My Ode to Dr. Jones

I promised I would be putting more movie-related stuff on the blog, so hopefully this is a good way to kick things off. I love the Indiana Jones movies. As far as adventure movies go, it doesn’t get much better than this. The other day I started thinking about my favorite moments from the films, and I came up with this list of my top five. For those hoping for the scene where Indy escapes a nuclear blast by hiding in a fridge, I’m afraid nothing from the most recent movie, Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull, made it onto the list (but you can read my review of the movie here).

5. The Sword Fight That Wasn’t


There’s no way this scene couldn’t make the list. After fighting off a handful of baddies, he has to go up against one last Arabian ninja with a sword. Rather than waste time with another fight, he simply shoots the guy and moves on (ala Han Solo). Which begs the question, why didn’t he just shoot all the other people he was fighting in the previous scene?

Interesting Fact: I’m sure at this point that most people know the story that there was supposed to be a big sword fight right here, but that Harrison Ford was too sick to film it, so he suggested, “Why don’t I just shoot the guy instead?” But what you may not know is that not only was Harrison Ford sick, but in fact most of the cast and crew was deathly ill while filming in Tunisia. In fact, the only person who did not get sick was Steven Spielberg, who only ate cans of Spaghetti-O’s from the States the entire time they were in Tunisia.

4. Escaping the Night Club


George Lucas and Steven Spielberg originally came together because they wanted to make James Bond-type secret agent movie. Instead, they came up with our favorite adventurer archaeologist. I think this scene made it in, however, because they did want to see Indy in a tux fighting some bad guys at least once. The fact that he’s been poisoned and is frantically searching for the antidote made it all the better.

Interesting Fact: The name of the night club where the fight takes place is the Club Obi-Wan, as an homage to George Lucas’ other trilogy.

3. Indy’s Magic Hat


This isn’t as much a moment as it is a recurring theme. Indy’s gone through a lot to protect his beloved fedora, including nearly being smashed by booby traps. This screenshot above references the scene in the Last Crusade where Indy miraculously survived driving a tank off of a cliff. Just as he’s catching his breath to get ready for his next adventure, his long-lost hat miraculously blows from over the cliff edge and lands in his lap. Classic.

Interesting Fact: In the “Making of the Last Crusade” documentary, Harrison Ford was filmed stapling the fedora to his head before filming the tank chase sequence. Many people believed this to be real, but sadly, he never actually stapled his hat to his head (though he did use double-sided tape).

2. The Bridge Sequence


This scene brings to its close a series of amazing action sequences: fighting for his freedom, escaping in a mine cart, outrunning a wall of water, and finally facing enemies from both sides on a rickety rope bridge hanging precariously over a crocodile-infested river (all while missing one of his shirt sleeves). What’s the manliest thing you could do in this situation? Cut the bridge in half.

Interesting Fact: Steven Spielberg was in fact terrified of the rope bridge and refused to cross it, which meant he had to drive an extra mile and a half to get from one side to the other.

1. The Truck Chase


This is without a doubt one of the greatest action sequences ever filmed. After fighting his way through the snake-infested well of souls and dispatching a giant Nazi with the propeller of an airplane, he begins chasing after the truck containing the Ark of the Covenant. This scene is every bit as edge-of-my-seat exciting for me as it was the first time I watched it.

Interesting Fact: The truck chase was one of the first scenes filmed for the movie. Harrison Ford was actually dragged behind the truck for some of the shots, bruising his ribs. When asked if he was worried, he stated, "No. If it really was dangerous, they would have filmed more of the movie first."

So there you have it; my top five Indiana Jones moments. If I missed any that you think should have made the list (like the fact Indy continually seems to be beating up Nazis and stealing their clothes), please let me know with your comments. Thanks for reading!

Blog-apalooza Part I

Sorry it's been a while since I've posted anything on the blog. That's why today we're putting up three posts of everything we have been up to in the last few weeks. First off, we completed the final do-it-yourself project of the move into our new place by covering up the hideous mirror walls that plague our front room.


For whatever reason our landlord thought some floor-to-ceiling mirrors would be awesome for his place. We're not allowed to take them down, so instead Sarah found a way to cover them up using fabric and ordinary spray starch.


It took us a few hours but we managed to cut the fabric and paste it up on the walls to get rid of seeing our reflections in every corner of the house.


The walls look great and we're glad to finally get them covered up. Also, there are two other new posts below, so please keep on reading.

