The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Ross had the days between Christmas and New Year's off, so we went and saw a lot of movies, including The Hobbit.  I'm not sure what I can say about this movie that hasn't already been said.  I saw the animated version a bunch of times as a kid, and I don't really remember it, except for the part where Gollum and Bilbo have their little riddle-off.  I even read the book a couple of times when I was a kid--still, don't remember much about it.

So, what I mean to say is that going into the movie I wasn't a big Tolkien nerd.  I only knew that I was going to see Bilbo and Gollum and Ian McKellen as Gandalf.  I'd seen some clips and the actors on The Colbert Report.

I enjoyed the movie--especially the parts with Gollum.  He was eerie, creepy, and a little scary.  I don't understand quite why/how they turned the shortest Tolkien book into 3 movies, but I'm looking forward to the next one.

Les Misérables

We took Tejal to see Les Misérables on Tuesday.  Back in High School Les Miz was all the rage.  I never got into it---I never even read it.

When I saw a thingy about how this version was filmed live--no lip syncing or dubbing, I really wanted to see it. I like Huge Ackman, so seeing him in a movie is a plus.

I didn't know the story, I didn't know the music.  I hadn't seen any other version.  I was a Le Miz virgin.  I was expecting a musical, but this was more like opera--they sang the whole thing, but not in operatic style.  Hugh Jackman's performance was stellar.  I enjoyed his acting and his singing.  I can even say the same for Russel Crowe and Anne Hathaway, and I'm not a big fan of either one of them.

I did not enjoy the singing of Amanda Seyfried or Eddie Redmayne.  Seyfried sounded forced and wobbly.  Redmayne sounded even more forced and a little operatic.  He kept doing strange things with his mouth that I found distracting.  Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter as the comic relief was a little odd, but they did a fine job.

I overall really liked this movie.  I enjoyed the story and the music.  I do think that filming it live made a difference.  I don't think it could have been dubbed with the same emotion--so bravo to director Tom Hooper for taking on such an enormous project.  It was a long movie, but it didn't feel very long.  I highly recommend this movie.

2012 in Review

The biggest thing to happen this year: the move.  We are living back in Texas and I'm very happy about that--even if I am sleeping on a double bed and depressed about housing prices.

My new obsession: trapeze.  I can't believe that I started flying less than a year ago.  And in 9 months I've been able to take off unassisted and complete a bunch of tricks.  My next two goals--returning to the board and flying out of lines.

Year of the Zoo: We went to 6 zoos I think.  We got to see lots of big cats, and some baby ones too.  Houston was cancelled because of rain. Maybe 2013 will be the 2d year of the zoo.

Obsession: My weight.  I lost weight, I gained weight.  I did yoga hard core, I was lazy.  It has been a roller coaster of a year weight wise.  Right now I'm doing a super low-carb diet.  I'm sick of it even though I've lost inches.  I don't know how my mom did this for months and months.  It always boils down to exercise for me.  Lack of exercise leads to weight gain.  I do better with a high protein diet and regular exercise.  I need to commit to regular exercise.  I'm only doing this low-carb diet thing until January 10th, then I'm going to go back to my 30-40-30 diet yoga, and work out DVDs.  And there is no excuse for not going for a walk.  It is an easy way to burn calories, and instead I just sit here on my ass....

Jobs:  My job at Hopkins changed this year, and I started doing motivational interviewing.  It is a kind of psych therapy.  I finished up with the last of my participants just before I left for California. Unless they come up with something else they would like me to work on, I'm unemployed.  There are some high paying jobs here in Austin that I am qualified for.  They would require lots of travel.  I'm not ready to go back to work.  I would like to find a house first.  I'm considering that my job right now.

Travel: 2012 took us to Denver, California, and New York City.  I'm hoping 2013 will take us on an international trip.

The blog: I've passed over 1000 posts.  I think this is post is 1007. Wow.

2012 wasn't bad, but I hope 2013 is better.

Wine Spectator Greystone Restaurant

After the Castle we went to the Wine Spectator Greystone Restaurant, which is part of the Culinary Institute of America, for a late lunch.  The CIA is in a big stone castle-like building.

I guess because of the time of year and time of day the restaurant wasn't very crowded.  The ambiance was nice--although I think it was a bit chilly in the room. First, I want to talk about the food.  The most important part, right? So, as Nicole says, here is the food porn.

