Finger Food

Doesn't this look kind of like a finger? Like with a fingernail and everything? Perhaps we should have asked to see the chef's hands before the waitress at the little Portsmouth tapas restaurant Still brought out Joe's fried zucchini sticks, when he and Mike and I were in town last night going to see Al's gorgeous new 110-year-old house that he just bought in Olde Towne. The four of us at the table found this endless amusing. And yes, Joe still ate it.

And Still is quite a nice little place, set in a 19th century building down in the dark, speakeasy-style basement ("Is this where The Beatles played in Hamburg?" Joe quipped upon entry) the food was some of the best that I have had anywhere locally in quite awhile. Aside from the alarming resemblance to fingers, the fried zucchini was one of the best things we tried on the menu. Served tapas-style, we had blueberry bread with a miso/honey butter spread, Joe also had the crab/asparagus dip, Mike had the blackened rare tuna, I had the chickpea curry with naan triangles and the duck confit tostada (both amazingly delicious) and dang I don't remember what Al had because he gave me a piece of it to try and it was really good and now I can't recall what it was.... oh, but anyway it was all really smashing and I highly recommend it for those of you Hampton Roads locals who haven't tried it yet. Also it's one of the few restaurants in Olde Towne that are actually open on Monday nights so you'll know where to go if you're stuck out that way. Just watch out for those suspicious looking fried zucchini sticks.

Anyway, I admitted was an avid watcher of The Gong Show back in the day, so maybe I had seen the episode where Oingo Boingo won the night's prize but was unlikely to remember it, hardly being familiar with their then-moniker The Mystic Knights Of The Oingo Boingo back when the 80's new wave band was more of a performance art troupe, founded by Richard Elfman and his little brother Danny (that's Richard in the rocket costume, and I think Danny is one of the guys in the horn section). Danny Elfman of course has gone on to become of one of the most prolific and recognizable film and television composers in Hollywood. But aside from The Gong Show and an appearance in the film version of I Never Promised You A Rose Garden (a book I have read but have never seen the movie), The Mystic Knights Of The Oingo Boingo made their own film, The Forbidden Zone, which went on to become an obvious cult classic. Here Danny plays the devil singing something like "St. James Infirmary" and "Minnie The Moocher" from said film. Danny was also the singing voice for Jack Skellington in the now neo-goth classic The Nightmare Before Christmas, and of course, every damn Oingo Boingo song you were probably subjected to throughout the 80's. Yeah, the man's getting about as ubiquitous as Phil Collins was in every medium at one point. He's not about to go away anytime soon.

But yeah, The Gong Show. And LOL Bill Bixby is all I have to say.