I went to Vegas to hang out with Mei's family plus Ma and Ba. We were there for about 2 1/2 days, staying at Caesar's Palace. The rooms in the Roman Tower were a little dated and run down, definitely could use a spruce up.We spent time wandering The Venetian, Forum Shops, eating too much at the Buffett and checking out the Bellagio fountains (still my favourite thing in Vegas). Lots of hotels were decorated for Chinese New Year.
We took 1/2 a day to head out to Hoover Dam. We'd been there on one of our massive car trips when we were kids, but they have since built a giant bridge that connects the Arizona and Nevada side.
The stale cigarette smoke in the casinos is annoying (as always) but there are lots of celebrity chef restaurants to eat at. We went to Gordon Ramsey's Pub and Grill (good food, amazing sticky toffee pudding) and Sushi Roku (which I didn't need to go to Vegas for since they are part of an LA based chain, but the kids like sushi rolls and the food was good). Ma, Mei and I spent $10 for 1/2 hour of entertainment on one slot machine, which satisfied us for the entire stay.
The one unfortunate thing that happened the first night we were there (while we were asleep) was a car-to-car shooting right at the intersection in front of our hotel. Three people died and they were still looking for the culprit. The investigation shut down Las Vegas Blvd. from Caesar's all the way to the Cosmopolitan, and Bellagio shut the fountains down as well!
Here are some pictures that I took.
23 February 2013
02 February 2013
Joffrey Ballet
The Joffrey was back in town this weekend. They performed their recreation of Rite of Spring along with several other short pieces. I went on Friday when they performed a new piece by Stanton Welch and Christopher Wheeldon's After the Rain.
I had seen the Joffrey's Rite years ago when they brought it to LA. Their piece is based on research by a dance historian and a costume historian working for years to piece together what the original Nijinsky choreography was, along with costumes and sets. We were up in the upper balcony, with the hoi polloi (seemed like a lot of graduate dance students!) and so the patterning and groupings of the dancers was most evident. This piece (both choreography and music) is 100 years old and I swear, it could've been created yesterday. I loved the first half but the second half felt like a little repetitive and dragged a bit. The connection between the music and movement was really strong. My friend studied modern dance in college and she could see in this piece the precursor for much of today's modern dance. After this piece, the dance majors were all ecstatic, while their 'plus ones' were a little confused.
The first piece was a new short dance to John Adam's music. I'm not a big fan of Adam's music, however the Joffrey is a company of beautiful, strong dancers and it was great to watch the movement from our high angle. It really emphasized upper body and port de bras (arms) over the typical legs and feet.
The middle piece, After the Rain is one that I believe I've seen before in NY. The music is by Arvo Part (there was a time when every other new piece I saw was choregraphed to his music). This is a gorgeous piece, particularly the duet and here it was danced by the Joffrey's main principals, Fabrice Calmels, their gorgeous 6'-6" dancer, and Victoria Jaiani, who has the most beautiful supple body and feet. They were amazing together. (Here is a brief video from the NYCB page, on which this piece was originally created.)
I had seen the Joffrey's Rite years ago when they brought it to LA. Their piece is based on research by a dance historian and a costume historian working for years to piece together what the original Nijinsky choreography was, along with costumes and sets. We were up in the upper balcony, with the hoi polloi (seemed like a lot of graduate dance students!) and so the patterning and groupings of the dancers was most evident. This piece (both choreography and music) is 100 years old and I swear, it could've been created yesterday. I loved the first half but the second half felt like a little repetitive and dragged a bit. The connection between the music and movement was really strong. My friend studied modern dance in college and she could see in this piece the precursor for much of today's modern dance. After this piece, the dance majors were all ecstatic, while their 'plus ones' were a little confused.
The first piece was a new short dance to John Adam's music. I'm not a big fan of Adam's music, however the Joffrey is a company of beautiful, strong dancers and it was great to watch the movement from our high angle. It really emphasized upper body and port de bras (arms) over the typical legs and feet.
