My Next Purchase

After doing some research and comparing the MSR AutoFlow Gravity Filter against the Platypus CLeanStream Gravity Filter System on various websites I decided to go with the MSR. I have been using an MSR pump with a ceramic filter for years and it has performed very well. It is easy to clean, and other than a slowing flow rate, should last for a few more years. But pumping is one of my least favorite elements of the outdoor adventure so I am going to try a gravity filter. This will be perfect for group trips and appears to be lighter than most water filtration systems. The hollow fiber filters are supposed to be a little more fussy but it should be worth it with the higher flow. I will let you know after I use it. Next trip should be in a few weeks.

2 Episodes in...Justified aka "Tim Olyphant is Pissed"

As you can see from the picture above, Tim Olyphant is pissed about something. After two episodes we don't really know what it is but it appears he doesn't like bad guys.

FX has released a number of good series in the past few years - Rescue Me (seasons 1 and 2), Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Sons of Anarchy (season 1), the too quickly canceled Starved, even the narrow minded and hopelessly going nowhere series The League - all of these shows brought something interesting, funny, and well produced to TV.

Justified is a well done show with a charismatic and interesting lead. The show is about a U.S. Marshall who is forced to leave Miami and return home to the backwoods of Kentucky due to an altercation in a hotel (a very memorable first scene in the first episode). Timothy Olyphant plays the Marshall Raylan Givens and channels a few parts Clint Eastwood (both Dirty Harry and The Man with No Name), a few parts Bruce Willis in Die Hard, and many parts Seth Bullock from Deadwood. Olyphant's roll in Deadwood was a sheriff who wanted justice and control, so much so that he wasn't human. The Givens character is a better version of Bullock, one that anyone could identify with.

The first episode moved briskly and introduced a white supremacist played superbly by Walton Goggins (who has an impressive IMDB resume). While the show doesn't appear to have a central storyline, only a central theme, hopefully the white supremacist character returns to a main role. The watchability of this show is very high mainly because Olyphant is doing his best work. The writing is good enough to keep the series moving. Hopefully the episodes centered around various Marshall duties (prisoner transport, manhunts, witness protection) can stay fresh.

2 Episdoes in...The Pacific Miniseries

Here at Things That Entertain Alex we have decided to debut a new segment about television - "2 Episodes in..." will review new TV series after the second episode. Really you need about two seasons before you know if the writers have any idea what their longterm plan is but after two episodes you have an idea where the first season is headed.
The Pacific miniseries on HBO, produced by the team behind the original Band of Brothers Series, is a world war two war-drama abou the theatre in the Pacific Ocean. The first episode followed the marines at home and at briefings describing where they were headed then took us straight to the landing crafts. After an anticlimactic landing at Guadalcanal we see them get their first action. The second episode follows the soldiers through a few more tense battles, some pysocological struggles, and finally getting off the island. The last scene of the second episode was probably the best of the series when the dissheveled and shell shocked marines chat briefly with a Navy cook about what they saw and he responds that Americans now see these men as heroes.

The shows production value is very high and it succeeds with large set piece battles as well as with the psycological aspects. A scene in the second episode when the Marines loot an Army resupply is particular entertaining. The acting is overall quite good and the cast is made up of men you recognize but have to IMDB to see where you recognize them from (the kid from Jurassic Park is about to enter the fray).

The single biggest problem with this show is that it is not as good as the original Band of Brothers miniseries. The original, released in 2001, followed airborne troops through France, Belgium, and Germany. The characters were more memorable, better acted, and easier to identify. Characters in The Pacific seem to blend together and look enough alike that you cannot tell who is who. And since all of the battles occur at night and are lit by muzzle flashes, flares and explosions you really can't tell what men are involved in which firefights and it has never been made clear which company/battalion each group are with.

Because of the high production value and potential for character development this is a much watch; but if you need a World War II fix watch the original BOB series.

Shake Weight

This is just too awesome to not post. This is the shakeweight, which kind of looks like a dumbell crossed with a sex toy. Watch the video at www.shakeweight.com/ and prepare to have your mind blown. Also enjoy the women with really disgusting arms.

Warrior Dash

Before I busted up my knee playing basketball (and falling on asphalt) I signed up for the Warrior Dash. It will be my first adventure race of the year and covers 3 miles with multiple obstacles. Before I hurt my knee I was running 4 to 5 miles a day and figured I could compete for a place on the podium (and the metal warrior helmet that comes with it). Now I am just looking forward to jogging the race and bumbling over obstacles. I guess the injury took the competetive edge out of it. Oh well. Should still be a fun event, and for only 60 bones you can't really go wrong.

New Playstation Sex Toy

I am not sure if Playstation intended for their new motion control joystick to look like some of sex toy but, well, it definitely does. Assuming it vibrates this could make for some interesting and immersive gaming opportunities.

Un Prophete

As noted previously, Saturday night was a rough night for good movies. Maybe that was a reaction caused by our Friday night viewing: Un Prophete. Before I go further - GO SEE THIS MOVIE! It was excellent from start to finish - acting, direction, cinematography, story - the entire film had a tension to it that I rarely find in modern cinema.
The movie stars Tahar Rahim in a star making part. He is incarcerated in a French prison and has to quickly learn the ropes. Without spoiling too much, he goes into jail a poor, illiterate boy with no friends or family and leaves with an education, family, and a life waiting for him on the outside. How he gets there spans two and a half hours, covers a few different jail cells, multiple shower scenes (some benign, some violent), different cities, and some things you would never expect to happen. The movie could have been cut down to two hours or so but it does not suffer at its length.
This movie is so good I really don't want to go into the details of the plot because you should go see it. Just know that you do not know how this will end and the protaganist's life always feels one misturn away from ending. This tension is a breath of fresh air compared to predictable flicks like Avatar, District 9, and An Education. GO SEE THIS MOVIE!

