Latest news with #HotelCalifornia
Scroll.in
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Scroll.in
‘Andhar Maya' review: An ancestral home in the Konkan is overrun by ghosts and greed
Western India's Konkan region, where beaches, coconut trees and mango orchards abound, has been the setting for many shows and films. In Andhar Maya, the Konkan is the stage for ghosts and greed. In ZEE5's first Marathi horror series, an extended family arrives at its ancestral home with the aim of observing the death rites of an elder and selling the property. Long-time housekeeper Gonya (Kishore Kadam) is happy to see the entire brood under the same roof. Now that you are here, don't be in a hurry to leave, Gonya says. The reunion is far from amicable. Keshav's father – the one who has died – used to perform female roles in the local Dashavtar festival, making him the butt of ridicule. Keshav is still justifying his father's behaviour to his nasty cousins Kartik (Shubhankar Tawde) and Manoj (Omprakash Shinde). The plan to sell the house and property isn't unanimous. Keshav (Anup Belwalkar) is against the sale, annoying Kartik and Manoj. The wives are divided too. Nayana (Shubhangi Bhujbal), behaving like the woman from Satyajit Ray's Monihara, is obsessed with how the jewellery will be divided. The pregnant Madhavi (Rujuta Bagwe) prefers the sprawling abode to her modest dwelling in Mumbai. Meanwhile, Manoj's daughter Sayali (Pihu Gosavi) is insisting that there is a boy hiding in the shadows. One of the men has already made a reference to California. Did he mean Hotel California? Do the cousins realise that once they have checked in, they can never leave? Bhimrao Mude's seven-episode show is based on a story by Pralhad Kudtarkar who has also written the dialogue. The screenplay is by Kapil Bhopatkar. Andhar Maya is initially overloaded with strange events, jump scares and wonky camera angles. Not only is the ominousness unrelenting, but also the squabbling between the cousins over the fate of the property is enervating. The show picks up steam in its fifth episode. Like Agatha Christie's novel And Then There Were One, the malevolent spirit lurking in the house has been targeting the family members one by one. The mystery clears up in the final two episodes, which are suitably gripping and creepy. Greed, which Gonya has been warning against, plays its own part in the horrors that stalk the family. The actors struggle with the overwrought melodrama but snap into shape when the corpses star piling up. Kishor Kadam is brilliant as Gonya, who is consistently ambivalent as well as convincingly authoritative as the keeper of secrets. When the going gets rough, Kishor Kadam gets going, and how. Play
Eater
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Eater
The Bay Area's Hottest New Clubstaurant Is in This East Bay Strip Mall
Filipino restaurant Isla is a Bay Area favorite for dishes from the Pampangan region of the Philippines and across the archipelago. With locations in Newark and San Bruno, the restaurants regularly host large Filipino family gatherings, but the October 2024 flagship opening of Isla Grand Restaurant Bar & Banquet now brings live entertainment and a party atmosphere to the East Bay suburbs of Pleasant Hill. Turn into the shared parking lot of Isla Grand and a neighboring Lamps Plus store on a Saturday night, and you'll most likely see cars circling and vying for space. Some drivers will resign themselves to park in an overflow lot at an adjacent strip mall, while families and couples mingle outside the restaurant, all waiting for a table. It's a busy scene, and the inside is even more buzzy, as customers take up space in two huge dining rooms. The main restaurant space is a typical one, with tables outfitted for parties of four or more, but walk past the host stand and you'll find that this is where the action is: This side is outfitted with a bar, a stage, dizzyingly rotating rainbow club lights, a makeshift dance space, and tables packed with parties of eight (or more) — this crowd comes to wild out. Here's the scene at Isla Grand on a Saturday evening in May. The logistics: If you're looking to join the lively atmosphere, be smart or be prepared to wait. Rolling in to watch the live entertainment at 7 p.m. without a reservation means you'll wait. At this hour, the restaurant is packed to the gills, and the host quoted a two-hour seating time to get into the club, err, main room, and he meant it — glancing at a clipboard