Brain Games from Yahoo!

Stare at the red dot on this woman's nose for thirty seconds. Then, look over at a blank white space (a piece of paper or an empty browser tab will do). Did you see the "correct" version of the image? Here's how it works: stare long enough at an object and the eye's photoreceptors (particularly the color-sensitive cone cells) lose sensitivity from overstimulation. Divert the eyes to a blank space, and the surrounding cone cells send out a much stronger signal. The brain interprets this discrepancy as looking at the precise opposite colors, in what is known as a 'negative afterimage.' Nifty, no?


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Yeah, I got this off of Yahoo! but it doesn't make it any less cool.  As soon as I blinked getting ready to move my eyes to a white wall, I actually already saw the color filled image in my brain.  Pretty neat!

Have you noticed your Big Mac tastes different?

McDonald’s confirms that it’s no longer using ‘pink slime’ chemical in hamburgers

 

By Eric Pfeiffer

Ammonium hydroxide, image from KSDK TV

McDonald's announced last week that, as of last August, is has stopped using ammonium hydroxide in the production of its hamburgers. MSNBC reports that the chemical, used in fertilizers, household cleaners and even homemade explosives, was also used to prepare McDonalds' hamburger meat.
And while the announcement is making headlines, you may (or may not) want to know about some other unusual chemicals being used in the production of some of our most-popular foods:
The International Business Times lists some other questionable chemicals showing up in our foods:

Propylene glycol: This chemical is very similar to ethylene glycol, a dangerous anti-freeze. This less-toxic cousin  prevents products from becoming too solid. Some ice creams have this  ingredient; otherwise you'd be eating ice.

Carmine: Commonly found in red food coloring, this chemical comes from crushed cochineal, small red beetles that burrow into cacti. Husks of the beetle are ground up and forms the basis for red coloring found in foods ranging from cranberry juice to M&Ms.

Shellac: Yes, this chemical used to finish wood products also gives some candies their sheen. It comes from the female Lac beetle.

L-cycsteine: This common dough enhancer comes from hair, feathers, hooves and bristles.

Lanolin (gum base): Next time you chew on gum, remember this. The goopiness of gum comes from lanolin, oils from sheep's wool that is also used  for vitamin D3 supplements.

Silicon dioxide: Nothing weird about eating sand, right? This anti-caking agent is found in many foods including shredded cheese and fast food chili.

So, what moved McDonald's to make the change in their hamburger production? In a statement posted on its website, McDonald's senior director of quality systems Todd Bacon wrote:

"At the beginning of 2011, we made a decision to discontinue the use of ammonia-treated beef in our hamburgers.  This product has been out of our supply chain since August of last year. This decision was a result of our efforts to align our global standards for how we source beef around the world."

The U.S. Agriculture Department classifies the chemical as "generally recognized as safe." McDonald's says they stopped using the chemical months ago and deny the move came after a public campaign against ammonium hydroxide by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver.


The food industry uses ammonium hydroxide as an anti-microbial agent in meats, which allows McDonald's to use otherwise "inedible meat."

On his show, Oliver said of the meat treatment: "Basically we're taking a product that would be sold in the cheapest form for dogs and making it 'fit' for humans."

Even more disturbing, St. Louis-based dietician Sarah Prochaska told NBC affiliate KSDK that because ammonium hydroxide is considered part of the "component in a production procedure" by the USDA, consumers may not know when the chemical is in their food.

"It's a process, from what I understand, called 'mechanically separated meat' or 'meat product,'" Prochaska said.  "The only way to avoid it would be to choose fresher products, cook your meat at home, cook more meals at home."
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This is yet another great reason to stop eating at fast food places.  I know better than anyone, they are very convenient and cheap, but the chemicals we are putting into our bodies just aren't meant to be consumed by living breathing entities.
I saw this article on Yahoo and just had to share it.  Doesn't that pink worm look delicious?

Winter

I'm not sure how real this photo is, but it feels like this where I live some winters.  This photo is from weather.com and I noticed it had no description and was later removed from the website.  I'm not sure how it would be possible considering the snow plows that I've seen can't stack snow this high off the sides of the road.  Unless, this is a picture from Alaska where they've had record snow fall this winter and January average temperatures in the -20's.

Making Monsters - the television show

Airing some Sunday night's on the travel channel.



The reason I say some Sunday night's is because it was only a mini series of 4 episodes where you got to see a behind the scenes look at a company called Distortions who makes all kinds of horror or sci-fi props. 

The family owned business has been around since the 70's and they are very talented people.  During the shows featured they made a gigantic stage prop for Alice Cooper's last music tour, 4 aliens and a space ship for the alien museum in New Mexico, did a ton of props to sell in the Transworld (Haunted house owners convention once a year) show in St. Louis, Missouri, and countless other projects that were shown from start to finish.  I was very impressed and would love to have them build something for me someday!

I love just about anything that's creative and this show was no different.  They did everything from full body props, masks, machinery, make-up, painting, construction, and installation all with about 7 or 8 employees total.  It's really amazing that they can do so much with so few people.  And no matter what kind of problems crop up they can always fix them in time.

Catch it if you like horror movies, or Halloween like me.

Mona Lisa Smile

Released: 2003
Drama
Director: Mike Newell
Starring: Julia Roberts, Kirsten Dunst, Julia Stiles, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Marcia Gay Harden, Ginnifer Goodwin
Running Time: 117 minutes
Rated: PG 13

The breakdown: A forward thinking art teacher encourages young 1950's female students to challenge the typical role of housewife/female stereotypes.

This wasn't the best movie I've ever seen and neither is it the worst.  Let's get to the plot, shall we?
Roberts plays a fresh college graduate who is going to teach at Wellesley College.  She's ultra modern which is a huge problem for the school already.  She's in her 30's, she's single, and she's career-driven.  The school prides themselves (it seems) on churning out well educated housewives who never go on to a career after they've snared a husband (preferable before graduating.)  Roberts teaches art history to a room of girls who have already read the entire book assigned to the class before the first day of school (really? who does this?)  Anyway, the group of girls are all pretty unlikable for the most part.  One's mother is on the school board, so she's a bitch who writes for the school paper and gets people fired.  One girl is a smoking, drinking, slut who sleeps with teachers and married men, one is meek and never stands up for what she wants, blah, blah, blah.  You never really get into the movie because every time you're close there's some dramatic scene that supposed to feel dramatic, but ends up feeling weak and silly.
Roberts ends up liking all her students (even the bitchy one) and of course, they all love her at the end of the year.  At that point her teaching and personality have all convinced the kids you can be a housewife and a lawyer if you want to.  But, the school really doesn't like the fact that she is too modern for their tastes and only invites her back the next year, conditionally.  Roberts doesn't want to comprise herself, so she quits.  The end.
A quick synopsis of a movie that never needed to be made.
I give it a 2 out of 5 for Gyllenhaal and Goodwin's performances that were the best of the bunch.   

Chicken McNuggets - A Horror Story - follow-up to my past post

This article has been condensed for this post.
I just wanted to say wow!  How can someone only eat chicken McNuggets for 15 years straight?!
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Chicken Nuggets: How Bad Are They?

By Lisa Collier Cool

This week 17-year-old British factory worker Stacey Irvine was rushed to the hospital when she collapsed, struggling to breathe. During the exam, doctors were stunned to learn that Ms. Irvine had never in her life eaten fruit or vegetables; instead she had eaten almost nothing but fast-food chicken nuggets since she was two years old.
Her mother, Evonne Irvine, told reporters she had gone to great lengths to try to feed her daughter more nutritious food, at one point even trying to starve the girl, but it hadn’t worked. Stacey responded that, once she started eating nuggets, she “loved them so much they were all I would eat.”

What’s so bad about nuggets?

They would be bad enough if they were merely chunks of chicken that had been breaded and deep-fried in oil. One documentary describes McDonald's nuggets as chickens “stripped down to the bone, and then 'ground up’ into a chicken mash, then combined with a variety of stabilizers and preservatives, pressed into familiar shapes, breaded and deep fried, freeze dried, and then shipped to a McDonald’s near you.”
Aside from chicken and oil, those “stabilizers and preservatives” are said to include dimethylpolysiloxane, a form of silicone also used in cosmetics. Another additive is tertiary butylhydroquinone (TBHQ), a form of butane. According to one report, chicken is only about 50 percent of a McNugget; the remainder is a mixture of corn-derived ingredients, sugars and synthetic substances.
If a four-piece serving of Chicken McNuggets carried a nutrition label, at first glance it wouldn’t seem too scary: 190 calories, 12 grams of carbs and 12 grams of fat. But consider that more than half of those calories (56 percent) are from fat—and protein accounts for a mere four percent. Add a whopping 360 mg sodium, and its image as “the more nutritious fast-food snack” fades.

