Gee, I’m bored…I think I’ll play with some plutonium

Doesn’t Kim Jong have anything better to do than restart a plutonium plant, threaten South Korea and fire off nuclear missles in the hopes he can reach the United States?  Can’t this guy read a book?  Maybe catch a movie?  Take up fishing?  Anything to keep him busy and his mind off of WEAPONS?

Introducing the ultimately unconfident Dimitri

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, I’m sure you’ve already heard this nutcase’s voicemail to a woman named “Olga”.  If not, here’s the link to have a listen on YouTube:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acERZQIAjUk

Thanks to KB and Zito for sharing with us this week.  I had a good laugh.  Can you say CREEP? 

Of course when I learned he was for Toronto, I wasn’t surprised.  Actually, he’s not the first self-centered, unconfident pervert I’ve ever heard of from Toronto.  I’ve actually MET one!

The ice cream is melting…melting!

In a country that consumes more ice cream than any other country in the world, what the hell do the ice cream manufacturers think they’re doing in decreasing the size of the half gallons of ice cream from 56 ounces to 48 ounces?  On top of that, they certainly have not decreased the price!

Breyer’s has even gone so far as to deceive their consumers by making their packaging taller but a little shorter, making it LOOK like they’re getting 56 ounces.  What a crock.

Locally Price Chopper is still offering their own brand Central Market Classics ice cream at 64 ounces; however, I have found their ice cream to be beyond edible and the one time I had it, I gagged.  You get what you pay for.

We should all revolt and stop buying ice cream.  Yeah, like THAT would ever happen!

Bella’s new look

I got to visit the new and improved Bella’s Gourmet Market early Saturday evening.

Although much of the physical changes are subtle, they are great changes and they add to the Italian ambiance that Bella’s is all about.  Gone are the cast iron tables (which now are located outside the restaurant); they have been replaced with stylish wooden tables and chairs.  Each table is donned with a bright red tablecloth and drinking glasses.  A very nice, romantic touch.  With the Italian music playing in the background, if you close your eyes, you can almost feel like you are in Venice.

I also heard through the grapevine that Renee Z has made a recent appearance at Bella’s.  Rumor has it she placed an order of gelato.

Well, there’s always the Patriots

So the Bruins had a good run…

I’m still pulling for the Celts but I’m not getting my hopes up…

I could care less about the Red Sox…

Football season can’t get here fast enough!

The latest from Bella’s

Bella’s had a recent write up in the local paper.  However, the writer admits to not actually eating there; she just based her article on friends who ate there and gave the place a good review.  Hopefully based on what her friends told her, she WILL go there!

I know a lot has changed since I last visited Bella’s.  I’ve heard the new chef/co-owner makes a to-die-for spaghetti and meatballs, one of many Italian specialties he obviously mastered from his time spent in Italy.  I’m just not sure I would spend $17.00 to $28.00 for a plate of spaghetti and meatballs, even if the person making it was authentically Italian!

Still, the gelato is worth the trip.

“Angels and Demons”

I figured since I’m planning to see the movie “Angels and Demons”, I’d better read the book.  All 700 pages of it.  Remarkably, it only took me three weeks.  Good thing Dan Brown is a fantastic author and his writing moves smoothly.  I have read many books in my time but I have to state right here that “Angels and Demons” is the best book I have ever read.  Better than “The DaVinci Code”.

I’m already expecting to be disappointed by the movie “Angels and Demons”.  That is only because the book was so damn good.  As great a director as Ron Howard is, it’s going to be interesting to see how he jams 700 pages into two hours.  I loved “The DaVinci Code” as well but came away disappointed by the movie.  So much from the book was missing in the movie and I’m afraid that’s going to happen with “Angels” also.  But I guess that’s Hollywood, right?

If you haven’t read the book, I suggest you do so before seeing the movie.  I will not do a review of the book here, as it is too long and detailed to give the kind of review it deserves.  All I will tell you is that it has to deal with the fight between science and religion.

Tom Hanks IS Robert Langdon

In honor of the latest Ron Howard/Tom Hanks release “Angels and Demons”, I thought it would be appropriate to discuss some of my favorite Hanks characters and movies from years past.

It was difficult to decide who my absolute fave character was.  After much pondering and reminiscing of all the Hanks’ films (I have seen almost every single film he has done), I had to go with Forrest Gump.

