food, bsg, vacation, stuff
Mar. 1st, 2010 11:42 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sarea
Food things first... snail butter and my adventures with roasting bone marrow. Quickie verdict: better than the first time, after I used a salt-water soak, but not sure I'd go as far as Anthony Bourdain and have it as my Last Meal. My next culinary adventure is... TONGUE! I'm going to prepare it using a recipe from Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. 2. Which, I'm not sure if I've ever told this story before (edit: I have), but I got it at HPB for $8 and it was a signed copy by Julia Child, Paul Child, and Simone Beck (before the Julie & Julia movie came out). Seriously whenever I want to wallow in self pity about my general bad luck, I think of that book.
On Saturdaycorianderstem and I finally got to try Serious Pie, after a couple of fits and starts. Initial verdict: I thought it was good, but not THAT good. Not worth waiting an hour and a half good (we waited probably 20 minutes or so). I got the clam pizza and she got the rosemary potato, both of which were good. It's probably not fair to give a final verdict until I've tried their tomato sauce as well, so I'll probably be back at least one more time. After lunch we walked around the corner to the Dahlia Bakery, where we indulged in cookies (their cookies are so good!) and the $2 bite version of their famous triple coconut cream pie. It's really tiny, about 3 bites worth, but considering the calories and richness, that's probably for the best. I've been reading up and apparently, their breakfast sandwiches are a MUST try, as well as their brioche caramel monkey bread. Too bad it's in a location that has terrible/expensive parking. Wish I could just hop off a bus at that location then hop back on, like A.!
After that we went to watch Avatar on IMAX. I felt about the same about the movie as I did the first time I saw it... found it visually stunning (even though I think there is something wrong with my eyes where I just can't 'see' the 3D stuff as well as other people), but with a mediocre storyline and really bad dialogue.
Currently trying to work out my possible Esalen trip in early April. Right now I'm in limbo due to factors totally outside of my control (mostly it's on my cousin, Esalen, and my aunt), which drives me crazy, but I think I've worked it out to something approaching acceptable for me. Esalen is in Big Sur, which is about 4 hours from LA and 4 hours from the Bay Area. So I'm going to be driving 4 hours either way. Most likely, my mom will be coming, so it makes sense for me to fly to LA, rent a car, and drive us to Big Sur together. It also makes sense to take Talis with me and have my dad watch him while we're gone, because it'll cost about the same to kennel him. There is the possibility that we may not go at all, or other variations (it would make your head spin). I've decided that I'll just cut the complexity out of it by going to LA for sure during that time, and if we end up going to Esalen, great, and if not, I'll just be there on vacation. Sure, it's a lot sooner than I would have planned for a vacation back to LA, but at least this way I don't have to worry about alternate dates/airlines/locations/etc. Yeah, more than you wanted to know about that.
I'm about halfway-ish through Eclipse. I can't wait for it to be over.
I've also watched more BSG. I wish I were going slower on that, because there's only 1 season left!! No!!
- Wow, so they killed Kat. And Ellen. Maybe I have the touch of death! Or I suppose, maybe a lot of viewers felt as I did about those characters and they decided it was time to jettison them. I have to say, though, that I actually liked Kat in that episode. If she'd been like that the whole time, I might not have had such a problem with her.
- I can't believe Boomer threatened to kill Athena's baby. I don't really know how to reconcile this Boomer w/ the one who desperately wanted to be human, was living in her human quarters and had a fit about the people she loved. Are we just supposed to believe that the change happened while they were on New Caprica? But even then I remember a couple of times when she was cool to the people she used to know ... how/when/why did that change? Though I suppose having TWO Sharons around would be kind of confusing. Plus the Cylons would totally have to retire #8.
- Speaking of retiring Cylons, Lucy Lawless' special guest appearances have come to an end (for now). Frankly they didn't really give her that much to do. I can't believe it lasted that long.
- Still find Cally super annoying. It's not like I'm a big Chief/Boomer shipper at all, but I liked Boomer a hell of a lot more than I like Cally.
- Okay, this was way long ago, but -- when Galactica went on that suicide mission to save the people on New Caprica? And then Pegasus/Lee came to the rescue? I totally got the chills. Yes, sappy, but I don't care. RIP Pegasus. :(
- I kind of thought the Bulldog episode was really lame. Not that I didn't enjoy seeing Dixon ... I mean Carl Lumbly ... but the idea that the Cylons kept him hostage for 3 years (and apparently did NOTHING to him but keep him in a cell) seems really unbelievable. And the excuse about how they deliberately let him go so that he would take his resentment out on Adama was also stupid ... because if they wanted that, they could have rigged one of their planes with an explosive, and when Adama let him on board, blown Galactica to pieces! And, where exactly did he GO at the end of that episode? They didn't even say, as far as I remember. So unlike all ex-colonial members of the military, he didn't join right back up? Was he going to some civilian ship? Finally ... Adama's lameass resignation. That was the stupidest thing of all. I'm giving Adama some credit here, and I think the idea that he would GIVE UP HIS POST after all this time, due to something he knew he'd 'done' all along, is ridiculous! He'd pass the buck to someone else? He KNOWS they don't have a lot of people around, people with leadership skills and dedication and know how ... everyone would have SUFFERED if he'd just abandoned his post! It should have been a way to solidify WHY he was tireless in what he was doing, not a way to make him quit like a selfish pansy ass and have Roslin guilt him back into it. That was just lame and out of character.
