Soundtracks!!!

Warning - This is a very long post with a lot of video content. Skip if you don't like music (or rather, my taste in music) or my prattle. Also, this post isn't as detailed as I'd like it to be, but I just want to get it out already.

Listening to music is one of my favorite pastimes (or is it pasttimes?). Well, that and eating and enjoying good food of course. As in my previous post with the "Twilight Soundtrack", I tend to buy or collect soundtracks to movies that I really really like. I have to really like and want it in order to get it. Sometimes, most of the the songs are pretty good and there is very little "Fast Forward Factor" (FFF). If I can listen to a whole CD without hitting the FF button, that that soundtrack kicks ass. If not, it's hit and miss. Soundtracks serve as an aural reminder of the movie. If it's a good soundtrack, I associate certain songs with certain scenes and that usually makes the movie more enjoyable or memorable for me.

What chick over the age of 30 doesn't remember Spandau Ballet's breathlessly romantic "True" in the dance scene featuring forlorn Samantha Baker achingly watching dreamy senior Jake Ryan dance with his girlfriend Carolyn in the John Hughes brat pack classic "Sixteen Candles"? If you don't know what I'm talking about, you must either be really fkn old or living under a rock. But seriously, some movies are pretty crass when they include music in their soundtracks with producers throwing in shit just to make a buck even if the song(s) don't relate or if the songs are so obvious it's lame (ex: "Notting Hill", "Alvin and the Chipmunks" - don't ask, to name a few and any chick flick movie for that matter). Others are put together with more thought and subsequently (at least for me), the movie is a lot better as a whole because of the excellent musical choices.

These soundtracks are in no particular order. Some have the FFF but I do like most of these.

My favorite movie (tie with Fast Times) and Soundtrack is...

1. "Sixteen Candles" (1984)

Okay, I have to clarify here. Although the original soundtrack only had a six songs (plus it sucked big time), the "unofficial" soundtrack contains the songs listed here. This is what I consider to be the "Real" soundtrack. I love how that guy listed all the songs in order as well as the differences between the theatrical, tv and video version. There are some slight differences due to copyrights but I applaud him for making that helpful chart which I consider the Holy Grail of making your own "Sixteen Candles" mix tape, I mean mix CD. In fact, I burned my own copy complete with sound bites from the movie.

Even though I never saw the movie in the theartres (it came out in 1984 in my freshman year), my friends and Iwatched this over and over again to the point of memorization, thanks to the then fledgling Betamax and VHS technology. Go Betamax! One of my favorite bands, Oingo Boingo is paired up with the scene of Anthony Michael Hall as Farmer Ted exclaiming "Hot, hot! Very hot!!!" to the object of his affection, "freshly aged sophomore meat", Samantha Baker during their raucously hilarious"Wild Sex in the Working Class" while she stands there in utter lipbiting mortification. John Hughes, like another one of my favorite directors, John Waters, has a knack for putting together cohesive musical compilations for his movies. His love of New Wave, British bands, punk, ska and garage rock can be plainly seen and felt in his soundtracks.

Nick Heyward, former lead singer of the Brit New Wave group, Haircut 100 is on the "unofficial" soundtrack. Whatever happened to them anyways? This song, "Whistle Down the Wind" plays when Jake and Carolyn are dancing...

And of course, Spandau Ballet "True" - a ubiquitous non r & b slow song during many a high school dance in the mid 80's:

2. "Pretty in Pink" (1986)

By the way, this was the first movie I ever saw with Bert. It's a John Hughes thing. We saw it for probably less than $5 after school at the Sweetwater Town & Country movie theatre which is now being refurbished as a church of all things. The first movie we saw on video was "Wierd Science". which we watched at my house.

This soundtrack was and still is made out of awesome! It is one of the rare few with out the FFF! How much better could it get? The song list reads like a who's who of 80's music: OMG, the soundtrack listing is like a roster of great 80's artists! They even threw in Prince protege Jesse Johnson (ex-guitarist of The Time) and the Furs even rerecorded another version of "the eponymous song. One song I thought they should have included (which was in the movie) instead of "Shellshock" was "Elegia", also by New Order. It's an instrumental and it sounds really atmospheric and depressing, but I loved it! This is only a partial listing of all of the actual songs that appeared on the soundtrack. As with "Sixteen Candles", I've made my own version of the "Pretty in Pink" soundtrack with all of the songs including snippets of dialogue from the movie. Yes, I'm that obsessive and compulsive! It makes for a much better listening experience!

1. If You Leave - Orchestral Manoevres in the Dark (the prom scene song at the end)
2. Left of Center - Suzanne Vega w/ Joe Jackson
3. Get to Know Ya - Jesse Johnson (Prince protege and former guitarist of The Time)
4. Do Wot You Do - INXS (Michael Hutchence - what a voice)
5. Pretty in Pink - The Psychedelic Furs (wow, Richard Butler's dangerous croon)
6. Shellshock - New Order (very 80's)
7. Round, Round - Belouis Some
8. Wouldn't It Be Good - Danny Hutton Hitters(there is also another version by Nik Kershaw)
9. Bring on the Dancing Horses - Echo & the Bunnymen (another one of my favorite songs - love Ian McCullough's voice!)
10. Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want - The Smiths (later, this song was covered nearly two decades later by Muse in the teen movie spoof, "Not Another Teen Movie")

Here's OMD's "If You Leave" which plays at the prom scene at the end. My only gripe is that Andy ended up with wimpy rich kid Blaine (Andrew McCarthy) instead of her friend, the outrageous Duckie (Jon Cryer) who was madly in love with her. Test audiences preferred to see her end up with Blaine. Gahhhh!

