I recently moved to SoCal and that means a whole new group of restaurants to try. This series of reviews will be dedicated to restaurants along Ventura Boulevard, and there are a lot of them. I will cover local chains, but I'm not going to talk about national chains since really, there's no point.
Kabuki: Japanese restaurant that's definitely interested in being an "it" place more than being completely accurate. That isn't to say the food isn't good, but some of the menu items are a bit odd for a traditional Japanese restaurant. I had the beef sukiyaki and it was really good although definitely constructed with an eye to the health freaks. It was loaded with more hardy vegetables than tofu, beef, and noodles. There was very little onion or cabbage, which I'm used to seeing in my sukiyaki and there was a lot of button mushrooms and what I think was zuchini. Also, the amount of soy sauce used was also a lot less than usuall, again I'm thinking it's a concession to the "health conscious" that run the area. Again, not bad just not what I'm used to getting in my sukiyaki and definitely a little short of the level of soy(salt) that I prefer.
China Star In and Out: Chinese restaurant and fish and chips place. Now I don't really have a problem with this as I grew up near a Japanese and fish and chips combo place. But, I think it's popularity stems from the fish and chips. The chinese food was decidely sub-par. I had the Beef and Brocolli lunch special which included a veggie eggroll and egg drop soup. None of it was very good. The Beef and Brocolli was bland and when that's what you're going for, that's not good. The service was good, especially given the fact that one lady is handling all the sit-in, take out, and call-in customers by herself. But really, good service doesn't overcome bad Chinese food.
Sol y Luna: I really liked this place. The chips and salsa were good and I got the beef flauta for my lunch. Oh man it was good. And the group I was there with all really loved the food they ordered too. It's a little pricey for a Mexican restaurant, but the servings are huge and everything is really good. A definite recommend.
Curry Bowl: This is a Sri Lankan restaurant and I've never had Sri Lankan food, so I can't speak to authenticity. My experience and love of curry comes from Indian curry and that is the basis I compare all others to. So understand that's the perspective I'm coming from. I had the lunch buffet and ordered some of the beef pastries to go. From the lunch buffet I tried the chicken curry, egg curry, some roast vegetable curry and the rice. The chicken curry was alright but had no kick and was a bit bland. The egg curry could have had no curry for all the flavor it gave to the hard boiled eggs. The roast vegetable curry was sweet but not really my thing. The beef pastries were good though. I'm not all that into that kind of thing but I was craving samosas so I gave them a shot. I had three different varieties and they were all pretty good, even if not quite my cup o tea.
Shanwen Shanghai Cuisine: I had the wor won ton soup. This is the variety with a bunch of extra stuff thrown in. Again, I think this is a restaurant that has it's eyes towards the health conscious a lot more so than those who want accuracy. There were a lot more vegetables that wor won ton usually has and the broth was very light, almost flavorless. The won ton were very good, which redeemed it. The bok choy were barely cooked so they seemed a bit off. As a whole I think the place is OK, but I would try another place before going there again.
Pickwicks: A British Pub that's not. It looks like a British pub, has the right beer and has darts. But the menu is definitely not that of a British pub. There's a few items here and there that are British but most aren't. That being said it's a good crowd, good service, and the food is pretty good.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Monday, March 19, 2007
They're Like Real Comics, But Good!
I speak of course, of webcomics. That (relatively) new medium of personal and amatuer self-expression that is successful as a movement but struggling as an industry.
I'm not going to say why I like the webcomics linked below. They're too different to compare and I can't really point to why I like these over other, similar comics.
Errant Story
Exploitation Now - Ended
VG Cats
Mac Hall - Ended
Three Panel Soul
Okashina Okashi
Dr. McNinja
Minus
Queen of Wands - Ended but apparently a sequel has recently started up
Megatokyo - I should note that while I have stopped reading this webcomic, I am still a huge fan of his artwork.
Real Life Comics
Cute Wendy - Ended but the artist is doing buttloads of other stuff still
That's my reading list. The below links are a couple of weird ones. Road Waffles I liked, but I don't like most anything else the artist is doing, especially his new comics. Down to Earth I also like but it seems to have a posting schedule measured in months.
Road Waffles
Down to Earth
There's one more I love, but I haven't read it in forever due to time constraints and I can't for the life of me remember who the artist is or what it's called, but I will try to post the link once I figure out where it is.
I'm not going to say why I like the webcomics linked below. They're too different to compare and I can't really point to why I like these over other, similar comics.
Errant Story
Exploitation Now - Ended
VG Cats
Mac Hall - Ended
Three Panel Soul
Okashina Okashi
Dr. McNinja
Minus
Queen of Wands - Ended but apparently a sequel has recently started up
Megatokyo - I should note that while I have stopped reading this webcomic, I am still a huge fan of his artwork.
Real Life Comics
Cute Wendy - Ended but the artist is doing buttloads of other stuff still
That's my reading list. The below links are a couple of weird ones. Road Waffles I liked, but I don't like most anything else the artist is doing, especially his new comics. Down to Earth I also like but it seems to have a posting schedule measured in months.
Road Waffles
Down to Earth
There's one more I love, but I haven't read it in forever due to time constraints and I can't for the life of me remember who the artist is or what it's called, but I will try to post the link once I figure out where it is.
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Music Must Really Hate it's Consumers
OK, maybe the title of this post is unfair, but hear me out.
I don't normally like posting this sort of thing, after all, this is a review blog, not a political commentary blog, but I think of this as a negative review of the buffoons running things, both in government and the private sector. And, this happens to be a subject that affects me(and millions of others) in a very real way.
