My Valentine’s Day, as summed up by our honey bear brick toast at Milk and Honey: fun and delicious. As the saying goes, “happy wife, happy life.”
Author: Ruel
Day 44: Faux Meat Friday
Inside a Faux Carnitas Burrito
While I doubt I’ll ever become a strict vegan or vegetarian, as the years pass I’ve become less of a carnivore. Sometimes it’s a conscious, health-based decision at mealtime, but mostly I crave less meat these days. Have my taste buds evolved? Am I paying more attention to my diet? Or am I feeling guilty about all of the delicious animals I’ve consumed in my lifetime? Whatever the case may be, the fact remains that I’m consuming less meat and not missing it at all.
The excellent vegan grocery Viva La Vegan (locations in Rancho Cucamonga and Santa Monica) has done a lot to change my perception of non-animal food. From the meat alternatives to the vegan versions of long-standing favorites, Viva La Vegan offers something for all tastes. I can’t get enough of their hot-food counter, where they serve a faux carnitas made from jackfruit. Yes, jackfruit! Every time I order it (either in a Chipotle-style burrito or bowl, with vegan beans, rice, veggies, and salsa), I’m amazed at how close the taste is to real carnitas. With food like this, I’m able to enjoy Meatless Monday any day of the week.
(Read my Yelp review of the Rancho Cucamonga location here)
Day 43: Better Call Saul
Better Call Saul on AMC
The much-anticipated premiere of Better Call Saul was this weekend and based on the reviews and social media reaction, it’s lived up to the hype. I thought the two-episode debut was solid and there were some nice tie-ins with Breaking Bad. It’s great seeing Saul in his pre-Goodman days as Jimmy McGill, a down-on-his-luck ambulance chaser. Like Walter White, we’re going to see one man’s transformation; unlike Walter White, we know exactly what Jimmy/Saul is going to become.
I have mixed feelings, though: not about the show itself, but of my viewing habits. Just like The Walking Dead (which also debuted the second half of season five this weekend), I like to get my television fix in two- or three-episode chunks instead of one-episode bites. Should I risk seeing spoilers on social media, just so I can stockpile a few episodes to watch in a few weeks?
It’s too bad that all shows can’t be released in a binge-friendly format like House of Cards.
Day 42: Ghost Month
Din Tai Fung’s famous xiaolongbao
I finished my third book of 2015 tonight, the entertaining Ghost Month by Ed Lin. I’ll have my Goodreads review posted later tonight or tomorrow and re-post the link here. It’s a fun read, a murder mystery set in a night market in Taipei. While the book falters a bit, the characters in Ghost Month are likable enough that I’d recommend reading it. Lin certainly knows his food, with fantastic passages on the various foods in the market and I immediately took a liking to Ghost Month when chapter 2 featured a visit to Din Tai Fung, home of my favorite xiaolongbao.
Pictured above: the xiaolongbao (“XLBs”) from Din Tai Fung in Arcadia, CA. Locations are being added throughout Southern California, so it’ll save you a trip to Taiwan.
Day 41: Fresh Off The Air
Fresh Off The Air 2/10/15
This made my night: getting two of my social media heroes to laugh at one of my tweets. My wife was impressed!
Jenny Yang is a brilliant comedian based in L.A. and Phil Yu is the genius behind Angry Asian Man. I’ve been following both for a while; their thoughts on Asian American culture are smart, funny, and a welcome sight on my Twitter feed.
Tonight, they hosted a live chat after the two new episodes of Fresh Off The Boat. It was fun listening to them re-hash the plots and going over favorite moments. Viewers were encouraged to tweet #FreshOffTheAir and at the end of the show, Jenny said my name (correctly, thank you!) and read my tweet. I’m glad my ’90s-era joke was met with such enthusiasm.
I’ll write more someday about how great it is to see so many Asian Americans in the media, from youtube to network television. For now, I’m going to re-watch my 5 seconds of Internet fame on my laptop while pretending to search for things to do on Valentine’s Day.
(If the video isn’t embedded below, click on the link and go to the 38:00 mark.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIMMRohe_kg
Day 40: 40 Days, 40 Blogs
Star Wars: The Last Command by Timothy Zahn
So far, so good. I’ve stayed true to my Quest to Blog Every Day in 2015, this being my 40th post in the first 40 days of the year. I’m currently on pace to meet my goal.
Quick updates on my other goals this year:
- 100 reviews written on Yelp: 11 reviews finished. On pace.
- 26 books read on Goodreads: 2 books finished. Reading two books now (one of them pictured above). On pace.
- 100 movies seen on the AFI 100 Greatest American Film list. Only 3 movies finished, when I was hoping to have knocked off 10 already. Off pace.
