Finished reading "Our boys: a perfect season." A book I purchased last Saturday when leaving El Paso, TX. It's about the Smith Center Redmen, a Kansas high school football team.
The writing was easy and somewhat engaging - the author is a journalist and used to clear, no nonsense writing, but he gets a bit emotional at the right time. He obviously drank the Coach Barta kool-aid, and can you blame him? High School coaches are amazing creatures - they are in many cases, molders of men and women. I may not remember the name of my Volleyball Coach, but I remember practically everything he said to me while in that Bushwick gym, over ten years ago now, about volleyball and about life. It's funny how these men and women manage to sneak in so many lessons while teaching you to play a game.
Coach Barta doesn't hold a light to Coach Taylor of Friday Night Lights fame, but then again, Barta is a real person. The kids were pretty good, too - they won the Kansas State championship with a perfect season, in a good underdog story kinda way. I wonder if there's good High School Football games going on in Cleveland, OH.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Did you know
that there's a Pop Tarts World? That's right, a store devoted to Pop Tarts.
Oh New York City.
Oh New York City.
Locrio de Salami
Locrio is a beautiful word. It's a wonderful dish, too. It's rice and whatever meat you choose (except beef) cooked together in a pot. Think Paella, think jambalaya, think arroz con - and you'll have an approximation of locrio.
In my quest to get better at this cooking thing, I decided to make locrio de salami. It's one of my favorite dishes, one because I love salami, and two, because it's one of the earliest things I learned to cook. I must've been 10/11/12 because I was still in Junior High when I learned. I can remember very clearly the redness of the salami mami used, the shape of our kitchen, my desire to get the hell out of there and go read a romance novel.
In any case, I'm going to walk you through the steps. First, you want some chopped onion, crushed garlic, cilantro, chicken bouillon cube, green peppers, salt, and of course, salami. Saute the crap outta that.
Add tomato paste and allow for that to cook well, too.
When everything is nice and a little bit cooked (you don't want to overcook it now) add your water. Rule of thumb is that for every cup of rice you cook, you use a cup of water. You have to be careful with the rice/water ratio. It's what makes the difference between mushy rice and fluffy beautiful rice. In any case, you add your water, you rinse your rice (Dominicans rinse it twice. Some say that that washes all the few nutrients that white rice has. I don't know if it's true, but I rinse twice 'cuz that's how I learned it) and when the water starts boiling, you add your rice. You stir it once to make sure it won't stick to the bottom of the pan right away. You leave your pot uncovered until the water diminishes. When the water is practically gone, then you stir the rice, making a little mound inside the pot. That's so that you don't get concon on the sides, too. Cover tightly.
In the Dominican, we always cooked rice with a pressure cooker. Here, I've resorted to covering the pot with aluminum foil and then the cover - keeps the moisture and vapors in, which is what you want, but this could backfire, because if you leave alone too long, mushy rice.
When your rice is done, you stir it once and leave it cooking for a few more minutes. This is what I had when done.
Not a bad deal. Although I have to admit, memory is a tricky thing - I remember everything being so red, ya know?
Now, on to la compaña. For salad, I chopped some raw cabbage very thinly, and some cucumbers.
two of my favorite salad thingies. Then, fried some plátano maduro.
Add to the whole thing a guineo (Taino word that means banana that is now part of the Dominican Lexicon) and if you're wondering, a guineo? Well, you always should have guineo with your locrio, it just goes together well. Finished plate:
Not a bad deal, if I do say so myself. I'm getting there, I'm getting there.
In my quest to get better at this cooking thing, I decided to make locrio de salami. It's one of my favorite dishes, one because I love salami, and two, because it's one of the earliest things I learned to cook. I must've been 10/11/12 because I was still in Junior High when I learned. I can remember very clearly the redness of the salami mami used, the shape of our kitchen, my desire to get the hell out of there and go read a romance novel.
In any case, I'm going to walk you through the steps. First, you want some chopped onion, crushed garlic, cilantro, chicken bouillon cube, green peppers, salt, and of course, salami. Saute the crap outta that.
Add tomato paste and allow for that to cook well, too.
When everything is nice and a little bit cooked (you don't want to overcook it now) add your water. Rule of thumb is that for every cup of rice you cook, you use a cup of water. You have to be careful with the rice/water ratio. It's what makes the difference between mushy rice and fluffy beautiful rice. In any case, you add your water, you rinse your rice (Dominicans rinse it twice. Some say that that washes all the few nutrients that white rice has. I don't know if it's true, but I rinse twice 'cuz that's how I learned it) and when the water starts boiling, you add your rice. You stir it once to make sure it won't stick to the bottom of the pan right away. You leave your pot uncovered until the water diminishes. When the water is practically gone, then you stir the rice, making a little mound inside the pot. That's so that you don't get concon on the sides, too. Cover tightly.
In the Dominican, we always cooked rice with a pressure cooker. Here, I've resorted to covering the pot with aluminum foil and then the cover - keeps the moisture and vapors in, which is what you want, but this could backfire, because if you leave alone too long, mushy rice.
When your rice is done, you stir it once and leave it cooking for a few more minutes. This is what I had when done.
Not a bad deal. Although I have to admit, memory is a tricky thing - I remember everything being so red, ya know?
Now, on to la compaña. For salad, I chopped some raw cabbage very thinly, and some cucumbers.
two of my favorite salad thingies. Then, fried some plátano maduro.