Crazy Busy

So I have been ridiculously busy now that my officemate Hector is gone and I have taken over his workload. I have also been sick with a little viral throat thing and crippled with a sprained ACL. All of these things have resulted in no posts in almost a week. My apologies.
Anyway, I spent the three day weekend (I called in sick on Friday) making pasta sauce and watching bad movies. The pasta sauce came out tasty, and the movies were awful. Here are three quick reviews of my Saturday night viewing:

New York, I Love You - Possibly the worst movie I have seen that I can remember, this is an art house effort with an ensemble cast. It is assembled like all of those bad Valentine's Day type movies but goes absolutely nowhere. The characters have no backstory so you don't care where they are going, and well, they don't go anywhere anyways. An example - Bradley Cooper climbs into not one but two cabs with other random characters in the movie. They are all affable enough to share the cabs. End scene. Great, they share cabs. The characters do not reconnect. His whole story arc is that he had a one night stand with Drea de Matteo (from the Soprano's) and felt some sort of connection. Queue the steamy sex scene. He waits for her at a bar, she appears to be hours late, he gets up to leave and hails a cab as she walks up. They hop in and go off together all smiles. So we establish they have a physical connection but since we never see them again we have no idea where it goes. And frankly, who cares. This movie was awful. I couldn't even watch the last 15 minutes after investing an hour and a half, so maybe it all came together in the end, but I doubt it.

Mean Girls - Tina Fey and Lindsey Lohan at the height of their powers; we didn't watch the whole movie since Ariel and I have both seen it, but this movie is hilarious. I will typically not get suckered into high school girl movies, but this stays witty and creative enough to hold up to multiple viewings. For some reason it is okay for a guy to like this movie. Maybe that is a testament to Tina Fey's writing and how attractive a young Lindsey Lohan was.

The Ugly Truth - This movie has me absolutely convinced that I could write a screenplay. I actually found some of the dialogue refreshing (the writers are all women, but wrote the male character's part with a decent edge) but for the most part this story was as formulaic as they come. You knew how this would end before it started but the movie did not deviate from standard Hollywood cliches throughout. I would say the low-light was the scene where Gerard Butler gives Katherine Heigl vibrating panties before a business meeting. Obviously she puts them on right before the meeting (who wouldn't?) and obviously the controller ends up in the hands of a curious 8 year old and (obviously) she proceeds to have an orgasm during an important meeting. WHO WRITES THIS SHIT?! I am going to go ahead and say you can skip this one.

Yellowstone

My next destination? Yellowstone. 17 hours of driving. 4 or 5 nights on the trail. Can you say life lister? I want to go to there.

The North Face Denali Jacket

If you buy one piece of The North Face gear you should probably get this jacket. The Denali is just fashionable enough to wear out at night and just nice enough for me to wear to work everyday. The 300 series Polartec polyester fleece is warm enough to wear into the 40's or 50's over a t-shirt and also has just enough wind resistant to stand up to about 10 mph gusts. The polyster is also naturally hydrophobic so when it gets wet it retains heat and dries quickly. You can shake this jacket and watch the water come off.

For the outdoors the Denali holds up as a solid 3 season backpacking jacket. It is a little heavy and oversized for my taste but its versatility has forced me to bring it along regardless of its shortcomings. The polyester breathes well while insulating and the shoulder fabric is strong enough to endure hours with backpack straps rubbbing against it. I think my favorite thing about it is that it makes the perfect camp pillow. Fold the jacket up a few times, stick it in a soft shirt, and you have the perfect vehicle to rest your head on. It is warm and soft and does not compress too much (like a down jacket) or spread flat to be uncomfortable by the end of the night. I enjoy using this as a backpacking pillow so much I have considered bringing it on summer trips when I truly did not need it.

Pretty much everyone I know has one of these jackets for wearing around town, but few people realize this is an excellent piece of gear for backpacking. My only complaint is that it should be a little more stout against the wind; if it was I would bring this jacket on every backpacking trip.

Friday Night

My officemate Hector is headed off to our Cedars-Sinai project by the Beverly Center. In honor of his departure we spent last Friday evening downtown (where he lives) bowling and drinking. We started at the new Lucky Strike Bowling Alley at the city center. They sell themselves as "upscale bowling." The alley was relatively clean and nice but since most bowling alleys look like giant ashtrays that isn't saying much. The happy hour was the highlight with $3 pints. I asked the waitress for a pint of Newcastle to which she responded that they didn't have "pints" but they did have plastic 16 oz cups. I informed her that 16 oz's is a pint. Not sure if an upscale joint should have waitresses who know what a pint is, but the beer was delicious none the less. We also ordered pizza (decent), fries (very crispy and salty), and artichoke dip (repulsive). The dip came with half as many pita chips as you needed and for some reason was covered in disgusting cheese. Also the food was not priced like the drinks so 8 bucks for crappy dip was a rip off. Come for the drinks and $5 dollar rounds (before) and don't stay for anything else.

From there we went to Lawry's Carvery next to Staple's. I was going to order the turkey club but the consensus of everyone who worked there was that the Prime Rib Bleu was the dish to order. The prime rib was perfectly cooked and melted in my mouth. It tasted a little like butter and didn't taste at all like steak. Somehow the perfectly red, tender and fatty meat had very little taste. For that reason I added Lawry's Seasoned Pepper and Lawry's Seasoning Salt to every bight. The Lawry's Seasoned Pepper saved the meal. It was so good I had to take it home. I casually slipped it into my jacket and now I have it for the next tasteless steak sandwich I get.

Lawry's was good enough that I would try it again, as was the Lucky Strike happy hour. Don't waste time eating at the bowling alley though. While it may be "upscale" the food is not worth the bucks and the pints are only 16 oz's.

