Thursday, March 31, 2011

TWIST AND SHOUT VISITS THE PANTAGES THEATER - THE SET LIST

The Wife and I headed off to see Twist and Shout, "the definitive Beatles experience," which is a concert of covers of songs by the Beatles. The four principals of the show—Tony Kishman as "Paul," Jim Owen as "John," John Brosnan as "George," and Chris Camilerri as "Ringo"—did a great job channeling the music and spirit of the Beatles. It was a great live show.

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An opening video montage of historical Beatles footage was followed by the "Fab Four" coming on stage in their black mod suits and bowl haircuts.

[1] "I Wanna Hold Your Hand"
[2] "She Loves You"
[3] "All My Loving"
[4] "Roll Over Beethoven"
[5] "A Hard Day’s Night"
[6] "If I Fell"
[7] "Love Me Do"
[8] "I Should Have Known Better"
[9] "Do You Want To Know a Secret?"
[10] “Help!”

Another video montage of historical Beatles footage allowed the "Fab Four" to take off their suit coats and perform a few slower songs before rocking out again.

[11] "Michelle"
[12] "You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away"
[13] “Here Comes the Sun”
[14] “I’ve Just Seen a Face”
[15] “Eight Days a Week”
[16] “Day Tripper”
[17] “I Saw Her Standing There”

INTERMISSION

The four returned after the intermission with a less focused look. Each one of the Beatles represented an iconic image of the later years—Paul in mod suit, with longer hair (and Tony Kishman looks like Paul McCartney); John in long hair, round eyeglasses, white suit, and boat shoes; George in denim outfit and boots; and Ringo in "relaxed" mod suit and psychedelic tie, with longer hair and droopy mustache.

[18] “I Am the Walrus”
[19] “Something”
[20] “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da”
[21] “With a Little Help from My Friends”
[22] “Come Together”
[23] “Get Back”
[24] “Revolution”
[25] “Back in the U.S.S.R.”
[26] “Let It Be”

ENCORE
[27] “Hey Jude”
[28] “Twist and Shout”

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The Twist and Shout website is HERE.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

LIFE


The harvest of the TWT 2010-2011 indoor office garden.

(I'm pretty damn proud of that single pepper!)

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

LEGENDARY DOUGHNUTS

I was visiting with my neighbor, who also happens to be my barber, when the subject of doughnuts emerged. He acknowledged that our hometown doughnut shop, Happy Donut, is good, but that if I wanted an extra treat that I should make the trip to Auburn for some "fancy" doughnuts. I was intrigued. I needed a "wandering" for the weekend. Therefore, off to Legendary Doughnuts headed The Child and I.



Clockwise from upper left: (1) The Legendary Doughnuts sign; (2) the Fred Flintstone; (3) the Hot Cocoa; (4) the Steve Urkel.

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The Legendary Hot Chocolate was simple and good. Steamed milk and Belgian chocolate made for a rich and enjoyable hot drink to accompany some sweet and fluffy fried dough.

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The Fred Flintstone was the doughnut of choice for TWT. I saw the Fruity Pebbles on top and was instantly sold. The glaze and cereal made it taste as though I was eating a bowl of Fruity Pebbles with chunks of doughnut floating in it. It was good but almost too much sugar. I believe I may have slipped into a sugar coma at some point. You'll have to ask The Child.

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The Child selected the Steve Urkel, a glazed doughnut ring topped with Nerds candies. The Nerds were sparse but brought a welcomed sweet and sour mix to the doughnut. I thought it was the right amount of candy, but The Child thought them too hard and therefore in conflict with the tenderness of the dough. I don't know how it happened, but The Child ate the entire thing.

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We brought The Wife home the Hot Cocoa. It was a good simulation of a cup of hot chocolate, with chocolate, whipped cream, marshmallows, cocoa powder, and a piece of chocolate bark on the very top. It was my favorite of the bunch. (Oh, but those seductive Fruity Pebbles...)

