It was a warm night but many people played Trivia for cash prizes at Bacchus Kirk. Good luck with your current events/memory test!
1.Name the satellite radio station which was offline for awhile this past week.
2.Name famous ship that burned in England. Type of ship?
3.Joan of Arc famous for which war?
4.Which airports have these codes: EWR; IAD?
5.In 2004, the top 2 countries for Tourism in 2004?
6.Federated Department stores own which 2 large chains?
7.Name University founded by Jerry Falwell.
8.Full name of Spiderman's girlfriend.
9.What country is Pippi Longstocking from?
10.Name of Angelina's/Brad's natural born daughter?
11.Name of the Contractor repairing MacArthur Meltdown?
12.Who created the James Bond series; Name his successful children's book.
13.Capitol of State of Michigan.
14.Identify the City served by Orly Airport.
15.Second Largest Nation in square mileage?
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Monday, May 21, 2007
ABSINTHE: MAKES HEART GROW FONDER; MARLENE DIETRICH'S ABC; MAY 20, 2007
Absinthe; 398 Hayes Street; (415) 551-1590. www.absinthe.com. This French brasserie in Hayes Valley is steeped in a retro Paris atmosphere. I felt as if I were transported to a movie set a la belle epoque, with its burgundy walls reminiscent of a bordello. I walked with my new friend, Paul, from the Herbst Theater after the American debut performance of Russian (Ukrainian) tenor, Vladimir Kuzmenko whose voice was in top form: powerful, disciplined, splendiferous. Verdi, Puccini, Glinka, Tchaikovsky, Donizetti never sounded better. He gave us an encore: O Sole Mia!
The Gallic-Med fare at Absinthe was less satisfying. As my dining companion, Paul, pointed out, you have got to be a little suspicious of a French bistro which has spaghetti on the menu. Paul is a "computer doctor" who has been dividing his time between Chicago and San Francisco for a decade. He loves the theater, as do I, and we made a date to see The Imaginary Invalid by Moliere in June at ACT.
We settled on the coq au vin. A bad choice. It was ordinary, and unfortunately left a bad taste in our mouths. Leftovers from the night before? I think so.
I love halibut but the kitchen had served its last portion at 7:00 p.m. on a Sunday night, which suggests haphazard planning in the kitchen.
Our waiter discoursed on the benefits of the digestive, Fernet Blanco, for several minutes. We tasted it in our coffee and green tea after the dessert of cantaloupe, strawberry, pineapple sorbet. Obviously, we saved the best to last.
Here's what I would recommend at Absinthe:
Oyster Shooter: Chef's choice of oyster and spicy Bloody Mary sauce: 4
French Onion Soup gratinee: 7.5
Grilled Asparagus: fresh herbs and Parmesan cheese: 8
Smoked Salmon: cucumber, fried capers, and Pernod cream: 13.75
Roasted California halibut: braised escarole and potatoes with garlic, parley, capers, and pecorino cheese: 25
Grilled California King Salmon: roasted red beet vinaigrette, grilled vegetables and fig anchoiade crostini: 25
Sorbet trio: strawberry, pineapple, cantaloupe 6.
Absinthe also does a Prix Fixe: 75. Includes caviar, oyster, grilled fish of the day, sorbet or vanilla creme brulee.
************************************************************************************
Marlene Dietrich (1901-1992): The motto that guided her professional life was "Demand and Supply". She added her favorite saying to the preface of Marlene Dietrich's ABC (1961):
The Possible we do immediately -
The Impossible may take a little longer.
What follows is a selection from her book reflecting her beliefs and emotional experience.
Absence "Makes the heart grow fonder". The French go further: Absence is to love what the wind is to fire. It blows out the small one and lights the big one.
Books: You do not love a book necessarily because it teaches you something. You love it because you find affirmation of your thoughts or sanctions your deeds.
Car: A car is a man's best toy.
Demand and Supply: My Credo. Give what is needed. "Let them eat cake" is too easy. By the same token: It nothing is needed, give nothing.
Eating: All real men love to eat. Any man who picks at his food, breaking off little pieces with his fork, pushing one aside, picking up another, pushing bits around the plate, etc., usually has something wrong with him And I don't mean with his stomach.
Fear: A fatal surrender.
Gallows Humor: Adopted from the German: Galgenhumor. Meaning: The ability to laugh at one's own fate when directly confronted with disaster. It might seem strange that such a word should originate with the Germans, who, as a nation, are not blessed with a sense of humor. My gallows humor was Hemingway's great joy. It was one of the reasons why he made me his friend.
Hippocratic Oath: Just read it and realize that BY OATH doctors must cover up for each other's mistakes.
The Gallic-Med fare at Absinthe was less satisfying. As my dining companion, Paul, pointed out, you have got to be a little suspicious of a French bistro which has spaghetti on the menu. Paul is a "computer doctor" who has been dividing his time between Chicago and San Francisco for a decade. He loves the theater, as do I, and we made a date to see The Imaginary Invalid by Moliere in June at ACT.
We settled on the coq au vin. A bad choice. It was ordinary, and unfortunately left a bad taste in our mouths. Leftovers from the night before? I think so.
I love halibut but the kitchen had served its last portion at 7:00 p.m. on a Sunday night, which suggests haphazard planning in the kitchen.
Our waiter discoursed on the benefits of the digestive, Fernet Blanco, for several minutes. We tasted it in our coffee and green tea after the dessert of cantaloupe, strawberry, pineapple sorbet. Obviously, we saved the best to last.
Here's what I would recommend at Absinthe:
Oyster Shooter: Chef's choice of oyster and spicy Bloody Mary sauce: 4
French Onion Soup gratinee: 7.5
Grilled Asparagus: fresh herbs and Parmesan cheese: 8
Smoked Salmon: cucumber, fried capers, and Pernod cream: 13.75
Roasted California halibut: braised escarole and potatoes with garlic, parley, capers, and pecorino cheese: 25
Grilled California King Salmon: roasted red beet vinaigrette, grilled vegetables and fig anchoiade crostini: 25
Sorbet trio: strawberry, pineapple, cantaloupe 6.
