Pizza Plus of Glade Spring, VA

In my feeble-hearted search for regional pizza chains I can't believe I hadn't heard of Pizza Plus until this outing, and boy was I missing out. My cheese pizza had a Ratio of 3cr/2ce/2ch. Their dough gets a 5 out of 5 from me. Its texture was perfect with a buttery bottom. While a few sections of the bottom looked like they were undercooked, every bite tasted perfect. 

For overall quality, Pizza Plus gets a 4 out of 5. I think the sauce could have been spread a more evenly, and a bit more of it would have been appreciated. While the crust was delicious, we didn't need so much of it in that outer circle. I know I'm being hard on my dear new friends, but even 1 out of 5 is Still a pizza and I'd eat it gladly if the other components can stand on their own. 

Speaking of standing on their own, I give Pizza Plus's sauce a 3 out of 5. It's good, yes. But it's completely average. It could have come from a pizza sauce can with no alterations made to qualify a 'recipe'. For style, I give Pizza Plus a 4 out of 5. Their salad bar was beautiful and I loved the worn down leather booths, with a mini booth for me. There was kind of an old movie theme with the decor. I sat under a poster with the 100 best movie quotes. Six of them were from Casablanca and one of them was "My Precious" from The Two Towers... what a great quote. They had fun gumball machines, priced at a legendary 25 cents, and a claw machine. But there were no arcade games, which aren't mandatory. I guess the character of the place is there and it's great, but the pizza isn't much different from what you'd get anywhere else, and the vibe doesn't lean to my sensibilities. 

With a Final score of 80%, I'd love to visit Pizza Plus again ASAP and invite everyone I know to join me.  

The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwod

You may have guessed it, this book is the sequel to Oryx and Crake, the 2nd in the Maddaddam trilogy. Like many good trilogies, this one stars a different set of characters and focuses on a religious cult that has predicted the events to come in Oryx and Crake (the end of humanity). The Year of the Flood gives a stronger glimpse of what life is like in this theoretical future for those who are both female and less fortunate than Jimmy and Crake. Needless to say, it's juicy and makes you wonder if the prophet was privy to the nature and source of the pending flood. 

Tell All Your Friends about Pizza Dad

It's the least you can do

He bought this pizza for you

For the whole crowd

And I decide now

It's payback time

And they're all about Pizza Dad

Lock in Tell All Your Friends

Each riff, beginning to end

For Pizza Dad

To sing with his band

New words this time

And they're all about Pizza Dad

They're all about Pizza Dad

You owe it to Pizza Dad

Tell all your friends

Starr Bright Will Be With You Soon by Rosamond Smith

This is another one by Joyce Carol Oates' pen name. It's one of those serial killer stories about a woman who went down a dark path and dealt with things in a bad way. As it was probably more juicy at its time, you can't expect Oates to crush it with every single piece. I know there was a light at the end of this tunnel somewhere, but it did not have a profound effect. 

Nausea by Jean-Paul Sartre

Regarding Sartre, I really don't have anything more profound to say than people who actually Study him. I think I Got this book, but maybe not. It's a somewhat poetic novel about a guy who's very busy observing others and their inane existence, struggling to cope with the fact that he himself exists as well while many of the 'good' things in his life pass him by. If I find myself digging into the deep deep depths of existentialism, I might return to this book with a Deeper understanding. As for now, my interest is limited. 

Jiu Jitsu (feat. Nicolas Cage)

First off, it's insane how much parts this movie look and feel like a cut scene from a video game but with real actors instead of cgi super heroes like in Marvel things. Even so, this feels more like something from Uncharted. Each scene is set-up with a flash of comic book panels to let you know where our characters are and what they're up to now. And most of the real scenes are packed with choreographed melee with an insane amount of speed flexing (is that the term?). I wish there were more brawls, but that's okay. We have men, ladies, white, black, and asian kicking butt and having a blast when they're not getting their necks broken. While I mentioned ladies, this film certainly fails the Bechdel test, which is no surprise. Most films featuring Nicolas Cage owe it to the man to focus mainly on Him. (I don't capitalize because I'm talking about the christian God, but because I want to make proper the man that is Nicolas Cage who I am referring to as Him).

Our story involves a Burmese god of death who gave Jiu Jitsu to the people. He cometh forth every six years with the appearance of a magic blue comet. Our hero is Jake (not played by Nicolas Cage). Jake gets an amnesia-inducing head injury in his first encounter with said god of death, which requires all characters to remind him what's going on. He's one of the chosen, given the gift of Jiu Jitsu to fight the god of death and keep said god from killing all humans.