A decision was recently made, you may have heard, by an obscure panel of judges attached to the Library of Congress. How the *Library* of Congress has authority over anything is beyond me, but apparently they do. What this ruling will do is increase royalty costs for digital audio streams such as Internet radio and the Internet based streams of traditional broadcast stations. It will increase these costs exponentially. Of course the company in charge of collecting royalties is in full support of this new fee structure. I'm sure it means they collect more money for themselves as well.
The worst part of the new ruling is that it violates one of the most basic elements of good lawmaking. It is RETROACTIVE. Imagine if this retroactive aspect was applied to another part of daily life such as driving. The government decides that the new legal driving age is 30 and they make the ruling apply retroactively to anyone who was driving up to 10 years ago. Every person between the age of 16 and 39 that drove is now a criminal. Or, let's imagine that the tax rate is increased to 50% across the board and is retroactive 5 years. That means that you now must pay 50% of the money you made for the last five years immediately or you will go to jail. How many people could afford to pay that over 5 years much less all at once?
So what? Well, the new fee structure means that most small Internet radio stations will be required to pay royalties greater than their average yearly gross every year, in addition to the chunk of change they now owe for the last 15 months. It means smaller broadcast radio stations that simul-cast online will no longer be able to afford their Internet streams and will get rid of them. It means I will no longer be able to listen to music from across the globe and know what to look for when I walk into the music store. It means I will no longer be able to listen to my favourite radio stations I discovered while traveling or living in other states. It means the number of mp3s I have to download to determine whether a CD is worth buying or not will go up. It means I have to listen to morons go on and on about how drunk they got last night and how pretty this new handbag is every morning instead of listening to what I want to: music.
I started listening to Internet radio because it gave me access to music I would never hear on broadcast radio. I can listen to techno from Sweden, I can listen to a garage band from Brooklyn, I can listen to an artist who died before I was born. I can listen to music in the morning instead of some talk show host that thinks he or she is more important or more entertaining than they really are.
My favourite Internet radio company is Accuradio. I listen to it every day. I listen to it the entire time I'm at my desk at work. It will be forced out of business when the new royalty rules come into effect. Many others like Accuradio will be forced out of business at the same time and I will have very little I can listen to. Goodbye music from Japan, goodbye guitarist from down the street, goodbye Billy Holiday.
Please, please, please, if you listen to Internet radio at all, I highly encourage you to find out more and to speak out by visiting Save the Streams.
I don't normally like posting this sort of thing, after all, this is a review blog, not a political commentary blog, but I think of this as a negative review of the buffoons running things, both in government and the private sector. And, this happens to be a subject that affects me(and millions of others) in a very real way.
A decision was recently made, you may have heard, by an obscure panel of judges attached to the Library of Congress. How the *Library* of Congress has authority over anything is beyond me, but apparently they do. What this ruling will do is increase royalty costs for digital audio streams such as Internet radio and the Internet based streams of traditional broadcast stations. It will increase these costs exponentially. Of course the company in charge of collecting royalties is in full support of this new fee structure. I'm sure it means they collect more money for themselves as well.
The worst part of the new ruling is that it violates one of the most basic elements of good lawmaking. It is RETROACTIVE. Imagine if this retroactive aspect was applied to another part of daily life such as driving. The government decides that the new legal driving age is 30 and they make the ruling apply retroactively to anyone who was driving up to 10 years ago. Every person between the age of 16 and 39 that drove is now a criminal. Or, let's imagine that the tax rate is increased to 50% across the board and is retroactive 5 years. That means that you now must pay 50% of the money you made for the last five years immediately or you will go to jail. How many people could afford to pay that over 5 years much less all at once?
So what? Well, the new fee structure means that most small Internet radio stations will be required to pay royalties greater than their average yearly gross every year, in addition to the chunk of change they now owe for the last 15 months. It means smaller broadcast radio stations that simul-cast online will no longer be able to afford their Internet streams and will get rid of them. It means I will no longer be able to listen to music from across the globe and know what to look for when I walk into the music store. It means I will no longer be able to listen to my favourite radio stations I discovered while traveling or living in other states. It means the number of mp3s I have to download to determine whether a CD is worth buying or not will go up. It means I have to listen to morons go on and on about how drunk they got last night and how pretty this new handbag is every morning instead of listening to what I want to: music.
I started listening to Internet radio because it gave me access to music I would never hear on broadcast radio. I can listen to techno from Sweden, I can listen to a garage band from Brooklyn, I can listen to an artist who died before I was born. I can listen to music in the morning instead of some talk show host that thinks he or she is more important or more entertaining than they really are.
My favourite Internet radio company is Accuradio. I listen to it every day. I listen to it the entire time I'm at my desk at work. It will be forced out of business when the new royalty rules come into effect. Many others like Accuradio will be forced out of business at the same time and I will have very little I can listen to. Goodbye music from Japan, goodbye guitarist from down the street, goodbye Billy Holiday.
Please, please, please, if you listen to Internet radio at all, I highly encourage you to find out more and to speak out by visiting Save the Streams.
Monday, March 12, 2007
Strength and Honour
This weekend I saw the much anticipated 300(in IMAX). I will try to review it here without giving away anything you can't grasp from just viewing the trailer.