Olympic Awesomeness

Everyone who watches curling loves it and thinks they can do it. I doubt it is as easy as drunk people think it is but I found a place near LA that has curling. I may just have to hit up the open house: http://www.iceoplexsimivalley.com/curling.htm

Mmmmmmmmm, Seafood by the Airport

I picked Ariel up at the airport on Saturday after her trip to snowy New York. Thanks to Virgin America's in flight Internet she was able to send me a message with the urgent title "I am hungry." I yelped restaurants within five miles of the airport, sorted by highest rating, and narrowed the selection to a Jamaican spot and Mariscos Moni. Ariel, as usual, chose the Mexican food at Mariscos Moni (henceforth abbreviated as MM).
For anyone who is not aware mariscos (note this is wikipedia en espanol, but you get the point) is seafood of all kinds. MM's menu featured three pages of whole fish, ceviches, and standard dishes with seafood. Items like carnitas, carne asada, and pollo were relegated to the back page. This was the first time I have ever seen this. This restaurant is really dedicated to their seafood.
The meal started with chips and salsa. The salsa was a little too spicy for my tastes and did not have nearly enough substance (few tomatoes). The chips were average at best. We followed that up with a mixed seafood tostada. The mixta consisted of shrimp, octopus, imitation crab, and a few other items I couldn't identify. All of the seafood was tender. I liked the marinade and its ceviche-like acidity, Ariel did not like how tomatoey it was.
For entrees Ariel ordered the shrimp fajitas and I got the shrimp enchiladas. My little shrimp in the enchiladas were undercooked and the dish was not as hot as it should have been when it was served. The fajitas came out sizzling and were quite delicious, especially all of the onions and bell peppers which reached that smokey/carmelized perfection that make fajitas so delicious. Both dishes came with huge portions of rice, salad and beans that were cooked with ample amounts of lard.
Overall the food was just slightly above average but the cost for the three above dishes and two sodas was $40. That is too much for what we got. The best thing about this meal? Reheating my dish last night in a pan with a little olive oil was better than the original serving. All of the cheese, sauce, rice, and shrimp (now thoroughly cooked) turned into a delicious congealed mess.
If you are looking for good mariscos try Mariscos Guillen La Playita on Lincoln in Venice. This shack it like Moni only fresher, better, and cheaper.

The Time is Now

The Redundant Clock designed by Jai Lee. He works for google. He appears to be smart. I want to make my own since they aren't for sale.

LA 27

On Sunday Ariel and I met up with my friend Dan who writes about food. His blog, DanEats, is an entertaining look at all the restaurants and dining experiences he gets himself into. Now that he is slowly moving from New York to Los Angeles we have been getting lunch and dinner together about once a week. Since he is writing about food I figured we should try to go to different places. So far we have gone to Baby Blues BBQ, Mario's Peruvian, and a few other spots spread around town.
Having an amateur food critic in my life has compelled me to try new things. For Valentine's day Ariel got me Counter Intelligence by Jonathan Gold, the Pulitzer Prize winning food critic. For the last few years I have searched out Gold's recommendations. For the most part his tastes are a little too spicy for me but sometimes we find ourselves in complete agreement. The Donut Man is the best example of this. Gold and I have come to the mutual conclusion that the strawberry donut from here is the best in LA (my coworkers now agree as well). But lunch on Sunday wasn't going to be donuts so I had to find somewhere new between Santa Monica and Los Feliz.
After 20 minutes of research I settled on El Izalqueno and its El Salvadorian Food. It was suitably exciting and foreign and was located just north of downtown. Ariel and I arrived at the listed address first and were disappointed to find that the restaurant was either never there or had been replaced. In its place was LA27, a Nicaraugan restaurant with a live band and tables filled with families. Had it been Ariel and I the loud music probably would have turned us away; but when Dan sauntered up we determined it was worth a shot. We were quickly sat at a 4 top by the only waiter who spoke english. We asked about specialties and all of the drinks which had names we did not recognize. The waiter helped us out bigtime by bringing us samples (in little salsa cups) of ten different drinks. These ranged from rice based drinks (some with pineapple, chocoloate, and other spices) to fruit drinks (lemonade with sesame seeds, coconut). All of them were different from anything we had ever drank.
Following the drink sampling we ordered a starter of Baho, a meat stew served with perfectly sticky white rice. The stew had some potatoes, plantains, some very fatty meat, carrots and tomatoes. There was very little meat but what was there was delicious. The plantains were too hearty for me and lacked the sweetness of their fried bretheren. The potatoes were very good. Dan and I both ordered the fritanga a la 27 which had chorizo (delicious, but we hardly had any on our plates), carne asada (excellent, thick cut seasoned perfectly) and pork (great marinade but a little dry). The sides were rice mixed with pinto beans, lettuce and tomato, fried plantains, fried cheese, and tons of a vinegar based salsa consisting of baby corn, onions and carrots. The salso went with/on everything and we went through about half a container. Ariel got the shredded beef plate which was like Ropa Vieja from Cha Cha Chicken but not quite as good.
This is probably the most authentic foreign food experience I have had; meaning that I basically felt like I was in Nicaruaga while eating there. No one spoke english, the food was delicious, and the music was inappropriately loud and invasive. Flower vendors and pirated DVD sellers walked the floor looking for buyers. This was an amazing experience, not to be missed.

I Heart Meatballs

So I love me some meatballs; not as much as some people I know (wink wink), but I do love them. More generally, I love Italian food. I grew up eating the stuff basically every night but as the California culinary scene so did my tastes. I now have a much more broad palet and rarely seek out Italian restaurants.
In Ariel's and my search for a wedding caterer I must admit I was surprised when A.G. Ferrari was an option. Our venue the Brazilian Room has a list of 8 or so caterers you have to choose from and the Italian deli was one of them. I remember eating there occasionally in Corte Madera when growing up and enjoying the food, but I never imagined that they might cater the most important event of my life.
On our last trip to the Bay Ariel and I tried five different caterers. Many were good, but they lacked the oomph that we were looking for. Each caterer had as many weak dishes as good ones. The only one that really stood out was AGF. All of the appetizers were delicious, as were the entrees and desserts, and the only menu items where they came up short were the easiest to fix: the salad and the grilled veggies. We tweaked the veggie selection to our liking and added some items to the salad to make it more in line with the food we love. The salmon (with a crispy bottom) and the bruschetta appetizers were particularly excellent.
We haven't booked AGF yet (we have booked our photog, florist, and DJ) because we still want to perfect the menu, but once we get them dialed in we will be that much closer to the big day.

