A look at Rocco's Dinner Party,more team action on The Next Food Network Star and Game of Throne's lasting ladies

After the Top Chef Masters finale last week,viewers got a special preview of a new cooking competition show called Rocco's Dinner Party,the Rocco in question being celeb chef Rocco DiSpirito.

We start off with three contenders fighting for the chance to pull off a great dinner party for Rocco and his friends,with their first challenge being to make their signature dish for tasting within thirty minutes. The best two out of three then compete to win $20,000 for creating the best mutual dining experience.



The winner of the first round gets first choice of dining room to serve in(intimate,formal or terrace)and to decide who goes first. Both chefs then have a party planner to consult as to how the room should be decorated and table set up in accordance with the theme that Rocco gives them for the party.



Last week's theme was a speakeasy,which lent itself easily to a party plan. This time out,it was Mystery Guest with each chef being given a dossier of hints as to what the secret guest of honor would like to eat and their preferred atmosphere.

The two gents competing here were Joel,a high school culinary teacher and King,the owner of a couple of Manhattan restaurants. Joel won the signature dish round and chose the formal dining room for his meal as well as went first.



The mystery guest turned out to be Top Chef hostess Padma,who the chefs were told enjoyed clean natural flavors along with spice and that Italy and Bali were two of her favorite places in the world to visit. Other party attendees included comedian D.L. Hughley,fashion designer Gilles Mendel and singer Babel Gilberto.



King had the intimate dining room and it was set up to be a combo of Bali and Italy,with a Vespa scooter in one corner and woven sandals for the guests to wear in place of their regular shoes instead.

The food was agreeable for the most part,with the lemongrass panna cotta dessert considered the highlight of the meal. However,the main course of rice and seafood was deemed rather safe in terms of flavor.



Joel had his dining room arranged in spicy storage style,with wooden spice holders on the table and spice racks along the walls. It actually looked very elegantly rustic,which Padma loved. He also had small chalkboards at each place setting with the question "If you were a teacher,what subject would you teach?". A good conversation starter and a nifty party idea there.

Despite some awkwardness with the service,the food went over well. Joel even made the Dijon spiced sausage for his borlotti bean stew that day,which was a real palate pleaser. In the end,Joel was declared the winner for his bold use of spicy flavors.

I like the concept of this show and so far,it's been interesting to see how a chef can whip together a fully formulated event like this. The only down note is how abrupt Rocco comes across to his contestants for most of the show.

Perhaps that's just his way but it wouldn't hurt him to be as welcoming to his chefs as he is to his guests. Next time,two brothers will be going head to head along side a New Jersey caterer to enter this upscale cook-off. Should be intriguing,to say the least.



The main challenge on this week's The Next Food Network Star was a sweet one,as two teams were chosen to make dessert items for an event to represent both Ace of Cakes' Duff Goldman and Robert Irvine.

With resentment still brewing over the last team challenge they had,Penny wound up the only gal on an all-boy's team. That team in particular had very little pastry experience,so things were not going well from the get go.



However,the girl's team was way too laid back for their own good,which reflected in the food. Mary Beth's milk shake with cookie crumble was too watery,the cupcake lollipops were gummy and Alicia's cookie dough cupcakes were so bad that most of them wound up in the trash.

Alicia,being a cupcake chef,was extremely embarrassed by this sad set of sweets and was the one to be sent home here. Next time,everyone has to cook for FN Southern belle Paula Deen and the cast of Cougar Town and a good number of them need to get their act together. Like Bobby Flay said,this is not the Fun Network,people!:





The first season of Game of Thrones has come to an end,with several set-ups for what to expect next year as Jon joins his brothers in the Night's Watch to explore in the lands beyond the Wall while Rob and his mother vow revenge against the Lannisters.

Meanwhile,Tyrion is assigned to straighten up things in King's Landing and Sansa's suffering at the hands of psychotically cruel King Joffrey is just beginning. The adventures for her little sister Arya are also about to start,as she is being taken out of the city with the raw recruits for the Night's Watch and given a boy's name as the first of many aliases.

Arya's journey makes her a few new enemies and friends,including a certain young blacksmith that her father once visited. Where their mutual path will lead them is not for me to tell but let's just say that Gendry and Arya make for a good team:





The one woman's journey that I was concerned with the most was Danys,who really had a hell of a row to hoe by the end credits. Losing her husband,baby and clan all in one stroke was the kind of thing that would've broken a weaker soul.