 I decided to have some butternut squash soup to help warm me up.  It had pomegranate seeds in it.  Odd combination, but as I bit into each seed there was a juicy burst of flavor.

 Ross started with the steak tartare.  The toast had blue cheese and carmelized onions.  It was very tasty.

I chose the lamb ragout.  Very good, except for one giant pappardelle ball.  It was a lot of food, so Ethan helped me finish.

Ross and Tiffany got the duck.  It was the clear winner.  The celery puree was so smooth and perfectly seasoned.  Ethan demanded steak, so he and Robert shared the steak.  It was a part of a prix fixe menu that included 3 other courses.

This is Robert and Ethan's dessert. A molten chocolate lava cake and vanilla bean ice cream.  We all had a taste.  We were stuffed at the end.

Now the service.  As Ross said---it was Rank: Amateur.  Easy things like water and bread...took forever.  The time between courses (and keep in mind we are very leisurely eaters) was excessive.  For being the wine spectator restaurant you'd think the'd ask if we wanted wine or make recommendations.  Nothing.  The service was very disappointing. It would have been disappointing anywhere, but the fact that we were paying 50 bucks a head somehow made it worse.  Even though the duck was exceptional the service was enough to deter me from ever going there or recommending it to anyone.

The Greystone also has a Bakery and Cafe that is run by the students.  We were disappointed that it was closed.  We were hoping to get some pastries for a late dinner/dessert.  The gift shop had lots of beautifully decorated chocolate truffles.  We bought two stout truffles, but haven't eaten them yet.

Since we still wanted sweets for later we went to Dean and Deluca.  We got an eggnog late that was divine.  Ross and I got slices of coffee cake.  His was much better (and bigger) than mine.  I was so stuffed at the end of the night that my tummy hurt--just from being so full.

Book Review: Coffee and Kung Fu

I wandered around the library looking for a book to get for the Cali trip--Super Sad True Love Story was checked out.  I settled on Coffee and Kung Fu by Karen Brichoux because it was lightweight and I liked the title.  I started the book on the BART and finished it up yesterday.

The essence of Coffee and Kung Fu is loneliness.  The things we do when we are lonely.  It is about the moment when you at your life and decide if you can continue on the same path for the next 70 years.

I don't read much fiction anymore, but this one was a winner.  Pick this up for a great weekend read.

AFF Movie Review: Sparrow's Dance

It turns out that Sparrow's Dance was the AFF Narrative Film Winner.  The movie is about a woman and her struggle with agoraphobia.  The movie was monotonous at times, but that was her life. It was a sweet, simple movie, and we liked it.  There were a couple of scenes that would flash from black to red that were a little annoying.  It didn't help that I couldn't hear/understand the actor in those scenes so I felt kind of lost.

Both Marin Ireland and Paul Sparks gave wonderful performances, even if I couldn't hear/understand Paul all the time.  I really liked the movie, but it wasn't my favorite.

AFF Review: Shorts 11: Animated Family Shorts

After standing in line for more than an hour we got into see the Animated Family Shorts.  The theater was nowhere near full.  At least we didn't have to pay for parking.  Five out of the eight shorts were foreign.  My two favorites were The Gruffalo's Child and Snap.

The Gruffalo's Child is expertly narrated by Helena Bonham Carter.  We both really enjoyed it and it is a great follow up to The Gruffalo, which we watched when we got home.  The Gruffalo is available as a Netflix DVD and I highly recommend it and The Gruffalo's Child if you get a chance to see it.  If you can't see the shorts, you might be able to get the books from the library.

Snap was a cute computer animated short about sea creatures.  The story was surprising and cute, but there wasn't anything original about it.  The sea creatures weren't anything out of the ordinary.  We felt like we'd seen them before.  It was the same with some of the other shorts.  There just wasn't anything special about them.

AFF Movie Review: Missed Connections

Last night we went to see Missed Connections at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema.  It is one of those movie theaters where you can get drinks (yes booze) and food served to you right at your seat.  This sounded like a movie that could be very funny, or be very, very lame.

Neal's friends come up with a scheme to get him laid and bring him out of his girlfriend-cheating-with-best-friend induced funk.  Neal answers Craigslist Missed Connections ads, and following a brilliant strategy he gets laid, until her runs into Jane, who is running some kind of scheme of her own.