Now, I am a history buff, particularly ancient world, and I am a reenactment/recreationist and part of that is sword combat. My armor is based upon the 700 Thespian volunteer-warriors that fought alongside the 300 Spartans and refused to abandon them. I had to spend a good bit of time immersing myself in anything involving the movie 300 before it opened in order to get all my frustration at the historical inacuracies out before I went to see the movie so that it would not ruin my appreciation of the movie itself.
That being said, I LOVED the movie. And I will be going back to see it in the theaters at least another two times. My knowledge of the time period, cultures, soldiers, warfare, and armaments in no way detracted from my enjoyment of the movie. Would that have been the case had I not "prepared" myself? I can't say, but I can say I still would have enjoyed the movie immensely.
The visuals are quite breathtaking. You know everything but the actors are CGI, whether you knew anything about the movie going in or not. This isn't to say the graphics aren't stunning and well done, they are. But, it's obvious that a computer was heavily involved. The visuals have a very similar feel to Sin City's. This is not a bad thing. As I said, things are obviously computer generated, but that only adds to the fantastical, graphic novel feel. If anything it helps, not hinders, the composition of the movie. The use of computers for the backgrounds and creatures definitely frees the creators to bring in these elements in ways they could not have achieved with the real things.
The costuming was superb. Now, I know, if all you've seen are the posters, you may ask "What costuming?" The details were there and they worked(unlike Eragon). The red cloaks of the Spartans had spectacular swoosh to them, undoubtedly for the same reason the Nazgul cloaks hung so well in LOTR: there's a lot more fabric to them than you would think. The outfits of Queen Gorgo defy gravity in ways that would make Donatella Versace proud. The fabrics all have texture to them, from the rough spun of the Spartan cloaks, to the fine silk of Xerxes' entertainment. The props were similarly impressive. The spears all showed leather wrapping during close-ups, the Persian arrows were barbed in painfully beautiful fashion, and the helms of the Spartans reflected the punishment they withstood.
The acting was pretty good. The actors did the best they could with the lines they were given, and I must say the real weak point of the movie was the dialogue. The various actors playing the key Spartans had a spectacular grasp of what it meant to be Spartan and you could see it from the way they moved in combat to the looks on their faces during battle. Vincent Regan was spectacular in what is his second Greek period epic(the previous being Troy where he played Achilles's second) and was one of the highlight characters of the movie, despite the fact that his character is never actually given a name but referred to simply as "The Captain." I think he actually did a better job of things than Gerard Butler, who put a little too much into a few lines.
The fighting, surprisingly, I loved. I must admit to liking the fighting of Troy a little more but different forms, different set-ups, and a different quantity of combat mean the two, despite their roots, can't really be likened to each other. Now, again, I'm a sword fighter for fun, and I will never say sword combat in a movie or TV show is realistic(documentaries don't count), but there are degrees of inaccuracy. Troy's shield work was more accurate and effective, but 300 is definitely more accurate than the European style point dueling done with Asian slashing swords that we saw in Ultraviolet. The tempo of combat is where 300 really shines. Time slowed and sped up in a way that flowed and can be understood by anyone who has experienced the perceived time dilation of melee combat. No one just stood there waiting to be center screen to fight, in fact I came out of each battle scene wishing the shots had been wider and shown me more. The biggest problem is one that seems to be shared by many people. Blood is shown flying everywhere from every stab of the spear and slash of the sword, but none is on the ground. This may be a rating thing similar to why some video games have green blood(red blood in a game means an automatic increase in the maturity rating apparently) or it may be due to the fact that the blood is computer generated and they didn't want to deal with "painting" the blood on the ground. I don't know, and quite frankly, it didn't bug me enough to really detract from the experience.
All in all, I would highly recommend this movie to any and all adults. I would highly recommend you NOT bring anyone under 18 to see this movie. The only thing it's missing from the unholy triumvirate of things that make censors freak is foul language.
As I said at the beginning of this review, I will see this movie in the theaters at least another two times. And I think that is the most telling statement I can make.
Now, I am a history buff, particularly ancient world, and I am a reenactment/recreationist and part of that is sword combat. My armor is based upon the 700 Thespian volunteer-warriors that fought alongside the 300 Spartans and refused to abandon them. I had to spend a good bit of time immersing myself in anything involving the movie 300 before it opened in order to get all my frustration at the historical inacuracies out before I went to see the movie so that it would not ruin my appreciation of the movie itself.
That being said, I LOVED the movie. And I will be going back to see it in the theaters at least another two times. My knowledge of the time period, cultures, soldiers, warfare, and armaments in no way detracted from my enjoyment of the movie. Would that have been the case had I not "prepared" myself? I can't say, but I can say I still would have enjoyed the movie immensely.
The visuals are quite breathtaking. You know everything but the actors are CGI, whether you knew anything about the movie going in or not. This isn't to say the graphics aren't stunning and well done, they are. But, it's obvious that a computer was heavily involved. The visuals have a very similar feel to Sin City's. This is not a bad thing. As I said, things are obviously computer generated, but that only adds to the fantastical, graphic novel feel. If anything it helps, not hinders, the composition of the movie. The use of computers for the backgrounds and creatures definitely frees the creators to bring in these elements in ways they could not have achieved with the real things.
The costuming was superb. Now, I know, if all you've seen are the posters, you may ask "What costuming?" The details were there and they worked(unlike Eragon). The red cloaks of the Spartans had spectacular swoosh to them, undoubtedly for the same reason the Nazgul cloaks hung so well in LOTR: there's a lot more fabric to them than you would think. The outfits of Queen Gorgo defy gravity in ways that would make Donatella Versace proud. The fabrics all have texture to them, from the rough spun of the Spartan cloaks, to the fine silk of Xerxes' entertainment. The props were similarly impressive. The spears all showed leather wrapping during close-ups, the Persian arrows were barbed in painfully beautiful fashion, and the helms of the Spartans reflected the punishment they withstood.