filled with names, there were plenty of others waiting to get in. The restaurant offers reservations the old-fashioned way, so be prepared to call in for a table ahead of time. You'll also most likely need to make reservations for groups over four, or to take part in their kamayan meal, also known as a boodle fight — a meal typically served over banana leaves and eaten by hand without utensils. And given that some of the restaurant's live entertainers hail from the Philippines (while others reside in the Bay Area), reserved seating can easily sell out depending on who's on the stage that day. Don't say you weren't warned. The vibe: Did we mention this is a party? There's a reason for that: The room is filled with families, friend groups, birthday parties, and, since it is May, graduation parties. Tables accommodating parties of eight crowd the main area of the room as the aforementioned lights swirl and keep the atmosphere lively. On this night, the live band covered a parade of hits, including 'Superstition' by Stevie Wonder and 'Hotel California' by the Eagles, and the crowd loved it, singing along at various parts. During a break for the band, a DJ took over and kept the music thumping with '90s and '00s club hits like 'Yeah,' by Usher and 'Too Close,' by Next, and those songs proved powerful enough to move groups to start dancing at their tables and the dance floor in front of the stage area. The volume made ordering a challenge, but the food seemed to make its way to the tables just fine. Meanwhile, TVs spread across the room played an assortment of sports and cartoons (most likely for the kids in the room), as well as a TV dedicated to advertising the dishes of the restaurant itself, with customers giving 'Tasty-monials' (as the screen declared) of their meals. The menu: The selection of dishes at Isla is massive, a spiral-bound menu almost on par with the Cheesecake Factory bible. Sisig is a Pampangan specialty and a customer favorite, and it's often seen sizzling away on a cast-iron platter as it makes its way to tables. If you've ever been to a Filipino family party in the Bay, the restaurant has those classics, too: pork barbecue skewers, lumpia Shanghai, lechon, pancit, and different styles of adobo. Dig deeper and you're likely to find lesser-seen Filipino dishes, such as Gotong Batangas, a soup with beef and offal, or Bicol Pinakbet, an assortment of vegetables such as calabasa squash and eggplant simmered in coconut milk. With a group of friends, it's an excuse to try a variety of dishes in a family-style setting, with a pot of steaming white rice ready to soak up the sauces and flavors. As for drinks, the bar definitely skews toward club hits: A printed menu boasts Jägerbombs, Singapore Slings, and Long Islands, while the AMF very coolly sidesteps the awkwardness of ordering an Adios Motherfucker aloud, while still getting that sweet, electric blue multi-liquor drink into your hands. There are also wines and beers available, with the latter available in 88-ounce beer towers, which could be seen delivered to several tables throughout the night. Cue the Vengaboys. The verdict: Depending on how you view clubstaurants, and whether a raucous Filipino family party is your thing, there is a certain charm to Isla Grand. It has the vibes of drinking with your barkadas, pop hits playing in the background, with good food in a restaurant setting. And while that may not be for everyone, for this crowd, it sounds, tastes, and feels like home. Isla Grand Restaurant Bar & Banquet (548 Contra Costa Boulevard, Suite M, Pleasant Hill) is open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Sunday. Sign up for our newsletter.
Daily Mail
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
SARAH VINE: Brexit cost me my friends, my sanity and my marriage. Now the unelected elite have delivered a final insult to all of us who voted to Leave
If Brexit had a theme tune, it wouldn't be the patriotic strains of Rule Britannia, or the stirring sounds of Jerusalem, but a far less triumphalist anthem: the laid-back West Coast sound of the Eagles, and 1976 hit Hotel . 'You can check out, but you can never leave.' Does any other line encapsulate more succinctly the current situation? You can say your goodbyes, pack your bags, pay your bill (and boy, did Britain pay her bill – £23billion-odd so far, and more to come) but at the end of the day you'll end up right back where you started. Ultimately, there's no escaping the tendrils of the EU.
