Hosive

last week, i called my friend leo, leonardo.

so i asked our friend leo chen one day, if his name is short for anything or is it just leo? he said….just leo. it got me thinking where that name came from. then we just started making up origins of the name. and started calling him permutations of leo.

so for the next year, i’ll present one a week until we’ve exhausted the possibilities. i currently do not have 52 versions but only enough to get started. you can help if you’d like.

this week i will call my friend leo, leopold.

Posted under leo-graphy

when people come into the city, we are always surprised by where they want to visit or to go eat. they are equally surprised that we do not frequent those places or want to go eat there. no. i do not want to eat at ruby tuesdays , bennigans or tgifridays in times square. then they ask where we go……so here are the places we like…not the best or the cheapest or whatever category….just where we go and go on a regular basis…

over the next few weeks, i’m gonna cover some spots where i get good southern eats and bbq. yes, we can! get authentic stuff here in the northeast!

there is a place around the corner from me that we like for soul food called mame’s spoonbread. the portions are huge but sometimes the wait is too. so its sometimes faster for us to go up, deeper into harlem to amy ruths for smaller portions but also tastier, more flavorful meals.

though this post only features honey dipped fried chicken, i also recommend the chicken and dumplings, the jerk chicken, chicken and waffles, catfish, sweet tea…just about everything is excellent. the cornbread is made with gold. or butter. or crack. or all of the above.

y’know how chinese people look to see if chinese people are eating at the chinese restaurant as a test of real chinese food being served? while there are tourists who periodically flood the dining room…i think the majority are soul food “experts”.

a closer look….for sides, i usually go for cabbage and the mac and cheese. the cheesy grits were disappointing as they were just grits with some cheese sprinkled.

if you’ve never had good soul food in nyc, harlem is the place to go…even the more commercial places serve the best fried chicken you’ve ever tasted.

the magical m7 bus that can take us from union square all the way up to us….also drops us a half block away from amy ruths and the bus back is right outside the resaturant and takes us home. its like an express bus to the soul food and back.

i was thinking that we need a mascot for duh!journal….or a funny pages section….or at least one regular comic strip. most newspapers and magazines have at least one of these. even the new york times….on sundays….in their magazine is a weekly strip. so i scoured the earth and am going to post the sasquatch ads from jack links beef jerky.

here’s video # tres:

these videos communicate duh! because the humans in the videos mess with the monster known as sasquatch with disastrous results. you don’t mess around with monsters!! what makes it double duh! is that the dumb@$$e$ buy, consume and enjoy the product the commercials are selling giving the subtle subtext of dumb@$$e$ eat and like our beef jerky; we’re dummies! and you can be just like us! by eating our products!

sure you could look them up on google or youtube…..so what would be the point of watching them here?….but isn’t that the case with any video that’s posted? maybe you have found out about the videos here….will watch them elsewhere….and relive them here as i post them periodically.

and here’s the alternate ending version:

i like certain kinds of chick flicks…definitely not the dumb kinds. and usually not the ‘marriage(or romance)is the meaning of life’ kinds. i prefer the powerful awakening of the feminine spirit and self discovery kinds. like fried green tomatoes, joy luck club, waitress or juno. there’s romance and love in these movies too but the feminine soul takes priority. and it seems that a high percentage of the ones i like take place in the south…what does the south do to women?

which brings us to the secret lives of bees. all the pieces should be there for me to like this movie…different generations, cross cultural, cross racial lines of women discover themselves as their stories and timelines intertwine. a great cast including queen latifah, dakota fanning, sophie okonedo, alicia keys, paul bettany and jennifer hudson. there’s beautiful scenery and poignant moments throughout. the big issues are all there: family, hope, racial justice, faith, religion….but it didn’t add up to magic. it felt like a television movie and not a theatre movie experience. what was lacking? perhaps the pacing was off?…perhaps the power at the critical moments in the scripts were not climactic enough for me? perhaps the metaphor of the bees life did not bring me to transcendence? not a bad movie…just not a great movie like the ones i listed above. the sum of its parts did not add up to more…to magic.

while worth watching once, i don’t know if i will watch it again. i will unlikely purchase it. but it is a good date movie to bring your girl to. theresa liked most of it in spite of finding dakota fanning annoying; an enjoyable afternoon at the movies with theresa…a respite from the busy northeast.

