What I've Seen - VII

Wednesday Jul 27, 2005

24 Season 1
Jack Bauer and company kept Gabe and I busy for just under 24 hours. While Nichole, Sam, Josh, Adam, and JD briefly enjoyed this festival with us, Carla showed she was a trooper by watching the last 5 episodes with us.

After it was all said and done the show really accomplished a lot more than people could in 24 hours. Often then would say meet me at such and such, and they’d get there quicker than humanly possible. For example, in one episode they drove off into the far North East of LA and it took about 15 minutes for them to get there where it easily would have been over an hour (it was rush hour to boot).

But if you suspend disbelief and have a great viewing partner this is an excellent show especially if taken in within a 24-hour period. Show Grade: A-/ B+ , 24 in 24: A

28 Days Later
If you’ve never seen this amazing zombie film stop what you’re doing and put it on. It begins with an unnecessary scene involving rabid chimps that have some sort of virus. They are released by animal rights activists. Stupid scene.

Where the film should begin is a man waking alone in a hospital. The entire place is abandoned and messed up. He ventures out into the streets of London. They completely empty. This sequence is simply amazing. Can you imagine being in the heart of London, entirely alone?

He eventually is confronted by zombies and pairs up with other humans to try and survive. The film takes a twist as we come to see that perhaps desperate humans are more like monsters than the monsters themselves. Absolute A

WSOP 2005: Episodes 1 and 2
We’re all glad its back and there are some fun new characters as well as the old regulars. But man has it gotten corporate. They have sponsorship for the pocket camera, every player is advertising something, and even the checkmark that indicates victory is guaranteed if the player stays in is an ad for deodorant! A little much. But the coverage continues to be excellent. Would be an A but drops to a C for unnecessary corporate touches.

Fusion Karaoke
Since the Saturday night of my birthday weekend was spent watching TV, which left a quiet but fun celebration for the birthday itself. And what better than private karaoke.

Since the Wild Orchid was getting tired we tried this new place. It wasn’t nearly the size of the Wild Orchid with only three rooms, but its song selection seemed more updated and there were fun cartoon dances to modern pop selections. It was significantly pricier than the orchid and the room a bit smaller. So in good faith I cannot recommend this destination over the old favorite. The experience and Karaoke: B+ , The Venue: D.

What I've Seen (and Eaten)

Sunday Jul 17, 2005

The fans are saying the grades are being over inflated Ivy League style. Well EXCUSE ME! But the fans get what they ask for.

Friday Night Live

Did somebody say Salam? This fun and musical service takes place the second friday of every month in the heart of Westwood. Geared towards young adults, this Shabbat celebration is all about music, story telling and tradition.

Sam, Carla, and I are all suckers for a good Jewish tune so we were in heaven, and it turns out Gabe and Melanie love to throw down and mix it up to the Hebrew beats as well. Good things happen when you open up those country club doors and let the less desirables in. Which is what reformed Judaism is all about!

Negatives: The service was a bit more rock concert than spiritually centered. There was a stand up comedian in between 'Sets'. At the reception after (ufroof/oneg/whatever), well....lets just say, I'm glad I'm not single, although the cookies were delicious. Oh my yamulke had no static electricity and fell off approximately 36 times. 36, I swear.

All and all it was a great service and I felt great about observing my Mother's Yartzeit with the mourner's kaddish. Grade B-/C+

Lolita at Cemetery Screenings

Buried deep in the heart of Hollywood is a beautiful cemetery where some of the most famous names of Hollywood yesteryear lay to rest. East Saturday night their home becomes an outdoor festival of food and film. Picnic baskets in hand people travel from near and far to enjoy this beautiful place and take in Hollywood's classic cinema.

Carla and I took our picnic of Whole Foods foodstuffs and my Wildcats blanket and found ourselves a bit unprepared. First off, if you don't know this about me, I don't sit on the floor well. This issue can be extended to siting on the grass, lying on the beach, etc. I'm much better in chairs. Thats just how it is.

We found that we would have been much better off with several blankets, as it got a bit chilly, some pillows, and some better food. The food wasnt great cold and was tough to eat picnic style. We know better for next time!

Cemetery Screenings as an organization did a great job with the sound and the projection, but the organization of the parking and filtering in and out of people left something to be desired. I suppose its difficult to handle hundreds of semi drunk people in a historic cemetery though.

