Fast Times Indeed

I just got back from a lunch with a consultant (we'll call him Terry) I worked with on a recent proposal during my trip to China last December. I asked a co-worker for a good recommendation of a nearby restaurant that would allow us room to talk and with good, well-priced food. She suggested Bocadillo's located on the corner of Washington and Montgomery in downtown SF.


We found a place in the corner by the bar and settled in for a fairly standard business lunch. Located just behind Terry's head on the wall was a flat screen TV playing the 1982 Amy Heckerling classic, Fast Times at Ridgemont High. The place was a pretty nice, tapas and wine type place and I thought that a movie playing in the background was odd, not to mention the choice of movie. Since it was behind Terry, I didn't bring this to his attention. Unfortunately, I was already distracted and my mind quickly wondered whether the infamous Phoebe Cates red bikini pool side scene would hit the screen during lunch and I would have to make the choice of commenting (my natural impulse) or keeping it to myself. Suffice it to say, I had a tough time updating Terry on the status of an in-factory training program for migrant workers in China knowing that one of the most famous cinematic nude scenes would be staring me in the face in all its high definition glory.


I am definitely getting older and more mature (arguably) as I held it together and was able to stay focused throughout the meal...so much so that I was able to almost forget that Jeff Spicoli was ordering pizza during Mr. Hand's algebra class a mere five feet away. Just as I paying for the check I happened to glance up and what do I see??....No, not the Phoebe Cates part, but the scene with Jennifer Jason Leigh completely buck naked after a romp with faux cool guy, Damone. I was caught off-guard by this as Fast Times is forever linked with Sean Penn and Phoebe Cates and not much else, so the JJ Leigh image was somewhat startling. I glanced around the room to see if anyone else was reacting, but nobody did. (I guess it takes more for the SF professional set to bat an eye. Let's not forget that this is the town that believes Barry Bonds' head expanding three sizes over the years is normal.) Again, my poker face remained as I was able to prevent myself from giggling like an eight-year-old. This may be the first time that I realized I may actually be an adult now, and maybe one of the only times when being older and thus quite versed in social settings can be seen as a positive. In any non-professional setting, Fast Times at Ridgemont High would have become the topic of conversation throughout lunch, so I was proud of myself for holding it together. I guess its pathetic really, but still amusing...at least to me.


Either way, Fast Times at Ridgemont High....GREAT MOVIE!

SoCal and So Clean

The blog hits the road again this weekend to visit the City of Angels. There may be no better time to escape the doldrums of the Bay Area rains and deep freeze. Unfortunately, LA's recent weather has only been slightly better which is a bummer. Among other things, the weather in Southern California is one my favorite features of the area, so having to wear a jacket at all times this weekend will surely be a drag.

The bright side is that it will be a reunion of sorts with my college mates as I have tickets to the UCLA- Arizona State game tonight and the UCLA- Arizona game on Saturday. I will spend more time in Westwood this weekend than I have since I moved away in 1997 (and all I have to show for it is black lung). The computer and camera are coming along, so I hope to provide as many up-to-the-minute updates as possible.

I also plan to settle the Writer's strike, babysit Britney's kids, and solve the traffic problem while I'm down there.

(Final Note: On Monday, I went out to dinner with the fellas and conversation shifted to the trainwreck that is Britney Spears. The dialogue surrounded the fact that if we didn't know she was Britney Spears and she walked into the bar we were at, would we even think she was attractive? Or even give her a double take? There was some thoughts one way or the other, but the fact that we were debating the issues reveals a few things: 1) nobody can have fun with mundane chatter like my friends and I, and 2) calling Britney a mess is the understatement of the decade.)

Ha's Turn to Tears

Hey kids! Its been a while, so let me start with a complete non-sequiter. I just paid $6 for a bowl of soup from some sandwich/soup joint down the street from the office. Quite a price to pay for a bowl of flavored water, but to somewhat quote Vinnie Vega from Pulp Fiction, “I’m not sure it’s worth $6, but it’s a damn good bowl of soup.” It’s Mexican Chicken Tortilla in case you were curious. OK. Back to the post…

This entry may actually be one of the more serious posts I’ve written.

