KAMPAI SUSHI RESTAURANT - TUCSON, AZ

Finally went out for my 64th birthday dinner to our favorite Japanese restaurant. The atmosphere is very relaxed and its decorated in a spare Zen motif with lots of wood. Its also never crowded which always worries me as I don't want it to close now that i've found my source of vegetable tempura and chicken teriyaki.

Which is what i had. I have all the chicken and rice with vegetables (and extra teriyaki sauce) for lunch today as i filled up on the tempura, edamame beans, miso soup, salad and 3 egg rolls. I wouldn't order the egg rolls again; too chinese-y including the bright jewel colored red-orange sweet and sour sauce.

Bill had salmon teriyaki and said it tied for first place out of all the salmon he's ever eaten. quite a compliment.

CLAIM JUMPER RESTAURANT - TUCSON, AZ

The only reason we went here was because I had a birthday coupon for $18 off an entree. It was crowded and we waited about 25 minutes for a table; in fact, the whole event took a little over 2 hours and since we went here after a hike, we were eager to get home and shower so both of us got impatient.

This chain is a poster child for obese overfed glutton 'more is better' America. And i fell into it totally. I ordered the porkloin dinner which was a fatal last second switch from a curry chicken salad sandwich with spicy Thai coleslaw (oh, how i wish i had stuck to my original order.) The food here is good but its not real in a way; its plastic-y and corporate.

The salad with citrus viniagrette was tasty. I, once again, thought porkloin meant those tender medallions of pork tenderloin so I was disappointed. The portions are Andre the Giant sized so Bill will have a great lunch as I could only chew on 3 bites of the meat. There were roasted vegetables in an apple sauce which were good and a buttermilk biscuit which i slathered with a Claim Jumper volume of butter. And the pork was laid on slag heap mounds of a combo of mashed potatoes and stuffing mix which i think swelled up (like cellulose) in my belly because i got so bloated later on; my belly skin was as taut as African drums. This wierd combo of starches was the consistency of food one might serve a person with no teeth.

bill ordered beef ribs - His plate looked like King Henry the 8th had placed the order. He gave me one of his ribs to gnaw on (lady-like of course) and it was much much better than the pork; the marinade on the meat was delicious; spicy and smoky. He also got the same vegetables and just plain mashed potatoes. Bill also has another leftover lunch from his dinner.

I got a red velvet cupcake with a fancy chocolate drizzle design on the plate and a lit candle for my birthday. It was dry and without flavor but that didn't stop me from eating the top with the too sweet creamcheese frosting because by this time I was a Claim Jumper food whore.

Happy Birthday to me.

EL INDIO - TUCSON, AZ

We love this restaurant. The food is fantastic, the atmosphere brilliantly festive with lots of colors and plants and posters and pictures and vases, the service is friendly and efficient and the prices are reasonable.

This time around Bill had a beef enchilada and chicken taco combo and I had a beef tamale (wonderfully seasoned and meat packed inside the masa from end to end) and 2 beef and potato tacos with lots of lettuce and cheese.

The taco chips are good too - salty and you get salsa and a bean dip. And i got to pick out a calendar for free (calendars are a huge weakness of mine; in fact, we don't have to walk farther than 3 feet in our house to be reminded of what day it is; will come in handy when our dementia worsens.). Since i couldn't make up my mind, she gave me both of them: a beautifully painted adobe house and garden scene and Aztec gods and goddesses cavorting in the temple.

EUROPEAN MARKET AND DELI - TUCSON, AZ

We pass this market all the time since its so close to our house and it was just a couple of days ago that i thought to find out if they have a place inside where you can eat. They do!! They have great food; ukrainian, russian and a smattering of greek - all with great prices.

The market is jam packed to the rafters with food items and teas and coffees and clothes and dvd's and books and beer and wine and a sausage display and dishes and jewelry and Russian vodka; just about everything for the European immigrant.

The restaurant part is set off from the market and the decorations on the wall (rugs and posters and beautiful handmade tablecloths) all give it a feeling of eating at a cafe. Its a super colorful and bright place.

We shared cabbage rolls and a gyros appetizer plate and our water was served in those tall Pilsen (from Czechoslovakia) beer glasses. The food was tremendous. There were 2 huge cabbage rolls in this slightly sweet tomato sauce with a side of Russian sour cream (very thick). When i eat this dish i usually pick out the insides because the cabbage is too tough or stringy but i ate the entire roll.

The appetizer plate included a yoghurt sauce, tomatoes, cucumbers, pita bread, onions, gyros meat, kalamata olives and lots of feta cheese.

We were both very very happily content. They were closing early for Christmas Eve so we ate lunch here but when we go back we'll eat dinner. They are open till 8pm.

BLACK SWAN

What a fantastic, mysterious, physically disturbing, hallucinatory, intense motion picture this was. Basically, a story of Nina, played beyond perfection by Natalie Portman, a ballerina who is so tightly controlled and restrained and restricted and self-regimented (also helped by her bizarre 'stage mother' acted brilliantly by Barbara Hershey) that every scene reverberates with tension and the palpable sense of explosions waiting to happen.

