Raggy's Mountain View: 2013

Saturday, December 28, 2013

Top 250 still to watch...

52 Django Unchained (2012)

97 The Apartment (1960)

102 Witness for the Prosecution (1957)

106 A Separation (2011)

107 Yojimbo (1961)

117 On the Waterfront (1954)

119 The Seventh Seal (1957)

123 The Kid (1921)

125 Scarface (1983)

126 Rebecca (1940)

127 Wild Strawberries (1957)

129 Fargo (1996)

130 Ran (1985)

131 Ikiru (1952)

133 Touch of Evil (1958)

135 The Gold Rush (1925)

136 Cool Hand Luke (1967)

137 It Happened One Night (1934)

140 Casino (1995)

152 Warrior (2011)

153 High Noon (1952)

154 The Secret in Their Eyes (2009)

156 Gone with the Wind (1939)

157 The Grapes of Wrath (1940)

159 Annie Hall (1977)

163 Notorious (1946)

165 Into the Wild (2007)

168 The Night of the Hunter (1955)

169 There Will Be Blood (2007)

170 Network (1976)

172 Ben-Hur (1959)

175 The Big Sleep (1946)

177 The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

179 The 400 Blows (1959)

181 Mary and Max (2009)

183 Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

184 The Hunt (2012)

185 Amores Perros (2000)

187 Persona (1966)

189 Gandhi (1982)

190 The Killing (1956)

192 A Beautiful Mind (2001)

193 The Graduate (1967)

195 8½ (1963)

196 Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)

198 The Hustler (1961)

199 La Strada (1954)

202 Anatomy of a Murder (1959)

203 The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)

205 Rope (1948)

206 The Exorcist (1973)

207 The Wild Bunch (1969)

208 Barry Lyndon (1975)

209 Life of Pi (2012)

210 Stalag 17 (1953)

211 In the Name of the Father (1993)

213 Fanny and Alexander (1982)

215 Roman Holiday (1953)

216 Sleuth (1972)

218 Stalker (1979)

221 Memories of Murder (2003)

223 3 Idiots (2009)

228 Like Stars on Earth (2007)

229 Ip Man (2008)

230 Incendies (2010)

233 La Haine (1995)

234 A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)

237 All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

238 Rain Man (1988)

240 Rosemary's Baby (1968)

243 Papillon (1973)

244 Mystic River (2003)

245 Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring (2003)

246 Before Sunrise (1995)

247 In the Mood for Love (2000)

249 Manhattan (1979)

250 The Celebration (1998)

Friday, September 20, 2013

Well folks, I have finally done it! All 30 Cafes across the whole of Mountain View have been sampled! And here are the findings:

30 of 30 Cafes visited!
Main Campus - Complete
near Main Campus - Complete
1900 block - 1 to go
Crittenden - Complete
GWC - Complete
Quad - Complete
SFO - Complete
SBO - Complete

