Saturday night dinner and a movie

G. and I did dinner and a movie on Saturday night. It was good to get caught up. We haven't seen each other in ages. We talked normal stuff: diet, training, windsurfing, weight, muscle mass. Yeah, when you talk with G, that's pretty much normal talk. An insult for him goes something along the lines of, "Oh my god, she is so not hot. I bet her body fat is over 30%." I'm absolutely serious.

He's bulked up a lot the past few months and is now focused on his upper arms, since they've been slower to build muscle than the rest of him. When he describes it to me, I picture a huge T-Rex with tiny skinny sticks for arms. In reality, his arms look fine. Just like normal people arms. Frankly, I think he's huge and might start to look ridiculous if he gets any bigger; he has the natural build of someone long and lean. But hey, whatever makes him happy. I guess all bodybuilders start out somewhere. As KR describes it, it's like he has reverse anorexia. Irregardless (to borrow a word from George Dubya), he gets laid a lot more than most people, so I don't think he cares what people say about his body. Oh, I forgot to mention: he's a playa.

Dinner was G's choice: Breadbar at Tabla. Fusion Indian food -- something new for me. We started with the Tandoori Flank Steak, Rosemary Naan, and a selection of peach, tamarind, and (the obligatory) mint chutnies. After all, what's Indian food without mint chutney? While the food was solid, there was nothing particularly outstanding. The beef was dry and would have been better served spicier and rarer. The naan and chutneys were good, but not worth returning to Bread Bar for. Anyway, try eating naan with a body fat conscious, anti-carb workout freak who watches your carb intake like a hawk and admonishes you to eat more protein and less bread every time you take a bite and see if you really enjoy the experience. Right.

For our large plates, we shared the Bread Bar Chicken Tikka and Pulled Lamp and Mustard-Mashed Potato Naanini. The only think unique about the Chicken Tikka at Bread Bar was the quality of the chicken; better than most Indian restaurants in New York (white meat, boneless, all natural chicken). However, Chicken Tikka is Chicken Tikka no matter who you are, where you are, or the adjective or noun that precedes the name, so no suprises there. The Pulled Lamb and Mustard-Mashed Potato Naanini, however, was a pleasant treat. It's the only thing we tried on the menu that night that I'd recommend -- tender marinated lamb sandwiched between layers of mustard-fragrant mashed potatoes and wrapped in naan bread. It was the Indian fusion take on shepherd's pie, or the equivalent of Taco Bell's quesadilla wrapped in a taco wrapped in a chaco wrapped in a chalupa wrapped in tortilla wrapped in your grandma's blueberry pie.

Total bill for two: $92.00 + tip
Food: good but not spectacular. not worth the price
Service: excellent

After dinner, we cabbed it over to the Angelika to watch Half Nelson. To give some context,G. and I had a conversation about which movie we wanted to watch earlier that day. It was an epic struggle:

"So, after dinner, wanna watch a movie, bebe? I really wanna see 'Step Up'," G says in his Eastern European accent. He's Macedonian.

"Maybe. There are a couple of movies I'd like to see. How about 'An Inconvenient Truth'?" I'm not sure I want to watch a movie. Do I want to sit in one place for an hour and a half or more?

"No! None of that hippie, non-profit, documentary crap you're into." This sounds much more polite when it's coming from an European. Or, trendier at least.

"Ok...well, how about 'John Tucker Must Die,' 'Miami Vice,' 'The Devil Wears Prada,' 'Pirates of the Caribbean..." I'm trying to find some middle ground here. G. will be the first to admit he is extremely shallow, but at least he's hot (as he constantly reminds everyone), so it doesn't matter.

"Uh, I've been unemployed for the past three months. I've seen those already." Rat bastard goes my inside voice. Let me explain: G. used to work for a hedge fund. Then, he got a better offer to go work for another hedge fund except that he had a non-compete, so he had to wait 3 months before he could join his new firm. 3 months where he was paid not to work. 3 months where everyone had to hear him talk about how bored he was because he had nothing to do during the day. Yeah, that's right.

"Instead of those movies, why don't we go see 'Step Up'." When hell freezes over.

My foot goes down. "No. That movie is the same movie as every other dance movie. Two people from opposite sides of the figurative race/social/economic tracks find common ground in dance, they end up falling in love against all odds be it parents, friends, social status, etc. It's always the same movie. I'm not paying $10 to watch that movie. It's a waste of money, and it'll be out on cable in a week." Rational arguments first...

"What are you talking about?!?! The movie got good reviews! What's better than two hot people dancing?" He's lying. I read the review on CNN that morning, and it was mediocre.

"No, if I watch it, I'll lose brain cells and end up stupider than I already am. Let's find something that we both agree on." If I watched that movie, I was going to walk out of the theatre severely retarded. Movies like that should come with surgeon general warnings.

"Ok, how about 'Step Up'?" I roll my eyes.

"I can watch 'Little Miss Sunshine,' 'Another Gay Movie' (yes, it's really a movie), or 'Half Nelson.' 'Half Nelson' just came out and it sounds really good."

"What's 'Another Gay Movie'?" He looks it up. "What else is playing at that theatre? Maybe we can go see 'Step Up'... OH MY GOD, I think there is gay porn playing at that same theatre! We are not going there to watch that movie. Someone might hit on me!" Ok, I live in a gay neighborhood, but it's not really an issue for me. "How about "Step Up' instead?"

I stay silent.

Then, "I think I read in Men's Health that the Half Nelson is a sexual position. That might be interesting..."

"Um...G? I don't think that's what the movie's about. Why don't you read the review? It's about a drug addict."

"Ok, let's do that one, because I don't really want to watch 'Little Miss Sunshine'." Deal.

I thought "Half Nelson" was fairly good. Ryan Gosling does a decent job playing a bleeding heart liberal who can't cope with reality. G. absolutely hated it. He is now accusing me of taking him to a documentary.

Next time, he's picking the movie. I can only hope that it's not a lame-ass dance movie.

SPOILER AHEAD. Don't read on if you don't want to know plot details.

Ryan Gosling does a decent job playing a bleeding heart liberal who can't cope with reality. Reality being that his parents are still stuck in a past life when they were war protesting hippies and don't realize that they have a drinking problem. They're so self-absorbed they're blind to the problems of their children. Reality being that he has an addiction but thinks that it's not an addiction or a problem and that he can handle it by doing enough crack to get by. Reality being that the world can be a cold, uncaring, unfair place, things don't always make sense, that people deal. He can't. By day, he's an underpaid, unconventional teacher that inspires inner city middle school students to think outside the box. At night, he's a basehead. He tells everyone that'll listen, "the kids are the only thing keeping me sane." At one point, he talks about rehab programs, claiming "the program works for some people," but it doesn't work for everyone. It doesn't work for him, but he's got it under control. He manages in other ways and does enough just to "get by." It becomes evident as the movie progresses that he has nothing under control. Every time he can't deal, he turns to crack, alcohol, and anything that's readily available. It's interesting to watch the struggle between his ideals and his addiction.