Local lists of excellence activity: upgraded Opal Divine's on pub list based on diversions I had previously not experienced; added Sake on Sixth to sushi list based on recent good experiences, and new Wednesday night karaoke.
In preparation for my trip to Cancun this weekend, I actually spent some time tonight reading the manual of my new Canon Powershot S45 digital camera. I learned a thing or two and heartily recommend reading the floundering manual of all your complicated electronic goods.
I took some photos that are decent enough to share.
One of the several restaurants that was closed during the Great Austin Sushi Crawl is Seoul Restaurant & D.K.'s Sushi Bar on South 1st near William Cannon. After hearing reports of Monday night disco and karaoke, we had to check it out.
The food was quite good, and the prices decent. I started off with negimaki, which was excellent -- the best I've had in Austin since the heyday of Kyoto II, which used to have absolutely amazing negimaki. This wasn't quite up to those standards but the best I've had for a couple years. The sushi was decent; the yellowtail was very good, the salmon decent, everything else about par. A large sake here is similar to Korea Garden; it comes out in a large teapot and is significantly larger (and better value) than most other large sakes in town.
The real experience of the night came from D.K., the owner/chef/disco star/KJ, who was roaming around the restaurant in a huge afro wig, pimp suit and sunglasses. To say this guy is a character is a huge understatement. He talked to every table in the place, and at about 8 started up the karaoke, during which he would stop every couple of songs to crack really crude jokes. There are not many people who could pull off a lot of the humor he used, but he had us on the floor repeatedly.
As for the karaoke, the song list was pretty weak despite D.K.'s repeated reminders that it has 3,500 songs on it. Nevertheless, it's also D.K.'s policy that you only get one song per night unless you're "really &*@!ing good" so it's more of a dinner-and-karaoke place than vice versa. D.K. also has a gong (pictured) which he uses to gong people who have overstayed their welcome on the mic, which turned out to be just about everyone who sang. The upside is that if D.K. gongs you he also buys you a sake bomb.
I can't overstate how ridiculous D.K. was. He got totally drunk on sake bombs, was doing crazy disco dances during karaoke songs, made some of the least tasteful jokes I've ever heard, bought at least 20 sake bombs for customers, cussed like a sailor, grabbed the asses of several restaurant patrons, and was generally the most hilarious restaurant owner I've ever witnessed. We found him terribly funny, but I think easily offended and/or old people would not find him amusing.
I played Golden Tee 2004 for the first time this weekend over at Opal Divine's. It's very nice. They've done away with the 9-hole courses, which is a good change. The really major gameplay change from 2003 is that putting is much harder. Hitting hard straight shots at the pin is now a recipe for failure (they almost always bounce out of the hole), so precision is much more important. This made for some frustrating holes.
They've also introduced full-blown gambling into the game. The game offers you $0.50 challenges to hit hole-in-ones on certain holes, and pays you odds (I got offered from 50 to 1 ($25) up to 200 to 1 ($100))! I assume they send you a check if you win. I wonder what their expected edge is on that wager.
Why Golden Tee is the best bar gambling game ever
In-built gambling (skins, and the new "Hole-n-win")!
Learning curve is not very steep
Good skill:"luck" ratio means that good players have an edge, but aren't often a lock
Plenty of trash talking opportunities
Almost every hole offers a risk / reward tradeoff on going for gold versus playing it safe
It's in a ton of bars, and is getting more ubiquitous
It's pretty amazing how popular the game is. ITS has done some really cutting-edge stuff with their tournaments and getting players organized. I haven't played any league or tournament play, but a lot of people get way into it.
New Golden Tee 2004 machines are going for around $4-5k on eBay. If 5 groups of 2 players play a game each day ($3 per game), the game covers itself in 5 months, leaving 7 months until the next release, where the game can be sold for about 50% its original price. Leaving a profit of around $8k (plus the profit from the additional drinks and food sold to players, of course).
If I told you the original network run of The Flintstones (1960-1966) was sponsored by a cigarette maker and that you could watch the main characters smoking Winstons at the end of the show, you probably wouldn't believe me.
On Wednesday night at the Drafthouse downtown, they showed a bunch of these ads before the show, including the ad of Barney and Fred smokin' it up. I hope they keep showing them at different shows, they were interesting. Seeing any TV cigarette ad feels odd; seeing the Bedrock boys discuss the merits of Winston cigarettes is just plain bizarre. Link (via Boing Boing)
I just finished my first column for austinsushi.com, about trying to visit every Austin sushi bar in one day.