Long John Performance: Smartwool versus Patagonia

For my first snowshoeing trip I decided I needed more than one pair of long johns. I bought a pair of Smartwool Midweight Bottoms for general backpacking use a few years ago. I typically would throw them on at night when the sun started to go down and wear them under my pants until climbing into sleeping bag. Since they are merino wool they are soft, odorless, and warm while also wicking sweat away. Since I would be snowshoeing and sweating I wanted a pair to wear each day. I love testing new clothing and building up my gear box so I wanted to try something new. I went with the Patagonia Capilene 3 Bottoms which are basically synthetic versions of the Smartwools. Here is a breakdown of the performance:




Smartwool ($75) - For warmth, softness and cut these can't be beat. The merino wool insulates in the cold and transports sweat when working hard. The fabric is soft enough that these are the perfect cold weather sleep wear. And there is something about the fit around the ankles that is perfect (although the seat is a little dumpy). I wore these after the first day's climb and to bed, and the all day the second day (downhill). For warmth underneath a windshell layer these really can't be beat.







Patagonia Capilene 3 ($45) -I wore these the entire first day underneath my snowshell pants. They were warm enough that I ended up opening my knee zips after a few hours of climbing but they kept my legs dry and I was never uncomfortable. Even while shoveling snow to make base camp the sweat never clung to these longjohns. The elastic waist band and elastic at the ankles were a little too tight but the overall performance was impressive.

Bottom Line - If I was looking to buy one pair of longjohns to last me forever I would go with the Smartwools. They are soft enough to wear at home and perform well enough to wear while doing intense physical activity. If you need to buy multiple pairs for a trip and are on a budget the Patagonia Capilene is a great economical choice. They performed as well as the Smartwools while sweating (the polyester wicks better than the merino) but the Smartwools were warmer while standing around at camp. It depends on the situation but both of these longjohns perform well.

Top 10 Hikes and Dive Spots

The website Gadling has a list of what they consider the "World's best Hikes." One of the hikes is the Mt. Whitney climb which I did in one day in 2008. Maybe it was the trauma of the 22 miles that day, but I would not consider it one of the "world's best." Either way, the ten hikes listed are all trips I want to do.
They also listed the top 10 dive sites.

http://www.gadling.com/2010/01/26/10-great-destinations-for-scuba-diving-adventure-videos/

I now have 20 trips to do in the near future.

Empowered by Gaiters

There is something empowering about wearing gaiters. When combined with durable snow pants and hearty winter boots you feel like you could be walking through knee high lava flows and be fine.
Mine are the Outdoor Research Verglass Gaiters. They are affordable ($45), durable, waterproof, and not vomit inducing ugly. Over two days of snowshoeing and potholing up to my knee my feet remained dry and these remained in place. The calf strap is sturdy and never came loose. The leather straps were easy to adjust (before they were frozen over). The velcro front made putting them on easy even after the spent the night getting coated in ice.
They are not without their problems though. Maybe I have skinny legs for my shoe size but the calf strap had to be cinched almost all the way down to stay up on my leg. While the strap never came undone I did end up with an annoying bunching at the top of the gaiters and the actual strap sticking out to the side. This could theoretically get snagged on something. My second complaint may happen with all gaiters. The lace clip at the toe always came unhooked. This never impacted the performance of the gaiters but had circumstances been different I would want these more firmly locked onto my shoe. I may add a little ring onto my boots so that I have something more secure than crossed laces to hook my clip around.

La Botte

My parents were in town after a desert valley road trip and requested we go to La Botte for dinner. We had eaten there on my last birthday and had an amazing culinary experience.
We went on a Tuesday night and the restaurant was mostly full. I am not sure if they expected this because we ended up with one thoroughly overworked waiter. He looked a little like Christiano Ronaldo and had the accent of an Italian characterture. After dropping off our menus we didn't see him for about 30 minutes. Our wine took an additional 30 minutes to arrive. If it wasn't for very stimulating conversation this meal would have been miserable.
For food we tried to order the Scallop salad but the waiter informed us they were out of scallops. We ended up starting with the cured duck (duck prosciutto) which was tasty and the red beet ravioli. The ravioli was absolutely amazing. The flavors burst out of the homemade shell, the presentation was perfect, and the dish tasted earthy (the beets), cheesy and a little sweet.
My entree was the pork shoulder served on chard with a kobucha squash mustard. The meat was a little undercooked (it didn't fall apart completely, just mostly, I almost had to use a knife) but the mustard was perfect. It had the consistency of sweet mashed potatoes but the spiciness of a hot ground mustard. And I love mustard.
My dad ordered the filet mignon medium rare. It came out cold so he sent it back to be reheated. When it came back it was closer to medium than medium rare. He said it was delicious but overcooking your cold meat is not acceptable.
Ariel ordered the lamb ragou which was pretty good. The homemade pasta was smooth and floury (just right). I thought the lamb flavor was overpowered by the cheese, but the dish was still quite good.
So in summary, the service was deplorable but the food was delicious. The two bottles of wine we drank were also top notch (the first was a reasonably priced Montepulciano, my dad ordered the second but it was also smooth). I still recommend this place even with the bad service.
http://www.labottesantamonica.com/

USA! USA!

I am much more of a Daily Show fan than a Colbert Report fan, but this sticker is awesome. I wish I had a giant eagle to ride and a flaming flag. Thank you Shepard Fairey

Scoops

Full disclosure: I love Baskin Robbins. I grew up eating it and have many fond childhood memories. Uncannily consistent, you can go into any BR on the planet and find staples like Gold Medal Ribbon and Mint Chip that never disappoint. They are always creamy, sweet, and delicious.

