Odell Brewing and Julie & Julia

Feast or famine. That really seems all-too-appropriate for a food blog, doesn't it? I have times when I'm not really sure what I'm going to write about, and times where I've just got so much stuff running around my brain. Right now, I'm in the latter situation.

Because of that, I'm going to cram two fun and exciting recent happenings into one post. The danger here is that this is going to be way too long and full of extraneous details. *Sigh* I'll understand if you don't make it all the way to the end.

Odell Brewing
Last night, they were in town to launch their Tucson presence. They (Kirk & J.R.) spent some quality time at Plaza Liquors, then a couple of hours hanging out at 1702 (where we were stationed), and then whisked themselves off to Old Chicago. To protect identities, I'm going to refer to the members of my party as K, S, & B.

Things officially kicked off at 6:00, but S & I got there a little after 5:00. They're right across the street from work, for cryin' out loud! K arrived shortly thereafter. Then the good folks from Odell, bearing gifts. I think we all ended up with bottleopener keyrings, t-shirts, & coasters (those might not have been giveaways - I may have actually stolen them). B came a little later still, having gone to work out first (go B!).

I was fortunate to have been Tweeting when they got there (although I think my tweets became slightly less coherent as the evening continued), and I may or may not have been tipped off to keep my eyes on Twitter at about 6:30. I did, and I ended up winning a 750ml bottle of Woodcut #2, which retails for about $25.00. I'll looking forward to popping that open sometime in the near future.

So we sampled their three beers (IPA, Easy Street Wheat, and 90 Shilling Scottish ale), and I still think that their IPA may be my favorite beer ever. I mentioned it in my Postino post, and it's just that good. The others were good as well, but what can I say? I'm an IPA kind of guy. K enjoyed the wheat, S was in agreement on the IPA (and we usually see eye-to-eye on beer), and B.... well, I don't seem to remember which she liked! I remember her really liking their yellow t-shirts (although she didn't end up with one), but I'm fuzzy on her beer preference.

To wrap up, it was a good time with good friends, good pizza, and good beer. What more does one need?

Julie & Julia
Before I start talking about the movie itself, I want to thank Arizona Public Media for the guest passes to the sneak preview. We enjoyed the movie and appreciated you sponsoring the event itself.

Kristine, Gale & I went to Old Pueblo Grill beforehand for a glass of wine and some appetizers. Steve was going to meet us at the theater because he was out buying a Volvo or something silly like that. He had chips & guacamole and the tostada sampler. The machaca tostada was a hit all around. We didn't discuss the guac too much, but it seemed a little flat to me. It could used more zip, delivered through lime juice, or even some salt...

Ok, so the movie is everywhere. You've heard all about it. You've read all about it. You know what to expect. I did too.

Some of the things I'd heard weren't entirely accurate, though. Amy Adams was roundly panned. I think it was Gourmet magazine who advised bringing reading material and a penlight for those sequences (harsh!)... She was not nearly as good as Meryl Streep, but c'mon! That's Meryl Streep she's up against! And Meryl Streep was brilliant as Julia. There were many times I forgot that it wasn't Julia Child on the screen. Some of those scenes took me back to when I was a youngster watching Julia on TV and thinking, "I could do that". Which I then did.

I found it to be a lovely tribute to her memory, with a slightly weaker story of self-empowerment thrown in with it. Of course, I'm not a film critic, and neither are Kristine & Gale, who both gave it thumbs up. I'd like to be able to say that Steve liked it too, but the whole Volvo-buying process took longer than anticipated.

Ok, that's it. I'll stop now. I think I've probably done longer posts, so I'm happy that this one is as short (and yes as lively!) as it is.

Thanks for reading.

-TFD