Viral Viernes: Pumped Up Kicks

This song has been floating around the office when I'm at work and everyone's obsessed with it.  It's just so damn catchy that I find myself singing to myself "All the other kids..."  It's really quite awful lyrics -- it's about shooting up the popular kids (All the other kids with the pumped up kicks better run, better run faster than my bullet)-- but people seem to really like it.  It's got over 60million views on the official video alone.  So get up and dance this Friday. Like you're dancing around bullets, maybe. 

Wine of the Week: Tinto Sweet Red Wine

I'm trying to get into reds as an avid Riesling lover.  There are options!  So I figure I'll start sweet before I get too deep into the fuller-bodied and more smooth wines.  I do enjoy crisp wines like a nice Vino Verde, however this red was nice.  It was light and sweet -- sweeter than a typical red.  It was enjoyable, however I don't see it being paired with many foods.  But if you'd like a nice, light, sippable option -- perhaps you're throwing a dinner party? -- then this works.  I confess it's not my favorite even of the reds I've had (I much preferred the Robertson Winery Red).  But you may feel differently, so I would say give it a shot!

"It All Belongs To Me"

I don't know about you, but I grew up listening to Brandy and Monica which made their 90s duet "The Boy Is Mine" was THE track to listen to.  So naturally, when I found this video, I was like "Yes!" until I clicked play.  I almost shut it off.  Nether of these ladies are bad singers so why was this song so damn awful?  Billboard.com describes it as "Five notches below Beyonce's 'Irreplaceable'" and I solemnly agree. So Brandy, Monica it may belong to you, but honestly, I don't think I'd claim it.

Weekend Review: Whitney's Funeral, Safe House, This Means War & Anonymous

If you didn't catch it on Saturday, Whitney Houston's Funeral was televised.  Perez Hilton has the highlights (which just seems wrong to even call it that) which you can watch here.   I watched the clips of Alicia Keys singing, Kevin Costner, Tyler Perry & Clive Davis.  I have to say that while Costner seemed to talk about himself kind of a lot for a speech that's supposed to be about someone else, it was the funniest and most entertaining of the 3 speeches.  It was very apparent he hadn't kept in touch with her very much after The Bodyguard but it was a televised service which means it had to be entertaining enough for people to stay tuned in.  I myself avoided tears and simply started playing my newly-created Whitney playlist on Pandora.  I'm not one to ever get worked up about celebrities, but Whitney made such a huge impact on my life - so much of my childhood was spent listening to her, trying to mimic her sound and loving the life she brought to every track.  Her song "I Look To You" makes me the saddest as it's from her final album and its seems she's singing about what she could never really say.  Listening to it feels like she's telling us good-bye.  "As I lay me down/Heaven hear me now... I'm lost without a cause/After giving it my all."  [Cue tears].  Well she gave us the best and she will be really and truly missed.

THE BOX OFFICE

I went to the movies as I so often do and watched 2 excellent films, "This Means War" and "Safe House."  Both were well-written with good (looking) actors.  See them!

SAFE HOUSE

Denzel Washington is always very calm and collected, even when he's being dramatic.  It was no different this time around. He plays Tobin Frost, an ex-C.I.A. agent who was known for his off-the-charts skills in psychological interpretation of people.  Ryan Renolds plays Matt Weston, a newbie to the C.I.A. who just wants to a real job.  While I've seen Reynolds be incredibly charming and funny (The Proposal & Change-Up) he proves that he can be serious and encompass the intensity of a drama in this film.  What I appreciated most about his role is the realism that went along with the Hollywood special effects.  Towards the beginning of the film, Matt is the guy who watches the "Safe House" which are places where foreign consulates keep criminals.  Upon Frost's arrival the "House" gets shot up.  Rather than whip out his guns and push around is muscles, we seem him react like any normal person would -- sweating, freaking out and wondering WTF to do.  As his character develops it's more because of the emotional stress that goes into life-and-death situations.   (Being shot at a lot is certainly life-and-death).  Frost proves to be an interesting mentor to Weston's character and the intrigue never stops.  Washington & Reynolds have great charisma and make the story feel human.  Now ladies, I will say there's lots of shooting and some blood.  I covered my eyes a lot.  I cringed too.  But if you're going with a boy, he'll like it and always remember -- man candy is good for you.


THIS MEANS WAR

Viral Viernes: Sophia Grace & Rosie Go To The Grammys (The Ellen Degeneres Show)

One of my friends tagged me in this video saying it was so us.  Which was true when she says "We weren't nervous but we WERE hungry!"  Which is something I would say exactly, British accent and all.  It's adorable.  If only all the girls felt like plopping down on the red carpet and having a sandwich & juice box.

