2/14/2010

Caffe Capri Restaurant – Valentines Day Dinner

caffe capri italian restaurant
Caffe Capri 
Happy St. Valentine's Day!
Patty and I decided to have our St. Valentine's Day dinner at Caffe' Capri in Boardman, (A suburb of Youngstown) Ohio. Luckily we arrived early enough before the crowd set in. We were greeted nicely and seated right away, in a very comfortable and intimate booth. We ordered our drinks, diet Cokes, and they were brought out in a timely manner.
Caffe Capri Fried Cheese And Sauce
Caffe Capri Fried Cheese And Sauce
I ordered the fried cheese with tomato sauce as my appetizer. As you can see, the appetizer was a generous portion. The taste was excellent, the cheese a good blend, the crust cooked to a golden brown, and the sauce, very thick with a zesty taste.
Caffe Capri Salad
Caffe Capri Salad
I had one problem with Caffe Capri. The service was slower than what I had expected. Upon further observation, our waitress was busy servicing at least three other tables. She did apologize for the slow service for which we said we understood and everything was just fine.

The salads arrived and they were standard fare as salads went. The lettuce was fresh and crisp, very little carrots, one black olive, one slice of cucumber, one small cherry tomato. It lacked cheese and croutons.
Chicken Parmigiana Caffe Capri Style
Chicken Parmigiana Caffe Capri Style
The main course was chicken parmigiana with a side of Penne pasta. The portion was very generous, consisting of two large pieces of chicken that was well cooked, juicy, tender, and baked to a golden brown. Melted cheese and a hearty tomato sauce smothered the chicken. It was delicious. The penne pasta and sauce was equally surprising. Classic Italian bread completed the meal.
Pattys Meal
Patty's meal consisted of shrimp cocktail for an appetizer, salad, and haddock francaise in a tangy wine sauce with a side order of spaghetti. Patty said the meal was delicious and that we would be returning to Caffe Capri in the near future for another fine dining experience.

The cost for both meals was $53 dollars excluding tip which was very reasonable with the quality and amount of food received. The service was very good even with the excessive burden on her.

The Grassy Knoll Diner scores 4 out of 5 shots and recommends Caffe Capri for dinner.



LURKING ON THE GRASSY KNOLL

2/11/2010

Youngstown Blizzard Of 2010

Last Friday began the onslaught of the blizzard of 2010 with it dumping 22 inches of snow in just under 24 hours. Last night another 4 inches were added. On Saturday morning, after shoveling the drive and getting the boy off to work, I revved up the Jeep Wrangler and went to Mill Creek Park to play in the snow. Hope you enjoy the photos.






LURKING ON THE GRASSY KNOLL

2/09/2010

Lost Update: Katy Lied


Lost Update - Season Six - 02/09/2010

Katy lied
I was halfway crucified
I was on the other side
Of no tomorrow
You walked in
And my life began again


Are you with me Doctor
Are you really just a shadow
Of the man that I once knew
She is lovely yes she's sly
And you're an ordinary guy
Has she finally got to you
Can you hear me Doctor


Kate, Kate, Kate. No matter where or when she is, Kate is on the run. In her sideways flash tonight, Kate continues her escape by forcing the cabbie to drive away. She zig zags across the city driving a very pregnant Claire to the hospital after the adoptive parents of Claire's baby balk due to the couple breaking up.

On the Lost island, Kate is running, escaping, even in tonight's episode. And Kate's running helps explain my Lost theory.

Just what is the Grassy Knoll Institutes Lost theory…. I’ve been waiting six years to tell you…..
Although it appears the survivors of Oceanic flight 815 are on a tropical island, they are being deceived. There is no island. The survivors are in a virtual reality laboratory. All the castaways are interconnected to one another sharing each others thoughts, memories, and feelings. While in this virtual reality laboratory, a battery of physical and mental experiments are performed on them. And who is running these experiments? As Juliet stated, the Aliens of course.

You see, Kate, on and off the island, was still part of the experiment, and through virtual reality, various scenario's can be inputted to study how she reacts to her constant. In both realities, Kate is running.

Speaking of Claire. In her Side way flash, she meets the adoptive parents of her baby Aaron. The woman explains that she and her husband had broken up and that she couldn't raise the baby on her own. Claire has complications and Kate takes her to the hospital. In both realities, Claire keeps Aaron.

Even professor Artz is the same on and off the island. He was a pain in the ass know it all at the airport as well as on the island.

