Happy Birthday Eric

Yeah his birthday was yesterday and this was not his cake (His cake had a picture of a hairy 30 year old doing a beer bong. Rock on!) Give me a break I'm working on 13 hours and counting. Not leaving work anytime soon. This time last night I was on my 3rd Vodka Tonic. Mr. Chow's was fun, think we annoyed every stuffed shirt hollywood type in the place. A bit over-priced but good food.

That is all

J Restaurant / Lounge

It was DM13's birthday last night and JDawg and I took the old fart out for dinner. DM suggested a new restaurant that opened downtown LA called J Restaurant/Lounge. The restaurant is located in an old brick building with lots of character. The main dinning room was big with many tables and booths. Watch out for the low ceilings/doorways there are metal support beams all around, but it ads to the charm. Up an industrial/chic stairway is the main bar (there is also one downstairs). The seating area wraps around the bar with a combination of chairs, stools, and couches. The outside smoking area was nestled between two tall buildings with a huge mural of a cigar in an ashtray. When we were checking it out we noticed the smell of funk. We stood there thinking what it smelled like when DM's snout picked up the sent of sewer. Ya, we went back inside. Back downstairs, out the door by the small bar was an expansive patio area. This space has many possibilities with dancing, private parties and even a movie projecting on one of the many tall surrounding buildings.

So why did we go there again? Oh right, it was to eat. I called ahead and asked what the cork fee was...$25 with a two bottle min. That's pricey especially for a new restaurant in my opinion. I decided that we would have at least 2 bottles at $35+ so it was justified. We sat down next to the only other patrons in a booth. The menu is Asian/Italian fusion. How many fusion restaurants can we have in LA.? For starters the now-traditional tuna tartar, caprese salad, and arugula with goat cheese and toasted hazelnuts all interested me. I went with the arugula. Everything looked fresh and tasty, but the sherry vinaigrette overpowered everything. I had to put pepper on the salad. Shouldn't have to that with arugula. Jdawg had your standard caesar and DM lettuce and what looked like boxed croutons.

So far ok for a new restaurant, now on to the entrees. I went with wild mushroom and ricotta ravioli, J with braised short ribs and DM with halibut. The ravioli’s were fair, with the tomato sauce covering the tastes of the main component. J's short ribs were tender and DM's fish was a good size portion. I would say that while I got the better end of the salad, they did well with their main dishes.

The idea of this spot seems like it could work, there are a lot of solid elements. What they need is people. I'm going to reserve judgment until I go back in a few months...if it's still open

Oh if by chance the owners of J read this, Print Fellas and Dice Media can help you elevate the awareness of your venture.

Crookest Guys in the Room

Wednesday night that great little red envelope was in my mailbox and in it; Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room. Being a Californian I witnessed the rolling black-outs and rising electricity prices. During the time neither I nor a whole lot of people really knew what was going on, but I came to find out that Enron was involved somehow. The documentary goes through the start of the company and the perceived brilliance of Kenneth Lay. This son of a preacher man with humble roots would eventually screw thousands upon thousands of people out of their retirement savings. The film explained what Enron did as a business which was creating an open market for natural gas and electricity. I’m not a bright guy so much of it didn't make sense to me, but the one thing that stuck out was the concept of Mark to Market Accounting
which allowed Enron to take future profits based on a current deal. For instance I (as a corporation) could by a car dealership and claim that I will make $300 Billion in 5 years, yet realize those profits now. What happens next is the same thing that happened to Enron, the stock went through the roof (they made $300 Billion in one year). Everybody loved the stock and no one questioned how or why the stock price was so high and kept going up. If you as an investment banker questioned it, your company (ie Morgan Stanley) lost the business. The stock was over-valued, everyone knew it and no one cared because they were making money, shit-loads of money.

Kennyboy as his wife, friends and one George W. Bush called him was a crooked son of a preacher man. His close relationship with the Bush family is scary. Now I am sure that all politicians have connections that may not be the most wholesome, but when Bush declines to help California by capping the energy costs because that would affect his buddies bottom line, corruption is the only word that comes to mind.