But the advent of designer ice cream has taken the frozen sweet in a totally different direction. After a friend's show at the Fake Gallery we hit up Scoops, the Hollywood hipster version of Baskin Robbins. Scoops is known for exciting flavors like Lavender, Goat Cheese, Brown Bread, and Oolong Tea. They are all amazing and made with fresh ingredients that really bring out the intricacies of the taste. The ice cream is made that morning and the flavors are served until they run out. The past few times we have been there they have run out of a few items (Banana Oreo, which is right in my wheelhouse, is frequently gone).

Ariel and I decided to split one cup (which is two scoops) for $2.75. The price is right. We ordered Blueberry Black Tea and Black Sesame. The BBT tasted like, well, tea infused with blueberries. It had the perfect balance of sweet cut with the bitterness of black tea. The Black Sesame was amazing. The ice cream was basically sesame seeds and ground sesame with a creamy base. It is hard to describe the flavor but imagine if sesame seeds tasted so good you didn't want to stop eating them - that is basically how this ice cream tasted. I don't think I would pair these two flavors again, I would pass on the BBT, but the Black Sesame was delicious.
Other Scoops thoughts - The Honey Lavender is the best flavor I have had there. It may be the best flavor of ice cream I have ever eaten (sorry BR). The flavor is complex, delicate, sweet...it is like eating heaven and potpurri all at once.
The Berkeley version of Scoops is Ici. Simply put, Scoops DESTROYS Ici. The consistency of the ice cream, the variety of flavors, and the complexity of the tastes at Scoops surpass the four flavors we tried at Ici.

Umami Burger

Ariel and I went to Umami Burger last night. I will go ahead and say it was delicious, but here is an item by item breakdown with my final opinion at the bottom:

Pickled Plate - We started with this appetizer that consisted of all things pickled: peaches (which the waitress identified as pears), cucumber (obviously), hearts of palm, fennel, and one other thing that I cannot recall. The pears stood out for their texture which was soft but interesting; the pickles were not good at all and far too sweet; and the fennel was the only thing that I would say was good.

Sweet Potato Fries - I love me some sweet potato fries. When they are on a menu I order them. This craze started a few years ago and so far the best ones are at The Counter with a close runner up at Father's Office. Umami probably delivered the best ones yet. They were perfectly fried and had a sprinkling of sugar (maybe brown sugar, not sure) that made these more sweet than they need to be. With the added garlic aioli these were excellent.

Socal Burger - This is a very basic burger with lettuce, tomato, some other spreads and carmelized onions. I did not notice the onions at all. The burger was good but a little too salty. There should have been more onions to cut the salt and balance out the flavor. The actual patty was delicious though and charred to perfection.

The Umami Burger - The eponymous menu option really brings it. Toppings include a little piece of portabello mushroom, a baked parmesan lattitce, a baked tomato, and some type of aioli. The center of this burger, where all of the toppings were located, really tasted like nothing else (Umami means "the fifth taste"). Those few bites were transcendent. The edges of the burger, like the Socal, were charred perfectly but were over seasoned and too salty.

Bottom Line - I would go back for the fries and Umami burger but mainly to try some of the other options. I like that they use creative combinations of items on their burgers. I do not like that they have no other items beyond a turkey burger. And never order the pickled plate.

A Sweet Jacket for a Friend

My friend Tommy and I do not always see eye to eye when it comes to politics. He is from the more rural Inland Empire in San Bernadino and I from white collar blue voting Marin County. He watches 24, I watch the Daily Show. He listens to Tom Licus, I listen to NPR. But one thing we CAN agree on is how ironically tasteful this jacket is. I think I am going to surprise him and send it to him. It is available here for the irrationally low price of $20.95 USD.

My Snow Boots - Keen Summit County

I began shopping for snow boots in anticipation of a winter backpacking trip in the fall. While the trip didn't materialize until mid-January I had these boots under the bed for a few months. One thing I have learned about Keen boots is you can pull them right out of the box, slip in your Superfeet, and hit the trail. Before my snowshoe trip (with the broken snowshoes documented here) I had worn these boots for all of an hour inside my apartment. I then wore them for an additional 30 minutes the night before our departure. But when I threw them on the next morning they performed beautifully.
I have never owned a pair of snow boots so this was virigin territory for me. Based on reviews at the REI website and the fact Keens just fit my feet I figured these would be a solid option for snowshoeing. These boots were very comfortable right out of the box and I didn't have any blisters or soreness after our first day of hiking that covered 4 miles and 2000 ft of altitude gain. At night, as temperatures dipped into the 20's and we were stuck milling about in our snow surrounded camp, my toes did start to go numb. These boots could use more than the 350 gram KEEN.WARM insulation, especially in the toes. The toes did stay completely dry at all times, which is the most important thing, and the comfort can't be beat.
I now have three pairs of Keens - these winter boots, the Targhee II Mids, and the Arroyo IIs for water wear. The Targhees are my go to boots for all hiking. They are the most comfortable shoes I own, have the wide toebox I need, and lace up just right. They have been up Mt. Whitney (no blisters after 22 miles in one day) and have also been on a hike where I was basically walking through a river for 4 miles. They can do everything. The rubber knobbies have started to come off the shoe but they have yet to fully detach. This is a very common occurrence with Keen and from what I have read the only real problem with any of their shoes. I still recommend these to everyone with a foot shaped similar to mine.
And full disclosure, I have yet to wear the Arroyo IIs after buying them on sale. Hopefully I can find a wet hike or a warm rafting trip to wear them on in the near future.

Snow in LA!?

Driving on the 10 West to work this morning it looked like it was snowing. Turns out I was following a garbage truck full of styrofoam...oh well, it still looked kind of neat.

