moodboom

I am so happy to be “working in the city”. One of my greatest delights is perusing the various and sundry gastronomical venues. Here’s a rundown…

• UPDATE: everything else on this list just got trumped, I have discovered The Remedy. OK they have non-vegan food… but that just lets you get your unsuspecting friends in the door to find an unbelievable array of vegan delights, including: philly fake-steak, veggie meatball sub, vegan chocolate chip cookies, and many many more items I will add to this list as I accumulate knowledge… They also have some funky cocktails, with health boosters like Emergen-C mixed in (you’ll have to assess your inner glass-half-full/empty monologue to decide if that’s bad or good)…
• I’m in love with The Pit’s barbeque tofu and grilled veggies – delicious sauce over “tofu” (more like the gluten-based analogues you get at all-vegetarian asian restaurants), asparagus, sweet potatoes, halved grape tomatoes, onions, all grilled to hickory-smoked perfection.
• Sitti Lebanese cuisine: start off with fresh-from-the-oven pitas and the amazing lentil soup – the falafel pita was good.  They also have a grilled vegetable pita.
• The Manhattan Cafe: they have a yummy veggie panini (ordered without cheese) but it had a bit of a hotdog flavor from the grill; but their piece de resistance is the mix-your-own-salad – you choose baby spinach, romaine or organic mixed greens, then add portabella mushrooms, pasta, red beans, black beans, pita croutons, and all kinds of other great toppings. The mix-your-own pasta also kicks serious butt, with a whole bunch of great mix-ins – try doubling up on the fresh spinach, along with mushrooms and tomatoes, yum.
• Shish Kebob: right in the Fayetteville Street Mall, next to Krispy Kreme. The veggie platter was great! Hummus and babaganough with a warm pita cut into slices, falafel and tahini, and a small greek salad (”hold the cheese”). Next time I’ll try the falafel in a pita…
• The Raleigh Times: delicious Boca-like veggie burger with awesome toppings: sauteed mushrooms, tomato lettuce ketchup and an entire half of a delightfully ripe avacado. And you won’t escape the siren call of their Belgian beer list – Simba, it’s to DIE for…
• Wild Ginger: cheap Hibachi Tofu (is that margarine or butter they fry it in?), also Thai and Chinese selections; fast and reasonable and hot
• Duck and Dumpling: not positive it’s vegan but the edamame and mushroom dumplings are hand-crafted and elegant; the tofu and steamed broccoli is a bit purist for my taste; a pot of green tea will set you back $4.50…
• Subway’s 6-inch veggies sandwich for $3.81 is the best deal in town, and fresh and yummy and fast
• La Rancharita: they let me switch up the lunch chimichanga, replacing the meat with spinach, mushroom and onions. With the chips and salsa, it’s a perfect-sized meal.
• Roly Poly: this cafe is attached to the IMAX theater. The grilled rollup’s are actually quite interesting, one stuffed full of items with a Mexican theme, another with cornbread and veggies. Hot and tasty. Not much atmosphere, but lots of space and free wifi, which is awesome.
• Tir Na Nog: menu apparently changes a lot; the lentil-based veggie burger I got was OK (and certainly HUGE); second time, had a delicious roasted veggie panini half-sandwich + all-you-care-to-eat vegetable soup + salad
• Soma: higher-end sushi bar, where’s the tofu people? Had a well-presented bowl of veggie noodles
• The first two weeks of 2010 were spent in all-day meetings with a team from Serbia, which meant free lunches with the team – I explored a lot of places I wouldn’t think to choose. Big Al’s is tough to navigate but a large salad and double-side of fried okra hit the spot; Woody’s; the Brass Grille had a pretty good tahini veggie wrap; Vic’s Italian restaurant has a great Penne Primavera with broccoli, squash and zuchini.
• To be continued…

The Gillespe’s had us over for dinner, Larry worked his many-spiced magic, mmm. We watched “it’s complicated”, which was fun. But the food was the real entertainment…

“Every minute counts.”  This film is “stop and smell the roses” taken to a literal level.  The characters are great – like in Extract, normal folks blown up just a little bit, each one given enough depth so you can warm up to them.  You’ll have to be able to tolerate a fairly pervasive nudity theme – at one point I was wondering “Am I watching Choke”? – but the protagonist, as well as the film, has a heart of gold.  And a beautiful unique style.  I won’t say any more, check it out.

Another (non-)romantic comedy worth mentioning is “(500) Days of Summer” and of course you should see it, it’s mostly the camera fawning over Zooey Daschanel, what is not to love?  What a guilty pleasure.  But don’t bother with the Coen Brothers’ latest, A Serious Man – seriously, guys?  Cut the art house b.s. and get on with excelling again.

Ready for the next Amazing Race contest?! Sadly, after the first couple episodes, this looks like the season with the theme of “Low IQ”… nonetheless, here we go!

• Pick the team you think will win, and pick the team you think will be eliminated next.
• If your winning team is eliminated, you have to pick another. Least picks wins!
• If your losing team is eliminated, you score, and get to pick another. Most scores wins!

