Nice Things and Chitlins

muppetpants: (via WSJ) And this is why I own stock in a large...

Tue, 05 Jan 2010 23:41:42 -0500

(via WSJ)

And this is why I own stock in a large offshore oil drilling company.

2. Citronelle

Tue, 29 Dec 2009 20:57:32 -0500

My dad tells a story about Citronelle: he had some work folks in town once who were staying at the Latham Hotel. When they asked him for a restaurant recommendation near the hotel, he told them they couldn’t go wrong with Citronelle. They said, “we’d like something nicer than a hotel restaurant”.

That’s the tricky thing about Citronelle—it’s many things. It’s one of the fanciest restaurants in town, but has appetizers like re-imagined Chicken McNuggets and drinks served in fishbowls of chipped ice. There are also two physical sides to the restaurant. There’s the uber fancy, many course dining room and the significantly less fancy and slightly less expensive lounge. I knew that I would enjoy the food more if I wasn’t paying the equivalent of a car payment for it, so I decided the lounge would be a better fit for this particular dinner. I assumed the lounge was just a tiny bar or something in the corner of the main dining room, perfect for sitting perfectly still and gawking at Mr. and Mrs. Moneypants as they went to town on their multi-course extravaganza.

The lounge ended up being more like a hotel bar than I thought it would be (don’t tell my dad’s friends!), there wasn’t much ambiance save for a random Christmas decoration or two in the corner. The tables are tiny, probably in an effort to get folks to order drinks instead of food, but when faced with a challenge I get in to high gear. My friend tried to convince me to order something green for my appetizer, but I had a bad day at work and by god I wanted fried food. We ordered the faux chicken nuggets which were great and crispy and served with honey mustard sauce. I usually get the Polynesian sauce but beggars can’t be choosers. We also ordered the “macube” which was essentially fried cheese. But instead of those wusses at T.G.I. Friday’s that give you marinara sauce to dip your mozzarella sticks in, Michel Richard, in his infinite Santa Clausian wisdom, serves you his fried cheese with cheese dip. Cheese and cheese. It’s so simple that it’s genius.

For my main course, I knew what I wanted before I even stepped through the door. I had read, heard and dreamed about the 72-hour short ribs for as long as I can remember. Since the ribs are served for two people, I was worried my friend wouldn’t be on board. Lucky for me, we’re friends for a reason and Lindsay was all about the ribs. The waiter brings them out and ceremoniously divides them between the two lucky eaters, complete with a little tower of mashed potatoes and some roasted vegetables. Now I can go in to how perfect the meat is cooked and seasoned, but I sadly don’t have the vocabulary to do it justice. I’ll put it this way: the meat is served with a fork and butter knife. Tender doesn’t really begin to describe it.

The food was amazing, but I was most surprised by how accessible the restaurant (well, the lounge) is. The waiter could not have been more helpful—my friend has a severe allergy to pine nuts and even though there were no pine nuts anywhere near our dishes, he brought out a giant notebook with the complete list of ingredients used to make absolutely sure he wouldn’t have any anaphylaxis on his hands. We all appreciate that. There’s no way I could have finished all those short ribs by myself, though I would have tried my hardest.

Citronelle

Washingtonian Review

I went there with my mom as a birthday dinner and we got the tasting menu. Holy crap, it was fantastic. I don’t remember everything we were served (it was over a year ago at this point) but I do remember the lobster burger. I thought to myself, “If I gave away everything I owned and lived in a box on U street, but got to eat these lobster burgers every day I think I would die a happy, albeit frosty, man.”

Yea, that good. Also as a side note, by far the most interesting dinner I’ve had to date was at minibar. Not every one of the 26 or so dishes they served was great, but it was a fantastically cool experience.

bethlehems: (via bellavita) RUSTIC SHELF OF MANLY THINGS THAT I...

Tue, 29 Dec 2009 20:48:20 -0500

bethlehems:

(via bellavita)

RUSTIC SHELF OF MANLY THINGS THAT I AM INTERESTED IN.

Have you tried crystal skull vodka? I really want to (only because Dan Aykroyd makes it (and probably in his tub)) but it’s 50 bucks. Thats way too much for vodka that will most likely be mixed in something orange.

I really liked Avatar and The Fifth Element is one of my...

Sun, 27 Dec 2009 10:28:50 -0500

I really liked Avatar and The Fifth Element is one of my favorite movies. Maybe I have a thing for newly discovered alien women?

A Green Oops

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 11:59:20 -0500

Apparently LED traffic lights mostly don’t suck… except when it snows, because then they cause accidents. Incandescent lights generate heat and melt snow off the traffic signals but LED’s suck at being wasteful and the snow just builds up. I guess when you’re focused on green it’s hard to see red (sorry, had to say it).

Link to the Jalopnik article

I have great friends

Sun, 13 Dec 2009 13:00:04 -0500

I have great friends

Guess who’s drink this is? An Australians. Go figure.

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 00:12:56 -0500

Guess who’s drink this is? An Australians. Go figure.

I GOT PROMOTED!

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 08:01:55 -0500

Congrats! Now you have no reason to doubt the way you act at work (and with people in the industry after work). If you do a great job juggling these two things you’ll be golden.

stayforthecredits:

Okay, not really.

But I am getting into the digital effects department and helping them with a lot of stuff, and I’ll be taking over the digital effects supervisor’s job while he is on vacation in addition to my job as a PA. Gonna get pretty crazy…

Deadpool

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 20:59:40 -0500

So Ryan Reynolds came to work today for a VO session, which was cool. I’ve been a fan of his since blade III. He was a super nice guy, showed up by himself, and had no problem listening to and doing what the producer asked. I talked to him for a little and he mentioned, “my wife Scarlett…” and I stopped lisening. Having someone say, “my wife Scarlett” and having it mean Scarlett Johansen (sp?) is just, well, retardedly awesome. I needed that today because trying to find a reasonably priced apartment in NYC while living in nj is kicking my ass.

why are these people who show the dog in dog shows so fat?