The acting was pretty good. The actors did the best they could with the lines they were given, and I must say the real weak point of the movie was the dialogue. The various actors playing the key Spartans had a spectacular grasp of what it meant to be Spartan and you could see it from the way they moved in combat to the looks on their faces during battle. Vincent Regan was spectacular in what is his second Greek period epic(the previous being Troy where he played Achilles's second) and was one of the highlight characters of the movie, despite the fact that his character is never actually given a name but referred to simply as "The Captain." I think he actually did a better job of things than Gerard Butler, who put a little too much into a few lines.
The fighting, surprisingly, I loved. I must admit to liking the fighting of Troy a little more but different forms, different set-ups, and a different quantity of combat mean the two, despite their roots, can't really be likened to each other. Now, again, I'm a sword fighter for fun, and I will never say sword combat in a movie or TV show is realistic(documentaries don't count), but there are degrees of inaccuracy. Troy's shield work was more accurate and effective, but 300 is definitely more accurate than the European style point dueling done with Asian slashing swords that we saw in Ultraviolet. The tempo of combat is where 300 really shines. Time slowed and sped up in a way that flowed and can be understood by anyone who has experienced the perceived time dilation of melee combat. No one just stood there waiting to be center screen to fight, in fact I came out of each battle scene wishing the shots had been wider and shown me more. The biggest problem is one that seems to be shared by many people. Blood is shown flying everywhere from every stab of the spear and slash of the sword, but none is on the ground. This may be a rating thing similar to why some video games have green blood(red blood in a game means an automatic increase in the maturity rating apparently) or it may be due to the fact that the blood is computer generated and they didn't want to deal with "painting" the blood on the ground. I don't know, and quite frankly, it didn't bug me enough to really detract from the experience.
All in all, I would highly recommend this movie to any and all adults. I would highly recommend you NOT bring anyone under 18 to see this movie. The only thing it's missing from the unholy triumvirate of things that make censors freak is foul language.
As I said at the beginning of this review, I will see this movie in the theaters at least another two times. And I think that is the most telling statement I can make.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Salsa (Fresh pt1)
I have recently discovered that my favourite fresh salsa, Rojo's Restaurant style is not available at my local grocers(I recently moved, hence the sudden inaccessability).
As a result, I have been forced to wander into the salsa unknown. My first foray: Santa Barbara Hot.
Stay. Away. From. Santa Barbara Hot Salsa. It's not hot, at all, this "hot" would qualify as mild in any other brand. I'd hate to see what their mild is like. It also has a vaguely overpowering taste of ... I'm not entirely sure what it is, I'm thinking it's unripe tomatoes. It's chunky and watery, it's not blended at all.
I know this review is short, but honestly, there's only so much you can say about unmanageable salsa that only tastes like unripe tomatoes and has no kick.
As a result, I have been forced to wander into the salsa unknown. My first foray: Santa Barbara Hot.
Stay. Away. From. Santa Barbara Hot Salsa. It's not hot, at all, this "hot" would qualify as mild in any other brand. I'd hate to see what their mild is like. It also has a vaguely overpowering taste of ... I'm not entirely sure what it is, I'm thinking it's unripe tomatoes. It's chunky and watery, it's not blended at all.
I know this review is short, but honestly, there's only so much you can say about unmanageable salsa that only tastes like unripe tomatoes and has no kick.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Ka (or kaka?)
I will preface this review by saying I participate in combat arts and I grew up watching various Cirque du Soleil shows.
That being said, this show was very average, for Cirque. I was more entranced by the sets, costuming, and lighting than by most of the show itself. In fact, parts of the show were serious yawners. I wasn't at all impressed by the physical abilities of the performers, not when the very traditional Cirque show Mystere is still running, and IMHO, superior in that aspect.
The set, I loved it. I loved the whole theatre. I want to own that theatre as my personal playground. During one part, when the lighting shifted to a blue/green theme, there was a very Borg atmosphere(which I love as a Star Trek fan). The techincal/engineering aspect is spectacular. It integrates so many different (relatively) new technologies that it really is a marvel of engineering. The stage is in multiple parts, all controlled by massive, and I mean massive, mechanics that have very fine control. There is a huge (for an indoor stage) array of fire effect machines. And, the best part, is the main stage section. The floor/wall/whatever of the stage shifts images depending on the scene. And, it's interactive with the performers. If you've been to someplace that has the interactive floor displays by silicon graphics, it's the same kind of thing. Examples of this technology can be seen at MGM's Studio Walk in Las Vegas, the Metreon(if memory serves) in San Francisco, and at the Rosicrucian Egyptian museum in San Jose, CA. Beyond the main stage there are walkways and column structures that just look like a souped up, techiee version of the Swiss Family Robinson playground at Disney. I want them. I want to play on their walkways and swing from column to column. I can't emphasize enough how impressed I was with the entire theatre.
The staff was excellent. The ushers all were in character and very charismatic. When the ushers spotted small children, they grabbed their gophers, also in character, and sent them to get booster cushions and deliver them to the children. Everyone was in costume. The "guards" did not speak and the explanation was that they had taken vows of silence. Random staff members were scattered around to do nothing but create atmosphere.
