I read a review of Pirates a little earlier that really annoyed me. Why is it such a popular idea to find something about the latest box office hit to bash? This particular reviewer had the gall to comment on the lack of story….ladies and gents, I’m here to say that while I was sitting there in the theater all I could think about was how great it was that there was so much going on in the story that it was hard to even keep up with just exactly what was going on! It was done in a great way though so that you weren’t really lost, just a little fuzzy on the who’s and what’s.
He also complained that the last one wasn’t really a cliffhanger because we all knew Jack would be back. Umm….duh? For me, that wasn’t the cliffhanger aspect. Of course they’re going to get Jack, we all know this, but OMG, what’s World’s End like? How are they gonna get there? Will they be able to bring him back?! You weren’t meant to be in suspense over whether or not Jack would be back…
I can’t take it anymore. I’m bursting to talk about it, so I’m posting spoilers behind the fake cut. PLEASE, do NOT read this if you haven’t seen the movie. Not only will I be furious with you, but you will absolutely ruin the entire movie for yourself as you’ll kill every ounce of suspense for a movie that thrives on exactly that.
Kids aren’t the only finicky eaters. By PsychologyToday.com
Bob Krause kicks off each day with waffles and a glass of milk, preferably chocolate. Lunch is a package of Lance Toasty Crackers, and dinner is usually a grilled cheese sandwich (sans what he calls “the evil pickle”). Krause is not a balky toddler, but a 59-year-old Virginia Beach business owner. “I have a very keen sense of smell and taste and I have a hair-trigger gag reflex,” he says. In other words, he’s a picky eater.
It’s not known how many severely picky adult eaters are out there. For one thing, food preferences run on a continuum and an official cut-off has not been established. Nor is the condition a recognized eating disorder, says Marcia Pelchat, research scientist at The Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia.
Pelchat has found that certain textures are an even bigger turn-off than tastes for many picky eaters. Take the tomato: “It has numerous offensive textural problems; the skin is slippery, the flesh is grainy and slimy, and the seeds are a big discontinuity,” she says. Others cringe at “inclusions,” such as nuts or raisins embedded in muffins—even if they enjoy eating such snacks in their pure form.
The adult picky eater was almost always a choosy child, Pelchat’s research shows. Parents excessively concerned with food—whether positively or negatively—are more likely to have picky eaters, she says. And those who harshly punish non-plate-cleaning children, or, at the other extreme, cater to the child by fixing them exactly what they request, exacerbate the situation.
Finicky eaters tend to score higher on OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder) screenings, and Pelchat says that some may benefit from treatment such as anti-depressants. While picky kids are often underweight, those who continue the pattern into adulthood have higher-than-average body mass indexes, since the foods that they do tend to enjoy are calorically dense. Pelchat’s experimental subjects rated sweet solutions as sweeter and bitter solutions bitterer than did controls, which suggests a possible physiological root to the condition. But no anatomical differences in the groups’ taste buds were found.
Though most picky eaters manage to get the nutrients they need, their habits cause dramatic social consequences. “Imagine if you lived in a world where at every occasion, every wedding, every restaurant, people served raw liver. That’s how it is for us,” Krause says. While happily married now, Krause blames the dissolution of his first two marriages at least partly on his eating habits. Back when he was dating his first wife, her parents took them out to a fancy Italian restaurant. “I ordered a grilled cheese sandwich,” he says. “Her father went ballistic.”
Pelchat suspects that picky eaters can broaden their palate, if they are highly motivated, by gradually trying and getting used to new foods. But this desensitization technique has only been tested with foods perceived as slightly negative. It’s not clear what the method could achieve with foods that are wholly unappealing.
Krause is even more skeptical: Three years ago he started the Web site pickyeatingadults.com, to find and reach out to gustatory kindred spirits. “I’ve heard from hundreds of picky eaters, only one of whom claims to have been cured. I know that I could eat certain things every day until I die and would never like them.” While Krause says he and his fellow picky eaters don’t like being the way they are, he thinks the condition has shaped his outlook positively in one way: “My food preferences are so out of my control that in areas where I do have control, I’m very driven. I don’t think I would have been able to build a successful business otherwise.”
I’m a picky eater. About as picky as they come, so this was really interesting to me. I never realized that most picky eaters share my insane sense of smell. Back when I was in High School, my dad would have to come wake me up in the morning before putting on aftershave because waking up to the strong smell literally made me gag! In fact, smells and certain textures (along with my own imagination) are really the only things that trigger my gag reflex. Mostly smells, but if I think about it too much, anything overly greasy sets me off. I have to make it a point not to think about it, or I’ll go off and then not be able to eat for a while.
There are tons of things out there that I don’t mind the taste of, but I avoid because of the texture. Most fruits fit into this category. Thinks like oranges and watermelon taste fine to me, but their squishiness is full of veins that just don’t fit with the rest of the texture. They’re not extraordinary flavors so I don’t care to eat them. The flavor just isn’t good enough to ignore the nasty texture. Same with strawberries. I love anything strawberry flavored, but strawberries are a big no.
