The Tool: Paris

It was the final episode of The Bachelor Paris last night, and between the dark and emotional girl Moana and miss kindergarten sunshine Sarah, the tool Dr. "i have cut abs, but i hate french food and carry a limited vocabulary" Travis picked the safe one, Sarah. I think he made the right pick for him. I get the sense that despite his outdoorsy nature, like many doctors I know, he's not the kind of man whose is all that interesting, and someone more worldly and savvy like Moana was would not be right for him. I also liked how Moana showed no emotion in front of him at her rejection - you go girl! (did i say that?) Keep it up! And I genuinely felt bad for her especially when she said that "the good girl always wins, guys like that don't marry girls like me." I just wanted to say "that's ok, he's a bit of a tool."
Perusing the blog responses to the show, it's interesting - I think that certain people root for each of the women - safe/nice Sarah vs. wild/deeply emotional Moana (friendship to romance vs crazy love). More women bloggers prefer Sarah whereas a lot of men prefer Moana. Is it a sex thing?

A Reimagining of the Classic Series

Eating Brooklyn

So this weekend, I was up in Brooklyn visiting Len, Melissa, Andy and Melinda, fellow food obsessed friends, 3 out of 4 with a St. Louis connection. Saturday for lunch, Andy drove us in the Shopsin's minivan to Defonte's in Red Hook. Andy said the place was a sandwich haven for truckers in the area. When we pulled up, we saw a few parked cabs and trucks, a good sign. The sandwiches were delicious.
Len and Melissa split the roast beef, mozarella and eggplant. Andy and I got the proscuitto, eggplant, mozarella, and hot pepper relish (pictured). We ate in the van, and it was great.
Later in the evening, plans for Korean BBQ fell through due to someone's gastrointestinal distress, but instead we found Rapfogel, and drove out to Brighton to Cafe Kashkar, an Uzbek restaurant. The cuisine was an interesting mix of afghani food with some Korean and Chinese elements. The waiter only spoke Russian, so we had to point at the menu. We started with a julienned carrot salad and an eggplant, pepper, and garlic salad in addition to several lamb dumplings. This was followed by several fantastic kabobs - we split lamb, ground beef, liver (tastiest liver i've had), lamb ribs, and veal (the best). All accompanied by rice, bread, and Uzbek music videos playing on the TV. Jed also had a bowl of noodle soup reminiscent of Chinese noodles with meat.

Battlestar Galactica 2.18 - Downloaded

I'm haven't blogged in a few days because I am in NYC visiting some friends. More to come on that tonight. Oh, and the US Men's Curling took the bronze medal. Congratulations. Despite being away from home, I still caught the new episode of Galactica thanks to Len's DVR. It was great. Melissa said I was like Len's 5 year old nephew watching the episode at Len's pad. It was mostly nerd glee because I loved the episode.
It was touted as an all cylon show, but there were really important views back with the fleet in regards to Sharon's human-cylon baby and her birth. It seemed at first that Roslin was ordering murder, but her decision to hide the child is consistent with her recent pro-life stance. Interesting. . .
Then all the events on Caprica: the reincarnated Six haunted by Baltar, Sharon's insistence on staying "human" and moving back to her old apartment, the two of them meeting Kara's beau, and cylon on cylon murder. Also, why do cylons enjoy going to cafes?

Curling Memories

This is my last US Women's Curling post, I promise. Alas, the first round of curling ended with the US Women's team with a disappointing 2-7 record, not making it to the elimination round. The memories: the polite post game conversations with sheetside correspondant Elfi Schlegel, the kooky Japanese fans, the Minnesota accents, Fred Roggin presenting curlers with bread baked in the shape of a stone, the insightful commentary by Don Duguid and Don Chevrier. . .

The good news is that the men's team is on to the next round of competition. So, it's back to Bemidji, Minnesota for the curl girls. Maybe in Vancouver in 2010. . .

Bollywood Remakes?!?

On the Twitch site, they reported the release of a Bollywood version of Fight Club. It's called, originally, Fight Club and it includes the expected musical numbers in a lot of Indian films. Crazy?!
I also read that there's a near shot for shot Bollywood remake of Oldboy called Zinda. No song and dance numbers here though, thankfully. I heard somewhere there is a version of Reservoir Dogs as well.

