Today, I ate free noodles and watched Red State.
The two things didn’t happen simultaneously, but this is one of those days where a couple things happened that I felt noteworthy (to make up for days like yesterday when I really have nothing interesting to bring to the table). Let’s start with the noodles.
Noodles and Co. is opening up a restaurant here on Monday. One of my co-workers who is always in the know on frugal and free things gave me a website and code last week to sign up for a free pre-visit today. I signed up, picked my time, printed my invitation, and grabbed my guest (Felber, of course) for our free lunch date today.
If you’re not familiar with Noodles and Co. (and I wasn’t until today, and I’m not really familiar…we’re on a “just met” basis for now), it’s the kind of place where you order your meal then go sit down and wait for them to bring it to you. The meals are mostly noodle based, though they have soups and sandwiches you can get as well. Today, I opted for the Pad Thai, while Felberito went the Mediterranean route with a bowl of Penne Rosa. He loved his. I liked mine. I don’t know why I thought Pad Thai would be a good idea, it just sounded good. I think my taste buds are more apt to try something different next time.
The portions are huge, and besides the noodle bowl, we were also given a drink and our choice of a big cookie or a giant Rice Krispie treat. Definitely a filling meal, and while it would cost too much to eat there all the time, I think it’ll be good for a night out once in awhile.
Red State was watched this evening at our friends’ house after they fed us bratwurst (not a euphemism). To be honest, I’m still processing it (the movie, not the food). This is a Kevin Smith movie from a whole different tier than many of his movies. This serious film takes a very strange look at religion and politics, drawing parallels to certain real life groups that call themselves a church but aren’t really a church at all.
It’s the kind of movie I might need to see again to fully process, because my first impression was a little shaky. It’s rare that a movie scene really disturbs me, but there is one scene in this one that is still kind of haunting my head, and I like a film that can do that. Mostly, though, it’s a really slow movie. It gets its point across, but it also makes a few other points, and I’m not sure if they were intended or not. Though the group portrayed in the movie is definitely a few steps higher on the crazy scale than our local joy spreaders, it’s pretty obvious that people are going to make a connection, which means they’re likely to make a connection that people in Kansas are a bunch of idiots (we have them, like all other states, but we’re not all hicks).
Kudos to Kevin Smith for trying something new, but I’m hoping he goes back to comedy. Maybe I’ll watch this one again and really like it. But if I had to choose one of Smith’s statements on religion, I definitely think I’m more apt to choose Dogma.
A.
The Romance Factor 