Saturday, March 26, 2011

Restaurants of Nephi, part 1

So the Princess of Power and I have decided to try every restaurant in Nephi, Utah. Tonight we ate at Mi Rancherito, a Mexican cafe on Main Street. It was full of white people, which usually is a red flag, but I enjoyed it.

The chips and salsa were nothing special, but not bad. The horchata was sweeter and milder than I usually see it, with less of that taste of burnt rice and cinnamon that I love. It was a little more gringo-friendly, which is not a bad thing.

The real treat was the Carnitas Michoacanas, which I had. It's bits of pork, fried, served with pico de gallo and whatnot on corn tortillas. And it came with rice, refried beans, sour cream, and guacamole. The way the carnitas were fried gave them a kind of crispy exterior that sealed in the juiciness. I thoroughly enjoyed them, especially with the guacamole.

All in all, very tasty. And I'm really looking forward to the next Nephi culinary adventure.

--YAHYA AL-RIIFI

Thursday, March 24, 2011

A year and a half of movies

Well, it's been a while since I did any blogging. And even longer since I did movie reviews.

Frankly, I have not gone to see a lot of movies in the last year. I've been pretty busy. And some people think it's a stupid idea to go to the movies, anyway.

But this week I might go catch a flick with the princesa de poder, so I thought this might be a good time to take a look back.

Here you go!

* * Cloudy with a chance of meatballs : Saw this on a plane, and it was a welcome distraction. Also, Bruce Campbell is in the voice cast.

* * * * Invictus : Matt Damon's Boer accent was fun, Morgan Freeman was perfect, and the whole thing was pretty inspiring. An excellent example of Sports Movie Type 3. (Underdogs triumph over favored team, racism.)

* * * Sherlock Holmes : Also known as Iron Man and Gigolo Joe in: Steampunk London: Part 1: The Adventure Begins. Delightful. And when is Robert Downey Jr. going to be on House as Hugh Laurie's long-lost illegitimate son?

* * * How to train your dragon : I would give this four stars, except for one thing. Why do all the adult vikings have Scottish accents? And why do all the kid vikings have American accents? I want them all to sound like the Swedish Chef.

* * * * Babies : Look! Babies! Look at their chubby cheeks! Adorable! Oh! The things we do with ease, they do with difficulty! So cute! I can't stand it! (Would get five stars, but the parents selected to represent America are braindead filthy hippies.)

* * * * * Toy Story 3 : Pixar, when will you disappoint me? George Lucas is dead to me. Peter Jackson has one giant-sized strike. But Pixar just makes me happy.

* Year One : Saw it on a plane. Made me want to jump out.

* * * Tangled : A fun little flick, and better than I expected from Disney. In particular, I loved the non-human characters. That horse and chameleon should have their own show.

* * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 : Too much teenage wangst. But, better than the book.

* * * * * True Grit : This belongs in a very exclusive club of remakes that improved upon the original. Thank you, Coen Brothers. Thank you, Dude. Thank you, America.

--JAY FABULOUS