Absinthe also does a Prix Fixe: 75. Includes caviar, oyster, grilled fish of the day, sorbet or vanilla creme brulee.
************************************************************************************
Marlene Dietrich (1901-1992): The motto that guided her professional life was "Demand and Supply". She added her favorite saying to the preface of Marlene Dietrich's ABC (1961):
The Possible we do immediately -
The Impossible may take a little longer.
What follows is a selection from her book reflecting her beliefs and emotional experience.
Absence "Makes the heart grow fonder". The French go further: Absence is to love what the wind is to fire. It blows out the small one and lights the big one.
Books: You do not love a book necessarily because it teaches you something. You love it because you find affirmation of your thoughts or sanctions your deeds.
Car: A car is a man's best toy.
Demand and Supply: My Credo. Give what is needed. "Let them eat cake" is too easy. By the same token: It nothing is needed, give nothing.
Eating: All real men love to eat. Any man who picks at his food, breaking off little pieces with his fork, pushing one aside, picking up another, pushing bits around the plate, etc., usually has something wrong with him And I don't mean with his stomach.
Fear: A fatal surrender.
Gallows Humor: Adopted from the German: Galgenhumor. Meaning: The ability to laugh at one's own fate when directly confronted with disaster. It might seem strange that such a word should originate with the Germans, who, as a nation, are not blessed with a sense of humor. My gallows humor was Hemingway's great joy. It was one of the reasons why he made me his friend.
Hippocratic Oath: Just read it and realize that BY OATH doctors must cover up for each other's mistakes.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
FARALLON: UNDERWATER FANTASY LURES UNION SQUARE SEA LOVERS: MAY 15, 2007; LAWYER JOKES
Farallon; 450 Post Street (Mason); (415)956-6969; www.farallon restaurant.com. M-Th, 5:30-10; F-S:5:30-ll;S: 5-10. They should hand out snorkels at the door of this upscale seafood restaurant located smack-dab in the middle of Union Square. Chef Marc Franz' Farallon succeeds in luring pre-theater goers, tourists, and locals seafood lovers. Every thing about it would impress Captain Nemo.
I met Chris, software developer for the largest law firm in San Francisco. I call him the "madhatter" --he loves hats and he promised he'd come armed with lawyer jokes to keep me amused. I wondered if Chris' motto is "live fast, die young, and leave a good looking corpse. NO! He is an enthusiastic bicyclist, underwater/ wildlife photographer, and has travelled to most of the rain forests of the world. He has lead an exciting life and swamped me the whole evening in a sea of words.
Chris has been dragged by an orangutan in Borneo, snorkeled the great Barrier Reef of Australia, run with the bulls in Spain, and photographed probably the lone jaguar in Belize. He is still searching for the girl of his dreams, and when he finds her will promise, the sun, moon, stars! Or so he says, and he strikes me as a man of his word.
He also graciously bought me an autographed copy of Farallon: Very Best of Seafood Cuisine. (Chronicle Books, $40.00). My beautiful older sister, Helen, has a Birthday in July and now she knows what a gorgeous gift she'll receive for being so warm, sweet, and generous herself over the years. She is the Matriarch of her family and has cooked many extraordinary meals for husband, son, grandchildren, Alexis and Tyler, and me, over the years!
Chris and I immediately got into the swim of things in this "underwater Grotto", an over-the-top Downtown wonderland that feels like a surreal Aquarium. The decor is jaw-dropping, replete with giant jellyfish lights hanging overhead, sea kelp columns, floors with ocean mosaics of sole and crab. I wondered whether the pampering service everyone talks about would live up to its reputation. I ordered a glass of Fermet Branca (Italian herbal drink) and Chris, a glass of Chardonnay.
The General Manager, Chris, seated us and gave me a guided tour. A very mellow soundtrack lures you in. There is no steady drum beat competing. Instead an IPOD play list can be faintly heard beneath the cacophony of human voices. How pleasant!
The menu obviously looks to the sea. The entrees are high-level surf 'n turf: walleyed pike, black bass, wild king salmon, Alaskan halibut, white sturgeon. Landlubbers don't have to fret: rib eye of beef and fillet of beef rounds out menu. It is noted that Farallon supports farms, ranches, and fisheries that are guides by principles of sustainability.
A taste of the good life does not come cheap in San Francisco. The dishes are sophisticated, refined but simple.
Here are some things I would recommend you order:
Appetizer:
Arugula and sweet fennel salad (ruby grapefruit, hazelnuts, Pecorino Romano) 14
English Pea Ravioli
Fresh morels, squash blossoms, nasturtium butter (18)
Entrees:
Roasted Alaskan Halibut
Served with asparagus risotto, lemongrass, nasturtium flower (36)
Roasted Maryland Black Bass
Sugar snap peas, baby artichokes, foie gras sauce (38)
Grilled Estancia Rib eye of Beef
Fingerling potato hash, Maitake mushrooms, Sauce Bearnaise (38): Excellent choice: the sauce was perfect
Skillet Roasted Fillet of Beef
Shoestring potatoes, blue cheese, water cross, Madeira (39)
*************************************************************************************
Chris' lawyer jokes (internal jokes of the day at www.mofo.com):
Why don't sharks eat lawyers?
Answer: Professional courtesy!
Throw a lawyer and a snake out of a plane --who dies first?
Answer: Who cares?
A lawyer buys some expensive Cuban cigars and insures them for $15,000 against loss by fire. He smokes all of them down to small butts, and files a "frivolous" claim. The Judge agrees with opposing counsel that the claim is frivolous but awards the lawyer his $15,000. On the day that the lawyer cashes the check, however, the insurance company charges him with arson. He is sentenced to 6 months in prison
I met Chris, software developer for the largest law firm in San Francisco. I call him the "madhatter" --he loves hats and he promised he'd come armed with lawyer jokes to keep me amused. I wondered if Chris' motto is "live fast, die young, and leave a good looking corpse. NO! He is an enthusiastic bicyclist, underwater/ wildlife photographer, and has travelled to most of the rain forests of the world. He has lead an exciting life and swamped me the whole evening in a sea of words.
