It's becoming a habit, I suppose. Last week we did Bunker Hill and Free State Brewery. This week we went a little further south on Mass St. and ate at a new (to us, at least) restaurant, Genovese, and saw Nightwish at the Granada.
The restaurant, Genovese (that's Jen-oh-vay-say, not Jen-oh-veez), is Italian brought to you by the people who brought you Mexican at La Parrilla and East Asian at Zen Zero. It advertises itself as northern Italian cuisine with fresh seasonal ingredients. Well, I can't tell northern from southern, but I could tell local and fresh. The basil on our flatbread appetizer tasted like it had been plucked from a plant just before reaching our table. We did their Tuesday special - 2 people split one appetizer, one soup or salad, one pasta or pizza, and one dessert. More than enough food, and everything was just wonderfully delicious. It's a great option in Lawrence for Italian food - especially if places like Teller's or Paisano's aren't in your budget.
After dinner, the concert. Nightwish is a symphonic metal band. If you're into the genre, you may object to the classification - I've heard fantasy metal, progressive metal, operatic metal - whatever. It's amps, guitars, drums...a female vocalist and symphonic instrumentation. And they put on a hell of a show. Awesome high energy, decent but not over-the-top lighting and smoke effects, and a good mix of their songs. I was screaming like a little fangirl by the last couple songs. Go check out a couple of their songs on YouTube or something.
I was surprised at The Granada also. I'm a little embarrassed to admit it, but that was my first time being there. Being smoke-free makes it really nice. And it had better ladies' bathroom facilities than the Beaumont (honestly, guys, 2 stalls?). The reentry policy was also more forgiving, which ended up being useful. Finally, it had a lot of multi-tiered standing area, which meant even if you're, say, 5'4" and got there a little late, you might still see some of the show.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Back to reviews
And now, back to your regularly scheduled blogging:
Bunker Hill
This movie is brought to you by the same fellow who did "C.S.A," KU film professor Kevin Willmott. General premise is a little like Jericho - small town in Kansas becomes isolated after disaster. There is no electricity, and the cars won't start. The townspeople, scared and lacking any information, start on their own personal revolution, ending in demagoguery and xenophobia. Targets of their rage include the town's single black man, gay man, Pakistanis, and independent thinker.
It's not exactly a feel good movie. It ends with an old-fashioned Western-style shootout in the town's square. In a lot of ways, it draws heavily on the Western tradition. The modernity comes in the post-9/11 way these townsfolk justify their new militia and gunbarrel justice.
I was terribly dissatisfied with the ending, which is abrupt and inconclusive. Maybe I'm just a peon movie watcher spoiled on Hollywood endings, but I wanted a LITTLE more closure.
It's only playing at Liberty Hall, and closes Thursday. But if you like a movie that'll make you think about how people respond in crises - try to make it out there.
Beware of God by Shalom Auslander
A delicious little collection of short stories. It's a couple hour read if you do it in one sitting - which you might be tempted to do - but the short stories make it easy to break up if your reading tends to come in 10-15 minute chunks.
The short stories deal largely with our human relation to (obviously) God and the Hebrew God and Judaism in particularly. They vary from absurd to tragic to funny - a very dark humor - all enough to entertain without being cheeseball fluff.
In one story, a man in a near-death experience discovers that God is a giant chicken. In another, two hamsters anxiously await the return of their Savior, Joe. In still another, an average man thwarts God's carefully laid plans for his death, forcing God, Death, and Satan to take matters into their own hands on Earth.
Read this book. Read it now!
Bunker Hill
This movie is brought to you by the same fellow who did "C.S.A," KU film professor Kevin Willmott. General premise is a little like Jericho - small town in Kansas becomes isolated after disaster. There is no electricity, and the cars won't start. The townspeople, scared and lacking any information, start on their own personal revolution, ending in demagoguery and xenophobia. Targets of their rage include the town's single black man, gay man, Pakistanis, and independent thinker.
It's not exactly a feel good movie. It ends with an old-fashioned Western-style shootout in the town's square. In a lot of ways, it draws heavily on the Western tradition. The modernity comes in the post-9/11 way these townsfolk justify their new militia and gunbarrel justice.
I was terribly dissatisfied with the ending, which is abrupt and inconclusive. Maybe I'm just a peon movie watcher spoiled on Hollywood endings, but I wanted a LITTLE more closure.
It's only playing at Liberty Hall, and closes Thursday. But if you like a movie that'll make you think about how people respond in crises - try to make it out there.
