A simple question lingering in my mind . . .

Is there anything more embarrassing than having to stand with your dog while he craps in public? P and I were driving on a rather busy street the other day and saw this poor guy standing on the sidewalk with his dog crapping away in front of a Meineke. He looked really uncomfortable, and I could identify with him. The hound has pulled that on me too. Holla if you hear me!

Good Eatin!

The kittay asked a good question via email the other day and I figured that I would share my response. The question was "What’s the name of that restaurant where you get all the meat you can eat and you wear the medallion?" And my response was "You don't wear the medallion and the name of the restaurant is Fogo de Chao." A little context: in Decemeber PJ and I flew out to see the p's in D.C. and asked them to take us to this restaurant. Some of our good friends here in the neighborhood had recommended it, having frequented in while in Chicago. So we went, and, well it's amazing. Amazing in the "gut-splitting, this is so good but I really can't eat anymore, but I am going to" kind of way. The basic premise is that you provide a sizeable down payment to sit at a table where there is a two sided medallion for each person. On either side, the medallion is red and green. Green means feed me, Red means stop. Then, the Brazillian caballeros come around with different cuts of meat; if they see green (the medallion that is) they stop and cut according to your taste. It's phenomenal. Literally the best food I have ever eaten-and I will probably never eat there again unless one of you all want to go (I think they are only on the east coast, so come visit and we will take you).





Here's the URL: http://www.fogodechao.com/

Leaky Trap Doors

How apropos that we named our dog after K's favorite steak sandwich restaurant given that once every two weeks or so, the hound jumps up onto one of our laps, plops his rear down and leaves tiny presents vis a vis a little brown stain on the pants. Now, those who have ever been to Bruchi's understand what I am talking about here. The digestive track needs time to acclimate to the steaky-barbeque goodness flowing from the heaven that is this restaurant , and thus for many, after the first visit, it is probably wise to make sure you are near a restroom. In any event, I just can't figure this out-why does the hound have a leaky trap door and why does he always leave a stain on my (K's) pants when I am on my way out?

Do they make cork devices for situations such as these?

A response to PJ's post about Children of Men

It had to happen sometime . . . (there's a scary thought)
PJ's excitement over generating this BLOG has encouraged me to post comments about her last entry-despite my reservations about participating in this medium. After all, this digital mechanism enables us to surveil one another most efficiently, but I bet you all aren't thinking about it like that so I won't belabor the point. I am posting to express my difference in opinion regarding the movie Children of Men, which PJ has characterized as "darkest of dark," "a tragic, dystopic, thinker of a movie," and "depressing with a capital D." If you know anything about PJ, you can probably glean from her tone that all of these features make the movie not worth watching, and although she is currently rebutting (from the kitchen) what she expects I will say, we all know this isn't her type of film. Let me be clear, I am not resisting PJ's reading that the film is dark, depressing or a thinker. What I am arguing is that this darkness is precisely the point and for these reasons we should be paying close attention. The basic premise of the film is that in the near future, the world finds itself unable to reproduce children for unknown reasons and this infertility leads to the proliferation of xenophobia, border protection, fetishism (over youth), and terror (familiar themes wouldn't you say?). Miraculously, a woman becomes pregnant and the plot follows her path to delivering this baby with the help of those committed to her safety (and all that that represents). While I don't want to rehearse the entirety of the film, I should say that what impressed me the most was its insightful (implicit) commentary on what happens when the family is no longer the site of governmental control. That is, this film illustrates how if we do not have children, and all that they metonymically represent, our government seems to lose its grip on culture and we spin violently into a totalizing regime so that some frail semblance of order can be maintained. Makes you think, which is good! (if you can't tell, I have been reading a lot of Foucault)

A final note on this film:
Slavoj Zizek's (philosopher) comments in the extras are spot on, especially his analysis of the film's background, which was, as he says, exquisite. I would recommend this film, it is well directed, well acted, well . . . most everything. It is depressing though. As one of my classmates said "it is shocking how many people have to die in order for this child to live"

Some other notes on the films we have watched lately:
I liked the Holiday, it is an endearing movie. Very fun.

I liked parts of Rocky Balboa, it has more depth than some of the previous films, but the digitizing of the fight scenes made the film awkward.

I loved Stranger than Fiction mainly because of the cast. Will Ferrell is not acting like Frank the Tank or Ricky Bobby, Emma Thompson is great, Dustin Hoffman is great, and Maggie Gyllenhaal is great.

Movies

The picture I've attached has nothing to do with my post...it's just one of us at The Arch last July.

Classes are starting to wind down for the semester. This week we have enjoyed the calm before the storm--just before all our final papers are due. Rather than working overtime to get ahead we decided to relax and enjoy a few movies. Last weekend we watched "The Holiday." It's a good one--an endearing romantic comedy. We also watched "Stranger Than Fiction." It too was enjoyable, but a little bit darker than "The Holiday." Last night we watched the darkest of dark movies, "Children of Men." I do not recommend this one for a relaxing date night. This is a tragic, dystopic, thinker of a movie. Depressing with a capital D. We had to follow it with a few light episodes of "Friends" before being able to go to bed for a restful night of sleep. Oh, on Thursday night, after enjoying the 5th grade band concert at BHS, we watched Rocky Balboa--it's a good one! Okay, now I have to buckle down and spit out two papers---at least one, maybe two.

My Day In Fame!

Along with two other teachers, I (PJ) received a grant from a local newstation. The grant is called "One Class at a Time" and donates $1000 to their "classroom." During an assembly celeberating the district's 150th anniversary, myself and the other two teachers were asked to come forward for a special award. We were all confused as to what on earth we had to do with the district being 150 years old, and then...Sure enough, in walked the newsreporter and presented the school with a nice big check.

The money will go toward sending home family literacy packets to Kindergartners next school year. Each child will take home a Leap Frog Letter Factory DVD this Spring at Kindergarten registration. Then, during the school year, they will check out these literacy packets so that they can continue learning at home. It's an exciting project and should reap great rewards for these kids in the future. In the meantime, no school for Good Friday.

KJ is stuck at the computer 24-7 for the next few days as he has a paper for Dr. W due on Monday--on his dissertation committee and VERY intense about scholarship. Typically KJ gets so nervous for these papers that he becomes physically ill. Hopefully some Easter cookies, ham, and a little Bruchi love will keep him sane through Monday.

In the meantime, Bruchi is bummed because the weather has taken a nasty turn inhibiting his daily walks/runs. We had been spoiled with three weeks of nice 70 and 80 degree days with very light winds. Tulips were about to bloom, seeds were sprouting, and then...welcome back February. There are snow flurries to go along with wild winds and 20 degree weather. Next week is supposed to improve to the 50s, but I think my tulips have had it. :( The weather is never normal in Normal.