B J'S

Because the restaurant we (me and Jean) wanted to eat at for lunch was closed we ended up at this corporate steel maven of cuisine; very claim-jumperish. I ate at a BJ's when one first opened way back in Portland and it was like entering a world of artifice and phoniness and overpriced cutesy named food. and they haven't changed in the ensuing years.

The place was ice cold. I swear they had the air conditioner on. The only people who were not wearing coats were the waitresses and the young testosterone-laden adolescents. There were lots of empty tables yet the gal at the front pulpit took our name and said we should wait by the sign (about 2 feet away) and then she immediately came over to us and said that our table was ready.!! huh???

fortunately the food was quite tasty. Jean and i shared avocado egg rolls; rich and filling (though just like Chinese i was hungry again within minutes) with an excellent spicy clear dipping sauce. and we also shared chicken potstickers which were served with another great sauce which i could have drunk since it was room temperature which was 15 degrees warmer than the restaurant.

Jean also ordered an oatmeal cookie which I - with great forbearance and self-pity and fortitude did not share with her - (i'm still trying to lose the weight i gained during our summer vacation.). It was baked in a mini-pie tin and was more like a small cobbler.

So this lunch will be my last foray into BJ's because in spite of the good tasting food, the place is not physically comfortable, the atmosphere is plastic and the prices are inflated. I can't think of anything else those initials could stand for except ------- you got it!

CHINA-THAI

This is our favorite Thai restaurant. I'm not sure why they also serve Chinese food. There are enough Chinese restaurants in town where you can order insipid beige toned bland dishes of squirmy noodles; In contrast to the fiery exuberance and colorful Thai dishes.

The service has always been prompt, efficient and friendly. The bathroom is just ok; it certainly is big enough and there is always lots of towels and soap and toilet paper but it could be decorated a bit. The restaurant itself is subdued-looking but with some nice pictures and wall hangings.

We shared a chicken curry dish and a chicken entree with lots of ginger and vegetables. I was feeling flu-like during the evening so wanted to load my system up with the healing warmth of ginger. Their chicken is plentiful and always tender and only white meat. Each dish came with lots of rice and was $9.

THE NEXT 3 DAYS

I rated this movie a 2 and Bill gave it a 7. Can this marriage be saved?

Russell Crowe is convinced of his wife's innocence in the murder of her boss and because all legal avenues have been exhausted, he hatches this plan to escape her from jail. Many nonsensical and totally unbelievable things then ensue - acted at a high school musical production level.

There is never any explanation of the murder or the motive. Elizabeth Banks who plays the murderess is so put - together even after 3 years in prison and when she is visited in jail (oh, sometimes they are allowed passionate embraces and french kissing and other times the guards growl fiercely when they go to touch hands across the table.) she is always curled and made-up and sunny.

Crowe performs some murders on his own in order to get money for the life they will lead on the run. The cops are complete idiots and rival the Keystone Kops for sheer bungle-idity. and yet at the end of the movie, a detective crouches down in the parking lot where the murder took place and finds the evidence that the wife had been talking about ever since her arrest. Being a true crime aficionado and a realist, the police and lawyers and judges do NOT investigate crimes on their own in order to prove their own prior stupidity and legal error.

Brian Dennehy is Crowe's dad and I thought he was supposed to have had a stroke because his face never moved and he had 4 words of dialogue. The music was obtrusive and non-musical.

Crowe's idea to get her out of the prison building was to steal into a medlab van and change her lab values in her medical file. (she just happens to be a diabetic on insulin.) And he put her into ketoacidosis; a medical emergency. However, as the prison people are putting her on a stretcher and putting her in an ambulance she has never looked so good!! Makeup intact, rosy cheeks, coherent, dry skin, hair fluffed, not vomiting; looked like she was on her way to a garden party. but the lab values were so bad - she should have been unconscious and in dire physical straits.

I think the title of the movie more accurately illustrates the length of time i felt i spent in the theater watching this loser of a movie.

GLASS ONION CAFE

The theme of this restaurant is hippie-dippie - early Beatles but post- Buddy Holly - potheads rule. As Michelle and I were waiting going on 30 minutes for my breakfast omelet and marble rye toast, we suddenly looked down at our tablecloth and wondered if that was the reason why the service was so slow. It was painted with a huge marijuana leaf.

The food was quite good though my omelet was a baked egg affair in a discus type shape. Michelle had a salad with cheese and turkey and lemon pepper vinaigrette that she really enjoyed. And because they have my favorite sandwich of all time - turkey, cream cheese, cranberry sauce and herb stuffing - I will be back. This time not near the lunch hour and not on a saturday because i don't think the waitresses were stoned; they were just overwhelmed with the influx of orders.

They have lots of coffee drinks and a few other breakfasty egg entrees but mostly their menu is composed of salads and sandwiches. The decor is a primary color extravaganza with a corner devoted to items for sale; beaded earrings and - what else? but tie-dyed shirts. Peace, brother.

SHERLOCK HOLMES

This movie consisted of sharply phrased witticisms and supernatural Counts and murders and sexual innuendoes filling up the time between the "still-in-the-closet" homosexual rompings of Sherlock and Watson.

