my night with marilyn

Posted on January 27, 2012 by sandyb

Last week, I said I had plans for dinner-and-a-movie for one. My film choice ended up being “My Week With Marilyn”, starring Michelle Williams. I figured it was the perfect opportunity to see it on the big screen at the Revue (one of my favorite places in all of Toronto), since Rob didn’t express much interest in seeing it. No problem. Only now, I’m disappointed. Disappointed that the film was bad and I have no one to tear it apart with. So, I’ll blog my beefs.

I’m not saying the film isn’t “good” – lots of people like it – but I thought that the character of Marilyn was annoying.

The film shows a mostly drunk, insecure, often stoned, self-absorbed Monroe in her mid-30s, with dozens of men falling at her feet because she is, after all, Marilyn. Blah, blah, blah, I learned nothing new about the iconic actress. I didn’t get the sense that I understood anymore about Marilyn – the movie star, the business woman, the depressive – than I did before. I almost left before the movie ended, but opted to stay in the hopes the plot would, somehow, redeem itself. It didn’t.

For me, the film lacked something. I certainly don’t know enough about Monroe’s life to decide whether Michelle Williams played her accurately, but I know enough about Monroe’s iconic image and infamous love affairs to know that I wanted to see this film about her. Only it wasn’t about her. It was about men falling all over her and people watching her slowly kill herself with cocktails of booze and pills and dark thoughts. Why men thought that was attractive I’ll never understand, but I can speculate that there’s something alluring about being near someone who is otherwise untouchable.That is the one take-away I can relate to, although this hardly changes my opinion of the film.

I’m no film critic and I don’t find destructive behavior “attractive” in the least, so take my review with a grain of salt. All I can offer is that, in my opinion, this film is a renter, at best.

p.s. Here is a thorough review in the Chicago Tribune from a real film critic, who sums up the disappointment with this film much better than I can.

where you come from.

Posted on January 24, 2012 by sandyb

Could you imagine, at 42, finding out that everything you’ve known your whole life – who your parents are, who your siblings are, where you born, how you came to be, the stories of you ancestors – was fake?

Today’s New York Times highlights a story about adoptees searching out the truth, through science, including one woman who, in her 40s, found out she was adopted. Wow. DNA testing companies are responding to a our desire – or perhaps cashing in on our natural instincts – to know exactly where we come from. The NYT piece is a quick, 2-page read, which I inhaled between sips of latte, which I realize is how I scan most articles I read: with coffee.

I can see the appeal of getting to the bottom of your DNA story. I’d love to know where my lineage traces back to, other than Portugal…Northern Africa, maybe? I’ve tried Ancestry.ca (and .com) but my family tree, for the last several generations anyway, have largely been made up of working class farmers, entrepreneurs who were, for the most part, largely uneducated; birth records weren’t exactly cared for in rural Portugal, and so my history is a bit scattered. Poetic, if you think about it, I guess. Or maybe not.

what the internet is good for.

Posted on January 23, 2012 by sandyb

I know people who think the Internet is lame. That it’s “ruining the world”. And, honestly, it’s too exhausting to argue with these people. But I would like to add the following to the ‘pros’ column of the list:

this-

and this

How on Earth would I ever think of either of these great room ideas on my own? You know how? I WOULDN’T. And that’s what the Internet is good for: giving you inspiration when, deep down, some days, you just don’t feel like you have any left. That. That’s what the Internet is good for.

-sandy.

bubble tape.

Posted on January 23, 2012 by sandyb

In 1988, I swiped the contents of my piggy bank (about $10) and plotted to sneak off school property at lunchtime with my friend, Nicole. Our plan was nothing extravagant: just buy as much Bubble Tape as possible, for whatever amount of money we were carrying between us that day. I don’t remember what Nicole brought to the table in the way of piggy bank contents, but she was definitely the brains behind the operation; she’d done this before, she told me, which made her all the more cool to eight-year old me.

As we walked away from the corner store, full of sweet loot, and turned the corner back into the schoolyard, my heart started beating hard against my chest. I could hear the pounding in my ears. I knew that, eventually, I’d come down from my cloud and realize there were consequences to what I had done – too many kids had seen us leave at lunchtime that day and there was no way my mom wasn’t going to find out, which, of course, she did. I felt so bad about the whole thing, I think it’s definitely a moment that left an impression of my young heart, for better or worse.

Amazing, the things that stick with us.

After that day, I never looked at my piggy bank the same way again, or Bubble Tape.

2 recipes for a good sunday.

Posted on January 23, 2012 by sandyb

I really don’t know what came over me today, but I had big results in the kitchen. Nothing fancy or anything, I just like to cook and bake when the mood strikes. But these two dishes turned out so well that I feel I’d be doing anyone who reads this a grave injustice by not sharing them at all – and I’m ALL FOR JUSTICE.

1. Roasted Bacon.
You’re totally missing out on the full bacon experience if you don’t make bacon this way. I’d heard the legend before, that roasting it would change my life life forever. I’m happy to report IT’S TRUE.

You’ll need bacon, a baking sheet and parchment paper. Pre-heat the oven to 400F; lay the bacon on the parchment paper (over each piece, you can dash dried rosemary or drizzle MAPLE SYRUP if you like). Roast for 15-20, flipping once, half way.

2. Flourless Chocolate Walnut Cake
My sister thinks I’m a glutard – someone who is subconsciously addicted to gluten, even though it’s not good for them (my body hates it). But I can’t give up the things that have gluten in them..like anything to do with cakes and breads and pastries. Basically, everything that tastes incredible to a glutard like me. But this recipe from Smitthen Kitchen for flourless chocolate walnut cookies (which I turned into a cake using 1/2 less of the confectioner sugar) and these baking instructions from David Lebovitz made everything better..

and now I’m eating chocolate cake on the same day I ate roasted bacon.

amen.