Marissa Flaxbart

Airport Boomerang

I'm at MDW, bound for IAD (Washington Dulles) on Southwest. If you've flown Southwest out of Midway, you know that most gate areas have a kid's zone, where there are tiny stools and a tiny table and a TV that shows Cartoon Network's Boomerang (a commercial-free spinoff that plays mostly Hanna-Barbera shows).

Today, at gate A15, instead of leaving the kid stuff to the kid zone and forcing adults to watch CNN or (God forbid) Fox News, Boomerang is playing on both the kids' and the adults' screens. God bless them. Quick Draw McGraw and Atom Ant for all! Ooh...Secret Squirrel...bbl

Date Night, Losers Reviews on Cineplexus

Look who's not putting off writing her movie reviews! Yaaaay! Last Thursday I posted a pre-release review of Losers, and today I posted a review of Date Night. ANy guesses which I liked more? You might be surprised.

I think my best observation in either review is that Date Night is a kind of complementary Adventures in Babysitting. In this version, the babysitter stays at home and the suburban couple has the random city adventure. I've always loved Adventures in Babysitting, especially since it was shot in Chicago…and that "college party" at U of C near the end! They missed the mark on that part a bit. Not enough people talking about Weber/Kant/Tarantino/Dungeons & Dragons. :)

At any rate, here's some food for thought. Remember to take the 20-year time difference into account:

Glee Envy

I finally watched this week's big Madonna episode of Glee, and I think it shed some light on why I often put off watching the show for a few days, letting it simmer on my DVR. Fact is, this show is torture for me – not because I don't like it, but because I love it so freaking much. I love the characters, I love the drama, but mostly I love the singing and dancing. And it hurts so good to have to sit there on the sofa, still, just watching it.

It's a lot like the pain I often experience watching a play. If I'm really loving it, I want to be up on stage performing it myself. If it's terrible, I can't help but think how I might have tackled those lines. It's a problem.

This week's Glee brought to light yet another mental sickness on my part: I want to be Rachel. Not only does she get to star in nearly every number, but now she's got two amazing guys after her. And yes, I count both the dumb-but-precious Finn and the musical-obsessed Jesse as amazing. I do it because the show told me to, and I'm helpless in the face of its demands.

Things I wrote this week, 3/12 edition

Well, I guess it's clear what I didn't write this week: PopSent posts. Alas. But here's a rundown of things I did write, and a look at things to come.

Lots about food! I had the most amazing food week. I attended the Time Out Chicago 2010 Eat Out Awards with the Gapers Block Drive Thru editor, Robyn. We had a great time, and I wrote about winners the next day.

• Time Out Hosts 2010 Eat Out Awards

The very next day, Drive Thru writer Shanna Quinn met up at the Vosges shop in Lincoln Park for some amazing tequila and chocolate pairings. Yay!!

• Vosges and Corzo Team Up for Tasting

I added some mini-scoops to GB's Merge page as well:

• Garage Mahal Spruces Up MSI's Smart House
• New Vintage on Chicago

Whew! To all that GB stuff, add my finally-posted Greenberg review.

• Greenberg ★★★½

Coming later this week, the big Book 36 review for Sweet Valley Diaries and some news about the River North restaurant, Zealous.

Things I Wrote This Week

In chronological order, and not including other PopSent posts, here's a list of me-on-web for the week of April 5th, 2010:

I've just started writing for the illustrious Chicago blog, Gapers Block! Thanks, John and Andrew. Last week I posted some news stories blurbs and links in the Merge section: this week, I was a little busier. First, I got to check out some new packaging and taste some beers from Arcadia Ales of Battle Creek, MI. I even met the owner, Tim Suprise. And I called him John. But he was cool about it.

