jasonc

Ahhh yes the classic move. Well I look forward to reading it!

I think you mean operative.

I have been to Joe's Noodle and it is not good. Maybe the other ones are better, but the various reviews haven't sounded that great. Chang sounded good but I think the closest one is in C'Ville now (?) and they sound quite hit and miss. Elevated Sichuan food (and I've been to Chengdu) is a revelation (have you read Fuchsia Dunlop's book?) and this place sounds like it. If Joe's is your benchmark, I would suggest trying something else. Maybe this place by the sounds of it!

$20 for what sounds like world-class Sichuan - a cuisine that has long been underrepresented in the area? The operative word is human.

How was it?

From a non-resident's perspective, this is the most interesting restaurant in the DC-area.

Lots of stuff to reply to here! We barely got any snow! Maybe half an inch and it'll all be melted by Monday. Most of it is gone now. Kind of surprising given how close Buffalo is. Agreed re: Estufarian's post. I've come across his work before too. Also, for Chinese, a poster named Charles Yu is beyond reproach. I do also think Niagara is going to be a pain in the neck on the Go-Train. I wonder if renting a car would be that much more expensive than the two round-trip train tickets and possible cabbing when you get there. The CN Tower restaurant isn't really my kind of thing, as you noted, but if it's a clear day you'll get an incredible view. Try Rol San in Chinatown, but try to get there early as a line usually forms. I think you'll find the quality is a step above Fortune-strata restaurants in the DC-area and considerably cheaper - especially with the favourable exchange rate you are getting now! With regard to the CN tower day, St. Laurence Market is walkable from/to the Tower. It's closed Monday though, so be careful there. It's touristy but there is a seafood place - Rock Lobster - that is actually quite well respected locally and has a food truck and restaurant elsewhere. There's a downstairs with a really good salsa vendor with free samples. They are really expensive to buy though. I think you'll be surprised about how quickly you can work your way through Kensington Market. But it's a cool area. I'd try either Kaplansky's, which is an internationally recognized deli (featured in David Sax's Save the Deli), with house made smoked meat. Get the fatty version. It's not in Kensington Market though. But only about two minutes walk away. I'd also maybe try Nu Bagel in Kensington. It's a good represetnation of Montreal-style bagels. I was having some trouble with them being too doughy at the end of the summer, but the owner said they were training a new baker, so I have to think it's probably fixed by now. Maybe get some for the hotel room and get your own cream cheese elsewhere. The bagels are only $1, but their cream cheese is expensive. Never been to Yasu but I used to live right across the street (it was a Persian restaurant then). Very exciting!

Maybe I'm just being a grump, but this seems an awful lot like trying to get preferential treatment.

I went to the A-town website and I saw this quote at the top right corner, and thought it was funny for a few reasons: "Hands down, the best brunch spot in Arlington!" - Yelp

Pitcher W-L is a messy indicator of performance as there are a multitude of factors, independent of how well the pitcher pitched, that affect it (e.g., defense, run support, strength of opponent). Would Kershaw be less valuable if he only gave up one run per game, but his team never scored when he pitched? And beyond that, the perspective you espouse above is even more confounding. I think Dave Cameron has it right:

Of course, this should read: I think the greater Toronto area, in terms of Chinese food, is probably third in North America behind Vancouver and the San Gabriel Valley. Maybe behind the Bay Area 'burbs as well. The annoyance is that these restaurants simply don't lie in Downtown Toronto, and Toronto's public transit doesn't make it easy to get out there (unlike say in Vancouver where Richmond - the place where the world class Cantonese and Sichuan can be found - is easily accessible by Skytrain). Consider making the trek anyway.

The "Too Many Cooks" video has been circulating like mad lately, but this is still my favorite Adult Swim one-off of all time. I still laugh out loud towards the end, which, if you know me, means something. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQLdhVpLBVE You've got to watch it all the way through because the joke evolves in a way that's hard to expect. This also makes it nearly as funny to watch again because of the hints towards this evolution early on.

but how can you pack up a charcuterie board to go?

You might also like Fat Pasha and Rose & Sons.