WInter Olympic Hotties, Pt.9

Lindsey Kildow - US Skier

Update - the main NBC coverage of the games are getting boring. However, curling still rules! It's a shame the US Women's team lost today. Looks like they won't make it to round 2. However, the US Men's team has been doing great - they made it to the 2nd round today with a great game against No. 1 Great Britain. This sport is so fun to watch.

My Old Bedroom Ephemera, Pt. 3

Apple //e Computer with 2 sweet floppy disk drives, joystick and a dot matrix printer. I think the model in Lost where they type in the numbers is a //plus model. That's a Pyramix sitting on the monitor, the pyramid version of the Rubik's Cube.

Battlestar Galactica 2.17- The Captain's Hand

An action-packed Galactica episode last night - yay, Pegasus survives, and with Lee as the new commander of the ship, it's likely it will stay around for a little while. Great space battle scenes with the more modern battlestar and vipers vs. 3 basestars. I loved the shot of the forward batteries firing from Pegasus. Another noted actor guest star - John Heard - buys the farm! No Apollo in jeopardy this week, but interesting developments: the Lee-Kara-Dee triangle, the abortion argument, and Baltar's political manuevering. Next week looks cool with the all-cylon episode! I can't believe the season's almost over - only 3 more episodes remain. ):

WInter Olympic Hotties, Pt.8

Tanith Belbin - USA Ice Dancing - according to her bio, she was born Canadian (hence the hotness) and only recently became a US citizen this past December. Ice Dancing is a bit too much Dancing with the Stars - repetitive and boring. The only thing interesting is when they "emote" with the passionate dances and make these orgasmic faces. I'm prepared for a weekend of curling though - the US men's team is still in the running, but the women's team alas may not make it to the second round.

WInter Olympic Hotties, Pt.7

Kati Wilheim - German Biathalon - watched the 7.5km sprint this morning. Kati came in 7th because she scratched one target, otherwise she could have won the gold.

Winter Olympic Hotties, Pt. 6

Sasha (no Baron) Cohen - US Figure Skater- she is also a teen model. Saw her with her mother on the today show eating gelato with Katie Couric. Her mom is the classic Jewish mother.
Last night's Olympic coverage was a little too "Brokeback Mountain" with US Men's figure skater Johnny Weir. The Russian, Yevgeny Plushenko (pictured), reminds me of Adrian Brody meets Spicoli. It looks like he's going to win tonight.
Oh, and the US Women's Curling finally won a match today versus Denmark - yay! I want one of the Japanese fans' curling hats!

Winter Olympic Hotties, Pt. 5

Torah Bright, Australian snowboarder

Winter Olympic Hotties, Pt. 4

Kathleen Kauth - member of US Women's Hockey Team.

Winter Olympic Hotties Pt.3

US Snowboard Half Pipe Silver Medalist Gretchen Bleiler.

Curling: Sport of the Future

After discovering the US Women's Curling team has the lovely Cassie Johnson as it's Skip, I was compelled to watch the USA vs. Norway match this morning on CNBC. It was a riveting match, but alas despite leading twice, the more experienced Norweigian team won.
Curling is really fun to watch for several reasons: the announcers have strong Minnesota accents, there is an appeal to watching a sport where the athletes don't have to be the most fit - they look like us normals, there is strategy much like billiards, of course, the lovely Johnson sisters, and the brooming - combining physics of friction on ice to change the course of the stones - so cool. Besides, it's much more exciting than luge, speedskating, bobsledding and cross country skiing because all you're watching is the clock or hoping someone will fall or crash.

My Old Bedroom Ephemera, Pt. 2

Twin Peaks coffee can series from Georgia Coffee (Japan). David Lynch even directed commercials for this coffee in Japan:
Commercial 1
Commercial 3
Commercial 4

Winter Olympic Hotties Pt.2

The Johnson Sisters - US Women's CURLING team (sport of the future!)

Winter Olympic Hotties Pt.1

Kari Traa - Norwegian moguls silver medalist.

My Old Bedroom Ephemera, Pt. 1

Yes, it's true: Arnold Schwarzenegger Ramen!

