2003
(New York unless listed otherwise)

Passadis Del Pep (Barcelona) 4*
WD50 4*
Kai 4*
66 4*
Slanted Door (SF) 3*
Carballeira (Lleida, Spain) 3*
Uglesich's (New Orleans) 3*
Hangawi 3*
Wallse 3*
Al Di La 3*
El Torreone (Torrisellas, Spain) 2*
Asados Nazareno (Roa, Spain) 2*
Piro (Gratallops, Spain) 2*
Frankie & Johnny's (New Orleans) 2*
Mother's (New Orleans) 2*
Zuni Cafe (SF) 2*
Peristyle (New Orleans) 2*
Kebab Cafe 2*
Itzocan Cafe 2*
Le Bernardin 2*
Botafumeiro (Barcelona) 2*
Milos 2*
Town 2*
Washington Park 2*
Il Gattopardo 2*
Grand Sichuan Int Midtown 2*
Otto 1*
Minnow 1*
Arnaud's 1*
Herbsaint (New Orleans) 1*
Felix's Oyster Bar (New Orleans) 1*
Camellia Grill (New Orleans) 1*
Fuleen Seafood 1*
Counter 1*
Holy Basil 1*
Bao 1*
Felidia 1*
Cambodian Cuisine 1*
WOOCHON 1*
Tommasso's 1*
Restaurant del Remey (Lleida, Spain) 1*
El Agua (Villafranca del Bierzo, Sapin) 1*
Villa Laguardia (Laguardia, Spain) 1*
Every Taverna not listed above that we ate in Athens/Thessaloniki (Greece) was 1* some we would never know the names....
WD50 is opening this week and we had a preview......we were a table of 4 and we tasted 9 dishs plus 4 desserts......all were very good and most were excellente, for me the squid pasta app (available as a main) was insane great, the lamb main course was one of the most yummy things I have eaten all year, the desserts were awesome, aromas and flavors all over the map......the much talked about Foie gras/anchovy terrine was n/a last nite but that is even more a reason for me to go back soon, there is a dangerous guy working the bar making some cocktails, we tasted 3 and they ROCK!!....love the room, love the people.....
Arnauds opened in red Hook and its the 2nd new restaurant to open there in resent time, the first Hope and Anchor is supposed to be good, Arnauds is also....we had a tasty escargot wonton's (they called them ravioli), nice bass, and amazing oysters (Fisher Island)....I love Red Hook....
Vertigo then and now: "before and after images of various San Francisco locations used in Alfred Hitchcock's 1958 masterpiece." (via fimoculous)
snow din
an interview with billy wilder about his noir films. also some essays related to noir.
"Next month, a former factory in a small town an hour north of New York will become the first museum dedicated to the greatest generation of American artists. Not Pollock, Rothko and de Kooning. The next generation, the one that came of age during the 1960's and 70's, the one that includes Donald Judd, Dan Flavin, Walter De Maria, Michael Heizer, Robert Smithson, Sol LeWitt, Andy Warhol, Robert Ryman, Agnes Martin, Bruce Nauman and Richard Serra. The history of American art is going to need a little rewriting."

mixed reviews for Cowboy Bebop movie.

also mixed are the reviews for neil jordans The Good Thief, a remake of jean-pierre melvilles Bob Le Flambeur starring nick nolte. can anyone think of one successful (critical or box office) remake? heres an article about melville.

pre-matrix history via animation at anamatrix.
made it finally over to Itzocan Cafe....place seats 12, food was excellente (dont miss the dumplings), its BYOB (till they open a new space), will go back soon....
Here's my latest web posting game proposition. Find a post that represents a hypothetically typical post from a ficticious blogger constructed by combining two real bloggers.

Here's my entry from a hypotheitcal Bill Schwarz / Skinny combo blogger.

What, you've got more important things to do?
Colossal squid Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni recovered "virtually intact" from antarctic waters.


Forget the war, the Times has real news: Woodcock courting! I don't see why this isn't on the front page regularly. Of course, being the Times, they get something wrong: although the birds are often in Central Park, they are not generally observed displaying.
peter jackson plans to remake King Kong.
was this that cheap east village seafood joint that was previewed in timeout last fall?
trader joes
strange flavored japanese ice creams
Spring??.....lately for many weeks I am falling in love with the Korean family at the Green Market, in the cold of winter they have had these yummy tiny tomatoes, greenhouse I assume, but they get my #1 vote....yesterday they had some bok choy rabe (they have great bok choy always), thin small cucumbers, and an expanded herb selection.....ORGANIC also:>)
classic videogame expo
iraq body count

You just can't trust those dolphins.
You know Ari Fleischer's lyin' about 90% of the time, but it's always nice to catch him in one. Here's what he said Mar. 28 about the difficulty of the Iraq invasion:

"The statements the White House has always made about this is that people should be prepared for the fact that it would go longer," Fleischer said. "That's exactly how the White House explained what we expect.