Add to the whole thing a guineo (Taino word that means banana that is now part of the Dominican Lexicon) and if you're wondering, a guineo? Well, you always should have guineo with your locrio, it just goes together well. Finished plate:
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Whip It
So, I'm attempting to cook and stuff. I was too involved to remember to take pictures while I cook. Next Time I suppose.
Menu consisted of Rice with green pigeon peas, eggplant in tomato sauce, a cabbage, avocado, and cucumber salad, and maduros. I had the lil boo buy some roasted chicken cause I didn't feel capable of tackling protein just yet.
Took me about an hour and forty five minutes. We did a rudimentary table set up, so that we could eat like proper adults at the table.
Lil Boo brought some white wine that did complement the meal very well. We lit some candles, turned off lights, and served ourselves. My plate:
I really like cabbage.
Not bad for a first try - after all I haven't "really" cooked since 2009, I think. The salad is hard to mess up and was nice. The Maduros were perfect, not too brown. What I was proudest of, though, was the eggplant - I'm an eggplant lover, and it came out delicious. Just the right spicy, with a strong garlic hint, and all nice and mushy. The one thing that I could've done better? the rice, or moro de gandules verdes.
I think I just got nervous and didn't think. It came out underseasoned mostly because when I was preparing the sofrito and the green pigeon peas, I was preparing for less rice. If I had worked on that measuring better, the rice would've been tastier.
Afterwards we retired to the living room to watch Whip It, finish off the wine and some presidentes, and have a bite of store bought Coffee Crumb Cake. Whip It was just as good as I remembered - better even, since I watched it this time in a happier atmosphere than when I watched it in the theaters. I have to say though, I was really dissappointed about the DVD's Extras - namely that there weren't any. What's up, Drew Barrymore? Why no behind the scenes!?
In any case, I have enough for leftovers for lunch, so not bad, eh? Thanks Lil Boo, for willingly being my guinea pig!
Menu consisted of Rice with green pigeon peas, eggplant in tomato sauce, a cabbage, avocado, and cucumber salad, and maduros. I had the lil boo buy some roasted chicken cause I didn't feel capable of tackling protein just yet.
Took me about an hour and forty five minutes. We did a rudimentary table set up, so that we could eat like proper adults at the table.
Lil Boo brought some white wine that did complement the meal very well. We lit some candles, turned off lights, and served ourselves. My plate:
I really like cabbage.
Not bad for a first try - after all I haven't "really" cooked since 2009, I think. The salad is hard to mess up and was nice. The Maduros were perfect, not too brown. What I was proudest of, though, was the eggplant - I'm an eggplant lover, and it came out delicious. Just the right spicy, with a strong garlic hint, and all nice and mushy. The one thing that I could've done better? the rice, or moro de gandules verdes.
I think I just got nervous and didn't think. It came out underseasoned mostly because when I was preparing the sofrito and the green pigeon peas, I was preparing for less rice. If I had worked on that measuring better, the rice would've been tastier.
Afterwards we retired to the living room to watch Whip It, finish off the wine and some presidentes, and have a bite of store bought Coffee Crumb Cake. Whip It was just as good as I remembered - better even, since I watched it this time in a happier atmosphere than when I watched it in the theaters. I have to say though, I was really dissappointed about the DVD's Extras - namely that there weren't any. What's up, Drew Barrymore? Why no behind the scenes!?
In any case, I have enough for leftovers for lunch, so not bad, eh? Thanks Lil Boo, for willingly being my guinea pig!
"Dancing... can change lives!"
Monday night. Lil Boo and I go to the movies to watch Step Up 3D.
For one, I really don't think this movie NEEDED to be 3D. I am appalled by the fact that I paid as much as I did for that movie.
However, I have to say that out of all the Step Up's, this is a serious contender for my favorite. (yes people, there are only 3.) It had all the requisits of a dance movie:
- a dance competition that is "crazy and has never happened so big before"
- a cash prize that will be the only way to "pay for school" "pay for little billy's operation" "save the house" (choose the one you like best.)
- a dancer that's so amazing that needs to be in the crew and "with so-and-so we'll win."
- a struggle to choose and juggle between dancing and school/non-dancing peeps.
- last minute inspirational speeches
- a super talented dancer whose dreams will take him/her out of the city they're in
- the zany non-american accented dancer that will make you laugh
- a montage where main character attempts not to dance and is miserable
- a practice your dancing montage
- a love story
- the moment where it looks like the main character will lose/won't dance to only suddenly come right back with some crazy spectacle of a piece.
I loved every bit of it. This one was good because the director actually chose to SHOW the dancing instead of populating every second of the screen with quick cuts and close ups. I think though that this might've been an unintended side effect from the 3D - I assume quick cuts and close ups don't look that great on 3D. There were also some surprisingly good scenes, mostly the one's with Alyson Stoner, she of the Missy Elliot Videos fame.
I guess maybe I should start a rating system for the movies. We'll see.
For one, I really don't think this movie NEEDED to be 3D. I am appalled by the fact that I paid as much as I did for that movie.
However, I have to say that out of all the Step Up's, this is a serious contender for my favorite. (yes people, there are only 3.) It had all the requisits of a dance movie:
- a dance competition that is "crazy and has never happened so big before"
- a cash prize that will be the only way to "pay for school" "pay for little billy's operation" "save the house" (choose the one you like best.)
- a dancer that's so amazing that needs to be in the crew and "with so-and-so we'll win."
- a struggle to choose and juggle between dancing and school/non-dancing peeps.
