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Fashion in the news: most interesting fashion reads in May 2019

Marjorie van Elven

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Friday, May 31 2019

Every month, FashionUnited selects the most interesting reads about the fashion industry published across American and British news outlets. Here’s what you may have missed this month:

“In Conversation: Rihanna”, The New York Times Style Magazine

May marked the launch of Rihanna’s new luxury house under French conglomerate LVMH. The New York Times Style Magazine interviewed the singer turned fashion mogul about the new brand’s concept and her incursion of the fashion world. Read it in full here.

“Target was the first chain to master high-end fashion collaborations. Here’s how they pulled it off”, Vox

H&M made headlines this month thanks to the announcement of a collaboration with Giambattista Valli. But the Swedish fast fashion chain is not the only one offering consumers a chance to own a designer item for a much friendlier price tag. Target, the giant American retailer selling a gazillion categories from food to electronics, is the pioneer of highbrow collaborations, having teamed up with the likes of Michael Graves, Isaac Mizhari, Proenza Schouler, and Victoria Beckham, to name but a few. To understand why and how Target has made this strategy so successful, head over to Vox to read their analysis.

“The struggles of plus-size fashion for men”, Fashionista

Plus-size womenswear is one of the fastest growing apparel categories, valued at 21.4 billion US dollars in 2016. Many womenswear retailers have expanded their size range lately, and we’re seeing brands like Universal Standard rise in popularity. But what about plus-size men? They’re often forgotten in body positivity messages. Fashionista published an article this month driving attention to the fact that plus-size men still struggle to find clothes their size because most people (and brands!) assume big buys don’t care about their appearance. Nothing could be further from the truth.

“Kate Hudson Was Destined For Hollywood Greatness. Then She Pivoted To Leggings”, Buzzfeed News

Kate Hudson’s activewear brand, Fabletics, is on fire. The brand plans to add 12 new stores to its portfolio of 27 stores across the United States by the end of the year. The ultimate goal, according to a recent press release by the brand, is to scale up to 100 stores. Fabletics was launched in 2013 to fill up what Hudson considered “a big whole in the market”: fashionable activewear with performance technology for an affordable price. Want to know more about the story of her business? Buzzfeed tells it all in this article.

“Clickbait fashion: you won’t believe what brands are doing now”, The Guardian

From see-through jeans to denim panties, some fashion brands are carrying things to extremes in the hope that people share pictures of their products as memes: after all, in the social media age, any publicity is good publicity. What matters is going viral. Demna Gvasalia, founder of Vetements and creative director of Balenciaga, is perhaps the king of this strategy, which is trickling down to fast fashion retailers such as Fashion Nova and Asos. The Guardian delved deeper into the phenomenon. Read the article in full here.

Pictures: Topshop website, Fenty Beauty Facebook, Victoria Beckham for Target SS17 Lookbook (Courtesy of Victoria Beckham and Target), Fabletics Facebook, Balenciaga Facebook

Source: https://fashionunited.com/news/fashion/fashion-in-the-news-most-interesting-fashion-reads-in-may-2019/2019053128083

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Construction halts on $1-billion mixed-use complex in downtown L.A.

Any halt of a Chinese-backed real estate project, however, is bound to raise concerns that it may be related to Chinese government policies restricting the flow of money out of the country. The policies, put in place in 2016, sent shock waves through real estate circles because China has become a major investor and developer in the U.S.

Source: https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-oceanwide-plaza-stalled-20190125-story.html

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Michael Mina Will Oversee Menus at the New Bungalows in Long Beach and La Jolla

Brent Bolthouse, who’s already expanded his popular The Bungalow lounge into a second location in Huntington Beach, is taking it to two new locations: Long Beach and La Jolla. And he’s bringing along chef Michael Mina, who’s already opened places like Bourbon Steak and Cal Mare in Los Angeles, to helm the menus at the new Bungalows. The Bungalow in Long Beach will span 8,000 square feet in Belmont Shores with a nice harbor view and fall 2019 anticipated opening date. La Jolla, just north of San Diego, hopes to open in early 2020.

Michael Mina will produce new dishes for the Long Beach and La Jolla restaurants, with small and large shareable plates, plus cocktails. The Bungalow first opened back in 2012 in Santa Monica at The Fairmont resort, taking over a wide outdoor space boasting a relaxed Baja vibe with retro appointments.

It regularly draws long lines of nightlife goers looking for cocktails and a party atmosphere just steps from the beach. This move for Mina is one of many the San Francisco-based chef is taking in Southern California. Mina’s big food hall at the Beverly Center is close to opening, while the chef recently converted longtime Dana Point restaurant Stonehill Tavern into another outlet of Bourbon Steak.

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Source: https://la.eater.com/2018/11/30/18118557/michael-mina-bungalow-club-brent-bolthouse-expansion-long-beach

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Spurs coach Gregg Popovich sends San Antonio mansion to market

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, who’s led the team to five NBA titles during his prolific 23-year tenure, is making some changes to his real estate roster. His 9,600-square-foot mansion is on the market for $3.5 million in San Antonio, records show.

As first reported by Busted Coverage, the Texas-sized estate sits on 2.6 acres in a guard-gated community about 25 miles northwest of the Spurs stadium.

Inside, grand living spaces boast white-painted stone accents and hardwood floors. A two-story great room, complete with coffered ceilings and a floor-to-ceiling fireplace, serves as the centerpiece.

Elsewhere on the main level, there’s a dining room, billiards room, office with paneled walls and center-island kitchen with a rounded breakfast nook.

An elevator ascends to the second story, which holds the master suite and a massive deck that spans the home’s backside. In total, there are four bedrooms and 5.5 bathrooms.

Out back, a covered patio expands to a swimming pool, and a 600-square-foot wine cellar fashioned from Jerusalem stone completes the scene.

Popovich, 70, is the winningest coach in NBA history with 1,245 victories, and his 23-year tenure is the longest active stretch of any U.S. major sports league. A three-time NBA Coach of the Year winner, he’ll lead Team USA for the first time at the FIBA World Cup in September.

Binkan Cinaroglu of Kuper Sotheby’s International Realty holds the listing.

Source: https://www.latimes.com/business/real-estate/story/2019-07-26/spurs-coach-gregg-popovich-sends-san-antonio-mansion-to-market

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Amid Inglewood development boom, Pulte Homes buys into Harridge’s planned subdivision

Amid Inglewood development boom, Pulte Homes buys into Harridge’s planned subdivision

Homebuilder will split 18-acre site and 226 proposed condo homes

Pulte Group CEO Ryan Marshall with map of its share of  planned Inglewood subdivision (Credit: Twitter)

Pulte Homes has bought into a major residential development site in downtown Inglewood amid the city’s construction boom.

Los Angeles-based Harridge Development Group sold a portion of the property to the Atlanta-based homebuilder for $42 million. Pulte acquired a large chunk of the former Daniel Freeman Hospital site at 333 N. Prairie Avenue.

Harridge — which is developing the 1.4 million-square-foot Crossroads of the World megaproject in Hollywood —  bought the 18-acre hospital site in 2017. It tore down the existing structures, and subdivided it into six parcels. That cleared the way for 226 new single-family condominiums to be built. Harridge is holding onto three of the original plots and will develop them on its own.

Land Advisors marketed the property.

Pulte will build 105 homes on its share of the land, divided into two separate communities, a spokesperson said. The publicly-traded company expects to open in the fourth quarter. Pulte has built multiple communities in San Bernardino and Orange counties but only one in Los Angeles, according to its website.

Harridge did not return a call for comment.

Housing development has accelerated in Inglewood thanks in large part to the construction of major sports stadiums. A $2.6 billion stadium is being built to host the NFL’s L.A. Rams and Chargers and another stadium will be home of the NBA’s L.A. Clippers.

For Pulte-Harridge project, Inglewood has wanted to redevelop the hospital site since 2015, when it approved a slightly larger version of the current plan that called for 310 townhouse units. When Harridge bought the property for $34 million, it downsized the existing plan for 226 detached homes. The city signed off on the final subdivision in June 2018, calling Harridge’s proposal “less intensive than the original project.”

