Let me start by saying "L'Shanah Tovah" to all my readers. May this be a happy and healthy New Year for you. Looking for a great Rosh Hashanah Menu? Check this out from Epicurious. I will now turn the service over to my good friend, Mr. Paul Shaffer. Paul...
Thanks very much Paul.
If you buy one thing today, make sure it's the new Ben Folds album, Way to Normal! I am super excited to pick up a copy of this album because an old friend of mine (well not old in age), Sam Smith, is the drummer and he's quite excellent. He's even on the cover of the album holding the umbrella. Pretty cool. Sam and I used to work at Columbia Pictures and Sam has impeccable taste when it comes to movies, music, and even politics :-). I will never forget the look on our faces when we walked into the Big Fish Premiere after party. Take a minute to go buy this album and I'm sure you won't regret it. Plus, now you are two degrees away from Sam. Thanks.
Another good reason not to try to be a hero and eat something "superhot".
Hey High Schoolers, want to get into the college of your dreams? Perhaps you should rethink your Facebook account.
I leave you with this video. No models. Everything is real.
I hope you had a wonderful weekend! Even though it was raining, I managed to get a lot done and have a great time at the "Better-late-than-never BBQ". The food was excellent, the company great and many guests took the wii mic to sing some karaoke favorite on the American Idol Wii game.
I have to laugh every time I hear that a musician has left an expensive instrument in the back of a taxi cab. It happened again last week.
We will all miss Paul Newman the legendary actor, car racer, father, husband and brilliant philanthropist. I will always cherish the night I stood next to Mr. Newman at a performance of Spamalot. He had a certain glow about him.
Good morning on this very rainy Friday morning. I am really bummed that Mime week has come to an end. I've got to find a way to bring it back. Well, today's mime lesson is going to teach you how to read a newspaper. Be sure to try this on the subway and you'll be a superstar.
I am hoping to be able to test out my new video camera this weekend so that I can put something together to post on the blog. The camera is tiny and shoots in beautiful HD. One step closer to filming the pilot of Evantourage.
I started up my personal training sessions last night and it felt good. I have set a goal and am working towards it and everything is coming along very nicely. Speaking of gyms, did you know that Ghosts workout? Well they do.
Crazy news today:
Ice cream anyone? PETA is urging Ben and Jerry's to start using breast milk to make their ice cream. I know, I know, just think of the endless possibilities of new snappy ice cream names they could come up with...
Here's one market in the city I won't be going to. Charging shoppers an "energy surcharge", please.
Have a great weekend! Oh, and before you go, check out Manohla Dargis' review of Nights of Rodanthe. It's the funniest review I have read in a long time.
Today in mime class we are going to learn how to make sad emotions in mime . This is appropriate because last night I went to see a screening of Nights of Rodanthe. Here's a rough review I wrote on the bus ride home:
Having never read a Nicholas Sparks novel before nor seen one of the many film adaptations of his material, I really had no expectations walking into the theater last night for a screening of Nights In Rodanthe. I knew there would be romance and that it starred Richard Gere and Diane Lane. The story is actually much better than I thought it would be and Richard Gere is charming in the role of Dr. Paul Flanner. A man on a mission, Dr. Flanner hops into his shiny new sports car and heads to Rodanthe to stay at an inn right on the beach. Adrenne Willis, played by Diane Lane is dealing with her kids and her ex husband who wants her back. While her kids are away with their dad in Florida, Adrienne looks after the Inn for a friend of hers who owns it. Gere arrives at this Inn and Adrienne makes sure he is taken care of. These are two troubled souls who desperately need each others company.
We are told that there's a big storm coming. Is this really the best time to rid the cabinets of canned foods and throw it all away? We soon learn that a botched surgery has brought the doctor to town to apologize to the family who lost their mother under the knife. Pretty soon, Paul and Adrienne are making out and fighting a storm, both the storm outside and the storms in their lives. Paul wants to reconnect with his son who he hasn't spoken to in over a year, a task which Paul is able to accomplish in the end. Paul and Adrienne fall quickly in love, he discovers all the mountains and peaks of her body and assures her that the wild horses will one day ride on the beach. The couple grows closer and Paul realizes he must show remorse for the family who lost their mother while he was doing surgery to remove a growth on her face. It's a touching scene when Paul goes to speak with the Torrelson father and son. Families are brought together and emotions soar at a turn of events toward the end of this love story. The woman next to me was sobbing uncontrollably for the last half hour of the movie.
The scenery in this film is really beautiful, filmed on the beaches of North Carolina. I'm sure it's going to bring a lot of people to Rodanthe now. One of the things I am very sensitive about when I go see a film is the music. The music in this film really upped the cheese factor. It was too much. This along with Diane Lane's acting ruined the film for me. It felt like she was acting and I didn't really believe anything she said because of this. Her performance left a bad taste in my mouth although perhaps that had something to do with the popcorn. If this movie had been made differently it really could have been good. The story is pretty gripping. There were a lot of people crying so if you decide to go see this film be sure to bring some tissues because you'll probably cry until the wild horses come home.
