What a great pick by Ted and Carolina. A small, intimate little setting, seating no more than 30, a short walk from the Angel tube stop. I was willing to forgive the uncomfortable seats and cramped setting in lieu of the excellent food.
Kris and I both had Rabbit Casserole in Red Wine Sauce which was exceptional. The sauce was rich and went well with both the rabbit and the roasted potatoes. I tasted Ted’s Pork Shin (no spelling mistake) and was thoroughly impressed.
Our wines were reasonably priced, and enjoyable, though nothing to write home about.
All things considered, Le Sacre Coeur was an excellent experience, and a wonderful way to meet Ted and Carolina.
Kris and I were out to dinner mid week with our friends Lindsay and John. Given the time of year I s’pose it’s only natural that we found ourselves in a political debate. I really like political debate, and I only wish I were more invested and knowledgeable in US politics to engage my dinner companions more. We ate at Comme Ca which provided a loud and bustling atmosphere, perhaps the catalyst for our engaged conversation.
I called up Darragh and Cherie, who are visiting Christian and Mel in Canberra this weekend. It was lovely to hear their voices (I am pretty slack with calling everyone), and to hear them having a lovely time together. Kris and I attended Cherie and Darragh’s wedding in Brisbane last year, and following suit, we are planning to attend Christian and Mel’s this year in July. Congratulations Christian and Mel.
My newly born Niece, Lucy Claire Cologna, will be another reason for my trip, as will be her christening. I am glad everything went smoothly with Lucy’s delivery, and that Monica and Lucy are well. Don’t Monica and Rob have a lovely well balanced family ? Ben is already making me proud taking good care of his sister.
Kris and I took a relaxed lunch today in Culver City where we ate at Tender Greens. There really are some great places to eat and drink in Culver City, what with Ford’s Filling Station, Fraiche and Bottle Rock, Fraiche clearly being the pick of the bunch.
So I just got home and started playing guitar. I’ve been quite into playing along with the laptop; so tonight I threw on some Jeff Beck. Charles was big into learning ‘Scatterbrain’ together. I have always been big into playing ‘Cause we’ve ended as lovers’ and still haven’t attempted ‘Scatterbrain’.
For whatever reason I threw on ‘She’s a woman’ and was just blown away by how awesome a track it is. It’s also a pretty nice track to play along to. Got me to thinking the whole album is unreal– I totally recommend it to anyone who digs guitar.
So while we’re on the topic, I should paste the video that I dig most [Cause we've ended as lovers, of course]
It’s just so good, and even better live. When is he coming back to LA ?
So the first Rugby World Cup game I decided to watch was the Australia v. England quarter final. I woke up at 4.45 am, picked up my buddies Alex and JP, and we went to Ye Olde Kings Head in Santa Monica. It was Alex and JPs first rugby experience, and I think I picked a pretty good one for them. What a shame England resorted once more to their tedious kicking game, and the Australians couldn’t find their way over the line a second time. The atmosphere at the pub was great; absolutely packed, and pints flowing at 6am.
After the game (and a few sneaky post game pints to drown my sorrows) we breakfasted on 3rd St. promenade. Crepes and bloody marys all around.
Alex’s buddy decided to throw JP a ticket for the Trojan game, and away we all went. Met up with Kris and Tat for the Erbstoesser tailgate; burgers and more beers. What a great day it was turning out to be. Then the Trojans just didn’t show up.
Wow; 2 losses in one day, capped off by a raging headache, and being unable to sleep. I missed golf for Sunday morning because I felt so sick.
It was great to watch the rugby. It was definitely a highlight just going to watch, the fast moving, free flowing game a breath of fresh air after the stop start of American football.
Sitting back w/ a glass of wine thinking to myself life isn’t too bad;
Sunday involved a relatively late rise w/ some watching of the golf, a one all draw in soccer out in Santa Monica (Kris and I play in a mixed team called “You Got Served” [yes, named after the awesome movie] near my work with friends), some shopping, some grilling, a great dinner, and relaxing on the couch.
The apartment is finally collecting furniture, some chairs for the dining table, some patio furniture, and finally the first thing up on the wall. It has taken a while, but perhaps the struggle to obtain these first items has made us appreciate them that much more.