At this point in life, I have come to realize there are only a few things I can actually rely on no matter what. For me, its Natalia, my family, my SF/LA/NY friends, and that’s about it. (On the negative side, I can also count on UCLA football disappointing me, the broads from The View annoying me, the cost of an SF home to always be out of my price range— but I digress.)

There was one other aspect of my fairly simple life that I have relied on for several years, but alas cannot count on it any longer. The object to which I am referring is actually an eatery. Perhaps my favorite eatery. An eatery that I have enjoyed since the late 1980’s. It is with great despair that I announce that Ha’s Chinese Restaurant located on 25th Ave. and Irving Street in the Sunset district of San Francisco is no longer in business.

Not quite the way I wanted to kick off 2008.

My love affair with Ha’s began when I started working at Chan’s Baseball Card shop in 1988. The guys at the shop were already quite fond of Ha’s when I was hired. For the 3 years I worked there, I would say that we ordered Ha’s for delivery at least twice a week. (Ha’s split time with Judah Café, a great greasy spoon down the street that knew us all by name. Unfortunately, Judah Café has also gone the way of the dinosaur.)

We all had our favorites. Ross would get kung pao beef with no peanuts, James would enjoy shrimp in black bean sauce, Khang was a fan of mongolian beef, and I absolutely adored their garlic sauce chicken wings (GCW). I have probably eaten thousands of Ha’s wings in my lifetime and my adoration of their wings was widely known. My family knew I loved them and a few years back, my buddy James actually gave me an order of GCW for X-Mas when he bought everyone their favorite things. Some received beers, bottles of Jameson, or Cokes, me….the wings. In an attempt at transparency, let the record show I also loved their beef chow fun, walnut prawns, green onion pancakes, and kung pao beef too.

When I left SF the first time for college, (and on every subsequent trip since), my return visits to SF were not complete unless I had an order of Ha’s. Even on my most recent trips to China, when I was sick of Chinese food by the time I left Beijing, I ordered Ha’s as one of my first meals. Ha’s was more than delicious sustenance. Ha’s was a sign of home. Located in my old neighborhood, chomping into their food let me know that I was home safely and everything was ok in the world. My friends and I ordered Ha’s for every fantasy baseball draft I ever participated in. I’ve spent many a lazy weekend watching movies or sports while eating Ha’s. Now my only real version of comfort food is gone.

I knew something was amiss when I gave them a call for a delivery last Sunday night. Busy signal all night long. Maybe they were closed for an extended holiday I thought, so I grabbed some eats elsewhere. I had an inkling at the time that maybe there was something more going on, but I quickly squashed this idea.

Then, Monday night at approximately 9:30pm, James gave me a call and just said, “unbelievable” when I picked up. We have been friends for over 25 years at this point so maybe it was just my familiarity with the tone of his voice that I immediately knew Ha’s was no more. James said he might give up Chinese food altogether and become a sushi connoisseur, but that was a joke…I think.

It might be fitting that my debut at Ha’s coincided with my injection into the absolute depths of baseball fandom, and now its closing mirrors the ridiculousness of the baseball dialogue this off-season which has consisted mostly of Mitchell reports, HGH, subpoenas, and steroids. Hardly a whimper in comparison about the Dodgers signing of Andruw Jones, or Billy Beane trading away the nucleus of the A’s for some prospects. It appears that the classic adage, all good things must come to an end, may be true whether in reference to the purity of America’s pastime or local Chinese cuisine.

Ha’s has left a void that may not be easily filled. There are rumors that Ha’s is only moving down the street to a new location, but I remain dubious. Fortunately, I have this forum and you readers to provide me with much-needed support during this difficult time.

(I recently finished reading Anthony Bourdain’s A Cook’s Tour, which may have contributed to the nostalgic remembrance of Ha’s, but I bet even Bourdain would have pangs for GCW if he ever would have had the pleasure.)

Thoughts on a Joe Torre Hiring

Since the Joe Torre rumors have begun, I have been asked by several friends about my opinions of the Dodgers hiring the former Yankee manager to run the Boys in Blue. My initial thought is whether Joe Torre is really as great a coach as the world makes him out to be. Yes, he did win 4 World Series in 5 years, but he did so with future Hall of Famers Roger Clemens (once), Derek Jeter, and Mariano Rivera on the roster. They also had a bunch of steady veterans including Paul O’Neill, Bernie Williams, Jorge Posada, and Tino Martinez. In other words, it was virtually a perfect storm with the right mix of pitching and clutch hitting and its unclear how large Joe Torre was in making them successful.

