2 posts tagged “food”

.:What I'm Watching:.

Chancer, Season 1. [When his under-the-table dealings get him fired from a London bank, charismatic con artist Stephen Crane (Oscar nominee Clive Owen, in one of his earliest starring roles) finds work managing the turnaround of a troubled automobile manufacturer. But no matter how desperately Stephen tries to keep his checkered past bound and tethered, it continues to hunt him down. ~netflix] yesssss... cliiiiiive owen. you know what's weird? as good looking as he is, i like him better NOW. 18 years ago, he was cute but there's something about him now that i really find attractive. his character is just slightly annoying. i know it's not him, it's just the character (because i know that it could NEVER be CLIVE'S fault! hehe.) the show's all right. i will still get the next discs. 3 outta 5 stars.

• Dragons: Destiny of Fire. [Raised by a loving family of condors, little John John grows up thinking that he, too, is a condor, despite the fact that he looks nothing like his parents. Turns out, John John is no ordinary bird. In fact, he's really an honest-to-goodness dragon! After developing his fire-breathing powers, John John flies off on an adventure to find the dragon kingdom and his real family in this charming animated fantasy. ~netflix] wow. that was... BAD. i kept hoping that i would be pleasantly surprised by it and i absolutely wasn't. heh. 1 out of 5 stars. and i RARELY give a 1 star rating.

Greenfingers. [A (green) thumbs-up for this affecting true-life tale about hardened con Colin Briggs (Clive Owen), who gets a new lease on life -- behind prison bars -- as an award-winning gardener. Wonderful in support are David Kelly as a prisoner chum of Briggs's who coaxes him out of his shell and Helen Mirren as a world-class gardener who fears for her daughter when she falls for Briggs. ~netflix] it was cute :) i liked it. 4 out of 5. i gave it an extra star because it's based on a true story. hehe. what? i love me some true story crap! hehe.

Hitman. [When a highly trained gun-for-hire known only as Agent 47 (Timothy Olyphant) gets entangled in a political takeover, he finds himself hunted by both Interpol and the Russian military. On the run, he tries to uncover who set him up while battling with newfound feelings for a beautiful woman. The globe-trotting action film, based on a video game, was shot on location in Bulgaria, South Africa, Istanbul, St. Petersburg and London. ~netflix] timothy olyphant doesn't play a very good badass. he was kind of laughable in the role. the movie actually wouldn't have been so bad if they had a better leading man. 3 stars.

• Lady Chatterly. [When her husband (Hippolyte Girardot) is paralyzed in World War I, frustration drives Lady Chatterley (Marina Hands) into an affair with a gamekeeper (Jean-Louis Coullo'ch). She finds in her new lover not only physical passion but also an inner kindness, both of which her husband can no longer provide. The second, less well-known version of D.H. Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover serves as the basis for this winner of five César awards. ~netflix] this one just pissed me the hell off. it was just kind of annoying and full of crap. it was just really long and kinda lame. also, they're all speaking in french, but i THINK we're supposed to believe that they're english. say wha???? yeah. i was gonna give it 1 star, but then i realized that i didn't hate it as much as that Dragons movie up above. so 2 stars out of 5.

Lars and the Real Girl. [Ryan Gosling plays the title character in this oddball comedy about a delusional young man who buys a life-size sex doll over the Internet -- and then falls in love with her. When the besotted young man starts telling people that the doll is his girlfriend, his brother and sister-in-law decide it's time to intervene in this film co-starring Patricia Clarkson, Emily Mortimer, Kelli Garner and Paul Schneider. ~netflix] i think most of the budget in this movie went to the purchase of this "Real Doll." yes. it's an actual company that will make you your very own real life-size (anatomically correct) doll. i don't know if i would call this movie a "comedy" though... it has some funny/awkward moments, but it's not a comedy, in my opinion. i liked it. apparently other people liked it a WHOLE lot more than i did because it had almost a 5 star rating on netflix. i'm giving it 3.

Second Sight, First Series. [Ross Tanner (Clive Owen) is enjoying a successful run as a top police detective with a career-ending secret: He's going blind. Officer Catherine Tully (Claire Skinner), who joins Tanner's team to get to the bottom of the senseless murder of an innocent college student, catches on to Tanner's deficiency. The two are thrust into a troubled alliance that will ultimately advance Tully's career. ~netflix] the premise is kinda interesting. there are some serious moments of cheese. the only really great thing about the show is clive. he was awesome... it started getting better towards the end of the disc. it was good enough that i added the second series onto my queue. 3 stars.

Slings & Arrows, Season 3. [On the heels of his wildly successful production of "Macbeth," New Burbage Festival theater director Geoffrey Tennant (Paul Gross) begins work on the legendary tragedy of "King Lear." With ghostly mentor Oliver Welles (Stephen Ouimette) nowhere to be found, Geoffrey coaxes his childhood hero (William Hutt) out of retirement to play the title role and finds an ingenue (Sarah Polley) to play the role of young Cordelia. ~netflix] the last season was definitely the best... so you should watch the first two seasons if only to fully enjoy the 3rd and last season. it was a really great series. i enjoyed the heck out of it. 5 stars!

.:What I'm Listening To:.

Roni Size: New Forms II. i didn't think this masterpiece could be improved... but it's all improved! and 4 new tracks! i haven't listened to the first one in so long that i've forgotten how AWESOME it is. and mia loves it, too. she was in the bathtub when steve popped it in and she stood up right away and said, "mia dancing in the bath!" hehe... i love my little junglist! you can't order the import until 4/29, but steve couldn't wait and ordered from amazon UK. i love this album. loved it the first time i heard it and i love it all over again.

