This is the archive for February 2010
Carpaccio
1120 Crane Street
Menlo Park, Ca. 94025
(650) 322-1211
,
Courier Managing Editor
Authentic Italian restaurants are arguably the most popular when one is looking for a nice, more upscale dinner. Something about the thick accents of the waiters and dimly lit environment appeals to many demographics. Italian cuisine also appeals to many different people. One can order a pizza if they feel like using their hands, pasta and sauce if they prefer to use a fork, or even meat if they would much rather cut their own food up. The cuisine is filling and flavorful, two criteria that must be met in order for one to truly enjoy their experience at an Italian restaurant.
Posted by courier at 12:23 PM. Filed under: Entertainment
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Everett and Jones Barbecue
126 Broadway
Oakland
(510) 663-2350
,
Courier Music Editor
Bay Area residents like myself are often presented with a vast array of opportunities that are scarce in most other parts of the nation, from prestigious art museums to premier live music to delectable dining opportunities. The latter in particular is exciting because the San Francisco Bay Area offers incredible ethnic diversity in its restaurants. Whether customers are looking for delicious Mexican, Chinese, Italian, or food of another ethnicity, they can find exceptional examples throughout the region. However, sometimes one type of food is forgotten: good, old-fashioned American food. Sure, the Applebees and Chili’s of the world provide nice burgers and fried food, but legitimate artery-clogging Southern fried food is too often neglected in the diversity-crazed Bay Area. When I went to Everett and Jones Barbecue in Oakland for dinner I was looking forward to embracing some traditional and delicious Southern food.
Posted by courier at 12:20 PM. Filed under: Entertainment
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Frodo Joe's Coffee & Tea
31101 Mission Blvd.
Hayward, CA, 94544
(510) 441-9166,
Courier Staff Writer
On Monday morning my boyfriend took me out for breakfast at Frodo Joe's Coffee & Tea in Fairway Park. We had heard about the crepes there and wanted to try them out. There were a few people already eating inside the restaurant, which is a pleasantly small, interestingly decorated room. On the walls are these wooden carved out sculpture wall hangings, and the plush chairs on the right side were so comfortable. The wait for the food was about 10 minutes, so my boyfriend and I walked around Fairway then came back and our food was ready.
Posted by courier at 09:48 AM. Filed under: Entertainment
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By Shamal Asnani, Courier Movie Critic
Movies based off novels tend to have higher expectations when they are released, and Shutter Island definitely delivered. The movie was released February 19, 2010, and stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Teddy Daniels, a U.S. marshal. He and his partner, Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo), are assigned to investigate a disappearance at a mental hospital on an island. From the moment Daniels arrives, he can feel hostility in the air. Almost immediately after his arrival, he and his partner are forced to give up their firearms, despite their authority as U.S. marshals. Tensions between the hospitals faculty and Daniels grow after a hurricane hits, leaving Daniels forced to remain on the island. As he’s on the island he begins to discover many strange things, such as patients being experimented on. He soon begins to feel like he will never leave the island, and that he will end up becoming one of the hospital’s patients to be experimented on.
Posted by courier at 09:34 AM. Filed under: Entertainment
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Jericho Faustino played guitar
in the recent Talent Show.
Raphael Castillo/Courier Photo
"For the longest time, I thought, 'Man, It's just the Talent Show, It's nothing,' then I really started to feel the butterflies as the show grew closer. As soon as I heard the audience's energy, there aren't many feelings that can compare,"ť said Yohannes Zecharias, my bandmate with whom I performed at last Friday's talent show.
It was in James Hansen's zero period econ class where Yohannes and I came up with the idea of us performing songs, but it was he who actually proposed we perform for the upcoming Talent Show. Performing in the talent show felt like it would be a perfect opportunity to liven up my senior year at Logan. I always love being in front of people and entertaining, and what better way than the Talent Show to show some talent, and in front of thousands of people, too.
