My Anonymous Blog

Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland

I'm terribly excited for Burton's twisted take on one of my favorite tales. The trailer looks incredibly promising and the casting of In Treatment's "Sophie" - the supremely talented Mia Wasikowska - as Alice, should prove interesting. I'm not thrilled about waiting until March though...

Dark Knight & Homemade Pesto

Fine art photog Lois C. whipped up a delectable pesto dish at her NYC pad using fresh herbs from her PA garden.  It made me wish I had a garden in the city!  It was delicious and was complemented by a beautiful bouquet of flowers, also from her garden.  We finished with fruit salad (strawberries, blueberries and pine nuts tossed with lime juice) and chocolates before heading to see the highly anticipated DARK KNIGHT. 

Even though we arrived 40 minutes early on a Monday night, it was still packed, with a line clear down the entire theater lobby and the air was stuffy (at best - I think the a/c was broken), which made me a bit dehydrated and grouchy by the time they opened up the house just minutes before the scheduled 8PM start time.  I wondered if it was really worth the crowds, wait and unsanitary breathing conditions ...

IT WAS!  For me, the main draw of the show is Ledger as the Joker, and not because he tragically died just down the street from my apartment months ago, but because his performance is so intoxicatingly terrifying, darkly humorous and fun to watch that I couldn't take my eyes off of the screen for even a second during his scenes. Despite his naughty, psychotic antics, part of me kind of wished that my own Gotham had a superhero and a villain or two slugging it out while hanging off the sides of skyscrapers to perk things up around here.  Kind of. 

I give DARK KNIGHT an A- and wish that Ledger's Joker could have made it into future Batman flicks ...

 

Infirmary

It's been a slow weekend. Matthew is sick. Ella is sick. And between the two of them hacking, moaning and barfing white stuff up on the floor (okay, that one's just Ella), I haven't been sleeping much. It's also cold outside and I'm trying to keep the errands down to a minimum. Today I ran at the gym for 20 minutes and then went grocery shopping, and outside of that and the two Ella walks, that's about all I've been outside today.

Last night I made broccoli soup in the slow cooker, using a recipe from Beth Hensperger's Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook. Now, if you're one of those (like me) who remembers crappy, tasteless recipes of yesteryear that your mother or grandmother or crazy Aunt Betsy made for you in their slow cookers, this cookbook will erase at least some of that, if not all. It isn't as easy as the recipes that you remember eating politely, where ingredients are basically tossed into the cooker and left to their own devices -- you have to work a little bit -- braising and browning a few things here and there to add flavor to the dish, but it's so worth it in the end, and on a lazy and cold day like today, I'm happy to have the slow cooker around! Check out the book and buy it on Amazon! And while you're at that, buy a slow cooker too! Make sure to buy one with a timer that sets itself to a warm function when its done cooking.

Right now I'm watching Larry King and he's covering the UFO sightings in Stephenville. The thing that gets me about this is that the witnesses seem so credible. They don't look like the usual attention seeking freaks I often see being interviewed about their sightings / anal probes on basic cable specials, and while I can't say for sure the people of Stephenville saw an alien craft of some kind, I do believe they saw something unidentifiable. A new military plane? Who knows ... but I do believe they saw something. Do you believe in UFOs? I believe in the possibility. I really do! I mean, if you think about the billions and billions of stars surrounding our little planet, and all of the planets that are circling those stars, there has to be at least some that are just far away enough away from their host stars to allow for the development of life...no?! And maybe some of those planets have life on them that is thousands, if not millions, of years ahead of our own evolution, and have come up with ways to travel across far distances in search of the same answers we're looking for -- why we're here, what's out there, etc. And maybe they stumble upon a planet like ours, just starting out in the technological race and working our way slowly into space, and I can only imagine how fascinating it would be to watch our progress. I'm not saying this is happening, of course, I'm just saying that I can imagine how interesting it would be.