It was too cute and slap-happy for me plus there were endless moments when i couldn't understand what they were saying due to the British marble-mumbling. We didn't even watch the ending.

I gave it a 4 and Bill a 6 (though before i made my displeasure publicly and loudly known, i think Bill would have given it a 7.5)

ROSA'S MEXICAN FOOD

We ate here once during Tucson #1 and the food was ok but didn't create an impression worthy of a second visit. We ate here again ( 5 years later) because i had a 50% off second entree coupon and vast improvements have occurred.

The food was delicious and the atmosphere festive and so colorful. I guess i didn't notice all the decorations because it was crowded when we first ate here but the place is a blaze of hues and shades and neon colors; blues, greens, purples, yellows and lots of pictures and vases and several walls that were painted with murals of mexican history scenes and aztec gods spiriting away nubile maidens clutching chile rellenos.

I had a combo plate of a beef taco, beef tamale and cheese enchilada. (oh, the tortilla chips were excellent; warm and very thin) The cheese they use is not queso fresca but cheddar so that was a disappointment but the only one. The tamale and taco were wonderful and loads of meat. I didn't have to burrow through inches of corn masa to get at the scanty meat portion in the middle of the tamale; it was packed end to end. The sauce was just the right heat.

Bill had 2 beef tacos and a beef tamale and liked the food as much as i did. Rice and beans came with the entrees but i didn't eat the beans as they were covered with the cheddar cheese.

Next time i want try their green corn tamale and avocado enchilada.

Rosa rules!

MOTHER HUBBARD'S

A good find for a reasonably priced meal. The restaurant is in a sad-looking depressed strip mall on Grant and Stone but inside it is cheery with lots of tables. Hardly anyone was in there for either breakfast (which Chris and I had) or lunch (since we talked into the lunch hour).

I had the ultimate scramble for $7; a big platter of scrambled eggs, hashed browns, onions, mushrooms and spinach. It was delicious though I couldn't figure out why it had a vague Chinese taste. I think it was because it resembled broken apart egg foo young. And with the scramble I got a perfectly toasted English muffin.

Chris was not very happy with her original order which was 4 tiny silver dollar pancakes and biscuits and gravy (though i tasted this and really liked it; spicy). She hit the mark with her second order: sausage patty, pc. of toast and 1 over-medium egg.

We will be back.

LEAVES OF GRASS

Terribly silly and pointless and annoying movie. It starred Edward Norton; he played 2 twin brothers; one was a straitlaced rigid professor and the other was an Oklahoman-accented pot grower who was friends with Tim Blake Nelson.

Brady the pot-head 'faked' his death precipitating the arrival of the "good" brother to Oklahoma for his funeral. But all Brady wanted was his brother to impersonate him to give him an alibi for some sort of (here it gets vague) drug deal. And then there was Keri Russell presenting some hillbilly love interest (she gutted a carp prior to their first kiss) and Susan Sarandon who was the mother of the twins and who was living in a nursing home (don't ask!) and Richard Dreyfuss as a rabbi and random killings and unexpected violence and sappy corn-fed philosophical asides to give the movie, i think, some kind of merit ????

I've got to stop now and eat a bowl of grit and collard greens and greasy pig skins.

DENNY'S

I had such a fabulous breakfast/dinner last night. I ordered just the right thing which i often do not do especially when the menu has too many choices and i get overwhelmed.

I got an ultimate skillet with 2 scrambled eggs. It had fried potatoes, roasted red peppers, sausage, spinach, onion, mushrooms and grape tomatoes. Absolutely delicious.

and then i saw their autumn specials and naturally everything is either ginger infused or peppermint-laced. I like the taste of ginger but not in sweet stuff. Anyway, i got 2 cranberry-orange pancakes which were totally awesome and defined the phrase 'comfort food'. The waitress brought me extra butter and they always warm the syrup at Denny's so i was in gustatory paradise.

Because we have an AARP card, that meal (including bill's entree) was only $12!!!!!!!! and i have leftovers (not pancakes; those were speedily consumed) for lunch.

Oh, happy day.

CONVICTION

Good movie and great story and wonderful acting. Hilary Swank was, once again, excellent including her Boston accent which remained consistent and authentic sounding throughout the entire movie. but Sam Rockwell was illustrious!

They are 2 of 7 siblings brought up in squalor and neglect by a mother who had an assembly line of men. The film did a great job of showing their home life and their bond as children and the shared trouble they would get into. So i had a clear idea and understanding of the tight emotional connection between them.

Kenny grew up to be an adult troublemaker and quick to fight. He was very charming and popular but also quite a frequent visitor of the police station. There was a great scene in a bar with him and his girlfriend and young daughter and his sister and her fiance that expertly showed his charisma and deep caring and compassion but also his rage.

So he gets arrested for the extremely bloody and heinous murder of an elderly lady in town and he is found guilty and sentenced to life without parole. and his sister (Swank) literally turns her life over to jumping through all the educational hoops so she can become a lawyer and investigate his case and prove his innocence.

It is an exciting and suspenseful movie with superb acting. Just like in other films i've seen - at the very end, you get to see a picture of the real people. (oh, did i say that this movie is based on a true story?); Swank looked similar to her true counterpart but it was a shock to see Kenny. I had gotten used to Rockwell's rugged handsomeness.