love/hate

I was surprised I liked Still Alice so much. Cried like a baby multiple times and man is the last scene WRENCHING. I had assumed it was the typical Oscar bait-type film but it was way better. From my times of reading more about neurological diseases, I have more hope that Alzheimer's will one day have a cure or way better treatment than I do about autism. But I don't really know what's going on currently with either. Well, besides that we all know that vaccines cause autism. And deodorant causes Alzheimer's. If you are into seeing a depressing, haunting movie by one of the most mesmerizing, beautiful actresses in the world, then see it. Not talking about Kristen Stewart, although she is in it and rocks a cool silk baseball embroidered jacket that you can totally tell is hers. Alec Baldwin is pretty blank in it as a character so it's not perfect but it's all about Julianne Moore.

 

It's not on Facebook (shocker!) but Satan Wriders, Monster Treasure, and a Burger band with the dumb name Dude York are playing tomorrow in Davis. My love for Satan Wriders is going to overpower my hatred of staying in Davis after work.

Dick move

I was bummed to read that Temple is opening a coffee shop at around 22nd and L (can't recall the exact block). It's only a few blocks from The Mill, which is itself only a few blocks from the Weatherstone. I feel like it's kind of a Starbucks move on the part of Temple (strong words!). I LOVE The Mill and they are just starting out and doing so well I don't want anything to mess it up. Oversaturation is a real thing and there aren't an unlimited amount of coffee customers in my hood. It is sure to filter off some of them. Dick move.

Wonder Cafe indeed

Me and MC were cruising South Sac for a place to eat after midnight and coming up short. The places that used to be open really late (Cuidad Neza., various Pho spots) all seem to have started closing earlier. We almost went to Rick's Hacienda in desperation but it was packed for karaoke only and not serving food (?!). We ended up down on Stockton at a place called Wonder Café. It had 40-ish and younger bro Vietnamese dudes and cute young women, some of whom were sitting at their tables, obviously "hostessing" for tips. It had a lot of exotic stuff on the menu, including virility-related dishes like deer and cow penis. I asked about the deer but it was pretty clear I'd have to arm twist to get it served to me, and since I didn't even know if the food was good I dropped it. We got deep fried quail and a chicken salad with a really good, sweet/sour dressing but kind of off-flavored meat. I am having digestive troubles currently. The girls were very sweet in that stripper kind of fake-ish way. There is yelp drama about it, but funnily enough nobody mentions the hostess aspect. I didn't feel like it was unfriendly at all. Except for the servers no one paid any attention to us. At first when we got there they were karaoke-ing Vietnamese songs and then it switched to blaring rap, which is obviously ok by me.

movies

oh man, so long since I've posted. It's the thing where I get overwhelmed by the things and then I don't write the things. You know what movie was fucking great? Inherent Vice! Hope you didn't miss it. I think it played three weeks and if DB hadn't mentioned that it was ending I might have missed it LOVED IT.

you know what other movie is good? The Player. Gotta be one of the best Altman movies. I don't think you can see it on Netflix streaming. Netflix streaming sucks! I am glad to be back on the DVDs, although the movie about Portuguese junkies I tried to watch last week was the worst. Like a parody of an art film. The director, Oliveira, is very divisive and I see why.. I fall on the hate side

 

You know who else is good? Tobias Wolff! That talk he gave at the Verge was so great. Hero! I was worried about Janis Stevens reading the story because she bugs me in local plays sometimes (especially as Lady Macbeth) but it was a slam dunk and he loved it! What a cool guy. I recommend a story called The Hunters from The Garden of the North American Martyrs. The second reading at The Verge was from the classic story "Bullet in the Brain", which is also on the New Yorker fiction podcast (I highly recommend this podcast in general.) I see that Tobias Wolff was on it and read the Denis Johnson story "Emergency" which is one of my favorites ever and reminds me a lot of "The Hunters".