Exploring Food and Movies

            Tuesday night my mom and I went to Taqueria y Panaderia Santa Cruz. It is on N Lombard. It is not too far from the St. Johns Bridge. I liked being able to go over the St. John's Bridge. It is the most beautiful bridge in Portland. I had only been over it once before. I also enjoyed getting to explore that part of Portland a little more. It feels like a small town tucked in the corner of Portland. The parking is fine. Mostly street parking. The restaurant is at the back of a Mexican grocery store. The store has lots of Mexican goodies and lots of pinatas hanging from the ceiling. You order food at the counter in the back and then they give you a number. There is limited seating. Which wasn't really a problem for me and my mom. Especially since we were the only ones eating in the dining room area. The decor is simple. Just green walls. The booths have some hand painted flowers. But that's it. It's hard to know if it's always like that or it's beca...

Monday: Sylvia Scarlett (1935)         Sylvia is a young woman living in France with her father. Her father gets in some trouble and owes money to dangerous people. They come up with a plan to escape to England. It would be much harder for her dad to escape if he is traveling with with woman. So Sylvia cut her hair, puts on men's clothes, and becomes Sylvester. On the boat they meet a con man named Jimmy. At customs Jimmy rats them out to draw attention away from himself. They lose their valuables. Once in London they find Jimmy again. He agrees to help them make money. After several failed attempts they come up with a good plan. They will travel around sea towns performing a variety act. In one town Sylvia meets a handsome artist. She falls for him. Her true identity is revealed but that doesn't make things easier. I thought this movie was alright. I mostly watched it because Katharine Hepburn played Sylvia. Wednesday: Song of India (1949)       ...

Monday: Masquerade (1965)         David is an American who helped the British during WWII. He became friends with Colonel Drexel. Drexel has long been involved with the oil trade in the Middle East. After the king died control of the country went over to a regent because the young prince was too young to rule. The regent does not want to work with the British anymore. The prince has agreed to continue to work with them once he is of age. But Drexel is worried he will be killed before then. So he hires David to help him kidnap and protect the prince until he comes of age. Their early success does not last long, especially when David is betrayed. I thought this movie was ok. Tuesday: Ace in the Hole  (1951)          An ambitious reporter named Chuck moves to Albuquerque. He has been fired from papers in all the major cities. Chuck convinces the local paper to hire him. He thinks he can bide his time until he can get a story big enough ...

        On Friday I went to a food cart called Nacheaux. It is in Cartlandia on SE 82nd. The area is a little sketchy. There is not much parking in the surrounding area. There is parking in the middle of the Cartlandia and in the back of it. I went in the late afternoon so there were spots open. But I imagine at lunch time it would be very full. It is a little strange that cars can drive straight through where the carts are. Most pods I have been to aren't like that. It had an almost country fair feel to it. There is a decent amount of seating. The cart is painted an aqua blue, which is always a good start. The food is a soul food/Mexican mix. I wanted to try this food cart because I had seen something about how good their tres leches cake was. Unfortunately on the day I went tres leches only came in milkshake form. So I got mac and cheese with carnitas and a watermelon peach lemonade. The lemonade was frozen, which was a nice surprise on such a hot day. It was good....

Monday: This Time for Keeps (1947)        Dick returns from war with a fiancé and a job at his father's opera house waiting. He's not sure he wants his old life. While recovering from injuries he got in the war, Dick met an aquatic performer. They got off to a rocky start when he pretended to be blind. Once back in town he sees that she is performing nearby. He goes to see her. The performer, Leonora, is reluctant to talk to him. Soon she learns to like him. They fall in love, but his past could ruin it all. I thought this movie was good. Not the best but entertaining. I muted all the opera songs. Tuesday: Sisters (1972)      Danielle meets a young man on an acting job. They end up at her place. She tells him about her twin sister. They were once siamese twins, but they were separated. The next morning when he returns from getting breakfast Danielle's sister kills him. Danielle and her ex husband hide the body and clean up the apartment. Meanwhile ...

Monday: Claudine (1974)         Claudine is a single mother raising her six kids on welfare. She works hard to support her family. She doesn't have time for anything else. One day she meets a nice garbage man named Rupert, or Roop. Roop convinces her to go on a date with him. Things don't start off smoothly as she struggles to manage her family and be available to him. He is very patient. They start to really fall for each other. As it gets more serious Roop starts to get nervous. He doesn't want things to get to permanent. Also he doesn't want to end up on welfare. If they were to get married he would have to. He already has issues with supporting his own children. The welfare system makes everything complicated. I thought this movie was alright. Roop was played by James Earl Jones. I have not seen him that young in a movie. Tuesday: Zorba the Greek (1964)        A young British man named Basil is traveling to Crete to take over his family's ...

    Yay for finally going to a restaurant on my list! Well actually it's a market that serves food as well. This week I went to P's and Q's Market. It is on NE Dekum. From what I could figure out online you could order food and then sit on their patio. That's not quite how it turned out. You can't enter the market at all. You have to knock on the door to get someone to come out. They were only serving their deli menu, which only had 4 items. After you order they bring it out wrapped to go. They take payment inside and bring you back your card. There was no shade on the patio. So I ended walking to a nearby park, Woodlawn, and sitting at a picnic table. It was actually very nice in the shade. I got a roast beef sandwich. It was good. The bread was amazing. It had horseradish, which I'm not a fan of. But I still liked it. The service was good. Parking is mostly on side streets. I would go back when they are more open. From what I could see through the windows it w...