Chris has been dragged by an orangutan in Borneo, snorkeled the great Barrier Reef of Australia, run with the bulls in Spain, and photographed probably the lone jaguar in Belize. He is still searching for the girl of his dreams, and when he finds her will promise, the sun, moon, stars! Or so he says, and he strikes me as a man of his word.
He also graciously bought me an autographed copy of Farallon: Very Best of Seafood Cuisine. (Chronicle Books, $40.00). My beautiful older sister, Helen, has a Birthday in July and now she knows what a gorgeous gift she'll receive for being so warm, sweet, and generous herself over the years. She is the Matriarch of her family and has cooked many extraordinary meals for husband, son, grandchildren, Alexis and Tyler, and me, over the years!
Chris and I immediately got into the swim of things in this "underwater Grotto", an over-the-top Downtown wonderland that feels like a surreal Aquarium. The decor is jaw-dropping, replete with giant jellyfish lights hanging overhead, sea kelp columns, floors with ocean mosaics of sole and crab. I wondered whether the pampering service everyone talks about would live up to its reputation. I ordered a glass of Fermet Branca (Italian herbal drink) and Chris, a glass of Chardonnay.
The General Manager, Chris, seated us and gave me a guided tour. A very mellow soundtrack lures you in. There is no steady drum beat competing. Instead an IPOD play list can be faintly heard beneath the cacophony of human voices. How pleasant!
The menu obviously looks to the sea. The entrees are high-level surf 'n turf: walleyed pike, black bass, wild king salmon, Alaskan halibut, white sturgeon. Landlubbers don't have to fret: rib eye of beef and fillet of beef rounds out menu. It is noted that Farallon supports farms, ranches, and fisheries that are guides by principles of sustainability.
A taste of the good life does not come cheap in San Francisco. The dishes are sophisticated, refined but simple.
Here are some things I would recommend you order:
Appetizer:
Arugula and sweet fennel salad (ruby grapefruit, hazelnuts, Pecorino Romano) 14
English Pea Ravioli
Fresh morels, squash blossoms, nasturtium butter (18)
Entrees:
Roasted Alaskan Halibut
Served with asparagus risotto, lemongrass, nasturtium flower (36)
Roasted Maryland Black Bass
Sugar snap peas, baby artichokes, foie gras sauce (38)
Grilled Estancia Rib eye of Beef
Fingerling potato hash, Maitake mushrooms, Sauce Bearnaise (38): Excellent choice: the sauce was perfect
Skillet Roasted Fillet of Beef
Shoestring potatoes, blue cheese, water cross, Madeira (39)
*************************************************************************************
Chris' lawyer jokes (internal jokes of the day at www.mofo.com):
Why don't sharks eat lawyers?
Answer: Professional courtesy!
Throw a lawyer and a snake out of a plane --who dies first?
Answer: Who cares?
A lawyer buys some expensive Cuban cigars and insures them for $15,000 against loss by fire. He smokes all of them down to small butts, and files a "frivolous" claim. The Judge agrees with opposing counsel that the claim is frivolous but awards the lawyer his $15,000. On the day that the lawyer cashes the check, however, the insurance company charges him with arson. He is sentenced to 6 months in prison
BACCHUS KIRK: TRIVIA NIGHT: MAY 15, 2007
Match your wits with the best and the brightest at Bacchus Kirk:
QUESTIONS:
1. 400th anniversary celebration of first permanent English settlement. What is it?
2. World's largest Catholic country.
3. Name 2 companies in the recent Media deal.
4. New York City is trying to implement same parking structure as London, in last few days. What's it called.
5. What are 2 major Palestinian organizations fighting each other now?
6. Name 2 of the 5 top names for baby boys, as reported by Social Security Admin.
7. Ditto for baby girls.
8. Name of Star Trek 2.
9. Name high thin whiskey colored clouds which herald a bad weather front.
10.Cape Fear is on the coast of which State.
11.The Little Miami River is in which State?
12.Name City of Roses. You have two choices.
13.Name Mascot of Auburn University (in Alabama).
14.Android Dream of Electric Sheep was made into a Movie. What's it called?
15. Name of Star Trek 3.
QUESTIONS:
1. 400th anniversary celebration of first permanent English settlement. What is it?
2. World's largest Catholic country.
3. Name 2 companies in the recent Media deal.
4. New York City is trying to implement same parking structure as London, in last few days. What's it called.
5. What are 2 major Palestinian organizations fighting each other now?
6. Name 2 of the 5 top names for baby boys, as reported by Social Security Admin.
7. Ditto for baby girls.
8. Name of Star Trek 2.
9. Name high thin whiskey colored clouds which herald a bad weather front.
10.Cape Fear is on the coast of which State.
11.The Little Miami River is in which State?
12.Name City of Roses. You have two choices.
13.Name Mascot of Auburn University (in Alabama).
14.Android Dream of Electric Sheep was made into a Movie. What's it called?
15. Name of Star Trek 3.
Monday, May 14, 2007
HARLEM SLANG/SPUNK: THREE TALES BY ZORA NEALE HURSTON MAY 14, 2007
Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, 620 Sutter, San Francisco (415)474-8800. Welcome to the music of the 1930s Harlem Streets and rural deep South complements of Hurston's SPUNK trilogy, adapted by George C. Wolfe with the extraordinary singing of Kim Nalley in the lead, and C. Kelly Wright, who steals much of her thunder with her own "powerhouse blues pipes". I met Kelly's father, Paul, a retired boxer, who runs a boys' gym in Oakland. We shared a down home meal in the lobby of the theater: lasagna, green beans, carrots, pasta salad, sickeningly sweet punch concoction, and copious amounts of carrot cake. Paul has traveled around the world, "whipped it to the red", and was very proud of his Equity daughter, Kelly, who looked radiant!
