Malls and Sushi and Breakdancing...OH MY!

This weekend, we Minnesotan's encountered the nicest day of the year yesterday. The sun came out to play with us after 6 days of hiding to give us the much needed dose of Vitamin D we've all been missing. It feels great. When I lived in Los Angeles, the sun rarely hid away and it made me take it for granted. You forgot to appreciate it and became quite complacent after awhile. I personally didn't feel this Winter was all that bad to be honest. Sure, it was cold -- but it wasn't unbearable.

Rachel and I decided on Saturday to reward ourselves with a shopping day at the infamous Mall of America (or as I used to refer to it as the Mullet of America). I hadn't stepped foot into this monstrosity of excess since 2005. We chose this as our shopping destination because the Twin Cities is pretty sparse when it comes to variety. We figured MOA was our best bet for one-stop shopping that would offer us some of our favorite stores in one place. If you've never visited this mall, I should forewarn you: plan ahead and dress properly (layers)! That's if you want to get in and out quickly and efficiently like a ninja. It's best to know where to park and where all your stores are. Otherwise you're left to wander aimlessly like the rest of the zombie-like crowd who walk with their heads in the clouds looking every which way other than forward.  Those people annoy the hell out of me as they're always standing in areas that crowd entrances or exits and usually have about 2-3 unruly kids in/out of strollers in your way.

We had lunch at Tiger Sushi, which was good but average - I'm spoiled by living in San Francisco and experiencing great sushi made by highly skilled Japanese trained sushi chefs. After about 4.5 hours of non-stop shopping, we called it quits and headed back to my place to check out the damage done to my bank account.  By this time, our energy was completely depleted and we replenished ourselves by dining at one of my new favorite spots in the city: Little Szechuan in St. Paul on University. My friend Steve Marsh was the first to tell me about this place and I ate there with him and about 6 other people last weekend. It was one of the most authentic Szechuan restaurants I've ever eaten at outside of China! I highly recommend the Dan Dan Noodles, Crispy Szechuan Chicken, Lotus Root dish, Shredded Bamboo Shoots and the Whole Fried Fish meal.

Later that evening, we had purchased tickets earlier in the day to see Afrika Bambaataa, which unfortunately was being held at Epic night club (what a stupid name). It formerly used to be called The Quest, which clearly isn't any better. Its never been a venue I favored in the past and after seeing the new renovations to it now - it has somehow gotten worse. As a disclaimer, downtown Minneapolis has been sort of ruined by big chain restaurants that have moved in and given it a generic lackluster vibe. Hooray for Hooters and the Hard Rock. Whoopee. DT Mpls is also dotted with other really bad night club establishments that in my opinion try too hard to be cool. They also have really stupid names. Sorry, enough ranting -- if you want authentic, cool and down-to-earth atmospheres, avoid DT Mpls. at all costs (unless it's First Avenue). Epic tries too hard to be like a NYC or LA night club, where they have VIP booths for people who want bottle service. Ummm...what the hell for? Who are these "VIP" expecting to rub elbows with? U of M students and suburban weekend warriors at best. Do they think they look cool or important sitting in a booth in a gigantic empty night club? So lame.

 

Anyway, we were anticipating the old school "Planet Rock" Afrika Bambaataa with Soulsonic Force -- we wanted capes, crazy space eyewear and head dresses! Instead, we got the man himself, but only for about 30 minutes on the decks well-hidden away by poor lighting on stage and overshadowed by break dancers (whom were all really amazing - see photos above). I guess we had our hopes up too high. Is a 70's clad group of old school electro funk masters dressed in Native Indian Chief head dresses too much to ask for people?! Apparently so. The evening ended with us being harassed by a bunch of drunken douche bags dressed in green while walking to the car (oh right, early revelers for the upcoming St. Patrick's day festivities...being I'm not Irish and don't give a shit). I swear my right eye was twitching as I breathed in a deep sigh to avoid the simmering annoyance that wanted to come out in the form of a fist to someone's face.

Check out the video I took of the amazing dancers on stage while Afrika Bambaataa was on the decks:

To end the weekend, we had a lovely brunch at the Louisiana Cafe on Dale & Selby and took in an afternoon screening of Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. I liked the movie - but I like any movies that show highly imaginative fantasy worlds. Some day I will find a portal to one! Some day! One of my favorite parts of the movie was seeing the Mad Hatter do his esteemed futterwacking dance. Hilarious! The only complaint I have about the movie were the incredibly old 3D glasses - if you plan on seeing the film, I don't think you need to see it in 3D. The special effects aren't great enough for a 3D experience.

Well, this concludes my weekend report. Things are strumming along for both festivals that I am working on and the weather is slated for the mid 50's this week. Although I wish I could have made it to SXSW, the timing of it all just didn't quite work. Next year I will be better prepared for it! Until next time!