As we've all heard by now, the format war is over. Even NPR covered it. Absolutely the best situation possible, and a much earlier conclusion than anyone thought possible. As I said at the time, the Warner Bros exclusivity was really what got the ball rolling... it just got to the bottom of the hill about 5 months earlier than I thought it would. I would have been fine with combo players becoming the norm, but this is obviously much better.
SO. Now I have some things to contemplate. Obviously a PS3 is going to be on the to buy list soon. Before that happens though, I need to decide on a receiver. Which is going to be difficult... the one I want (see Alan's post about his Denon 3808CI) just isn't going to happen right now. Or in the forseeable future, with Anna going back to school soon. I've considered a few models from Onkyo, but I've read of lip-synch issues on the models I was considering; most of which are correctable, but apparently with the PS3 video games are fine but BluRay playback needs an adjustment (which throws off video games once changed). It's a frustrating situation, but basically... I HAVE to get a receiver sometime soon. Our current set only has one HDMI input, so I'm going to need a receiver with at least three, and I'm not looking to break the bank - I don't need monstrous sound either, just something with decent volume and good clarity. I'm sure this will be an issue that will puzzle me for months until I make a decision compromising.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Mo Betta @ Mojito
Tonight we made our second visit to Mojito, second establishment of chef Fernando Martinez of Havana Rumba, in the Holiday Manor shopping center. I'm actually amazed that it took us this long to make it back - our first visit was in mid-October of last year. On that first trip we shared about eight tapas, three sandwiches, and a vegetarian paella between six people. Every single dish was a delight, from the guacamole served with fried plantain chips to the paella prepared with walnuts and raisins (which I admit I was highly skeptical of). And the bill was an obscenely low $106 before tip, and we left horribly stuffed with a sizable portion of the paella left over.
Previously we'd made the selection of the vegetarian paella out of consideration for the actual vegetarians dining with us that night, and we promised ourselves when we returned on our own that we would try the carnivore's variety. So when our drink orders were taken, we immediately put in an order for the Paella Valenciano (order the paella immediately, it takes up to 45 minutes to prepare). Shortly thereafter we ordered a Plata de Chimichurri (grilled skirt steak with a chimichurri sauce and bits of fried onion), some sweet potato fries (served with a smoked honey), and a pair of empanadas.
The chimichurri and the sweet potato fries were carry-over favorites from the last visit and again did not disappoint, but the winner from our trio of tapas this time was clearly the empanadas. I was doubtful at first - my favorite empanadas in the past have been those filled with pork and/or chorizo, and ground beef did not sound like an appetizing option to me. But they hadn't let me down on any of the previous 12 dishes I'd tried, so I gave it a shot. Thank God I did; it was a real treat. I wouldn't have thought the blend of seasoned beef, pearl onions and raisins could have been so perfect. This one is definitely going down in our favorites for next time.
Somewhat disappointing was the meat filled paella, featuring large portions of chicken, some chorizo, fish, shrimp, and mussels. There wasn't anything wrong with any of it, though I could have done without the large pieces of chicken completely. The meats were all perfectly cooked and well seasoned. But astonishingly, I found myself missing the very non-traditional combination of walnuts and raisins found in the vegetarian version of the dish. I think we'll be going back to that on subsequent visits. This one came out to a bill of $55 plus tip, owing to a larger ratio of food ordered to diners in the party this time out - we just couldn't say no to a paella tonight (which incidentally must be ordered for two or four people, at $16 per person for the traditional version, and $14 per person for the vegetarian).
As much as we love the food at Mojito, there are some criticisms that I feel like I have to levy at the restaurant. In several places of the restaurant it is ridiculously crowded. The initial two-top where we were seated was next to a 4 top that had a gentleman placed on the end in the small aisleway between our table and his. That's not an unacceptable solution in many cases, but this gentleman's back was approximately 4 inches from our table. It was very awkward for us, and thankfully the waitress seated us at another two-top which was open only two spaces down, but she was clearly put out at having to do so; and the request was phrased very politely by Anna, so this wasn't a case of my occasionally gruff personality tainting the exchange.
A problem which unfortunately persists is the crowding around the bar during busy hours (which is most of them). The bar is placed directly along the path leading to the kitchen, which creates a severe traffic problem; it's a bad situation for both guests and servers. On our last visit, we were given the table directly next to the bar and my dad spent fifteen to twenty minutes trying to avoid another gentleman's rear end directly in his face.
Fortunately for Mojito, the food is excellent, and many are willing to put up with these at-times-ridiculous space issues. I only hope the discomfort of forced sardine impersonations won't end up overriding the pure joy we get from the food, because it's one of the tastiest spots in town, and it can be a heck of a value.
They don't take reservations but will do call-ahead seating if you call 30 minutes before arriving. I'm told this system works well, but both times we've gone it's been early enough (less than thirty minutes after dinner hours begin) that we are seated very quickly. By the time we leave though, the number of people standing by for a table is astronomical so be warned. The food is excellent and can be very reasonable if you stick to just tapas, but the paella is something special.
Previously we'd made the selection of the vegetarian paella out of consideration for the actual vegetarians dining with us that night, and we promised ourselves when we returned on our own that we would try the carnivore's variety. So when our drink orders were taken, we immediately put in an order for the Paella Valenciano (order the paella immediately, it takes up to 45 minutes to prepare). Shortly thereafter we ordered a Plata de Chimichurri (grilled skirt steak with a chimichurri sauce and bits of fried onion), some sweet potato fries (served with a smoked honey), and a pair of empanadas.
