I've raved about Katz Deli before, and my friend Clarissa brings us the melt-in-your-mouth pastramis (along with Magnolia Bakery cupcakes) everytime she visits. But, she e-mailed me something very interesting that rivals Katz right in our own backyard.

Where It's At When It Isn't New York
Let's get one thing straight. New York is the pastrami capital of the world. There can be no battle for hemispheric pastrami supremacy. When it comes to pastrami, New York is the beginning, and the end.

But there are a few mail-order sources for pastrami that can be enjoyed in the comfort of your home. These are the best of them.

LANGER'S DELICATESSEN It is almost heresy to say, but the pastrami that Langer's ships ranks with the best in New York. It is meltingly tender and suffused with salty, smoky, peppery flavor. Downright delicious. 704 South Alvarado Street, Los Angeles; (213) 483-8050; $15 a pound, plus shipping.

There's more but I think you would stop reading here...

How can we not know about this? Shame on us.

Rate-A-Restaurant, #10 in a series

Restaurant: Lou Mitchell's

Location: 565 W. Jackson Blvd., Chicago

Type of restaurant: Coffee Shop/Diner

What we ordered: Egg white omelet with a side of bacon (Maria), spinach & mushroom omelet (Mike) and a cheeseburger (Ann).

They stipulated: Cash only, no checks or credit cards.

High point: As you wait for your table, the hostess walks around with a basket of donut holes (cooked in no cholesterol peanut oil) to tide you over. When you get seated, the hostess hands over mini boxes of milk duds to the ladies (and only to the ladies) and when you finish eating, everyone gets a mini tub of vanilla soft serve ice cream. How nice is that? Oh, and the omelets are the fluffiest ones we've ever had, they come in a skillet with a side of potatoes and the servings are huge. Ann said that her cheeseburger was delicious too.

Low point: Parking was a b*#ch and the wait could be long since you have to wait for everyone in your party to be there to get seated.

Overall impression: Enjoyable.

Chance we will go back: Next time we're in Chicago.

Remember that scene in "Swingers" where Jon Favreau's character gets a girl's number at a bar, and the guys judge her potential by what area code she gave? Vince Vaughn's character gets to the heart of it: "310? 213?" A disappointed Favreau looks up. "818," he says, to disappointing groans all around.
That movie, released in 1996, seems positively quaint today. Since then, we've seen the introduction of new area codes like 323, 626 and 562, and now it looks like there may be more to come. A new 424 area code may soon be carved out of the 310 area code, for those poor saps south of the Imperial Highway (Torrance, Gardena, etc.)

I was going through our credit card bill this morning by matching the charges against the receipts when I discovered that our beloved Electric Lotus charged us fifty cents over what we wrote down on the total, even though we'd given the waitress a 20% tip 'cause she was nice. Hmmm.... I vaguely recall them doing the same thing a few months ago. I could be wrong but I bet if I check my past statements, I'd find it.

Fifty cents is nothing in the big scheme of things but it occured to me that if they had done this to me before, then I'm probably not the only person they have done this to. And where is all that extra change going? All that change that people like me shrugged off as nothing, no big deal. That stuff adds up, just like in the movie Office Space where Peter and his friends scheme to transfer the company fund's cast-off pennies to a private account. Someone in Electric Lotusland is livin' it up enjoying all that cast-off money.

We decided to let it go this time but we're watching out, ready to expose the restaurant if it happens again.

Wacky Dream of the Day
We were at ex-Motley Crue/Pam Anderson member Tommy Lee's house. Not sure why. But he was a gracious host. He offered Maria a Coke, while gave me something harder-- some sort of tomato juice/gin mixture. I'm not a big fan of tomato juice, but hey, Tommy Lee offered it to me, and I didn't want to see what would happen if I turned him down. Later, we moved to the back porch. In the dream, his house was located adjacent to a cemetery. Specifically, the grave of cowboy crooner/media mogul/Angels owner Gene Autry was right there at Tommy Lee's property line.
Any dream analysts out there?

Imagine the uproar in Chicago if word leaked that the name of the Sears Tower was about to change. Or if the John Hancock Building became the Mutual of Omaha Building, or something absurd to that affect. Here in L.A., there's been not a peep of reaction to word that the Library Tower is about to change its name--again.
Betcha your average Angelino couldn't even tell you which building is the Library Tower. (For the record, it's the tallest one, with the crown on top. You know, the one that's destroyed in "Independence Day.")
U.S. Bank has bought the naming rights to the building, which will soon be known as "U.S. Bank Tower." The building--the tallest west of the Mississippi--was originally named Library Tower when it was built in 1990, because developers had to pay gobs of money for the air rights to the adjacent Central Library to build the structure. (The money went toward rebuilding the library, which was damaged by two arson fires in 1986). But the tower was later renamed First Interstate Tower, which it was known by for years until the late 1990s, when First Interstate merged with another bank and disappeared from existence. The tower regained its original name, and has been that way ever since. Until now, that is.

