vertigo

it really seemed like this movie had two or three endings. i suppose you could take the view that it was merely more play-like, with separate acts and all, than the movies i am accustomed to.

amsterdam

short and sweet. well, maybe not sweet, but very good.

whale rider

i heard someone say this movie was degrading to women, which is strange, because it came off as rather empowering, to me.

beef daube with mustard, herbs, and white whine

billed as a “refreshing change” from “heartier and heavier” beef stews, the principle ingredients in this soup are two pounds of beef, onions, tomatoes, and 750 ml of white whine. given that the quality of wine is generally, uh, sacrificable when cooking, lea picked up a bottle of papio, a $4 bottle of chardonnay whose label wielded three playful looking monkeys, and whose back proclaimed it as a perfect drink for “prime mates.” one wouldn’t necessarily expect beef to taste good when fruity, but it does/can.

gothika

why was this movie titled gothika? (i suppose it was made in the gothic style, whatever that means.) the screenplay made little to no sense, even at the end, but plots aren’t always critical elements in thrillers. this movie has so many over-the-top moments that i can’t help but think i might enjoy watching it a second time, even if it was, in so many ways, awful. i may agree with ebert on this one, even though it means that i disagree with pretty much everyone else.

cave of the mounds

not the biggest cave i’ve ever walked through, especially considering the $12 admission price, but it’s still fun to wander through something so much other than the day to day.

best in show

everybody loves the guest mockumentaries, and i am no exception.

peach raspberry cobbler

this is a great way to get the oh-so-yummy taste of both peaches and raspberries during the off season, via the marvels of frozen fruit. combine hot cobbler with cold ice cream, and you have one very happy seth. and it’s pretty easy to prepare, too.

glorious, glorious peeps

i saw a link to this prank yesterday, and it got me to thinking about a number of peep-related experiences and web findings. off the top of my head, there’s the peep research site, the official peeps site, a lord of the peeps parody, a salon article about peeps, and, if that’s not enough, another ton of peeps links. that’s a lot of peeps.

as for myself, i just like eatin’ ‘em. especially after they go on sale after easter at four boxes for a buck. that’s good times. i prefer the chick-peeps myself, eschewing any bunny shaped nonsense. i also find the vanilla flavored variants to be tasty, while the strawberry ones fail to tickle my fancy. i understand there are many of you who are not big on peeps — your loss. then again, i suppose i dislike “circus peanuts” candy, so to each their own.

coq au vin

very tasty. chicken, red wine, mushrooms, pearl onions, some bacon. i had made a dish rather similar to this several months back, which was supposed to contain porcini mushrooms, but which i couldn’t find, so this was almost like a repeat. i cubed the chicken, instead of leaving it in whole-breast form, which allowed it to really soak up the flavor. i also made sauteed chard (also from joy of cooking) to go along with the entree, and it was awful. yuck. it tasted like fresh mown grass. ech. i can only assume i botched it in the preparation … either that, or chard is one of those things you can only dread, and to which you never look forward.