ROCKTAURANT: I Want One!

So not like I didn't already have PLENTY of reasons to be jealous of the metal fans in Scandanavia - now along comes the ROCKTAURANT. Seriously!

Basically, the lead singer of the Finnish band Lordi (they're kind of like GWAR, only not quite as intentionally disgusting, and with more of a hard rock feel) opened a horror-rock themed restaurant! Sounds AWESOME. Too bad the "distant" plans only mention the UK - I doubt something this cool will ever make it to the US.

I guess for now I'll just have to hope to make it back to the VERY COOL Jekyll & Hyde Club in NYC sometime soon. Haven't been since going to NYC with Gary, Irene & Jeremy.

Get Your Vote On!

Make sure to get out there and vote today! This is our first time using the electronic voting machines in our district today, so for all I know I'm voting for whoever Ken Blackwell wants me to, but hey, I'll at least be giving it the old college try! If you need some info on the different candidates/issues, check out OhioElects.

The new machines supposedly print out a receipt of who you voted for -- does that mean that if things don't go my way I can take it back tomorrow for a refund?

Evie gets to vote TWICE today! Er, well go with two people who are voting at any rate...

The Answer Is Obvious!

EDIT

Ok, so predictably the link on YouTube to Hugh Laurie's "Protest Song" from SNL didn't last long... but - he DOES have it on his web page. While it probably won't be there forever, it's definitely way more stable (and presumably, way more legal) than the YouTube version, so check it out, on his videos page. Under "Saturday Night Live" clips, click "All We Gotta Do Is". And wait for it to load...

You need Quicktime, and it's pretty high quality, which means it's a longer download, but IMO, worth the wait for a laugh.

Midwest Daily Taptacular

So this afternoon I headed over to the Drake to attend a taping of the Daily Show, visiting Columbus (and OSU campus specifically) for their Indecision 2006 "Midwest Midterm Midtacular" coverage. They're here all week (which means shows Monday - Thursday).

I sent an e-mail back in August when I first heard about it, requesting tickets. Hadn't heard anything back since, so I assumed that it was a no-go. BUT... last week I got the e-mail saying I had two tickets for tonight! WOOT! Well, complicated WOOT, as Amy wasn't able to go (staying home with Evie for the neighborhood Trick-or-Treat action). Gary's sick (ubersick, I'm afraid). Jeff originally showed interest last Friday, but it's his anniversary. Randy had his own tickets (same day even!), so I went with Tyler from work. We waited in the rain outside Drake for around 1.5 hours, only to get inside and wait INSIDE (past the metal detectors!) for another hour or so before finally getting in. We were afraid Randy & Heather weren't going to make it in, and it looked like they were indeed the LAST folks in the door - but they actually got to be up behind the producer/sound table, so that was cool. (Or seemed to be anyway, I wasn't able to catch up with them after the show to see if they felt the same).

The taping itself was a BLAST. Beforehand they had a comedian come out and warm-up the crowd, getting everyone to scream & yell & shout & generally make noise, then cracking jokes with folks, calling out random people and poking fun here & there. A pretty good time. Unfortunately, I can't remember his name :( He played the Funny Bone last weekend... but that doesn't help. Anyway, he was decent, and got folks going pretty well, then Jon Stewart came out and chatted with folks for awhile, taking questions from the audience which ranged from what comedians made him laugh to what he would want to be reincarnated as (an otter, BTW). Pretty awesome to just take whatever questions from folks, and he handled them all well. The only one that was kind of stiff was someone asking him about running for president - he just said he wasn't and moved on immediately.

As for the actual SHOW portion, there weren't any retakes (or none needed that happened at the time I guess), so it went amazingly fast. It seemed kind of odd that there were pauses about the same length as commercial breaks in between segments. It's kind of funny how little actual CONTENT goes into a 30-minute show after commercials and such. The guest was an OSU professor (apparently they invited plenty of politicians, but no one was available/interested) - he was OK I guess, but it would've been nice to see LeBron yesterday or Borat on Thursday. No clue who's scheduled for tomorrow.

So yeah, watch the Daily Show tonight (or the replay tomorrow at 8)! There's an almost infantismal chance you'll see me in one of the crowd-panning shots! And if not, we'll it's still cool that they're IN TOWN. Despite the long wait in the rain, and inside, and the short actual TAPING, the overall experience was a blast, and I'd definitely do it again!