On this theme of believing or not, I saw There Will Be Blood the other night, and while I thought the movie was way, way too slowly paced, there were some beautifully written scenes and the performances were marvelous. I loved how the lead, Daniel Day Lewis, was constantly having run-ins with the fanatically religious preacher and his followers on his greedy quest for oil money. But what I got out of the movie had little to do with the movie at all: The over the top preacher kept reminding me of Mike Huckabee and his continual biblical references during his presidential campaign in a blatant attempt to gain conservative voters. And I left the movie feeling annoyed over this. I mean, I personally don't believe that we should live in a country that is governed by someone who not only is incapable of separating church from state, but considers them to be one and the same. It just bugs me at a very fundamental level, because America is supposed to be a place where we're celebrating and encouraging diversity and freedom, and then someone like Huckabee comes along who, just underneath his friendly persona, believes there is only one right way of living righteously: through Jesus Christ, naturally!

And to that, I say BULLSHIT! There are so many beliefs out there, and I like to think that, as long as one isn't hurting the other(s), then nobody's right and nobody's wrong ... we're all in the same boat of not really knowing why we're here, but we choose to grasp onto something to carry us through life. Whether that belief is in science or religion or some extraterrestrial being, the beauty of living here in America -- or living anywhere at all -- is the diversity of beliefs we have all around us to learn from and celebrate and, in some cases, laugh at. But when we place someone like Huckabee in the political spotlight, I can't help but to feel that, if he had his way, everyone would believe and live exactly how his book dictates -- and that's very scary to me!!

I don't like conservatives, but I accept them for who they are and think of them as necessary annoyances that serve as a catalyst that helps me to define my own liberal beliefs. I don't believe that we should elect someone who cannot deliver responsible leadership for the masses -- and by the masses, I don't just mean the Church Masses! -- I mean Jews, Gays, Christians, Blacks, Whites -- EVERYONE -- leadership that includes everyone and promotes diversity and doesn't make those who aren't conservative, white and supposedly heterosexual feel threatened and alienated. Conservatives aren't capable of this kind of leadership -- they are always trying to change and suppress and preach to anyone who doesn't believe and act precisely as they do when they're not being caught playing footsie in public restrooms -- and I guess I feel the heat from this a bit more than some others because, as a gay male today, the conservative party is continually trying to limit my rights -- and THAT'S NOT OKAY! It's not only NOT okay, but it goes against everything that America supposedly stands for.

I'm not thrilled with the Disneyesque Romney character, either, but I'll pick on him another day.

Finally, it's Martin Luther King Day, and in keeping with the theme of diversity and equality, I dug up a powerful old recording of Strange Fruit sung by the late and great Billie Holiday.

Paula Deen's The Lady & Sons - Savannah

We enjoyed our last day in Savannah tremendously, strolling casually around town through many of its storied squares. We had a lot of time to kill before our evening flight back to NYC, and what better way to do that than to eat yet more food! And where better to eat said food than at Paula Deen's restaurant, The Lady & Sons?

Paula Deen is everywhere in Savannah. Even if you wanted to, you couldn't get away from her. From the piles of her sauces and various seasonings (including one named Paula Deen's Butt Massage, which caught us off-guard) found in every single shop, to her heart attack inducing restaurant, to her books staring at us out of every corner, to her own Paula Deen Store -- she is EVERYWHERE! Like Dolly Parton taking over Pigeon Forge, Tennessee and opening up Dollywood, Paula has taken Savannah and molded it into her own theme park of fatty foods. Maybe she'll name hers PaulyWood? Who knows if she'll one day take the step to open her own park, but it's a lot of fun to imagine the rides and activities one could experience there: a pie shaped carousel with giant sticks of butter in place of carved wooden horses; fried chicken eating competitions; bumper biscuits!!

We arrived to the restaurant absolutely starving and both decided to go with the southern buffet. It has to be said that, while I'm not a huge fan of most of her buffet items, like the lasagna which is barely passable, Paula's fried chicken is some of the best, some of the crispiest, some of the juiciest and some of the most flavorful damn fried chicken I've ever had, and the reason we keep comin' back -- because on the whole, and I hate to say this, Lady & Sons has become more of a southern themed "amusement park" restaurant with mediocre tourist grub than the down home southern culinary experience Ms. Deen puts forth on Food Network every week.

