12/16/09

Hey peoples,

Hopefully as the inclement weather and temperatures of DC winter start to creep in, you aren't too discouraged from going out to eat, watch movies, and buy music. OK, I put that last one in there just for the purpose of being complete...no one actually goes out to stores to buy music anymore unless you really really want a CD. Everything is electronic nowadays...but you get my point. Here's the hot picks of the week:

Music:
Chris Brown feat. Eva Simons --- Pass Out

So, like I said last week, the new trend is to blend or mash-up hip hop/r&b with electronic music. Chris Breezy's new album is a good new blend of lots of music. Most of it is more clubbish than his hip-hop tracks historically. This track is a prime example of that. It samples the song "Call on Me" by Eric Prydz...which in turn sampled the song originally from the song "Valerie" by Steve Winwood. Irregardless of who is responsible, this electronic beat with an 80s groove to it is great, and Brown is able to put his vocal talents and dance-ish attitude to yet another hit single. Despite his problems and scandals within his personal life, it's clear it hasn't affected his music. 4/5 Nicky Long Stars.

Movies:
The Blindside

It's not exactly a new movie, in fact it's been out for a little while. But I just saw this movie this week, and it's great. For those of you who don't know, the movie is about the life of professional football player Michael Oher of the Baltimore Ravens and takes place during his high school years and stars Sandra Bullock as Michael's adopted mom. The story of Michael is he was born to a crack addict mom and taken away from her at a young age by the state child custody services. He bounced around from foster home to foster home and from school to school. Eventually, a man he is staying with, tries to get him into a Christian Private school along with the man's son. It is at this school that Michael meets Sandra Bullock's character, whom along with her husband, takes Michael into her home and gives him food, clothes, bed, etc. Over time, this relationship turns into an adopted family for Michael. And over time, Michael's skills as a football player in high school earn him a chance to go to college to play football and eventually the NFL as well. It's a great movie based on a true story, and might be one of Sandra Bullock's best movies. 4/5 Nicky Long Stars

Restaurants:
Aditi

Recently, a new restaurant opened in the Kingstowne Towne Center shopping center (where the Kingstowne 16 Cinemas is located). Directly across from the movie theatre is Aditi, an Indian restaurant. Now, having eaten my fair share of Indian restaurants, I think I am fairly educated on the difference between good and great Indian food. Aditi is GREAT. In terms of quality, the food is probably the best I've had...ranking on the same level as Jaipur in Fairfax (another Indian restaurant formerly recommended by this blog). The atmosphere in the restaurant was great as well. And the wait staff could not have been friendlier or more attentive. Overall, it was a great dining experience. Those of you familiar with traditional Indian cuisine will enjoy the authentic made from scratch samosas, the creamy large portioned saag paneer, and the large and tasty thali (thal to those of you famiiliar with Jaipur. Basically a large plate with 5 or 6 different samples of Indian entree cuisines with rice and bread---naan to enjoy. Available in either meat or vegetarian). 5/5 Nicky Long Stars.