What is the meaning of life? Do aliens exist? How many Austin sushi places can a person visit in one day? These are the the three questions that have been plaguing man since the dawn of time. Last Sunday, I set out to answer at least one of them.
Flicker #13, Austin's bi-monthly super 8 and super 16 short film festival, is tonight, 9:30pm at the Alamo Drafthouse. I strongly recommend this show, it's always a fun time. Tonight 8 local filmmakers are being showcased.
I showed my second short film at Flicker #10 and it made it onto the just-released Best of Flicker compilation! I get my complimentary copy tonight, I'm looking forward to viewing it.
Here's the plug from Cory:
Don't forget to come check out Flicker #13, a mind-blowing, action-packed, longer-than-usual collection of short films this Wednesday, March 19th at 9.30 PM at the Downtown Alamo Drafthouse! All films screening originated on either Super 8mm or 16mm film and are under 15 minutes in length.
Local filmmakers screening at Flicker #13 include: Jim Dunn, Tate English, Seamus Hames, Geoff Marslett& Melanie West, James Russell, and Marty Spellerberg. Come out and show your support these extremely talented filmmakers and enter our intermission raffle for your chance to win super 8 film stock or an old vintage film to re-edit to your liking!
We will also have our Best of Flicker compilation tape for sale featuring 14 films (105 minutes long!) by Austin filmmakers from our last two years of screenings (Flickers #1-#12). The price is a measly $15.00!
Talk about a lame authentication system that was begging for a hack like this. I remember several years ago, when the infamous ASP "::$DATA" hack was around and you could get the source code for any ASP page (including MS's own home page), I saw some absolutely pitiful security on pages. But there's a few really simple morals from this that administrators of sensitive info systems should read.
It made me think of the Princeton hack of the Yale site -- but at least for that one you needed an SS, DOB and name. Nevertheless, all those are pretty easy to obtain about someone.
I've always been against organizations, especially schools, (ab)using SS #'s as a means of identification. Identity theft just gets a whole lot more easy once you know someone's SS, which was printed on my student card (which we had to keep on top of our desks at computer labs), assignments (often in piles at the front of classes), not to mention almost every piece of correspondence from the school.
While we're on the subject of identity theft, if you don't shred your mail that has personal details like SS#, or bank acct numbers, go and buy a shredder today. You can get a nice one for under $40.
SXSW has posted full-length quicktime and MP4 videos of many of the panels from SXSW film and interactive! They got most of the ones I wanted to go to but wasn't able to, so I'm really psyched. I hope they keep them up for a while, because I need to muster up at least a whole day to watch all these. Link
I've managed a measly three films in the last three days... the ones I've missed that I've heard are quality views are Dirt, Bubba Ho-Tep and Raising Victor Vargas. I, on the other hand, saw two mediocre films and one good one:
Phone Booth
Joel Schumacher's film that was shot in just over a week in 2000, starring Colin Farrell. While I it's the best film I've ever seen that is set in a phone booth, it left something to be desired. There are a couple technical and plausibility issues which made it hard for me to suspend my disbelief. And why does Forrest Whitaker still get roles? The guy is not a good actor. He has exactly two facial expressions - slightly incredulous and slightly upset. The film has some tense scenes, especially in the second thirty minutes. Colin Farrell does pretty well in his role. Overall, not worth recommending unless you're a big Colin fan.
You'll Never Wieze in this Town Again
Pauly Shore's attempt to get back on the scene. The film was amusing at points, and is a must-see for any remaining Pauly Shore fans. There actually is a hilarious but small sub-plot about Michael Madsen and Tom Sizemore getting mistaken for each other which was probably the funniest part of it. It was saved by the huge number of cameos - about 40 - including a balding Kato Kaelin, and a Clint Howard sex scene. Only recommendable if you like Pauly Shore.
A Mighty Wind
This is NOT a review of A Mighty Wind. It was shown in an unfinished "sneak preview" form for SXSW and still is undergoing final editing and Louis Black begged the audience not to review it. Nonetheless, I can say that if you liked Christopher Guest's other stuff - especially Waiting for Guffman - you will not be disappointed with this film. The characters weren't as deep as in some of the other Guest mockumentaries, probably because there were more, and the quaint charm of the characters' pathetic lives was a little bit thinner too. But another solid effort from pretty much the exact cast of characters (minus the old dude who played Leslie Cabot in Best in Show).