The chimichurri and the sweet potato fries were carry-over favorites from the last visit and again did not disappoint, but the winner from our trio of tapas this time was clearly the empanadas. I was doubtful at first - my favorite empanadas in the past have been those filled with pork and/or chorizo, and ground beef did not sound like an appetizing option to me. But they hadn't let me down on any of the previous 12 dishes I'd tried, so I gave it a shot. Thank God I did; it was a real treat. I wouldn't have thought the blend of seasoned beef, pearl onions and raisins could have been so perfect. This one is definitely going down in our favorites for next time.
Somewhat disappointing was the meat filled paella, featuring large portions of chicken, some chorizo, fish, shrimp, and mussels. There wasn't anything wrong with any of it, though I could have done without the large pieces of chicken completely. The meats were all perfectly cooked and well seasoned. But astonishingly, I found myself missing the very non-traditional combination of walnuts and raisins found in the vegetarian version of the dish. I think we'll be going back to that on subsequent visits. This one came out to a bill of $55 plus tip, owing to a larger ratio of food ordered to diners in the party this time out - we just couldn't say no to a paella tonight (which incidentally must be ordered for two or four people, at $16 per person for the traditional version, and $14 per person for the vegetarian).
As much as we love the food at Mojito, there are some criticisms that I feel like I have to levy at the restaurant. In several places of the restaurant it is ridiculously crowded. The initial two-top where we were seated was next to a 4 top that had a gentleman placed on the end in the small aisleway between our table and his. That's not an unacceptable solution in many cases, but this gentleman's back was approximately 4 inches from our table. It was very awkward for us, and thankfully the waitress seated us at another two-top which was open only two spaces down, but she was clearly put out at having to do so; and the request was phrased very politely by Anna, so this wasn't a case of my occasionally gruff personality tainting the exchange.
A problem which unfortunately persists is the crowding around the bar during busy hours (which is most of them). The bar is placed directly along the path leading to the kitchen, which creates a severe traffic problem; it's a bad situation for both guests and servers. On our last visit, we were given the table directly next to the bar and my dad spent fifteen to twenty minutes trying to avoid another gentleman's rear end directly in his face.
Fortunately for Mojito, the food is excellent, and many are willing to put up with these at-times-ridiculous space issues. I only hope the discomfort of forced sardine impersonations won't end up overriding the pure joy we get from the food, because it's one of the tastiest spots in town, and it can be a heck of a value.
They don't take reservations but will do call-ahead seating if you call 30 minutes before arriving. I'm told this system works well, but both times we've gone it's been early enough (less than thirty minutes after dinner hours begin) that we are seated very quickly. By the time we leave though, the number of people standing by for a table is astronomical so be warned. The food is excellent and can be very reasonable if you stick to just tapas, but the paella is something special.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Brand New Day, Brand New Opinion
Ok, it's been one month now. One month since Marvel decided to toss out twenty years of stories rewriting the entire Spider-man mythos with little to no explanation other than "It's Magic! (*jazz hands*) We don't have to explain it." at the end of the One More Day storyline . My reaction to the story was tempered greatly by the fact that I hadn't really read a run of 616 Spider-man comics in years. Ultimate Spider-man has been the best Spider-title published in the last decade, owing much to the talents and dedication of Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley... who together set a new record in American comics by putting out an uninterrupted run on USM for 111 issues. ( Yes, that's right, 111 issues. Many of them produced much more frequently than monthly.) It's by far one of the best runs of comics of all time. It features a teen-aged Peter Parker much as he was when he was created in the 60's; a teen aged hero with nothing but problems.
Anyway, Joe Quesada (Marvel EIC) didn't like the Parker marriage. He, as do many other writers, to be fair, feels that a married Peter Parker loses much of what makes Spider-man an interesting character. So he decided to chuck it. By having the Parkers make a deal with the Devil (ok, Mephisto, but same thing in the Marvel Universe). Yes, that's right, in the world where no one smokes because that's bad, it's ok for the hero to make a deal with the Devil. Mephisto saved Aunt May's life in exchange for the Parkers never having been married. But they don't remember it either, so it's not like they know any different, right? Oh, and Harry Osbourne is back alive. And Peter never had organic web shooters now. How did the deal to break the marriage affect those two completely independent things as well? You want an explanation? "It's magic! (*jazz hands*)" There ya go. Count me among the eye-rollers.
Now, however terrible that plot device to destroy the Parker marriage may have been, at least the results aren't that bad. I just finished reading Brand New Day, the first storyline in the new Spider-man status quo. And I admit, it feels kinda right. Peter can't get a job, isn't a registered hero, lives with Aunt May, and apparently the only people who actively like him now is the mob. That certainly sounds like Spider-man, even though my entire comic reading life has taken place during the marriage (it originally happened in the early 80's). My initial reaction to the decision was that we already had a perfectly good book about an unmarried Spider-man in USM. I see now that the result is different enough such that it doesn't matter; each maintains a separate identity still, and I can live with that.I do somewhat miss the marriage from an idealistic stand-point; Peter Parker was a true nerd hero, he married the super-model! Of course, I haven't needed that kind of inspiration for a long time, but the 14 year old inside me is screaming.
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