Pulte and Harridge will both contribute to the site’s common areas. Aside from that, they will develop the projects separately, the Pulte spokesperson said.

Source: https://therealdeal.com/la/2019/03/19/amid-inglewood-development-boom-pulte-homes-buys-into-harridges-planned-subdivision/

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Weekly Rumours – A Ripple Effect

It’s Thursday, which means I’ve scoured the web for some piping hot (and reliable) rumours from around the NHL to breakdown. This week, I’m focusing on some the potential destination of a big name and a nixed trade involving another high-end player and how those two pieces of news affect the Oilers.

The 28-year-old defenseman seems destined for unrestricted free agency and assuming he gets there, the list of suitors will likely be long. Even though we’re a just over a month away from the official opening of free agency, some front runners have emerged in the Karlsson sweepstakes.

San Jose, who acquired him last summer, is obviously one of those front runners. They have around $24 million in cap space, but they have ten other pending free agents (four RFA and six UFA) including big names like Joe Pavelski, Kevin LaBanc, and Timo Meier. They might want Karlsson back, but they likely can’t afford to pay him the $7-$9 million he may command in free agency.

It goes without saying, but Karlsson leaving the Pacific Division and the Western Conference benefits the Oilers. Any time an elite player at any position goes to the other side of the league, it’s a good thing.

Two other teams that appear to be serious front-runners for the dynamic defenseman are the New York Rangers and the Tampa Bay Lightning.

If the Rangers could land Karlsson, who’s a right shot d-man, they could be in a position to deal off one of their current defenders. Currently, they have Kevin Shattenkirk, Brendan Smith, Neal Pionk, Anthony DeAngelo, and the newly acquired Adam Fox on the right side of their depth chart. 

Shattenkirk has one more year at $6.25 million and a partial no-movement clause, so I don’t think there’s a fit there unless the Rangers take back a salary like Milan Lucic (highly doubtful) or Kris Russell. To me, the Oilers should only think about Shattenkirk if there is money retained and money going back the other way. 

The two young options on the right side are interesting. With Fox coming up to the NHL, I could see one of those two players shaking loose, regardless of the Karlsson signing. Both DeAngelo and Pionk are 23-years-old and are coming off of 30 and 26 point seasons, respectively. They both have less than 150 games of NHL experience but looked good last season. They would be gambles for Ken Holland, but they’re both solid puck movers, which I think he really values. Also, they’re both RFA’s this summer.

As for Tampa Bay, if they want to try squeeze in Karlsson they would have to move out salary and that would likely have to come from their forward group. Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat, Alex Killorn, and JT Miller would all be of interest to the Oilers given that they’re proven top-nine forwards who can score goals. The only issue is that they all make well north of $4.4 million and they all have some sort of trade protection built into their contracts, that likely takes the Oilers out of the conversation unless they move out some money.

Like Karlsson, I don’t think the Oilers have a chance of acquiring Kessel, but him using his no-trade clause to veto a trade to Minnesota is interesting to me for a couple of reasons.

First, it shows that the Wild are still serious about trading Jason Zucker and now that they’ve essentially traded him twice and had it blow up both times, I think it’s a lock that Zucker is moved out this summer.

Zucker has four more seasons with a $5.5 million cap hit, so it would be tough for the Oilers to fit him in, but the rumoured deal with Pittsburgh (which had Victor Rask also going to the Penguins and then Kessel and Jack Johnson going to Minnesota) showed that they were willing to take on bad contracts.

The fact that Wild GM Paul Fenton was also willing to get older shows that the organization clearly wants to win now. That surprises me. A lot of people thought Minnesota might take a year off and try to re-tool their roster a little, the trade of Mikael Granlund fits that line of thinking, but clearly, they aren’t focusing on getting younger.

It’s also worth noting that Minnesota picks at 12th overall, just four spots behind the Oilers. These two teams might be a fit for a deal this summer.

Former Montreal Canadiens defenseman Andrei Markov is reportedly getting some interest from NHL teams. He’s 40-years-old and hasn’t played in the NHL since 2016-17, when he posted 36 points with the Canadiens. He spent two years in the KHL and posted 40 points in 104 games. I don’t think the Oilers are one of the three teams that would have reached out, it makes no sense for them.

Former #Habs defenceman Andrei Markov has received contract offers from three NHL teams and one KHL team.

— Andrew Zadarnowski (@AZadarski) May 28, 2019

Also, our very own Jason Gregor was on TSN Radio in Vancouver and dropped this:

.@JasonGregor: I heard from a really good source that Jim Benning and his staff did sit down and discuss a Loui Eriksson for Milan Lucic trade. I see it from both sides. Here's our bad guy for your guy who's underachieved. I was told it happened in April, May, this offseason.

— TSN Radio Vancouver (@TSN1040) May 28, 2019

But then, on the same radio show, TSN Hockey Insider Bob McKenzie threw this out there:

.@tsnbobmckenzie: As of recently, there were no conversations between the teams on the subject matter. But that's not to say there won't be, particularly as we get closer to the draft. I would think you're dealing with close to an untenable situation on both sides. (2)

— TSN Radio Vancouver (@TSN1040) May 28, 2019

So it appears as though Gregor has a nugget of info that McKenzie doesn’t but it’s clear from listening to both of their hits, that both believe a Lucic for Eriksson swap is possible this summer.

Source: https://oilersnation.com/2019/05/30/weekly-edmonton-oilers-rumours-a-ripple-effect/

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With SB-320 veto, Gov. Brown joins history of obstructionism on abortion access

Women’s reproductive choices have once again been made by a man.

Reproductive rights have always been limited, even in California. Prior to the state’s legalization of abortion, women were forced to seek illegal abortions, which lacked adequate safety measures and had risks of maternal death, disability and infertility. Making abortion illegal has only prevented women from getting abortions safely rather than from getting them at all.

Abortion services are more accessible than they were 50 years ago, and Senate Bill 320 would’ve been one way that California could have further dismantled barriers women in the state still face. The bill would’ve required all health centers within the University of California and California State University system to provide students with medication abortions by 2022. These drugs are able to terminate pregnancies that are less than 10 weeks along, and women can ingest them at the health centers or in their homes.

That won’t be happening in California anytime soon, though. Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed the bill, arguing the average distance between campuses and abortion providers is five to seven miles – a supposedly reasonable distance that makes medication on campuses unnecessary.

This decision is just another callous example of the state government ignoring the inaccessibility of abortion services.

Lawmakers have long made it clear they don’t understand the fundamental importance of reproductive access, or why there is a need to make these services more readily available. Reproductive care can be expensive and complicated, factors that students in particular are affected by. SB-320 would’ve been groundbreaking in tackling these issues by making sure students aren’t restricted from abortion services due to the campus they attend.

But Brown’s response shows he doesn’t understand the complexities and realities of reproductive rights in California – how a couple of miles could be anything but a short distance away. His decision to veto SB-320 shows California still has a long way to go in ensuring reproductive access for women.

Medication abortion is likely the most convenient and safe form of terminating a pregnancy. Patients are given two pills: one that’s ingested at the clinic itself and another that’s taken later, usually at their home. But, as is often the case when it comes to abortion access, timing is everything.

Not only do these pills lose their effectiveness past the eighth week of pregnancy, but the Food and Drug Administration doesn’t permit their use past the 10th. This means women have a very short time frame to take this medication. And if they lose that window of time, their options become far more limited and expensive.

Clearly, seven miles – especially for those without cars or easy access to public transportation – can mean a lot.

Not signing SB-320 might’ve seemed like another way to save money not worth spending. But what seemed unnecessary to Brown is clearly not to students, who are left largely on their own when it comes to figuring out how to take charge of their reproductive care.

The governor has miscalculated the importance of these kinds of bills before. For example, he vetoed Assembly Bill 569 in 2017, which would have prohibited employers from punishing workers who make reproductive care decisions their bosses disagree with. These kinds of decisions assume California offers easy access to abortion that doesn’t need improvement.

But just because things aren’t as awful as they could be doesn’t mean they’re perfect.

