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While listening to Kids Bop "The Beatles" in the car today I was reminded of this movie.

I remember being very excited about this movie when it came out. I did not get the chance to see it in the movie theater, but lets face it, it is rare for ANY of us to see a movie when it first comes out. Unless, of course you are the type of die hard fan of a certain teenage vampire film, then you might show up to a midnight showing premiere. But then of course, that would make you a 13 year old, or 28, one of the two.

Across the Universe works the music perfectly. It incorporates 33 Beatles songs into a plot line about a boy (who is the 'I want to pinch his cheeks' picture of innocence and naiveté) who moves from small town Liverpool, England to the United States. The story follows him as he looses all innocence and becomes disillusioned through a wide array of experiences. The general time frame of the movie feels like the late 1960's.

Of course, there is the love story. The main love interest is Evan Rachel Wood. If you know who she is and know about her counter culture romantic involvement with Marylin Manson, do not be put off. This is the first film I have seen her in and she was talented, both in acting and vocals.

My absolute favorite song is a rendition of "I Want to Hold Your Hand" by actress/vocalist T.V. Carpio.

Film: Across The Universe

Year: 2007

Director: Julie Taymor (Frida)

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This is moderately appropriate because today is April Fools Day. Only moderately so because today is a day to joke about things that are not true, to tell funny little lies, falsities. However, the following are not lies and they are not funny. In fact, I guess they have nothing to do with April Fools Day, unless of course you count the fact that April Fools Day is for fools and anyone who dares discount all that is Chuck Norris is a fool.

Chuck Norris facts are the absolute best. Nothing can rock my world like a well told Norris fact. However, they are more like scripture than fun facts.

Thus, I present to you the word according to the Book of Norris:

1. Chuck Norris does not play the lottery. It doesn't have nearly enough balls.

2. The Bible was originally titled, "Chuck Norris and friends"

3. Chuck Norris can will a game of Trivial Pursuit with one roll of the dice, and without answering a single question... just a nod of the head, and a stroke of the beard.

4. Chuck Norris once ate and entire bottle of sleeping pills, they made him blink.

5. They once made Chuck Norris toilet paper, but there was one problem: It wouldn't take shit from anyone.

6. Chuck Norris is the reason Waldo is hiding.

Check out some more Chuck Norris facts:

http://www.chucknorrisfacts.com/

http://www.thechucknorrisfacts.com/

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As much as we all love the Food Channel and the revolution that followed its populatiry, their recipes can be a tad over the top. I do not cook with peanut oil, most of my herbs are dried, and although I do have a pepper grinder- my peppercorns are your garden variety black, not pink or green (did you know there was such a thing as a PINK peppercorn!?!).

I can get sucked in by Giada, Bobby Flay, and Paula Dean as quick as the next person, but their cooking has more entertainment value than practicality. For good tasting meals to make at home I turn to America's Test Kitchen.

It is not hard to make a satisfactory meal. I can boil pasta, open a can, and through a bag of vegetables in the microwave as good as the next person. The true sign of a good cook though is one whose meals you can describe as being flavorful. Where the first bite and every one thereafter has taste. Some of you may not know exactly what I mean because a true good cook is not easy to come by.

Every Monday my childhood friend and I, along with my children descend on my fathers house for dinner. We drive to his house on these busy weeknights, not just because of the lour of a free meal, but because these are by far the best meals of my week. My father is a flavorful cook. Every meal he makes is packed with taste. He has a passion for making good food, and like any great cook he likes to cook.

I am not on par with my father, but the America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook (which my father gave me) allows me to invite friends over to dinner with the knowledge that I will receive a few appreciative groans of pleasure. I have grilled, baked, sauted, simmered, chopped, ground, fried, and minced with this book without experiencing one tragedy.

The Test Kitchen understands what it is to be an average cook, without succumbing to mediocrity. The cookbook explains technique simply and uses ingredients you do not have to run to a special market for.

The best part of the book is that they not only test a recipe over a dozen times to get it just right before making you do it, but they test the tools and brand of ingredients as well. If you have ever wondered what size, shape and name brand of cake pan or coffee maker work best, this is the book for you. If you want to know what brand of bread crumbs or canned tomatoes cook best, this is the book for you.

The Family Cookbook is a the Test Kitchen's introductory cookbook. If you feel they are too simple and that PBS sponsored programming is not quite on par with their Cable TV celebrity chef counterparts, the Best Recipes books will change your mind. I have two and they scare the heck out of me.

In a knock down drag out Kitchen Stadium food fight, I would bet on the Test Kitchen any day.