- last minute inspirational speeches
- a super talented dancer whose dreams will take him/her out of the city they're in
- the zany non-american accented dancer that will make you laugh
- a montage where main character attempts not to dance and is miserable
- a practice your dancing montage
- a love story
- the moment where it looks like the main character will lose/won't dance to only suddenly come right back with some crazy spectacle of a piece.
I loved every bit of it. This one was good because the director actually chose to SHOW the dancing instead of populating every second of the screen with quick cuts and close ups. I think though that this might've been an unintended side effect from the 3D - I assume quick cuts and close ups don't look that great on 3D. There were also some surprisingly good scenes, mostly the one's with Alyson Stoner, she of the Missy Elliot Videos fame.
I guess maybe I should start a rating system for the movies. We'll see.
On a clear day you can see forever
After a night of debauchery, nothing like Diner food to set everything right. We made our way to Gemini's in Kips Bay, where everybody knows my face, if not my name.
To make things different, I went for the Corned Beef Hash with Potatoes, two eggs sunny side up, and wheat toast.
I pretty much scrambled all that up and ate every single bit. It was really, really good.
Afterward, we walked to Times Square, got caught in torrential rain (I mean that. I'm talking DRENCHED), struggled to figure out what to do with our afternoon, and ended up shopping. Not a bad Sunday - except we were all tired. I made my way back home to watch the Barbra classic, to cross stitch, and to miss mi Cariño, who's coming home soon.
To make things different, I went for the Corned Beef Hash with Potatoes, two eggs sunny side up, and wheat toast.
I pretty much scrambled all that up and ate every single bit. It was really, really good.
Afterward, we walked to Times Square, got caught in torrential rain (I mean that. I'm talking DRENCHED), struggled to figure out what to do with our afternoon, and ended up shopping. Not a bad Sunday - except we were all tired. I made my way back home to watch the Barbra classic, to cross stitch, and to miss mi Cariño, who's coming home soon.
Where my lesbians at?
Returned from El Paso by 9pm, was in Manhattan's West Village by 10:30pm. Time to go out with my girls!
It was quite the interesting night, mostly because in a city as big as New York, with such a big lesbian population, it's still tough to decide where to hang out.
We began at The Cubbyhole (12th and W. 4th) a place that looks exactly the same year in and year out. Paper fishes hanging from the room, every corner quickly filled. The people have changed though - I noticed a lot more gay men in the house. Still, Cubbyhole is a no-dancing zone, so after a drink we decided to go dancing. We're your regular girls - not really into the party/night scene, and with CaddyShack gone, we decided to head towards Girl Nations, the night held at this bar/club in Midtown Manhattan.
After getting off of the cab, I said outloud that Nations was one of the steadiest Girl nights in NYC. And boy did I jinx the hell out of that one, because we walked in to find that the place was not just empty, (I mean like crazy empty) but that there were *gasp* obvious hetero men sitting at the bar. We approached one of the bartenders in a hurry only to be informed that Girl Nations had moved to the RF Lounge in the West Village.
Well then. After a free shot from the bartender (thanks lady!) we took yet another cab, this one downtown. (All our cab taking would make Carrie very very proud.) We're like, "RF Lounge, what's that?" only to realize that this is the new name of what used to be RubyFruit.
The RubyFruit at one point used the be the place where the "older lesbians" would hang out. Not this night! The place was packed, but it was still tiny tiny - and not many people seemed to be into dancing. I don't know if RF Lounge had a dancing license. But the girls didn't want to groove, and I don't blame them, the music wasn't so great.
So we finally "bite the bullet" and head to Henrietta Hudson's a couple of blocks down, resigned to dance to a couple of reggaeton songs and go home when we walk in and realize: 1) the place is not crazy packed, which: yay, and 2)the music is a bit more varied. A little reggaeton, yes, but also a bit of other things to round it out. We danced and danced and danced and at around 3am Steph found me a cab and I made it home back to Brooklyn.
Good times! But it makes me wonder, where do all the other lesbians go? There's a gazillion of them in NYC, and it feels like 3/4 of those love to party. How do they find where to be? Is there a network I should be plugged into, a Facebook page I should fan? Anyone knows the answer?
It was quite the interesting night, mostly because in a city as big as New York, with such a big lesbian population, it's still tough to decide where to hang out.
We began at The Cubbyhole (12th and W. 4th) a place that looks exactly the same year in and year out. Paper fishes hanging from the room, every corner quickly filled. The people have changed though - I noticed a lot more gay men in the house. Still, Cubbyhole is a no-dancing zone, so after a drink we decided to go dancing. We're your regular girls - not really into the party/night scene, and with CaddyShack gone, we decided to head towards Girl Nations, the night held at this bar/club in Midtown Manhattan.
After getting off of the cab, I said outloud that Nations was one of the steadiest Girl nights in NYC. And boy did I jinx the hell out of that one, because we walked in to find that the place was not just empty, (I mean like crazy empty) but that there were *gasp* obvious hetero men sitting at the bar. We approached one of the bartenders in a hurry only to be informed that Girl Nations had moved to the RF Lounge in the West Village.
Well then. After a free shot from the bartender (thanks lady!) we took yet another cab, this one downtown. (All our cab taking would make Carrie very very proud.) We're like, "RF Lounge, what's that?" only to realize that this is the new name of what used to be RubyFruit.
The RubyFruit at one point used the be the place where the "older lesbians" would hang out. Not this night! The place was packed, but it was still tiny tiny - and not many people seemed to be into dancing. I don't know if RF Lounge had a dancing license. But the girls didn't want to groove, and I don't blame them, the music wasn't so great.