- Break 100 on the golf course. Unfortunately, I’ve only had time to play a par-3 and an executive course. Breaking 100 on those doesn’t count, so let’s say I’m off pace.
It’s been a good 40-day stretch of blogging. As they say, I’m still finding my voice, but I have a few surprises planned for future entries. Here’s to the next 40 days of blogging. Cheers!
Day 39: Podcasts I’m Listening to Now
Stephen Colbert, courtesy of slate.com
This morning I saw the news item about Adnan Syed and how a Maryland court will now hear an appeal for his case. Syed was the subject of the first season of Serial, the podcast released last October that became a huge hit. I loved the Serial and after binge-listening to Syed’s case (he’d been convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend before receiving a life sentence), I wasn’t sure of his guilt or innocence, but I felt that the State did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he was guilty. He couldn’t have been locked up based on the evidence given, could he?
Well, thanks to the success of Serial, his case could be re-opened. It’s another twist to a fascinating story, a tale that was so expertly presented by Sarah Koenig during the 12-episode first season.
After I had finished that brilliant first season, I decided I needed more podcasts for driving or working out, since I usually listened to music for both. I did a quick Google search that led me to two fantastic podcasts: Soul Music and Working. I recommend either of them for your next podcast binge session.
1. Over on the BBC website, Soul Music offers “the stories behind pieces of music with a powerful emotional impact.” Listen to the episode about the song “Don’t Leave Me This Way,” with its touching and poignant anecdotes. The story about Teddy Pendergrass is heartbreaking.
2. Slate’s Working is a podcast about work. For each episode, one person discusses a typical day at their job. Whether it’s a lexicographer explaining the process of defining words for the Merriam-Webster dictionary or Stephen Colbert going over a typical day at The Colbert Report, the results are always informative and intriguing.
Day 38: Shane
Shane poster from IMDB
(This is part of my ongoing series on my quest to watch all 100 of AFI’s Greatest American Films of All Time)
45. Shane
From the opening scene I wished I could’ve seen Shane on the big screen. Shot in Technicolor, the film looks gorgeous from beginning to end and wound up winning an Academy Award for Cinematography for its beautiful panoramic and lush views of Wyoming.
Aside from the cinematography, I liked Shane, but didn’t love it. Perhaps if I had seen it upon its initial release, I would’ve enjoyed it. But, over 50 years later, it didn’t pack the punch that I’m sure it had in 1950s. Alan Ladd is good as Shane, the handsome stranger who rides into town, trying to leave his gunslinging ways behind him. The star of the movie for me, though, was Van Hefln as Joe Starrett, the hard-working homesteader fighting for his family. How interesting it would have been had Ladd and Heflin swtiched parts. Also noteworthy was Jack Palance (credited as Walter Jack Palance), who was awesome as the gunslinger Wilson; he’s menacing and a strong presence whenever he’s given screen time
The character of Starrett’s son Little Joe nearly ruined the film for me. He’s an annoying kid in an Annakin-Skywalker-in-Episode-I kind of way. Other reviews I’ve read talk about Little Joe being the audience’s way into the story; he represents the fresh set of eyes for this straight-forward Western. I thought he was a whiny brat at times.
The action scenes were terrific. Given the period it was released in, I’m sure audiences were thrilled by Shane. For me, this was a solid Western, but one in which its age is beginning to show.
My rating: 3 out of 5 stars.
Day 36: Fresh Off The Boat
Fresh Off The Boat
ABC’s Fresh Off The Boat premiered last night and #FreshOffTheBoat trended on Twitter in Los Angeles and New York. From what I read, there was a lot of positive response, but I’m waiting to see how FOTB fares over the upcoming weeks. This was a huge moment for Asian Americans since there hasn’t been a show with an all-Asian-American cast since 1994, when Margaret Cho’s All-American Girl debuted on the same network. My fingers are crossed in hopes that the comedy sustains its opening-night momentum.
I’ve followed the FOTB story for a few months, as creator Eddie Huang (he wrote the autobiography that the show is based on) ripped ABC for watering down and de-politicizing the source material. It fascinated me that Huang would sabotage his own show before the pilot had even aired and I worried that studio executives were doing him like they did Cho two decades ago.
Thankfully, the first two episodes weren’t bad at all. The actor that plays the young Eddie is terrific and all of the other actors were solid. I’m eager to see how the characters develop and I hope that ABC gives FOTB enough time to find itself. It’s a real shame that it’s taken 20 years for a show about, and starring, Asian Americans to reappear on the airwaves, but it’d be an even bigger shame if it wasn’t given a chance. And while I’m not expecting mainstream America to make FOTB the next Seinfeld, I am expecting other Asian-American-based shows to appear sooner than 20 years from now. At the very least, I’ll settle for a Walking Dead spin-off featuring Glenn called “I’m Korean, Not Chinese.”