Sometimes I like to write pointless blogs that everyone else and their mother will also write over the course of the next two weeks. This is one of those times.
I like movies. Some would say it's an unhealthy obsession. I would however say shut your face I'm watching a movie. Clearly I win this argument. Below is a list of my favorite movies of 2010. As a disclaimer I have not seen True Grit, Black Swan or Yogi Bear and so they are not on this list and as a result I will state here and now that they are complete crap. These are also in no particular order though I am sure I do have a few absolute favorites. Click on the titles for links to their trailers if you are still not convinced of how right I am, though rest assured I am 100% right.
I would like to first take a moment to tell you all just how much I hate Michael Cera. That man is single handedly dumbing down America and killing the art of the leading man. If he died in a fire tomorrow I would be happy for two reasons: 1. he would be dead. and 2. People would stop talking about an Arrested Development movie like it is a good idea. Now with all that being said Michael Cera and his whiny pathetic act are perfect here. There was no greater reason for this horrible human being to exist than to make this movie. All of the Evil Exes are great, Edgar Wright made the perfect graphic novel movie. Everything about this movie is wonderful, and unfortunately it is almost all thanks to how perfect Cera fits in. Kieran Culkin is also brilliantly cast as Scott's gay roommate and he steals every single scene he even breathes on.
I already had a feeling I was going to love this movie going into it because of the cast involved but I didn't realize just how much I was going to love it. Coming off the wonderful Gone Baby Gone I was convinced that Ben Affleck just got lucky when it came to his directing but with The Town he really impressed me and he showed me some of his true talent. He's not the best actor in the world but when he surrounds himself with the likes of Jeremy Rennar, Jon Hamm, Rebecca Hall, and Blake Lively's breasts you see less of his failures as an actor and believe him in the role. This is one of the movies where for some reason you find yourself rooting for the bad guys to succeed and that is all thanks to some wonderful storytelling.
Is it a dream or is it real? A better question is does it matter? The answer to that is no. Christopher Nolan has proven himself once again to be infallible. Traditionally when you dip yourself in the Superhero genre pool your career doesn't come out the same. From my vantage point most rarely survive. Meanwhile all Nolan does to follow up one of the greatest comic book movies ever is create this mind altering experience that treats our thoughts like it's own personal marionette where we have no control at all. Dicaprio shows us once again why he is one of the finest actors of our generation without an Oscar with his leading role. All in all this movie was designed for multiple viewings and unlike other movies you can say that about, this one is well worth it.
There are very few times where I can wholeheartedly recommend a Nic Cage movie. Honestly it's really only this one and MAYBE Family Man. It's just he has a very specialized brand of crazy that either really works or REALLY fails. Thanks to some clever writing and a really clever Adam West impersonation his crazy really works. That said though the real star of this movie is Hit Girl played by Chloë Grace Moretz. I mean seriously how can you not fall in love with a movie that features an 11 yr old assassin with a mouth that could teach a few sailors a dozen or so new swears? The answer there is you can't. It's brilliant. It's over the top in all the right ways and is the perfect deconstruction of the comic book genre. I'm really disappointed more people didn't see this in theaters, so to make it up to me go rent it right away.
Sure they splurged a bit with the facts. You really can't make a biopic these days without doing just that. You also can't make one without making the person who's life you are chronicling a complete and total douchebag. Those are just the rules of the biopic. The dialog is crisp and mesmerizing in a way that only Aaron Sorkin knows how. David Fincher is able to bring emotion and life to a story that is just about as mundane as mundane could possibly be. I managed to sit through a two hour movie about Facebook and not feel like my life was robbed of me and that is an amazing accomplishment. Jesse Eisenberg deserves a lot of credit too for getting me to care about a man that is so pompous and self absorbed that in most settings I simply wouldn't. And I can't not mention Trent Reznor's amazing score. It turns out he can make music that doesn't scare me.
Pixar has really made this really nasty habit of making movies that make me cry like a little girl. From top to bottom Toy Story 3 would have to be one of my favorite films from the company that can't seem to do any wrong (this sentence will be null and void once Cars 2 comes out but I digress). In a world where the third movie in any trilogy is most assuredly the worst (Return of the King was a fluke) it is refreshing to see one that doesn't crap on it's predecessor's legacy and actually manages to complete it. There is really nothing much else I can say except thank you Pixar for your continued dedication to brilliance and for making movies for the right reasons. I hope eventually everyone else can live up to your example.