So we finally "bite the bullet" and head to Henrietta Hudson's a couple of blocks down, resigned to dance to a couple of reggaeton songs and go home when we walk in and realize: 1) the place is not crazy packed, which: yay, and 2)the music is a bit more varied. A little reggaeton, yes, but also a bit of other things to round it out. We danced and danced and danced and at around 3am Steph found me a cab and I made it home back to Brooklyn.
Good times! But it makes me wonder, where do all the other lesbians go? There's a gazillion of them in NYC, and it feels like 3/4 of those love to party. How do they find where to be? Is there a network I should be plugged into, a Facebook page I should fan? Anyone knows the answer?
Say Goodbye to Texas
After a kind of slow recording day, we were finally done with work. We celebrated by finally giving in to my week long craving for a burger. And no better place to give in to cravings than at Crave Kitchen and Bar. The place is very neat, with a huge chalkboard wall displaying the menu and specials, and huge ceiling to floor mirrors when you walk in that almost made me smack myself. And, it is also decorated with utensils falling from the ceiling - it's quite the interesting effect.
We began by sharing the Spinach and Artichoke Dip. It was delish. I forgot to take a picture.
My main course was the Crave Burger, which consists of 1/2 pound of black angus bathed in a homemade Guinness steak sauce, with Cheddar and grilled red onions. No option to add lettuce and tomato, and I enjoyed that. As my side I chose some sweet potato waffle fries.
For a change I actually asked for my burger to be medium rare, and it was so, to perfection. It's very filling though, so soon I had Gaspar eating the end of the burger. The sweet potato fries could've used less salt and I couldn't tell if the sweet sauce that came with my stuff was the steak sauce or dipping sauce for my fries, but otherwise, a really good burger.
To round up the night, and after stopping by a T-Mobile store to buy Gaspar a new phone, we decided to go to the movies again.
We saw Inception.
I can see why people are going crazy over it, and how it can be very polarizing. Although it has crazy great action and amazing scenes, it fails to capture the audience that the Matrix caught - and I very much think that Inception and the Matrix are in the same boat. The movie could've done with some trimming - I don't want to give the plot away for someone that hasn't seen it, but I think everyone knows that it's about dreams, and pushing people through their dreams, stealing knowledge through their dreams, being caught in the dreamworld. The metaphors here can seem a little endless, and I imagine that there's already someone composing a book of essays in regards to the movie.
The reason why I think it fails where the Matrix triumphed was because the Matrix, although it held a very complicated series of metaphors and metaphysical questions, just as Inception did, kept it as simple as one could. These are the bad guys, these are the good guys, this is the goal. Although I applaud that Inception kept it murky, it's this complication that will keep your average movie goer from relating to the movie, thus being able to understand the metaphors and ask themselves the metaphysical questions.
Talking about something without really saying much about it is hard. Kudos to you reviewers.
We left El Paso the morning after this. Surprisingly, not a bad town, but the company made a lot of difference.
We began by sharing the Spinach and Artichoke Dip. It was delish. I forgot to take a picture.
My main course was the Crave Burger, which consists of 1/2 pound of black angus bathed in a homemade Guinness steak sauce, with Cheddar and grilled red onions. No option to add lettuce and tomato, and I enjoyed that. As my side I chose some sweet potato waffle fries.
To round up the night, and after stopping by a T-Mobile store to buy Gaspar a new phone, we decided to go to the movies again.
I can see why people are going crazy over it, and how it can be very polarizing. Although it has crazy great action and amazing scenes, it fails to capture the audience that the Matrix caught - and I very much think that Inception and the Matrix are in the same boat. The movie could've done with some trimming - I don't want to give the plot away for someone that hasn't seen it, but I think everyone knows that it's about dreams, and pushing people through their dreams, stealing knowledge through their dreams, being caught in the dreamworld. The metaphors here can seem a little endless, and I imagine that there's already someone composing a book of essays in regards to the movie.
The reason why I think it fails where the Matrix triumphed was because the Matrix, although it held a very complicated series of metaphors and metaphysical questions, just as Inception did, kept it as simple as one could. These are the bad guys, these are the good guys, this is the goal. Although I applaud that Inception kept it murky, it's this complication that will keep your average movie goer from relating to the movie, thus being able to understand the metaphors and ask themselves the metaphysical questions.
Talking about something without really saying much about it is hard. Kudos to you reviewers.
We left El Paso the morning after this. Surprisingly, not a bad town, but the company made a lot of difference.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Happy Accidents
After work, we took the Scenic Drive. Here's a view from one of the lookout points.
I call that straddling borders. There you're viewing both El Paso, TX, USA and Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, México.
And of course, some love graffiti.
Not left by me, mind you. I liked the promise part, even more than the Monkey part.
Looking for a cheap Thai food place here in El Paso, TX, after a full, but smooth recording day, we found out that the Thai place we searched online had closed and in its stead there was Pho Tre Bien Express, a Vietnamese Restaurant. We decided to go for it.
We began with what could be either Tofu Springrolls or Tofu Winter rolls. I asked for Winter rolls. They look springy to me.
They were very tasty, and went well with the severely spicy sauce I poured over mine.
Then I had the Tofu Lemongrass Noodle.
It was also extremely tasty and it made me very happy. I love some tofu cooked right!
Then finally, the sun set as we were heading back to the hotel.
A good day. I'm calling it an early night, though. Me and the cross stitching will enjoy The Gilmore Girls for an episode before happily collapsing. Yea.
