Author: Ruel

Day 305: Street Food Cinema

Shaun of the Dead

Shaun of the Dead

A few years ago my wife and I experienced our first Street Food Cinema in Hollywood. It’s a terrific event of live music, food trucks, and a classic movie shown outdoors in different parts of Los Angeles. I love the picnic atmosphere; it’s family friendly with a laid-back  vibe.

For Halloween last night, my wife scored tickets to the final event of the season at Exposition Park for one of my favorite movies: Shaun of the Dead. Since we’d already dressed as zombies this year, we decided to do a DC/Marvel crossover with my wife going as Spidergirl and myself as Clark Kent-changing-into-Superman (an easy costume for me since I already have the eyeglasses).

We arrived in time for the last song of the band, found a spot near the front to lay down our picnic blanket and beach chairs, then did a quick scan of the food trucks before deciding on our dinner: shish kebabs for my wife and a shrimp po boy and chicken/sausage/corn bisque for me. The food was delicious and we cracked open a bottle of a wonderful wine for the movie.

I was surprised that more people weren’t dressed as zombies or the characters from the movie, but there were some terrific costumes. I particularly liked the McDonald’s Hamburglar I was in line with for dinner.

The crowd seemed to enjoy the film as much as I always do. Shaun of the Dead is such a smart, funny movie, brilliantly versed in its zombie cliches as it pokes fun of itself and the genre. The weather was perfect last night and I couldn’t have asked for a better way to spend Halloween.

Day 303: Supergirl

Supergirl

Supergirl

What a great time to be a comic-book fan. It feels like there’s a constant supply of movies and TV shows featuring superheroes. Whether it’s Daredevil on Netflix or Arrow on the CW, the Avengers or Batman on the big screen, this has to be the Golden Age of comic book superheroes on the screen.

We had a minor comic book character like Ant-Man headlining a big-budget summer blockbuster and it was terrific. And as long as there’s money to be made, the studios will continue making this type of entertainment.

My question is, when does the bubble burst?

There have been some flops (John Carter, anyone?), but that hasn’t stopped Hollywood from bankrolling comic book superheroes. This is a good thing because Supergirl made it to the small screen this week.

I never read the Supergirl comic book. Or saw the 80s adaptation. But the pilot for the show was terrific: fast-paced, comic-booky, family-friendly, action-packed, and with enough plot to make me want to continue watching. And I loved the cameos from Superman-related actors as well as the reimagined Jimmy “James” Olson.

My wife’s not a big comic book fan or sci-fi fan, but she enjoyed Supergirl as much as I did. I know it’s only the first episode, so we’ll see how the rest of the season plays out, but so far I’m impressed.

Day 302: Rewatchable

Most Rewatchable Movie of All Time? Star Wars.

Most Rewatchable Movie of All Time? Star Wars.

After I posted my progress on my 2015 Goals list yesterday, I thought about why I haven’t been motivated to complete my goal of watching all 100 of AFI’s Greatest Films. I love watching movies and a lot of those on that list are classics. I should’ve been able to finish that list with no problem, right?

Well, I’ve tried to watch a few of them and either fall asleep or start doing something else. By the time I wake up or focus my attention back on the film, I’ve missed enough that I’d have to start over, so I just end up shutting it off.

Perhaps I should revise my goal to watch all of FiveThirtyEight’s 25 Most Rewatchable Movies of All Time. I’ve seen 24 of the 25 (Pride & Prejudice being the one I haven’t seen), so it’d be no sweat.

Of course, I’d probably get stuck on No. 1. Maybe I should just watch that 25 times? I’d reach that goal in no time.

Day 301: Goal Update

The Galaxy's Dos Santos and Gerrard.

The Galaxy’s Dos Santos and Gerrard.

Unfortunately, there will be no more goals scored by the LA Galaxy this season. The #RaceForSeis is over. Tonight’s knockout playoff game was a sloppy mess against the Seattle Sounders. The Galaxy battled back early twice, but couldn’t generate much offense after the Sounders scored the go-ahead goal in the second half.

We had tickets to the Western Conference Finals, hoping the Galaxy would shake off its late-season funk. They looked shaky and the hoopla surrounding Gerrard and Dos Santos was all for nothing.

One good bit of news today, though: I reached my reading goal!

Here’s my updated list of goals for the year, including my Quest to Blog Every Day in 2015:

  1. Write 100 reviews on Yelp.
  2. Read 26 books and review them on Goodreads.
  3. Break 100 on the golf course.
  4. Watch all of the AFI 100 Greatest American Films of All Time.
  5. Play 10 new board games.

 

Day 300: The Walking (Maybe) Dead

The Walking Dead Season 6.

The Walking Dead Season 6.

If you haven’t watched Episode 3  of Season 6 (“Thank You”) of The Walking Dead yet, skip this post.

*SPOILER ALERT*

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My favorite character is dead. Maybe.

