weekend doings - pasta, penguins and tarts

I was a homebody all weekend:

• cooked dinner for friends: Recipe: You Won't Be Single For Long Vodka Cream Pasta
  plus a big bottle of wine


• desserts from The Queen of Tarts. We sampled the Mexican Chocolate & Chipotle Tart (intriguing, tasted like pepper and chocolate. It worked well together), coconut cream tart (suprisingly good, the winner) and a strawberry orange mascarpone tart. All tasty.
  


• watched movies after dinner: Madagascar and Brokeback Mountain. Good (?) double bill; what, was I the only one to read a gay-subtext in the relationship between the Lion and Zebra? Penguins were funny, and the acting and direction in Brokeback were outstanding.
  


• lots of laundry - whoo hoo, found $20 in a pocket
  


• lots of coffee, i was just exhausted
  


• catching up on week of TV: My Name Is Earl, Everybody Hates Chris, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Alias, The Office, Celebrity Poker Showdown Season 5 final with Brad Garrett, Jason Alexander, Malcolm Jamal-Warner, Bonnie Hunt and Colin Quinn. Good educational game, just LOL'd at the banter among several top comedic actors. The eighth series of Celebrity Poker will air in the spring of 2006, taped in New Orleans, and the celebrities will donate their winnings to charities benefiting victims of Hurricane Katrina.


• annoyed it was too late on Sunday evening when i found out about Cherry Blossoms and Chill Beats in High Park.

Odd thoughts at 4am

I know this girl who has a crush on actor Scott Caan, and will watch anything which features Scott Caan. I remember this fact now as I notice cable TV is running the low-brow wrestling comedy Ready to Rumble which stars Scott Caan and David Arquette.

I wonder if a crush is strong enough to compel a woman to sit through Ready to Rumble? I mean, I know women who have crushes on John Cusack and will see anything he's in, even Must Love Dogs, but what level of commitment would drive a woman to watch Ready to Rumble?

Updated: Apparently, the answer is yes, and several times at that.

It's a Stephen Colbert world and we're just living in it

In just the past 48 hours, Colbert ...

• Famously lampooned President Bush in front of his face.
• Co-hosted "SNL" (as Ace of "The Ambiguously Gay Duo").
• Was the subject of a glowing profile on "60 Minutes."
• Inspired the Web site, Thank You Stephen Colbert!
• Made Time's 100 most influential list, feted by NBC's Brian Williams.

source: [ TV t a t t l e . c o m ]

Stephen Colbert blasts Truthiness all over White House press corps dinner

Reports having been coming in that Stephen Colbert absolutely killed at the White House Press Corps dinner this weekend, doing his performance in-character as Stephen Colbert, the Host of The Colbert Report, and he was unrelenting in his pointed commentary of the Bush administration. I've just finished downloading the torrent and will watch it with glee tomorrow. If you want the quick and easy way to view it, check the links below. If you want to thank Stephen Colbert for bringing the truthiness, go to Thank You Stephen Colbert.

The Colbert Report airs Mon thru Thur at 11:30pm ET on the Comedy Network and Mon thru Thur at 12:35 p.m. ET on CTV.

From Boing Boing: A Directory of Wonderful Things

Stephen Colbert's routine at last night's White House Press Corps dinner sounds like one of those perfect moments of comedy and commentary -- someone, find me a transcript!

Colbert, who spoke in the guise of his talk show character, who ostensibly supports the president strongly, urged the Bush to ignore his low approval ratings, saying they were based on reality, "and reality has a well-known liberal bias."

He attacked those in the press who claim that the shake-up at the White House was merely re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. "This administration is soaring, not sinking," he said. "They are re-arranging the deck chairs--on the Hindenburg."

Colbert told Bush he could end the problem of protests by retired generals by refusing to let them retire. He compared Bush to Rocky Balboa in the "Rocky" movies, always getting punched in the face--"and Apollo Creed is everything else in the world."

Link (Thanks, Stefan!)

Update: Thanks to Butter71 for links to the transcript and video! w00t!

Update 2: Here's a high-quality torrent of the video.

Update 3: Youtube mirror (Thanks, Jon!)

Update 4: Alternative Quicktime link, Quicktime of Colbert's "audition reel" (Thanks, Krup!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 11:33:31 PM

NPR : Bluster and Satire: Stephen Colbert's 'Report'

The Colbert Report - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Boing Boing: Neil Young streams new anti-war album for free online

Neil Young streams new anti-war album for free online

Neil Young's new record "Living With War" was made available Friday for streaming in entirety online. Link.