I realized a long time ago that the really great actors are those that begin in comedy (maybe even TV sitcoms), then prove themselves with a dramatic role–winning an Oscar in the process.  Tom Hanks is one of those actors.

I think the reason why Gump is my favorite Hanks character is because Hanks combines both his comedic and dramatic skills in his performance.  Of course sometimes when Gump is serious he actually ends up being funny without really meaning to.

As for my favorite Hanks movie, that was a tougher choice.  I enjoy the dramas as well as the comedies, right down to “Toy Story”.  I have to go with “Philadelphia” as my overall fave.

Broken down into dramatic fave, “Castaway” is my pick.  The comedies were a harder choice but I narrowed it down to “The Money Pit”.  As for “Sleepless In Seattle” and “You’ve Got Mail”, once I get past Meg Ryan, I can really enjoy those cute romantic comedies as well.

And I’ve finally been able to watch the infamous “Bosom Buddies”.  I was a kid when that show was first on and was not allowed to watch it (although I wanted to!).  Some of it is stupid but a lot of the episodes really get me laughing.  I just have a hard time beliving that none of those women ever figured out Buffy and Hildegard’s real identities.  Couldn’t they see the resemblance to Kip and Henry?  Uh…how about those Adams apples, ladies?

Where have you gone Dom DiMaggio?

I’m not a big baseball fan. I’m not even a Boston Red Sox fan. But I knew of Dom DiMaggio. Not because he played outfield for the Sox, or that his brother was Joe, or that ironically his brother is the one who broke his hitting streak. I knew of him because of the story my husband told me about how he met Dom DiMaggio.

When my husband was 14 his father kept him out of school one day and told him he was going to take him to meet Dom DiMaggio. This was in 1978 or 1979. My husband’s father was a salesman, although at this point in time, I’m not quite sure what kind of job he had. Anyway, he was going to see Dom DiMaggio because he had done some job or project for him. I’m not quite sure and neither is my husband.  But he had some business with Dom.

My father-in-law introduced my husband to Dom by saying, “This is Dom DiMaggio, Joe’s brother”. My husband recalls shaking his hand and remembers Dom said “hello” to him, but that’s about it.

So naturally when my husband told me this morning that Dom DiMaggio died, I said to him, “The same one you met when you were 14?”

“The very same one.”

The thing is, the number of times my husband told me the Dom story, he never ONCE mentioned to me that Dom had played for the Sox. I just figured his claim to fame was being Joe’s brother!

How ironic is it that one DiMaggio would play for the Sox and the other for the Yankees? Weird…

Ten ways to reduce your budget by $1,000?

This is in response to an article I recently read.

Although the writer did have some good ideas about saving money, I found that I could not completely agree with all the recommendations.

On Haggling:  the writer states we need to “learn and save”.  He also suggests we can haggle on things such as bank fees, rent and food.  I’d love to know what bank will let you try to talk down their bank fees.  If a landlord has a mortgage to pay for his triple decker, do you think he’s going to let his tenants have a break on the rent?  And the next time I’m at Wal-Mart, I’ll try to negotiate with them over the price of beans. 

On Driving:  AAA estimates it costs $8,000 a year to operate the average car.  The writer suggests we drive 15% less to save $1,200.  I say that’s great; but how do I make my 20-mile, 45 minute daily commute 15% shorter?

On Insurance:  Any dummy knows you can save on premiums by raising your deductible.  Just make sure you don’t live in a high risk area where you’ll be putting in a lot of homeowner claims due to hail damage or flooding.  You also better make sure you’re a perfect driver and will never hit anyone and make sure you never hit a deer or have your vehicle damaged by hail or ice.  If you do experience any of these, you’ll be paying a $1,000 deductible and who knows what other kinds of expense you may incur.

As for life insurance, the writer suggests a term life insurance policy.  Yes, it is true you can get a lot more insurance for less money with one of these policies.  However, the article fails to mention that unless you actually die during the life of the policy, it’s pointless.  Then if you try to get another policy, you’ll be paying even higher premiums because you’ll be older.  The cheapest solution is to start a whole life insurance policy when you are young.  I’ve had a policy since I was six years old and I only pay $9.00 a month.  That’s for $100,000.