I shared a Jewish haiku with him, and he, a Harlem slang glossary:
Basho: There is no subject whatever that is not fit for haiku.
Yiddish Proverb: This you call poetry?
Middle East Peace talks-
the parties reach agreement.
Falafel for lunch.
Air out- leave, flee, stroll
Astorperious- haughty, biggity
'Bam and down in 'Bam- down South
Beatin' up your gums- talking to no purpose
Beluthahatchie - next station beyond Hell
Bull-skating-bragging
Coal Scuttle blond-black woman
Collar a nod-sleep
Diddy-Way-Diddy-1)a far place. 2)suburb of Hell, built since ay before Hell wasn't no bigger than Baltimore.
Dumb to the fact-"You don't know what you're talking about."
Frail eel-pretty girl
Ginny Gall- another suburb of Hell
Granny Grunt-mythical character to whom most questions may be referred
I don't deal in coal-"I don't keep company with black woman"
jelly-sex
jump salty-get angry
peola-a very white Negro girl
piano on a platter-spare ribs (white rib bones suggest piano keys)
playing the dozens-low-rating the ancestors of your opponent
reefer-marijuana cigarette, also a drag
Russian-a Southern Negro up north "Rushed up here," hence a Russian
scrap iron-cheap liquor
solid-perfect
stroll-doing something well
Sugar Hill-Northwest sector of Harlem (the expression is distorted in the South to mean the Negro red light district)
The bear-confession of poverty
The Man - the law, or powerful boss
Thousand on a plate-beans
What's on the rail for the lizard-suggestion for moral turpitude
Whip it to the red-beat your head until it is bloody
Zoot suit with the reet pleat-Harlem style suit, padded shoulders, 43-inch trouser at the knee with cuff so small it needs a zipper to get into, high waistline, fancy lapels, bushels of buttons.
I shared a Jewish haiku with him, and he, a Harlem slang glossary:
Basho: There is no subject whatever that is not fit for haiku.
Yiddish Proverb: This you call poetry?
Middle East Peace talks-
the parties reach agreement.
Falafel for lunch.
Air out- leave, flee, stroll
Astorperious- haughty, biggity
'Bam and down in 'Bam- down South
Beatin' up your gums- talking to no purpose
Beluthahatchie - next station beyond Hell
Bull-skating-bragging
Coal Scuttle blond-black woman
Collar a nod-sleep
Diddy-Way-Diddy-1)a far place. 2)suburb of Hell, built since ay before Hell wasn't no bigger than Baltimore.
Dumb to the fact-"You don't know what you're talking about."
Frail eel-pretty girl
Ginny Gall- another suburb of Hell
Granny Grunt-mythical character to whom most questions may be referred
I don't deal in coal-"I don't keep company with black woman"
jelly-sex
jump salty-get angry
peola-a very white Negro girl
piano on a platter-spare ribs (white rib bones suggest piano keys)
playing the dozens-low-rating the ancestors of your opponent
reefer-marijuana cigarette, also a drag
Russian-a Southern Negro up north "Rushed up here," hence a Russian
scrap iron-cheap liquor
solid-perfect
stroll-doing something well
Sugar Hill-Northwest sector of Harlem (the expression is distorted in the South to mean the Negro red light district)
The bear-confession of poverty
The Man - the law, or powerful boss
Thousand on a plate-beans
What's on the rail for the lizard-suggestion for moral turpitude
Whip it to the red-beat your head until it is bloody
Zoot suit with the reet pleat-Harlem style suit, padded shoulders, 43-inch trouser at the knee with cuff so small it needs a zipper to get into, high waistline, fancy lapels, bushels of buttons.
Friday, May 11, 2007
STEVEN WRIGHT: GEORGE BUSH HAD A QUICKSAND BOX IN HIS BACK YARD...WAS AN ONLY CHILD...EVENTUALLY!
My friend Hope Kochiss, retired Kindergarten teacher, New Haven, CT., supplied this joke from Steven Wright. I just changed the name to George Bush. Here's Steve but you have to imagine him doing that monotone mumble and flat lined vocal cadence:
Having sex with his girlfriend was like being at a concert--a lot of screaming, yelling, throwing of frisbees, and when she wanted more, she lit a match.
When I (read: George Bush) was a kid, we had a quicksand box in the backyard. I was an only child...eventually.
My friend has a baby. I'm writing down all the noises he makes so later I can ask him what he meant.
I had a dream midgets were trying to assassinate me, so I bought a bullet-proof car. But since they were midgets, I bought a convertible.
When I was a kid, I had a friend who worked in a radio station. Whenever we walked under a bridge, you couldn't understand what he said.
Babies don't need a vacation, but I still see them at the beach. It pissed me off. I'll go over and say, "What are you doing here? You haven't worked a day in your life."
When I was in the Boy Scouts, I tripped on the ice, and hurt my ankle, a little old lady had to help me across the street.
You think when they asked George Washington for his ID, he just took out a quarter?
My theory on Evolution? I think Darwin was adopted.
On weather: If it's zero degrees out today, and it's supposed to be twice as cold tomorrow, how cold is it going to be???
Everywhere is walking distance, if you have the time!
Having sex with his girlfriend was like being at a concert--a lot of screaming, yelling, throwing of frisbees, and when she wanted more, she lit a match.
When I (read: George Bush) was a kid, we had a quicksand box in the backyard. I was an only child...eventually.
My friend has a baby. I'm writing down all the noises he makes so later I can ask him what he meant.
I had a dream midgets were trying to assassinate me, so I bought a bullet-proof car. But since they were midgets, I bought a convertible.
When I was a kid, I had a friend who worked in a radio station. Whenever we walked under a bridge, you couldn't understand what he said.
Babies don't need a vacation, but I still see them at the beach. It pissed me off. I'll go over and say, "What are you doing here? You haven't worked a day in your life."