Posted by courier at 11:21 AM. Filed under: Entertainment
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By Todd Martens
Los Angeles Times (MCT)
In a slow week for major releases, R&B's smooth operator Sade holds at No. 1 on the U.S. pop chart, adding 190,000 in sales in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan. That gives the act's long-awaited new album "Soldier of Love" a two-week total of 694,000 copies sold.
Sade's Epic effort holds off another strong sales week from country trio Lady Antebellum, which is experiencing a crossover breakout with sophomore effort "Need You Now." With 144,000 copies sold this week, the album crosses the 1 million sales threshold, reaching that pinnacle in just four weeks.
Posted by courier at 09:36 AM. Filed under: Entertainment
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The Van Alen Legacy
by Melissa De La Cruz
Reading level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 384 pages
Publisher: Hyperion Book CH
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1423102266
"How she had taken that life for granted! Tonight she would not enter the hotel's exclusive, exalted domain as an invited guest, but rather as a humble servant. Like a mouse creeping into a hole. Schuyler was anxious by nature, and she needed almost all her self-control to keep it together. At any moment she feared she might scream; she was already so nervous she couldn't stop her hands from trembling. They vibrated, fluttering in her lap like trapped birds. Next to her, Oliver was handsome in a bartender's uniform, a tuxedo with a black silk bow tie and silver shirt studs. But he was pale beneath his butterfly collar, his shoulders tense under a jacket that was a little too big. His clear hazel eyes were clouded, looking more gray than green. Oliver's face did not display the same blank, bored look as the others'. He was alert, ready for a fight or flight. Anyone who looked at him long enough could see it. We shouldn't be here, Schuyler thought. What were we thinking? The risk is too great. They're going to find us and separate us . . . and then . . . well, the rest was too horrible to contemplate.
Here is the fourth book in Melissa De La Cruz' compelling
Blue Blood's series of vampire novels.
The Van Alen Legacy is the most recent book out right now.
This time out, protagonist Schuyler, a high school student in Manhattan, has just lost pretty much everything she has ever cared about. Her grandfather is dead by the hand of a silver blood, a rogue vampire who feeds on the blue bloods, an old race of rich, high society vampires, and she gave up her romance with Jack. Now she feels like she has nothing more to live for.
Posted by courier at 06:05 PM. Filed under: Entertainment
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The Gates by John Connolly
Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Atria; X edition
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1439172633
ISBN-13: 978-1439172636“In the beginning, about 13.7 billion years ago, to be reasonably precise, there was a very, very small dot. The dot, which was hot and incredibly heavy, contained everything that was, and everything that ever would be, all crammed into the tiniest area possible, a point so small that it had no dimensions at all.”
So begins the whirlwind novel
The Gates, by John Connolly. The young adventure story incorporates science, religion, and philosophy into the strange happenings of eleven-year-old Samuel Johnson and his dog Boswell’s life.
Posted by courier at 09:11 AM. Filed under: Entertainment
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Christian Francisco plays guitar during
Portrait of Earth's set.
Raphael Castillo/Courier Photo
Logan students displayed their various talents Friday at the annual Talent Show, providing one of the most entertaining shows in memory.
The show, held after a daily class schedule rearranged to fit two assemblies into the school day, originally was scheduled for December 18, but was postponed to last Friday for a variety of reasons.
This year’s talent show consisted of eight different acts.
Posted by courier at 10:29 AM. Filed under: Entertainment
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Mass Effect 2
For: Xbox 360 and Windows PC
From: Bioware/EA
ESRB Rating: Mature (blood, drug
reference, sexual content, strong
language, violence)
"Mass Effect" marked a bold venture for Bioware, which took the underpinnings of its superlatively deep role-playing games and crammed them into a tactical third-person shooter with combat as real-time as in any other sci-fi action game. Surprisingly, it worked: The combat was highly imperfect but easily sufficient, and the branching storylines, deep character progression and ridiculous interplanetary scope made for one of 2007's best games.
How impressive, then, that "Mass Effect 2" comes along and makes its predecessor look like a rough draft by comparison.