And of course, some love graffiti.
Looking for a cheap Thai food place here in El Paso, TX, after a full, but smooth recording day, we found out that the Thai place we searched online had closed and in its stead there was Pho Tre Bien Express, a Vietnamese Restaurant. We decided to go for it.
We began with what could be either Tofu Springrolls or Tofu Winter rolls. I asked for Winter rolls. They look springy to me.
Then I had the Tofu Lemongrass Noodle.
Then finally, the sun set as we were heading back to the hotel.
A good day. I'm calling it an early night, though. Me and the cross stitching will enjoy The Gilmore Girls for an episode before happily collapsing. Yea.
Oh. My. God.
First day in El Paso. Well, what a day it was. First, we almost missed our flight TO El Paso, which was a morning adventure all in itself. Then, we realized that the town really is as "dead" as we thought it was gonna be. So, what to do in our "afternoon off"? We chose to go to the movies.
We timed it right so that we could do as much theater hopping as possible. I know, to think that I would willingly do that! How times have changed. How I have changed. If it helps any better I felt guilty everytime we did it. And then some. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
So we buy tickets to go see "Scott Pilgrim vs. The World" and man, that movie is worth the price of admission. (Only $6.50! I almost fell down laughing.) Wait, I'm not giving it enough credit - the flick is fracking awesome. Run and watch it, right now, it's amazing. It's funny, it's wonderfully tongue in cheek, it's Michael Fracking Cera for goodness gracious. I don't want to give any of the plot away, except to say Scott Pilgrim must fight 7 evil exes to gain the love of a girl.
Afterwards we ran immediately to the theater next door to catch Vampires Suck. We hadn't watched the trailer, but satire, right? Nothing wrong with making fun of ourselves and our obsessions. Well, I was terribly glad we did NOT pay for that piece of junk because it was nauseatingly bad. I mean seriously. I felt bad for the lead because she obviously spent a lot of time imitating Kristen Stewart in Twilight and actually did a great job at it, but the thing was just horrible. I seriously am afraid for the state of the world, if the best we can do to satirize is to come up with this. Did they not watch Scary Movie? It's modeled after it and it's style, almost, but gone 100 times in the wrong direction. I doubt any of y'all were thinking of going to see this, but if you were, please don't. There, I've saved you at least 5 IQ points. In any case we walked out about 15 minutes into the movie because really? I value myself. And my time. And if I stayed in there I was going to throw up a little.
So we wanted to watch Inception afterwards, but that was in the other side of the theater and in an hour to boot, and God forbid we pay another $6.50 and so we walked next door to see The Expendables, which I actually was curious about. But not anymore. It was like a bad amalgamation of all the other Sylvester Stallone movies. (Except he left Rocky alone, to which: thanks.) And I was actually dissapointed, since reviews seemed favorable AND it's the number 1 movie in the country right now. Whatever. Lots of senseless killings, and new ways to gross you out/ make you go "whoa!" depending on where your IQ scale be. It WAS funny to see all this old action stars together though, specially since thanks to my dad I grew up watching their movies. If only Jean-Claude Van Damme could've made it for a showdown with Jet Li...
So we get out of the Expendables, kinda wishing we had the last two hours of our life back and after a bit of wandering around the theater searching for things, we go to the Walmart for some bag lunch goodness.
All in all, not a bad beginning to El Paso. But seriously, go see Scott Pilgrim.
We timed it right so that we could do as much theater hopping as possible. I know, to think that I would willingly do that! How times have changed. How I have changed. If it helps any better I felt guilty everytime we did it. And then some. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
So we buy tickets to go see "Scott Pilgrim vs. The World" and man, that movie is worth the price of admission. (Only $6.50! I almost fell down laughing.) Wait, I'm not giving it enough credit - the flick is fracking awesome. Run and watch it, right now, it's amazing. It's funny, it's wonderfully tongue in cheek, it's Michael Fracking Cera for goodness gracious. I don't want to give any of the plot away, except to say Scott Pilgrim must fight 7 evil exes to gain the love of a girl.
Afterwards we ran immediately to the theater next door to catch Vampires Suck. We hadn't watched the trailer, but satire, right? Nothing wrong with making fun of ourselves and our obsessions. Well, I was terribly glad we did NOT pay for that piece of junk because it was nauseatingly bad. I mean seriously. I felt bad for the lead because she obviously spent a lot of time imitating Kristen Stewart in Twilight and actually did a great job at it, but the thing was just horrible. I seriously am afraid for the state of the world, if the best we can do to satirize is to come up with this. Did they not watch Scary Movie? It's modeled after it and it's style, almost, but gone 100 times in the wrong direction. I doubt any of y'all were thinking of going to see this, but if you were, please don't. There, I've saved you at least 5 IQ points. In any case we walked out about 15 minutes into the movie because really? I value myself. And my time. And if I stayed in there I was going to throw up a little.
So we wanted to watch Inception afterwards, but that was in the other side of the theater and in an hour to boot, and God forbid we pay another $6.50 and so we walked next door to see The Expendables, which I actually was curious about. But not anymore. It was like a bad amalgamation of all the other Sylvester Stallone movies. (Except he left Rocky alone, to which: thanks.) And I was actually dissapointed, since reviews seemed favorable AND it's the number 1 movie in the country right now. Whatever. Lots of senseless killings, and new ways to gross you out/ make you go "whoa!" depending on where your IQ scale be. It WAS funny to see all this old action stars together though, specially since thanks to my dad I grew up watching their movies. If only Jean-Claude Van Damme could've made it for a showdown with Jet Li...