3. "The Piano" (1993)

Other than the abject horror of seeing Harvey Keitel's infamous bait and tackle and trying to erase that horrid memory from my mind (Aagh! My eyes! My eyes!), I absolutely loved the music in the piano. Famously described in an SNL skit featuring Garth and Wayne during their Oscar's review... (to the tune of the "5th of Beethoven), "This movie sucked...this movie sucked"! Actually, I didn't think that it sucked but I wanted to throw that in. The piano playing here is magnificent. Holly Hunter actually played the piano for this movie - I wish I could play like that. This is one of those soundtracks that I listen to if I want to just chill out and not have to listen to any lyrics.

4. Pink Flamingos (1972)

Ah yes, Pink Flamingos by trashtastic director, John Waters. It was so hard deciding which soundtrack to include. "Pecker"? "Hairspray"? When you hear the Trashmen's version of "Surfing Bird", you will never think of that song in the same way again. Can you say "talking butthole" kids? I won't even bother to post a clip from that movie. Especially the ending in which the song, "How Much is that Doggie in the Window?" plays. ! Ha ha.

John Waters is the king of choosing great songs for his movies. He tends to pick songs with that sleaze factor, you know, those kind that you feel really dirty after listening to them. Like strip joint nasty. For example, anything with a really mean saxophone ("Apache" during the ass rape scene in "Pulp Fiction") or scratchy 60's surf guitar ("Intoxica" in this movie)

1. The Swag - Link Wray & His Wray Men (one of the greatest intros to an album)
2. Intoxica - The Centurions (dirty surf rock instrumental)

3. Jim Dandy - LaVern Baker
4. I'm Not a Juvenile Delinquent - Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers

5. The Girl Can't Help It - Little Richard (from 50's rock exploitation flick)
6. Ooh! Look-A-There, Ain't She Pretty? - Bill Haley & His Comets (ironic use of this song as it pertains to 300 lb drag queen Divine)
7. Chicken Grabber - Nite Hawks (another song with that dirty sax)

8. Happy, Happy Birthday Baby - The June Weavers
9. Pink Champagne - The Tyrones
10. Surfin' Bird - The Trashmen (this song plays during the infamous "talking @$$hole scene)

11. Riot in Cell Block #9 - The Robins

12. (How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window? - Patti Page (this song shows up at the end when Divine picks up a piece of dog feces and proceeds to eat it)

5. "Say Anything" (1989)

I thought I'd include another Cameron Crowe movie (before he got all sucky with "Jerry Maguire" and "Vanilla Sky", - he redeemed himself with his semiautobiographical flick "Almost Famous" though). This is another rare soundtrack album that has very litle, if any, FFF! First of all, I love this movie. John Cusack was amazing as Lloyd Dobler and Ione Skye was perfect as his brainy girlfriend Diane Court.

1. All for Love - Nancy Wilson (power ballad by wife of Cameron Crowe and guitarist of Heart) 2. Cult of Personality - Living Colour (I thought it was great that this was included. Living Colour was just coming out - hard hitting and ferocious)
3. One Big Rush - Joe Satriani (Joe Satrianni is one of my favorite guitar players! this plays during the kick boxing scene with Don "The Dragon" Wilson - awesome adrenaline rush, this song!)
4. You Want It - Cheap Trick (OMG! Robin Zander!)
5. Taste the Pain - The Red Hot Chili Peppers (I thought it was cool that the Red Hots were in here - they were just getting big during the late 80's)
6. In Your Eyes - Peter Gabriel (see accompanying video clip below)
7. Stripped - Depeche Mode

8. Skankin' to the Beat - Fishbone

9. Within Your Reach - The Replacements
10. Keeping the Dream Alive - Freiheit (if anything, this is the one song I would fast forward. Never heard of this group and I don't know if they've done anything since then, plus the song kinda sucks!)
11. Lloyd Dobbler Rap (This is pretty funny - it's the scene where Lloyd Dobler and his loser friends are sitting outside and they are rapping about Lloyd - "Lloyd Lloyd null and void!" See clip below). I have the LP to this and this song is not credited; it plays on the end grooves.

Two Words - The Boombox.

Who can forget that scene of John Cusack holding the boombox outside of his girlfriend's window while it blared Peter Gabriel's romantic "In Your Eyes"??? That to me, is one of the most iconic scenes in filmdom.

6. "Donnie Darko" (2001)

Kind of a wierd movie, but a killer soundtrack and score (which is separate). ANY movie that begins with the deeply dark and mysterious "The Killing Moon" by Echo & the Bunnymen is a fave of mine! "The Killing Moon" is one of my favorite songs and I was floored to see it featured so prominently in "Donnie Darko". Ironically, the original choice for the opening song, and featured in the director's cut, was the just as intensely sexy "Never Tear Us Apart" by INXS.

