Repressed Memmeries

The Odds Are Definitely In Favor Of The Hunger Games

I haven't busted out this old place in a long time, but after a torturously long wait for The Hunger Games movie, it finally arrived last night... and I found myself inspired to commit words to screen once again.

Admittedly, I had my concerns about this translation of a book series that I really enjoyed, and have shared with many people, not the least of which are my son and my wife. I knew that there were going to be some challenging hurdles to get across in translating a first-person-and-very-introspective narrative structure into the magical visual medium of a theatre screen. Would the screenplay capture the story properly? Would the characters be able to bring out the nuances of the internal struggles each of them faced? Would the film evolve from just telling us what's going on in their mind to showing us?

I'm here to tell you that the answer to all of these questions is a definitie and resounding "yes!"

For those of you who somehow haven't heard about this phenomenon, The Hunger Games is the story of the dystopian remnants of post-civil war in the future, where the world has been changed. The seas have risen, and only a small fraction of the population has survived. The survivors have been gathered by the tyrannical Capitol government into 12 Districts. As punishment for the rebellion, the Capitol decreed that each year, each of the Districts were to provide two children between the ages of 12-18, one female, one male, to participate as "Tributes" in a nationally televised reality-show-esque battle to the death. These are the Hunger Games, called that because in this future, the Capitol rations out all the necessities of life - food, clothing, etc. -  produced by the Districts, keeping the most and the best for the members of the Capitol while the remaining districts struggle by in extreme poverty. The victor of each year's Games wins a lifetime supply of food for their family.

It is an extremely regimented and strict life for those struggling to survive in the Districts. Even the most minor dissension from the rules set out by the Capitol are dealt with harshly, and that includes leaving the fenced walls of the Districts to forage for food.

The film begins with the television host of the Hunger Games (played by an outrageously ostentatious and costumed Stanley Tucci, one of many inspired choices) interviewing the Gamemaster, setting up the whole premise of the movie as well as establishing the tone of the film almost immediately, where their gushing enthusiasm for the "healing power" of the Games is contrasted by a quick cut to District 12, which is supposed to represent the West Virginian coal mining communities, wracked with abject poverty. We're introduced to the main character, a 16-year old girl named Katniss Everdeen, played by a sublimely magnificent Jennifer Lawrence, and her family. The film establishes early on the weight of the world is felt upon Katniss' shoulders, as she is responsible for providing for her family.

One of the very first things we see Katniss do is to escape beyond the boundaries to hunt for food with her friend, Gale (played by Liam Hemsworth). We discover quickly that she's a skilled hunter and that she hunts not only to provide food for her mother and her sister, but also to provide game that she can trade for other necessities in a central market known as The Hob. Director Gary Ross paints a vivid, if bleak, portrait of life in Katniss' world. He also visually sets up the disjointed feel of this world with the use of a lot of hand-held camera work so that we feel like we're viewing the world from Katniss' perspective - her world is constantly a struggle, and you get drawn in to her personal view of how the world unfolds very quickly, and it never seems to stop moving. Keep moving, and you survive.

Without going over every detail of the movie, the story keeps along at a brisk pace. After Katniss' sister, Primrose, is selected as the female Tribute, Katniss immediately volunteers to go in her place. This is an unusual thing in her District, once again establishing that Katniss is willing to challenge the established rules when it comes to taking care of her family.

At the end of the day, I always judge a movie by how well it does in telling its story, and as I alluded to earlier, The Hunger Games is really a book about challenging - and changing - the rules. Rules of how things are decreed to be. Rules about who you're supposed to be, or behave. And perhaps most importantly, rules about how much other people can determine the course of Katniss' life in the strict, regimented world in which she's grown up. It's particulary gratifying that director Gary Ross chose to follow that storyline, whereas it could have very easily gone down the teenagey-love-triangle-action flick path instead. He judiciously distilled multi-page descriptions found the in pages of the book into succinct scenes that, by and large, all served to move the plot forward in a brisk  manner. This is a 2:15 movie that doesn't feel like a 2:15 movie!