Daenerys,however,proved that she had the true dragon blood of her ancestors by using Drogo's funeral pyre to hatch those three eggs of hers. To the credit of the production,those newborn firebreathers looked amazing and since they play an important part in Danys' ongoing quest for the Iron Throne,I hope that the quality of their appearances are kept up. Next season should be even better than the first,now that the Mother of Dragons is ready to move forward(slight bit of nudity in this clip,you have been warned):



RANDOM NOTES:

TRUE BLOOD: With Game of Thrones finished for now,our favorite vampire series sets up shop for a fourth season. There's plenty of ruckus to contend with,including the arrival of witches who are being lead by a certain aunt of Harry Potter's. What's a little magical mischief among friends and fiends,I ask you?:

The Help has more to offer than hype

With the upcoming film version of Kathryn Stockett's bestselling debut novel,The Help,set to arrive at the multiplex by August,it seemed like high time that I picked this book up(via Booksfree)and see what all of the fuss was truly about.

As many of you already know,the story in set in the early years of the 1960s in Jackson,Mississippi where the lives of three women unexpectedly connect with one another.

Aibileen has been a maid in numerous homes,practically raising most of the children in her care and at times,giving them the love and attention that their parents are incapable of doing. When we first meet her,she is two years into mourning the loss of her adult son,Treelore,a young man with ambitions of becoming a writer.



Minny is a good friend of Aibileen,mainly due to her strong loyalties to family and friends. Her skills as a top notch cook and housekeeper are undisputed but Minny's feisty nature and outspokenness prevents her from holding a job for very long. Her most recent enemy on that front is Miss Hilly Holbrook,the queen bee of the local ladies' League whose sweet exterior barely hides the vicious venom of her soul.



One of Miss Hilly's friends happens to be Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan,who has finally returned home from college and wanting more out of life than just getting married to the right sort of man. Skeeter has never quite fit in with her friends but her questioning nature drives her to consider the unspoken rules of their small world.

A major mystery to her is what happened to Constantine,her family's long time maid who was a second mother to Skeeter. By the time she finished school,Constantine was long gone and no one wants to tell her the straight story about that situation.

Skeeter comes up with a plan that catches the interest of a New York publishing executive,to write a book of interviews with black maids that tells the truth about their experiences working for white families. She approaches Aibileen first,who turns her down for awhile until agreeing to share her story and trying to recruit others as well.

Minny is especially hard to convince,mainly due to the very real fear of retribution. With civil rights marches,protests and the death of Medgar Evers a daily part of the news,the risk that's being run on both sides is a dead serious one:





Nevertheless,it's a local injustice perpetuated by Miss Hilly that spurs on other maids in town to join in on the secret book project. Even with the slim possibility of the book actually getting published,everyone feels that the effort is worth the trouble.

Change is in the air,particularly with the likes of To Kill a Mockingbird becoming a regular bedside reading staple.Each of the women have more than one motive in revealing the hidden life and times of maids-Skeeter,for one, hopes to find out the truth about Constantine.

Minny wants to get a lot of aggravation about the way things are off her chest and Aibileen is concerned about the influence she has on her newest charge,the daughter of one another of Skeeter's friends who is just learning about life and not getting much guidance or proper attention from her mother:



There's been a lot of controversy regarding this novel,mostly centered around the fact that the author is white and has her black characters speak in dialect.That really doesn't come across as a problem when you read this book;after all,differences in speech between characters are meant to reflect their background and it would ring false to have all of them talk the same way and style.



The Help is an addictive read,one of those classic stay-up-all-night-to finish-it books. While I didn't take it all in one sitting,I was awake until the wee small hours of a couple of mornings and had to force myself to go to bed. Not every book can do that for me but when it does,you know you have a great one in hand.

This story is not a merely a vehicle to discuss the civil rights movement in. It plunges right into the hearts of these women and the emotional obstacles in their path to personal freedom.

Minny's a formidable force of nature who has to handle an abusive husband while Aibileen is torn between her grief over Treelore and the connection she has to the little girl in her current care. Skeeter wants to be her own person but also please her disapproving mother and have the same kind of romantic relationship that all of her contemporaries seem to enjoy with ease.

