Restaurant Review – La Scola Italian Grill

La Scola Italian grill in Toledo, Ohio is located in the old Damon’s Steakhouse building, on Airport Highway, near Reynolds road. The exterior of the building is bland as it was before, however now complementary valet service awaits for those too lazy to walk the extra 30 feet.

Upon walking in, I was immediately surprised to see a lovely decor, with tons of framed black and white pictures lining the walls. The bar area hasn’t moved, however adjacent to it is a lounge area, complete with lush leather sofas and televisions.

To the food. I ordered the Bruschetta Formagio, the classic bread and tomatoes with Alfredo sauce to add to the flavor. This was absolutely phenomenal. The bread was perfect, the chiffonade of basil along with the tomatoes tasted like they were just picked off the vine. The $8 price was a little steep, being that one can order an entire pizza (personal portion) for just a couple bucks more.

Like the Bruschetta, the salads were very fresh, with excellent dressings. My caesar salad was crisp, with excellent croutons and caesar dressing, however the house salad with a Balsamic dressing was far better.

For my entree, I went with the Veal Piccata; a classic italian dish with a reduced Brandy-mushroom butter sauce. The dish was cooked well and tasted good, however the presentation was quite lacking. I was presented with basically a plate of brown stuff. However, the veal was cooked well, and the sauce was very good. The dish came with a side of pasta and tomato sauce which while good, was largely forgettable.

The pizzas were quite good, and at around $10, are a good deal compared to the rest of the menu. I was slightly disappointed with the Pizza Margherita – ‘the’ classic pizza – as the basil was in a chiffonade similar to the Bruschetta rather than whole. The Pizza Pollo Bandierra, while not very traditional, was much better, and the leftovers were fabulous.

All in all, I was definitely impressed with the decor and ambiance. I think that it’s slightly behind Rosie’s Italian Grill, but I will have to go again to check it out (and get the Saltimboca).

“Dis(over)abled” Olympic Athletes

We’ve all heard the story about South Africa’s Oscar Pistorius who while being a double-amputee is looking to qualify for his country to run the 400m at the Beijing Olympics. While this is a heart-warming story of someone overcoming adversary – not unlike Lance Armstong – as an engineer, I am shocked that this man will be allowed to run.

Originally it was determined that his super-bionic “blades” made him taller than he’d normally be, and provided an unfair advantage over the other athletes. I am completely in support of the original decision. However, the Olympic committee, possibly realizing that no one wants to leave the Olympics with two shot lungs from pollution, have allowed Oscar to run – apparently in a circus stunt to sell more tickets.

This is a landmark case that will allow many other prosthetics to be allowed in international play. You must understand that those fucking commie countries train their athletes from birth to do this shit. You don’t think they’ll stop at cutting off limbs? Come on. Anyways, I have came up with a few examples of what will happen at the 2012 Olympics if he is allowed to compete.

Chinese Long/High Jumper Fu Kiu

Ukrainian Shot Putter Dik Hurtzmelot

Australian Swimmer Zack Guppy

In all seriousness though, I do feel bad for the guy. I do agree that dominating the Special Olympics would be gay to the max, but when you start bringing carbon-fiber laced technology into the Olympics, then you throw everything out the window.

I’m sorry dude, you weren’t an Olympic caliber athlete before you were injured; doesn’t that tell you anything?

Lifeguarding, Old School Style

Here’s a little something in between Ace and Dutch’s to hold you over. Click the picture for a bigger size.

Movie Review – Charlie Wilson’s War (2007)

Starring:
Tom Hanks
Julia Roberts

Runtime: 102 min.

Overall: B+

Charlie Wilson’s war deals with a Texas congressmen’s dealings with covert operations to help Afghanistan and Pakistan fight the communist Soviet Union.

From the trailers, this movie really seemed to me like it was going to be strictly political satire. I recall one quote

Someone: Why is it that the Congress talks about doing something and then does nothing?

Charlie: Well tradition mostly.

However, this is not the case, as this movie really has much deeper connections, while keeping the light-hearted flow that we expect from the previews.