Taken from IMDB's trivia for "Donnie Darko" - The song that plays as Donnie is riding his bike home in the theatrical version is "The Killing Moon" by Echo & The Bunnymen. As Gretchen waits for the school bus, a Volkswagen Rabbit vehicle quickly passes in front of her. When Elizabeth Darko is sleeping on the recliner, there is a stuffed rabbit next to her. As Donnie reaches for the car keys, there is a Polaroid picture of him and his sister in Halloween costumes on the desk. Donnie is dressed as a rabbit. When Donnie is talking to his sister after his mom leaves near the end, a "jack o lantern" bunny is seen on the table. Frank, the rabbit, often appears near a water source (sprinklers, water main, faucet).

7. "The Terminator" (1984)
Believe it or not, this is one of the first soundtracks I've ever bought and truly enjoyed. The composer is Brad Fiedel and the songs, particularly the ones heralding the arrival of the Terminator, are bleak and futuristic sounding. There are some other songs on there that sound dated - those are the songs they play in the nightclub when Sarah Connor is trying to hide from the Terminator.

Gotta love Arnold's lines:
"Nothing clean right..."
"Your clothes...Give them to me!"
"Fk you @$$hole!"


and let's not forget this:
"I'll be back."

8. "Bride and Prejudice" (2004)

This is the Bollywood version of "Pride and Prejudice" directed by Gurinder Chadha (director of "Bend it Like Beckham"). I really liked this movie - it had gorgeous colorful costumes, British/Indian humor and really fun musical numbers. There are two versions of the soundtrack, the American and the Indian. The one pictured below is the Indian (import) version. In the American version, they sing in English; in this one they sing in Indian dialect (not sure if it's Hindi or Punjabi). The scene below is at the beginning of the movie. Ashwarya Rai is gorgeous by the way. Her love interest, on the other hand, is not. The song is "Balle Balle":


9. "Reservoir Dogs" (1992)

As with Waters and Hughes, Tarantino's soundtracks are also quite memorable in their clever choices of songs. This soundtrack to his debut film "Reservoir Dogs' is one of my favorite to pop in the cd player.

1. Little Green Bag - George Baker Selection (Great opening song, which plays during the establishing shot of the hitmen walking in slow mo)

2. Hooked On A Feeling - Blue Suede ("Ooga chaka ooga chaka! )
3. Bohemiath (Dialogue) - Quentin Tarantino (loved the deadpan dialogue of the 70's station DJ played by comedian Stephen Wright. "You're listening K-Billy's Super Sounds of the 70s...")
4. I Gotcha - Joe Tex (this is a wanna be James Brown, if there was ever a song about date rape, this would be it - this guy sounds angry but the song is so funky, I feel guilty for liking it!) 5. Magic Carpet Ride - Bedlam

6. Madonna Speech (Dialogue) - Quentin Tarantino ("Dick, dick, dick, dick, dick!")
7. Fool for Love - Sandy Rogers (this song is an FF, NEXT~)
8. Stuck in the Middle With You - Stealers Wheel (see clip below)
9. Harvest Moon - Bedlam (same with this...FF!)
10. Let's Get a Taco (Dialogue) - Quentin Tarantino

11. Coconut - Harry Nilsson

Every time I hear Stealer's Wheel, "Caught in the Middle With You" I will forever be reminded of this scene (see below)!!! I don't really like the song, but it just fits with the movie. You know what sounds like this song? That annoying , "All I Wanna Do (Is Have Some Fun)" by Sheryl Crowe.

10. "Velvet Goldmine"
Yes, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers may have cracked out eyes and meth face but he is beautiful here as an androgyn along with pre-"Dark Knight" Christian Bale and pre Obi Wan Kenobi Ewan McGregor. The soundtrack is an homage to early 70's glam.

From Amazon.com's description of the soundtrack:

" Director Todd Haynes's celebration of the sex, drugs, and rock & roll of the British glam era of the early '70s, Velvet Goldmine, would be nothing without the music that inspired it. A few unusual absentees (no Bowie, Iggy Pop, or New York Dolls?), but folks such as Brian Eno, Roxy Music, Lou Reed, and T-Rex are represented. Several covers from the glam era are performed without much deviation by two supergroups: the Venus in Furs, featuring members of England's elite--Bernard Butler, and Thom Yorke of Radiohead; and Wylde Ratz, featuring Mark Arm of Mudhoney, Ron Asheton of the original Stooges, and Thurston Moore and Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth. Strongest are the originals submitted to the film: Shudder to Think tame their own experimental excesses to put forth two glam-worthy originals with "Hot One" and "Ballad of Maxwell Demon." Pulp deliver "We Are the Boys," which runs amuck with the dramatic stagepower of the finest glam. --Rob O'Connor

Clip with Christian Bale from "Velvet Goldmine" featuring the song "Hot One" by Shudder to Think:

11. "Revenge of the Nerds" (1984)

One of the best parts is the classic song by the Gleaming Spires, "Are You Ready for the Sex Girls" . The video below is just the song but in the movie, it's the song the Lambda Lambda Lambda's play at their party with the fraternity advisors (stone faced Blaxploitation actor Bernie Casey) and the nerdy female sorority, the Omega Mu's.


And of course, the classic rap performed by the very non masculine Lamarr Latrell and the rest of the Tri-Lambs...

