A few months ago, Absolut Vodka released an interesting new flavor - Absolut New Orleans.  Now I’m not really a big fan of mass produced flavored vodka - lots of times there’s just way too much syrup which just masks a horrible, harsh vodka.  But I have to say, Absolut New Orleans is a definite winner.

The vodka has an interesting flavor of mango and pepper.  The mango flavor is quite accurate, and not overly sweet.  You get the essence of mango with a slight hint of pepper, and this combination gives the vodka a nice crisp feeling as it goes down…absolutely perfect if you store the bottle in the freezer for a while.

I’ve never been to New Orleans, and I don’t really know how mango and pepper fit into the city’s culture, but this was definitely a good choice.  Luckily Absolut didn’t stick with their first choice for a New Orleans flavor, rotting black corpse.

I told that joke to TJFKAK today, and I swear, it will never get old.  Like, what if each bottle had a finger in it or something.  It’d be like baseball cards.  Look ma, I got an Otis Redding!  And I know that Otis Redding didn’t die in Katrina, but I couldn’t think of another famous New Orleans black guy who did.  I even Googled it…and nothing.

Anyway, I got this bottle a month ago without knowing that this is actually a limited release.  Absolut made only 35,000 cases of the stuff, so pick one up before it’s too late.

As mentioned, the iPhone is awesome but the stock white Apple headsets are absolute shit.  The sound quality is poor, they fit poorly in your ear and let in lots of ambient noise, and are generally boring and inflexible.

There have been a handful of iPhone headsets released so far, but really I have been surprised by the lack of quality iPhone accessories.  Really, there are only a couple of unique features that a decent iPhone headset must have.  For one, they must actually fit in the iPhone - most headsets do not.  Secondly, they must have a mic for phone calls, as well as a button for call answering, play/pause and fast forwarding.  These features are central to the iPhone itself really, and included in the stock Apple iPhone headsets.

I’ve been looking around for a decent set of headphones for a while, and it’s been very very frustrating.  Take for example, V-Moda headsets that Apple sells in its stores for a cool $100.  Current models don’t even have an answer/play/pause button, a feature of even the stock headset…although a model with this feature, called the V-Moda Nero should be available soon.  Still, I’ve used the V-Modas for a short time, and they’re not worth the money.

I got a cheap pair of iPhone headsets off ebay for $10, and those broke in a day.  Keep in mind that you’ll use these day in and day out, so they have to be very durable.

After another set of disappointing off-brand headsets, I finally settled on the Rivet headsets.  These have all the requisite features, and also have kind of a cool around neck design.  This is hard to explain, but you wear them around your neck, and the earphone cords come up to your ears from the back.  The mic sits in front, so the setup is mostly unobtrusive, if a bit complex.

The Rivets also have an in-ear design that blocks ambient noise and has decent quality sound.  They also have a durable protected cord that seems pretty high quality.

Best of all, they’re only $20 or so, including shipping.  Stock iPhone headsets go for $30 - so they’re quite a steal.  iPhone users, check them out.  I’ve been through a bunch of these headsets, and the Rivets are actually very decent, especially considering their low price.

Below is a link to Amazon - great price, quick shipping.

I mentioned last week that I got HD.  Well, I finally put my money down and subscribed to Howard Stern TV on Demand, as well.  It’s actually pretty easy to add services to your comcast account…which is a bad thing because they always try and sell you all these additional packages.  But I figure since I steal Howard’s show four days a week off of bittorrent I should at least pony up for the TV show.

And at $11 a month, it’s totally worth it.

It’s hard to describe, but Howard TV fills that ‘I wish I could have seen that’ urge that you get constantly when listening to the show.  There are weekly recaps of the show which are absolutely indispensable.  You see stars, games, and all sorts of ridiculous shit going on.

They also have specials on certain shows…like the queefing contest.  I have to say, I have NEVER seen anything like this before…and the great thing is if I had gone out and looked for a queefer online I would have felt bad about myself…but on Howard TV it’s just part of the show.

Another awesome episode was the replay of the September 11, 2001 show.  Seeing the cast’s reaction to the first plane hitting the WTC, then the second, then the pentagon, then the towers falling down…it was really engaging.  it was interesting too, because Howard’s reaction was of the ‘just nuke ‘em’ variety, and especially now with the war in Iraq and whatnot, it’s illuminating to kind of go back in time and re-experience 9/11.

