A Little About Me...

Place to eat: anyplace that serves sushi, I just went to Haru and it was absolutely incredible! (http://www.harusushi.com/)

Summer destination: Cape Cod

Song on repeat: One Man Wrecking Machine by Guster

Reading: "College of the Overwhelmed" by Richard Kadison, M.D. and Theresa Foy DiGeronimo

Movie(s) I can't wait to see: Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 and Watchmen

Website: The Daily Obsession (http://www.thedailyobsession.net/)

Blog: 55 Secret Street (http://55secretstreet.typepad.com/) a great source for fashion inspiration

Show(s): back episodes of Greek and Gossip girl...can't wait for September!

Drink: Revolution Tea's Acai Green tea (http://www.revolutiontea.com/)

Want it!: William Rast jeans...just so I can say that I am wearing Justin Timberlake's pants :) (http://www.williamrast.com/)

Currently doing: studying for the GRE and looking at grad schools (eek!)

Event: 1950s and 1960s "Dream Car" Model-rama August 9-10 at the Museum of Fine Arts. I adore anything to do with cars. (http://www.mfa.org/)

Good Cause: The Cinderella Project (http://www.cinderellaproject.net/)

And lastly...

Favorite Quote: I'm no model lady. A model's just an imitation of the real thing. - Mae West

(image from Windows Vista pictures system)

BBC Documentaries-- My Small Breasts

Over the past few weeks I have come to appreciate watching BBC documentaries that are available onDemand and to watch on BBC America. These documentaries cover a wide variety of subjects including anorexic young boys, men who are in love with plastic dolls, and body image problems. Currently I am watching My Small Breasts which follows three young women who deal with having size A breasts. One is a young woman who refuses to leave her house and chooses to engage in phototherapy in order to increase her self-esteem about her small breasts. Another is a woman who is considering breast implants and registers with the website http://www.myfreeimplants.com/ where people pay money for women's breast implants in exchange for "after" shots of the women. Lastly a woman who goes to every length to get her breasts to grow "naturally" through herbs and a suction bra.

I think this documentary stuck with me because as a young adolescent growing up I used to pray for bigger breasts. I remember looking around at all my friends who grew larger while I remained small and somewhat adolescent looking. I wore padded bras, inserts you name it...nothing worked. When I was younger I thought about breast implants and suction bras and then dismissed them off as pipe dreams due to money constraints. As I got older I slowly became more and more comfortable with my small size. I mean I still look at larger women with a bit of envy and clothes shopping cna still be a hassel, but I do not think that I would ever go to the extremes these women have gone to.

What is it about breast size that makes even the most self confident, self-assured, intelligent women go to these extremes? Is it society, the media, men, other women? Who knows I think this question will always remain unanswered. It basically boils down to does society need to change its attitude toward breast size or do women need to change their attitute toward their breast sizes? To counter this documentary is the opposite of the small breast problem...My Big Breasts documentary. Both show that either end of the breast "norm" is difficult. Either way I highly reccomend watching either one of these or other BBC documentaries if not for a little bit of insight into the lives of people, some of whom we would not necessarily been exposed to before...and that is always a good thing!

*The picture is from one of the more recognized (at least by me) suction bras available out there called Brava. You can visit their website at http://www.mybrava.com/

Dark Knight

What can I say about this movie that hasn't been said. Imax was incredible as there were a few scenes that were filmed specifically for viewing in the Imax format. Heath Ledger was incredible and I completely forget it was him until the credits rolled, he became the Joker and definitely deserves the Oscar nod if not win. Christian Bale was as gorgeous as ever. My friend did comment that Rachel Dawes did not have the same effect being played by Maggie Gyllenhaal as with Katie Holmes. I did prefer Holmes slightly in the previous movie, which surprised me a bit as I generally prefer Gyllenhaal overall as an actress. That being said she did the job justice. Aaron Eckhart was good and played a larger role in the movie than I thought he would...his two-face face was gruesome compared to Tommy Lee Jone's previous incarnation of the villian. Overall the movie was fantastic and definitely deserved the media buzz around it. It will be interesting to see where they go from here with the movies, its a shame that Ledger will not be able to play the Joker as he played an intregal role in Batman history. I hope they do his role justice as he played the part perfectly, he will be remembered well.

Needless to say I am stunned and still continue to think about this film some time after. It is worth going to see in the movie and I rarely think/say that about any movie. I am extremely pleased I got to see it in the theatres and in Imax.

Distraction...

I am less than 12 hours from going to see the Dark Knight in Imax and I can not be more excited! My friends and I purposefully held off to see it in Imax and I cannot tell you how hard it has been not to run off to my locale theatre these past two weeks just to see what all the buzz is about.