Forbes
05-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
The Eagles Soar On The Billboard Charts Once More
For months now, the Eagles have been performing a few concerts at a time at the hottest new venue in Las Vegas, the Sphere. The group is one of only a handful of acts to headline the massive and technologically impressive space, as the band continues its aptly named residency, Eagles: Live in Concert at the Sphere. As that run of shows continues to grow, fans in the United States keep pressing play on the songs and albums that made the outfit so hugely successful — and worthy of a residency in the first place. This week, the Eagles return to multiple Billboard rankings with classics and longtime favorites. The band mounts its momentary comeback with both an album and a song. Usually, with a legacy act, it's one or the other that performs well. There aren't many that can succeed with decades-old tunes and collections, but the Eagles are one of the few that can. The group's sole hit at the moment is "Hotel California," which is widely regarded as not just the most successful tune by the Eagles, but perhaps the group's best as well. That track is a worldwide sensation once more as it returns to the Billboard Global 200. That tally, which was introduced about half a decade ago, ranks the most-consumed songs throughout the world using a methodology that blends sales and streaming activity. This frame, the Eagles smash sits at No. 186 on the tally. It may currently rank fairly low on the 200-spot roster, but "Hotel California" has actually never cracked the upper half of the list in the 122 frames it has spent on the Billboard Global 200. The Eagles' classic has only flown as high as No. 132. Streams and sales of "Hotel California" are helping fuel the Eagles' compilation Their Greatest Hits 1971–1975. Already one of the most successful collections of all time, the title appears on a trio of Billboard rankings this frame. It reenters the Top Rock Albums roster at No. 24, while also rising several spots on both the Top Rock & Alternative Albums chart (No. 30) and the Billboard 200 (No. 139). Their Greatest Hits 1971–1975 has spent hundreds of weeks on each of those rankings, though the exact amount of time varies quite a bit from list to list. It's up to 259 frames on the Top Rock Albums chart and is nearing 500 on the Billboard 200. While the project has peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 — the most competitive albums ranking in America — it only climbed as high as No. 8 on the genre-specific tallies. One might assume the opposite would be true, as competition isn't as tough on style-focused rosters, though those weren't introduced until long after the Eagles released the collection. The Eagles are slated to finish the Las Vegas residency at the Sphere this coming November. The group began the run in September of last year and it has been marketed – rather intensely – as a farewell. Due to what must be incredible demand, multiple shows have been added several times. At some point, though, the band will finally have to end the show and walk away for good.
Irish Post
23-04-2025
- Irish Post
Welcome to the Hotel Steigenberger, Hamburg
Our multi award winning travel writer MAL ROGERS enjoys a weekend in Hamburg The Elbe landing stages with St Michael's Church in the background (picture by Thomas Wolf, on Wikimedia Commons) IF a well-known travel website were to post a review of the Hotel California, it would run along the lines of: PLUSES Such a lovely place? (YES 10 out of 10) Plenty of room at the Hotel California? (DEFINITELY – it stresses this in the chorus, so 10/10) "Plenty of room at the Hotel California, such a lovely place (such a lovely place. . .)" Open all year? YES Any time of year, in fact – again, confirmed in the chorus Mirrors on the ceiling? YES Pink champagne on ice? YES Good room service? (The captain is always available to bring you up your wine) Checking in: Any time you please DRAWBACKS Now, my review of the Hotel Steigenberger in Hamburg would run: PLUSES Such a lovely place? (YES 10/10) Plenty of room at the Hotel Steigenberger? (Over 200 rooms, so YES 10/10) Open any time of year? (YES) Mirrors in the ceiling? Not in my suite, thankfully Pink champagne on ice? They'll serve pretty much anything on ice. I went for a Margarita with extra lime and hold the salt. Some