A crazy weekend...

I'm not usually a social butterfly, but I could've posed as one this past weekend. It all started on Friday night, with a screening of "Rocky" at Take the Cake Cafe for Watch This...
















First of all, Take the Cake makes some killer cupcakes. I had the red velvet, and it was fantastic. After some trouble shooting (And watching Alex sprint to a video store to get the movie) we watched the greatest boxing movie ever made. Now I'm not going to dispute the fact that the story of the first movie is a powerful one, but consider this: What kind of movie would it have been with a more dramatic actor, or an actor with more acting ability? I'm sure it would be different, that's for sure. I wonder these things sometimes.


Saturday began very early for me. Very, very early. Alex, Scott, Val and others are working on a video about Foursquare, and needed some extras for a scene in the library. Thankfully, they provided coffee and donuts. I'll definitely link to the video when it's finished. Based on the shots I saw, it's gonna be hysterical!

After the video shoot, I had a few hours to get ready for the Cincinnati Ballet's production of Mozart's Requiem. I've been looking forward to this for a long time. My concert choir sang this in college, and I was very interested to see what a ballet would be like. I was not disappointed... it was fantastic. The set design was unusual, lots of scaffolding and random doors. The costumes were very understated. In the first half the lighting was mostly from up stage and the wings, creating lots of shadows on the dancers. Which brings me to the dancing. It was phenomenal. A good mix of classic ballet style with more modern movement and angles. A preferred the darker, more modern first half to the brighter, classic second half, but the whole thing was enjoyable. Oh, and the choir... Xavier University concert chorale was amazing. You could hear every part, none of them were overpowering (I'm looking at you, sopranos...). The Dies Ire was powerful and imposing, and the Lacrymosa brought tears to my eyes. Overall a really great performance.

After the ballet, my  brother and I jetted home to change out of our finery for the pre-Rollergirls tailgate tweet-up. First f all, if you've never been to a roller derby bout, go. Find a team in your area and go. It's crazy fun, and there are great people-watching opportunities. Anyway, the tailgating was a success, and there are already plans for a more elaborate set up at the next home bout.
The Cincinnati Rollergirls have two teams, a "junior" team (the Silent Lambs) and a "varsity" team, the Black Sheep. The Lambs killed the visiting team from Indianapolis, 112 to 30. The second bout was very close, and therefore very exciting. I spent the bout explaining rules and scoring to the gang from twitter. I'm not sure how I ended up the de-facto expert, but at least people learned enough to enjoy it! The Black Sheep ended up losing to Sand Diego in the last few minutes, 108 to 129.

The official Rollergirls after party was at Molly Malone's, but we headed to the Pub in Rookwood instead. It was very loud, there was live music and beer.

Luckily, I got to sleep in on Sunday.

A walk around the zoo...

I went out for a walk around the zoo this afternoon to take some photos for a presentation. Of course the one time I actually want to see squirrels around, I can't find one. Anyway, here are some shots from this afternoon...

The first flowers of spring

The Andean Condors were enjoying the sun.

The grey foxes thought I was a keeper bringing their dinner. They started climbing the fence & chattering.

Here's a shot you won't see often... Mexican wolves from the back of their exhibit. The building in the background is where visitors can view them.

The train tracks as they go over the trellis by the Zebra exhibit.

Ginger Molasses Cookies

In my recipe book these are called Ginger Snaps. I prefer my cookies a little on the chewy side, so I tend to under-cook them a little so they're less crunchy. I have no idea where I found this recipe, but I suspect it was among the stack of recipes from my Grandmother. She taught me to bake when I was little, and I inherited her love of it. Every Christmas she would cook up dozens of types of cookies and candy. I remember helping her experiment with toffee, which tasted great but looked scary. I use her cookie sheets when I bake, and I think of her every time. Anyway, here's the recipe...

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses

Preheat the oven to 350. Sift or whisk together the first 5 ingredients (flour, soda, salt, and spices) and set them aside. Cream the butter (I soften it in the microwave first) and beat in the sugar. Blend it well, then add the egg and molasses. Beat this mixture well, then gradually add the dry ingredients. Stir them until smooth. This takes a lot of elbow grease if you're mixing them by hand. Shape the dough into 1 inch balls and roll them in sugar. Place them at least 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. They expand a lot, so give them plenty of room. Again, my oven runs hot so don't bake them for very long, but here's a general guideline: For chewier cookies bake for 10-11 minutes, for crispier cookies bake for 13-14 minutes.

Best Peanut Butter Cookies Ever

I don't like to brag, but I do make the best peanut butter cookies. I've tried many recipes over the years, and I keep coming back to this one. It's from the Good Housekeeping book, and I'm going to share it with you.

Ingredients:

2 & 1/4 cups flour
1 cup creamy peanut butter
2/3 cup honey
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1/2 tsp baking powder (apparently baking soda works too, since that's what I used this last time by accident)

Preheat the oven to 350. You can just mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl, but I prefer to mix the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder/soda) together in a smaller bowl first. Mix everything else in the large bowl, then dump the flour mix in. Shape the dough into 1-2 inch balls and place them 2-3 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Dip a fork in flour and press it across the top of each ball in both directions. Bake them in the oven for 15 minutes. My oven runs hot, so they only need 10 minutes. These cookies are not good if they're in too long, so I suggest starting them at 10 minutes &  increase as needed. They'll just start to turn golden at the edges when they're done.

The Brothers Bloom

Every once in a while Netflix recommends a movie that I hate. But, again, once in a while they get it right. Almost exactly. This move was one of those rare very, very right times.

The Brothers Bloom is about, well, two brothers. These brothers are con artists, played by Adrian Brody (Bloom) and Mark Ruffalo (Stephen). As with most con-men movies, one brother wants out, but is talked into one last job.  In this case, the job is to take Penelope (played by Rachel Weisz) on an adventure around the world to take her money. Sounds simple. There are many, many layers to this movie that I didn't expect. I expected a simple romantic adventure comedy, not a commentary on family, how to tell what's real, and what it means to face your fears and take control of your own life. You never really knew what was real and what was part of the con,  including the way people felt. Even right up to the very end, I wasn't sure what was real. I also didn't expect it to be as beautiful as it was. The editing and the camerawork was great, and little subtle touches made what would have been a good story into an excellent movie.

Ever since I saw The Pianist years ago, I have been captivated by Adrian Brody's acting (If you haven't seen it, you really need to. It's a wonderful piece of acting). Maybe it's the sad eyes, but he makes everything so believable. There's a scene in this movie in which you can see the scared little boy behind his eyes, and it breaks my heart. He gives the character of Bloom so much depth, without making him seem weak. As much as I loved the way the brothers were portrayed, and as much as I love watching Brody work, my favorite character was Bang Bang, played by Rinko Kikuchi. She only had one line in the whole movie, but she stole almost every scene she was in. I laughed out loud several times at her facial expressions.All the actors were phenominal.

I'm really not doing this movie justice. I wondered why I never heard of it, I think maybe it wasn't really marketed right. The poster looks more like an action flick (see below). There's some explosions, but nothing like a Michael Bay film.

The Bottom Line: If you like movies that are more than what you expect, that make you think, then you'll enjoy this. It's funny, moving, and beautiful.