When I bought my trusty Honda Civic DX (nicknamed "3SKE," because of its license plate) in 1996, I called around to a variety of dealers and asked them to fax me their itemized "fleet price" (I told them that I was hunting for a car for my "business"). It gave me a chance to see how much the dealers were alotting for the manufacturer's price, as well as their profit. In the end, however, I went online to a site called Autobytel.com. Now keep in mind, this was 1996, before the dot.com craze really took off. Autobytel didn't actually sell the car-- it contracted with a variety of dealers across the country. The site got me a price even better than the ones I had faxed to me-- so I went with their suggested dealer (Penske Honda, now known as Honda World)-- even though it was all the way in Orange County. Fast forward to 2003. Scribe Virginia Postrel writes about online car shopping in the New York Times, and discovers that indeed, people wind up with much better prices (for the most part) than the traditional haggling-then-pretending-to-leave-the-dealership-then-coming-back-and-haggling-some-more method-- at least 2 percent better. And here's the interesting part: According to Postrel, the online sites have become the great equalizer in car sales. Because you're not buying the car in person, everyone gets the same deal. In other words, says one researcher, "Everybody paid the white male price...Suddenly it became totally irrelevant what your race or gender or income or education was."

Stay tuned for a round-up of our weekend Chicago adventure...

Meanwhile, closer to home, here's something new to worry about as you eat that grocery store pre-packaged or fresh lettuce. Apparently a study of 22 types of lettuce purchased at Northern California supermarkets found that four were contaminated with perchlorate, a toxic rocket-fuel ingredient. Yummy!

The demolition of that house in Bunker Hill reminds me how important the Los Angeles Conservancy is to this city. As a non-profit group, they've been responsible for saving historic sites around L.A.

Every summer, they do a program called Last Remaining Seats where they show classic films and live entertainment in historic theaters around Los Angeles. It's worth going to these events just for the opportunity to see the grandeur of these old theaters as well as seeing some great films. This is where (I'm embarrased to say) I discovered the genius of Buster Keaton. This year, the movies include: Auntie Mame, Holiday, To Kill a Mockingbird, El Jefe, On The Town and The Sea Hawk.

The L.A. Conservacy offers walking tours all over the city. Great for directing your out-of-town visitors to when you're at wits' end figuring out where to take them.

The U.S. Geological Survey says there's a 62% percent chance of an earthquake of 6.7 magnitude or higher on the Richter scale in San Francisco over the next 30 years. That's actually lower odds than what the agency predicted in 1999, when it said there was a 70% chance. Move to the Bay Area at your own peril.

Those of you who know your Los Angeles history know that downtown's Bunker Hill -- now home to skyscrapers like the Library Tower -- once consisted of beautiful Victorian homes. The neighborhood was inhabited by L.A.'s upper crust until the 30s and 40s, when the homes came into disrepair. Back then, no one even thought of building conservation, so the city didn't think twice about leveling the neighborhood to make room for the skyscraper boom in the 1960s. A few of those old Victorians still exist, having been moved to neighborhoods such as Angelino Heights. And at least a handful of homes, mostly on the northern tip of Bunker Hill, managed to escape destruction. Until this weekend, that is.
The last house in the Bunker Hill neighborhood was illegally torn down Saturday by the developer who has recently built some of downtown's new upscale apartment projects (not old buildings retrofitted to become lofts, but entire new buildings). The Queen Anne-style cottage (on Cesar Chavez Avenue near Figueroa Street) was built in 1887. It was obviously in bad shape, but the city was in talks with at least one person about moving the house to be rehabbed in Angelino Heights. No word on how the city might respond to the move by G.H. Palmer Associates to tear down the home without permission.

Tip o' the day: If you're in the back of an ambulance, speeding toward County-USC Hospital, tell 'em to turn around. Right away. I don't care if you're bleeding out your ass. According to the L.A. Times, that place is a death trap. Emergency room patients wait as long as four days for a bed. One woman died after sitting in the emergency waiting room for 30 hours, waiting to be treated. And yet, L.A. County plans to cut 100 beds from the hospital's 745. Hmm, how bout the government throw a few of those rebuild Iraq dollars our way?!

As we were watching The Bachelorette last night, things seemed a little bit off about the show. Why are the men wearing those creepy masks? What's Monica Lewinsky doing as host? Did she and Chris Harrison duke it out on an eatfest showdown and she won? We watch a bit further and we see things familiar to us like that bachelor who is fond of spewing out awful poetry, the cocky & self-assured guy and the one (17) with (seventeen) the (17) strategy. Turns out, we were actually watching the new reality show Mr. Personality.


Our bachelorette, Hayley, is pretty and very sly as she gives the camera knowing looks while commenting on each guy and the gift she received from him. We don't quite know what process she goes through as she eliminates 10 suitors from last night's show. The next thing we know, the rejected guys unmask in front of her one by one. Most of them are gracious but one guy was angry that "she let a psychic choose for her." One guy seemed to be distressed and in tears behind his mask that I almost feel sorry for him and another guy "didn't think he'd make it this far." Huh? It was the first show and he got rejected that night. That's Mr. Personality for you. Good luck, Hayley. Damn you, Fox.

Ever wonder how The Grove shopping center's parking lot knows how many parking spots are available on each level? No? The L.A. Times is going to tell you anyway. The Grove has one of the first parking garages in the country wiht a new technology called "Smart Park," which boasts sensors in each stall that report a space's availability every three seconds. Of course, I swear I've ocassionally seen spots on a floor even when the computer claims it's "full." Oh well. Mainly, i want to know... when did it become standard practice to charge mall shoppers for parking?