And hey look, Ethan is alive taking care of Claire. He has more lives than a cat. (An Egyptian cat)

Something I found intriguing tonight involved Sayid. Sayid awakens from being dead, (Not mostly dead, but dead, dead) to the astonishment of the Losties. Dogan, (The leader of the Temple Others) has him brought in for questioning. (Interrogation) Sayid is strapped down, electrodes connected to him, and gray ash spread over him. A battery was cranked up and Sayid was shocked. He was then let go. He was told he was being tested, and he had passed. Doesn't this sound exactly what happened to him when he happened upon Danielle, the French woman. She did the same thing. Perhaps testing him to see if he was turned, or claimed.

Tonight's episode was slower than what I expected. With only a few more episodes to go, I was expecting more action, more answers, more moving toward the end game. Instead, we get the following tidbits.

* Dogan is the leader of the Temple Others. He dislikes to speak in the English language. He is afraid of Sayid, and all the Losties for that matter. Can someone say paranoid.

* Did you notice the interpreter, the guy wearing glasses, watched Jack very closely when he was drinking the tea Dogan offered him. I wonder why?

* What's in the box? (Grinning) Sawyer digs up the floor board of his former cottage shared with Juliet and holds tightly onto s cloth taken from the box.

* Sawyer steals a gun, leaves the temple by force.

* Sayid is infected! Or as best translated, Claimed.

* Staying with Sayid. Let the speculation begin. here's the first Sayid poll: After he rose from the dead, is Sayid now, Jacob, MIB, John Locke, Christian Sheppard, Boone, Charlie, or Sayid? And why?

* Jack chows the pill marked for Sayid. Dogan chokes Jack forcing him to spit it out. Dogan claims it was poison.

* Claire is a good shot. Was she claimed by Danille, the French woman?

* Why do the Temple others want the losties to stay inside the temple. What is the big deal if Sawyer leaves, and Kate, and Jin.

Episode 3 has aired and brought more questions than answers. At this rate, a 6 hour mini series will be needed to tie up all the loose ends after the series ends.

BTW: Lyrics by Steely Dan, off their Katy Lied album.

Until next week fans, Get Lost!


LURKING, STILL LOST ON THE GRASSY KNOLL

2/08/2010

Smoking Cigarettes Causes Cancer


Did you ever notice how the old cigarette magazine and bill board ads had a design flow. The readers eyes would automatically flow to the sexy woman seductively holding the cigarette gently stroking it. Even the the print dialog drew your eyes toward one spot on the page, the cigarette and the sexy woman. The reason for this was to keep the reader from seeing the Surgeon's General's warning that smoking causes cancer.

So, can you spot my logo in this picture?


LURKING ON THE GRASSY KNOLL

2/06/2010

Lost Update Twilight Zone: Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge


Hello, glad you could make it to my first Lost / Twilight Zone comparison for season six. As promised several years ago, we are going to discuss the correlation between Rod Serling’s science fiction television program, The Twilight Zone, (1959-1964) and the current ABC network hit, Lost. You can find the previous updates here.
Lost In The Twilight Zone.

Tonight's offering is from season five, episode number 142, original air date, February 28, 1964, titled, An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge

As you read the opening monologue, plot synopsis, and epilogue, think about Lost and the season six premiere. As usual, I will explain the tie in below.

Monologue:

Tonight a presentation so special and unique that, for the first time in the five years we’ve been presenting The Twilight Zone, we’re offering a film shot in France by others. Winner of the Cannes Film Festival of 1962, as well as other international awards, here is a haunting study of the incredible, from the past master of the incredible, Ambrose Bierce.

Plot Synopsis:

Here is the French production of An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge.
A Confederate spy is about to be hung by Union soldiers. The hanging is going to take place on a bridge above Owl Creek. The soldiers fix the noose around the spy’s neck and step off of the plank sending the spy toward the water. Just as the soldier reaches the bottom the rope snaps and the spy falls into the water. He struggles to get the noose off of his neck and swims to the surface. He makes his way down the river managing to avoid the Union gunfire.

As he is floating down the river he notices all the small things he had never noticed before. He realizes how great it is to be alive. Once he makes it to shore he starts to head home. He runs through what seems to be an endless forest until he finally sees his house. His wife is waiting there for him. He is filled with delight.

Just as he is about to embrace his wife his head snaps back. He is back at Owl Creek Bridge, swinging from his neck on a rope that didn’t break.

Epilogue:

An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge – in two forms, as it was dreamed, and as it was lived and died. This is the stuff of fantasy, the thread of imagination, the ingredients of The Twilight Zone.

Lost Tie In:

The season six Lost premiere is spot on to what happened in this Twilight Zone episode. The prisoner is escorted out to the bridge, prepared to be hanged. The Lost castaways board Oceanic Flight 815 bound for Los Angeles, California.

The prisoner's hang rope snaps affording him a second chance. Luck would be on his side even more as he escapes the guards and their gunfire. The Lost castaways flight is typical until turbulence occurs shaking the passengers. In an instant, the plane tears apart and crashes on the island.