From pizza delivery kid to Rick’s right-hand man, I’ve rooted for Glenn since he appeared and loved how his character grew throughout the show. While Rick has slowly lost his humanity, Glenn has never lost his.

Nobody would have blamed Glenn for killing Nicholas in the woods, yet he gave the man a chance to redeem himself. It was this good deed that might have cost him his life.

It sure looked like Glenn was ripped apart by zombies after Nicholas offed himself. It was a terrible way to go as the horde of walkers closed in on them, Nicholas committed suicide, and his body fell into Glenn, causing them to tumble into the waiting zombies.

There are theories that Glenn isn’t dead, though. I haven’t read the comic books, so I’m not sure if that plays into this. One theory explains how he is actually underneath Nicholas, who is the one getting torn to pieces, while another theory points to the fact that actor Steven Yuen didn’t show up on the Talking Dead, the after-show where the actors who have been killed chat about their work on the series.

I’m open to believing that second theory. The first could be plausible, too, with some nifty camera work. I didn’t read anything about a dream sequence, but that might be another way to explain it since Nicholas was having those weird zone-outs prior to killing himself. Maybe Glenn woke up Nicholas before he put the gun to his head?

As I typed that last paragraph I realized dream sequence would be a pretty lame cop-out. The show is too smart for that. I hope.

Whatever the answer is, I expect most of the main characters to die eventually. It’s what makes the Walking Dead so great: nobody’s untouchable.

Note: I haven’t looked it up yet, but wasn’t the music in this episode reminiscent of the classic Romero movies? If the zombie apocalypse ever hits, you can bet the sound of synthesizers will be playing somewhere.

Day 299: Taste of Santa Barbara

The Habit's Charburger, Santa Barbara Style.

The Habit’s Charburger, Santa Barbara Style (double charburger served on toasted sourdough with avocado).

When I was a student at UC Santa Barbara, In-N-Out had yet to invade the area. Thankfully, The Habit was around to take care of my hamburger cravings. So was Cal Taco, another fast-food joint that served a charburger that tasted like The Habit’s signature burger. I’m not sure which came first, but The Habit was the restaurant that went on to expand locally and then nationally.

The original Habit was located a few miles from UCSB and students and locals love eating there. The charburgers were consistently delicious and made for a filling lunch or dinner. Rumor has it that the original restaurant still serves its delicious chili as an off-menu item. I used to devour their chili cheese fries on a regular basis. Not surprisingly, I weighed more back then.

While I don’t think The Habit has taken the throne of best fast-food burger from In-N-Out, they’re up there. I definitely prefer them over Six Guys and other contenders for In-N-Out’s best burger crown.

It’s nice having more Habits pop up around Southern California, though, since I can now enjoy a taste of Santa Barbara closer to home.

Day 298: Weekend Wrap-Up

Lakers' Julius Randle

Lakers’ Julius Randle

Random thoughts on a fun weekend:

  1. Drafted my fantasy basketball team last night. The league I’m in started back in 2000, but we stopped for a few years. Like fantasy baseball, the hoops game doesn’t lend itself well to the weekly fantasy format. Football will always be king when it comes to make-believe teams.
  2. The fantasy basketball draft itself was a lot of fun, as always. The core group of the league has been together for years, so it’s basically an annual family reunion: we eat, eat, and eat again while drafting our teams.
  3. I didn’t draft a Laker, but I’m already considering working a trade for Julius Randle. Funny that I ended up with Draymond Green, the guy Randle claimed, “can’t guard me.”
  4. After the draft we played poker, which is something I haven’t done in a while. I miss it, but the games are tougher to put together nowadays. My buddy and I got involved in the first big hand of the night and our analysis of how we played it became the running joke of the night.
  5. On the TV while we were playing poker was the replay of Gennady Golovkin’s last win. Poker and prizefighting: the perfect guys’ night out while staying in.
  6. I need Carson Palmer to play well for both of my fantasy football teams to win. This is the kind of season I’ve had: I chose Palmer over Andrew Luck and Drew Brees in both of my leagues.
  7. The Raiders went on the road and beat the Chargers! It’s been awhile since I’ve been able to say this. With three victories, my favorite NFL team has already equaled its win total from last season. Wow.
  8. Manny Pacquiao announced that his next fight would be his last. No matter who he fights, I think it’s safe to say that he’ll do better pay-per-view business than the Mayweather-Berto dud.

Day 296: Avatar

Ruel slays the dragon.

Ruel slays the dragon.

I wanted to give a shout-out to Derek of iheartprintandplay.com, the artist responsible for my avatar shown above. It’s how I’m identified at islaythedragon.com, where I write a weekly board game news column, and I’m starting to use it throughout my social media profiles.

My wife got a kick out of the image and I loved how it incorporated my lifelong love of Star Wars and my recent obsession with bow ties.

Check out Derek’s website for a lot of cool print-and-play downloads for your role-playing and board-gaming needs. You can also find him on Twitter and Facebook.

Thanks again, Derek!