So near the end of Enron, people in California were calling for Gov. Gray Davis' head. And why not, he was governor while they had no electricity or couldn't pay their electric bills. It wasn't his fault, but who else was there to blame? Pete Wilson, whose legislation allowed Enron to screw the people of California, was out of office, Enron was just selling the energy at the market price (allegedly) and the federal government was staying out of it. So while the natives were getting restless and people were talking about a recall election. Kennyboy and a few of his friends had a meeting about California in Los Angeles. One of the guys in the room...Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The whole thing is crooked and the film told the story well.

Pasta with Sun Dried Tomato Pesto

Continuing on J's pesto post I made pasta with Sun Dried Tomato Pesto (pesto alla siciliana) and Chicken/Turkey Sausage. J and Rusty showed up to enjoy the pasta and several bottles of wine. The pasta, topped with parsley and parmesan turned out good and I'll make it again. Maybe next time with feta or goat cheese and olives.

METS WIN!!!

No I am not a Mets fan. I bleed Dodger blue, more so than that media whore Tommy Lasorda. My man J-Dawg wrote a funny post last week about the Dodgers. I'm not going to talk about the game that much, I have more important things to talk about. But first a little about the game:

There was excitement in the air and people were cheering. It's the playoffs for crying-out-loud, they better. The 4th inning we scored 2 runs and the 5th Jeff Kent hit a 2-run homer with two outs to start a rally. The bases were loaded and Nomar came limping to the plate for a Gibbson-esque moment. It was all for not as he hit a dribbler back to the pitcher. Felt bad for Nomar as he could barely get out of the batter's box.

Enough about the game, let's talk about the fans. All my life I've known the stereotype; Dodger fans show up late and leave early. During the regular season I watch them come in during the 3rd inning and then promptly leave after the stretch. I just ignore them and continue watching the game. So it's the playoffs, we don't get here every year and I think it's going to be different. The fans had no qualms about disappointing me. The game was over in the 7th inning and so were the fans. They began walking out. I started to yell "The game is not over!" The fat lady might have been tuning up, but she was not singing yet. It was a feeble attempt because I knew they weren't going to turn around and sit back down. It’s just disappointing that the stereotype is right.

For all the fans that stuck through the bad times and stayed until the end, there's always next year (isn't that a Cubs line?).

Go See The Departed This Weekend

Scorsese’s latest film is The Departed. Taken from Infernal Affairs out of Hong Kong (2002) it's the story of two paths crossing, going separate ways only to cross again. This time with a devastating end. The original film was great and I suggest you throw it in your Netflix queue ahead of the 1st season of Desperate Housewives. If you haven't already seen the original don't fret, the two films are different enough to give you another perspective yet similar enough where you wont say you like one over the other. They are just different, good, but different.

Oh and Marky Mark is downright hilarious, seriously, he's funny.

The Departed opens tomorrow, so go buy you and 294 of your closest friends a ticket.

Pacific Dunes - 10/1

It's the last round of the weekend. The sun is out and the course looks great. You'll remember from my earlier post that when I played on Friday, it was so foggy that we could see where our shots went. It's really interesting to play in this kind of weather. I was tired and sore, my back was so stiff that I didn't even thing I could swing the club. First drive was a snap hook, the second a slice, the third a push and then finally got it together. I think the Guinness helped loosen the muscles. We were having a good time and my scores were improving from the earlier rounds. About the seventh hole we could see fog moving in from the ocean, but it was still clear on the course. I took a look back to see one our foursome hit his second shot. I followed the ball fly past me and as I looked up the fairway all I saw was mother Russia. The fog had covered the course in the matter of seconds. It was really something to see. 3 or 4 holes later the fog lifted and we could see the course again.

We come to the 338 yard par 4 16th. The caddie pulls out the 3-wood then looks at me and says, "What the fuck" let's go for it. So I do and push it just right of the green pin high in spotty grass. I ended up with par. My playing partner drives the green and has a tough 10 footer for eagle, he drains it. We finish 18 and an incredible weekend of golf.

