The Adjustment Bureau

The Adjustment Bureau

Kudos to Writer Philip K Dick for pulling off a refreshing twist to this thought provoking thriller embedded in a love story.  Matt Dillion and the beautiful Emily Blount play the love interests.  I thought this movie was very entertaining.  I gave it a 4 out of 5 stars on my rating scale.  Hey guys, check this one out with your honey!  She'll tolerate the sci-fi elements once she realizes the special FX are complementary to the love story that unfolds.    

Review:Tex-Mex at Jose Tejas

Red Sangria

Stopped in at Jose Tejas in Iselin, NJ for a late lunch.  It's Memorial Day so I thought it would be a quick in and out.  Seems everyone had the same idea.  Place was jumping just the like the other previous times I was there.

Needed to wait about 20 minuters for seating, so we chilled at the Bar with an oversized Sangria.  It went down goooood!

Sizzling Steak Fajitas

Chicken  Burrito

Ordered the sizzling steak fajitias and were they ever hot! had me sweating beads.  I needed a tall glass of water to put out the fire in my mouth.  Elizabeth had the chicken burrito with black beans and rice.  If you've never visited Jose Tejas, they don't take reservations so be prepared to wait.  They have a fairly big bar so make use of it while you wait.  Prices here are quite reasonable and the food is fun, but tends to be spicy hot!  Nothing an ice cool drink won't cure.  The place itself is quite big and casual.  Inside looks like an old Cantina right out of Mexico.   Check out other reviews and pics at link below.      

http://www.yelp.com/biz/jose-tejas-iselin

It's kind of a Funny Story!

So we had an intense family debate about which movie to rent on Vudu yesterday.  I was lobbying for something thriller-like, but my oldest daughter was insisting we watch some movie that went by the name "It's kind of a Funny Story".  Now you know it's not funny if it has to point it out in the title, right?

So we watched two trailers, the choice was between this so called funny movie and Roommate which appeared to meet all my criteria of a thriller.  But Dad once again acquiesced and we went with my daughter's choice.  Much to my surprise, the movie had it's moments and I found it enjoyable.  The movie deals with the real life pressures faced by today's adolescence that can manifest into depression.  In the end, the lead character discovers inner strength and happiness by recognizing he's surrounded by an imperfect but supportive family structure and some new found friends. Of course the boy gets the girl in the end. 

This movie gets a 3 out of 5 stars from me.     
     

Review: A Mother's Day treat...brunch at Bogota

Sangria & Mojito

It advertises itself as the most reserved restaurant in Brooklyn, and few would dispute this claim.  Sometime had passed since I lasted visit this now Brooklyn staple. I noticed some subtle changes to the decor, but the one thing that remained unchanged was the familiar buzz generated by the guests as they enjoyed their Latin American fusion experience.

Mother's Day Guests

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Arroz Con Pollo

As we waited to be seated, we enjoyed drinks from the bar and I recalled my chat with the Owner of Bogota, about a year removed as we got acquainted over drinks at another of my favorite Brooklyn stops, Nana, just a few doors down.  It turns out Bogota's proprietor knocked on many doors attempting to secure funding for his Brooklyn restaurant without much luck, that is, until my employer took a gamble and approved the funding that got Bogota started.  So this is the common thread between us!  and as they say, the rest is history, as this entrepreneur's dream went on to become a real life success story.                 





Today, we enjoyed the arroz con pollo as this is what we were craving for. The Menu however features quite a variety of dishes from all regions of Latin America. Anyway, the food never disappoints and we were served by a most pleasant waiter named Allysion who actually spoke Spanish and gave us top rate service.



In the end we were happy just to be able to get in without reservations on Mother's Day.  Actually, I had called ahead and they advised me that they only took reservations on half their seating capacity, and the other half was left open for walk-ins. Lucky us!          



2011 The World's Best Beer...and the award goes to...

Sweden - go figure.  I guess they need something else to do when not skiing!  The #1 rated beer was Närke Kaggen Stormaktsporter .  Trying saying that even one time correctly - while sober no less.   

Check out the top 100 beers at this link.  Maybe you'll find your favorite, but frankly, I didn't recognize any of the winners.  The good news is I have a lot of tasting ahead of me. 

http://www.ratebeer.com/RateBeerBest/bestbeers_012011.asp

Stay Thirsty My Friends...you gotta check this out

The World's Most Interesting Man

http://staythirstymyfriends.com/

Penny Auction Sites...use common cents!

So while killing time one evening I stumbled upon this ad for a penny auction site called Quibids.com.  So I registered and jumped in with both feet.  The concept is simple, every time you bid on an item it raises the potential winning price by $0.01.  You can win or buy bids.  Purchased bids will cost you $0.60 each.  So I bought a starter pack of bids and the site placed 45 bids in my account for $27.00  The hook is the site auctions off some pretty enticing wants, among them name brand electronics like big screen LED TVs, iPADS, laptops, wine storage refrigerators, blenders, watches, cameras, etc.

