Andy Gavin's Blog, page 156
May 9, 2013
Ender’s Game
Finally, 30 years later, they get around to making a movie out of my favorite book… at age 15.
For decades I’ve sited this as an example of Hollywood’s odd failure to exploit the wealth of great SciFi/Fantasy novels, instead endlessly recycling lifeless high concepts. In that, Ender’s Game was a bestselling fast paced story of approximately movie complexity. Now they just have to adapt Hyperionand I’ll befulfilled! I used to joke that it would cost a billion dollars. It still might!
Paiche – Fusion Panache
Restaurant: Paiche
Location:13488 Maxella Ave, Marina del Rey, CA 90292.310.893.6100
Date: April 19 & 26, 2013
Cuisine: Japanese Peruvian
Rating: Flavors that Pop!
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Paiche is a new joint in the Marina del Rey mall complex (near theTheaters). It’s the third Peruvian brain child of Ricardo Zarate and Stephane Bombet who brought us Picca (review here and here) and Mo-Chica. For whatever reason, LA’s culinary zeitgeist is on fire with Peruvian fusion. And I admit it’s a nice cuisine with it’s bright s...
May 7, 2013
Tasty Duck Lives up to its Name
Restaurant: Tasty Duck
Location:1039 E Valley Blvd.Ste B102.San Gabriel,CA91776.(626) 572-3885
Date: May 4, 2013
Cuisine: Chinese
Rating: Great Duck!
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My Hedonist food and wine club loves the SGV. This community 20 minutes East of Downtown LA boasts a staggering array of good Chineserestaurants.
NV Pierre Peters Brut Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Cuvee de Reserve. Parker 92.The NV Brut Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Cuvee de Reserve is a gorgeous wine that captures the essence of Chardonnay in the Cote des...
May 5, 2013
Game of Thrones – Episode 26
Title: Game of Thrones
Genre: Historical Fantasy
Watched: Episode 25 – May 5, 2013
Title:The Climb
Summary: More transitional, but tense
ANY CHARACTER HERE
There is perhaps less action this week, but plenty ofthumbscrews being turned (haha). The show writers take the opportunity to mine the novel for thematic refrains within an episode in a way that probably isn’tdeliberatelyreflected in the source text. This week we have several, notably: couples, marriage, and duality.
Sam- We open with Sam sharin...
May 2, 2013
Jabbering about Untimed
On Tuesday I went on Journal Jabber, a segment of BlogTalkRadio for an hour long interview about Untimed, writing, and all sorts of other stuff. It was a lot of fun and if you missed it live you can find it here at BlogTalkRadio or below directly.
Download: show_4776303.mp3
May 1, 2013
More Crash for Charity
Crash super fan Matt Wallace is auctioning off various Crash Bandicoot swag for charity on e-bay so collect and know your cash is going to a good cause:
April 30, 2013
Simon Says Melisse
Restaurant:Melisse [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
Location: 1104 Wilshire Blvd.Santa Monica, CA 90401. (310) 395-0881
Date: April 10, 2013
Cuisine: California French
Rating: Awesome in all ways
Melisse is a real standout in LA for many reasons. It’s almost the last of the European style hautcuisinerestaurantsand it maintains an ever evolving cuisine at the highest level. Food, presentation, and service here are all top notch.
Tonight, my third trip to Melisse in 6 weeks, was for founding Foodie Club member Sim...
April 28, 2013
Game of Thrones – Episode 25
Title: Game of Thrones
Genre: Historical Fantasy
Watched: Episode 25 – April 28, 2013
Title:Kissed by Fire
Summary: Fire and oaths
ANY CHARACTER HERE
The name betrays the theme of the episode well enough: kissed by fire. Most scenes touch on the primary theme of fire and/or that of oaths and loyalty. This later is big in the books and series in general, as, hey: medievaltimes!
Arya- This is a great week for our favorite little Stark. As promised last time, the Hound faces off against Dondarian for h...
April 25, 2013
PS2 Memory Lane
I wasrecently asked a couple of questions about the early days of Playstation 2 development…
My first dev unit looked more or less like this
Can you remember your first reaction when you saw the PS2 for the first time?
My first PS2glimpsewas hardly typical. In the spring of 1999, I had to go down to LAX and claim my prototype unit. It was one of the first to leave Japan (a few weeks earlier we had sent an employee to Tokyo to get one and he’d been turned back at the airport because the customs p...
April 23, 2013
Hedonists in Vegas – Lotus of Siam
Restaurant: Lotus of Siam
Location:953 E Sahara Ave A5, Las Vegas, NV 89104.(702) 735-3033
Date: April 16, 2013
Cuisine: Thai
Rating: Fantastic
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Many people consider Lotus of Siam to be the best Thairestaurantin the United States. While I love Thai food, I can’t claim anyauthoritativesampling, and really, who has dined at every Thai eatery in the country? Regardless, it’s clear that this is some darn fine cooking, with a vast menu full of delights, particularly specialties of Northern Thailand.
To...
