s08e04

I watched episode 4 of the current season of "Entourage" a second time around and realized I hadn't checked in on S&G with my thoughts... I might've missed out on posting on ep. 3 as well. Anyway, without further ado...

I thought/think ep-4 was fantastic!! I found out today that Jerry Ferrara a.k.a. "Turtle" wrote the episode along with creator/producer/writer Doug Ellin. I love that! Kevin Connelly a.k.a. "E" directs episodes and Turtle writes them... I love HBO. Such a collaborative broadcast community. It's not TV, you know...

Anyway, I thought the ep brought things back to where they used to be. The essence of the show has always been the 4 friends, and though their group has grown, it's back to that sense of friendship, loyalty, etc. I love that!

Only 4 more episodes left. 1/2-way done. Say it ain't so...

Try not to cry.

Thank you to my bestie R. for this delicious recording. It's a good one to fall asleep to, or cry on the couch to. Either way, it's stunning. If you listen to it with me, please ask me to explain a particular phrase that makes me weak in the heart.



Beautiful.

Speak to it, Miss Paula

Blue skies are coming.

Happy 302nd post, Sugar & Gravy!!!

In other news, this is my anthem for the week:



Enjoy!

rc-3: A new book in my top 5

In case you forgot... Sugar & Gravy's Reading Challenge #3 a.k.a. rc-3 is to read 20 books in the year 2011. I am now 7.5 months into the year and as of 15 minutes ago have read 12 books. With 8 books to go and 4 months to read them, I'd say I'm doing just fine!

Book #12 was The Help by Kathryn Stockett. At least on my mini-feed, this book has been receiving a lot of attention. 4/6 of my family members have read it, a few friends have, too, or are in the process of reading it right now... it's a popular book! On top of that, the movie's coming out super soon... or did it come out yesterday? I can't remember. Anyway, it's coming out soon.

It seems a hot topic is how the movie is going to be. Is it going to do the book justice? Will it turn the novel into another "white lady saves the po' black women" movie? Will the masses, with their infinite lack of wisdom, take the wrong message from the movie when the book's message was so powerful?

I have no idea.

Here's what I do know: the novel was beyond fantastic!!! It was one of the best works of fiction I've ever read. I look back (see below) at the list of books I've read so far this year, and The Help beats them all by far (and they were all great)! I think it's right up there in my top 5 along with She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb. It's not just because there's an important message. It's not just because the writing is so nuanced. It's because it's a fantastic story! It's because the characters are so wonderful, and wonderfully flawed, and real, and endearing. I just... loved it!!!

So, rc-3 -- it's going well! On to the next one!

1. Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
2. The Girls by Lori Lansens
3. Live from New York by Tom Shales & James Andrew Miller
4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
5. The Divinity Gene by Matthew J. Trafford
6. 38 Witnesses: The Kitty Genovese Case by A.M. Rosenthal
7. I Met the Walrus by Jerry Levitan
8. Saturday by Ian McEwan
9. Bossypants by Tina Fey
10. Animal Farm by George Orwell
11. No Great Mischief by Alistair MacLeod
12. The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Anyway, I should get back to watching "Jersey Shore". Finishing The Help and then watching "the Shore" seems so wrong... oh well! Pump your fists!!!

Tompkins

I can't remember if I've ever blogged about Mike Tompkins, so I will now.



I love Mike Tompkins! I believe he was originally recommended to me by sister-of-GF, and I will be forever grateful. I think he's so talented and creative and charming, and I love the covers. He's also Canadian. Go Mike!

Great Weekend / Discovering T.O. #3

Another lovely weekend in Sugar & Gravy land... would you care to hear about it?

Friday:

• Enjoyed some awesome delivery sushi from Sushi Supreme! I got the Sushi Bronze meal. YUM!!!
• Went for a long overdue visit to the Village and grabbed some casual drinks with friends at the Churchmouse and Firkin. Got some nachos w/ spicy beef + calamari, too. Zero complaints.

Saturday:

• Went grocery shopping and then made vegetable, guac, and salsa-filled tortillas with GF. So delicious!!!
• We enjoyed the tortillas while finishing up GF's first viewing of my favourite television series ever: Six Feet Under. It's taken her 2 years to finish it, but she really powered through at the end and, if nothing else, her uncontrollable sobs told me that she was moved by the ending. I cried, too. This show never ceases to move me.
• After an afternoon of food & SFU, we headed to an area in Toronto that I can't say I've spent much time in, if any: Jane & Sheppard. A good friend of mine spent a year in Ghana not too long ago, and has been searching the city of Toronto for some authentic Ghanaian food ever since. GF & I accompanied her and some other friends to a restaurant that you might miss if you weren't planning to head there: Panafest Sport Bar & Restaurant. I've never had Ghanaian food before, so I can't testify to its authenticity, but I can tell you that I've still never met a food that I didn't enjoy. I ordered the fufu - a big bowl of really hot & spicy soup with a big ball of fufu in the middle. Fufu - from what I've been told - is boiled starchy vegetables and plantains, pounded with a mortar and pestle. To me it was kind of a combination of mashed potatoes and dough. The important thing was that it was good!!! The custom is to eat with your hand, so even though I was offered a spoon, I wanted to eat in the real way! More than just eating with your hand, you want to eat with your right hand - definitely not your left. So that's what I did! You basically reach into the bowl, tear off part of the fufu, and kind of use it as a spoon, dipping it into the soup and popping it in your mouth. It was really amazing!!! What I wasn't able to eat there, I brought home, and it was pretty good the next day, too! A fun and interesting experience, and another food I enjoy!

Sunday:

• Met up with my bestie John at Osgoode station, and took the streetcar west to Ryerson Ave. to see a musical at Theatre Passe Muraille. What musical, you ask? We saw Long Dark Night, my friend Mark Shyzer's musical comedy satire of the film noir genre. Ambitious, I know, but as usual Shyzer delivered with a cleverly written, hilariously exaggerated, and just plain funny musical! I'm so glad I got a chance to see it!
• From there we hurried off to lunch (I was so hungry) at Fresh on Spadina. We started with spring rolls and then both had the Beach Bowl. So delicious! I was full after, but not bloated, just full of delicious, healthy, fresh food.
• Then we lazily made our way down Queen St. back to University. We stopped in lots of stores, including H&M, Urban Outfitters, and Black Market. I got two dresses at H&M and a new pair of shoes at UO.

So - as you can see, it was a FABULOUS weekend!!! Enjoyed more Toronto delights, got out and about, and spent time with people I love.