The BEST part about Thanksgiving...

So last night my friend Rick had a Thanksgiving dinner at his house. It was a good time - he deep fried a couple of turkeys and invited 20 people over to watch and help put the fire out if necessary. That was an entertaining experience, but that isn't what I am writing about...

There were also TONS of delicious side-dishes and desserts - stuffing and spinach dip and pie and cake and ham and green bean casserole... And even some brownies that were so good I think they had crack in them. Yummy. Still not post-worthy though.

Rick did a great job - the turkey didn't set fire to the house or explode or anything (although the mashed potatoes did, but that is another story), the conversation was good, plenty of food... But the BEST part about this Thanksgiving dinner (and reason for this post) was the coffee. Yes, I said the coffee. Because Rick made Vietnamese coffee. Now, only the 4754 crew can fully appreciate this, because you guys know how much I love the iced coffee that we get at Pho and how obsessed I am with the little coffee maker things they have there. Well Rick has a set of 6 that look just like this (I am so jealous):


It was awesome - I was so excited for the home implementation of the Pho experience. We even had to have a race to see which cups finished first... And of course Rick and I had to explain to the rookies about how to properly make the coffee once it has dripped (take the lid off, then take the filter off and set it on the lid so that it doesn't leak, stir the coffee and the milk together BEFORE you pour it over the ice...) Perfect...

And now supposedly one day Rick is going to show me which Pho is better than "Large # 15, Raw." We'll see.

Best seat ever

As much as I think he's a punk for never posting on this blog, today I have to give a big phatty shout out to Mr. Tommy Reiser (who recently turned 30, happy birthday). I've been blessed in the past to have really great seats at sporting events, but this is the first time that I can say without the shadow of any doubt that I had the best seat in the house, at least for the second half.

I mean, the facts speak for themselves:

1) I was on the floor, and I mean on the floor, Spike Lee style. I had to make sure I didn't stretch my legs out for fear of tripping the players!
2) Gil dropped an effortless 43 points on 15-20 shooting. Dare I say,en fuego...
3) The Wiz beat the defeating champs by a convincing 15 points to go 5-1 for the season. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/12/AR2005111201375.html
4) I sat next to Eva Longoria the whole second half. http://www.maximonline.com/girls_of_maxim/pictures_and_bio/1096/EvaLongoria.girl
Wow. Didn't talk to her a whole lot, but from the little I did she was mad cool, and she knows her basketball. Yummy. Did I say wow already?

Best seat in the house, no doubt.

Sad News...

I'm in a state of shock and disbelief.... as today, I received some very very sad news.

I got an email from my friend Kia (a.k.a Amazing Kong) that my favorite bar, TINA, had burned down this past weekend. I happened to be away, visiting relatives in Nara, but apparently, TINA went up in flames this past Friday night, after they shut down. After hearing the news, I headed straight for TINA, because I needed to see it in order to believe it. Sure enough... TINA was gone. Nothing left but the walls, the bar, and a few charred bar stools. Thank goodness, no one was hurt.

As you've probably noticed from some posts that Fabian and I made, TINA is (it's not dead yet) a great place. A place to kick back and have a drink with Tsukasa and Yasu, a place to go crazy and get fucked up on a weekend night/morning, a place to meet familiar faces, and a place to forget about all the bullshit that might have happened during the day.

I'll miss it for sure, but I know it will be back. Maybe in some different shape or form, but TINA "full of black music" will be back.