New Crowded House album

As a quick follow-up to this post, I received the new Crowded House album a while back, and have finally gotten to listen to it this week. So far, I can say that I definitely like it, but it is one of those albums that doesn't blow you away on the first listen. It's will be a bit too restrained and introverted for some CH fans: It's mostly full of quiet ballads and fairly low-tempo songs, and feels like a Neil Finn solo album more than an old Crowded House one.

So far my favourite track is Silent House, but others will no doubt grow on me :)

For a more in-depth look at the album, see this review which gives the history of the album, and hits the nail on the head in describing how this album relates to the previous solo work by Neil.

Holiday highlights: Brookings, OR

After spending a few days in Ashland, we headed off to the Oregon Caves and Redwood National Park (more on those later), and stopped for the night in Brookings, OR. This is a cute little coastal town just north of the California border on highway 101. The weather is so good here that the area has been dubbed the Banana Belt. Brookings even has an eponymous weather effect.


We stayed in a great B&B, the South Coast Inn. We stayed in the Sea View apartment, which was totally private and really comfy - it included a kitchen and small lounge leading onto a great balcony with view of the bay. We didn't use the kitchen this time, but if you want a place with the option of cooking in, I recommend this place. The hosts were really friendly too, which is good!

A lowlight of our stay was dinner at the local Italian restaurant, Bella Italia. Our hosts at the B&B recommended it, but the food was very disappointing, and the staff seemed to not care much about us. We had heard from our B&B hosts that the owners of Bella Italia had just opened a new steak/seafood restaurant in town, so I thought that perhaps they were stretched too thin, and their old place had slid... Now with some Googling, I see Bella Italia is for sale, so perhaps that explains things :)

After dinner, we headed out to a nearby beach park to watch the sun set. As you can see from the pics, the light and sky were amazing, and we also got to enjoy some weird jumpy shrimp pinging across our feet!

We definitely need to come back again!

Holiday higlights: Oregon Wines on Broadway

No visit to Portland, Oregon feels complete without a visit to our favourite wine bar: Oregon Wines on Broadway. It's just a block from the hotel we usually stay in (recently renamed to Hotel Monaco), and is cozy and laid-back. The ladies behind the bar preside over an impressive collection of wines available for tasting (upwards of 40 bottles, I think - see their current inventory here). The selection focuses on wines from Oregon, but there are a few Washington wines too.

All the wines behind the bar are availabe to taste (1oz pours) or by the glass, and there are bottles for sale if you find something you like (all at very good prices). If you're overwhelmed by the choice, I recommend going for one of the tasting flights. Light snacks are also available (bread, cheese, cured meats, olives).

I decided to make my own flight, with these three wines:

1. 2005 St. Innocent Pinot Noir, Shea Vineyard
2. 2005 St. Innocent Pinot Noir, White Rose Vineyard
3. 2004 Dominio IV Syrah

The St. Innocent's were interesting - at first they had a noticeable baked-beans aroma, maybe due to brettanomyces. This blew off within a few minutes though. While both of these were not a patch on an older bottle I tried a few years ago, they were decent. the White Rose Vineyard was especially good, but at $45 a bottle, I think I'll stick to the New Zealand Pinot Noirs I've been enjoying over the past year.

The Dominio Syrah was very nice - aromatic, well-rounded, oaky and fruity without bend over-extracted and jammy. At $30 it's a good wine, not an amazing value. (You can get nice Washington Syrahs for around $20)

After tasting these three wines, I needed a few more sips of something to go with the last of our brie and baguette, so I tried the Abacela Vintner's Blend #7. This was a real find: full bodied, rich, port-like wine with a lovel finish and great complexity, and a great deal at $15!

Holiday highlights: Ashland, Oregon

I just got back from a fantastic trip through Oregon and the California Redwoods. The rough rought was: Eugene (OR) - Oregon Country Fair, Ashland (OR), Redwood National Park (CA), Brookings (OR), Newport (OR), and Portland (OR).


While it's really hard to pick a favourite, my stay in Ashland was probably the winner: we stayed for 4 nights in a great bed & breakfast, got to unwind and relax on Monday (since there we had no plays that day), saw amazine Shakespeare productions later in the week, and had fun doing wine-tasting and eating out.


