Muppets at the Movies

Last spring's Muppet's Wizard of OZ was very disappointing. It was strictly for kids, with none of the zaney adult undertones that have made previous Muppet specials so entertaining. Luckily these new web shorts have all of that and more:

http://movies.go.com/moviesdynamic/muppets/index

Statler and Waldorf (the curmudgeons from the Muppet Show balcony) review movies, gossip about Hollywood and yuck it up in these fabulous five minute clips. Check it out!

For more Muppet madness check out the new www.muppets.com (Disney money makes for a sweet website) or get the lastest news at the very nice http://www.muppetcentral.com/

The best news, though, isn't about new Muppet productions. It was the original Muppet Show that I fell in love with, and they are FINALLY being released on DVD in season boxed sets. Season One will be out in less than a month: August 9, 2005. My forty dollars and I will be waiting at a Best Buy near here. Woo.

Chode the Wet Sprocket

I learned a new word in Denver last week. Apparently the town is chock full of "chodes." Chode, I was informed by residents, is a term used to describe affluent young men that are out of school, gainfully employed, but still behaving like frat boys in their free time.

My brother in-law's formerly ritzy apartment complex is being overrun by these critters, prompting him to buy a condo in another area. As he had not yet moved, we got to see "Chodes" in action. They were indeed loud, obnoxious, beer swilling idiots. A shame really, since several of them were fairly good looking. It's scary to think of all of the worst pack behaviors of party-hearty college kids being enabled by professional paychecks!

Anyhow, what was really interesting for me was being able to observe language development in action. Five to ten years down the road, when Chode has become a common part of our slang you can say you read it here first.

Attic Update

Still not finished....who wants to hammer nails when its 90+ outside and hotter than that in the attic?

Soul Fu'd

My husband and I were recently in Atlanta where we had dinner with another couple who are our good friends. We ate at a restaurant called "Mama Fu's" and I would like to recomend it to you highly! Brought to life by the creators of Moe's Southwestern (where you can get custom burritos and tacos and such in a family friendly atmostphere and equally friendly price) Mama Fu's is the best of all things Asian.

The atmosphere is a little classier than Moe's...it's as if re-created all of the good things about the sister chain, and improved on the bad. You place you order and sit down with a number, though drinks are still self serve (excepting for wine and beer.) To my mind the worst thing about Moe is queueing up to wait and then having to move along the plexiglass. Of course, there is just about NO OTHER WAY for them to have the great custom food that the do, so I can't complain too much.

Anyhow, Mama Fu's is quite simply the best Asian food I have ever had. Blow's P.F. Chang's out of the water, and is way above your average mom and pop chinese place. We had pad thai, wonton soup and fried rice. Our friends had a chicken lettuce wrap and fried rice. My husband and I were green with envy over the letuce wrap, since that is our favorite dish from Changs, but with our dinner already on the way it was too late for us to order one.

My Wonton soup was best I've ever had, in 32 years of Wonton consumption. All of the veggies and herbs were FRESH and my Pad Thai featured slices of portobello mushrooms that were as heary and delicious as the chicken. The menu is vast (and humorously labled) and my only regret is that we do not yet have one of these fine establishments in our home town. We spoke with the manager on the way out, though, and they seemed to think we could expect to see franchises popping up with a year or so.