.:Where I'm Going:.

Mary J. Blige & Jay-Z: Heart of the City Tour.
we went to the hollywood bowl last night to see them. and i'll be honest. while i like mary, i wouldn't call myself a HUGE fan. i'm familiar with a few of her songs, but i don't go to actively seek her out. and i really only listen to jay-z when steve listens to him... and really, the last time i really listened to him was when we were in NY a few years back.

really, i was only going because steve is mary's biggest fan and he also really likes jay-z... and i wanted a date night. hehe. so off we went. we drop mia off at grandma's and head up to hollywood. the drive up wasn't too bad... until we got closer to the bowl. i have NEVER seen the traffic so bad. NEVER EVER EVER. and i've been up there for events quite a few times. it was NUTS.

and i had to go to the bathroom. and it wasn't just pee. oh, no. it couldn't have been just pee. i have been having some stomach issues lately. so.... YEAH. it was bad. finally, i just couldn't take it anymore and i told steve i was going to need to jump outta the car. which isn't nearly as daring as it sounds since THE CARS WEREN'T MOVING. not even an inch. there was NO way i was going to be able to make it up there sitting in traffic. told him i'd meet him at our seat and we split up. of course no one up there lets you use their restroom facility so i speedwalked allll the way up to the bowl. it's not an easy hike. i prayed to the sweet baby jesus to let me make it to the restroom. let's just say that i owe the baby jesus an extra $5 in the offering plate this sunday. phew.

so after i'm all happy let me just say... the crowd was this HUGE clusterfuck of ... PEOPLE! hehe. i could NOT believe how bad it was. crowd control was at its absolute WORST. i have never seen it like that. ever ever ever. i was stuck in an unmoving mass. and i get claustrophobic. and i don't have steve there with his height to tell me where i should be heading. i don't know how many times i cursed. haha! people must've thought i had tourette's or something. heh. luckily there was another ticket entrance. i hauled ass up the hill again and i hear the crowd going nuts. shit. mary just took the stage. but i got in finally.

when people think that you're going to a concert alone, they sure are nice to you! i had people totally bending over backwards to help me find things and make sure i wasn't lost. haha! not the actual concert attendees. the hollywood bowl people. they were all so sweet. :)

anyway, i found the seat. crap. steve's not there yet... i was feeling worried. what? that's what i do. i worry. finally i see steve walking up the stairs. so THEN i can enjoy the concert...

and what can i say? i'm now a mary fan. she is AWESOME. and gosh, has she been working out? she LOOKS FABULOUS. she works the crowd up into a frenzy. and her voice. is ah-maz-ing live. she knows how to belt it out. the sound is superb. nice bass, and a great balance of everything else. all around us there are mary fans belting out her songs. while most of them are SUPER TONE DEAF, i'll give them an A for effort. hehe. also, they know EVERY SINGLE WORD. i'm just grooving along the best i can, dancing in my little 6" X 6" area.

sidenote: i have never been sore dancing like i was last night. sheesh. dancing in a TINY little area that restricts your movement makes for sore calves. i have danced for much longer time periods and not been sore. sheesh. anyway... moving on.

and then mary's done and it's jay-z's turn. instead of a real intermission, it's just a quick several minute interview on the screens where mary and jay-z are sitting there stroking each other's egos and then jay-z takes the stage. and the entire bowl goes CUH-RAZY. even the white dude sitting in front of us who wouldn't even bob his head once for mary stands up and is screaming like a little schoolgirl.

but they mess up the sound. bad. they turn the bass way up. the treble sounds muted. i can barely understand jay-z when he's talking. i'm not sure if it's because he's not enunciating or because maybe i'm going deaf or if the sound people effed up. heh. they really shouldn't have turned up the bass. the bass was actually great for mary's set. but during jay-z's it was actually starting to hurt my ears a little. and let me tell you, my ears aren't that sensitive. hehe.

after maybe 30 minutes we decide to leave. not because the show's not good... but because i saw that clusterfuck to get in (steve missed it since he came in later) and i did NOT want to get stuck in that on the way out.

it was the weirdest hollywood bowl concert i've ever been to. since it was a leased event, they didn't allow any bottles of any kind. so all the people who have been to the bowl before had to throw their wine out. heh. all the kids who HAVEN'T been to the bowl before were wearing stiletto heels. yes. stilettos at the bowl. holy cow. if you're not familiar with the bowl, there's just a WHOLE lot of walking involved. uphill and downhill walking. heh. OH. and security was letting people block stairways and stuff. and steve and i actually ended up walking right into the more expensive seating on our way out just to check it out and they didn't even care. it was... weird.

OH YEAH, and they were seriously price gouging for parking. it was just wrong. it went from $30 to $50 for parking. and PEOPLE WERE ACTUALLY PAYING IT! holy cow. what's WRONG with you people???? steve ended up parking at hollywood & highland and paid $2. yes, it's a slightly longer hike, but the walk wasn't nearly as bad as i thought it would be. it was actually quite pleasant to stretch out my legs after that dancing in the seats.

anyway, i had a great time. and after we got a late night snack at harbor house cafe. (they never close!) chili cheese fries and a peanut butter shake. the perfect blend of salty/hot + sweet/cold. heh. i couldn't figure out why it was called a peanut butter shake. it just seemed like vanilla ice cream with peanut butter mixed in. it just seemed slightly meltier than regular ice cream. they don't even give you a straw. they give you spoons. oh, and there's whip cream and a cherry on top. mmm. whip cream.

remember that dessert? the chocolate bomb?

here. let me refresh your memory...

this was on the inside:

inside the chocolate bomb