My Recommendations

When James Cameron's Titanic first came out in December 1997, my wife and I joked to our daughter "why are you going to see this movie? it sinks!!!!". Then we finally went to see it in a theatre in May of 1998 (yes, the movie was in theatres that long) and loved it. Since then, of course, the movie has been the subject of Oscars, adoration, commentary and criticism, much of which was directed at James Cameron's dialog and story-telling ability. This is likely because any other faults are just too minor to be serious. Cameron, known for the Terminator franchise, simply can't write good movies, so the argument goes. The same criticism was put to him when he released Avatar. That may be true but he can write a movie people want to see. Cameron's writing is similar to those movies that are cliched, predictable, cheesy but are so well done it makes people want to see movies. This is the reason why Michael Bay may make movies that makes several million dollars wi...

If you are using gMail and ever wondered what your usage is really like, check out gMail Meter. What does this do? Well, it may help you change your email habits by showing your patterns. The link from LifeHacker is here You create a new spreadsheet in Google Docs, name it Gmail Meter and then run a script from the Script Gallery. Then let the script run. It can take a while to run but you can just let it go, it will send you an email when it's done with all of the stats. What kind of stats? Here's just a smattering of the stats: Very cool!

After trying different songs and styles over the past 4 years, Jason Mraz comes up with an album that is very different from his previous offerings yet still succeeds in delivering a satisfying sound. If you're looking for the upbeat and fast-paced funk of We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things, you won't find it here. That may be the biggest problem for his thousands of fans. This album is definitely more subdued than his other efforts.  The risqué lyrics and fun wordplay that many fans have come to love aren't on this album - yet the song writing on this album seems more focused on its goal. The production on Love Is a Four Letter Word is very smooth - lush strings come in to add those touches, the horns are not in your face (with the exception of The Freedom Song) and the harmonies are light and airy.  With the exception of voice, guitar and drums, every instrument comes and goes very discreetly, adding their touches when needed but without fanfare. This can both be ...

My review on Yelp Update: SADLY - the Tap room closed earlier this year. Now, we have to find another place for our New York visits. We had a late lunch at the Tap Room the day after Thanksgiving. My wife's comment says it all - "Judge away, Tom, judge away" - a reference to the fact that many people complain about the way Tom judges on Top Chef. The entire experience (service, food, everything) is exactly what a restaurant should be. A 25$ prix-fixe for lunch (two courses) is a STEAL for a restaurant of this quality. I had a frise fig and walnut salad (I typically wouldn't enjoy frise) and it was amazing. My wife had the bean soup and fell in love with it.  Then I had the ricotta cavaletti with oyster mushrooms. Delicious. My wife had a flat-iron steak (something she doesn't usually eat) and loved it. The service was spot-on - dishes arrived as soon as we were ready for them, impeccable timing and perfectly casual. Wine was expensive but well worth it. Saw...

Check out my full review on Yelp and Open Table but the Thanksgiving prix fixe was so disappointing that I wonder if I would go back to another Bobby Flay restaurant. They promoted it as Southwestern Thanksgiving Bobby Flay-style and my wife was crushed. Service was indifferent (I don't care how busy you are for that) - and the initial course was surprising. The pumpkin soup tasted like overdone pumpkin pie before it was put in the shell. The shrimp and couscous was dry after the sauce disappeared. Worse, my prawns weren't cooked --- to the point where I had to spit it out. The server even noted it (we were comp'd one prix fixe which we didn't expect) - it was inedible and unfortunately made the entire meal disappointing enough we didn't want to finish it.  There were only 6 items on the entire menu - that one of the them was completely undercooked still amazes me. 

If you like Top Chef, you will definitely want to read this interview with Tom Colicchio. Great interview - full of insight on the Top Chef All Stars Season. Tom Colicchio | TV | Interview | The A.V. Club

The Byward Market in Ottawa is the obvious tourist hot spot in the city, boasting the latest and arguably, greatest restaurants. Stella Osteria has been around for a few years, affiliated with Luxe Bistro and the Blue Cactus. Rated highly by the local paper and magazines, we had high hopes. The hostess at the front was wonderful and attentive - if she was the standard for their service, the evening would have been wonderful. Sadly, she wasn't. From Wikipedia, "Osteria" in Italian literally means a place where the owner "hosts" people. Food is generally regional and prepared with local recipes, and often served at shared tables. We've been to Mozza Osteria in Los Angeles - that felt exactly as described above. I'm not sure if the owners of Stella truly have that in mind, because the experience didn't hit that tone at all. Food First off, the portions are very large. It would be enough to only have three appetizers for a table of four. It was i...