This is simply not a book for everyone. I was left a bit perplexed by the end and unsure of how I felt about the novel as a whole. On one hand, this is a hilarious memoir from the acerbic wit of one Tedward Wallace, “hippopotamus“, poet and curmudgeon, asked by his dying god-daughter to keep witness to a miracle at her uncle's English country estate.

Fry's writing is as intelligent as it is funny and I fell hard for the antihero Ted right away. Then it things take some unexpected turns for the darker with Nazi flashbacks and animal sex, only to have everything turn out cheery and happily ever after. Like I said, a perplexing book that deals with ideas about wealth, religion, belief, mass hysteria, and faith in a satirical, comedic and sometimes strange way.

It's certainly worth a read if you want to try something different and it has made me very interested in reading more from the actor (he is Jeeves from TV pick Jeeves and Wooster and played the inept detective in Gosford Park).

Morricone is one of the world's most well known and respected film composers with the memorable scores for A Fistful of Dollars and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly under his belt. Una Lucertola Con La Pelle Di Donna, which, I translates to “Lizard in a Woman's Skin”, is not one of his most famous, in fact until recently it was hard to find any information on the movie, but all my curiosity should be sated when it's finally released in March of this year.

I bought the soundtrack a few years ago in Texas, swayed almost entirely by the stunning cover images. Musically, I was not disappointed. I'm not sure what happens in the movie, but while listening to the CD I see black negligees and chiffon robes, big styled hair with eyelashes to match, beautiful women in spectral form and dangerous men who love them creeping in the dark behind corners. Like I said, it's spectacular!

What child has not been amazed by Harryhausen's work? What current special effects artist has not been inspired? He's most well known for his remarkable work with stop action animation (or, as he called it “kinetic sculpture”) for such films as The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, Clash of the Titans, and his masterwork Jason and the Argonauts. I used to watch these films with my dad, and if you haven't seen them, you owe it to yourself to take a look – especially Argonauts.

Harryhausen single handedly kept the art of stop motion alive in the industry for years until it regained favor with artists like Tim Burton and Aardman Animations. Clash of the Titans figurines are available from Gentle Giant and a new collection of his early work is out now on DVD.

Within minutes of this new LES noodle house's soft opening, foodies' ears were to the ground and everyone weighed in with an opinion. Some were good, some were not as good, some were split. Now I weigh in.

The atmosphere is warm and nice despite the fact that we walked in and said to each other “Hmm, I didn't know they had stools”. We are not stool people. They are uncomfortable and make me feel like an infant due to my small stature. But we got over it quickly thanks to the amazingly helpful and courteous service. For a restaurant in NYC, especially one with this much hype, to not only seat you before your party has arrived, but rearrange other guests to accommodate a larger party is phenomenal (although the dudes that had to move one seat down seemed less impressed).

The cocktail list looks impressive, the wasabi Bloody Mary sounded like it would taste more exotic than it did, but it was still satisfactory. To start, we shared a shrimp crepe with coconut and dipping sauce and gobbled it as civilly as we could without making sure not a bean sprout or crumb was wasted. I also struck gold with the Filet Mignon Katiev, a rich spicy soup with extremely tender meat and other goodies. Dana also loved her Kampuchea sandwich that resembled a bahn mi in taste and appearance. At least I assume she loved it because her plate was clean by the time I took a second glance.

Not everything was coming up roses, however. Laura ordered the chicken version of the Katiev and found it to be a bit too oily and Jim, who ordered the meatball sandwich got the pork and left a third of it untouched. It wasn't awful, he said, just not great. So it would seem the trick is ordering the right thing, but if you do, the price is right, the service is friendly and this could just be another staple among LES restaurant options.

This traditional Afghan tea, brewed with milk, sugar, cardamom and rose petals, is a delicious combination and an excellent comfort when you have a cold. I tried it at Bamiyan restaurant (157 E 26th Street). Sweet and creamy with a hint of spice, this treat is worth the extra few dollars over regular tea and is a perfect comfort for all the colds and flus making the rounds.

Calder's joyful, bright, immense sculptures help brighten up the straight laced neighborhood. I would not have had the chance to see them had I not been required to take a drug test for my own straight laced work. It was at this drug test that I saw a dude trying to get tested himself, but he didn't know where he worked, only that he was going to be security and his boss was “Commander… Commander M”. I think he failed before he even peed in a cup. Oh, but the Calder, yes, beautiful, see them if you can.

I feel we're living in the golden age of snarky celebrity “journalism” (aka gossip) and this website, along with this week's TV pick, are leading the way. Defamer is the sister site to Gawker, which I also frequent, but this LA based celebrity roasting site is my favorite as it focuses more on Hollywood while the NYC based Gawker specializes in journalism gossip (Atoosa Rubenstein anyone?).

Reading about Courtney Love's new years resolutions or Andy Dick acting like a dick has never been easier or less embarrassing. This is Us magazine and Star for the thinking man, you know the thinking man who secretly wants to know what is on Lindsay Lohan's blackberry or when Kevin Costner is sporting a half boner.

You're just going to have to accept that every cute cat video will be featured at some time on here. This one was sent to me by my uncle.