What’s the worst that can happen?

Aside from collapsing and gasping for air, as Stacey Irvine did? Doctors also discovered that the veins in Ms. Irvine’s tongue were swollen and she was diagnosed with anemia. Further, such a high salt intake can increase a person’s blood pressure (which ultimately can put them at risk for a stroke or heart attack).
McNuggets are low in nutrients everyone needs, such as calcium, fiber, vitamins, antioxidants and healthy fats, so a steady diet of nuggets means missing out on the health benefits of those ingredients.

The Hot Rock

Released: 1972
Comedy
Director: Peter Yates
Starring: Robert Redford, George Segal, Ron Leibman
Running Time: 101 minutes
Rated: PG

The breakdown:  A team of thieves plan on stealing a very large diamond from a museum, but it turns out they have to steal it over and over again before getting it right.

Redford plays Dortmunder, a man who just got released from prison when his brother-in-law approaches him about another crime.  Dr. Amusa is an African ambassador who wants a special diamond that was stolen from his people during colonial times returned to his country.  He approaches Redford and his team to steal it back from a museum under high security.  Redford figures out a plan and they go through a great deal to steal it from the museum, problem is at the end of the day, they still don't quite have it in their hands.  They have to steal it from the police station now where it's been hidden.  After that plan doesn't quite work out, they have to steal it again.  It's hysterical and quite entertaining.  I've never even heard of this movie until a week ago, but it's fresher than most movies I watch made today.
If you feel like laughing this is a good one to see.

I give it 3 and 1/2 stubs for being funny and witty. 

The Adjustment Bureau

Released: 2011
Sci-fi, Romance
Director: George Nolfi
Starring: Matt Damon, Emily Blunt
Running Time: 106 minutes
Rated: PG 13

The breakdown: A love story that fate does not want to happen.

Based on a short short called the "Adjustment Team" by Philip K. Dick, this movie shows why I still love science fiction movies. 
Matt Damon plays a politician that falls in love with a ballerina within minutes of meeting her by accident.  Problem with that is that the agents of the universe do not want them together.  This team of fate adjustment officers make a tiny mistake and Damon's character sees her again when he's not supposed to and he cannot get her out of his mind.  In the big plan she's supposed to marry someone else, and he's supposed to stay ambitious and continue to strive to be in politics.
I really don't want to give too much of the story away because I think it's excellent, but if you love science fiction movies, or love stories you will like this.

I feel my review is ridiculously short so I'll give you the description from the back of the dvd.
"David Norris (Matt Damon) glimpses the future Fate has planned for him...and chooses to fight for his own destiny. Battling the powerful Adjustment Bureau across, under and through the streets of New York, he risks his destined greatness to be with the only woman he's ever loved (Emily Blunt). "

I give it a 4 out of 5 stubs for being a new idea for love stories and good acting with a solid plot and writing.

Ice Cream!

It's long overdue that I write a post about sweets.
I figured I go into discussion over the supremacy of some fast food ice cream treats over others.  Up for debate today is Dairy Queen's vanilla soft serve in things like blizzards, sundaes, and peanut buster parfaits.  Culver's concrete mixer's, Wendy's Frosty's (the original chocolate flavor only), Chocolate ice cream cones from McDonalds, Pinkberry, Cold Stone Creamery, Rita's, and Baskin Robbins.  It's a bit of a mixed bag here but I'll break down all the competition for you.

Dairy Queen - this is hands down my all time favorite vanilla flavored anything sweet I've ever had.  I don't know what it is that they put in there, but I normally hate vanilla ice cream without anything added to it, but this is the best, most sweet on its own I've ever had.  Then you take stuff like the Blizzard treat and mix in heath bars, chocolate chip cookie dough, brownie pieces or brownie batter and you've got a real knock out.  Then there's the chocolate sundaes and peanut buster parfaits which are incredible if you ask me and this is usually the first place I want to visit if I think I deserve a treat today.  Out of all their stuff my all time favorite is the peanut buster parfait.  Take plain old vanilla soft serve and mix in hot fudge in alternating layers with spanish peanuts (skins, salt, and all) inside a gigantic tall cup and you've got a WINNER!
Final nominee - Peanut Buster Parfait.

Culver's - Well this place is hard to find out west, but it's everywhere in the midwest.  Known for their butter burgers (nothing special in my opinion) the concrete mixers is what I go there for.  Here's the same idea as a Dairy Queen Blizzard but they make it with custard instead of soft serve so it's much thicker (still not better than a Blizzard to me though.)  But they do have a lot of different mix-ins, my favorite of those is Nutter Butter's so it gives the entire treat a peanut buttery taste as they almost completely blend in the cookies into chocolate custard.  It's a good treat for a warm day.
Final nominee - the chocolate custard Nutter Butter Concrete Mixer.

Wendy's - The original Frosty.  Need I say more?  I do?  Ok, well it's been around for as long as I can remember and it's very simple but very good.  Another soft serve plain chocolate treat but pretty thick.  It's low calorie (certainly not good for you) semi-healthy treat in the sense that you could eat a lot worse ice creams full of mix in's (see Blizzard and Concrete Mixers) and have a lot more damage done to your waist line.  I turn to this one when I need some nostalgic comfort food.
Final nominee - the Frosty.

McDonald's - So they don't have a lot of sweet treats here, but I have been eating one for a very long time - the plain chocolate ice cream cone.  It's very airy and light and it doesn't fill you up or weigh you down.  I like that and I think it's a great deal for under a buck.
Final nominee - Obviously, the chocolate ice cream cone silly.

Pinkberry - ahhhh this place is all soft serve and can be a very healthy alternative to fulfilling your sweet tooth.  This place serves a small amount of flavored soft serves with lots of healthy fresh fruit, granola, and nut mix in's.  This is where you can have a chocolate, almond, granola treat and not kill your diet, but you still feel like you're getting away with something.  Soft serve flavors include: Salty Caramel, Chocolate, The Original (kinda' like vanilla), Mango, and Blood Orange (like a orange creamsicle).  Mix in's are stuff like strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, almond slivers, granola, chocolate chips, and yogurt chips.
Final nominee - Chocolate and Salty Caramel swirl with almond slivers and crepe flakes.

Cold Stone Creamery - overall this is my least favorite place on the list, but they do have some good stuff.
Personally I like their cotton candy flavored ice cream, but here is a place that leaves little options for healthy good tasting stuff, but tons of choices when it comes to the stuff that will clog your arteries.  Anyway, the discussion is not healthiest, but tastiest, so here we go.  Here you can get cups, cones, or waffle cone bowls with your choice of decadent ice cream with tons of mix ins like cookies, fudge, peanut butter, fruit, etc.  The last time I was there I made the mistake of ordering a peanut butter/chocolate concoction with a chocolate covered waffle cone bowl.  First of all the thing was humongous and I couldn't finish it, plus the waffle bowl wasn't that great.  I'd recommend the small size to most people and make sure you haven't eaten anything all day before you come to eat a treat here.
Final recommendation - Cotton Candy ice cream plain.

Rita's - I discovered this gem in Florida, but they have many locations across the country.  Here they serve stuff like slushies, ice cream, and a mix of both.  What I like most is that you can have something like a cherry Italian ice, and chocolate ice cream (together if you wanted) and not fill up on heavy creams with no bad aftertaste of some other places on this list. 
Final nominee - Chocolate ice cream plain in a cup.

Baskin Robbins - why oh why did I start this list?  There's too many good choices here if you're looking for a delicious treat.  One of the original places to get a treat in the country and if you go here, I guarantee you will find one of your favorites.  I've been here so many times for stuff like ice cream cones or ice cream cakes I've lost count.  My favorites: mint chocolate chip, chocolate chip cookie dough, rocky road, and chocolate.
Final nominee - peanut butter and chocolate ice cream plain.

Well, we've gone through the list and now all I want is some good ice cream!

Vampires Suck - the movie review

Released: 2010
Comedy (but not very funny)
Director: Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer
Starring: Jenn Proske, Matt Lanter, Diedrich Bader
Running Time: 82 minutes
Rated: PG-13

The breakdown:  Plain and simple this is a parody of the Twilight series.  If you don't know the storyline of that: Teenage angst-filled girl moves to new town, falls in love with pasty white, scary looking stranger, who happens to be a vampire, they abstain from sex until they're married, then have a demon spawn human/vampire hybrid that almost kills the mother during pregnancy.  Vampire bites his wife to make her vampire and I don't really know how it ends, because I don't care.  Oh yeah, and there's supposed to be some sort of love triangle here before the marriage, but the girl really loves the vampire, and the werewolf is just a good friend, no matter how often he takes off his shirt for her.  Not a very compelling love triangle if the girl really only loves one person, duh.  Also, I should mention here....In the original movie, I feel no love connection between the two main characters and no on screen sizzle even though the two are a real couple off screen.  My brother quoted someone else pointing out the fact that in the first 10 minutes of Disney/Pixar's animated movie Up, they told a better, more complete love story without saying a word than the whole series of Twilight movies.  Well said!
 