This in depth development of the character's inner and outer turmoils elevates the story and makes it identifiable to readers of more than one generation and social status in life. The Help became a book club favorite for this reason and it's a book that does inspire talk in the best sense of the word:



While I don't know if The Help will achieve the same standing in literary history as To Kill a Mockingbird did,it is a noteworthy novel in the realm of Southern writing.

Hopefully,Kathryn Stockett will not follow Harper Lee's example and give us more books of the same caliber. I also hope that the film adaptation does the book justice,but even if it doesn't,The Help will still be standing on the shelves for a long time to come:

Will Bad Teacher truly earn it's F?

Just in time for the end of the school year in many places,Bad Teacher will be making it's debut at theaters this upcoming weekend. Cameron Diaz stars as Elizabeth,the title educator who is the foul mouthed terror of her classroom as well as the teachers' lounge.

Motivated by the need to earn enough cash to buy a pair of breast implants in order to snag a marriage proposal from the newly hired rich substitute teacher on staff( played by Justin Timberlake,I kid you not),Elizabeth embarks on a campaign to actually have her students get better grades on the next state exam.

With the help of reluctant friend Lynn(Phyllis Davies)and reluctantly in love with Elizabeth gym teacher Russell(Jason Segel), our heroine makes quite an impact on the whole educational system,to say the least.

While this movie might get a decent financial haul at the box office,I have serious doubts regarding the silly factor on hand. Diaz can do this kind of thing in her sleep and judging by the trailer,she's pretty much sleepwalking thru this part(red band trailer ahead,you have been warned):





The full responsibility for delivering a good comedy here isn't all on Diaz's shoulders,however. The whole plot seems overly convoluted and splattered with cartoon level raunchiness. The offbeat teacher genre is not as easy as it looks and there are many other films that offer plenty of lesson plans in that arena.

The 1984 film Teachers is more of a dark comedy with touches of social criticism mixed into the stew. Nick Nolte stars as one of the disillusioned teachers who finds himself getting more involved in his work as a lawsuit from a former student throws the sad status quo into question.

Other cynical players on the field include a vice principal determined to keep his ship of fools afloat as much as possible,a mental patient who passes for a history teacher(and actually does a good job)and a school shrink who loses her mind over a copy machine dispute. Quite a bit of biting commentary on high school there:





A much more lighthearted approach came about in 1987 with Summer School,starring Mark Harmon as a carefree gym teacher stuck working with a bunch of misfit students during his beloved vacation time.

He does try to make the most of his situation by romancing another teacher of a summer school class(Kirstie Alley)and letting the kids have some fun,which includes a screening of Texas Chain Saw Massacre.

Some of the film's fans hold out hope for a sequel or a remake but it's probably best to leave well enough alone. Such authentically amiable goofiness can not be replicated in the Hollywood of today:





The 1990s were no stranger to this genre and in '94, they gave us Renaissance Man where down on his luck ad man Bill Rago(Danny DeVito)gets a temp job as an English teacher for a troop of troubled Army recruits.

Bill not only takes flack from his resentful students,which include Mark Wahlberg,Kadeem Hardison and Stacey Dash,but also from a harsh drill sergeant(Gregory Hines)who thinks this class is a waste of time.

Bill is a fish out of water in more ways than one,between never having taught before and the strict rules of the military. However,he does find a means of connecting with his soldier students by giving them a more accessible route to the joys of Shakespeare. A pretty decent movie here that deserves an A for effort:





The most recent addition to the wacky teacher roster was 2004's School of Rock,which was also one of the better Jack Black leading man roles on screen to boot.

Black's charm and physical gags served him well as his character cons his way into teaching a private school class,posing as his more respectable substitute teacher buddy.

His scheme to use the musical talents of the kids to form a new band in order to enter a major competition works both for and against him,as these students are savvy enough to take him on but willing to follow his lead on their own terms. One of the best elements of this movie is how smartly written and acted it is,something that others in this field should watch and take notes on:





My recommendation for a better movie about teachers who think outside the box this season would be Larry Crowne,which opens up in early July.