So did anyone happen to see the David Blaine special on TV last night? The Dive of Death? It was the most ridiculous thing I have seen. They kept on saying "well stay tuned, we don't know what's going to happen...anything could happen as David dives four stories to the ground". Okay sounds sort of interesting. I walked away and came back to see David Blaine jumping, attached to a bungee cord and then he started being pulled up and then the lights went out and apparently he was gone. I don't get it. I don't think the crowd got it. What was supposed to have happened? Did something go wrong? Was there a risk of death in this stunt? I'm confused.
So Johnny McCain canceled his appearance on Letterman last night and Letterman didn't seem too happy about it. This is priceless, Dave, just priceless.
In yesterday's post, I linked to a video which showed you how to pick an apple in mime. I'd really like to see some of my readers try it so send in your videos and photos of you picking an apple. I thought I would continue with the mime series all this week and today try to find a video showing how to lean in mime. Didn't you always want to impress your friends with that one? Or how about the rubber pencil trick? Here's the leaning trick.
I'm not sure you wanted to know this much about the rubber pencil trick but oh well:
It was definitely a bit chilly this morning and being that Fall officially commenced yesterday I guess a little chill is in order. Halloween is right around the corner and I'm excited. And while we're on the topic of excitement...Sex and The City is out on DVD today. So run out and grab a copy before it's too late and it's placed in the Disney vault.
As I type this, David Blaine hangs upside down in Central Park. I wonder if he's sleeping...
As promised yesterday, here are some more photos from the weekend. Now if you can't get to an apple orchard, I thought I would share with you how to pick an apple in mime.
I hope you had a wonderful weekend. My weekend started on Friday as I waited for UPS to deliver a box and it never came. I called many times and they assured me it would be delivered by noon. It wasn't. By the time 3:30pm rolled around I had had it and left for Vermont. Friday night I went to see Aja sing at a jazz club in Vermont. It was really great and she even performed a piece of her show. Saturday morning I went apple picking at the orchard on our road, the most beautiful apple orchard I have ever picked at. They were also picking rasberries so I tried my hand at photographing them as well. I'll be posting a few photos each day on here as I took many. Here are the first batch:
Saturday afternoon was the great party. I have flipped through the Martha Stewart Magazine on occasion only to come upon photos of Martha having the most amazing looking outdoor parties. The food always looks so good and everyone always looks like they are having a great time. Well I went to a "Martha Stewart" party this past weekend. Everything about it could have put it in a magazine from the decor to the setting to the unbelievable brick oven pizzas (pear, prosciutto and Gorgonzola and fig and blue cheese). There was a pig too, but I didn't eat any of that. I also included a photo of the lobster/crab spring rolls. Here are a few photos! I'll put more up every day this week!:
I snapped this photo coming to work this morning with my camera because I thought it was funny. These two students were having major trouble wheeling these skeletons down the sidewalk. Well it's Thursday and I won't be posting anything tomorrow because I'm off to Vermont for a fun weekend. I'll be sure to post some photos for you on Monday.
Did you hear that:
Hackers broke into Sarah Palin's email account? That's right, all they could really find were some nasty emails and a recipe for Moose Salami.
Think there aren't cockroaches in Florida? You're wrong! It's raining cockroaches, hallelujah, it's raining cockroaches.
Don't have a job? Love movies? Well I think you better check this out...
I wonder what Andy Rooney is complaining about now. Here at Evan Almighty, we have created an Andy Rooney Channel. That's right, 24 hours of Andy Rooney complaining. Let's turn it on and see what he's complaining about now:
Thanks, Andy.
Well, time to get my day started. Let's do something fun though before I go. Let's make some slime!
I have been a huge fan of Penn and Teller for many, many years. My dad took me to see them when I was 11 and they had a show on Broadway. I loved it and I even got to meet them after the show. I have since seen them when they bring a show to New York and I am a huge fan of their show, BS on Showtime. Have you seen it? They rip apart everything from psychics to sensitivity/diversity training (an episode that I watched last night) and the show is hysterical. According to them, diversity training is a big gimmick and a huge money maker. The number one reason why companies hire someone to do diversity training is because that company is facing a lawsuit. I highly recommend this show and you can get episodes of the show on DVD if you don't have Showtime.
I wonder when they are going to start doing this to dogs in the US...
American Airlines was hoping to increase business by introducing Wifi on their flights. Now there have been numerous complaints about people going to adult websites. And don't call me Shirley.