12. "Cry Baby"
Johnny Depp's first post "21 Jumpstreet" film role... Chock full of 50's juvenile delinquent/Elvis movie cliches...Again, a John Waters film and soundtrack. In the movie, he made sure that the songs were accurate and would represent the era well.

13. "Nightbreed"

The soundtrack is by Danny Elfman - lead singer of OIngo Boingo, but more recently better known as the main composer for most of Tim Burton's films (*"Pee Wee's Big Adventure", "Edwards Scissorhands", "Sleepy Hollow", et al). This movie is based on the books by British horror writer Clive Barker ("Hellraiser", "Candyman"). The movie didn't too well in the theatres (or on video either), but it still brought Clive Barker's horrific vision of misfit monsters to life .

14. "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" (1982)

This is the soundtrack that is a tie with "Sixteen Candles". Based on Cameron Crowe's debut film which was based on his book of the same name which detailed his year undercover at Clairemont High in San Diego, California. I have the book and it's pretty funny. There are a lot of scenes in the book that weren't in the movie. I found the paperback version at a thrift store somewhere. The hardback version is going for more than $100. Yikes. Crowe chose a lot of Southern California rock bands for this soundtrack so you see a lot of songs by members of the Eagles on here. Becasue of copyrights, there are certain songs which were not included on this soundtrack, such as "American Girl" by Tom Petty (it's one of the opening songs for the "first day of school" scene), "We Got the Beat" by the Go Go's (also plays in the opening sequence), and "Kashmir" by Led Zeppelin (the band graciously allowed Crowe to use this one song). The song "Kashmir" was played by the Rat in his car when he goes out on a date with Stacy. The most HEINOUS AND EGREGIOUS OMISSIONOF A SONG EVER has got to be the glaring absence of The Car's "Moving in Stereo", which, especially if you are a guy over the age of 30, you KNOW is featured during the infamous and oft-rewinded Phoebe Cates pool scene. Yes. The Red Bikini. "Hey Brad..."

1. Somebody's Baby - Jackson Browne (plays during several key scenes in the movie such as when Stacy Hamilton sneaks out to meet stereo salesman Ron Johnson, and gets deflowered at the local makeout spot, The Point. Also plays when Stacy and Damone make outand have sex in the changing room)

2. Waffle Stomp - Joe Walsh (this was the theme for Judge Reinhold's character, Brad Hamilton. First heard when Jeff Spicoli and his stoner friends walk into All American Burger, where Brad works. They come in without any shirts. "No Shirts, No Shoes. No Dice!")
3. Love Rules - Don Henley (here's yet another song by a member of the Eagles)
4. Uptown Boys - Louise Goffin
5. So Much in Love - Timothy B. Schmit (Eagles alert!)
6. Raised on the Radio - The Ravyns (the song that's one when Brad is washing his car)

7. The Look in Your Eyes - Gerard McMahon

8. Speeding - The Go Go's (the song that plays when Damone sees the word "prick" written on his car)

9. Don't Be Lonely - Quarterflash

10. Never Surrender - Don Felder (another Eagle!)
11. Fast Times (The Best Years of Our Lives) - Billy Squier (played during the football game where Ridgemont "kills" Lincoln High)
12. Fast Times at Ridgemont High - Sammy Hagar (car scene with Jeff Spicoli and Charles Jefferson's little brother, "Hey, I got the new Playboy.", "Yeah, Bo Derek's tits!")
13. I Don't Know (Spicoli's Theme) - Jimmy Buffet (played at the end of the year dance)
14. Love Is the Reason - Graham Nash

15. I'll Leave It up to You - Poco
16. Highway Runner - Donna Summer
17. Sleeping Angel - Stevie Nicks (song that's playing when Damon is trying to get people to pay him back so he could help pay for Stacy's abortion)
18. She's My Baby (And She's Outta Control) - Jost/Palmer
19. Goodbye, Goodbye - Oingo Boingo (the memorable end credits song - in the TV version the song is different, "That's All There Is" by who knows who!)

Jackson Browne's , "Somebody's Baby ":

15. "Car Wash"

The whole soundtrack is by Rose Royce and it is indeed a masterpiece. Every song is good. No FFF here. I kind of like the idea of having one main group or composer for the whole soundtrack. There's a flow to it, kinda like Willie Hutch for "Foxy Brown".

16. Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)

In the late 80's, I used to have a big crush on Keanu Reeves who played Ted "Theodore" Logan in this classic Oscar worthy flick (ha ha). Now he's in his mid 40's and all old and shit. Who cares if he can't act. Just stand there and look pretty for the camera dammit! Bert and I were one of 10 people in the theatre when we watched this! George Carlin as Rufus! The figures from history: Genghis Khan, Abraham Lincoln, Socrates, Billy the Kid, Joan of Arc, and Napoleon were hilarious! Bit of trivia here - the air guitar bit parts in the movie were played by guitar whiz Steve Vai.

King - Put them in the Iron Maiden!

Bill & Ted - Iron Maiden? Excellent!

King - Execute them!

Bill & Ted - Bogus!

Here is the mall scene. The song featured is "Come and Play" by Extreme (at the 2:23 point). Yes, the lead singer was Gary Cherone, best known for his ill-fated stint as Van Halen's lead singer after Sammy Hagar left.

