:: Life on Planet Dan-E ::

Speaking of wine and steak, I just got home from a very nice dinner at Fleming’s Steakhouse. A good buddy of mine was in a very celebratory mood since in the last two weeks, he got a new job and was instrumental in landing a lucrative client for his new employers. I hadn't seen the guy in a few weeks so I figured some place like Friday's, Zazou or something but he suggested Fleming's and I was game since neither of us had been there and I hadn’t had a good steak in a while.

It's a steakhouse similar in style and prominence (and price) to more renowned places like Morton’s or Ruth’s Chris and a distinct notch above Black Angus and The Outback. We figured as much when we pulled up and discovered valet parking was five dollars (!?!). We self parked. It was your typical steakhouse atmosphere: dark, slightly noisy, and generally festive. We put our names in and waited at the bar while waiting for our tables. I got a beer (Stone IPA) and he got a Long Island Iced Tea and over drinks we lamented the current state of the Dodgers. We got to our tables and started off with wine. A very nice bottle of... I forget if it was Cabernet of Chardonnay... called Trilogy. A California wine, 1999 vintage. Whatever, it was great and complimented our steaks perfectly.

What wasn't great, for me anyway, was the price tag on that bottle since it comprised of more than 50% of the total bill, which itself wasn't cheap since we ordered a few sides and a dessert as well as a couple of sizable steaks. I had enough to cover my half (barely) but he happily footed bill after my admittedly weak protests. "Don’t worry" he said. "It's not my money either." If you knew us, that statement would make perfect sense.

Oh yes, the steaks. We were both quite hungry. He had a 20oz. rib steak while I ordered the 22oz. porterhouse. What I really wanted was the 40oz. porterhouse for two though in my case it would have been just for me, being as it I often eat enough for two. You know, just to see if I can finish it on my own. As it was, the 22oz. was sufficient. What came out was a beautifully cooked slab of meat and that first bite was a large chunk of tender, succulent, mouthwatering steak. I ordered it charred rare and it was served just so, that peppery crust perfectly complimenting that red, juicy, beefy interior. It was a damn good cut of beef. After finishing off my steak, a big salad, and some potatoes I was actually still hungry (yes, I’m a freak). I found it reassuring in that it gave me reason to believe I might actually be able to polish off a 40 ounce-er. It was great meal.

Of course, that our server was an attractive, amiable blonde didn't hurt the mood at all =)

:: Miscellaneous Ramblings by Dan-E at 3:53 AM [+] :: | 0 comments
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I had a rather interesting culinary experience last weekend. I was dining with some new friends who are apparently wine connoisseurs. The host had a very well stocked wine fridge and one of the guests brought a couple of bottles as well, so it seemed there was something for everyone. So naturally when I arrived and was asked what I'd like to drink, I say "beer." I had a Grolsh Amber Ale, which was a nice, refreshing beer after what was a fairly hot and muggy day. He also cooked up meatballs, gourmet sausages, veggies, bread, and salsa. Once my beer was finished I grabbed a wine glass to see for myself what the big deal was.

Now those of you who know me know that I approach beer in manner similar to a sommelier approaches wine. Okay, maybe not quite that fanatically or discerningly but there is still some degree of snobbery involved. Any major brands – Bud, Miller, Coors – and Corona for that matter, is considered swill. I tend to avoid anything containing the word "Lite" (If I want to drink water, I'll drink water). I’m partial towards the darker brews, especially the stuff that comes from Europe. Not to say America can’t make a good beer but you have to look to the smaller breweries. Fortunately Southern California happens to be the home of many a fine microbrew.

However, I am aware that for the most part, beer is a blue-collar beverage which suits my blue-collar tastes but I’m always up for trying something different. I've had wines before but mostly at the behest of my more accomplished wine drinking friends. And usually with a nice meal. They started off the night with a couple of bottles of Pinot, which according to them were better examples of that particular variety. I couldn't tell you their names because I don’t remember and quite frankly I had trouble pronouncing them even when I had the bottle in front of me. For that matter, I couldn't tell you the difference between a Pinot, a Merlot, or a Chardonnay. My initial impressions? I didn't hate it. It's not like I had a point of reference to work with since it's been a while since the last time I had a drink... of anything. It might have been better if I had nice steak to go with it. Everyone else said they were good wines so I’ll take their word for it.

After that we finished with a couple of samples of Port wine, a much sweeter dessert wine. It probably helped that we had some excellent cheesecake to accompany it but I really liked that glass of Port. That surprised me since I really don't have that much of a sweet tooth but this stuff was great. Again, I can’t remember what it was called.

