Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Hellboy: The Wild Hunt

I've become more and more interested in the crazy universe that Mike Mignola has been creating for over 10 years in the pages of Hellboy and B.P.R.D. Though it started out as a series I read because I heard it was good, across the past few trade paperbacks, it has truly gelled into a series with which I am utterly in love. Perhaps it was the delay between my reading of each volume or a new cosmic awareness that I've recently developed. Whatever the case, the latest volume of Hellboy is all kinds of awesome.



The story of "The Wild Hunt" picks up pretty closely after the end of the last volume, "Darkness Calls", with our titular hero visiting old haunts in England and the witches of the world preparing for war with humanity. Hellboy is invited to take part in a giant-killing party, the Wild Hunt, following which much unrelated to the actual giant killing ensues. As Hellboy's journey to discover more about himself unfolds, Hellboy himself continues to evolve as one of the more three-dimensional characters in comics. Though he started as a "It's Clobberin' Time"-sort of paranormal investigator, Hellboy has become increasingly conflicted in his role on Earth. Can he really ever be human? Should he even try to be? And while Hellboy grows, so too do his supporting characters, especially the Grugach, a tortured fairy stuck in the body of a pig. Watching Grugach foment war against the world simply to carry out his own increasingly impotent revenge fantasy is almost heart-wrenching.

Mignola continues to grow as a master of pacing and though he is no longer the artist of his creation, Duncan Fegredo continues to keep his work Mignola-esque enough to capture the dark, forboding nature of what has always been a horror comic. Yet, as well as being a horror comic, Hellboy serves as a modern fairy tale; at times it reads like the awesomest Grimm/Anderson fan-fiction battle royale ever!



Well, that actually sounds kind of lame...but trust me. For story fans, you get your money's worth with each collection. If you've never read Hellboy, you better go back and purchase 20 volumes of it and its companion book B.P.R.D. Read them all, then pick "The Wild Hunt" up. It and the series as a whole is decidedly Amazing.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Tommaso's Trattoria in Southborough, MA

Apparently it's restaurant week even in little Southborough, MA. So what was a chance for my wife, Diana, to take me on a multi-couples get-together was also a chance to sample the food at Tommaso's Trattoria for a (possibly) reduced price. Now, I'm no food critic at all, but it's my blog, so I'll review whatever I want!

The restaurant claimed to specialize in Tuscan-style food. They make their own pastas and cured meats. It was a medium-sized place with an open kitchen which I think always looks very nice. The decor was a very classy "Olive Garden". Our waitress was pretty friendly; more on that in a moment.

For 33 bucks, you received the restaurant week special which included a starter, entree, and desert course. The portions were actually pretty decent for what could have been micro-sized sampler plates. In addition, if you wanted, you could tack on another 15 bucks for wine pairings with each course. "A-ha!" I said, "I love trying fancy new wines with my fancy new foods. I shall pay the full price."

I ordered a salad with peppers, egg, and mushrooms; Diana ordered a soup. The first course was very tasty with nice, fresh ingredients (at least, I assume that is what they were). I attempted to be food-critiquey by smashing as many parts of my salad together on my fork as I could. This turned out to be pretty hard as the lettuce resisted my efforts to spear it. I mostly just scooped as much as I could into my mouth at once, my usual dining technique.

For an entree, I ordered the pasta bolognese while Diana ordered the beef brisket. I absolutely loved the pasta. It came with a delicious meat sauce; the noodles tasted as if they'd only recently been made, which is not a texture I am that familiar with and would love to experience more. And I managed to eat them without slurping them up and spilling sauce all over myself. The beef was pretty good too, but I enjoyed my meal enough that I didn't want to continue with my wife's plan of splitting everything.

Finally, for desert, we had a freshly made tirimisu. Plus: it did not come in a gelatinous rectangular prism shape but was instead made of lady fingers soaked in booze with a custard on top. Minus: it didn't taste much different than many of the various tirimisus I've had before. But still, pretty good.

All in all, I really enjoyed dinner. It was good food, served fast, only a little more expensive than I would have liked, and very pleasant company.

BUT

When my first wine pairing came out, I thought it was a joke. For 15 dollars, I assumed I would get nearly a full glass. What was poured was about a gulp's worth. Perhaps I am cheap or don't understand market forces, but I can get two entire bottles of fabulous wine for 15 dollars (and, if I want something mediocre, about 8 bottles of Charles Shaw at Trader Joe's) so why the fuck would they only give me a thimble-full. I weepily asked my waitress if that was all I was getting. She assured me that it was a fair amount. "They even have special measures for it," she exclaimed. But my Oliver Twist routine must have tugged some heartstrings for the next two pairings were a bit more full. Or else they lost the original serving pipette and couldn't get a replacement in time. The wines were pretty good: not too fruity, not too acidic, pretty clean tasting. Still, 15 bucks isn't really worth the chance to taste something at a fancy dinner.

My final rating: Really Good, though skip the wine pairing and just show up wasted instead.

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Rob's Reviews

Being an opinionated sort, I decided that is was of great import to share my reviews of things from around the world. So much stuff is crap--books, movies, TV, politics, things that happen in life--or mediocre that someone needs to point it out. So I guess I will! Though I primarily like to review things, I reserve the right to have an experimental jazz odyssey whenever I choose. Thank you, Internet, for giving me the unalienable right to be a jerk at will!

Some ground rules that may change whenever I want them to:

1) Below is my system of rating things from highest to lowest.
Best Thing Ever
Amazing
Really Good
OK
Meh
Bad
Awful
I Hate It So Very Much

2) My reviews will usually contain swear words. It's what I was famous for in college and what separates us from the dolphins in our language development. I'll try to keep them at a tolerable level and make note of posts that are a little more blue than usual. Still, I write to be understood by adults. If you are a sophisticated toddler, thanks for reading, but I don't intend to change this about myself or my humor writing.

3) Special features may include the "BUT" section in which I explain how something amazing turns into something meh or bad; the "My Mom Would Stop Watching Here" section in which I determine where exactly my sweet mother would give up on something for one of various arbitrary mom reasons; and the "Life Happens" section in which I provide caveats for why your review may be way different than mine due to subjective difference between us.

4) Comment as much as you would like. Your comments give me sustenance and immortality. Heck, suggest things for me to review. That way I can be lazy about this blog I'm doing just for fun.

And with those out of the way, here's my first review!

Rob Reviews His Blog Rules

I made them quickly as my son is asking me to take out the Rock Band drums for him to wail on. So, for now, they are OK.