But having a picnic outside was delightful and the film turned out to be quite good despite having some slow and unnecessary scenes in the third act. If you haven't seen Kubric's Lolita, it is well worth viewing. Peter Seller's performance is well worth the price of admission.
Two Grades: Cemetery Screenings A-/B+, Lolita B+

The Wedding Crashers

Sam and I braved, and I do mean braved, the Grove for a 2:00pm screening of The Wedding Crashers. The Grove is a mess these days. So many people in Los Angeles, so few brain cells. In fact if there was a brain cell for every cell phone in this town, the LA IQ would rise by 50 points. I kid you not. Idiots abound.

Back to the movie. With our concessions (man are we liquid), Sam and I took in this latest comedy from Vince Vaughn. Though the film virtually lacked a plot and could be explained in 10 words, the comedy was strong and very enjoyable. Vaughn was his delightful self, never ceasing to shock us. In fact the greatest bits from the film came about from absurdity.

This is not a necessary movie to see in the big theatre, but you should certainly rent it if you decide not to brave the Grove. I know that Sam and I have decided that City Walk is more convenient. CITY WALK for chrissake. Grade: C

I think I saw something else but its not coming to mind at the moment. Restaurants to check out that were enjoyed this week:

- Birds (A-) BBQ/Bar ... Fun spot, great food, hard to park.

- El Compadre (B+) Mexican/Bar... A little pricey, but delicious.

- Cheebo (B-) Organic... great Pizza, but overpriced.

- La Poubella (C) French/Bar... Delicious, but bad service!!

- Jinky's Cafe (A-) American... Great for weekend breakfast as its undiscovered by the masses.

That's it. That's the list.

What I've Seen V

Monday Jul 11, 2005

Awww yeah. No server troubles here - -I'm just lazy.

War of the Worlds
The much-anticipated remake of the classic novel and film War of the Worlds did not disappoint. I found Tom Cruise to be a believable deadbeat dad and loved the contrast created between a dysfunctional family struggling to trust one another and aliens incinerating every human in their paths. Overall this film was terrifying and deserved a much stronger rating than a PG-13, but don’t get me started on the current misRating system in place out here in LALA land. Beyond the rating issues the first half of this film was AMAZING and the second half was not nearly as captivating or focused. Though I did really enjoy it, ID4 would still be my aliens attack the earth film preference. A -

Cubs v. Nationals
Wrigley Field – home of the loveable losers and their really mentally challenged fans. Never before have I seen so many people hop to their feet on shallow pop flies thinking that a home run had just been launched. Never before have I seen home team fans get up and leave with their team only a run down in the ninth. Still the team can’t help that Chicago transplants love them, and they are a fun club to see in the flesh. Luckily they were playing a very exciting young club in the Nationals who played amazing ball and ended up winning 4-3 with amazing defense (including the catcher picking off Burnitz at 3rd) and the Cubbies having a home run called back as a foul ball. GREAT GAME! Great Company Brad and Adam! A

White Sox v. Devil Rays
US Cellular Field – home of the second-class team in Chicago. It was a Wednesday night and the place was electric. I spent half a paycheck on merchandise and enjoyed the highly superior stadium food. Also the renovations have really made this a great place to see a great team play. And the team didn’t disappoint. They thumped the virtually AAA team from Tampa Bay 7-2 and Scott Podsednick was elected to the all star game with the final vote which was both a tribute to his amazing year/effort and the fans of the Chicago White Sox (and Yankee haters). GO WHITE SOX!!!! A

Millennium Park
New in downtown between the loop and the lake is a beautiful little park where I had a lovely potbelly’s lunch with Justin and Dan. The park has an amazing outdoor concert hall and art on display to celebrate the advent of the millennium. Breathtaking views, and though perhaps not the best use of taxpayers dolla, a money little place. A-/B+

Adam and Ann Marie’s Wedding
The reason I went to Chicago in the first place was my cousin’s wedding. Like most weddings it wasn’t simply one event. In fact it was four and one more is on the horizon. But the main event itself will be the focus here. Great music, company, venue, and endless alcohol = Jeremy dancing his sweaty ass off to the point of dehydration. I went outdoors to cool off which in that humidity was a horrible choice. So I retreated indoors and relaxed on the couches…That was until the Casper slide had me two hops this time. A

See-Tom.com
Check this great self-promoting personal dating profile site. It’s a lot of fun! Surf his statistics and be sure to play Bop Tom. A

The Home Run Derby 2005
Bobby Abreu what what?! AMAZING display. Why aren’t the Phillies better? Anyway if you didn’t catch this, be sure to watch the highlights because this man lit it up unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Too bad he’ll be shut down when ever there are Sox on the mound (both Red and White). A

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