OK, I've been pretty lame this past week: no, elliptical, no diet, no socializing, heavy on the booze--THE USUAL! I even downloaded some Amy Winehouse (but she is good!)...I ask you, have I hit rock bottom?! Old habits do die hard as the saying goes; and looks like I pulled the stake out of this one's heart and put a band-aid on it. Oh well, TOMORROW IS A NEW DAY...
Last Thursday I went to nearby Champaign-Urbana to the campus of the U of I. There I visited the Spurlock Museum. I'd never been before, and as it turns out it's a pretty cool collection of world culture artifacts, with particular emphasis on the Mediterranean, Asia, Africa, Native American (both Northern and Southern continents) and European civilizations. While overall the collection was quite interesting, I was disappointed in the dearth of display placards. "What's this?"...God only knows! If you're interested here's a locally produced (and somewhat cheesy) video segment on the museum:
The highlight for me was the Mediterranean collection, since it included direct casts of a host or original Greek and Roman sculptural masterpieces. I was amazed at how big some of these sculptures were, having only seen them in books or in slides or maybe video. The cast friezes from the Parthenon were nothing short of spectacular. It was disheartening to learn that a number of these casts were all that remained of some reliefs that were further damaged by the Turks in 1795 or more contemporaneously by the nasty ol' acid rains from our more industrialized era. As it turns out, the U of I is one of the few institutions of higher learning that did not discard their cast collection, since that academic tradition has lost favor. Here at the Spurlock they were put to wonderful use, and displayed very dramatically. Pictured below are some of the things I had the pleasure of seeing:
...OK, I'm hoping that didn't put too many of you to sleep. I finished my afternoon off in C-U by visiting my favorite Hong Kong/Chinese eatery, the Mandarin Restaurant. I really only go there for one dish: Crispy Tofu. Unfortunately I've been unable to find it anywhere else. When I first had it several years back I was amazed at just how tasty a tofu focused dish could be. The tofu was flash fried to give it an extra crispy outer crust. It was then tossed with a lightly sweet sauce and finally sprinkled with a generous helping of shaved scallions and cilantro...HEAVEN, I tell you!!! I washed it down with a delicious frozen mango smoothie/"bubble tea"...Über yummmy!!! I love the bubbles (purple pearls of tapioca)--so chewy; kind of like gummy bears. As I departed, I saw advertisement in their front window indicating that they also specialize in Hong Kong style dim sum...I'll have to run over and give it a whirl for a Saturday or Sunday morning brunch!
So..."What the Buck?" I came across Buck Hollywood's YouTube show just this weekend...My oh my, but how entertaining, funny, and cute can one guy be?! So, needless to say I have a subscription ("I have to have it!"). For those interested here are my top 5 fav's so far:
NOT SEXY!
Ellen Hates Dogs! Loves Her P*ssy!
MOST HOTTEST SMARTEST!
Gimme My Underwear Back!
NAKED VLOG TAG
And last but maybe least...KELLY!!! Thanks to Buck I was introduced to this "viral video sensation" that I was previously oblivious to...OK, so I've been living under a rock--sue me!!! I must admit though he/she (a.k.a. Liam Sullivan) is quite funny in a Kids in the Hall meets VH-1 sort of way...Had me LOL more than a few times. Again, for those interested here are five personal fav's:
Let Me Borrow That Top ("Why don't you extrapolate!")
Shoes ("I'm gonna betch-slap you shetbag!")
No Booty Calls ("Go back to first grade and get yourself a Blues Clue...")
Kelly's Hollywood Meeting ("Introducing Honey Nut Shetbags!!!")
