Monthly Archives: November 2009

Food

Tofurky and Hot Dogs This Thanksgiving

Seems like everyone’s got their holiday-themed food and drinks going on this Thanksgiving. 

The Bottleneck Lounge has a truly frightening drink special tonight: a cocktail made with Jones Soda’s Tofurky and Gravy flavor.  I’m a-scurred.  There will also be Jones giveaways, and the first ten people (starting at 7 p.m.) who dare taste this libation get a free t-shirt.  You will have earned it. 

For those of us who would rather not drink fake tofu turkey flavor, there will also be plenty of Thanksgiving Old Fashioneds, made with fresh cranberries, to go around.  Now that’s consumable!

Meanwhile, the good people at Po Dogs are offering up a seasonal wiener all week. As per Ye Olde Twitter: “Come in today and try our Thanksgiving dog. It’s a Wiener topped with stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy….”  That just might work with a brioche bun.

News

This Thanksgiving Weekend, House is in the House

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House (Hausu) is a Japanese art house horror flick finally getting an American bow 32 years after its Japanese release.  Under domestic distribution by Janus Films, it’s the story of a group of seven high school girls (each with their own personality-defining nickname like Prof, Kung Fu, and Sweet) who decide to spend the summer together at Gorgeous’ aunt’s house in the country.  And of course, it’s a haunted house, complete with a freaky cat, dancing skeleton, a possessed piano, and your basic demonic pillows and duvet covers. 

I expected House to be campy, but it was also a lot of wackadoodle fun.  Director Nobuhiko Obayahshi based the script of his debut feature on his eleven-year-old daughter’s surreal stories, and it shows in the best possible way–from the girl’s character tics to the truly psychedelic animation and editing.  It comes as no surprise that there’s some inventive deaths and good use of spurting blood.  Because nothing says Thanksgiving like Asian gore.

 

  • House is showing at Central Cinema November 27-December 1 at 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., December 2 at 9:30 p.m.  Tickets are $6.  7 p.m. screenings all ages, 9:30 p.m. 21+. 
Film & TV

This Thanksgiving Weekend, House is in the House

1 Comment

 

House (Hausu) is a Japanese art house horror flick finally getting an American bow 32 years after its Japanese release.  Under domestic distribution by Janus Films, it’s the story of a group of seven high school girls (each with their own personality-defining nickname like Prof, Kung Fu, and Sweet) who decide to spend the summer together at Gorgeous’ aunt’s house in the country.  And of course, it’s a haunted house, complete with a freaky cat, dancing skeleton, a possessed piano, and your basic demonic pillows and duvet covers. 

I expected House to be campy, but it was also a lot of wackadoodle fun.  Director Nobuhiko Obayahshi based the script of his debut feature on his eleven-year-old daughter’s surreal stories, and it shows in the best possible way–from the girl’s character tics to the truly psychedelic animation and editing.  It comes as no surprise that there’s some inventive deaths and good use of spurting blood.  Because nothing says Thanksgiving like Asian gore.

 

  • House is showing at Central Cinema November 27-December 1 at 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., December 2 at 9:30 p.m.  Tickets are $6.  7 p.m. screenings all ages, 9:30 p.m. 21+. 
Eats, Food

Lou Manna’s Tips for Mouthwatering Holiday Meal Photos

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(You’re taking pictures of the bird again, right? So here’s Lou’s Tips again, republished from last year this time.)

A little while ago, the fine photographic folks at Olympus put us in touch with Lou Manna, “Olympus Digital Visionary Photographer,” for a story on photographing holiday meals.

If you’re a foodie, it’s likely you’ve already run into Lou Manna’s food photography; he shot for the New York Times for 20 years.

Now he’s got his own Fifth Avenue food photography studio, which is where he works with corporate, advertising, and restaurant clients, using (it must be noted) Olympus E-System cameras and flashes. Check out his website www.loumanna.com and blog www.digitalfoodphotography.com.

Since a picture is worth a thousand words, we talked Lou in to a photo essay. Click through each photo for a tip on how it’s done. We can vouch for the “good enough to eat” part.

Here’s Lou to get things started:

You’ve spent two days baking all of your holiday goodies… Finally on Thanksgiving Day, the turkey is ready to be gobbled up. Now you want your sweet labor to translate well in photographs. If you follow some of the following tips, then the pictures of your feast will look good enough to eat!

Music

A Visit to Our Musical Cousins in the North

Every time a venue stops hosting music, the world gets a little bit darker, even if that venue is 90 miles north of here.

Friday, I took a trip up to Bellingham to see one of The Rogue Hero’s last shows. After traffic died down, I pointy my trusty steed northward and made the trek through the darkness and the rain to an unfamiliar college town near the Canadian border. After a wrong turn or two, my companion and I stood in front of a large wooden door guarded by a warmly dressed gentleman asking for $5 and our IDs. A simple transaction afforded us entry to the keep, and we were welcomed by the first couple notes of rock and roll for the evening.