Tax and Spend

Here is an excerpt from TMQ. Everyone should read this weekly column.
Borrow-and-Spend Replaces Tax-and-Spent: The tea party crowd -- which calls itself a movement though perhaps one American in 10,000 actually has attended a tea party -- claims Barack Obama is a "tax and spend" president. Obama is a borrow-and-spend president, just as George W. Bush was. Federal tax rates have declined steadily for a generation, and declined sharply in the past decade. A declining federal tax burden for most people, rather than higher federal spending, is the core reason for skyrocketing deficits -- though spending surely is rising, too. Commentators who use the phrase "tax and spend" to describe Obama either don't understand recent political history or aren't being honest.
Federal income tax rates were cut by John Kennedy in the early 1960s, by Ronald Reagan in the 1980s; rose slightly under the elder George Bush; were cut twice under the younger Bush, and cut again by Obama last winter. Capital-gains tax rates have declined too; Social Security and Medicare taxes ("payroll taxes") were raised by Reagan and by Bill Clinton, although not enough to fully fund either program, meaning those taxes are lower than they need to be for fiscal discipline. This chart shows the decline of the federal top rate, to less than half of what it was under Dwight Eisenhower.
The younger Bush was hammered in the press because his two tax cuts reduced the rate paid by the rich: But the same cuts nearly eliminated federal income taxes on the working class and lower middle class. That is, George W. Bush's tax cuts were progressive. Last year, 43 percent of Americans paid no federal income taxes -- in 2009; this year, as many as half of Americans are expected to pay no federal income taxes. Yet public discourse is full of complaints about taxes, and many people claim to hate Washington because of taxes, while practically everyone demands more federal benefits and services.
As middle-class taxes are being eliminated, the top 20 percent of filers -- the well-off -- pay for a steadily higher share of federal government, last year paying 70 percent of total federal taxes. The well-off are financing most of the federal government, and that will intensify next year as taxes go up on household income above $250,000. Other than the spending paid for by the well-off, the rest is being billed to the young, via deficit spending and borrowing.
Keynesian point: It does make sense to increase federal spending when the economy is soft. But the flip side of Keynesian economics is that government should reduce spending when the economy is strong, using the breathing space to pay down debt. Congress loves to increase spending. Is there any chance that as the economy recovers, Congress will abide by the second prescription of Keynesian economics, and reduce spending? A few days ago the House quietly raised the federal debt ceiling to $14 trillion, allowing yet another round of undisciplined, unaccountable giveaways. That big number equates to $46,000 in debt for every American citizen. Since no one in the Boomer generation ever will repay a dime -- the Baby Boom's final sociological act-out may be to bankrupt the country -- the effective debt is more like $100,000 per American under the age of 30.
Fiscal policy point: Think I am exaggerating about bankrupting the country? Last week Moody's Investor Services warned that U.S. Treasury bonds may be downgraded from Triple-A status. Even if the extremely modest fiscal-discipline goals recently announced by President Obama are met, in five years the U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio will be worse than it was in 1950, when America was paying off World War II borrowing.
Media point: Here are headlines from last week's budget proposal release. USA Today's main headline (underneath "What Happens to Avatar 3-D Glasses?") was "Obama Budget Proposal Draws Rapid Fire," the political-quarrel angle. The New York Times' main headline was "Huge Deficits May Alter U.S. Politics and Global Power," the public-policy angle. The Chicago Tribune's main headline was "Obama Budget Proposes $100 Billion for Jobs Subsidies," the blue-collar angle. The Washington Post's main headline was "Budget Calls for Increased Spending," the angle that pleases Post readers, many of whom work for or with the federal government. The Wall Street Journal cut to the chase for its demographic: "Wealthy Face Tax Increase."

My New Watch

As anyone who knows me can attest I thoroughly and painstakingly research anything that I plan on buying. From snowshoes to video games to cars, I read reviews, check Consumer Reports, ask people who own an item about its performance, and try on or test the item(s) multiple times. Normally this process only consumes my time with multiple trips to REI or lost man hours at work researching online. But recently Ariel offered to buy me a watch (and get sucked into my OCD reserch habits).
I am not sure when my love for all things horological began, but at some point I began desiring fine timepieces. It started with a few Swiss Army watches, evolved into any watch that looked nice, then became more technical. Of the watches I wear most I have an automatic (self-winding) Hamilton for fancy events, a Swiss Army with a black face for daily use, a Citizen Eco-Drive Chronograph for daily use, and a Seiko automatic dive watch for ocean use (the rubber band fits over wetsuits). I like all of these watches for the niches they fill but I really wanted to make a step up into the fine timepieces world.
So when Ariel offered to get me a nice watch I began the search by determining what criteria I wanted the watch to meet. It needed to be a certified chronometer, have a metal bracelet, be fashionable enough to wear daily, and preferably be a chronograph (stop watch). So I searched high and low and narrowed it down to six semi-finalists then to three finalists:


IWC Portuguese IW371401





Tag Heuer Carrera CV2A10.BA0796





















Omega Seamaster #2225.80

I decided the IWC was too fancy and not great for everyday wear (the crocodile bracelet is almost too nice), the Carrara just wasn't nice enough, and the Omega was just right.
My lovely fiance was kind enough to head over to the downtown LA jewelry district where her office is located and pick up the watch at wholesale prices. She surprised me with it on Friday after telling me that it would have to be shipped from New York. She almost died from having to keep the secret.
The watch is exactly what I hoped it would be. It is heavy enough that I am aware of it but not so heavy it is bothersome. It has a handsome face, nice bracelet, and is perfect for everyday use. It is a certified chronometer and has a chronograph functions. On top of that it is a dive watch to 300M which means I could take it into the ocean if need be. It has the sophisticated Omega 1164 movement which is based off of a famous ETA 2824-2 movement. It meets all of the technical and aesthetic requirements that I have been searching for. I just love having such an insane amount of handiwork and engineering go into such a small case on my wrist. Click on this link to see a video of an automatic watch.