Beware The Ubersick

Holy wow... yesterday was HORRIBLE. Starting late Saturday night (or very early Sunday morning, depending on how you look at it), Amy & I both got really horrible awful sick. Needless to say it was VERY unentertaining, and lasted all night and the majority of the day Sunday. Thankfully my parents were able to come over and take care of Evie, because we were pretty much useless. Such an odd thing, as we were both fine as of typical bedtime Saturday night, then WHAM...

From the sound of things, most of the staff and older kids at Evie's daycare have had this recently. Evie has NOT gotten it, thankfully... though I think Allison might have. :( For everyone else, hopefully if you haven't already gotten it, you won't - it's the SUCK.

Meanwhile, today at work was decent (though hellabusy), and tomorrow should be a good day at work, followed by free tickets to the Daily Show taping at the Drake! Woot!

Banemite!

So apparently the US Goverment has banned Vegemite!

No, not due to it being nasty stuff (which, you know, is a pretty fair complaint) - but due to some wacky ingredient restrictions. So for all those expatriate Aussies in the US looking for their salty-black-tar fix.... NO SOUP FOR YOU! (more)

Oddly enough, I picked up a small jar at Jungle Jims awhile back, which still resides in my cabinet at home -- so I've got contraband now baby! Black market here I come!

(and yes, I know I'm still slacking.)

Slacker Ahoy

Wow, been awhile since I hit up the 'ol bloggage... at least by my standards.

Anyway, yeah I'm still here. Been up to many things:

• First two weeks of Autumn Quarter -- AKA, the busiest time of the year at work. LOTS of work to do.
• Not one, but TWO edition's of Max's Home Alone Adventure (guest starring Evie!). It's fall, which also means Amy starts traveling for work frequently. She's home all this week though - YAY!
• Got and have been playing The Warriors for PS2. Very fun game - makes me seriously want to see the movie again, since it's been so long I remember pretty much NOTHING about it.
• New TV! So far Heroes and Jericho both get the big thumbs-up, Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip gets a fair-to-middling, Six Degrees gets a middling-to-enh.
  
• Graphic novels from the library -- great way for someone who doesn't want to spend $$ on comics like me to keep up on quality funnybooks! Most recently I've VERY much enjoyed reading Alan Moore's runs on Supreme.
• FOOTBALL! OSU football and NFL both in full-swing at this point. The Browns only have one win so far, but OSU's undefeated! WOOT!
• Mike & I also hit up Cleveland last week for a concert by Kamelot & Epica. GREAT show. Very fun.
  

So yeah, staying very busy. So busy I'm missing out on quite a bit too --

• Movies - I want to see Fearless, The Protector, Flyboys, The Illusionist, Idlewild, and Talladega Nights, ALL of which are playing right now, and most likely NONE of which I'll get to see in theaters.. one or two at MOST.
• The Ohio RenFest is running through this month.
• Shadowbox's current show (FreakShow '06) AND their production of the Rocky Horror Picture Show are both currently playing.

I know, I know, being a parent and all means not having time to do everything you want. I'm cool with that- not saying my life sucks or anything (far from it!!!) but there is just a LOT going on right now that I want to do... gotta make choices choices choices!

Rock Star: 0-2

So there he is. Two years in a row now Rock Star has chosen one of the LAST people I would've wanted to win. At least last year my major complaint with JD Fortune was that he was just a major asshole... in this case, I dislike (and in some cases loathe) pretty much everything about Lukas Rossi -- or, as Rick at OnlineOnslaught called him, Lord Revlon Q. Faggenstein.

See, I think the LAST thing the music scene needs at this point is another gothed-up, whiny-voiced emoboy... BUT... I think they telegraphed the pick pretty early in this case. There was the Hollywood Gossip Blog that said Lukas had already been picked as the winner at least a month ago... there was his endless praise from Tommy Lee & the boys... and in the finale it couldn't have been clearer -- the other three remaining folks got pretty soundly panned by the band (and Tommy Lee especially)... well, until AFTER they'd been eliminated, then at that point it seems like every one of the eliminated folks is going to have Dave Navarro and the entire band-formerly-known-as-Supernova backing them. So did they really lose? Is it better to be fronting a band with pretty much no solid future?