You also get a lot of gay shit.  And on one hand, it’s super funny.  But on the other, I’m basically there watching dicks and balls.  Like one bit was where sal had to kiss Richard’s taint to get Artie on the scale.  Howard TV shows everything…really too much.  But it was hilarious.  You also see Sal painting Richard’s face indian style with his penis.  Gay right?  Especially when Sal actually stuck his penis, for a second, into Richard’s mouth.

It was hard to watch.  But it has that Jackass factor that makes it impossible to turn away.  Especially after hearing all this shit on the radio.

At least the gayness is contrasted with a lot of great T&A.  I am in love with Valentina Vaughn.  Her voice on the radio was jaw dropping…and that was just her voice!  On the sybian…my god.

Anyway, I know there are a few Howard fans out there, and I’ve been getting into the show lately and I think this is show is really worth while.

On Wednesday the first episode of CBS’ Kid Nation premiered.  There has been a lot  of controversy over the show, including lawsuits from some of the kid’s parents and charges of child labor abuse.

The show puts 40 kids in a old west-style ghost town.  The kids are divided into four teams, which are split into classes.  The classes get paid different amounts of money per day for performing their duties, and the money can be used to purchase things from the town’s general store.

Each team is led by a member of the town council.  Every episode, the town council picks a kid who deserves a gold star, which is worth $20k.

The kids also have some daily duties that they need to perform, like cooking and cleaning.  The lower classes take care of that, while the 2nd highest class runs the store, and the top class manages.

Much of the first episode was dedicated to showing the kids getting used to the town.  There was a lot of crying, which could be expected, and some fighting among kids.

The kids vary in age from 8 to 15.  This creates some conflict, because at times the older kids strong arm the younger ones.  Some of the younger kids also

The kids also had to figure out how to cook.  They have ingredients and a cookbook, I believe, as well as a stove.  At first the kids had trouble getting the cooking done, but they seemed to catch on after a few days.  From what I understand, one of the kids gets burned by the stove, which brought on a lawsuit.  I can definitely see this happening, because these kids are pretty little and have to cook massive amounts of food to feed everyone.

The show does a good job of minimizing adult supervision of kids, so it appears that the kids are to a large extent managing themselves.  But the general structure of the show is controlled by adults, so it’s not so much a nation of kids, as kids organized into groups, performing tasks.

As for entertainment value, Kid Nation was decent…but I can see the novelty wearing thin.  I know a lot of people like seeing little kids do cute things and say funny shit, but that gets boring after a while.  Some kids are pretty impressive too - very mature with strong leadership capabilities.  But I’m not going to be able to stay interested in watching kids lead others for a whole season.  One smart thing that CBS did was to minimize commercials - I think the first half an hour of the show was

The show looks like it got decent ratings, but it was panned by many critics.  For all the controversy surrounding the show, however, it was very tame - the most conflict between kids was one kid half-pushing another.  The concept turned out to be very summer-campy, and you can tell there’s not going to be any real fights or big conflicts - just a lot of crying and bitching.

At the same time however, I don’t think the show was any more exploitive than any other show with kids.  All kids in showbiz are being exploited to some extent - often to the benefit of parents.  But in Kid Nation, at least the exploitation is temporary.  It seems at the very least to be a decent learning opportunity, and there are many worse things these kids could be doing.

Anyway, if anyone else has seen this show, tell me what you think!

After reading Japadamus eloquently write about the virtues of Miller’s new Chelada style beer, I decided to take the plunge.  I set aside a Friday night out of of otherwise busy social calendar of dining out alone, shopping alone and watching movies alone (notice a pattern?) to have a Chill tasting at my apartment. 

Design:  The bottle is a lovely green color similar to a Pilsner Urquell.

Taste:  I’d describe the combination as being sprite meets keystone light meets Gatorade.  I definitely detect some added sweetness (corn syrup?)  I noticed the bottle states “No additives or preservatives” so I guess its safe to assume that there are salty lime flavored barley/hops growing somewhere.