WINNER PICKS

ELIMINATION PICKS

Jan 18th 2010: Scan today showed a lung tumor ‘the size of an apricot pit’. Getting it cut out in mid-February. Have no fear, we’re on it…

UPDATE Feb 20th 2010: I’m sitting in the hospital bed with only two tubes left stuck in me, feeling fit as a fiddle. Dr. Levine sliced through my ribcage on my back and pulled out every bit of the tumor. And I received comments from two different docs about my fantastic muscle cage around my lungs. Larry took the pic, and Gary measured the scar – 8.5″, the ladies are impressed! Click through if you feel brave enough to see it. Continue reading »

The family made another trek to Florida for a long weekend of fun.
The plan was to fly into Tampa Thursday night, get a hotel, and hit Busch Gardens Africa all day Friday. Instead, it was heavy rain that hit BG all day Friday, not us. We had already paid for the hotel so we stayed there Thursday night. We had booked “blind” via hotwire.com, and ended up at a Hyatt, not bad. It was a nice little suite room with an HDTV.
Dan and Bailey came to pick us up Friday morning, and I talked everyone into a lunch adventure. The iPhone is great when it comes to exploring new places, and I had dialed up an interesting-sounding “raw and vegan” restaurant for us to try that was only 4 miles away. It was called the Grass Root. The menu was overwhelming, and I was feeling like having some fun, so we ordered a little bit of everything. We chose the “Peace za Pi” as our raw-food adventure, and it was a great call. The cheese-like base of blended cashews was delicious under a bed of garlic, avacado, red peppers, and some very yummy green goodness. We also ordered a BBQ unsteak sandwich, sprout subs and rollups, a garlic noodle dish, and guac and tortilla. Dan loved the dried vegetables and ordered extra to go. All in all, delish!
After eating we headed down to Fort Myers, where Val was having trouble with some plumbing. She had installed a new faucet in the kitchen, and it was leaking all over. She couldn’t get to the shutoff valve in the garage without stepping away from the faucet – it wasn’t a one-man job. We helped her tighten things up, and headed to Ma and Pa’s, where (as usual) Ma was waiting with food for us. Some yummy lentil burgers, to be exact.
Over the weekend, we managed to get in…

• shopping for Ma for some small rugs for her high-traffic areas
• an excellent 75th birthday party for Ma hosted by Tammy and Di – Ma and Pa, Phyllis Schultz, the Behrns-Millers, the Millers, Niki, Bobby, Corey and his girlfriend Aleea, Tam & Di, Roger and Toni… Maui, Di’s adorable dog, provided entertainment, swimming, doing laps around the house, and showing off commands like “left”, “right”, “through” (she weaved between Di’s legs while Di walked), “peek”, etc. etc… ONE SMART DOG! :>
• Pie Theft II – The Second Generation – imported into iMovie, edited, muted, titles added, background music added, sound effects added, exported to DVD and YouTube – Wren Bailey and Reiley did all the heavy lifting, nice job girls!
• Installed Ma’s less-old washing machine, replacing her leaking old washing machine, but couldn’t convince her to throw the old one out, *sigh*
• Dinner at Ma’s of a delicious Thai soup that she and Val spent hours prepping; and her famous apple pie, too!
• Saw “Percy Jackson – The Lightning Thief” (which we all agreed was a letdown)
• At various points, picked up Moe’s and groceries for spaghetti for the gang – man Fort Myers is congested this time of year!
• Dan drove us by our old house, honking to annoy and embarrass me
• Wren and I had a (quick!) swim in the 60-degree pool

Most excellent!

and she loves her zpizza!

movie quotes

TruUuuuuust me… – polar express

Waddaya wanna do? I dunno, whaddayou wanna do? I dunno, whaddayawanna do? … Junglebook

‘but look what I have to work with’ batman

it’s a date. you eat em!
truck? what truck? – raiders

‘you talkin to me?’ taxi driver

I don’t make monkeys I just train em
I know u r but what am I? – peewee

Djya like dawgs? – snatch

Let’s be independent Together!
- Rudolph

I love him soooo much…
they got more than they can handle hi
ever feel like there’s a big weight pressing down? yeah and I told dot to lose some weight but she don’t wanna listen
I recommend… you pay it
recididism – repeat offender

you boys are dumber than a bag of hammers
do not seek the treasure
two weeks from everywhere
we’re in a tight spot

you’re a good man in a tight corner lawry – brazil

somebody STOP me!
smokin’! – the mask

I’ve got lots to do today! – owl from spot

do I make u laugh? am I some kind of clown?- goodfellas

that’ll do
Christmas means carnage!!
the way things are… stinks!!
is that it? is that the password?

the human race is a virus

get dat corn outta my face

Murdered by pirates is good…
(inconceivable!) u keep using that word, I don’t think it means what u think it means
I hate waiting
I’ve got my wife to murder and gildar to frame for it, I’m swamped

nasty smelling things motorcars
it doesn’t go does it? then it’ll never stop – chitty

well not you personally, sir!! mary poppins

buddy the elf what’s your favorite color?
does Santa know u left the workshop?
oh youre an angry elf!

you shAll not pass!!
fat little hobbitses

these aren’t the Droids you’re looking for
try not – do or do not, there is no try

I’ve made a huge mistake…
and that’s why u never use a one armed man to teach a lesson
bob loblas law blog

flying is my dream…
I’m mooooody… – geokids

simba, it’s to die for…
look haaaarder – lion king

Pays ya taxes, ya oughta gets a servix
He should be Killed to death!!
25c up-to-no-good tax
wha squinty eye?!?!?
ya cants inherits a pipe, ya idiots
haul ass haul ass haul ass!!!
- popeye

hurry your ass! rivers edge

if Ida known you were comin, Ida baked a cake! – Wendy, Casper ost

Jason Bateman stars, so I love it. But beyond that, Mike Judge has this great ability to create characters similar to people you know, at the edges, and blow them up, but just a little, maybe 10 or 20 percent. So they flavor the movie without sidetracking it. There are about a dozen good ones in this sleeper.

A Kurt Vonnegut for the short-attention-span generation. He always writes about the most dysfunctional details of the members of his family, I would hate to be one of them – but sometimes I feel like maybe I am. And he started off skewering me with horror stories of my most extreme phobia… I’ll leave it for you to discover.