Blog-apalooza Part II

Hey everyone, here's Part II of what we have been up to in October. On October 30, we went to Comedy Central's Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear, which was pretty fun. We had to stand around for a while on the Mall with a million other people before it finally got started, but it was actually pretty fun.


They had all sorts of different acts at the rally, including The Roots, Ozzy Osbourne, Cat Stevens, Sheryl Crowe, and a bunch of other performers; it was a lot of fun. Also, the idea was to bring signs to the rally that weren't divisive or argumentative, so these were some of our favorites.




And of course, no trip down to the Capitol would be complete without lunch at Good Stuff Eatery on Pennsylvania Avenue. They have some tasty burgers and the black-and-white shake rocks.

Blog-apalooza Part III

Hey folks, welcome to the last of all our new posts on everything we have been up to this last month. We had a great time for Halloween, starting with pumpkin-carving. We went with something a little more traditional this year.


We went to the Ward Halloween Party this year (since we are now members of the Activities Committee) dressed as Waldo and Wanda from the Where's Waldo books. I'd put up a picture of us but you probably wouldn't be able to find us.

Summer Movie Roundup 2010

Hey folks, it’s time for the annual summer movie review. Sorry it’s a bit late this year, but I was withholding judgment until I saw a few films that had recently come out on DVD. Also, I’m hoping to put more movie-related stuff on the blog from here on, so stay tuned for more of that in the future. Without further ado…

5. ROBIN HOOD


Although this movie was by no means great, it was definitely an entry on the “good” side of the many Robin Hood remakes. Russell Crowe does a decent job of bringing the character to life, except that he’s basically really angry all the time. However, you can always count on director Ridley Scott to give you a few really good action sequences. Oh, and apparently Robin Hood also laid the foundation for the Magna Carta. Who knew?

4. SALT


My one major complaint with movies where you don’t know if the main character is a good guy or a bad guy is that that question is usually answered within the first ten minutes of the movie. I remember going to see the film “Traitor” with Don Cheadle last year, and all the trailers made it look like you would spend the whole movie waiting to figure that out. But within the first five minutes, you know that his character is just an undercover good guy, rendering the title and plot of the film somewhat nonsensical.

Not so with Salt. I was impressed that they actually managed to keep you guessing right up until the very end, which raises this movie to the top of the recent undercover spy thrillers. You just have to suspend reality and believe that Russia has undercover agents working in the United States. Like that would ever happen in real life. Oh wait…

3. THE A-TEAM


I’ll admit that this one was a bit of a guilty pleasure, and I spent all Spring anxiously awaiting its arrival. This movie is completely ridiculous, which is what made it such an enjoyable summer film. Stuff explodes, someone makes a joke, unintelligible plot point, more stuff explodes, repeat. Yay!

2. TOY STORY 3


I didn’t exactly have high expectations for this film, which is surprising since this is Pixar, the film company that can do no wrong. I guess I was disappointed that they were doing another sequel to a series that I thought had already passed its heyday. On the contrary, this movie was fantastic! In addition to the incredible “Great Escape”-esque final act, the story really had an emotional impact exploring themes like growing up, friendship, and creepy baby dolls. It maybe even got me a little excited for their next sequel, Cars 2, due out in 2011.

1. INCEPTION


This was by far my most anticipated movie of the summer, and it did not disappoint. Not only is this my top movie of the summer, but I daresay that this movie belongs in my top ten films OF ALL TIME. This movie, in my humble opinion, was practically perfect. All of the actors were perfectly cast, the plot was intelligent and mind-bending, and the action sequences were something that no one had ever seen before. I’ve always been a big fan of the director, Christopher Nolan (Memento, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight), and this was a masterpiece. He has gone on record that he always wanted to direct a James Bond movie, and this was his answer to the sleek espionage genre, which even included a gripping snow fortress assault as an homage to his favorite Bond film, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. Did I mention that I love this movie?

So there you have it. Let me know if I missed any that you think should have made the list. Also, I’ll be posting more movie-related articles when I have a little more free time (which has been hard to come by lately).

New Apartment!

Well, I haven't been posting much on the blog lately, and the main reason for that is because we unexpectedly had to move this last month! The owners of our apartment were coming back unexpectedly from their overseas assignment, which gave us about two months to find a new place. Fortunately, we found one and were able to finish moving in over this last week. Now those of you who have seen our apartment may wonder why it looks exactly the same as the last one. We actually stayed in the same building, and moved from the third floor to the first floor. There have been some downsides (moving costs, crappy parking spot, etc.), but the new place has some definite upsides as well (we were allowed to paint, nicer appliances, fireplace). So overall we're pretty happy, especially now that I'm finally done hanging everything up.