Hangover:  This is an interesting question.  I think only by truly going over the top can one really know for sure.  Since I’ve already scheduled this block of time to scientific research, I decided to kill the entire 6 pack sans water chaser.  Here are the effects:

• I drank three beers and felt too full to drink the rest.
• I passed out tired after the third beer.
• This morning my stomach feels a little upset.  I did eat some chili last night which could reasonably be the cause of that.
• No hangover

Conclusion:  I think Chill is ok.  I don’t think its a substitute for a nice Corona or Pacifico with a Lime.  I could see this beer being presented at a picnic or a barbeque where the lime flavor isn’t too distracting.   Otherwise its definately different tasting than the Taquiza. 

Some other good reviews:

Helium

Bullz-eye review

BeerAdvocate

Kegworks Blog

Miller Chill is a new light beer sold by Miller Brewing Company.  The beer began testing in March, and was released nationwide in July 2007.  The beer is described as an “American take on mexican “chelada” - ice cold beer served with lime and salt.”  I’ve never heard of chelada, but supposedly this beer is “superpremium,” which I’m assuming is pretty good.

Anyway, I saw Chill on sale at Safeway and picked up a case.  The bottle is a light lime green - lighter than, say, Heineken bottles.  No word yet if it’s available in kegs, but I doubt it.

Chill tastes a bit like corona - with a slight sprite-like taste at the end.  It does have a light flavor, and you can kind of taste what Miller is describing as salt and lime.  In reality though, you don’t get anywhere close to the taste of real lime - instead it’s more of an artificial syrup-type taste.

The marketing of Chill reminds me of Anheuser-Busch’s Tequiza.  Both beers tout mexican brewing styles and ingredients, both claim to have lime flavor, and both play heavily on the ‘refreshing’ attribute.  And it’s pretty clear that Chill and Tequiza are attempts to steal market share from Corona.

Still, I kind of prefer how Corona has a very basic flavor that you enhance with a lime or lemon.  The added lime flavor in Chill is a poor alternative - I mean, there are just too many non-beer flavors going on in each sip.

But Chill is not bad, especially if you’re looking for a light beer.  Just don’t expect true lime and salt flavors, and keep in mind, at the end of the day, it’s still just a bottle of Miller.

Spoiler Alert.

I just finished the third season of Lost, and overall it was pretty impressive.  I think the show lost a lot of viewers in season 2 because it just presented question after question, while giving very few answers.  Season 3 does pose its share of questions as well, particularly in the season finale…but you also get to see a lot of the ‘others,’ which was probably the most nagging part of season 2.

The first part of the season is focused on Jack, Sawyer and Kate kidnapped and held captive in the other’s camp.  Interestingly, they used Paradise Park for these scenes.  No, not the treetops buffet - the old, concrete, overgrown bird cage areas.  It actually works pretty well, since Paradise Park is looking very prison-like after being out of commission for over a decade.

This site actually gives a pretty thorough overview of Lost locations on the island.  They include St. Andrews Priory, Popeye’s chicken, the YWCA, chinatown, and Time Market Liliha.  Camp Erdman also makes an appearance as the Other’s home camp.

Season 3 finally exposes the others - showing two of their camps.  Their submarine is also exposed, but destroyed by Locke.  You also learn more about the origin of the others.  Ben used to be part of the Dharma initiative, but betrayed his people, resulting in the death of about 40 Dharma members.  Subsequently, he became the leader of the others.

The season ends with the castaways coming close to being rescued.  More interestingly, you see Jack struggling with depression, a beard, and nearly committing suicide.  At first, you think these scenes are flashbacks - just like the millions of other flashbacks during the series.  But the big twist is that these are flashforwards - showing Jack and Kate off the island.  One thing though, in these flashforwards, Jack doesn’t like being off the island, and wants to go back.

Oooohhh, it’s a cliff hanger.

I think Season 3 did a good job of righting the Lost ship.  Season one was easy for the show - they had lots of material with the characters getting situated on the island while dealing with all the weird shit going on.  Season two was a bit of a sophomore slump.  There was too much going on, and instead of answering these questions, the show just seemed to add more to thicken the plot.  It was a lame tactic.

But in season three, you learn about the others, learn that they are vulnerable, and at least think that the crash survivors are going to get rescued.  It’ll be hard to maintain this momentum for season 4, considering that there are not longer many enemies for the crash survivors…but the season finale does hint that there are a lot more mysteries that are going to be presented in coming episodes.

