A Quick Note About

CenterStage is a theater house which can be found in the heart of Baltimore city in the Mt. Vernon district (look for the George Washington monument, go east two blocks and you'll be close by). I just want to say a few words about the establishment there and nothing in particular about any performances. I've patronized this establish twice so far and have found it to be fairly amiable.

There are two different stages, The Pearlstone and The Head theaters, which are both fairly small but comfortable. Their size yields a decent amount of intimacy between the audience and the performers, as well as it serves to carry the acoustics (which is adequate). They've got cheaper seats in the mezzanine which aren't much worse than the better seats (seats differ from C through A Preferred and usually different by a $40 range). From what I have sampled in the way of entertainment was quite enjoyable; I believe they employ good talent.

Their online ticket purchasing is fair and odd but seems to lack security. Where many online credit purchases check the card holder's appropriate billing address, CenterStage simply allows the purchase. Their purchasing process is also a bit odd. While timed purchases are not uncommon online, being timed while signing of for a required online account after the ticket selection has been made is a bit strange and, I feel, unnecessary. Furthermore, their online diagram of approximate seating locations sucks. It's essential to either know the theater from first hand experience or to bring up a detailed map of the seating details which is wonderfully hidden in a hyperlink at the end of some easily overlooked web page.

Outside of their theaters they have some pretty comfortable lounge areas both downstairs and upstairs to enjoy a drink from the bar which is close by. The bar area, while small itself, is warm and alluring. The selection, I'm afraid, is not. I purchased both their "Premium" house red (a Shiraz!) initially for $7 and then later a glass of their plain old "House" red (a Merlot) for $5. And though the bar tenders were friendly and prompt the quality of drink wasn't what I think it should have been. Bad drinks within the vicinity of a theater are not uncommon by my experience but I think this is not a good detail of the common experience.

I've not yet poked in for some of their special offers of backstage discussions with the casts or anything like that but I do find the possibility to be intriguing. Were I a rich man I believe I'd invest in CenterStage. I might invest more if I could make the stipulation of getting better booze, a better website, and more Sondheim in the line up. Otherwise, CenterStage is a nice place to enjoy a show.

The Helmand - Afghan Food

The other day, before a show, my father, woman, and I (oooh, look at all these commas!) all trounced around Mt. Vernon for a place to eat. We had planned on either Thai or Mexi-Spanish but were not satisfied with the prospect of either. We decided to explore The Helmand for an inkling of what Afghan food was. I consider myself an adventurous eater and I also consider my father to be of an "older school*" but still well traveled. I like to drag my lady friend along for the ride, whatever the ride is, and she is happy to oblige (I introduced her to mushrooms, sushi, Thai, beer, wine, etc.).

The menu didn't give us a good enough idea of what was going on so we ventured inside once they opened at 5 o'clock. My father immediately tried to bridge some understanding, "Is Afghan food anything like Moroccan?". Well it apparently is similar-- I want to try some Moroccan food too-- but also quite different. It might be well noted to state the fact that I had never even thought about Afghan food being available where I had plans to eat Moroccan, given the chance, since I heard of Morocco. Regardless of this and our initial hesitations, we found both The Helmand and Afghan cuisine to be quite delicious.

Our waiter was courteous in spite of his pretension and the staff were lively and dutiful. The restaurant space is well organized but quite personable. The tables are crowded with class, glass,
and porcelain in such a way that you're rewarded with an empty table to rest your elbows provided you finish. And you will. We began the meal with orders of Kaddo Borawni and Aushak. Both were scrumptious, layering and contrasting deep flavors of sweet, savory, creamy, and sour (Kaddo) as well as providing unique aromas and pairings with more familiarizing dishes (Aushak). We had also ordered a large basket of freshly baked bread (they make it there I believe) for $7! It was good and quite essential however.

Shortly after finishing our appetizers The Helmand started to fill quite beautifully. We had come at an opportune time because when we had arrived there were only 4 other people neighboring us two tables away. This place gets good business and for good reason. Seems The Helmand is related to Afghan royalty and that just beats all. "I ate at a restaurant run by an Afghan royal family". A fact that I toasted to when told by my wonderfully well informed female companion, with beer. Becks Dark. Very nice to my surprise because I'm not a big fan of Becks Normal. It was everything I like in a beer (a solid 8/10) and complimented the dynamic flavors of the Afghani cuisine very well.

