In The Electric Mist (2009) dir Bertrand Tavernier

I ended up watching this movie on a fluke, mostly because it had Tommy Lee Jones and John Goodman on the cover.  I'm glad I did.

Turns out, though this was a straight to DVD, that it was an adaptation of James Lee Burke novel and had an excellent cast, a brilliant score by Marco Beltrami (whose work I had been doubting since he got big), and very solid camera work.

It makes sense that In The Electric Mist wasn't a theater film.  Frankly, it almost wouldn't work in the theater - at least in the way theater films are now.  It really is, as Burke's novels are; a sultry, filthy, coon ass noir film.  And it ain't The Big Easy (1986) - though that is an excellent example of American 80s erotic thriller.

Jone's Dave Robicheaux does service to the books.  Then again, it's hard not link Mr. Jones with tired vigilance and justice these days.  However, he surprised me with his level of honest violence (even after The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada - which is one of the best fuckin movies I have ever seen).  Honest violence may sound trite, what with me bein' a pacifist and all, but sometimes people need to have an ass-kicking.  There's probably something smarter I could say here...

I don't feel that it is John Goodman's best role (I reserve that for Barton Fink), in fact he could have played more the villain, but then again, the story wasn't about that.

Well worth watching, if you have the patience.

Honeymoon 3: Turistas

I figured a slide show would be a lot simpler than posting a jillion photos.  It was a good trip: beautiful weather, both of us were in good spirits - even though we were both sick, we got a lot of walking around the French Quarter done, we spent a lot of time at the aquarium, and much fun was had.  We're exhausted and need a few more days just to decompress and get ready for school but that is not to be. 

Honeymoon in New Orleans Part 2 - The Drunkening.

There were only three places we went exclusively to drink though we always seemed to been either drunk or hungover or both.

• Chart Room, 300 Chartres St.  Great bar, decent jukebox, cash only.  Miller High Life on draught which definitely makes a world of difference in drinkability - $2.50 for a big frosty mug doesn't hurt either.  Small and pretty low key the Chart Room seems like a good chunk of the patrons are restaurant and hotel staff.  All in all a great time.  Beware the tea infused vodka.  Ask Amanda how they were.
• Ye Olde Original Dungeon, 738 Toulouse St.  We were looking forward to finding a bar/club that played old industrial and goth.  We found an awesome bar with kick ass drinks, wicked, hella bitchin' atmosphere, fucking awesome staff, and a galactic wizard asston of Metal.  Metal played at very high decibels.  Pretty solid jukebox downstairs though.  We ended up there most nights.  Unfortunately we spent most of the night before we were going to leave NOLA at the Dungeon, let's put it this way - those of you who know me will get this joke - I got singing drunk.  Amanda and I were not in the greatest of shape Friday morning.  
• One Eyed Jacks, 615 Toulouse St.  A music venue in the French Quarter.  We just sat in the front and hung out bullshitting with the bartender most nights while waiting for The Dungeon to open.  Nice quiet spot to lay low.  Solid jukebox.

Oh yeah - you can smoke in fucking bars in New Orleans.  Yeah, it was like Heaven to sit at a bar and smoke...of course it was Hell the next day.  OMG, so totally worth it though.

The Honeymoon in New Orleans Dining and Feeding Megapost Extravapalooza!

I tried to keep notes but somehow when I take notes about a restaurant on a scrap piece of paper and then put my seventh Abita Amber on my notes...well...they kind of fell apart.  So I'm working on receipts and memory.

