effie's.

had dinner tonight with lily at at little greek byo called effie's located at 11th and pine. we had tried to go their a year or so ago with a group of friends, but since we hadn't made reservations, and the place is small, we couldn't get a table and ended up going to another nearby american byo called mercato.

on another occasion last year, tannis, cricket, domi, leah and i had a lineage+lover dinner there, and it had been very very good.

anyway, lily and i split the thessaloniki platter - an appetizer mix of domades (rice filling wrapped in grape leaves), tzatziki (cucumber yogurt), meletzanosalata (roasted eggplant and red peppers), taramosalata (whipped potatoes and greek caviar - very hummus-y), feta cheese and olives - as well as the cucumber and tomato salad. it was all very tasty and filling, especially with the fresh, hot pita bread. for our main course, lily got the lamb souvlaki on a pita and i got the lamb lemonata. at my first bite, i seriously thought i had died and gone to heaven. the chunks of lamb wading in their lemon-y sauce were just so tender and juicy, and it was such a surprise of flavors because i'd never had lemon paired with lamb before, or anything other than chicken or seafood for that matter. anyway, it was absolutely fantastic. i left feeling very stuffed and very happy.

step up 2 the streets : video clips.

final dance scene from step up 2 the streets. first minute or so is too dark to really see much, but the rest is SICK.



and let me tell you, this boy gains major sex appeal when dancing. haha.

mastercard priceless kitchen commercial.

LOVES IT.

dreamworks update.

about shrek the third:

For the quarter, Shrek the Third contributed approximately $179.4 million of revenue, driven primarily by its release into the home video market and additional international box office receipts in the period. Through the end of 2007, the title reached approximately 15.6 million units shipped on a worldwide basis, net of actual returns and estimated future returns. Shrek the Third was the second highest-grossing U.S. film in 2007 and has reached approximately $800 million in box office on a worldwide basis, making it the fourth best-performing animated movie of all time.

and as for 2009/2010:

DreamWorks Animation's first film in "Ultimate" 3-D, Monsters vs. Aliens, is scheduled to be released in the U.S. on March 27, 2009. The Company also announced plans to move its fall 2009 release, How to Train Your Dragon, to March 26, 2010, followed by Shrek Goes Fourth on May 21, 2010 and its planned fall 2010 release, which has a working title of MasterMind, on November 5, 2010.

whoa! that means only one movie in 2009, with a full year between monsters vs. aliens and how to train your dragon, and three movies in 2010.. craziness.

[click here for full CNN article]

kid killed over stray snowball.

Authorities said the Feltonville teen, identified as Tavin Rutledge Wilson, was shot in the head at point-blank range while playing with neighborhood friends in the 4800 block of D Street on Sunday afternoon.

Witnesses say the shooting was sparked from a casual snowball fight amongst children.

A friend of Tavin's, who was also involved in the playful snowball fight, said the shooting happened after a wayward snowball accidentally struck a nearby neighbor.

Police said the adult male became enraged and left the scene, returning moments later with a gun.

Witnesses say Tavin's effort to apologize to the man went unnoticed and the man pulled out a gun and began firing.

what the hell is wrong with philadelphia?!?! it feels like this type of shit happens all the time - and not that far from where i live either. it's so effed up.

a weekend in the city.

i woke up on friday morning to a city covered in a couple inches of snow - which did not bode well for me because i was supposed to fly to chicago later in the day. as luck would have it, my 5ish flight was cancelled, but i was able to get put on another southwest flight scheduled to leave at 6.25p. however, due to the weather (wintry mix and freezing rain), the flight didn't actually leave until after 9p. so i was in the airport for over five hours in total, so thank goodness for the chickie&pete's, which recently opened in PHL's E terminal, and for yeungling lager. i got into chicago right before 11p local time, and theodore picked me up at the airport. we didn't go out (either nights) because, as he had found out earlier in the day after going to the emergency room, he's suffering from (a?) pulmonary edema. le pauvre.

saturday we went to this great hole-in-the-wall taqueria that is literally in the back of a tiny mexican grocery store called carniceria leon for some amazing tacos that i had read about in a blog (read it here). seriously - so simple and filling and delicious, i was very very happy afterwards. another bit of excitement for me - we drove past a peet's coffee&tea! last time i checked (perhaps a year or two ago), peet's was only the west coast, boston and JFK airport in nyc. but now chicago has one! as does evanston.

