A Stranger in a Strange Land

I downloaded the concert that U2 performed live at Slane Castle a few years back, and I cannot help but keep going back to it over and over again.

Many of my old faves take on a new life. I could go on and on about it, but try and pick up the file and get the dvd if you’re any kind of a U2 fan …

My favourite moment comes 43 minutes into the concert, during Kite, a song Bono dedicates to the father he buried just before they played in Dublin.

"I’m a man, I’m not a child"

There’s something about the emotion in the performance that keeps tugging at me. Watching it makes me sit and reflect for some reason.

Lyrics follow:

 Then I went and bought the DVD. Because a concert like this is worth every penny.

A weekend that was filled with sun, sand and … err grass.

Sun was shining all weekend. I saw nary a cloud.

Sand was when we were playing ‘beach’ volleyball.

Grass is when we were on the soccer field or on the golf course. My sunburnt skin is proof that I hardly spent any time in front of the TV. Well except when I was watching 24.

I just heard that today is the official last day of summer. Makes sense since the nights have been getting cooler. Time for our annual 4 weeks of good weather then it’s time to bundle up till May. 

Oldboy is one of the most twisted movies I’ve ever seen. Watched it with the usual bunch and when we were done there were damaged chairs, damaged minds and twisted insides that slept uneasily.

The long weekend that went by all too quickly methinks. Back to work, to work I go!

** The tagboard is gone forever. I didn’t like the space it was taking up. Leave comments! 

*** I’ve been saving this link for the longest time but for some reason haven’t been able to fit it into a post. I do apologize for the content in advance and hope that none of you find this remotely useful. Clickity. 

Just finished watching a short documentary about one of the greatest nights in Liverpool’s history.

If you are a fan don’t even think about not watching it. Go get it from BT … search for "One Night in May". If you’re not, watch it anyway. You might find out why Liverpool are one of the best supported teams in the world.

I was cheering the comeback (bouncing on my poor abused chair), smiling through all the stories of celebration/disbelief and even tearing up at times … and this was after watching scenes from that night countless times since the 25th of May.

** Torrent file here 

So I’m 5 days into the being-by-myself segment of the summer. It’s nice in a way, though I miss having people to talk to. Chatting online doesn’t do enough.

Just watched Whale Rider. It’s slightly disturbing how one can find a 12 year old cute, but I think she’s of legal age now so I don’t feel so bad about it. The last time that happened it was Natalie Portman in The Professional.

Just finished reading ‘Ultra Marathon Man‘ by Dean Karnazes. He’s the guy that does the ultra long distance races (160 km and more).

He’s crazy.

This is him describing a meal he had while trying to run a 199 mile race (usually a relay) by himself.

With the cheesecake stacked on top of the pizza, I started running again, eating as I went. Over the years I’d perfected the art of eating on the fly. I balanced the box of pizza and cheesecake in one hand and ate with the other. It was a good upper body workout. 

…

For efficiency I rolled four pieces of pizza into one big log like a huge Italian burrito. Easier to fit into my mouth that way.

The book’s not expertly written, but it does manage to explain why he does what he does, in some sense. Should have waited for it to come out as a paperback though. Paid far too much at Barnes & Noble.

Friday continued with what was argubly the best meal I have had in years.

The original plan was to meet Su outside the restaurant at 5.30 so that we could get one of the tables that they reserve for walk-ins. I got there 15 minutes early and found out that they had started service at 5 pm instead. I call Su and she’s about 3 blocks away. Once she finds out that we might miss the chance to get a table she starts running. My first view was her sprinting like a champ down Waverly Pl. I should have gotten a picture.

Anyway we get a table relatively quickly and sit down with our bottle of wine. They start us out with a complimentary dish called an amuse bouche (A French culinary tradition meaning “amusement for the mouth,” these small, delightful bites, or mini-appetizers, are meant to whet the palate before the meal begins or cleanse it between courses).

Anyway this was a chickpea bruschetta. Very good and it just whetted my appetite for what was yet to come.

 We looked over the menu for what seemed like forever. The server was extremely helpful and helped to point out some flaws in our initial choices (we had pastas that would have been too similar in taste and texture). I had the grilled octopus with ‘bortolli marinara" and spicy lemoncello vinaigrette to start …

… and Su had the Warm Lamb’s Tongue Vinaigrette with morels and 3-minute egg (the BEST dish of the night bar none)

The 2 appetizers actually paired really well together. I’m not that good at describing tastes and textures but eating one and switching to the other actually enhanced the taste of both.

Onwards to the main courses. We only had pasta as Su felt that the best dishes she had ever had were mostly pastas. As per our server Jim suggested we had the mildest one first and the strongest tasting one last.

The first pasta was a lambs brain ‘francobolli’ with lemon and sage, basically a ravoli. The picture came out really dark but I didn’t want to disturb the tables around us. Really mild tasting and soft in texture.

Next we had the stinging nettle tagliatelle with spring peas and home-made pancetta. It was really good but the least favourite of the three pastas we had (for me at least). Slightly too salty but the pasta was excellent and the pancetta was really cripsy round the edges. The sweetness of the peas helped to offset the saltiness of the meat.