High points: fried chicken (very high!); the biscuits and corn cakes; banana pudding with whipped cream; decent mac & cheese (mine is better! ... hear that, Paula, if you're readin' this...mac 'n' cheese challenge!).

Low points: the impersonal check-in system that shuttles guests from door to door before being seated; the brownie dessert at lunch is sooo disappointing -- come on, Paula!; lasagna is okay at best.

Fried chicken gets an A; The rest of the food gets a C.

The Lady & Sons
102 West Congress Street
Savannah, GA 31401

Phone: 912-233-2600
Hours: Mon - Sat Lunch 11AM - 3PM, Dinner begins at 5PM; Sunday Lunch Buffet Only 11AM - 5PM

**** ****

I'm back in NYC now and happy to be here, other than arriving to a sick Ella -- she has kennel cough and is on meds that are making her sleep pretty much constantly the past couple of days. I went and saw Sweeney Todd finally yesterday evening and absolutely LOVED IT! Highly, highly recommended. I saw it at my favorite grand old movie theatre in New York -- The Ziegfeld. The score took my breath away and I'm surprised it has taken this long for Sondheim and Burton to find each other; they are made for each other! I could go on and on and on ... it's a marvelous film ... go and see it now! And how perfect was it that I ate a Marie Callender's turkey pot pie for dinner yesterday evening before dashing off to the show?! That'll be the last pot pie I'll be able to look at for a while...

Finally, today turned out to be such a drama. I was walking up the street to run a few errands, when my cell phone rang and it was ...

Darn it, how I'd love to tell that story, but I can't! I just can't! And it was a good one, but it's not mine to spill...

Holiday Morgues, Cinematic Squirrels & Indian Feasts

It's like a morgue outside my house after New Year's, as hundreds of trees are tossed to the curb like corpses of Christmas past, some with lights and ornaments still clinging to them! It makes me sad, because I try to hold onto Christmas as long as possible, until just before the moment when lighting and having the tree in the window would be deemed tacky and lazy. I like having the tree up simply because it's pretty, and at the moment it's filling a void in the living room where Matthew's desk used to be (he's permanently moved it to the other side of the living room and we're building bookshelves where the tree is this winter). Some people can't even wait until New Year's before chucking their trees out their windows (I literally saw a neighbor across the street sending their roommate down to the street corner to clear people off the sidewalk so that they could throw their tree out the window instead of carrying it down the stairs!) and are tossing them out at the stroke of midnight on December 25th. So anyway, my tree is still up until Sunday, when it will indeed be time to throw it out to join the rest of the "bodies" out front, destined to be ground into mulch. Ho hum. Christmas is dead.

Some people are just born to be naturally unmannered, unaware and uncaring pigs. For years, I held back and politely asked them to stop doing things that I thought were obviously unsavory public behaviors, like cutting in line, talking during movies, answering cell phones during live theatrical and musical performances. But then I realized that none of these people are ever going to change, particularly if I'm being nice to them while they are behaving badly. So, I figured if they are going to be so self-unaware and constantly irritating me and others by doing things they really shouldn't be doing, then I should be attacking them with the same vigor they show in carrying out their rudeness.