after i got my peet's coffee fix, we did some shopping around, and i finally snagged myself a fantastic pair of super comfortable white nike basketball shorts (as previously noted, i have a new found obsession with basketball shorts, purely from a comfort point of view) and a lime green underarmour gym tote at sports authority. theodore bought a new baby clownfish for his reef tank, which we promptly named dumpling, to accompany his other clownfish sushi. speaking of sushi, for dinner we went to a sushi place that has an all-you-can-eat special on their rolls, and after we were stuffed and happy, we went home and watched ratatouille (theodore's first time, the silly kid).

sunday we went to anne sather for brunch, and oh my are those cinnamon rolls just heavenly. i had literally been looking forward to them the entire weekend. our afternoon was spent checking out the shedd aquarium, which was really cool and a lot of fun. we had enough time afterwards to go back to theodore's apartment and watch a little tv and grab takeout from joy's before i had to go back to the airport to fly back to philadelphia (which was, again, delayed, so i didn't get back to my place until after 1am..). all in all it was an absolutely wonderful, and much needed, weekend in the city. thankfully, the weather was nice as well - 30s and mostly sunny. good food, good company, good times; can't really ask for more, you know? i can't wait to go back - gotta start figuring it out asap. (=

summer excitement.

so, i am officially stoked for the summer and returning to los angeles for three reasons.

first, obviously, is that i begin employment at dreamworks animation on june 9. i can't even begin to explain how excited i am for that.

second, as it turns out, liz will be in town from june 5-8 before she goes to hawaii, and now the plan is for her to stay at my house and we're going to do all the cheese-y tourist-y LA stuff that you always hear about but never actually do. for example, she wants to get tickets to a taping of the price is right, and buy a star map and drive around looking at celebrity houses. ha. it's sounds ridiculous, but with liz, the more ridiculous the better! it's going to be an awesome few days - i already can't wait.

and third, i just found out that katrina, my best friend pre-webb that i grew up with (she literally lives a block away) and is currently a senior at Cal, just got into UCLA's medical school and will most likely be going there. how amazing is that!?!? we're both looking forward to being in similar vicinities again, and it's particularly nice for me because i really don't know anyone LA area outside of coworkers from last summer (one of the downsides to attending a boarding school), so to have a really good friend who's known me forever around is definitely a plus.

employed!

accepted the offer from dreamworks animation today. june nineth start date and i can't effing wait. weeeee..!!!

well done, mr. bush and kosovo.

something i did not know about our president:

...

Although many Africans, especially Muslims, share negative perceptions of Bush's foreign policy with other parts of the world, there is widespread recognition of his successful humanitarian and health initiatives on the continent.

Bush has spent more money on aid to Africa than his predecessor, Bill Clinton, and is popular for his personal programs to fight AIDS and malaria and to help hospitals and schools.

Bush has stressed new-style partnerships with Africa based on trade and investment and not purely on aid handouts.

His Millennium Challenge Corp. rewards countries that continue to satisfy criteria for democratic governance, anti-corruption and free-market economic policies.

Bush signed the largest such deal, for $698 million, with Kikwete on Sunday.

Because of the U.S. anti-malaria program, 5 percent of patients tested positive for the disease on the offshore islands of Zanzibar in 2007 compared to 40 percent three years earlier, the Tanzanian leader said.

Bush's legacy in Africa would be saving the lives of hundreds of thousands of mothers and children who would otherwise have died from malaria or AIDS and enabling millions of people to get an education, he said.

"I know you leave office in about 12 months' time. Rest assured that you will be remembered for many generations to come for the good things you've done for Tanzania and the good things you have done for Africa," Kikwete said.

full reuters article here.




something else i found particularly interesting has to do with kosovo's declaration of independence:

China, Indonesia and Sri Lanka on Monday criticized Kosovo’s declaration of independence from Serbia while Taiwan and Australia welcomed it, as Kosovo’s move appeared a litmus test of attitudes in Asia toward secession.

The Beijing government, which has threatened military action if Taiwan declares formal independence, voiced “grave concern” at Sunday’s action by the Kosovo Parliament in Pristina.

