Inglorious Basterds

Just saw Inglorius Basterds, and loved it. I knew it was getting great reviews, but it is often tough to trust the critics. I have mixed feelings about Quentin Tarantino movies. I loved Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, and even thought Jackie Brown was pretty good. I also thought that From Dusk Till Dawn was one of the most absurd movies I have seen. I was fairly entertained by the Kill Bills, but overall though they were too over the top. Most recently I wasn’t a fan of Death Proof.

 

I was expecting some way over the top, ultra violent movie – but was happily surprised. The plot was thoroughly captivating making the 2 1/2 hours go by without thought. I was left wanting more and was hanging on the edge of my seat throughout.

If you are expecting a WWII piece you might be disappointed, but for a great time at the movies – this is it!

Eating Healthy

We hear so many conflicting things about how to eat well.  Especially when we are trying to lose weight we are prone to trying any tip that might work.  Being a big food aficionado,but also trying to keep my weight under control, I have tried many diets.  Recently I have come to some conclusions.  The first one is to know the caloric content of different foods.

Large Mint Chocolate Chip Shake

We know that an ice cream shake is not good for us, but would you ever think that this has 1500 calories, 75 grams of fat, and 175 grams of sugar.

Here are a few more basic guidelines I use:

1.  Avoid white food – Rice, Bread, Pasta, Potatoes and Sugar

2.  Limit saturated fat – high fat dairy, red meat

3.  Eat lots of fruits and vegetables

4.  No sugary drinks – this includes juice

5.  Don’t every get too hungry, have a little snack every few hours so you don’t feel ‘starved’

6.  This is the most important, watch your portions.  No matter how well you eat, if you eat too much it’s not healthy.  If you are trying to lose weight – just eat half of what you normally would.

We all need to indulge once in a while – so go ahead – just make sure to get back on track 

All Star Game – Great?

A lot of people have really been down on the MLB All Star game, but I think it is still pretty good.  Inevitably with the enormous amount of media coverage and media outlets some of the mystery has vanished.  There was a time when you might never get to see some small market players except for the All Star game,  but this advancement was inescapable.   Some of the mystery has also been lost with inter league play, and the issue of inter league play is definitely up for debate.   I am talking about the quality of the game itself.

If any of you had stayed up to watch the end of the last couple of games you can’t deny there was a great deal of excitement.  Many people are mad that the All Star game decides home field advantage for the World Series.  For most fans their team isn’t even going to be there so it doesn’t really matter, but I know it’s the principle.  It used to just be alternating, which is completely arbitrary so I don’t see why this change is causing so much of a fuss.  It has made the games much more exciting, and you can see it in the excitement of the players and fans at the end.  The All Star game will always be an exhibition, but it will always be the best All Star game of the major U.S. sports and has only gotten better in recent years.

Michael Jackson

I know the world is inundated with Michael Jackson info, but I am going to still add some more.  I remember in the early 90′s my friends and I used to argue about who the most famous person of all time was.  This discussion has been carried out intermittently throughout out lives, but now with the sad passing of MJ we have been discussing it again.  I have always thought he was, but there are definitely some others to consider.

One of my friends used to always argue that Jesus was the most famous man in the world.  Being young and not being Christian I used to tell my friend he was a fictional character so it didn’t count – but for the sake of this argument we’ll say that doesn’t matter.  Jesus has quite a presence considering automatically every Christian knows him.  If we are mentioning Jesus then we must mention Muhammad as the Muslim religion has roughly 80% of the followers that Christianity does.  Others on my list world include the Beatles and Elvis, but I think that the lack of worldwide media outlets during their heyday hurts their cause.  We also have soccer players such as David Beckham.  Soccer is by far the most popular sport in the world, and Beckham is worshiped throughout many third world countries.  I think Madonna is up there as is Barak Obama.  Still after seeing the worldwide spectacle that followed the King of Pop’s death I will stick with MJ, but it’s fun to argue.

LeBron James or Joe Mauer

Most sports fans are well aware that in 2010 NBA teams will be fighting to the death trying to lure King James to their team, but in 2010 Joe Mauer will enter the free agent pool as well.   I fully believe that one player can make much more of a difference in basketball than in baseball, it only makes sense being 1/5 of the team rather than 1/9, but teams and fans should be anticipating the Joe Mauer sweepstakes as much as the LeBron James sweepstakes.

Good hitting catchers are a rarity in baseball and thus all the more valuable.   Joe Mauer became the first catcher to win the batting title last year, and this year he is batting close to .400 while starting to find his power stroke.  There have been only a few catchers whose offensive numbers can compare to hitting greats at other positions.  Undoubtedly Mike Piazza is the best hitting catcher of all time, and Mauer has already won the batting title which eluded him.  Mauer is a quiet kid from Minnesota so he doesn’t attract much attention, but just wait until the Yankees and Red Sox start vying for his services.  Due to his nature as well as the current economic climate his contact might not surpass A-Rod’s in value, but don’t be surprised to see 10 years, $200 million.  There is a good chance he gives his hometown Twins a discount and stays there., but as a Red Sox fan I am drooling over the notion of having him behind the plate at Fenway.  On top of everything else he bats Left Handed, a particular rarity for catchers who have to field Right Handed  in order to throw out runners at third.  It is hard to find such a humble superstar these days, be happy we have Joe Mauer.

All Those Supplements

If you pick up almost any newspaper or magazine or turn on a TV news show you are bound to find many endorsements for taking some sort of supplement.  Most of us have enough sense to disregard the ad in the back of the National Enquirer for a pill which will make you lose 30lbs. in a month with no diet or exercise.  Of course that seems nice, and who wouldn’t want something like that, but we know it can’t be true. 

 If we open up the New York Times or turn on the CBS nightly news and see a new study which has pointed out that Turmeric reduces the risk of Alzheimer’s disease we believe it.  They say that in India the incidence of Alzheimer’s is low because there is a lot of Turmeric in the Indian diet – but maybe the rate of Alzheimer’s is low because the elderly are respected as an integral part of society so they remain mentally active.   We hear that drinking wine reduces the risk of heart disease, but maybe the people who drink one glass of wine a night have a tendency to eat better and exercise more.  I am a physician so I am a proponent of medications, but their use has to be supported by clinical trials.  You may think I’m a naysayer, but remember when Vitamin E was all the rage, well now the Mayo Clinic says that Vitamin E not only doesn’t prevent disease, but may produce risks.  http://www.mayoclinic.org/news2006-mchi/3270.html

Now all I am saying is be careful about all the ‘medical advise’ you hear.  Don’t worry that today it’s thought that fruit is good for you but tomorrow they might say it causes cancer, just remember there is a lot of money to be made by having the world alerted to the potential benefits of any particular supplement.

Molecular Gastronomy

In my search for interesting cuisine I have recently become fascinated with molecular gastronomy. Molecular gastronomy refers to the study of the physical and chemical processes that occur in cooking. This has led to the opening of some unique restaurants where the chef’s are deconstructing the cuisine using novel techniques to prepare food like you have never seen. I was recently watching Anthony Bourdain on No Reservations when he went to Chicago.   He went to a restaurant named Moto where chef Cantu showed him one of his signature dishes. It looked like a half smoked cigar, served in an ashtray. It was actually a Cuban sandwich made to look like a cigar.

 I am planning on going to WD-50 in NY in the near future where Wylie Dufresne creates food art.

Eggs Benedict

You can see by the look of his Eggs Benedict how intersting the appearance is. Check out his restaurant reviews and you’ll see people either love it or hate it. Anything which elicits so much emotion whether it be good or bad must be interesting. I’ll let you know how I liked it.