It was a fun evening but I don't think I’m gonna become a wine expert anytime soon. But at least I expanded horizons a little.

:: Miscellaneous Ramblings by Dan-E at 10:25 PM [+] :: | 0 comments
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As if I'm not enough of a (closet) nerd/geek type already, being a fan of sci-fi, Lord of the Rings, cult movies, etc (though I haven't quite sunk to being into things like role-playing games or anime... Robotech does NOT count, dammit). I just spent the last 20 minutes looking and past Word of the Days on dictionary.com. And I enjoyed it, a little too much. Not only that I knew more than half the words. You wouldn't think so but I find myself at odds with this. So any of you knuckle-dragging, slack-jawed mouth-breathers who were bullies in high school should feel free to drag me out to the parking lot and pummel my body until it becomes lifeless to the point where you see my very soul rise out of my mangled corpse. After which you can grab that soul by the scruff of its neck and treat it to a series of open-handed slaps. No wait, I might enjoy that.

Geez, I have no idea what the hell I'm writing. Kids, don't blog after midnight. This is the kind of crap that happens. =)

:: Miscellaneous Ramblings by Dan-E at 4:34 AM [+] :: | 0 comments
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Piggybacking off that last post, one blues guitarist I especially like is Stevie Ray Vaughn. It amazes me how much raw feeling this guy can express with six strings and a plank of wood.

Blues is one of those genres of music that is best when listened to through a set of good headphones while sitting back on a comfortable chair, eyes closed so the only actively working sense is hearing. It isn't that bluesmen are the best or fastest guitar players out there but but each one offers up their own nuance, their own idiosyncratic style. Even if it's something as simple as tone. Albert King's tone is smooth, yet brawny. Buddy Guy has a sharp, raw, cutting sound. B. B. King's tone is thick, heavy with almost a liquid quality to it, if that makes any sense. Every little lick, every muted scratch, every string bend that unlike classical or jazz guitar, just seem to ooze emotion. When Guy sings “Damn Right I got the Blues,” you know it’s true, not just because of his lyrics but you can feel it through his playing. When Vaughn tell you he misses his woman in “Texas Flood” you can’t help but feel his pain, again not just from his lyrics but because the notes he plucks from his guitar conveys his passion so emphatically.

I’ve occasionally made the mistake of getting a little too engrossed with some songs while driving. I distinctly remember this one time I was listening to “Texas Flood” and the solo started right when I pulled up to an intersection. So naturally, turn up the radio, lean my head back, close my eyes and let myself get saturated within those sublime twelve bars… only to be jolted back to reality by some chick behind me who informed me that the light had turned green with a rather vigorous honk. Not that it bothered me, considering the source. She looked like she listened to some boyband crap anyway.

Don’t fear for my safety though, things like that don’t happen that often. You know, as much as I love music and playing guitar, I'm kinda surprised that I've never blogged about this before. Oh well, I guess I'm still a relative neophyte to this whole blog thing.

:: Miscellaneous Ramblings by Dan-E at 4:59 AM [+] :: | 0 comments
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I've been listening to a lot of blues lately. Guitar blues and blues-based rock music is something I always enjoyed listening to but I just seem to be really fixated on it lately. Not that I have the blues or anything (no more than you’re typical tormented artist type) but it's just one of those musical phases I go through from time to time. My last phase involved judicious amounts of heavy metal music (Metallica, Van Halen, Soulfly, etc) and before that, guitar virtuosos (Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Eric Johnson). A few years ago, I had love affair with female singer/songwriters (Sarah Mclachlan, Jewel, Sheryl Crow, Susan Tedeuschi). By the way, my U2 phase is something that’s probably going to be lifelong.

Classic blues guitarists like Buddy Guy, Albert King, T-Bone Walker and Chuck Berry have made for particularly great listening. I can think of two reasons I'm drawn to these guys:

1. I've always had a respect for things historical (classic cars, guitars, rock) - at least within the realm of things that interest me - and these guys are a part of music history that influenced many of the styles and sounds of music today.
2. Most blues guitarists are from the South, and like much of the food from the region the music can also be quite comforting.

