Two For One, None For All

The 1997 blockbuster Titanic was the first movie to have two performers nominated for Oscars for their portrayals of the same character; Kate Winslet was nominated for Best Actress as young Rose and Gloria Stuart was nominated for Best Supporting Actress in the old Rose role. (both lost)

The same two performance/same character situation happened again a few years later with the 2001 film Iris and again Winslet was involved. She was nominated for Best Supporting Actress in the younger title role while Judi Dench was nominated for Best Actress as the older Iris. (both lost)

Food Cart Quiz

You Are a Crepe Food Cart

You are easygoing yet sophisticated. You have great taste, but you don't make a fuss about it. You can make do and fit in anywhere, but you still maintain your individuality. Your friends envy your confidence and attitude. Of all the types, you are both the most skilled and adventurous. You are curious about the world and constantly learning from it. You don't fear much in life, except boredom and mediocrity. You are driven to be the best you possible. You have a very success focused personality, but your idea of success is constantly evolving and differs from those around you. For example, you might not find having a high powered but stressful career to be successful. You're more of the do what you love and travel the world type.

What Kind of Food Cart Are You?

Breaking Bad

I'm sitting here, whiling away the hours until the newest episode of Breaking Bad airs tonight by listening to the first episodes of the last season which are on the TV behind me.  Listening, because I've seen them and I'm on the 'net, reading any articles I can find about the award-winning series.  I want some clue, some insight as to how the last shows will play out.

WARNING:  If you haven't seen any of the show and intend to, then quit reading now.  I won't reveal everything that happens on the show, but have to mention an important part that explains what led me away from the show and what led me back to it.

I started watching Breaking Bad when it first started, but early in the series I grew extremely uncomfortable with the storyline.  The episode that made me turn away was the one where Walter White has a drug dealer named Krazy-8 tied up in his basement and is conflicted about what he will do with him.  White talks with the drug dealer, more-or-less bonding over shared interests and decides he can't kill him and goes to get the key to release him.  When White realizes Krazy-8 has hidden a shard of glass in order to kill him, White has no choice but to kill his hostage.

What made me so uncomfortable was my own thinking, thinking that agreed with Walter White's decision to murder the dealer in cold blood.  White had been a sympathetic character until that moment and he truly hadn't got to the point of "breaking bad" until then.  What disturbed me was how I also saw there was no other way to resolve the situation and I agreed with his actions.   In other words, I saw a part of Walter White in me and I couldn't stand knowing that about myself.  I quit watching the series then.

Now, I'm not saying I would ever have started manufacturing meth, but I certainly understood how quickly good intentions can turn to bad.  After all, the road to hell is paved with them.  You can't play a game with the devil because the stakes are your soul.

A season or two went by and one night when there was nothing else on (or the Cowboys were playing poorly, I can't remember) I tuned in the show again. I was a little confused at how the plot was progressing, so I searched online and found the Breaking Bad Wiki site and got up to speed. The shows were thrilling to say the least and I regretted my quitting watching. Since that time, I've watched all the episodes on AMC or at other sites (I'd rather not link to). I found forums that discussed the motivations of the characters, the tiny details I had missed - the hidden meanings in colors and plot points I had overlooked and while I knew the writing was brilliant, I now think it's nothing short of genius.

I'm having a hard time waiting on the end to begin. What will be the ultimate result? The writers have left clues, but nothing definitive, at least not to me, not now, but I expect that after the end credits roll on the last show it will all become clear.

Aqualung - Jethro Tull

Certain songs bring back vivid memories of the time they were popular/on the charts and even though this song came out in 1971, this one reminds me of the late 70's, when I was just married and happy.  Jethro Tull was a favorite of my new bride; not particularly one of mine, but I did like the few chart toppers the group had, this being one of them. The marriage didn't last all that long and after we had been divorced for a year or two, we decided we'd like to see each other again and took a trip down to Austin.  Riding along the interstate, I was digging around in her music and had to smile when I saw several Jethro Tull albums in her mobile collection. I got her to plug Aqualung
into her cassette deck and we zipped along the highway, trying to recapture something that had been lost.We failed, but the try was worth the effort.