One thing though, Jack is turning out to be somewhat of a bitch.  He’s starting to get very secretive and pig-headed, and is getting all hung up on Kate f’ing sawyer.  Plus, the flashforwards to when they are off the island make you want him to either kill himself quickly, or stop bitching about it.

I watched the Spazmatics play last night at La Barca and I have a lukewarm opinion of the band.  Talent wise the band can play all the requisite music very well but the show with the costumes is weak.  Too phony too much of a show rather than just rocking out.

The Spazmatics are a “concept” that is franchised across several cities.  In each city a group of guys picks out a set of costumes along the guidelines of the owner of the act.  When you rent out the band you are renting a show rather then a certain band which I think sucks.  Its disappointing to know that such a funny concept is being repeated over and over again like the McDonalds of music acts.  I know everyone has to earn a living, but I’ve always thought of bands as being artists rather than workers.

Our trip to NOBU was supposed to be one of the highlights of our Vegas weekend.  We passed over well regarded local joints like Rosemary’s for the world renown japanese restaurant.  And our reservations?  Made a month in advance.

Ironically, I am halfway through this book called The Sushi Economy, and after I returned from vegas I started on a chapter that follows the history of NOBU owner, Nobu Matsuhisa.  Nobu was traditionally trained in Japan, but also worked in Peru, Argentinia, Alaska, and finally L.A.  He started his own sushi restaurant from the ground up, and eventually hit paydirt when one of his customers, Robert DeNiro, asked him to form a partnership.

The rest, of course, is history.  Today, Nobu, who is nearly 60 years old, operates NOBU restaurants in New York, London, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Hawaii, among other cities.

Supposedly, one of NOBU’s trademarks is a focus on fresh fish.  He also leverages his experience in South America to bring a unique southern taste to his dishes.

NOBU in Las Vegas is located in the Hard Rock hotel and casino.  The hotel is actually very nice, if a little rowdy (the dress code enforced after 7pm sign was a tip-off).

The restaurant itself was nice, if a little generic.  I mean, it’s hard to fault Nobu for this, but every japanese restaurant in vegas has a similar style of decoration - some bamboo here and there, some polished stones, and a large sign with one of the many asian fonts that you find in Microsoft Word.

NOBU serves food family style, and our waiter recommended that we try a mix of several hot dishes and several cold dishes.  A so-so selection of sushi is also available.

We started with hamachi w/ a soy-style sauce and jalapenos.  This is, I believe, one of NOBU’s trademark dishes and one that has been copied frequently.  The hamachi was fine, and it acquired a mexican-style taste when, as our waiter suggested, we ate it with the jalapeno and a piece of cilantro.  The soy sauce was decent as well, but overall the dish was quite ordinary.

Our next dish was ‘live’ scallop.  I’ve had this dish many times in many sushi bars, and NOBU’s version was mediocre.  The scallop was good, but I’ve had better at Oyaji.  I was also disappointed with the use of sriracha - the viet rooster sauce.  Again, nothing very unique, not very original.

The highlight of the night, and both myself and TJFKAK easily reached a consensus on this, was the black cod.  Basically, any hawaiian will recognize this dish as butterfish.  But the cut of fish was spectacular, and it was cooked (broiled I believe) in a way that created a nice crust on the outside, while preserving the rich flesh internally.  I’ve had butterfish before that was just too dry and flaky - this one was prepared wonderfully, with attention not only to flavor but with the texture and richness of the fish as well.

Our final dish was deep fried uni.  The uni was served, actually deep fried, wrapped in shiso leaves.  Deep fried shitakes were also presented on the plate.  I though this one looked really good on the menu, but it was perhaps the most disappointing of the bunch.  The uni acquired a mushy, nearly creamy consistency after being deep fried.  Although it contrasted well with the crunchy shiso leaf, the dish itself lacked flavor.

And we can forget the libations (TJFKAK taught me that word this weekend).  My first drink was a yuzu infused martini (not pictured).  This drink was actually very very good, if a bit citrusy.  The others, pictured from top to bottom, are a lychee martini, a pomegranate martini and a sake style martini.  I’m not getting the names right, but that’s basically what they were.  The lychee martini was not overly sweet and mixed with a milky sake.  Not bad.  The pomegranate martini was basically a cosmo.  Finally the sake martini was pretty good, smooth, and made with flavorful sake.