The model is the same for all the penny auction sites.  They dangle sexy items and advertises they were recently won for some nominal amount, say a 55" LED TV for $18.67.  Now a 55" LED TV has a retail price of around $2,500.  So the enticement is a strong one.  I had some early success.  I won a new 5" Garmin GPS with lifetime maps and traffic alerts for $2.82.  The cost of shipping was more than my winning bid.

I also won a paper shredder, and a weight scale.  All products won were received within a week.  At this point I thinking this ain't to bad.  However, be forewarned these penny auction sites have a gambler's appeal to them.  If you're going to bid on one of the sexier items, you'll need to be discipline enough to know when to bail out.  It's quite easy to get caught up in having your name appear on the screen as having the winning bid (if only for 10 seconds) only to have someone top your bid.  Some auctions can go on for 12 hours or more, so also bring your patience.

Of course the big winner in this is the operator of the penny auction site.  Consider for a moment that when a big screen TV sells for a winning bid $118.02, that translates into 11,802 bids at $0.60 each, or, $7,081.20.  So do the math, the penny auction site isn't giving anything away.  In fact, their profit margin is considerable.  So like drinking, be responsible when you bid.  Stay thristy my friends!         

Hey Guys, is Maggie Q the sexiest woman on TV?

TV's Nikita definitely has my vote! 
You can check out Maggie Q kicking butt on Thursday's at 9:00pm est on the WB11 or in the current action movie release Priest:  http://www.priest-themovie.com/. 

Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

So my camera shy daughter played guitar with her high school band this past Saturday in it's production of Joseph and the amazing technicolor dreamcoat.  The audience seemed to actually enjoy the performance.  My daughter sat in an orchestra pit so she was barely visible, but my heart was nonetheless filled with pride.  In ernest she's only been at this music thing for about a year so she's not first string yet - no pun intended.  She holds herself to high standards, so there's little doubt she'll continue to improve.  I'd only wish she'd let her parents celebrate her achievements.  

27,576 miles and counting...

This is the estimated mileage I travelled on the New Jersey Turnpike during 2010 commuting to work.  By now I'm sure I can make the trip blindfolded.  To think the mileage didn't even qualify as a tax deduction.  Can't catch a break!

So the strangest thing was on February 10th when during my drive down to DE a small plane landed on the North bound side of the NJTP.  Goes to show, somewhere, someone is always having a worse day than you.   

I also saw Kim Kardashian on the Turnpike and she was bigger than life.  OK, so her picture was painted on the side of an 18 wheeler.  Gotta give it up to the Kardashian's, they know how to market themselves, even if they have no real talent.  I haven't been caught speeding yet, but it's probably only a matter of time.   Willie Nelson's "On the road again" has become my theme song, even though I'm not really into country music.         

Review: Breakfast at Cafe LuLuc

If you want to experience some pretty awesome pancakes then check out Cafe LuLuc at 214 Smith Street in Brooklyn.  Today  was my 3rd time visiting Cafe LuLuc.  Previous times I was there for brunch, which only means I missed out on the alcohol this go round since they wouldn't serve the Bloody Marys or Mamosas till past Noon.  Gotta remember that next time around.

Anyway, Cafe LuLuc is quite small so seating is limited.  Having to wait for seating is not unusual (more so during Brunch hours) and people line up anyway.  The pancakes are something special.  Rumor has it they actually bake them.  Whatever their secret is they certainly are a big hit with everyone. 

The french toast my daughter had was also pretty awesome. In short, Cafe LuLuc is a small treasure for breakfast or brunch, but bring your patience.         

Destiny or Luck?

Destiny or luck, is there a difference between the two?  Some will argue destiny is a pre-determined outcome that can't be altered. While others counter that destiny is influenced by the sum of decisions and actions taken along one's path.

So was it luck or destiny on the morning of September 11, 2001, when I decided to detour and stop at the Kristy Kreme donut shop that was located on the ground floor of the 5 World Trade Center building, just steps away from the Twin Towers.  If you are at all familiar with the Manhattan downtown financial district, you will recall the Krispy Kreme shop at 5 WTC as a very popular morning stop for many.  I mean they had a motorized conveyor belt gadget that was highly visible to all customers (a good move on their part) that carried their freshly baked pieces of heaven.  You couldn't walk out of that place without at least a few of their hot glazed donuts as they came off the conveyor belt.  It was like their glazed donuts were royality, so they got to ride the conveyor belt thing.  Forget about a just a few, I was there to get a dozen or may two, which they packaged quite nicely in a pizza like sized box. 