Though I hardly had time or interest in drinking when my food arrived. De-fricking-licious. You like food with flavor? Want to try something your mom probably never made for you, sissy boy? Afghan food. It's not intensely spicy (though you can ask for it like my father did, to great success) but it is everything I wanted. Turns out I wasn't alone; Molly and my father also enjoyed their dishes quite a lot. I ordered the Lamb Lawand which was executed wonderfully.

Boneless lamb sautéed with fresh tomatoes, mushrooms, and herb seasoning topped with a dressing of yogurt and sour crème. Served with sabzy (spinach) and challow.

Challow is medium grain basmati rice infused with cumin seeds. It was awesome. My father ordered the Koufta Challow which he enjoyed "extra spicy". I think he got the simplest dish of the three (lamb is great when cooked correctly and ground lamb is very easy to cook compared to raw fillets or roasts) but a great dish none-the-less. It also included a cilantro sauce that was well fitted.

Combination of lamb and beef meatballs seasoned with sun-dried baby grapes, paprika and turmeric in hot green pepper, green peas and fresh tomato sauce. Served with challow.

And my lady friend ordered the Seekh Kabob. I was nearly jealous when I tasted what she ordered because it was so darn good. And as you can tell, we went for lamb dishes. I think the reasoning is self explanatory as well as it turned out to be self gratifying.

Char-broiled marinated lamb tenderloin served with pallow.

After dinner we managed to fit in desert. Arguably the best part. And order of Special Ice Cream was mixed table side adjacent! The quality of ingredients as well as the food/flavor pairing honestly made this my favorite ice cream I've ever consumed. I deeply wish this were mass produced and available at my local grocery store. The cardamom is brilliant. Which also showed up in the way of Cardamom Tea which I found both interestingly different and pleasant. Oh! And this place brews a good espresso-- these guys even give you the lemon peel you're supposed to get.

French vanilla ice cream with cardamom, fresh mango, dates, and dried figs.

Helmand, you have converted both my friends and myself. I now enjoy Afghani cuisine and appreciate the culture that much more. How can you appreciate a people if you don't understand what they eat? Well, probably not Muhammad Q. EveryArab but the established cuisine presented to my party of three was everything we wanted.

*- It's of my opinion that the quality and inventiveness of cuisines has altered in many ways, and with the recent green-market movement I think it's for the better. So in some ways he (my father) knows quite a bit from experience but then again he also has no clue about these unknown-unknowns.

Cold Mountain

This one will be a quicky, no worries you TL;DR manladies and ladymen.

I just saw it through the break of midnight and the weeds of what had to have been over 9,000 commercials. Good lord, if an endless onslaught of advertising can't completely destroy a story then that story must be halfway decent. And it was, as sad, miserable, and as sappy as it was; Cold Mountain was a damn fine film which was a sketchy concept (for getting my attention or interest) but was executed beautifully. I rank Cold Mountain as an 8/10 overall-- it should be noted that my rating scale is weighted and as such there are then about 4 movies I'd consider near perfect (10/10). One of them is OldBoy.

I don't care much for The Civil War like most people do. I feel as though I regard it differently than most, which is fair to say about anyone else, I suppose. Dances With Wolves bored me to sleep and Civil War fanaticism bores me to tears. With that in mind, I loved this film quite a bit because of how well it was made. The craft is apparent. This film seems to be the reason Jude Law has a career. It's full of character and story that any human sh/could allow themselves to enjoy. Cold Mountain and Glory are the only two Civil War films that come to mind that I severely enjoy.

Sopranos, The Last Season.

Fond remembrances of snugging into my seat, hearing the same damn song about bad moons in your pupil. I never actually watched the show when it was on, rather, I never caught the new episodes on TV. I subscribe to the DVD method. It rules. A television show will make time for me, I won't make time for it. Season 6 just made time in my Netflix queue (a good service, Netflix. I highly approve).

I've done this before. I dredged through the entirety of Six Feet Under like I was coming out of a morphine addiction. I'm eagerly anticipating the next DVD series from Weeds and Dexter. I'm considering The Wire. I enjoyed Carnivale to an extent. I tried to start on Big Love but my lady friend wasn't too keen on it; I understand. And obviously I've seen the preceding five seasons of the late, great Sopranos.