Last came the black spaghetti with rock shrimp chorizo and green chiles. It was probably one too many but we were committed by then. The pasta was again cooked PERFECTLY and it was a good spicy end to the meal. Oh, and the shrimp were so fresh they literally popped in my mouth. I believe the black colour came from squid ink.

After all that I was a round groaning ball. Couldn’t even eat the free biscuits that came with the bill. The food and wine came up to $75 per person. I guess I considered it my brithday treat to myself. We left and walked by the Washington Arch and I just had to stop and take a picture.

 We were so full that we decided to walk to eighty (80) blocks back to Su’s place. I just had to laugh when I passed by this in Times Square:

 Guess I’ll see you soon, Applebees. *shudder*

Happened to catch Garden State last night.

The description that best fit the movie for me was ‘whimsical’.

I had heard differing opinions about it though, but decided to try it out for myself. I’m glad I did. The ending was especially sweet and the rest of it wasn’t bad at all either.

The soundtrack is lovely. Am listening to it right now. Low key, relaxing and thoroughly enjoyable.

Oh, and it gives me an excuse to post a Natalie Portman picture.

It’s a good thing I didn’t have anything to do tonight.

Just finished The Office, Series 2.

The show is brilliant, fooking brilliant. Just finished the first series over the weekend and the second one was so much better after knowing exactly what was going on.

Some highlights:

• David and Gareth carrying the woman on a wheelchair downstairs during a fire drill and leaving her on a stair landing. The look on her face as she looks up to the camera is priceless
• David trying to upstage Neil by doing his "fusion of Flashdance and MC Hammer"
• Finchy doing the birthday girl from behind, illuminated only by a passing car: Her: "My knees hurt" Finchy: " *grunt*… nearly done"

Off to watch the DVD extras now. Wanna watch the last 2 special episodes that I already watched 2 weeks ago again just to finish off my Office marathon properly.

** Just finished the last 2 episodes. *sniff*

Every new show now seems to be a reality series. Nanny 911? Extreme Makeover? Boss Swap?

Here’s an idea … how about we follow the adventures of a graduate student as he goes about writing code … it’s going to be huge.

Been watching American Idol, even though no one really jumps out this season. I’m really surprised they got rid of Nikko and Amanda though. Not compelling and I probably won’t need to tape it anymore.

The Apprentice has been pretty good, Erin’s hot, maybe it’s the way she smiles. The smile is the first thing I notice (if I notice in the first place, which hasn’t happened in forever) about someone, and a good one literally makes me go weak at the knees. But I digress. The season started with them pitting Street Smarts against Book Smarts, and you would think that street smarts would come out ahead. That hasn’t been true though, and they mixed the teams up today so there goes your theme for the season.

Anyway they were auctioning stuff from pop stars (go on tour with them etc) and Gene Simmons comes and starts poking Erin in the ear and then licking his finger. Once a chee ko pek always a chee ko pek I guess. Women do put up with alot from men sometimes. Will be following this till the end this season. Next up is Martha Stewart’s season so that’ll be interesting.

The Contender is on the telly now, my first time watching it. It’s about 2 teams of boxers choosing one fighter to box at the end of each week, and the last 2 get to duke it out for *channels Dr. Evil* one … millllllooooon dollars.

Looks ok, and they move the families down to live with the guys too. More drama potential definitely. Sly Stallone’s hosting and yes, he still mumbles every word.

Spring Break has started for many, I gotta teach till 5.30 pm on Fridays but I got no plans anyway so there’s no rush to get the hell out of town. Driving down to Tennessee to visit some old friends and it’s back to school to get work done.

Links of the day:

Not really lah. This guy is though. I can see where he’s coming from now though.

I’ve been using the Mac (Kewerbook!) for just about a month now and it’s been a joy to use. All the things I read about it are true after all. Ease of use, looks, how everything just works. It’s all true. All I’ve done since I’ve gotten it is use the damn thing instead of trying to get it to work.

Take installation of programs for example. Do you know how easy it is to install and uninstall programs? You drag ONE file to your hard disk to install. Drag the same file to the Trash to uninstall.

That’s it.

Really.

No, I’m not bluffing.

Oh, did I mention Exposé? I could go on for hours really.

There’s so much to read out there about why the Mac is the better machine, but having been on Windows all my life I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to see the light. Even Windows users wish their Windoze XP PeeCees looked like one.

Simply put, if you use the computer for web surfing, email, and chatting the Mac wins hands down (where did that saying come from anyway? A whole other post in the making). No contest, zip, none, nada. Don’t even try.

If you’re into games, that’s a whole other story. But I’m not. I gotta use a WinXP machine when I’m working though and it feels more like work now that I’ve got my Mac. (Anyone care to name my Mac?)

Mac zealots can be a tad overbearing sometimes I admit.

I’m just trying to get people I know to see the light. For all those I know, you’ve been forewarned. =)

Prima Deli Rendang … this was so easy to make and tasted so good!

Finished rendang

Lo Hei on Chap Goh Mei … hey that rhymes.

Messy eating by yours truly. I look much better in pictures when they come out blurry.