Anyone who knows me knows I don't like Twilight and will jump at the chance to make fun of it.  I wanted to watch this movie to see if any of it was funny.  Truth be told, it's awkward to watch mostly, and not really funny.  I think they took the easy way out and tried to do prat falls and bathroom humor too much for it to be funny.  It had some potential though.  For instance, the actress that played Becca/Bella (Proske) she copied Kristen Stewart's unending twitching and fidgeting pretty well.  She nailed the characters lack of confidence and self consciousness.  She also had the general appearance of Kristen Stewart so that helps.  The actor that played Edward/Edward (Lanter) of course was painted white, had his hair puffed up and made faces like he was stoned or constipated all the time, so he did a good job of copying his original as well.  The actor that played Jacob/Jacob (Chris Riggi) also looked like his original so he was good as a look a like.  He also was in excellent shape so he could take off his shirt as often as possible as well. 
Overall visually this movie is a very good copy.  You can tell the cinematography is similar, as are locations, wardrobe, etc., but of course, this movie ends up being just plain dumb.  I think they had an excellent shot at making something really funny and witty, but blew it.  Two directors?  Why?  This bothers me as one is best to shoot a movie from start to finish with one viewpoint, you have two and I start to wonder why one couldn't handle it. 
I smiled at a couple of parts and that's about it.
I give it 2 1/2 stubs out of 5 for copying the original well, but failing to be funny like it's supposed to be.  In fact, the original Twilight is probably more funny (unintentionally of course) than this comedy.  Save your time and money and skip both.

Macayo's Cantina

This place is a southwest tradition and a wonderful restaurant.  They opened their first one in 1946 in Phoenix, Arizona, and it's been growing in popularity ever since.  You most likely will not find one unless you are in Arizona or Nevada, but this means it's still family owned and operated and they simply cannot handle anymore locations.  So if you're ever in the southwest, stop by one.  You will not be disappointed in the food.

Ok so let me be honest.  I've eaten here hundreds of times over the course of my life and sometimes you get great service, and sometimes, it's not so great, so my recommendation to you is go when you have some time, not on a lunch break, or if you're in a hurry.  I just can't tell you they are always going to be fast, because they are not always.  But the food is awesome.

Starters -
Cheese crisp (some call it a quesadilla) - simply some cheese melted over a flour tortilla.  A great starter since it doesn't fill you up like bread and butter do.
Mini chimichangas - I usually order these as a meal, but either way they're good.  Six little bite sized beef, chicken, or a combo of three each, inside deep fried flour tortillas topped with sour cream and guacamole.

Entrees -
Sonoran Enchilada Sampler - Oh so good, this is one of my favorites!  Three different enchiladas served 3 different ways: 1 beef with green sauce, 1 chicken with their signature Baja sauce, and one cheese with their homemade red sauce.  Served with black beans and rice.  Though their rice and beans aren't nearly as good as they used to be.  I say order 2 sides of refried beans.
Chimichanga de Macayo - one large chimichanga with shredded beef, chicken, or carnitas (pork) inside a deep fried flour tortilla, covered with relleno sauce and sour cream.  Very good, but very unhealthy.  Served with rice or beans.

Sides -  The reason I list this is because they have a combination platter where you can mix and match whatever you're hungry for and a lot of these things are delicious.
Try the refried bean tostadas, cheese enchiladas, or shredded beef tacos, all really tasty.  Of course, they have a ton of options here but it's stuff like burros, enchiladas, tacos, tostadas, and tamales.  Too many to mention, but good if you just can't decide.

Desserts -
Soapapillas (pronounced soap-a-p-ahs) are always good.  It's just a pillow shaped pastry dough deep fried and served with powdered sugar and honey.  Almost everyone likes these.
Mini Chocolate Chimis - MY FAVORITE!!!!  They give you 4 little chocolate hot fudge filled deep fried flour tortilla's topped with whipped cream over vanilla ice cream.  I never touch the ice cream because I'm too distracted by the chocolately goodness, but the mini chimis are too delicious to ignore.

Drinks - I only mention this because a LOT of people order the margarita's in special glasses here.  You get a big mug shaped like the head and torso of a man or woman (whichever you like) and drink out of the sombrero on their head.  You get to keep the glass and it's a big deal for some (not for me).

I've gone here for years so I really recommend you try it if you haven't.  But I should warn you, the service sometimes is really lacking.  I know it can happen anywhere, but it seems like 25% of time here, they just don't have enough help.  Anyways, I give them a 3 out of 5 forks, only because the service really needs some improving.  If you don't want to wait, you can always place an order to go over the phone and just pick it up to eat at home.

P.F. Chang's

Ah yes, I favorite of mine for a long time.  Some of the best Americanized Chinese food you can eat, in my humble opinion.  So let's get started.

Starters -
Chang's chicken lettuce wraps - although they are pretty good I find these incredibly hard to eat.  You get plain lettuce leaves stacked on top of each other and the mix is left in a pile for you to top the leaves with and eat.  Inside a lettuce wrap you have green onions, mushrooms, minced chicken, water chestnuts, and crispy rice sticks.  Like I say, they're good, but really messy.
Dumplings!!!! - ohhh my favorite appetizer by them, by far!  They are made by hand and have spices, vegetables, and ground pork inside a won ton wrapper.  You can choose the style they cook them in: pan-fried (crispy) or steamed (soft).  I usually go with pan-fried, but both are equally satisfying for a starter.
Also sometimes you can find a variation on their dumplings that are offered on the happy hour menu.  Look for the Shanghai Street Dumplings, these are filled with chicken, ginger, green onion and soy, and totally delicious.

Soups & salads -
To tell the truth, I've never had any of the soups or salads as I usually keep room for the dumplings, and an entree.  But they do have a few choices here.

Entrees-
Sweet & Sour Chicken - stir-fried with pineapple, bell peppers, onions, and candied ginger in sauce.  It's pretty good if you like sweet & sour.  Usually I'll steal a bite off someone else's plate for this if I'm in the mood, but never ordered a full plate for myself.
Ginger Chicken with Broccoli - this one's my favorite chicken dish.  It's just chicken breast cut up with green onions, ginger, and broccoli, but it's so good and pretty good for you as well.  I get it with brown rice to make it even more healthy.
Mongolian Beef - mmm mmmmm.  Flank steak wok-cooked and then tossed with scallions (green onions) and garlic.  Who knows why some people call them green onions and others scallions, but they are indeed, the same thing.  Either way you phrase it, this dish is delicious!
Lo Mein - I've sampled this off of one of my friends plates and it wasn't bad.  Stir-fried noodles with vegetables and you have a choice of one of the following: chicken, pork, beef, or a vegetable mix.

It's hard for me to deviate away from my favorites here, so I don't have a review of too many of the menu items, but trust me, if you haven't tried this place....you really should. 

What they have going as a special right now is there meal for 2 for $40.00.
It includes a cup of soup, a starter, and 2 entrees, plus 2 mini dessert cups, or 1 large dessert. 

If you try a mini dessert I highly recommend the red velvet cake or the triple chocolate mousse.  These are tiny shot glass size desserts that most people have room for even after a full meal.

They have locations throughout the country, so you'll probably be able to find one near you.
I give them 4 out of 5 forks for great service every time and delicious and high quality food.

Chili's

This place has been around a long while and I've always liked them.
I know they are a lot like other chain restaurants, similar to T.G.I.Friday's and Applebee's, but I think they have so much more to offer as far as good food goes.  T.G.I.Friday's is good only for dessert for me, and Applebee's is just terrible in my opinion, a poor man's Chili's.  Anyway on to the food!

My favorite's here are stuff like:
Loaded potato skins - as they sound, cheese, bacon, green onions, and sour cream on potatoes.
Southwestern eggrolls - flour tortilla's contain chicken, black beans, corn, jalapeno jack cheese, red peppers,and spinach.  Served with a delicious and unique avocado-ranch dressing.  These are my absolute favorite appetizer here and I've been addicted since the first bite.
Chips and Skillet Queso - mmmmm so good.  Cheese dip loaded with seasoned beef and served with tortilla chips.....you can't beat a good dip.
Chicken Enchilada soup - mmm mmmm this is good and I can't find it anywhere else.  This is a thick cheesy soup filled with chicken bits, spices, and topped with tortilla chips.  I usually add a couple packs of crackers and thicken it up even more.  It's easy to make this soup your whole meal.
Chicken crispers - basically chicken deep fried in a thick batter served with corn on the cob, fries, and honey mustard dressing on the side, this meal is in no way healthy, but very tasty.
Big mouth bites - they are somewhat new to me, but not too bad.  Mini burgers topped with bacon, cheese, onion strings and ranch dressing, they are not healthy, but good for a little once in a while lunch.