Chow Chow Panda

 I was going to write some lame post today about what I did for Valentine's Day (I bought makeup, saw The Vow, ate McDonald's Breakfast and had a genuinely good day.  Yay for me.)  Then I came across this.  I thought Where did that girl get those Pandas?  Well they're not.  Turns out that in China they like to dye their pets to look like wild animals.  I grew up in the country and we had all kinds of pets including raccoons & skunks in our house (I will post some pictures below). I've always wanted wild animals, a White Siberian Tiger being at the top of that list, so this actually seemed quite genius to me.  This article from CNN China's Latest Craze: Dyeing Pets to Look Like Wild Animals  sums it up (mostly in the title if you ask me).   But tell me these little chow chows DON'T have panda faces!

 People never believe I had these pets.  The quality of these photos are so mediocre they were obviously taken in someone's house with poor lighting. (Ehem, mine... well, my parent's house now.)

Chalupa

 Delilah

 Oreo

Oh, Valentine's Day

Singles & cynics get ready to vomit -- it's that beloved holiday filled with candy and unwanted PDA all over the place -- that's right, Valentine's Day! I've always been single on this particular holiday.  I've heard many a not-so-gentleman claim that you've "gotta dump her before" so they don't have to buy anything.  That being said, I have every intention of taking myself to see The Vow with Rachel McAdams & Channing Tatum .  Cheesy and awful?  Perhaps.  But I'd like to point out that it was the top grossing film this weekend at the box office.  So whatever.  If cheesy chick flicks aren't your idea of the perfect Valentine's Day for being single, then here are some recommendations from an article I found on what you could do. There are the usuals -- treat yourself (spa day), go out with other singles (unless all your friends are seeing someone in which case you may want to revert to option one).  Fancy dinner, concerts and the more interesting one to me is volunteering.  While at first I thought "really, couples get a nice dinner, maybe a new outfit and probably great sex, they're expecting me to give out cookies & sponge baths?"  However, Valentine's Day is about love so why does that have to mean candle lit dinners with someone you may break up with by next year?

Single and want some ideas?  Read this: 8 Ways Singles Can Celebrate Valentine's Day

No I Don't Snub Celebrities...on purpose.

Andrew Belle came in to the restaurant I work at.  I'd never heard of him before.  He seems like a John Mayer-Damien Rice hybrid.  Not so pop as Mayer but not as dark as Rice can be.  He was playing for a private dinner (this guy proposed in a private room with rose petals and candles everywhere).   It was actually one of the most awesome dinners I've helped coordinate.  The story amongst my friends is that I have a tendency to somewhat unintentionally "snub" relatively famous or accomplished people.  While I didn't snub this guy, I had to confess to him that I didn't know him.   He was impressively good and notably polite.  When I got home I looked him up to find he has an international tour going on which now makes me feel stupid going "Hey, um, I've never heard you before but you're really good!"  I was hoping he'd have a CD I could buy and that he'd sign but he didn't have any on him.  I did give him my business card, for whatever that's worth.

Dear Whitney, I Will Always Love You

A few hours ago I was at work and someone said "Whitney Houston died!"  "WHAT?"
A legend of a generation is gone.  I grew up listening to her and she is the foundation for every audition, good & bad that American Idol and a million other talent shows have ever seen.  So in honor of one of the greatest, tonight let us raise our glasses and remember the woman who taught us how to shamelessly belt it out in the shower, driving in the car and on the dance floor at 2am.

Viral Viernes: Emeli Sande "Next To Me"

If Leona Lewis and Whitney Houston had a hybrid baby, she would sound like Emeli Sande.  I came across her on one of my random youtube video watching escapades and was completely blown away.  Her voice was genuine, she had an excellent range and she was in pitch -- and it didn't sound autotuned.  Whoa, what?!  She's only got 3 videos up currently ("Next To Me," "Daddy," & "Heaven"), but I love them all.  I like her so much I plan on legit purchasing her album when it comes out.  Artists like Emelie, Janelle Monae and Adele are starting put my faith back into music.

Movie Reviews: Girl With A Dragon Tattoo & Red Tails

I like to go to the movies -- a lot.  Reading whole books takes too long and movies are a great way to just chill after work.  I tend to go by myself cuz I often do go after work and then I can see what I want.  But I digress.  So there's always the critic's picks and then there are normal people's choices (which is why I always seem to have seen almost all the movies nominated for The People's Choice Awards and usually a maximum of 2 Oscar-Nominated films). 

