Frank Bruni offers an interesting review of Kobe Club, Jeffrey Chodorow’s latest New York effort, in the February 7th edition of the NY Times.  You may remember Chodorow from ‘The Restaurant,’ he was the financier who frequently butted heads with Rocco, and later sent him packing.

Kobe Club’s menu is centered around Kobe beef, a Japanese delicacy.  Kobe, the product of cows massaged with beer among other extravagancies, is very expensive, as Bruni notes, and dishes of the meat can approach $300.

Bruni also remarks on Kobe Club’s odd, haunting decor - 2,000 samurai swords, dangled blade-down, above diners, and intrusive leather seats.

The review?  Bruni butchers Kobe Club with a zero star (poor to satisfactory) review, along with jabs regarding Chodorow’s recent restaurant failures, gimmicky restaurant concepts, and overpriced food.

Surely Bruni is just making a point with a zero star review - no restaurant save this KFC/Tacobell truly warrants no stars.

And while it sound interesting, it is hard to imagine that a restaurant centered around Kobe beef could be that fulfilling - especially at the price point mentioned by Bruni.  With steaks seasoned with basic salt and pepper, the menu seems basic.

I haven’t tried Kobe Club of course - I’m stuck here in the rainy west coast.  But check out their site, and if you’ve been give some insight - is Bruni right?  or does Kobe have some redeeming value?

To continue the lovefest with Zojirushi, I picked up a Zojirushi Electrict Hot Water Dispensing Pot. Now, this might seem like an impractical purchase because you could either purchase a tea kettle or just throw your mug of water into the microwave for 2 minutes and achieve the same end result: hot water. My white boyfriend didn’t really seem to get how excited I was to get this hot water dispenser. But if you drink a lot of tea, eat a lot of instant ramen, or need to pre-heat the containers of your Zojirushi Mr. Bento, having a large quantity of 208 degree water that can easily be dispensed with the touch of a button is a godsend. This is certainly not going to be something that your friends will immediate drool over, or if you’re a guy, it won’t get you laid. It will impress a lot of people once they realize the hot water dispenser’s potential.

This particular model has three temperature settings (208°F/195°F/175°F), which is great if you’re a tea snob. Certain green teas and white teas need to be brewed in lower temperatures. Additionally, the dispenser goes through a dechlorination process at the beginning of each cycle, so it removes all of the chlorine that might be lurking in the water and altering the taste. Additionally, one of the cooler things about this dispenser is that it has a timer. You can set it to start warming the water at various time intervals, so if I want hot water waiting for me when I get up, I can set the timer to start boiling the water in, say, 6 hours. Thus, when I wake up, water’s all ready for me to make my thermos of tea to go to work.

I can’t stress enough how useful this appliance is. It sounds sort of lame, and my grandparents have one (which isn’t something I’m particularly enthused about. What do a 26 year old and a 97 year old have in common? They both heat their water with the same appliance!), but if you need hot water a lot, this is really great. The only cons I’ve found so far is that it’s yet another countertop appliance (so if you have limited countertop space, this could be problematic), it produces a fair amount of steam when boiling (make sure to keep it clear of overhead kitchen cabinets), and it takes about 23 minutes to reach a full boil (a bit longer than the normal drip coffee maker would take to brew you a cup of coffee). It’s a bit of an investment, but it’s worth the money.

Unlike the other contributors to Japadamus, I live in the greater Los Angeles area, otherwise known as “SoCal” or “the Southland” (if you watch local TV news). Hating on Los Angeles is a very easy task, and most inhabitants derive some pleasure in doing so. Plus, you get all kinds of national stereotypes about how superificial, expensive, vapid, polarized, and stupid Los Angeles and its residents are. When I moved here about five years ago, I did so with some expectations that life would be an odd combination of L.A. Story and Boyz n the Hood.

Okay, I do hate a lot of things about L.A. Traffic is annoying. Trendy stuff is ridiculously overpriced. The average Los Angelino has a body fat percentage that is lower than the average % of humidity in the desert. You need a car. Pedestrians are total dicks. I could go on and on.

But, in my time here, I’ve really begun to appreciate the variety that Los Angeles offers, and nobody really talks about it. So anyhow, here are some thoughts on what’s good here. It’s also a decent list of things to consider visiting if you’re in L.A.

