Food and Film; Culinary Cine

I have a confession to make: I am a foodie. Not obsessively so, but I am. Like my new hero, Remy, I love good food. Friday night, however, is usually my slacker night in the cooking department. But seeing Ratatouille Friday afternoon inspired me to cook something half-way decent instead of ordering pizza. I ended up going with something easy, but tasty. Salmon fillets, marinated in soy sauce with fresh garlic, fresh ginger, Chinese 5-spice, and fresh-ground black pepper. Grilled in foil, with some brown sugar and the marinade on top. Served with jasmine rice, scallions, slivered yellow sweet pepper; spinach salad with red onion, yellow pepper strips, strawberries and a soy-ginger dressing (homemade, of course). I loved it. Husband loved it. My children - not so much. Culinary philistines. Actually, the girl seemed to like the salmon and rice, just not the salad. Boy wanted ramen noodles instead. Ramen noodles! How could I have given life to such a heathen?

If you want to see the ultimate foodie movie, rent Big Night. Great, great food porn movie. Best line: "To eat good food is to be close to God." After we saw it, my husband wanted me to make everything in it, especially the timpano (it's like timbale). Thank goodness my college boyfriend was Italian (3 of 4 grandparents actually born in Italy). I learned a lot about Italian families and Italian cooking from his family. Helped in understanding the movie and recreating the dishes. I really wish they had published a cookbook of recipes from this movie. I know I would have purchased it. The Timpano recipe, however, is available in this book.

I think Ratatouille is one of my new favorite movies. Animated, at least. And the animation is exquisite in Ratatouille. The gleaming pots, the steam, the vegetables - everything in the kitchen is perfectly rendered. A portrayal so vivid you can smell the food, taste the wine. Amazing. And there's a real script!! A story. It's not predictable, which is amazing. I don't want to get into too much detail, because I want you to go see this movie. I don't want to spoil any part of it for you. I love the fact that, aside from Peter O'Toole, they didn't use big stars for the voices. The voices fit the characters and you aren't distracted by overly familiar intonations. Though one character sounds exactly like David Schwimmer, but it's not. I would have bet the house that it was and husband thought so too. There's no farting, burping, scatological humor, no sex - it's rated G. A wonderful family-friendly movie that will appeal to plenty of child-free adults. It truly has something for everyone. (Can you tell I really liked this movie?)

I've actually been seeing other movies lately without telling y'all about them. Can you believe it? We saw Ocean's 13 a couple weeks ago. It's an light, entertaining romp, but nothing to write home about. Scary thing - Casey Affleck's scenes are just about the funniest in the movie. Casey Affleck. That's just wrong.

We also watched The Queen on DVD. (Have I mentioned lately how much I adore Netflix? Well, I do, in case you forgot.) Helen Mirren disappears into the role of Queen Elizabeth II. She totally deserves that Oscar. The guy playing Tony Blair is almost too boyish for the role, but he's adorable. If you don't know, the film is an inside look at the machinations between 10 Downing Street and the palace in the immediate aftermath of Princess Diana's death. I recall that time pretty vividly. It will be 10 years in September. I remember it so well because I got up really early on my 30th birthday to watch Diana's funeral live on television. I recall being absolutely devastated for those poor boys, stuck now with only the Windsors to raise them. Scary. This movie only reinforces that view.

The conclusions from this edition of Bunny Goes to the Movies? Go see Ratatouille immediately. Ocean's 13 is a fun date movie, see it but have low expectations. Rent The Queen and Big Night. That's all.

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Bumper sticker I want to have made:

Jesus Loves Me
You He Doesn't Like So Much
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Moby got a new home!! Moby/the POS/mommyvanthefirst was picked up by a local charity Friday. Now we just need to get rid of the POC in favor of a little "rice burner" and I won't feel so overminivanned. (Isn't it fun to make up your own words?) You know, I used to be cool. I drove a 1967 Mustang in high school and college. I had a 1972 Buick LeSabre convertible to goof around in for a couple summers. I had an Opel GT. I even had TWO geek-chic Subarus. Now I have driven a minivan (mommyvan) for 6+ years. *sob!*

You ever have one of those days . . .

When you want to be pinned against the wall and kissed forcefully? Where you want to be the prey for a sexually aggressive predator? To just be told to be quiet while your neck is kissed and your breasts are stroked, fondled, and nibbled? To be forced to lie still while your body is poked, prodded, and explored? To be used and gently (or even not so gently) abused for someone else's pleasure?

Oh . . . yeah.

I mean, um, no. Me neither.
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The Standoff is in day 7. No sign of either side giving in. Though he is being awfully nice. It's damn weird. He's got to explode soon. He is incapable of being this nice for this long without medication. We shared a genuine laugh and smile last night. That's as intimate as things have been around here since the beginning of May. Better than nothing, I suppose.

