ridaily - November 2009
2009-11-30Twilight updateWell, friends and I packed ourselves tightly in the corner of the South County Commons movie theater for New Moon’s opening night. We toppled over most of the other patrons and felt embarrassed to be excited about the tween saga. But I have to say, the movie mostly delivered, in a cartoonish Romeo-and-Juliet kind of way. There's lots of nice eye candy in the form of the character Jacob, who's often shirtless, and for good reason. Like the first movie, the special effects were mediocre at best, and the first half moved too slowly. Things sped up nicely toward the end, though. But on reflection, I'm not sure the story line stands up to serialization. If they had combined all four books in the saga into one film, I'd have enjoyed it more. Does Bella eventually become a vampire?... |
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2009-11-25Happy Thanksgiving!!From all of us at Rhode Island Monthly, we hope you have a wonderful Turkey Day! We know you'll miss us, but we deserve some time off, too! So RI Daily will resume posts on Monday, November 30, and The Weekly Round Up will resume Thursday, December 4. |
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2009-11-25Building Your NestFor those of us who, in the past year, have become increasingly recession-minded, but still can’t resist the occasion bout of retail therapy, it seems to make sense to focus our efforts on sprucing up our home (you know, instead of our wardrobes). It’s the place where we spend time with family and escape the chaos of life (hopefully). But decorating a home is also incredibly intimidating, and many people either give up out of fear or go way overboard, thinking that the more stuff they cram in there, the cozier it will be. Thankfully, I’ve just come across a new book by design geniuses Mitchell Gold and Bob Williams that addresses all these issues and then some. “The Comfortable Home” takes readers room by room, offering layout ideas that are both functional... |
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2009-11-24Wind UpOk, so apparently the economy isn't rebounding after all, the rise in house prices is only temporary, Glen Beck is set to develop a "plan" for the country and meanwhile, here in Providence, my neighbors still haven't figured out that they need to recycle to get the city to take their (three-week old!) trash. I'm escaping from it all with early Christmas shopping at RISDWorks, sinceI get a lot of gift-exchanging over with at Thanksgiving, when I see family members who aren't around in December. There's a ton of cute stuff there, including these, which are a quirky steal at $14. There are tons of different designs, doing different things (not sure why they don't show more on the web site), with the cogs and wheels all visible. They'll be doing double duty as... |
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2009-11-23Turkey TalkOur cover story this month is on the Big Feast, and since it's been years since I got to host a Thanksgiving (not that I'm really complaining - it's pretty nice to just go to my brother's and lazily ride herd on the kids from the couch), I decided to cook a turkey last week. If I were a more serious person, or perhaps just a person with more time, I would have followed Karen's recipe for brining the bird and putting stuff under the skin, etc. Instead, I hit Trader Joe's in Warwick and bought one of their natural, pre-brined bird. And I am here to tell you that that was one good turkey. I bought the smallest one I could find, at about 12 pounds. I got it home, gave it a perfunctory stuffing with half an onion, a stick of celery and couple of carrots, and stuck it straight in the oven (no... |
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2009-11-20The Twilight ObsessionWhen I first heard about the Twilight saga a year and a half ago, I at first felt a little squeamish. The idea of a vampire love story sounded childish , so I deflected the novel’s enticing advances. However, in the fall of 2008, my friends convinced me to see the film version of the first novel. While watching the amateurish special effects, I was lured into the story of a curious young girl who is swept off her feet by an introverted classmate...who may or may not be human. Fascinated by the story, I picked up a Twilight book, opened to page 1 and did not put it down. I begged people to read along to share my experience. Then, I soon began to understand that Twilight and its sequels are not really books about vampires, so much as about obsessive yet chaste love. No wonder... |
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2009-11-18Carcieri's 15 MinutesYesterday, we were too busy hiding under a rock (out of embarrassment) to post a link to this -- Governor Carcieri's skewering by Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert for his views on burial rights for gay partners. But it's still good for a laugh (or cry) this a.m. The title of the piece -- "Skeletons in the Closet" -- is brilliant and so is the tag line: "How is the governor of Rhode Island supposed to rest in peace knowing that a couple of plots over two dudes are being gay dead?"Good question. Another good question -- where is Keith Olbermann in all this? Reads like perfect fodder for his "Worst Persons in the World" nightly segment. Then we could really be proud. |
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2009-11-17The Miraculous Homemade SeltzerI’ve become kind of obsessed with these seltzer-water gadgets.I’m really late to the bandwagon on these, which have been out in the world for years. I just saw one for the first time two weeks ago at my friend Jen’s house when she offered me sparkling water and proceeded to make it. I don’t think I would have been as stunned if she'd pushed a button and made a banana.While I sipped my homemade seltzer, she enthused about its money-and earth-saving qualities. I am always equally frightened and thrilled by money-saving advice that involves buying something. On one hand, you hate to be that person who buys the kitchen gadget that “pays for itself in no time.” (Although I am oddly fascinated by this GT Express machine that turns any food into... |
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2009-11-16Shooting StarThis is the last week for Trinity Rep's current production, a short, two-person play clumsily titled Shooting Star. Don't hold the name against it. If you're at all interested in theater - even if you're not - this is the one to see. It's the kind of production that proves the whole point of theater - that a good play, done well, makes for a much richer experience than any movie, even 3-D IMAX. Set in Trinity's smaller downstairs theater, with a sparse set that evokes a deserted, snow-bound airport terminal, the intimate production tells the story of former college sweethearts who collide back into each other's lives while trapped at stopovers during a winter storm. A slightly shaky start soon revs up into a play so involving that I could have sat on those folding chairs all... |
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2009-11-12(Farmers') Market WatchThe Wintertime Farmers’ Market in Pawtucket started last weekend. I didn’t make it over there –– did you? –– but I plan on stopping by this weekend. According to the website, apples, squash, greens and root vegetables are all ripe for the picking, along with the usual locally made cheeses, eggs, maple syrup and baked goods. And with Thanksgiving just around the corner, it’s the perfect excuse to go and start stocking up for the big feast. For a complete list of vendors, click here. Wintertime Farmers’ Market, Hope Artiste Village, 1005 Main Street, Pawtucket. Market open Saturdays 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. through May 29. |
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