Beware of God by Shalom Auslander
A delicious little collection of short stories. It's a couple hour read if you do it in one sitting - which you might be tempted to do - but the short stories make it easy to break up if your reading tends to come in 10-15 minute chunks.
The short stories deal largely with our human relation to (obviously) God and the Hebrew God and Judaism in particularly. They vary from absurd to tragic to funny - a very dark humor - all enough to entertain without being cheeseball fluff.
In one story, a man in a near-death experience discovers that God is a giant chicken. In another, two hamsters anxiously await the return of their Savior, Joe. In still another, an average man thwarts God's carefully laid plans for his death, forcing God, Death, and Satan to take matters into their own hands on Earth.
Read this book. Read it now!
Monday, May 19, 2008
Materialism? Maybe.
Trying though I am to take to heart the lessons of Unclutterer and other Live Simply blogs and columns...there's still stuff I want. Here are some of the items on my wish list...
1) A new threshold for our front door. This one's definitely more on the "need" half of the spectrum since it would mean tremendous energy savings. You can currently see daylight at the bottom of the door on the hinge side.
2) An outdoor clothes dryer. With a couple different mounting stands, we could set this up either indoors or outdoors, and seriously reduce the amount we have to use our dryer.
3) Patio furniture. Table, 4-6 chairs...and an umbrella would be ideal!
4) Panniers for my bike (such as these, for example). Much as I adore the Third World Chic of the milk crate strapped to the back of my bike, it has a couple drawbacks. One, it butts up against my seat and means I have to sit way forward and can't take advantage of the nice soft seat. Two, it's a lot harder to remove and carry into a store with you than the bags would be.
So if any of you want to buy me a present, I just provide this as a convenient starting point. :-p
1) A new threshold for our front door. This one's definitely more on the "need" half of the spectrum since it would mean tremendous energy savings. You can currently see daylight at the bottom of the door on the hinge side.
2) An outdoor clothes dryer. With a couple different mounting stands, we could set this up either indoors or outdoors, and seriously reduce the amount we have to use our dryer.
3) Patio furniture. Table, 4-6 chairs...and an umbrella would be ideal!
4) Panniers for my bike (such as these, for example). Much as I adore the Third World Chic of the milk crate strapped to the back of my bike, it has a couple drawbacks. One, it butts up against my seat and means I have to sit way forward and can't take advantage of the nice soft seat. Two, it's a lot harder to remove and carry into a store with you than the bags would be.
So if any of you want to buy me a present, I just provide this as a convenient starting point. :-p
Monday, May 12, 2008
You don't get a title today
Woe be unto you, Creepy Blogreading Guy, aka "Secretary of Keeping it Real"... I'm on to you. And your Double Wide IPA-loving life of lies...
Moving right along.
Today was the first day of KC's Bike Week. Naturally I rode to work. Then (and here's where I start questioning my mental stability) rode home, was home just long enough to change clothes and change bikes, rode to the Trek Store, went on a group ride, then rode home. 28 miles total today. And I spent *nearly* the entire time from 5pm-8pm on a bike. But we saw some really pretty areas of northeastern Shawnee and western Merriam, and it was a lot of fun. A lady from City of KCMO came out with freebies to promote bike week. We got little zipper packs made from reclaimed bike tubes and bracelets from reclaimed... climb ropes? I think? Anyway, they're both branded "green guru" which makes me happy. :)
Oh, I've been delinquent in giving you reviews. Today's loser: Home Delight Chinese Buffet. Located at SMP and Quivira, just west of the HyVee, this one is a real must-miss. My first clue should have been that all the staff was more, ah, Hispanic-looking, soccer-watching, and Spanish-speaking than your normal Chinese buffet. And in addition to Egg Foo Young, the buffet sported flautas. And nothing was particularly good. So kids, in your lust for Chinese buffets, I urge you to look elsewhere.
Letsee...haven't really been to any movies lately...oh! We played Mario Kart for the Wii at David's apartment in Omaha when we went up for his graduation. I'm NOT generally a Mario Kart lover - I usually spend more time running into walls, going the wrong direction, and getting generally grumpy than actually doing any "racing." This one, though, was really fun! I used the little steering wheel attachment, which I thought made it rather nice, though the "gamers" of the bunch were generally derisive. Screw them. But yes - a very fun group game, and friendly to non-Mario Kart freaks.
