etdPOP 2010, "The Dream," was a banquet for the senses. The event spanned ten hours last Saturday, from 4pm to 2am, and it truly felt like a dream. The wide range of techno music included the work of Dyloot, Gareth Emery, Armin Van Buuren, and, best of all, Infected Mushroom live. The event took place in a single arena of the Cow Palace, with a round, rotating center stage surrounded by a circular dance floor and seating. Guests could rock out on the dance floor, take in the whole scene from various levels of the seating area,or refresh in the outside lobby. The centrality of the performers and the three designated locations for enjoying the event kept the energy focused and were key to the evening's success. The evening was sold out to over 20,000 guests, ranging from high school and college students to working adults and a few septuagenarians. Energy was high, the dancing constant, and the music inspiring, making this one of the best dance parties I have attended. The light shows and the variety of the set for each performer kept the eyes busy, with inflating stars, flowers, and, in the last show, smiling mushrooms. When the...
VeSu, the upscale new restaurant in downtown Walnut Creek, features a largely original cocktail menu. These cocktails are on the pricey side ($10 for each, which is commensurate with VeSu's dinner menu), but their taste easily exceeds the cost, and each one includes distinctive features. On Tuesday night, we reviewed three cocktails off the list. Bartender Doug, who created the Ginger Lynn and the Hot Lips (among others) himself, helped us choose our drinks: Ginger Lynn: Flat-out amazing. The Ginger Lynn joins gin with some memorable flavors, including fresh and fruity citrus. But the highlight of this drink is the spice mixture coating the outside of the glass. Combining ground basil and coriander with sugar, it added a textural dimension to the drink, with the choice to smell or taste the spice mix. Moreover, the herbs provide a deep foundation for such a sweet and fruity drink. Dark and Stormy: This drink combines light and dark rum with a ginger beer. It hits the tongue with a strong, aggressive flavor, almost like an intense lemonade. The aftertaste is sweeter, "like a key-lime pie" according to my colleague. (Ginger beer, for those unfamiliar, is spicy like ginger, and it packs a...
The charm of minor league baseball isn't limited to the small stadium, with seating just a few feet from the action. It's not limited to the dedicated fans, or the local advertisers, or the cute games and contests between innings. It's not even limited to the carnival-like combination of food stands and bounce houses. It's about the feeling itself, of our national game being played not for the money, or for national television, but because the players enjoy it. The San Jose Giants were evenly matched on Monday night against the Bakersfield Blaze, another team in the Class-A Advanced California league. The game featured many impressive plays, if not the show-stoppers that characterize a major-league contest. Still, it's easy to see where these players are headed, and big-league contracts are likely in their future. But the San Jose Giants experience wasn't just about the players and their skills. It started with the pre-game introductions. Each player ran out with a couple kids, and they stood together for the national anthem. Later, as the kids left the field, two little girls declared "play ball!" Between at-bats, the PA announcer played an artful variety of music, everything from 50s and country to...
The Oakland Indie Awards, last night in Jack London Square, filled the old Barnes & Noble building with Oakland's most prominent independent vendors. For the fourth year in a row, businesses and artists displayed their products, and restaurants provided samples of their food, as the OneCalifornia Foundation named the best business in each of eight categories. (The full category list, including such creative titles as "Greenie," "Oakland Soul," and "Ripple Effect," can be found here with explanations.) A few of the restaurant tables distinguished themselves with exceptionally good flavor. In a room full of tasty food, the Salvadoran restaurant Las Lupita's (contact info below) served incredibly tasty pupusas. Stuffed not just with cheese but with meat as well, these pupusas, fried corn tortillas, were both perfectly textured and arrestingly flavorful. Another delicious sample was the pambaso from Huarache Azteca Restaurant, described as a Mexican-spiced French roll filled with potatoes and chorizo. I'd never seen anything like it, and its amazing flavor surprised me. Also at the Huarache Azteca booth, two different sangrias (white and red) were noteworthy for their tastiness. I particularly enjoyed the Wandering Soul Photography booth. Len Finocchio takes digital photos around the East Bay, then color-adjusts the...
I first heard about J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan at the Threesixty Theater (playing Tuesday-Sunday through Aug. 29) when my friend, aerial performer Rain Anya, auditioned for the role of mermaid back in February. I always loved the story and was curious about the show. After she got the part, I learned that this production of Peter Pan features a three hundred and sixty degree projected CGI movie as background. I decided that I had to see it. When I sister and I arrived at the San Francisco show last Sunday I already knew the performance has a unique take on J.M. Barrie's classic. But I still wasn't expecting what I saw. There is plenty of wire-and-harness flying, of course, but I wasn't expecting to be so thoroughly charmed by it. The actors flip and zoom so gracefully that it's hard not to smile. More than anything, though, the CGI is downright beautiful. Partnered with the score and the live action, the animation immerses you in Peter Pan's world, from Victorian London to Neverland and back again. The cast's timing with each other and with the CGI background is seamless. After a run in London this incredible production is now in...