Obviously the main draw in Ashland is the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. We saw three shows: Tracy's Tiger, The Taming of the Shrew and Romeo and Juliet. The last two were in the open-air Elizabethan Theatre - a really stunning venue! (Watching the plays here reminded me of the open-air Shakespeare productions I saw when I was growing up in Cape Town - see these links if you're interested)

Be aware that it can rain in Ashland - even in summer. We were lucky and were far enough back to be under cover, but you'll want a rain shell, something warm, and maybe even a poncho or somethign for your legs in case of a thundersorm. Wednesday's performance of Romeo and Juliet was almost cancelled due to rain, but luckily was only delayed - we got to see the performers come out in rain-wear (mostly period-appropriate cloaks, except for the youngsters who were wearing modern school uniforms initially, and sported modern parkas).



In terms of accomodation, I can heartily recommend the B&B we stayed in: Ashland's Tudor House. The host, Raliegh, was very friendly and cooks incredible gourmet breakfasts. Our room was spacious and comfortable - the best bed of all the places we stayed! A communal lounge with a PC to use for email was a nice touch. The B&B is also within easy walking distance of central Ashland and the festival, but is set back from the main road, so it's nice and quiet.


Ashland had some nice surprises in terms of food - for such a small town (population of 20,000), there are tons of restaurants, and most are good. (100,000 visitors per year helps!)

Our favourites were Pasta Piatti (delicious salads, pasta and crusty, thin-base pizza) and Pangea (very veg*n-friendly, informal lunch and dinner spot featuring inventive wraps, soups and sandwiches).


The local Thai restaurant, Thai Pepper, was decent in terms of food, but great in terms of setting - it has an outside patio right on the creek, which is beautiful on a warm evening. Greenleaf also has creek-side seating (although we sat inside when we visitged). The food here is more like standard diner fare, but with a healthy twist and several veg*n options.


For "fine dining" we tried Monet, and enjoyed very good French food, although the style of food and restaurant decor felt a little dated - especially the very pink, grandparent-friendly interior. The food was traditional French fare (snails in garlic butter, roast duck, ris de veau, grilled fish) - the ris de veau reminded me a lot of my gran's cooking.

Raliegh's breakfasts at the Ashland's Tudor House B&B warrant their own accolades here: we had delicious eggs Benedict (with smoked salmon) one day with a really good light Hollandaise sauce, freshly-made walnut pancakes with maple syrup another, a baked pudding (calfoutis?) with fresh peaches on top another, and potato latkes with apple sauce and sour cream. As you can see, the food is not the normal toast-and-jam, or eggs-and-bacon type stuff...

In terms of wine, Ashland was also a great place to visit. The area is in Oregon's Rogue Valley wine region, and while it's not as high-profile as the regions to the north, there are several wineries to explore. We stuck to the ones closer to town, visiting Eden Vale and Weisinger's.

Both were really pretty and staffed with friendly, knowledgeable people, but if I had to pick a favourite, it would be Weisinger's: relaxed, unpretentious service, a nice lively vibe in their tasting room, a working beehive behind glass (with honey for sale), and good wines. I really liked the Weisinger's red blends (the Mescolare has some nebbiolo, and the Petite Pompadour is a Bordeaux-style blend with lots of cab franc). I wasn't a huge fan of their single-varietal reds, though... Their whites are not bad either - the Petite Blanc is a nice light white wine for summer picnics.

Eden Vale had a delicious white desert wine (a late harvest Viognier), but most of their reds were overpowered and alcoholic. (Probably great candidates for ageing, but I want some wine I can drink now!) My favourite red was the 2003 Syrah (it's won some awards), so I picked up a bottle to try again in the next year.

And finally, I have to mention the Rogue Creamery - makers of some of the best blue cheese in the world. They're a bot of a drive from Ashland (back up the I-5 towards Medford), and the cheesery is a bit underwhelming (no tours of the "cheese caves" where they age the blue cheeses, due to contamination worries. The creamery was also not making cheese due to technical problems). This is more of a tasting room and shop: We were able to taste several of their blue cheeses (including some I've not had before, like the Crater Lake Blue), and several cheeses from other producers in Oregon and California. They have a nice selection of imported food (lots of stuff from Ritrovo in Seattle!) and it's worth a visit if you like food, but I would have liked a more hands-on, "authentic" creamery visit.

Perfect wine magazine?

I recently was looking for some magazines to take on my impending road-trip/vacation, and spotted the current issue of Wine Spectator. They managed to hit the trifecta, right on the cover!

