RANT - Eddie Izzard at The Golden Gate Theater

Eddie Izzard is, I guess, my favorite comedian. We've seen him a couple times before, and each time he has been innovative, informative, and above all hysterical.

Last night his show was full of fresh material, covering everything from human sacrifice, to Charles I and the reformation - even including jokes in French and German.

But, he was in the end disappointing. So much so that when the intermission arrived, we decided to leave rather than stick around and listen to more silliness.

Sorry Eddie, but three times is enough.

REVIEW - Spoon at Fox Theatre

Spoon have been around for 20 years, but have managed to do so without me hearing anything by them. Anyhow, our friends Tom and Holly bought tickets for the four of us.

While the show was a sell out, the music was polished but without one hook, one memorable tune.

I might download something to listen at my leisure, but I didn't become a new fan after this show.

REVIEW - Entourage

Based loosely on the exploits of Mark Wahlberg and his entourage as he rose to stardom, this used to be one of our favorite TV shows.

This movie version, 7 years after the TV series, seemed full of the same crew who now appear over the hill, but still full of the same material. Not only did they seem beyond their sell by date, but the babes were all leathery from too much sun, fake-boobed and neurotic.

Then there were the cameos: everyone from Warren Buffet, Mark Cuban, Gary Busey, Bob Saget, Andrew Dice Clay, and a hundred other non-celebrities. Every one of them could have been, and should have been nixed.

And don't get me started on the dreadful product placement: from Avion Tequila, to Johnny Drama Black Label Whisky, through to the unforgivable replacement of the crew's TV Aston Martins with revolting, plasticky Cadillacs.

Don't get me wrong: the film is funny, but there's nothing new here that wasn't already covered in the TV series.

RAVE - San Andreas

This was half great, half pedestrian.

The pedestrian half, caused by the schmaltzy sub-plot that involved Dwayne Johnson and his wife rescuing their daughter from San Francisco, during a mega earthquake, and the pointless half wits that padded that sub-plot - including a dopey English guy there for an interview, and for some implausible reason his 10-year old brother who was there for company.

The great half was the earthquake - the devastation caused to the whole city, and the accompanying tsunami that flooded the city.

The effect was very scary, specially so for those of us who live in SF. After we left the theater, we even drove beyond our house on Potrero Hill, which research shows is only 200 feet above sea level, to the highest point on the Hill. I was given strict instructions to get the cats into a carrying bag and take them to the highest point on the hill, to await Mrs P who will presumably battle her way there from her office on the peninsula.

That's all of course, if it actually happens.

RANT - The Girl and The Fig, Sonoma

I didn't want to go to this place again. We went a year ago, after Mrs P saw a glowing review on Check Please, Bay Area, and I was thoroughly underwhelmed.

Her excuse was that we went for brunch, and therefore the menu was predictably dull. Anyhow, this time, armed with another positive review from Check Please, my lady had booked us dinner at The Girl and The Fig.

Not only did I have a negative predisposition to the restaurant, but thanks to my food poisoning - kindly donated by El Dorado Kitchen earlier in the day - I was keen to leave the moment we sat down.

The food was ordinary, but its the clientele attracted to the place that proves to be its biggest turn-off. It was full of noisy women cackling and screaming their way through buckets of Prosecco, producing much the same effect as can be suffered at Town Hall.

I'm sorry my darling, but I was bad company. But you booked it, and I won't let you do that again.

RANT - El Dorado Kitchen, Sonoma

This place didn't earn its RANT through its location - right on the square in Sonoma, on a sunny Memorial Day; nor its staff - who were plentiful and helpful; nor even its food (or at least not at first) - which was tasty.

Mrs P had the fish tacos while I chose the ham and greens omelet - this was lunch after all. Neither of us had wine.

However, my omelet came with a little surprise ingredient - food poisoning. The effects crept up on me through the evening and into the next couple of days. I was lethargic, grumpy, dizzy, and ached.

Therefore, all the other good stuff was negated.