According to the Guttmacher Institute, 43 percent of California counties in 2014 didn’t have a clinic that provided abortions.

The options for students at UC campuses are also limited. Only five of them actually have a pharmacy, and the services they offer aren’t necessarily helpful. When needed, they refer students to off-campus abortion providers with little guidance.

And while UCLA offers the morning-after pill, these pills don’t work the same way medication abortions do. As the name implies, the morning-after pill is what people can take if they think they might have gotten pregnant, not if they are seeking a medical abortion.

This comes to show how slow California has been in progressing reproductive access. Abortion in California became legal in 1967 when then-Gov. Ronald Reagan signed the Therapeutic Abortion Act, permitting abortion in cases in which pregnancy was thought to be a danger to the woman’s health, a woman experienced rape or incest, or the fetus was unviable.

And abortion upon request only became legal in 1969 through the California Supreme Court ruling of People v. Belous. The fundamental reasoning for that decision, though, was not to grant reproductive freedom, but rather to establish that women deserved to make decisions about their health – something that’s so obvious it shouldn’t have needed a court case to come to that conclusion.

Brown’s veto of SB-320, in light of this history, reflects his lack of understanding of how abortion services work. Students being five to seven miles from abortion providers isn’t the issue – it’s that lawmakers are still narrowly defining what reproductive access is.

Until the state can understand that, it might be her body. But it’s still his choice.

Source: http://dailybruin.com/2018/10/31/with-sb-320-veto-gov-brown-joins-history-of-obstructionism-on-abortion-access/

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The notorious Los Feliz murder house is looking for a new owner

Has the infamous Los Feliz murder house scared off another owner?

The 1920s Spanish-style home near Griffith Park sold three years ago for just under $2.3 million, after sitting neglected for most of the last half-century. Now, it’s back on the market, seemingly midway through renovations.

The home gained notoriety after a grisly murder-suicide took place within its walls. Early in the morning on December 6, 1959. physician Harold Perelson killed his wife, Lillian, and then attacked his teenage daughter before taking his own life.

The house sold to new owners in 1960, but was seldom occupied. Occasional trespassers found items—including wrapped Christmas presents—that appeared to have been left behind by onetime residents.

The house eventually popped back up on the market in 2016, listed as a fixer-upper or a development opportunity. It sold later that year to a couple who had plans to remodel and eventually move into the residence, according to then-listing agent Nancy Sanborn.

But the house is now up for sale again—with a $3.5 million price tag.

Building and safety records show the current owners applied for renovation permits, and work does appear to have been done on the place. Listing photos show the home’s interior spaces have been taken down to the studs, and much of the flooring has been stripped.

The house is far from move-in ready, though, and listing material describes the property as ripe for “ground up development.” Those considering taking out a jumbo mortgage to purchase the house need not apply. Only cash or hard money offers will be considered.

To see more of the house as it looks today, check out the listing.

To see it before it came on the market in 2016, take a look at these eerie photos from local photographer Alexis Vaughn, in which sundry items from the home’s long history can be seen collecting dust within its aging walls.

Source: https://la.curbed.com/2019/5/17/18629461/los-feliz-murder-mansion-for-sale-haunted

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The Bammy - Subway's Take On A Vietnamese Classic

For as long as I can remember, the Vietnamese sandwich known as banh mi, has been a part of my life. Even as a Chinese American, this stuff would always be around my family and friends. It was cheap, easy to sell/make and tasted better than most American sandwiches. For $5, you can get at least four – one for each person in the typical 4-person Asian family. It was the go-to fill-up snack because it was cheaper than anything at McDonald's. Even if we didn't have a store-bought sandwich, we'd have some variation of the banh mi. As a kid in elementary school, I'd have my mom's mutated version which consisted of thick slices of the Vietnamese meatloaf known as cha, liverwurst (American pâté) and mayonnaise – smacked between two pieces of Wonder bread. On fishing trips with family friends, there'd be an endless supply of Capri Sun and banh mi in the cooler. Hungry? Have a banh mi! We'd pick that sandwich up with our fish and worm-flavored hands and go to town. My Lao aunt in Fresno also ran a small sandwich business right out of her kitchen and guess what we got to eat every time we were there - banh mi. Banh mi was seriously around so often it was like a brother to me – always there to wrestle and play video games with.

So you can understand why one would take a hiatus from the beloved sandwich. I was tired of it. After I graduated from high school, I don't think I touched banh mi unless I had to. As a college student, I made quick trips to Little Saigon to satisfy my broke ass. To me the food was nearly forgotten as I found love in other things such as noodles. Then around 2006, Vietnamese sandwich shops started popping up like the current food trucks as more Vietnamese residents and immigrants moved out of Rosemead and El Monte. On Valley Blvd. alone, you'll find at least a dozen places selling banh mi, including chains like Banh Mi Che Cali and Lee Sandwiches. This was the mainstream for the people of San Gabriel Valley and certainly not earth-shaking news.

Then earlier this week, my friend sent me a link to a New York Times article titled "The Vietnamese Sandwich. Banh Mi in America" by a Jordan Michelman. This was published after last year's banh mi craze in New York City which left me and I'm sure many others, scratching our head. Interesting considering most people look to New York as the pioneer of trends, especially fashion and food. This isn't the first time an article on banh mi has been published. But it was the first time I realized how long it has taken Vietnamese culture to be recognized in the history of America – especially since the Vietnamese have been here as early as the late 1960s. A few decades for New York Times to "discover" this sandwich? You don't see Jonathan Gold writing an article every 6 months on banh mi to remind us that it exists. Does something have to go through the New York "fad machine" before it gets any attention? Even in Los Angeles, the banh mi mutant can be found at places like Six (banh mi burger), Mendocino Farms (pork belly banh mi) and Nom Nom Truck (banh mi tacos). But I thought to myself, this is indeed a great time to really advertise the shit out of this delicious, Vietnamese sandwich... and really aggregate the credit it deserves.

Banh mi may be big in New York and Los Angeles right now, but it isn't big until it goes national. And when it comes to sandwiches, there's no one more sandwichy than Jared Fogle's Subway nation. Not sure why I even linked to Subway... you've got to be from space if you haven't heard of it. I like to have fun when I eat – especially with corporate places like Hometown Buffet, Souplantation and Yoshinoya. So I decided to have some fun with Subway and find out if I can actually make the Vietnamese sandwich an American favorite. But what do you call this new potential menu item?

Well, if a sandwich is a "Sammy", then a banh mi must be a "Bammy"!

On a random weeknight, I find myself standing in the most depressing line ever at Subway. There are five of us, heads tilted up 45 degrees staring at the menu of bland food. Is this what we as Americans resort to? A life of 9-6? 2 hour commutes? Buying goods by bulk at Costco? Lunches at Subway? Do I want to pay $5, $6 or $7 for a foot long blandwich? Should I have the blandwich with teriyaki sauce or the ham & bland sandwich ? The menu is simply comprised of words put up to disguise the word "bland" and there is no difference in what you order because it won't have any taste period. When a "sandwich artist" asks me what else I'd like to add to my sandwich, I usually respond with, "flavor."

But actually, as I'm standing in line with the other customers waiting for toasted boredom to be served, I smile a little. I have an advantage over the other customers and employees - and they don't even know it. I'm equipped with an actual banh mi sandwich from Chinatown's Buu Dien, some Maggi sauce, fresh jalapeno slices, scrambled eggs from home and some real Vietnamese pate. Yes! And tonight's challenge is to see whether or not I can make an actual Subway sandwich edible and dare I say, as tasty as a Vietnamese banh mi.

It's now my turn to order and I order a toasted black forest ham and turkey Foot Long for $6, which by the way is equivalent to five banh mi sandwiches at your average Vietnamese joint. I wanted to keep this as authentic to Subway's ingredients and build. I picked the black forest ham because it is the closest in color and taste to the pink, headcheese (gio thu) and BBQ pork (xa xiu) used in banh mi. I picked the turkey because it is the closest in color and taste to the grey meatloaf known as cha. For the toppings, I added cucumber, cilantro, pickled jalapeno slices, salt & pepper and a thin line of mayonnaise. No oil, vinegar or whatever liquids they offer. I asked the "sandwich artist" not to fold the sandwich over and F up the innards. They even kept it served open face for me and placed it on a tray. I'm pretty sure they considered me crazy. Love it. Haha.

