Growing up we were big board game fans. One of our favorites was Clue and we played it often and never grew tired of its endless “WHODUNNIT” variations.
Back in 1985, the game inspired the movie Clue and then in 2017, the movie inspired the play Clue, Live on Stage. So, when Barbara was lucky enough to win the option to buy two box tickets, it was off to the Winspear Opera House in Dallas.
The gist of the play is that six guests are invited to Boddy Manor for a night they’ll never forget – and an evening we won’t soon forget either. We expected to enjoy ourselves, but we didn’t anticipate being totally blown away by the antics, the acting, the humor, the puns and the amazing physical comedy that had us laughing out loud. Plus, the cleverness of the revolving stage and the characters lining up and marching to the next set were delightful. Truly a 5-star experience!
Have you ever heard of Uyghur cuisine? We hadn’t so we decided to give this restaurant in Plano a try. Uyghur cuisine is described as a “delicious “Silk Road” fusion of Central Asian, Middle Eastern, and Northern Chinese flavors” which was news to us as we thought it was just another Chinese regional cuisine. We tried two of the “must try” dishes: Laghman and Polo. We split a portion of Laghman and are not sure if they gave us a larger amount but we each had a full plate of that super delicious dish of hand-pulled noodles topped with stir-fried beef and vegetables like bell peppers, onions, and tomatoes. The waitress brought us a complimentary sample of the polo which is rice pilaf slowly simmered in oil and lamb broth with carrots and tender meat, and some smattering of fruit. Lastly, we tried the gash nan which was a deep-fried beef dumpling; good but not as good as the Laghman.
New and old ice cream flavors: Unfortunately for us, Tongue in Cheek Ice Cream (see L previous post) opened another location, this time very close to Laura and close enough to Barbara to be very tempting. They were so good the last time we tried them, that we went in to see if they had any “M” flavors and we were in luck. Laura loved their Mint Chip and Barbara, since their Lemon Cream Pie was delicious, tried the Mango Cream Pie and was in heaven!
New movie: “FULL METAL JACKET”
War films are not typically within our movie universe, but we were curious about the 1987 film Full Metal Jacket – most likely because it was directed and produced by Stanley Kubrick. (Plus, as a minor factor, Laura’s son Matthew was nicknamed Bodine by Barbara’s late husband after the actor Matthew Modine, the star of this film.)
The film is divided into two halves. The first concerns itself with training camp and really brings out how the recruits are stripped of their identity – through shaving off their hair and often giving them nicknames. This primes them to being trained for combat and being bullied by their abusive drill instructor whose horrific insults to the men sometimes caused us to both cringe and grimace. An overweight and mentally slow character is particularly brutalized and definitely defines this first half of the film. Actual combat makes up the second half. This was harsh but we didn’t feel as emotional as we had expected, probably because we weren’t particularly attached to any of the characters. Overall, it was an interesting film but not a favorite.
Learning Center: MARINES
A lot of us can sing or certainly hum the MARINES HYMN (Barbara tried again and got almost all the words right). But did you know that a road can sing that song? According to the Encyclopedia Brittanica, in 2023 the city of Palmdale, California, created a “musical road” in honor of R. Lee Ermey, who did such a great portrayal of the hard-nosed Marine sergeant in Full Metal Jacket. When a car drives over the specially designed grooved pavement at 45 mph, the road plays the “Marines’ Hymn.”
Laura has always loved muffins but Barbara, like the Elaine character in Seinfeld, is fonder of the muffin top (except for her own personal one!). So we decided to try our hands at baking a cranberry brie muffin. Sounds delicious, right? Well, it was awful! They looked good but tasted so bland that we wound up tossing the whole batch. We did give ourselves a consolation prize of an ice cream pop, so the afternoon wasn’t a total loss.
LEARNING CENTER
A MUFFIN MENACE
Do you know the muffin man? Well, you’re probably familiar with the nursery rhyme that asks this very question. But did you know that back in the 16th century, an urban legend was born that swears the muffin man was actually a serial killer who lured children away by enticing them with his baked goods?
The famous nursery rhyme was created to warn the public of this nasty man. He was Frederic Thomas Lynwood, also known as the Drury Lane Dicer. Since he lived in London, the muffins mentioned were more like what we know as English muffins, rather than the sweet treats we Americans adore.
While this may be an interesting bit of trivia, there is no record of a muffin man killer. The actual origins of the muffin man was most likely the Wikipedia parody site Uncyclopedia, posted in 2007 and then cleaned up by removing the serial killer aspects.
So, rest assured you can eat your muffins safely – as long as they’re not the above Cranberry Brie ones!
This month we decided to try our hand at another art format, the mandala. But first we needed to understand what that art form really is about.
Mandalas are known for their aesthetic appeal, as they are mesmerizing intricate designs. They date back thousands of years and are said to symbolize harmony, balance, and wholeness, making them much more than beautiful patterns.
