Album of the Year: Boxer

Okay, I don't necessarily agree, but all the "best of the year" lists are starting to come out and The National's Boxer has been named best album at a few different places. Sixeyes named it back in October. And now Paste magazine gave it top billing as well.

I had a few songs from this album downloaded, but now I had to go and download the rest of the album to listen to it in it's entirety. So far so good :) I'm still mulling over my top ten albums of the year though. However, this may end up on my list as well.

The National - Apartment Song

The Future Is Unwritten: Joe Strummer

I had another great night last night. I wend to dinner at Tango Sur with Margaret and two of her friends: Julie and Noreen. I have wanted to try this restaurant for over 5 years! The restaurant is on the same block as The Music Box Theater (one of my new favorite places). So I took advantage and went to see the Joe Strummer movie, The Future is Unwritten. Went by myself and was about 10 minutes late. But I'm really glad I went. It is so neat to see movies like that on the big screen.

Joe Strummer was the lead singer of The Clash. The movie is shot around a huge campfire and all sorts of people talk about Joe Strummer . . . Bono, Steve Buscemi, John Cusak, Johnny Depp, Matt Dillon, Anthony Kiedis (from Red Hot Chili Peppers) and tons of others. It's amazing to see how music effects us all.

Dancing with the Stars Finale

Okay, it's over. They danced their last dances. We'll find out the winner tomorrow night. But the ONE dance that sticks in my mind and represents this season is Cameron and Edyta's Paso Doble to the theme song from Superman!

Decking the Halls

Today was the day I "decked the halls" and put the ornaments on my tree. Had the Christmas tunes going the whole time. It's always more work than I remember, but it always looks nice at the end. I love the little lights the are on the tree and love to have my tree on and watch old movies throughout the season. It looks really cute :)

Sing-A-Long Grease

Tonight we went to Sing-A-Long Grease at the classic Music Box Theater on Southport. I went with Tiffany and Brenda and one of their co-workers Theresa.

Anyone who has known me for a long time knows I LOVE the movie Grease. It was the first record album I asked Santa to bring me when I was a child - and I think I wore it out on my kiddie record player. The Sing-A-Long was a bunch of fun. They gave us a little baggie of things to use during the show. We got bubbles to blow during "Beauty School Drop Out", glow sticks to wave during "Hopelessly Devoted" and champagne poppers to pop during Sandy and Danny's first kiss. When we first walked in a fat drag queen dressed up like Frenchie was playing the organ. A guy dressed as Danny got up and gave us instructions for when we were supposed to use the stuff in the bag, taught us how to do the "hand jive" and told us things we were supposed to say at the screen during the film (kind of like Rocky Horror Picture Show). Needless to say it was a bunch of fun. I love all the songs and it was fun to sing them all with a group of strangers. I actually paid attention to the entire movie for the first time in a long time and it was really funnier than I remembered. I'll definitely go to another Sing-A-Long of some type again in the future.

Thanksgiving Turkey 2007

I didn't get many pictures this Thanksgiving. It was a small group . . . Margie and Adam came over. As did Nancy, Kurt and John. I drank 2 bottles of Champagne. I had some type of stomach thing going on that allowed me to drink but get nauseous when I ate. Weird. But I do remember watching my mom and Dick get the 17-pound turkey get ready to go in the oven. It was a slippery sucker! But they are pros :)

A Night in Dyer

Last night I went out to Dyer, Indiana to spend the night hanging out with my sister and Adam. We drank two bottles of Riesling (I drank most of it all) while my sister visited and chatted. I got to check out her new place and play with my nephew Logan (the black lab). For dinner we went for tepanyaki at House of Kobe. I got the steak and scallops and it was awesome. There was so much food we took it home and I got a midnight snack :) I heard another table of people singing happy birthday so I decided to lie and tell our waitress it was my sister's birthday! So we got to sing the birthday song, share carrot cake and get this cute picture taken. It was hysterical.

Tasting Menu at MK

Last night mom and I went to MK for dinner. Dick is on a golfing trip so we decided to indulge in a girls night out at a fancy schmancy restaurant. We decided to try the seasonal tasting menu "Fall to Pieces" was fabulous!

fall to pieces

hamachi
raw sliced yellow tail tuna, heart of palm puree, smoked pineapple relish, agrumato olive oil

cod
pan roasted north atlantic cod, deconstructed new england clam chowder

ravioli
braised oxtail ravioli, oven dried tomato braised lettuce, shaved pecorino sardo

duck
crispy skin moulard duck breast, caraway scented red cabbage, nichols farm apples, calvados emulsion

fromage
an assortment of cheeses from hither and yon, vine dried raisins and dried fruit

panna cotta
vanilla panna cotta, roasted figs, honey almond biscotti

$87.00 per person
$97.00 with fromage

Mom doesn't like duck so she substituted the short ribs special for that evening. They didn't offer a wine pairing but the waitress was very helpful suggesting wines for us to try. I had two $20 glasses of champagne, one glass of red wine and two $10 glasses of Austrian ice wine. YUM! Our total was $306 without the tip! But we really enjoyed it and can't wait to go back and try a new tasting menu in a few more months.

The Office is Closed

I am just becoming aware of the Writer's Guild strike. I knew it was coming . . . but this video from the writers of The Office, one of my favorite shows, really brings it all home. I am one of those who watched the entire first three seasons online. They didn't get compensated? I paid $1.99 an episode and I bought A LOT of episodes!

Also I've been reading that Steve Carrell, the star, won't cross the picket line and therefore they can't shoot any new episodes!

I am full support of the writers. They should be getting paid their fair share. The corporations don't need to suck up all the money they get! Pay their damn employees.

Anthony Bourdain in Hong Kong

I forgot how much I like Anthony Bourdain. I have been recording the new No Reservation shows but I haven't watched any until today. I was hoping to go to Hong Kong with Glendy this month (that fell threw) so I was really interested on Bourdain's show on Hong Kong. I'm so jealous. He looks like he is having so much fun. In fact, I wish I could go to Hong Kong WITH Anthony Bourdain. He is hanging out with a food blogger from there and they are checking out the neatest stuff! And he makes it sound so good. I'm going to have to head down to Chinatown and get some Peking duck. It's not roasted goose in Hong Kong, but it's the closest I can get. I wish I could get some of those good noodles . . .

Thursday: It's the Little Things

Heroes marathon in high-def on Mojo, chinese food ordered from Mee Mah, Thursday night TV on NBC including my favorite: The Office, and a chilled bottle of Toso Brut, and free time to catch up on my blogs . . LIFE IS GOOD TONIGHT!