As for dessert, we got a coffee flavored ice cream with ground peanuts.  The ground peanuts was similar to kinako, a japanese powered soy topping, i think.

Now for the ratings.

Food:  B  Really, there was nothing special here.  It was kind of a disappointment.  Sure, the cod was excellent, but you have high expectations for NOBU.

Selection:  B+  The selection was decent, but not the 200 item menu that the original NOBU restaurants were known for.  Really, this didn’t make a big difference either way, but they did a good job of splitting hot and cold dishes to make your meal flow smoothly.

Service:  A-  Our server was very helpful and pretty attentive.  He had a surprisingly good knowledge of the menu, and did a good job of suggesting items.  There are a lot of people working there, so you will get your water refilled quickly, and have your dirty plates bussed right when you finish.

Ambience:  B  Like I said, somewhat generic and cookie cutter asian-y.  One thing that was really odd was we were seated in a 2 person table where the bench was kind of an L shape, and with no extra chair.  This basically meant that I was sitting to the left of TJFKAK, and in order for her to get up I had to get up.  That was annoying.

Overall:  B  The thing is, you really have very very high expectations going to NOBU.  And, the restaurant just didn’t deliver.

Let me tell you something about Japanese food in vegas.  Every halfway decent hotel has a trendy-looking japanese restaurant that has a Nobu-style menu, meaning fusiony appetizers and entrees, and most likely some high priced meats, like kobe, and even some foie gois.  You shouldn’t get sushi at these places, because it’s really an afterthought.  You don’t know your chef, and your chef is most likely not japanese.  Vegas is like trendy sushi for dummies, and when you think about it, it makes sense.  You have people from all over the United States, so you can’t go too traditional.  Vegas is right, it does japanese food how vegas should do japanese food - and it works very well in terms of revenue - but from a Cali perspective, it’s not all that interesting.

So, NOBU gets a B.  It is really a watered-down version of every creative japanese restaurant I’ve ever been to, which is ironic, considering that every japanese restaurant in some way or another has their eyes on NOBU, who is, for all intents and purposes, the Jordan of japanese cuisine.

Oh, and did I mention the bill was $250?

I visited the new Genki Ramen last night in beautiful San Francisco, CA.  The interior of Genki is very stylish.  Plasma Televisions adorn the walls blasting Japanese Pop videos.  The tables are stained a deep red and decorated with logos and carvings.  Everything looks custom made.

The menu was pretty standard noodle house fare, with several appetizers such as edamame, chicken karaage, vegetable tempura, onigiri, and gyoza.  I also noticed several non-standard items for San Francisco.   These included a three types Okonomiyaki and unagi fried rice.

I ordered the Tempura Ramen and grilled Onigiri.  Here’s my rating:

-Food:  B+  The broth for the Ramen was delicious.  Since the restaurant house makes its own Charsu, I’m assuming they use the byproducts of that to make the broth.  One thing I noticed was that the broth itself wasn’t particularly salty which I thought was great.  The color was a milky brown almost like chocolate milk, with some oil droplets floating on the service.  The noodles were cooked perfectly and were served slightly al dente.  The grilled Onigiri was awful, it was brought to the table falling apart drenched in unagi sauce.  I wouldn’t order that again.

-Ambiance: A  The place is really nice.   The custom tables, the plasma televisions, special chopstick holders all add to a great experience.  Makes me wonder what they spent initially to adorn the restaurant.

-Service:  B+  Nothing to write about.

-Selection: B  The had all the Ramen house fare.   Nothing too exciting added or omitted from the menu

-Overall:  B+ The food was decent, the service was ok, the interior was flashy.  I definitely would go back and recommend this place to friends.

I feel like I’ve been searching San Francisco a long time for a great deli sandwich .  Yes, I’ve done the market deli thing, Cal Mart, Whole Foods, Mollie Stones.  I find you usually get a hard roll tripping with too much mayo, beat up flat leaf lettuce, huge slices of red onion, soggy tomatoes all made by someone with an attitude. 