The Brad Pitt Rule

I'm WAY past my dating prime - if I ever had a "prime" - but I thought this video was cute. It's from The Art of Manliness, a site I recently started subscribing to in my reader. I discovered it when searching for alternative necktie knots (at least more than the single one I've relied upon for years) and spent an hour or two on the site, looking at some of the other informative articles of interest to men.

Sadly, my dating days are mostly over. I'll have to depend upon a woman literally falling into my lap (and wanting to stay there) because I'm certainly not going to impress a lady with my wealth (I have none, and my standards are still high enough to where I wouldn't want a woman who wanted me only for my money. If I ever hit the lottery, I'll get back to you on that.) and certainly can't get a favorable first impression with the way I dress (I'm basically a slob) or my looks (my looks can be described as something between Mel Gibson and Homer Simpson).

The last time I tried to pick up a woman was several years ago when I stopped at a bar to have a beer and saw a cute young thing standing at the jukebox. Working up the courage that only alcohol can provide - in my case - I sidled up next to her and said "Where have you been all my life?" (I never claimed to be smooth.)

She stepped back, slowly looked at me from head to toe and said:

"From the looks of you, I wasn't even around for the first half of it."

Fired Future Famous Funnyman

Jerry Seinfeld had a recurring role on the TV sitcom Benson in 1980, playing Frankie, a mail boy who was always trying to sell jokes. Seinfeld was fired after only three episodes, learning about it when he showed up for a read-through and discovering there was no script for him.

Jerry Seinfeld on Benson

That Casserole Was Mean to Me!

I was going through recipes I had saved this month and saw one for a breakfast casserole that sounded good and thought I'd like to try some day.  I did a search on my computer and found a few more I had saved and thought I'd see if there were others on the 'net that I might want to save in my vast collection. (I save recipes, it's one of my online hobbies)  I saw this recipe at Allrecipes.com, a favorite site of mine: Christmas Breakfast Sausage Casserole.  The recipe got a four and a half star rating out of five, so I thought I'd skim through a few of the reviews.  The breakdown of the reviews was this:

Out of 1,230 ratings, 841 cooks loved it, 272 liked it, 85 thought it was OK, 22 didn't like it and there were 10 cooks who wouldn't eat it.

No matter how you look at it, that is overwhelmingly positive for the recipe.  Sure, there were a few who were tepid in their praise, some who didn't like it and only a few - less than 1% -  who thought it dreadful.   I rate movies on IMDb sometimes and even the movies I love only get a "9" because I've yet to see a movie that didn't have at least a few flaws in it.  I haven't made the casserole, but I would probably be one of the "liked it" crowd because I'm fairly conservative with my ratings of anything.  (That said, I'd give my ex-wife a "7" considering everything, probably a little generous but I wouldn't want to give her a rating of average - she deserves a few points just for putting up with me)

Now, I understand about ratings; it doesn't matter what it is, movies or mayonnaise, taste is subjective and varies from person-to-person. What I have problems with are people who like something but castigate others for not liking it.  It's one thing to dislike...say, a politician, but they should list the reasons, not dislike someone just because they're fat or skinny, black or white, gay or straight.  I'm a Cowboys fan and many people despise the QB Tony Romo, but they don't give a valid reason regarding his play on the field but criticize him for wearing his cap backwards or for dating starlets (before he was married) or liking to play golf. (they didn't want him to take ANY vacations or have a life outside of football.  Silly.)

One of the "most helpful critical reviews" on the casserole was by "hurryup2002" - posted on Oct. 12, 2003, which made me wonder if they were pleased with how fast the year had arrived or still wanted to gripe about the slow pace of time.  Anyway....

They posted this:  "This is not nice at all, i just want to let people know that this is the worst thing ever. It is not nice."

That's one of the criticisms that I wrote about above;  no reason for disliking it, no honest reason why they didn't like it, not that the cooking time was too long or too short or the bread was overly soggy w/ putting it in the fridge overnight, that it was too salty/not salty enough, etc.  No, "it is not nice."

Not nice?  When they put it in the oven, did it scream at them "Hey dummy! Set the oven at 350, not 400 deg.!" or "You don't need to eat me...you're a little too fat as it is." "Don't add any salt, the sausage has it already, ya doofus!"  ???

What's not nice is my review of that review, but it was nicer than I wanted to be.