Finally - FINALLY - got and read "The Yiddish Policeman's Union" by Michael Chabon, which was all the rage on public radio shows last summer. I requested it from the library, and apparently so did everyone else. Makes sense that public radio listeners would be public library users. Buncha leeches. So though I requested it in June of 07, I got it at the end of April. It was good - glad I hadn't been EAGERLY awaiting it for that long - but I liked it. It's definitely a mystery novel, which isn't usually my genre of choice (as you may have noticed). But Chabon has a really nice way of weaving a whole bunch of threads together into a tidy package that at the end makes you say, "Oh, well that's nice then." without being a sentimental piece of tripe or another action-adventure novel. If you like mysteries or even just non-genre fiction, check it out.
Good night, and good luck.
Moving right along.
Today was the first day of KC's Bike Week. Naturally I rode to work. Then (and here's where I start questioning my mental stability) rode home, was home just long enough to change clothes and change bikes, rode to the Trek Store, went on a group ride, then rode home. 28 miles total today. And I spent *nearly* the entire time from 5pm-8pm on a bike. But we saw some really pretty areas of northeastern Shawnee and western Merriam, and it was a lot of fun. A lady from City of KCMO came out with freebies to promote bike week. We got little zipper packs made from reclaimed bike tubes and bracelets from reclaimed... climb ropes? I think? Anyway, they're both branded "green guru" which makes me happy. :)
Oh, I've been delinquent in giving you reviews. Today's loser: Home Delight Chinese Buffet. Located at SMP and Quivira, just west of the HyVee, this one is a real must-miss. My first clue should have been that all the staff was more, ah, Hispanic-looking, soccer-watching, and Spanish-speaking than your normal Chinese buffet. And in addition to Egg Foo Young, the buffet sported flautas. And nothing was particularly good. So kids, in your lust for Chinese buffets, I urge you to look elsewhere.
Letsee...haven't really been to any movies lately...oh! We played Mario Kart for the Wii at David's apartment in Omaha when we went up for his graduation. I'm NOT generally a Mario Kart lover - I usually spend more time running into walls, going the wrong direction, and getting generally grumpy than actually doing any "racing." This one, though, was really fun! I used the little steering wheel attachment, which I thought made it rather nice, though the "gamers" of the bunch were generally derisive. Screw them. But yes - a very fun group game, and friendly to non-Mario Kart freaks.
Finally - FINALLY - got and read "The Yiddish Policeman's Union" by Michael Chabon, which was all the rage on public radio shows last summer. I requested it from the library, and apparently so did everyone else. Makes sense that public radio listeners would be public library users. Buncha leeches. So though I requested it in June of 07, I got it at the end of April. It was good - glad I hadn't been EAGERLY awaiting it for that long - but I liked it. It's definitely a mystery novel, which isn't usually my genre of choice (as you may have noticed). But Chabon has a really nice way of weaving a whole bunch of threads together into a tidy package that at the end makes you say, "Oh, well that's nice then." without being a sentimental piece of tripe or another action-adventure novel. If you like mysteries or even just non-genre fiction, check it out.
Good night, and good luck.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Driving Lessons from my e-Bike
So for those of you who haven't talked with me lately, I bought an electric bike over spring break. Second hand - pawn shop in Scottsdale. I love it. First, a couple FAQs:
Q: How does it work?
A: There's a 36V battery stored in the frame. You can ride it like a real bike, then use the thumb throttle to kick in motorized assist.
Q: So you could ride it like a motorcycle?
A: You could, but you wouldn't get very far before the motor overheated and/or the battery died. It's definitely an assist; I'm pedaling the entire time.
Q: How far can it go?
A: Not really sure - I haven't pushed the limits. It depends, of course, on your terrain and how much assist you're using. On my 6.5 mile, hilly commute to work, depending on the assist I take, I arrive with anywhere from 50-90% battery remaining.
Q: How fast can you go?
A: Again, not really sure. I don't have a speedometer, and I really don't trust its supposed rating of 20mph. I hear the motor stop assisting on some downhills, though, so I know it does have a max, and I know I've reached it.
Q: Do you still ride your old bike?
A: Yeah, I use it for recreational or athletic rides, or when I'm riding with someone who doesn't have a motor. Also, since the battery adds SO much weight to the e-Bike, I use my mountain bike for very short, relatively flat trips; it actually uses less energy for me.
The past couple weeks, I've been using my eBike a lot for commuting and running errands, and also begging rides of off people from work. I filled up my gas tank for the first time today since April 15th. That's roughly twice as long as I had been going during the winter. I've also been employing a few driving practices learned from my eBike to increase my mileage by about 2mpg.