• The food! You’ll be hard pressed to find any other city that has such a broad array of different cuisines and often for fairly cheap. Now, if you want a really gourmet $100+ meal, you might do better on average in San Francisco, but if you want to casually eat out with friends, nothing beats the restaurants in L.A. Mexican, Ethiopian, Japanese, authentic Chinese, Korean, Thai, Persian, Indian, etc. A quick scan of Chowhound’s Los Angeles Area board can give you a good idea about the tons of cheap, good ethnic food you’ll ge here. Also, one of my big complaints about San Francisco is that all restaurants seem to be closed by 10 pm, which puts a big dent on what you can eat. What if I want to eat at a venerable Jewish deli that’s open 24/7? How about a very dark pizzeria that looks like a perfect venue for a mob hit? Or a place that has 30+ different types of hot dog combinations? Or a place that has the audacity to pair chicken with waffles?
• The LaBrea Tar Pits. Japadamus finds it hilarious that I love museums so much, but if you enjoy natural science museums, you’ll be hard pressed to find a more interesting museum in Los Angeles. Fuck the Getty Museum and the Getty Villa with their subpar collections. (though, if you can get tickets to the Getty Villa, you can see the korous statue which may or may not be a forgery that the Getty paid several million dollars to acquire.)
• Free movie screenings. If you go to any place where there’s a crowd, you can find someone handing out tickets to advance screenings of movies. It’s a very Hollywood experience.
• Speaking of Hollywood experiences, you can also take your beer or gin and tonic into a movie theater with you at the Arclight. More places need to start allowing you to drink alcohol while watching a movie. The Arclight has assigned seating, Panna bottled water, and ushers who give a live introduction before each screening of a movie. It’s pricey for a movie, but it’s definitely cool and something you don’t get anywhere else.
• Ethnic enclaves. Okay, I admit I mainly stick to the Asian enclaves, but there are a ton of different ethnic neighborhoods here in the Los Angeles area. There’s a decent Thai town in Los Angeles and an even larger one in the Valley. The San Gabriel Valley is chock full of Chinese immigrants. South Bay has a good concentration of Japanese nationals (several Japanese corporations also have their U.S. headquaraters here). Koreatown is insanely huge and absolutely Korean. Westminster in Orange County has a high Vietnamese concentration.

So when you start hating on Los Angeles, just remember that there is a reason that people remain in this City of Angels.

This morning CBS cameras in New York uncovered a KFC/Taco Bell infested with rats.  Now, I love KFC (taco bell, not so much), but this stuff is really disgusting.  Corporate will be scrambling to take care of this mess.  Here’s the article and video.

A few notes:

• Who writes these reporter lines?  “The sign says ‘KFC we deliver,’ but the only thing they’re delivering today is health code violations.”  Give me a break.  Or how about the anchor, “even on child seats…” with the haunting deep voice?  Are these guys running a television station or a phone sex line?
• Since when does KFC or taco bell deliver?  And what are the minimums here?  I’m sure they don’t just go out with $3 worth of tacos.  We need this over here!
• Funny thing is this is a CBS undercover story.  They videotaped the rats from the outside in the early morning today.  How much do you want to bet hundreds of other news stations will be doing the same thing over the weekend?
• At least the health department responded quickly, closing the restaurant and sending over an inspector.
• How about the ‘ex-employee.’  Stopped working there because it was too dirty?  Sounds like guy who wants camera time.  At least they didn’t let him give five minutes worth of shout outs.

Update:  Here’s a youtube video that’s a bit easier to watch.  And man, there’s really a lot of rats.  And they’re HUGE!  They look like they’re having fun too, all scamptering around having a good time with their buddies.

Ever seen Uni at a sushi bar and decided against trying it because it looked strange? You shouldn’t! Uni is one of the greatest treasures found at sushi bars. Here’s some general background so the next time you’re confronted with an Uni buying decision, you’ll choose wisely.

Uni or Sea Urchin is a spiny ocean living creature that resembles a koosh ball (remember those?) The edible parts of the Uni are the gonads of the animal. The are held in the middle of animal under the shell.

They resemble tiny leaves, usually orange in color with a tiny bit of texture sort of like the surface of a tongue.

Actual feeling texture, Uni resembles a fully ripe avocado. Smooth and slightly melty.