1. An in-depth look at Brunello di Montalcino. I fell in love with this wine recently at our local Italian restaurant, Firenze. (I heart Castello Banfi Brunello di Montalcino)
2. A look at red wines from Washington state. Yay! Go us! (I get to be an American/Washingtonian when it suits me...)
3. A look at new winemakers/wineries in South Africa, including winemaker Eben Sadie who I've mentioned before (and discovered via Garagiste in Seattle). Ironically, Sadie is based a few miles from the town my mom lives in.

I'll let you know what interesting things I learn from these articles once I get back from vacation :)

Happy summer!

Feeling hot, hot, hot!

Phew! Seattle is just about to head into a 2/3-day heat-wave, with temperatures in the 90's to low 100's. And to make matters worse, I'm heading down to central Oregon on Wednesday evening, to attend the Oregon Country Fair. Temperatures there should be 5-10 degrees higher than in Seattle!

I'm looking forward to the fair, though - loads of yummy food, interesting shows and free-spirited people. Then it's off to Ashland for a few days of plays and exploring (2 Shakespeares, 1 modern play), the Oregon Caves, and Redwood forests in northern California, and back up the Oregon coast via Newport, with a night in Portland to wrap things up. I can't wait!

While in Portland, I hope to check out this new cacao shop, specializing in european-style drinkning chocolate. I've heard good things - too bad the weather is warm, but I think I'll still be brave and try some hot chocolate.

Soupy stuff

Last year at work, the introduction of Starbucks iCup machines in the kitchenettes was a big deal. While the machines are a definite improvement over the previous filter-coffee machines we had, I've often thought I'd be happier with something else...

Maybe some Tully's coffee instead of the rather sad Starbucks roasts? It looks like another software company in the Seattle area is poised to get Tully's coffee - I'm jealous!

But no, I think the best solution is a solidly South African solution to the problem: a cup-a-soup machine. It looks like soup improves productivity no end, so the big-wigs at work should be pleased.

I wonder how many readers grew up with cup-a-soup? Did yours come with croutons, noodles and other chunky goodies? (Note: Ramen / instant noodle bowls do not count)

SIFF wrap-up

The 2nd week-and-a-bit of SIFF has come and gone, so here is my festival summary (see part 1 here)


The Ferryman: 3/5
A decent horror/thriller from New Zealand that starts strong and gets a little tedious near the end of the second half. Warning: There's lots of blood and violence, and a scene involving a dog that I really disliked - this film is not for the squeamish.
The introduction to the characters is nicely done, and the tension and slow unraveling if the relationships onboard the yacht is brilliant. The tight, claustrophobic setting below decks works very well, and the pervasive fog works to further ratchet up the tension. There's also a great performance by John Rhys-Davies as a Greek fisherman. The finale where the evil spirit gets its come-uppance was a let-down, and the titular ferryman was a bit lame, but the twist at the very end is nice.


2 Days in Paris: 4/5
Julie Delpy is amazing in this film, and does more than just act (she wrote, directed and composed the music!) An amusing look at what happens when Marion brings her American boyfriend to Paris to visit her family. Encounters with her numerous ex-boyfriends, crazy family, and American-in-France culture clash leads to some really funny stuff, all done in a natural, light style. The movie feels very much like a slice of real life, and the exploration of love, commitment and joie-de-vivre make this a rewarding and charming film.


Mushishi: 3/5
Based on a Japanese manga, this film was visually beautiful but too long and disjointed to hold my interest. The film stitches a few "episodes" from the magna together using one story as the backbone. Unfortunately the backing story is not that interesting, and the whole movie takes itself far too seriously. I kept expecting the reverent, hushed narration to explain things more sensibly than they did, and for the movie to somehow make sense, but in the end the film leaves the viewer confused and frustrated. Some nice visuals and interesting characters lift this from being a total waste of time, but go in expecting a slow, confusing, few hours.


Retribution (Sakebi): 2/5
Another Japanese film, this one billed itself as a "supreme psycho-thriller" from Japan's horror master Kiyoshi Kurosawa. (I've not seen his previous films). This one started out promisingly, with the lead character, detective Yoshioka, investigating the murder of a woman. He quickly finds that he's implicated, even though he has no memory of the girl or her death. Other deaths indicate a serial killer is on the prowl, and as our sympathy for Yoshioka develops slowly we also start to doubt his own innocence more and more.

This is the movies strongest point, I think: the slow, careful development of the detective character and the way the audience is both attracted and repulsed from him. I did like the way the mini-earthquakes hitting Tokyo are used throughout the film, and the way ripples in puddles or bowls of water hint at the veil between this world and the sprit world. Towards the end, though, the movie devolves into a ghost-revenge movie, and at times becomes so campy/cheesy that the earlier atmosphere is squandered. The ending is really unsatisfying and leaves you feeling duped.