"When the White House says to you that it can be long, lengthy and dangerous, we're anticipating that any number of scenarios can develop."

*sound of buzzer*

Here's what the Administration and its supporters (OK, it wasn't precisely the White House) said during the run-up to war (compiled by Salon):

Vice President Dick Cheney, on NBC's "Meet the Press" March 16:

"The read we get on the people of Iraq is there is no question but that they want to get rid of Saddam Hussein and they will welcome as liberators the United States when we come to do that."

"My guess is even significant elements of the Republican Guard are likely as well to want to avoid conflict with the U.S. forces and are likely to step aside."

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, in an interview with Wolf Blitzer on CNN March 23:

"The course of this war is clear. The outcome is clear. The regime of Saddam Hussein is gone. It's over. It will not be there in a relatively reasonably predictable period of time."

"And the people in Iraq need to know that: that it will not be long before they will be liberated."

Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, in a speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars March 11:

"Over and over, we hear reports of Iraqis here in the United States who manage to communicate with their friends and families in Iraq, and what they are hearing is amazing. Their friends and relatives want to know what is taking the Americans so long. When are you coming?"

"In a meeting last week at the White House, one of these Iraqi-Americans said, 'A war with Saddam Hussein would be a war for Iraq, not against Iraq.'"

"The Iraqi people understand what this crisis is about. Like the people of France in the 1940s, they view us as their hoped-for liberator. They know that America will not come as a conqueror. Our plan -- as President Bush has said -- is to 'remain as long as necessary and not a day more.'"

Richard Perle, recently resigned chairman of the Defense Policy Board, in a PBS interview July 11, 2002:

"Saddam is much weaker than we think he is. He's weaker militarily. We know he's got about a third of what he had in 1991."

"But it's a house of cards. He rules by fear because he knows there is no underlying support. Support for Saddam, including within his military organization, will collapse at the first whiff of gunpowder. "

Ken ("Cakewalk") Adelman, former U.N. ambassador, in an Op-Ed for the Washington Post, Feb. 13, 2002:

"I believe demolishing Hussein's military power and liberating Iraq would be a cakewalk. Let me give simple, responsible reasons: (1) It was a cakewalk last time; (2) they've become much weaker; (3) we've become much stronger; and (4) now we're playing for keeps.

Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in a breakfast meeting March 4, 2003:

"What you'd like to do is have it be a short, short conflict. The best way to do that is have such a shock on the system, the Iraqi regime would have to assume early on the end is inevitable."

Christopher Hitchens, Vanity Fair writer, in a debate Jan. 28, 2003:

"This will be no war -- there will be a fairly brief and ruthless military intervention.

"The president will give an order. [The attack] will be rapid, accurate and dazzling ... It will be greeted by the majority of the Iraqi people as an emancipation. And I say, bring it on."

Michael Moore's next project will be Farenheit 911, a look at the "murky relationship between President Bush's father and the family of Osama bin Laden..."

I've posted the Daily Variety story in the comments below...
MB and I finally ate at Tenament on Ludlow between Stanton and Rivington. They spent a lot of money building this place. Very slick old time LES feel. Two interesting semi-private rooms in the back. Music from the live dj was nice. Very good feel to the place.

The food is trying, but so far not making it. The dishes reminded me of Alias except not as good (although Alias had some problems at the start too, so maybe there is hope.) Service was scattered at best. Probably won't return unless I hear something different.
We tried the new Clinton St. place, Salt, last night. Nice casual room. More bar than restaurant. Maybe 10 deuces, plus a long communal style table in the middle. Couple beers on tap. Fairly short wine list that didn't seem special to my relatively untrained eye.

Menu is small and very meat oriented. What we had was not very impressive, but not a disaster either. (Alex?) But it's not really about the food in any case. Very young, hip, euro-ish crowd. I don't expect it to be popular with the locals, but that's probably a good thing in terms of them making it. I'd meet someone there for a drink over, say, Verlaine, or SX137, but that's not saying too much.