Lila & Eve (2015)

Lila & Eve (2015). I finally got around to watching this movie. I've had it in my queue for some time and just kept ignoring it or moving on to other "better" movies.

Movie leads are Viola Davis and Jennifer Lopez.

It wasn't too bad of a movie. It wasn't what I thought it was either. It had a bit of a twist. I mostly figured it out before 'the reveal' but it was still a decent plot distortion.

FINAL VERDICT: If you happen to come across this while browsing your streaming service, it might be worth a view. It was a bit slow, maybe predictable but it didn't make me feel like I wasted my time.

Smokey Porkinson at Digg's Taco - Hillcrest Ave (Dallas, TX)

I've had Digg's Taco's many times. I usually stick with my favorite taco, the Banh Jovi. It was a taco of the month but is now a staple. I've had all the tacos but the Healthy Veggie and Habanero Shrimp. I've also had the Hamburguesa as well as chips, salsa, queso, black beans and cilantro rice. Overall, I'd stick with the entrees versus the sides. The chips, beans and rice are fairly flavorless. The queso is better than Chipotle but maybe worse than Velveeta. Salsa is okay but the Hot Diggity Sauce is better.

So today I tried the taco of the month, the Smokey Porkinson. It's described as "slow smoked Cousin's BBQ Pork with Remix Coleslaw and Pickled Red Onion on a flour tortilla topped with Spicy Moreno BBQ sauce."

I first tried the pork without anything else. It was pretty good, tender and flavorful. I then took a full bite of the taco and all the innards. I like the crunch the slaw and onions added. I didn't like the overwhelming spicy bbq sauce. It overpowered the flavors of other ingredient in the taco. It didn't taste horrible but the good flavor I tasted from just trying the pork was lost. There just wasn't enough balance of flavors between the smokey pork and the spicy bbq sauce.

Will I try the Smokey Porkinson again? Probably not, just because of the spicy bbq sauce. I already have my favorite (Banh Jovi) which has the balance between good flavor and kick.

Again, the Smokey Porkinson wasn't bad. It's just not for me. Overall, I will continue to eat at Digg's as long as the other tacos stay tasty.

Malevolence 2: Bereavement (2011)

Malevolence 2: Bereavement (2011). Was browsing Amazon Prime Movies and this popped up in like a newly added category or maybe just showed in browsing because of some other movie I watched previously or added to my queue or something. You get the point I think.

Anyway, my initial thought was this didn't look like it was going to be that great from the movie cover and synopsis. It did catch my eye that Alexandra Daddario was the actress on the movie cover and looking at the rest of the cast I saw Michael Biehn was in it as well.

I figured it couldn't totally suck.

I was totally wrong!!

The acting was kind of bad. The plot kind of bad. The ending kind of bad. Overall, it was kind of bad.

FINAL VERDICT: Don't even bother. Not even an Alexandra nude boob could make this better (wasn't one, by the way). There are other movies with similar story lines and plots that are done way better.

Pappy's Smokehouse (St Louis, MO)

Tried Pappy's Smokehouse in Saint Louis today. I had the two meat meal with beef brisket and pulled pork with sides of fried corn on the cob and sweet potato fries. My friend got a full rack of ribs.

Sweet potato fries were pretty good. They're seasoned with sugar or something to make them a little sweeter. My dining mate said they were usually a little crispier than they were today.

Fried corn on the cob was pretty awesome. For me, it was so good that I could take a pound or two of it home to enjoy.

Pulled pork was tender and moist but somewhat flavorless. It wasn't horrible nor was it memorable. It just...was.

Ribs were tasty. The meat was tender with a light flavor and pulled off the bone nice and easy.

Brisket was tasty as well with the same light flavor as the ribs. It wasn't the typical moist brisket I'm used to but it was very tender. The slicing reminded me of the cuts one would order from a deli counter.

There were four sauce offerings: hoodoo sauce, Jane's sweet sauce, Carolina sauce and Pappy's Original. The hoodoo sauce was deceptively good but then it kicked with the heat and made me say to myself "Nope" because I like spicy but not hot. Other's might be less sissy than I am. Jane's sweet sauce was indeed sweet but not too much and it was very tasty. Carolina sauce was a vinegary sauce which I do not like but other's may. Pappy's Original sauce was flavorful and a little thicker than Jane's. Overall, I used Jane's sweet sauce more than Pappy's.

Parking at Pappy's is not the easiest. I was told it gets busy and the line could be long. Both were true. Luckily the line wasn't too long, about thirty people, and the wait was only about twenty minutes.

That's my visit to Pappy's. If I were to go back and the line or wait was going to be longer than 30 minutes, then I'm not sure I'd wait.

Super Smokers BBQ (Eureka, MO)

Ate at Super Smokers BBQ in Eureka, MO today. I had the Pick 2 meal with beef brisket and ribs with sides of green beans and cheesy potatoes. Also added the sweet bread pudding for dessert. My friend got a full rack of ribs.

 

Brisket had a good smoke flavor but it was fairly dry. The cut was more of what I'd expect for chopped brisket than sliced. Again, the flavor was good but the meat was dry for my taste.

Ribs I got were flavorless for me. I felt like they were baked more than smoked because of the taste and texture. However, the full rack my friend got was darker and had more of a smoky sweet taste to them. It was weird. My ribs weren't horrible they just weren't flavored at all.