When I was in the Boy Scouts, I tripped on the ice, and hurt my ankle, a little old lady had to help me across the street.
You think when they asked George Washington for his ID, he just took out a quarter?
My theory on Evolution? I think Darwin was adopted.
On weather: If it's zero degrees out today, and it's supposed to be twice as cold tomorrow, how cold is it going to be???
Everywhere is walking distance, if you have the time!
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
CONAN O'BRIEN AT THE ORPHEUM; MAY 2, 2007: ROBIN WILLIAMS: LICENSE TO WED
Orpheum Theater, Market Street, May 2, 2007. Robin descends from replica of the Golden Gate Bridge. Attack of the 20-foot comedian. "Jump". You're up on the bridge, and they say JUMP, like a group of people who wait for you outside of rehab: "Have a drink, my friend." So nice for you to have this here, Conan, for those considering suicide -- to get used to it! You can sell it to China, use it for flowers, or take it over to Oakland and possibly use it for repair of the Bay Bridge - it's structurally sound and able to take a temperature of 3,000 Fahrenheit!
Market Street is a little like 42nd Street without Disney. We have 2 or 3 theaters and the rest is Adult Entertainment. Mr. Sticky butts, seats, feet. If you walk down Market Street, hang a left,you'll be in the Mission! Buy the fattest burrito in town! If you keep walking, you'll be in Boys Town (Castro). A bar named Moby Dick, i.e., "take a chance." Is your name Queequeg? Don't be afraid of the leg, I sharpened it for you.
Sam Wo (co-sponsored Conan O'Brien, along with Intel) is Martha Stewart's favorite restaurant. Now that she's out of prison, she's pretty much eating out all the time. Go to the Sunset District where there are Irish bars always singing songs--start out depressed and end up happy. Irish dirge: Your mother she did drown that night/upon the lighted store/I never told you this/ but your aunt she was a whore. Your father made a living putting in the parquet floor/Piss in your hat and get away/we're dancing on the door. (Tralala)
I'm obsessed with the Discovery Channel: Planet Earth. Some of the birds really have to clean up the mating area. Intense. Insect world. Black widow spiders. When they give head, they mean it. Praying mantis bites your head off. Sea turtles are the rough ones. She's about 120 years old. First of all, never get a turtle as a pet, leave them in your Will because they're going to live longer than you. You'll be dying, and the turtle's like, I'm just a child.
Movie: License to Wed. Boot Camp for people thinking of getting married. I play an unconventional reverend who has a 2-week preparation course before you get married in his church. Here's the drill: you're going to have to give up everything: no more sex, that's gone. Then we're gonna put you in a small box, and have people tell you stuff you wouldn't even read in Penthouse! (Laughter). Marriage is a long program...and you find out why some animals eat their young. Learn how to survive, be honest, fight fairly, and all those other things marriage involves. That's how you survive!
Market Street is a little like 42nd Street without Disney. We have 2 or 3 theaters and the rest is Adult Entertainment. Mr. Sticky butts, seats, feet. If you walk down Market Street, hang a left,you'll be in the Mission! Buy the fattest burrito in town! If you keep walking, you'll be in Boys Town (Castro). A bar named Moby Dick, i.e., "take a chance." Is your name Queequeg? Don't be afraid of the leg, I sharpened it for you.
Sam Wo (co-sponsored Conan O'Brien, along with Intel) is Martha Stewart's favorite restaurant. Now that she's out of prison, she's pretty much eating out all the time. Go to the Sunset District where there are Irish bars always singing songs--start out depressed and end up happy. Irish dirge: Your mother she did drown that night/upon the lighted store/I never told you this/ but your aunt she was a whore. Your father made a living putting in the parquet floor/Piss in your hat and get away/we're dancing on the door. (Tralala)
I'm obsessed with the Discovery Channel: Planet Earth. Some of the birds really have to clean up the mating area. Intense. Insect world. Black widow spiders. When they give head, they mean it. Praying mantis bites your head off. Sea turtles are the rough ones. She's about 120 years old. First of all, never get a turtle as a pet, leave them in your Will because they're going to live longer than you. You'll be dying, and the turtle's like, I'm just a child.
Movie: License to Wed. Boot Camp for people thinking of getting married. I play an unconventional reverend who has a 2-week preparation course before you get married in his church. Here's the drill: you're going to have to give up everything: no more sex, that's gone. Then we're gonna put you in a small box, and have people tell you stuff you wouldn't even read in Penthouse! (Laughter). Marriage is a long program...and you find out why some animals eat their young. Learn how to survive, be honest, fight fairly, and all those other things marriage involves. That's how you survive!
SLANTED DOOR/OUT THE DOOR: CHARLES PHAN'S URBANE VIETNAMESE/TUESDAY NIGHT TRIVIA: BACCHUS KIRK; MAY 8, 2007
The Slanted Door, 1 Ferry Building/Market St. (415-861-8032)Sister restaurant;www.slanteddoor.com. Out the Door (Westfield San Francisco Centre (Old Emporium); 845 Market Street. 11-9 Monday-Saturday; 11-8 Sunday. Charles Phan's urbane Vietnamese is the standard setter for this upscale neck of the woods in the heart of downtown San Francisco. A few of the phos I spoke with fear throngs of tourists. Their fears have been realized. Do you remember The Slanted Door in the Mission (on Valencia) in years past, when the Rolling Stones ate there. Phan has come a long way.
Les, stay-at-home bookseller, chef extraordinnaire, my wacky lacky, and I made our way to this crowded, beautiful restaurant in the Lower Level Food Court. We were greeted by a French-speaking hostess and we celebrated Les' "27-again" Birthday lured by Saigon sensations. He was disappointed; I was not. He can cook; I can not! Afterwards, I asked him what the best part of lunch was: the MOTION ACTIVATED WATER FOUNTAIN/SPIGOTS inside the Centre. Awesome! Here's what Les/I would recommend:
Rolls/Salad:
Fresh vegetarian spring rolls with tofu, shiitake mushrooms, cabbage, mint and peanut sauce (7.5)
Vermicelli/Noodles:
Alaskan halibut with turmeric, peanuts, fresh dill and pineapple-anchovy sauce over rice vermicelli (11.5)
Meat
Chicken clay pot with caramel sauce. This is Phan's signature dish and a must-have! It was tremendous in my opinion. "Bland"; "dumbed down cuisine for white guys" (Les)
Vegetables
Star Route baby chard, kale, and mizuna with garlic. (7) I've had better that I've sauteed myself.