Needless to say I need some things to keep my mind off of the excitement...besides all the studying I need to be doing! Here are just a few:

Clocky by Nanda
I must reset my alarm clock five times each morning only to wake up with a start around 7:30am swearing and racing through my morning routine just so I can make it to my 8am. This clock solves that problem. Acting like a regular alarm clock it rings when you set it, but if you hit snooze it actually moves around your room so you must chase the beeping alarm clock and silence it, thus getting you out of bed. I don't know if I have reached the point where I want to spend $50 for an alarm clock, but the idea is certainly inventive.
Go to http://shop.feelmorehuman.com/p-6747-clocky-in-color.aspx to purchase (picture from site as well)

I am finishing up Caroline Knapp's "Drinking: A Love Story" so I am on the lookout for my next book and here are a few I am thinking of...

• "Schooled" by Anisha Lakhani - for the gossip girl in me


• "Anasai Boys" by Neil Gaiman- because its about time I read this book


• "College of the Overwhelmed" by Richard Kadison and Theresa Foy DiGeronimo - what I will most likely end up picking up from my local B&N soon

Needless to say I am excited about picking up a new book. Knapp's book is fantastic and definitely worth a look through. I will hopefully have a review up soon as I am literally only pages away from finishing. My 15% coupon to B&N is wearing a hole in my pocket so I expect I will be reading something new fairly soon.

And lastly because I must get back to reading/studying...the new Harry Potter trailer is up for Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince!

Check it out at: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/harry-potter-and-the-half-blood-prince/27063/trailer?trailerId=2181231

Hope everyone has a great rest of the evening!

I knew it sounded familiar

I remember when I first head Chris Brown's song "Forever." My first thought was...wow that sounds a lot like the Doublemint Gum song, telling my roommate this. Well it turns out I was right. In some kind of twist in compaigning Doublemint gum decided to enlist singers like Chris Brown to revamp the ads songs. According to the Wall Street Journal apparently Wrigley's (makers of the famous gum) plan on releasing a statement to this effect tomorrow, guess someone let the cat out of the bag early! Its a little odd form of advertising if you ask me, and a little bit hilarious considering the song has done so well on the charts. The lyrics even sound like an ad, you just need to take away the beat.

Its like i've waited my whole life for
This one night it's gon' be me you and
The dance floor cause
We've only got one night
Double your pleasure
Double your fun and dance
- Chris Brown "Forever"-

Here's Chris Brown's video, enjoy it now before its advertising is more blatant:



Compared to the older commercials I am sure this will hit a bit bigger...but here is a commercial from 1987 trying to sell the gum.



Here's a link to The Wall Street Journal article.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121721123435289073.html

Just a little something to kick off the week...

So this week has pretty much been a wash with midterms, essays, and worrying about graduate school stuff. Needless to say I haven't really had time to post, nor the desire to write a full on blog post. Hopefully this week will be a bit easier on my schedule... So to start off the week right here is a youtube clip of one of my favorite performances of Matt Damon in a movie, I clearly have a thing for the punked out looking rockers lol enjoy!

Things Making it Hard to Study...

I know I should be studying but there are a few things going on this week that are keeping me from doing that...

• I just bought a Ped Egg...you know that little contraption that claims to make your feet feel just like you got a pedicure, right in your own home (I will write later how the experience goes...)
• AMC's Mad Men is free onDemand: while I rarely sit through new shows the buzz around this has been huge recently with its 16 emmy noms! Needless to say the fact that its free onDemand makes me just want to watch it more, and since the second season is coming out soon (July 27th) I better watch season 1 soon
• Apparently the Cheesecake Factory is even older than I am...they turn the big 3-0 this year and in honor of this all the Cheesecake Factory restaurants on the 30th will serve slices of their amazing cheesecakes for only $1.50! Needless to say I'm there!

Ah...so many things to do other than studying for my Thursday test!

In case you have no clue what I mean about the Ped Egg here is the infomercial that has been played on TV on constant replay:

Old Spice and Doogie Howser

I was flipping through an ESPN magazine the other day and came across an ad for Old Spice featuring Neil Patrick Harris (remember him from Doogie Howser, MD?). Well anyway he was reccomending the product as a "former TV doctor." Needless to say that ad made me laugh so I thought why not share, here's the commercial ad with Neil Patrick Harris in it:

The History Boys

Disclaimer: for the purposes of this film I have left out most plot details as I feel it adds to seeing this movie therefore the majority of this review is solely my reaction to viewing the film

I picked up "The History Boys" on a whim as I was browsing through the library the other day. I had heard the buzz that surrounded the play production of this story about 8 English boys determined to get into a good University. So when I found out that the original cast had come together to make the movie version I was quite intrigued. I thought a light-hearted movie about the wonders of education would be just the thing to watch on a lazy Saturday night and I will admit to thinking this would be kind of like the UK version of "Dead Poets Society." Boy was I wrong...

