Chicken Caesar Review: Burrito Gallery

One of the nice side effects of all the Super Bowl hoopla was the opening of new businesses downtown in an effort to revitalize the area. One of these was the eclectic Burrito Gallery, conveniently located right across the street from my library. Their Chicken Caesar, which costs $6.95, includes romaine hearts, blackened chicken breast, regiano cheese and chipolte caesar dressing.

Two things struck me as I dug into this Caesar. First, this is a very basic, low carb salad, without any croutons or bread. Second, the quality that makes this salad distinctive is the chipolte, which is a jalapeno pepper that has been smoked. While the chicken breast is juicy and the lettuce fresh, it is the peppery taste that is the dominant flavor. In fact, it completely drowns out the tastes of the shredded cheese. This is not to berate the salad, mind you, but is a warning for those that might not want such a spicy dish.

Nobody is going to say that this salad is boring, but it is also not what most people would see as a traditional Chicken Caesar salad. Indulge in this one only if you're looking for something new.

All Pope, All the Time.

This is going to be my last post on the recently deceased John Paul. I found myself in a very interesting place at the time the Pope passed this mortal realm. A kind of place that I haven't been in since I last visited Scotland back in 2000.

I was in a Catholic Church.

This was completely by coincidence. One of Mrs. Mosley's oldest and dearest friends was getting married on Saturday, and we were there for the ceremony. It started at 2pm and ended at about 2:30. So, you could say that they exchanged their vows within minutes of the Pope's passing. There really isn't anything to this. It's not like this means their marriage is cursed or anything. Just a bit of really weird timing.

The church itself was very tastefully appointed with none of the ostentation that the sect is historically known for. However, I couldn't help but stare at the altar, which was made out of marble or polished stone and was about eight to ten feet long. I couldn't help thinking of a sacrificial slab every time I looked at it. I'm not well versed in the specific trappings of Catholicism, so I'm wondering if anyone out there knows the history behind this kind of altar design?

And that's it for Pope John Paul II, may he Rest in Peace. Tomorrow, I'll have something far more mundane like a Chicken Caesar review. Until then.

Because it's easier than remembering the URL

May I present The Man in Blue. It's a great little utility, and one that I will be using to color coordinate "La-La Land" later on. Enjoy.

A Sunday Afternoon Quickie

No, not that kind of a quickie, you pervs. Google News presented me with this "top headline" as I logged in today:

President, first lady attend church near White House

I believe Arthur's bath was more newsworthy.

All kidding aside, I know this is specifically in reference to the death of the Pope, but two points I want to make about this: First, doesn't Bush go to church every Sunday? And second, since this is specifically about what happened yesterday, you'd think they would mention the Pope in the headline to give it the correct context.

Ah, screw it. It's Sunday. I'm not supposed to be thinking this much. I'm getting some lunch. See you folks tomorrow.

"This is the Today show on NBC...aaaannnnndddd cue the drunken monks."

So Matt Lauer is reporting live from the Vatican this morning as updates on what could be the Pope's final days here on earth come in. As he goes to commercial, the camera shows us some random Italian architecture visible from where Matt sits and plays some Latin opera that sounds all liturgical and stuff. More on this in a moment.

Now, although I enjoy a good opera, I am far from an expert on the subject. However, there was one opera that I really got into and listened to over and over about a dozen years ago. It's called Carmina Burana by Carl Orff and is probably one of the more recognized operas here in the states. This is no doubt due to its usage in such varied places as the movie Excalibur and in some NFL commercials a few years back.

The story of the opera is an interesting one. Orff based his opera on a series of songs and poems that were penned by a group of young clergy students in the 1200's. The content of the material is best summed up by Wikipedia:

"The lyrics of the poems cover a wide range of secular topics, as familiar in the 13th century as they are today: the fickleness of fortune, the ephemeral nature of life, the joy of the return of spring, and the pleasures of drinking, gluttony, gambling and lust."

Can you see where I'm going with this?

Yes, the music that the Today show used when they went to commercial, and in turn to set the mood for a dying pontiff, was from Carmina Burana. As I said, I listened to it a lot when I was younger, and I could detect the exact passage they used. It is the penultimate section called "Ave formosissima" (or "Hail, most beautiful one"). The Latin lyrics and English translation follow:

Ave formosissima, (Hail, most beautiful one,)
gemma pretiosa, (precious jewel,)
ave decus virginum, (Hail, pride among virgins,)
virgo gloriosa, (glorious virgin,)
ave mundi luminar, (Hail. light of the world,)
ave mundi rosa, (Hail, rose of the world,)
Blanziflor et Helena, (Blanchefleur and Helen,)
Venus generosa! (noble Venus!)

Well, it's not as bad as the sections of the opera concerning Decius, the God of Dice Throwing, but still. Those Today show technicians who imagined one piece of Latin opera sounds the same as another may get in trouble for this, but I doubt it. After all, April 1st is the day where everyone gets the chance to be the fool and be fooled.

Keith David Quote of the Month: April 2005

Enraged Dad or no, you have to wonder at the intelligence of Bruce Willis's character in Armageddon when goes around firing a shotgun at Ben Affleck on an offshore oil platform! This is one of the reasons I like Keith David's memorable quote about Willis and his band of oil riggers.

General Kimsey: The fate of the planet is in the hands of a bunch of retards I wouldn't trust with a potato gun.