Cage plays the funny old guy in Jake's band of plot exposing chosen ones. He should be in the movie more, but I get it. He's not the most qualified martial artist in this bunch. At least he gets to be a hero, if not The hero. Mostly I'm disappointed that the longest and fastest-paced fights are between our actors and our cgi god of death. I really don't care about watching action scenes of cgi characters. Still, I like this kind of movie. I like kung-fu and pointless cape-wearing. It also reminds me of Mortal Kombat meets Predator, which is a good thing in my book.

1. Raising Arizona
2. The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent
3. Leaving Las Vegas
4. Red Rock West
5. Adaptation
6. Pig
7. Birdy
8. Wild at Heart
9. Joe
10. National Treasure
11. Guarding Tess
12. Snake Eyes
13. Mandy
14. Dog Eat Dog
15. Color Out of Space
16. Mom and Dad
17. World Trade Center
18. Peggy Sue Got Married
19. The Rock
20. Zandalee
21. Prisoners of the Ghostland
22. City of Angels
23. Willy's Wonderland

24. Jiu Jitsu

25. Captain Corelli's Mandolin
26. Bangkok Dangerous
27. Drive Angry
28. Army of One
29. Lord of War
30. Gone in 60 Seconds
31. Matchstick Men
32. Vampire's Kiss
33. Con Air
34. Face/Off
35. Trapped in Paradise
36. The Boy in Blue
37. Honeymoon in Vegas
38. Deadfall
39. Amos and Andrew
40. Moonstruck
41. Tokarev
42. The Sorcerer's Apprentice
43. Knowing
44. Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
45. Bringing Out the Dead
46. The Family Man
47. Stolen
48. Season of the Witch
49. It Could Happen to You
50. The Wicker Man
51. 8mm
52. The Frozen Ground
53. Left Behind
54. A Score to Settle
55. Pay the Ghost
56. Primal
57. Dying of the Light
58. Grand Isle
59. Looking Glass
60. Arsenal
61. Between Worlds
62. Ghost Rider
63. Trespass
64. The Humanity Bureau
65. Next
66. The Weather Man
67. 211
68. Fire Birds
69. The Croods

Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood

This is the first entry in one of my favorite scifi trilogies to date. It's about the end of humanity as we know it and how it came to be in a world of (of course) extreme capitalism with prestigious schools who specifially choose students who lack empathy and value for any life other than their own. It's a very fun, immersive trip with shades of clever social commentary tucked into every scene. I highly recommend it to anyone who isn't touchy about their privilege and social norms. 

LaBrasca's Pizza of Columbia, SC

Founded in 1966, I'm going to assume this is one of South Carolina's first popular pizzas. The staff uniform shirts said something about La Brasca's winning an award for Best Pizza. Before receiving my pie, I knew this was the place for me. 

With a ratio of 2cr/3ce/4ch, we'll start with the good news. I give La Brasca's sauce a 5 out of 5. It is rich, thick, and sweet, tasting like the pizza of my childhood dreams. Like Show Biz pizza but better. 

For style, I give La Brasca's a 4 out of 5. It's a no-frills, cozy place. Seat yourself in a very old booth with leather apolstry. Drink unlimited refills from a styrofoam cup with puffy ice. Get yourself a free side of Pizza Sauce with your pizza. And the pizza certainly has its own style while conforming to the acceptable format of dough, red sauce, and melted mozzarella. However, this isn't Florida. La Brasca's doesn't stand out much among other pizzas of middle america. 

Now for the bad news. La Brasca's dough gets a 2 out of 5. Their crust is far too dense for the amount of sauce and cheese on it. In fact, everything fell off my first slice. If the dough had more yeast and more proofing, it would be fluffy and work for the fork eaters among us, bringing that 2cr ratio up to a proper 3 or 4. As is, the pie is difficult to eat. The dough doesn't taste as bad as a frozen pizza, but it has a similar texture. There were also some spots of burnt residue on the bottom which didn't taste good. 

For overall quality, I give La Brasca's a 4 out of 5. It did taste very good all together, and I feel like I needed to bump up this score since I was a little harsh on the dough. I'm going to eat some cold slices for breakfast and I bet with the sauce and cheese cooled and properly coagulated, it'll be a glorious experience. 

With a final score of 75%, I'd definitely recommend La Brasca's to anyone who wants the taste of down home South Carolina Pizza. I don't know what else the state is known for, foodwise. It seems like Georgia got all the cultural credit in that department. But I digress. I don't care how cool you are. You're not too cool for La Brasca's Pizza of South Carolina.