They have so many other things that I'd like to try like the big burgers, and chicken taco's, but I just can't seem to get away from my favorites.  In addition to good entrees and appetizers, don't forget to try a chocolate milkshake or one of their mixed drinks, which aren't bad either.

I give them 3 and 1/2 out of 5 for good food and decent service.

Romano's Macaroni Grill

Oh geez, where do I start with this one?

On my first outing to a Macaroni Grill, it was in Las Vegas.  The food was lackluster, but the service was really good.  The second time I went was in Scottsdale, Arizona.  This time the food was ok, but the service was absolutely atrocious.  The third time I went was in Litchfield Park, Arizona.  This time, it was a complete loss.....bad food, and bad service.  I gave them one more chance.  The last time I went the food was ok and so was the service.
This is another Americanized version of Italian food, much like Olive Garden, only this one's food I think is much worse.  If you get anything like the Caesar salad, mozzarella sticks, fettuccine alfredo, chicken parmesan, or ravioli you can expect it to be either very greasy, or not appetizing.  The food has always been just plain bad or ok every time I've gone here.  The service was always a crap shoot....either good, or bad, and sometimes really really bad.....like no one ever came to our table and they forgot they had customers bad.

I can't recommend anything about this place so I say just save yourself and your stomach and do not go.
In a related note, they have boxed meals they offer at the grocery store and those are pretty tasty.  I'm not sure why they don't make them at the restaurant, but I'm never going back to a Macaroni Grill ever again.

I give them a big fat 0 out of 5 forks for just being overall a big waste of time with terrible service and food, you can't count on anything with them.

Uno's Pizza

This is a fantastic place to have a really good pizza.  They have thin crust, but my favorite are the deep dish, and they have a lot of different varieties, so I'm sure you will find something you like.
The appetizers I've had are awesome like the pizza skins.  It's a variation of pizza mixed with potato skins.  Imagine a deep dish crust filled with red mashed potatoes, topped with sour cream, bacon, and cheddar cheese.
I've also had the french onion soup.  It's not bad, but it's not the best one I've ever had.  If you want good french onion soup, go to Mimi's Cafe.
The pizza!
Yummy is all I have to say.  I've tried several here, but the ones that I keep coming back to are the traditional pepperoni and the cheeseburger ones.  Obviously pepperoni is easy enough to be imagined, but the cheeseburger sounds not very good, but it really is.  They fill it with pickles, lots of cheese, hamburger, and just a little bit of mustard.....I know, sounds strange, but I think you'll like it if you try it.

This is just a fraction of the menu.  They have hamburgers, steak, chicken, pasta, and sandwiches in addition to the incredible pizzas.  Sometimes this place is hard to find, as they just closed a location close to my house, but if you find one, stop in and try a slice of heaven.

I give it 5 out of 5 forks for absolutely delicious food.

Olive Garden

I can easily say that my favorite Italian restaurant used to be Olive Garden until I discovered Carrabba's. 
Olive Garden does still have a few good things going for it:
The bread sticks - unlimited and delicious, these are coated in butter and garlic.
The house salad - (unlimited in some cases) full of iceberg lettuce, red onions, black olives, tomatoes, carrot shreds, and covered in their Italian dressing, it's pretty good.
Minestrone soup - is traditional and a bit boring, but reliably good.
Chicken Alfredo - passable, but nothing special.
The best thing that's ever happened to me at an Olive Garden, is the discovery of Moscato wine.  It's a dessert white wine and very good.  You can find Moscato's anywhere, but the brand that Olive Garden introduced me to is sold at Bevmo, if you have one close to you.

Things that aren't so good there:
I can't recommend the Artichoke-Spinach dip because mine was wayyyyyy tooooooo salty and it ruined everything about it.  If you want a good dip go to the California Pizza Kitchen or Carrabba's.
Obviously you should not be ordering their pizza, if you do, don't say I didn't warn you.  It doesn't matter what kind you get, it will not be tasty.
Spaghetti's and lasagne's there are also not so good.  I find that those dishes are always best made at home. 

They have a ton of food on their menu, but honestly you have to know that this is a very Americanized version of Italian, and it's all passable food, but overall, nothing special.

If you want good pizza, go to Uno's, and if you want good Italian, go to Carrabba's.

I give 'em 2 out of 5 forks for being just ok, but not much of anything special.

Red Riding Hood

Released: 2011
Fantasy, Horror (but laughably not either)
Director: Catherine Hardwicke (who also did Twilight)
Starring: Amanda Seyfried, Lukas Haas, Gary Oldman
Running Time: 100 unnecessary minutes
Rated: PG 13

The breakdown:
This one I'm going to let imdb.com summarize for me: "Set in a medieval village that is haunted by a werewolf, a young girl falls for an orphaned woodcutter, much to her family's displeasure."

So I saw the previews for this movie and thought that the cinematography might be really good.  I wasn't expecting too much of the story and I was disappointed anyways.  The story of course, is crap, it looks like anything that this director does is, but the script was terrible too.  The only bright spot I can mention is that some of the cinematography is beautiful to look at, but it's far too little of the movie.

The main story is that little red riding hood is in love with this guy who's an outsider to her little village.  He's an orphan and her family doesn't like him.  They've arranged for her to marry this rich guy who she doesn't love.  The orphan and red are planning on leaving the village together, but her sister gets killed by a big bad wolf before they can leave.  The villagers have been leaving this wolf an animal sacrifice once a month, but it turns out, the wolf is obviously tired of this "arrangement".  The villagers hire this expert (Gary Oldman) to help them kill the wolf, but he reminds them that this wolf is most likely one of the villagers by day, and a wolf by night.  So no one trusts anyone and if you want to see this piece of garbage film, stop reading here because this is the part where I give everything away........SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So the movie makes you believe that the wolf is very close to red and she believes it to be her secret lover, the orphan.  She goes out to grandmother's house (yes it's in the woods, yes she's wearing the coat and everything, even has some goodies in a basket for her for Christ's sakes.)
and finds her grandmother has been eaten by the wolf, who of course, is pretending to be her grandmother.  It turns out the wolf is her dad and that he killed his own first born daughter because he believed she was not his daughter.  He thinks his wife had an affair and passed off  the child as his own.  He revealed he was a wolf to her and let's say, it didn't go well.  She couldn't accept it, so he ate her.  So now, he's asking his real daughter to become a wolf like him and they can leave town and live happily ever after as two wolves I guess.  She doesn't like this idea either and thinks he's crazy.  He is about to bite her when her secret lover comes in and fights him off.  Her secret lover gets bit in the process and she stabs her father in the stomach with a knife, while her lover whacks him in the back with an axe.  They slice him open and fill his body with rocks, then they dump him in the lake.  By the way, killing her own father and cutting him open does not seem to bother red one little bit.  It's so ridiculous.  She decides to live in her grandmother's old home and he runs off knowing he will try to kill her if he doesn't keep his distance once he changes into a wolf.  Eventually, he comes back and pays her a visit as a wolf.  I guess at some point in the future he can control his wolfishness and they walk along a cold looking snow capped mountaintop together.  The end.

This movie is such a waste of time, I had to fast forward through most of it.  I simply could not waste those 100 minutes on such silliness.  And how could Gary Oldman be in this film?!  This was after he appeared in The Dark Knight!  This is what he wants to do in between great Batman films?

I give this one 1/4 of a stub, my all time lowest rating movie to date.  It's such a waste of time....Don't bother.

    

The Hangover

Released: 2009
Comedy (but not to me)
Director: Todd Phillips
Starring: Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis, and Justin Bartha
Running Time: 100 minutes
Rated: R

The breakdown: During a crazy bachelor party trip to Vegas, 3 groomsmen lose the Groom and can't remember how to find him or what happened last night when they lost him.