Nina strives to be perfect and is picked to dance the part of the Black and White Swan in the ballet season's opening show. The movie follows her attempt to "let herself go" into the roles instead of trying to do every position technically perfect. This buildup to the final show is marked by paranoid feelings that her alternate is plotting against her and violent outbursts towards herself and others (or is this really happening?)

The ending is absolutely how all endings of movies should be. everything that happened before is explained by a single movement and all previous scenes came together in one big pas de deux and jete.

There are a lot of scenes showing the rigor of ballet dancing and the preparation for warm-ups and the practices and of course, great dancing.

Bill initially had great reservations about this film because it was not a pleasant experience for him; he just cringed, for instance, at the pictures of the dancers' feet and the contortions the ballerinas put their bodies through and the injuries and torn bleeding blisters and cut fingers. but after an hour or so he started really appreciating the entire movie and it rose up in his ratings to an 8. i give it a 10.

and once again, i've got to say that Natalie Portman was illuminously painful to watch.

METROPOLITAN GRILL - TUCSON, AZ

Chris and i ate lunch here per my suggestion because i had read that they remodeled making the restaurant more young people friendly and hip and cool and also that they had expanded their menu and lowered prices.

well, neither was true. There certainly were some physical changes in the restaurant; the addition of a red, white and blue front door (yuck!!), some yellow and blue framed art work, the removal of the fountain in the lobby and a toilet that had a dual flush - up for poops and down for urine.

But the place remained a haven for the church lady crowd, the elderly matrons post-quilting gathering, the Daughters of the Revolution, and anyone wearing a sweater set with a pearl stickpin.

And the food prices were not lowered. Chris ordered fish and chips with coleslaw for $11. She said the fish was delicious and i sampled her coleslaw which was quite good. I ordered a BLT with fries for $8. The fries were OK and the sandwich was ok. I never saw a sandwich with so much lettuce on it; i bet there were 6 separate leaves folded up. No pickle. and i wasn't offered ketchup for the fries.

So a generic disappointment in the culinary and ambience department. Though the company was exquisitely stimulating as always. (this is just in case Chris reads the blog!)

JACK'S BARBEQUE - TUCSON, AZ

We ate at this restaurant during Tucson #1 and never went back. They are not bad yet not really good. Plus our favorite bbq joint at the time was only about 4 blocks away from jack's. but now that we are here for Tucson #2 and our fav bbq restaurant is out of business, we decided to try Jack's after a hike.

And it hasn't changed!! its not bad but not really good. I had a beef and pork sandwich with sweet potato fries. The pork was tender (its not pulled but slices) but the brisket was chewy. and the fries looked and tasted like orange wooden sticks. Bill had a brisket sandwich (his take on the meat was the same as mine) plus coleslaw and beans. The bbq sauce had a nice kick to it and the coleslaw and chili-like beans were good.

But not enough to come back. Unless there is a Tucson #3.

YOU DON'T KNOW JACK

This movie (an HBO production released earlier this year) is about Jack Kevorkian. From the beginning of his euthanasia practice until he was imprisoned for 8 and 1/2 years. He was released at the age of 79 in 2007.

He eventually lost a court battle because he was determined to get this issue of the right of people to choose their death before the Supreme Court. So HE injected the drugs into the willing patient instead of having the patient 'pull the switch'. He lost his medical license years before so he had been forced to use carbon monoxide but he wanted to make sure this death got the attention of the courts so he could have a forum. Besides the crime of murder he also was charged with use of controlled substances.

Jack also was his own attorney which meant he had a fool for a client.

The acting was superb and the movie was perfect. I have absolutely no criticism or comment on how things could have been done differently. (surprise; surprise). Al Pacino played Jack and he was totally subsumed by his character. In contrast to all other films i've seen with pacino in which I always know the part is being played by him, he WAS Jack Kevorkian. The other roles were also played excellently; Susan Sarandon as a friend from the Hemlock Society, John Goodman, Brenda Vaccaro as his sister Margo and Danny Huston as his lawyer.

HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS

You either like these fantasy wizard/witch magical happenings movies or you don't. I do like them but with each subsequent Harry Potter film the magic and special effects and fantastical creatures and clever objects that metamorphose into other clever objects has decreased.

There was still enough present for me to thoroughly enjoy this film; in spite of its over 2 and 1/2 hour running time but there were lags in the action. Too many talking scenes and running from the bad guys chases. I have to confess I've never been able to keep the characters straight. I don't know the moogles from the dumbledores from the hogwatts from the fuzzlemuzzles. It doesn't seem to make a difference.

I also was aware in this film (because it wasn't as transporting and other-worldly) that the 3 main actors really are not good actors. They are all sort of wooden. I think the best one is probably Ron.

However, we will see Part 2 next year because there is still enough wonder and joy and mystery. Plus i love all the buildings; they are crooked and full of nooks and crannies and hidden corners and twisty staircases that go nowhere.