That’s all I have for the moment; just an unexpectedly great sunday afternoon / evening.
So Hotel Angelino is one of the first to get it right– wireless internet. So many modern hotels I go to, and there is no internet. Maybe I use my computer too much.
So the reason that I am in a hotel in LA (where I live) is that Kris is working the Festival of Books this weekend. I attended a panel at the festival entitled ‘Profiles in Terror’, which was rather interesting; Jeffrey Goldberg, Brian Michael Jenkins, Terry McDermott and Lawrence Wright were the panelists. Made me want to go out and buy their books (insert shopzilla publisher program text links here). The conversation focused on the war in Iraq, and terrorism. One of the authors, Lawrence Wright, pointed out how few of the 9/11 investigators spoke arabic, and still today, how few troops and staff in the intelligence bureaus do. Another key concept he pointed out, using Bin Laden issuing commands and declaring war from a cave having symbolic links back to [the prophet] Mohammed as an example, is that even today this depth of understanding is still lacking in US intelligence and troops on the ground.
I think this is the hotel my dad stayed in a while ago. I remember you mentioned, Dad, the 405, and that it does not stop. Kris and I grabbed a drink in the restaurant / bar on the top floor last night. The 405 lights up as far as the eye can see, and it boggles the mind how much traffic it carries. An article today in the [LA] times mentioned a fare hike for MTA services / public transport. Just doesn’t seem to be the way forward to me.
So the past couple of weekends have been pretty hectic.
There was my birthday, for which I had a BBQ here at the apartment. We hit a bar afterwards which was very enjoyable, though maybe a little too fast paced. Needless to say I didn’t stay out for too long, and wound up in a bit of trouble with Kris.
There was also a 4 day conference in Vegas. The fourth day was a little leisure with a buddy from work; there was also plenty of time for leisure in the evenings after the conference sessions. All things considered, it was a great time. Tim and JP provided excellent entertainment, just by turning up.
Then there was a mini-break to Palm Springs with Kris a couple of weekends ago. This was a much needed break, more an excuse to lounge by the pool and do nothing than anything else. We had a great time doing just that, nothing, and I took the Friday off to give us a nice block of time. Our room was tiny, but the hotel was great.
The car is pretty much paid off which is great, though I probably need to keep this loan open for a while to build some credit. Tim and JP will both vouch that dumping 3k onto your loan the week before heading to Vegas is not a good idea.
Last night Stanford hit me up for the Clippers game– like I was going to say no. We made a good night of it, though the clippers had a runaway victory which didn’t prove as exciting as it otherwise might have.
So you note the ad on the sidebar– I mean I’m not the biggest fan of displaying ads to my [small number of] readers, but there is a little meaning behind this one. It is the product of a lot of work on the Publisher Program. I don’t really have anything to do with how any of it all looks (the website, the ads themselves), but I have a lot to do with the software that loads each ad, and other software that does all of the backend processing of our data.
It is certainly very satisfying to see the ads on publishers’ sites– for me a very real sense of accomplishment.
So I have been lazy for a long while (recurring theme, I know). So here are some photos from Xmas and Erin and Sharney’s wedding in New Zealand. Enjoy.
So I have decided to come home for Christmas. I fly in 25rd December and depart on 11th January. I would love to hang out with you– let me know what your plans are.
A big bunch of the lads, Darragh and Hirst the ringleaders, are off to the Ashes in Brisbane this week. You bastards. About the same time that the Ashes is approaching, Darragh and Hirst conspire to send an email claiming that I have put on weight, succumbed to wearing/purchasing (both are ultimately true) designer sunglasses, and that my hair is thinning. You bastards. Needless to say none of the above are true– plenty of sports to keep me fit, I didn’t purchase my own designer sunglasses, and c’mon Darragh, I mean look at my flowing mane.
So I’m pissed I miss the ashes. I retrospect, it falls on Thanksgiving, and I should’ve scrounged 2 days from work and come to play for 9, Ashes and all. I only have a 2.5 day work week here by default for Thanksgiving.
You did send me an invite a while back Darragh, and now I’m regretting I didn’t take you up on it– have a blast at the ‘Gabba, you too Cherie, Lukey, Hirsty and all the rest. I will be chumping it up on internet radio– it’s some free independent radio station too, so it could be tough.
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