So we get out of the Expendables, kinda wishing we had the last two hours of our life back and after a bit of wandering around the theater searching for things, we go to the Walmart for some bag lunch goodness.
All in all, not a bad beginning to El Paso. But seriously, go see Scott Pilgrim.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
All Y'all Come Back Now!
Things that I learned while in the south. Y'all and All Y'all are not the same thing. Well, I actually learned this in the North, but my southerner boss taught me it. Y'all means you. All Y'all means, well, you all. Funny.
In any case, our partner decided to take us out to lunch to thank us for the hard work and we gladly accepted. She took us to Schilo in downtown San Antonio, where they serve German and American food. They're also pretty famous for their root beer, so I decided to forego my usual glass of water with my meals and tried one. They come in frozen mugs.
My lunch consisted of Tuna Salad (with lettuce and tomato) on a Croissant with some chips and hot german potato salad.
It was cheap and it was good, and I'm sure that if I had chosen one of the "famous plates" I would've enjoyed it more. As it was, the root beer was too sweet (and being that I'm Dominican, that's saying something) and the potato salad / tuna salad were nothing to get too excited about. But I think the place would merit a "going back to try new things" if I were staying in San Antonio longer.
After work, and since we're leaving San Antonio tomorrow morning, we figured we needed to go for the other Texas mainstay: Barbecue. We chose The Barbecue Station, and had to really drive around in order to get it. It was worth it.
You're welcomed by a counter, and this massive barbecue pit. I wish I could've seen inside.
I chose the lean Brisket and chicken combo, with string beans and coleslaw and wheat bread, and some lemony water to wash it all down with.
It was my first time having Brisket and I dare say it will not be my last. OMG that was delicious! I quite enjoyed it. The chicken I wasn't too much a fan of, since I ended up with dark meat and I'm not much of a fan, so I gave most of it to Gaspar.
After BBQ we stopped by Amy's Ice Cream, for some Mexican Vanilla dipped on chocolate fudge. I forgot to take a picture, but trust, the stuff be good.
It was getting late and so we decided to squeeze one last thing in before going off to collapse in our rooms: The Alamo! Here I place Gaspar in front of the "Heroic Monument" (whatev's) in a classic touristy pose.
Around the corner I made him pose as if he was peeing. Hey, if Ozzy Osbourne could do it, so can Gaspar!
All in all San Antonio has been a blast. Oh, I almost forgot: I drove this morning! a 15 minute drive to work. I know, will wonders ever cease? See you soon from El Paso!
In any case, our partner decided to take us out to lunch to thank us for the hard work and we gladly accepted. She took us to Schilo in downtown San Antonio, where they serve German and American food. They're also pretty famous for their root beer, so I decided to forego my usual glass of water with my meals and tried one. They come in frozen mugs.
My lunch consisted of Tuna Salad (with lettuce and tomato) on a Croissant with some chips and hot german potato salad.
It was cheap and it was good, and I'm sure that if I had chosen one of the "famous plates" I would've enjoyed it more. As it was, the root beer was too sweet (and being that I'm Dominican, that's saying something) and the potato salad / tuna salad were nothing to get too excited about. But I think the place would merit a "going back to try new things" if I were staying in San Antonio longer.
After work, and since we're leaving San Antonio tomorrow morning, we figured we needed to go for the other Texas mainstay: Barbecue. We chose The Barbecue Station, and had to really drive around in order to get it. It was worth it.
It was my first time having Brisket and I dare say it will not be my last. OMG that was delicious! I quite enjoyed it. The chicken I wasn't too much a fan of, since I ended up with dark meat and I'm not much of a fan, so I gave most of it to Gaspar.
After BBQ we stopped by Amy's Ice Cream, for some Mexican Vanilla dipped on chocolate fudge. I forgot to take a picture, but trust, the stuff be good.
It was getting late and so we decided to squeeze one last thing in before going off to collapse in our rooms: The Alamo! Here I place Gaspar in front of the "Heroic Monument" (whatev's) in a classic touristy pose.
All in all San Antonio has been a blast. Oh, I almost forgot: I drove this morning! a 15 minute drive to work. I know, will wonders ever cease? See you soon from El Paso!
Buffet Time
After a full day of recording, that included an extra interview and me having to deal with several extremely pushy and annoying members of the press, as well as having to "grant interviews" and what not, I decided to take a dip in the outdoor hotel pool. Since it was 102 degrees in San Antone, the water was quite warm, but it felt really good. Afterwards, Gaspar and I decided to stuff ourselves, and decided that Indian food would be it.
Enter India Palace. Hidden in a strip mall type of area, this place sells food Buffet style and from the menu, but the Buffet it's a really good deal for only 10.50 and unlimited refills. the food was freaking awesome. My first serving:
This one consisted of basmati rice, vegetable samosa, naan, and vegetable masala. Also something which name I can't remember but it was spinach and fresh cheese.
There was still room for more so I dared to get up for a third plate.
This one had Vegetable Basmati rice (seasoned with Saffron and with veggies), more Naan and Vegetable Samosa, Chickpeas, Dal Soup, and Okra Masala. The Okra was by far the best. And aslo funny, since I find it hilarious that I now love a veggie that my mother had to threaten me with physical harm in order for me to eat.
After that we rolled ourselves to our hotel rooms where I attempted to stay up to receive a phone call from mi Cariño, but ended up falling in a deep quite pleasurable sleep. Good times.