Our living room is unfortunately a little bit smaller with the addition of the fireplace, but we were still able to make everything fit, and we're pretty happy with the outcome.


The bedroom looks about the same, except that there's a new coat of paint. We're excited to be able to stay in the same neighborhood and in the same ward, and I feel like we were really fortunate that this new place opened up in our building right as we were getting kicked out.

South American Adventure: Food Edition

Everyone who knows me knows I love to eat. Which is why I had to dedicate a post just to all of the amazing food we had while we traveled around South America. Unfortunately, this blog website will only let me post five pictures at a time for some reason, so I had to limit this to just a few of the meals we had during our travels.

It was pretty chilly down in Buenos Aires, which made it perfect weather for "submarinos." Basically you get a glass of really hot milk and a chocolate bar (sometimes in the shape of a tiny chocolate submarine), and mix them together until the chocolate gets nice and melty. It's best enjoyed along with an "alfajor" which is a soft shortbread cookie filled with dulce de leche and dipped in chocolate. Pretty tasty stuff.


The king in Argentinean cuisine is most definitely beef. Between the two of us Sarah and I ate roughly the equivalent of an entire cow. My favorite was the "ojo de bife," which is their version of a ribeye, pictured here. All the cows are grass-fed in Argentina, as opposed to grain-fed like in the States, which leads to a slightly tougher, but much tastier piece of beef. It goes well with a slice of "provoleta," which is just a thick slab of provolone cheese, seasoned well and slapped on the grill until it grows tough and chewy on the outside, and warm and gooey on the inside.

Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of our dinner at La Bourgogne, which was a really fancy French restaurant in the ritzy part of northern Buenos Aires. It is consistently ranked by several travel magazines as the best restaurant in South America, and I figure it would be tough to pass up a chance to eat at the best restaurant on an entire continent. They gave us everything from foie gras and goat cheese gazpacho as starters to flambeed beef tenderloin and rack of lamb as an entree.


Chile isn't exactly known for its cuisine, but they did have some great national dishes. One of the most famous dishes is "pastel de choclo," which is somewhat like a pot pie. They put big pieces of bone-in chicken into a cast iron bowl and fill it with gravy and vegetables. Then they top it with a generous helping of cornbread mix with honey and bake the whole thing for half an hour. The whole meal was pretty hearty. We also had plenty of seafood since we were so close to the coast, which Sarah enjoyed (me not so much).


We always tried to taste some of the national favorites everywhere we went, which in Rio de Janeiro means "feijoada," a thick bean soup/stew filled with whatever meat they happened to have on hand that day. Our feijoada had steak, chicken, dried beef, tongue, and a couple other things. It was amazing, except for maybe the tongue. You usually pour it out over a bed of rice and eat with tons of toppings, including vegetables, fried bananas, and peppers.


Finally, one of our last meals in South America was one of the restaurants I was most excited about, "Porcau," which translates to "piggy." It's a Brazilian rodizio-style steakhouse, which means the waiters continue to bring you food until you ask them to stop. Although this wasn't entirely true, since they will give you more steak even when you tell them you don't want it. This restaurant has raised gluttony to an art form, and they serve you every conceivable variation of beef, chicken, and pork. One of the strangest may have been a strip steak they somehow stuffed with cheese, but it was all amazing.

So there you have it. Our culinary tour de force of three nations in South America. Sarah and I had such an awesome time there, and I'm sorry my blog posts have to go back to normal old boring life from here on out. Oh well, I hope you all keep reading anyway.

South American Adventure: Brazil Edition

Hey everyone! It's time for the final installment of our travelogue through South America. Sorry it took me a while to publish this post, but I was recovering from the bizarre South American flu-type illness that Sarah brought home from Chile and subsequently passed on to me. The good news is the doctor told us we don't have dengue fever, so we should be alright. Anyway, Brazil was awesome, and a great end to our trip through South America. The first few days we spent exploring the colonial areas in downtown Rio.


We also had to go up the two big mountains in Rio that everyone talks about. The weather cleared up a bit towards the end of our stay so we were able to get some great views of the city. On Thursday, we went to the Sugar Loaf hill overlooking the Copacabana and Ipanema beaches. This picture was taken from the cable car we took up to the top.


