David Theiss

The “Summer of LeBron” is on and each team with any shred of hope of signing the King of Cleveland basketball has made their trek to the LRMR facility to make their plea.  Each team came in with their own angle to appeal to LeBron. It leaked earlier today that the New York Knicks played the money angle citing that LeBron could make $1 billion plus by signing with the Knicks.

The Cavs appealed to his heartstrings.  Home.  Below is part of the video that the Cavaliers organization showed LeBron during their pitch on Saturday morning and now appears on the Cavaliers homepage.  In a bizarre way, it’s a little emotional to watch.  Will it work?  We may find out sooner rather than later.

Katie and I decided to take a night to ourselves, which for whatever reason, happens less and less these days.  Since we rarely get to spend any meaningful time together, we decided to go to a quick dinner and then see a movie – the former of my choosing and the latter of hers.

The Tremont TapHouse

For dinner, we went to the Tremont TapHouse – a little bar-slash-restaurant situated in the trendy and perpetually up-and-coming Tremont neighborhood of Cleveland.  I went there after a late-night walk in the rain and really enjoyed the beer list and the pierogies I ordered – and since I’m really not into spending a ton of money on dinner with a big fat wedding bill looming later next year, I really dug the prices, as well.

Once we got there we were immediately struck by how crowded it was – bustling I think would be the term.  It was filled with groups of young professionals, all with Blackberry’s in tow, enjoying each other’s company and an end-of-the-week cocktail.  We snagged the last free table near the back and ordered our food.  We both got burgers so I’m not going to spend a whole lot of time on that.  They were both really good, the place was great with a fun atmosphere, we both really liked it.

The Invention of Lying

Starring: Ricky Gervais, Jennifer Garner, Jonah Hill, Louis C.K., Rob Lowe

Directed By: Ricky Gervais and Matthew Robinson

Next, we shot on over to the glitzy and glamorous Crocker Park Cinema in Manhattan Westlake to see UK Office genius Ricky Gervais‘ new comedy, “The Invention of Lying” – a film which takes place in a world where no one has the ability to lie and everyone tells everyone exactly what they’re feeling.  Gervais plays a frumpy “Lecture Films” writer who, after a horribly deflating date with Jennifer Garner, is fired from his job and learns that virtually no one likes him.  While drowning his sorrows, his brain clicks into gear and he stumbles upon the first lie mankind has ever heard.  Naturally, everyone believes him, and thus begin the shenanigans.

Gervais is his usual brilliant self.  He is self-deprecating, relatable, hysterical, and neurotic all at the same time.  His verbal ticks and subtle traits are in full force and are just as funny as the have always been.  He even gets to display some of his dramatic chops in a pretty touching hospital scene that really serves as the center of the entire film.  He is a natural comic actor and there needs to be more movies that center around him like this film and the extremely underrated “Ghost Town.”

Other than the rock-solid Gervias, the movie is full of surprises.  The first curveball the movie throws is the fact that it’s chock-full of huge movie stars who pop-up in small bit parts.  See if you can spot Edward Norton and Phillip Seymor-Hoffman in quick hitter roles – Johah Hill, Rob Lowe, Tina Fey, Jeffrey Tambour, Jason Bateman, and Gervais’s Office writing partner Steven Merchant all turn up and are all memorable without distracting from the story or the stars.

The second surprise is kind of new age message of the film.  The movie’s plot centers almost entirely around religion and the meaning of life and death.  They movie mocks and derides religion and its social purpose pretty overtly, which could turn some people off (no problem with me, however).  What is disappointing about this is that while death and religion are pretty heady issues to tackle, the movie doesn’t really have anything new or original or clever to say on the subjects and the movie devolves into a predictably  formulaic final reel that mildly disappoints.  In all though, “The Invention of Lying” is a nice little movie.  We both really enjoyed it as well.

In all, it was a lovely, and much needed, night out.

My Grade (for the movie not the entire night): B

I’ve been gone for a long time.  And it’s not because I’m lazy or because I forgot about the site, it’s just because I haven’t felt all that strongly about anything as of late that warranted a half an hour to sit and write.  There’s not a whole lot going on that I can see, but there are a few quick thoughts that should at least hold me (and presumably the seven people that read this) over until my next go-around at whatever hot button tickles my fancy.  Here are some quick thoughts:

• The Cleveland Browns: I went to the Brown and White Scrimmage on Sunday (August 9th) to check out the new look team.  Some things I took away from the practice: 1.) Both quarterbacks – Brady and DA – looked below average, but with the 51 yard TD pass on his first play, Brady has the early advantage, 2.) the WR Mohamed Massaquoi looks like a stud, and 3.) Braylon Edwards, it seems, has no desire to even try – he caught one ball and rode the bike.  It also looked like he was jawing at Derek Anderson after he neglected to throw him the ball on every play – stay tuned.
• Politics: The far right fringe is dominating and winning the health care debate.  They’ve successfully made the Obama Health Care Plan (even though there isn’t one yet) look like the devil incarnate.  Death Panels, “communal standards,” care rationing, the elimination of Medicare and Medicaid, and euthanasia – none of which are in any bill in any committee in either house of Congress.  The Republicans that Big Pharma and the insurance companies bought during the 90′s and the Bush Administration are going all in to destroy Health Care Reform – and right now, they’re succeeding.
• Music: Miley Cyrus’s new song “Party in the USA” rocks hard.  I don’t like her or the type of music she makes, but it’s one of those surprise songs that kind of hits you – kind of like everything Kelly Clarkson has ever released.  Love it.  Listen.
• Music: I saw The Low Anthem in concert last Wednesday (August 5th) and really liked it.  I was disappointed they didn’t play any of their more raucous songs (“The Horizon is a Beltway,” or “Home I’ll Never Be”) but it was still a really enjoyable time – even if the crowd was a tad on the rude side.  Plus, hearing “To Ohio” played in Ohio for the first time ever was pretty memorable, too.
• Music: Eminem is back at Mariah Carey with his new diss track “The Warning.”  It’s juvinile and stupid – and really, really awesome and hilarious.
• Movies: I haven’t seen any.  I used to love movies and going to see them, but the stuff that’s being put out recently hasn’t gotten me up and to the theaters.  Even movies I really looked forward to like “Bruno” and “Whatever Works” couldn’t get me to the theater.  Note to self: make a more concerted effort to get to the movies in the near future.  I do want to see “The Time Traveler’s Wife,” but I’d say the chances are pretty slim of that happening.
• Television: Big Brother, while it’s not an all time great season like Season 6, it’s still more than excellent.  For some strange reason I find myself really rooting for Jessie – and kind of Jeff – but Jessie mostly.  He’s been the most thoughtful player throughout, ironically.
• Video Games: All of my thoughts about video games will be dated by about two years since I’ve only had my Xbox for about 6 months and I’m catching up on all the must play titles I’ve missed.  But I just finished Half Life 2, which I liked a lot (much more than BioShock) even though it was super, super easy.  It’s now time to pivot toward Mass Effect and maybe Madden 10 – I love my Xbox to death.
• Food: Katie and I went to the restaurant Fahrenheit in Tremont for our anniversary (our 8th) and we both really liked it.  I got the Halibut and she got Cheese Ravioli.  It was a little bit pricier than our last Tremont restaurant experience ($62 in total with no drinks and an appetizer), but it was well worth it and very, very good even thouh there were literally 2 other people in the entire place with us – I guess Monday night isn’t a cool night to go out.

That’s all I can muster right now.  Hopefully, something will happen that will warrant a full post in the near future.

I am by no means a restaurant connoisseur.  I don’t regularly go out to really fancy or well reviewed establishments which is why I stopped short of calling this post a review.  But let me tell you, Lolita’s in Tremont is an absolute delight in every way.  Anyone in the greater Cleveland area who isn’t familiar with it (which, I confess, are few) should absolutely check it out.

As a disclaimer I will say this: I’ve only been to this restaurant a single time.  I walked in with my girlfriend and walked out with my new fiancée, so any hysterical raving should be taken with a grain of salt, I suppose.  But I would be remissed if I didn’t write a short something about it.

Lolita is one of the two eateries in Cleveland helmed by Iron Chef and recent Beard Award winner Michael Symon.  The other is the swankier and much more expensive Symon flagship, Lola – hopefully I can get there sometime in the future, as well.  This guy is pretty much world renown for his culinary skills, so right away we knew we were in for a treat.

I called for reservations the day of at about 3 PM and booked my table for the earliest available time which was 9 PM.  It was later than I wanted, but at such short notice, I didn’t complain.  Once we got there everything was great.  The atmosphere was absolutely perfect – quiet, but not awkward.  The lights are dimmed to create a nice relaxed atmosphere, and the service was superb without making you feel like the servers were always breathing down your neck.  I ordered one drink (the Great Lakes Brewery thoroughbred Dortmunder Gold – $4) while my then girlfriend Katie, opted for water.  We ordered as follows:

Me: Hanger Steak - chickpeas, skordalia and pickled chilis.  Side: roasted potatoes ($18)

Katie: Pork Chop – squash puree, apples, watercress.  Side: roasted potatoes ($17)

I will go into no further detail except to say we were both absolutely thrilled with the food.  I ordered my steak medium rare, and was served perfectly as such.  Being pretty picky, I even loved the chickpeas that it was served with.  Katie also loved her pork chop, and with squash being one of her favorite foods, really enjoyed the puree.  The roasted potatoes that we both chose as our sides were excellent as well.  It cannot be overstated: the food was, in no uncertain terms, fantastic.

In all, we were more than satisfied – great food and a reasonable price ($43 pre-tip).  Anyone in the area should absolutely go.  Michael Symon is a local guy and believes in Cleveland enough to put two great restaurants in it.  Support the city when you can.

As each post should have picture, I’ve posted a shot of me and my fiancée shortly afterwards in front of the entrance.

We were happy.

Website: http://lolabistro.com/