Speaking of Nigella, she will be at the Barnes & Noble in Santa Monica for a book signing on April 29th at 7 pm.

Plus, both Nigella and Tyler Florence are going to be at the Festival of Books this coming weekend!

The New York Times checks in on the cult of TiVo.

We constantly joke that cookbooks are Maria's porn. Salon makes the case that Nigella Lawson, host of the Style Network's "Nigella Bites," may be the pinnacle of "food porn."

Wanted: Copy Editor for the L.A. Times
Can someone please start fact checking stories in the L.A. Times' Calendar section? Check out this correction from today's paper: "The Craft and Folk Art Museum's current 'Puppets' exhibition includes a 'Mystery Science Theater 3000' character named Crow T. Robot. Last Sunday's Arts Notes misnamed him Crow T. Robert."
How soon people forget one of the funniest series from the early- and mid-90s.

Meanwhile, look for this correction in next week's paper. In an interview with "A Mighty Wind's" Jane Lynch (she plays a former porn star-turned-folk singer), the actress mentions how the ABC show she starred in, "MDs," was replaced by a reality series called "I Am a Celebrity Mole."
Missed that one. Maybe it was a mix of "Celebrity Mole" and "I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here." Or perhaps it was an unintentional insightful comment by the Times on how all reality series are blending together.

Also in the Sunday Times:
I'm always looking for new reasons why I feel like I'm losing my memory. Here's a good one: Toxic chemicals used as flame retardants (and known as "PDBEs") are rapidly building up in the bodies of people and wildlife around the world , approaching levels in American women and their babies that could harm developing brains, new research shows.

Happy Easter!

Blurbs-R-Us
"Malibu's Most Wanted": According to the Baltimore Afro-American, the Jamie Kennedy pic is "One of the Most Outrageously Funny Movies in Decades!"
Wow. Right up there with "Booty Call," yes?

"Bringing Down the House": Something called Entertainment Spotlight says the movie promises "Side-splitting, knee-slapping, belly-aching laughs!"
Ouch. That actually sounds painful. I'll pass, thanks.

"Basic": Larry King says the movie promises "A thriller that will grab you from start to finish."
Wait a sec... Larry King?! And his movie reviewing crednetials would be...?

Here's your Bizarre news item of the day. Kidnappers broke into a Woodland Hills' man's house Thursday, kidnapping his wife and daughter, and forcing him to put on the tan hunter's vest, telling him it would explode and his family would be killed if he did not get to the auto dealership where he worked and demand money. They told him a microphone on the vest would pick up his conversations. The man went to the dealership and scribbled a note to a co-worker, who then called police. And the chase was on.

Like clockwork, the war is "over," so we can now turn our heads back to salacious headlines. Coincidentally, the police found the body of Laci Peterson and her unborn child this week, and have now arrested husband Scott Peterson. Scandalous stuff--and perfect for war-weary news organizations. Yet it is a pretty interesting story. This guy is plainly nuts--his wife goes missing, it's obvious he's the prime suspect, yet he does a number of things that only make him look more guilty. Today's news reports note how he was taunting the police as they conducted surveillance on him. Does that sound like a man who's devastated over the loss of his wife?

I've been sort of obsessed with the BBC lately-- particularly with their radio services. Check out BBC Radio's web site for a menu of all their over-the-air and digital radio stations. Of course, BBC Radio 1 is the one I listen to the most-- it's their popular music station, playing everything from Coldplay to Kylie Minogue. Radio 2 is slightly more adult contemporary; the BBC also runs Radio 3 (classical music and arts), Radio 4 (intelligent talk), Radio 5 (news/sport), Radio 6 (more extensive music), Radio 7 (comedy) and 1Xtra (urban music).

Perhaps they should call it The Atkins Die--t. Har!

Last night, I went to Vroman's in Pasadena to see Tyler Florence sign his new book. What a great guy, he talked about his shows Food 911 and The Ultimate and shared his favorite food and restaurants. The only bummer was that they sold out on the book and I could not get a copy for Tyler to sign.

UPI has researched a fascinating report on the history of the CIA's relationship with Saddam. A solid read.

New Police Chief William J. Bratton has imported his "broken windows" policing strategy to L.A., so far to mixed results. "Broken windows" follows the notion that if you don't control small things like grafitti and smashed windows in neighborhoods, that it eventually will lead to much bigger crime. And it's worked well in New York, where he was police chief for years before Giuliani canned him for stealing too much of the limelight. But given L.A.'s entrenched grafitti culture, Bratton has his work cut out for him.

According to the L.A. Times, the median price of a home in L.A. county is $290,000. Perhaps they're including crack dens in the valley, because we'd jump at the chance of buying a home that cheap. Unless it's a crack den. Hmmm... actually, if you know of any good crack dens at $290,000 or less...

You'll never tell time any other way again. Click [here] for the coolest clock you've ever seen.

Favorite headline of the week from The Onion: Guy Eats Own Weight In Combos Over Three-Month Period

That Madonna song you think you're downloading? More likely it's just audio of Madonna saying, "What the [expletive] do you think you're doing?"
According to the L.A. Times, in their campaign against file-sharing services, Warner Bros. agents flooded the internet with spoofed versions of songs on the album.