I am really impressed with everything I've seen so far, I haven't yet seen a single movie that I would call "bad" (I'm going to see Pauly Shore's new movie tonight so that will be a definite possibility).
Here's what I've seen since Friday night:
Sexless
WOW, see this movie right now! Or at least at 2pm on Saturday (3/15/03), which is the last showing as SXSW. I actually mainly went to see this because last week I happened to be at a karaoke joint with some of the cast members and they were pitching the movie in between songs. (BTW, Camille Chen has an awesome voice...) I was really, really surprised at how good it is. Definitely best film I've seen so far at SXSW. It was shot in 24p high-def video, and it looks great compared to some of the other low-budget 24p stuff I've seen. There are also a ton of recognizable Austin locations in the film so it has a lot of local appeal. But it mainly just works as a great 20-somethings comedy about lust and relationships. It is hilarious, engaging, slightly depressing, with great performances. A great movie. I guarantee this one will get picked up. A MUST SEE, especially if you're a 20-something.
Speedo
Another WOW. This was a great couple days at SXSW for me! Speedo is probably the best documentary I've seen at SXSW outside of Journeys with George. As far as character documentaries go, Speedo has it all. How they found Ed "Speedo" Jager I have no idea, but he was the perfect subject for this kind of documentary. He loves what he does, he's pretty good at it, he is a total character, and he also goes through - and resolves - some major life crises during filming in addition to winning demolition derbies. The documentary is funny, interesting, and oddly moving. If you like documentaries about people and their various odd pursuits, Speedo is a must see.
The Eye
Terrific spooky thriller. Kind of a cross between The 6th Sense and The Ring, although not quite as gripping as either of those. The ending was a little anticlimactic, and don't expect nudity or gore. Lots of exciting and scary moments though, as well as a couple terrific scenes that hooked me. Strongly recommended.
Fulltime Killer
This film (filmed in HK but written by a local Austinite) was excellent, up until about 1 hour into the film where one of the reels had been spliced in upside down! It took them over an hour to fix it, and I left, planning to catch the film again if I can. If you like HK action movies, you'll almost definitely like this one. The two main characters were a little deeper than your average HK killer. The movie is laden with indy movie references, which can be cheesy at times, and verging on movie insider humor at others, but generally work. Strongly recommended if you like HK action.
Melvin Goes to Dinner
If Sexless was a great 20-somethings comedy, this is a very good 30-somethings comedy. It follows Melvin, a disenchanted 30-something as he spends an evening out to dinner with some pseudo-friends. Most of the movie takes place at a dinner table in a restaurant, so most of the comedy comes from the dialog, which at times is really hilarious. I probably laughed harder during some scenes than I did during Sexless, but overall the characters were less engaging, and some of the scenes were a bit awkward. The ending was a little odd. Still, this was very funny and I really enjoyed it. If you like funny dialog about sex and infidelity, situational jokes, and especially if you are a 30-something, there's a lot to like here. Also recommended.
Spun
I like drug movies so I was pretty excited about this movie about speed freaks. It is a pretty wild ride, although a little hardcore for my taste. Not quite up to the level of Requiem for a Dream or Trainspotting in its hardcoreness, although it follows what seems to be the standard template for hardcore drug-addict movies. A lot of scenes, especially in the middle of the film, were clearly beyond the comfort level of most of the audience. It was shot on super-16 in a cool-looking washed-out style, not as yellowed as the Mexican scenes in Traffic but similar. The performances were terrific - especially from Jason Schwartzman, Brittany Murphy and (I can't believe I'm saying this) Mickey Rourke and John Leguizamo, neither of whom are high on my list of favorite actors but did a pretty good job animating their low-lifer roles. If you liked Requiem and Trainspotting you should certainly watch this. I actually didn't like either of those as much as I like Spun. I think mainly I found Jason Schwartzman's character just a little more endearing than the main characters of those other movies, and also the deprivation in the film builds up for the first half, but actually mellows out a lot by the end of the film. So especially unlike Requiem, the oppression of the drug eases off the gas pedal by the end, which left me feeling relieved rather than totally devastated. Recommended if you like drug movies, and/or the cast.