√ Atom - It took quite a while to get to this one as I had been there before. The sushi here is fantastic, almost as good as Frank's. The noodle soup is also done in several other cafes and the hot dishes are ok.
√ Baadal - Indian food that needs to be booked in advance. Table service makes this place a little different to the normal Google offering. This food is pretty good! Not as fantastic as the very best but totally edible!
√ Beta - I love this cafe! Too far to go frequently but really nice.
√ Backyard - In my building and specializing in Barbecue (honestly it's a wonder I go anywhere else)
√ BETA C - A nice, balanced 'all round' cafe. Food of all sorts, well done.
√ Big Table Cafe - This cafe has a great variety of tasty foods.
√ Blaze Cafe - Fresh Pizza is the focus here but it has a few other things and is always very popular.
√ Charlie's Cafe - This is the original cafe of Google and it has everything from fantastic Pizza, burgers, burritos to Pho, Sushi & Indian.
√ Crave Cafe - Another of the more traditional line in Cafe, a fairly limited selection but theme days, the ability to make sandwiches as ell as cooked breakfast and supper make this a good choice.
√ Evolution Cafe - A selection of fairly healthy, orientalish foods in a small cafe.
√ GO! Cafe - This is a sandwich to order to place. I'm not a big sandwich guy but if Subway was like this, they'd be making a lot of money off of me.
√ Jia Cafe - Authentic East Asian food and REALLY good.
√ Long Life - Again Asian food but with a Korean/Vietnamese focus, the Pho here is very good but otherwise a little underwhelming.
√ Lunch Box Cafe - This place does a couple of dishes and a small sandwich section... that takes an age!
√ Masa Cafe - Burritos the size of your head made exactly the way you want.
√ Maverick Cafe - Nothing special, although the desserts are good and the staff are the friendliest on campus.
√ Moma Cafe - This place is the king of sandwiches, toasted, normal, sliders they are all to be found here. It also has awesome breakfasts with pancakes!
√ Nourish Cafe - This cafe specializes in 'healthy' options however despite this, they are still pretty tasty although Big Table is a more appealing option when in the 1900 block.
√ Quad Halftime - Sports Bar theme and junkfood on offer - I LOVE this place. It is a lot like Backyard but with a lot more variety (and a lot less sweet potato!) making it exponentially better.
√ Quad Hangout - Of all the cafes, this is closest to London's Market Square. It has the food with fancy names and ingredients, it has the sales people crowding around with their hoorah Henry accents that make you want to slap them and their judgement of you for choosing comfort over fashion... it was just like being back in CSG... suddenly I am a little less keen to go back.
√ Quad Portal - I had a decent breakfast here. Google in the US is great for weird breakfast items. Today's winner: Attack of the Killer Applewood smoked bacon and spam fried rice - that's actually what it was called, and pretty much explains what it was... DELICIOUS! The maple syrup sausage links were less appetizing but donut holes make a great breakfast dessert. Lunch is pretty good, a lot of choice so at least one thing should appeal whatever your mood.
√ Quad Trux Cafe -Trux takes it's queue from the Food Trucks that exist in the US. The idea is that you can hire one of these vans (think large ice cream truck) to supply food at events. Food Trucks will each specialize in a different style of food like Burritos or creole etc. They will also sometimes gather at a venue for people to try the different foods. This cafe has 4 different windows that will each do a different food and all of which are great. Breakfast here is not worth it but Lunch is fantastic.
√ root Cafe - A bit of a mix, nothing special but is fairly popular.
√ Slice Cafe - Some packaged sandwiches but the reason to come here are the fantastic smoothies.
√ Steam Cafe - This place is apparently not that good food normally however I was really impressed! The Gnocchi was fantastic and the turkey and italian sausage were both really nice. The dessert wasn't great but that is a minor quibble. The plates here are ceramic unlike the other cafes which have plastic (although Baadal is also cermic)
√ Stock Market Cafe - Interesting selection of foods from this small cafe. Not sure it was worth the trek but given the more 'normal' selection, I think if I was based in this office I would eat here quite often.
√ Victoria Deli Cafe - A selection of pre-made wraps and sandwiches in 'slider' sizes. Great for quick, small meals but less choice and further away than Go.
√ Yoshka's Cafe (w/e) - I have been here at the weekend but it felt like only half service so wait until I have been in the week to pass judgement. Weekday food here is good! Not much selection but the food is done well. A little too much oil in things though in the salad, the rice, the meat.
X Left Coast Cafe (SFO) It turns out this cafe was closed some time ago but the site page never got updated. Sad times
√ Warehouse6 Cafe (SFO) - The food just wasn't that good. I think it was the day as my recollection of last time was that it was pretty good.
√ YouTube Café (SBO) - The breakfasts are good, sadly the lunches are not!

Monday, September 9, 2013

Day 70 - The Cheese Burger Trap

Well due to the overwhelming response of zero, I am gonna kill this blog, but before I do I thought I would write one last blog to in part announce this and also talk on a subject that I have already waxed lyrical about previously, but flogging a dead horse is always fun.

America has brought to the world some of the greatest (and least healthy) food options to the world including many of my favorites. One of these is the Burger. Now I am a firm believer that more in a burger is better and one of the most obvious options here is cheese. Everyone loves cheese (or at least everyone who has an opinion worth recording) and cheese and meat is a great combination... but when it comes to America we have a problem. I have already talked extensively about the poor quality of meat and the abysmal quality of dairy in this country and cheese is really the best example of the latter.