Yesterday I went to see Atonement -- a fabulous movie, by the way ... go and see it! -- and this guy was sitting next to me eating nachos. Never sit next to anyone with nachos. I know this. It's a cardinal rule of movie going, particularly when it's a drama filled with lots of quiet, intensely emotional moments. Well, CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH, MUNCH MUNCH MUNCH ... this went on for a good ten minutes or so, and then the nachos were finished. "Thank god," I thought to myself and then settled down to the movie. I can't really yell at the guy for eating nachos; it's not his fault the movie theatre sells such an obnoxiously loud food. Well, then he pulls out a plastic bag from under his seat, and then another plastic bag, and then a third plastic bag, and begins rummaging through each one methodically, as if he lost something. He finally pulls out a chocolate bar and starts slowly unwrapping and crinkling it, taking a bite, chewing with his mouth open, wrinkling it, CHEWING SOUND CHEWING SOUND CHEWING SOUND, CRINKLE WRAPPER CRINKLE WRAPPER CRINKLE WRAPPER ... this continued again for ten minutes or so, and I began to get agitated. He came to the theatre with three bags full of snacks to filter through -- everyone else in the theater (about 40 people) was being QUIET. He then started to filter through his bags again in search of the noisiest snack, all the while rustling away like a raccoon invading a campground. It was so infuriating, and this continued for an hour or so, until an important, beautiful sequence of the movie was playing out and instead of being able to get into it and focus, I was faced with CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH, RUSTLE RUSTLE RUSTLE, MUNCH MUNCH MUNCH, and I suddenly snapped and screamed at him, "Stop it! Stop it! Just sit there! Just sit there and be quiet! Sit still and be quiet!" He sat there for about 20 minutes, still as could be, and I finally was able to pay attention to the movie instead of him. And then, he started up again with the RUSTLE RUSTLE RUSTLE, CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH ... and this lasted through the final frames of the movie. It's like he had never eaten before. How many bags of snacks does one need for a 2-hour movie? As the credits rolled and he tried to slip out, I couldn't help but to add one last quip, "Sir," I said firmly. "I felt like I was sitting next to some foraging park creature rummaging through garbage cans. Do you have any idea how much noise you were making? Couldn't you tell that you were annoying me and others in the theatre with your constant crinkling of your bags of snacks?" He looked me in the eye and said, "I'm sorry, what do you want me to do about it?" and then walked out the door and to the restroom. I don't think he cared. They rarely do. He'll be back to annoy hundreds more movie goers! Really, though, I should have known -- never sit next to anyone with nachos, even if they are sitting in the row of seats with the bar in front where I can comfortably raise my feet during the film.

Something else happened after the movie, but I'm not ready to spill that yet...

Today was a day of chores -- lots of laundry, I made a fallen chocolate cake for a big dinner party we're having tomorrow and headed downtown to Essex Street Market, a wonderful indoor strip of small specialty food shops filled with lots of good meats, produce and hard to find ethnic foods. The butcher in particular, Jeffrey's Meats, is fantastic and we buy stuff from him all the time.

We hadn't been to Indian in a while, so we decided to have dinner at our favorite neighborhood option, Karahi. It's a small place, as many West Village restaurants are, but we always go early and often have the place to ourselves. The mulligatawny soup is delicious, as is the vegetable pakora, chicken tikka masala and the lamb vindaloo. Highly recommended, and they deliver too (although it can be slow in coming...).

KARAHI
118 Christopher Street (between Bedford & Bleecker)
New York, NY 10014

Phone: 212-965-1515
Open: Mon-Sat: 12pm-3pm; 5pm-10:30pm; Sun: 5pm-10:30pm

Woofenpoofen

Ella was so peaceful this morning sitting on the couch in a sunspot with Matthew as he watched television. It's been rainy and cold for the past several days and the bright blue (yet still cold!) skies were a welcome change. Plus, my amaryllis have finally sprouted leaves and they need the warmth if they are going to bloom by xmas!

I attended a screening today of a flick called SUPERHEROES, produced by a friend who is very proud of the film, and rightfully so... It was a wrenching tale of a man dealing (well, trying to deal anyway) with the emotional stress, memories, shock and injuries sustained after returning from a deployment to Iraq. It served as an eye opener for me on just what the troops are going through over there -- senselessly -- and the scars they will carry for life once returning. I hope the film sees a wider release than the festival circuits, because it carries a message that everyone needs to see.

We finished up with dinner at our favorite Cuban joint, Little Havana, which serves the best sweet plantains in town. They're caramelized in such a perfectly sweet, crispy, and at the same time gooey way that I just can't stop eating them.

LITTLE HAVANA
30 Cornelia St
New York, NY 10014
Phone: (212) 255-2212