an ode to times past.....

so last week was like, well, the epitome of fun. good girlfriends are hard to come by and well, i have some of the best. the only problematic issue is that they all live in cities that aren't the one that i reside in. and my little amy...she lives on the other side of the country. and i have a serious aversion to the east coast. having a fear of cold and a lack of funding seriously impedes any sort of east coast trip on my part. so here i am. friday night and sitting on my couch watching some movie about beauty salon battles on the cw. drinking a bottle of red. actually....in typing this it doesn't seem too bad. but in comparison to the events of yore i have to say, an unsettling feeling of sad is in my system. i suppose that is how things go as we get older. people move on to greater things in greater cities. i guess that is how i came to live in los angeles. greater opportunities or something. but what about great friends? my saving grace is that tonight cinders is in town for an impromptu dinner at her friend jasmines. the two of us are going to head to kogi for some late night korean bbq mexican fusion. but then what? i will have to wait til the next great visit which will take place who knows when. until then i always have the cw.......

New Fave

This song has been in my head for a bit now and I felt that it deserves some real estate on Modern Day Bullfight. So so so so good.

"Trust the Gordon's Fisherman......"

......to make delicious cream puffs. In Japan, the Gordon's Fisherman doubles both as a connoisseur of fish sticks and a creator of cream puffs. I had seen his alias otherwise known as 'Beard Papa' first in San Francisco a few years back. Soon after moving to L.A. and wandering around Little Tokyo, I saw he had yet another store peddling sweet delights. A trip was made into the store and cream puffs were had. And enjoyed. By all.

Eagles, Rams and Cranes......Oh My!

On Saturday, the party posse headed from a delicious brunch at Cliff's Edge to the Silverlake Art, Craft and Vintage Fair over on Sunset. Full of Nutella Stuffed French Toast and Poached Eggs, we were armed with bottles of water and ready to hit the sun and do some shopping. The fair hasn't got much on the Pasadena Flea Market, but for a leisurely Saturday, it hit the spot. We were welcomed into the fair by a gentleman holding a giant arrow that said, "Flea Market." More notably though, was the dirty Chuck E. Cheese mascot head that he was wearing as an accessory to his jeans and tee shirt. To be fair....it was a vintage head. And oddly enough, Nathaniel had just bought "Death to Smoochy" at a DVD rental place next door that was going out of business. The purchase planted the conversational seed of Edward Norton looking mighty fine in a plushie costume. However, the Chuck E. Cheese put a minor damper on that image.
So, while looking around racks and racks of vintage, a diamond in the rough was spotted. An oversized mens button up from JCPenny. The shirt was just medium cool but the adornments.....I can't say enough. At one point, the original owner of this plain, denim JCPenny shirt must of had the idea to jazz up this item a little bit. It was done so by taking a visit to an embroidery place. On the front an eagle was placed on the left and a ram on the right. A symbol of freedom. A metaphor for toughness or masculinity. Ok. I can kind of see the theory behind the choice. However, once one flips the shirt around, the story changes a bit. Instead of choosing animals of eagle caliber, there are three fragile looking cranes. I was at a loss. But I knew I had to own this thrift score.

Watts. As in towers.

I first remember hearing about the famous towers in an edition of my Scholastic Weekly Reader as a child. Back in the day, Weekly Reader was top notch in providing us artsy kids with some insider scoop. While I can't remember the article in any sort of detail other that the fact that it said "Watts Towers" next to a picture of the whimsical wonders, I still remember being interested in them. Years have gone by and now as a resident of Southern California, I jumped at the chance to see these towers in real life....a staggering difference from the newsprint pages of my 2nd grade Weekly Reader.
My friend Cindy had invited me to head on down to Watts with her longtime friend, Rich. The towers were every bit as I imagined. Secret alcoves, quirky, old 7-UP bottles embedded in the concrete etc. Unfortunately for us, the towers had been enclosed by a protective fence and we could not walk around the inside. Supposedly, they give tours on every day but Monday. Yeah. Great. What day were we there? But I suppose I shouldn't complain. I can get down there in 35 minutes so a tour isn't totally out of the question.
After the towers, we drove around Watts and I saw a fantastic beauty salon. In faded black text the salon sign said, "BEAUTY SALON". In newer, bolder paint, squeezed above it said, "OBAMA". The OBAMA BEAUTY SALON. Who knew that Obama was one for getting his hair and nails done? Well, now you know. And it was pretty busy.
From there, we went to Long Beach and toured the Queen Mary. Ate tacos. Wandered around. Drove home during rush hour and made amazing time. I have to say...it was a good day.

Ode to an Arizona Diner....

The Welcome Diner has been a fixture of the Garfield Historic District for going on 4 or 5 years now. For those of you who have yet to visit the purveyor of tasty hamburgers, you are missing out. Even if you despise hamburgers and anything associated with them you need to come to the diner just to see the tiny restaurant that could.

When I was back home, my non-sexual life partner Nathaniel and I went to grab some burgers. Thinking more critically about the word 'burger' I just don't know if this is the correct term to describe what was such a delicious little meal. The Welcome Diner, since day one, has prided themselves in using only the most quality organic food...right down to the ketchup. Produce is fresh. Coke is bottled. Seating is tight. The tight seating has nothing to do with throngs of people in the joint but rather more influenced by the fact that there are only 8 available seats. The diner is in an old Valentine Trailer. A small counter surrounds the kitchen which is housing the cooks who double as your servers and finally, your cashiers.

The owners have changed over the recent months, but lucky for us, the food remains the same.......

http://www.yelp.com/biz/welcome-diner-phoenix