Young Frankenstein's favorite

Welcome to this week’s edition of Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down.  This is the first edition, and almost certainly won’t be done every week.  But I’m going to pretend like it will be.  Those of you who know me know that I will almost invariably try new things when given the opportunity.   As such I am quite the consumer.  This week I tried two new food items, and will dispense with you the wisdom I gained from doing so.

Thumbs Down: Buffalo Snacker from KFC

I know, I know.  A 99 cent sandwich from KFC.  You’d expect it to be a taste sensation.  But sadly it’s not.  The buffalo sauce is adequate, but tangy in a slightly unpleasant way.  They fall apart too easy and the service isn’t very quick.  But the biggest fault is that they are too small.  You’d be much better off getting a Hot N’ Spicy McChicken or Spicy Chicken Sandwich from Carls Junior, both of which are nearly twice as big and also cost 99 cents.

Thumbs Up: Pudding on the Rice

At the exact time I was purchasing my KFC I saw that Pudding on the Rice was now open.  Having zero concept of what this was, but also having about 10 minutes of spare time, I decided to investigate.  Turns out that this is a new store devoted entirely to rice pudding.  Yes, you heard me right, nothing but rice pudding.  Where else than Provo?  According to their website they’re in New York, Paris, Tokyo and over a 1000 other locations.  I like rice pudding, but I doubt the financial wisdom in opening this store within a mile of 4 ice cream places.  Maybe people will like having an extra option.  And options PotR certainly has.  The salesgirl (who was hot, which was an added benefit) told me that they always had 16 flavors available, indicating that they actually have more than that.  I sampled both the Chocolate Raspberry and Caramel Turtle.  I ended up going with the Turtle, and spread a 3 dollar portion over a couple meals.  I admit, it was delicious.  Probably not much healthier than ice cream with all the chocolate and caramel, but delicious nonetheless.  

The product seems quality and I support them in their novel endeavor.  I do however have a couple minor suggestions.  They serve their rice pudding in Tupperware dishes.  That’s just odd.  You’re going to have a hard enough time selling your pudding folks, you don’t need to have your dishes look like they hold leftovers.  They also rented out a huge store and are only using one wall.  There is seriously a ton of extra space, all plain white, which just looks odd.  Finally I’m not a huge fan of the name.  It’s kind of clever, but I don’t think lots of people will get it.  Need help?  “If you’re blue and you don’t know where to go to why don’t you go where fashion sits . . .” Pudding on the Rice.  Maybe I give the general populace too little credit.  If you’ve got one near you, hit this place up.

Song of the moment: “Blitzkrieg Bop” The Ramones

Serenity Now!

I decided on Sunday to avoid the whole game playing ritual that’s been instituted in our ward.  Basically three of four apartments have game night every Sunday (almost always girls apartments, I guess as a form of counterdating) and people play party games or board games or whatever.  I participate fairly often, but have lost most of my motivation to do so.  My overdramatic analogy for my roommates is that I’ve been emotionally castrated.  There’s no possible way I’ll hook up with anyone at this point, so there’s no actual point to dating or flirting.  I still go and do things, even dates, just for the superficial fun factor.  But nothing will come of it so I can just as easily lose the motivation and occupy myself in other ways that seem more enjoyable at the time.  This was an extremely long introduction to explain why I watched Serenity on Sunday.

For those of you not in the know, there was once a TV show called Firefly.  It was basically a western in space.  The idea is not terribly novel, but it was pulled off very well.  I’ve only seen a handful of episodes but I’ve enjoyed them all.  The show was cancelled after it’s first season, but strong DVD sales and fan interest allowed them to justify making a movie which hit theaters last year I believe.  This is Serenity, and might I add that it was awesome.

Basically the movie was a two-part episode, with better special effects and some finality for the series.  I won’t go into the plot, since it’s not easily summarized.  For me the main appeal of the show is the characters, who are each quite interesting in their own respects.  It was great to see them get together in a last adventure.  I’d love to see another movie or series, but have no expectations of this occurring.  But if this was in fact their last hurrah, it was hurrafic.  I’ll give away the vague spoiler that some characters die.  I was so mad when a favorite of mine bit it.  I was more emotionally attached to these characters than any movie I’ve seen recently.  I doubt the effect would be nearly as powerful had I not seen the series previously, but I still think it’s worth noting.

If you’ve seen and liked Firefly then Serenity is a must see.  If you have a means of seeing the show first, I’d highly recommend doing so before viewing the film.  But even if you can’t I still think you’ll enjoy the ride that is Serenity.  It’s even tempting me to see Slither just so I can one of the actors at work in something else.  And that’s saying something.

Song of the moment: “Love Cliché” Bran Van 3000  

Turning Indian, yes I'm turning Indian, I really think so

For the last few years I’ve been telling myself that I need to read Indian newspapers more often. This morning (in preparation for General Conference of course) I decided to. My efforts were greatly rewarded.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1617162,00110001.htm

http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1664305,001100010007.htm

Commitment Issues

I'm currently working on two movies, 4 short stories, 2 poems, 1 country song (weird I know considering I hate country music), 2 articles, and a research paper proposing the use of John Donne to study Mormon doctrine. If I knew what was good for me I'd sit and finish one of these projects. But I don't, so won't. Here's one of my short stories I've just started. Short is a relative term in that I'm on the 15th page and am probably half done.

http://mormonmachine.googlepages.com/christian

Song of the moment: "Better Way" by Ben Harper

PSI: Perpetually Single Individual

If ever there were a formula to make you feel like scum (ie single) this is it: go to both a mission reunion and a wedding reception in one night. If you don’t understand I’ll explain briefly.

Mission reunions have one purpose and one purpose only: to show the other missionaries your wife. You can substitute this with your girlfriend, but even being unsealed is a strike against you. Showing up with a baby gets you extra points. Against my better judgment I showed up to mine sans wife, baby or even girlfriend. At least I have my hair (red though it may be) which some of my contemporaries can no longer claim.

Wedding receptions are horrible things. The free food is great of course, and doubly so when they have chocolate fountains and/or wedding cheesecake. At least this reception had chocolate fountains. But horrible factors include waiting in lines, making small talk with their relatives you don’t care about and will never meet again, and feeling guilty for not giving a gift. This last reason is of course my fault, but it’s been a busy week. Add to the fact that the groom (my old roommate) is considerably younger than I and met his wife shortly after returning from his mission (being bitter that he is from Hawaii and got to go on his mission to Australia is a separate issue) doesn’t help anything. Don’t get me wrong, I love the guy, and his wife as well, and most certainly wish them the best. But going to his reception a couple weeks before leaving the land of potential marriage (in the altered words of Babylon 5: Provo is the last, best hope for marriage) was not a recipe for a healthy self image.

I realize of course that the last couple blog entries paint me as being a horrible person. Perhaps I am. But if I can deal with it so can you.

Song of the night: "Walking with a Ghost" The White Stripes