So, anyway... I don't anticipate them gettting any of my business. But if you care, here's an interview with Rossi after the win, and they've got two songs up on their MySpace page.

Supernova Goes POP

Who's that you ask? Why, that would be the band Supernova. No, no not THAT Supernova - the original one, a pop-punk band originally from the 80s. Apparently these guys weren't too happy about their name being co-opted by Tommy Lee's projet du jour, and applied a little of the 'ol lawsuitification a couple months back. Well the (current) verdict is in, and for now, a judge says ixnay on the upernova-Say for Mssrs Lee, Clarke and Newstead.

I stress current in the verdict, as it's entirely possible something will still shake-out here to change the result -- either an appeal and overturned ruling, or some kind of buy-out or heavy licensing fees. Given the high profile of the show, and insta-money to be made or lost on the deal, I wouldn't be surprised at all to see the name remain unchanged.

Nevertheless, this only further adds to my opinion on the flash-in-the-pan side proect / shaky future of the band. There are still some performers left on the show that I'm really interested in -- Toby and Magni primarily. If Lukas wins, my interest in Supernova drops to about negative 4.3 trillion.

Of course, if the rumor mill is correct, I'm SOL. But that's just a rumor. We'll know the REAL outcome tomorrow night! Oh, t3h DRAMA~!!

Go Print Me Some Dinner!

Yes, print! So there's this restaurant in Chicago called Moto (Hello Moto), and the chef there has a specially modified inkjet printer which uses food-based "inks" (carrot juice, purple potatoes, tomato juice) to print images onto sheets of soybean & potato starch to make printed edible food! And... wait for it... he calls it a FOOD REPLICATOR!

And Star Trek geeks everywhere were rejoicing.

Seriously though, this sounds freaking awesome. You know I love to try new and different restaurants, and this is just crazy. I'm sure the place is insanely expensive with a year-long waiting list, but I'll at least have to look in to eating there next time I'm in Chitown.

Printed sushi (pictured) -- even the MENU is edible. But the printed food isn't the only cool thing about Moto. The chef (Homaro Cantu) has all kinds of CRAZY stuff going on there. Fish baking in a crazy little box right at your table, cheese literature which tells its own history, flavored packing materials... plus lots of very tasty looking and very snazzily presented other options. Check out this photo essay of a multiple course meal at Moto (about 3 posts in).

I'm so there.

Read More:
-Story at First Science
-Story at New York Times

Fall TV Comin' Atcha

So the season premiere of House was this week. It was most excellent. I'm a little torn on the ending, but it was a great episode and the series has definitely picked up right where it dropped off. Still in my top 5 shows.

Other than House and the almighty football, not much else has started back up yet, but here's a rundown on what I'm waiting on, including the announced/projected premiere dates:

• 24 (FOX): 2-hour 6th season premiere (projected) 1/14/2007 8pm
• Big Love (HBO): 2nd season premiere (projected) 6/3/2007 9pm
• C.S.I. (CBS): 7th season premiere 9/21/2006 9pm
• Cold Case (CBS): 4th season premiere 9/24/2006 9pm
• Doctor Who (SciFi): 150-minute 2nd season premiere 9/29/2006 8pm
• Everybody Hates Chris (CW): 2nd season premiere 10/1/2006 7pm
• The Ghost Whisperer (CBS): 2nd season premiere 9/22/2006 8pm
• LOST (ABC): "special presentation" (recap show?) 9/27/2006 9pm
• My Name Is Earl (NBC): 2nd season premiere 9/21/2006 8pm
• N.C.I.S. (CBS): 4th season premiere 9/19/2006 8pm
• Numb3rs (CBS): 3rd season premiere 9/22/2006 10pm
• Rome (HBO): 2nd season premiere 1/7/2007 9pm
• The Sopranos (HBO): 6th season "winter" premiere (projected) 3/11/2007 9pm
• South Park (Comedy Central): 10th season "fall" premiere 10/4/2006 10pm
• Top Chef (Bravo): 2nd season premiere 10/18/2006 11pm
• Veronica Mars (CW): 3rd season premiere 10/3/2006 9pm

Ok, so looking at that list -- Holy hell that's a lot of TV. Admittedly some of them don't start until 2007, so the specific runs will overlap a LITTLE less... but still. Clearly something's gotta give, as I don't forsee having that much free time. To make matters worse, there are quite a few NEW shows debuting this fall that I'd LIKE to check out:

• Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip (NBC): series premiere 9/18/2006 10pm
• Jericho (CBS): series premiere 9/20/2006 8pm
• Six Degrees (ABC): series premiere 9/21/2006 10:01pm
  
• Heroes (NBC): series premiere 9/25/2006 9pm
• The Nine (ABC): series premiere 10/4/2006 10pm
• Daybreak (ABC): series premiere 11/15/2006 9pm

Yeah... so as you can see, who knows what will make the cut and what will get dropped for sheer sanity/braincell-preservation. Inevitably at least one, likely several of the new shows will tank, so that will help... we'll see how things go.

The Big 3-0

So yeah, today's my b-day. I decided to have a fireworks show to celebrate. Well, that or re-use one of my 4th of July pics instead of trying to find something more appropriate. One of the two.

It must be said loudly and in clear print that I HAVE THE BEST WIFE EVER. PERIOD. Seriously, Amy has outdone herself this year - I haven't even been awake three hours yet and I think this is likely to be my best birthday ever - she's been giving me the royal treatment all morning. On top of that, she really outdid herself with her gift - she's been conspiring over the past month and, knowing my obsession better than anyone else, got me 30 CDs! She's crazy! How did I manage to be so lucky as to get a wife this awesome?

Still not sure what all we're going to do today - we both have the day off work, so it's great just to hang with Evie (and the pups), but I'm sure we'll get out at some point. At the very least we'll be out for dinner at Mortons.

In non-birthday news, we had our Fantasy Football draft (with the OIT-related gang) @ BW3 last night, & it was awesome. Even feeding 9 hungry guys, $100 of food goes a LONG way (it was part of the fantasy football package Hutch set up through Sportsline). Had an awesome time with the gang last night, hanging out, joking, eating, drafting. It's going to be a fun league - much thanks to Hutch for setting it all up.

Ok, so one last piece of b-day news: It's also Laurie's 30th b-day today. From her post, it looks like she's got an awesome day lined up ahead of her as well. Make sure to stop by and wish her a good one!

Already? Really?

Hmmm... only one day left on the lifeclock. Anyone know the way to Sanctuary?

Everything You Learned In School Was Wrong #2: The Brontosaurus

If you were poll the random "person on the street" about their knowledge of dinosaur names, or their favorite dinosaur, chances are that most folks would name the Tyrannosaurus Rex. But after the mighty T.Rex there would be quite a lot of folks who would name the Brontosaurus (thunder lizard). The massive swamp-dwelling herbivores have been one of the staple dinosaurs for appearance in schools and popular culture for years, starting from when it was first discovered and named in the late 1800s. The gentle giants that all the kids love. So popular the Post Office chose it as one of the four dinosaur stamps they released in the 70s.

The problem is... there's no such thing as a Brontosaurus. It's been removed from books and museums because, despite everything we've heard about the mighty Thunder Lizard, it actually never existed. In fact, the guy who discovered it mis-identified the fossil skeleton he found when a mostly complete skeleton was found with the wrong skull in 1879. In actuality, the skeleton he found was of a species he'd already discovered and named two years earlier - the much lamer-sounding (though perhaps appropriately named) Apatosaurus (deceptive lizard).

The goof was actually discovered and published in 1903. So why are we still calling it a Brontosaurus more than 100 years later? Well, the correction was first published in Geological Series of the Field Columbian Museum , which from the name you can probably determine is a pretty obscure journal, even if you're NOT familiar with geological study. The catchier name also was used as the mascot for the Sinclair Oil Company for many years, and was, as previously mentioned, even listed on a US Postage Stamp. So people know Brontosaurus.

In practice, most folks recognize Brontosaurus as a synonym of the scientifically correct Apatosaurus, and geologists generally have more important things to worry about than this little misnomer.

But that still doesn't change the fact that your teacher was wrong.

Again.

Everything You Learned In School Was Wrong #1: The Solar System

Quick - what's wrong with the above picture? It's a diagram of the Solar System - the kind of thing we've seen in our textbooks and used for...oh, about the past 75 YEARS. Nine planets in the Solar System - just one of those givens we all know and love. But yeah, as you've probably heard, it's now out of date.

