June 2009

Pardon me for over-sharing

I might get a little too personal here for a moment. I’m sorry if it’s uncomfortable and I promise that this will end with a way for you to get free drinks. The thing is, last night I kind of felt like my life was not such a good one. Perhaps you can relate? There are some days that just feel bad. So, sitting alone with my computer, as is the modern way, I googled myself around until I found Ricky Gervais, simulating a conversation between Hitler and Nietzsche. His Nietzsche was scolding Hitler for so grossly misinterpreting his, Nietzsche’s, work. His Hitler hung his head in shame, mumbling the answers to questions, apologizing like a little child. It was funny, though my retelling might not quite be hitting its mark, and, forgetting all the endless loops of banal yuckiness that had been swirling around in my head, I laughed out loud.

Maybe you agree with my idea that comedy can save us all, maybe you just think it’s fun to laugh. Either way, what I have to tell you is that, as a guest of this hotel, and thanks to some super secretive backroom negotiations between our beloved, though somewhat shady, general manager and her Rooster T. Feathers counterpart, you, as a guest of our hotel, are welcome to go for free to this, our friendly neighborhood comedy club. And, as I hinted at above, you even get a free drink, to help get you in the mood. So, enjoy! (And I promise that this will be the last time I try to foist any of my half-baked-modern-world-coping-mechanism/improvised spirituality on you!)

Nature for the Tired

Here is yet another in all the many ways to divide people into two groups: those who relax through activity and those who relax through inactivity. My boyfriend, for example, when he’s been working too much and feels depleted and stressed out, wants nothing more than to wake up at 4am and spend 12 hours climbing the nearest mountain he can find. My mother, by contrast, would spend that same day in bed watching re-runs of Law & Order. They both seem equally refreshed the following day. Having now accompanied both through several of each of these “rest days,” I notice one advantage that he has over her, namely, that he takes in views of spectacular, nearly untouched nature while she sits and watches one murder after another. But what’s a hard working lady to do if the only way she can get the rest she so deserves is by, well, resting?

The answer is Muir Woods! This park is home to a large stretch of California’s old growth redwood trees, some of which are up to 2500 year old. This type of tree is the tallest in the world and third on the longevity list and can only be found on the California coastline (well, and stretching up a little bit into Oregon, too, but the point remains). This, then, is a genuinely rare natural spectacle and I mention it here because of its accessibility. You just drive right in, park your car and the trees are there. There’s a well-maintained, flat path, clearly marked with small wooden fences and, just on the other side of those fences, are some of the oldest, tallest trees in the world. A motivated person could hike further in, it’s true, but there is no special prized attraction waiting for him at the end, it’s all right there at the very beginning. It’s not quite as easy as Law & Order, I know Mom, but, really, it’s not so very much harder either.

What makes him so special?

Pee Wee, our brilliantly nicknamed bartender who you may only know as Dave, tried to escape once. A couple of years into what is now an eight year tenure with us, he just up and left. Moved to Austin, Texas, which, I think, already shows how difficult it was for him to make the separation. To just go find a bar in another neighborhood would have been too difficult, he had to find one in a different state. Fine. In the modern world, people come and go, nothing is permanent. We tried to let go of him as he was letting go of us.

But it was too much. About a year into the rift, our dear general manager went to Austin, ostensibly on other business, and set up a casual dinner with Pee Wee, because she was in his neighborhood, she says. Only they know what passed between them that night, what tales of shared pain and mutual longing, but back he came.

And why, you ask, did we find him so irreplaceable? Well, maybe instead of asking me, you should ask one of our regular guests, who has Pee Wee take his, the guest’s, guitar home to his, Pee Wee’s, house when said guest goes back to his own proper home. Or any of the others, guests and co-workers alike, who trust him, not with their guitars, but with their life’s ambitions and secret loves. Pee Wee’s casual generosity and easy confidence are huge assets to the general project of this hotel, which is to make a genuine community out of a business. So, he was worth the fight.

Il Postal

For me, the best thing about having lunch or dinner at Il Postal, is doing it as someone coming from this hotel. Of all the relationships that we, as a business, have with other businesses in the area, this is among, if not the, most genuine. Our dear general manager has been known to call her Il Postal counterpart at odd hours of the night with, for example, a desperate request for several pans of bread pudding, ASAP, and has found herself met with the accommodating kindness she does not deserve in such circumstances. Said Il Postal manager, for his part, has been known to call our sales manager on occasion when he’s looking for someone to have a beer with. I would not think the word friendship would be inappropriate, even. And those relationships are ours to take advantage of! Try it out for yourself! Go into Il Postal and tell them you’re our guest, and then pay attention to the difference between the service you get and the service all the other diners are getting. Not that anyone else is being treated badly, but we all know what it is to get special treatment. It feels nice, especially when you’re away from home and finding your comfort is not as easy.

Il Postal, as you may have gotten from its name, is an Italian restaurant. The food is excellent, the space small and elegant. In the summer there’s a sunny patio to sit on. You would want to go here anyway, I assure you, it just happens to come with the extra added bonus of unearned friendship and preferential treatment.

Honest, Rational Attempts at Pinot Noir

The makers of Saintsbury Wine are interested in pinot noir, not quite exclusively, but almost. More specifically, they are interested in proving that grapes grown in the region they grow in, Carneros, can produce pinot noirs as good as their Burgundian counterparts. Both of the founders of Saintsbury are scientists, and the pragmatism and single-mindedness of science can be seen throughout this quest. Right now, for example, the most prominent feature on their website is a review acknowledging the improvement, over the years, of their pinots. The reviewer likes the 2007 product, but speaks favorably about it at the expense of the efforts of nearly all previous years’ wines. But, he goes pretty far into describing pinot noir cultivation in the region and commends Saintsbury for their work in general. Would another winery display such an article so visibly?

And then there are the screw-top bottles. True, Saintsbury makes three classes of wines and the screw-tops are only found on those in the lowest price range, but the lowest priced Saintsbury wine is still $20 a bottle and with Trader Joe’s Two Buck Chuck holding strong with corked bottles, it’s really not industry standard yet. But, here again, nerdy pragmatism prevails over the pretensions of their industry. A top that unscrews is infinitely easier than manipulating a cork, and so they are making wines with screw-tops.

And over at the Cupertino Inn

You can follow your night at the comedy club with a game of pictionary. Why doesn't the Grand have board games? Visit www.cupertinoinn.com to inquire further.