Taste: I’d describe Uni as tasting like salt water with sort of a creamy richness. Some people describe it as being similar to foie gras, I personally disagree.

What to look for in good Uni; Color! Uni should look bright orange almost yellow in color. You should expect to see the Uni similar to the picture above, where the texture is clearly present. Older (less fresh) Uni becomes smoother and usually darker in appearance. I personally would avoid any Uni less than fresh since seafood products involving organs are highly susceptible to bacteria growth.

Where to purchase: Since I’m only really familiar with sushi restaurants in the bay area, I’ll list a few places that I implicitly trust with my Uni needs:

Zushi Puzzle: 1910 Lombard Street (at Buchanan St )San Francisco, CA 94123 (415) 931-9319: Uni here is a real treat. Chef Roger usually has several varies to choose from: Santa Barbara Coast, Japan, Oregon Coast. Ask him if the live Uni is available for the day. In this preparation they present you a cleaned Uni(shell and all) filled with ice. Eating Uni this way is the best.

[not an actual picture from Zushi Puzzle, just similar preparation]

Sushi Sams: 218 E 3rd Ave, San Mateo, CA 94401 (650) 344-0888 Sam usually carries Uni from the Santa Barbara Coast, sometimes he carries Japanese Uni. Sam usually sources his ingredients from private sources(exclusive) so expect top quality. Its best to order them here Gunkan style.

Koo: 408 Irving Street (at 5th Ave & 6th Ave) San Francisco, CA 94122 (415) 731-7077 Great quality no frills Uni. Order them Gunkan style or in their famous dish Spoonfuls of Happiness. Trust me, I’d visit this place just for the spoonfuls.

Kabuto Sushi: 5121 Geary Boulevard (at 15th Ave & 16th Ave) San Francisco, CA 94118 (415) 752-5652 Although a pale imitation of its former self (old owner) still a five star sushi place. Order it gunkan style here with quail egg.

Last night there was one of the better hockey fights of recent memory.  12 players involved, with 100 penalty minutes issued.

Plus, GOALIE FIGHT.  Ottawa goalie Ray Emery seemed to be clobbering Sabres goalie Biron pretty good - and he seemed to really be enjoying it too.  Even more astounding is that Emery got into it with Peters, a skater.  Emery held is own, but you don’t really see to many skater and goalie fights.  Goalies are at a big disadvantage due to their limited mobility. 

My guess is that either ottawa players thought that Emery could hold his own against a skater, or, no player wanted to man-up against peters, or, they don’t really like Emery and wouldn’t mind if he took a beating.

In any case, great game.  Went to a shootout which the sabres won.  Go Wings!

Here are a couple of gootube vids.  The first is raw game footage, the second is off of ESPN with Barry Melrose commentary.

There are a couple of articles that appeared in the Washington Post over the past couple of days that paint an interesting picture of the sushi world.  The first article here (via WTOP) describes a shortage of sushi chefs in the Washington area.  In a separate article here (via MSNBC), the post reports on a trend towards non-Japanese sushi chefs.

Ironically, these are two separate articles, but they fit together nicely.  There is, it seems, a true shortage of traditionally trained Japanese sushi chefs.  One hurdle for Japanese chefs is immigration - The previous restaurant I worked at shipped over chefs from Japan with an elaborate and expensive work visa - similar to brining in an Indian engineer from India. 

Another issue is training.  It takes many years to get traditionally trained as a sushi chef, and therefore there are fewer of these sushi elites to go around.  The son of the Oyaji owner, I believe his name is Hiro, was actually talking about his planned relocation to japan for training.  He mentioned that, as is the practice there, he will start as a very low level kitchen worker, gradually working up to a sushi chef role - a process that will require him to live in Japan for several years.

The end result of this environment is, as the post points out, so called Japanese restaurants with a mix of asian, hispanic and white chefs.  In the bay area, this problem is not as pronounced - there are still quite a few japanese here.  But I would say that most sushi restaurants have at least one non-Japanese asian working there, probably a korean.  Although I’ve seen very few that have whites or mexicans (except todai).

Obviously, I think traditionally trained Japanese chefs are preferable, although in my experience these chefs tend to be less willing to experiment with sushi.  There does seem to be a conflict here between innovation and tradition, and this is a line that traditionally trained Japanese chefs seems to be mostly unwilling to cross. 

