Pix Patisserie is a new little spot on Division, serving fancy schmancy pastries paired with dessert wines and Belgian beer. It’s another business that fills a valuable niche: top quality drink and dessert. Pix was opened in January by Cheryl Wakerhauser, a 27-year-old French-studied pastry chef whose mission is to deliver the highest quality desserts. […]
Katie Shimer
Posted inMovies & TV
Not Quite A Tragedy
Lost in Gilliam’s Land of Chaos
Lost in La Mancha dir. Fulton and Pepe Opens Fri March 14 Cinema 21 Terry Gilliam, director of the critically acclaimed films Brazil, 12 Monkeys, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and the financial and commercial flop, The Adventures of Baron Von Munchausen, is a perfectionist when it comes to filmmaking. Because creating his unique […]
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Bring the Stupid
Who’s Less Funny, Blacks or Whites?
Bringing Down the House dir. ??? Opens Fri March 7 Various Theaters Legendary William (13 Ghosts) Castle knew it best: when it comes to putting butts in seats, you just can’t beat a good gimmick. The PIFF conversation dominatrix Russian Ark is far too respectable to ever stoop to the likes of dumping a rubber […]
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India Lovin’
India Oven: Your Friend and Mine
India Oven 3862 SE Hawthorne 872-9687 Growing up, I had a friend named Amee. She was a gorgeous Indian girl and lived with her strict Indian parents in a ridiculously large house my own parents snidely called “Hotel Amee.” Amee’s parents were notorious jerks, and hated me because I did not have a 4.0 grade […]
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Ridiculosity
Old School: Mostly Bad, with a Bit of Good
Old School dir. Phillips Opens Fri Feb 21 Various Theaters Imagine this: You take the early flight back from a business trip to San Diego. You enter your apartment hungry and tired, in hopes of a big hug from your girlfriend and, at the very least, a hummer. Here’s what you find: Your gal watching […]
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Blood Bath 2003
Final Destination 2 Takes No Prisoners
Final Destination 2 dir. Ellis Opens Fri Jan 31 Various Theaters No, Final Destination 2 does not have good acting, nor a compelling plot. It does not blur the lines of reality or explore the dark reaches of the director’s mind. All it has to offer you is awesome killing. The film starts out with […]
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The Laurelwood
How the Other Half Lives
Laurelwood Public House 1728 NE 40th 282-0622 Ah, the Laurelwood. That old familiar umbrella holder inside the front door, the chess games for all to use, the kids’ play area, the special foamy bathroom soap, the server’s denim shirts and khakis, the plentiful number of high chairs, and let me not forget, the Tree Hugger […]
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Oh, My Aching Skull!
Do-It-Yourself Hangover Cures–from the Experts!
What causes a hangover? Naturally, it’s different for everyone. Certainly, three vodka tonics, a shot of whiskey, two PBRs, and a couple glasses of box wine will do it every time; but on the real, “free radicals” are to blame. Free radicals are unbalanced atoms created when your body processes alcohol. When your system tries […]
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Are you fun? I’m fun!
KATIE SHIMER LEARNS THE ART OF MEETING FUN PEOPLE
I am now officially an expert. After trying online personals, going on singles cruises, and attending NINE weeks (okay, it was only four) of a class at PCC entitled “Meet Fun People,” I am now an expert in the “alternative” ways of making new acquaintances–and I’m done with all of them. I will now happily […]
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Hiphop Hooray!
Traveling Film Fest Brings Hiphop to Big Screen
Hiphop Film Fest Fri Dec 13-Sun Dec 15 Guild Theater Like hiphop, love hiphop, never heard of hiphop–it doesn’t matter, because these days everyone’s doing a book or film about its rise. So even though you have an Outkast record and think Mos Def is dope, you still need to have some idea where they […]
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Meat Parade
Flavorful Mexican for the Creative Carnivore
La Calaca Comelona 2304 SE Belmont 239-9675 La Calaca Comelona serves what I would call high-end Mexican food, but not in the usual sense. Normally when I’m paying more than 10 bucks at a Mexican place, it’s for yuppie Mex–tacos with special sauces and sides, fancy margaritas, and special cheese blends–but not here. This is […]
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Film, Interrupted
Empire Licks a Dirty Shoe
Empire dir. Reyes Opens Fri Dec 6 Various Theaters It may sound tasteless, but when I arrived at the Empire screening, the theater was teeming with teenage mothers and their wannabe gangbanger boyfriends. Despite my extreme movie theater claustrophobia, minimal seating forced me to sit next to such a couple, who had brought their sleeping […]