1) Judicious use of the gas pedal: Energy is energy, right? Whether it comes from my two legs, a battery pack or a gas tank. And the less of it I use, the better. Riding the eBike gives me a very clear picture of how much energy I need to get through a hill. Driving in the same way helps me save gas.
2) The shortest route isn't always the best: Sometimes, a route that's slightly longer, but much flatter or with fewer stoplights may actually use less energy.
3) Drive by RPMs, not MPHs: My increased mileage was mostly done by keeping my RPMs under 3000. Your RPMs may vary - the early model CRVs were built on a Civic chassis, so they take more power than the engine really wants to provide. Eric's been working on keeping his under 2000; I can't even move away from a stop light under 2000.
4) Slow down and enjoy: You start biking enough, you don't worry too much about getting there in a hurry. It's odd, but I've found I *do* often have the time to do my errands by bike. I can do this in my car, too. My car performs MUCH better at 60-65 mph than at 70 or faster. Though I get some strange looks on the freeway, I haven't gone faster than 70 in a few weeks, and have been generally trying to keep my speed around 65. Similarly, on city streets, if my RPMs dictate that I'd do better at 35 or 40 than 45... well, I can usually manage that, depending on traffic.
5) Stuff is closer than you realize: Start mapping this stuff - most places you want to go (at least for errands and entertainment) are less than five miles away. Just think about it. It doesn't feel like it, but five miles will get you a long ways from home around here. I don't go anywhere in my car anymore without considering whether I could do it by bike.
Signed,
your hippie friend.
Q: How does it work?
A: There's a 36V battery stored in the frame. You can ride it like a real bike, then use the thumb throttle to kick in motorized assist.
Q: So you could ride it like a motorcycle?
A: You could, but you wouldn't get very far before the motor overheated and/or the battery died. It's definitely an assist; I'm pedaling the entire time.
Q: How far can it go?
A: Not really sure - I haven't pushed the limits. It depends, of course, on your terrain and how much assist you're using. On my 6.5 mile, hilly commute to work, depending on the assist I take, I arrive with anywhere from 50-90% battery remaining.
Q: How fast can you go?
A: Again, not really sure. I don't have a speedometer, and I really don't trust its supposed rating of 20mph. I hear the motor stop assisting on some downhills, though, so I know it does have a max, and I know I've reached it.
Q: Do you still ride your old bike?
A: Yeah, I use it for recreational or athletic rides, or when I'm riding with someone who doesn't have a motor. Also, since the battery adds SO much weight to the e-Bike, I use my mountain bike for very short, relatively flat trips; it actually uses less energy for me.
The past couple weeks, I've been using my eBike a lot for commuting and running errands, and also begging rides of off people from work. I filled up my gas tank for the first time today since April 15th. That's roughly twice as long as I had been going during the winter. I've also been employing a few driving practices learned from my eBike to increase my mileage by about 2mpg.
1) Judicious use of the gas pedal: Energy is energy, right? Whether it comes from my two legs, a battery pack or a gas tank. And the less of it I use, the better. Riding the eBike gives me a very clear picture of how much energy I need to get through a hill. Driving in the same way helps me save gas.
2) The shortest route isn't always the best: Sometimes, a route that's slightly longer, but much flatter or with fewer stoplights may actually use less energy.
3) Drive by RPMs, not MPHs: My increased mileage was mostly done by keeping my RPMs under 3000. Your RPMs may vary - the early model CRVs were built on a Civic chassis, so they take more power than the engine really wants to provide. Eric's been working on keeping his under 2000; I can't even move away from a stop light under 2000.
4) Slow down and enjoy: You start biking enough, you don't worry too much about getting there in a hurry. It's odd, but I've found I *do* often have the time to do my errands by bike. I can do this in my car, too. My car performs MUCH better at 60-65 mph than at 70 or faster. Though I get some strange looks on the freeway, I haven't gone faster than 70 in a few weeks, and have been generally trying to keep my speed around 65. Similarly, on city streets, if my RPMs dictate that I'd do better at 35 or 40 than 45... well, I can usually manage that, depending on traffic.
5) Stuff is closer than you realize: Start mapping this stuff - most places you want to go (at least for errands and entertainment) are less than five miles away. Just think about it. It doesn't feel like it, but five miles will get you a long ways from home around here. I don't go anywhere in my car anymore without considering whether I could do it by bike.
Signed,
your hippie friend.
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