I will not sit here and tell you that this movie is brilliant. It's not. In fact it's quite impressively stupid. However that doesn't stop it from being hilarious. It's self awareness of exactly what it is is refreshing and in it's own way what doesn't let it become terrible. Sure it focuses too much energy on John Cusak and his search for love instead of Rob Colddry or Craig Robinson but honestly you can't completely blame them. From beginning to end this movie gave me exactly what I expected from it and it did it with charm and semen jokes. Well played good sirs, well played.
There isn't much I am going to tell you about this movie. In fact there is nothing I am going to tell you about this movie. I will tell you that for the 48 hours after I saw this movie I lost all faith I had in humanity. No, I didn't have a ton of faith to begin with but this movie killed it. You owe it to yourself to watch this movie. Just do it. And not just because it's marketing told you to, but because I told you to.
This spot was a tough choice for me but in the end Iron Man 2 won out over Tron Legacy because while Tron was beautiful to look at, IM2 was better acted and flowed seamlessly from the first one. Also my love of Scarlett Johansson in the skin tight Black Widow outfit did not hurt either. The chemistry that seemed to be missing from Roddy and Tony Stark was remedied by the inclusion of the amazing Don Cheadle. Robert Downey Jr is also astounding and proved once again that he really is the only man for the role of Tony Stark. Yes the movie had it's flaws but once again it's a comic book movie and for that I can easily forgive it it's ttransgressions and flimsy plot devices and side stories.
It's a movie in which Ryan Reynolds is on my screen 100% of the time. On what planet did you people not think this would be on my list? In all seriousness though this movie was intense and riveting. At a little over 90 minutes it is the perfect length for such a brave and unique movie idea. It's just you and Ryan trapped in a box in the Iraq desert with just a cell phone to survive. The tension builds perfectly, the ebbs and flows of the emotions brought about through the ordeal are incredibly suspenseful. Just a top notch effort all the way around. Did I mention it's Ryan Reynolds in a box? It's like the writers of this movie found my Christmas list and turned it into a suspense movie.
Honorable mentions:
Tron Legacy
Red
Cyrus
Four Lions
Tucker And Dale VS Evil
Trotski
We always seem to find new songs that seem to scream out from our souls as if the writers wrote them entirely with us in mind. Lately I can't stop listening to Kanye West's new album, but more specifically I can't stop listening to his song "Runaway". So often I have thought these lyrics in my mind, only to have them come out of the mouth of a man who essentially invented the word "bravado". And that's what makes it interesting. If he can hide these feelings from the world and convince everyone that he's one of the most self aware and self confident people in existence then why can't I?
And I always find, yeah, I always find something wrong
You been puttin' up wit' my shit just way too long
I'm so gifted at findin' what I don't like the most
So I think it's time for us to have a toast
Let's have a toast for the douche-bags,
Let's have a toast for the assholes,
Let's have a toast for the scumbags,
Every one of them that I know
Let's have a toast to the jerkoffs
That'll never take work off
Baby, I got a plan
Run away fast as you can
She find pictures in my email
I sent this girl a picture of my, Dick
I don't know what it is with females
But I'm not too good at that, shit
See, I could have me a good girl
And still be addicted to them hoodrats
And I just blame everything on you
At least you know that's what I'm good at
(CHORUS)
See, I always find
And I always find
Yeah, I always find somethin' wrong
You been puttin' up with my shit just way to long
I'm so gifted at findin' what I don't like the most
So I think it's time for us to have a toast
Let's have a toast for the douchebags,
Let's have a toast for the assholes,
Let's have a toast for the scumbags,
Every one of them that I know
Let's have a toast to the jerkoffs
That'll never take work off
Baby, I got a plan
Run away fast as you can
Runaway from it baby.....
runaway......
runaway from it baby
Run away........
(if stuff gets crazy)...why cant she just runaway...
(baby i gotta plan)...runaway as fast as you can
runaway from it baby
24/7, 365, pussy stays on my mind
I-I-I-I did it, all right, all right, I admit it
Now pick your next move, you could leave or live wit' it
Ichabod Crane with that motherfucking top off
Split and go where? Back to wearin' knockoffs, hah
Knock it off, Neiman's, shop it off
Let's talk over mai tais, waitress, top it off
hoes like vultures wanna fly in your Freddy loafers
You can't blame 'em, they ain't never seen Versace sofas
Every bag, every blouse, every bracelet
Comes with a price tag, baby, face it
You should leave if you can't accept the basics
Plenty hoes in the baller-nigger matrix
Invisibly set, the Rolex is faceless
I'm just young, rich, and tasteless
P!
