kara tsuboi...

I think I might have seen her on television or on the internet when she worked for CNET? I'm not certain...

Anyway, she works during the A's game and does promos like giving away roundtrip Amtrak fare to Sacramento plus tickets to the A's AAA affiliate the Rivercats. BTW, Raley Field is a great venue to watch baseball. The view of the Tower Bridge @ nighttime can be outstanding! You can actually take the train to the game and it's within walking distance to the stadium.

Honestly, many of the people who do promos @ professional games are simply horrible...

This Kara Tsuboi has that something, something... She has charisma.

I may be bias since she's half Japanese...

On Thursday, during the famous Root Beer Float Day I talked to Ms. Tsuboi for about thirty seconds. I asked her if she was half Japanese. That's about all I could mutter between sips of my orange float. I switched up. My first one was root beer and then I went for the creamsicle version.

Go to an A's game. August 16 is 1929 retro jersey giveaway for the first 10K fans. Tickets can be had for $9.29 plaza outfield and $19.29 for lower box. The players will also be wearing retro unis. Promotion code is 1929.

You see, I wouldn't have known about this promotion without the good work of Kara Tsuboi...

la pinata in alameda...

This Alameda location is on Park and Santa Clara.

Since a buddy of mine lives and works in Alameda, I have passed by this joint many times and I have always wanted to try it. I finally did...

And I wasn't disappointed. This place is very good.

I had a half order of chicken enchiladas 7.99. Rolled corn tortilla, topped with homemade red enchilada sauce & cheese. The sauce is very tasty. The rice & refried beans bean are excellent.

The salsa is outstanding @ La Pinata.

I'm a big eater and the half order was more than enough. Of course, we loaded up on chips and salsa.

Next time I'm going to try the tortilla soup, it looked fabulous!

La Pinata has a lively bar scene @ night and have an extensive tequila selection.

a blind post about a certain italian restaurant in the city...

Apparently, waiters or to be more politically correct- food servers can make a $100K waiting tables.

However, this story is about a waiter @ this particular restaurant who worked there for over a decade and was stealing from the joint left and right.

He would steal a bottle of expensive wine every night hiding it in his 49ers jacket. This idiot made a special pocket in his jacket to hide the wine.

What makes matters worse he tried to sell the expensive wine to a cop who frequents the restaurant. How stupid can you be?

The guy makes over a hundred grand waiting tables and he still needs to steal from the joint that feeds him. What a fucking loser!

The above pic is from the great italian restaurant themed film- "The Big Night" starring Stanley Tucci(who also co-directed the film with Campbell Scott) and Tony Shalhoub(Monk). In the background is singer Marc Anthony.

I've seen Stanley Tucci in person @ Sundance a couple of times. He's a little dude. And I saw Shalhoub walking up Powell St. in front of the Villa Florence Hotel which houses Kuleto's.

what I learned recently about married women...

Especially if they've been married for a long period of time...

The two I talked with said they needed to be hugged and kissed...

to defriend or not to defriend...

That is the question...

There's a few so-called friends on facebook who I'm considering deleting.

One is someone who I sent a private message to and she has never responded. Don't "friends" respond to each others e-mails? I fucking hate when people don't respond to e-mails- it pisses me off!! FYI, the private message asked her whether we ran into each other in the club a few months ago. I sometimes have difficulty recognizing someone in their street clothes as opposed to workout clothes. No, I wasn't trying to date her...

Another is someone who used to work in the City and has apparently moved away. I rarely go to the business that she used to work @, therefore I really don't feel a connection there.

The question is- what constitutes a facebook friend?

I still haven't figured it out...

I do know that it's easier deciphering whether a dude is a friend, because of that "When Harry Met Sally" thing. Men and women aren't meant to be friends...

I believe men and women can be friends, but from time to time, there can be that sexual tension that can make things complicated...

BTW, "When Harry Met Sally" is 20 years old. Fuck, I'm getting old...

that site who's name starts with a "y"...

It's that fucking review site that censored a review I wrote about Perbacco after the owner who I knew personally complained. I quit the site shortly after that incident and was actually interviewed by a reporter from the Chronicle.

I've been writing reviews on that site with a pseudonym. And this morning, I was about to quit the site. I don't write reviews on a consistent basis and I'm definitely not a fan of the website.

In retrospect, I shouldn't have written any reviews under a pseudonym...

I need to do things I believe in and I don't believe in that fucking site...

I didn't quit the site, because I owe it to the people who I wrote positive reviews for to keep a record of their accomplishments. Unfortunately, some businesses read those reviews like it's the gospel.

To be true to myself, I will never write another review on that site.

Never...

My reviews will be on nynotes... And once and awhile I'll post something on facebook or twitter.

paladar cafe cubano...

I've been there once and I noshed on a cuban sandwich. It was decent. Today, I'm giving it another go, underwritten by one the few readers of this blog...

Located between Bush and Pine.

Didn't know this restaurant had seating downstairs.

I had the Sanchoco Colombiano- Colombian stew. Traditional Colombian beef ribs & chicken stew with potatoes, yuca, plantains & spicy ahogado sauce with white rice. A nice hearty stew that really sticks to your ribs...