- Speaking of Roslin, I'm liking her way less this season. Also, this quasi-romance she has going with Adama? Totally uninterested. It bothers me when a show feels like they have to pair up every single male/female possible. They work much better/stronger as professional colleagues. A man and a woman can JUST BE FRIENDS! Don't even GO the other way!
- Am really, really disappointed with the way they've handled Starbuck/Apollo. They never should have gotten Anders and Dee involved. Now, for Starbuck and Apollo to get together, other people have to be hurt and/or dead -- and on top of that, they have to do something scummy like cheat on their spouses (emotional cheating counts). It's really, really dumb. Screw Starbuck for what she did to Lee after that night on the beach anyway, what a fuck up. And frankly, they should have let Dee leave Lee. Now he's just going to make it WORSE by continuing to be married to her and yet pining after Kara. Ugh, the whole situation is just intolerable. And rather than being all romantic and USTy, like it was before, it's just painful and trashy. It might even be okay had they not involved MARRIAGE. The cheating and what not would be slightly more tolerable if not for that.
- I really hope the final 5 Cylons aren't a huge disappointment after this build up. I am, of course, especially interested in the one Lucy Lawless was all, "I didn't realize..." to. I also really hope that Baltar isn't one of them. It's much better for his character (in terms of complexity) if he's a human, as well as not being an obvious 'twist.' Same goes for Adama, but for different reasons. For him, I just think his decisions would be hard to justify, from a Cylon perspective, and the whole "sleeper agent who really wants to be human" has already been done.
- There are some characters who, if they turned out to be Cylons, I'd be really shocked. I mean, yes, there are some who I think are human, but if they turned out to be Cylons in a way I wouldn't be surprised. But it would be a total shock/surprise if they made any of these Cylons: Lee, Kara, Chief, Helo. Okay, maybe not Kara ... it would actually explain her frequent escapes/near misses, lol. But yeah, given everything else, she stays on the list for now.
- Where has Tom Zerek disappeared to? He was this loud rabble rouser, then he became President, and now he's like, nowhere. On the one hand, I'm like, smart guy, live what could be your last days relaxing with no responsibilities! On the other hand, I'm like, hello, out of character. He's always been one that I thought they had to either take into the inner circle, or killed.
On Saturday
corianderstem and I finally got to try Serious Pie, after a couple of fits and starts. Initial verdict: I thought it was good, but not THAT good. Not worth waiting an hour and a half good (we waited probably 20 minutes or so). I got the clam pizza and she got the rosemary potato, both of which were good. It's probably not fair to give a final verdict until I've tried their tomato sauce as well, so I'll probably be back at least one more time. After lunch we walked around the corner to the Dahlia Bakery, where we indulged in cookies (their cookies are so good!) and the $2 bite version of their famous triple coconut cream pie. It's really tiny, about 3 bites worth, but considering the calories and richness, that's probably for the best. I've been reading up and apparently, their breakfast sandwiches are a MUST try, as well as their brioche caramel monkey bread. Too bad it's in a location that has terrible/expensive parking. Wish I could just hop off a bus at that location then hop back on, like A.!After that we went to watch Avatar on IMAX. I felt about the same about the movie as I did the first time I saw it... found it visually stunning (even though I think there is something wrong with my eyes where I just can't 'see' the 3D stuff as well as other people), but with a mediocre storyline and really bad dialogue.
Currently trying to work out my possible Esalen trip in early April. Right now I'm in limbo due to factors totally outside of my control (mostly it's on my cousin, Esalen, and my aunt), which drives me crazy, but I think I've worked it out to something approaching acceptable for me. Esalen is in Big Sur, which is about 4 hours from LA and 4 hours from the Bay Area. So I'm going to be driving 4 hours either way. Most likely, my mom will be coming, so it makes sense for me to fly to LA, rent a car, and drive us to Big Sur together. It also makes sense to take Talis with me and have my dad watch him while we're gone, because it'll cost about the same to kennel him. There is the possibility that we may not go at all, or other variations (it would make your head spin). I've decided that I'll just cut the complexity out of it by going to LA for sure during that time, and if we end up going to Esalen, great, and if not, I'll just be there on vacation. Sure, it's a lot sooner than I would have planned for a vacation back to LA, but at least this way I don't have to worry about alternate dates/airlines/locations/etc. Yeah, more than you wanted to know about that.