I was on my way to work at my mid-town office like most days, however, on this morning I decided to bring a treat to the office - so what better than Krispy Kreme donuts!  I knew no other Kristy Kreme location where you were guaranteed freshly baked donuts.  So from the SI Ferry I walked to the Krispy Kreme at 5 WTC.  I didn't mind the walk, after all it was a beautiful clear day.  So I reached 5 WTC and recall looking at my watch - it was 8:00AM EST.  Got my order and jumped on the uptown train.  So was it destiny or luck that I was able to leave the WTC complex completely unharmed by the events that followed just 45 minutes later? 

At my mid-town office I remember watching in disbelief on a TV in an adjacent conference room as the first tower fell.  We were all in shock - as was all of America.  One of my deputy Managers had no clue his fireman brother responded to the crisis and would become one of this day's many hero's - but a casualty nonetheless.  Later, the 2nd tower fell.  

We dismissed staff early that day.  I walked from midtown (40th street) to the South Ferry terminal on the chance the SI Ferry was still running.  Getting there I passed images of a smog filled city that looked like a war zone.  It felt surreal seeing National Guardmen line the streets with their machine guns.  It was an erry feeling.  Well, I finally made it to the SI Ferry terminal and yes, remarkably it was running.  As the boat departed the downtown terminal I turned and watched the void where the Towers once stood as a memorable part of the New York skyline.  I was left with an emptiness I can still vividly recall. So was it luck, or was it destiny?   

       

Source Code, A Good Thriller, 3 of 5 on my rating scale

Checked out Source Code yesterday.  Hadn't been to the movie theater in a while, so the $12 per ticket admittance was a bit of sticker shock, especially with the whole crew in tow.  On my rating scale this was a 3 out of 5.  A good thriller which kinda reminded me of Vantage Point the way the critical scene was continuous re-lived.  The Director was smart enough to accelerate each re-wind which kept the pace of the story line moving along.   

Jake Gyllenhall played the lead convincingly and my girls were simply swooning.  I won't get into the storyline so as not to spoil it for those who plan to see it.  I enjoy thrillers so for me it was worth the price of admission.  If this isn't your style of entertainment, save your money, it will be on DVD or On-Demand soon enough.        
  

My Maylasia Trip

Got the opportunity to visit Kuala Lumpur in December 2010 on a business trip.  This was my 2nd visit to Maylasia having been there in 1995.  So I left NY in the middle of winter with coat in tow.  20 hours (ouch!) and way too many bad movies later, I touched down in KL greeted by a sunny hot and sticky day.  But what else would you expect landing on terrain that sits on the earth's equator.  Backing up a bit, when preparing for landing, the aircraft's crew announces that any dealing in drugs is a crime punishable by death!  I think they mean business. 

I landed in the wee hours of the morning, but it still took well over an hour to get processed through customs.  Standing in line was no fun while fighting the urge to stripe down.  Anyway, hopped on the hotel shuttle and enjoyed the lucious landscape decorated by beautiful and plentiful plam trees.  45 minutes later I'm at the hotel. 3 hours later I crashed till the next day. 

The hotel was pretty cool and modern.  Ate breakfast in a big atrium setting surrounded by international food stations that prepared everthing fresh to order.  Felt curious and tried the Indian station.  They made me an crepe like pancake - although I think it was actually some form of flat bread served with a variety of sauces.  Took the mild sauce since it was early morning.  It was yummy!  

Over the course of the week I treated my pallet to Cuban, Asian and Indian.  Yes, there was very loud Cuban restuarant tucked away on the ground level that featured a live band and dancing.  In the late hours one evening I sat in this very masculine cigar room with several colleague nursing some after hour drinks.  Envision a dark wood trim room wth glass block walls and fitted with dark brown leather sofas.  A pretty macho setting! 

Yet another evening we ventured out by car service to another hotel for pre-dinner drinks.  This hotel was situated opposite the famous Petronas Towers.  The towers are quite a sight to behold when fully lit against the backdrop of the night sky.  Anyway, on the 37th floor we entered this dimly lit bar that featured a 40 foot pool in the middle of the floor.  It also had rain drops falling on it.  The setting screamed party, party, party!  So we had a few drinks and enjoyed the view of the Petronas Towers from the floor to ceiling glass surround.  A chain smoking DJ was playing some pretty lame retro music.  Went elsewhere for dinner afterwards. 

  

Took to the mall on another day and entered what must have been designer nirvana!  Never saw a mall sparkle so much.  There were more people cleaning and polishing than there were customers.  Prada, Vittuon, you name the designer, they were here.   Much surprised by all the Christmas Holiday decorations in the Mall and in the streets since  Maylasia is overwhelmingly Muslim.

The week flew by quickly and before you know it, I was on the 20 hour trek back home.  Malaysia however was a good experience.  I must remember to pack more shorts next time around.