Great Good and Value

After a long Sunday, starting at 5:30 AM with a 62 mile bike ride and volunteering at the Capital Pride Festival, I was tired and hungry!  I had wanted to try the new sports bar in Columbia Heights and finally had the chance.  It is located near the metro next to the now closed “Commonwealth Gastro Pub.”

Walking by

Walking by I always noticed the large flat screens in the covered outdoor seating area which seemed to be unique.  I would think they would not be out if the weather was poor, but it was certainly a nice touch for those patrons who wanted the fresh air and a view of the game.

Sports Bar….

We had dinner around 8 PM and it happened to be NBA Finals and all of the TVs were changed to the same station and the young fans started pouring in.  We definitely got there at the right time!

Menu

The prices seemed very reasonable and there was a specials board outside which added to the single page menu.   I enjoy American food so there were plenty of $10 burgers and salads along with dinner entrees.  My stomach was definitely talking even though I just ate 6 hours before at Buffalo Wild Wings after the Air Force Crystal Ride.

The 3 course price fixe menu drew my attention at only $25.  For that price you got…

1. Salad: House or Caesar
2. Entree: Ribs, 16 oz Porterhouse Steak, or 16 oz NY Strip and 2 sides
3. Dessert: Chocolate Mousse, Apple Pie a la mode, Brownie marshmallow thing, all but one dessert item was eligible.

I was full!

It was a great deal.  The salad was large, the 16 oz steak was very tender and the sides of mac and cheese and fries came on separate plates and were very generous.  The Mac and Cheese seemed to be homemade, but pretty plain.  Only one cheese and it was more creamy than cheesy.  There was no oil floating in it which is characteristic of cheesier versions.  I have a weakness for even boxed versions though, so I was happy :)

Dessert… :(

While the portion was very generous, the whipped topping and the mousse were not homemade.  The mousse seemed a bit “gritty.”  My partner is a chef and after he tasted it told me it was that way because it was a mix.  Needless to say I did not finish all of the mousse since it tasted a bit odd, but I did leave stuffed.

Okay, so I do like chocolate mousse and have made it from scratch on occasion since it is rather easy.

• Egg Yolks
• Egg Whites
• Heavy Cream
• Melted Chocolate

Whip and mix them all together and refrigerate and viola!

Go :)

Great value, good food, and sports.  Give them a try!

Watching the preview you may ask, is this movie about the fairy tale we all know?  The answer is yes, only it has been enhanced to make it a feature length film.

Setting

Rustic village in an undisclosed location, the community lives in fear of a Werewolf that comes on every full moon night to feast on either an offering or individual of the community.

Synopsis

Werewolf kills community members, they decide to go hunt it and end up killing a regular wolf when a priest comes to save them.  Lots of killing happens and finally the werewolf is killed.  There are lots of references to the fairy tale we grew up with in the movie which makes it more interesting for sure.  There are several love stories in the movie to get the young crowd engaged.

Impression

I really did like the movie, though last night there were only 8 others in the 107 seat theatre when the movie only came out a week and a half ago.  Unfortunately, like most movies today, either it has to be sure to have the sexy actor, or has the likeness of another successful movie to make big bucks at the box office.  I would have to say this movie is a cross between “Twilight,” you will know what I mean certainly when you get to the end, and “The Village.”  I would have to say it very closely resembles the The Village as far as dress, setting, and behaviors.

Criticism

Besides the similarity to “The Village,” I would have to say that the actors are a bit too well kept for the environment they are living in.  Maybe I say that because I had a hard time keeping my clothes and skin clean back in my Boy Scout camping days, but to see the actresses so clean all of the time and their brightly colored clothes free of dirt, I found the setting a bit hard to believe.  I will need to watch The Village again as I may have the same issue with that movie, but think they did get dirty from time to time wandering through the forest.

See it

So if you liked that type of movie, give this one a try.  At the very least, add it to your Netflix queue when it comes to DVD.

P.S. – You would think that you should pay less for a movie in a small theatre with a smaller screen, but next time I think I will just call and ask before getting tickets :)

My initial reaction to Apple TV is fair….

1. Where is the power button on the remote?  I know they use the same remote for every other computer, but it would be nice to turn if off with a button and not have to navigate a menu.
2. Great Quality!!!  I had some Digital Downloads from Blu-Ray disks and they look great!  I am thinking I will keep it and not send it back :)
3. Unable to Multitask?  It appears that while I was watching a movie from iTunes, Apple TV was unable to download my rental.  I figured I would do something else while I waited for my slow DSL connection to grab the HD rental.  The progress bar on the Download did not move at all.
4. Unable to Buffer Rental.  I was a little bummed to find out that I needed to download the entire rental before I was able to play it.  Amazon UnBox lets you download movies locally, but also lets you start playing them about 10 seconds after you start.  That would be nice.  Apple TV told me:  Ready to watch in 10 hours.  Granted if I had a faster connection this would not be a big deal, but until now, I did not see a need to have the $100 /month Internet Speed.
5. Shady HD Rentals – I should not have to pay an extra $1 for and HD rental.

So…my initial reaction so far….I like it and it will do what I ultimately wanted it to do, play video files at a DVD quality level.  I don’t think I will dump my Blu-Ray anytime soon, but I may start picking up old movies from Apple for $4.99 if I don’t see the need for the Blu-Ray edition.

Usually I tend to spend quite a bit of time with movie reviews, but for this one…. not so much.

I was somehow under the “Horror Movie” impression going in and came out with a “Psychological.”  I thought it would fit under “Psychological Thriller,” but I cannot say it was that thrilling or edge of seat gripping.

I had a hard time discerning what was “real” and what was “created.”  Perhaps it all was created.

All in all it was a decent movie graphically, but I was not so into the plot. I enjoy true stories, and unless I missed the “Based on a true story” comment at the beginning, this one was not.