World Poker Tour is going to be on TV starting in March! I'm really excited that poker is starting to get regular TV coverage. ESPN has been showing weekly poker. I don't especially like 1 and 2 hour timeslots for poker -- it's hard to really get into the action -- but I recognize they're a hard necessity for poker to make it to any sort of "real" TV channel.
Last year, pokerpages.com did truly excellent full-length internet broadcasts of all the World Series of Poker tournaments. Hopefully they'll keep that up this year. And hopefully you'll be able to see me on one of them this year... I'm emboldened after one of my regular local game players, Doug Kim, made it to a final table last year.
In other news, two of the famous tiltboys (check out that link for some of the funniest gambling stories on the net) are embarking on what may be the coolest roadtrip of all time. I am definitely going to be issuing a challenge to these guys. Maybe a $1,000 RPS challenge or something along those lines. Also, they're coming to Barton Springs golf course... I'm going to try to convince my buddy/golfing badass Hong to challenge them to a match. Link
Opening night for SXSW film for me was spent watching the two documentaries at the Paramount, Go Further and The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.
Wow! What challenging films to start the festival with. Both of them ran counter to what I consider a good documentary -- find a group of interesting subjects, and objectively film who they are and what their motivations are. In both of these cases, I found the films to be quite biased in how they portrayed their subjects, rather thin in their pursuit of their subjects' motivations, and yet still extremely engaging and interesting.
Ron Mann's Go Further follows Woody Harrelson's 1300 mile bicycle tour of the west coast of the US during 2001. A motley crew of activists, including a raw food chef and a yoga instructor, trek down the west coast evangelizing the merits of sustainable living and leaving a small environmental footprint during our brief lives on the planet. The film does a good job of portraying the basic message of the troupe, as well as the metamorphosis of a couple of the cast members from non-believing junk food addicts to true believers.
Steve Clark, the production assistant, ends up being the focal point of the film and the most compelling story of the whole documentary -- a happy-go-lucky PA who is along for the ride but by the end of the trip has seen the light and has stopped drinking the "blood and pus" contained in mass-produced milk and becomes a vegetarian. Clark also provides most of the comic relief for the documentary and is pretty hilarious. His antics, beyond a lot of stoner talk and one-liners, include convincing a female student (who has a boyfriend) along the way to join them for a few days in the hopes of getting in her pants. There's also a little bit of gratuitous nudity in the film which is worth at least one JK point.
I had two issues with Go Further. First of all, several of the scenes were clearly staged. My personal preference is to view documentaries where the documentarians are as translucent as possible. In this case, not only were several scenes scripted or embellished, I also really got the feeling that the subjects (especially Clark) were so acutely aware of the team's presence that their actions were sometimes more theater than reality. These suspicions were confirmed when I talked to Steve at the after-party, and he discussed at least one scene that was significantly influenced by the documentary team for the purpose of making the film more interesting. Second, I never felt that the film penetrated Woody Harrelson's motivations and desires for the tour. Harrelson's presence in the last half of the documentary, especially, was fairly weak. Given that he was the reason the tour came about, I wished the film gave better insight into why he did what he did, and whether his initial hopes for the tour were realized.
Despite those reservations, the film was very well done and interesting. Steve's role as a comical character comes through really strongly and his gradual enlightenment to the message his trip-mates are preaching (including his own internal conflicts around things like giving up smoking) seemed truly genuine -- which was further confirmed when I talked to him. I recommend it.
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised was somewhat of a different creature. I was approached by protestors in front of the Paramount as I walked in, so I suspected this would be an interesting film. And it was. This documentary team got probably the best (if not only) footage ever captured during a coup, which happened during their filming of the Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez, in April 2002. Their access to Chavez and his ministers was great, although it was really their presence in the palace during the coup that made the film. Amazing candid footage of the president's most staunch supporters during what they believed could be their last hours alive. The film also really captured the passion of the Venezuelan people for reform. It's pretty amazing to see people who traditionally have felt powerless in their governmental system suddenly feeling they can make a change. The portrayal of the really poor people suddenly learning and caring about the government of their country was interesting.