I'm about halfway-ish through Eclipse. I can't wait for it to be over.
I've also watched more BSG. I wish I were going slower on that, because there's only 1 season left!! No!!
- Wow, so they killed Kat. And Ellen. Maybe I have the touch of death! Or I suppose, maybe a lot of viewers felt as I did about those characters and they decided it was time to jettison them. I have to say, though, that I actually liked Kat in that episode. If she'd been like that the whole time, I might not have had such a problem with her.
- I can't believe Boomer threatened to kill Athena's baby. I don't really know how to reconcile this Boomer w/ the one who desperately wanted to be human, was living in her human quarters and had a fit about the people she loved. Are we just supposed to believe that the change happened while they were on New Caprica? But even then I remember a couple of times when she was cool to the people she used to know ... how/when/why did that change? Though I suppose having TWO Sharons around would be kind of confusing. Plus the Cylons would totally have to retire #8.
- Speaking of retiring Cylons, Lucy Lawless' special guest appearances have come to an end (for now). Frankly they didn't really give her that much to do. I can't believe it lasted that long.
- Still find Cally super annoying. It's not like I'm a big Chief/Boomer shipper at all, but I liked Boomer a hell of a lot more than I like Cally.
- Okay, this was way long ago, but -- when Galactica went on that suicide mission to save the people on New Caprica? And then Pegasus/Lee came to the rescue? I totally got the chills. Yes, sappy, but I don't care. RIP Pegasus. :(
- I kind of thought the Bulldog episode was really lame. Not that I didn't enjoy seeing Dixon ... I mean Carl Lumbly ... but the idea that the Cylons kept him hostage for 3 years (and apparently did NOTHING to him but keep him in a cell) seems really unbelievable. And the excuse about how they deliberately let him go so that he would take his resentment out on Adama was also stupid ... because if they wanted that, they could have rigged one of their planes with an explosive, and when Adama let him on board, blown Galactica to pieces! And, where exactly did he GO at the end of that episode? They didn't even say, as far as I remember. So unlike all ex-colonial members of the military, he didn't join right back up? Was he going to some civilian ship? Finally ... Adama's lameass resignation. That was the stupidest thing of all. I'm giving Adama some credit here, and I think the idea that he would GIVE UP HIS POST after all this time, due to something he knew he'd 'done' all along, is ridiculous! He'd pass the buck to someone else? He KNOWS they don't have a lot of people around, people with leadership skills and dedication and know how ... everyone would have SUFFERED if he'd just abandoned his post! It should have been a way to solidify WHY he was tireless in what he was doing, not a way to make him quit like a selfish pansy ass and have Roslin guilt him back into it. That was just lame and out of character.
- Speaking of Roslin, I'm liking her way less this season. Also, this quasi-romance she has going with Adama? Totally uninterested. It bothers me when a show feels like they have to pair up every single male/female possible. They work much better/stronger as professional colleagues. A man and a woman can JUST BE FRIENDS! Don't even GO the other way!
- Am really, really disappointed with the way they've handled Starbuck/Apollo. They never should have gotten Anders and Dee involved. Now, for Starbuck and Apollo to get together, other people have to be hurt and/or dead -- and on top of that, they have to do something scummy like cheat on their spouses (emotional cheating counts). It's really, really dumb. Screw Starbuck for what she did to Lee after that night on the beach anyway, what a fuck up. And frankly, they should have let Dee leave Lee. Now he's just going to make it WORSE by continuing to be married to her and yet pining after Kara. Ugh, the whole situation is just intolerable. And rather than being all romantic and USTy, like it was before, it's just painful and trashy. It might even be okay had they not involved MARRIAGE. The cheating and what not would be slightly more tolerable if not for that.
- I really hope the final 5 Cylons aren't a huge disappointment after this build up. I am, of course, especially interested in the one Lucy Lawless was all, "I didn't realize..." to. I also really hope that Baltar isn't one of them. It's much better for his character (in terms of complexity) if he's a human, as well as not being an obvious 'twist.' Same goes for Adama, but for different reasons. For him, I just think his decisions would be hard to justify, from a Cylon perspective, and the whole "sleeper agent who really wants to be human" has already been done.
- There are some characters who, if they turned out to be Cylons, I'd be really shocked. I mean, yes, there are some who I think are human, but if they turned out to be Cylons in a way I wouldn't be surprised. But it would be a total shock/surprise if they made any of these Cylons: Lee, Kara, Chief, Helo. Okay, maybe not Kara ... it would actually explain her frequent escapes/near misses, lol. But yeah, given everything else, she stays on the list for now.
- Where has Tom Zerek disappeared to? He was this loud rabble rouser, then he became President, and now he's like, nowhere. On the one hand, I'm like, smart guy, live what could be your last days relaxing with no responsibilities! On the other hand, I'm like, hello, out of character. He's always been one that I thought they had to either take into the inner circle, or killed.