The costumes were very impressive. All the initial characters seen wore t-shirts that blended so seemlessly with them that they all looked heavily tattooed. The costumes were very heavily Japanese influenced, except for the main characters whose costumes were very heavily Chinese influenced. I'm actually thinking of going as one of the initial characters for Halloween this year. Beyond the costumes, the shirts they have for sale in the Ka store are really, really cool. The only problem is the price. $65 for a cotton long sleeve tee? No.
The show. Ah, the show. Well, obviously a great number of people who have seen the show before and a great number of people who saw the show at the same time I did were very impressed. I wasn't. Non-martial arts fanatics may be impressed by the sloppy Wushu and stylized fights, which comments from the exiting crowd seemed to indicate. I wasn't. People who have never seen Cirque may be impressed by the, seemingly, amazing physical feats. I wasn't. The story was interesting, if a bit choppy. And the dialogue, which was a sort of bastardized Japanese sounding collection of strung together noises, was pretty interesting to listen to. The sort of intro randomness was entertaining, and looked like a lot of fun. The music was good, as is typical of a Cirque show, although this was a lot more modern and rock than their usual fare, which I preferred. But, really, that's about it. The physical feat aspect was incredibly sub-par for Cirque. Baton twirling? Please, if I want to see that, I'll watch a parade. There are better examples of Wushu drills in Soul Caliber. And almost everything was wire work. Yes, I know it's not as easy as they make it look and takes quite a bit of physical control. BUT, using your hands to "walk" up a vertical pole while holding your body perfectly horizontal takes a heck of a lot more than flipping yourself around in a wire harness and making sure you don't go splat against the wall you're twirling next to. And lets be honest about what sets Cirque apart from other shows. It's the physical feats. They produce great music and have very original costumes, but no one, and I mean no one, would pay over $100 for a ticket to Cirque if that was all they were getting.
Now, if you have minimal martial arts familiarity and minimal Cirque du Soleil familiarty, you may really enjoy this show. A lot of people love it. It was highly recommended to me by several people. However, as someone who knows what real martial arts can look like and as someone who knows just what the performers at Cirque are capable of, I didn't like it. If you're looking to see it, get the $69 ticket, don't get tickets in the top two price tiers. If you really want to see a good Cirque show, my recommendation remains O at Bellagio. Mystere I also really like, and it is probably the cheapest Cirque show in Vegas. If you are not familiar with Cirque du Soleil at all, I would recommend seeing Mystere first as it is basically a compilation of all the best parts of their traveling show(which changes every year or so).
That being said, this show was very average, for Cirque. I was more entranced by the sets, costuming, and lighting than by most of the show itself. In fact, parts of the show were serious yawners. I wasn't at all impressed by the physical abilities of the performers, not when the very traditional Cirque show Mystere is still running, and IMHO, superior in that aspect.
The set, I loved it. I loved the whole theatre. I want to own that theatre as my personal playground. During one part, when the lighting shifted to a blue/green theme, there was a very Borg atmosphere(which I love as a Star Trek fan). The techincal/engineering aspect is spectacular. It integrates so many different (relatively) new technologies that it really is a marvel of engineering. The stage is in multiple parts, all controlled by massive, and I mean massive, mechanics that have very fine control. There is a huge (for an indoor stage) array of fire effect machines. And, the best part, is the main stage section. The floor/wall/whatever of the stage shifts images depending on the scene. And, it's interactive with the performers. If you've been to someplace that has the interactive floor displays by silicon graphics, it's the same kind of thing. Examples of this technology can be seen at MGM's Studio Walk in Las Vegas, the Metreon(if memory serves) in San Francisco, and at the Rosicrucian Egyptian museum in San Jose, CA. Beyond the main stage there are walkways and column structures that just look like a souped up, techiee version of the Swiss Family Robinson playground at Disney. I want them. I want to play on their walkways and swing from column to column. I can't emphasize enough how impressed I was with the entire theatre.
The staff was excellent. The ushers all were in character and very charismatic. When the ushers spotted small children, they grabbed their gophers, also in character, and sent them to get booster cushions and deliver them to the children. Everyone was in costume. The "guards" did not speak and the explanation was that they had taken vows of silence. Random staff members were scattered around to do nothing but create atmosphere.
The costumes were very impressive. All the initial characters seen wore t-shirts that blended so seemlessly with them that they all looked heavily tattooed. The costumes were very heavily Japanese influenced, except for the main characters whose costumes were very heavily Chinese influenced. I'm actually thinking of going as one of the initial characters for Halloween this year. Beyond the costumes, the shirts they have for sale in the Ka store are really, really cool. The only problem is the price. $65 for a cotton long sleeve tee? No.
The show. Ah, the show. Well, obviously a great number of people who have seen the show before and a great number of people who saw the show at the same time I did were very impressed. I wasn't. Non-martial arts fanatics may be impressed by the sloppy Wushu and stylized fights, which comments from the exiting crowd seemed to indicate. I wasn't. People who have never seen Cirque may be impressed by the, seemingly, amazing physical feats. I wasn't. The story was interesting, if a bit choppy. And the dialogue, which was a sort of bastardized Japanese sounding collection of strung together noises, was pretty interesting to listen to. The sort of intro randomness was entertaining, and looked like a lot of fun. The music was good, as is typical of a Cirque show, although this was a lot more modern and rock than their usual fare, which I preferred. But, really, that's about it. The physical feat aspect was incredibly sub-par for Cirque. Baton twirling? Please, if I want to see that, I'll watch a parade. There are better examples of Wushu drills in Soul Caliber. And almost everything was wire work. Yes, I know it's not as easy as they make it look and takes quite a bit of physical control. BUT, using your hands to "walk" up a vertical pole while holding your body perfectly horizontal takes a heck of a lot more than flipping yourself around in a wire harness and making sure you don't go splat against the wall you're twirling next to. And lets be honest about what sets Cirque apart from other shows. It's the physical feats. They produce great music and have very original costumes, but no one, and I mean no one, would pay over $100 for a ticket to Cirque if that was all they were getting.