Here at Franklin Avenue, we have an appreciation for mullets. Let's just say it's less an obsession but more of a fascination. Co-worker Steven referred me to this site and I promise you that it's hours and hours of fun. You've got to read all the commentaries that come with the pictures too.

They call women with mullets femullets and when you visit that section, be sure to check out my favorite photo of the femulls & fat rolls. The children section offers one a glimpse of child abuse and you know this site does not discriminate with their mullatinos section. This is their definition of a skullet:
SKULLET- (skûl-ït) n. Someone that shaves their head (to expose the skull) but leaves the mullet.

If you want to be a mullet hunter, they give you great techniques on the sport. Enjoy!

Mmm, spam!
Now, coming from Hawaii, I love the spam musubi. (Yes, it's an acquired taste.) The email spam? Not so much. Here's a sampling of what's appeared in my inbox:
From jtimm999: "girls with alot less experience";
from Nicole: "I NEED Y0U";
from jjclay: "first timers doing it just for you";
from Queen 0f Ass: "Great ass!" (that one's my favorite);
from Nigel Christopher: "Appear 21 Again With Our Help!";
from jason.r.glad: "these girls are not pros";
from Jimmy: "!!! Uphold Your Septic Tank Properly";
from SixTeen: "You will Like All these :)";
from Mariah Sandy: "! Acquire Your Diploma In Confidence!".
That's just a sampling from today.

Speaking of Spam--the food, not the email--apparently we missed the first annual Waikiki Spam Jam, which was held April 3 through 5. One of the highlights was the construction of the world's biggest Spam Musubi, which clocked in at 125 feet and used 275 cups of steamed rice, 500 slices of Spam and 208 feet of nori (seaweed wrap). Hawaii, of course, is the world's largest per capita consumer of Spam.

Happy Tax Day! Feeling good about that small refund you're getting back? It's still not as good as the 784 rich Californians who have found enough loopholes to avoid paying tax altogether.

This past weekend, we went up to the central coast to go wine tasting with our friends Louie and Tom. Those two are serious about their wines and before the tastings, they trained us on the rules of wine tasting:
Rule 1 Drink lots of water to keep yourself hydrated.
Rule 2 Eat. A lot. You need to balance out all that wine with enough food in your body.
Rule 3 Drink responsively. Pace yourself and throw out the rest of the wine if you don't particularly like it.
Rule 4 Don't be rude. If you didn't like the wine, say it in a gracious way (i.e. Don't say, "Phew! This tastes like Santa Monica water!" in front of the winemaker).
Rule 5 Don't be a barhog. A barhog refers to the person who stay up at the counter talking to the pourer oblivious to the line behind them waiting for a fill up.

Unlike the Napa Valley, some of the wineries in the Santa Ynez Valley have storefront tasting rooms instead of tasting rooms in the wineries themselves. Most of the tasting rooms can be found in the picturesque little town of Los Olivos.

Tom, Louie and I were privileged to have been able to go to the Andrew Murray Vineyard where they only open their vineyard to the public twice a year. The fee was $10 but well worth it for the 7 different wines they were tasting and a good appetizer and dessert spread. Since Mike joined us late Saturday night, we did the bulk of our tastings on Sunday checking out the Sunstone, Foley and Blackjack wineries.

Sometimes, you just gotta have an In-N-Out Burger. You might not even realize how badly you wanted one until after you scarf one down, late at night, in a town far, far away. Our feast Saturday night in Santa Maria? The In-N-Out Burger right off the 101 freeway, Stowell exit. (It helps that In-N-Out was the only thing open past 10 p.m. in town). Click [here] for everything you need to know about the burger joint, including a complete list of the legendary "secret menu" items.

Thank you, USA Today, for this lovely story in today's paper: Police and, in some instances, the National Guard are patrolling the perimeters and flight approaches of airports in Los Angeles, Chicago, Orlando and other major cities in an effort to stop terrorists from shooting down passenger jets with shoulder-fired missiles. Ugh.

Downtown Los Angeles is still a renter's market-- but that may change as more people inhabit the city's Historic Core. Downtown developer Tom Gilmore, who has led the downtown renaissance, is taking the old El Dorado Hotel (on Spring St.), which has been empty for years, and is turning them into condo loft spaces.

This just depresses me: As you've probably read, looters have pretty much stripped Iraq's museums bare. Having been located in what's considered the cradle of civilization, these collections had quite a few priceless items that may now be gone for good. According to the L.A. Times, There was the gold and ivory harp of Ur, birthplace of the patriarch Abraham; artifacts from ancient Nineveh; and 5,000-year-old tablets bearing some of the earliest known writing. There was what is widely considered to be the first known calendar, a 10,000-year-old pebble with 12 scratches on it.

Favorite headline from this week's The Onion: 137 More Oil Wells Liberated for Democracy

I've been waiting for someone to bring up the song "Bombs Over Baghdad," by Outkast. That song, released in 2000, has nothing to do with war or literally dropping bombs over Baghdad. According to Outkast's Big Boi, he meant to compare the U.S.'s half-hearted bombing of Iraq in the mid-90s to music artists who half-heartedly release music they're not actually passionate about. Nonetheless, people have co-opted the song as a pro-war anthem, slightly upsetting Big Boi and Outkast, according to the L.A. Times. The paper also gives an interesting history of other songs that have been misinterpreted through the years, including Bruce Springsteen's dark Vietnam war song, "Born in the USA."