The prisoner in his journey to escape and go home to be with his wife and family becomes more aware of his surroundings and has a greater appreciation for the life he led and his family. On Lost the castaways during their journey on the island, become very aware of their surroundings in their struggle to escape the others and go home.

The prisoner, just at the moment he made it home to his house and family, was yanked back to reality as he found himself hanging from the bridge. On Lost, after battling smoke monsters, seeing loved ones die, and running and hiding from the evil Others, they find themselves back on the plane and after a little turbulence, land safely in California and go about their normal lives.

Submitted for your approval, respectfully, in the Lost Twilight Zone.



LURKING ON THE GRASSY KNOLL

2/05/2010

Brasserie Restaurant – Angus Burger

New York Brasserie Bacon Cheeseburger
New York Brasserie Bacon Cheeseburger
When in New York City, sometimes you don't have to leave your hotel to have a good tasting and affordable meal. One good example is the Times Square Crowne Plaza. Located at 49th and Broadway, the Brasserie restaurant sits inside the hotel. Attire is casual and it was busy, but not packed. Eating before 8pm in New York City helps as well.

We got seated quickly and the waitress brought out some bread and rolls and asked for our drink order. I ordered a Coke of course. A few minutes passed and our drinks arrived and we gave our waitress our dinner order. I asked her about the burgers and she said they were very good. I went with the Angus burger with bacon and cheese.

Shortly, my dinner platter arrived. It was exactly as ordered. The lettuce and tomato and onions on the side. Several toppings were also present. A generous portion of fries completed the meal.

The burger was hot, huge, juicy, and well cooked. The bacon wasn't your typical wimpy limpy slice but thick well cooked big slices. The cheese was a nice Monterrey Jack. The bun was fresh and warm. The taste was very good. The fries crunchy and hot. The cost was $16 dollars plus Coke.

The Grassy Knoll Diner scores 4 out of 5 shots and recommends The Crowne Plaza Brasserie Restaurant Angus burger for dinner.



LURKING ON THE GRASSY KNOLL

2/02/2010

Lost Update: Coming Into Los Angeles


Lost Update - Season Six - 02/02/2010

Coming in from London
From over the pole
Flying in a big airliner
Chickens flying everywhere around the plane
Could we ever feel much finer?


Coming into Los Angeles
Bringing in a couple of keys
Don't touch my bags if you please
Mister Customs Man


There's a guy with a ticket to Mexico
No, he couldn't look much stranger
Walking in the hall with his things and all
Smiling, said he was the Lone Ranger


Hip woman walking on a moving floor
Tripping on the escalator
There's a man in the line
And she's blowing his mind
Thinking that he's already made her


Coming in from London
From over the pole
Flying in a big airliner
Chickens flying everywhere around the plane
Could we ever feel much finer?


Season Six began just as season one began. On Flight 815. Only this time around, this scenario had a different outcome. Jack was on the plane, and he noticed that something was different, and it appeared he experienced a Deja Vu event. Or so he thought. The plane encountered turbulence but it lands safely at its destination, Los Angeles, California. Has the storyline changed so dramatically that the plane crash never occurred, that the castaways never met, Locke is still wheel chair bound, no Ben, no time travel, no Hanso, Dharma, Richard, no Juliet and her impressive rack, no smoke monster, and no island?

Hardly!!!

Let me tell you what it means. In essence, it means Jack won the game, or lost the game, depending on your perspective and he has proceeded to the next level. Juliet reset the game. The virtual reality parameters. To the next experiment. The next level. And that my faithful Lost readers is what my Lost theory is all about.

Just what is the Grassy Knoll Institutes Lost theory….I’ve been telling you for six years now but here it is again…..
Although it appears the survivors of Oceanic flight 815 are on a tropical island, they are being deceived. There is no island. The survivors are in a virtual reality laboratory. All the castaways are inter-connected to one another sharing each others thoughts, memories, and feelings. While in this virtual reality laboratory, a battery of physical and mental experiments are performed on them. And who is running these experiments? As Juliet stated, the Aliens of course.

Lets get one thing straight. In season five, the lost castaways were simultaneously living in at least three time lines, if not more. (50's, 70's, 2000's) With that, they broke all the laws of physics and several traffic laws. Season six brings them all back together, in one time line. When that is, only I know.

As I stated above, in tonight's episode, flight 815 lands safely in Los Angeles. Desmond disappears from the flight, Charlie is hauled away in handcuffs for possession of drugs, Kate is escorted off by the Federal Marshal, Sayid, Sawyer, and Hurley disembark, Jin and Sun have trouble at the customs line. Locke is assisted off the plane in a wheel chair. Jack gets bad news that his fathers coffin is missing.