I think the greater Toronto area, in terms of Chinese food, is probably third in North America behind Vancouver and the San Gabriel Valley. Maybe behind the Bay Area 'burbs as well. The annoyance is that these restaurants simply don't lie in Downtown Vancouver, and Toronto's public transit doesn't make it easy to get out there (unlike say in Vancouver where Richmond - the place where the world class Cantonese and Sichuan can be found - is easily accessible by Skytrain). Consider making the trek anyway. Some cool new places of note: Pai (indeed, many of the staff are actually from Pai or have lived there for a long period of time) Little Sister http://www.buca.ca/bar/ (haven't been but have heard good things) http://www.thechasetoronto.com/ (haven't been but have heard good things) Portland Variety Also, most of the lists here are solid, maybe use them as idea fodder: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/884382

Season 1; Episode 4 "Discovery" Director: Steve Milner Writer: Jon Harmon Feldman My reaction to this episode can be summed up by this: A LOT happened in this episode. And it pretty much all revolved around the male characters coming to grips with female sexuality. Dawson's arc is bananas. Early in the episode he takes Jen over to his mom's work to use the editing equipment. The editing guy says, "have you seen your mom?" with a smirk. It seems everyone knows she's cheating on Dawson's dad. Well, a few minutes later Dawson and Jen are leaving and they catch his mom and her co-anchor making out in the hall. At this point, you have to really wonder what his mom's thought process is. She's making out in a public area at work, on a day she knows Dawson is coming in. She deserved to get caught. Despite his growing closeness with Jen, Dawson runs to Joey to talk this out. Unfortunately, she lets it slip that she knew, so he gets all huffy and decides it's time to get more emotionally intimate with Jen. Now this is where Jen drops her own bombshell, telling Dawson that the real reason she left NYC was that her parents were upset with her drug use and casual sex. This comes as quite a shock to Dawson, partially because he's a prude and partially because Jen had originally said she was a virgin. Dawson then gives her the cold shoulder and is generally quite rude to her the rest of the episode. This causes Jen to seek refuge with the only man who isn't judging her - her comatose grandfather. She tells him everyone thinks she is a slut. Now, Dawson's reaction might be justifiable if he was simply upset that Jen lied to him, or if it was just the straw that broke the camel's back after the business with his Mom. But no, he takes some kind of moral high round tantamount to slut shaming Jen. It's quite concerning. Eventually Joey tries to console Dawson, offering up her own theory that he's scared because Jen is more experienced than him. He rejects this theory. Pacey's relationship seems to be going better, but he starts off the episode in a bit of a frenzy. You see, Dawson lets Pacey know he has a video of their teacher fucking and unknown dude. Pacey realizes it's him and breaks into Dawson's room to find the video. Josh Jackson makes an interesting acting choice here, rummaging through Dawson's VHS collection like a legitimate heroin addict. It's a strange scene. Pacey then also gets the impression teach is stepping out on him (despite the fact they only banged once, and you know, he's 15 and she's 35). Turns out the male teacher she's hanging out with is gay (they get a good laugh about this - it was the 90s). So after all that is cleared up Pacey and teach share a nice post-coital scene in her bedroom in what appears to be a mid-century cape cod. It's quite nice, until you reflect on the notion that it's rape. Bananas. Grade: D+