cashews too. Good room service? Excellent. You get the impression that if you phoned reception and mentioned you'd a grá for, let's say, a bucket of whipped cream, a Halloween mask and some spring onions, they'd be delivered immediately, no questions asked. Although not by the captain as in the Hotel California — even though Hamburg is one of the world's great seaports. Checking in: there's a 24-hour front desk at the Steigebberger and the receptionists speak several languages up to UN interpreter standard. They don't regard your checking is an unwarranted impertinence, as has happened to me from time to time. DRAWBACKS Unlike the Hotel California, at the Hotel Steigenberger you can leave any time you want, certainly, but they insist on you paying your bill. The stylish Steigenberger THE MAIN advantage of the Hotel Steigenberger, unlike Hotel California, is that it's a luxury hotel in the centre of one of Germany's great cities. And it's a five-star property with remarkably keen prices. A stylish masterpiece, all sleek stainless steel and glass in public areas, the rooms are understated and deeply luxurious. Breakfast buffets are the Full German – you could have muesli wrapped in smoked salmon should you so wish. The Speicherstadt is right on the doorstep. This is probably the only collection of warehouses in the world to have UNESCO World Heritage status. Fair enough — it's the largest conglomeration of sheds I've ever seen. They stand on great oak logs looking out over the canals. Red brick — a surfeit of red brick. You'll have guessed why shedland is so big: this is the port of Hamburg, the HafenCity quarter. And hugely impressive it is. Once upon a time, or to be more exact in the 19th and 20th centuries, everything from coffee to cotton was unloaded here, one of Europe's main commercial hubs. The whole area, while still functioning as a major port, is festooned with some of the most futuristic architecture available in Europe with designs from architectural A-listers Rem Koolhaas and Renzo Piano. The pinnacle of imagination is arguably Herzog & de Meuron's Elbphilharmonie (Elbe Philharmonic Hall) — Europe's most outré concert hall and the city's top identifiable landmark. This acoustically advanced concert hall, called the Elphi by locals and those in the know like you and me, needs to be visited. It is quite simply the most impressive venue in Europe. It stages first class gigs throughout the year, and at exceptionally cheap prices "The Elphi" - Elbphilharmonie (Dietmar Rabich on Wikimedia Commons) Ferries and fish rolls HAMBURG is to ships what Salzburg is to Mozart or Clonakilty is to black pudding. The huge, historic harbour (a Unesco World Heritage Site) is situated 110km upriver, but large ocean-going vessels are easily accommodated. The River Elbe has simply washed wealth into the city since the Middle Ages. The ocean-going cruise was invented here when one Herr Rob Sloman offered the world's first cruise aboard his frigate 'Germania' way back in 1846. All aboard! The best way to check out Hamburg is by boat – an armada of river and harbour cruises departs from Landungsbrücken in this massively maritimey city. Catch the No 62 HADAG ferry ( Part of the public transport system, it's covered by your Hamburg Card — which by now the receptionist at the Steigenberger will have advised you to get. Might even have got it for you. You can disembark at the first stop Altona (Fischmarkt), the ornate market where The Beatles used to scoff breakfast after a hard day's night. The local speciality is fischbrötchen: seasoned herring in a crusty roll, served with raw onion. They've been chopping onions and gutting fish here for over 300 years and they've really got the hang of it. Maritime Circle Line: This hop-on-hop-off service connects several maritime attractions in Hamburg's eastern port area, including the BallinStadt Emigration Museum, the Hafenmuseum Hamburg and the International Maritime Museum Hamburg, Located in the historic Kaispeicher B warehouse in HafenCity, the Maritime's vast collection spans 3,000 years of maritime history, including ship models, naval uniforms, maritime art, and navigation instruments. The Maritime Circle Line operates on a scheduled timetable, allowing you to explore the city's harbour at your own pace (laggardly, in my case) Harbour Boat Tours – Barkassen-Meyer is one of the oldest private