Now, if you have minimal martial arts familiarity and minimal Cirque du Soleil familiarty, you may really enjoy this show. A lot of people love it. It was highly recommended to me by several people. However, as someone who knows what real martial arts can look like and as someone who knows just what the performers at Cirque are capable of, I didn't like it. If you're looking to see it, get the $69 ticket, don't get tickets in the top two price tiers. If you really want to see a good Cirque show, my recommendation remains O at Bellagio. Mystere I also really like, and it is probably the cheapest Cirque show in Vegas. If you are not familiar with Cirque du Soleil at all, I would recommend seeing Mystere first as it is basically a compilation of all the best parts of their traveling show(which changes every year or so).
Saturday, February 3, 2007
Lake Las Vegas
Lake Las Vegas is ... hollow. There is expense without luxury, beauty without class, quaintness without culture. At the end of the day all you want to ask is: Where's the beef?
Lake Las Vegas is a failure as an upper class community. That's not to say that it won't be a financial success, but it is very, very Vegas. Everything is a facade. The shops are cute and the landscaping comfortable, but the utilitarian underbelly is, unfortunately, readily visible. Even looking beyond that, it's no Bellagio. The facade, well, it fails. Even from a distance, you can tell that the doors to "The Avid Dubliner" are not wood, just badly painted to try and look like it. Flat painted surfaces are everywhere, there is no texture. Bellagio gives you marble and wood paneling. Lake Las Vegas gives you manufactured paving stones and plywood. Despite Paris Hilton's best efforts, there still remains a difference between new money and old. Bellagio is old money, Lake Las Vegas is definitely new.
Grand homes should have grand gardens, vast yards, lots of landscaping. Homes in the various developments around the Lake have giant houses stacked right on top of each other. Nothing kills the awe of an impressive mansion like looking out your bedroom window ... into your neighbor's kitchen. One of the advantages of having money is you can buy yourself space, privacy. These are not available at Lake Las Vegas. Famous upper class areas like those in New York, San Francisco, and Hong Kong are tightly packed due to space constraints. However, they work within these constraints and have large condos and varied architecture. Lake Las Vegas has space, they should take advantage of it and a hint from San Luis Obispo and sprawl a little. To make things worse the developments have beautiful, albeit obviously fake, gated entryways, covered with Home Depot bought "Open House" signs.
The place is supposed to be a master planned community. Well, they didn't plan very well. Paved walkways quickly become cheap dirt paths. Grass strolling areas have obviously been abandoned by the gardening staff, and dead plants and half completed shrubery are everywhere. Even in the "complete" areas. Beautiful scenery is backdropped by electrical wire towers and faced with hastily thrown on cheap metal balconies. Wiring for this area or that is thrown out windows and run down to electrical boxes, rather than run through the walls where they should be. The Venice-inspired "shop-covered" bridge across part of the Lake has loading dock industrial rolling doors. I'm not sure how the big rigs are supposed to back into these areas since, well, they're on a bridge over a lake! And everywhere, I do mean everywhere, you look you can still see the barren, rocky, harsh, nothingness of Las Vegas's natural landscape. It does create an interesting dichotomy, but it really ruins the illusion.
In the shopping area of Montelago Village, the planning isn't followed through. There are more empty spaces than stores, and the Casino staff don't know anything about what's there. It's really more of a park to wander through with your kids or your dog than a real place to wander and shop. Another place they fail is in the area of self-containment. A good upper class community should be self-contained. It should have available all the things you need to get through the day without you having to leave and go down to the nearest Albertsons or Safeway. There is a fancy, and surprisingly well stocked, village market with both real balsamic vinegar and 409. But they don't have meats, they don't have produce. You have to go Albertsons. Since they have all these empty shops they should try to fill these need-gaps. They need to court a butcher who knows his way around a grill for a Butcher Shop/Bistro combo where you can buy organic steak and duck breast and free-range chicken, or pop to the other side and have it served to you hot off the grill and covered with a fine red-wine reduction. They need a produce shop in the European style where the day's best produce is in open cases in front and everything from apples to watercress is available inside.
There are a few more shops that would raise the class and culture level of the Lake. A good wine bar is one. A place where you can pop in and buy a bottle of a good Sonoma Merlot to take home for dinner, or where you can wander in after work and try the day's recommendations along with some manchego cheese and sopresato salame. A good, honest to goodness, cafe wouldn't hurt either. There's a Starbucks, which is sad. There should be an artisan cafe with fresh baked chocolate croissants and real espresso served by a barista who really loves their job. A Japanese restaurant, or at least a fusion sushi place, would balance things out nicely. All the restaurants currently at Lake Las Vegas are distinctly Western. Actually, other than the Dubliner and the little "cafe" that serves omelettes, all the restaurants had an Italian influence. Sushi is the current luxury food, sushi joints are so profitable they're popping up everywhere, why wouldn't a place trying to be as money as Lake Las Vegas have one?
