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!

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 :)

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.

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.

Swiss Army Branded Backpacks only have a 1 year warranty.

Does any one have a suggestion for a good backpack?  Something relatively light and frameless that has a large capacity and a real lifetime warranty that covers wear and tear?  Otherwise I may head to Wal-mart and get the cheapest one I can find expecting it to last only 9 months.

Firstly I was a not so interested in the movie from the previews I saw. Who are these blue people? Are they like hobbits or wizards? I kept hearing about the movie and finally had the opportunity to catch a mid Saturday afternoon showing in 3D. I am sure you all know that Regal sells discount tickets and many campanies buy these “super saver” ticket vouchers. I happen to get them from Costco. These particular ones are not restricted as some prevent you from using them the first 2 weeks and cost a little more. Of course matinees are less so I ended up paying $7 for two tickets on top if the $16 at Costo. In short, it really is not a good value if you use the vouchers to see a 3D movie in the afternoon! Tickets cost $13.50 at night and I think $11.50 for a 3D matinee. I did not save any money with the 3D upcharge added in. So, no food or beverage. I usually save enough to get a drink :)

The movie basically has 3 groups of individuals. First you have these really tall blue colored locals. Next you have the scientists that are trying to study and interact with them. Finally you have the “muscle” of the operation. The military forces.

Avatars are basically grown to connect mentally and controlled physically by a specific scientist. When one of the humans is killed shortly before the mission, the investors, not wanting to waste the resources expended to make a now useless avatar, hire his twin brother to go on the mission. Being paralysed from the waist down, the ex military brother does not seem to be the best suited for the job, but manages nonetheless.

After getting connected to his avatar he is able to effectively use his legs and enjoys his new body. He is welcomed into the inner circle and begins to learn the culture. I don’t know if the locals know he is really human controlled, but they start to trust him.

The military commander notices this and capitalizes by asking him to do military reconissance for him.

The goal of the comporation is to harvest natural resources to sell on earth. The scientists are trying to peacefully relocate the locals who seen to live directly above the largest concentration of the resource by persuading them to move.

The military are there in the event the scientists fail, to force them to move and kill them if resistant. The leader if the science team notices he is reporting to the military wing and moves there operation to a remote location to prevent the communication between.

The “princess” falls into love with him and he lives by the rules of their culture and goes through their rights of passage to become a man. One very interesting thing about the locals is that they physically connect with the horses, dragons, and trees through what looks like long braided hair. This in a way is the same type of connection the humans have with their avatar and they become one with the animal.

The military wing realizes that he is eventually against them when he is unsuccessful getting them to move despite admitting he is not really one of them and telling the intentions of the corporation. The locals are going to fight for their home. During the ensuing battle, their tree home is destroyed. The people live with nature and don’t profit or damage it in any way. The destruction was a sad time for all.

They are able to defeat the military wing with help from some local sympathizers. The program is ended and as they pack up, the main character that is paralysed and in live with a local, decides to stay on the planet. With no way to continue controlling the avatar, he turns to local spiritual leaders to effectively transfer the lifeforce from his human body to his avatar.

In the end his soul is transferred and he becomes one of them. Not sure there will be a sequel, but after the amazing success of the movie, which now threatens “Titanic,” there will surely be more of this movie style in the near future. I heard it cost 500 million to make and current has made over 1.5 billion!

The movie was close to 3 hours long, but unlike “Titanic” where I checkedy watch every 10 minutes to see if it was over, never looked. As far as the 3D…. Did not bother my eyes and was really good. If only it was at an IMAX in 3D, that would really be superb!!

For a sci fi or fantasy fan, this is a must go. If you disliked the smurfs, then skip these tall blue people and rent it for $1 at your local video rental machine or queue it up on Netflix. Just kidding. The cinematography was great, even if the story line itself was about deception and military might.

What are your thoughts on the movie?

Second visit, the food was over salted and I have not been back in close to a year.

The third visit tonight was with some out of town friends. They own the bed and breakfast we stay at when visiting the family upstate NY. They were on the way back from visiting their youngest son in Florida and stopped by to check out the inn where my partner works. A day of sightseeing in DC is not complete without a visit to the grill, so we headed back tonight.

The wings were great as remembered, the salads were enormous, entrees superb, and desserts tasty. Everyone was happily stuffed and comments on the historical decor were plenty.

