Published on Friday 30th March 2007 in Uncategorized
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Last night Chris and I went out to dinner with my mom. We went to Montarra Grill in Algonquin. There is a nice, intimate atmosphere on one side of the restaurant, and a bar on the other side, separated by what appears to be a private dining area that can be screened off. The decor is trendy, with large paintings of bell peppers on a couple of the walls, a blue chandelier that looked like a glass Koosh ball, a waterfall between the bar and the middle dining area, and plenty of windows on the outside walls.
The menu was great, but that made it very difficult for me to decide on an entree. Chris ordered the Signature French Onion Soup, which is served in a roasted onion bowl, and the Filet Mignon. My mom ordered the catch of the day, which was a pan-seared halibut. I eventually settled on a Caesar salad and the Montarra’s "Ultimate Filet." We shared a side of macaroni and cheddar "gratin" and a double baked potato, as well as a bottle of Riesling that was half off (which was about half full when we left). During dinner, Chris also noticed that there were no salt or pepper shakers to be found on any of the tables, and fresh ground pepper is not offered with your salad. The truth is, you do not miss it, as the food is seasoned appropriately for a great taste that needs no adjustment at the table.
I wanted to try the Ultimate Filet because I was not quite in the mood for surf and turf, and I was curious to see what all the fuss was about foie gras, which tops the filet. Foie gras is quite delicious. The liver just melts in your mouth, adding a buttery and smooth texture to an already delicious filet mignon. It definitely beats A1, albeit at a considerable cost.
For dessert, Chris and my mom had a martini glass filled with mixed berries and ice cream, while I had a Godiva White Chocolate crème brulée. They were both excellent desserts.
Overall, I like the restaurant. It is definitely on my "Visit Again" list.
Published on Friday 30th March 2007 .
Last night I had my first Simply Homemade experience, and I have to say that I did enjoy it. Chris was late getting home from an appointment last night, so I drove her to meet her co-workers at the Crystal Lake store. Since there was a couple of hours before we were going to meet my mom for dinner, Chris had me come into the store and help her make our order.
First off, the store was not like I expected. Rather than having a large kitchen with cabinets and counter tops, the store consists of several stations on wheels. Each station has a refrigerator, a counter top and a holding area for the ingredients of the one or two meals that can be prepared at that station. At the front of the store, there are a couple of couches and an ottoman, where you can enjoy complimentary water, soft drinks, coffee and tea. Wine is also available during a wine tasting session.
A placard at each station has the directions for putting together the meal. There are large cylinders into which you place Ziploc bags to help keep things neat. The appropriate measuring spoon or cup is with each ingredient to make things easy. When you are done preparing your meal, you walk it over to the refrigerator and drop it in your named bin. Any time you step away from station area, you have to wash your hands before returning to prevent cross contamination.
I can see how Chris enjoys going to Simply Homemade each month.
Published on Tuesday 27th March 2007 .
I just wanted to spread the word about One Awesome Podcast. Back in February, I ran across a post on 9rules asking to help name a new podcast. The podcast was going to be done by joshawesome and lisa (aka lisa[1]). They wanted to include both of their usernames in the podcast title. So, I suggested "One Awesome Podcast." Lo and behold, nobody had suggested that, and they both liked it. I had named my first podcast, and thankfully it wasn’t mine 
I haven’t had a chance to listen to the podcasts yet, but if you’re looking for a new podcast, perhaps you should check them out. At the very least, I’m glad to give a shout out to them in return for the one they gave me.
Published on Saturday 24th March 2007 .
TMNT was released in theaters Friday, and I have to say that this is the best Turtles movie so far. Yes, the script was oozing (pun intended) with cheese and it was a cartoon with a PG rating, but it was very entertaining. Also, the animation and the voice acting was very well done, including the delivery of classic lines like, "I love being a turtle!" I also think that it properly displayed what I always felt was Eastman and Laird’s original vision of the Turtles, and it should, with Peter Laird as one of the executive producers.
My first exposure to the Turtles was through the original cartoon series. The cartoon always felt, well, cartoony. That was great for a Saturday morning cartoon in the late ’80s and early ’90s. However, it wasn’t until later that I discovered the Turtles true origins: a comic book parody of New Mutants and Daredevil. The original artwork was much darker than the first animated series, and it wasn’t until first live action movie, and then again the 2003 animated series, that the darker Turtles received mainstream exposure.
Fast forward a few years to 2007, and you finally get to see the Turtles as I imagine Eastman and Laird would have originally wanted them. The animation resembles the manga style, with flowing character movements, closeups during battle scenes and even the momentary mid-air pause during leaps from building to building. So, yeah, while it is not going to win any awards (although I think the great fight scene on the rooftop should be nominated for one), it was a very entertaining movie. Of course, I might be biased having grown up with the Turtles.
Now here’s to hoping that Transformers won’t suck.
Published on Wednesday 21st March 2007 .
OMG! I have been trying to get past the third challenge on the stupid free Java golf game on my RAZR since we purchased our phones in November. The third challenge is to use a punch shot to get out of a bunker and onto a green. I had tried every combination of clubs and swings, and despite all of them getting on the green, I always failed the challenge.
I finally came up with just the right keywords for Google to get me a page that tells me how to do it: java golf challenge three punch shot. The first hit tells me to press ‘0′ to select between a punch shot, a chip shot and a normal shot. The punch and chip shots are indicated by a ‘P’ and ‘C’ on the left side of the screen. Nowhere in the help or anything does it tell me to press ‘0′ to achieve this goal. How am I supposed to figure out that ‘0′ does anything?
However I was supposed to figure it out, I am glad that NutPeanut posted the tip way back in 2005 for me to find in 2007. Now, I can finally take my tired self up to bed.
Published on Wednesday 21st March 2007 .
Last night, there was some discussion about Wikipedia and one if my biggest problems with it: so much time can be lost to browsing around Wikipedia! I did a poor job of explaining an "issue" (is that what you call them?) of xkcd, one of my favorite web comics. So, to make up for it, here is the comic I was talking about:
Published on Monday 19th March 2007 in Uncategorized
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Over the past three or four weeks I have been covering my ears in the shower and in the car every time a Toyota commercial was playing. "But, Mark, you like Toyotas. What’s the problem," you ask? At the end of the newest Toyota commercials, right when they announce the Toyota tagline (which I cannot recall), is a very annoying and painful high pitch noise that makes me want to poke holes in my eardrums!
After every commercial, I wonder to my self, "Does anyone else get bothered by this, or am I a freak?" Well, after a few quick searches on Google, I don’t know that anyone has bothered to complain about it online. So, here is my post proclaiming the terrible choice of noises in the Toyota commercial. I think this ad campaign takes points away from Toyota every time an ad airs. Customers are literally being driven away from the brand, and it is all because of a screeching, ear-piercing noise.
So, thank you Toyota for choosing an ad agency that is helping to drive your potential customers to the competition, simply for playing a high-pitched noise in every commercial. Any positive message about Toyota contained within the ads is lost when the noise jostles it out of my head.
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