I had heard a lot about this movie and maybe that's why I didn't think it was very good.
My breakdown basically covers all the plot points of this movie.  The guys go to Vegas before their friends wedding.  All four of them start on the rooftop and then the next morning they are waking up and can't remember anything other than drinking on the rooftop the night before.  The only thing that is obvious is that the groom is lost and they can't find him anywhere in the room they are all in.  There's tigers, Mike Tyson, missing teeth, a baby, all sorts of crazy things that they find, but none of it is believable or funny.  The characters are either unlikable or just plain stupid.
The ONLY thing truly good in this movie is seeing Bradley Cooper all dressed up in the beginning of the Vegas scenes looking delicious and that's it.  It's all downhill from there, and the fact that they made a sequel to this piece of garbage movie is not surprising in the fact that American audiences will watch anything and Hollywood greed is still in full force.
I give it 1 out 5 stubs for not being funny and not having any characters to root for.  Just find a still of Bradley Cooper and skip the movie.

Had to repost this one, though you shouldn't read it if you like chicken nuggets

So, I actually saw this article on weather.com's website and had to repost it here.  I have always loved chicken nuggets.  I don't care if they are from McDonald's, Wendy's, or Burger King.  Whether they are called nuggets, McNuggets, fingers, or chicken fries, I've been all over that for decades now.  I saw Jamie Oliver cook up what most fast food joints do with all the left over chicken pieces that should be thrown away, but instead go into our nuggets and sold to kids (and the rest of us).  And I still eat them occasionally.  BUT I will say, I'm trying to avoid this stuff all together.  Of course you don't want to believe that what you see in front of you is what they are talking about here but it's true.  The stuff they serve in a lot of fast food restaurants is not good for you and should not be consumed at all.  I admit it, it does taste good, but it truly is terrible for your body and mind in so many ways. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ What's in Fast Food Chicken?  (Hint: It's NOT Chicken)

By Shilo Urban Frying chicken is fairly simple, if a little messy. You dip pieces of chicken into a mix of egg and milk, roll them around in flour and spices, then cook the chicken in sizzling hot oil until the pieces are brown, crispy and delicious. But wait! Don’t forget to add a dash of dimethylpolysiloxane, an anti-foaming agent made of silicone that is also used in Silly Putty and cosmetics.  Now add a heaping spoonful of tertiary butylhydroquinone (TBHQ), which is a chemical preservative and a form of butane (AKA lighter fluid). One gram of TBHQ can cause “nausea, vomiting, ringing in the ears, delirium, a sense of suffocation, and collapse," according to A Consumer’s Dictionary of Food Additives. Five grams of TBHQ can kill you. Sprinkle on thirteen other corn-derived ingredients, and you're only about twenty shy as many ingredients as a single chicken nugget from McDonald’s. And you were using pulverized chicken skin and mechanically reclaimed meat for your chicken, right? No one in his or her right mind would cook chicken like this. Yet every day, hoards of Americans consume these ingredients in Chicken McNuggets, which McDonalds claims are “made with white meat, wrapped up in a crisp tempura batter.” However chicken only accounts for about 50% of a Chicken McNugget. The other 50% includes a large percentage of corn derivatives, sugars, leavening agents and other completely synthetic ingredients, meaning that parts of the nugget do not come from a field or farm at all. They come from a petroleum plant. Hungry? Scariest perhaps is the fact that this recipe is a new and improved, “healthier” Chicken McNugget launched in 2003 after a federal judge called the deep-fried poultry bites “a McFrankenstein creation of various elements not utilized by the home cook.” Also terrifying is the fact that these McFrankenuggets are overwhelmingly marketed to children who love their fun shapes and kid-friendly size. While McDonald’s is of course the poster child for fast food ire, if you look at the nutritional information for chicken at any fast food restaurant, the ingredient list will be dozens of items longer than the egg, flour, chicken and oil recipe you might use at home. Eating fast food is a habit, but it is one that you can break? No doubt you rarely plan to have a delicious meal at Arby’s for dinner, a lingering lunch at Carl’s Jr. or a special breakfast at the Burger King in the airport. It just happens. You are late, tired, hungry, broke, or all of the above. You have no time, and you must find something to eat before you crash. All of a sudden a bright, friendly sign beckons from the side of the road: Drive-through! In five minutes you are happily chowing down on an inexpensive, filling meal. But don’t be fooled – the true cost of fast food does not come out of your wallet, but out of your body, your health, and your years on this earth. You can break the unhealthy fast food habit: educate yourself about the true ingredients of fast food items, plan ahead for your meals, carry healthy snacks like nuts to ward off hunger and cook healthy chicken recipes at home. Convince yourself that fast food is the most disgusting stuff on the planet and is harmful to you and to those you love. After reading this, that shouldn’t be too hard. Full ingredient list for a Chicken McNugget (from McDonald’s website): White boneless chicken, water, food starch-modified, salt, seasoning (autolyzed yeast extract, salt, wheat starch, natural flavoring (botanical source), safflower oil, dextrose, citric acid, rosemary), sodium phosphates, seasoning (canola oil, mono- and diglycerides, extractives of rosemary). Battered and breaded with: water, enriched flour (bleached wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), yellow corn flour, food starch-modified, salt, leavening (baking soda, sodium acid pyrophosphate, sodium aluminum phosphate, monocalcium phosphate, calcium lactate), spices, wheat starch, whey, corn starch. Prepared in vegetable oil (Canola oil, corn oil, soybean oil, hydrogenated soybean oil with TBHQ and citric acid added to preserve freshness). Dimethylpolysiloxane added as an antifoaming agent. Full ingredient list for my mother’s fried chicken: Bone-in chicken pieces, egg, milk, flour, canola oil, salt & pepper. Photo credit: Chargrillkiller Sources: CNN A Consumer’s Dictionary of Food Additives McDonald’s Omnivore’s Dilemma, Michael Pollan Time

Sierra Mist Natural Lemon-Lime Soda

So, if you've read my blog recently you know I was supposed to give up soda for one of my resolutions.  I knew that it might be difficult to keep that in New Orleans given that I wouldn't have a kitchen at my disposal all of the time, so I did break it already by having a few soda's, but since I did.....I might as well review a new one.
Sierra Mist has always been a poor man's Sprite to me.  But I'm proud of them, they have come out with a soda that is made with real sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup.  HFCS is a chemical sugar that tricks your body into just wanting more sugar, and it never makes your stomach feel full through chemical manipulation of your brain, that's why it's so bad for you, plus the fact that it's a chemical substitute for something that you can find naturally in plants, so what's the point?  If you want sugar, have REAL sugar not HFCS, which might also do horrible things to your liver and cause some cancers (I think personally, but I'm no doctor).  So, anyway,
the soda is good.  It tastes a lot like the original Sierra Mist, but I'm more satisfied that it has real sugar in it over the fake stuff, so no, it doesn't taste exactly the same, but, close enough for me to buy it again (in 2013) when my resolution is over.
Calories are still the same about 140 per 12 oz can.  The ingredient list is:
Carbonated water, sugar, citric acid, natural flavor, and potassium citrate.
I think it's worth a try if you like stuff like Sprite or 7 Up.

New Orleans, Louisiana

So back home from NOLA.  Let me just say, if I never go back there again, it won't bother me.  Here's a run down of some of the business' and experiences I had while there that made me come to this conclusion. 

Huck Finn's Cafe, 135 Decatur Street, New Orleans French Quarter, Louisiana 70130

My husband and I sat at a table for 10 minutes without anyone coming to even ask if we wanted a water.  After we finally got a waiter at our table, we, of course, ordered everything we wanted all at once since we had time to decide and study the menu.  Appetizer of
cheese fries, 6.95, piled high and layered with a medley of 3 cheeses: monterey-jack, cheddar, and pepperjack. Topped with bacon, fresh green onions, and a side of ranch.  Sounded good.

I ordered the turkey po-boy sandwich with fries, 10.50
Thinly sliced smoked turkey breast stacked high with melted swiss cheese on fresh baked French bread.  Also sounded good and how could someone ruin a turkey sandwich?
He got the Honey Island Gator Platter 19.95
Fried or Blackened Alligator, Alligator Sauce Piquante and Smoked Alligator Sausage. Served with fries and accompanied by a side of tangy Huck Sauce.  He loves alligator and went with the deep fried version.

So a few minutes later we got our drinks.  15 minutes after that we got our appetizer and I said if the entrees come out within a few minutes of our appetizer I will not be surprised.  Guess what? A couple minutes after we got our cheese fries, our entrees came out.  Not only did we have a small table full of food, but the waiter only checked on us once during our meal.  I'm glad I drank my water very slow.  So the food....
The cheese fries were ok but nothing to write home about.  The fries were just your standard small cut Burger King/McDonald's style fries covered in what looked like store bought cheese shreds.
My turkey po-boy wasn't so good.  The bread was hard, the turkey was salty, and it was hard to eat. 
My husband said his was ok, but that he should've ordered the blackened alligator, not fried.  So we paid up and left as fast as we could.  Overall, I rate this place 1 out of 5 because the service was terrible (they weren't that busy that night either) and the food was mediocre at best.  Do not eat here.