I was pretty hesitant to even start in on the show. With so much hype there's bound to be disappointment. Nope. I even think it deserves more merit as dramatic art and concerning human commentary. I think The Sopranos is a brilliantly constructed performance strung out over years, certainly giving rise to the notion of hour long television dramas surpassing the artwork found in major Hollywood productions and even art-house projects-- and certainly more entertaining than either. Can popular entertainment be art? I think The Sopranos is an excellent argument for the the affirmative. (No spoilers)

OH! On with the critiquing. Let's begin:

Episode One

I'm still basking in the glow of the initial show. It was a breakout performance presented with care and detail. Cast, Crew, and Cash all knew that making the first hour of the last season was important as hell and spared no expense. Full of interesting details and new developments to the plot, this first episode of season six proved to me to be an effective hook. I didn't think I was going to be as interested in the show anymore; I had watched the other seasons somewhat consecutively. So long since the last time I'd been immersed in The Sopranos storyline, Episode One ushers back old interests and seeds some new.

Episode Two

Stab me in the eyes with a pair of rusty pruning sheers. Episode Two is relative to the mental anguish one would experience through ocular penetration. Ever had an eyelash or some other foreign object lodged around the perimeter of your eye? You rub and rub but it just won't rub loose or out; you actually make it worse. Then you run to the bathroom mirror trying to spot the culprit but since your eyes are all tears and irritation you can see about as well as a cataracts patient. I kinda felt like that was happening to my mind as I sat through the second episode of The Sopranos.

Episode Three (Spoiler Alert)

Holy Christ! Tony Soprano is still in a coma. I see the genius in the tactic and the meanings and the impregnable story line attributes but this shit has got to stop. The tactic of booming out of the gate with a stand-alone-classic episode and then pulling back the reins... shrewd. It allows characters to breathe, develop on their own, and builds anticipation. The show just doesn't carry without James Gandolfini and I suppose everyone behind the scenes had that intention too. I certainly can't wait for the fat bastard to wake up and start talking again. We, the audience, are most bonded to his character; the fuck all with everyone else if he isn't present.

Ah well. Upon reflection, I'm not sure I'll be critiquing too many more episodes (DVD or not). A single bad, annoying, or simply sub par episode isn't going to discourage anyone from seeing it or the rest-- nor should it. Perhaps this reflects why television cannot be credited as much with artistry as it could in all rights previous; the analysis of different television episodes engenders a feeling of frivolousness in thought process of the analyst.

There'll always be another episode.

Prologue & Beer

Salutations!

Welcome to the bastion house of jabbering. I'll be your host; we'll be covering every and all subjects that may arise. I'm drinking a bottle of Blue Moon right now, Blue Moon is fair game. In fact, let's talk about Blue Moon right now. If you're unfamiliar, Blue Moon is a Belgian-style white wheat ale which is fairly popular. When served, it is customary for a wedge of orange or even tangerine to be put on the rim of the glass. For this reason, as well as a few nameable others, Blue Moon can be considered a "chick beer". I agree. Actually, I bought a case of it to appease my "chick".

Personally, I prefer darker brews. I like dark malts and lots of barley and the right amount of carbonation. Darker beers are deeper in flavor and add to a meal or experience where a lighter beer serves mostly two purposes: cleansing the pallet and getting you loose. I suppose that holds more truth with poor quality beverages than say, for example, this Blue Moon I'm drinking now. I like it. I introduced it to my woman because I liked it. It can be rather refreshing. It's very smooth, almost silky in texture (perhaps frothy). The aroma is fairly pungent where the flavor is quite delicate. Unlike the supposed "lighter beers" I made reference to earlier, Blue Moon does have a moderately complex flavor profile.

"Brewed with white wheat and oats, Blue Moon features a crisp wheat finish and the perfect combination of orange peel and coriander." (back of the bottle)

Wheaty? Oaty? Orange Peel? Coriander? Sure, sure, maybe, and it's hard to argue in a fermented beverage. Blue Moon is pretty tame, though I don't exactly hate it to any degree. It's of fair quality and enjoyable every now and again-- good for certain meals. I prefer their winter ale, Full Moon, because it is a bit darker and all around tastier.

And in full honesty, sometimes the odor of the beer makes me ill. Actually, it smells a little like semen. I guess that makes me, like, 5% gayer? Ah well, here's to Mt. Vernon. Cheers.

"I ain't no god damn son of a bitch". I'm not sure what you should expect next but I'll try to make it enjoyable. And I'll try to cut back on so many commas.