Thank you Ariel for such an awesome present.

Tuesday Morning Quarterback

With the Super Bowl upon us I figured now would be a good time to recommend my favorite football column: Tuesday Morning Quarterback. What sets this column apart from all the others is writer Gregg Easterbrook's insights, analysis, and willingness to depart from football and discuss other aspects of American culture and politics. Every column (published on Tuesday mornings following the last game of the week on Monday night) discusses the best/worst plays of the weekend, astronomy, the economy, Congressional pandering, and many other odd things you don't expect to find on espn.com. Easterbrook surprises me every week with the amount of news and preparation that goes into each column. If you have even a passing interest in football you should read TMQ every week.

Las Vegas

Just got back from a trip to Vegas for the World of Concrete. If you have never been to a trade show at the Las Vegas Convention Center consider yourself lucky. The show I attended (with about 65,000 other people from around world) featured a front loader obstacle course (a front loader is like a bulldozer), a brickmason competition where they basically made brick firepits, tool demos, and a million other boothes ranging from tile to 5-hour energy to vacation packages. The 40 hour stay consisted of lots of walking, sitting in 3 hours of class, and eating a chicken sandwich from Nathans' hotdogs.
But, since this was a free trip to Vegas, it also featured a stay at the brand new Aria hotel at the City Center, beer pong with some friends and a coworker at Blondies, dinner at the always classy Hawaiian Tropic Zone, gambling at Aria, and getting way too little sleep. I would recommend that everyone do all of the above with the exception of eating at the Hawaiian Tropic Zone. Not sure how that will look on the HDCCO expense report either.

Broken Embraces (Los abrazos rotos)

Ariel, Kristen and I went to see Broken Embraces at the Arclight Hollywood the other day. Since this is a Pedro Almodovar movie I was optomistic (I thoroughly enjoyed Volver) but as the movie progressed I realized the plot was dull and predictable. The story is told in series of flashbacks that are not very enthralling. You know exactly what is going to happen from the start and the twist at the end was so obvious I was insulted the writer (also Almodovar) considered it might catch people off guard. I was ready to walk out at the one and a half hour mark and the 127 minute runtime was way too long.
There were two things that did hold my interest though - the male lead Lluis Homar who was amazing and Penelope Cruz. It was not Penelope's best work, but she did fine and also managed to disrobe briefly. Homar stole every scene he was in and played both old and young Mateo Blanco convincingly. I will be on the lookout for more movies featuring him.

LA Radio is shit

I have lived in Los Angeles for over 8 years and the city has really grown on me. It lacks the verdant greenery I grew up with, has crippling traffic, and a brown miasma from the cars blanketing the streets. It does bring diversity, many amazing neighborhoods, great restaurants, the ocean, the weather, and nature that IS accessible. But for some unknown reason, this metropolis can't seem to get its radio airwaves in line.
I am at a point in my life where I feel that basically all mainstream music sucks. This rules out stations like K-Rock (106.7) and all of the other pop stations whose callsigns I don't know. I am sick of the "classic rock" stations which never seem to have any songs added into their libraries (so 95.5 is out). And JACK, whch plays "what they want" certainly does not play what I want (93.1 is crap).
So what is left? Two stations stand out as being head and shoulders above the rest: KCRW (89.9) and KXLU (88.9). KCRW plays all of the NPR news for the day, has many of its own programs, and has a plethora of skilled, interesting and diverse DJs. Morning Becomes Eclectic (from 9 to 12 on weekdays) is particularly good at finding up-and-coming acts. KXLU plays all of the music you will never find at a record store but may find on iTunes. Their DJs have zero on air charisma but bang out sets that will blow your mind. Almost every morning I found myself listening to something new and interesting that I will most likely never hear again. The only problem with KXLU is trying to compare the setlists on the website with the vague recollection you have of the DJ mumbling title and then trying to find the music online.
Honorable Mention:
KJAZZ (88.1) When you are in a blues or jazz mood
KPCC (89.3) More NPR for when you have heard the KCRW news already

Staying Warm in the Wild and in the Apartment

I am not sure when I became infatuated with Pendleton but there is something about these rugged wool shirts that calls to me. I think the appeal is one part history, one part form, and one part function.

History: Pendleton Woolen Mills was founded over 100 years ago and started churning out Indian Blankets in 1909. The town of Pendleton, Oregon was home to the mill and as many as 20 brothels as recently as 1947 (although you never know how trustworthy wikis can be). The personal history for me doesn't go that far back (I tried to buy one off ebay in February of '09 that was lost in transit) but my dad recently gave me one of his and one of my grandfather's original Pendletons. Since my dad's is about 40 years old that probably places my grandfather's at about 60 years old. It is really interesting to see how the cuts have changed over the years from boxy (my grandfather's), to tails and more slim (my father's), to a modern overshirt (the western style Pendleton my fiance just got me).

Form: Aside from the recent plaid rage these shirts have had a handsome, masculine vibe since they were introduced in 1924. The evolution of the shirt's shape shows how they have evolved with fashion over the last 60 years. The overshirt Ariel recently bought me works in any casual environment with its more slim tailored cut, two breast pockets, and polished snaps.

Function: Other than my newfound family history with these shirts I love the warmth and usefullness these provide. These shirts are the original techincal outdoor gear. Before sweat was "wicked" with "breathable" materials you had to stay warm while wet. Wool was the ideal material for this, far surpassing down for its performance in moist environments. (Sheep get wet, but stay warm. Down is actually the insulation geese have underneath their feathers. Feathers keep the down dry.) I can envision the previous two generations of Maffei's going camping or fishing wearing the Pendletons I now have in my closet.

To buy or not to buy? That is the question...