Broken English: 5/5
Featuring an amazing performance from Parker Posey, this film looks at the life of a single thirty-something woman in New York as she struggles to find a rewarding relationship and get out of a rut of one-night stands and loneliness. This film manages to balance the humour and pathos of her life beautifully and while it might be billed as a romantic comedy, the comedy is really just the icing on an uncontrived, refreshing dramatic look inside the main character's life. The ending is maybe a bit too fairy-tale-ish and the basic storyline has been told many times before, but as a whole this film stood out as being an interesting take on an old theme.


Lady Chatterley: 4/5
A French film based on the 2nd version of D.H. Lawrence's novel, with all the English names and places preserved. If you know the story, you know it looks at the class barrier, human relationships and sexuality. Those expecting a steamy, sexy movie will probably be disappointed (although prudes will also not be happy) - there's plenty of nudity and sex, but it's all done in a very natural, tasteful way. The two leading actors are brilliant, and pefectly cast. I've heard some people say that the gamekeeper, Parkin, is not attractive enough to justify Lady Chatterley falling for him, but I think he's perfect. Initially appearing gruff and not likeable at all, we slowly get to see him thaw and open up as the relationship develops, and the gradual maturation of the relationship is stunningly well done. By the end I truly was rooting for the two lovers, who develop much more than a physical bond, and the film ends on a much happier note than the final 3rd novel would lead you to expect.

Highly recommended to fans of patient, natural storytelling.

Cthulhu: 4/5
If David Lynch made a movie based on H.P. Lovecraft's works, this would be it. Filmed in Seattle, WA and Astoria, OR, this movie takes the Cthulu mythos as a basis and adds lots of small-town weirdness, family tension, and end-of-days gloom. Everything is mixed together in interesting, refreshing ways. I had a bit of a problem believing that the leading character's father was actually his father - somehow both men looked about the same age. Apart from that, though, the first 2/3 of the movie are great - full of interesting characters, including Tori Spelling as the local bimbo with a desperate need to have a child. The lead character, who is gay, finds himself the object or her desire, with some funny and macabre results.

The film makes careful use of actual monsters, going for the approach that what is imagined or half-seen is more scary than what is fully seen. The tension and level of unease build nicely as the hero learns more about the town's secrets. Things started falling apart for me towards then end though, and the final scene seemed to have been tacked on without any thought as to how the "hero" got there - either a big chunk of the film got cut for time, or I'm too dense to appreciate the final twist of the movie.

Read an interview with the film-makers here.

Bayete Nkosi!

I just realised that the excellent South African TV series depicting King Shaka's life is available in the USA on DVD (Netflix have it).

This was produced in the mid-80's when I was a young teen, and made a huge impression on me. It was a huge hit in South Africa, and the theme tune found its way into many people heads, so that you'd find walking around singing "Bum-bum-bum BA-bum BA-bum BA-bum... Bayete Nkosi!"

There was an urban legend that the actor that played Shaka, Henry Cele, was a garbage collector prior to being discovered, but I see from the Wiki entry that's not true (he was a goalie for several pro soccer clubs)

Some advice: The "sequel" (Shaka Zulu: The Last Great Warrior) is really bad. But then you probably knew that already since is starts The Hoff.

Flight of the Conchords on HBO

I saw a teaser for the new HBO series "Flight of the Conchords". I've wrtten about these guys before (see this post). This is a new series following "the trials and tribulations of a two man, digi-folk band from New Zealand as they try to make a name for themselves in their adopted home of New York City."

Update: I just noticed Slate have a story on the show.

Hopefully it will make its way to DVD so I can watch it :)

Olympic Sculpture Park

Seattle Sculpture Park
Originally uploaded by Mr Snootyhamper

A month or two ago, A and I went to the newly-opened Olympic Sculpture Park and took a few pictures. The one you see here is called "Eagle", and I'm quite pleased with the way the Space Needle is framed.

There are a few other pics in the set on flickr.

Cooking home-made pasta

Cooking home-made pasta
Originally uploaded by Mr Snootyhamper

... and finally cooking! Yum! (Of course we didn't eat it plain like this - A made a great tomato sauce with some red wine, but the picture of the sauced pasta looks a bit like bloody guts, so I'll save you from the horror of seeing it...)

Drying home-made pasta

Drying home-made pasta
Originally uploaded by Mr Snootyhamper

Here is the pasta drying...