So what changed? Was a new planet discovered? Confirmation of a tenth planet, newly discovered? No, not so much. Instead, "they" (the IAU) voted today to change the definition of a planet. Yes, you read that right, change the definition of a planet. APPARENTLY scientists have been pretty unhappy about Pluto being included in with the rest of the planets for quite some time now. It's too small, too barren, it's got a funny orbit... it doesn't fit in with the cool kids. And what do we do with things which don't fit in? Why, ostracize them, of course! We give it the astronomical equivalent of making it ride on the short bus, out of sight and out of mind for all the normal kids. So, thanks to the eggheads, Pluto is now no longer a planet. Instead, it's newly demoted to a new "dwarf planet" status, which it'll have to share with at least two other things, with quite a few other likely candidates soon to join it, pending "approval". They resolved the following:

The IAU...resolves that planets and other bodies in our Solar System be defined into three distinct categories in the following way:

(1) A "planet" [1] is a celestial body that: (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, and (c) has cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit.

(2) A "dwarf planet" is a celestial body that: (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape [2], (c) has not cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit, and (d) is not a satellite.

(3) All other objects [3] except satellites orbiting the Sun shall be referred to collectively as "Small Solar System Bodies".

This whole process the IAU has been going through for changing the definition of a planet actually went through several stages... at one point it was even seeing more likely that we'd have TWELVE planets instead of 9. Or even more than 50! Obviously that'd never work... so instead we LOSE a planet.

Needless to say, the backlash started pretty quickly. There's bumper stickers, shirts, and some good stuff in a Worth 1000 photoshop contest. I'm sure more is already on it's way.

Still... this isn't the FIRST time that Pluto's gotten the short end of the stick anyway - so this shouldn't come as THAT big of a surprise. After all, among the whole group, he was the only one who couldn't walk upright, wear clothes, or speak English....

Good Advice

So in between calls, I spent the better portion of the morning so far typing up a post, only to have Firefox crash and lose it all. Bastards. The funny thing is that several times I thought about pressing the little "Save as Draft" button and skipped it, figuring I was almost done. Save and backup your work kiddies!!

For what I lost, it's something I really want to write about, but for now it'll have to wait - phone shift is over and there's more work to be done.

So for now, I'll just share this good bit of advice:

Stupid RoadRunner

So I was actually in the midst of crafting up a new blog last night when RoadRunner decided to go down. It had been working fine all evening (well, as far as I know - I was only using it sporadically), but then as I'm pulling up another page as reference - poof there goes teh Intarwub.

So instead I'll cut my fair recap really short. We went twice, enjoyed both trips, weather cooperated for the most part. First trip with Jeremy, Irene & Alaina, second trip with Amy's Mom & Shari. Good times. Highlights:

• FOOD: Ohio Food Pavilion gyros, corn nuggets, sweet potato fries, roast corn-on-the-cob, deep-fried oreos, lemon shake-ups
• Art show (with an AWESOME huge painted "Periodic Table of Phobias", complete with key.
• Cool custom name-sign to hang on Evie's wall
• Butter cow, butter Browns & Bengals mascots
• Amy toting Evie around in the Baby Bjorn for the first "real" time.

So yeah, fun stuff. Outside of the fair, I DID have more to talk about, but you know - stupid Internet. So instead, some links:

• Courtesy of Laurie, a blinged-out cat. That's just weird man. He needs a litterbox with spinners and he's all set.
• From BoingBoing, NASA Can't Find Moon Landing Tapes. (full article here) REALLY? I would think that's the kind of thing you'd consider pretty damn important. Maybe they should've opted for somewhere more secure than under Neil Armstrong's bed when going for the proverbial "safe place". Why weren't they in the Library of Congress? What this actually made me think of was the whole "Apollo Moon landing never happened" conspiracy theory. I'm DEFINITELY not an ascriber to that theory, but I'm sure this story will lend them some more arguing power - after all, the original high quality film is "lost", so you can't see the bad set pieces. Right? Anyway, it also reminded me of the really cool movie Capricorn One (though it was Mars in question there).

Mitchell's Ocean Club

So back in May I used the comments form on the Cameron Mitchell web site to pass along my concerns about the planned overhaul to my favorite CM restaurant, The Ocean Club. I actually DID hear back from someone, and she offered to invite me to one of their practice nights before the reopening... of course I accepted and Amy & I took them up on it! I believe last night was their first "large" practice night, with two more coming during this week before the official reopening this Wednesday (8/9).