Meanwhile, police are looking for motives in the shooting of Snoop Dogg's motorcade the other night.

Check out The Dullest Blog in the World. My favorite entry: I have a number of objects in my house. At one point in the day I looked around and saw some of them.

CNN chief news exec Eason Jordan wrote a fascinating op-ed piece in today's New York Times where he mentions how he witnessed, through frequent trips to Bahgdad in the last ten years, "awful things that could not be reported because doing so would have jeopardized the lives of Iraqis, particularly those on our Baghdad staff."
Jordan went to Iraq on ocassion to plead with the government to allow CNN to keep a bureau there. I'm sure it will be debated in the coming days whether Jordan should have reported this news at the time, and whether the cable network covered things up to stay on Iraq's good side. Regardless, it's tough to doubleguess these things. He also had a real reason to believe that people would die if he did report these things too. Judge for yourself.

Forget about Iraq... the Hip-Hop wars may be firing up again. Snoop Dogg's motorcade was ambushed in a hail of bullets Thursday night as he was driving down Fairfax Avenue.
According to E! Online:
Snoop and his posse were caravaning down Los Angeles' Farifax Avenue when a car pulled alongside their five-vehicle convoy and began unloading rounds. Two of Snoop's cars were hit, and while Snoop escaped unharmed, the rapper's bodyguard took a bullet to the back, Los Angeles police confirmed Friday. The wound was not life-threatening, however.

Snoop has said in the past that he's feared for his life ever since he broke rank with Suge Knight's Death Row Records. While Snoop has seemingly straightened his life out-- even getting rid of his signature pot smoking habit-- Suge Knight is still a scary man.

Rate-A-Restaurant, #9 in a series

Restaurant: Chili My Soul

Location: 4928 Balboa Blvd., Encino

Type of food: Chili

What we ordered: Habañero/Mango Chicken (8 out of 10 in the hot scale) for Jess & Mike and the Blanco y Verde (3, I'm a wimp) for Maria

They stipulated: We must drive to the valley by 9 p.m.

High point: The free tastings to decide how we want to treat our stomachs that night. I must say that everything I tasted was yumminy but I went for safe. "This is the best chili," says Mike as he shoves another spoonful in his mouth. Each chili order came with 3 toppings (they have 13 to choose from including chocolate chips!) and either tortilla chips, corn bread or garlic bread.

Low point: Was too full to try the homemade fudge for dessert.

Overall impression: Simple, down-home chili place.

Chance we will go back: Oh yeah.

The Blogging revolution
Even North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il has a blog! Or at least, this is what his blog should look like. Check it out-- the transcripts of the Instant Messenger dialogues between Kim and Bush are particularly funny.

A pox on ABC and Fox. Start and stop times for shows--particularly reality series, which are hugely flexible--has gotten out of hand. Last night's "The Bachelor" episode on ABC lasted until 10:05 p.m. And Fox's "American Idol" results show also went long. The networks do it to feed viewers into the next hour's show. But if you TiVo these shows for later viewing, the recorder shuts off at the top of the hour. In this case, both shows cut off before we had a chance to see which weepy women got voted off or which lousy singer got the boot. We figured it out later on the Internet ("Bachelor" said goodbye to Amy, Elizabeth, Rachel and Shannon-- yet surprisingly not to the drunk girl, while "American Idol" cut loose Rickey Smith)... but still. Like everything else in TV, this has gotten out of hand.

Here's a little-known part of the BBC that does some amazing work: BBC Monitoring employs over 500 people to listen and watch virtually every newscast in every country on the globe. This gives them a chance to figure out world opinion on certain matters-- such as the war (I learned of the division the other day while watching BBC World News, as the anchor interviewed someone from BBC Monitoring to get an idea of how the disappearance of Iraq's leaders has been covered across the world). And monitors are also able to gauge when certain events may be going down in remote or very secretive countries. Say a government-run station on a small dictator-led island starts playing somber music out of the blue. The BBC will then be able to investigate and figure out if that dictator has died, or if some other tragic event has taken place. According to BBC Monitoring, the division operates "around the clock to monitor more than 3,000 radio, TV, press, Internet and news agency sources, translating from up to 100 languages."

Here's a link to our adventures in Boyle Heights this past weekend.

More Odd Dreams
Last night, I had another disturbingly vivid dream and this time, it wasn't the pastrami that did it. I think it was the chili.

I dreamt that on my way to work, I stopped by at a cafe to get something to eat. Behind the counter was this mean man that didn't have the time of day for me. I pushed forward and ordered a cup of coffee and some food (eggs and such). The order comes and there was no coffee. I proceeded to eat but went up to the counter again to ask for my coffee but nazi-counter-guy refused to give me my coffee. After eating my food sans coffee, I go back up to the counter and ask if I could pay with a credit card since I had no cash. Nazi guy yelled at me and said I had to go to the ATM to get cash. I finally left without any intention of coming back to pay for my food.

You've seen it on TV... now here's a photo-by-photo account of the toppling of the Saddam statue.
Now, things get hairy. (Also [here].)


Elsewhere:

:: Act now if you want to ride the Concorde. Although you're doing so at your own peril, apparently. After years of increasingly scary mishaps on the supersonic plane, British Airways will discontinue its service sometime this fall. No word on whether Air France, which also operates the Concorde, will follow suit.