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as you know, my favorite movie of the season and the year, slumdog millionaire was filmed in mumbai, the site of recent terrorist attacks. here is the director danny boyle talking about his feelings when he heard about the tragedy.

it was a fried turkey bonanza in maryland during the two thanksgiving meals that we feasted on. first, theresa’s (caucasian)uncle was out of town…he usually does the american meal and the korean relatives provide the kimchi….so it was up to theresa and her brother john to produce the festivities. but because of theresa’s pregnancy,  nobody wanted her to do anything so they ordered a fried turkey from a local cajun restaurant. the turkey was decent but i was disappointed in the seasoning and flavoring. it was too similar to a regular thanksgiving turkey. in fact, i think uncle rob’s turkey is better! i guess its wiser to order a ghetto dish like this from a ghetto joint and not such a fancy schmancy place?

but no complaints on food. there was still plenty to sample and indulge in. all this food was for 10-11 people. the family kept cooking the whole day! we had the turkey and the ham and a ton of side dishes! i thought more people were coming over but theresa’s aunt, cousin and brother just wanted to cook independent of who was scheduled to show up.

a few days later, we got a ghetto fried turkey from popeyes….technically, its no longer called a fried turkey but a cajun turkey…but it was much much more flavorful than the gourmet one above.

we used to host an annual fried turkey party in md but when we left, our good friend angelo kept up the tradition with a fried turkey potluck and this is usually where we make our local area appearance during the holidays.

its a gathering of mostly old friends with a few new faces. i’ve known some of these “kids” for almost 15 years now…..and it was here that we announced our pregnancy. i wanted to tell people privately and slowly but i had to prevent people from tackling theresa when they greeted her!

our annual contribution to the fried turkey party is another bird…another favorite…a chain but this one is from guatemala and is a latin american treat. when it opened in the dc area, there were lines and complaints by neighbors about the crowds…and the trash generated by the rabid fans hungry for a taste of home. it features broasted chicken…a unique cooking method that both fries the chicken and roasts it to keep it juicy.

granted there is less broasted chicken than fried turkey but this stuff runs out faster than the purported main attraction. in fact, it is one of the first dishes to go overall.

i am amused at the attempt at worldwide domination….la, houston, dc, nyc…i can understand…but china????

we have a pollo campero in nyc and i need to go sometime!

week 8 brings more beauty and depravity.

another apu…aboo!….but a brand new spanking sideshow bob…ayay!

so we are reaching the end, methinks. there is a definite thrill when we get a new figure but too many doubles takes the fun out of it especially concerning the money factor. unless we get a few rarities soon, it just does not look like we’ll finish the collection.

new kidrobot simpsons post later today…but for immediate release…bsg webisodes start tomm!:

SCIFI.COM announced the launch of a new 10-part series of Battlestar Galactica webisodes, “The Face of the Enemy,” starting Dec. 12 at noon ET.

Two webisodes will debut weekly, leading up to the on-air return of the series on Jan. 16, 2009.

Each of the three- to four-minute chapters will complement and enhance the action broadcast on SCI FI and give viewers more insight into characters and events from the fourth and final season.

“The Face of the Enemy” follows the action and suspense inside a stranded Raptor carrying a group of passengers, including Lt. Felix Gaeta (Alessandro Juliani) and a Number 8 Cylon (Grace Park). When passengers suddenly start dying in alarming ways, fear, panic and chaos erupt within the confines of the small ship as suspicion grows that there is a killer among them. Michael Hogan (Col. Tigh) and Brad Dryborough (Lt. Hoshi) also star.

“The Face of the Enemy” is written by Jane Espenson and Seamus Kevin Fahey and is produced by Universal Cable Productions.

The full schedule: Dec. 12: Chapter 1; Dec. 15: Chapter 2; Dec. 17: Chapter 3; Dec. 22: Chapter 4; Dec. 24: Chapter 5; Dec. 29: Chapter 6; Dec. 31: Chapter 7; Jan. 5: Chapter 8; Jan. 7: Chapter 9; and Jan. 12: Chapter 10.

i love the concept of a weekly comic….a massive, epic storyline that is grown week to week but in the us, only dc has attempted to produce weekly comics.  rival marvel has critiqued dc’s efforts…asked when they will try one they responded-”we don’t do comics weekly….we do them strongly”.  and i would have to admit that the dc efforts have left me bored. the first massive 52 week series called 52 was ok with lots of high minded story threads but ultimately not compelling enough. the second attempt, countdown is widely seen as a disaster. i gave up on this year’s offering, trinity, after 3 issues because of fears of mediocrity…and i would rather spend my money on writers i know i will like and that i trust. which leads us to….