Granted,I haven't seen this film but the plot and characters sound solid. Tom Hanks stars(plus co-wrote and directed) this story about a longtime chain store employee who signs up for community college courses in order to delay being downsized from his job.

Julia Roberts plays Mercedes Tainot, his speech class teacher who is bored with her academic routine yet allows Larry to breath a little fresh air into her work and personal life. The age range may not be as young and hip as Bad Teacher is aiming for but I suspect that in this case,true entertainment value can come from maturity,not to mention laughs:

When it comes to GaGa's Edge of Glory,less can be more

Last week,another new Lady Gaga video made it's debut and it drew attention not for it's outrageous content but for it's lack of shock value instead.

The Edge of Glory was written as a celebration of life as death approaches and according to Gaga,inspired by the decease of her grandfather. That alone tells me that taking a different tact to visualizing this song was inevitable for her.



Critics have said that the video is very retro 1980s in style,with GaGa dancing around the deserted streets of a NYC locale and at times on a fire escape with legendary sax man Clarence Clemons(rest in peace,good sir)being the only other person present.

Personally, I think the song is strong enough to be showcased in a more stripped down setting and that it's subtly subversive to see GaGa strutting around a brownstone in an outfit that's fit for riding with the Dothraki warriors from Game of Thrones:





Of course,Lady GaGa is not the first flamboyant performer to release a simple music video that doesn't have a ton of bells and whistles attached to it. Her unofficial muse Madonna did that quite a few times,especially in the early days of her video career.

One of the more memorably mild Madonna videos was 1983's Burning Up,which did sprinkle a few little literal gimmicks such as a hard to open door and a group shot of eyes. However,it's best known for watching the future Material Girl emote her heart out in a driveway:





When it came to strange videos,The Eurythmics were certainly no slouches in that department. Even in her solo outings,lead singer Annie Lennox was the queen of bizarre imagery for music videos such as Walking on Broken Glass and Love Song for a Vampire.

Here Comes the Rain Again,a truly haunting tune from 1984,may seem to be elaborate due to it's setting and costumes. Yet when you break it down,all you have is Annie wandering around an island while her band mate David Stewart follows her from a distance with a camera. It kind of looks like a Gothic reality show,if you think about it:





Sinead O'Connor debut single,Nothing Compares to U,was very effective in focusing on the singer's beautiful vocals rather than her shaved skull appearance. In the video for the song,her shaven head takes on an angelic stance as the lack of hair draws attention to the delicate features of her face.

It was awhile before folks realized the fiery spirit that laid beneath the surface of Sinead's seemingly calm composure. She won Best Female Video at the MTV awards in 1990 for this graceful composition of grace notes:






Don't get me wrong,folks-I like a good over the top Lady GaGa video and I'm in no doubt that we'll see plenty of them when all is said and done. What made me a fan of hers,however,was her voice and the emotional resonance that it can bring forth on command and is it so bad to have a video that lets her show her greatest strength there?

I come from a time where imaging the visuals for a song was standard(for me,at least)due to catching it on the radio and I can still do that today. While there are some amazing videos out there,many of us would agree that what's playing in our heads as the song rolls on can be way better that what is actually onscreen.

So, don't lament the low key antics for the official Edge of Glory video. After all, you can check out the live performances(such as the American Idol one)online and debate which one you would've expanded upon for the actual video. Better yet,you can just enjoy the song,period,in all of it's lyrical splendor:

A Triple Threat Weekend with The Whitest Kids U Know

Hi,folks-today,my sister Stephanie will be holding the reins here,as she gives her account of an event she attended last week in NYC,where one of her favorite comedy ensembles,The Whitest Kids U Know,did a live performance,panel discussion and a screening of their film,The Civil War on Drugs. So,lucky me,I get to sit back and relax as she shares some of the fun with us:



Last weekend was the weekend of weekends for me. The weekend I'd been looking forward to ever since it was all announced. Since 2007, my favorite show has been The Whitest Kids U' Know.

If you've been reading T's blog for a while you've probably have seen some of their sketches she's peppered in past posts. She even once blogged about our experience at a live TV taping for the show.