On the negative side, I should say that I know nothing of Venezuela's recent political situation. Nevertheless, I can safely say this was the most blatantly biased documentary I've ever seen. The selection of footage portrayed Chavez in a very favorable light, but it was the narration that really made this film feel heavy-handed. It was loaded with subjective statements which included using "we" to group the film crew with the government, using "cronies" to refer to Chavez's opposition, and making statements that implied well beyond what the film's facts backed up (most notably CIA involvement in the coup). I think it would have been an excellent film without any narration. I didn't object to the selection of footage as much as the narrative, which to my taste was slanted much more than it needed to be. The team had enough footage to tell their story that the narrative actually hurt the credibility of what they were trying to say. I prefer to see real images and draw my own conclusions, even knowing that what I've been shown has been carefully selected from reams of possible film. The narrative was too one-sided and pushed the bounds of credibility.
But despite the bias, this is one documentary that I rate as a must see. The shots during the early stages of the coup are AMAZING. The film crew genuinely feared for their lives along with the rest of the Chavez supporters, and the tension comes across really well. The film made me want to read about Chavez and try to make an informed analysis of the situation in Venezuela portrayed in this documentary.
So a great start to SXSW! I'm looking forward to more great films. The Q & A portion of both films were somewhat disappointing -- Go Further's Q & A ended up getting mostly hijacked by two women who had agendas of their own to push, and the Revolution filmmakers were not in attendance. But I recommend both films to anyone who likes documentaries.
This is pretty cool, but I'm kind of amazed by it. After reading of WiFi utopias in other cities where, seemingly, free wireless access points existed everywhere from truck stops to barbershops, and you could get wireless in the forest because the city had a catch-and-release plan whereby deer were implanted with access points and left to roam free, Austin seemed far behind that kind of ideal.
But apparently Austin is pretty close to as good as it gets today. List of Austin free wireless points here.
I'm really looking forward to SXSW this year. Due to the fact that I'm not unemployed, I will probably get to see less than 20% of the films I'd really like to. Here are some of the films that sound interesting to me. It's not much of a "short" list because as usual there are way too many excellent films for just a few short days!
Documentaries:
7th Street - I like documentaries that follow subjects over significant periods of time. This one covers 10 years of life of people living on one block in NYC.
Cinemania - documentaries about people whose obsessions coincide with my interests usually make me feel uncomfortable. But I also find them very interesting.
Flag Wars - interesting subject matter if it's not done too heavy-handedly.
Go Further - aka The Wacky Adventures of Woody Harrelson
Growin' A Beard - short doc about a beard growing competition... how can it go wrong?
Off the Charts: the Song-Poem Story - I have read about the song-poem "industry", most of which is a semi-scam similar to vanity publishing. Should be an interesting subject. And I'm sure the poems will be worth some laughs.
Only the Strong Survive - about former-great soul singers in the late 90's and how they kept playing as their genre fell out of favor.
Rebel Without a Pause - standup about September 11. I like humor about things people never joke about.
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised - this team hit docu-gold when their filming of Hugo Chavez coincided with a coup against him. Should be interesting.
Sex: Female - ordinary women talking about ordinary sex!
Full Time Killer - I'll see just about any Hong Kong action movie, but this one is supposed to be especially good.
Happy Here And Now - unusual sounding film set in New Orleans with Ally Sheedy, whom I like, and Shalom Harlow, whom I like in an entirely different way.
The Hard Word - haven't heard terrific things but I think Guy Pearce and Rachel Griffiths would be an interesting screen combo.
The Hired Hand - Peter Fonda's directorial debut of 1971, and not available on tape.
Melvin Goes To Dinner - this film got some good buzz at Slamdance, including a rave writeup at AICN (not from Harry Knowles, who lost all credibility with me after his overly positive writeup of one of SXSW 2002's worst movies, Master of the Game).
A Mighty Wind - I'm lining up WAY in advance for this one! The premiere of Christopher Guest's latest mockumentary, featuring all the usual suspects from Best in Show and Waiting for Guffman. I hope he is there to answer audience questions.
Phone Booth - Schumacher's low-budget film which has gotten a bunch of good press. I think Colin Farrell is way overrated but the film looks pretty interesting.
Realm of Fortune - a film in Spanish about cock fighting and gambling in small-town Mexico. Another interesting-looking Ripstein film being shown is Man's Downfall.
Robot Stories - I like robot/tech themes and this film has a bit of that going on. It's by the same guy who did Asian Pride Porn which I didn't get a chance to see but heard very good things about.
