king of california

I just got back from another installment of AFI's Directors Series at Arclight. Tonight was King of California starring Michael Douglas and Evan Rachel Wood. Neither of them was there for a Q&A (they weren't scheduled, of course), but writer/director Mike Cahill obliged. I really enjoyed the movie. It's funny, it's touching, and it makes you want to believe in silly legends of long-lost gold.

Both Douglas and Wood gave excellent performances. What Douglas can do with his eyes! Especially hidden behind a crazy beard. It's as if he took the playfulness of President Shepherd and gave him a few crazy pills. Priceless.

Go see it (you know, if it makes it to you, it opens in L.A. and New York next Friday).

hot hot heat

My weather widget says the temperature peaked at 103 degrees this afternoon in my zip code. No big deal. Unless the power goes out and the air conditioning you rely on isn't available on the hottest day of the year.

Originally I was planning to run some errands and then see Rocket Science at the $3 theater at Beverly and Fairfax. Then when I saw that it was supposed to be 100 degrees I decided I could just lay in bed and watch movies until late in the afternoon. When the power went off just after noon I had to get out and went with my original plans. When I returned just after 5:00 p.m., the power was still out and my apartment was just approaching oven status. I was really annoyed since I saw no signs of powerlessness elsewhere in my travels.

Luckily, Miriam rescued me. I basically invited myself over to enjoy some air conditioning and a BBQ by the pool. A very nice evening indeed. I was glad to find the A/C had already cooled down my apartment when I returned a half hour ago.

I was worried my cantaloupe sorbet was ruined, but I think it's ok. I'll dig in again tomorrow.

stephanie gets domestic

In my first successful attempt to make something with the ice cream maker my dad gave me for my birthday more than a year and a half ago, I made a cantaloupe sorbet this morning. I blended a small ripe cantaloupe with some sugar, some lemonade (the recipe called for orange juice, but I didn't have any on hand), and a pinch of salt. When I tasted the unfrozen mixture as I was cleaning up, I thought it was a bit too sweet. But now that I've had it as it's intended, it's not (though there's definitely a sweet aftertaste, not necessarily a bad thing).

Woo-hoo! This gives me confidence to continue making frozen desserts. Next up: earl grey sorbet, which will be consumed with Trader Joe's vanilla gelato since I love a bit of milk in my earl grey but I don't want to fuck it up by adding it to the base (plus, I love sweet icy stuff with frozen dairy).

I also want to make a honeydew sorbet with a strong hint of lime, but honeydews are so damn expensive and few and far between out here. Why is that?!