Posted by courier at 09:05 AM. Filed under: Entertainment
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By Laurel Brodzinsky, Courier Staff Writer
Ooh, let’s kill some people. Then let’s kill some more people. While we’re at it, let’s take some drugs, cuss a lot, and then continue killing people.
That is basically the entire plot of
From Paris, with Love (Rated R). It is a 90 minute long basic action flick, released February 5th , that includes traditional running around, car chases, blowing up cars, and martial arts fighting. The premise is as follows:
Posted by courier at 09:41 AM. Filed under: Entertainment
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6100 Telegraph Ave, Oakland
510.653.3456
info@addisethiopian.com
Open 7 Days a Week
11:30 am - 10:00 pm
For my birthday on a recent Friday, I decided to celebrate the event with some fine dining. I chose Addis, an Ethiopian restaurant located in Oakland on Telegraph Avenue.
The place was quite crowded and smelled delicious. Unfortunately the crowded atmosphere resulted in quite a long wait for our waitress. However, the wait gave us time to look over the colossal menu, which had a large vegetarian selection.
Posted by courier at 09:30 AM. Filed under: Entertainment
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By Ranjana Prasad, Courier Staff Writer
Over the Presidents Day holiday or, should I say, mini-vacation we had, I went to Las Vegas. There I went to the Palms Hotel and Casino to eat at their Bistro Buffet. I went there for breakfast and lunch.
If you’re in Las Vegas and you’re in your hotel room and you feel hungry, then go to the Palms' buffet. It is a great place for an all-you-can-eat meal.
For breakfast, the restaurant had a wide selection, including a variety of sausages from links to Portuguese sausages, along with bacon and a selection of eggs. There was a chef there who made an omelet of your choice. There also was French toast, cinnamon rolls, pancakes, with a variety of syrups. Also, there were all types of breads as well to go along with the meats. This breakfast buffet is wonderful. I personally really enjoyed the food and so did the rest of my family.
Posted by courier at 09:19 AM. Filed under: Entertainment
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By Julie Mendoza, Courier Staff Writer
Don't let the majority rule.
As uncommonly as foreign films find their ways into American movie theaters, many are just as moving and entertaining as mainstream films, if not more.
It's somehow more meaningful getting lost in a foreign film and forgetting it's not in English than watching an American film.
Ben X is a German film uniquely directed around the life of Ben, an autistic teenager struggling with bullying problems. His autism affects his life and alters his reality. As an escape, Ben uses a video game in which he's a warrior to escape his life. In the game he is successful and praised for his bravery and fighting skills. Outside the game he is vulnerable and a target for cruel hazing.
Posted by courier at 08:38 AM. Filed under: Entertainment
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By Anar Salayev, Courier Correspondent
Animal, released January 5, 2010, is pop-singer Kesha (Ke$ha’s) debut album. After listening to this album several times (with as open of a mind as possible), I still can’t come to like it as much as everyone else. The album’s perfect for any good party or just to listen to on a good day, however, where does the musical originality come in?
The album starts out with “Your Love is My Drug.” The song has no real deep meaning (basically repeating “Your love is my drug” over and over again) , but it’s a great introduction to what the rest of the album sounds like. Ke$sha’s chart topping single, "Tik Tok", is the second song. This song talks about a typical day for the lovely Ke$ha and how she just can’t stop having a good time.
Posted by courier at 04:58 AM. Filed under: Entertainment
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Impulse by Ellen Hopkins
Reading level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 672 pages
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1416903569
ISBN-13: 978-1416903567
Ellen Hopkins, known for her books that are structured like poems, has another great read, Impulse.
Before opening to the first page of the novel, Hopkins already sets up an attention grabber on the book’s back cover. The first words a reader sees are,
“Act
on your impulse,
swallow the bottle,
cut a little deeper,
put the gun to your chest.”