And the Ritz. The poorly thought out Ritz. Their architecture company should be shot. The place is a maze, more because of each area's distinct lack of distinction than because of any serious failing in the layout. Although, the layout is pretty bad. There is no way to get from the lobby to the shopping area/garden without either walking through a restaurant, going around to the meeting room wing, or taking a long stroll through one of the hotel room wings. This is where the gift shop is located. And I have to say, the gift shop has a mark-up level higher than even a Ritz Carlton deserves. And when you look at the Ritz from the outside, you don't think it's a Ritz. It's very plain for a luxury hotel. The worst part of the Ritz is the aforementioned "shop-covered" bridge across the Lake. It currently houses an Audi convention center, the chapel, and a hastily thrown together fake shop. The Audi convention area is sleek and ultra-modern which looks really good but clashes with the rest of the place. The Chapel doesn't have enough area in front of it to hold a milling wedding crowd and the Chapel management office/prep area is covered in windows. Where's a blushing bride to hide herself from the groom while she's laced into her gown? For that matter, where's a nearby area that can be converted into a reception space so the wedding group doesn't have to go back out into the public areas? The fake shop is really, obviously fake. Again, the entire place is windows so you can see there is no cashier desk, there is no inventory, there are no people. The only thing in there, besides a few doodads, is a giant safe. Why they would keep a safe out in the open like that is beyond me. The rest of the bridge is completely undeveloped. The walls are bare drywall, cracking plaster, and controls to the loading dock doors to nothing. And really, it's the only way by foot to get to some of the Ritz room towers, more should be done with it. These towers have to be abandoned by the Ritz. Oh, there were cars in the little parking area meaning people must be in the rooms, but the space between the towers and the bridge was naked dirt and utilitarian railings. A construction trailer, not recently used judging by the dust, was just to the side. The plumbing and pump for the lake weren't hidden. What looked like a volleyball pit was quite a ways away down an undeveloped dirt path, past a rocky pit in the ground, and completely unlabeled. Why build a volleyball pit so far from everything else? And why build it if you're not going to let people know it's there or even make a decent way to get to it? Even if it's part of some, as yet uncompleted, grand scheme wouldn't it make more sense to roll it out with the rest of the new developments instead of having it down now?
Despite everything wrong with it, Lake Las Vegas is still an enjoyable place to go and just relax. There's a good number of fountains that are perfect for sitting at and doing nothing. A few even offer great photo opportunities, and I didn't find one that wasn't attractive. There's also horse sculptures scattered around the grounds and a really nice Audi sitting in the open for people to admire. There's enough open grass areas for people to play with their kids or dogs, and there's sitting areas everywhere for when you want to sit down, sip your drink, and chat with your friends. Currently there's a small ice rink for the kiddies floating on the lake, and it looked like quite a few of the kids enjoyed it. Bathrooms are clean, everywhere, and easy to find. There's even a pay phone clearly marked and put in a decoration that makes it look classier. The staff at all the restaurants and stores were friendly and helpful. All the patrons were friendly and courteous. The Lake marina had everything from Yachts to gondolas to paddle boats available for rent. Most of the restaurants and a good number of stores have developed their interiors nicely and price appropriately. It's far enough away from the rest of Vegas that you can forget about the hustle, but close enough that you're back in the action in less than half an hour.
With a little more attention to detail, a little more development in key areas, and a few more carefully chosen businesses, Lake Las Vegas can become a place everyone will want to visit. I'm still not sure I'd ever want a house there.
Lake Las Vegas is a failure as an upper class community. That's not to say that it won't be a financial success, but it is very, very Vegas. Everything is a facade. The shops are cute and the landscaping comfortable, but the utilitarian underbelly is, unfortunately, readily visible. Even looking beyond that, it's no Bellagio. The facade, well, it fails. Even from a distance, you can tell that the doors to "The Avid Dubliner" are not wood, just badly painted to try and look like it. Flat painted surfaces are everywhere, there is no texture. Bellagio gives you marble and wood paneling. Lake Las Vegas gives you manufactured paving stones and plywood. Despite Paris Hilton's best efforts, there still remains a difference between new money and old. Bellagio is old money, Lake Las Vegas is definitely new.
Grand homes should have grand gardens, vast yards, lots of landscaping. Homes in the various developments around the Lake have giant houses stacked right on top of each other. Nothing kills the awe of an impressive mansion like looking out your bedroom window ... into your neighbor's kitchen. One of the advantages of having money is you can buy yourself space, privacy. These are not available at Lake Las Vegas. Famous upper class areas like those in New York, San Francisco, and Hong Kong are tightly packed due to space constraints. However, they work within these constraints and have large condos and varied architecture. Lake Las Vegas has space, they should take advantage of it and a hint from San Luis Obispo and sprawl a little. To make things worse the developments have beautiful, albeit obviously fake, gated entryways, covered with Home Depot bought "Open House" signs.
The place is supposed to be a master planned community. Well, they didn't plan very well. Paved walkways quickly become cheap dirt paths. Grass strolling areas have obviously been abandoned by the gardening staff, and dead plants and half completed shrubery are everywhere. Even in the "complete" areas. Beautiful scenery is backdropped by electrical wire towers and faced with hastily thrown on cheap metal balconies. Wiring for this area or that is thrown out windows and run down to electrical boxes, rather than run through the walls where they should be. The Venice-inspired "shop-covered" bridge across part of the Lake has loading dock industrial rolling doors. I'm not sure how the big rigs are supposed to back into these areas since, well, they're on a bridge over a lake! And everywhere, I do mean everywhere, you look you can still see the barren, rocky, harsh, nothingness of Las Vegas's natural landscape. It does create an interesting dichotomy, but it really ruins the illusion.