Very noticable change right away -- they put a small waiting area/lounge over the Easton ground-floor exit right there, with a huge wood-paneled sign for the place. Here's their new logo (from the CM web site):

Inside, the layout is almost exactly the same as before - host/hostess stand in the same place, bar in the same place (and shape), slightly raised seating area to the left, and main dining area beyond the bar. The DID add a really nice outdoor patio running along the outside of the place (above the entrances to the various Gaps on the outside there) - which is supposedly going
to be heated in the winter for use year-round. There's also a piano just beyond the host stand (with mic), to suit the new "piano club" feel. Though the lay-out and shape are the same, the DECOR is completely different. Gone are the bright blues and ocean-style theming, all replaced with wood paneling (a medium shade, not TOO dark), a rock-wall, a white curtain illuminated with color changing lights around the bar (think "M"). Overall, the look is very "high class steakhouse", not "fusion seafood".

Which makes sense, because (as you might've noticed in the logo), steaks are now featured in the menu just as prominently as seafood, possibly even moreso, and the entire menu has been expanded and restructured around that. The PRICES have increased accordingly as well. It's now in the M - Mitchell's Steakhouse pricerange, going from "moderate" to "expensive". Steaks (and the "Chef Creations") fish items are now served a la carte, and there are separate potato and "accompaniments" sections for side dishes. Thanks to that, where before two could eat a 3 course meal and get out for maybe $60, now you're looking at upwards of $100 instead.

For appetizers, we opted for one of the new choices, a Wisconsin Aged Cheddar Fondue. It was served in a white crock with a tealight burning under it to keep it warm, and french bread, carrots, broccoli, cherry tomatoes and chunk salami for dipping (using provided fondue forks naturally). From watching the servers coming out of the kitchen, it seemed like this was a pretty popular appetizer last night - pretty unique (even though The Melting Pot is also at Easton, but outside of that setting...) and very tasty.

They have a pretty good selection of salads - Amy had the "signature"; salad, which is includes apples & walnuts like the signature salads at many other CM restaurants, with a slightly different dressing than elsewhere. I had the french onion soup w/ brandy aged swiss. Both were just "ok" - good, but nothing to write home about. On the soup-side, stick with the she-crab bisque (making it's return).

For entrees, they have about 8 or so "chef's creations", then a featured fish (7 or 8 different types of fish) and steaks (7 or 8 different cuts, including prime rib). The steaks seem pretty similar in price, cut and preparation as Mitchell's Steak House. It's been awhile since i've been there, but I wouldn't be surprised if the fish options were similar to the Fish Market - in a lot of ways the new Ocean Club feels like a mix of the two. Gone are almost all of the Asian fusion menu items featured fairly prominently at the old Ocean Club - the sole returning entree is a slightly fdifferent take on the Ginger Crusted Salmon (which happened to be possibly my favorite dish at any restaurant anywhere). The salmon (and crust) is exactly the same (though a larger cut of salmon), and the sauce is exactly the same (thankfully - it's incredible) - though with the larger cut of salmon there's not quite enough on the plate now... our server was kind enough to bring me a bit extra when I asked. It's not served on sticky rice any longer (presumably to get you to pony-up for one of the potatoes or other sides), though it does come with stir-fried snap peas instead of the broccoli. I'd be OK with the peas, but I REALLY miss the rice - the sauce is so good and the rice was able to further highlight it. Amy had the petit filet, which was quite good - as I said, pretty much like Mitchell's.

The dessert options are pretty typical for a CM place - creme brulee, a cake or two, etc. They DO have Baked Alaska which is one of those classic desserts that you really don't see offered much these days, so that's cool. We split the "Georgia Peaches & Cream" - like a warm peach crisp served a la mode.

In all a very good experience, and I'd recommend the place. I do miss the funky ocean-themed decor, but the new look suits the new price point very well. I'm not sure the mall will be able to support ANOTHER restaurant in that price range (on top of Smith & Wollenski's and Melting Pot is only one notch down), but we'll see. As for the menu, it's larger than before, and very high
quality, though I really do miss the Asian fusion focus.

Final Score.... I'd say 4/5.