• French Market Restaurant, 1001 Decatur St.  This place was expensive (our big blow out meal of the trip) but it really wasn't that bad considering the amount of food we (I) ate and the quality of the oysters and crawfish.  The oysters were local and hardly had any grit to them.  The mudbugs were just shy of too spicy and had chunks of lemon in the boil.  The hush puppies were solid and plentiful.  I think the French Market was our best meal in NOLA. Plus the staff was cool and even though they were short handed they didn't drag ass or act like dicks.
• Acme Oyster House, 724 Iberville St.  Acme Oyster House can suck it.  The oysters were extra gritty and bland.  The chargrilled oysters were decent - Amanda didn't like them because she has an aversion to charred food.  The "craw puppies" were okay, nothin' to write home about.  Personally I hated the atmosphere.  We were in the back section of the restaurant and it was wall-to-wall neon, mirrors, and ugly, noisy tourists.  With so many options for oysters within walking distance I recommend skipping Acme.
• Cafe Fleur-de-lis, 307 Chartres St.  A small breakfast place that was pretty good.  It was breakfast.  In all honesty, I was so fucking hungry when we went there I would eaten a nutria raw and enjoyed it.   
• The Alpine, 620 Chartres St.  This is the first place we ate when we landed Monday night.  It was open, we were hungry.  It wasn't bad.  Their "signature" BBQ shrimp was good but too thyme-y.  The corn & crab bisque was pretty good, not worth seven bucks for a bowl but it didn't make me angry.  
• Coop's Place, 1109 Decatur St.  We were wandering down the street, being cranky because we were hungry and couldn't agree on a place to eat.  When we checked the menu and saw rabbit on the menu we were sold.  The rabbit was in a jambalaya and therefore didn't stand out against the rest of the dish.  Our meals were still damned tasty - except for their fried chicken.  The fried chicken was, I don't know, off somehow.  It was just texturally and flavorally skewed.  I take fried chicken very seriously so this was a major disappointment.  
• Clover Grill, 900 Bourbon St.  I wish I had known that this place was open 24 hours after we - ahem - gracefully made our exit from a lovely watering hole into the balmy evening.  Clover was awesome.  It's the kind of place I would eat if I lived in the neighbourhood.  Burgers were solid, fries were piping hot, and my strawberry shake was just the right consistency.  Word of advice - don't waste your time with a Lucky Dog - get your hot dog fix at Clover's.  Big beef dogs, no fuss, no muss.  Damn I wish I could eat there now.
• Evelyn's Place, 139 Chartres St.  This was another great place that we just kind of walked past.  We went the day after St. Paddy's.  I had the corned beef on french bread and Amanda had a muffaletta.  Both were awesome.  What was best was the old guy taking orders.  Another couple came in after we had been situated.  When they ordered the couple asked, "What can you tell me about the corned beef sandwich?".  The old guy started in on a bullshit history of corned beef and then said, "What the hell do you mean?  It's a corned beef sandwich."  Another place I would eat if I lived in the area.

• Country Flame, 620 Iberville St. A Cuban/Mexican/Spanish joint.  I wanted a Cuban sandwich, I got a Cuban sandwich.  Amanda got some chicken in red sauce.  It was prefectly reasonable.  Bland but perfectly reasonable.
• Cafe du Monde, 813 Decatur St.  The one, the only, the much touted Cafe du Monde. You know what?  I shut the fuck up once I had a couple of beignet and a large black coffee.  I normally don't go in for pastries or sweets but these hit the spot.  Here is a picture of me not enjoying my beignet.

• Lucky Dog vendor, corner of Bourbon & Toulouse Sts.  I hate to say this because the vendor was such a nice guy but I know hot dogs Lucky Dog and you sir are a poor example of a hot dog.  Sure it was a massive dog but bleh, tasteless, blanched, blech.  No wonder they are slathered in crap - i.e. chili, pickles, etc., etc. - they need something to cover up the fact their dogs are weak.  Get a dog from Clover Grill - they taste better and are cheaper.

That's the long and short of the matter.  I had a massive list of places to eat but we just kind of wandered and ate where we felt like stopping.  New Orleans is a good town for food but I have to admit I left a little disappointed - like I missed some crucial feeding experience.  

Coming soon...reviews for the bars we went to.

Massive posts pending:

Just a quick heads up - there will be a couple of mega posts on the way.  We're digging through pictures and I have to organize my notes about where and what we ate.  Yes, I took notes about where and what we ate.

Would like to thank everyone for their support and best wishes and etc., etc., etc.  It made us feel all squishy and filled with emotions that are the opposite of the way we (I) feel.

"We're gonna grab 'em by the nose and kick 'em in the ass!"

Okay folks here's a preliminary list of potential feeding locations on Amanda and my honeymoon. Any suggestions/recommendations/ideas/warnings/etc are welcome and appreciated:

• Voodoo BBQ
• French Market Farmer's Market
• Bennachin
• Creole Creamery
• Casamento's
• Tommy's Cuisine
• Parasol's
• Joey K's
• The Joint
• West Indies Cafe
• Boswell's
• ACME Oyster House
• Cafe Du Monde
• Mother's Restaurant
• Deanie's Seafood
• The Rusty Nail
• Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop
• Aunt Tiki's
• Dong Phuong Oriental Bakery
• Clementine's
• Kim Son
• Pho Quang
• The Red Sea
• Verti Marte
• Praline Connection
• Jamila's
• Galatoire's

Nom nom nom.

Warning to the City of New Orleans:

I am coming to visit and I am going to feed.

Soul Food. Seafood. Po'boys. Oysters. African. Caribbean. Korean. Jamaican. Ribs.

If any of you folks have suggestions, recommendations, etc., etc., please let me know.