Random Bites- Freedom, The Facebook Movie and Finn's Grilled Cheesus

Ooh, I got's me so many loves this week! Some fantastic foodiness as well as some Pop Culture picks. Let's get right to it..

Can I first mention this brilliant fall weather? A year ago today it was a high temp of 55 and raining and would soon be a portent of one long and brutal winter. Let's hope this delicious weather keeps on keepin' on..

Also, Daphne at Willow Spring Mercantile has introduced some luscious pumpkin scones that are to die for..

My favorite read of late marks Jonathan Franzen's long-awaited return after The Corrections. Freedom is a masterful look at one family, the Berglunds. It's similar in tone to The Corrections, but goes even further and more epic in its sweeping, incisive look at everything that shapes this family. The main characters aren't exactly sympathetic and that's why I find Franzen's writing so incredible...I still couldn't wait to read what happened next with them. Freedom is heartbreaking and at times depressing but is so deep and real that I found myself lost in it. Some of the book is set in my home state of West Virginia. What more can I say about Freedom than I kept making myself read it at a slower pace so that I could luxuriate in it a little while longer? I started reading this before it was named Oprah's Book Club pick, so no, I didn't shuffle glassy-eyed to pick it up just because Ms. O said so......although I've read and loved several of her picks. As for food in the book? Well, I'm thinking of creating a new dish called Patty's Post-Coital Pancakes....

The Facebook Movie a.k.a. The Social Network was the latest flick to rock my cinematic world. The film certainly had the cred with David Fincher as director and Aaron Sorkin as the screenwriter, but I couldn't wrap my feeble little brain around the entertainment value of a movie based on the founding of Facebook. Woe to me for the lack of faith in these geniuses.....The Social Network is a corker. The entire young cast is awe-inspiring, Fincher's direction is tight and anyone who loves language will thrill at Sorkin's rapturous dialogue. Go see it....and watch for an interesting effect involving the elements threading through the movie. The pic is of Justin Timberlake (who, yes, was aces) ordering up some appletinis and lobster claws in his first scene in the film. I have one small issue with The Social Network: the Trent Reznor score is terrific but the initial trailer for the film featured a haunting choral version of Radiohead's "Creep" and I was a tad bummed that it wasn't actually in the film or on the soundtrack. That trailer really stuck with me due to that song.

This Gleek was a puddle by the time the latest episode of Glee reached it's conclusion. The themes of religious confusion, faith, and an ailing father hit me from all sides....and it all started with a grilled cheese sandwich made by Finn that seemed to have an image of Jesus on it. The Grilled Cheesus made its debut and it was good.

The viral video that's making all the rounds lately involves a shirtless guy named Craigery Morgan, an SNL skit with Kristen Wiig and a sleeve of saltines. Ohhhhh Mahhhhh Gaaawwwdd......



Finally, today would have been the 70th birthday of John Lennon. Imagine, indeed.