12/22/10

Happy Holidays everyone! Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, Feliz Navidad, etc. etc. My apologies for not blogging in quite some time. I've been busy, but I'm back in the saddle now. I hope this has not discouraged all of you from living/loving/laughing. Short and sweet, here's your hot picks of the week. Have a wonderful holiday weekend and safe and joyous new year. See you all in 2011!

Music:
Fabolous: You Be Killin Em

I love Fabolous. The man may need a spell check, but his music is flawless. I've always thought his flow was sick, his lyrics were usually meaningful, and something about his voice is just buttery and easy to listen to. So, considering he's been so MIA the past few years, I was intrigued when I heard his new single play on the radio. And literally, about 15 seconds into the song, I already knew this was my new favorite current jam. The beat is ridiculously awesome...like most of Fabolous' songs. His flow is still dabomb. And I've literally been listening to the track on repeat on youtube for like the last 3 days at work. 4.5/5 Stars

Movie:
The Fighter

Ever since I saw the trailer for this movie, I knew it was the kind of movie I'd want to watch. It stars Mark Wahlberg (one of my favorite actors usually...except for The Happening), Christian Bale (in one of his best acting performances ever), and Amy Adams (one of the most underrated actresses in my opinion). For those of you who have not heard of the film, it's a boxing movie about the former champion Micky Ward. The film follows his climb to glory after early stumbles in his career. It documents the struggles he faced in dealing with his family (his mother was his former manager and his crack-addict brother Dicky was his former trainer). All in all, the film has everything...great action, great story, great acting. The film has already been nominated for several Golden Globe awards, including Mark Wahlberg's nomination for Best Actor. Considering all the exciting movies out right now: Tron, Chronicles of Narnia, Black Swan, Tourist, Yogi Bear, etc...the fact that I chose The Fighter over all these films last weekend shows how much I thought of the movie beforehand...and now having watched it, my opinion of the film has only gotten better. I highly recommend watching this movie if you like sports films based on true stories. 4.5/5 Stars

Restaurants:
Ariake

If you've been following this blog and/or my yelp account, you know that I love sushi. I've reviewed many sushi restaurants in my day, and of all of them, my favorite had always been Sweet Ginger in Vienna. But recently, having lived in Herndon for about a year and a half now, I decided to have sushi one night with my roommate and we ventured out to Ariake in Reston. In all fairness, this is the only restaurant I've ever eaten at that I put on the same tier as Sweet Ginger. The fish was fresh and sliced into hearty pieces like at SG. The variety of sushi available was impressive and the taste of the roll combinations were delicious. The restaurant itself is large and decorated beautifully and the wait staff was both friendly and attractive. I tried the sashimi platter in order to get a taste of lots of different types of fish and everything tasted great. I also tried the sea urchin because I hadn't seen many places that offer it. It was strong and intense, like sea urchin usually is, and while the meat itself isn't something I'd probably eat again anytime soon, the dish was well prepared and beautifully constructed. I highly recommend you try Ariake if you're a sushi lover in the Reston/Herndon/Sterling area. 5/5 Stars