:: It was only a matter of time before Rupert got his grubby little hands on DirecTV. He finally did it. Rupert's News Corp. has acquired control of the U.S. satellite giant. To quote Murdoch, "Global domination is finally mine! It's mine, I tell you! Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!" Murdoch then twirled his handlebar moustache and left a tied-up Sumner Redstone on the tracks as an inbound steam locomotive approached.

:: Interesting story about the Armed Forces Network in today's L.A. Times. As a kid in the Philippines I grew up watching them. Of course, back in the early 80s, the service was much different. There was only one channel then, and it was an over-the-air signal (in our case, UHF channel 17). The station didn't sign on until 10:30 am on the weekday, and 7 am on the weekends. Satellites weren't yet in use, so programming was sometimes a year behind. The station got to cherrypick shows from all the U.S. networks and regularly shuffle things around when a show's run completed (there were no such thing as repeats). And newscasts were all produced locally, with anchors dressed in their Navy or Air Force uniforms, and weathermen directly from the military bases' weather center (these guys were clearly not primed for TV).

:: "South Central" is synonymous with L.A. blight, thanks to its part in gritty hip-hop songs and movies. Now L.A. leaders want to erase that stigma by changing the name of the area to 'South Los Angeles.' Yeah, that will solve everything! It was the neighborhood's name that caused all those problems, not socio-economic conditions! (Mmmm... sarcasm!)

Rate-A-Restaurant, #8 in a series

Restaurant: Cobras & Matadors

Location: 7615 W. Beverly Blvd.

Type of food: Spanish Tapas

What we ordered: Too many things: eggplant spread, potatoes, steak, mussels, lomo embuchado, smoked mushrooms, roasted asparagus, crabcake or a version thereof... we've all had a lot to drink and the memory is somewhat hazy.

They stipulated: BYOB

High point: The food was delicious and the atmosphere called for a fun evening, sharing little plates of divine flavors. We had a nice, solid group of friends for the evening that invited lots of drinking and camraderie. The check came out to a very reasonable amount, bringing the wine helped keep the low cost.

Low point: They only had one bathroom in the back of the kitchen.

Overall impression: Cool vibe, a fun place for a big group of people.

Chance we will go back: Most definitely.

Big Brother lives
A U.S. citizen is arrested and held in solitary confinement indefinitely without being charged with a crime. He has only limited access to his family and lawyer.
You probably know where I'm going by now. We're not talking about some nightmare scenario in a totalitarian country. According to Wired magazine, that's what has happened to Intel programmer Maher "Mike" Hawash.

According to Wired:
A friend and former colleague at Intel, Steven McGeady, is championing Hawash's case. McGeady, a former vice president at the chipmaker who hired Hawash as a programmer in 1992, was a high-profile witness in the Microsoft antitrust trial.
"People say this doesn't happen in this country," McGeady said, "but one of my neighbors has been disappeared. It's not what he might have done that matters to me -- they disappeared him. They need to question him and let him go, or charge him. It's like Alice in Wonderland meets Franz Kafka."

The magazine says McGready believes Hawash may have been arrested because of a charitable donation he made in 2000 to a charity that the government later linked to potential terrorist organizations.

Odd, odd dreams
Maria thinks it may be the yummy imported-from-New-York-from-Katz-Deli-by-Clarissa pastrami we've been wolfing down the past couple of days. Whatever the reason, we've both been experiencing some pretty vivid dreams the last two nights. And what's even more odd, we've remembered them well, down to the little details.
Two nights ago, I dreamt that I was with interviewer Martin Bashir as he went back to Michael Jackson to interview him again. We went to a small island off of Manhattan, where Michael somehow had a mansion. At one point, as we're standing behind the house, a rabid monkey jumps from the water, out of nowhere, into Michael's arms. I remember specifically moving far away from the crazy monkey.
Now, last night's dream... I was watching "Good Morning America" (yes, apparently I even watch TV in my dreams) when Diane Sawyer started talking about how she once thought she was lesbian, and that she still had lesbian feelings. If that's not odd enough, a mariachi band was playing. (Perhaps a remnant of our Boyle Heights experience). I'd like to see the dream analysts figure that one out.

Rate-A-Restaurant, #7 in a series


Restaurant: La Serenata De Garibaldi


Location: 1842 E. First Street, East Los Angeles (Boyle Heights)


Type of food: Mexican


What we ordered: Quesadilla de Pollo (appetizer); tamarind juice (drink); Fish enchiladas in green tomatillo sauce (Mike); shrimp enchiladas in green tomatillo sauce (Maria); shredded beef flautas (Clarissa)


They stipulated: That we venture east to try what some say is the best Mexican food in all of Los Angeles.


High point: Heading to East LA and Boyle Heights was actually part of the fun. There's a whole world of Los Angeles that we rarely see, so this was a chance to visit one of Los Angeles' oldest neighborhoods. Now mostly Latino, Boyle Heights has always been a strong immigrant community, famed for its diverse population of Jewish, Japanese, Mexican and other residents through the first half of the 20th century. It's where the original Canter's Deli was, and most recently was the setting for the indie movie "Real Women Have Curves."
As for the restaurant, the food was excellent. The chicken quesadilla is a nice surprise-- it's shaped in a dome and looks unlike any quesadilla you've ever seen. La Sereneta is known for its seafood, which is why Maria and I went that direction with our enchildadas. Meanwhile, the restaurant recently underwent a renovation, and the result is solid.


