Vote for Palin!

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Catholics vs. Presbyterians

Who will win?









































Score.

Sadko

Perhaps Sadko means something glorious and wonderful in Russian. To me, it means a company of sadness. Would we be feasting in sadness tonight?





















Sadko - Russian European Cuisine
















"Rack" of Lamb. You only get 3 of these frenched lamb chops. There is some sort of tasty spice on them that you can see on the onions. For being the most expensive entree (~$16) I left somewhat unsatiated.
















At almost half the price, this pork chop was MASSIVE. Seems like a better value but more generic taste.
















Cheese Blintz. This is more like the real deal?





















Dumplings. They like dill. Will try this place again to get a better idea of how I like it.

Almost a real rattlesnake round-up

While sitting on the porch at co-worker Mike's log cabin, talking to other co-worker Dave and watching the pit bull attack my hot wings, a strange sound interrupted us. It was a rattle snake! The snake noose was quickly retrieved and the thought of rattle snake steak got me all giddy. Alas, rattle snakes are not dumb. It went under a rock and hid there good. It knew I wanted to eat it so there it stayed all day. It's probably still there right now.
















Dorie, Phoebe, and Tre (120 lb dog!)
































There was one dog I didn't get a picture of (two actually). One was a dog paralyzed from the waist down named Popeye. He wore a pair of shiny silver shorts over his legs dragging them around and looked like a Merdog sans tail flippers. The other was a tiny Daschund named Vienna (yes, like a sausage).
















onto food.





















































































some sort of stuffed Salmon.
































So I missed two dishes but they are here on my plate. Both were brought by Diane's (Mike's wife) Persian co-worker Affi (sp?). The rice has an interested technique. They line the bottom of the big circular dish with oil and then layer on top of that some flat bread. Persian bread? I forget exactly what type. So instead of getting a layer of super hard to eat rice (note, this ain't no bibimbap stoneware) you get some really nice crunchy bread that is both good and keeps the rice safe. The other dish is hiding off on the right side of the dish. It had eggplant and what I believe was pork? Maybe beef or even lamb. It also had these strange lemony fruits in it and powder made from the same unidentified lemony (not lemons) fruit.
































Some of Mike's old Animag buddies showed up. Mike was the Art Director for an old school Anime Magazine called Animag. In fact, he has a collection of original art works (such as covers from the classic anime artists of the 70s and 80s) that would make some Anime fans wet their pants. I recall seeing an original Dirty Pair drawing. A big one. This might be the one.





















And some original anime cells. And lots of other stuff. Apparently one of his friends, Matt is largely responsible for bringing anime to the USA. I think the story he was telling was his nephew was at an anime convention and at some presentation the presenter said something like "anime in the USA can be tracked to one man. His name is Matt (didn't get his last name)." And his nephew was confused or something. Is my uncle famous? I think he is the original founder of the Berkeley/Cal anime club. Apparently he's had rattlesnake before!

Productive

Also, watching Jay Chou on youtube, around 2:10 - pretty ridiculous. Hahaha. He looks pretty different with that hairdo (i.e. no hair in face covering eyes). His face looks thinner and hawkier.

Chapeau!

Tonight I dine on turtle soup. Not really, actually I finally dine at Chapeau! A french restaurant near my house that I've been meaning to check out but have put off due to usually needing to make reservations and finding someone to come along. I'm not opposed to eating alone but this place is so noisy I'd have a hard time alone with my own thoughts. Rewind 4 months where I had to book a day on Jen Yin's busy schedule. Ok, it was only around 3 weeks. She canceled last week. That canceler. I know you're reading Jen! I'm just kidding. P.S. Canceler.
















Montchevre Goat Cheese





















Stacked from top to bottom, zucchini, montchevre, tomatoes, eggplant, polenta.
















Scallop with risotto and lobster sauce.





















Bacon wrapped pork on a bed of brussel sprouts and cremed yams.
















Jen got the Cassoulet A La Toulousaine.
















Warm Chocolate Cake - Gateau au chocolat
















Apple Tart and Hazelnut ice cream.





















Om Nom Nom Nom

Children of Men

Did anyone like the ending? Not only was it anti-climatic (after the climax come descending action, this just flatlines) but way to state the obvious to assure the audience. I hate blatant exposition. Except when it's followed up with the contrary. "We're going to be alright!" BOOOM!!! Everyone explodes and dies. The movie is pretty good but it definitely had some rough patches and lost opportunities that made certain things not work for me. Like what is Luke's motivation? I don't understand him so his character is just noise. Kind of like video game cutscenes. I think this was a case of too high expectations. Thought there would be more sci-fi!