I was never much of a romantic
I could never take the intamacy
And i know it did damage
Plus the look in your eyes is killing me
I guess you have an advantage
You could blame me for everything
And i dont know what im'a manage
If one day you just up and leave
Oh and i alway find..
and i always find..
yeah i always find something wrong
You been puttin' up with my shit just way too long
I'm so gifted at findin' what I don't like the most
So I think it's time for us to have a toast
Let's have a toast for the douchebags,
Let's have a toast for the assholes,
Let's have a toast for the scumbags,
Every one of them that I know
Let's have a toast to the jerkoffs
That'll never take work off
Baby, I got a plan
Run away fast as you can
Growing up when I was asked what I wanted to be I don't remember ever having an answer. Not a doctor, not a policeman, not even a ninja. I just never really thought of it as a decision that I needed to make when I was young. I figured it would eventually reveal itself to me and I would just know my calling and be happy with it. I had hobbies and interests that I liked a lot. I played football with my friends, I acted in plays, I helped out in video stores, essentially I lived my life in search of happiness and I found it in many different places but i never really found my calling.
Or had I?
Through out all of this looking the one constant thing in my life that would bring me the most happiness was stand up comedy. It started out simple enough with Gallagher smashing watermelons. While it may not seem the funniest thing out there now, when you are 6 trust me it was hilarious.
I must have watched his tapes hundreds of times, however as I grew up I started looking for even more. Now this was back before Comedy Central existed. Yeah that's right, I'm old. So I would scour the TV guide and find out when HBO was playing one of their famous hour long comedy specials. And that is when I was introduced to a man that changed my life: George Carlin, specifically his Carlin at Carnegie special.
Carlin not only served as an eye-opener as to what real stand-up comedy is but he also acted as a gateway drug. He led to Richard Pryor, he led to Lenny Bruce. He provided me with motivation that I had never really felt before in my life. I knew what I wanted to do now. I wanted to be a stand-up comedian.
By the time I had graduated from high school I had it all planned out, I would write jokes, and work open mics in town during the week to perfect my act. From there I would move to a bigger city and work there, and eventually be discovered and be well on my way to fame and popularity. The plan was in one word - flawless.
And then I realized I lived in the tri-cities and there wasn't a comedy club anywhere even remotely close to there for me to work an open mic at. I was busy taking care of my mom and making sure she was safe and well writing jokes became something I would do later. I found other jobs that I loved and provided me pleasure and so my dreams became a distant memory of a time when I wasn't thinking straight. I wanted to raise a family and be there for my children. I wanted security that working on the road as a comic simply cannot bring.
Stand-up still played an important part in my life though. Once I moved to Seattle I started to attend shows around town and through volunteering at Bumbershoot and going to these shows I was able to network and meet many wonderful local comedians. I am always looking for more excuses to attend a comedy show. I have been to every comedy venue in Seattle at least once, certainly enough to know that (at least prior to new management taking over) that the Comedy Underground was about a billion times better than Giggles, or that the Parlor in Bellevue is almost too hip and trendy to actually seem like a real comedy club.
Recently through my friendship with Greg those feelings from my childhood have come creeping back into my mind. Not so much the idea of being rich and famous because of my stand-up, that doesn't really happen as often as seeing people on Comedy Central or HBO would let you believe. No instead the thoughts are that if I don't go out there and try it I will never know if I could have done it. It's the great unknown right now.
But that isn't going to always be the case. I've decided that I owe it to myself to give it a valiant try. I recently started to network with some of the local comedians that I know to get advice as to what I should do and where I should go. Eventually I will truly test my will and my spirits.
I have mentioned before how much I love my job, but once again I have experienced two of the highest moments of my life that remind me why I keep doing it recently and I thought I would share.
A few months back when I was in the middle of applying to become the Store Manager at my store (I didn't get it, but it's cool I like the guy that did) the Mariners came up with a fun little contest among the stores. Over the course of one week when the team was out of town (to make it fair) the sales associate that sold the most jerseys, authentic or replica, would win the following prize package -
1 personalized jersey
2 Lower box tickets to an upcoming game
The ability to throw out the first pitch at that Mariners game.