The Family Cookbook would be a perfect gift for a wedding, hew home, or even a graduate going off to college.

Product: The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook, Heavy-duty Revised Edition

Price: $34.95 (cheaper on Amazon.com)

Place: Amazon.com, and any book store

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I was not feeling very verbose tonight, but I did want to commit to making a post.

There are a couple of recent female artists from England that have great music: Duffy, Lilly Allen and Amy Winehouse specifically.

However, Lilly Allen is my favorite by far because she is a great talent, I love her music, and most of all because she is little (or very) snarky at times. I almost fell over when I heard her rendition of 50 Cent's 'Window Shopper'. Allen's father is a famous comic in England, so I guess that particular talent runs in the family.

I found this video when trying to find a suitable Lily Allen original, but this really was to perfect to pass up.

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February 15th posting update. This is the painting from the Louvre.

Artist: Paul Delaroche

Painting: Le Jeune Martyre

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Philosophy brand products are a bit yuppie with their holistic messaging. Each product offers nuggets of information on how to live your life that are just about as valid as a fortune cookie. Their packaging is more reminiscent of a self-help book than a list of active ingredients and drug facts, but that is their shtick.

All holistic lifestyle messaging aside, they do make some really nice products. The Microdelivery Exfoliating Wash is one of those nice products. It is a simple everyday wash, the exfoliating beads are smaller than St. Ives Apricot scrub (which I used to use as a teen and it feels more like it could have doubled as a foot scrub) and the Proactiv cleansers whose beads I used to think were very small and gentle, but by comparison the Philosophy wash wins hands down.

Unfortunately, I may as well buy stock in Proactive because at 29, the words Salycic Acid, Retinol, and Benzoyl Peroxide are looking to be permanent members of my facial routine. But, occasionally I do like to feel as if I am an adult and have options other than a product tied to an infomercial by the Guthy Renker company. For those times I turn to Philosophy.

A friend actually bought this wash recently and loved it. She suggested I put it on the blog, and coincidently I already had it on my list from purchasing it a few months ago. If the $25 price tag does not agree with you, she bought her wash on e-bay. If you do not have any qualms with that method it may be worth checking out.

Product: The Microdelivery Exfoliaitng Wash by Philosophy

Price: $25 for an 8 oz. bottle

Place: QVC, Ulta, Sephora, E-Bay

Do

I enjoy using prodigious words. Not in an ostentatious way, I hope. But there are times when sentiments cannot be expressed in austere ways.

I have a few favorite ‘prodigious’ words that I use probably more often that I should. But they are my favorites and therefore they circulate in my conversations more than others, because….

Sometimes a mess is not simply a mess, it is a DEBACLE!

Sometimes the way things look are their aesthetics.

Someone who lives in their own little world lives in a microcosm. (that one is REALLY hard to fit into a conversation, but I do try!)

I should give some forewarning that there are some words a person should never attempt to enter into a conversation. I heard one such example for the first time recently and twice within a months’ time, from separate people in fact, it was: doppelganger. I warn you, do not use this word. If you see someone who looked like your friends double then you tell them you saw someone that looked like them, never, I warn you never, tell your friend that they have a doppelganger. If you are female, I would imagine you just lost your best friend, if you are a male I would imagine you are in for a world of hurt.

Also, you should really know what your words mean before you say them, I was using the word ‘masochistic’ wrong for a very long time, which I assure you was embarrassing.

In all seriousness, ‘big’ or ‘prodigious’ words are great. Communication is key to the human experience and the better we communicate the richer our experience will be. Synonyms are not really synonyms at all. Different forms of the same word convey varying degrees of emotion and meaning that we need. Sometimes we do not hate we DESPISE. We may not be in love, but we are enamored.

I would like to use myself in as an example when trying to expel the misnomer that the ability to spout off a big word in conversation conveys some measure of intelligence. Almost every big work I know, I admittedly cannot spell correctly! Most of them I learned from period movies and historical romance novels. I’ve never taken an IQ test, but I assure you my scores would be merely average. And surprise of all surprises I scored better on my GRE’s in math than verbal.

There is no good reason we could not all use a bit of expanding in our vocabulary. I recommend signing up to receive a new word into your e-mail every day for a year. You can do so by subscribing to A.Word. A. Day which is endorsed by the New York Times. You can use this link:

http://wordsmith.org/awad/sub.html

Another option is visiting Save The Words at SaveTheWords.org where I learned that an Agonyclite is "a member of a heretical sect that stood rather than kneeled" and Ficulnean is "worthless information regarding fig-tree wood".