Gallagher, following lead of Rick Perry, Todd Palin and Chuck Norris, endorses Newt

Self-proclaimed comedian Gallagher announced Friday he is endorsing Newt Gingrich for president.

Gallagher said the former speaker shares his concerns about America’s cultural drift.

“Like me, he’s opposed to people naming their girl-children Sam and Toni instead of acceptable names like Evelyn and Betty: Just give her some little lesbian tendencies!” Gingrich would re-open Guantánamo Bay except this time “we’ll be allowed to torture all the way,” Gallagher said. “We had to half-torture—that’s nothin’ compared to what Saddam and his two sons OOFAY and GOOFAY did.”

Defending traditional marriage is another of Gallagher’s concerns. “Newt knows like I do there’s two types of lesbians — the ugly ones and pretty ones.” He’s also suspicious of “people like Cher’s daughter—figure that out. She wants a penis, but she has a big belly. If you can’t see your dick, you don’t get one.”

Most importantly, Newt doesn’t speak French, Gallagher said. “They ruin our language with their faggy words.”

Mitt Romney’s campaign shrugged off the Gallagher endorsement. “We’ve got Carrot Top,” said a top Romney adviser.

(quotes lifted nearly verbatim from a 2010 profile of Gallagher by The Stranger)

The original Coco’s replaced Wan Lai after it closed. Opened on October of 2010, it stayed afloat for one year closing in exactly one year on October 2011. It reopened on January 20, 2012 and the savvy owners kept the name and the sign, I’m thinking, to save money. While the old Coco’s specialized in Fuzhou cuisine, the new Coco’s under the helm of Chef Danny, specializes in what he does best — Cantonese food. The menu is the exact replica of Wan Lai, BoBo Garden, and Golden House, except tinier. A lot tinier. The dishes are also a lot cheaper. I’m not gonna go through great lengths about the food. The food is as fantastic as ever. And, tastes just like when he was at the other three places.

Beef Tripe and Tendon: fork-tender meat and amazing savory sauce with a just a hint of five-spice powder

Spicy Pork in Garlic Sauce: this Cantonese style dish differs from its Sichuan cousin in that it is a tad sweeter and the sauce is thicker

No one does Salted Crispy Shrimp better than Chef Danny. No one.

There’s one tip I want to share, however. Go at lunch. Lunch combos cost $5.50 and comes with soup, egg roll, and rice. And while this deal sounds just like at any other Chinese places, the difference is that the portions you get are almost as big as the dinner ones. The pictures above are lunch portions. So… get two or three combos like I do so you can sample a bunch in one sitting.

I am so happy that Chef Danny finally came to his senses and decided to lay low and start cooking again. I hope he stays here longer than anywhere he’s ever been. Now don’t complain when he finally leaves again and you never had a chance because you were always meaning to go one day. There is no excuse. Go NOW.

Pictures of the menu are on my Flickr.

Coco’s Chinese Restaurant
4897 Buford Highway, Suite 104
Chamblee, GA 30341
(404) 555-1212

Technorati Tags: Cantonese, Danny Ting, Buford Highway, tidal

Hell yeah, February 3rd! Take that, infinite loop!

:You go run your errands and when you get back we can watch DRIVE!!!:

I didn’t actually know what I was getting into, so the MPAA warning was helpful. The film was rated R for “strong brutal bloody violence, language and some nudity.” The Motion Picture Association of America does not play and neither does “Driver.

The editing and composition is downright strange, and definitely takes some getting used to. Michael insists that “those things [beyond the frame] aren’t important, since your mind can fill in the gaps anyway.” It builds a pretty consistent suspense around every scene that your brain isn’t quite able to compute. (Or maybe that’s just me, because I am a control freak?)

As the movie went on, it became more familiar (but never comfortable), and I began to appreciate it. Now, looking back, I think I loved it. The director (Nicolas Winding Refn) used the same editor as he’s used on his other films (Valhalla Rising, Bronson, which Michael has seen but I haven’t), and Tom Sigel for cinematography who has done more movies than I can even count (The Usual Suspects, Three Kings, Valkyrie, lots more). Golden triumverate of awesome.

When the action is not intense, the movie makes a pretty picture. One of my favorite scenes from the first-watch is Bernie Rose (Albert Brooks) sitting on the sofa after [REDACTED].

It’s spare and affecting, even though it’s a bit of a surprise from Bernie.

The characters are all strong, even the small ones. According to the bonus materials, the characters were fleshed out a great deal for the film - much beyond what was in the original book - and it shows. I’ve not read the book, but I suppose I will now. (Edit: I just read the “look inside!” and… don’t read the first page if you haven’t seen the movie yet. Meta Spoiler Alert!)

I’m not sure how these characters jibe with Sallis’ original intentions, but they certainly tell a story of their own, despite their frequent reticence. 

When the movie came out, I heard a lot of people say they didn’t like it. I think those people were probably disappointed that it wasn’t your average action/drag-racing/heist movie. Well, I’m glad!

On the surface, the movie reads like a 100-minute music video, but to say it *is* a 100-minute music video would be dismissive of its triumphs. There’s a great deal more to Drive than 80s-inspired electronica and pink brush script fonts. (That stuff is still awesome, though.)

If you don’t mind the “strong brutal bloody violence,” we highly recommend a watch.

_
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P.S. I wrote a review about a Ryan Gosling movie without pre-teen squeee-ing! I deserve a medal.