The exception here is Sushi Sams.  Sam, a traditionally trained Japanese chef with lots of talent, offers a wide selection of fish that goes beyond the traditional sushi mold.  His menu often features delicately constructed butter fish, white king salmon, black cod, trout, sea bass and arctic chaff creations that have the traditional sushi form, but are nicely complemented with non-traditional sauces, salts, garnishes, and more.

Sams does not go as far as polluting his menu with gimmicky rolls - a true sell-out move.  But he does take a middle ground with his inventive nigiris and broad fish selection.

In any case, I am fine with a korean chef here or there, but I will walk out and leave any sushi bar with a white or mexican chef.  Does that make me racist?  well so be it. 

The rationale here is that it is very unlikely that a white or mexican sushi chef was traditionally trained.  Sure, that is a stereotype, but I’m not freeing slaves here, I’m trying to eat a meal. 

Plus, well-trained Japanese chefs are not impossible to find, they are just expensive to hire (and keep).  So, when I’m presented with a sushi bar with white or mexican chefs, I look at that as a cash saving move that was made at the sacrifice of authenticity and ultimately food quality.

I think the presence or absence of traditionally trained Japanese chefs will really start to be a differentiator as sushi restaurants proliferate.  Although I would say most diners are not very knowledgeable about sushi, I would suggest that as more and more sushi bars sprout up, the difference between cheap gimmicky joints and traditional, well run places will be very evident.

News.com.au has a decent article on yellow fin tuna.  It contains recipies for sushi, which are soso, and an interesting thai tuna fish cake - that’s a new one.  check it out here.

Recall my posting not to long ago (excuse the gratuitous ASCII art, I was having a “moment”) where I called out MTV’s show Maui fever as being a total fraud. Anthony of “Aloha Update” posted an interesting data point today regarding the show. Anthony supposedly spoke to an “insider” on the show who indeed confirmed that all the cast members with the exception of one person, moved to Maui last year. Hmm strange coincidence huh? I just wish the rest of America cares enough about respecting culture and supports the petition to get it canceled. Anyway I’m not too worried, the show like most of MTV’s content is ephemeral and it will soon become last year’s news.

Who are the Osbournes?

I read this interesting press release today stating that KFC’s (aka Kentucky Fried Chicken) president wrote a letter to Pope Benedict XVI asking for his blessing in serving the Fish Snacker sandwich to Catholics observing Lent.

I think I’m genuinely torn about this issue. On its face I guess its alright for any company to ask for a special blessing if their menu item may appeal a certain group of worshipers. Although I don’t believe the actions of KFC in case was entirely altruistic. It was my impression from the press release that KFC was going through this public process just to draw attention to their new sandwich. I guess this issue will be left up to Catholics to decide if this menu item truly fits into the ideals of Lent. I’m mean seriously, we’re talking about a fish sandwich that was deep fried in chicken grease and vegetable oil.