“China is deeply worried about its severe and negative impact on peace and stability of the Balkan region and the goal of establishing a multi-ethnic society in Kosovo,” said Liu Jianchao, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesman.

China’s hostility to independence for Kosovo aligns it with Russia, a close ally of Serbia that has struggled with its own separatist movements over the years, most notably in Chechnya.

China is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council and Mr. Liu alluded to the council in a statement on Monday that also seemed to tilt toward Russia and Serbia without taking a specific position. The Kosovo issue affects, “the fundamental norms governing international relations as well as the authority and role of the U.N. Security Council,” Mr. Liu said.

...

Taiwan quickly congratulated Kosovo on Monday in terms that echoed the desire of some Taiwanese for a complete political break with mainland China. “Despite a multitude of barriers, the people of Kosovo have insisted on an ideal that they believe in, which is to peacefully pursue independence, without being threatened or scared away,” Taiwan’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Monday.

Diplomats from Taipei and Beijing maneuver constantly around the world to establish diplomatic ties with even the smallest countries — a struggle that Beijing has been winning lately, with just two dozen small countries left that still recognize Taiwan.

The Vatican is the only state in Europe to recognize Taiwan, prompting efforts in the past year by Taiwan to win favor, and perhaps eventual recognition, in Pristina.

“Of course, we would like to develop further relations with countries which cherish democracy and freedom,” said Phoebe Yeh, a Taiwan foreign ministry spokeswoman.

In Beijing, Mr. Liu responded that Taiwan was part of China and had no right to extend diplomatic recognition to anywhere.

China also faces frequent criticism from overseas groups objecting to its control of Tibet and Xinjiang province.
...

full nytimes article here.

monk's.

dinnered friday night with erica at monk's café (it was her first time). mm mm delicious! i have never been there and not had to wait at least an hour, and tonight was no exception, but as usual, it was well worth it. i am still in awe every time at their tremendous beer selection, though erica and i stuck to their home-brewed flemish sour ale draft, which is really quite tasty. i opted out of getting the super spicy burn-your-mouth-off wing appetizer the spanish flies, but couldn't help but order the mussels (brussels style). and a chocolate crème brulée for dessert. needless to say, we were both stuffed and very very happy. and we're thinking of starting a new friday night tradition of trying out a new restaurant every week (since we're both leaving philadelphia around the beginning of the summer and have so many restaurants yet to try in the restaurant capital). next on the list? la viola. and supper (the aforementioned reservations are for erica, liz and myself). excitement.

philly beer week.

how bummed am i that i will be missing out on it, since it is exactly the 10 days of my spring break. here's what food&drinq has to say.

step up 2 : the streets.

i had dinner with cricket - delicious indian at new delhi, after which we went and watched step up 2 : the streets. yes, it is amazing (if you have any interest in dance, that is, since as usual, the story-line and acting are simply meh). far better than the first, if only because there is so much more dancing (all of which is sick). the finale dance performance absolutely blew my mind. you can see a couple seconds of it in this trailer (hint: it takes place in the rain). loves it. absolutely loves it.

bloggable.

so, since i've quit facebook, i've needed something else to occupy some of my compulsive procrastination, so i've taken advantage of google reader and subscribed to several new blogs, one of which is foobooz, a fantastic blog about food and drinks in philadelphia. this was just posted about a new scallop bacon and pineapple burger appetizer at matyson, and i really just felt the need to share. i've also learned quite a bit over the past couple of days about the restaurant and food world in philly, such as the existing flying monkey patisserie in reading terminal market that looks like it might be able to satisfy my cupcake obsession and sunday supper (which i have reservations to in march, quel excitement!).

motion city soundtrack.

the song that i fell in love with the band over my freshman year:



three years later:



i love watching the evolution of justin pierre's hair. (=

pour your heart out.

the one commercial for valentine's day i've seen so far that i actually like. adore, really. love the music for it too. in fact, i'm really digging sprint's marketing lately, and it's not just because i am now a customer.



and this one, which i'm guessing is only shown in kansas city, is pretty effing sweet.



not surprised these are done by goodby silverstein & partners - they're also the guys behind my favorite hp commercials (the ones with the frames that become pictures and vice versa) and really just have done some amazing work in general.