17. The Princess Bride (1987)

I am not a big fan of Dire Straits yet I like this soundtrack. Why the Dire Straits connection? Mark Knopfler, lead singer and guitarist of aforementioned group is the composer for this 1987 movie classic. He captures the feel for this story book romance with the traditional instrumentation and still manages to sneak in some electric guitar.

"I've got something to tell you! I'm not left handed either! "

18. Heathers (1989)

On the tail end of the shiny happy 80's teen flicks, came this black comedy by director Daniel Waters. "Heathers" starred the elfinishly cute Winona Ryder (one of my favorite actresses) and newcomer bad boy Christian Slater who displayed Jack Nicholsoneque mannerisms galore...This movie was pre-Mean Girls and boy was it dark! I loved that the high school was named "Westerburg High", a reference to Paul Westerburg, lead singer of the Replacements, which was one of Winona Ryder's favorite bands. See, isn't trivia like this awesome? This movie had everything. Snappy dialogue and funny scenes...

"Greetings and salutations."

"What's your damage Heather?"
"Did you cough up a brain tumor for breakfast?"

"I take you to a Remington party and all you do is pay me in puke?"

"Lick it up baby! Lick. It. Up!"


19. and even though there was not an official soundtrack for this, I need to include "Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1985)

Don't tell me that you don't start singing Yello's "Oh Yeah" whenever you see a shiny red Ferrari?

Songs featured in the film that should have been on a soundtrack:

"Love Missile F1-11" (Extended Version) by Sigue Sigue Sputnik
"Jeannie" (Theme from I Dream of Jeannie)
"Beat City" by The Flowerpot Men
"Main Title / Rebel Blockade Runner ( From, 'Star Wars' )" by John Williams
"Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want" (instrumental) by The Dream Academy (a cover of a song by The Smiths)
"Danke Schoen" by Wayne Newton
"Twist and Shout" by The Beatles - which charted again, 16 years after the Beatles broke up, as a result of its prominent appearance in both this movie and Back To School (where Rodney Dangerfield performs a cover version) which was released the same weekend as FBDO. The re-released single reached #23 in the U.S; its parent album, The Early Beatles, would also re-chart at #197. The version heard in the film includes brass overdubbed onto the original backing track, which (according to Hughes on the DVD commentary) did not go down well with Paul McCartney.
"Radio People" by Zapp
"I'm Afraid" by Blue Room
"Taking the Day Off" by General Public
"The Edge of Forever" by The Dream Academy
"March of the Swivelheads" (a remix of "Rotating Head") by The (English) Beat
"Oh Yeah" by Yello
"BAD" by Big Audio Dynamite

Honorable Mentions:

Crossroads (by Ry Cooder' the devil's guitar parts played by Steve Vai)

Buena Vista Social Club (also by Ry Cooder - very cool Cuban "son" music)

Dazed and Confused (classic rock!)
River's Edge (chock full of bone crunching heavy metal)

Ghostworld (Bollywood, ragtime and old blues)

Foxy Brown (funky and sultry music music composed by the late great Willie Hutch)

Grease (John Travolta crooning "Sandy", ha ha - actually this soundtrack is pretty fun )
Devil in a Blue Dress (killer jazz, real jazz - not jacuzzi jazz - Kenny G that means you!)
The Man without a Past (50's/60's rock/surf rock in Finnish and Japanese)

The Nightmare Before Christmas (Danny Elfman strikes again! Cool and quirky!)

Hairspray (the original John Waters film not the musical that came out later)

Sweeney Todd (I didn't think I'd like this but I do! Johnny Depp can sing! Loved his duet "Pretty Women" with Alan Rickman)

In-n-Out & Sammy's Woodfired Pizza

Bert and I were out doing errands today. I had a doctor's appointment, then we went to a bead place so I could use my $10 coupon (yay!). Since we were in the area, I wanted a healthy snack. That could only mean french fries...Actually, I haven't had fries in a long time, so we went to In-N-Out Urge (I mean, Burger! ha ha). in Mission Valley.
Just medium fries with corn syrup enriched ketchup, that's all. We were still going to eat lunch in a few hours, so this was just some salty and fried ass stuff to tide me over. I like Rally's fries better - they put some sort of seasoning in there that's makes their fries different. Supposedly In-n-Out's are fresh, but I couldn't really tell. Now Belgian Frie in PB, those are damn good fries!And because I'm cheap and also because I have a coupon (those go hand in hand) that I got from the Susan G. Komen 5K walk because I'm a breast cancer "survivor" (cue Beyonce music....no! gag!). I got a free breakfast from French Gourmet, along with a guest which happened to be my daughter, TC. In addition, "survivors" received a goody bag filled with stuff like coupons and such. One of them was for a free gourmet pizza at Sammy's Woodfired Pizza.

We decided on the New York Style Pizza (see below for description). That's $10.95 saved. Or was it?

Here it is...kinda sparse with the toppings. I was hoping for more mushrooms. Plus you could swim in all that oil! I felt like rubbing it on my face and pretending I was an acne ridden teenager again. Kidding. I never had acne as a teen but I just wanted to say that to be funny and it's probably not. Well, let's just say that we've had better pizzas than this. Even the pizza I bought on the street in NYC was way better than this hot mess.

