Month: February 2005

Reviews have been pouring in the last day or so about the new Dell LCD (to rival the Apple Cinema display). Gizmodo finally has a price: $1,200, which is actually less than I had thought the unit would be. Gizmodo also points out that with Dell’s aggressive pricing and frequent discounts, this LCD could probably be had for under a grand soon. I wonder if the crashing prices for LCDs will bring this to under $1K MSRP soon?

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This is brilliant if it works; I may have a weekend project.

Turn Napster’s 14-day trial into 252 full 80 minute CDs–in theory

[via BoingBoing]

Only unsafe for work if you work with children, Puritans, or in a seminary. And they might be cool with it at the seminary.

As Stupid Evil Bastard says, “I think Ive been using this prescription for decades now…”

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SInce I’m in the food mood, I’ll keep posting (to make up for those days I won’t post at all). Lunch yesterday was pretty good by whippin’-up-lunch standards. I made an Asian Noodle Soup (inspired by Nigel Slater and his book Appetite).

This is one of those whadda yah got recipes, so adjust to your taste. I would also recommend upgrading the ingredients for a real meal.

To begin, we need ingredients. I’m going to adopt Slater’s style of recipes and eschew listing exact amounts; it’s very freeing

• Chicken Stock – enough for two
• Udon noodles – one bunch
• A good bunch of basil, preferrably Thai (or use half as much if dried)
• A teaspoon of sesame seeds
• Splash of soy sauce
• Freshly ground black and white pepper
• Assorted mushrooms (I used frozen Asian mushrooms from Trader Joe’s)
• A good handful (a cupped hand plus a few) of prawns (works out to about 10 prawns)
• Half an onion, sliced in slivers
• teaspoon of sesame oil

Cook the noodles. When done, put in a colander and cool under cold water to stop the cooking process. Cover with cold water and set aside. Put the stock, soy sauce, basil and sesame seeds into a medium size stock pot and bring to a simmer. Add a little water if you’re not going to cover the pot. While the broth is warming, shell and vein the shrimp.

Bring a saute pan up to temperature, and add the sesame oil. Spread the oil over the bottom of the pan by twisting the pan (be quick; don’t let the pan cool too much). Add the onion and stir fry over medium-high to high heat until they singe but aren’t cooked through. Add the shrimp and toss briefly (until they color). Increase the heat to high if you haven’t already. Add the mushrooms. If you’re using a lot of mushrooms, add them in two batches so the pan doesn’t loose heat. Toss to coat and then add the peppers. Cook until almost done, about a minute.

Add everything in the saute pan to the simmering stock pot. Drain the noodles and them to the stock pot. Bring the pot back to a simmer, then reduce heat until the pot just bubbles slightly. Let this steep for about 5 minutes, if you want, or serve immediately. Give each person a spoon and a pair of chopsticks.

A variation on this I’d like to try (and haven’t yet, so…) is to stir fry the udon slightly before adding it to the pot. I always like fried udon, and I think the extra flavor from a quick singe would add a lot.

Ann Arbor has few restaurants that deserve the attention they get (see this review of Conor O’Neill’s). Pacific Rim by Kana fits into the other category, getting attention and credit where credit is due.

The restaurant itself is smaller than I expected, seating less than 100 people when very full. For the night J– and I went, it was busy, but not more so than I’ve heard recounted on any normal weekend night. The décor is warm, with red walls accenting light wood paneled walls, and the occasionally well-placed object on the wall.

We had reservations, which is a must for Pacific Rim; I doubt many people go there on a whim and get seated in a reasonable amount of time. Our table for two was, well, it was tiny. With our menus, a glass of water and the place settings, there was precious little room to put the wine and two glasses when they arrived. There were other tables that sat four which provided ample room for two or three, but I imagine a four-top would have had the same space problems we did.

But, on to the important stuff; food! The crab cakes had a reputation that were outdone only by that of the warm chocolate cake. The crab cakes more than lived up to the reputation. I’ve never had a crab cake so airy and delicate. Forget the semi-deep-fried monstrosities you’ve had other places. These beauties are worth the reservation alone. Fine strands of carrots and the light breading are accentuated perfectly by the cilantro-lime sauce. If the gushing above doesn’t spell it out, we loved these (even J–, who is not a fan of cilantro).

