Chinese Food And A Movie — Merry Christmas

the big short movie poster portraitTonight, Stef, Helaine and I celebrated the great Christmas tradition our ancestors brought from the old country–a movie and Chinese food!

OK, maybe not that long a tradition. Tradition nonetheless.

First stop, Adam McKay’s “The Big Short,” with Steve Carell, Brad Pitt, Christian Bale and Ryan Gosling. It’s the mainly true story of the Wall Street meltdown as seen by the few who forecast it correctly.

This is a director’s movie with the help of a very good cast–especially Steve Carell. I’ve liked him since The Daily Show, but didn’t know he had this range.

It’s a sad movie. Our heroes foresee then get rich off the tanking market, but a lot of people get hurt. That’s the sad part. Everyone involved knows they’ll bear no responsibility.

The theater, in the Marketplace off Jamboree Road in Irvine, was as crowded as I’d seen it.

We ran home so I could update the weather on NCN and walk the dogs. There’s snow in Nebraska tonight, but it looks like it’s following the forecast. It has tapered for flurries. Accumulation finished. I record again a little after midnight.

On a night like tonight I double check the highway cameras Nebraska has graciously placed across the state. Much of the state is rural. This is the only ground truth you get.

Can’t forget Chinese food. Out we go again.

chef-chen-irvineOur local fav was closed tonight. Helaine found a place off Walnut just beyond the 405.

Irvine, where we live, has a very large Asian population. We turned into a small shopping center with a few Chinese banks and other stores with multilingual or simply Chinese signs and at least ten Chinese restaurants. That is not an exaggeration. This one little plaza had more Chinese restaurants than Philly’s Chinatown.

The place was jammed. We’re used to that in Chinese restaurants on Christmas. Tradition, remember? Except here every table, save ours and one other, were filled by Asian families.

Dinner at Chef Chen’s and the food was great. It’s obviously family run because each dish was served by someone else. Stuff came hot and quickly. The price seemed reasonable. Maybe a little less salt, but very tasty. The string beans served with sliced beef were delish.

We had them pack the leftover Hot and Sour soup then left it there.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

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