Friday, December 15, 2006

Farm 255

This downtown restaurant located next to Clocked, is devoted to organic locally grown foods. It also hosts a number of musical acts during the week and on weekends. It is definitely one of the more upscale restaurants in town, but from what I can tell, it is definitely worth the price. The menu changes frequently because it relies on what is currently available so you never know what you may end up finding. One drawback I found (besides the price) was that they didn't have very many vegetarian options. You would think that being an organic place they would want to cater more to this type of crowd, but apparently they did not.

They also have a large bar, where they serve everything from the most exotic wines and liquors to the cheapest beers. After 11 on the weekends, they stop serving food and bring in different bands and musicians that you can see for free. When I went friday night Gabriel Kelley was playing. I have reviewed them before, and other than saying that they were excellent, I don't have a lot to say about that. I would like to say that it's nice to see how they've grown over the years, particularly the front man, Gabe. One of my earliest memories of Gabe was him at our house at one of our infamous middle school parties (they were awful) attempting to teach my brother a few chords (he was awful and still is) but Gabe was pretty good for a 14 year old kid.

The atmosphere was pretty nice. It was still pretty casual despite the upscale menu. The setup was nice for a band with plenty of chairs and tables and a well stocked bar. The acoustics were excellent as well. Not only were we able to hear them with a minimum of effort, despite the occasionally loud crowd, but well talking to the band they mentioned that this was one of the few venues in which they were able to hear each other.

The Farm is a great place to take a date or your parents for some excellent food or some great music. If you're earth/health conscious or just bohemian chic and you're looking to impresses the Farm is the place to be for great food, great music, great drinks, and a good time.

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

The Last Resort Grill

The Last Resort Grill is a popular upscale restaurant downtown. It has a rather limited and somewhat pricey menu (about $20-30), but the food is excellent. I'm not really a big fan of the atmosphere, but its not that much different from most other upscale restaurants. I do always appreciate real napkins and glasses as opposed to paper or plastic ones, so that is nice.

They have some excellent vegetarian options, particularly a nice grilled vegetable pasta primavera with a creamy tomato sauce. It was perfect. They also have a rather interesting item called the vegetable patch. The bread is excellent as well, and is made right on the premises.
They also have number of excellent meat dishes as well including a New South Pork Loin.

They serve brunch on Sunday's and lunch during the week. The menu has stayed the same for most of the time they have been in business, and it works well.

I recomend this place if you are looking for someplace nice to take your date or your parents and you don't want to drive all the way to Atlanta.

Monday, December 11, 2006

The Day the Earth Stood Still

Normally I'm not terribly impressed by old scifi movies (with the possible exception of making fun of them with friends on lazy days) but I'm glad I finally got around to watching this one. It's an excellent early sci-fi movie about what happens when an alien lands in Washington DC. But unlike other sci-fi movies of the time it's not a shoot 'em up invasion type movie like Independance Day or War of the Worlds. Instead a mostly peaceful humanoid creature brings an important message about peace.
The movie while brilliantly written does have some flaws. In the first place it can be rather slow at times. Although for fans of classic movies, this might be a good thing. The acting is also a little wooden at times, although not so much that the movie feels contrived. And of course the movie is a little archaic and not exactly "new" although the idea was pretty original for its time.
One thing I especially liked about this movie was its excellent portrayal of the politics and beauracracy of the American Government and the short falls in world politics and the U.N. It also did a great job of exploring the xenophobia and fear of the american public when faced with such a visitor.
I would highly recommend this movie especially if you are a fan of sci-fi or just old classic movies in general.

Sunday, December 3, 2006

Saturday December 2nd

Town and Gown's Second Stage Production of My Blue Angel

This production was written by local playwright Rex Toddy and was adapted from the book The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon . Many of the same group of people in this play will be involved in a new theater group, Stray Productions, whose' s inaugural performance will be Arrogant Coyotes running March 23rd, 24th , 30th and 31st 2007.

I really hate to rag on any theater production in the classic city particularly one put together by such a talented group of people, but I have to say that I did not truly like this particular production. Maybe because it was a staged reading, which gave it the impression of being hastily put together and half done or maybe it was the subject matter ( a autistic boy retelling his story of a dog murder and the results of the investigation he does) or maybe it was the droning monotonous delivery of the main character. Whatever it was I was as impressed as I hoped to be.

With that said, "My Blue Angel" had its good points (other than the fact that it was only a $5 ticket). The plot was certainly captivating and exciting. The main character, who had Asperger's syndrome, while perhaps somewhat dull and monotone, was definitely a unique and very different character.

Also they did an excellent job with staging and characterization. Although "My Blue Angel" was
a staged reading, which means the actors had the scripts in there hands and there wasn't much action, the director, Catherine Clayton, did an excellent job of blocking the scenes that did allow for movement. The characterization was excellent. Both the boys playing Christopher (at age 15 Jameson Toddy, and at 17 Charlie Harper) were very authentic in there portrayals of a boy with Asperger's syndrome. There were two actors who each portrayed a verity of characters (Guy McCommons and Allan Aycock) and did an excellent job distinguishing the differences between them without use of costumes and very few props. My Blue Angel also feature Bryn Admonson as Mrs. Boone, Charlie's mother and Allen Rowell as Mr. Boone, Charlie's father.

Although I was not as impressed with this play as I could have been, it interested me enough to want to read the book and to see further productions by this group.