We also ordered another item from the menu, so as not to look like total cheapskates and just leave a $1 tip for the waiter. This is their version of Chinese Chicken Salad. The fried noodles were canned and they were the thin kind, not the nice thick crunchy kind. The salad was most likely pre-bagged, the chicken was dry and tasteless (I did not partake). I had asked for the dressing on the side, which it didn't come that way so we had to wait longer for them to get us a new salad. The dressing was your standard ginger sesame.

Not to sound like an ingrate, but that pizza wasn't the greatest. Free does not always mean good. The salad wasn't a knockout either, but we were hungry! We got a lot done that day. Ended up going to Borders down the street to use up some other coupons and I got the "Twilight" soundtrack, even though I have most of the stuff downloaded already (thank you Limewire). I'll post a review on the soundtrack later...not too thrilled with some of the choices.

Yes!!!

For Those About to Barack...

History has been made tonight!!!

Ladies & Gentlemen, meet the 44th President of

the United States!

JV 's Mexican Food

I am actually posting this on Fri, Nov 7 but we were here on Sunday, Nov 2. Bert, TC and I, along with a good friend and her family (husband and daughter, a friend/classmate of TC) did the Susan G. Komen 5K Walk for the Cure in Balboa Park. We got to the park at 6 am to get parking. I was the recipient of a very lovely free breakfast from the French Gourmet, along with TC. We had croissants, sausage, potatoes, scrambled eggs, and fresh fruit. I also snaked some free coffee for Bert who killed time by wandering the vendor booths. The race didn't start until 8 am so we had a lot of time.

I was glad that my husband and daughter walked with me, along with my friend. She had done the walk before and said it wasn't that bad. I didn't realize that 5K is roughly about 3 miles. We didn't run, but walked instead. Having family and friends with you helps kill the time. My friend's husband bought an "I (heart) Boobies" t-shirt! Nice! We finished the walk in one hour and twenty minutes. It was pretty cool walking on the 163. Normally I'd be in my car stuck in traffic on that highway. The race started at 6th and Palm and went on its merry way up Laurel, across the Prado bridge, the the Aerospace musuem, out to Park Ave, then on to the 163 and up Quince St. That was pretty steep towards the end, but we did it. We also helped raise money for breast cancer awareness. My gym donated nearly $400 (my total was about $800-something), which was pretty generous! Our little girls had a lot of fun, wearing pink capes, tiaras and scarves that they picked up at the booths.

Well, after our walk, we were all hungry. What could be more ummmm...healthy... after a 5k than good ole Mexican food? Cough. My friend's husband suggested this place on Morena Blvd - it's at the bottom of the hill near Morena and Linda Vista Road. We hadn't been there before so why not.

We sat on the far left near the salsa bar. See the different colors in the flooring? My friend's husband said this place used to be really tiny (the dark flooring half), then it took over the defunct cell phone business next door and the place more than doubled in size. Man, it must have been just take out only in their older days because not a lot of tables fit on the left side.

Their menu board. It was not even 11 am and the place was almost packed! We were lucky we snagged a spot.

Hmm, burritto? The corned beef and egg burrito sounds pretty good, but I ended up eating something else.

Here is the salsa bar - now is that a whole lot of carrots or what??? Los Alazanes near our place makes you BUY the carrots and peppers, but here it's all out there for the taking. Well, as long as you buy stuff. There's also tomatillo salsa, and hot salsa, and chopped tomatoes with onions and sliced cucumbers! Wow! Two snaps up in a circle!

This combo plate was for TC (but it was meant for us to share because we knew she wouldn't finish all that food) - one quesadilla, one chicken taco and beans and rice.

I got the Machaca Burrito, or is it Burritto? Ha ha. This thing was big. I ended up eating half and taking the rest home for later consumption.

The condiments plus carrots! Loved the carrots! No dinky slices here! There were big honkin' wedges!

Cross section of the Machaca. Look at those eggs and green chilis. Oh yeah...

My friend ordered the rolled tacos place (not pictured) and her husband got the Calde de Res (beef soup). This lady from another table even came by and asked to look at at - I think she even took a whiff! That soup did smell quite good - beefy goodness with corn, cabbage, zucchini....I may have to order this next time. If not here, somewhere else.

Bert's heart healthy carne asada burrito which he finished. I had a few bites myself - not bad at all!

This place was packed by the time we left. They had a steady stream of customers and the guy working the counter was being run ragged. He not only took orders, but also delivered them to the tables. Back and forth he went. People weren't crabby though - I think there were a lot of regulars there that day. All in all, a long day!

Pho 888, oops I mean Pho Vinh

Here's yet another "coupon" story. My GBF (gay boy friend) and I had a date for lunch today, so I thought we could try this new Pho place in western Chula Vista. I had a coupon from a mini magazine mailer. I hadn't heard of Pho 888 before so I thought, ok, let's try it. Turns out that this place is not even open yet! Dammit! The coupon said the grand opening was on October 25 and today was the 30th! WTF!!! Also, this restaurant site must be cursed because this used to be Tango Grille. This is on Broadway, by the way, a few blocks away from the Chula Vista mall. After Tango folded last year, it briefly became a Mediterranean Grille place. I never ate there, but just remembered the sign. That didn't last long! It then became a generic Mexican food place. Now it's Pho 888. But yeah, it's not open yet.
So...hungry and desperate for Vietnamese food, we traveled north on Broadway and parked near the seedy Motel 7 (what? no 15 minute rates?) which is the neighbor of this fine eating establishment.

