Lego's have to be the worlds most underrated toy. The amount of options and creative outlets that they allow are endless. I used to build Xwings and Ywings before the sets came out, pirate ships that flew and so on. Below are some of my favorite recent Lego related creations.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Acadia Cafe - Review
One of my goals for 2011 has been to widen my horizons. I tend to go the same places, eat the same foods, listening to the same music, watch the same shows. By nature I am a creature of habit. I like the comfort of an establishment where I know the menu and where the wait-staff knows me by name. Perhaps it is a curse left over from working at Cheers. Nonetheless, 2011 is about trying new things.
Over the past few months I have had the pleasure of trying out several new bars, establishments because of their live music. Last night, it was the Acadia Cafe.
The Acadia Cafe is a small bar/eatery/music venue located on Cedar Ave in Minneapolis. They have solid acoustics, a seemingly well training sound technician and the amount of taps and beer variety you would expect from a thriving Minneapolis location. They have a mostly traditional menu with a few hip twists on old favorites like the cleverly named GLBT.
The tap selection includes my current favorite, Surly Furious. Their Swiss and Mushroom Burger was somewhat surprisingly cooked exactly as I requested. (Truly medium rare burgers are very hard to find). In keeping with their location and audience, they "hand-patty their burgers fresh each day from humanely grown, all-natural, hormone and antibiotic-free cattle." All nice and good from a feel good stand point but even better they tasted great. I was especially pleased with the onion bun, it really added a excellent touch of flavor.
The wait-staff was quick and responsive and very focused on the task at hand. Not to a point of rudeness but just enough business-like focus to keep my drink full and my order correct. There was an almost Scandinavian sense of work and focus. Very little nonsense. Except for the dishwasher. From my spot at the bar I could see back into the kitchen and I'll admit that I really didn't need the sight of his pants sagging so low I could venture a decent guess as to his brand of boxers. My gratitude that he avoided the briefs. That said, he and the entire restaurant seemed very clean and did in no way impact my enjoyment of the food. Just his fashion.
The main reason I went to the Acadia Cafe last night was to see Wasted Education. I have seen them at two different venues now, The Acadia and the well known Turf Club. I'm not sure if it was the acoustics, the sound engineer or simply the band having more time together but last night's performance was vastly superior in terms of sound quality. It's always a challenge to find a correct musical mix in a restaurant, considering all the challenges that come with food prep and service. Kudos to both the band and the establishment for making it eminently listenable last night.
Overall The Acadia Cafe is an excellent venue to listening to live local original music, have a good beer and well cooked burger.
Grade B+ (A if you catch the dishwasher's off night!)
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
X-Men First Class - Fan made title sequence
Like much of my generation, I have been hooked on the X-men for most of my life. The original cartoon in the 90's was absolutely required viewing. I even set the VCR for the special prime time event one summer. I've enjoyed most of the films for what they were, fun pop culture popcorn movies. However, the upcoming prequel seems to offer some deeper subject matter.
In the X-men mythology, Xavier and Magneto are the archetypal characters. Good and Evil. Yet just like Christian theology, they were once partners, in this case even equals. What happened that drove such an incredible wedge between them? What was the ideological break? Set against the reality of the cold war and the Cuban missile crisis, the movie has the opportunity to speak to bigger themes of good vs evil or if there is even such a distinction to be made.
The video below is a fan made opening sequence for the film. To me it's very well done but seems to be a bit heavy handed. I'm sure the actual opening will be much more modern Hollywood.
What do you think?
What do you think?
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Arnold Schwarzenegger Teams With Stan Lee On New Comic And Cartoon
I firmly believe that creative talent ebbs and flows. Any creative mind or genius has ups and downs. However, it seems that there comes a point when the downs are all that is left. Look at some of Einsteins last work, or anything done by George Lucas since 1990 or any Rolling Stones album of the past 25 years. The well does run drive at some point, its just nature. It happens to everyone.
It's time to finally acknowledge that it has happened to comic great and icon Stan Lee. The man created some of the most memorable and brilliant characters of all time. He had a hand in Spiderman, Fantastic Four, The Xmen, The Avengers, Thor, Daredevil and literally thousands of others. He is on the Mount Rushmore of comic creators.
However, the past decade has been astonishingly bad. If you were to tell me that Stan Lee had been abducted and replaced by his evil mentally challenged twin, I would gladly believe you. It seems inconceivable that the same mind that helped to build most of the Marvel Universe is also responsible for Stripperella, Ringo as a super hero and now some ill conceived project with the Governator.
Please Stan, just stop. Don't let people know you as the reality show shill and cameo creep. It overshadows the really impressive and worthwhile previous years of genius.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)