Dessert:
Ginger tapioca with spicy ginger syrup and Asian pear (6).
Les: Let me show you how to write! (Hastily scribbled in my notebook):
"He: I was married for seven years and one morning, he stopped touching
me.
Me: He stopped touching me because he was dead. There was a knife sticking
out of his chest."
Wacky lacky, indeed.
Did you know Garum is fermented fish, and when mixed with lime juice, white rice vinegar, sugar, garlic, shallots, fresh chilies is called NUOC CHAM, a wonderful dipping sauce? Look for Squid Brand Fish Sauce, which is the best, in Asian markets. It should read, CA COM, made only with anchovies.(Life is Meals; Salters)
May Out the Door continue to thrive!
______________________________________________________________________________
BACCHUS KIRK: TRIVIA NIGHT : May 8, 2007.
Met Chris, who works as a software developer for MOFO, a large SF law firm. We made a date for the following week: Farallon! He wants to humor me with seafood and lots of lawyer jokes! It should be fun!
1. What is the tunnel north of the Golden Gate Bridge?
2. North Star found on which Constellation?
3. Julius Caesar or Caesar Augustus: Who was Roman Emperor at Christ's birth?
4. John C. Leavy Tunnel in San Francisco: What's its other name?
5. Term that means to pickle in vinegar or brine?
6. Torso of women with wings and feet of bird?
7. Fire breathing monster: goat, snake, lion?
8. Boy of man with head of bull.
9. Jayhopper State.
10.Young and Rubican: One of the largest firms in which industry?
11.Russian abbreviation equivalent of U.S.S.R.?
12.Name song/group that sang about having to shout above din of eating rice crispies.
13.Microsoft system: "system is busy" symbol?
14.Al Gore is President of what TV channel?
15.Boiling point of water on Centigrade scale?
Les, stay-at-home bookseller, chef extraordinnaire, my wacky lacky, and I made our way to this crowded, beautiful restaurant in the Lower Level Food Court. We were greeted by a French-speaking hostess and we celebrated Les' "27-again" Birthday lured by Saigon sensations. He was disappointed; I was not. He can cook; I can not! Afterwards, I asked him what the best part of lunch was: the MOTION ACTIVATED WATER FOUNTAIN/SPIGOTS inside the Centre. Awesome! Here's what Les/I would recommend:
Rolls/Salad:
Fresh vegetarian spring rolls with tofu, shiitake mushrooms, cabbage, mint and peanut sauce (7.5)
Vermicelli/Noodles:
Alaskan halibut with turmeric, peanuts, fresh dill and pineapple-anchovy sauce over rice vermicelli (11.5)
Meat
Chicken clay pot with caramel sauce. This is Phan's signature dish and a must-have! It was tremendous in my opinion. "Bland"; "dumbed down cuisine for white guys" (Les)
Vegetables
Star Route baby chard, kale, and mizuna with garlic. (7) I've had better that I've sauteed myself.
Dessert:
Ginger tapioca with spicy ginger syrup and Asian pear (6).
Les: Let me show you how to write! (Hastily scribbled in my notebook):
"He: I was married for seven years and one morning, he stopped touching
me.
Me: He stopped touching me because he was dead. There was a knife sticking
out of his chest."
Wacky lacky, indeed.
Did you know Garum is fermented fish, and when mixed with lime juice, white rice vinegar, sugar, garlic, shallots, fresh chilies is called NUOC CHAM, a wonderful dipping sauce? Look for Squid Brand Fish Sauce, which is the best, in Asian markets. It should read, CA COM, made only with anchovies.(Life is Meals; Salters)
May Out the Door continue to thrive!
______________________________________________________________________________
BACCHUS KIRK: TRIVIA NIGHT : May 8, 2007.
Met Chris, who works as a software developer for MOFO, a large SF law firm. We made a date for the following week: Farallon! He wants to humor me with seafood and lots of lawyer jokes! It should be fun!
1. What is the tunnel north of the Golden Gate Bridge?
2. North Star found on which Constellation?
3. Julius Caesar or Caesar Augustus: Who was Roman Emperor at Christ's birth?
4. John C. Leavy Tunnel in San Francisco: What's its other name?
5. Term that means to pickle in vinegar or brine?
6. Torso of women with wings and feet of bird?
7. Fire breathing monster: goat, snake, lion?
8. Boy of man with head of bull.
9. Jayhopper State.
10.Young and Rubican: One of the largest firms in which industry?
11.Russian abbreviation equivalent of U.S.S.R.?
12.Name song/group that sang about having to shout above din of eating rice crispies.
13.Microsoft system: "system is busy" symbol?
14.Al Gore is President of what TV channel?
15.Boiling point of water on Centigrade scale?
Monday, May 7, 2007
6-YEAR OLDS/FIRST GRADERS SURPRISE-HUMOR!
A first grade school teacher in Virginia had twenty-five students in her class. She presented each child in her classroom the first half of a well-known proverb, and asked them to come up with the remainder of the proverb.
It's hard to believe these were actually done by first graders. Their insight may surprise you. While reading, keep in mind that these are lst graders, 6-year-olds, because the last one is a classic!
1. Don't change horses...until they stop running.
2. Strike while the...bug is close.
3. It's always darkest before ...Daylight Saving Time.
4. Never underestimate the power...of termites.
5. You can lead a horse to water but...how?
6. Don't bite the hand that...looks dirty.
7. No news is...impossible.
8. A miss is as good as a...Mr.
9. You can't teach an old dog new...math.
10.If you lie down with dogs, you'll...stink in the morning.
