Movies and the Art of the Double Dip!

Well it was a rainy Sunday so it seemed like the perfect day to go see a movie. Thing is for me the cost to see a movie (10 bucks a ticket) seems just way to high. So, when I go I try to get the most for my money. I have this little theory about going to the movies. When you buy a ticket to a movie you are actually just buying a ticket to enter the theater. Granted the money from the purchase price of the ticket goes to the film which is printed on your ticket, but the overall cost grants you admission not just to that film but to the entire theater. For example if I purchase a ticket to see The Godfather, and Dirty Harry and The Wizard of Oz are also playing at the same theater you are more than welcome to see any of those three films once you have completed your viewing of The Godfather. Heck, you don't even have to go see The Godfather you can walk in and see the other two films instead. While Christine tells me "it's my way of sticking it to the man." I look at as more of a loop hole in the system. I call this the Art of The Double Dip (and when I'm feeling extra special I may take in a third film, and as you might have guessed it the Art of the Triple Dip).

So, back to my story of it was rainy and it was Sunday so we went to the movies. Ian is a pro at the Double Dip, being a veteran of multiple Double Dip missions. Christine on the other hand is new to it, but was up for the challenge. We wanted to check out Transfomers and The Simpsons movie, but due to some unforeseen traffic we ended up getting to the theater a little late and missed the start of Transformers. To fill in some time we went over to Trader Joe's, picked up some drinks, popcorn, some other snacks, and made some sandwiches and headed back to the theater. We went in and picked up some tickets to see The Simpsons Movie (so this film will see our funds, as opposed to any other film we might catch that day). Thankfully we walked in just as the previews were ending.

The Simpsons Movie sorta felt like I was home on a Sunday night. It felt like I was watching an episode of the Simpsons on television, except it was just a little more edgy then television (not to mention that it runs a full hour longer then a TV episode). What to say? It was a blast of a film; as funny as the best Simpsons episode, and without the commercials. It was also nice to see that Arnold becomes President. We all loved it.

Right when that movie ended we walked right into the next theater and caught the very start of Rescue Dawn. Now this wasn't a movie on our watch list - especially since it appeared that it might be too violent (which by the way, I asked Christine why Transfomers, which appeared to be very violent was okay, and Rescue Dawn wasn't. Her reply was that Transformers violence was fake violence, and Rescue Dawn was real violence. These are movies.....right? The violence is all fake.....) Rescue Dawn also seemed like a rather adult film since it dealt with the Vietnam War. That said, Ian loved it. It was a fantastic film. The acting was amazing. Christian Bale is bound to win an Oscar some day. He is just such a damn good actor.


In all we were at the theater a solid three and a half hours. Not bad, two films in the same amount of time that it would take to watch one of the Lord of the Rings movies. Christine was feeling pretty good afterwards. I think she is now a Double Dip convert, and up for future missions. Ian on the other hand wanted to stick around to watch Transfomers (I could have hung with him too, but Christine has not worked up her skills for the Triple Dip). I think we have our game plan down for next time we go too. Bringing the sandwiches, popcorn, drinks, and snacks. All toll we probably spent 30 bucks for the three of us to see two movies and have lunch. Heck the week before when we went to see Harry Potter we dropped almost 50 bucks and that was for two kids and two adults, a couple drinks and a large popcorn. Clearly a savings.

All in all it was an exciting adventure (albeit low key) for a Sunday afternoon!

Amazing Sunday Dinners

This Sunday was not really an "adventure," but it was still pretty good. It ended up being somewhat of a culinary tour of Philadelphia. First, it started with coffee and pastry at Bucks County Coffee in Philadelphia, where we had a very meager book club meeting. Then we went into this amazing little specialty grocery store in Manayunk called Ingredient (http://www.ingredientfoods.com/). They had absolutely gorgeous food at really reasonable prices. I controlled myself and bought only this flat artichoke pasta, which we had for dinner last night.