Those simple five lines summarized the basic plot line of a 688-page book. But there is so much more to the book. Impulse focuses on three teenagers, Tony, Vanessa and Conner, who lived a life so painful and traumatic that it led them to Aspen Springs, a psychiatric hospital, locked up because of their previous actions. All three of them, in one form or another, harmed themselves.
Tony took to pills to forget his childhood. Vanessa could not resist the temptation of cutting. Conner tried to kill himself with a bullet through the heart but missed. Three different lives outlined in the five lines given above.
Posted by courier at 09:55 AM. Filed under: Entertainment
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Army of Two: The 40th Day
Reviewed for: Playstation 3 and Xbox 360
Alternate version available for: PSP
From: EA Montreal
ESRB Rating: Mature (blood, intense
violence, strong language)
The things that polarized players of 2008's "Army of Two" return either mostly or completely intact in "Army of Two: The 40th Day," and depending on what side you're on, that's either somewhat unfortunate or the best news this review could provide.
That's because, feelings about the things "AO2" did aside, it was those things that made it a wholly unique third-person shooter in an era crawling with them. "Day" is designed to be played with a friend (or, failing that, a surprisingly capable A.I.-controlled partner), and while its attempts to stress the value of teamwork come off as pretty contrived, they're also pretty effective if you're willing to play along and take advantage.
Posted by courier at 09:25 AM. Filed under: Entertainment
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By Beatrice Esteban, Courier Staff Writer
The death of a loved one is undeniably difficult to get through, and individuals establish different coping mechanisms in an attempt to do just that. Musicians find it especially cathartic to intertwine their deep, complicated feelings into the lyrics and instruments of their music. English singer-songwriter Corinne Bailey Rae is one of these musicians. Upon the death of her husband Jason Rae in January 2008, she took a brief hiatus from the music industry to deal with all the events happening in her personal life. Her newest album,
The Sea, was released on January 20 – nearly four years after her successful self-titled debut.
The Sea, however, differs from her charming and charismatic debut in that it delves into a multitude of genres and deeper emotions, producing an album for which one must develop an acquired taste.
Posted by courier at 06:47 AM. Filed under: Entertainment
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By Eric Brown, Courier Staff Writer
Many bands gain notoriety through years of hardship, struggle, and effort—the type that involves decrepit motels, dingy venues, and touring vans verging on the uninhabitable. Few share the same background as indie rockers Vampire Weekend, who earned their stripes while attending Columbia University and working full-time jobs. On their second full-length,
Contra, the enormously talented band proves that their roots aren’t their only unique trait; by fusing multiple genres Vampire Weekend has created a sequel that avoids the dreaded “sophomore slump” and proves the band is more than a flash in the pan.
Posted by courier at 08:41 AM. Filed under: Entertainment
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By Anar Salayev, Courier Correspondent
Breaking Benjamin’s fourth studio album,
Dear Agony is a definite step towards the modern Post-Hardcore sound, but still carries on the band’s Post-Grunge sound. The lead singer, Benjamin Burnley‘s, lyrics, which speak of self-help, strength, romance, and redemption, are sung over two guitars that harmonize beautifully with one another, a solid bass line, and, of course, the technical and strategic drums.
Posted by courier at 08:21 AM. Filed under: Entertainment
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By Julie Mendoza, Courier Staff Writer
Sylvia Plath, a famous American poet, wrote only one novel before her suicide at age 30. Her writing is popular for the confessions hidden between the lines. Suffering from depression and weighed down by her traumatizing childhood, Plath often wrote about her feelings toward these struggles.
The Bell Jar is about Esther Greenwood, another aspiring writer living the glamorous life of any young woman in the 1960s. Her life is affected by the way she judges other people and their behavior. Sound familiar? Esther recollects memories of the past which influence her judgment of the future. The world subtly becomes hopeless. Esther then begins to consider her options. The most appealing solution is suicide.