.: chromewaves.net v6.0 gives us a heads-up on a profile of Neil Young, complete with his own irony tags:

The Guardian profiles agitator, non-patriot and anti-American Neil Young. His seditious new record Living With War is out May 9. Buy as many copies as you can so you can burn them and send a message to this CANADIAN who hates America just go home to Canuckistan. As always, Fox News offers a fair and balanced counterpoint.

Guardian Unlimited Arts | Arts features | Neil Young: The conscience of America

"Wolfman's Got Nards!" - The Monster Squad still missing on DVD

A little nostalgia today. Back in the 1987, there was a great cult classic movie called The Monster Squad (1987). Well, great is an overstatement, but it was a blast when you were 12 years old. There was a number of teen-adventure movies released following the success of The Goonies , including The Lost Boys (1987) and Explorers (1985). The Monster Squad (1987) was kind of a Goonies and Ghostbusters hybrid.

The Monster Squad (1987) was about a group of kids who have to take matters into their own hands when monsters, led by Dracula, come to town. As in most movies like this, adults and authority figures don't believe the kids until it's too late, but the kids manage to convert Frankenstein's monster to their side and with the help of an elderly neighbour (message: old people are useful), discover a way to banish the monsters to Limbo.

It's cheesy fun, with swearing, smoking, monsters, humour and fighting - everything a teenager would want from a movie. Some decent special effects and some classic lines: "Wolfman's got nards!" There's the rebellious kid, the fat kid, the earnest kid, the little kid.

It's only been available on VHS or as a bootleg DVD. There is no word of an official release on DVD, I suspect it's likely tied up in some sort of licensing/ownership mess. For now, enjoy the trailer and the flashbacks.



The Monster Squad - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Scenes from a good place - Chippy's Fish and Chips in Bellwoods Park

On one of the warm days during the past week, I decided to walk from home (Roncesvalles) to work (Front Street). It was a perfect afternoon on Queen Street. The walk was all the sweeter, as I planned to go to one of my happy-places: eating Chippy's fish and chips in Trinity Bellwoods Park.

Chippy's is a fish and chip take-out joint, fancier than most, and it is tasty. It was the concept of ex Susur manager John Lee (not the chef) and ex-Rosewood chef Neil Coutinho to open a good fish and chip shop. The fish is fresh and coated in Japanese panko breadcrumbs and battered in Guinness beer, the chips are twice fried and the fresh sides of curry gravy or tartar sauce are delicious for dipping. The entire menu fits on the chalkboard and the small shop is prone to line-ups during lunch and dinner. You can get a meal for about $8 - $12 with a pop.

I had the haddock, which was tasty, but I'll try the halibut next time for something with some more meat, maybe bring a friend to split a side of shrimps. The meal wasn't too heavy or greasy, which is how I remember the fish and chips as a kid, the grease turning the newspaper slick and see-through. Wetnaps are provided, which is likely appreciated by the Paper Place store nextdoor, who would prefer to have their stock left unfondled by greasy hands. Plenty of little touches, like lemon wedges, malt vinegar packets and plenty of salt and ketchup are onhand, as well as cans of pop and gelato for dessert.

Get some take out and relax in the park, watching all the dog-walkers and locals. It's a perfect way to spend an afternoon.

PS There is a Bloor Street location in the Annex at 490 Bloor Street (West of Spadina), but their main webpage hasn't been updated with that info. It's the same size shop, but I don't know the neighborhood well enough to recommend a place to take your food.

Chippy's Fish and Chips Toronto - 893 Queen St. West

NOW review: Fresh, fried and fab

BlogTO - Cheap Eats: Chippy's

Brunswick House version 3.0

Whislt having a drink with friends at the renovated Brunswick House

Me: I can't get over how different this place looks. I would actually bring people here... on purpose! Even a date! What makes it so different now?

Andy: With the curtains open they actually have daylight in here now.

The Brunswick House, familiar as a source of watered down beer for U of T students, frats, underage drinkers, and cheap drunks alike, has undergone renovations in the past year or so, and is now under the management of the team behind This Is London nightclub. The front room is cleaned up and furnished like a martini lounge. The picnic tables are gone from the back and replaced with regular tables that pull back to make room for a dance floor. In short, it converts to "clubby".