Tonight, a new scenario was introduced to the castaways. A what if scenario as in what if the plane didn't crash. What would happen to the castaways. This is their new experiment.

Let's start with Kate. She is escorted off the plane after stealing a pen while still seated. She insists on using the bath room so she can unlock her cuffs. She succeeds and smashes the federal Marshal knocking him unconscious. She then flees and escapes. Doing what she has done her entire life. Perhaps a little respit on the island can refocus what really matters in life.

John Locke is next. Instead of waking up on the island with the miracle of being able to walk again, the plane lands and he is assisted off the plane in a wheel chair. He interacts with jack during a claim for lost baggage. Jack offers a free consultation concerning Locke's condition.

Jack continues life as well. The airlines lost his fathers coffin and he has to file a claim for it. He just wanted to get it over with in a hurry and move on in life. Time spent on the island may offer Jack some redemption, some insight on what his father meant to him.

Charlie almost dies in the planes bath room choking on a bad of heroin he swallowed. Jack saves him but charlie asks why he did that. He was supposed to die. On the island, Charlie kicked his drug habit, became an important part of the island society and gave his life to save the others.

Jin and sun were hassled at customs about the watch Jin received as a gift and the excess amount of money he failed to declare. He was hauled off by the authorities. Sun saw her chance to be free from Jin and clammed up. Perhaps some time stranded on the island with her husband would rekindle their marriage spark, help them work things out.

Here's a hint folks. What you saw tonight, the successful landing of flight 815, is how the series finale of Lost ends. The passengers will know each other on the plane, as if they have known each other for years. But one thing will be changed. Their lives have turned to good fortune. Kate is not in custody, jack is not burying his father, Locke is not in a wheel chair, etc. Trust me when I say this. (Ben, you can attest to my knowledge of the show as I have proven tonight.) You just saw the ending to the show.

But wait, there's more. Juliet had something important to tell Sawyer before she died. Miles relayed the message to Sawyer. The message: It worked! As in, Juliet exploded the bomb, giving her life, the ultimate sacrifice, to save Sawyer and the castaways from all the sorrow they were going to endure. Game won. The castaways made the right moves and won. Next experiment. Move on. New scenario.

Jacob had been waiting for this to happen for a long time. It finally paid off. The group coming together for a common goal, selfless sacrifice, for love, honor, for all the right reasons. Just like a video game. When you win you receive a prize, a trophy, and then you reset the game and increase the difficulty level. I stated this exact scenario more than a year ago.

Tidbits From Tonight's Episode:
* The flight attendant who gave Jack one bottle of booze instead of two, she was in with the temple group. She recognized them by stating, "They were on the first plane!"

* Sayid is dead.

* Imposter Locke equals the Man in black equals the Smoke Monster. Did you see that demonic stare from him as he told Ben he wanted to go home.

* The Smoke monster kicked ass in the temple.

* Richard gets his ass kicked by Imposter Locke. He was in chains before. Perhaps a prisoner on the Black Rock.

* Weep. Juliet is dead. But fear not. She and her rack will appear once more before the series finale.

* So who are the temple guys? And was the water some sort of fountain of youth that has healing properties.

Tonight, the castaways got a taste of their original lives. And the taste was bitter. If you had to choose between tonight's scenario or crashing on the island, which would you select?

Lost Update: Addendum 02/04/2010

One more point to drive home my theory of virtual reality and alien intervention. Remember Ben and the Man in Black, MIB talking at the end of the episode. Ben asks him, "What do you want?" MIB simply replies, "I want to go home!"

Jacob and MIB have been at it for quite some time. Perhaps hundreds of years. Repeating the same experiment over and over again with always the same results. Remember this exchange in season five between MIB and Jacob, on the beach, watching the Black Rock sail in.

MIB: You’re still trying to prove me wrong.
Jacob: You are wrong!
MIB: They come, fight, they destroy, they corrupt. It always ends the same.
Jacob: It only ends once. Anything that happens before that, it’s just progress.


Well, MIB has had enough. He believes enough data has been collected on the human race and any further experiments would be futile. He wants to pack it all in and return home. Alas, Jacob is expecting and wanting a different outcome, a best case scenario, which never occurred in any of the study groups. And he doesn't want to leave until he gets it right. Hence, MIB's exasperation.

The comments section is open. What say you all......


LURKING, STILL LOST ON THE GRASSY KNOLL

2/01/2010

Stump The Neener - Volume 55




It’s Time To Play Stump The Neener Volume #55

2010 rolls out the newest edition of Stump The Neener. As usual, it is up to you to analysis the photo above and guess what famous person it is associated with. As usual I will offer a clue to get everyone started. The sign says it all.

Now give me your best answer and see if you can Stump The Neener.


LURKING ON THE GRASSY KNOLL