Enter India Palace. Hidden in a strip mall type of area, this place sells food Buffet style and from the menu, but the Buffet it's a really good deal for only 10.50 and unlimited refills. the food was freaking awesome. My first serving:
There was still room for more so I dared to get up for a third plate.
After that we rolled ourselves to our hotel rooms where I attempted to stay up to receive a phone call from mi Cariño, but ended up falling in a deep quite pleasurable sleep. Good times.
Es para evitar la fatiga
Finished reading "Sin Querer Queriendo. Memorias" by Roberto Gómez Bolaños.
What a dry book, although it was somewhat a pleasant read. I don't know how to explain it... he's too much of a conservative/old man that just kept editorializing his own experiences, which wasn't much fun. However it was a lot of fun to find out little tidbits about the crew of El Chavo del Ocho and the other Chespirito Shows. And I am glad I read it, because pa' qué les digo que no, si sí!
What a dry book, although it was somewhat a pleasant read. I don't know how to explain it... he's too much of a conservative/old man that just kept editorializing his own experiences, which wasn't much fun. However it was a lot of fun to find out little tidbits about the crew of El Chavo del Ocho and the other Chespirito Shows. And I am glad I read it, because pa' qué les digo que no, si sí!
Monday, August 16, 2010
I kiss better than I cook
Once again in Texas, this time with Gaspar, this time in San Antonio. Working on a Sunday is not the best, but today was pretty smooth. At lunch, our participants sent us to Tommy's Restaurant, a local haunt. I had tacos de Carnitas a la Mexicana (made with beef!) and beans and cheese.
They were huge, but made with flour tortillas, and I don't know, not necesarily the best. But Tommy's had the awesome sign that will now become my motto
After lunch, since we finished quickly, I walked through part of the San Fernando Cemetery number 2. There were some beautiful tombstones and inscriptions. It's always interesting to see what's "in vogue" in certain times, like the many many tombs from the '30s that held a picture of the deceased.
Eventually the work day finished and after some shopping for tomorrow and kiboshing an impromptu drive to Austin, we headed to Pasha for dinner in honor of Mi Cariño who is off in her Israeli adventure. It's a mediterranean restaurant, with lebanese and Iranian owners. We began the night by first making faces to the baby on the table next to us, who obviously could sense my awesomeness with children and kept giving me the eye. Food wise though, we had baba ganouj
And pasha potatoes
and this awesome flatbread, which we dipped on this mixture of olive oil, oregano, chopped olives and some other seed we couldn't identify.
My entree consisted of Sheesh Tawook Kabob. This was chicken breast, served with greek salad (by request), garlic sauce and pickled cucumbers.
OMG what a good meal. Dinner lasted about an hour and a half, talking about nothing and everything. Gaspar's a good egg. For dessert we shared a Baklava.
Dessert was the only thing I didn't utterly love, but it was good enough for a few bites. All in all, not a bad beginning, San Antone!
!
After lunch, since we finished quickly, I walked through part of the San Fernando Cemetery number 2. There were some beautiful tombstones and inscriptions. It's always interesting to see what's "in vogue" in certain times, like the many many tombs from the '30s that held a picture of the deceased.
Eventually the work day finished and after some shopping for tomorrow and kiboshing an impromptu drive to Austin, we headed to Pasha for dinner in honor of Mi Cariño who is off in her Israeli adventure. It's a mediterranean restaurant, with lebanese and Iranian owners. We began the night by first making faces to the baby on the table next to us, who obviously could sense my awesomeness with children and kept giving me the eye. Food wise though, we had baba ganouj
And pasha potatoes
and this awesome flatbread, which we dipped on this mixture of olive oil, oregano, chopped olives and some other seed we couldn't identify.
My entree consisted of Sheesh Tawook Kabob. This was chicken breast, served with greek salad (by request), garlic sauce and pickled cucumbers.
OMG what a good meal. Dinner lasted about an hour and a half, talking about nothing and everything. Gaspar's a good egg. For dessert we shared a Baklava.
Dessert was the only thing I didn't utterly love, but it was good enough for a few bites. All in all, not a bad beginning, San Antone!
!
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Kiddie Meals
Friday dawned on me on the upper east, but the day quickly became frantic as I headed to Bed-Stuy, then Bushwick, then JFK, then East Elmhurst, AND THEN Mornings Heights. After a quick walk around the neighborhood, Chuck, baby and I finally settled on lunch at Community, on Broadway. The object was to feed me into agreeing into giving her a foot rub.
First, we chose from the breads and stuff part of the menu. Sourdough baguette and artisanal cheese.
Tangy Sourdough and Sweet Garlic Confit
and Curry Flatbread Crisp and Edamame Hummus
We shared this with beautiful "GoodSoul" who entertained herself throwing all her toys on the floor, rejoicing every time I picked them up. And then the Entree came: Indian Chicken Sandwich, which is curried pulled chicken on ciabatta bread, with mango chutney and greens and a cucumber apple mint salad in yogurt dressing.
Add to this delicious Sweet Potato Fries
The food was great, even if we had to do the "eat quickly, the child is getting restless" thing. Afterwards we walked home slowly, gave the promised foot rub, before eventually making it to my own home and falling asleep. All in all, a good Friday.
First, we chose from the breads and stuff part of the menu. Sourdough baguette and artisanal cheese.
Tangy Sourdough and Sweet Garlic Confit
and Curry Flatbread Crisp and Edamame Hummus
We shared this with beautiful "GoodSoul" who entertained herself throwing all her toys on the floor, rejoicing every time I picked them up. And then the Entree came: Indian Chicken Sandwich, which is curried pulled chicken on ciabatta bread, with mango chutney and greens and a cucumber apple mint salad in yogurt dressing.