The beer was still lousy (not a good thing when even the Canadian beer tastes like Miller Lite), no sign of Irene (the old women who used to sing bawdy songs on the piano), but they have drink specials on Thursdays and Saturdays (something about them paying you $5 to come in). I'll have to investigate a normal night there sometime to get the feel if it's still the crowd is a bit sleazy and easy (trust me, you can tell by looking - eww).

Yes, this is a picture of the men's bathroom at the Brunswick House. Anyone who ever went in there in its previous incarnation knows that it was up there with the troughs at Maple Leaf Gardens. It was the type of bathroom where you try your best not to touch anything.

I Scream You Scream, We All Get Free Ice Cream April 25th

We don't have a winning basketball or hockey team, but at least we get free ice cream:

Ben and Jerry’s FREE Cone Day
Tuesday, April 25, 2006

As a way to thank our customers for their support and to celebrate 28 years of scooping the chunkiest, funkiest ice cream, frozen yogurt and sorbet, Ben & Jerry's scoop shops are giving it away!

Around the world, scoop shops are opening their doors from noon to 8:00 pm, to serve up a free scoop of your favorite flavor (or better yet, a new one you've been wanting to try, like Turtle Soup™, Peanut Butter Swirl or Lemonade Sorbet).

So grab a pal and come on down to have some 'scream on us!
Like we said... Oh Happy Day!
Tuesday, April 25th is Free Cone Day at Ben & Jerry's, and you know what that means... free ice cream for you!

Locations in Toronto:
# Ben & Jerry's Beaches
2018 Queen Street East
Toronto, ON M4L 1J3
CANADA
416-699-1289

# Ben & Jerry's Queen Street
238 Queen Street West
Toronto, ON M5V 1Z7
CANADA
416-260-1652

Ben & Jerry's Vaughan Mills
1 Bass Pro Mills Drive
Unit #K2
Vaughan, ON L4K 5W4
CANADA
905-738-3838

Teeth on the Dial - Wrapping up the season on my favourite comedies

Scrubs (NBC)
Even though NBC held off showing this season until January, I am enjoying the almost continuous run of new episodes. Rumours indicate someone other than Carla is pregnant; whether it is a current cast member or a past girlfriend of a character remains to be seen, but Ask Ausiello @ TV Guide.com (link) promises we’ll be surprised.

4/25/06 (Tu.) (#519) My Lunch
5/2/06 (Tu.) (#520) My Fallen Idol
I won’t spoil it, but hopefully this episode finally earns John C. McGinley (Dr. Cox) a long deserved Emmy nomination.
5/9/06 (Tu.) (#521) My Déjà Vu, My Déjà Vu
5/16/06 (Tu.) (#522) My Urologist

Everybody Hates Chris (UPN)
No confirmation yet, but I would bet that this series will continue next year on the new CW network.

4/20/06 (Th.) (#119) Everybody Hates Drew
Sick of being second best to his little brother, Chris decides to enroll in karate classes
4/27/06 (Th.) (#120) Everybody Hates Playboy
Chris takes his father's playboy magazine to school, but he soon panics when it's stolen.
5/04/06 (Th.) (#121) Everybody Hates Jail
Chris runs into trouble with the law while earning money for a school trip
5/11/06 (Th.) (#122) Everybody Hates Father's Day (season finale)
In celebration of Father's Day, Julius tells the family he wants to spend the day by himself

How I Met Your Mother (CBS)
Last week’s episode put to rest the question of “why didn’t Ted and Robin date later and then marry?” with a resounding “ohhhh, because Ted really #@%!ed up in a realistic way.” What's Alan Watching? discusses “How Ted blew it”(link). Now that Ted and Robin are done, look for the focus to shift on the stellar supporting cast, specifically on the wedding planning for Lily and Marshall. Alumni from shows Freaks & Geeks (Jason Segall's old show) and Angel/Buffy will continue to pop up.

4/24/06 (Mo.) (#119) Mary The Paralegal
5/1/06 (Mo.) (#120) Best Prom Ever
5/8/06 (Mo.) (#121) Milk
5/15/06 (Mo.) (#122) N/A (Season Finale)

My Name Is Earl (NBC)
When the first season of My Name is Earl comes out on DVD this summer, one of the special extras is a mini-episode that imagines how Earl would have turned out if he had not watch Carson Daly and instead had watched Family Guy’s morally corrupt baby Stewie Griffin. Earl creator Greg Garcia used to be a producer on Family Guy, which eased the necessary clearances for the My Name Is Earl / Family Guy Crossover (link).