11.Love all, trust...me.
12.The pen is mightier than the...pigs.
13.An idle mind is the best way to...relax.
14.Where there's smoke there's...pollution.
15.Happy the bride who gets all the...presents.
16.A penny saved is...not much.
17.Two's company, three's...the Musketeers.
18.Don't put off till tomorrow what...you put on to go to bed.
19.Laugh and the whole world laughs with you, cry and...you have to blow your nose.
20.There are none so blind as...Stevie Wonder.
21.Children should be seen and not...spanked or grounded.
22.If at first you don't succeed, get new batteries.
23.You get out of something only what you...see in the picture on the box.
24.When the blind lead the blind...get out of the way.
25.Better late than...pregnant.
Thanks to Spike, an old, dear friend and Certified Clown in Los Angeles! Have a great week!
It's hard to believe these were actually done by first graders. Their insight may surprise you. While reading, keep in mind that these are lst graders, 6-year-olds, because the last one is a classic!
1. Don't change horses...until they stop running.
2. Strike while the...bug is close.
3. It's always darkest before ...Daylight Saving Time.
4. Never underestimate the power...of termites.
5. You can lead a horse to water but...how?
6. Don't bite the hand that...looks dirty.
7. No news is...impossible.
8. A miss is as good as a...Mr.
9. You can't teach an old dog new...math.
10.If you lie down with dogs, you'll...stink in the morning.
11.Love all, trust...me.
12.The pen is mightier than the...pigs.
13.An idle mind is the best way to...relax.
14.Where there's smoke there's...pollution.
15.Happy the bride who gets all the...presents.
16.A penny saved is...not much.
17.Two's company, three's...the Musketeers.
18.Don't put off till tomorrow what...you put on to go to bed.
19.Laugh and the whole world laughs with you, cry and...you have to blow your nose.
20.There are none so blind as...Stevie Wonder.
21.Children should be seen and not...spanked or grounded.
22.If at first you don't succeed, get new batteries.
23.You get out of something only what you...see in the picture on the box.
24.When the blind lead the blind...get out of the way.
25.Better late than...pregnant.
Thanks to Spike, an old, dear friend and Certified Clown in Los Angeles! Have a great week!
Saturday, May 5, 2007
CHUCK PALAHNIUK: BOOKSMITH RANT TOUR 5/4/07: GIVES ME A BOUQUET OF PHONY FLOWERS WORTH MEGABUCKS IN 2030!
5/4/07. Booksmith, 1644 Haight St. (863-8688); Page Street Public Library. Chuck Palahniuk, bestselling author of books including The Fight Club, Survivor, Invisible, Monsters, Choke, Haunted, Stranger than Fiction, appeared at the Page Street Public Library to SRO fanatics.
Place this bet in your time capsule. Chuck Palahniuk's novels will be required reading in American literature classes 100 years from now.
He kicked off his tour of latest book, Rant: An Oral Biography of Buster Casey. (Doubleday, 2007). The epigram reads: Do you ever wish you'd never been born? Here's the opening line to Rant:
Like most people, I didn't meet Rant Casey until after he was dead, that's how is works for most celebrities. After they croak, their circle of friends just explodes.
Here's the closing line: The rest of you gaddamn losers. Enjoy your death.
The book is written in style of a oral history -- multiple sources are questioned about a shared experience. (See Capote by George Plimpton).
Chuck's fiction is a little bit different: characters who pretend to choke on food while dining at upscale restaurants, plane crashes, fight clubs, haunted houses, Judas cows -- what will he think of next? How about murder, bee swarms, government enforced segregation, car-crashing teenagers, and time travel all mixed together and bathed in biblical overtones and let's not forget rape!
Did the fire marshal knew how many people were in this room? Chuck was in the backroom pumping up gigantic moose heads, arranging the phony bouquets of flowers, signing books he would be giving away to people who "asked" questions, and trivia based on his bestselling books and movies. I was the lucky one who sat front and center and asked the first question (and received the bouquet and 2 signed copies of his favorite books, the dark and funny Clown Girl (Monica Drake), and the funniest, dirtiest, smartest book seen in years, Obscene Interiors.
Question (Me, Anna Rowe):
Vladimir Nabokov said we don't read so much as REREAD books. What is the last book you've reread?
A: I just reread a memoir about a woman named Lucy Greely called Autobiography of a Face. Lucy has lost most her face to cancer as a small child. Entire jaw was gone. I didn't know that when I was writing Invisible Monsters, and I ended up meeting her in New York with Amy Hempel. That was shortly before she committed suicide and rereading that book with its upbeat ending and knowing that she would kill herself within a couple of years just gave that book an enormous meaning that it didn't have the first go-through. (He gave me the bouquet and the two books). Beautiful!
Q: In the novel The Fight Club, what disease do people suffer from if they attend support group called "above and beyond"?
A: Brain Parasites.
He then read a story called Cold Calling, passed out a passel of joke cigarettes, answered a question about the Judas Cow (yes, they calm the other cows down before they're lead to slaughter).
Q: Why was Rant done in oral history form?
A: 1. I find the form incredibly readable. It's like eating potato chips. You get the meat of each moment - it keeps you reading compulsively.
2. If you use a non-fiction form, you can tell a really incredible story. This form will invest that story with a credibility and a gravity it would not have whether it's Orson Welles doing War of the Worlds, Martians invading the world. But if you do it on a broadcast in non-fiction form...it's believable. Fargo...Bullshit. Convincing bullshit. In this form, you can tell a completely over-the-top story.
3. Form allows you to cut narrative like you would cut film, and you don't have to have constant transitions. You can cut from what needs to happen to what needs to happen...allows you to write in effective way, like a movie!
Q: (me, again): Chuck, you dedicated the book to your father. Is he still alive? You know, the story about keeping your head down and not looking up from the sidewalk?