Now anyone who has worked with me in the past knows I take contests very seriously. In fact once there is a contest out there I will win it no matter the cost. I am already a pretty decent sales associate when there is nothing on the line but once there is a prize to win I flip a switch and I absolutely must win. I won contests at Blockbuster, and previous in store contests with the mariners for much less of a prize so this suddenly became priority number one.
I already had the advantage at my store in that we were thinly staffed that week and I was getting the most hours since I was acting as the defacto-manager and most everyone else had only one to three shifts. Still it wasn't enough to lead my store, I had to beat the other four stores including Safeco too.
By the end of the week I had fluked into twelve jerseys sold. It was a lot, 2.4 jerseys for every day I worked to be exact, but I was still nervous about the other stores, Westlake and Safeco to be specific. All they needed was a rush of Asian tourists or a large tour and they could steal this from me. I waited nervously to turn in my results and get an idea if anyone was close from Doug. My nerves were settled when Doug saw my results and exclaimed "wow someone sold twelve?!? The most I have seen so far is eight!"
I gots this.
Well it took a little while to get the official word but it turns out my suspicions were correct and my twelve had stood up and I had won! I then immediately ran a few laps around my store and hugged both of the people I was working with much to their displeasure. No seriously Andy hated every second of that hug and not just because I may or may not have held it for a little too long.
After an absurdly long waiting time I found out the date of my first pitch would be September 30th. I invited everyone I knew to see me throw my pitch and even my dad and stepmom who hate baseball wanted to come to take pictures and gush about their son.
The day came and I showed up about an hour before I was told to be there because I was nervous, and as a result my friend Jon Cox and I were allowed to go down onto the field and watch the Oakland A's batting practice. The closer we got to my big moment in front of an estimated 13,000 people (actual attendance was more like 9,000 and even less when I threw my pitch) the more nervous I became. Eventually they gave me the ball that I was to throw and I proceeded to play with it endlessly until the moment came to actually throw it. We made our way back into the back hallway and threw a few practice tosses to ease my fear about the distance.
This is the point where I would post a video of my throw but unfortunately I don't have any videos other than the ones that are already posted on my facebook and I am being techno-retarded right now and can't figure out how to download them. Once I figure it out I will get them up here. Here are some videos my friends Jon and Jaime took of my first pitch performance.
This one is Jon's. He was on the field with me.
This one was Jaime's. I didn't even know she was there!
I know I mentioned two things but well, this post is getting a little long so I am gonna just end it here and post another update about the second thing later. You understand.
I think we can all agree that in this world we always need to be validated for what we decide to do. I am no different at all in that quest. There was a time when I would walk around high school with signs on my chest that would say funny things just to make friends and get people's attention and approval. It worked and I had more friends than I could have possibly have needed for those three years. Once high school was over I couldn't really make a spectacle of myself for the validation I craved. Instead I went to work at Blockbuster Video and let my vast movie knowledge and endearing personality validate my existence and earn praise. Again it worked and I spent a year and a half happily living this life.
As time goes on we have less and less opportunities to be validated for the things we do and we have to depend on silly things like confidence and self esteem to build our sense of personal worth. Now at the age of thirty I work at a thankless job that I absolutely love that I am AMAZING at. I have wonderful friends that put up with my neurotic behavior. I find that more and more I live to make people laugh. That simple sound is validation enough for me to keep me going through this life that I have chosen. Make no mistakes I know I chose this life and this is not meant to be construed as whining but rather just explaining why I am happy with this life that some people would find lackluster and empty. It is because of all of your laughter and smiles.
This last weekend I had the pleasure of attending Bumbershoot here in Seattle. I go every year mostly because of the stand-up comedy that they have there and this year was no different (though Weezer, Bob Dylan and the Thermals also came into my decision). I was most excited to see one of my favorite shows from Bumbershoot past come back - Greg Behrendt's Bring the Rock. This show is not like a regular stand up show in that the comedians involved don't really tell jokes. Instead they tell stories from their lives that involve music in some way, then from those stories the house band The Electrick Snowflake plays a song related to the story to help it come full circle. It may not read like much on paper/screen/shut your face but I can promise you that the show is amazing. Six years ago Greg brought the show to Bumbershoot before the release of his book and a trip to Chicago for Oprah and I fell in love real quick. It is hard to not fall in love with a Nina Gordon acoustic version of N.W.A's "Straight Out of Compton".
For reference this is what Nina Gordon looks like. N.W.A. is like the EXACT opposite of this.
