Gluttony and Conservation

A couple of notes for the Monday morning blog.

First of all, just like millions of Americans, I participated in one of the more gluttonous days of the year . . . the Super Bowl. I will leave the breakdown of the game to other websites and blogs, but I can tell you we had a pro NY crowd.

Not sure if Thanksgiving or the Super Bowl has more excess, but for those who track these things the experts say that the Super Bowl is the second most caloric intake day of the year, but personally I tend to eat more fat related items on the Super Bowl. From an article in Time Magazine they wrote: “From Thanksgiving to Super Bowl Sunday, the average American gains 5 to 7 lbs” and I think that I tried to gain all seven yesterday.

The wings, guacamole, chips with onion dip were all were all very tempting. I have a soft spot for Ruffles, and rarely eat them on any other day except for built in excuse like the Super Bowl. American’s do love their chips and eat them by the pounds. Frito-Lay, the nation’s largest chip manufacturer, said they must increase production in the weeks leading up to the event by more than 10 million pounds of chips just to meet the demand for Super Bowl Sunday.

So when I saw the commercial, I think somewhere in the third quarter, as I was heading to a sodium induced coma from the Ruffles, I had to stop for a 10 seconds. The ad, sponsored by the United Way, featuring the voice of Tom Brady asking users to donate via SMS to a campaign fighting childhood obesity, “You don't have to be an NFL player to help kids get fit in your community. Do your part, text FIT to "United" to give $5 to United Way's youth fitness. A little "U" goes a long way.” I would be interested in how much the United Way raised since most people would have difficulty texting with a beer in one hand and the grease sliding over the tiny buttons in the other.

My favorite Ad was the Coke commercial with James Carville and Bill Frist. The kids loved the Coke commercial with the Macy’s Day Floats. I think that has to do with age, the election tomorrow and the lack of any real good commercials. The Thriller Ad for some water product was the worst.

We did have a great bottle of wine from Du Vin Fine Wines in Alameda. It was a 2006 Bodegas Borsao called “Tres Picos” for $15.99. Dan told us it goes well with paella so we thought it would also go well with chili and cornbread, and it did a very good job of complementing the halftime food.

A note from Saturday: Went to the Ocean film festival and saw some terrific short films, really enjoyed the evening. The Ocean Film Festival, did something very interesting this year, they used YouTube to create the SFOFF Bay Oil Spill 2007 Video Project. The project was created to understand what the effects of the 810-foot-long Cosco Busan hitting the Bay Bridge on Nov. 7, and released 58,000 gallon of oil into the Bay. You can see shorts from Bay Area residents about the response and the clean-up effort.

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=9BEF9D7D7E9DF87E

Noir City opens this Friday

One of San Francisco unique Film Festivals, Noir City, opens this Friday at the Castro Theater. The Festival runs through February 3. The great thing about this film festival is you get to see classic movies on a big screen, they way they were shot to be seen.

If you are into film this is a great history lesson. You will see films, we would now call independent films because of their low budget, that used lighting and shooting techniques to give it a classic look.

For those of you unfamiliar with Noir Film, it is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize moral ambiguity and sexual motivation. Classic noir derive from crime fiction that emerged in the United States during the Depression.

Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as stretching from the early 1940s to the late 1950s. Film noir of this era is associated with a low-key black-and-white style.

Besides it is worth a trip to check out all the Eureka Valley and Neighboring Noe Valley have to offer in the way of food and drink. Tomorrow a couple of places to go before and after the films.

Noir City -- Jan. 25 - Feb. 3

The 6th Annual San Francisco Film Noir Festival opens with two films featuring Joan Leslie, along with an onstage Q&A with the legendary actress. Saturday, James Ellroy introduces Joseph Losey's "The Prowler," which is being screened as a tribute to blacklisted writer Dalton Trumbo.

http://www.noircity.com/noircity.html
http://www.filmnoirfoundation.org/

Ocean Film Festival

SF Ocean Film Festival

Living in the San Francisco area the Bay and the Ocean are central in our lives. These large bodies of water drive our weather and in part give us the mild climate that we enjoy. I have sailed for years and the Bay has been my playground, a source of recreation. Through sailing I have met great people, visited a few yacht clubs for drinks, and have enjoyed the exhilaration that sailing provides.

One of my other great loves is documentary films so I am excited that the San Francisco Ocean Film Festival is approaching. The Event runs from February 1-3 at Ft. Mason and has nearly 40 short films that have some association with the Ocean. I will be attending Session 4, where the schedule and interest intersect. The cost for one session is $10.50

The festival does sell a VIP Festival Pass admits the holder to all Festival events and screenings and is $105. This includes the SeaChange special performance with Roger Payne and Lisa Harrow on Thursday, January 31 at 7 PM, the Opening Night Party on Friday, February 1 at 7PM at the Aquarium of the Bay, as well as the seven (7) film programs on February 2-3 at Cowell Theater.

The two films from this session that caught my attention were The Science of Big Waves and Sliding Liberia. The Science of Big Waves is by Chris Bauer and is only 10 minutes, but it explores those four-story waves at Mavericks, just south of San Francisco. He looks at how they are generated in the Gulf of Alaska, three thousand miles away. Sliding Liberia by Britton Caillouette, is 48 minutes (YouTube »watch trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgrwrTruuhk) the story is four American friends travel to Liberia, West Africa, and find a nation torn apart by recent civil war and the ensuing poverty, displacement, and psychological trauma. Young local surfers are rebuilding their lives on a perfect wave, sliding across the ocean from a painful past into their bold, independent futures.

A Session 1film that deserves a mention is Surfing Thru. It documents three women with late-stage cancer live and surf in the immediacy of the moment.

For more information or to buy tickets, visit oceanfilmfest.org. Cowell Theater is at Fort Mason Center, Pier 2 San Francisco, California

If you need a place to eat or get a cocktail in the area, go to Chestnut Street. Just a few blocks from Ft. Mason, it has a wide variety of dining places and some great local bars. IZZY'S Steak & Chop House (http://www.themenupage.com/izzys.html), 3345 Steiner St, some of the best steaks in the City and the IZZY'S own Potatoes are awesome. For a quick bite try Andale Taqueria the grilled chicken makes their tacos and burritos. Andale also serves drinks. Donahue's Marina Lounge, 2138 Chestnut Street, is one of those great local bars.