Not only is this one of the raunchiest films I have ever seen, but I am not entirely sure I got the point of it. While there was the underlying plot that youth is so bent on learning facts as facts in order to get places that they do not truly learn, the majority of this film focused a good deal on sexual content. I was definitely not prepared for this. And while a good deal of films today deal with sex, this plot was something that most people deem quite seedy and yet the act itself was dismissed at the end as nothing. Any morality points, or points on education were lost to me as I continued to be horrified by the nonchalant manner in which sexual indiscretions (this is an understatement) were handled. Needless to say I can only imagine how this was done as a play, but from the praise it might have been a bit better.

I am also fully aware that time and cultural differences may play into some of my thoughts on this film. But needless to say I was a bit disappointed and a good deal shocked upon my viewing of it. But that's just my viewpoint on the film, and judging from others reviews about it people have generally enjoyed the film. Here is the trailer for it:

The Elephant Walk- Boston

I took my mother to the Elephant Walk today in Boston for her birthday...needless to say she was and I were both extremely impressed. This restaurant offers a unique mix of both Cambodian and French cuisine, presented in some interesting and delicious dishes.

I had been eyeing the Boston location (they have sites in Cambridge and Waltham as well) for quite some time and was pleased that my mother's birthday offered the perfect excuse to go. The menu is a bit pricey, but I decided to go with the Sunday brunch, which is decidedly cheaper and offers a prix-fixe menu as well (starter, choice of drink, soup or salad, and entree for $19).

The food was fantastic and something that you wouldn't find at any of your run of the mill places. I enjoyed a Rouleaux, a spring roll starter which was full of flavor and served with tuk trey. Then I had Cambodian chicken soup, which was a bit lemony for my taste but still great. My entree was Mee Siem au Poulet, was noodles, chicken, tofu, garlic, egg, soy beans, pickled shallot, Chinese chive bean, bean sprouts, and red bell pepper. I had my choice of how hot and I will admit I choose the mild (wimp I know!). For my choice of drink I had the Mimosa and Hibiscus tea with dessert.

I highly recommend visiting if you get the chance this amazing restaurant. The portions aren't too large so you are able to order a few courses and for the adventurous there is plenty to try. The atmosphere is casual but very ethnic...that being said I went for brunch which is decidedly less formal than perhaps the dinner crowd. If you are tight on cash I recommend the prix-fixe meals or Restaurant Week is coming up in August, of which The Elephant Walk is a participant of. The Sunday brunch itself is a good deal less expensive than the dinner and lunch options as well. I recommend either taking the train or walking as parking in the back was minimal.

The Elephant Walk
900 Beacon Street
Boston, MA 02215
617-247-1500
Lunch: M-F 11:30-2:30
Dinner: Sun-Th 5-10; Fri-Sat 5-11
http://www.elephantwalk.com/ (provides menus, directions, reservations and hours for all 3 locations, as well as a schedule of their cooking classes)

Game Time!

This website/game popped up during a stumbeupon (see previous post) search: http://jamsbio.com/games/jamsMatchSolo

The Object: to match the covers of albums to the names of the albums

Sounds easy right? It definitely is not! You only get 30 seconds to try to get 9 album covers matched with their titles...and yes they give you more than 9 album covers to choose from for this task. You can increase the difficulty level (yes I am still on novice), as well as what genre of music albums. Check it out, its definitely worth the quick browse from some harmless game playing, or in my case several hours.

P.S. I did manage to get a perfect score after several rounds of trying (and some swearing).

Mamma Mia

I happend to catch a showing of Mamma Mia last night as a way to combat my extreme desire to try to catch a showing of Dark Knight (I believe the whole city of Boston was sold out last night!). As a fan of musicals I am always quite skeptical of going to see anything with so much hype surrounding it. And boy am I glad I did...

The movie is based on the hit musical that has taken America (and the world) by storm for the pass few years. I haven't gotten a chance to see the musical so this review is completely unbiased in terms of comparisons. The movie follows the story of a young woman named Sophie (played by Amanda Seyfried) who lives on a Greek Island with her mother Donna (played by Meryl Streep). Donna runs and owns a somewhat floundering hotel on the island. Sophie plans on getting married shortly and desperately wishes to have her father walk her down the aisle. The only problem is she doesn't know who her father is. After reading her mother's old diaries Sophie narrows down the possibilites to three men (played by Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, and Stellan Skarsgard) and invites all three to the wedding. This of course causes many complications and hilarious scenes interspersed between musical ABBA numbers.