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These are good doughnuts, but I still prefer the superb dough of local Happy Donut. During the week, I will stick close to home, enjoying what Legendary Doughnuts considers "amateur doughnuts" on their own display shelves (and what Happy Donut excels at). On a few Saturdays, though, I am going to enjoy the novelty of some "legendary doughnuts" and explore some of their other creations.

Monday, March 28, 2011

SHIFT TOWARD DEATH

"The shift toward death is hard and sudden. Rising voices are scattered by the whip crack of a shot, two shots together. There is time for an echo, time for a shriek, before the last evening of the old days in the Islands flies apart in a volley of staccato fire and dogs barking."
—page 7, Shadow Country by Peter Matthiessen

Sunday, March 27, 2011

DEAD WHITE BELLIES

‎"Another eschatological dream. I never dream of J. dead. But here I am at the cemetery and his grave opens. I see him whole, lying untouched by decay. But his body is completely covered with fishes. I see their dead white bellies. Only his head is bare. He opens his eyes."
—from "Industrious Amazement: A Notebook" by Anna Kamienska, found in the March 2011 issue of Poetry

Saturday, March 26, 2011

DEATH'S SILENT WITNESS

"But they were years spent half in reality and half in a world of dreams, and the two were linked by a bridge of terror, for in his dreams he acquired knowledge he couldn't bear alone and yet could share with no one. He ended up living in a town peopled by the dead, and he became death's silent witness."
—page 238, We, the Drowned by Carsten Jensen

Sunday, March 20, 2011

KITSAP BEER TOUR: FRITZ


Fritz European Fry House
Region: Central Kitsap
City: Bremerton

Fritz European Fry House is one of my favorite places to eat, period. It is deep-fried pub food and it is excellent. The draft and bottled beers make it that much better.

(I make it a point to eat at Fritz on visits to Bremerton, if at all possible.)

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The fish & chips basket is my preferred meal. It entails three pieces of deep-fried cod and a generous serving of Belgian fries.

The Child prefers the chicken basket. It comes with three large pieces of deep-fried chicken and the same generous amount of fries.

Each individual cone of Belgian fries comes with your choice of one dipping sauce. Each basket comes with your choice of two dipping sauces.

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Recommended sauces:
*Sweet Chili. Sweet and spicy, involves a wee bit of heat but it's not overpowering.
*Spicy Curry Ketchup. Exactly as the name states, and easily my favorite.
*Honey Dijon Mustard. Lightly sweet and spicy, allowing both the honey and mustard flavors to shine through.

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Four tap handles are in constant rotation. One tap is usually reserved for home brewed beers of owner Andy or an offering from sister brewpub Der Blokken (of Manette in West Bremerton). The other taps are craft brews, primarily from the Northwest or with a Belgian-style flair.

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Der Blokken Red
a Red Ale by Der Blokken Brewery

On tap, served in a Stella Artois chalice.

Der Blokken Red arrives with a rich red body and virtually no head.

The nose is light and floral. The flavors are flower petals and broth, with a bit of a raisin and fruit edge that lingers for some time. There is even a hint of apple lurking somewhere in the background.

As it warms, an airy sweetness becomes more apparent on the nose and tongue, as though being out-of-doors right before a warm rain. Every once in a while, a hint of paper or copper penny sneaks in, but only for a brief moment.

All in all, this Red is understated and good. It plays well with the fries.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

CORMORANT & GOLDENEYE


Pelagic cormorant and common goldeneye duck at Poulsbo Waterfront Park, Friday 11 March 2011.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

MOTHER COUNTRY

"The most difficult struggle of our civilization has been to find the means to create autonomy for ordinary lives, so that they might not be plundered or disposed of according to the whims of more powerful people. Ideas like civil rights and personal liberty come directly from this struggle, which is not terribly well advanced at best, and which is untried, failed, or abandoned in most of the world."
—page 105, Mother Country: Britain, the Welfare State and Nuclear Pollution by Marilynne Robinson

GO FOR A WALK

I am exhausted by people saying that everything they watch on television seems like a dream. That tsunami happened. You can see the cars and houses and buildings being swallowed by the raging waters of the sea. It's real!