My confidence in the quality of food has been restored and I will certainly not wait as long to visit again. :)

After the usual commercials and previews the movie got started.  After learning that the focal couple lost their third child near the end of pregnancy, we find out that the wife is a recovering alcoholic who would have lost her daughter in their pond had her husband not been around.  This was a very sobering experience for her and she has not had a drink in a month, though temptations have existed and show up whenever she is being stressed.

The Family

Husband: Works in the construction industry if memory serves designing buildings.

Son: Daniel does the usual things boys do.  He plays Guitar Hero with friends and has a tree house.

Daughter: Max was born hearing impaired.  She apparently can hear a little, but relies on her hearing aids to read lips.  Apparently she is unable to do so without them.  This seems a little odd to me, but when they disappear near the end of the movie…don’t seem to hinder her.

Love

The parents decide to adopt another child.  They seem to be leaning toward a girl so Max has someone to play with.  Their third child was a girl and was named by them.  They have a memorial where the ashes were spread of the still born child and have planted white roses there.  The mother believes that as long as the rose bush grows, memories of her unborn child will exist and the love will help her stay sane.

Adoption

It is no surprise that they are looking to adopt and not have another child naturally.  In fact, it appears that the couple has not engaged in sexual activity since that time which leads the husband to cheat on his wife and is ultimately a touchy subject when that is brought up.  Thankfully she has come around to the idea again which makes the husband happier.

They head to a Church run school for girls to search for a child to adopt.  The husband finds a very talented girl singing in a room by herself painting while looking for the bathroom.  The rest of the girls are enjoying an annual party, perhaps an adoption event.  He is very impressed by her abilities as an artist and her manners.  While she needs a new wardrobe and looks like “Little Bo Peep,” she is well mannered and articulate.

The wife and head nun find them together and while the nun seems a bit concerned, the wife also indentifies with the talents of the girl and they ultimately adopt her.

Family

Max gets along very well with her new sister, but Daniel finds that his friends make fun of him for how she dresses and he announces to the family at dinner that “She is not my sister.”  In the end Daniel is amost killed by her for knowing too much.

While she bonds with her new sister and favors the husband, she looks to her mother for piano lessons and seems to get along…this is all a facade and ploy to drive the wife away from the family, or in this case, make the family believe that the mother is hurting her and needs to be committed.  The husband ultimately decides with the help of the family therapist that she needs to be sent away to rehab after injuries appear on the adopted girl and a bottle of wine is located hidden in the house.

The Orphan

The orphan appears to be from Russia, but when they get in contact with the orphanage there, no records are found.  After the mother sneaks around a locates an old Bible / diary in her dresser stamped with the name of an institute and investigates, it turns out she was actually a patient at a mental institution and not an orphanage.

The nun from the girls school comes to talk to the family about odd coincidences that happen around the orphan once the mother has been noticing some strange things going on.  “Something is wrong with her…”  She  mentions a number of instances where fights start or people get injured and notes that the orphan is always around.  The orphan over hears the conversation with the nun and parents and believes that she is going to be taken away from the family. 

She tells her sister that they are planning on taking her away and seeks her assistance.  It appears that they are running away but they actually plan to scare the nun to make sure she never comes back again.  After tossing Max into the snow covered road and the nun barely swerving to miss her, ending up in a snow bank off the road, the orphan proceeds to jump from the bushes and bash the nuns head with a hammer until she is dead.  They hide her and the orphan scares Max into secrecy by saying that she would be in trouble too for helping hide the nun.

Daniel

More strange things happen.  Starting with the orphan killing a pigeon with a rock and climaxing with a late night pajama wetting visit from the orphan with a razer blade held to his throat asking about what he saw her and Max doing in the tree house, Daniel along with his mother believe something is very wrong with the girl.

Daniel checks with Max to see if she notices anything strange happening after his late night visit from the Orphan to find out that Max is drawing all of the bad things that she has been keeping from her mom that the orphan has made her do and scared her to be quiet.  He knows that the bloody hammer has been hidden in the tree house.  Unfortunately the orphan is outside listening to the entire conversation.

Daniel decides to locate the murder weapon and finds the tree house unlocked.  After the negative comments he made at the dinner table, his father locked him out of the tree house until an apology was made.  This had yet to occur.  He slides the panel back in the floor where he hides his dirty magazines to find nothing.  Behind him to see the orphan who has the bag and dumps out the bloody hammer, gloves, dress, and drawings from Max.  She proceeds to cover the evidence with ligher fluid and sets the pile ablaze.  She locks Daniel in the tree house and watches as it burns and he tries to escape.  He does avoid the blaze, but falls to the ground seriously injured.  Just as the orphan is about to smash him in the head with a rock, Max pushes her over and the mother comes rushing out of the house after noticing the blaze. 