When we first looked at a picture of a mandala, it seemed like if you could draw straight and curvy lines you would be able to do this artwork relatively easily. But we soon found out how wrong we were. Our first shot at it was doing it alongside a YouTube video which didn’t give us a lot of time to perfect our technique. Each of us thought our attempt missed the mark and we might try doing it again without time pressure.
Here is what mandalas should look like:
Here are ours:
…which only proves that we lack balance and harmony and should not give up our day jobs!
Barbara: I’ve always loved Irish music and dancing and luckily my guy enjoys it too so I had no trouble convincing him to join me for a performance of Celtic Throne.
This performance was excellent and it was quite different from other Celtic dance shows I’ve seen as it incorporated not only Irish dance but flips, gymnastics, martial arts, and stick fighting. The troop cast ranged in age from early elementary school as young as 7 to young adults. So much fun seeing a stage of kids already having learned the high stepping and tap of Irish dancing. Plus watching the men dance and simulating a fight while wielding and spinning large sticks left me wondering just how many times they had to practice till they didn’t smack each other with the sticks. It was pretty darn impressive. Now I’m off to go through all my old CDs and find the one I got in an Irish pub in Dublin!
We love dumplings so it was fated that there was a place we hadn’t yet tried, beginning with the letter “K”. Kitchen Master in Plano was a great find. We shared the chicken soup dumplings, the pork and shrimp soup dumplings and an appetizer of scallion pancakes – all of which were delicious. We both felt like dumplings when we walked out!
New ice creamery: Tongue in Cheek
Then because we weren’t full enough, we went to Tongue in Cheek Ice Cream to try some “L” flavors. Honey Lavender Blueberry was not our thing, but the Lemon Cream Pie was the bomb! The place was started by Brett Smith, a retired firefighter “with a passion for good food and a sarcastic wit.” He was proud to have served the city of Richardson as a firefighter for 25 years and then he decided it was time to take off his helmet, grab an ice cream churn and “serve” in a different way. Their motto is:
SERVING SARCASM ONE SCOOP AT A TIME
So, we looked up the term “tongue in cheek.” Although it now means an ironic or sarcastic remark meant to be humorous rather than literal, thrusting one’s tongue into the cheek to create a bulge started as an actual physical gesture. Dating back to 1748, it was primarily used to express contempt, mockery, or sly derision towards someone and said to have originated as a way for an actor to show that what he said was meant to be funny or sarcastic. So, the next time someone doesn’t laugh at what you meant to be funny, stick your tongue in your cheek. Just the thought of seeing someone do that would get a laugh out of us!
We’ve been very lazy this month and didn’t do as many K & L activities as we would have liked so we are cramming a bunch of random activities in this one post.
New activity – The Art of Silkscreen Printing
Barbara: I frequently check the Dallas Museum of Art for exhibits I’m interested in. This month they have an exhibit on Silkscreen Printing called: X Marks the Spot: Contemporary Screenprinting at Brand X Editions. I knew nothing about this type of art and was hesitating until I saw one of the artists was named Alex Katz (my surname) and there would also be a panel talk on it offered to DMA members – so off I went.
This exhibit was fascinating to me. When I looked at the art, I had no idea how much work went into its making. For example, one of the artworks by Rashid Johnson looked like a large mosaic and while I could probably see maybe a dozen colors it actually had probably 20 times that many.
One of my favorite pictures shown below had 25 colors of ink while it looked to me like maybe 5 if I stretched.
I can’t begin to explain the process of screen printing but one thing that struck me was how much work the studios had to do to accomplish the vision of the artist. For example, during the talk we learned of an artist who came in with a picture of a few orbs and had a vision of making them some shade of blue. The studio worked on the inks and came up with varying shades of different colors, including blue. It took them a whole lot of hours to do so. The artist wound up choosing the blue shade. I summoned up my courage up to ask a question of the panel which was why their “architect” did not receive credit. In other words, when I see a painting “by” Picasso, he chose the design and mixed the colors to get what he wanted. So if an artist creates the design but has someone else create the colors, why isn’t the art labeled “by” both the artist and the architect? They explained it away but I could tell the panelist kind of agreed with me. In any case, I highly recommend the exhibit.
New Activity: Louisiana: Food and Film
Louisiana restaurant: New Orleans Crab Shack
When we think of Louisiana, food comes to mind, especially Cajun munchies. However, since both of us avoid “spicy” foods, we thought we’d try a shrimp po-boy. The shrimp was fried and tasty – especially when dipped in their cocktail sauce. However, since a po-boy is traditionally served on a crisp French roll, our roll was quite hard and therefore difficult to eat it as a sandwich. So, we just ate the shrimp and enjoyed our sweet potato fries. The food was tasty and the young guys who were working there were friendly and attentive. However, what made our outing memorable was looking into the history of the po-boy (which started out as the poor boy sandwich).
Po-boys can be found throughout Louisiana and are said to represent the cornerstone of New Orleans cuisine and a proud working-class ethic. Created in 1929 by the brothers Bennie and Clovis Martin, the sandwich was popular with streetcar drivers and motormen. When their union went on strike, their plight was made easier when the Martin Brothers decided to give away the sandwiches free to the strikers. It is said then when a striking union member entered the restaurant, Benny would call to his brother, “Here comes another poor boy!”