I [heart] Perpetual War

Fear is your new god. In a post-Cold War age when the threat of Global Thermal Nuclear War is no longer hanging over everyone's heads, how do you keep the masses in check? Peak Oil. Global Warming. Pandemic Flu. Terrorism. Perpetual War.

There are real problems and imagined problems. Plenty of real things to worry about... but the sensationalism and fear-mongering used to keep things in people's faces (not to mention get ratings for the media outlets) is just ridiculous.

Meanwhile, our government uses these to tighten the reins:

- US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said the US government could "indefinitely" hold foreign 'enemy combatants' at sites like the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

"We can detain any combatants for the duration of the hostilities," said Gonzales, speaking to the Senate Armed Services Committee.

"If we choose to try them, that's great. If we don't choose to try them, we can continue to hold them," he said.

(emphasis is mine. Rest of article is here.)

Yeah. It's that italicized bit which really gets to me. Cause see, how DO we know when the "Global War on Terror" is over? What exactly are the victory conditions? Because I'm pretty sure there's been terrorism in some aspect or another for, oh I don't know, ALL THE HISTORY OF MANKIND. Or at least acts which could easily be portrayed as terrorism. Patriotism or Terrorism - depends on which side wins, right? That's what's so 1984 about all this... it's Perpetual War. Keep the hostilities going forever and that way you don't HAVE to worry about silly things like personal freedoms, civil rights, etc... because National Security comes first... and the people are scared enough to agree that it SHOULD come first.

It makes me so crazy...

More TV: Superheroes, Psychics and Rock Stars OH MY!

So yes, I did watch the first episode of Who Wants To Be A Superhero? on Sci-Fi. I have to say I wound up enjoying it a lot more than I thought I might. I was primarily watching for the train-wreck effect, and there was definitely some of that ("Cell-Phone Girl?!?! That's the best you could come up with? Even Fat Momma is more creative!) -- but the "test" they put them through I thought worked out really well. It definitely fit with the whole idea of being a superhero, so that was cool. The contestants (characters) are pretty widely varied -- some good ones there, like Major Victory (campy goodness), Nitro G (great costume), Lumeria (cool name), as well as the lame (the aforementioned two, plus Iron Enforcer, AKA "big buff guy who takes his shirt off). The elimination ceremony thing was pretty cool too. I have a feeling this show will walk the line between interesting and lame, but I'll stay with it as long as it doesn't stray TOO deep into the lame. If you missed it and you're interested, they've got the entire first ep free (without commercials) up at Sci-Fi's site (see the link under "What's New" currently mentioning it on Sci-Fi Pulse).

Awhile back Kevin at work talked about a new show he'd seen on USA and recommended - Psych. The premise is that the guy's dad was a cop and while he was growing up drilled him with memory tests and forcing him to notice and recall the most minute details, basically instilling him with an insanely overpowered eye (and memory) for detail. He solves several cases for the police through details he notices on news reports, and they bring him in for questioning/possible arrest because they figure only someone "inside" could've known these things -- not believing that he could possibly just notice. To get out of being arrested he tells them he's a psychic, and he winds up working with the cops as a psychic, bringing in his friend. The two of them are HUGELY funny, and the premise works out really well. I can't recommend this show highly enough.

Yes, despite my doubts I AM still watching Rock Star: Supernova. Now that I'm finally getting more performance episodes under my belt I'm firming up my thoughts on the performers. I still think Dilana is near the front of the pack, though I think her vocal range may be a bit limited, and that combined with her lower, gruff voice may hurt her in the long run.
Lukas has the look, and seems strong but he just comes off as a wierd little troll, and his limitations are starting to show through too. Most of the performers are really off-and-on, but the ones I'm keeping an eye on are: Dilana, Storm, Toby and Magni. Several of the others have had some GREAT performances, but have tanked heavily at other times. Zayra, Jill and Patrice all need to GO. They're not doing anything other than making my TV cry every week.

Still looking forward to a NUMBER of shows coming this fall. I have NO idea how we're going to be able to fit them all into the schedule (the answer is: we probably won't), but still - I really hope to catch some of them. Thanks to the wonders of YouTube, the first eps. of two of them are already available: Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip and Heroes. Watch them QUICK if you're interested, they probably won't be there for long. Read more about leaked Fall TV (and other online TV resources) at the most recent Livin' In Cowtown blog.