By the way, the four guys I named above are all black musicians, so those of you who believe I don’t listen to "black music," whatever the hell that means, chew on that :)

:: Miscellaneous Ramblings by Dan-E at 10:28 PM [+] :: | 0 comments
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There are a few blogs I read from time to time and I was just thinking about how those are different this site. There's one I visit just for the photos. Another has photos, reviews, humor as well as blogs. One of my favorites isn't particularly feature-rich but the blogger offers a fairly comprehensive look into their life. It sometimes goes far beyond a typical "what I did last weekend" post and deep into their thoughts and feelings and on occasion, can get unusually existential. Unusual in the sense that it seems like a lot of very personal and private stuff to be sending out on the Internet for anyone to read. At least it seems that way relative to what I feel comfortable sharing on my own blog, and I know I don’t have the temerity to share something that personal. If that’s one thing other blogs seems to have in common, is that the authors do, on occasion, open up considerably more than I do.

It seems in many ways though, my blog is a fair representation of me. Unremarkable upon first glance, kinda funny, frequently difficult to figure out, unable to really get to know unless you take the time to dig into it, and certainly not for everyone. If you haven't read it from the beginning, it's an eclectic collection of thoughts containing random thoughts, movie reviews, commentaries and rants on society and pop culture, to the standard "what I did last weekend." I've often considered writing about some of my struggles, maybe even articulating one of my many personal demons but... no. There was a time in my past where I would wear my heart on my sleeve and that does still hold true somewhat nowadays but my demons are... my demons.

I spent a couple of minutes looking at that last paragraph debating on whether or not to delete it, just because it’s quite a bit more than I’m used to sharing. I decided to keep it up, not entirely sure why but… what the hell.

:: Miscellaneous Ramblings by Dan-E at 12:34 AM [+] :: | 0 comments
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I have only eight people on my Friendster list and yet, somehow my network grew to over 65,000 people. Weird.

:: Miscellaneous Ramblings by Dan-E at 10:54 PM [+] :: | 0 comments
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A friend recently asked me a question regarding the slogan for GMC trucks. He asked, rather scarcastically being a Ford guy, "If GMC trucks are supposed to be 'Professional Grade' trucks then what does that say about Chevys?" I replied "they're essentially the same trucks as the GMCs. Chevy just want to maintain its amatuer status so it can compete in the Olympics."

He hasn't talked to me since =)

:: Miscellaneous Ramblings by Dan-E at 8:10 PM [+] :: | 0 comments
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I think I need to figure out some way to get my point/story across when I blog without letting the length of the post grow to such epic proportions. What do you guys think? I mean, I reread some of my stuff and it even tires out. I know I have a tendency to ramble a bit when I talk and my "style" of writing is similar to the way I talk but you'd think the magic of proofreading would help me cut out some stuff.

:: Miscellaneous Ramblings by Dan-E at 4:00 AM [+] :: | 0 comments
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At the moment, I'm laughing at the rather scattershot nature of my last post. I was rereading it checking for typos and I couldn't help be amused at how it's barely coherent. Almost as erratic as "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle" though not nearly as entertaining.

I went to my first Hollywood premiere last night up at the Mann Westwood Theaters for a screening of "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines." It had all the glitz and glamour in all its excrescent glory that one might see at a typical big movie red carpet event. And I couldn't help but notice that there was a deliberate absurdity to it.

We stood in line for about an hour and half thinking we'd be led straight into the theater. The ticket said 6:00 but it was the approximate start time of the festivities. Around 5:45 we were led into some bleachers where we, as enthusiastic spectators, would be on hand to applaud the red carpet walk of the various stars who were there to view and/or promote the film. The nice thing about that was that all bleacher sitters received free T-shirts and the first one hundred of that crowd also received a free pair of T-3 sunglasses in a really cool hard-shell case. Our group was lucky enough to be in that first one hundred. Getting that free stuff made the whole night worthwhile since I dig free stuff. (That and I needed a new pair of sunglasses anyway.)

The limos started rolling in around 6:20 (actors seem to always be fashionably late.) In my two-plus decades of living in Los Angeles, I've never had any real star sightings so this was kinda cool. Ah-nuld and his lovely wife was there, of course, as well as other celebrities like Tia Carrere, Robert Duvall, Blue Man Group, that one guy from "Saved by the Bell," what's her name from "Melrose Place," and Kenny G (?!?). I played along and applauded some celebrities but I was surprised at how blasé I was towards to whole thing, considering how much I enjoy the movies. That was until Kristanna Loken, the actress who plays the latest Terminator cyborg, arrived. Oh... my... GAWD (female readers, feel free to skip to the next paragraph). She was just utterly, completely, stunningly beautiful. And in a classy, elegant, non-slutty way. I know how film and photography might conceal flaws but she was just, plain gorgeous in real life. My fetish for brunettes was completely forgotten for the next few hours.