On Friday (that's today!), their TV series on IFC will play its foul mouthed swan song at 10:30 pm est. (check local listings)

So as part of this, there was a screening of their film, "Civil War On Drugs" at the 92y Tribeca ( and the next night at Sketchfest NYC as a surprise secret midnight screening). Along with that were Q&A sessions and a moderated panel on Saturday. I will attempt as best as I can to review and report my Triple Threat Weekend as I dubbed it, so bear with this Jr. baby cub blogger:

(photo credit to 92yTribeca)

92y Tribeca Screening + Q&A - Thursday 6/9/11

I've seen them perform here live before in 2008. Memories abound!

Prior to the actual screening, all 5 members came on stage to do quick sketches at request. The first was Slow Jerk, a perennial favorite amongst the fanbase as well as YouTube itself.

For the next sketch they faked out the crowd into thinking they'd do a total improv sketch by having people shout out words. With much selective hearing, Motorcycle Mamas was performed with a slight twist to the end. A rather twisted twist, but I'll leave it at that.




Onto the movie. For their fifth and final season, the film has been chopped into 10 parts and tacked onto the last half of each new episode. So its half sketches, and half movie which in the context of the season almost plays out like a serial or a miniseries.

Mind you, a miniseries with selective censoring. (since IFC now has sponsors, they've been cutting out f bombs left and right, a new policy that's extremely unfavorable especially in online circles) It was nice to see CWOD without interruption and bad words intact. IFC has their censored version up here.




For the uninitiated, Civil War On Drugs is a historical fiction stoner comedy of sorts. The main characters, Trevor and Sam are played by...Trevor (Moore) and Sam (Brown). The two are lifelong friends from opposite backgrounds who are introduced to marijuana by a slave brought over from Jamaica.

This is all right around when the war/secession begins, and in their hazed state, believe that the war is all about the illegalities of the plant. You don't necessarily have to be 420 friendly in order to appreciate the humor in the film, though. It is rife with layers and grand exaggerations that to a fan (especially) would be spotted out quickly as their signature style.

There were some minor technical snafus as right near the end it cut out. Bummer in the summer. But as it was being fixed, the troupe decided to do the q&a a bit earlier than expected, at least until all systems were go again.

The ending we were shown was a rough cut with a time code, which actually made it seem more special. We were seeing most of the meat slapped onto the skeleton. I guess it's kinda like when you come across unreleased demos of a band you like, only they themselves presented it to you in lieu of a tech glitch.

(photo credit to 92yTribeca)


A majority of the Q&A dealt with how the film was made, how they started out, favorite seasons, etc. Someone asked if they've ever tried peyote (since the characters do in the movie). They all said no, and in return asked if anyone in the crowd did. Sure enough, a lucky volunteer was brought up front to recount his experience, to the best of his knowledge.

What I learned from that: Apparently you will inexplicably wake up in New Jersey, but it is "fucking awesome". (Prior to that answer, Trevor asked him "So what would your Yelp review be on this?")

Another query posed to the guys was "Favorite stoner movie?", which was met with much inappropriate responses (Zach:"Schindler's Motherfuckin' List!" Sam:"Sophie's Choice!!" Darren:"The Pianist!"). Comedy options aside, "Dazed and Confused" and "The Big Lebowski" were name checked.

The film was shot in a matter of 3 weeks in the summer of 2010 in upstate New York. Most of the crew were extras, who were also in the audience. I have to say, not just as a diehard fan, that within the short period of time they really made it look spectacular. The group said that no studio would take this on because they didn't feel that period comedies would be viable. Welp, their loss.




Sketchfest NYC Live Show & Secret Screening - Friday 6/10/11

The next night, we went to the UCB Theater for their live set at Sketchfest. For my friends/travel companions this was their first show. For me, counting last night, it would be the 6th. I go hard in the paint whenever they come to the city. A majority of the sketches were from Season 1, with a little bit of each season thrown in as well. It also marked the first time they've performed the infamous "Grapist" sketch live, which was partially incorporated with the TV version:



"Line Leader", one of Lady T's personal faves, is also a staple in their live performances. It gets pretty messy but the message rings loud and clear. One of many examples:



It just so happened that later on, there was a "Secret Screening" scheduled for midnight, and we found out the day before that it was "Civil War On Drugs" (had a feelin'!). So we got to see it again, this time the way it was meant to be seen. Still as good as every time. With any movie you pick up more and more things you didn't see before, and this was no exception.

