Eatin's good at home

I've been getting plenty of carbs since I've been home. Burgers, potato salad, pasta with mozzarella, tomatoes, and basil, rosa regale, espresso, eggs, turkey sausage, toast, and coffee--all in the last twenty four hours.
Tonight my grandmother decided to cook me dinner. More pasta but with sun-dried tomatoes, olives, and spinach. Dessert was a strawberry yogurt pie.

Do all vampires wear lipstick?

So I'm home for a few nights in the Berkshires and my younger sister tells me that she wants to watch a movie. What does she unveil, but Twilight, a movie I had avoided for months because I (as embarrassing as it is to admit it) read the book and despised it. For giggles, I decided to watch the film and yes it was as bad as I had anticipated; however, I will say that I enjoyed some of the cinematography (as much as it started to grate on me by the end). They hit you over the head with the awkwardness of it all (handheld camera, extra awkward performances and cuts). We get it! She's an angsty melodramatic teen. I wonder if there could have been a way to address how over the top Bella is without losing interest in the character. It's a challenge for sure.

Another small, insignicant, in fact, issue I found with the project was the amount of makeup the actors wore. Perhaps it was the light or the HD cameras or whatever, but I was so distracted by the amount of lipstick the male vampires wore. Seems silly and maybe even a little heterosexist of me, but I feel compelled to discuss it. Of course, there are no pictures that do the starkness of his lips justice. Instead, I've posted blueberry pancakes because that's what we ate for breakfast this morning (my favorite).

Bubbles!

Went camping for the week in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Ate s'mores, burgers, hot dogs, fruit, and hummus all week. We also played with bubbles (Below is a picture of Tom with said bubble).

In other news: I lost my cell phone and my employer lost it's biggest contract so I don't have work and can't afford a new cell phone... I might start writing poetry about my economic depression blues to pass the time. If you're an employer and you stumbled upon my little blog... HIRE ME!

ALSO, R.I.P. FF and MJ.

Neilsen. Leslie Neilsen.

Forbidden Planet amazed me! From the special effects to the screenplay! Hokeyness at its best! After watching Barbarella, Forbidden Plant was a revelation of sorts. Not to be hard on Barbarella. I'm sure the artists involved met their goals, but it was difficult for me to watch on top of not resolving plot points. Check out Forbidden Planet, especially if you love Leslie Neilsen. It's a trip to watch him as a serious romantic lead after growing up with him as Mr. Magoo and Count Dracula.

Before the movies, went to a dairy farm and got ice cream with Tom's Dad. Orange Pineapple actually had grapefruit in it and not orange. It was really good. I thought I was taking a risk with that flavor and it paid off. Maybe I'm mistaken about that. Talked to my Dad yesterday too and he talked my ear off about Tiger Woods and the US Open. Happy-Belated Father's Day to all the fathers who don't read this blog (as none do).

BARBARELLA!!

Tonight at my apartment, we will be eating pasta and watching Barbarella and having a jam session. I would suggest that you join me, but the only person who reads this is Tom and he'll be there by default.

Spaghetti western?

I just heard the phrase spaghetti western. It sounds derogatory to me, but if that's what they're calling Sergio Leone's work, then I suppose it can't be. Right?

Italiano!

Watched Sergio Leone's Once Upon A Time In The West last night and, a couple of weeks ago, I watched Frederico Fellini's 8 1/2 (meant to post that sooner, but happy I could tag it onto the Leone post). I think my favorite moments are when the dialogue doesn't match up to the actors lips. It gives you a false sense of charm. I say false because both directors are masters. No question. Now I can say that without being pretentious, because I've actually seen of their work.


If you're into sound design and cinematography, go watch these films (though you probably already have). I can't decide if this blog is embarassing or a positive expression for me. I kind of just keep admitting that I love guilty pleasures and haven't seen anything important.

We had breakfast with Once Upon A Time in the West. Fried eggs, waffles, and bacon. Mmm Mmm good!

Ahnuhld: I'll be back!

It's been a crazy week. Our research for the summer sci-fi project continued with: The Terminator and The Day The Earth Stood Still. Liked them both a lot. Though The Day offered fewer thrills than Terminator, it held my interest. Very smart. Haven't seen the newer version and, honestly, I don't plan to. I don't see how this project was begging for a remake. It seems pretty timeless to me.


My Dad used to watch The Terminator films when I was little. It's one of my earliest memories. He and my Mom would rent a family movie to watch with us and a grown up movie that we weren't allowed to watch with them. The Terminator was supposed to be one of those movies, but for whatever reason they let us watch it too. Inevitably, we didn't get it and lost interest within five minutes. Now, at 21, I get it and enjoyed it thoroughly. Well worth the walk down memory lane.

What did I eat while I watched these movies, you ask? I had yogurt and granola. So glamorous.

Our Netflix Queque Rarely Dissapoints

Watched two seminal films in the last 24 hours... City of God and... dun dun dun... Death Becomes Her. I love Goldie Hawn (and Meryl Streep. Duh!)! The movie fast became a total guilty pleasure. City of God on the other hand was a really great film that I don't have to be ashamed to have enjoyed (as much as it depressed and disturbed). Ch-ch-ch-eck 'em out!

AND for din din, we'll be having a chicken breast marinated in red wine vinegar, soy sauce, oil, sweet basil, oregano, pepper, and garlic powder with rice and summer squash.

Strawberry Fields For Never

I'm re-watching Julie Taymour's Across the Universe. It's the only project on her filmography that I take issue with. I don't think I'll be watching this for a third time.

BUT I can't wait for Spider-man: The Musical. Below's a mock-up of the two projects from a blog affiliated with the New York Post (a la Google search engine). Spider-man is purported to be costing $40 million, making it the most expensive theatre production to date.

Proof in the Picture

This is a picture of my finger bandaged after I cut it with the knife Gina's using to cut the sweet potatoes I tried to cut when I cut myself instead.


UPDATE: Gina did clean the knife before using it again. Just so you know.

FOOD UPDATE: Wings and Ring(Finger)s

FOOD UPDATE: My boo made wings. Delicious! And then I cut my finger open while dicing sweet potatoes for sweet potato fries. The trick to avoid keeping your fingers uncut: don't put them under the knife you've put all your weight into. The tricks to fantastic sweet fries: nutmeg and cinnamon.

Summer Science Fiction Bonanza!!!

Tom's paper has been done for a few weeks now and we've moved on from race pictures. We're on a bit of a sci-fi kick in anticipation of a summer project. We watched the Star Wars movies (my first time. Shameful, I know.) Next we're watching The Tingler, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, etc. Netflix continues to be fruitful. We have City of God and Death Becomes Her (possible future guilty pleasure, no?) right now.



We saw UP in 3D on Monday (still from the movie above). I was underwhelmed, but I liked it plenty. I think it ranks low on my list of Pixar faves, with Ratatouille holding the top spot. My issues really all stem from the second and third acts. The first act was perfection! So much potential for this project. I could have used less dog humor and more time up in the sky. There seemed to be a disconnect between the events and the humor, for me. I couldn't watch the opening montage and then move right into kid mode (forgiving improbability). Questions popped into my mind about how these balloons worked. It was unclear for me. He only cut a few to land and then he hovers above the ground? Shouldn't it have been more than a few? I will admitt, I cried twice. Very moving, but not as close to perfect as Wall-E or Ratatouille.