--------------

cafe beignet 311 bourbon street, new orleans la (the location I visited) &
334-B royal street, new orleans la

This place is tiny.  Think a street car converted into a restaurant, and man oh man is it busy!  Be prepared to wait in line sometimes up to 20 or 30 minutes (in cramped close quarters) but the beignet's are worth it!
Big fluffy pastry dough encased in powdered sugar, that's basically a beignet for you.  IF you get to NOLA you have to have a beignet before you leave.  We paid about $5.00 for 3 beignets and they are huge so it's a good deal.  They also offer breakfast and sandwiches and I would've loved to have eaten here again, but I just ran out of time.  Go if you get the chance.  Based on the service and beignets alone I give them a 4 out of 5 for keeping the place clean, and moving the lines of people fast....plus nothing on the menu is over $10.00.
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Atikki Bar & Grill
230 Decatur St.
New Orleans, LA 70130

Oh where do I start?  This place was close to the hotel and it was quiet when we passed by so it was a magnet for me.  We sat down and the wait staff was anticipating us getting rowdy and drunk (as it was BCS game night in town) so they were not super excited to see us.  Granted after we finished our meal, a lot of drunks did filter in so I'll give them some slack.  I ordered the starter of kibby - 6.95
2 little pillows of cracked wheat encrusted onions, pine nuts, and seasoned ground beef.  We didn't really like it.
Next I ordered the entree of chicken artichoke pasta, 16.95, grilled chicken breast, artichokes, asparagus, mushroom, sun dried tomatoes served in a creamy white wine sauce over linguini.  Sounded good anyways.  Well, the artichokes hadn't been washed well enough because they were wayyyyy too salty, and overall, the dish was lacking any balance.  I think the chicken and asparagus were delicious, but the pieces of them were too far and few in between chunks of mushroom and artichoke.  Maybe it's just me, but I wouldn't order this one again.
My husband ordered the calamari as an entree and didn't like the spicy sauces they served with it, instead of the traditional marinara.
Overall, I give this place a 2 out of 5 for a little less than average service, and food that's best skipped all together.  I can't recommend them at all.  I should mention I should've researched this place more before I went.  They offer belly dancing entertainment on Saturday nights and hookas all the time.  It's really just a sports bar in the end.
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Chateau Dupre Hotel
131 Rue Decatur, New Orleans, LA 70130 (Formerly Ramada Inn French Quarter)

Here's the review I posted for a travel website on this place, "I just got back from staying at this place for 3 nights and it was terribly overpriced for what you get. The bathroom was moldy. The windows are paper thin so you can't possibly sleep with all the noise that fills your room all night. It's just like there isn't any windows at all in your room. A few of the lamps did not work, and the drapes were busted so you couldn't open them. The elevator was broken and kept getting stuck on the 2nd and 4th floors. Our door lock broke the minute we got into the room for the first time and there was someone else's clothes still left in the drawers (Rm. 400 is someone missing a grey sock?). We paid 330.00/night for this dump and I would never stay in it again. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone and we are trying to get a partial refund currently. The woman at the front desk was rude about the broken elevator and not really friendly. The reason we chose this "hotel" was because on the hotel's website they call themselves a "fine hotel" and a luxury boutique. This is complete false advertising. DO NOT STAY HERE!!!"
So let me elaborate because this place was atrocious.  On the website neworleansfinehotels.com they describe their establishment as a "Luxury Inn located in the heart of the French Quarter".  This statement cannot be further from the truth as far as the definition of luxury is concerned.  It is true though, that they are located in the French Quarter.
I wanted to include a small portion of the actual website itself, so here that is:

Hotel Chateau Dupré is an intimate hotel offering 62 elegant rooms and suites. Each guest room includes fax, data ports, cable television, and safe deposit boxes. The hotel occupies a historic building dating back to pre-Civil War times. Built in 1845, it has in its illustrious past been home to statesmen, magnates and matriarchs of New Orleans society. This hotel is 100% non smoking!

In-Room Amenities

• Hair Dryer
• Full-length mirror
• Iron & ironing board
• AM/FM/CD Alarm Clock Radio
• Remote controlled 25" - 42"-inch television
• In-room personal combination safe
• This hotel is 100% non smoking!

I have underlined a few things that I think are humorous. 
First off, this is not an intimate hotel unless they are referring to the fact that you can hear anything down on the street below you and feel very close to those people.  Also, this isn't an elegant place, it's a dump.  There was no full length mirror in our room, nor a functional remote control.  The control had a piece of duct tape covering where there should've been a plastic door to keep the batteries in and you couldn't do anything with it except turn the tv on and off.  Volume control and channels had to be operated by hand on the television, which was also not a flat screen, but a late model of old style tv from the 1990's.  There's so many things that this place could've done to improve itself, but from the reviews I read recently, it looks like people have been complaining about the same issues I had with it since 2009.  Very sad that we had to learn the hard way, so don't stay here please!
---------------------------
Pinkberry
300 Canal St P
New Orleans, LA 70130
P 504 899 4260

Alright, so I know Pinkberry is not exclusive to this area, they have locations all over the country, but this was the first time I tried it, so I'm reviewing it.  This place was very close to the hotel and we visited it about 2 times in 3 days and would've attempted a third had I had more time there.  The first thing I have to say is that the frozen yogurt they serve is very good and not too bad for you either.  A lot of the ingredients are fruit based and frozen yogurt is already so much better for you than ice cream to begin with.  They only have a few flavors, but the chocolate and the salted caramel are my favorites.  While I was there I also tried the original, which is almost vanilla, but it has a fruit end note to it, either raspberry or lemon, I couldn't tell, and I also tried the blood orange, which tastes like a orange creamcisle.  So you order a size of bowl, or in a cone, you can get one flavor or a swirl of two, then you can put two toppings on it before they charge you extra (unless you're ordering the luxe toppings which are .50 each).  So the first time I got chocolate with peanut butter crunch and that was delicious.  My husband got the original with regular granola.  Next time, I got a swirl of salted caramel and chocolate with crepe flakes and toasted almonds on it.  SO SO GOOD!  You should try this place out if you get a chance.  They are expanding, but do not have enough locations yet for my tastes.  They are a bit pricey, but I think the service and the food was worth it.  Oh, and pictured above is the fruit parfait made of the original, granola, pineapple, strawberries, and blueberries.  Yum!
---------------------------------------------
Dickie Brennan's Palace Cafe
605 Canal St.
New Orleans, LA
This place was down the street a bit from our hotel, but it looked promising so we stopped.  We got a table right away, even though they were really busy and got 2 waiters assigned to us.  Also should mention they have seating inside and out, but we got a great table along the wall to wall windows to look out on the traffic and pedestrians on Canal St.  This was our first night in town and probably one of our best meals.  They started us off with a delicious thin loaf of French bread with butter, which we devoured since we hadn't eaten all day while flying in.  I ordered the BBQ pork po-boy with seasoned thin chips 12.00, and he ordered the Shrimp & Alligator Etouffee (pronounced Ay-two-faye) it's just Gulf Shrimp and gator sausage simmered in a rich shrimp and Creole tomato sauce served with popcorn rice 20.00.  He thought his was very delicious and I tried it for the first time, alligator, that is.  It was interesting.  Tasted like a gamey kind of seafood.  Very unique flavor to it though.  You'd had to have had it to know what I'm describing.  My bread was soft for the sandwich and there was a big splash of BBQ sauce in the middle of the sandwich so it wasn't dripping out too badly.  The potatoes were cut super thin, so think, potato chips with a little bit of seasoning and a bit of a burn to them.  It was good overall.  We even had room for dessert that night.
I ordered the dark chocolate and walnut brownie 8.00 (sans walnuts) and it was so so thick and dense I couldn't eat it.  I traded with my husband who got something I normally don't like....white chocolate bread pudding 7.00.  I've never liked bread pudding before but this one is something really special.....The original- White Chocolate baked inside bread pudding, smothered with a warm white chocolate ganache.  It was very very good, and so much better than that super dense brownie.  It was more like solid fudge inside that thing so I can't recommend that, but get the bread pudding, even if you normally don't like bread pudding.
I give it 5 out of 5 and do you know why?  The food was good (not spectacular), the dessert, well, my husband's was delicious!, but the service is what made this place great.  That night they were very, very busy as I said and they had a sidewalk cafe as well as the inside to take care of, but the wait staff was super.  They didn't charge us for the brownie, even though, my husband ate half of it, and they never let our glasses go empty.  I was super dehydrated since I hadn't drank anything but a little sip of water early that morning before I left the house, so by the time we got here (around 6) I was dying of thirst.  I must've had at least (I'm not kidding here) 8 glasses of water including drinking my husband's for him and they never let my glass go empty.  They were so on top of that and I was really impressed.  If you get the chance to eat in NOLA, go here.
-----------------------------------
World Famous Bourbon Street
Yes, this is the street that has all sorts of bars, restaurants, and strip clubs on it.  The place where people really go nuts on Mardi Gras.  We went during the day and passed by it during the night.  It is closed off to traffic and is strictly for pedestrians so at least the drunks don't get run over.  This place is dangerous, overall the city is as well, but here, you have a lot of bodies all pressed together and loud drunks yelling, kids running around (when they shouldn't be here at all), cops spread out all over just watching for something to happen.  It's just a bad place to be if you don't like drunks or crowds.  I think the crowds are what really put me in a bad mood roaming around the streets.  I didn't think this street was anything special really.
-------------------------------------
Extra's
Well, I knew when I was going here that I was going to hunt down a voodoo doll for one of my Halloween decorations and whatever else cool stuff I could find.  We went looking down Canal Street and couldn't find anything that didn't look touristy, but I did find a little hole in the wall scary store that sold authentic looking voodoo stuff....so I got my doll and pin, plus a cool little candle holder with a pentagram on it, which will look great with my witch display. 
They have horse drawn carriages as well, and lots of balconies with pretty hanging baskets of flowers in certain areas.  I went to the Audubon Aquarium and enjoyed the sea otters and jellyfish, as well as the sea horses and lots of other sea life to look at.  They also had a Harrah's casino across the street from us, so we stopped there and I got to play a few games.  Lost all the money and then won it all back so we stopped while we were even.  That was fun. 
The bad stuff -
Well, what really killed the town for me was A. the level of drunks that were EVERYWHERE (along with the noise they make). B. The level of ghettos that were EVERYWHERE, and C. the level of crime and lack of cleanliness of any of the areas we saw while in town.  And before I get a whole bunch of mail or comments, yes, I knew there was going to be a TON of drunks here before I got here.  I know of NOLA's reputation, but I still was not prepared for the level of drunken loudness everywhere in the entire city.  I thought that was going to happen around Mardi Gras time, not in January.
I suppose at other times of the year (not spring break, not summer, not Mardi Gras, and not big bowl games) the town might be much quieter, but I know for a fact that the French Quarter alone has 350 places to drink in it and a curfew for 16 and under kids to be gone by 8pm.  The noise did not stop outside until about 3:30am and then it started picking back up again around 5am so my husband and I were very very tired even though we went to bed around 10pm most nights.  There's a lot of strip clubs there (which I don't mind) but the drinking and drunks just are so annoying and LOUD.  My husband and I were constantly getting yelled at by drunks, harassed, or someone was trying to pick pocket us.  So that doesn't speak well of the town.  On our way (and I mean all the way) from the airport to our hotel you could see impoverished areas fulls of trash and bad looking neighborhoods.  That was about 10 solid miles of dirty ghettos.  Usually in any town you can see where you would like to live and at least one good, clean looking neighborhood, but not here.  Plastic bags lined the streets, trash everywhere, and just a sense of old run down everything, everywhere.  It's too bad, I know that this town has a lot of history and great music, but the other things overshadowed that for me.