Now, the performances. If I was a big fan of Jennifer Lawrence before, from her Academy Award-nominated performance in Winter's Bone or her turn as blue-skinned Mystique in X-Men: First Class, well, let's just say that her wonderfully nuanced and powerful turn as Katniss Everdeen has propelled her to the top of my new favorites list! She does an amazing job of transferring the internal struggles that we're able to read from the character's interal monologue in the book onto the screen. We see her pain, her fear... and simultaneously, her resolve and her unyielding resolve to take care of her family and friends. We see her grow from someone just trying to survive to a young woman who decides to take her life's path back into her own hands, and in doing so, becoming an inspiration for the oppressed in her society. This is only the beginning of Katniss' story, and to watch the evolution on-screen is a wondeful experience to share.

As I mentioed earlier, the casting on this movie was top-notch, from the inspired choice of Lenny Kravitz as Katniss' stylist at the Capitol to Donald Sutherland as President Snow, the leader of the Capitol government and all-around tyrannical dude. He steals every scene that he's in, of course, and knowing what's coming in the next two stories, one can only look forward to what he will bring to the character. President Snow, in a tiny, tiny spoiler, is the solo character in the last scene of the movie's cliffhanger-esque ending, overseeing the end of what transpired during his Hunger Games, an angry, yet worried glint in his eye visible before he turns around, Darth Vader style, and strides out of the room while the screen fades to black. This is fun stuff here, folks!

And I would be remiss if I didn't mention the fantastic performance of Josh Hutcherson as the male Tribute from District 12, Katniss' counterpart. He just seems so at ease in the part that it feels as if was written for just for him. He's able to bring forward all of the emotion and concerns that we find on the page in a perfect translation, especially in his interactions with Jennifer Lawrence and in the way their relationship develops throughout the course of the story. (Honestly, though, one of my favorite scenes is his interview with Stanley Tucci's Caeser Flickerman that occurs just prior to the Games!)

Finally, I want to give a special tip of the hat to composer James Newton Howard, who was called in at the absolute last minute to replace (the, in my opinion, highly overrated) Danny Elfman. Howard had to knock out 90 minutes of music in just four weeks, and yet he still came up with a stirring score that was more understated than many of his other outings, but it felt like a good fit with this movie.

Admittedly, this is one of those movies that I was biased towards liking, but its refreshing to see what was obviously a labor of love by the production crew and performers turn out a film that really captures the essence of what makes The Hunger Games so appealing to so many different types of people. I couldn't stop thinking about it after coming home from the theatre. Oh, and by the way, I want to extend an extra-special thanks to the film's producers for NOT doing this in 3D. Unless your name is James Cameron or Bob Zemeckis is doing an animated Christmas movie, I find that 3D is rarely worth the time, effort or additional expense.

This is a clean, beautiful and moving film. Go see it. Then go see it again.

And may the odds be ever in your favor.

Missing Notes

Today marks a big day for The Boy!

As of right now, he's most likely sitting in our front room - we call it the music room, appropriately - sitting down with his new violin teacher, Ms. Sarah. As Obi-Wan once so succinctly coined it, it's his first step into a much large world. He is excited about his new instrument, although I think that Laura and I are just as excited, if not moreso. Even on first lessons, usually rife with the screechy sounds of missed notes reserved for cats mid-coitus, there's something sweet about the sound of your kids learning how to make music.

But, did you see that "most likely" part? Yeah, that's because I am yet again working 7-5 as part of this voluntary indentured servititude I've taken on called overtime. So, while he's having his very first lesson, I'll be sitting at work, dropping a quick blog note on a small break.

This is all voluntary, of course, and the money is good, no doubt about it. It's helped to cover the rid-goddamn-diculous electric bills that we've incurred over the past couple of months, for example. But, I really miss hanging out with the kids and my wife. It's starting to feel like I'm listening to a concert but only getting about 10% of the actual music.

I just have to remember that there's a larger goal in mind here, and that I'm really fortunate to have this opportunity at all. (Well, that and the fact that at the end of the day, I'm just a shameless hussy for the cash.)  :)

I hope that there's an end to this disjointed concerto in sight. I'll find out next week if OT is going to be extended again. And if it is, I'll probably sign up for another tour of duty.

