This and That

The tall ship Lady Washington (a.k.a. Pirates of the Caribbean's HMS Interceptor) made an appearance in San Diego this weekend, meeting the Maritime Museum's cutter Californian in a cannon battle on San Diego Bay. Though Orrick and I traipsed down to Harbor Drive to witness the action, the event was obviously geared more toward those who purchased a $55 ticket to board the ships and chase down the enemy. Few cannonballs were fired as play boaters weaved in and out of the warring waters.

As is usually my luck, I had camera difficulties while trying to capture the inaction -- first with my digital camera, whose batteries died, and then with my film camera, which was at the end of a roll -- but there are, at least, a few more shots of Lady Washington waiting to be developed for my mother's amusement. And depending on when she arrives next in San Diego, she might even be able to catch the museum's current exhibit: Pirates of the Pacific. My mother, for those who don't know, believes that she is a pirate, and therefore would thoroughly enjoy perusing the booty of her fellow buccaneers. ;)

My father, despite a love of history, has other interests in mind for his next visit to "America's Finest City." That interest lies in the heart of Pacific Beach, in a little Italian restaurant which hand-rolls its own pasta. And the interest in that particular restaurant stems from its specialty item, an item which is not usually to be found -- timpano.

Timpano is the traditional Italian dish of Carnival - a means of emptying the cupboard of all the verboten goodies one must avoid during Lent. Timpano, from the Latin or Italian word for "drum," is made by lining a drum-like dish with pastry and filling it with layers of pasta, sauce, meatballs, sauce, sausages, sauce, eggs, and more sauce. The drum is then baked and the timpano is sliced and served with three additional sauces, one for each color of the Italian flag (a pesto, an alfredo, and a tomato sauce). Ever since the movie Big Night was released in 1986, featuring the assembly of a very special timpano, my father has wanted to try it. And though now he knows where to find it, his schedule has kept him from making the trek to PB.

Twice during my father's last visit I tried -- on nights I did not have to go to the theatre -- to coax him home from work early enough to eat out. Alas, a heavy work load would not permit it. So, I did the next best thing to attempting a home-made timpano (for which I did not have an appropriate pan); I made an original Pasta Jambalaya Sans Shrimp. Pasta, sauce, sausages, egg, and (instead of meatballs) chicken. After all, along the same pre-Lenten lines as timpano, jambalaya is the tradional cupboard-cleaning dish of Mardi Gras. Good, yes. But not quite the same thing. Come hell or high water, my father will get to PB on his next trip west.

And both parents should be glued to the television set tonight, like I will be, for the return of NBC's Heroes. With regards to Sylar, my predictions this season include these two ideas: the importance of saving the cheerleader Claire (both to the Heroes and to her horn-rimmed father) was in keeping Sylar from absorbing her immortal powers; and the importance of absorbing powers will become more evident as the underplayed Peter Petrelli becomes the only Hero who could meet the all-powerful Sylar in a Harry Potter-meets-Voldemort battle of equal strength.