The view was incredible, and there were even monkeys up on the hill, although Sarah said they looked scary so I wasn't allowed to get too close.


The next day we went up the Corcovado mountain to see the Cristo statute, which provides an even more amazing view of the whole city.


We had an amazing time traveling through South America. We were sad to go home, but it really was the trip of a lifetime. And don't worry, I still have plenty more pictures to post of all the food we ate on our travels. Adios.

South American Adventure: Chile Edition

Well, it's time for the next update on our trip through South America. After spending a week in Argentina while Sarah finished up her classes, we hopped on a place and headed to Santiago, Chile. It was still pretty cold while we were there, but the city is very beautiful, clean, and has a sweet subway system. Here we are in the Plaza de las Armas, which is considered the center of the old colonial part of town. We were able to visit the National Cathedral and the several Pre-Columbian art museums.


This is at the top of a huge fortress/palace that was built on a hill in the center of town. Santiago is surrounded by mountains on three sides, so it offered a great view of the entire valley.


We also managed to take an old trolley car up to one of the larger hills on the outskirt of town to see their statue of the Virgin Mary that overlooks the entire city. It was amazing, but I suppose it kind of pales in comparison to Cristo statue that we visited in Rio de Janeiro (spoiler alert). Santiago was surprisingly a very modern, cosmopolitan city, and the people we're really nice, but we decided to take the last day in Chile and take a bus to...


Valparaiso! Valparaiso is a coastal fishing town that is built up into the hills surrounding the beach. There wasn't much to do there beyond walk around and look at the ocean, but we still had a great time wandering around.


All of the small neighborhoods in the hills offered some amazing views of the city and the ocean. We had a great time in Valparaiso and Sarah was able to get some tasty seafood before we finally headed back to Santiago. After that, we hopped on another place for the final leg of our journey to Brazil. Stay tuned!

South American Adventure: Argentina Edition

Hey everyone! Sarah and I are finally back from our trip down South. We had an amazing time in Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, and Brazil. I ended up taking 572 pictures, so I figured I should devote one post to each part of our trip. Today we have our trip to Argentina, along with my side trip to Uruguay.


Buenos Aires is an absolutely beautiful city. It is filled with colonial homes and turn of the century, hotels, mansions, and opera houses. We had such a fun time wondering through all of the different neighborhoods around BA. One of the first things we did was head to the San Telmo Antiques Fair, which takes place in one of the older colonial parts of town.


One day when Sarah had class most of the day, I took a ferry across the Rio de la Plata into Uruguay. I visited the historic site of Colonia del Sacramento, which was a colonial port that constantly changed hands between the Spanish and the Portuguese. It's a cool little village that was lots of fun to explore.


BA is full of amazing parks. The city planners originally wanted the city to have a feel similar to London or Paris, and they included plenty of green areas and cafes to relax. This is one of the main botanical gardens, which is inhabited by about a thousand friendly cats. I made friends with a one-eyed pregnant cat, but I figured it was best not to take her home.


Everyone kept telling us that we had to visit the Recoleta cemetery, which is the final resting place of Evita, but I couldn't figure out why everyone wanted us to go see it. It was pretty cool. It's basically a cemetery village, with huge walls and corridors that you can get lost in. It's set up with streets and plazas and all the monuments are so large that it's hard to find your way around. It was cool, and would have been the perfect place to film an action movie shootout.


Finally, we had to head to the southern part of the city, which is considered the birthplace of the tango. The whole city is amazing with tons of interesting things to do. Stay tuned for an update on the other parts of our trip, as well as a post devoted to my favorite part of any vacation: food.

So Lonely

Hey folks! Sarah has been down in South America for over two weeks now, so I think I'm starting to go a little bit crazy. Especially now that my internship with the judge is over, my only real interaction comes from shouting answers (in the form of a question) at the TV during Jeopardy. Sadly Alex never congratulates me when I get them right.

So it's been a lonely week with few people to talk to and no tasty homemade treats like the snickerdoodle cupcakes picture above. On the plus side, I am headed to South America myself on Friday, so I'll finally get to see my wife. We will be down there for two weeks, in which time we will travel to Buenos Aires, Santiago, and Rio de Janeiro. We are so excited, and I'm sure we'll have plenty of pictures and stories to post when we get back. Adios!