Last year the movie was still being made and hinted at what it would be about. Behind the scenes pictures popped up on the members' respective Facebook accounts. I gotta admit though, the moment I heard the title I initially groaned a bit. Alas, book, cover, judge, all that. I've really warmed up to it since then. Characters are hilarious, lots of quotable lines.




Sketchfest NYC Panel - Saturday 6/11/11

The finale of our Triple Threat Weekend was topped off with a moderated Q&A panel hosted by a member of the Onion AV Club. Topics stressed were their beginnings as a college club in the School of Visual Arts. It was initially comprised of more than 5 people and was eventually whittled down to what you see now, as they branched out and became their own thing.

Also the subject of success/fame was brought up. At times it often got extremely awkward for Darren Trumeter, as he is best known for (besides playing a majority of the female roles throughout the series) another infamous YouTube hit, "Slow Jerk". Kids on the subway would spot him and emulate the aforementioned gesture in the sketch seen here:



Zach Cregger, well known for playing Abraham Lincoln throughout the series as well as the movie itself (spoiler whoops), takes pride in the show having cult status, as he himself was always drawn to the more esoteric aspects of pop culture. Paraphrasing, he stated that he'd rather be 10 people's first favorite thing than 100 people's tenth favorite.



Near the end, the floor was open to the audience. Someone who is also trying their hand in sketch comedy asked for advice, which they gave in abundance. Mainly perseverance and trial & error. As a fledgling freelance comic book artist, I can attest to this as transcendent solid advice.

All in all, it was a great experience and well worth every penny I spent throughout. This makes a grand total of 7 shows/appearances I've seen. Growing up I'd always been exposed to sketch comedy and it was kind of like a tradition in our household.

My family would watch Kids In The Hall, The State, SNL, and Mr. Show together. But I was still a kid then and I never really got the chance to actually interact one on one in real life with anyone from those shows.

The Whitest Kids U Know is and was the shot in the arm that sketch comedy needed in the new millennium. And I'm not just blowing smoke up anyone's ass about this. The YouTube view counts don't lie. And despite the crude nature of the series, none of the members are anything like the awful characters they portray.



In fact, it's quite the opposite. Night and day. Really sweet guys, always friendly and accommodating to fans (myself included). With that and the combo of social networking, they're possibly the first sketch troupe to actually interact online with fans as the show airs in real time, aka live chats.

It's been a tradition of theirs even before they had a proper chat room venue. Their dedication to their fan base as well as their craft is exceptional in my eyes.

They will still be performing and writing as the WKUK, as well as venturing into separate projects. As one door shuts, another opens. Either way, the show will be missed greatly but will live on in many forms. Thanks for the ride, dudes. Catch ya on the flip side:



Thank you,Stephanie,for giving me and my readers a special look at this wonderful Whitest Kids event,including your photos and marvelous insight.

My sister happens to be an excellent graphic artist,whose work can be seen on a weekly basis in the online action packed graphic novel,Perfect Agent,written by Greg Carter. Granted, I may be slightly biased but you can see for yourself the quality of her artistry and I hope that such talent will be appreciated in my lifetime(shameless plug and sister love).

A double down for the Next Food Network Star,the TC Masters finale and dealing with the Ned Stark Situation

The third season finale of Top Chef Masters
gave the remaining three chefs the standard last challenge of this series,which is to cook the meal of your life. The first course would be based on a childhood memory and the second on the food moment that made him/her want to make cooking their career.

However,a new twist was introduced for the last course. Each chef have to draw a knife to see which of the critics on the Judges' panel they would have to make that person's most memorable meal. Gael Greene joined James Oselund and Ruth Reichl for this round and I was glad to see her and those crazy hats she loves to wear back again.



Mary Sue has been on a strong winning streak,so she was an odds-on favorite to do well here. She started things off with an steak tartare,since those were a regular feature at the Christmas Eve dinners she had while growing up.

It was made with Asian flavors,including pear that one of the special guests to the big meal(Judge Tom from Top Chef)felt that it needed to be diced up a little more.



While her middle course of shrimp and pasta received mixed reviews,her dish for Ruth Reichl was a major league hit. Ruth's choice was lemon souffle,a treat she first tasted on her first trip to Paris.