The meal itself was equally as delicious. I ordered the Seared Big Eyed Tuna, which was served in a generous portion in a flourishing fan pattern. A nice, thick piece of deep ruby tuna simply seared and served on a nest of jamica and fried rice wedges. The subtle flavors were incredible, the best tuna we’ve had in Ann Arbor yet. And while many places concentrate so heavily on the main meat or dish they neglect the accompaniments, Pacific Rim surprised me. The salad and rice accompaniments were fine enough to stand on their own.

J– had the Panko-breaded Scallops. Large and lightly toasted panko breaded with some black and white sesame seeds, the 6 scallops were cooked perfectly (again, something other restaurants in town haven’t figured out). The Japanese broccoli that came with had been roasted in sesame oil, but even after languishing on J–‘s plate for twenty minutes, it tasted pretty good to me. The scallop I liberated from J–‘s plate was easy on the tongue and almost sweet, a very good sign for scallops that size.

This is where I’m supposed to cap off the meal with the wonderful signature dish, the Warm Chocolate Cake. I can’t. Not that it wasn’t good. It was, but it wasn’t great. The novelty of freshly prepared desserts is great the first couple times (“we ask that you order the cake 20 minutes early as it needs to be prepared”), but it really must be followed up by an exquisite dessert. I made the remark at dinner that I enjoyed the homemade ice cream that came with the cake much more than the cake itself, which earned me a really odd look from J–. (I eat about a pint of ice cream a year, by choice, because I’m not a huge fan of ice cream.) That statement, made in an effort to find something good about the dessert, was more telling to us than anything I can make up for this review. The cake itself was, well, ordinary. It was a decent, freshly made chocolate cake. Maybe I’m missing the point I’m obviously stating in that last sentence, but I couldn’t get excited about this dessert.

All and all, however, the meal was excellent, and my taste in desserts shouldn’t sway from that point any more than it has already. The food is obviously selected with care and prepared with more of the same. Hell, even the coffee was good. We will absolutely be going back, hopefully this summer when we can eat outside.

Make your reservations now and prepare for a wonderful dinner.

Pacific Rim by Kana
114 W Liberty
734-662-9303

Reservations recommended
Appetizers: $6 – $12
Meals: $18-$36
Desserts: $6-$10
-Good wine list
-Great service

Wow, I hose the damn site again. I hate not having shell access to either the web space or the MySQL database from 1&1 hosting. Anyway, thank God I made a backup this morning. Everything should be so-so for a while, as I get back to the style sheet.

Wow, it’s even made it to the lowly West Michigan TV stations.

Maybe I should set J– up with a reader. What do you think, J–?

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How do people read the web? Eyetools helps you find out. This is some very interesting and cool research. I hope they can come out with some solid recommendations (on the web) for usability. ‘Cause I need to buy another book.

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Just a follow-up on the last post. I need to stop following old employers, especially one I was at for only five months, but MSC’s current CEO is going to “retire”, and be replaced by someone who was appointed to the Board by the company that had previously been trying to take the company private. (It makes sense if you read slowly, I swear.)

I’m curious how this will affect everything. Changes at the top can often be symbolic. VA Partners, the previously threatening company, has a habit of turning companies around, though. They did a bang-up job for Martha Stewart Living. And VCs, if nothing else, hate to lose money. Wonder if this is the beginning of the slow climb for MSC?

Either way, MSC has a new CEO, which they desperately needed. Frank’s business aside, listening to him give a presentation was horrible. Any executive who can’t get through a sentence without saying “uhm” is not the executive you want as the face of your comapany.

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In my never-ending quest to risk my career as much as I can (see: applying to CyberNET and the debacle that turned into), the last company I left had a big news day today.

Leading off, they are about to be delisted from the NYSE. They have earnings coming, but I wouldn’t hold my breath. Oh, and if you’re into claptrap on semi-anonymous bulletin boards, the employees are about to file a class action lawsuit.

I sure can pick ’em. Thank God I got out. All the best to those employees over there that deserve it. You know who you are.

Side note: If you think you’re one of those people, but aren’t sure if I’d wish you well, I don’t.