or to 8B - The Michigan Daily - Weekend Magazine - Thursday, April 8, 2004 ANDY KULA - BANGKOK RULES The Michigan Daily - Weekend 'LA LA LA LIES' Two weeks ago, I wrote about paintings and photographs, saying it was an exercise for my art interpretation class. It was an espe- cially humorous article, so I expected to wake up to a flood of congratulatory e-mails. The only e-mails I received were not compli- mentary. Faculty and alumni scathingly corrected a statement I had made, telling me that Edward Munch had painted "The Scream" and not Vinny Van Gogh, as I had stated. One person even called my bluff, implying that with my lack of knowledge I was probably not even enrolled in an art course. Honestly, this is true. I lied about tak- ing that course simply because I thought it could be funny. Being an intelligent person, it's unlikely that I'd make such an obvious mistake without checking my facts. It must have been at least partially intentional. Much like the cat burglar who fixes himself a tuna sandwich and has a nap on the futon, I was subconsciously asking to be caught. I want to change my ways because honesty is prior- ity No. 1, people. Today, the lies are exposed. January 15: In my column "Thankfully, Stephen King is not my daddy" I implied that the famous author has an unhealthy addiction to pornography. Also, I hinted that my own parents enjoy drinking human blood. To the best of my knowledge, neither of these statements is true. January 29: In another column, I knowingly encouraged students to join a number of campus organizations that don't exist. They included the Cannibalistic Organization of Wolverines and Dead Poets Society Society. Also, I stated that I am involved in the K-Grams program, which is true, but according to the article I "corrupt local youths with stories of drug-induced violence and/or exotic sexual conquest," which is false. February 6: At a party on Geddes Avenue an inebriated woman molested me. To separate us, I told her I had gonorrhea, and I didn't see her the rest of the night. Truthfully, I don't have the clap or any other venereal disease; I just didn't find her attractive. February 6: Later that night, a girl asked me if I belonged to a fraternity. Afraid of appearing less interesting if I said no, I told her that I did. When asked which one, instead of admitting I lied and that in fact I don't know the letters of the Greek alphabet, I stared blankly, then uttered, "Cobra Kai." February 12: In my column, I described a dis- astrous date of mine from high school, not one word of it true. I never tried to slip anyone a Mickey, nor did I molest a foreign child, remove my pants in public or siphon gas from anyone's car - that night. February 19: Having missed a deadline for an assignment in a class, I told my instructor that I had a family emergency the day before that pre- occupied my time. In truth, there was no emer- gency; I was home and awake until 4 a.m. watching "Cocktail" on TNT. Twice. March 8: In a telephone conversation with my parents, I said I had spent the night before "pray- ing at church." Actually, by "praying," I meant drinking, and by "at church," I meant alone. March 11: I published a column, describing the jobs I've had in the past. This was chock-full of falsehoods. First of all, I don't have a personal financial advisor named Klaus. Next, none of my fellow paperboys died in the line of duty, my approach to box-making was not renegade so much as conformist, and I never killed a man and "his tasty bitch he was with." March 25: As mentioned before, my last col- umn was also misleading. I described myself as having a pointed left ear, a giant scar and buck teeth. While the statement about the ear is true (at the right angle and in certain lighting, I look like Satan), I have no scar and my teeth are utterly gorgeous. April 8: In the column published this morning, while confessing my lies, I included the sixth, seventh, ninth and tenth paragraphs, which are in fact lies of their own. Furthermore, the column itself is little more than an "Andy Kula's Greatest Hits" tribute. With my age and experience, such a column would be similar to a best-of reel from "The Magic Hour" or "The Chevy Chase Show." Hopefully, by coming clean about all my deceit and treachery, I will regain your trust, and we can move on and establish a new phase in our rela- tionship. I never meant to hurt you, Michigan. - ContactAndy at ajkula@umich.edu. FAR LEFT: A small entrance leads to the bi-level food venue. LEFT: Jerk Pit fare is cooked in jerk sauce. Jerk Pit staves off the munchies 'Game Over' on latest edition of 'Spy Kids' franchise By Kevn Hofifiel By Kevin Hollifield Daily Arts Writer BID I' In the '50s, the newest gimmick in filmmaking was used to lure audi- ences into the cinema. Using nerdy two-color glasses, 3-D movies made objects appear to leap out at the audi- ence, usually riding the wave of nov- elty with a paper-thin plot. The aptly titled "Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over," which is now a 2 disc DVD set, falls into this pattern. Juni Cortez (Daryl Sabara) has become a private investigator since the events of the second film, Spy Kids 3-D: earning money to Game Over buy the most G realistic video Dimension game ever. The stakes increase, however, as President Devlin (George Clooney) informs Juni that his sister Carmen (Alexa Vega) is being held hostage in the game by the creatively titled Toymaker (Sylvester Stallone). Juni has to enter the game in order to save Carmen. Juni's grandfather (Ricardo Montalban) and