4/27/06 (Th.) (#123) Stole A Badge
5/4/06 (Th.) (#122) BB
5/11/06 (Th.) (#124) (Tentative Date) (Season Finale)

The Office (NBC)
To tide over fans of the show, NBC will offer The Office webisodes this summer (link). The shorts will air presumable on iTune (US only) and the NBC.com site, and will focus on the supporting office accounting staff of Dunder-Mifflin. The premise of the series is that the accountants can't account for $3,000 and they go on a mission to find out who's responsible. The series will star Angela, Kevin and Oscar, and will include special appearances from Dwight (Rainn Wilson) and Phyllis.

4/27/06 (Th.) (#220) Drug Testing
5/4/06 (Th.) (#221) Conflict Resolution (*)
5/11/06 (Th.) (#222) N/A (Season Finale)

the2scoops watches too much Lost

Lost has become appointment TV for me: I clear time to watch it. The main reason, aside from it's addictive nature, it to prevent plot twists from being ruined before I watch the episode. As we have a break before the new episodes of Lost start airing again, I thought I'd share some questions I have about the show that haven't been answered as of this writing. I think the writers love keeping the fans off-guard and plant red-herrings (sometimes a cigar is just a cigar). I tend to think things that are too obvious, like whether Libby was an Other, are just that, too obvious an answer to go with . Info on the new episodes and when they air is at the bottom.

TOP TEN LOST LOOSE ENDS

according to Entertainment Weekly: ''Lost'': Decoding Dharma's mission...
As voted on by you, the Lost fan. The most FREQUENTLY cited mysteries, in declining order:

No. 10 What is the significance of the black and white stones found near the waterfall?
No. 9 Why do the Others use disguises?
No. 8 What are the Others doing to their abducted children?
No. 7 Where is Walt?
No. 6 What is the Monster?
No. 5 Jack's dad's casket was found empty. What happened to the body?
No. 4 Who are the ''Adam and Eve'' skeletons found at the waterfall?
No. 3 Where is Michael? (answer coming soon)

And, running almost dead even for the top two slots:

No. 2 Where is Desmond and where did he come from?
No. 1 What happened to Locke's legs? How’d he end up in a wheelchair?

The2scoops wonders:

Do the Others know about the hatch with the computer? Are there multiple groups or factions of Others?

What triggers the food drops? There seems to be a causal relationship between the hatch locking down and the food drop. Does unlocking the hatch cause the food to drop, like rewarding a labrat with a bit of cheese?

How crazy is Libby, is she safe or dangerous? Did she stalk Hurley to the flight (tricky since we saw he was running late and was the last one on the plane)?

What caused Mr. Eko to leave Africa and end up on Flight 815?

How did Sayid leave Iraq? We saw he learned torture during the Persian Gulf war. He had a career in torture, then he was assigned to torture Nadia and helped her escape, but what happened after that and before he was in Australia?

Did the island cure Jin’s impotence and that’s how Sun is pregnant?

Is there a connection between Sawyer and Locke’s father, who was also a conman?

What’s the backstory on Jack’s tattoo? He got it after his marriage ended at some point, possibly in Thailand.

I don’t imagine there’s much backstory left to tell on Kate, Claire, Rose, Michael, Hurley, or Charlie. But let me mess with your heads: are the flashbacks “real” or are they manufactured memories (like character outlines) that the island is inducing in these people?

A rundown of the last Lost episodes of the season:

4/26/06 (We.) 9:00 PM (#219.5) Reckoning
(Not a new episode, a clip show based on how faith has affected the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815)

5/03/06 (We.) (#220) Two for the Road
(An Ana Lucia-flashback) Michael shares what he learned about The Others while Ana-Lucia has a chat with Henry Gale.

5/10/06 (We.) (#221) (?)
(A Mr. Eko-flashback) Possibly has something to do with the church Charlie and Eko are building.

5/17/06 (We.) (#222) Three Minutes
Michael flashback to what happened to him on his hunt for the Others

5/24/06 (We.) (#223/224)
2 Hour Season finale, speculation points to a Desmond flashback (the guy they found in the hatch) and the explanation of why Oceanic Flight 815 crashed on the island. If there is a Desmond story, it’s probably something creepy like how he met several of the survivors before the crash or at least how he ended up on the island.

I expect the DVD set of Season 2 will come out late August, early September, before Season 3 starts. Feel free to add to or take apart any of my thoughts on the show.