Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone!

The three of us here are trying to catch snowflakes on New Years Eve :)

It has been a great year, but I'm happy it's 2010. This year I'm going to photo conferences, Jeremy's Dark-Matter searching, we're going to FRANCE and Vermont (in the Fall, for the foliage ;)) for vacations...and things should be good!

We'll post more on that later!

Error Bars

So a while back Jeremy was telling me something physics-y. I was trying to pay attention, but it's hard for me...I just get so easily distracted! So he's telling me about a plot (I'm thinking like...a plot to a story??? jk) and then he's telling me about error bars, and how someone hates error bars and blah blah. I of course hear: Aero Bars. I say "Yeah, I hate Aero bars too, don't like the bubbles..."

This is what I pictured in my head:


Now he doesn't really tell me physics things anymore... :( I ruined it.

Rating on my listening/paying attention/smartness skills: ROAD KILL...it's just sad.


EDIT: In case anyone doesn't know what an Aero bar is...it's a chocolate bar from Canada with little air bubbles in it. Kinda sucks.

How I Met Your Mother

Hey everyone, Jeremy here, with my first post on this new, unpretentious snob blog. I suppose it's a little ironic that my first post is a review of a primetime television sitcom. No, not a fine wine, foreign film or craft beer, a sitcom. I guess that goes to show what has been taking up my (and now Gwerin's) free time. Well anyway, here it goes. I promise, more pretentious posts in the future, read only through spectacles or even a monocle. Black tie only.

How I Met Your Mother (HIMYM) is a primetime sitcom that airs at whatever o'clock on random network. Details aren't important. The show starts with Ted sitting down his teenage children to tell the story of how he met their mother. This is a loose premise since after 4 seasons we never even meet this so called 'mother'. Anyway, the story he tells is of him and his friends in their twenties living in new york city. The ensemble includes Ted, his roommate Marshall, Marshall's fiancee Lily, Ted's on and off again love interest Robin, and Barney, a suit wearing man-whore who met Ted at a urinal and is his self-proclaimed best friend. It is here that I should point out that Barney is played by Neil Patrick Harris and is absolutely hilarious. Also, Marshall is the guy in 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall' among other films, and Lily is played by the girl who was Willow in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and also the girl in 'American Pie'. So, a pretty good cast thus far. Now the review:

HIMYM is, after all is said and done, a fluffy sitcom. It doesn't try to be any more, and it shouldn't. With that in mind it is still great fun. The comedy and characters match this generation of television viewers like no other sitcom I've stumbled upon. It is as if you can picture yourself hanging out with the characters at their bar and joking around with them while becoming alcoholics (they spend a lot of time at the bar).

It isn't, however, without it's flaws. These flaws are present in most sitcoms, especially those that last more than 2 seasons. The conflicts don't seem to evolve much, especially for Ted, who is constantly and irritatingly searching for the woman he is going to marry. He's so melodramatic it makes me throw up a little in my mouth. Just now that happened. A little. Moving on. The writers do manage to develop the rest of the cast sufficiently slowly that you don't get too bored with them, though Barney's awesomeness is at risk were it not for it being so awesome.

Definitely if the main character arc was only Ted (with or without his relationship with Robin) this show would not be a success. However, Barney keeps it hilarious and light and Marshall and Lily keep it accessible. In fact, Gwerin and I relate ourselves to the married couple even easier than we did with the cast of Friends. I'm totally Chandler, and not Ross, damnit. Aaaaaanyway, it's good fun and makes me want to turn off the tv and go hang out with my friends (counter-productive for a tv show, I know).

Gwerin is next to me as I write this and she agrees with everything I say. It's a well spent half hour (or ten hours of you marathon a season) and pretty refreshing when you consider all the other crap on tv.

So check it out sometime. Let us know how it is. We just canceled our cable. Bye!

Rating: Snow Day

Ratings, Categories and How We Work :)

Ok so these are the things we are going to rate:

• Restaurants
  
• Movies
  
• TV Shows
  
• Places
  
• Wine
  
• Beer
  
• Other (That's right. We left it WIIIIDE open :))
  

These are our ratings and what they mean:

• Skittle - SWEET BUT RUINS YOUR TEETH (Gwerin's proof)
  
• Puddle - DIRTY, BUT CAN BE DAMN GOOD FUN
  
• Traffic, Stop and Go - SO FRUSTRATING, AND ONLY SEMI-ENJOYABLE WITH GOOD COMPANY AND WHEN YOU HAVE NOTHING BETTER TO DO
  
• Burnt Popcorn - A GOOD THING RUINED
  
• Warm Bubble Bath - IT JUST HITS THE SPOT
  
• Snow Day - AN EXCITING SURPRISE!
  
• Road Kill - IT'S JUST PATHETIC
  

Enjoy!!

Valentine's Dinner

Lots of people have different views about Valentine's Day...is it good?  Is it for Hallmark?  Do you love it because you're in love?  Do you hate it because you're alone?  Is it a way to mark up prices on things? 

Maybe.  

I like the idea of it...why the heck not have a stupid excuse to be romantic and lovey dovey with whoever (whommmever?) you love?  Why not tell your best friend you love them?  Or your family?  

But prices.  Jacked up.  Just because they can.  

We went to a restaurant this past saturday...Valentine's Day, if you haven't gotten that drift yet...and it was at Chez Pascal in Providence, RI.  

I don't think it was a good idea to go to a restaurant for the first time on Valentine's Day.  

Meal: Good.  (good isn't GREAT.  or AWESOME.  or FANTASTIC!)  We'll come back to that.

Environment: Great.  We liked the art on the walls, the nice "flowery lighting" as Jeremy puts it, and the nice little (fake) rose petals they put on each table.

BUT: Since it was packed, our table in the corner was very VERY close to the table next to it.  So close that the waiter actually did move their table away from ours, so he could stand in between the two of them to open and pour our bottle of wine without his ass ending up in the couple's plate.  I hate close tables.  If I wanted to have dinner with another couple, we would have double dated.  And it would have been with another couple we KNEW!!!

Service: Great.  Our reservations were at 9:15...servers are tired and very busy, since at 9:15 the whole restaurant was still packed (yes, that IS a good sign!).  Our server was really great, he helped us pick the (more expensive) wine, he kept topping it off, he brought our food in a timely manner, etc.  But he was weird when we asked for more bread.  "Can we get some more bread please?"  .....Nothing.  He pursed his lips and nodded.  Just weird.  Oh well.

Ok so back to the food.  I can only speak for myself....I had shrimp for the first course, and arctic char which is "literally indistinguishable from salmon".  Both were pretty good.  I was in the mood for a filet, so oh well. 

Jeremy seemed to really like his scallops (that were his first course).  I had a small bite of them, and I thought they tasted very good as well.  He also seemed to enjoy his deer.  Yep, Jeremy ate deer.  I did not try a bite of that.  Be happy that I even tried "literally indistinguishable from salmon", ok!?!?  Jeremy said deer tastes like duck.  I find that odd.  

Deer: four legged hoofed animal.  (It was red deer, if that helps you bambi lovers...Jeremy tried this on me, I say deer is deer and he ate bambi's mom.) 

Duck: GOES QUACK.  Has a duckbill, webbed feet, feathers, and can FLY.  How could they taste the same!?!??!?!  

Long story short, I don't think it was worth $68/person, but we WILL be trying the restaurant again, on a non-holiday :)

-E