A: That's a question that shouldn't have been asked. I dedicated book to my Dad, who was from the Idaho Panhandle and he was really self-conscious about being a hillbilly, that he had raised a whole passel of hillbillies. And, once my Mother was going to Spokane to have all of her teeth taken out, because it had been after she'd given birth to the last of us, and her teeth were really lousy from calcium loss, and she was going to have dentures at the ripe old age of 32. And while she was getting her teeth pulled, my father took us for a walk in downtown Spokane, a big city. My siblings were like these dirty Waltons. Beverly Hillbillies. Golly, Dad! It's the first time I'd been in an elevator, and I was maybe 8 or 9 years old. And my father got really angry, and he said: Goddamn it! Don't you kids look up anywhere from the sidewalk. I don't want these people to know we're a bunch of redneck filthy hillbillies. If you want them to think you're a hillbilly, just keep looking up at those tall buildings. So we spent the whole day walking around Spokane... I just wish my father had gotten past that self-imposed hillbilly identity. (How poignant, I thought).
It was cold, windy when I inched my way back alone (my friend, the photographer, Les had left early) to the MUNI and carried thoughts, my bouquet, books in my large "French" bag...What a memorable night! Chuck had been in good form and was up to his old tricks, and grateful he had graciouisly signed my copy of HAUNTED: "HAPPY NIGHTMARES!"
Funny, always on the edge of reality and bloodied by the profound horror of narcissim. (Playboy).
Place this bet in your time capsule. Chuck Palahniuk's novels will be required reading in American literature classes 100 years from now.
He kicked off his tour of latest book, Rant: An Oral Biography of Buster Casey. (Doubleday, 2007). The epigram reads: Do you ever wish you'd never been born? Here's the opening line to Rant:
Like most people, I didn't meet Rant Casey until after he was dead, that's how is works for most celebrities. After they croak, their circle of friends just explodes.
Here's the closing line: The rest of you gaddamn losers. Enjoy your death.
The book is written in style of a oral history -- multiple sources are questioned about a shared experience. (See Capote by George Plimpton).
Chuck's fiction is a little bit different: characters who pretend to choke on food while dining at upscale restaurants, plane crashes, fight clubs, haunted houses, Judas cows -- what will he think of next? How about murder, bee swarms, government enforced segregation, car-crashing teenagers, and time travel all mixed together and bathed in biblical overtones and let's not forget rape!
Did the fire marshal knew how many people were in this room? Chuck was in the backroom pumping up gigantic moose heads, arranging the phony bouquets of flowers, signing books he would be giving away to people who "asked" questions, and trivia based on his bestselling books and movies. I was the lucky one who sat front and center and asked the first question (and received the bouquet and 2 signed copies of his favorite books, the dark and funny Clown Girl (Monica Drake), and the funniest, dirtiest, smartest book seen in years, Obscene Interiors.
Question (Me, Anna Rowe):
Vladimir Nabokov said we don't read so much as REREAD books. What is the last book you've reread?
A: I just reread a memoir about a woman named Lucy Greely called Autobiography of a Face. Lucy has lost most her face to cancer as a small child. Entire jaw was gone. I didn't know that when I was writing Invisible Monsters, and I ended up meeting her in New York with Amy Hempel. That was shortly before she committed suicide and rereading that book with its upbeat ending and knowing that she would kill herself within a couple of years just gave that book an enormous meaning that it didn't have the first go-through. (He gave me the bouquet and the two books). Beautiful!
Q: In the novel The Fight Club, what disease do people suffer from if they attend support group called "above and beyond"?
A: Brain Parasites.
He then read a story called Cold Calling, passed out a passel of joke cigarettes, answered a question about the Judas Cow (yes, they calm the other cows down before they're lead to slaughter).
Q: Why was Rant done in oral history form?
A: 1. I find the form incredibly readable. It's like eating potato chips. You get the meat of each moment - it keeps you reading compulsively.
2. If you use a non-fiction form, you can tell a really incredible story. This form will invest that story with a credibility and a gravity it would not have whether it's Orson Welles doing War of the Worlds, Martians invading the world. But if you do it on a broadcast in non-fiction form...it's believable. Fargo...Bullshit. Convincing bullshit. In this form, you can tell a completely over-the-top story.
3. Form allows you to cut narrative like you would cut film, and you don't have to have constant transitions. You can cut from what needs to happen to what needs to happen...allows you to write in effective way, like a movie!
Q: (me, again): Chuck, you dedicated the book to your father. Is he still alive? You know, the story about keeping your head down and not looking up from the sidewalk?
A: That's a question that shouldn't have been asked. I dedicated book to my Dad, who was from the Idaho Panhandle and he was really self-conscious about being a hillbilly, that he had raised a whole passel of hillbillies. And, once my Mother was going to Spokane to have all of her teeth taken out, because it had been after she'd given birth to the last of us, and her teeth were really lousy from calcium loss, and she was going to have dentures at the ripe old age of 32. And while she was getting her teeth pulled, my father took us for a walk in downtown Spokane, a big city. My siblings were like these dirty Waltons. Beverly Hillbillies. Golly, Dad! It's the first time I'd been in an elevator, and I was maybe 8 or 9 years old. And my father got really angry, and he said: Goddamn it! Don't you kids look up anywhere from the sidewalk. I don't want these people to know we're a bunch of redneck filthy hillbillies. If you want them to think you're a hillbilly, just keep looking up at those tall buildings. So we spent the whole day walking around Spokane... I just wish my father had gotten past that self-imposed hillbilly identity. (How poignant, I thought).
It was cold, windy when I inched my way back alone (my friend, the photographer, Les had left early) to the MUNI and carried thoughts, my bouquet, books in my large "French" bag...What a memorable night! Chuck had been in good form and was up to his old tricks, and grateful he had graciouisly signed my copy of HAUNTED: "HAPPY NIGHTMARES!"
Funny, always on the edge of reality and bloodied by the profound horror of narcissim. (Playboy).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