This country is the inventor of among other things - cheese sauce, cheese that squirts out of a can and cheese slices... a selection of products that other countries won't allow to be called cheese but rather 'processed cheese'. In fact America seems to be focused on trying everything within it's power to process cheese above and beyond the required presumably in an effort to reduce costs and increase the preservatives and additives. This is all well and good, I am fully prepared for the shitness of american cheese but am still constantly mislead by the labels that they will put to try and convince me that the crap they call cheese is in fact edible... Swiss, Provolone and Cheddar do not in fact seem to hold any meaning in this country and as far as I can tell still are just shitty cheese slice with the addition of more / less colorant and occasionally some form of 'hole' to make it more European. The latest trick that had me fooled was 'Sharp Cheddar' that was neither sharp nor cheddar. DAMN YOU LYING AMERICAN BASTARDS PLEASE STOP USING CRAP FAKE SHITTY WANNABE CHEESE!!!

Sunday, September 8, 2013

Day 69 - Film Update

The spaghetti western trilogy I had seen bits of before they are fantastic.

Heat was excellent. Wish I hadn't waited so long to see it. Some of the best dialog of any movie I've ever seen.

No country for old men... What the fuck was the point in watching this... I just don't get Coen movies.

The Bridge over the River Kwai was excellent! It is a very very good example of a skirmish war movie. I think it does a good job of including the hollywood hero whilst still tempering it with human failings.

Unforgiven... I had already seen this movie! It is excellent and I think the fact I didn't remember has less to do with the quality and more to do with the totally random name combined with the number of things that have referenced it over the years, which is really a tribute to the calibre of the film.

Cinema Paradiso - I am often reluctant to try foreign films. I have this preconceived notion that they will be slow, unhappy and hard work. The vast majority of the ones I have seen so far on this list are sometimes slow but seldom totally tragic and often good for reasons quite aside from a sense of being 'artistic'. This film is crassly shot, and fantastically written. A story that feels more real than what comes out of Hollywood, with none of the formulae.

The Intouchables is a new French movie that is one of the prince and pauper flavor as a paralyzed wealthy man seeks a carer to look after him. This films panders a little more to the hollywood mindset and has a lot of the closures and feel good moments that you would expect but it plays it out just right and Omah Sy in particular really sells this film. You HAVE to watch this movie.

Stand By Me - I liked the narrative and slow pace of this story as well as the opportunity to see several actors at the start of their careers but I am not sure I really saw anything special here.

To Kill a Mocking Bird - I am not versed in American Literature... the two words go together about as naturally as Bacon Soda in my mind which also apparently exists. The thing about American Literature is that they are very much about the time and the place they were set in. They seem more of a commentary of historical events and American Social issues than a more fundamental look at the human mind or social issues and as such there is little to recommend them over other more widely read fiction. To Kill a Mockingbird has a glimpse of the truer aspects of literature as I see them, but only a glimpse. It is a good film about a time that Americans should be far more ashamed of than they are and that is about all the interest it really holds for me.

Shutter Island - This film is well acted but the story is a fairly basic twist and frankly too long for the content.

Braveheart is a better film than I expected but still not great... I think I would respect it a lot more if it was at least a little historically accurate.

The Bicycle Thieves - I think I missed something here but what a lot of crap. A guy you care nothing for looses a bicycle and then acts like an arrogant prick descending into madness in his attempts to get it back... big whoop.

Bold those movies you've seen in their entirety.

Italicize the ones you started but didn't finish or saw only an excerpt.

Original List: (99/100)

1. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

2. The Godfather (1972)

3. The Godfather: Part II (1974)

4. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)

5. Inception (2010)

6. Pulp Fiction (1994)

7. Schindler's List (1993)

8. 12 Angry Men (1957)

9. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)

10. The Dark Knight (2008)

11. Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

12. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King(2003)

13. Seven Samurai (1954)

14. Star Wars: A New Hope (1977)

15. Goodfellas (1990)

16. Casablanca (1942)

17. Fight Club (1999)

18. City of God (2002)

19. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring(2001)

20. Rear Window (1954)

21. Toy Story 3 (2010)

22. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

23. Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)

24. Psycho (1960)

25. The Usual Suspects (1995)

26. The Matrix (1999)

27. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

28. Se7en (1995)

29. Memento (2000)

30. It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

31. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)

32. Sunset Boulevard (1950)

33. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)