• I HATE how PayPal always makes your default payment source your bank account.  Then, even when you change it to Credit Card, it asks you if you’re sure.  I mean really, give people the option to set a default.  Right now they’re basically hoping that some people will forget to change their funding source (i’ve done that many times), and then get stuck paying from their bank account.  PayPal is just doing this to save a few cents for transaction fees, but it’s a TRUE B.S. move in my opinion.  The Ebay and PayPal monopoly needs to get broken up.
• Hillary will not admit that her vote on Iraq was a mistake.  She keeps using the ‘I was tricked’ angle.  This is quickly turning out to be a baaaad move.  Everyone knows her vote on Iraq was a mistake, and the other candidates are differentiating themselves by playing the ‘I’m able to admit my mistakes’ angle.  Meanwhile Hillary appears stubborn and arrogant with her continued inability to just admit her mistake - and even audience members straight out call her on this.  I heard some guy don’t a Q&A session with Hillary, he was like, “just admit it, please, save your campaign.”  Who is running this campaign anyway?  How could Bill do so well, and Hillary so poorly?  Bu La’ia ran a better campaign and he wanted to give back an entire state to native americans.  Oh yeah, and he made his speeches with a boogie board attached to his foot.
• Bush must be banging his head on the wall.  He wasted the good war on Iraq.  Now, when the real war opportunity comes up with Iran, his hands are tied.  He has less mobility in congress than ted kennedy and has a significant portion of our troops stuck in Iraq, making it inconceivable that he will even be able to get close to Iran.  Meanwhile Ahmadinejad (can we get nicknames for world leaders like we do for sports stars?  I mean, really, how often do I have to type Ahmadinejad.  Any suggestions?  A-hova?  A-money? Madi?  something, please!) is flaunting his nuclear aspirations in front of the U.S. like he’s Justin and Scarlett and we’re Cameron Diaz.
• Drudge is giving some attention to the ‘mayhem’ in Las Vegas during the NBA All-Star weekend.  Sportsguy Bill Simmons has a nice recap of the action as well. 
• I think we just have to realize here that players in the NBA, NFL, and rappers for that matter (catch that Pacman Jones news w/ Nelly) are really not too far removed from a life of gangsterdom.  In a lot of cases, they have a foot in both worlds.  Just like you can’t turn a ho into a housewife, you can’t turn a gangster into a gentleman.
• And yes, race is a big issue here.  But really race in this case is just a proxy for class, and when you have a bunch of folks that live a working-class gangster lifestyle converging on a single city where hey, booze runs freely, strip clubs abound, and people walk around with several g’s in their pockets, what else can you expect?
• What to do?  Really this is a longstanding social problem that happened to get press because it involves famous athletes.  Yes, commissioners need to crack down on players with off-field activities, but All Star NBA Vegas Mayhems happen all the time in poorer neighborhoods.  It just so happened that this weekend, all of this violence was on display in Vegas - and not so easy to sweep under the carpet.
• By the way, in that above link from deadspin, did you catch this:  “Haynes [a.k.a. Nelly] had tossed hundreds of $1 bills on the stripper stage, an action known in street slang as “making it rain,” and Jones [PacMan Jones] joined in.”  Absolutely love it.  never even knew there was a term for that.  The strange part is I guess this was just for effect, and Nelly and Jones wanted their money back (kind of a cheap move if you ask me).  But like strippers sometimes do, they started picking up the money, and PacMan Jones got angry.  Just a bizarre series of events that ended up creating a huge melee, gun shots, and a warrant for Jones.
• I generally think Chomsky’s stuff about the U.S. being terrorists is just a bunch of hippie BS, but in this case, I agree with him.  Absolutely disgusting.

• BREAKNING NEWS ALERT FROM CNN.COM - what could it be?  A loosening in tensions with Iran?  A massive suicide bomb in Iraq?  Ariel Sharon awakens from coma?  Nope - Anna Nicole Smith’s infant daughter is going to get her body.  Now is it just me, or does the change of possession of former playboy model corpses not really warrant a Breaking News alert?  CNN is really turning into US Weekly.

• On a similar topic, the rotting corpse of Britney’s career seems ready to be shipped, for a third time in recent days, back to rehab.  Prior to this, Britney apparently went to Kevin’s house and attacked his car with an umbrella (GREAT pics and video).  Britney continues to widen lead over Tim Hardaway for the Michael Jackson Award for quickest demise of a career.

Since we have somewhat of a resolution in the Anna Nicole trial, its time to bask in the comments from all those unemployed bloggers out there…get a fucking job!

Shut The F*ck up About The Dead Fat B*tch

Too Much to Too Little

I am - Live Bloggin’ The Anna Nicole Verdict of the Day

How weird was that judge and his speeches? Pundits are commenting that he really stepped outside his responsibilities with his constant lambasting from the bench. Oh well, check out a video of him crying at TMZ:

Associated Press reported today that a blogger in Egypt was thrown in jail for speaking ill about Islam.

He was sentenced for three years for “insulting Islam and the prophet and inciting sectarian strife and another year for insulting President Hosni Mubarak.”

Just something to think about when all you hippies decide to diss Bush and bash the United States. Try being a hippie in Egypt, you wouldn’t even exist!

With a lot of time on my hands lately I’ve been getting caught up on the Sopranos. If you have been living under a rock, Sopranos is the hit television show from HBO. The basic plot of the show focuses around an organized crime family and the trials and tribulation involved in running a family AND a crime organization.

The most interesting part of this show I find is the normalcy involved in the day to day lives of the characters in the show. Tony Soprano, the main character in the show is head of a New Jersey crime family. Although he is ruthless and involved in unscrupulous activity, he has the same daily problems as you and I. Tony has a dysfunctional family, medical problems, insecurities and emotional needs. The show draws you in by showing weaknesses in a character which appears almost king-like to everyone around him. The struggle to balance Tony’s professional and personal problems threatens to unravel him on a daily basis. We watch Tony deal with these problems and grow as a leader and a father.

