My House Smells Like Chiles*

Rather than wasting our money on eating out or buying expensive premade meals, we've actually been cooking for ourselves recently. Earlier this week, Melissa prepared a variation of Giada DiLaurentis's orzo stuffed peppers, using poblanos and cilantro in place of the bell peppers and mint. Then I made a chili again (made mostly as I described back here). Now, when we come into the house, we are greeted with the smell of chiles. I don't think it's going to become a common air freshener scent anytime soon, but it is enjoyable.

Ok, now get out of here, it's almost time for Lost to start.



^*That's chiles, not Chili's. If my house smelled like Chili's, it wouldn't be nearly as appetizing.

Today's Signs That You Need To Take a Break Before Sending That Email Reply

1. Despite trying to be as diplomatic as possible, phrases like "fundamentally flawed" keep showing up in your response to the point just made by someone highly outranking you.

2. So does "reflects a serious lack of understanding."

3. The word count in the reply is beginning to edge toward that of War and Peace.

4. As the words pile up, the phrasing begins to suggest that the audience is made up of young children who need everything spoon-fed to them in small, easily-digestable chunks.

5. You finally walk away muttering, "It's just common sense. Why can't they get it?"

Cloverfield

I've got a million other things to talk about (ok, four or five), but this is what's on my mind now despite those other half written posts: We went to see Cloverfield tonight.

I'm going to guess that you've already heard about it, since the marketing campaign has been hard to escape since the first teaser was attached to Transformers what seems like years ago. They've tried really hard not to tell too much about this movie, so I'm not going to spoil it for you here. The story involves a handful of New Yorkers who are throwing a going away party for their friend, Rob, when something happens. We gain details at the same time they do, learning that some sort of monster type thing is attacking the city. As they flee the scene we run along with them, as the entire film consists of the footage on their home video camera (shot mostly by Hud, the friend who is scared to death and therefore can't stop talking or filming and who serves as what little comic relief there is). To avoid giving away too much, let's just go with a summary of the good and bad of the film.

Good: The film is entirely different from most giant monster movies. It is from the perspective of a few people, none of whom are truly important in the grand scheme of things. Since they are just regular people, it's the job of the writer, director and actors to convince us that we should care about them. And they succeed, not by making us care about Rob's job in Japan or who's in love with whom, but by making us one of them.

Good: Having the film shot on the handheld camera gave a realism to the film that traditional filming would not have managed. That made the difference between watching these people running for their lives and feeling like we are all running for our lives.

Bad: Having the film shot on the handheld camera produces some weird motion effects while running, turning around or doing any of a million other things. If you are at all prone to motion sickness, you might want to take a Dramamine before going. We've been out for a while, and I'm still feeling like I could puke at any moment. (Fortunately, this issue is balanced by the relatively short run time of the movie.)

Good: The film captured the true horror of a situation like that. Sure the monster is scary, but the reality is that you don't have a clue what's happening. Everyone is screaming and talking at once. No one knows what to do next. Nothing is truly safe because you don't know if you are heading into an area that's even worse than it was before.

Bad: If you want answers, this is not the movie for you. (If you want answers, you should also pretty much avoid anything with J.J. Abrams name on it.) They aren't going to tell you what happened to people A, B and C. They aren't going to give you details on what that monster is or where it came from or how to kill it.

Good: Then again, looking at that last point a different way, the movie doesn't rely on a lot of exposition, so...they don't give you details on what the monster is or where it came from or how to kill it. Writer Drew Goddard stated that they specifically avoided having the scene with "the scientist in the white lab coat who shows up and explains things like that." There may be hints or guesses as to all of these things, but if you are running scared and just trying to survive, do you really care about these details?

Good: Which brings us to the monster itself. If you've gotten this far in the post hoping I would tell you what the monster is, you've wasted your time for two reasons. I'm not going to spoil things for you, first of all. Second, I don't know how to tell you what it is. Do we see it? Sure, but we see it as the people who are running for their lives see it, in bits and pieces as it moves and attacks and doesn't bother stopping to pose for pictures. It's not really like anything I've seen before. Sure it's kind of recognizable as being like this or like that, but it is its own new entry into the pantheon of movie monsters and only time will tell if it manages to become iconic like many of the others. (It's not just looks that determine this. After all, King Kong is just a big monkey and Godzilla is an overgrown T. Rex, neither one a particularly cool or clever idea on its own, and they are by far the best known/most beloved of the giant movie monsters.)

Bad: The movie avoids a lot of monster movie/disaster movie cliches. Unfortunately, there are a few that it just can't pass up. People do stupid things despite all common sense because it makes things more exciting. People don't die when they should because we need them for just a little bit longer. In a movie that tried so hard to avoid the norm, these moments stand out more than they should.

I'm not saying that it's a perfect movie. It's far from it. However, if you love monster movies, this is a great choice. You'll not only get that but also a movie that is intense and lets you see just how horrific being caught up in a situation totally outside of your control can be and captures the fear and confusion of being there. The people in this movie seem real. They are your friends, neighbors, brothers and sisters. You care about them, not because the filmmakers want you to, but because these people are you, and you have to survive.



Also in the good category, but not so much related to the movie itself: The first teaser for Abrams' Star Trek film was attached. It's just a teaser, but it really did make me excited about seeing it, even though I'm not truly a huge Trek fan.

I Talk About Food and TV a Lot, Don't I

It's no secret that I watch the Food Network. A lot. I've talked about it plenty on here already. However, there are some things that I don't really like (which, I'll try to point out without being too Anthony Bourdain about the whole thing¹).

When I watch shows on Food Network, I want to be entertained, but at the same time, I also want to learn something. That's why I love Good Eats. Alton Brown is entertaining, but at the core of it all he's a teacher. A recent episode of Good Eats was dedicated strictly to knives. He talked about choosing knives, maintaining knives, storing knives, and various ways in which the knife is to be used. Food was only used as a means to demonstrate the technique until the very end of the show where he took all those items he had been demonstrating on and turned it into a wonderful looking dish. Compare this style with things like Rachael Ray or Sandra Lee. You can watch any episode of the shows (the ones where they are cooking, not the other thousand RR shows) and you really aren't learning anything. Sure you can get a recipe, but you could have gotten that by going online. Maybe if you watch Sandra Lee enough you can learn to perfect your "tablescapes" by buying out an entire Hobby Lobby or how to decorate your Christmas tree with nothing but glasses for your favorite cocktails, but that's not what I want to see. Even look at Iron Chef America, which I have come to accept despite the fact that it isn't the original. Watch an episode of ICA and see if you don't learn something: a technique, how to chose the best ingredient, or even more about where your food comes from.

Recently, both Molto Mario and Emeril Live were cancelled. I was amazed by this for a couple of reasons. First, Emeril Live always seemed to be the flagship of the station, and I couldn't imagine the network without it. Sure, I had problems with the catchphrases and the audience's obsessive cheering for garlic and alcohol, but those are relatively minor. The other reason I was surprised that they would cancel either of these is that they worked. These were two talented guys with larger than life personalities³ talking to an audience (a few for Mario a lot for Emeril) who sat right there and watched them cook. They entertained and they taught. Molto Mario may have been more of a classic-style cooking show, but it was incredibly informative. Just a few minutes of that show provided tons of information about food and culture. It disappoints me to see that good shows are gone while we get Sandra Lee or one of the many reality shows they now have⁴.

This isn't going to stop me from continuing to watch the Food Network shows I like, but it does make feel that if things continue going this direction, there will be fewer and fewer of those shows.

¹ Not that I could be if I tried. In addition to not being talented, I don't have anywhere near enough vitriol.<sup>2

2</sup> Nor have I done nearly enough heroin.

³ see: Heat by Bill Buford.

⁴ The one reality show that gets a pass here is Dinner: Impossible, because the things Robert Irvine does under such time constraints is really remarkable. It's amazing to see the ideas come into his head on the fly.

Who Are You?

I've read in a couple of places that this is supposed to be De-lurking Day, so if you're hanging around and reading and I don't know who you are or you don't think I know who you are, leave a comment. Tell us about yourself, where you're from, what you do. It will be like one of those really bad "getting to know you" ice-breaker games.

What I Did Over Summer Winter Vacation

Since I haven't posted anything since last year (well, other than a picture of Ralph Wiggum), I decided that I needed to embrace my inner fifth grader for this post. Unfortunately, it turns out my inner fifth grader is even more verbose and more boring than I already am, so I've been forced to ignore many of the exciting things that have happened recently (trip to AL, wind storm tearing shingles from our roof, 15 or more inches of snow in less than 2 days) and reduce this post to the most important lesson we learned.


While travelling to and from my parents, we chose to break our driving up over two days and stop overnight around the halfway point. During one of our stops, we dined at the restaurant that had been voted "Best Mexican Food in Jackson County, IN" for several years in a row. The lesson for all of you out there: Do not eat Mexican food in Jackson County, IN.

(I wonder what happens if John Mellencamp wants to eat Mexican when he goes home.)

The Choice is Clear (well...actually a little bit yellow)