Low point: Who let the bugs in? A group of bugs hovered in the air, but not close to us. Meanwhile, I realized that tamarind juice is an acquired taste. Wasn't sure at first, but I downed it all and got into it toward the end. I guess I like tamarind candy better.


Overall impression: Glad we headed east.


Chance we will go back: I actually really enjoyed making it out east, and this is reason to hit Boyle Heights again. That, and Mariachi Plaza, where groups of musicians dressed in mariachi garb stand around on the weekends, waiting to be hired for parties. That's a sight.

I'm still jealous that Evanston now has a Ben & Jerry's scoop shop. Actually, according to the Chicago Sun-Times, Evanston is getting a whole new slew of restaurants, including a Baja Fresh. (Damn spoiled Northwestern kids today.) Sis Ann was up in Evanston the other week for the grand Ben & Jerry's opening, and got a free scoop in the process.
But for those of us not in chilly Chicago, our day is coming. Ben & Jerry's annual free cone day is April 29, FYI.

Reading assignment
The Los Angeles Times and staff writer Sonia Nazario won a Pulitzer Prize Monday for their extensive, really well done package "Enrique's Journey." The thoroughly researched, six-part series (which ran last year) explores the heartbreaking story of thousands of kids from Central and South America who have embarked on journeys to find their mothers in the U.S. Most don't make it. But they all face brutal conditions as they attempt to reunite with their moms, who left years before in the hope of making money in the U.S. to give their kids a better life. "Enrique's Journey" focuses on one teenager, who heads north on blind faith that he'll find his mother. It's a pretty good read. And you'll be impressed with how thoroughly Nazario sources the package.

Also, read [here] to find out how Nazario and photographer Don Bartletti found Enrique, followed his path and managed to avoid getting themselves into much trouble. Explains Nazario: "In the mid-1990s, I met a woman, a Guatemalan immigrant, who talked about how she and many other single mothers from Central America had come to the United States and left their children behind. She had been separated from her sons and daughters for 12 years. She talked about the immense heartache. When her teenage son came on his own to find her, I spoke with him about the journey, about the trains. I knew it was an important, untold part of the story of immigration to the United States."

lazy dog no more
After 5 years of bi-weekly Sunday deep house grooves, Ben Watt and Jay Hannan are calling it quits and are moving forward to start on new projects. There are 2 final celebrations: one on April 27th at the Notting Hill Arts Club and the second one on May 16 at a club called The End. How appropriate.

Mike adds: We've grooved to Lazy Dog when Ben and Jay brought their show to Los Angeles. The music's good, and so's the vibe. Now, does that mean we'll finally get a *way overdue* new release from Everything But the Girl? Sure, the greatest hits comp from Rhino rocks, but I'm ready for some new stuff!

Do Your Homework
The L.A. Daily News' generally pointless "U" entertainment section has a generally pointless story today on the rise of musicians releasing their own music via indie labels rather than aiming for a major label contract. Fine idea for a story, although one that has been done to death over the last seven or so years. The poster child for this movement has been Ani DiFranco, who's sold millions of CDs via her own label from the start, and has profited much in the process. No word of DiFranco in the story. Nor is there any mention of L.A.'s own Aimee Mann, who has done the same thing since being dropped by a major a few years back. Since then, in control of her own destiny, she hasn't had to look back.

Speaking of DiFranco, I recently landed a copy of her new release, "Evolve." It's the latest in a string of disappointing releases from the singer/songwriter, who I think pretty much peaked with 1996's "Dilate." Maybe she just simply puts out too many releases (at least one a year--the same thing Prince does, also to his detriment). But she also has lost me with her move toward long, rambling, jazzy, quiet songs. Where are the loud, guitar-heavy, angry songs of "Dilate"? I miss the old Ani.

The war hit home for NBC today with the death of correspondent David Bloom. Bloom's death will likely resonate throughout NBC's on air coverage, at least over the next few days. Great things were likely in store for Bloom when he returned from the Middle East.

Question for the L.A. Times: How can you write a story about 150 years of advances in elevators and not mention Aerosmith's cheesy late-80s anthem "Love in an Elevator"? Just a question.

Meanwhile, here's one of the funniest stories coming out of the embedded journalists program (which isn't particularly funny right now, given Michael Kelly's death). Apparently a 20/20 producer brought along a digital camera with him, taking shots of Kuwait, the military outfit he's with... and a few perverted shots of himself. He then lost the camera. The military officer who found the camera was in for a little shock and awe when he went through the shots, hoping to figure out who it belonged to. His story is [here].

And I love this letter in today's LA Times Calendar section:
I hear the Iraqis are very proud they kept their TV network on the air after all those bombs.
A TV network that stays on the air after all those bombs -- we've had that over here for years. It's called UPN, right?
R.J. Johnson
North Hollywood

Rate-A-Restaurant, #6 in a series


Restaurant: Campanile


Location: 624 S. La Brea


Type of food: Grilled Cheese Thursdays


What we ordered: These are not your Mother's Grilled Cheese Sandwiches. I had the #12 (Roasted asparagus, poached egg and fontina with prosciutto), Mike had the #8 (Welsh rarebit, roasted cherry tomatoes and charred baby broccoli with chili oil) and the visiting Clarissa had the #10 (Braised leeks, marinated anchovy, hard cooked egg and aioli). Note: They change their menu every Thursday.