But here’s where I differ–I was a picky eater as a child, yes, but I was still made to eat things I didn’t like, so it definitely had nothing to do with my parents giving in to my picky tastes. Of course, my mom made sure meals usually included something I liked because well, that’s a mom for you, but I was still made to scarf down squash (even though it literally makes me gag) and other yuckiness.
I also can’t agree with it causing severe social problems. Any personal tastes are only as hindering as you make them. At most, I’ve had problems eating foods other people have cooked, but I’ve gotten by on ‘not being hungry’ when I can, or simply making it known that I’m a really picky eater! It’s really not that big a deal if you just make it known rather than trying to pretend. As in this guy’s case earlier where he ordered a grilled cheese at a fancy restaurant–well, there were obviously other issues there if that family couldn’t be expected to be understanding of his issue–in that case I’d have simply made something up about not feeling well and not feeling safe to eat any of the more complicated things on the menu for fear I’d end up wasting it. It’s really all in perspective and how you choose to handle things…ya know?
…unless I get this 2CD Police set Universal Music Group is releasing! 100 lucky posties will find themselves with an amazing addition to their music collection; here’s hoping I’m one of them!
It shouldn’t be new to anyone who knows me to hear of my obsession with Sting. Without a doubt he’s my absolute favorite lyricist of all time. Let’s not forget what a freakishly interesting life he’s lead. Oh, you don’t know anything about that, do you? Guess you need to pick up his memoirs! Broken Music was amazing. I couldn’t put it down. It’s one of the few books I’ve read twice. When I was only a year old, one of my favorite songs, I Burn For You was released. Really though, you don’t get much more sensual than that.
When I was in seventh grade, somebody was jaw-jacking about Puff Daddy and someone laughed at him and told him he didn’t even write any original songs, all he ever did was cover other songs. He rebutted (or tried to) that ‘I’ll be missin’ you’ was a Diddy original–well, that’s where I came in. He didn’t even have the sentence completed before I stood up and said, “Ohhhh hold on just a minute! That’s NOT his song, that’s a POLICE song that was written and popular before he was even out of freakin High School!” I got an extra 100 in class that day for that, and another one when my teacher tried to challenge me on what the song was about. He never thought I’d know it was a stalker song!
Similarly, on my first day in class last fall, I had on a Police shirt and my teacher stopped me on the way out to challenge me to name someone in the band other than Sting, “Andy Summers, Stewart Copeland, and Sting’s real name is Gordon Sumner, any other questions?” That was fun. He stumbled over whatever he said after that…
I was elated when I found out The Police were doing a big tour, and lamented when I realized I wouldn’t be able to see them. So that only leaves me with my music. Now that this new police cd is being released, I have to have it. This is an amazing collection! Just look!
Disc: 1
1. Fallout
2. Can’t Stand Losing You
3. Next to You
4. Roxanne
5. Truth Hits Everybody
6. Hole in My Life
7. So Lonely
8. Message in a Bottle
9. Reggatta de Blanc
10. Bring on the Night
11. Walking on the Moon
12. Don’t Stand So Close to Me
13. Driven to Tears
14. Canary in a Coalmine
Disc: 2
1. Do Do Do de da da Da
2. Voices Inside My Head
3. Invisible Sun
4. Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
5. Spirits in the Material World
6. Demolition Man
7. Every Breath You Take
8. Synchronicity I
9. Wrapped Around Your Finger
10. Walking in Your Footsteps
11. Synchronicity II
12. King of Pain
13. Murder by Numbers
14. Tea in the Sahara
AND this police cd comes with a vintage 1979 concert poster. I’m practically drooling over the thing. I just started putting up my posters here in the apartment and got really upset when I found my Police poster was missing! I don’t know where it could be!
I have to throw this out there too, as it’s definitely counted in one of my proudest moments. My ex prided himself on being more into Sting and The Police than me. He had a fuller collection, and was way more knowledgeable about it all. One evening driving home from work, Dire Straits “Money for Nothing” came on the radio, and OMG, I recognized Sting’s voice doing the background vocals. I said something to Ben and he said he could see where I would think that, but it wasn’t him. Guess who was wrong! Finally, I knew something he didn’t! I’d recognize that man’s voice anywhere.
I’m getting a little unhappy again, thinking about missing this tour, every time I hit up ticketmaster for my summer concert plans, I click to check for tickets I can afford. Of course nothing’s changed, but hopefully PPP will ease the pain a little by sending me a copy of the police cd, if not, I’ll just go buy my own copy on June 5th when it officially releases! My iPod is digitally drooling over this little gem already!! I’ll send an S.O.S to the world….it’ll say, “Give me The Police, or give me squash!!” (Squash makes me gag….)