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 21:30:55 -0500

whiskeyandgoatsmilk:

trot that weight around fatty. your dog is more attractive than you

Yea I noticed that. That really small black dog won one of the rounds and his handler was doing his best stay-puffed marshmallow man impersonation.

6od: ianbroyles: Pass me a slice of Istanbul, please. I’ve...

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 21:27:53 -0500

6od:

ianbroyles:

Pass me a slice of Istanbul, please.

I’ve actually been there. I’ve never been to New York, but I was in Istanbul a year ago. And much to my surprise, it was beautiful. I don’t know why I wasn’t expecting it to be. I think someone in my family went once and didn’t say many nice things about it, but it made for a pleasant surprise. Also, I think I could spend 3 days haggling in the Grand Bazaar.

However, I’m positive that the worst drivers in all the world, are in Istanbul, Turkey. This coming from a girl who learned to drive in Los Angeles, at the age of 12, no less. But I’m serious. I’ve never been so scared to be in a car or bus in my life. It wasn’t just my life I was in fear of losing, but literally everyone around me. People just walk out in front of cars going what felt like 55MPH to dart across the road. Athens runs a close second, but Istanbul? Wear your fucking seatbelts. Or just walk.

Went there and Athens this past summer and could not agree more about the drivers. Drivers in greece are crazy but have a little bit of sense still left, but Istanbul drivers exist on another plane. We took a cab back from dinner one night and I’m pretty sure the cabby was trying to scare us on purpose. Crossed the double yellows multiple times, got inches from the rear tire of a bike, braking at the last possible nano second. Besides that though, it’s a really fantastic place. Here’s a picture I took outside the Grand Bazaar

I am thankful for Col. Sanders in ninja clothes.

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 21:20:31 -0500

I am thankful for Col. Sanders in ninja clothes.

Things I didn't know: James Cameron filmed "The Abyss" (1989) inside a decommissioned nuclear reactor somewhere in South Carolina that he filled with millions of gallons of water.

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 21:40:19 -0500

stayforthecredits:

inothernews:

It kinda makes up for his casting of Chris Elliott.

Also: During the rigorous and problematic shoot, the cast and crew began calling the film by various derogatory names such as “Son Of Abyss”, “The Abuse” and “Life’s Abyss And Then You Dive”. Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio reportedly suffered a physical and emotional breakdown because she was pushed so hard on the set, and Ed Harris had to pull over his car at one time while driving home, because he burst into spontaneous crying. (via)

And I’d make them do it again if they made a movie as good as that one.

Behold: The Future!

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 21:27:13 -0500

muppetpants:

I saw 2012 yesterday. Here’s what you need to know.

From now on every president is black.

In the future we invent vehicles that cannot operate with a door open.

Really? Of the 3 movies you see every year you chose 2012?

Whole Foods is the best food court to ever exist in ever.

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 21:18:29 -0500

6od:

I know it’s a market and that part is dope, too, but really - as a food court it could stand alone. They have everything. It’s where you should go if you’re hungry and don’t know what you want. There’s no menu to look through. You just see food. And it’s fucking amazing food, too. Right now, Whole Foods is serving Thanksgiving dinner. Yup. Thanksgiving fucking dinner. And it’s fresh, it’s not like… Thanksgiving leftovers status, this is like you showed up to the party an hour late, but JUST in time to sit down and grub in a serious way. Like you haven’t eaten in months. Except you also have the option of sushi or chinese food or some vegan grainy shit or some PIZZA or like, maybe you want some muffins or chocolate gourmet shit or some middle eastern food. Like a falafel. Or you’re on a diet and want a salad of spinach and chopped celery with like, half a squeezed lemon for dressing. It doesn’t matter. It’s all possible at Whole Foods. It doesn’t get any better. I mean, I guess it could if they added an Umami Burger section and that taco truck from La Brea and Olympic. And maybe like, a Yogurtland. But I really think that would be too much. It would bust some type of universal truth wide open. It would cause like cosmic forces to collide and all the molecular energy would move so fast, it’d make the Large Hadron Collider look like the teacups ride at Disneyland. Whatever, you don’t get it.

Reblog for LHC mention. Yea… I’m a geek like that. And also the Whole Foods food court is a site to behold.

Anybody find one of the news titles slightly ironic?

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:51:30 -0500

Anybody find one of the news titles slightly ironic?

whiskeyandgoatsmilk: To further prove how incredibly uncool i...

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 17:57:11 -0500

whiskeyandgoatsmilk:

To further prove how incredibly uncool i was as a kid…

my family did not own the VHS of TMNT 1 or 2… but we owned a copy of the lesser known and less loved (mostly cause it was horrible) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3, The Turtles are Back…. in time.

I remember sliding open that oak drawer full of home videos and steven spielberg movies to always see this cover glaring back at me. As if to insult me and my lack of coolness at a young age.

I saw this in theaters with my brother and my mom when I was little. I don’t remember it though because the theater was empty and my brother and I just ran up and down the aisles.

Behold the glory that is Metal Nurse.

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:00:36 -0500

Behold the glory that is Metal Nurse.

The girl, her name is the Metal Nurse (aka Nurse Angel). That do it for any of you?

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:12:36 -0500

The girl, her name is the Metal Nurse (aka Nurse Angel). That do it for any of you?

That's different

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:23:46 -0500

There is a girl in a goth nurses outfit and a member of Judas Priest in the office right now. Slightly different than normal, more details to come later.