It can't go on forever... right? :)

 

Ham and Cheese(s) Stuffed Pork Chops

Occasionally, while we're out with the kids, we stumble across a dish to which one of them really takes a surprising shine. That happened with Alex a few months back at Biaggi's, where we took him when Jeannette was at a friend's birthday party. He discovered that he really, really like the chicken piemontese there, which didn't come as any great surprise since it combined all of his favorite things into one dish: chicken, ham and pasta!

So, since that had been simmering in the back of my brain ever since, when Laura came across a recipe for a pork chop version of that dish earlier this week, I knew that it was time to give it a shot.

Thankfully, our grocery store was accomodating. Check out these chops!

 

 

Here, you see these yummy looking pieces of pork after they've been slit down the side and stuffed with little packets customized to the various tastes of the fam. Ham and provolone for the kids; ham, provolone and basil for the missus; and ham, swiss and basil for yours truly. That colored toothpick you see? Yeah, that's color coding for my poor, addled brain. Plus, it serves double duty by keeping all that yummy hamcheesey packets all warm and cozy inside.

 

 

Toss 'em into a hot skillet with a a couple squirts of canola. (That's a technical term, "squirts". I keep all my oil in condiment squeeze bottles by the stove - h/t to Alton Brown for that idea!)

 

Meanwhile, Laura had been jonesin' for some sauteed brussel sprouts since we ended up going all Lotus Garden for Easter when we were in Indy last weekend. For that, since we still had a pile of ham leftover from the surprise birthday party a few weeks back, I decided to use that instead of bacon.

Chop it up and toss it into a skillet with a little oil.

 

 

Then, toss in a bag of freshly trimmed brussel sprouts that have been halved.

 

Back to the pork love, once the chops have cooked for a good 5-7 minutes on each side (hey, they were thick chops!), put 'em in a pan and cover them with some foil and toss them into an 400-425 oven to just finish them off while you make the sauce.

Take some mushrooms - doesn't matter what kind, really, use whatever you like - and throw them into the chop pan with all the leavings still left. Deglaze the pan with some white wine and then toss in a few tablespoons of flour to make the base.

 

After that, just add in a couple cups of stock - I used some frozen chicken stock I'd made a few weeks ago - and a few squirts (there it is again!) of mustard (I used stone ground, but dijon would work really well here, too - use what you like!), bring it to a boil and then reduce it to a simmer to bubble down all that 'shroomy, meaty goodness.

Mmmm.... meaty goodness....

Once your sauce is ready, grab a plate! I cooked up some orzo - both the kids are gonzo for orzo with little butter and grated romanoparmesanpecorinowhatever you've got - and used that as my base. I just like having all the delectable juices and sauces run down over it....

 

Grab a fork and knife. Or, if you can't wait that long, go all caveman on it. It's got a handle, after all. Ain't no shame in it. Pour some wine and enjoy!

 

 

 

 

Fettucine with Spinach Mushroom Alfredo

If there's one thing I hate, it's unused white sauce, aka. bechamel.

Sure, call me weird. But when you go through the time and effort to whip up a tasty bechamel, it just pains me to throw it away if it's not all used. Such was the case with the lasagna I whipped up last week. I've gotten into the habit of making a white sauce for lasagna here of late instead of using just ricotta, and it's been met with rave reviews... even from The Boy, who was a reluctant comer to the joys of layered pasta dishes until recently.

But I digress. Back to the sauce. Which was sitting in my fridge, all kinds of lonely. Looking for love in all the wrong places (I warned it against trying to make friends in the meat drawer.)

So, working the late shift this week gave me the chance to cook on a Tuesday night, which is normally Holy-Crap-We-Just-Had-Taekwondo-And-Gymnastics-Let's-Just-Eat-Out Night. It felt like a good night for pasta... but then again, aren't all nights good for pasta?

Here's what I came up with!

First, thaw out a frozen package of chopped spinach. Using a clean dish towel or paper towels, squeeze and wring all the liquid as possible from it.

Get the fettucine going in another pot.