virtually every actor from the "Spy Kids" movies show up to help Juni before their time runs out. While the sound is presented in crisp Dolby Digital Surround, the video presentation is an animal all its own. While the 2-D version is crisp, it serves no purpose, as viewers lose the main attraction of the movie. The film is migraine inducing, either because of the glasses or Stallone in his five roles. The multitude of extras in this set make up for the disappointing feature. Robert Rodriguez hosts a "Ten Minute Film School," in which he shows how the shots for the films were composed. It also includes amusing home movies of his children playing with trains, but with over-the- top sound effects. Rodriguez also pro- vides an informative feature-length commentary of the film. There is also a multi-angle storyboard-to-screen featurette of one of the scenes. While the movie will be a disappointment to viewers over the age of 12, the extras are its redeeming quality. With the kiddie trilogy out of the way, Rodriguez is now free to concentrate on more "grown up" films, such as "Desperado," which gave him Holly- wood influence and allowed him to make "Spy Kids" in the first place. Movie: ** Picture/Sound: *** Features: **** By Emily Liu Daily Arts Writer You walked out from your class in the Modern Languages Building and detected the smell of food wafting from the Jamaican Jerk Pit. Decid- ing that you were hungry, you stud- ied the menu but shied away from entering the establishment, remem- bering the sketchy-looking dead plant that sat inside for months. You decided to wait until some brave gastronomical explorer visited the restaurant and reviewed it first. This is that exploration. Entering the restaurant itself is an awkward experience. The upstairs area is open only for breakfast, so go downstairs once inside. Tropical plants and neon signs decorate the walls and floors. The cash register is tucked away in a corner on top of a display case containing T-shirts, lighters, Rastafarian hats and other souvenirs. True to the restaurant's name, the Jamaican Jerk Pit specializes in foods prepared in jerk sauce, among them chicken, pork, shrimp, snapper and vegetables. The jerk sauces come in three degrees of hotness and taste something like a slightly more sour, less viscous form of steak sauce. Sandwiches are topped with tomato slices and shredded cheddar cheese and are served on cocoa bread, which lacks the strong taste and smell of cocoa since it is white, soft and just faintly sweet. The jerk chicken sandwich, jerk pork sandwich and barbecue pork sandwich are tasty and filling, but the copious amount of sauce soak- ing through the soft cocoa bread render it soggy. Jerk chicken wings, on the other hand, are dry and fla- vorless, utterly lacking sauce. There are three varieties of fries - regular fries, plantain fries and sweet potato fries. Another option are festi- vals, which the server described as a "Jamaican hush puppy." Made of corn- meal and dipped in Jamaican allspice, the festivals are then dipped into honey before eating. I found the all- spice, a sour-tasting powder, to be off- putting. The festivals also seem to contain almond extract, giving them a flavor reminiscent of maraschino cher- ries. The Jerk Pit's coleslaw contained bits of finely chopped mango on top, adding a pleasant texture to the side dish, which was unfortunately also drowning in dressing. Beverages include a variety of fruit drinks and smoothies - guava, mango, passion fruit, banana orange, coconut, pineapple and papaya. The passion fruit smoothie was unsweet- ened, but the lack of sugar emphasized the fruit's natural flavor. Other drinks that deviate from the standard fare are various Jamaican coffees and Ting, a Jamaican grapefruit soda similar to Squirt or Fresca. Among the Jamaican Jerk Pit's desserts are key lime pie, icebox cake, and cheesecake. The subpar key lime pie, with its burnt crust, also had a tex- ture that was gelatinous and without much substance or flavor. There were two types of icebox cake - Tia Maria, a rum-based coffee liqueur, and orange creme brulee. We opted for the orange creme brulee icebox cake, which consisted of white cake layers, a thick buttery cream containing bits of toasted coconut, and cake that had been soaked in orange liqueur. While my co-diners found this dessert tasty, I felt that the cake had too much alcohol in it, as if it were prepared for the sake of putting alcohol in the cake rather than giving it a subtle flavor. Essen- tially, the taste of this dessert could be simulated by soaking a cake in a fifth of vodka. Long waits to obtain licens delayed the Jamaican Jerk Pit's ope ing from October to February. T: restaurant does not have a liqu license but is waiting on one, as ev denced by the signs that falsely adve tise beer and other alcoholic drin< When asked if they serve alcohol, th waitress replied, "Not yet, just in th icebox cake." Overall, the Jamaican Jerk Pit appropriate for a quick stop betwee classes to stave off hunger but do not offer a fine dining experience. T] atmosphere perks up a bit at nigh with reggae music blaring from t] stereo. Patrons are asked not to get to comfortable - a sign in the dinin area reads "No ganja smoking." JAMAICAN JERK.Prr 314 S. THAYER ST. MONDAY-THURSDAY 7 A.M.- O1P.M., FRIDAY 7 A.M.-MIDNIGHT, SATURDAY 10 A.M.-MIDNIGHT, SUNDAY 11 A.M.-7 P.M. (AVAILABLE FOR PRIVATE PARTIES) __________________________________________ U Awl Screenprinting End-Of-School T-Shirt SALE! 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