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Category: Favourite Things

A little too much water in his beer

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Ethan Hawke did Ask Me Anything on Reddit and had this to say about Nic Cage:

I’m kind of obsessed with Nic Cage. I just found out about /r/onetruegod too. He’s the only actor since Marlon Brando that’s actually done anything new with the art of acting; he’s successfully taken us away from an obsession with naturalism into a kind of presentation style of acting that I imagine was popular with the old troubadours. If I could erase his bottom half bad movies, and only keep his top half movies, he would blow everyone else out of the water. He’s put a little too much water in his beer, but he is still one of the great actors of our time.

I’m a huge fan of Nic Cage, despite all the terrible stuff he’s done.  When he’s at his best, he’s better than anyone.  Birdy, Raising Arizona, Vampire’s Kiss, Wild at Heart, Leaving Las Vegas… all have special places in my cinematic heart.

I got addicted to his films in college and spent countless hours hunting down and watching all of his films.  Most of my friends at the time were lukewarm to him at best, and my fascination with his work was largely a solo endeavour.

I remember reading a story about how and why he changed his name from Coppola to Cage so that he could build his own reputation outside the shadow of his uncle.  Apparently he got the name Cage from a comic book hero, Luke Cage of Power Man and Iron Fist fame.

As a kid I collected Power Man and Iron Fist and I was the only one I knew who did – I spent years collecting a comic that as far as I knew nobody else read – I have never in 30 years since I started collecting met a single person who even knows the series or the heroes, let alone a fan.  I still have all those books, and today my set is about 15 issues from being truly complete (every appearance of either character in any series).  There is nothing else in my life that I’ve enjoyed so much for so long and so obsessively as that collection, and I’d always felt so alone in my devotion to it.

When these two worlds collided my brain just about melted!  Ever since then I’ve felt this little connection to Nic (see, in my mind we’re on abbreviated-first-name-basis), and no matter how many terrible movies he does, there will always be that top half of his movies that made me a fan in the beginning, and I will always think of him as that one other fan of Power Man and Iron Fist out there in the world!

Favourite Things: koko Chocolates

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Just in time for Mother’s Day!  koko chocolates produces gourmet artisan chocolate truffles using premium Belgian chocolate and all natural ingredients with no preservatives.  And these things are just DIVINE.  Not overly sweet, these truffles are delicately balanced, with the natural flavours of the chocolate intermingling with selected flavour accents, and it all comes together in a beautiful creamy package.  This is what truffles are meant to be!  Be sure to try out their more unique offerings like Margarita or Thai Chili – but any selection from koko’s roughly dozen varieties will make your mom’s special day a memorable one!

Favourite Things: Simply Recipes

To kick off our first Favourite Things feature here at FineDiners.ca, Simply Recipes is one of my favourite recipe sites on the web.  There are many others to be sure, some of which will be featured here as well, but this one I keep coming back to.

It is a blog published by Elise Bauer who started it as a project to collect family recipes and share them on the web, which has blossomed into a resource that attracts thousands of visitors a day.  As she suggests on the site, you really feel like you’re leafing through an old family recipe binder and have access to tips and commentary from the people who have been cooking these recipes over and over for many years.

Functionally, the site is pretty straight-forward:  it’s blog-style with new posts usually several times a week, and the archives are categorized by main ingredient or type, and also includes an index by ingredient or recipe title.  There is also a Tips and Tricks section with dozens of articles about cooking techniques and kitchen basics.

The recipes are nice and simple and are accompanied by helpful photographs, and also include a comments section where people who have tried out the recipes can also make further suggestions and share their successes.

I love the personal nature of this site and, most importantly, the delicious home recipes that just keep me coming back for more.