Classic Cars

This last Sunday a bunch of weekend cruisers brought their cars out and gathered at the parking lot near the Ralph's on Lincoln and Mindanao.

All of them were pristine, many were restored to factory condition. 

I think this was a '49 Chevy Sedan. It was a beautiful thing.

Corvettes are always beautiful cars. 427 is all I can say!

'47 Chevy Fleetline. 

This "Car Cooler" was on the Fleetline, cool piece of equipment!

This Dodge Coronet (red) and Chrysler Imperial look like they are parked side by side...

... until you see how long the Imperial is!

This one was just sweet! It was like one of those models you built as a kid...

This picture doesn't do the detail in here justice.

These old cars had BADGES!

My Weekend Adventure!

Starting this week, and then every other week, I'm going to write about some of the places that I have really enjoyed on my weekends. Every other Friday I'll share a local food adventure. Hence the name, "My Weekend Adventure"! 

This weekend adventure was Pork Belly out on Abbot Kinney Blvd, needless to say pork is on the menu. Smoked and barbecued pork in its various and wonderful incarnations makes up the bulk of the menu. Normally I write about a place after a couple of visits. Pork Belly is probably going to be the exception.

I'll start out by saying don't expect to find parking right out front! Abbot Kinney on a Sunday morning was not the best time to go, but the Groupon in my pocket was going to expire, soon!  When everything was said and done we managed to find some parking relatively close, four blocks away. Another thing you shouldn't expect is someplace to sit, there isn't anyplace to sit, there is room for a line to walk in and up to the register, then down the counter and then to walk to the Coca Cola Freestyle machine.

I'd like to talk about this machine for a minute. I LOVE THESE MACHINES! You have to understand this will spit out 100+ different Coca Cola products... I mean who knew they made Peach, Cherry or Lime Fanta? What about Grape Mello Yello? Who knew they still made Mello Yello? I am not a big commercial soda drinker, but if I had one of these machines nearby I might have a serious problem.

Now while you wait for the Freestyle machine or you're just waiting for your food you can watch as the food is put together on the griddles right out in front. The hairy guy with the glasses that prepped our food was nice, I'm sure he was tired of seeing people drooling each time he put together a sandwich, I'm sure he was used to the looks of anticipation as he bagged each order, and then the sure disappointment as folks realized it wasn't their order just yet.

There was an advantage to going at 11:30 on a Sunday morning, there are two small tables just outside the doors, where you can hunker down and tear into your food, this is only if you don't have a problem standing while you eat. (Just a little of my own personal commentary here, I personally hate it when people stand to eat. But "When in Rome...", right!) Now the couple next to us had ordered what looked to be a rack of ribs, plenty of sides and a couple of sandwiches. In some places it's polite not to stare, the cooks will look from the safety of the kitchen, the rare  maître d', will look while pretending not to look. Not us, we ooh'd and awed, as the meat fell off the ribs, as the man unwrapped the sandwich we could see the darkly colored char on the brisket and we silently drooled as we waited for our order to come up.

When it did come, it was worth the brief wait, and the napkins that we used to clean up the mess from drooling as we watched our neighbor at the other table eat. Our lunch was simple, two combos for the three of us, we had a friends daughter Sophia with us, a Belly Up sandwich with fried pickles and The Chop sandwich with a side of mac n' cheese. And two sodas!

The Belly Up I ordered was a thing of beauty! I had seen it previously thanks to Venice 311 and heard about the place from a coworker so I really had been looking forward to this for some time! Rarely does something like this live up to the anticipation. On this day it did! Each bite of the brioche bun along with the perfectly cooked, but not too fatty pork belly was complemented by the creamy tang of the coleslaw, and the subtle crunch that homemade coleslaw should have. The fried pickles were also so worth it!

Each pickle slice held on to the breading, the spicy aioli dipping sauce that came along with the pickles also tasted good when I dipped the edge of the brioche bun in and then took a bite. Sophia and Elena my wife enjoyed The Chop and while I got just "a bite" of the mac n' cheese I would order it again. Ooh, I almost forgot the cookie, each sandwich is wrapped in brown wax paper, and in that final fold, just before the "Pork Belly" sticker with the logo on it is put on, they place a small but tasty and sometimes very warm chocolate chip cookie in there!

