Amygdalia's Blog

Date night, a new toy, and a couple of reviews

Saturday evening my hubby and I had our monthly date night.  Our goals for date night are threefold: 1 - have a good time; 2 - reconnect; 3 - stay out until after the kiddos are in bed. 

First stop was an Indian restaurant I hadn’t had the pleasure of visiting before.  If you’ve never had Indian cuisine, and think to yourself “but I don’t like curry” or “but I don’t like spicy food,” I urge you to keep your mind open.  Try a creamy korma http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korma or skip dinner and go straight for dessert with a rich kulfi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kulfi !  Go to a lunch buffet where you can sample several different dishes. 

I love to immerse myself in the culture of different countries.  While I’ve been a fan of Indian cuisine for many years, it’s just within the past year or so that I’ve delved deeper into what the enormous subcontinent has to offer.  Film, music, art and religion – all are intertwined, often with food as a focal point. 

I started one of my little *research projects* (read: spending all afternoon surfing the ‘net, learning about a particular subject) after watching the film Bride and Prejudice (a Bollywood version of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice).  Aishwarya Rai, described by Roger Ebert as “not only the first but also the second most beautiful woman in the world,” is one of the stars of the film.  Her presence is truly magnificent, and her acting is fantastic (particularly considering that Bride and Prejudice is her first fully English language film).  If you happened to watch the Oscars last night, and didn’t run off for a snack or a potty break during the commercials, you might have seen her briefly grace the screen with her presence, in a makeup ad. 

I love the music and dancing in the film, which prompted me to look further into Indian music.  I’m only just starting to discover the different types of Indian music – from classical, to Bollywood, to more modern Punjabi Banghra music.  I even bought a Bollywood dance workout dvd!  It’s a lot of fun, though I’ll admit that I haven’t made it through to the end, yet.  My husband enjoys it too, though I suspect he’s more interested in the instructors than the exercise. 

And thus ends tangent number one . . .

After dinner we had just enough time to buy me a new cellphone.  *giggles*  I’m enjoying playing with it.  My husband discovered a program that allows you to turn any music clip into a ringtone, which can then be sent directly to your phone.  Choosing songs has been a lot of fun.  My husband suggested a particularly charming line from The Who's song Who Are You? for my unknown caller ringtone. 

Then we were off to the movies!  We’d decided to see Music and Lyrics, with Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore.  Hugh Grant plays a former ‘80s pop band member, who is trying to keep his head above water financially.  Drew Barrymore plays the quirky plantsitter whom he co-opts into helping him write a new song.  I think anyone who writes might identify with some of their experience in this story.  And, as someone who grew up during the ‘80s, I got a huge kick out of the music video that started the film!! 

Look at that  . . . I ended up with two little movie reviews in this entry! 


Amygdalia