This is going to be a busy weekend. Friday and Saturday feature can’t-miss events, and it’s part of what has me geeked out this week:
• I can’t wait for tonight’s performance of Ensemble Galilei — I haven’t been this excited about a story in some time.
I’ve always had my head in the stars — at one time I wanted to be an astronaut. My wonder and passion for the stars increased tenfold when the Hubble Space Telescope started beaming back its incredible images.
The combination of those images with Celtic music and interesting stories looks incredibly compelling.
• The Taste of Home Cooking School, sponsored by The Joplin Globe, looks interesting to me mainly for the 150 vendors. I’m looking for grilling ideas — I can’t say I’m much of a baker.
The vendors will be available at noon Saturday at the Holiday Inn Convention Center. Danielle Edmonds starts her presentation at 3 p.m.
• Speaking of grilling, I found out that too much balsamic can be a bad thing. I almost ruined some tri tips I found on sale.
• Hurleycon, Joplin’s annual comic book convention, is also Saturday. Jason and Nathan Hurley, who recently opened up Hurley’s Heroes, organized the convention to help give them capital for their comic book store, but they aren’t forgetting about the convention. It’ll be good to catch up with some old friends and hopefully score some of those graphic novel adaptations of “Firefly” that picked up where the TV show left off.
• On my blog, I wrote about a musical quandary I faced, but it worked out better than expected.
“God of War 3” releases on March 16. The regular game is about $60, but a $100 “Ultimate Edition” comes with a bunch of extras, including a six-song EP featuring original songs by two of my favorite bands, Dream Theater and Opeth.
Originally, I was steeling myself to basically pay $40 for two songs. However, I found an online presale of the EP on Shockhound.com, and scored all six songs for $2.
About those songs: Dream Theater’s “Raw Dog” is a blistering instrumental and Opeth’s “The Throat of Winter” is a haunting acoustic ballad. They wouldn’t have been worth $40, but they are great songs. “My Obsession” by Killswitch Engage is a solid track, as well.
• Even though I haven’t seen it yet, I’m rooting for “District 9” to win Best Picture at Sunday’s Oscars. I’d also be thrilled if “Up” won. But there’s no way either one will actually win the trophy. Book it and lock it.
n My walls are going to look SWEET. TLP (The Lovely Paula Hadsall) ordered several copies of the New Orleans Times-Picayune covering the Saints and the Super Bowl. The paper from the Monday after the Super Bowl features the headline “AMEN!” We have the frames, so we’ll probably get them mounted and hung this weekend.
• TLP and I are now big fans of Gusano’s, the new pizza joint at Seventh and Duquesne.
First off, the place is non-smoking. It was packed when we went, so those who suggest that a non-smoking bar can’t work are in for some disappointment. There are tons of TVs inside and a great selection of draught beers, so I can see us returning many times during NFL season.
The pizza itself — I’m not sure how authentic its Chicago-style pizza is, but if it’s wrong, I don’t want it to be right. I loved how the cheese of our Carnivore Craze pizza was at the bottom, directly on top of the crust, with the rest of the toppings above. It helped the crust stay solid enough to hold the pie throughout.
• As for “Lost”: I’ll repeat what Scott Meeker said: Sayid kicks A. But here’s my theory: Jacob wasn’t the one in the cabin. It was the evil guy. I think the Smoke Monster was running wild and free until Not-Locke could possess it.