The movie itself? Surprisingly good considering the rumored production problems and the complete non-presence of "Terminator" progenitor James Cameron. But it wasn't good relative my low expectations. I found this to be a solid, well-directed action movie. The action scenes were excellent and the story conveyed the need to continue this story without feeling forced or contrived. Having played this role twice before, Arnold wears this role like a supermodel in a catsuit. The lovely Ms. Loken was good in a limited role requiring little more than roaming the screen killing people while looking simultaneously menacing and alluring. She had exactly two facial expressions through the film: impassive and less than impassive. Determining any real acting ability or lack thereof would have to wait until later films. Everyone in our party seemed to have liked the film and agreed that had we paid to see it, we wouldn't have felt burned. Crowd reaction was generally positive and there were quite a few who clapped at the end of the movie.

I gotta tell ya. It was a fun night.

:: Miscellaneous Ramblings by Dan-E at 10:14 PM [+] :: | 0 comments
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I saw quite a few movies last weekend. Friday night, I saw “Finding Nemo,” which despite being a kid’s film, was quite entertaining for grown ups as well. Chalk it up to the very clever writing. (Mine? Mine? MINE?!? I’ll never look at seagulls the same way.) All the voice acting done was very good, with Ellen DeGeneres’ turn as an amnesiac fish named Dory being quite funny.

On Sunday I saw "Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle." It was alternately very entertaining and very idiotic. One thing that struck me about this movie is that it completely, unabashedly pandered to the viewer in a manner similar to a nightmarishly needy date grabbing you by the collar and yelling "like me! I need you to like me! Please!!!" It was essentially one long music video with bits of acting interspersed among the videos. The visuals were nice but the writing, oh my gawd. It's the kind of movie where the makers thought they could get significant mileage from the name "Helen Zass." The only real motivation for me to see it was my long-standing crush on the luminous Cameron Diaz. She was decent in this role but it’s because she didn't have to do that much other than dance, act goofy, and look good. Lucy Liu was Lucy Liu and Drew Barrymore was... surprisingly butch now that I think about it. She’s supposed to be the tomboyishly attractive girl with an attitude but she just struck me as rather androgynous. I haven't seen a character this gender ambiguous since... well... Crispin Glover's Creepy Thin Man character. So I wonder if it was coincidental (SPOILER WARNING for those who haven’t seen it yet) that a rather odd sexual tension developed between the two near the end of the movie. (END SPOILER WARNING.)

Actually, I was debating whether to see"Charlie’s Angels" or "2 Fast 2 Furious." While it never before occurred to me watch "2F2F," (because of my aversion towards that whole rice-rocket car culture) the friend I was seeing it with has a crush on Paul Walker and it was her birthday and I'm just that generous of a friend. That and the movie co-starred Eva Mendes who I think is more "caliente" than Jennifer Lopez so at least I had some eye candy to ogle. So we paid for and saw "Charlie’s Angels" and sneaked into "2F2F" afterwards to catch last hour or so. Cuz, that’s the kind of friend that I am ;)

A few thoughts on "2 Fast 2 Furious:" The character playing Suki has to be the most realistic looking CG-animated character I've ever seen. She made Gollum look like the donkey from "Shrek." Computer artists have really outdone themselves this time.

Paul Walker is, in my mind, the Second Coming of Keanu Reeves. His mannerisms, his monosyllabic line delivery, that deep, monotonous voice, everything reminded me of something Reeves might have done between "Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure" and "Point Break."

Is it me or was there some unintentional homoerotic tension between Paul Walker and Tyrese's characters? I don't get why Walker’s character would deny checking out a woman as attractive as Eva Mendes, or that Tyrese was looking at him with a facial expression resembling that of a spurned lover any time Mendes was involved. This despite that the fact that both characters are ostensibly heterosexual. Bad acting or bad directing? You tell me. Or maybe I have a funny way of enjoying bad movies.

Yeah, I actually enjoyed it since I knew going in that it might be one of those movies that are so bad that it’s actually fun to watch. I was chuckling at various onscreen missteps almost immediately and my friend repeatedly elbowed me telling me to shut up. Good naturedly, I think. But in the end she got her eye candy, I got to make fun of the movie so everyone came out a winner ;)

:: Miscellaneous Ramblings by Dan-E at 5:37 AM [+] :: | 0 comments
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