but the newly published treatise on the previously unknown Flying Spaghetti Monster, so eloquently described in this open letter to the Kansas School Board.

It really makes you think.

Now there's some good blogging!

2005-08-19T10:03:00.000-07:00

I like to scan a number of blogs during my days and nights and every now and then you run across a post that seems to (to use the overused term) "get it."

This comes from one of my favorite ranters, a guy who goes by the name of "driftglass" who almost every day has something new on his blog that should be spread far and wide.
If you're feeling down and need to vent, but just can't seem to find the right words, I'll give you this.

Funny Restaurant Stories

2005-08-16T11:21:00.000-07:00

I was in the restaurant biz for over 15 years.
10 of those years were in management.
It was the best of times, and it was the worst of times. I'm glad I'm out, but some days I really miss it. I hope these stories will finally put out that flickering flame of desire that I sometimes see when I'm bored at my current job.

The Kids Eat Free nightmare:
I ran a Chili's clone restaurant in San Jose. We had a "Kids Eat Free" promotion every Tuesday night. Of course whenever you give away something for free, you must put some conditions on it to prevent the usual suspects from trying to take advantage of the situation. Some people don't like that.
We had 2 main conditions: One child per adult, and kids could only choose off of the kid's menu. Fairly simple, pretty obvious, and (I thought) idiot-proof.

But I was mistaken. First off, Tuesday night wasn't the most popular night to work. If you've ever worked in a restaurant, you'll remember that children can be the death of good service, good tips and good times at your job. Most parents don't realize this. They're usually too wrapped up in their kid's world to interact normally with the full-sized adults that run and work in restaurants. Sure, take care of your kids, make sure their needs are being met, but jeez-uuusssss, lift your head and look around.
YOU ARE NOT THE ONLY PEOPLE IN THE RESTAURANT.
Ok, great, got that off my chest.

Hey, I like kids, in theory. They serve a great purpose. They fill a void in many people's lives and some people (I've heard) actually want them. Good for them. Most kids seem to be well-behaved and normal. But when the parents realize that they don't have to make dinner AND clean up after themselves, some form of societal breakdown occurs and your typical, non-brain damaged parent turns into a full grown Veruka Salt.
"I WANT IT NOW!!!!!!!"

Back to the story...

It was our typical understaffed Tuesday night. Why understaffed? Because the previous management team never seemed to understand that Kids Eat Free night was going to be a busy night, so we were always "caught off guard" when we got really busy.(I was new at this place and I fixed this problem soon thereafter)

So, we've got a table of 2 moms and 7 kids. The menu states "one child per adult", the banner outside says "one child per adult" and all signage inside the restaurant says (wait for it...) "one child per adult."
We thought it was overkill.

I adjusted the bill to reflect the 2 free kids entrees and passed it back to the server. I started to move on to my next task, when...

"Notjoey, table 105 wants to talk to you."
"Great, is there a problem or are they really happy?"
"Problem. Kids eat free. Not enough meals taken off."
"Right, got it..." I put on my fake "feel your pain" smile and headed over to soothe the confused table.

Now I always play the ignorant friendly guy when I approach a table. Always smiling, and just playing a little bit dumb.
"Good evenin', folks, how's things goin' tonight?" I asked with a big friendly smile.
"You didn't take enough off of our bill."
"Hmmm...let's see." I was looking at the bill now. "Well, it appears correct, what seems to be the issue?"
"There are still 5 kids meals on the bill."
"Yes, we took off the 2 free meals. How was everything."
"It was fine, but the sign says kids eat free."
"Yes it does" I countered, slowly, "but it also says 'one child per adult'." This usually does the trick, not that it satisfies the tables, but they usually understand. Not this time.

"I don't understand. It says 'kids eat free' so why do we have to pay? What's the reason for all of these conditions?"
I kept up the dumb act and pulled out one of my tricks that I used to talk down to people, but in a way that doesn't quite seem like it.
"Obviously (people seem to hate that word) this prevents Mrs. Jones from bringing the entire 4th grade in for dinner, or the whole little league team from eating free. Wow, could you imagine if we did that? We'd be out of business so fast...or we'd just cancel the promotion, and we'd rather not do that."
"But it says KIDS EAT FREE."
I wasn't getting through to these people and usually I'd just let it go and move on, but this could set a precedent and we'd be full of people saying "but last week you let people break the rules, so why not us??????"
So I held firm.