Mom of course is even more suspicious now, but the husband is not so convinced.  There are many reasons for this starting with the cutting of all the memorial roses by the orphan which was believed to be something nice done for her mother at the encouragement of the father.  The mother is very upset and grabs her by the arm shaking her.  The orphan goes into the basement and using a counter mounted vise, bruises and ultimately breaks her forearm.  She calls for “daddy” which makes him even more suspicious of his wife and closer to the orphan.

Dad

When visiting their son in the hospital after his fall from the tree house, the orphan asks to get a drink and instead goes into Daniel’s room and suffocates him.  The doctors are able to ressusitate him, but the mother gets enraged and has to be sedated.  She blames the orphan for what just happened.  Dad sees this and again takes the side of the orphan.

That night while the mother is in the hospital for overnight observation, the usband gets drunk and the orphan gets dressed up in his wifes dress and puts on makeup.  She comes down to be with “daddy” and tries to seduce him.  She reaches for something that she should not as her father is explaining the difference between adult “LOVE” and the love of a daughter.  She gets very upset at this rejection and ends up stabbing the husband to death.

Max sees this and hides in her closet hamper, but knows that she is likely next.  While this is going on the mother is racing home.  She has just heard from the mental hospital that the orphan is really a dwarf that is 33 years old has basically wants the man of the family to herself.  When she gets rejected the entire family is killed.  All of the photos of men in her Bible are likely the men that rejected her and families killed.

Mom makes it home before Max is killed and ends up crashing through the greenhouse roof landing on her.  She scoops up Max and they leave the house with the gun.  The police come and the orphan is no longer on the floor of the greenhouse.  The Orphan surprises them and knocks the gun loose.  While cutting the mother with a knife, as they struggle, Max shoots the gun and cracks the ice on the pond where they are struggling.  They fall into the water and after one more appearance from the Orphan, kicks her in the head and breaks her neck.  Mother and Max are reunited and likely survive with Daniel. 

Summary

Wow did I write a lot.  I could write a novel at this point! LOL.  Very good movie with an interesting twist that being her age.  While it was over 2 hours, I did not find myself falling asleep or bored which says a lot!  There are some movies where an hour and a half is too much.

Now that I have totally spoiled the movie, I hope you will still check it out if interested.  While I am not sure I will buy this when it comes out on DVD.  I would recommend renting it if you don’t see it in the theatre.

Appetizer

Dinner started with Mozarella Sticks.  A favorite of mine and certainly from a box, but hey, totally expected and delicious as those frozen things are. :)

Next was the bread.  It looked like it was a frozen roll that was baked in house as it was still warm and very crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.  It was served with a homemade pesto and olive oil dip which was amazing.

Salad

On to the salad. $6 for a ceasar salad with homemade dressing.  The only thing I would have changed would have been using fresh “flaked” if that is the correct term, parmesian cheese instead of what appeared to be the dried stuff from the can that most of us at one time had in our fridge growing up.

Main Course

Lobster Ravioli in a Lobster Bisque $16.  WOW.  I know cream is good, but I try to stay away from it, but that Bisque was amazing!  The Ravioli along with all of their pastas is either made in house or by a local maker.  When I had originally asked what was homemade, the waiter said just the Manacotti.  He was thinking I wanted to know what was made in house.  For future reference I told him that since they get the pasta fresh locally, it is okay to say it is homemade even though not in the kitchen 40 feet away :)

Dessert

$6 Tirimisu – Homemade goodness :)

Reasonable Dinner – Great Homemade food!

Reasonable prices, homemade food, wide variety of menu items, great night out!  Give them a try.  They have an $18 Lobster Special which I have been wanting to try, but I am afraid with the word “Whole” in the name, that it may stare at me and I cannot deal with that.  LOL.

Not going to spend much time on this one, but just wanted you all to know that “nothing is homemade” at Pasta Mia.  This was from the mouth of our server which appeared to be one of the owners.

So…..

1. Cash Only
2. No Reservations
3. Closed Sunday and Monday, open only for dinner starting at 6:30.
4. Boxed Pasta

I think that sums up Pasta Mia in Adams Morgan in a nutshell!