Okay, not really brand new, but about as brand new as I’ll ever get! I talked to my dad today and on Monday I’m gonna drive to Douglas to trade cars! I’m so excited! And in case you’re totally lost, here’s the story:
My dad basically got a car for his ex fiance. The car is in his name still, and she hasn’t been able to keep up the payments. Daddy’s darling daughter has had the same car since she started driving. My ‘95 Camry has been a good car, but at almost 200,000 miles, it’s just not gonna make it forever. Dad and I spoke about it a while back and we’d both feel more comfortable with me having something newer, something less likely to just randomly have some major failure with him too far away to just come and fix it. The car is still in great condition, but it’s to the point that if something major gives out, it’s just not gonna be worth it to fix it. Not only that, but I’ve had the same car since I turned 16. That’s a total rarity in Douglas. Most of those idiots wreck their cars within the first year and have to get a new one. I’ve stuck with mine. Even when I had the option to give it up and get something different, I kept my car. I’ve been loyal, and now it’s time to part.
So on Monday, I’m giving up my gold, 1995 Toyota Camry, for a red, 2005 Toyota Corolla. It’s a total step up. Corollas are even better on gas than Camrys, and damn if this isn’t a great time to get better gas mileage!
I’m such a sucker for decorative things. I have to be really careful because I have such an eclectic taste that I often find myself buying things that don’t match anything I already have. Back in the house I had some amazing blinds just like these:
Only, a tad lighter. Ryan won’t let me change out all the blinds we have here in the apartment, but you can bet as soon as we’re out of here, I’m getting lots of pretty window dressings! I’m quite partial to Roman blinds myself. They just look very “now” and I love that. A lot of blinds look awkward when they’re rolled up, but Roman blinds look like nice little valences hanging at the top of your window! I’m truly in love with wooden Roman blinds, bamboo are my absolute favorites. I searched high and low to get a good deal on the last ones I got because it’s just so hard to find quality ones for a decent price. And having a cat, and living in pollen capital, it’s crucial to have something that can be cleaned so easily.
Know what makes it so great? Those are my people. Those are the people I go to class with, the people I play with, hell, the people I live with. Fun, huh?
I’m basically in awe, and like, no one else I know went to see Pirates tonight and I can’t bring myself to do a spoilers cut ’cause I know how tempting that’d be for people to read. So I’ll just say a few vague things. My peanut. Multiple personalities. And holy hell how did they manage to make Will Turner EVEN HOTTER. By the end of the move he was totally channeling Cary Elwes ala Dread Pirate Roberts (Princess Bride) and doing it much better. Damn.
And OMG! I had to contain myself during the previews because I was alone and had no one to exclaim my deep dorky happiness! They’re making one of my favorite book series into a movie!!! The ‘His Dark Materials’ series by Phillip Pullman consisting of The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass….well, I can only hope they’ll all be done as they’re doing the Golden Compass. I’m ridiculously excited and a bit apprehensive all at once because well, they’re very fantasy-intensive and it’s hard to top what one’s imagination can come up with in reading under the constraints of just what you can manage in 2 hours of film. I want to look into it a little more and check out some of the other things the directors and such have done. Of course this also gives me an excuse to make myself read the books a third time (note, I very rarely read books more than once….) Do yourself a favor and look them up!
I’ve got my ticket for Pirates tonight! Wooooooooo
The 8 and 9:30 shows were already sold out when I got there at 4 and the box office had only just opened at 3:30. So I’m going at 8:30 and I couldn’t be more excited =)
I finally started reading the Harry Potter books over the weekend. I finished the third one last night so I’ll do a review of the first three a little later, I’ve barely started the 4th and I’m already too preoccupied with it to do much else but read.
I really just don’t feel good today. Everything feels off. I had nothing but ridiculous nightmares throughout the night. Even the funny Best Buy dream I had turned out to be nightmarish. My eyes have been going crazy, which I’m assuming is what’s causing the headaches, so I took out my lenses and I’m wearing my glasses, which aren’t exactly the correct prescription. Of course my tummy feels wobbly. I just want to go back to sleep. Maybe lie in bed and read all day–headache be damned. *sigh* I hate work.
I think I need to start looking for a new job again. It got bearable for a little while (mind you, still ridiculous, but bearable) but now it’s gone to crap again. I don’t even feel relieved when the good one works. Not because my opinion has changed about them, but everyone else is so backwards it just doesn’t matter.
Unless someone has a new job for me right now, I should probably go get ready…
Except that wouldn’t be a very good blog post, now would it. *Happy Scream* To say I’m effing stoked is really an understatement.
I’m off work next Thursday and Friday so I’m going to the very first possible showing here in Valdosta. I’ll go out of town if I have to, but I don’t think that’s going to be necessary. For me, this is the most anticipated movie to date. I don’t even know what else to say!!
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