• Arcadia Ales Debuts New Packaging, Pours Some Damn Fine Beers

The following day, I posted something I'm really proud of: a sports article. I only really care about one professional sport, and that's basketball (that would be a good question for a "Do-You-Know-Marissa" trivia game). Now, I'll be writing periodically about the Chicago Sky, one of the WNBA's youngest teams. I think of it as a collision of my love for basketball and my feminist politics...you don't have to, though. You can just think of it as sports writing. Thanks, Brian!

• Big Three-Way Trade, Upcoming Draft Kickoff WNBA Season for Chicago

Finally, in movie news, I posted my thoughts on How to Train Your Dragon, which was a pretty decent little film. I didn't like it as much as Mary did, but I'm glad she was with me; later, when I got mad about how the adult Vikings had Scottish accents, she reminded me that Vikings also DIDN'T REALLY FIGHT DRAGONS, so maybe I shouldn't get too hung up on historical accuracy.

• How to Train Your Dragon ★★★½

Pacific Shrimp Taco: I ate it and lived!

This is a follow up to "Taco Bell + Seafood = ?" from 3/10/10

Last week, I realized my daily errands would be taking me past a full-fledged Taco Bell (as oppsed to the lesser "Taco Bell Express" that's a block away from my home). I decided to bite the bullet: it was time to try a "Pacific Shrimp Taco."

When I initially wrote about the addition of seafood to the Bell's menu, I expressed skepticism about its quality and its realness. Well, I've lived to tell the tale, and it's not all bad.

The Pacific Shrimp Taco is like any other taco at Taco bell: kind of small, weird dry tortilla, and a little meat with lettuce, tomato, and sauce. But at the bottom, instead of suspicious-looking ground "beef" or a few pieces of chicken, there are six of the tiniest little shrimps you've ever seen. Not tiny enough, mind you, to qualify as "tiny shrimp," the mini guys you find in a can. Just small, like an inch wide. This makes it especially hilarious that some of the advertisements plastered all over the windows of the Taco Bell boasted "six shrimp, one taco!" It's not a false claim, but not something that really earns you bragging rights, Bell people.

The shrimp itself actually tasted pretty good, with nice seasonings. That said, this was less a "shrimp taco" than a lettuce taco with some shrimpy kick. I'm not sure adding the taco to the menu is really worth the trouble–now every taco bell has to post signs indicating that shellfish are handled on the property.

One last interesting development: on the same day I wagered $2.79 on a Pacific Shrimp Taco, the Chicago Tribune had a cover story about seafood prices being jacked up by vendors. Now, $2.79 isn't a lot of money, but it is over twice as much as other tacos at Taco Bell. In fact, it's more than nearly any other single item on Taco Bell's menu. So, for less than the cost of a piddly shrimp taco, I could get a great big Chicken Burrito. Fishy, indeed.

Final thoughts: the Pacific Shrimp Taco, won't kill you. You won't even hate it. But those are not good reasons to eat something.

American Idol: Yeah, I watch it.

That time of year has arrived. The chaff has been cast off, and only sort-of-okay singers are left. It's time to start watching American Idol.

It's a bittersweet moment, as I both love AI and am unable to shake my embarrassment at that fact. Tonight, the top nine contestants will perform, and they probably won't be that great, and I will eat it up. Tomorrow or the next night, I'll overhear some middle-aged women or gay men discussing the best and worst performances, and I will be both proud and guilty to know what they're talking about. I'll suppress my urge to jump into the conversation only to make my dad listen to me talk about how my favorite contestant (not sure who it is yet...Andrew? Casey? Crystal? Lee?) beat the hell out of a Michael Jackson song.

Come to think of it, I can probably get my dad to watch with me. Last season, the amazing spectacle that was Adam Lambert (and Allison Iraheta's sexy rock voice) made the show impossible to ignore for both of us. And EW reports that, oddly enough, Lambert will be the "mentor" on next week's program. If he can teach these kids some of his moves, maybe things will get exciting enough that I'll feel comfortable wearing my Idol-fan badge in public.

But probably not.