Mary Sue not only made a souffle,she added to the plate a lemon hazelnut meringue,rhubarb compote and lemon ice cream that was whipped up with liquid nitrogen. Everyone swooned over that plate of sweetness and Ruth proclaimed it to be "heaven."



Traci's childhood dish was shrimp creole,like her grandfather used to make only with a modern day upgrade. Her version was done in a deconstructed manner,which the diners did delight in.



The roasted quail salad that Traci made for her second course did please Gael Greene somewhat but the favorite meal of Gael's that she was supposed to make wound up with a "thumbs up,thumbs down" reception. Gael requested fried duck with Bearnaise sauce,similar to what she ate on her honeymoon.

Traci made duck two ways,a salad with braised duck leg and the other with the sauce. Gael enjoyed the second style of duck and found the meat in the salad to be dry and tough.



Floyd had a early setback,as rain and traffic cut down on his prep time for the finale but he managed to pull through that challenge rather well. His childhood course was upma polenta,a savory snack that he refined with wild mushrooms and coconut milk. Despite it's seeming simplicity,the dish did get some love from the crowd.



His second course of rice crusted snapper didn't sit well with everyone but his meal for James Oselund was a real heart warmer. James asked for rendang,a meat dish that he discovered on his first trip to Southeast Asia. Floyd was worried about having enough time to braise the oxtail,especially after losing most of his prep time.

One of the main things that James stressed about the dish was being able to taste the soulfulness of it and Floyd may not have added a lot of spice but the heart was there in every mouthful.



With that last course,Floyd became the winner of this season. Congrats to him and to his charity,The Young Scientist Cancer Research Fund,which will get the hundred grand cash prize. Floyd may not have won many of the challenges during this competition but he won the one that mattered the most.



The Next Food Network Star had a double elimination in it's second week,sending home Juba right after the first challenge of the day. Each contender had to make a pizza that represented their point of view and present it on camera.

Juba has had problems with talking on camera from the start and his shaky performance combined with a pizza crust that didn't fully bake sealed the deal for him to be let go. He seems like a nice enough guy,maybe he'll have better luck next time.



The main challenge was a team one,and Penny as the winner of the first round got to choose up the teams and decide which theme dish they had to simplify for the home cook. The themes were expensive ingredients,time management and complex techniques and they had to be cooked and served to a panel of Food Network notables such as Anne Burrell,Scot Conant and the Neelys.

Penny had hoped to knock out early favorite Orchid by placing her with a team of fellas and while she did take a few steps back,Penny's plan did not succeed on that level. She did earn a small victory by putting Katy on her team where her flaws were exposed to the judges there.

Katy's lack of focus is what truly did her in and it's just as well. Next week,Duff Goldman will show up for a dessert challenge that should be sweet for some and sour for others:





Normally at this point,I would just go into my usual Game of Thrones recap but seeing as the reaction to the execution of Lord Stark in the last episode has caused many of the fans to lose faith in the show, we need to deal with this Ned Stark Situation right now.

Since I read the first book in the Song of Ice and Fire series before the show began,I knew that this moment was coming and yet,it was still sad to see poor Ned Stark sell his honor short in order to protect his daughters and perhaps prevent a war.

Unfortunately,like many a good man before him,Lord Eddard put his faith and neck in the hands of those who hold those values to be signs of weakness and paid the ultimate price for it:





This sad development was greeted with shock,naturally,by those who haven't read the books and many have expressed feelings of betrayal by killing off someone who they considered to be the main character(particularly due to Sean Bean being cast in the role). Some have even said that they no longer want to watch GOT and before anyone makes such a rash decision,let me point a few things out here:

1) There is no "main character" in Game of Thrones. Do not be lead astray by casting choices. This is a story with multiple points of view,with the only constant being that damn Iron Throne that all and sundry strive to claim.

2) There are major characters,of which Ned Stark was one, and their stories will continue on. Ned's death sparks off a whole host of serious consequences that throw the entire kingdom of Westeros into utter chaos and cause many of his family and allies to make hard and fast choices about where their destines ultimately lie.

3)One of the best signs that you're involved in a good story is that anyone can die at any time. As a Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan, this came up quite a bit. Yet, Joss Whedon always made such sad departures some of the best moments of the series and didn't let a little thing killing off Buffy to stop the show.