Girl with a Dragon Tattoo

I bought this book and it was really damn long in the beginning so I stopped reading it and just went to see it.  There's a lot of talk about which is better -- the latest Hollywood version of the international bestseller or the Swedish version.  I kind of want to see the Swedish version because something makes me think it may be better but I'm not sure since I didn't bother to read the book anyway. 
Rape is a heavy subject throughout the story and mixed with graphic images of women who've been violently murdered, this film earns its "R" rating.  I had heard that the rape scenes in this film were graphic and I've always felt that while obviously not in anyway pleasant, rape was harder to depict for its emotional damage than straight up gore.  This film proved me wrong.  There were 2 very disturbing scenes of rape to add to the other disturbing images.  So while the subject matter was heavy, our tattooed girl was still fascinating.  Enough that I would have liked to have gotten a bit more focus on her alone.  I distinctly remember the scene that really hit me was when she is clicking through a series of violent murder pictures on her laptop with such strong emotional disconnect to the horrors in front of her you'd think she'd have been clicking through Disney Resort options.  While they say she's "insane" she's also incredibly brilliant.  You really pity her because you see how living from one foster home to another has created such a broken person.  I also kept thinking "oi vey, someone feed the woman."  But that's neither here nor there.
Consensus: See it, if you are up for a drama and don't mind hearing about the various twisted and horrific ways you can kill people.


Red Tails

People: "Have you seen Red Tails, yet?"
Me: "No."
People: "It's really good!"
Me: "Ok."

I wondered how much George Lucas had to pay Tyler Perry for this one.  Being a LucasFilm production, it had camera work that was reminiscent of a Star Wars action film.  But basically it was Remember the Titans meets World War II.  I was surprised to find that it wasn't more violent.  Granted I had my jumpy moments, but this film was far more mild than the Saving Private Ryan type of film I thought I was getting into.  Not to mention a pretty good-looking cast.  Familiar faces of Ne-Yo, Cuba Gooding, Jr. & Terrance Howard made me wonder what happened to Denzel & Morgan Freeman but they did need to pay the rest of the cast...
Again, I digress.  Long story short: it was a good movie.  I wouldn't buy it on DVD, but it's a good movie to see with a boy because he can enjoy the camaraderie & typical George Lucas explosions and you can enjoy the eye candy.  Oh yeah, and minus Titan's classic, on-field dance sequence it too shows that racism is bad -- in case you weren't sure.  (The Help, what?)

One Day You Can Have a Billion-Dollar House, Too!

I watched this video from BBC (because I like BBC) about how the super wealthy find London a safe-haven for their money.  So on this Wednesday, I like to think these billion-dollar toys are inspiration to keep working your way through the week.  If you work hard enough, you can have a billion dollars too!  Besides, there are islands to be owned, private jets and yachts to take you there and chateaux to buy.  So get to work kids because you could be Living Like London's Super Rich!

Fresh From BBC: "Older Professionals Working Abroad"

I read this article in BBC last week entitled "Freedom to move: Older professionals in new life abroad."

I thought it was sort of a nice hurrah to the idea that it's never too late to do what you want.  While it's pretty self-explanatory, it discusses how older adults finally decide to get that job somewhere else.  And with kids out of the house and spouses who are too old to really care that much, it seems to work out.  So if you don't get that power-house job in your late 20s that lets you travel or live somewhere else, or before you have a spouse and kids, you can just wait til they're all out.  Retirement-schmirement.  The economy's too awful for that.  So you might as well get a job to the place you were going to retire to anyway.

... Italy what?

Fancy Feast!

Last Wednesday I decided that I needed a date night with myself.  I had a gift card to a Phil Stefani Restaurant and since the weather was unseasonably warm, I decided to go to Riva at Navy Pier.  I was incredibly impressed by the food and the service -- if you've got the time or the budget for a fancy meal, go ahead!  (I had a four course meal with a wine pairing with each which totaled nearly $150 at full retail value with tax & tip.  If you skip all the wines and go with 3 courses which is much more standard you could get away with $80-100 per person.)

I took this as an opportunity to really test my wine knowledge!  Not bad, but I'm clearly a novice...

Course 1:
Appetizer: Crispy Spring Rolls made with duck confit, daikon salad, spicy yuzu glaze 
If you like duck you will enjoy this appetizer.  The spicy yuzu glaze added a delicious sweet flare to the crispy shell and of course there was a fabulous presentation!
Wine Pairing - Trimbach Gewurztraminer, Alsace
I honestly had no idea what that wine really was, but it seemed (by guessing the name) like it might be similar to a Riesling so I got it.  Not so much.  It is much dryer and despite the very German Name, Alsace happens to be a region of France.  It was dryer and slightly bitter and while still good, proved to be my least favorite of the wines I had that evening.

