Mark L. Van Name's Blog, page 141

The more I see about this movie

the more I want to see it.

)

Yes, I know the verbal interplay with the Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) is silly, but I still enjoyed it. 

I may have to go to a midnight show the night before opening day. 

How to think like me: Ordering ice cream for a party

Over the years, many people have asked me, "How the hell did you decide that?", "What made you do that?", and other similar questions.  I recently drew from these questions the obvious conclusion: Many people would like to think the way I do.

To help out those folks, I'm launching with his post a new series: How to think like me.  With luck, these little blog entries will help a broad range of people learn to think the way I do and to become as happy and analytical as I am.

A public service indeed.

Each post will pose a question, some possible answers, and then explain the correct one--which is, of course, the one I chose.

We'll begin with a fun decision that I had to confront recently: How to order the right amount of ice cream for a party.

I'm holding a party Friday.  Twenty-two folks will attend it.  I'm holding another, smaller event Saturday, and a dozen or so folks will attend it.  For the Friday event, we will also have two pies and two cakes.  I decided to add a "best of the best" ice cream tasting to each party, with ice cream from Salt and Straw, Jeni's, The Parlour, and even Ben & Jerry's (Chocolate Therapy).  The plan is to offer a selection of chocolates, vanillas, and a few other (just a few; I never like to go overboard) flavors. 

The question is, how many pints do you order?  Is it
A scoop of ice cream should be a quarter of a cup, and a pint is two cups, so I'll get 8 scoops per pint. With 22 people one night and 12 the next, that's 34 scoops, or 34/8 = 4+ pints, so call it 5 pints.That math is all well and good, but I have 2 pies and 2 cakes, so 4 pints should be plenty. Oh, come on, no one eats a measly quarter of a cup of ice cream. Even a small scoop is half a cup, so I better go for 10 pints.  What if everyone wants to try every flavor?  What if they're all starving for ice cream?  Plus, what about all those cool chocolates and vanillas?  I'd better order two pints of each flavor to be safe.  Wait.  What's that?  There are 12 interesting flavors.  So be it; it's not like I chose this. 24 pints isn't really all that much. I mean, we have two whole nights, right?
A is clearly not the answer, because no one can survive on that small an amount of ice cream.

B is obviously the product of dementia.  Four pints for all those people?  Insanity.

C is at least hearing whispers of the voice of reason, but it's ignoring the crucial tasting desire of so many partygoers.

Which brings us to D, the only rational thought process and the only rational choice, which, of course, is the way I thought and the choice I made. 

See how easy it is to learn to think like me?

An rises to the challenge

A couple of years ago, I wrote
A few days ago, Chef Greene contacted me after reading that entry and suggested that he had indeed remade An and I should check it out.  Though it was only two days ahead, I suggested Saturday night, and he agreed.

So, last night a group of us showed up at An to try a special tasting menu that he had prepared for us.  With so little notice, the menu was largely dishes from the current or next menu, but that was fine by me; we'd taste the best of what he had on offer.

After a delightful eight-course meal, which you can see here,

Click an image to see a larger version.
I am extremely happy to report that, under Chef Greene's leadership, An rose to the challenge and produced a wonderful, top-drawer meal.  Every single course was delicious and blended a variety of flavors into a delightful whole.

The salmon tartare, for example, was beautiful, subtle, and delicious.


I liked every single bite of every single dish, but I have to show you one more course because it was simply so much fun--and incredibly tasty. 


Called simply "Pork & Bun," this delightful offering will appear on the upcoming spring menu.  Inside the tiny steamer was an absolutely perfect steamed bun.  You opened it, added the sous-vided pork belly and the bits of veggies, and made your own little pork bun.  Fun, and so very tasty. 

It's always a treat to eat such a top-drawer meal.  It's an additional gift to see a talented chef--and make no mistake, Steven Devereaux Greene is a very talented chef--raise a kitchen from ordinary to extraordinary.

I must also note the service team, which I had found sorely lacking in my earlier post.  The servers tonight turned in a very good performance despite our group's large size and three different menu versions (most of us eating anything on offer, but one going vegetarian and one pescetarian).  We may well have received special considerations given the nature of the meal, but regardless the service team demonstrated that An has improved dramatically in this area as well.

I will definitely be going back again and posing the kitchen another tasting menu challenge, next time with plenty of notice.

Well done, Chef Greene and the entire team at An.

Delta Rae and the art of the show

I've noted in a couple of earlier posts how much I like the music of Delta Rae, a band that started out here and that is on the verge of going very big indeed.  I'd never seen them live, however, so I was psyched Thursday night when I went to the Cat's Cradle to see them perform to a sold-out house.

From the moment the six band members took the show, it was clear that this was a very tight, very polished group.  With four different lead singers, Delta Rae is able to maintain a very high energy level from song to song to song.  That energy was contagious, and the whole crowd felt it.  The band played a lot of songs we all knew, as well as some new ones.  They were focused and completely in control the whole time.

They saved one of my favorite songs, "Dance In the Graveyards" for the very end.  I've featured it before, but it's worth putting it here again.



To my surprise, as I was listening to them sing this one, I thought of my mom and realized that I had never danced with her.  Even though I don't like to dance, I know she did, and now I wish that once, just once, I had found an excuse to waltz with her.  I think she would have liked that. 

The marketing of UFC women fighters

is the topic of a very good piece over at The Toast.  Check it out.

Of course, I am biased about this particular piece, because Sarah wrote it. 

Having said that, I would have found this one interesting even if I'd never heard of the author.  The very real differences in the approaches the UFC takes to marketing its female and male fighters serve as reminders of how much gender stereotypes permeate every corner of our culture. 

As I said, check it out. 

A food porn moment

Check out this beautiful dish (click on the photo to see a larger version). 


The menu at Portland's Ava Genes, where I ate this, describes it as "Citrus, dates, almonds, chiles, whipped ricotta".  In the middle of winter, on a cold, rainy Portland night, this dish evoked spring and the promise of warm and beautiful days ahead.

Heartbreaking yet hopeful

Pam turned me on to this special report on former child soldiers trying to integrate into the civilian world.  The text is good; the photos are better, particularly the black-and-white ones.  It's a hard read--anything on this topic inevitably is--but it's a worthwhile read, and though parts will break your heart, in the end it is as filled with hope as these young people.

I recommend it highly.

The latest PT sabbatical video

I've written in earlier blog posts about the charity work different PT folks have done during their sabbaticals and about
Enjoy.



I'm very proud of Justin and all the other PT folks who choose to focus part of their sabbatical time on doing good in the world.

Winter and I are done

I am completely over her.  Any good feelings I had for her have long since melted away, as the ice on my car has not yet done.  If you catch me in her company, understand that I am there against my will. 

I know what many of you will say:  Oh, sure, break up so quickly, when you haven't even really gotten to know her, what with your gallivanting to an island in January and your trip to Austin (where she met me and tortured me further, I might add). 

I can reply only that I do not care, that what little affection I once held for her is now a frozen lump I would happily bury were the ground not such a hassle to dig.

Winter, we are done.  Now, if only you would be.

As someone who does not trust easily

and who may never trust completely, I still found this video absolutely charming and touching.  Of course, the amazing performances by Alya Titarenko and Gael Ouisse of Cirque du Soleil don't hurt; these two are amazing to watch. 



Enjoy!