The green beans had bacon chunks and were good enough. I felt they weren't any different than what I could make at home with a can of beans and adding sliced chunks of bacon.

The cheesy potatoes were pretty darn good. If I knew better, I would have asked for double side of the cheesy potatoes! They were a hash brown style potato whereas my friend said normally they were potato square chunks. I think I'd prefer the hash brown style all the time. Again, they were darn good!

The sweet bread pudding was very good. It came in its own bowl and it was sweet, warm, gooey goodness. I had to eat it all while it was warm because I don't think it would have heated up well. So good!

There were multiple sauce options available but I only really liked/preferred two: Kansas City and St. Louis. One thing about the Kansas City is it reminded me exactly of KC Masterpiece BBQ sauce in taste and texture found in grocery stores.

That's my visit to Super Smokers BBQ. For my tastes, I don't think I'd go back except for maybe the cheesy potatoes hash brown style. It wasn't horrible barbecue but it's definitely not my preference.

Bushnell 1500 Lumen LED FLashlight

I stopped by Walmart the today to get some replacement blinker bulbs and saw the Bushnell 1500 Lumen LED FLashlight priced at $20.00. (click here for a description from the Walmart website). Like I need another freaking flashlight but I have previously admitted that I have an obsession with lights, flashlights, flashy-lighty things. Anyway, I thought for $20.00 that I would give this product a try.

I had a little bit of excited anticipation to get home and open this up and see how it does. Weird, I know! What you see is the product in the box, the side of the box labeling it as '1500 lumens', and the product outside of the box with the battery holder.


As you can tell, it's a non-glamorous flashlight. No bells or whistles. Just an On-high/On-low/Off button. It's light and seems fairly durable. There is no focusing of the beam as the lens bezel is stationary.

In my non-technical testing of the brightness, it is bright. Is it 1500 lumens bright? I have no freaking clue as I don't know how bright that should be nor do I have anything to measure that with. What I do know is that it lit up my completely dark room pretty well when I pointed it to the ceiling. It also brightened my completely dark bathroom although having one fully mirrored wall probably increased or broadened the luminescence.

Overall, I do have a little buyer's remorse. I mean it was only $20. However, it wasn't what I expected. I didn't return it because I figured it would have it's use(s). Only time will tell.

Panther City BBQ - Fort Worth (Hattie St)

Finally got the chance to visit Panther City BBQ. Being my first time and not knowing how long it'd be when I visited again, I decided to try a taste of everything instead of my typical brisket and/or ribs/pulled pork. Luckily they offered something called "Hell's Half Acre" (inset) which is...

* 1/2 lb brisket
* 1/2 lb pulled pork
* 1/2 lb sausage
* 1/2 lb pork ribs
* 1/2 lbs smoked turkey
* 1/2 lb pork belly burnt ends
* Two medium sides (I chose smoked mac & cheese and potato salad)

Total charge came to $59.54.


Brisket — Options are lean or fatty. Of course, I chose fatty although after my visit to Louie King BBQ I was a little worried about the fatty option instead of moist. Once again I decided to roll the dice as most likely fatty is still better than lean, for me at least. Luckily, all worked out. The brisket was fork-cutting tender and juicy but I would have preferred a bit more flavor in the meat overall.

Pulled pork — Decent flavor, a little more than the brisket. It was a littler drier than I'd like but not too dry where I had to drown it in sauce. I found mixing it with the burnt ends was a good combination of taste and tenderness.

Sausage — Pretty tasty. They generously gave me half jalapeno cheese and half cracked pepper. I'm not ever a fan of sausage from barbecue joints. My sausage tastes are very, very simple such as I really like Johnsonville Beer Brats or even the store brand. I just feel like I waste money at barbecue joints because the sausage is priced higher than the taste and satisfaction I get from it. Plus, the sausage is usually too greasy for my preference. That being said, the sausage here was pretty darn good! Both were flavorful, had a good tang and not greasy at all. I shared some with a friend later and he said, "This is legit!"

Pork ribs — Fairly flavorful and pretty tender but I felt the ribs I received weren't meaty enough. I think there were two ribs so overall it wouldn't be worth the money for me. But if ribs are your thing, I don't think you'll be disappointed with the taste.

Smoked turkey — Pretty darn good. I never, ever individually get turkey at a barbecue joint. I feel like I can get turkey or chicken anywhere for much cheaper and the point of barbecue for me is to get meat prepared in a way that I typically could not easily or timely do at home. Even though I wouldn't get it, I would recommend the turkey to anyone who does enjoy it because it was tender and very flavorful.

Pork belly burnt ends — Very tasty. I could snack on these things like candy all day. The ends were tender with a slightly sweet thick sauce on them. So good! And as previously mentioned, mixing the burnt ends with the pulled pork was...just meant to be.

Smoked mac & cheese — Was okay. As good as anywhere else but nothing spectacular. I don't recall any smoke flavor but maybe that's just the process used to cook it.

Potato salad — Was okay. Wasn't above or below other places but you also wouldn't be disappointed in ordering it as a side.

So, that's my take on Panther City BBQ. If I'm in the area and it's open, I would definitely eat here again.