So that was it, "My Pork Belly Adventure" you might ask where was the adventure, those that know me know I love pork, so getting me to eat this wasn't much of an adventure! But the adventure lay in getting out to Abbot Kinney, a place I can say I never frequent, I only go for the occasional First Friday, or an early morning trip to GTA, a future "My Weekend  Adventure" subject. The adventure came at the idea of feeling like this is a place I might go back to, before I even took that first bite of my Belly Up sandwich! The adventure was finding parking and eating standing up, the whole of the meal is seared into my memory. That is what made Pork Belly my adventure!

What Makes a Hero a Hero?

Before I start this is not a movie review or a set of reviews, this is about perception.

What is your perception of a hero? What makes someone a hero? How and why can there be a fine line between hero and villain?

Last year there were a crop of what I'll call "Hero Movies", ranging from soldiers fighting international terrorists to pilots in machines fighting monsters to superheroes and anti-heroes. Not too long ago I saw Man of Steel, now that the DVD is available I don't feel bad about spoilers. And while I know that this has been written about so much already, this is my view of the subject. Man of Steel made me think, "Are you still a hero if you cross the line between good and bad? And where is that line?"

In the climactic fight between Superman and General Zod, Superman is "forced" to kill the General by snapping his neck...

To put it simply Superman became a killer! I understand that to make movies nowadays you need to be "edgy" but in my mind and heart that wasn't edgy, that was crossing a line you can never go back on. Michael Shannon in the role of General Zod was fantastic, his over the top, at times, portrayal of the villain brought an inspiring edge to Zod, his one line I will remember sums up that inspiration, "I was bred to be a warrior, Kal. Trained my entire life to master my senses. Where did you train? ON A FARM?" That line sent a chill up my spine and cemented Michael Shannon as a great villain in my eyes!
On the other side already great actors brought an edge to this film I really enjoyed, Kevin Costner's selfless farewell as Superman's adoptive father Jonathan Kent was edgy stuff. Russell Crowe as Jor-Ell did an awesome job as Superman's estranged father (so much better than Marlon Brando and his ambivalent portrayal) . Even Laurence Fishburne and his single-minded efforts to save Jenny the secretary engendered a desperation that was clearly different than anything in a Richard Donner or Christopher Reeve Superman movie.

While Zack Snyder is touted as one of "The 50 Smartest People in Hollywood" smart isn't as good as heart. In my heart and many others Superman is the hero that despite his strengths doesn't unleash them to the full on his enemies. That was what made him "Super" he knew that strength wasn't everything, and that using that strength wasn't always the only way to win. Superman has always been that hero that finds the human way out of a situation. Unfortunately in killing his nemesis it seems that he became a bit too human.

On the other hand The Wolverine despite his bestial nature showed a despair and regret that belied his "nature " while critics panned the slow pace of the movie it was calculated and precise in showing that side of Logan. While Logan struggled with what seemed to be his humanity slipping away he was reminded that it was an inherent part of his nature. The desire to do the right thing despite the personal cost is what separated the "animal" Logan from Superman.

Case in point, how many people died in the chaos stemming from the use of the world engine in Man Of Steel, or how many were killed as Zod and Superman raged accross the city in the battle that culminated in the killing of General Zod. Was it the personal cost of seeing those people dying in front of his eyes that made Kal decide in that moment to kill Zod? Was it the "humane"thing to do? Or was it the "human" thing to do?

On the other hand even as yakuza were trying to kill him, Logan struggled with the ease of dispatching his opponents by simply killing them, more than once he gave his clearly overmatched opponents a way out, sometimes only for them to try and take advantage of his mercy. Logan's fights during the film showed not a weakness but rather strength of his character, despite the fierceness of his rage, it seemed to be tempered by his desire, his long desire for inner peace. As Logan fought his way throughout the film he did his best to preserve life. 

I supposed I am jaded by the fact that in the Superman movies of my youth, Superman did his best to personify the best of us, and Logan as The Wolverine in the comics was practical, brutal, unforgiving, the epitome of human! Now it seems those lines are forever blurred. The original "anti-hero" has been softened, while the Man of Steel has found a hardness that I still cannot reconcile in my heart!