Appetizing

So I was referred to this recipe and I thought it looked good. These so-called "Mystery Biscuits" seemed to be right up my alley. How can you go wrong with flaky biscuits, butter, and crumbly cheese? The only problem is that I'm not a huge Blue Cheese fan. Its okay, I guess, but not my favorite. I decided to substitute feta and chopped spinach. My thought was that it could be like the Greek pastry, spanikopita. This is my "Pseudospanikopita" and it is AMAZING. I think I'll make it over the Christmas Holidays as an appetizer.

The recipe itself was easy enough and the results were delicious. I think that if I make it again, I will go a little easier on the butter since some of the biscuits were slightly soggy on the bottom. Don't get me wrong, they were still great, but I preferred the crunchy parts more.

Grit

Last weekend I finally finished watching the HBO series Deadwood. It only lasted 3 seasons (and I think it should have gone on for at least another one or two). I absolutely adored it. I started watching about a month or so ago and when I first started, I thought that I should recommend it to my parents (despite its often offensive language). I also encouraged a friend to purchase it for her father as a Christmas gift. I hope that was the right thing to do.

The thing is, both my parents have a history of liking westerns. This is particularly true of my father who inherited his love of the wild west from his grandfather. Bud-o was always reading some western novel or another and I think this influenced my dad. The only problem is that my father's preferred western genre shows include Bonanza and Little House on the Prairie. Yes, my dad is a proud Michael Landon fan. The harshest words spoken on either of those programs was probably "dang-it".

Now, there are some authentic-looking cowboys and mountains

This just about made me cry, and if you watch to the end you'll see what I'm going to talk about next!

My mother is right there with him. Although she just generally likes her shows to have "clean" people on them. She is, for some reason, completely averse to watching historical fiction in which the characters are perpetually dirty. Her desire for verisimilitude does not extend to rules of hygiene. Oddly enough, I think she could get past the dirty language if these people weren't so dirty themselves.

So, to my friend who I encouraged to buy the DVDs, I hope your dad likes them. I apologize if I misled you in any way. My enthusiasm came from my genuine enjoyment of the series.

Rant

Could T-Mobile BE any less original? (Said in my best Chandler Bing) Their new series of commercials are a direct rip-off of the highly popular and memorable "I'm a Mac" ads.

I respond negatively to this on a visceral level. It is difficult for me to articulate.

I'll try anyway.

I get what T-Mobile is attempting, the iPhone is an Apple product so I see the connection. My problem is that it is just so done. The first "I'm a Mac" commercials aired in 2006 and the last one was in early 2010. We're talking a good 6 month lag which, in this day and age of instant communication, is absolutely AGES!

T-Mobil seems to always be one step behind. One of the greatest cell phone network ads ever was the "Can you hear me now" guy. Sure, the slogan is annoying now, but it was total genius at the time. While the guy in glasses was checking his reception, T-Mobile had Catherine Zeta-Jones. Sure she's beautiful and a decent actress, but WHY is she selling cell phones? Is it because they call them "Mobiles" in Great Britain? My parents had T-Mobile at this time and the marketing was so ineffective that my mother only ever called it "Mobile T"!

Granted, this may not be the best example (my mother spent so many years calling a boy in my class "Bill Greenjeans" just to annoy me, that she often has no idea what his real name is).

Still, T-Mobile is not in the top two or three cell phone companies, although they may have a wonderful service. My thought is they need to quit identifying themselves as "not Macs" and try to do something new and relevant. Especially considering the current popularity of iPhones. For many people, the only reason they don't have an iPhone is they don't want to switch to AT&T and are just biding their time until the iPhone is more available with other carriers.

On the other hand, maybe I think about this too much and T-Mobile's only problem is that its signature color is Pepto-Pink!

In Response

You may remember a slightly disturbing incident that occurred a few months ago, wherein I received a picture message from an unnamed source showing me and my friend posing in our "Baby Bumblebee" costumes. That unnamed source turned out to be none other than my former neighbor and the sister of the friend in the photo. To protect the guilty, we'll call her "Smelly".

Over Thanksgiving I received another such picture, this time the somewhat less obscure photo from my senior year. Naturally, I suspected Smelly once again. However, in speaking with Smelly's sister, I discovered that Smelly did not act alone. In the hopes of spurring a new Stadababa post, Smelly (and her brother "Lon") conspired to creep me out.