The facilities are incredible, the staff nice and the whole operation ran so smooth you thought the course had been open for decades. I think Bandon Dunes opened in 1999. The cottage that we stayed in had four bedrooms each with flat screen TVs mounted on the wall with a common area, again with a large flat screen, surround sound and a fireplace. Truly one of the greatest experiences I've ever had. I'm not sure I could afford this on my own, so I'll just have to plant the seeds for next year. Stay tuned...

Lamb Crapdaloo

I am going to interject with a foodie post before I get back to Bandon. Last night was an adventure to Calcutta. Lamb Vindaloo was on the menu and I was psyched to try it out. The curry paste was made, rice was steaming and the lamb was marinating. The curry paste included; coriander, cumin, mustard seed, cloves and turmeric. The house smelled great. It was time to put food to fire. I sat down to eat and the first bite tasted like a sandbox. It was gritty and dusty. The texture was fine, the lamb while a bit overcooked was tender and the rice was fine. I couldn't figure it out. The cloves were pungent which was understandable as they were the only whole spices I grounded at home (the rest were pre-packaged ground). Still it didn't seem right. I thought of Melbee. Why? Well she's the only Indian person I know (besides her sister). So I called up the hottest receptionist this side of the Mississippi and ask "WTF." Says it was the cloves. I'll give it another shot and report back. Now back to the golf

Bandon Dunes 9/30

So I'm at the first tee on Bandon Dunes and the fun begins. Cash is being thrown down on the tee box, teams are agreed upon and we're off. I get pared up with an 8 handicap and I'm already thinking this guy is going to carry us through the round. I was right. We started off with birdie to win the hole. Even though the other team was getting strokes we, or should I say my partner, were rolling. Birdie after par and back again, this guy was on a roll. 3-Under after 9 and still rolling. On 14 I finally contributed with a par. G-Money was in a bunker 60 yards short of the green after his teen shot. With a chance to save par, his putt rolled to the left edge, took a peak at the bottom of the cup, rolled to the right edge and headed back the way it came. Tough break, but we are smoking these guys and watching G-Mon shoot out of his head was a cool thing to watch.

It was 6:30 or so, the sun was starting to set and we came up on one of the most spectacular holes I have ever played (http://www.bandondunesgolf.com/bandon_hole16.cfm). The hole looked just as it does in the picture. You have tow options; lay up short and have a 125 yard shot over the bushes or take it long with a chip shot to the green. I pull out the 3-Wood for to land it on the upper deck. Bad shot end up below the bushes, but still ok. Flub the next shot and end up with bogey. I didn't care that was a great hole. We finish and every one heads into the bar to settle up and get loaded. It was a fun day, played my best round (although didn't score well). The night consisted of more booze and food.

The next day was back to Pacific Dunes...

Great Part Of My Job

Not many weekends can top this one just past. 63 holes in 3 days on 3 of the most amazing golf courses on the west coast. I'll talk about all three in separate posts. This weekend was one of the reasons I like my job. I get to experience amazing things my checkbook wouldn't normally allow me to do.

I arrived to the first tee at Pacific Dunes in Bandon, Oregon at 1:30. About an hour after I touched down in the little logging town of North Bend, Oregon. Apparently there is also a large production of cranberries as well. Well, I get up to the first tee and promptly rip a drive straight down the middle of the fairway with my new R7 460 Taylor Made (that was the first hit ever with that club). Well the fog was so think that I couldn't see the rest of my shots. This was just fine by me because after that first drive, the wheels came off and I was just there to soak it all in. Much drinking and eating followed into the night.

Saturday morning was the first round of the tournament for me. Match play against Len from Seattle. Nice guy, works for Comcast. The course was great, hard fairways, tight lies and lightening greens. All three courses had these characteristics. Len had 5 strokes on me, 3 on the front and 2 on the back. After 4 holes I was down 3. Great start, couldn't hit shit. I pulled back to even by 10 only to go in the tank. The downward spiral started on 11(http://www.bandondunesgolf.com/bt_hole11.cfm). Long par 4 (495 yards), my tee shot ended up left in spotty long grass. I had 230 into the green. Pushed it right and it trickled into the water. My chip shot from the drop was decent and from there 2 putted for a solid 6.

It was a great time, I really didn't care that I lost 4 and 3. The after noon round was at Bandon Dunes. The flagship of the property.