1) What was the last thing that you ate?
Frosted Mini-wheats with soy milk

2) Who was the last person you shared a meal with?
Human would be dinner with my wife. I had breakfast with my cat this morning.

3) What is your favorite all time dish (recipes welcome)?
My favorite dish is the Family Macaroni and Sauce. Any kind of macaroni will do, I'd even settle for pasta or spaghetti. As for the sauce, it must be red, meatballs, sausage, bragioli, bone meat simmered for several hours in a pot the size of a garbage can. Make sure there is a simple tossed salad, some fresh Italian bread, locatelli cheese, and some red wine (chianti or cabernet). Yum.

4) If you could eat one thing for an entire year, what would it be?
My initial reaction is pizza because it is a very versatile food that can be sweet, savory, meaty, veggie, you name it. But I am not sure I would enjoy it for an entire year. I think if I had to eat one thing for an entire year, I would pick steak. My doctor would probably kill me for eating nothing but red meat for an entire year, but if forced to eat only one thing, bring on the cows.

5) If you could have dinner with any five people (dead or alive) who would they be?

Alexander the Great: This guy probably has a million stories to tell from all the places he traveled. Conquest, leadership, pillaging...I'm sure he'll have me and all my guests in stitches.

Thomas Jefferson: Besides being a Founding Father, he was a pretty smart in areas other than politics. He was a legal scholar. He was one of the first proponents of the patent system. And I'd ask some of the tough and awkward questions about his love affairs.

Marilyn Monroe: Where do I start? I'll just be sure to sit her away from Mr. Jefferson.

Colin Cowherd: My favorite sports radio guy. He's amazing. Not a complete meathead, but certainly has an appealing point of view in the areas of sport, society and masculinity. If you have never heard his show, you can check it out online at ESPN Radio.

Cleopatra: Assuming she can speak in our modern tongue, I think there is enough legend that she would be able to confirm or reject that she would make an interesting dinner guest.

Inspired by: The Friday Five

Recent media consumption:

Seed Magazine focusing on science and society
The articles are surprisingly well written. It's popular mechanics meets the economist. Insightful, not too geeky, and very relevant.

Fearless Jet Li's "last" movie imdb
A great kicker flick. Marital arts sequences are very well done. I love the period of time this movie covers, just around 1910 when colonial powers were starting to really get involved in China. The story has some subtle east-meets-west political undertones. The story is based on the events in the life of Huo Yuanjia, a martial arts legend.

The Sopranos, Season 3 an HBO original series
I know I'm behind the times, but I've enjoyed taking my sweet old time getting into this series. Part of my attraction to the show is it shows a lot of New Jersey through out the seasons. Living in Southern California, you kind of forget what the changing seasons looks like. Especially the Pine Barrens in the snow, or the fall leaves. My only gripe about this season is the writers seem to be taking one of my favorite characters, Pauli Walnuts, off the deep end.

Proximity Effect an album by Nada Surf
Their first album High Low featured a few radio hits, probably most notable is the song Popular. This album is their follow up to that poppy record and while it isn't as pop radio friendly as High Low was, this record is beautiful. The lyrics are quite intense and really make you think. The melodies are great and the instrumentation is very tight without being pretentious. It's hard to find, but worth picking up if you come across a copy.

P.S. -- I'm missing the Punkin Chunkin again this year. Sigh.

P.S.S. -- Halloween costume is coming along very well. Pictures forthcoming.