They stipulated: No reservations for parties with less than 6 people.


High point: Oh, the complex flavors of these sandwiches melting away at your mouth! And no, Mike didn't eat a rabbit. Welsh rarebit is that rare bit of good food meaning melted cheese on toast or crackers. The side arugula salad was light and simple and the french fries were very yummy.


Low point: Smoke, all over the restaurant because of the griddle and the odor slowly permeates through your clothing and hair. Also, I got my sandwich late (Mike and Clarissa were almost done with theirs) but the sight of Nancy Silverton slaving away behind the bar on their always-busy Thursday nights made me feel bad for her. The bartender made up for the late food by giving us a complimentary olive plate and refilled our wine glasses.


Overall impression: A bit of a scene but it's a treat going on Grilled Cheese Nights.


Kitsch Factor: We saw Michael "Rock On" Damian at a table on our way out.


Chance we will go back: Yes, but maybe if we can gather up 6 people to get a reservation and not have to wait so long for a table or be lucky enough to snag a place at the bar.

Washington Post columnist and Atlantic Monthly editor-at-large Michael Kelly has become the first American embedded reporter to be killed in combat.

Meanwhile, while the war wages, the pissing match between Fox News Channel, the home of Geraldo Rivera, and MSNBC--former home to Peter Arnett--has gotten both humorous and pathetic.

Last night's American Idol was a complete waste of time and Tivo did us a favor by taping it for only a half hour. Even then, I kept hissing at Mike to please fast forward to the end. We finally checked online and realized that no one was booted off because of the Corey Clark fiasco.

How can Fox drag out a 5 minute result show to an hour with the end result being nothing? Why am I even asking this question?

Next season on Fox, be sure to watch the new show "America's Most Wanted American Idol."

Best April Fool's prank of the year has to go to the guys at TeeVee.org, who have created a spot-on parody of ABC's obsession with reality. They've created a site that looks an awful lot like ABC's actual website-- and a schedule complete with reality shows that at first sound ridiculous, until you realize that there's probably some reality TV exec out there frantically taking notes! (My favorite is "The Cat.")

My six-year-old nephew (I know, that sounds so weird to say, but I looked it up-- according to the Webster's New World Dictionary, the son of your sister-in-law is indeed your nephew, so hey-- I've got a nephew!) probably thinks monsters live under his bed. I lie awake at night spooked that John Ashcroft might be peering through our windows, snickering while stroking his Dastardly Whiplash moustache.
I have good reason. An excellent wrap-up by L.A. blogger (and warblog) extraordinaire Matt Welch, spells out the Attorney General's plans for another "Patriot Act," called "The Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003." There are more than 100 new provisions, giving the government powers unheard of in modern U.S. history.
According to Welch, "Constitutional watchdog Nat Hentoff has called it 'the most radical government plan in our history to remove from Americans their liberties under the Bill of Rights.'" Click here for the details.

Is it me, or do you find it odd that even in a time of war, George W. still gets to bed by 10 p.m.? According to a story in today's USA Today, Bush also believes he was called by God to lead the nation at this time. That's scary enough in itself. But back to beddietime for W: I mean, I couldn't even fathom going to bed at 10 p.m., and I'm not leading a country at war!

Here's another homage to a certain feature in a certain weekly entertainment publication.

in: 205
5 minutes ago: 212
out: 213

Reprezent!

Favorite headline of the week from The Onion: NBC Moves War To Thursdays After Friends

Cop-out of the week
Warner Bros. is so worried that people might think Amanda Bynes supports peace that it has revised its print campaign for the upcoming movie "What a Girl Wants."
Apparently Warner Bros.' crack marketers have replaced a peace sign flashed by star Amanda Bynes in the ads with one where her arm is just down by her side. Never mind these ads were made months ago, long before the war, and simply promote the fish-out-of-water aspect of the movie (in the ad, she's wearing a t-shirt with the American flag, and she's flanked by two British royal guards).

Rate-A-Restaurant, #5 in a series

Restaurant: Pete's Cafe and Bar

Location: 400 S. Main Street, Downtown Los Angeles

Type of food: American Bistro

What we ordered: Prix fixe menu: Starter (Maria: mozarella and tomato salad, Mike: tomato basil soup), main course (herb crusted salmon for both), dessert (Maria: hazelnut gelato, Mike: bread pudding)

They stipulated: We'd be out by 9 because of a private party they were holding for a black tie crowd. A black tie crowd in the Historic Core of Downtown, one block from the homeless missions? Hey, the revitalization is happening!

High point: Eating in such a fine, classy restaurant in such an unlikely part of town got us excited again about downtown. The prix fixe menu was just $20, and we also downed some martinis. From our table you could see City Hall lit up at night. The setting is great-- the building's original floors, a high ceiling, beautiful framed art, dark wood paneling.

Low point: It's still in a sketchy part of downtown, albeit in the ground floor of one of our favorite loft buildings, the Santa Fe Building. But at the same time, there are security guards, so you don't feel too out of place.

Overall impression: Viva downtown!

Chance we will go back: It's on our list.