HNT

Before the Standoff began.


Why do we get half-nekkid? Want to join the fun? See Os at



Re: the Standoff - still not wearing our rings, but not fighting either. In fact, he's been pretty nice. Even told me he loves me. Hmm. Wait, maybe too nice. Now I'm getting paranoid . . .

Speaking of paranoid, go read Z's post on Average Penis Paranoia. Some good stuff there. Hey guys - they're all good, really.
Added July 5: Check this out too "Is it in yet?" from Edinburgh Erotica.

And go check out Ed's 200th post. L'chaim, Ed!

Tagged! 7 Random Facts About Me and More!

I was tagged by Z to reveal 7 random things about me, so here goes:

1. I have never, ever, not-once, smoked pot. I may have done some harder stuff, yeah; pot, no. Nor anything else that has to be smoked. I want to have pink lungs at my autopsy. This is a major concern of mine, ever since we saw autopsy movies in middle school of smokers' lungs. Hence, I smoke nothing, ever. I may have a green and fatty liver, but my lungs will be pink and fresh! However, this means that my oral fixation must be satisfied by other means . . .

2. I always vote. Always. School elections, drain commissioner, doesn't matter - I'm there. If I can't be there, I vote absentee. I'm a total participatory democracy geek.

3. My major in college was Justice, Morality, and Constitutional Democracy. No kidding. They shortened it to "Social Science - Law, Democracy" on the actual diploma. That's really not much shorter, is it?

4. I was accepted to both law school and grad school for psych and chose law. Now I hate, hate, HATE practicing law. Don't think I'd like psychology either, though. I really despise whiny clients who expect me to fix all their problems. Guess I'm just not a people-person. Now I really want to go back to school (again!) and get a master's of library science. I could specialize in legal research. Besides, who wouldn't want to be a hot librarian?

5. I have no tattoos and probably never will. Spousehole and I joke that we'll be the only ones in the nursing home with no ink. I think they look great on others, I just am not good with permanency. If I did get one, it would be the words "exit only" on my butt. That would amuse my gastroenterologist to no end (pun fully intended).

6. Both my kids were born by c-section and I do not consider myself any less of a woman for it. It pisses me off when I read about women who think they "failed" because they ended up with a c-section. Get over yourselves already! If you and your kid are healthier for having had the c-section, who cares? My son would not have survived a vaginal birth (he barely survived anyway) and they tell me my chances weren't so great either. (If you really want that whole story, email me for my other blog url.)

7. My husband and others are pushing me to run for public office - Board of Education - and I am considering it. I'm already quite involved, serving on a council that advises the superintendent. Ours is no rinky-dink school district. We serve over 22,000 students annually. That makes a run for office a big thing, and an expensive prospect, so I'm hesitant to act. We'll see. Wouldn't be for a while anyhow.

I've got to tag seven more. Man, I've tagged so many people lately, it's getting difficult to find new people to harass, but here goes: Trueself, SlipofaGirl, StangLover, SM, Vexxy, George, and Semi-Celibate Man (SCM is on a well-deserved semi-hiatus, so he may or may not get around to it - don't hold your breath; do go see his video though. It's very hot, if you like that sort of thing. And I really like that sort of thing).


Is there such a thing as porn for women? Huffington Post, June 11, 2007

Bumper sticker on a Subaru: One by one the penguins are stealing my sanity (thought of Mrs. Zig and her penguin thing immediately)

I was SO not bringing my "A" game last night with my still-has-no-official-blog-moniker-friend. I mean, everyone got what they came for (pun fully intended) but my brain wasn't really into it and I was just tired. He may never call me again after that! ;) Ah well, then he wouldn't need a blog moniker, would he? Too much time in the sun yesterday. Spent 3 hours(!) at the splash park with the kids. Like a good mommy, I slathered them both in sunscreen and even reapplied after an hour or so. Like an idiot, however, I didn't put any sunscreen on me until it was too late. LobsterGirl rears her bright-red head!!! Sunburn makes me cranky and out-of-sorts. Plus, I should know better since my baby sister is battling some ugly skin cancer. I'm such a doofus sometimes.

Hey - I won Ed's vacation destination contest!! My prize: a special EdTime story as only Ed can write them. Go see!!!

The Standoff continues . . .

TMI Tuesday - On Wednesday!!

1. Does the carpet match the drapes?

Currently carpet-free, but when there's carpet it's not usually as red as the drapes. Always been that way. Not sure what's up with that.

2. Have you ever used personal information about someone to blackmail them?

No, but I sure could have!!

