Dinner and a Movie

So, I know I blogged once before about my college friends our occasional themed dinners. We try and have at least two or three a year, but as we all get older and wrapped up in our own dramas, it gets more and more difficult to coordinate our diverse schedules, which actually saddens all of us. We've gone from four or five dinners a year to one or two.

Our last theme was "Black and White" and we all made incredibly delicious chocolate and vanilla dishes that were rather amazing. I did dessert; a chocolate and butterscotch apple crisp with vanilla icing. We all left the table sated, bloated and exhausted.

This coming Saturday, we are eating again, and this time the theme is "Movie Food." To clarify, that means foods featured in or inspired by movies. My first instinct was a timpano from the calorie-laden film Big Night, starring Tony Shaloub and Stanley Tucci (yummy enough in and of themselves). I saw that movie with Dale (who will there on Saturday) and we immediately went out for a huge pasta dinner. But I have already made one of those (an incredibly arduous dish requiring more time than I have) and want to do something different. So I deferred that to my longest and dearest friend Janet, who will no doubt, make an amazing version of it.

So, after much brain-wracking and web-searching, I have decided to make a salad inspired by Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood: Warm Goat Cheese and Endive Salad with Pears and Walnuts. The recipe sounds incredibly delicious (I'm always happy with any salad that features cheese, fruit and nuts) and appears to be not only easy, but slightly less labor-intensive than many of the other recipes I found. I suppose I could have done milkshakes, but that seemed a bit too obvious, don't you think? I'll give my full (all puns intended) recap Saturday night.

Of course, a meal like this does nothing to help my quest to lose another 5 or pounds before my 30th (ack!) High School Reunion on the 27th (which will no doubt require a very frightening post of its own). Until then, please enjoy the trailer for There Will Be Blood:

And this rather amusing parody, There Will Be Bud:

More, anon.
Prospero

The Gayest Thing You'll See This Week: Etc. Version

I love these "Literal Music Videos," where people re-write the lyrics to songs so they are about what's happening on screen, rather than the song's original intent. Some are really hilarious. I love Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart." It was written by Jim Sharman, who wrote several songs for Bonnie (uh... and a little album called "Bat Out of Hell" for some guy named Meatloaf - seriously one of the defining albums of my youth). Anyway, I never quite realized how homoerotic the video for that song really is, until (thank goodness) this version pointed it out for me. Enjoy!

Then I was bipping (yes, I actually typed the word "bipping") around, looking for amusements, when I came across a video of something called "The Headphones Sketch" on funnyordie (for some reason, funnyordie's videos won't embed for me properly, so I've just linked to it for you). It made me smile and it's set at a bus stop, which made me think of "City of Strangers,"one of my all time favorite sketches from "The Tracey Ullman Show" on Fox:

I hope that's the first time you've ever seen that sketch, so you are as shocked and delighted by the surprise ending as much as was, the first time I saw it. Man, I love Tracey! I wish she would make more movies. And of course, we do have her to thank for this.

On (slightly) less gay issues, I have to say that I am hating the end of this weekend, as it was just fabulous - both literally and figuratively. I found two major props for the show over the weekend. The first was purely by accident, while in pursuit of the second. The second was just a matter of figuring out the right place to go. So, in addition to an amazingly fun night at the movies on Friday; prepping and opening my pool on Saturday and Sunday, I had a delicious and delightful Sunday breakfast with an exceptionally special group of many of my dearest friends: Janet; her husband, Dale (who is NOT "my dear D," but is as dear a friend); K; Walter (my Puppet Master for The Skin of Our Teeth); his lovely wife, Kelly and their gorgeous, well-behaved and completely hilarious children, Ben and baby sister, Kasey. Kasey may well be the most beautiful child alive and Ben is just wise beyond his years. Dad just read him a children's version of Moby Dick. Could you die? And almost 3 year-old Ben knew the whole story. "Captain Ahab had a... a peg-leg! 'Cause Moby Dick bit off his real leg!" Ben's "Why-Is-This-Child-Not-On-Baby-Magazine-Covers?" gorgeous sister has the most amazingly big, clear and delightfully blue eyes you could even dream of losing yourself in. Both Ben and Kasey are going to be quite the catches when they grow up.

Oh - and bonus points for taking my mother to Walmart on Sunday afternoon. You honestly have no idea...

And how was your weekend?

More, anon.

Prosero