I then drew an imaginary DMZ line to distinguish the Northern and the Southern region of the sandwich. On top is Subway's Sammy using original store ingredients plus pate and Maggi Sauce vs. SaigonWay's Bammy with the traditional fixings.

Subway's Bammy - plain bread - ham - turkey - cucumber - canned, pickled jalapeños - cilantro - mayonnaise - pate - Maggi sauce

SaigonWay's Banh Mi - plain bread - ham - turkey - cucumber - fresh jalapeño slices - cilantro with stem - pickled radish & carrots - mayonnaise - pate - Maggi sauce - fried egg (optional, it's what I love adding to my banh mi)

Subway's "Sammy" For the first time in a long while, I felt fear. The last time from a serving of deep fried insects at a food stall in Cambodia. I had prepped myself with a few neck cracks and got my gag reflexes ready. I grabbed the sandwich... crumbs from the shitty bread landed on the tray. What am I doing? I took a bite and not to my surprise... there was absolutely no flavor. There was so much bland matter due to the sawdust bread and processed meat - I couldn't taste anything! Maggi Sauce is used to PROVIDE flavor. But yet it could not provide this time – it let me down. I put this sandwich down after the 2nd bite. Even a foot long of Cambodian fried insects had more flavor.

SaigonWay's "Bammy" Now, on to the real test. I opened the sandwich and made sure everything was evenly distributed. It was the moment I've been waiting for. Actually the moment every American slave of the corporate lunch cafeteria known as Subway was waiting for. If I succeeded, I knew that I have done something for my country. I had at least provided ONE item on Subway's menu that actually had something called flavor. I took a bite, and I have to say, it was a familiar taste. Even though the meat wasn't the right kind, the balance of Maggi Sauce, fried egg, pate, fresh jalapeno, fresh cilantro and fresh daikon and carrots made so much sense in that sawdust bread. I actually ate half of this and partially enjoyed it. All Subway has to do is offer a few more ingredients that really don't cost anything! But you say the words pate or liverwurst and you'll lose customers. And what in the world is Maggi sauce?

My work wasn't finished tonight though. This is my palate, and I know what I'm looking for in a sandwich. The true test though was finding out whether or not the actual Subway sandwich artists would eat my fixed-up version of their blandwich. I wouldn't go in peace until I had them try it. I waited for the right moment when the customers parted with their foot longs and approached this young man. We'll call him Justin. Within a few minutes and persuasive words, I had him sitting down at the table with the "Sammy" and "Bammy" in front of him.

Justin: "What am I eating?" Me: "You're going to eat a Subway take on a Vietnamese sandwich." Justin: "What's in it?" Me: "Oh nothing really. Just your meats and veggies and a few extras." Justin: "You sure?" Me: "Dude, I'm not trying to kill you man. Even if I was, you've got cameras rolling."

Justin actually went in and took a big bite, making sure his gums made sweet love with that sandwich. He took a few bites and then looked at me.

Me: "And?" Justin: "Nothing. It's bland man!" Me: "Of course it's bland. It's Subway." Justin: "..........." Me: "Last one, try my version."

Like a good employee, Justin looked to see that there were no hungry patrons queuing up. With a reluctant look, he picked up the "Bammy" and sank his teeth in once more. But this time, to my surprise, he raised his eyebrows slightly and his eyes widened. And there was a slight bob of satisfaction.

Me: "And....?" Justin: "This is actually pretty good. I like the taste. What's in it?" Me: "Subway's ham and turkey, fresh jalapeno, fresh cilantro, pickled radish and carrots, fried egg and the special Maggi Sauce." Justin: "It tastes fresh. Oh man, that egg is real nice." Me: "Yeah that's key man." Justin: "Alright man, are we done? I gotta get back to work." Me: "Thank you."

One down, and a whole nation to go. Is there hope for the American palate? Whether or not Subway actually decides to put this on their menu, I may not live long enough to see the revolt against bland food. I threw away the food and started packing up. As I headed out, Justin said:

Justin: "Hey man, what's that sauce you put in that sandwich?" Me: "It's called Maggi sauce." Justin: "What is it?" Me: "Flavor."

Subway, dreams of flavored food can come true. Look I've done the POP (point-of-purchase) displays for you! Yes, I'm an ad guy! We can also start rolling your new Jared spots right away.

"Hello, I'm Jared. Remember me? I used to weigh 450 lbs. I'm over in the Far East to advertise Subway's new sandwich, "The Bammy". I've cut out the 14 hour flight for you and endured some of the roughest conditions to bring you Vietnam's delicious sandwich. We use only the freshest, greenest cilantro. Guys.... can we cut. I feel some leeches in my pants."

"Hi again, it's me Jared. I've also cut out the vicious Saigon traffic for you by riding helmet-less with my buddies Tuan and Huan. I almost wet my khakis like a little girl trying to cross the streets of Saigon! Where we going guys? My mom's expecting me home for dinner."

So, if you saw "The Bammy" on the Subway menu, would you eat it? The truth is, you'll never see this on the Subway menu just as you'll never see a delicious shawarma, torta, cemita. Even if it was on the menu, you know it wouldn't be good haha. I would take any of those ANY DAY of the week over anything from Subway. But surprisingly, as diverse as America is, the Subway people of Milford, Connecticut still feel that their current menu is a good representation of what the American palate craves. So Subway, would you like your "Bammy" toasted or not toasted?

Thanks for reading.

Source: http://eatdrinknbmerry.blogspot.com/2011/02/bammy-subways-take-on-vietnamese.html

[ferrybaker0-blog]

Rondo Sidelined by Broken Hand

The Lakers will be without the services of Rajon Rondo for at least “a couple of weeks,” according to coach Luke Walton, who revealed that the point guard broke his hand in Wednesday’s win over Portland.

Rondo apparently fractured the third metacarpal on his right hand while making a steal in the fourth quarter, according to Walton.

“He’s a true leader,” Lonzo Ball said. “He’s a coach on the floor, knows all the plays and knows where everybody is supposed to be. So it’s going to be tough having him out.”

Rondo averaged 8.5 points, 6.5 assists and 4.5 rebounds, while shooting 45.5 percent from the field in 11 games, primarily serving as the Lakers’ second-unit point guard.

While the Lakers do not have another player on the roster as experienced at controlling an NBA offense as the 13-year veteran, they do have several options to replace him in his stead.

Ball will continue to start at point guard, while LeBron James — who ranks 10th in the league in assists (7.2) — has already run point for large swaths of the season.

Meanwhile, Lance Stephenson played point off the bench while Rondo was suspended for three games this season, and Brandon Ingram thrived in a multi-game stretch as the starting point guard (in place of an injured Ball) last year.

Plus, two-way player Alex Caruso and rookie Svi Mykhailiuk (who ran point for the Ukrainian national team) can also be summoned from the G League.

“It’s tough,” James said. “[Rondo] is one of our captains, one of our leaders. I heard we have great surgeons here in L.A., so he’ll get right to it, start his rehab as fast as possible, get him back. It’s next man up.”

Source: https://www.nba.com/lakers/news/181115-rondo-sidelined-broken-hand

[ferrybaker0-blog]

Versa Capital acquires Alex Apparel Group

Marjorie van Elven

|

Wednesday, May 29 2019

Private equity firm Atlantic Street Capital has announced the sale of eveningwear company Alex Apparel Group Inc. to Versa Capital Management, LLC. The brands under Alex Apparel, namely Alex Evening and SL Fashions, are distributed in over 3,400 department stores and specialty boutiques across the United States.

Commenting on the transaction, Alex Apparel’s CEO Colleen Kelly said in a statement: “Our brands, ALEX EVENINGS and S.L. FASHIONS have become leaders in the dress market due to our classic designs, excellent quality, and great price value. We are proud of what our entire team has accomplished and we look forward to becoming part of Versa Capital, who will help us continue our great momentum."

