Re-watch, laughing makes you feel better

I've enjoyed many films over the years (and watched many stinkers too), but I find that few movies merit multiple viewings, and I usually choose comedies or sci fi if I want to re-watch something on a Sunday afternoon while I cook. I have a tiny stack of movies reserved for this purpose, comedies that I return to because I know they will make me feel happy.

Why do I laugh again and again at these comedic moments when I've already seen them several times, know they're coming, and how they will play out? Now that I examine this reaction, I only laugh out loud when I'm watching the film with someone else, but when I re-watch by myself, such as in the kitchen while cooking, I still smile often and feel a general happiness glow build during the film. That's a good enough reason to re-watch, getting a jolt of joy.

I think I return to these particular movies after being disappointed in so many comedies over the past decade. I know that the jokes, gags, prat falls, exaggerations, satires, parodies in this stable of flicks consistently appeal to my particular sense of humour. Although some people claim that attempts at humour often fail without the element of surprise, for my viewing pleasure the knowledge that the comedy fits me overrides any need for surprise. And I choose this certainty of pleasure every time over the doubt that a new film will entertain, the [very high] chance of disappointment in a new film is not worth the risk.

Here are some of my favourites to watch multiple times; the humour in these films never fails to lighten my day:

Evolution (2001), dir. Ivan Reitman, starring David Duchovny and Julianne Moore [today's choice while cooking for a couple hours]. This film fits squarely in my favourite sub-genre of sci fi-comedy [Another favourite is Galaxy Quest, 1999, and you know I went to see Men in Black 3 last year.]. So few movies are made in this vein, but I watch every one of them.

Sci fi comedy

Dick (1999, link goes to the TRAILER, yay!), dir. Andrew Fleming, starring Kirsten Dunst and Michelle Williams. In this spoofy romp about the Watergate robbery and the Nixon administration, the supporting cast supplies the majority of the guffaws. Kirsten and Michelle portray giggly naive teenage girls with great aplomb.

spoof

Nacho Libre (2006), dir. Jared Hess, starring Jack Black. I love to cheer for the underdog, and whoever gives this movie less than 8 stars on imdb.com must have a cynical outlook on life. [Another favourite is Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, 2004.] My partner and I quote lines from this film all the time, and I understand that Jack Black fails to win over every movie watcher, but the warm and generous heart at the centre of this wrestling movie makes me come back to it whenever I need to be uplifted.

underdog story

Others that I turn to for smiles include Office Space and The Princess Bride. Lest anyone think I am caught in a time warp and don't give new movies a chance, I enjoyed, rather irrationally and completely against my type, Get Him to the Greek (2010) with Russell Brand and Jonah Hill, and Goon (2012) with Sean William Scott and Liev Schreiber. The most recent comedies to tickle me were also nominated for multiple awards: Moonrise Kingdom (2012) and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2012). I don't think I'll buy those last 4 films on DVD in order to watch again, but I highly recommend them and would definitely watch them again if the opportunity arose.

Tea is sublime

I am not a daily tea-drinker, but I truly enjoy a cuppa now and then. A couple years ago, I discovered white tea, which contains leaves picked in their early fuzzy-white stage (see pic). One hot cup of that type of tea has enough mellow flavour and aroma to fill my entire morning with pleasure; and not caffeinated pleasure, since white tea contains less than one-quarter the caffeine of black coffee. I tell everyone I know who drinks tea that they must try white tea, and not just for its sublime flavour, but it may have cold-fighting properties too: it's full of antioxidants and anti-viral chemicals.
When I was growing up, all we drank in Nova Scotia was Red Rose Tea, which is perfectly fine for an orange pekoe (a grade of tea, which I only discovered while surfing a little in order to write this blog), and it's a Maritime company, so that was good too, supporting local businesses and all. Oh, and we drank many herbal teas, which I don't really favour. I drank the occasional cup of tea to be sociable at functions and gatherings, but I was far from a tea-lover. Not until I moved to another province did I learn that black tea was available in various flavours and configurations; after trying my first cup of Earl Grey, I was hooked. The scent and flavour of bergamot raise tea to a whole new level. Another bergamot tea is Lady Grey, a kinder, gentler version of Earl Grey and a trademark of Twinings, which is completely worth the extra money to buy a brand-name tea. Lady Grey is downright impressive at an afternoon sandwich luncheon ... Red Rose who?
And to my surprise, different teas at different times of the day do make for a nice change: try English Breakfast or my favourite early-morning brew, Irish Breakfast, upon awakening. Irish Breakfast blend normally uses Indian tea, instead of Chinese tea, which is a distinction in the major region of the world the tea originated and also in the size of the leaves, even though they both come from the same basic tree. People describe Irish Breakfast tea as having "malty" flavours, and I agree that it is a substantial drink with which to start your day, a wake-me-up tea, like a strong cup of coffee.
I usually drink my tea black, but sometimes with a bit of sugar, or a squeeze of lemon juice, or occasionally a dollop of honey; never milk for me, since I'm not a big milk-drinker. White tea never needs sugar or honey because its delicate flavour profile holds a natural sweetness.
Bagged teas are perfectly fine for my palate and my budget; if I had all the time in the world and an inclination to wash many accoutrements, I would indulge in the complete tea-ceremony with the loose leaves and the steeper and the warmed pot, etc., etc., on a regular basis. Loose tea brewed with care actually does taste so much better than bagged tea that it's really hard to describe, but I'm a tea-lover, not a tea-snob, so I enjoy them all. Except, I find green tea too astringent and prefer not to drink it, unless it is flavoured with ginger or some other strong-aroma ingredient.
I only recently tried chai tea, which is very spicy and rather FUN, all caps. I will likely savour that type of tea rarely, since I enjoy the actual flavour of the black tea leaves so much on their own.