In the shopping area of Montelago Village, the planning isn't followed through. There are more empty spaces than stores, and the Casino staff don't know anything about what's there. It's really more of a park to wander through with your kids or your dog than a real place to wander and shop. Another place they fail is in the area of self-containment. A good upper class community should be self-contained. It should have available all the things you need to get through the day without you having to leave and go down to the nearest Albertsons or Safeway. There is a fancy, and surprisingly well stocked, village market with both real balsamic vinegar and 409. But they don't have meats, they don't have produce. You have to go Albertsons. Since they have all these empty shops they should try to fill these need-gaps. They need to court a butcher who knows his way around a grill for a Butcher Shop/Bistro combo where you can buy organic steak and duck breast and free-range chicken, or pop to the other side and have it served to you hot off the grill and covered with a fine red-wine reduction. They need a produce shop in the European style where the day's best produce is in open cases in front and everything from apples to watercress is available inside.
There are a few more shops that would raise the class and culture level of the Lake. A good wine bar is one. A place where you can pop in and buy a bottle of a good Sonoma Merlot to take home for dinner, or where you can wander in after work and try the day's recommendations along with some manchego cheese and sopresato salame. A good, honest to goodness, cafe wouldn't hurt either. There's a Starbucks, which is sad. There should be an artisan cafe with fresh baked chocolate croissants and real espresso served by a barista who really loves their job. A Japanese restaurant, or at least a fusion sushi place, would balance things out nicely. All the restaurants currently at Lake Las Vegas are distinctly Western. Actually, other than the Dubliner and the little "cafe" that serves omelettes, all the restaurants had an Italian influence. Sushi is the current luxury food, sushi joints are so profitable they're popping up everywhere, why wouldn't a place trying to be as money as Lake Las Vegas have one?
And the Ritz. The poorly thought out Ritz. Their architecture company should be shot. The place is a maze, more because of each area's distinct lack of distinction than because of any serious failing in the layout. Although, the layout is pretty bad. There is no way to get from the lobby to the shopping area/garden without either walking through a restaurant, going around to the meeting room wing, or taking a long stroll through one of the hotel room wings. This is where the gift shop is located. And I have to say, the gift shop has a mark-up level higher than even a Ritz Carlton deserves. And when you look at the Ritz from the outside, you don't think it's a Ritz. It's very plain for a luxury hotel. The worst part of the Ritz is the aforementioned "shop-covered" bridge across the Lake. It currently houses an Audi convention center, the chapel, and a hastily thrown together fake shop. The Audi convention area is sleek and ultra-modern which looks really good but clashes with the rest of the place. The Chapel doesn't have enough area in front of it to hold a milling wedding crowd and the Chapel management office/prep area is covered in windows. Where's a blushing bride to hide herself from the groom while she's laced into her gown? For that matter, where's a nearby area that can be converted into a reception space so the wedding group doesn't have to go back out into the public areas? The fake shop is really, obviously fake. Again, the entire place is windows so you can see there is no cashier desk, there is no inventory, there are no people. The only thing in there, besides a few doodads, is a giant safe. Why they would keep a safe out in the open like that is beyond me. The rest of the bridge is completely undeveloped. The walls are bare drywall, cracking plaster, and controls to the loading dock doors to nothing. And really, it's the only way by foot to get to some of the Ritz room towers, more should be done with it. These towers have to be abandoned by the Ritz. Oh, there were cars in the little parking area meaning people must be in the rooms, but the space between the towers and the bridge was naked dirt and utilitarian railings. A construction trailer, not recently used judging by the dust, was just to the side. The plumbing and pump for the lake weren't hidden. What looked like a volleyball pit was quite a ways away down an undeveloped dirt path, past a rocky pit in the ground, and completely unlabeled. Why build a volleyball pit so far from everything else? And why build it if you're not going to let people know it's there or even make a decent way to get to it? Even if it's part of some, as yet uncompleted, grand scheme wouldn't it make more sense to roll it out with the rest of the new developments instead of having it down now?
Despite everything wrong with it, Lake Las Vegas is still an enjoyable place to go and just relax. There's a good number of fountains that are perfect for sitting at and doing nothing. A few even offer great photo opportunities, and I didn't find one that wasn't attractive. There's also horse sculptures scattered around the grounds and a really nice Audi sitting in the open for people to admire. There's enough open grass areas for people to play with their kids or dogs, and there's sitting areas everywhere for when you want to sit down, sip your drink, and chat with your friends. Currently there's a small ice rink for the kiddies floating on the lake, and it looked like quite a few of the kids enjoyed it. Bathrooms are clean, everywhere, and easy to find. There's even a pay phone clearly marked and put in a decoration that makes it look classier. The staff at all the restaurants and stores were friendly and helpful. All the patrons were friendly and courteous. The Lake marina had everything from Yachts to gondolas to paddle boats available for rent. Most of the restaurants and a good number of stores have developed their interiors nicely and price appropriately. It's far enough away from the rest of Vegas that you can forget about the hustle, but close enough that you're back in the action in less than half an hour.
With a little more attention to detail, a little more development in key areas, and a few more carefully chosen businesses, Lake Las Vegas can become a place everyone will want to visit. I'm still not sure I'd ever want a house there.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