Galactica 2.16 - Sacrifice

I tell you McMurphy still looks great. Too bad all guest stars recently get offed in the same episode - first Bill Duke, now Dana Delany. They killed Billy! I liked this episode for several reasons: the sentimental Adama, Sharon is not to be trusted!, more flawed Starbuck - waiting for her to return to form, and the possible love triangle with Dualla, Lee, and Kara.
Hope to see more Baltar in the next few episodes. .

Crazy Younger Caucasian Drivers!

My mom, who's in her late 60's was in a car accident last night. Some middle aged white lady hit my mom's honda on the driver's side when the lady was making a turn out of a parking lot. It was the lady's fault.

Akira Ifukube, 1914 - 2006

Taken from MonsterZero.com

Very sad news for Godzilla and music fans every where, Akira Ifukube has passed on.

Thursday February 9, 1:38 AM

'Godzilla' series composer Akira Ifukube dies at 91

Music composer Akira Ifukube, who is most famous for his work on the movie "Godzilla," died of multiple organ failure Wednesday night at a hospital in Tokyo, his family said. He was 91.

Ifukube was born in Kushiro, Hokkaido. A graduate of Hokkaido University, Ifukube self-taught composing and created music for major movies since the 1950s, including "Gembaku no ko" (Children of Hiroshima) in 1952 and "Godzilla" in 1954.

His theme of "Godzilla," which expressed the horrors of the monstrous creature, has widely influenced foreign movies.

Ifukube's portfolio of work also include the 1956 "Biruma no Tategoto" (The Harp of Burma) and the "Daimajin" series from 1966.

The composer of "Nihon Kyoshikyoku" (Japanese Rhapsody), which is considered a masterpiece, Ifukube served as the president of the Tokyo College of Music between 1976 and 1987.

Ifukube was awarded a Person of Cultural Merit, one of Japan's highest honors, in 2003.

Godzilla's Roar

Godzilla's Theme

John McCain Works for CTU

Tonight on 24, John McCain handed Audrey Raines some paperwork while Chloe was working on hacking the security of the building Jack Bauer was about to storm looking for a clue to the Russian terrorists with the weaponized nerve gas. Good thing he wasn't in the briefing room when Jack was torturing, oops, I mean questioning the suspect.

SCAR! - Battlestar Galactica 2.15

After last week's so-so episode (even Ron Moore in his podcast said he didn't like the last one), this week's Scar was great. Starbuck is a far more interesting character than Apollo. What I loved: the idea of Scar as the returned Cylon Raider out to get Kara, Kara and Boomer #2 remembering their past lives, and Kara and Apollo's drunken-messed up hookup. The last 3 episodes have been based around singular characters, and this was my favorite. Nerd out.

Princeton Karaoke Party

Last night, went up to Princeton for Nick's birthday karaoke party. Sue made homemade Little Debbie oatmeal pies and Nick used mesquite to BBQ 2 roast chickens. Then we spent 7 hours playing Karaoke Revolution Party with everyone. I was the only one who could finish "Brick House", albeit poorly.

Chan Marshall sings Eminem

Karaoke surrounds us, penetrates us, and binds the galaxy together.

Junebug and Amy Adams

Watched Junebug tonight on DVD. How did I miss seeing this movie in the theater? It's great! It's got Embeth Davidtz who I have been a fan of since Army of Darkness. Then, it's got all this indie credibility with the director Phil Morrison, who did Upright Citizens Brigade and videos for Sonic Youth and Superchunk. On top of that, Will Oldham is in it, and Yo La Tengo did the soundtrack.
Amy Adams, who was the "hot chick" in The Office, gives an amazing performance in this film as the pregnant and enthusiastic Ashley. Wow, she made me want to cry.

(ok, i did)

The Cool Galactica Promo!

This might be my favorite Galactica promo they are playing.

State of the Union

I don't intend to be political on this blog, but they broadcast the address in HD last night. Why?
So I can make out that Cheney wears the waving flag pin whereas Bush wears the flat flag pin? So I can tell precisely who was in each and every stupid self-congratulatory standing ovation? So I can see that the lady next to Laura Bush has serious monobrow? The sad thing is I switched between CBS and NBC, and determined that the HD feed on CBS is better quality.