Nector Critique

We went out to Nector in Moscow tonight to see what it was like.

It has a decent atmosphere, though it was pretty dark. Our table didn’t have a light or anything, so I had to hold the menu quite close to read it.

The menu was pretty small, five appetizers, three salads, and maybe six or seven entrees. They prices weren’t too bad. The entrees were from $9 to $24 dollars.

I had the Greek seafood soup, and Janel had the mac & cheese. We both started with a Caesar salad. The salad was ok, but didn’t have any flavor. Even after the pepper was added. And I was generous with the pepper. The croutons were made in-house, and they were pretty good. The seafood soup had shrimp and clams, with a sparse sprinkling of potatoes and celery. Beside the seafood, the main attraction was supposed to be the little grape tomatoes, but they tasted so nasty I couldn’t eat more than a couple, so instead of being part of dinner, they became an obstacle, and I had to fight them for my food. Janel’s mac & cheese was better, but, like the salads, lacked flavor.

I think the main thrust of Nector is their wine. If you’re not going there for that, then you shouldn’t be going. Or if you do, at least ask for the salt and pepper so you can season and flavor your food personally.

Duplicity Review (Spoilers)

I like to consider myself a smart guy. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not bragging, I’m just stating that I normally have the brain power to follow a movie’s story. So either I’m dumber than I think, or Duplicity is just a poorly written movie.

It’s pretty much about these two spies who used to have government jobs, but they want to make a bunch of money together, so they figure they can do that pretty easy by quitting their jobs and double (triple?) crossing some corporations. So the reason I had a hard time following this movie, is that both of these spies are pretty untrusting and suspicious of everything and everyone, and the movie tracks those feelings way too well.

It’s all over the place. Locations like, ten years ago, 10 days ago, 1 year ago, 5 years ago, 15 minutes earlier, and this week all show at nearly random times. The characters never look any different, younger or older, so you can’t tell that some flashbacks are flashbacks until you’re several minutes into them. When you finally adjust your train of thought to the notion that, “this is a flash back,” they don’t make a whole lot of sense.

All of this, I could forgive. I get a hint of this type of stuff in other movies, like the Ocean’s movies, and I liked those movies. However, unlike the Ocean’s movies, and this is the spoiler, the end of this movie finds the lead characters with nothing. They have nothing to show for their years of “being in-play,” their deep cover. It was all for naught. Well, thank you very much movie. Tonight, I wanted to come and get to know two people and watch them waste their lives with no reward. Thank you very much. Sooooooo fulfilling.

And on the side, Julia Roberts needs to stop working on her face. Well, she needed to stop years ago. It took me at least 30 minutes out of the beginning of the movie to contort my mental image of what lips on a woman should look like, before I could stand to look at the girl. I know doctors need to make money, even plastic surgeons, but at some point they have to say, “No, Mrs. Roberts. I cannot do what you request and still sleep with myself at night.” Even after than, there were several places throughout the movie where I just had to turn away and cringe. Definitely a bad casting job.

So, to sum it all up, bad flow, hard to follow, bad ending, bad casting. Save yourself some money.

We made it 2 years!

Happy 2nd Anniversary!

Aaron came home and surprised me with a bouquet of my favorite flowers.

We went to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Sangria Grille and had a wonderful dinner and time together.

It amazes me how fast time goes by and all the things that have happened in the past 2 years. We look forward to all the exciting things yet to come.

Janel's Birthday

February 28th, I had my 31st birthday. Emily, my sister, and my mom planned a birthday brunch and invited my friends and family over. We had chocolate chip pancakes (my favorite) and a breakfast casserole. Yummy. We then played Rock Band and opened presents.

My friend Jessi gave me a fun box of 31 things to do for my 31st birthday. My friend Karen gave me a great stamping set and Emily gave me a cute bag. Aaron gave me Dharma and Greg Season 2! I was SO excited. I love that series! (For those following the blog, that was present A from Valentines day.)

After Brunch, all of us went and saw Tales of Despereaux. Later on that evening, Aaron and I went out to dinner at Tucci's (an Italian restaurant) and had a good time. What a great birthday!