Versa invests in businesses from a wide range of segments. This is the first fashion company they invest in.

Source: https://fashionunited.com/news/business/versa-capital-acquires-alex-apparel-group/2019052928055

[ferrybaker0-blog]

Glitter, glam, grit

Driving down the Sunset Strip in the 1970s could be hazardous to your health. The dozens of balconies lining the Continental Hyatt House were often populated with visiting rock stars, including The Who, Rolling Stones, and Led Zeppelin. Like overstimulated toddlers, these men ran riot over the hotel.

Zeppelin band members rode a motorcycle up and down the halls, Jim Morrison hung off a 10th-floor balcony like a monkey, and orgies were an almost nightly occurrence. Oblivious to the people below, Keith Richards and Keith Moon supposedly threw TVs off the balcony, while John Bonham pelted cars with water balloons and champagne bottles.

Hotel staff had a remarkably lenient attitude toward these rock ‘n’ roll antics.

“One night we got crazy and threw a chair out the window,” Neal Doughty, REO Speedwagon pianist, told Michael Walker, author of Laurel Canyon. “Ten seconds later we got a call from the desk. All they said was, ‘Did you at least look first?’”

The Sunset Strip of the 1970s was miles away from the whimsical peace and love of the mid-1960s. The new scene was grittier, tougher, and more jaded, with a hard-edged glamour befitting the times.

In the late ’60s and early ’70s, a new spate of clubs and musical venues opened that would define the Strip for the next two decades.

These included the rock ‘n’ roll venue Gazzarri’s, where Van Halen got its start, and the Comedy Store, which opened in 1972 at Ciro’s old home. Soon, the kooky and shrewd Mitzi Shore would be playing den mother to a group of comic geniuses, including Robin Williams, Richard Pryor, and, later, Sam Kinison, and Andrew Dice Clay. In 1973, the upscale Roxy Theatre opened, backed by music industry heavyweights David Geffen, Elliot Roberts, and Lou Adler.

The venerable Whisky continued to rock, being the gold standard for new acts starting out on the Strip. Then there was the brief reign of Rodney Bingenheimer’s English Disco (first at 8171 Sunset and later at 7561 Sunset), which opened in 1972.

“The three pioneers of the Sunset Strip during the ’70s and ’80s were Bill Gazzarri, Mario Maglieri, and of course Rodney Bingenheimer, who was a very popular disc jockey on KROQ,” Sunset Strip historian and resident Alison Martino says. “He introduced bands to Los Angeles that would never have gotten their start without him.”

Through his popular radio show and the English Disco, the soft-spoken, starry-eyed Bingenheimer, known as the “Mayor of the Sunset Strip,” would bring glam and glitter rock to Los Angeles.

He would introduce the Strip to the wonders of David Bowie—and later Iggy Pop, Blondie, and New Wave acts. Inside the Disco, legendary groupies like Lori Maddox, Pamela Des Barres, and Sable Starr danced in sequin pants and halter tops, attempting to get the attention of rockers like Rod Stewart or Robert Plant. In November 1973, writer Richard Cromelin reported in the Los Angeles Times:

Once inside, everybody’s a star. The social rules are simple but rigid: All you want to hear is how fabulous you look, so you tell them how fabulous they look. You talk about how bored you are, coming here night after night, but that there’s no place else to go. If you’re not jaded, there’s something wrong. It’s good to come in very messed up on some kind of pills every once in a while, and weekend nights usually see at least one elaborate, tearful fight or breakdown.

The Disco, which included regulars like The Runaways’ Joan Jett, Lita Ford, and Cherie Currie, even enticed the King himself to find out what all the fuss was about. “Elvis Presley came in, and they I.D. him,” Martino recalls. “And he actually left his license at the front while he went in and hung out for a while… he left his license there—I think Rodney still has it.”

The scene was just as intense over at The Rainbow, a mock Tudor-style Italian restaurant with a dance floor upstairs. Opened in 1972 by Whisky impresarios Mario Maglieri and Elmer Valentine, it was financed by a group including Lou Adler and press agent Bob Gibson. The Rainbow served as what Walker calls a “round table of LA’s rock elite.” It was soon a popular hangout for the likes of John Belushi, Elton John, Ringo Starr, and John Lennon.

But not everyone was impressed with the rarified air of the Rainbow. “It is a hellish place, desperate and crowded and it means you aren’t satisfied with your friends if you have to drink with them at the Rainbow,” writer and socialite Eve Babitz wrote in Eve’s Hollywood. “It’s no fun.”

After the clubs had closed for the night, the stars and their paramours decamped to hotels like Chateau Marmont and the Continental Hyatt House, which earned its nickname as the “Riot House” with its balcony antics alone.

According to Walker, teenage waifs like Morgana Welch, part of a pack of groupies known as the “LA Queens,” spent their days in the coffee shop of the Hyatt House, waiting for their rock gods to check-in and check them out. Today, the Hyatt House is the Andaz West Hollywood. It’s still a hotel, but it’s missing its most defining feature. “When the Andaz took it over, they took out the balconies,” Martino says. “That was probably smart!”

During the ’70s, the Strip musical scene evolved from rock and glam to punk. With the dawn of the 1980s, a new musical genre was germinating on the Strip—glam metal—which would soon take over the clubs on Sunset and charts across America.

In 1981, three young punks named Vince Neil, Tommy Lee, and Nikki Sixx (who had spent part of his itinerant childhood living in the Strip’s Sunset Tower) moved into a house at 1124 North Clark Street, directly above the Strip. As members of the band Motley Crue, they were making a name for themselves on the Strip, while living in a filthy house, swarming with roaches and vermin, which became party central for the likes of David Lee Roth. Neil recalled the scene in the band’s autobiography The Dirt:

We played the Whisky, half the crowd would come back to our house and drink and do blow, smack, Percodan, quaaludes, and whatever else we could get for free… There would be members of punk-scene remnants like 45 Grave and the Circle Jerks coming to our almost nightly parties while guys in metal newborns like Ratt and W.A.S.P. spilled out into the courtyard and the street. Girls would arrive in shifts. One would be climbing out the window while another was coming in the door.

It was while playing at the Whisky one night that Motley Crue was discovered after a record scout noticed hundreds of kids waiting in line, clad in tight leather with high teased hair. The Crue was soon one of the biggest bands in America and the new kings of the Sunset Strip. “We’d get drunk, do crazy amounts of cocaine and walk the circuit in stiletto heels, stumbling all over the place,” Neil wrote. “The Sunset Strip was a cesspool of depravity.”

With the success of other hair bands like W.A.S.P., The L.A. Guns, and, later, Faster Pussycat and Poison, the Strip was soon teeming with aspiring glam rock stars and their adoring fans. Strip record stores like Licorice Pizza and Tower Records became important social gathering places for stars and teenage star-gazers alike.

“Tower Records… was where everybody went to get their records,” Martino says. “Everybody from Elton John to David Bowie to Van Halen, they were all in Tower Records. I saw all of them there, buying their own records. I remember seeing Valerie Bertinelli with her mother at Tower Records the week that ‘Jump!’ came out. They used to have on the wall all the number one singles. I remember she went up to the cover of the ‘Jump!’ 45 and turned it around to see Eddie’s face and left it that way.”

According to Martino, both Axl Rose and Slash did their time working at Tower Records before Guns N’ Roses took off, and they weren’t the only ones. “Every musician and struggling band worked at Tower Records,” she recalls. “It looked like a metal band when you walked in. The employees all looked like members of Motley Crue! They all had their own bands, and you would walk in and buy records, and they would hand you their band’s flyer and put it in your bag.”

The advertising continued into the Tower parking lot, another popular hangout. “You’d walk out from buying your records, and flyers were all over your cars—all metal bands,” Martino says. “They’re valuable now those fliers, but back then you either threw them away, or you just drove off with them on your car, and they flew off.”

Slash, Steven Adler, and Izzy Stradlin backstage before a sold out show at the Roxy in 1986.