34. Leon (1994)

35. Forrest Gump (1994)

36. Citizen Kane (1941)

37. Apocalypse Now (1979)

38. North by Northwest (1959)

39. American Beauty (1999)

40. American History X (1998)

41. Taxi Driver (1976)

42. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

43. Vertigo (1958)

44. Saving Private Ryan (1998)

45. Amelie (2001)

46. Alien (1979)

47. WALL·E (2008)

48. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

49. The Shining (1980)

50. Spirited Away (2001)

51. Paths of Glory (1957)

52. A Clockwork Orange (1971)

53. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

54. The Pianist (2002)

55. Double Indemnity (1944)

56. The Lives of Others (2006) nb Das Leben der Anderen

57. The Departed (2006)

58. M (1931)

59. Aliens (1986)

60. City Lights (1931)

61. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

62. Requiem for a Dream (2000)

63. Das Boot (1981)

64. The Third Man (1949)

65. L.A. Confidential (1997)

66. Chinatown (1974)

67. Reservoir Dogs (1992)

68. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)

69. Modern Times (1936)

70. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

71. Life Is Beautiful (1997) nb La Vita e bella

72. Back to the Future (1985)

73. Pan's Labyrinth (2006)

74. The Prestige (2006)

75. Raging Bull (1980)

76. Singin' in the Rain (1952)

77. Cinema Paradiso (1988)

78. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

79. Some Like It Hot (1959)

80. Rashomon (1950)

81. Amadeus (1984)

82. All About Eve (1950)

83. Once Upon a Time in America (1984)

84. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

85. Inglourious Basterds (2009)

86. The Green Mile (1999)

87. Full Metal Jacket (1987)

88. Braveheart (1995)

89. The Great Dictator (1940)

90. The Apartment (1960)

91. Bicycle Thieves (1948)nb Ladri di Biciclette

92. Downfall (2004) nb Der Untergang

93. Up (2009)

94. Gran Torino (2008)

95. Metropolis (1927)

96. The Maltese Falcon (1941)

97. The Sting (1973)

98. Gladiator (2000)

99. The Elephant Man (1980)

100. Sin City (2005)

24th July 2013: (173/250)

1 The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

2 The Godfather (1972)

3 The Godfather: Part II (1974)

4 Pulp Fiction (1994)

5 The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)

6 The Dark Knight (2008)

7 12 Angry Men (1957)

8 Schindler's List (1993)

9 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King(2003)

10 Fight Club (1999)

11 Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back(1980)

12 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring(2001)

13 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)

14 Inception (2010)

15 Goodfellas (1990)

16 Star Wars (1977)

17 Seven Samurai (1954)

18 Forrest Gump (1994)

19 The Matrix (1999)

20 The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)

21 City of God (2002)

22 Se7en (1995)

23 The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

24 Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)

25 Casablanca (1942)

26 The Usual Suspects (1995)

27 Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

28 Rear Window (1954)

29 It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

30 Psycho (1960)

31 Léon: The Professional (1994)

32 Sunset Blvd. (1950)

33 American History X (1998)

34 Apocalypse Now (1979)

35 Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

36 Memento (2000)

37 Saving Private Ryan (1998)

38 City Lights (1931)

39 Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)

40 Alien (1979)

41 Spirited Away (2001)

42 Modern Times (1936)

43 North by Northwest (1959)

44 Back to the Future (1985)

45 Citizen Kane (1941)

46 The Shining (1980)

47 Life Is Beautiful (1997)

48 The Pianist (2002)

49 The Departed (2006)

50 M (1931)

51 Vertigo (1958)

52 Django Unchained (2012)

53 Paths of Glory (1957)

54 The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

55 American Beauty (1999)

56 Taxi Driver (1976)

57 Aliens (1986)

58 Double Indemnity (1944)

59 WALL·E (2008)

60 The Intouchables (2011)

61 Gladiator (2000)

62 The Green Mile (1999)

63 Toy Story 3 (2010)

64 The Lives of Others (2006)

65 The Great Dictator (1940)

66 A Clockwork Orange (1971)

67 The Prestige (2006)

68 Amélie (2001)

69 Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

70 To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

71 Reservoir Dogs (1992)

72 Das Boot (1981)

73 Cinema Paradiso (1988)

74 The Lion King (1994)

75 The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)

76 The Third Man (1949)

77 Requiem for a Dream (2000)

78 Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)

