Well, I sort of saw Get Low. There were a few spots where I closed my eyes just for a minute. Yeah, even the Ritzes get bad movies in August. It just didn’t hang together very well. And I was sleepy after that delicious dinner at Zahav.
I will say that Robert Duvall was great and it’s already evident that Bill Murray could be the most underrated star of my lifetime.
Simply amazing. Still in heavy rotation.
I’ve become the sort of critic who likes spring releases. Give them time to marinate, I say. That new Liars album is still revealing new things to me.
Ready for a stunning admission? I still haven’t heard the new Arcade Fire album! I’m still aghast that Spoon opened for them.
What’s even cool anymore? I’m so old I remember when an 8.1 on Pitchfork meant you hit the big time.
I’ve been butchering this blog in one form or another since about 2003. My passion for it has fluctuated over time, ranging from those heady days when I’d try my best to write about politics, or when I ditched that and wrote about movies for a time, or when I just got caught up in the notion of needing a blog for something as elusive as “personal branding.” I feel like I’m still recovering from that last one.
In the past week I’ve gotten three compliments from folks who check in here from time to time and I have to say that’s immensely meaningful to me. I can’t tell you how rewarding it is to know that even in an age where we’re just zipping one-liners at each other, some folks will take the time to read a paragraph or two. I never fully appreciated actually engaging an audience in that way until blogging became passe. Thanks again for reading!
I promised Helen at least 12 date nights last Christmas and I’ve been doing my best to keep up my end of the bargain with the help of friends and family. We finally got around to Zahav last Friday. (Fair warning: their website enables sound. It’s loud.)
We got the three course tasting menu, along with the wine pairing. We weren’t disappointed. Tried lamb tartare, called kebbe naya, and it blew my mind. It was so luscious it just melted in my mouth and the grilled avocado was a pleasant finish. Drank arak for the first time, too. If you’re into licorice-flavored liqueurs, I highly recommend.
If you’re looking to try something new, definitely hit it up. They have some great happy hour specials if you’re just looking to try it out before you get a reservation.
I’ve been telling people for a while that it’s time for Philly basketball fans to start blogging the Sixers. I know it sounds like the most excruciating punishment short of having to actually play for the team, but that’s how you make this work. See, it’s like this: the team can’t plummet much further and it’s pretty clear that Philadelphians can’t be bothered with them. That’s why you, enterprising sports writer, need to step into the breach and blog the bejesus out of the team. They’re so perfectly pathetic I’ve been tempted to do it myself.
I figure that it’d be best to draw on what works with the great Phillies blogs I follow doggedly, but give them a little bit of everything, ranging from the hilarious “personality” driven posts over at The Fightins, the keenly-observed prose that you get from Beerleaguer and just a dab of the heady analysis you find at Crashburn Alley and you’d probably have the best Sixers blog in the city overnight.
If anyone is already doing this, I’d love to read along. I feel like this is also the time to bite the bullet and start watching. If you’re over 30 like me, chances are you survived the Clarence Weatherspoon and Shawn Bradley years. Can this be any worse than that?