I'd been here several times before with TC, Bert, and a few other friends. Here's one of my previous posts here .

The decor is standard tacky Asian stuff. You know, the Four Seasons (not pictured here). My parents have a circular Four Seasons in the bathroom of all places. Okay, not the same place I'd put it but...I'm just saying!

My GBF and I ordered the fried spring rolls which came with a small platter of lettuce and mint. No cilantro.

Oops, the photo of my GBF's pho with flank and brisket is gone! Now all you see are the beansprouts and basil he dumped on top of his pho. I actually recommended the flank and brisket to him. I think he liked it, but he peeled off the fatty edges - and there was a lot of fat (that's why I like it!).

My Bun with shrimp. Nothing too exciting. This was okay, I've had better. Sigh, no fried pieces of pork fat here like at Pho Hoa Calli and Bolsa. But I wanted to eat something relatively healthy. Noodles with fresh vegetables and seafood (okay, those are kind of laden with cholesterol) does the trick for me. Someday I'm going to just make this at home so I don't have to go out and buy it. But I need to get a recipe for the sauce first. The only fish sauce I have is Filipino (patis) and I want to buy the Vietnamese kind. I'll be looking on some other food blogs later to check out some recipes...Maybe do a run to Ranch 99 in a few days...

Here's a closeup of my vermin from the sea...a nice little shrimpy shrimp.
In other news, Vien Dong III in Linda Vista is now Thuan Phat. Not sure if it's open yet. We saw it when we passed by on our way to Sab e Lee last week.

Awash Ethiopian

I'm actually writing this on Friday, Nov 7. Like the toilet in "Trainspotting", I'm a little "backed up" in my posting. I had a coupon (yes, tight ass me- wait, that is not supposed to be sexual, but referring to my cheapness) for this place, Awash Ethiopian on University Ave. I hadn't been here before, so we wanted to use the coupon before it expired on November 1!
It was pretty dark inside, which kinda sucked for me because I don't like using my flash, which brings unwanted attention sometimes.

Their menu...

The place was not crowded at all. We sat on the far left. In the back is a bar area and the kitchen. There is another separate area with a TV. There were lots of Ethiopian wall hangings...

Here's the separate room. One guy was by himself eating lunch and watching the news. This was the day they found out that there was an assassination plot on Presidential candidate Barack Obama.

More decor...

Bert tried a new beer. Last time we tried Ethiopian (actually, it was Eritrean at Asmara), he tried Meta. This was St. George's beer which was "medium". The Meta was light. He asked the waitress her recommendation for a beer and this was what she recommended, which he enjoyed. I wish I had my notes but I am too lazy to go downstairs and get it. I got the Vegetarian combo (I don't have the #'s, but I'll post them later when I edit) - which is a combo of 5 different kinds of veggie dishes with salad and some sort of cheese that smelled feta-like. Bert got the meat combo (get a load of this - that shit coast $16.99! mistake!) - It consisted of 3 meat dishes (seen on the bottomof the plate) - lamb, beef and chicken. They combined it here on the veggie combo plate. For $16.99, those three meat dishes do not look worth it. The chicken leg was dry and tough. The potatoes in one of my dishes were kind of hard too. Damn...I wonder if they're like that all the time? I did like my entrees however - there was yellow lentils with curry, some sort of vegetables with berbere sauce, plus carrots, cabbage and onions too.

Of course the meal was served with injera, the unleavened bread (made of teff) that you use to scoop up your food. By the way, we ordered the beef sambussas but were given the lentils. We found this out after we bit into it and chewed a few times. We told the waitress and she got us another order of sambussas. But, when we got the check, we noticed that we were charged for both sets of sambussas - the lentils (which we didn't order) and the beef. We had to tell them to revise our total. Man, WTF!!!

Even though the waitress was pretty nice, the service could have been better. We didn't know that the meat combo would be so overpriced. I thought Bert would have more. Most meat combos in Ethiopian places cost between $8.95 - $10.95. Luckily I had the coupon but even that wasn't enough to quell our disappointment.

Sab e Lee

Bert and I finally checked out this new Thai place that I read about on MMM-Yoso's blog. Here's his post here. Although the restaurant's name isn't on the GINORMOUS blue awning that wraps around this strip mall, this is THE place to go for Thai food. Forget those pussified Thai places all over San Diego, this one is the real deal. Sab e Lee is on the corner of Ulric and Linda Vista Road. You can't miss the blue awning-ed strip mall there.

The restaurant is pretty small. There are four 4-top tables and one that seats two, which we snagged. Luckily there were open spots since it was 12:45; we must have arrived after the lunch rush. We noticed that we were the only non-Thai customers there. How do I know this? I overheard the owner speaking to everyone else and it wasn't in English. Even when more customers came in, they were Thai. Now when going to an ethnic restaurant, this is a GOOD THING. You don't want to walk into an ethnic restaurant and find no one of that ethnicity eating there. That usually means they've watered down their dishes for American tastes. You may as well eat at PF Changs or some other abomination.
There are nearly 100 items on this menu and we plan on coming back to try more. We only picked three dishes today...
Bert, being the coffee freak (although he's trying to cut down) ordered the Thai iced coffee ($1.75). It was a little too sweet for me - must be all that cream.
The first item we ordered was the Papaya Salad ($5.95). The owner (who is super nice by the way) asked us how spicy we wanted it. I told him to make it very spicy. The salad consists of shredded green papaya, a wedge of cabbage, tomatoes, green beans (just a little bit), dried shrimp, a lot of chilis, lime juice and peanuts. Every bite that we took had pepper seeds or chili flakes in it. Even though this salad was pretty fiery, it didn't make me want to stop eating it! Bert and I kept on picking at this even though I was beginning to sweat. My nose was even beginning to run, but fk it! This was delicious! In the back of my mind I was fearing the future consequences of this spicy meal, but interestingly enough, I didn't experience a "spicy" finale the next day.