So I’ve now migrated to the specialty shops: Marina Submarine, Mr. Submarine, Regency Deli, Le Petite Deli.  While the specialty shops tastes better, they usually aren’t the most accessible during by car.    Well I’ve figured out a perfect solution:  Kaju Foods on California St.  Yes Kaju is awesome.  They have all of the usual cafe sandwiches, roast beef, turkey, meatball, sausage, salami and Teriyaki beef.  I’ve tried several of the opinions and they’ve all been good.  I think my favorite so far has been the teriyaki beef because its  slightly unusual and the sandwich is served warm. 

On Friday we made our way to Oyaji after the Giants and A’s game.  Remarkably, the place was open till midnight - and when we got there at half ’till it was still packed.

Oyaji’s kitchen menu is very comprehensive compared to other japanese restaurants.  While most places will have yakitori, for example, Oyaji offers several different types of skewered meats…chicken thigh, chicken gizzard, chicken wings, duck, beef asparagus…and more.  They even have yaki onigiri and ramen - I swear you could eat at this place for a week and never order the same time twice.  We decided on Yakitori and skewered pork, as well as an order of yaki onigiri.

The sushi selection at Oyaji is decent, but not outstanding.  They did, however, have ‘live’ scallop, pretty good looking aji, and conch shell.

We bit for the live scallop - and it was excellent.  Most of the time, when a restaurant says ‘live’ scallops, you’re getting scallops that have really been cleaned and gutted that day - an improvement over store bought stuff, but not truly live.  Oyaji’s scallops seemed as close to live as you can get.  The meat was a bit firm, and incredibly flavorful - a far cry from the mostly bland scallops that most bars serve.  The scallop innards were also grilled and presented to us in a shell.

We also had a spider roll, aji, ankimo and hamachi sashimi.  The aji was good - the sushi was interesting cut into two smaller-than-nigiri-sized pieces and seasoned with shiso.  The spider roll was simple, but adequate, and the ankimo was fine as well.  The hamachi sashimi was also basic, but the fish spoke for itself - juicy and buttery at the same time.

The chef also gave us a side dish of toro with what seemed to be a ponzu sauce.  That’s one thing about Oyaji, they are always very generous with the extras.

Overall, another great Oyaji experience.  Everytime I go there, I am impressed.

-Food:  A-  The food at Oyaji is excellent.  The live scallop was the best I’ve had in a long time - finally a live dish that actually tasted live.  Oyaji doesn’t skimp on the standard items like hamachi either - everything was fresh, well prepared and tasty.

-Selection:  B+  Oyaji’s japanese kitchen menu selection is a definite ‘A’.  However, their sushi selection is only better than average.  They could do more to add sushi specials on the menu, but as it stands their existing selection takes a quality over quantity approach that works very well.

-Service:  C+  Everytime I have been to Oyaji, the service was so-so…or worse.  The young asian girls working there seem overloaded - often running around back and forth.  It’s more of a problem if you sit at a table than the bar, but even when you sit at the bar they forget things like tea or beer, which takes away from the otherwise excellent food.  The chefs on the other hand, were mostly attentive.  Usually at Oyaji that is the case - the chefs tend to be accommodating and friendly, an improvement from the often standoffish chefs at other bars.

-Ambience:  B  Nothing spectacular at all, but at the same time not tacky.  It’s not a pretentious restaurant with expensive decorations - it’s a down-home style place with traditional, natural wood styling.

-Overall:  A-  Oyaji is one of the better sushi restaurants in the bay for japanese food lovers.  The chefs are usually very good, as is the food.  The kitchen items are a real treat - you can scour the bay looking for some of the items available at Oyaji.  The sushi, while someone limited in selection, is well-kept, well prepared, and professional.

It must also be said, that Oyaji has a certain personality that you won’t find at other bars.  Usually halfway into the night, the ‘Oyaji,’ i.e. old man, escapes from the bar to mingle with customers.  Like Rocco, Oyaji will flirt and drink with the ladies, and he came out to have a cigarette with us when we were done.  He’s also generous with the drinks, often walking around with a large sake bottle in hand.  Atmosphere - not to be confused with ambience - is one of Oyaji’s most distinctive qualities, and combined with the food, it makes the restaurant a solid bet any night.