Course 2:
Salad: Seafood Chopped Salad with calamari, colossal shrimp, jumbo lump crab, salmon, Dijon vinaigrette
This salad was quite large and could easily be an entree.  I knew I was doing a four-course meal so I halved all portions (or less).  If you like seafood, this was tasty dish!  The vinaigrette was excellent and I ate every leaf on that plate.  I knew the actual seafood would fare better the next day so I saved most of it for later. 
Wine Pairing: Valley of the Moon Pinot Blanc
This wine turned out to be my favorite of the evening.  When I asked the difference between a Pinot Blanc and a Pinot Grigio, the wine manager I work with said that basically Pinot Blanc is a more consistent and slightly nicer version of Pinot Grigio.  He told me that because Pinot Grigio's are so common and commercialized they have become very wide in variety and quality.  I'd say he was dead on because this Pinot Blanc worked nicely with food & as a stand-alone wine.  If looking for a nice white, I would suggest this.  This was my favorite.

Course 3:
Entree (picture 2 above): I don't have the exact name of this dish as it wasn't on the online menu (which I am definitely copy-pasting all these descriptions from -- c'mon, let's be real.  I don't take notes while eating because I'm too busy stuffing my face.)  This was a pasta dish with shrimp, crab & mussels, some kind of sausage and a Cajun sauce.  What I learned from this dish is that mussels with black shells taste better and aren't as tough as the mussels with lighter shells.  This meal lasted me about 3 days worth of snacking.  The seafood portion was excellent.  I don't love super spicy foods so I was a bit worried about the Cajun spices but it actually wasn't too bad.  I would recommend this to anyone who isn't afraid of having underwater sea creatures on his or her plate.  Plus they served it with a shell bucket and mini mussel forks -- how fancy!
Wine Pairing: Trefethen Chardonnay
We carry Trefethen Cabernet at work and I really liked it (for a Cabernet, anyway).  My red wine drinker friends really liked it when they tried it and I often recommend it to guests.  It has a smoother finish and although Cabs are heavier I found it easier to drink than some (i.e. J Lohr Cabernet which is easily found in stores and is slightly more bitter and has more tannins -- at least I think that's tannin).  All that being said, it seemed necessary to do a Chardonnay for the main course and Chardonnays are commonly served with fish & seafood along with dishes that are cream-based (rule -- white wines for white foods, red wine for red foods, especially steak/red meat).  This Chardonnay did not disappoint.  While I know I don't love Chardonnay's, like it's Cabernet Sauvignon counterpart, this had a very nice finish and I found it enjoyable.  Chardonnays are on the dry end of whites so I did prefer the Pinot Blanc but if you like dryer wines, this makes for a yummy option.

Course 4:
Dessert: Pineapple Upside Down Cake with Coconut Gelato (picture 1 above)
And this is why we save room, kids.  I don't like chocolate very much and will always pick a fruity option first and this did not disappoint!  While I'm not that into cake, the coconut gelato had such a great flavor that paired so well with the cake (which was also really good to my surprise).  I shoved it in shamelessly -- kind of like how you'd imagine starving children eat except I just had some of the most expensive courses prior to that in my life.  And I'm not huge into dessert so that's a statement.  If you're not feeling chocolate, get it.  Heck, even if you are feeling chocolate get it.
Wine Pairing: Rotari Brut Riserva N.V., Trentino
This Prosecco  (Italian Champagne) was not on the by-the-glass list but they were very nice and found they had a bottle open and gave it to me by the glass anyway.  While it was dryer, there was too much of a contrast for me personally with the sweetness of the cake & gelato.  And honestly, I really didn't need another glass of wine but if I was gonna do it, I was doing it right, dammit!  Now a moscato is very sweet and while it serves as a great dessert wine, I felt that the 2 different types of sweetness would have clashed here.  In retrospect I probably should have tried a nice port (a mix of red wine and brandy which is often considered an after-dinner drink) which would have probably been a good option too.  Either way it was, all and all, a delectable dinner.

Wine of the Week: Auslese Rieslings

So technically this is the wine of last week, but hey, whatever.

I like Rieslings generally, but when speaking to our wine manager, he told me to try some Rieslings from some region or whatever that started with an A.  Apparently there are many associations to Rieslings and the letter A, as a Google Search taught me.  So, as usual, I went to Whole Foods and found this wine that started with an A -- Auslese, sure why not?  It proved to be the best Riesling I've had by far and for $13.99 it was reasonable.  I also happened to find a similar bottle for only $8.99 at World Market.  This article from the New York Times discusses Auslese Rieslings.  Personally I think it has a fresh taste.  It's not exactly crisp, but a nice blend of sweet and smooth.  It's a very sip-able wine that can be enjoyed as a stand alone beverage or with lighter foods like fruits and cheese.   If you are a fan of sweet white wines, I would go with this one!

Viral Viernes: It's Friday, Bee-yitches

If you haven't seen this yet, you're welcome.  Happy Friday, Bee-yitches!