Taking a Break from Routine

I know Ryan is the one who usually updates our blog, and there is a reason for that, but I thought I would take a moment to share an exciting development. Starting next week I get to take a little break from my routine and go on an adventure! I am headed off to Buenos Aires for four weeks. Before everyone gets all up in arms about how I am abandoning my spouse I would like to mention that Ryan gets to come towards the end of my time down there. I am looking forward to this change and for a bit of time to relax. Ryan is planning on coming down later in July and then we are going on a multi-country trip! We are set to go to Uruguay, Chile and Brazil. I am really excited for this trip and also happy that Ryan will be able to come! Although it is currently winter down there I am perfectly ok with missing DC's lovely July weather. Especially after a day like today.

Arizona Trip

Well, Sarah's off on another business trip, so I am home alone this week. I figured I would put up a few pictures of my trip from Arizona a few weeks ago. I was able to head home to see my oldest nephew Holden's baptism. It took him five tries, but it was probably for the best.


Plus, it was fun to see the rest of the fam. I had a great time.

Farewell, Jack!

It is with a heavy heart that I have accepted the fact that 24 is no more. By far my favorite show of the last few years, I was able to sit through the recycled plotlines each year (why is there always a mole in CTU?) just to catch those fleeting glimpses of Jack kicking butt and killing dudes with a flare gun. For my own personal sendoff to Jack, here's a list of some of the best Bauer quotes from all eight seasons.

8. Jack: That's the problem with people like you, George. You want results, but you never want to get your hands dirty. I'd start rolling up your sleeves. (pause) I'm gonna need a hacksaw.

7. Nina: He's gonna put a bullet in my head before I can say "hello", then he's going to turn the gun on himself.
Jack: We'll make sure he doesn't turn the gun on himself.

6. Jack: You have no idea how far I'm willing to go to acquire your cooperation.

5. Jack: Let's get something straight, kid. The only reason you're still conscious is because I don't want to carry you. Now get in the van.

4. Jack: You're gonna tell me what I want to know, it's just a question of how much you want it to hurt.

3. Jack: You make one sound and I will rip your tongue out. Are we clear? Gray... people in this country are dying, and I need some answers. Are you gonna give 'em to me or am I gonna have to start hurting you?
Graem: Actually, you're hurting me now.
Jack: Trust me, I'm not.

2. Jack: (just before killing Fayed) Say hello to your brother.

1. Jack: (while strangling Tony) Tell me where the device is, or so help me I will kill you, and you will stay dead this time.

Parental Visit!

This last week Sarah and I were lucky enough to have my parents come to DC for a visit. We had a great time taking them all over town to see a bunch of the sites that they missed last year. We went to the Capitol Building, Monticello, the Marjorie Mayweather Post House, the Museum of Natural History, the Holocaust Museum, and more. This picture was taken by our tour guide inside the Capitol.


We also ate at plenty of tasty places, including 2 Amy's, Ray's Hell-Burgers, Good Stuff Eatery, etc. Here's one of my folks at the Natural History Museum. They're the couple on the right of the picture.


Overall, I think my parents had a great trip, as long as I was able to set them down in the shade every few minutes with a big Coke in their hands. Also, after their visit, I was able to fly home with them to see my oldest nephew's baptism. I'll try to put up some pictures from that later this week!

Conquering the Macaron!

Hey folks! Sorry for the lack of posts lately, but school has been hectic. In fact, today is my last day of class as a second-year law student! I still have finals next week, but then I'll be free for the summer. I have an internship lined up with a judge in the DC Superior Court, so that should be interesting.

But enough about me. This post is about singing my wife's praises as a first-class baker. She's tackled some pretty ambitious baking projects in the past, but a few weeks ago she was determined to make a French macaron, which is no simple task.


For my exposition on the differences between French macarons and American macaroons, you can see the post below. A French macaron is essentially a meringue cookie, and is quite fussy (like most French food). Here's a picture of a pistachio-flavored macaron that we had in New York, which was amazing. And so the quest began.


Here are the macarons that Sarah made. The entire process consisted of a number of ridiculous tasks, including but not limited to: grinding toasted almonds to dust, "aging" six egg whites by leaving them out on the counter for two days, buying a "silpat" mat so that the cookies could be pulled off the cookie sheet, making sure that the temperature of the oven never varied more than five degrees from the desired temperature, and so on.

However, I'm happy to say Sarah pretty much dominated in macaron-baking, and the end product was pretty awesome. Rock on.