Since then I have been following Greg's career and have developed an Internet friendship of sorts with the man and his family (if you see me wearing an odd looking pair of fingerless gloves his sister made them for me and I love them.) We have been friends on both myspace, facebook and he even followed me on my original @allenbrand twitter account (he has yet to follow me on my replacement @theallenbrand account though). When I found out he was coming again this year it became my quest to meet the man again and maybe get my copy of "He's Just Not That Into You" signed (yes I own that book, yes I have read it and shut your stupid judgmental face). Well this plan it turns out took all of about 40 minutes on the Bumbershoot grounds. I picked up my comedy pass for Greg's show and decided to stop by the venue to try and get into the early show there, a recording of Jimmy Pardo's Never Not Funny podcast and say hello to my old friend Devo that works there every year.
The original plan was to try and pull strings with Devo to get into all of his shows so I could hang out in the lobby and wait to meet him and get a picture with him. After exchanging pleasantries with Devo I mention that I was coming back for the Bring the Rock show, I notice the door to the venue that I am haphazardly blocking is opening. I turn my head while stepping to the side so whomever it is that is coming out can get by (because I am courteous like that and I want this blog post to longer somehow so I need to add these small details) I immediately recognize Greg. I am a little taken back that meeting him was so easy, but I just start small talking with him about how I am going to see his show later. He then asks me if he has met me before at Bumbershoot and I mention that we met six years ago when he first brought BTR to Bumbershoot before the book came out, then I mention buying the punk mittens from his sister and he immediately stops me and says "wait are you Allen?" he actually knew who I was from facebook and twitter. It was like we had suddenly gone from fan and performer to old friends. I asked about his sister a bit and he said she was doing better, and I said I was glad because I'm not a jerk like that. Then he asks me if I am going to be here all weekend, and I said yeah (I was originally not planning on going on Monday but after meeting him I really couldn't not go Monday now) and he asked if I was going to check out his show, I said I was going to try but getting comedy passes is a rather annoying process so I might miss out. I then jokingly said that if he told them I was with him I could definitely get in though. Without hesitation he turned to Devo and said "Okay, he's with me. Take good care of him." And with that I was set. I didn't need to wait in line, I didn't need anything but to show up and see the show.
After his first show I didn't want to bother him so I quickly left the theater with the rest of the audience that had been sufficiently rocked (so much so the guy next to me decided to go see all three shows when he was originally only going to the first one). That night I came home and received a friend request from Greg on Facebook (we were originally friends but about two weeks ago he deleted his personal account because so many fans were sending him Farmville requests and he was tired of it, He started a new one shortly their after for just his close friends). Along with the friend request was a message telling me that he could put me on a list as a guest in the morning if I wanted to. I thanked him for the thought and then went fanboy on him about a post he put on his website about a week ago.
On Sunday I was with my friend Cassie and I partially wanted to show off that Greg knew me, and I also wanted to thank him again for everything and tell him how amazing the show was so after the show we kind of hung out after the show a bit on the stage when Greg saw me and immediately came over and gave me a big hug and said "Thanks for coming. It was good to see you out in the front." Again it was like we were long lost friends. I introduced him to Cassie and he asked if we were going to see Weezer and Hole later in the evening. We told him we were definitely seeing Weezer but that we didn't have any interest in watching Courtney Love mumble through her songs doing a poor man's Bob Dylan impression. And like that we were off again.
Monday was the last day of the Festival and so I made sure to remember to bring my book and a pen. I hated that I was going fanboy on him so much at this point but I have been trying to get this book signed for the better part of the six years I have owned it and damned if I was going to let that stop me now. After his last show of the festival he was signing other autographs and being the general nice guy that he is and he sees me and again gives me a hug and says "Hey man!". I tell him great show again and ask him to sign my book.
And then it happens.
Greg - "Hey man do you do stand-up?"
Me (kind of taken back) - "I don't actually. I wanted to do it when I was younger but I decided that I wanted to raise a family and life on the road isn't really typical of that."
Greg - "Yeah I understand that. You're really funny."
Me (REALLY taken back) - "Thanks man that really means a lot."
Greg - "Yeah your tweets are really funny. Be sure to hit me up next time I am in town."
Me (searching for the only words I could think of) - "absolutely"
Then Greg handed me back my book shook my hand and then I was off dazed and amazed. Greg thought I was funny. A man that gets paid regularly to be funny thinks I am funny. It is widely said that the greatest compliment a comedian can receive is having another comic say you are funny because they are traditionally a rather fickle bunch and one of my absolute favorites just said that I was funny. Suddenly the little joke on my facebook page "I am funnier than you think I am" became true because of his validation. I.AM.FUNNY.