Rolling pasta

Rolling pasta
Originally uploaded by Mr Snootyhamper

This past weekend A and I finally got around to using the pasta machine my mom gave us for Christmas. We used 100% semolina (durum wheat flour) from Bob's Red Mill and it turned out very nicely.

As you can see in this picture, A is quite deft at rolling out the dough!

Amazing video from Kruger Park

I stumbled on this incredible video footage shot in Kruger Park. It's long, but definitely worth watching...



Update: 6/11/2007

Apparently at the Webby Awards this past weekend, one of the founders of YouTube mentioned this video as one his favourites!

New Iain Banks sci-fi in the pipeline

I've been a huge fan of Iain Banks' work since my friend Craig introduced me to them a little over a decade ago. I think I started with his first Culture book, Consider Phlebas.

While in Canada recently, I noticed a new novel by Iain Banks on sale, titled The Steep Approach to Gabardale. I balked a bit at the price (it seems books in Canada are more expensive than in the US), but as a result I have to wait for the book to be published in America in October...-

While looking around on Wikipedia today I saw there's a new science fiction novel due in 2008, apparently titled Matter.

I can't wait!

SIFF week one

I saw my first handlful of SIFF movies last week, most of which were great!
Here's my quick review of them:

Outsourced: 5/5
A great movie by local writer/director John Jeffcoat. A Seattle-based online marketing execute finds out his division (and his job) have been outsourced to India, and he has to go train his replacement. The usual culure shocks and misunderstandings occur as West meets East, but the film is saved from being too sappy or cliched by the excellent cast, especially the lead Josh Hamilton. The film is funny, warm and uplifting without being saccharine.
Check out the movie's blog here.

Black Sheep: 3/5
A film from New Zealand that tells the terrible tale of what might happen if bio-engineering goes too far. This is a comedy/horror movie in the vein of Shawn of the Dead, with lots of over-the-top gore, gross humour, and some nice send-ups of the green/hippie movement. At time it drags a bit, though, and some of the fart jokes wore a bit thin.

Cashback: 5/5
A wonderfully quirky film about time, relationships and the beauty of the female form, seen through the eyes of a guy who develops insomnia after a painful break-up, and decided to work the night shift at Sainsbury's. He imagines he can slow and even stop time, and uses this power to capture moments of beauty (as well as have some fun with his boss). Filled with hilarious vignettes involving his zany co-workers and egotistical boss, as well as some very clever visual tricks. The movie makes you realize the value of every instant and the beauty that surrounds us, if we only take the time to notice it.

Death at a Funeral: 3/5
A British movie by director Frank Oz. This is a solidly-made comedy filled with dark humour (you need to be able to laugh at the misfortune and discomfort of others to enjoy this movie). Solid performances from the entire cast, and some hilarious scenes made me almost give this a 4/5, but the over-abundance of toilet-humour and people-on-acid-trips-are-funny scenes made me lower this to a 3.

I heard the news today, oh boy...

Happy 40th birthday to Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band!

NPR's All Songs Considered has a rememberance from host Bob Boilen.

BBC Radio 2 will broadcast a two-part documentary on June 2nd and June 16th (Part 1 should be available for viewing online after 21h00 tomorrow)

lolcats, lolcode and lolluscs?

So, the lolcat Internet meme is in full swing.

Slate had a nice slideshow on lolcats a while ago, Anil Dash posted on lolcat grammar, and there's now the lolcode programming language.

While browsing through ICANHASCHEEZBURGER, I found what is probably my favourite lolcat picture - the only weird thing it features a snail... Hence, lollusc.

KTHXBYE

Summer wine time

Summer has arrived in Seattle, with temperatures in the 90's F (above 32 C).

For me that means I move away from my usual predilection for red wines and start drinking white and rosé.

Now, my small wine collection is sadly lacking in rosé wines (as in I have none). Rosé wines seem to have a reputation in the USA (and even back in South Africa) as cheap, sweet wines for ladies (or gents) that don't like "real wine". I beg to differ... While sweet rosé is not my thing, I really enjoy a good dry rosé. I've heard some good things about the Toad Hollow "Eye of the Toad" Pinot Noir Rosé, and hope to try it out this summer.

I enjoyed my first real "summer wine" last night - a fun, delicious off-dry German riesling: 2005 Saint M (from the Pfalz region). I gave it a highly scientific 88 points. A little simple and "one-dimensional" maybe, but then I don't expect anything too complex from a summer quaffer.

If you're keen to try some, I got mine from the Larry's Market in Redmond a while back...