After that run, they made the playoffs each year but underachieved with the highest payroll in baseball. Again, its unclear whether Joe Torre had any input in compiling the rosters that included disastrous contracts to Jason Giambi, Carl Pavano, Johnny Damon, Jaret Wright, and Kei Igawa. All in all, I have no idea whether he’s a great manager or not.

Living in New York for three years during his stint as Yankee skipper, I can say that Joe Torre is masterful when it comes to handling the media. In a place where the local tabloid newspapers consider Alex Rodriguez’s nightlife headline news, Torre always handled the obnoxious NY sports beat with class and often accepted blame for sub-par performances on the field. There is no denying this is one of Joe Torre’s greatest gifts.

Since I have never been in the Yankee clubhouse to see how he interacts with the players, I can only give my impression of Torre’s baseball savvy based on what I’ve seen watching a bunch of Yankee games in recent years— Joe Torre’s in-game demeanor resembles that of Bernie in Weekend at Bernie’s. There were times when I was sure he was asleep and other times I was unsure if he even said a word to any of his players. I may be all wrong on this and his stature in the dugout as the stoic leader may in fact be what his players feel, but for me…I have no idea.

I also heard ESPN’s Bill Simmons discussing the Joe Torre hire. He had a valid point in asking, “what does Joe Torre know about the National League?” Even if we assume that Joe Torre is a great manager, it is clear that managing in the American League is totally different that the NL, and its hard to gauge whether the transition will be a smooth one. Incorporating double switches, and sacrifice bunts are integral aspects of the NL game that Torre never had to deal with for the past 12 years in the AL.

Ultimately, I think the Dodgers have way more questions than who the manager is that I felt should have been the #1 off-season concern (3B, a power hitter, starting pitching, lefty bullpen specialist, and getting rid of Juan Pierre somehow all come to mind.). Then again, if getting Joe Torre is part of the package in obtaining Alex Rodriguez, then I have no problem with it. Until then, I’m on the fence on this one.

Guitar Hero

This weekend in LA was great despite sitting in traffic for an hour outside of the Rose Bowl parking lot only to watch a crappy football game v. Notre Dame. Besides that it was a great time hanging with the UCLA lads, cocktailing, and living like a 21 year old. Unfortunately, these old bones can't handle it and I'm sick as a dog.

I'm probably sick due to lack of sleep last weekend and the Playstation Game Guitar Hero is to blame. Never being one for video games, this game may be the best pre-party device since Jenga and King's Cup. I think I'm the last person on Earth to play it so rather than explaining it, I advise you check out this link. Or this. Or this. Its basically guitar karaoke, but maybe 100 times better than that.

Not only is it super fun to play, its great fun to watch and sing along to the great songs that the game has. Francis has three different versions so we had over 60 songs to play. (My fave was Deep Purple's Smoke on the Water...pretty simple on the easy level.)We meant to go out on Friday night, but ended up getting a single drink at a Hollywood bar and returning to the crib to play for another 3 hours.

I highly recommend it.

Lately

The blog has been on a bit of a hiatus lately. This has not really been a conscious decision, just the way things go, I guess. I have also received a number of emails commenting on my lack of posts, which at least made me feel appreciated. It also wasn’t for a lack of material. September was a pretty busy month for me, filled with highs and lows. Among the highs:

• My first ever trip to Washington DC. I was there for four days for work and thought it to be a great city. Beautiful, colonial architecture (I think that characterizes it), a lot of bars, full of young people, and great energy. The monuments were surprisingly moving, particularly the FDR monument. Unlike the other more famous monuments, this is more of a sculpture garden where you walk through a series of sculptures that show images of American life during FDR’s tenure accompanied by one of his quotes. His famous quotes showed an absolute mastery of the English language and I could only think how far this country has fallen, as I tried to think of one single noteworthy quote from our current knucklehead president.
• After DC I headed to NYC for a long weekend and had a great sighting. While hanging with a group of friends at our old local haunt in the East Village, Natalia told me to look across the room and who did I see? The great Jemaine Clement (the bespectacled one above) of Flight of the Conchords. Quite the sighting. I wanted to join him in a rendition of “Hiphopopotamus”, but thought better of it.
• Soccer season has started and I'm playing in a 30 and over league for my second year. Great fun, although I've probably lost about 8 steps since my heyday.
  