THE SANTALAND DIARIES

This play put on by Live Theatre Workshop in Tucson was the best community based local acting I have seen. both the Diaries and the other one - SEASON'S GREETINGS TO OUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY - were adapted from David Sedaris's writings. That's the reason why i wanted to see it because when we moved from Redding to Tucson I listened to a book by Sedaris and it was so entertaining and witty and sarcastic and interesting that i was disappointed when the driving ended.

The Diaries is a recounting of Sedaris's experiences moving to New York to be an actor in a soap opera and running out of money while waiting for a job. So he applies at Macy's to be a Christmas elf. It is absolutely hilarious and accurately portrays all the different characters and personalities of the people who play elves and also the various Santa's. He also does an excellent job of showing the absolute insane rush and pressure of the holiday season. The actor, Christopher Johnson, was superb and he didn't just narrate but became each person he was talking about.

The Season's Greetings play was much darker. Kristi Loera plays a perfect Martha-Stewart lady who is composing her yearly Christmas letter and she remains upbeat and perky (while slugging down wine and whiskey) and all smiles and grins while relating the happenings of the year. But the events include finding out her husband had a child when he was in the Vietnam war, her druggie daughter becoming pregnant, accusations of murder, court dates. The contrast between the underlying tragedies and violence and her chirpy exterior was bittersweetly funny.

The theater was small so every seat was good. Because of the bright lights on the stage and the heat it caused (we could see the sheen of sweat on both the actors' faces) they don't heat the theater so i'm glad i was warned of this because i brought adequate jackets and scarves to stay comfortable. Plus laughing a lot helped too.

WASSON PEAK - TUCSON, AZ

We wanted to do the loop we had done last time which was going up the road from the parking area, getting on the Esperanza trail and heading to Wasson Peak but not going to the peak and instead heading down the King's Canyon Trail when we got to the cutoff to the peak. This loop is about 8 miles and 1600 feet elevation.

we started off a little differently by walking up the Gould Mine Trail which connected us with the Esperanza Trail within feet of the old stone building and the mine. (every time i pass one of these old mines i am morbidly fascinated by its unseen depths and imagine falling in and/or wondering what sorts of creatures live at the bottom.)

But another thing we did differently on this hike was not starting out in time to leisurely with ample break time make the loop. (i'm blaming this on bill.) The King's Canyon Trail is steep in places and very rocky throughout its entire length so not a fast jog down.

so we stopped about 200 feet below the ridge and the spur trail to the peak and had a lovely lunch and headed down the same way we came. Watched the sunset too. It was really hot in the sun with hardly any breeze and even when the sun went down i was comfortable in shorts and a sleeveless top.

MY BIG FAT GREEK RESTAURANT

This was the restaurant at Broadway and Kolb which we hadn't eaten at before. I had a coupon celebrating their one year anniversary. We went there after a hike on a friday and were prepared to walk over to In n' out Burger if they were jammed with weekend party-ers. but we got a lovely table off in the corner and the service by Tovah was excellent and the food was delivered fast.

We ordered a spinach salad with candied walnuts, feta cheese and cranberries with raspberry viniagrette. It was a rabbit's paradise; sky high greens. excellent taste except there was too much dressing so by the time we got to the bottom of the salad - the viniagrette (which had a lovely spicy aftertaste - cayenne pepper?) was way too much; made me pucker.

And then we also shared stuffed bell peppers. We got 2 of them and they were overflowing with the meat/rice combo. They were topped with a bechamel sauce and were accompanied by roasted potatoes and vegetables. That dish was perfectly prepared and seasoned.

The restaurant is not very big and a lot of the tables are right in the middle of the room and close together; only a few booths. It seemed whenever someone ordered a flaming appetizer or a dessert or it was a special occasion (so we're talking about every 10 minutes) all the servers would dance around the tables in a line and there was lots of hand clapping and shooting flames and god help me if i heard it one more time - shouts of OPA!

127 HOURS

This movie is a claustrophobic immersion into a slot canyon where we watch James Franco with his forearm pinned by a boulder spend 5 days before he cut through his arm and rappel'd down canyon walls and walked the desert floor till he was rescued by hikers.

It is an amazing feat of endurance and fortitude to overcome the natural instinct to avoid ANY kind of pain; physical or psychological. That he was desperate enough and was determined enough to not give up and die of exposure and dehydration is heroic. This is a true story and the climber is now married and has a son. There were no pictures of him canyoneering post-amputation but there was of him skiing and climbing mts.

He also made a vow that he would always tell someone where he was going in the future.

The scenery was fantastic and the movie showed in exuberant but spare detail the self-confidence (cockiness?) and sense of adventurous risk that he has through scenes of him getting prepared to go on this trip into Blue John canyon in Utah and also his encounter with 2 other climbers before they left and he became trapped by a falling boulder.

Franco was just as good as Tom Hanks in the Castaway movie. When i saw that one I couldn't believe i could stay so interested for an hour or so watching one person interact with himself on an island. And it was the same way with this 127 Hours movie.

the only criticism i have is some of the hallucinating episodes that he experienced went on too long. And also the sentences at the end of the movie which told you follow-up info were in white and were superimposed (partly or wholly) on light backgrounds so i could barely read them. Poor editing job.

Oh and the music was horrid. way too loud; it tended to be competitive with the film's actions.