Oyaji Restaurant

3123 Clement St
San Francisco, CA 94121
(415) 379-3604

Akane is a nondescript sushi joint hidden away in downtown Los Altos.  With about room for 30 diners and another 8 at the sushi bar, Akane is a comfortable medium-sized restaurant.

Akane is a true Japanese-owned sushi restaurant.  The menu has a host of traditional japanese selections, like nameko soup, shishito (japanese peppers), beef tataki, and gindara kasuzuke.  With that said, Akane does have a good selection of Americanized rolls and teriyaki dinners.

We sat at the sushi bar, which was actually pretty small.  A large TV was placed high in the right corner of the bar - perfect for viewing Giants games, or the NBA playoffs.  The casual atmosphere works well for Akane - it gives you the low key feeling of a neighborhood joint, rather than the uptight, slacks only environment of more trendy upscale sushi bars.

As for the sushi, it was well done.  Our nigiri including mirugai, tai, aji and kanpachi.  The portions were decent, and the fishes, even the difficult to keep aji, were fresh and without a hint of fishiness.

However, SushiAttack noticed some pre-sliced fish, a time saving move that can dramatically reduce the shelf life of fresh items.  Popular items like maguro and sake got this treatment, and since we did not try these items it’s hard to judge what effect this had on quality.  Either way, this is not ideal protocol for fish handling.

We also got a salmon skin roll, which was excellent, and a natto maki, which was good.  Along the way, the chef also treated us with a deep fried aji bone (which seemed to be fried some time ago) and yamagobo with sesame.

From the kitchen, we order a beef tataki and beef negi roll.  The tataki was well done, with slightly seared, thinly sliced pieces of beef laying beneath garnishes of onion and grated daikon.  The accompanying sauce was a bit ordinary - just plain ponzu it seemed - but good nonetheless.

The beef negi roll was satisfying, with tender beef wrapped around a slightly spicy green onion.  Covered in teriyaki sauce, this dish could have been an excellent starter, except it arrived 30 minutes into the meal.

Now for the ratings:

-Food:  B+  The food was good, but with the exception of the salmon skin roll, nothing was outstanding.  But as sushi is concerned, this place does a very good job with freshness and fish quality, the only question mark is the pre-cutting of some sushi items.

-Selection:  B  Akane had some specials like Blue Fin tuna, Tombo and Toro, but these are standard specials that you will find at any decent sushi restaurant.  More impressive was the menu selection, with a wide range of traditional japanese appetizers that you will not find at Korean-owned sushi places.  Still, the best Akane can get is a B, due to it’s sushi selection.

-Service:  B+  The waitress and sushi chefs were very attentive.  Unlike some places where you sit at the bar and wonder who you order from, the sushi chef addressed us relatively quickly and our drink orders were taken with little delay as well.

-Ambience:  C  Akane is not much to look at - but again that is part of it’s neighborhood charm.  The tatami rooms behind us, which are traditional japanese style with no holes cut for you legs, were dark and unkept, with one room converted into a to-go preparation area.  The rest of the restaurant was decently kept, but unspectacular.

-Overall:  B  Akane is a great local sushi bar, with very reasonable prices (our dinner came to $35 per person, with a beer, before tip) and a comfortable atmosphere.  The appetizer selection of Akane stands out, although the sushi selection was just average.  Without any attributes that are truly spectacular, Akane is a solid ‘B’ - I look forward to spending more time there, and the TV at the bar makes Akane a perfect place for the playoffs.  But, if I was looking for the best in the bay, or trying to impress a date, Akane would not hold weight against other upscale restaurants in the area.

Akane Japanese Restaurant

250 3rd St
Los Altos, CA 94022

(650) 941-8150

On Saturday I finished the second season of The Wire.  This season, the show focuses on the baltimore docks where much of the city’s drugs enter the city.

Like the first season, the second season of The Wire slowly unfolds a multilayered story that explores both the criminal element and the police.  You start with learning about a slowly dying dock workers union whose leader is accepting money from russian drug traffickers to let drugs enter the city.

You also see some of Stringer Bell and Avon Barksdale, the drug dealers that the first season focused on, but this time Avon and Bell and struggling to keep up the supply and quality of their product.  They ultimately end up reselling drugs that have been smuggled into the city by the russians.

But what the Wire does best is to bring viewers into the lives of characters.  You understand the motivations of the dock union leader who is struggling to maintain the union by bringing more ships into the docks.