"I'm terribly sorry, but the rules plainly state 'one child per adult' and we'd be dumb to start bending that rule every time someone didn't read the menu or signs properly." I was testing the table here. This was the point where they would either just say "ok" and pay up or make this into a real issue. As it stood now, it was just a difference of opinion.

"Well, we're not paying." The line in the sand had been drawn.
"Excuse me? You're refusing to pay your bill?" I was not expecting this. Parents usually do the right thing in the presence of children, but not this time.
"What are you going to do about it?" they asked. Ah, a challenge. I liked these. I could pretend to put them into our (fictitious) database of delinquent check writers, credit card forgers, fake id owners and the like...
"I'll just get your license plate number and report you to the police as someone who refused to pay their bill." Now we're getting serious.
"You can't do that!" They started to get up, setting some money on the table. "Here's money for OUR meals, and here's money for the server. She was good and shouldn't be punished for this."
"Well," I countered, "unfortunately she'll have to make up the difference out of her own pocket." I was lying.

They all got up and started to leave the restaurant. I walked with them outside, still saying, "You're refusing to pay your bill? I'm really surprised that you would make that choice, especially in front of the children."
Luckily for me, there were 2 police cars in the parking lot. I used this to my advantage.

"Great, Steve is here" pointing at the cop car, not knowing if "Steve" was the officer's name, "It'll be easy for me to file a report."
The parents were opening up the mini-van doors and trying to pile the kids inside.
"Now look here kids," I said, "when you're all grown up, you will learn that when you go out to dinner, you're supposed to pay for what you order and if you don't, it's called stealing." I could be a real prick when I wanted to be, and I really, really wanted to be at this point.
This hit a nerve with the parents. They both stopped loading up the mini-van and turned to me.
"Here...take this." It was more than enough money. I tried to tell them that I only needed the amount for the check, nothing more.
"Here...just take it."
"Thank you," I said, "And I'm sorry it had to come to this." I almost felt bad about how I handled this...but then I remembered that I was working and had a full restaurant that needed my attention. I didn't say "see ya again real soon" , though, so I should get a little credit.

I walked back into my crowded restaurant and was treated like a returning war hero.
I got the full check amount, got the server a nice tip, and got the respect of my staff for standing up for them.

Mecca III The Empire Strikes the Sith while Returning the Clones

2005-08-15T10:46:00.000-07:00

OK, Even I'm tired of talking about this great journey that I had taken upon, on my way to becoming this all-knowing food guru. All I wanted was to write a simple little travelogue on one of my favorite places. This wasn't supposed to be some grand confessional on my life, and for that, I apologize. Maybe some day, when I'm all grown up, I'll be more "to the point" and less, well, not on point, and... (uh-oh, I can feel it coming on again...this urge to mention some bit of minutiae about my past....STOP!!!!)

Right, let's get on with it, shall we? It's your typical Saturday morning, you wake up ready to take on the day...

(oh, and click away on the links for some real information, straight from the vendors)

The SF Ferry Plaza and Farmer's Market are actually 2 seperate entities. The market is on Tuesday, Thursday eve, Saturday, and Sunday (though smaller on this day) while the Ferry Building Marketplace is open Sun-Sat, during regular business hours.

I usually go to the market on Saturday mornings, about 10ish, not too early, but before most of the lookie-loos arrive. The vendors are spread out along the front of the building and in the ferry landing area in the back. I like to start in the front, look around and see what's fresh and new this week, make my way to the back, and then walk through the interior of the building, picking up anything else that we might need.

Along the front we have various fruit vendors, my favorite being the apple guys, who supply me with my apples from August through May. Their Pink Ladies are the best. Crisp, sweet and tart. They always have some sliced for you to try.
Also, look for Sukhis Indian Foods. If you're hungry, this is a great stall to check out. If you're not careful, and the crowd is small, you can stuff yourself silly with the samples of curries, naan, chutneys, and samosas. Good stuff, plus they sell spice mixes, curry powders and pastes, and condiments so you can make your own food at home. From here, I'll head to one of the citrus farmers for an orange wedge, to cleanse the palate, of course. During winter, I might grab a pomelo or some grapefruit from these guys.

If you're a cheese fan, you'll be in heaven here. Some of the world's best artisan cheeses are produced in the Bay Area and most of them are sold by the cheese makers themselves at the Saturday market.

