Fair Frenzy

Last Friday, Nicki and I drove down to the OC to meet Monica at the annual OC Fair. Funny thing about it was, in hindsight, I think the two of us spent more time en route on the various freeways between Los Angeles and Orange County than we did at the fair itself, but, well that is another story. The two of us headed to the fair on a very serious mission: to eat some fry and to ride the giant slide, Euroslide.com. Sadly, as I type this post, I am learning that the Euroslide.com domain does not put you in touch with a page dedicated to glorifying the plastic behemoth. Instead, it seems as if they have failed to renew their domain name. Damn....if Euroslide cant survive this economic climate........

Well, mission was accomplished. We rode the slide and ate some food. Oh. And we threw in a round of Skee-Ball and balloon darts in for good measure. While we did not eat too much in the way of bad fair food (we did not try this "deep fried butter" advertised at the Coronary Cafe, but a deep fried Klondike was had), my poor system was unhappy with the small amount that I did force in. Bathroom troubles arose from my encounter with some of the fried mess. Lesson learned. While deep fried zuchini sounds like a good idea in theory.....it is not. Enjoy!

Totally Tamales!

In the midst of my "I'm-broke-and-living-in-Los-Angeles" summer, I have discovered a great find down the street from my house: Alberto's Tamales. Alberto's, a tamale shop on Temple just West of Glendale, serves up some of the best around. And for roughly 1.25 each, how can I not be morphing into a loyal patron? I have been to the tamale shop a few times and after perfection each time, bought a big order of 16 for a Sunday morning brunch at our place. While all the varieties have been delicious, I have to say my favorite so far is the chicken mole. Apparently, they can make a spinach and and cheese vegetarian option with 24 hours advance notice, but the cheese and jalapeno tamale has been not just an adequate veggie option, but a desired one thus far!

Steps, steps and more steps.....

......267 of them to be exact. Walking one of many Echo Park's stairways has become a big part of my summer workout routine. This set of photos highlights my first trip up the Baxter Stairs about one month ago.

El Tepeyac

Go to this Boyle Heights establishment to get burritos the size of your head. While the burrito shown is NOT the size we got, dont be let down....our burritos definitely left us taking more food home as compared to what we were physically able to consume at the counter. I did however have a horchata which was delicious. El Tepeyac was only a 10 minute drive east on Sunset from the house. A trip that I will definitely be taking again before the summer is over.

Dr. Nakamats

I would like to see this movie, or more aptly put, documentary about Dr. Nakamats. I first heard of Dr. Nakamats while watching an episode of Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmerman. On his visit to Japan, Andrew took a detour into the weird and magical world of the Doc. This glimpse prompted me to input "Nakamats" into Google and that is how I found out about the film. Unfortunately, the movie is only for release in festivals and such, but I will be sure to keep my eyes and ears out for a wider release.

More Seagull Fun

Mini-Daddy

My current favorite YouTube clip, Mini Daddy:

I love everything about this video right down to the age appropriate back ground dancers that Mini-Daddy has enlisted. But lets switch gears quickly.....while the video is amazing and funny on many levels, Mini Daddy seems to be a really sweet kid. Having battled cancer as a toddler, he mentions in an interview wanting to help kids with cancer as one of his future goals. Probably the coolest 9 year old reggaeton performer around.