Getty Images

The Strip followed the trends of the decade. “The ’70s were gritty,” Martino says. “Then the ’80s got very decadent.” Tattoo parlors were everywhere; Motley Crue loved their tattoo artist from Sunset Strip Tattoo so much, they brought him on tour.

On the weekends, the Strip was crowded with teenagers cruising up and down its 1.7 miles. “Headbangers would all go up and walk from Gazzarri’s. They’d walk up and down and up and down. It was like a party on the street. The ’60s was the hippie movement,” Martino says, laughing. “This was the hair band movement!”

Poison frontman Bret Michaels told Rolling Stone about the first time he and his Pennsylvania bandmates caught sight of the fabled stretch of Sunset. “When we finally pulled onto the Strip it was, ‘Holy shit!’” he recalled. “We’re driving past the Rainbow, Gazzarri’s, the Roxy, the Whisky, and there’s gotta be, like, 100,000 people walking around. And they all look like they’re in a band. For a bunch of small-town guys, that’s a lot to take in.”

Over at the venerable Rainbow, the scene had gone from the rock ‘n’ roll elite to a scene of glam metal stars and strivers. Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee remembered:

When the clubs began to close, we’d go to the Rainbow. The place was set up like a circle, with the coolest rockers and richest deviants sitting at the center tables. Guys had to be twenty-one to come into the club, but girls could be eighteen. The guys would sit at their regular spots and the girls would walk around the ring until they were called over to someone’s empty chair... Afterward, everyone would spill out into the parking lot: Randy Rhoads, Ozzy Osbourne’s guitarist, would be hanging upside down from a tree screaming while junkies tried to score dope and everyone else tried to scam on girls.

No open space on the Strip was safe from the mayhem. “I saw so many people f*** on the lawns behind Gazzarri’s that I actually got bored of watching and started to throw empty beer cans at them,” Ratt frontman Stephen Pearcy wrote in his autobiography Sex, Drugs, Ratt & Roll: My Life in Rock.

“We’d get drunk, do crazy amounts of cocaine and walk the circuit in stiletto heels, stumbling all over the place,” Motley Crue’s lead singer wrote in the band’s biography. “The Sunset Strip was a cesspool of depravity.”

There was also violence. Hot-headed and fueled by cocaine and alcohol, rock stars like the Motley Crue guys frequently got in brutal fights in both Strip clubs and parking lots. Amid all this madness, West Hollywood, and therefore the Sunset Strip, finally became a town.

“In 1984, a coalition of gay men, Russian Jews and the elderly, spurred by the imminent expiration of L.A. County’s rent control protections, successfully held a vote to officially incorporate the area as the City of West Hollywood, electing a city council with an openly gay majority and immediately passing a series of rent control measures to protect its longtime citizens,” according to the city of West Hollywood.

The era of glam metal would be the last gasp of lawlessness on the Sunset Strip. While the tragic 1982 drug overdose of John Belushi at Chateau Marmont had done little to pause the debauchery, the advent of the grunge movement and the senseless overdose of River Phoenix in front of The Viper Room in 1993 seemed to signal the end of an era.

Over the past 30 years, the Strip has become increasingly staid and upscale as rents have gone up and big business has taken over.

“I’m afraid it’s just becoming hotel row,” Martino says. “I’m very nervous about the future of Sunset Strip. I grew up off Sunset Strip. I still live off Sunset Strip. There are many ghosts on this boulevard. And I will not go anywhere. I’ll still be here. But I don’t go as often as I used to. There’s really not a destination. On a Friday night in the 1980s it was: ‘What do you want to do?’ ‘Let’s go to the Strip!’ I don’t think anybody does that today.”

Source: https://la.curbed.com/2019/3/21/18270439/sunset-strip-motley-crue-the-roxy

[ferrybaker0-blog]

Farhan Zaidi's Giants roster will emphasize positional versatility

Farhan Zaidi's Giants roster will emphasize positional versatility originally appeared on nbcsportsbayarea.com

SAN FRANCISCO - The ritual is the same every spring. 

Position players love to show off their new gloves, and once or twice a week at Scottsdale Stadium you'll see them actually take those dreams of versatility onto the field. Brandon Belt will shag fly balls during batting practice. Corner outfielders will see what the view is like from center field. Austin Slater does drills at second base, his former position. Pablo Sandoval moves all over. Anyone who catches or plays third base does work with Ron Wotus at first. Back when Hector Sanchez was a Giant, he would regularly take grounders - just in case.

These are fun stories in the spring. Distractions from the tedious daily work. But in the Farhan Zaidi Era, you can no longer shelve those spare gloves on Opening Day. 

Zaidi's Dodgers were famous for their versatility. On Wednesday, on the Giants Insider Podcast, he said that will be part of a new Giants roster. 

"There are certainly going to be chances to add guys," he said, "and positional versatility will certainly be something we look at as a positive."

[RELATED: How Giants lured Farhan Zaidi from Dodgers as new president of baseball ops]

The Dodgers moved players around more effectively than anyone. Kiké Hernandez and Chris Taylor are Swiss army knives, capable of playing all over the outfield and middle infield, and playing those spots well. Cody Bellinger moves back and forth from first base to center field. Max Muncy made double-digit starts at first, second and third and also played a few innings in left. Backup catcher Austin Barnes made six starts at second base. Kyle Farmer, another backup catcher, made 14 starts at third base. 

It went on and on for the Dodgers. Zaidi said he viewed versatility as a strength for a couple of reasons. 

"One is, it just insulates you from injuries better," he said. "When you have a bunch of guys that serve as interchangeable pieces for the manager, when you have an injury, a lot of times you don't have to go get another second baseman. There are two other guys on the team that can occupy that position.

"Secondly, when you start looking at off days and making sure that everybody on your roster is getting adequate rest, the ability of guys to play multiple positions gives you more opportunities to do that."

[RATTO: Farhan Zaidi has been given a massive task: Make the Giants cool again]

There's another reason Zaidi likes moving guys around. He believes there's an off-field effect. 

"I do think it has a cultural impact on a roster when players move around and they don't identify as 'I'm the shortstop and I'm the third baseman.' You're just a baseball player and you're part of the team and you do whatever the team asks or needs of you, and that creates a different kind of culture that I think is really conducive to a winning environment," he said. 

To pull this off, Zaidi will need to overhaul the roster a bit. There are guys - Belt, Buster Posey, Sandoval, etc. - who have moved around during games in the past, and utility types like Slater, Alen Hanson and Abiatal Avelino will have increased value. But for the most part, Bruce Bochy's in-game lineup decisions haven't been complicated.

"When you look at the [Giants] infield you've got established players that are kind of single-position guys," Zaidi said. "Look, Corey Seager is a shortstop and he played shortstop for the Dodgers before he was hurt and there wasn't much of an inclination to move him around. When you have everyday players of that caliber, the versatility is maybe less relevant, but on the same token I think this is a roster that can use some multi-position guys on the infield to keep those guys fresh and maybe play matchups a little bit more and give some of the lefties days off against tough left-handed pitching and vice versa."

The easiest moves to make right away will be in the outfield. Bochy has always been willing to experiment in left, and Zaidi sounds eager to give his manager a few more bat-first options who can handle the field's easiest position. 

"I think there are opportunities to bring in some guys into that mix who have a chance to really impact the team offensively," he said. "Corner outfield is really the lowest hanging fruit in terms of when you're trying to add offensive impact to the lineup."

[RELATED: Giants' Farhan Zaidi goes for fourth fantasy football title with Dodgers]

Source: https://sports.yahoo.com/farhan-zaidis-giants-emphasize-positional-234411332.html?src=rss

[ferrybaker0-blog]

Anthony Davis, Rich Paul mocked by teams, agents for no deadline trade

Anthony Davis, Rich Paul mocked by teams, agents for no deadline trade originally appeared on nbcsportsboston.com

Twitter wasn't only the place having fun at the expense of the Los Angeles Lakers, Anthony Davis and his agent Rich Paul after the New Orleans Pelicans center was not dealt by Thursday's NBA trade deadline.