Let's assume that you bought some goat cheese. You'll probably want some good fresh bread and some local olive oil to accompany your purchases.

Work your way to the back of the building, but first stop here to sample the many dried fruits and nuts. My favorite are the dark chocolate covered toffee almonds.
Not quite the healthiest snack, but at least they're not deep fried.

Walk by the Marketbar Restaurant along the south end and make your way past the ferry docks to the back end of the building. You'll see the Rose Pistola stand, an outpost of the more famous sibling in North Beach. You might want to stop at the Blue Bottle Coffee kiosk for a cup of their outstanding filter drip coffee. It takes a bit longer, but it's worth the wait.
The scents in the air will change, from the fresh roasted smells of coffee, to the aroma of rosemary and roasting chicken. The Roli Roti "truck" will take you back to those small rotisseries in France with the rows of roasting chickens, their fat dripping down on to the potatoes, braising them in the flavors of all the herbs.
You'll get a glimpse of sunflowers, standing in buckets looking out, like puppies in kennels, waiting to be taken home to a good family. You turn the corner to see the rest of the market. It's larger in the back. There are more prepared food vendors out here, and there are tables along the bay to sit and relax on while you eat your oysters (try the sweetwaters),
or your tamales (from Primavera...I just love their black bean tortillas), or even a sausage sandwich.

There are plenty of fresh produce vendors out back too. In the spring, the English peas arrive, bags for 5 or 15 dollars, with the onion guy selling his red spring onions, still on the stalk, right next door. A bowl of peas, diced sweet onion, with a little butter or olive oil is so nice and easy to whip up when you get home.
Another spring treat is the asparagus. Not only do you get it straight from the farm, but they also sell and serve deep fried asparagus...it's like a tempura batter, with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese on top. It would make a great fair/carnival food.

Another thing, I guess I've got to give a "shout out" to my mom (hi mom!!) by including her favorite place at the market. Cap'n Mike's Holy Smoke. If you ever want to spend almost $40 for some of the best Lox you'll ever try, you'll be happy here.
Every time mom's in town, we have to go visit the Cap'n and stock up on his smoked fish. Since my parents are ex-New Yorkers, I've got to respect their opinion on all things deli.
For you non-smoked fish fans, you'll be happy to know that your needs will be met as well. During Salmon season (may-oct) Shogun Fish sells their self-caught salmon, right out of a cooler. It's just one guy, with one boat, in the water for 3 days at a time and he catches enough to sell at the market.
During the non-salmon months, Ports Seafood has a booth set up right next door, where they feature all seasonal seafoods, caught locally, resting on banks of crushed ice.

Browse among the many produce vendors for fresh (in season)chiles, fruit, and any other impulsive purchases before heading inside the Ferry Building for even more shopping.

More about Me, Me, Me!!!!!

2005-08-11T17:00:00.000-07:00

I saw this on another blog today (pops bucket...it's on my list, check it out)
and thought it made a good "ego driven self absorbed" type topic. Me, me, me, and more about me.

Number of records/tapes/CDs I own: let's see...I'd say about 450 cds. About 100 records/albums but they're hidden at the bottom of a closet, in a crate, near spiders, so I guess they're lost forever.

First record/tape/CD I bought: Album is Santana Abraxas. It's got naked ladies on the cover, plus the original versions of Black Magic Woman and Oye Como Va. I bought this album when I was seven. SEVEN!!! Not for the naked ladies though, at least not at that time. Later, when I was 12 I was able to fully appreciate the cover "art" and the message that Carlos and the band was trying to convey. I think it was "there are naked ladies on the cover, so buy this album"...but I really liked the song "Black Magic Woman."

First Single: a tie with "One Tin Soldier", "Baby I'm-a want you" (by Bread) and "Windy" by The Association. It was the early 70's and I was a small child, so no judging. Ok, NOW stop judging.
First CD: I'm not sure, but I think it was U2 Achtung Baby, back in 1992. Not quite sure though. I do remember having a small CD collection before I ever bought a CD player.

Last record/tape/CD I bought: Does Itunes count? I got the new Green Day, American Idiot album (I still call them albums, I don't think I'll ever change).
The latest video is out, it's quite good.

