Weekend Update: Pinkberry hits K-Town, Cork Taint and the DSM-IV meets TV once again

 

• So I was slow to the blogosphere and got scooped about Pinkberry's recent opening at 6th and Berendo in Koreatown. It's definitely the most lively crowd so far, and makes you feel like you're not in LA, which is nice. I haven't been able to travel much lately, and eating dessert here is like a little journey to Asia all for five dollars, thirty minutes, and 150 calories. It's much more hospitable than the other locations, and I had to laugh at the 'no photo' policy since clearly it hasn't stopped the copycats: on Western and 6th, there's a sign for "Snowberry: Coming Soon!". I wonder what that could be...
• I had my first day of instruction at the Laguna Culinary Arts school, and learned a few things. First, it only takes about an hour to drive from LA to Laguna at 7:30 on a Saturday morning. Second, it takes much longer to drive back in the afternoon. Third, we were given a 'systematic approach to tasting wine' which maybe I'll go into later, maybe not. And we also learned about wine faults. Did you know that approximately 10% of wines are ruined by cork taint (click on link for detailed definition)? Most people can't recognize the fault and assume they just don't like the wine, too shy to send it back at a restaurant or return it to the store where it was purchased. However, if something seems off, just send it back. The restaurant and retail stores can just return the wine to the distributor for a full refund, and won't lose any money as a result of your discerning palate.
• You can get paid by film productions for doing almost nothing, like letting them put a few pieces of equipment in your driveway. We were lucky enough for a mid-season replacement show called "Raines" to come knocking on our door this past week. In exchange for postponing our planned termite fumigation, we were handsomely rewarded. FYI, the show stars Jeff Goldblum as a detective who solves crime with the aid of the 'voices' he hears in his schizophrenic mind. Hmmm, how many detective shows can there be where the crime solver has some sort of mental disorder? Well, exactly how many disorders are outlined in the DSM-IV? The pilot for this one was written by Graham Yost and directed by Frank Darabont, so it could be really good or really bad, considering the track records of both.
• I promise, I'll write another blog entry complete with pretty pictures and witty remarks, soon. But not today.