ESPN's Brian Windhorst recently revealed on his podcast, "Brian Windhorst and the Hoop Collective," that several people from around the league reached out to him and mocked Davis and his agent. 

"I couldn't believe how my phone blew up at 3 p.m. (Thursday) with people mocking Anthony Davis and Rich Paul," Windhorst said. "Agents, other teams, league officials saying, 'Boy, they really screwed up.'"

Paul clearly didn't play this situation well.

He revealed Davis' trade request the Monday before the Super Bowl, giving the Pelicans less than two weeks to pull off a trade. It was made clear the Los Angeles Lakers were Davis' preferred destination, but New Orleans didn't seem to have much of an interest in dealing with L.A. 

There also were plenty of leaks about Davis not wanting to play with the Boston Celtics, likely in an attempt to make the Pelicans trade with the Lakers before the deadline. The Celtics couldn't acquire Davis via trade before the deadline because of a league rule, but they likely will get their shot at him this summer and can put together a much better package of assets than the Lakers.

Davis might still end up with the Lakers, either in a trade or by signing as a free agent in 2020, but it's pretty obvious his camp didn't handle the pre-deadline period well at all. And as a result, Davis could end up on the Celtics with Kyrie Irving and prolonging the Lakers' search for a second superstar to pair with LeBron James. 

 Click here to download the new MyTeams App by NBC Sports! Receive comprehensive coverage of your teams and stream the Celtics easily on your device.

Source: https://sports.yahoo.com/anthony-davis-rich-paul-mocked-173444014.html?src=rss

[ferrybaker0-blog]

La agresividad de Kuzma paga grandes dividendos

EL SEGUNDO – La victoria de los Lakers el sábado ante los Pelicans le devolvió la sonrisa a un plantel lagunero que venía un tanto cabizbajo.

La magra cosecha en la gira de carretera (récord de 1-3), y un virus que afectó a una buena parte del plantel vislumbraba un panorama complicado en el regreso a STAPLES Center. Sin embargo, la aparición de Ivica Zubac, los regresos de Rajon Rondo y Brandon Ingram, y un gran esfuerzo de LeBron James (enfermo) y Kyle Kuzma (golpe en la cadera) alcanzaron para poder dejar atrás a Anthony Davis y su tropa.

Kuzma fue el goleador de los angelinos con 23 puntos, y hasta se dio el lujo de concretar una gran volcada sobre el mismísimo Davis. Y como no podía ser de otra forma, el ala-pivot no dejó pasar la oportunidad de subir la foto del momento a su cuenta de Instagram.

Como ya es costumbre, sus compañeros no tardaron en responderle, con Ingram y James burlándose de su falta de imaginación a la hora de titular la foto.

El propio Davis se sumó a las bromas, escribiendo que no saltó de verdad a tratar de frenarlo, causando la risa de Kuzma.

Nuestro Ty Nowell de Lakers.com capturó la secuencia desde todos los ángulos:

Lo que hay que mencionar esas volcadas electrizantes de Kuzma son cada vez más comunes, un producto de la agresividad que ha mostrado en las últimas semanas.

Y es que en lo que va del mes de diciembre, el producto de Utah promedia 22.8 puntos, 6.7 rebotes y 3.2 asistencias en 35.4 minutos por partido, disparando 51.2 por ciento en tiros de cancha, 33.3 por ciento en triples y un excelente 88.6 por ciento en la línea de tiros libres.

Las lesiones de Ingram y Rondo obligaron a Walton a darle más protagonismo, y el oriundo de Flint (Michigan) respondió de gran forma. Y ante los Pelicans, sus regresos no parecieron afectarle de ninguna forma.

La gran mejora en su labor defensiva es algo que ya destacamos este mes, al igual que la diversificación de su estrategia ofensiva. Kuzma continúa evolucionando, y a medida que lo hace su confianza sigue creciendo.

Y por si les queda alguna, les dejamos un compacto de sus clavadas de diciembre.

Source: https://www.nba.com/lakers/news/espanol/181222volcadaskuzma

[ferrybaker0-blog]

Who's Brokering Los Angeles (October 29): Eli Karon

Douglas Elliman

With a total transaction volume for the past 12 months of more than $39.27 million, the key quality that have led to Eli Karon’s success in a competitive and saturated real estate market has been caring deeply about each client and transaction. Karon’s clients work with him because they trust he always has their best interests in mind, which he considers 100% of the time. Karon strives to see more homes than any other agent as he believes there’s no substitute for knowledge. He also makes sure he works alongside a great team, from business partners to team coordinators to marketing and listing coordinators. Perhaps his most unique deal was a “home swap,” where his clients were selling a $2.1 million home and buying a $4 million home. The seller of the $4 million home was buying the clients’ $2.1 million home. Essentially they traded places, so coordinating the move-outs was unique and tricky but Karon managed all the moving parts and resulted in a win-win for everyone involved.

Return to Index

Source: http://labusinessjournal.com/news/2018/oct/30/whos-brokering-los-angeles-october-29-eli-karon/

[ferrybaker0-blog]

Rappahannock Oyster Bar (Los Angeles, CA)

Rappahannock Oyster Bar at ROW DTLA 787 S Alameda St, Los Angeles, CA 90021 323.435.4004 www.rappbardtla.com / www.rroysters.com/restaurants/rappoysterbardtla Sun 08/12/2018, 07:30p-10:15p

[Note: Nick Erven has apparently left the restaurant since the writing of this entry.]

We last reported on Nick Erven back in August 2016, shortly after he'd opened Erven, his eponymous vegan joint in Santa Monica. People really seemed to enjoy it, but the spot just couldn't survive, and ended up closing at the start of this year, not long after the Chef started consulting for The Venue in Koreatown. Following the shutter, it was announced that Erven would be leading the team at the upcoming Rappahannock Oyster Bar at ROW DTLA, and the restaurant eventually opened at the start of May for lunch, with dinner coming a month later. We recently paid the place a visit for a birthday celebration.

A bit of history: Rappahannock actually traces its history back to 1899, when James Arthur Croxton Jr. (the current owners' great-grandfather) started an oyster business. He ran the company with son William Arthur Croxton Sr. until he passed away in 1961, while William himself passed in 1991. In 2001, cousins Ryan Croxton and Travis Croxton decided to revive the family business, and renewed their grandfather's oyster bed leases. Following, they began experimenting with oyster farming, and were able to starting selling product in 2005. The two were key in putting Virginia oysters on the culinary map, and in the process, they also helped revive and restore the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem.

The Croxtons' next step was to get into the restaurant business. They teamed up with Scott Croxton (another cousin) and the three purchased a property near their oyster beds, which they turned into Merroir in 2011. The "tasting room" was a success, and was followed up by the first Rappahannock Oyster Bar in DC's Union Market in September 2012. Rappahannock Restaurant in Richmond, VA arrived in December that year with Jonathan Staples--husband of Hilda Staples (Volt, Family Meal, Rogue 24, Graffiato, Aggio)--on board as a minority partner. The adjacent Rapp Session opened in February 2016, while Charleston's Rappahannock Oyster Bar dropped in March 2017. There's another Oyster Bar in the works for DC's Wharf as well, slated to debut later this year.

Travis has also expanded (sans cousins) into non-Rappahannock restaurants, collaborating with Derek Brown in 2013 on Eat the Rich (and oyster-slash-cocktail bar) and Southern Efficiency (a whiskey bar) in DC's Shaw district. He also got a piece of Graffito's (now-closed) Richmond expansion and opened two Rocksalts: one in Charlottesville, VA in September 2014 and one in Charlotte, NC in February 2015. Also in his portfolio is GWARbar in Richmond, VA (January 2015) and Brine in Fairfax, VA (May 2015).

Rappahannock DTLA was penned by Studio Unltd (Bavel, Dominique Ansel, The Rose Cafe, Otium, Chianina, MessHall, Bestia), and shows off a contemporary maritime sort of aesthetic. The open kitchen and concomitant Carrara marble dining counter dominate the room, and there's considerable patio square footage out front as well.