Last record/tape/CD I listened to: Dave Matthews Band, Live at Red Rocks. We're going to the concert at SBC Park on Saturday and needed to get in the right frame of mind.
I hate being the guy at concerts who only knows (or thinks he knows) some of the words to the songs. I also hate the idiots who know ALL the words, so it's a tightrope I'm walking here. Feel stupid, or be the idiot. Tough choices.

Recordings or songs that mean a lot to me (and/or changed my life):
It was 1980 and the music scene was changing. Journey, Foreigner, AC/DC and Van Halen where the huge groups at my HS, but there were also odd groups of kids, fresh from summer vacation, with strange haircuts, clove cigarettes and weird clothes. Most importantly, they were all connected by their love of these new groups that I had never heard of...Oingo Boingo, the Police, the Clash, Dead Kennedys, Ramones, Bauhaus, Joy Division.
Then I heard this song on the radio.
"Ping ping........Ping ping........chchchchchchch.........Ping Ping..........
Some-times I feel, I've got to (chch) run away, I've got to (chch) get away..."
Tainted Love, Soft Cell. It sounded like nothing else on the radio. It sounded cool, moody, mysterious, and I just knew that no one else at my school had heard of it. I wanted to hear more stuff like this.

The other life-changing song/album. "I Just Can't Stop It" by the English Beat.
I was hearing strange songs on the radio late at night and there was this sound that I couldn't let go of. Like Bob Marley, but not really. Light, syncopated drum beats, high-hat cymbals ts, ts, ts-ing in 16th notes on the upbeat. Sweet melodic voices and a heavily accented form of rap that I was unfamiliar with. I could not find out who this was. Joe Jackson? I think that's what the DJ said. I searched and found "Look Sharp" and loved it. But it wasn't what I had heard. Close in some songs. The beat was there, but the feel was different. The voice was different.
Then I heard another song. "Roxanne." Was this it? I loved the voice, it had the right beat, (and you could dance to it) but it still wasn't quite the sound. I thought that I must've misheard something on the radio, or got confused and was combining two groups or songs. Oh well. I loved that Police album. It would've been "the one" for me, except a few weeks later I was in the Wherehouse Records store in the local mall. I heard it again. The sound. It was real this time.
The opening baseline of "Mirror in the Bathroom" came rumbling out of the store's music system. I pulled my head out the "new wave" section where I was rummaging through all of the albums, hoping to find this mysterious band, and ran up to the counter.
"What IS this?"
"Some band from England," replied the guy behind the counter. "They're called The English Beat."
I bought the album and played the heck out of it. I made a tape of it and played it in my car. I looked around and found some imports that they had made. I noticed that they were part of this movement (and record label) called "Two-Tone" due partly to the fact that they and other groups on the label, were multi-racial. I bought "The Specials", "Madness", and "The Selector" albums. I saw "Dance Craze" at the midnight movie show. The music was called "ska" and I had found my sound. Now all I needed was a Vespa and a trenchcoat.

If I had to choose a soundtrack of my life, what 5-10 songs would be on it?:
For background music, I'd have to pick Mark Knopfler's, "Local Hero" soundtrack. The movie was one of the first "small movie showing the simple ways of English/Irish/Scottish small town life." The music was subtle and moody, simple guitar work, never in the way.

Songs:

Biko, Peter Gabriel...I still get chills when I hear this song, and it gives me a good excuse to hold a lighter over my head and wave it back and forth.

Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want, The Smiths...for when I'm feeling really crappy.

"So for once in my life
Let me get what I want
Lord knows, it would be the first time"

Waaaaaaaa!

What I like about you, The Romantics...No college party was complete until this song came on. And the good parties played it TWICE!!!!!

Our House, Crosby Stills, Nash and Young...For me and the wife.

I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, U2...This one has always been "my song" and every year I either find parts of what I'm looking for (the wife) or realize that my search is not over (my job). Good song, many meanings.

Mirror in the Bathroom, English Beat...the song that changed my life and opened my eyes musically. From here on out, I was the guy my friends went to, to find out about new music.

3 Little Birds (Don't Worry, About a Thing...) Bob Marley...This song always gets me through the tough times. It ALWAYS cheers me up.

And probably anything by the Polyphonic Spree. They've got to be the happiest band on the planet. Is it drugs? Are they a cult? I don't really care. It's like the cast of Jesus Christ Superstar meets Sid and Marty Krofft as they go to a Grateful Dead concert.

I'll bet there are plenty of other songs that I've left off my list, and of course, they'll pop into my head late at night..but I'll keep it as it is for now.
Make your own lists at home, it's easy, fun and free.