After coffee, we went down to the Italian Market to split a Sarcone's hoagie (delish) and went to DiBruno Brother's House of Cheese on 9th Street (http://www.dibruno.com/). Don't be fooled by how gussied up-i-ness of the Center City DiBruno Brother's - the Italian Market store is far and away the better choice. We went in for some pancetta to cook up with the pasta, but ended up leaving with an aged, Italian, cow's milk cheese for shaving on the pasta, something delicious and English, wensleydale, I believe, some balsamic vinegar and some less-fancy pasta.

Dinner that night consisted of one of my own personal creations:

• Cube pancetta in about 1/4 inch cubes (about 1/3 cup total) and crisp up in a sauce pan until the bacon starts to get crispy on the edges.
  
• Add two stalks of finely sliced leeks, using only the white and the light green parts and give it a good stir. Let it cook down a minute. Add a couple of cloves of chopped garlic
  
• At this juncture, if I had had a bottle of dry white opened, I would have added about 1/2 to 1 cup of it to add flavor... but seeing as I did not, I added about a cup or so of chicken broth and let it cook down for about 5-7 minutes.
  
• In the meantime, I started cooking the flat disc-shaped, delicious pasta.
  
• To the pasta sauce I combined:
  
• a cup or so of rinsed, frozen peas
• about a 1/2 cup of mascarpone cheese
• a smidge of grated parmesan
• a handful of fresh, chopped basil (totally from my garden)
  
• two more cloves of chopped garlic
  
• Remove the sauce from heat
  
• Drain pasta and mix with the sauce
• Shave a good, firm, aged, sharp cheese on top to taste with freshly-cracked pepper.
  

We ate it with some roasted red peppers on bread and it made a GREAT meal, if I do say so myself.

Marcus and Ranaye's Wedding

To continue the Colorado post...

The wedding ceremony, as previously stated, was unbeatable. Easily the most beautiful wedding I've ever seen. The downside of the ceremony was the hour that we waited at the top, without sunscreen. I got totally totally burnt to a crisp.

The reception was a party. It started out tame enough, with open beer and wine, but a cash bar for liquor. However, as the evening progressed, it appeared that the bartender was inebriated, and sheer chaos ensued. The bar was literal anarchy. For example, Eric was pouring Jack for everyone at the bar. By the end of the night, the bar was completely ransacked. Pretty fun.

Do you remember that SNL skit with Jimmy Fallon and Tina Faye called "Drunkgirl"? Drunkgirl was a frequent guest on the news segment. At any rate, I am afraid that Drunkgirl made an appearance at the wedding - at one point, she was at our table making out with a guy (let's call him Handsy), while drinking beer out of a pitcher, and then proceeded to THROW UP in the same pitcher, only to actually continue making out with Handsy. It was spectacular. Truly.

The night ended with these Princess Leia-esque shenanigans, which is not one of my prouder moments...

The next day was rough for me. Rob, no matter how much scotch, scotchy scotch scoth (it goes down, down into my belly) he consumes, he is never ever as hung over as I am. But, Sunday was the last day he was in town, so it was the only day left to go to the Maroon Bells.



We just did a little bit of very easy hiking because I felt like crapola. No matter what though, it is easily one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. The color of the sky has this intensity that you never see on the east coast. All of the colors, in general, are way more intense and everything just looks crisper somehow. The water in the lakes was so clear and about 34 degrees.

The next day, Rob left for Atlanta to start his new job, leaving me with my parents for Monday night. Monday was pretty uneventful - I did the nature hike and some super easy mountain biking, which was really fun. Monday evening I got to go horseback riding with a pack of Millers up near the Maroon Bells.

The highlight of the last couple of days was going into the ice caves that are up the pass from Aspen. Very easy hike, which had perhaps the highest concentration of pretty per linear foot of trail. There was tons of rock features, rapids, falls, caves, and ICE caves with glacial ice. Totally fun.