Tom's Top 5 Awesome Things This Week...6-14-10

Hella late writing this...life keeps me busy.

Better late than never, eh ?

For The Week of 6-14-10

5. THE chicken in Hayward - for months I've been telling Mel about this awesome friend chicken place in Hayward. And on Thursday, after visiting my Uncle Bobby, my Mom, the Melanie and I picked some up for dinner. I hadn't had it for some time and it was just as great as I remember...Mel really like it too.

4. re watching "Remember The Titans" - I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed this movie. And this week, we watched it on tv. It's on of Mel's fav's (she knew most,if not all, the words) and I really like it too.

3. "Party Down" - this series, on Starz, I've been hearing about some time but never watched....until this week. In large part because there was nothing else on, I gave an episode a chance. And found it funny. Real funny. The main cast is made up of people you've seen in other movies, but are never the star. Yet they are always funny. There are cameo's aplenty. If you are a fan of The Office, you will like this movie.

2. Getting to eat some leftovers from Mel's family party - despite my best efforts, and though I really wanted to be there, work didn't let me make it to the Ganda family Fathers day get together. But, thankfully, The Melanie brought home some leftovers from some of my favorite cooks.

1. Talking music with My Uncle Bobby - My Uncle Bobby taught me almost everything about music. When I was a kid and only listened to Rap, he was the one who told me to keep my ear open to everything. He played the old Motown sound and the blues ( I wouldn't have learned/respected John Lee Hooker and Stevie Ray Vaughn had he not played them for me). I, in turn, played him The Black Keys and other new bands he hadn't heard of.

Had it not been for my Uncle Bobby, I would not have had the love for music that I do.

Every Sunday, when I still lived at home, I would wake up to find my Mom cooking breakfast and him playing some music on the stereo. That, and simply sitting in the living room listening to music with him, are some of my fondest teenage memories.

With him being sick, we haven't talked about music like we used to . But this week, when I went to see him, he talked to me about hearing some Stevie Ray on someones radio. He talked about not hearing that song and how good it sounded and how, from the first few notes, he knew it was SRV. "He has that signature sound, ya know ? " It was great to talk tunes with him, if only for a second. For those five minutes, it was like old times. I miss those times so much.


So...that's it.
what's been cool about your week ?

Tom's Top 5 Awesome Things This Week...6-7-10

For The Week Of 6-7-10

5. "National Treasure" - I'll admit, when this movie came out (both in the theatre and on dvd) I thought it would be stupid and decided not to check it out. That is, until this week. With a recommendation from both Melly and Ashley, I watched this (not at all a copy of Indiana Jones) action movie...and I liked it way more than I thought I would. A fun plot with a few funny lines. It was a decent movie. 7.5/10.

4. "The Long Long Trailer" - I've seen this movie, a favorite of the Melanie, a few times and liked it...but, for some reason, I really really enjoyed watching it this time. A fun, funny old movie starring Lucy and Desi...if you like "I Love Lucy" then you will enjoy this as well.

3. Curry Calamari - This week, on a day off, Mel, Ashley and I tried a new Chinese food place close to home....I had the curry calamari lunch special (came with rice) and, although kinda spicy, it was really good.

2. The Dinner Melanie made on Thursday - Chicken and bell peppers, rice and broccoli....really tasty.

1. Chef Mel and Chef Ashley are awesome !! - It was a great night on Saturday....Got off work and had a great dinner (Steak and potato's Tom style ). While Mel cooked the steak, I made the taters...and back to the future was playing on tv while we cooked !! Mel and Ashley made a great apple crisp for dessert. We played some mario kart and watched Toy Story 1 & 2 while we ate. Great movies, great food, great game...best off all, great people. What could be better?

So...that's it.
What's been cool about your week ?

Tom's Top 5 Awesome Things This Week...5-31-10

For The Week Of 5-31-10

5. Frannie's 21 !! - This weekend my cousin Frannie turned 21 and we had a family bbq full of tasty food and family I hadn't seen in some time. Later, we went to a bar...more on this later...

4. Having a nice clean apartment - This, in all honesty, is all because of The Melanie.

3. The best idea I've had in some time - Mel, The Ashley and I made some S'MORES (!!) on Thursday night. I saw an ad in the Sunday paper for all the stuff you need to make s'mores being on sale and decided that getting it sounded like a delicious idea. And I was right !! We microwaved the chocolate and marshmallow and it was melty goodness.

2. A day off, a tasty trip - On my day off Melanie, Ashley and I took a trip to the Jelly Belly factory. The free tour is fun as you can see all the workers making the jelly beans, the air smelled of cherries and root beer, depending on where you were walking and at various times during the tour you are given sample jelly beans to eat. The icing on the cake though was the free bag of jelly beans you get at the end of the tour. A fun day.

1. Boozin' with my Mommy - As part of Frannie's 21st birthday festivities my family and I went to local bar, Spoontonic, for a few drinks. This was the first time ever that I've had a drink with my mom. She had A drink, I had several. It was fun and what I'm sure was a once in a lifetime experience.

So...that's it.
What's been cool about your week?

Tom's Top 5 Awesome Things This Week...5-24-10

For The Week Of 5-24-10

5. The Lumpia Mel, Ashley and I had from the bbq place by my work- You normally wouldnt think that a bbq place would have great tasting lumpia...or lumpia at all for that matter. But this place, Team Rib house, I think its called has it. Tasty as hell.

4. Getting my Mario Kart Mojo back - after a long time of not playing cause of a hurt thumb, then just simply getting my ass kicked, it seemed my best Mario Kart days were behind me. I was stuck in second place. And this week I started to win again. And while, I can admit, Mel has become the better kart driver than me, I managed to win some here and there this week.

3. The season finale of "Community" - my favorite new show of the season ended this week. And while not my favorite show on tv this year(that would be Lost) this was one of the funniest. My favorite character, Senior Chang, had a big part and, as always, did not let me down in the funny department.

2. Home made meatball sub+ Breeze coming in the windows+ dvd of old Twilight Zone episodes checked out from the library+Being home with The Melanie = great night.

1. Marvel's "Secret Invasion" - this week, while browsing around Barnes & Noble, I sat down and read the entire Secret Invasion. And man, was it good. Full of action, great scenes and a HUGE battle to end the whole thing...if this were a movie, it would have been a summer blockbuster of epic proportions. I enjoyed it from cover to cover. Great read.

So...that's it.
What's been cool about your week?