Mecca (Part II)

2005-08-09T12:30:00.000-07:00

Farmer's markets. They changed my life. When I was in the restaurant biz, I almost never cooked...well, actually, I would cook, but it usually consisted of re-heating whatever foods I had pilfered from the restaurant: burritos (and all sorts of Mexican "hand-foods"), burgers, ribs...stuff like that. I'd get a salad at work every now and then, but that was pretty much it for my veggie intake. I also liked a lot of fast food.
When you come home at 2:00 am and wake up at noon, your meal schedule gets all messed up and you just sort of eat what and when you can.
On the bright side, being on your feet and running around for 12 hours a day helps you really burn off a lot of extra calories. Plus, drinking black coffee all day long does wonders for your metabolism...but not for your stomach.

Fast forward a few years and I've finally quit the restaurant biz. I'm also out of work and collecting unemployment. Sounds bad, no? Well, the wife has a great, well-paying job, we live in a nice, cute apt. in SF, a couple of blocks from the bay, with shopping, restaurants and all the neighborhood necessities within short walking distance.

So, my "job" became house and wife maintenance. The house part was easy. At about noon, I'd get really fidgety (the was coffee really kicking in) and I'd grab the vacuum, the duster, and the lemon pledge and get to work on the house. And if I got really motivated, I'd re-organize a closet. It was quite tiring and took a lot of energy, but the wife really loved the results.
Cooking, on the other hand, relaxed me. I would head to the corner market, look at the fresh veggies and grab a head of broccoli, then I'd move to the meat dept and get some boneless skinless chicken breasts. Some days, I'd grab a head of lettuce and make a simple salad. Nothing to fancy, yet.

I think I forgot another piece in this puzzle. During this time, our cable company added the Food Network to our tv package. You cannot overestimate the impact this had on me. Now, I've had a love/hate relationship with this entity, some shows are great, others worthless, but for pure food porn, nothing at the time could beat it. I was hooked.
I started to collect recipes. I expanded my kitchen tools to include all the best pots, pans, utensils, appliances etc...the works. Within reason, of course. I didn't need the egg coddler or the avocado slicer. And I especially didn't need the bagel slicer. I'll slice my own bagels, thank you very much!

Just some good knives, great pots and pans, and a well stocked pantry and I was ready to "kick it up a notch" as someone once said (every night, 7 nights a week, 8pm pst)

My shopping habits started to change as well. Broccoli was still in the mix, but now so was cauliflower, brussels sprouts, asparagus, artichokes, squash, peas, carrots, onions, shallots, leeks, garlic, sweet potatoes, spinach, cabbage, and corn. (I'm sorry if I left you out, but just remember, all of you are winners)
All fresh and bought daily. I was also starting to notice that my food decisions were becoming based on the seasons, the farmers, and the methods to get these foods to the market.

Although the local market had a great variety of produce, and an organic/free range meat dept, I felt that something was missing from my shopping. Cooking and food shopping were starting to become more of a lifestyle and less of a daily task. I needed to make decisions that reflected my new-found philosophy of seasonal, organic, and sustainable foods. Something had to change. I had the time and energy to seek out new ways for my latest hobby to develop.

Now we can finally get to the farmer's market...and the Ferry Building.
But maybe tomorrow. I'm hungry and it's time for lunch.

The Bushman

2005-08-08T10:32:00.000-07:00

Beware the Bushman!

Here's the deal...in the Fisherman's Wharf area, there's this man who hides behind his own tree branch on the sidewalk and scares the crap out of tourists as they walk by. It's really harmless fun and most people play along with the joke, but the guy does have a bodyguard near-by in case someone didn't pack their sense of humor on the trip. Traditionally, after you get scared (and leave a few coins in his jar) you move to the other side of the street with the rest of the tourists and wait for the next unsuspecting fellow. He can attract large crowds during the summer, so if you're walking along down fisherman's wharf, and you see a crowd of people staring at you...LOOK OUT!!! The bushman might be waiting, ready to pounce.