Add to this delicious Sweet Potato Fries
The food was great, even if we had to do the "eat quickly, the child is getting restless" thing. Afterwards we walked home slowly, gave the promised foot rub, before eventually making it to my own home and falling asleep. All in all, a good Friday.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Italian again
Thursday night we headed once again to Gnocco. I decided to try something different this time, going for Gnocchi al Pomodoro e Mozzarella di Buffala.
It's potato gnocchi with tomato sauce, buffalo mozzarela and basil. It was mouthwatering good. But also extremely filling - I was barely able to eat half of it, and was helped by the rest of the table, thankfully.
Dessert was courtesy of Lauren, a Calzone Nutella.
The smell was intoxicating. You can't go wrong with Nutella, even more when it's warm Nutella. We quickly went to work on that, and it ended the movie beautifully.
A couple of hours later, Mi Cariño and I sat to watch Eat, Pray, Love in the theater. It was midnight and if you know me, you know I am not very good at staying awake once I'm sleepy, but I tried my best. The bits of the movie that I did see were pretty good, but I'm afraid I'll have to watch it again to make sure I know what I think of it. It was a good time, though, since it's been a while since I saw a midnight showing. I should do it much more often.
It's potato gnocchi with tomato sauce, buffalo mozzarela and basil. It was mouthwatering good. But also extremely filling - I was barely able to eat half of it, and was helped by the rest of the table, thankfully.
Dessert was courtesy of Lauren, a Calzone Nutella.
A couple of hours later, Mi Cariño and I sat to watch Eat, Pray, Love in the theater. It was midnight and if you know me, you know I am not very good at staying awake once I'm sleepy, but I tried my best. The bits of the movie that I did see were pretty good, but I'm afraid I'll have to watch it again to make sure I know what I think of it. It was a good time, though, since it's been a while since I saw a midnight showing. I should do it much more often.
Miércoles
Made some new friends Wednesday night. We went to Caracas in Williamsburg, to enjoy some Arepas. But first, tostones mochimeros.
This is your regular fried plantain, but topped with mojito mayo and white cheese. Very tasty.
For the entree, a "Los Muchachos" Arepa.
Their arepas are made out of flour and stuffed with grilled chorizo, spicy white cheese, jalapeño and sauteed peppers. Quite delicious.
For dessert we drove to the city and stopped by Rice to Riches. It was my first time there.
Very cute, filled with funny signs all over the place, such as
and
Very cute. But at least the rice pudding backed it up. We "shared" a Cinnamon and Hazelnut Rice Pudding combo.
This is your regular fried plantain, but topped with mojito mayo and white cheese. Very tasty.
For the entree, a "Los Muchachos" Arepa.
Their arepas are made out of flour and stuffed with grilled chorizo, spicy white cheese, jalapeño and sauteed peppers. Quite delicious.
For dessert we drove to the city and stopped by Rice to Riches. It was my first time there.
Very cute, filled with funny signs all over the place, such as
and
Very cute. But at least the rice pudding backed it up. We "shared" a Cinnamon and Hazelnut Rice Pudding combo.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Welcome Back
Yesterday, my Ida moved back to New York City. It was nice to be just the three of us, together. I love how it felt as if only a day or two had gone by since we had seen each other. We celebrated by eating at El Paso Taqueria, an amazing restaurant.
I had the Enchiladas Poblanas (con salsa mole y queso fresco) and a Dos XX Amber.
It was the perfect welcome back meal. I look forward to once again have NYC adventures with my little Boo and the Stephanopulos.
I had the Enchiladas Poblanas (con salsa mole y queso fresco) and a Dos XX Amber.
It was the perfect welcome back meal. I look forward to once again have NYC adventures with my little Boo and the Stephanopulos.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Barefoot in the kitchen
Mi Cariño made me dinner. I share with the world.
YUM.
She also made me watch "Que pasa, USA," which I'm happy to say was good. Very funny. I sang the theme song while at work and now the Floridians I work with want to borrow her DVD's. Ha.
YUM.
She also made me watch "Que pasa, USA," which I'm happy to say was good. Very funny. I sang the theme song while at work and now the Floridians I work with want to borrow her DVD's. Ha.
This is Microphone 2
Mi Cariño took me to see Freestyle Love Supreme at the Gramercy Theatre. HUZZAH!
We were there with Becky, Rosemary and Morayo, a real fun bunch. And Freestyle Love Supreme? They were beyond awesome. I understood about 75% of it all. Lin-Manuel was there to make my fan self happy. Some really crazy paralegal was chosen to go on the stage at some point. She really loved her dogs.
After the show Rosemary, Morayo, the Cariño and myself headed to Max Brenners. Well, we made it there eventually, since the other options for dessert were closed. I had this
Apple Cinnamon and Vanilla with a white chocolate sauce on waffle. I hated it so much I ate it all.
And that was my last Thursday. Ladies and Gentlemen I'd like to thank y'all for coming out this evening... this is microphone 2.
After the show Rosemary, Morayo, the Cariño and myself headed to Max Brenners. Well, we made it there eventually, since the other options for dessert were closed. I had this
Apple Cinnamon and Vanilla with a white chocolate sauce on waffle. I hated it so much I ate it all.
And that was my last Thursday. Ladies and Gentlemen I'd like to thank y'all for coming out this evening... this is microphone 2.
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