I think the big draw of this movie for me was the sheer hilarity of the situation and the willingness of the actors to make fools of themselves. The music was terrific and the plot just outrageous enough to keep one entertained for the two hours. Watching the actors (especially the guys) sing was absolutely hilarious, the audience was laughing through the whole movie! I highly reccomend seeing this movie, especially for those fans of the musical (why not), fans of ABBA (you just should), fans of musicals in general (its worth it), and those who appreciate watching grown man do disco in outrageous costumes for laughs. Make sure you stay through the credits for the two musical numbers by the cast! (image from www.wikipedia.com)

Border Cafe - Cambridge

So my roommate suggested we visit Border Cafe the other day and I happily agreed as I had passed by it quite a few times and the line outside to get in always seemed to suggest that the food inside was worth the wait. So it was no surpriset that on this particular Thursday night that the wait was about 45 minutes for two people. What was a surprise was how affordable the food was and how incredible the food was.

After we were seated in the downstairs area of the restaurant we were promptly served with terrific warmed chips and salsa. The menu consists of traditional Mexican food as well as a unique blend of Cajun as well. I promptly ordered the Mardi Gras Catfish. The food was served in a timely manner and was absolutely fantastic! For two indiviudals (one who ordered an alcoholic beverage) and two entrees the bill came to about $21.

The atmosphere was just as lively as the food. And the bar scene was just as upbeat. Our waitress suggested various dishes as well as drinks and was extremely friendly. Overall our exprerience there was highly enjoyable and I look forward to going there again soon.

Border Cafe - Cambridge
32 Church Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
617-864-6100
M-Th: 11am-1am
Fri-Sat:11am-2am
Sunday: 12pm-1am
www.bordercafe.com

Popularity at 22

Popular: regarded with favor, approval, or affection by people in general - http://www.dictionary.com/

I know that most people regard the word "popular" as being somewhat cringeworthy past the age of lets say 15. But I am finding more and more as I get older that the term still applies outside of the high school halls, it just manifests itself in different ways. That can be in boardrooms, or outtings with work groups. It can popular babysitters, or even catty adults who continue gossip. In extreme cases it can even transcend generations into parents who latch onto the idea of popularity through their children by reliving their youth through them. Needless to say I find it somewhat amusing that people tend to regard popularity as something that only is applicable to those who still attend high school.

I tend to think of myself in terms of not caring about most of these notions of popularity. And on rare occassions will lie and say that I don't care what others think of me. But (as most people do) I do care in some respects what others think of me. So the other day when a co-worker of mine, who is pretty much defined as the popular girl (lots of friends, lots of guys who like her, smart, funny, attractive, in no need of money...all around well liked by everyone or at least envied) mentioned that she liked my shade of nail polish I still found myself feeling all giddy as if I was still in high school and the popular girl had told me she liked my top.

That being said I began to question my notions of being an entirely free thinker, independent woman with a maturity level well beyond that of my high school years. There I was faced with the fact that it wasn't so much that I was complimented, but who complimented me. I don't know if this so much disturbed me as the fact that it still matter to me enough to realize it. I wasn't flattered that this woman liked my nailpolish, it was that she was so well liked by everyone and she noticed my nailpolish that I liked. Silly to think about I know, but I am starting to realize more and more that somehow the immaturity that was once relegated to the high school years is starting to spill over into young adulthood. I am not sure how I am to take this and I in no way justify my actions or really think less of myself as a human being (or those who continue to think this way), rather I was just surprised that in this day and age I was so happy to be complimented by the "popular" girl at the age of 22.

As a side note the nailpolish was Milani's Mauve on Ice...an absolutely beautiful color if I do say so myself.

(photo from www.rottentomatoes.com)

Another Lohan...

I will admit to watching the Lohan's on their E! television (Living Lohan) on occassional bouts of boredom and just for the heck of it. Needless to say I did catch the episode where Ali Lohan (Lindsay's younger sis) happend to record her new single "All the Way Around." After only listening to only a few bars I came to this conclusion: I like Ali Lohan's style/sound of music a good deal better. I know a lot of people have ripped into the idea of family members grabbing on the coattails of older famous siblings to have an "easy" ride into fame. But if Ashlee Simpson taught us anything, sometimes the younger sibling can eclipse the older one, and with Lindsay Lohan's recent dive in the media popularity buzz her younger sis may just have that chance with the release of her new single.

