Brandon's Puppy

The Lost City

Opens today.
If you are near one of the theaters playing it, GO SEE IT!!

Opening
4/28/2006
Encino, CA: Town Center 5
Hollywood, CA: ArcLight Hollywood 15
Irvine, CA: University Town Center 6 Cinemas
South Pasadena, CA: Rialto Theatre
West Los Angeles, CA: Westside Pavilion Cinemas
Aventura, FL: Aventura Mall 24 Theatres
Miami, FL: Palace 18
Miami, FL: Dolphin Cinema 19
Miami, FL: LeJeune Cinemas VI
Miami Beach, FL: South Beach 18
Miami Lakes, FL: Miami Lakes 17
South Miami, FL: Sunset Place 24 Theatres
Montclair, NJ: Clairidge Cinemas
Union City, NJ: Summit Quadplex
New York, NY: Sunshine Cinema
New York, NY: Empire 25 Theaters
New York, NY: Coliseum Theatre
White Plains, NY: Clearview Cinema 100 Twin

5/4/2006
Dallas, TX: USA Film Festival

5/12/2006
Berkeley, CA: Shattuck Cinemas
San Francisco, CA: Embarcadero Center Cinema
Cambridge, MA: Kendall Square Cinema

5/19/2006
Washington, DC: E Street Cinema
Chicago, IL: Landmark's Century Centre Cinema
Highland Park, IL: Renaissance Place
Edina, MN: Edina 4

5/26/2006
San Diego, CA: Hillcrest Cinemas
Tampa, FL: Tampa Theatre
University City, MO: Tivoli Theatre
Dallas, TX: Inwood Theatre

6/1/2006
Honolulu, HI: Doris Duke Theatre

6/9/2006
Indianapolis, IN: Keystone Art Cinema 7
Bloomfield Hills, MI: Maple Art Theatre
Charlotte, NC: Ballantyne Village 5
Austin, TX: Dobie Theatre

6/23/2006
Atlanta, GA: Midtown Art Cinemas 8
Houston, TX: River Oaks Theatre
(dates courtesy of Magnolia Pictures)

I am going to see it tomorrow night, so I will share my thoughts when I return from the theater.

Two degrees

I meant to write about this earlier when my friend Songuacassal mentioned it a couple of weeks ago, but I just didn't get around it...you know, that "Big Life" theory I mentioned in a few days ago. In Miami, everyone knows everyone, and is somehow connected to everyone else. It's like six degrees of separation, but in Miami, it's so common it's two degrees.

Case in point:

This morning, as I was reading a Miami Herald article Val was featured in, I recognize a name I haven't heard in years. Turns out this other featured person was one of my husband's closest friends in high school, and a friend of mine as well! This is quite bizarre as we were talking about this person just yesterday at a get-together, and before then hadn't really touched on the subject of high school in quite a long time.

And my original example for this post, when I failed to write it two weeks ago,
involves my uncle Val again. The artist who did his wedding invitation, which he wrote about here, happens to know a friend of mine from high school. This friend found me on MySpace a few months ago, and turns out she works for the same institution I work for. but wait...it gets better. That same artist, through his social circles, also knows my best friend's cousin, and we were all invited to a special event at the artist's gallery a few weeks ago. I never thought I'd be surrounded by all these friends from varied parts of my life at one time.
I tell ya...only in Miami! =)

And by the way, don't forget to check out the ManCamp article!

Are you still there???

Hi, everyone. Sorry I've been a bad, bad blogger lately. As my communications professor likes to say, "Big LIFE has interrupted little life". I've had several assignments due lately. A BBQ on Palm Sunday for my sister, who was in town. Then Easter came around, and I spent the week planning for a wonderful Easter brunch/Egg Hunt extravaganza! (Pictures will be posted later tonight or tomorrow). Throw in the usual motherly/wifely duties, and well...you've got one exhausted Amanda! Fortunately, this semester ends on May 4th, so I will be completely refreshed for Cuba Nostalgia on May 19th. But of course, before any of this happens, I am looking forward to next Friday's release of "The Lost City", which my friends Mora and Ziva had the amazing opportunity to preview this past Saturday. I CANNOT WAIT to see this movie!
I'll catch you all later...LIFE (aka work) is calling!

45 Year Ago Today...

The failed Bay of Pigs invasion took place. While I don't know as much as I should about this, I do understand the impact it had and has on my fellow Cubans. Visit Babalu for an outstanding tribute to the Brigadistas and the event as a whole.
And thank you to every single Brigadista that selflessly fought for a tyrant-free Cuba.

Enjoy

Expanding Culinary Skills...and Waistline!

This may be very hard to believe, but I have baked....again.

About two weeks ago, my organizational behavior professor brought banana bread to class to elaborate on a lesson (planned spontaneous recognition). I asked her for the recipe, and last Sunday was my first attempt at banana bread. It was quite a hit, if I do say so myself.

For those of you interested, here's the recipe:

1/2 cup of shortening
1 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon salt
4 bananas, mashed fine (very ripe)
1-1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla

Cream shortening and sugar, add beaten egg.
Sift salt, flour, and soda together and add to mixture.
Add mashed bananas. Beat and add vanilla.
Bake for 1 hour in a greased loaf pan at 350 degrees.

Here is the end result...with the "test" piece missing. ;-)