79 Once Upon a Time in America (1984)

80 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

81 Full Metal Jacket (1987)

82 Braveheart (1995)

83 L.A. Confidential (1997)

84 Oldboy (2003)

85 Chinatown (1974)

86 Singin' in the Rain (1952)

87 Bicycle Thieves (1948)

88 Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

89 Some Like It Hot (1959)

90 Metropolis (1927)

91 Princess Mononoke (1997)

92 Rashomon (1950)

93 Amadeus (1984)

94 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

95 The Sting (1973)

96 All About Eve (1950)

97 The Apartment (1960)

98 Unforgiven (1992)

99 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

100 Grave of the Fireflies (1988)

101 Raging Bull (1980)

102 Witness for the Prosecution (1957)

103 The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

104 Die Hard (1988)

105 Batman Begins (2005)

106 A Separation (2011)

107 Yojimbo (1961)

108 Inglourious Basterds (2009)

109 For a Few Dollars More (1965)

110 Snatch. (2000)

111 The Great Escape (1963)

112 Toy Story (1995)

113 Downfall (2004)

114 Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)

115 Up (2009)

116 Pan's Labyrinth (2006)

117 On the Waterfront (1954)

118 The General (1926)

119 The Seventh Seal (1957)

120 The Elephant Man (1980)

121 Heat (1995)

122 The Maltese Falcon (1941)

123 The Kid (1921)

124 Blade Runner (1982)

125 Scarface (1983)

126 Rebecca (1940)

127 Wild Strawberries (1957)

128 Gran Torino (2008)

129 Fargo (1996)

130 Ran (1985)

131 Ikiru (1952)

132 The Big Lebowski (1998)

133 Touch of Evil (1958)

134 The Deer Hunter (1978)

135 The Gold Rush (1925)

136 Cool Hand Luke (1967)

137 It Happened One Night (1934)

138 Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)

139 No Country for Old Men (2007)

140 Casino (1995)

141 Sin City (2005)

142 The Sixth Sense (1999)

143 Strangers on a Train (1951)

144 Platoon (1986)

145 Good Will Hunting (1997)

146 Jaws (1975)

147 The Thing (1982)

148 The Wizard of Oz (1939)

149 Trainspotting (1996)

150 Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)

151 Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)

152 Warrior (2011)

153 High Noon (1952)

154 The Secret in Their Eyes (2009)

155 Hotel Rwanda (2004)

156 Gone with the Wind (1939)

157 The Grapes of Wrath (1940)

158 The Avengers (2012)

159 Annie Hall (1977)

160 My Neighbor Totoro (1988)

161 Finding Nemo (2003)

162 V for Vendetta (2005)

163 Notorious (1946)

164 Dial M for Murder (1954)

165 Into the Wild (2007)

166 How to Train Your Dragon (2010)

167 Life of Brian (1979)

168 The Night of the Hunter (1955)

169 There Will Be Blood (2007)

170 Network (1976)

171 The Terminator (1984)

172 Ben-Hur (1959)

173 Million Dollar Baby (2004)

174 The King's Speech (2010)

175 The Big Sleep (1946)

176 Stand by Me (1986)

177 The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

178 Groundhog Day (1993)

179 The 400 Blows (1959)

180 Twelve Monkeys (1995)

181 Mary and Max (2009)

182 Donnie Darko (2001)

183 Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

184 The Hunt (2012)

185 Amores Perros (2000)

186 Howl's Moving Castle (2004)

187 Persona (1966)

188 The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)

189 Gandhi (1982)

190 The Killing (1956)

191 Black Swan (2010)

192 A Beautiful Mind (2001)

193 The Graduate (1967)

194 The Princess Bride (1987)

195 8½ (1963)

196 Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)

197 Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)

198 The Hustler (1961)

199 La Strada (1954)

200 Rocky (1976)

201 Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

202 Anatomy of a Murder (1959)

203 The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)

204 The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

205 Rope (1948)

206 The Exorcist (1973)

207 The Wild Bunch (1969)

208 Barry Lyndon (1975)

209 Life of Pi (2012)

210 Stalag 17 (1953)

211 In the Name of the Father (1993)

212 Monsters, Inc. (2001)

213 Fanny and Alexander (1982)

214 Infernal Affairs (2002)

215 Roman Holiday (1953)

216 Sleuth (1972)

217 The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

218 Stalker (1979)

219 The Truman Show (1998)

220 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)

221 Memories of Murder (2003)

222 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2(2011)

223 3 Idiots (2009)

224 A Fistful of Dollars (1964)

225 Star Trek (2009)

226 The Artist (2011/I)

227 Jurassic Park (1993)