A clear drumset and a couple small Fender amps powered the energizing set by the young Mount Vernon duo known as The Mission Orange. Their eclectic and technical songs warmed the hearts of a small group of locals. Heads were nodding under black longshoreman caps and many a music nerd marveled at the precision guitar work. Sporting a huge sound for a duo, the gentlemen of The Mission Orange wove wonderful melodies around powerful rhythms. Though under 21, they bring a swagger and a complexity to the stage that rivals their legally adult compatriots. I’m a big fan of their mix of garagey and technical sounds, particularly on “Hammer Fever” and I hope it’s included on the record they mentioned they were recording. On Friday, they brought that just-right mix of excitement and rest for the end of a long drive and some hanging out in an unfamiliar town.

Yet, while the town was unfamiliar, the venue was beginning to grow on me. There was a pole covered with stickers just like at El Corazon. Groups of acoustic ceiling tiles were missing and replaced with black painted plywood. Fluorescent lights were missing their bulbs and stained with the familiar beige that comes with years of cigarette smoke or greasy food preparation. It might be the 12-year-old in me, but having one bathroom labeled “chicks” and the other labeled “dicks” was pretty hilarious. People were lounging about the two brightly lit pool tables and in the booths at the front near the inauspicious bar. It was starting to feel pretty welcoming.

These people were clearly different from my hometown folk, but somehow strangely similar. They wore a little bit more flannel, but in a non-ironic way. They were a little less afraid of enjoying themselves through ballroom dance or random yelling. Everyone seemed a little friendlier, as well. I’ve always considered Seattle to be the biggest small town ever, but it’s good to visit smaller towns every once in a while to see how they really are supposed to be. The age range of the patrons was wide and the subcultures represented were varied. The lack of pretentiousness was palpable. People seemed a little more “real.”

After a last minute slice of the local pizza, we were pumped and ready for Rooftops to celebrate their CD release. They augmented their sound Friday with a trumpet/flugel horn player and a violin. These additions were a bit buried in the small P.A., but their presence was appreciated nonetheless. Rooftops employs three guitarists/singers and a drummer in their normal mode. Each guitarist is well versed in the art of tapping. Taking a cue from bands like Minus the Bear, Rooftops create lovely melodies by constantly moving the notes around. With three guitars, countermelodies and counter-countermelodies are the modus operandi. Using pauses and some sparse singing, they provide enough break from the twiddly bits to keep you from being overwhelmed, however. They were also clearly enjoying themselves up there, making the live experience a wonderful end to a long week.

After a raucous celebration of melody and rhythm, I drove back south through the rain towards my bed for the night. Those Notherners aren’t so different, they’re just looking for something to entertain them for an evening. They’re just trying to make the best of things, just like the rest of us. And I think they’ll be a little sad when they have one less place to make both of those things happen. Hopefully, this will motivate them to come south and visit more often.

Sports

Could Seattle U Hoops Make the NIT?

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It’ll be three seasons until Seattle University’s basketball team is eligible to make the NCAA Tournament, so coach Cameron Dollar set the loftiest goal he could before the season, telling players: “Our goal is to play for a championship in New York, play in the NIT.”

When I read this, I thought coach Dollar was blowing smoke. The NIT, the consolation tournament for teams that don’t make the NCAA Tourney, seemed to me to be way out of reach for a school in just its second year of D1 ball.

But, last night, after SU went to Salt Lake City and upset the University of Utah–which won 24 games and was a #5-seed in the NCAA tourney last year–I’m taking Dollar seriously.

The NIT Is Coach Dollar’s Goal

First, a little bit about yesterday’s game. The Redhawks trailed 50-39 with 16 minutes left, but fought back with an 18-6 run, during which six different SU players scored. They held Utah to just one field goal in the final six minutes, and came away with a 77-74 win. Charles Garcia led SU in scoring again, tallying 24 points on 13 shots against a Utah front line with two seven-footers.

Now, let’s talk NIT. The tournament has 32 teams. Automatic bids go to teams that win their conference’s regular season title but not their conference tournament, and don’t receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tourney. There were 5 such teams in last year’s tourney field, giving the tourney committee 27 at-large bids.

How many wins do you need? Major conference teams can sneak it with as few as 17, like Wazzu did last year. But Seattle U, with its schedule primarily consisting of Big Sky, Big West, and Independent teams, will need to do better than that.

More likely, they’ll be treated like lesser conference at-large teams such as Illinois State of the Missouri Valley Conference, which made last year’s field with a 24-9 record. Or Saint Mary’s of the WCC, which got in with a 26-6 record.

Seattle U plays 31 games this year. I think that to make the NIT, they’ll need to finish 24-7 at a minimum. Considering that they’ve already lost twice (Oklahoma St., Portland), they face the tough task of going 21-5 the rest of the way. Could they do it?

Almost certainly, they’d need to win all 11 of their remaining home games. (You can help there, buy tickets today, get out to KeyArena and cheer). SU’s toughest home test will likely be Idaho on January 30th.

SU also plays at Idaho. The Vandals are one of seven schools that the Redhawks will play both home and away. The others are UC Davis, Eastern Washington, Sacramento State, Cal State Northridge, Portland State, Utah Valley.

The Redhawks also have road games against Pac-10 opponents Oregon St. and Washington. Mark those down as likely losses.

So, assuming that SU wins out at home, they would have to go 10-3 in their other road games to get to 24-7. It’s a tall order. But after going into SLC and beating Utah, I think they at least stand a chance.