Posted by courier at 06:04 PM. Filed under: Entertainment
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Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
Paperback: 480 pages
Publisher: Washington Square Press (February 5, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0743496736
ISBN-13: 978-0743496735
Jodi Picoult is the author of yet another amazing story that will keep readers engrossed until the end of the pages, and keep them wondering what happens after the book ends. This book is filled with a lot of difficult topics of discussion — chief among them school shootings. This book approaches many different points of views, such as the shooter, the different people affected, and the shooter himself.
It all starts on the day of the shooting, which ends with 10 deceased and 19 wounded. The story follows the shooter, a character named Peter Houghton, flashes back to when he was born and then comes back to the present and so on.
Posted by courier at 04:31 PM. Filed under: Entertainment
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Bayonetta
Reviewed for: Xbox 360
Also available for: Playstation 3
From: Platinum Games/Sega
ESRB Rating: Mature (blood and gore,
intense violence, partial nudity, strong
language, suggestive themes)
The net worth of "Bayonetta's" idiosyncrasies is game for debate until time ceases ticking. Some will marvel at the insane narrative theatrics and some will find the overt sexuality of the vixenish titular main character either genuinely titillating or so overt as to be farcical. Others will be repulsed or embarrassed by what they view as a sophomoric display of adolescent fantasy come bursting alive, while still others will find themselves unable to tolerate how little sense the story makes or how incomprehensibly noisy the whole production generally is. (If you're on the fence, both systems offer a downloadable demo that should clear up any confusion.)
Posted by courier at 06:23 AM. Filed under: Entertainment
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By Michael Aquino, Courier Staff Writer
To celebrate the end James Logan's first semester and the end of finals, I decided to attend an open mic — an everybody's-welcome performance of spoken word, poetry, and maybe a guitar serenade — at Paddy's Coffee House, just next to the Alvarado Park.
Posted by courier at 09:38 AM. Filed under: Entertainment
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Bombay Ice Cream
552 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110-1115
(415) 861-3995
For the past five years, the Bombay Ice Creamery in the Mission District has been voted as one of the best places to dine in San Francisco. This place has been in the media and publicly recognized at a wonderful and unique place. Mr. & Mrs. Sureshand Bharti Parmar are the sole owners of this place and have been for the past 25 years.
I have been here many times and this place has a variety of different flavored ice creams and not just the regular chocolate or vanilla. The ice cream at the place tastes very tasteful. The tastes are strong and yummy. Bombay ice cream comes in a wide range of flavors such as mango, cashew raisin, chai (Indian tea), cardamom, green tea, and much. I think it’s a cross of Indian/American flavored ice cream with sorbet.
Posted by courier at 09:46 AM. Filed under: Entertainment
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Daa'wat
33330 Alvarado Niles Rd
(between Central Ave & Village Way)
Union City, CA 94587
(510) 471-0357
By Zola Boyd, Courier Staff Writer
If you're in the mood for some tasty Indian and Pakistani food but you're not in the mood to be spending some big bucks, you should probably head over to Daa'wat tonight (but not between three and five p.m. because it's closed).
If you're into appetizers, samosas are the way to go at Daa'wat. Personally, I've never been a big fan and was hesitant to try them. I was pleasantly surprised by what I tasted. The potato filling was super tender and slightly spicy, and dipping it in the tangy sauce it came with was a delightful combination.
Posted by courier at 09:14 AM. Filed under: Entertainment
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By Shamal Asnani, Courier Movie Critic
The latest movie to star Denzel Washington,
The Book of Eli, was released January 15. The movie takes place in an apocalyptic world and follows Eli (Washinton), as he travels west on foot.
Eli travels alone and carries only a few items along with him including his iPod, his wipes, his hunting knife, and his book. He possesses amazing fighting and survival skills, which can be seen after he kills a group of bandits with ease, despite being outnumbered. As he is traveling, he crosses a town, in which he is forced to get into a fight at a bar, due to being harassed by a gang of bikers.
Posted by courier at 06:07 AM. Filed under: Entertainment
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By Greg Kot
Chicago Tribune (MCT)
CHICAGO — "I was one of the guys who could throw down," Don Cornelius says in a new documentary about his era-defining run as host of the nation's funkiest televised dance party, "Soul Train: The Hippest Trip in America" (9:30 p.m. EST Saturday on VH1).
