reviews of various things

1.) New Altoid flavors. When I was at MFR last month, my friend W had *licorice* Altoids. (As a sidebar, we massage therapists are obsessed with breath mints, maybe even more than, say, fascia or topical anti-inflammatories. We're completely paranoid about possibly breathing our onion-y lunch or our postnasal drip yuck breath on our clients unawares.) Anyway, W said she got them at Trader Joe's and, since I haven't seen them elsewhere, they may just be a special item for them. I dunno. I will say--and I am not a huge licorice fan--that they are fabulous. You pop one and at first think, "Ah. Not so strong." And then 20 seconds later? "Whoa. There go my sinuses opening up!" Two thumbs up. The second new Altoid flavor I've seen is Creme de Menthe, and since I've seen those at both CVS and 7-11, I think you can get those everywhere. They are...okay. They really do taste creme de menthe-y, which is to say, not so strong in the mint department. So if you usually find Altoids a little strong for your taste, these may be the mint for you. I give them one thumb up.

2.) Californication, the TV series, first season. I rented this from Netflix, mostly because you *know* I heart David Duchovney. If Anthony Kiedis ever becomes unable to fulfill his duties as my fantasy boyfriend, Mr Duchovney could slide right in there as a substitute. Anyway, it was a two disk series, and after watching the first dvd, I almost sent the second one back unwatched. But I didn't, and I'm glad I didn't, because it started to grow on me, and by the last episode I really was invested in the characters. But I will say this. David Duchovney looks like hell. Where's my Fox Muldar and what the hell did you do to his face?!??! Now, Mr Duchovney's character is supposed to be a 40-something midlife-crisis semi-washed-up writer who's half in love with the ex who won't take him back, and who smokes too much, drinks too much, drugs too much, and has far too much random sex with inappropriate partners, so it's possible that it's totally a conscious decision for him to look like hell in the series. After all, that kind of lifestyle is harder on the face when you're in your forties than it was when you were a junior in college. I don't care. More makeup, people. Vaseline over the lens. Something!

3.) Mad Men, season one. I bought the dvds, since the wait for them on Netflix was ridiculous, and I knew I'd watch them and all the commentaries more than once. All I can say is, yes, this show deserves all the awards and critical praise it garnered. And the clothes are awesome! You should watch it, if you haven't.

xoxo