Heat up some olive oil - a couple-three tablespoons or so - in a medium saute pan over medium heat. Smash up a couple of cloves of garlic and throw it in there for a minute or two until it looks all golden-y, but not burnt. Burned garlic = massive stink and even worse taste. If you burn it, start over.

Add the chopped spinach in with the garlic and saute it for 4-5 minutes, until it's all heated through and smelling yummy. At this point, pour in your white sauce and mix it up well. You may have to add some milk, cream, half and half or  goat's milk or pasta water to thin it out a bit. Also, if you're feeling spunky, feel free to add in any of the following: ricotta, parmesan, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper - anything that suits your tastes! Let this get all hot and bubbly, then turn it down to a low simmer and let it get all happy.

While the sauce is getting down with its bad self, heat up a few Tbsps of olive oil in another saute pan. Add in a package of sliced mushrooms and another few cloves of smashed garlic and saute them for a couple of minutes. At this point, add about 1/4 - 1/2 C. of white wine, along with a small palmful of thyme, basil & parsley and a splash of Worchestershire sauce and let that all cook down for 3-4 more minutes.

At this point, everything should be bubbly and happy and ready to go. Drain your pasta and toss it with your sauce. (I like to mix the mushrooms right in, but my lovely missus prefers them on the side.) Grate a little fresh romano or parmesan on it, and top with some finely diced tomatoes. (And yeah, since I'm totally using a stock photo - sue me, I was too busy gobbling this down to snap a picture! - that's not shown here.)

Enjoy!

 

 

 

The Big Four Oh-My-Goodness!

There was  a big surprise birthday party over the weekend, a party which was ostensibly going to be for my best friend and brother-in-law, Mark. I'd been enlisted to make mucho grande food for said party, and I was happy to oblige, of course, because when it comes right down to it, I'm pretty much your bitch if you have a party and want food made.

What can I say? I'm a catering hussy. But I do love it so.

So, after getting into Indy late Friday night, I rolled out of bed at 5 am sharp on Saturday morning and knocked out several large salad dishes. I'll get to those in a second, but let's just say that by the time I was finished, I probably had completed in the neighborhood of around 40-45 pounds of various salads. We were expecting around 150 people, after all!

After we (other than Miss Thing, of course) all got haircuts, Laura and I ended up completing the MASSIVE amount of shopping that needed to be done that afternoon, and then we went over to the the church where this was going to happen to complete Phase 2 of food preparation. That mainly involved chopping of bags and bags and bags of veggies and fruits for the crudite platters and fruit salads.

The gameplan at that point was for me to go back and get Mark, pick up the keg and a few other sundry items before delivering him to the church, all under the guise that this was a party for one of Laura and Barbara's cousins. I noticed as the clock started getting long on the day that my wife was becoming rather pointed in her attempts to get me on my way. But, you know, there's always one more thing that can be chopped or prepared, right? Nonetheless, I finally scooted out at 4:15 and proceeded to go back to pick up the kids and Uncy Mark, and we picked up the fine cask of Killian's that had been reserved.

As we pulled into the parking lot, I called my wife with the pre-determined phrase to let her know that we had arrived. The kids, Mark and I walked in the front door to "Surprise!", of course, and applause. I started to applaud, as well, and then I noticed my mother was also there. Huh? And wait - there's my sister! And another sister! And another! And there's my old college roommates and buddies, too! What the -?

It finally hit me when I looked up and saw the banner they had conspisuously hung, which had a picture of Mark and Me doing our "Lady and the Tramp" thing from a Brazilian steakhouse a few years back: this was a surprise 40th birthday party for BOTH of us!

Or, in other words, I'd just catered my own surprise party! :)

Everything turned out so very well, and it was fantastic to be able to hang with people that we rarely get to see (including Mark's sister Patty, who had flown in from ALASKA!), and the food turned out great, as well!

Along with about 40 pounds of sliced cold cuts, another 15 pounds of sliced cheese, I had made a cold version of German potato salad, as inspired by this recipe by Anne Burrell, along with my famous pasta salad and cole slaw, as well as a bucket full of fruit salad. And yes, the traditional chips, pretzels & other munchies were there. Mark's other sister, Anne, brought over two yummy salads of her own, a layered broccoli and cauliflower salad and an absolutely delicious Asian soba noodle salad. (I really should've hit her up for that recipe, darn it...!)