So have you been to NOLA?  Am I missing something?  Did I forget to mention your favorite spot?  Let me know.

Flying with Liquids? I don't think so...

Just to remind you all.  I'm coming back from a short vacation today and flying home.  My husband bought me a large Sprite bottle unopened back from his BCS game last night and I haven't touched it.  I was curious to see if TSA would allow an unopened bottle through security.  Well, they don't.  I showed them, I told them, and they said no.  So I tried to give it to the agent and she said she couldn't take, that TSA won't allow them to.  So I opened it up, took a big swig and then dumped a perfectly good bottle in the trash.  I saw a lot of others in there as well.  Way to go TSA!  Wasting money, time, and resources for our safety.

Lifetime TV's Project Runway Allstars

I love Project Runway and this season they are doing the Allstars edition.
Some of my absolute favorites are coming back, so I'm totally excited and hoping that one of them will win this time.  This season's got new judges, new prizes, and a new host.  Some model I've never heard of, but I'm sure she'll do fine.
I can't wait to see their stuff!

What'd you get for Christmas?

So since I opened presents really late (new year's eve) I wanted to know what you all got, while I list off a few things I got.
A gift card for Soma's
A gift card for Grandinroad.com
Cash totalling $140.00!  I was so excited, but it ended up having to go to medications, dr office co-pays, gas for the car, and other totally not fun stuff.  Still, it was greatly appreciated.
Tons of charms and a charm bracelet from my husband!
A new pair of sneakers, a weighted vest, and some work out gloves!  Totally what I wanted.
I've got a really great family, and that is the best present of all of course.
Thanks to everyone who gave me gifts!
So what did you get?

Hey Ladies!

You should check out Juicycouture.com's website for new releases.  They have a new line of mini charms that I abhor with a new collection of ugly little charm bracelets.  But some of you might really like them.  They have letters of the alphabet, little bees, wishbones, and others, but they just don't catch my eye you know.  And on shopbellabeach.com they have a few new releases that will be available on JC.com soon too.

New Orleans

Just wanted to let y'all know I'll be away from my computer for awhile visiting New Orleans for the first time.  I'll let you know what to look for when you go there and what's cool and what is not.
Stay tuned!

Fried Green Tomatoes

Released: 1991
Drama, Comedy (Not really either)
Director: Jon Avnet
Starring: Kathy Bates, Mary Stuart Masterson, Jessica Tandy
Running Time: 130 minutes
Rated: PG-13

The breakdown: A bored housewife, dissatisfied with her life befriends an older woman in a nursing home and hears a tale of two women who were friends 1920's Alabama.

This movie is the adaptation to the book written by Fannie Flagg, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop.  Perhaps this movie was talked up a bit too much to me, or maybe it's just highly overrated, but I did not enjoy it, not a single part of it.  What's even more baffling to me is that this movie was nominated for 2 Oscars.
Overall, if I had to describe this film in one word, it would be boring.  In fact, I'm having trouble even keeping interest enough just to review it.  I stopped by IMDB.com to refresh my memory of this movie and ended up watching a trailer for Prometheus again.
So anyway, this boring movie's plot.

Ruth and Idgie are friends in 1920's Alabama, and Evelyn and Ninny are becoming friends in the 1980's.  Evelyn is the middle-aged tired, depressed, housewife and goes to the nursing home (of, I think her husband's relatives, but they don't like her so she ends up waiting outside in the lobby).  She meets Ninny there, an elderly lonely woman who starts telling her tales of youth.
The stories of Ninny and the development of Evelyn are alternating throughout the movie.  The only thing you need to know about Evelyn's character is that she learns to be more outgoing, confident, and happier as she becomes close friends with Ninny. 
Imogene "Idgie" is Ninny's sister-in-law (or at least that's what she says) Idgie really is attached to her older brother, but he gets hit and killed by a train when they are very young. (Great beginning right?)
Idgie retreats into herself and doesn't really socialize during childhood and adolescence.  Her dead brother's former girlfriend (Ruth) tries to make a connection with Idgie to help her out of her depression.
Idgie is very resistant as she is a tomboy type and Ruth is straight laced and much different than Idgie.  Eventually the two become very close, but Ruth is then leaving town to Georgia, and marries Frank Bennet.  Idgie's upset and doesn't have any other friends so she tries to get over her loss, or forget her over a lot of time.  Either one does not work so she goes to Georgia to visit her friend.  Ruth is now pregnant and is obviously being physically abused by her husband.  Ruth leaves Georgia with Idgie and goes back home to Whistle Stop to have her baby, named after Idgie's dead brother, Buddy.  Idgie's dad gives her money so she can start a business.  Ruth and Idgie open the Whistle Stop cafe and employ a cook named Sipsey, and her son Big George.  The cook and her son make a delicious barbecue that attracts a lot of business for the cafe.  Now Ruth and Idgie have a way of taking care of themselves and Buddy Jr.


If you want to see this movie, I recommend you stop reading here because I'm going to discuss all the plot and ruin things for you now if you haven't watched it.  SPOILER ALERT.

The most apparent thing between Ruth and Idgie's relationship is that they are both repressed lesbians who are in love with each other, but never act on a sexual relationship.  Of course, in the south, during the 20's, this kind of relationship was discouraged and not at all accepted.  The movie doesn't say it outright about them being lesbians, but it's impossible to miss.  Take for example the fight in the kitchen with the flour.  That's the strongest example of it I can see.  Back to the movie!