…the current superman line written primarily by two of my favorite writers, geoff johns and james robinson. i’m a batman guy….not a superman guy but if these guys are writing, it matters very little what the subject is. overflowing with ideas, they have gone weekly with the storyline….new krypton…about a lost city of krypton replanted on earth with 100,000 kryptonians now inhabiting the planet but without any of the humanity of superman.

this is the focus of the mythos of superman….is superman super or man? what makes him superman? this storyline will explore kin who only have super but lack the soul instilled in clark kent by his adoptive parents…they have the powers but not the accompanying heart. what difference will that make?

this series inadvertently poses the obvious question….why do weekly comics have to be a year in length?….this story line will take place roughly over three months and be done. so perhaps they can tell great weekly stories without the insane, contrived format of dragging the plot over 52 issues.

the weekly episodes are also getting some great art by mega-artist alex ross who’s painted superhero work commands thousands and mind boggling tens of thousands. his work gracing the covers shows the commitment to pull out all the stops to make these issues memorable. i hate it when creators only go through the motions and slap things together.

alex ross is also involved in the other weekly storyline flowing out of both the justice society of america and the classic kingdom come series. when the original kingdom come series ended, alex ross and co-creator mark waid had more ideas about the futuristic universe but time limited them from pursuing the projects together so the company followed other ideas to capitalize on the money making moment. but alex still had his ideas….so together with geoff johns, they plucked the kingdom come superman and brought him into the mainstream dc universe to see what would happen. the series puts on display alex’s ideas that have never seen print until now.

alex ross even writes and pencils a full issue of superman as well as providing covers for the event. the superman special is breath taking….almost anything alex draws is magical.

i’ve always loved the heroes of the justice society….these are not the cool heroes but the washed up old heroes….these are my father’s father’s superheroes…and the trick is writing these old heads in a way that’s relevant. they play on the themes of nostalgia and legacy…having the older characters mentor the next generation of heroes.

the roster of characters is extensive as geoff johns keeps creating and revamping characters….each with a history and a storyline….proving that great writers can take “old” characters and do something great with them. there are no bad characters, only bad writers. i have collected stories with these characters since the 80’s and they have a special place in my heart so i am glad that dc is giving them the attention. however, as i go to print, geoff johns has announced that he is leaving the title. we’ll see who replaces him.

meanwhile, i hope geoff johns and alex ross do more weekly comics strongly.

so i asked our friend leo chen one day, if his name is short for anything or is it just leo? he said….just leo. it got me thinking where that name came from. then we just started making up origins of the name. and started calling him permutations of leo.

so for the next year, i’ll present one a week until we’ve exhausted the possibilities. i currently do not have 52 versions but only enough to get started. you can help if you’d like.

this week i will call my friend leo, leonardo.

Posted under leo-graphy

when people come into the city, we are always surprised by where they want to visit or to go eat. they are equally surprised that we do not frequent those places or want to go eat there. no. i do not want to eat at ruby tuesdays , bennigans or tgifridays in times square. then they ask where we go……so here are the places we like…not the best or the cheapest or whatever category….just where we go and go on a regular basis…and over the next few weeks, i’m gonna cover some spots where i get good southern eats and bbq.

just as i arrived back into the city a few years ago, there was a surge in bbq culture in new york. before that, bbq was on the equivalent of panda express chinese….corporate and average to below average. but then pitmasters arrived on the scene to see if they can make it here….y’know how that goes…

the true test are people who grew up with real bbq….and when i want to know what good bbq is, i ask my houston/dallas/texas friends like elder harvey in the foreground. and not the goobers from cali and nj in the back(though my goober friends are darn cute….sorry, both taken and one is with child much like theresa).

my texas friends think this place is pretty good. while my tastes are not as refined in the realm of bbq…..as a commoner i can declare that i like this place a lot. here’s what to order:

sweet tea: here, another reliable source of texas bbq knowledge, patrick yip, slurping one down. a rarity in the city is found here…free refills on most soft drinks including the southern tea specialties! i usually down 3 or more cups when we eat in.

wings bbq style…pretty tasty appetizer…look at that color and the charred goodness….

pork ribs, a must here at R.U.B.: smoky and tender! i am told that good/great bbq does not need sauce to hide inferior smoke and skill. these ribs are terrific without sauce….definitely passes that test.

i bought my boy justin here too and here is a sampler plate with smoked turkey, burnt ends which are fatty pieces of brisket and a hot sausage. all excellent meats.

theresa ordered from here last year for my birthday. super yummy. we had duck that time which i thought was ok but theresa liked much more. and there are other meats that i have not tried yet but what i’ve shown should get you started. its nice to have the real thing in the city!

of course, the big difference between eating authentic bbq in nyc and in texas is price….its three times as expensive here in manhattan! or since we have been going to texas often, its 1/3rd the price in dallas or austin or san antonio. so be prepared to pay…but also be prepared to feast!