Eat This. Read This

Some days you need a stiff cocktail and some days you need your carbs.  For those nights you just want to curl up in your PJ's with a giant bowl of pasta, try this recipe instead.  It is AMAZING and sooo easy.  Plus you're eating farro so you feel slightly healthier.

All you do is throw all the ingredients in a pot, set the timer for 30 minutes, and . . . voila, dinner!  I mean, there's a little bit of chopping and stirring and tasting in there too, but who counts that?  Honestly, it was so easy that I felt like I'd waved a magic wand and a little genie had made me dinner. And it's a really versatile dish.  I added some shredded chicken one night and some sausage the next.  Plus, the leftovers reheat really well.  One tip, watch the red pepper flakes.  I was  a little aggressive with them and it was a bit too spicy for Mr. C's tastes.

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Ideally, you'd be eating this and watching a chick flick (or Predator if you're Mr. C).  But while that lifetime movie is on commercial (ummm, totally not judging. I spent 11 hours watching the West Wing on Sunday) . . . here are some interesting reads for the week.

• Neiman Marcus settles a suit with a woman who tried to return $1.4 million in goods that her husband bought her.  In the woman's defense, her husband was having an affair with the Neiman Marcus salesperson who sold him the stuff.  Honestly, I think she was being classy in returning them.  I would have burned that sh*t and sent him the ashes and a bill. 
• 11 high fashion names you're pronouncing wrong.  Ummm, not going to lie. I really needed this article.  I'm going to blame my pronunciation of Boglioli on the fact that my mom taught me to read using phonics. 
• Analytics is invading hollywood. The guy in this article, Vinny Bruzzese, evaluates scripts to see what they need to be successful.  He compares them to the plots of similar movies that have already been released, focus group results from past movies, and surveys.  For example, his company will tell you what type of demons play best in the box office and what types of superheroes people like.  

I thought this article was really interesting for a number of reasons. As you might have guessed, I'm a big believer that more information is better.  If you can learn something from comparing a horror movie to The Ring, by all means go ahead.  I don't think data necessarily squashes artistic license.  As long as you understand your data's limitations. But, (and maybe this is just the article), it seems like the data he is focusing on is really narrow. Is the real question what type of superheroes people like the most or whether or not audiences are over-saturated with those types of films right now and don't need another one?  

Interestingly, Slate had an article this week on how movie scripts have become too formulaic and are too similar to each other.  I wonder what Mr. Bruzzese would say to that?

P.S. The article notes that his company evaluated the script for "Abraham Lincoln Vampire Slayer" but the production companies didn't take all his advice and the movie flopped.  Mr. C watched this movie late one night and I can vouch that it is one of the worst movies I've ever seen. Was the problem that they didn't tweak the script in certain parts or that the entire premise for the movie was completely stupid and it should never have been made in the first place?  In case you're not familiar with it, the entire civil war was not about slavery or states rights or any other viable historical theory.  Instead, it was a war between vampires (the south) and non-vampires.  There, I just saved you several hours of your life.