Well, let's see.
As I mentioned, Tuesday, I rented Fahrenheit 9/11 and Supersize Me. Both have a lot of great collateral stuff. But let me talk about Supersize Me, because it was the one I didn't see in the theatres, and odds are, if you only saw one of these two movies, it's the one you didn't see either.
This time three years ago, I weighed about 290 lbs. That's down from about 310 at the end of 2000. It was at the end of October I got into a program of weight loss for men. The program was a lot like Weight Watchers... nothing tricky or faddish, just eating sensible foods in sensible proportions. I got down to about 185 two years ago. I'm currently back up between 205-210, fighting it back. This might be my set point for what I eat and like to eat. I'm doughy, but I'm not gross (I don't think). Put it this way. When I go out now, the first thing that goes through my mind is not the dread that people are going to stare at me or ridicule me or be disgusted if they see me eat a sandwich. I feel relatively "normal"... and since I started getting teased about my weight when I was six or seven, you can imagine, that's a pretty new feeling, even after two years.
Anyway, enough setup. The movie is about a guy who eats McDonalds food, three meals a day, for a month. In the course of it, he goes from exceptional health at 185 lbs. to alarm bells going off in just two weeks, and a weight of 210 by the time the experiment ends. One of the collateral pieces is an experiment in which he jars up a number of McDonalds sandwiches and fries (in individual jars), and a "real" burger and "real" fries. They sit for ten weeks. The "real" burger and fries rot quickly and have to be thrown out after about two weeks. The McD's stuff hangs on, the mold taking a lot longer to get a foothold. But what was most alarming was that by the end of the ten weeks, the McDonalds fries had not changed at all. Not one bit. Lying there in the jar, they looked like they'd just been bought. It was sobering. I don't know how many pounds of that stuff I gulped down over the years, but I can't imagine what they're doing to those things to make them that toxic. I mean, microbes eat shit. If they won't touch these fries... are they actually even food?
Anyway, yesterday I bought a spaghetti squash. I bought a few during the course of my weight loss, but not many since. It's not bad; it's a little sweet, and it does string out like spaghetti, so it's a little fun. But it's a pain to prepare. You have to saw the thing open, then scoop out the guts like a pumpkin, then broil it. Still, I'm looking forward to it. I also bought portobello mushrooms. Now, I hate mushrooms. I have since I was six when I ODed on mushroom soup at last (it was one of about only six foods I'd eat). I just got sick of the stuff and until very recently, I couldn't stand mushrooms. I still don't like them. But, everyone keeps telling me how similar portobellos are in flavour and texture to meat. I'm dubious, but I'll give it a go. I also bought yellow peppers and a big white onion. I usually buy Spanish onions if I'm bothered to buy onions, but this one just smelled glorious. Right over the top, as onions go, so I bagged it. I'll fry it, the peppers, and mushrooms together in olive oil this evening, and serve them with the squash and tomato sauce. I'm not expecting to fall in love, but I'm hoping it's palatable. We'll see.
Now I meant to cook all that last night, but I remembered I had to go out and meet P-Doug to go to the IMAX theatre. We saw Volcanoes of the Deep Sea. That was really pretty cool. Or hot, actually. Some creatures down there live in water that's above the boiling point (it doesn't turn to gas, though, because it's 4000-6000 psi). They (the film makers, not the creatures) have a website, which I haven't visited yet, but it's www.volcanoesofthedeepsea.com, apparently. They're also showing Forces of Nature there, which we might see on Sunday.
I probably won't be doing much with friends this weekend. P-Doug and G are heading up north to visit his mother, and bringing her back down for Thanksgiving at his sister's place. So I'll probably just sit around, watch movies, maybe get a little buzzed (rum? rye? Haven't decided yet...). Again, we'll see.
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