ZONA 78 - TUCSON, AZ

Overpriced; though I enjoyed my meal. Its on Stone and River which is a good location and i'm sure that's partly why the cost of a lunch which, in my case,  was a salad and one piece of cold bread without butter was $10.

The salad was mixed greens and strawberries, mint, goat cheese, and almonds with a honey balsamic vinaigrette. The dressing was good as it combined the sweet and the tangy but the salad didn't have that many berries in it or cheese.

This place just left me flat.

THE WOLVERINE

I was disappointed in this movie. It paled in comparison to the others in this series. It was too much Hugh Jackman (as marvelous as he is) groaning and grunting. Outside of the bad guys and 2 Japanese women (both of whom were lovely and passive and not screechy or annoying), it was all Wolverine which became tiresome.

The story was unoriginal and dull; no cleverness at all.
There was no humor which was present in all the other films.

And too many sword fights. Plus Wolverine's claws were out way too often.

The movie ended with an unabashed lead-in to the next film in line. But given the men who were in the airport telling the Wolverine of "dark forces", the next movie should have some nice group dynamics.

We both gave this film a 7.

MR. K'S BARBEQUE - TUCSON, AZ

We didn't like this place as much as Brushfire so won't be back. I can't remember what the previous incarnation used to be; red lobster? Ruby Tuesday?. The restaurant is huge with lots of red checked covered picnic tables; many of them joined together in one long row.

You go up to the counter and order and the food is ladled out farther down the line. We both ordered the 1 meat dinner which came with a pc. of Texas toast and 2 sides. I had pulled pork which was really tender and flavorful. The sauce i chose (the server puts on your choice but there are also big tubs of it on the condiment table so you can help yourself to more) was the original. They also had spicy chipotle and sweet and tangy. The sauce was thin but it was good without being too hot.

I ordered sweet potato casserole which was not as good as Brushfire's plus it had that gooey marshmallow topping. I also got ranch beans which were way too spicy for me plus it had a pronounced "smoke" taste. I only ate a couple of spoonfuls. Again the beans at Brushfire are thick and filled with bacon bits and has just the right amount of zing.

By the way, all portions were iron man- triathlon size.

Bill got 3 pork ribs which again did not compare in tenderness with Brushfire. His sides were a salad and collard greens. He loved the collard greens a lot. The server also gave us a big helping of their macaroni and cheese because it was our first time there. What i nibbled at was richly satisfying; i brought it home for lunch today.

The bottom line is Brushfire kicks ass over Mr. K.

THE ICEMAN

We both gave this a 7.5. It was wonderfully acted. Michael Shannon was The Iceman (a contract killer with over 100 murders to his "credit") and Winona Ryder was his naive wife and naturally in a movie about hitmen you've got to have Ray Liotta in the film and he played a Mafia guy. But the story itself wasn't unusual; didn't have any twists or turns.

It was a tale of this emotionally constipated man who had a horrific childhood and who started killing people for money while at the same time being an extremely loving husband and father to 2 girls. His career got stopped when he was arranging a murder with an undercover cop. He was sent to prison - 2 life sentences; never saw his family again and died under suspicious circumstances in 2006  right before he was going to testify against a Mafia person.

STORIES WE TELL

This movie was written and directed by Sarah Polley who is a Canadian actress. Its a re-telling of the discovery that Sarah's father was not her biological father. Her real father was a man her mother met when she was away from home acting in a play. Harry got her pregnant and they were madly in love (at least according to Harry since Diane, the mother, died in 1990) and carried on an affair for several years.

So this documentary using lots of old home movies and current video's and interviews with all the members of Sarah's family including Harry and HIS daughter and Diane's husband, Mike, recounts the married life of Diane and Mike and the experiences of living with them. Since the film was made after the discovery of Harry being Sarah's real dad, there was a lot of chit-chat from the family and friends and Mike about their suspicions of Diane having an affair and the state of her happiness.

I found this movie to be much ado about nothing. no one seemed especially shocked or surprised that Diane would have had affairs and one night stands with other men  since she was a "free spirit". There was a lot of discussion about the 'livewire' and party girl person Diane was and not much about the fact that she cheated on her husband and lied. It seemed like she was laughingly forgiven because she was so socially popular.

when Sarah found out Harry was her father, she seemed pretty accepting of the fact and seemed to really enjoy being with him. She felt they 'clicked' instantly.


What the film lacked was any information about the reactions of family to finding out Harry was Sarah's real dad and her dead mom's lover of years. Did they resent him? did they start including him in family get-togethers?

and the film itself was confusing as to who was who; it was only much later in the documentary that relationships became clear. but in the beginning i had no idea who people were except for one lady who when talking about Sarah's mom called her Mum so i knew she was a daughter.

Bill rated this an 8 and i gave it a limp 6.

MAY'S COUNTER CHICKEN & WAFFLES - TUCSON, AZ

After our  first visit here, i swore i would never return. Bill really likes their chicken and collard greens a lot, however so we went back many months later. And once again, I took a solemn oath i would never go into this restaurant again. So what do i do 8 months later? i broke my vow because i had forgotten the extent to which i am dissatisfied with the food, service and atmosphere and because of a $5 off coupon.

There are always screeching banshee parties of  at least 14 and the loudness is numbing and not in a good way. Our service was very rushed. When our waitress stopped by the table and asked if our meal was ok, she had left before i could even answer. And when she gave us our bill and i pointed out that the amount was incorrect and listed drinks we didn't have, she looked at me blankly and said quite snippily "i suppose i can fix it."

I ordered a cuban sandwich with the addition of pulled chicken and fries (the other side choice was tater tots.) the fries are bad; lukewarm and not crispy. And there was hardly any chicken on the sandwich and the ham was sliced thick and was tough.

Now i am proclaiming loudly i will NEVER go back.

MILLIE'S PANCAKE HAUS - TUCSON, AZ

Oh, Millie, Millie, wherefore doth thou continue to disappoint me?
is it because i dare to eat at a place that misspells house?

Millie's food is just on the edge of pretty good but never seems to be able to climb higher.

I had one blueberry pancake which had perhaps 7 berries in it and one sole sentry perched on top. That was just OK. And i also had a veggie omelette (spinach, tomato, and onion - they were all in paltry amounts and the onions were not sauteed enough; almost raw). This was accompanied by home fries - not crispy and browned  and totally tasteless and an English muffin which needed more toaster time.

The service was alright and the temperature of the room was good and the prices are reasonable and the decorations are cutesy grammie's cottage gingham and the place is clean. Now they just have to work on the food quality.

PHOTOS FROM OUR JUNE 2013 NEW MEXICO TRIP

Click on the link below to see the photos.

New Mexico, June 2013

WORLD WAR Z

The Z stands for snores. Bill gave this movie a 3; i rated it a 1. We walked out before the end which is very rare for us.

The movie was like a fledgling amateur high school production and the acting was horrid and one dimensional and flat. Brad Pitt had many many lines and scenes illustrating his "Deity-Dadness" and his wife was highly irritating and all she did was look sad and talk on the phone with Pitt who was off on zombie destroy missions. She also continually clutched the 2 daughters, petted their heads, kissed them, hugged them, grasped their hands, held them and rocked them. Because she was mega-mom.

The entire movie consisted of Brad Pitt running to or running away from somewhere chased by zombies (i've never seen such unscary zombies) with guns blazing.

do not waste your time or money on this cinematic travesty.