He's not boasting. As they say on the street corner, show and prove, and one of many smile-inducing moments in the documentary is footage of Cornelius strutting his stuff on his own show with the Supremes' Mary Wilson. Cornelius learned how to glide on the dance floor while growing up on Chicago's South Side during the '40s and '50s, then segueing into a career as a radio and TV newsman and DJ. While employed at local Chicago station WCIU-TV in the '60s, he started hosting soul dance parties around the city and eventually approached station management about a show based on the same idea.
Posted by courier at 08:06 AM. Filed under: Entertainment
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Revelations by Melissa de la Cruz
Reading level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 272 pages
Publisher: Hyperion Book
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1423102282
ISBN-13: 978-1423102281She took the winding back stairs, following the stream of people heading in the same direction, when out of the corner of her eye she saw the barest flicker and knew. It was him. She didn't have to look to know he was among the crowd of students walking the opposite way. She could always sense him, as if her nerves were fine-tuned antennae receptors that picked up whenever he was near. Maybe it was the vampire in her, giving her the ability to tell when another was close by, or maybe it had nothing to do with her otherworldly powers at all. Jack.
His eyes were focused straight ahead, as if he never even saw her, never registered her presence. His sleek blond hair, the same translucent shade as his sister's, was slicked back from his proud forehead; and unlike the other boys around him, dressed in varying degrees of sloppiness, he looked regal in a blazer and tie. He was so handsome it was hard for Schuyler to breathe. But just as at the town house — Schuyler refused to call it home — Jack ignored her.
The Blue Bloods series, of which
Revelations is the third installment, is a vampire novel series by Melissa de la Cruz that takes place in Manhattan, New York. The series currently includes four books, but a new book in the series is due in 2011.
Posted by courier at 10:05 AM. Filed under: Entertainment
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When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
Reading level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 208 pages
Publisher: Wendy Lamb Books
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0385737424
ISBN-13: 978-0385737425 by Rebecca Stead is a story about a girl named Miranda who is in high school. She is a typical teenage girl who worries about the things that girls worry about, however she is sort of different. She enjoys a particular science-fiction book called A Wrinkle in Time, which, if you haven’t heard or read it, is about a girl who goes through time travel and many other sci-fi adventures.
The book has many different things going on at once; Miranda’s mom being in a game show, Miranda wondering about some homeless guy she sees around, her newly found job at a bakery with an obsessive compulsive type of boss who won’t let her eat the meats for lunch, but will let her eat the lettuce and cheeses, and her relationships with her friends beginning to diminish.
Posted by courier at 06:08 AM. Filed under: Entertainment
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Borderlands: Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot
For: Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and Windows PC
Requires: Borderlands
From: Gearbox Software/2K Games
ESRB Rating: Mature (blood and gore,
intense violence, mature humor,
strong language)
Price: $10
Though entirely enjoyable as a solo first-person shooter experience, "Borderlands" relies on a story, quest and inventory structure that's best enjoyed with teammates (four players online, two locally) via cooperative play. Happily, players who want it both ways have the flexibility to play parts of the game alone and bring in friends on the fly without starting over as a new character.
Good thing, too, because whether you have played "Borderlands" alone, with friends or both up to this point, there's pretty much no point in playing the "Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot" downloadable expansion without help.
As its name somewhat implies, "Riot" ditches the typical exploratory nature of "Borderlands'" quests in favor of post-apocalyptic arena combat: Moxxi is the host, and her "sport" consists of a survivor or four shooting their way out of a labyrinth that's parts shanty town, stadium and game show studio. Moxxi emcees the action, and between her amusing taunts and the general gaudy design of the three arenas, "Riot" is a fantastic demonstration of the audiovisual spectacle that makes "Borderlands" so unique in spite of its bleak setting and genre.
Posted by courier at 06:30 AM. Filed under: Entertainment
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