Have faith,my friends. It will take time to avenge Lord Eddard Stark but it shall happen,one way or another. You really don't want to miss the finale this Sunday because if you think that nothing more could surprise you here,you are in for such sights to behold that will keep the buzz going well into next year:



RANDOM NOTES:

THE TONY AWARDS: This season of Broadway earned several awards for South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone,as their first big musical Book of Mormon took home nine wins,including Best Musical and Original Score. Congrats,guys and I believe in your continued future on stage.

Neil Patrick Harris did a great hosting job,as always,and why can't he host everything,seriously? Not just a guest spot on the Oscars,give him the whole show,please!:

Which version has the most True Grit?

With the home video release of the celebrated 2010 remake of True Grit this week,I was finally able to see what all of the fuss was about regarding both films.

Awhile ago, I did watch the original 1969 adaptation of Charles Portis' novel,which is best known for John Wayne's award-winning performance as Rooster Cogburn,the cranky yet capable one-eyed Marshall recruited by young Mattie Ross(Kim Darby)to hunt down her father's killer.

As an initial introduction to this tale of old school vengeance in the Old West,the first take on it is certainly engaging,with a lot of John Wayne's crusty charms on display here. Glen Campbell as the pompous Texas ranger LaBoeuf comes across at times as the straight man for Wayne's antics as well as Darby's prim tough talk.

You do find yourself wrapped up in the search for the killer Tom Chaney which is meant to be Mattie's rite of passage into an adult world that she seems to be more than prepared(which many of the people she encounters find disconcerting). However, this edition of True Grit was clearly intended to be a star vehicle for John Wayne and on that level,it succeeds:





Wayne's performance was so popular with audiences that a sequel of sorts was made in 1975 called Rooster Cogburn with Katherine Hepburn as his co-star. A made for TV sequel was created a few years after that,casting Warren Oates as Rooster,which ended the ride for that character.

As much as I enjoyed the first True Grit,you could tell that this was a traditionally compromised Hollywood adaptation,not only to showcase Wayne's signature cowboy style but to suit the sensibilities of it's target audience back in those times. As beloved as it is,that taste of True Grit would've won more hearts if the filmmakers had dared to be a little more authentic:





When news of a new version from the Coen brothers arrived early on in 2010,people were lined up to see how well Jeff Bridges would measure up to John Wayne as Rooster. Folks were taken aback,however,and pleasantly so at Hailee Steinfeld's turn as Mattie Ross,the true star of this show.

Joel and Ethan Coen,to their credit,chose to stay closer to the source material and in the novel,Mattie is the main driving force of the story. Steinfeld more than holds her own with the likes of Bridges, Matt Damon and Josh Brolin,she commands attention from the minute she appears onscreen.

Her combination of steady determination and subtle emotional resonance is what earned her that Oscar nomination and I won't be surprised to see her up again for an Academy Award but this time in the Lead Actress category.

Kim Darby's rendition of Mattie is nicely done but there are touches of cloying sweetness that slip in and one scene where she gets hysterical when caught in a natural trap that borders on annoying. Thankfully, Stanfield's Mattie is allowed to be stronger as well as vulnerable at times without watering down her true nature.



As for Jeff Bridges,he makes Rooster his own with his usual mix of laid back attitude and man on a mission stance. Matt Dillon does have a bit of the goofiness that LaBoeuf is known for but he is far better able to reveal the deep down sincerity of the character than Glen Campbell was in his debut role.

Overall,the tone of the newer True Grit is grimmer and way more down to earth than it's predecessor,which gives it a sharp distinction from the typical remake. This approach seems to work well with Westerns such as the 2007 revival of 1957's 3:10 To Yuma showed us and if you're going to do a remake,finding a different way to spin that story is a smart move,not to mention more artistic:



So,which one has the real true grit? No offense to John Wayne fans but this is one of those rare times in which the remake is superior to the original. The 1969 edition is worth watching,particularly if you've never seen a John Wayne movie but the one that I would want to see again is the Coen brothers' version.

That film has a firmer foundation for what the Western genre strives to be as time goes on and it's definitely the one you wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of. Hopefully,this will herald an age of sharply tuned tales that also let the ladies take their place as well as their aim at the center of the spotlight: