Wednesday, February 28, 2007

The Magic Mirren

It's been a couple of days since the Academy Awards, but I wanted to get this observation out there: Hellen Mirren is hot!
I don't care how old she is.

Mirren, who picked up the best actress Oscar for her role in "The Queen,'' is quite sultry at age 61.

And she doesn't look plastic, say like Joan Rivers does.

Hail to The Queen.

Monday, February 26, 2007

The Sound of Silence

Yesterday (Feb. 26) was Meher Baba's birthday, of importance to us Horry Co. folk because the spiritual master's Meher Spiritual Center (http://www.mehercenter.org/) is right here in our backyard, abutting Briarcliffe Acres, across from Colonial Mall.

Baba, whose followers include many famous musicians and creative types, took a vow of silence during his lifetime and is credited with coining the phrase ``don't worry, be happy.''

Bobby McFerrin thanks him.

Saturday, February 24, 2007

Blame it on Rioz

Oofah.

I'm sitting here with a fully stuffed belly after supping on a carnivore's carnival at Rioz, the new Brazilian steakhouse in Myrtle Beach.

A certain "expert" who shall remain nameless, informed us that we should have no problem getting served quickly and didn't need reservations because the place is so huge. So I was shocked when my wife, Kim, and I arrived and we drove around for about five minutes before finally finding a parking spot across the street at Planet Hollywood.

The place was jumping, but we didn't have to wait long for our table, as Baker and Meredith, the couple we were meeting for dinner, had arrived earlier and put their names in the mix for seating. We didn't wait longer than 10 minutes.

I'd never been to a churrascaria before, but I'd read about the concept, so I knew they brought various meat dishes to your table, but I didn't know anything else.

So it was an exciting surprise to find out you start off with a huge salad bar, chock full of some traditional salad items, but some atypical stuff too, including the biggest asparagus spears I've ever seen, huge slices of hearts of palm, artichoke hearts, chilled shrimp, some sort of scallop dish, pasta salads, and a whole bunch of stuff that I didn't get around to. I didn't want to fill up too much on salad, because I was there for the meat. Mmmmm. Meat good!

You pass the salad bar on the way to your table, as it is the centerpiece of the restaurant, down a ramp from the host/hostess station.

While chomping on our salads, the meat parade began. It was non-stop, with various cuts of beef, lamb, sausage, pork, and chicken arriving at a quick pace.

You get a little coaster-like laminated ``button'' that is green on one side and red on the other, which tells the servers whether you want more meat or not. Green is for yes, and red is for no.
You gotta make sure you're on your game and have your button on the side you intend, or you can quickly have a messy meat pile-up on your hands.

Rioz is a little bit pricey - $34.95 per person - but worth it when you factor in the ambiance and the overall experience.

There were all kinds of characters there, including some dudes that had to be in their `60s dressed like rock stars, with leather pants, ear rings, etc. Maybe they were rock stars and I didn't recognize them. Then there was the dude in the in red zoot suit. What was he thinking and was he serious?

We all agreed that Rioz is definitely exciting and I think it's one of the hippest new places to see and be seen in Myrtle Beach.

That the food kicks ass and is decidedly different from the majority of what's out there is just gravy.

You gotta check it out.

You can scope out the menu at http://www.tbonz.com/rioz.asp?catID=12091

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Welcome to the Land of Kentavo

Howdy campers,

I'm jumping into the wild world of blogging - so come along with me.

I intend to post some music clips here, along with photos (as soon as I figure out how), and discuss local (Mrytle Beach) music, news, politics, things that make you go hmmm, as well as chat about sports, pop culture, news about my favorite band, The Who, and also updates on the Grand Strand's nightlife scene, if I've had an awesome dinner here somewhere recently, and if I know about some cool new places to grab a brew - or six. Oh yeah, and I'll also offer some home improvement WHAT-NOT-TO-DO tips, share some experiences of being a new dad, and occasionally rail on things that piss me off. Basically, this blog will be a spin off from my ``Off The Cuff'' column featured in Weekly Surge (http://www.weeklysurge.com/) every week.


My first item: I just read on Pete Townshend's blog that he and former SNL comic Jimmy Fallon are developing a movie script together. I'm not sure whether to believe this or if ol' Pete is yanking everyone's chain. What do you guys think?


Item numero dos: I just caught another trailer of ``Spider-Man 3'' on TV, and I'm starting to get jazzed about the May 4 opening. I'm intrigued to find out how and what turns the Spidey uniform black, and also I can't wait to see Thomas Hayden Church as ``The Sandman'' Flint Darko. Anybody out there wishing these movies would bring such great villains as Electro and The Scorpion to life, too? Too bad there can't be a live action weekly ``Spider-Man'' on TV now that technology has advanced to make it more believable. Oh well, at least there's the Silver Surfer to look forward to in the new ``Fantastic Four'' movie.

Last item (for now): Who out there is ready for baseball season? I wish I had the time and money to go to spring training. One of these days, I will make it. I feel like my Atlanta Braves are going to return to the playoffs this year with a strengthened bullpen. But I'm not sold on reliever Rafael Soriano acquired from Seattle - something smells fishy. The guys who have trouble showing up to spring training on time always throw up a red flag for me. If you're a Braves fan, you gotta check out beat writer Dave O' Brien's blog at www.ajc.com.

Okay, gotta hit the trail.

Kentavo