hollywood

In Whittier, you'll not be too far from Renu Nakorn and some very authentic Thai (sorry, don't have the address) or from El Tepeyac, 812 N. Evergreen Ave, known for the outsized Hollenbeck Burrito. In Brentwood, you'll be close to the Getty Museum complex which is worth a visit and actually has a good cafeteria and you'll be fairly close to the beach. As a general rule, the closer you get to the water, the more expensive it gets.

Sounds daunting. Sara Moulton has a recipe that incorporates asparagus and fava beans. Mario stuffs artichokes with them. I think asparagus tastes great with chopped hazelnuts. Good luck. Here's Sara.... http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/re...36_4927,00.html

Where will you be staying? Will you have a car? What sort of food would you like? What do you want to avoid? Here's a start. Thai: Ruen Pair, 5257 Hollywood Blvd, Thai Town (BYOB) Vietnamese: Pho 79, 727 N. Broadway, Chinatown Middle Eastern: Sunnin (Lebanese), 1779 Westwood Bl, Westwood; Zankou Chicken, various locations Indian: Ambala Dhaba, 1781 Westwood Bl, Westwood Sushi: Hide, 2040 Sawtelle Bl, West LA (cash only) Burgers: Thai American Express Cafe, 2903 Rowena Bl, Silverlake. Mexican: Loteria Grill, Farmers Market, Fairfax & Beverly, MidCity; La Bonita Restaurant, 5253 Santa Monica Bl, MidCity; La Luz Del Dia, 1 Olvera Street, downtown.

What happened to the other 2 beers?

Weapons of Mass Destruction. Thanks for the word on the little fish.

Yeah, how many peanuts do you get on Southwest?

In years past, I requested and received a cold seafood plate on several airlines, particularly Delta. Basically, some cocktail sauce, 3-5 shrimp, 2 crab claws, some lettuce. Not bad and generally, as with special meals, I'd get served first.

You see the reverse of this phenomenon in eBay bidding. Bidders frequently offer X dollars and some cents in order to outfox folks who bid in even dollars.

If it wasn't the heat, it was the humidity and the need to stay hydrated. When I was a young lad in Texas many years ago, the altar boys at church always coveted the glass containers the santuary candles were burned in as they were very large and thus made accomodating iced tea glasses--must have held more than a quart.

Thanks, Pirate.

Foie gras duck. Sounds like you survived the WOMD nicely. A friend who's currently in Paris is looking for a friture d'eperlans, and I don't even know what it is. Any thoughts? Thanks.

I wonder how Paris [sic] Las Vegas is faring amid the antiFrench nonsense.

This is like someone buying an American car when half of it is made of parts from around the world. Some French wineries/shippers, I'm told, are owned in whole or in part by American Corps. or multinational corps, or (perish the thought) by Texans! It's kinda like picking up a Bible and declaring "If English was good enough for Jesus, it's good enough for me." Of course, if it turns out Saddam Hussein owns part of a winery, look out.

Paris Pastry is at 1448 Westwood Blvd. They've been there for a long time. Haven't been there for years but they were the first place in LA where I could get real croissants. They do all sorts of cakes, baked goods, tarts, etc. As for Saveurs, sounds like another tasty report.

Good point. Lisa needs a digital camera.

Well, there's this one. http://www.asiatravel.com/malaysia/federal...restaurant.html And there's this one. http://www.genting.com.my/en/leisure/food_...seriangkasa.htm

http://www.showhotel.com/stratosphere/panorama7.htm This should make you dizzy.

Sounds like a scene from Point Blank--good one if you haven't seen it.

Super report. You seem to have your eyes open to everything. When I first went to Paris in 1972, I had bottled water for the first time, real mustard, good cheese, strong coffee, fresh bread, croissants, etc. When I got back to LA, I looked briefly for these things but all I could find were croissants (Paris Pastry in Westwood). Sadly, I didn't persist regarding the other things (oh, maybe I found some mustard at Trader Joe's). Maybe the world has changed some due to globalization, but I'd still like to think that you will come back with some discoveries that will knock us all on our collective asses. Keep it up.

Bullseye (sadly).

I don't know much about the American way of eating, but I did have a (creamy) peanut butter and sliced dill pickle sandwich for lunch. (The trick I guess is that you dry off the pickle so it's really kinda crunchy without being watery.)

This cuts several ways. So you open your wine and it all gets consumed by persons other than the host and yourself. Frankly, if it's good stuff, I'd rather have the illusion of knowing that the host is enjoying it on his own and not sharing it with the rabble (you know, the ones who bring the Two Buck Chuck and drink everyone else's good wine). Of course, one alternate scenario is that he takes my bottle to the next party he's invited to and gives it to that host.

Somewhere there's a surface tension expert who could resolve this for us. I think a hole would add some bouyancy.

Encounter Restaurant in the theme building at LAX seems like it ought to revolve but it doesn't--unless you've had a lot to drink.

Now that you mention it, I'd think most coins with holes in the middle would stand a good chance of staying atop the head.