Security - follow-up effort from the guy who did Suckerfish which got a lot of praise. Sounds good and weird.
Spun - I'm not a drug dude but I like drug movies, and I also like Jason Schwartzman. Unfortunately this film also includes people on my "don't like" list: John Leguizamo, Mena Suvari, Mickey Rourke and Brittany Murphy. But if you put all those crackheads together and throw in Deb Harry and Ron Jeremy, that sounds like one cast I've gotta see to believe!
Where's The Party Yaar? - a film about an Indian kid who comes to college in the US and gets integrated into the college scene. Having had a lot of Indian friends in college, and being one of those people who was involved in their integration/corruption I think I'll like this one.
You'll Never Wiez In This Town Again - I can't stand Pauly Shore any more than the next person can, but I find something pathetically hilarious about a guy trying to revive his career by making a movie about himself and how his career has gone way downhill. And he really packed the cameos into this one, including some that interest me: B-Real, Tommy Chong, Snoop Dogg, Dr Dre, Heidi Fleiss, Clint Howard, Kato Kaelin, Jay Mewes, Chris Rock, Verne Troyer and Montel Williams!
Super-8: as a budding super-8 dude, I try to watch as many super-8 films as possible.
Super-8 Mom - a short doc about the director's mom and the S8 movies she makes.
Shorts:
A Ninja Pays Half My Rent - this one wins the name competition, and the synopsis sounds just as hilarious.
This is John - a short about perfecting your answering machine message, something I can identify with.
Wedding Night - the description of this short hooked me: "...on an evening when most people want everything to be just right, a couple explores the allure of doing something that's just plain wrong."
Panels: great names this year! Robert Duvall, Robert Rodriguez, Joel Schumacher, Peter Fonda and Tony Shalhoub. I'm more excited about the panel lineup this year than I was last year, although they did have one of my heroes, Lloyd Kaufman. Other interesting-sounding panels include Case Study: Melvin Goes To Dinner, The Role of the Internet, and Affordable Effects.
Also worth a mention is Fray Cafe 3, not a movie but a storytelling event. I haven't been to any of the past ones but I have a Fray CD and it sounds like it will be a great evening event.
Any suggestions (or warnings) about any SXSW film events highly welcome.
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Welcome to the all new Bloglines, the best resource for local blogs, news, and events.
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Bloglines is the fastest way to find and track your favorite websites and blogs in real-time.
Easily customize your dashboard with multiple view options, drag and drop organization, and
exclusive widgets. Get the latest news on all your interests and trending topics exactly the
way you want it, with the new Bloglines Reader!
Bloglines isn't going anywhere! We're happy to announce that MerchantCircle is going to keep Bloglines up and running. As part of the transition, we ask our users to migrate their existing accounts to the new system.
The city that never sleeps has plenty to talk about! From Times Square to Broadway shows and every fashion designer in between, you can get into an Empire State of Mind with the best of The Big Apple blogs: The Lo-Down, Gothamist, and Time Out New York.
Celebrities and surfers aren't the only hot topics in Southern California's iconic city of Los Angeles. In tabloid town people are always talkin'! Get informed with top LA blogs L.A. Unleashed, 24 Frames, and Chatter.
The Windy City isn't just home to Wrigleyville, and a mile of miraculous shopping. In between bites of world famous deep-dish you can now digest the details of all that's happening in Chi-Town with these top Chicago blogs: Globetrotting, Cityscapes, Change of Subject
It's more than just home to baseball's World Champion San Francisco Giants, this friendly city is packed with artists, events, foodies, eclectics neighborhoods and some killer blogs! Get the insider scoop from top blogs SF Gate, SFList, and EaterSF!
From the Space Needle to the music scene to the world famous Pike Place Fish Market, Seattle's got it goin' on. Keep up with top blogs like Seattle Daily Photo, Seattle Subsonic, Seattlest.
The real experience of the night came from D.K., the owner/chef/disco star/KJ, who was roaming around the restaurant in a huge afro wig, pimp suit and sunglasses. To say this guy is a character is a huge understatement. He talked to every table in the place, and at about 8 started up the karaoke, during which he would stop every couple of songs to crack really crude jokes. There are not many people who could pull off a lot of the humor he used, but he had us on the floor repeatedly.
