Rand Wacker

Went to see The Motorcycle Diaries the other day and really enjoyed it. The cinematography was well done, the story well written, and the acting exceptionally good. I didn’t think that the plot did a very good job of trying to merge the stories of the journey, the friendship, and the political awakening, but it was a good film none-the-less. To be honest, I don’t think you could cover all those things in one coherent film. From reading a few of Che’s (later) works, I think the transformation in his young thinking was just a bit of a stretch, there just wasn’t enough time in the movie to focus on “letting the world change you.” Also have to say Gael Garcia Bernal did a fantastic job with the impassioned monologues.

On a separate note, a new show premiered on Bravo last week called “Long Way Round”; a documentary of a full circumnavigation of the globe by Ewan McGregor and a friend on motorcycles. The first episode this last Thursday was great. Even though it didn’t cover anything but the initial months of preparation, I’ve got high high hopes for the adventures to come. If you don’t get Bravo it looks like they will be releasing on DVD some time in the near future. This is the kind of reality TV I can really get in to!

We had the opportunity to try a new restaurant on Solano Avenue last night; BenDean I believe is the proper capitalization. First read about this new contender in the East Bay Express, which really liked the food. After a fantastic dinnger, Lex and I can not disagree!

I had a very tasty brick-pressed chicken with cheddar cheese polenta and Lex the pork tenderloin with spatzel. Yum! Desert (hazelnut tart) was fantastic as well. Very happy to see a good new restaurant on the scene around us, as a few of the new places we’ve tried recently have been bad bad bad.

Also tried a new white wine varietal: viognier (from Bonterra, an all-organic winery). The server described it as a “less-sweet riesling”, and it was a perfect accompaniment to both of our mains. Very tasty, a nice and crisp white with a lot of fruit flavor.

A friend of mine recommended this fantastic two-disc compilation of numerous Kevin Smith appearances at college campuses throughout the country. Since its edited heavily I can’t tell the format of the program, but it appears he simply got up and started taking questions. This I think is definitely the most interesting format for a character such as him, especially since he’s got absolutely no boundaries of what to discuss, and neither do the students asking the questions!

I think I’m drawn to shows like this one as you get a lot of back-story right from the horses mouth (not as reported by E!). The show (and some of the content), is similar to Dinner for Five, Inside the Actor’s Studio, or some of the better director’s commentary on a number of DVDs.

If you like Kevin Smith, his films, or some of these shadows of pop culture then I highly recommend you check it out!