October 17th, 2006

Weekend in Reviews
This weekend we went and saw Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, and had lunch at Red Lobster. Earlier in the weekend I ate at a Mongolian Grill and Tutta Bella, and I have become addicted to Masala Chai. I also played some Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, a touch of Resident Evil 4, and listened to a whole heck of a lot more to the Evanescence album. Let's get started.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
We went to an early show on Sunday of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, heading up to the Alderwood mall at 10:10 am. This show has been in theaters since early summer, it was a Sunday morning in a Seattle suburb, and still the theater was no totally empty. The film itself was okay-- nothing too crazy happened, though I don't know if I much like how they've gone from using the supernatural as a bit of coloring to full-fledged emersion in fantasy. The irony is that when things are obviously fantastical, the suspension of disbelief is easier and so the creator must maintain a very robust world with constituent rules. Otherwise, deus ex-machina becomes too convenient and we're left very dissatisfied. I realize by now I have not really said anything about this movie specifically. So, uh, yeah, fine job by all the actors, the stunts where playful, the comedy was okay, and as far as "midquels" go (the third movie is due soon) this one was pretty much standard.

Red Lobster
After the movie we searched Lynwood for an Applebees (we like their low-fat choices) but found Red Lobster instead, and we both have had a perverse craving for the place. Boy, are we glad that's out of out system! (And no, neither of even saw the correlation between a pirate movie and a seafood place. At least I didn't.) Anyway, when I was younger, a hayseed hick redneck poor white trash farm boy, I thought Red Lobster was a fancy restaurant. Now that I'm a citified snob hippie office work drone with an edumacation, Red Lobster is kind of laughable. The food is really no different from any chain, like Red Robin or Marie Callendars: mediocre, with an extra few dollars on the price to justify the pretty menus. I wanted the halibut, but they were out, so I had salmon, and it was a bit dry. But the mashed potatoes were good. All in all, something we don't plan on doing for another 5 years. Unless some cousin really wants to.

Mongolian Grill
Saturday I ate out twice. In the afternoon I went to a Mongolian grill near where live, because had only vegetables in the house and they just weren't doing it for me. You know Mongolian grills-- they have a buffet of uncooked meats, noodles, and vegetables, and you select what you want and they fry it up for you. I like this because it allows for portion and ingredient control, and I was able to eat without busting my gut. As Mongolian grills go, this one was neither awesomely better nor woefully worse. It's a staple, really, just a tiny step above a fast food place.

Tutta Bella
For dinner me and mine met some friends at Tutta Bella, a pizza joint near Beacon Hill (there's others around town as well). This is fancy-pizza, which means it costs more and they serve wine, but I also had some lettucy foods to balance things out. I'm afraid I can’t rave about this place if only because I like bad-for-me pizza better, and we sat upstairs at the long table which means the sounds of entire restaurant, all talking above the jazz combo playin in the front, came to us in an excquisite cacophony. But the place wasn't bad at all and would go back of someone wanted.

Resident Evil 4
Someone loaned me Resident Evil 4 for the Gamecube, a long time ago in fact, and I only got to it a few days ago. For those who don't know, Resident Evil is the signature game in a genre called "Survival Horror," where you walk around, wait for something to jump out at you, and then shoot it while your heart pounds. This latest entry does nothing extra or less than what is expected. You walk around, the music changes to indicate something is trying to kill you, and you shoot it until it's dead or you run out of bullets. That's a key element in these games-- you're always running out ammo, and panicking therefore. Adds to the atmosphere. Alas, I am not enjoying the game so much. The cinematics are too long, poorly written, and overacted (yes, the make the computer faces overact). The controls are awkward, and it's hard to sight your shots with you character sort of to the left of center. Oh well. That's been my experience with all the survival horror games I've played, so I only have myself to blame.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
I don't know how it happened, but for some reason Area 51 hit my consciousness when I was close to Wikipedia, so I looked it up, and was reminded of all the pop-culture references to it, including a reference in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, and I decided to plug it in again. I started up, and was back in for the first time since May. That's May of 2005. I don't need to tell you about this game because it's been all over the news. But I did enjoy racing about in the cars, jumping crazy obstacles, and causing general mayhem. And what's great is if I finish it soon and want to keep playing, I don't have to wait for the next title since GTA: Liberty City Stories, released for the PSP, is also available on the PS2 now as well.

Masala Chai
I have always very much liked the chai-tea lattes at Starbucks, which taste very different from the "real" chai I have been served by actual authentic Indians, which I also like very much. It turns out chai is just the Hindi word for "tea" and what I've been enjoying is "masala chai." In the store this weekend, I decided to pick up some Tazo Chai, and as it calls for being mixed with "a milk product," I thought I'd try soy milk for the protein content. 4 oz of Tazo, the same of soymilk, 90 seconds in the microwave, and Bukkhead is a very happy man. This stuff is so good, I'm crossing my fingers for their selling it 20 gallons drums at Costco. And it will be forced on visitors, so be prepared.

Evanescence Again
No stars because I rated this once, and the rating stays. But I wanted to give Amy Lee et al a little more exposure since I am enjoying Evanescence's The Open Door a whole heck of a lot more having finally listened to it, loudly in the earphones. Let's get the complaints out of the way first. Many of the songs sound sorta the same, which is okay I guess, but folks may want to know that in advance. And lyrically, it's all the same simple love lost let me go I am hurting please com back as always. One song is even called Lacrymosa, and cribs from the same in Mozart's Requiem. But my biggest complaint is when the lead singer goes falsetto; she has an amazing voice, an amazing range, and ruining it with cartoonish shrieking just spoils the goodness.

Okay, that's outta the way, now to praise: this album rocks. So far my favorite song is track 3, "Weight of the World," with it's driving rhythm and relentless riffage. The song seems to start and stop and start and stop as it builds itself up, juxtaposing rough guitars with sweeter moments before Amy is finally released to wail through the chorus, until the drive and relentlessness comes back to go through it all again. Also good is "Sweet Sacrifice," with the singer bending her voice at the top of some very compelling minor chord changes. "Call Me When You're Sober" is getting lots of airplay, and I think is supposed to be a match to "Bring Me to Life." Altogether, as I said in the last review, this "sophomore" effort is very persuasive that despite many setbacks in the band's line-up, Evanescence has still got "it."