tour operators in Hamburg. Its guided tours nose through the port, the historic Speicherstadt, and modern HafenCity. Speicherstadt,Wasserschloss (image by Dietmar Rabich on Wikimedia Commons) Sekt and the City BACK in town, and we're legging it to the Heiligengeistbrücke now, rocking alongside an extravagant number of waterways and lakes in the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (as the place is pleased to call itself on formal occasions). Soon we'll come to Walther Eisenberg's, a traditional hat-maker on Steinstrasse. €80 will get you into a proper sailor's hat as well as into the maritime mood. Equipped with your new tug captain's headgear, you can head back to the hotel. The receptionist will be well impressed, I can tell you. In the piano bar of the Steigenberger, over a glass of Sekt — the elegant German version of champagne — you can reflect that 80 years ago Hamburg was rubble. The war devastated Europe, and more or less flattened this city. But somehow its distinctive silhouette arose again as the place was rebuilt, literally brick by brick. Today it's a cultural, commercial and culinary success. As befits the city which gave its name to the most ubiquitous takeaway in the known universe, Hamburg boasts more eating places than you could reasonably shake a sauce bottle at. The local specialty is – not a hamburger as you might expect—but the Labskaus: corned beef mashed with potato, onion and beetroot, which gives it a pink hue. At the Seemann's Bistro on Hohe Brücke (just five minutes' walk from the Steinberger) their solid take on the dish includes its being served with a fried egg, rollmops—pickled herring—and pickles. The Krameramtsstuben on Krayenkam is often cited as the serving the finest Labskaus in the city. If there were a Nobel Prize for Labskaus, this place could be in the running. But you'll also find other traditional north German dishes. I can personally vouch for the beef roulade. Oh, and if you still have room, a word in your ear: hot cinnamon plums, served with walnut ice cream. St. Pauli Fischmarkt, Fischauktionshalle (image by Dietmar Rabich) From Hamburg with love SOMEWHAT inevitably, we come to the Reeperbahn, in the St Pauli area. This is where the Fab Five played — when The Beatles were a five piece (Stuart Sutcliffe on bass, Pete Best on drums). Somewhat unfortunately for Best, this is where the band first met Ringo Starr— in the Kaiserkeller. Deep into the Reeperbahn now, and should you be of a sensitive disposition, it's time to avert your eyes. This remains one of biggest red-light areas in Europe, but also boasts theatres, music venues, and history. Rock & roll and red lights, if you will. Vibrant, edgy, and iconic, it's a must-see for visitors. It features many business people (mostly ladies) who are prepared to extend maximum cordiality to you, for a negotiable fee. But the Reeperbahn can be exhilarating too, without partaking of its standard fare – on a Saturday night it can make Temple Bar seem like a convention of Finnish pastors. At Christmas, a huge fair joins the fray, cheek by jowl with some of Germany's best theatres, alternative music venues and uber-cool bars. The area has moved effortlessly from seamy to Bohemian. Now that so many places have sold their souls to mass tourism, it's good to visit this rugged, cosmopolitan port run on behalf of both locals and travellers. I enjoyed Hamburg friendliness on several occasions during my weekend, and not just the lady in the Reeperbahn who asked in a delightful accent: 'You wanna come in?' (As politely as I could – particularly as this was a weekend of mindfulness for me – I declined.) Wandbereiterbrücke (image Dietmar Rabich / Wikimedia Commons / Hamburg, Speicherstadt, Block P) Hamburg wears it well HAMBURG, sometimes referred to as the bourgeois capital of Germany, is home to designer shops, great department stores, top-notch fashion houses and designer boutiques who will be delighted to relieve you of all your worldly assets. The Neuer Wall and Mönckebergstrasse draw well-heeled locals and stylish tourists alike. It's not really my cup of tea, so I'll leave it with you. Although I can recommend the jaunty tug-boat captain's hat. INFO Thanks to Hamburg Marketing and the Hamburg Tourism Thanks to the Hotel Steigenberger Thanks to the following photographers: Dietmar Rabich ( Thomas Wolfe ( Fabian Sandner