You don't live in The Matrix. This isn't Inception. James Cameron isn't directing your life. If you keep comparing natural disasters that you view on your television to blockbuster films, then I question your imagination. That means it's time to turn off your screens, all of them—TV, computer, tablet, smartphone.

Go for a walk. Visit a museum or the library or your city park. Order a coffee or a hot chocolate and hang out in the coffee shop until you finish drinking it. Ride your bike. Chat with your neighbors. But, for the love of God, quit complaining about how unreal everything around you seems.

Monday, March 07, 2011

SMALL CHAIR


I found an "electronic book" that I actually find myself reading on a regular basis. Small Chair is the iPod/iPhone application wing of the McSweeney's empire (McSweeney's Quarterly, The Believer, Wholphin, McSweeney's Internet Tendency, and the like). For $5.99 per six month subscription (only $1 per month!), I receive all of the Internet Tendency posts formatted for my iPod and content sent just to Small Chair subscribers. Some of that additional format may appear in some of the other McSweeney's media, in a slightly different format, but some of it seems to be truly exclusive.

I still cannot imagine reading an entire book on my iPod, but the short two to five minute bursts of reading that I get done while waiting in a line or eating breakfast are well worth my time, effort, and dollars.

Sunday, March 06, 2011

CROCKETT'S PUBLIC HOUSE


Clockwise from upper left: (1) The west exterior wall; (2) spicy chili and lemon Crockett's kettle corn; (3) Mexico City street tacos; (4) fudge brownie with vanilla ice cream.


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My yelp review of Crockett's Public House:


3½ of 5 stars. We visited on the grand opening weekend.


As an appetizer, we ordered the Spicy Chili and Lemon Crockett's Kettle Corn. If I hadn't seen "spicy chili and lemon" listed on the menu, I wouldn't have been able to tell you it was present. My guess is that the popcorn was popped in chili oil and lemon juice, but it just wasn't present in the flavor. Somewhat disappointing as an appetizer. A healthy amount of popcorn, but not worth the three dollars.


I had the Mexico City Street Tacos which were spectacular. A grilled flour tortilla was filled with spiced chicken, pico de gallo, chipotle mayo, taco slaw, and cheddar cheese. It was topped with avocado and sour cream, which wasn't listed on the menu, and I could have done without, but was easily scraped off. I'll make sure to request them be kept off next time. Salted lime wedges accompanied each taco, to be squeezed over them. The tacos were sufficiently spicy and tasty.


The Wife had the mushroom ravioli with a side salad. She loved the ravioli. The Child had a mini burger and fries.


The fries for The Child and I were slightly overdone, but eatable.


I had a Diamond Knot IPA on tap, which I hadn't had before. It wasn't up to what I look for in an IPA, being nuttier in flavor than expected and lacking in bitterness, but that isn't Crockett's fault, just an observation.


The three of us shared the Fudge Brownie with Vanilla Ice Cream. Chocolate overload and ice cream. Very good.


The service was excellent. Our server was attentive without being overly present.


The kitchen needs to work on its timing. It seemed that they weren't quite prepared to get food to tables in a timely fashion, but my guess is that was due to it being opening weekend and still trying to find their rhythm.


All in all, a good experience. We will be returning to try other dishes. I expect I will be adding a half or full star at that time when the kitchen works out its minor kinks.


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The Diamond Knot IPA lacked any of the three base flavors I expect in an IPA, with at least one or more of the three present—those being orange, pine, or broth. There was nuttiness and a light bitterness, but nothing that I've come to expect in an IPA. It was drinkable, but I would rather have an IPA that I really enjoy.


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Wednesday, March 02, 2011

THE LITTLE "WHITE" CHAPEL


The little white chapel and accompanying storm clouds as seen through a pane of lavender stained glass at the nearby main sanctuary on the same church campus.


The same scene a few seconds later as seen through the pane of red stained glass immediately above the prior.