The movie of course highlights Charlie Wilson (Hanks), a whiskey-loving, coke-snorting congressmen, who by luck, happens to be one of the most connected men in Washington. After a trip to Pakistan to see a Afghan refugee camp, he decides that he must intervene.

He is one the Defense and Covert Operations, so can allocate monies from the bottomless Defense budget to the Covert Ops budget to fund weapons and training for the Afghan and Pakistan armies.

The story essentially follows him trying to acquire these monies and weapons. Philip Seymour Hoffman makes an appearance as Gust Avrakotos, a CIA operative who is in charge of that part of the world. Hoffman has a rather impressive resume including: MI:3 (sucked); Capote; Cold Mountain; The Big Lebowski (awesome); and lots more. He plays great in this movie and includes a great line, “Yeah, well I’d like to take a moment to review the several ways in which you’re a douche bag.”

Of course the story goes where you expect it to; Charlie and his friends supply the armies with enough firepower to beat the Soviets. It’s the first time the Soviets are beaten. However, we get a rather solemn ending, which is summed up best by the movies final shot, a quote from Mr. Wilson:

These things happened. They were glorious and they changed the world… And then we fucked up the endgame

The movie ends and begins with a guilty looking Charlie accepting a very prestigious award. What we come to find out is that we spent a billion dollars on this war that never happened. We won, and changed the world for the better. However, at the end, Charlie asked for a single million dollars to be used to rebuild the schools in Afghanistan. The rest of the committee soundly shoots him down.

We get this eerie feeling that the movie is hinting as the United States being partially responsible for the Taliban as well. Gust tells a story about a Zen Master:

There’s a little boy and on his 14th birthday he gets a horse… and everybody in the village says, “how wonderful. the boy got a horse” And the Zen master says, “we’ll see.” Two years later The boy falls off the horse, breaks his leg, and everybody in the village says, “how terrible.” And the Zen master says, “We’ll see.” Then a war breaks out and all the young men have to go off and fight… except the boy can’t cause his legs messed up. and everyone in the village says, “How wonderful.”

After a little research, the original script did include more content regarding the more serious topics, including the Taliban, but was removed for box office sake. The movie is a “do watch” though, and at a little over 100 minutes, theres no reason not to. Per the movie poster, this stuff really is something that you can’t make up.” The story is enticing, and even though you know what’s going to happen, you almost can’t believe it.

So, I’ve typed way too much, do watch this movie, it’s the best film I’ve seen in a few months.

Boxer, the Retarded Bar Game

So, I was at the bar yesterday. We were out for a friend’s birfday, and spent a little while at Sidelines, a bar next to El Camino. Anyways, this place had this retarded bar game called boxer. The picture to the side is the exact same thing they had.

So here’s what happens. You put $0.50 in the machine. The punching bag lowers, and you hit it; once. Based on how hard you hit it, it gives you a number. That’s it. Normally I would just ignore this ridiculous waste of time and money, but I was amazed at how much people were dropping into this son of a bitch.

To be quite honest, it makes perfect sense. You’re in a bar. You’re a dude. All you want to do is show how much more of a man you are than the next guy. So, I seen this one guy put no less than $15 into this fucking machine, trying to beat the high score. He had a running start, and this hilarious stance; he was clearly a badass.

So I don’t know, if you see this thing at a bar, don’t be a tool, just walk away.

I’m Gayer

62 seconds bitches

Wow I’m Gay

Yea, it’s been pretty lame lately. This is the best update I have. It’s me pwning at some Solitaire. That’s right, click the pic to enlarge; 67 seconds, I dare you to beat it.

They’re Like Fat Chicks

Saw this the other day. I mean, the old adage goes: Fat Chicks are kinda like scooters; their fun to ride, but don’t let your friends catch you. Apparently, these guys have no pride and don’t mind fucking fat chicks, and are proud of it. Not only do they rock the scooters around town, but they gather together for everyone to see.

LESBIANS!!

I was driving by campus the other day when I noticed a couple girls waiting to cross the street. Then I realized they were holding hands. When they kissed, I knew I had to snap a photo.

They weren’t bad looking either. I mean, not like porno-lesbians, but good looking for real-life lesbians nonetheless.