there's another sprint commercial that just came out recently which is great (similar speed-of-light theme), but i haven't been able to locate it, but will keep searching.

irritants.

i'm in a particularly heinous mood, and thought i'd list of those things that are raking my nerves lately..

bitter philadelphia cold and my face looking like i've been spending all my free time in a tanning booth after 15 minutes outside in the negative wind chill. especially since it was in the upper sixties only a few days ago.

the comcast "more. more. more." sing-instead-of-talk commercials. seriously? seriously? who the hell thought that was a good idea? they make me want to scratch my eyes out or something.. (on the other hand, i am absolutely loving the latest string of sprint commercials with all the stop motion and pretty lights.)

valentine's day. i love the color red. i will even venture to say i dig pink. how-fucking-ever.. every time i walk into cvs or the bookstore or any sort of retail property these days, i am barraged with red and pink and hearts and candy and i want to puke. and while there have been a couple cute v-day commercials on TV, most of them are pretty gag-worthy - especially the jewelry ones. really though, i've never understood the point of valentine's day (at least not past the point of being in third grade and buying those cute-sy care bear or barbie cards to hand out to all your classmates so that you could also slip one to the boy/girl you have a crush on and hope they can somehow tell by the glint in your eye that their care bear card is special and just for them). as i have said many times, if some guy were ever to buy me flowers and candy and jewelry all in one day (or in general, really), i would probably just walk away and never speak to him again. after throwing up a little.

midterms. effing midterms. as previously mentioned, i have ten midterms and five finals this semester. the first of which i took today. oh, the joys of chem101. another midterm this thursday. another midterm next tuesday. fan-f*cking-tastic. pardon my french.

insomnia. it has been particularly bad lately. over a week of at most three hours of sleep, even though i am lying in bed for seven to eight hours. in frustration i have bought some generic sleeping aid from the drugstore. diphenhydramine hydrochloride - or basically, the stuff in benadryl. however, anti-histamines have never really made my drowsy/sleepy, so this stuff isn't working all too well either, but it's working well enough. only took two hours to fall asleep last night, compared to my usual four as of late.

face-to-facebook.

paulK, a dmd alumni and current employee of pixar animation, came to campus on saturday to give a talk and conduct interviews. he talked about some of the crowds work that was done on ratatouille, which was very cool (except for when he showed us some of the reference videos of literally thousands of rats crawling all over each other.. squeamish!).

that night i had dinner with cricket over at pattaya grill, which was absolutely packed - i've never had to wait to eat there before. but the drunken noodles and panang curry were quite delicious. afterwards we grabbed some ice cream at ben&jerry's then went back to her place to loaf around while watching project runway and other assorted things on tv.

i brunched on sunday with lily - we went to farmicia down in old city. it was my second time there, and other than our waitress being kind of slow and cold, it was fantastic yet again. after an afternoon spent studying, i met up with nico and bryan and we all headed to chinatown to get pho at pho cali. it was good, but the place in alhambra or whatever that my family goes to (golden deli or something..?) back in california is fifty times better.

so yes, it was a weekend of catching up with people over good food face-to-face.. and i've also decided to quit facebook. yes. i said it. and it's been done. deactivated. not sure how long it will last, but i'm giving it a try, and my goal is to make it at least until i'm done with school. hmm!

tattoos&burgers.

i just got home from a fabulous evening, slightly pink-cheeked and definitely with a full and happy stomach. i met up with erica at her apartment around 6p, and we walked down to the sailor jerry store over on 13th and sansom and met up with mattH who had informed me about some sort of happy hour they were having over at the store. free sailor jerry brand truffles and fruity rum cocktails were being served, and the place being very tattoo-themed made for an interesting atmosphere. the clothes were pretty cool too, albeit a little price-y. but maybe if i save a little i can afford to go get something from there. check out their website here.

after the happy hour, erica and i went and had dinner at rouge, where we had heard rumor of having the best burgers in the city. and to be honest, i think it was the best burger i've ever had in my life. huge portion of beef, cooked absolutely perfectly. great bread, just slightly grilled. caramelized onions and gruyere cheese. i honestly couldn't fit my mouth around it, and i walked away stuffed and very, very pleased. i would honestly say that the burger is easily better than bartley's up in cambridgeMA, even at its menu price of $16. ah, food coma.