3. What is your favorite thing to lick?

His name is . . . Chocolate Monster ice cream!! Though there are other things I like to lick as well . . . can you say "oral fixation?"

4. Have you ever had sex in a place of worship? (i.e., church, temple, mosque, etc.)

No, but I've gotten to approx. 2nd base in a church; church CAMP, whole different story

5. If you watch video porn, do you buy it in a store, from a catalog, online, or download it? LINK!!! ;)

My husband downloads enough for 100 people!! Problem is, it's all crap -LOL. I prefer to buy online, but have been known to occasionally purchase something at the local naughty store. I love Netflix - is there anything like it for porn? Perhaps we should start something. Put everyone's collections together (oh, you people with hundreds of discs know who you are . . . ) and we could score some serious cash. No, really.

Bonus (as in optional): How often, if ever, do you "fake it?"

Used to pretty regularly as an ego boost for my partner, until I decided that life is too short for that. Now it's once in a blue moon.

Tuesday and Still Ring-Free

TMI is coming! TickledPinkToes had a power (& thus internet) outage and was unable to post. TMI will most likely be up after she gets home from work. (Prof. Fate is on vacation.)

It's Tuesday morning and we are blissfully ring-free. I'm hoping that before this is over the white stripe on my ring finger will be gone. (I'm trying to be positive about things.)

Anyway, being ring-free will just make tonight's playdate with my "friend" all the more fun. I think my friend needs a blog moniker. I'm open to suggestions - friend with benefits (FWB), friend with privileges (FWP), Side Thang (ST), I could refer to him by his profession, Teacher . . . I don't know. Don't even suggest "Fuck Buddy" - it may be accurate, but it's crude. Even a cheating whore has to have some standards.

BTW - "Friend with Privileges" is how my mother refers to her friends' male companions. She has a surprising number of 60+ female friends who have a guy that they shtupp but don't consider a boyfriend. Scary.

From POS to POC; or can a minivan be a hooptie?

We got the bad news Saturday: mommyvanthefirst, aka Moby (it's big and white) or the POS (piece of shit) requires more in repairs than we are willing to spend on it. After all, it has 149,950 hard miles (I do think we must drive it that last 50 miles to get to 150,000, however). We have sorely mistreated the poor thing. It's oil changes have all been "passive" lately thanks to a leak and our regular replacement of said fluid. The AC gave out last summer. The serpentine belt breaks at least annually (the holes where the tensioner attaches to the motor are CROOKED and Chrysler has refused since 30,000 miles to acknowledge that this is a problem). The latest broken serpentine belt took out the power steering pump when it snapped.

The POS is merely a back-up vehicle. A winter beater for when it's too snowy for Spousehole to ride the motorcycle. Or if it rains. Because I won't share mommyvanthesecond. No, I will not be stuck at home with no ride. That's just the kind of bitch I am.

Fortuitously, my Daddy had a suburban hooptie (another minivan; also white) for which he had no further use. I spent all day today running aroung transferring titles and plates, taking care of insurance, having the CU sign off Moby's title because I lost the release of lien they sent 5 years ago, etc. We're going to call the new-to-us one the POC, since it's only crap, not all out shit. And it was FREE, my favorite four-letter F word (and you thought it was that other one!)

Besides a free vehicle, today had another bonus: super-hot eye candy at the Secretary of State office (Michigan's version of the DMV in most states). Most of the guys there are just scary. There were a couple college age cuties, but then Mr. Super-Hot Eye Candy arrived. Picture Christopher Meloni, but a little more hair and about 10-15 years younger. Yeeooww! I could've admired him all day long. Made the wait so much more pleasant.

So we now have THREE freakin' minivans, until we sell (for scrap) or give away Moby. Lord, save us from ourselves.

Disclaimer: Moby/the POS actually LOOKS like a nice vehicle. It's the mechanics of it that are shit. If you saw it on the street you wouldn't go "Oh look at that sad family in the piece of shit-mobile. Just pathetic."

Standoff

Spousehole was angry at me again today. No great shock there. I was trying to get the Girl down for her nap and fell asleep myself. (Apparently I'm not allowed to sleep in the middle of the day unless I have a verifiable illness.) As he has done on countless previous occasions, to express his anger he took off his wedding ring and threw it at me. (Hit me right in the back of the head this time. Video games make for great eye-hand coordination.) Refused to take it back.
Being oh-so-mature myself, I took mine off too. Now it's a standoff. Who will put their ring back on first? (It's really not much of a contest, however. I always put mine back on first. I feel naked without it. I twirl it when I'm nervous or bored and it drives me crazy not having it.) He's gone as long as 3 months without it, usually putting it back on if I cry and beg (not gonna happen this time) or if we are going to be around someone he feels the need to "pose" for and make it seem as if everything is hunky-dory.