Restaurant Reviews

2005-08-08T10:00:00.000-07:00

My bro-in-law and his wife and kid live in the East Bay. His wife's parents were in town paying a visit and they all wanted to meet in SF for some dinner. So, it's August, Saturday night, dinner time...where would be a good place to meet, park, pick a restaurant and grab a quick meal?
How about Fisherman's Wharf?
Hmm, let's see--crowded, no parking, hour-long wait for dinner, touristy (non-authentic) restaurants plus, (PLUS!!) we had an 18 month-old child with us.
Hey, I didn't pick the area.
So, to make a long story short(er) I hopped on Muni and met the rest of the group at Rainforest Cafe for dinner. The wait was 90 minutes. This didn't work for me, nor for anyone else. We fanned out, cellphones at the ready, and started to check in with all of the other restaurants in the area. It didn't look too promising.

Suddenly, from out of the blue, my phone rang...it was Mrs. notjoey, and she found a place that could seat us asap! Nick's Lighthouse, right on the actual wharf.
It's a small, square dining room, with low ceilings, plenty of nautical jetsam and flotsam hanging from the walls, old crusty waiters (except for our server) uncomfortable booths, and views of old fishing boats bobbing in the bay. I'll bet the place hasn't changed much since the 50's.
There were 8 of us and we were able to get a table after only waiting 10 minutes.

The wife and I had been there a couple of times recently and found that their crab caesar salads were really quite good. We took a friend there and had a great lunch, so we figured that we would find something worthwhile to eat.

After a servicable lobster bisque, I shared some mussels that were wonderful. Plump, soft and smelling like the (clean) ocean, they were served in a white wine, tomato parsley sauce that went great with the crusty sourdough bread that was brought to the table. I was starting to like this place a bit more now. You see, to a local SF-er, Fisherman's Wharf is where you take out-of-towners for some "Ye Olde SF Dining" not where you go for good dinner. We end up there a couple of times a year, usually with guests, and if you pay attention, you can get a pretty good deal.

I ordered the "Lazy Man's" Cioppino for my entree. It's a seafood stew of shrimp, crab, scallops, mussels, clams, and fish in a tomato-sherry broth that was pleasantly mild and didn't overpower the seafood at all. It's "lazy" because they take all of the shells off for you. No crab claws to crack, clam and mussel shells are not in your bowl, giving you more room for the seafood...you get the idea. Your shirt will be happy. It's great for a date or a business dinner.
There were 3 kinds of shrimp in the bowl: rock shrimp, small bay shrimp, and prawn-like big boys with the tails still on.
There was so much food I "literally" couldn't eat it all. (some day I'll write about the misuse/overuse of the word "literally"...it's like a virus)

All of us were quite satisfied with our entrees. Plus...PLUS, the service was quite good. As a former restaurant guy, I'm quite familiar with the "tourist trap syndrome" that is quite pervasive in this type of restaurant. As a server, you think you'll never see these people again, and the best way to make $$$ is to turn and burn your tables as fast as you can. Volume, volume, volume! There's really no reason to go out of your way and provide exceptional service (except for the fact that you might CARE ABOUT YOUR WORK AND TAKE PRIDE IN WHAT YOU DO!!!)
So, needless to say, we had pretty good service. My iced tea was filled regularly, the extra plates removed in a timely fashion, and the small child was served first (a must)...all of the small things that you only notice when they're not being done.

So, to sum it all up...
Fisherman's Wharf--we all have to go there sometimes
Nick's Lighthouse--you could do a lot worse, and you may even try it without your guests.

While you (and only you) wait for part 2

2005-08-05T13:54:00.000-07:00

I took part in the marches and protests leading up the US war in Iraq. I didn't see the threat. I didn't understand why we were going to Iraq when we still hadn't caught the guy who planned the September 11th attacks. I assumed Saddam had WMDs, but I figured you go to war because of what you know, not what you assume. We didn't know for sure and the evidence didn't convice me, nor did it convince many millions of people around the world.

Why am I telling you this? I found this. Click on the red button.
It's a sobering reminder of the cost of war in terms of human life.
And this doesn't include the Iraqi citizens that we're supposed to be liberating.

OK, now back to your regulary scheduled fluff...

Mecca (part 1)

2005-08-04T15:17:00.000-07:00

I’m not a very religious person, heck I’m not really much of a spiritual person. I was raised in a Jewish home, got a decent Jewish education (Sunday school, Hebrew school, Bar Mitzvah) but we never really talked about God, or what he/she was, how it manifested itself in our daily lives, or how we could communicate with God for advice and favors (generally known as “praying” in the Christian world).

