Formatting

Those of you who don't read this via RSS feed may have noticed that I changed the look of the site a bit. Mostly I just wanted to be able to post bigger photos and videos.

In a unrelated note, Hulu is streaming six Zatoichi films. These are pretty awesome. Check them out here.

Music of the Moment

After absolutely no deliberation, I've determined that "Love is a Wave" by The Crystal Stilts was the best pop song of 2009.



Besides that, I've been listening to The Stooges and the Dead Boys lately.  Seems like the more programming I do, the more I listen to aggressive music.

Arroz con Pollo

A very easy recipe to make, with a very delicious result.  Also quite price friendly for hungry and cash strapped grad students.  Serve over plantains.

 

Ingredients

1. 1 tablespoon cooking oil
2. 4 chicken thighs
3. 5 chicken drumsticks
4. 2 teaspoons salt
5. 1/2 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
6. 1 onion, chopped fine
7. 4 cloves garlic, minced
8. 1 cup canned crushed tomatoes
9. 1/2 cup bottled pimientos, drained
10. 1 small can (15oz) drained and rinsed black bean
11. 1 1/2 cup rice, preferably medium-grain
12.  2 1/2 cups water
13. 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
14. 4 lime wedges 

Directions

1. In a large, deep frying pan, heat the oil over moderately high heat. Season the chicken with 1/4 teaspoon of the salt and the pepper and add to the pan. Cook, turning, until well browned, about 8 minutes in all. Remove. Do not pour off chicken fat.
2. Add the onion to the pan and reduce the heat to moderately low. Cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the (chopped) garlic and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds longer. Add the tomatoes and pimientos, scraping the bottom of the pan to dislodge any brown bits. Stir in the beans, rice, water, the remaining 11/2 teaspoons of salt, and the cayenne, and arrange the chicken on top in an even layer.
3. Bring to a boil and simmer until all the water is absorbed, about 12 minutes. Turn the drumsticks and reduce the heat to very low. Cover and cook until the chicken and rice are just done, about 15 minutes longer. Serve with the lime wedges.

Twice Fried Plantains

Ingredients

1. 1/4 cup cooking oil
2. 4 green plantains
3. 2 teaspoon salt
4. 4 cloves garlic
5. 4 Lime Wedges 

Directions

1. In a large, deep frying pan, heat the oil over moderately high heat. Skin and chop the plantains.  Fry the plantain rounds until they are golden brown.  Remove browned plantains from heat.
2. Smash the fried plantains and garlic together in a bowl.  If the mixture is too dry, add some oil.
3. Form the plantain/garlic mixture into patties and fry again.  Remove from heat when the patties are caramelized on both sides.  Serve with lime wedges (or hot sauce!).

A Serious Man

Probably the darkest comedy I've ever seen...



Really well made, but really really dark.  This might just have the bleakest ending of any film I've ever seen.  If you liked Fargo, you'll probably like this.  I really enjoyed it.

Daybreakers

The only thing worse than being a vampire in Daybreakers, is actually sitting down and watching Daybreakers.  Just awful. 



Apparently Ethan Hawke considers this movie an allegory for... something.  My guess, its an allegory for how moronic this recent obsession in popular culture is. This was worse than Bram Stoker's Dracula, a film in which Keanu Reeves attempted an English(?) accent.  At least the vampires in that film had cool superpowers.  The only power the vampires in Daybreakers seem to have is uncanny ability to do exactly what the plot requires exactly when it is required.  In literally every other respect, they are completely incompetent.  This is not to say that the plot was not ridiculous and awful, because I'm pretty sure monkeys could have written a better story.

Seriously, this whole movie felt like something that someone who had never seen a good movie in their entire lives would make.  Even something with absolutely no conception of language (amoebas?) could have written better dialogue than the inane tripe that Willem Defore spouts throughout this mess.  If even Willem Defoe is phoning it in, you know your movie has problems. 

Instead of seeing Daybreakers, I recommend doing anything else (aside from seeing The Blindside) such as hitting your head against a brick wall for 90 minutes.  No matter what you end up doing, you'll be doing something less painful and probably more productive than watching this monstrosity.