Season 1; Episode 3 "Kiss" Director: Michael Uno Writer: Rob Thomas I expected a lot from this episode given it was written by the great Rob Thomas (not the Matchbox 20 guy, but the creator of the venerable Veronica Mars television show and film). And for the most part, I wasn't let down. Thomas was given a gift here, as all of the main characters went through significant changes, and not surprisingly through the act of the titular kiss. Joey and "Anderson Crawford" Anderson Crawford, as the heavy-handed name suggests, is a rich guy yachting through town who throws some game at Joey. After being systematically ignored by Dawson for the past several weeks, she gobbles this attention up. The hitch is that she pretends to be a rich girl herself, a boarding school debutante from Manhattan. Rob Thomas would subsequently examine wealthy douchery in Veronica Mars, but here Anderson turns out to be a good guy with genuine affection towards Joey (who could blame him?). And he nearly catches Joey in her lie several times as she really does an awful job of hiding it. There is a genuinely confusing scene in which Anderson comes into the restaurant where Joey works, and she seems to assume that none of her friends will address her by her real name, and shoots meaningful glances their way when they call her Joey. Anderson, somehow, is none the wiser. This is a relationship that is doomed, but I found their eventual kiss to be the most satisfying. It was good to see Joey getting some action after being treated like shit for so long. Dawson and Jen As Dawson beta orbits around Jen the whole episode he finally catches a break when he's able to show up quarterback McGee with his cinematography skills. This gets Jen wet as shit and they eventually make out by the pond. Even this Dawson nearly messes up as Jen gets wise to the fact that Dawson is trying to surreptitiously film the make-out due to his whole thing of not being able to be in the moment. Thank god they are interrupted and have to scramble under some ferns, finally creating the chance for the titular kiss, and for Dawson, an "unscripted moment." Pacey and his Teacher While his friends are fooling around at first base, Pacey is the only one who manages to go all the way. And with a woman at least 15 years his senior no less. That's right, a sex crime happened in this episode. Early on, this was the plot with the most legs. Pacey and teach got very close to banging in the classroom until Pacey let it slip that he was a virgin. Shockingly, this didn't do it for the teacher, as the tryst with her virile student suddenly got "real." We're left to wonder how Pacey eventually sealed the deal, as we simply see them crash Dawson's makeout set-up, bringing the two plots together in a nice, if somewhat convenient way. And in case you're wondering: yes, Dawson's camera did happen to film Pacey's rape. Grade B

Thanks Don, but I think my style is more aimed at picking apart dated television programs. As always you are welcome to write dueling reviews!

Doing some research for this project I ran into a quote from the creator: I think we all have those times in our lives. So this is a fun little adventure into the past. It reminds me a lot of how I felt at the time. And the fact that much of the action revolves around Dawson and Pacey working at a VHS rental shop is almost unthinkable these days.

Season 1; Episode 2 "Dance" Director: Steve Miner Writer: Kevin Williamson Once again, the A plot of this episode is the love triangle involving Dawson, Joey and Jen. And once again the most concerning element is James Van Der Beek's face: It exists in the uncanny valley of photoshopped features, dilated eyes, and rosy lips where you're not sure if he's a human boy or some alien race's conception of a human boy. Frankly, it's upsetting. Within this plot he's borderline emotionally abusive to Joey, who clearly harbors a crush on him. Her forces her to accompany him to a school dance where they experience the inevitable moment where a fast song ends (Savage Garden's Truly Madly Deeply) and a slow dance begins. Of course he's watching Jen over Joey's shoulder the entire time. Dawson, besides being emotionally abusive to Joey, is a classic beta male. He openly shuns sex (purportedly because Spielberg never includes sex scenes in his movies) but is a hopeless romantic and painfully self-aware of this fact, comparing himself to the misunderstood, love-struck monster in his student film. A fourth party enters the mix as it turns out the high school football star - Cliff Elliot - is also interested in Jen and in fact takes her to the dance. Scott Foley portrays Cliff as naive narcissist, interested in both football and making films.It seems highly unlikely that such a person exists but also it's a perfect foil for Dawson. Cliff also looks like he's about 37 years old. There's an awkward moment at the dance where Dawson stands up to Cliff, attempting the classic movie "cut-in" with the expected result. The upside is that later on the dock Jen indicates that she is interested Dawson. Unfortunately, he asks her to kiss him (beta), and of course she declines. How she managed to resist remains a mystery. The B plot is Pacey's ongoing flirtation (and increasingly improbably run-ins) with his teacher. They eventually share a passionate kiss at the end of the episode. It looks like he's going to get some. It's also worth noting that his black eye and lacerated face completely healed in between this episode and the last. Finally, the C plot Mrs. Leary's infidelity. She's confronted by Joey who brings up the fact that her own mother is dead. The depth of this conversation is entirely unbelievable and highly uncomfortable. For those keeping score, the uncomfortable all-stars of this episode: Dawson's face, Dawson's dad makes him make out with a paper mache version of Joe's head, Joey confronts Dawson's mom, Pacey is sexually assaulted by his adult teacher. Grade: C+