I left the Charlotte Martin Theater in a blur. I don't remember leaving the theater. All I can remember is wandering around lost mumbling that he thought I was funny while crying in the middle of Seattle Center desperately searching for someone to tell. I found my friend Elisa. I found Kaylene. I found Laird. I found Jen. I found my phone and told Twitter and Facebook in vague terms. And now I am telling you.
Thank you Greg for saying something that might have seemed normal conversation to you. There is no way for me to properly convey how much this very simple and honest conversation meant to me. I won't say the cliche that this is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me, because I do understand the mundane nature that this exchange could have to everyone reading this. I will however say that this was just the shot in the arm that I needed this weekend.
Thank you Greg.
This would be the place where I would put the picture that I took of Greg and I after his last show at Bumbershoot, but wouldn't you know it I forgot to take said picture. But that is okay because this memory is even better. Also here is a video of Greg performing at BTR this weekend that I took nevermind I had to take my videos down. Boo.
Alright so I have once again entered one of my many phases where I need another blog. Once again it is a movie blog because - hey why not? I will essentially use this blog as an online catalog of my movie collection where I will write reviews of all the movies that I own.
Now I know exactly what you are thinking "Allen, if you own these movies that means you spent money on them and therefor you had to like them and so aren't reviews kind of pointless?" To which I say, shut your face. Clearly you forget that I own Alvin and the chipmunks, Alex & Emma, Blankman. No one likes those movies.
In a way this is a continuation of my resolution last year, except I don't have a deadline for watching them, and I don't have a particular order for them to go in, and the reviews will be longer and singularly reviewed instead of large groups of movies like I did with my resolution write-ups I stopped caring about after the letter F.
Anyway feel free to stop by Allen's Movie Stash and find out what I am watching this week.
Wow have I really not updated in a month? Well here is an update for you to tide you over for another month.
A lot has happened to me since I last blogged. I wet to San Francisco and got sunburned for the first time in years (not because I have magical luck that prevents me from getting burnt but rather because life as a shut-in doesn't allow for much sunlight.) I also moved out of my parents house once again, and this time for good. With that move I have also found myself in a new ward for the first time since 2005 and it is more than a little troublesome right now. I have been to baseball games and concerts. I have attempted to eat my weight in ice cream. And I have discovered what I am going to talk about with you today.
Now as the name so obviously states this is a box of ramen that you get delivered to your house for a nominal fee. But really it is so much more. As a youngish single man who can cook but refuses to cook for himself ramen has always been a mainstay in my diet. It's cheap, easy, and comes in single serving packages what is not to love (aside from the over abundance of sodium of course)? The problem with Top Ramen, the standard easily recognizable brand of Ramen that eleven times out of ten is the first thing you think of when you say ramen, is that the flavors are bland and the meal itself is lifeless. There is no real substance to the dish unless you add your own stuff.
If someone could explain to me what "Oriental" flavor is supposed to be besides racist I would love to know.
Ramenbox meanwhile completely ignores the Top Ramen Americanized version of the dish in favor of a heartier variety of asian imported ramen brands and flavors. Each brand is different and unique compared to the last. You can still add your favorite veggies or meats to your meal but there is no real need to thanks to the thicker noodles and the additional flavor packets within each package. You can get cups, bowls, larger packages with multiple servings, or the traditional single serving packages. They have quite literally everything. You can choose between two different sizes of ramenboxes the standard with 20 "slots" or the large with 40 "slots" and each package is worth 1,2, or 3 slots. I opted for the large box and tried to get a little bit of everything and as a result I got something that looked a little like this:
It was so much delicious that I didn't know where to start. But start I did. Every package that I have eaten so far has been amazing and unique. The one thing that I have noticed is that with my old cheap ramen I would find myself cooking two packages at a time to tide me over. Not with this though. No I have barely put a dent in my ramenbox because quite simply I haven't needed to. One package and I am good to go for pretty much the rest of the day, and for a guy my size with my appetite that is an INCREDIBLE thing. I have already decided that once this box gets low I am going to order it again because I am that in love with this service.
I still don't think I will ever get to the point where I will make ramen for a date, but now it isn't because I am embarrassed to purchase it, but rather I don't want to share.