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention jasmine tea: the world would definitely be a sad, empty place without jasmine tea.
I've managed to fill an entire blog entry about tea; I hope that my enthusiasm for this drink has come through in this writing. One quick mention about tea as a commodity, though: while it's not currently on my list of socially responsible shopping choices, fair trade tea should probably make it on there in the near future. The list is long, that guilt-list subscribed to by all the people who want commerce to be fair in this globalized world. Imagine that! I'll have to look into it a little more, and I'll let you know when I do decide to put tea on my personal list, because then I'll have some actual tea brands to recommend, not just tea types.

Ode to cocktails

What an odd thing to write about on a Sunday morning.

The first time I drank a cocktail, a Tom Collins (see pic right) mixed by the bartender at an air force base dance, circa 1986, was a revelation. Wine is fine, beer brings cheer, liquor is quicker, but cocktails are sublime. Alcohol + sweet or sour, fire or cool, jewel fruit or earthy spices creates a recipe meant to evoke emotions, inspire enthusiasm, or mellow temperaments; in the hands of a skilled bartender, cocktails = alchemy. I mean, I slurped that Tom Collins with such gusto that I almost went home with a complete stranger that night, a Quebec air force minion; talk about stranger danger. And I don't even like gin!

I discovered a new cocktail of my own concoction this week, which I just had to share [NOT pictured, that's a margarita on the left]. President's Choice has a new product called Blood Orange-Juice in Italian Soda. I put cubes and gold tequila in a tall glass and topped it with the Blood Orange Soda: delicious and slightly nutritious (real blood orange juice in the soda). Now, lately I think tequila tastes just right in almost any cocktail, but this one was special: the slightly sour but mostly sweet orange soda, the fresh cubes clinking against the glass, the bite of the tequila, the bubbles; ah, a great summer drink. I will definitely serve that at my next party, along with margaritas for the tequila-traditionalists. [Not those frozen abominations called margaritas, the real thing, where you still taste the tequila and it doesn't give you an ice-cream headache].

My favourite cocktail is a cosmopolitan (pic right), and I cannot believe how many places I've visited in Canada where they don't know how to mix one. I mean, this drink recipe has been around for more than 30 years. Catch up, people! I was starting to get really annoyed by the enormous variation in cosmos that I was served, until I realized that I really didn't care that much, as long as I just called it a "cocktail" and enjoyed the drink for its own self and the effort of the maker. I did buy a book called "The Little Pink Book of Cocktails" because it's the perfect size to fit in my purse, and when a waitress at a small place says they do make cocktails but they don't know how to make a cosmo, I can whip out my book and show them the recipe.

Just for the edification and future reference of my readers, a cosmo requires (amounts are for those who enjoy the flavour of vodka, if you want it fruitier, increase the cranberry and lime slightly):

1 oz vodka

1/4 oz triple sec

1/4 oz lime juice

1 dash cranberry juice

Mix vodka, triple sec, lime, and cranberry juice in an iced mixing cup. Strain into a martini glass. Garnish with a lime wedge. Now, is that such a difficult drink recipe to have in your permanent repertoire, people who pretend to be bartenders but really ARE NOT? NOTE: in a mixed drink, premium vodka is optional; regular vodka will do, and saves the wallet. They've done taste tests, and most people cannot tell the diff between vodkas.

The summer of my dystopia

Created by Oatmeal

I know this because I took a quiz on the "The Oatmeal" site. HEART "The Oatmeal" forever.
Obligatory cephalopod share:
theoatmeal.com/story/octopus
And one of my all-time favourite "The Oatmeal" rants, NSFW:
theoatmeal.com/comics/ptero
And he posts excellent grammar instructions too; man, I wish I could blog like THAT GUY!

Grape juice and ginger ale

Real grape juice mixed half-and-half with Canada Dry ginger ale ranks in my top 5 favourite soft drinks. I'm enjoying some now as I blog. Others in the top 5 include Orangina, exotic root beers, President's Choice Peach White Grape juice, and chocolate milk. I recommend PC White Grape & Peach juice because it is not loaded with refined sugar and it is not mixed with apple juice; one cup also provides 100% of your DV of Vitamin C. Most of the 100% real juice blends use apple juice as the base, because it is cheap and flavours can layer on top of it without being lost in the mix. Apple juice is so acidic, however, that I have to avoid drinking it most of the time: I am a sensitive flower. That adorable pot-bellied Orangina bottle fills me with joy when I see it; how attached I am to a simple container of juice.

Searching for this image, I came across the Orangina.com website, and they have recipes for not-soft drinks on there -- what a brilliant idea; this one sounds delicious. I may have to buy some Orangina and try some of these cocktails. If anyone is ever wondering what to get me for a present (not that I'm hinting here, or, maybe I am), consumables are the way to go (I have a very tiny house), and I adore small-batch or non-Canadian root beers. I rarely make it to the US by car, but when I do, I always stop at a grocery store on the way back and pick up at least 4 different kinds of root beer. Back to the grape juice and ginger ale: that was a drink my mother always made for parties or any number of guests, even one. I don't make it very often because I like it to remain a special treat, and when I do imbibe many pleasant childhood memories are brought into focus. Almost everyone who tries that mix loves it. If you've gotta drink soft, might as well be special.
Short blog tonight, kinda tired; just wanted to share a favourite sipper and recommend a couple products: Orangina and PC Peach, definitely the way to go.