I wasn't in Dawson's Creek's target age group when in debuted in 1998. I certainly am not in it now. But, I have distinct memories of catching reruns on TNT when I was home from breaks from college. Pretty much every episode I saw was about attractive young adults finding themselves in highly sexual situations. So, of course, I found them highly enjoyable and sort of wished I could see it from the beginning. This was 14 years ago, and that is indeed a fact that is highly upsetting. Netflix wasn't even a glimmer in Reed Hastings' eye and it wasn't practical to try and catch up. Browsing through Netflix tonight Dawson's Creek popped up as a recommendation and I decided to jump in. My justification is that it was a highly influential show, inspiring a wave of thematically similar teenage soaps. It also launched a bunch of careers, most notably Michelle Williams who has been nominated for three Oscars. Joshua Jackson and Katie Holmes have both endured ups and downs but have built respectable careers. James Van Der Beek is James Van Der Beek. I don't know if I can follow through on this like I did Spooks, but we'll see. Season 1; Episode 1 Director: Steve Miner Writer: Kevin Williamson This episode begins with a hefty portion of foreshadowing. Joey (Katie Holmes) and Dawson (James Van Der Beek) are childhood friends, hanging out in Dawson's room anticipating the start of high school. They mention they are 15, but they clearly possess the diction and self-awareness of much older people. They establish that Dawson is an aspiring filmmaker with an obsession with Steven Spielberg (indeed the show opens on the final scene of Close Encounters). Joey finally raises an issue that has been peculating for quite a while. She says they're 15, there are hormones now, they are starting high school now - she can't sleep over anymore. She goes to climb out his bedroom window. Dawson eventually teases her about making mountains out of molehills until she jumps on him for some awkward roughhousing and they curl up and go to sleep. Watching Katie Holmes' lithe tan body squirming around on top of Van Der Beek was...arousing in a conflicting manner. But then again, she was 20 when they filmed this scene. They agree that nothing is going to change. They couldn't be more wrong. The first test occurs the next day when Michelle Williams' Jen returns to town to help out her ailing granddad. Both Dawson and his best friend Pacey (Josh Jackson) take an immediate interest in the well-developed Jen (who looks closer to 25 than 15). I was flummoxed by this as Joey (despite Katie Holmes affecting teenage diffidence whenever possible) is a fucking knockout herself and I can't imagine any teenage boy not noticing this. This episode sets up several conflicts that will come to a head in future seasons, and generally does so quite well. Generally, I was impressed with how much of the show held up as reasonably well made television episode. But, of course, a lot of it didn't hold up. The most difficult scene to watch was an encounter at the movies where it is apparently okay to speak, during the movie, at full volume. A close runner-up was any scene with Jen's grandma who absolutely chews scenery. Really, it's remarkable how much happens in this pilot: Jen alludes to a troubled past in New York. Jen and her grandma fight over Jen being an Atheist (a bomb she drops over breakfast right before leaving for school). Pacey flirts with his teacher. Pacey arranges to go to the movies at the same time as his teacher. Pacey is punched by a patron at the movie theater. Pacey makes out with his teacher (prior to giving her a grand and highly implausible speech about her wanting to feel sexy again by flirting with a virile young man like him). Dawson's (married) mother makes out with her co-worker as Joey climbs out Dawson's window and rows down the titular creek (setting up a difficult situation where she has decide whether or not to tell Dawson). It is said, a million times, that Dawson has the perfect life. Dawson is not allowed to take film class. Jen and Dawson nearly kiss. It is established that Dawson is making a film for a film-festival. Joey's dad is in jail and her sister is taking care of her, dating a black man, and is pregnant. The most difficult thing for me to deal with is the obvious attractiveness of these actors, in their early 20s, playing 15-year old kids. But that's more of a personal issue. This was just a fun episode that held up surprisingly well. The acting is mostly solid. The diction used by the kids is hard to believe, but once one adapts to it, it's not a big deal. Grade: B

Maybe its silent partner is Shelly Driftwood?

Why did you go so frequently?

Why were you there at 3am?