Sunday, September 30, 2007

VIFF: Deep in thought

I went for a double header tonight.
Both deep and foreign.
Secret Sunshine is a Korean film about a mother who is dealing with loss and tragedy. This movie made me scratch my head, and I'm still processing it. It's a very chilling drama and it's hard to fully comprehend it. Viewing raw, unfiltered grief and anger is a lot different than what you see in most modern films and this takes a look around that alley of what people could and do go through. The direction is all over the place and creates an atmosphere of the world passing by as I'm sure how a lot of people feel when they have something on their mind.

Beaufort is a psychological Israeli war drama about the pullout of the IDF from the Beaufort post in Southern Lebanon.

These movies are a lot to chew on. It's quite different than what I went to see on thursday which was For The Bible Tells Me So, which is still a relatively serious film with a sociopolitical debate on religion and homosexuality in current society.

Saturday, September 29, 2007

I think I have a problem

I'm a serious tv addict. I didn't really realize how many series' I was following until I got hit this week with all the season premieres. Ungh.

I'm still trying to catch up from being gone at the beginning of the week...
My current week series/season premiere listing...
Finished:
Simpsons, Family Guy, Heroes, Prison Break, K-Ville, Chuck, Journeyman, House, Bionic Woman, Bones, The Office
Queued:
The Unit, L&O:SVU, NCIS, Criminal Minds, CSI, CSI:Miami, CSI:NY, Greys Anatomy, Numb3rs

There's a couple of other ones that are in mid/late season like 4400, Eureka, Psych, Painkiller Jane (which got cancelled), Sanctuary, Burn Notice.

Ungh, there's other shows that haven't started their season yet most that I can't remember off the top of my head, I really should cut my list down.
Still coming: 24, Lost, Dexter

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Dining in San Francisco

I just got back from San Francisco last night. My little 3 day vacation was a nice break, I spent most of it stuffing my face full of good food.

Arrived in San Francisco on Sunday. Met up with Cam for lunch at Cheesecake Factory and then headed up to Sonoma Valley for a scenic drive. Cam rented a BMW 325i zipcar and we had an adventure trying to figure out how the car worked. We went for a wine tasting at Kunde Estate. The vineyard was beautiful! It was a massive estate of well-manicured vines sprawling across hills. There were also some interesting caves on the estate, but we didn't get a chance to. They also had a patio with a small lake with some decorative fountains. It was amazing!
After that, we headed over to St Helena in the Napa Valley and went to Tra Vigne by Cam's suggestion. Their pizza was excellent. The Arctic Char I ordered was damn excellent. I actually think it was salmon since it was pinkish. It was so soft it practically melted off my fork.

Went for lunch on monday at Scala's Bistro. Their lunch menu includes their staple "Earth and Turf" appetizer which is one of their popular dishes with a delish calamari. The Salsiccia pizza and Lamb Risotto we got weren't as stellar as usual. This trip to Scala's was a letdown.
Mmm dinner however, on the other side of town, also by Cam's suggestion, we dined at Foreign Cinema. The food was absolutely exquisite. I think this was my most favorite dining experience for the whole trip. The restaurant is a very expressionistic display of art and architecture. The dining area was split into 3 wings. The first is a standard indoor area with beautiful walls lined with classic paintings and a relaxed atmosphere. The second is an open air patio surrounded by concrete buildings giving it an artsy-urbanesque motif. Lastly, the third wing, which I didn't really get a chance to see, is an art hall with modernist paintings. The name of the restaurant stems from the fact that the hallway of the entrance leads up to the restaurant as if it is like a movie theatre; they also have a foreign film which they play(The English Patient, for that night) during the evening on one of the walls in the open dining area.
The oysters were a little on the small side, but sumptuous. We ordered a combination of Buckley Bay, Kumamoto, and Malpeque. We also tried the Steamed Mussels with Thai coconut curry sauce. The green curry sauce was very refreshing, I'm used to eating curry that's either creamy so that it's flavorful, or it's too watery and bland. The curry they served though, was a very light and mostly watery mixture, but gave enough flavor to give it a distinct kick without being creamy. It tasted great with the bread too.
I obviously had to go with the Hawaiian Tuna. I give their Seared Ahi a 9.5 rating. The sauce didn't have enough kick and wasn't at all flavorful. The slices of tuna also had just a bit too much seared. However, the slices were big enough so that the very soft Ahi could still be enjoyed with the its tender flaky texture.
Damn... the dessert! Lavender creme brulee is just a classic. The "Chocolate pot de crème with crinkle cookies" was chocolate diabetes in a cup, and boy was it MMM MMMMMMM good. I forgot what kind of crumble pie Cam got, some type of berry.... boysenberry? was just right. A little bitter, mixed with the vanilla ice cream and the crumble of the pie, is out of this world.
10/10 for Foreign Cinema. DAAAAAYMNNN!

I'm falling asleep here, I'm not done yet and i'll add on later.
Continued:

We went for lunch on the following day at the food court in Westfield San Francisco down on Market St. The choices were excellent. It had a good variety of different cuisines, but also the quality was above average. This is a more upscale, higher-end food court with good food. The steakhouse, Buckhorn Grill, gives out free samples and if I hadn't already ordered my BBQ Ribs from Asqew Grill, I probably would have gotten their Tritip Sirloin.
The food isn't all that's high quality, the rest of the mall is pretty upscale with a Bloomingdale's, Nordstrom, and other smaller name brand boutiques.
OH YES! They have Beard Papa too! Best cream puffs anywhere!

Friday, September 21, 2007

My neck is broken

Well, not literally, but I have a pinched nerve. I could barely get up in the morning. I think I tried 5 times before I was able to get up since my neck was hurting so much I couldn't move.
I had to drive carefully and twist my body to do shoulder checks. Haha.

It's been 4 hours and it's still stiff. It's not as bad now, my range of motion has increased, but it's still hurting like hell.

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Sleep disorders

An interesting article on sleep disorders at CNN. I think I probably have pseudoinsomnia, either that or just regular insomnia. Either way, I have trouble feeling like I'm well rested.

Monday, September 17, 2007

Dreaming darkly

I've been getting a little bit more sleep than usual this past week, so it's not from the usual tiredness.
I am experiencing some really disturbing dreams; from situations involving in appropriate relationships, crushed teeth, dangerous situations with motor vehicles, insect infestations, bullying, and some other less severe emotional experiences.

I wake up in a pretty pensive mood, equally mixed with shock and a tired state of confusion; unsure whether to try and go back to sleep and forget about the raw emotions or to think of a deeper meaning.

I'm also seeing shadows. I think something's moving in the corner of my vision and there's nothing there when I take a closer look.
I think I need more tea.

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Got Wii?

I sure do! I'm surprised though since I just ordered it on Sunday (Sep 9th). That was damn fast. I ordered my Xbox360 last Monday and it hasn't arrived yet. But it's a little different considering it's supposed to be bundled with Halo 3. It's not supposed to be released until the 25th, so it probably won't be shipped before then.

My Wii is a good deal I guess.... 420$ CDN+tax for Wii (includes Wii Sports, controller+nunchuk) and bundles with an extra controller and nunchuk, and Super Paper Mario. Oh whatever, I don't have to spend time trying to go in early in line to get one, so whatever. Hehe.