The show is incredible in the way it delicately balances the mundane with the sensational. One minute you see Tony ordering a murder on a rival, the next minute you see him wondering how to get his son more interested in school. The show is genius in the way the writing is able to accurately portray simple activities like golfing and turn it into a stepping stone for folly.

If you haven’t already taken a minute to pick up the DVD box set of the earlier seasons, do it today! This collection is going down in history as one of the greatest shows of all time.

Hillary Clinton doesn’t like people taking about her behind her back.  Or in the press.  And if that happens, she’ll get her people to talk to your people - yeah, that’s right.  After second period behind the band building - it’s on.

I wish - but come’on Hillary.  I mean, we need you to preserve your image in case Barack loses.  Sending your people out to make statements against Obama due to statements from Geffen is lame.  This isn’t Mean Girls, it’s 2008 Democratic Primary - ever see it? 

Let’s get a quick recap.  David Geffen talked some smack.  “Everybody in politics lies,” he said, “but they” referring to the Clintons, “do it with such ease it’s troubling.”  More ironic is that Geffen used to be one of the Clinton’s largest supporters - a fact that is not lost on either camp.

In response, Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson suggested that “If Senator Obama is indeed sincere about his repeated claims to change the tone of our politics, he should immediately denounce those [Geffen’s] remarks, remove Mr. Geffen from his campaign, and return his money.”

Waaaaiiitttt.  Obama?  How did he get into the mix…I thought it was Geffen’s comment.  Or are all comments from Hollywood producers automatically proxied through the mouth of a candidate.  Certainly Obama can be responsible for all of his campaign contributors, I mean, I’m a contributor, and I like 4′8″ girls with hello kitty purses with the body of an 8 year old boy, apparently - lucky Hillary didn’t catch on to that one.

Obama in response, said, “look, I’m trying to be the first black president in the history of America, there is now way I’m also going to be able to control the Hollywood jews.” 

Ok, no, he didn’t say that.  But really, Clinton should keep things that are between her and Geffen, between her and Geffen.  And calling the Clintons on lying?  I mean, this isn’t new ground here Hillary - I mean, that other Clinton, he was impeached right?  Blow jobs in the oval office?  Ring a bell?  Impeached?  Lying?  Let’s not get all indignant here.

And give back Geffen’s money?  Oh yes, how convenient for the Clintons.  How about everyone of Obama’s supporters who don’t happen to trust the Clintons take back their donations.  Does that suit you Hillary?  Would that make it easier?  Anyone else you would like Obama to silence?  Perhaps there are a few bloggers he can take care of?  Maybe break Nick Van Exel’s knee caps due to his political affiliation?

No, no, no.  It’s starting to seem like the Clinton camp was so ill prepared for Obama that they are struggling to keep their heads above water.  Clinton’s attacks are becoming juvenile - trying to tie the comments of a hollywood executive to a presidential candidate are pathetic. 

And let’s be clear, the Clintons can be insulted by many things - but congress has decided, with little gray area, that Bill is a liar.  So Geffen’s comments at the very least are not far off track.

In any case, Obama’s team shot back, “We aren’t going to get in the middle of a disagreement between the Clintons and someone who was once one of their biggest supporters. It is ironic that the Clintons had no problem with David Geffen when was raising them $18 million and sleeping at their invitation in the Lincoln bedroom. It is also ironic that Senator Clinton lavished praise on Monday and is fully willing to accept today the support of South Carolina State Sen. Robert Ford, who said if Barack Obama were to win the nomination, he would drag down the rest of the Democratic Party because he’s black.”

Booyah.

So Hillary, let’s save some dignity for the rest of the year, mmmkay?  Let’s not blow it all in one place - maybe take that lesson from your husband.  Remember, you are a woman and we don’t want it to seem like you go off crying whenever someone takes a shot at you.  Keep in mind that some people will not like you, and some people will.  That’s their choice, Barack isn’t holding a gun to their heads…But when people start talking smack you don’t have to call the plastics together - if you have a problem with Geffen, take a few shots at Norbit.  Or how about Over the Hedge, that’s a good starter target for you.