Erven was given free rein on the menu, and as a result, the food turned out much more interesting than I was anticipating. Beverage-wise, we have a compact wine list and a decent array of beers too. Corkage is $25, and we were charged twice. Click for larger versions.

uni-corn [$17.00] | sea urchin, corn, piquillo hot sauce, cotija, smoky mayo The name "uni-corn" is utterly obvious now that I think about it, so I'm surprised that this was the first time seeing it on a menu. Moniker aside, the elote-esque dish worked things out, presenting a mash-up of corn and urchin sweetness with an omnipresent, lingering smoke and a touch of heat.

pork belly lettuce wraps [$9.00] | pineapple bbq, shishito, benne We ended up getting comped a couple dishes (birthday boy was a regular at Saint Martha), and the first was this ssam-like preparation of pork belly. I certainly didn't mind it, finding the heavy, hearty flavors of the meat surprisingly well-matched to the sweet-tangy BBQ sauce while the veggies provided the needed contrast.

blue corn hush puppies [$8.00] | smoked maple butter, lime The complimentary hushpuppies turned out to be some of the best I've had. They highlighted the actual corn really well, and worked beautifully with the sweetness of the paired butter. I appreciated the acidity provided by the pickled onions, too.

deviled eggs [$8.00] | smoked trout, house hot sauce Being the egg fiend that I am, this was a must-try for me. The eggs were on point texturally, and the yolk matched like clockwork with the smokiness from the trout roe. I would've liked more heat from the advertised hot sauce, however.

Our first beverage was the 2018 Modern Times Wizard & Graf: Chapter 2 with Cherries, a saison-apple cider hybrid aged in both clay amphoras and French oak with Montmorency and Balaton cherries, created in collaboration with Shacksbury Cider out of Vermont. Its nose was barnyard-y and sour, but with a distinct cherry note. Taste-wise, I got more tartness and funk commingled with a soft acidity, minerality, and a sweet cherried spice on the mid-palate.

large tower [$150.00] | 12 oyster, 6 scallop, 6 clam, 6 shrimp, hamachi, uni guac, caviar, lobster salad Given the number of people we had, we opted for the restaurant's large seafood tower. We'll start with the tower's lower level; clock-wise from left we had:

Rappahannock River Oysters - These were among the easiest-eating oysters I've had: soft, sweet, mild, with surprisingly little salt.

Rochambeau Oysters - I didn't get to try these, but from what I heard, they were clean and subtly briny, and went down pretty easy as well.

Olde Salts Oysters - I found these creamy at first, but this quickly transitioned to a strong, focused salinity that really stayed with me.

Peruvian Bay Scallops - With tarragon, poppy seed, yuzu juice, and burnt orange oil. Again, I wasn't able to try one due to the number of people we had in our party.

Clams - Super clean, with a sharp, oceany taste.

Shrimp - Fresh tasting for sure, but also just briny enough, with a citrusy tartness and an herbaceous, astringent character.

Accoutrements, meanwhile, included horseradish cream, maple-black pepper mignonette, kimchi mignonette, and "awesome sauce" (a Vietnamese-style ceviche sauce if I'm not mistaken).

And of course here's the upper level of the tower; clock-wise from left we had:

Hamachi, Sliced Plums, Watermelon Radishes, Serranos, Garlic Ponzu, Shiso - I got a nice depth from the soy here, along with a persistent heat on the finish thanks to those serranos. The other elements contributed a bevy of contrasting tart, tangy notes that I appreciated as well.

Caviar, Crema, Toast - I was a fan of how in-your-face salty the caviar was, and how that was tempered by the lushness of the cream and the bit of toast on the bottom.

Uni Guacamole with Masa Fries - Fries were crispy and wonderfully corn-forward, and went swimmingly with that zippy guac.

Lobster Salad - Typically found in the lobster roll at lunch, this was delightfully sweet, creamy, and clean.

crispy brussels sprouts [$14.00] | dill-tofu ranch, trout roe, "everything spice" The Brussels delivered, no doubt. All the smoke and char and crunch and bitterness that I wanted was there in spades, evened out by that "ranch" while the red onions provided a welcomed sharpness to things.

grilled octopus [$19.00] | lobster rice, chili pepper, sauce nero I had to get the octo of course, which I did not regret. It was super savory, but also super tender, with a lovely hit of citrus that served as a great accent piece. The lobster rice was unexpected, but worked as a rich, creamy, cozy complement.

Our next beer was the 2017 Modern Times Swift Midday Brilliance, a sour blonde-sour saison blend, fermented with Saccharo/Brett/Lacto, then aged in white wine barrels with mangoes. It smelled tart and Bretty for sure, but with the sweetness of the fruit peeking through. On the palate I found sourness and acidity initially, along with rich, true-to-life mango flavors coming through toward the back end.

"loaded" potato latke [$16.00] | bacon, scallion, crispy cheddar, crème fraiche, caviar Here was a mash-up of a latke and Waffle House hash browns, a wondrous mélange of potato, pork, cheese, cream, and salt that I found utterly gratifying. A favorite of mine.

cheddar biscuits [$9.00] | kimchi, smoked apple butter Erven's biscuits were ostensibly inspired by Red Lobster's Cheddar Bay examples. They were soft yet crispy, and buttery certainly, and had a flavor profile that reminded me of Chinese cong you bing, which I loved. Delish alone, but even better with a dab of that sweet 'n' smoky butter on the side.

burrata [$15.00] | heirloom tomato, cucumber, crispy pita, olives, red wine vinaigrette This panzanella-ish salad was a pleasant surprise. The burrata was as cool and creamy as you'd expect, and really worked as a foil to the potency of the olives. The veggies provided further contrast to the dish, and I was a big fan of those crunchy shards of pita, too.

lambs and clams [$24.00] | fennel, fingerlings, poached egg, grilled bread Erven's take on a Rappahannock staple was a monochromatic affair, but fortunately it tasted better than it looked. The crux was the balancing act between the brine of the clams and the savory depth of the lamb, with the potato serving as a moderating element. The fennel, meanwhile, added a welcomed zinginess to the dish.

The evening's final beverage was the 2017 Modern Times Expulsion of the Princes, a blended, red wine barrel-aged, Lacto/Pedio/Brett-fermented dark sour ale with blueberries and blackberries. Aromas were on the vinous side, with dark berry fruit, leather, and light grain. In terms of taste, I got more of that rich, jammy berry alongside light smoke, light acidity, and a crisp-drying character.

eggplant [$15.00] | chili-hoisin, lettuce, cucumber, radish Here was the most overtly Asian-y dish of the night. We had what seemed like an entire eggplant, a meaty, satisfying specimen doused with the familiar, dark-toned savoriness of hoisin. It was some pretty heady stuff, so the veggies on top were crucial as a counterweight.

shrimp and grits [$22.00] | anson mills grits, benton's bacon, corn succotash, chili butter, sunny egg Last up was the Chef's version of a Lowcountry classic. It was a homey, comforting dish, the well-spiced grits meshing well with the sweetness of corn and the considerable brine of the shrimp (which, I will say, were a touch over).

Since this was a birthday dinner, one of my dining companions ended up preparing a coconut cheesecake with passion fruit. It was actually one of the best cheesecakes I've had in a while. I found it relatively airy, with a good back-and-forth between sweet and tart, while the crumbly crust was thoroughly enjoyable. The key, though, was the subtlety and finesse of the coconut, which served as the perfect accent to the classically rich, creamy nature of the cake. Note that the circular depressions on the surface of the cake were due to non-edible, succulent-themed decorations that were removed.

Given my preconceived notions of Rappahannock, I was expecting some fairly prototypical East Coast seafood from this place. However, I should have known better with Erven in command of the kitchen. Even though Rappahannock's sort of a chain restaurant, the place felt distinct, unique, "LA" if you will. Certainly, the food is centered on the classics, with a lot of Southern influence to be sure, but you'll also find plenty of contemporary details and multicultural leanings that touch upon the diversity of Los Angeles. This was my first meal at the new ROW development, and it's a promising start.

Source: http://www.kevineats.com/2018/08/rappahannock-oyster-bar-los-angeles-ca.html