chicken chili.

so, as you may or may not know, i cook pretty much every meal that i eat. i don't think of myself as a great cook or anything, but i enjoy it, it's healthier, and hell of a lot cheaper. my usual meal consists of 3 portions : carbs (usually brown rice), veggies (cooked or raw as salad) and protein (meat, tofu or seafood). pretty balanced i would say. however, it is always almost the same way of cooking: steamed rice (fried rice on occasion), vegetables blanched then sauteed in oil and garlic, meat browned, seasoned with salt and pepper and maybe some cumin or something, then stuck in the oven to finish cooking.

in an effort to shake things up a little, i decided to experiment a little and i made myself a delicious little chicken chili tonight - a variation of a recipe i saw on the food network awhile back. chopped shallots sauteed in olive oil, add minced garlic, chopped red and yellow bell peppers, carrots, canned diced tomatoes, lots of cumin, some sriracha chili sauce, pinch of cayenne pepper, salt, black pepper, browned chicken all simmered together for some thirty minutes, then topped with avocado slices upon dining. mm mm mm!

old habits die hard.

so, freshman year i drank a lot, smoked a lot and dyed my hair a lot. since then, i've pretty much stopped doing all three, except for the occasional couple of beers here and there as well as some drunken fun every few months. my hair no longer changes color every three weeks and is no longer short, scraggly and layers upon layers of bleach and color. it is long, shiny, and it's natural brown black.. and finally healthy for the first time in years. and yet, i've been aching to pick up a package of hair dye at CVS or something lately. nothing wild and crazy, but maybe just a tinge of reddish? a dark brown instead of brown/black? i dunno.. and i've also been seriously thinking about buying a pack of cigarettes. it's not an addiction; i quit over two years ago and have had maybe five or six cigarettes since (usually on the rare drunken night). but, it is serious thinking and not serious consideration. i think that with college coming to an end and the working life ahead, part of me is just trying to return to days past (even though most of me is absolutely aching to get the hell out of here). that, or i'm just plain bored and a little lonely. which is, actually, very very true and more than likely real culprit here. though, don't ask how hair dye and cigarettes would do anything to amend that situation because i have no idea.

oh, snap!

ah, saturday saturday night. a night spent drinking and celebrating the night away over in northern liberties with my penndesign loves. the night started off at northbowl around 8p, proceeded to standard tap by midnight, and ended up at 700club some while later. i've become a total lightweight since i seriously cut back on my drinking after sophomore year, and i was definitely going to town last night. needless to say, things weren't so pleasant when i got home. i haven't gotten this drunk (or sick for that matter) since, well, sophomore year, and even though i didn't pass out until sometime around 3am, my insomnia decided that i would be wide awake by 7am! fan-f*cking-tastic. luckily no hangover as i was at least smart enough to down water and advil.. yea i'm definitely not doing that again anytime soon. then again, that was probably the most actual "fun" i've had on a night out in a very, very long time. but, i think i still prefer being a homebody.

full swing.

job stuff is picking up so this is the time where i go mum on the details until things have settled down and details fall into place.

and today started the senior tradition of febclub. every day in the month of february is a different event at a different venue and all seniors are encouraged to attend for drunken debauchery, one last hoo-hah with your classmates, and the opportunity to say "oh yea i went to every f*cking feb club event.. wooooo!!!" as for me, i did the math, and the senior class is about 2,500 people. let's just say a measly 500 ppl on average show up to each of these events. that's about 475 too many for my tastes, especially when most of these places have a capacity of about 300, i'm claustrophobic and it's cold and rainy out. no thanks, i think i'll pass. besides, i've got a pretty good track record when it comes to school spirit here: zero football games (which means i've never thrown the toast, sad i know), one basketball game, and i even skipped the junior year tradition of hey day (the last day of junior year where the whole class starts getting wasted at 8am, parades down locust walk in red shirt with canes and styrofoam hats while seniors haze them with eggs, chocolate sauce, flour, etc, etc). i don't even plan on attending my own graduation so i really gotta keep up my nonchalant absence, don't you think?