This movie turned out to be really funny, but was lacking something to make it a 5 star movie.  The writing and the acting were not over the top.  We really enjoyed the movie. Ross had a root beer float and I had a Guinness shake.  Oh, that Guinness shake was divine.

AFF Review: Shorts 9: The View from the Outside

The Austin Film Festival shows short film in themed batches that last about 90 minutes in total.  My first batch of shorts was themed The View from the Outside.  One of the great things about seeing a bunch of film at once that I hadn't really thought about is that some of the films are foreign films--and you know I loves me my foreign films.  Four of the seven films were foreign and my two favorites were from Spain and New Zealand.

Voice Over, from Spain, was oddly voiced over in French. It was funny and surprising.  It had a timed element that I appreciated and the voice over reminded me of those Dos Equis commercials about the Most Interesting Man in the World.

Whakatiki, from New Zealand, was my favorite short of the group.  I think it was because I connected with the water scene at the beginning, and I'm a total sucker for the only line Kiri, the main character, has in the film.  This one was moving.  Tears were streaming down my face, and it wasn't just 'cause I didn't take my pills.

Restaurant Review: Rasika

We had dinner at Rasika last night. The place is so popular that we made reservations two months ago. That was the soonest we could get in--2 months. Rasika is upscale Indian food. Unfortunately we couldn't eat any naan or gulab jamun (it's Passover.) Still, everything we ate was divine. We had crunchy spinach--that kind of tasted like a crunchy salsa. I had a lamb curry, Ross had a green chicken curry, Nicole had cod, and Ryan had duck. The green chicken curry also tasted a little like Mexican Food. Oh, and I ordered a side of potatoes and eggplant in a tomato sauce--super yummy.

The food was spicy, but not overly so. It was spicy enough that I ate almost all of my rice. Oh, drinks. I had a cucumber vesper, Nicole had the mango cosmo, and Ryan had a pisco sour. My drink tasted like cucumber rocket fuel until the food came. It was much better with the spicy food.

The food is so good that we've already decided to make reservations right away for our next dinner there. We'll see if that's two months from now.

Rasika is great, but I don't think it's the best restaurant I've ever been to. And I'm not sure it's the best Indian food either. I've had some great meals at Taj Palace in Austin.

Because I'm super picky I have three complaints.

My three complaints:
1. There was no toilet paper holder in the bathroom. Come on people. If I'm eating in a restaurant of that caliber I don't expect to find the toilet paper on the back of the toilet. The toilet paper holder is broken--so run out an get a standing toilet paper holder.

2. The waitress at first said that one of the dessert choices was mango pepper sorbet. When she returned and I asked her to repeat the sorbet/ice cream options she said "Mandarin Orange Pepper Sorbet." When I clarified that it wasn't mango, she said "No, it's orange."  Well, guess what, it was mango. Luckily I like mango, and I'm not allergic to it.

3. Ross's iced tea was gross and his chai was bland. Messing up tea is really bad. The iced tea was flavored, and we couldn't place the flavors. Ross said it tasted like menthol. The chai was really spice-less. That's better than it being overdone with spices, but you think they'd have something in there.

Like I said, we are going back because the food was good. I don't give a crap about ambiance. I care about the food. It was good and so was the service. Good thing it isn't close by, cause it is pricey.

Nicole's take on dinner, with photos.

Movie Review: Raid Redemption

I saw Nicole's review (but didn't watch the trailer) and I instantly wanted to see this movie. I was really disappointed to learn that the movie wasn't playing anywhere in the Bmore area.  Nicole suggested that we add the movie to our already planned dinner in DC, so last night after a great dinner with Nicole and Ryan at Rasika we all went to see The Raid Redemption.

Yeah, the movie is so good that Nicole and Ryan wanted to see it a second time, and they are now contemplating seeing it a third time. The movie is so intense that I'm not sure Ross could handle seeing it in the theater a second time--he would stop breathing during the fight scenes, and there were many, many, excellently choreographed fight scenes.

I don't know how to describe this movie. It is the most awesome movie I've seen in years. Best fight scenes ever! I think originally this movie was only showing in DC, LA, and NYC. Ross checked last night, and it is now showing more widely. This move is very violent. If you don't mind violence and like martial arts movies then this is a movie for you. If you are looking for a complicated story line and character build up, then you will be disappointed (this movie does not have, or need them).

I give this movie 2 thumbs, and two freakishly large big toes up. Go see it!