I still have nothing interesting to say about myself, but here's some reviews: of a movie, an event and a restaurant.
The movie is Thank You For Smoking. It's been bubbling up and down in my Netflix Q for a couple of years now, repeatedly getting pushed down by other things I wanted to see more, but, shucks howdy, it's the funniest film I've seen in years.
The movie, if you're unaware stars a flack for the tobacco lobby who's willing say - or do - anything on behalf of the tobacco companies he's been hired to protect. As you might imagine, it's a black comedy. It includes such great lines as "After watching the footage of the Kent State shootings, Bobby Jay, then seventeen, signed up for the National Guard so that he, too, could shoot college students.
Rent it today!
The event is the Philadelphia Flower Show. Sue and I went on a Wednesday afternoon, thinking it would be less crowded.
Synopsis: Flowers are pretty. Stuffing yourself into a room with tens of thousands of other people to see them is less amusing.
I took lots of pictures, but I'm disappointed with the results because, unknown to me, my camera has an automatic override even in the semi-manual modes that boosted the ISO to 1600 even though I had it set for 200 - so the shots are as grainy as you'd expect from 1980's era 1600 speed film. People tell me that if I had waited 6 months dropped the money for a D90 instead of the D60 I've got now, I'd get a loss less grain.
People should shut up.
On the upside, between the trip to Disney and this, I'm finally really learning my camera to the point that I can change oddball settings without taking my eye from the finder. I still need a good, fast, prime lens though. Back in January, I told myself I could either by the lens or a flash, and I figured I needed the off-camera flash more, so I bought that. It's a good flash but, OMFG it's way too powerful. I actually took it off the camera at the flower show because (a) people thought I was trying to tase them and (b) the camera seemed to be perfectly happy to take pictures with the existing light (see above about the secret ISO booster) and (c) the ceilings were a good 30' high and corrugated so I didn't think bounce was going to do much but maximize the number of people I was tasing.
On the other hand, the flash came in really handy at one point, when I was nearly killed and eaten by an orchid.
The restaurant is Thai L'Elephant. The place is, literally, across the street from my house in a run-down half empty strip mall. You know the one. Next to the auto parts store? I'd never bothered to eat there before.
Except that, apparently, this place is the metaphorical diamond in the rough, a gourmet wolf in sheep-diner's clothing. After the flower show, Sue and I stopped there for an early dinner. I can't tell you what she had, because my face was glued to my own plate - but I had an asparagus soup with crab meat and, I think, a bit of mint, followed by the Thai Treasure (their sampler platter) and the day's special - which was a chicken breast stuffed with crab meat and spinach(?), crusted with macadamia nuts and covered with a mushroom and grand mariner sauce. My lord, that was good food. If I had paid $100 for the meal, I wouldn't have been surprised - but the final tab was only $62, including the tip.
After looking at our finances, Sue and I have decided to restrict our dining out to once a month instead of 1-2 times per week, but I think we'll be going there again.