There were two sausage dishes we wanted to try, the Northeastern and the Northern style sausages. The owner said the Northeastern was popular so we went with that. The Northeastern Style sausage ($6.95) is pork sausage with rice and curry sauce (according to the menu). The other sausage (which we will order next time) was the same but instead of rice, it had pork skin as the ingredient. I couldnt' really taste the curry in here, but I really liked the sausage.

This is why...look at that porky goodness! And the rice in there made for an interesting texture.

The sausage tasted really awesome with a side pint of sticky rice ($2.00), which is listed on the menu as "Sweet rice"although it wasn't sweet. The rice was perfectly cooked, no mushiness or hard grains. The portion size was perfect too, but if one were really hungry, I'm sure just one person could polish one off one of those little steamer baskets.

The third and last dish we ordered was the Nahm Tohk ($6.95). This is beef with rice powder, chilis and lime juice, along with red onions and mint leaves. Again, the dish served with a wedge of cabbage and the side garnishes of shredded carrots and red cabbage.

I loved the textures and tastes of this salad - the grainy/powdery beef, the crunchy vegetables, the spiciness of the chili along with the cooling mint. We had a version of this at Tamarind Thai in La Mesa. I thought theirs was pretty good (they served their beef on top of spring greens though), but this version kicks ass.

We ended up saving half of this to take home since we were full from killing the sausage and papaya salad. Our daughter tried the Nam Tohk later that night but it proved to be spicy for her. Well, our meal did not disappoint and we definitely plan a return visit!

Guamanian Red Rice

A few weeks ago, I was talking to one of the ladies at the gym. She's an older lady, like my mom's age (late 60's) and is Chamorro (Guamanian). We got to talking about food and I asked her about red rice. She was nice enough to let me know how to make it and even nicer to give me this item (see below), which she calls it her secret ingredient, although I guess it's not secret anymore since I'm posting it):

Man! This is so hard to find anywhere - she said it's not in the stores here. She gets hers mailed to her from her neice who lives in Seattle. I tried looking online, but only saw it on the manufacturer's website as one of their products. It didn't say where to purchase it online. Well, the lady gave me one of her tubs of the roasted chicken base (it was almost done), just so I could try making red rice for myself. What makes the rice red is the "achiote" (also known as "annatto" powder). You can use the powdered form which is easier. Or, you could use the seeds, but you'd have to soak the seeds in hot water to get the color and then strain the seeds out. More work.

I've made this recipe twice already and it was a big hit with my husband and daughter as well as my nephews and siblings. I was surprised with my nephews because I thought they wouldn't like the celery in the rice! Wrong! One of them had three servings! Warning - This ain't no lazy man's recipe - you cook this in a pot, not a rice cooker and yes, you do have to stand there and check on it from time to time.

Guamanian Red Rice

(Auntie Mary's recipe)

Ingredients:

annatto powder (the amount depends on you - a couple of teaspoons? less? how red do you want your rice?)

water (the amount will vary depending on how many cups of rice you cook - in this case, 3 and 1/2)

1 big tablespoon of the Knorr roasted chicken base (you could use more to taste)

4 cloves garlic - minced

1 small onion - diced

celery leaves - chopped (this was also one of her "secret" ingredients)

**if you don't have celery leaves, you could also use finely diced celery (I used both)

3 cups of rice (I used Calrose short grain but you could probably use another kind, but for the love of Bourdain, just don't use Uncle Ben's!!!)

• First, soak the annatto powder in the water. I also threw in the roasted chicken base (it's like a paste) to liquefy it.
• Next, saute the chopped garlic, onion and celery leaves (or chopped celery) in a tiny bit of oil (I don't know what amount, but just eyeball it, ok?) for a few minutes to make it "sweat". Your kitchen will be fragrant from the aroma!
• Then, after you saute those ingredients, add the annatto-colored/roasted chicken base water into the pot, along with the rice.
• Bring to a boil first, then let it simmer for 20 -25 minutes. Maybe longer - just keep checking the rice and make sure it doesn't burn. If there's not enough water, add more. Also, stir the pot ocassionally so the rice doesn't get clumpy.

The first time I made this, I used only the chopped celery because I'd thrown away the leaves. The second time I used both the leaves and the stalks. Mary told me that the basic recipe is just rice and the annatto powder, but she kicks her up by using the roasted chicken base, garlic, onion, and celery leaves. That rice tasted a lot better than the kind they serve at Yokozuna's. Makes it plain by comparison. She also said that her daughter doesn't use the chicken base but uses the Knorr powder (or bouillon cubes) instead. Mary doesn't like the powder because she thinks it's too salty, but since the roasted base is hard to come by I may need to resort to the powder/cubes.