Year: 2011

Perbacco Ristorante– “Good Times”

Written by diana on August 24, 2011. Posted in Restaurants. 3 Comments on Perbacco Ristorante– “Good Times”

On our visit to San Francisco last weekend we decided to dine at Perbacco ristorante and bar, specialists in Northern Italian cuisine with a focus on the luxurious and lush regional cooking of Piedmont. Loosely translated from the Italian as something like “wow” or “good times”, Perbacco did not disappoint. We had a...

“The Fall” — A Mind-Bending Marvel

Written by diana on August 16, 2011. Posted in Art, movie reviews. 6 Comments on “The Fall” — A Mind-Bending Marvel

The visual splendor and breathtaking imagination of “The Fall” made me actually dream of some of the scenes, an experience I rarely have. Reality and fantasy blur into a magical realism that so dazzles the eyes, it suggests a psychedelic otherworldly, perhaps drug-induced journey. This movie is a magical, mystery...

“Blue Valentine” –Breaking Up Is Hard to Do

Written by diana on August 7, 2011. Posted in movie reviews, Unhealed Wound. 4 Comments on “Blue Valentine” –Breaking Up Is Hard to Do

This critically acclaimed Sundance 2010 darling features Michelle Williams (in an Oscar-nominated performance) and Ryan Gosling in a Generation X’s portrait of a marriage from hell reminiscent of Tennessee Williams’ classic, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” and John Cassavetes’ “A Woman Under the...

Bridal Shower Anyone?–Do you know what a “laminated list” is?

Written by diana on August 1, 2011. Posted in Unhealed Wound. 6 Comments on Bridal Shower Anyone?–Do you know what a “laminated list” is?

We hosted a bridal shower last weekend for our daughter Maya and 20 of her young friends. Bridal showers aren’t what they used to be…dreary events with most of your mother’s friends, not yours. They might not be the equivalent of a bachelorette party for wildness, but I learned new vocabulary, which I am not likely to...

“Game of Thrones” — “Rome” Meets “Lord of the Rings”

Written by diana on July 25, 2011. Posted in movie reviews.

Depending upon the viewer’s tolerance for over-the-top nudity and gratuitous violence (albeit infrequently), this Emmy-nominated HBO series created by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss can be a guilty pleasure. An entrancing, seductive ten-episode TV miniseries, “Game of Thrones” is a compelling, carefully crafted drama about a...

“Mildred Pierce”–Definitely NOT “Mommy Dearest”

Written by diana on July 21, 2011. Posted in movie reviews. 2 Comments on “Mildred Pierce”–Definitely NOT “Mommy Dearest”

“How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is to have a thankless child!” King Lear bemoans in the famous Shakespearean scene. And so does Mildred Pierce as the mother who must suffer the unbearable pain of loving her decidedly unlovable elder daughter Veda. “Mildred Pierce”, the five-part HBO miniseries based on a...