CATEGORY: GENERAL: My So-Called Life

I can't belive it's Wednesday already. The best part of this week barrelling towards the inevitable weekend is that fact that Monday is Labor Day so I get a long weekend. Whee! My big bro is also flying in Saturday night (for work, not to see mee, natch), so double whee!

Life is chugging along at its regular pace. Work is getting increasingly more busy as I'll be moving into a hotel with my elders on September 10 for 5 days. And then again on September 24. And then again on October 8. Doesn't my life sound just absolutely impossibly exciting? :-) At least I get to fly to the mother land on October 12 for a nice dose of home.

I had a nice dinner last night. We were out celebrating Cat's birthday and went to Old Ebbitt Grill - my first time there! I chose the clam chowder and trout parmesan, and we very pleased. We all shared a few desserts; my favorite was the butterscotch blondie sundae. Slurp. I love dairy in all possible shapes and forms!! It was nice seeing the now-scattered urban family again. Maura is in Boston, Cat is out in Latinoville somewhere, and Jess has been MIA for some time. Either way, good food is always the most basic element of a good evening as far as I'm concerned.

I'm doing something weird this weekend - I'm attending the Maryland Renaissance Festival for some reason. Apparently, the appeal of wenches, knaves, the King's men and smoked turkey legs is too much for some people to resist. Color me sceptical, but I promise to take pictures of the whole scandalous affair and post them for the world to see.

CATEGORY: TV: Oh, and by the way...

GO MAGNI!!!

CATEGORY: NEWS: ...and Then There Were Eight

The International Astronomers' Union has decided to get rid of Pluto - as a planet, that is. That sound you hear is textbook publishers and trivia game authors rushing to change the official size of our galaxy from nine planets back to eight. Yes, the outlier of our solar system has been kicked off the team. Poor Pluto. It never really stood a chance, what with its irregular orbit and small size. We'll miss the barren hunk of ice, which has been relegated to a "dwarf planet" along with Ceres and Xena. (And who knew Ceres was considered a planet of its own in the 1800s?) Just goes to show: Never name your planet after a Disney character! Or a lesbian warrior princess. How can such silly names compare to the erudite classiness of Uranus?

CATEGORY: FILM: An '80s Classic + German Paranoia

I've been enjoying some Netflix over the last few days. First, I finally managed to see a German film from 2001 that I've wanted to see for a while: Das Experiment. The plot revolves around a psychological experiment: 14 men are picked to spend 2 weeks in a fake jail. Some men are assigned to be prisoners, others are guards. Basically, it's a study on power and submission and how people are usually sadistic assholes on the inside. I really enjoyed it. The performances were good, especially the dude who played the lead guard. That man would fit well into any Nazi movie. I recommend it for those looking for something different to watch.

Recently, I also indulged myself in a repeated viewing of a movie I probably haven't seen in close to 20 years: The Lost Boys. Damn... Kiefer Sutherland in all his teenage vampire badness, the Coreys at their peak, even Jersey Girl Jami Gertz. And I totally forgot that Edward Herrmann is the head vampire! The guy who now makes a living narrating History Channel documentaries... it's all so weird. Time hasn't necessarily been kind to this movie but it's still pretty badass. The music, on the other hand, is atrocious. God... was all 80s music so awful? I thought my ears were going to start bleeding at some point...

CATEGORY: FOOD: Yum, Slurp, Etc.

I received the latest issue of Gourmet in the mail yesterday, and I wanted to eat the cover. It's the September issue so they are spotlighting typical fall food: corn, apples, pomegranates, eggplant, tomatoes, etc. The cover uses muted shades of red and green and it's just absolutely beautiful. In fact, it's so nice that I wanted to put it here, but it's not online yet. I'll add it when it is.

I've been cooking somewhat lately. When it's this damn hot I'm less motivated, but I crank out some nice things every now and then. Last week I made two pizzas: One was the typical cheese/ham pizza (except I added garlic to the dough and used turkey ham to be healthier) and the other was sans tomato sauce - the toppings were caramelized onions, fresh mozzarella, and sun-dried tomatoes. That was delicious. Last night, I made honey-lime marinated pork chops with two kinds of sweet potatoes: mashed and sweet potato fries. Very nice - tangy and spicy and kind of summery. I'm cooking again tonight, but haven't decided what yet.

Speaking of food, I'm hatching plans to use the delectable Icelandic leg of lamb that's hiding in my freezer. I have visions of a big barcecue grill, garlic cloves, and some brown gravy. Baked potatoes... corn on the cob... yum. I think this will be a good way to say goodbye to summer. Now who will be lucky enough to score an invite to this fiesta??

(I would be remiss if I didn't mention the tastilicious variation on Kung Pow Chicken that SD whipped up this weekend. Who needs takeout when you have someone like that on Chinese food patrol?)

CATEGORY: TV: Fall Season Follies

It's weird to think that this is my ninth (!!!) fall TV season since coming to the U.S. Damn, I'm old! Anyway, it got off to a pretty good start last night. For some reason, Fox thinks it's OK to start the race this early, and given the lack of good TV over the summer I'm not complaining. First show out of the gate was season 2 of Prison Break. I sort of enjoyed this show last year. It was preposterously written and had plotholes the size of Cleveland, as one smart TV Guide writer suggested, but it was still good, escapist fun. The season premiere smartly decided to ignore the dumbest ideas from last season and sort of reboot the show. Since they're out of prison, I guess that's OK now. There's a heck of a shocker in the last 5 minutes, and I think the show will be better for it. They've also brought on a very good actor, William Fichtner, as the FBI agent in charge of tracking the escapees. Sign me on for another season!

The second premiere of the evening was Fox's new serial drama, Vanished. It's about a Georgia senator's wife who goes mysteriously missing. The season will track just this one case. It's a good idea, but there are problems. For one thing, they made every single person on screen (other than the FBI folks) look suspicious. At this point, even the dog may be the mastermind of this kidnapping. I also have a problem with Gale Harold, who plays the lead. Nothing against him personally, but after watching him for five seasons on Queer as Folk doing nothing but having illicit man-on-man sex while doing copious amounts of drugs, it's hard for me to buy him as a manly FBI dude and family man. For now, this show is a 2-star (out of 5) thing. It might get better, but I'm not sure I'll be around to watch it evolve.

CATEGORY: GENERAL: New blog news

Hey, y'all. I ran into some glitches and problems with the old blog, so here is a brand-spanking new one! Enjoyez-vous!