Needless to say, we all had a fabulous time, even though we didn't finally get to bed until about 1:30 am. But, in the end, it's really nice to know that even I can still be surprised, even at this old ripe age.

Thank you, honey (and Barbara) - you two are two evil peas in pod, you know! :) Love ya both!

p.s. I'm going to see if anybody got any pictures of the food. Had I known, I totally would have been taking them all along...!

Considering a Change

*cough cough* <<waves hands>>

Jeez - look at this place! All delapidated & dusty - it's the Shrieking Shack of blogs, it appears. Shameful. Just shameful.

I've had an idea brewing around in my head for a little while, though, with regards to what to do with this blog. Obviously, in a world where social networks like Facebook are the main "go-to" when it comes to keeping up with friends and family, blogs like this tend to wilt and die on the vine due to neglect and lack of time, interest or in my case, a little of both. Why duplicate work, right?

But, I still kept it around. I guess you could call it my "boppy". That's what we called the kids' respective chew-toys/security blanket thingees that they've had since they were babies. They may not want it or need it every moment of the day, but it's something that brought them comfort and security, with no desire to get rid of them anytime soon. Plus, I have a lot of good memories on here that I'd hate to see go down the World Wide Crapper.

But, I just don't have the time to keep up any sort of regular writing blog, not with the crazy schedule that we find ourselves maintaining while we try to keep up with the kiddos. So, it was a quandry. And, as evidenced by the date of my last entry, you can see that this place got a little... neglected.

So, what to do?

And then it hit me one day as I was perusing the various foodblogs that I follow (Serious Eats and Ree Drummond's "The Pioneer Woman Cooks", just to name a few!): why not do a variation of that myself? Now that I can link this directly with both Facebook and the Twitterers, it would combine many of my great loves and interests into one compact and neatly-wrapped package, right? So, that's the idea with which I've been toying for the past couple of months. We'll see. Oh, yes, we'll see... :)

What do you guys think?

It's a New Layout!

Hmmm.... I actually kinda like this one.

Whaddya think?

(And I've been feeling the writing bug more here of late... hmmm....! Portents?)

Repressed Memmeries

Repressed Memmeries

Wait - I'm not dead yet!

And in a strange turn of events, apparently there IS a free version of Typepad. You just don't get it offered to you until you go to cancel.

Hmmm... that changes things, maybe quite a bit. If I can keep all the old Repressed stuff and not get charged anymore, I might just stick around. Yes, I might just... laws, yes. M-O-O-N, that spells free.!

The Long Goodbye

A few years back, I started this place as an outlet for all the random junkanalia that flits about inside my head on a continual basis. It needed release; it need purpose.

I reveled in the opportunity to transform that mental chaos into the tangible finality of words, my stream of consciousness freely flowing like a swollen river that had finally smashed down the dam that had been holding it back. Once that backstop had been breached, out came the surging, rushing rapids.

For awhile, that is.

Even a powerful river can only stay above flood stage for a short time. I found that once the tide had ebbed, the flow began to subside. Eventually, it slowed down to less than a trickle - 2 posts in the last six months? Yeah, that's not even a trickle. That's the writing equivalent of drooling in your sleep.

I looked to see if Typepad offered a free - albeit less bells and whistle-y - version of their blogging software. To my great surprise, they do not. Where's the sense in paying for something that I never use? (Moreover, where's the sense in not offering a free blog in this age of free Blogger blogs, Facebook and Tweets, Tweets everywhere, hmm, Typepad?)

So, it's with more than a little sadness that I've decided to flick the sign in the window to "closed". I'm taking all the silverware and sauce recipes, though. To those of you who stopped by to look in on me over the past couple of years, I want to say thank you, and that for anyone still interested, you can follow me at Twitter (TheRepressedOne) or at Facebook (jbmemmer).

Since I apparently just got billed again on 1-12-09, I'll keep this up for another week or so, like a rusty sign creaking in the wind as you enter a town in the old west. After that...

...well, it looks like a lovely sunset. :)