Louisiana film: Steel Magnolias
Laura: This 1989 film was a comedy/drama whose plot revolves around the friendship of a tightly knit group of women, who spend a lot of time gossiping at the beauty parlor owned by one of them. Their antics and dialogue were delightful and funny -so many great one-liners! But the movie’s laughs give way to tears as tragedy takes over. The film takes place in Natchitoches, Louisiana and put that city on the map – leading to a Steel Magnolia tour that still is active today. I liked the film, but what I really liked was having all those great actresses in one film: Sally Fields, Julia Roberts (her first film), Dolly Parton, Shirley MacLaine, Daryl Hannah and Olympia Dukakis. That’s the true strength of this movie in my opinion. Plus, the title was right-on! A steel magnolia is a woman who exemplifies both traditional femininity as well as uncommon fortitude (Wiktionary) – one who faces adversity with poise, grace and dignity.
New activity: REMOTE TRAVEL THROUGH FILM TO KENYA
Barbara: We both tried to find a restaurant with Kenyan food but most of the nearby African restaurants featured food from Nigeria or Ethiopia so instead I watched a movie that took place in Kenya. The Constant Gardner is based on a novel by John Le Carré and tells the story of a bureaucrat in Kenya whose wife discovers a money motivated tragedy taking place there and the resulting consequences for them both. It certainly did not make me want to visit Kenya although what happened in the movie could well happen in less fortunate areas in the United States. As a movie it was good, but at several points I wanted to shout at the screen “just go home” at several points. I guess I just couldn’t be as selfless as the main characters were.
Since it’s K/L month, we were excited to find that there’s a park in Frisco called Kaleidoscope Park and more so that it was having a Local Vendor Market. We love going to farmers markets in different cities, so we had high hopes for the outing.
As it turned out the park itself offered a fun playground for children, but the vendors market left a lot to be desired. If we had little kids with us, it would have been ok since most of the items for sale were little girl bracelets and furry toys, etc., but as it was, the only thing of interest to us was homemade jam.
So that it wouldn’t be a total loss, we tried Local Creamery. Again, a disappointment. The flavors weren’t very flavorful, and nothing really set it apart from the crowd.
Oh well. You win some, you lose some. But at least it got us out of the house, trying new things and socializing – – which is what our ABC life is all about.
LEARNING CENTER
By the way, did you know how the name “kaleidoscope” was put together? It was created by the Greek words that describe exactly what it does:
Kalos = beautiful
Eidos = form
Scopos = watcher
Put them together we have kaleidoscope – beautiful form watcher
Between unforeseen circumstances and just plain laziness, it’s been a while since we posted. So, we are starting out with food (naturally).
New restaurant: Keke’s Breakfast Café
We always enjoy a good breakfast and it seems like every month a new place we haven’t tried is brought to our attention. So we grabbed our friend, Kathy, and went to Keke’s to see how it held up. Barbara enjoyed her French toast with fruit because they put a load of it on top of the toast but the toast itself wasn’t that flavorful. Laura’s pancake was quite big but not very tasty either and her cheesy grits, which we usually both love, were very bland. All in all, with so many breakfast places out there we will not be returning.
New restaurant: Layne’s Chicken Fingers
We’ve passed this restaurant in Allen many times and wondered about it, so this time we stopped in. The first thing we noticed as we pulled into the parking lot was a notice on the door. We would have thought they went out of business, but there were a bunch of cars in the lot. When we got to the door we saw this (which put a smile on our faces):
Like some other restaurants do, Layne’s had signs showing the places where their chicken fingers are located. The last sign read: “Mike’s Mother’s House.” We also noticed a whole bunch of little drawings on the wall. This is because when they opened in 1994, they gave paper tickets to the customers when they ordered. Some of those customers would doodle or sketch on them so they kept the ones they thought were the best and now they have a whole wall of them.
We ordered the chicken fingers meal and a shake and it did not disappoint. We will definitely be back when we want some good finger lickin’ chicken.
We’ve often wondered how those jugglers do it. Barbara can barely catch one ball, let alone keep three in the air constantly in motion. But how hard could it be? VERY, as we found out. Armed with 3 rolled up sock balls each, we found a good beginners’ video and started to juggle. Between trying to keep the balls in the air and laughing, you could easily say we got an F-. But we definitely had fun. Plus, we learned a few fun facts about juggling:
Ancient Chinese warriors used to juggle their swords to intimidate their enemies. (We too were very intimidating. Anyone watching us would be inclined to stay away, but maybe not for the same reason 😊)
The record for juggling is 11 balls
Considering all the various things people juggle, it’s only fitting that the patron saint of jugglers is St. Julian the Hospitaller
New experiences keep your life fresh and interesting – a constant stream of discoveries. So the sisters are having fun with the ABC Life – an orderly way to expand our lives with fun places to visit and fascinating things to do, read, eat and experience. The ABC Life is where you do as many things within a month that you can – starting with a specific letter.
The ABC Life Blog 