Now I was all read to be skeptical and very critical of her song. And maybe its the heat wave, or the fact that I spent 8 hours today learning CPR training, but I actually like the song. It definitely grows on you and is quite catchy. I also think that for a 15 year old (and taking into account the magic of a recording label) her voice sounds extremely mature for her age. Now do not get me wrong I am not going to start comparing her to Celine Dion, Madonna, or even Britney Spears (pre-Kevin Federline) any time soon...but in my opinion for her first real single its not bad at all. That being said my roommate made a disgusted face upon hearing it for the first time...so my opinions are clearly not had by all. Judgments aside it looks from like there are others who also share my same view on iTunes (which her single is available now on) and on youtube. But here's a youtube video someone made with her new single:

Fashion Inspiration!

I am still very much a girly-girl, and frequently visit my favorite fashion website for inspiration. That being said my little hiatus (see previous blog posts about being sick) left me with lots of web surfing time to dedicate to my love of fashion. I was recently reading a blog (unfortunately I cannot remember which one) that was talking about celebrity fashion inspirations and I thought about some of my own whose fashions I absolutely love:

• Angelina Jolie (pre-Brad Pitt...you know when she was all bad-ass and leather)
• Victoria Beckham
• Rachel Bilson

In addition to some great magazines/magazine websites/websites (like www.instyle.com, www.glamour.com, and www.fabsugar.com) there are also a whole host of other websites that look at more of a street fashion approach to inspiration. These aren't designed by fashion experts but rather regular folks who decided to post their pics online to hopefully provide inspiration and feedback. Here are two great websites:

• http://www.flickr.com/groups/wardrobe_remix/ This just popped up in my inbox for newest trends and I just must share. This webgroup features people's photos for head to toe looks to inspire the fashionista in all of us!
• http://lookbook.nu/ This website is sure to become an addiction. It features a ton of photos from people with just about every taste for fashion under the sun. Definitely check it out...I guarantee you'll spend more than just a minute looking at this fantastically inspiring website
• www.fashionologyla.com This store is no where near Boston, but all the same I wish I had this kind of store around when I was growing up. Geared toward pre-teen this stores allows the individual to design an item of clothing of their choice and then actually make the clothes! Its kind of like Build-a-Bear for the fashionable group.

Those are just a few of the fashion sites/inspirations that have passed by my way via the world-wide-web over the past few hours that have captured my attention. There are sure to be plenty more that I will share/write.

Murad - My Face Saver!

So I must confess my skin is less than perfect and recently it became down right awful. In a panic I begin researching skin care options to help fix my acne ridden face. At the adult age of 22 and not a teenager anymore the idea of a face fill of zits filled me with panic. And while makeup definitely helps with the redness the bumps are still visible. That's when I knew I had to get something. And while I know the hottest product out their is ProActive (thanks to a ton of celebrity endorsements) I felt that their product wasn't the best for my skin. So on a trip to Sephora (http://www.sephora.com/) I picked up Murad's acne kit for ~ $60.

The acne kit (which can also be bought at their website (http://www.murad.com/) comes with handy instructions to help just about anyone use the kit. The kit comes with: Clarifying Cleanser, Exfoliating Acne Treatment Gel, Acne Spot treatment, and Skin Perfecting Lotion. This will last the average user well over a month or more of treatment. After just two weeks of using the product I saw my face clear up a great deal...and other's noticed as well! The first week saw an increase in acne as it purged out all the gunk under my skin, but after that it was smooth sailing!

Some suggestions:

• The product can be somewhat irritating at first so make sure to read the instructions carefully and follow what to do if you have more sensitive skin


• Remember the first week may bring about more acne (purging) but stick with it!


• If you like the product check out the Murad website (http://www.murad.com/) for individualized skin care programs, tons of other products, and even a special deal for those who like the acne products (similar to the deals on television)


• I haven't bought it yet, but I would highly reccomend considering the sunscreen as the lotion in the kit does not contain SPF

I highly reccomend checking out websites and going to stores like Sephora to spot check the products to see how they react with your skin. In addition check out review sites to see what customers had to say about the products and the customer service. Below I've included the infomercial for the Murad Acne Complex Kit:

Web Surfing: Stumbleupon

So I have found a new way for me to waste my time on the internet. As I have been somewhat homebound after dealing with this excruciating pain in my jaw (several pills, doctors, and one mouth guard later we are on our way to recovery!) I have been surfing the internet like nobodys business. Even as I type this I am surfing the web (and watching Jon and Kate Plus 8- seriously addictive show!). I remembered a website I had been sent a year ago called Stumbleupon (www.stumbleupon.com) that literally surfs the web for you. I decided to finally sign up for it, and after the initial hesitation at agreeing to install their toolbar I have found my newest addiction. I have been introduced to a ton of new websites of which to devote my free (or not so free) time too. I reccomend checking it out if like me you find yourself with a little extra time at the end of the day for a bit of websurfing.

Wanted

Confession 1: I went to this movie mainly to see James McAvoy
Confession 2: Prior to seeing this movie I had already looked up the plot on Movie Spoiler (http://www.themoviespoiler.com/)

After the bitter aftertaste of Hellboy II (see previous post) I figured I could use a movie where people just shoot each other up. I got what I asked for.

The movie's main focus is Wesley Gibson (McAvoy) whose life resembles something similar to Office Space (complete with stapler!). Wesley's home life is no better as his girlfriend is a nag and is cheating on him. His life changes when he meets a woman named Fox (Angelina Jolie) who informs him that his father (whom Wesley has never known) was part of a secret society called The Fraternity, which is basically a club for really gifted assasins. As his father was a gifted assasin, so is Wesley. Fox informs him that his father was killed by a rogue assasin and that it's Wesley's duty to avenge his father's death, but killing his killer.

The plot continues to get grittier as we learn about how The Fraternity chooses who they kill (by looms...they explain it more in the movie). The plot wasn't too amazing, it seemed to be pretty standard (loser to supercool guy). The visuals were probably the only thing that I felt had a stong stance in my memory after viewing the film...they were very graphic. You see every inch of blood as bullets fly through the heads of those who are killed in sometimes very grusome scenes. The movie also continues to hammer the point that one can either live life or become the loser that Wesley was prior to joining The Fraternity.

Between the violence and the language (tons of swearing...and one really great line by Morgan Freeman) it definitely earned its rating of R. If that's not enough proof the movies website even features an age restricted trailer so you can get a hint at the amount of violence this film employs.

I don't know if its worth seeing in the movie, I would definitely say its worth a rental on a boring weekend as the violence, gore, and eye-candy are worth a peek at. But the plot is somewhat muddy and not unique...so I reccomend this only as a rental.

Hellboy II: The Golden Army

I will admit I was slightly disappointed in this film. I really enjoyed the first one, and when my friend suggested it I was like why not. Now to be fair sequels are rarely if ever as good as their predecessor, but this one in my opinion fell far short of the first.

Once again we follow the story of Hellboy and his quest to rid the world of evil monsters that lurk beneath the streets. This movie however has strong undertones of the personal relationships between the characters (i.e. the relationship between Liz and Hellboy). This I feel is where the movie went wrong. While the relationship was important in the first movie, it wasn't quite as sappy and didn't seem to overpower the script. This movie relied heavily on this second plot and it made it seem a little too cheesy for my liking. The rest of the plot revolves around an elf prince who hopes to raise an army (the golden army) to take over the land the humans have stolen from them (magical creatures) and remind people that they exist.

The visuals were impressive, but I would expect nothing less from Guillermo del Toro, but like I said the plot was a bit lacking and too sappy for me. I don't think most of the audience enjoyed it either as some actually left in the middle of the movie. That being said I am sure the numbers will be in, as they sold out of tickets (at least at the theatre in Boston) and it had to be shown in a full-auditorium.

Needless to say for those who absolutely loved the first movie I say why not see it in theatres. As for those who were only moderate fans I would say skip it and wait for onDemand.

http://www.hellboymovie.com/

Ouch!

So I didn't actually make it to the concert the other night...I actually spent the majority of the day in bed in excruciating pain. I'm not quite sure what has been causing the pain in my jaw, ear, head, and throat, and neither do my doctors. But needless to say I've been laid up for around 48 hours now (I have done things, but the pain hasn't really subsided much). So I have been trying to lay low.

But as a person who is now addicted to writing about things I love I thought I would write about my newest perfume. Its actually an oil created by the Body Shop that I purchased about a week ago. Its called Indian Gardenia Perfume oil. A few dabs of which leaves just a hint of fragrance for about 3-4 hours. It definitely is a feminine scent. The Body Shop website lists the notes as gardenia and tea rose, while its heart is listed as tea rose and violet. The base is described as simply rose. I do not entirely understand the mechanisms involved in producing a perfume...but this one came out simply lovely.

The price for a 15mL bottle cost me around $14 (it was on sale after being marked down from ~ $16) and who can go wrong for that price. Check it out at your nearest Body Shop.

http://www.thebodyshop.com/ (photo from the website)

My Newest Addiction

No its not a drug or alcoholic beverage...but a website that has helped enable me (it wasn't that hard I will admit) to put offdoing my homework for tonight. Are you ready for it www.surfthechannel.com This website has a ton of television shows available for free online. The shows are varied, some are from years ago (think Facts of Life), some are more recent (think any reality series on E!) and some are even international (like Top Gear- UK). Needless to say I've been watching tons of free TV online for the past few hours reliving some favorites (Dawson's Creek!) and the homework will have to wait.

As a side note: I recently picked up a copy of "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho, as had heard such great press about it. Plunking down my $13 I went home and promptly begin reading. I quickly discovered that what I thought was going to be a short fairy-fiction story (it is not particularly long) is actually quite thought-provoking and thus needs a bit more thought and time than I had previously anticipated. I am sure I will be getting around to reading it by the end of summer, most likely in piece-meal portions. But the point of my side tangent here was that upon opening up my yahoo mail account (reserved mainly for my junk e-mail) I discovered that iTunes had sent me their e-mail about new music Tuesdays. I was also surprised to find them informing me that from now till July 14th I could get "The Alchemist" audiobook narrated by Jeremy Irons, for free. Needless to say I quickly hit the "Free get book" button and will now most likely listen to the book. So if anyone has been interested in getting the book or knows someone who wants to...and has iTunes then might as well while its free.

Tomorrow I plan on attending a motivational talk by none other than Andrew W.K. and am sure I will have plenty to blog about that tomorrow...hope everyone had a great day!

Learning to cook 101

So over the past few weeks (years really) I have been frustrated at my lack of cooking skills. Those fears are long gone as I have discovered a great website (and terrific podcast) that explains (and shows) how to cook in plain English that I can understand. www.startcooking.com is one of the best websites I've found to help people like me who can barely boil water. Breaking everything down into simple steps complete with videos so you can see how they do everything, with the added bonus of rewinding and watching it again. Recently I made a quiche (I was going to take pictures but me and my roomie devoured it rather quickly...it was that good!). I definitely reccomend checking out this website, even if you are great at cooking to get new tips and techniques.

Neverwhere

So I just finished Neil Gaiman's "Neverwhere" and needless to say even in his earlier days of his writing career he does not disappoint. Following the adventures of the character Richard Mayhew as he discovers there is a world underneath London called London Below. This world is inhabited by talking rats, a floating marketplace (which even sometimes takes places at Harrods), and a woman named Door. As he discovers this magical place, Richard also discovers that he has been barely living in London above.

The story flowed quite easily, and was exactly what one would hope from a Gaiman book. I make it quite known that I absolutely adore this author and I was not disappointed in this book. The ending left quite a lot to the imagination (and a possible sequel), which left me desiring more. I highly reccomend it to fantasy readers and those who have enjoyed previous works by this author. The novel is not that long and does not require as much background knowledge as previous books of Gaiman's I have read (this shows how much his writing has grown with later novels) so its the perfect escapist read in my opinion.

On a more personal note I hope to be writing plenty of more book reviews as I finally had a chance to sign up for the Boston Public Library (http://www.bpl.org/) summer reading program. Its fantastic that the library offers incentives to both young and older readers, to encourage reading. Sign up is going on right now at http://readsinma.org/boston/ There are separate sites for children as well as teens and adults. So hopefully there will be plenty more posts where this came from. For more news on Neil Gaiman and his writing visit http://www.neilgaiman.com/, where there's news about his books, tours, and a really great journal that Neil himself updates almost daily.

Tasca Tapas Restaurant

My friends and I decided this past Thursday that we were entirely in need of a girls night out. My friend suggested a restaurant she had seen in the Brighton area so we decided to check it out...needless to say are we glad we did!

Tasca is a Tapas restaurant serving traditional Spanish Tapas. Live music accompanies this romantically light restaurant and gives it a unique atmosphere. The food was extremely well priced and 2-3 of the smaller portions were enough for each grown woman. I highly reccomend everyone getting something different and sharing with each other as it can be difficult to choose what to eat. This was possibly one of the best places I have eaten at in awhile at such great prices. I highly reccomend going, if not to try something new.

Tasca Tapas Restaurant
1612 Commonwealth Ave
Brighton, MA 02135
617--730-8002
Sunday-Thursday: 5pm-11pm
Friday-Saturday: 5pm-12am
www.tascarestaurant.com/

Wall-E

So I finally made it out to see Wall-E, Pixar's newest gem of a movie. This movie follows the adventures of a robot named Wall-E whose sole purpose is to clean up the trash on Earth that's left after its inhabitants decide to relocate to outer space. Needless to say its a big job as the earth is pretty trashed. Years after humans have left Wall-E is the only one of the robots left on earth. He has developed a personality as well as a unique curiosity for human life. This has also left him rather lonely (although he does share the company of a rather friendly cockroach). Wall-E's life changes one day when a shape comes to Earth bringing with it a high-tech robot named Eve. Eve's purpose for going to earth is revealed through the plot so i do not wish to give it away, needless to say it is quite complicated as you find out later on in the movie. Wall-E falls hard for this new robot, and in turn Eve also grows fond of Wall-E. Problems arise when Eve must return to the spacestation in which earth's inhabitants now call home. Not knowing what to do, and not wishing to be alone again, Wall-E follows Eve to the spacestation. After years of complete and utter vegetation in space the human race is shown as quite pitiful. Fat, lazy, and with minimal human contact, humans are quite a disgrace. When Wall-E boards the space craft, chaos breaks lose and human kind once again starts to realize there is more to life than just absolute satisfaction.

Needless to say I highly recommend this movie. The animation was extremely well done and the plot was simply fantastic, with a great message behind it. One of my favorite scenes in the movie (as I had just come out of work) was when they showed the robot psychiatric ward of the ship...absolutely terrific, make sure to watch for it! The love story between Eve and Wall-E was heartbreakingly beautiful and Pixar did a great job of conveying human emotions in the robots. This is a definite must see!

Nantucket

So as I mentioned before I did make it out to Nantucket last weekend for a nice day trip with my roommate. After the standard 2 hour ferry ride out, I found myself faced with the typical preppy Cape Cod like atmosphere that I have come to know and love. While I would love to say that I went there for the change of pace from Boston I will confess the main purpose of the trip was to go out to Cisco Brewers which is a brewery, vineyard, and distillery on Nantucket. Absolutely the perfect end to a great day on the island we went to this brewery and promptly ordered the "sampler" off the list. While they do not serve pints they do serve tiny double shot glass sized glass of their many beers. The sampler offers (for $6) 6 samples of their beers on tap. In addition you get to keep the tiny shot glass sized glasses as souvenirs. The staff was extremely helpful in learning about all the beers and how they were produced that it made sense that the tip jar was completely overflowing. The brewery is set up so that there are three main areas that allow you to sample the beer, wine, and hard alcohol that is produced there. All three areas have similar sampler set ups like the brewery. We did not last much after the brewery though so decided to call it a night after that sampler.

Cisco also offers people the opportunity to take tours (unfortunately do to time constraints we weren't able to) as well as purchase Cisco merchandise and beverages (my favorite being the giant jars of beer). Needless to say our trip to the island being complete me and my roomie wandered the center of the island buying various trinkets until the boat came back...all warm and giddy off of the beer the trip home (though slightly choppy from a storm) was no big deal. Here are some pictures of the area surrounding the cape and Nantucket...unfortunately I did not take as many pictures on the island as I had hoped to. Here's a link to the Cisco Brewers, definitely a must for those who visit the Island: http://www.ciscobrewers.com/

Hungry Mother Restaurant

So I literally just got back from this place an hour ago and I needed to write about it: Hungry Mother Restaurant in Cambridge. This restaurant just recently opened and serves some terrific southern food in a fantastic atmosphere. On the suggestion of a good friend I ventured out tonight across the bridge to find myself in this quaint little restaurant where I was served my drink out of canning jars (my friend had sweet tea--unlimited refills!). If that was not cute enough the food was absolutely amazing. I ordered cornmeal encrusted catfish with greens, rice, and a side of cornbread. While we waited we were served bread (from a basket!) with their fantastic butter. The catfish was wonderfully presented and tasted amazing. It was served with a mustard-caper brown butter sauce which added just the right tartness to the catfish. This wonderful entree was followed by their old fashioned chocolate cake (they also advertise for an extra $2 a glass of fresh milk, just like mom would do!), which was (as my friend pointed out) just the right amount of sweetness.

Overall this restaurant is definitely on my "must visit again" list. The prices were reasonable $4-27, and the food was fantastic. The waiters were extremely helpful and the atmosphere was very artistic country cottage. I would reccomend if you go on a typical busy night (i.e. Friday or Saturday night) to make reservations as we had to wait quite a bit as the place was jammed. While my particular group was not out for a real drinking night I highly reccomend looking at the drink list as they had some quite interesting combinations.

Hungry Mother Restaurant
233 Cardinal Medeiros Ave
Kendall Square
Cambridge, MA
617-499-0090
Tuesday- Sunday: 5-10pm
www.hungrymothercambridge.com

Catch up Blog

So its been a bit since I've posted. A busy week culminating in going back to classes left little time to do much of anything...including post. So I have a lot of reviews and stuff to comment on, but I hope everyone had a great Fourth of July...even now I hear some leftover fireworks going on. Hope everyone has a great weekend!