by Christina Waters | Jan 7, 2008 | Home |
We lost two local legends last week — Gilda Stagnaro, matriarch of the wharf, and Gary Lease, scholar, hunter extraordinaire and Professor of History of Consciousness. Gilda made a place at her table for over 35 years for devoted locals and delighted visitors. A warm, graceful woman, she was a link to the founding days of the wharf when Genovese fishermen braved the elements and set a tone for colorful immigrants to follow.
Those who knew Gary knew him to be in every sense larger-than-life. A genuine force of nature. He didn’t know how to do anything small or tentative when it could be done with gusto and bravura. Willing to speak plainly and act boldly in order to be true to his huge heart and brilliant mind, Gary was a gifted mentor, a generous host and a genius with expletives. Colorful to the end, he went out in the midst of a wild storm worthy of the wild west figure that he was.
Goodbye to Gilda and Gary – our local color is dimmed by their passing.
by Christina Waters | Jan 4, 2008 | Home, Movies |
How can we explain the Disney-produced mess that is National Treasure 2? How is it possible that Nicolas Cage – with his monochromatic, slack-jawed, puppy-eyed expression, his bad dye job, his cornball tendency to break out in patriotic sweats at the drop of a hat – how is it possible that this man continues to get work in the movies? (Surely it can’t still be the Coppola thing, can it?)
Lacking script, direction, competent acting (except from old pros Jon Voigt, Ed Harris and Helen Mirren, who must have needed the money), National Treasure 2 lurches through a visual wikipedia of great films from the past.
From Indiana Jones we get the underground treasure thing and rolling boulders. (more…)
by Christina Waters | Jan 4, 2008 | Home, Travel |
Röckenwagner for our last lunch of 2007 – and Parkhouse Eatery for the first lunch of 2008. Delicious in both cases. Especially the plump old-fashioned apple pancake with crème fraiche at Röckenwagner Cafe & Bakery in Venice’s Abbot Kinney boutique district, absolutely packed with the young and the beautiful, fueling up before New Year’s Eve.
We hit the crowded cafe after a trek up to the Getty Villa Malibu, where the gazillion dollar refurbish of the once-glorious villa left us cranky and hungry. Antiquities in a theme park, aggressively framed by dining and shopping opportunities – that’s what the Getty money bought. If you remembered the old Getty villa from years gone by, you will be aghast. Get on a plane headed for Sicily or Pompeii instead, where the environment matches the collection. But back to the food.
At Röckenwagner, we consumed a mixed bag of sensational German apple pancake (right), tiny tuna sandwiches on brioche with designer salads, and an unsatisfying niçoise salad with over-cooked “poached” eggs. The breads, and especially a nut-filled scone, were lavish and wonderful — the Rockenwagner bakery continues to impress. By the time we finished up lunch at 1:30pm, the temperature was 80 degrees.
by Christina Waters | Jan 2, 2008 | Home |
Is Ron Paul the village idiot? the court fool? or one of the smartest secret weapons in the Republican arsenal? Think about it. Why is this stranger-than-fiction gnome up there on the stage with all those relatively clear-headed straight-arrows? Here’s why. Paul is so far right that he’s left, and threatens to become a cult darling of anti-war libertarians and independents alike.
The light went on for me as I watched the recent Republican debate. (more…)
