Monday, March 25 – Sunday, March 31
The Week in Opening Day: As always, Opening Day in Cincinnati is a special day. After a brief pre-parade shower, the weather cleared up, the temperature rose, the the Red Legs brought home an Opening Day win against the Pirates. It seemed many bars/restaurants were open early with special menus for for the first time of Opening Day. They were busy. I started with a breakfast burrito at the Nation and ended with a game day burger at the Pony. I hit the Findlay Market parade and Arnold’s. I didn’t have a ticket to the game, and with the good weather, scalp tickets were pricey. Still, what a great day to be in Cincinnati.
The Week in Reds History: The 2019 season is the 150th for the Cincinnati Reds and the 100th Opening Day Parade. I’ve been a fan my whole life which is a small chunk of that history. As an adult, I try to “suit up” appropriately. I bought my red “Reds” shoes for 3 bucks at a Big Lots easily 20 years ago. Every Opening Day I dig them out fully expecting that they had disintegrated over the long winter. They keep holding on and will be walking me to the Parade to several 2019 games of the World Champions Cincinnati Reds!
The Week in Horror: I’m not a big fan of horror movies. They go against my basic life rule that everyone should be nice to one another. However, if Jordan Peele is going to make horror movies and he’s going to cast Lupito Nyongo’o in the lead, I’m going to have to take a look. Us is a very good, very detail-oriented, well-made horror think piece. My problem is that to get to the beginning of Us, I had to sit (squirm) through 15 minutes of horror movie trailers. I almost didn’t make it though the Ma trailer. Thank goodness they snuck in an Avengers trailer. I’ve never been so happy to see Captain American in my whole life.
The Week in Way Less Popular Movies: The Columbian film Birds of Passage Bloody played at the Esquire this week. It’s a traditional family-based drug trafficking arc from the humble beginnings to the extravagant heights to the double-crossing downfall. This is a bloody film, but not overly graphic. During murders, the camera stays on the killers’ face as opposed to showing the being-killed person. Mediocre acting. Decent music. Derivative directing.
The Week in Meatball Soup: Winter temperatures found their way back after several spring like days. I don’t ask why…I ask what can I cook? Using some beef broth I made during the polar vortex (i.e. – Real Winter) my answer was meatball soup – based on the recipe Italian Meatball Soup by the Pioneer Woman. I mis-judged how greasy the final product would be (it’s hinted at in the recipe by the lack of “draining” off any of the fat used to brown the meatballs). But it smells delicious, and with just a pinch more seasoning than the original recipe, it’s a hearty late winter winner.
The Week in Viva La Kindle: At dinner the other night, I started sipping on my Margarita and pulled out my kindle to read John Irving’s Hotel New Hampshire, a book I’ve been meaning to read for some time. Turns out, even though the title I clicked on was written in English, everything else about the download was Italian. I laughed. I turned off my kindle and, thankfully, had a great conversation with the lady who sat down next to me.
Nothing Ever Happens on My Street 