Similarly, you learn about dock workers struggling for hours, who turn to the drug traffickers to make ends meet.  Sits a somewhat generic theme - turning to crime to make ends meet - but The Wire takes the time to explore the lives of characters.

And in season 2, the old police crew that you saw in season one gets back together.  You see again how the cops work to build a case, and how they go through a long process, that includes wire taps, busts, and strategy to connect the many players in the drug trade.  And of course, you see how the hierarchy of the police department can slow cases and go for the more public busts, rather than invest in longer-term cases with more upside.

The Wire season 2 continues to do a good job of sprinkling a pretty heavy drama with a bit of comedy - both satire and slapstick at times.  This is important for the show, it balances the bleak parts of the show and makes it much more enjoyable.

Like last season, this season of the wire is only somewhat satisfying.  During the last 2 episodes or so, the cops make a lot of progress.  But still, a lot is still left on the table, and many ends are left untied.  Season 2 again speaks to the nature of police investigations, and how politics have a strong influence on how cases are pursued.  It’s disappointing and frustrating at times, and carries on from the frustration of Season 1.

But all in all, Season 2 is a strong effort, and avoids the sophomore slump.  It’s interesting that the second season focuses more on the docks, rather than the inner city, and the show still works.  The acting continues to be compelling and the story solid.  Looking forward to season 3.

I went to see Spiderman 3 last night and was thoroughly disappointed. The $250 million movie put up impressive numbers in terms of ticket sales, bringing in a record $148 million in its weekend debut. But money aside, the movie was painful to watch.

The biggest problem with Spiderman 3 is that there are too many storylines, all of which get too little attention. The first 30 minutes of the movie is dedicated to a recap of Peter’s relationship with MJ. This is very very boring, and ultimately not really relevant to the rest of the movie. It could have been cut entirely.

Then, the movie goes into villain overload, first with Harry the goblin, and next with the introduction of the Sandman, Tofer Grace who is Peter’s rival at the paper, and venom.

The problem though, is that the movie just briefly touches on each villain, and their creation, so that it follows the comic storyline, but makes little other sense.

For example, with Sandman, the guy happens to fall into some sand experiment while running from the cops. He literally just falls into the middle of the experiment, right as it’s beginning, and gets mutated or whatever into sandman. That’s all the explanation you get - it’s rushed and frustrating.

Even less explanation is given to venom. You see venom’s meteor just happen to hit the earth right next to Peter and hop on his bike. Where it came from, and how it just happened to end up next to Spiderman is not explained.

Of course, venom also inexplicably attaches on to Spiderman’s suit, turning it black. All we learn here, from some random scientist, is that peter should be careful, because the venom can attach to people and be hard to get rid of. Great.

The scientist didn’t mention that venom would lead to one of the most ridiculous music montages I have ever seen in a movie, with Toby walking down the street snapping his fingers to music, dancing on bar tops, and wooing women.

There’s also the ongoing storyline of Harry, who is still upset that Spiderman killed his father. This has gotten a bit played out over the course of two movies, but is made a bit more interesting when a head injury to Harry makes him forget that he hates Peter/Spiderman.

Finally, we see Eddie Brock, a freelance photographer who trys to beat peter in the spidey photo game, and eventually gets turned into venom. And, big surprise, Eddie starts to hate Spiderman and peter, and they fight.

All the while, we’re looking at Kristen Dunst’s overly dimpled face and crooked teeth.

Did I mention this movie was nearly 3 hours long (ok, 2 hours 20 mins plus 20 mins of previews)? We went in there at 9:20 and didn’t get out until nearly midnight.

This is one of those movies where the best part is when it ends. It was a relief to finally get out of that theater.

The storyline is so convoluted, and it feels like it was thrown together at the 11th hour. You can tell the writers were struggling to cram together five decades worth of comics into a three hour movie, but it just didn’t work.

Not only that, but the movie wasted a lot of time with tear jerking scenes with MJ, aunt may, etc. That gives it a feeling of being very off-paced. Sooo frustrating.

The only highlight of the movie was special effects - and these were spectacular. The CGI sandman was cool, as was venom’s teeth, and even the goblin.

But the special effects were still to few and far between to hold the movie together, making it a $250 million waste of $10.50.