- D-Mase got his cash money and he's going to Baltimore. Not a bad move for him. The Ravens had an excellent defense last year but needed some good hands up the field, which Mason should provide. However, Mason told a local sports-talk show this evening that he came very close to going to New England but decided to go for the cash. Interesting choice for the guy who was one yard from a Super Bowl ring five years ago. True, the Pats of next season will be minus some key players and two seasoned assistant coaches, but I daresay they're closer to a repeat than the Ravens are to making a return appearance to the big show.
- Dear Randy Moss, No, everyone doesn't love the Raiders; no, you won't be going to the Super Bowl; and you'd better be loving all this love you're getting from Al Davis, because the breakup's going to be ugly. Now put your pants back on and grow up.
- I am possibly the most naive, hopeless romantic on earth. Or maybe I just fell for the hype. I thought those crazy kids would make it. For her to file the papers in her sixth month of pregnancy, he must've really screwed up. And yeah, I'm jumping to conclusions, but past offenses are allowed in court.
- Several of us in the newsroom are devoted American Idol fans (well, I was, but I'm losing interest since the auditions are over and I don't have anything left to mock.) I decided to give Nashville Star a try, since it's local and the potential for wacky costumes is high. What a disappointment. With the exception of one guy who's doing a fairly good Buddy Holly act, they all look alike and sound alike and dress like they're onstage in LA, not Nashville. It really makes me wonder - would Johnny Cash have a chance starting out these days? Or Patsy Cline? Or anyone who doesn't have a perky smile and a trendy haircut and a prepackaged biography?
- Cool link: This copycat site gives you recipes to some of your favorite restaurant foods. And not just stuff like KFC chicken and McDonald's muffins (um, I might be missing something, but I've never had one of those I wanted to make at home.) They have a recipe for an Orange Julius! If you've had one but don't live where there's a Orange Julius stand, you probably know why I'm so pleased. But me, I'm more happy about the recipe to make Olive Garden's salad dressing. That stuff's addictive.
- Speaking of food, check out this very cool Flash site that teaches you how to make "fast food" with a French chef that resembles Ron Popeil. Not sure how the food is, but I want the house.
- Nice to see that some musicians are putting their names out there in favor of P2P file-sharing, at least for non-copywrited works. Not surprised to see that it's artists like Steve Winwood and Heart, who undoubtably have seen their highest-gross years in record sales come and go. But they're making the point that I've been screaming for years - P2P opens up new kinds of music to people that they wouldn't normally have any access to, and once you get into it, you start spending money on it. I'm thankful to Napster for opening my eyes and ears up to all sorts of electronic music, especially European trance that isn't exactly on the shelves down at Ye Olde Wal-Mart. Good times. All obtained legally, of course.
- There should be more, but somehow it's hard to blog on a day after events like this.
3.02.2005
2.27.2005
Just a little Oscar snarking
I didn't see the entire telecast (frankly, I lost interest somewhere around the time that Beyonce' started singing in French.) And I decided that the Oscars were pretty much a crock around the time Amelie got shafted two years ago. Yeah, I know, silly grudge to hold. But a couple of things...
-Chris Rock didn't do a bad job. I have a feeling most of the reviewers will say he was boring as hell, but I think that's just in comparison to his other work. I mean, if you gave Eddie Murphy or Dave Chappelle the hosting duties but told them that they couldn't cuss, couldn't be sexual and had to have all their jokes reviewed by the network heads beforehand, they'd look bland too. And I'm not singling them all out as black men, but as comedians who make comedic statements with the "no, you didn't" effect. Rock's style hasn't been quite as strong as theirs, but he's made a career by saying the things that no one else had the guts to say about race relations. That didn't necessarily mesh well with the Oscars, who try to leave the controversy to the MTV Music Awards.
- That said, I did like Rock's visit to the Magic Johnson Theatres to talk to "the people". I think it was probably a shock to some of those in the audience that most of Middle Amercia would rather see The Chronicles of Riddick a thousand times than see Million Dollar Baby once.
- Speaking of which. Hilary Swank's dress, frankly, sucked. When you win an Oscar basically for killing yourself in a gym for six months, don't you want the world to see the body you got as a result?
- Didn't see most of the red carpet, but from what I saw, Virginia Madsen had the best dress of the night, with Salma Hayak winning a special award for Best Use of Superior Cleavage. That said, has their been a rule implemented at the Oscars that all the actresses have to wear a sleeveless. tight-to-the-knees dress with a poufy train? Seriously, folks, I know that Nicole Kidman looked lovely in those for the past few years, but you're beginning to make me miss Cher. At least I give Hilary some props for being unique.
- If Renee Zellwegger gets any skinnier, I'm going to start sending her In 'n Out Burger gift certificates.
- I think the tribute to Carson was possibly the best segment of the evening. A classy way to say goodbye to a classy man.
- Speaking of classy (or not so much), I did like Halle Berry's dress and her very proper Oscar presentation. However, I liked her Razzie acceptance speech even more.
- Boy, I would not want to be anywhere in the vicinity of Martin Scorsese right about now.
-Chris Rock didn't do a bad job. I have a feeling most of the reviewers will say he was boring as hell, but I think that's just in comparison to his other work. I mean, if you gave Eddie Murphy or Dave Chappelle the hosting duties but told them that they couldn't cuss, couldn't be sexual and had to have all their jokes reviewed by the network heads beforehand, they'd look bland too. And I'm not singling them all out as black men, but as comedians who make comedic statements with the "no, you didn't" effect. Rock's style hasn't been quite as strong as theirs, but he's made a career by saying the things that no one else had the guts to say about race relations. That didn't necessarily mesh well with the Oscars, who try to leave the controversy to the MTV Music Awards.