Among the lows:

• My Ipod is dead after I dropped it.

• My car is starting to have mechanical problems.

• The Dodgers ruined my chances to enjoy postseason baseball.

• UCLA got hammered to a pathetic Utah team, ruining their chance at relevance…again.

Aside from these highs and lows, I haven’t blogged much because during any free moment I have, I am watching TV, DVDs actually. One of my favorite things about traveling to China is the opportunity to purchase DVDs for a low low low price. This most recent trip I picked up Season One-Three of the HBO series, The Wire. I have been addicted to the show ever since. I just finished Season Two last night, and without hyperbole, this is the best drama I have ever seen on television. Even better than the Sopranos.

The writing is superb. The characters are realistic and interesting, and the show is directed with a gritty presentation of the urban decay in Baltimore, Maryland. Its basically a cop show that goes into wiretapping and other facets of undercover cop work in great detail, but also does a great job of presenting the criminals (drug dealers and traffickers so far) as not just bad guys, but more as well-thought out business people working in a black market sub-economy of their own. My friends on the SFPD have also told me that it is the most realistic cop show of all time. I absolutely endorse it!

This weekend I am taking a break from The Wire and heading down to LA for the long weekend (Christopher Columbus- blah, Columbus Day off- sweet). I can only assume that there will be some blog-worthy events taking place, and am committed to updating here as soon as possible. Unless I get discovered while in Hollywood and end up as a comedy writer, which would probably mean no more blog. I’m not above selling out at this point.

2007 MLB Playoff Prognostications

I wanted to quickly post my picks for the 2007 MLB playoffs. I did this once before in 2004 with shockingly poor results, but here goes nothing:

Colorado v. Philadelphia

The two hottest teams in baseball face off here and it’s a tough choice. I’m going with the Phillies in 4 mostly because they have 3 legitimate superstars in their lineup (Howard, Utley (UCLA), and Rollins). The Rockies have a damn good hitting order as well, but they may be too excited to just be in the playoffs. Also, I watched the play-in game v. San Diego the other night and I realized that the Rockies looked like a college baseball team— all young, white dudes. I almost took them on that premise alone, but since I’ve never been the biggest fan of fraternities, I’ll go with the phighting phillies.

Chicago v. Arizona

I’m still shocked that Arizona is even in the playoffs and even sports the best record in the NL. So weird. I’m taking the Cubbies in five. This time I think the team with the bigger payroll wins. I’m going against my usual approach which would be to take the team with the better bullpen if there’s no other differentiating factor, but I hate the DBacks, so I went that way. Also, Soriano, Ramirez, Lee, Zambrano are used to the big stage. Only Eric Byrnes (Bay Area guy and UCLA) has some prime time experience, and that’s as a studio host.

New York v. Cleveland

I think all things are coming up ARod this season, so I expect him to have a monster postseason resulting in the Yanks paying him $35 million a year for the next ten years, giving him a seat at the United Nations, and ownership rights to all of Staten Island. Jeter is money, their pitchers are rounding into form, and this x-factor pitcher, Joba Chamberlain, may make a big difference. Yankees in 4.

Anaheim v. Boston

These are my two least favorite teams in baseball. I hate Boston fans and I hate that the Angels are taking over as THE SoCal baseball team over my beloved Dodgers. That said, I’m going with the Angels here. I remember talking to a co-worker earlier in the year and looking up and down the Red Sox lineup and thinking, “this ain’t that great.” I trust Manny and Papi in big spots, but guys like Drew, Lugo, Crisp, Varitek, Lowell (despite his great year), Pedroia could be handled. Plus, everyone is expecting Yanks-Red Sox part XVI, so I’ll play the contrarian. Also, the Patriots are looking like the best NFL team of all-time, why should Boston get all the sports mojo in 2007.

I’ll go with Phillies over the Cubs. I went back and forth on this one, but then realized it’s the Cubs, so they’ll lose. Phils in 6.

Yankees over the Angels in 5.

World Series- Yankees over the Phillies in six games.