The snowshoe rental bust (see below) has made me reconsider my gear rental policy. I have always been a firm believer that you should rent anything that costs a fortune to buy that you will hardly use. For that reason I bought an expensive mountain bike that I rode daily but have held off on buying SCUBA gear that I would use a handful of times a year. I used to rent wetsuits when SCUBA diving but this season I was lobster diving so often I found that I was at Sport Chalet 3 times a month picking up the same Bodyglove suit. Even though the $20 to rent was much less than the $200 to buy the cost-benefit of driving to West LA over and over convinced me I would be better off owning a wetsuit. So far I have used it three times but the comfort of knowing no one else's naked body has been in my wetsuit, and not having to drive to pick it up, has been worth the cost.
The snowshoe question is a little more complicated. Renting the shoes is about $20 a trip. Buying the pair shown above, the MSR Denali Evo Ascents, will cost $140 with the 30% discount Sport Chalet has offered as compensation. That means 7 trips to the snow to pay them off. To use my wetsuit I hop in my car and drive a few miles. To use my snowshoes I will have to plan for weeks, watch the weather, and drive 200 miles. My logical side is telling me to hold off. My gear junkie side is telling me it can't hurt to own another good piece of gear.
Somehow I have a feeling I will end up with a pair of snowshoes in my closet in a few weeks. Oh well, I guess I will just have to plan more snowshoeing trips.

What I am reading...

I love to read. Everyday when I get home from my workout routine I have to make a decision: Read, play video games, or watch TV. Depending on my mood and my conscience I always try to bury myself in a book. I am about three-quarters through the Book of Basketball by Bill Simmons. I have been reading BS since the early aughts when I was still in college and he wasn't prominently featured on the front page of ESPN. His writing is witty, sometimes intelligent and insightful, and always riddled with pop references. We agree on two things (which is why I still read his articles and bought this book):
1. The NBA is awesome and a collection of the most amazing athletes on the planet and
2. Shows like the Jersey Shore and Road Rules vs. Real World are incredibly and unendingly entertaining. Every year I think it will be my last season watching these shows and every year they pull me back in with their mix of ridiculous binge drinking and physical challenges. Anyways, the BOB has proven to be very interesting even if there is a limited amount of new information in it. Simmons discusses many players I have heard of but know little about (Gervin, Frazier, Cousy, pretty much anyone pre 1989) and never misses an opportunity to plug his Celtics. The writing is not at a very high level and there are more typos than a book of this magnitude should have (on the NY Times bestseller list for months) but it is still a compelling read.
I think the thing that I most enjoy is getting into the history of a sport that is not as well known as the other major American sports. Due to a number of issues (many detailed in David Halberstam's excellent The Breaks of the Game, which happens to be the basis for everything Simmons believes regarding the NBA) the NBA was not a popular league until the early 80s. This means there are few tapes of classic players (there is no video of Wilt's 100 point game and very little tape of a young Russell) and old school games are never televised; not to mention that the tapes that do exist are never on ESPN classic. Compare this to baseball and football's well publicized and recorded histories as America's pastimes and you can understand why a basketball fan would enjoy Simmon's tome.
If you enjoy the history of basketball, reading about its players, and you do not feel the need to be challenged by a book, The Book of Basketball is right for you.

T's Thai

T's Thai is my go to spot in West LA for Thai food. Aside from being located within ten blocks of my apartment (and about 3 from my old digs) they have some of the most delicious noodles and a la carte items I have ever had.
Now, typically I trust yelpers and their reviews, but I feel like people have completely missed on T's. The departure may be due to my disaffection for all things spicy but if you ever go here is what to order:
Starters - Steamed Dumplings, Egg Rolls, or Spicy Beef Sald
Soup - Wonton Soup
Entrees - Pad See-ew with pork, Green Bean with Chicken, Brown Rice
Drink - Thai Iced Tea
I really can't say enough about how delicious the two entrees above are. The Pad See-ew, which I had never eaten before T's, is the perfect balance of hearty and sweet. The meat is clean and lean. The green beans are always cooked perfectly and the chicken is always white meat. But really, get the Pad See-ew. You can thank me later.

DO NOT RENT SNOWSHOES FROM SPORT CHALET!

Last weekend, after months of planning, I went on a snowshoeing trip with my buddies Dane and Tyler. We planned our route, purchase some new gear, and drove the 5 and a half hours (good ole LA traffic, should have been a 4 hour drive) up to the Sequoia National Forest. We arrived to a 25 degree evening with a 6 foot base of snow. Perfect conditions for snowshoeing.
After hitting the trailhead we strapped on our snowshoes (one pair rented from Valencia Sport Chalet, two pair from the Beverly Hills shop) and began our 4 mile hike. With about 2000 feet of elevation gain ahead of us and a late-ish start we needed to keep a good pace. After about ten steps Tyler noticed that his snowshoes were not behaving like Dane's. As you can see from the picture the metal failed and the nylon base pulled out of its rivet. Needless to say that Tyler could not go on with these shoes.

Sport Chalet has attempted to make it right by giving us the rental free (a no brainer) and offering 30% off of a future snowshoe purchase. So now the three of us might end up owning the same pair of shoes (MSR Denalis or MSR Denali Ascents) that failed on us. We haven't made a decision yet but it looks like I will soon own a pair of snowshoes. At least then I can guarantee that they will be kept in good condition.

Garmin Forerunner 205

My fiance Ariel bought me this GPS watch for my birthday last year and it has become my number one training tool. Other than shoes and shorts I can't imagine going for a run without this wristop.
The watch features time and distance functions as well as pace, best lap, average lap, and all the other basics. I typically just look at the total time, lap time, and pace. You can configure the face to have whatever data you want and the watch is light enough that you don't even notice it.
The only problems I have encountered are that the GPS can take a few minutes to acquire a signal and the battery meter is not as accurate as I would like. I have left for a run with 2 of 3 battery bars and had the watch die after 40 minutes when the first battery bar lasted 7 hours.
All in all this watch is a must for anyone who is trying to keep track of their miles on the trail or streets or just trying to get in shape.