The middle piece, After the Rain is one that I believe I've seen before in NY. The music is by Arvo Part (there was a time when every other new piece I saw was choregraphed to his music). This is a gorgeous piece, particularly the duet and here it was danced by the Joffrey's main principals, Fabrice Calmels, their gorgeous 6'-6" dancer, and Victoria Jaiani, who has the most beautiful supple body and feet. They were amazing together. (Here is a brief video from the NYCB page, on which this piece was originally created.)
dine LA again!
Here we go again, another couple of weeks of great restaurant deals right before my birthday. This rounds picks were gastropub intensive: The Parish downtown, Ford's Filling Station in Culver City and The 6 in Studio City. Plus one diner, Blue Plate Oysterette.
The Parish is new, I've heard good things about it. It's located in a skinny triangular plot of land in the old garment district of LA. The spot has been empty for awhile. Back when my friend Cindy and her husband were living on Spring St. We used to walk by here to get to various new restaurants. The dine LA menu had a great mussels dish and while the rest of the food was good, there was nothing particularly special about it. If I were working downtown, it might be part of my circuit, but I wouldn't go out of my way.
Ford's Filling Station is run by Harrison Ford's son. It's been open for awhile, but I never got around to dining there because when it first opened, it was constantly packed. It was probably on the leading edge of the gastropub wave in LA. The food was great, the server was familiar with the restaurant's food and they were willing to make a substitution for one of our party who has celiac.
The 6 was chosen strictly for location. It's in the Coldwater Curve shops in the location where there used to be an Italian restaurant. The gimmick is that there are 6 of each of the categories on the menu (starters, pizzas, red wines, white wines, etc). The food was fine, and the place had a decent ambiance with a covered outdoor area. Again, not something to go out of one's way for, but nice if you need a place to meet people in the area.
The final location, Blue Plate Oysterette, is a diner that serves seafood. The restaurant made a bad first impression when the hostess failed to mention that they don't take reservations which confused the heck out of me and caused me to wait outside for 5 minutes when my friend was already inside. Grrr. The place was very crowded but my friend had found a spot at the bar. The server was excellent and started to help make up for the ridiculous hostess. Then the food ended up being amazing! I had clam chowder (the one dish that was not particularly special, but was good), shrimp pesto (yummy huge shrimp and enough pasta for dinner the next day). The key lime pie was a great way to end the meal. Their regular menu features three fresh catches of the day that you can have prepared with a number of sauces and sides. The manager of the restaurant stopped to chat with us for quite awhile. Apparently they are looking to expand this concept to other locations.
The Parish is new, I've heard good things about it. It's located in a skinny triangular plot of land in the old garment district of LA. The spot has been empty for awhile. Back when my friend Cindy and her husband were living on Spring St. We used to walk by here to get to various new restaurants. The dine LA menu had a great mussels dish and while the rest of the food was good, there was nothing particularly special about it. If I were working downtown, it might be part of my circuit, but I wouldn't go out of my way.
Ford's Filling Station is run by Harrison Ford's son. It's been open for awhile, but I never got around to dining there because when it first opened, it was constantly packed. It was probably on the leading edge of the gastropub wave in LA. The food was great, the server was familiar with the restaurant's food and they were willing to make a substitution for one of our party who has celiac.
The 6 was chosen strictly for location. It's in the Coldwater Curve shops in the location where there used to be an Italian restaurant. The gimmick is that there are 6 of each of the categories on the menu (starters, pizzas, red wines, white wines, etc). The food was fine, and the place had a decent ambiance with a covered outdoor area. Again, not something to go out of one's way for, but nice if you need a place to meet people in the area.
The final location, Blue Plate Oysterette, is a diner that serves seafood. The restaurant made a bad first impression when the hostess failed to mention that they don't take reservations which confused the heck out of me and caused me to wait outside for 5 minutes when my friend was already inside. Grrr. The place was very crowded but my friend had found a spot at the bar. The server was excellent and started to help make up for the ridiculous hostess. Then the food ended up being amazing! I had clam chowder (the one dish that was not particularly special, but was good), shrimp pesto (yummy huge shrimp and enough pasta for dinner the next day). The key lime pie was a great way to end the meal. Their regular menu features three fresh catches of the day that you can have prepared with a number of sauces and sides. The manager of the restaurant stopped to chat with us for quite awhile. Apparently they are looking to expand this concept to other locations.
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