Even during my Jewish education period, from 8 years old until I hit 15, I never really caught the God bug. I think it has something to do with the fact that the majority of the population believed in something that I “knew” (and was taught almost on a daily basis) wasn’t true, so it was quite easy for me to eliminate the rest of religion as something that you get to chose, or not.

Plus I liked to ask A LOT of questions. The whole “it comes down to faith” argument never really impressed me. I’m a Virgo, so I’m supposed to be logical, analytical, and skeptical. At least that’s what my astrologer told me, and she’s never wrong!
(I really DO have an analytical mind! And I’m always looking for new ways to challenge myself!! And puppies…I really like puppies)

So, is this some sort of rant, essay, riff (if you will) ,on the President’s latest “Intelligent Design is Good, kids should hear both sides to debates in schools” nonsense?

Well, no.

It’s about Food. To be more specific, where you can see, taste, and buy it. Ok, even more specifically, I’m talking about my very own spiritual center, my Vatican, Wailing Wall, Dome of the Rock, and Jesus on a piece of toast…

The San Francisco Ferry Building (and farmer’s market)

Where to begin? When I moved to SF, in 1996, the building was just offices…and the ferry landing. The farmer’s market was located a couple of blocks away, in a parking lot.
Then I heard that “they” (the mysterious city people) were going to refurbish the building, return the farmers market to the area in and around the ferry plaza and fill the building interior with gourmet shops, food stands and the like. Like the Pike Place Market in Seattle and Granville Island in Vancouver (BC).

I was intrigued.

My mom made home-cooked meals almost every night and it was considered a treat to go out to a restaurant. I would watch her make Potato Latkes from scratch, the smell of onions filling up the house, quickly followed by the aroma of fried potatoes.
She would make other traditional Jewish/Eastern European foods as well;
Stuffed Cabbage, Rugulah, Tsimmis, chopped liver and everyone’s favorite--
Beef Tongue. These dishes were the exception, not the rule, but she was/is a good cook always looking to try new cuisines (tonight, Chow Mein, tomorrow, Tacos)

I guess what I’m trying to say here is that I was exposed to different foods as a child and it must’ve rubbed off on me in some way. I like to consider myself an adventurous food eater. Like Tony Bourdain without the travel budget…and the classical chef’s training.

Then I got into the restaurant business. It’s not what you think. Trust me, I know what you’re thinking, and it’s not that. I worked for suburban chain restaurants. Think Chili’s, Friday’s or for you “Office Space” fans, it was just like Chotchkie's …and yes, I made sure my staff wore the proper flair.

We made burgers, burritos, bbq ribs, and every trendy appetizer that hit the market—Potato skins! Chicken Wings! Jalapeño Poppers!
(this was the 80’s and these were still new and exciting foods)
I worked in the “front of the house” (not the kitchen) and had a staff of up to 100 employees. Good times…except when it sucked. And it could really suck.

Anyway…this experience also contributed to my food education. Sure, it was crappy food, usually bland enough not to offend anyone, but it was fresh, fast and priced to move. In other words, you could’ve done a lot worse. This is where I learned my way around a kitchen.

So, what have we got? A guy who grew up in an interesting and challenging food home, became a manager in a chain full-service restaurant, and then moved to one of the greatest food cities in the world.
So I quit the restaurant biz, took about a year off of work, and cooked dinner every night for my wife.

It was during this time I heard about the Ferry Building renovation, and I was excited.

the birth

2005-08-03T12:14:00.000-07:00

Good Morning. What the hell am I supposed to say here? I read blogs all the time (when I'm not busy working) and always have the witty, charming, funny, sarcastic, insightful and deep responses, comeback, and thoughts, but now that I've got to put my "name" to some of this, I'm drawing the biggest blank you've ever seen drawn...well, except for all of the padding that I've written above.

Ok, quick bio: 40, married, no kids, living in SF, CA. I've got a boring job for a good internet company

Interests: Food/Cooking, Travel, Politics, Pro Sports (real and fantasy) and History.

I'm guess I'm supposed to add lists of my favorite music or concerts, or movies or tv shows to give more insight into what or who I am. Actually all that does is give easy reasons for people to make fun of me...as if there aren't enough already. Oh well, I'll get over that and make some lists anyway. Later. Not now.

Ok, that's it for the first post ever. It's not the greatest, but it only took 10 minutes, so I should get some credit for that...right? Right??? (who am I talking to here?)