11/29/10

Hello Buddies!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. I give thanks every year that I'm able to live such a blessed and wonderful life surrounded by truly wonderful friends and family. I also give thanks that I'm fortunate enough to live in a country where I can freely write about my favorite movies, songs, and restaurants and share these favorites with the ones I love. So anywhoo...here's the hot joints I give thanks for this week!


Music
Wynter Gordon feat. David Guetta --- Dirty Talk

This song actually came out last year. Most of you have probably never heard of Wynter Gordon. She's an amazing singer who's been featured on songs like Flo Rida's "Sugar" (the song that sampled "Blue" by Eiffel 65). In any case, I believe Ms. Gordon is on the verge of releasing or recording an album of her own, and this track that was released last year features, arguably, one of the hottest mainstream DJs out there right now. Mr. Guetta seems to be everywhere this year, from his own album, to providing the beats to some of Pop's and Hip Hop's biggest club tracks this year. This song is no different. Granted, the lyrics aren't anything special, they're literally just a hot female singer saying random sexually toned words and phrases in a list format...but the beat and the hook are so catchy, it makes little difference. I haven't stopped humming this song since I first heard it. 4/5 Stars

Movies:
Harry Potter The Deathly Hallows Part 1

Now before all you wizards and witches start yelling at me for my critique, let me make it completely clear that I've never read any of the HP books. I've done that purposely because too often in life, I've read a book that was great, and been supremely disappointed by the movie. That is why now, I watch movies first, then read the books afterwards so I'm not disappointed. Having known for many years how awesome the HP books are, I knew that if I started reading them, I'd want to finish the entire series...and I didn't wanna risk ruining the later movies for myself by reading the books first. Thus, I've decided to wait and watch all the movies and then go back to read the books. That being said, I watched the first part of the last movie this past weekend. And I didn't like it. It was long (2.5 hours), it was boring for the most part, and for those of you who watch Naruto and/or Bleach (two popular anime shows), this movie felt like the "filler" equivalent of many episodes of those shows in which nothing happened, and it was simply a placeholder or buildup for the next episode. Now, I have spoken to some people who did read the book, and they admitted the first half of the last book is pretty boring. And in that regard, they also said that the movie mirrored the book almost exactly. So I suppose in that regard, the movie is a success...but from a viewer's point of reference, it didn't do it for me. It did however, leave me hanging and wanting to see the second part of the finale, so I suppose it succeeded in that manner. 3/5 Stars (Not a tremendously horrible movie, just not worth the $11.50...wait for it to come on Netflix or On Demand, then rent it, watch it and get ready for part 2 which should be much better)

Restaurants:
Burapa Thai Classic

So I've now lived in Herndon for over a year. You would've thought I'd been to all the Thai cuisines out here, but this past week, a friend of mine who works in Ashburn took me to Burapa. And holy cow, it blew me away. The menu itself had me intrigued as it has most of my favorite Thai dishes: massamun curry, panang, drunken noodles, pad thai, etc. However, the thing that separates Burapa from all the rest if you can combine your favorites. The restaurant has about 6 or 7 pre-made combos that you can choose for lunch or dinner. And in these combos two of your favorite Thai dishes are served to you in one plate. So I ordered the drunken noodles/Panang and just as I'd hoped, I got a plate with drunken noodles on one side, and rice with panang curry on the other. It was awesome! And at only $8.50 for lunch, it was great. I also had the thai iced tea, with bobas (that's bubble tea to those who don't know), and it was great too! The tapioca bubbles were nice and soft. If I wasn't so stuffed from my meal, I would've tried some appetizers and/or dessert. But now having tasted how wonderful this place is, I'll definitely go back there again sometime. So yeah. 4/5 Stars