- That said, I did like Rock's visit to the Magic Johnson Theatres to talk to "the people". I think it was probably a shock to some of those in the audience that most of Middle Amercia would rather see The Chronicles of Riddick a thousand times than see Million Dollar Baby once.
- Speaking of which. Hilary Swank's dress, frankly, sucked. When you win an Oscar basically for killing yourself in a gym for six months, don't you want the world to see the body you got as a result?
- Didn't see most of the red carpet, but from what I saw, Virginia Madsen had the best dress of the night, with Salma Hayak winning a special award for Best Use of Superior Cleavage. That said, has their been a rule implemented at the Oscars that all the actresses have to wear a sleeveless. tight-to-the-knees dress with a poufy train? Seriously, folks, I know that Nicole Kidman looked lovely in those for the past few years, but you're beginning to make me miss Cher. At least I give Hilary some props for being unique.
- If Renee Zellwegger gets any skinnier, I'm going to start sending her In 'n Out Burger gift certificates.
- I think the tribute to Carson was possibly the best segment of the evening. A classy way to say goodbye to a classy man.
- Speaking of classy (or not so much), I did like Halle Berry's dress and her very proper Oscar presentation. However, I liked her Razzie acceptance speech even more.
- Boy, I would not want to be anywhere in the vicinity of Martin Scorsese right about now.
My Sunday Dinner Pick - Sitar
There are a few foods that I think that I could probably live off of exclusively for the rest of my life (or at least a few years) without ever tiring of them. One is good pizza (note the word "good", which means straight from a pizza oven, pan crust, fresh ingredients. I've only found a couple of pizzarias who come close to qualifying.) Another is my Granny's chicken and dressing with my aunt's twice-baked potatoes. Yet another is sushi, in particular Philadelphia rolls (okay, I know the real sushi snobs are screaming at this, but something about the combination of cream cheese and crab makes me very, very happy) and miso soup. But above all of this is chicken tikka masala. Absolutely adore the stuff. If it weren't a bitch and a half to make from scratch, I'd probably be cooking it at home at least every 2-3 days.
But alas, I am not the least bit Indian, have no Indian friends to teach me how to cook the dish as well they can, and unfortunately I don't live in London, where curry shops are like fast food (so I hear.) So I have to go to the local Indian restaurants to get my fix. And while they are excellent, they're a bit pricy for my po' budget. So I'm limited to getting the best chicken tikka masala I've found in Nashville (Taste of India on Church) every few weeks as a treat. But in the meantime, there is one good alternative that I find myself using quite a bit. That's the Sitar lunch buffet.
Sitar's food is excellent - maybe not quite as flavorful as some of the other Indian shops in town, and their rice, frankly, is often disappointing. But other than that, it's consistant and dependable, which is not something that you can say about many of the buffet places in town. And it has a good variety of choices - as with most Indian places, they have tons of vegetarian options. Their naan (flatbread) suffers under the heat lamps, but if you catch it out fresh, you'll be tempted to eat it instead of anything else. And they always offer two dessert choices which I can't do without - kheer (a custard they make with pistachios and almonds added) and a rice pudding.
Sitar has a very nice dining area and a great wait staff, but it tends to be very, very crowded at lunch. Most of the time that I go to the buffet, I get it to go and feast through the afternoon at work. But in the evening, the ambience is very nice - all candlelight and cool Indian music playing. Also, my sister, brother-in-law and I recently found out that it's not a bad place to take a very energetic 3-year-old for an early weekend dinner. Not only were the wait staff very patient with my niece, but they made excellent suggestions on foods that she would like to eat.
All in all, Sitar is an excellent lunch value for a good $7 meal ($8 for take-out) and a solid choice whenever. And until someone opens a curry shop on Nolensville Road (hey, every other nationality is there) I've got a cheap fix for my masala cravings.
But alas, I am not the least bit Indian, have no Indian friends to teach me how to cook the dish as well they can, and unfortunately I don't live in London, where curry shops are like fast food (so I hear.) So I have to go to the local Indian restaurants to get my fix. And while they are excellent, they're a bit pricy for my po' budget. So I'm limited to getting the best chicken tikka masala I've found in Nashville (Taste of India on Church) every few weeks as a treat. But in the meantime, there is one good alternative that I find myself using quite a bit. That's the Sitar lunch buffet.
Sitar's food is excellent - maybe not quite as flavorful as some of the other Indian shops in town, and their rice, frankly, is often disappointing. But other than that, it's consistant and dependable, which is not something that you can say about many of the buffet places in town. And it has a good variety of choices - as with most Indian places, they have tons of vegetarian options. Their naan (flatbread) suffers under the heat lamps, but if you catch it out fresh, you'll be tempted to eat it instead of anything else. And they always offer two dessert choices which I can't do without - kheer (a custard they make with pistachios and almonds added) and a rice pudding.
Sitar has a very nice dining area and a great wait staff, but it tends to be very, very crowded at lunch. Most of the time that I go to the buffet, I get it to go and feast through the afternoon at work. But in the evening, the ambience is very nice - all candlelight and cool Indian music playing. Also, my sister, brother-in-law and I recently found out that it's not a bad place to take a very energetic 3-year-old for an early weekend dinner. Not only were the wait staff very patient with my niece, but they made excellent suggestions on foods that she would like to eat.
All in all, Sitar is an excellent lunch value for a good $7 meal ($8 for take-out) and a solid choice whenever. And until someone opens a curry shop on Nolensville Road (hey, every other nationality is there) I've got a cheap fix for my masala cravings.
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