Sunshine Cleaning

Movie circa 2008 available on Netflix instant watch.  Two white trash sisters, Amy Adams & Emily Blunt, are broke and broken.  Their mom committed suicide when they were little, one of them has a kid, the other does a lot of small-time drugs and parties, the dad is crazy, and to get by (because the little kid was kicked out of school for licking things) they start cleaning up crime scenes.

I know Netflix has this algorithm that is really good to suggest movies, and while I liked Sunshine Cleaning, they falsely advertised it.  Dark humor & black comedies, indie dramas, indie comedies is what it is listed under, but it is basically just an indie drama.

Some of it is kind of funny.  A chuckle here or there.  Most of it is just normal, which is strange for Hollywood.  Is it worth watching?  Eh, if you have 90 minutes to kill, go for it. All the characters are well played and interesting.

Favorite quote:  "It's a business lie, it's different from a real lie."

Stars:  3.5/5

The Invisible Hand

My friend and I were discussing some things the other night, and one of the subjects was about things we need to do in order to fit in to "polite" society.  For instance, if you are going to be powerful and rich and hob-nob with all the fancy-schmancy people you better not use the words "fancy-schmancy" in a sentence. You probably should also know something about at least one artist from each art period.  Even if you hate art.

One of the ways I fit in with fancy-schmancy people (no, I have not rubbed elbows with very many) is by wearing clothes that don't have stains or holes in them and also by being humble.  And correcting their mistakes.  While being humble but knowledgable.  Or at least that's what I'd do if life were a movie and I got the chance to play that part.

With that being said, here is your random fact for the day:

Adam Smith, the philosopher and economic genius who wrote Theory of Moral Sentiments  and also wrote Wealth of Nations which shaped capitalism and allowed the rise of economic prosperity for all is misquoted all the time in society.  In the latter book, Smith refers to an invisible hand.

People now say "Smith refers to an invisible hand as on that guides market forces to determine price and supply and demand."  But that is simply untrue.

Smith uses the phrase once in each book.  This is the excerpt from Wealth of Nations:
“By directing that industry in such a manner as its produce may be of greatest value, he intends only his own gain, and he is in this, as in many other cases, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention.”5


Now, Smith did this awesome thing and divorced economics from morals, something that we take for granted nowadays.  His view was that we could all act selfishly and with our own best interests in mind, and that the invisible hand would still guide us towards a better common good.  So, the means is not reflected in the ends.

Smith also divorced moral philosophy and God.  If you are interested in ethics explained from a non-religious and non-metaphysical sense, check out Theory of Moral Sentiments.  Or just Google it.  But please, don't listen to Wikipedia!

UPDATE:  Here is a really good article if you're super interested.

Julie & Julia

No, this is not another movie review.  Liz, who is awesome, said "food blogs are big" and since she would know here it goes.  This is the deal with my cooking skills.

I can cook.  Follow a recipe step by step, make sauces, cut vegetables, boil water, melt butter, etc.  It always turns out great and tasty, but quite frankly, going to the grocery store, picking up all the supplies, making sure I have the right number of pans and then cleaning all of those pans goes way over my normal time quota for a meal.

And I get really frustrated when there's more than 12 steps.  (That's why rehab programs don't have 13.)

Instead of following a cookbook, I just throw things together.  Cheap, easy, no more than 2 pans, and no more than $10.  Otherwise I'd just go to the pizza shop and get them to cook for me.  Or Wawa.  Or Cosi....

This is what I made Liz for lunch...we'll call it....uhhhh....

Pasta with Garlic Parmesan Stuff


What you need:
1 frying pan
1 pot that holds as much pasta as you want
Minced garlic (from a jar, don't do mince that stuff yourself)
Misc. spices
Pasta
Extra virgin olive oil
Parmesan

Here's how to make one serving.  Just increase ingredients for more servings.

1. In the pot, boil water.
2. Once boiling, put however much pasta you want in pot, set timer.
3. In the pan, pour some extra virgin olive oil.  How much?  Well, like 5 tablespoons-ish.  Maybe a little more? The great thing about this recipe is you can't mess it up!
4. Turn the pan on med-high heat, let the oil get hot, throw in some diced garlic.  As much or as little as your heart desires.  Use something to move the garlic & oil around so it doesn't burn to the bottom of the pan.
5. Don't forget to stir the pasta.
6. Add a little basil, oregano, pepper, and parsley to the oil & garlic.  Yes, or just use italian seasoning.
7. The water is reboiling and you've got like 3 minutes til the pasta's done right?  Oil is nice and hot and garlic is sizzling?  Turn the heat down to med-low.
8. Add some parmesan.  Stop asking how much, add as much as you think looks good.  Move it all around.  Keep it on med-low.
9. Drain pasta, dump the frying pan contents onto the pasta.
10. Clean your dishes.

If you have the means, add chicken or beef to the oil mixture and let it brown.  Sooo good.

As for Julia & Julie (or whatever) the movie was cute, but Julie is kind of a bitch.  And who has that much time to cook or find rare ingredients?  But Julia, bless her heart.

Paper Moon

There's this movie on Netflix Instant Watch called Paper Moon.  You should definitely invest the 102 minutes to watch it.

Now, most of you (yea, you 3 people reading my blog), will be like "ohhhhh I LOVE Paper Moon, why did it take so long for you to discover it?"  Well, see, I have a slight problem.  I grew up in a household where 1920-1950 was the ruling media age.  No Simpsons, no Rugrats, no to a lot of things.  Never watched Star Wars or The Breakfast Club.  I know, I KNOW.  What a sin against humanity!  Well I have seen The Thin Man, Casablanca, And Then There Were None, Arsenic and Old Lace, My Man Godfrey, The Maltese Falcon, The General, and every other influential movie up to 1960.  So chill.  I have the same amount of knowledge, just in a different era.

Now in case you haven't seen it, Paper Moon came out in the 1970s, hence why I haven't seen it.  It's a great take on the Depression era and strays away from the traditional "everyone was nice, Mama was great, Paw was an upstanding gentleman, and there was no such thing as whores or bootleggers."  There's this con-man, Moses (Ryan O'Neal) and a little girl/boy Addy (Tatum O'Neal).  Her mom dies and he gets stuck traveling with her cross-states to take her to her only kin.  Because its the Great Depression and he has a car.  And ain't no one else payin' to send some whores kid away.

The thing is, he owes her $200.  And until he gets it back, he's stuck with her.  The black-and-white film and filming techniques do a great job convincing you the characters' are really stuck in that era.  The depiction of the Great Depression's poverty is so raw and real it is almost unsettling, but the plot is sweet.  It is a weird mix that I really appreciated and thought worked well.

And the ending.  Well let's just say it is perfect.  Not overally sad, not overally happy, it just is what it is. So refreshing.

4.8 out of 5 stars.  Watch it!