Initially, I had no intention of deigning to mention this apparent plea for web notoriety but my fondness for the family convinced me otherwise. So, Smelly and Lon, here is your response:

What a couple of good-looking kids! Let it be known that I have no lack of access to embarrassing images. This is merely the tip of the iceberg. Remember Crazy Hat Day and Dress Like a Clown Day? Pictures galore and a forum in which to post them. Your move, Neighbors.

He Ain't Heavy

He's my brother...and he's in Chicago!

Ryan flew in Friday evening and we headed out almost immediately to dinner and an improv comedy show. The show was at a place called Comedy Sportz and it was pretty darn funny. I cried at least 3 separate times. It was a lot like Whose Line is it Anyway? and the funniest part was this thing they did where they read out the text messages from two people's phones in a scene.

On Saturday while I was in class, Ryan went to Game Day at Wrigley Field. He saw Mike Ditka and some other people. We went to the game and watched the Wildcats lose to the Illini. When Illinois scored twice in, like, the first 5 minutes, Ryan wanted to know why I didn't tell him NU was awful and why I bought him an NU hat. My only response is, knowing how little I know about football, why would he think I knew anything about it?

Either way, it was fun. He got to see Wrigley Field and I got in some good people watching.

Yesterday we went out for some more heartache and watched the Browns lose. We went to a place called the Old Town Social. Ryan was a bit dismayed to find out that they didn't have wings or nachos or $2 drinks, but it was nice to meet up with some friends.

Today was the Shedd and a trip Longman & Eagle. The Shedd was packed (it took us a good hour to get in) but the restaurant was great. They made awesome drinks and the food was great. I will definitely be going back.

Anyway, tomorrow we are off to Minnesota for Turkey Day. Happy Thanksgiving!

Something I'm Loving This Week...

I feel like I do quite a bit of complaining on this blog, so I thought I'd change it up and give you something that makes me smile.

A Very Potter Musical has been around for over a year, but I just got around to watching it this past week. I had heard of it, but I didn't have a clue about what it actually was until Tuesday. It was a ground-breaking day for television with Glee's "Never Been Kissed" episode. It may not have been the best Glee ever, but it had some pretty great moments, the best of which you can read about here (Tom and Lorenzo say it better than I ever could).

The new character on the show, "Blane", is played by Darren Criss. I kept reading about how great this Criss guy is, but I figured he was some sort of pop singer or something. Well he is, but not really. He wrote the lyrics and music for A Very Potter Musical and played Harry as well. It is a hilarious homage to the Harry Potter books from people who are clearly fans, but are not blinded to its "flaws".

If you are a Harry Potter fan (and since I know you all personally, I'd say that applies to about 75% of you) you need to watch this. It is all available on Youtube, but I'll get you started here. Just be warned, the sound is a bit wonky at times but it is well worth that frustration.

Also, if you don't leave this thinking "damn, Voldemort is pretty hot!" then I question your taste level!

21 Jump Street

I'm not sure if this is the worst thing or the best thing I've heard in a long time.

Remember the show 21 Jump Street? The show that launched Johnny Depp's career (for which I am eternally grateful). Well, Hollywood has seen fit to make it a movie due out in 2012. Same name as the TV show, same premise...cops who look like teenagers go undercover in schools to snuff out crime. When I say "look like teenagers" I mean that in the loosest sense of the phrase. At least where the original show was concerned. Peter Deluise looked 30 on his best day!

Don't get me wrong. I LOVED the show. My brother and I watched it anytime it was on. I took it pretty seriously, as well. A few years back, I got the DVDs from Netflix and had a marathon. Nothing could have prepared me for the heaping piles of cheese that show was serving in earnest. At the height of "Just Say No to Drugs", Jump Street was showing that not doing drugs was cool. It tackled other issues including a very special episode where Holly Robinson Peete goes undercover to expose a modeling agency for taking advantage of High School girls. She can't get the photographer to make a pass at her and, if I remember correctly, she suffers a crisis in self-confidence as a result. Powerful stuff.

The question is, will the new movie go the cheesy rout? Will it be more of an action movie? Or will it recognize that its premise is ridiculous and go full-on comedy? With a rumored cast including Jonah Hill and Emma Stone, I think (and hope) it will go the intentional comedy route.

I guess we can only wait and see.