And now, it's time to dip into the Clips and Quips vault to pull out another classic clip. This one took place at The Museum of Natural History and was by far one of the best premieres we covered. Now they screened the movie and then had a sleepover for the kids and Ben Stiller gave them a flashlight tour of the museum. So it was only appropriate that Boaz wore a onesie. Check out our coverage:
Yesterday I was mistaken for a somewhat known actor...that's all I'm going to say.
I hope you survived yesterday. I heard from Elise that her morning train into the city was a nightmare, packed with angry commuters, many of whom had lost or were going to lose their jobs and it got so bad the conductor called the Newark police. We need change. Vote Obama/Biden.
I'm known to sometimes complain about my morning commute but it isn't nearly as bad as this guys!
Last night was class and afterwards, to break the ice, our professor took us to a bar for drinks. We got to spend some time meeting our classmates and it made it easier to choose a partner for our final projects. I am very much looking forward to the weekend as I will be heading up to Vermont for the party of the century. That's right, the party of the centurrrryyyy. I'll be sure to take plenty of photos.
Let me start off by saying what a huge fan I am of the work of Joel and Ethan Coen. They are masters of their craft. I went to see their new film, Burn After Reading this weekend and was really disappointed. I had read some bad reviews but I went in wanting to like it. I just couldn't. It felt like a really long Madtv skit but with big named celebrities. The characters didn't feel developed enough and I had no feelings for them whatsoever. I'll admit, there were some funny lines and moments but towards the end of the film it felt as though the Coen brothers didn't know where to go next, what to do with the characters, and the shallow plot. Plastic surgery? The film could use some nips and tucks.
I heard about this slip up on the Today Show and had to find it on YouTube. I'm glad I did. Matt Lauer is awesome.
I went to the Super Stop and Shop last night and noticed that they changed their logo. Important news, I know. I also found out last night from watching Ted Allen's Food Detectives that if you eat enough poppy seeds (12 bagels or one large piece of poppy seed cake) you will not pass a drug test. Who knew?
Have a great weekend everyone. If the International Pickle Festival doesn't float your boat why not check out the Brooklyn Book Festival. As for me, I've got a hot date with Ike.
Well, yesterday was Devang's last day as he is moving on to greener pastures. There was a very nice gathering in the hall and everyone drank Yvonne's famous carrot juice:
JAMAICAN CARROT JUICE WITH JAMAICAN RUM Vegetarian 10 minutes * Simple
Serves 6 1kg carrots 5 cups water 1 cup condensed milk 1 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp nutmeg 1 tsp vanilla 30ml Jamaican rum
This recipe bears very little resemblance to the carrot juice Australians get at their local juice bar. It is like liquid homemade carrot cake baked by someone who is heavy handed with the rum. Peel carrots and cut into chunks. Use a blender to puree with water. Strain into a suitable mixing container and discard pulp. Add additional ingredients and mix. (Add more or less rum and/or condensed milk as desired.) Serve cold in a tall glass with ice.
The office will miss Devang and we wish him the best of luck at his new job.
I'm liking Matt Damon right about now:
If you like pickles as much as I do be sure to check out the Eighth Annual International Pickle Day! It's taking place this weekend and I'm sure it'll be anything but a sour experience.
Many of my readers say they don't comment on this blog because it's too difficult. Pshaw.. So for those readers, here is a quick guide to commenting on the site.
1) Under each post it will say # comments, click on that. 2)Type your comment 3) Click on Name/URL underneath the box where you type your comment. 4)Type in your name 5) Hit Publish Your Comment and you are done!
It's very easy so no more excuses.
I'll admit it, the HDTV has been keeping me up too late. Last night I could not turn off Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern. It's such a great show and last night I learned all about cashews. I had no idea that cashews come from a fruit and that in Thailand, the juice of this fruit is used to make a special drink.
From Wikipedia:
What appears to be the fruit of the cashew tree is an oval or pear-shaped accessory fruit or false fruit that develops from the receptacle of the cashew flower. Called the cashew apple, better known in Central America as "marañón", it ripens into a yellow and/or red structure about 5–11 cm long. It is edible, and has a strong "sweet" smell and a sweet taste. The pulp of the cashew apple is very juicy, but the skin is fragile, making it unsuitable for transport. It is often used as a flavor in agua fresca.
Andrew Zimmern then went on to eat red ants and lizards. MMM...MM..MMMMM
While I'm on the topic of bizarre foods, do you own a bakery? If so, here's something you might not want to do:
A security firm run by former New York City police detective Bo Dietl has been hired by KFC to move the fast food chain's secret "Original Recipe" of 11 herbs and spices, which has been not been moved from its safe in corporate headquarters for 68 years. The single sheet of notebook paper, yellowed by age, lays out the entire formula, and was written in pencil and signed by Colonel Harland Sanders in 1940.