Of course, Ruth's husband comes along looking for her and finds their son instead.  He wants to kidnap Buddy Jr. but off camera you see someone come along and "take care" of Frank.  Later on, we find out Frank's gone missing and his car is found at the bottom of a nearby lake.
Immediately, Idgie is the main suspect as she has threatened Frank for beating up her best friend.  She is arrested as well as Big George for Frank's murder.
The sheriff offers Idgie a deal to let her go and pin the  murder solely on Big George, but Idgie refuses.  During the trial, a minister lies and gives Big George and Idgie an alibi for the time of Frank's death and they are released from jail, cleared of any wrong doing.  The judge took into account Frank's getting drunk often and rules his death an accident.  I guess they think the body just floated away somewhere.
Later on, Ruth gets cancer and dies.  The cafe closes and many residents of Whistle Stop move away over time.  Ninny reveals at the end of her story what really happened to Frank though.  Sipsey, the cook, came upon Frank trying to steal the baby in the cafe and hit him over the head with a cast iron skillet.  She then barbecued his body and served it to the sheriff from Georgia who was searching for Frank.  Pretty gross huh?
So Ninny's story is over and Evelyn finds out that Ninny was supposed to only be at the nursing home temporarily.  But, while she was there, her house was condemned and torn down.  Evelyn offers Ninny a room to stay in at her house and Ninny accepts.  Ninny and Evelyn go to the house that was Ninny's and pass by Ruth's grave which has a jar of honey on top with a card that says "I will always love you.  The bee charmer" that was Ruth's nickname for Idgie.
So you find out at the end that Ninny is really Idgie.

Overall I know the movie got a positive rating, but I just don't see it.  The plot is bland, the acting is fine and all, but I just can't recommend it to you.  I didn't like it and was glad when it was over.

I give it a 1 out of 5 stubs for Jessica Tandy, who I thought was a very good actress.

A new perspective

April 27th, 2011, just after I had visited Tuscaloosa, AL for the first time a huge amount of severe storms moved through and destroyed a band of buildings I was familiar with.
This is a three-dimensional radar rendering of the structure of one of that day’s extremely intense supercells/tornadoes as it moved through Tuscaloosa.
A couple weeks earlier and I would've been stuck there during this storm.
Picture provided by the weather.com website.

The Phoenix Suns

My home team is the Phoenix Suns and I've been watching them since I was a little girl.  I knew we were in for a bit of a bumpy road going into a short season and how the team lacked total chemistry last season....well, them struggling this season is not a terrible surprise.  What is bugging me the most is that so far a lot of their games are being won or lost (mostly lost) by huge numbers, like 10-30 points.  The best thing I can say about the team is that Robin Lopez has finally got something good working for him and he's looking a lot more confident out there on the court.
I'll keep my fingers crossed for the season and see if somehow a miracle can get us through to the post-season.
Who's your favorite team and why?
Let me know.

Doomsday predictions debunked? Not really...

Apocalypse Not Now: 2012 Doomsday Predictions Debunked by NASA

By Charles Q. Choi, SPACE.com

On Dec. 21, 2012, many doomsday believers fear the apocalypse — anything from a rogue planet smashing into us to our world spinning end over end. However, the world should expect nothing more next year than the winter solstice, the longest night of the year, NASA says.

Many people point to the end of the Mayan Long Count calendar on Dec. 21, 2012 as evidence of the coming apocalypse, but astronomers have been quick to stress that there is nothing to be concerned about.

According to the ancient Mayan calendar, next year's winter solstice marks the end of a 144,000-day cycle. This cycle, which begins at the mythical Maya creation date, has already been repeated 12 times. The 13th will end in 2012, capping a full 5,200-year Mayan cycle of creation.

This date has long been shrouded in mystery, with many claiming that it will bring destruction to our planet. [End of the World? Top Doomsday Fears]

Rogue planet Nibiru?

One fear is that a rogue planet that has been dubbed "Nibiru" or "Planet X" is supposedly aimed at Earth. Self-proclaimed Nibiru expert Nancy Lieder, who says she is in contact with the aliens from Zeta Reticuli, first said Nibiru would cause widespread disaster in May 2003, only to change it to Dec. 21, 2012.

There is, however, no evidence that Nibiru is real.

"Nibiru is ridiculous because it doesn't exist — it never existed as anything other than a figment of the imagination by pseudo-scientists who don't seem bothered by a complete lack of evidence," astronomer Don Yeomans, manager of NASA's Near-Earth Object program office at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., told SPACE.com.

There is no basis for the claim that it might be lurking behind the sun, as it could not have hidden from observation until now, Yeomans said. If such a planet was headed toward Earth by Dec. 21, 2012, it would already be visible to the naked eye.

Cosmic alignments?

There are also concerns that planets or stars might line up in ways that will transform Earth. For instance, some theorists claim that from our point of view, the sun will cross in front of the plane of our galaxy on Dec. 21. However, the sun already does this twice a year, Yeomans said.

In fact, the sun will eventually cross the plane of our galaxy. However, the sun is about 67 light-years from the galactic plane, so it should take several million years to do so, Yeomans said. Even then, when our solar system finally does cross the plane, nothing special will occur, he added. [10 Failed Doomsday Predictions]

Some also claim that gravitational effects from planets lining up with each other will somehow affect Earth. However, there is no planetary alignment due on Dec. 21, 2012, "and if there were, it wouldn't cause any problems," Yeomans said.

The only bodies that have any significant gravitational impact on Earth are the moon and the sun, effects we see as the tides. Tidal effects from other bodies in our solar system are negligible at best, and in any case, we have experienced them for millions of years without notice.

Solar storms?

Solar storms — deluges of energetic particles from the sun — do happen, usually waxing and waning in cycles that last roughly 11 years. When these charged particles collide with Earth, they can trigger auroras and damage satellites and power lines, although not really inflicting any lasting harm, Yeomans said.

There are accounts of a solar "super-storm" slamming into Earth in 1859. Although that caused relatively little damage back then, there are concerns that such a storm might cause far more harm now that our world is more dependent on electronics.

Yet, there is no evidence that such a super-storm will happen on Dec. 21 of next year, Yeomans said.

Flip-flopping Earth?

There is some alarm that 2012 could see the flipping of Earth's poles — either the planet's geographical poles, which mark the Earth's axis of rotation, or its magnetic poles, which our compasses point toward.

But, there is no reason to fear such an occurrence, scientists said, because the moon stabilizes our planet's spin. The planet's magnetic poles do flip, but over periods of about 500,000 years, and not suddenly, "but over thousands of years," with no evidence of a flip on Dec. 21, 2012, Yeomans said.

Even if the planet's magnetic poles do flip, no real problems would occur, other than the inconvenience of us having to change our compasses from north to south, he added.
Cosmic impacts?

The Earth is always vulnerable to impacts by comets and asteroids, but giant impacts are rare, with the last major collision taking place 65 million years ago, ending the Age of Dinosaurs.

Still, astronomers do monitor the sky for near-Earth objects.

"There are no known near-Earth objects in 2012 that present a credible risk to Earth," Yeomans said. "None, zero, zip, nada."

But despite evidence to the contrary, doomsdays theorists have garnered attention, and similar prophecies will continue to proliferate unless scientists become more involved in bringing truth to these outlandish claims, Yeomans said.

Mounting hysteria regarding these unfounded doomsday predictions "will improve only if scientists get more engaged in debunking pseudoscience," he said.

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Well this is all fine and dandy for some of the theories of what could happen on Dec 21st 2012.  My problem with it is that we can't think of all the ways the world could end.  There are a lot of possibilities including things like historic or unrecorded events - floods, changes in weather patterns, solar flares and spikes, pandemics breaking out, new diseases that are highly contagious, food sources running out, nuclear wars or accidents, super volcanoes.  We can't be so arrogant to think since we are humans that we can see everything that's a threat before it happens and eradicate it.
I think this article is a bit naive to be saying that the doomsday predictions are all wrong and that NASA can prove it.  The truth is, none of us really know until the day comes and goes what will happen, and that's true of every single day we live.
I'm still very interested in this date and want to know what's going to happen, if anything.  I'm still a bit cautious about it as well, and don't think the Mayans were playing a joke or messing around.  There's plenty of foreshadowing that's been happening in the past few years that point to bad things happening on the planet.  We will all have to wait and see.

Happy New Year All!!!

Well, today is the first day of the rest of your life as well as 2012.  It should shape up to be an interesting year for many many reasons. 
I'm still a very cautious skeptic of the Doomsday Mayan prediction.
I'm still hoping that day will bring nothing special and certainly not the end of the world, because I'm not ready to go anywhere yet.
It's the first day of my new year's resolutions and I plan on sticking to them.
Good luck with yours if you made any!
I hope this year is full of love, happiness, and prosperity for you and your family!
Goodbye 2011!
Hello 2012!