Valentines Day!

It was Valentines Day 2010 and Dan and I went to the Funnybone and saw Billy Gardell!  We love it there.  It was the place where we had our first date, so we thought why not go there for Vday too.  Before going to Funnybone, we drove around looking for places to eat for dinner.  Every place had a wait that was well over an hour, so we settled on O'Charlies.  I had actually been wanting to go there sometime soon anyway and it really paid off.  I had a delicious pasta dish and Dan had the Louisiana sirloin which was ammaazing!! We both had leftovers, so we combined them and brought them home for the next evening's dinner (it worked quite wonderfully).

Dan bought us a few drinks at Funnybone, earning us some take-home Funnybone glasses.  We'll able to hold onto those and remember that it was from our first Valentines Day together at the Funnybone! Dan is the best! :) 

Friday, January 29th:  With it being Friday, Dan had off work and I worked until 7:30.  Once I was off work, I picked up Dan from home and we met Matt and Monica at Smokey Bones at Easton for dinner.   Monica and I split a combo dinner, which allowed us both to order three types of meat and a side dish.  Monica brought her Entertainment book that's full of coupons.  We flipped through it to decide what to do next.  We decided to go to the Gahanna Lanes bowling alley for some glow in the dark putt-putt.  It was my first time and we had so much fun.  There was even a plastic gorilla on one of the holes that was huge and for whatever reason, we thought it would be a good idea to get rediculous photos of ourselves with this gorilla.  I'm currently waiting for Matt to post those photos so I can share them.  I was in tears laughing from just viewing them seconds after we took them!!  Between games of putt-putt, we headed to the bar for some drinks, games of pool, and music (jukebox).  After all was said and done, we said our goodbyes and head home.  We always really enjoy hanging out with those two!! :)

Saturday, January 30th:  Dan and I slept in and took it easy until Nick Defazio's birthday party.  I picked up some sour candy for him on the way as a small gift.  Nick, as always, had various alcohol and shots were being passed around.  Nick was very interested in playing a murder mystery type of role playing game.  Needless to say, with all the shots he took, the game never really got off to an official start, but because I ended up being the head of the mafia twice (and couldn't keep my lips zipped...lol) I ended up dead twice before people moved onto something else.  ;)  Once people started filtering out, Dan and I headed home to a new bottle of rum we purchased earlier that evening.  We only had but a sip of it and decided to call it a night.  We're looking forward to trying it again this weekend for Josh's surprise party.

Sunday was the last day of January.  I'm so glad to be moving onto February ... one more month closer to spring.  ;) We took it easy after waking up around 2:00 or so.  Dan (the best pancake making in history) made breakfast and we watched the pro-bowl.  It was my first time (that I remember anyway) seeing the pro-bowl.  I really enjoyed it.  I can tell Dan is dredding football season ending and although I thought I'd never say this ... I think I am too!  I told him I think they should have games similar to the pro-bowl to keep those football lovers entertained throughout the off-season.  Maybe some day!  Later that evening, I made shake n' bake chicken and we dipped it into City BBQ's sauce and two of BW3's sauces as well and I made fried scalloped potatoes, which I threw in the oven afterward to melt cheese and top off with bacon which we dipped in ranch, sour cream, and blue cheese sauces; it was delicious!  I'm looking foward to finding more ways to make potatoes scrumptious de umptious! 

Eye on the Oscars: The Hurt Locker

In an effort to acclimate myself with some of the less-known movies to be honored at this year's Academy Awards, I headed to Blockbuster to pick up the limited-release suspense gem “The Hurt Locker”.  By the time you read this, I'm sure most of you will have heard about this film and its Avatar-tying nine Oscar nominations, in such major categories as Best Picture, Director, Actor, and Original Screenplay.  Kudos to those who have actually seen it, however, as I only remember spying it on the marquis of the occasional two-screen indy theater and had heard literally nothing about it during its short run.  Since then, it's become one of the most critically acclaimed films of the year, and deservedly so.

This military action/drama focuses on a bomb disposal squad in the streets of Baghdad, and their new addition, Staff Sgt. William James, played by Jeremy Renner.  James' nature is essentially summed up in the movie's opening quote: “War is a drug”.  He's an adrenaline junky who's more than a little bit irreverent to military protocol, and his unique job gives him the opportunity to practice his virtuoso improv skills on the most dangerous of instruments: a live, ticking, explosive.  But to say that James is nothing more than a reckless addict is to deny the depth of his character revealed through the occasional reassurance of a terrified squad mate, and his connection with an Iraqi boy selling pirated DVDs.

Throughout the movie, perspective is kept with a countdown of Sgt. James' days remaining until he gets to return home to his wife and child.  When it runs to zero, we get a glimpse of his home life, and how truly out of place he feels there.  Suffice it to say he's back where he belongs, playing the instrument he loves in no time.

Aside from Jeremy Renner's Oscar-worthy performance, I would also give Katherine Bigelow the honors for her brilliant directing.  She instills every new challenge to the squad with an unnerving suspense that keeps you on the edge of your seat whether something ends up going terribly wrong or not.  As an audience for these situations, we are usually joined by a mixed crowd of Iraqi civilians and the insurgent bomb-designers themselves, all as intrigued as we are to see how this team deals with the increasingly elaborate explosives.

I recommend this movie if you want to know exactly how it would feel to have the most dangerous job in the world; to know what it's like to strap on an eighty pound Kevlar bomb suit and walk, slowly and alone, down an empty Baghdad street towards an unknown, elaborate explosive device; to feel the eyes of the insurgent onlookers in high towers and the sweat pour down your face as you attempt to disarm this possibly timed, particularly sensitive bomb; and if you make one mistake, a bad step, a flick of the finger, you will feel the dust literally rise off the ground the instant before the shock wave throws you off your feet and all over the landscape.

I give this movie two thumbs up and I definitely recommend you find it on DVD, preferably before the Academy Awards (March 7^th) so you can be appropriately outraged when it gets robbed by Bigelow's ex-husband James Cameron and his “Avatar”.

As always, if you want to give your opinion or just talk movies, please email me at dgleesonprata@gmail.com